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1
2PROLOGUE
3
4THE DEMON LORD SUMMIT
5
6
7It was a vast, gorgeously designed chamber, the floor covered in a luxuriant carpet that must have taken a team of artisans several years to weave.
8
9The table in the middle featured wood carved from a fragrant tree, providing a pleasant, woodsy smell. It was large, round, and could comfortably seat a dozen or so—but despite the size of the room, only three chairs were placed around it. They were all the height of luxury, of course, the sort that even higher-end nobility would have difficulty procuring.
10
11One wall featured a mural of a fantastical scene—but was it really a mural? The elegant, deliberate artwork for the otherworldly creatures on it almost made it seem like they stirred slightly in their poses, from time to time. It was as if they could leap out from the wall and manifest themselves in this world at any moment. Which made sense—it was all the work of Bismarck, one of the great artists of the demon lord–controlled realms. He specialized in creating so-called Artifacts, visual masterpieces that were so realistic, it was as if his brush literally trapped these mythical beasts in a living state on the wall.
12
13Selling even one of the items that adorned this room would allow someone to live like nobility for a decade or so. Such was the quality instilled into each piece, enough to overwhelm anyone that walked into the chamber. But even as it did, the sort of person to visit this place knew the power of money—they had enough to buy any high-grade magic weapon they wanted or hire the best mercenaries in the land. They reveled in the assets they held, and a room like this was meant less to impress and more to rob the visitor of any desire to resist the will of their host.
14
15That was the role of this chamber, but the invitees assembling in the space in a few moments were not the type to be fazed by such public displays of wealth.
16
17
18This room was owned by a handsome man. He was thin, slender, and his eyes exuded intelligence even as they suggested he was rather high-strung. Even so, the demon lord Clayman had the force of will to make almost anyone follow his orders.
19
20His eyes slid across the room before he gave a satisfied nod and sat upon one of the chairs provided. There was a mask on the table with a smile molded on it; he picked it up, ran a hand across it lovingly, and placed it carefully away in a pocket. Every movement betrayed the methodical approach he took to all aspects of his life.
21
22He knew that his guests would be coming soon. Demon lords, the same rank as himself. And Clayman’s goal today was to rein in these self-willed, wayward creatures, showing them enough of an enjoyable time to bring them under his full control. He had selected an ostentatious-looking white dress suit for the occasion, and now he was checking the time on his pocket watch.
23
24Just as he thought that the appointed hour was near, he suddenly realized that someone was occupying another seat.
25
26“Yo, Clayman. Gelmud doin’ well for you?”
27
28He had his legs crossed as he calmly leaned his large, muscular frame back into his seat and casually engaged Clayman. But every move of his was just as supple and elegant as Clayman’s. This was no muscle-bound dolt—he presented the air of a battle-proven military hero. His own formal outfit was obviously a tad worn, but it didn’t make him seem unclean at all. If anything, it emphasized his wild side, building an atmosphere that made one hesitate more than a little to go near him.
29
30His unrefined manner of speech would seem to be a poor match for that, but it only served to make the man all the more charming. His well-maintained short blond hair, meanwhile, paired perfectly with the masculine contours of his face. His sharp, hawk-like eyes were burrowing into Clayman—he was keenly focused, perhaps out of distrust for his fellow demon lord.
31
32“Carillon?” Clayman asked. “You’re early, eh? I was planning to brief you on that today, actually. Certainly wasn’t expecting you to arrive first, though.”
33
34The man called Carillon shrugged. “No need for that treatment, now. I’m sure our little lady is busy with her own preparations,” he said with a smirk.
35
36Carillon was, indeed, a demon lord—perhaps more often referred to as the Beast Master, thanks to being king and leader of the lycanthrope race.
37
38“Heh. ‘Lady,’ now, is it? Hmm… Yes, maybe so. Ah, but we’d better not say any more of her for now. After all…”
39
40“She’s rather sensitive to people bad-mouthing her, yes.”
41
42The two gave each other a look, exchanging a slight laugh. Just as they stopped, the door to the chamber was suddenly thrown open. A single young woman stood there, looking around the room for a moment before realizing only Clayman and Carillon were there.
43
44“Were you guys just spreading rumors about me?”
45
46She was young, very young, oddly so for someone participating in a summit like this. Fourteen or fifteen, perhaps, and while appearances were often deceiving for magic-born people like her, she looked woefully out of place.
47
48There was a brace on her right shoulder, shaped somewhat like a dragon’s claw. But not “on” it, exactly—it was actually floating in the air, leaving a slight gap between it and her body. Said body was, for the most part, barely clothed—just a loincloth and pair of undergarments made of thin cloth, along with a chest piece to cover the faintest suggestion of a still-developing pair of breasts. Whether meant for ease of movement or some other purpose, it exposed as much skin as the typical swimsuit would.
49
50Her large, strong-willed eyes shone blue, even as they revealed a bit of the immature youth left in her. The strength in them proved to the other two that this was no woman to be trifled with. Her platinum-pink hair was tied into two flowing pigtails on either side of her head, and there was a bold, dominant smile on her face. Jutting her modest chest outward, she glared at the demon lords she shared the chamber with.
51
52“Yo, Milim!” Carillon said with a hearty laugh. “No, no rumors. You’re usually so punctual with these things, is all. We were worried about you!”
53
54“Exactly, Milim,” Clayman added as he elegantly ferried a cup of tea to his lips. “Of course, I would never worry about you, myself.”
55
56They were both used to her, enough that they knew making bald-faced excuses was pointless. It would just rile Milim up even more. Instead they took pains to relax their approach, ensuring they prodded her no further. The two shared a slight sense of nervousness with each other over her, and nervousness was what it clearly was.
57
58There was a reason for this: Despite her looks, Milim was powerful. This sweet young demon lord, Milim Nava, was a member of the dragonoid race—one that bore the simple but effective nickname of Destroyer.
59
60With an annoyed sniff, she gave Carillon, then Clayman a dirty look. “Well, so be it,” she muttered when neither reacted. In the next moment, she was sauntering into the chamber—and someone else was behind her. A harpy—one with large, eagle-like wings.
61
62“Well, well, Milim,” Clayman admonished, eyebrows arched downward. “I believe I’ve made it clear that none besides demon lords are allowed in here. I’m afraid I can’t allow you to have your attendant accompany you inside. Even for you, there are certain rules that have to be—”
63
64“It is good to see you again, Clayman,” came the dejected reply. “I am not Milim’s attendant. I’m not here because I want to be, but if it’s a demon lord you want, then it’s a demon lord you have.”
65
66The harpy stood strong, not at all cowed by the powerful beings before her. She looked like a graceful woman, but anyone near her would immediately pick up on the unnervingly substantial aura that she exuded at all times.
67
68She was, after all, a demon lord herself—
69
70“Whoa, what are you doing here, Frey?”
71
72—Frey the Sky Queen, ruler of the harpy race. Just like Clayman, Carillon, and Milim, she was one of the pillars of strength that supported the entire world they lived in.
73
74“Hello, Carillon. And yes, you are correct. I had turned down the invitation because I was busy, but Milim…well, you know…”
75
76“Ha-ha-ha-ha! Oh, what’s the big problem? She was acting all moody and grumpy about something, so I brought her over to let off some steam. You don’t have a problem with that, do you, Clayman?”
77
78“No, not if that is the case…”
79
80This was the Milim that Clayman knew—eternally pushing her own desires on other people. But there was no reason to openly defy her. In fact, the optimist in him saw this as something to be welcomed. Once he told everyone about how his efforts with Gelmud were a complete failure, he was sure Milim would suddenly be quite a bit less cheerful. Frey should help smooth things over a little once he had to drop the bomb.
81
82So Clayman began to devise a new strategy.
83
84“Well? Can we have another chair for Frey, please?”
85
86Clayman nodded at Milim’s order. With a flick of a finger, a chair materialized where none was before—a perfect match for its surroundings, as if it had always been there and everyone just failed to notice. Milim and Frey each took their seats, sensing nothing unusual about this.
87
88There were four demon lords assembled around the table. Now it was time for Clayman, the Marionette Master himself, to flex his muscles a bit. He had a gift for controlling people, making them do whatever he liked, and now there was the hint of a smile on his face as he began to speak.
89
90The demon lord summit had begun.
91
92*
93
94Clayman opted to kick things off with a plain and frank rundown of events. Gelmud was dead, killed by someone or other, and his plan had failed.
95
96“That bastard wanted things to go too quickly for his own safety, hmm?” Carillon offered. “Even if Veldora is gone, was there any need to move this operation up, really?”
97
98“You may say that, Carillon, but mayhem was bound to result sooner or later with Veldora, the supreme ruler of the forest, out of the picture. If a promising new seedling was fated to be plucked from the ground, wouldn’t it be far more satisfying for all of us if we were the ones who controlled that fate?”
99
100This made sense to the large man. With all the assorted influential races calling the forest home, there was never any guarantee that their own pawns would win the match. They also knew that actively cultivating an orc lord gave them the greatest possibility of victory.
101
102Another among them, however, was more dubious.
103
104“What?! So what happened to making the orc lord into a demon lord next?”
105
106“What I’m saying, Milim, is that we’re back to the drawing board on that. We needed Gelmud to control the orc lord, and now he is dead.”
107
108It hurt Clayman just as deeply to abandon this strategy. But as long as nobody noticed the connection between him and Gelmud, he would never hear about it later. At this point, the idea of hatching a new plan to handle either the orc lord or the magic-borns—whichever had survived—sounded far more interesting to him. And if he could interest the other demon lords in it, he could use that to add another effective card or two to his hand.
109
110Carillon sat silently, eyes closed, as he listened on. He must have his opinions, Clayman knew, but was apparently ready to listen to the entire story before making a final judgment. He was much more careful about these matters than the short-tempered Milim was.
111
112And it turned out, much more prudent.
113
114“But that’s so boring! And here I thought we’d have a new toy to play with before long. And remember all that bragging that bum Gelmud gave us, once upon a time? Too bad he turned out to be such a profound dolt, isn’t it?!”
115
116“Now, now, Milim, no need for such anger. Clayman hasn’t finished his story yet. Why not wait until then before you shout at him?”
117
118Just as Clayman expected, the sad news was enough to make Milim seethe at him. He was expecting to expend a great deal of effort soothing her from now on, but Frey seemed to be doing a good job at it. It came as a relief.
119
120Thank the heavens she brought Frey along with her, he thought, maintaining a breezy smile the whole time. And he meant it. As her Destroyer nickname implied, once Milim broke into a violent spree, there was no containing her. It would require Clayman to expend his full energies in response—and by that point, any dream he had of manipulating these demon lords without a fight would be lost. Milim’s behavior was easy to predict, at least, which meant he could steer her. But to Clayman, she was a double-edged sword. Steer her in the wrong direction, and he knew he’d face the brunt of the fallout.
121
122At least Milim bringing along her own tranquilizer in the form of Frey should make things much smoother for him. Plus, not only did she have no hand (or wing) in this operation, but she seemed to have no interest in it at all. That was key. Any other demon lord would’ve demanded a detailed rundown of the plan, from start to finish. Frey, meanwhile, was much more cooperative.
123
124“Milim,” Clayman said, “I feel Frey is correct. Take a look at these first.”
125
126He took out four spherical crystals, an eerie light burning in his eyes. His lips curled into a smile, anticipating how this would astound his fellow demon lords. Then he projected images into all four spheres, watching their reactions carefully as he did. Just as he thought, they were all enthralled by what they saw. The final crystal in particular—showing Gelmud’s perspective—captured their complete attention.
127
128“Very impressive indeed, Gelmud, leaving these fancy baubles behind for us!” Milim happily shouted, voice booming across the room. The images left no clue about the orc lord’s final fate, but the way they suddenly cut off indicated to them all that Gelmud was gone.
129
130“All right. So this means Gelmud screwed up and got himself killed, yeah? Just like you said. But you didn’t tell us about these magic-born on purpose, eh?”
131
132Clayman nodded at Carillon’s observation. “Fascinating, isn’t it? And with Gelmud dead, there is no telling what may come after. But with all these high-level members of the magic-born races in one place, I feel it is safe to say the orc lord met his match, too. However—”
133
134“However,” Frey interrupted, “if he survived, he totally evolved into a demon lord, right?”
135
136She had taken the words right out of his mouth. Clayman knew she couldn’t have known about the plan, but she was intelligent enough to guess most of it.
137
138Well done, Frey… I must be careful around you, unlike these two simpleton warriors.
139
140He eyed Frey carefully, squinting a little. She acted distant, unaffected, but she was looking into a crystal sphere, as if pondering something. He couldn’t tell what was going through her mind, but it was clear she was no longer annoyed at Milim forcing her to tag along.
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142This is a threat…but Frey looks like she has her own troubles to consider. She acted completely uninterested a moment ago, but now…
143
144Now Frey was starting to interest him. As far as their positions went, Clayman was right—she was more of a tactical leader than an on-the-battlefield fighter. Controlling her would be far from simple. She was too smart to be deceived that easily. But if whatever troubled her could be used to exploit some weakness… A new and sinister plan quietly unfolded deep in his mind.
145
146“Okay, so what now? You want one of us to go down and check it out?”
147
148“Ha-ha-ha-ha! First come, first served, is it?”
149
150“First come, first served for what, Milim?” Clayman interrupted. Figuring out what to do with the magic-born had to come first. He turned his thoughts elsewhere. “I doubt you would be satisfied simply with observing the scene, hmm? Everyone, calm down for a moment. We are dealing with the Forest of Jura, a region that is strictly off-limits.”
151
152“Oh? What’s that matter? It’s not like we’re actually doing anything in there. You just want to hop on over and scout out any magic-born who look decent enough to join our team, don’tcha? Though who’s to say what kind of unfortunate accidents may befall anyone who refuses. Ha-ha-ha-ha!”
153
154“No getting a head start on this, Carillon. If what I have been hearing from you all is true, your aim was to create a new demon lord that you could use as a faithful pawn, yes? And if you’ve failed at it once, then why not just recognize one of those magic-born as a demon lord and have it serve us?”
155
156“Wow, Frey! You saw right through our scheme!”
157
158She had demystified the core of Clayman and his fellows’ plan—to birth a demon lord that was putty in their hands. And Milim just went and admitted it. Now Frey would think she was right—and that was fine. It was still within what Clayman expected. If Frey was part of today’s summit, he had already assumed it would happen. No point hiding things, if Milim was wholly incapable of subterfuge.
159
160“But we do need to investigate, yes,” he ventured. “Not to speak for Carillon, but there is no guarantee they will be cooperative with us. If the orc lord did win, however, he might be rampaging out of control now that his father Gelmud is gone.”
161
162He wanted to keep the other demon lords from traveling over there before he was ready. Now, he watched them mull it over.
163
164An investigation did seem to be necessary. Whether it was the orc lord or the other magic-born, the side that won the battle would now be more powerful than ever. It’d be nice if the demon lords could make them swear fealty, but losing any chance at that with some untoward gesture was out of the question.
165
166They needed to assume that, at the very least, something at a sub–demon lord level of strength was now born. If they were to set up the board so they were guaranteed to dominate it, that was a tall order even for them. It would give them a leg up on the other demonic rulers of the land, but they also had to consider the substantial consequences if it didn’t work out. And if whoever survived the fray decided to call themselves a “demon lord,” there would be no choice but to give it up and punish that insolence. But now wasn’t the time for that.
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168The four demon lords glanced at one another, attempting to read one another’s minds.
169
170*
171
172Carillon, the Beast Master, had a good feeling about this.
173
174He had spent several centuries ruling the lycanthrope race, waging several major battles that went well enough for him to expand his influence. That performance had earned him the endorsements of the dearly departed Accursed Lord and the demon lord Milim, ensuring his own promotion to the demon lord post. Leon, the one who defeated said Accursed Lord, assuredly had some objections about that, but he seemed to bear no anger or disgust toward the appointment. Survival of the fittest was the only ironclad rule here—and it had just been applied once again. Leon had no right to protest.
175
176Besides, Leon was more than strong enough himself. Even after attaining his current post, he had never ceased to hone his skills. Carillon understood that Leon had several new, and powerful, allies on his side as well. Even as a newcomer to this echelon, there was no underestimating what this relatively recent demon lord could do.
177
178Carillon had a taste for power—and powerful people. That was why he so readily accepted Leon. But that didn’t mean he stood by idly while Leon accrued more and more force. As a demon lord, he felt an obligation to retain an ample supply for himself. Enough that he didn’t have to submit to anybody else. Enough to protect the kingdom he controlled and smash anyone who dared to oppose it.
179
180This was less about Carillon being nervous about his position and more him following his natural instincts toward increasing his strength. But the end result was the same. It made him a force to be reckoned with. One who constantly sought to take in more strength, never satisfied with what he had now. And now, Carillon had a very enticing offer dropped in front of him.
181
182
183He had accepted Clayman’s invitation to the summit, figuring it would be a good way to kill some time. Three demon lords working in collusion could certify a new demon lord anytime they wanted—and if this new lord was willing to do all their bidding, it would grant them a decisive advantage over any other demon lord out there.
184
185So Carillon was more than willing to go along with Clayman’s guidance. There were several reasons for this, but the main one was the absence of any rule stating demon lords needed to be friends. There were always disputes among them, and everyone knew that Clayman and Leon’s ran particularly deep. It was a given that they constantly schemed to undermine each other, taking pains not to leave any evidence behind. Their public faces were one thing, but under the surface, they were constantly trying to check each other’s movements.
186
187Thus, Carillon was sure, there was no need to worry about Clayman going turncoat. Whether he could trust him was another matter, but in terms of using each other for the common good, he thought they had a nice give-and-take going. Clayman wasn’t dumb enough to lay hands on a cooperative demon lord, and the same could be said of Carillon.
188
189As for the other two in the chamber? Carillon didn’t see much to worry about there. Frey, queen of the harpies, probably wasn’t interested. She had to be dragged in here by Milim, and she wasn’t even part of this plan from the beginning.
190
191Besides, harpies were unique. Their society was completely classist, with winged creatures up top and everyone else down below. No matter how powerful an upper-level magic-born one may be, if they were wingless, they could not expect preferential treatment over there.
192
193It looked like there was one winged figure among the magic-borns in the crystals…but Carillon didn’t think that would be enough to make Frey take action. Besides, he thought, if it’s just one, Frey can have it for all I care. Assuming it’s still alive. There were other fish to fry, other magic-born to lure. They didn’t know what had happened to the orc lord, but Carillon was pretty sure he lost—hell, if Frey wanted one of those guys, she could have them.
194
195That just left Milim. Carillon thought about this for a moment. In terms of their personal interests, Clayman likely thought of her as an enemy, but what about Milim? She had a short fuse and you could read her like a book, but she was just as cunning as any other demon lord. But more than that, she was ever faithful to her own desires. She let her emotions carry her, making decisions practically on a whim. In a way, it was difficult to predict her next move.
196
197Carillon did owe her, perhaps, for recommending him to the demon lord post. But, he thought as he gave her a look, I don’t know. I just can’t read her.
198
199Milim appeared to be bursting with confidence, looking in utter awe at one of the crystal spheres. She was undoubtedly the demon lord most interested in this tale. It was apparently the magic-born Gelmud who approached Clayman with this idea of crafting a new demon lord—Carillon didn’t know if that was true, but it didn’t matter anyway.
200
201Basically, if something piqued his curiosity, he leaped at it, and Milim was likely the same. She had been alive for a long time, and she hated tedium. If an enticing prospect came along, she’d greedily jump on it, not caring if the story were true or not. Plus, her power was the real thing, enough to let her avoid a certain level of countermeasures simply by steamrolling over them.
202
203“Destroyer” was right—as a demon lord, Milim was the personification of pure force, almost unfairly so. And because of that, no matter how simpleminded she was, her moves were still hard to read. It was obvious she wanted to go off to investigate the scene. Her opponents’ strengths, and the danger involved, was no big deal to her. If whomever survived that battle won her heart, she’d be recommending them as a new demon lord—and if they didn’t, she’d kill them.
204
205But she couldn’t do that this time. This was all unfolding in an inconvenient place. Simply entering the Forest of Jura presented political problems. Even Milim would have trouble indulging her curiosity if every other demon lord in the world was against it. A full investigation would be coming first.
206
207Carillon knew that Milim didn’t give a fig about boosting her own powers. The question was what Clayman would gain out of this. In his eyes, Clayman used his gentlemanly demeanor to hide his true intentions at all times. It was hard to tell what he was thinking—and even harder to trust him completely.
208
209This would be a battle of wits, and on that score, Milim was too easily deceived to be much of a concern. Frey would follow whatever Milim did, so no point fretting over her. That just left Clayman. It was the natural conclusion for Carillon to make.
210
211He licked his lips as he thought over his strategy.
212
213Now, how to kick this off…
214
215*
216
217Frey, the queen of the harpies, had had enough of this. This wasn’t a conference she had any reason to be in. Milim had just forced her along for some inscrutable reason. “Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! You need to relax a little bit!” she had said, not bothering to ask what Frey thought about it—to say nothing of the other demon lords.
218
219Frey knew there was no point worrying about that, since it wasn’t like Milim would. But she didn’t like how she had been silently appointed as the demon lord to clean up the messes that followed wherever Milim went.
220
221Besides, the timing couldn’t have been worse. One of the harpy priestesses had just prophesied the revival of a long-past calamity. A prophecy by name, perhaps, but it had already been confirmed. Reading the flow of magicules and the twisting and warping of space, she had confirmed the coming arrival—the arrival of the harpies’ natural enemy. The revival of Charybdis, the calamity-level monster that a long-lost hero had sealed away in time immemorial.
222
223Charybdis was a great magical creature that ruled the skies in antiquity—one that could summon the shark-shaped megalodons to execute its bidding and make its tyranny complete. It would die and be reborn on a cycle of every few centuries, and Frey had been a demon lord for only a short time when it last resurrected, laying waste to a hefty chunk of her territory. In the end, thanks to the “hero” who wanted to put a final end to the cycle, Charybdis had been spirited away to a locked region of space, somewhere inside the Forest of Jura…and now that seal was about to come undone.
224
225Having a hero’s seal unravel like this was unnerving enough, but Frey couldn’t shake the thought that Veldora’s disappearance was intimately related. Charybdis was a different creature from the norm, a so-called “crystallization” of evil thoughts. A sort of spiritual form created from a cloud of magical energies that sought to sow the seeds of destruction.
226
227As the legend put it, it could resurrect itself temporarily inside a corpse whenever a great die-off occurred across the land—or so the legends went. In other words, it needed a bodily receptacle in order to be reborn…
228
229Ugh, this is so annoying. Spreading chaos across the Forest of Jura and using it to give birth to a new demon lord? If I’d known about that, I would’ve put a stop to it before this happened…
230
231She didn’t know what caused it, but Frey reasoned that the conspiracy Milim had engineered with the others was one primary factor in this. It irritated her to no end, thinking about it—but could she have stopped Milim, even if she tried? That wasn’t easy to answer, and there was no point dwelling on the question.
232
233Frey had to come up with a response. Even a megalodon was an A-minus in terms of the danger it presented. The Charybdis it served was on a whole other level. It was far beyond what an A grade could even express, a force truly worthy of being called a calamity. Even the human nations had awarded it the rank of S, terming it the equivalent of a demon lord. It had no mind of its own, simply acting on its instincts, and that was really the only reason why it wasn’t called a demon lord itself.
234
235And all right, maybe these were mere humans awarding these rankings, but it still annoyed Frey to be placed on the same rung of the ladder as this thing. But there was a reason for that rank. Those “instincts” were painful. It floated freely around the sky, randomly killing anything that grabbed its attention. Whenever it grew hungry, it would attack a city and eat its way through, consuming both human and monster at once. It was a menace on a level beyond what any orc lord could present.
236
237The harpies were the rulers of the skies, and Frey had enough force to be termed their Sky Queen. Her magic was a force to be reckoned with, and her skills in aerial combat were outstanding. She was proud that she had never lost to any earthbound foe.
238
239Combining these skills with Magic Interference—an ability unique to her race—she had the ability to annul any flight-based magic on the battlefield. That alone meant any foe not flying with physical wings would immediately be sent plummeting to their deaths. Even that may not be enough to kill a higher-level monster, of course, but for a human, the chances of survival were pretty slim. Even if one did, they only had so many ways of attacking a target that was high up in the sky. Meanwhile, she could rain down attacks upon those helpless ants below—an obvious tactical advantage.
240
241Anything that couldn’t fly was no threat at all to her. Except for Charybdis.
242
243It was massive, dozens of feet in diameter, and Magic Interference didn’t work on it. To put it another way, Magic Interference was an intrinsic skill to it as it was to harpies. The race’s flight skills gave it an insurmountable advantage in battle—losing that advantage was a telling blow. It made sense that the harpies saw Charybdis as their natural nemesis.
244
245Of course, simply lying low and praying that this threat would never come to greet them grated on Frey’s pride as a demon lord. She wanted to do something about it, but attempting a full-frontal attack would result in unacceptably heavy casualties. That was what troubled her, and it was why she arrived at this summit in such a foul mood. If it weren’t for that resurrection, maybe she’d be a bit more eager about the whole-new demon lord plan, but…
246
247She had noticed one winged figure in the crystal spheres. It made her think about the possibility that the magic-born had survived and grown more powerful, but she quickly dismissed it. Having one more magic-born means little, she thought. We have no idea how powerful it is in battle. A high-level magic-born has no chance against a demon lord–class foe. Even if it’s grown into a sub-demon, there’s no guarantee it’ll be friendly to our advances. What a pain. This would be so much easier if I could fight without all these…things holding me down…
248
249Frey let out a dejected sigh. As a demon lord, she could no longer personally lead her armies into battle as queen. She had a responsibility to keep her land and people safe, and that meant more than simply racking up victories on the field. No matter the sacrifice involved, Frey was strictly prohibited from joining a battle. Only when victory was assured could she take center stage.
250
251There was just one sure method of defeating Charybdis. It was the first thing she thought of after receiving the prophecy she dreaded so much.
252
253But…that?
254
255Frey took a peek at Milim.
256
257She was eagerly peering into a sphere, this demon lord on such a different level from the towers of strength around her. Carillon and Clayman don’t know what she’s really like. They’re too deceived by her external youth to read her true nature. And while she was technically a demon lord just like them, Milim was inherently different.
258
259Milim Nava was special. Not like Frey and the other demon lord newcomers. She was one of the most senior demon lords out there, and she was from the dragonoid race. A dragon-born. Which made her a special S grade. The “Destroyer” name wasn’t just window dressing—it was said she literally destroyed a kingdom single-handedly, in the past.
260
261She could fly, as well, using her own wings that she normally kept stowed away. Her body was strong—naturally, not by magic—and her skills in battle were almost unfair. Something like Magic Interference would never work on her. Milim was just as much a nemesis to Frey as Charybdis—and once again, she had dragged her over to something she wanted no part of. Frey just couldn’t defy her.
262
263The whole summit was a distraction as she racked her brain for some way to deal with Charybdis. She provided a few hollow observations along the way, hoping the conference would end soon.
264
265But at the same time, she had another thought: If Milim could work with her, would that be enough to defeat Charybdis? She was impervious to Magic Interference, after all.
266
267But it wouldn’t be easy. Demon lords were hardly one big happy family. You couldn’t just saunter up to one and ask a favor like that. They were more about using and abusing one another than asking nicely. They say the rich are smart enough not to get into street fights, and while that didn’t describe them exactly, they couldn’t be overtly hostile to one another. It’d just give space where the other demon lords could drive a wedge. It wasn’t worth the risk, and it could even provide that moment of weakness that would lead them all to their doom. That was the whole reason the demon lords had signed nonaggression pacts with one another in the first place.
268
269Under those circumstances, there was no way she could ask a fellow ruler to slay a demon lord–class monster for her. And it wasn’t realistic to expect Milim to agree to that. There was never any telling where her own desires lay. There was a nation of people who worshipped her as the child of a dragon, and she granted it her “divine” protection. It was a peaceful, bountiful, and also deathly boring place. They had no military might, but Milim provided all the power they needed—no nation was brazen enough to challenge a kingdom under the direct protection of Milim.
270
271In other words, Milim already had it all—power, riches, glory. She had no interest in conquering new lands, no motivation to forge alliances with other nations.
272
273If I could just find something to make Milim take action, Frey thought, I think I could find a solution to this…but that’s easier said than done…
274
275What Milim wanted more than anything was something to make the boredom go away. And Frey had no idea what that could be. But look at her now—her attention was wholly captured by what she saw in the sphere.
276
277Maybe I could take advantage of this.
278
279Maybe she could move Milim after all.
280
281No. More than that. I have to take advantage of this. Charybdis needs to be out of the picture.
282
283She took a deep breath, her decision finally made.
284
285*
286
287With a polite smile, Clayman observed the three demon lords before him.
288
289Clayman was the one who had directed Gelmud throughout the entire operation. If that became public knowledge, it wouldn’t be very good news for his position—but that was no concern now. The moment Gelmud breathed his last, all traces of evidence disappeared with him.
290
291Carillon had his suspicions, maybe, but he wasn’t one to verbally pursue them very much. He was safe. Frey provided other concerns, but with no evidence at hand, he could talk his way out of whatever she said.
292
293This was an attractive offer to the other demon lords, besides, and Clayman was hardly the only one to blame here. The scheme didn’t work, but it wasn’t like anyone was terribly hurt as a result.
294
295Now was no time to think about the past. Instead, Clayman focused on a new plan. Some way to investigate who survived—and find a way to use them. Was that the best thing for him? It gave him pause.
296
297Fortunately, the other demon lords were showing a clear interest. To Clayman, the fates of the surviving magic-born really didn’t matter much at all. If they fulfilled their potential as bait to lure in the other demon lords, that’s all he needed. Certainly, if there was a sub–demon lord among them, recruiting the lucky bum would be quite the boon for his own forces. But if force was all he wanted, Clayman had other outlets for that. He had the money to hire any mercenary he wanted.
298
299A full demon lord who faithfully did whatever he wanted was one thing—but your run-of-the-mill high-level magic-born? Clayman had no need for them. Thus, placing his own priorities on the scales, he decided to change his mission. He wanted to have Milim and Carillon owe him a favor, and he wanted them to trust him. In addition, he wanted their backing just in case something happened later on.
300
301Or so he thought. But…
302
303Milim and Carillon respect my strength, like I figured. They’ve happily taken the bait. But Frey is proving to be a wild card. She seems concerned about something; perhaps it’s some weakness that I can grasp. It might be interesting to examine this.
304
305Clayman had to chuckle at the unexpected results. He was hoping to get Milim and Carillon on his side, but now, perhaps, he could take advantage of a weakness on Frey’s part. Having full sway over even one demon lord would be a wonderful consolation prize after losing the orc lord.
306
307Demon lords were shrewd, observant people. They knew that Milim and Carillon had the simplest personalities among their kind. But the two were also gifted fighters. While most found it prudent to hide the full extent of their powers from one another, these two never hesitated to show it off.
308
309Given their battle-oriented specializations, winning their trust was never a bad idea. And having a guaranteed three votes (counting his) at Walpurgis, the grand meeting that all demon lords attended, was huge. Adding Frey to the equation meant that Clayman could make nearly any vote, any proposition, go the way he wanted.
310
311Heh-heh… Excellent. Not exactly my original plan, but this is almost as ideal. It would have been interesting, having an orc lord serving as my puppet demon lord…but this works just as well. And I can even have Frey join in—
312
313Clayman had to stifle the laugh bubbling up in his throat. It was time to show off his skills as Marionette Master. Frey would come first; then Milim and Carillon. Then, Walpurgis would be like a personal court to him. Everything in the world could be his, in fact. It was no longer an idle dream.
314
315The Forest of Jura was forbidden territory. No demon lord was allowed to send an expedition inside. He would need to bring on another unaffiliated high-level magic-born, like Gelmud—and he’d have to ensure this agent wasn’t aware that Clayman was pulling the strings. It would be a delicate operation. But this kind of under-the-table exchange was Clayman’s specialty, something Milim and Carillon weren’t suited for. That’s why he was the one who “handled” Gelmud in his last scheme.
316
317And it’d be just the same this time. Milim seemed to have an extraordinary interest in all this, which was a concern, but it’d likely be Clayman handling the expedition anyway. The situation inside Jura was a total unknown, so he figured his role would be a foregone conclusion.
318
319In fact, I could have this person spy on Milim and Carillon for me before he goes into the forest. Now this is getting interesting…
320
321Clayman smiled a little as he pictured it. He knew he shouldn’t be too greedy. Depending on how things went, it wasn’t impossible. Finding Frey’s weakness was priority one, and if possible, he wanted to take the lead on the Forest of Jura expedition.
322
323His objectives clear in his mind, he leisurely began to gauge the rest of the table.
324
325*
326
327Milim Nava, the demon lord whose platinum-pink pigtails suited her perfectly, was lost in thought.
328
329If I leave things to these doofuses, I just know they’re gonna let my new toy go to waste. They’re all still newly hatched rookies—they’ve got no way to see how things really are. I’m cool enough and smart enough to take the lead here.
330
331Thanks to her easy comfort as one of the oldest demon lords, Milim felt herself taking a role as leader for the younger generations of rulers, who had only a few centuries’ worth of experience. It was ironic to think that the youngest-looking among them was also the most cunning, but it was the undeniable truth.
332
333After a moment of thought, Milim opened her mouth, then exhibited her full majesty as both the only dragonoid at the table and the most wizened of demon lords.
334
335“Right!” she began, practically bursting with anticipation. “In that case, I’m heading out now and negotiating with whoever survived!”
336
337The demon lords met her with silence. Which made sense. With the current pact covering the Forest of Jura, there was no way to go in without making certain arrangements first. Simply stomping right over, as Milim suggested, was unthinkable.
338
339“Um, Milim… We can’t do that, can we? We have that nonaggression agreement.”
340
341“Yeah! Where’d that idea even come from?”
342
343“Milim,” Clayman interjected, “please take a moment to calm yourself. I will send a full expeditionary force to handle this, and I promise there will not be long to wait.”
344
345She laughed all of them off.
346
347To the demon lords who knew Milim, she was regarded as someone with muscles all the way into her brain. A lunkhead, in other words. But the truth lay elsewhere. She was actually extremely intelligent, and it was only her short fuse that made people think otherwise. She had the full ability to sort right from wrong and process matters strategically—something that often made her leap directly into action, making her seem impossibly imprudent. She was one of the top geniuses among them, in fact, but sadly, very few people noticed this. If anything, they thought she was the simplest, most ill-tempered one.
348
349Utterly ignorant of all this, Milim confidently put her chest forward and revealed her own thoughts to the world. “Who cares about that nonaggression pact?” she said, a world-beating smile on her face. “We should just abolish that thing right now. We got four demon lords here, so it’s easy, right?”
350
351The rest seemed at a loss. They chewed over her words, as if the blinders had just been taken off their eyes. Yes. This was realistically possible. They tried to deny it, but they couldn’t find anything to refute it with. At that moment, every scheme and plan in their minds vanished into dust.
352
353Of course, to Carillon, trying to think up a reason to join the expedition, this was a gift from heaven. It meant he could send his own forces into the forest without bothering to hide them. Too easy.
354
355“Makes sense,” he agreed. “With our signatures, we could provide notification that the agreement’s null and void. It should be accepted, as long as nobody objects to it. I’m up for the idea.”
356
357“I’m with you on that,” Frey said. “My territory abuts the forest, and being forbidden from entering it was never exactly convenient for us.”
358
359To her, agreeing with Milim was the simplest way to get the old demon lord on her side. The bountiful feeding grounds inside the Forest of Jura would also provide good hunting for her own cherished daughters. The wardens of the forest may have issues, but they could worry about that when it occurred.
360
361Milim was beaming at both of her new allies when Clayman spoke up.
362
363“Would it go that easily, though, do you think? Would the other demon lords be so ready to agree to it?”
364
365Risking Milim’s rage wasn’t normally a good idea, but the way Clayman saw it, this wasn’t something he could readily agree with. He didn’t intend to personally join the expedition, but he simply didn’t want the other demon lords griping at him about the whole thing later. The agreement of four demon lords made the annulment a given to pass, but that nonaggression treaty had held over the forest for centuries. It didn’t seem like something that should be abandoned with such impulsive gusto.
366
367If we could rip it up that easily, he reasoned, we wouldn’t need to expend all this effort staying undercover. Is there some reason for this outburst? Such as…Veldora’s disappearance, of all things…?!
368
369Just as the thought occurred to him, Milim grinned once more and nodded. “Mm? Oh, did you notice? Well, you’re right. The whole reason behind that pact was because the territory belonged to this big, mean dragon. We all signed it when Veldora the Storm Dragon was sealed away three hundred or so years ago—just to make sure nothing we did wound up undoing the seal by accident. You guys became demon lords right around the same time, so I guess it makes sense you weren’t aware of that. And I’m pretty sure the first person to back it was…”
370
371Thus began a long, meandering tale of demon lord politics from centuries ago. Milim clearly enjoyed recalling it, and as he ignored it, Clayman realized she was right all along. Veldora was the real problem, and if he was gone, no demon lord would lodge any complaint about abolishing the pact. Even if one did, it seemed unlikely that three would—the number required for a quorum in these conferences.
372
373Perhaps, he thought, instantly casting away his original reasoning, it would be easiest to do what Milim says.
374
375“If that is the case, then I have no objection. We may as well begin selecting our expeditionary force at once for deployment into the forest.”
376
377“Whoa, Clayman.” Carillon flashed a scowling, aggressive smile. “D’you mean we all work together? Or first come, first served, like what Milim said?”
378
379“Um,” Frey said before Clayman could respond, “I was thinking… How about each of us deploys our own forces, and we could have them compete against one another? I could even have my own daughters go in my stead…and besides, isn’t this a rather silly thing to quarrel over?”
380
381The somber way she put it indicated the pointlessness of fighting over an expedition that was meant to boost all their forces. It made total sense. The other three froze for a moment. To all of them, working separately seemed much more palatable than working together. A competition meant not having to consider the needs of anyone else.
382
383They gauged each other’s faces for a moment, then nodded.
384
385“Ha-ha-ha-ha! First come, first served, then! No hard feelings!”
386
387“Very well. But I don’t care about some slow, plodding expedition. I won’t hinder any of you guys, but I ain’t helping, either. We got that?”
388
389“Well, so be it. We don’t know who survived the battle, but I suppose we’ll find out soon enough. You participate at your own risk, keep in mind.”
390
391It was decided. The Forest of Jura would soon be the scene of not one, but four different interventions.
392
393“Let the competition begin, then! But no meddling with one another, all right? That’s a promise!”
394
395“Certainly. I will be sure to tell my daughters not to interfere with anyone else.”
396
397“Fair enough. I swear by my name as Beast Master that I’ll abide by it!”
398
399“Understood, Milim. I, Clayman, will not break this agreement.”
400
401“Great! So all the arrangements are made, then. Now let’s get that nonaggression pact annulled once and for all,” a beaming Milim chirped.
402
403Thus, four demon lords agreed to not have their forces meddle with one another inside the forest. Their four signatures, the keys to annulling the treaty, were quickly sent by hidden courier to the other demon lords. The Forest of Jura was no longer neutral territory. Now it would be the stage for some demon lord wargames.
404
405
406“Well, off I go!”
407
408Milim tore out of the room the moment their declaration was completed. It came so quickly, her final good-bye was still echoing up high in the chamber by the time she was out of sight.
409
410“Looks like we’re already left behind,” an exasperated Frey observed. “Just as self-centered as always, I see.”
411
412Carillon laughed and shrugged his agreement.
413
414Clayman flashed a wry smile of his own, refraining from any verbal comment at first. Then, a thought occurred to him.
415
416“But if the nonaggression pact is a thing of the past, won’t the Forest of Jura require a new ruler?” he whispered.
417
418“Yeah?” Carillon replied. “You want me to take up the role?”
419
420“I would think that was part of the reason why the treaty was signed in the first place,” Frey countered.
421
422“Gah-ha-ha-ha! Aw, c’mon. Look, if we find out that the survivor’s up to sub–demon lord class, at least, I don’t see why we can’t have him be king. Then we can resurrect our plan to create a puppet demon lord, yeah?”
423
424“True enough,” Clayman said.
425
426“Well, given that we apparently already got someone with eyes on ruling the forest, guess we better get movin’, huh?”
427
428There was not much planning to be made until they explored Jura. The rest of the demons decided to follow Milim’s lead.
429
430With another pleasant laugh, Carillon opened up a Warp Portal, one of the elemental magics, to return home. Frey was soon gone as well.
431
432Clayman, left alone, smiled weakly as he began to formulate a plan for the future.
433
434“Milim, Carillon, and Frey. Let’s see, then…”
435
436The anticipation was clear on his face as he fantasized to himself, alone.
437
438
439All too soon, a new threat would be visiting the town Rimuru and his followers called home.
