------Shidou POV------

It has been 4 days since Shidou encountered that spirit.

The information and data about her had been analyzed by Ratatoskr for future planning.

And now Shidou was on his way to buy food to make dinner for Tohka and Yoshino, as usual.

The city had been rebuilt after the space quake and everything looked like nothing ever happened.

The house and building had been repaired. People were busy on the streets, and Shidou was one of them.

Shidou sighed while walking, his eyes seemed to be very tired.

<<Come on, cheer up Shidou.>> Kotori's voice rang in his right ear.

"How can I cheer up after being 'trained' all day?" Shidou replied with a tired voice.

Normally, he wouldn't have to wear the earpiece around all the time like this. But for 'training' reasons, he had to wear it for the entire day.

The goal of this training is to help Shidou make decisions without direct assistance from Ratatoskr and to deal with spirits like Destroyer. or in case he lose contact with <Fraxinus>.

Shidou was walking while thinking random things in his mind until---

His eyes drifted over to the figure of a girl that caught his attention immediately.

The girl stood in front of a small alley. Her blue-silver hair and her white clothes stood out from everyone else.

A silhouette made him instantly recognizable.

"Spirits....?" Shidou muttered those word while looking at that girl's figure.

Suddenly, the girl turned quickly towards the alley and went deeper into it.

He looked at the place where that girl used to be.

That figure, that hair. He definitely couldn't be mistaken.

The girl just now looked a lot like <Destroyer> a spirit that appeared a few days ago.

Shidou immediately contacted Kotori.

"Kotori, that girl is----"
Shidou asked Kotori, but before he finished his sentence, Kotori answered.

<<She was the spirit from the other day.>> Kotori said with a serious voice.

Shidou immediately froze, his eyes constantly looking at the place where the girl used to be.

<Destroyer> has been reported to be able to sense other objects or individuals over a large range.

So it also implies that she was aware of Shidou's presence and is avoiding him.

Even though he had been prepared to talk to the her, all of that would be meaningless if the she didn't want to talk to him.

While Shidou was still deep in thought, Kotori's voice once again brought him back to reality.

<<She's emitting spiritual energy, and if it stays like this, trouble will happen. Shidou, hurry up and follow her>> said Kotori in a hurry.

"Ah... um," Shidou quickly replied, then moved into the alley.

For the time being, he put aside his shopping and followed that girl.

But when he reached the front of the alley, her figure was no longer there.

Inside the small alley, there were many turns between the houses and no sign of the girl from earlier.

"Kotori, I lost track of her." Shidou quickly reported the situation to Kotori.

<<Don't worry, we are still tracking her location. Go straight ahead and turn left>> Kotori gave Shidou instructions without any hesitation.

"Understood" Shidou replied, and quickly went in the direction indicated.

At first, Shidou only dared to walk to avoid attracting unnecessary attention.

But then Kotori's voice rang out.

<<Shidou, move faster! it looks like she has accelerated. At this rate, you won't be able to catch up to her.>>

Following Kotori's orders, Shidou also slowly converted his walking into running and gradually increased his speed.

When he turned left at Kotori's words, he caught up with the figure of the girl from earlier, however.

Before he could say anything---

The girl suddenly began to move at a speed impossible for ordinary people.

Shidou stood frozen as if he had given up.

At that rate, if that girl didn't want to meet Shidou, he wouldn't be able to catch up.

At the moment when Shidou almost gave up on pursuit, Kotori spoke up again.

<< Don't worry, we're monitoring her spiritual energy. We still know her location, just follow our instructions. Worst-case scenario, we'll teleport you as close to her as possible.>>

"........Understood," Shidou said and continued running.

He doesn't have time to waste, that girl may not want to meet him, but he won't give up.

After going through so many turns for a while, it was like a maze to Shidou.

At this moment, Shidou's breathing became heavier. He had been running for a while at the fastest possible speed.

And after a long time, Kotori's voice rang out.

<<Turn right, and you'll see her. It looks like she's stopped, try to talk to her and don't say anything stupid>> Kotori reminded him one last time.

Shidou heard Kotori's words but couldn't respond because all he could do right now was gasp for air.

But he understood what Kotori meant.

From now on, Shidou will have to choose his own words and actions.

<Ratatoskr> wasn't sure if this spirit was capable of interfering with signal transmissions, but caution was always needed.

If the girl knew that he was just repeating the words of some strange organization, no matter how hard Shidou tried, he wouldn't be able to win her trust.

Shidou turned right, and in front of him was the figure of a girl with blue-silver hair and white clothes. She was currently turning her back toward him.

