------Rimuru POV-------

Currently, Rimuru and Shidou are slowly moving further out from the city.

The evening sun cast long shadows on the ground. The sky was ablaze with the fire of the setting sun, and Rimuru began to wonder where she would choose to rest tonight.

While Rimuru wasn't paying attention, a small black cloud escaped from behind her, unnoticed by anyone, including herself.

Rimuru felt something, so she turned around and checked but didn't find anything out of the ordinary.

Rimuru checked through universal perception---

And again, she didn't feel anything out of the ordinary.

The airship <Fraxinus> was still overhead, and the people were still moving around.

Noticing nothing unusual, Rimuru still had a weird feeling, so she asked Ciel.

<<Hey Ciel, have you noticed anything unusual going on?>>

<<Not at all, Master.>>

<<Is that so... I just had a very strange feeling>>

<<It's just your imagination>>

<<That seems to be the case...>>

Shidou saw Rimuru looked like she was looking for something, so he asked.

"What's wrong, Rimuru?"

Rimuru looked at Shidou and showed a wry smile as she realized that she had just acted strangely on the street.

"Oh, it's nothing, don't mind me."

"Ah... um"

Shidou heard her answer and didn't ask any more questions.

Rimuru sighed and continued looking at her surroundings.

The further away from the city, the fewer people passed by but Rimuru didn't care too much about that. Being looked at by a bunch of strangers is not a pleasant feeling anyway.

And after a while, the place they were heading towards was in front of them.

A park on a hill.

Rimuru didn't understand why Shidou led her to this place but continued to follow.

Go up the long stair on the hill to reach the park above.

Rimuru felt quite surprised that the spiritual power was able to strengthen and increase her physical, making her body not tired after all this walk.

Normally, her human body is very weak, if not pathetically weak when the body doesn't have that much muscle after all.

But thanks to spiritual power, Rimuru can now enjoy using the human body more comfortably.

Once she had gone higher, Rimuru tried looking at the city.

It was already afternoon, the sun was slowly setting and dyeing a large part of the city a pale orange.

In front of Rimuru now is a modern city with houses and shops, not a place destroyed by any space quake, as she had first seen.

She couldn't help but be surprised that the damage she had caused to the city was repaired in just a few days.

"Amazing! they were able to rebuild the city in such a short time," said Rimuru with a somewhat surprised expression.

The Shidou next to her heard that and also spoke up.

"The government has a team that specializes in repairing damage caused by space quakes and Spirits. So the repair process was completed fairly quickly."

Rimuru agreed, with such advanced technology, overcoming the effects of a space-quake and the Spirits could be described as simple.

"That's quite interesting," said Rimuru while continuing to walk up the stairs.

At this moment, Rimuru noticed that the surroundings were strangely deserted, but didn't care much about it.

Instead, what caught Rimuru's attention more was a group of fully armed individuals scattered throughout the area.

Based on what Rimuru recognized, some of them were present in the battle between the AST group and Rimuru last time.

Rimuru wasn't sure how they knew she was here, nor was it clear if they were ready to attack.

Right now, Rimuru doesn't use her angels or Astral Dresses, so the amount of spiritual power released will be close to zero, so it's unlikely they can find Rimuru by tracking her spiritual power.

Rimuru thought and looked at Shidou.

He was walking next to Rimuru and didn't seem to have any bad intentions. But was he leading her to a deserted area to ambush and attack?

Even though she thought about that possibility, Rimuru quickly denied that thought.

Shidou would have no reason to take the risk and directly confront Rimuru.

And at the same time, Rimuru didn't think that the Ratatoskr organization would be stupid enough to attack her after seeing the display of power from the previous attacks.

But in case something unusual happened, Ciel would definitely find out and notify Rimuru immediately, so she was somewhat relieved.

Put aside the stressful thoughts and continue walking, even though Rimuru herself was having unpleasant feelings about being surrounded by people who might attack.

And after a while, they finally reached the park.

------Shidou POV------

Once they reached the place, Shidou looked toward the direction of the city below

Although he had walked for a long time, he did not feel tired, and he felt very grateful for that.

And Shidou felt that his hard work was well worth it.

Up here is a large area lined with bricks and trees along the side of the road.

Here he could see the whole street, he could even see his neighborhood from an angle he rarely saw.

At the side, Rimuru also looked down at the scenery below the city and spoke up.

"It's pretty, so is this what you want? View of the city from this place." Rimuru said while looking towards the city with a satisfied smile.

When Shidou saw that, he only smiled slightly back and nodded.

The reason he hadn't started a conversation up until now was that he wasn't good at it without the help of the Ratatoskr.

He was always trying to come up with something to ask Rimuru.

But he was afraid that his question would be inappropriate.

Rimuru always gave Shidou a nervous feeling he never felt before, even with Tohka or Yoshino.

not sure why, but Rimuru just feels different from the other spirits. Maybe it's the way she acts or speaks... She still hadn't opened up to Shidou yet.

After the two kept silent and looked at the city for a while, Rimuru suddenly spoke up.

"That's enough sightseeing, can we talk now?"

Surprised by Rimuru's sudden question, Shidou looked at her.

