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At time-code 20:45 of episode 21 of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, the merchant Mjolmire is considering Rimuru's offer to go to his capital city and help teach the folks there about trade. He says something I find strange:

Mjolmire considering Rimuru's offer

"So we would both profit... I mean benefit!"

Why would he feel the need to reject the word "profit"? It seems perfectly natural to me. Rimuru's nation might be an ideal communist society (debatable point) but even communists would understand that a traveling merchant seeks profit. Or is the issue something else entirely?

RichF
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    I just assumed he didn't want to sound too greedy. I might also be that in the original Japanese dialog the word(s) used had a more negative connotation, but I have no idea if that's true or not. – Ross Ridge Feb 26 '19 at 22:35
  • Profit implies that it's all about the money, and usually it connotates selfish gain. Benefit implies that it's more than just money, and in this case, it's more than just about those two. In this situation, benefit suggests it's also about the relationship and it's also about how the country benefits, not just Rimaru and the merchant. – David Hobs Oct 09 '19 at 23:50

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The whole merchant part of the manga/LN changed in favour of ending the anime at a certain point. That line isn't even in the manga. That is why there will be two answers to this question:

Anime-only: Rimuru is the representative and the highest ranked official in his country. Usually while doing deals like this, you have to pick your words carefully such as this example. You should seek things that will benefit your country and people live in there. A corporation, on the other hand, should seek profit. Profiting is a financial type of benefitting. However, this merchant aims higher than just financial gain which brings me to manga spoilers.

Manga Side / Spoilers

In his word, the merchant simply wants to "invest in Rimiru". As we know, the country Tempest is trading very high-quality potions and geographically placed in a very good trade route. Knowing the leader of this country won't simply profit you, but there are many more merits/benefits to that. So he is betting on this idea.

JustPlain
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