MyfGuaaH

1
2PROLOGUE
3
4
5THE MAGIC-BORN MEMORIAL
6
7
8Clayman was dead. And when Laplace delivered the news to the group assembled before him, the reaction was stunned silence.
9
10“You lie! There is no way that could happen!”
11
12This was Footman frantically shouting now, but no one could find it in themselves to see things his way. Laplace was always so aloof, easygoing, never one to express any of his true emotions. But his face said it all. This was not the joker all of them knew—he was literally hanging his head in shame before them. It was all they needed to see to know that Clayman was really and truly dead.
13
14“…Last night, the night of that Walpurgis Council, I lost my connection with Clayman,” Kazalim ponderously stated as Teare sobbed nearby. “My connection with someone I viewed as my own child. It could only mean one thing for him—death. I hardly wanted to admit it to myself. Even now, Laplace, after what you told us, I am filled with a stubborn refusal to admit it…”
15
16“This was my mistake,” a boy with black hair regretfully lamented. “I thought the demon lords were kid stuff. I needed to be more careful. Gather more intelligence and then take action.”
17
18There were ten demon lords in all, looking down upon the world from atop their lofty peaks. But even in such heady territory, each of them bore different strengths and weaknesses. Clayman’s apparently successful application of Demon Dominate on the mind of the demon lord Milim caused him to forget that vital fact—and even worse, led him to believe he could rule over all his fellow lords. It was much too rash of him.
19
20“If you’re gonna put it that way,” replied Laplace, lightening the mood with a joking tone, “I’m the one who suggested it to the guy. I never thought for a moment it’d turn out like this, no, not that it matters now. Plus, you have to admit it—Clayman was too stupid for his own good this time. I told him not to let his guard down, but he got carried away with it, and it blew up on him. All there is to it.”
21
22“Laplace!” snarled Footman. “You can’t speak of him like that!”
23
24“I’m only tellin’ the truth. He was weak, he got carried away, and now he’s dead.”
25
26“Laplace!!”
27
28Letting his anger overcome him, Footman took a swing at Laplace. His fist dug into the cheek of its target; Laplace didn’t bother to dodge it. But that was all. Laplace remained where he stood, his eyes swiveling toward his attacker.
29
30“Oh, what, you wanna go, Footman? Well, be my guest!”
31
32He let slip an easygoing smile as he taunted Footman, all but daring him to focus his anger upon him. Kazalim saw right through it.
33
34“Stop it, you two!” she roared, halting them both. “This is a sad occasion for each of us.”
35
36“She’s right,” the boy added. “Why are you playing the bad guy all by yourself here, Laplace? That’s not like you. If anyone should play that role, it oughtta be me for hiring all of you.”
37
38“Ah…” Now Footman realized it. Laplace was goading him on purpose. “My apologies, Laplace.”
39
40“…Nah, it’s fine. But you know, pal—and you too, President—you sure are mean, ain’tcha? I am trying to be the bad guy here, so how ’bout not letting the cat out of the bag?”
41
42He rubbed his cheek as he continued to complain. And something about the sight was so comical that it really did lighten the mood—if only a little.
43
44
45Back in control of their emotions, the magic-born discussed what to do next. Wailing about the misfortune of it all, Kazalim reasoned, would do nothing to realize Clayman’s goals. Their talks grew sterner, more serious.
46
47“…I couldn’t tell you what happened in there, but as the demon lord Valentine put it, Clayman definitely died during the Council. He didn’t mention who did it, though…”
48
49“Too bad I couldn’t have beaten it outta him…”
50
51“No, Laplace. I am glad to see you still breathing, at least.”
52
53“Ahh, I was just lucky. It happened to be the new moon, and bein’ a vampire, Valentine was at the low end of his strength. We were in a holy place to boot. Lotsa holiness fillin’ up the atmosphere. That’s the only reason my attacks worked at all.”
54
55Nobody doubted Laplace’s words. Laplace only managed to defeat Valentine, whose strength was on a par with the Kazalim of the past, thanks to several overlapping factors working out in his favor. Plus, Laplace was second only to Kazalim in brute force. His role as vice president of the Moderate Jesters was no empty title—he had the strength to back it up. That was why everyone in the room so readily accepted Laplace’s astonishing victory—and thus, the talks continued, with nobody noticing the lie lurking between his words.
56
57“This is quite the conundrum, however…”
58
59“You could say that,” Kazalim muttered. “We lost the base of operations we granted Clayman, his forces, his treasure…everything. A staggering loss.”
60
61The boy nodded his agreement.
62
63“Wh-what do you mean?” Teare asked. “Whether the demon lords killed Clayman or not, we still have his headquarters, don’t we?”
64
65“I know that Clayman’s forces were routed,” added Footman, “but we still have every chance to regroup and attack once again, no? We still have Adalmann, that crazed Saint, patrolling the lands. A wight king like him is just as strong as any of us—and the curse you’ve laid upon him is as active as ever, isn’t it, President?”
66
67Kazalim exchanged glances with the boy before slowly, painfully, opening his mouth. “The complex I granted Clayman fell yesterday, in the course of a single evening. That slime, of all people, sent a small assault force to capture it.”
68
69“Huhhh?” Laplace reacted.
70
71“No!” Teare shouted.
72
73“You’re kidding me!” protested Footman. “So the magic-born I saw on that battlefield wasn’t even the full force at that Rimuru’s disposal— Ah, wait a minute.” He looked up for a moment. “Hold on, hold on, I remember that crystal…”
74
75“Right.” The boy nodded. “The images Laplace took— You saw the ogre mages in there, didn’t you? I think it’s safe to say that each of them alone is a Special A-grade threat in the battlefield.”
76
77Footman fell silent, mouth agape.
78
79“…Really?” Teare whispered. Nobody answered.
80
81“Regardless,” reported Kazalim, “that slime Rimuru was at the battle. I suppose he sprang that fight upon us as a ruse so he could capture Clayman’s quarters himself. For a slime of his caliber, it’s not impossible to imagine him breaking through our defensive lines.”
82
83Now the rest of the room was beginning to realize just how ominous the situation was.
84
85“Which is why,” the boy said, “I think we need to reconsider our objective.”
86
87With the majority of their military forces gone, he reasoned, any strategic moves needed to be avoided for now. Clayman’s death alone was a serious psychological blow to everybody who knew him. But fortunately, they had not lost everything. They still had resources left untapped in order to spread out the risk, as well as the group they had implanted deep inside the Western Nations. Plus, the political influence they wielded behind the scenes with those two groups was still as strong as ever. Perhaps they lacked physical might, but they had intelligence-gathering experts deployed across the land, laying out feelers to gauge every nation’s direction.
88
89To the boy, who had started with nothing and come this far, it was still possible to stage a comeback. And that was why…
90
91“…For the time being, we need to lay low. It’s a shame about Clayman, but we don’t have enough power to try to exact revenge upon the demon lords. If we want to reach our ultimate goal of conquering the world, I think we need to be patient for now.”
92
93His audience nodded their agreement.
94
95“True enough. We’ve made major strides over the past ten years. Perhaps it planted the seeds of arrogance inside all of us.”
96
97“Yep. Hence why Clayman got it in his head to pull all that nonsense…”
98
99“Right. I hate to say it, but doing anything rash right now is likely to make things even worse.”
100
101“I hesitate to accept it myself, but I concede it is our best option for now…”
102
103The boy giggled a little as the magic-born all offered their agreement. “Ha-ha-ha! Oh, cut me a break, Footman,” he chuckled, patting him on the shoulder. “I’ve still got all of you—the best cards in my hand. I can’t afford to lose you guys over some reckless shot in the dark, too.”
104
105This was something he truly meant and also the main reason behind his decision. He needed to be sure everyone was on the same page as him, or else he feared at least one would let their anger get the best of them. Footman knew that perfectly well—and he knew he had to accept it.
106
107“I know, pal. Better to bottle it up inside for now, so we can let it fully erupt later.”
108
109He did understand that. Losing his cool and picking a fight with a cadre of demon lords would simply spell the end of his life. He had to accept the boy’s reasoning.
110
111The boy, appreciating this, looked at the magic-born assembled before him. “But hey, it’s no fun to be the punching bag all the time, right? Maybe we won’t do anything, but we can say a lot of things. That slime took Clayman for everything he had, and I think I know how to get back at him a bit.”
112
113He gave an ominous little grin.
114
115“How do you mean?” Kazalim asked.
116
117“There is something unusual about that slime,” the boy replied, grinning with glee. “In just a few years, he has built up a new, and massive, force. It’s hard for me to believe, and in any normal situation, we’d never want to defy him. So let’s wait and see a little, huh? And to do that, I’ve got something I want to deploy.”
118
119“Oh, great.” Laplace shrugged. “Another little scheme of yours? At least it beats you ordering me to pull off some other insane trick, as you usually do. Hopefully I can stay in the audience for this one, thanks.”
120
121
122For now, the magic-born were withdrawing from the public eye, descending into a sort of primordial darkness—sharpening their fangs for the fated day of revenge, whenever it may come.
123
124
125
126
127
128CHAPTER 1
129
130
131DEMONS AND SCHEMES
132
133
134Once we settled on the name Octagram for ourselves, Mizeri and Raine, the green-and blue-haired maids in Guy Crimson’s service, prepared an extravagant meal for us all. They were decked out in dark-red maid’s outfits, and their kitchen skills, it turned out, were second to none.
135
136As Ramiris told me, the original purpose of the Walpurgis Council was to let demon lords hang out and swap information. As a vestige of this, perhaps, the space we were in featured a separate room…a sort of casual lounge, you could say. Attendance wasn’t mandatory, and all the demon lords did their own thing—some left immediately after the meeting ended, some stuck around long enough for dinner, and others whiled away the time by chatting in the lounge.
137
138Me, I went for the food. You don’t get a chance like this every day, and honestly, considering how much more overpowered Guy was compared with the rest of us, I wanted to see what his diet was like. The resulting meal was more exquisitely delightful than I ever could’ve imagined. Each dish was an astounding new discovery, the best of its type in the whole world, and as I lingered over each one in reverie:
139
140
141Report. Component analysis complete. It is now possible to re-create the recipes black tiger stew, grilled sage rooster, golden peach sherbet, and roast earthensleep dragon steak.
142
143
144I stole all the recipes. Is that mean of me? It seemed kind of unfair, not that I really understood what made them work. Steal makes it sound illegal or something. This was just intelligence gathering. These recipes called for meat from monsters rated A or higher, which you don’t exactly see walking into town every day. But once I had the right ingredients, I think I would know how to prepare them now.
145
146The feast was rounded out with a bountiful selection of fresh fruit. Six of us were at the table, by the way—me, Guy, Milim, Ramiris, Deeno, and Daggrull. Valentine and Leon had left long ago.
147
148I took a moment to admonish Milim for tricking me as she gorged herself. She was still playing dumb, but I needed to give her a taste of reality. Meanwhile, I had Carillon and Frey promise me that we’d all discuss the future at a later time. Once we cleaned up after the war, I figured I’d be consulted about the upcoming city-rebuild work. This was going to be a brand-new nation, one with Milim at its head, and I intended to approach those discussions so they benefited me as much as possible.
149
150Ramiris was still bugging me about moving to my hometown. I refused her point-blank, of course, but she wasn’t giving up. You could see it in her eyes. I figured Treyni would be nice enough to pacify her a bit for me, but I had the sneaking suspicion that Treyni loved spoiling Ramiris more than anything else. It seemed that was practically what she lived for, so I reminded myself not to expect much as I resolved to keep an eye on them.
151
152Daggrull and Veldora seemed to be hitting it off pretty well, and Guy and Deeno were engaged in friendly conversation. I decided to offer all of them some of Tempest’s world-famous brandy, distilled from our own wine. Part of my branding efforts, you might say. Spreading the word about how useful a nation we were would oil the gears for diplomacy later. That much is true whether you’re dealing with a demon lord or your next-door neighbor.
153
154“Not bad.”
155
156“Well, well, look at this…”
157
158“Hack! Cough, cough cough! Man, that’s got some bite…”
159
160It was maybe a bit too much alcohol for Deeno to handle, but Guy and Daggrull enjoyed it. So would you please not drink all of it first, Veldora? I had a pretty decent stockpile left in my Stomach, but I didn’t store it in there just so Veldora could guzzle it all. And Milim immediately grabbed at the brandy, too, of course. I didn’t let her have any. You know she’d be an angry drunk. And considering how she tricked me, I had to put my foot down on this.
161
162“And it’s fine for me, mmmmmm?”
163
164Ramiris, meanwhile, was already preciously cradling her glass, three sheets to the wind in the blink of an eye. I let the frantic Beretta and Treyni deal with her. This was actually good for me. If she stayed sober and undistracted tonight, there’s every chance she would’ve tried following me back to Tempest.
165
166So things were in full swing before long at this feast, and I decided to take my leave before Ramiris woke up from her stupor. It was quite an ending to the Walpurgis Council—not at all what I expected, but I’m glad my worrying was all for naught in the end.
167
168
169It had been, to say the least, an eventful twenty-four hours. Walpurgis began at the stroke of midnight; by the time we wrapped it up, it was already early afternoon the next day.
170
171In a flash, I was back at Tempest. The trip over there was one thing, but with Dominate Space, the journey back was a snap. And unlike before, my nation hadn’t fallen apart in my absence—spirits were high, everything worked fine, and I was tremendously relieved. All our forces had kept their high alert going, just as I ordered. They were all more refined now, contributing to safety on the streets more than ever. I had overlooked nothing. The town’s security system, modeled after the police I was familiar with on Earth, seemed to be a decent success.
172
173As I observed all this, a thought struck my mind. You know, this country’s defenses alone could take out a nation or two all by themselves, couldn’t they? Nearly every solder left on defense duty was the equivalent of a B rank, after all. Your garden-variety magical or paranormal beast wouldn’t dare lurk nearby.
174
175Overall, the rule of law and order had really taken hold around here. But that made me worry about monsters coming out of the city, potentially causing havoc somewhere else. It might be better, I thought, to check up on that. So I dragged Veldora and Shion back to town, riding on the back of Ranga.
176
177The moment I entered the city, the local residents and patrolling soldiers immediately took a knee at the side of the road, forming a path for me to follow. It was all so expertly choreographed. I had no idea when they learned how to do it. What’s up with that? I thought—only to find Diablo approaching me from the other end of the path. He gave me a sincere smile, one brimming with joy, as he exchanged glances with Rigurd.
178
179“Welcome back, Sir Rimuru!”
180
181“It fills us with joy to hear of your induction into the Octagram! I am so glad to see you back here safely!”
182
183I appreciated that from Rigurd and Diablo, yes, but…seriously, what’s going on here? And how did you guys know I was crowned a demon lord? That had to be the first time anyone used the term Octagram in this world, too. I should know—I thought of it myself. The questions just kept piling up. Wasn’t Diablo supposed to be out conquering the Kingdom of Farmus right now? Why was he here roping the entire town into doing this little dance number for me?
184
185Starting to feel a little ashamed about all this, I finally decided to ask. “It’s simple, Sir Rimuru,” the smiling Diablo replied. “We had asked Lord Veldora to keep us updated.”
186
187I squinted at Veldora. He immediately averted his eyes. Dude. Come on, man. I don’t know what he’s guilty of yet, but he’s guilty of something.
188
189After I put the screws to him a little, Veldora quickly revealed the truth. It turns out that he agreed to play Tempest informant in exchange for three dessert dishes at the next meal—and he held up his end of the bargain, telling Diablo about everything that happened in the Council.
190
191Now it made sense—why they knew about me being a demon lord and about the Octagram name we had adopted. Maybe I should go so far as to praise Diablo for his data-gathering skills. Even if a person was smart enough to consider paying off someone as powerful as Veldora, only a select few would dare attempt it. Of course, Veldora deserves a lot of credit for actually agreeing with that nonsense, but still, I like this kind of proactive behavior. If all parties involved were pleased, I saw no need to harp on it.
192
193Still…
194
195“Veldora, do you even need to eat?”
196
197“Wh-what kind of nonsense is that, Rimuru?! It’s not a matter of needing to eat or not. I eat because I want to. You hardly need to eat, either, do you?”
198
199Gah!
200
201He had a point. I don’t have much of a leg to stand on here. Shuna’s cooking had improved by leaps and bounds lately, and we had a variety of desserts on offer these days. We managed to perfectly re-create the cream puffs I found in that Englesian café, and we were even inventing things like custard pudding now. The larger array of alcoholic beverages available also contributed to the invention of new taste-tempting treats.
202
203I was having Yoshida, the café owner, help with this, developing new recipes and so forth; he readily agreed, happy to gain access to the drinks we made. “Now,” he gleefully said, “I think I can make a lot of things I couldn’t before.” We already had a few test dishes laid out for our dinner tables; Veldora had tried a few of them during the celebration right after I resurrected him, and the results looked like they honestly shocked the guy.
204
205You sure you should be so easily plied with food like that, Veldora? And all it took to make Milim putty in my hands was just a bit of honey… You know, maybe I could conquer the world with a well-stocked kitchen instead of all these military forces.
206
207As I thought about this, Shion and Diablo were exchanging a few words with each other.
208
209“You did serve as Sir Rimuru’s guardian, did you not?”
210
211“Of course I did! And thanks to that, now we all know you aren’t needed as long as I am around. But what about the task Sir Rimuru gave you?”
212
213“Eh-heh-heh-heh-heh… All is well. I intend to brief Sir Rimuru about it personally.”
214
215Their smiles didn’t even reach their eyes; the rivalry was still as intense as ever, I could see. If I left them to their own devices, they’d be at it all day.
216
217“Guys, can you knock that off?”
218
219“Yes.” Rigurd nodded. “I am sure Sir Rimuru is tired. I believe Haruna has a meal prepared for all of you. We can talk once you are suitably refreshed.”
220
221Thanks, Rigurd. I’m loving this new air of authority you’re giving out.
222
223
224So I had him lead me through town.
225
226Everyone we passed by was all smiles, ready to go into full-on party mode at the drop of a hat, but Benimaru and his team still weren’t back from their mission. The full celebration could wait until later. For now, I could rest in the knowledge that one thorny problem, at least, was solved.
227
228Thus, I decided to sink into my hot-spring bath, enjoy the food Haruna prepared for me, give myself a mental recharge, and then listen to Diablo’s report. The battle with Clayman ended in total victory for me, and that just left the establishment of Yohm’s new kingdom and our future wrangling with the Western Holy Church to deal with. There would be new negotiations to consider shortly—with the Beast Kingdom of Eurazania, with the Winged Nation of Fulbrosia, with the Dragon Faithful who worshiped Milim—but those all looked bound to end on friendly terms, so there was no need to fret much about them now.
229
230“So,” I asked Diablo as I enjoyed some post-dinner tea, “what have you been up to? I asked you to destroy the Kingdom of Farmus and install Yohm as its new king. If you abandoned that job and came back here, should I assume that to mean you need more resources?”
231
232I was back in slime form for the first time in a while, relaxing in Shion’s lap as I enjoyed the roundness of her breasts over my head. I think that made my question sound even more serene than I intended. If Diablo needed help, I figured someone like Soei could provide it. We had some leeway again for a change; no need to make Diablo fend for himself.
233
234Shion was laughing above me, going on about something like “Oh, I would say being your tea fetcher is the ideal job for Diablo, my lord. Allow me to conquer that kingdom instead!” and so on, but I ignored her. I just couldn’t see her as up to the task. It was probably her way of lending Diablo a helping hand, but I wasn’t listening—and as it turned out, it wasn’t necessary.
235
236“No, Sir Rimuru,” he said as he refilled my cup, “no resources will be necessary. Everything is proceeding smoothly and according to plan.”
237
238Drinking tea in slime form was a bit tricky, so I simply decided to lie back and enjoy the aroma as I prepared to receive his report. Ahhh, bliss. A bliss that abruptly ended with the next thing he said.
239
240“First, I restored all of them to their original condition. Reducing them to inert slabs of meat was proving rather, ah, inconvenient.”
241
242Slabs of what?! What’s he talking about? Shion shivered a little, picking up on my confusion. Wait, was that her interrogation method…? Hoo boy. Better shut my imagination off before things get too dangerous. I had paid a visit to the interrogation room exactly once, warning her not to “go too far” with the three prisoners we held in there, but…well. I honestly didn’t care if Shion killed them, back at that time, so I didn’t push the issue too much. Bit late to regret that now, I suppose.
243
244Things were already looking dicey here, but I kept up a brave face, hiding my turmoil as I encouraged Diablo to continue.
245
246
247
248
249
250The first thing Diablo did, as he dutifully explained to Rimuru, was restore Church archbishop Reyhiem and palace sorcerer Razen to health.
251
252
253This was conducted on the way to Farmus, in two wagons surrounded by a team of mounted guards. Diablo was seated with the three prisoners in one of the wagons—well, “with” wasn’t exactly right, because although the wagon could comfortably house six passengers, Diablo was the only visible figure inside it. The other three had been packed inside boxes on the floor. As, well, living slabs of meat.
254
255What Shion had done was render them into a form almost too hideous to describe, something far removed from anything recognizably human. She had done so in tiny incremental steps to ensure nobody died, slowly and repeatedly exposing their musculature to the outside air, delicately scraping the meat off their bones. To put it less delicately, Shion was using those three to help her learn how to filet human beings alive—while ensuring the subjects felt no physical pain at all. This was Master Chef, Shion’s unique skill, which pushed them all right up to the brink of death, only to revive them with healing potion so she could start her research over from the beginning.
256
257The sight and sensation of having that repeated over and over, seeing their bodies be disassembled and reassembled—all painlessly—broke all three of them for good. You could see it in their anguished expressions—when you could make out their faces at all, what with all the other exposed guts and viscera in the way.
258
259Returning them to Farmus like this, all of them could tell, was a bad idea. So Diablo began to put together a solution, if rather reluctantly. “What a pain,” he groused. “The laws governing their continued existence have been so twisted and warped that healing magic hardly works on them at all.” But the experience also opened his eyes to the power of arts and other unique skills, something that goes beyond mere magic. Even with his all-but-complete knowledge of magic and its rules in this world, he had found a new surprise to play with. It delighted him.
260
261Thus, in that wagon trundling its way to Farmus, Diablo successfully banished the remains of Shion’s force as it was applied to the three prisoners. Reyhiem was first to be revived, followed by Razen. Diablo had no particular order in mind for this, but when it came time to tackle King Edmaris of Farmus, he stopped.
262
263“Oh, thank you, thank you…!”
264
265It was Reyhiem who found his voice first.
266
267“But enough about us,” Razen added. “My king… Please, bring my king back to what he was…”
268
269Diablo rewarded this blind loyalty with a restive glance…and laughed.
270
271“Ee-hee-hee-hee-hee… You, asking favors of me? You understand that the payment for this is dear, very dear?”
272
273There was kindness to his smile—but not a shred of warmth to his eyes.
274
275“Ah… N-no, I…”
276
277Razen turned pale with fear and regret—
278
279
280—and then he remembered. Diablo, sitting calm and composed in front of him, was not a demon to trifle with. An Arch Demon—or really, nothing even as approachable as that. An Arch Demon would be a threat, enough of one to perhaps spell doom for any smaller nation it pays a visit to. That’s how they earned their Special A rating, qualifying for Calamity status. Their magical force made any half-hearted effort at a magic barrier bend to their will. The fierceness of their aura could blow the defensive fortifications of an entire city away in a single onrush. All that, plus magical spells that crushed anything they encountered. Any adventurer who didn’t rank at least an A themselves had no chance of handling an Arch Demon—simply standing in front of one would be forfeiting their lives. Even Razen would hesitate to confront one.
281
282But that didn’t even compare with Diablo. There didn’t seem to be any aura coming from him at all; he looked merely human. Only his eyes were unique. One glance, and they were unforgettable, like golden moons in the dead of night with slashes of crimson red down the middle. It was alarmingly eerie, but otherwise, he was no different from anyone else—meaning he could simply walk right through any fortifications a city might use to block a lesser demon’s approach.
283
284If humans had any advantage over demons, it was in knowledge and wariness. Monsters could be intelligent as well, but the smarter they were, the more they wanted to show it off—usually in the form of their aura, which they used as a sort of magicule-driven calling card. That was what made barriers sensitive to such energy surges so effective against them. But what about a monster that hid its aura? A Calamity that just appears, in the middle of the street? Razen didn’t even want to imagine that scenario.
285
286A demon smashing through a magic barrier, while regrettable, could at least be anticipated. It’d buy you time to shore up your forces and launch a counterattack. But if that demon could ignore the barrier entirely…anyone could see that it was no laughing matter. Any monster like that would be arch-demon-level or higher. That was Diablo, one of the first Primal Demons.
287
288But there was something even scarier than that. That was the fact that Diablo, this ancient and fearsome demon, was in servitude to another master. The master of all those monsters, with the strikingly beautiful golden eyes and silver-blue hair—shining so bright that you could almost see through him. Fleeting, but possessing power beyond anyone’s recognition. Someone worthy of being called a demon lord.
289
290His mind was filled with sheer terror as he watched this lord massacre an army of twenty thousand, but when they met later, he felt a different emotion. When Razen was being taken away as a prisoner of war, the way this demon lord regarded him… It was like glancing at a pebble on the road. The moment those golden eyes spotted him, Razen was practically intoxicated. Gone was the pain racking his body, the fear of imminent death. And then he understood. There are things in this world that were never meant to be touched. A voice from the heavens booming “Don’t go overboard.” It must have warned Razen then. Don’t count on your chances. Taking on a being who counts a Primal Demon among his servants—no wonder your nation has fallen. To a demon lord like that, destroying Farmus single-handed would be too simple.
291
292
293Razen remembered it all. Ignoring the lurching and jolting of the wagon, he got out of his seat and kneeled before Diablo.
294
295“Of course I understand. And I hope I can…er, that you will allow me to join you as even your lowliest servant! I swear that my body, and my soul, is yours to utilize. So please, please offer some pity to King Edmaris…”
296
297He was staking all his loyalty on this request. Diablo greeted it with a placid nod.
298
299“Very well. I suppose even someone like you is considered relatively powerful by human standards. I am sure you have your uses. Besides, I had no intention of killing him unless Sir Rimuru ordered me to. I will be glad to free him for you. But…”
300
301However, if the monarch wanted to go back to the way he remembered himself, he would have to work for it. He would need to be shown to the kingdom’s nobility, in the horrifying form he was in now, to show to the world the foolishness of bending a bow against the Rimuru Diablo was so devoted to. Razen waited nervously for Diablo to continue, while Reyhiem was too terrified by the oppressive atmosphere to move an inch.
302
303“But I will let this go just one time. Depending on your future behavior, not only your king’s life, but the very breath of existence that blows over the land of Farmus may be snuffed out.”
304
305He meant it literally. Diablo’s will—meaning, Rimuru’s will—was to be followed, or else. Razen, and Reyhiem, and even King Edmaris in his exposed, twisted, boxed-up form all knew the intent behind the statement. All three were fools, but they were not idiots. Whether they liked it or not, they understood Diablo wouldn’t hesitate to act on that threat. The only way they could remain alive, it was clear now, was to give Diablo their full support.
306
307“Of course, sir! Give us any order you seek! We will cooperate to the best of our ability!”
308
309Reyhiem threw his head close to the floor in a humiliating kowtow, a mental hair’s breadth away from licking Diablo’s boots.
310
311“You have our loyalty, my lord!”
312
313And Razen had already made up his mind. Whether the king was safe mattered little by now. The only thing that had kept Farmus, and its royal lineage, safe for this long was Razen’s pride in his job. Even Edmaris, in all his anguish and desperation, could see that. Now, Razen had forsaken him—and thus, forsaken Farmus.
314
315But the king knew it was the best choice available. Defying the demon lord meant the destruction of the nation. King Edmaris had two choices left: pledge his allegiance to the demons or attempt a resistance and be cut down immediately. And the good king was not foolish enough to make the wrong decision at a time like this. Thus, for his last official act as leader of the Kingdom of Farmus, he made the right move.
316
317“As the final king of Farmus,” he declared, with some reluctance but still loudly and clearly, “I promise I will provide any support you require, Sir Diablo.”
318
319
320Diablo had pledges from all three of them. At that moment, behind the scenes, his Tempter skill was doing its work, ensuring that each one would be in his servitude.
321
322“Don’t worry,” the demon gently whispered with a smile. “Do what I say, and I will make sure you do not suffer for it.”
323
324
325
326
327
328The land of Farmus was in a state of mass confusion that day. Their lord, King Edmaris, had returned in a shocking state of affairs.
329
330There, in the royal castle’s audience chambers, the collected nobility of the nation gasped in horror. There, atop the throne, a box had been reverently laid upon the cushion. Inside was…a cube of meat, a nauseating mixture of geometry and biology with the king’s face buried in the center. It was alive, its eyes a tad glassy as it stared out of the box, but fully conscious nonetheless.
331
332“Shogo! What madness is this? Why is His Majesty in such a miserable state?!”
333
334“Hear! Hear! And what of the other two? What happened to our royal armies?”
335
336“And what of Folgen?! What is our knight captain doing?! How could this ever have happened with Sir Razen overseeing matters?!”
337
338Panic spread as the noblemen began to shout over one another, fervently trying to mask their fear. Razen, taking the form of Shogo, could hardly blame them.
339
340………
341
342……
343
344…
345
346Several days after losing regular magical contact, the people remaining in the kingdom were on pins and needles. Their proud, overwhelming force of twenty thousand couldn’t have been defeated, but there was no telling what sort of unexpected events may have transpired. There was no way to be sure if their king was safe, even—more than enough to fill any mind with suspicious doubt.
347
348In the midst of this, Razen had taken Archbishop Reyhiem back home, using a Warp Portal to transport the both of them back to the castle’s warp chamber. A passing sentry had noticed their limp forms on the floor early in the morning that day. It threw the palace guards into a panic as they scrambled to identify them—Shogo Taguchi, the otherworlder, and Reyhiem, archbishop and His Majesty’s close confidant. The guards helped the latter up, still confused about all this, before noticing the box the boy took great pains to keep safe in his hands.
349
350One of them looked inside, unprepared for the sight. He was an upper officer in the royal guard, known for courage and coolness under fire, but not even he could refrain from screaming in horror. There were strings of some unidentifiable organic matter connecting haphazardly from one section to the other, emitting a rotting stench—a twisted sight, like plucking all the organs out of a body and gluing them back together at random. The sole ruler of the Kingdom of Farmus had been reduced to a sickening creature, and no one could criticize that royal guard for so rudely screaming his head off at him. Attracted by the noise, others went to look for themselves and reacted the same way; the attendants and ministers were all thrown into utter chaos at the transformation of their lord.
351
352Some screamed and sobbed. Some found themselves emptying their stomachs on the spot in fear. Some fainted entirely. None of them could believe this was their king. But this was reality. When they finally dared to come close enough, it was confirmed for good—this truly was Edmaris before them.
353
354“What are you doing?!” one of the ministers shouted. “We must help His Majesty!”
355
356That was the catalyst. At once, everyone sprang into action. The sorcerers who stayed behind in the palace tested out every spell at their disposal. The high-level priests of the Western Holy Church were summoned, each attempting their own healing magic. Faced with this object of primal fear, they tried desperately to restore the king to normal, faces straining at the sickening sight, attempting to keep their wits as they continued their work.
357
358But nothing worked. No matter what they tried, they couldn’t save their king.
359
360………
361
362……
363
364…
365
366Now Shogo had regained consciousness. He was immediately called in for questioning.
367
368
369Razen felt a slight sense of sympathy there, faced with his former comrades. His fealty was squarely with Diablo, and he wouldn’t hesitate to betray them now. They would all face their fates alone, based on their own decisions—but Razen felt just a hint of pity for them. All of this was on Diablo’s orders, including his feigned unconsciousness. Everything was going to plan.
370
371As Diablo’s servant, Razen had received a briefing on what his new master intended to do with this kingdom. He fully understood what needed to be done to achieve those aims. In a word, this land was to become the demon lord’s plaything. The moment Farmus was selected as a game board with everyone here as pawns, the history of the country as an ongoing concern came to an end.
372
373But this was not necessarily bad news for its people. When told of the demon lord’s plans, Razen felt a broad sense of hope. Already in his mind’s eye, he could see the land of Farmus growing more prosperous than ever before. If achieving this goal meant toppling the current system in place, then so be it.
374
375“Calm yourselves! This is Razen inside this body. I have taken His Majesty back to safety, with the kind assistance of a champion to our cause.”
376
377“What? You’re not Shogo?”
378
379“What happened to…? Ah. Yes, now I see.”
380
381“Imagine, Sir Razen inside that impudent snit Shogo’s body! This will take some getting used to.”
382
383Despite the initial confusion, the people in the chamber were convinced. Razen was, after all, a great magician.
384
385“But you fled the battle? Does that mean our forces…Farmus’s forces have been defeated?!”
386
387“What happened after that? You didn’t simply march back to the castle because you couldn’t eradicate the monsters, did you?”
388
389The noblemen’s questions grew to a torrent. They were the leaders of the nation, although many of them secretly (or not so secretly) schemed to use this war as a cover for the profits they intended to make off it. Defeat, and the financial losses that entailed, were unthinkable notions.
390
391“Silence, all of you! We must let Sir Razen say his piece!”
392
393It was the Marquis of Muller who finally calmed the crowd. That, too, was part of the plan. Diablo had made contact with him the previous night via a connection to Fuze, guild master for the kingdom of Blumund. Things were all proceeding just as Diablo had pictured them.
