Chapter Text
It was another night of merriment and drinking, which considering his subordinates, wasn't all that much of a surprise. Everyone always seemed to be looking for any kind of excuse to crack open more barrels of fruit brandy. Not that Rimuru could particularly blame them, he was also a great enjoyer of alcohol (at least when Raphael felt inclined to let his poison resistance skill turn off).
Raphael: Would you like me to reactivate Skill [Poison Resistance]?
No!! Rimuru nearly shouted aloud in protest. He barely had a buzz going, and he didn't want to start all over from scratch. It took a lot of alcohol to even get this far with his demon lord constitution...
Rimuru gazed out at his gathered subordinates (and Veldora). Rigurd was pouring another glass for Kaijin while he, the dwarves, Geld, and Kurobe talked about what Rimuru assumed was business related, the workaholics. Shuna was gently attempting to pry a bottle of brandy from Shion’s hand. Shion looked like she was already completely wasted. Haruna, the poor goblina, was doing her utmost to replace Shion's current glass with one of water to help sober Shion up. It seemed like Shion was in good hands.
Rimuru took another drink from his glass as Veldora sat up suddenly with energy.
“You know what? We should play some drinking games!” He cackled loudly at the declaration.
“I've read about a few of them from Rimuru’s manga.” Rimuru looked over at Veldora with widened eyes. He definitely didn't have a good feeling about whatever Veldora was about to suggest, and it definitely had nothing to do with his past self's proclivity towards manga with rather... indulgent fanservice at time (if it wasn't outright eroge).
“Ah...! Yes, shall we play the King game?” Rimuru quickly suggested, smiling at Veldora. If he could sweat, he would most certainly be doing it now. Veldora laughed loudly again.
“Excellent suggestion, Rimuru.” Veldora looked at Rimuru expectantly. Rimuru quickly used his predator skill to use some of the wood in his stomach space to produce numbered sticks for them to play the game with. He had a feeling several of his subordinates had assumed he and Veldora had this planned out all along. Rimuru held out all of the sticks to everyone gathered.
“Let me explain how the game works: everyone draws sticks and whoever draws the number 1, is the king. The king can tell anyone to do something like so: Numbe 12, what’s your favorite skill to use? Or Number 3 give Number 8 a hug! If you don’t want to answer the question or do the task, take a shot or a drink from your glass. When someone forfeits their task, we will redraw the sticks to determine a new king,” Rimuru said, hoping his explanation was tame enough to keep anyone from doing or asking anything too risky. Though, they were all drinking, so the likelihood of it staying tame was unfortunately pretty slim. Especially with how Shion was grinning and chuckling to herself.
“Ok! Everyone draw your sticks!”
Very quickly Rimuru found himself left with only one stick in his hand, numbered 9.
“Oh! I got number one!” Shuna said cheerfully. Rimuru let out a sigh of relief he didn’t even know he was holding. However, he immediately realized that he had assumed too quickly what kind of commands and questions Shuna would ask.
“Number 14, do you have a crush on anyone here?” Shuna asked in such a cheerful, innocent voice that if one was not paying too much attention would trick someone into thinking it was a completely innocent question. Gobta, however, had turned bright red.
“Uh, y-yes!” His eyes shifted in the direction of the girls who giggled cheerfully at the question. Rimuru was quite suddenly filled with dread. Shuna continued on her tirade of embarrassing questions, and Rimuru felt like his skin was crawling with anticipation for when his own number would be called. She had already left Benimaru, Kaijin, Gobta and Haruna completely beside themselves with embarrassment. Unfortunately no one had given up and taken a drink yet, and Rimuru was heavily debating whether or not he’d be even brave enough to answer her questions.
“Hmm... Number 9, who is the most attractive person here?”
