"Nothing much, I'm just wondering what you plan to do next?"
HearingNolee's question, Rimuru also fell into contemplation.
Ever since she came to this world, she had either been running around or eating, and it seemed she really hadn't thought about the future.
"I guess I haven't."
Rimuru looked completely bewildered.
Looking at Rimuru's expression, Nolee understood somewhat.
It seemed Rimuru hadn't yet embarked on her path.
However, according to the original storyline, Rimuru would walk the path of becoming a Demon Lord.
In this life, due to the butterfly effect, Rimuru's previous life had changed from male to female, so would she still establish Tempest? Would she still become one of the Eight Star Demon Lords?
Nolee fell into contemplation.
Nolee deeply understood the terror of the butterfly effect. In many novels, a single small event led to massive changes. Even if Rimuru had the protagonist's halo, Nolee believed it was impossible for her to remain unaffected by its influence. This was just the beginning—Rimuru's previous life had already changed from male to female. Nolee didn't dare imagine what future events would bring, so the original storyline could be referenced but couldn't be fully trusted.
But Rimuru should still be a strong ally to rely on. After all, she was the reincarnation of the Star King Dragon. Perhaps the process would be different, but some major events probably wouldn't change.
SoNolee's urgent priority now was to stay by Rimuru's side and ensure the plot's development.
Honestly, Nolee had considered establishing a nation himself, just like the Geo Archon, but thinking about his lazy personality, he decided against it.
Just like in the original work, let Rimuru establish Tempest, and he would help guide and assist her from the side. Nolee greatly admired the Slime King's character.
Throughout the entire anime world, the Slime King's character was second to none, but precisely because her character was too upright, many tragedies were brewed from the very beginning.
Because the Slime King was originally human, she naively had a favorable impression of humans from the start, but she underestimated human desire, which led to the attack on the Jura Tempest Federation (commonly known as the "Demon Federation") by three otherworlders from the Falmuth Kingdom during her round trip to the Blumund Kingdom, resulting in the deaths of Shion and 99 others. It was precisely because of Rimuru's naivety that these tragedies occurred. When Nolee saw this part, he was almost angered to death.
Of course, it was also because of this lesson that Rimuru awakened. She single-handedly subjugated the Falmuth army and sacrificed their souls to allow herself to "evolve," and at the Demon Lords' Banquet declared, "Anyone who wants to interfere with me, whether human, Demon Lord, or Holy Church, they are all my enemies."
Honestly, Nolee still felt Rimuru was too merciful. Take Myulan, for example. In the original storyline, it was precisely because of Myulan's anti-magic barrier that turned the capital Rimuru into a domain where magic couldn't be used, combined with Hinata Sakaguchi's Four Square Seal Barrier, that the monsters' strength was greatly reduced. Take Shion, for instance—otherwise, with Shion's strength, she wouldn't have died.
And afterward, Nolee found Rimuru's way of dealing with those two extremely poor.
Even though Myulan was under the control of Demon Lord Clayman, the fact remained that she caused the deaths of Tempest's monsters. If Nolee were handling it, he would definitely kill her, no matter who pleaded for mercy.
"Debt must be repaid, killing must be atoned for with life"—this was an eternal iron law.
Yet the Slime King easily let her go. This was an isekai world, but if it were on Earth, the Slime King would definitely be cursed to death.
Then there was Hinata Sakaguchi. If not for Hinata Sakaguchi's ambush, the Slime King wouldn't have arrived at Tempest so late, and combined with Hinata Sakaguchi's Four Square Seal Barrier, one could say she accounted for more than half the reason for the harm caused to Tempest.
Yet Rimuru forgave her just because she was merely being used and was Shizu-sensei's disciple.
But she didn't realize that if her strength hadn't been so great, she would have been killed by Hinata Sakaguchi long ago. Where would there be any "afterward"?
This was already equivalent to attempting to take your life, yet what did the Slime King do? Just fought her once, and everything was settled.
InNolee's view, this operation was truly too intellectually degrading.
Such hatred, such enmity, just swept aside like that.
This move left Nolee truly speechless.
So coming to this world, Nolee felt that either don't do it, or do it best.
At the very least, those tragedies must be prevented.
"Dragon Boss, Dragon Boss, snap out of it."
At this time, a voice rang inNolee's ears.
Only then did Nolee come back to his senses.
"Dragon Boss, what were you thinking about?"
Rimuru looked curious.
"Nothing much."
"I was just thinking about whether I should go adventuring with you in the future."
Nolee said with a contemplative expression.
"Really? You're willing to take me along?"
Rimuru's eyes immediately lit up.
"Yes, meeting a fellow countryman in a foreign land is truly rare. Please take care of me from now on."
Nolee said warmly.
Rimuru immediately bounced around, overjoyed.
Ever since crossing over to this world, Rimuru had truly been somewhat afraid—unfamiliar with the place, knowing nothing.
Now it was great—withNolee, she could cling to this powerful ally.
But what she didn't know was that Nolee was calculating the same thing.
Thus, for the next few days, Rimuru and Nolee began their lazy life of eating and sleeping, sleeping and eating.
As usual, Nolee was holding Rimuru while walking in the cave.
"Can you hear my voice? Little ones."
A strange voice directly rang out fromNolee's mind.
"Little slime, did you hear any voice?"
Nolee asked alertly.
"Dragon Boss, you heard it too?"
Rimuru said.
"Little ones, can you hear my voice?"
The voice rang out again in Nolee and Rimuru's minds.
Nolee looked around. In the vast space, there were still only him and Rimuru, two creatures.
"Who, who's there? What kind of hero hides?"
Nolee shouted loudly.
"Hide? Why would I hide?"
That voice sounded somewhat annoyed.
"Boom, boom..."
Heavy footsteps echoed in this cavern. Two bright points of light slowly emerged from the darkness behind the air wall.
The faint glow of magic could only illuminate an extremely small part of that massive body. What enteredNolee's vision was a colossal creature.
"Is this the Storm Dragon?"
Nolee thought to himself.
This was a Western dragon different fromNolee, with an enormous body covered in scales with blue and black as the main colors.
The muscles throughout its body were masterfully crafted, giving off a unique aesthetic beauty. Blue-black scales were neatly arranged on the dragon's body. The massive dragon body emitted a mountain-like pressure even in the dark cave.
The giant dragon wings seemed capable of blotting out the sky, extremely oppressive.
"Wow, it's actually a dragon."
Rimuru looked frightened and jumped intoNolee's embrace, burying her head hard inNolee's chest.
Although Rimuru had already seenNolee, this dragon-like creature, seeing a colossal creature like the Storm Dragon still scared her.
Thanks toNolee, Rimuru had already learned the skill of perception, though the main credit belonged to Great Sage.
Just by explaining the principle of magic perception, Rimuru learned it well.
One could only say it was enviable.