440
441
442
443
444CHAPTER 1
445
446THE NAME OF A NATION
447
448
449Recalling the report from his covert informant, Gazel Dwargo, king of the dwarves, pondered the information. He had asked this spy to observe a certain slime he was concerned about, but the briefing he received seemed far too preposterous to believe.
450
451
452The monsters are building a full-scale city.
453
454
455The dossier handed to King Gazel began with that sentence. The rest of it only confused him further. He thought it was some kind of joke at first, but his team was not one to play pranks on him. This spy was giving him the clear, unvarnished truth, and so he remained calm and ran his eyes across the rest of the report.
456
457It read as follows:
458
459
460Orc hordes have begun to rampage.
461
462Number: approximately two hundred thousand.
463
464The ogres, a prominent race in the forest, are reportedly eradicated.
465
466The lizardmen are galvanizing their military installations to prepare for war.
467
468Existence of an orc lord confirmed. Danger level: estimated at A.
469
470A major confrontation in the Forest of Jura is unavoidable.
471
472
473—Overall danger level: Special A (estimated).
474
475
476All this was accurate as of their delivery the other day—the results of his covert team’s investigations, relayed to the king by magical means. This team, sent to keep an eye on the mysterious slime, had discovered a gathering of monsters constructing a town. As they kept surveilling them, the team discovered other unusual events around the forest. With Gazel’s permission, more men were added to the covert team to more effectively perform operations across the forest…and this was the result.
477
478The birth of an orc lord couldn’t be ignored. King Gazel immediately declared a state of emergency. Not because of this uber-orc alone—depending on how the battle in the forest worked out, the Dwarven Kingdom could very easily be exposed to hostilities before long. If an army of orcs numbering in the six figures knocked on their door, the very fate of the kingdom would be at risk. The king’s spies reported that the orcs were advancing away from the Dwarven Kingdom, but that was little comfort.
479
480So by royal decree, he summoned the Pegasus Knights—a group of stout fighters, armed with the best weapons their artisans could forge, each mounted upon their own winged steed. Together, each knight worked as one with their ride in the skies, making them easily A-ranked opponents. They numbered five hundred in all, and within the Armed Nation of Dwargon, they were praised as the strongest corps of knights.
481
482If worse came to worst, these Pegasus Knights could buy the kingdom time for the general infantry to prepare for battle. It was a last resort, one that pained King Gazel to opt for, but even an Armed Nation required time to fully mobilize itself.
483
484
485Soon, Dwargon had transitioned into a wartime economy, quietly preparing itself for conflict. The air was tense around the kingdom as King Gazel awaited further reports. When it finally came, it told him this:
486
487
488—The war is over, thanks to the intervention of several high-level magic-born.
489
490Our surveillance efforts were discovered and interfered with, so details remain unknown.
491
492The magic-born are believed to be under the rule of the slime from before—
493
494Addendum: In order to carry out our mission fully prepared, we hereby request that our equipment be replaced with the highest level available.
495
496
497King Gazel used a nearby candle to burn the sheets.
498
499“What do your spies tell us, Your Majesty?” his knight captain asked as he took a moment to ponder this, eyes closed.
500
501“…We seem to be out of danger. The war has ended.”
502
503“It has?!”
504
505The captain couldn’t hide his surprise, and the Pegasus Knights behind him were already murmuring among themselves.
506
507“—Wait. I am not fully ready to believe this yet.”
508
509The knights fell silent, straightening up at the king’s words.
510
511His covert team reported that one of the magic-born had rooted out their surveillance network. The fact that a team so gifted in the art of camouflage would be discovered was hard to swallow, but they had apparently managed to dodge their pursuers.
512
513However, the spy leader, judging any further approach to be too dangerous, had sent a request for access to all levels of equipment, reflecting the added level of danger to their work.
514
515They were right. Gazel needed more details. Another investigation would be in order once the postwar chaos had settled down.
516
517“I will have further orders later. For now, I want the Pegasus Knights to stand by and remain in a battle-ready state. For the rest of the forces, I will lower the alert level to a state of elevated battle preparedness. We must prepare for every contingency.”
518
519“““Yes, my lord!”””
520
521The news that all was calm in the forest was good, but now was no time to breathe a sigh of relief. Thus, King Gazel decided to accept his covert team’s request and enlist them to conduct a more detailed investigation of the area.
522
523*
524
525Three months passed.
526
527The leaders of the kingdom were assembled in the king’s receiving room, waiting for word from him. Whatever he had to say would mark the final conclusion to the past several days’ worth of debates and discussions, conducted with barely even a break for sleep.
528
529
530For the moment, at least, any damage caused by the sudden onrush of monster activity in the forest was surprisingly light. Things were stable around its boundaries, giving no clue that any war had taken place at all. There were a few more monsters around than in the days of Veldora, perhaps, but no more than what would be considered a “busy” year for Jura. Dwargon was expecting at least twice as much damage as this.
531
532The slime, they all believed, was more than tangentially related. As was the massive orc army that dominated, then disappeared. And the presence of high-level magic-born of mysterious origins who were powerful—and observant—enough to realize the kingdom was watching them.
533
534And now, according to reports, this horde of two hundred thousand were dispersing across the forest—peacefully. That, and they had evolved into high orcs—a state of affairs completely beyond King Gazel’s comprehension.
535
536This town the slime was building featured a largely hobgoblin population, all born from regular goblins, and Gazel knew the mysterious ball of jelly had to be involved in this sudden rash of evolution.
537
538I cannot ignore this, he thought as he reread the report. Special A is one thing, but this could easily be classified as an S before long—
539
540In other words, yet another danger that struck at the core of Dwargon. As king, he could not simply sit here and wait for things to happen.
541
542Levels of danger were assigned based on the level of damage that could result from them, as follows:
543
544
545Special S: Also known as catastrophe level. This could be applied to some demon lords, as well as dragons and their kin, and reflected the kind of threat that no single nation could handle. It would require international cooperation to give the human race even a chance at survival.
546
547S: Also known as disaster level. Normally applied to demon lords. Small nations would have no chance against such a threat, and a larger one would need to expend all its resources to handle it.
548
549Special A: Also known as calamity level. A threat that could topple a nation’s government, caused by the maneuvering of high-level magic-born and demons.
550
551A: Also known as hazard level. A threat that could potentially cause widespread damage to a single town or region.
552
553These were simply general guidelines, of course, but they had been widely adopted as a handy way to quickly reference the strength of a given monster. And Gazel’s covert team had already applied a Special A rating to this group.
554
555An orc lord by itself was an easy A—nothing to sniff at, but also nothing a team of Pegasus Knights couldn’t feasibly handle. But if a massive crowd of armored, frenzied orcs stampeded into a city, the casualties would be unimaginable. A smaller kingdom would be swallowed whole.
556
557There was no saying if, or when, the potential threat’s attention might shift focus to Dwargon. It wasn’t a problem that could be solved merely by hoping for good fortune. Along those lines, Special A sounded about right to the king.
558
559But in a way, this wasn’t even the issue. The real concern was this person, or presence, that stopped such an overwhelming threat. One who had several powerful magic-borns at his beck and call—creatures powerful enough to see through the king’s A-level spies and their concealment magic—and enact some mysterious evolution process on all his subjects. The conclusion of the staff assembled in the king’s chamber was that the true nature of this presence needed to be uncovered, and quickly.
560
561If we make an error in handling this, it might spell the end of the kingdom.
562
563Thus, he concluded that he needed to gauge matters with his own eyes.
564
565
566The chamber was shrouded in silence. Everyone inside swallowed nervously, waiting for the king’s speech. Gazel looked down upon their impassioned faces for a moment, then solemnly began.
567
568“I feel that I must meet their leader.”
569
570The declaration visibly shook the others in the room. But no one spoke up. The king’s word was final, and they knew there would be no defying it. Instead, responses sprang up from four people among them.
571
572“Allow me to join you, then, my lord.”
573
574“—And I, as well. I could hardly allow you to shoulder the burden alone.”
575
576“Hee-hee-hee-hee! Perhaps a little outing once in a while would be nice, yes.”
577
578“In that case…allow the Pegasus Knights to personally guarantee your safety.”
579
580They were, in order: Henrietta, fetching knight assassin and leader of Gazel’s covert team; Vaughn, admiral paladin and the nation’s top military officer; Jaine, arch-wizard and a crafty old woman; and Dolph, captain of the Pegasus Knights and an officer who reported directly to the king. Together, they led the strongest of Dwargon’s military forces, and it would be the first time that all four would leave the kingdom together since Gazel’s crowning as Heroic King.
581
582“Very well. Then allow me to see this through…personally.”
583
584Upon their king’s words, everyone in the room sprang into action.
585
586Which way would the pendulum swing on this? Gazel wanted to avoid making needless enemies, but if their intentions were evil in his mind, then this was one noxious weed that needed to be plucked out sooner than later. Such were his thoughts—and either way, this potential root of evil could no longer be left unaddressed.
587
588His decision made, the king began to take action.
589
590*
591
592I have to say, this town was really starting to look nice. A lot nicer than I had thought it’d be.
593
594Thanks to planning the city out from scratch, the buildings had all been arranged in very neat order. Nice to see my efforts didn’t go to waste. Though all I really did was yell at people to do my bidding.
595
596The homes were in such orderly rows, like pieces on a checkerboard, that things could get a bit tricky if you lost your bearings—but that didn’t really matter, I felt.
597
598My main concerns were things like toilets, water supplies, pest prevention, and bath equipment. I know what the standards were like in Japan, and I had no reason to lower my expectations over here. I knew the levels of civilization I was working with, among all the monster races, and I had every right to ignore their standards. So I planned things out the way I wanted, from the start.
599
600This was about where I pictured things would be, once we had water and sewers worked out—but really, it was even more perfect than I was planning for.
601
602Just look at the toilets, for one. At first, I had a toilet stall carved out of wood—which didn’t work at all, so I had it changed out.
603
604A wooden toilet, unlike the squat toilets you see across Asia, made cleaning a nightmare. Splatter them with waste, and you’re never getting that smell off, trust me. Let the cleaning slide a bit, and they’d start to rot. You shouldn’t let the cleaning “slide” in the bathroom, of course, but either way, going with pure wood presented too many longevity issues to be acceptable. Steel or metal were ruled out—we had far too few resources for that, and expending them on such luxuries was bound to be frowned upon.
605
606So I decided to go with a toilet made out of something close to the porcelain I recalled in my memory. Good ol’ Thought Communication helped a lot with this. I was able to use it on anyone I liked, which made getting my point across child’s play. Concepts too difficult to impart with words or pictures could be “imagined” in my mind and transmitted without any discrepancies creeping in.
607
608The rest, I left up to our dwarven artisans. Porcelain did exist in this world, and a number of daily necessities were even made from it, so the seat itself wasn’t hard to make. We just had to select the right kind of soil from the local area, then cook it up to high temperatures with the furnace I prepared. It was a trial-and-error process for them, but once they hit on the right formula, the rest was easy. In a flash, they recreated the exact sort of sit-down toilets I recalled from Earth. Combine that with the wooden seats we had already made, and we were all set.
609
610So with that, every home now had a working toilet and drainage system. It never failed to amaze me how handy these dwarves were. But that was only the first surprise.
611
612For example, running water. I had projected into their minds the image of turning a knob to make water run out of a faucet, but I had all but given up on them managing to implement that. They spoke of devices that used highly refined magical stones to collect water from the atmosphere, but they were both expensive and bulky. Procuring such stones was an avenue that only the filthy rich could afford anyway.
613
614By the way, not even the dwarves had ever seen a flush toilet in action. The idea of using magic stones and other high-end equipment for something like that must’ve seemed silly to them. Outhouse-style numbers were the norm around Dwargon, and even that was considered the peak of bathroom technology by this world’s cultural standards.
615
616Still, the concept of a clean-water transport system was clear enough to them, even when imparted through the eyes of a “foreigner” like me. So they began development on it—without telling me. They never asked for budget approval, so I was caught totally unaware.
617
618Thinking about it, building a new water and sewer system from scratch would’ve required a ton of cash. We couldn’t just snap our fingers and put one in because it seemed useful or whatever. I was expecting a gradual implementation, perhaps over several decades. But my common sense didn’t apply to this town. We started with bare land, after all, and I was the leader. I could develop this city any way I wanted to. We had already laid out the design for the water system; pooling the dwarves’ knowledge together to install pipes and such was a cinch after that.
619
620But it wasn’t flawless. Providing a constant water pressure, like in my world, was a thornier issue. So we took advantage of gravity instead, like the rooftop water towers you see on high-rises. We had no pressurized pumps, so these rooftop tanks would need to be refilled with water manually. This, thankfully, wasn’t much of a problem for a monster. If you had a Stomach like mine, or Spatial Storage like some others, then transport was never going to be a problem.
621
622Still, these newfangled structures were restricted only to the buildings we had in the center of town. Your average homeowning monster family would still need to trek over to the well for water. We did have smaller-size tanks positioned by each home’s toilet and water-driven facilities, though—fill those up and you were all set. A specialist had to stop by once a week or so to purify the tanks in each home, but by and large, things worked as I pictured them.
623
624I had to hand it to Kaijin and Mildo. I thought they were just a bunch of anvil-hammering blockheads at first. Guess you never know until you ask. Our water system was going to be a long-term headache, I once thought, but it wound up being addressed in record time.
625
626After that, we needed to get the monsters in the habits of keeping areas around water clean, as well as handwashing and gargling. I had no idea if germs could survive long on monsters; I might have been wasting our time with that. But it was a just-in-case kind of thing.
627
628Kaijin told me that most adventurers either quickly required someone who knew the Clean Wash skill (allowing them to purify items or people near them) or learned it themselves. Hygiene was a top priority among them, to the point that failing at it made embarking on a quest impossible. Long journeys mean running into some filth now and then, I suppose, and around here they tackled that with magic. I can’t imagine it had more than a placebo effect, though. Even the goblins were aware of Clean Wash, so I figured it was safe to assume monsters could catch illnesses here.
629
630So there you have it. We had realized my dreams of flush toilets, and as long as your home reserve tank was full, you could turn a knob and get water from the faucet. We were truly a city of culture, as much of an ill match it may’ve been with the rest of the world.
631
632
633The next issue to tackle was bugs.
634
635We were in a forest, and there were loads of them. They needed to be addressed, or else all the stinging alone would be incredibly painful. It didn’t bother me, but the hobgoblins seemed pretty distressed.
636
637A bigger concern was insects as potential disease carriers. No matter how hygienic we were, it wouldn’t matter if some mystery virus was literally flitting around in our midst. Keeping things clean naturally kept insects at bay, but there wasn’t much we could do for our winged visitors from the forest.
638
639So we had an issue to address, and my first idea for it was window screens. The homes in this town were Japanese-style wooden affairs made from natural materials, and we needed a way to keep bugs from getting in through the gaps.
640
641We used some processed spider silk to create screens. The result not only kept insects at bay—the silk even provided a bit of an anti-theft system, repelling low-level monsters entirely. An unexpected, but welcome, side effect.
642
643Word was that human-built towns used a magical barrier or the like to keep insects out—one per town. Building one for each home would be financially unfeasible, and homeowners wouldn’t have the funds to keep them in service anyway. Along those lines, having an anti–home invasion system in every single house in town certainly wasn’t the way of doing things on this world. But hey, I didn’t care.
644
645
646Finally, we needed to bathe—an integral part of civilization.
647
648For our own house, in the center of town, we had a bath with water piped in from a faraway volcanic hot spring that I could use at any time. Soei and I used Shadow Motion to install the necessary plumbing—Shadow Motion retained the original temperature of whatever it transported, so I was always guaranteed perfectly heated water, fresh from the spring.
649
650I had left the design of the bath itself to the dwarves, and they had come up with a wonderful marble piece. The entire facility could hold ten or so people, and really, it couldn’t have been more luxuriant and comfortable. More than satisfactory work, I figured, for someone like me, working hard as the big boss around here. The bath was divided into male and female sections, allowing one to use it anytime without worrying about other people—another plus. Some of the monsters were apparently ignorant of that, but that’s what they get for not using their brains a little.
651
652So I had the ideal bath at our own headquarters, but that didn’t solve the bigger problem. It’d be easy to install baths in each of our residential homes, but providing warm water to them via pipes was a bridge too far for us. Even if we wanted to branch out the plumbing from the hot spring, the Shadow Motion trickery involved would be too convoluted to be practical. We’d be building more homes going forward, no doubt, and it just wasn’t realistic for Soei and me to be doing home bath installations for them all. (It also went without saying that, deep down, it sounded like a supreme pain in the ass.)
653
654If the act of bathing grew more popular and people began to demand warm water in their own homes, I suppose they could learn Shadow Motion for themselves. Let it be their problem, not mine.
655
656So I had given up on that idea, but I had to admit, it would make winters pretty tough. I had to think of a way to provide some kind of hot water.
657
658Part of my motivation for this stemmed from the fuel problems we were facing. The goblins hadn’t had much opportunity to harness fire before in their lives. If they used it for anything, it was for roasting meat. Now, with all those high orcs joining our ranks, it was becoming vital.
659
660For now we had an ample enough supply of cast-off wood and such to work with, but it wouldn’t last forever. Chopping down trees in the forest and cutting the trunks into firewood would take a massive amount of labor. We just didn’t have the time to think about securing a more stable fuel source, and applying any kind of practical plan would require more investigation. In the meantime, though, I couldn’t just let people burn whatever they wanted.
661
662Just when I thought it was time to do something, Dold, the middle of the three dwarven brothers, stepped up. He had been devoting himself to crafting dyes and accessories, but once most of the town was equipped well enough, he had some free time on his hands. So I asked him to make some tools using the inscription magic he was adept at.
663
664These were generally known as magitools, and unlike most magic items and their high prices, these were made for general use. These magitools ran on magic stones, which were extracted and processed from the magic crystals taken from the cores of monsters. Magic stones were mostly created by humans, who used spirit engineering to produce them; they also existed in nature—but were quite rare.
665
666A pure enough magic crystal was, according to Dold, much more effective raw material for crafting a magitool than run-of-the-mill magic stones, but any monster who could offer that level of purity would have to be A rank or so.
667
668As he put it, there just weren’t many avenues for obtaining magic stones in the first place. Their production required a large-scale workshop, and only one of those had ever been built, at the central Free Guild headquarters. Guild branches would take the magic crystals harvested on rare occasions from monsters and send them to the home office—which, in turn, provided support payments in exchange. That kind of system. Which meant adventurers fought monsters for commercial reasons, too, not just to prevent harm to others.
669
670This was the way the dwarves put it to me, and it sounded pretty darn efficient, really. I tried cutting to the chase.
671
672“So you don’t think we could build a workshop like that here?”
673
674“Ooh, no, no, boss, that’s just asking too much…”
675
676So much for that. We’d have to purchase magic stones with cold, hard cash, then?
677
678
679Understood. It would not be a problem to directly harness the energy from a monster’s core. Through the use of certain revisions in carving methods—
680
681The Great Sage suggested a pretty startling idea out of the blue.
682
683It wasn’t a problem? Huh. I was pretty dubious, but I told Dold about it anyway. So just as doubtful himself, he began crafting a tool.
684
685“So just change the carving right here?”
686
687“Yeah. Apparently, that’s all.”
688
689“‘Apparently,’ boss…?”
690
691“Ha-ha-ha! Don’t worry. It’ll be fine!”
692
693I tried to laugh off Dold’s concerns as he created a showerhead and applied a carving to its handle. Grasping it triggered a magic response that would warm the water flowing through it. It’d use magic from the user’s body, but no more energy than would be used for other household spells. With just a little magic, anyone could use it, and that went double for monsters.
694
695It was a groundbreaking magitool, and with a little effort, you could also modify it to draw a hot bath whenever you wanted. With the right temperature-adjustment carving on the tub, you’d just fill it with water, apply magic for a bit, and wham, it would be heated to a lovely temperature.
696
697Ironically, it was the creator himself who was the most shocked at this.
698
699“Whoa, is this for real? I know I’m not one to speak, but this little method was all you needed? I mean, equipment like this installed in every home? I don’t think you’ll find another town like that, boss…”
700
701Plainly, though, this invention had stimulated Dold’s creativity. He was curious about what else he could research—and along the way, we could create an environment that used a limitless supply of magicules to ensure we never ran out of fuel. Only a monster town could pull that off, and soon, we’d have a litany of magic stone–free magitools at the ready. I’m sure he’ll develop a ton of other useful things for us soon.
702
703So basically, all of my biggest hang-ups were already taken care of.
704
705*
706
707Our homes for everyone had been completed. And that, of course, meant we now had to focus on the residents’ own issues.
708
709Compared to before their evolutions, the monsters’ reproductive rates had shrunk down to around the same as human families. You could expect five to ten offspring per live birth before, but now it was just one or two. That wasn’t a bad thing at all—they were high-level hobgoblins from birth, which proved that these really were evolved creatures I had “created.” But it meant I had to come up with a formal marriage system before long.
710
711When it came to goblins and orcs, the stronger members of the tribe reportedly had the right to select any partner they wanted. It was a custom meant to ensure their children were as hardy as possible.
712
713The question, though: Should I be allowing polygamy, or what? It seemed practical in the case of (for example) female widowers who lost their husband, but I didn’t want the alpha males hoarding all the ladies exclusively for themselves. That would cause all kinds of discontent. The ogre mages told me they could procreate with one another, although they chose not to. But if, say, Benimaru or Soei decided to start a harem, I wasn’t sure too many of the females would turn them down.
714
715However, as Benimaru put it:
716
717“You know, Sir Rimuru, you’re about the only creature in the world who doesn’t have to worry about exhausting their magicules. A monster’s magicule count is similar to a human’s life force, you could say. Sometimes, giving a name to one of your disciples would sap your magicules to the point that you never recovered. You wouldn’t even see a demon lord–class creature tossing out names to everyone, you see? And if we do something like sire children, my lord, that would affect our strength gravely.”
718
719This shocked me. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! I’ve given out, like, a zillion names, man! Don’t tell me that now!”
720
721“Y-you didn’t know, Sir Rimuru…?!”
722
723I hated it when Benimaru gave me that disgusted look.
724
725Maybe I should thank my lucky stars that my magicules have kept refilling up to now. Going forward, I’ll really have to start thinking about who I name and when. I thought it was a given that you recovered your magic force over time. I was sure it was fine, but… Yeah, let’s be more careful.
726
727Anyway.
728
729Apparently, with monsters, there were two different ways of creating offspring. The normal way, where you simply impregnated the female, and then the “let’s do it for real this time” way. With the former, the child would have some of the parents’ abilities, although it’d start out pretty weak. This method consumed very few magicules, so a male could have at it pretty much all he wanted, although the threat of bottoming out his magicule count still loomed with too much activity.
730
731The latter, meanwhile, made the resulting child quite powerful and a bearer of all the parents’ skills—but doing it “for real” could even affect the father’s life span.
732
733To quote Benimaru: “I’m fine with being single. Evolving added more than a few years to my life. I don’t care about leaving any descendants anyway.”
734
735“More than a few” didn’t begin to describe it. A run-of-the-mill ogre had a life expectancy of around a hundred years; for an ogre mage, it was over a thousand. No kidding, you didn’t need kids. I could see why Benimaru was so disinterested.
736
737
738With ogre mages like Benimaru, at least, I wouldn’t have to worry much about population control. But what about the stronger of the hobgoblins? I decided to ask them, and while they weren’t quite as adamant about it, they largely shared the ogre mages’ views on parenthood. Monsters didn’t work like humans—produce a child, and it’d rob you blind of your magicules. Sometimes, beyond what you could recover.
739
740So basically, nobody was stupid enough to just go mating willy-nilly. Childbirth didn’t affect the regular goblins as much—they had to produce a lot of offspring if they wanted the tribe to survive another generation—but for hobgoblins, it took up a huge amount of magic.
741
742As they rather bluntly put it, the moment you consummated the act, you knew right then and there whether the impregnation “worked” or not. Kind of graphic, but it was the truth. If a healthy pregnancy resulted, it would cost the father around half of their maximum store of magic. This would fill back up over time, but not if you kept at it repeatedly—that might permanently dent your magicule capacity.
743
744Thus, I suppose, even if you had a bevy of girls to choose from, you couldn’t just go and sire a huge herd of children. Realistically, a man would take multiple wives just so he could protect them, not to build a family.
745
746This didn’t apply to the females, by the way. In fact, the way they put it, they were capable of willfully refusing impregnation, unless the sheer strength of the seed overpowered their bodies.
747
748Therefore, if an undesirable partner violated ethical boundaries to commit the act, a child still wouldn’t result. Only those whom the women deemed worthy had the right to become fathers—and this was also true for other high-level monsters and magic-born.
749
750You could say, surprisingly enough, that monsters mated strictly out of love a lot more than you’d think.
751
752Sub-race demi-humans who crossbred with the human race didn’t quite have this level of influence over the outcome; they were hardly different from humans that way. I suppose, if you asked me which way was better, I’d have trouble providing a comment on that.
753
754So I decided to make a rule:
755
756
757“With regards to leaving behind descendants, polygamy is allowed strictly with widowed females seeking children.”
758
759
760Widowers who didn’t want offspring could receive subsidized care from the nation, I figured. If this caused problems, I could always change it later. Like, maybe have a kind of ceremony at the start of each month where residents could confess their love to one another, and then we’d give out homes to the couples it created. That’d be a nice tradition to start. Single men or women could live in the dorms, although those with higher posts could have the right to a freestanding house, too.
761
762These were the kinds of things I thought about as I watched a few intimate monster couples pass me by. I can always fine-tune things later, I thought. Gotta make sure everyone stays happy.
763
764
765With our homes in place, my initial goals were all but complete. We had food, shelter, and clothing.
766
767Shelter, I just got done explaining. For clothing, meanwhile, the goblinas apprenticing under Garm and Shuna were cranking out new clothes like no one’s business. Our recent upswell in population, meanwhile, made food a bit chaotic. All the new high orcs made procuring provisions for everyone rather difficult.
768
769Fortunately, during his outer patrols, Rigur—the captain of our security force—had bagged a fairly massive amount of prey for us. He had beefed up the number of units under his control, and by now, he had roughly a thousand hunters procuring supplies in every direction. Growing vegetables and such, meanwhile, was Lilina’s jurisdiction, and it was going well. Shuna was also evaluating the wild grasses and such that Rigur’s teams brought in and making seedlings from them, producing even more edible goods.
770
771The next job for our construction crews, meanwhile, was developing the area at the outer limits of town. Our fields grew at a dizzying rate, doing wonders to improve our food situation. Barring disaster, we no longer had to worry very much about famine.
772
773We now looked, by and large, like a real town.
774
775*
776
777There’s one other person I ought to mention. Gabil.
778
779About a month ago, that fool traipsed into town like he didn’t have a care in the world, eating our food like it belonged to him.
780
781“Ha-ha-ha! Well, you see, Sir Rimuru, I, Gabil, hurried over at once because I wanted to serve you!”
782
783“What are you doing here?” I implored at his shameless attempt at sycophancy.
784
785“Shall I kill him?” Shion asked, face serious enough to even give me pause. She absolutely, completely meant it. You joked around with her at your own peril. Even a slight nod from me right now, and she might really slice up that dude.
786
787Gabil, perhaps sensing this, turned pale and promptly prostrated himself before me. “I’ve had hardly a decent meal for weeks, and I let my arrogance corrupt my head. Please, have pity upon me! We would do anything to become your loyal servants, Sir Rimuru. I promise we will be of great assistance to you, so please!!”
788
789On cue, the hundred-odd fighters he had with him kneeled before me. That was enough to make Shion resheathe her longsword, a satisfied look on her face. Now, at least, we could get to talking.
790
791
792It would seem that Gabil’s father disinherited him, leaving him with nowhere to go. It was such a pathetic tale that I agreed to his request. Besides, given the way he freely ate our food, without looking out of place at all among the hobgoblins, I figured he had a talent that I shouldn’t make light of.
793
794We currently had no defensive wall in place, since it’d only hinder our construction efforts. It must’ve been easy for them to breach our boundaries, but I could only guess that he convinced our patrols that he was one of my men.
795
796“This was your plan from the start, wasn’t it?!”
797
798“Well, I hardly had anyone else I could call upon…and besides, I had not the least intention of serving any master besides you, Sir Rimuru…,” Gabil breezily replied.
799
800“It may not seem so, but he does regret his actions. Please, if you could grant him the chance to atone for himself…,” added another member of Gabil’s entourage.
801
802Looking more closely, I realized that it was the captain of the lizardmen’s royal guard—the team that guarded Abil, their chief. Abil’s daughter and Gabil’s younger sister, if I recalled correctly. I was pretty sure she was acting as an adviser to Abil when I christened him.
803
804“Oh? Why are you here, too, Captain? I thought you’d be involved with building whatever new system of government Abil was working on.”
805
806“Indeed. Unlike my brother, I have not been banished from our people. I come here by my own free will.”
807
808The name I had given Abil, she explained, had the effect of extending his life quite a bit. For lizardmen, the average was fifty to seventy years—for dragonewts, two hundred or so. And even that figure was just from the reference books; nobody was sure exactly how long he may live.
809
810Just like with Rigurd and the rest, I had basically turned back the clock for him. Any squabbling over his successor would thus have to wait at least a few decades. So he agreed to have his daughter travel the land, perhaps to teach her more about the world she lived in.
811
812“My father wishes you well,” the captain closed by saying.
813
814“What?” Gabil shouted. “I thought you had joined me out of care for my well-being!”
815
816“I do respect you, my brother,” she countered, “more or less. But if anything, I am more enthralled by Sir Soei. If possible, I would love the chance to serve him directly.”
817
818“Whaaa?!”
819
820“Is this a problem?”
821
822They really must have been related. The guard captain was just as odd as Gabil was.
823
824Most of Gabil’s own retainer was more obviously loyal to their lord. But some of the royal guard were among them—no doubt at their captain’s request. Huh. Well, if they wanna help out Soei, let ’em, I suppose.
825
826“If that’s what you want, I could talk things over with him. But he’s more of a covert agent, you know. Do you think you’d be of help?”
827
828“Oh, certainly! Unlike this spoiled brat, I’ve got spirit for miles!”
829
830“Wha?! I have sat here and put up with your carrying-on for too long! You will not berate me, you little girl!”
831
832Not the best relationship, then. Or is it one of those deals where they fight because they love? The guard captain must’ve resented how she was also captured when Gabil hatched his coup.
833
834She should’ve just left him alone. It was no story I wanted to get involved with, so I didn’t.
835
836According to the story I heard later, though, there was another reason for this. It seems Abil, out of concern for Gabil, asked her to monitor the guy for him—hence why it was better for their group to travel undercover. Depending on his actions, the lizardman chief was apparently ready to welcome him back in.
837
838That was all kept secret from Gabil, though. He’d let it go to his head the moment someone told him. Best to let him feel sorry for a while longer.
839
840*
841
842So we now had a small lizardman team on our side.
843
844And hey, if they’re going to be working with me, they’ll probably need some names. (Benimaru hadn’t warned me off reckless naming at this time, so I was still pretty unrestrained about it. A little knowledge—or lack thereof—can be a dangerous thing.)
845
846I started with the guard captain. “Well,” I said, “if you’re gonna be serving Soei, maybe Soka would work?”
847
848She had four guards with her, two female and two male. For them, I went with Toka, Saika, Nanso, and Hokuso. Each received one cardinal direction in their names—east, west, south, north, in that order. To this I added “ka,” or flower, to the female names and “so,” or spear, to the males.
849
850No particular meaning to it. Just seemed nice.
851
852The moment I was done, the evolution began. Gabil looked on, clearly jealous, but he had a name and I saw no reason to add another.
853
854“Quit acting so envious,” I said as I rolled by him. “‘Gabil’ is a fine enough name, wouldn’t you agree?”
855
856But before I was wholly past him, I could suddenly feel my energy draining. Oh, crap, did I just do what I think I did? I turned around. Now Gabil was looking right at me, eyes sparkling. His body was already starting to glow—wait. Is this…evolution?
857
858Thus I managed to inadvertently name Gabil…Gabil.
859
860I had no idea that you could, um, overwrite them like that. Maybe the fact his original christener was dead meant the wavelengths were aligned with me instead, or something. I couldn’t know why, but either way, I named him. I was hoping to make him dwell on his crimes a bit longer, but what’s done is done.
861
862Maybe I could have him follow in Gobta’s footsteps and show him hell at the hands of Hakuro. Otherwise, this new evolution would just make him more self-absorbed and prickish than before.
863
864He’ll definitely need to be assigned a job later, I thought as I drifted away into my now-familiar sleep mode.
865
866The next day, I set out to naming the other hundred lizardmen. I had spent my immobilized time thinking up names, mostly random bits of alphabet strung together. As high-level a monster as the lizardmen were, I had to take a break after around twenty of them. The while process thus took five days.
867
868Now they were all dragonewts.
869
870
871A dragonewt was classified as a sort of demi-human with dragon’s blood. Surprisingly, you could far more easily tell the males and females apart. The males didn’t look much different from lizardmen, save for the dragon-like wings, the horns, and the firmer scales. The biggest difference was the color of those scales—changing from a greenish-black to a purplish one.
872
873The females, meanwhile, looked practically human. Rather pretty, even. They did have those dragon horns and wings, though, and with the dragonewts’ Scalify skill, they could transform their skin into leathery scales at any time—or for that matter, look even closer to a full-blooded human.
874
875It was a bit like my Universal Shapeshift in practice, but it’s too bad they couldn’t look 100 percent like human beings. Maybe with practice, though? I suppose the males had less interest in looking human than the females, but that skill must be invaluable when conducting undercover operations in human kingdoms.
876
877The transformation also affected their strength, not just their appearance. Their already-honed bodies would be covered in solid, protective dragon scale, which automatically projected a Multilayer Barrier that protected them from melee and magical attack.
878
879Dragonewts also had Resist Magic, something I discovered when the Receive part of my Glutton skill granted it to me. It made me regret expending all that effort to “Provide” them with Multilayer Barrier, but all the same, I felt like I got something out of the deal.
880
881I probably gave them a few more skills as well, but we’ll find out what they were later. It kind of annoyed me that I couldn’t control that unless I deliberately restricted a skill from Glutton access.
882
883Which was fine and all, but I was starting to wonder what kind of defensive skills Gabil enjoyed. Time for an experiment. Transforming into human form, I mercilessly fired off a ball of magic at him—a skill I had just learned.
884
885“Wh-what are you doing?!” he asked, a bit shocked as he was blown several yards away.
886
887“You dumbass!” I spat at him, making him stare blankly at me. “I’m making you pay for stabbing your dad in the back. And remember, I’m not giving you a second chance!”
888
889It was my warning for him not to screw around with me, but it was needed, I thought, to make it clear that I would not tolerate any further betrayal. Just a little add-on to the experiment, but I didn’t tell him about that. Gabil seemed to accept it well enough. He was a dumbass, definitely, but I couldn’t hate him for it. He’d give Gobta a run for his money.
890
891The ball of magic, by the way, didn’t seem to affect him at all. I just fired it all casual-like, so I figured it was about five times the force of me punching him with all my might, but… Well, maybe he’s too stupid to feel pain, or he’s managed to inherit my Cancel Pain skill. Dinosaurs were pretty dull to pain, too, I read somewhere, and maybe that applied to this species, as well.
892
893Either way, I had made myself clear with him, and I think Gabil was okay with it.
894
895
896So really, Gabil had gotten a fair bit stronger—from a C-plus lizardman to a straight-on B-ranked dragonewt. He still retained his previous skills as a warrior, but they were all much more powerful now, without a doubt.
897
898But these were no ordinary lizardmen, it turned out. Soka was now an A-minus, the rest of her team B-plus rank. And Gabil had broken through the wall and reached A level. Now he would’ve been able to take on Gelmud and had a shot at whipping him.
899
900With the right training, they might grow even stronger, albeit not up to the ogre mages’ level. I figured I’d ask Hakuro to devote particular attention to Gabil’s practice sessions.
901
902I introduced the royal guard to Soei and left them in his hands. Under his tutelage, they could all be talented ninjas before long. He was never one to show mercy, after all.
903
904*
905
906As I expected, Soka and her team immediately pushed themselves toward Soei.
907
908“I can use them as I like?” Soei confirmed with me as he watched them like a deer caught in the headlights. His voice was cold, enough to make me even more scared. But the royal guards didn’t mind one bit, smitten with Soei as they were, waiting expectantly for me to give the word.
909
910“Sure,” I answered, “go ahead. Train ’em however you want, Soei.”
911
912“As you wish, Sir Rimuru,” he replied, formally agreeing to the request.
913
914A smile instantly erupted on Soka’s face. I couldn’t really understand why, but if they were all happy about it, I didn’t mind.
915
916
917Now I had to deal with Gabil and his army.
918
919Soei seemed to have ample control over Soka and the royal guard, but Gabil’s crew was entirely my problem. They were my forces now, so I had to give them something to do—but before that, getting them situated was the first thing.
920
921Food wasn’t the problem, but clothing and shelter were.
922
923The only armor they had was half-broken scale mail. They were equipped with spears, but the tips were nicked and scratched, making them almost useless. I asked Kaijin, our de facto minister of production, to prepare some new gear for them as soon as possible.
924
925Considering their natural habitat, someplace near water would be nice for them to live in…but all we had was the river that flowed nearby, and I didn’t feel like banging together a new riverside hamlet just for the sake of a hundred people. Then, as if a light bulb went off in my head, I recalled the underground lake. The place where Veldora was ensconced, which I had used as an experimental proving ground for my skills. That would be big enough, I thought. Not too many people could make it past the sealed door at the entrance, and as a place to sleep, it would be perfect for Gabil and crew. The lack of light could be an issue, but I could teach them Magic Sense and they could work out the rest.
926
927*
928
929When I first encountered the lake, it was so densely packed with magicules that fish couldn’t even survive in it. That had thinned out quite a bit since. Maybe enough that a B-ranked monster could just barely withstand it? I was hoping we could use that magic to cultivate some more hipokute herbs, which would be the perfect job for the dragonewts. Shelter and a work assignment, just like that—two birds with one stone.
930
931My final worry was whether they’d be strong enough to venture in and out of the cave. Gabil was in A-ranked territory—nothing could stop him in there—but the B-grade dragonewt warriors would still run into several monsters they’d have trouble with. The evil centipedes, at B-plus rank, were a powerhouse.
932
933If I tossed them in there and they wound up being prey for the monsters, I’d sure have a guilty conscience about that.
934
935
936Understood. In terms of simple rankings, the evil centipede would outclass them, but if five or more dragonewt fighters worked together, victory would be easily attainable. That was calculated using their current weapon set, so once they have more decent gear on hand, that will boost their chances at victory. With healing potion on hand, the odds of anyone dying would be extremely low.
937
938The Sage chimed in with the perfect advice. Dragonewts had wings and flight-based abilities. Evil centipedes were strong, yes, but apparently weak against aerial attack. The centipede’s breath would need to be watched out for, but with Multilayer Barrier, no one would be critically hurt.
939
940So trusting in their skills, I formally gave the contract to Gabil’s force.
941
942“Gabil, I want your people to cultivate hipokute herbs in the cave for me.”
943
944“Leave it to us, sir!” His eyes clouded up as his heart soared with emotion. “I, Gabil, will work my fingers to the bone for you!”
945
946Perfect. I’ll do that. He sounds motivated enough.
947
948With them living in the cave, they could serve as guards, too. I wouldn’t have to be so wary of the cave all the time, like I did now. I also made sure to forbid them from working in the cave unless they were in groups of five or more. It’d be a boon for their training, too.
949
950Finally, I gave each one a generous supply of healing potion, in part to provide motivation for their task. They all had permission to use it whenever the need arose. Even if they were caught unawares and faced critical injury, this should save them from danger.
951
952*
953
954Gabil and his crew seemed to get the hang of things after a month or so, able to freely navigate the cave without any personal danger. With Garm’s and Kurobe’s new weapons and armor, their strength was more polished than ever.
955
956I went down there just to check on them, but things seemed to be going great. Their eyes did nothing for them in the dark, but with Magic Sense and Sense Heat Source safely taught to them all, there were no issues. They had formed teams of five, with three teams working in tandem at all times and staying in touch with Thought Communication. Whenever trouble came along, they could respond quickly.
957
958When it came to leadership skill, at least, Gabil was a born genius. They grew used to life in the caves far more quickly than I had thought—and living in an environment where battle was a near constant seemed to be growing their experience and strength. It sounded like with five of them at once, they could stop an evil centipede without having to rely on potions at all.
959
960They couldn’t be more reliable.
961
962It might be fun to have them engage in a mock battle with the goblin riders. A starwolf was ranked B alone, but with a seasoned hobgoblin on its back, you could add a plus sign to that. They were a seasoned unit at this point, so the goblin riders might even be above them…but with the advantage of flight, I thought the dragonewts could put up a surprisingly tense fight.