Rimuru's face has now lost the smile from earlier. She now had a serious face as she looked at him.

Shidou felt like Rimuru's attitude had changed dramatically, even though he didn't know what Rimuru's current mood bar was. But he could guess that she was feeling uncomfortable.

For some reason?

But Shidou didn't do anything. Ratatoskr also just observed and did not interfere in these matters, so Shidou did not understand the reason for Rimuru's change of attitude towards him.

Her cold gaze made Shidou feel even tenser.

"What do you want to talk about?" Shidou asked Rimuru again while trying to hide his nervousness.

Rimuru, who was still looking at him with an almost expressionless face, opened her mouth and spoke.

"Why did you bring me here?"

Hearing Rimuru's question, Shidou was silent for a while to find an answer.

The decision to bring Rimuru to this place was not his own, but Ratatoskr's decision. 

But Shidou couldn't say he took her here just because of Ratatoskr's instructions.

wrecking his brain to find some excuse, but found nothing.

Shidou clenched his fist and opened his mouth, Relying on his emotion.

"I took you here just to help you relax, Sometimes you need to have a bit of fun, right?" 

Shidou said with a wry smile.

He tried looking at Rimuru's expression after he said that to her.

Rimuru looked like she was surprised, but at the same time, she was trying to confirm his words.

After a while, Rimuru sighed and said.

"Okay, I'll trust you... for now." Rimuru said with a less tone serious

Shidou also felt relieved when he saw Rimuru had returned to her original attitude.

He breathed out softly and spoke up.

"Shall we find somewhere to sit for a bit?"

"Okay"

------Kotori POV------

Kotori looked up at the control screen with a somewhat annoyed face.

Rimuru was harder to conquer than Kotori thought.

She barely opens her heart and rarely talks to Shidou during the trip.

Just a moment ago, her mood bar suddenly dropped without any reason, and after listening to Shidou's answer, it back to normal again.

All the static can only tell that Rimuru is wary of something...

Kotori doesn't understand what's inside her head anymore, Her alertness makes Kotori feel like choosing the safe option was a good choice.

Although spirits are usually alert to their surroundings, not to this extent.

Is something troubling her?

While Kotori was thinking, suddenly Reine, beside her, spoke up.

"I'm going to analyze the new data we got from this encounter."

Hearing Reine's words, Kotori looked over at her and nodded.

"Okay, tell me if there's any useful information about this spirit."

Reine nodded and slowly went out of the control room.

Watching Reine walk away, looking like she could collapse at any moment, Kotori sighed and turned back to the monitor screen.

All information was encrypted for information security reasons, only Reine can read them.

And now, any new information about Rimuru, her hobby, what she likes and dislikes,... is all important.

There was no friendliness or love in Rimuru's eyes... She seemed to only see Shidou as a 'person that she has to meet'

...And Kotori has to change that!

------Rimuru POV------

Currently, Rimuru and Shidou were resting on a bench, even though they weren't tired.

Rimuru looked over at Shidou, who seemed to be quite tense. An attitude that someone who has to deal with spirits like him shouldn't have.

There was no hostility Rimuru can feel from him, but still, something about him was putting Rimuru on guard.

But when she first met Shidou, there was spiritual energy detected in his body, and Ciel confirmed it.

However, right now, she cannot see any abnormalities on Shidou's body.

He doesn't have any skills, or he doesn't even possess the thing that turned Rimuru's current body into a spirit.

If searching from the outside didn't work, worst case, Rimuru might have to absorb him for Ciel to analyze.

But Rimuru doesn't want to do that, so it's best to get Shidou to tell Rimuru himself.

"Hey Shidou, are you a Spirit?"

Rimuru suddenly asked and looked at him without blinking, not expecting Shidou's answer.

It would be foolish to trust someone you just met not long ago.

After hearing Rimuru's question, Shidou made a surprised expression and looked at her.

"Why, do you....."

"When I first met you, you were emitting spiritual energy and healing, isn't that the ability of a Spirit?"

Hearing her words, Shidou was silent for a while.

After a while, he opened his mouth to speak.

"I'm not a spirit, I'm a human... or at least I believe so," Shidou said, mumbling at the end.

Shidou is currently averting his face and trying to avoid her gaze, which makes Rimuru feel that something is not right.

After a while, Shidou also looked back at Rimuru, his eyes lacked confidence, but he continued to speak.

"As for the spiritual energy, it is the spiritual power of the spirits that I have sealed."

<<Ciel!>> 

Rimuru immediately asked Ciel to confirm Shidou's words.

<<No sign of lying from individual Shidou detected>>

Hearing Ciel's confirmation, Rimuru sighed and looked at Shidou.

He seemed to be waiting for a response from Rimuru.

Rimuru observed him once more.

His body is nothing special, but somehow he can...

seal spiritual energy into his body?

"Then how did you seal the spiritual energy of the Spirits into you?"

Right after that, Shidou opened his eyes wide and fell into a state of complete panic.

"T---That's..." 

Shidou stammered as he looked like he was having a hard time trying to explain.

"Is it something secret?" Rimuru asked, seeing his troubled expression.

