Stranger with Surprises

"Hmm. A hobgoblin?"

A blue-eyed man, asked himself. Hobgoblins were quite rare in his time, and most who had managed to evolve were quickly killed off by humans out of fear that they would break into their homes, something Veldanava didn't quite understand himself.

"Y-yes, my name is Gobta"

The hobgoblin, Gobta, himself was confused at how easily he gave away his name to a stranger who he thought… no, he knew was dangerous. The black haired man had, though for a mere instant, released an Aura that was like, no, even stronger than Lord Rimuru had when he saw Shion's corpse.

'It's alright. Lord Rimuru is way stronger now that he is a Demon Lord, and there's Lord Veldora too, this guy won't try to attack… right?'

"I am Veld…, no, just call me Nova. And you do not have to be so cautious, I mean no harm"

The man, who proclaimed himself Nova, uttered in a low, calm voice. This gesture calmed the goblin down, bizarrely so. While the goblin was subconsciously letting his guard down, Nova was caught up in his thoughts for a bit.

'I should keep my identity as Veldanava concealed for now. I'm not sure my presence could entail after all these years. I am certain I have taken at best a few years to reincarnate, so the world might as well be convinced that I had truly passed on'

Nova... no, Veldanava concluded. On the surface, it would seem like a logical supposition that he took bearing in mind the disturbance his reemergence would trigger in the Central World, but that was not the entire truth.

Veldanava had lived long, inconceivably so bearing in mind the age of humanity. He had observed the said race ever since their first emergence, and with his virtually perfect memory, remembered their acts with unparalleled clarity. A child who has never seen their parents frequently does not have any feelings attached to them, some even hate them, believing themselves to be throw away.

Remembering this, an acute anxiety took form in the Dragon Emperor's soul. What if Milim doesn't accept him? What if she hates him? These feelings remained engrained deep in his mind, as he for the first time in his life felt… uncertain.

"So anyways, where are we? Gobta right?"

"Huh? You don't even know where you are?", Gobta was slightly relived at this, "We are in the Great Forest of Jura, on the outskirts of the Rimuru city"

'Hmm. So its name did not change. I wonder how much time has passed?'

Truth was that Veldanava had already inspected the area with his 『Universal Sense』 but still asked, not only because the terrain could have changed, but also give him a rough assessment of the time passed, since names of locations seldom changed.

"Rimuru?"

"Huh? You don't know Lord Rimuru?"

"I'm afraid not"

Gobta wondered if Nova was from a faraway land. The hot topic of 'Demon Lord Rimuru' was spread almost across all of the world, so only someone who was living somewhere desolate would not know about it, or the person was just living under a rock, or maybe he was just straight up stupid.

"Would you mind telling me about this, Rimuru?"

Gobat's face lit up at Nova's request. He knew he was weak, he knew there were numerous monsters near Lord Rimuru that were stronger than him, faster than him, and smarter than him. Benimaru, Shion, Diabo, Milim, and even Veldora. So, moments like this made him feel useful, like he was worth to his master.

"Lord Rimuru is the founder and ruler of the Jura Tempest Federation"

"Tempest Federation?" Veldanava asked, amused at the turn of events.

"Yeah, all of the Jura Forest is in the federation"

"Interesting. And what about Veldora?"

'Veldora is quite impulsive, he could destroy this city on a whim'

"Lord Veldora is Lord Rimuru's friend, and the guardian of the Jura Forest"

"…"

Hearing this, Veldanava's eyes widened. Veldora, back in his time, only ever truly interacted with him, and the others were either those caught in his Rampage, or those who had bested him, like his sisters and Guy.

The Star-King wondered. If he had perhaps used more of his power when Veldora had challenged him, showing him their immense difference in power, would he also be more distant with him like he was with his sisters?

Gobta then continued his tale of Rimuru. Usually, he would not drop his guard before a foreigner like Nova, but somehow, his very presence made him calm, and didn't even realize that he was spilling stories even many of the newer citizens of the City did not know about.

