The World's Ego

Side Story: Pain and Grief

-One week before Mei's arrival-

Rimuru POV

It's been about three days since the incident in the Kingdom of Raja, but due to a few things that I did, I still had to stay in the realm for further recovery.

Mobius is so relentless when it came to this...

So, I received reports and other documents related to Tempest inside the realm too. Only approved executives were allowed to enter, so...

What is this situation? Why do they look so troubled?

I think this while looking at the three executives sitting opposite me with slightly troubled looks. It was silent in the common room. Veldora sat beside me, giving me a glance and making eye contact with me, seemingly with the same question in his head. Shion was also here, standing behind the couch we were sitting on, her eyes also bearing the same question.

"Beni, Shuna-chan, Vesta." I called the three, breaking the silence, "What is troubling you three?"

Vesta heaved a tired sigh, "I... might have asked Mobius-san a sensitive question. She refuses to speak to me now."

"Kalpas-dono told me to 'get lost'." Beni adds

"Sakura-san seemed troubled today, but nothing I did really helped to get her mood back up." Shuna sighs, covering her face with her kimono sleeves

... Uh oh. When the Flame-chasers get like that, it takes me a good while to get them back to normal.

"Let's... talk about this one by one. Vesta, what did you ask Mobius?" I began, turning to the Head Researcher

"Well..." He hesitated, pushing his glasses up before speaking again, "Recently, Mobius-san seemed to have been exhausting herself doing her research. So when I find her in the research lab asleep, she would sometimes be calling this person called 'Klein'."

"Vesta... You asked her, didn't you?" I asked and a nod confirmed my suspicions, "Oh dear..."

"I-I'm sorry. I must have touched on a sensitive topic." Vesta quickly apologizes

"Oh, don't mind my reaction. I'm more worried about Mobius. Klein was her lab assistant in our old world." I explained

"Lab assistant?"

I nod, "Mm. Mobius was a fantastic researcher back then, but not many people liked her. Klein stayed by her side despite the rumors. However demanding Mobius was, Klein fulfilled her requests. She was a valued person to Mobius since she had always been alone. It took me quite some time to get Mobius to be more open to me."

"Then this Klein..."

"Mobius calls her an Understander. Someone who understood Mobius and her goals. She calls Mobius 'a pure being, a pure seeker and a pure evil'. Mobius is someone who pursues a goal endlessly until she gets the results she wants. Well, if you want to know more, it should be something Mobius would tell you personally if she is in the mood to. The problem is that you mentioned Klein to her. She probably had some unhappy flashbacks." I further explained, gauging everyone's reactions

"So... Klein was someone important to her." Vesta concluded with a sigh

"Yeah."

"Rimuru-sama, if it is okay with you, could you tell me? Is Klein...?" Vesta paused

I gave him a wry smile, "She's dead. The real one, at least. After the loss, Mobius made a... golem copy of her so that she can continue having 'Klein' as a lab assistant."

The term 'ELF' might be too complicated of a word to explain, and he worked with golems before, so he should understand better.

"I see..."