Bonus – Visit to the Unknown – 19 Day of Regeneration

I deactivated the time suspension.

“…We should charge in and neutralize the effects of the gravity waves!”

“And then Miss Jegyll can…”

“I can go with you! I came this far, after all. And I intend to go until the end!”

All at once, things became very noisy again.

I would have to make them all calm down once, so they could listen to what I had to say.

While the immediate danger was gone, the root of the problem had not been solved yet. To be precise, while the world had not been destroyed, the planet was still dying.

I opened my mouth to say something, but it turned out that there was no need.

Michelle had opened her eyes.

“Silence!”

A shout.

That was all. Those who had been talking about a plan, in which their lives would be at risk, now closed their mouths and looked at Michelle with expressions of shock.

“Michelle!”

“General Michelle. Did you succeed in controlling it? But, how did you reconnect your ‘brain’?”

“No, that’s impossible! Even after regaining control of your body, it would still be impossible to stop the energy in your state!!”

“General Michelle, according to my partner, you are currently in a stable position. But are you really okay?”

Questions that were full of disbelief were being thrown around.

It was no surprise.

The problem had been solved so quickly that it was hard to believe it.

“I know that you all have a lot you want to say, but wait. I must thank my saviour first!”

With these words, the others seemed to regain their calm a little.

And then their gazes turned to Veldora and then me.

Boing.

A light blue sphere—well, more of an ellipse—creature.

And even I knew that my appearance was suspicious.

However, Michelle looked straight at me.

And then she said:

“So, it’s you that saved me and this world? You have my thanks.”

Amazingly, this Michelle person seemed to understand what had happened while time had stood still.

Perhaps she had grown mentally when her ‘brain’ was cut off from her body?

Either that, or it was an effect of the special substances birthed from the Mobius System. Apparently, Veldora had not been able to use ‘Appraisal’ due to outside disturbances. The Mobius System was so mysterious that it was no wonder Master Ciel had an interest in it.

In any case, this would make things easier.

Michelle seemed like a leader here. She had that sense of authority that allowed her to dominate the others. And it would make it easier for me to talk if someone in her position was able to understand things.

I intended to negotiate about the future in detail.

With this thought in mind, I transformed into a human as a show of politeness.

I felt more relaxed as a slime, but it was hard to look people in the eyes.

“Hello. I am Rimuru. It seems like my comrades have caused you a lot of trouble.”

“I’m Michelle. They haven’t caused any trouble at all. It was I who asked for their aid.”

Michelle answered back. She sounded a little nervous.

Next to me, Veldora was mumbling. ‘Don’t use such lukewarm words. Introduce me as a sworn brother!’ I would definitely bee ignoring him.

Regardless, he was clearly going to leave everything to me. So I left him and looked around the room.

Before I knew it, a hushed silence had fallen over the place.

And their eyes were piercing into me.

Why?

Don’t they realize how uncomfortable it made me?

I wondered, but I couldn’t just say goodbye and leave now.

There were still problems left to solve.

“Now, I’m sure you all have different opinions, but surely you agree that this chaos must be stopped? I want to discuss the future. Is that all right?”

Veldora and the others had sided with the Resistance.

That meant they had gone against the Empire, and yet, they were also somehow allies with Michelle.

In other words, things were not so simple. There was a lot happening behind the scenes.

And as things had escalated so far, it seemed like the proper thing to do was to make everything clear.

“Of course. And I would like the leaders of the resistance to hear as well. There is no point in hiding anything now. It will expose the Empire’s shame…but this is not the time to worry over such things…”

Michelle said. Then she smiled with an insightful look.

She accepted my suggestion and began to talk about the hidden truth.

“…Tribes warring, language barriers, economic disparities, religious differences. In view of all of these things, my father, Almsbine, decided who would become residents of the city. It was all a gamble for the survival of our species. I still feel that it is meaningless to argue about good and evil in this case. After all, our civilization would not exist today if he had not enacted this.”

Michelle finished there.

That was the full story of the project.

Of course, you could try to persuade those who had been cut off and abandoned, but you were not likely to make them understand.

But an administrator had to make decisions. She said.

They would have talked if things could be resolved that way. However, when one side profited while the other suffered, there was nothing you could do to reach a consensus.

And if that happened, they would run out of resources while discussions ran on. Mankind would be destroyed.

But, even then…

“That’s not enough, Michelle. Even after that, there was no future for us…”

I man muttered quietly. He was sitting on the ground and looked exhausted.

And yet the voice rang around the room, and everyone heard him clearly.

“Fudora…what are you…?”

He’s called Fudora, huh?

He was the man who had been fighting the raging gravity waves next to Michelle until the end.

Appearance-wise, Fudora was a young man. And yet he seemed aged, somehow.

The voice was just as tired. But he spoke so that everyone could hear him, not just Michelle.

It was full of despair, and yet it was an accurate analysis of the current situation.