Rin was not short on money.
In fact, he had plenty.
Whether it was Aqua or Cecily, building a church for the Water Goddess was a trivial matter Rin didn't care about at all.
However, he had no intention of helping either of them find believers.
The Axis Cult.
Rin would call it the "Lie-Flat God Cult."
Many of its doctrines were so absurd that even Rimuru had a revelation when she heard them.
"Don't endure. Drink when you want to drink, eat when you want to eat, because you might not be able to eat tomorrow."
"When in doubt, you'll regret it either way. Since regret is inevitable, choose the easier path for now."
"Axis Cult followers can do anything if they try. If they fail, it's not the follower's fault, it's the world's fault for not letting them succeed."
In summary, any overworked soul from Rin or Rimuru's past life would give it a thumbs up.
Oppose toxic hustle culture, lie flat and win.
It's not my fault, it's the world's fault.
When facing hardship, the most important thing is self-acceptance, not beating yourself up mentally.
"Now I'm even more worried about bringing Aqua in."
Rin had no doubt that once Aqua learned about the Monster Nation, she would start preaching these ideas there.
Especially that one right in front of him.
He wasn't going to ignore this slime's hair color.
Blue Slime.
Blue hair.
If Kazuma were here, he'd probably be having Aqua-triggered PTSD on the spot.
"Hey, I feel like you're thinking something bad about me."
Rimuru clicked her tongue. "I haven't sunk so low that I need to rely on that kind of self-comfort to run from responsibility."
She hadn't forgotten Rin's help.
Even though she often whined about being overworked and wanting a vacation, she had always fulfilled her duties as Great Sage.
She wouldn't actually slack off.
"Really?"
"Of course!"
Rimuru smiled sweetly. "As long as you take the lead and work hard~!"
"I think I'll return Aqua to Kazuma."
"You're not escaping!"
Rimuru hugged Rin, determined to drag him down with her into work hell.
"Oh, right. I went to see that dungeon you built."
"How was it?"
When Rimuru brought up the dungeon, Rin stopped teasing her and got serious. "Did you find any problems?"
"What do you mean 'any problems' again?"
"There were tons!"
Rimuru had played countless games in her past life and knew this stuff inside and out.
After that, the two of them sat down to discuss in detail the dungeon's issues and ways to improve it.
One example was the resurrection mechanism inside the dungeon.
In certain special cases, the system couldn't make the right judgment.
Rimuru had tested it personally.
She caused a mine collapse and buried herself.
In that situation, adventurers wouldn't be able to dig themselves out.
They weren't dead, but were trapped alive.
So the system didn't teleport the adventurer out right away, and just let them starve.
"Hmm."
Rin nodded. "Yeah, that's a problem. What do you think we should do?"
"We can add a danger alert."
"When an adventurer is in a critical situation, we send a prompt. Like, 'If you don't escape within 10 minutes, the challenge will automatically end.'"
That way, it would prevent cases where someone was still alive but unable to continue, while the dungeon hadn't declared a failure.
And to properly monitor all of that, they'd need to have Great Sage and Violet integrate intelligence into the dungeon.
In other words, they had to make the dungeon into a living creature.
"Make it a monster?"
"That's actually a great idea."
Rin nodded. "If the dungeon becomes a living being, everything gets a lot easier."
Naming it was simple.
Rin gave it about 50,000 magicules, turning it into a spiritual lifeform.
And when he thought of dungeons, one particular woman came to mind.
"I bestow upon you the name, Celia."
As Rin completed the naming, a silver-haired elf in a long green dress materialized inside the dungeon outside Axel.
"Celia, thanks to the Creator's grace."
"Celia swears to you that I will manage your dungeon properly."
She was both the dungeon and its manager, a special type of earth-attribute spirit.
[Celia]
Race: Highest-ranking Earth Spirit
Magicules: 400,000 EP (initial + naming boost)
Unique Skills: Gatekeeper, Mediator
"Looks good."
Rin sent a few words of encouragement via telepathy, and the little elf girl beamed with joy.
At the same time, Rimuru had Great Sage pass along all the bugs and suggestions she'd found.
Soon, under Celia's micromanagement, the ten-floor underground dungeon saw massive changes across its layout and mechanisms.
"You two…"
"What are you talking about?"
Cecily had been watching Rin and Rimuru exchange glances and toss around terms she didn't understand, and finally spoke up in confusion.
"Well!"
"Whatever."
Cecily gave up trying to follow. "Is there anything to eat? I'm hungry."
"So familiar!"
"Hmph!"
Cecily ignored Rimuru's complaint and proudly declared, "This is the Axis Cult!"
"I wasn't complimenting you!!"
Rimuru really couldn't deal with her anymore, so she shoved her over to Rin. "She's your problem now. That said, she is pretty cute."
"And that's the only thing she has going for her."
Rin waved at Cecily. "Alright, come on."
"I'll take you to see the goddess you worship, Aqua."
"Eh?"
"What about the food?"
"You think food is more important than your god?!"
Rimuru kept grumbling. She felt like if she stayed with Cecily any longer, she'd die of stress.
"Darkness, Rimuru's back, and she brought a guest."
"I'll go call Aqua and Megumin now!"
"Thanks."
Rin used telepathy to instruct Darkness to gather everyone in the living room and bring some food.
As for the food source...
Rin glanced at all the souvenirs Rimuru had brought back. There were plenty of ingredients among them, perfect for cooking something fresh.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)