Rimuru startled, looking at Shuna like a deer caught in headlights. She grinned when they made eye contact, and Rimuru was suddenly filled with dread. What a landmine of a question! His eyes flew around the room, finding that several of his subordinates had perked up when they realized he was the subject of this question in Shuna’s line of fearsome proding. So many of his subordinates were attractive, but his answers could also cause problems. Such as Shion and Shuna were both absolutely stunning beauties, but he felt like if he chose either of them it would cause the two to fight amongst themselves about him more, not to mention Diablo might also be depressed if he chose Shion, and Shion would try to kill Diablo for sure. So those three were out. Benimaru looked way too interested to be a choice, plus he couldn’t be too sure Shuna wouldn’t try to arrange them to be wed or something. Then his eyes landed on the obvious choice. Souei, the capable ikemen, surely he was the safest choice. His pride (and the alcohol) made it impossible to not answer the question. He didn’t want to be the first to break in the game.
Rimuru returned his gaze to Shuna, feeling more confident in his answer. After all, Souei was especially attractive when compared to the rest of the oni (which needless to say, were absolute knockouts the whole lot of them almost) because he was the easiest to deal with on top of being positively stunning. Still, Rimuru lifted a cookie to his mouth to shield his face slightly as he spoke.
“Souei.” Shuna’s pink eyes widened at his answer, and Rimuru quickly looked away, feeling suddenly much more embarrassed. Veldora laughed loudly to break the silence, clapping Rimuru on the shoulder.
“I’m disappointed you didn’t chose me, my friend.” His cheerful tone made it obvious that that wasn’t true.
“You’re my family, Veldora, you don’t count,” Rimuru said, bemused. Veldora grinned at the response, seemingly appeased by this answer.
“So you admit that I am stunning,” Veldora said without an ounce of shame, and Rimuru couldn’t help but burst into laughter at him. Veldora laughed along with him, companionably. It was good that the dragon knew that he wasn’t laughing at his appearance, but at his complete confidence. The truth was, Souei was still more attractive than Veldora. As embarrassing as that would have been to admit.
Although, he’d definitely thought it way too many times to count. Souei was definitely a ladykiller. He was calm, cool and mysterious. Basically the ultimate catnip for girls, if favorite character statistics and shoujo manga protagonists were anything to go off of.
Shuna recovered herself quickly, and moved on to a new victim. Gobso immediately folded under Shuna’s newest torturous question and took a shot of his drink, much to Rimuru’s relief. Rimuru had a feeling that she was attempting to figure out who had what numbers for some kind of nefarious plan.
Rimuru’s new number was 16. He was hopeful whoever was king next wasn’t going to take too many notes from Shuna’s tactics. It felt a little too much like a slumber party with all the romantic questions. Rimuru didn’t want to end the night feeling like he revealed too much of his inner thoughts in that regard. He would eventually have to side step with shots and who knew what would happen if he got too many under his belt.
“Oh ho! I’m king!” Gobta said in a loud, enthusiastic voice and leaping to his feet. Rimuru looked at the young hobgoblin’s round face as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“Number 6, take off your shirt!” he said, and was immediately punched out of the room entirely by Shion. Not before she took back his King stick, however.
“Shall number 2 take the king position this round?” She looked toward Rimuru for permission, and he merely nodded. Gobta had let his perverted thoughts get ahead of him.
“I’m king then,” Veldora declared cheerfully. His cheeks were flushed with drink.
“Number 12, battle me!” Gobso immediately took a shot, and everyone sighed in response. The poor hobgoblin was having some bad luck with the game. They all drew sticks again. Several more king rounds went without much note until somehow Shuna had the king stick again, and she looked even more determined than in her first round. Everyone was also a fair bit drunker. Rimuru had half a mind to call it a night. He was feeling a bit too loose limbed for Shuna’s newfound power to be a good thing for him.
“Number 3, give a kiss to someone you like here.” Shuna said in a tone that was definitely evil. Her light, cheerful voice was definitely a trick of some kind. Shion stood bravely, and pressed a quick kiss to the top of Ranga’s head. Ranga barked cheerfully as Shion murmured drunkenly about how he was “such a good protector of Lord Rimuru”. Rimuru let out a sigh of relief as Shuna moved on, seriously.