963
964That was the sort of thing that occurred to me as I observed the dragonewts’ growth.
965
966
967Now Gabil’s team was devoting itself to cultivating hipokute. About ten, relieved from cave-patrol duty, were observing the herbs’ development and changing their horticultural approach in different regions to see which one produced the highest quality.
968
969The plan was to go with whatever proved to work best; then I could make recovery potion with it, sell it off, and earn some much-needed foreign currency. It was one way I figured I could earn some coin before I set off to observe human society.
970
971I called for Gabil.
972
973“Right, how’s it going?”
974
975“Heh-heh-heh… I am so glad you asked! It couldn’t be better! Behold, the fruits of our labor!”
976
977He handed me a few weeds. Yes, weeds. I gave him a look, then a taste of Dark Thunder. Oh, don’t worry, he wouldn’t die. I can adjust its intensity perfectly fine now.
978
979“Gahh! What was that for, sir? What did I do?!”
980
981“You dumbass! These are just weeds! What are you growing down there anyway?!”
982
983“Wh-whaa—?! A thousand pardons! I, Gabil, have perhaps been hurrying ourselves along too much.”
984
985“You don’t get this just by ‘hurrying’ a little… Ugh. Could you be more careful? With that dense lake of magicules, managing to grow weeds around it is a feat in and of itself.”
986
987Our exchanges grew tense at times, but really, it was largely going as planned. Hipokute was a rare plant, and the dragonewts were, indeed, making steady progress. The hardest part, in a way, was teaching Gabil the difference between the herbs and plain old weeds—but it couldn’t have been easy, relying entirely on touch instead of sight for the job. I had my analysis skills to work with, but Gabil and his team had nothing as convenient as that.
988
989Only experience would make up the difference, and trying to hurry that along was pointless. It’d be nice if there was some light down there…but we can tackle that issue later.
990
991Gabil, for his part, acted like the de facto master of the caves these days, walking around like he owned the place. The mere sight of him made the monsters flee, and some of Gabil’s personal entourage could even whip an evil centipede singlehandedly. Part of the cave was their territory now.
992
993I was impressed, but I definitely didn’t offer him any praise. It’d go right to his head, and then he’d screw something up. Kind of like me, in a way. Takes one to know one. That’s why I trusted him to step up and perform the work I assigned him.
994
995We were still busy with cultivation for the moment, but once that got on track, we’d have to think about mixing next. I could produce oceans of potion with my skills, but I didn’t want to. I wanted a system that could manufacture this stuff without me.
996
997I wanted to avoid creating a town that was incapable of anything if I wasn’t around.
998
999You can make all the mistakes you want, so give me at least one solid success…
1000
1001Thinking to myself, I left the cave.
1002
1003*
1004
1005The dragonewts were well situated now, and Gabil and the rest were fully used to life with their fellow townspeople.
1006
1007A long series of peaceful days followed. Ah, nothing like peace, I blithely thought as Shion carried me around, her breasts bouncing against me in a steady rhythm as she walked.
1008
1009Boing, boing, boing, boing. Ooh, this feels great…
1010
1011I was just letting myself descend to ever-lazier thoughts when—
1012
1013Sir Rimuru, we have an emergency. Several hundred winged horses are headed for the direction of town.
1014
1015Soei sent me a cold, to-the-point message via Thought Communication.
1016
1017“Shion, it’s an emergency. I’ll call for Benimaru and Hakuro, so get Rigurd to alert the townspeople for me!”
1018
1019“Right.”
1020
1021She lowered me down, then briskly ran off.
1022
1023Thought Communication wasn’t enough to broadcast a message to an entire city. We needed to ring a special alarm bell to make everyone gather at the public square. I ran down the situation with the ogre mages, then turned my attention to the sky, turning my Magic Sense all the way up.
1024
1025It let me detect something coming from the Dwarven Kingdom. A force of around a thousand. None ranked an A alone—or I should say, an A as a rider and mount alone— Wait, they had knights on flying horses?! It had to be a well-trained force, whoever they are.
1026
1027
1028Understood. Using Analyze and Assess, I have determined the knights’ rank to be A-minus. Their flying mounts are also appraised at A-minus. However, their minds are synchronized to the point where one could treat each one as a single creature, ranked perhaps slightly higher than A.
1029
1030Right. So we’re talking five hundred mounted, flying knights—A-ranked cavalry, as the Great Sage put it. Even with all our forces pooled together, we couldn’t hack this one.
1031
1032Gauging each mounted knight by itself, they seemed weaker than Gabil when he had just attained A rank. Let three of them surround that dragonewt, though, and I doubted he stood a chance. In a way, this was an even greater threat than two hundred thousand orcs at our doorstep.
1033
1034
1035Shion came back with Shuna, with Benimaru and Hakuro arriving simultaneously. Soei had somehow appeared behind me, too.
1036
1037Geld was busy calling for the high orcs, currently handling construction and resource-gathering work in the forest. He was running all over, trying to get his battle equipment organized, but I doubted any of it would be in time. A force of C-plus high orcs would just get razed to the ground.
1038
1039“Your orders, Sir Rimuru?” Benimaru asked. I couldn’t give him a clear answer.
1040
1041“My orders? Well… We don’t know who they are or what they want. It’d be a losing battle if we fought them, and I’d like to avoid that, but…”
1042
1043
1044Understood. The advancing force’s destination is this area, beyond a doubt. They are traveling in a straight line toward here.
1045
1046I didn’t need the Sage’s commentary to know that lying low and hoping it’d all blow over wouldn’t work too well.
1047
1048“This is no problem! All we have to do is rout them all!” Shion optimistically shouted, blowing my pessimistic thoughts away.
1049
1050I wanted to call her stupid, but I doubt she’d understand why. She and I had two different definitions of victory. If we could expend all the sacrifices we wanted to smash this team of five hundred, that would make things simple. If you asked me whether that was possible or not, then, sure it was. But if you want to avoid civilian casualties, I had to conclude that was impossible.
1051
1052Based on the Sage’s calculations, the greatest chance of survival came if all of us immediately fled in another direction. That provided a survival rate, apparently, of around 90 percent. Staging a frontal counterattack would kill off half of us, and as the Sage put it, only luck would decide whether even I or the magic-born would make it through. And that assumed we fought with everything we had. Routing them, the way Shion wanted us to do, was not a word I wanted to bandy around.
1053
1054Either way, we’d lose people. To me, the moment hostilities began, we would’ve already lost. Damage to the town, I didn’t mind, but I couldn’t abide the thought of personal injuries. That’s why I wanted to avoid battle, if nothing else.
1055
1056“Well, what happens, happens. If this turns into a fight, our first priority is evacuating our residents. We’ll buy the time to make that happen.”
1057
1058“You got it. And indeed, this could be an easy win once we’re in the thick of it!”
1059
1060“I’ll handle the magical support!”
1061
1062“Heh-heh-heh… My longsword is seeking blood.”
1063
1064“—I am only here to serve you, Rimuru.”
1065
1066Good to see the usual gang was in on it, then. I assigned Hakuro and Kurobe to stay on point if we had to evacuate. Now that Rigurd was here, I also explained matters to him, ordering him to regroup with Geld’s team outside of town if we failed to talk things out with our foes.
1067
1068“Wait a second,” I heard someone mutter in the group. Turning toward the voice, I saw Kaijin lost in thought.
1069
1070“What is it, Kaijin?”
1071
1072“Well, if these are flying knights, I’ve heard rumors about a top-secret force under the direct control of the dwarven king. Just rumors, but…”
1073
1074“Huh? I thought the Dwarven Kingdom’s military was all about heavy infantry and high-powered magic corps. And you’re an ex-military officer—what kind of top-secret force wouldn’t you know about?”
1075
1076“Yeah, well… The rumors came from a bunch of retired old generals. I mean, yeah, we were officers, but we were still young. I couldn’t really boss around people who had several centuries’ more experience than I did…,” Kaijin explained, grimacing.
1077
1078So just like I expected, the long-lived, hard-drinking dwarves at the top of the military ladder still had a pretty heavy impact on the force. The rumors no doubt began their spread from them, at any number of taverns. A good wine can loosen anyone’s lips.
1079
1080According to Kaijin, this top-secret personal army of the king’s, independent of the seven official armies, was known as the Pegasus Knights.
1081
1082“The winged horses they fly are normally C-ranked magical beasts. Dwargon’s been breeding them for their flight skills. You won’t find too many A-minus ones in nature. I guess the rumors were true, huh…?”
1083
1084What Kaijin said seemed to make sense. Whatever could upgrade those creatures so dramatically must have been kept under tight secrecy. Even an ex-officer would’ve only heard half-told rumors.
1085
1086So was this was what we had to deal with…?
1087
1088“Kaijin, if what you say is true, do you think there’s a chance the dwarf king himself is among them?”
1089
1090“Per…haps? King Gazel almost never leaves the royal palace these days, but he was lauded as a hero in his glory years. If he thought it necessary, it wouldn’t be outside the realm of possibility for him to personally lead a force like this.”
1091
1092“Can you think of any reason why he would?”
1093
1094“Well… Maybe because of the orc lord? But that’s all settled now.”
1095
1096Hmm? The orc lord…?
1097
1098“Hey, Rigurd, can I ask you a question?”
1099
1100“Yes, my lord?”
1101
1102“I told Kabal and his party to spread some rumors around their fellow adventurers, but did we ever tell them that it’s over?”
1103
1104“Ah…?”
1105
1106“Oh, man, I forgot… Better send a message to ’em.”
1107
1108“I apologize for this oversight, Sir Rimuru…”
1109
1110It wasn’t just Rigurd’s fault. I forgot, too, so we were even, pretty much. I could get the message across through Soei in a flash, so I didn’t see it as a fatal mistake. And while I wanted Soei to take care of that ASAP, I had to deal with our new visitors first.
1111
1112“Do you think the dwarven king heard about this and came to help?”
1113
1114Kaijin was awfully optimistic, but it didn’t seem that way to me. But there was no point speculating on what we didn’t know anyway, so I closed the subject. All we could do was wait for these uninvited guests, debating with one another about what to do should the worst happen.
1115
1116*
1117
1118A herd of winged horses was flying above town. They took sidelong glances at us as we watched them, looping around the city airspace a few times before landing in an open field just beyond its borders. We had some open space in town, too—the areas where we planned to build most of our central facilities, for one—but I suppose they didn’t immediately touch down in the city out of politeness. That’d be pretty much a declaration of war, wouldn’t it, if a nation did that to another? International law probably didn’t apply to monsters, though, and I wasn’t even sure such a thing existed in this world in the first place…
1119
1120No point thinking about it.
1121
1122More pertinently, we now had confirmation that the dwarven king was leading the pack. That was a tad more important, as was the reassurance that he didn’t want to attack us on first sight. He would have without hesitation if he saw us as foes.
1123
1124Maybe Kaijin was right? Are these just reinforcements or something? Not if this is supposed to be an undercover force, though—and not if the king himself is on the field.
1125
1126Leaving the evacuation efforts to Hakuro, Kurobe, and Gobta, I headed out of town to greet them. Accompanying me was Rigurd, who insisted that negotiations with the outside world were in his jurisdiction. Assuming we had any room to negotiate…
1127
1128Obviously, Kaijin and the three dwarves were with me, too.
1129
1130
1131The knights were lined up in neat rows in the field beyond the city. In front was one whose force of presence dominated over all of them. He was flanked by four bodyguards, each obviously several times stronger than the rest of the force.
1132
1133Counting King Gazel himself, that meant five incredibly powerful dwarves were before us. I couldn’t know exactly what kind of threat they were, but well into A territory, at least. Considering the aura of danger I felt when I was last placed in front of him—and considering that aura was still there now—his powers had to be on another dimension. If I had to guess, his four compatriots dated from his days on the road as Heroic King. No wonder their kingdom was so strong. If you ever bumped into these guys on the road, running was your best bet at survival, for sure.
1134
1135We really have to avoid combat now. Otherwise, it’ll get ugly.
1136
1137“Well, well, Your Majesty. It has been a long time—and quite an impressive showing, as well! May I ask what brings you here today?” Kaijin stepped forward and took a knee before Gazel.
1138
1139Come to think of it, I’ve never directly conversed with Gazel before. I wasn’t allowed to back in his kingdom, in keeping with dwarf tradition. Instead, unable to defend myself, we were made into criminals (Kaijin did punch out the nobleman Vester, but still) and almost made into forced laborers. Their king was a fair and upright enough ruler that we managed to avoid that, so I imagined he wouldn’t spring war upon us without a fair explanation—but if he did, I was prepared to give him a piece of my mind.
1140
1141“A pleasure to see you again, Kaijin…and you as well, slime. Do you remember me?”
1142
1143The king was surprisingly casual with us as I sized up his approach.
1144
1145Are we doing away with the obnoxious formalities? I blithely wondered as I felt something dark and ominous from behind.
1146
1147In a flash, Benimaru’s smile vanished and he had a steady hand on his sword, apparently not a fan of the king calling me just “slime.”
1148
1149Soei, on the other hand, kept it supremely cool—the faint smile on his face told us all how he felt. He was pissed. He normally had no expression at all, but get him mad, and he’d smile back at you. A dangerous man to trifle with, and it was pretty funny how the only way to make Soei smile was to basically bait him into killing you.
1150
1151Benimaru might’ve had a short temper, but by ogre mage standards, he was showing remarkable restraint.
1152
1153Meanwhile, the aura I felt from Shuna and Shion was nothing to sniff at, either. They were showing the opposite of restraint, actively exuding danger with every fiber of their being.
1154
1155This was ugly. They still respected my orders enough to stick to them, I supposed, but if anything else happened, they’d be liable to blow their top at any moment. I needed to get this squared away before they went beyond my control.
1156
1157As I fretted over this, I realized that Kaijin, himself, was deeply disturbed by the king’s greeting. “M-my liege?!” he stammered, eyes ready to pop out of their sockets.
1158
1159Apparently this wasn’t the Gazel that Kaijin knew—but to me, this was a good sign. It meant the lord of a kingdom had taken the time to come here himself, do away with all the procedural BS, and get down to brass tacks with me. The fact he didn’t immediately sic his knights on us was, in itself, a victory. Regardless of how much it rankled the ogres, I had to take advantage of this chance.
1160
1161“Ha-ha-ha-ha!” the king boomed. “I see your head is unbending as always, Kaijin. Can you not see? I have come here strictly as a private citizen. At least, on paper. Otherwise, I hardly would be allowed out of my own bedchamber.”
1162
1163Kaijin, still flustered, exchanged looks with his king and me. Realizing that nobody on the scene had any further comment, he took that to mean Gazel was telling the truth. It was hard for him to swallow. He froze.
1164
1165So. The dwarven king wasn’t paying us a state visit but just doing a little private tourism? So what were all those ominous-looking knights behind him for? Hmm. Thinking about it, they’d never allow a king to just walk around in the forest alone. They had to be guards sent with him to appease the elders and bureaucrats who formed the core of dwarven government.
1166
1167Well, if we’re doing away with procedure, I don’t see any reason not to address him directly. Trusting in my hunch that Gazel meant no conflict, I decided to take a bullish approach.
1168
1169“Which means, sir, that I’m free to speak as I wish?”
1170
1171“By all means. This is no place to allow ourselves to be bound by formal ceremony.”
1172
1173“Right. Well, lemme introduce myself first. My name is Rimuru. You’re right that I’m a slime, but I’d prefer if you didn’t call me that. I mean, I’m kind of the leader of the Great Forest of Jura Alliance, so you could say things have changed a bit since last time.” I took this moment to turn into my human shape. “This isn’t exactly who I really am, but it’s probably easier for you to talk to.”
1174
1175I grinned, waiting for his reaction.
1176
1177“It… It transformed?!”
1178
1179“A magic-born…and such a high-level one.”
1180
1181“Hmm. I sense magical force but no casting of magic itself. A skill-based status transformation, I would say. I sense no sudden burst of magicules, so it is likely as it said—simply a change of appearance, not of nature. But this could change its method of battle. At the least, being able to wield equipment like our own could boost its own offensive and defensive powers.”
1182
1183“Sounds like trouble… I haven’t seen a rare variant like this in quite a while. And the monsters behind it are rather strange in themselves!”
1184
1185“Hmm,” said an old woman among them. “Those, I can identify. They are ogre mages—a race just as rare as orc lords.”
1186
1187“They are? That’s the evolved form of an ogre, is it not? Should we not dispatch them before they grow too strong to handle?”
1188
1189“—You think it’d go that smoothly? Four of them bear horns. We would have to prepare for a bitter fight.”
1190
1191“I hate to sound timid, but yes… Best not underestimate them.”
1192
1193The king looked on silently, but his personal companions seemed fairly unnerved. They even guessed what Benimaru and his kin were. That old crone must’ve used some kind of magic to prod us for data. I didn’t like being evaluated like that, but it was largely out of my hands. I needed to show off a little strength, or else they’d stomp all over me. Even if we survived, I sure as hell didn’t want to be subservient to these guys.
1194
1195“Silence!” the king suddenly bellowed, never taking his eyes off me. “Enough of this racket. This slime and I are speaking right now. Excuse me—Rimuru, I mean. I will evaluate him for myself, and I would appreciate it if all of you held your tongues in the meantime.”
1196
1197It was a pure show of force, and it stunned them all into silence.
1198
1199“Yeah, uh, sorry if I scared you all. I just transformed because I thought this’d be more natural for you. Just like that lady said, this is the work of my skill, Universal Shapeshift. A form of mimicry, is all. So you don’t have to freak out about it.”
1200
1201“I will be the judge of that. I would hardly believe the words of someone unless I was reasonably sure they were a friend…or foe.”
1202
1203True enough. Friend or foe, though, huh? That might be why King Gazel’s here, then—to figure out exactly who the heck we are. If I had to guess, he knew about the orc lord’s defeat, and that compelled him to move. As long as I could gain his trust, there was no need to be hostile.
1204
1205“Well,” I ventured, “you can doubt me all you want, but we can’t really sustain a conversation that way, can we?”
1206
1207“No need to worry. Words are not what I need to judge your character. Instead, I will use my sword to divine your true nature. If you insist on such ribald boasting, calling yourself the ‘leader’ of this forest, it may be about time to show you your place. If that sword of yours isn’t mere decoration, I ask you to accept my request.”
1208
1209With that, he handed the halberd he carried in his hands to an attending knight on his side. My katana-style sword must have set off his battle lust or something.
1210
1211“Y-Your Majesty, surely…”
1212
1213“Ha! What faster way to settle this than with a man-to-man duel?” The king laughed, ferocious.
1214
1215Judging by the shocked looks on the knights and Gazel’s companions, their monarch was seriously looking for a fight. I had no reason to turn him down. We were still evacuating the town, so it’d be a helpful way to buy some time.
1216
1217“I accept the request. And I’ll make you regret calling me a boaster,” I said, looking King Gazel in the eye.
1218
1219We both took a step forward, the ogre mages keenly looking on. I’m sure they didn’t think I could lose. The king’s side seemed intent on letting him fight as well; nobody dared to dissuade him from the idea. The crowd had already formed a ring, with us facing each other down in the middle.
1220
1221“Regarding the rules,” Gazel said, “if you can block a single string of my attacks, you may call yourself the victor. Not that it has to be said, but you are free to attack me at any time, too. But remember: I am Gazel Dwargo, Master of the Sword, and my blade shall not be taken lightly.”
1222
1223He took his weapon in hand and aimed it in front of his eyes. It held a single edge, with a bit of a curve to it, and pretty patterns were etched up and down its length. It resembled a samurai sword but had its own unique design—certainly, a very well-made weapon for the Master of the Sword to carry.
1224
1225Just when I was preparing to draw my own blade, a clear voice penetrated the ring.
1226
1227“Allow me to watch over the match!”
1228
1229As it did, I felt the presence of three more among us, hearts pure and bereft of evil. One had spoken—Treyni, a dryad I was familiar with. As always, she had a knack for appearing and disappearing whenever it suited her. The other two resembled Treyni, so I assumed they were among the “sisters” she spoke of.
1230
1231“Dryads?!” exclaimed the elderly woman who scanned us earlier. I couldn’t blame her surprise. Anyone would be alarmed at a monster teleporting in from out of nowhere.
1232
1233Treyni smiled as she gave both of us a quick glance. “Dwarven King, you are being terribly arrogant to our forest leader. Calling Sir Rimuru a boaster tells me you are willing to make every denizen of this wood your enemy. Is this right? However, if Sir Rimuru has accepted this challenge, it is my role as his subject to allow it. I will close my eyes to it this time. But relent on your promise, and do not expect mercy from us.”
1234
1235She was willing to accept no back talk against this. My companions nodded at one another—it was like Treyni said what they all were thinking.
1236
1237The dwarves, on the other hand, didn’t look well at all.
1238
1239“The loftiest presence in the forest,” one whispered, “siding with a single force?”
1240
1241“They are as powerful as high-level elementals. And three of them! I hope you are all ready for this, my friends…”
1242
1243The mood was grim among them.
1244
1245This was exactly why I wanted to avoid combat…
1246
1247“Ha! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! So ‘leader of the forest’ was no boast, after all. I apologize for branding you a liar, Rimuru. And I think I have a vague understanding of the situation here. But I still seek to gauge your true nature. And if we have a referee for this contest, all that remains is to cross swords!” Gazel seemed completely unmoved.
1248
1249He had been watching me the whole time, without wavering.
1250
1251“Yeah, you’re right. We’ll have a quick match, and then we can talk about what has brought you here.”
1252
1253“Heh-heh-heh… And if you can beat me, I will do what I can to answer.”
1254
1255There was no longer a peep from our audience.
1256
1257Treyni, face tensed, stood between the two of us as we confronted each other. The match was on.
1258
1259*
1260
1261“Begin!” came the dryad’s shrill voice over the still field.
1262
1263And with that, Gazel and I instantly took action.
1264
1265My Magic Sense skill allowed me to read all available information within the local range and replay it in my mind. Using it, I had a full grasp of the ring, as if I were looking down at ourselves from overhead. Speeding up my thought process by a thousandfold, I began to consider my tactics.
1266
1267It had been a long while since I had given my all in battle. Since my fight with Geld, the Orc Disaster, I hadn’t skipped a day of practice with Hakuro—but the fact that none of it was “for keeps” had prevented me from really treating it seriously, in some corner of my mind. I honed every sense in my body as I sized up my foe.
1268
1269At the moment, my height was around four and a quarter feet. Consuming the Orc Disaster had expanded my own magicule storage, so I had more all-purpose slime tissue to work with. King Gazel, meanwhile, was around five and a half feet, a bit larger than the dwarven average. Over a head taller than me—and in my mind, he loomed like a mountain. His role as king undoubtedly contributed to that.
1270
1271Still, I kept my heartbeat calm as I observed him. He had his beautiful sword up to his eyes, taking a full-frontal approach and not moving an inch. He was ready to deflect anything I could dish up for him—and really, I couldn’t find any gap to exploit at all.
1272
1273I was stricken by a sense that I was facing Hakuro. Master of the Sword was right. Or maybe I should be more amazed at Hakuro, given how he was the first person who sprang to mind when as a comparison to Gazel.
1274
1275Regardless, this wasn’t training. I couldn’t afford to call time-out. Let’s test him, then. Gazel only talked about “a single string of attacks,” and I was free to try attacking all I wanted in the meantime. Or defeat him, even.
1276
1277The more masterful the fighter, the better a gauge they had of the space around them. In that case…
1278
1279Using Strengthen Body to boost my leg muscles, I zoomed forward and slashed at the king. He was free to take the blow; if he tried to respond to it, he was right in my trap.
1280
1281I was sure I’d given him enough data to work with before I sprang into action, and I was sure he read it all accurately and factored it into his own approach. Which meant that, if I could just stretch my arms out four inches or so more as I slashed, that’d be enough for him to misjudge everything. Not too much—just enough.
1282
1283Maybe this strategy sounds petty, but it definitely works. One of the most important rules of close-quarters combat is not to let your foe gain a solid sense of distance. I used the same trick to land a blow on Hakuro once. It never worked again, and Hakuro truly lived up to his ogre name as he showed me hell the rest of the day, but there it was. One point for me. And if it deceived a master like him, would it work on this one?
1284
1285But betraying my total confidence, Gazel executed a precision move to deflect my hand away, as if expecting it the whole time.
1286
1287Dude! You’ve gotta be kidding me! I thought as I readied my sword again. Gazel showed no interest in countering, still just watching me quietly. I tried a few other attacks, switching out my tactics each time, but he breezily shrugged away each one. I should mention that I wasn’t going easy on him. I had potions on me, so I could heal him as long as he survived.
1288
1289But my full force wasn’t enough to work on him. Lightly, gently, he was handling me with just the right amount of power, ensuring he didn’t nick his sword in the process. It seemed there was a clear, and overwhelming, difference in skill between us. I was so helpless against him that even I had to admit it.
1290
1291“What? Are you done? Is that all the power you have, Rimuru?”
1292
1293Come to think of it, he wasn’t restricting me from using my skills at all. It wouldn’t be breaking the rules, I reasoned. But relying on such skills seemed basically the same as admitting defeat. It peeved me. I had to get a clean blow in, no matter what. This whole match had lit a spark under the competitive streak I’ve had since before.
1294
1295“Shut up!” I spat. “I haven’t come at you for real yet, so don’t hurry me!” But I still didn’t have any new ideas. I didn’t want to lose, but I had nothing to work with. And as if reading this state of mild panic, King Gazel started to move, confronting me with terrific fighting force. Exposed to this aura, my movements were fully held in check.
1296
1297Oh, crap. I’m leaving myself wide open to him!
1298
1299
1300Report. Analysis complete. This force is Heroic Aura, an extra skill that is a higher-level version of Coercion. Its aim is to make the target cower and become unable to move. Targets with low resistance will find themselves submitting to, and even adoring, the wielder.
1301
1302Just as I feared the worst, my reliable partner gave me a report. Now that’s what the Great Sage is for. So how to counteract?
1303
1304
1305Understood. As with Coercion, the correct way to resist the skill is via fighting spirit.
1306
1307Um? Fighting spirit? Come on…
1308
1309Talk about unreliable. I had the feeling that the Sage was starting to phone it in sometimes.
1310
1311But no time for that. I need to get out of this. How do I conjure fighting spirit? Shouting could help, maybe. I couldn’t move, but I could speak. If it didn’t work, I’d think of something else.
1312
1313“Uh… Oraaahhhhh!!”
1314
1315I screamed as loud as I could. It wound up firing a Voice Cannon, one of Ranga’s specialties, right at Gazel. I also released a bolt of Coercion of my own, hoping it would neutralize Heroic Aura.
1316
1317The king dissolved the Voice Cannon without bothering to dodge it. But it still distracted his attention enough that his aura disappeared. Now we were back to square one. The two of us glared at each other, swords ready.
1318
1319If this was how it’d be going, the only way to win was via the conditions he offered. See through his attacks and block them. But I wasn’t expecting such an expert fighter. The depth of his strength was unfathomable. It really was like fighting Hakuro. If he wanted to kill me, he probably would’ve struck a fatal blow long ago. He didn’t because, as he declared earlier, he wanted to see what I had.
1320
1321But I wasn’t ready to accept defeat that easily. I had proclaimed myself leader of the forest, and I had to go all-out to win this. At the very least, I would never allow myself to fight like a wimp in front of all these people.
1322
1323Shaking the cobwebs off, I quietly brought my sword up to eye level, facing Gazel—ready to take his instruction, like I did with Hakuro. If I can deflect his moves, I win. Banishing all doubt from my mind, I focused on becoming one with my blade. Turn an ear to its sound, and become one with it—that was Hakuro’s advice to me. I had no idea what he meant, but I meekly tried to follow it.
1324
1325Watching me, Gazel grinned.
1326
1327“Yes. That’s it. Now, it is time for me to move!”
1328
1329You don’t have to telegraph it that much, I thought. But just as I did—he disappeared. Not a single one of my search skills could find him.
1330
1331What on…?!
1332
1333It was only luck and coincidence that let me deal with it. Somehow—I had no reason for it—I had a feeling that danger was coming at me from below. I had never trusted my fate to such vague premonitions before, but this time, I decided to follow my gut feeling. Maybe it was the “voice of the sword” I felt—what you hear when you’ve fully mastered your craft.
1334
1335But it wasn’t the end. Because this… This skill…
1336
1337Oh, crap!
1338
1339The moment I thought it, I held my sword aloft.
1340
1341A loud, sharp tiiiing! echoed. The battle was over. I had successfully stopped King Gazel’s sword strike.
1342
1343“Heh-heh-heh-heh… Ahh-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!! You’ve stopped me!!”
1344
1345“Y-yeah… So, uh, if you admit it, does that mean I win?”
1346
1347“It certainly does. You don’t appear to be at all evil to me.”
1348
1349With another bellowing laugh, Gazel removed his sword.
1350
1351“This fight is over! The winner is Rimuru Tempest!!”
1352
1353With Treyni’s official notice, my victory was complete. I sat down on the ground, relieved. The battle had taken more out of me than I had thought.
1354
1355So this was Gazel Dwargo, the dwarven king. Somehow, I felt like I had been granted a glimpse, just a glimpse of this hero’s full force.
1356
1357*
1358
1359Treyni’s voice was immediately followed by a chorus of cheers from the monsters assembled in the field. The dwarves, meanwhile, were already grumbling about the result.
1360
1361“He stopped the king’s very sword?!”
1362
1363“Ridiculous! It’s simply not possible!”
1364
1365“Did His Majesty relent at the last minute?!”
1366
1367And so on.
1368
1369Though, really, King Gazel was trying to test me. Anything else, and I would’ve lost any sword battle against him. Relent, however? I know me winning doesn’t exactly fill you with delight, but isn’t that going a little too far?
1370
1371“Silence!” shouted one of the knights, clad entirely in white. “Have you no shame, my fellows?! How arrogant for anyone to accuse His Majesty of relenting on any foe! Are you saying you could follow his movements with your eyes, when none of us even could?”
1372
1373“He’s right,” spoke another, a warrior-type dwarf dressed in jet-black. “Gazel did not relent. The Master of the Sword fully deserves his title. This was no duel to the death; it was focused squarely upon gauging each competitor’s true nature. Do not forget: We are not here to create enemies!”
1374
1375How nice of them to plead my case for me. It also proved, for good, that the dwarves were here not for war but to judge my character.
1376
1377The other dwarves scowled at this dressing down. “Forgive our impropriety,” they said to Gazel and me. I’m sure they weren’t trying to throw mud on the match—they simply didn’t want to admit that their beloved king was fallible.
1378
1379The apologies sounded sincere enough, so I accepted them. Besides, I could understand their thoughts. Not to be blunt, but I blocked that last attack out of sheer luck. I should know, because I was there. I knew the stance that strike of his required, and it seemed like it’d be pointed at me in the same way, so I just followed my instincts and held my sword aloft—and I turned out to be right.
1380
1381“Well done, though! You saw right through my Haze of Rumbling Heavens move. Impressive!”
1382
1383“No, no, it was sheer coincidence. I saw my instructor use that skill before.”
1384
1385Well, not “saw it” so much as “was beaten to the ground by it” in training. Just the other day, I managed to dodge his first slash, only to be smashed right on the crown by his real strike. Talk about a disappointment.
1386
1387A piercing blow from the ground to the heavens like that is mainly meant to throw one’s foe off guard. It was the strike that followed after this blow that displayed the true worth of Haze of Rumbling Heavens. It was one of Hakuro’s beginner-level moves, but I was juuust about in a position to deal with it by now. I only stopped it because I was familiar with it. Nothing worth praising me for.
1388
1389“What was that? Could this ‘instructor’ of yours be…?” Gazel asked, looking down at me in excitement.
1390
1391Hmm. Could it be, indeed? The same skill and everything…
1392
1393“Hoh-hoh-hoh! Well performed, Sir Rimuru. Glad to see you are hearing your sword’s voice!”
1394
1395Hakuro, who was aiding the town’s evacuation, chose that moment to sidle up next to me.
1396
1397“The women and children have been directed to safety. I left the rest to Gobta and came here, but what a sight awaited me!”
1398
1399He gave me a smile, clearly enjoying this. I guess he must’ve thought I needed some help over here.
1400
1401“If I may…,” Gazel said, suddenly humble. “Are you the Sword Ogre?”
1402
1403Aha. So they did know each other.
1404
1405“…Hohh. The child from way back when, is it? I hardly even recognized you. Well, forgive me for being so rude, Your Majesty. I was wondering what kind of stalwart warrior could use such a sword move. How splendid to see you have grown to be a better swordsman than I!” Hakuro gazed upon the king with a smile.
1406
1407“It is an honor to hear such words, Sword Ogre.”
1408
1409“Mmm. Three hundred years, is it? Since I found you as a child, lost in the forest, and began teaching you the way of the sword on a whim? A fond memory, nowadays. And now you are the dwarven king!”
1410
1411So he instructed Gazel at some point? No wonder they had a similar style. Which meant the king was kind of my fellow student. Still, three hundred years? How long has Hakuro been around anyway? Talk about a man of mystery. And talk about never knowing who you’ll run into from your past.
1412
1413
1414We decided to talk in more detail elsewhere.
1415
1416Gone were the provisional tents from before. Now, in the center of town, we had a dorm full of rooms for everyone who held central posts related to keeping things running. There was a government building of sorts next to it filled with offices and meeting halls, and we all went inside to hold a little catch-up meeting. The freshly returned town residents could take care of the knight corps—this meeting was just for the top brass, and it began as a rather relaxed affair.
1417
1418The mission of the dwarves was to investigate the mystery team of monsters that defeated the orc lord—in other words, us. As they put it, they needed to see if we were friend or foe, just like I thought.
1419
1420Between the dryads and running into the king’s old sword master, any potential hostilities (that duel notwithstanding) were a thing of the past. The dryads were known to be a kind and fair race, and the dwarves believed they would never lend a hand to anyone with evil intentions. If they liked us, then they didn’t even need that duel to know we were okay. I guess that fight was just out of curiosity, then?
1421
1422Once the dwarves gave their story, I gave ours—from the first rumblings of the orc lord to the Jura alliance we forged. I didn’t mention how the orc lord had evolved into a full-fledged demon lord—it’s all solved now, so I figured I didn’t need to.
1423
1424
1425Somewhere along the line, the meeting transformed into a sort of banquet. The tension between us dissipated as we spoke, and by the time night fell, Shuna had offered us all dinner. We had a pretty bountiful food supply in town, so she was capable of some pretty decent eats. Nobody was better at it than Shuna, either, so I guess I should have expected this would devolve into a feast sometime.
1426
1427It was dangerous for the Pegasus Knights to fly in the dark, so we would be hosting them tonight.
1428
1429We had them all kick back in our public assembly grounds. Staying in regular contact with their home kingdom was no problem, they told me, so I thought I’d build a little amity and bust out some of the wine we were developing. Then the good times started rolling.
1430
1431In the midst of this friendly affair, I thought I’d ask about something that bugged me.
1432
1433“I have to admit, though, you guys work pretty fast. We informed the adventurers’ guild about this three months ago, so it couldn’t have reached you that long ago, could it?”
1434
1435“Ah, our covert team—our intelligence gatherers—I had them keep tabs on you.”
1436
1437For a king, Gazel seemed awfully forthcoming about what sounded like top-secret stuff. Maybe it was the wine talking.
1438
1439“Uh, you sure you want to blow their cover or whatever?”
1440
1441“Oh, what of it? You spotted them anyway.”
1442
1443“Ah yes,” Soei coolly replied. “We did find someone sniffing around rather suspiciously. We had orders from you not to kill anyone, Sir Rimuru, so we simply chased him away. We thought it of little importance, but perhaps we should have taken him into custody?”
1444
1445It barely even registered in Soei’s mind, so he didn’t think to brief me about it. I told him to just tell me next time instead of making judgment calls on his own.
1446
1447“Well, that’s a rather hard pill to swallow. Yeah, my team isn’t too well suited for direct combat, but…”
1448
1449This was Henrietta, a beautiful woman but apparently a bit of a mean drunk. One of Gazel’s close associates, she was a knight assassin who ran all the kingdom’s intelligence-gathering operations. I suppose Soei just hurt her feelings, but a serious-looking man in the white armor of a knight stepped in to assuage her. That was Dolph, captain of the Pegasus Knights, as he said—a man who adored Gazel, and one of the dwarves who apologized to us after the duel. Running a covert force as he was, he was more honest and upright than I originally thought.
1450
1451After intervening between Soei and Henrietta, Dolph quickly fell into a deep conversation with Benimaru about aerial combat. I suppose not even someone as magnanimous as Dolph wanted to hang around those two for long. They had stopped sniping at each other, but the air was now silent and frigid between them. I’m sure anyone would rather talk about their favorite battle strategies instead.
1452
1453Jaine, the old woman so curious about my own skills, was an arch-wizard and one of the most gifted dwarven clerics in the kingdom. She was now debating this or that finer point about magic with Shuna, and it seemed like Shuna was willing to learn from her, perhaps picking up on Jaine’s investigative magic. The crone also discussed the concept of “legion magic,” a kind of spell that could be cast on an entire military unit to annul the abilities of a rival force. It made me shiver a bit. If Benimaru decided to cast Hellflare on the knights, it probably wouldn’t have damaged them much at all.
1454
1455This arch-wizard was decent enough in battle against individual foes, but apparently her true expertise was in strengthening entire units with magic. A much more dangerous lady than she looked.
1456
1457Meanwhile, Kaijin was in friendly conversation with a dwarf clad in heavy black armor. This was Vaughn, arguably the strongest warrior of the entire Armed Nation. An admiral paladin, he said, and second only to Gazel in his field. He used to be Kaijin’s boss, and while his post meant he couldn’t play favorites, Vaughn still dearly regretted losing Kaijin. If we had come to blows today, he was prepared to make sure Kaijin and the other dwarves were escorted to safety. Nice guy. Bit scary-looking, though.
1458
1459So that’s how we managed to break the ice with them all. And here’s King Gazel himself, reminiscing about the old days with Hakuro.
1460
1461“Well, you may call me Hakuro the ogre mage now. I have taken on the post of instructor for Sir Rimuru.”
1462
1463This comment of Hakuro’s made the good king promptly request his tutelage as well. His friends had to talk him out of it. The king of a nation—a superpower of sorts, even—leaving it all to go become an apprentice martial artist in a foreign country was gonna be tough to win approval for. So he glared at me instead, green with envy. Yeesh, could you knock it off? It’s not my fault.
1464
1465It was funny, though. Gazel claimed to be visiting as a private citizen, and right now, that’s what he was. None of the grandiose atmosphere he presented in his royal chamber. Now he was more subdued, all the pomp and circumstance toned down. Or maybe that’s the real Gazel I’m seeing now? Watching him practically ooze delight as Kurobe praised his sword training, I couldn’t help but wonder.
1466
1467There was Gazel the Heroic King, and then there was Gazel the fighter. He had seen what I was made of, and I felt like I had done the same with him.
1468
1469*
1470
1471Just as the feast got into full swing, Gazel suddenly turned to me, his expression grave.
1472
1473“Rimuru…I want to ask you something.”
1474
1475“Sure! Anything you need.”
1476
1477“D’you want to forge a covenant with me?”
1478
1479This body of mine didn’t allow me to feel buzzed, but I still felt like I had just snapped back into stone-cold sobriety.
1480
1481“I ask you not as a fellow student of Hakuro, but as king. If you are the leader of this forest, that would put us in equal position—and if you’ve been able to hold this entire vast forest under a single government, I am sure you will be rewarded with riches and bounties that not even my kingdom can enjoy. We observed this city from the skies, and let me tell you, it is a beautiful one. That, and you have built great roads through the forest; I could only guess at the logistical and technical skills required to build them. They may yet be incomplete, but I can easily see this town becoming a vital trade center in due time—a vast new market, one that will take on great strategic importance. And when that happens, having another nation to back you would help in various ways, would it not?”
1482
1483Some of that royal coercion was coming back again. He was pressing the offer at me, eyes dead serious. Ignoring that “fellow student” nonsense for a moment, he was basically recognizing that we were a coherent organization. A group he wanted to support, even. What a coup!
1484
1485“Are you sure? Because this is the same as admitting that we—this group of monsters—are a full-fledged nation.”
1486
1487A coup, but not something that King Gazel could decide upon by himself. If he was speaking as a king at the moment, this was his last chance to take it back.
1488
1489“Of course! And since we may perhaps see this differently, let me say this: A covenant would be of great help to us, as well. This is no charity mission, Rimuru. We could both stand to benefit!” He told me all this with a grin, then offered his terms, dead serious.
1490
1491These were as follows:
1492
1493
14941. A nonaggression treaty with each other.
1495
14962. Assistance whenever one nation is endangered.
1497
14983. The building of a road to Dwargon, in exchange for their backing.
1499
15004. Guaranteed safety for dwarves in the Forest of Jura.
1501
15025. Promises of technology sharing between us.
1503
1504
1505
1506There were a few other details, but those were the five main points.
