The two people who suddenly shouted for Shion to stop were, naturally, Rimuru and Ren Kuroda.
Rimuru called out because he felt the misunderstanding had gone way too far. He hadn't done a single thing wrong—there was absolutely no reason for him to shoulder someone else's sins.
As for Ren, his reason was much the same. He knew that Shion and the others had completely misunderstood Rimuru.
Even though Ren had only watched part of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, he at least knew this much: Shion, Benimaru, and the others would eventually become Rimuru's subordinates. Which meant there was no possible way Rimuru was the one who had slaughtered the ogre village.
"I can understand how it feels to have your village destroyed and your family murdered," Ren said calmly."But before you start swinging weapons, you should at least listen to what the other side has to say."
"If he really intended to kill you, you wouldn't even have time to breathe right now."
At Ren's words, Rimuru nodded vigorously from the side, clearly moved.
See? There are reasonable people in this world!
To further prove his harmlessness, Rimuru reverted to his original form—a jiggly, translucent blue slime, wobbling gently on the ground.
Seeing that the being with such terrifying magicule output was, in fact, just a slime left Benimaru and the others feeling like their worldview had been completely overturned.
Today had been one revelation after another.
First, they encountered a never-before-seen upper-tier oni.
Then, they were utterly defeated by a slime—an absurdly powerful, terrifying slime.
Losing to a superior oni? That at least made sense. The difference in race and magicules was simply insurmountable.
But losing to a slime?
That was something they had never imagined.
Slimes were known as the weakest monsters—bar none. Even goblins, who were considered bottom-tier in the Jura Forest, could casually wipe out slimes without effort.
And yet, here they were—the ogre clan, one of the forest's recognized high-ranking monster races—utterly crushed by a slime despite fighting with numbers.
And just as Ren had said…
The slime hadn't even been serious.
After a round of explanations, the misunderstanding between the ogres and Rimuru was finally cleared up.
Since Rimuru wanted to learn more about the destruction of the ogre village, he invited everyone to visit the goblin village as guests.
Ren originally planned to leave right away, but between Rimuru's enthusiastic invitation and the ogres' insistence, he eventually gave in.
Free food is free food, he thought.
So he followed them back to the goblin village.
Because Rimuru was a reincarnator, the village wasn't nearly as filthy or chaotic as Ren had expected. While the buildings were still rather crude, by the standards of the Jura Forest, it was remarkably orderly—almost unique.
The feast consisted of all kinds of roasted meat.
Even the Spear-Legged Demon Spider that Ren had killed earlier had ended up as one of the dishes.
Surprisingly enough, while the thing looked horrifying when alive, its meat tasted genuinely excellent—once grilled, it was uncannily similar to premium king crab.
During the feast, Rimuru and the others finally learned the reason behind the ogre village's destruction.
"Ren," Rimuru asked while eating,"Do you know a majin called Gurmid? He's been going around naming monsters in different villages. Then the Orcs suddenly started attacking everywhere. It's hard not to think those two things are connected."
Ren, who had been eating enthusiastically, rolled his eyes.
He had only been in this world for how long, exactly? And with how unfamiliar everything was, how could he possibly know some random nobody named Gurmid?
"Isn't that obvious?" Ren said flatly."Naming monsters comes at a cost, right? That Gurmid guy isn't a charity worker. There's no way he'd go around naming monsters for free."
"And from what you're describing, he sounds more like a courier than a mastermind. Probably just a disposable side character."
Based on Shion's description, this so-called upper-ranked majin Gurmid had less magicule capacity than Shion did after evolving into a Kijin.
Someone at that level trying to get their hands on the entire Jura Forest?
Ren could only say that it was laughably unrealistic.
Or rather—
Just as he said. The guy was probably nothing more than a pawn from the very beginning.
"True," Rimuru nodded, swallowing a mouthful of meat."But regardless of whether he's a pawn or not, the real problem right now is the Orcs."
"If even the ogre village was attacked, then it's only a matter of time before other villages become targets."
Rimuru's expression turned serious.
Then, suddenly, as if remembering something important, he jumped up and rushed straight over to Ren.
He placed both hands on Ren's shoulders and stared at him with sparkling eyes.
