Traveler Starting from Type-Moon, Demon Lord Rimuru! Chapter 17

"You seem to know me quite well... Did you stop the Mage's Association from placing a Sealing Designation on me?" After a long silence, Emiya Kiritsugu suddenly asked in a deep voice.

"Why?"

"You're really quite rude." Rimuru tilted his head, glancing at the man's eyes in the rearview mirror as if the handgun pressed against the back of his head were completely useless, and chuckled, "Before you ask me, shouldn't you answer my question first? Tell me, why did you kill me, or rather, who sent you?"

"..." Emiya Kiritsugu was silent for a moment, then picked up his handgun.

Just as Rimuru thought the man intended to have a proper conversation, he saw him suddenly switch to a vintage flintlock-style pistol. After a click as he chambered a round, Rimuru's mouth twitched, and he felt a bit stunned.

He recognized that bullet!!

An Origin Bullet, for crying out loud!! Was that really necessary?!

Rimuru could be certain that the man truly harbored killing intent, but his primary goal was definitely not to trade his life for Rimuru's. The cost and danger Emiya Kiritsugu had to endure just to infiltrate the Clock Tower now were a hundred times greater than before... and once exposed, it would be a situation of certain death!

Emiya Kiritsugu did not fear death, but the justice he upheld was to sacrifice the few to save the many. Killing Rimuru... was not worth this champion of justice, who could continue to save everyone, dying here!

Click. Emiya Kiritsugu pulled the hammer back again and pressed the barrel against the back of Rimuru's head, saying coldly, "I don't know how you dodged my previous sniper shot, but I guarantee you won't be able to block this bullet—I've heard that the Tempest family possesses the bloodline of Phantasmal Species, so you should be able to sense danger, right?"

Even when making a threat, Emiya Kiritsugu would not explain the principle of the Origin Bullet to an enemy, because it was his trump card—a card that absolutely had to remain hidden so it wouldn't be guarded against.

"Uh, I believe you, but can't you trust me a little?" Rimuru said helplessly. "Put the gun away first. I don't like people pointing that thing at me, and besides... it might go off by accident."

"Why."

Emiya Kiritsugu remained unmoved and continued. Years of experience in the underworld told him that killing must be clean and swift, and conversations were the same; once you talked too much, you would easily fall into the other person's rhythm—

"Why? Because I want to take revenge on you personally? Because I want to figure out your goal or the mastermind behind you? Because I know your ideals and feel admiration? Or perhaps, because you still have some utility?"

Rimuru rattled off a string of possibilities quickly, then finally turned his head with a smile, staring straight into the muzzle of Emiya Kiritsugu's gun and looking into his eyes. "Every one of those is a reason. Which one do you believe?"

"I'll say it again: put the gun away." Rimuru said softly, his tone dropping unconsciously. "I'm going to pick up my apprentice. If you scare her, I guarantee you will die here."

"..." This time, Emiya Kiritsugu finally softened his stance, though he did not put the handgun away. Instead, he said vigilantly, "Go fifty meters forward, turn, drive straight into the hub plaza, and then let me off—"

"You went through all that trouble to come back just to point a gun at my head and ask me why I didn't hunt you down?" Rimuru tilted his head and rolled his eyes. "Or is there something else you need to do? Like grabbing something while you're at it, or having some other target? You won't answer my questions, yet you expect me not to interfere and just pretend I don't see you?"

At this point, Rimuru paused for a moment. Seeing that the man remained coldly silent and only spoke up to tell him to turn at an intersection, Rimuru finally learned the nature of Emiya Kiritsugu—a cold-blooded killer who was impervious to both soft and hard tactics and did things his own way.

"Fine, fine."

Rimuru laughed helplessly and suddenly said, "Hey, if I told you a way to save many, many people, would you tell me why you killed me that day?"

"...Speak." As he said this, he pressed the muzzle forward a bit more—

Rimuru was completely speechless.

So you really intend to go down this path to the end, refusing to say anything and just relying on threats to get a free ride?!