394
395
396Razen began by explaining how the king would be saved. A native champion named Yohm had apparently negotiated with the lord of the monsters, procuring some of their restorative potion that he would soon bring back to Farmus. Word had already been sent to the gate guards, ready to receive Yohm’s party at any moment.
397
398He then moved on to what exactly happened to the Farmus forces. He did not get very far into the tale before the chamber erupted into shouting once more. All it took were three magic words: Veldora was reborn.
399
400“That—that can’t be…”
401
402“That evil dragon’s found new life in the monsters’ land…?”
403
404“No… I thought Veldora had been eternally banished!”
405
406“There is no time to waste. We must report this to the Holy Church and have them dispatch a Crusader group at once!”
407
408“It’s all over! If Sir Razen speaks the truth, we have no means of resistance. The remaining forces in Farmus hardly number enough to put up a new defense!”
409
410“He’s right! Bring our knights back here immediately!”
411
412“Indeed. If our magical link with them is cut off, we must send a messenger for General Folgen!”
413
414“There’s no time for such nonsense! We must flee this land before this knowledge reaches the general public, or we may lose any chance to do so!”
415
416Chaos and terror reigned. Some professed the need to strike back; others saw fit to abandon the people outright and go into exile. Muller silenced them all with a thundering roar.
417
418“Enough of this! Whether our knights are alive or not, the situation remains the same. Panic will accomplish nothing for us, Sir Hytta. Where do you intend to flee to? That Storm Dragon is a Catastrophe for us all.”
419
420The noblemen regained their composure. Calmness returned for a moment, only to be shattered as Razen continued, explaining what had transpired in that faraway land—the sad (and entirely made-up) tragedy of how the entire Farmus force had disappeared without a trace, following Veldora’s revival.
421
422
423The tale made all the present nobility fall silent. Nobody said anything. It was entirely preposterous, so difficult to believe, for everyone. Soon, they began asking Razen questions, attempting to come to grips with the situation.
424
425“S-Sir Razen, is all of that true? We have no idea where any of them are?”
426
427“Indeed. The battle between our forces and the monsters resurrected the sleeping dragon in his domain.”
428
429“That, that couldn’t possibly be! The Western Holy Church declared him to be sealed away forever! Are you saying that was a lie?”
430
431“No. They were right—Veldora had been extinguished from this world. But the seeds of the dragon species can never be fully removed. They are simply reborn elsewhere. It surprised all of us, though, seeing this rebirth take place so close to us and in such a short time.”
432
433“Then what happened to the survivors, Sir Razen?”
434
435“Yes! Is General Folgen still alive? How many forces can we still account for?”
436
437Razen solemnly shook his head. They had all died, thanks to an enraged Rimuru—such was the truth. But he had direct orders from Diablo to describe the fates of every fighter as unknown.
438
439“What is the meaning of this?”
440
441“As I said, I do not know where they are. The knights and monsters that were fighting on that land disappeared once Veldora revived himself. We were all that remained—”
442
443“Ridiculous!”
444
445“Just to be sure, you literally mean they disappeared? Not scattered across the land following a rout?”
446
447“Our supply teams would have been stationed behind the front lines. Surely they must be safe, at least?”
448
449Razen fell silent, eyes closed. Seeing this forced everyone to trust him at his word. The knights were all gone. One of the ministers fell to the ground, erupting in tears. He was the one who asked about the supply teams, in no small part because his son had been sent out on one of them, his first battle experience. Keeping him away from the front had meant pulling all the strings he could, but the effort had been wasted. He had only agreed to his deployment because this was supposed to be a raid, a journey to seize the monsters’ assets and kill with abandon. And now this. The despair came so unexpectedly, it made him cry almost instantly.
450
451But even that tragedy was just one in a multitude. Approximately twenty thousand people were missing in action. It was a cataclysmic loss like none the nation had ever seen—and as “missing” as they officially were, nobody expected them home anytime soon. They were as good as dead.
452
453And now all of them had connected that cataclysm in their minds with the revival of Veldora. They had all been sacrificed in order to breathe life into the dragon. To Veldora himself, that was nothing more than a hateful lie, but it was exactly what Rimuru and his advisers wanted. Diablo had just made masterful use of Razen to manipulate the thoughts and minds of the Farmus nobility.
454
455
456
457
458
459Then, as if on cue, footsteps rang out from outside the throne room. Yohm and his team had arrived—with Mjurran as his chief adviser, Gruecith, his main bodyguard, and the sorcerer Rommel, his personal secretary. Taking up the rear was Diablo himself, dressed in his finest butler-style clothing but oozing a very non-butler-like arrogance from every pore. This chamber was not the sort of place someone as low-born as an adventurer could easily step into, but Razen had arranged for a guide to lead them in.
460
461“Sorry I took so long,” said Yohm to Razen, “but I think I finally got the big guy to see things our way.”
462
463He tried to hold his head high as a statesman, but his street-bred speech habits proved less simple to fix. Turning him into nobility was not going to happen overnight. His attitude alone made the other nobles question him.
464
465“Who on earth are you?! Do you have any idea of your rudeness, commoner?!”
466
467Despite being informed that Yohm’s party was here to heal the king, one of the ministers saw fit to chew him out. He was aware of Yohm the champion, yes. Yohm’s likeness had been passed around, so the minister knew exactly to whom he was speaking. There was no mistaking his Exo-Armor, either—but none of that mattered to him. This was the royal castle, and the rules of the common streets didn’t apply here. Yohm’s casual tongue was unacceptable.
468
469This unnerved Razen. He turned a wary eye toward Diablo, gauging whether this tirade offended him or not. If the nobility was not fully prepared for this, Razen would have to shoulder the blame. He could understand the minister’s anger—it was a perfectly normal reaction to have, as he saw it—but now wasn’t the time for this. He regretted not being more thorough in his guidance.
470
471“Lord Carlos,” he intervened, “please wait a moment. This group is the very one that saved us. They are the only ones who hold the key to rescuing His Majesty!”
472
473“What? They saved you, Sir Razen?”
474
475“As the so-called defender of our kingdom, Sir Razen, that hardly sounds like you. What is the meaning of this?”
476
477Despite the noblemen’s misgivings, Razen was still the most powerful wizard in Farmus. There was no doubting his powers, and his track record in defending the kingdom from outside threats spread across hundreds of years. His words were not to be taken lightly, and so the nobility sheathed their swords for now. If anything, though, this response was merely a bluff in the face of the mortal danger this nation faced. If Razen had been saved, perhaps there was a way all of them could be, too.
478
479As Razen opened his mouth to answer the question, another voice joined the conversation.
480
481“Allow me to answer that.”
482
483It was Reyhiem, the archbishop. He had pretended to be himself just revived this moment to come to Razen’s assistance. Relieved, Razen gave him a nod, then turned to Diablo, noticing his expectant smile.
484
485“Yes? How was Sir Razen rescued, then?”
486
487“I trust he has already told you about the Storm Dragon’s reawakening,” Reyhiem began. “The battlefield was intense, vehicles from both sides smashing against one another. Our side outnumbered theirs, but the monsters had the geographical advantage. It was a much harder battle than any of us expected, and there were many casualties on both sides.”
488
489His voice echoed across the otherwise silent chamber as he continued, keeping a close eye on Diablo to gauge his response. The chaos on the battlefield was what revived Veldora, and when he emerged on the scene, both human and monster were sacrificed en masse.
490
491“It was all Sir Reyhiem and I could do to keep His Majesty protected,” Razen said as he nodded. He was careful to emphasize that there was nothing he could’ve done to save them.
492
493“Exactly, exactly. We were situated in the rear of the main force, watching in despair as the tragedy unfolded before us. Before the Storm Dragon, dooming our legions to death and crushing everything in his path, we all said our final prayers. But then, one rose up to stand between us and this merchant of death.”
494
495Razen shot Diablo a glance, to which Diablo gave a self-satisfied nod back. It was just the signal he and Reyhiem wanted.
496
497“It was none other than Sir Rimuru, the master of the monsters.”
498
499“Indeed, it was. Sir Reyhiem and I were both prepared to die, but Sir Rimuru convinced Lord Veldora to calm his rage.”
500
501“Convinced? He actually spoke with the monster?!”
502
503“It would be suicide to stand before the likes of Veldora. Being exposed to all those magicules would kill most creatures.”
504
505“How did he do it?”
506
507The nobility was understandably surprised. If Veldora could be reasoned with, perhaps there was a way to keep him from laying waste upon the land. They looked toward Razen and Reyhiem with hopeful expressions. There was every chance that Veldora would spare Farmus, but it would be foolish to idly hope for that to transpire. But what was to be done, then? Nobody had an answer for that. Now that they knew a force of twenty thousand, including the king’s personal knight corps, had been literally erased from existence, nobody was reckless enough to suggest confronting the dragon. If they could negotiate with this threat, that was the best solution for everyone.
508
509“You are all aware, I assume, that Sir Rimuru is also the overseer of the Forest of Jura?”
510
511“Or so he claims, at least,” groused a minister. Diablo greeted this with a scowl that immediately filled Razen with alarm.
512
513“It is no mere claim, Minister,” he said. “I have personally witnessed the town the monsters built, and truly, it is more than worthy of serving as the capital of any kingdom. But we can discuss that later. Regardless, Sir Rimuru has the dryads, the guardians of Jura, working alongside him.”
514
515As he put it to the nobility, Rimuru used the dryads as a kind of interpreter for his talks with Veldora. That made it all the more convincing. The dryads were well-known for having the power to guard the lands where Veldora slept. They were classified as A rank by the Free Guild’s reckoning, and in terms of the danger they posed, Special A wasn’t out of the question. If they were serving this monster Rimuru, his powers must be at least as extensive as that. Nobody in the room had a problem picturing it. They were all high-level nobility, and none of them were lazy with their intelligence gathering.
516
517“I see…”
518
519“So making him our foe was a mistake…?”
520
521The ministers recalled how eager they were to invade the monster lands. They hated to face this reality, but it was a headache they all had to deal with now.
522
523“This is ominous,” one of them muttered. “If it was possible to negotiate with this dragon, then antagonizing our sole potential inroad was a grave error, indeed…”
524
525The rest of them went visibly paler. There was no way they could ask Rimuru to intervene on their part. At worst, he might even send Veldora over to Farmus to teach them all a lesson.
526
527Then Yohm, summarily ignored up to now, walked to the center of the chamber. Ensuring all eyes were upon him, he began to speak, his voice calm.
528
529“Um, yeah, so listen, you guys don’t have to worry about that. When I killed that orc lord, I was working with Rimuru the whole time. He’s actually a pretty openhearted guy usually, you know? In fact, he’s got a pretty keen interest in working alongside humanity—”
530
531“Oh-ho!” Lord Carlos interrupted him, exercising every bit of his regal pretension. “Then let this man stand in for us and tell him of our demands. We will give you our demands at a later time, so please retire to another room and wait for us.”
532
533Class is an onerous thing. Whether a champion of the people or not, Yohm was still a commoner, not even deemed worthy of a knighthood. Many in the room made no secret about how much they looked down upon him. Lord Carlos was an earl, among the most powerful in the Farmus bureaucracy, and the greatest example of how full of themselves the nobility often proved to be. This attitude would not normally be a problem in this chamber, but—again—now was not the time. Already, some of the other nobles were rolling their eyes at Carlos.
534
535“Whoa, whoa, wait a sec. I said he’s usually openhearted, but not right now, you know what I mean? You all probably know why.”
536
537“What?”
538
539“You declared war on Rimuru’s nation, right? Bad idea, my friend. Rimuru lost some of his pals in that battle. He, um— He’s pretty pissed off.”
540
541“What nonsense is this, commoner?! It is not your place to question the actions of our nation! If you are on speaking terms with Rimuru, that is all we require. It is a champion’s duty to intervene for us. You must do something!”
542
543Lord Carlos was acting as haughty as ever, totally ignoring Yohm’s pleadings. Yohm had trouble hiding his disgust. I swear, these nobles, he thought, taking pains to look undisturbed as he continued.
544
545“Look, can you just listen to me for one moment? From the way I heard it, you didn’t send any envoys, you didn’t declare war or anything; you just took some otherworlders and let ’em go to town, huh? I went out to mediate with you guys, but when I heard all that, lemme tell ya, I was shocked. But look, I’m a Farmus man. Born and raised. I don’t wanna see my homeland get wrecked, so I tried finding a way to calm Rimuru down. Razen over there asked me to.”
546
547If the nobility continued to act as despotic as they were, it was no exaggeration to say Farmus’s days were numbered. Sensing Diablo behind him, Yohm could physically feel the doom over them all.
548
549
550Catching sight of Diablo taught Yohm all about what true evil was. It made him realize what a bunch of small-time bandits he and his group really were. Real evil doesn’t bother to try buttering up the men in charge. They bow down to no one, staying constantly true to their will.
551
552Diablo was on good behavior right now only because he was faithfully following Rimuru’s orders. Him acting up right now would have adverse effects on Yohm’s future as the new king. Overly punishing the nobles would leave the real problem unaddressed, and if he simply killed them all to shut them up, it’d tarnish the new government’s reputation. The most ideal way to handle them was to wait until some of the more rebellious ones made their presences known. That was why Diablo stayed silent, keenly observing them all.
553
554If, on the other hand, the nobility decided to incur his wrath, all that flew out the window. If Diablo decided none of them were worth keeping alive, that would be the end for them, right there. Mjurran and Gruecith, serving as advisers to Diablo, were in agreement on that. Only a very few high-level magic-born could hope to corral someone as powerful as Razen. Diablo was one of them, and if Diablo wanted to take action, Farmus in its current weakened state could do nothing to resist him.
555
556This was much of the reason why Yohm’s party was far more nervous about how this meeting in the throne room would go than any of the nobles were.
557
558
559Razen felt just the same way as Yohm. It was clear that Diablo thought little of human life, and he had none of the hang-ups about noble titles and commoners the rest of them had. They were all equally worthless to him—his treatment of King Edmaris made that blindingly obvious.
560
561If they started flinging insults at Rimuru, master of the monsters, they had no idea how Diablo might react. Lord Carlos, hopefully, would be the only target of his rage. If he wasn’t, then all intelligent life might be banished from Farmus entirely.
562
563Razen knew that, and that knowledge made him frantic. Assuaging the panic running inside his head, he tried his best to back up Yohm.
564
565“Lord Carlos, that is quite enough from you!”
566
567“What? You take the side of this scruffy commoner, Sir Razen?!”
568
569“I said, that is quite enough!” he found himself shouting. “I will not have you intrude until you understand the situation!”
570
571It was rare for Razen to raise his voice in court. It cowed the nobility into silence, waiting to see what would happen next.
572
573“Listen to me, all of you,” he said, mentally recalling the script he was given. “Sir Yohm is telling us the truth. Shogo and his otherworlder compatriots were defeated by the monster army’s generals. When our forces tried to overrun our enemies, the Storm Dragon blocked us, sealing our fates. The survivors consist of Sir Reyhiem, His Majesty, and me—us three only. We were held captive, and it was the good word of Sir Yohm that earned us our release.”
574
575He continued with the tale, and no one else dared to cast doubt upon it. Soon Reyhiem and Yohm were contributing information, supported by Muller and the Earl of Hellman. Together, they all pleaded their case before the biggest and brightest figures of Farmus politics.
576
577“…So you say that His Majesty was subjected to a curse on the battlefield that put him in his present state?”
578
579“Our lord has offered peace…and the master of the monsters is willing to listen…?”
580
581“Are you saying Farmus, our homeland, has yielded to monsters?”
582
583“Have we any other choice? Surely you don’t intend to suggest we continue the battle. We would have the Storm Dragon to answer to.”
584
585“No, I…”
586
587The otherworlders, their aces in the hole, had been dispatched by Rimuru’s top officials. Veldora was on the move. The Jura-Tempest Federation, an organization they once derided as a rabble of slavering beasts, was—from a military perspective, at least—leaps and bounds ahead of Farmus. Attempting to stage a frontal attack against this foe would be the height of folly. Everyone in the chamber had the same thought—in admitting defeat, the king made the only decision available to him.
588
589Soon, the group had come to a consensus.
590
591“Well, if we have an offer being made to us, why not accept it, everyone?”
592
593The majority nodded their agreement to Muller’s suggestion. There were some contrarians among them, no doubt, but none of them voiced their concerns. Nobody seemed to contest the fact that this war could no longer continue.
594
595
596It was now settled. The Kingdom of Farmus would enter negotiations with Tempest. And with that decided, Diablo finally took his cue.
597
598“Heh-heh-heh-heh… A wise decision,” he said as he began to saunter toward the center. “In that case, as promised, I will release your king back to you.”
599
600“Who are you?!”
601
602“Pardon me,” Diablo proudly stated. “My name is Diablo, faithful servant to my leader, the great and powerful Rimuru.”
603
604The assembled nobility had little idea how to address this man. Diablo seemed so natural among them that they had trouble speaking up. Only Razen demonstrated any fear of him, for only Razen knew what that name meant. The mere fact the name existed at all; that struck terror into him. Some things, he thought as he enviously looked at the audience and sighed, are better off not being known at all.
605
606
607Others, however, regarded Diablo with suspicion. These were the king’s own royal guard, stationed by their lord’s side and keeping an eye on this interloper’s every move. Finally, when he was just about to reach the throne, they stepped in his way—only to be completely ignored, as Diablo continued tracing a path to the gruesome box atop the seat.
608
609The guard was now visibly angered but nonetheless frozen in place. Even if they wanted to speak, none of them could. By the Free Guild’s reckoning, each knight in this guard rated an A-minus—not quite a full A but certainly above a B. One could even call them the strongest of Farmus’s remaining force, left behind in the castle to keep the rest of the administration well guarded. They numbered a hundred strong, there in the chamber, and none of them could move an inch.
610
611It wasn’t anything Diablo actively did to them. It was simple terror. Their well-honed survival instincts told every one of them how much of a danger Diablo was.
612
613“Very good,” he said as he greeted the sight with a smile. “No need for anyone to die needlessly, am I right?”
614
615So he continued until he stopped at the box that contained what was left of King Edmaris. Calmly, he took a Full Potion out of a pocket and poured it straight into the container—and without anyone noticing, he simultaneously undid the binding curse placed by Shion on its contents. The resulting transformation was dramatic. The moment medicine made contact with flesh, the king was back, in the robust shape everyone recalled. Diablo’s scheme was a roaring success. This king, whose malady had been thought of as incurable by the men assembled, was back to normal in an instant. The attending doctors and sorcerers all yelped in surprise.
616
617“What, what is that potion…?”
618
619“It is a Full Potion,” he gently replied. “A specially refined creation of my homeland, the most potent of all restorative treatments. We export it only to nations on friendly terms with us.”
620
621This introduction was a key part of the plan. The potion, after all, was Tempest’s main economic weapon.
622
623Full Potions were only rarely found worldwide, usually dug up from the ruins of ancient magical empires. One sip could perform miracles up to, and including, the regeneration of missing limbs. Only a Revival Elixir—an agent that provided nothing short of resurrection—could outclass it. The recipe for it had been lost over time, although rumor had it the dwarves were frantically trying to re-create it. If it was being actively manufactured, people the world over would seek it.
624
625Diablo had previously heard, from Gabil and others, about how eager Rimuru was to advertise this wonder drug. Unlike Shion, he was an enthusiastic pupil, learning everything there was to know about Tempest in short order. Thus, despite the grimness of the situation, he didn’t waste the opportunity to show off a little. That attention to detail made him stand out among Rimuru’s staff. It was, in a way, a rather extreme example of Diablo’s refusal to compromise on anything he did—one reason why antagonizing him was extremely ill-advised.
626
627Razen and Reyhiem, he knew, were scared that he might massacre everyone in the castle. But nothing could be further from his mind. Doing that would wipe out Rimuru’s trust in him. He had been tasked with making Yohm king of this realm, and Diablo wasn’t stupid enough to risk that. In his mind, he had a cunning plan—the classic carrot and stick. Careful applications of both would allow him to manipulate the minds of the ministers and noblemen gathered here. He would make them consider it wiser to acquiesce than defy him. And if any one of them was foolish enough to make the wrong decision, he would cleanse the kingdom of their presence. That was the gist of it.
628
629
630The king was back in human form, much to the astonishment of his slack-jawed audience. To the casual observer, it looked every bit like the Full Potion alone had healed him.
631
632“How do you feel?” Diablo asked.
633
634Edmaris, a tad pale in the face but otherwise none the worse for wear, nodded back.
635
636“Ah… Y-yes… Thank you. You saved me.”
637
638This weak reply was half honest feelings, half scripted act. Edmaris was doing Diablo’s bidding. Tempter, Diablo’s unique skill, was in the same family as Rimuru’s own Merciless, allowing him complete control over anyone whose spirit he had sufficiently broken. Under its influence, if King Edmaris ever attempted to defy Diablo’s will, Diablo would immediately be informed of it.
639
640As the king put on the clothing hurriedly provided by an attendant and breathed a sigh of relief, Diablo motioned at him with his eyes. He nodded back.
641
642“Now, my liege, I have a message from Sir Rimuru, my own lord,” said Diablo.
643
644“I will be glad to hear it, messenger from the monster realm.”
645
646This was the first time the king of Farmus acknowledged Tempest as a sovereign nation. It was also a signal to everyone in the room. From this point forward, as far as King Edmaris was concerned, Tempest would be recognized as an orderly negotiating partner—which in turn meant Diablo was the official representative of the other side of the war.
647
648It was as significant a gesture as Edmaris could muster, in an effort not to get on Diablo’s wrong side, and thanks to that, any noblemen fostering ideas of revolt were silenced for good. Of course, nobody had any will to continue the war at this point. This declaration was less for Diablo’s sake and more in hopes of protecting the king’s own countrymen.
649
650“Allow me to give you his statement. One week from now, my lord wishes to hold peace talks between the representatives of both nations here, in this land. Before we sign the peace treaty, you are asked to agree to the following conditions provided by us…”
651
652Diablo took out several pieces of parchment paper.
653
654
655“You have the right to make your choices about these stipulations…”
656
657
658After an ominous opening, the document laid out its terms—ostensibly written by Rimuru, but in reality, written by Diablo. Its contents were, to be frank, revolting.
659
660The first article provided was for the king to abdicate and the nation to pay war reparations. The second was for the nation to surrender to Tempest and become a vassal state. The third wasn’t even a choice—it simply stated that, if the first two choices were not replied to in the affirmative, the war would continue.
661
662These conditions may not have seemed like they altered the current situation very much. But they did. With Tempest now recognized as a state, Farmus’s footing after starting a war without so much as a formal declaration was shaky at best. None of its neighbors would want any part of it, and the Western Holy Church would doubtlessly have their hands full with Veldora. Nobody in the room imagined that any local power would go out of their way to help Farmus.
663
664It was, in other words, blackmail. A threat to raze the land, avoidable only by swallowing a litany of intolerable rules.
665
666
667Diablo read all the conditions out loud, his haughty voice reaching every corner of the room, the glee evident on his face as he enjoyed the nobility’s reactions. When he was finished, he could hear one of the ministers whisper “Ridiculous” in a half wail. This he ignored as he turned toward King Edmaris and bowed.
668
669“…That is all. Please have a response ready for us in a week’s time.”
670
671“W-wait a moment! That is far too little time for us to work with! At least provide us a month to—”
672
673“Silence. I have a short temper.”
674
675“But—but, sir, this is not a matter we can decide upon in the royal parliament. We must summon the regional barons and stage a vote with the entire assembly—”
676
677“I said ‘Silence.’ Your logistical issues matter little to me. And I will also suggest not to attempt any juvenile tricks with us. These deadline-extending excuses shall not be tolerated. If there is no reply after a week, we will take that to mean you wish to continue hostilities. I ask you to provide your full consideration of this matter.”
678
679And with that one-sided caution, Diablo turned his back on the king and his court. He could hear someone loudly calling him a tyrant, but it didn’t bother him. He simply left Yohm and his men behind and walked out alone, his work apparently done for the day.
680
681
682
683
684
685After he was gone, King Edmaris officially called for a session of the royal parliament, with all nobility required to be present. This was set for three days from now—just barely enough time to bring them all together even with the aid of magic, but such were the stakes. If Diablo’s deadline was one week, the nation had to take action. Time was of the essence. The appeal had to be made to them all.
686
687At once, the king’s attendants sprang into action. The room echoed with the clamor of activity as they began to prepare for the meeting as Edmaris watched, exhausted.
688
689“Do all of you understand the situation?” he asked his closest ministers feebly. “Before the nobles arrive, we will need to decide on a direction. I will offer my views tomorrow, at another location, and I would like to hear from all of you as well.”
690
691There was no doubt that Farmus was hurtling headlong toward its doom. Now was no time for infighting within the bureaucracy. The parliament was going to be a wild, confused meeting, that much was certain—which made it all the more important that everyone was on the same page beforehand.
692
693That, the king thought as he silently firmed up his resolve, and so we can keep the casualties as low as possible.
694
695
696The next day, the king and his group reconvened in another meeting room. These were all trusted confidants, the only exceptions being the Marquis of Muller, most powerful among the court’s neutral elements, and his associate, the Earl of Hellman.
697
698Edmaris began by summarizing the events that led here once more, his audience silently listening on. Razen and Reyhiem had already covered this territory, but the horrifying truth of it all still crashed upon the ministers like a tidal wave.
699
700“My liege,” Muller asked, “is all of this true? I mean, about Veldora being revived?”
701
702The king nodded. “It is just the way Razen and Reyhiem put it yesterday. But the sole problem I face right now is which conditions must be accepted, out of the three offered. That, and I also wish to deliberate over how to handle future events.”
703
704As he implied, nothing should be left on the table in this discussion, and soon, opinions were flying in all directions.
705
706“The Forest of Jura that Veldora protects is a forbidden land. Not even the Eastern Empire has tried to lay hands upon it. It would be a fool’s errand to tackle it on our own.”
707
708“Too true, too true! There is no path to victory for us. Any further belligerent activity would spell the end of our nation!”
709
710“Indeed. The question, then, is how to approach conditions one and two…”
711
712“I refuse to let us be colonized! How could we let the monsters rule over us when our own positions haven’t even been guaranteed?”
713
714“That’s not necessarily true. I doubt we will see any further wars, for one.”
715
716“Ridiculous! The landholding barons of the kingdom will hardly allow such nonsense.”
717
718“It will mean civil war!”
719
720“Which, I suppose, is what the monsters want to see.”
721
722“And what of the king abdicating? And the reparations? Have you seen what they are asking for? It will collapse our finances.”
723
724“Ten thousand stellars… The equivalent of one million gold coins. A good fifth of our annual tax revenue.”
725
726“Outlandish…”
727
728“But think about it. Is that not preferable to the end of our kingdom?”
729
730“That it is. They are honorable enough, at least, not to demand every coin in our coffers.”
731
732“So there is nothing to be done but accept their terms…?”
733
734“I see no other way out, no.”
735
736King Edmaris listened on in silence as his ministers and nobles deliberated, keeping his thoughts to himself.
737
738
739Beautiful… As sweet as a young girl, but such an overwhelming presence in person. This Rimuru, lord of the monsters—he is a fearsome demon lord, indeed. Merely thinking about him makes terror erupt from the bottom of my soul.
740
741There was no way the king could ever put his own majesty above him any longer. The fear in his heart made the thought of defying him unthinkable. He had been rendered helpless, a cube in a box, forced to devour his own limbs. He never wanted to experience that again, and now he had to convince the ministers to see things his way.
742
743In his mind flashed images of defeat and the assorted types of torture he had endured—and in between, the monster’s town, far more orderly than he had guessed. The birth of a new demon lord and the resurrection of the Storm Dragon. It was all the truth, and Edmaris knew it meant bitter defeat for him. Stained by greed, he had made a terrible error. If he had approached on friendlier terms, perhaps they could’ve worked together in a far different situation. But the time for that was gone.
744
745
746No further errors would be allowed.
747
748
749Diablo advised him that he was free to respond to these three conditions any way he wanted. In other words, his reply didn’t much matter. Diablo’s goals would be met either way. Instead, the king reasoned, his duty was simply to keep the fallout to a minimum—and that was the approach he took as he gathered his thoughts.
750
751The choice for number three was a given. Further war would mean annihilation, from the king to the lowliest citizen. The second question was more worthy of debate, since it meant the people’s lives and livelihoods would be guaranteed. The glimpses he enjoyed of the monster town’s skyline were still fresh on his mind. He had even seen adventurers among them, smiling and laughing with their monster friends.
752
753Perhaps it is not so bad a fate after all…
754
755Edmaris enjoyed the fantasy for a moment but quickly dispelled it from his mind. It could never happen. Nobody would trust in a monster; not unless they saw that city for themselves. I laughed it off as the ravings of a madman myself…
756
757The nobility had a duty to keep their people safe. If they opted for unconditional surrender and life as a vassal state, it could overturn the entire nation. The neighboring kingdoms would resist, no doubt, and it was doubtful the resolution would pass parliament. A king had the right to force his will upon his subjects, of course, but the assassination attempts would no doubt come along shortly after.
758
759So far, question one offered the most obvious decision. Abdication meant that Edmaris would step down, handing the crown over to someone else, and be made to swear never to wage war again. There was a demand for reparations, yes, and while there was no legal basis for that, it was difficult for him to turn it down. It would lead to a much faster, and cheaper, peace than continuing this war would.
760
761There was no guarantee that the monsters wouldn’t pile on more demands later. But with these two in particular, he could tell they had a solid aim in mind.
762
763Diablo had extensively interviewed King Edmaris, and as he did, he made it clear that Yohm would become king of a newly established nation. Edmaris had three children—two girls and one boy, the youngest. His daughters were married off to noble families abroad, which left his ten-year-old son the only viable heir. If the king abdicated now, there was every chance of a bloody power struggle. The king even had an idea of who would aim for his throne—that would be Edward, his half brother and head of the nobility faction in this palace.
764
765Reading that far in, Edmaris could tell what Diablo wanted. He sought to take advantage of this potential power struggle and make the royalists and nobility fight against one another. In fact, this was bound to happen no matter what decision he made. Whatever he chose, Diablo could easily factor it into his own plans.
766
767The king sighed to himself.
768
769…So it just doesn’t matter?
770
771
772And if it didn’t, if the results were the same regardless…
773
774“All right, everyone. Allow me to state my views.”
775
776Just when the debate was starting to die down, King Edmaris began to speak.
777
778“The nation of monsters calls itself the Jura-Tempest Federation. It is a gathering of assorted species of monsters, all bound together by an overseer by the name of Rimuru. I do not feel it is such a bad thing to join them in this federation…”
779
780“You seek to become a vassal state?”
781
782“No, not like that. I am merely stating my belief that their nation is governed in a surprisingly peaceful manner.”
783
784He stopped for a moment, allowing the audience to gauge just how resolute his expression was.
785
786“This war was a mistake. It was not for the sake of our people, but of my own greed. That is why the heavens saw fit to forsake me. The price of that made Veldora rise from the dead and spread the seeds of disaster across Farmus. If I had followed the Marquis of Muller and the Earl of Hellman’s advice, none of this would have happened…”
787
788“My liege, please, none of this is…”
789
790“We are unworthy of your great modesty, Your Majesty.”
791
792“Thank you,” the king said, nodding in heartfelt appreciation. “There is no longer a second chance for us. None. Thanks to Sir Rimuru, lord of the monsters, I stand here before you now. There is no ‘next time.’ One more incorrect decision, and the flames of war will descend not just upon me, but upon all our people. My pride and honor no longer matter. All I want to do, at the very least, is ensure my people are not engulfed by those flames. What can we do to steer things in a better direction? What will make our people happier? That is what I want us all to consider!”
793
794The ministers froze in surprise. Their cold, calculating king, always putting his own profit ahead of everything else, admitting to his mistakes and calling upon his advisers to come up with a better idea. Their shock was understandable. They all looked wide-eyed at their king, reflecting upon their own thoughts. The selfishness within them, as they used pride or whatnot as an excuse to protect their own assets, was now all too obvious to them.
795
796Every last one of them stood up, then kneeled before their king.
797
798“My liege,” Muller said on their behalf, “we apologize. We were all foolish. We must seek out a better path…for our nation and for our people!”
799
800The rest of them shouted out their Hear! Hear!s as their heads touched the floor.
801
802
803The talks continued well into the ensuing night, as Yohm and his team were invited to participate as advisers.
804
805
806
807
808
809“I believe I did a fairly good job of shaking them up,” Diablo reported, smiling.
810
811Whoa! Wait a sec! There’s so much I could comment on there, I hardly knew where to begin. But I suppose the biggest issue was:
812
813“You showed them that thing?”
814
815“I did, sir. I thought it the best way to instill fear in their minds.”
816
817Wow. He showed it to them. That…meat cube. Shion acted awfully proud about it, not that I did anything to encourage her. No crap they’re scared, man! If this was before my slime reincarnation, I totally would’ve been blowing chunks. That’s the kind of impact that thing had.
818
819Like, this is totally demon lord territory I’m stepping into now, isn’t it? I tried to keep a clean image, and now that’s being replaced with something downright terrifying. What’s done is done, I guess, but still. Mixing the terror with the relief seems like an easy way to earn their trust in us, at least, even if it is an approach the yakuza would use.
820
821I hopped off Shion’s lap. Some tea, in human form, sounded good. I needed to relax and switch gears a bit.
822
823“With regards to the peace talks, my lord, I have requested ten thousand stellar gold coins in reparations.”
824
825Bpph!!
