That Time a Bookworm Got Ascended in Tensura

Ch.24 Dismissal

Rimuru's pov: 

I had been staring at Raphael very intently since dinner had ended. It was a little mesmerizing, even if she looked just like me. Though I was quickly pulled out of that by a question from the dining party. 

"Rimuru-sama, if I may impose. You discussed a soul contract to keep Raphael-sama a secret. What exactly does that mean?" It was Ferdinand. If I had learned enough about him over the last few days he was probably more curious about the fine details than the terms. 

Taking a moment, I looked around the table to gauge if everyone was ready to talk about that or not. "It is better for Raphael to explain." 

Before I could say a word further, <A soul contract is a curse similar to the ones imposed on summons, written on the soul with terms that are unbreakable. This contract would made you all unable to disclose my existence to those who do not already know of it, however it would not kill you for doing so. It would instead lock the memories inside the control circuit if you attempt to disclose them.> 

There was more for me to add, "This is for your safety as well. Knowing secrets about me you make you all targets, especially the exact details of my skills. This way you aren't." Standing from the table I moved over to Raphael and we held each-other's hands before merging back into a single body. I felt very refreshed after the time with her. 

<Heh.> 

'What was that?' I didn't expect a response. I looked to Ferdinand first, then stated. "I can do everything, I simply need you to consent." As I said so, a magic circle with a relatively simple set of symbols formed below me. I gestured Ferdinand forward. 

Ferdinand approached, cautiously. Inspecting the symbols as he did so, after several moments he seemed satisfied. Stepping into the circle, he held his hand out firmly. 

Holding out my own hand, I shook his. The magic circle shrank and into our palms, before turning into a small ball of blue light and flying into Ferdinand's chest. The dense magicules in Ferdinand prevented me from seeing it further along, but I was confident in Raphael's spell. 

"It is safe." Ferdinand declared calmly while still staring at me, and then he was quick to step away. While standing there he appeared to inspect himself slightly, even if there were no secrets to notice. 

"Exactly as I said, it really is that simple." I said while waiting for the next. Then one by one, each of them had taken the contract. At the end of which I was satisfied. With the snap of my fingers, the privacy barrier on the room disappeared. "I will make my leave for the night, though I will visit before I leave in the morning." After this it was my turn to disappear myself, using [Spatial Domination]. 

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I had left Ferdinand and Sylvester with the others very intentionally. They had been tailing me too much, and it was making privacy for any amount of time annoying. I didn't exactly have the heart to tell them to leave me alone, so I didn't entertain that idea. So in the end this is much better. "Shuna, I am back." I said as I sat down in my seat in my office, I needed to plan out a trip now. 

"Your travel gear and outfit is ready for tomorrow morning. Would you like to arrange a carriage?" She had set a cup of tea in a dish in front of me with a small piece of cake. I had just eaten dinner, but I certainly didn't mind. 

I took the cup into my hand and took a quick sip while taking a moment before speaking. "I will be returning with Sylvester and Ferdinand, so I will be taking their carriage. I would like to get it rigged for Tempest wolves, however." Sitting back in my chair felt nice, especially after the stress of keeping up that calm visage during that dinner. I soon melted into my slime form to rest in an even more relaxed way. 

"I will make sure to pack your business and noble outfits as well, then. You may need them." Shuna stated, somewhat assertively. 

"I don't need you to pack them, I can just change from my stomach." I complained while looking to her. 

"You need to be more presentable, you can't  simply use your skills for official purposes. It lessens the importance of your visits." Her tone got even more assertive and she was glaring at me lightly. Really I had no room to argue with her, she was the Ogre Princess for a reason. 

"Fine, fine. Pack more outfits, I will change into them normally." I was raising little slime arms I made in defeat. Afterward I took another sip of tea, I could actually taste in my slime form now by adding taste buds to my skin. I would then just get rid of them. 

Shuna smiled brightly before stepping back. Afterward she walked to the door then tilted her head when there was a knock. Opening the door, Shuna greeted Ferdinand. As I had expected. Afterward I was left alone in the room with him, I assumed Sylvester would be here after not too long as well. 

"I really am taken aback at how lax you are about meetings. It quite contrast from noble society, you know? It is the reason I have put so much effort into exploiting it." Ferdinand said honestly before sitting down. He then looked over to me, realizing what form I was in. "So it is true? You really are a slime." He seemed fairly disappointed somehow. 

"Yes, it was always true. Though now I am a demon slime, according to the Voice of the world and Raphael." I also blushed a bit as I entered my human form, as I realized he just said he had been playing me for the past several days. "You are just like Velyard." I said with  bit of a defeated tone, and I thought I had gotten a bit sharper. 

"He is very astute. I learned much from him." Ferdinand said casually while taking that normal poker face expression. It seemed like that was just how his face naturally rested at this point. However he was also tapping his elbow, which queued me into believing he had a question. 

"What is it?" I kept my tone casual, and did not stop sipping my tea. I also made sure to lean back in my chair just in case it was a surprising question. 

Waiting a moment while looking at my own expression, before finally speaking. "Why did you decide to protect Myne? I was going to ask you for permission to have her adopted into nobility, it seems you already had a plan, though." With his expression still not changing, it seemed something complex was going on and he wanted to hide it.

"Hm. Why did I? It really was more her than me." I left it vague, though I assumed he knew I was talking about Raphael. Then I continued, "She is an other worlder just like I am. I believe it is simply impulse." I could not exactly explain it myself, in all honesty. 

This appeared to leave him satisfied. "I can justify my own reasons at least, though it really was still impulse on my part as well." Resigning himself Ferdinand looked out the window behind me. Looking at the moon, as it was high in the sky tonight. 