Rimuru, to save his concious, was trying very hard to ignore what Shuna was telling people to do, but there was really no avoiding it. Haruna turned bright red when Shuna’s next order fell to her. She stood nervously and walked over to Touka, a dragonnewt under Souei’s command with green hair, and sat delicately in her lap with bright red cheeks. Touka looked equally flushed, but also rather happy with the situation, considering how she wrapped her arms around Haruna’s waist. Rimuru honestly thought they were incredibly cute. Maybe Shuna’s king orders weren’t all bad. They were pretty tame so far, after all.
“Excuse me, master,” Diablo said, taking Rimuru’s chin in hand, and Rimuru suddenly realized that he had missed Shuna’s next order. Diablo drew closer and Rimuru flushed, turning his head quickly, receiving the demon’s kiss on cheek instead. His whole face flushed with heat as the demon pulled away with a light huff of disappointment. He had been trying to steal Rimuru’s first kiss! If he was able to blush any harder, he would.
Rimuru took a quick shot in preparation for the next question, and poured himself another just in case. He wasn’t sure if he’d have enough courage for the orders Shuna was giving out. Her next one passed with relative ease. Veldora had laughed at the order and grabbed Rimuru’s hand in his own. It was companionable and easy, and Rimuru smiled at the unabashed dragon.
“Number 2, kiss the person you think is the most attractive.” Shuna was already staring at him expectantly. Rimuru blinked, then glanced down at his stick and realized that it was him. He let go of Veldora’s hand, standing up slightly unsteadily. Rimuru wasn’t sure if Shuna was trying to get a new answer out of him, but he was suddenly glad he had surreptitiously taken another shot. He was definitly somwhere between very drunk and positively sloshed. He knew because he 1) did not feel embarrassed at all as he stumbled his way across the room and 2) was not afraid of the task Shuna assigned him. Instead, he was a bit excited.
Rimuru sat down in front of Souei, staring into his dark eyes.
“Would it be alright if I kissed you?” Rimuru asked. Souei looked surprised, eyes searching Rimuru’s face for something. Rimuru found Souei’s placid expression impossible to read so who knew what he was thinking.
“Yes, my lord,” Souei said. An agreement! Rimuru smiled wide at Souei before leaning in to ungracefully press his lips against the spy master’s. Souei made a surprised noise when their lips met, but his hand cupped the back of Rimuru’s head as the room erupted into cheering and excitement. However, Rimuru couldn’t pay attention to any of that because Souei guided Rimuru to tilt his head slightly to help their lips press more firmly together. His tongue slid across the seam of Rimuru’s. Rimuru gasped, his lips parting and a jolt of pleasure ran down his spine directly into his pants before Souei pulled away slightly. Rimuru’s eyelashes fluttered and he chased after Souei’s lips without a single thought in his mind. However, something pulled him away from Souei, and Rimuru couldn’t help the whine of protest.
“My apologies, my lord. But it appears you’ve drunk a little too much, so I will take you along to your rooms.” Diablo said. His gloved hands guided Rimuru to his feet. His head swam slightly as he recalibrated where he was.
“Yeah.” He agreed mildly, allowing the demon to lead him away. Rimuru completely missed the glare Diablo threw at Souei. It was quiet outside of the gathering hall. He could still vaguely hear the cheers and merriment from those who were still drinking the night away. The cool air felt good on his face.
It didn’t take long for them to make it back to the mansion Rimuru resided in. Diablo helped Rimuru drink a glass of water, brush his teeth and dress to sleep. Rimuru smacked Diablo’s hands away several times as his butler attempted to help undress him even though he was floundering over ties. Eventually he gave up and turned into a slime before bouncing into his soft bed.
“Rest well, Master,” Diablo said gently before leaving Rimuru alone. Though, Rimuru had already passed out.
