New Relationships
It's not very surprising, given how quick her people are to do so, but between how many guests they have with King Gazel and all his men, and the averted potential disaster of clashing with them, they end up throwing a feast.
She'd been initially concerned there would be tensions, but that was honestly foolish. Her people take her word as gospel just as they usually do and welcome Gazel and his men that she'd personally invited in with open arms. Her people are more than happy to have friendly chats with Gazel's all over the plaza. Really, the only thing remotely close to a hiccup was King Gazel's men being a little awkward at first, but it had little ground to stand on in the face of her people's open friendliness. All too quickly Gazel's men are laughing, chatting, dining, and drinking happily with her people with an ease like they've been friends for years.
While she wasn't expecting him to start causing problems, even King Gazel wasn't making a fuss, seemingly too deferential and meek to Hakuro as his old Master for that.
She's personally sitting on the steps leading up to the main government building as she watches over their people, both her and Gazel's higher ups nearby a few steps down from the step she and Gazel were on and mingling together. Mostly peacefully, though she notices there seems to be something of a rivalry between Soei and someone Gazel calls Anrietta. From what she hears of the conversation, Anrietta is in charge of Gazel's spies and the like, and her people were apparently attempting to observe them for a while, but kept getting caught and chased off by Soei and the like, which she seemed to take rather personally. It seems to be more professional jabs than anything serious though, so while she'll keep an eye on it just to make sure it doesn't get heated, she leaves it be.
She reaches for her soulmates and Rowena mentally, <Why is this the first time I'm hearing of the intrusions?>
Ema answers without hesitation, <Because you're the ruler. It's not your job to know every singlething that happens in the Forest. It's your job to look at the bigger picture and guide it and the laws and all that. Soei, the Dryads, Rowena, and the Dragonewts have it well in hand.>
Diablo, who was on his way back with more drinks, tacks on, <Plus, you'd just hyperfocus and it would stress you out unnecessarily. Like Ema told you, they have things handled, plus Rowena keeps an eye on things for any patterns. There was no reason to bring it to you.>
Rowena pipes up then, <Indeed Creator. As they said, and to that extent, it was decided I'd keep track of Soei's reports and only bring it to your attention if there seemed to be a problem.>
She accepts the cup Diablo presents to her, <I suppose…>
He flashes her a smile, and their mental conversation is broken into by Jaine, Gazel's Court Arch-Wizard, who seems to have gotten distracted by Diablo returning and shakes her old head before murmuring, “Reincarnated husband or not, I still find it ludicrous that the Black Primordial acts like a butler. The audacity to assign such a being to such a role…”
Diablo flashes her a smile, “Actually, I'm usually her house husband and later the stay at home parent. I waited too long to be content with that this life though, and Rimuru already has people to do maintenance on the household anyhow. So I chose to meet the desire to stay near her with the desire to take care of her in the middle and assigned myself to the role.”
Jaine opens her mouth, but she just ends up silently staring for a moment before closing it and looking away, before muttering under her breath, “Still struggling to wrap my head around a Primordial Daemon being in such a role, but I suppose I can sort of see the logic…”
Apparently not wanting to deal with what seems to be a mind bending concept for her, she shakes it off and turns back to Shuna to pick back up on the conversation they were having about magic before Jaine got distracted. King Gazel is looking down at where Diablo has settled himself a couple steps lower than her, so close he's practically plastered to the side of her leg which he leans over to rest his head against with a content hum when she starts carding her fingers through his hair, “I must admit, I can't quite blame Jaine for her disbelief…” He shakes his head, “But, there's not much point lingering on it, since I doubt it will become any less strange even if I contemplate it for years.”
She flashes a smile at him, “I would try to get used to the notion. My husband isn't going anywhere. Or, not permanently anyway.” She falters slightly as she looks at her husband with slightly furrowed brows and he smiles reassuringly, “I can't guarantee I won't have to have him do other tasks later, though I'd prefer to avoid it where possible given how long he waited for me.”
He turns his head to press a soothing kiss to her leg, “If it happens, it happens and there's not a whole lot to be done about it.”
Well, he says that, but a split second later, a contemplative expression enters his eyes. Before she can say anything to him, mentally or not, Anrietta, who's apparently disengaged from the professional shit talking she was doing with Soei, shakes her head, “You do have a… rather distinct theme though, if I may, Lady Rimuru. I can't look anywhere without seeing subtle skulls, skeletal hands, scythes, lethally poisonous flowers, scrollwork, dragons…”
That seems to pull Diablo's attention from whatever he was thinking about, and he grins lightly, “That's because the people of Jura-Tempest adopted her personal sense of style on their own, and she's what otherworlder’s would call a goth.”
It's absolutely a knee-jerk reaction when she instantly counters, “I am not a goth!”
He shakes his head at her with a grin, turning his face to brush another kiss to her leg, “You keep telling yourself that Xiǎolóng.”
Anrietta tilts her head, “I've been curious, but what's that about if I may ask? Xiǎolóng,” She does her best to carefully pronounce it, but still doesn't do a great job, “that is. It's clearly not your name here. Was it your name in a previous life?”
She shakes her head, “No, just a nickname. It's from what was my husband's native language in that life. It means ‘Little Dragon’, as even though I was only eight when we met, apparently it took all of an hour, if that, for him to decide I could be as ferocious as one.”