826
827I spat out all the tea in my mouth. Ten thousand stellars? I mean, yeah, I did ask him to use reparations as a wedge to drive between the king and nobility, but that figure’s beyond unreasonable. It deviated so far from reality that I wasn’t sure the neighboring countries would see it as fair at all. Bartering was still the preferred method of trade in this world—currency was the norm in population centers like Blumund or Englesia, but over in the farming villages, people could go their whole lives without seeing anything more valuable than a silver coin. In other words, money had a lot more value here than I originally gave it credit for.
828
829One copper coin was about ten cents, one silver coin about ten dollars, and one gold coin about a thousand. That was the general understanding I worked with, but even that only applied in the big cities. In real life, the differences were even starker. For example, your average laborer in the city earned six silver coins a day, 150 per month—around $1,500. In the villages, meanwhile, you wouldn’t even make a hundred silvers a year. That’s less than a thousand to live off. The economic disparity in this place is nuts.
830
831Of course, there weren’t as many diversions to blow your income on. You probably weren’t throwing your money around all that much. Really, coinage didn’t hold much purpose at all for a lot of people. To put it one way, disparity or not, your living circumstances didn’t change that much from social class to social class. And if you consider the lack of any international financial organization dictating the terms of the economy, maybe it was healthier this way anyway.
832
833This meant, perhaps, that right now was our best shot at building an economic superpower. Diablo’s a smart guy. When he heard me talking about multiple races sharing one another’s prosperity earlier, he immediately connected that to economic domination. We needed a distribution network, one capable of bringing products from low-to high-demand areas, and coinage was a must for that. Taking control of the flow of money would let us essentially dictate the world economy.
834
835There were many local currencies used by the world’s nations, but in practice, the coin of the Dwarven Kingdom was the main one in use. It would be easy to build a world economic sphere reliant upon a single currency. I could imagine that being on Diablo’s mind as he made his moves.
836
837
838Getting back on topic, despite my initial impression, it turns out that money in this world was treated more like one copper = $1, one silver = $100, and one gold = $10,000. Ten thousand stellar gold coins, then, meant we were asking for war reparations to the tune of $10 billion. This wasn’t Japan. There wasn’t as much stuff all over the place, no great need for a national budget to be that massive. Thinking along those lines, the figure we asked for was astronomical.
839
840“Don’t you think that’s going way too far?”
841
842“Heh-heh-heh-heh… No, it is not a problem. I gave them three choices, but there is only one real answer. Question three hardly deserves debate, and neither does question two. The only real decision to make is on question one, and it is from there that their negotiations will begin, I suppose.” He then added with a laugh, “As much as I’d like them to go my way on question three, however…”
843
844He was right. There was only one real choice. Would they try to talk us down on the price? Nah, they weren’t that dumb. They might ask for payments spread out every ten years, perhaps, if they couldn’t cover it now.
845
846“I have no intention of offering a discount,” advised Diablo. “Farmus will be forced to give in to our demands. However, I doubt it will ever come to pass anyway. If that amount of coinage leaves their markets, the effects on their economy would be staggering.”
847
848Yeah, I’ll bet. I knew Diablo was doing this on purpose.
849
850“I suppose what they’ll decide to do is force the obligation on some third party.”
851
852Oh?
853
854Here was what Diablo pictured. Basically, they’d make a deposit, then pay off the balance with something else. That way, even if the owner of that something else refused to back it up with coin, that was no longer any of the kingdom’s business. They’d be off the hook, and if we complained about it, they can turn us away and claim they lived up to their end of the bargain. The approach would only work if you were dealing with a very stupid adversary, but if we fell for it, there could be trouble.
855
856“What would we do then?”
857
858“It is all factored into the plan. I am sure we can recover at least a thousand stellars, and that would wrap up the first part of the operation.”
859
860Huh? Hang on.
861
862“How do you know we can earn that much?”
863
864“Oh, that? Simple.”
865
866To sum up, it was because Farmus simply didn’t have much immediate use for the stellars. That actually made sense, if you think about it. With one coin worth six or seven figures, trying to make change for them must’ve been a huge pain in the ass. It was nothing more than a hoard unless you were engineering some huge deals, and they’d likely figure—in Diablo’s estimation—that coughing up a decent number wouldn’t affect them all that much, day-to-day.
867
868Gold coins were what drove the national budget most of the time, so the stellars were more like securities, inaccessible under normal circumstances. In a world without banks, you couldn’t generate interest off them. So maybe they wouldn’t put up much of a fight about them after all.
869
870Well played, Diablo. I was willing to meet them in the middle and ask for somewhere between a hundred and three hundred stellars. About $1 million per victim on our end, plus a little consideration for the roofs and stuff we had to repair. That was the minimum I was comfortable with, so if Diablo thought he could extract a thousand, then I had no problem with going to the bargaining table. A cool billion was still more than enough for anything I could imagine.
871
872
873Diablo, meanwhile, wasn’t content with just that. He was also formulating a plan to trigger civil war inside Farmus. Scary guy.
874
875“What more do you really need from them if we’re already recouping our losses?”
876
877“Heh-heh-heh-heh. King Edmaris may be freed, but he is now my willing puppet. He is under the thrall of my Tempter skill, so I can will him to do anything I want, to some extent. In other words…”
878
879With Tempter activated, Diablo had life-and-death power over the king. He couldn’t fully take over his consciousness or anything, but Diablo had the right to “will” him dead at any moment. As long as he kept following his orders, all was well, but if he showed any signs of rebellion, Diablo would immediately spot them. He could kill the guy right then and there, and if he understood that, a betrayal just wasn’t going to happen. Controlling people with terror is a pretty scary skill, huh? Everything’s fine if you don’t cross Diablo, but still.
880
881Anyway, that’s how Diablo was observing King Edmaris’s behavior. As he hoped for, the king primarily deliberated over question one and seemed ready to abandon the throne. He had asked Muller and Hellman to call upon Edmaris to take responsibility for this crisis, but that no longer seemed to be necessary.
882
883I guess Diablo had been building relationships with the royalists in the castle, too—something that deviated from the original plan a little but actually worked out for the better, as he explained it. When Edmaris abdicates, the foundation of power he built goes with him—and with that, it becomes easier to pin the blame for everything on him. “With the Royal Knight Corps dead by your hand,” Diablo told me, “there is no one left to protect the royal family. Right now, antagonizing the nobility spells death for Edmaris. He’ll have to answer their every need—at least, on the surface.”
884
885Nobody was around to speak for the king. The nobles wouldn’t hesitate to take advantage of that—which goes into the third party Diablo mentioned. War would be the only thing to come from that. The nobility wanted to make King Edmaris into a sacrifice, and the king was racking his brain for ways to fight back.
886
887So…what next, then? The royalists didn’t have an army; they were bound to be pummeled. How can we avoid that?
888
889
890Understood. The best approach would be to bring in Yohm’s force and retain a cooperative relationship. This would allow for…
891
892
893Oh. Right. Yohm’s connected with me. Edmaris knows I want him to become king, and if he makes concrete moves toward that…
894
895Maybe an immediate handover of the crown wasn’t too realistic, but if we could frame it as Yohm saving the king’s life, perhaps it could look like a ruined royal family passing the torch on to another generation.
896
897“So the king’s going to take Yohm, and us, as his allies?”
898
899Diablo beamed. “Yes. A very wise assertion.”
900
901Oh, I was right?
902
903Having us as an ally would give Edmaris a force that made his Royal Knight Corps look like a bunch of kids. The nobility, carried away and assuming they had an easy win, would be slaughtered at the hands of Yohm the champion.
904
905“So should we give Yohm more resources?”
906
907“We should. Razen, who is also under my command, has been instructed to contact us when the time comes, so I hope I can count on you for that.”
908
909That’s Diablo for you. He’s got all his men at work so he can kick back and relax. He was taking the motto Be prepared to its most elegant extremes.
910
911Razen, though, huh? This super-great guy, the protector of the kingdom and all that? Guess that didn’t matter to Diablo. But no point dwelling on that.
912
913“So can Yohm beat them, though? What if some other pretender to the throne forms an alliance with the neighboring kingdoms?”
914
915“I am having Sir Fuze and King Gazel pressure their governments not to intervene. I think that is a possibility we can safely ignore. If it does come to pass, however, I will enter the battle myself, so don’t worry.”
916
917All I could do was nod at his supreme confidence. Diablo’s totally intent on staying behind the scenes, isn’t he? Crazy to think he’s basically letting all these other people take down an entire kingdom for him. Raphael was also telling me the chances of an alliance were dim, so I had no complaints.
918
919I gave the kneeling Diablo a pat on the shoulder.
920
921“All right. I’ll leave that to you, then. Let me know if anything happens.”
922
923“Yes, my lord! I assure you that everything is in good hands!”
924
925
926
927
928
929So now I had been briefed on the general outline. Just when I was checking up on the little details, Haruna came in with a new dessert—something to accompany the tea, as she put it.
930
931“Oh, is this the green-tea custard?”
932
933“It is, Sir Rimuru. I may not be up to Lady Shuna’s quality yet, but I do believe I’ve improved!”
934
935With a soft smile, Haruna set the plates on the table. Veldora, who had been reading manga without bothering to join the conversation, picked that moment to join me there, as if he’d earned the right.
936
937“Hohh? Some for me, then?”
938
939“Of course, Sir Veldora.”
940
941He gave a gregarious nod and reached out for a plate of the eggy treat.
942
943“Sir Veldora,” Diablo said as he offered his own plate to him, “here is your promised portion.”
944
945“Gwaaaaah-ha-ha-ha! You are a man of your word, Diablo!”
946
947Talk about a cheap bribe.
948
949“You don’t want any, Diablo?” I asked, figuring Haruna could always scare up another one, but Diablo bowed politely in response. “I paid my portion in exchange for the information I received. There is no need to be concerned for me.”
950
951What a gentleman. A man of his word, indeed. Although I didn’t see why custard was worth making such a big deal about. But if that was what Diablo preferred, more power to him.
952
953“Oh? Well, all right. Still,” I said, changing the subject, “it’s funny how you came back right in the middle of Walpurgis. We must’ve passed right by each other.”
954
955He was gone when I left at midnight, after all. I figured we couldn’t have missed each other by much. But:
956
957“Oh, no, my lord. After I was done threatening King Edmaris and his court, I traveled across the Farmus countryside to investigate its financial situation. I wanted to make sure I hadn’t overlooked anything in my plans, but then Sir Veldora ordered me back here.”
958
959That sounded, um, important. Veldora rose to his feet, almost knocking over his chair.
960
961“I, er, I have an errand to attend to.”
962
963“Hold it right there, Veldora.”
964
965I rose quickly, grabbing him by the shoulder.
966
967“W-wait! I can explain!”
968
969“No, you can’t! Stop getting in the way of people’s work!”
970
971I confiscated the custard from Veldora’s overeager hands, ordering Haruna to exempt him from dessert privileges for a while. He could cry about it all he wanted, but I couldn’t let this pass. I swear, you can never let your guard down around the guy. Maybe it was fortuitous in the end, what with Veldora stopping by Walpurgis and lending a hand, but that didn’t matter. If I let this slide, who knew what nonsense could arise next time.
972
973It’s a good thing the capable Diablo was around to handle matters, but what if Veldora had bothered one of my other friends with his self-centered requests? It made me shudder. The Storm Dragon giving out orders would mess up the whole chain of command I had going. That’s why I made damn sure he checked with me next time before trying anything like that.
974
975
976
977
978
979*
980
981
982Fortunately, Diablo had no other pressing business in Farmus, apart from the peace talks five days from now. He had delegated his authority to others for the rest of the work, so for now he was fine serving me. “As your butler,” he said, “I couldn’t think of abandoning your side.” That made Shion wince, but I had to hand it to him.
983
984So about those peace talks.
985
986“Oh, you think I oughtta attend, too?”
987
988“No sir, I can handle things well enough alone.”
989
990I always found it reassuring during high-stakes meetings to have my boss in attendance, but to a born achiever like Diablo, it wasn’t necessary. In fact, as he put it, my presence at the palace would crush the nobles’ “will to fight”—I didn’t know exactly what he meant by that, but I was sure things were safe in his hands.
991
992For now, at least, I felt assured that the whole Farmus invasion thing could be filed into a cabinet in the recesses of my mind.
993
994
995
996
997
998And then, everything went exactly as Diablo pictured it.
999
1000
1001All the nation’s nobles gathered at the palace to hold a session of parliament. This one was far more intense than the last, and the king and his ministers looked deeply troubled. Even the members of the anti-royalist contingent were visibly distressed, adding to the electricity in the air.
1002
1003“We are here today,” the king began, “to discuss our campaign to dispatch Tempest. I regret to inform you that the Storm Dragon wiped out our forces on the battlefield. The only survivors were Razen, Reyhiem, and myself. We were defeated.”
1004
1005The explosive report sent shock waves across the meeting hall. The brutal state of affairs in Farmus, as explained by the king, was unbelievable enough, but what he had to say next subjected him to withering criticism from the nobles. Which was to be expected. He was, after all, declaring that he would accept the monsters’ conditions and offer them war reparations…to the tune of ten thousand stellars.
1006
1007“That’s madness! One stellar is a hundred gold coins. We’re going to gift them a million gold?!”
1008
1009“Why would we ever pay such a ransom to a horde of monsters? I refuse to let this happen on my watch!”
1010
1011“And even if we emptied the national treasury, would we even be able to cobble together that much cash?!”
1012
1013Given the role of stellar gold coins as a sort of physical bond certificate traded among nations, most realms rarely had even a hundred on hand. The land of Farmus was large, indeed, but maybe they could scare up a thousand if they wanted to. If this was to be paid in regular gold-coin currency, the logistics behind the delivery gave the nobility understandable pause. If this was a nation they had formal relations with, the debt could be paid with a broad assortment of goods, but those were terms they couldn’t offer to a brand-new nation, much less one run by monsters. Either way, it was sure to be a major blow on Farmus’s economy.
1014
1015Diablo knew that ten thousand stellars was an impossible request. Of course the nobles would complain about it. To them, who hadn’t set foot near the battlefield, they could never truly understand the threat. There wasn’t enough awareness among them that the future of their nation was at stake.
1016
1017It therefore did not take long before their complaints morphed into a drive to continue the war.
1018
1019“Indeed, surrendering to their forces would be absurd. We have no guarantee that our adversaries would honor their promises and keep their hands off our people.”
1020
1021“Our only option is to resist to the bitter end. I would gladly stake my pride to say that our forces could easily defeat a dragon that has only just awoken!”
1022
1023“With Veldora as our opponent, the Western Holy Church will not stand by idly. I imagine the beautiful, talented Hinata will take action.”
1024
1025“Ah yes, the captain of the Crusaders? She is a vixen, a cold and calculating one, but we can always count on her at times like this.”
1026
1027“The Holy Church is known across the land for being Veldora’s mortal enemy!”
1028
1029“Don’t forget about the Hero.”
1030
1031“Ah yes, ‘Lightspeed’ Masayuki of Englesia!”
1032
1033“Exactly. The strongest Hero of them all, a man who slew his foes before they even knew what happened to them. I’m certain he will show Veldora in short order that Lightspeed is no mere nickname!”
1034
1035“Yes! That’s the spirit! We’ll clear those monsters away in the blink of an eye!”
1036
1037The nobles were growing restless, bragging about all the impossible things they would accomplish. The objective, to them, was theirs for the taking—they just wanted someone else to take it for them. The royalist ministers watching began to feel terribly awkward—it reminded them too much of when the king first broke the news to them. Some visibly reddened as they sighed in despair, while others silently reflected on what their leader must have felt back then.
1038
1039
1040King Edmaris, to his credit, understood what was running through the minds of the nobles he had assembled. The war hawks were doggedly interested in preserving their own interests and no one else’s. They didn’t care about Farmus itself, nor the lives or property of the people who dwelled in it. Their supreme, serene confidence stemmed from the fact that they had no intention of really fighting for it.
1041
1042The king knew it would turn out like this. The landed nobility here had yet to grasp the reality of it all. They had tasted none of the terror; they had no interest in facing the brunt of this menace. They just wanted to stay holed up in a safe place and make someone else duke it out. If it ended in defeat, they would all refuse to be held responsible for it, no doubt.
1043
1044And maybe they could’ve gotten away with coasting like that before. Farmus was large, its land giving it several decisive advantages over its neighbors. But that wasn’t going to work now. Putting the screws to nearby nations wouldn’t accomplish anything—and besides, their foe was a catastrophe-class monster who laid waste to an entire army single-handed.
1045
1046
1047The nobles’ rage continued, most of them shouting for the king to shoulder the blame. The royal family should pay the reparations out of their own pockets; the monsters’ demands must be refused; Farmus must prepare itself for total war.
1048
1049In a way, they weren’t mistaken, but they were missing a vital point. Farmus had already lost most of its internal ability to fight—something that, perhaps, they were refusing to believe. When this was pointed out to them, some turned white with horror, while others brazenly challenged any affront. Just as King Edmaris feared, the nobility refused to work as a coherent group.
1050
1051As the parliament grew more chaotic, Edward, the king’s half brother and leader of the anti-royalist nobility sect, chose that moment to speak.
1052
1053“My brother… Your Majesty! Even if you abandon the throne, you cannot avoid your responsibility! Is a king as proud as yourself truly admitting defeat so easily?”
1054
1055“…Edward, listen to me. We are pitted against Veldora, the Storm Dragon. My pride, compared with his tyranny, is a mere pile of ashes! You will never see me willing to face such terror again in my life. Or if it is such a matter of pride to you, will you take up the fight? I will not stop you! But I do believe that it will result in nothing but more blood on your hands.”
1056
1057“No, I… My liege, if everything you are claiming is the truth, are you not attempting to flee the nation by yourself?”
1058
1059“There is no place to flee to, you simpleton! That is exactly why I intend to pay the money and abdicate the throne.”
1060
1061Just as he aimed to pursue the king’s responsibility, Edward found himself stunned into silence by his brother’s uncharacteristic vigor.
1062
1063“If I do not abdicate,” the king continued, lowering his voice, “then Farmus will become either a colony or a state at war. Are you all right with that? It will mark the end of this nation.”
1064
1065“Ngh… But simply surrendering to this monster force…”
1066
1067Edward’s voice slowed, his mind still refusing to accept the facts. He was interrupted by the timid voice of Lord Hellman, speaking up just as the meeting hall grew quiet.
1068
1069“May I have a moment? I received these documents in the morning today. Its content is so vital to this question that I wish to share it with all of you now…”
1070
1071He had on him a declaration from the kingdom of Blumund. In it, the nation reaffirmed its support for the land of Tempest and criticized Farmus’s failed campaign. It was, in short, an attack on Farmus.
1072
1073“Where does such a tiny kingdom get the nerve?!”
1074
1075“As if they would have said anything if we won. They think they can enjoy the last laugh, don’t they?”
1076
1077The bad news for the fuming nobles didn’t end there. The minister of trade then reported receiving a similar announcement from the Dwarven Kingdom earlier. This made even the most hardcore of the war hawks demur, their words growing weaker by the moment.
1078
1079“Blumund may not be a concern, but if the Armed Nation takes action, that bodes very poorly for us. Do you think King Gazel will maintain his neutrality?”
1080
1081“The issue,” the earl reasoned, “is less that and more the power of his words. As a vital trade partner, it would be bad for us to anger their king.”
1082
1083A gloomy silence fell over the meeting hall—only to be broken by a pale-faced soldier barging into the room at a full gallop.
1084
1085“Sir! We’ve just received an emergency report from the Guild!”
1086
1087Despite the fact that a top-level legislative meeting was being held, none of the guards stopped him. That was thanks to the authority allowed by the Top-Secret Vital Emergency Transmission dossier in his hand. The prominent label made even the most contrarian of the nobles fall silent. This level of secrecy was authorized only for Special S-grade dangers; the Free Guild had a deal with the world’s governments where impeding its delivery was a crime as serious as treason.
1088
1089“Give it to us,” King Edmaris flatly stated. With a shaky hand, the soldier extracted a sheet of paper from the envelope and slowly read.
1090
1091“The monster Rimuru, who has named himself overseer of the Forest of Jura, has reportedly declared himself to be a demon lord!”
1092
1093“What?!”
1094
1095“That…!”
1096
1097“It is in fact good news, no? Our nation is saved!”
1098
1099“Yes, the other demon lords will not take kindly to this. This Rimuru fellow has sorely overreached. He will learn the terror a true demon lord brings to the world shortly.”
1100
1101“And if all goes well, perhaps the other demon lords will defeat Veldora alongside him!”
1102
1103Cheers erupted from the nobility the moment the messenger paused to take a breath. What the soldier had to say next quickly restored the silence.
1104
1105“…We have word that, resisting this declaration, the demon lord Clayman challenged Rimuru—er, the demon lord Rimuru—to a duel and lost his life in the process!”
1106
1107Gasps filled the room.
1108
1109“…Haaah?”
1110
1111“Impossible…”
1112
1113“Where is Carillon, the Beast Master? What happened to Frey, the Sky Queen? Are they simply letting this upstart take over the Forest of Jura?!”
1114
1115The shock was real. Now their foe was a full-fledged demon lord. But as the nobility questioned what the demon lords adjacent to Jura were doing, the soldier finished reading the missive.
1116
1117“…Regarding Carillon and Frey, they have reportedly renounced their seats as demon lords and agreed to affiliate themselves with the demon lord Milim. The group is in the midst of restructuring itself, its eight current members naming themselves…the Octagram!”
1118
1119The anti-royalists fell completely silent. They knew, now, that their adversary Rimuru was part of this new Octagram. Even the royalists, tipped off to this news in advance, looked tense and nervous. No matter how many times they heard it, the report was so difficult to believe that it drove them to silence as well.
1120
1121It seemed the source for this report was the demon lords themselves, who all signed a directive disseminated to the Guild. There was no questioning its veracity. The demon lords were all so powerful, there was no need for them to resort to tricking the human race to fulfill their needs.
1122
1123
1124With a slow, solemn voice, King Edmaris spoke.
1125
1126“Did you hear that, everyone? Veldora is a threat, but this monster Rimuru is another one entirely. A monster beyond all imagination, one who apparently made short work of the demon lord Clayman. Have we had enough debate yet? I have already made up my mind. I will abdicate the throne. It was foolish of me to proclaim this was for our nation’s sake, when I had barely any clue about the foe we prodded. It was my mistake, driven by pure greed. If only I had taken another approach, perhaps they could have been good neighbors to us.”
1127
1128By the king’s reasoning, his departure could help build a new relationship. None of the nobles listening to him voiced any disagreement. Now they understood. The only way forward was to do what King Edmaris said.
1129
1130
1131“Thus, I will leave my post as king…and I wish to nominate Edward as my successor.”
1132
1133“My brother…!”
1134
1135“What?!”
1136
1137“Not Prince Edgar?!”
1138
1139The hall was thrown into chaos once more.
1140
1141It was a given that Edmaris would give the throne to the sole prince of the nation. That was why Edward was working so hard to make his presence known. He knew Edmaris, his elder brother, had to go, and the opportunity was like a dream to him—even if Prince Edgar was awarded the throne, it was still a golden chance to state his case for next time. The prince was only ten years old, but as long as the king’s brother was still alive, he would not have another regent ruling in his stead. If (Edward thought) he could plant the seeds of uncertainty and doubt in the nobility’s minds, he could make them think that he was the only viable choice for the throne, at least until Edgar reached adulthood.
1142
1143Now, that had all been taken care of for him. He smiled in front of the throne.
1144
1145“We face difficult times ahead,” muttered Edmaris bitterly. “Edgar is still too young. He will have trouble overcoming any of it.”
1146
1147Reactions were varied, but a healthy contingent was already convinced. The Marquis of Muller spoke first: “I believe that is the best solution, my liege.”
1148
1149Edward internally gloated at this. If he had the head of the neutral faction’s endorsement, there was no overturning this decision. And once he had the throne, this crisis could be deftly handled—such was his conviction. They could find one way or another to delay the payments, buying time to get their neighbors involved and go on the offensive. As the anti-royalist nobles proposed to him earlier, they could even form a cross-humanity alliance of sorts, bringing paladins and Heroes together to fight for the entire world.
1150
1151And maybe none of that would be needed at all. A new king meant a new administration, and there was no reason why that government needed to follow the old one’s agreements. They could declare the debt null and void, and that would be it. If Tempest complained about it, they could just keep pinning the blame on Edmaris, the ex-king.
1152
1153It was a simple thing, but it was enough to convince Edward. Heh-heh-heh… This nation will reach new heights of prosperity under my rule. He smiled broadly, basking in the glow of his newfound power—never realizing that this, too, was all part of the script.
1154
1155The session proceeded more smoothly from there. Problems were brought up; adjustments were made down to the last detail. By the end of the day, they had a final outline that was approved by unanimous vote for use in the peace talks.
1156
1157
1158Said talks came all too quickly—as did the signing.
1159
1160Several days later, the great nation of Farmus, with all its proud history, had signed an armistice and a peace treaty with the Jura-Tempest Federation. On the surface, Farmus had recognized Tempest as a nation, and while formal relations were a ways away, they could no longer flout international law when dealing with them. At the same time, Tempest was not a member of the Council of the West, the Western Nations’ primary legislative body, so even if Farmus did stage another invasion, there was little anyone could do to legally stop them.
1161
1162Tempest had attained nation status only in the most basic of definitions. But this treaty proved, once and for all, that this new country called Tempest could defend itself. It was led by the demon lord Rimuru, who boasted the Storm Dragon as a key ally, and in just over two years, he had laid claim to the entire Forest of Jura. Whatever he was, he was a nonhuman brilliant beyond any human measure. Considering that, no nation dared to open hostilities with Tempest. Compared with the potential profits waiting to be reaped, the projected losses were just too great. It could even knock out the attacking country entirely.
1163
1164From that day forward, Rimuru began to be treated as an impenetrable leader, a disaster-class demon lord—and thus, without major difficulty, the first part of his plan was completed…
1165
1166
1167…exactly as Diablo had pictured it.
1168
1169
1170
1171
1172
1173CHAPTER 2
1174
1175
1176ROLES TO UPHOLD
1177
1178
1179Shuna and Soei were the first to return to town the morning after Diablo’s report.
1180
1181“I have returned safely!” Shuna proclaimed, rubbing her cheeks. She had apparently exhausted her magical force in battle, requiring several hours of recuperation before she could cast Spatial Motion. I could just use Dominate Space to pop myself over to where I wanted, but Shuna’s relative lack of magicule storage meant she could only tap so much magic per day. Soei could’ve used Shadow Motion himself, but he waited, thinking it gauche to return first despite being Shuna’s guard. Even now, several of his replications were patrolling Clayman’s main base—I guess nothing too dicey was happening right now.
1182
1183“And where’s Hakuro?”
1184
1185“I asked him to clean things up for me,” Shuna replied with a smile as Soei averted his eyes. So they threw all that work on him, huh? Hakuro, unable to use Spatial Motion, didn’t have much recourse if they left him alone. But I dunno, he always saw Shuna as kind of a beloved granddaughter anyway. Maybe he didn’t mind that treatment too much.
1186
1187Currently, he was working with Geld to investigate Clayman’s castle, divvy up the war spoils, and command the prisoner-handling process. I gave him an internal word of thanks for handling all that boring follow-up for me. It must be a ton of work, but an amateur like me couldn’t offer much help. I think I’ll just keep mum unless asked.
1188
1189
1190Benimaru and the others made it home by that evening.
1191
1192“Huh? What’s our chief general doing back here?” I asked.
1193
1194“Hee-hee… With the war over, there is no reason for me to stay there forever. So I gave my command over to my talented officers, and we left the scene.”
1195
1196He seemed remarkably invigorated. I guess this means Benimaru let the Three Lycanthropeers handle the rest. I could see the anguished faces of Alvis and his cohorts in my mind.
1197
1198Those two, Benimaru and Shuna—guess they really are siblings, huh? They just pulled the exact same trick on their subordinates. I wish they would learn a little responsibility from someone like me—
1199
1200
1201Understood. I believe this to be the result of following your example, Master.
1202
1203
1204I didn’t ask you to “believe” anything! Besides, you know that has to be wrong. Did something go haywire in the circuits between morphing from the Great Sage to Raphael?
1205
1206
1207Negative. Such a phenomenon has not been detected.
1208
1209
1210Oh, sure. Deny it. I bet that part of its logic got extensively upgraded. Better let it slide—it’s not an argument I’d ever win anyway.
1211
1212I decided to turn my attention back to Benimaru. “So is Gabil still at the battlefield?”
1213
1214“He is, yes. He has kindled a friendship with one Middray, a priest in the service of Lady Milim, and they are tackling the post-battle cleanup together.”
1215
1216“Ah. So Geld’s in Clayman’s castle, and Gabil is outside?”
1217
1218Even Gabil’s lending a hand, huh? Between him and Geld, it was a relief to see all these people handling the practical side of warfare for me. I could really rely on ’em. War, after all, didn’t end after you won it. Things got even hairier afterward, especially given how we captured nearly all of Clayman’s forces alive. There were untold numbers of prisoners, on the field and in the castle, most of them capable of labor. We guaranteed them all their lives, so we’d have to step up and take care of them. At least they were magic-born, not human, so you didn’t have to worry that much about upkeep—although even they would get grumpy if you didn’t feed them.
1219
1220Whether someone held a grudge against you after losing a battle or not, the victor was responsible for what happened afterward. Transporting all the POWs from the site at once was a major job. I didn’t want them revolting when our eyes weren’t on them, so we’d need guards on patrol at all times. Disarming a magic-born didn’t neutralize them much as a threat, either. This world had magic and skills. Thinking about it, no wonder the take-no-prisoners approach was preferred up to now, huh?
1221
1222If only there was a surefire way to make them do our bidding…
1223
1224“Oh, nothing to worry about there,” Benimaru said, that easygoing smile still on his face. “I brought them all together and simply, ah, coerced them to see things our way.”
1225
1226“Um… Yes. Good.”
1227
1228I instinctively nodded. No need to ask what exactly they talked about, I’m sure. Some of the prisoners must’ve been around to see Benimaru burn Charybdis to a crisp, and once word got around about that, I doubted too many of ’em would want to try their luck. Besides, the Three Lycanthropeers were there, and beastmen seemed like well-qualified candidates for prisoner management.
1229
1230“So I guess we won’t see Gabil back here for a while?”
1231
1232“Likely not. He can’t use Spatial Motion, so I suppose he will return with the Lycanthropeers.”
1233
1234He’d fly back once things settled down, I imagined. But hang on—
1235
1236“Wait, the Lycanthropeers are coming, too?”
1237
1238Why them? They weren’t planning on bringing all the sheltered citizens and disarmed prisoners back here, were they?
1239
1240“Well,” Benimaru replied, “remember how Lady Milim blew the Eurazanian capital to pieces? We were talking about housing them in our nation for the time being.”
1241
1242As he put it, the beastmen were hardy enough that they could march all the way over here without complaint. Which wasn’t what I was asking about, but…okay?
1243
1244“We really can’t take all of them, can we?”
1245
1246It took ages to set up campsites for the twenty thousand we took in last time. Even worse, Geld and his team of high orc engineers, whom I’d usually rely on for jobs like this, were busy elsewhere. We had some extra land available—space we cleared for future development—but again, organizing camps would be a huge hassle.
1247
1248“We discussed that with Geld and Alvis,” Benimaru explained. “We’ve decided to divide the prisoners into rough brigades. They’ll be sent to a variety of destinations, actually.”
1249
1250Well, that’s a relief. And it sounded like they were pretty carefully screening each of them. If a prisoner had a village to return to, they were sent off by themselves. Only the beastmen seeking to learn a trade or skill would come to Tempest. Beastmen or magic-born with muscle, meanwhile, would stay on-site and serve under the command of Geld’s team, redeveloping the vacant land that used to be Eurazania.
1251
1252
1253With Carillon stepping down from his demon lord post and joining Milim’s side, Eurazania was now technically Milim territory. It was situated south of the Forest of Jura, spread out in the middle of a vast, fertile land, and plans were underway to construct a palace for Milim in the area. I had suggested to her that she ought to move her capital there, since they were building it from scratch anyway, and she instantly agreed to it. No further discussion. That’s so Milim.
1254
1255Thinking about it, though, I realized Milim didn’t exactly have a…staff, per se. Middray and the rest of the Dragon Faithful were her servants, in a way, but—at least on paper—they merely worshiped Milim; they weren’t bound to her at all. Thus “relocating the capital” was an odd way to put it, since she didn’t really have a capital to start with, but I guess it doesn’t really matter.
1256
1257Carillon and Frey both readily agreed with the idea, and so we plunged into the construction of a new city. Our funding was provided by Clayman’s hoard of gold, silver, and treasure; we had a ready group of POW laborers being organized and assigned work details; and Benimaru and Geld had things going so smoothly over there, I had nothing to be concerned about.
1258
1259I was constantly amazed at their growth. Hey, Tamura! Remember me? Your boss, who had to explain everything to you fifty times and you still couldn’t do it right? Yeah, I have this entire horde of monsters who do better work than you!
1260
1261
1262The way Benimaru put it, we would be housing fewer people in Tempest proper than last time.
1263
1264“So we won’t need to set up any new temporary housing?” I asked him.
1265
1266“No, I think we should be fine. But it will not only be beastmen; we have magic-born prisoners as well. We had best make sure everyone is aware of that and exercises suitable caution.”
1267
1268“I see,” Rigurd said with a nod. “Very well. I will explain matters to everyone.”