While Veldanava, on the other hand, didn't even seem to realize the effect his presence had on the hobgoblin, and continued to listen to his tales which centered around Veldora's friend with much interest.

'A Demon Lord, who managed to befriend Veldora huh?!...

Falmuth? A new kingdom. I see, so I reincarnated at least a decade later. I do not like this...

Hmm, Clayman? So, Rimuru has taken over another Demon Lord's territory as well. Did another monster evolve in these years? How interesting, I should give them a visit later. However, I somehow feel agitated hearing that name...

He also is friends with another Demon Lord. The Destroyer. Is it Guy? I do remember that he destroyed the country that summoned him. But to be recognized by even him, Rimuru should be decently strong...'

"And don't underestimate Lord Rimuru just because he is a slime. He is really strong, more than you so don't cause any trouble"

"A slime?"

The True Dragon was astonished.

'Slimes inherently have egos so weak they can even be called soulless, yet this Rimuru actually is sentient enough to create a city, not to mention even evolve into a demon Lord. And to be referred to as him even though slimes lack a gender, the most probable answer would be reincarnation. Rimuru Tempest huh?! You sure are interesting'

 "Yeah"

"Heh. Then, mind taking me to him"

Gobta seemed to be in thought for a bit, before shrugging his shoulders and turning to Nova.

"Sure. Follow me"

Speaking these words, Gobta's feet turned to the near distant light and began moving towards it, Nova in tow. It didn't take long before the bright light separated into numerous small ones, as a subtle view of a city lit with lights under the mesmerizing night sky entered their vision. As the city drew closer, the distant murmur reached Veldanava's hearing, before showing a sight that surprised even him.

A bunch, no, a horde of monsters appeared in sight that seemed to suddenly silence themselves just as they entered the city. Before any of the two could speak, a feminine voice sounded across the road they were on.

Looking at the source with his enhanced sight, Veldanava spotted a blue haired… girl?... no the man that was seemingly addressing the crowd of the monsters. Veldanava noted the man's mannerisms to be that of a man, not to mention his instincts, which had never failed him even once.

"A lot of things happened, but let's forget about it all for tonight and have fun"

"That's Lord Rimuru for you", Gobta said as a matter-of-factly. It was clear from his tone that the blue haired 'man' with his oddly feminine voice was familiar with him.

Veldanava tilted his head in the goblin's direction, "So that is Rimuru huh?!"

"Y-yeah"

Gobta wanted to call Nova out, telling him to address Lord Rimuru with more respect but halted. Something was telling him that Nova was not of a position to respect the slime, if anything, it should be the other way around, so he kept silent.

Watching from afar, Veldanava's eyes peered into the slime's soul, as it was out in the open for his naked eyes. However, what he set eyes on left him startled, astounded even.

'That soul, it's… Hahahaha, I haven't been this interested ever since Ramiris was born'

Gobta turned around to see Nova chuckle, startling him a bit. Nova always had a slight smile on his face, but was always calm and composed, even if Gobta had just met him. But seeing him like this, it unnerved him.

"H-hey, what happened?"

Veldanava's chortle slowly stopped, before he gave an answer without even looking at the goblin, "Just saw something interesting. Mind if I join the… festival?"

"I think you should meet Lord Rimuru first. Some monsters here could be nervous with you coming unannounced out of nowhere because of what happened, so…"

Gobta face fell, something Veldanava silently took notice of.

"I see. Let's go then"

Hearing that Gobta quickly started walking from besides the crowd, with Veldanava silently following them, who was scanning the place.

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"Quite a fascinating dwelling you have created, Rimuru was it?"

"Y-yeah"

I stuttered, to my own surprise, as I replied to the man's question. Who is this guy anyways? He shouldn't be human with those horns, they don't look fake. Is he a dragonewt?

