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The dragon was gone.
The absence hurt.
Rimuru was in the middle of a meeting when he froze - mid-sentence, mid-thought. Something was fundamentally wrong. An important part of him was missing.
A presence that was always there - palpable, comforting. Sometimes annoying. Loud. Smug.
But essential.
The soul corridor to Veldora was silent.
<Raphael, what happened?>
<Analyzing,> answered the skill.
<Soul corridor to Veldora is closed. Cause unknown.>
<I need to find him. Immediately.>
“What’s wrong, Lord Rimuru?” asked Benimaru, startled by the sudden pause.
“I need to go,” Rimuru said, already standing.
“What can we do?”
“I don’t know. I’ll contact you later.”
Without another word, Rimuru transferred to his hut.
It was where Veldora usually spent his days - stretched out on the couch or porch, reading manga. Where Rimuru retreated to rest and think, usually interrupted by the shuffling of pages or a roaring laugh when a plot twist caught him by surprise.
The hut was empty now. Quiet. Too quiet.
Volumes of manga were stacked near the couch, a tall, careful tower just as Shuna had left them that morning. Untouched. Unopened.
The peace and quiet were unsettling, for once.
Where are you, you lazy lizard?
The forest came next.
Rimuru checked Veldora’s usual places - clearings heavy with magicules where he could safely release some of his aura, the spring near the mountain’s roots, the ravine marked by broken stone and old sparring scars. The ancient clearing, where moss-laden branches nearly brushed the ground, was empty too.
“Great One, welcome,” said the dryad, bowing.
Rimuru returned the gesture, polite but impatient. “I am looking for Veldora.”
“It has been a week since we last saw the Storm Dragon,” she said. “Near the northern mountains, as usual.”
“Thank you.”
He checked the pavilion where foreign leaders gathered - sunlit, vacant - and the market, where Veldora usually lingered for grilled meat. Rimuru declined polite invitations, shared brief words about the upcoming festival. No one had seen him.
The fields outside Tempest were intact. No signs of recent sparring.
If Veldora had fought Milim - or Diablo - there would have been craters, and orcs already at work repairing the land.
Where are you, you stupid overgrown lizard?
***
Eyes closed tight, knees drawn up, head resting on his arms - power held deliberately still.
Unwanted.
Unneeded.
Told me to stay back.
He didn’t call for me.
Not even when it mattered most.
How am I supposed to help if he won’t let me?
He named me guardian of Tempest.
Last line of defense.
And then he keeps me behind the line.
He said it was fine.
He lied.
He could have died.
And then he sits at the same table with Luminous.
With her.
I won’t forget her name.
Says it’s politics. Says it’s necessary. Says it’s for Tempest.
I understand that.
I do.
If I were free to do as I pleased,
I would crush them all.
So no one could ever threaten Rimuru.
…
That would upset him.
I’m no good at politics.
Never have been.
And he’s exhausted.
He doesn’t say it.
But I can feel it.
He carries everything himself.
Always fixing.
I won’t add to that.
If I keep my power folded in.
Silent.
He won’t have to worry because of me.
…
Guardian.
Not a weapon.
Not even a shield.
Something that waits. Watches.
They all feared what he could do.
They respected it.
But that wasn’t what Rimuru had asked of him.
Rimuru had asked him to stay.
To stand behind instead of ahead.
To trust that restraint mattered more than force.
That presence could be enough, even unused.
Veldora had agreed.
Gladly.
Proudly.
But agreement did not make it easy.
Waiting while Rimuru walked into danger felt too much like the cave -
time stretching, power useless, fear with nowhere to go.
At least here, in silence,
he could hold himself still
without being told.
…
I’ve been alone before.
***
Back in the empty hut, the light had begun to fade, shadows stretching across the floor.
“Souei,” Rimuru called softly.
“I am here, Lord Rimuru.”
“I can’t find Veldora. I was in the meeting about the festival preparations, and then I stopped sensing him. It was like he simply… wasn’t there anymore.”
“Is it distance?”
“Usually, it doesn’t matter.”
Rimuru paused, then sighed.
“His aura is more contained than usual. Almost completely suppressed. I only sensed residual magicules - older ones.”
“You have already searched for him.”
“His usual places. I may be overlooking something.
Check again. Everywhere.”
“I will.”
Rimuru sat on the couch in darkness. He hadn’t lit the lantern.
The corridor was still closed.
Pain filled the space Veldora’s absence had left behind - sharp, unyielding.
He’s not dead.
I would know.
Relief came, thin and fleeting.
