The Reincarnations of Veldanava

Father Time

"Sorry. That was immature of me." Rimuru wiped his tears, then looked straight at Milim. He didn't know she had a horn and wings. She didn't have them as a child. He took in Milim's details, and they reminded him a lot of Lucia.

"Phew... Glad you stopped doing that. I don't know how to handle a crybaby."

Hearing that, Rimuru chuckled softly. Before, he was reminiscing about his past in the Heavenly Star Palace, when he came out of that place, he ran into Milim. 'It seems like fate is on my side...' Rimuru smiled.

He finally found her, his dearest jewel. "I have a town nearby, we can talk there," Rimuru suggested. He had a lot of things to say, but not here. Family conversation should be privatized, right?

"Fine by me," Milim replied. He was an interesting man. Not only did he defeat the Orc Lord, he also pulled off the same Magic as her. She thought Rimuru was worthy of her time.

Her negotiation skill wasn't the best. Usually, when she wanted more subordinates, which didn't happen that often, she would forcefully make them hers. But she didn't want to do that to Rimuru. Not that she wasn't confident in her strength, but the real reason... She didn't know it either.

Rimuru looked at the destroyed surroundings. There were holes in the ground and the trees were uprooted. 'Treyni-san's not going to like this...'

Rimuru turned his attention to the Daemons. "And when will you turn back?" No matter how time had passed, Rimuru would never get used to this. Diablo who had the same alluring presence as Testarossa was too much, and it didn't suit his personality at all.

They weren't badly injured, but Rimuru gave them Full Potions nonetheless. It was that moment Ranga and Souei emerged from the shadows with Shion and Benimaru.

Rimuru restored them with potions as well. Everyone was fine, except Benimaru who was deeply unconscious.

«Notice: The wounds of an individual: "Benimaru" were healed. But 'Full Potion' cannot recover the target from unconsciousness.»

'Is that so? Maybe we should find a way to fix that.' Souei told Rimuru that Benimaru went out of his way to defy Milim's Demon Lord Haki and attack her. Though it didn't work, Milim herself praised him for being brave and mentally impressive.

Rimuru tasked Souei with bringing Benimaru to rest in a more comfortable place than the floor.

"This is the first time I've seen Benimaru being this exhausted. Demon Lord sure is amazing," Shion mumbled, "I know! I will make him a get-well-soon dish!"

"Please don't. He'll die for real this time."

"What do you mean?"

Souei gave no response and slowly dropped down into the shadows with Benimaru on his back.

Rimuru led everyone back to the bustling city. He then brought Milim to his office. This was the privacy Rimuru wanted. Shion and Testarossa warned him it'd be dangerous without bodyguards, but Rimuru stood his ground and convinced them until they let him be with Milim alone.

He wasn't comfortable even in his chair. He looked at Milim who was munching on snacks Shuna made as if she had never eaten something that delicious before.

There were a lot of things that troubled Rimuru. Diablo whispered to him before that Milim wasn't aware that she had a father in the first place! 'Hundred deaths aren't as painful as that one single sentence... And what should I do now?'

"So, Milim... Are you sure you don't recall anything about your parents? Not even a little?"

"You asked like that Daemon. I don't know who my parents were, and frankly, I don't care," Milim answered with her usual carefree nature. She had no memories of her father. To be fair, she didn't have any memories of the time before she became Awakened Demon Lord. It was a long blur.