"Do you really think you have me cornered?" Rimuru lost his patience. The next moment, Emiya Kiritsugu's pupils shrank, and he hurriedly looked to the side. He saw that Wuyin, which had flowed to the floor of the back seat at some point, had begun to slowly form into Rimuru's likeness. It condensed eerily beside Emiya Kiritsugu, tilted its head, and spoke in a voice that overlapped with the original: "If I wanted to kill you, you would have... already died, wouldn't you?"

"Come on, take a guess."

"Which one is... my true body?"

"Or perhaps, as is common in magecraft, are they... neither, or both?"

After a long while, Emiya Kiritsugu forced himself to calm down. He suddenly thought of the legendary puppeteer, Aozaki Touko.

Rumor had it that she was an unkillable existence who relied on countless puppets hidden everywhere; every time she died, she would transfer her memory and the concept of her soul entirely, resurrecting and waking up in another puppet.

And this Rimuru before him... this eerie phenomenon of clones made him feel strangely familiar—that was it. The headshot he confirmed that day was no illusion; he had indeed killed a Rimuru, but the terrifying thing was...

Perhaps... there was more than one Rimuru.

This thought and speculation instantly sent a chill down the back of the still-young Emiya Kiritsugu, and he swallowed involuntarily—

"Is it my turn now?" Rimuru had already passed the drop-off point he had mentioned, but he showed no intention of slowing down. Instead, he drove Emiya Kiritsugu directly toward the large classroom for basic individual subjects. Ever since Rimuru confirmed that his apprentice could understand the lectures, Eler's miserable school life had begun.

Although the Clock Tower, as an advanced academy, generally did not allow very young children to attend classes, and the Mage's Association had a rule that children under six could not be exposed to magecraft early, but—

Who isn't a person of privilege, after all!!

Yet, this blatant exercise of privilege not only failed to lead to Rimuru being denounced or losing his reputation, but because Rimuru provided the very reasonable-sounding justification that "special geniuses must be treated specially, and a student's development must never be delayed by so-called rules," he actually gained quite a bit of support among the students.

However, while the logic held, he hadn't mentioned a word about the potential negative consequences of such special treatment.

The only one tearfully resisting Rimuru was likely Eler herself, but clearly... protests were ineffective.

Returning to the topic, after Emiya Kiritsugu's most relied-upon Origin Bullet was bluffed by Rimuru's clone trick, Rimuru instantly became emboldened. He had originally wanted to have a friendly and polite exchange, but who knew Emiya Kiritsugu would be so uncooperative.

Since you are unkind, don't blame me for being unrighteous. Now that the tables had turned, it was Rimuru's turn to go on the offensive—he extended his small hand, made a finger-gun gesture, aimed it at Emiya Kiritsugu's head as if to humiliate him, and said softly, "Bang!"

"Speak! What was your goal in killing me?"

"...There was no goal." Cold sweat appeared faintly on Emiya Kiritsugu's forehead. In reality, he could have jumped out of the moving car, and he had the confidence to dodge an attack launched by Rimuru. But if he were to engage in a fight with Rimuru, it would trigger the Clock Tower's alarms—

With the impact of the last assassination still fresh, and given that the semester had been underway for less than a month, the Lords were basically all present—they would definitely enter a state of high alert immediately and launch a collective, fatal strike against him.

"As a bounty hunter, working for money is a normal behavior—"

"Oh? A noble champion of justice, someone who would sell his life for money?" Rimuru said with a mocking, sarcastic laugh.

"I will not attack you again—" Emiya Kiritsugu forced himself to stay calm and organized his words. "But aside from saving people, I also work as a mercenary to eliminate certain unscrupulous mages—"

"My unscrupulous deeds... oh, according to your values, there are quite a few." Rimuru paused slightly, then suddenly smiled and shook his head, unbothered. He had received a traditional mage's education in this world, and although he found it a bit extreme now that he looked back on it, he couldn't deny that during the period when his memories were sealed, he had indeed done quite a few "bad things."

And this is the main reason why Aozaki Aoko and he are constantly at odds.

For instance, during the events of Mahoyo, he utilized Shizuki Soujuurou, forcing the other party to draw out Aozaki Touko and the Golden Wolf, among other things; or, in various schemes and battles, he disregarded ordinary people, leading to heavy casualties—

Yet, everything he did was to protect himself, Kuonji, and Aozaki Aoko. Even from the perspective of the current Rimuru, there was nothing wrong with this kind of egoism.

