When Zaydas mentioned his "problem" of getting smaller animals for Rimuru, he ahe Goblins, and soon they brought him chis, roosters, pigs, cows, and a bull.

  It took two days, but it was worth the wait.

  "Thank you, Rimuru-san, this will help me a lot." Zaydas sihanked him.

  "Fumu." Rimuru, in his human form, said: "Don't worry about it, I've received a lot of help from you, it's the least I do."

  "Yes, Rimuru-sama is right!" The Goblins said: "We are very grateful to you, Zaydas-sama!"

  Zaydas smiled.

  The truth was that he could try t animals from his world to Rimuru's, but if there was ohing he had already learned, it was that the ces of surviving during Dimensional Jumping were lower if they were weak.

  Not to mention that, ing from his dimension, which was above High Rank, to Rimuru's, which was High Rank... It must be even more "burdensome" for those taken along.

  That's why he inteo least one male and one female of eaimal.

  When Rimuru saw him naming the chis and roosters, he excimed: "Seriously, why didn't I think of that too?"

  "Huh?" Zaydas looked at him.

  "I mean, if they are here's a ce they could gain abilities, or even bee tastier, right?" Rimuru wiped his drool with the back of his hand.

  It was easy to imagihat he must be thinking about a feast of named animals...

  "Well, even if we dohe animals themselves, we always eat iile eggs, and in the case of cows, the milk should be better, don't you think?" Zaydas asked rhetorically.

  "Yes, yes." Rimuru said happily: "As expected of Zaydas-kun, I'm going to adopt your idea~!"

  "Well, go ahead." Zaydas didn't mind at all.

  "By the way, I keep a pair of eae?" Rimuru asked, adding: "I want to test this now, and after I get other animals, I'll share them with you, okay? By the way, bees should be good... Rabbits too."

  "Alright." Zaydas agreed. He wasn't losing anything, and Rimuru was the one who gave him these animals in the first pce.

  ...

  Zaydas made ao keep the animals he named while he decided to go out for a bit while waiting for the animals' evolution to finish.

  With the risk of them dying, he preferred to wait until they became a little stronger before returning to the INN.

  Eating a golden fruit, Zaydas floated through the forest, heading toward the sealed cave where Veldora was.

  ───────────

  "It's all your fault, Cabal-danna. Messing with the Giant Ant's like that with your sword!!!"

  "Q-Quit it, I'm the leader, okay!?"

  "So irresponsible even as a leader!"

  "Urgh...!"

  "If I die, I'll turn into a ghost and haunt you at night!"

  "Hahahahahaha! You won't be able to do that!! You know why? Because I'm about to die with you!"

  "Noooooooooooooo!!"

  "I'll stop them."

  "Shizu-san? Hey, don't do that!!"

  "Don't worry, if it's just to give you all a ce to escape, my current self still do it if I use the power of these fmes."

  However, before she could take a, snowfkes began to fall. And then, the sound of a shamisen echoed as a mist that made it difficult to see started to rise.

  (The shamisen is one of the most well-knoanese musical instruments. With three strings, it is sidered quite versatile and capable of produg a wide range of tones, being used both in traditional kabuki theater and bunraku puppet theater performances, as well as in more modern and innovative occasions.)

  A deep male voice recited a poetic t that reached their ears:

  "In the wind, the fme..."

  "Who's there!?" Cabal became armed, uo find the source of the voice.

  At the first verse, all the giant ants froze as snowfkes fell on them.

  "Burns strong, dances free..."

  At the sed verse, a cold wind caused the frozen giant ants to start crag.

  "Ash ht? Choose."

  *Crack!!!*

  *Crack!!!*

  *Crack!!!*

  *Crack!!!*

  At the third verse, a strong wind shattered the frozen giant ants into ice fragments.

  This poem uled Shizu. She pced her hand on her chest and ched it into a fist against her chest, but since she wore a mask that hid her face, it was difficult to see what kind of expression she was making at that moment.

  "Show yourself!" Ellen shouted, looking around.

  As the mist began to dissipate, a human silhouette started to bee visible in the sky.

  Shizu was finally able to see after almost all the fog disappeared along with the previous snowfall.

  The one before her was an ikemen.

  His hair was short, messy, and crimson-colored, and his eyes were blue-green. He had a well-symmetrical face with almond-shaped eyes. His skin was so fwless it could be mistaken for a woman's, if not for his obvious muscles.

  He wore clothes that gave him a yet casual air: bck pants, bck shoes, a white shirt, while in his left hand was a shamisen and in his right, a wooden bachi (plectrum).

  However, red magic circles appeared just below his hands, and then he simply let go of both, making them disappear along with the magic circles.

  Without them asking, he began to expin: "This poem suggests the duality between being ed by fire, destru, or transf into light, transdence."

  ...

  [+699 AP]

  Zaydas was holding himself back from blushing in embarrassment. This kind of se was something he had seen in the anime Saikyou Onmyouji no Isekai Tenseiki.