There was another knock on the door, then I could hear Shuna announcing Sylvester was outside. I sent her a confirmation on opening the door through [Thought Communication], then watched it. 

Sylvester stepped inside once the door was opened. He was quick to sit down opposing Ferdinand, along with making a small motion in the air with his hand. "Really it was a great idea to abandon us so suddenly, I couldn't have thought of something better myself." He complimented my plan for  a few moments of privacy. 

"Think nothing of it, Ferdinand just revealed to me that he's been playing into my willingness for his own gain for days. Really I guessed I've already shown you both things I shouldn't have already." I explained my thoughts on it with a sigh. Though I was smiling, as I had picked people who would be very useful under me. I very much wanted someone like Velyard that I could send out to make schemes. 

Sylvester laughed lightly before  smiling over to his older brother. "See why I put so much work on him? He is so competent." He made a jab at Ferdinand, though it seemed like just playful banter. Afterward he was quick to look back over to me. Then he asked a question, "Can you be the one to convince my wife? I don't think it will be hard, especially if it is a favor for Ferdinand. I still think she'd like to see her, do you have a plan for that?" 

"Yes. I have a plan, if Ferdinand would be willing to share a few memories of her. I can easily use thought communication to show my and his memories of Myne." I was quick to answer, I already had a plan for this. More accurately Raphael already had a plan for this. 

Sylvester gave a nod and looked over to Ferdinand while waiting for a response from him. 

Ferdinand offered a sigh, before nodding himself. "Convincing her should be easy that way, Florencia has a soft side." A confident tone said those words. 

"I'll be having you all stay in Tempest, after the unity day. I can ensure a line of communication for your duties." It was not a hard thing to plan out, I already wanted to experiment with centralized governing structures. As well keeping them in Tempest would ensure leverage. 

Ferdinand was quick to question this. "Would that be fast enough? I do not believe letters would be sufficient and not many can use magical communication." He gave an analysis of the situation while making a worried glance. 

I smiled brightly. "I have a plan for that, we will be using a new device Kaijin and Vesta developed. It should make magical communication effective with a very small amount of magicules. As well it should be considered fast enough, as it has what you would consider instantaneous speeds." I assured them, before showing them the magisteel plate with a small light rune on the interior of the rim. I charge a small amount of magicules into it, and it lit up with an image of the plaza outside. 

Ferdinand seemed to watch this with an interested gleam in his eyes, specifically he was quick to release the flow of magicules in the [Steel Thread] leading into the plate, in the middle of a small magical circle embedded on a second crystal. After inspecting it, he said. "So the image is preserved as information in the wire and sent from one end to another, really quick simple yet brilliant. This should work assuming the range can work." He seemed to already be off in his mind on applications. 

Sylvester seemed a little taken aback at the device. "That is the plaza outside, and I can barely see any magicules flowing around in it at all. A laynoble could easily use this, or someone even weaker." He already seemed to be very impressed with the efficiency, though that really was the point. 

"That was the point, after all. It wouldn't be very useful if only my strongest subordinates could use it." I said while making sure to stash it away and drain the device of magicules while doing so. Hiding it in one of my drawers. 

Sylvester seemed to have an idea. "Could we use this to broadcast unity day, and that tournament thing to Ehrenfest?" It was a surprisingly brilliant idea. 

"YES! Thank you for the idea!" I shouted in an excited tone. 

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Watching from the street, in front of Myne's house. It really was the nicest house in Tempest, which was saying a ton. Though I did not mind, my own private home was far more discrete so it did not draw any attention. Though with my plan for the day before leaving, this home would become just as discrete in a different way. 

Myne soon walked down the steps and across the garden towards me, I had released some of my aura so she was sure to see it. "What is it, Rimuru-san? Is this about the adoption stuff?" 

"Yes. I would like for you to change your appearance slightly, and also activate the anti-perception seal on the protection circuit." I replied immediately, wanting to finish this quickly. 

She tilted her head a bit. "I can change my face a bit, I guess. I actually kinda wanted to try that out anyway. Though what is this about the anti-perception seal?" She asked as she started using magic to change the hair color of her physical body. 

"Oh right. I didn't tell you about it. It is the fifth switch on the circuit. I had Adalman put it in, just incase we went through with this plan. Sorry for not telling you, just didn't want you to worry." Each switch on the magic circuit activates a different set of runes surrounding the house. Each set has one or two effects built into it, allowing for the house to be protected in various ways with the enchantments embedded into them. 

Myne nodded, and the house soon shimmered into nothing. It was as if it was not even there, the only indicator it had been was a large stone that sat in the middle of where the garden was. Though the stone had it's true properties hidden. 

"Good, that should be good enough. Now, do not disclose your name to anyone in Tempest except the executives. I will be back in two weeks. Did you decide on your appearance?" I explained how long I'd be gone, then asked her the key question. 

She nodded, then twirled. She still looked almost the same, though there was now a discrete adjustment in her face to make it a little sharper. It seemed that changing her appearance was hard for her, she could manage however. 

I nodded. "Your family can't talk about you either, the story will be 'you' died before the trip. I will relay the rest to you if we get Florencia's consent." After saying this, I handed her a small sheet of paper with the specifics written out on it. Then I headed off for the carriage. I was already in my noble outfit with the red vest and white undershirt, along with the red cape and golden trimmings. 

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--2420 words--

--The protection circuit surrounding Myne's new family home possesses ten switches, of which currently only the first five are enabled. The switches currently enabled include a climate control spell, an ant-magical attacks circuit, an anti-fire circuit, an anti-holy seal, and an anti-perception seal--  

(AN: next few chapters are gonna be a mini-arch where Rimuru visits Ehrenfest, so gonna be a few Rimuru chapters.)