"Alright, I understand." Rimuru chuckled softly. "Then I am indeed guilty of heinous crimes. You are welcome to come and kill me next time, but remember to be well-prepared then."

Rimuru stopped the car and said softly, "Regardless, you laid a hand on me, so you will inevitably die by my hand—but the time is not yet right. I did not lie to you earlier; the reason I do not wish for the Clock Tower to place a Sealing Designation on you is indeed those four points."

"All... four of them."

"Now, get out of the car."

"...I believe other things, but a magus like you... do you really respect a magus-killer like me, whom you all view as despicable?" Hearing this, Emiya Kiritsugu turned his head slightly, sneering with a mocking tone.

"Why wouldn't I?" Rimuru turned his head, looking puzzled. "Just because I wouldn't do the right thing, or because I scoff at justice, doesn't mean I don't know what the right thing is."

"Of course, perhaps those traditional magi truly don't know—but as for me, at least, that is how I feel."

"It is precisely because I cannot achieve justice and kindness myself that I hold those who can in such reverence and respect."

You don't have to agree, but please show respect.

As a modern person, these basic qualities and etiquette were already deeply ingrained in his bones.

"..." Emiya Kiritsugu moved his lips, but in the end, he said nothing, silently getting out of the car with a somber expression.

"Oh, right."

Rimuru restarted the car. In the late eighties, the sound of Rimuru's latest engine was exceptionally ear-piercing. "I heard, I heard—that in your mysterious Far East, there is a ritual called the Holy Grail War."

"The existence that wins this ritual can obtain the Greater Grail, which can grant any wish."

"I sometimes wonder, could that thing... save this world?"

"Emiya Kiritsugu, what... do you think?"

I am very sorry everyone, I don't know what has been going on lately, but the scheduled posts keep repeating parts of the content and missing others. I suspect it is a browser issue and am currently looking for the cause.

Chapter 025, I was clearly looking for the White Princess, boohoo!!

After dropping the hint to Emiya Kiritsugu, Rimuru hummed a little tune in a good mood and arrived in front of the large classroom for Individual Basic Disciplines. There, Eler had already come running over the moment she saw the silver vehicle.

Behind her, Liddell was watching this scene quietly with a faint smile. Accompanying their time together, the interaction between the two of them plus a child always made Liddell feel a faint sense of warmth, as if they were a family of three—

"Did Eler cause any trouble today?"

Rimuru stopped the car, ignoring the little girl's dissatisfied tap-tap-tap and flurry of little punches upon entering the car, and looked at Liddell with a smile.

"No, she is now able to master Mana Burst quite well."

If others' Mana Burst was merely using mana to form armor or magic resistance, Liddell sometimes wondered if Aozaki Aoko had secretly taught Eler something... The little girl's Mana Burst was exactly the same as Aozaki Aoko's violent output. She could naturally compress mana to form something similar to a high-pressure water gun and fire it out. Rather than calling it Mana Burst, it was more like a headache-inducing, simplified version of a magic cannon.

Fortunately, under Rimuru's forceful suppression, she finally broke the habit of firing cannons at every turn...

"That's pretty good then." After greeting the professor who taught Eler, Rimuru took out the badge of the Sealing Designation Enforcer and placed it in front of Liddell.

"Are you leaving?" Liddell immediately understood what Rimuru meant, slightly stunned as she said softly, "There is no need to be in such a hurry..."

"I need actual combat." Rimuru shook his head with a light laugh. "The Dean has already agreed. For years, I have never had a clear understanding of my own strength—"

"Then have you decided on a target?"

"Hmm... I want to go to Germany."

"Europe?" Liddell covered her mouth in astonishment, asking in confusion, "What are you going there for?"

"I need to find some things."

At this point, Rimuru gave a slight, bitter smile, not quite knowing how to explain—

He couldn't exactly say that he was heading to Germany to search for the legendary Dead Apostle Ancestors, could he?

For him, the organization of Dead Apostles was something he had to make contact with. Although the Root pursued by magi was more powerful and dominant than the weakened Dead Apostles, since what Rimuru wanted was not to become the essence of the world, but simply to travel between worlds.

