Earlier in the day, while they were talking with the adventurers, Rimuru had noticed a few things about the strange masked girl. Most notably, the way that she carried herself. She had to be from Japan.
He wondered whether or not his counterpart could tell as well, although he didn't know if he would have the knowledge to notice something like that.
For that reason though, Rimuru found that it was quite a hard thing to do to stop thinking about her. So, later that day when he saw her head out of the village for some reason, he found himself following her.
The girl had taken a small walk to a nearby hilltop, adorned with little more than a single tree, overlooking the forest. It was a beautiful sight to behold, even from where Rimuru was hiding behind the tree.
There, Rimuru stopped, thinking about how he was supposed to approach her. She looked beautiful. The soft breeze caused her long black hair to sway gently, with even individual strands being visible thanks to the fading sunlight ahead. Had he been in a human body at this point, he had no doubt he would have been blushing. Argh, get a hold of yourself! He thought.
[Great Sage], do you have any ideas?
{Notice- Unable to provide an answer}
Of course. [Great Sage] wasn't that kind of sage.
As he panicked, Shizue looked behind herself. She had felt his presence not long after he started following her and was mostly just curious. She pondered whether to call out to him first. However, just as she was about to decide to do it, the slime jumped out from behind the tree. She pretended to have not felt him before.
With a series of funny looking hops, the slime stopped just to her right. With [Thought Communication] Rimuru spoke up. "Um, I wanted to ask you something. Uh, are you from…" He began before he was cut off.
"Japan." The girl said before he could finish.
Rimuru jumped in surprise, "So, you really…"
She nodded silently, "Yes, that line you said earlier. I'm not a bad slime. It's from a game, yes?" Rimuru could only nod as best he could. "I've never played it myself, but I have heard about it from someone else."
"Oh, so you know about other people from Earth."
She nodded, silently leaning down before taking off her mask. Rimuru immediately flinched. That face. It was the girl he saw back in the bar. With a smile, she reached down for him, picking him up in her arms. "Tell me, Mister Slime. Are you also from Earth?"
"Oh, yeah. I'm also from Japan if you couldn't tell."
"I see. Is your brother from there as well?"
"Well, he's from Earth but from what he said to me, he's actually from America. How could you tell?"
The girl looked away at the horizon. "It's not hard to tell if someone isn't from this world. I've lived a long enough life to understand what the people here think. You're both too…carefree I think is the best description. This world doesn't nurture that very well." She sighed to herself, "So, tell me. How did you come to this world?"
"I got stabbed to death, saving someone of course!"
"So you reincarnated here. It must have been quite tough for you, I imagine." Her voice was so soft. Rimuru couldn't help but feel a bit awkward with her.
He asked her, "Was it different for you?"
Her face saddened a bit, "Yes. I was summoned."
A summon? That was right. He remembered Veldora talking about it briefly. Then Mikaeru mentioned it as well later on. Summoned people weren't uncommon in this world. Shizu must have been one of them. He asked her, "When were you summoned to this world?"
Her face turned into one of reminiscence. "Quite a while ago. My town was burning at the time."
A war? Rimuru questioned. As she continued, Rimuru locked in on which one. The air raids. She must have been summoned while one was going on.
She seemed sad as she explained, "My birth mother and I. We were trying to get to safety, but then…"
"Did she…" Rimuru couldn't finish his words.
Her face was more than enough to tell him what happened to her. The air went silent for a bit, "Shizu, do you want to see something cool?"
"Eh?"
"Just watch." [Great Sage], I'd like to use [Thought Communication] to show Shizu some of my memories. Can you do that for me, please?
{Notice- Using Extra Skill [Thought Communication] to share previous life memories}
The world around both of them suddenly shifted as the sights of modern day Japan ran through the minds of the both of them. "W-what is this?"
"It's Japan. This is what it looks like now, when I was summoned here." He explained, "The war that it was in. World War 2 it's called now. It ended a long time ago. Japan has long since recovered from it."
Shizue's eyes widened as the image of a happy family playing in a park filled the area. "Japan is in a time of peace now!" He proudly proclaimed.
"I see." Shizue smiled to herself. "That's good." She looked around. "Oh? What's that?"
Rimuru looked. "Eh? W-wait, don't look! It's not what you think!" It was the image of his bedroom, but more importantly than that, the image of his computer.
"An elf?" Shizue questioned. Rimuru panicked.
"W-wait! Don't look! [Great Sage]! Stop it!"
"She's very pretty." Rimuru felt like he wanted to die.
"I-I'm sorry about that." Change it to something else!
{Notice- Changing to a randomized memory}
"Eh?" He tried to stop it. What if it was something worse!? But, no, Rimuru suddenly stopped. The memory that was shown was…"That's not."
"Wow, wow~. Now isn't that interesting?" Mikaeru's voice appeared, "Showing another man's memories without permission? Not gonna lie. I feel a little violated."
"Mikaeru!?" Rimuru jiggled enough to make Shizue have to reposition her arms a bit.