1269
1270These guys are soooo reliable. I didn’t even need to order them around; they could make their own decisions. Wait… Couldn’t these guys get along without me by this point? The thought made me feel a tad isolated.
1271
1272
1273
1274
1275
1276One evening, a few days after Benimaru’s return, Diablo entered my office carrying a box painted black.
1277
1278“Our negotiations proceeded as planned, Sir Rimuru. This box contains proof of our peace agreement and one part of the reparations, totaling fifteen hundred stellar gold coins.”
1279
1280Oops. Forgot about that. Today was peace-talks day, huh? He said I didn’t need to show up, so forgetting about it wasn’t a big deal, really…but I still felt a bit guilty. I felt like everyone else was working hard on this huge work project, and I was just sitting at my desk playing solitaire. Not that I was, but still. I didn’t want to be a lonely despot, after all.
1281
1282Or that was how I consoled myself as Diablo presented the box to me.
1283
1284“Ah, excellent. That’s more stellars than we expected, no?”
1285
1286He had demanded the outrageous sum of ten thousand. As I found out later, nobody was sure whether ten thousand stellars were even in circulation worldwide. “We can only create one stellar gold coin per month,” King Gazel claimed when I asked. “Our kingdom did not begin minting them until a fairly long time after our founding, so I imagine they have some rarity value!” He had a point—there were hundreds of times more garden-variety gold coins flowing around.
1287
1288And now I had fifteen hundred of them here. Over 10 percent of the entire world’s supply. It made my head swim. You could really see how strong Farmus was, being able to scrape this up.
1289
1290“I guess Farmus really is a superpower, isn’t it? I’m impressed they collected so many.”
1291
1292“Perhaps. But it seems the majority of this was seized from the personal coffers of King Edmaris himself.”
1293
1294According to Diablo, most of these stellars were the personal property of the king, left in the vaults with no particular use to speak of. They had the backing of the Dwarven Kingdom, were worth loads of cash, and boasted artistic value as well, so they had been the property of the royal family for much of its long history.
1295
1296“Luckily, King Edmaris’s thought process was as I had planned it. With no knights to protect his family, he reasoned, he was bound to lose it all once the nobles clashed with him anyway.”
1297
1298So he cleaned out the royal vaults ahead of time. I see.
1299
1300“…So does that mean we’re gonna have civil war soon?”
1301
1302“No doubt, my lord,” a smiling Diablo replied. “The remaining balance exists in the form of an outstanding loan, but I doubt the new king will abide by that agreement for long.”
1303
1304Taking the potential new king into consideration, Diablo had gone out of his way to have Edmaris’s younger brother Edward take the throne, instead of the young Edgar. This was done with Edmaris’s agreement; everyone involved felt it was the only way forward. Normally, the former king would be rewarded with a dukedom for his service to the country, but Edmaris turned this down, renouncing his post and becoming a viscount. In this role, he would be shortly moving to a small patch of rural land in the countryside—not far from Earl Nidol Migam’s own lands, near the Forest of Jura.
1305
1306To everyone’s eyes, it looked like Edmaris had lost his lust for power. In which case…
1307
1308
1309Report. The Farmus forces who refuse to pay the remaining reparations will likely move to push all responsibility for this affair on Edmaris.
1310
1311
1312Yep. It was all going the way Diablo meant it to.
1313
1314“Nidol’s domain of Migam is home to Yohm’s band, too. This way, they can come help out if anything happens, huh?”
1315
1316“Indeed, my lord,” he replied, still smiling while Shion listened on behind me, scowling. Or maybe not listening. She probably tuned it out once she realized it was all way over her head. But I wasn’t talking about her.
1317
1318Hmmm. Nidol’s land bordered Jura’s. By country standards, it was midsize, boasting its own Free Guild branch and a fairly decent population. If you were going to start a popular movement, it wasn’t a bad spot for it. That’s where Yohm was, and he was famous around those parts, hailed as a champion and broadly supported by his people.
1319
1320“If the new king tried abandoning Edmaris, could Yohm stop him?”
1321
1322“He could, sir. And having Sir Yohm denounce that new king for his insincerity would no doubt lead to conflict.”
1323
1324So Yohm siding with Edmaris would lead to a pretty natural clash of wills, then. Sounds about perfect. If the new king really did pay off his debt to us, it’d be hard to do much else against him. We’d have to brace ourselves for the long haul, aiming to take Farmus down bit by bit. But Diablo was thinking two steps ahead of me, manipulating the minds and wills of the people to gain his results. In that case, things could very likely start moving in a hurry.
1325
1326There was no doubt that the new king would try to get Edmaris out of the picture pronto. If the government was able to capture him, our plans would be ruined. Of course, we could ignore that new king and just push on in anyway, but that’d come at the cost of whatever trust the international community has in us. Always have the moral upper hand. That’s how the human world worked.
1327
1328“Well, keep a vigilant watch, all right? Can you manipulate the new king’s side without getting too many people killed?”
1329
1330“If that’s what you seek, yes. Allow me, Diablo, to handle it.”
1331
1332So reliable. He’s almost scarily smart. If I left it to him, he seemed ready to accomplish well near anything.
1333
1334“Then do it. If you’re short on war funds, you can use these stellars if you want.”
1335
1336I placed a thousand of the coins into my Stomach and pushed the remaining five hundred in his direction.
1337
1338Fortunately for us, all our wounded were now fully recovered. Apart from paying personal visits to their beds, I wasn’t called upon to do much of anything for them. A thousand was almost too much reparation, and we had also thoroughly looted Clayman’s home base of its valuables, so financially we were doing pretty damn well, I thought. Much of our newfound fortune would be spent on future urban development, but we had enough breathing room to provide Yohm whatever he needed.
1339
1340Despite my intentions, Diablo smiled and shook his head. “I deeply appreciate your concern, Sir Rimuru, but it will not be necessary. As laid out in my plan, if you can provide me with a suitable army, the rest will take care of itself. That, or if you grant me permission to wage battle myself—”
1341
1342“Uh, no, that’s fine. I’ll give you all the troops you need, so instead of that, I need you to lay low as much as you can, all right?”
1343
1344I had reason to cut him off. I knew how much of a freaky unknown Diablo was, so I definitely didn’t want to use him in the wrong place and expose myself like an idiot. Unleashing him against human armies would be far too one-sided—all it’d do was make people fear us. We’d be further away from a common understanding than ever, and I wanted us to have as amicable a relationship as possible. Besides, we had all the war power we needed. We had no enemies; not in public, at least. Even with Geld’s team tied up with engineering work, Benimaru and his army alone would be enough. Farmus, with the majority of its fighting force gone, was not a threat to us.
1345
1346So I decided to just prepare reinforcements if necessary and use this stellar windfall to invest in the new nation Yohm was poised to build.
1347
1348This was enough to convince Diablo. “Very well. I will remain firmly behind the scenes.”
1349
1350“Right. You know, Shion, you could learn a thing or two from Diablo.”
1351
1352“What?! When have I ever lost my head and failed to follow your will, Sir Rimuru?!”
1353
1354I tried to throw a word of advice toward Shion like this now and again. She seriously never seemed to realize she did anything wrong. Yeesh. I guess that’d be a long-term project, gradually instilling in her mind that going berserk all the time wasn’t such a hot idea. It made me heave an internal sigh. Something told me it’d be a while before I could trust her with solo missions.
1355
1356
1357After finishing his report, Diablo brought up another question, as if it had just occurred to him.
1358
1359“Sir Rimuru, the Western Holy Church has reportedly tried make contact with Reyhiem, one of my pawns. He has received a summons to visit their headquarters and explain the situation with the hostilities in Farmus. What do you think about that?”
1360
1361Reyhiem? He was the archbishop of Farmus or whatever, right? Now he was just one of Diablo’s faithful dogs, but ignoring a Church summons sounded like a bad idea.
1362
1363“Hmm… If we ignored them, would that lead to trouble?”
1364
1365“It would. I think it best to allow him to testify to them, if only to see what the Church’s next move will be.”
1366
1367“Yeah… I’m sure they’re hungry for info, what with there being just three survivors.”
1368
1369Out of the former king, Edmaris, the court sorcerer, Razen, and Archbishop Reyhiem, it made sense that the Church would want to hear from Reyhiem first. He was the only real candidate out of the three.
1370
1371“But wasn’t the Church monitoring Veldora? Because right now, it’s true that he’s revived again, but the timeline we’re giving is a bit off from the truth. If we lied to them, wouldn’t they see right through that?”
1372
1373“You think so? Shall I have him speak the truth, then?”
1374
1375I thought about this a moment.
1376
1377The Church could very well be a monkey wrench in our future plans. Ideally, I’d want to engage them in a way that didn’t cause interference between us, but given their flat-out refusal to work with monsters, I didn’t like my chances. Not even the Dwarven Kingdom was on very good terms with the Church. The dwarves’ habit of treating monsters as equals violated their whole doctrine—but it hadn’t erupted into war yet. The two sides were simply ignoring each other.
1378
1379Should that be what we aim for? I didn’t want to trample over a millennium or so of Church doctrine, but I didn’t want to unconditionally accept it, either. If they wanted all monsters to die, I wasn’t about to lie on my back and wait for the dagger. I had to respect them, and we had to be considerate of each other. If one of us said something the other couldn’t accept, it could lead to war, in the end. A deep understanding of each other would be a must, along with a prudent effort to keep away from any potential land mines in our talks.
1380
1381Of course, that only applies if the other side plays along. Otherwise, we’d just be deluding ourselves into complacency. If the Church branded us a divine enemy, we’d have to resist that—and I wasn’t afraid to smash them to pieces, if it came to that.
1382
1383For now, though…
1384
1385“Hmm. How about I send them a message for the time being? We seized some magic-image-recording thingies from Clayman, right? I’d like to personally record a message with one of them. We can have Reyhiem take it over there and see how the Church reacts.”
1386
1387“Very well.”
1388
1389“Great! I will bring one over at once!”
1390
1391Diablo sagely nodded as Shion ran off to fetch a crystal for me.
1392
1393
1394A few days had passed now, after Diablo reported that Reyhiem had commenced his journey to the Church, but we had yet to hear any response. The reaction from them was muddled confusion, and I could see why. Veldora was back, and there was a new demon lord in town (i.e., me). Figuring out how to deal with us wasn’t something they could make a snap decision on.
1395
1396Well, if they didn’t react to me, I didn’t mind. For now, I was satisfied with sitting and waiting to see how things shook out.
1397
1398
1399
1400
1401
1402The Three Lycanthropeers arrived a while later, along with a procession in the tens of thousands.
1403
1404They didn’t take nearly as long as I thought. You gotta hand it to these beastmen and magic-born. Just in terms of their core strength, no human could compare with them. With magicules all over this world, they could run on magic when physically exhausted and with their own two feet when magically exhausted. Their marching speed was several times what an army on Earth could manage—and I’m talking about all of them, down to the average beastman on the street. They really were bred for battle.
1405
1406I didn’t see Gabil among them. Presumably, he was in the rear somewhere, I thought, as Alvis and Sufia came up to greet me.
1407
1408“Hmm? Isn’t Phobio here?”
1409
1410“About that,” Sufia began. “Phobio stayed behind to tend to the magic-born we took prisoner.” He was sticking around while Geld was at Clayman’s palace, apparently, to ensure no revolts took place. In other words, they were pushing the boring work on him. Sorry about that, Phobio. But even if Benimaru had bullied him into that role, we did need someone on surveillance. We should appreciate him for working with us instead of pushing the responsibility on someone else.
1411
1412We had, by this point, fully prepared to accept this crowd. I had worked with Kaijin and Kurobe, our manufacturing specialists, to work out how many people should be assigned to this or that department around town. These were all volunteers with a keen interest in technical work, but we could only accept so many, so we agreed to set up rotational shifts for the more popular work details.
1413
1414It might be a good idea to build a technical school of some sort around here, I thought as we quietly handled all this work. Someplace where we can provide year-round instruction on what we were doing. It seemed smart to me.
1415
1416
1417At the very far end of the procession, I finally caught sight of Gabil. “I have returned, Sir Rimuru!” he bellowed from the skies, not looking at all the worse for wear.
1418
1419“Hey, nice to see you! You put in a fine effort at the battle, I
1420
1421hear.”
1422
1423“No, no, I still have so much to learn. Sir Middray, under the service of Lady Milim, practically pummeled me beyond recognition!”
1424
1425Ah yes, that dragonewt with the crazy strength. Benimaru mentioned him, too.
1426
1427“Yeah, well, if he worships Milim, he’s gotta like fighting a lot, no doubt. You aren’t exactly a wimp—maybe you just aren’t used to your newly evolved powers yet. You got a while to go.”
1428
1429I wasn’t sure if this comforted him at all, but I said it anyway. He didn’t look too chagrined, so I was sure he felt the same anyway.
1430
1431“Ha! I, Gabil, am prepared to expend every effort to live up to your lofty expectations, Sir Rimuru!”
1432
1433That statement, and that smile, were all the proof I needed.
1434
1435After I said my hellos to the rest of his force, he suddenly remembered a sheet of paper that he took out from his pocket to show me.
1436
1437“What’s this?”
1438
1439“I received this from Lady Milim, my lord. She told me to give it to you.”
1440
1441What could this be? Nothing good, I was sure. She mentioned stopping by again as we said our goodbyes after the Walpurgis Council. But sure enough, there was her childish scrawl, written haphazardly across the paper.
1442
1443
1444This is Milim! Next time I visit, I’ll be bringing along some guys who just can’t seem to leave me the heck alone. I want you to teach them everything there is to know about cooking. This is an urgent request, so I figured I’d ask my buddy Rimuru for help!!! Please please please!!!!!
1445
1446The urgency certainly came through in the message. These hangers-on; was she talking about the Dragon Faithful?
1447
1448“Uh, did she tell you what this is about?”
1449
1450“A little bit. I met a member of the Dragon Faithful named Sir Hermes while I was there, and he was kind enough to discuss his following’s internal workings with me.”
1451
1452The way Gabil described him, Hermes seemed to have a pretty good head on his shoulders. Not battle-obsessed like Middray at all; more of a free spirit, one who had traveled to the Dwarven Kingdom and Western Nations.
1453
1454Being in the Dragon Faithful, as he explained to Gabil, meant a life of frugality. “He claimed that the food they present to Lady Milim isn’t cooked or prepared in any way whatsoever. Perhaps they share some tastes with us. I’ve never enjoyed a fish that wasn’t best when it was eaten raw, you know.”
1455
1456I’m not so sure you guys have that much in common, Gabil. Lizardmen’s digestive systems were probably just built that way. But they knew about preparing food, or at least smoking it, and they had a few non-fish staples they enjoyed as well. The Dragon Faithful, meanwhile, didn’t seem like they had heard of the concept of cooking at all. I doubt they were eating raw meat all day, but whatever preparation they did seemed strictly for the purposes of avoiding contamination and nothing more.
1457
1458
1459
1460
1461
1462“Uh…okay? I thought dragonewts had the same sense of taste as humans.”
1463
1464“We do, sir, we do! Thanks to my glorious evolution, I have gained the most wondrous, expert set of taste buds. All the bland meals of my lizardman past pale in comparison to the vast cornucopia of delights I can now sample!”
1465
1466“Yeah, I’ll bet. So when you eat a good meal, you know how you kinda want to eat it again later on?”
1467
1468Gabil nodded sagely, growing increasingly excited. “Yes… Yes, now I see your point! This is Sir Hermes’s way of eliminating that Dragon Faithful tradition once and for all, is it not?”
1469
1470Probably, yeah. Tradition or not, I could read Milim’s mind easily enough. If they worshiped her as a god, though, why were they deliberately ignoring her will? That’s kind of, um, blasphemous, isn’t it? And why can’t Milim just chat about this with them herself? Maybe, in her own unique way, she didn’t want to rock the boat with them. She knew they were only acting out of virtuous intentions, so she put up with that treatment without complaint.
1471
1472“In that case, we’ll need to give them all the royal treatment, won’t we?”
1473
1474“Oh, absolutely! A splendid idea, I think!”
1475
1476We’d need to keep it casual, nonchalant, making sure we didn’t act all high and mighty. Then they could naturally observe, and learn, what made Milim happy. It sounded like a tougher mission than I first thought. Better assemble my team and discuss this later on.
1477
1478
1479So I instructed Gabil to return to his research in the cave. Vester was putting in a full effort down there at the moment, but we still didn’t have a large enough team. Losing Gabil’s crew must have been a major blow to their progress.
1480
1481“Right. I shall be off, then!”
1482
1483“Yep. We will also consider your reward at our next conference, so I’d like to have you in attendance.”
1484
1485“Yes, my lord!”
1486
1487Pride filled Gabil’s face as he flew off. He must’ve just remembered that I appointed him to Tempest leadership earlier.
1488
1489
1490
1491
1492
1493A month had passed since Walpurgis, and with all the new people, things were running at a fever pitch around town. In the midst of it, Geld finally Spatial Motioned back. It was the first time I had seen him in a while, and he looked pretty beat-up.
1494
1495“I…it’s good to see you again, Geld.”
1496
1497He heaved a sigh at my pensive greeting. “I have to say, Sir Rimuru, I look up to you more than ever now.”
1498
1499“Whoa! Where’d that come from?”
1500
1501There was no doubting the respect in his voice as he turned his weary eyes to me. I hadn’t done anything of note recently, so I had no idea what he was talking about. What happened to him in the space of a few weeks?
1502
1503“Well…”
1504
1505The story Geld had for me was a classic tale of incompetence among new hires. He had organized the prisoners into groups, deploying them to this or that allied force. That much went well. After that, he commended these troops in the midst of their surveying and land-clearing work…but certain problems quickly made themselves known.
1506
1507High orcs had no problem using Thought Communication to chat with one another, working as a team even in silence, but we’d need a different plan with the mix of magic-born involved here. Verbal instructions couldn’t be understood—and besides, a lot of the main staff, Geld included, weren’t that great at making themselves clear. It’s one thing to be capable of something, but quite another to explain it clearly and lucidly to others. Lots of artisans like him faced the same problem.
1508
1509This meant that as ruthlessly efficient as Geld and his team were, things fell apart when anyone else got involved. The results were boundlessly frustrating to him. The magic-born weren’t great fans of being ordered around, either, so even if you carefully showed them what to do in person, many of them weren’t interested in meekly copying your actions. Those that were, as Geld put it, still weren’t up to his grade of quality. I could see that. More people didn’t always mean better work. Put together a crowd of idiots, and all you had was a mob on your hands. That was why education was so important.
1510
1511
1512“Show them, convince them, let them try, and praise them—only then will a man be moved.”
1513
1514
1515That’s a quote from Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II, and it’s something that I think anyone in a leadership position needs to take to heart. It expertly encapsulates the difficulties of leading and instructing people, and it also shows that people find real pride and meaning in their work only when recognized by others.
1516
1517Listening to Geld’s grumbling reminded me of the more painful moments of my office job, in my previous life. Work staff who never listened to you, people down the ladder who tried hiding their mistakes, bosses who attempted to push the blame on someone else. It wasn’t wine and roses for me back then, either. A lot of good memories, too, but get me started on the bad ones, and I could go all night.
1518
1519And whenever I had it really rough:
1520
1521“All right, Geld! Let’s have a drink!”
1522
1523I slapped him on the shoulder. Rewarding the staff for hard work was part of any boss’s job, and one way to do that was to let them vent their grievances and work out everything in their system. I needed to pay special attention to Geld, given how much responsibility he felt for his work—and so we drank the night away, while Geld aired out all his pains and concerns and I carefully listened.
1524
1525
1526I planned to assemble the leadership for a conference the next morning—but before that, I called Hakuro over for a private chat, contacting him via Thought Communication the previous night. I traveled to his quarters at sunrise.
1527
1528“Sir Rimuru,” he greeted me, almost choked with emotion, “coming over personally to see me…” He didn’t look as tired as Geld.
1529
1530“Sorry to put you through all this grueling work.”
1531
1532“Oh, not at all, not at all. We’ve sifted through the prisoners now, so my job is almost done. I have to say, though, Geld has it far worse. I finished transferring leadership over last night, so there’s no need for me to go back over there, at least.”
1533
1534“Geld… Yeah, sounds like he had it tough. After I contacted you yesterday, he and I drank for a while, and it sounds like he’s got a lot on his mind, you know? Like, up to now he’s been able to just shut off his brain and focus on his work, but directing prisoners on the job site was a huge challenge for him.”
1535
1536“Indeed. He would have it easier if he was willing to compromise on matters, but he was always far too serious-minded for that.”
1537
1538As Hakuro explained, it would’ve been easy to use force to corral this motley band of magic-born, coercing them into following commands. But if you do that, you can’t expect a top-quality job to result from it. You’d have to settle here and there, and as an artisan, those results wouldn’t be enough to satisfy Geld.
1539
1540“I have something else to report to you, Sir Rimuru…”
1541
1542But to Hakuro, that was Geld’s problem. He turned back toward me.
1543
1544“What’s that?” I asked.
1545
1546“Clayman, as you know, ruled over what was called the Puppet Nation of Dhistav, a land where the majority of people are in the slave class. These are entirely dark elves, no other species, and well over a thousand of them were tasked with maintaining and managing the castle grounds alone.”
1547
1548“Right. So?”
1549
1550“Well…as they described it to me, Dhistav used to be home to a kingdom of elves…”
1551
1552Elves? The denizens of the Sorcerous Dynasty of Thalion descended from elves, too, didn’t they? Is there a common ancestor here? Maybe not—we’re talking pretty well out of the way, geography-wise.
1553
1554“…and remarkably enough, some elven ruins remain in the land. The dark elves described themselves as keepers of their graves.”
1555
1556“Oh?”
1557
1558Grave tenders? Over what sort of graves? Elves had life expectancies of who knows how long, besides.
1559
1560“So you’re saying there are these well-guarded, untouched ruins from an ancient kingdom just lying around?”
1561
1562This was big news to me. Ruins like these were dotted all over the world, often raided by the hunter-gatherer adventurers who made treasure hunting their line of work. Most of them didn’t have a very good time at it. Only a precious few ruins had been discovered at all, and those that were had already been picked clean a while ago. But if there was a brand-new cache of ruins to explore and exploit…
1563
1564“Hakuro, I’m classifying this discovery a state secret. Don’t tell anyone about this for the time being—not until I go there and survey things for myself.”
1565
1566“Yes, my lord,” he said quietly, nodding. He must’ve understood how vital this could potentially be.
1567
1568If I had to guess, Clayman derived much of his riches from the things discovered in these sites. He had to. That would explain all the Artifacts and magic items Geld told me they recovered. But does that mean we should just…you know, take them over?
1569
1570I decided to hold off on judgment for now. The secret seemed to be safe with the dark elves; word wouldn’t get out unless we wanted it to. This was demon lord territory, forbidden lands that no adventurers dared to approach. Better to go slowly on these ancient ruins—trying to overextend ourselves to all of them at once was too likely to backfire.
1571
1572
1573
1574
1575
1576Everyone was now seated at our main meeting hall. I surveyed them all from my specially made slime seat.
1577
1578“Um, right. Hello, everyone. As some of you already know, I have been promoted to demon lord!”
1579
1580“““Congratulations!!”””
1581
1582They all shouted their tidings to me, happy and excited whether they knew or not. I was just as happy. I had safely weathered a major storm.
1583
1584“It was a long journey, indeed, yes,” Rigurd observed, “but we have finally made it.” Uh, Rigurd, it hasn’t even been two years since we met, right?
1585
1586Rigur, meanwhile, was crying like a baby. “Truly astounding! Seeing our leader become a demon lord fills me with so much emotion…”
1587
1588Shion sneered at the crowd like this was all inevitably going to happen. “It is the start of a new era for Sir Rimuru!”
1589
1590Though, really, it was an emotional time for me, too. The only problem left was essentially the Western Holy Church. If I could handle them, it’d be easy street on the way to creating the ideal environment I’m looking for.
1591
1592Brimming with confidence, I continued my briefing, going over what we decided on at Walpurgis.
1593
1594“Ah, right. I didn’t mention this, but it’s been decided that I’m the official ruler of the entire Forest of Jura region. I don’t think this really changes much, since it’s already been that way for a while. It just means that, you know, if someone invades the forest—not that they would—we’d be fighting back under my own name. Also, should we formally declare our rights to this territory, do you think? Or are we safe just leaving it be for now?”
1595
1596As I spoke, the looks on my leadership grew more nervous. Some of them appeared downright terrified. What? Did I say something bad?
1597
1598“Um… The whole forest? Truly?”
1599
1600“Uh, yeah?” I replied to Rigurd.
1601
1602“Are you serious?” Benimaru gasped. “Including everything on the other side of the river?”
1603
1604“Errr, probably?”
1605
1606He was referring to the Great Ameld River that flowed across the forest, dividing it in two. The other side bordered lands under the influence of the Eastern Empire, a place we still had little to no connection with.
1607
1608“Is that a problem?” I asked.
1609
1610“Not a problem for us,” Benimaru replied after some thought, “but I don’t believe the area past the river counts as the dryads’ domain. So far, Sir Rimuru, you are recognized as overseer only of the lands that the dryads themselves have built up. To the denizens beyond the river, the advent of a new demon lord would likely prove to be quite a headache.”
1611
1612He smiled the whole time—savoring the thought of mowing down any rebellious factions over there, no doubt. That was…um…no. Bad idea.
1613
1614“If you asked me,” Kaijin rebutted, “this is an astounding development. The demon lords have formally agreed that you have rights to all the forest’s natural resources, if I’m understanding this correctly. This includes anything that anybody takes from it, over on the other side. That’s big news, pal!”
1615
1616It’s like he was reading my mind. He was right. It didn’t strike me as anything big at first, but it had the potential to explode. As Kaijin explained to me, people had been harvesting the forest’s resources on the sly for a while now. The dryads were willing to let it slide to some extent, but given the general state of lawlessness past the Great Ameld, it was common for people to take wood or produce or whatnot from Jura to the Dwarven Kingdom, making a living off the sales. There was no regional authority to seek permission from, nothing stopping them—but now, if they wanted to do that or live in the forest, they needed my approval, and they’d have to march over here to get it.
1617
1618“Um… Oh crap, does this mean we’re gonna get more people here?”
1619
1620“I think it does,” Shuna said, a serene smile on her face. “Now that you’re an approved demon lord, anyone who fails to come here and pledge allegiance to you could be legally branded a rebel.”
1621
1622Her opinion had to be shared by much of Tempest, I figured. But why require permission after who knows how many years of living here? That sounded like needless bureaucracy.
1623
1624“Well, why worry about that now? I mean, if they’re already residents of the forest…”
1625
1626“No, no,” countered Rigurd, “a demon lord is, in a way, a projection of pure power. It is something to be proud of. To a goblin, you understand, a high-level magic-born is something of a divine presence.”
1627
1628“Exactly,” Gabil added. “Some of these uncontacted residents may seek the protection of the demon lord; others may go on with their lives without recognizing your authority. They have the right to make that decision for themselves. But even among the lizardmen I used to be with, the protection of a demon lord would have been a literal gift from the gods. Defying one was unthinkable; ignoring one, the height of folly. Compared with the risk of angering the local demon lord, it would be wholly typical for them to come and greet you instead.”
1629
1630And as Shuna put it, failing to acknowledge me could even put you under suspicion. If you got attacked for it, you had no right to complain. Not that I’d want that, though. And besides, what if you’re a monster who’s never heard of me before? How would you even know?
1631
1632“At the very least,” Gabil said, “the lizardmen are coming to see you, I assure you. My father has already been told of your ascension!”
1633
1634Wait. When did they decide to do that?
1635
1636“You mean Abil? He’s coming?”
1637
1638“He is! He told Lady Shion about it as well. Ah, he is counting the days before he can see you in all your demonic glory for himself!”
1639
1640This was starting to sound big. Really big. The lizardmen were one of the larger-size races in the whole Forest of Jura. If they took the pilgrimage to see me as a given, I assumed that went without saying for any species weaker than them. And I’m sure the process would be pretty casual for anyone familiar with me, but if not, they might be showing up on my doorstep trembling with fear. I’d just look like the latest local despot to them; they might freak out over making one false step and being annihilated or whatever. Maybe there’s something we could do to make this whole process a lot more…chill?
1641
1642Still, though…
1643
1644“Ha-ha! I’m sure Sir Rimuru would expect nothing less!”
1645
1646I peered down at the triumphant-looking Shion. If she knew Gabil’s father was going to show up, why didn’t she bother telling me? And I really didn’t appreciate that grin on her face. She didn’t care about this visitor at all. I swear, she looks like the perfect executive secretary on the outside, but if you want her to actually do the job, forget it.
1647
1648Ugh. Just leave her be. I mean, I’m glad she enjoyed hearing praise for me (even more than I did), but I knew she’d take any criticism from me the wrong way, so…
1649
1650To sum up, once word got around about my demon lord-dom, I’d have a parade of visitors beating a path to this town, most monsters preferring to request my protection instead of risk my wrath. We’d have a hell of a lot of visitors to deal with soon, in other words.
1651
1652We would have to conduct a cross-forest survey shortly, seeking out the intelligent races. This wouldn’t be a problem in areas where I was already the acknowledged leader, but anywhere else would be an uphill climb.
1653
1654But if we were gonna be busy with that anyway…
1655
1656“Hey, I was just thinking—we gotta spread the word around the forest about my ascension anyway, right? So why don’t we turn it into some really big ad campaign and use it to unveil this town to the whole world? It’d be easier to make everyone come over here than go reach out to all of them, I think.”
1657
1658“…How do you mean?” a confused-looking Rigurd asked me, so I went into some more detail on the idea I just came up with.
1659
1660Really, it wasn’t anything difficult. This town, the capital of Tempest, was starting to become more well-known among the monsters in Jura. Koby, and the kobold merchant caravans he led, were doing a great job spreading the rumors wherever they went. At least a few people must’ve been interested in visiting, and I was just thinking now was a good time to expand our population a little. The beastmen hanging out here would complete their education and return home soon enough; we’d need to make up for those losses, and if we were gonna keep up the teaching effort, then the more students, the merrier. Our food situation was steadily improving, and we definitely had the room for more people.
1661
1662If anything, we were starting to face a shortage of workers. There were all these ideas, all these projects to explore, but not enough people to throw at them. A big, lavish unveiling could be just the thing to attract more of them. They’d come to pledge their fealty or whatever, they’d learn about the town along the way, and at least some of them would consider a permanent move.
1663
1664Two birds with one stone. In fact…
1665
1666“Plus… You know, we’ve all been on pins and needles the past little while. Why don’t we kick back a little bit? Let’s hold a big festival to start this off!”
1667
1668We’d set up a specific time for the meet and greets with me, and we’d stage a city-wide festival around these to fete them with. That way, I wouldn’t have to spread the meetings out over weeks and weeks. There’d be a huge feast, too—I still had Milim’s request filed in the back of my mind. It’d be a chance for all of us to take a breather, show off what we’ve done, and get everything wrapped up in one fell swoop.
1669
1670“A festival…?”
1671
1672“Wonderful! Truly a wonderful idea!”
1673
1674“Let’s do it! It will be a magnificent event!”
1675
1676My associates were up for it, at least. The town was getting experienced with this, what with the monthly feasts we already held for ourselves, and our developments in the realm of food and drink were growing more complex and large-scale by the day. Expanding on that, and allowing everyone to join in, sounded like a lot of fun.
1677
1678“This will kind of be my public debut as well, so let’s make it the biggest one we can!”
1679
1680“““Yes, my lord!”””
1681
1682There were no objections. The budget? Ah, no need to worry about that. Rigurd would figure out something. We were flush for the moment, and a little indulgence wouldn’t put a dent in that.
1683
1684Things proceeded quickly after that; I guess those words held a lot of sway with people. Suggestions and feedback filled the hall, much to my silent surprise, and before I knew it, we were extending invitations to dignitaries the entire world over. Was this a little hasty? Monsters were one thing, but were we okay inviting human heads of state as well?
1685
1686We had a hot spring. We had ample accommodations, including a state guest house worthy of handling the highest of nobility. Haruna and her crew had already impressed super-celebrities like Archduke Erald and King Gazel. I think we ought to be fine. Even if it took shuffling the dates and locations around, or at least stepping up our security, this could be a great chance for the world’s leaders to get to know me.
1687
1688The overseer of all these people (i.e., me) had just officially become a demon lord. I could see why people wanted to celebrate that. I used to be Japanese, and Japanese people love their festivals. I figured I needed to really go all out with this and teach everyone what a real party is about—that and show them what a friendly demon lord I was.
1689
1690
1691
1692
1693
1694With a promise to hammer out the festival details later, I concluded my report. We followed this up with reports from the rest of my main staff. I had a grip on everything, but not everyone on the team knew what everyone else was up to—and maybe I’d learn something new myself.
1695
1696Diablo, in particular, had a completely different view of the world from me. It was like he didn’t know what common sense was. Small trifles to me could be huge, world-changing matters to him, it felt like, and if something like that came up, it’d be difficult for me to handle that alone. That was why I set up these regular info-sharing reports.
1697
1698
1699Rigurd kicked off his briefing by stating that our merchant partners had begun returning to town. Our numbers were trending upward again, likely because Fuze was spreading the word that things were safe now.
1700
1701Beyond that, none of the other nations were making any particularly noteworthy moves. My ascension seemed to alarm many of them, but for now, they were likely waiting to see how Blumund and the Dwarven Kingdom would respond.
