Shitara Slime Datta Ken (WN)
MasterMind

Sakaguchi Hinata feels lucky to meet Izawa Shizue.

Although the time they spent together was really short, only for Shizue Hinata could it truly open her heart.

One month.

In that short period of time, he had stolen all of his skills and left it behind.

He's afraid of rejection. Because his theft ability is very frightening.

In fact,

「We're bothering Shizu-san.

Associations are not so rich as to support people who are not working.

So, do you want to cooperate with Me? 」

So said a boy from his world.

He understood that he was just trying to recruit her, but his words – that it bothers – hurt him a lot.

That's when Hinata decided to leave.

When he departed, these were the farewell words of the boy,

「We will definitely meet again! When we do, help me! 」

He understood those words literally.

Lacking information, Hinata opened her heart to the boy just because he was a fellow World Explorer.

So he nodded at her words without hesitation.

And start the journey.

A world filled with despair, where life could be snatched away so easily, a world like that.

He gained the strength to survive.

A country where he lived was attacked,

By a Catastrophe-class monster, causing many people to die. There are many people who are fighting to protect children.

Adults will not run away, but will go to great lengths to protect their children.

Even though he thought they would escape without a second thought trying to save themselves.

The battle was called the Knights Templar (Sacred Knights).

They sometimes pass through the city to patrol, protect the people and uphold justice.

“That's where I want to stay,” Hinata feels.

And thus without a doubt…

Ten years have passed.

Although Hinata did not believe in god, she had attained one of the highest offices in the church.

An ironic tale may be, but he did a sacred duty to protect the lives of the people and citizens of the Holy Kingdom of Ruberion.

Hinata did not doubt anything, and believed this was her justice.

Living for others. Even at the cost of your own life.

If you do, everyone can be happy. Similarly, monsters must be destroyed.

Because at all times, it is the monsters that threaten the happy life of society.

Although the capital city was protected by a barrier, the same did not apply to the towns and villages in the region.

The patrolling knights reduced the number of casualties while fighting daily monster attacks.

Unlike monsters in the Jura Forest region, these monsters had no other source of food.

A desolate wasteland spread west.

The result of a battle between two beings like the demon king.

This desert had many dense poison areas where monsters appeared. Thus, the knights manifested the hopes of the people themselves.

There were times when the knights had been deceived and killed by monsters.

Because of this incident, the church decided to strictly prohibit dealing with monsters.

This creed conveys the wisdom for hundreds of years of the knights who survived while protecting people.

And at some point, Hinata has decided that people's happiness is directly related to this belief.

Although he initially distrusted the creed, he was won over by its logic.

And, at some point…

He decides that protecting the creed is his justice, a truly ironic story.

The days spent fighting monsters.

When does he feel this routine is boring>

On the day he became the squad captain and began to devise a plan, the number of casualties greatly decreased.

It was thanks to Monster Spawn's point prediction and his Casualty prediction. Communication method, and patrol time.

Thus people began to see the results of the optimization of the system.

This is why the knights have so much confidence in Hinata, he thought.

This was why he could not at all break the creed.

He has a responsibility, a mission to protect the people.

After receiving the trust of his subordinates, he created a place to return.

Even Nicholas confessed to love her…

In the end, Hinata was just scared.

Even though he was trying not to be attached to anything, he was still afraid of losing everything.

People can live happily only under complete control.

Hinata was so trusting.

And the existence of the Controlled Society Ruberius only proves its point.

That's how it's supposed to be.

That's why, as always,

He just needed to defeat monsters; that was all.

Simple points. But that's how it is.

Protecting the creed is his reason for living, his justice.

Such was his crooked heart that never knew the love of parents.

This confidence was the only thing that supported his heart.

To protect that belief, he decided to fight.

And now.

Everything was so bad, he wanted to laugh.

But as a result, he made a breakthrough.

He just stopped worrying, stopped thinking.

Is he right, is he wrong? It doesn't even matter anymore.

He could not see the amount of enemy power before him even with the 『Mathematician』 skill.

The enemy is clearly on it. A world separated from its previous strength. He could only lament having let her escape the last time.

The days are boring, though,

Now it's gonna be over.

Fighting in a losing fight is foolish. Even so, Hinata remained excited.

(Am I wrong? Then ... prove it, Demon Lord Rimuru!)

He pulled out the great sword, the Dragon Slayer, from its scabbard to fight the demon lord.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

And with his heart excited, the sword pointed towards Rimuru, he advanced.

＊ ＊ ＊

I'm back to considering my fight with him.

This girl left no gap.

Thanks to the acceleration of the mind, right now I can take his punch perfectly.

After a short exchange, although my attack did not even scratch it, its attack seemed to be able to scratch me.

Not that they don't do it – isn't because I'm proud of it.

That is why, at the moment we are trying to take advantage of opportunities or mistakes made by the other party, but nothing has come up on its own yet.

Hinata is really a beast that can fight me like this even after I wake up as a Demon King and have Raphael's support.

Frankly, I wish I'd flooded him.

He seemed to be able to easily read my sword, and block it without fail. And, respond with an accurate slash.

