A little correction for the mistake in prev chap. I wrote uncle there when Latina answered Ludwig's question. Fixed now.
To follow Latina to where she came from would be Ludwig's first time walking to another world through the door of the restaurant. He had thought about it countless times before. Many scenarios went through his head, one of them was the world exploding because it was not strong enough to handle all of his mana.
However, once he knocked himself from his own high horse, those kinds of explosive situations disappeared from his mind. He's no god, not even in the same league as the legends written in Ortus' history book. So, he doubted his mana would affect any world he went to such a degree.
Ludwig walked away from his station, his steps only halted once he stood behind where Latina stood. But rather than looking at her, his eyes scanned through the dining area before stopping into one particular blue-haired androgynous guy.
Rimuru's blue eyes locked into his gaze, then his lips curved upwards into a smirk. Without even him telling him, the guy left some instructions to his people sitting on his table before jumping down and walking towards him.
Just after Rimuru walked, his senses tingled. When he moved his head to where the disturbance came from, he saw Claire had also stood from her seat, feet bringing her closer to his position.
Ludwig couldn't help but chuckle at the action of his two oldest customers or people he could call friends. There's no doubt in his heart that both of them were kind and compassionate, but the reason why they walked to him even before he told them anything told him something different: They had their ears on the conversation between his staff and Latina.
Beside that, there's another reason why their steps looked springy for something that was supposedly heartbreaking and dire. They were eager to step into another world.
Both Claire and Rimuru had asked him to bring them to Ortus every chance they got. But because he couldn't be sure about the state of Ortus before he went to the Dwarf City, he refused their request. If things went without any change, the earliest Claire would leave for another world was a few weeks from now. And that world would be a rather known one as they would go with Rimuru himself.
But now with Latina walking into the restaurant, the plan would move forward. In a sense, it was a blessing in a disguise. After all, visiting Rimuru's world together with Claire and Kushina would mean leaving Rimuru as the only one who hadn't visited another world. Knowing how childish the slime could become, it was obvious that he would pester him non-stop to bring him somewhere.
With them walking to another world now, Rimuru wouldn't be able to use that card against him. And if he ever tried to force him to bring him to another world again just because Claire had visited two worlds, he would be able to refuse it even though he admitted it would be a battle.
Ludwig crossed his arms as Claire and Rimuru stood before him. "So you guys have been spying through the conversation?"
"Spying? Please." Rimuru retorted. "We are just listening."
Ludwig scoffed. "I believe we are not talking loud enough for you guys to hear."
"Superpower, remember?" Rimuru shrugged as he chuckled.
"Whatever." Ludwig answered. "Since you guys have heard, I don't have to explain it again, right?"
Both of them nodded. But this time, their faces turned solemn and serious.
"I seriously don't know what will happen and what to expect. I can't really see far enough to scout the place with my power. But just looking at Latina, we should expect some magic getting involved."
Claire nodded. "It will be like just another mission for me then."
"Yeah, don't worry too much." Rimuru seconded, tone devoid of his usual playfulness.
Ludwig nodded before he turned his body towards Latina. "Are you ready, young one?"
Latina looked at his eyes for a flicker of a second before her gaze went down to the floor. "Y-yes."
"Valerie, come with us too." Ludwig looked at the bundle of joy. It was a risk, adding one more non-combatant into a party that would venture into a place where they didn't have any intel about. However, her presence would eased Latina for quite a bit. So, all in all, it would only make the trip easier.
"Sure, boss." The demon answered, no tint of hesitation and fear present in her voice.
Latina went down from the chair with the help of Valerie. Then, she stood behind Ludwig. Claire and Rimuru tried to talk with her, but just like how she responded earlier when she just entered the restaurant, she just gave them a short and nearly inaudible answer.
Ludwig gave a wordless nod towards Vilera who stood by the door. The twin of the bundle of sunshine was sharp enough to know what he meant by that. In the next moment, his hand was already on the doorknob, twisting it slightly.
With a pull, the door slid open. And what appeared beyond the door was the same scenery from when he peered into this place with his ability. Tall trees, overgrown bushes masking the ground, and darkness that looked eternal.
As soon as his feet touched the ground of the new world, something brushed against his senses. It was foreign, different. But at the same time, it spoke something familiar to him. It felt like waking up from a long dream.
That different but familiar feeling was subtle, yet it was powerful enough to make Ludwig halt on his track. He cranked his senses to the fullest to capture everything he felt. But the first thing he felt was the people behind him. Except for Latina, everyone had stopped. Their faces were full of curiosity and thoughts. It seemed like they also felt what he was feeling.
Then came the revelation. Something was humming beneath his heartbeat. It was like a soundless tune that echoed through his bones and blood. The air too, it was humming. They were singing songs he had never heard before. But at the same time, he felt like he could play it beautifully.