"hey...hah...hah ...hah" Shidou panted heavily after stopping right behind the girl.

Due to running for a long time, Shidou can't even say a single word, all of his efforts were put into breathing and trying not to fall due to exhaustion.

Shidou crouched down with his hands on his knees while still breathing heavily.

<<Hey, don't be like that. You'll lose your image in front of her.>>

"...how can I not get tired after running that long?" Shidou complained to Kotori while still panting.

When he was able to control his breathing, he looked up and saw the girl in front of him had turned towards him with an annoyed look on her face.

She still has the same look as last time, a white suit with long sleeves, embellished with some black borders, and a few small accessories that give off a holy feeling.

While Shidou remained frozen in place, the girl in front of him slowly approached him. She slowly stepped in front of him with a light gait.

With every step she took, it felt like a holy being was walking toward him.

The feeling was the same as when he first met her, but this time he didn't have a sword pointed at his neck.

"So you've finally caught up, huh? Itsuka Shidou."

She spoke with a voice that was completely different from the scary voice she had when they first met.

Although Shidou was less tired after stopping for a while, he was still feeling rather nervous, as this was his first time dealing with a spirit without Ratatoskr's direct help.

From now on, Shidou will have to choose his own words to convince this spirit girl in front of him, and <Fraxinus> will only intervene when it is necessary to make an important decision.

While Shidou was still trying to calm himself and find a way to start the conversation.

The girl seemed to have noticed his anxiety and opened her mouth first.

"Looks like I haven't introduced myself to you yet, I'm Rimuru. And let me ask you one thing, what's your purpose in coming here?"

The girl in front of her said her name was Rimuru and looked up at Shidou's face with her deep golden eyes seemed to be observing and analyzing his entire body.

Shidou is now calm enough to face the spirit in front of him.

When looking at it this close, Shidou could admire the beauty of the girl in front of him.
Her golden eyes seemed to be glowing, and her face had a feminine cuteness.

A beauty so perfect that he couldn't believe the person in front of him was a world disaster.

<<Stop staring at her, say something>>

"Are you done staring?" Rimuru spoke as if she were annoyed by being looked at.

Kotori's and Rimuru's voices rang out at the same time, causing Shidou to realize the current situation and hastily speak up.

"Ah... um... this is not a good place to talk, right? I think we should go somewhere more suitable, we can also talk while walking."

Shidou said one of the lines that had been practiced many times.

He must try to get out of this place so that he can get to a place where the staff of <Ratatoskr> can help him.

Reine had warned that this girl could be very intelligent, so he had to be careful and not say anything reckless.

Rimuru was silent for a moment, looking like she was thinking, then spoke again.

"Hmm... fine. Then where are we going, I have no idea where we're right now"

------Kotori POV------

15000 meters from where Shidou and the Spirit were standing, was the airship <Fraxinus> floating in the sky.

Kotori, the airship's captain, was holding a lollipop in her mouth and sitting on the captain's seat. She was feeling extremely nervous.

<Ratatoskr> didn't know if this spirit could affect signals or could only recognize their presence, but still should be careful with this spirit.

Although watching from a distance might be annoying to the girl, it wasn't unnecessary.

That spirit already knew that Shidou worked for Ratatoskr, so if Shidou suddenly appeared alone without any supervision, it would be suspected.

And now, when Shidou had successfully approached this spirit, the plan had reached the second stage.

"Looks like the date has already begun, doesn't it?" Kotori said with a smile, but this smile didn't seem as confident as usual.

While Kotori was still looking at the screen, suddenly Reine came from the side, with a report.
"I have collected and analyzed the information from this spirit."

Kotori heard Reine's voice and turned her attention to Reine.

Reine stood next to Kotori, her face still looking sleep-deprived as usual, and in her hand, she held a report that had just been collected from this encounter.

"Is there any important information?" Kotori immediately asked.

Normally, Reine would analyze the information after it was all over, but when Reine announced it now, there was something important.

"I think you should see it yourself," Reine spoke up and handed the report to Kotori.

Kotori reached out her hand and took the report from Reine's hand.

After looking at it for a while, Kotori narrowed her eyes.

Kotori looked at Reine as if to confirm the information and only received a nod from her.

Kotori handed the report back to Reine and returned her gaze to the screen.

She looked at the spirit walking beside Shidou with an unbelievable face.

"A spirit... that has mana?" Kotori muttered in disbelief.

During the first encounter, Fraxinus perceived the appearance of both mana and spiritual energy around that spirit.

But due to the possibility that this mana was coming from the Realizers of the AST, those signals were treated as interference signals.