Last time, I really wasn't a threat.

Besides, he didn't even go out last time.

While blocking his attack lightly, I observed Hinata.

A faint smile on her lips, she looked straight at me.

But, his eyes do not reflect our movements. His eyes move like sensors trying to observe the entire area around us.

His posture did not waver, he was able to maintain a natural pose ready to counter any attacks.

His movements did not depend on strength and seemed to have originated out of nowhere.

I'm not sure how he could have easily predicted my attack, but clearly he knows.

As for Me, when I saw his attack, I just tried hard to avoid it.

Of course, I am the one with a lot of wasted moves.

Since I have enough power to overwhelm him, I can dodge without being hit.

Our proficiency level cannot be compared to – Hinata much higher.

Even so, he did not let his guard down.

At this point, all his tricks and skills had become meaningless, so he fought me with a sword wrapped in fighting spirit.

That Spirit of Sacred Affinity, I might get hurt if I get hit by it.

According to Raphael, the sword's special ability will let it penetrate my shield.

Well, I guess relying on a reliable sword rather than on a flashy skill was what I expected from Hinata.

In reality, other than me, only Hakurou can survive his attack.

But, Hakurou would not be able to win by relying on magic attacks.

Whereas Hinata had decided that the magic attack would not be effective against me, hence decided not to use it.

He is a genius at fighting.

Even if I send my clone to fight, he might cut it down in a moment.

The only disadvantage of the ultimate skill is that only the real body can use it.

In other words, even I project a copy or create a clone,

While I can use the skill by moving my consciousness to them, many “Au” cannot.

I can't leave the main skill to the clones.

The same goes for unique skills, although the copy does have some genuine body skills, these are not copied perfectly.

Souei was already proficient at this and could only impart useful skills to his clone.

At a time like this, where I fought with the support of the ultimate skill, the cheesy clone would quickly be exposed and disappear.

It would be great if the clones could create an opportunity for me to attack him, but if it backfired.

The simple plan is to focus on Hinata's resilience. I mean, I'm never tired.

Even if none of us were hit, time would still pass.

But, it seemed like the battle around him had been completed.

Some people were lying down, others were sitting on the ground, all looked exhausted and unable to move.

But, their eyes are fixed on our battle.

They definitely can't keep up with our attacks, so are they just trying to ascertain the outcome?

Anyway, I don't have time to look around.

I must fight Hinata with all my strength.

The ground was filled with the sounds of our clashes.

The sword Hinata was holding, which was as big as her, had an end that looked like it was made of blue crystal.

That's a beautiful sword.

As if not feeling its weight, with an unimaginable speed for its size, Hinata held it freely.

He might rely on some skill for it, but it was still an incredible swordplay.

And his expression,

Now.it was an innocent girl, a smile on her face.

Not the cold scorn he had brought before.

He just swung his sword. Without thinking about anything else, focus on the battle.

A genius, yes.

If I think about it, I'm lucky.

I had a lot of problems, but after being born a monster, I made friends and had fun.

What about Hinata?

I didn't realize it before, but there was something strange about this.

Will Shizu-san really allow Hinata to go alone? That's something I think is weird.

And that's true.

Strength that is too strong for a girl with the mind of someone who is going through puberty or just finished.

Is it because I'm an adult that I'm aware of?

Besides Hinata as of now, in that unbalanced state she was given a Dominant-type skill.

Can you let him go?

Considering this suspicion, and using the other information I have gathered, I asked Raphael to do an analysis.

The result is a truly questionable possibility. That is, the thought process of Hinatat has been limited.

It was only possible in the first months of his arrival to this world.

Although I haven't gotten all of Shizu-san's memories, the original Hinata is rather meek.

Suddenly decided to travel after a month …

Moreover, given the presence of one more person on the side of Shizu-san and Hinata…

「Hey, why did you decide to leave Shizu-san's place?」

I asked as if to catch my breath during our sword fight.

I'm used to the time. Blocking his attacks was not a big challenge right now.

Looks like I have plenty of room for improvement.

In comparison, Hinata did not thrash, but sweat appeared on her face.

An obvious result considering he was fighting with all his strength.

In fact,

「Why are you asking so now? I don't want to remember, but let's see…

Because I don't want to be troublesome, I think 」

He honestly answered.

I didn't expect an answer, thinking he would just ignore the question, so I was surprised.

But when I heard his response, I felt pain in My heart.

Hm? Pain in my heart? What a strange sensation.

Thinking that it wasn't a problem even if I ignored his response, I put more power on my sword. Our clashes are now creating a shockwave.

「Shizu-san has never considered you a hassle?」

(Yes. I never thought so.).

「Fu, now all the time ... And please don't talk about Shizu-san」

He increased his attack.

It seems he hasn't tried as hard as he can.

Let's just take a look.

While desperately blocking the sword and retaliating,

「But, he's worried! That he makes you lonely! 」

(True .. I'm worried. But ... There are others I should be more worried about)

Eh?

I didn't just hear a moment ago, did I?

I heard Shizu-san's voice…

“Ha! Don't say it like you know! What can a person like you understand !! 」

My words angered the calm Hinata.