1507
1508The nonaggression thing went without saying, and safe passage for dwarves seemed suitable enough. In terms of military assistance, it seemed unlikely that we’d suddenly be tapped for that, just because we were getting along a bit civilization-wise. Dwargon shared a border with the Eastern Empire, but given that the dwarves were strictly neutral, the Empire wouldn’t be dumb enough to pick a fight with the Armed Nation. If they did, it wouldn’t really be our business to intervene.
1509
1510If we were going to build formal trade links, a road would obviously follow along shortly. Having accessible trade routes is an indispensable part of encouraging trade, after all. But making us foot the bill for the whole thing? That would normally be a bit hard to accept. I suppose that was Gazel being as sharp as ever, but still, this was an extraordinary deal.
1511
1512Recognition of monsters by humans like this was, in terms of common sense, just something you’d never see too often. I was picturing it happening over a long period of time, gradually. If I could get some real interaction with other nations going within, say, a few decades, that would’ve been fine by me. And here we were being offered the backing of the Armed Nation of Dwargon. Priceless. We couldn’t snag that even if we tried negotiating with one of the smaller kingdoms around us. It was such a stroke of good luck, I couldn’t help but shiver a bit.
1513
1514“I would be glad to take this offer,” I told him.
1515
1516Rigurd, Benimaru, Treyni and the others had no objections, willing to let me have the final say on it. As Treyni put it, none of the dryads disagreed with naming me leader of our alliance, and none of the monsters had any innate aversion to interacting with humans or dwarves.
1517
1518So now we had an alliance.
1519
1520“Let’s relay this to the kingdom,” the king told Henrietta. The head of Gazel’s undercover team would transmit the message back home by magic. To her, it was as casual an operation as making a phone call.
1521
1522“What do you call this nation anyway?” he asked. It was a natural question, but one that made me freeze. We all gave one another surprised looks.
1523
1524Our name…?
1525
1526I mean, yeah, if Gazel was calling us a nation, we’d need a name like any decent one. But wow, a nation, huh…? I was happy enough with a town, so I hadn’t really thought about that. I thought it’d be neat to have a nation of monsters sometime, but I figured that was a while in the future.
1527
1528“Well… I don’t think we’re really at the ‘nation’ point, yet. I mean, there’s the Alliance, but that’s just a bunch of different races that accepted me as their leader, is all. I don’t know if everyone in the forest is ready to accept that.”
1529
1530I knew from the start that it sounded weak. Everyone in the room shot me down.
1531
1532“If anyone refuses to recognize you as their lord,” Shion declared, “I promise I shall slay them where they stand!”
1533
1534“Well,” Benimaru added, “it’s a monster’s natural instinct to follow the power chain. But I think it’s a little different with you, Sir Rimuru, at the core of it. You know? Nobody’s being forced to follow you, and I don’t think you’ll find anyone against it, either.”
1535
1536It seemed to be beyond questioning for either of them, at least.
1537
1538“Hee-hee-hee! Right now, Sir Rimuru, you hold control over approximately three-tenths of the forest. The other advanced races have decided to watch you carefully for the time being. However, the middle levels among them have already expressed interest in aligning with you, and I am sure the lower-level races will come flocking to this town for protection. We are united under a so-called alliance for now, but it is an alliance based on a common will, one that I believe will birth a full nation. One with you, Sir Rimuru, at the center.”
1539
1540Way to stab me in the heart, Treyni.
1541
1542Even in these circumstances, the old survival-of-the-fittest rule held true. Now that Veldora, the guardian of the forest, was gone—whatever that dragon thought about it—it meant the local monsters needed to band together before greedy humans or ambitious demon lords came in first. If not, the whole wood would either be exploited or demolished.
1543
1544I had said it myself: We will form a great alliance among the peoples of the Forest of Jura and build cooperative relationships with one another. It’d be pretty neat if we built a nation composed of multiple races, I think, but…
1545
1546Treyni and the others had run with it, apparently, and that little quote had been causing a huge stir from one end of the forest to the other. Things had been moving really fast, and growing, while I wasn’t paying attention.
1547
1548Guess I’d just have to live with it.
1549
1550“All right. Let’s think up a name, then…”
1551
1552Gazel gave a distressed laugh in response.
1553
1554Leaving him behind, we took up a separate room for the debate. The dwarves hadn’t had enough wine yet; they wanted to keep it going all night, so we promised that we’d officially enact the covenant (really, an international treaty at this point) tomorrow and left them to their devices.
1555
1556
1557Over the previous night, we had hammered out a name, assembling our top officers and staying up late discussing it.
1558
1559The result we came up with: the Jura-Tempest Federation. Tempest for short. They were almost ready to name it Rimuru at first, but I was too embarrassed to allow that. I can just barely put up with Tempest—it didn’t really sound like a name unique to me, and it had a nice ring to it.
1560
1561Of course, while I had my guard down, they went and named this town Rimuru on me. Ugh. The Central City of Rimuru, officially, but you know they’re gonna call it Rimuru or the town of Rimuru. Just thinking about it makes me want to crawl into a hole, but their conventions were simply too firm to let me turn it down. I just hope I get used to it quick.
1562
1563We also talked a bit about what direction our fledgling nation should take. It was nothing we could settle upon in a single night, of course, so we planned a series of conferences to discuss it. I would be the sovereign ruler, more or less, but over time, I’d like to shift toward more of a republican form of government. You know—employ intelligent monsters, whether they had physical strength or not, and get them involved with politics. The right person in the right job, that’s my motto.
1564
1565It was a long way from what you could even call a framework, but for now, we were good. Besides, this covenant came out because King Gazel and I trusted so much in each other.
1566
1567
1568This current covenant between the Armed Nation of Dwargon and the Jura-Tempest Federation took the form of a pact between the two nations. It would take effect after representatives from each side applied their signatures. It would then be kept in safe, magical storage and announced to the world.
1569
1570
1571And so the term Jura-Tempest Federation appeared in the public record for the first time.
1572
1573
1574
1575
1576CHAPTER 2
1577
1578THE DEMON LORD INVADES
1579
1580
1581On a flying horse, the trip from Dwargon to—ugh—Rimuru apparently took just one day. They were soon off, with Gazel promising to visit again soon.
1582
1583And he did.
1584
1585“Well, Rimuru!” the king half shouted as he dismounted. “Here I am, as promised!”
1586
1587“Uh, didn’t you just leave two days ago?” I couldn’t help but point out.
1588
1589“What are you talking about? Your fellow swordsmanship pupil is here to visit! I thought you would be happier!”
1590
1591I hate people who obviously never listen to anyone else. And that “fellow” crap again. He wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that he wanted to be my big bro at the sword dojo. It was really starting to affect his majesty as a dwarven king, and I didn’t think I was imagining that, either. And he came alone this time! Did he even have the time for this?
1592
1593As I silently stewed over these doubts, Kaijin came running up to me. “Your Majesty!” he shouted. “You didn’t sneak out of the castle, did you?!”
1594
1595“Pfft! Can you believe it? A hundred-man security detail, and not one noticed me escaping! Such ignoble slackers! It’s right back to hard drilling for them when I return home.”
1596
1597“Well…I mean…they can’t handle someone like you, my liege…”
1598
1599“Mm? Did you want to say something, Kaijin?”
1600
1601“N-no, Your Majesty…nothing…”
1602
1603“Oh? Capital, then.”
1604
1605Considering the speed at which he sprinted up to us, Kaijin was surprisingly weak against his king. He was refuted before I could even get a word in edgewise.
1606
1607But—a king sneaking out of his castle? What’s with that? Was the Dwarven Kingdom going to put up with this?
1608
1609“Er, so what brings you here this time, Your Majesty?”
1610
1611“Well, simple, really. You recall how I exiled you both from Dwargon based on my own personal judgment, so that’s why I had to come here. And you will recall how our covenant included the sharing of technological expertise? Well, I’ve brought along the perfect man for the job.”
1612
1613He tossed the bag he was carrying on the ground. It began to wriggle around.
1614
1615“What on…?!”
1616
1617Flustered, Kaijin opened the bag, only to find a skinny, pallid man flying out.
1618
1619“Oh, geez, Vester?!” I couldn’t help but shout. The very bastard who had trapped us. Why here?
1620
1621“Heh-heh-heh…precisely! I banished him from the palace as punishment for his scheming against you, but it’d be a waste to let him just play around for too long! So I brought him here.”
1622
1623I had no response to that.
1624
1625“My—my liege, what do you mean by ‘so I brought him here,’ exactly?! Do you even understand what it would mean, having Sir Vester work here…?”
1626
1627“Mm? Don’t want him?”
1628
1629“Of course I don’t, Your Majesty! You would be leaking all his knowledge to us!”
1630
1631Kaijin was impassioned about pleading his case. Deep down, I guess he’s more serious-minded than I had thought. Vester, meanwhile, didn’t seem like he knew what had happened yet. I guess he was in that bag for the whole previous evening, on a winged horse, so I couldn’t blame him.
1632
1633“Leak, you say?” Gazel returned Kaijin’s look of concern. “Well, a bit late for that now, is it not? It was already leaked the moment you left us! I honestly considered asking my covert team to assassinate you, do you realize?”
1634
1635It didn’t sound like he was joking.
1636
1637“My… My liege, is that—”
1638
1639“It’s true! I called it off, though, after quite a bit of thought. There is nothing I hate more than wasting good talent. And that’s why I want Vester working here!”
1640
1641Vester’s eyes sparkled at the words.
1642
1643“Your…Majesty…”
1644
1645“And don’t you get the wrong idea, Vester. I have not absolved you—but as I said, I have great expectations for you. You may no longer serve me, but I hereby grant you the right to pursue your duties here. Make use of your natural talents and show me you can live an honest, fruitful life for a change!”
1646
1647“K-King Gazel?!” Kaijin sounded like he was beside himself. “Should I take this to mean you’re fine with letting us take every piece of dwarven technology you have?”
1648
1649The king laughed, like it didn’t bother him in the least. “Pfft! Let me give you this request, then. I want you to take this land we stand upon now and harness it to create technology like none seen before. You understand me? Your research should not rely on previous perspectives—you must work more freely than that, as you conceive new ideas. That is the whole reason why I have allowed the free exchange of technology between my nation and yours.”
1650
1651So this was his aim the whole time, I thought as Gazel pressed his full royal authority upon them both. He wasn’t just looking at my skills—he had his eyes on Kurobe’s forging abilities, Shuna’s weaving, even our top-secret potion development. His keen sense of self-interest let him sniff out what we were doing here, to some extent. No wonder the Dwarven Kingdom had been so prosperous for so long. In some ways, I was less than thrilled by it. He just kept leading us around by the nose—as if he was reading my mind…
1652
1653I was interrupted before I could continue this train of thought.
1654
1655“Rimuru, listen to me. You failed to detect Haze, the deepest level of our concealment magic. Magic Sense is a powerful skill, but there are a thousand ways to outwit it. That lies at the core of any battle—guess how your foe will scope you out, and get a leg up before he can. Relying on one’s skills prevents real growth. And politics, you see, are just the same. You must read what your opponent is thinking and work beyond that. Fail at that, and you have no future as a politician. You must remain diligent.”
1656
1657See? Reading my mind. Good advice, though.
1658
1659But really, this has to be—
1660
1661
1662Understood. There is a high probability that the individual named Gazel possesses mind-reading skills.
1663
1664Yep. That was the only explanation. In fact, that explains the whole thing. Dodging every single move of mine did seem a bit unnatural. His evasion was a little too spot-on, like he knew what I would do each time.
1665
1666“Hey, are you—”
1667
1668“Oops! Bet my covert force has caught up to me by now. I’ll be on my way, then!”
1669
1670As if waiting for the opportunity, Gazel grinned and took a fist-size crystal from his pocket.
1671
1672“Let me give you this,” he said. I took it without objection. “This communication crystal will let us keep in contact. Vester should be able to set it up for you. Use it to call us in case of emergency. Farewell for now!”
1673
1674In a flash, he was on his horse.
1675
1676“Vester,” he said with a final nod, “may you strive as much as you can to succeed in your research!”
1677
1678“Y-Your Majesty!” Vester nodded. “This time… This time, I promise I will not let you down!”
1679
1680“I am off!”
1681
1682Then he flew away. A very sudden arrival, and a very hurried exit. The man was like a living thunderstorm.
1683
1684*
1685
1686The king had left Kaijin and me staring at each other.
1687
1688“Kaijin, are you sure your nation’s safe with such a freewheeling man ruling it?”
1689
1690“Who can say…? He’s been ruling for centuries, so I imagine we’ll be fine, but… Certainly, he was not so flighty when I served him in the palace.”
1691
1692“Ah, well. I’m not one to speak, I suppose.”
1693
1694And I wasn’t. I was planning to hang out in some human towns before long. No need to voluntarily put my foot in my mouth.
1695
1696With that hazy end to the subject, we were walking away from the main square when we heard a voice behind us.
1697
1698“Sir Rimuru! Sir Kaijin!” Vester was there, head bowed downward. “I deeply apologize! Please, let me atone for matters first. And if you will forgive me, please, I hope you will let me work here!”
1699
1700I hadn’t forgotten the trap he almost sprang on us. But Vester’s eyes were clear now, not filled with the avarice from before. I can trust him, I thought.
1701
1702“Well, let’s get one thing clear first—you’re following my orders, you got that? No more dissing me because we’re all monsters here. You think you can manage that?”
1703
1704“…Of course. Looking back at my behavior fills me with shame. It began with this terrible jealousy I had for Sir Kaijin, but every time I think about it, it makes me feel like a fool.”
1705
1706He sized me up, looking me in the eye.
1707
1708“I’ve been given the chance to restore my good name, and I would never want to lose it. And I can assure you that I really do want to devote myself fully to the research I so enjoy!”
1709
1710Kaijin responded by patting him on the shoulder. “To me,” he said, “it’ll be great just to have another talented researcher on hand. So you think you can give him a chance? You can yell at me about it if he gets up to anything bad, Rimuru, so trust me on this one and let’s let bygones be bygones!”
1711
1712I’d say Vester was more of a threat to Kaijin than to me, but… Ah, well. He seemed pretty ready to believe in him, and if he was willing to let it slide, I had no reason to object.
1713
1714“Well, no complaints from me, Kaijin, if that’s what you want. Welcome to town, Vester!”
1715
1716“Y-yes sir! I am unworthy of your forgiveness, but I promise you that I will work as diligently as I possibly can!”
1717
1718“Good news, eh, Vester?” Kaijin added. “I guarantee you, you’re never gonna be bored around here. No time to worry about stupid stuff, let me tell you that much!”
1719
1720*
1721
1722Vester needed a job—and quickly. This time, I actually had just the thing.
1723
1724Our hipokute-growing operation was finally starting to gain some steam, so I figured we could move on to the actual production of healing potion next. I was anticipating having to teach Gabil the process from the ground up, given he had no real relevant knowledge—but with Vester and his spirit-engineering experience, now it was a different story. I figured the two could work together on the project, with Gabil serving as Vester’s assistant and cave bodyguard.
1725
1726Before anything, though, I had to introduce them to each other. We headed to the Sealed Cave, Gabil hurriedly trotting out when I called for him.
1727
1728“Hello! My name is Vester, and it sounds like we’ll be working on this research together.”
1729
1730“Mmm. Gabil. I am tasked with cultivating hipokute herbs, but if there is anything else I can do, please tell me. Let us both work together for Sir Rimuru’s sake!”
1731
1732The two of them shook hands. I was concerned the sight of Gabil would unnerve him at first, but I didn’t need to be. So I asked Gabil to guide him into the cave for me.
1733
1734“Sir Rimuru, look at this. All of this is freshly cultivated hipokute!”
1735
1736I had to nod my approval. The operation was really starting to go well. The open space beyond the cave’s door seal was awash in green, thriving hipokute, as far as I could see.
1737
1738We had a problem, though: Gabil and I were one thing, but Vester didn’t have any way of seeing in the dark. Light, whether from a torch or via a magic spell, still wasn’t enough to let you even see where you were standing. There were some dimly lit parts of the cave, but not enough to really work with.
1739
1740I recalled when Kaijin first entered the cave. His reaction: “Boss, I can’t see a thing in all this darkness…” And he was right. I had forgotten since I had no problems seeing in there, but no way could anyone perform real work in this pitch-blackness.
1741
1742In the midst of this, it was Shion—my self-appointed secretary, and someone who hadn’t joined the conversation at all until now—who offered a solution.
1743
1744“So do we just need some light, then?”
1745
1746“Yeah. Any ideas, Shion?”
1747
1748“Yes! We can open a hole in the wall to bring in some light…”
1749
1750“No, you idiot!”
1751
1752Shion scowled at my immediate refusal. This was called the Sealed Cave for a reason. The walls were incredibly solidly built. Maybe you could smash a hole in them if you applied all your strength to it, but that ran the risk of a massive cave-in—and losing all Gabil’s noteworthy cultivation progress. I hated to pop Shion’s balloon like that, but I had to.
1753
1754“It’d be nice if we could run some electricity through here,” I muttered to myself.
1755
1756“What’s that, boss?”
1757
1758“Could you tell me what you mean by that?”
1759
1760It seemed to grab Kaijin’s and Vester’s attention. So I gave them a basic rundown of how electricity worked back in my realm, projecting the image of a light bulb into their minds.
1761
1762“I see… Apply heat to a metal filament to generate light, then?”
1763
1764“Hmm. Yes, it is quite astonishing. The luminescent moss here won’t provide enough light to work with. It is certainly something we need to develop.”
1765
1766I was expecting to generate the required heat via electrical resistance. Instead, they proposed a solution involving a magic circle to compress magicules inside. Much like how a magic-imbued sword emitted a faint glow, applying a little magic engraving to metal would apparently let it light up. We’d be using magisteel for the metal, I assume—the best kind of raw material for swords, and very compatible with magicule usage. It’d generate a lot of light, as well as provide heat resistance and durability—and the way it readily soaked in inscription magic meant there was little need to test anything else. It’s pretty valuable stuff, but I had a vast supply on tap—a supply that I kind of mined from this cave, so I might as well use it.
1767
1768Metalwork and carving work were mostly done in Dold’s wheelhouse, so we decided that Kaijin would discuss matters with him afterward. I gave Kaijin the necessary materials, and with that, my role in the project was over. The three had what they needed, and I figured I’d leave it to them.
1769
1770“You know,” I ventured, “if we’re going to have some light soon, why don’t we just build a laboratory in here?”
1771
1772“Could we?!” Vester excitedly replied. “I do rather like the relaxed atmosphere in this cave. Having such a ‘secret lab’ is a concept I always enjoy.”
1773
1774I guess Vester was more childlike than I thought. His eyes sparkled as he said all this, so I couldn’t walk it back. For now, though, I thought it best to remind him of the local dangers.
1775
1776“You sure about that, though? There are evil centipedes all over the place. That’s like a B-plus right there.”
1777
1778“Hmm? Not a problem, I would say. I have dabbled in magic myself a little, and I actually have quite a bit of skill at it!”
1779
1780I looked at Kaijin. He responded by shaking his head. Guess we can’t rely on that too much. I pressed on, a little concerned for his safety.
1781
1782“Well, I could set one up for you, if you’re sure you won’t regret it…?”
1783
1784“Oh, absolutely! Besides, I have Sir Gabil to back me up. Oh, I do hope you could provide that!”
1785
1786True. Having Gabil around probably meant no attacks were forthcoming. With those concentrated levels of magicules, too, normal monsters couldn’t even approach the place. Gabil and his team just barely got a pass, and even then, that’s thanks to the magicules dissipating a fair bit after I swallowed up Veldora. Humans and demi-humans had no issues, though, and the dwarves and hobgoblins could come and go freely, too. It seemed to me like natural-born monsters were more easily affected by magic, somehow. That seemed to explain it.
1787
1788“Can I leave Vester in your hands, Gabil?”
1789
1790“You certainly may! I am here, and I have two of my people on watch at all times!”
1791
1792Gabil had certainly become a lot more reliable as of late. He got carried away far too easily, which worried me, but he certainly had skill. I could tell he was getting used to his new life here, and he and Vester seemed to hit it off. I thought I was safe leaving things to him.
1793
1794So before I could work on developing potions, I wound up having to devise a home and laboratory for Vester.
1795
1796*
1797
1798I had both of them wrapped up in a few days.
1799
1800It’s worth noting that Gabil and the other dragonewts slept immersed in water, so they didn’t really need living quarters to speak of. They could handle a bed just fine, but apparently the wings got in the way, so they were more comfortable underwater. Soka and the other females could fully put away their wings, so they slept in rooms, but I suppose even dragonewts had their own likes and dislikes.
1801
1802For Gabil’s room, however, he had several of his men dig out what looked like a pretty comfy personal space for him. There was a ventilation duct and everything. He had brought in all the stuff he needed, and it sure didn’t look lacking at all to me.
1803
1804Now we just needed a way for Vester to safely travel between here and town.
1805
1806“Sir Rimuru, is it all right if I install a magic circle in here? Summoning magic’s going to be pretty rough on this side of the door, but it appears to be possible outside of it. I’d like to build one here, if possible.”
1807
1808Vester’s chosen location was the spot where I defeated that first black snake way back when.
1809
1810“What kind of magic circle do you mean?”
1811
1812“A teleportation circle, sir. It would let me travel instantly to any location I associate it with. Activating it takes some time, but no more than a few minutes, so I think it would do wonders to reduce travel times…”
1813
1814He was talking about a Warp Portal, a type of elemental magic. The caster made them work by drawing the same series of symbols at the entrance and exit. These symbols worked strictly as pairs, so stepping into a Portal would always bring you to the same destination, but linking this cave with someplace back in town would still be a great timesaver. Maybe Vester really did know a thing or two about magic. It came as a total surprise to Kaijin, who knew nothing about it.
1815
1816The required symbols for a Warp Portal would normally be drawn with intricate, and expensive, magical potions. Here, however, we’d be using carvings made on magisteel—which technically was even more expensive, but it meant we could reuse them many times without having to draw them repeatedly. This, we could use to link up top-secret facilities within our own nation.
1817
1818Elsewhere in the world, magisteel was too precious to last very long without being stolen. Carving-based Portals could only be built in areas where theft wasn’t a concern—leave one out in the open, and it’d face the full brunt of the elements, along with the potential for breakage or robbery.
1819
1820We didn’t have to worry about cave monsters teleporting themselves into town with it, either. The user needed to exercise a few magical muscles to activate it, focusing on the destination in their mind.
1821
1822It all sounded good to me, so I gave Vester the nod to go ahead. Magic teleporters, though, huh? Pretty useful. I’ll definitely need a primer on those soon.
1823
1824Vester was proving to be a much more useful man than I had thought. Having total freedom to pursue his research made him a much less wily, treacherous fellow. He seemed to really love life now. And recalling my time in Dwargon, he didn’t seem particularly happy over there, constantly struggling for power. Research probably suited him more than ladder climbing. Having greed and envy rule your life, instead of the stuff you really want to do, would change anyone for the worse. It’s best to just do what you like, I think, as long as you aren’t bothering anyone.
1825
1826So either way, we were all set to go, and before long, Gabil and Vester’s tandem research efforts were under way.
1827
1828*
1829
1830It had been a bit of a hectic time with King Gazel visiting and Vester joining my crew, but we were receiving quite a few other guests in the meantime, too.
1831
1832Just as Treyni warned, the town was now playing host to a wide variety of races. The kobolds came first, stopping by in their usual trade caravan, and they must have been taken aback seeing all the massive changes to the forest. We were, after all, chopping down trees to procure more empty land to place buildings on, and once we wrapped that up, we kept ourselves busy widening the road to the lizardmen’s homelands around Lake Sisu.
1833
1834“Wh-what is going on in here?!” one shouted at me. They knew something was changing near their own lands deeper in the forest, and now their finely honed nose for business had led them to brave the risks and check things out.
1835
1836But the changes these kobolds experienced weren’t just to the scenery.
1837
1838“Well, hello there, kobolds. I do so appreciate your business!”
1839
1840“…Er, who may I be talking to?”
1841
1842“Ha-ha-ha! It’s me. Rigurd!”
1843
1844They need more of a hint than that, dude… And once we explained that Rigurd used to be chief elder of the goblin village, that made the kobolds yelp in surprise even more.
1845
1846These kobolds, however, were pretty nice guys. The ones here spent their days wandering across the vast forest, covering their own sales territory, and one of them had been the main merchant handling Rigurd’s village. He was now talking cheerfully with several hobgoblins on the road.
1847
1848“Would we be able to have your permission,” the kobolds asked me, “to build an inn and storehouse to serve as our base of operations?”
1849
1850I gladly accepted the offer, and with that, I now had a kobold HQ in town, along with an entire clan of the guys to staff it. The old wandering-caravan days were over; instead, they used the town as a base to fan out and tackle all the other settlements they sold their wares to.
1851
1852Some of our other visitors included halflings and merfolk. The halflings swore their allegiance to us, and I had them work on our farms. The merfolk, meanwhile, were seeking protection. They lived nearby a large lake that had recently become infested with a growing horde of amphibious monsters. I ordered Benimaru to send a cleanup force their way. Most of the trade between us and the Dwarven Kingdom would involve traveling along riversides, and I was sure the merfolk could provide some assistance with that. If they were willing to work with us, they were more than welcome.
1853
1854As far as more uncommon visitors go, one time, while exploring in the woods, I came across an insectoid—an insect-type monster—that was near death. It was maybe a foot and a half tall, kind of a cross between a stag beetle and one of those big fighting ones, and I just thought it looked so cool. There was a dead blade tiger next to it, a B-ranked monster, and imagining this small creature defeating such a formidable foe was remarkable to me.
1855
1856So I decided to take care of it. It was hostile at first, attacking me without a moment of hesitation. That seemed reckless, but I quickly realized the motivation. There was another insectoid behind it—it had attacked me so the other one could make its escape.
1857
1858I didn’t notice the other guy until it spoke up. “W-wait,” it pleaded. This one was about a foot tall and looked like a garden-variety wasp. A foot-long wasp would be the subject of horror films in my world, but this one, too, was critically injured. It was intelligent enough, at least, to communicate with me via thought, albeit haltingly.
1859
1860“…Why do you not flee? I have no way left to protect you. Forgive me,” the insectoid who attacked me muttered, resigned to its fate.
1861
1862The other guy must’ve been pretty smart, too. And even though the blade tiger almost killed it, it was using whatever strength remained to confront me. It seemed to be choosing to die a noble death, perhaps realizing that the time was near.
1863
1864“Strong one,” the wasp asked me, “you…protect us?”
1865
1866I couldn’t find it in me to just abandon them. Something about that beetle doing whatever it could, even near death, to protect its friend struck a chord. No reason why they couldn’t join the party—
1867
1868Then an idea hit me.
1869
1870“Hey, can you guys collect nectar or whatever?”
1871
1872“Yes… Can.”
1873
1874I figured they might be able to collect nectar from flowers, and they could. That provided all the reason I needed to lend them a helping hand. They both had lost around half of their bodies, so I lent them a few cells from my own slime form to treat them, using processed magisteel to replace the missing parts of their exoskeletons. That, plus a dose of healing potion, fixed them right up. I named the cool-looking beetle Zegion and the wasp Apito, and now they were my subjects, or pets, or something.
1875
1876The rarer plants I collected in the forest included those that would only bloom in special environments or places laden with magicules. Apparently such flowers bloomed readily in the treants’ settlement, however. I figured Apito, with its intelligence, could scope out those rarities for me and provide the nectar from them.
1877
1878Treyni was kind enough to give permission for this, so I ordered Zegion to keep the treants safe while Apito collected the treasure. It would then deliver the nectar spoils to me on regular occasions.
1879
1880
1881So along those lines, we were starting to find more and more friendly people to interact with. But they weren’t all friendly. Sometimes we’d get small gangs of lower-level magic-born sniffling around and spouting out classic hoodlum clichés like “Whoo, ha-ha! What a fancy-lookin’ town this is! We’re gonna treat it reeeeal good from now on!”
1882
1883Gobta’s or Rigur’s patrol teams were usually all it took to chase them off, but we’d occasionally run into monsters with some actual strength as well. Such lower-level species always met a tragic end before long.
1884
1885“Oh, uh, Shion? We’ve got some guests.”
1886
1887“Yes, Sir Rimuru!”
1888
1889The idea of talking things out never registered in Shion’s mind. She was much more a fan of duking things out. Really more of a bodyguard than a secretary, and she was harsher on her opponents than Gobta or Rigur ever were.
1890
1891It was the same thing every time, really—no matter how many lower-level magic-born gathered together, there was just no beating Shion. And when they were sniveling on the ground, begging for forgiveness, only then would Shion smile and ask “So how can I help you?” Even the most arrogant of them would never be seen in town again after that—and if they did, Shion wasn’t keen on second chances.
1892
1893Generally, I asked her to avoid killing if she was able to. Monsters were all about survival of the fittest, and a convincing show of strength would usually be enough to force them into obedience. Any wayward souls who couldn’t listen to reason and decided to be naughty a second or third time, though? Yeah, I gave her permission to execute them. I didn’t have time for monsters who couldn’t show regret for their actions.
1894
1895There were still a lot of folks out there who looked down on me for being a slime, weakest of all monsters. That, or called me soft for not killing my foes, no matter how much they dissed me. But I figured those stories would disappear pretty fast, in time.
1896
1897Soei, in particular, was even colder and more calculating than Shion; he tended to expel any would-be attackers only after introducing them to the meaning of fear. He told me he was busy building up a defense network for the town, but I think he was also doling out punishments for anyone who thought they could do whatever they wanted with us.
1898
1899At the moment, the forest’s native races were most likely testing us, trying to see what this new force in Jura could do. That’s why we were kind of obligated to puff out our chests a bit, so we could get everyone else to recognize us. We’ll gradually roll that out, and slowly but surely, we’ll make ourselves known.
1900
1901
1902So the city of Rimuru, in the heart of the Jura-Tempest Federation, was doing a pretty roaring business…but then we encountered a guest we weren’t expecting at all. My Magic Sense alerted me to a massive chunk of magic power flying our way—at a speed I could only call ridiculous.
1903
1904Oh, crap! In an instant, I jumped off Shion’s chest and headed outside the gate at a full clip. I was right to be concerned. The magic force changed its aerial trajectory and landed right in front of me. If it had gone inside town, I think we would’ve seen some substantial building damage. The nearby trees had been uprooted and blown away, and there was a crater on the ground where it landed.
1905
1906I instinctively realized there was no way I could handle this level of force. Steeling my resolve, I decided to observe my opponent. Just one look was enough to see that this was on a completely different dimension from anything I knew.
1907
1908A powerful will hid behind her blue eyes, and her platinum-pink hair was done up in a pair of pigtails. She looked around fourteen or fifteen, but there was no telling a magic-born’s age from external appearances—and with the overwhelming amount of magical power that she didn’t bother to hide, she couldn’t have been the age she seemed to be. She was wearing an outfit that left quite a bit of skin exposed, made out of some unknown material. And—more than anything—she was a beauty, the likes of which I may never have seen before.
1909
1910Before I could ask who she was, she arrogantly puffed out her chest (her breasts only barely developed). “Hello, hello! I am the demon lord Milim Nava. You look like the strongest hombre in town, so I wanted to come ’n’ say hi!” the beautiful and powerful girl declared.
1911
1912*
1913
1914A few minutes before, Milim the demon lord had spotted the town below her. It was a pretty place—neatly organized rows of buildings, attractive trees lining the city roads. It was a town that seemed to exist in perfect harmony with nature, and she could tell that several high-level magic-born, rated A or higher, lived there.
1915
1916The biggest surprise of all, however, was that even the rank-and-file residents of town were at least low-level magic-born people as well. Their magic potential varied, but they were all creatures with intelligence, thinking for themselves and carrying out the work assigned to them.
1917
1918Nothing like these people existed in the Forest of Jura before this point. Seeing such a settlement appear practically overnight would normally be unthinkable. They were all working together, regardless of their differences in strength. Milim couldn’t even imagine what kind of leadership skills were required to make them all follow that.
1919
1920It excited her like little had recently, and she used her truth-revealing Dragon’s Eye unique skill to gauge the abilities of people around town. Amazing, she admirably thought to herself. Unbelievably, nearly every single resident of the town was a named monster.
1921
1922No way—everybody here’s got names?!
1923
1924For the first time in several centuries, Milim felt a mixture of shock and excitement well forth from her heart. No way could she ever bother making something like this—giving away a portion of your own power came with the chance that you’d never get it back again. Any sane magic-born would never try something so hazardous. In a winner-takes-all world like this, there was nothing more distasteful to her than letting her own power flow away from her.
1925
1926Milim laughed a little. She was happy. This…! Good thing I dissuaded them all from coming here!
1927
1928The moment their summit ended, Milim was already out the door—but instinctively feeling she needed to lay a bit more groundwork, she had also engaged in direct discussions with two demon lords who might present problems. As negotiations went, it was pretty simple—don’t lay a finger on the forest, or else you’ll have Milim as your enemy—and they ended with a mutual agreement.
1929
1930Clayman, Carillon, and Frey—they were the younger generation. In Milim’s eyes, they could do whatever they wanted; she was sure she could overpower them if push came to shove. But there were a few demon lords that even Milim found to be a pain in the rear. That applied vice versa as well, however, so as long as she made an arrangement or two with them in advance, she didn’t have to worry about them meddling in her affairs.
1931
1932Now, she was happy she made the effort. She had a feeling she was about to meet somebody very special, and nobody was going to interrupt her. Let’s start, she thought, by tracking down this magic-born…
1933
1934
1935She had signed on to Clayman’s proposal for the same reason she always did: a way to pass the time. As long as Milim had breathed, the day-to-day grind was just a bore. Whenever some interesting offer came along, she always snapped it up. Whatever that disgusting low-level magic-born Gelmud was scheming, she didn’t care—Milim’s only motivation was to see how strong the resulting orc lord would become. If Gelmud raised it up to become a new demon lord, that was fine. Being around for the magic moment, she figured, would add some spice to the usual tedium.
1936
1937Gelmud failed, of course, and given the expectations Milim had heaped upon him, the letdown hit rather hard. But the images Clayman subsequently showed her were enough of a shock that the orc lord hardly mattered any longer.
1938
1939Her unique skill, Dragon’s Eye, allowed her to view the truth behind whatever she saw—something that worked even through Clayman’s crystal spheres. It wasn’t a complete picture, but it provided enough information to pique Milim’s interest. The mysterious magic-born fighting Gelmud possessed enough power to place it far beyond merely high level. Carillon and Clayman may not have spotted it, but there was no pulling the wool over her Dragon’s Eye.
1940
1941She also had a guess about who killed Gelmud—someone who then gained Gelmud’s power for their own, letting them evolve up to pretty much one step away from demon lord status. It must have been an awe-inspiring battle.
1942
1943…Wait. Maybe not. The orc lord would’ve only been able to evolve into a demon lord–level creature. This magic-born’s already far beyond that…
1944
1945And now she saw that, just as she figured, it was only the mystery magic-born who survived. She scanned the town from the skies, satisfied with herself.
1946
1947When did they even build a town like this?
1948
1949There were people maintaining the roads, people carrying around the chopped-up wood to and fro, monsters going in and out of construction sites. They were plainly building their own city.
1950
1951Milim’s own castle was made by human hands—the devotees who worshipped her as a goddess. It was built to function as a temple, and really, the people were nothing more than a bother to Milim, but they never interfered with her activities. To her, they were worthless—but to them, serving Milim had earned them a millennium of peace. Their lands were recognized to be Milim’s lands, and thus they were safe from anything up to and including a demon lord invasion. No demon lord complained about this; few even enjoyed the right to complain to her without consequences.
1952
1953But thanks to that, life among her believers had stagnated. They were drowning in serenity, and none dared challenge themselves to try new things. They just went on, generation to generation, gaining absolute bliss from serving Milim. A thousand-year-long morass.
1954
1955The townspeople here are a far cry from those boring old fools…
1956
1957She didn’t come here because she was searching for new people to worship her. She wanted some new stimulus, something to fend off the boredom. That was the only reason. If Clayman or Carillon wanted more war power, she was willing to hand it over once she was bored. She’d tyrannize the young demon lords, watch them stew in their own juices, and once she was satisfied, she’d think up some new game to play.
1958
1959That was her original plan…but the mystery magic-born was much stronger than any of the demon lords had guessed. She couldn’t just leave this guy be, and she was too old to have anyone tell her what to do. She could fight and kill them, or…
1960
1961Now the other young demon lords weren’t present in her mind at all. She had found him. The one with the demon lord–class powers in this town.
1962
1963Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! It really has grown to the point of a demon lord!!
1964
1965Then she plunged forward, eagerly awaiting her prey.
1966
1967*
1968
1969I somehow managed to avoid blurting “A demon lord?!” out loud. What was someone like her doing here?! I didn’t have to ask if she was real—the sheer force she exuded from her every pore was among the strongest I had ever seen. It was just as overwhelming as Veldora was. Plus… I mean, don’t these people send their underlings for jobs like these first? Or, like, one of the four sub-bosses? Something like that? I wanted to chide her but opted against it.
1970
1971How should I answer her, though…? I was in slime form, and I knew my aura wasn’t leaking out at all. I had grown used to controlling my magic lately, and I could hold it back to some extent without actively thinking about it. To the uninformed observer, I should’ve just looked like a wimpy li’l slime. I knew this because I created a copy of myself and ran Magic Sense on it; the only aura I released was what you’d see from a slime out in the woods somewhere.
1972
1973If this demon lord saw right through that, she was definitely not one to mess with. No point trying to deceive her. Either way, I had no offense I could hope to use on her. Better not to trip up and do something to anger her.
1974
1975“Well, good afternoon,” I said, eyeing her closely. “My name is Rimuru, and I am the leader of this town. I am impressed that you recognized this slime as the strongest presence here.”
1976
1977Actually, that might have been Hakuro. That’s what I thought, but there was no need to say it.
1978
1979“Hee-hee-hee! That’s kid stuff for someone like me. My Dragon’s Eye can measure all the magical energy people try to hide from me. Don’t try to play the fool around me, you!” she proudly boasted.
1980
1981She had her chest stuck way out to emphasize her magnificence, although her chest size was, shall we say, disappointing. You could tell from one look that they weren’t fully grown yet. The skimpy outfit made it even more impossible to hide. I, of course, was too mature an adult to mention that out loud. I’m not stupid enough to go dancing into an obvious minefield like that.
1982
1983But she had a skill kind of like my Analyze and Assess, huh? No point trying to hide anything, then. This was a tad dangerous. My own analysis revealed that she had a clear power advantage, and I’m sure her skill levels were far above mine.
1984
1985I couldn’t win. If we got in a fight, I didn’t think anything would work on her. I could string my skills together to keep things even and buy some time, but that’s about it. It made the Orc Disaster seem like a walk in the park.
1986
1987“By the way,” she continued, “is that how you really look? Was that silver-haired person I saw thrashing that bum Gelmud a transformation, then?”
1988
1989She knew about that fight? Either she heard about it from Soei, or somebody was watching us. I knew Gelmud was, but I didn’t even think that someone would be watching Gelmud, too. So his plans were leaked from the start, then—or Gelmud was nothing but another puppet, another character in the grand show. He did mention that he had demon lord backing—I thought he was just being a sore loser, but maybe he had some connections in high places after all. Someone at this level, for example.
1990
1991“Ah, did you mean this?” I said as I transformed. My mask was off; there was no need to conceal my aura.
1992
1993“Oooh, it was you! So you defeated the orc lord? I thought it consumed Gelmud and turned into a demon lord, kind of.”
1994
1995The demon lord Milim seemed to enjoy this news quite a lot. So she knew Gelmud was dead, but nothing past that, huh? Maybe I could hide the truth a little…but that still seemed dangerous. Honesty was probably the best policy.
1996
1997“Impressive! Yes, the orc lord evolved into an Orc Disaster, but…well, I fought it and beat it anyway, I guess. So…” I tried to change the subject. “Are you just here to say hello today, or could I help you out with something? You aren’t here to, say, take revenge for Gelmud, are you?”
1998
1999If she answered yes to that, we were doomed. But she didn’t look like the kind to resort to such pettiness. She might insist on me becoming her vassal in exchange for forgiveness, but that’s about it. There wasn’t much merit in rubbing us out right now, besides. Either way, though, I needed to figure out what she wanted, and how she intended to achieve it.
2000
2001“Mm? Help me? Um, I’m just sayin’ hi, but…”
2002
2003“……”
2004
2005“……”
2006
2007An awkward silence. The demon lord Milim and I stared at each other wordlessly for a bit. Then:
2008
2009“Prepare to die!!”
2010
2011With a shout, Shion slashed at the demon lord.
