The Wanderer Starting from Type-Moon: Demon Lord Rimuru!

Then Rimuru was dumbfounded. Why did this several-thousand-year-old monster think I'd have such a ridiculously overpowered ability... Wait?!

Could it be... that after his memories were sealed, he'd had a prophetic dream and blurted it out?!!

At the thought, he hurriedly asked, very cautiously, "About this Revelation... how did you come to that conclusion?"

"How would I know? Could you have made a mistake?"

"We wish we had."

The Director took a small sip of tea. The indistinct face within the apparition tilted upward and glanced at Rimuru—as if to say, Nice try. You're still putting on an act?

"At first, your dreams didn't attract much attention."

"As you grew older, you learned to talk and would often say things you shouldn't have known, such as Magic Circuits or spiritual mediums..."

"But that wasn't anything unusual. A Witch's constitution could pass down knowledge through dreams, and Phantasmal Species sometimes inherited fragments of knowledge through their bloodlines, imprinting them directly on their instincts. So everyone paid a little attention to it, but didn't think too much of it."

"Until one day, you said a name."

"Arcueid Brunestud..."

As she spoke, Rimuru could clearly sense the Director's expression grow more complicated... Rimuru, meanwhile, buried his head in the sofa, curling up into a blue ball and shutting himself off from the world.

"Arcueid, the princess of the True Ancestors..."

The Director sighed. "That's someone even your parents didn't know about..."

"Stop curling up!" Rimuru said ruefully. "And then...? What else did I say? One name alone can't prove that I have the gift of Revelation, can it?"

"As you gradually grew up and became better at communicating, more and more words would occasionally come out, including some strange ones, like 'gacha' and 'single pulls.'"

The Director's gaze seemed to grow increasingly strange, but she soon returned to the point. "When you were five, I went to speak with you specifically to test our suspicions."

"? You tried to get information out of a five-year-old kid?!"

Have you no shame?!

"Ahem. And do you know what the result was?"

"You proved it, right?" Rimuru stretched and said helplessly, "You're telling me all this now because... everything I said came true, right?"

"Yes and no." The Director shook her head. "Revelations are chaotic by nature. Many things appear only as fleeting images, so most of what I saw never came to pass."

"Not until seven years ago, Rimuru."

"Seven years ago..." Rimuru lowered his eyes. "I see... That was when I went to Japan..."

"Yes. You saved Liddell and helped Aozaki Aoko drive off Aozaki Touko."

The Director lowered her head too, her voice heavy. "You'd dreamed of that scene before."

"You saw it. More than that, you even... changed the course of events."

Hearing this, Rimuru felt a little helpless too...

Perhaps the knowledge of Type-Moon's story buried in his subconscious had had too much of an influence on him after his memories were sealed. Whenever he reached a major story point, that influence grew stronger.

That had allowed his amnesiac self to take part in events in an orderly fashion and give his awakened self a decent start—but it had also caused some misunderstandings. Like the one the Director had now.

He wanted to tell her that he had no Revelation at all.

But then again, not to mention that he couldn't reveal the truth, even if he could, the consequences of becoming less important in the Director's eyes after losing the supposed gift of Revelation were easy to imagine.

This misunderstanding... might not be a bad thing to make use of.

Rimuru quickly thought it over and made up his mind.

"But I don't think I ever saw humanity being wiped out, did I?"

After all, in his memories, even the storylines about the future should have been about Chaldea's Masters going wild over their wives...

"Most of what you saw concerned the people around you." The Director's voice was full of relief. Rimuru's words were essentially an admission that he had a similar ability.

"Oh, that makes sense. I'm not exactly a noble person, after all." Rimuru grinned without the slightest embarrassment, then said matter-of-factly, "So I don't think I have what it takes to save humanity."

"But you will inevitably be involved in the future," the Director said. "The union of a Phantasmal Species and a human comes with a considerable lifespan, and with your talent on top of that, many people have high hopes for you, Rimuru. Myself included."

"..."

"My familiar tells me the meeting went smoothly." The Director stood and walked toward the window. "The three major institutions share information through the Future Observation Center. At the Clock Tower, only the three great families know about it. Even Yuri Phis hasn't been brought in yet."

"And you've met all three great families, haven't you?"

"Mm." Rimuru looked up. "Barthomeloi, Baruye, and..."

