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Slime World · Central Plaza
"Is this the New World? The air is so fresh!"
Tendo Kisara and the others had barely stepped through the Dimensional Gate before they drew in a deep breath. The air here was nothing like their original world, and the difference was impossible to ignore. A wave of excitement rose through all of them before they could help it.
"Not just the air either. Look how developed this place is! It's like a fantasy town straight out of a manga!" Miori Shiba gazed at the fairytale-like streets spreading out before her, barely containing her enthusiasm. She had always secretly read manga on the side, and this place looked like it had leapt right off the page.
As a side note, the Shiba family had survived entirely because they had always been merchants and had never once raised a hand against any Cursed Children.
"Hey, you lot standing there, stop blocking the way and come over here to register!"
Rigurd spotted the small group frozen in place and called out to them at once.
"Oh, oh! Coming, coming!" They hurried over, luggage in tow.
To handle the sheer scale of arrivals, Rigurd and Kagaya had set up thousands of registration points directly across the plaza. The women had no trouble finding an open desk.
"Name, age, race?"
"Tendo Kisara, eighteen, human."
"Miori Shiba, eighteen, human."
"Muroto Sumire, twenty-six, human."
"Seitenshi, eighteen, human."
The Goblin girl doing the registering paused at that last one. "Are you certain that's your name?"
"Yes."
The Goblin girl nodded and continued without another word.
"Alright, take these and look for the community staff, the ones holding the small red flags. They'll show you to your residences."
Following where the Goblin girl pointed, the women spotted a cluster of people holding small red flags nearby. They collected their identification documents and looked them over. Each one had an adorable blue Slime printed on it, the Slime itself holding up a little sign that read: "Multiple Worlds, One Dream."
Is the leader of this place really reliable?... They made their way toward the red-flag group, where a girl with long blue hair and a doll-like face greeted them.
"Hello, excuse me, these are our documents. We were told you'd be arranging accommodation for us?"
The blue-haired girl glanced at the documents and smiled. "That's right, come with me! I'll introduce you to the town while we walk."
"Thank you so much!"
"Hehe, no need to be so formal! Let's go."
With that, the blue-haired girl set off toward the newly built residential district, talking as she went. "We've just opened a new residential area to welcome the Cursed Children. It's right next to the school, so anyone who wants to teach will have an easy time of it."
"The town's current population is around two hundred and fifty thousand, but it's about to surge, so we'll be expanding into a full city before long. The number of humans is relatively small for now, only a few tens of thousands, with most of the rest being monsters. But don't worry, everyone here is very easy to get along with. And..."
The women listened to the blue-haired girl's seemingly endless stream of information and gradually built up a picture of the whole town.
After about twenty minutes of walking, they arrived at a district lined with tall continuous buildings. The familiar streets and high-rises gave the women an odd feeling, almost as though they had stepped back into their own world.
"Does your world really have skyscrapers?" Miori Shiba asked.
"Originally, no. But with so many Cursed Children arriving, only high-rises can fit everyone. It was unavoidable." The blue-haired girl paused thoughtfully. "Kai-chan did mention something about moving the whole residential area into a separate dimension though. That would free up a lot of land."
Muroto Sumire's eyes lit up immediately. "A separate dimension? You can actually open one?"
"Ah, I can't, but Kai-chan can!" The blue-haired girl blinked at the sudden intensity of the reaction. "What's wrong?"
"Um, if I may ask," Seitenshi said carefully, the image of that terrifying young man already surfacing in her mind, "who exactly is this Kai-chan you're referring to?"
"Kai-chan? His name is Kaito. I don't know if you've heard of him!"
"What?! Kaito?!"
The surprise that ran through all of them was immediate. They knew Kaito well enough. He was one of the leaders of this entire faction.
Miori Shiba went very still. Her pupils shrank slightly as she turned to the blue-haired girl and asked, very carefully, "If you're calling Kaito... Kai-chan, then who are you?"
The blue-haired girl opened her mouth to answer. "Ah, I kept forgetting to introduce myself. My name is..."
Before she could finish, a silver-haired girl in a maid outfit appeared before the group, her expression perfectly composed. She spotted the blue-haired girl at once, stepped forward, and bowed slightly. "Rimuru-sama, Kagaya needs to discuss something with you. Please come as soon as you are able."
"I know, Sakuya. I'll go once I've taken them to their place."
"Understood. I'll let Kagaya know. Excuse me, everyone." Izayoi Sakuya vanished from sight in an instant.
The women stared at the blue-haired girl.
"You... you're the legendary Lord of the Jura Forest Alliance. Rimuru-sama."
Rimuru scratched the back of her head and smiled a little. "Yes, I'm Rimuru. Though 'legendary' might be pushing it a bit!"
Rimuru had always seen herself more as a mascot than anything else. If Kaito hadn't stubbornly refused to take the position, she would have handed it over long ago.
"I... didn't expect you to be quite so different from what I imagined," Miori Shiba admitted.
"Oh? What did you imagine? [・ヘ・?]"
Rimuru was genuinely curious.
"Green-faced, fanged, terrifying muscles, eating several humans per meal... You know, since you're the Lord of Monsters commanding an army of them. But you're actually..."
"I really don't eat humans! And where did those rumors even come from!"
Rimuru declared indignantly that she had been slandered.
"No one spread rumors, we just didn't have any information and jumped to conclusions. Please forgive us!"
"I see! Alright, then I won't hold a grudge. Hehe!"
The women watched Rimuru laugh it off so easily, and all of them quietly formed a good impression of the person who would effectively be their new boss.
It seems like the days ahead might actually be quite interesting...
"Alright, here we are. This is your residence!"
The women turned to look where Rimuru pointed, and a building several tens of metres high rose up before their eyes...