"Yo." He looked at the memory. It wasn't anything groundbreaking. Just a scene of a red eyed girl eating a massive pile of candy while his younger self watched in shock. However, it could have been worse. [Great Sage]. Seal my memories away from Rimuru.
{Notice- Processing…Complete}
The memory faded out and eventually completely disappeared. "Showing Japan to your new girlfriend?"
"She's not my girlfriend!" Rimuru yelled out.
"Spoken like a true virgin." Shizue looked at the scene with a smile. They acted just like siblings, even though she now knew they originally weren't. Mikaeru focused on Shizue, "Sorry, but I was able to hear your conversation more or less thanks to a skill of mine. It shares information between the two of us."
Shizue's eyes widened ever so slightly before calming down. "I see. It's fine."
"You're an otherworlder like us." Mikaeru stopped for a second before asking, "When you were summoned, were you under someone's control?"
"Eh? What do you mean?" Rimuru asked.
"When people are summoned to this world, it's common for summoners to try and control those they get their hands on. It's an unfortunate part of it all."
Rimuru paused, "Uh, are you sure it's…"
"It's fine." Shizue said with a breath. "I've moved past it now." Really? Mikaeru pondered. "Yes, when I was first summoned, I was placed under the servitude of a demon lord named Leon Cromwell."
"Demon lord!?" Rimuru said aloud.
"I see. I'm guessing you were freed, then."
"Yes. I was saved," she put a hand to her chest, "by a pair of heroes. It is a debt I have yet to repay."
"Is that so?" Mikaeru nodded, "I wonder…"
Heroes. Rimuru had heard that from Veldora as well. It was a group of them that sealed him away.
Mikaeru jumped over to them. "Sorry, if I'm being a bit invasive but, could you tell me their names?"
Shizue turned her head in confusion. "I could but, is there a reason why you want to know?"
"Call it curiosity. You don't have to if you don't want to but, let's just say it might be worth it to know."
"Curiosity." Shizue muttered to herself. When was the last time she met someone with that motivation? She couldn't remember. It was an odd feeling. Talking just for something as mundane as that. She smiled. She was thankful for that. With a soft look, she told them, "Their names were Chronoa and…"
It was over 50 years prior to that moment that Shizue heard that name for the first time and for that moment when she revealed that name, she found her mind wandering back to the time before that day.
The first thing she saw upon waking up in the world was the look of a man that did not care.
Leon Cromwell, the hero turned demon lord was a man that she could only describe as elusive. "I believed that you would turn out to be useless, but it seems you possess an infinity towards fire." Those were the first words the man ever spoke to her and as it turned out, one of the last words he ever spoke as well.
It was a terrifying sight. After saying that, a pillar of flames shot up from his right revealing a monstrous humanoid figure behind it. Ifrit, the spirit was called. It was a powerful high ranking spirit of fire that had been under the command of the demon lord. However, beyond that, it was also the spirit that would become one with her. The spirit that he forced on her.
By becoming the host of the spirit, her life would change forever. She had inherited the contract Leon had made with Ifrit, becoming Leon's servant. Under which, she was ordered to kill. First of which being an odd looking avian lycanthrope with green feathers who she was forced to burn to death mere minutes after her initial arrival. Her memories from there were anything but happy. She was forcefully trained in combat, then ordered to stand guard outside of his base.
She lost count of the number of potential invaders she was forced to kill while standing guard. All she knew was that her life was a literal hell.
Ifrit was not a calm spirit. Thanks to its repeated outbursts, she lived life in fear, wondering when the next time she would feel the searing pain of Ifrit's fire again. At least, until she met a friend.
Pizu and Pirino didn't deserve what happened to them. They were kind. Shizue's only friends. Despite the possibility of hurting them, they decided to stick around. Play with her. That much was a mistake. A mistake that she could only blame herself for. Just a few months later, they died at her hand. Even though it was Ifrit who did it, Shizue blamed herself. Because she was the one that let them stay. It was her fault.
Her mind went blank at the time. She couldn't even mourn them properly either. Like nothing happened, she was back outside the gate the next morning. She didn't know how many times she cried for them.
Then finally, they arrived. The ones that saved her.
"Your name? Would you mind?" The man asked her.
Shizue opened her mouth. At that point she was almost reluctant to speak. Pizu…Pirino. The sight of the ashes. The sight of her friend's corpse ran through her mind. Was she even deserving of giving a name? She was little more than a sentry for the man that sat in the throne behind her. But, she still spoke. "Shizu…"
She watched as the man sighed. Had she done something wrong? She couldn't help but feel a small amount of fear. After all, he had the same strong aura she felt from Leon. But, he didn't do anything scary. He merely repeated. "Shizu." She watched as he thought about something to himself. Then, he answered. "I see. Well, in that case, this girl here is Chronoa." His eyes softened as he looked her in the eyes. Those pupils. Those eyes. They shined like the stars. "And I'm…"
The older Shizue looked down at Mikaeru with a replication of that same smile she saw that day. "His name was Alexander. Alexander Sarmos"
Hero of Valor was his title. Shizue looked at the slime as he processed this. The slime went silent for a bit, but he silently answered with a simple, "I see."
The sound of a small gust of wind was heard as the area went quiet. "He must be a great man."