Morning was a horrific affair. Rimuru didn’t have to deal with a hangover, thanks to his poison resistance; however, he did have to remember his actions from the night before. His cheeks would be bright red if he wasn’t still in slime form. He’d had his first kiss with his subordinate! In front of everyone! At least he’d asked before he’d gone and kissed Souei but it was still embarrassing. Plus everyone knew about it. Was there any way he could just stay in bed all day?
Rimuru hid himself completely under the covers, but unfortunately that did not prevent him from remembering everything. The main issue was how the kiss made him feel. He felt hot all over just thinking about it. It had felt so good! He was half irritated that Diablo had interrupted before Rimuru could get a second one and half relieved because he wasn’t sure that he’d have been able to stop clinging to Souei for more if Diablo hadn’t stepped in. He covered his nonexistant slime face with two slime appendages groaning internally.
Rimuru slowly let his slime form melt into a puddle between the blankets, and hoped that it would be a while before anyone checked in on him. Surely there were plenty of monsters that were completely hungover from the night before that he’d be forgotten about for a good portion of the day.
“Good morning, Lord Rimuru.” It was Shuna’s voice speaking through the sliding door. She wasted no time in pulling the door open and entering the room. A tray clattered in her hands and Rimuru slowly shifted out and on top of the covers. He considered turning into his human form for a moment before thinking better of it.
“Did I wake you?” Shuna asked. She looked somewhat apologetic, and Rimuru wondered if it had something to do with the night before. Shuna rarely had qualms about waking him. Rimuru was a busy slime, after all.
“No, I was already awake.” Rimuru said as Shuna set the tray down on the low table in the room. It was laden with an extravagant breakfast of fluffy pancakes topped with fresh berries and a light dusting of powdered sugar, a steaming plate of omurice topped with bright green onions that smelled divine, and a plate of fresh, crispy bacon. It was an offering that usually would’ve had Rimuru leaping into his human form in no time at all; however, he felt a bit reluctant. Rimuru wavered in place for a long moment, gazing at the breakfast before releasing a sigh.
“I would like to be left alone,” Rimuru said. Shuna’s gentle smile froze into something more akin to a grimace at his words, but she otherwise maintained her polite demeanor. She gave him a light bow before making a retreat from his room.
“Of course, Lord Rimuru. Please forgive my intrusion. I will let the others know.” Shuna slid the door closed behind her, and Rimuru finally returned to his human form. He felt a little bad for his rude request. However, when he checked his expression in his hand mirror from Dwargon, the feeling evaporated. He was still as red as a tomato!
Rimuru set the mirror face down on the dresser and sunk down onto the cushion next to his table with his beautiful breakfast. It’d be a waste not to eat it all. He knew Gob’ichi and Shuna put a lot of work into making every meal he hate truly something exquisite, and well, Rimuru hated to waste food, especially when it was made with the hardwork and effort from others.
His first bite into the savory bacon was immediately so good that he couldn’t withhold a low groan of pleasure, which immediately had the unfortunate kickback of embarrassment. His face flushed fully again at his own traitorous body. The sound made him immediately remember the drunken kiss he’d given Souei. When compared to the taste of the bacon... the kiss was unfortunately even better.
Rimuru took another tentative bite of bacon, trying to keep his mind as clear and still as the surface of a pond. However, it just wasn’t working. He was half convinced that he would have burning cheeks for the rest of the day. It was impossible to get the kiss off of his mind. Would it be the same if he had let Diablo kiss him or kissed Shion? ...or Shuna? He felt uncomfortable even thinking about it. He was pretty sure he didn’t want to kiss any of them as beautiful as they all were. Maybe it was something like his collection of waifu figures from his previous life? He had all kinds of his favorite characters that were protagonists and busty babes alike, but he never really desired imagining them in an eroge game. He could just play a Sakura line game or one with actual nudity in it, if he was feeling especially depraved. He supposed it was a bit embarrassing remembering just how much adult content he consumed in his past life. It wasn’t exactly respectable enough to actually call a hobby, but it was definitely a hobby of his...