Then, his Mana hummed. It started with the sound he had heard for decades. But then, it went to a higher pitch and kept climbing. Before it could become so sharp enough to bother him, it stopped climbing.
His mana took the stage at that moment. It danced. But not alone, it danced to the new sound that appeared from his surroundings. It was only then Ludwig realized. That foreign yet familiar sensation was just mana. To be exact, the mana of this world.
Chuckles escaped through his lips at that moment. He had prided himself to be quite knowledgeable regarding magic. His favourite pastime activity was learning from books. From countless books he read, he was sure most of it was explanation from countless people about their views on magic knowledge.
However, what he just felt was something new. The assimilation of his own mana to the mana of a new world. It was surreal and enlightening. It told him that even though mana was singular, it was still working on a different frequency or some sort in every world.
But how it would affect him needed deeper research. And now was not the correct time to conduct it.
Ludwig turned on his heel. Probably because of that, Latina flinched. But at the same time, Claire, Rimuru, and Valerie snapped back to reality from their own thoughts. As their eyes met each other, Rimuru broke the silence.
"That… I never thought I would feel something like that." He mumbled.
"What did the Great Sage say about it?" Claire asked him, her brows still folded.
"It said, our body, mind, and soul was assimilating with the power of this world." He answered calmly.
Claire's forehead folded deeper, clearly she was thinking about it deeply.
"It's like this Claire." Ludwig decided to open his mouth at that moment. "Imagine a building. Let's say, our body, mind, and soul–like Rimuru said—was working on the 3rd floor. And as soon as we walked here, the mana of this world worked on the 7th floor. So of course, our body, mind, and soul will have to adapt to the environment. Moreover, it has to assimilate with the mana which had been working on the 7th floor. That's how I looked at it."
"I see." Claire nodded her head. "How will it affect us, though?"
Ludwig shook his head. "That, I don't know. I need to research it first."
Claire's eyes moved from him to Rimuru as soon as he answered it. "What's The Great Sage opinion about my question?"
Rimuru chuckled at the question."I think you overestimated the Great Sage quite a lot. It can't conjure an answer from nothingness, you know. It needs more samples to answer your question."
"I see." Claire answered. "We should do it sooner rather than later. I don't want anything I don't know changing me."
"If that's your concern, don't be worried." Rimuru said reassuringly. "It didn't change anything in us. At least not this world. I had run a full diagnostic on myself. It just gave our mana more potency, but it was still negligible to take effect."
Ludwig's brows went up as he heard Rimuru's explanation. That was unexpected. He didn't feel it at all. But if the potency of their mana increased every time they went to another world…
"Do you think our mana will evolve if we went to many worlds?"
"From the sample from this world, it's possible." Rimuru nodded. "But how many worlds we should go to, I don't know. Like I said, we need bigger samples."
"Okay, let's stop here. We have more important thing to do." Ludwig opened his mouth, putting a stop on the discussion that wouldn't lead to anything substantial even if they talked long and hard about it.
Their journey to the new world continued at that moment. Channeling his mana to his eyes, Ludwig saw the dissipating reddish mana he saw from the restaurant earlier. As they walked closer, an unpleasant smell started to waft through his nose.
It was subtle. For the unsensitives, they wouldn't even sniff it because it was masked by the smell of the earth, the trees, and the leaves.
As soon as he walked past the bushes that hid the body from their sight, he saw a corpse of a grown up demon laying down.
Ludwig couldn't help but clench his teeth. Even though the body had decayed quite a lot, he could still see some wounds riddling the body. It was obvious to anyone that the cause of his death was the attacks.
He had sacrificed himself in order to save the little demon.
Ludwig went on his knees, and then he looked at the little demon girl. "Is this your guardian?"
"Yes." Latina stuttered as tears started to pooled on her eyes.
His heart clenched at that moment. But at the same time, he was also surprised. He could still understand her words even though they were already out of the restaurant. Thinking it was just one of his System Function's abilities, he looked at the other three who came with him and Latina.
"Did you guys understand what she said just now?"
"Yeah."
"Loud and clear."
"I can understand her, boss."
The positive answers came one after another.
But then, something flickered in the face of Rimuru and Claire. It seemed like they finally realized that something was out of place. However, in front of the corpse, they didn't open their mouths. Maybe, they were thinking it was just another thing to be discussed as soon as they wrapped this mission up.
Ludwig returned his sight towards Latina. She was sobbing; Thankfully, Valerie already supported her.
"Can I ask you who he was, little one?" Ludwig said with a soft tone.
Latina sobbed harder as soon as he asked the question. It stretched quite long, filling the silence between the group.
Then…
"M-my father."
That revelation caused silent ripples across the group.
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