That Time I Got Isekai’d Again and Befriended a Slime

Tanya von Degurechaff.

The single most confusing person I've ever had the displeasure of meeting. Just what is her fucking deal? And naturally, I have to deal with her on a daily basis.

Oh, if my father could see me now, what would he think? But then again… would he even care? After all, he's the one who went after-

Damn it!

My head is all scrambled in knots, yet it's somehow never been clearer. Nothing about this makes sense! What am I supposed to do? After years of "knowing" exactly what to expect, I just feel… lost.

My Lord God, were you lying to me this whole time?

Who is Tanya von Degurechaff?

I have to know. For my own peace of mind.

-=-

Afternoon

Assembly Hall

Tempest, Jura Tempest Alliance

As it turns out, the King of the Armed Nation of Dwargon was a real nice guy once you weren't on the other end of his blade.

"This wine is very well made. You'd be willing to trade with this, right?" Gazel leaned forward, holding out his half-empty wine glass.

"You want to trade with us?" Rimuru blinked, "Isn't that a bit fast?"

Gazel nodded gratefully as Shuna refilled his glass.

"When the product is good, speed is of no concern. In either direction Besides, establishing this sort of thing early on will only benefit Dwargon in the long run."

"Still…"

"He has good reason to play nice with us, Rimuru." Tanya stepped forward, laying out a map of the continent on the table. "Here's Dwargon. And here's us." She pointed at each spot respectively. "Notice anything?"

"Hmm," Rimuru put his hand to his chin, "…We're in the center?"

"Yes, we are. Which means?"

The slime's brow furrowed as he looked closer at the map. Meanwhile, Tanya watched him think with an expectant look.

Rimuru was the leader of a nation; he needed to be able to figure out things like this on his own sometimes. She wouldn't accept a leader that couldn't use his own brain.

A moment later, he got it, to Tanya's relief.

"...Trade routes." He snapped his fingers. "That's right! We're in a great spot for trading, since we're right in the middle of the continent."

Tanya nodded.

"That's part of it. There's also political considerations involving the Kingdom of Falmuth and the Holy Empire, but those aren't the point of this discussion."

"Ha!" Gazel slapped his knee. "You know your stuff. Rimuru, she's right. This nation of yours is a ripe location for a trading hub, but right now it's a house of cards. With Dwargon's backing, you'll gain the legitimacy you need to make further connections, and in return, my nation gains a valuable and powerful ally. Along with first dibs on anything trade worthy. Isn't that right, my junior?"

Gazel ruffled Rimuru's hair with a laugh.

"Ah, is it smart of you to lay everything out like that?" Tanya, in a position she found herself in remarkably often, was forced to be the buzzkill.

"Perhaps." Gazel acknowledged her point with a nod. "But I believe it's better to say some things outright, and Rimuru and I are friends now. I don't wish to trick my junior when he's still growing as a leader."

Tanya sighed.

"Some things are better left unsaid, regardless of friendship." Why was common sense so sorely lacking in every world? "Well, it's to our benefit, so I won't complain."

Out loud, at least.

"By the way, what's the name of this nation of yours?" Gazel sat back, pulling deeply from his wine glass. "You've only referred to it as 'Tempest' so far. Is that its name? It's not very imposing for a Disaster Class nation."

"Eh? We're really Disaster Class?"

"Rimuru, please be more aware of these things." Tanya rolled her eyes, answering him before Gazel could. "Even before I knew about the Class system, I could tell your city of monsters was an oddity. It only makes sense that Tempest is considered dangerous."

"Well, okay," Rimuru looked embarrassed. "But, Disaster Class is a jump, isn't it? That's the highest there is, and we haven't done anything!"

"Not entirely true." Gazel interrupted. "There is a class above Disaster, though it rarely comes up. As the King of Tempest – and by the way, you should come up with a better name soon –you should be aware of this going forward."

"Alright…" Rimuru changed back into his slime form, hopping up onto the table. "What's the class above Disaster, then?"

Gazel took another drink, before letting out a breath.

"It's called the Catastrophe Class."

-=-=-=-

One Week Later, Late Morning

Sky Above Tempest

Tempest, Jura Tempest Federation

There were certain responsibilities that came with being one of the top Executives of the Jura Tempest Federation. Overseeing financial and economic concerns, researching past and present political matters, organizing new construction and expansion projects, training for and carrying out defense strategies…

Tanya's responsibilities were varied, and a mix of all of these and more.

Of course, she wasn't in charge of them all. That would be far too much work for one person (well, of anyone, Tanya could probably handle it), so at most she supervised and offered advising, suggestions, and potential revisions in key areas.

All in all, it was enjoyable work. Seeing the product of her labor come to near immediate fruition – or really, just seeing her ideas bear fruit at all – was immensely satisfying.

Though, there was perhaps something to be said about how easily Rimuru and the rest of Tempest accepted her into their fold, but it was nothing that really needed addressing at the moment. They could have talks about wariness and trusting strangers if the need later arose, though in all honesty Tanya had no real intention of doing so. Not unless it would be of benefit to her.