"…What are you doing?" Ren said warily."I like yuri, not yaoi. And even though you're technically genderless as a slime, my orientation is perfectly normal."
What had started as a vague suspicion instantly turned into near-certainty the moment Ren blurted out words like yaoi.
Rimuru's gaze grew even hotter.
Ren, who had only been joking, felt a chill crawl up his spine when he saw the slime staring at him with unmistakable excitement.
He immediately scooted backward, putting a safe distance between them.
Ren wasn't particularly picky—if someone was attractive enough, even non-human options were negotiable.
But a genderless slime?
Especially when he knew that the soul inside that slime belonged to a man in his thirties?
Absolutely not.
"What kind of nonsense are you thinking? I'm not interested in men either!" Rimuru snapped."It's your words! Your name is Ren Kuroda—and then you casually drop terms like 'side character' and 'yaoi'!"
"So that means it, right? Ren, you're from modern human society too—just like me!"
Rimuru's excitement was completely understandable.
After all, meeting a fellow countryman in a foreign land was one of life's great joys.
Ever since reincarnating into this world, Rimuru had spent who-knows-how-long trapped alone in a pitch-dark cave.
He had finally met a compatriot—Shizu—but before they could truly reconnect, her lifespan had run out, and Rimuru had been forced to inherit her will instead.
After Shizu, Rimuru had believed he would never meet another person from Earth again.
Yet here Ren was—his second compatriot—appearing right in front of him.
From the moment Ren introduced himself, Rimuru had felt that his name was strangely out of place. After all, this was another world—names like that were rare.
But when Ren casually used modern slang, Rimuru became completely certain.
"Yeah… more or less," Ren replied."Though the world I came from might not be exactly the one you're imagining. Still, it was a modern society."
Strictly speaking, Ren and Rimuru came from parallel worlds.
After all, the Earth that Satoru Mikami had lived in definitely didn't have things like yokai.
"I knew it!" Rimuru beamed."Today is seriously the best day ever! So, Ren—did you come here as a Reincarnator like me, or a Summoned Traveler?"
"Probably a Reincarnator, right? If you were summoned with your body, you'd be human now—not a monster like me."
Not long after reincarnating, Rimuru's absurd luck had led him to meet the Storm Dragon Veldora. And after being named by Veldora, his magicule capacity had skyrocketed.
As previously mentioned, the strength of a Named Monster was directly tied to the being who named them.
And Veldora was one of the three remaining pure-blooded True Dragons—the absolute ceiling of power in this world.
The boost from his naming was on a completely different level.
Combined with Rimuru's Unique Skill Predator, which allowed him to absorb both magicules and abilities from what he consumed, this had created the legend known as—
The Strongest Slime in History.
From Veldora, Rimuru had also learned that people from other worlds arrived here in two ways.
One was as Summoned Travelers, brought over bodily through summoning rituals performed by this world's inhabitants.
The other was Reincarnators, whose souls crossed worlds and were reborn into entirely new bodies—whether human or not was left entirely to chance.
This world had humans, yes—but countless other races as well.
So when Ren admitted he was from a modern world, and Great Sage had already classified his race as a Yōki Oni, Rimuru naturally assumed Ren was a Reincarnator just like himself.
Ren didn't bother correcting him.
Strictly speaking, Ren was closer to a Summoned Traveler than a Reincarnator—but given Rimuru's worldview, the idea of yokai existing in a modern society probably sounded impossible anyway.
"So you really are a Reincarnator…" Rimuru sighed dramatically."Man, that's not fair at all."
"We're both Reincarnators—so why is the gap between us this huge?!"
"According to Great Sage's data, your race is Yōki Oni. Just hearing the name sounds insanely strong!"
"And me? Why did I have to reincarnate as the weakest monster—a slime…?"
Having found a kindred spirit, Rimuru immediately launched into full-on complaining mode, complete with imaginary tears.
But to Ren—
This was pure, unfiltered humblebragging.
Meeting a legendary dragon.Getting absurd skills for free.Being forced—tragically—to become the leader of a village.
Every time Rimuru complained, Ren's expression twisted a little more.
At some point, his right hand unconsciously settled on the hilt of his Nichirin Blade.
If not for the fact that the jelly-like creature in front of him had near-total physical immunity—
Ren was pretty sure this slime would already be riddled with holes.