Precognition.
The very notion that, by all means, a regular human could possess a skill so powerful and useful was something completely beyond Rimuru's expectations. Chloe was one thing. She was a True Hero and had gotten it upon arrival to their world and, over multiple years, honed it to the best of its ability. But a regular human possessing it? That was simply unheard of. And yet, both him and Ciel concluded that it was the best logical outcome for why things were the way they were. Perhaps the biggest indication of this was the fact that they simply gave Souma the throne after only two days. However, what was revealed by Glaive only cemented that notion.
When the two heard his question, they were at a complete loss for words. After all, it was something so ridiculous that the normal response was to just sit there and look at him. Unfortunately, their facial reactions, while along those lines, felt just a bit too practiced for Rimuru, or rather Ciel, for them to just dismiss is as just a natural response.
Albert was the first to voice his response. "Umm… Rimuru? That's a bit out there-"
Cutting him off, Rimuru responded with a far more serious tone than anyone was used to seeing. "I feel there are a couple things you should know about me. Firstly, I don't appreciate being lied to. Whatever the reason may be. Secondly, I highly recommend you don't underestimate my intellect. It rarely ends well for those that do."
The couple sat silently after his declaration. The truth of the matter was that, yes, they fully expected one of the summoned to ask about their involvement in recent matters, as even they felt that things were a bit too planned for it to seem natural. But they still held out hope that the summoned people would at least wait until after the upcoming war with Amidonia was settled. This wasn't due to any nefarious action on their part, but rather things would simply be easier explained if they could hold out this conversation.
And so, that's the plan of action Elisha went with. "I understand that you want answers. However, it would be best to have this conversation after all the dust has settled. Please understand, it isn't that we don't trust you, nor do we wish not to be forthcoming, but if we reveal everything too early, you might start to become dependent on us."
This was yet another thing that they had to carefully balance. Part of the reason they were being so obstinate, even towards their own daughter, is that, if they were to constantly be accepting visits from just about anyone in the royal capital, their enemies would gleefully take the chance to say that they were in collusion with the former king and queen. This was definitely something they didn't want in the slightest, as Souma's transition to power was already tumultuous as is. While there have thankfully been no uprisings, perhaps due to the current situation considering everything going on, it would be beyond naïve to think that there would be no enemies for them to consider. After all, Souma's purge in these past couple months have certainly proved that.
However, even though Rimuru certainly considered this, he still noticed how she dodged the initial question. Mainly since he didn't want to leave empty-handed, and partly because he, or rather Ciel, would certainly not leave this unattended. "Believe me, I certainly understand your concerns. After today, I won't keep bothering you to visit. But I would still like an answer to my question."
Elisha exchanged glances with Albert, and then sighed heavily. She figured that, if he had already found out this much, simply telling him about it would be far better than the alternative of lying, only for that information to be coming out at a later date. "To answer your question, I do. However, again, please understand my reluctance to tell you how it works. I would also like to request that you don't tell anyone until everything has settled. I can assure you that we will explain everything later."
The couple could see him close his eyes and were pretty sure they heard him very softly hum when he nodded his head. Thankfully, it seemed that Rimuru had no intentions of continuously pressing them for an answer, nor did he have any qualms about keeping their secret for the time being. Afterwards, he simply thanked the couple and then said that he was going to leave. Though Albert insisted that one of their butlers escort him back to the castle, since it was already dark outside, Rimuru denied the man's offer and promptly left the house.
After he left, the couple exhaled a relieved sigh.
"To think it was Rimuru of all people who would come to us."
"I know, dear, but at least it didn't turn out to be something that we couldn't deal with. Hopefully he'll keep his word."
Albert responded to her worry. "I'm sure we have no worries there. Something about him tells me that he is the kind to keep promises."
Elisha gave a weak smile, not necessarily due to any worry, but mainly just due to being tired. Fortunately, the sleep interruptions were only a one-time thing, but she was still feeling a bit exhausted.
"I'm going to go to bed. Feel free to join me in a few minutes."
Albert hummed in response as she got up and lazily walked off to their room.
Though Rimuru said that he was leaving, in actuality, after he left the manner, he hopped into one of the nearby trees to keep an eye on the two. This wasn't because he wanted to spy on them or anything of the sort…
Actually, he did, but not out of distrust.
Something he noticed with Ciel's help was that Elisha had a brain aneurysm. It was quite small, and as such, asymptomatic, but if and when it ruptured, would quickly kill her. Now, it wasn't necessarily out of the goodness of his heart that he wanted to save her, but he was still invested in how her ability worked. Though, it was mostly Ciel who refused to let such a rare ability just slip under the radar. Call it a quirk of her nature, but once she saw something that was intriguing, unless it was harmful to Rimuru, she would pursue it until she uncovered how it worked.
