In Episode 31 of Slime this week, we see the conclusion of how the Kingdom of Falmuth and the Holy Church plan to deal with Rimuru. After last week’s ending, it seems pretty clear that Rimuru is not going to be able to talk his way out of this fight with his strongest enemy yet. Let’s unpack the events of the episode below! (Yes, that means spoilers.)
With the combination of the past two weeks’ episodes, we’ve seen the Kingdom of Falmuth move to squash the growing nation of Tempest. They trapped the citizens in a magic barrier then began to slaughter them in the streets. They also cut off Rimuru from the city, sending a powerful woman with a grudge to confront him.
As we discussed last week, Hinata Sakaguchi is a former student of Shizu who seems to be unbelievably powerful. In this week’s episode, we see a bit of that power. Her sure-kill sword, binding magic, and explosive finishing move prove to be more than Rimuru can handle. As with Milim, he realizes he needs to try a new tactic if he truly wants to get away from the battle alive, let alone win it.
Some quick thinking helps Rimuru trick Hinata into believing she had won. She recalls her barriers and sets off on her way. This allows Rimuru to return to Tempest to check on the state of affairs.
Why Did Hinata Target Him?
During the fight last week, Hinata revealed that someone told her that Rimuru murdered Shizu. It was because of that information that she had Rimuru, and Tempest, in her sights and specifically requested to be the one to put an end to him.
Now, there are very few people who actually know the truth about what happened to Shizu, so the fact that someone has told Hinata this could be one of two things. Either someone close to Rimuru who knows the truth may be out to get him (such as the head of the Freedom Academy) or someone influential did enough research on both Rimuru and Hinata to know about both of their connections to Shizu.
The second option is the one I find most likely, so let’s consider that. It would make the most sense if the person doing that research was familiar with Shizu herself as well. The best person I can think of that might have the means and the motive would be Demon Lord Leon Cromwell, the one who originally summoned Shizu into this world. So, my theory (for whatever that’s worth) is that he is behind this manipulation of information. Only later episodes (and spoilers from Manga/Light Novel readers) can reveal what is actually happening.
What do you think? Who told Hinata about Shizu? Who set up Rimuru? Episode 31 has reinforced some big questions, and I’m sure that all will be revealed in later episodes of Slime, but until then, we can at least have fun guessing!
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