1702
1703We also had word that Elmesia El-Ru Thalion, Her Excellency the Emperor of the Sorcerous Dynasty of Thalion, had expressed a personal desire to open formal relations with Tempest. I could practically hear her whisper “so build a highway linking us already” underneath those words, but there’s no doubting what a useful support they’d be to us. Her statement, propagated by magic to all world leaders, had apparently led to much consternation.
1704
1705“It can be said,” Rigurd happily closed, “that all our relations are fulfilling their sworn duty and working hard on our behalf across the world!”
1706
1707
1708Next came Soei. I had left him to investigate a lot of things, so I figured he’d have the floor for a while.
1709
1710This included the preliminary setup for the highway between here and Thalion, the advance surveying and so on before we put shovel to dirt. I had already worked out the general route from my bird’s-eye view over the forest, so Soei was sent out to check for nearby monster villages or other construction obstacles.
1711
1712This was something I had him do for the roads to Dwargon and Blumund as well; it was pretty important work. You didn’t want to omit that stuff, unless you wanted trouble later. So far, the monsters impacted by the roads had been cooperative with us, so there were no major problems to speak of, but you never knew when we’d have to eminent domain someone out of their ancestral homes or whatnot.
1713
1714Very few of them would defy my will, me being demon lord and all, but I didn’t want to act that much like a tyrant, so I had to be careful. It’d be easy to just push them away by force, but I wanted to avoid that if I could. Coexistence was my creed, and that applied equally to humans and monsters. Hopefully I wouldn’t run into any issues this time, either.
1715
1716I wasn’t in this to demand anything from the monsters I ruled over. Anyone who wanted my protection got it, but otherwise, I didn’t want to interfere—well, unless they lived right in the middle of my projected road. But I wanted to avoid pointless conflict, so if they were willing to negotiate, so was I. I’d be happy to make all the moving arrangements for anyone displaced, should I need to. After all, any village near this road was bound to become a resting stop, a lively place filled with inns and taverns and travelers going to and fro.
1717
1718It wasn’t all going to be smooth sailing, but it’d make for a better life for the natives. That’s how it worked for the previous two highways, and hopefully it would once more.
1719
1720“I did not find any hostile monsters present on or near the projected route,” Soei began. “When I explained Sir Rimuru’s plans to them, they all provided their ready agreement to me.”
1721
1722Ah, good. I’m glad he made it clear we weren’t kicking anyone out of their homes.
1723
1724“That’s great. In that case, make sure you wrap up the surveying and other work by the time Geld’s free again.”
1725
1726The rough on-site investigation work was already complete. If we didn’t find any more safety concerns after this, it’d be time to send our engineers over.
1727
1728“Well, one moment. I did discover one issue. The Forest of Jura is in your jurisdiction, Sir Rimuru, but the Khusha Mountains lie on one of its borders. The area is filled with high peaks and treacherous canyons, and at the higher altitudes, there is said to be settlements populated by a long-nosed tribe known as the tengu. That is information from the local populace, so I found it difficult to dismiss entirely.”
1729
1730In the lands southwest of Rimuru, the capital and central city of Tempest, there was a mountain range that spread out across the shores of Lake Sisu. These were the Khushas, an area that high orcs had migrated to in the past; a southern branch of this range was also home to the former demon lord Frey’s castle. It was noted for its beautiful, extended rows of towering peaks, many of which were treacherous and all but untouched by living creatures.
1731
1732The current plan called for a highway to be built right up to the border with Thalion. There was a midsize town there situated between the mountains that would serve as the terminus. We wouldn’t need to go through the Khushas themselves. So what was Soei worried about?
1733
1734“What’s the big deal about that?”
1735
1736“The tengu are said to be friendly, but at their core, they are a warmongering race. Even the demon lord Frey avoided direct conflict with them. I would suggest seeking her advice about this…”
1737
1738Technically speaking, Soei advised me, the Khusha Mountains were outside the Forest of Jura and thus not our territory. It wasn’t Frey’s, either, making it independent, unclaimed land. I could’ve just used my demon lord powers to beat them into submission, but maybe it’d be better to zip over and explain matters to avoid future trouble. In their eyes, they might see me as a greedy demon lord trying to expand his territory.
1739
1740Soei sounded disappointed at having to leave the decision about this to me, but I actually thought better of him for it. I was so proud of him for not forcing the issue and trying to work with the tengu himself. He was careful like that, and that made him endlessly helpful for missions like these.
1741
1742“All right. So should I go and—?”
1743
1744“Ah, one moment. If that’s the issue, let me head over.”
1745
1746Just as I hoped to get this wrapped up quickly, Benimaru stopped me. Whenever he casually volunteered for something like this, it always alarmed me a bit—but he was right. I left the matter to him.
1747
1748“You’ve seemed rather friendly with Lady Alvis as of late, my brother. I would hope you are not volunteering merely for the chance of a tryst with her?” Shuna commented.
1749
1750Huh? Benimaru and Alvis were that into each other?!
1751
1752“What does she mean, Benimaru?”
1753
1754If Shuna was telling the truth, this was serious.
1755
1756“You misunderstand her, Sir Rimuru. Shuna, enough of your nonsense.”
1757
1758He acted unperturbed enough. It didn’t seem like he was lying to me. But let’s face it. Benimaru was a good catch for any woman able to capture his attention. Anyone could see that.
1759
1760“Don’t worry, Sir Rimuru. Whether Benimaru is here or not, you will always have me!”
1761
1762Oh, great, more of Shion’s nonsense.
1763
1764“Huh? What are you talking about?”
1765
1766“Heh! Falling for Alvis’s trap and ready to abandon our nation, are you?” Shion continued. “Well, go! Do whatever you like!”
1767
1768“Shion, how on earth are you interpreting things that way?”
1769
1770I could see veins throbbing on Benimaru’s head. I mean, yeah, I was kind of jealous of him, too—two years, and I still didn’t have a girlfriend to speak of—but I didn’t think he was gonna go elope or whatever. Shion’s imagination was a fearsome thing, indeed.
1771
1772“Yeah, I really doubt that, Shion.”
1773
1774“You heard him, Shion. Sir Rimuru, you do trust in me, yes?”
1775
1776“It’s not a matter of trust by now. You’re one of my closest partners.”
1777
1778There wasn’t a cell in my body that questioned Benimaru. He couldn’t be less like my old coworker Tamura, except in how they’d both found a steady date before I ever did. But I could deal with that later.
1779
1780This whole conversation was getting ridiculous. “Right. If we keep talking about this, Shion’s imagination is gonna run wild on her. Benimaru, I’m assigning this job to you!”
1781
1782“Yes, my lord,” he replied with a fatigued nod. Yeesh.
1783
1784Still, Benimaru was the right man to serve as my proxy here. He was second in command only to me, and I doubted he would underestimate any adversaries he came across. I wasn’t expecting hidden mountain settlements on the Thalion border, but considering the future, it was better to work everything out with them sooner or later—and Benimaru’s better than me at that stuff.
1785
1786
1787
1788
1789
1790There was one thing I had yet to hear about.
1791
1792“Can you tell me anything about the changes in our monster ecosystem, Soei?”
1793
1794I had asked him to investigate trends among the monsters in town and along our highways. A lot of residents were practically brimming with magicules; the air was pretty dense with them by now, which was exactly how you got mystic beasts—they’d spontaneously manifest from pools of the stuff, and the more that were created, the more likely at least one would be harmful to us. Beasts like these necessitated a constant patrol around the forest. They were a threat to humans even at D rank or below, so we needed to be hypervigilant with those guys. If one ranked B or so showed up, that required immediate attention.
1795
1796Rigur, as head of our security department, was the main man in charge of handling them. His team was experienced now, and even the newer ones could provide able service after several weeks of training. They patrolled the highways, ensuring the merchant wagons could ply their trade in peace, and they did a good job at it—for now, no problems had been reported. But they couldn’t cover the entire forest, so there was no telling where a new, and powerful, creature might be lurking.
1797
1798Soei had informed me that it wasn’t worth worrying about much, which was puzzling. What did he mean by that? Like, we could live safely alongside them? If they didn’t harm us or the travelers, then sure, I could accept that. Any monsters intelligent enough to be negotiated with were free to live out their lives, but you just never knew when a new menace, like the A-minus-ranked knight spider Gobta tangled with, might rear its ugly head and start defending its territory.
1799
1800That’s why I was concerned with the forest outside of the highways and other areas we had populated. Those places, it seemed to me, were more likely to house these potential threats. Soei had his Replications looking into this for me, so I was pretty sure he at least had an inkling by now.
1801
1802“I did not discover anything particularly problematic,” Soei coolly replied to me. “If I had to name one, it would be the saber grizzly I chanced upon in the forest’s northwestern reaches, but I safely dispatched it.”
1803
1804Hmm. Nothing problematic?
1805
1806
1807Report. A saber grizzly is equivalent to an A-minus rank, similar to the knight spider.
1808
1809
1810What?!
1811
1812“Whoa, that’s, um, that’s nothing a normal adventurer could take on!”
1813
1814I couldn’t hide my shock. He made it sound so commonplace that I didn’t pick up on it at first. No merchant would be able to travel in areas with freaks like those nearby. They’d be a danger even to Gobta and his patrol teams.
1815
1816“Uh,” Gobta grunted, picking up on my concern, “is that for real, Soei? ’Cause I don’t really wanna deploy anyone new and untested to places where they are. It’d be dangerous.”
1817
1818“I wouldn’t worry. You spoil them too much anyway, don’t you?”
1819
1820“Heyyy! Wait a minute! Maybe you wouldn’t worry, but to us, if we let our guards down, we’re goners!”
1821
1822“Then go to Hakuro,” Soei blithely replied as Gobta kept whining. “Just have him train you harder. You’ll be fine.”
1823
1824Hakuro nodded at this like it was plainly obvious. I felt kind of bad for Gobta, although his reaction piqued my interest. He himself didn’t seem too scared of a saber grizzly. The magicules coming off him seemed to be higher than before; he was probably on the higher end of the B rank by now. But there’s a pretty big jump between B and A, I figured…
1825
1826Hey, Raphael, I’m not misreading Gobta’s power, am I?
1827
1828
1829Understood. When Unified with a starwolf, the resulting growth in fighting level cannot be measured in numbers.
1830
1831
1832Ah. All right. Yeah, I think that Unification was an A-minus. And with Gobta head of the goblin riders, maybe a saber grizzly wouldn’t be a big issue for him. And didn’t he mention successfully defending himself against an attack by one of the Clayman squad leaders? Between Hakuro’s training and his own experience, he must have been improving, in his own way. He didn’t look any different, but maybe Gobta’s a force to be reckoned with?
1833
1834I smiled a bit as I reflected on this. “Now, now, I think Gobta’s got a good point. Just because you can handle it doesn’t mean the whole world can, Soei.”
1835
1836That was meant to defend Gobta a bit, but I also wanted to remind Soei not to try solving all his problems alone. If the more powerful among us use themselves as a yardstick, that’ll bring a world of pain upon anyone who can’t live up to that. It’d also make things more inefficient for the powerful themselves, burdening them further and ultimately leading to their ruin. I spent a few moments explaining this to the team, mixing in a few real-world examples.
1837
1838“…I understand. I did not think carefully enough.”
1839
1840Everyone is different. Soka and the rest of Soei’s team were talented enough to satisfy his harsh demands, but it took a special group of people to do that. I appreciated his apology, but I hoped he kept that fact in mind somewhere. The same could be said of Benimaru and Hakuro; I wanted them to be a bit more broad-minded in how they raised the new generation. Geld and Gabil, on the other hand, thought a great deal more about the people under them, so I had less concern about them. Hopefully everyone could learn from them. It’d make for better relationships all around.
1841
1842Meanwhile…
1843
1844“Although I should say that training Gobta and the rest is a great thing. You gotta make sure they’re prepared for the unexpected!”
1845
1846Hakuro gave a sly grin as Gobta hung his head low. Sure, not everyone advances at the same rate or to the same degree, but training itself is never a bad thing. It’s just like going to school—it’s bound to help you later on.
1847
1848
1849Convinced that Gobta was on the right track, I went back to the main topic.
1850
1851Just as I feared, we were starting to see new, and dangerous, monsters born in the forest. Our patrol teams had potions on them if worse came to worst, and the starwolves were astonishingly fast on their feet, so I’m sure they could flee easily enough. But I can’t expect our upcoming visitors to act the same way.
1852
1853“If we have all these magicules pooling together, that’s going to create more unusual monsters to deal with. It’ll be too late for us if they kill someone. We need a plan of action.”
1854
1855We could try stricter patrols, but that wouldn’t address the root of the problem. We’d have to keep that up forever, stressing all of us out. Unless we identified and removed whatever was creating these dense clouds of magic, I’d have to keep worrying about this for all time.
1856
1857So now what…?
1858
1859As I pondered over this, a helpful voice called out from an unexpected place.
1860
1861“In that case, why don’t we place anti-magic barriers over the highways?”
1862
1863It was Vester. Kaijin immediately stood up to reply.
1864
1865“And you know, pal, we just finished up the perfect device for that.” He grinned at me. “A fully automatic, barrier-producing magic generator!”
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871I knew he had been working on a few things in secret. But really? An automatic magic generator?
1872
1873Apparently, this was a device that automatically kept any magic spell going, as long as you told it which one. A major innovation, it sounded like, kind of an advanced version of the inscription magic–driven tools he had invented before. I guess Kaijin and Vester, chagrined at how useless they were during the whole barrier crisis we had, stepped up to try developing this. These guys are amazing. Making a working model in such a short time… What are they, geniuses?
1874
1875Turns out, though, this wasn’t just a couple of dudes working in a garage. Gabil was pitching in during his spare time, as well as Kurobe (who wasn’t with us at the moment). Even Shuna was helping out. In a way, we had some of the world’s greatest magic wielders coming together for this project. It was kind of epic.
1876
1877
1878Kaijin had long been devoting his days to research, leaving forge duties to Kurobe. I’m sure it wasn’t just research, what with his duties as head of Tempest’s production department, but still.
1879
1880As he explained to me, the automatic magic generator utilized the magicules naturally floating in the air. He figured we had tons of those around us right now, and that there had to be a way to harness those—hence the idea. The Prison Field covering the town worked by purifying the inner space of its magicules, absorbing them. In much the same way, monsters took in magicules from the air and produced magic crystals from them. They had researched these natural processes, analyzing how they worked.
1881
1882Another thing, one I had already mentioned, was that this nation was unnaturally full of magicules. We were all projecting pretty heavy auras even when we tried to hold them back. Even in a regular cave, the density could be enormous in areas, enough to give birth to a whole gaggle of B-plus creatures. It was all just too weird for this country. Kaijin and his team had tried to figure out what to do about this for a while, it seemed.
1883
1884“So if we use this automatic magic generator, we can create anti-magic barriers?”
1885
1886“We sure can,” Vester confidently stated. “And that’s not the only thing!”
1887
1888They were both grinning ear to ear now. I could hardly believe these two used to be at each other’s throats. But anyway.
1889
1890“What other use is there? I thought the barriers were the point.”
1891
1892“Heh-heh-heh… Get this, pal! This generator includes a mechanism that collects and gathers magicules from the atmosphere. We can use this to lower the density of magicules in the air!”
1893
1894Whoa! Really? I had to restrain myself from shouting with glee. That’s exactly the solution we were looking for!
1895
1896“It definitely is, Sir Rimuru,” Vester said. “But it’s not without its drawbacks. It requires a certain magicule density to work; otherwise, it is too inefficient.”
1897
1898“Not that we have to worry about that around this town, huh, pal?”
1899
1900I nodded my agreement. It wasn’t a problem worth considering.
1901
1902“So basically, these devices will suck magicules from the air and automatically create barriers for us?”
1903
1904“They could, yes, but eventually they’ll run out of local fuel and fizzle out. That’s why we’ve set it up so you can refill their magical energy stores.”
1905
1906As Kaijin put it, the area around Tempest had more magicules than it knew what to do with, but the closer you got to the Western Nations, the sparser they became. It’d be a problem if the barriers disappeared without anyone noticing it, so the devices were set up to generate magic based on its previously loaded stores as well.
1907
1908What was the fuel source? The crystals made from magicules collected from the air—in other words, magic crystals. Normally, these crystals would be too inefficient an energy source to use for fuel as is. Unlike the magic stones crafted with secret Free Guild technology, magic crystals were neither uniform nor stable. Converting them into magic energy would cause a good 90 percent of their magicules to dissipate into the atmosphere.
1909
1910Magic stones were better, and thanks to the Great Sage, we had a fully optimized conversion spell driven by inscription magic. It didn’t require any magic stones at all, as long as the potential output exceeded the energy needed for recovery. The technology we developed back before we could just buy all the magic stones we wanted was still paying off big-time today.
1911
1912Now, they reported, they could generate the magic with a minimum of loss, providing the desired effects even with the 10 percent of a magic crystal normally available for use. What’s more, the “wasted” 90 percent wasn’t gone forever—it just went back into the air, ready to be used again. As long as the required density was there, it was virtually a perpetual motion machine.
1913
1914And we could use these things in other ways. For example, how about creating a whole bunch of magic crystals, sending them to the Free Guild, and having them converted into magic stones? Then we could operate these things even more efficiently. The most important use, however, was paring down the magicule density around us. Less density meant few monsters and magic beasts to worry about; fewer great hordes of creatures stomping around. The number of unique monsters that might pose trouble for Gobta’s team could potentially be reduced to near zero.
1915
1916Truly, a wonderful invention. A perfect match for one of our nation’s most unique quirks. I could envision a future where we couldn’t live without it.
1917
1918“You know,” Kaijin cheerfully stated, “I think we’ve also found a lead in extracting the energy needed to convert them into magic stones. For that, though, we’re gonna need some dedicated equipment. It’s gonna be too hard with what we have now, so that’s why we looked for a way to use magic crystals as is.”
1919
1920First, they found a way to make crystals from the magicules in the air; then they developed that tech further; and then they theoretically learned how to make them into magic stones. But while the stones I purchased in Englesia helped them out a lot, they led Kaijin and Vester to the conclusion that producing our own was an uphill climb. I think I remember hearing that the process required a dedicated factory filled with large-scale equipment. It was complicated, high-level work, and while they had the theory worked out, applying it was a different matter.
1921
1922Well, nothing worth going crazy about. If we could use magic crystals anyway, there was no need for haste. Besides, using those crystals for fuel proved to be a lot easier than expected, they told me. All they had to do was rewrite the formula for the relevant inscription magic, and boom, they had a working magic circle.
1923
1924“And what’s more,” Vester excitedly continued, “these automatic generators can cast magic besides just barriers!”
1925
1926Impressively, they could handle quite a few more spells, although there were restrictions. Just place the relevant magical inscription on a magisteel disk, pop it in the device, and you could conjure up all kinds of things—a bit like a record player, except it ran on magic crystals instead of a power outlet. I remember telling them about media playback devices like that, but I had no idea they’d leverage that knowledge into something magical like this.
1927
1928If they could miniaturize it down to CD-player level, maybe we could even make them portable. Or how about the opposite, creating larger models for tactical-level magic deployment? The possibilities seemed endless. For the time being, though, the generator was a rectangle a bit over three feet long on each side and half as deep. Kinda big. Heavy, too—enough that it took some serious muscle to lift. If we could keep them stocked with magic crystals, though, there wouldn’t be any need to physically move it at all.
1929
1930Vester’s proposal was to nestle these devices within the heavy stones we used to pave the highways, setting each one to maintain a magical barrier. They could carefully measure out the life span of each one, having the daily patrol teams replace the crystals to keep the barriers going—although no replacement was needed if the local magicule density held up. As long as nothing was amiss, the devices could just be checked up on regularly and otherwise left alone.
1931
1932It seemed like a pretty smart plan to me—easy to use and adaptable to a wide variety of functions. By their calculations, one generator every six-ish miles along the highway would guarantee a safe refuge across the whole area. We had patrol stations every twelve miles along the roads, so it wouldn’t add much to a patrolman’s daily duties.
1933
1934“So what about the magic inscriptions?”
1935
1936“Heh-heh-heh… Dold’s already got the prototype done. We’ll have Kurobe work out the manufacturing process for the generators, so at this point, pal, we’re just waiting for the word go.”
1937
1938“My team has largely completed the education I’ve been giving them, so we’re holding fewer classes at the moment. I have some free time to work with, and I would love to take this job on, if possible!”
1939
1940Vester’s eyes were burning with anticipation. Research wasn’t enough for him—he wanted to see these devices humming along for himself. And so did I. It looked like they could solve our magicule problem while improving highway safety. I saw no reason not to add this to our highway planning.
1941
1942“Okay, Vester. I want you to begin tomorrow!”
1943
1944“Leave it to me, sir!”
1945
1946He smiled, elated. Glad I could rely on him. I intended to have the high orcs left in town help with the installation. The devices were ponderously heavy to a human being, but just a bit of a lift for a monster. It’d be far more efficient that way.
1947
1948I figured that adjusting the ranges of each barrier to match the path of the highway might be the biggest challenge remaining. Vester laughed that concern away, but before he could go into detail, the friendly atmosphere was shattered.
1949
1950“Gwaaaaaah-ha-ha-ha! Once you complete that network, I can release as much mystical energy as my heart desires!”
1951
1952“No you can’t, dumbass! You’ll kill half the populace if you do!!”
1953
1954I couldn’t help but yell at him for that. I really didn’t need Veldora’s crap right now. Vester’s smile turned into an alarmed, pale frown.
1955
1956“I wouldn’t advise it, no,” a disturbed Benimaru replied. “We might be able to handle it, but the rest of the city? I doubt it.”
1957
1958“Indeed,” added Shuna, “even if we moved Sir Veldora off-site, the force of the blast would likely affect us in one way or the other.”
1959
1960Yeah, no duh. Even the sealed-off magicules leaking out made it impossible for most people to be near him. If he started shooting out his mystical force willy-nilly, we’d be awash in corpses.
1961
1962“Aww, but…I’ve been holding it in for so long… It’s wearing me out…”
1963
1964“Deal with it,” I snapped back.
1965
1966“…But why doesn’t holding yours in bother you at all, Rimuru?”
1967
1968Huh? Well, why d’you think?
1969
1970“Me? I just shove it all in my Stomach.”
1971
1972Ever since Rigurd suggested it, I had been bottling up my mystical force and pushing it into my Stomach. By this point, it was an instant transfer, preventing any of it from leaking out at all. Ascending to demon lord status boosted my magicule stores a fair bit, but it also upgraded Predator to Belzebuth, Lord of Gluttony, which vastly expanded my Stomach storage. Thanks to that, I had no desire to unleash my mystical force at all.
1973
1974“You must remember,” Diablo advised me, “that perfectly blocking one’s mystic force is intensely difficult. Even Sir Benimaru and his family are allowing a tiny amount to leak out.”
1975
1976“Yes,” Veldora said, nodding meekly. “You are an observant demon, Diablo. Come on! Tell Rimuru more about how hard this is for me!”
1977
1978Diablo then explained how the demon races are particularly gifted in the handling of magic and mystical forces. That gave them perfect control over such powers, but even from that perspective, Diablo was giving Veldora an A for effort. With all the energy stored inside him, Diablo reasoned, keeping it under control was a Herculean act.
1979
1980“Is that true, Veldora?”
1981
1982“Yes! Yes, it is! I’ve been holding it in ever since you taught me how to, and I want to go blow it up somewhere!”
1983
1984This, uh, might be kind of a big deal. He wasn’t set to pop right this instant, but if we didn’t take action, we might have a disaster on our hands. If he busted all of that out without warning, we’d have acres and acres of wasteland—and with all these freaky powerful monsters and creatures dying en masse as a result, that could lead to the creation of another Charybdis. Talk about your Catastrophes. Whether he meant it or not, Veldora was seen as a mortal danger to the world for pretty solid reasons.
1985
1986“All right. I’ll think about that, so hold it in for a while longer, okay?”
1987
1988“Very well. I can manage that well enough, still. But try to be quick about it!”
1989
1990Good. Still, does it always have to be like this? I solve that magicule-density problem, and an even bigger one immediately replaces it? I let out a soft sigh. You just never know what life’s gonna throw at you.
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996Soei had finished his briefing, and before long, so had my other main leaders. But just before I was ready to adjourn:
1997
1998“Could I have the floor a moment, Sir Rimuru?” Geld raised his hand, looking concerned.
1999
2000“What’s up, Geld? If you’ve got something to say, go right ahead.”
2001
2002He didn’t seem that troubled last night. It probably had to do with the magic-born prisoners, the source of all his recent stress. I wanted to help him if I could, but…
2003
2004“I was hoping,” he began, “to tell my fellow orcs about your ascension to demon lord. Would you mind if I traveled to the villages of my countrymen, practicing my Spatial Motion as I did? Things appear to be calm across the land now, so I may perhaps find other comrades interested in serving you.”
2005
2006Come to think of it, he’s been so hard at work here in town that I don’t think he’s had the time to visit the high orc villages. I had been hearing about improvements he made to our food situation, but beyond that, I honestly hadn’t been giving him much attention. He deserved this, I thought. But:
2007
2008“Geld, if you find anyone willing to join us, I’d like you to send them to this town first.”
2009
2010“…Why is that, sir?”
2011
2012“Well, I appreciate your interest in adding to your own forces, but I think it’s important they complete their education here beforehand.”
2013
2014That was my backstory. High orcs like Geld could use Thought Communication to instantly get up to speed on work duties. That was a massive advantage to them and one of the reasons Geld was such a major contributor to our cause.
2015
2016“But we could begin work at once… Between building these highways, constructing Lady Milim’s castle, and everything else, you need labor that can move as quickly and fluidly as your own arms and legs…”
2017
2018Which, by Geld’s logic, meant the more high orcs around, the better.
2019
2020“No. We have all those prisoners to work with, don’t we? So you go lead them and build them up for me.”
2021
2022“But…”
2023
2024“Geld, I know what you’re thinking. Your suggestion would be the most efficient way, I won’t deny that. But I want you to aim higher.”
2025
2026“Higher?”
2027
2028“Yes. There’s no doubting that Thought Communication is an incredibly useful thing. It cuts down on mistakes, and there’s no reason to deliberately shut it off. But if we give preferential treatment only to races who can use that, what happens to the prisoners? Are we just gonna have them mopping floors and doing other menial tasks?”
2029
2030“We…”
2031
2032The suggestion seemed to help Geld reach the same conclusion I had. Going forward, we clearly needed more workers. That’s why we had to train those prisoners now, while things weren’t too rushed. That’s the iron rule of business—work when you have to; train when you don’t.
2033
2034Plus, if I let Geld practice favoritism with his own species, that could lead to all kinds of discrimination I really didn’t need around here. I was aiming for a paradise enjoyed by a diverse number of races, so there was no way I could allow that stuff. We were at a vital turning point in a number of ways.
2035
2036“Also, Geld, you’re definitely a talented commander. I think if I put you in charge of this diverse group of magic-born, that’ll polish your skills even further.”
2037
2038“I…?!”
2039
2040“Our construction schedule is full, certainly, but there’s no need to panic. Just use the experience you’ve built and lead them with your own words. And…”
2041
2042I took out a sheet of paper and handed it to Geld.
2043
2044“This is…!”
2045
2046“I want to leave this construction job to you. That’s just the foundational blueprint, but I firmly believe you’re up to the task. Are you up for it?”
2047
2048“Sir Rimuru…”
2049
2050This blueprint was for a gigantic structure, one I had been crafting here and there in my spare time. I showed it to Milim and the rest, too—Frey was impressed with how high it went, while Carillon rumbled his approval of the sheer majesty of the thing. Milim, meanwhile, simply loved it. This meant that all the guests who’d stay here would have no problem with it…although, this was an investment in the future, provided de facto free of charge to them, so I didn’t want to hear any complaints anyway.
2051
2052The building was inspired by what I saw in Englesia and my drive not to lose out to them. I was picturing a skyscraper at first but changed my plans after I thought something more original and suitable for this world was in order. That was what I was leaving in Geld’s able arms.
2053
2054Not that we’d be hands-off, of course—Geld needed some follow-up from me, lest the weight of the job crush him. My eyes turned to Kaijin; he smiled back. Smart of him to pick up on a slime’s gaze. But maybe I should’ve held this meeting in human form; not everyone can notice that so easily in my regular shape.
2055
2056“Leave it to us, pal. I’ll give Geld all the backup he needs, and I’ll take Mildo along, too, so you can have him handle your little city planning project, huh?”
2057
2058“What about your current work?”
2059
2060“Ah, that’ll be no problem. Our research has settled down a bit, and we’re educatin’ the next generation. I think I’m safe leaving town for a while.”
2061
2062Good. My small concerns were being whisked away by bigger issues—ones I was far more excited to tackle. No way Geld would mess this up.
2063
2064“I’m sure you’ll be fine. Let me see you handle this and grow even stronger than before. I’ll be happy to talk things over if you have any problems, though, so don’t get too worked up about it, okay?”
2065
2066“B-but…!” Geld looked frozen, his back nailed straight up. “With a job as large as this one, what if I fail at it…?”
2067
2068“It’s fine, it’s fine! Even if you do, that’s still gonna be vital experience for you. Nobody’s gonna die doing this, and it’s not like it’ll cost any more than a typical city if it goes haywire on us, right? We can always earn it back.”
2069
2070He was serious-minded, he always put in a full effort, and he always took responsibility for his actions. That was why I had to say that. It’d have the opposite effect on someone lazier and less motivated than him, but it was just the advice Geld needed right now.
2071
2072“Yeah! He’s right! I mean, look at me! Last time—”
2073
2074“Last time you did what, Gobta? Mind coming to my office later to tell me in detail?”
2075
2076“Gehh! Was this whole thing a trap for me?!”
2077
2078Ugh. Gobta always wants to show off like that. At least he helped Geld loosen up a little.
2079
2080“Heh… Heh-heh-heh-heh. Thank you, Sir Rimuru. I suppose I was so afraid of failure that I let the little details overwhelm me. Please, allow me to take this on and live up to your expectations!”
2081
2082“Good to hear. You’ve got the job!”
2083
2084It was good to hear. Geld gave me a refreshed smile, his mind clear of concern.
2085
2086“Why does he get all the attention?” a clearly jealous Shion asked.
2087
2088“It’s the right person for the right place,” I replied. “You have your own work, don’t you?”
2089
2090“Ah yes. Cooking!”
2091
2092No, you idiot!
2093
2094“Mmmm… Well, we all have a few things on our plates, but in your case, I wouldn’t say cooking is one of them.”
2095
2096I tried to be as indirect as possible. If she had one single job, I suppose it’d be protecting me and this town. I mean, she had her own good points, too. We’re all good and bad at different things. No need to freak out about it.
2097
2098“But look, Shion,” Benimaru said, getting ready to end the conversation, “you have an almost unfair amount of strength, enough to even beat me depending on the circumstances. So when I’m gone, please keep Sir Rimuru safe and sound, all right?”
2099
2100
2101
2102
2103
2104Our reporting was just about done. I could have wrapped things up there, but while we had the chance, I figured we’d listen to an update from Diablo about his own work.
2105
2106“Very well,” he said with a respectful bow as he began.
2107
2108His update on worldwide trends and how they influenced us was the same as Rigurd and Soei’s. He must have picked up on the same info, but a little confirmation was always nice. It’d all tie in with establishing Yohm’s claim to the throne eventually.
2109
2110He also told us about Yohm, the man who would be king. He had no education on how to act like a noble, much less king, so there was no way he could negotiate directly with all those high-borns. Instead, Edmaris, the former king, had joined Diablo’s cause and was in the midst of providing a crash course to the guy. Sounded good to me. With Diablo watching, I doubted the former king would try any funny stuff. Depending on how things worked out, it might be pretty neat to befriend Edmaris and take advantage of him. That would probably help Yohm out as well.
2111
2112So as I listened to Diablo brief the rest of the room, I made a mental note to go see this man Edmaris for myself sometime.
2113
2114
2115The new king, to no one’s surprise, was lurking around behind the scenes.
2116
2117“It’ll be a while before he makes any moves, though, right?”
2118
2119At least several months, I figured, before he could regroup his forces and take real action. But Diablo disagreed—or at least had an answer well beyond my own imagination.
2120
2121“Heh-heh-heh-heh… I would like to have this done sooner rather than later, so I am taking measures that will encourage him to hurry it up.”
2122
2123“Huh?” He was smiling at me again. “Do we need to prepare for something?”
2124
2125“No problems there. I have let Sir Benimaru organize the forces we will deploy when the time is right.”
2126
2127“Yes,” Benimaru casually replied, “we are all set to go there. One force that will mingle with the general public and make its presence known, and one force operating in the shadows. Both are ready for action. The selection process was quite a pain, actually. Nearly everyone volunteered for this mission.”
2128
2129They all seemed so informal about it, like they were figuring out what time to meet at the park for a picnic. It’s a little more important than that, I thought…
2130
2131“However,” Diablo said as his smile faded, “there is a… I wouldn’t call it a problem, but something that does concern me slightly. I didn’t report it since it was not worth reporting at the time, but Reyhiem has yet to return.”
2132
2133Ohhh, right. I thought I was forgetting something. I sent a rather pointed message to Hinata, and I still hadn’t received a reply.
2134
2135“That’s the archbishop we let travel to the Holy Church to report to them, right? Did he not make it or something?”
2136
2137“No, he had reached the Englesian capital accompanied by my agents, crystal ball in hand. There is a preset transport gate there that leads directly to the Church headquarters in the Holy Empire of Lubelius, so he should have arrived safely.”