I still don't understand why we couldn't just help her right then and there, rather than me acting like I'm a Peeping Tom.
{Oh? And what would you have said? 'Hello, I noticed that you have a lethal condition that only I can detect, only I can fix, and has absolutely no symptoms. Let me help?'}
Well… not really. But I still feel that we could have done this a better way like waiting for a better time.
{Master, it's an aneurysm. It can pop at literally any time, even tonight. If we waited, the chance that she could die without us knowing would rise exponentially, and then it would be too late to do anything.}
Still, it just feels weird.
{Well, get used to it.}
Ouch. You're being particularly sassy today.
{You're imagining things.}
This again? You know, I don't really see the issue with simply stopping time and being on our merry way.
Ciel restrained a sigh. Yes, we could do that, but since we're using a potion and not magic, we need to be there to make sure the potion properly rebuilds the vessel. That requires the flow of time to be active.
… I still don't see why we just don't use magic.
{Just… be quiet. I have my reasons.}
Oh? And what are your reasons? I can't help but think that you'll use her to facilitate one of your little experiments.
{Yes. And because she will be, she gets to live to see old age.}
Rimuru exhaled a heavy sigh. Perhaps the only reason that he was still able to give the go-ahead was the knowledge that, while Ciel definitely struggled loads with the concept of morality, or rather that she almost entirely lacked it when it didn't concern him, was that she would only do things like this in a way that would appease him. In simpler terms, absolutely no harm would be done to Elisha, and she would still be able to see her daughter and potential grandkids grow well into their adulthood.
What he assumed was the reason for this experiment was to see how Elisha was able to use her ability. Of course, without her actually using it, it would be difficult to analyze, which is why Ciel wanted to use the opportunity of removing her aneurysm to see what she could potentially gleam out of her, and more importantly, if she could apply it for Rimuru's use.
Something fundamental about magic in the world of Io is that, at least with dark magic, Ciel found out that because it wasn't grafted onto the soul like it is in their world, there was a possibility that it could be copied. What the people had in Io was something they called 'magicium,' which is essentially magic circuitry in their body that determined which attribute could be used.
The main issue of why Rimuru couldn't copy it on contact like he normally can with most abilities is because the circuitry is both entirely internal, only used externally when magic is actually applied, and is not connected to DNA, meaning that even though he had Elisha's DNA information through a handshake, all he was able to do with it was simply copy her looks.
Regardless, a couple more hours passed in relative silence, outside of the random bickering that would occur between Rimuru and Ciel, before Albert's estate was sleeping, save for the night watch. The reason that he didn't do this while only Elisha was sleeping was because he wasn't sure when Albert would join her, and he'd simply rather not cover up his tracks any more than he had to.
As soon as the coast was clear, he let Ciel take over, and she used magic to silently teleport into the room and cast a heavy sleep spell on the couple inside to ensure that nothing she did would wake them. Afterwards, she used a piece of Rimuru's body to first copy her DNA so her own body wouldn't identify the object as foreign and attack, and then went searching for the aneurysm. Fortunately, it wasn't too difficult to find, and she was able to use a quick incision to remove it.
Just as she was about to replace it with a proper blood vessel is when the real magic happened. It was something so infantile that you would've had to be looking for it to notice it, but nonetheless, Ciel was able to, in that moment, discover what it was, and what it was doing.
{That's… how it works…?}
Is it like a 'return by death' that Subaru uses?
The person Rimuru was referring to was an anime character who was able to, upon death, return back to a certain point in time with all his memories intact. It was something that, while perhaps useful for someone like a soldier, was absolute hell for any normal person. After all, it required dying, and that's not a process known to be particularly fun. Additionally, Rimuru found out by reading the manga that the Subarus who died created alternate timelines, leaving those he left behind worlds without him.
Though it looked eerily similar in that regard, Ciel made a note that Rimuru listened to. I wouldn't say that it was the result of death, but rather the process of dying. It was like her body knew that her time was limited, and so sent a warning to her past self about it. From how weak the magic was, she wasn't able to send it too far. After all, this was completely unconscious.
So… wait! Wouldn't that create an alternate timeline! Like another 'us?!'
{…Not necessarily… I believe the best way to explain it would be something along the lines of a temporal paradox. Theoretically, it can happen when the molecules of the present are in a superposition that allows them to-}
English please.
{… Essentially, because of our interference, her body used magic, which most likely sent her memories of this current time in the past and caused some issues. Those issues may have been the reason as to why she accepted our visitation, and so on and so forth.}
But… isn't that just like cause and effect? I'm a bit confused.