But that didn’t mean he wasn’t hurt.
Yesterday. They had finalized the terms with Luminous and her church. Rimuru had joked - carelessly - that maybe he could give Veldora to her.
That had been a mistake.
Later, he had explained why the meeting had to happen. Why it couldn’t wait. Veldora hadn’t been happy. I should have noticed. He had said it was fine.
And the day before that - Luminous and Veldora had fought.
No lasting damage. Some to the surroundings. Some to Veldora’s pride. He had restrained himself, exactly as asked.
What is he thinking?
Why close the corridor?
Like he didn’t want to be found.
After the fight, Veldora had been upset. Earlier, he had felt Rimuru in danger - and had stayed back.
Because I asked him to.
“Lord Rimuru,” Souei said, his presence brushing Rimuru’s thoughts. “We have found him. The old cave.”
Rimuru closed his eyes.
That idiot dragon.
Why go to the one place he never wanted to see again?
“I’ll go alone,” Rimuru replied.
“Thank you, Souei.”
***
Back where they first met, Veldora sat alone in the obscurity of the cave.
He gave no sign that he saw Rimuru when he transferred there.
Rimuru approached and sat cross-legged on the cave floor, facing him.
“Veldora.”
“Rimuru.”
“I searched for you all day,” Rimuru said quietly.
Veldora raised his head, a wide grin on his face.
“Hah! So, uh - you wouldn’t believe the nonsense that happened - ”
“I felt it,” Rimuru interrupted. “The soul corridor is closed.”
The grin faded.
“So you do know.”
“Was it intentional?”
“Yes, but… it’s for the best.”
Rimuru tilted his head. “How so?”
“You have so many things to do. One less to worry about.”
Rimuru considered it. He could see straight through the lie. Whatever had happened, it had hurt him - and Veldora didn’t want to say why.
He scooted closer, close enough to reach, and set one hand on Veldora’s arm.
“Want to tell me what happened?”
“Nothing,” Veldora said. “I just wanted to see this old place again.”
“Veldora…”
Silence.
“Then I’ll tell you how it felt,” Rimuru said. “I was worried you’d gotten yourself hurt. I couldn’t find you for hours. I even asked Souei to search. Without the corridor… it’s like something important is missing. A part of me.”
He drew a steadying breath.
“I know it goes both ways,” he continued. “So tell me what upset you enough to damage our bond.”
Veldora met his gaze.
“I tried to open the corridor,” he admitted. “And when it didn’t answer me… I didn’t know how to face you.”
His shoulders sagged.
“I thought I’d lost it.” His gaze dropped. “You.”
Rimuru exhaled sharply.
“Is this about that again?” he asked, too quickly. “About wanting to be let loose?”
Veldora hugged his knees closer, gaze turning away.
“Hah. Please. I’m Veldora Tempest,” he said, forcing a laugh. “I don’t break over things like this.”
The laugh faltered.
“But when the corridor stayed silent… I remembered what it felt like to be alone.”
“What made you close it?”
“You’ve got allies. Subordinates. An entire new country depending on you. You don’t need me hovering in your head.”
Veldora kept his gaze averted.
Rimuru waited, his thumb brushing Veldora’s arm without thinking.
“I’m here. You are important to me.”
Silence stretched.
“I couldn’t help you,” Veldora said at last. “When you fought Hinata, you made me stay behind. You could have died.”
“I didn’t.”
Veldora exhaled, some of the tension easing as he shifted to sit cross-legged.
“That’s not the point. I know you’re capable. But I’m of no use to you if you won’t let me be there.”
“We discussed this before I went to meet the Church,” Rimuru said. “Someone needed to stay behind in case I failed.”
Veldora stared at him.
“If you failed,” he said flatly, “the rest doesn’t matter anymore.”
Rimuru saw it then.
Veldora wasn’t upset about being left behind. He was furious at the thought of standing by - exactly as ordered - while everything ended.
It does go both ways.
“What would you like to do?” Rimuru asked.
“Don’t tell me to watch you die. Let me help you.”
“I understand.”
Then, with a small smile:
“Would you like to try opening the corridor again?”
Veldora nodded.
<Raphael,> Rimuru thought. <Can you analyze the corridor’s current state?>
<Analyzing.>
<Soul corridor integrity intact. Closure detected. Cause: self-imposed suppression stabilized by emotional feedback. One-sided access insufficient. Recommend synchronized realignment.>
“So that’s it,” Rimuru murmured. “You folded it shut - and kept pushing from only one side.”
“I never was good at subtle,” Veldora muttered.