After all, Rimuru was an adult – mentally, though Tanya sometimes found herself questioning that – and the leader of a growing nation. He didn't need someone to hold his hand and tell him exactly what needed to be done.

And if he did, then he shouldn't be in a leadership role in the first place.

She would help out whenever necessary, of course. That went without saying. But at the end of the day, Rimuru needed to be able to stand on his own. It was only to hers and everyone else's benefit that Rimuru became a good leader – a great leader, hopefully, but Tanya wasn't going to get too picky – and good leaders weren't made with coddling.

But they did need guidance. So, Tanya would guide him in that direction, with as little interference as possible. That was part of her job now, anyways.

As was seeing to the defense of Tempest, like right now.

Now, most of the individual training of Tempest's defenders was overseen by Benimaru and Hakurou. Tanya didn't mind this at all. She'd had her fun once upon a time giving her subordinates Hell on the training fields. Sure, she occasionally supervised and participated specific training exercises, but training troops was no longer in her job description.

As a wise person once said, don't do more work than what you're paid for. Words to live by.

For now, she'd stick to the much easier part of the 'defense' portion of her job: aerial scouting.

Essentially, it was artillery spotting without the artillery.

This was actually one of the first ideas she'd implemented, that of a semi-active guard of some kind scouting and patrolling Tempest territory. Technically, Tempest's scouting was already done by Souei, his body doubles, and his own subordinates, with Magic Sense acting as a reliable backup for anything that happened to slip his net.

But there was one very obvious gap in Souei's reach, and it was one that Tanya immediately sought a solution for after the impromptu visit by King Gazel and his Pegasus Knights.

Air power. A crucially important facet of warfare, and one in which Tempest was sorely lacking.

The simple truth of the matter was that there were very few monsters in the Jura Tempest Federation with consistent or otherwise trustworthy flight capabilities – and no, Tanya refused to count Gabiru and his cohort as anything approaching 'competent', even if they were excellent flyers in their own right – besides Rimuru, herself, and some of Souei's subordinates.

Hell, given that Tanya could count the number of potential aerial observers on less than two hands, she was almost willing to consider Mary fucking Sue for the position. At least then the girl would be doing something more productive with her time.

Though, Mary had been far more active over the past week, to her credit. She'd actually left her room, for one, and had continued to go out and explore the city on every subsequent day. Tanya kept an eye on her with Magic Sense, but since the girl never wandered very far beyond the city's gates, Tanya had largely left her to her own devices.

In any case, there were more than a few problems that kept Tanya from making Mary an aerial observer. For one thing, Tanya straight up did not trust Mary. No need to explain why. For another, there was next to no chance Mary would take orders from her, even if Rimuru had designated Tanya as Mary's "supervisor". In other words, "babysitter". Again, this needed no further explanation.

There was also one more glaring issue.

Here's the thing. Mary Sue… could not fly. Not anymore, at least.

It seems that while Tanya had kept and integrated the formulae-based magic system of her previous world through the use of her Unique Skill: Formulaic Casting, Mary had not.

Hence the "Unique" in "Unique Skill".

So, it thus came to be that Mary, while still having a high mana pool to draw from, was not able to draw on specific the magic system – or an imitation of it, as Formulaic Casting did– of their previous world.

Again, the only reason Tanya could do so was because of Formulaic Casting. This world simply did not work the same way their old one did, and Mary was the one to suffer for it.

What a shame, Tanya had thought to herself at the time, with only slight sarcasm.

It truly was a shame, all things considered. Flying was perhaps the greatest gift that had come out of her first impromptu reincarnation. It was immensely freeing to be able to soar through the air without a care in the world, and the thought of that being taken away was enough to make even her mildly uncomfortable, as did all things that infringed on the freedom of humans.

It was even enough to make her feel a semblance of, in the vaguest and most insubstantial form of the word, pity towards the girl.

For about a second.

With all that being said, and with a limited pool of participants to draw from, it thus ended up that Tanya herself managed aerial observation most of the time.

Not that she really minded. It was an easy job, given how peaceful Tempest was currently. She basically got the fly around aimlessly above the city while keeping an eye on the sky around her. And even that wasn't needed most of the time, since she had access to Magic Sense and Though Communication.

Yes, this job was shaping up to be yet another easy, productive experience. The perfect combination. In truth, there was very little that could ruin such a-

"What the hell?" Tanya blinked, stopping in midair. She pulled her goggles down around the neck of her flight suit, rubbing her eyes and squinting just to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

Unfortunately, she was not seeing things. A quick activation of Magic Sense quickly confirmed this.

There was someone flying towards Tempest.

Well specifically, they were heading to a forest-surrounded field directly south of Tempest. Not that the location itself was the most important thing here.

No, the most important thing here was that-

Their magic output is insane! It's higher than mine or even Sue's Being X-boosted output back in that other world.

So much for this being an "easy, productive experience".

Rimuru should have sensed this already. Hopefully he'll arrive first and I won't have to deal with it.

Tanya pulled her goggles back up and took off.

