~Luminous~
Ouroboros: "I will not let you pick up Dad!"
Everyone: "NANI?!"
We were all as confused as we were surprised. 'Ouroboros could speak? Since when! And what does he mean by saying "dad"? Also, how the hell did he change his form?!' These were the questions ravaging everyone's mind, but it was a bit different for me, as I had an embarrassed, flushed face, thinking about a certain implication his words held.
Rimuru: "W-what do you mean, Ouroboros?"
When Rimuru asked the question everyone had, Ouroboros hissed at Ranga while glaring at him before rotating and lowering and rubbing his face on Rimuru's.
Ouroboros: "I won't allow anyone to carry you around, Dad! I will carry you to Dwawon myself!"
When he replied, he lifted his head up while his eyes closed and a grin covered his face, giving the feeling that he was puffing his chest, despite being impossible as serpents don't have chests.
Luminous: "But why do you keep calling Rimuru 'dad?"
Ouroboros: "Because he is my dad! He fed me, he got me out, and he loved me! He is obviously my dad!"
His sheer enthusiasm and happiness radiating from his every word, which was made clear from his tail wiggling from side to side, was infectious. A smile appeared on both my and Rimuru's face, as his actions were heart melting.
Rimuru: "Alright, Alright. You will pick us up and transport us to Dwargon. But since when were you able to transform and talk?"
Rimuru patted his head while he asked, making Ouroboros lower his head more while he hissed in a fashion similar to a cat purring. I couldn't help myself but pat him as well.
Ouroboros: "I can talk when I get big, and I felt I could get big when Dad named me, but I didn't know I could talk at the time as I've never tried."
Luminous: "That's good to know. Everyone, please get back to preparing for the trip. Ouroboros, let's get going."
As everybody went back to continue their last preparation, Ouroboros moved in a certain direction before suddenly stopping and going back to Ranga.
Ouroboros: "R..Raa.... Can you tell me where Dawrwon is?"
Ranga let out a sigh, saddened by the fact that he could neither help his lords by picking them up and transporting them, nor his lord's son remembering his name.
Ranga: "I will take the lead. You just have to follow me."
Ouroboros nodded and came back to us. Rimuru got up on him, but extended his hand to me, the one holding mine, the same way a man would help a woman get up a carriage.
Luminous: "Ara~ Aren't you being a gentleman? Have you perhaps fallen to my charms?"
Rimuru: "Perhaps. Or do you want me to prove myself by princess carrying you?"
Luminous: "If you did that, then I might consider your offer... Pfft-"
Rimuru: "Hahahaha... Jokes aside, let me help you get up."
When I saw his beautiful laugh, I couldn't help myself but smile upon seeing his bright expression. He pulled back his hand a bit, helping me get up Ouroboros, whose size got even bigger so that he could make a stable spot near his head while he was moving.
I sat beside Rimuru when Gobta riding on Vinral started moving, followed by Ranga and Ouroboros.
While looking at the forest surrounding us while going up the mountain, I moved a bit closer to Rimuru, and Rimuru did the same. I moved closer to him once again while tightening my hold on his hand. Rimuru did the exact same.
Every time we moved closer to each other, the image in my mind, that of him carrying me like a princess, kept intensifying.
'I... Would like that, but...' A memory in Veldora's cave kept flashing back to me, hindering me from going deeper into my delusions and making me feel even more confused and lost than before.
Luminous: "Rimuru, I think I'm having a light headache..."
Rimuru: "Can I somehow help?"
His tone was worried and his expression changed in a moment, from a calm smile to a slight anxiousness. Seeing his anxiousness and how worried he is about me... Threw me deeper into distress.
Luminous: "Rimuru, can I a-"
Rimuru: "Yes."
Luminous: "... Can you put both of your legs side by side?"
He didn't question why I asked for that, nor did he hesitate as he instantly did what I asked. I didn't wait a moment more and... Let my head fall on his lap.
Rimuru didn't retort at all, but instead, he smiled and started crossing my hair the entire way. We also chatted about a few things, including an explanation of why we're holding hands all the time.
It took less than a day to reach Dwargon, and thankfully, Gobta didn't notice how I was lying on Rimuru's lap. 'I don't know why, but I feel that Gobota won't ever hold a secret.'
We got down off Ouroboros, who instantly returned to being a small snake and coiled around Rimuru's neck, cozily sitting atop the fur collar of the jacket he made just before we left. (It's his cannon blue coat, but smaller, hence it's a jacket)
Ranga went into Rimuru's Shadow, while Vinral stayed back in the forest waiting for us to get back. Then we went to the long cue leading to the city gate, with Gobota ahead of us.
