This gentleness was deeply, dangerously addictive.
It was a profound, unconditional warmth that Suzuki had never experienced before. As an orphan who had literally worked himself to death just to survive the meat grinder of modern society, he had never sought out maternal affection. In his hyper-pragmatic mind, craving this kind of soft, vulnerable interaction was a fatal flaw. It would make him complacent. It would make him weak.
Then again, what was even more dangerous right now was how his physical body was reacting to this unexpected, overwhelming softness.
He could smell the faint scent of ash and wildflowers clinging to her clothes. He could feel the delicate curve of her waist and the undeniable, mature fullness of her chest pressed flush against his face. It was completely intoxicating. Realizing his thoughts were spiraling into extremely inappropriate territory, he forcefully suppressed a groan, gritted his teeth, and gently but firmly pushed her away.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Shizu asked, her voice tinged with sudden panic as she pulled back, worried she had triggered a traumatic memory.
"...Just let me calm down for a second, okay? Give me some space to breathe."
"Kuh..."
Rimuru, watching the scene unfold from the side, somehow managed to shed silent, squishy tears. The slime realized that Suzuki might not be the cold, ruthless corporate monster everyone made him out to be. Beneath all that calculated capitalism, Suzuki was just a desperately exhausted young man trying to hide his true, vulnerable feelings.
Is that really it? Suzuki wondered internally.
Even Suzuki wasn't entirely sure of his own mental state anymore. For his entire life, grinding endlessly was perfectly normal. He knew the absolute truth of the world: if he failed, no one was going to catch him. So how could he ever afford to stop and rest?
Still, his current reality was drastically different from his old life. He wasn't a desperate, starving orphan anymore. He was incredibly wealthy, politically powerful, and possessed the absolute strength of an Enlightened Sage. With the Manager automating his logistics network, his life in this brutal fantasy world was actually astonishingly easy. He could practically laze around if he wanted to.
Yet, paradoxically, that lack of life-threatening resistance made him incredibly uncomfortable.
To forge a sharp blade, one needs to hammer it repeatedly in the fire, he thought.
Naturally, to become a truly untouchable man in this chaotic universe, he fully expected to face brutal challenges. But this?
If he stayed this close to Shizu, completely engulfed in her mature, feminine warmth and that heartbreakingly gentle voice, he was genuinely terrified that a certain part of his anatomy was going to physically react.
"...."
Yes. Despite how the rest of the world viewed Shizu—as the terrifying, battle-hardened Conqueror of Flames—she was undeniably, breathtakingly beautiful. Her looks were absolutely exceptional. After all, Rimuru would eventually inherit her physical appearance, and human Rimuru's overwhelming beauty was practically a multiversal constant.
"...." Rimuru bounced slightly, completely unaware of the lore bombs currently exploding in Suzuki's head.
Suzuki knew exactly how crucial Shizu was to the timeline. She was the absolute linchpin. When she died, it would trigger a massive, chaotic butterfly effect across the entire continent. If Rimuru wasn't here to inherit her will and her appearance, Suzuki could easily imagine this world spiraling into a broken, apocalyptic nightmare.
Still, despite technically being in her seventies, her immediate, emotional reaction to his story had been so raw, so feminine, and so incredibly tender.
Yeah, Suzuki thought, feeling a dangerous flush hit his ears. This grandma is way too cute for my own good.
Yet, he quickly squashed the bizarre, inappropriate thought. It was definitely wrong to allow himself to react physically in that vulnerable position.
I'm getting sloppy. It's always been like this lately.
In his old life, he had always been perfectly polite, proper, and distant. But ever since he arrived in this world, ever since his survival became guaranteed and his life became easier, he had started letting his guard down around beautiful women.
Meanwhile, Shizu looked at the young man who had just pushed her away. She knew that look. It was the look of someone who desperately needed someone by his side, but was too terrified to ask for it.
Fortunately...
She glanced over at the bouncing blue slime. Rimuru was here. While Rimuru might biologically be a monster, the slime possessed the undeniable soul of a good, kind adult. With Rimuru around, she knew Suzuki would eventually be okay.
As for her?
Well... Shizu knew the grim reality of her own body. She wasn't nearly as strong as she used to be. Her physical age was rapidly catching up to her, making it almost impossible to suppress the violent, churning inferno trapped inside her soul. The pain was agonizing. It was a constant, searing heat gnawing at her insides. Still, there were so many things she had to do. So many young, helpless children back in the human kingdoms who still desperately relied on her.
Including him... she thought, looking softly at Suzuki.
"Don't look at me with those pitying eyes. I am not a child. I am an adult," Suzuki stated firmly, catching her gaze.
He wasn't exactly sure what Shizu was thinking, but he refused to let her treat him like a traumatized little boy who needed to be coddled. He had a lifetime of bitter experience. Everything in his past might not have been wonderful, but it definitely wasn't all painful, either. Compared to what Shizu had gone through—being literally summoned into a warzone while her home city burned to ash—his life had been relatively peaceful.
"Yes, yes."
Shizu smiled softly beneath her mask, reaching out to gently ruffle his hair. "You are a very responsible adult."
"....."