-=-

"Wahahaha!"

Why is it always me? Why must I deal with it?

"Nice to meet you! I'm the Destroyer, the Demon Lord Milim Nava!" The pink-haired girl announced, pointing at herself with her thumb. "You're one of the strongest around here, so I figured I'd say hi!"

It was silent for a moment.

"…Is that it?" Tanya sweatdropped.

The girl, Milim, didn't notice her exasperation, glancing around with a contemplative expression.

"Hey hey, where's your boss at?"

"Huh?"

"You know, the slime guy! He's way strong, but he isn't here. I don't feel him around anywhere. Isn't this his city?"

Come to think of, I can't feel him either. Of all the times to suppress your aura, Rimuru, you sure picked a hell of a time.

"So Milim, how did you know I'm one of the strongest?" Tanya said in lieu of answering.

At the very least, I can stall. The gap between us is huge, but I don't doubt I could hold my own.

"Aha, are you trying to hide your aura? My Dragon Eye let's me see through that silly trick."

Dragon Eye? What?

"Is there a reason you're showing up in Tempest out of the blue? Have we done anything of warrant the attention of a Demon Lord such as yourself?"

Milim tilted her head. "Didn't I tell you that? I came to say hi."

....Huh?

"I want to meet the slime that beat the Orc Lord and see his strength for myself! Oh, and he had a human form too! I bet he'd put up a good fight. Now where is he?"

"What, am I not interesting enough for you?" Tanya said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow, "Rimuru may be the strongest in Tempest, but he's not here at the moment. Right now, I'm standing in his stead, so if there's anything you wish to speak about regarding the Jura Tempest Federation, then I'm the one to talk too."

"The Jura Tempest Federation? Who cares about that?" Milim laughed obnoxiously. "I just wanna talk to the strongest guy around, you know? So, bring him out here!"

"Or what, Demon Lord Milim?"

"Hm?" Milim blinked, "'Or what', you said? Well, I guess if Tempest needs a little destruction to get him out here, then I'll do it, you know?"

Such a simple threat, yet this girl's power tells me its no joke. Must I always be the one to deal with things?

"No, I don't know." Tanya rolled her shoulders, slowly activating her usual flurry of enhancement and reinforcement formulas. "Sorry, but Tempest is my home now. I quite enjoy the peaceful life this nation has afforded me. I'd say I'm absolutely content with the way it is currently, thank you very much. So, if you insist on interfering with that, I'm afraid I'll be forced to get involved."

"Wahahaha!" Milim threw back her head and laughed, "I don't get why you're being so serious, but I'm a Demon Lord you know? If I want to do something, a mere human isn't going to stop me."

She shot Tanya a shark-toothed grin.

"You're strong, human, but not that strong."

"The name's Tanya." She relaxed slightly as a familiar presence registered in Magic Sense, "And we'll see, won't we?"

Immediately after Tanya finished speaking, a purple blur flew over her head, their massive sword crashing down on Milim's position.

"Miss Tanya, let us handle this!"

Tanya deigned not to respond, deciding to instead float backwards out of range.

The reason why became apparent soon enough, as the smoke from the impact cleared.

"What's this about?" Milim's expression was shadowed, Shion's blade gripped tightly in the palm of the Demon Lord's hand. "You wanna go?"

Shion jumped backwards, "Sir Benimaru, Souei!"

"Arcane Thread Fetters!"

"Maximum Hell Flare!"

In an instant, Milim was ensnared by threads and blasted with fire magic.

Tanya glanced at the crater the move created with mild interest

"So…" She started, "Has that combination move you guys do ever, you know, worked?"

"Huh? What do you-" Benimaru began, before cutting himself off as he noticed the very much intact shape in the smoke. "Okay, in our defense, we knew it wouldn't do much this time."

"'Wouldn't do much'? Benimaru, it did literally nothing. I've seen the move twice, and it's had zero effect both times. For Tempest's sake, I urge you to come up with something better." And then, just to push his buttons in the proper order, "For Rimuru's sake, if nothing else."

"Tch."

Buttons pushed.

"Right. Souei." Tanya called to the blue-haired Kijin. "Where is Rimuru?"

"Lord Rimuru should be in the Sealed Cave right now." Souei responded, jumping back and landing to Tanya's left.

"Well then, send a body double and get his ass over here."

"Absolutely not!" Shion exclaimed, landing to Tanya's right. "Lord Rimuru must stay away from such a danger! We'll handle this instead!"

"You're joking, right?" Tanya turned around, noting the absolutely serious expressions on all of the Kijins' faces. "You are not joking. Listen, if we don't want to die, I insist we bring Rimuru here before this crazy Demon Lord decides to bring him here herself."

"I refuse to risk Lord Rimuru's life like that." Benimaru declared, stepping past Tanya.

"Agreed. Lord Rimuru must stay where it is safe. We are his Executives, so we'll handle this threat." Souei moved forward as well.

Shion merely nodded at the other's words, before following suit.

Tanya watched them approach the crater with an incredulous look.