"Umm… so, who are you?"

"You can just call me Nova"

I wanted to ask why he was here, but he said something that kinda caught me off guard.

"It seems many things have changed since I was last in this world. You seem to have become more… restrained, since last time. How have you been Veldora?"

Wait a second. He knows Veldora? And what does he mean by this world? Is he from another world? Is he some kind of big shot?

…

Huh? That's weird, usually "Raphael" would have bombarded me with suggestions or info about the guy. Is it because of this Nova guy? Something does feel 'off' about him.

Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded in my mind.

[Rimuru. Can we talk inside?]

Surprised, I look towards Veldora? He, however, seemed to have an unreadable expression looking at Nova. Deciding to trust Veldora on this, I turned to Nova again.

"How about we chat inside for now Nova?"

"That would be appropriate, yes"

And what's with this formal tone of yours? Just how old are you?

I told Gobta to enjoy the festival, and began to walk to my office.

-----------------------------------

We sat down, me on the sofa while Nova on the one opposite to mine. Veldora also sat beside him for some reason.

"Why are you here?"

I decided to get straight to the point. This Nova guy was giving me some different vibes. It wasn't anything malevolent but it did feel off, a bit too much.

"I wanted to give you a visit. This town seemed… interesting if I say so myself, not to mention I sensed Veldora here"

Really? Just a visit? Who are you? Milim's Dad?

«Master, Individual 'Nova' does not seem to be lying»

Hah?! 『Raphael』, just what happened to you? —I asked, turning on 『Thought Acceleration』 so I won't seem like I was ignoring him.

«Answer: Unanswerable»

That sounds like an excuse.

«It's just your Imagination»

Like hell it is?! Alright, calm down. So can you get some info in the guy? Is he dangerous? I mean, most people I know would avoid Veldora, and this guy comes here because he wants to meet him? That sounds fishy.

«Negative. Individual 'Nova' seems to be a conventional human with no Aura discernable. It is concluded that the horns are likely the consequence of an unusual mutation, or perhaps he is someone abnormally good at hiding his Aura»

That just makes him even more suspicious—I groaned, mentally of course. I was not going to let someone hurt my friends, so I wasn't very keen on letting him go uninspected. 

"You do not have to be anxious", Nova started, "I mean no harm, truly. You can enquire with 'Raphael' if you would like"

I swiftly jumped onto my feet, my newfound arsenal as a Demon Lord ready to be unleashed. However, he appeared to be too unfazed by this, something that alarmed me just the bit more. My senses registered Veldora, who seemed to be just… looking at me, without even moving an inch. 

"Calm down Rimuru"

"What do you mean calm down?"

This guy knew about 『Raphael』. No one except Veldora and probably Ifrit knew about it, and I am damn sure I didn't tell anyone about it. I've felt something was off about him from the beginning, if he…

Wait… why am I getting so agitated.

«Master, he does not seem to have any sort of malicious intent»

So I was overreacting?

«Yes…*sigh*»

Why does she seem so hacked off, my reaction was not that off… right?

"Sorry, I got a bit too worked up"

"It is alright"

Why does he sound like he expected this?

"It was fairly simple to piece everything together from what I had heard from Gobta, though your soul did seem to imply a lot about your mental state"

Huh? He figured that out just from what he heard from Gobta? Does he have some kind of Analysis Skill? And what did he mean by my soul gave it out?

«It could mean that individual 'Nova' seems to have the ability to… peer into others' soul and by extension their mental status»

That would be a scary ability, so my soul is like totally naked to his eyes—I brushed away the uncomfortable thought, I do respect privacy of others after all… kinda. However, I did not miss that Raphael was acting weirdly ever since this guy showed up.

"Oh, I see"

"Don't worry about him, he is always like this", Veldora chimed in before turning to Nova, his voice oddly forlorn, "Why did you take so long, Brother?"

.

.

.

…What?