Then, he would have to find the Dead Apostle Ancestor, the Magic Marshal Zelretch, also known as the Kaleidoscope, sooner or later. Since that was the case, it was better to be prepared in advance and gain a full understanding of the Dead Apostles first.

Of course, if possible, he would also like to try and see if he could find the city where the legendary White Princess was still sleeping.

Millennium Castle—

"..." Liddell stared quietly into Rimuru's eyes. After a while, she suddenly sighed and said, "Another revelation? Fine—"

"Eh?! Teacher...!!" Hearing the cryptic conversation between the two, Eler's large eyes blinked, her entire little face tightening more and more. She said nervously, "Teacher...! Are you... are you leaving? Can you take Eler with you?"

"Ugh! Eler is very well-behaved! I definitely won't..." After the little one finished speaking, ignoring the fact that Rimuru was still driving, she dove straight into Rimuru's arms from the passenger seat, leaving Rimuru unable to laugh or cry. "It's not really leaving, is it?"

"My clone will still be serving as a professor at the Clock Tower, so it's basically half of me, right?"

"A clone?" Liddell asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, slimes can split!" Rimuru laughed softly. "Regardless, the Clock Tower academy is the backing I need most and cannot give up."

"Well said..." Liddell revealed a beautiful smile and nodded in relief. "Then, does this clone share consciousness with you?"

"It shares. Although my attention might not be on this side usually... but if you call me, I will definitely be able to hear it. Anyway, just treat it as the main body."

Rimuru nodded firmly. He might have doubts about his own ability to multitask, but he would never doubt the Great Sage, whose processing hub was comparable to a multi-threaded, multi-process CPU!

"So... I won't be without a teacher... then?" Eler didn't quite grasp the nuances, but after thinking blankly for a moment, she suddenly became excited, simply because she realized...

She could have two... Rimuru!!

Two teachers! Double the happiness!!

A week later, in front of a desolate church on a street in Berlin, Germany, a petite youth wearing a black velvet trench coat arrived. He took off his hat, and as his light blue hair fluttered in the chilly breeze, a few fallen leaves swirled up at the church entrance.

"So this is the branch of the Holy Church... it really is quite shabby."

Rimuru lowered his head slightly, chuckled, and walked up to knock gently on the door. At the same time, he took out a mask and put it on his face—Wuyin had already turned into a pool of liquid, slowly flowing on the ground...

Creak—

Accompanied by an ancient and heavy sound, the church door was opened a crack by a priest, who also delivered his reply: "Visiting hours are over. If you are here to pray, please..."

However, before his voice could finish, the clear water that Wuyin had transformed into suddenly formed several icy, bone-chilling icicles. With a squelch, they pierced the priest's abdomen, blooming into a vivid red flower—he collapsed to the ground with a thud, looking up in shock at the masked figure pushing the door open—

Strange, bright red patterns were carved onto the pale mask, appearing eerie and terrifying in the dim light, but the old priest still managed to make a judgment based on the mask... "...Ma... Magus..."

"An elderly Executor; it seems this branch isn't held in very high regard—" Rimuru crouched down slightly. A layer of azure magic began to surge from the magic circuits in his chest, and cool water moistened his hands, emitting an aura full of vitality and life—this was healing magic.

Executors are those within the Holy Church who possess the strength and qualifications to eradicate demons. They physically eliminate things that do not exist within the Lord's doctrine, advocating for the purging of demons and the destruction of all heresy, all to ensure that humanity manages mystery autonomously and correctly.

To put it bluntly, they are human supremacists... Rimuru had always felt that Gaia triggering the Notes to force a mutual destruction had a lot to do with these idiots...

He gently applied his hands to the old man's wound, and his muffled voice from beneath the mask sounded like a demon's whisper: "Now, please hand over the information on your branch's Executors and heretics to me—"

"Otherwise, I will heal you, and then do it all over again, for eternity—"

Hearing this, the priest's pupils constricted in terror...

"You... you... are that demon... who has been hunting Dead Apostles recently—"

"Since you already know... that makes things much easier." Hearing the priest's words, Rimuru, beneath the mask, raised an eyebrow and suddenly chuckled.