He looks very angry. Faster than I thought about the reason, though,

「You're off guard, it's my victory! The Slash that Melts !! 」

His swinging speed again accelerated into light itself.

That sword, wrapped in various types of magic,

?ik?Announcements. It cannot be blocked. Impossible to dodge !!?

(Damn! It could really kill me?!)

The first time I heard Raphael's worried voice.

And, speeding my mind up to 10 million times more than usual, I could only slowly see the sword approaching me.

In that corner, with such timing.

I can't dodge, the barrier is useless, but I think I can try to move my consciousness to the clone.

But, ever since the attack it shot out a light that wiped out everything. If I use that skill too late, I'll burn to death.

Did he respond so that I would lower my vigilance?

It didn't look like it, but as a result he caught me.

?ik?Announcements. I propose to exterminate it using the Gluttonous King Beelzebub. Please don't give up?

Raphael counsels the course of action the highest chance of success.

And as Raphael said, I will activate Beelzebub.

When the sword touches me, I will have Beelzebub eat his sword and skill.

If it fails, I may disappear.

But there is no room for hesitation.

I trusted Raphael, and activated Beeelzebub at the right time.

…………

……

…

As a result, I survived.

I thought I'd die, but I survived.

Hinata opened her eyes and looked at me.

Just for a moment.

He immediately readied his sword and came to me again.

I, personally, am still in the process of being happy to survive, but I guess I fought it first.

Really, this girl, is so dangerous!

To be honest, the moment his skill touched me, a lot of my magic energy had disappeared.

If it's converted to HP, I say about 50% is lost.

Well, I survived …

I won't let my guard down anymore.

Actually, the only reason I did it in the first place was because I started hearing Shizu-san's voice for some reason.

While complaining and blocking his attacks …

Announcements. 『Predicted Future Attacks』 has been obtained. Activating? [YES NOT]?

I almost screamed in surprise.

Suddenly, Raphael acquired a new skill.

The good persson Raphael is.

While observing Hinata, I tried to predict her movements, so maybe because of that.

I hurriedly activated it.

A number of lights appeared in front of me. Even though it makes sense, I actually visualized it?

A light shot at me.

I moved my sword in anticipation of the light, and interestingly enough, it blocked Hinata's sword perfectly.

It looks like that light

The light was coming from his posture and displayed the possibility of an attack that followed the trajectory displayed.

If he tries to do something, the light goes black.

In this case, the prediction was impossible to make, but it meant that a real attack was coming soon.

In other words, tricks and the like can now be counted.

A master like Hinata could definitely use an attack that could not be anticipated.

But the scary thing about this skill is that it does not predict the attack but the result.

That is, even though the odds are low, only certain attacks can follow the prediction line.

Then .. Hinata is no longer a threat.

His flowing attacks were all predicted with 『Predicted Future Attack』, I easily flicked his sword.

It's finally! I won't kill you, but I will make you feel pain!

While I was thinking this, I lowered my sword, only to make an incredible illusion appear before me.

His hands stretched out, Shizu san stood in front of me.

Without burn marks, the face of an adult without a mask.

His face was older than mine, and the aura was calm about him.

Hinata seemed to also be able to see this illusion as she angrily scowled at me.

And for both of us, though,

(Rimuru, and Hinata. There is no one else)

Not likely…

Illusions can talk?

Hinata seemed to be able to hear it, as she was just sitting there.

And. Suddenly, my sword pressed against his neck.

At that moment, time stopped.

This... despite the acceleration? And I'm connected to Hinata?

“What are you doing? What are you planning? 」

His eyes were red, Hinata asked.

I don't remember giving it to him at all.

But I'm the one who wants to ask.

“No ideas! I want to know myself! 」

Even though she looked like she was about to disappear, I could see the shadow of Shizu-san.

A faint smile on his face, he told us.

(I'll borrow a little of your time. Will you listen to me?)

The ghost began to speak.

His words dispel all My suspicions, or rather, it confirms all of My hypotheses.

In other words, the original cause of all this.

Why did Shizu-san leave Hinata?

And, is Hinata's mind limited?

These questions.

All this was answered with his words.

(Jude, please. I'm worried about Kagurazaka Yuuki.

I know that Hinata is strong. But even so, choosing it even seems strange to me.

Now I get it. My mind's restricted. With abilities.).

“Cannot be! Yuuki would never do that! 」

Interrupting Hinata, Shizu-san shook her head and continued.

(You're also affected, Hinata. Even now you.).

He said in a sad voice.

Hinata said nothing in response.

That's what's expected. He had just been told that he had been manipulated until now.

But, these words corroborate my own conclusions.

“True...” I said, satisfied.

Now the doubt is gone.

Because there's someone willingly manipulating a single girl who thinks that if she tries hard enough, one day someone will be nice to her.

The culprit is …

「In other words, Kagurazaka Yuuki is the mastermind behind all this?」

Surprised by my question, CZ turned around and with a desperate face nodded.

Just like I thought.

Now it all makes sense.

At this moment, flames of anger towards the mastermind lit up inside me.