The conversation from there devolved into little more than idol chit chat, even as they made their way down the hill. After which, the day passed like any other.
Then, the next day, the trio that Shizue traveled with bid their goodbyes. Shizue on the other hand, chose to stay for a little longer, seeing as she still had some things to do. It was during this time that Mikaeru struck once more, gathering the three of them together to suggest an idea. "Shizu, this might seem out of the blue but…would it be okay if I analyzed you?"
Rimuru jerked in confusion. "Analyzed?"
"Yeah, remember back with the wolves?" He explained, "Rimuru and I have the ability to mimic those that we analyze with one of our skills. Normally, something like that requires us to well…eat them. But, not long ago I found that there is a way to copy using something smaller, like hair."
Shizue listened as he explained further, going into the intricacies of how the copying worked. She understood. "So, doing that would allow you to copy the form of a human? Is that what you want?"
"You could say that." Mikaeru said. "It might seem a bit odd, but, now that there's a person here to copy, I figured I might as well ask. Would it be okay?"
Shizue pondered the question for a bit before nodding along, "Very well. You just need a hair, right?"
"That'll be more than enough." The slime watched as Shizue cut off part of one of her hair strands. "Here you go." Mikaeru immediately consumed it with [Predator].
{Notice- Beginning analysis of Subject Shizu…
Notice- Analysis of Demonoid has been completed. The ability to mimic Demonoid has been obtained. Extra Skills [Body Double], [Explosive Flames], [Heat Wave] and [Ranged Barrier] have been obtained
Notice- Unable to copy Intrinsic Skill [Flame Transformation]. Using data to alter skill to Extra Skill [Elemental Transformation]}
Demonoid. That was something Mikaeru didn't want to say out loud. Copying Shizue in this state would not yield human as the analysis target species. It would yield demonoid. Mikaeru prepared himself before using the mimic. He let out a breath and opened his eyes.
He could see again. Well, he could already see thanks to [Magic Sense] but now he could just see. He felt odd. Strangely enough, switching to normal eyes was a downgrade. Like going from 4k resolution to 1080p. He stacked [Magic Sense] on top of eyesight. Immediately the detail went back up. He nodded to himself. That was how he would keep it.
Moving on from that, he focused on another new feeling. What he was feeling. He recognized it. The feeling of arms and legs. He looked down at himself. Naked. Androgynous. This was the body of Rimuru. Although—he felt around—he was a little different.
"Woah." Rimuru said nearby. "You look like…"
Mikaeru used [Water Manipulation] to make a mirror. He looked like Shizue. No…almost exactly like Rimuru. Except his eyes weren't yellow and his teeth. "Red eyes. Sharp teeth." These traits. They weren't from this world. They were from his old one. These were the traits indicative of his old body. Or more specifically his family on his mother's side.
His memories of his old look seemed to have changed his appearance. A trait he guessed he couldn't act surprised about, seeing it was a known thing. He turned to Rimuru, who was still in slime form. "Rimuru, can you try it out? You should have it too."
Rimuru jumped in place. "Uh, Shizue…can I…"
"It's fine." She said, "You can do it if you want."
Rimuru sighed. "Okay." His body rapidly shifted as the form of a younger Shizue took the place of the blob from before. Now this, Mikaeru remembered. Rimuru in his full pre-pubescent looking glory.
Rimuru felt around. "Uh, so…there's no…"
"Already sad you can't do the deed with her? And in front of her no less! Now that's scandalous!"
"That's not what I meant!" Rimuru yelled out, now flush red. "Ugh." Shizue giggled to herself at the sight of Rimuru's face. "We're…naked."
Mikaeru looked at Rimuru. "Yeah. So?"
Rimuru covered up, "What do we do about that?"
[Great Sage], make me clothes with the materials in my stomach according to my mind's specifications.
{Notice- Synthesizing clothing…Synthesis complete}
As if coming out of his skin, clothes appeared on his body made up of a black shirt, grey pants, black boots and a simple blue sweater. "Just make some."
Rimuru's mouth dropped. "I…I didn't know we could do that." Before long he had his canon outfit.
Mikaeru watched as Rimuru asked if Shizue would prefer them to look different from her. She said she was okay with them staying as is, assuming they didn't do anything embarrassing with her body. The image of Rimuru running down the street in a bunny suit ran through Mikaeru's mind. "Sorry, Shizu."
"Eh?" The girl turned to him confused.
"Nothing." Looking like a mom with two kids, the three made their way out of the hut they were sitting in to the shock of everyone around. A new chapter of their story would begin soon. A chapter with actual bodies.
Separating from Rimuru, later that day, Mikaeru sat on a fence bordering the outer corner of the village. They had already explained the new bodies to everyone so that was over with, but there was something else that had been weighing on Mikaeru's mind since earlier that day. "Alexander, eh?" Mikaeru said aloud. Mikaeru's smirk dropped, replaced with one of seriousness. "Strange, strange~. If I didn't know any better, I would have called this a simple coincidence. As I thought. I'm not alone. Just what have you been doing in this world all this time…Teacher?"