"???"
Rimuru didn't understand Damien's request at all.
What kind of punishment was this?
"Wait a second!"
Suddenly, Rimuru felt a bit panicked. "The clothes you're talking about... they're not the embarrassing kind, are they?"
"Of course not!"
Damien wasn't desperate enough for that, and he certainly wouldn't force his subordinate into anything degrading. "They're perfectly normal clothes!"
"Oh, in that case."
"Alright, I agree."
If it was just regular clothes, wearing outfits that Damien liked posed no issue for Rimuru.
This world's Rimuru had been female from the start and felt no shame about dressing femininely.
If anything, getting to wear cute and stylish clothes actually made Rimuru quite happy.
"Then let's start today."
"This is your first set of work clothes."
Damien sent over a black-and-white maid outfit to Rimuru, who examined it for a moment before decisively changing into it.
"Hm, when it comes to eye candy, Rimuru certainly delivers."
"Lord Damien?"
Artoria noticed Damien's smile and asked, "Did something good happen?"
"Ah?"
"Heh, you could say that."
Damien didn't elaborate further, instead shifting his gaze to Shizu and the five children by her side. "So these are your students, Shizu?"
"Nice to meet you. I'm Damien, Shizu's new boss."
"Boss?"
Chloe tilted her little head, looking at Damien with curiosity.
Alice, the blonde girl, was completely captivated by Damien, her ruby-like eyes sparkling as if she'd discovered some treasure.
"Yes."
Damien reached out, gently patting the two girls' heads, one with each hand. "In simple terms, your Shizu-sensei is now working for me."
"Because I told her I can cure your bodies."
Upon hearing Damien's words, the children were first filled with surprise, then they all turned to Shizu, their eyes brimming with gratitude.
For their sake, Shizu had been running around everywhere.
Even these children could imagine the hardships involved.
And now, once again for their sake, Shizu had become Damien's employee.
"Lord Damien."
Chloe said, "P-please take good care of Shizu-sensei."
The other children echoed her sentiment.
"We entrust her to you!"
Even Kenya, the hot-tempered wild child, bowed earnestly to Damien in request.
"Ah."
Damien had a good impression of these five children.
They knew how to be grateful and weren't ungrateful ingrates... that was enough.
Additionally, based on Violet's detection results, all five children had excellent aptitudes, with Alice and Chloe possessing the highest talents among them.
Chloe needed no introduction; in the original story, she was the hero who transcended reincarnation and traversed time.
In the future, she would awaken the extraordinary Ultimate Skill... Lord of Spacetime, Yog-Sothoth.
Damien certainly wouldn't pass up such outstanding talent.
The only concern was Chloe's destined bond with Rimuru.
After all, the reason Chloe traversed time countless times was to save her teacher Rimuru from the original story.
"Well..."
"This world's Rimuru is female now, so what do I have to worry about?"
Damien felt he was overthinking it. "Besides, there's still Alice to cultivate."
After all, Alice was the girl whom even the original Rimuru praised for her exceptionally high talent.
"Come on, I'll start resolving your issues right now."
The incomplete summoning was essentially the result of an imbalance between the soul and magicules.
The children's souls were too weak, and after being summoned, the surging magicules would crush their souls before they could grow strong enough.
Therefore, as long as a foundation could be added to the children's souls...
All problems would be solved.
'However...'
'I seem to have an even better method here.'
Damien had no intention of using the method from the original story.
In the original, Rimuru summoned spirits from the spirit world through Ramiris, allowing them to fuse with the children and complete the soul reinforcement.
But that way, the children's condition would end up like Shizu's once was.
If the spirit ever separated, the children would face the risk of losing control.
Of course, this risk wasn't absolute.
If they could fully digest the spirit's power, then even if the spirit's soul departed, they could survive safely.
"Artoria."
"What is it, Master?"
"I need your Servant summoning to coordinate with my Hall of Heroes."
"You... are you planning to..."
Artoria realized Damien's intent... was he intending to make these five children into Demi-Servant?
"No, not quite."
Damien shook his head. "I plan to fuse the concepts of Elemental and Heroic Spirit to create a new race."
Elementals were spiritual beings evolved from spirits by shedding all impurities and advancing toward ultimate purity.
Heroic Spirits were semi-spiritual, semi-material beings forged from humanity's fantasies within civilization.
What Damien aimed to do wasn't a simple amalgamation but to extract the most essential parts from both and recreate something new.
This was also part of the God of the Void's power, a authority Damien possessed as the Dragon God of Creation.
"Shizu."
Damien said, "You go first."
"Eh? Me?"
"Yes."
Damien explained, "Since it's the first time, there might be a minor issue. I hope you can bear with it... I'll resolve it as quickly as possible."
"So, there are risks involved?"
"No problem!"
Without waiting for Damien to explain further, Shizu agreed immediately.
The treatment carried risks, and as their teacher, it was her duty to lead by example and test the waters for the children first.
"Shizu-sensei!"
"This... this... how can you..."
"Let me do it instead... I'm not afraid of danger!"
The last words came from Kenya's mouth.
The kid was reckless, but he was deeply loyal... the type who would take a blade for you in a critical moment.
"Everyone, don't worry."
Shizu soothed the children's emotions and looked at Damien. "If there were real danger, Lord Damien wouldn't let me try it."
"Ah."
Damien nodded. "Rest assured... the risks I'm talking about are at most like catching a cold."
"Even if something does arise, I'll handle it immediately."
If he didn't have absolute confidence, how could Damien let his own subordinate be the test subject?
No matter what, he'd test it on outsiders first.
***
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