"Oh no! it's not! It's just....." 

Shidou spoke and then paused for a moment.

"You could say so," Shidou said in a voice that sounded like he had given up on persuasion otherwise.

Hearing this, Rimuru only smiled lightly with a teasing expression.

She knew that organizations would usually have their secrets, but the way Shidou handled matters was like a child afraid of being exposed, and that made Rimuru feel somewhat funny.

Shidou seemed to have also noticed Rimuru smiling at him, but instead of annoyance he just stared at her.

He didn't look annoyed at being teased by Rimuru, but it looked like he was feeling happier.

Ignoring Shidou's expression, Rimuru tried to check what was going on around her as a safety measure, and she realized...

The number of people surrounding Rimuru has now increased.

This is not a defensive measure but more like an ambush.

she doesn't think Shidou and the people surrounding her are a real threat and doesn't think that Ratatoskr would be stupid enough to attack her.

But then Ciel's voice came into Rimuru's head.

<<Warning, Master, you need to stay away from individual Shidou now!>>

------Ciel POV-------

A few minutes ago

Master is still thinking that she's not capable of defeating the spirit named Phantom.

And now, while Lord Rimuru was busy looking around.

Ciel secretly formed a clone body that she could control.

...

Everything happened undetected by Lord Rimuru.

The body created by Ciel was so weak that it was almost no different from a normal human and could easily be destroyed.

Lord Rimuru's current body wasn't her actual body, so the amount of mana Ciel can use is barely enough to make a clone.

But what Ciel needed here was the information about spiritual energy and the sealing process that was mentioned.

The reason Ciel chose this world in the first place was just because of this energy source.

Spirit shouldn't exist in this world, but somehow it did and does exist.

The way they work is somewhat special, they don't work like magic or any other kind of energy that Ciel has ever encountered.

The spirit abilities that Lord Rimuru possessed were contained within the crystal called Sephira, not the soul.

they possess a relatively strong ability to manipulate reality despite being limited by many factors.

For a lot of reasons, Ciel thinks that this energy can do more than this.

Despite the lack of information, Ciel was assured that no entity could cause significant harm to Lord Rimuru.

But it was also due to the lack of information about this energy that Lord Rimuru could easily believe that she was currently in a disadvantageous position.

And now, Ciel was supporting Rimuru-sama while controlling the clone body to infiltrate the <Fraxinus> ship easily without being detected.

Standing on an empty street corner, the body that Ciel was controlling kept an expressionless face and looked up at the sky with bright red eyes.

A ship named Fraxinus was observing Lord Rimuru while remaining invisible in the sky.

But still, the invisible layer can't do anything against Ciel to prevent her from seeing them.

At this moment, Ciel finished calculating the coordinates and teleported straight into the ship's data center.

Without saying anything, Ciel's figure disappeared.

Standing in a room covered in metal, Ciel stood facing a console connected to the ship

Slowly walking to the screen in front, Ciel placed her hand on it and began to analyze it.

At that moment, a voice rang out behind Ciel.

That voice came from someone that Ciel would surely intervene if anything unusual happened---

Phantom

She currently surrounds herself with some sort of mosaic to hide her identity and is standing behind Ciel.

"Looks like there's someone who shouldn't be here." 

Ciel didn't turn around or answer, she just stood still and showed no emotion.

"Hmm? Won't you talk?"

Just like last time, Ciel doesn't show any emotion or interact with Phantom.

"I was going to ask you something but... it seems you won't answer so...DIE"

After Phantom's words, she raised her hand towards Ciel.

Instantly, from Phantom's palm, a laser shot straight through Ciel's body.

Ciel's body instantly turned into black smoke and vanished.

Ciel now no longer cares about Phantom or her destroyed clone.

because there's something else-----

An extremely important information that Ciel had just obtained when copying all the data in the Fraxinus.

They're planning to have Shidou kiss lord Rimuru!!!

Ciel was no longer able to calculate or anything. She could only think of one thing.

Must notify Lord Rimuru immediately.

<<Warning, Master, you need to stay away from individual Shidou now!>>

------Rimuru POV------

As soon as she heard Ciel's warning, Rimuru looked at Shidou.

He seemed to see Rimuru looking at him, so he looked back with a puzzled face.

Shidou didn't have any hostile actions, and that made Rimuru confused.

But then, Rimuru realized-----

The AST team surrounding them had already begun to move.

Rimuru immediately stood up from the bench and jumped back to keep her distance from Shidou.

Rimuru's actions took him by surprise.

"CHAOS"

From Rimuru's right hand, a small light emitted, forming a Katana sword, and as the light faded, Rimuru angle <Chaos> could be seen in her hand.

Rimuru stood facing Shidou who was completely confused by what was going on.

"Ri---" 

But before he could even finish his sentence. a voice came from afar.

"Shidou!!!"

Rimuru looked toward the source of the sound. A small girl with white hair and angry eyes was rushing towards Rimuru.

"Wait!" Shidou shouted, but the white-haired girl didn't stop.

With a sharp gaze, Rimuru firmly grasped Chaos and prepared for what was to come.

---End chap 6----