The reason Ren Kuroda hadn't drawn his Nichirin Blade earlier wasn't arrogance—it was judgment.
From his assessment, the six oni before him were certainly strong, but by yōkai combat standards, they hovered around C to C+ rank at best.
The pink-haired girl and the black-haired man were roughly C-.The purple-haired woman and the blue-haired swordsman were solid C-rank.The white-haired elder and the red-haired man were the strongest among them, barely touching C+.
That level of power simply wasn't enough to make Ren take things seriously.
Judging from their behavior, this whole conflict was rooted in some misunderstanding anyway. Ren had never intended to kill them.
However—
He could now feel a far stronger presence rapidly approaching.
As if to confirm his intuition, heavy footsteps soon echoed through the forest. Several new figures emerged.
A handful of green-skinned goblins.
And riding atop a massive wolf-type magical beast, a masked boy with pale aqua-blue hair.
The moment Ren laid eyes on the blue-haired boy, he hadn't yet reacted—
But the oni did.
The instant they saw the mask, the remaining oni completely snapped.
The demons who had slaughtered their village had worn masks just like that.
Enemies meeting face to face—rage burned hotter than reason.
Forgetting entirely about retreating, the oni charged straight at the masked boy.
Meanwhile, the boy riding on the wolf—Rimuru—was utterly dumbfounded.
Rimuru was a reincarnator.
At present, he was technically a slime—and through a long chain of coincidences, the leader of a goblin village.
Not long ago, he had defeated a rampaging high-ranking fire spirit. With conflicted emotions, he had used his Unique Skill Predator to absorb Shizue, a girl from the same world he once lived in.
As a result, he had just gained the ability to mimic a human form.
Having finally acquired taste, Rimuru had been looking forward to a celebratory feast that evening.
But while hunting, Gobta and the others sensed an intense surge of magical energy deep within the forest.
Since the disturbance was dangerously close to their village, they immediately reported it to Rimuru.
Concerned, Rimuru had ridden out with Ranga and the goblins to investigate—
And walked straight into this chaos.
Faced with the oni's furious assault, Rimuru was completely confused.
From what he had observed earlier, the oni and Ren had clearly been fighting each other.
So why, the moment he appeared, did the oni redirect all their hostility toward him?
He hadn't even introduced himself yet!
Why were they attacking him like he was their sworn enemy?
Did my arrival interrupt their battle…? Are they taking it out on me?
Dodging attacks while thinking frantically, Rimuru received help from his ever-reliable internal support.
Answer.Hostile individuals identified as the Oni Tribe, a relatively high-ranking monster species.Based on visual fixation, emotional fluctuations, and behavioral data, there is an 80% probability the hostility is directed toward the mask you are wearing.
Great Sage, his super-intelligent skill, had accurately pinpointed the cause.
"The mask…?" Rimuru muttered."So they're not attacking me, but because of Shizue's mask? Does that mean… they were her enemies?"
Realizing this, Rimuru quickly removed the mask and raised his voice.
"Is it because of this mask?! If that's the reason, then you've misunderstood! This belonged to a friend of mine—it's not mine!"
Unfortunately, the oni took this as nothing more than an excuse.
Their attacks didn't stop.
If anything, they grew more frustrated by the second.
Because just like Ren earlier, Rimuru—despite being surrounded—was handling them with ease.
Even more absurdly, this so-called "enemy" possessed Ultra-Speed Regeneration, along with a ridiculous variety of monster skills.
The oni were supposed to be among the higher-tier monsters of Jūra no Mori.
They didn't rule the forest—but they certainly weren't pushovers.
Yet today—
In a single day—
They had encountered two beings who felt outright monstrous.
Even fighting together, they stood no chance.
"So, for the record," Rimuru said while dodging yet another strike,"My name is Rimuru Tempest. I'm just a slime. The mask belonged to Shizue. And I honestly don't even know who you are."
Rimuru spoke casually—
But someone listening very carefully froze.
"…Rimuru? A slime?" Ren murmured."So that makes you the Demon Lord mascot… This really is the Tensura world?"
Ren knew That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime.
Even if his knowledge was mostly limited to Rimuru and the core cast, that was more than enough.
Rimuru—"the adorable Demon Lord"—had topped popularity polls multiple times.
Benimaru. Ranga. The others.
Ren knew them all.
But anime was anime—and reality was reality.
Before being named, Benimaru and the others looked drastically different. And Ren hadn't even considered the possibility until now.
Only after Rimuru stated his name did everything suddenly click.
Looking at the oni fighting Rimuru, then glancing down at the purple-haired woman he was still holding by the throat—
His eyes traced her curves. Her imposing figure. Her… explosive proportions.
And the words slipped out naturally.
"…You wouldn't happen to be Shion, would you?"
The moment those words left his mouth—
Ren felt it.
A massive drop in the magical energy converted from his yōki.
A bad feeling surged through him.
Then he saw it.
The woman in his grasp began to glow.
Her body started to change.
"…Ah," Ren muttered hollowly."I really screwed up."
Shion was called Shion because Rimuru would later name her.
But right now—
Rimuru hadn't named her yet.
She wasn't his secretary.
She was still an unnamed high-ranking monster.
And Ren, through one careless line, had effectively stolen the naming right.
In this world, there existed a special rule—
Naming a monster.
It wasn't just giving someone a label.
It was a ritual.
A higher-ranked demon or monster used their own magical energy to bestow a name upon another.
A named monster would receive a massive boost in magical energy—sometimes even undergoing racial evolution.
But power came at a cost.
The one who performed the naming would lose a corresponding amount of magical energy—sometimes permanently.
Ren's converted yōki easily met the requirements.
But—
They had been fighting to the death just moments ago.
So why had she accepted it?
As for Shion—
She was just as stunned.
She'd heard Ren clearly.
"You wouldn't happen to be Shion, would you?"
She had no intention of accepting a name.
And yet—
For some reason, she found the name Shion… incredibly fitting.
And before she realized it—
She had accepted it.
In monster law, accepting a name wasn't just power.
It was acknowledgment.
A bond.
A declaration of allegiance.
And just like that—
Without meaning to—
Ren Kuroda had gained a very dangerous secretary.