“So we don’t force it,” Rimuru said. “We align it. Together.”
They focused - not on power, but on the shape of their bond. The familiar pattern. The shared awareness.
At first, nothing answered.
Then Rimuru eased something he hadn’t realized he was holding tight. Raphael’s guidance threaded through the process - correction, not control.
The magicules shifted.
Awareness flooded in. Emotion followed.
Loneliness. Fear. Anger. Warmth. Relief.
I’m here.
The sensation hit Veldora all at once. Not just Rimuru’s presence - but his intent.
There was no barrier this time. No silent command to hold back.
You may act.
You may reach for me.
Veldora hadn’t realized how tightly he’d been holding himself until the tension finally eased.
He was no longer kept in reserve.
He was being trusted.
“If you shut me out again,” Rimuru said quietly, “I’ll still come looking.”
Veldora laughed - soft, unguarded.
“Then I suppose I shouldn’t run.”
Rimuru stood and held out his hand.
“Let’s go home.”
***
The world shifted.
They stood in the hut. Veldora looked around, as though the space were new to him. Narrow shelves. Cabinets full of papers. A small bed near the far wall. The large couch, a low table, a tower of books stacked beside it.
The door to the porch stood half open, letting in the cold night air.
The hut was already lit - Shuna had probably stopped by, judging by the tray of food left on the table, now cold. It had to be late.
How much time had he spent in the cave? More than he thought he could endure there, in the place of his former imprisonment.
Rimuru started to turn, but Veldora didn’t let go.
An awkward silence followed.
“Hah! There’s my manga!” Veldora said, interrupting it. He moved to the stack of books and picked the one on top, then sprawled on the couch.
Under thick lashes, he watched Rimuru follow, guided along by his hand. Rimuru didn’t protest. He settled beside him, turning slightly toward the book.
The small, cold hand rested in his own - larger, warmer. Like it belonged there.
“I haven’t read this one… I think,” Veldora said, opening the book to the first page.
They read in silence for a while, Veldora turning the page now and then. Habit more than attention; his mind barely registered the words.
It drifted back to the cave.
It was the second time Rimuru had shattered a barrier. First, the long imprisonment. Now, the seal of inaction.
Granted, Rimuru had raised that wall in the first place. But it was also Rimuru who chose to trust that Veldora could tell the difference.
Veldora lifted his gaze from the page. The half-open door was there if he chose to leave. No barrier to stop him.
He didn’t want to.
The realization was quiet. He was here because he chose to be - because Rimuru had reached for him, and he had taken that hand without hesitation.
Warmth lingered where their hands met, steady and unforced.
Veldora exhaled slowly, letting the last of the tension drain away.
This was real.
And he was staying.
“…Veldora?” Rimuru murmured. “Could you turn the page?”
***
“Huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Veldora said quickly, startled. “I was just thinking.”
He closed the book and set it aside, turning to face Rimuru.
“I understand why you ask me to sit back sometimes. It’s because of my lack of control.”
Rimuru waited.
“But if you can accept that I can tell when standing by is no longer an option - when not acting becomes unbearable - then I think it can work for me.”
“Can you… not panic when there isn’t real danger?”
Veldora held his gaze.
“Not act because of boredom?” Rimuru continued.
A flinch - small, but telling.
“Stay back when I decide to act on my own?”
“Can you not decide such things lightly?” Veldora countered. “Consider help first?”
“I am pretty strong, you know.”
“Yes, but not invulnerable. You can still die,” the dragon said. “I… don’t want to be without you.”
His grip on Rimuru’s hand tightened without him realizing it.
“I’ll try to do this more often.”
The grip relaxed, just a little.
“Now, about your self-control,” Rimuru said. “Your answer?”
“Heh… I can try?” Veldora said, honestly.
That was all Rimuru could ask. Not absolutes, but intention. A path forward.
“It’s a process, then. For both of us,” Rimuru said with a small smile.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then Veldora reached out and cupped his cheek with his free hand.
The corridor hummed softly between them, steady now - alive.
Rimuru felt the weight of it. Not power, but meaning.
He could step back. Say something light. Pretend this was just relief after fear.
Veldora waited.
Patient. Present - giving him the choice.
Rimuru considered it, then looked up.
“Veldora… this is - ”
The dragon’s golden eyes were smiling. Confident.
“I know what this is.”
His dragon was always there - palpable, comforting.
Sometimes annoying. Loud. Smug.
But essential.
Warm.
Loving.
Soulmate.
Rimuru swallowed, then nodded.
“Ok.”