2138
2139The road from Farmus to Englesia was a two-week journey by wagon, hugging the coastline the whole way. Adding Lubelius to the trip would tack on another three weeks or so—but this world has magic. Between the two nations was a pair of transport gates, special magical pathways. Go through one and traverse the alternate dimension inside, and you can travel from one end to the other in an instant. Only a small handful of elites even knew about these gates, but Reyhiem, as an archbishop for a large nation, would likely be one of them. No doubt he had access, too; once he entered Englesia, he reportedly made a beeline for the capital.
2140
2141He had absolutely used the gate there. The greater demon Diablo summoned to tail him said so himself. The city had a barrier over it, so a greater demon breaking in could cause a furor, so he simply watched Reyhiem go inside the gate and reported it back to Diablo.
2142
2143“And he hasn’t left the capital since?”
2144
2145“No. We’ve kept the city under watch, so we should be briefed once he does emerge from it…”
2146
2147…but that hadn’t happened yet. Reyhiem must be stuck in the Church. I began to fear the worst.
2148
2149“Did they kill him to shut him up, maybe?”
2150
2151“I have not detected any such thing as of yet. My Tempter skill can seize the soul of anyone it has thrall over the moment they die.”
2152
2153If there was no soul to harvest, he must still be alive. I was starting to get a little scared of Tempter, but never mind that.
2154
2155I imagined Reyhiem would’ve been safe in Lubelius’s capital, what with the Temple Knights undoubtedly guarding him. But he still wasn’t back. The Church’s inquiry could’ve just been taking a while; maybe this wasn’t cause for alarm yet, but it did bother me a little. But hey, if he’s alive, then fine. As long as they didn’t kill him and blame us for it, it’s all good.
2156
2157“So we still don’t really know what the Western Holy Church is up to?”
2158
2159“No sir. They may try to interfere with my plans, but at the moment, it is difficult to say. I will be sure to remain on high alert and deal with whatever we discover.”
2160
2161“Good. A little daunting, though. There’s too little intelligence to read the situation very well.”
2162
2163If we had enough info, I could’ve just left it all to Raphael, besides.
2164
2165“My apologies, my lord,” Soei stated, looking frustrated. “Attempting to infiltrate Lubelius is, sadly, a dangerous proposition…”
2166
2167“Oh, no, no, you’re fine! Pushing yourself too hard never accomplishes anything!”
2168
2169If we were going to sneak into the nerve center of the Holy Church, sworn enemy of monsters, Soei himself would be our only candidate. Even then, if Hinata was there, I’d be sorely anxious for him. Soka and the others wouldn’t have a chance; they’d be discovered and executed in short order. I had strict orders in place not to go overboard with this kind of thing.
2170
2171Still, though…
2172
2173“You think we’re gonna be enemies now?”
2174
2175The message I recorded painted a picture of—in so many words—putting the whole ruckus from before firmly behind us. I taunted them a tiny bit, too, but hey, I needed to have a little fun, right? …Or not? Maybe that was a bad idea, but it was out of my hands now. No undo button to press.
2176
2177The overall message was friendly, though, so I was pretty sure that’s how they’d take it. Hinata was intelligent enough to make the right decision, I believed. If she opted to live alongside us without hostility, that’d be the most ideal thing.
2178
2179For now, outside of the Octagram, the Church was the biggest threat out there. The Eastern Empire seemed kinda fishy, too, but they were unlikely to take action for now. If the Western Holy Church could do the same for us, Diablo’s plans were all but accomplished already.
2180
2181“That is a thorny question,” Benimaru said. “Personally, I would prefer to have this dispute firmly settled, rather than leave any grudges behind.”
2182
2183I appreciated his feedback, but if we were defeated, it was all over, so let’s keep it peaceful, okay?
2184
2185Shuna gave me a thoughtful look. “You know, Sir Rimuru, we were attacked while you were fighting the Saint Hinata. These attacks were undoubtedly timed, and someone needed to plan that out in advance. Plus, Clayman himself hinted at the presence of someone behind the scenes…”
2186
2187She helped me recall someone I really shouldn’t be forgetting about. The big man upstairs.
2188
2189“‘Him,’ huh?”
2190
2191“Yes,” said Hakuro, bitterly nodding. “And now that we know this someone exists and is trying to entrap us, we will need to consider his upcoming moves as well. Now is no time to let our guards down.”
2192
2193“No,” Shuna said, nodding with the crowd, “no time to let anyone escape our attention.”
2194
2195“Yeah… And if that guy’s involved, Hinata might take action, too.”
2196
2197But something didn’t seem right to me. You know that feeling? The suspicion you’re overlooking something? And then it struck me all at once—this thing eating at me.
2198
2199“…Say, what if Hinata didn’t attack me on her own volition? What if she was asked by someone or ordered to?”
2200
2201“How do you mean?”
2202
2203“Given the timing,” Shuna asked as she traced my line of thought, “isn’t it clear Hinata is connected to this other person?”
2204
2205That only strengthened my suspicion.
2206
2207“Well, honestly, I really don’t think Hinata was taking orders from someone, but what do you think? Even if she was connected to that someone, d’you think she’d take orders from him?”
2208
2209“““?!”””
2210
2211I heard a couple gasps from the audience.
2212
2213That woman didn’t bother listening to a word I said. Why would she listen to a request, or especially an order, from anyone else?
2214
2215“Good point, pal,” Kaijin replied. “She’s captain of the Crusaders; who would she ever take orders from? The only one she’d ever listen to is the god Luminus herself. I mean, everybody knows that not even the Church leader can corral her; am I right?”
2216
2217If Hinata answered to nothing but divinity, that put her at the top of the Church ladder. That eliminated the “operating on orders” idea.
2218
2219“Yeah, you see? She sure didn’t listen to me at all. I really can’t imagine her taking orders.”
2220
2221Which meant, if you looked at it the other way, if we could convince Hinata fighting was a bad idea, we didn’t have to clash with the Church at all.
2222
2223“Orders from no one, huh?” mused Benimaru.
2224
2225“So,” added Shuna, “the attack timing was just a coincidence?”
2226
2227“Or something the Church took very keen advantage of,” Diablo muttered—a very demon-like theory, but it made sense. I couldn’t imagine Hinata being taken advantage of, but it was still a possibility.
2228
2229“Perhaps Diablo is right, and someone was inspiring Hinata to do what she did. The mystery mastermind may be involved, too. But…”
2230
2231“But you doubt said mastermind was in a position to order her around?”
2232
2233“Exactly,” I said, nodding at Diablo.
2234
2235Benimaru closed his eyes, considering my suggestion. “So this mastermind drove Farmus to action, manipulated Clayman, and tried to destroy our nation. But he didn’t have that kind of free control over Hinata, then…?”
2236
2237“Does that mean, Sir Rimuru, you don’t expect any moves from the Western Holy Church at this time?”
2238
2239“That’s the thing, Diablo…”
2240
2241I couldn’t answer his question.
2242
2243From her point of view, it should’ve been clear to Hinata that we, and the Church, should avoid being enemies. I clearly stated that in my message to her—I didn’t want to oppose them at all, and since we had a disaster-class threat in me and a catastrophe-class one in Veldora, Hinata couldn’t be stupid enough to take on Tempest. Just look at the stakes; she would accomplish nothing. Even if she won, all she’d earn from it was more fame, and that wouldn’t nearly make up for the massive losses the Church would face. It just wasn’t sane to wage war if you had nothing to gain from it. Hinata didn’t like listening to people, but she had to see that, at least.
2244
2245But I still had my concerns. There was this certain annoying dragon thing next to me mumbling “Luminus… This god’s name was Luminus? I feel like I’ve heard that before” and so on, which kept interrupting my train of thought, but I still had my concerns.
2246
2247“Hinata told me that we were a ‘bother’ to her. That’s because the teachings of the Holy Church—of Luminism—dictate that life alongside monsters is impossible. But that might not be the whole story…”
2248
2249Why did Hinata call us a bother? Because Luminism refused to acknowledge us. But if that was the only reason, it just didn’t seem rational of her—or to put it another way, it wasn’t like Hinata at all. There had to be something else. And while this is the exact opposite of what I just said, what if there was some mastermind behind it all? Someone besides Hinata, who also sees us as a bother to their plans? What would that someone want?
2250
2251
2252Report. There is an increased possibility that multiple motives are at place. All these events are interconnected. However, it is estimated that they are not all occurring by the will of a single entity.
2253
2254
2255Um, meaning…?
2256
2257
2258Understood. Considering the nations, people, factions, and other factors involved, several goals can be categorized. These goals may seem to match one another at first glance, but several contradictions are present as well. It would be unnatural to unify everything under the banner of a single mastermind.
2259
2260
2261So it’s not just one mastermind. That’s the core of it, and hearing it that way, it made sense.
2262
2263Clayman was being controlled by another part of the cabal, then? Ah yes. That did make sense, if you thought about it. They simply worked together for a common goal; Clayman wasn’t following any specific orders or anything. Maybe they were just giving each other little suggestions or shoves in the right direction. In fact, Hinata might not have been involved with him at all.
2264
2265It did seem more natural to assume more than one player was running around. Plus, if these factions changed, some players may no longer want to put up a fight. That’s how international politics worked; it wasn’t something that operated on passing emotions.
2266
2267So…
2268
2269To Clayman, we were nothing but a bother—but at the same time, he tried to take advantage of us. He would’ve loved it if Hinata and I knocked each other out.
2270
2271To Farmus, I, as overseer of Tempest, was a bother. They didn’t want to destroy us; they wanted us to fall under their rule. They hoped Hinata would take me out and would’ve loved it if she had.
2272
2273So where does Hinata’s heart lie? In terms of being a Luminism adherent, she wasn’t about to ignore a monster nation.
2274
2275These were the three frames of mind that drove the whole situation—and in the end, I fled from Hinata, Farmus retreated, and Clayman died. Which brings us to now.
2276
2277The situation that attracted these masterminds in the first place had changed. Clayman was gone, and the “person” behind him must’ve been busy reconstructing what little fighting force he had left.
2278
2279Would this guy still want to directly fight me?
2280
2281
2282Understood. The possibility of taking such action is likely low. If the mastermind’s powers exceeded Clayman’s, he would have become involved well ahead of when he did. Even if he was preserving his own powers this entire time, involvement would mean little by now, after such a grave strategic defeat.
2283
2284
2285So there’s no reason to come after me. Not like this guy in the shadows would decide to go reveal himself now, long after the fact. Whether he wanted to make a comeback or not, he knew a frontal assault on me definitely wasn’t the way to do it.
2286
2287What about the other factions?
2288
2289King Edmaris was off the throne, his ambitions crushed. The new king was doing…something, and there were those among the administration who certainly wished us harm. We were a bother to them, no doubt, and there was a good chance they hadn’t given up on taking us out of the picture. But Diablo was watching them. If they were trying to become a new mastermind, they were sure taking their time with it. I doubted they were a threat, although you couldn’t declare them down for the count. Maybe someone among them was hiding a darker, more sinister aspect. This is why dealing with human beings is such a pain sometimes.
2290
2291The Western Holy Church was being completely opaque. Judging by Reyhiem’s missing-in-action status, things must’ve been pretty chaotic in there. Was Hinata struggling to cope with this, too? If she didn’t have a clear and present reason to oppose us, there wasn’t much reason to take action. But what if she does take action? It’d mean something was forcing her hand.
2292
2293
2294Report. It must not be forgotten that there is a high possibility of multiple people working in the background.
2295
2296
2297Yeah. Good point. And if there were, whether Hinata wanted it or not, things could keep on moving forward. Guess optimism right now wasn’t such a good idea.
2298
2299“Perhaps, because there are multiple interests at stake here, we should work on the assumption that it is not solely Hinata’s decision to make?”
2300
2301Diablo must’ve arrived at largely the same conclusion I had.
2302
2303“Well said, Diablo. I was just about to say that myself.”
2304
2305It was Raphael who saved my ass, of course, but no need to reveal that much. Maybe Diablo’s a hell of a lot smarter than I thought? I was using Mind Accelerate to rev up my brain a million times ahead of normal, and Diablo had arrived at the same conclusion at roughly the same time. Without Raphael, I’d be eating his dust.
2306
2307“Heh-heh-heh-heh… In that case, we had best keep a close eye on the Western Holy Church’s meddling this time, as well.”
2308
2309He pretty much was already, I knew, so maybe the warning I was about to make didn’t really matter. Still, the rest of my team deserved to hear it.
2310
2311“We might just be making a big mistake, though.”
2312
2313“How so?” Benimaru asked. The rest of my cabinet was watching me closely, too. I definitely needed us all on the same page here.
2314
2315“Like Diablo just said, there might be more than one ‘man upstairs.’ Chances are that the current status quo is the result of multiple interests working on the same playing field. This time, too, different players are after different goals, so we shouldn’t assume our opposition is all gonna act the same way, you know?”
2316
2317My team nodded their approval. If that explanation was enough to get my point across, they’re pretty damn quick on the uptake, too. Except for Gobta, given how he was napping at the moment. That was almost a relief to see. He’s still getting punished later, though.
2318
2319“And you think these multiple interests are linked with the one Clayman spoke of?”
2320
2321“I don’t know, Benimaru. But we can’t decide on anything yet. Working on unfounded assumptions when there’s not enough data is dangerous, I think.”
2322
2323I shrugged. Being in my slime state, it just looked like a few ripples pulsing across my body.
2324
2325“That’d make sense, though,” Kaijin added, convinced. “Like, if Hinata was moving based on obligations, not necessarily orders.”
2326
2327“Heh-heh-heh-heh… In that case, I will investigate further. It was the merchants who provided Edmaris and his ministers with their information, but thinking about it, that should have raised my suspicions.”
2328
2329That struck a chord.
2330
2331“Hang on. The merchants…?”
2332
2333“Is something bothering you, Sir Rimuru?”
2334
2335“Well, I mean, Farmus invaded us to boost their coffers. War has a way of moving money around, and you always have people trying to profit off it. Maybe some of the merchants are working behind the scenes to get a piece of that action?”
2336
2337“I see…”
2338
2339That was another point we’d overlooked. Our enemies might not be vast nations with huge armies at their control. Ultimately, both now and in the distant past, it was greed that led to animosity between peoples. And as long as money could be exchanged for power, the merchants needed to be monitored as well.
2340
2341I leaped off my seat, taking human form and surveying the audience. Then I began to hand out orders.
2342
2343“Shuna, examine the account books we recovered from Clayman’s castle and see which merchants were frequent visitors.”
2344
2345“Yes, my lord.”
2346
2347“Diablo, pin down some of Farmus’s civil servants and figure out which merchants they have the closest ties with.”
2348
2349“At once, my master.”
2350
2351“Benimaru, I want you to double-check your selections for the force we’re sending as Yohm’s reinforcements. They’ll need to be prepared for anything.”
2352
2353“Not a problem.”
2354
2355“Rigurd, I’m leaving you in charge of town. We’re going to hold a festival for the ages, so get the place prepared for it.”
2356
2357“No need to tell me twice!”
2358
2359“Geld, don’t worry about any of what we just talked about. Just focus on your own work. If we get in serious trouble, we’ll come to you then, so just trust me for the time being, okay?”
2360
2361“Of course. Nobody in this realm would ever distrust you.”
2362
2363“Hakuro, you assist Benimaru. Gabil, work with Rigurd. Rigur, shake down our entire security system. We need to be prepared for all the races we’ll be hosting soon!”
2364
2365“On it!”
2366
2367“Yes sir!”
2368
2369“All set!”
2370
2371“And, Shion, um… You be my guard! Yeah, that!”
2372
2373“Absolutely!”
2374
2375Clearly, I was on a roll. I gave Ranga a pat on the head as I smiled, satisfied. This should work; everyone can handle their own business now.
2376
2377“And what of myself?”
2378
2379“Oh yeah, uh, Veldora, stay out of everyone’s way.”
2380
2381“It shall be done!”
2382
2383I doubted it. Him, I’ll need to keep a personal eye on. Oh, and…
2384
2385“Gobta, I know you’re tired out, but come see me in my office.”
2386
2387“Gahh!”
2388
2389Seeing my smile first thing after I shook him awake must’ve spooked him a little.
2390
2391
2392Ah well. Even after becoming a demon lord, these meetings never seemed to change very much.
2393
2394
2395
2396
2397
2398CHAPTER 3
2399
2400
2401THE SAINT’S ANTICIPATION
2402
2403
2404On that day, the world knew true terror once more. Veldora, the Storm Dragon, was reborn.
2405
2406It had been formally revealed by the Western Holy Church, not long after the Guild announced the most recent missive from the demon lords. They had gone from ten to eight, forming an Octagram, and this alone was enough to spread chaos worldwide. It wasn’t long before the kings of all nations were faced with vast, headache-inducing changes in the world situation—changes that would continue for days on end.
2407
2408
2409The Western Holy Church itself was experiencing unrest like none in recent memory.
2410
2411Several days after Hinata Sakaguchi’s battle with Rimuru, contact with Archbishop Reyhiem was cut off as he accompanied his kingdom’s military deployment. He was required to submit regular reports, and if those reports were missing, something must have been going wrong with the Tempest invasion.
2412
2413When informed of this, Hinata immediately decided that a personal visit to Tempest was in order. But just as she did, she received a divine missive to guard the cathedral instead. Veldora, the Storm Dragon, was the reason. Thus, despite expecting her Crusader forces to assemble before her shortly, she was prevented from deploying when she wanted to.
2414
2415Exactly who this proved to benefit the most was a question worthy of debate. An unprepared Hinata challenging Veldora to a duel would surely result in defeat. If she was aware of the dragon’s presence, however, and could devise a lucid strategy for invading Tempest, that nation could very well be taken while Rimuru was still absent.
2416
2417Tempest was Hinata’s ultimate goal, not Veldora, and with the powers she had on tap, she could have made simple work of it. The ball was in her court—but only if she gave due consideration to Veldora’s subsequent moves and Rimuru’s own reactions to them. Either way, though, both sides managed to avoid the worst for themselves.
2418
2419
2420
2421
2422
2423It was a city enveloped in a calming light, a holy metropolis protected by a divine barrier.
2424
2425This barrier had been the subject of research over many years, adjusted and perfected until it boasted the highest level of protection in the land. It prevented all outside enemies from invading, dutifully fulfilling that obligation for the past thousand years. It was, in a way, the personification of the prayers of everyone who lived inside it. It could even block out the sun itself, automatically adjusting the light levels inside the bubble as needed—brighter by day, dimmer by night. The temperature inside was kept at a near constant all year, producing cooler summers and warmer winters, while the compartmentalized farmlands inside could produce seasonal crops at almost any time.
2426
2427It was a utopia, one whose residents never had to worry about starvation. Every child received a level of compulsory education, and every adult was provided with a job. Its society had achieved complete harmony, its paradise monitored by the law and order that ruled over it.
2428
2429This was Lune, the Holy City, capital of the Holy Empire of Lubelius. The day after the last Walpurgis, Hinata was walking the path toward its main cathedral. The surrounding air was pleasantly warm, tempered by the solemnity of the atmosphere. This land was a bountiful one. No one starved; there were no beggars at the side of the streets. Everyone was provided a suitable role, carrying it out to the fullest. They all awoke to the same bells and slept at the same time. The more capable of the laborers assisted the less able. And all was managed in perfect harmony, guaranteeing the happiness of every citizen that lived and breathed inside.
2430
2431It was an ideal, equal society, one granted under the name of their god, and the city spread out before her eyes was the completed, physical form of that ideal.
2432
2433Hinata observed the faces of the people passing by. They were all smiles, each looking calm and serene. But something concerned her.
2434
2435To her, this holy land was truly the ideal city. It was her lofty goal to make the Western Nations, and eventually the whole world, a peaceful, war-free society. She craved a land where the strong no longer had to prey upon the weak to survive. Reality, however, was all too bleak. The Kingdom of Englesia and the Holy Empire of Lubelius were far, far too different from each other. It made Hinata doubt herself every time. The freedom of Englesia, the harmony of Lubelius. Two nations that seemed to contradict each other in every way, from their political systems to their core principles.
2436
2437And nothing made the difference as stark as the looks on the children in each land. She could hear some of them near the educational facilities built adjacent to the cathedral. A few of them, perhaps late for class, were running down the pathway toward the building, the faster ones pulling the arms of the laggards. It was a common sight, certainly not cause for alarm. But Hinata could spot the disparity present in the picture.
2438
2439What was Englesia like? She recalled what she saw there. It was morning at the time when she spotted children smiling as they wriggled past the school gate just before the morning bell. Anyone caught dawdling before it was closed would no doubt face a lecture from their instructors shortly. Here, though, those who made it in time taunted the stragglers, beaming proudly. Now what would have happened if they tried running hand in hand, like in Lubelius? The answer was clear—they’d all wind up late, facing the headmaster’s wrath. She knew this was a silly yardstick to make comparisons with. The kids could avoid all this if they just woke up a few minutes earlier. But she couldn’t stop thinking about it.
2440
2441Where was the difference? Were the faster kids bullies? No. They picked on the slower ones, but there wasn’t any air of superiority involved. Even the stragglers flashed embarrassed smiles back at them. Even with those stern headmaster lectures, they still seemed to be having fun with their lives. But what would happen over on Lubelius? All the children running to class wore the same expression. That calm, serene smile of satisfaction, just like the grown-ups. That total disinterest in competition or personal expression; all the same face.
2442
2443A fully managed society can provide happiness, but it cannot provide freedom. They were all equals, carrying out their appointed tasks, the haves providing ample support to the have-nots. This land’s people fully completed it.
2444
2445That was Hinata’s goal—creating an equal, conflict-free society. A world where no children would ever be abandoned by their parents, where everyone was allowed to live in happiness. It was an ideal, Hinata knew, not a realistic concept. But whenever she felt ready to give up on it entirely, the sheer idea of Lubelius presented itself to her. Competition bred conflict, and competition did not exist in this fully managed society. It was, in other words, Hinata’s ideals put to action.
2446
2447
2448The Holy Empire of Lubelius’s political system was fairly close to communism. With their “god” the head of state, they had established total equality among all members of society. This god was the Papacy, the organization that represented the Holy Emperor.
2449
2450Communism’s greatest weakness was the unavoidable presence of a ruling class above everyone else. The government was forced to sing the praises of equality while actually maintaining a hierarchy in practice. If corruption began to rot the upper class, it was difficult for the masses to rectify that. It would lead to unequal distribution of goods, expanding the disparity.
2451
2452Divinity was Lubelius’s solution to this problem. The Papacy was, by definition, a superior existence from the very beginning, so inequality among the people would theoretically not become an issue. The rulers, of course, handled matters like diplomacy with other states, but under their god, all were equal. It was a con, yes, but a con that had served as reality for the Holy Empire over a millennium of history. It had served as an ideal like none could before it, and there was a good reason for it…
2453
2454
2455…Luminus, the god ruling over all of this, was actually the demon lord Luminus Valentine.
2456
2457
2458Luminus Valentine, the absolute monarch, the flesh-and-blood demon lord, the Queen of Nightmares and ruler of night—and the only adversary Hinata had ever lost to.
2459
2460
2461
2462
2463
2464In front of an absolute ruler, all people held equal value. To Luminus, this concept of a fully managed society was akin to a farmer taking care of his livestock. But this was exactly why the whole utopia worked at all.
2465
2466As vampires, Luminus and her kin didn’t tear people apart to live off their flesh. All they needed was a little blood to ingest, using the life force inside it to sustain themselves. The higher the vampire’s rank, the less of this blood they needed as they lived their eternal lives.
2467
2468It was said the blood of those they preyed upon tasted sweeter the happier the donor was. Compared with other nations, people had it pretty good here. If a donor gave up a lot of life force at once, that would be a problem, but Luminus placed strict prohibitions on that. Thus, order was fully kept in this nation, since the lower-level vampires had no way to defy the will of Luminus far above them. Everything was equal, far more so than the Western Nations could ever manage.
2469
2470It was what made Hinata believe in the equality ever present in Luminism, using justice as her credo when she joined the Church. Now she was one of its most fervent missionaries, believing its core tenets to be absolute. As a paladin, tasked with providing equal salvation to the people, she wanted justice to prevail with anything she did.
2471
2472Shizue Izawa, her teacher, was far too lax by comparison, and the structure devised by Yuuki Kagurazaka, the boy from the same land as her, was too fantastic a dream to be treated at all seriously. It simply handled issues as they arose, failing to offer any real preventative measures. Seeking to improve oneself was a laudable endeavor, and she had kind words for the Free Guild’s cooperative approach. But given its reliance on fees in exchange for work, equality seemed like a lost cause with them.
2473
2474Thus, Hinata left the tutelage of her teacher. Shizue told Hinata to count on her if she ever lost her way, but that wasn’t going to happen. That would be depending on her too much. If she kept depending on Shizue, Hinata vaguely thought, it’d ruin her.
2475
2476………
2477
2478……
2479
2480…
2481
2482The only thing she could rely upon in this world was her own power. Thus, Hinata sought the kind of power that nobody else could ever hope for.
2483
2484She had a natural fear of carrying anything precious with her, lest she lose anything else. She didn’t deal with other people; power was her only desire. She had become a paladin a mere year after joining the Western Holy Church, then its corps captain less than two years later, building up what was lauded as the most powerful Crusader group in history with her own two hands.
2485
2486But the higher she rose through Church ranks, the more she saw what it really was. And then she found what lay at the essence of Luminism. The Holy Emperor Lubelius was actually a vampire by the name of Louis. Even more shocking to her, this Louis was the elder twin brother of none other than the demon lord Roy Valentine. Conspiring with a demon lord to retain your power—nothing could have been more ridiculous, more contemptuous of its people.
2487
2488It enraged Hinata when she learned of it—enough so that she went into the Inner Cloister alone to purge both Roy and Louis. The resulting battle left her with mortal wounds, forcing her to lie there and wait for her death. There she was, with her little sense of justice, her weak power, unable to save anyone. The “benevolence” of choosing whom to save, because you can’t save them all. It seemed so comical, so pointless to her.
2489
2490Heh…heh-heh-heh… So much for me. The weak are always doomed to die weak. But at least I rid the world of one obstacle…
2491
2492But even so…Hinata believed she didn’t make the wrong decision. She reduced the amount of evil in this world; she had nothing to be ashamed of. That, by itself, left her satisfied.
2493
2494As her sight grew dim, Hinata could hear the sound of light footsteps. She thought it was her mind playing tricks on her, but then a clear, refreshing voice serenaded her.
2495
2496“I could hear this racket in my own bedchamber. What are all of you doing?”
2497
2498Before her was a radiant young girl with silver hair. Her heterochromatic blue-and-red eyes shone eerily, coldly looking down on Hinata and the others on the floor. The aura floating around her was on another level, making Louis and Roy—whom she had just fought to the death and beyond—look like children.
2499
2500…?!
2501
2502Hinata, face-to-face with death, was overwhelmed by her presence, this beauty beyond all human comprehension. This clear, transparent presence, so far away from her.
2503
2504She had the dignity of the upper class, the air of someone used to ruling over others. Good and evil seemed like trifles when presented to her. And as if to prove that:
2505
2506“And you two think you can die and leave me behind?”
2507
2508The waves of force emanating from her revived Roy the demon lord and Louis the emperor, despite the lethal blows Hinata knew she’d landed. It was a supernatural power, one Hinata had no knowledge of.
2509
2510It’s over… Everything I have done…
2511
2512Despair filled her heart, as the flame of life began to flicker away—
2513
2514“And you as well, human. You will not be allowed to die with that pride in your mind. What is justice? Justice is not about crushing evil. Who do you think you are, deciding whether I engage in evil or not? There is no such thing as a justice that can satisfy all forms of free will. It is arrogant to think you can do otherwise. Am I wrong?”
2515
2516The words beat against Hinata’s eardrums as a warm light descended upon her, saving her life. There, as her wounds seemed to magically disappear, the girl spoke.
2517
2518“You have one week. If you are powerful enough to defeat my closest confidants, you can certainly overcome the Seven Days Trial. Only then will I seriously deign to engage you.”
2519
2520She took the trial. She completed it, Usurping the powers of those she studied under to obtain superhuman strength.
2521
2522And then, wagering her life for the attempt…she lost to that young girl, Luminus Valentine, and capitulated to her.
2523
2524
2525
2526
2527
2528………
2529
2530……
2531
2532…
2533
2534But even with that defeat, the sword refused to break. Instead, it grew more flexible, stronger—and with it, Hinata was reborn, as a divine sword, the right hand of divinity, the slayer of all travails.
2535
2536To Hinata, the presence of Luminus was all that mattered. Luminus was the key to an equal, fair society, and losing her would mean the destruction of all order. Maintaining a utopia required constant effort and resolve, and along those lines, Hinata was a double-edged sword. If Luminus ever became the enemy of humanity, Hinata would have to slay her with her sword. It seemed impossible, but she was resolved to do it. That was why now, even today, she continued to put herself up to the trial.
2537
2538
2539
2540
2541
2542Soon, Hinata had reached her destination. There, waiting for her, was Louis, the Holy Emperor who was now a kindred soul. He had unbelievable news for her.
2543
2544“My brother died last night.”
2545
2546Last night.
2547
2548Hinata had chased off an unknown intruder in the cathedral that night. She was meant to meet with someone else, but after Luminus’s missive made her cancel all that, she changed her plans. That, fortunately, allowed her to end the night without dirtying the holy lands with anyone else’s blood. Or so she thought.
2549
2550“You’re joking, right? Roy is a demon lord. He was at the Walpurgis Council.”
2551
2552“I speak the truth, Hinata. Roy returned earlier than Lady Luminus, and the intruder you let escape ran into him first.”
2553
2554“No. That intruder fled the moment he saw me. He was so fast that I wasn’t able to give chase, but…”
2555
2556“Indeed, perhaps you thought it was just a diversion. Lady Luminus charged you with defending the holy lands, not with killing intruders. That is the job of our Imperial Guard, as worthless as they have just proven themselves.”
2557
2558“The guard that I’m chief knight of. But Roy, being killed by someone on that level? Who’s the worthless one now?”
2559
2560She laughed boldly, right in front of the Holy Emperor—Roy’s elder brother.
2561
2562
2563Luminus Valentine was the true demon lord, the twin brothers Louis and Roy her close confidants. Louis ruled the external world as its Holy Emperor, while Roy ruled behind the scenes as demon lord. Luminus, meanwhile, governed over everything as a god.
2564
2565This was the world they had pursued. It was also why Luminus preferred a policy of insular government, locking herself inside the Inner Cloister and never revealing herself in public.
2566
2567
2568Roy, serving as her demon lord representative, had been more than powerful enough to sit alongside the other nine at the table. Simply being born a vampire made him the equivalent of a B, ranking-wise. His muscular strength, durability, reaction time, and everything else were several times better than what a human could muster, and his race gave him a multitude of excellent skills, including Steel Strength, Self-Regeneration, Shadow Motion, Paralysis, Charm, Coercion, Transform, and more. There were few vampires in the world, but even among the so-called high-level magic-born, they were a head above the crowd in fighting ability.
2569
2570Louis and Roy were elder noblemen, both in the service of their leader Luminus since ancient times. Their powers were monumental, it went without saying, and Hinata was fully aware of that. Having fought them both once, she had no doubts. This only meant one thing: Whoever last night’s intruder was, they must’ve been unbelievably powerful.
2571
2572“…But it doesn’t really matter, does it?” Hinata whispered. “As long as Lady Luminus is safe. Not that anyone need worry about her…”
2573
2574Not even Hinata could fully gauge the depths of the demon lord Luminus. She was beyond all imagination, a supreme being that served as both an ideal goal to reach and a potential opponent sometime in the future. It would be impertinent for Hinata to even bother worrying about her.
2575
2576Roy, meanwhile, was worth about as much as a pebble on the street. Not to offend Louis, but it didn’t really matter whether he was killed or not. He was weak, he died, and that was that. As far as Hinata was concerned, that was his own fault.
2577
2578“It does matter. We let Roy exercise his violent streak as a threat to make people adhere to Luminism. With him dead, there is a chance people’s faith in our creed may dwindle. The evil dragon Veldora is alive once more, and yet, the Forest of Jura still remains stable as well.”
2579
2580“You have a point…”
2581
2582Hinata could guess why. It was that slime she let slip through her fingers. This, she had no excuse for. It was fully her mistake, and nobody was more aware of that than she was. It was her choice to let last night’s intruder go, but that slime, Rimuru, she wanted eradicated from the world for good. She couldn’t help but praise him.
2583
2584I can hardly believe he managed to escape that place. I knew you were a careful one, Rimuru, but that was nothing I could have imagined…
2585
2586“…I can’t speak about the dragon, but I imagine the forest is stable because of that slime, Rimuru, I let escape.”
2587
2588“Mmmm. I conducted some of my own investigation, and it has been confirmed that the Kingdom of Farmus’s forces have been annihilated. Counting the time back from Veldora’s resurrection, it had to be the work of that Rimuru. Quite an adversary for you, wasn’t he?”
2589
2590“I suppose the moment I saw him, encased in that Holy Field, was the best chance I had of defeating him.”
2591
2592“You didn’t give him some discretion, perhaps, after he claimed to be from your realm?”
2593
2594“Of course not. Lady Luminus’s aims are incompatible with that slime’s. I know where he’s coming from, and leaving him to his own devices would only wreck our plans. That’s why I chose to ignore what he had to say and instead tried to destroy his town…”
2595
2596“So the angels will be moving soon enough.”
2597
2598“They will. They’re safe for now, but if they keep developing the town at that pace, they absolutely will.”
2599
2600“That would be distressing. We aren’t ready for them yet. I’d like to ensure that our victory in the next Temma War is absolute.”
