"Speaking of which, Rimuru and the others should be back by now, right?"
At this point, three days had passed since Rimuru and her group left Axel.
These three days didn't include travel time by carriage.
The trio had used spatial magic.
In other words, they spent three days in Alcanretia, basically experiencing every fun activity the city had to offer.
Whoosh!
Sure enough, not long after Damien had this thought, a magic circle appeared in his bedroom.
"Bone!"
"Phew, finally back!"
Appearing before Damien were Ogerpon and Rimuru.
Velzard's figure was nowhere to be seen.
In her place was a blonde girl in a blue priestess outfit, tightly bound like a caterpillar.
"Mmm!!"
"Mmmph~~~"
The blonde girl was wriggling on the floor like a worm, letting out muffled whimpers.
"Damien!"
Rimuru greeted Damien while unloading a pile of items from her spatial storage.
"Damien, we're back~~"
"Had fun?"
Damien patted Ogerpon, who nestled into his arms like a swallow, affectionately ruffling her head.
"The city was nice."
Rimuru complained, "But what's with those people? A bunch of lunatics?"
Clearly, Rimuru had experienced the fervor of the Axis Order and couldn't handle it!
"So..."
Damien pointed at the struggling blonde girl on the floor. "Is she a souvenir you brought back?"
"Tch!"
The mention of the girl gave Rimuru a headache and a surge of frustration.
Honestly, this trip had been an eye-opener for Rimuru.
She never knew humans could be so shameless.
And the Axis Order's various doctrines...
Rimuru didn't even know where to begin complaining.
"Sort of."
Rimuru said, "She heard I was coming back to Axel and decided to hitch a ride."
"To keep her in line, I had to tie her up."
"I see. I thought you'd discovered some hidden fetish."
"Who'd have such a weird fetish?!"
Rimuru recalled that night's events, her face instantly flushing red with embarrassment.
"Haha, alright, I'll stop teasing you."
Damien chuckled as he stepped forward to untie the girl's bindings.
"Wah! I'm alive again!"
Freed, the girl sprang up with a carp-like flip and quickly adjusted her clothes.
"Is this Axel?"
"Amazing, we really got here in an instant!"
The girl's name was Cecily, a priestess of the Axis Order, with a peculiar fondness for shotas and girls.
Oh, and one more thing: Cecily's favorite food was something called Lipstick Slime.
Yes, the girl liked eating slimes.
That was why she had her sights set on Rimuru.
The first time she saw Rimuru, Cecily caught a whiff of an irresistible scent.
Bro, you smell so good.
"By the way, where's Velzard-nee?"
Damien looked at Rimuru. "Where'd my sister run off to?"
"Lady Velzard said she was interested in this world's monsters and went to the Demon King's castle to chat with the Demon King."
"..."
What could Damien say? He could only offer a three-second silent prayer for this world's Demon King.
"Fine, let's put her matter aside for now."
"You're just brushing it off like that?!"
Rimuru's eyes widened. She felt that since arriving in this world, both Damien and Velzard had adopted its bizarre vibe.
This sibling duo was more unreliable than the other!
"That's Velzard we're talking about!"
Rimuru exclaimed, "She's going to destroy this world, isn't she?"
"Relax, I trust her has some sense of restraint."
As Damien spoke, he signaled Violet to prepare. "If anything goes wrong, protect this otherworld immediately and move it out before the Heavens notice."
"You're already planning this world's funeral?!"
Saying you trust her while doing the exact opposite!
Honestly, Rimuru was quite fond of this world.
The people here were all so talented and spoke so nicely... Rimuru loved it here.
Well, okay.
Not just Damien and Velzard... Rimuru had also been corrupted by this world's comedic atmosphere, turning into a gag character herself.
"Anyway."
"Anyway?"
"Let's talk about her."
"You're just moving on like that?!"
Rimuru was at a loss for words. Now, she could only rely on the ever-dependable Miss Violet.
"She came to me on her own."
Rimuru explained, "She said she wanted to come to Axel with me and kept trying to sell me on the Axis Order."
"And then?"
"Then I told her I know the goddess they worship in the Axis Order, Aqua."
Rimuru continued, "So, I brought her back."
"I see."
Damien understood.
He wasn't surprised that Cecily had zeroed in on Rimuru.
Though her personality was a bit off, she was undeniably cute, hitting right in Cecily's strike zone.
Plus, Rimuru's slime body...
Cecily's radar activated, and Rimuru had nowhere to hide!
Of course, Rimuru didn't know this yet and just thought Cecily was a creepy fangirl.
"Are these the souvenirs you brought back?"
"Any for me?"
Without waiting for Rimuru's permission, Damien started rummaging. "Why so many soaps?"
"The Axis Order people gave them to me. I didn't want them, but they insisted on shoving them at me."
Rimuru said the city was great in every way except for the cult's overzealous members, who were enthusiastic to a terrifying degree.
At the same time, she felt relieved.
Thankfully, Velzard left early and didn't have to deal with this mess.
Otherwise, with Velzard's personality, she might've frozen the entire city into a popsicle on the spot.
As for Rimuru...
She was equally helpless against Cecily.
When Cecily got close, Rimuru had to be careful not to push too hard.
One slip, and she'd be begging Cecily not to die.
"I get it."
"It's the Axis Order, after all."
Damien looked at Cecily and began laying down ground rules. "I'll cover your food and lodging, and I can also sponsor you if you want to set up an Axis Order branch in Axel."
***
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