Understanding washes over Anrietta's expression, and she nods her understanding. The conversations, both that she takes part in and just observes, continue to flow, casual and friendly. The sun has just properly set when Gazel, who's been growing more casual himself given Hakuro's presence, voice calm and content, suddenly murmurs out, “Rimuru, this nation of yours…”
She turns to him, “Yes?”
He tilts his head at her, “Are you up to forming a covenant with me?”
She tilts her head back, “A covenant? Like an alliance?”
He nods lightly, “Mm. You said earlier that you didn't much care about other nations as long as they aren't hostile but are open to forming alliances. I, personally, would prefer to ally with your nation from what I've seen of it thus far.”
She hums, “I'm certainly not against it, from what I myself saw of your nation previously, as well as you yourself back then and now.” Her voice turns thoughtful as she murmurs more to herself, “The Armed Nation of Dwargon is a pretty weighty nation to ally with…” She shakes the thoughts off, giving him a friendly smile, “Yes, if you're amenable to such, I'm more than happy to agree to it myself. What sort of alliance, covenant as you called it before, were you thinking of? Not necessarily the details, we can hash those out tomorrow. More broad strokes.”
He smiles back, “I'm happy to hear it. And honestly? From what little I've observed, I think it would be beneficial for the both of us if we went all in on it. Not just non-aggression and an agreement to aid one another, but open sharing of technologies and the like.”
She nods slowly, “Mm. That sounds good to me, Gazel. We can sort out the details and get it all written down tomorrow, but you've got yourself a deal.”
He smiles, taking a hand off of his mug of some alcohol her people have been lightly experimenting with on the side and offering it to her, which she shakes with a smile of her own.
There's still the details to look at tomorrow, but it's been a pretty damn good day all things considered.
She's almost bemused when Gazel shows up again a couple days later, this time entirely on his own, “Rimuru! I'm back as I promised!”
She smiles, “So I can see. I admittedly thought it would be later though, not immediately. Did something come up?”
He laughs, “Of course I came sooner! I had something I wanted to bring to my fellow pupil! But really, can you believe it? A hundred man security detail, and not a single one noticed me leaving! Such slackers! It's right back to drills when I return!”
She tilts her head in question even as she feels a spike of amusement. Gazel seriously seemed intent on being some sort of ‘dojo senpai’ to her or something because they both learned from Hakuro. It was kind of adorable to be honest, but she has a feeling he'd get upset if she mentioned that, so she hasn't said a word, “Oh did you? I look forward to seeing what it is you brought me.”
He laughs boisterously, grabbing a bag off of his Pegasus and setting it on the ground. Diablo steps forward to open it up, and she's rather taken aback to see a rather confused Vesta inside. Gazel chuckles in amusement, “I banished him from the palace as punishment for his previous scheming, but it's a waste to let him just play around for too long! There's nothing I hate more than wasting good talent. So I brought him here as part of the technology sharing part of our covenant, since while he can have his problems, which he seems to be learning from thankfully, he's a rather brilliant researcher.”
Vesta looks up, still confused but a bit hopeful now, “Your…majesty…”
Gazel humphs at him, “Do not get the wrong idea Vesta. I have not absolved you, but as I said previously, I have great expectations for you. You may no longer serve me, but I hereby grant you permission to pursue your duties here. Make use of your natural talents and show me you can live an honest, fruitful life for a change!”
Kaijin, who had hurried up and knelt to him as Gazel was explaining bringing Vesta, stutters out, “K-King Gazel?! Should I take this to mean you're fine with letting us take every Dwarven technology you have?”
Gazel laughs, “That is part of my covenant with Rimuru, is it not? But I can understand you're a dutiful man, so let me say this right now; I want you to take this nation and harness it to create technologies like none seen before. You understand me? Your research should not rely on previous perspectives- you must work more freely than that, as you conceive new ideas. This is the whole reason I have allowed the free exchange of technologies between Dwargon and Jura-Tempest.
She glances at Vesta as he breaks down in tears, but rather than looking upset, he looks relieved, “I swear your majesty! I swear! I'll live up to your expectations- nay! I'll surpass them! Thank you for giving me another chance! Thank you! Thank-”
He can't seem to keep control of himself anymore as he starts sobbing almost uncontrollably, and with a sigh, she glances at Ema, who steps forward to help him up and back towards the town proper, since they'd gone out to meet Gazel at the edge of it in confusion.
She turns back to Gazel as they head off, “We'll take care of him.” Then her voice turns dry, “You should probably head back before you give your people aneurysms though.”
He laughs boisterously, “That I should!” Then he mounts his Pegasus, but just before he takes off, he fishes something out of the saddlebags on it, leaning down and forward to hold something out, “Let me give you this. This communication crystal will let us keep in contact.” She steps forward to accept the almost mirror-like crystal a bit bigger than her head, and Gazel straightens once she has a firm hold of it, “Vesta should be able to set it up for you. Use it to call us in case of an emergency. Farewell for now!”
She nods with a smile, “Until next time Gazel. Safe travels.”
He smiles at her before taking off with his Pegasus. She shakes her head in amusement. When she'd first met Gazel during the trial on the visit to Dwargon, he'd been all serious and no nonsense, barring when he was mad like when he learned of the guards having their request for Potions being denied. It had been the middle of a trial, but by and large, she hadn't gotten the impression he was acting particularly different then he usually did during formal occasions, especially given there hadn't been any surprised reactions from anyone else nor anything similar. Everyone else in court had reacted like by and large, everything was to be expected.
