Norris

Rimuru was a human being. No matter how things changed, he still felt 'human.' This feeling that sympathized him with his species felt distant, now that he had become a slime, but it existed nonetheless.

When Lunarite savagely tore his trackers apart, Rimuru watched it while his human and slime side fought. He knew that it was Lunarite's right to have his revenge. He got hunted down because of his rare species, and as a former human himself, Rimuru knew the greed humans exhibit more than anyone. They could do anything for it.

Yet, even so, Rimurur was a human no longer. His slime side reasoned that he shouldn't feel bad about hurting or killing humans. After all, this world's rule works on might makes suitable. And if humans were strong enough, they would have no qualms about killing him.

'Let's think about this later,' he extended his slimy being, trying to scratch his nonexistent head. 'For now,' Rimuru concentrated on Norris that Lunarite brought back.

"Why did you bring him?" he asked Lunarite.

"He could be useful Rimuru-San," the fox answered with courtesy. "If you don't need him I can just kill him." He barred his teeth towards Norris, who retreated with a scared expression.

Rimuru sighed inwardly. "leave him. You are right, he might be useful," he told Lunarite, stopping him from finishing Norris off.

"Thank you, Thank you!" Norris screamed, almost prostrating to Rimuru. "I will do anything you want. Please, just let me see my wife and daughter one last time."

Even in that situation, Norris only had his family in mind, which was very admirable. Others would have countless thoughts, schemes, and plans on escaping or surviving. Yet, Norris was too different, and he showed just how much he loved his family.

'He's loyal,' Rimuru nodded inwardly, very happy. He never really liked harem people and respected those who stuck to only one person for all their lives, from the bottom of his heart.

'Well, it's not like I actually care about gender. If my other half wants a yuri...' his mind suddenly wandered off course, entering a territory he never thought he would.

"Rimuru-San?"

Lunarite's confused voice and tilted head broke him out of his thoughts. If he had a human face, his cheeks would appear beet red at that moment, but lucky for him, he didn't.

"AH yes," he looked at Norris with judging eyes.

'Appraise intentions!' he suddenly thought, and a blue screen materialized in front of his face.

[Norris Walkmore

Intentions and psychological thoughts: Afraid of losing his family and life. No evil intentions detected.]

'Wow!' Rimuru exclaimed inwardly and widened his nonexistent eyes when he looked at Norris. 'This guy is the real deal! He really is loyal. And this new skill that weird blue-red ant had is very useful,' he thought in wonder.

Rimuru remembered an ant that he met in his devouring spree back at Veldora's cave. The ant had a weird skill that allowed it to read the intentions and thoughts of others, and when Rimuru devoured it, he obtained that skill.

"You said your name was Norris?" Rimuru coughed and asked.

"Yes, sir eh, slime sir."

"You don't need to be so respectful. Your devotion and love to your family had reached me. Just call me Rimuru."

"Then, Rimuru-San," Norris judiciously called. "What will happen to me now?" he asked, his eyes filled with worry.

'Although we were going to the dwarf kingdom before, taking a detour won't hurt. Let's ask Lunarite, first,' he pondered.

"Lunarite," Rimuru turned to the black fox who busied himself by cleaning the blood on him.

Lunarite stopped licking his fur and turned to Rimuru with a tilted head.

"Would you mind taking a detour? I think Norris should see his family."

Lunarite blinked at him for a couple of seconds with confused eyes. "I don't mind, Rimuru-San. We can do whatever you want, I will follow your lead," he stated, in a matter-of-fact tone.

Norris' eyes brightened when he heard what Lunarite said and looked at Rimuru with expectant eyes and clenched fists. His excitement almost overflowed out of him, making him jump in the air from happiness.

"Then that settles it. Let's go see your family Norris-San."

After getting the confirmation, Norris didn't waste more time. He led Rimuru and Lunarite to the nearest city where his family and the dead two came. On the way, he spoke more to Rimuru, and Lunarite chipped in on the conversation when he wanted, learning a little more about them.

Yet, after 10 minutes of walking, a sudden presence halted the three as they looked to the right, where a running figure approached them. It was a petite white-haired green person. Lunarite and Norris didn't know who that was, but Rimuru did.

'What happened to him?'

The goblin was the leader of the party he met up with when he exited the cave and learned to speak. At that moment, the goblin's left arm heavily bled while injuries covered his body. When he saw Rimuru, his eyes filled with tears, and as if he lost all his energy, he staggered, falling face-down.

Norris took his sword out, and Lunarite stood in front of Rimuru when the goblin appeared, but a couple of words from Rimuru made them retreat.

"Get away from him, I know that goblin." Rimuru said that and approached the goblin before enveloping him in his being.

'This isn't my fault, right?' he thought as he felt a bad taste in his nonexistent mouth. He shook his head slime head and concentrated on healing the goblin.

A few seconds later, Rimuru spat the goblin out and looked at him. As if the injuries were just their imagination, Lunarite and Norris looked at Rimuru in wonder. The goblin had recovered entirely in mere seconds.

The goblin flapped his eyes open when Rimuru finished and stood up with fast movements. He looked at Rimuru with tears in his eyes and kneeled. "Thank you for saving me, Great One." he sounded genuinely grateful, but his voice choked up as snot and tears streamed down his face. "But... what does it matter if I lived if half of my tribe died." he grabbed at the dirt and punched the ground, anger, and sadness overwhelming him.

"W-what did you say?" Rimuru suddenly said in a shocked voice. 'Was it humans? Was it other monsters... is this my fault?' he lamented.

The leader goblin looked up with fearful eyes, "M-my tribe... half of us died, yesterday!" he hissed with a stutter.