Rimuru and Iruma's Adventures in the Netherworld

The Blue Trees of Jura

Rimuru POV

"Your name is...Aoki Tempest!"

Just as I name my new child, there's a large crash in the room. The ceiling itself now has a large hole, and the culprit is already walking right up to me.

"Rimuru! Rimuru! You didn't tell me you were pregnant!? I'm your bestie, so how could you!?"

But I'm more concerned about the small, newly-named slime in my hands. Aoki, after having the spell fall away, is sort of melting a bit.

Ciel, is little Aoki okay?

[[They are just fine. Things turned out even better than I expected!]]

What do you mean by that? Was there some trouble with the naming?

It almost sounds like something went wrong, but still turned out fine in the end. Either way, Ciel's hiding something from me.

[[If you think you heard that in my voice, it was just your imagination.]]

I go out of the way to pull a blanket out of my imaginary space and wrap Aoki in it, much like anyone would a human baby. This is to make sure that I can hold onto them properly since they are sorta losing cohesion right now, making it hard.

Milim, getting fed up, runs up to me and starts shaking me by the shoulders, not liking that I'm kinda ignoring her.

Wait...did she say she thought I was pregnant!?!?

"Wait, wait, calm down Milim! What makes you think that!? Why do you even think that's possible!?"

"Frey told me that when someone has a baby, that means they got pregnant! Ramiris told me you were having a baby, so that means you're pregnant, right?!"

"Milim..." I don't even know what to say...her logic makes sense, but at the same time there's a deep misunderstanding of how this all works.

I decide to reply in the simplest way possible.

"I'm not...pregnant...and I wasn't pregnant either, okay?"

"But then how are you having a kid, Rimuru?" she innocently tilts her head while asking.

"I named this slime as my child and now they are. It's as simple as that. Their name is Aoki Tempest."

"My new cousin! Are they a boy or a girl?"

"They're a slime."

Milim seems satisfied enough with this answer.

I've already decided that I'll let them pick if they want to be considered a boy, girl, or neither. It doesn't make any sense to force a binary gender on a slime before they can even communicate. I'm a special case with my previous life's memories, but for a normal slime like this, it would be weird. I even went out of my way to pick a name that would work no matter what.

Milim's eyes turn a little serious as she leans in closer, cupping one hand to the side of her mouth, "You aren't dying, are you?" she asks in a harsh whisper.

I close my eyes and shake my head 'no.'

"I don't think I am," I answer with a shrug.

Milim seems to release a hidden tension from her shoulders and pulls me into a hug. "That's good. I don't know what I would've done if you were going to."

I push Milim just a tiny bit to not squish Aoki, it is surprisingly difficult even still. I forget how strong Milim is sometimes. "Ahahaha... That's right... We wouldn't want that."