Since he found out she was Hakuro's student though, he's seemed to drop the formalities around her entirely, probably due to the fact he seriously seems intent on a sort of fellow student senpai-kohai relationship with her. He could be pretty laid back and amusing when he wasn't being serious though to be honest.
Heading off to Ema's office, she finds her with Vesta, who was red eyed sipping at tea, Ema probably having given him some to try and help him calm down. He tenses and looks like he's about to shoot to his feet when she enters, but she waves him to remain seated, since even if her people were learning the manners of her first life, Vesta wasn't obligated to heed them and he was rather emotional to boot. Besides, he wasn't sitting at a table or desk or anything, so it didn't twinge that part of her brain as hard anyway, “So, I suppose we'll need to figure out what your research will be and where we'll put you.”
Diablo hums, “Do you know anything about Potion production Vesta?”
The man nods quickly, “Oh yes, I most certainly do!”
She glances at Diablo and tilts her head, having picked up on where her husband was going, “You aren't wrong that it's a good thing to start with while he finds his footing and other potential avenues to research.” She turns her gaze back to the confused Vesta, “I have a Skill that can both store and process things. For reasons we don't know right now, when it processes Hipokute into Potions, it makes what an Analysis Skill of mine calls a Full Potion, a step above a High Potion that can even regrow limbs and heal basically anything as long as the body is still alive. I've been meaning to have people start to look into why it happens to potentially be able to make them without needing my Skill for the sake of Jura-Tempest not having to rely on me for it.”
Vesta had grown shocked at the Potion description, then absolutely excited, practically wiggling in his seat, “I'm definitely the man for the job Miss- I mean, Lady Rimuru! I know enough about Potions and such things to start trying to look into it!”
She nods, “I'm glad to hear it. Which I suppose mostly makes the question of where to put you. I mean, strictly speaking, given Gabil and one hundred Dragonewts are in charge of cultivating Hipokute in the Sealed Cave, but there's no infrastructure there, so even if it would technically be more secure away from prying eyes, it's not necessarily the best location…”
Vesta grins happily, “Just because there isn't existing infrastructure doesn't mean I could set up a lab there. Perhaps even some sort of living quarters off to the side to save travel time and also avoid the dangers of said travel.”
She tilts her head, “We'll figure out exactly what we're doing. I should take you to meet Gabil and get a look for yourself at what's there though.” Her lips twitch, “You'll probably get along pretty well with Gabil actually.” At his head tilt, she smiles, “He's a Dragonewt, the son of the Chief of the tribe at Lake Sisu. His pride almost got him to do something incredibly ill thought out and the only reason he didn't was because the circumstances drastically changed at the last minute. I gave him more humble work with cultivating the Hipokute to learn some humility, and he's sort of trying to redeem himself.”
Vesta smiles down at his feet, “Yeah, I can see why you'd think we'd get along.”
She nods and starts to turn towards the door, prompting Vesta to climb to his feet, “We'll pick Kaijin back up on our way so you two can discuss how exactly to set things up with your lab, and maybe some proper lighting since right now the Dragonewts only have torchlight so they can see what they're doing, but I doubt that's good enough for a lab.” She glances at him, “You aren't going to have problems with Kaijin, right?”
He shakes his head, “No Lady Rimuru, I've learned my lesson. If anything I-” His gaze drops and shame flickers across his face, “I owe Kaijin an apology for everything. I have no clue if he'll forgive me since after everything I'm not even sure I deserve forgiveness but- I at least owe him a proper apology even if he can't.”
She hums, “Kaijin doesn't seem like much one to hold grudges if the other party has learned their lesson and apologized, so I'm sure he will, but even if he doesn't, he's professional enough not to let it interfere with things. Especially given something like figuring out how to make Full Potions without having to rely on my Skill is fairly important overall. Oh! There's so much going on with setting everything up I spaced it, but I'd also like you to observe the transformation and try and get a more solid idea of how much magic it takes. Perhaps we should set things up so you can do the same with magic ore while you're at it.”
Vesta blinks rapidly, “Transformation?”
She glances over at him, “Yeah, you know? The mutations from grass to Hipokute and iron to magic ore? I've been wanting to know how much magic it takes for the transformations to happen and if they occur faster with more magic or if they just require a minimum of magic over a set amount of time or something.”
She takes a few more steps before she realizes she's on her own. Turning back, she sees Vesta stopped dead staring at her with wide eyes, and her soulmates are equally as taken aback. Diablo is the one who pipes up, “...Hipokute is just mutated grass?”
She tilts her head in bemusement, “Yes? Is that not common knowledge?”
Ema bursts out at that, “Good gods no!”
She pulls her head back in surprise at the outburst, “I mean, even if it isn't, you know I had the Dryads seed grass in Gabil and his men's work area though.”
Diablo makes a noise like he's dying, “We all thought you were just trying to prepare the ground or something strange like that! Or maybe it was some weird part of some process you were testing, not-! Not that you were literally seeding what's supposed to become Hipokute itself!”
She blinks rapidly, “And you didn't think to ask? You know I haven't been here long enough to know what's common knowledge and what isn't. Though, I suppose that explains why I couldn't find anything about the magic and/or time required for the mutations to occur in the books I got from Dwargon.”
Diablo scrubs at his face, “Yeah. Yeah I know. That's absolutely on us.”
