Slime 11 (Patreon)

I had never had a mansion in my life. I had no such wealth and privilege in my previous lives. This subversion of normality in this life had swelled my heart near to bursting. I had even cried for a few minutes when it was all presented to me.

The house, as it was proper, was huge—three stories, with all of forty-six rooms. It had ten bedrooms—including my own master bedroom—fourteen bathrooms, two living rooms, a formal dining room, a ballroom, a marvelous foyer, a casual dining hall, a family lounge—with a fireplace and all—a splendid study that reeked of wealth and abundance, and three libraries—a private one, a common one, and one dedicated to the Arts and the countless grimoires I made each day.

Those were just the common and resting rooms, by the way.

I also had specialty rooms that included three kitchens—a private one, a common one, and a grand one reserved for events—a pantry, a cellar, a game room, a clothing room, a sunroom, an art room—where I kept most of the useless items the awakened babies liked to give me. It was always rocks or trash, but I cherished them all the same. I also had a spa, an indoor pool, and a gym that was just there for style.

All of the rooms were luxurious and styled with that twist of modernized nobility. So it was polished marble and oak and tiles so wonderfully incredible they felt almost ethereal. I was quite thrilled and thankful for this, twice as much for having my two favorite aides to help me take care of it.

Thus, I was all smiles and good cheer on this day.

“…Whoa, this is quite luxurious and big,” that had been Gobta’s surprised exclamation upon entering this mansion proper. He was evidently impressed, his eyes wide and jaw just a bit slackened. “It makes me feel so insecure about my dingy two-bedroom house.”

I was actually impressed that he managed to get his hands on a house rather than just a dedicated apartment. Additionally, I did sense that despite his self deprecating words, he was prided by that house of his.

And it was an understandable pride, not too long ago he was staying in a small hut with a dozen or so other goblins.

I gave him a pat on his mohawk, a bit surprised by the softness of his hair—the cheeky bastard had a hair routine, I just knew it.

“It shouldn’t bother you much, Gobta-chan. As my personal bodyguard, you’ll have a permanent place here,” I told him. At this point, I was just straight-up LARPing—and I liked it. I felt like the president or someone of great importance.

Rigurd had wanted me to have an actual palace, with an actual medieval castle and all those nonsense things. I was obviously opposed to that, more for the lack of privacy than the actual aesthetics. No, I wanted a dedicated private home with as little interference as possible.

Once I got a busty elven babe, I wanted to be able to indulge in her body without any disturbances or cares. And, if I did end up with a child or more, I wanted a semblance of ordinary family.

“I still can’t believe that I’m your primary protector, Lord Rimuru. I honestly feel useless given how powerful you are.” He looked at me with a frown. “I still have yet to surprise you in our training, much less touch you. And I know you are holding yourself back by a lot.”

I chuckled a bit at that, passing him a red apple—True Self was a spell undefeated in its time saving capabilities. Why wait for time’s crawl for results when you could just… not. And applying it on vegetation allowed us to swiftly modify and breed the most exceptional of plants. 

I had begun to introduce magical nourishment to them in response to the revelation Lilina had shared with me. Thus far, things weren’t going well, at least not in the ways that I wanted them to.

Who cared if I could just conjure the magical enriched food with my Mystic Magic, that act was not replicable by basic magical means. But, I was getting to lost in the inconsequential.

I looked to the side where Gobta was munching on the apple happily. I smiled, remembering his spoken grievance.

“Well, I didn’t know that you wanted to hurt me that badly,” I teased, and that little act stole all the blood from his face. This guy was a bit too dramatic. “Relax, Gobta. But if you want me to explain it to you, it’s about image and also easing the worries of the others. Rigurd would probably faint if he heard that I had to punch some ruffians down.”

The former chief was so protecting of me. He didn’t think I needed to surrender any more effort to betterment of this community, deeming what I had already done more than enough and incapable of being fully repaid.

I also suspected that he had an inkling of just how unfathomably powerful I was despite my lack of exuded presence or might. Nonetheless, that hadn’t made him any less protective of me. He was more protective of me than the women if I was being honest.

Gobta, because he was well aware of Rigurd’s personality, scratched his head with a nervous smile written on his face. 

“Yeah, I kinda knew that.” This guy was a really bad liar. Still, I feigned believing. His face then turned serious. “Don’t worry, Lord Rimuru. As long as I’m here, you’ll not need to worry about lifting a finger to fend off any would-be evildoers. I, Gobta the Glorious, will protect you.”

Careful there, Gobta, you might end up just stealing my heart instead. I chuckled at my own comedy and the goblin’s declaration.

Still, I was actually impressed by how far this roundy goblin had come; no longer was he a wild and impulsive fighter who was prone to sneaky tricks. No, now he was tempered, and dare I argue, he was nigh-unchallenged in his art of spear fighting and a master in the invocation of Battlewill.

He was greatly enhanced in body and was a subtle master of earth manipulation. I also gave him access to my enhanced regeneration and a personal Slaverei. He was a real beast, and I was looking forward to seeing his performance in the field.

If I judged that he was insufficient, I would have to awaken him as a full-on Inspired Hobgoblin. I have come to suspect that for the natives, that spiritual evolution actually meant something. Still, I believe it to be just worthless fluff. As long as a person had magic, they could be assured of anything.

I showed Gobta around, enjoying his unguarded reactions to everything. He was so impressed by the flushing toilets more than anything. That surprised me, since those things were everywhere.

“…I just think it’s incredible that something like this can exist without the implementation of magic,” he said after flushing the toilet again. Honestly, he looked like an innocent child when he was this excited. “Kinda sad that it’s designed to carry dumps.”

Oi, how else did you expect waste to find itself in our glorious sewers? 