2012
2013All the force this demon lord exuded must have robbed Shion of her composure the moment she caught up to me. She was trying to attack first and gain the upper hand. She was accompanied by a lightning-fast black shade; Ranga, leaping out of a shadow on the ground, similarly lunged for Milim. It was a total surprise attack, timed such that even if one strike was parried, there would be no dealing with the next.
2014
2015Not against Milim, though.
2016
2017“Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Oh, did you want to play with me?”
2018
2019With a teasing laugh, Milim stopped Shion’s sword with her right hand, swinging her left arm as if to swat Ranga away. There was a high-pitched clang, like someone hammering at solid metal, and the sword was stopped cold. She took the longsword straight against her skin, and it didn’t hurt her at all. Ranga, meanwhile, was blown backward by an invisible shock wave, every hair on his body standing on end. I only realized after it was all over that her left-arm swat had unleashed a faster-than-sound shock wave.
2020
2021“Wh-whoa, wait, guys…?!”
2022
2023By the time I could tell them to stop, they were already making their next moves.
2024
2025“Not even a demon lord can escape from this restraining web.”
2026
2027Using Ranga as a distraction, Soei had used Demonwire Bind to capture Milim. Benimaru, meanwhile, was preparing to encase her in a Hellflare blast.
2028
2029“And now, the final blow. Burn to a crisp!”
2030
2031It was a merciless attack, one made with full knowledge that this was a demon lord. They put every ounce of energy they had into it. I imagine that was the ogres’ best idea for dealing with something like this. But…
2032
2033“Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha!! Impressive! If it was any demon lord except for me, I’m not sure that kind of attack would leave them unhurt. You might even be able to defeat them! But…”
2034
2035Her aura began to rapidly expand. Then, another shock wave, as if a volcano had just exploded on the spot. She hadn’t unleashed an attack or done anything, really—all she did was unleash the aura she had been keeping restrained.
2036
2037“…It won’t work on meeee!”
2038
2039In a moment, the web restraining Milim was shredded to fine pieces. She had her freedom back, and while it was a bit late to say this, the demon lord was just too much. Trying to use cheap tricks or overwhelm her with numbers was never going to work. As King Gazel of Dwargon put it, high-level magic-born were classified as calamity or hazard-class dangers. A demon lord was a disaster, and certain dragonoid types (like Veldora) were feared as “catastrophes.”
2040
2041Now I could see it for myself. This was a catastrophe. The demon lord before me had force like a howling storm of nature, something no human being could ever contest. One person, posing so much of a threat. What a nightmare—but it was our reality.
2042
2043So now what…?
2044
2045Right this moment, all four of my allies—Shion, Benimaru, Soei, and Ranga—were on the ground. Not dead, but certainly out of the battle. But Shion and Benimaru still found it in themselves to try to stand up, giving me a chance to flee.
2046
2047“Sir… Sir Rimuru… Please, run away…”
2048
2049“We can take…care of…”
2050
2051I knew it was impossible, and I knew escape wasn’t an option. Plus, I didn’t exactly have a lot of self-respect, but not even I could toss away my friends and run off by myself.
2052
2053“You just stay there and rest. I’ll handle this.”
2054
2055“B-but…”
2056
2057“If I give up, this is over, so I’ll do what I can, all right?” I shrugged. “Just don’t expect too much.”
2058
2059That seemed to calm them down a bit. There was no running away, and I had to give it a shot, at least.
2060
2061“Hohh?” The demon lord gave me a curious smile, beckoning to me with one hand. “You want to take me on? This is fun!”
2062
2063Well, sure, if you put it that way. If this is what it’s become, no point trying to be modest. Time to bluff and bluster my way out of this.
2064
2065“Of course, as far as I can tell, there’s only one attack that stands a chance of working against you at all.”
2066
2067“Oh?”
2068
2069“Think you have the confidence to try withstanding it?”
2070
2071I knew full well, frankly, that nothing I could do would win this. How should I put this…?
2072
2073
2074Understood. The measurable phase indicates a magical energy supply at least ten times greater than yours on the low end. On the high end, it is immeasurable.
2075
2076I suppose the Sage put it a lot better than I could. And one’s magicule count wasn’t everything, really, but being outclassed ten times over was a tad insurmountable. No wonder the ogres’ full-bore attacks didn’t work.
2077
2078So there’s just one strategy for me to try. If it was a given that none of my skills would work, I’ll just have to form a plan using the items I have on me. All this, of course, assumes that Milim falls for my prodding.
2079
2080“Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! All right. Sounds fun to me. But if it doesn’t work, promise me that you’ll become my servant, all right?”
2081
2082Ooh, there’s a stroke of luck. She’s even more generous than I thought. The fact she wasn’t going to kill us all despite our preemptive attack was a big win. We could just be her lackeys for life instead. That works.
2083
2084“Okay. You got it. But if it does, you’re gonna let my team here go unpunished, okay?”
2085
2086“All right. Let’s get this going already!”
2087
2088Accepting my challenge, Milim gave me an expectant look. I’d better live up to her expectations. With a kick against the ground, I ran with all my might toward her. Without removing my sword, I stormed straight toward her and created a small sphere of water in the palm of my hand. She looked on, full of curiosity, as I approached at full speed. She could tell exactly how I was moving, so I knew no underhanded tricks would work.
2089
2090“Take this!”
2091
2092“Mmmm…?!”
2093
2094I stopped right in front of the demon lord, then threw the sphere of water at her. She seemed breezily nonplussed by this, knowing full well this wasn’t much of an attack. That’s why she let it splash against her, uncontested…right on her mouth.
2095
2096This bit of water wasn’t an attack at all. It was just there to ensure the item I had for her didn’t spill out mid-delivery. Now it was just a matter of whether Milim took an interest in this item or not. Our entire fate rode on her reaction.
2097
2098“What… What is this…?! I’ve never eaten anything so delicious in my life!!”
2099
2100She shouted at the top of her lungs, clearly excited. Her cute little tongue was licking at the droplets stuck to her lips. Whew. Looks like victory is mine.
2101
2102“Heh-heh-heh! What’s wrong, demon lord?” I grinned as I conjured up another water sphere to show her. “Lay a hand on me, and the secret behind what I just treated you with will be lost and buried forever. But if you accept that I won, I’ll give you some more of that. Okay?”
2103
2104Milim’s eyes were fixated on the sphere, following it as I tossed it around in the air. She couldn’t have been more enthralled. I was starting to feel like I could talk my way out of this after all.
2105
2106This was actually some of the honey that Apito was collecting for me after I rescued it. I’d be lying if I said I thought it’d come in handy at a time like this—I just hid it on me because I wanted to eat it later. I hadn’t eaten anything sugary at all since coming to this world.
2107
2108I was finally able to enjoy some decent grub with this body, so I wanted to satisfy my sweet tooth next. But! Even when I asked Shuna, she said that sweets are considered mega-luxury items and you almost never run into any. The only way to taste anything sweet at all was, realistically speaking, by eating fruit. The western kingdoms and Eastern Empire apparently cultivated sugar, but only rarely did it leave their borders, and it’s at no price the average person could afford.
2109
2110Well, so be it. I turned my eyes toward honey first, figuring we’d start with something simple. Lucky thing I helped out Apito when I did, in that case. We were still in no shape to be mass-producing honey yet. I had to work hard to gain this small supply of it, so—as guilty as it made me feel about all the others—I was hiding it for myself.
2111
2112Meanwhile, the demon lord Milim was clearly at an impasse. I could see she was having an internal conflict, interspersed with “Nnnhh… But… But…” and other mutterings. Let’s be doubly sure about this. I tossed the sphere I was playing around with into my mouth.
2113
2114*
2115
2116“Mmmm, this is good!”
2117
2118“Ah!!”
2119
2120“Whew. Really good. Oops! I’m almost out.”
2121
2122“Whaaa?!”
2123
2124This is fun. She’s just like a child, ripe for getting picked on.
2125
2126“So you gonna admit that I won?”
2127
2128“…Wait. I have a suggestion.”
2129
2130“Let’s hear it.”
2131
2132“Call it a draw. How about we call it a draw this time?”
2133
2134“And what do I get out of agreeing to that?”
2135
2136“I’ll forget about everything that happened.”
2137
2138“Oh?”
2139
2140“That, that’s not all, either! I swear I won’t meddle with you guys at all! And you know, if you have any problems, you can talk to me about them, okay?!”
2141
2142I won!
2143
2144Her strength was overwhelming, but inside, she was every bit the kid that she looked like. Against a grown-up’s negotiation skills, she had no chance. Yep. Grown-ups play dirty.
2145
2146Of course, trying to extract anything else out of her would be dangerous. She was a catastrophe-class demon lord, and if I got on her bad side any further, I ran the risk of my town being turned into ash. I decided to play my hand before she changed her mind.
2147
2148“Sounds good to me. I accept. We’ll call it a draw, then.”
2149
2150I had a fair bit of inventory left, so I put a generous supply of honey into a jar and handed it to her. It wasn’t a fancy jar, misshapen and handmade from clay, but Milim still accepted it with a smile, scooping a bit up and sucking at it with gusto.
2151
2152The danger was gone. She was in a good mood, and the most unprecedented catastrophe to ever hit our town ended before it began.
2153
2154*
2155
2156I had just healed the ogres and started to head back into town when I realized that Milim was following me. Oh, brother. I thought I had talked my way out of this, so I assumed she would be going back home, but already my plans were failing.
2157
2158Holding the jar of honey drops carefully, the demon lord stuck right to my side in lockstep. Does she want more honey? I had a supply, but no intention of letting her have more of it. I didn’t want my portion to run away on me.
2159
2160“Hey,” she asked, sidling up to me as we walked. “Hey, have you ever thought about calling yourself a demon lord, or trying to become one?”
2161
2162What on earth is she going on about…?
2163
2164“Why would I want to put myself through that?” I asked.
2165
2166She gave me a genuinely perplexed look in response. “Huh? I mean… We’re talking about a demon lord, here! They’re really cool, you know? You kinda want to…look up to them, right?”
2167
2168“Nope.”
2169
2170“…Huh?”
2171
2172“Huh?”
2173
2174It appeared that Milim the demon lord and I saw things in very different ways. We looked at each other.
2175
2176“Well, lemme ask you this: Do you get anything good out of being a demon lord?”
2177
2178“Huh? Umm, well, all these strong guys seek you out to try to start fights. It’s fun!”
2179
2180“I’m already getting in enough fights now, thanks. Not interested.”
2181
2182“Whaaaa?! Well, how do you get your fun in life?”
2183
2184“Oh, all kinds of things. There’s practically too much for me to do, if anything. I only just got my hands on that honey a little bit ago. There’s lots of other stuff I want, too, so I really don’t have the time to be a demon lord. Or is there something to it besides fighting?”
2185
2186“No, but…you can act all big around humans and magic-born…?”
2187
2188“Isn’t that kind of boring?”
2189
2190The question caused Milim to make a face like she was just struck by lightning. I guess it was kind of boring. I was so on the mark that she had nothing to say.
2191
2192We were almost back at town again, and if she was that shocked about it, I kind of wished she would go away and leave me alone.
2193
2194“Well, I guess you know my story now. Be careful on your way back home, all right?”
2195
2196I thought that was a pretty smooth way to drop the hint. I was wrong.
2197
2198“Wait! Y-you…?! You’re doing stuff that’s more fun than being a demon lord? That’s not fair! It’s totally not fair! Now I’m angry. Tell me what it is! And let me join you, too!!”
2199
2200I did my best not to call her a spoiled brat to her face. She was a demon lord; riling her could have unexpected consequences. Really, just thinking of her as a child made dealing with her a cinch. Judging by our confrontation just a moment ago, it was super-easy as an adult to talk around her. You can’t try to read someone like this too deeply. Just work around her selfishness and nudge the conversation in your direction—that’s the real key to it, and along those lines, I was already treating Milim like the children of my relatives.
2201
2202“All right, all right. I’ll tell you. But on one condition. Can you start calling me Sir Rimuru from now on?”
2203
2204“What? No! You’re crazy! It should be the opposite. You need to call me Lady Milim! Don’t go bandying about my first name like that…”
2205
2206Oops. Maybe I got a little too cocky? She looks and acts like a child, but angering a walking potential catastrophe could be lethal.
2207
2208“Well, hang on a sec. We just drew our last fight. That’s fine, isn’t it?”
2209
2210“Nnngh…”
2211
2212“All right. Let’s do this. I’ll call you Milim, and you can just call me Rimuru. Sound good?”
2213
2214“Mmmmhh… Well, okay. I got it! I’ll allow you to call me just Milim. You better appreciate that, though! Only my demon lord friends are allowed that.”
2215
2216“Well, thanks. I guess we’re friends now, too, huh?”
2217
2218“Huh?!”
2219
2220Despite all the sparks, we had overcome our naming dispute. We’d just call each other by our own names—no honorifics or anything.
2221
2222“Okay, well, I’ll give you a tour of the city, but no wandering around by yourself, okay?”
2223
2224“Okay, Rimuru! Ee-hee-hee!”
2225
2226The demon lord Milim—just Milim to me—was being oddly cheerful.
2227
2228“Great. There’s a good girl. And no starting fights in town without my permission, either. Promise me?”
2229
2230“Of course! I promise, Rimuru!”
2231
2232So far, so good. Easier than I thought, even. I ought to be fine now.
2233
2234“…Well done, Sir Rimuru. Taming the wild demon lord so briskly…”
2235
2236“We should expect no less of Sir Rimuru!”
2237
2238“I will let Sir Rigurd know about this…and to take care not to anger the demon lord.”
2239
2240The feedback from the ogre mages seemed positive enough, too. No complaints, at least—and if they did have complaints, I thought as I guided Milim toward town, lodging them to a demon lord wouldn’t do much.
2241
2242
2243It seemed, by the way, that calling yourself a demon lord was a good way to make the other demon lords punish you. If you couldn’t prove your strength, they’d boot you right out of the club.
2244
2245Whew. That was a real close one. If I declared myself a demon lord, like Milim was semi-pushing me to do, I’d start to get watched by real demon lords. Not that Milim wasn’t one, but either way, I dodged a bullet without realizing it. Hearing that story afterward, I gave myself a mental pat on the back for refusing the bait.
2246
2247*
2248
2249I was showing Milim around town.
2250
2251It turned out to be much more laborious than I was expecting. If you’ve ever taken a young child to an amusement park, I think you can imagine how it was. Take your eyes off her for a moment, and she’s gone. It was exactly like that.
2252
2253“Hey! I told you to stop running off!”
2254
2255“Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! I’m over here! What’s this thing?!”
2256
2257“Listen to me! Just calm down and pay attention.”
2258
2259“Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! What’s the big deal? I’m listening!”
2260
2261She plainly wasn’t. She was running up and down the streets, her tension level so high that it honestly made me wonder about her.
2262
2263“Ah, Sir Rimuru!”
2264
2265Just inside town, we ran into Gabil, who was carrying a box.
2266
2267“What good timing. I am here because our test run is complete.”
2268
2269He may live to regret calling it “good” timing.
2270
2271“Oooh, a dragonewt! Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! That’s pretty rare. Doing okay?”
2272
2273“Well, well, here’s a new girl. Indeed, I am Gabil the dragonewt! As Sir Rimuru’s right-hand man, I have been tasked with the development of a secret potion. Are you new to town, too, li’l lady?”
2274
2275
2276—Snap!
2277
2278
2279“Huh? What did you just say? ‘Little lady’—you don’t mean me, do you? You want me to kill you?”
2280
2281She was all smiles a moment ago. Now, Milim was transformed. Guess she didn’t like what Gabil called her.
2282
2283Grabbing Gabil’s head with a single hand, the demon lord pulled it toward her, then planted a fist in his stomach. I had no time at all to stop her. With a pained exhalation, Gabil had been brought to the brink of death.
2284
2285Uh… Wait. What happened to her promise not to start a fight without my permission…?
2286
2287“Listen to me. I’m in a very good mood at the moment. That’s why I’m willing to forgive you now that I’ve done that…but not next time, so watch yourself, got it?”
2288
2289I don’t think she could’ve done much more than “that” without causing literal death. Some “forgiveness.” It was like she expertly judged the exact amount of force to bring Gabil up to—but not over—the cliff. This girl was fearsome! She probably used Dragon’s Eye to gauge the strike, but still, fearsome.
2290
2291Good thing Gabil was carrying a test run of our healing potion. We quickly used it on him. It worked.
2292
2293“Phahh?! I saw my father waving at me from across the river!” he shouted upon waking up.
2294
2295“Guess you’re fine, then,” I muttered, rolling my eyes. “Your father’s still alive, isn’t he?”
2296
2297“Er…oh, right. Many pardons. I really was rather close to death, however. Who is this girl—er, this esteemed lady before us…?”
2298
2299“Yeah, Soei’s informing Rigurd right now, but I guess nobody told you guys in the cave yet. This is Milim. I guess she’s a demon lord?”
2300
2301“H…uh? Whaaatt?! A demon lord?!”
2302
2303Gabil was so shocked, he looked ready to piss himself. I could understand why. I waited for him to compose himself, then explained that Milim would be staying in town for a little while.
2304
2305“I see… No wonder that was such a powerful punch. I suppose I should be glad to be alive…”
2306
2307“Yeah, well, she promised that she wouldn’t start any fights, so I doubt she’s aiming to kill anyone.”
2308
2309“Wah-ha-ha! Of course not! That was just my way of saying hi!”
2310
2311Hell of a way to do that. I guess I shouldn’t trust her on that promise too much. A little love tap from her would have life-altering consequences for any of us. I’d have to make sure everyone here is sufficiently warned.
2312
2313“I’ll head to the cave later, so let Vester know, too, all right?”
2314
2315“Yes sir.”
2316
2317Gabil bowed as he bounded off. Considering the punishment he just endured, he looked in pretty good shape. Maybe the potion was pretty potent, or maybe Gabil was really that tough, or maybe both. Milim gave him a broad, approving nod, waved, then turned to me like nothing had happened.
2318
2319“Wow, he’s pretty solidly built, huh? Maybe I oughta turn it up a notch next time?”
2320
2321Um, don’t ask me, I pleaded from the bottom of my heart.
2322
2323“Hey, um, you know you can’t start punching people just because you’re mad, okay?”
2324
2325“Hmm? It’s his fault for angering me. Plus, like I said, that’s just a form of greeting!”
2326
2327No, Milim. No, it’s not.
2328
2329“Well, I’m not gonna let you greet people with a boxing match, all right? No more of that!”
2330
2331“No? But I gotta show people a little force to start out, or else they’ll think I’m a pushover…”
2332
2333“I said, you can’t! I’ll tell everyone in town to treat you with respect, all right?”
2334
2335“You will? Well, great. I’ll leave that to you.”
2336
2337“Yeah, thanks. Just chill for now, okay?”
2338
2339That was about all I could warn her about at the moment. I had a feeling I’d need to gradually teach Milim some common sense over the next little while. It felt like the demon lord had a couple different triggers that enraged her—I’d just have to pray that Gabil was her first, and last, victim.
2340
2341
2342We continued our journey across town. It was almost dinnertime, when most people would wrap up their work and gather around outdoors, and I figured it was high time to introduce her.
2343
2344Soei had been nice enough to spread the word around town about our little tyrant, but it was probably safest to show her around and make sure everybody knew exactly what she looked like. I really doubted anyone was stupid enough to try to make a pass at her, but it paid to be doubly sure.
2345
2346I sent out the announcement for everyone to gather at the main square. They slowly filed in after finishing work, and once the square was filled up, I hopped up on the podium.
2347
2348“Umm, so starting today, we’ll have a new friend living with all of us. We’ll be treating her as an honored guest, so I’d like you all to treat her politely for me. She’s also promised to follow all the town rules, so if you see her violating any, please let me know.”
2349
2350I wasn’t willing to let a ton of things slide just because she was a demon lord…but given her violent force, figuring out how to lay down the law was a thorny question. I did make her promise to play nice to the general public, and she seemed confident that she’d stick to that.
2351
2352“Aren’t you worrying too much?” she said. “I always keep my promises!”
2353
2354I had my concerns about that, but I couldn’t just sit here and doubt her every move. I decided to trust in her.
2355
2356Next, Milim took the podium.
2357
2358“I’m Milim Nava,” she told the crowd, “and starting today, I’ll be living in this city. It’s good to meetcha!”
2359
2360Um, wait. What did she just say?!
2361
2362“Whoa, hang on. What do you mean, you’ll be living here?”
2363
2364“Um, that’s exactly what I mean. I’ve decided to live here, too.”
2365
2366“Wait, wait, wait. Don’t you already have someplace to live? Aren’t there people you have to worry about over there?”
2367
2368“Oh, they’ll be fine. I’ll just go home every now and then, and it’ll be no prob!”
2369
2370It’s a huge prob to me, you idiot! I had to mentally keep myself from screaming my thoughts at her. Well, whatever. She was a pretty flighty girl. Once she got bored of us, I was sure she’d be outta here.
2371
2372“Well, you heard her, so treat her well,” I said, defeatedly addressing the crowd.
2373
2374Milim was free to do as she pleased, and the residents generally seemed positive about the news—“What?! Lady Milim, the demon lord?!” “My stars, I’ve never seen her royal countenance in person before!” “Well done, Sir Rimuru! Striking such cordial relations with that tyrant!” “Ahh, it’ll be peaceful days for Tempest now!” And so on.
2375
2376The name of a demon lord had a lot of cachet around here, Milim’s in particular. Nobody accused her of being a fake, either—with my good word to back her, there was no room for doubt.
2377
2378“So just to make sure we’re clear, starting today… Well, Milim’s one of us. If she runs into any problems, I want you all to help her out.”
2379
2380“Yes! Rimuru and I are friends now, so if something comes up, I’m your girl!”
2381
2382I didn’t expect Milim to require help from any of us. If anything, we’d take the brunt of whatever drama she conjured up. That was what I meant from the statement, but that didn’t register with the demon lord. She took it straight, and I couldn’t deny her.
2383
2384Still…
2385
2386“Friends, huh…?”
2387
2388Was that really all right? Befriending a demon lord and all? I mean, in the short time we’d known each other, Milim seemed nice enough and all, but…
2389
2390The girl herself, perhaps picking up on my whisper, began to blush. “Yeah,” she said, “‘friends’ does sound kind of odd. Uhmm… Maybe not friends, so much as BFFs!”
2391
2392Um… BFFs? Milim, when did I give any indication that we were BFFs?
2393
2394“Er, BFFs?” I hesitantly asked.
2395
2396“Huh? Aren’t we?!”
2397
2398I could see the tears welling in Milim’s eyes already…but if anything, the hostile force in her already-balled fists came even more quickly. Crap!
2399
2400“Hee-hee-hee! Kidding, kidding! BFFs forever, man!”
2401
2402I quickly corrected myself. Now there’s a mine I almost planted my foot on. I was not gonna go down the same road as Gabil.
2403
2404“Right? Totally! You sure are good at scaring people!” Milim beamed at me, indicating I had made the right call.
2405
2406Too easy. Too easy, but still a tough one to handle. No letting my guard down any longer. This had been a real lesson for me. The land of Tempest had a new resident, and she was more dangerous than a warehouse full of powder kegs.
2407
2408*
2409
2410With her introduction over, we filed into the dining hall. Food was on the way, and today’s main dish was curry.
2411
2412To be honest, it was a dish that did its best to simulate curry. We had discovered a grass that resembled wild rice well enough, and we were in the midst of improving upon it right now. It wasn’t very nutritious at the moment, and it certainly didn’t taste great, but curry’s great at covering up stuff like that, so the results turned out pretty well. I had Shuna’s culinary gifts to thank for that. If we could figure out how to grow some honest-to-goodness white rice, I think it’d be a classic, but either way, this worked, too. We also had some ersatz Indian-style naan bread, so you could choose that instead.
2413
2414Cooking in this town was the result of a long trial-and-error process. We had a stockpile of recipes at this point, but without any sugar, recreating the dishes I knew on Earth was a challenge. I had monsters scouring the forest for anything that resembled sugarcane. There might be plants with sugar stored in the roots, like sugar beets or whatnot, so I’d been asking our patrols to come back with as many different types of plants as they could. A sample was all I needed to run Analyze and Assess, figure out what was inside, and—over time—extract real sugar from it.
2415
2416Milim certainly enjoyed the meal. I figured she had pretty childish tastes in food, too, so I asked Shuna to put some extra fruit juice in her curry to make it sweeter. Judging by the way she tore through her helping, I guess I made the right choice.
2417
2418“Wowwww!! I haven’t eaten anything this good in suuuch a long time!”
2419
2420Shuna smiled as she doled out a second serving. It was a darling little scene. One that was ruined by the bombshell Shion had for me.
2421
2422“By the way, Sir Rimuru, I had been wondering—what was that present you gave to Lady Milim outside of town?”
2423
2424Erk.
2425
2426Aw, geez, Shion, why’d you have to bring that up all of a sudden?
2427
2428“No! You can’t have any! That jar’s mine!”
2429
2430Milim immediately tucked her jar of honey drops out of view. Sheesh. She could’ve just tossed it into Spatial Storage, but noooo.
2431
2432“Oh, don’t worry, Lady Milim. Nobody’s thinking about taking your things at all,” Shuna said, smiling.
2433
2434Yeah, I’d hope not. Nobody was suicidal enough in town to try it. And the moment she realized her honey wasn’t in danger, she grinned and resumed her meal—so completely defenseless, one would begin to wonder how demon lord-ly she really was, if at all.
2435
2436Though Milim wasn’t really the problem. The problem was that people now knew about my secret honey stash.
2437
2438“You know,” Shuna continued, “I have been noticing a rather fragrant scent around here lately. I had thought it belonged to you, Lady Milim, but was that what Sir Rimuru gave you, perhaps—”
2439
2440Crap. I did not like her leading the witness like that. This was bad. Soei had his head turned aside, pretending not to be involved, but Benimaru was already giving all of us a curious look. There were six of us seated at the table: Benimaru, Soei, Milim, Shuna, Shion, and me. Shuna was the only one not there for my confrontation with Milim, so I couldn’t explain my way out of it.
2441
2442Ah, such was my fate, I guess. I was hoping to keep it under wraps until we could figure out how to mass-produce it, but oh well. I took out some honey from my pocket and filled a nearby cup with it.
2443
2444“Okay, well, this stuff is called honey. I got this as a substitute for sugar, but I can’t make very much of it yet, so I can’t give you all a supply.”
2445
2446I directed them all to scoop some up with their fingers and give it a try.
2447
2448“““Ah…?!”””
2449
2450The looks on the two females’ faces were of abject shock. Soei just raised a single eyebrow, but Benimaru was already looking at me expectantly, hoping for more. Milim, of course, scooped up a bit herself, not that I invited her to. You already have your own, you greedy brat!
2451
2452“So as you see, the honey tastes extremely sweet, but it also has a medicinal effect. In fact, it can cure almost any disease, but sometimes there can also be poison mixed in, so you need to be very careful extracting it. That’s not a problem if I’m doing it, but still.”
2453
2454“And you think we can make a larger amount?”
2455
2456“Not right now, no. I can produce maybe a single cup of this a week.” If I pushed Apito hard enough, we might be able to up that to three cups, but there was no pressing need to, so I let it slide. “I want to conduct more research into its makeup to evaluate it as a medicine, so there’s not a lot to spare for eating quite yet.”
2457
2458This wasn’t a lie. My Analyze and Assess skill told me that this was a special-grade panacea. The rarity of the plants we extracted it from no doubt meant it had all kinds of astonishing benefits.
2459
2460“Yes. The nectar we harvested from giant honeybee hives simply doesn’t compare to this. As a sweetener, it was fairly disappointing.”
2461
2462Shion nodded. She was always a font of information about stuff like that, even if it didn’t directly connect to cooking. And she was right—giant honeybee nectar was more poisonous than sugary, making it ill-suited for food. I figured I could analyze it and extract something decent from it, but taming giant honeybees sounded like pretty tricky business to me anyway.
2463
2464“If we could prepare a suitable garden for them and let that be their territory, I think we could get some pretty decent honey from them, though.”
2465
2466“You think?” Shion said, finally seeing things my way.
2467
2468“You said this could be a substitute for sugar,” Shuna asked, clearly curious. “Is sugar itself really this sweet?”
2469
2470I could see Milim’s and Shion’s ears perk up at the question.
2471
2472“It sure is. There’s no medicinal value, but it’s so sweet that people get literally addicted to it. You can use it in food, in drinks; all kinds of areas. We’ll be able to craft a great deal more food than before, once we have it,” I explained.
2473
2474“Ah… I see. In that case, I will have us devote all our efforts to discovering this sugar, starting tomorrow. Shion…”
2475
2476“Yes, Shuna. I promise you, I will stake my life on discovering this sweet plant for us all!”
2477
2478“Yes! Very good!”
2479
2480The three women gave one another firm nods. I wanted to ask why they’d stake their lives on this (and since when were they all best friends, too?), but it was fine for now. I took a final lick or two of the remaining honey, already assured that real sugar would be ours sooner than ever now.
2481
2482
2483With dinner wrapped up, I directed them all to the bath, my crowning achievement. The tub, made with the finest dwarven marble out there, was filled day and night to the brim with hot-spring water, ready to be used at any time.
2484
2485Milim had joined us, meekly following along behind Shuna and Shion. Normally, I’d nonchalantly hop in the bath with them all in slime form, but that definitely didn’t feel right today. She’d be happier alone with the other females, and besides, I would need to discuss things with the ogres whenever Milim wasn’t around.
2486
2487So I moved on to our meeting hall and gave a rundown of the day’s events to the people assembled there. “My goodness… I hardly know what to say. I never expected a demon lord to visit here on her own volition,” Rigurd said, shaking his head.
2488
2489I could understand his position. I had never pictured this happening, myself.
2490
2491“Well, I think it’ll be all right, though,” I said. “She’s promised not to start any fights in here, at least. Not without my permission.”
2492
2493I wasn’t exactly confident about that, but I had little choice but to trust her on that count.
2494
2495“Perhaps…but shouldn’t we be more worried about how the other demon lords will react?” Kaijin spoke up.
2496
2497Hakuro and Benimaru nodded at this.
2498
2499“How do you mean?” I honestly asked.
2500
2501“Well, there are multiple demon lords out there, and they all work under a convoluted system of checks and balances. You and Lady Milim just declared each other allies out in the public square, and that basically means this town’s under the protection of Milim the demon lord. And normally, I suppose, that would be incredibly desirable, but…”
2502
2503“…Sir Rimuru, you are leader of the Great Forest of Jura Alliance and ruler of the Jura-Tempest Federation,” Hakuro interjected. “I suppose the actions of today would seem, in the eyes of the other demon lords, to mean that the Forest of Jura has forged an alliance with Milim herself.”
2504
2505“Yes!” Benimaru added. “It means that Milim, who hardly has any subjects of her own, suddenly has a much larger force backing her up. It shakes the foundation of the current power balance among the demon lords. One wrong move, I fear, and the entire forest could become subject to a major war.”
2506
2507Hmm. Yes, I will admit to not thinking too deeply about it, but I suppose my decisions could wind up affecting the whole forest, huh? But… I mean…
2508
2509“Practically speaking, though, none of us could stop Lady Milim if we wanted to, could we?”
2510
2511Rigurd offered his opinion, and he was right. Even all of us at once would never have a chance. It left us with nothing but the most passive of approaches—waiting for her to grow bored and leave.
2512
2513“To be frank,” Benimaru said, “her strength is on a totally different dimension from any of us. There is no point even debating whether we could beat her or not. None of us would be alive now were it not for Sir Rimuru’s quick thinking.”
2514
2515“…Exactly. If other demon lords oppose her, I honestly like our chances against them more than her. Milim the demon lord is a walking catastrophe.”
2516
2517Soei nodded at his compatriot’s honest feelings.
2518
2519That largely settled it. There was nothing else to be done, and that was that. So how to handle Milim in the meantime…?
2520
2521“In that case, I vote that we should leave the day-to-day handling of Lady Milim to her…ah, BFF, Sir Rimuru. All in agreement?”
2522
2523“““Aye!!”””
2524
2525Wha?! Dammit, Benimaru! But by the time I had the thought, I was too late. I was used to tossing the ball to someone else most of the time—this time, they did the same to me.
2526
2527“Besides,” Hakuro said, “Lady Milim is one of the oldest and strongest of demon lords. A lord that we absolutely must not be hostile toward, one could say. For this issue, at least, I see little we can do besides let Sir Rimuru handle it.”
2528
2529Way to drive the stake in like that. I didn’t think she was that dangerous, but so be it. I sighed. Nobody else seemed to know how to curry Milim’s favor, and since I was apparently a genius at handling children, I suppose it was up to me to help out. We now had a silent, but steadfast, agreement that the demon lord Milim was my problem.
2530
2531
2532Milim was already looking drowsy by the time she left the bath. Apparently, she was beside herself with excitement—few baths large enough to swim in existed in this world, so I couldn’t blame her. Most people had to make do with quick dips in cold water, and even nobility had to be content with hot water in cramped little tubs, I was told. Assuming you lived in a rich enough nation to have dedicated baths at all, which wasn’t always the case.
2533
2534I was admittedly kind of picky about having this bath. Selfish of me, I know, but it had turned into a lovely facility. If people liked using it, I couldn’t be happier.
2535
2536I asked Shuna to lead Milim to a guest bedroom and put her to sleep. There weren’t any Western-style beds here, just pseudo-tatami mats and futon mattresses on the floor. I worried that she’d have some complaints about that, but it wound up not being an issue. She immediately fell asleep, looking snug as a bug.
2537
2538It was the demon lord’s first day and night in Tempest, and by and large, it could have turned out a lot worse. Of course, the whirlwind she was kicking up had only just begun.
2539
2540*
2541
2542We were busy as bees the next morning.
2543
2544First, waking up Milim at sunrise wasn’t easy… “Why does a demon lord have to wake up early?!” she grumbled.
2545
2546We managed to get her up and dressed. Her current outfit was just too exposed, so we prepared some other clothes for her the previous evening—just a quick outfit built from whatever we had around, but she was pretty enough that she looked just fine wearing anything.
2547
2548“This is hard to move in.”
2549
2550“Oh? Well, it looks nice. Isn’t that better for you?”
2551
2552I made a decent attempt to mollify her, and her mood instantly improved. No complaints there. Children can be so simple like that sometimes.
2553
2554Next up was breakfast. Something resembling bread, fruit jam, and milk—chilled cowdeer milk. I had been telling people about how good cow’s milk was, and this was close enough. That, plus some hot vegetable soup.
2555
2556The jam used fruit that had been boiled, cooled, and then sealed in chilled jars. It used no additional sugar, and I wasn’t wholly sure what kind of fruit it was, but it was Shuna’s homemade recipe and quite a bit sweeter than I expected. It was more sour than sweet to my palate, but in a world so lacking in sugary food, this was still a rare luxury. Most people in town just had bread and the remaining vegetable soup for breakfast, so the jam was more reserved for honored guests, so to speak.
2557
2558*
2559
2560“Wowwwww!! This is incredible!” Milim gushed as she ate. Glad she liked it. I watched her go as I thought over a few things.
2561
2562I didn’t particularly mind being the go-to guy for Milim-related issues, but should I really just be acting normal like this? Most of my work around town involved inspection—checking on construction sites, fields as they were being tilled, the weapon production workshop, our food storehouses. I’d discuss things with the supervisors of each location and nail down our future direction.
2563
2564If any trouble happened around town, I’d sometimes stop by to arbitrate. With all these races living in the same space, we needed rules in place that everybody had to follow. It was one thing when this was just a village or settlement, but we were now a federation with a population in the tens of thousands, and the rule of law was more important than ever. I didn’t have enough time in the day to enact a ton of laws by myself, so the town still ran on a lot of general guidelines more than anything. Thus, if there was a difference of opinion or some other dispute bubbling, I was left to make the final decision.
2565
2566Rigurd and the rest of my staff solved most issues for me, thankfully, so I didn’t hear about it unless it was something pretty serious. It seemed to me that this was on purpose—they made sure not to bother me about something unless it really was that important. It was surprising, seeing how well these monsters could cooperate with one another. I’m sure everyone had their complaints, but we now had a culture where, instead of acting out physically, people preferred to let me do the judging.
2567
2568For today, at least, there were none of those problems to tackle. When there was, I’d be contacted about it at least a week in advance, giving me time to listen to both sides and everyone else time to gather evidence and such. Which meant that the only planned appointment for today was a quick stop by Gabil’s place.
2569
2570I dared a quick glance at Milim. Would I be okay taking her into the cave? It was now filled with Vester’s valuable laboratory tools and experiments—a sort of federal research facility.
2571
2572Suddenly, I had a good idea. Milim still had only a patchwork outfit on. If her stay here would be extending a while longer, we’d need to prepare several outfits for her. Which meant—
2573
2574“Hey, Milim, once you’re done eating, you want to go get some clothes custom-made for you?”
2575
2576“Why? Isn’t this good enough?”
2577
2578“You’ll probably want more than one outfit. Besides, I think you’d look nice in something cuter anyway.”
2579
2580“What? You have cute clothes?!”
2581
2582“Sure. You can pick out whatever you like.”
2583
2584“Perfect! Ahh, I should have known, Rimuru! This town has everything!”
2585
2586The moment I brought it up, she was already dancing around in her seat. Perfect. That oughta buy me some time. Going into that gauntlet of a dress shop, it was easy to spend half a day without realizing it. I had experienced it for myself, being stuffed into outfit after outfit like a dress-up doll. Most of the designs were made for “fun” looks anyway, so I’m sure Milim would be able to find something she likes.
2587
2588“Oh, Lady Milim is choosing some clothes? I’d be happy to join her.”
2589
2590“Yeah, if you could, Shuna? I got an errand to run in the cave, so toss me a line with Thought Communication if something comes up.”
2591
2592“Certainly.”
2593
2594“Oh, you aren’t coming, Rimuru?”
2595
2596“Ah, um, I already have some clothes, so. I’ll come back to see you once you’re all set, Milim, so feel free to select whatever you like and have ’em tailor it to your size. You could even have some new clothes made for you.”
2597
2598“Ooh! Got it!”
2599
2600Great. That went well. The moment she heard the magic phrase new clothes, her interest immediately launched her in that direction. It oughta keep her from starting a riot or genocide in my absence for a while.
2601
2602She went off with Shuna to the production workshop after breakfast. Now I needed to get my own errand over with.
2603
2604*
2605
2606I headed for the Sealed Cave with Kaijin coming along.
2607
2608“Were you all right after yesterday?” I asked Gabil, who was waiting for me. He seemed fine to me, but a cheap shot from a demon lord could lead to all kinds of aftereffects.
2609
2610“No problem at all, sir!” he replied with a hearty laugh. “I am supremely confident in my body’s durability!”
2611
2612He certainly acted like always, too. I breathed a sigh of relief as Vester gingerly came up to me.
2613
2614“By the way, Sir Rimuru, I did file the report with King Gazel as well. I hope it was all right?”
2615
2616A report about Milim was what he meant. I asked him to send one off yesterday. Our pact with Dwargon did include language about providing whatever support we could if danger befell one of us, and this definitely counted. There wasn’t much Dwargon could do, really, but it’d be polite to at least let them know and prepare for the worst.
2617
2618“Not a problem. Did the communication crystal work all right?”
2619
2620“It did, yes. It connected me to King Gazel almost immediately. All I said to him was that the demon lord Milim attacked and that you handled it, Sir Rimuru, but was that good enough?”
2621
2622I could understand Vester’s concern. That terse report probably threw the Dwarven Kingdom into chaos, scrambling to collect whatever intel it could. Vester was probably being swamped with requests for more information.
2623
2624“Well, we talked it over last night, and it was decided that I’d be taking care of Milim. The only conclusion we came to was that, uh, there really ain’t much else we can do right now. I can’t do anything besides warn him, but I figured it’d be nice to do that, at least. If they have any bright ideas, I’d love to hear them.”
2625
2626“Yes, I am sure. The demon lord Milim is a class beyond all the others, as I understand…”
2627
2628“Quite,” Gabil added. “The strongest in the world, as far as I am aware.”
2629
2630Huh. Famous enough that even these two knew about her? Hakuro mentioned she was the oldest and strongest of demon lords as well, so Gabil couldn’t be lying.
2631
2632But maybe this was a good thing, depending on how you looked at it. If every demon lord was such a monster, then no way was I ever going to keep my promise to Shizu and slay her nemesis. Milim being such an exceptional force meant that hey, maybe I had half a chance at offing your run-of-the-mill demon lord after all. The thought lightened my spirits a little.
2633
2634The passiveness of our current approach notwithstanding, maybe we really would have better luck duking it out with the rest of them. On that point, at least, my staff agreed.
2635
2636
2637But there was no point in worrying all day. I had time to think about demon lord politics later. For now, I wanted to ask about healing potion.
2638
2639“Do you have your report, then?”
2640
2641Gabil nodded, then began explaining his current status with Vester.
2642
2643The potion from yesterday was apparently the newest that Vester had produced. Something quite different from the things he tried making using dwarven technology, as he put it.
