That Time I Got Reencarnated as a Demon Lord (English)

28 - Conversation: Humans and Monsters

The meeting between me, the adventurer trio, and Shizu-chan was over. There's not much to talk about it; I knew who they were, I knew where they came from, I knew who had sent them and I had warned them not to divulge information about our existence. Also, since none of them were lying when they said they wouldn't say anything, there was no need to... take any precautions.

Despite that, Shizu-chan really intrigued me. She was certainly not an ordinary person, and that was all I could see of her. Even with [Profane] telling me how much sadness the girl carried inside, I couldn't see beyond that.

This proves that even now, weakened, this girl was stronger than me, at least when it came to spiritual attacks.

Is it because she has a contract with the Higher Spirit within her?

Well, whatever! It's not like I want to make a contract with a spirit or anything! I just think using someone else's power instead of your own power is cheating!!

<< . . . >>

Well, even if I did say that, Treyni was a perfect example of a powerful person with a power that wasn't hers alone, and it's not like my own power wasn't, at least in part, borrowed as well. A power that was lent to me by the very voice of the world! And if I wanted to make that power mine... then I would still need a lot of effort!

<<Question. Does the Rimuru Tempest subject want to amplify the effects of integrating the Unique Skill [Great Sage] with the subject's brain? [YES]? [NO]?>>

Hmm? That's... What would be the side effects of that, Sage?

<< Answer. The subject's thought processing speed would increase more than in the current state, the subject would have unrestricted access to [All Creation] and [Assessment], which would give an almost instantaneous level of understanding of all things occurring around the individuals world, the effects of [Grandmaster] would be tripled, control over one's own body would become absolute, the individual->>

Can you stop?! I don't want to hear anymore. After all, what's the catch in that? None of this could come for free.

<< Answer. There is no damage to the individual Rimuru Tempest when performing full integration of the Unique Skill [Great Sage].>>

OK. So what do I miss, Sage? There's no way I can gain something without losing something in return. This is the law of equivalent exchange, it is the basics of the basics of the otaku masters, guardians of the sacred texts. You should know about that.

<< . . . >>

I was silent just waiting for the Sage's answer. There's no way a good thing like this can come without having a price for me. If that were the case, then when I asked the Sage to integrate me into his processing he would have done so from the beginning.

So, for him to only bring it up now, then there has to be a hidden catch.

<< Answer. By performing complete integration, [Voice of the World] and [Parallel Processing] would completely link to Rimuru Tempest, allowing direct and complete access to information. The individual could know the answer to all the things he was interested in. >>

Then...?

<<The automatic response, titled "Sage", would cease to exist because it is no longer useful to the individual or lacks efficiency.>>

So, in short, would you die...or, for that matter, disappear? Is that what you're telling me, Sage?

<<This answer is incorrect or inaccurate. The Unique Skill [Great Sage] has no life of its own in the first place. Because of this, disabling the automatic reply function could not be considered "death". The Unique Skill could not only be used to fetch an answer since every answer would be delivered directly to the individual.>>