Vesta looks between them with wide eyes before they drop to the ground as he murmurs, “I'm going to be learning a lot here…”
She tilts her head, “So can we get moving, or..?” That seems to galvanize the three and they move to catch up so they can start off again. She lifts her gaze to the ceiling, “Especially since, now that I think of it, another thing I've been spacing was that I wanted Kaijin and Kurobe to run some experiments on alloys maybe, since magic ore and therefore magisteel does technically originate from iron and there are ways to improve that, so I've been wondering if…”
Ema sounds a bit tired, “Something to bring up to Kaijin and Kurobe and let them figure out.”
She hums in agreement trying to recall other things she's spaced given the sheer amount of things going on.
She's wandering through the Forest, having been bullied by Diablo about working too much again. Diablo wasn't happy about it since it was an entirely different kind of work, but since they wouldn't let her do anything around town, she'd chosen to head out into the Forest to see if she can't find any more plants she's unfamiliar with that could potentially be useful.
From the way he's grumbling slightly about how this isn't what he meant about taking a break from behind her, but actually legitimately taking a break and relaxing, she wouldn't put it past him to start getting even more specific about what constitutes working or maybe even just plan out potential things to do during breaks and just let her pick from those rather than letting her pick something herself. Well, barring if she wants to do something that isn't on the list of options but isn't some form of work anyway. It's not a matter of him being controlling in general after all, since the only things he's trying to control is her workaholic tendencies.
She suddenly turns her head when her Multidimensional Perception picks up on a fight, but when she focuses on it, she realizes it's just some bug monsters getting into it. Or, that's what she thinks at first anyway. But after the first impression from her glance, she realizes it's some sort of beetle looking creature, but it's very clearly trying to protect what looks like a wasp from a sort of Praying Mantis.
Without hesitation, she starts that way quickly. Protecting something from an entirely different species implies intelligence after all. Which means they may be magic born, but unlike the Mantis, they aren't monsters.
And it doesn't disprove them being intelligent, but she has to reevaluate again a beat later, when she observes the tearful wasp whimpering in a female voice, “Brother…”(1)
She has no clue how a beetle and a wasp could be related, but they're still intelligent if it's a matter of a brother trying to desperately protect his sister. Diablo, taken a bit by surprise by her suddenly hurrying off, scrambles to catch up, “Trouble?”
She hums, “Not for the nation.”
She gets there in time to see the beetle, already fairly hurt, manage to remove one of the Mantis’ legs, immediately sending a water blade to cleave the Mantis in two before its swinging arm can strike another blow to the beetle. It tenses as it whirls towards her, scampering between them and the wasp. Diablo hums, “Ah, intelligence then. Not surprising given they appear to be Invaders though.”
She glances at him, “Invaders?”
He shrugs, “A sort of nickname for a species from another plane. Technically they're called Insectoids, the wasp specifically seems to be an Army Wasp, but the species has been pushing to invade into and take over this world for a while.” The two tense, but Diablo shakes his head, “Mind, given how immature these two seem to be, I doubt they were sent here.”
The wasp pipes up, voice hesitant and quiet, “No, no we not… Uncle… try kill us… Brother grab me and escape…”
She makes a noise of understanding, “So, not trying to invade, at least not these two, just fleeing an assassination attempt.”
Diablo hums, “So it seems.”
The wasp seems rather anxious, asking in that quiet voice, full of strain and nerves, “Strong one… protect us?”
She blinks quickly, “Mm. If you two aren't here to try to invade this world, I don't really have a reason to turn a couple kids like you away.”
That, and well, she has always had a soft spot for kids... Particularly if they have some sort of trouble they need help with. She removes a Full Potion from her Imaginary Space, not bothering with a bottle or anything as she just manipulates the fluid itself into a ball before splashing it into the wasp as she moves over to the beetle, which had tensed up and lurched forward at her tossing the liquid at the wasp before relaxing as her wounds close up. It seems to convince him she's genuinely trying to help, so while he's a bit wary, he lets her approach and examine the damage to his exoskeleton that the Full Potion didn't heal, “Well, this is a problem, how to deal with it…”
Diablo tilts his head, “Given the hardness it's supposed to have, I suppose even if you made it fully steel thread, it still wouldn't exactly work well as a filler.”
She shakes her head, “Probably not, and given from my understanding limbs aren't regained during evolution, I imagine his exoskeleton wouldn't be repaired during it either.”
Diablo nods, “Probably not, no.”
She chews her lip before a thought occurs. Slime cells weren't really set to anything in particular, sort of like stem cells, so perhaps… on a hunch, she lets go of the mimicry on her hand, letting it seep into and fill in the cracks even as she pulls out a little more Full Potion, disconnecting the section of her Slime body acting as filler and sprinkling a little some more Full Potion on the beetle at the same time. Almost immediately, the idea that had flashed through her head is proven correct when the Slime she'd left behind basically immediately fuses with the exoskeleton even as it changes into exoskeleton itself.
Once she's checked him over again, something he seems to less warily accept and more calmly accept, she nods firmly, “Well then, that seems to have worked. So, you asked me for protection, yes?” The wasp murmurs its agreement in its broken speech and she hums, “Well, first things first would be names.”
She taps her chin thoughtfully for a moment. Honestly, it's entirely possible she's named a few too many monsters who really don't care if it's on the nose, since her brain immediately thinks of apiaries and derives ‘Apito’ and refuses to budge. She doesn't know a whole lot about beetles though, so her brain doesn't immediately jump to something else for him. That's okay though. She's gotten into the habit of falling back on things like references to species for things like a good portion of the Goblins, only coming up with more unique names when she couldn't really think of more ‘Gob’ names, or in where they're going like with the Orcs, but there's no reason she can't come up with something more unique.
