TTIGRAAS: Predator

Chapter 18

Ahhhh... this feels great! I was catching some morning sun on the roof of the Free Guild Inn. I'd hidden myself with Formhide so that nobody would question seeing a random slime on the roof, and I wouldn't have to answer awkward questions from my friends later.

The Free Guild Inn was located close to the center of the city, which was situated on a large hill. This meant that I could see all of Lond, Blumund's capital, from this roof.

But I wasn't as high as the castle. I was kind of tempted to fly up to its tallest spire and see what the view looked like, but I had no idea if Shizu's mask would protect me from whatever magic wards would surely be up there–and the sun was too nice to bother trying.

I hummed in pleasure, switching from slime form to human and stretching out the wings I'd gotten from the cave bat as I rolled onto my stomach. I noted with pleasure that I'd managed to transform perfectly–I'd been doing this so much since leaving Jura that I didn't even need [Great Sage] to help me anymore!

Sunbathing as a slime was great, but these wings were so dark that they absorbed heat even better than my natural form. Enjoying the feeling of the warm tiles on my cheek, I closed my eyes and listened to the bustle of the city.

"Rimuru!" I heard Gido call from the window of our room. With a sigh I got up. Jumping off the roof and using my wings to maneuver, I dropped into the shadows of the alleyway our window looked out on, and reappeared from Gido's shadow in the room. [Shadow Step] was a skill I'd picked up in Jura that I never paid much attention to before, but when I remembered I had it, I knew I had to master it! It's just so cool!

"What's up?" I asked, dropping Formhide. Gido jumped in fright, letting out a "woah!" as he turned toward me, putting a hand on his chest.

"How many times have I asked you not to do that?" He sighed, calming down.

"Hehe, sorry," I giggled. "It's just too fun."

"Well, whatever." Gido walked over to the door and grabbed his vest, which had been hanging nearby. "Put those things away so we can get some breakfast," he said, pointing at my wings.

"Ooh, okay!" I retracted my wings, which thankfully slipped right into the clothes the ogre princess had made for me without issue.

"Where were you, anyway?" Gido asked as we walked down the stairs to the inn's first floor.

"I was just on the roof," I answered nonchalantly.

Gido's response was to turn to me with an eyebrow raised, concern evident in his voice. "No one saw you, right?"

"Of course not," I scoffed.

"Heyyy! Rimuru! Gido!" Eren waved us over to a table where she and Kaval were already eating. "Come sit down! We already got your food."

"Ooh," I slid into my chair and immediately stabbed my fork into a sausage with delight. "Thanks, Eren!"

"No problem!" She beamed, looking happy with my reaction.

We didn't say anything for a bit, tucking into our food. I was always the first one to finish, but surprisingly, it was Kaval who started the conversation this time.

"So, Rimuru," he said. "Since you wrapped everything up yesterday, what are you gonna do?"

"Well," I shoved the last bite of food in my mouth, "I have my ID, and Fuze gave me a letter of recommendation. He said his boss knew Shizu, so hopefully that guy will be able to help... there's really nothing left to get done here, so today I'll probably start heading to Englesia."