"Ah, this?"
Shizue felt it.
The raging Flame power inside her, which she had always needed to forcibly suppress, was now rapidly fading.
But the balance between her magicules and soul didn't collapse with its disappearance.
At first, Shizue thought she was about to lose the power that had accompanied her for so many years.
But as she carefully sensed it, she suddenly realized—the Fire Spirit's power hadn't disappeared. It had truly become her own power.
"Un... incomprehensible..."
It had been over seventy years since Shizue was reincarnated.
However, since she had been transformed into a Demonoid right after crossing over, her race leaned more toward monsters and spirits than human.
But mentally, Shizue was no different from a human girl.
"After searching for so long, finally..."
The method she had sought for seventy years, but never found.
Rin did nothing except sign a contract with her.
And then, the problem that had plagued her all this time was simply resolved.
"Who... who exactly are you?"
In Shizue's Familiar Contract, there was only Rin's name, no other information at all.
"My name is Itoshi Rin. I'm a Demon Lord, and my current identity is the ruler of this Great Forest."
Rimuru casually claimed the Great Jura Forest, which had been neutral since ancient times, or rather, was the Storm Dragon's territory, as his own.
He didn't seem to feel any guilt about snatching the Storm Dragon's land.
"Huh?"
Shizue followed closely behind Rin, her mood much lighter now.
Since the contract was signed, she no longer had the right to refuse.
However, Rin didn't seem like a bad person.
Right after the contract, he helped solve her problem without demanding anything strange from her.
If Rin could really solve the children's problems, Shizue was fully willing to serve him for life.
After all, without Rin, she would die from magicule rampage in a month.
"But, shouldn't the Great Jura Forest belong to the Storm Dragon?"
"Isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to claim the Great Forest as your own?"
Shizue voiced her concern. She still wanted to repay Rin, so she couldn't just watch him walk into danger.
"There are a few Demon Lords in the East, and also the Western Countries. They definitely won't let you rule here without interference."
"You're worried about that?"
Rin glanced at Shizue with amusement and smiled, "Don't worry. I'm going to solve that problem right now."
"Ah?"
Shizue was completely confused and didn't understand what he meant.
Solve that?
How?
"That..."
Shizue said, "Where are you going now? If I remember correctly, that direction should be toward the Sealed Cave, right?"
"You've been here before?"
"A few times."
In her search for a cure, Shizue had visited many places.
But she had never actually entered the Sealed Cave.
The monsters inside ranged from C-Rank to B+-Rank, and there were rumors of Special A-Rank monsters deeper in, though nothing confirmed.
Of course, if it was just that, Shizue wouldn't be afraid.
But the Storm Dragon was sealed in there!
How could a girl who wasn't even a Demon Lord Seed dare to get involved in such a forbidden place?
"Yes, we are heading to the Sealed Cave now."
"What are we going there for?!"
Shizue really wanted to tell Rin that the Sealed Cave was extremely dangerous.
Even if they were going to explore it, they should make thorough preparations and absolutely not charge in recklessly.
Original Elyun's party: Preparations? What preparations? No preparations!
"What else?"
Rin said, "We're going to find the Storm Dragon, of course, and then discuss the ownership of the Great Forest with him."
"..."
Shizue was stunned.
For a moment, she didn't know how to respond.
Go find the Storm Dragon?
This guy was insane!
That was the legendary Storm Dragon, a natural disaster-level existence!
Even Demon Lords might not be able to defeat him.
Wasn't Rin just walking into death?
"Also, it's not just the Storm Dragon."
Rin's next words were even more shocking. "The Frost Dragon is also here now."
"Fro... Frost Dragon?"
Shizue knew a lot about the Frost Dragon. "But isn't that just a legend?"
The legends of the Four Dragon Kind were already considered ancient history in the Cardinal World.
Even the most active Storm Dragon had been sealed for 300 years.
As for the last appearance of the Frost Dragon and the Scorching Dragon, they had to be traced back a thousand years.
From such a distant time, even the Western Countries hadn't been founded yet.
"Alright, we're here."
"Huh?!"
Shizue no longer remembered how many times she had been surprised by Rin on this journey.
She wanted to say they were still quite far from the Sealed Cave and it was impossible to have arrived so quickly.
But when she looked up, the enormous gate before her silently declared—they had indeed arrived at the entrance to the Sealed Cave.
"How did you do this?!"
In her memory, they had only left Elyun and the others about four or five minutes ago.
And now, they were here.
Shizue felt her mind go numb.
"Didn't I say?"
Rin said casually, "I used spatial magic."
"But this is too much!"
Shizue said, "How can spatial magic cover hundreds or thousands of kilometers in a single step!"
Especially since Rin hadn't even used a magic circle the entire time.
Shizue had never even heard of such spatial teleportation magic!
"Hmm..."
Rin said, "Then maybe I threw in a bit of time magic?"
"Can you be any more perfunctory?!"
For a moment, even Shizue, a Flame Demonoid Person who remained calm even in the face of disaster, couldn't help but become a furious complaint machine.
"Hahaha..."
Rin, however, found this version of her much cuter than the grim, bitter-faced one from before.
"Hoo"
The girl took deep breaths to calm her heart. She really couldn't understand.
What exactly was going on with this man in front of her?
He appeared out of nowhere, signed a contract with her, resolved the magicule issue with her soul, then took her hundreds of kilometers to the Sealed Cave.
Now he said he wanted to meet the Storm Dragon and the Frost Dragon.
And then what?
What was he planning to do after meeting those two Dragon Kind?
(To be continued.)