  He remembers how he thought it was cool when the protagonist Seika recited a poem in some ses before appearing. That moment was etched into his mind and became one of the 100 wishes he wao fulfill one day.

  'Well... One less wish, I guess...' Zaydas thought to himself.

  And he achieved his goal with this poem upon notig Shizu's subtle rea.

  'I didn't expeeet you here, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want this to happen.' Zaydas murmured in his mind.

  Since he knew Rimuru had goo the city and was aware that the dwarves had arrived at the Goblin vilge, he k was only a matter of time before Shizu and the other three came to this forest. And, uhe inal storyline, Rimuru had not moved away, as the nds with the pntation he had created for Rimuru were too valuable to abandon.

  "Pleasure to meet you all, my human friends." Zaydas said slowly as he began to desd: "I am Zaydas, The Traveler."

  "Zaydas, The Traveler?"

  Ellen, Cabal, and Gido exged gnces, looking fused.

  As if he didn't notice their fusion, Zaydas made a red magic circle appear before each of them, and soon a golden fruit materialized above the magic circle.

  "As a symbol of our first meeting, this is my gift to you." Zaydas said with a friendly smile.

  Meically, they took it—only Shizu did so more naturally.

  "What is this?" Ellen asked.

  "A spirit fruit." Zaydas replied. "It's good for the body and helps recical power. And, not least important..."

  *Mogu mogu*

  "Delicious~~!" Ellen didn't eve him finish, interrupting with an excmation: "What is this? It's so delicious~!"

  Coughing, Zaydas felt a bit awkward in front of such a... let's say, eic girl.

  Notig that only Shizu tinued paying attention to him while the other three started dev the golden fruit, he chuckled.

  "Don't worry, I'm not the Evil Stepmother from Snow White~" Zaydas joked upon seeing that she hadn't taken a sie yet.

  *Gulp*

  "Snow White?" Ellen seemed fused.

  "You don't know Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?" Zaydas preteo be in shock.

  "I don't. Do you guys?" She looked at Cabal and Gido.

  Cabal and Gido shook their heads, while Shizu...

  "Shizu?" Her ck of reaade Ellen call out to her a little louder, ed: "Are you okay?"

  "Ah, yes, I am." Shizu replied.

  'That voice, how strange... In the a wasn't like this...' Zaydas thought.

  While in the a was still a sweet girl's voice, what he heard now was a voice impossible to identify—her male nor female, adult nor child.

  Moreover, even her outfit was slightly different, being loose clothing, especially in the chest area, making it hard to tell whether she was a man or a woman.

  "Who is Snow White?" Ellen seemed curious about it.

  Turning his attention to her, Zaydas said, "A very kind princess."

  "Duhh, that didn't answer my question." Ellen puffed out her cheeks, but seeming to remember something, she said, "Ahhh... I still haven't thanked you. Thank you for saving us." Turning to Gido and Cabal, she spoke through ched teeth, "Hey, you two, thank him too!"

  "Thank you for your help," Shizu said.

  "Thank you, you saved us!" Cabal added, followed by Gido: "Danna, thanks."

  "It's all good, rex." Zaydas waved his hand nontly, not minding at all.

  Then, a thin smile appeared on his lips as he said, "You want to know about Snow White, right? Well, I tell you, but before that, let's find a better pce to talk, okay?"

  "Yes, yes." No one opposed the idea.

  As he walked with them, Zaydas assessed their appearances, notig subtle differences from what he had seen in the anime.

  Cabal had the appearance of a young man with medium-length hair. Gido had a tall and strong build and a regur head. His short brown hair aired with a goatee. His cheeks had distinct depressions.

  Ellen was a young woman of average height with blonde hair. She had blue eyes, special markings under her eyes, and wore a blue headband. Her outfit sisted of clothes suited for traveling as an adventurer.

  Shizue was a young woman of medium height. She had long, dark hair that fell over her shoulders and face, parted more to the right side, with a good portion c the right side of her mask.

  She wore a white cape and a white scarf over her chest area, bined with predominantly dark clothing. Her outfit included a long-sleeved blouse and loose pants, secured with bands. In her hands, she held a sword.

  "This fruit is amazing, I feel a little stronger after eating half of it," Ellen suddenly ented.

  "If you're already satisfied, give me the rest, Ellen," Cabal said to her.

  "No way! This is mine!" Ellen protected the half-eaten golden fruit like a mother proteg her child.

  "Cabal-danna, wouldn't it be better if you gave what's left of yours to me? After all, I'm the one who then my body the most. I swear it's not because of the delicious taste!" Gido said with a serious look.

  "Gido, you..." Cabal seemed to feel betrayed.

  Seeing this, Zaydas chuckled a little. Beside him, Shizu was eating the golden fruit without removing her mask. He asked her, "Are they always like this?"

  "Mm, they're aic group." Even without distin in her voice, it was noticeable that she sounded gentler now.

  "Seems like it." Zaydas chuckled a bit.

  Meanwhile, they arrived at a more open area and stopped.