"Trantbellio. Heh, even I can't figure out what that old fox is thinking..." The Director chuckled and glanced back at him. "Barthomeloi doesn't actually agree with our decision. Her innate arrogance makes her think that relying on you for these matters is no different from waiting to die."

"I agree," Rimuru said, nodding quickly to make his position clear.

But the Director seemed not to hear him and continued on her own. "But Inorai supports you, so go forward as boldly as you can."

"Inorai supports me?" Rimuru's little head was spinning. "But you said my family betrayed her..."

"If Inorai hadn't turned a blind eye, do you think your family could have survived this long after betraying one of the three great families?"

"Uh..." Rimuru opened his mouth, but found himself at a loss for words. At last,

he fell silent.

"Though rather than support, it might be more accurate to say she's watching you with a scrutinizing eye," the Director said gravely. "That's just Inorai's style. Even her most beloved apprentice could make a mistake and end up with a Sealing Designation without her hesitation."

The evening glow had begun to drift beyond the window. The Director seemed to realize how much time had passed.

After a long while, when Rimuru still hadn't responded, she sighed and broke the silence herself.

"All right. Go back."

"Actually, this will probably be the last time I see you..."

"I called you here, in the end, to tell you how many people have placed their hopes in you, and... to make sure you don't misunderstand those Lords."

"I noticed that during the meeting, you seemed wary of most of the Lords. There's really no need. Magi's choices are largely determined by self-interest and their pursuit of Akasha, so you can think of them as forces you can control."

"In the end... Rimuru, if you really need an answer, and it isn't some nebulous future like saving the Human Order, I can tell you what I hope for, too."

"I don't have much time left. So I hope someone will inherit my position, guard the boundary between Phantasmal Species and humanity, and preserve the Clock Tower's traditions."

"Director... I..."

Before Rimuru could finish, the Director lightly waved her hand, sending him out of her office.

"If possible, I hope you can... become the Director."

Become the Director.

Damn it, that was even worse than saving the Human Order...

Rimuru lay on his bed in despair, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

It had been a long time since he'd returned with Liddell. After finally soothing her, getting her to go to bed obediently, and locking the door to prevent a nighttime raid, Rimuru had thrown himself onto his bed. The Director's image kept appearing in his mind...

"Ahhh!! This is why I hate people entrusting their last wishes to me! It's just a way of forcing things on me and trying to influence me!!"

After their conversation that day, many of Rimuru's questions had been answered, but at the same time, an invisible, heavy shackle had settled over him.

If I just leave, will I be letting them all down?

But if I don't let them down, when will I ever get home?!

Rimuru stared at the moonlight outside the window. For a while, he couldn't sleep.

Chapter 16: Rimuru's Mystic Code, Wuyin

The Clock Tower's schedule didn't seem very different from that of an ordinary British university. Apart from having no term when the school was closed, it was theoretically open all the time. There were plenty of holidays, and some days had only two or three classes... But that was how universities worked, too. Rather than mandatory instruction, students needed to manage their own time, distribute it sensibly, and learn independently.

Professors liked to shut themselves away in their Magecraft workshops to conduct research. Most students from Magecraft families came to the Clock Tower for just five years of basic study, then received further training in their family's style of Magecraft at home.

But that didn't mean the Clock Tower had no classes or students while it was still on break.

Students with little family tradition, along with the founding-school Magi—that is, ordinary people who had gained Magecraft aptitude by chance at birth or had become Magi through some other accident—often especially needed the Clock Tower's knowledge to pursue their own paths.

In any case, after becoming a professor, Rimuru was surprised to find that his life hadn't changed all that much. The students had started calling him "Professor" instead of "Lecturer," but until the new students arrived and were assigned, his position and the subjects he was supposed to teach still hadn't been decided... Though it might not have been anyone else's fault. He'd forgotten to bring it up in the Director's office.

For the Rimuru of his previous life, all the holidays and relaxed days might have been a luxury and a pleasure.

Unfortunately, this was the late 1980s.

Apart from the entertainment on the television screen, which felt a little familiar to Rimuru, the other forms of entertainment...

Rimuru thought studying Magecraft was more fun.

"I have to say, without the temptations of modern entertainment from my previous life, people in the old days really did find it easier to focus—"

Rimuru picked up the water ball in his hand and carefully examined it in the sunlight, murmuring softly.