After a few moments in which the two wait patiently, she settles on one, smiling at them, she looks at the wasp first, “Your name is Apito.” Then she looks over at the beetle, “And you're Zegion(2).” Then she tilts her head, “Which brings us to the second question of where to put you. The town may not be suitable with the fact you can't exactly open doors, and I would hate to lock you out of the majority of it…”
Diablo pipes up, “They could go over to the Dryad and Treant settlement. I doubt they'd mind. Actually, out of curiosity, are you capable of making honey?”
Apito seems somewhat excited about that, “Yes! Can!”
She smiles and rubs Apito's head, “We've actually been looking into how to secure some for various reasons, but haven't really been successful yet.” Mostly because regular bees and the like wouldn't… do well in such a dangerous environment as the Forest of Jura, and while the bee monsters around here produce honey, it's… not good honey, “It could be rather helpful. And honestly, given it's the Dryad and Treant settlement, it's practically a guarantee the flowers there are the highest quality which would undoubtedly have effect on the honey quality…” She shakes herself, “I'm getting sidetracked though. Why don't we head over that way and get you two settled.”
Apito agrees for the both of them quite happily, and they start off. She gently asks questions regarding how they ended up in the situation they did, learning as much as she can of the situation in case they ever show up. That isn't all of course, she also gets to know the two as much as she can without pushing too much. Zegion is fairly quiet, but he actually can talk, and better than Apito at that. They're good kids in general though, and she very pointedly ignores her husband's expression of fond exasperated amusement.
She's not even surprised when the Dryads and the handful of Orcs around their settlement for material transportation purposes have already started putting together a shelter that can accommodate the two by the time they arrive.
Much to Diablo's hilarity, while they'd respected her absolute refusal to name it after her specifically, they'd apparently been… intent on the fact Jura-Tempest had her last name wasn't enough for them. Their compromise and solution? They'd named the damn town Xiǎo-lóng. Diablo found it hilarious. He and Ema and Rowena were all traitors and helped them slip it past her.
She's on her way towards the check in with Kaijin when the Replications furthest out east and a bit south registers a colossal amount of magic hurling straight towards Xiǎo-lóng, as straight and true as an arrow, making it incredibly clear it was aiming for them.
It's moving at breathtaking speed, so she quickly changes direction and hurries outside of town to potentially intercept whatever it is, Diablo hot on her heels.
It's apparently a good idea, since whatever it is adjusts it's heading towards her. It sort of implies it's either some sort of magic with a target lock on her or a living being.
She gets her answer a moment later, when it crashes down in front of her making a decent crater, and as the dust settles it reveals the magic mass is a younger teenage girl of about fourteen in an alarmingly revealing outfit given her age. She's radiating an insane amount of power, and she's got a huge grin on her face as she gazes at her with burning interest.
None of that's what's most important about her.
Well, her age is, especially in conjunction with- given the ties to-! …It breaks her heart. The girl begins to puff out her chest, but before she can say anything, the surprise and heartbreak fades enough for her to speak, “You poor thing. It must be so hard, being so utterly split and torn between two different things. Practically at the whims of things you can't control.”
The girl falters, “I- What?” Then she laughs a little awkwardly, but there's a certain strain in it, “W-What are you talking about?”
It's not surprising that she'd react like that, given Diablo quickly reaches over the soul corridor to fill her in on who was before her, specifically the Demon Lord Milim Nava, the daughter of Veldanava. She detects a fair bit of confusion from him, but she can also feel that he trusts her judgement, her ability to see more than he can. Almost absently, she sends back what she's seeing and he sucks in a sharp breath even as she steps towards the suddenly nervous looking Milim, “I'm talking about the damage that literally prevents your mind from being able to mature,” Milim's eyes go wide and she starts almost fanatically searching her face, “trapping you into its more childish nature, locking you into its impulses. And utterly at odds with the genius you possess that's experienced thousands of years.”
Milim's eyes tear up a bit, her voice heartbreakingly desperate, “There really is something wrong with me?”
She reaches up to stroke a hand over her head, “Nothing that you're to blame for my sweet girl.”
Milim's tears spill “There really is a problem! It-” She hiccups a sob, “It reality isn't my fault!’ Somewhat desperately, she looks at her with wide wild eyes, “I've tried telling people that! That it's not my fault! That I really can't control it! But-” She hiccups again, “But no one ever believed me! They just said I wasn't t-trying hard enough!”
She holds her arms open in a silent offer, and Milim all but collapses forward into them crying her heart out. She hugs her tightly around the rib area with one arm, even as her other wraps around her shoulders to caress her hair soothingly on the other side of her head, “Oh sweet child. You've done so well with what you were dealing with.” She presses a kiss to her forehead, “You've done beautifully sweet girl, I'm proud of you.”
That only seems to hit Milim even harder though, and she has to bite back anger. She was a child. Perhaps not if you looked at her chronological age but mentally and even physically... Has no one ever told her they were proud of her? She had to hear it from a woman who was a stranger?