But now... undoubtedly, this spirit was indeed radiating mana.

And there was one more detail that caught Kotori's attention.

Not long after that Spirit met Shidou, the mana suddenly disappeared completely, as if it had never existed.

But for now, Kotori put those questions aside for the moment, because it seemed like Shidou had successfully invited the spirit to another place.

Although <Ratatoskr> wouldn't interfere too much in the conversation between Shidou and Rimuru, letting them go around the city unprepared could be quite troublesome.

With that, Kotori looked up at the main screen in the <Fraxinus> control room and spoke up.

"Shidou did a great job. Now it's our part, let's vote on where Shidou will take her." Kotori said, looking up at the screen that was showing the options.

Option 1: Restaurant
Option 2: Park
Option 3: Love Hotel

Kotori nodded after looking at the result.

The majority voted for 1, and a few voted for 2. 

However, one member voted 3...

"Who is the one who chose three?" Kotori asked, but she already knew who chose that.

"It's me." Kannazuki raised his hand and spoke proudly about his decision.

"why?"

"I can't wait to see her scary face with her scary eyes... Ah~~ that terrifying killing intent! Just imagining it makes me shiver. -----" 

Kannazuki was talking but stopped when he heard the snap of Kotori's fingers.

When Kotori snapped her fingers, 2 strong men appeared from the door behind and grabbed both Kannazuki's arms and legs.

Kannazuki having both his arms secured by the muscles men could only beg.

"Please, I beg you, spare me. Please don't take my panties!!!" Kannazuki's desperate scream resounded and slowly disappeared.

"Okay. Shidou, take her to the restaurant. On the way, try to talk to her, we'll take care of the rest." Kotori spoke, ignoring Kannazuki's screams.

------Shidou POV------

"Understood," Shidou replied in a voice low enough to avoid Rimuru hearing him.

Although Shidou would make his own decisions, the choice of location required <Ratatoskr> helps to prepare in advance.

And after hearing Kotori's instructions, Shidou said to Rimuru.

"Can we go to a nearby restaurant?"

Shidou's suggestion got Rimuru's attention, and she looked at him with a look that didn't seem to understand why he chose to go there but then spoke up.

"Fine, it'll be easier to talk there anyway," Rimuru said, her voice sounding like she didn't understand why he led her there.

After receiving Rimuru's acceptance, Shidou was secretly glad that Rimuru was at least willing to go with him.

"Then shall we go?" Shidou began walking out of the alley, followed by Rimuru.

But when they were about to leave the alley, Shidou suddenly remembered something and spoke up.

"By the way, Rimuru. I think you should change your outfit."

"You're right, let me see..." Rimuru began to consider the outfit that needed to be changed.

When Shidou was about to suggest the outfit to Rimuru, her body suddenly gave off a soft light that made him somewhat surprised.

When the light on Rimuru's body disappeared, the outfit that exuded an angelic appearance was replaced by a black miniskirt with white short sleeves, giving off the innocent feeling of a little girl.

Even though Shidou had seen Tohka change her clothes before, he couldn't help but be surprised every time he saw a scene like this.

The dress looks good on Rimuru, it gives off a girly and cute look.

But when Shidou looked at Rimuru's face, he realized that something was wrong.

Rimuru's face was slightly red at this point, and her expression seemed annoyed while looking at her outfit.

"HEY!! Stop looking, let's go" Rimuru said and immediately turned around and walked away.

Her words also brought Shidou back to reality and started walking along to lead the way.

Once out of the small alley, in front of Shidou was a larger road, and people were passing by.

Shidou and Rimuru were walking on the street together.

But what Shidou did not expect has come.

Rimuru's beauty has attracted too much-unwanted attention, and that will be a big deal.

"That girl is so cute."
"Are those two siblings?"
...

.... Shidou turned his attention to Rimuru, who appeared to be more annoyed by the surrounding chatter.

After a while, Shidou heard instructions from Kotori.

<<Hey Shidou, her mood bar is decreasing, it seems like she hates being like this, try to get her attention, and don't let her care about the crowd. Just a few more miles, get there, and everything will be fine. Just hold on>>

<<Okay, let me try>>

To find a topic of conversation with Rimuru, Shidou tried to recall his first meeting with her, the way she fought, or the way she was dressed now.

Knowing that the longer he remained silent, things would gradually get worse if Rimuru's mood continued to drop, Shidou had to take the risk and speak up immediately.

Shidou looked at Rimuru, who was walking beside him and began to speak.

"Rimuru, I apologize for startling you the last time we met."