2601
2602“I know. We need to tear those angels limb from limb, and that’s why we can’t afford to speed up the timetable.”
2603
2604Louis nodded.
2605
2606Whenever the cities of the world developed past a certain level, the angels began to attack them. Why, nobody knew, but their actions followed a set recognizable pattern. When it happened, countless numbers of innocents died—and to combat them, Hinata had expanded her forces and devised a way to knock them completely out of the picture. Her proselytizing for Luminism was also a way to help people work together, making their harmonic cooperation a palpable force to work with. That, she believed, was the best way to follow the will of Luminus, her god.
2607
2608Rimuru’s behavior was getting in the way of that—and now that she knew Rimuru was the cause of Shizue Izawa’s death, she had personal issues with him. There was no reason at all for her to cut him any slack. With him were his monsters—intelligent, rational, and understanding of humans. It pained her a little to involve them in this, but Luminus called them her enemy, and her will was the law.
2609
2610Victory in the Temma War was of utmost priority, and to earn that, Hinata wouldn’t hesitate to do what must be done. She was cold, pragmatic, and above all a rationalist.
2611
2612“But perhaps your failure will turn out well in the end.”
2613
2614“What do you mean?”
2615
2616“The Western Nations will likely band together to deal with the threat in the Forest of Jura. With Roy gone, what better foe to unite the human race against?”
2617
2618“…Do you think so? I doubt it’ll go that easily.”
2619
2620But did he have a point? Maybe, Hinata thought, it was a good thing after all. A stable Forest of Jura was what they wanted, and if they sought to live alongside humanity, that was all for the better. But if Rimuru really did massacre the Farmus force, he was clearly a threat they couldn’t afford to overlook.
2621
2622Still…
2623
2624“You know the Eastern merchants who brought me information. We were planning to meet last night as well. If it weren’t for Lady Luminus’s order, I wouldn’t be here right now.”
2625
2626“Oh? Rather good timing, then.”
2627
2628“Almost too good, isn’t it? Those merchants were trying to use me. If you think about it, maybe keeping Rimuru alive and present was the right answer, not to make excuses.”
2629
2630But the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. They may have survived the Farmus invasion, but the resurrected Storm Dragon was bound to attack Rimuru before long. Plus, Rimuru was calling himself a demon lord, apparently, which invited the rage of the other ten and earned him a ticket to last night’s Walpurgis.
2631
2632“I would imagine so. Until we are fully ready, I’d prefer to use that land as a bulwark against the East…assuming Rimuru survived the Walpurgis Council.”
2633
2634“Right. Do you think he’ll make it through?”
2635
2636“Lady Luminus will return soon. We will know by then.”
2637
2638“Having to tell her of Roy’s death is a depressing thought.”
2639
2640“She’ll be in a bad state, I’m sure.”
2641
2642“She was a lot kinder to him than I ever was…”
2643
2644“Mmmm. I suppose I’m not very kind myself. My own brother is dead, but I don’t feel sad about it at all.”
2645
2646Hinata just shrugged at Louis. They stopped talking, waiting for Luminus. Before very long, a herald arrived.
2647
2648“Stand back! Lady Luminus has returned!”
2649
2650In a flash, the cathedral became a hive of activity—and soon, Hinata and Louis were going to face a conversation they never expected to have.
2651
2652
2653
2654
2655
2656Now they were at the Inner Cloister, a sacred mountain looming in the center of the Holy Empire of Lubelius. The Holy Church headquarters was at the foot of it; proceed straight through its grounds, and you’ll find the Holy Temple, which houses the cathedral that connects to the mountain’s entrance. Beyond it and up the path, the Inner Cloister loomed ahead.
2657
2658This was the holiest and most forbidden place in all of Lubelius, even more so than the Holy Emperor’s official chambers.
2659
2660
2661Relaxing there was the demon lord Valentine—or rather, Luminus—as she recounted the previous night’s events, clearly peeved.
2662
2663“So that’s all of it. That annoying dragon simply insists on getting in my way at every possible moment!”
2664
2665Hinata’s first reporting of Roy’s death only added to her anger. “Such a stupid child,” she murmured in reply, betraying no emotion whatsoever as she entered the Inner Cloister, just as regal as always. She seemed coolheaded enough as she described the Walpurgis Council, but when she reached the point where Veldora revealed her true identity, her well-defined, beautiful features reddened with anger. It was overpowering to her audience as she let out all her pent-up emotion.
2666
2667“And look at Roy, too! I could’ve revived him as long as I was within sight of him, but noooo…”
2668
2669“My brother is happy, Lady Luminus. That is all that needs to be considered—”
2670
2671“Silence! This sounds like I practically led Roy by the hand to his death!”
2672
2673“No, my lady. It is my brother Roy’s fault for failing to live up to your expectations.”
2674
2675“But…”
2676
2677If any one factor was involved, it was bad luck. Everyone in the Cloister knew it wasn’t their fault.
2678
2679“I apologize,” Hinata said. “I let that intruder go, and Roy…”
2680
2681“So be it,” replied Luminus, face tightened as she looked at her and Louis. “You merely followed my orders. I am the one who deserves the blame. But we don’t have the time to mourn for him now. The dragon is revived, and we have a new demon lord in Rimuru. That is the undeniable truth, and we must decide how to handle it.”
2682
2683“Yes, my lady.”
2684
2685“I understand.”
2686
2687Hinata and Louis nodded. This question would decide the entire direction the Holy Empire would go in the future.
2688
2689“I would like to defeat Veldora for you,” Hinata offered.
2690
2691“Hinata,” Luminus coldly replied, “you have grown stronger, yes, much stronger than when you fought me. You are well past the Seven Days and on your way to equaling my level. But even if you can defeat the demon lord Rimuru, you will never defeat Veldora.”
2692
2693“She is right, Hinata. That is how fearsome a presence the dragon is. A true Catastrophe.”
2694
2695Louis, who was there for that dragon’s previous rampages, agreed readily with Luminus.
2696
2697“He is that powerful? But didn’t the Hero seal him away?”
2698
2699If a human did it once before, Hinata reasoned, it could always happen again. Luminus and Louis immediately brushed it off.
2700
2701“Look, Hinata. That dragon is a form of natural energy in itself. Perhaps you could use magic to quell a raging gale, yes, but that dragon has its own free will. It cannot be cut with a sword or affected by magic. When he flies into a rage, the shock waves will ravage the earth, far more so than any of our puny magic.”
2702
2703The thought seemed to genuinely dismay Luminus. Louis nodded in agreement, his face pale as if he had just recalled an ugly memory.
2704
2705“It was truly a nightmare,” he said. “Ah, that ever so beautiful Nightrose Castle, turned into an unrecognizable pile of ashes…”
2706
2707“Don’t remind me of it, Louis. That castle was the culmination of vampire knowledge and science, and now it exists only in our memories. There is no use in craving what we cannot have.”
2708
2709“Quite true.”
2710
2711The exchange taught Hinata just how dangerous this Veldora was. But…if it comes to it, she quietly swore to herself, I will kill him.
2712
2713Then she realized something else. The whole reason the Inner Cloister was atop this holy mountain. It was to prepare for a potential Veldora attack, wasn’t it? So she could constantly observe the skies and stop him before he arrives. Nightgarden, the main city in the Holy Empire, was located entirely underground for that reason as well—to prevent dragon invasions, to keep the casualties to a minimum in a fight. That was how wary Luminus was of this Storm Dragon.
2714
2715“Hinata, please restrain yourself. I do not wish to lose you, too.”
2716
2717And if Luminus put it that strongly to her, she had no option but to nod back.
2718
2719Now, her mishandling of that encounter with Rimuru was sticking in her throat like a sewing needle. Labeling him a monster and ignoring his attempts at conversation were both mistakes. Not in terms of what her faith taught her, or so she wanted to think, but still, her actions had led directly to this current situation. If that was what the Eastern merchants had wanted, then Hinata had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.
2720
2721How distasteful. Giving me that information when they knew exactly how I would react. Or perhaps they have an informant of their own?
2722
2723It was hard for her to believe, but Hinata could imagine someone in the Church working with those merchants. They may know all about their preparations for the angels by now—and maybe that was why they pointed her in Rimuru’s direction, to take him out for them. A mole in the Church had to be something for consideration—but for now, such a thought had to be left to simmer. There were other problems to deal with.
2724
2725“Very well. But…what will we do about Rimuru now, as demon lord?”
2726
2727“We have no choice but to let him be. The Church has yet to declare him a divine enemy yet, fortunately.”
2728
2729“No, but…”
2730
2731“Is there a problem?”
2732
2733“…There is. I fear the city and highways the monsters are building could cause the angels to invade more quickly.”
2734
2735“Ah yes, there was that. Having those little insects flitting around is annoying enough, although making the demon lord Rimuru and the Storm Dragon Veldora our enemies would be much worse. But if they attract more attention for us, they’ll become the angels’ main target, I imagine. Either way, not much point thinking about it now.”
2736
2737To Luminus, the angels were all but worthless. Hinata, understanding that, voiced her agreement.
2738
2739Beyond that, there was another problem:
2740
2741“There is also the fact that their town… It turns the concept of monsters being humanity’s common enemy, one of Luminism’s core tenets, on its head.”
2742
2743The question made Luminus visibly scowl. She mulled it over a moment. This was no longer an easily quashed threat, but if they let their religious tenets be defanged like this, they would lose their validity—and their appeal to the masses. The faith they had spent the last thousand years building would be lost, and that could not be allowed to pass.
2744
2745“Perhaps,” Louis suggested, “he could serve as a useful accomplice for us? As an evil demon lord?”
2746
2747It was a thought he had shared with Hinata earlier—let Rimuru serve as a propaganda heel, much like how Roy acted as demon lord. But as Hinata expected, Luminus was less than enthusiastic.
2748
2749“That could not happen. Rimuru, this new demon lord… He just wants to have fun living in his own little nation. That’s all. He’s going right up to our faces and declaring that he’ll give the humans all the protection they want. Because he needs their help. He said it himself. ‘Anyone who gets in the way of that, whether a person or a demon lord or the Holy Church, is my enemy.’”
2750
2751She let out a forlorn sigh.
2752
2753“If only he wasn’t mingling with the human race all the time, Louis, that would be such a good idea,” she said with frustration.
2754
2755
2756And Hinata realized, once and for all, that Rimuru wasn’t lying. He really was a transfer from another world. But it was too late to act on that.
2757
2758She was fully aware that she had acted on incorrect assumptions, fueled by her lack of interest in listening to others. It was a bad habit, and it just blew up in her face big-time. At least nobody seemed to know that the god Luminus was the same person as the demon lord Valentine yet. If worse came to worst, only her own life would be forfeit.
2759
2760“For now, then, all we can do is sit and watch.”
2761
2762“You’re right. Simply hold ourselves as we always do. No brash moves. The more excuses we make, the more we may entangle ourselves. Our only responsibility is giving our faithful across the world the truth—Veldora, the Storm Dragon, is back.”
2763
2764“And what about Rimuru?”
2765
2766As Hinata brooded, Luminus and Louis were already deciding on their future policies.
2767
2768“Yes… Well, Rimuru seems the sort of leader open to political exchange. We could deceive the Western Nations easily enough. Are you fine with that, Hinata?”
2769
2770It was a question, but Luminus meant it as predecided policy.
2771
2772“…I am.”
2773
2774“Would he bear a grudge against you?”
2775
2776“…A little. I did try to kill him.”
2777
2778“Ah yes, you did. But Rimuru is not stupid enough to hold that against us to the point of becoming enemies.”
2779
2780Such was the will of Luminus—a leader who didn’t even mind if Rimuru knew her true colors. But Hinata was unconvinced.
2781
2782“…I will keep that in mind,” Hinata said, attempting to hide her real thoughts as she left.
2783
2784
2785
2786
2787
2788A little over a month passed. Hinata spent it tirelessly at work. Her paladins were busy building a line of defense against Veldora, while the Imperial Guard was out gathering intelligence for her. Those merchants from the East, once a vital part of this spy network, could no longer be trusted, and so she decided to rely only on info she could personally gather herself.
2789
2790
2791Now it was time for the empire’s monthly conference between both major groups of the Papacy—the Crusaders, the paladins under Hinata’s direct control, and the Master Rooks, the Imperial Guard forces serving the Holy Emperor. They were both the pride of Lubelius, with Hinata Sakaguchi standing at the very peak.
2792
2793She served as the conference speaker—Hinata, chief knight of the Master Rooks and captain of the Crusaders, not to mention the strongest knight in the nation. A high seat was prepared for her; all the other attendees’ chairs were situated in a semicircle around her.
2794
2795To her right were six people representing the Crusaders. First was Vice Captain Renard Jester, known as the Noble of Light, a paladin with a soft, plaintive expression. Next to him was Arnaud Bauman of Air, the man lauded as second strongest only to Hinata. He stood head and shoulders above the rest of the troop leaders, serving as a sort of assault-team specialist for the Crusaders.
2796
2797Following Arnaud were four other commanding officers: Bacchus of Earth, a large brooding man gifted at smashing his magic-infused Holy Mace into his foes; Litus of Water, a beautiful healer and elementalist who employed the holy spirit Undine on the battlefield; Garde of Fire, a tall knight and conjurer who wielded his flaming Red Spear; and Fritz of Wind, a magical fighter as talented in wind magic as with his twin swords. He was a tactical trickster, a rarity among the high-minded Crusaders he served alongside. Fritz never wore his uniform up to the prescribed code of perfection, but no one admired and respected Hinata as much as he.
2798
2799Each of these commanders led a team of twenty or so paladins, while Arnaud served as their overall leader. The five seated here were the best among the hundred and ten or so paladins, and there was no doubting their talents.
2800
2801Contrasting with them, on Hinata’s left side, were the Master Rooks, a much more ragtag assemblage in a motley variety of uniforms and armor. They numbered a mere thirty-three but still formed their own division, for each one was a powerhouse in battle—rooks, as the Holy Emperor proudly called them. They all ranked at least an A on the charts, and a few of them were even champion level, a Calamity on the threat scale.
2802
2803A few were particularly notable. There was “Blue Sky” Saare, who looked like an innocent boy but was older than anyone else in the room. He was the chief knight of the Imperial Guard before Hinata took the role.
2804
2805Then there was “Giant Boulder” Grigori, Saare’s right-hand man, whose Impervious skill granted him astonishing physical resilience. His muscles were his weapon, and they were harder than most types of metal, making him an impregnable fortress of a man.
2806
2807Last but not least was “Raging Sea” Glenda, who was newer to the fold than Hinata but had made a serious name for herself in recent years. Notable for her spiky red hair, she was a wild woman, an ex-mercenary whose fighting skills were still veiled in mystery. Only Rama, the person who had ceded his post to Glenda after she defeated him, knew about her full strengths. This trio was known as the Three Battlesages, and they sat together opposite the six paladins.
2808
2809
2810The nine were all literal superhumans, far beyond the framework one would think the human body could provide. They all were certified Saints, a sort of complement to a demon lord, and with Hinata, they were collectively known simply as the Ten Great Saints.
2811
2812Whenever a person engaged in grueling training in one subject or another, they would occasionally evolve into a higher form of existence upon completing such a trial. Accomplishing this made them Enlightened, greatly extending their life span and transforming their physical bodies into something like a half-spiritual life-form. They were released from flesh and blood, in other words, and thus the amount of energy Enlightened individuals could work with was enormous. Their brute and magical strength was powered up to levels beyond compare, letting them be the equivalent of potential demon lords.
2813
2814They were the guardians of humanity, the servants of divinity who evolved the correct way—even if this was only by the standards of certain people.
2815
2816
2817They all sat there quietly, awaiting Hinata’s arrival. Several paladins were stationed behind each commanding officer, the rest of the two divisions remaining on their feet in their assorted gear.
2818
2819Soon, the heavy door creaked open.
2820
2821“Sorry to keep you. Let us begin.”
2822
2823With that, the meeting commenced.
2824
2825
2826
2827
2828
2829Behind Hinata, shaded by some bamboo blinds, the Holy Emperor Louis was taking in the joint conference at his seat. But just as proceedings were set to begin, Saare immediately threw them into disorder.
2830
2831“Whoa, whoa, where do you get off being late? Not only did you fail to keep Veldora from waking up, you even let a new demon lord be born. And you’re the fool representing us? If this is a joke, I’m not laughing.”
2832
2833Even though Hinata was the acknowledged leader, not all her soldiers were particularly enthusiastic about the orders they carried out. Saare, having lost his position as their leader, was the head of the anti-Hinata faction.
2834
2835Over the past month, both divisions had been sent off worldwide by Hinata on a wealth of missions, bringing back assorted intelligence and confirming that the rash of recent cataclysmic events were all connected. The ascension of Rimuru, the Storm Dragon’s revival, the Walpurgis Council, and the recent turbulence in the Kingdom of Farmus—all these happenings had their origin in Hinata reaching out to Rimuru, and Saare wasn’t shy about implying as much.
2836
2837“You are being rude, Sir Saare,” a bemused Renard coldly stated.
2838
2839Arnaud nodded to his fellow paladin. “He’s right, boy. If you have an issue with our captain, I’d be happy to work it out with you.”
2840
2841“Oh,” Grigori fired back from his seat next to Saare, “you fancy-pants knights wanna start a fight with us? Awfully pretentious of you, considering you only act that way around opponents polite enough to lose on purpose!”
2842
2843“What?”
2844
2845“You seem interested in a quick death.”
2846
2847The meeting had grown almost immediately intense. Hinata took the opportunity to cool it down.
2848
2849“Enough foolishness. Now’s not the time for allies to be squabbling with each other. Saare, if you’d like to take my place up here, you’re welcome to my seat anytime. I’ll need to test you out first, though, keep in mind.”
2850
2851That was enough to bring silence back to the room. Her words went beyond mere frustration and well into the realm of murderous intent—if they kept carrying on, she was fully prepared to start slashing away. The audience was smart enough to pick up on that. It was rare for her to show that much emotion, forcing even Saare to admit that any more prodding would be dangerous.
2852
2853Instead, he just glared at her in frustration. “Pfft! I’ll keep that in mind.”
2854
2855He had already lost to her once—a battle he never should have botched. In his eyes, Hinata was the clear underdog, but the results proved the opposite. The memory of that day kept him from making any unwise moves. Until she could probe and reveal the secrets of Hinata’s strength, he knew victory would never be his. So he did her bidding for now, uninterested in waging a war he couldn’t win.
2856
2857With Saare calmed down, the joint mission finally began.
2858
2859“Reporting,” said Litus, freshly returned from field work around the Forest of Jura. “The forest was a perfect picture of peace. Despite Veldora’s resurrection, I spotted groups of merchants entering and exiting the area.”
2860
2861The caravans from Blumund were streaming into the Tempest capital of Rimuru on a near-constant basis. The nation’s trademark healing potions were hot sellers, but merchants were also standing in line for rare goods like silk fabric and weapons made from monster-derived components.
2862
2863“How is that working? Are they engaging in trade with the demon lord?”
2864
2865“We should think about Veldora first. The records say he is extremely belligerent, causing a swath of destruction wherever he goes, but I haven’t seen any sign of that yet.”
2866
2867Hinata raised a hand to wave the questions off. “Let us hear the report to the end.”
2868
2869“Very well. I spoke with the merchants, and they said the kingdom of Blumund had declared full and open relations with Tempest. This includes a security guarantee, and Blumund’s citizens are allowed to come and go as they please. The highway connecting them to Tempest was also kept in neat and clean order; even the animal droppings are briskly disposed of. There was no sign of monsters nearby, and overall, I believe this security agreement is legitimate and active.”
2870
2871“Did you travel down this highway?”
2872
2873“Yes. I wanted to see it for myself, so I disguised myself as a traveler. There are peacekeeping sentry posts at regular intervals along the road. When I reached town, I found it to be far more advanced than I expected. The concentration of magicules in the air was understandably higher than normal, but it was still below levels that would affect average people. It gave me the impression that Rimuru, true to his word, really does seek amicable relations with humankind.”
2874
2875“…I see. And what about Veldora?”
2876
2877“Well, yes, about that…”
2878
2879“What is it?”
2880
2881“…I was unable to confirm his presence. Entry into the Sealed Cave was forbidden, and I failed to find any other spots the dragon might be lurking in.”
2882
2883“Hmm.”
2884
2885Hinata gave a placid nod to Litus as she finished her report.
2886
2887“If we can’t confirm Veldora’s existence,” Fritz asked, “could the news of his revival be a mistake—?”
2888
2889Hinata shot him a look to silence him. “Luminus’s divine missives are never wrong. At least we are surer of Rimuru’s activity now. Let us move on.”
2890
2891She kept the meeting going, having each attendee report on what they saw and heard, ensuring everyone had all available information at hand before they began to debate.
2892
2893“So things were tranquil from start to finish during my time in Englesia. If their rivals at Farmus were to fall, I believe they would take the opportunity to expand upon their current power.”
2894
2895The briefings continued. Master Rooks members had free rein to visit the Western Nations, as well the right to give orders to the Temple Knights stationed within their borders. They outranked even the local Temple captains, after all, and while they customarily acted only on orders from Lubelius (for the sake of maintaining a simple chain of command), the Master Rooks could command them directly in emergency cases. This allowed them to operate practically above the law in the west, obtaining even some classified information with ease.
2896
2897This was one difference between them and the paladins. The latter enjoyed similar unfettered travel access to foreign countries, but they were barred from giving orders to the Temple Knights. The organizations were two different entities, although some Temple Knights later moved on to become paladins. It was up to Hinata to utilize the pluses and minuses of both groups, deploying them where they would help the most.
2898
2899
2900Saare’s turn came at the very end.
2901
2902“Listening to all these reports,” he said, “I think I’m starting to see what Hinata is trying to find out. My turn’s next, and I’m guessing my report’s supposed to be the clincher, huh?”
2903
2904“That’s right. I gave that job to you because it’s the most important one. I’d appreciate it if you got on with it.”
2905
2906“Ah-ha. Well, the current news from Farmus… King Edmaris has abdicated the throne, and on the surface, it appears that the transfer of power has taken place peacefully. But Edward, the new king, is busy assembling an army of talented mercenaries, and in response, the nobility is starting to get frantic, too. It looked to me like the signs of a looming civil war.”
2907
2908Despite reports of Rimuru’s ascension being all over the news in the Western Nations, Blumund’s trade with Tempest was giving that whole nation a shot in the arm. Meanwhile, things couldn’t be more chaotic in Farmus. The nobles were working in a hundred different directions, many of them trying to shore up their military might in a hurry. Some had even made inroads with the Western Holy Church and the elders that led the Council. It wouldn’t be long before the swords came out. The impact on the people was already enormous—prices rising, distribution falling behind. Losing twenty thousand troops had even led to a government-mandated conscription. Amateur soldiers wouldn’t be much help in battle, but Farmus was so cornered that they had no other choice.
2909
2910It all pointed in the same direction: civil war. The surrounding small kingdoms had no consensus on how to respond to this, but all of them were on high alert against Farmus, smelling the tension in the air and fortifying their borders to ensure they didn’t get involved. They all expected the fateful day to come before long.
2911
2912“…That alone, of course, isn’t enough information to make a conclusion on whether the demon lord Rimuru is involved with this.”
2913
2914“True. So?”
2915
2916“So I went down the list of everyone King Edward made contact with. Important Council leaders; Free Guild management; some merchants from the East; even our own soldiers. He’s been busy.”
2917
2918“Is he trying to shore up his military?”
2919
2920“Bingo. That’s exactly it, Hinata.”
2921
2922“Well, it’s settled, then. This new king has no interest in paying war reparations of any kind. No demon lord would let that slap in the face go unchallenged, and I doubt Rimuru is foolish enough not to expect that from him.”
2923
2924“Hmm. So do you think this is all part of our new demon lord’s plans?”
2925
2926“Yeah.” Hinata nodded.
2927
2928It’s almost funny how all the pieces are falling into place. Based on what we can infer from this, it all seems to be gearing toward some kind of predestined conclusion… Someone’s definitely pulling the strings from the sidelines.
2929
2930The more she heard, the more convinced she became. Who was it? There could be just one answer—Clayman, that swindler who skulked around the Western Nations for years, was gone, and the only one who could even begin to imitate him was Rimuru, this new member of the cast.
2931
2932I don’t like this. You can’t let your guard down around him. He’s intelligent enough to lay out these thoroughly prepared strategies. Maybe he really was Japanese once…
2933
2934Looking back, as she calmly reevaluated Rimuru, this was all caused by her believing those Eastern merchants in the first place. They had built a relationship of trust over several years, and she completely fell for the line she was given. It was a fatal mistake, and she regretted it—and the worst part was that most of the intelligence the merchants gave her was accurate. Only when the topic turned to Rimuru did the truth start to bend a bit. These little lies that were impossible to independently confirm, and Hinata had let them trick her. If she had believed Rimuru, back when the two of them were at the same location, maybe things would have developed differently. But, she reasoned, she couldn’t dwell on the past.
2935
2936Then she noticed something about Saare’s report that interested her.
2937
2938“Saare, you said Edward made contact with merchants as well? What did they tell him?”
2939
2940“Mm? Why do you care about the merchants? The demon lord painted a picture for us to fall for, and that’s that, right? I think what we need to talk about is our future direction. What steps should we be taking right now?”
2941
2942“We do need that, but I still want to know. Tell me.”
2943
2944“Pfft. I thought money was the only thing those merchants ever talked about.”
2945
2946“Not so. They just have an instinctive habit of turning the conversation toward whatever will make them money. One of them got me, too, so you all need to watch yourselves. So what did you learn from them?”
2947
2948“Huh. That’s pretty impressive, if they managed to use a woman as calculating as yourself. Hmm… I can’t really think of anything in particular they said. Oh, hang on… There’s a commercial zone in the area you covered, right, Glenda? Merchants from the East and West intermingle in there. Did you hear anything interesting?”
2949
2950Saare may not have liked Hinata much, but he was still loyal to his mission. He knew and acknowledged her talents—the leadership that helped her craft the Crusaders out of a ragtag bunch of knights. She was merciless against the monsters; she put everything on the line to keep people safe. Somewhere in his heart, he appreciated that. That was why he followed all of Hinata’s orders to the letter, never hiding anything he learned from her. He may have had a few ideas on how to seize his position back from her, but he had no intention of dragging her down. He believed in the meritocracy, and for better or worse, he was earnest in everything he did. Hinata knew that as well.
2951
2952Glenda, meanwhile…
2953
2954“Well, as far as I know, there wasn’t anything suspicious going on.”
2955
2956…had no problems telling barefaced lies. As a mercenary, she was well versed in navigating the underworld, experiencing untold amounts of mortal danger. Something about the tension in the air smelled like good money to her. Faith was one thing; making a profit was another. That was how Glenda worked, and while people saw her as a devout Luminist, that wasn’t the whole truth. What Glenda really wanted was the power that Luminism had across the world. Sometimes it was money, sometimes intelligence, sometimes war power; but Glenda needed it all. Her current position gave her open access, and she never, ever wanted to lose it.
2957
2958This was why she was hiding things from Hinata, including a meeting with merchants from the East in the very commercial zone Saare mentioned. She had also made secret inroads with one of the Council elders. She paid them money, and in exchange, they would spread false rumors around for her. Not now, but when the time was right for her.
2959
2960For the time being, she couldn’t afford to have Hinata questioning her motives. Hinata was cold, unforgiving, and merciless to her enemies. She never left herself open to attack at any moment. But at the same time, she was open-minded, almost soft on her allies—or, to be more exact, Luminists. To her, fellow followers in her chosen faith were like family. That was extensively clear to Glenda. That softness let Hinata forgive Saare’s back talk; that softness made her fail to notice the people trying to betray her. And soon, Glenda thought, that softness was going to cost her the position she had worked so hard to achieve.
2961
2962“If you’re that interested, though, I could give it a more thorough look through, Captain.”
2963
2964“Will you? Thanks. Just don’t let the merchants fool you, all right? Don’t let your guard down.”
2965
2966“Sure thing. I got a few connections, so I should be able to get some details.”
2967
2968Glenda had the bad habit of making promises to Hinata without giving them much real thought. She had no idea her ready agreement let Hinata read fairly deeply into her mind.
2969
2970
2971Taking a moment to carefully observe Glenda, Hinata sighed to herself.
2972
2973She must really think I’m that stupid. Perhaps she’s under the mistaken impression that I’m soft on my people?
2974
2975If that was true, she thought, then it really was a pity.
2976
2977Glenda had one thing wrong—Hinata wasn’t one to think of her companions as that important. She considered them pawns to play for the sake of Luminus, and that was why she treated them so preciously. They all belonged to Luminus, and she wasn’t allowed to waste them.
2978
2979The Crusaders she had raised to serve as her arms and legs had absolute faith in her; they were basically Hinata’s personal militia, and she trusted in that faith. The knights of the Imperial Guard, on the other hand, often engaged in intolerably selfish activity. She let it slide only because they, too, had faith in Luminus.
2980
2981Saare was the epitome of that, mouthing off at Hinata and trying to rebel any way he could. But both she and Saare knew this was just a front. He was a whiner, but he always followed orders—which, in a way, made him a breeze to handle. Plus the fact that Saare didn’t know who Luminus was. Not just him, either. Nobody besides Hinata was aware that the god Luminus was an actual person.
2982
2983…I almost feel bad for them. They have no idea, just as I didn’t…
2984
2985Glenda had real ambitions. She had looks, talent, and an abundance of confidence. She must really believe she has what it takes to topple me, Hinata thought. She might even be trying to curry favor with Louis, the Holy Emperor, for the cause. She didn’t know he was a vampire, so it was only natural that she’d try buttering him up for the sake of pushing Hinata away.
2986
2987Well, she’s free to do what she wants…but…
2988
2989But if she was betraying the cause, that was another matter.
2990
2991Hinata never voiced a word of complaint about what the divisions she oversaw did—as long as they never crossed her or Luminus. But with a suspected traitor in their midst, Glenda’s behavior was turning problematic. Hinata didn’t intend to hold a purge right this moment—for all she knew, someone might be taking advantage of her—but she needed to be on her guard.
2992
2993…I’m starting to see a breakdown in discipline. Maybe it’s time to teach them a lesson and set them back in line.
2994
2995The thought depressed Hinata. But there were more urgent issues. She mentally switched gears and spoke.
2996
2997“All right. Everyone has given their reports. I trust that everyone understands the current situation now.”
2998
2999“Yes,” his assistant Renard said. “The resurrection of the Storm Dragon has had less of an impact than expected, the only casualties so far being the deployed Farmus military. However, since this is likely a cover story spread by Rimuru, the real number could be zero.”
3000
3001“If that’s how it is,” added Saare, “I want to hear from Archbishop Reyhiem, who survived it. We know Veldora’s back, and I’m intensely curious about what happened on the battlefield.”
3002
3003“I thought so, too. I’ve already called for him. He should be here soon…”
3004
3005Hinata had already contacted Cardinal Nicolaus, directing him to bring Reyhiem to her. He was there for the defeat and probably saw Rimuru with his own eyes. Besides, given the several days’ worth of apparent time between the advent of Veldora and Farmus’s defeat, the rumors going around the neighboring states about Veldora destroying all those forces were pretty unlikely. As a survivor, Reyhiem’s testimony should be extremely useful. He was supposed to arrive this morning but was apparently behind schedule.
3006
3007“I look forward to it. I can’t wait to hear what he has to say.”
3008
3009“Maybe he knows something about Veldora, too.”
3010
3011“There were rumors of the demon lord Rimuru negotiating with Veldora and calming his rage,” Arnaud added, “but I’m not sure what to make of that one, either. He’s revived, yes, and he’s been lying low so far, yes. With that in mind, it seems rather plausible.”
3012
3013Everyone nodded at this. Silently, they had all concluded that the Storm Dragon and the demon lord were involved with each other. In that case, Hinata saw no reason to hide what Luminus already told her.
3014
3015“…Yes. That much is true. I can say to you now that among the missives I received from our lord Luminus, there was one about how Rimuru is controlling the Storm Dragon. As a result,” she said, “we must not lay hands on the demon lord Rimuru at the moment. Please bear that in mind.”
3016
3017“Y-you mean…?”
3018
3019Hinata stood up. “I’ll be blunt,” she said in her most authoritative voice. “In this instance, we must remain undercover. None of our dealings with this demon lord must come out to the public.”
3020
3021This was, in essence, an order for everyone to keep their hands off Rimuru. It surprised them all.
3022
3023“What?! You want us to simply ignore all the theatrics he’s pulling over in Farmus?!”
3024
3025“Demon lords are untouchable as a rule, yes, but only in the public eye, if you recall. They’re no match for any of the Ten Great Saints!”
3026
3027Saare had a point. Humanity wasn’t totally helpless against the S-class threat of the demon lords. They had built up enough force to fight back with, if necessary, and those were the Enlightened classes, the Ten Great Saints being among them. Arnaud, Renard, and Grigori could each defeat a Special A-ranked foe, Hinata thought, and even among the Ten Great Saints, Saare was outclassed only by Hinata in force. Against a demon lord, Saare wouldn’t be that much of an underdog. You almost never saw storybook-style one-on-one duels in real life anyway, but if it turned out that way, she figured it’d be a close battle. If it was Clayman, that Western Nations sneak, the odds were even in Saare’s favor.
3028
3029However, that only applied to the would-be demon lords, those strong enough for the role but not yet ascendant. Against a real demon lord, none of the Ten Great Saints had a chance in the end. To Hinata, who knew Luminus intimately, that much was obvious.