Rimuru tucked into the omurice thoughtfully, doing his best to enjoy the rich flavors of the dish while also trying to figure out his emotions. If he dug in and organized it all well enough, maybe he wouldn’t feel so embarrassed about it.
Rapheal: Would you like to try developing a new skill [Thought Repression]?
That sounds dangerous as hell, Rapheal!! No! Rimuru shivered at the thought of that scary skill. What happened when it failed to work? It was better to properly sort through things so they didn’t become a problem later. He had lived long enough to at least know that much, and at least, in his new life, he was actually given the time and space to perform that sort of labor on his own when he needed to.
Rimuru nodded sagely to himself, humming appreciatively as he took another bite of his omurice. He was a little sad he’d chewed through all of his bacon so quickly. He should’ve savored it some more... he blushed furiously when he remembered why he’d mowed through it all in the first place. He needed to get his thoughts under control. Rimuru was a little worried he might crawl back into the bed at this rate.
Rimuru moved on to his pancakes, taking a quick bite of a strawberry doused in rich, red syrup. It unfortunately tasted absolutely divine. His thoughts flickered back to Souei again. The memory of his lips on his own, his placid handsome face and piercing, cobalt eyes... Rimuru wished he’d taken a chance to touch his silky hair too. Rimuru shifted slightly, rubbing his thighs together. He had to stop thinking about this! He slapped his cheeks to dispel his thoughts. It didn’t really work, just made his cheeks ache a little even through his Pain Nullification Skill.
At least his breakfast was finished now. With a beleaguered sigh, Rimuru sunk down onto the tatami mat flooring and laid there for a long moment, wallowing in his own shame. He had to stop ogling his subordinates. It was unprofessional, even though surely anyone with eyes would do the same thing.
Once Rimuru had felt like he had had enough of his own thoughts, he returned to his slime form and bounced out of the room. He peered carefully out of his front door and was greatly relieved to see no one was waiting on him. Perhaps he could make it all the way to his office unseen. It was somewhat of a useless endeavor however, as Rimuru was soon scooped up by Ranga.
“Master! You’re finally awake!” The tempest star wolf’s tail was wagging a mile a minute and threatening to blow Rimuru away. However, Rimuru said nothing as the wolf nuzzled and licked all over his translucent slime body.
“Sorry, Ranga. I forgot you weren’t in my shadow before I went to bed.” Rimuru had honestly been somewhat relieved the wolf hadn’t been witness to the trial of emotions he had been experiencing that morning. Though their time apart had certainly triggered the poor wolf’s separation anxiety.
“Shall I take you to your office?” Ranga asked, his tail finally slowing enough for him to lift Rimuru onto his large head. Rimuru slid down to his withers, nestled in the thick, white fur.
“Yes, thank you.”
His spy montage attempt was now long forgotten in the back of his mind. He didn’t particularly have the mindset for it anyway. It would have been better to simply teleport himself next time if he wanted to avoid the gaze of others. At least, while he was a slime, his expressions weren’t particularly readable anyway beyond shock. He still felt flushed though, despite his perfectly room temperature slime body.
It was so strange. He couldn’t get himself to stop obsessing over one, little chaste kiss. He wondered if this was how every shoujo heroine felt. Is that why the artists used so many screentones around the male leads? Rimuru felt like if he saw Souei now he might just see a collection of hydrangeas or morning glories around him, and that would be infinitely more embarrassing. Rimuru wanted to cover his face, but he remained still, though his slime body was certainly trembling somewhat (he was not consciously aware of this, however). This was honestly somewhat unfair. A first kiss was supposed to be special and romantic in a shoujo and his own was certainly not up to standard. So he really shouldn’t be troubled over it like a romantic heroine. Besides, were slimes even supposed to feel sexual attraction like this?!