"Did it fail again?"

"Report: biological activity has ceased."

Plop!

Rimuru irritably slapped the clear water ball in his hand against the ground. With a splat, it broke into countless droplets that scattered in every direction, then slowly gathered together again...

This was Rimuru's Mystic Code: Wuyin.

As its name suggested, it was a Mystic Code made from Wuyin Water and Rimuru's own Magecraft system. In form, it resembled a transparent sphere of water. Its use was somewhat similar to Kayneth's Volumen Hydrargyrum, but their combat methods were entirely different.

Volumen Hydrargyrum was essentially a Mystic Code made from mercury. While its properties included something like the ability to transform, its overall approach was to maximize fluidity and fight by changing shape.

Compared with that top-tier Mystic Code, Rimuru's Wuyin was more like a piece of trash with plenty of potential but a solid B-grade rating...

Its use was simple. At the most basic level, it could directly draw in the moisture in the surrounding air and amplify some of Rimuru's water-based Magecraft. As for its ability...

Water had no fixed shape, yet it could become anything—transformation.

That's right, transformation. Wuyin could take any shape and be manipulated with Rimuru's mana to fight, whether it was any of the eighteen standard weapons or a monster from Kuonji Alice's fairy tales. As long as he could imagine it,

it could transform!

As for the strength of the transformed objects... well, it was enough to make you want to tear your hair out.

Wuyin's base material was Wuyin Water, but as for Wuyin Water... despite how impressive it sounded, it wasn't actually a particularly rare Magecraft material. High-quality Wuyin Water wasn't cheap, but low-quality Wuyin Water might as well have been free.

After all, it was just water without a connection to Akasha. Even rainwater contained a little of the Magecraft concept of Wuyin.

Fortunately, Rimuru's previous self hadn't used such shoddy material to make his Mystic Code. Otherwise, Rimuru really would have cursed him out.

Even so, although Rimuru had discovered by chance that he could use mana to change Wuyin from a liquid into a gaseous mist, or even into hard, frozen ice—

the transformed objects still didn't seem to change much in quality.

What was the difference between a mist sword, a water sword, and an ice sword?

Oh, maybe the ice sword was a little harder?! After several days of research, Rimuru had only discovered that he could adjust the ice sword's temperature and hardness with mana. It seemed much more useful, but that didn't change the fact that it was brittle!

It was vulnerable to fire, too!!!

Volumen Hydrargyrum couldn't transform into everything like yours could, but it could turn into a sharp object and pierce most things, or spread into a thin shield and block high-powered attacks!

Sure, that relied in part on Kayneth's own strength, but in terms of design, it really was a top-notch all-purpose Mystic Code—just don't compare it to a Noble Phantasm.

Rimuru reckoned that with his Magic Circuits and Phantasmal Species bloodline, his mana was definitely A++. But even so, to make Wuyin as strong as Volumen Hydrargyrum, he'd have to pour in nearly half of his total mana.

What did that mean?

Even if you brought in Emiya Shirou, he'd have to pour in all his mana. Unless he had a girl on hand to replenish him whenever he needed it, he couldn't do it!!!

Rimuru wasn't opposed to a fighting style that traded mana for power, but the conversion efficiency of this piece of junk was heartbreaking... It was absurdly low.

"Sigh."

Rimuru let out a sigh and looked at Wuyin, which had turned into a puddle and was crawling around on the ground. Helplessly, he picked it up and casually stretched it out. A lifelike, transparent little bird fluttered down onto his shoulder.

"Other than using this thing as a familiar, I really can't think of what else it's good for."

His previous self had considered its potential. Its ability to change into countless forms could certainly give it a lot of potential and applications, but... hadn't he considered its initial strength at all?

So Rimuru wasn't satisfied with it. When he wasn't satisfied, he had to research it, make up for its shortcomings, refine it, and strengthen it until he could finally break through and get it to +13!

So for the past few days, Rimuru had been at odds with this thing, conducting experiments on it.

If you ignored the Magecraft concepts and abilities built into a Mystic Code, then naturally, the first thing to do if you wanted to improve a weapon was to change its materials.

On that point, Great Sage recommended Rimuru's own body—Slime bodies were the accumulation of mana and elements, and could naturally serve as excellent Magecraft materials.