3030
3031And Rimuru, too…
3032
3033Farmus, and other nations its size, were home to extensive systems that summoned large crowds of otherworlders and raised them to be fighters. Many criticized it as a violation of human rights, but when faced with the common threat of human-destroying monsters, real needs tended to get in the way of noble intentions. Their numbers included Razen, the royal sorcerer who reincarnated himself all the way to magic-born status, and the late commander of the Farmus Royal Knight Corps, Folgen. That mammoth amount of force was directed straight at the demon lord Rimuru, and they lost. Between that and Luminus telling Hinata the tale of how Rimuru killed Clayman instantly, nobody—Ten Great Saints or not—held a candle to him. Not unless they evolved further, in the real meaning of the term, and became true Saints. Like Hinata had.
3034
3035Right now, if all ten took on Rimuru at once, everyone except Hinata would lose. She didn’t want to see them waste their lives on the effort. Plus…
3036
3037“You know, though… We have both this demon lord and the Storm Dragon to deal with now. There is no doubting that any wrong move might lead to further chaos.”
3038
3039As Renard calmly pointed out, Veldora was cooperating with Tempest. Lubelius could plunge all its forces into Tempest, and there was still no telling who would win.
3040
3041“But we cannot allow the demon lords to do whatever they please in the domain of humans!”
3042
3043Grigori’s shouting brought the heated debate back to silence. It was, in a way, a summary of what every attendee was thinking to themselves. All eyes turned to Hinata. She remained calm, unaffected, as she looked back at them.
3044
3045“The missives of Luminus are absolute. We are not allowed to defy them.”
3046
3047“Come on! Is she telling us to let Farmus be razed to the ground?”
3048
3049“No, Litus. That nation’s main problem is the upcoming civil war. Its people, not its nobility, must be protected. You need to pay close attention to the area, ensuring none of the sparks affect the people of Farmus or its neighbors.”
3050
3051“Meaning?”
3052
3053“We may see some changes in heads of state, but interfering with that would be meddling in internal affairs. That’s the excuse they always used whenever we tried putting an end to their otherworlder summoning projects, as I’m sure you remember. It’s worked before for them, and they all but assume it’ll work again.”
3054
3055Hinata even let out a smile as she coldly laid out the facts.
3056
3057“In that case,” Grigori asked, “should we just sit here and tolerate whatever Rimuru cares to do?”
3058
3059“Yes. We should. The demon lord has declared his disinterest in hostilities with the human race, and there is no further reason for us to be hostile in return. Archbishop Reyhiem of Farmus was part of the invasion team, and I myself attempted to defeat Rimuru. We have both failed. And now that he likely sees us both as enemies, I’m not sure there is another option for us besides keeping quiet.”
3060
3061“But those are the mistakes of the Western Holy Church—and of yourself! It is not the mistake of Lubelius!” Grigori bellowed.
3062
3063Hinata stood strong, her smile turning frigid. “Exactly. And that is why you need to stay hands-off. If worse comes to worst, I will declare that it was the arbitrary decision of the Western Holy Church to act against him… In other words, me.”
3064
3065“Wha?!”
3066
3067“Lady Hinata!!”
3068
3069The paladins voiced their objections as Hinata addressed the Master Rooks. Even Saare found himself unable to answer.
3070
3071“Calm down. I doubt he wants to wage war with us as well.”
3072
3073The statement offered no comfort.
3074
3075“C’mon, Hinata, you really trust him that much?” Saare asked.
3076
3077“I know this sounds unlikely from someone who tried to kill him earlier, but yes, I think we can trust him. He told me himself that he’s also an otherworlder. I ignored it at the time, but it seemed he was trying to avoid conflict with me.”
3078
3079“An otherworlder?! So he was reincarnated as a magic-born, like the demon lord Leon?”
3080
3081“No. According to what he said, he died on his home planet and was resurrected as a slime on this one.”
3082
3083“Are you kidding me?”
3084
3085“You should know how much I dislike jokes, Saare.”
3086
3087“Pfft. But I’ve never heard that pattern before. There are cases of people being reborn, yeah, but that’s just a matter of retaining your memories from your previous life. But crossing worlds while doing it…? Maybe, but…”
3088
3089“I haven’t heard of it,” Renard said, consulting his own memories.
3090
3091“But what are even the chances of being reincarnated as a slime?” Arnaud asked. “I mean, what if that happened to you, Litus?”
3092
3093Litus’s well-defined face twisted into a grimace. “I wouldn’t want to imagine it. If I can’t even speak the language, how could I explain to people what I’m thinking? Given the literacy rates around the world, I’m not sure I could even convince people that I’m not a dumb animal. Slimes aren’t supposed to talk.”
3094
3095No speech, no arms or legs. Even if you shared a language, you wouldn’t be able to use it. Thinking about it, Litus even began to pity Rimuru a little.
3096
3097“Yeah.”
3098
3099“True…”
3100
3101“I had dismissed his talking as the ravings of a monster,” Hinata said, “but I think he was probably telling the truth the whole time. At this point, I do feel I was a bit needlessly rough on him.”
3102
3103If Rimuru wasn’t lying—if he was trying his hardest to be honest with her—Hinata realized now that he probably hated her guts for not making even a perfunctory effort to communicate.
3104
3105“Well, who can blame you?” Saare reasoned. “He’s a monster.”
3106
3107“Yes,” Renard said, “and our faith forbids contact with them.”
3108
3109Both of them likely would’ve done the same thing Hinata did in that situation. Their faith did not deal in gray areas. Lending an ear to a monster was unthinkable, and if Hinata did do that, it would lead to serious questions.
3110
3111“Plus, I was told that Rimuru was the one who killed my master…”
3112
3113“What do you mean?”
3114
3115“I’ve talked about it before. Those Eastern merchants were using me. They told me that the monsters were transforming into people to eat their way into other nations—forming their own country and tricking the ones around them. They also said Rimuru, the named monster leading them, killed my master. I immediately resolved to kill him.”
3116
3117Saare dejectedly shook his head. “And you let him get away. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing now, huh…?”
3118
3119He was right. By this point, it was clear this tip Hinata picked up from the merchants had given her nothing but trouble. She knew it, and she also knew that no matter how her encounter with Rimuru ended, she’d still be dealing with tons of fallout.
3120
3121“I tell you, though, he has a natural talent for fleeing. And now he’s a demon lord. He’s undoubtedly evolved, so taking him on again couldn’t be a good idea.”
3122
3123No one objected. The missive was given; there was no use trying to argue this on religious grounds. They would have to make an attempt at reconciliation.
3124
3125“So what are you going to do?” Renard asked.
3126
3127“I can’t do anything,” Hinata calmly replied.
3128
3129If this was a human being, she would readily risk her life to fight him. But if the demon lord Rimuru wants to build relations with other countries, Hinata was ready to silently accept that. She had no intention of turning her back on the will of Luminus. If Rimuru’s actions start diverging from his words, on the other hand, that’s another matter.
3130
3131“Then what if Rimuru sees you as his enemy?”
3132
3133“Yeah, you did try to kill him. Now that he’s got a bunch more power, maybe he’ll try to get back atcha, huh? I wouldn’t blame the guy.”
3134
3135Hinata brushed off the concern. “I told you—I’ll just say it was all my own selfish decision. But before we engage in any hostilities, I want to try going over and talking with him. If need be, I’ll give him an apology, too.”
3136
3137She made it sound so casual, the way she put it, but nobody in the joint meeting could let this pass.
3138
3139“That’s crazy!”
3140
3141“It’s incredibly dangerous!”
3142
3143“The demon lord might set a trap to kill you when he has the chance, Lady Hinata!”
3144
3145“Yes! And even if he doesn’t, what if all his legions of monsters descend upon you?”
3146
3147“Calm down. I’m not saying I’ll simply waltz over there tomorrow. I need to make sure I correctly understand Rimuru’s mind-set first…”
3148
3149But as she attempted to simmer things down in the room, Hinata personally didn’t expect much of a problem. The reports all painted Rimuru as a pretty softhearted person. In her brief experiences with him, she saw nothing that made her question this. If they could both speak frankly with each other… It was a selfish hope, she knew, but it seemed worth pursuing.
3150
3151It was hope, however, that could never be fulfilled. Among the tangled desires of so many players, all at the mercy of their own motives, things were now moving in a worse direction than even Hinata anticipated.
3152
3153
3154
3155
3156
3157There was a knock on the conference-room door. “Come in,” Hinata curtly replied, assuming it was finally Reyhiem. The guards on the other side obliged, opening the heavy door, and inside strode exactly the man she expected—Cardinal Nicolaus, one of her most trusted of friends, and a nervous-looking Archbishop Reyhiem behind him.
3158
3159That much had all been scheduled in advance. But it was the group filing in behind them that made Hinata’s eyebrows arch upward. The Seven Days Clergy was here.
3160
3161(Good to see you again, Hinata.)
3162
3163(Are you in good health?)
3164
3165(What are you looking so surprised for?)
3166
3167Hinata couldn’t hide her astonishment. “Why are all of you here…?” she unconsciously whispered. The normally staid cardinal was looking nervous himself, and Reyhiem was white as a sheet.
3168
3169“Who are these guys, Hinata?” Saare asked.
3170
3171“S-silence, Saare!” Nicolaus hurriedly replied. “You are in the presence of the Seven Days!”
3172
3173Nicolaus sat up straight, startled. “…The Seven Days? The ones of legend?”
3174
3175“Exactly,” Hinata admitted—and when she did, everyone in the room stood up and saluted.
3176
3177
3178The members of the Seven Days Clergy were all wise and well trained, surpassing the realm of Enlightened and charged with training the next generation of Heroes. Their existence was the stuff of legend, shrouded in mystery, and they never went out in public, content with being discussed in the context of fairy tales. Not even the paladins knew about them—only a few directly interacted with them, including Hinata and Nicolaus. One had to be at the very top of the Western Holy Church to be introduced to them.
3179
3180This was the group that administered the Seven Days Trial undertaken by Hinata, a test to help determine the next Heroes and champions of humanity. This responsibility made the Clergy a vital part of the Church.
3181
3182But Hinata hated them. They were top-level advisers to the Church, ordered by Luminus to oversee the organization and educate its staff. However, before Hinata took up her post, the Crusaders were an organization in name only. To her, it was sheer negligence.
3183
3184Looking back, I should’ve stripped them of their powers when I had the chance.
3185
3186Hinata’s unique skill Usurper worked in two ways. One, called Seize, took away its target’s skills; the other, called Copy, let her learn them for herself. During her Trial, she thought of the Clergy as legendary contributors to the Luminist cause, so she naturally exercised Copy to learn from their powers and improve herself. One could call her an apprentice to the Clergy along those lines…but the Seven Days were not having it. They shunned Hinata for daring to rise above them, interfering with her in any way they could find.
3187
3188This was a crafty group, one that had lurked in the darkness of the Church and called the shots for an untold amount of time. But there was nothing productive in their actions. And once she took the Trial and realized that, Hinata immediately judged them to be useless relics, took their skills, and left. Now she was using what she learned to train Arnaud and the rest of the division commanders.
3189
3190I wonder if that’s why Luminus had me take the Seven Days Trial in the first place…
3191
3192If she did, she had to hand it to Luminus. Such incredible wisdom. To her, the Clergy had plainly abandoned their mission to train the next generation, instead focusing on covering their own backs. But if Luminus let them dodder on, there must have been a reason for it. That was why she never defied them. Not in public.
3193
3194
3195Once everyone was seated again, Hinata addressed the group.
3196
3197“So may I ask what brings you here today?”
3198
3199(Hee-hee-hee! No need for alarm.)
3200
3201(No, no. Archbishop Reyhiem here has brought back some information about the demon lord Rimuru, has he not?)
3202
3203(We were simply interested in hearing about it ourselves.)
3204
3205The voices echoed around in her mind. The Seven Days Clergy used Thought Communication to answer her. She sized them up again.
3206
3207There were three of them present—not the entire contingent—and in her judgment, these were the most corrupt ones out of the entire group.
3208
3209Among them was Arze, the Tuesday Priest who governed fire. His force was like a disposable lighter compared with Shizue Izawa’s. He had nothing to teach, and Hinata didn’t even need Usurper to complete his trial—but for some reason, he must’ve assumed she was incapable of Seizing his skills. That made him look down at her constantly, which rankled her.
3210
3211The other two present, Dena, the Monday Priest, and Vena, the Friday Priest—Hinata couldn’t guess at their motives. Helping Arze out, probably.
3212
3213What a chore. Luminus ordered me to make this as quick and painless as possible, too…
3214
3215Hinata grew nervous. Rimuru already had a poor impression of her. If she let this Clergy get in her way here, she might never be able to reconcile with him—but as long as she didn’t have a bead on their goals, she had to focus on Reyhiem. She turned off her mind as she lent him an ear.
3216
3217“I was foolish,” Reyhiem began. “We challenged a foe that was fearsome, far too fearsome for any of us. He is a demon lord, beyond a shadow of a doubt. Through our own foolishness, we have engineered the birth of a new demon lord!”
3218
3219His memories of the event put him into a frenzy, his eyes bloodshot and his voice raised to a near scream. He continued, recounting the events that led to this birth—his misguided deeds, all laid bare without omission. It wasn’t on someone’s orders; he was being driven by the compulsion that he simply had to do it. He needed absolution for his sins, if he ever hoped to be free from his pain and forgiven by his god.
3220
3221As he told the story, the paladins began to murmur among themselves. The sheer force of this adversary, beyond all common sense, made it hard for them to contain their composure. Neither an anti-magic barrier nor a long-range, magic-specific defensive wall was enough to stop these monsters—not even a holy barrier could mount any defense against those flashes of light.
3222
3223But Hinata stayed resolute. Based on Reyhiem’s testimony, she surmised it was an attack involving concentrated sunlight. And as if to back up that theory, the Seven Days Clergy began to provide their own commentary.
3224
3225(Hmm. Perhaps this is sunlight magic, the kind Sir Gren was always so gifted at.)
3226
3227(Light-bending magic? Wouldn’t an anti-magic barrier shut that down?)
3228
3229(And Gren’s didn’t have that much force to it.)
3230
3231Gren, the Sunday Priest, was head of the Clergy, his magic commanding light. One of his spells concentrated sunlight in a similar way, and while the Clergy was on the wrong track with their theories, if they and Hinata had the same impression of this, Hinata assumed she was right.
3232
3233Idiots. It’s not directly bending the sunlight with magic; it’s reflecting the light off something else to focus it into a beam. Otherwise, a barrier could’ve easily blocked it. Were water and wind elementals cooperating with him, then? But that would take a lot of complex calculation…
3234
3235But she had nothing to fear. Once she knew the trick behind it, it was easy to counter. Just put up a protective film to diffuse the heat and scatter dust in the air to refract the light, and the threat was neutralized. If sunlight was the only thing it harnessed, the attack was full of holes to exploit. To Hinata, the attack was worthless.
3236
3237As far as I can tell, he was using his scientific knowledge from the other world for that attack. No wonder people here couldn’t deal with it. They couldn’t even understand it. Using it to poke holes in their magical defense was smart, though. Not a stone unturned…
3238
3239It took a lot of computing power to engineer that attack, as well as multiple ongoing spells at once. That was a serious threat, but now that Hinata knew what it really was, it didn’t seem that fearsome any longer. But Hinata was making her conclusions too quickly. Reyhiem wasn’t done talking. There was more… The main course, in fact.
3240
3241“One moment. That mystery attack was a dreadful thing. Sir Folgen was helplessly killed; Sir Razen could do nothing against it. Nearly ten thousand of our finest knights were felled by it, I think. But…”
3242
3243He paused here, nervously swallowing, sweat running down his head, trying his best to hold back the terror.
3244
3245“…The real horror came after that. The next moment, the battlefield went completely quiet.
3246
3247“Some were unconscious, fatally hurt; others were wounded and screaming on the ground; still more were healthy but wandering around, scared out of their wits. The cacophony they all created together set the battlefield to a frenzy. And yet…the very next moment,” Reyhiem said, “all the noise was gone.”
3248
3249“What do you mean?”
3250
3251“I mean exactly what I said, Lady Hinata. At that moment, the surviving members of that twenty-thousand-strong force died. Only three remained alive: Sir Razen; Edmaris, the king of Farmus; and me. Seeing it made me lose my sanity. I was so stricken with fear that I fainted.”
3252
3253At Reyhiem’s tale, a similar silence fell over the holy cathedral. A single monster killed a force of twenty thousand in an instant. The truth of that could hardly be commented on in words. And amid the solemn tension, everyone was recalling the same legend in their mind—the tale of a single person laying waste to an entire city and becoming a demon lord.
3254
3255
3256Then Hinata recalled something Luminus herself told her.
3257
3258The precursor to the Western Holy Church was launched a good dozen centuries ago—likely longer, but that is as far back as the records exist. Its people, however, had first moved here two millennia ago, driven away after Veldora destroyed their kingdom. The dragon’s strength and immortality put them beyond hope; trying to engage it would only add to the dead.
3259
3260To the vampires that called this place home, Veldora prancing around and destroying humanity would lead to food shortages. The purest of high-quality vitality could only be obtained from human beings, and while Luminus and her family were safe, this was a matter of life or death to the lower-level vampires. Thus, Luminus was forced to come up with their current co-op approach to protecting humanity. She rescued them, really, and now they worshiped her as a god.
3261
3262And it was all the fault of Veldora on the rampage. He was worse than any natural disaster, a threat impossible to prepare for—a Catastrophe. That classified him as Special S on the scale, something humanity just couldn’t deal with…but he wasn’t the only large-scale destroyer of worlds. The only creatures in the Special S rank right now were the four dragons known to exist. But that’s only the public story. In mythology, meanwhile, there were records of two demon lords exacting a similar campaign of death and madness. These were Guy Crimson, Lord of Darkness, and Milim Nava, the Destroyer. Demon lords all got an S rank, but there was disparity in these rankings. Some creatures, like these two, could be rated Special S behind the scenes—and as Luminus explained, it happened when a potential demon lord was awakened by engineering massive destruction, taking in the souls of the resulting dead. Evolution beyond imagination would result.
3263
3264The term demon lord technically referred to the true ones who underwent this evolution, and even then, it could take place across several levels. It left some demon lords as powerful as dragons, and Luminus wondered if Guy and Milim had evolved beyond that. Even Luminus, as a true demon lord, had no chance against them. “If I fought Milim,” she told Hinata, “maybe I could outwit her. Maybe it’d be a good fight, if it came to that. But I’d never win in the end.” And what about Guy? “Ha! It vexes me terribly, but it would be hopeless. He’s in his own world.”
3265
3266Someone as self-confident as Luminus, whose powers Hinata couldn’t even begin to fathom, describing Guy’s force as belonging to another dimension. It made Hinata think—about Guy, and about Milim, who actually faced off against him once. It was hard to imagine.
3267
3268That’s what the Special S ranking was for. If all of humankind banded together, maybe they could deal with such a monster—but even that was wishful thinking, because it assumed the presence of a Hero in the human ranks. There was no Hero right now, and thus no chance.
3269
3270Plus, the current lineup of demon lords—the Octagram—was on its own level of danger, Rimuru included. Luminus believed Rimuru was still in the midst of awakening, and Reyhiem’s words were more than enough to back that up.
3271
3272
3273Soon the others began to recall the story of the true demon lords, those fearsome presences. They were not revealed to the public lest panic resulted, but they were real, and they were threats.
3274
3275When the first dragon lost its power, it showed no signs of regenerating itself for some reason. Out of the other three, one had been sealed away until just recently, but now he was back and supporting Rimuru—a demon lord who massacred a force of twenty thousand by himself. This was comparable to what those other two demon lords did long ago. The structural destruction wasn’t there, maybe, but the number of souls he obtained had to be staggering.
3276
3277A heavy silence filled the room. It was clear nobody wanted to admit that a demon lord, in the real meaning of the term, had been born. There was an overwhelming difference between a potential demon lord and a true one, and everybody in the room understood that.
3278
3279Finally, it was Hinata who quietly broke the silence.
3280
3281“I see. So we should assume the demon lord Rimuru has been awakened…”
3282
3283The words cut like a sharp knife through the silence, lighting a fire under those who could no longer tolerate the stillness.
3284
3285“I suppose we should. Now what? If we leave him be, he’ll become a threat beyond anything we can handle, won’t he?”
3286
3287“Calm down. Rimuru is a former human. If he seeks to live alongside humanity, there shouldn’t be any need to fight him.”
3288
3289“Right. We need to see how he reacts.”
3290
3291“But we know for a fact that he mowed down twenty thousand knights without hesitation! He is clearly a threat. Are you sure we should simply believe him…?”
3292
3293That final comment from Renard summed up everyone’s thoughts. That’s how many wars begin—the mind playing tricks, stirring fear of a potential opponent. That was true enough even among the human race; if the adversary was a demon lord, it was going to be hard to trust him. It wouldn’t be an issue if that adversary could be hunted down at any moment, but Rimuru was growing more powerful at a rapid pace. To the paladins guarding humanity, and the knights serving as the Holy Emperor’s blade, they needed to entertain the idea of tackling him before he grew truly impossible to handle.
3294
3295But Hinata stuck to her guns. “Silence, everyone,” she firmly stated. “The missive is absolute.”
3296
3297Nothing anyone could say would change her mind. As captain of the Crusaders and chief knight of the Imperial Guard, she guided the hearts and minds of the Holy Empire of Lubelius. She had to be a model for every citizen, a firm leader for those who served under her. Her mind would change only if it did so within the will of Luminus. That was what made her so unwaveringly resolute.
3298
3299And with that, the joint session would end, everyone returning to their intelligence-gathering duties. Or so it should have—but evil has a way of appearing from the most unexpected of crevices.
3300
3301
3302
3303
3304
3305(Ah, Reyhiem, did you have any other messages for us?)
3306
3307Just as Hinata was going to end the meeting, the Seven Days Clergy finally spoke up. It seemed to jog Reyhiem’s mind, as he took a crystal ball out of his pocket and reverently handed it to Hinata.
3308
3309“I—I actually do have this. It’s said to be a message from Demon Lord Rimuru to you, Lady Hinata…”
3310
3311“A message?”
3312
3313She accepted it, eyeing it with suspicion. A message from Rimuru was likely something she couldn’t afford to ignore.
3314
3315This crystal ball, provided by Reyhiem at the prodding of the Clergy, was a highly valuable magic item. It allowed anyone to record moving picture images, making it a useful way to transmit messages. It also saw use in international negotiations, seen as a more trustworthy piece of evidence than a written letter.
3316
3317Regardless of where Rimuru managed to procure one of these, Hinata immediately tried playing it back. Given all the dignitaries on-site, it could be a great chance for everyone to see what Rimuru looked like.
3318
3319But that wasn’t the end of it.
3320
3321
3322The image showed a beautiful girl, but it wasn’t a girl. It was the demon lord himself. His face, reminiscent of Hinata’s teacher, Shizue Izawa, looked at the viewer coldly, without emotion. The sense of presence he had came across at full force through the video image.
3323
3324Hinata blinked at it. What a surprise. Like a different person from a few months ago… Her eyes met with Rimuru’s in the image. Was that a coincidence, or…? She began to realize just how nervous she was. Rimuru, a fellow countryman. A softhearted demon lord. Maybe her sentimentality was making her underestimate this threat. Logically, she knew that. And as if to back up that suspicion…
3325
3326
3327“I’ll take you on. You and me, in a one-on-one duel.”
3328
3329
3330That was the entire message. So incredibly simple; no room for misunderstanding. Everyone viewing it took home the same message: Rimuru is enraged. He killed Clayman for getting in his way, and Hinata’s up next.
3331
3332For a change, even Nicolaus looked perturbed. “Wh-what should we do, Lady Hinata?” But before she could answer:
3333
3334“Lady Hinata, your orders! I will gladly lead a force to crush this demon lord’s ambitions!”
3335
3336Arnaud, ever the hot-blooded military man, pushed the issue. The debate was now in full swing again.
3337
3338“Come on,” chided Saare, giving Arnaud an astonished look. “You’re a master swordsman, sure, but don’t you think your brain could use some work?”
3339
3340“…What?”
3341
3342“Didn’t Hinata just spend the past half hour saying ‘hands off’? We touch him, and the other demon lords aren’t gonna take that sitting down. Plus, if he’s a fully awakened demon lord, it’d be even more ill-advised to prod him. I think we should just chill out and accept our opponent’s request.”
3343
3344“He’s right, Arnaud,” Litus said, nodding in agreement. “If we have Veldora to deal with as well, we have no chance of winning. Victory would only come with losses that would be impossible to take. If the adversary seeks a duel, better for all of us if we have Hinata accept it.”
3345
3346A full clash of forces would result in what had to be staggering casualties with no guarantee of victory. Having the most powerful knight in the Holy Empire take the lead instead seemed far more palatable. If anything, the idea filled Saare and Litus with optimism. There was no doubting Hinata’s victory now.
3347
3348
3349Hinata, meanwhile, weighed her options.
3350
3351Arnaud’s offer of a full battle force was out of the question. Getting her nation involved would escalate into the total war that Litus feared, likely dragging in the other Western Nations and developing into a world war. The masses they swore to protect in crises like these would turn into a severe disadvantage; it would go against the desires of Luminus. Veldora, too, was a menace. In terms of keeping losses to a minimum, Rimuru’s offer of a duel couldn’t have come at a better time.
3352
3353But:
3354
3355How should I take this…?
3356
3357It gave Hinata pause. Looking back, she was extremely lucky she hadn’t invaded Tempest without fully grasping the situation there. She had Luminus’s great wisdom to thank for that. If their opponent had ascended to true demon lord-hood, things like the number of soldiers on the field no longer held meaning. No matter how tenacious they were, unless they met a fairly lofty bar, they were useless. The disaster that befell Farmus was proof enough of that.
3358
3359But…no. When Rimuru fought Farmus, that must have been before he ascended. It was their defeat that generated the “necessary” number of souls for the job. He had wiped out twenty thousand without even being awakened.
3360
3361What a monster, truly…
3362
3363Reflecting on her battle with Rimuru, she didn’t think he was capable of something like that. Perhaps he had been restraining himself—but now, he wanted her dead, no doubt.
3364
3365But if he hated her, why go through the trouble of challenging her to a duel for revenge? It seemed unnatural. If he felt Hinata and the Western Holy Church were a thorn in his side, it was a strange time to act on that impulse. If he was foolish enough not to see that, he wouldn’t be going through all this undercover skullduggery against Farmus.
3366
3367Perhaps there was some other reason.
3368
3369It’s unnatural of him, yes. Has something changed? Did the ascension to demon lord come at the cost of his humanity?!
3370
3371Acquiring that much power at once would crush any human being’s soul. She saw for herself how much trouble Shizue had containing Ifrit’s berserk force. It’d easily drive anyone mad—especially if he was now a true demon lord.
3372
3373…But maybe not. He’d have no reason to ally himself with the human nations, then.
3374
3375Luminus told her that Rimuru swore to keep humanity safe. If his human heart was a thing of the past, his declaration to build his own city no longer made sense. There wasn’t enough information to work with, Hinata thought. Her Measurer skill wasn’t producing any answers. It seemed like the truth was still hidden somewhere.
3376
3377Besides, this whole crystal ball gambit was weird in itself. It could store many hours of footage if necessary, but his message was only a few seconds long. She couldn’t shake the impression that some ulterior meaning was lurking behind it.
3378
3379Plus:
3380
3381The Tuesday Priest just let on that he knew Rimuru had something for me. Why?
3382
3383Reyhiem had filed his report. He hadn’t said a word about Rimuru’s message. But Arze had asked him “Did you have any other messages for us?” and Hinata had picked up on his unnatural choice of words. The seeds of doubt were beginning to bud in her mind, although she swallowed them up and refused to let them sprout upon her face. Instead, she simply continued measuring her position, letting no stone go unturned.
3384
3385Unfortunately, there was just too little data to work with. She could try crunching the numbers and guiding herself to a solution like she always did, but it wasn’t leading her anywhere this time.
3386
3387“Ah well,” she concluded with a sigh. “If he’s calling me out, I suppose I’ll have to go explain matters to him in person.”
3388
3389If Rimuru wanted it, she wasn’t that hesitant about a duel. But was there really no chance to talk things out? She wanted to be fully sure of that first. If she could meet with him, she’d have her answer. It seemed smarter than just fretting to herself.
3390
3391Either way, if this is what it’s come to, it’s up to me to settle it.
3392
3393“It is too dangerous!” Nicolaus frantically protested. “There is no need for you to come out yourself! Not with the barefaced malice he clearly has for you!”
3394
3395It wasn’t enough to make Hinata change her mind. “We’ll never know that for sure unless we work out his intentions, will we? Plus, there is my apology to think about. Isn’t it wiser to meet with him once and try talking matters over?”
3396
3397She had hoped this would put an end to the debate. But once again, as if waiting for the right moment, the Seven Days Clergy spoke up.
3398
3399(Heh-heh-heh. That is your decision? Very well!)
3400
3401(May the protection of the god Luminus safeguard you.)
3402
3403(The demon lord Rimuru is a threat, yes.)
3404
3405(But even if your talks turn sour, there is no need for concern.)
3406
3407(You certainly have what it takes to defeat him.)
3408
3409(But, Hinata, you are forgetting something.)
3410
3411(Indeed. The presence of that dragon.)
3412
3413(I fear not even you could defeat such a menace!)
3414
3415(Do not overestimate your strength, Hinata.)
3416
3417(No attack would ever faze that dragon.)
3418
3419(But take heart, Hinata.)
3420
3421(We will leave you with this.)
3422
3423(It is called the Dragonbuster!)
3424
3425Ugh. Can they be any more shameless about it? All I said was I’d talk with him, but they’re already pushing me into trading blows. And their goal is to have me take care of Veldora, right? Or is it…?
3426
3427The Seven Days Clergy was a band of ex-humans enjoying Luminus’s personal approval. Their faith was strictly for her. Hinata could understand if they wanted her to eliminate a dragon Luminus was so clearly concerned about…but she already knew that wasn’t the only motivation. They were afraid. Afraid that Luminus’s affections would turn away from them and toward a new prodigy. That was why they were so unenthusiastic about training the younger generation. Why they actively schemed to eliminate anyone in their way.
3428
3429Those fools. They mean nothing but harm for Luminus…
3430
3431But Hinata did nothing to defy them. That was Luminus’s decision, and Hinata was in no position to take action. Instead, she retained her calm.
3432
3433“I will gladly accept it,” she intoned as she took the Dragonbuster from Vena, the Friday Priest. He and his co-conspirators gave her satisfied nods.
3434
3435(I hope things go well for you.)
3436
3437(If worse comes to worst, that sword shall protect you.)
3438
3439(And if the effort ends in failure, the responsibility will fall on your shoulders.)
3440
3441And with that, the Clergy took their leave.
3442
3443“Lady Hinata…”
3444
3445The paladins attempted to plead their case. She waved them off, turning a quick glance toward Louis behind the curtain.
3446
3447“All right. You have your assignments. This joint session is hereby adjourned.”
3448
3449The Three Battlesages sat there, tongues silenced despite whatever they had to say to her. The paladins meekly accepted it, respecting their leader’s choices.
3450
3451
3452
3453
3454
3455Hinata awoke from a light sleep.
3456
3457
3458All that self-absorbed reflection on her memories must have made her fall asleep. She could detect the aroma of coffee as her consciousness began to focus. Nicolaus, ever so gallantly ingratiating himself with her, could be seen preparing breakfast in the adjacent room.
3459
3460“Ah, are you awake?”
3461
3462This was Cardinal Nicolaus Speltus—a man who, Hinata felt, was best described as unusual. He was a trusted adviser of the Holy Emperor, the supreme leader of Lubelius, which put him at the very peak of power in the land. But when dealing with Hinata, he was as steadfast and loving as a puppy.
3463
3464“Come, breakfast is served. Would you like to eat?”
3465
3466It was almost comical. Hard to imagine someone like him preparing breakfast for another person. To anyone else who knew him, Nicolaus was a devil in a Saint’s mask.
3467
3468“Yeah. Thanks.”
3469
3470Nicolaus happily nodded back.
3471
3472It was the first meal Hinata could honestly say she enjoyed in a while. Her work had barely given her time to sleep as of late—but now it was coming to an end.
3473
3474“…Are you leaving?”
3475
3476
3477
3478
3479
3480“Yeah. That’s my job.”
3481
3482“But it was I who ordered Reyhiem to come here…”
3483
3484“And I’m the one who let you do so without comment. You don’t need to concern yourself about it.”
3485
3486“Is there any way to convince you…ah, not to?”
3487
3488“Enough already. Stop worrying. It’s not guaranteed to be a fight yet.”
3489
3490…And if it was, it wasn’t guaranteed to be a defeat. Hinata still had a trick up her sleeve—not some silly Dragonbuster, but something much loftier, nobler. Besides, Luminus had personally told her to restrain herself.
3491
3492She had zero intention of dying. If it came to blows, whether Rimuru was ascended or not, she believed he was still a defeatable target—for now. There was nothing to worry about. She wasn’t 100 percent sure of victory, but she had a lot of experience with taking on targets bigger than her. Plus, she even had more than one ace up her sleeve. It was such a lovely morning. It didn’t need to be marred with such gloomy talk.
3493
3494“It’ll work out fine, Nicolaus. Like it always does. You don’t need to worry about a thing.”
3495
3496She smiled—a small, gentle smile. The first one with no careful calculation behind it in a while.