???: "Oi, what is a monster doing here?"
Yet not long after, a bunch of goons came. The bald guy with a scar on his head said while pointing his dagger at Gobota.
Rimuru: "He's here with us."
Bald goon: "What? Is he your porter or something?"
Luminous: "Something like that. Why are you asking? Do you perhaps have a problem with that?"
Bald Goon: "No. I just thought that a filthy monster was slowing the cue, but if he's here with you, then I'm sorry for bothering you."
These were his words before he and his gang went behind us, waiting in the cue.
Luminous: {What was that about?}
Rimuru: {These were the guys that harassed me back then when I first entered Dwargon. I honestly thought that they were some thugs and that they would try to force us out. I didn't expect that they were just racist against monsters.}
......
...
The cue went by peacefully and we reached the gate at mid-noon.
Gate Guard (Kaidou): "O-oh... H-how may I assist you?"
Rimuru: "We want to enter the city. That's why we're here."
Gate Guard: "Ah, right, hahaha... First, we have to check if you have anything dangerous on you."
The guard motioned to another guard, which came our way with a tool similar to a wand with a crystal at its tip. He moved it around us until it reached my waist, where the crystal started glowing next to my rapier.
Luminous: "What is the thing you're holding and moving around us?"
Inspector: "Ah. This is an inspection device. It glows brightly in the vicinity of magical items, magical beings such as monsters, or anything that contains magicules and produces an aura.
"The brightness of the light it emits is dependent on how much magicules said item has, which brings me to the question, why do you have a sword with such intense magical power? Are you perhaps an adventurer?"
'This makes sense. It did dimly glow when it was around us, but most likely due to us suppressing our auras, it barely detected anything.'
Luminous: "Something like that. Why? Are you going to confiscate it?"
Inspector: "No. We, the nation of Dwargo, are proud of our military power which made us never lose a war in the last millennia.
"We are confident that our security will be able to stop anything that might happen, and as a lot of visitors are adventurers, We can't possibly take away their weapons, since most won't feel comfortable and safe if they don't have their weapons at their side."
While the inspector was enthusiastically appraising my rapier, I noticed that the guard wasn't standing there doing anything, but he was appraising us as well.
His attention was on Rimuru, more specifically, his face, with a not-so-well-hidden smile. Then he checked him from head to toe, before looking at his face once again, only for his expression to change into a slightly disappointed one.
After he was done inspecting Rimuru from afar, he changed his focus to me. It took him only a glance at my face for his grin to reach his ears, yet after a quick check, he looked disappointed due to something, which I have a not-so-wild guess about, which is it being about my... proportions.
His... Inspection ended with a frown when he noticed our intertwined hands
Inspector: "Alright. You two are in the clear. Kaidou-San, you can continue."
Kaidou: "A-Ah, right! Ahem... Now, could you please tell me your names?"
Rimuru: "I'm Rimuru and she's Luminous."
Rimuru did as we planned before, to not introduce our last names so as to not give people the... wrong idea, and if we were forced to give, then we would hand them our past lives' last names.
Kaidou: "Rimuru and Luminous... Not on the blacklist, nor have you come or registered here before... Looks clear to me. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Kaidou, the guards' captain. Nice to meet you Rimuru, Luminous."
Gobota: "Hey, you didn't forget about me, right?"
'We totally forgot about you.'
Rimuru: "You could think of him as our porter. He should be clear, right?"
Rimuru Said while looking at the inspector, who nodded his head.
Kaidou: "If so, then there's no problem. I will guide you to an inn you can stay at, you only have to follow me."
Rimuru: {Luminous, isn't it weird that the captain of guards is guiding us to an inn? I thought that they would just let us figure it out ourselves.}
Luminous: {That's correct. It isn't hard to figure out why he's doing that, you just need to look at the faces of the people around us.}
Moving his head around, Rimuru noticed that everyone was staring at us with their thoughts painted all over their faces. They were all jealous that Kaidou was the one escorting us to an inn, and not one of them.
Rimuru: "Thank you Kaidou-san. But, we don't want to head to an inn. We want to know where we can find the best artisans in Dwargon, can you help us with that?"
Kaidou: "Of course! I know the best artisan in all of Dwargon! I will lead you to them, so you have nothing to worry about."
