10. Gaia

After the nerve wracking conversation, or rather, confrontation with Chloe and Hinata, Rimuru slumped back into his chair. This was more stressful than he thought it would be. To top that off, the others were also expecting an explanation. This was too much stress for Rimuru, but also in a sense exciting. This whole situation, despite being nerve wracking and stressful, was the whole reason he traveled back in time. No paperwork but instead, pure action. Such a situation couldn't, objectively speaking, considered an event fully packed with action, but to Rimuru, who knew how, especially Velzard and Velgrynd, could be, it was exciting and a bit scary. But that only added to the excitement, of course. After he mentally prepared himself, he rose from his chair and made his way upstairs.

'Seems like Milim has awoken, I can sense her on the balcony with the others.'

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When he arrived at the scene, he was tackled by a small dragon as soon as he was spotted. This dragon was of course Milim's baby dragon. He jumped on Rimuru and cuddled with him. Rimuru, surprised by this unexpected affection, just let it be and patted the dragon's head.

"Seems like you missed me, hm?"

"Kyui Kyui"

"Yes, I missed you too. You did well protecting Milim while she was a sleep. Good job!"

"Kyuuii Kyuii"

"No need to be modest here, little one, you did well."

"Kyuii..."

"I know, but you're going to grow strong enough to protect Milim for sure! Don't let these events affect you that much. I'm sure Milim could train you, once she gets the hang of her own powers, and I also could assist you, if you want to?"

To that, the baby dragon looked at Rimuru, with sparkles in his eyes.

"Kyuiiii!"

"Alright, it's settled then!"

While Rimuru was, in a way, conversing with the baby dragon, everyone present was baffled, except Milim for some reason. They looked at Rimuru, suspiciously, with demanding eyes. Rimuru, realizing this, was curious as why they were shocked this time before realizing what he, kind of, did.

'Oh shit! After so many years hanging out with Milim and Gaia, I got the hang of it and could understand Gaia to some level, but this shouldn't be possible for someone who just met him 3 days ago. How could I forget that?'

In the original timeline, Gaia, after some years, developed his own true dragon core with the help of Rimuru. As he was still a baby, he only let out his signature 'kyui' what Rimuru sorted out as baby sounds. But after he witnessed how Milim  conversed with Gaia casually, he couldn't help but ask how she could understand him. The answer delivered by her left Rimuru baffled again. The reason was simply "Milim ears". Rimuru didn't even question it, after all he witnessed everything from 'Milim eyes' to even 'Milim hairs'. It was easier to accept it than trying to understand it. After many years witnessing the conversations between Milim and Gaia, he could also converse with him. But unlike with Milim, it was more like a mother understanding the noises her baby made. He guessed, and it was mostly correct. Back to present time, nobody knew, or better, should know about all of this. That's why they had questioning looks on their faces.

"Oi Rimuru, don't tell me you understand that dragon..?"

As Rimuru suspected, Guy was the first to speak up. And this time, he demanded answers.

'How can I get out of this? I can't say that I kind of got used to it. Neither can I use the excuse that I'm kind of a true dragon myself. What to do, what to do, what do do...?'

While Rimuru was trying to find an excuse, suddenly an idea popped up in his mind. He looked over at Milim, who was watching him curiously, and decided to answer.

"It's because of my 'Rimuru ears'. It helps me to understand nearly every monster and alike."

He was met with silence. They looked dumbfounded and astounded at the same time.

<< Master... >>

>> I know what you think, Ciel, but think about it. Whenever Milim did something crazy, she just gave her eyes and limbs names and everyone kind of accepted it. I think I should also make use of it, don't you think? <<

Ciel was half convinced by this explanation, but accepted it either way. It was much better than the usual excuses he came up with.

The one to break the silence was, surprisingly Milim. She jumped up and stared at Rimuru, with sparkles in her eyes. She ran up to him and started to excitedly jump up and down in front of him.

"Rimuru ears noda? Really noda? I have my Milim ears too, noda!"

She was clearly excited to meet someone who had the same abnormalities as her. Rimuru knowing this, patted her head and replied with a smile.

"Oh really? I didn't know there was someone else with this kind of ability. But do you also have 'Rimuru eyes' hmm?" Rimuru asked with a smug expression on his face.

"Y-you h-have R-R-Rimuru Eyes noda? Really?? I have 'Milim eyes' too noda!" She answered, clearly excited that he also shared this specialty.

"Hoo really? We're much alike as I see. What do you mean, you want to become my bestie?"

"Bestie nanoda?" Milim asked while tilting her head curiously.

"Bestie is like friends, but the best of friends you know. The best of all friends."

Milim comprehended his words for a bit, but then she punched the air above her head excitedly before shouting.

"Rimuru and I are besties from now on noda!"

"Kyuii.."

The baby dragon looked sad to be left out. But after realizing this, Milim corrected her statement, in a panicked voice.

"From today onward, Rimuru, my friend and I are besties!"

The baby dragon joined her joy and also excitedly flew above their heads.

"Say Milim, isn't it weird that your friend has no name? Don't you want to name him?"

Milim looked down on the floor after hearing this.

"Aunt Velzard and Guy said it's dangerous noda."

She clearly looked sad about it. Rimuru thought about it for a while.

'This Milim is still not used to her power. It would indeed be dangerous for her. Maybe I should offer to name him?'

"Say Milim, if you want to, I can name him for you?"

She looked in his eyes, concerned.

"No nanoda! I don't want my bestie to get hurt noda! It's dangerous noda!"

"Oh don't worry about it, I'm good at naming, you know? I'll be careful. What do you say?"

She looked troubled, not wanting her new-found bestie to get hurt because of her wish. But hearing his reasoning, she kind of felt relieved and decided to trust him.

"If you want to nanoda.."

"Do you have a name in mind?"

"A name. I don't know. A name.."

"How about Gaia?"

Rimuru just suggested her the name she came up with by herself last time. He didn't want to take credit for it, but couldn't wait thousands of years before she came up with it either. Milim's concerns were swept away like they weren't even there in the first place after hearing this. She again had sparkles in her eyes, like when she had tasted honey for the first time.

"Gaia noda? That's sooo cool nanoda!"

Rimuru smiled at her reply. Despite her childish and reckless behavior, he really liked Milim as a friend. At first, he called her bestie because he feared she would go on a rampage otherwise, but after so many years spend together, they truly became besties and spend a lot of time together. Shuna even said she was the one who affected Rimuru and was responsible for him turning into the prankster he was.

"From today onward, your name shall be Gaia." Rimuru said, in a friendly tone.

Gaia started to glow and even grew by a fair bit, before landing in Milim's arms and falling asleep.

"Seems like he needs some sleep after getting a name."

"Gaia noda... Thank you, Rimuru noda!" She said, with tears in her eyes. After going through so much, she found a bestie, and he even named her friend. To say she was happy was an understatement.

While Rimuru patted her head again to console her, the others were still shocked at the display in front of them.

"It just gets crazier the more we see your doings, Rimuru.." were the only words Guy could mutter.