Rimuru was surprised when Shidou suddenly started talking to her but quickly replied.

"Ah, no need for that. at that time, I already knew you were getting near me, it's just a precaution" Rimuru replied as if it didn't matter.

Hearing that, Shidou smiled because at least Rimuru didn't hold a grudge against him.

Shidou was relieved to not be Rimuru's enemy, but then he remembered Origami, who was on the AST team and had the most fights with Rimuru.

Although he wanted to prevent the AST from attacking the spirits, at the same time he didn't want any of them to die.

He didn't want both sides to continue fighting each other.

Shidou wanted to know Rimuru's feelings about the AST and about being attacked despite doing nothing. wanted to answer the questions in his mind, so he asked Rimuru.

"Hey Rimuru, last time you faced the AST group, why did you just stun them and then leave?"

Even though he knew that his question was a bit stupid, this was the only way that Shidou knew to be able to ask her.

Rimuru, after hearing Shidou's question, just looked at him with a puzzled face and then spoke.

"So you want me to annihilate all of them?"

Seeing that Rimuru misunderstood what he meant, Shidou panicked and hurriedly explained.

"What? no! I mean when they attacked you intending to kill you, but you spared them."

After Shidou's somewhat hasty explanation, Rimuru acted like he was asking something stupid.

"Simply, I don't want unnecessary deaths, and besides, it's only natural for them to attack me."

Upon hearing Rimuru's brief explanation, Shidou made a puzzled expression and spoke up.

"Normal? What do you mean by that?"

After Shidou's question, Rimuru continued to look at him with an expression like he was continuing to ask the obvious.

Realizing that Shidou didn't understand what she meant, Rimuru sighed and spoke.

"The existence of what you call 'spirits' brings destruction to this world, spirits pose a great danger to humans just by 'existing', and humans have the nature of eliminating all things dangerous to them, so isn't that normal?"

After Rimuru's explanation, Shidou understood what she meant.

But at the same time, he feels something aching in his chest. Is that what Rimuru calls normal?
Looking at Rimuru's small body, even though she was stronger than a human, but didn't she just accept being attacked so easily?

The fact that the things Rimuru called 'normal' are the things that put her life in danger, and she just accepts it.

Even though Shidou understood that such things were natural, he refused to accept them as normal. 

He didn't want Rimuru to fight anymore, he wanted to give her a normal life, a life where she wouldn't have to fight or go through those pointless wars.

And to do that, he has to seal her power.

While Shidou was still thinking about what to do.

Then there was a loud "gruh~gruh~" sound.

Shidou looked over at the source of the sound to see Rimuru clutching her stomach. 

She seemed to be feeling a bit annoyed at being noticed by Shidou.

"...Don't worry, when we go to the restaurant, we can order something, and I'll pay," Shidou said with a smile.

"Then hurry up," Rimuru said, and quickly walked away, she now looked like a sulking child.

Shidou nodded in agreement, and the gloomy feeling from the conversation earlier quickly disappeared.

------Rimuru POV-----

"Oh, you've finally caught up? Itsuka Shidou."

After Rimuru said that, Shidou still didn't reply.

His face was covered in sweat, and he was breathing heavily.

While trying to find a topic to start a conversation and waiting for Shidou to get better, Rimuru realized that he still didn't know her name yet, so she spoke up.

"Looks like I haven't introduced myself to you yet, I'm Rimuru. And let me ask you one thing, what's your purpose in coming here?"

But after that, Rimuru still didn't get any response from Shidou.

He just kept looking at Rimuru, even though he was no longer breathing as heavily as before.

Rimuru's words seemed to have startled Shidou, catching him by surprise for a moment before he spoke up.

"Ah... um... this is not a good place to talk, right? I think we should go somewhere more suitable, we can also talk while walking."

Shidou said in a frantic tone, which made Rimuru look at him with an annoyed look.

But what he said is not unreasonable.

Right now they were in a small alley, giving the impression that they were preparing to do something shady.

Thinking so, Rimuru agreed.

"Hmm... fine. Then where are we going, I have no idea where we're right now"

Shidou stopped and started to think for a while, and Rimuru could see that he was communicating with <Ratatoskr>.

"Can we go to a nearby restaurant?"

The location that Shidou chose surprised Rimuru a bit.

Usually, the restaurant is not the ideal place to discuss important matters.

Moreover, she didn't understand why they would take a moving disaster(spirit) to a restaurant...

Even though Rimuru wanted to get into the airship, it seemed like they didn't trust her enough.

"Fine, it'll be easier to talk there anyway."