{Like I said, it was best explained by that. It's just a theory, and I doubt we're stuck in a loop. Besides, it would be quite easy to break out of one if we were. Now, I'd like to get back to repairing her blood vessel.}
Ah. That's probably a good idea.
They quickly got back to what they were doing, repaired Elisha's blood vessel, and made sure to take a sample of her magic circuit for further study. Though the base ability would save them in a pinch, Ciel wanted to see if she could potentially reverse engineer it to see any possible futures at a moment's notice.
While Rimuru was busy with the former royal couple, the gala in the castle was, to the dismay of a few, still going on. A big part of the reason Elisha absolutely abhorred these events was for the reason that, since the gala was basically a networking event, and since polygamy was perfectly acceptable in this world, it was deemed appropriate behavior to essentially hit on her husband.
Many nobles would gleefully abuse this sort of social standard and constantly pressure the king into accepting a second wife, or even a concubine. Fortunately, at his core, Albert was simply not a very ambitious man, nor was he particularly lustful. As such, he would politely decline these sorts of offers. If they continued to press on, however, he would refer them to Elisha, and she was far more firm, and quite frankly scarier to deal with than he could ever be.
Of course, there were always a few nobles who constantly tried to test their luck, mainly due to their contributions to the country, and so it was ultimately a war of attrition. Something they were immensely thankful that they never had to deal with anymore but were still put off by the fact that Souma and Liscia will undoubtedly have to deal with these sorts of things.
Unfortunately for them, due to Liscia and Souma only being engaged, and not married, it felt like many of them were even more direct with their propositions. While there were certainly some people who just simply wanted to make a connection to Souma, and they were even able to strike some deals then and there to make life better for the common people, it felt like there were more people simply in it for themselves.
Perhaps it was for the simple reason that these sorts of people were far more aggressive in wanting to meet with Souma than the former type, but still, it heavily grated on their nerves. Each and every polite refusal only added a subtle flame to the fire that, over an hour, started to heavily drain on their mental states, even though Aisha would quickly usher them away after his refusal. While Liscia was certainly aware of this behavior, experiencing it directly was vastly different than simply hearing about it.
Fortunately, during one of their encounters, a saving grace appeared to them.
"Wow. I'm honestly surprised to see you here. I thought you'd be spending time with your kids."
"Well, you know, I've been spending the past couple months with them, enjoying every second of my life. Honestly, Sire, it makes your punishment that much worse. Not entirely knowing when I'll die."
The person who surprisingly accepted going to the gala was Nolan Deleon, one of the corrupt nobles who decided to come clean. In exchange, he was given time to get all his affairs in order and properly disown his family so that only he will suffer the penalty of what amounts to treason.
Souma chuckled at the comment. "Back in my world, it's called being on 'death row,' and can last anywhere from a couple months to almost twenty years."
Nolan paled at the comment. "Twenty years?! What sort of sick country would do that?"
"Good ol' USA." He curtly responded.
Though Nolan questioned him on what a USA was, Souma simply dismissed it. "Yeah. Normally, they'd spend that time in a modified jail cell, but… yeah. Anyways, was there anything you wanted from me? Surely it's not to reevaluate your sentence?"
"No, no. Nothing of the sort. I just wanted to see if Rimuru was here, or if he will be coming soon. I wanted to ask him something. Or if you could pass it on to him."
Souma smiled bitterly. "It doesn't seem that he will be… at least that's what I was told. As to your request, I'm sure I can pass it on as long as it isn't anything too crazy."
Nolan breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you for listening. I heard that Rimuru is an excellent teacher, and so I wanted to know if he would be available for teaching my children."
Souma took on a thoughtful look. "Hmm. I'm sure that they can join his current class, but I doubt that he will be willing to take on one-on-one lessons. I can always ask him, but the answer might be 'no.'"
"That's fine. I just feel like, if I didn't do everything I can now for my children, I would certainly die with regrets, and that's not something I want to do."
Nolan thanked Souma for his time, and also properly said his 'hello' and 'thank you' to Liscia, who had her arm wrapped around Souma. If he could guess why, it was to get away from the other nobles, especially if it meant that she didn't need to talk.
After he left, the two were, once again, approached by various nobles, but were able to get away this time through the help of Liscia eyeing Testa, and promptly making a beeline towards her. She had been keeping an eye on her pretty much throughout the entire gala, and to affirm what she suspected, because of her attire, she had been getting plenty of her fare share of attention.
The main difference was that, at least to her, she was either incredible at putting on a good poker face, or she genuinely enjoyed talking to her. Of course, for those that knew Testa, it was one hundred percent the former. If there was one thing that would consistently get on her nerves, it was that she absolutely loathed being looked down on. Rimuru and Hinata didn't particularly care a whole lot, but due to a combination of factors such as the people here not knowing what a primordial was, her not having a fully established position, and also not being able to use fear as a deterrent, all culminated to mean that people left and right were shamelessly coming up to her for her favor.