I remembered how both impressed and bothered Regurd was when I told him about the process of fertilization. Yeah, it was rather… disturbing to hear about the recycling of excrement into stuff used for encouraging crop growth.

Still, after analyzing the authenticity of it with his skill, he was extremely enthusiastic to see that process implemented at maximum capacity, joining with Rogurd to build the appropriate infrastructure. Ragurd was glad for the methane gas to power the forges.

It was honestly amazing seeing how a single act touched upon numerous important factors of our society. Now, if the fertilization factories ever stopped, it would affect numerous aspects of our lives. That, there, was efficiency at work. The people would hopefully realize soon that there were no such things as useless professions.

As for me, I needed to devise the appropriate wages for each job. I also needed to conjure up some gold, silver, and bronze veins in the mountains and grounds. That also meant a big deal of other metals—I needed a dedicated mining town or settlement.

Well, all in due time, I supposed.

In truth, I had thought of creating an actual trading system where it was just an exchange of goods for goods. However, such a system didn’t allow for easy business practices. What happened if someone didn’t want the things you were trying to trade?

After finishing with my gloating over the interior of my mansion, we went outside, where beautiful gardens of flowers were laid out. This was my pride, as I was now a lover of nature—I was giving credit to my elvish personification.

Unfortunately, unlike the interior, Gobta held no grand impressions for the outside. Well, I supposed you won some and lost some. It was just how the game of ego-stroking went.

Still, there was a pair of individuals I wanted to make known—they were actually the people responsible for maintaining this wondrous garden.

“Apito, Zegion,” I called in the distance, immediately sensing two spikes of awareness from opposite ends. I smiled brightly, as I was unnaturally fond of and curious about these two creatures.

Gobta immediately raised his brow, though that was more an innate reaction from his weaker days than actual confusion. He no doubt sensed the two creatures’ presence the very moment I had brought them to this place—they were not quite learned in the skills of concealment, at least not to a master of aura manipulation.

I truly was an unrivalled teacher. I mean, sure, I had to beat Gobta and co. into cripples after each session, but hell if that punishment didn’t accelerate their awakening and mastery of Battlewill in just a month.

Now, all they needed to do was master the techniques and awaken some Haki, and they would be golden. Though, if the Haki thing failed, I could just cloak them in my own—I needed to remember that the hobgoblins weren’t a very ambitious or exalted species.

That exceptionalism was only innate to the First Children. My heroes of tomorrow.

At times, I wondered if I had become Doctor Frankenstein in personality. I was so stupid.

After a few seconds, the two did arrive. One was a fist-sized beetle with a black, lustrous carapace—that was Zegion. The other was the most beautiful bee this side of eternity. Apito was a large, wasp-like bee with a white fur coating around her upper body. She was so adorable it was nearly diabetic.

“You’ve called, Gracious Master?” Zegion asked with his ridiculously thick voice—this little guy was also cute.

I summoned two orbs of densely compacted, synthesized magicules on each of my shoulders and beckoned them to land. The two complied, easily finding their favorite flavors.

“I did call indeed,” I responded with a smile, turning to an evidently uncomfortable Gobta. He should have been able to feel the very… hostile magicules of these cute monsters. “I am wanting to introduce you two to my… bodyguard over here, Gobta.”

I introduced, gesturing at the goblin. He gave the two an awkward smile and wave—this guy wasn’t getting a girlfriend any time soon.

The insectars, as it was their wont, were quick to show their courtesy and formalities.

“We are pleased to meet you, protector of our master.” Zegion was so formal. Though I noticed he was immensely intrigued by the goblin—no doubt sensing that hidden strength under the goofy surface.

“Ah… good to meet you two,” Gobta said with a scratch to the back of his head. “Though, I must admit that your auras are a bit… different from normal monsters.”

Sharp senses, though I was still disappointed that he was unable to achieve that gauging with me.

This time it was Apito who responded. “Your senses are extraordinary, new one. We are Insectars, of the Seal.” The bee queen explained, but the goblin only looked confused. “We are… invaders?”

“He’s not going to get it, Apito-chan. Gobta here is not learned in such things,” I patted the cute creature. “They aren’t of this world, Gobta. Some ruffian kicked them out of their primary realm.”

“But Lord Rimuru was able to save us before we fell to the vicious creatures of these lands,” she added, as if wanting to highlight my heroism and importance in their survival.

I chuckled a bit. In truth, I was convinced that the two wouldn’t have been killed—the pair had a very, very interesting karma about them. It was so fascinating that I had to actively restrict myself from severing it when I named them and blessed them. I was so interested in how it would play out.

Additionally, when that rift opened in space to spew them out, I sensed a very interesting aura from the other side—that Seal realm. It was so interesting that I was compelled to investigate, though the rift closed before I could get in.

Rather than trying to reopen it again—an easy thing, really—I elected to let things be. Still, I was surprised that interesting being had that stupid Ultimate Skill my Great Sage wanted to evolve into.

What was its name again? Gabriel—no, it was something more… ninja turtle-y. Raphael. Lord of Wisdom.

But back to the pair. Zegion and Apito, even beyond their karma, their physicalities—just Zegion’s—were possessed of something almost close to Veldora’s originality. He also had so much raw potential; it was twice as much as my own—even at his current level—and he also had a very beautiful metamorphosis pathway.

I wanted to nourish that evolution the natural way. I was so curious, especially about Zegion’s innate knowledge of the cultivation of lethality. I was guessing he was set to be a very efficient and effective killer once he became his ideal incarnation.

As for Apito, she was fated to be adorable and precious. Additionally, she produced the most delicious honey this side of eternity.

As I had indicated, I was immensely fond of Apito and her adoptive brother. They were such incredibly unique creatures and possessed of knowledge about the intricate makeup of this most fantastical of dimensions.