2644
2645The potion I produced within myself was the result of a 99-percent extraction of hipokute herbs. Drink it, sprinkle it on someone—it worked great either way. Meanwhile, the dwarves could manage only 98-percent purity at best, and that single percentage point made a world of difference in performance.
2646
2647The official name for the magic elixir I had created was a Full Potion, one that could fully heal any type of injury or wound—even repair missing body parts, like arms and legs. There were a lot of ways to lose those in this world, whether they were bitten off by a monster or blown off by a magical blast, and this potion could fully rebuild them. Magic was the only word for it.
2648
2649According to the Great Sage, all this was possible because my potion could read genetic information from the body to regenerate limbs—as long as the subject wasn’t born that way, anything was healable.
2650
2651What dwarven technology could make, meanwhile, was called a High Potion. It was a first-class concoction, capable of healing even major injuries, but sometimes it couldn’t fully restore certain wounds—and it definitely couldn’t regenerate lost body parts all the time. I conjectured this was because the potion wasn’t quite pure enough to fully read all the bodily data it needed for that. It could handle most injuries but couldn’t quite push itself up to perfection—that was the difference.
2652
2653The hipokute we were growing in here was of the same quality as natural-grown plants. The best out there, in other words. So any difference in quality from the potions that resulted were purely the result of production issues.
2654
2655“Y’know, I’d think a High Potion would be good enough, most of the time…,” Kaijin said as he scratched his head. He had a point. Already, down here in this cave, they had replicated the best that the dwarves could do in their homeland.
2656
2657“Perhaps,” Vester replied, “but listen, Sir Kaijin: Once a scientist realizes there is something yet better to achieve, he refuses to make any compromise until he reaches it!”
2658
2659Once he knew what my potion could do, he wanted to achieve that for himself. Which led up to what we saw yesterday.
2660
2661“The potion used on me yesterday was in no way inferior to Sir Rimuru’s own potion. If I may be so presumptuous to say, I feel we have succeeded this time.” Even Gabil was confident in this batch of medicine.
2662
2663“Let me assess it,” I said, running Analyze and Assess on the vial presented to me.
2664
2665
2666Understood. This medicine is equivalent to a Full Potion.
2667
2668Oooh. Nice. Vester really made it.
2669
2670“Good job, Vester, This is definitely Full Potion, all right.”
2671
2672“Hohhh! I’ve done it!!”
2673
2674“Superb work, Sir Vester. I am grateful to have aided you.”
2675
2676“Yeah, not bad, Vester. I always thought you were best suited for research work like this.”
2677
2678As Vester was almost overcome with emotion, Gabil and Kaijin gave him their blessing.
2679
2680Man, I didn’t think he could really do it.
2681
2682“I couldn’t have done it without the hints you gave me, Sir Rimuru,” Vester said, turning to me. Geez. I didn’t really do anything. It was all the result of his efforts, so I didn’t want to unfairly take the credit. I just gave him my thoughts, that’s all. It didn’t seem to me that Vester’s work process was much different from the extraction I did within my own body. The quantities involved differed a fair bit, but I thought it odd that he saw so much more of a performance hit than I did.
2683
2684My reasoning was that it had something to do with the way the potion reacted to the atmosphere around it. The work space inside my stomach was a complete vacuum, free of impurities and the like, and I figured that let me perform the most complete extraction possible. The fact that even this produced only 99-percent purity, I chalked up to the resulting liquid being highly reactive to particles in the air.
2685
2686I explained this to Vester, and he took it seriously. It was just a passing idea on my part, but Vester believed in me and carried out the relevant experiments—and that, I guess, is what led to this Full Potion before me.
2687
2688Which was great and all. But you know, not everything about it was great.
2689
2690“I bet this could be a huge source of income for Tempest if we sold it, Kaijin. What do you think?”
2691
2692He thought it over a bit, then shook his head. “Ooh, that could be tough, boss. If anything, this stuff is too good. The purity level’s so high that it’s not something you can use on a whim, y’know? This kind of quality, maybe some hero-class adventurer would bring it along now and then…”
2693
2694Vester hmmed his agreement. “Quite true, I fear. I’m happy this resulted in the best quality you’ll ever find, but in terms of selling it? I’m not quite sure the market is prepared for it.”
2695
2696So what the hell were we making it for? I kept myself from interjecting. But thinking about it, maybe I was wrong this whole time. I thought we could make this potion kind of the town’s flagship product, but Vester and Gabil were picturing it more as a potion of last resort, so to speak.
2697
2698“Still, Sir Rimuru, there are not so many educated doctors in the Dwarven Kingdom. There are alchemists capable of mixing compounds together, but it is rare for someone to make his entire living off selling High Potions. The medicine you see in the markets is actually Low Potion, made by diluting High Potion with water. They just call it potion in the shops, however. Thus…”
2699
2700Vester had probably noticed my disappointment. Listening to him, it was actually rather simple. Naturally grown hipokute was a rare thing to find. You almost never saw it bought or sold in the marketplace. There were some benevolent botanists who cultivated it themselves, but even they could only harvest a very tiny amount of it. Along those lines, our mass-production project was a totally alien concept. That’s why even diluted potion was considered a rarity.
2701
2702Instead, Vester suggested this: “Perhaps we could negotiate with King Gazel to have them accept delivery of Low Potion from us for sale over there? I’d imagine he’d want us to take in those few medicine makers who work in the Dwarven Kingdom in exchange, but…”
2703
2704“Yeah, that might actually work, boss. If they leave the potion making and selling to us, they can just buy in whatever they need for their own purposes. That may account for a lot of the motive behind their technology-share request, actually.”
2705
2706Kaijin had a point, but that was fine by me. He and Vester began talking between themselves, figuring out how to best convince Gazel of the idea. It was hard to believe they came to blows not long ago, given how well they got along now. They must see eye to eye on a lot of things, deep down. Good thing, I thought.
2707
2708One Full Potion could apparently be diluted down to a hundred Low Potions. If this idea gained any steam, it could be a pretty lucrative source of income. But no great need to hurry. I didn’t want to hurt any of the Dwarven Kingdom’s vested interests. We’d have to work things out so we’d both benefit from the deal.
2709
2710So I decided to let the topic simmer for the time being and took my leave from the meeting.
2711
2712*
2713
2714The friendliness of our chat made me stay longer than anticipated. It was just a little bit into the afternoon, but I was sure the goblinas at the workshop were working their dress-up-doll magic on Milim, so I figured I better pick her up. Meals in Tempest were handed out in the morning and evening, but if she was up for it, I intended to get her something in between.
2715
2716The moment I stepped out of the magic circle, the fracas was under way.
2717
2718There was shouting, screaming, and a great pillar of fire coming from a plot of land near the center of town that hadn’t been built on yet. It was a pretty sordid-looking scene. There was no damage, thankfully, and no workers nearby got caught up in whatever it was.
2719
2720Soei, realizing I was there, sidled up to me.
2721
2722“What happened?”
2723
2724“Well…”
2725
2726He gave me a quick rundown, although once I reached the site, I found it easy enough to figure out for myself. While I was off to the cave, the town had another visitor—one who was positively livid with Milim.
2727
2728I was guided to the center of it, where I found Shuna, Shion, Benimaru, Hakuro, and Rigurd with a few other hobgoblins. Rigurd was sporting a heavy bruise on his face; someone must have hit him.
2729
2730“What’s up, Rigurd? You all right?”
2731
2732“Ah, Sir Rimuru! This much is nothing to me!”
2733
2734That was just an act; the damage was obviously fairly serious. I handed him some potion and turned toward where everyone else was watching.
2735
2736“Did he get you?”
2737
2738“Yes, my lord…?”
2739
2740I didn’t need to check, but I did anyway. There was a dark-haired magic-born on the ground, apparently struck by Milim as well. His face was twisted in pain, his tongue sticking out of his bloodstained mouth. He seemed alive, but motionless, his eyes rolling into his skull. Around him were his entourage of underlings, frozen stiff and too thrown by this state of affairs to know what to do.
2741
2742The fallen magic-born was wearing a fancy-looking outfit, dyed in black, and some rather expensive-looking armor.
2743
2744According to Soei’s report, he identified himself as working for the demon lord Carillon, and Soei had hurried to the scene after the intruder set off his alert network, only to find this magic-born and his group coming down to the vacant lot from the heavens.
2745
2746Rigurd handled them first since I was away, and things came to a boil pretty quickly afterward. Before Soei could even grasp the situation and report to me about it, everything was already done with. “I apologize for failing to inform you earlier,” he said to me, but I couldn’t find much fault with him.
2747
2748First, the magic-born had begun by taking a self-guided tour of the city, going around like a would-be conqueror. This was when Rigurd had shown up, and the magic-born had this to say to him: “I am Phobio! The Black Leopard Fang! One of Lord Carillon’s Three Lycanthropeers, and the strongest of all in the Beast Master’s Warrior Alliance! What a fine town this is—truly one worthy of falling under the rule of the Beast Master himself, wouldn’t you agree?”
2749
2750“Surely you jest—” was all Rigurd had managed before getting punched out without further comment. The visitor did not use his full strength, keeping the injury merely serious instead of critical. Soei judged him to be a formidably strong magic-born, and as he put it, a full-power strike could have killed Rigurd on the spot. Kind of hard to imagine, given how frozen and helpless he was now, but still.
2751
2752But why was he on the ground? Simple.
2753
2754Spotting the presence of the Black Leopard Fang Phobio or whatever, Milim flew in, saw that Rigurd was down, and got angry. Phobio hurriedly responded with a skill he called Panther Fang Explosive Chop, although nobody knew what it was supposed to be—it seems Milim’s force of will deflected it and sent it hurtling into the sky.
2755
2756That was the pillar of flame I saw, and the fallout from that singed the cute dress she had just put on. No longer able to contain her rage, Milim plunged her fist into Phobio’s stomach, which brings us to the current scene before me.
2757
2758So now what…?
2759
2760“Ah, Rimuru! This freak was acting like he was the big boss around here, so I put him back in his place!”
2761
2762Now Milim noticed me, and she was evidently proud of herself. Fishing for compliments. Should I take the bait? He started it, yes, but I didn’t want to spark a conflict with another demon lord quite yet. I had never heard the name Carillon before, and I had no idea what kind of force he had, even. But we just decked one of his men, and we couldn’t say we weren’t involved anymore.
2763
2764I swear. Take your eyes off her for a moment—and all these headaches she gives me.
2765
2766“…Didn’t you promise me you wouldn’t cause a ruckus without my permission?”
2767
2768“Geh?! Um, I, erm… This, this is different! He’s not from this town, so it’s all right! Really!”
2769
2770“No, it’s not! Still, you did help keep Rigurd safe. We’ll just say no lunch for you today and call it even—”
2771
2772“You’re mean! That’s so mean! Waaahhhh!”
2773
2774Well, that’s what you get for bothering me when I was just thinking about lunch. I didn’t need to eat anyway, and Milim must have been the same. What a glutton of a demon lord.
2775
2776“Dammit, this is all his fault! And that Carillon, breaking his promise like that… What a scoundrel! One shot’s not enough—let me hit him again…”
2777
2778“Wait, wait, wait!”
2779
2780I had to spring over to keep her from punching Phobio again. His men turned white as a sheet of paper, terrified at her brutality.
2781
2782“Look, how about we go somewhere else?” I pleaded to the bawling Milim.
2783
2784This was really turning into a travesty, so I decided to try talking this out away from the carnage.
2785
2786*
2787
2788We were back in the old meeting hall. They had just finished taking Milim’s measurements and were preparing something new for her when all this happened, so her outfit was quickly replaced.
2789
2790I didn’t want to spoil her, but we wound up serving her lunch anyway. This was partly because she had revealed a couple curious things during her wailing, and I wanted to follow up on that. She happily nibbled on her sandwich, once again in a good mood, so everything was fine with me.
2791
2792The hall was draped in tension, though. Milim was about the only one unaffected by it. She definitely earned the “demon” part of her name, catching trouble the moment I wasn’t around. Perhaps this would’ve happened even if Milim weren’t here, but it wouldn’t have gotten so complicated this quickly.
2793
2794…Well, no point dwelling on the past. The future was more important.
2795
2796“So what are you all here for?” I said as I sized up the now-awake Phobio.
2797
2798“Hmph! And I have to reply to you lowly would-be magic-born?”
2799
2800Benimaru and Shion immediately glared at him. I motioned them to stay cool, and they reluctantly stayed there, watching things unfold.
2801
2802It was just Rigurd, Benimaru, Shion, and me, along with Milim. Phobio had three of his own troops with him; we hadn’t restrained him or anything, which could be why he was giving us so much attitude. I figured I’d try to outclass him, tossing in a bluff or two for good measure.
2803
2804“Call me lowly if you want, but I’m definitely stronger than you. Also, I’d advise you to just give me some answers. I don’t know this Carillon guy, but depending on how you act around me, maybe he’s gonna have to answer to us before long, okay? Think you’re ready to make enemies with the entire Forest of Jura?”
2805
2806“Ha! Well, look at you! The most self-important slime in the world, eh? And this entire town carries out the orders of such a base creature? What a bunch of wimps you must have here. And just because Lady Milim likes you a little, don’t let that get to your head, boy.”
2807
2808Magic-born, just like monsters, tended to flock to whoever was strongest around them. Reacting to all these barbs would do nothing but tire me out. Certainly, this guy was tough—one of the Three Lycanthropeers, the so-called Black Leopard Fang, whatever. And even without all that bluster, I could tell he boasted a fair amount of magical energy. Maybe no match at all for Milim, but likely stronger than Benimaru or Shion. Even I would’ve had trouble a bit ago, although not with the Orc Disaster stored in my Stomach now.
2809
2810This was a powerful magic-born, one worthy of being categorized as a sub–demon lord. I was fairly sure I was stronger, but I was in no hurry to test that out. It’d just make things harder, and winning would accomplish nothing. It may even earn me the ire of this Carillon guy; we could seriously be at war soon. I wanted to avoid that, so I had to exercise my social skills to extract some info from him.
2811
2812“A base creature?” Milim, done with her sandwich, raised her voice again. “You think you can pick on my friend like that?”
2813
2814She was more than an ammo dump; she was explosive all by herself. Before I could even begin the conversation, I had a premonition she had ruined everything. But I was getting the hang of dealing with her. Lure her in with food, and she was easy to soothe.
2815
2816“Hang on, Milim. If you do anything else, I’m seriously taking dinner away from you, okay?”
2817
2818“O-okay. I’ll be good, I promise.”
2819
2820Great. With that squared away, it was time to start the investigation.
2821
2822“Well. First off, you’re right; I am a slime. But I’m a slime that rules over thirty percent of this forest, and if you’re rarin’ for war, then I’m willing to accept that. So I’d advise being careful in how you respond to me.”
2823
2824I mixed a little Coercion in with my subsequent questions. The answers came surprisingly more readily than I thought. Milim’s threats must have hit home, after all—probably not my Coercion, sadly, but at least I got what I wanted out of him.
2825
2826The pouting, sullen answers could be summed up as follows: The demon lord Carillon had ordered him to try to scout either the orc lord or the mystery magic-born that fought him, whichever had survived. The magic-born referred to us, apparently, which suggested that the demon lord backup Gelmud had hinted at wasn’t Milim after all.
2827
2828I didn’t think multiple demon lords were involved with this, but thinking about it, I doubted Milim would bother with such a convoluted plan anyway. It was more natural to assume someone else was behind it.
2829
2830Getting back to the subject, whoever won the fight between the orc lord and his foe was likely going to be an incredibly strong foe, so Carillon sent the Black Leopard Fang Phobio, a sub–demon lord in his own right, to check it out. Carillon had a good eye for that kind of thing, apparently, but Phobio was just too much of a moron for the job. If the demon lord wanted me on his side, he should’ve sent a more intelligent magic-born, one who could bargain with me and put an enticing offer on the table.
2831
2832“Carillonnnnn… Breaking our promise not to get in each other’s way…” Milim was stewing next to me. Phobio, meanwhile, averted his eyes, as if afraid of her.
2833
2834The proud sub–demon lord was just a pale imitation next to a real one. Feeling her seething next to me, I reasoned that just about anyone who came here would’ve wound up the same way. I’d definitely need to ask her about that promise later, too; that sounded important.
2835
2836
2837Now that we had gotten everything out of Phobio, I asked him to take his leave.
2838
2839Milim’s presence meant that Phobio had no power here, so he glared at the two of us, barked out “You will regret this!” and took his crew out of the city. I told him to relay a message to Carillon, telling him to contact me at a later date if he wanted to negotiate with us, but I doubted he’d ever receive it. When I left that job to Phobio, I knew he’d only provide whatever info made him look good. It’d be better for him to tell the truth, given how his mission was a failure and all, but that was Phobio’s business.
2840
2841I’d better get as much info as I can from Milim about this Carillon’s personality and other traits, so I can be ready to deal with whatever he’s got. But how to bring up the topic…?
2842
2843“All right, Milim. I’d like some more details.”
2844
2845“I can’t let you do that! We made a promise that we wouldn’t meddle with each other, so I can’t even tell you, Rimuru.”
2846
2847Ah, thanks for revealing you’ve got a secret, then. Now we had a grown-up and a child trying to outwit each other—and honestly, I liked my chances.
2848
2849“Oh no? Was this a promise that you’d keep things a secret from each other?”
2850
2851“—No, nothing like that. Just not to meddle—”
2852
2853“No? Well, it’s fine, then, isn’t it? I mean, Carillon’s obviously told his minions all about you, huh, Milim? Besides, we’re BFFs, and we gotta help each other out, y’know? And I just figured, I better know what I can about demon lords besides you, Milim. Plus, if I don’t know what kind of promise you made, how can I make sure I don’t accidentally start meddling, huh?” I put a special emphasis on BFFs.
2854
2855“Yeah…but…BFFs…”
2856
2857Just one more push. I decided to offer a toy to cheer her up.
2858
2859“Oh, right— How about I make you a weapon sometime? I can’t help but worry about my BFF, so…”
2860
2861“Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! You’re right! Being BFFs is the most important thing, huh?”
2862
2863And down goes Milim. Just way too easy.
2864
2865I kept my lips from spreading into a maniacal grin as I nodded with the breezy confidence of a grown-up.
2866
2867
2868So I successfully extracted what I wanted from Milim—information on three other demon lords besides her, and what they all wanted; what happened just now; and what was happening behind the scenes. Quite a bit about the mysteries I was concerned about.
2869
2870But—wow. Demon lords, trying to create a puppet demon lord of their own… Milim was in on it just to alleviate her boredom, but this was a pretty serious operation, wasn’t it? And if I’m getting in the way of it, then no wonder they’re after us.
2871
2872“This…will soon involve other demon lords, will it not, Sir Rimuru?”
2873
2874“A sordid state of affairs. We had best bring this up with Treyni at once.”
2875
2876“Not a problem! With Sir Rimuru at our side, we have nothing to fear from any of the demon lords!”
2877
2878All of us (save one) were holding our heads at this disaster.
2879
2880
2881The gale that blew in with Milim’s attack was growing in strength, and it was creeping ever closer to Tempest.
2882
2883
2884
2885
2886CHAPTER 3
2887
2888THE CONGREGATION
2889
2890
2891The Kingdom of Farmus was a vast nation, a sort of front door leading to the assorted nations to the west.
2892
2893These nations had no direct ties to the Eastern Empire. Instead of official relations, they had powerful merchants who took it personally upon themselves to distribute in-demand goods between the two lands. Most of this informal trade went through the Armed Nation of Dwargon, which (publicly, at least) was neutral and thus gave their tacit consent to the goods going to and fro between them.
2894
2895Part of Farmus’s territory was adjacent to the Dwarven Kingdom, meaning that anyone who lived in one of the so-called Western Nations would have to go through Farmus to reach Dwargon. That is, unless they were willing to brave a path through the Forest of Jura. The Farmus path was far safer and more monster-free, and even with the tariffs and fees applied, it still resulted in a more profitable journey. No merchant in their right mind would opt out of it.
2896
2897This all meant that not only rare Eastern Empire goods but also high-quality dwarven weapons and armor could be obtained by the Western Nations through the informal trade market with Farmus. It had made Farmus’s capital of Marris a well-funded and burgeoning trade city, home to people from all over the world, and earned it the nickname of the “front door” to the west. It also meant the kingdom’s coffers were full to overflowing, both from the taxes charged to traders and the revenues from the more well-heeled merchants, paid in exchange for assorted services.
2898
2899Among the nations of the west, it was certainly either the richest or very close to it.
2900
2901*
2902
2903Nidol Migam, Earl of Migam, was indignant.
2904
2905Farmus was, indeed, a rich kingdom, but so much power was tipped toward its central government that practically none of those riches reached the nobility tasked with running its more remote regions. Redistribution of wealth was an alien concept around here, and the earldom of Migam never seemed to see any relief from the taxes they were expected to collect from their citizens.
2906
2907As with other nations, they were taxed based on their agricultural harvests—and yet, they were also charged with defending their borders against the threats posted by the forest. That was the current source of the Earl of Migam’s indignation.
2908
2909“Have you ever heard something so ridiculous?” he spat out, recalling what the finance minister had just told him. Simply remembering it made his blood boil: The Storm Dragon has vanished, and thus, the central government’s special support payments will be ending, as of today. And that was that—no back talk allowed. After being summoned to the capital. After being forced to wait for three hours.
2910
2911That stipend had been a huge aid to them, certainly. The earl’s lands went right up to the Forest of Jura, making it a keystone of Farmus’s border defense. But that wasn’t just Migam’s problem. It was a problem that loomed over the entire country.
2912
2913“And yet…of all the patronizing things they could have done…!”
2914
2915Nidol was so angry, he couldn’t help but verbalize his thoughts. There was too much to consider. He had to think about how he would keep the earldom going.
2916
2917
2918Sealed away or not, Veldora the Storm Dragon was a special S-ranked monster and thus ignored at one’s own peril. With the disappearance now public knowledge, it was perhaps understandable that such “special”—i.e., provisional—support payments no longer made sense.
2919
2920But the timing couldn’t have been worse. The Storm Dragon was just as much a threat to the monsters, too—and no more dragon meant no more overlord to keep them in check. They needed to strengthen their border forces, if anything, for all the new monster activity—and then they lost their budget for it.
2921
2922That, in a nutshell, was what angered Nidol at the moment.
2923
2924
2925The government might have a point, but to the Earl of Migam, that didn’t matter.
2926
2927How do I protect my land now…?
2928
2929Mercenaries cost money. Adventurers from the Free Guild couldn’t be trusted, when push came to shove. Now was exactly when the government should be extending a lifeline to him. They were talentless fools, completely failing to grasp the situation.
2930
2931If, heaven forbid, Nidol Migam’s lands were swallowed up by hordes of monsters, it’d cost Farmus all the trust placed upon it by neighboring countries and large-scale merchants. It would be the government that would pay the price for that, and right this minute, it was setting itself up for doom.
2932
2933The earl continued to curse his superiors under his breath. None of this was his own responsibility. He knew that, but still…
2934
2935He sighed in his wagon, his mind a tad more settled. No one left but the royal family to press upon… He recalled the face of the king. It filled him with despair. The sheer avarice of that man would never allow him to care about the fate of some patch of frontier land. It would be blasphemy to say that out loud, but those were Nidol’s honest feelings.
2936
2937Without the pretext of the Storm Dragon to prop him up, the Earl of Migam might be forced to raise taxes, even.
2938
2939His territory bordered only two other areas: Central Farmus and the forest. There was no reason to prepare for invasion from other countries, and thus no need for a permanent standing army. The earl’s territorial force, tasked with driving off monsters and magical beasts, numbered no more than a hundred or so knights.
2940
2941The number made Nidol wince.
2942
2943Technically speaking, the earl had been taking the special stipend and pocketing it. The payments were meant to keep up strict patrols across the border with the Forest of Jura, but in this far-off region with no need for a large army, all they had to worry about was handling monsters. With the rise of the Free Guild over the past decade or so, too, the costs of dispatching monsters had gone down a great deal.
2944
2945Thus, this whole disaster was something of a comeuppance for the earl himself, payback for failing to enact the measures he should have. He was aware of that, but it was still a bitter pill for Nidol to swallow.
2946
2947
2948It all began with a missive from the Western Holy Church. The official announcement that the Storm Dragon had vanished came via magic courier, and it forced the Earl of Migam to take action.
2949
2950The Western Holy Church was the state religion of the Holy Empire of Lubelius. It worshipped a single god, Luminus, as its absolute deity, and served as the headquarters of what was generally the largest religion practiced across the Western Nations. This broad faith was for good reason—there were paladins within their armies, holy knights who each boasted A-ranked powers and beyond, and they were trusted and revered as reliable experts in the slaying of monsters.
2951
2952The Church’s central creed revolved around eradicating monsters from the world, and thus whenever a smaller nation had an issue with such creatures it couldn’t handle alone, the Church would send Crusader paladin forces to aid them.
2953
2954Such a virtuous organization, working for the good of the faithful, would never send false information to its people. The Church was already alerting him about monsters growing more active in the forest—it had to be true, Nidol concluded. So he reluctantly sought to reinforce his own force of knights. A hundred would be enough to simply patrol the forest, but should the monsters fall out of control, being unprepared for it would be a problem. His knights needed to stay in place—that was his conclusion.
2955
2956So citing emergency provisions, he called in retired knights and the like, successfully beefing up his force to three times its original size. But that still didn’t quell his fears. It would take at least ten years, he thought, for a new pecking order to make itself known among the monsters. Relying on retired knights to weather that long, long decade would be tough.
2957
2958Requisitioning Free Guild adventurers would place pressure on his financial affairs. Calling for an emergency draft was a last resort. For now, he would have to hope for a healthy crew of volunteers.
2959
2960The adventurers would gladly take up a monster-slaying role around the forest, but that came at a price—a price that ballooned depending on the danger rank awarded. Having them permanently stationed in Migam was out of the question, but if the worst happened, he still needed to consider tapping their resources. He had already used up most of the government’s special stipend, but his earldom was not facing a financial crisis yet—for the most part, those funds went toward his personal entertainment anyway.
2961
2962Right now, while the retirees were back on the force, Nidol figured he needed to raise a new generation of young knights at once. It was, he imagined, the best measure he could take at the moment. So he funneled all future special stipend funds into the force, along with some of his own money—no point scrimping now.
2963
2964And it seemed to work. Over time, it seemed like it would all come together. And then the central government summoned him and took his funding away. Who could blame Nidol for losing his temper? Not that being a lazy, embezzling ruler would earn him much sympathy…
2965
2966In his wagon, as he returned home, Nidol continuously racked his brain, figuring out what he should do next. His mind was full of financial issues. There was no more space in it for the even thornier problems awaiting him soon enough.
2967
2968*
2969
2970Upon arriving back at his own earldom, the Earl of Migam was greeted by a request from Franz, the local guild master, for a meeting. The earl agreed to it, wanting to discuss how to defend the land going forward, and they arranged a conference the following day.
2971
2972The guild master was practically breathing down his neck, pleading that now was no time to act slowly. Franz was usually a calm, even-minded leader, and seeing him in such a lather was a concern. It made Nidol fear the worst, so he ignored the usual procedure and immediately gave permission for the meeting.
2973
2974“This is an unverified report, but it is said that an orc lord has appeared.” The next day, Franz offered only a brief hello and told him.
2975
2976“…What did you say? An orc lord?! And what do you mean, unverified?”
2977
2978It almost made the good earl faint on the spot. This was a serious crisis, and only his rage kept him going as he confronted Franz.
2979
2980
2981Unperturbed, Franz continued his report, stating that adventurers from the kingdom of Blumund had heard rumors of the orc lord.
2982
2983“I would like your help in gauging the nature of this threat. To be exact, I would like you to send out an exploratory force for us.”
2984
2985There was nothing unusual about this request from the serene guild master to the half-hysterical earl. The Free Guild was not a charity, and it was unaffiliated with any government. They existed in cooperation with, but not within the framework of, the earldom.
2986
2987“If you would like us to handle this investigation, we could accept that, at a special emergency price…”
2988
2989“Silence! You money-grubbing weasel!!”
2990
2991Look who’s talking, Franz thought, remaining silently composed. He knew the matter needed looking into either way. Franz had a duty to keep his guild members safe; he wasn’t going to expose them to dangerous missions without a suitable reward.
2992
2993Normally, monster-hunting requests like this would need to follow a certain procedure. A town or village would file an official request, providing all the relevant information to the Free Guild. The guild would then use eyewitness accounts and the like to assign a danger level to the monster (or monsters) in question, sometimes sending appropriate personnel to further examine the issue.
2994
2995Guild regulations dictated that for particularly dicey jobs, pre-evaluation was even more vital to ensure the right rank was assigned. If you wanted a monster slain, you needed several adventurers (guild rules stated three or more) of similar level or higher to tackle it.
2996
2997Promotions were awarded to members based on their ability to defeat a given target one-on-one, but based on safety considerations, such duels were not the norm during guild business. This was because even if a group of adventurers went against a monster, if the level disparity was significant, they would most likely be wiped out—or at best, eke out a victory at the cost of several deaths and severe injuries to the survivors.
2998
2999This all meant that Franz couldn’t just throw a posse of brave men and women at a monster the moment it was spotted.
3000
3001Normally, they’d have the time to take a more gradual approach—but they were being swamped. Monsters were showing up more and more frequently lately. The time lag between taking a request, sending people out to handle it, and coming back was turning into a problem. There were starting not to be enough adventurers to go around.
3002
3003They needed some kind of organization that could patrol the villages, tasked with handling monster duties without having to file a formal request. And they didn’t have that, so instead, Franz asked the earl for more intel. It was all perfectly normal.
3004
3005
3006Having this situation so politely and thoroughly laid out for him made the earl fall into silence.
3007
3008He didn’t want to deploy his own knights to keep his own town safe, but he couldn’t just leave the countryside villages to fend for themselves. As long as they paid taxes, the earl had a duty to protect them all—even as it squeezed the noose tighter around his neck. Franz’s guidance was perfectly logical, and Nidol could mount no objections to it. This lack of guild personnel was likely the reason Franz requested this meeting in the first place.
3009
3010And what about that orc lord? This beast of a monster that consumes everything it comes across? That was nothing to ignore, either. He would have to file a full report with the central government and ask for reinforcements—and as a result, gathering more information was job one. Reliable intelligence was the only thing that would make that bureaucracy take action.
3011
3012So an investigation was a must—and an urgent one.
3013
3014“And another thing, I have another unidentified report, and one I find rather difficult to relay to you…” Franz’s voice was grave as the Earl of Migam fretted over what to do with the expeditionary force.
3015
3016His face was embittered enough to make the earl fear the worst.
3017
3018“Enough bluster. Give it to me.”
3019
3020“My pardons, sir. The orc lord’s armies reportedly—”
3021
3022“His armies?! He’s already built up that much of a force?!”
3023
3024“Yes, I am sad to say. And they are reported to number…approximately two hundred thousand.”
3025
3026“…What? Can you truly be serious?!”
3027
3028Nidol was shouting at the top of his lungs. It did nothing to affect Franz’s facial expression. He was not one to make jokes, and the earl knew this was the truth. But it was tough to take. It was just too far separated from reality.
3029
3030“And how sure are you about this?” he asked, silently praising himself for not fainting on the spot.
3031
3032“Based on circumstantial evidence, we believe it is quite likely to be the truth.”
3033
3034“Any suggestions on how to deal with it?”
3035
3036“Our only option is to ascertain which direction their armies are going and enact swift evacuation measures—”
3037
3038“You want me to abandon this town?”
3039
3040“If you believe you have a chance at victory for yourself, then we will not stop you from pursuing that. But if you ask us to participate in the effort, then I’m afraid we cannot accept that without hearing some concrete operational plans.”
3041
3042“…All right,” Nidol whispered, head hung down. “You know there’d be no chance anyway.”
3043
3044“In that case, I will leave the expeditionary force deployment in your hands.”
3045
3046With that final reminder, Franz quickly left the room.
3047
3048
3049The Earl of Migam thought for a moment.
3050
3051Whether the town would have to be abandoned or not, he had to consider the worst-case scenario. Which meant his knights had to stay put. But they needed that expedition to take place.
3052
3053What should I do?
3054
3055It was like all his neglect and mismanagement was coming back to him like a roaring tidal wave. But was there no point complaining about it.
3056
3057After pondering a few moments, Nidol came up with what he thought was an excellent idea. All he really needed was intelligence on the threat. Perhaps he could deploy a magician versed in teleportation magic, one who could return to town the moment he was finished with his investigation. This sorcerer’s escort team wouldn’t know about their own mission; all they had to do was protect him until they reached the forest. And if he just cobbled together a few of the expendable knights to build this expedition, he should be able to keep the salaries he paid to a minimum.
3058
3059And if they did manage to come back alive, he could deal with it then. The vital thing was to figure out where the orc lord was going.
3060
3061*
3062
3063The group that Earl Nidol Migam put together in response to this was called the Frontier Expedition Force. It was composed of thirty members.
3064
3065Inside town was a correctional facility that housed Migam’s petty criminals—villagers who went into debt and attempted to rob travelers from out of town; rowdies brought into custody for picking fights on the streets. They were usually put to work assisting the knight corps, at times even serving as opponents for the knights’ combat drills as part of their “corrections.” One of these inmates was appointed the leader of the expedition force.
3066
3067Nidol wouldn’t lose a minute’s worth of sleep over their deaths. They were light on his finances, too, as an added bonus.
3068
3069That was about all the thought Nidol put into their selection. But the group did not share the earl’s motives.
3070
3071“Pfft. That greedy old coot. If it’s freedom he’s giving us, let’s accept it with good cheer, eh?”
3072
3073Such were the feelings of Yohm, the man assigned to lead the thirty miscreants of the Frontier Expedition Force as a coherent unit. His skin was darkly tanned and supple, stretched tightly over his muscles. He was not notably tall, but facing him would still intimidate the casual observer into fearing for his safety. Often, that was all Yohm needed to win the mental battle. This was backed up by his face, which wasn’t unattractive, but his guttural, sneering smile made him difficult for anyone to dare approach.
3074
3075His talents would seem to indicate a quick promotion from street tough to the boss of one alley gang or another. Instead, Yohm was now leading a force of thirty deep into the Forest of Jura.
3076
3077
3078It had been a week since they replenished their supplies at the last village bordering the forest. Rommel, magician and the earl’s protégé, could feel himself wither around Yohm, as if he had been placed in front of a ferocious man-eating tiger. He could almost feel his knees knocking.
3079
3080“So what kind of expedition’re we on?”
3081
3082“I’m afraid I can’t tell you. It is a secret mission.”
3083
3084“Oh-hohh? What kinda nonsense is that yer spoutin’, eh? I think you better tell me while I’m still askin’ nicely, know what I mean?”
3085
3086“I’m telling the truth! They haven’t given me any details either, believe me.”
3087
3088“Hmm! I see, I see. Well, fine. They used contractual magic on us to make us follow your orders, but once this is done, we’ve all been promised our freedom. Right?”
3089
3090“Yes, precisely. The contract that was signed with my client, the Earl of Migam, said exactly that.”
3091
3092“Yeah, and I’m tellin’ ya, man, that’s BS! How the hell’re we supposed to finish this mission if we don’t even know what it is, huh? Bumpin’ around in the middle of this evil forest… You screwed in the head, or what?”
3093
3094Facing the full brunt of Yohm’s anger made Rommel feel like he’d faint from fear. He understood that his explanation made little sense, but no way could he give them the truth. If he did, he’d find it perfectly logical if they killed him where he stood.
3095
3096“L-listen, we… We received a report from the Free Guild that something strange is happening in the forest. So like I told you, our mission is to use this image-capturing magitool to record what’s going on, then bring it back to town—”
3097
3098“Oh-hohh! So you wanna die, huh? Now I get it. Or do you think some sorcerer off the street like you can take on a pack of natural-born fighters? You don’t believe that contract means you get the right to treat us like crap ’cause we can’t do anything, do ya?”
3099
3100Rommel’s heart was struck with the distinct sense that this man was serious. The contractual magic meant that he had to follow Rommel’s orders, but now he was starting to wonder how well that stuff even worked.
3101
3102“Ah, ahh…”
3103
3104He took a fearful step back, only to suddenly feel something cold upon his neck.
3105
3106“’Ey, boss, wouldn’t it be quicker to just kill ’im?”
3107
3108A man dressed in black appeared, as if oozing out from the darkness. He held a knife, completely black in color, and it was now squarely against Rommel’s jugular.
3109
3110“Not so fast. I wasn’t planning to, if he was willing to talk, but—”
3111
3112“No! No, wait! I’ll tell you everything! Just don’t kill me…”
3113
3114“Oh yeah? You willing to admit that we’re here to investigate that orc lord yet?”
3115
3116“Huh?! How did you know that?!”
3117
3118“Ha! What, you think I’m an infant or somethin’? I got thirty people here—you thought I didn’t have any guild insiders I could swap someone out for? I left you alive so you could undo that contract on us, that’s all. So… What happens next is up to you, I guess. What’ll it be?”
3119
3120Rommel, without hesitation, decided to release the contractual magic. He clearly didn’t have long to live right now, and Yohm’s tone of voice indicated that it was best not to defy him too much. Terror gripped Rommel’s heart to the point that he was willing to do anything Yohm told him.
3121
3122“Good thing we got a guy here who listens to reason, huh, bro? Forget about being used and abused to death! Now we finally got some real freedom!”
3123
3124“So what’re we gonna do with him?”
3125
3126“Please! Spare me my life, at least!”
3127
3128Rommel’s voice was shaky, his face wet with tears, as Yohm’s men approached him.
3129
3130“Well, hang on, now. I’m sure he’s at least got Life Search cast on him. We can’t let this magician die without being able to report his mission results.”
3131
3132“Okay, so…what? If you’re sayin’ we gotta keep watch on ’im all hours of the day, I’d rather just kill the man.”
3133
3134Rommel barely felt alive as he listened to Yohm argue with his crew.
3135
3136“Yeah, yeah, hang on. He’s a sorcerer, remember? Maybe he’ll be able to do a thing or two for us, eh?”
3137
3138“Yes! Yes, I will! Anything!!”
3139
3140“Yep, you hear that? ’Sides, he did free us from that contract and all. I wouldn’t feel all that right about killing ’im, but whaddaya think?”
3141
3142“Well, still…”
3143
3144“I won’t tell anyone! I swear I won’t tell anyone, believe me! Please!”
3145
3146Being employed by nobility ever since he graduated from his magic academy, Rommel was not exactly worldly-wise. Yohm never intended to kill him; he just wanted to put him to work. Rommel was too naive to see through that. All he could do was beg Yohm for any type of help he could offer.
3147
3148“Hey, how ’bout this, boss? Jagi’s a mysticist; maybe he could conjure up a spell to put ’im under our thrall?”
3149
3150“Dahh, no way! At my level, Rommel’s gonna Resist it for sure.”
3151
3152“I won’t! I promise I won’t put up any resistance! Please, do it!”
3153
3154“Great. Anyone got any objection to that? ’Cause personally, I wouldn’t mind having him around as our adviser, sort of thing.”
3155
3156“We’ll do whatever you say, boss!”
3157
3158“If that’s what you want, bro, I ain’t got no complaints.”
3159
3160Yohm’s men said their lines, exactly like they worked it out beforehand. Rommel completely fell for it, accepting the mystic binding spell in an effort to make Yohm believe in him. The ruse fell apart immediately afterward when they all started laughing at him, but for the sorcerer, it was a moot point.
3161
3162A moot point, but Rommel still had no issue with it. This street punk, Yohm, exuded a sort of evil magnetism that was hard to put into words. One that could make any innocent, open-minded young man lose his footing along the way.
3163
3164This was the beginning of a truly free Frontier Expedition Force—one free of the Earl of Migam’s leash and one sporting a sorcerer who would meekly follow Yohm wherever he went.
3165
3166*
3167
3168Around the time when Rimuru first encountered Benimaru and his clan—back when they were still merely ogres—Fuze was sighing as loudly as he could at the three adventurers in front of him. He had sent this trio to figure out what was happening in the Forest of Jura, and the moment they got back, they began telling him the most astounding of tall tales.
3169
3170They were Kabal, Elen, and Gido—three talented guild members, all worthy of Fuze’s trust. Their ranks were all B, and Fuze knew they were more than up to the challenge that letter came with.
3171
3172The first story they had for him was about their final moments with Shizue Izawa—a woman Fuze, as well, felt he owed his life to.
3173
3174“…And that’s how she summoned Ifrit, only to get swallowed up by the raging beast!”
3175
3176“She probably traveled out of town because she knew that would happen… I think she realized she didn’t have much time left.”
3177
3178“You said it. And who knows if she ever recovered… My guess is that she would’ve been a lot happier with just lying down ’n’ dying in her sleep.”