Raphael: Answer. Slimes reproduce asexually, and therefore: do not.
Then what the hell is this!!! Rimuru felt even more exasperated at Raphael’s response. This was obviously supremely unfair. He should be entirely free from these concerns as a slime.
Raphael: Your consciousness was originally human. Those feelings are likely derived from there.
Ranga deposited Rimuru onto his desk, but the slime immediately melted into a puddle. This was clearly some sort of divine punishment. Rimuru was certain he’d been a straight man in his previous life, so what was happening? He felt like he was frying his brain just trying to figure it all out.
“Master!!” Ranga’s concerned bark felt distant to Rimuru with all of his tumultuous thoughts.
Raphael: Would you like to develop new skill [Thought Repression] now?
Maybe he should... It could be helpful right about now.
Raphael: Calculating required magicules...
Wait!! No! Stop! Cancel! Cancel! Rimuru quickly shouted in his mind. His slime form snapped back into a ball with the urgency he was suddenly feeling. He breathed a sigh of relief when Rapahel halted the skill acquisition request. He really didn’t need such a scary sounding skill.
“Master, are you ok?” Ranga whined. His ears were laid flat against his soft head. Rimuru looked at his wolf companion.
“I’m sorry, Ranga. I’m just a bit tired today.” He chuckled lightly in hopes that he could quickly wave the topic away. Ranga whined lightly, setting his massive head atop Rimuru’s desk and snuffling at the slime. Rimuru sighed to himself, and swayed his body slightly to lean onto the wolf’s snout. He was rewarded with a couple loud thumps of Ranga’s tail.
The very next moment, the large, wooden doors slammed open to reveal Shion followed closely by Diablo.
“Good morning, Lord Rimuru. Are you feeling better now?” Shion asked, quickly strutting over and sweeping him up into her arms to hug him tightly.
“Lady Shuna was rather worried about you, you know?” She said while rubbing her cheek against his cool, slime body. Rimuru was rather used to this manhandling so all of it hardly registered to him.
“Yes, I’m fine.” Rimuru reassured his secretary.
“I am relieved to hear that, Master.” Diablo spoke up, his voice low and gentle as he spoke. Rimuru glanced at the demon though it was somewhat difficult to do with how Shion was jostling him about at the moment. He was half convinced that Shion also had separation anxiety, and she wasn’t even as close to being a dog as Ranga.
Diablo looked as elegant as usual, though it didn’t particularly spark any special feelings. He suddenly recalled that he’d also been kissed by Diablo as well the night before, though that had only been on the cheek. He was devastated to realize that the person he was kissing was equally important.
Goodbye, my heterosexuality . He mourned quietly in his own mind.
Raphael: Slimes have no gender, so you cannot be heterosexual.
Not helping, Raphael!! Seriously, he couldn’t even dab his cheeks inside of his own mind life a new wife sending her husband off to war without interruption. He wanted at least a moment to wallow without worrying about what Raphael had to say about it.
Raphael: Hmph!
Rimuru sighed to himself; perhaps he was being a bit mean. Raphael was just trying to help after all. Diablo began to go over Rimuru’s schedule after Shion released him back onto his desk, and Rimuru felt a touch exhausted at the full schedule of meetings he had. It was likely nothing compared to what Rigurd had to deal with as the Prime Minister, but Rimuru wished he’d been able to dump more of the work onto Rigurd as he’d originally intended.
The unfortunate thing about meetings was that, well, they weren’t exactly very good at distracting his attention. He could half listen and still fret about all kinds of things. Rimuru sat quietly on top of the table as everyone slowly filtered in one after another. Rigurd along with the hobgoblin ministers; Rugurd and Regurd; had arrived before even Rimuru. Lilina had likely arrived even before them along with Shion to set up the meeting room. The goblina was likely ensuring that Shion didn’t try serving anything she’d made herself, even though she’d obtained the skill Master Chef. Rimuru was inwardly very thankful for her foresight.
