Day Twenty Since Reincarnation as Rimuru

“Who are you, to dare snatch my cherished one from my hands?”

Before the figure appeared, the voice of the demon god, tinged with anger, echoed from afar.

Upon hearing this voice, Rimuru immediately knew the other party was no ordinary person.

But it had to be said...

“I never expected the Dream Demon God to have the temperament of an older sister type,” Rimuru murmured softly, stroking his chin.

The demon god, elusive and unfathomable like a dream, was clad in a dark robe, with long, jade-green hair cascading down to her knees. The green deepened gradually from root to tip, and the ends of her hair, a dark emerald, shimmered with the hues of the starry sky.

Rimuru blinked and slowly raised his gaze, only to meet those proud green eyes staring back at him.

Tsk, tsk, so the demon god’s human form was all so exquisitely beautiful.

Damn it! Now I’m even more eager to ally with Jade Valley!

With a big cat and a graceful older sister, how could I not be tempted!

“Hi there,” Rimuru said, suppressing the frivolous urge to get close to the beautiful lady, flashing a radiant smile and waving to her. “I’m Rimuru, and this big brother beside me is Fushe. We are not enemies. We came to Jade Valley only to find a lost child of the Yaksha clan.”

Rimuru’s appearance was quite deceptive; both Veldora and Morax had been moved by his sincere smile. But Somonas, who faced these two who came to take away his cherished one, bore no goodwill and was not so easily persuaded.

A trace of displeasure flickered in Somonas’ eyes. “Lost? There is no such thing as a lost Yaksha child here. What Jade Valley has are my cherished ones whom I picked up a few days ago during a stroll—those unneeded, unloved ones.”

“Ah?”

This statement from the Dream Demon God left the two searching utterly stunned.

Unneeded? Unloved?

Could it be that some Yaksha were bullying the younglings?! No, it would be too despicable to mistreat children like that!

The suspicion and horror in Rimuru’s eyes were clear, and Fushe furiously waved his hands in denial when their eyes met. “Wait, Lord Rimuru, you don’t really believe that, do you?!”

No matter how fierce the Yaksha were at slaughter, they would never harm their own young!

It’s a grave misunderstanding, an immense injustice!

Fushe’s explanation was dismissed by Somonas as a mere excuse to shirk responsibility. The Dream Demon God lifted her chin and looked down on them with disdain. “Oh? Then why did every Yaksha abandon Jinpeng that day? If I hadn’t just happened to pass by, do you think he would still be alive?”

“What?!!”

News of Jinpeng’s danger caused Fushe’s pupils to constrict sharply, his heart filled with alarm.

Somonas’ words were true. Fushe suddenly recalled the abnormal scene at Jinpeng’s disappearance.

That day, he had been too focused on finding Jinpeng to pay attention to the chaotic scene; no wonder there were signs of a fight nearby, even bloodstains likely left by Jinpeng...

Regret and guilt surged simultaneously in Fushe’s heart. The tall purple Yaksha’s imposing figure gradually slumped, his four hands clenched tightly, veins bulging on his arms.

He had truly made a mistake. He shouldn’t have agreed to Jinpeng’s wish to train alone.

Fushe’s reaction, which seemed to betray his guilt, caused Rimuru’s face to scrunch up. “No way, big brother, did you actually mistreat the child?”

If that were true, to be honest, he wouldn’t want to help anymore.

Even if this was a task assigned by Morax, he couldn’t go along with it.

Rimuru firmly declared that he must sever ties with anyone who mistreated children!

On top of this, the Dream Demon God added fuel to the fire with a splash of hot oil: “Hmph, if that weren’t so, why would I have taken that poor little one away?”

“Indeed, it should be taken away,” Rimuru responded earnestly, joining in. “By the way, where is the poor thing? Is he healed? If not, I can help. I guarantee to return a perfectly intact child.”

“Oh? You actually possess such ability?”

In Teyvat, skilled healers were not very common.

The Dream Demon God raised her eyebrows and looked at the youth with some interest. “If that is so, why not join Jade Valley? I imagine you would not wish to serve the kind of demon god to whom the one by your side is loyal?”

If his subordinate abused their clan’s children, and Morax remained indifferent, then, as she had suspected from the start, that one was cold-hearted as a stone, incapable of warmth.

Rimuru seemed reluctant to believe Morax would allow such things to happen. “Uh… maybe he doesn’t know?”

Rimuru and Somonas volleyed words back and forth, from initial confrontation to a surprisingly pleasant conversation. The four-armed Yaksha, who bore the heavy accusation of ‘abusing younglings,’ suddenly widened his eyes, finally realizing.

“Wait, Lord Rimuru, how could we ever mistreat Jinpeng? There must be a misunderstanding!” Fushe suddenly interrupted their exchange.

“That’s enough!”

Seeing Fushe unwilling to relent, Somonas shot him a cold glance. “If you say it’s a misunderstanding, then I have but one question: how do you explain that only Jinpeng was left behind that day?”

She had witnessed it with her own eyes—the green-haired, golden-eyed little Yaksha was always alone. When the other young Yakshas were about to leave, none remembered to take him back.

“If you cannot answer, then you are lying. When that time comes, I will take your life and all the sweet dreams of your people!”

The Dream Demon God’s interrogation was sharp and dangerous. She had expected Fushe to be ashamed and quietly leave, but the purple-haired Yaksha’s reaction made her pause for a moment.

Looking at the two doubtful faces before him, Fushe found it somewhat difficult to speak. He scratched his face with his claws in confusion. “This, this is because Jinpeng has disliked noise since childhood. The other younglings are used to Jinpeng’s habit of being solitary. So… it really isn’t what you think!”

It was precisely because Jinpeng spent all his time training and wore a cold expression without speaking that the other younglings would not take the initiative to approach him with warmth.

Can you blame him?

The child was too independent, and as his older brother, Fushe was exhausted too!

Rimuru: “…”

Somonas: “…”

Ah, so it wasn’t that the youngling was isolated by others, but that he had single-handedly isolated everyone else?!

“Ahahaha… I see now. I’m sorry, Fushe, I misjudged you!”

A blush spread across Rimuru’s fair face. He had almost wronged a good person—how awkward!

The Dream Demon God Somonas was momentarily stunned but quickly recovered. “Th-this is only your one-sided account. How am I to believe it?!”

“Then how about letting the youngling named Jinpeng explain for himself?” Rimuru suggested kindly, clenching his right fist and tapping the palm of his left hand.

“Of course,” Fushe agreed, wanting to see how Jinpeng was doing now.

The two looked at the Dream Demon God in unison. Somonas naturally wanted to refuse; from the start, she intended to prevent these two from meeting the youngling. Yet, somehow, matters were unfolding in an unexpected direction.

“Well…”

Since it had come to this, she could only relent. The Dream Demon God’s expression darkened, and unwillingly she nodded.

“I... agree.”