Rimuru: A Second Chance that Won't Be Wasted

Goblins Part 1

Several days had gone by, and now the two of them were both standing in front of the large metal door that blocked the cave. Unlike the first time, no monsters dared approach them. It was on an instinctual level, that caused them to run at full speed away from the pair, despite them not excluding any aura whatsoever. And it made sense. One was the Storm Dragon, the other was his brother.

"So Rimuru, what do we do now? I'll follow your plan." stated Veldora.

"Thanks Veldora. I was thinking that you should hide in my {Imaginary Space} for a while. To keep the timeline as close as possible to the original. You must also keep your aura under control at all times, unless you are in my {Imaginary Space}. Don't worry, I'll release you in my house when we get it built again." stated Rimuru.

"Alright! Don't worry about rushing... your stomach was incredibly comfortable, after all! Kuahahaha!"

"Oi, old man. It's my {Imaginary Space} now. In other words, you have more space, don't worry!"

"YES! Alright, tell Ciel to get me some more manga. DBZ, One Punch Man, Demon Slayer, you name it!"

"Sure... WAIT HOW'D YOU KNOW ABOUT CIEL?!"

"I figured out you had someone else in your mind after my fight with my sister Velgrynd and that whole fiasco with the mind controlling emperor. When you were giving Velgrynd some skills and merging them, another voice rang out. It was not you, so I tried to make contact with them. And the rest is obvious!"

Veldora smiled, happy that he had surprised Rimuru once again.

Rimuru sighed.

"Figures... you were always so curious..."

"YUP! That is why my ULTIMATE SKILL is {INVESTIGATION KING--}"

"Remember, it evolved into {Chaos King Nyarlathotep}." Rimuru then turned thoughtful. "Speaking of Ultimate Skills, I should mention that I realised that you were slacking off, you know."

"W-what do you mean?" asked Veldora, clearly sweating.

"You see, I know that you were slacking off in analyzing the {Infinite Imprisonment}. Ciel, known as {Great Sage} at the time, confirmed that you were slacking off, and ordered you to get an Ultimate Skill, right?"

Veldora stood stunned.

"Damn it, you got me...It's just that the sacred texts are so interesting..."

Both then sensed movement near the door. Veldora quickly moved into Rimuru's {Imaginary Space}, while Rimuru turned into his slime form and hid away.

The door opened after much effort, and three familiar adventurers walked through.

"Ugh... about time this sucker opened..." said one of them. He was a male of the Bandit Class of adventuring, wearing a red bandanna, green shirt, covered with a brown vest. His name was Gido.

"The keyhole is so freakin 'rusty it's impossible to use." he continued.

"That's no surprise. This place has been vacant for 300 years or whatever." said the other man. He had blond hair, wore a brown jacket over a beige shirt, with a sword strapped to his back. His name was Kaval.

"We should still be careful not to let our guard down. If worst comes to worst, we can still use our escape skill." said the only woman in the party. She also had blond hair, which was paired with green eyes, a pink skirt, and a white shirt over a pink blouse. She was also a mage, using her staff to light up the area. Her name was Eren.

Rimuru ignored the rest of their conversation. He even ignored them when Gido casted his stealth skill. Rimuru could still see him, anyways.

He waited until they went deeper into the cave this time, before hopping right out in slime form. This time, the group did not even notice him.

He slowly bounced his way through the forest, following the same path he had taken the first time he had excited the cave.

After a while, he saw the same group of goblins in the distance, using {Universal Perception}.

"Ciel, can you quickly release the same amount of aura I had last time? Or a bit more, but not too much. Don't want to kill anyone."

["Very well, Master... it has been done."]

The same amount of aura had been unleashed. And like before, the goblins quickly arrived, wary.

"Strong one... do you have some business here?"

"No... I was simply traveling along... why is that?"

The goblins looked at one another, wary. However, due to their current circumstances, they had to take any opportunity they could get. And so...

"You see, strong one..."

The same story was told to Rimuru again. That due to the disappearance of Veldora, monsters have begun to move around much more often, fighting for dominance in the Jura Forest. The Direwolves, much more powerful than the goblins, had started to invade the region, harassing the goblins. Even the named warrior among them was killed.

However, there were some differences. Namely that the sudden burst of energy before the disappearance of the Storm Dragon had sent many monsters fleeing the region, causing territories to be shifted and disputes among monsters. As the monsters that had fled made their way back to their original territory, they found that others had attempted to claim said territories, causing even more disputes. The goblins, a weaker race, were subjugated to multiple attacks and fights over resources, causing them to become desperate.

"Ciel, quick question. That sudden burst of energy... could it have been..."

["Yes Master. Your arrival into the timeline caused a large amount of energy to be released, as you did not hide your aura before you arrived. Of course, I quickly bent that energy to match that of Veldora, but some crafty humans have become suspicious. Notably, Veryard and Fuze. Of course, the demon lords would have thought that it was Veldora's last bit of energy."]

"Tsk... looks like I already caused some decent changes... thanks for covering Ciel... wait, if I released that much energy, why did Veldora not notice and become suspicious?"

["For one, as a slime, Master, Veldora had no reason to be suspicious of you, until you started talking that is. Another reason is that Veldora, for his part, was not paying attention. He is an ignorant brat, after all."]

"OI, that was RUDE!" yelled Veldora.

["But it is the truth, Vel-do-ra-kun."]

"DON'T ADD -KUN DAMN IT!"

Rimuru chuckled as he listened to the two banter. Of course, this was through {Thought Acceleration}, so the goblins had no clue that this was going on. Rimuru then reflected upon his current situation.

"There are definitely some things that are going to change. For instance, I am not clueless about the world, so I can't repeat the same exact dialogue each time, and I will not need to ask questions that I would have before. But as Ciel said, those differences are inconsequential. Anything that is consequential, she would let me know immediately."

["Thank you for your trust, Master. I will not disappoint."]

"Don't ignore me CIEL!" roared Veldora. "I AM NOT A BRAT!"

"Sorry Veldora," said Rimuru. "I have to agree with Ciel here. You can definitely be a brat sometimes."

"Rimuru you traitor!" complained Veldora.

Ignoring the now pouting Veldora, Rimuru turned his attention back to the goblins. Turning off {Thought Acceleration}, he then started to speak to the goblins.

"It seems that you are in need of some assistance. Let me speak with your leader. I am willing to help, under some conditions of course."

The goblins were wary, and rightfully so, but they did not really have a choice. So they turned around and led Rimuru to their village.