While Hinata was able to stave off plenty, it still wasn't exactly an optimal situation, and she had to step outside a couple times just so that she wouldn't blow the entire building up. Hinata was also massively pulling her weight by ushering anyone away who was a bit too persistent for their own good, or worse, any who tried to hit on her. Unfortunately, the two couldn't simply say that Hinata was there for everyone else's protection rather than for Testa's protection.
In any case, the royal couple plus Aisha quickly made their way to where Testa is, essentially blocking out the person who wanted to talk to her. This earned a confused, but ultimately relieved smile from the woman in question, and they started striking up a conversation with Souma while Aisha and Hinata were able to keep everyone else at bay.
However, not even five minutes later, Souma noticed yet another person, and Liscia heard him mutter under his breath. "Looks like someone finally decided to arrive."
When Liscia looked over, she saw Rimuru dressed in proper royal attire, and she had to admit that he was able to fashionably pull it off. Of course, rather than the gaudy attire that Souma was wearing, and was really only meant for the king, Rimuru chose to wear a blue shirt with intricate silver patterns coloring the entirety of the long-sleeved clothing, smooth black pants, a brown belt, and light gray shoes. While his clothing certainly didn't look any more exquisite than the average noble who attended, it was still a sight that she, and everyone else, has never seen before.
Once Testa, saw him, she felt far more relieved than before, as she could, at the very least, be a bit selfish around him, and essentially use him as stress relief. Hinata, however, was signaling him to come to them immediately. Unfortunately for him, if one looked closely, while she was smiling, her eyes were certainly not in a playing mood.
Practically stiff-arming anyone who tried to come up to him, Rimuru hastily approached the group and joined the conversation. Though he could conduct himself quite well in these situations, his main goal was to grab Testa and Hinata, and head out as quickly as he could, as these sorts of parties were just draining to him.
After a few minutes of conversation, he politely excused himself along with Testa and Hinata, and much to Souma's irritation, he led the three back to their room. As Souma saw them off, he couldn't help but say, "So he comes here one-and-a-half hours late just to get his women? Wish I could just leave like that."
Liscia could only agree with him. "Yes, but unfortunately, you are both the host and the king, and such are the duties to see this through to the end."
Souma's irritation would last for a couple more hours before the party would end.
As soon as they got back to their room, Hinata immediately turned to Rimuru and said, "You owe me one."
Rimuru simply sighed in response. "Yeah, yeah. It wasn't supposed to be that long, but something else happened."
"What happened? And what were you able to find out?" Testa asked.
Rimuru then explained what he found out from visiting Albert's house, as well as Elisha's underlying condition. When it got to the point of what her dark magic was, and how it operated, both of them were intrigued.
"Obviously, this has to stay just between us. She said that she will explain everything to us at a later date, but I'm certain that includes me, Testa, and Souma."
Hinata feigned a hurt expression. "Aww. So does that mean I'm not invited?"
"Don't worry. I'll still key you in on the details."
Hinata chuckled a bit, and afterwards, Testa asked him about if her magic is applicable to them.
He replied, "That's a bit hard to say. While regular magic is quite easily replicable, the way dark magic activates is something that I have a difficult time understanding. The best way to describe it is that it activates based off willpower, but how the body channels it into activating for its specific effect, and not some other random effect, is currently beyond my understanding. Ciel's working on it, but I don't know if we will be able to see any results soon."
Testa responded. "Oh. I see." While taking off her clothes, she continued, "Well, enough of that. I feel I've earned the right to be a bit selfish for you making us go to that horrific gala."
Hinata joined in and said, "Seriously. Next time, I'm using whatever excuse I can to not go to one of those damn events. If I'm called 'exotic' one more fucking time…"
Rimuru would be lying if he said he didn't derive even a bit of pleasure at Hinata's expense, but nonetheless, prepared himself for what would be a long and enjoyable night.
A couple months later, a dark-skinned man was walking through the forest to get back to his village, which was near the outskirts, and while he got into a little bit of trouble for following his daughter to recommend an almost heretical idea, the fire he got was thankfully slowly starting to fade.
Unfortunately, as Wodan was beginning to see his village in sight, what awaited him was something out of a horror film, for he arrived just in time to see a tree start to tilt and fall over, uprooting itself.
And then another.
And another quickly after that, followed by what looked like the earth hurling itself towards the village. With the limited distance he had left, he made a reckless decision to bolt as fast as he could towards the village in the hopes of saving what little he could, as well as immediately using the fastest method of contact they had to send to his daughter.
What they had warned about the most had unfortunately had its sights set towards their village.