True God In Another World (Tensura x Tbate)

Chapter 110 - Darkness

Rimuru POV

"Deputy Director Rimuru?"

I heard the voice before I saw him — low and measured, the kind of voice that didn't waste itself on unnecessary volume. I turned, and there was Rahdeas, standing a good head shorter than me but somehow making that feel like a technicality rather than a fact.

The scar was the first thing most people noticed about him. It carved down the left side of his face in a thick, pale line, swallowing his eye and dragging all the way to his jaw.

"Former," I said, keeping my voice easy. "Former Deputy Director. I'm not the Deputy Director anymore."

He blinked. "Really? What a shame. You were doing a great job."

"I was just filling in while Professor Jackson was away." I smiled and made a small gesture with my hand, brushing it off. "A temporary thing. Always was."

Rahdeas gave a small, slow nod, accepting that. Then — "So will you join the front lines now?" He studied me with that one open eye, unhurried. "Your joining would contribute a great deal to the war effort. Elijah was always talking about how strong you are."

I exhaled through my nose. Not a sigh, just — a breath. "I still don't really know what I'm going to do," I said honestly. Or at least, it sounded honest, which amounted to the same thing in a conversation like this. "And I think Elijah oversells me, if I'm being fair."

"Is that so?" A ghost of something moved across Rahdeas's expression. "He told me you were as strong as your brother. Arthur."

"He's exaggerating," I said, letting a soft laugh color my voice. "Arthur hasn't even shown his real strength yet. He's still training, still growing. And he was taken to train with the Asuras." I shook my head, smile still in place. "You can't really compare me to someone like that."

"That's true," Rahdeas said, nodding again. "Not just anyone gets that kind of opportunity."

"Exactly. He's on another level." I kept my tone light. Admiring, even. "We're lucky to have the Asuras on our side at all. I don't know where we'd be without them."

"Mm." He made a sound low in his throat. Agreement, or something passing as it. "They've been invaluable."

"They have." I paused, letting a beat of quiet settle between us. Then I let my expression shift — just slightly, just enough. The smile dimmed a little, genuine weight slipping through. "I just wish they'd arrived sooner. If they had..." I trailed off. "Maybe we could have kept Elijah from getting taken." I looked at Rahdeas steadily. "I'm sorry. I was the leader of the DC. I should have done more."

Something moved across the old dwarf's face. A flicker of something I didn't let myself look at too closely.

"Don't worry," he said, and his voice had dropped into something quieter. "It's not your fault. That kid has always been a troublemaker."

"Maybe," I said. "But that doesn't make it any less my responsibility. I don't know why they took him specifically, but—" I held his gaze. "I'll bring him back. Alive. That's a promise."

Rahdeas was quiet for a moment.

"Thank you," he said. Just that. Just two words, barely above a whisper.

He cleared his throat after — the kind of throat-clearing that doesn't have anything to do with your throat — and straightened up a little more than he already was, which shouldn't have been physically possible but somehow was. "Well. I don't want to keep you. I'll go now."