She just shushes her, murmurs soothing words, and gently sways them while she cries her heart out and then calms down. When she does, she seems rather embarrassed as she takes a reluctant step back, “S-Sorry, I just-” Her voice drops lower in volume, small and surprisingly fragile given what Diablo filled her in on, “N-No one has ever understood me. it's fair though, since I didn't even understand what was wrong with me myself. But everyone always just- Like I said before, they just said it was my fault, or that I wasn't trying hard enough, or-!”
She reaches forward to tuck part of her bangs behind her ear, “It's alright. It must've been so hard on you.” Milim nods miserably, and she smiles, “It'll be okay though. I'm a reincarnated transmigrant, and I've lived in multiple worlds. One of them had treatments for that if you'd like. You can stay here and we'll look into translating it into this world's magic.”
Milim gives her a hesitant hopeful smile, her voice going quiet again with tentative hope and happiness, “I'd like that.”
Diablo has been quietly letting her and Milim talk, but he pipes up at that, though his voice is as gentle as hers has been with Milim, “Then, how about we head into town rather than just standing around out here.”
Milim jolts. From the way she'd adjusted course when she left town, she had to have Skills that would let her realize he was there too, but she seems to have forgotten about him in her emotional turmoil, “Noir? I did see you were here, now that I think about it, but why..?”
He smiles gently as he offers his hand and helps her up the smallish -in proportion to what it could be- crater Milim had made, “You recall how I told you about mine and one of the two Near Primordials’ wife? But I asked you not to mention it to Guy because I was messing with him?” She nods and he gestures towards her, “Rimuru here is her.”
Milim seems to grow adorably excited at that, “Oh! Oh, oh! Really?!” She beams at her, “Noir and the Near Primordials actually told me a bit about you!” She laughs a little, “They did say you were a genius but they really weren't kidding! Spotting my problem in seconds, I-” Then she shakes her head, seeming to calm down a bit, “Sorry, I- That childish side got me.”
She smiles gently at her, “That's quite alright dear. I should probably warn you actually, even with the treatment, your brain will still need to actually mature, so you'll probably still have those impulses for a few years at least. It's more that treating it would let your brain actually go through the maturation process. And even then, you've spent so long in this state, it's rather likely it's influenced your personality to be more childish in general, it's more that it should no longer be to such an extent or be impulses you can't control, more along the lines of mischievous ideas that you can chose to act on rather than impulses you're at the whims of.”
Milim giggles, “That's okay! A few years isn't anything to bat an eye at! And at least I'd be able to grow up!” She tilts her head, “Well, mentally anyway. No clue about my body.”
She hums, “You are Veldanava's child, yes? And therefore part True Dragon?” Milim nods, “Then, combined with what I can see with my Skill, it's likely that your physical growth has been stunted by the damage to your magic calculation area and the way it's spilled over to affecting your brain's ability to mature. Honestly, as much as you've gone through because of it, it's likely only the fact you're Veldanava's child and it saved you that kept it from being lethal, given the level of damage I can see would easily kill anyone else. If I had to take a guess, your body was likely too busy trying to deal with the damage or at least keep it from worsening to protect you fully, which is why it affected your brain as it did.”
Milim's gaze wonders thoughtfully, “That makes sense, if it would kill practically anyone else, then it's not a small thing it was dealing with…”
She nods, “Yes. And forgive me for presuming, but given your physical age, you were rather young when the overclocking of your magic calculation area occurred. Undoubtedly given even such things age with us, your body was even less equipped to deal with it.”
Milim nods at the latter part, but tilts her head, “Magic calculation area? Overclocking?”
She smiles gently at her, “Mm. I suppose some would disagree with me explaining it to you since it's a heavy topic for a child, but between the way it's affecting you and your chronological lifetime and genius, you certainly have every right to know. Obviously you're familiar with Spiritual lifeforms, but you are aware that's one of the levels between a physical body and a soul, yes?”
Milim nods, “And you're aware below that is the Astral body? Often times called the computational device of the soul?” Milim nods again, “There's a section of the brain of the Astral body that isn't a mirror to the physical body. Generally speaking, it handles the nitty gritty details of casting magic, calculating out volumes and speeds and all that. Honestly, you're probably more familiar with the work it does then you realize, given that with yours being so damaged, undoubtedly you have to do all the calculations yourself manually. Can you recall a difference between casting before and after whatever the incident was?”
Milim tilts her head, “...I think it was when I became a True Demon Lord and my subsequent rampage, because I did notice at the time, but I didn't- ...There was a lot of other things going on, so I didn't really think about it… and by the time it had settled down, I'd grown used to it, so I didn't… really think anything of it. If it was that though, it's possible I may have not just had my mental growth stopped, but maybe even regressed a bit. ‘Cause I didn't think anything of that either, but I do… vaguely recall wondering if I was changed by the Demon Lord evolution, because I was different because I started acting more impulsive and childish.”
She hums, “It's entirely possible. I don't mean this in an insulting manner, so please don't take it that way, but the damaged mess the magic calculation overclocking has done to the rest of your brain… it's rather difficult to tell anything definitively.”
Milim flashes her a smile to reassure her she's not upset, “That doesn't surprise me…” Then her childish side seems to take hold as her voice turns loud and boisterous, “But that's the reason I haven't grown physically?! Then, if it's fixed-?!”