After Rimuru agreed with Shidou's suggestion, Shidou started to lead the way, and Rimuru just followed.

But when they were about to step out of the alley.

Shidou stopped Rimuru and said.

"By the way, Rimuru. I think you should change your outfit."

<That's right, I'm a spirit right now, so I need to hide my identity, and no one on the street would wear this kind of outfit anyway> Rimuru thought to herself.

"You're right, let me see..."

And after a while...with no idea what kind of outfit she should wear, Rimuru decided to ask Ciel.

<<Hey Ciel, can you help me change into a more suitable outfit?>>

<<Yes, master.>>

<<Great! thank you, Ciel>> Rimuru said.

Finally, she wouldn't have to care about her outfit anymore. She's never been good at fashion anyway.

A dim light started to glow around Rimuru's body as her Astral Dress started to fade.

Noticing that the power Ciel uses is not mana but spiritual energy, Rimuru asks.

<<Ciel, why did you use spiritual energy?>>

<<The Fraxinus ship was trying to detect your mana, so I think it would be best if we use spiritual energy as an alternative for now, master.>>

<<So that's what they are trying to do, huh? Thank you, Ciel.>>

<So we weren't just floating around and doing nothing, but constantly measuring my power.> Rimuru thought after hearing Ciel's explanation.

by the time Rimuru has finished thinking.

The dim light on her body started to fade as she saw herself now wearing a black miniskirt with white short sleeves.

Rimuru was immediately embarrassed because she was wearing a dress... And a CUTE one at that.

<<Ciel, what exactly is this?>>Rimuru immediately questioned Ciel.
<<A suitable outfit, as you said, my master.>>
<<You...>> Rimuru
With no words left to utter, Rimuru remained silent.

She told Ciel to help her change into a more suitable outfit... and Ciel did, but not what it Rimuru thought.

Returning to reality, Rimuru was extremely uncomfortable wearing this dress.

She was used to being a 'doll' for Shion and Shuna, so she could temporarily ignore it... for now.

When she looked up at Shidou, she saw Shidou staring at her without blinking, which made Rimuru feel uncomfortable. 

"HEY!! Stop looking and just get out of here." Rimuru said, turning and walking away without waiting for Shidou to respond.

She regretted letting Ciel change her clothes, but she couldn't resist either.

Rimuru stepped out of the alley into the crowded street, followed by Shidou.

Although he was no longer wearing his military uniform when he stepped out into the street---
Many people were looking at Rimuru.

Although he was used to being noticed, in another world, Rimuru wanted at least some peace.

During the walk, Shidou and Rimuru talked back and forth for a while, but Rimuru didn't care about it too much.

But while walking, a cry of "gru~~gru~~" came from Rimuru's stomach.

Rimuru quickly clutched her stomach, surprised and confused.

<<Haven't I been floating in the neighboring world for four days? Why do I feel hungry now?>>

<<Report: While in the neighboring world, the high amount of spiritual power there temporarily stopped your body's activity, and now that the spiritual power has weakened, your human body has back to normal.>>

<<Ah... so that's why....>>

while Rimuru talked to Ciel. Shidou seemed to have heard Rimuru's stomach growl, so he spoke up.

"...Don't worry, when we go to the restaurant, we can order something, and I'll pay," Shidou said with a smile.

Seeing that smile of Shidou, Rimuru thought that he was laughing at Rimuru for this but she still agreed.

"Hurry up then."

"um" Shidou nodded in agreement and the two continued moving toward the restaurant

------ in a nearby place ------

Hiding behind the walls, Origami watched the couple walking down the street with an unchanged expression.

On the way home, she saw Shidou with a girl.

They looked like a couple, and she started to follow.

However, there is a bigger problem.

Origami recognized that girl.

"Spirits" Origami muttered.

The thing that was not human, whom Origami's group was supposed to annihilate, was wearing a uniform and walking beside Shidou.

....

But, come to think of it, it was a very strange thing.

Before a Spirit appears, as a precursor, a foreshock of abnormal levels would have been detected. 

There was no way AST's observation squad would have missed that.

However, there was a case of spirits appearing unexpectedly, and Origami received no orders from the higher-ups.

Origami took out her phone from her pocket and checked...No messages.

But even so, that girl was most likely a spirit, since there was a similar incident with <Princess>.

There was no way she could ever forget that face.

Origami pushed some buttons on her phone and called a number.

Then.

"—AST, Master Sergeant Tobiichi. A-0613."

She said her name and ID and went straight to the point without waiting for a response.

"Send me equipment and urgent aid"

---END CHAP 4---