Suzuki froze. What is this incredibly warm, fuzzy feeling in my chest?
He mentally shook his head to clear the intrusive thoughts. If he didn't have his cheats, he knew his life wouldn't be anywhere near this comfortable. He was glad he was currently sitting here safe, but given Shizu's presence, he needed to start mining for critical lore.
"Hmm..."
Shizu rested her hands in her lap, her tone turning slightly melancholic. "Unlike you two, I didn't arrive here by accident. I was forcefully summoned by a Demon Lord."
"A Demon Lord?!" Rimuru bounced in shock.
Suzuki merely raised a calculated eyebrow. "A Demon Lord?"
"I know exactly what you are thinking," Shizu sighed softly. "You're wondering why he would summon a dying, burned little girl. Even now, I still don't know the answer. I honestly should have been killed by him the moment I arrived. Yet... he might have taken pity on me. Or perhaps he simply wanted a new toy to play with... The most terrifying part is that, similar to us, he was once a human before he violently evolved into a Demon Lord."
"A human became a Demon Lord?! How is that even possible?!" Rimuru shrieked in terror. "Shouldn't a human evolve into something holy? Like an Enlightened Sage, or a Saint, or something similar? Like Suzuki?!"
"Eh? Wait." Shizu paused, turning to stare at Suzuki in absolute, wide-eyed shock. "You are an Enlightened Sage, Suzuki-kun?!"
"Yes," Suzuki nodded calmly, before raising a strict hand. "And please, do not ask me how I evolved."
"Oh, Suzuki-kun..." Shizu's eyes instantly filled with thick, devastated tears.
She knew the lore of this world. She knew that evolving from a frail human into a divine Enlightened Sage required an agonizing, near-death crucible of suffering and hardship. It was a brutal path that broke most people.
"..." Rimuru wisely kept his metaphorical mouth shut, knowing full well the 'agonizing hardship' Suzuki had endured involved incredibly aggressive snu-snu with a Dryad.
"Is that Demon Lord currently nearby?" Suzuki asked, desperately changing the topic before Shizu started crying over his 'suffering.'
"No," Shizu answered, wiping her eyes. "He lives far away on an isolated island continent, completely separated from the mainland. It can safely be said that he is the absolute king there."
"A king?!"
"What's the name of his country?" Suzuki asked, filing the data away for his multiversal network.
"El Dorado," Shizu answered without hiding anything.
"It literally sounds exactly like the legendary myth of the City of Gold," Suzuki noted dryly.
"Right?!" Rimuru agreed excitedly. "Do you think there's a mountain of literal gold over there?!"
"There very well might be," Shizu warned solemnly. "But please, never go there. It is incredibly dangerous."
Yes, there were probably mountains of gold and mythical treasures hidden within those borders, but if a person wanted to live a long, happy life, they absolutely should not step foot in El Dorado.
Still, Rimuru turned to Suzuki with a purely capitalistic glint in his eye. "What do you think, Suzuki?"
After all, Rimuru was essentially just a city contractor. Suzuki was a ruthless, monopolizing billionaire. Rimuru naturally wondered if Suzuki was already mentally drafting a hostile corporate takeover of El Dorado.
"I have absolutely zero interest," Suzuki replied instantly.
"Really?"
"Yes. It's just gold, after all," Suzuki stated, applying cold, modern economics. "Gold has no inherent value if the market is completely flooded with it. It is only valuable because the supply is strictly limited. If I flood the Blumund economy with El Dorado gold, I'll crash the continental currency. Instead, I will just focus on expanding my courier logistics and trading networks. That is guaranteed, sustainable money."
"....." Shizu stared at him, utterly bewildered by his bizarre, highly advanced economic logic.
"As expected of you," Rimuru nodded sagely, deeply respecting Suzuki's terrifying merchant mindset.
Shizu opened her mouth to caution them further, but Suzuki cut her off with a reassuring smile.
"I care about my own life far too much to throw it away. I won't do anything that actively endangers myself, Shizu-san."
"If you say so..."
Shizu smiled beneath her mask, somewhat relieved by his pragmatic caution. Yet, all of a sudden, her breath hitched.
She violently clutched her chest, her fingers digging into the fabric of her shirt.
"Ugh..."
"..." Suzuki froze, his eyes narrowing as a massive, suffocating spike in thermal energy hit the air.
"What's wrong, Shizu-san? Are you okay?" Rimuru asked, bouncing forward in concern.
But Shizu couldn't control it anymore. The searing, agonizing heat building inside her chest felt like it was going to literally melt her ribs and tear her physical body apart from the inside out.
Before she lost consciousness, she forced her eyes open. She looked at Suzuki and Rimuru through the eye-holes of her mask, her voice trembling with absolute terror.
"Please... run... I beg you..."
"Shizu-san?!"
But it was far too late.
"AARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!"
A blood-curdling, agonizing scream ripped from her throat. The anti-magic mask instantly cracked down the center. A blinding, apocalyptic wave of searing crimson heat erupted from her fragile body, instantly incinerating the grass around her.
The Conqueror of Flames had lost control. Ifrit, the Great Spirit of Fire, had broken its chains!