3179
3180Shizu had been ordered by Heinz, Fuze’s father, to accompany them on the expedition. She was a hero in Fuze’s eyes, as well as a friend he had hunted monsters with, and he was willing to do anything for her. If anything, giving her the ending she wanted filled him with happiness.
3181
3182After the expedition was over, Shizu said she intended to travel to the demon lord’s territory. She had some unfinished business there, apparently, and she insisted upon attending to it. Fuze knew there was no convincing her otherwise. So he decided to help her from behind the scenes, pairing her with three adventurers he planned to send into the forest.
3183
3184A pity, then, that they weren’t with her to the very end. Fuze had no right to criticize them for that. Their mission came first, and Fuze himself had kept her true nature a secret from them.
3185
3186But did they really have to leave her under the care of monsters?!
3187
3188He had no right to criticize them, but it still left a bad taste in his mouth. Plus, there was so much of their story that he just couldn’t accept.
3189
3190
3191Shizu was one thing, but their briefing was entirely based on monsters building a town for themselves. A single slime was at the top of the food chain, gathering hobgoblins to construct this town—a full-on, sturdily made municipality, just like any human settlement.
3192
3193Some of the more intelligent monsters did build small communities. Even goblins and other low-end creatures could slap together shelters for themselves. So having a settlement or whatnot was nothing to shout about. But this trio was talking about a bunch of monsters clearing land in the forest, chopping down trees, and using the wood to build homes. They even divided the town into distinct zones, crafting intricate plans about what would be built where.
3194
3195The more Fuze heard about it, the more it sounded like a real, full-on town. But it was hard to accept monsters pulling a trick like that. And that slime made him wonder. This creature, apparently named Rimuru, didn’t seem like your typical named monster. In fact, all the monsters in this town were named, a situation that turned common sense on its ear.
3196
3197All this apparently happened after this Rimuru monster appeared. It was too shocking a tale to ignore.
3198
3199“So after these monsters rescued you, this is the town you were taken to?”
3200
3201“Right. And we’re talking, you know, several hundred C-ranked monsters living together? There was really nothing we could’ve done. I thought I was a goner for sure. And then, they fed us actual cooked meat!”
3202
3203“Mmm, yeah, that was good. I hadn’t eaten anything for three whole days, so…”
3204
3205Shocking though their tale was, however, these three buffoons were making it sound like a nice campout in the woods. And after that, Shizu went out of control and Rimuru defeated the magic-born she transformed into. It was all simply beyond belief. Ifrit was a Special A–grade spirit. If something like that went rogue and started attacking, it’d be a calamity-class danger. A nation the size of Blumund would face a truly existential crisis.
3206
3207And—a slime, the lowest class of monster, defeated this?!
3208
3209Fuze wanted to shout at them to quit joking, but they all acted dead serious in their report. Between that, the dwarven artisans in town, and the healing potion that took care of even near-lethal injuries, he honestly began to wonder if they had dreamed it all.
3210
3211He suspected some form of illusory magic, but that was doubtful. Not as long as Elen was there. Magicians like her had high magical resistance, and anyone who could overcome that with their illusions was a Special A grade in themselves.
3212
3213Plus, the equipment the trio had on was some seriously compelling physical evidence. They had boasted about it to Fuze to no end, but clearly it was of quality make and superior performance—a first-class set. They even possessed an item or two forged by Garm, that most famous of dwarven craftsmen. Fuze could tell they weren’t fakes.
3214
3215Based on that evidence, the story couldn’t have been a magic-driven fever dream. It was ridiculous, but he had to accept it as the truth. He had to, but the report left him at a loss.
3216
3217How should he even judge this news?
3218
3219*
3220
3221We had best send someone else to investigate, he decided after a week’s worth of pained deliberation.
3222
3223By Kabal’s description, his team never felt in danger inside this monster town. They had come home with gifts of equipment and healing potion, so that evaluation made sense. That, and after examining all this equipment, they found no curses applied to it and also potion of a better quality than almost anything the local guild had seen.
3224
3225Fuze had the equipment returned to them—they’d be constantly complaining to him otherwise, and their original gear was all broken into pieces anyway, apparently, which meant they couldn’t take any more jobs without it. In exchange, he did collect the remaining potion from them, using it to confirm their story.
3226
3227When a painful burn victim came into the guild, he used the potion on him, wondering if it’d work as well as Kabal claimed it did. In an instant, the blistered skin was healed, without so much as a scar remaining. The sorcerer-doctors at the hospital had seen nothing like it—they swore it was akin to a divine miracle, brought about by the holiest of magic. That bumbling trio wasn’t lying after all.
3228
3229This town of Rimuru’s was orderly, populated by monsters that followed the slime’s orders. What’s more—although Fuze couldn’t guess at the motive—the slime expressed a desire to visit their own city sometime. Kabal and his friends said he was welcome, and should it ever happen, Fuze had already asked the trio to arrange things with him.
3230
3231To him, the idea of letting some unknown monster venture into the kingdom of Blumund was outrageous. But defying the will of a monster powerful enough to defeat Ifrit solo would be just as foolish.
3232
3233Fuze found himself plagued with self-doubt. If I let such a monster into town, I could easily be prosecuted for subversion against the state…
3234
3235No matter what it took—even if it meant providing his own funds for the job—he really had to investigate this in more detail.
3236
3237
3238Just as Fuze was fretting over who to select for this new expedition, Kabal and his cohorts came running over with a new problem. He could hear Kabal calling for him in the guild building now. Meeting him without an appointment normally wasn’t allowed, but the panicked tone of his shouting gave Fuze pause.
3239
3240“What is it this time? Is it something to do with that one?” he asked inside his secret reception room, pointing out a hooded figure among them.
3241
3242“We got trouble, Fuze! This guy said there’s an orc lord out there!”
3243
3244“An orc lord?!” Fuze almost spit his tea out. First Veldora blinking out of existence; then this mystery slime; and now this orc lord. Maybe none of it directly affected Blumund much, but he was aware that monster sightings had been going up in some nearby kingdoms. Fuze suspected it might all be connected, and the thought was draining.
3245
3246But the task at hand was the orc lord. “I’m sorry, but could I ask you who you are?” Fuze queried, recomposing himself.
3247
3248The hooded figure immediately removed his cloak, as if waiting for his cue. “Sorry ’bout that. My name’s Gobto, and I work under my captain, Gobta. I came here to tell Kabal over there about the orc lord, upon the request of my leader, Sir Rimuru.” Then he put his hood back on and sat down again.
3249
3250Fuze knew what he saw. That was a monster—a hobgoblin. He might resemble a human from far away, but the green twinge to his skin was unmistakable.
3251
3252And a named monster, no less… Kabal was telling the truth…
3253
3254This last bit of evidence finally convinced Fuze to believe fully in him. This orc lord report must have been the unvarnished truth as well, then.
3255
3256“My name is Fuze. I serve as guild master for the Free Guild here in Blumund. Gobto, do you mind if I ask you a question?”
3257
3258“What’s that, sir?”
3259
3260“This Sir Rimuru, your master… Why did he want us to know about this?”
3261
3262“Ooh, the rank ’n’ file like me don’t get told those kinds of things. But he also told me to tell you this: ‘If worse comes to worst, we might need to have the humans slay the orc lord for us.’”
3263
3264“I see…”
3265
3266“That’s what he said before going out to face the orc lord. If y’ask me, I’d say the orc lord’s well ’n’ truly dead already, but so be it. I wanted to go in with Gobta, too, but Sir Rimuru commanded me personally to travel here instead.”
3267
3268Gobto must have been fairly peeved about that, if he volunteered that information without being asked. He practically grumbled the last few words out. But Fuze was too thrown by the revelation to pay his tone of voice much mind.
3269
3270Wh-what?! The slime, defeating an orc lord? Are you kidding? Wait… Is this slime treating us as insurance? Is that how far ahead he’s planned his moves? A monster? That’s ridiculous!
3271
3272Fuze tried to process the news though his extreme confusion.
3273
3274Kabal’s group watched on blithely, apparently willing to let Fuze decide whatever he wanted. Fuze didn’t appreciate that much, but now was no time to complain. He calmed his troubled mind.
3275
3276“You ask me, though,” Kabal volunteered, “that orc lord’s gonna be no match for Rimuru.”
3277
3278“Oh, you said it! He took out Ifrit all by himself. If you let an orc lord mature, it can be pretty bad news, but freshly born? Nah. It’s just not enough of a threat for him!”
3279
3280“Not that we’ve got much to do with it, though…”
3281
3282Hearing the trio’s uninvited commentary made Fuze feel like he was about to have a coronary. He summoned up all his spirit, trying his hardest to keep calm as he sized up the situation.
3283
3284Between them and Gobto, nobody in the room seemed to doubt Rimuru’s ultimate victory. That was…well, whatever. The problem was, what was Rimuru thinking at the moment?
3285
3286His distinctly unmonsterlike activities stood out in Fuze’s mind. Building a town, leading great crowds of monsters, and yet apparently seeking a cooperative relationship with mankind.
3287
3288And this latest development seemed to confirm all that. If he was defeated or thought he couldn’t win, Rimuru probably intended to retreat. If the humans weren’t aware of this before that point, they’d be so unprepared that they’d have no chance against the orc lord’s armies—that was the slime’s prediction.
3289
3290So if he was telling us beforehand to prevent that…
3291
3292Was Rimuru the slime some kind of special creature? He seemed so to Fuze.
3293
3294“All right. Thank you for relaying the message. We’ll take action here if it comes to it, so could I ask him for his help at that time if need be?”
3295
3296“Understood, sir. I’ll be off, then.”
3297
3298Before anyone could stop him, Gobto was off his seat and out of the room—a dignified, and very unmonsterlike exit. “We gotta go, too,” Kabal said as he herded his gang out behind him.
3299
3300“What a crazy scene this is turning into,” Fuze whispered as he watched them leave.
3301
3302I’m not sure I can deal with this guy by myself. Better talk to my friend first…
3303
3304The image of his good friend, the Baron of Veryard, popped into his mind. This was now a national issue, and Fuze was prepared to tackle it. The expedition he was picturing in his mind would soon be greatly expanded, to the point where it would become a three-month investigation.
3305
3306*
3307
3308Three months later, he had his reports. This was right when the demon lord Milim attacked Rimuru’s city.
3309
3310
3311Fuze was there, at the usual spot, having a secret meeting with Baron of Veryard.
3312
3313“So this is the report from your investigation? Based on the evidence from their march, the force numbered several hundred thousand. That suggests beyond a doubt that it was an orc lord, doesn’t it?”
3314
3315“Indeed, Baron. You would never believe how hard it was to ask the king for permission to deploy his intelligence department… They certainly came through for us, though.”
3316
3317Fuze’s face contorted in frustration. The conditions required to earn this favor from the king were far from palatable to him.
3318
3319“Ha-ha-ha, yes, I heard. It seems they have a chair all ready for you in that department, no? I imagine your father would like to hand his position as supervisor over to you sooner rather than later.”
3320
3321“Don’t remind me. I have enough on my plate dealing with guild master duties here in town.”
3322
3323“True enough. But that’s a discussion for another time. This is some extremely valuable information—a town of monsters, and a slime living there that can overcome an orc lord by force. An orc lord who may have led an army of up to two hundred thousand, no less. And scariest of all, all those surviving orcs simply settled across the land instead of rioting and running roughshod over it. Is it all really true? I mean, I know it is, but I cannot believe any of it.”
3324
3325Fuze could understand the baron’s feelings all too well. He felt the same way. He had asked the king to deploy his spies on the assumption that Kabal’s report and the hobgoblin Gobto’s message were entirely true. The resulting intelligence both blew his mind and made him realize Blumund was facing unprecedented danger.
3326
3327No adventurer in the world could slay an orc lord with an army in the six figures supporting it. Even if they managed some kind of stealth mission to assassinate this nemesis, and even if it worked, that army would go nuts and raze all the nearby villages. There’d be no way to counter that. The national army would be a drop in the bucket, and the knight corps of some tinier kingdom would just be swallowed by the stampeding horde.
3328
3329“You’re right. It’s simply unbelievable. Would monsters take such an intelligent, considered approach to this? And how did they convince that massive army not to riot in the first place? Did they actually manage to feed that many orcs?”
3330
3331“They must have. It’s impossible to accept, but we have to. That slime, Rimuru… I think he’s saved all of us.”
3332
3333“…Yes. Indeed.”
3334
3335Fuze fell silent for a moment before continuing, trying to gather his thoughts.
3336
3337“So we have a town of monsters about a two-week journey from Blumund. That much, we’ve confirmed. They said it was an astonishing example of functional beauty, but they only had the chance to view it from afar. They’ve clearly been at work on a wide swath of land around the town, but all of it was still covered under a tight network of patrols. Even our own agents suggested that infiltration would be difficult at best. Doesn’t that tell you a lot about the intelligence level of this town’s monsters? And the real question is: How should we handle our own relationship with them? Should we approach this slime as a benevolent presence or as a potential threat to try to eliminate—”
3338
3339“Wait. You speak of ‘eliminating’ him like it would be simple, but is such a thing even possible?”
3340
3341“Permission to speak freely, sir?”
3342
3343“Go ahead, but I think I already know the answer.”
3344
3345“Heh. Well, it’s not. How’d you guess?”
3346
3347Baron Veryard didn’t raise an eyebrow. To him, as much as it was to Fuze, that was already a given. They had both concluded that Blumund had no chance of victory alone—not unless the Western Holy Church was willing to expend paladins for the job. Each resident of that monster town was at least a C rank in themselves—as expected, since they were all named. Some were reportedly in B or A territory. Their total war power couldn’t even be measured right now.
3348
3349“Perhaps I should try paying a visit…”
3350
3351“Are you volunteering for that, Fuze?”
3352
3353“Sure. I want to measure this Rimuru guy with my own eyes.”
3354
3355Veryard gave him an approving nod. Hostilities weren’t anyone’s first choice, but this was no potential challenger that could be left ignored any longer. Fuze felt the need to judge for himself. Relying on someone else to make that call wouldn’t work. That was the best choice—and a choice he could only make because the baron respected him so much.
3356
3357
3358Plus…
3359
3360Yesterday’s events made Fuze believe all the more that visiting this slime directly was the best solution.
3361
3362He had asked Kabal’s group to guide him to the monsters’ town on that same day. While they spoke, they were all approached by another stranger with a message.
3363
3364“You are Kabal, right?” the man asked. “I am here to relay a message from Sir Rimuru. ‘The orc lord issue has been resolved. Sorry I forgot to tell you guys!’ That is all.”
3365
3366Nobody in the group was more surprised by this sudden intrusion than Fuze. They were all seated in a space inside the Free Guild, a room that took every measure possible against people sneaking in. If this stranger was invited in, that was one thing, but it would have taken unbelievable skill to make one’s own way inside.
3367
3368“Wait! Who are you?”
3369
3370The blue-haired intruder turned his cold eyes toward Fuze. “I am called Soei. Sir Rimuru has appointed me his Covert Agent.” He gave the reply softly and steadily, completely unfazed by the Coercion from Fuze, an A-minus fighter himself.
3371
3372Fuze may have felt overwhelmed by this all-powerful presence before him, but he still had the kingdom’s intelligence force at his fingertips, and he knew how to use those skills of his. So he decided to gather as much information as he could from Soei.
3373
3374“Rimuru… The leader of the monster town? Why are a bunch of monsters worried about us?”
3375
3376“Heh… Haven’t your friends already told you? Sir Rimuru is exploring ways to live in peace and prosperity with the human race. I am unsure why you are so wary of us, but I would suggest that selecting reconciliation over rejection would be the smarter decision.”
3377
3378Not even Fuze could hide his surprise at the statement. It meant that his attempts at intelligence gathering were completely exposed.
3379
3380Hoo boy… If this is the level of monster Rimuru has recruited, I simply must meet him soon.
3381
3382He could tell that Soei was a monster. Even without the horn on his forehead, the aura was as clear as day. He had no intention of hiding it, but it emitted only a slight amount of magicules. It didn’t suggest this creature was anything special, but Fuze’s sixth sense was still ringing alarm bells. He decided to trust in it.
3383
3384“I see. So you’re on to the fact that we’ve been investigating you. Well, before that, there’s something I’d like to ask… How did a magic-born of your level infiltrate this town? Because I believe we’re protected by a barrier that blocks out all monsters ranked A or higher. A high-level magic-born like you shouldn’t be anywhere near here.”
3385
3386As guild master, this was a point Fuze couldn’t let slide. Even though it was a short meeting, he was sure this Soei before him was a high-level magic-born, and thus he needed to know how he got past the kingdom’s defenses.
3387
3388“Hmm. Ah yes. I did notice the presence of that barrier, but that’s what it was meant for, then? Perhaps Sir Rimuru or Lady Shuna could have identified it as such, but I wasn’t able to see quite so much. Thank you for telling me—in exchange, I will answer your question. This body is generated by my Replication skill, and thus retains only a tenth of my magical energy. In your ranking system, I imagine it would only manage a B or so. Do you see what I mean? This kingdom truly does have a splendid defense network, but if it is willing to let low-level monsters slide that easily, I can see it still has its holes.”
3389
3390Fuze listened slack-jawed at Soei’s explanation, feeling the cold eyes on him. It sounded true enough to him, and his point was totally valid. With all the effort they expended dealing with hazard-class A ranks, they had overlooked some of the most basic threats—and it was a monster, a potential target of this system, who had pointed it out to him. A small wonder that it turned Fuze’s world upside down.
3391
3392“Well, if you will excuse me—”
3393
3394“Wait!”
3395
3396As Soei turned to go, Fuze shouted and stopped him. He had just enough time to explain to the monster that he wanted an audience with Rimuru, in the town that he ran.
3397
3398“I will inform Sir Rimuru, in that case,” he said, bringing a close to the day’s events.
3399
3400
3401This was why Fuze was making the journey. He laughed a bit at the position he was in—dragging the kingdom into this, then dragging himself into the kingdom’s work all over again.
3402
3403Damn. I didn’t intend to serve my kingdom doing this, but…
3404
3405He might have complained about it, but he liked life in Blumund. He couldn’t just abandon it and flee. So he hired Kabal’s trio as his guides, and they quickly planned the journey to Rimuru, capital of the Jura-Tempest Federation.
3406
3407*
3408
3409Yohm and his men proceeded through the forest.
3410
3411Several days had passed since they had cowed Rommel into submission. They had no need to heed Nidol’s orders any longer, and yet Yohm insisted on plunging farther into the wood. He had no intention of returning to Migam territory—instead, he had a different destination in mind.
3412
3413“Boss, why ain’t we goin’ back to town?”
3414
3415“Yeah, I’d kinda like to find a girl to sleep with sooner or later…”
3416
3417“Shut up, you fools! I don’t trust that crafty ol’ Nidol, but he’s still nobility, y’see? We can’t beat ’im in a head-on scuffle. It’d be easy enough to off the bastard, but then we’ll be wanted by all o’ Farmus. You want the royal knights breathin’ down our necks? They’ll kill the whole group of us!”
3418
3419“Yeahhh, but…”
3420
3421“So where d’you want us to go?”
3422
3423“Oh, now you’re askin’ me? Use your brains a little, guys—”
3424
3425None of them had much in the way of brainpower, so Yohm spelled it out.
3426
3427He had a point—even if they returned to the Earl of Migam’s lands, they couldn’t expect to ever have a decent living there. They’d be imprisoned again—and indentured into work again. So he thought their best chances lay in other nations.
3428
3429“We’re gonna head for the central part o’ the forest and find out what this orc lord’s up to. Then, we’ll travel in whatever direction’s the safest, and whenever we hit another country, we will settle there.”
3430
3431“But, boss, why do we have to expose ourselves to danger like that first…?”
3432
3433“Oh, what, you wussin’ out on me, you imbecile? The orc lord’s grown to the point where he’s already got an army at his beck and call. What do you think’s gonna happen if we stop in some town and they’re headed straight for it? We’ll be dead with all the other townspeople, is what. Yeah, it’s dangerous, but we need more info if we wanna keep ourselves safe, okay?”
3434
3435“Wow. Smart plan, bro.”
3436
3437“I got it now, boss!”
3438
3439“Plus,” added Rommel, “Yohm has no intention of actually engaging in battle. He’ll just have me check on where the orc lord army is, then relay that information to the earl.”
3440
3441“Whoa, hang on, Rommel. Whaddaya mean by that?”
3442
3443This was Kazhil, Yohm’s right-hand man, who spoke up.
3444
3445Rommel was quickly solidifying his position as the group’s chief of staff—and everyone in the band recognized his extensive knowledge of matters.
3446
3447“I mean, once we take care of the original job assigned to us, we can make the good earl think we were massacred by the orc lord.”
3448
3449“Wait, so…”
3450
3451“We make that old coot think we’re all dead, then we ain’t got to worry about his men pursuing us, and if the orc lord decides to hit Migam, Nidol can figure out a way to deal with it himself. I’d hate to just let my homeland burn at the orcs’ hands, so we oughta warn ’em, at least, yeah?” Yohm explained to Kazhil, who was having trouble understanding.
3452
3453“Quite so. I will tiptoe up to the orcish army and use my magic to detect their activity. Once I’ve confirmed where they are headed, I will teleport myself, and only myself, to the earl and report back to him. This is when I’ll tell him that you were all vanquished, so no need to worry about that. Besides, if we’ve gone this far, I might as well collect our pay from him, yes? Then I’ll make up an excuse to return here, so do make sure to wait for me.”
3454
3455The spark of understanding finally began to spread around the band as Rommel went more in-depth.
3456
3457“Ahh. Now I see. Then we can escape to somewhere safe and start a new life, huh?”
3458
3459“Yep. Exactly.”
3460
3461Yohm’s intention was to have the entire band join the local Free Guild or whatever, gaining a little security for themselves. Free Guild identification papers were added to a ledger kept by magic, ensuring they were valid in any nation. Criminal records, meanwhile, weren’t. It felt like the perfect plan to Yohm, but any crimes they committed after joining the guild would also be marked on their magical records, so they’d have to be careful about that.
3462
3463“Well, we can think about our next moves once we reach our new homeland. With our numbers, we oughta be able to take on some decent monster runs and live off o’ that. But before that, we need to make it outta this mess. You hear me? If the orcs stumble upon us all first, we’re gonna be in deep trouble. Y’all keep your eyes open, you got that?” With that, Yohm closed the topic.
3464
3465First, find the orc lord’s army. Then, get out safe. They could bitch and moan at one another all they wanted, but one thing was for sure: They could absolutely never let their guards down.
3466
3467
3468Several hours later…
3469
3470The band was on the move, running regular patrol shifts to stay alert.
3471
3472They could hear fighting up ahead.
3473
3474“Boss—”
3475
3476“Sshhh!”
3477
3478Yohm quieted his men down, gesturing them to group together and get into military formation. When they were ready, he waved a hand forward, and they all began to quietly march, weapons in hand and ready for battle.
3479
3480Already, they could hear voices from up ahead.
3481
3482“Whoa! Stop, stop, stop! We go there, we’re walking right into its trap!”
3483
3484“But…but I don’t think we can win if we keep fighting like this!”
3485
3486“Guys, I can only keep our position here for so—whoa! Look out!”
3487
3488They could hear all the shrill complaints above the Ting! Ka-shing! of solid metal clashing against metal.
3489
3490“I swear, you guys… Why do you do all this dangerous crap every single time?! How do you even survive, performing all this utter nonsense? I knew I was putting too much faith in you… Dah! Elen! Look out! It’s headed over there!”
3491
3492The noise grew louder. They could hear the entire conversation now. They were humans, apparently ambushed by monsters. Several of them, Yohm figured, based on how the sounds of battle never halted for a moment.
3493
3494“What now, bro?”
3495
3496Yohm wasn’t sure. He didn’t answer, instead carefully eyeing the woods ahead.
3497
3498He had thirty men under his command, but by adventurer standards, they’d be a C rank at best. Maybe Kazhil, his partner in crime, could manage a B—and Yohm himself, while confident in his strength, didn’t have that much experience against monsters. Thinking rationally, they were better off letting them be.
3499
3500What a pain in the ass… Well, sorry, you guys, but we’re outta here— Wait. That girl?!
3501
3502Just was he was prepared to give the order, Yohm spotted a woman running at them from ahead. There was the sound of a female among the voices he heard; it must have been one of the fighters.
3503
3504“Dehh! All of you, prepare for battle. That bitch spotted us!”
3505
3506Yohm’s Farsight skill let him see the situation clearly. A large male fighter was using his shield to fend off an attack from a spider, but it got sent flying after one strike made it through his parrying.
3507
3508The spider, opting not to pursue its opponent, changed its focus to the woman some distance behind. It must have been intelligent enough to leave the tougher, dicier foes for later. And indeed, the woman was quick and unerring in her moves—the moment the spider was upon her, she was already fleeing.
3509
3510Truly, a seasoned adventurer. Yohm took a moment to marvel at the sight—long enough for one of the spider’s eyes to focus squarely upon his group. This spider chasing the girl was a true monster, its body protected by an exoskeleton harder than steel that defended almost everything except its joints. It could move all those many joints freely and easily, making it far quicker than any human. Each leg was as sharp as the keenest of blades, ready to slice through any tree trunk or human torso. They weren’t swords so much as retractable spears.
3511
3512It was likely the “boss” of the local territory, and between its foreboding appearance and its apparent strength, it was a far cry from any monster Yohm’s band had defeated before.
3513
3514Those adventurers look pretty expert, so they’ll probably hold out for now, but attrition’s gonna kill ’em in the end… That swordsman’s still keeping things pretty even, but…
3515
3516All the same, Yohm didn’t expect this to end well for any of them.
3517
3518“That… That’s a knight spider! An A-minus monster! Oh no… Yohm, there’s no way we can defeat it. Let’s go! We’re just no match for it!!”
3519
3520Rommel, using the elemental magic spell Clairvoyance, was already looking pallid as he gave the report to his boss.
3521
3522Yohm wasn’t interested in listening. “Forget it. Look at that monster move. It can use the trees to go wherever it wants. Once that party’s annihilated, we’re gonna be next—it’ll hunt us down in an instant and kill us all. Running at full speed ain’t gonna save us now, huh?”
3523
3524He had no knowledge about knight spiders, but Yohm was still coolheaded enough to instinctively feel what this monster meant. Those instincts told him that fleeing was not in the cards. So he decided to fight back.
3525
3526They were surrounded by trees—trees that the spider could cross more quickly than skittering across the ground to catch its prey. Once it caught sight of you, it was all but hopeless. These were the knight spider’s hunting grounds, and Yohm’s men were the hapless prey. The only way to survive was to slay the foe—that offered the only potential for survival they had.
3527
3528Yohm steeled himself. “Dammit, I’ll make you pay for dragging us into this, ya bastards! Rommel, cast some strengthening magic on me! Kazhil, you direct our men! Form a circle, and if anyone’s hurt, change ’em out. You’re all gonna survive! That’s an order!”
3529
3530Following his command, the band formed a circle formation. In the middle were healers and scouts—men not suited for battle—and Rommel. The rest were forming a shield to protect them. Their orders were to focus exclusively on defense and not launch any attack. Instead, they would let the fighters in the safe zone deal damage with arrows and magic.
3531
3532The scouts readied their bows, waiting for the knight spider’s advance, as Rommel began to cast a spell. It involved several inscription magics, something he normally never used, as he set about boosting Yohm’s strength. There was the supplemental magic spell Strength, along with Agility, Protection, and Reinforce Weapon—all serving to power up every aspect of his weapons and armor, granting him a great deal more force. It didn’t make them any less anxious about his chances against a knight spider, but it helped.
3533
3534Still, Yohm’s heart was serene as he stared the spider down. In a moment, the battle was under way.
3535
3536
3537The woman truly had no shame, showing zero hesitation as she made a beeline straight for Yohm’s band.
3538
3539“Excuse meeee!” she shouted as she wriggled her way inside the circle, not bothering to ask for permission. The moment she was safe, she took a moment to catch her breath.
3540
3541She’s got a lot of nerve, Yohm thought.
3542
3543“Whoa! Lady! That’s not fair, going in alone!”
3544
3545Somewhere amid the chaos, another man—a thief, by the looks of it—had made his way inside as well. Not a moment off their guard, Yohm thought as he rolled his eyes, but he had other things to attend to.
3546
3547“Oh, come on… Are you in any position to whine at me?” the woman said.
3548
3549“Whaddaya want from me? There’s nothing I can do against that guy! How am I supposed to strike any kind of lethal blow with a dagger, I ask you?”
3550
3551This pair, at least, didn’t seem too concerned about the danger.
3552
3553“Geh. I’ll settle things with you later,” Yohm said as turned toward the spider and swung his greatsword at it. He preferred wielding a two-handed weapon like this in place of carrying a shield. It was a good six and a half feet long, bladed on both sides, and the force behind its weight made it a fearsome slashing weapon. That weight also made it extremely hard to handle, but even without magical enhancements, he had the brute strength and ability to easily heft the greatsword to and fro.
3554
3555Now he was using that magic support to whip the giant hunk of iron around like a steel demon.
3556
3557Hard, solid noise surrounded him, and the tortuous clanggggg irritated his nerves. It was the sound of Yohm’s sword smashing against the knight spider’s leg. It should have been cut cleanly in half, but the exoskeleton was more than capable of resisting this force.
3558
3559He groaned. Geh. Damn, it’s tough. Is that what all that sound was before? Then he changed position, hoping to divert the spider from his party’s circle formation. The spider followed, predictably enough, then attempted to spear Yohm with several legs at once. Unfazed, he danced his way through the attacks—the same ones the large fighter parried with his shield earlier. Without any kind of shield, Yohm opted to wend his way through the stabbing legs instead.
3560
3561For what seemed like forever, Yohm continually deflected the knight spider’s strikes. It was never-ending for Yohm but a mere instant in reality. Several legs grazed past his cheek, dug into his side, pricked at his legs, but none of the strikes affected the battle.
3562
3563He had dodged them all—and as he had the spider’s attention, the man with the shield, along with a lightly equipped swordsman, were back in the battle, equipped with a new set of magical enhancements and ready to fight again.
3564
3565“Sorry we got you into this. I’m Kabal. You can whine at me later.”
3566
3567“No time for details. Just call me Fuze for now.”
3568
3569“Yohm. My band’s nothing but a drag on us, I guess. We’ll have to take care of this ourselves.”
3570
3571“Got it.”
3572
3573With that short conversation, the three refocused on the attack. They each moved to surround the knight spider, restricting its movements, taking turns to attract its attention while the others hit at it.
3574
3575Faced with this steel-like exoskeleton, no pedestrian attack would cut it. Yohm’s men understood that; none dared any foolish moves. If they failed and a pincer felled one of them, the results would be too terrible to look at.
3576
3577They knew their role was not to drag down their leader. They believed Yohm could win, and in the meantime, they reinforced their defenses.
3578
3579*
3580
3581The magicians Elen and Rommel were each preparing their trademark spells.
3582
3583As a sorcerer, Elen’s specialty was elemental magic, granting her access to a large swath of damage-dealing offensive spells. But she was positioned poorly for that. All the trees surrounding them made the most powerful of her flame-based magic out of the question. Magic was all about picturing what you wanted to happen, allowing the caster to change the nature of their spells to some extent…but attempting to corral white-hot flame was a tall order.
3584
3585But right now…
3586
3587“Let’s see how you like one of my strongest moves! Stone Shot!!”
3588
3589In a moment, Elen had converted the stones on the ground into lethal bullets, infusing them with yet more magic force to summon a punishing, coordinated rain of ammunition upon the knight spider. Every magic-enhanced stone bullet was the size of a human fist, and based on its speed and mass, each one delivered several tons’ worth of force. It was a merciless, punishing magical rain.
3590
3591Meanwhile, the three fighters were still taking turns to confront the knight spider—Yohm deflecting its strikes with his greatsword, Fuze with his smaller, nimbler sword, and Kabal with his shield. This is what the spider had to deal with as it was pelted by magical bullets from all directions—but none even dented its exoskeleton. They all bounced harmlessly off, knocking the creature slightly off-balance for an instant but doing little else.
3592
3593“Awwww… That was my killer move, toooo…”
3594
3595The sight of her killer move failing after she used most of her remaining magic force on it astounded Elen. She had already tried out Icicle Lance and Windcutter, and the results were similarly pitiful. Really, the last finisher she had left was also her strongest— Fireball.
3596
3597“It’s hardly a surprise,” Rommel commented. “This knight spider is a local boss-class monster, rank A-minus. We can expect it to have a lot of magical resistance. Given how it’s the apex predator around this area, you’d have to expect at least this much strength. It’ll be hard for any of us to land a convincing blow at our levels…”
3598
3599“Okay, so now what do we do?”
3600
3601Rommel shrugged at Elen. “Nothing left but to help them with support magic, I suppose.”
3602
3603Elen tried to counter this brief assessment. But faced with the reality that none of her magic worked, she gave up. She had a feeling, without even trying it out, that Fireball would meet the same fate.
3604
3605“Oh, all riiiight! I hate not being in the spotlight and using stuff like this…but I’ve got Magic Barrier on me.”
3606
3607Rommel nodded. As a sorcerer himself, he had several inscription magics at his disposal. Those were what he had used on Yohm, and the other two fighters were already enhanced enough.
3608
3609“The enemy’s offense is so strong that it just peels away any magic effects on them. It’s over if they break their weapons, so it’s all I can do to keep just Reinforce Weapon going. If you can fully focus on building that Magic Barrier at all times, that’ll help us out.”
3610
3611“All right!”
3612
3613Elen adjusted her outlook on the battle. She couldn’t deal magic damage, so she was stuck with a support role instead—a role she happened to be first-class at. Calculating her remaining magical force and recovery skills, she distributed her magic as needed for the battle at hand, and Rommel did the same by her side.
3614
3615It wasn’t flashy, but it was a consistent approach to magical support as they concentrated on keeping the aid flowing to Yohm, Fuze, and Kabal. He may have said “just” Reinforce Weapon, but he still managed to keep his other spells going as well without interruption.
3616
3617It was an impressive, top-level feat from Rommel, the result of him perhaps toughening up a bit and sowing the seeds of his own magical talents during the past few days with Yohm.
3618
3619The performance lit a fire in Elen. Not bad. Better not lose the spotlight to him! Now, she didn’t mind the role so much. Not flashy, but absolutely important.
3620
3621
3622Meanwhile, the knight spider and its opponents continued to trade blows with one another, the sheer, wearying intensity of the confrontation not allowing them rest for a single moment. Even in such extreme conditions, the three were still flashing bold, intrepid smiles.
3623
3624“Yo…Kabal, yeah? That armor of yours sure is tougher’n my cheap piece of junk.”
3625
3626“Heh-heh! Yeah, I’ll bet, huh? This was crafted by Garm himself, you know! It ain’t no ordinary piece of scale mail!”
3627
3628“Huh. Garm the dwarven armorsmith? Dang, no wonder. It looked like you took a couple direct stabs, and yer none the worse for it!”
3629
3630“Oof, you saw that? That’s embarrassing. Well, I may not look it, but—”
3631
3632“Will you two take this more seriously, please?! Stop chatting while it’s my turn to distract him!”
3633
3634Fuze couldn’t help but lecture the other two as they enjoyed a lively bragging contest better suited for a tavern. They both grinned, like students being admonished by their teacher.
3635
3636“I’m up next, old man.”
3637
3638With an exaggerated slash, Yohm tagged in for Fuze. The magical light surrounding him, slightly dimmed just a moment ago, was now bright once more. He was ready.
3639
3640The rotation of magical support was being timed perfectly with their own juggling act, as if all five had been working together for years. Very few could have guessed they were fighting in this group for the first time.
3641
3642“Thanks,” Fuze shouted, leaving the heavy lifting to Yohm. Dodging his way through the knight spider’s string of stabs, he felt exhausted, his very nerves worn to the core. But he never griped about it. He was the oldest and most experienced man in the circle.
3643
3644By the guild’s rankings, he was an A-minus adventurer. His position as Blumund’s guild master meant he was no longer on the front lines, but he never stopped honing himself—the reason he was still able to keep up with this spider’s movements.
3645
3646But I’m definitely losing my edge. I could’ve taken this guy solo way back when, but not now. All I’m doing is buying us just a small sliver of time…
3647
3648Still, he was the great natural talent among the trio surrounding his foe right now.
3649
3650And because of that, Fuze could predict how this would turn out.
3651
3652This isn’t good…
3653
3654Sooner or later, they would falter.
3655
3656With the right magic, tackling a monster stronger than you would be feasible enough. Here, that wasn’t working out. Knight spiders were too resistant to magic, requiring punishing physical damage instead. Fuze understood that, out of this group, only the three of them were gifted enough melee fighters to deal out that kind of damage. Yohm’s men weren’t up to snuff.
3657
3658So it was all up to these three men, but after ten or so minutes of battle, they had hurt the spider only a tiny amount. None were seriously injured yet, but they couldn’t hide their accumulated fatigue. Gaining another fighter in Yohm, along with some much-needed magical support, was what allowed them to even tread water.
3659
3660“Oh, man, I dunno…”
3661
3662“Pfft! Quit your cryin’! You’re the ones who roped me into this! We’re all gonna get killed if we can’t do this guy in, so if you got breath left to bitch at me, move yourself!”
3663
3664When Kabal muttered to himself, Yohm launched into a tirade.
3665
3666They all understood that perfectly well. Without any really decisive magic that worked, they knew that beating it with their own muscle was next to impossible.
3667
3668But giving up was a one-way ticket to death.
3669
3670They all drummed up as much courage as they could, continually throwing themselves into the all-but-desperate battle.
3671
3672
3673Then they heard another voice. One much more relaxed.
3674
3675“Huh? Ooh! Hey, is that you, Kabal? Whoa, long time no see! And you’re fighting a monster like always, too, huh? You sure must like fighting.”
3676
3677*
3678
3679They were being greeted by five monsters riding wolf-type creatures—a platoon of goblin riders, led by Gobta.
3680
3681*
3682
3683Just as they were about to return from their usual patrol, they heard the sounds of battle from before. Gobchi, the eye-patch-wearing assistant to Gobta, noticed first.
3684
3685“Gobta, I can hear fighting from somewhere.”
3686
3687The platoon captain was pretending to ignore the noise, hoping for a nice, chill ride back to town, but his team was having none of it.
3688
3689“I guess so, huh? Should we go check it out?”
3690
3691“Ooh, well, I’d say that’s a good idea, yes. Don’t want to be yelled at later, do ya?”
3692
3693“Yeah, yeah… Let’s just check up on it, then.”
3694
3695Following Gobchi’s advice, the platoon headed toward the sounds.
3696
3697
3698And then…
3699
3700Gobta found a couple of familiar-looking faces fighting a knight spider.
3701
3702“Whoa! Damn, it’s you, Gobta! Don’t just stand there like an ass; help us out! We’re running out of time!”
3703
3704Kabal sounded quite a bit more harried than Gobta, dodging the spider’s sharp barrage of strikes as he shouted. He was plainly near the end of his rope, simply letting the multi-leg attacks he couldn’t fully parry bash against his armor. It wouldn’t be long before that armor gave way—and with it, his life, perhaps.
3705
3706“Ooh, that’s Fuze, isn’t it? Hey! Fuze! It’s me, Gobto!”
3707
3708“You too, Gobto?! Hurry up and take my place!!”
3709
3710Just as Gobto spotted Fuze and called out in greeting, Kabal was the one who shouted back as the spider flicked his helmet off his head for him.
3711
3712“Well, all right. I’ll take over for Kabal. Gobchi, you get everyone else to distract the spider!”
3713
3714At Gobta’s orders, the platoon began to move.
3715
3716Nimbly dismounting his starwolf, Gobta strode over to follow Kabal’s lead as the other goblin riders directed their partners to divert their foe’s attention. The wolves attacked with their sharp fangs and their claws, and while neither found any play on its hard exoskeleton, their speed outclassed the spider’s, letting them take a secure stick-and-move approach.
3717
3718The B-ranked starwolves couldn’t scratch a knight spider, but in terms of agility, they were an even match. So giving up on the direct approach, they shifted styles so their hobgoblin partners would take over on offense. Thanks to the able hands of Gobchi and the rest of Gobta’s crew, this let them slowly pile on damage.
3719
3720“Dang, those spears of theirs are sharp. It looks like they can lengthen and shorten them at will, too.”
3721
3722“They are. And they’re a measure sharper’n my greatsword, even. Maybe we coulda had a fightin’ chance if I had somethin’ like that, eh?”
3723
3724Kabal muttered in wonder as he took a break to heal himself, and Yohm appeared beside him to take a break as well.
3725
3726“I just can’t believe this. What are those wolves? Some kinda mutant from black wolves or gray wolves? And why do a bunch of hobgoblins have such incredible weapons, too? And why’re they so strong?!”
3727
3728Fuze picked this moment to join them, still panting for breath and taken aback. Neither of his companions had a ready answer, so they settled down and began to watch.