Benimaru was next to arrive, politely greeting Rimuru before taking his seat and gratefully accepting a steaming cup of tea from Haruna, who had arrived about the same time as Rimuru in somewhat of a rush. She had hurriedly apologized to Lilina and Shion, which was why Rimuru had thought Lilina had arrived earlier than everyone else.
Rimuru didn’t pay too much attention to them, since his focus was mainly on the doors. He was once again thankful that he did not sweat or his nervousness would have likely been noticed by all who were present. Mjöllmile was out on a separate mission, so the only one missing was Vesta, Geld, and Souei before the entire council was gathered. Rimuru’s gaze floated over the room as Vesta and Geld finally entered, freezing when he saw Souei appear in the corner of his vision. Rimuru was really sweating now. Maybe if he didn’t look at the oni, he would not have to confront any of his current issues.
“Shall we begin the meeting, Lord Rimuru? Everyone has arrived,” Rigurd said. Rimuru almost nodded before remembering that he was in his slime form at the moment.
“Yes, of course.” He answered aloud, staring maybe a little too strongly in Rigurd’s direction seeing as the hobgoblin suddenly looked a bit more nervous than before.
As the meeting droned on, Rimuru’s eyes slowly drifted in Souei’s direction. Every time he became aware of what he was doing, he would quickly snap his eyes over to whoever was speaking. Not that he was particularly absorbing much of the information. His vision drifted again, over dark ocean hair to sharp eyes that were certainly focused on the meeting’s topic, over a finely sloped nose to plush, russet lips. He was an ikemen through and through.
Rimuru quickly snapped his eyes away as he heard Rigurd begin speaking, drawing the meeting to a close. He blushed inwardly at his inability to pay attention the entire time. Maybe he really should have hidden in his room for the rest of the day like he had wistfully considered when he first awoke. Rimuru supposed there wasn’t exactly a rule against him withdrawing early either...
“Is there anything you would like to add, Lord Rimuru?” Rigurd asked him, and Rimuru suddenly felt a little bit worried. However, he was well versed in bullshitting his way through situations.
“No, I think everyone had it well in hand.” He gave a thumbs up with a slime appendage he stretched out from himself. Rigurd seemed quite pleased by the compliment, so it seemed like they weren’t actually looking for any input from him. Safe! Everyone quickly began to stand up and leave, and for fear of his wandering eyes, Rimuru quickly bounced out as well without waiting for Shion to pick him up.
I am headed off to rest for the afternoon . He telepathically communicated to Shion and Ranga quickly and made a run for it. Rimuru was lucky that he didn’t actually see Souei that frequently in his day-to-day. The spymaster was often gathering intel, training his underlings, or out on a specific mission. So if Rimuru got his thoughts in order, he should have nothing to worry about at all. He could simply not deal with having some sort of attraction for anyone in particular. He just needed to suppress -
Raphael: I have completed calculating magicule cost for developing Skill [Thought Repression]. I have now begun developing the new skill.
Wait! Rimuru yelled quickly. However it was too late; Raphael was always listening to his thoughts, and he’d completely fumbled the bag.
Raphael: You have acquired a new Skill [Thought Repression]. Would you like to use this skill now on your feelings regarding the oni, Souei?
What would that do? Rimuru asked. The skill seemed self explanatory, but maybe he was wrong and it wouldn’t be such a big deal.
Raphael: Your new skill [Thought Repression] will prevent any unwanted thoughts from affecting the user. Depending on the amount of thoughts, the skill will require more or less magicules.
Raphael: Would you like to use this skill on your feelings of affection for the monster, Souei?
Rimuru considered Raphael’s words for a moment. It didn’t sound too dangerous, and it was probably a good idea to keep him from worrying so much about Souei. Especially now that Rimuru had... an idea of what it might be like to kiss him. It sounded very win-win to him.
Ok, Raphael, let’s do it!
Raphael: Activating Skill [Thought Repression].