Her own gaze drops to her body with excited glee, leaning her head forward and bending her back forward a little to get a better look at the rest of her body, and she honestly can't blame her in general, since it must be so frustrating to be stuck in an adolescent body, but she can't help but notice in amusement that she flicks a couple glances at her chest. She can't say one way or another if Milim's mental maturity backslid when her magic calculation area was overclocked or not, but apparently there's at least part of her old enough to be upset at her flatter chest, yet not old enough to potentially learn to accept it. Not every woman does learn to accept it of course, but those that do tend not to do so until later when they have a little more maturity.
She shakes her head in amusement, “It is possible that it would let you let you physically grow, but I cannot guarantee that Milim. Technically for any other species, if you've already passed the growing period, then the answer is a resounding no, but for one thing, I have no idea how something like that would affect a True Dragon or a child of one at least, and for another, there isn't exactly a precedence for something like this and the exact details of what it did to you. Even if your being the daughter of a True Dragon doesn't protect you, magic can do strange things sometimes, and it's entirely possible that rather than just stunting your growth, it somehow ended up suspending your body's growing period and will continue on just fine when it's dealt with. However, it's absolutely possible that it's as simple as your growing period already passing and now it's too late.”
Milim grins, “But there's a chance I could!”
She nods with a chuckle, “Yes, there is. It may take a while to translate the magic treatment of that world to the magic here though.”
Milim looks up at her as she straightens, “Does it have to be translated?”
She huffs a laugh, then shifts her hand to have the Armoursaurus plating and adds a couple barriers around her for good measure creating another bubble of barrier around the magic she releases on the safe side, which of course immediately starts violently popping with small explosions, “The magic of this world doesn't much like the magic of that world. It would be ill advised to use the spell as is, especially given what the spell is for.”
Milim winces, “Yeah, probably not a good idea given it's supposed to be cast on my brain.”
She nods, letting the rest of the magic be destroyed before ending the transformation in her arm as well as the barriers, or at least the extra ones that aren't the regular ones she's always under.
She nods, “I have no clue why it reacts so violently, but yes. Technically, the magics don't seem to care much if they're used in the information dimension on your Eidos, what that world called the Astral body and where it's located that is, but given the magic doesn't remain in the information dimension…”
Milim nods, “Mm! So, it definitely needs to be translated!”
She nods again, “I have been working on translating other magics to this world, but I haven't done any for something so delicate, nor any for mental magics in general. I did do Occlumency and translate it to an Art, but that wasn't anything like this and I don't think it'll really add any experience to draw from.”
Milim shrugs, “It can't be helped. Even if it takes time, it's still better than before, when I didn't have answers about what was wrong with me or anything like that.”
She smiles gently at her, reaching over to run a hand over her hair, “Undoubtedly. I just wanted to be sure you understand I can't just snap my fingers and have it fixed tomorrow. It'll take time to translate, and it's something that has to be used over multiple treatments rather than all at once.” Milim nods in understanding and she smiles gently, “This is related to you and you are a genius from my understanding. Would you like to help translate it? It's alright if you don't want to, I just thought you may want to take part in it.”
Mimim beams happily, “Can I?!”
She chuckles, “Of course sweet girl.”
Milim's cheeks flush slightly, but her beaming smile doesn't fade, if anything she only gets happier. She can understand the happiness but she feels a bit of bemused confusion about the slight flush, but Diablo seems to pick up on it, probably not mentally though it's possible since the walls between their minds via the soul corridor are awfully thin. Less the castle walls one could liken most Occlumency barriers to and more the sort of thin house wall you can sometimes hear through.
Regardless which it is, he nudges her mentally, <The only people Milim could be considered close to are Guy and Ramiris, and while they're soft on her, I don't think either of them uses terms of endearment. She's probably either never heard one, or not for millennium.>
She sends a flicker of understanding back, then recalls, <Can you send a message to Kaijin about my having to reschedule my check in?>
He chuckles lowly, <I already did while you were comforting Milim Xiǎolóng. Ema has been appraised of the situation and is handling some details.>
Their wife had chosen to stay back at the office to collect any paperwork or any messages, since she was particularly tired and didn't feel up to heading to Kaijin's with them. Nothing concerning, she'd just overworked herself a bit with some magic testing she was handling for her off to the side on translating data fortification so they can try to cover the town. She hadn't spent too much magic mind, it had just, ironically enough given the current revelation, been a bit of magic calculation area overwork. Not overclocking, she'd just pushed herself a little too hard while trying to smooth out what she'd come up with since she did have more knowledge of this world's magic and testing as she went.
That being said, while she's been explaining the magic calculation area and overclocking more in depth to Milim as they walked, she's not surprised in the slightest when Ema has tea and some of the snacks Diablo makes to be readily on hand waiting for them when they get back, even if it's usually more Diablo's thing. She smiles at their wife giving her a brief thankful kiss, “Thank you Ema.”
Milim tilts her head in curiosity even as she happily picks up one of her snacks from her plate, “Ema? You got a name then? Congrats!”
Ema smiles, “Thank you Milim.”
Diablo chuckles lightly, “All three of us did actually. It didn't seem like a good time earlier, but it's actually Diablo now. My sister is Mari for the record. Rimuru wasn't about to leave us without names and had the magic for it, so…”
Milim smiles happily, “That's great! Seriously, congrats!”
He smiles, “Thank you Milim.”
From there, she starts explaining more in depth to Milim as well as beginning to go over the magic to repair the damage. She supposes she could consider herself lucky that the universe the magic came from was the same she had Elemental Sight in, since she doesn't have to try to find a way to observe it to see exactly what it's doing to translate it.