He proudly exclaimed while puffing his chest, not even hiding the fact that he wanted to impress us. 'Being beautiful really is the best.'
Rimuru: "Oh, can one of you please take Gobota to an inn? He sadly can't come with us, but he should be somewhere where we can pick him up later."
Gobota: "Why can't I come with you, Rimuru-sama?"
Luminous: "Because you will mess everything up. If you came with us, we might become wanted by the nation itself. You only got clothes to wear today, let alone knowing how to deal with other people."
My cold tone sharpened by the truth pierced through Gobota's confidence, and possibly even his body as he fell down to his knees while clutching his heart.
Gobota: "R-Rimuru-Sama, that's not true, right?"
What he said wasn't a question, it was a plea, a plea for Rimuru to agree with him as Gobota was already moved to tears.
'Gobota, Rimuru likes me way more than he likes you. Even if you were correct, he would still side with me.'
Rimuru: "Gobota... Her words are a bit exaggerated, but what she said is true. We can't bring you with us as you might do something inappropriate. But hey, look at the good side! You get to stay in a comfortable place where you can be as lazy as you want, right?"
Gobota: "Oh! Then I can go to the inn, while you deal with the complicated stuff, right Rimuru-Sama?"
Rimuru: "Right. Oh, and that's fine by you, Kaidou-san, right?"
Kaidou: "Yes. Hey, one of you escort him to the closest free guild inn(*), and don't you dare slack off on checking up on everyone entering just because I'm away for a bit, got it?!"
Inspector: "Don't worry, they won't since I'm here. Now go, a riot is about to happen due to how long you're taking."
The inspector pointed to his back, which was a group of angry people impatiently waiting for their turn at the check-up.
We left the gate and entered the city inside the mountains, Dwargon, with Kaidou in the lead. He explained to us a few things while we were walking as if he was our tour guide.
He just explained things that anyone who knows a bit about Dwargon would know, with nothing out of the ordinary happening. Yes, having everyone in a 40-meter (133-ish feet) radius rudely staring at us is ordinary.
Rimuru: "Luminous, Ouroboros is acting a bit weird-"
Luminous: "I think I know why..."
Kaidou: "Hm? I something wro-"
Rimuru: "A strong monster is about to attack. Evacuate as many people as you could!"
Kaidou looked like he was about to retort, yet when he saw us taking our fighting position and getting our weapons out, he swallowed his words and started alarming people about the monster.
We were facing the opening of a few mines, anticipating the approaching monster.
《It's an 【Armorasurus】, but a bit different, as it's stronger than the usual ones. Don't worry though, it's something just one of you could handle without much of a problem.》
Ouroboros: {Dad, I want to help! Can I get big to help?}
Luminous: {Ouroboros, you're talking to both of us at once, try to focus more on making it with Rimuru only next time, and no, you can't transform, as it would be a big mess seeing a large snake, like you, in the middle of the city would bring much more panic.}
Ouroboros: {Okay...}
People came out running from the mines, their entrances started to shake, with their rocky ceilings falling apart. I drew out my rapier as the sound of its body stomping on the ground and walls became closer and closer.
Random dwarf 1: "AHHHH! HELPPPPP!"
Random dwarf 2: "Some save me, please!!"
Random dwarf 3: "Help us! The monster is way stronger than- AAAAHHHHH!"
The panic-filled shouts of the dwarves filled the air with the sound of flesh being torn and stones being crushed. Yet the noises weren't the only things creeping out of the mines.
A blue hue painted the jagged inner walls of the mines, with most of the screams ending as every able-bodied dwarf came out, albeit with fatal injuries.
*Skeeeeeeeeeeechhhhh!!!*
*Boom*
*Boooom*
*BOOOOOM*
A screech akin to metal grinding against other metal cut through the panic. The sound of it slamming the mines, as its walls and entrance almost completely crumpled, alarmed everyone of its distance from us.
*Chkaaaaachhhhhhh!!!*
Another screech came accompanied by the blue light emitted by the monster. Its yellow eyes glared at everyone from the blue shadows of the mines for a moment, before focusing on us, me and Rimuru.
It lunged out of the entrance of the mines at us, at that moment, I was able to see what it exactly looked like.
Its appearance was that of a large, gray,【Armorasurus】, with clusters of magisteel ore sprouting from its body in the shapes of crude spikes.
Before it reached us, both I and Rimuru coated our weapons with 【Blood Aura】.
We lunged at it while it was still in mid-air, allowing me to cut its front right leg, while Rimuru sliced its abdomen, making it gush heaps of blood on the ground, most of which was absorbed by my rapier.
It fell on the ground with the grace of a corpse, spinning a few times before regaining its footing, yet it was already too late, as Rimuru shot a ball of fire at it before jumping towards it and eating it while it was amidst the fire.
Luminous:{Why did you eat it instead of just killing it? You always do that after they are killed, and why inside of fire this time?}
Rimuru: {I don't know why, I just felt something in my soul moving me to do so...} (I definitely didn't forget about this before! lol)
《I ask him to put up a fire screen and eat it inside of the fire. If Master used 【Predator】 it would spread suspicion about your abilities, and whether or not you two are even humans. We don't want to alarm everyone in Dwargon about us.》
Luminous: {That makes sense, especially since the disappearance of the monster's corpse could be explained by saying that the fire burned it. But on the mention of the monster...}
《I think it's just an 【Armorasurus】 that mutated to use magisteel ore, since it lives in a magisteel cave, it would be advantageous to it.》
Rimuru: {That explains why the caves were running out of magisteel and how they had a hard time dealing with it last time.}
Luminous: {Regardless, we should go and help the injured.}
We left the fire which was incinerating the mutant monster's corpse. After looking around, it looked like there were not many who were in danger of death at the moment, at least outside of the mines.
Kaidou: "Rimuru-San, Luminous-San,*huff* are you okay? Where is the *huff* monster? I brought the squadron from the army to help us defeat it!"
Kaidou, who came rushing to us, asked with a bunch of soldiers standing ready behind him.
Rimuru ignored everything he said and brought a barrel out of his 【Stomach】, or from their view, out of nowhere.
Rimuru: "This barrel is full of full recovery potions. I want you to take it and use it to help as many people as you can. And don't worry about the amount, I have a few dozen barrels full of it."
Rimuru made two more barrels appear, and despite having a confused look on their faces, every three soldiers took a barrel and started helping as many people as they could, the other soldiers were looking around for the monster.
Luminous: "We killed the monster. There should be nothing left of it other than ash at this moment. Instead of standing here doing nothing, go to the mines and help the ones stuck there!"
The soldiers were baffled but understood their priorities at the moment and went into the mines looking for survivors. We were supplying them will full recovery potions due to the number of injured miners being higher than expected.
......
...
Kaidou: "Thank you! If not for the two of you, the number of casualties would've been astronomical! How could we thank you?"
Rimuru: "We don't need anything, just the best artisans you know of."
Kaidou: "I was going to do that already. But since it will take a day or two for me to fully report and deal with this mess... "
He handed Rimuru a card with his job information on it with something written on the back of it: 'Everything they buy will be paid for by me.'
Kaidou: "With this, you can go around the city buying whatever you want and it would be on me. Don't worry about spending too much, as the reward I will get will more than cover it. I know it might not be much, but it's the best I could do at the moment."
Luminous: "Don't worry. This is more than enough for us. We were just going to ask for the help of a few artisans and leave the city as we didn't have money on us, but that problem is thanks to you."
Kaidou: "Is that so? Then I hope that you enjoy your stay here."
Kaidou bowed to us and went to his soldiers, giving them some instructions.
Rimuru: "So, what do you think about taking a stroll around the city?"
Luminous: "Oh? Is that perhaps an innuendo? Regardless, it does sound nice, especially after all this time waiting in line and dealing with soldiers."
Rimuru: "Well then, let's get going!"
A.N/ 3393 words. Took a while to come out due to me being the GodLord of procrastination that I am.
(*) I said "free guild inn" and by that, I mean: You know how at bars and guild buildings they have a few rooms upstairs that can be used the same way as inns? Well, the free guild is soo dang big, that they built the inns separately next to the guild building/bar.
Anyway, what do you think of their relationship? I'm trying to make it so that they seem more relaxed with each other and annoyingly saying things that would've made them embarrassed before without even a second thought, like Luminous' "He likes me more than you".
The plot is starting to rear its head, hehehehe...
And I might just be going more insane than before, or it might be due to how messy the process of making these chapters is, but I feel like the quality is going down.
By the messy process I mean I sometimes take ten minutes of raw procrastination to write 5 more words. Or a day between each paragraph, so my brain gets a bit messy when it comes to that.
The notice before (which I'm sure none of you read) was utter bullshit, as my plans have shifted a bit, and instead of making one, 7k words long chapter, I will make two 3.5k words long chapters.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, have a good life, and see you whenever the next chapter comes out!