Milim really is brilliant though. She keeps falling victim to her impulsive side, and she keeps apologizing for it, but that was okay. She didn't have any control of it, so it's not like she's upset about it.
At some point, Ema lets them know she sent word to double check that one of the guest rooms in her house was ready and had heard back that it's been prepared. One of the ones closer to her own room in what's technically meant to be the family section of her house, but that's not surprising given she's absolutely emotionally adopted Milim, and her soulmates can't even say a word given they'd basically done the exact same thing the moment they found out about Milim's problem.
It should be more than comfortable enough and have more than enough space for Milim to stay there as well, given while she had initially sort of refused to let it happen while they were trying to catch up to housing everyone else and she did have a small comfortable house. Once they had and were just working to keep on top of the influx that was continuing to come in and some crews had split off to start work on the roads to the Dryads and Dragonewts, she wasn't even surprised when Geld and Myrd had brought her plans for a new house for her. It was a cross between the Potter Manor and the Yotsuba Manor they saw in her memories for approval of the styles and to get started on it now that there were some available Orcs that weren't busy.
She hadn't even had to alter the plans or anything. They'd more than picked up on enough to think to include an elegant sizable library, and even a pool to enjoy with her soulmates and onsen/hot tub to relax in.
Her previous small little house had been turned into housing for a couple grounds keepers, since her estate was a bit further away and removed from the rest of the town to leave room for gardens that had been loving crafted by the Dryads and maintained by others of her people they'd trained to make sure they were fully capable of giving the plants the care they needed.
While she hadn't exactly had anything against not living a high life, she has to admit that after the previous two, the Manor they'd finished a couple weeks ago was more comfortable in its familiarity from their blended reproduction.
Hopefully Milim is comfortable there as well.
She's sitting on her couch, going over some papers about translating the magic calculation area healing magic with notes from Milim. She just can't seem to get comfortable though. Eventually she gives up on it and gives in to the demands of part of her mind and looks up at where her husband was putting away some of the books she'd been referencing previously onto her bookshelves, "Hey, are you particularly busy at the moment?"
Diablo looks over, "Not really. Why?"
She waves him over, "Come here please?”
He sets the books down on a side table nearby and makes his way over. He doesn't even get a chance to ask though, before she yanks him down into the corner cushion of the couch and readjusts to be reclining back against his chest, her legs pulled up to curl up before she pulls one of his arms to rest across her. Then she tilts her head back briefly to look at his bemused expression, “Couldn't get comfy."
Diablo's expression turns amused as he tightens his arms loose hold slightly, "Pfft. Do you think I should add 'professional recliner' to my resume?”
Without missing a beat and in an idle tone, she fires back, “You better not, since that implies you're quitting and getting a new job which isn't allowed.” He laughs and she grins at him a little, “Besides, it was more that part of my brain was demanding snuggles and refusing to let me get comfortable without them.”
He chuckles lightly and presses a kiss to the side of her head, “Well now. We can't have that now can we?”
Past her feet and the open office door, she can see Ema shaking with silent laughter and threatens her, “You keep laughing and you're gonna join us.”
Her husband laughs as her wife shakes her head in amusement, “Oh, anything but that.”
With a haughty sniff, she turns back to her papers, much more comfortable now. A while later, her comfortable focus is broken. Somewhere along the way, her husband had started to lightly stroke her side with the arm wrapped around her while the unoccupied hand started playing with her hair again. That wasn't what broke her comfortable concentration though, if anything it was probably a good part of the ‘comfortable’ in that. No, the culprit for that is the fact she goes to take a sip of tea only to realize she's out.
She's suddenly very, very torn, because her professional tea brewer is currently serving as her recliner and she's way too comfortable to let him up. She's not sure if he's noticing something through the thin mental barrier or its just the faint frown, but the hand toying with her hair leaves it to tip her head back gently, "What's wrong Xiǎolóng?”
She's pouting and she knows it but she really can't help herself, "...I'm out of tea, but I'm comfy and don't want you to get up...."
Her husband laughs lightly, dropping a brief kiss to her lips, "Easy fix." Then to her incredible surprise he unloops his arm from around her and suddenly slips it under her to brace her and maintain her comfortable position even as he gets up and heads over to start making more tea, smiling happily at her as he gets started with that with one hand, "See? Really easy fix! I just get up with you!"
She feels a flicker of amusement. While her husband is certainly strong enough to hold her weight, given the width and length of his arm, even if she couldn't see it with her perception Skills, she'd know full well he was cheating with magic, but he's not wrong. She is still comfy, especially since he's being careful about jostling her or anything. Really, they accuse her of it, but her soulmates can be ridiculous as well sometimes. Not that she's complaining, at least in this instance, given she gets to remain comfy and get more of her husband's delicious tea.
As she turns back to her papers while she leaves her husband to do his thing, her gaze happens across Ema, watching them and once more looking like she's fighting back laughter. She flicks her wife an amused but unrepentant grin and she turns away with a twitching grin.
A while later, she's resettled back on the couch, relative position to her husband not having budged in the slightest even as he made her more tea, a steaming cup in her hand full of tea that's just as delicious as usual.
Given she's been absently feeling him playing with her hair, she's not even the slightest bit surprised later when she goes to habitually brush her hair back over her shoulder and finds it pulled up.
Given how much he likes playing with her hair, she supposes it's only fair given she'd shamelessly pulled him down to cuddle with her and serve as her personal recliner.