3729
3730Considering the brutal battle they’d just waged, it was hard to imagine what they were seeing now. The goblin riders were boldly attacking, or seemed to be anyway—although they appeared to be giving themselves a fairly large safety margin. None of them were damaged. Meanwhile, Gobta was the only one confronting the knight spider on foot, leaping this way and that to attract his foe’s attention. He didn’t have to fight for it. It seemed like he had a full grasp on every twitch of the spider’s legs.
3731
3732“Man… That hobgoblin— Gobta, he said? Who the hell’s he, huh? And, like, even before that…” Yohm cut himself off.
3733
3734There was a lot he wanted to ask, but he resisted. Now wasn’t the time. He wanted to catch every moment of this battle while it lasted.
3735
3736
3737Gobta busied himself with twisting, bounding, and dodging the spider’s attack. Hmm. Kinda slow. Compared to the wringer Hakuro puts me through, this is easy peasy.
3738
3739Taking a closer look at the spider, he realized that it always stopped moving for a moment before unleashing one of its leg-pincer combos. The multi-leg attacks followed a set rhythm as well, making it simple to predict where they would stab next.
3740
3741“Okay, let’s get this over ’n’ done with!”
3742
3743With a single, spirited shout, he removed the shortsword from his waist and, with pinpoint accuracy, slashed at a small wound made by one of his goblin riders. One of the spider’s long, spear-like legs arced through the sky. It was sliced cleanly from its body.
3744
3745“Dang!”
3746
3747“Whoa, Gobta! That’s incredible!”
3748
3749“Now that’s a shortsword. I think I’m in love with how it cuts!”
3750
3751Gobta wasn’t one to ignore all the praise from his friends. It was forged by Kurobe for him, thanks to Rimuru’s promise. It was certainly no bargain-basement item from the local weapon shop—it was a masterpiece of a blade, crafted to be as sharp as possible.
3752
3753It was also magic, imbued with a certain extra-effect thanks to Rimuru’s Deviant unique skill. When Gobta willed it in his mind, the blade would encase itself in ice, turning it into a jagged, frigid blade that could also be launched as an Icicle Lance. Gobta didn’t invoke it here; using magic took up a massive amount of his own magicules, so he couldn’t just whip it out on a whim. Kurobe had reminded him time and time again about how his ace in the hole should only be used when the time was right, and he followed that advice faithfully, never wasting his arsenal.
3754
3755Besides, now he had a weapon even more effective than an Icicle Lance.
3756
3757“This is even better!”
3758
3759He held the sheath for the blade up high, still clenched in his left hand. He didn’t mean to sound like a braggart, but he undoubtedly looked it.
3760
3761“A sheath…?”
3762
3763Instead of answering Gido’s question, Gobta made his move. He pointed the sheath at the spider, hole first. The next moment, it emitted a sort of blackish-red glow.
3764
3765
3766The entire inside of the scabbard was lined with magisteel, with insulated electric wire wrapped around it like a solenoid. Energizing this wire with Dark Thunder—the skill that Deviant had granted it—created a powerful magnetic field, which then launched the bullet at the bottom of the scabbard out of the hole. A sort of coilgun, in other words.
3767
3768It was called the Case Cannon, and while Rimuru had made it mostly for fun, Gobta was a huge fan.
3769
3770
3771The scabbard ejected a hunk of iron around two centimeters across. It made no sound, but the effects were dramatic. The spider writhed in intense pain, its mouth shivering and gnashing. The resulting otherworldly noises sounded like pure anguish. And why not? The shot had gouged out or flattened several of its eyes, which were now spurting out jets of blue liquid.
3772
3773“Yow! That was great, Gobta!” one of the other goblins whooped.
3774
3775The humans, meanwhile, had nothing to say. Not even Fuze could fully parse what had happened.
3776
3777“—What the hell was that?!” he stammered out.
3778
3779Gobta had other things on his mind.
3780
3781“Well, we’re gonna have one heck of a feast today! There’s gotta be some great eatin’ on this spider!”
3782
3783His eyes were on the knight spider—not as a foe but as a yummy piece of prey.
3784
3785“Whoa, whoa, that’s an A-minus area boss! And you’re worried about eating it?!”
3786
3787Fuze was ignored once more, his voice rapidly losing its strength. His mind had trouble keeping up with the sights before him. All he could do was sit there and watch absentmindedly.
3788
3789Yohm and his men were just the same, gazing at this former clear and present danger to their lives that had been swatted down like a bug. Yohm didn’t like that much, although he couldn’t articulate why. A natural sort of disappointment spread across his face as the five goblin riders ignored him and kept toying with the spider.
3790
3791
3792A few minutes later, the humans were presented with a dissected knight spider.
3793
3794Gobta was next to it, looking incredibly pleased with himself and chatting with someone via Thought Communication.
3795
3796“They’ll have a recovery team here before too long. You leave three of us here to stand guard. I’ll guide Kabal and his friends back to town.”
3797
3798“Got it. Be careful.”
3799
3800After finishing the conversation, he briefly discussed with his right-hand man, Gobchi.
3801
3802“Well, ready to go?”
3803
3804And with that cheery question, Kabal and the others set off.
3805
3806Fuze was too flabbergasted, Kabal’s gang too overjoyed, and Yohm too annoyed to formulate any answers.
3807
3808It was up to Yohm’s band to shout their approval instead. They weren’t quite sure how it all worked out, but regardless, they were all on their way to Tempest, the land of monsters.
3809
3810*
3811
3812Gobta certainly sounded triumphant in his briefing.
3813
3814We were at the usual meeting hall, Milim seated next to me like she had somehow earned the right. Shion and Soei were behind us, with Rigurd and Benimaru seated ahead.
3815
3816Next to Gobta were Kabal, his two friends, and an unfamiliar middle-aged guy. He was joined by a tanned, rugged-looking man and a fairly nervous-looking magician type. Shuna had just taken her own seat, ordering one of her assistants to bring out tea for the group, and then Gobta began talking.
3817
3818
3819Once he finished, we all decided to introduce one another. The middle-aged guy was Fuze, the top guy at the guild in the kingdom of Blumund. Must’ve been the dude who told Soei he wanted an audience with me.
3820
3821The tanned guy was…well, pretty handsome. Not as much as Benimaru or Soei, but he had smooth, taut muscles and a wild look about him that must’ve floored ’em at the tavern. His name was Yohm, and he called himself the captain of the Frontier Expedition Force, sent out by one of the earls in the kingdom of Farmus. The thin, flinchy guy next to him really was a magician, as it turned out—Rommel was his name, and judging by the looks of things, he was the brains to Yohm’s brawn.
3822
3823Once they all gave their names, I decided to give mine.
3824
3825“Guess I better speak up, too. My name is Rimuru Tempest, and I’m the leader of this town, or nation, or whatever you wanna call it. The Jura-Tempest Federation is the official name for it. And as you can see, I’m totally a slime!”
3826
3827It felt necessary to mention that, given how I was the only nonhuman in the room. It made the older guy—Fuze, I mean—open his eyes wide.
3828
3829“Truly, a slime…?”
3830
3831He seemed to know at least a bit about me, but I guess I should’ve expected him to be a little shocked. If it didn’t personally happen to me, I guess I’d have trouble believing that a slime was going around acting like the king of his little nation of monsters.
3832
3833“So, uh, Rimuru,” Kabal asked, “who’re all the new faces in the room?” He must’ve meant the ogre mages. I gave them all an intro. That just left Milim, who spoke up before I had a chance to point her out.
3834
3835“And I’m Milim. Good to meet ya!”
3836
3837A pretty casual intro, especially for a demon lord prone to bouts of cruelty like she was. Hopefully nobody was fooled by the pretty face.
3838
3839Fuze was the only one to respond to the name “Milim” with any sort of suspicion; maybe he knew about her demon lord side. Kabal and Gido, meanwhile, were alternating their gazes between Shuna and Shion. Milim might’ve been cute, but they must’ve already dismissed her as too much of a child. They certainly are honest to themselves, at least.
3840
3841Yohm and Fuze must not have been too interested in potential romance—or maybe they were just nervous, having to deal with monsters like this. Their faces remained stony serious. I wish Kabal and his gang could learn from them a bit. I can understand how they feel.
3842
3843
3844It was odd, though. Gobta ran down the whole story for me, but I still didn’t understand anything about what went on. Why were Fuze and Yohm fighting together?
3845
3846Just as I thought it, Fuze opened his mouth.
3847
3848“Allow me to explain, perhaps…”
3849
3850He must have noticed that Gobta’s report wasn’t quite enough. Glad to see someone has some tact around here. Witnessing my slime form must’ve thrown him off a bit, but he was still being remarkably polite with me. Better hear him out.
3851
3852………
3853
3854……
3855
3856…
3857
3858Once he was done, I think I began to get the idea. I guess the orc lord news had sparked so much chaos that he decided to have Kabal guide him here to check things out for himself.
3859
3860Rommel provided some supplementary info of his own, too. He was largely in the same boat, driven by the guild in Earl Nidol Migam’s fief in response to the rumors spreading across Blumund. The magician told me everything he seemed to know about Nidol’s thoughts on the matter, and judging by that, he had a pretty accurate grasp of what was going on.
3861
3862“Why are you being so honest with me?” I asked.
3863
3864To which he replied, “Well, to be frank, I’m really not sure what I should be doing here, right now. I just figured, you know, honesty would be the best policy, as we try to move things forward.”
3865
3866I solemnly nodded at him. That sure helps me, too.
3867
3868Suddenly, the previously silent and sullen Yohm shouted out, like someone had flipped a switch. “That crap doesn’t matter! What I’m wonderin’ is: Why is this slime actin’ like he’s king of the world around here? I mean, y’all realize this is insane, don’t you? And how do slimes even talk anyway? I mean, what the hell? Why’s he got all you guys under his spell or whatever?”
3869
3870“How dare you be so rude!” Shion roared.
3871
3872“You shut up, woman!” Yohm shouted back.
3873
3874Ooh. Bad move, I thought—but before I could even finish that thought, there was a dull thud as Shion used her sheathed longsword to send Yohm crashing to the ground.
3875
3876“Ah! I’m sorry, I just…”
3877
3878“You just what?!”
3879
3880I should have expected it, but I really need to do something about Shion’s temper. Yohm may have been out of line, but this instantaneous resorting to violence had to be addressed sooner or later. I immediately had her look after Yohm—she hadn’t put much force into it, so at least he wasn’t dead. A few shakes of healing potion, and he woke right back up.
3881
3882He winced at the sight of Shion looking right down at him, but otherwise returned without a word to his seat. I had to hand it to him. It took a lot of guts to pull that off.
3883
3884“Sorry about Shion there. She tends to lose her patience a lot. I hope you’ll forgive her.”
3885
3886Yohm nodded—I’m sure very reluctantly.
3887
3888“But that was so terrible! I’m known for my endurance under fire, you know!” That was news to me. I figured it was safe to ignore her babbling.
3889
3890“Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Losing your patience, huh? I see you’ve got a lot to learn, Shion. You need to broaden your horizons, like I have! No wonder you’re so hot-tempered!”
3891
3892I felt like I could hear Milim happily blurting out something like that, but I’m sure I was imagining it. No doubt it was the last thing Shion wanted to hear from her.
3893
3894But anyway.
3895
3896It was time to put all these reports together.
3897
3898
3899Fuze was here because he heard about this mystery slime—i.e., me—and wanted to get to the bottom of it. Figuring out whether I was friend or foe was his main priority.
3900
3901“The very idea of monsters creating towns— Ah, pardon me. I can understand demi-humans building settlements well enough, but a town where multiple races live together? I’ve never heard of such a thing. I have a habit of not fully believing something unless I witness it with my own eyes, you see. And if this whole story was true, I wanted to figure out how we would interact with it, and how much. The reports I received told me this land wasn’t a threat…but I thought ascertaining for myself would be the best move. So that’s what brings me here. I was hoping you’ll permit me to stay a while so I can survey the entirety of your operations.”
3902
3903It made sense to me. I’d hate to be feared as a potential threat, so I readily gave him permission.
3904
3905I also gave him my own outlook. Being guild master suggested Fuze was in a fairly high position—a man of influence, perhaps, in Blumund. Being able to speak frankly with someone like him, and request their cooperation, sounded like a good idea to me.
3906
3907“You might not believe it,” I explained, “but I’d really like to be friends with the humans. I already told Kabal and his friends about that. I’m not asking for it immediately, but you know, I think it’d be nice if we could start engaging in trade or some other kind of interaction. We’ve already opened formal relations with the Dwarven Kingdom along those lines, which you’re free to confirm for yourself. I think your merchants would find it pretty convenient if they could run caravans through this area, but what do you think?”
3908
3909“Hang on— I mean, please, just one moment. You mean the Armed Nation of Dwargon?! I know that is a neutral kingdom, one that had close relations with many demi-human races…but you’re saying it’s recognized this land of monsters as a nation? Because I find that extremely hard to believe…”
3910
3911I had asked him to trust in me, but he was proving a tough nut to crack. So I called for Vester as a witness. It turns out Fuze was familiar with him.
3912
3913“Minister Vester! …Or not anymore, I suppose. But regardless, I never imagined meeting someone of your stature here… Is all of this true?”
3914
3915“Ah, well met, Sir Fuze! It has been quite a while, hasn’t it? Well, you are correct. Through a rather unique turn of events, I am now living quite peacefully in this land. Everything Sir Rimuru has told you is the truth—King Gazel and Sir Rimuru signed the covenant themselves.”
3916
3917The conversation wended its way across a few other topics, but I still had the impression Fuze thought he was dreaming all of it. Maybe the idea of monsters banding together and establishing a nation was a little too wild for just anyone in this world to start believing yet.
3918
3919
3920Yohm’s motives, meanwhile, were a bit more complex.
3921
3922He and his band of men intended to fake their own deaths in order to gain their freedom. They were seeking asylum in some safer country than their own, where they intended to join the local Free Guild. They also intended to inform Earl Nidol Migam—the greedy old fox, as they called him—about what they found in here. This wasn’t out of any love for the earl, but so they could potentially save as many of their fellow countrymen as they could. A man of honor, certainly, no matter what his looks and attitude suggested. Rommel had grown to like him, plainly—to the point that he betrayed Nidol, his benefactor, to become Yohm’s top aide.
3923
3924Hearing all this made me think a bit.
3925
3926“All right, so…Fuze, people already know around your kingdom that the orc lord was defeated, right?”
3927
3928“No… Only the king and a few select people are aware.”
3929
3930And that meant—
3931
3932“Okay. So, Yohm, wanna forge a contract with me?”
3933
3934“Huh? What the hell’re you—erm, how do you mean, sir?”
3935
3936Now both Shion and Shuna were glaring at him. They must not have liked that tone of voice. Maybe it’d be kinder of me to pretend not to notice.
3937
3938“Well, to put it simply…”
3939
3940To put it simply, Yohm and his band of thirty men would become the saviors of the day, the slayers of the orc lord.
3941
3942That monster was well and truly defeated, and yet Fuze still eyed me with suspicion—because I was a slime, a monster. In that case, why don’t we frame the rumors we’d spread so that I merely cooperated with Yohm, and he was the one who pulled off the feat?
3943
3944There’d be a few unnatural time-related contradictions to that story, but the general public didn’t need to know all the details. If the top brass who did know the truth were willing to keep mum, the regular Joes out there could work out the rest of the tale for themselves. As for the surviving orcs, we could say that there was a mutiny in the army, and there you go. A nice, simple story—and easy to believe, as long as that two-hundred-thousand figure didn’t get mentioned.
3945
3946Meanwhile, I could’ve helped Yohm with supplies, armor, what have you, instead of directly participating in combat. That way, I could establish myself as this really helpful, trustworthy slime who gave our man of the hour material support, right? That, I figured, would paint me in a better light than being this mystery threat of a monster to everyone.
3947
3948“…That’s the basic idea of it, but what do you think?”
3949
3950Our guests were dead silent. Too frozen to react. Kabal and his friends, meanwhile, were so lost in this conversation that they had decided to sit there and enjoy their tea instead.
3951
3952Compared to that, Benimaru and Shuna were thoughtfully nodding, impressed at the idea. Milim and Shion were all smiles and puffed-out chests, but I’m not so sure they understood me.
3953
3954Milim had nothing to do with this anyway. She’s behaving, at least, but maybe I should give her some honey before she gets bored and starts wreaking havoc somewhere else.
3955
3956“Who do you think I am? …Well, all right. I’ll take this.”
3957
3958She gladly accepted the jar of honey I presented to her. Shion flashed a jealous look at her, but…well, sorry, none for you.
3959
3960“Wait… Wait, wait, wait—what kind of idea is that?! What do you mean, ‘what do you think’?!”
3961
3962“Come on. Me, beating that guy? You want me to be some fairy-tale hero or somethin’?”
3963
3964Fuze and Yohm were protesting in stereo. I didn’t expect them to be very amenable to it at first. That reaction was a given.
3965
3966“Whoa! No ‘hero’ stuff. That’s someone special, so you can’t just call anyone that. Being a hero comes with a lot of baggage from the past. Just call yourself a…champion instead,” Milim replied.
3967
3968Hmm. Interesting. So just like with demon lords, people didn’t take kindly to guys declaring themselves heroes with a capital H. Hero, champion, whatever—I wanted Yohm to be that for me.
3969
3970“That’s not the problem, you little brat! Besides—”
3971
3972Thud!!
3973
3974A cold wind drifted across the hall.
3975
3976“Hey!!” I shouted.
3977
3978“Lady Milim…” Shion seemed like she wanted to say something.
3979
3980“W-wait! No! This isn’t my fault!”
3981
3982Milim was already in a panic. I hadn’t said anything yet, but already she was nearly in tears.
3983
3984“I don’t want to hear any excuses, Milim. But this is your last chance, all right?”
3985
3986“All right. Believe in me, Rimuru!” Milim swore to behave, nodding fervently.
3987
3988I felt kind of bad for our new champion here, but really, this was Milim’s fault. Spoiling her would do nothing good for me, so I gave her the scolding she deserved. Shion, for her part, smiled a little—just deserts for what happened to her earlier, maybe. I resisted the urge to remind her she was in the same boat. Hopefully she got the message well enough without that.
3989
3990“Milim…? I feel like I’ve heard that name before.”
3991
3992Uh-oh. Fuze’s eyebrows furrowed at the mention of Milim’s name. He hadn’t identified her yet, but I needed to stay on guard. This demon lord was a lot more famous than I gave her credit for, I guess.
3993
3994Let’s, um, dodge that question for now.
3995
3996“Well, uh, is Yohm all right?”
3997
3998I was worried. That was quite a thud I’d heard.
3999
4000“Yes, Sir Rimuru. I’ve already administered the potion,” Shuna reported with a smile, just as Yohm himself woke up.
4001
4002“Nngh… What… What just…?”
4003
4004He was still a bit confused, but nothing was wrong with him. Getting beaten by Shion and Milim in rapid succession like that made me marvel at his natural toughness. That potion’s some hot stuff, but he deserved credit for surviving at all.
4005
4006“Um, Rimuru…yeah? Well, all right. I’ll do whatcha say. All these menaces to society you got servin’ ya, I gotta admit—you’re one hell of a slime. From now on, as far as I’m concerned, I’m all yours, pal. Tell me whatcha want.”
4007
4008It was a surprise, hearing that the moment he got his marbles together. I didn’t like how we more or less had to beat it out of him, but if that convinced him, there was no need to browbeat him about it.
4009
4010“Yeah, sure thing. And thanks.” I nodded at him in agreement.
4011
4012We were now together, and the whole event was enough to make Fuze forget all about Milim. “In that case, I have no objections about working with you on this, too. However, would you mind if I made absolutely sure, first, that you are on the side of the human race?”
4013
4014“Mm? Okay. That’s fair enough.”
4015
4016And now Fuze was with me, too.
4017
4018*
4019
4020Fuze was kind enough to work with a friend of his, the Baron of Veryard, to smooth things over with the king of Blumund. As he did, I worked out the exact sort of rumors we needed to spread around the local nations, adjusting the little details to match with the plotline I came up with. Soon, we were in contact with every Free Guild in the area.
4021
4022In exchange, I offered Fuze preferential treatment for some of the merchants coming from Blumund. Any merchants affiliated with the Free Guild there would be allowed to stay at Rimuru, capital of the Jura-Tempest Federation. For now, we weren’t charging any tariffs—that could be discussed among us once they trusted us well enough and we opened a bit more formal diplomacy. I had no idea what we should charge anyway. I’m not a politician; I can’t calculate stuff like that. I may have acted all kingly and magnanimous about it, but seriously, I was sweating bullets inside.
4023
4024This meant that any merchants who work through the Blumund guild would get a pretty damn good deal until I worked all of that out—and part of that consideration would go back to Fuze’s pocket.
4025
4026How long would it take for Blumund to trust in us as a fellow nation, though? Not very long, perhaps, or maybe never, even after several decades. I was prepared to wait them out, and in the meantime, I could at least prepare to enact some official ties.
4027
4028We’d need to build that trust first, but at the same time, we’d need to figure out how much of a tax would be appropriate. It’d have to be cheaper than Farmus, of course, and it’d be important to boost our amenities and spread the word on our safety record. We hadn’t finished up our trading roads yet, so any tariffs could probably wait until that was all wrapped up.
4029
4030There was still a ton of work to do, but at least things were settled between ourselves and Fuze. And Blumund was a small country—the rise of a nation with trade routes and a friendly leader offering them held major meaning. If we could toss guaranteed safety across the entire region into the mix, Blumund could stand to make a major profit from it. If they could trust us enough to commit, that is.
4031
4032Now, to let Fuze bring that offer home and come back with a more detailed report. I couldn’t say how it would turn out, but I had to hope things would go in a more positive direction from now on.
4033
4034
4035As for Yohm and his band, they would be staying here for a while.
4036
4037If he was going to be our orc lord–slaying champion, he needed to look the part. Hakuro was probably training him hard right then.
4038
4039The man had a decent amount of natural talent, but not quite enough strength to become the stuff of legend. Just giving him some big, long weapon to carry turned him into a different man, but we’d need more than that. Instead of just relying on his physical strength and instincts for battle, Hakuro thought, he’d need to have control over some arts as well.
4040
4041Equipping him wasn’t a problem. We just happened to have raw materials from a recently pummeled knight spider on hand, and I figured we could use those to give him the best weapon and armor he ever saw. Until that was taken care of, his training would focus more on his body and mind.
4042
4043In battle, there were three things that mattered: speed, offense, and defense. That applied even if you brought magic into the mix—that could always be countered with magic defense—spiritual resistance. The Free Guild based its ranks off the aggregate of those three elements, which meant that simply finding some better weapons and armor would be enough to boost your rating.
4044
4045In that way of thinking, the materials we used in the completed equipment were top-of-the-line. Knight spiders, at the end of it, were not that terribly fast. It might seem otherwise, given how they could attack with multiple legs at once, but keep your wits about you, and it becomes clear that they aren’t moving too nimbly. That was plain, given how the B-rated Kabal and Gobta more than held their own against it—I was starting to peg Gobta as more of an A-minus, but regardless.
4046
4047The knight spider earned its own A-minus mainly thanks to its exoskeleton. Its strength came from how incredibly solid that was, as well as its ability to inflict serious damage even by grazing its opponents. Which meant—
4048
4049“Whoa, Rimuru… You sure yer okay with me havin’ equipment like this, pal?”
4050
4051Yohm seemed honestly touched as he took in his new exoskeleton-crafted armor. It was a full-plate suit, mottled in three different colors—a dark brown as the base, with a unique pattern of green and red on top. It almost looked like a work of art. I called it the Exo-Armor.
4052
4053He was surprised all over again when he picked up the chest piece.
4054
4055“Man. So light, too…”
4056
4057Of course it was. Compared to regular armor, which took a shirt of chain mail and added metal plating to all the most vulnerable areas, a suit of full-plate armor was ponderously heavy. They defended you well, but at the cost of all mobility, so normally you never saw them in action.
4058
4059This Exo-Armor, meanwhile, used no metal, making it relatively lighter than steel—the key to its weight advantage. Sticky Steel Thread lined the inside in a mesh formation, keeping the wearer safe against heat or cold. The exoskeleton itself boasted superior defense against magic and physical attack, and with the thread reinforcement, it easily shrugged off your garden-variety magic and melee strikes—something we’d already proven in our experiments.
4060
4061In a nutshell, it offered more durability than full-plate mail at a third of the weight. I couldn’t say how it felt on a monster whose muscular strength outclassed any human’s, but for Yohm, it was the best armor in the world.
4062
4063“Yep. Garm put his heart and soul into this. He bragged that it’d fetch a price higher than any Unique piece of gear if we put it on the market.”
4064
4065“M-more than a Unique?!”
4066
4067“Like, the kind of thing an adventurer spends ten years or so savin’ up for? How top-end are we talkin’, pal?!”
4068
4069The news came as a major shock to Yohm.
4070
4071
4072Just as adventurers were ranked, weapons and armor received their own ratings.
4073
4074The type of thing you’d find regularly at shops was Normal. If it performed a little better or had magic effects applied, it was rated Special—worth a lot but still relatively accessible to the average consumer. In a world like this, where death was always lurking around the corner, you wanted the best equipment you could afford, so most adventurers hit the road with a full array of Special equipment.
4075
4076However, even this stuff was still nothing compared to a top-shelf piece of work, crafted by a master forger and priced as such. The kind of broken-stat weapon or armor that boosted the wearer’s rank the moment he or she grabbed it. This kind of first-grade stuff was rated Rare, and amassing a full set of Rare gear was something of a status symbol in adventuring circles. Anyone who managed the feat was revered and respected as a person who could get the job done. The armor Garm crafted was all Rare pieces, and that was why Kabal and his crew were so overjoyed to receive it.
4077
4078And at the very top, there was a level even above this highest of levels—equipment with world-shattering performance. Exquisite pieces made by old masters from only the best materials, taking no account of matters like production cost and profit. These were called Unique. Weaponsmiths in the larger cities would decorate their shop walls with these for advertising purposes; nobility would store them with tender care as family heirlooms. They were the best of the best, and there weren’t many such pieces around, only adding to their rarity value.
4079
4080As an example, these sorts of Unique items were equipped by every member of Gazel’s personal friends, along with his Pegasus Knights. The pride of a nation of craftsmen, one could say. Money and materials were no object with their top-caliber equipment, honing an even sharper edge to their world-beating war power. Hell, no wonder they’re so strong, I had thought to myself when I learned about it.
4081
4082Boosting their talents with weapons and armor were one way humans handled monsters, which I had no complaint about. But it had to suck for the monsters felled by such overpowered equipment.
4083
4084It follows that we wanted to play that same game with our own stuff.
4085
4086
4087Based on that, again, Yohm’s shock was understandable. The greatsword he wielded was all scratched up, even chipped in places; it was no longer useful. Kurobe had prepared another weapon in its place, and it was another masterpiece.
4088
4089This was a Dragonslayer, a type of greatsword that could hold its own against large-size magical creatures. It didn’t have a curve to it, unlike the larger battle swords the ogre mages had; it was more of a Western-style dual-edged blade. One edge was sharpened to a shine, dedicated to slicing and dicing, while the other was solidly reinforced, making it more of a crushing weapon.
4090
4091Given Yohm’s shield-free fighting approach, I figured he’d find that easier to handle than his last weapon. The way he stared at the Dragonslayer in his hands and murmured “Look at this thing…” suggested he was happy with it. Good.
4092
4093As a Kurobe creation, the Dragonslayer was another Unique piece. With the right technique, it had the power to slice through even a knight spider’s exoskeleton. If you ask me, those two pieces alone just made Yohm’s power zoom up to A-minus rank.
4094
4095It sounded a bit like cheating, relying on equipment to boost your strength. But I let it slide. You needed technique to make the most of it anyway.
4096
4097
4098Yohm, to his credit, had grown strong enough to truly be worthy of owning this stuff. I hadn’t given him anything except food and a place to sleep, and he had no complaint about that. I did hear him scream in pain and call Hakuro a demon and all kinds of other colorful things, but nothing about my treatment, at least.
4099
4100He was under contract to work with me, after all, and I gave him some pretty nifty equipment, so I figured I was fine.
4101
4102If I can be honest for a moment, I almost hesitated to let him have it all. Unique items were a rarity in this world, and I wasn’t wholly sure I wanted ours to flow into the hands of outsiders. Ultimately, though, I decided that if he had champion-level equipment, that’d make my story all the more convincing.
4103
4104He was training hard in this town, his talents now noticeably improved. He didn’t look out of place at all in his Exo-Armor. A little bit more work on him, and nobody would ever doubt for a moment that Yohm slew the orc lord.
4105
4106*
4107
4108The days of training continued for Yohm.
4109
4110His weapon and armor were complete, but I decided that his band had better get equipped, too. I’d need to invest in them a little if I wanted them to help me out later. Hakuro would hammer them all into shape, too, so it should help them ability-wise. Plus, it’d give even more weight to the tale of this great champion and his stalwart band of supporters.
4111
4112Of course, they were after more than just nice equipment. Apparently, they were enjoying life here in the city as well. I didn’t mind at all. They were working hard for me.
4113
4114What I had to offer them was scale armor dyed a fresh, bright-green—the completed version of the test piece I gave to Kabal. For the lighter-equipped thieves and the like in their crew, I had a few sets of red-colored hard-leather armor built. Both colors were a nice match for Yohm’s own Exo-Armor.
4115
4116“You… You’re even giving this amazing armor to me?”
4117
4118This armor didn’t offer much against melee attacks, but it was pretty darn resistant to magic. All I wanted was for Rommel not to look out of place as the champion’s personal sorcerer, but I’m glad he apparently liked it so much. Besides, this was about all I could do for him. Magic isn’t something you can “train” your body for the way Yohm trained with Hakuro; the rest would be up to Rommel himself.
4119
4120I also handed him a copy of our communication crystal. It’d be a pain if we couldn’t stay in contact, and luckily for us, he just happened to be a magic user. That oughta make things easier.
4121
4122After preparing and presenting this equipment, I had Rommel go back to Blumund. There, I wanted him to spread the word (and exaggerate a bit) about how the mighty Yohm and his men gave the orc lord a swift and fatal whipping. He said he had no interest in living there again, either—as he put it, being the earl’s magician mainly just meant being assigned all kinds of potentially lethal tasks. Once he received his payment, he pledged to stick with Yohm from now on.
4123
4124
4125This earl, Nidol Migam, sure didn’t sound like he was much good at all. He put his personal fortunes above those of his people, he was greedy, and he treated his own staff poorly. Considering the high taxes he charged the local peasants, he certainly didn’t devote much of it to territorial security. Given he dealt with issues only after they popped up like that, no wonder his people relied so much on the Free Guild.
4126
4127“He’s the worst bastard you ever did meet. Eh, not that we’re angels ourselves, but he takes the cake!” Yohm practically spat at me.
4128
4129The trope of a wicked, greedy nobleman was a familiar one in the stories I read, but when one was actively affecting your real life, nothing could be more depressing.
4130
4131But if anything, that was good for me. I could have Yohm return home a champion, one who protected all of Migam. He’d go from village to village, allowing the locals to skip all the guild bureaucracy. He wouldn’t work for free, of course—the village would simply submit their completed monster-slaying job papers to the guild, and he could get paid through the earl later. No way would he, nor anyone else, want to serve Nidol for free.
4132
4133The arrangement would benefit us both, but its biggest merit was boosting Yohm’s reputation as a champion. He’d earn the thanks of whomever he saved, and stories of his strength and sincerity would spread across the land. That, in turn, would boost the rep of the monsters who supported him—i.e., us.
4134
4135Plying his trade across the villages wouldn’t be easy, but keeping his base of operations here, in Rimuru, would simplify a lot of things. A communication crystal could be activated by any of the shamans that every village had at least one or two of, so I decided to pass a whole bunch of copied crystals around. I could essentially duplicate them for free, thanks to the Great Sage’s backup. That was just a matter of processing the magic stones from monsters and crystallizing them to a high enough purity. I kept that a secret, since word going around seemed like it’d come back to bite me.
4136
4137These crystals could always be stolen, of course, and there wasn’t much I could do about that. That was each village’s problem, and I didn’t see the need to babysit them that much. It’d be part of their normal lives to tackle, so they could handle it for themselves.
4138
4139So taking in feedback from Rigurd and the ogre mages, we gradually sorted out the details behind Operation: Make Yohm a Champion. We may have had a contract, but he wasn’t exactly my underling—on the surface, we were working cooperatively with each other. Which was great, because it meant I didn’t have to pay him a salary. Really, we still didn’t have any outside currency, so if anything I oughta be charging him rent.
4140
4141No point being so miserly, though. That was why I gave him room and board for free.
4142
4143Another motivation of mine, speaking of this town, was that I wanted to advertise this place. I had heard about how people who have it tough in their local village head for the big city to try to make a living. Why not come here instead? I wasn’t expecting humans and monsters to be arm in arm overnight, but again, I was thinking long-term.
4144
4145
4146Several weeks later, all of Yohm’s equipment was ready. We finally had his horses and his communication crystals. Rounding up thirty-one wild unicorns was a huge ordeal, though. B-plus magical beasts, every one of them. Strong.
4147
4148But this wasn’t the outlaw band from before. Hakuro had trained Yohm and his men up to the point where they were almost unrecognizable from a few weeks back. None were going to faint at the sight of a magic creature any longer. You could rely on these guys now—and with their brand-new equipment on, they had the air of brave, battle-proven warriors. More than worthy of accompanying a champion.
4149
4150“Well, it’s been fun, pal. We’ll see you for now, Rimuru!”
4151
4152And with that, Yohm set off, promising to use this town as a base for their future activities.
4153
4154
4155
4156
4157CHAPTER 4
4158
4159THE ADVANCING MALICE
4160
4161
4162The magic-born Mjurran pushed her emotions deep inside as she walked across the forest.
4163
4164
4165Mjurran was once a witch, living in this forest. Persecuted by others, she had fled here three hundred years ago—quietly researching her magic, interacting with no human or magic-born. But those days were nearing their end. Extending one’s life with magic only worked for so long.
4166
4167Facing death, Mjurran had some slight sense of regret. She had yet to even peer into the great, dark crevice that was the world of magic, and she had no successor to take on the knowledge she gained. She couldn’t help but ask herself what her life was even for.
4168
4169In the midst of this impasse, she was greeted by the demon lord Clayman. He had been at that post for about three hundred years, and he was negotiating with the more well-known monsters and magic-born in the area at the time—or smashing them to bits, one or the other. He was building an army of subordinates at an astonishingly rapid pace, and that was what brought him to meet Mjurran today.
4170
4171Seeking the witch’s magic, he made her this offer: “Let me grant you eternal time and a young body that will never age. In exchange, I ask you to swear your allegiance to me.”
4172
4173Mjurran accepted it, and right now, she thought it was a mistake. She did indeed grow younger, earning the gift of eternal life—but in the process, she lost her freedom. It was a terribly unfair, uneven bargain. For the demon lord, swindling someone with as much magic knowledge and as little experience with the outside world as Mjurran was like taking candy from a baby.
4174
4175The moment she made the oath, a cursed seal was carved into her heart. The so-called Marionette Heart was one of Clayman’s most secret of mystic abilities, allowing him to use a mix of fabulously expensive magical media with the magicules of the target to turn the receiver into a magic-born.
4176
4177This skill was pulled off successfully, and Mjurran was reborn—and became a marionette, unable to defy the will of Clayman.
4178
4179With the magical skill she already bore, Mjurran proved to be a fairly high-level magic-born. It was nothing that made the now-captive witch content. Ever since that moment, she was Clayman’s eternal puppet.
4180
4181She could not understand people like Gelmud: magic-born who willfully wanted to be ruled over. She was always looking for a gap, a loophole she could use to free herself from the curse and strike back at Clayman. But her knowledge told her this was all but impossible. The moment she broke through Marionette Heart, the demon lord told her, she would revert to human form. Frozen time would start to flow for her again, and there would be little, if any, of it left to her natural life span. And there was another reason: Clayman was just so much more powerful than she was—enough to make her writhe in disgust.
4182
4183So Mjurran continued to serve the demon lord, knowing she would never find it in herself to defy him and dreaming of the day she might be released from this detestable curse.
4184
4185
4186And now…
4187
4188Clayman’s latest assignment for her was an investigation.
4189
4190“I’m not sure I am suited for battle…”
4191
4192“No. You aren’t, regardless of how high-level you are. So I want you to observe how those who serve another demon lord fight, and then record it for me. You won’t be in direct contact with them. I am sure you’re capable of that, yes?”
4193
4194Mjurran was hoping she’d be asked to scout for new members of their fighting force. She was disappointed. Instead, the demon lord flashed a serene smile and gave her his orders.
4195
4196
4197The demon lord Clayman, the Marionette Master himself, could manipulate his underlings like puppets and grab the very hearts of those he encountered.
4198
4199Only a very small subsection of people could call themselves his friend. The rest of his force were mere tools, incapable of resisting until they were worn to nothing. If they wanted to live, their only choice was to carry out the jobs they were given. This mission, too, was already set in stone, as far as Clayman was concerned. If Mjurran said anything else, it would just anger him.
4200
4201“I understand,” she said, suppressing her own emotions. She had to follow him. All she could do was nod.
4202
4203
4204Such a regret, she whispered. Some memories of her past, when she was free, were making her sentimental.
4205
4206Snapping herself out of it, she refocused on her mission, spreading the illusory skill Detect Magic around the local area. The magic was used to sense the magicules around her, but when combined with the extra skill Magic Sense, she could read information from an even broader radius.
4207
4208Mjurran’s centuries-long life span was not the result of good luck. It was built on the back of sheer ability. She was, indeed, weak at direct combat, but not because she was powerless. She was a wizard, a master of three different systems of magic. While none of it was suited for battle, in terms of usefulness, she was at a far higher level than Gelmud could ever hope to be. Clayman understood that all too well, making sure to assign her the exact jobs she was suited for.
4209
4210Any reaction…?
4211
4212With the spell came a vast amount of data that streamed into her mind. She had examined it all from moment to moment, and now she detected the presence of another magic-born—one with a vast store of magical energy.
4213
4214She braced herself. She must have been near the territory she was asked to observe. Focusing her mind as intensely as she could, she turned her eyes toward her target…
4215
4216*
4217
4218She was greeted with a strange sight.
4219
4220A large number of monsters were chopping down trees, then processing them in assorted ways. The larger trees were transported away, the smaller ones disappearing into thin air—some spatial skill, she thought.
4221
4222They appeared to be building a road. Behind this crew was a well-built path which, from her viewpoint, seemed to extend to the far horizon. Some on this team were digging up large boulders buried in the earth and pulverizing them into pebbles; others would then take these away and blanket them along the ground. These were then further crushed and distributed evenly by large, heavy-looking cylinders, like logs made of iron.
4223
4224These iron logs were a type of road roller that Rimuru had ordered. It was being pulled by man power—well, monster power—but there were handles on the front and back, with three crewmembers assigned to each end. It was heavy work, but with a steady stream of heave-hos, the crew easily pulled the roller forward—and behind it, they left a well-tended path of crushed gravel.
4225
4226A higher-level monster served as foreman for this crew, and everyone appeared to be working together to lay this road out. It was like nothing Mjurran had seen before.
4227
4228All this was being carried out by high orcs, one of them higher level and emitting an unusual aura from under its full-plate armor. This must have been the mass of magicules she detected earlier.
4229
4230So the orc lord won…and he evolved.
4231
4232That was Mjurran’s judgment, but it was not her role to draw conclusions, so she abandoned the thought. All an observer was tasked to do was watch and record something she continued to do over the next few days as the crew rolled on.
4233
4234
4235As she observed and chronicled what she saw, she began to wonder what lay at the end of the completed road.
4236
4237Hmm… It might be best to continue observing the targeted monster, but I suppose I should broaden my information gathering a little.
4238
4239Clayman was a wary, worrisome demon lord. He would no doubt ask. Knowing him as long as she did, Mjurran could easily imagine it—though she couldn’t deny that she also wanted to flee the stress of continually observing a magic-born stronger than her without being detected.
4240
4241So she stepped away from her assigned job and began to move. Taking a detour through the forest, she stealthily traveled away from the crew and onto the gravel road. Then, seeing it unfold before her, she dashed along it in the opposite direction from the construction team. She was invisible thanks to perception-blocking magic, and she stayed that way as she ran uninterrupted for several hours.
4242
4243Now Magic Sense was telling her something else.
4244
4245This is…a pretty high-level presence coming up. Is that…Phobio, the Black Leopard Fang?! Carillon must be serious, if he’s sent one of the Three Lycanthropeers…
4246
4247This was a massively powerful magic-born, one Mjurran would have no chance against. Not even the orc lord would give it much of a workout. But what was odder was Phobio’s movements—he was traveling right past the orc lord’s position and toward somewhere else. The place Mjurran was going. The roads must have been connected.
4248
4249She began to wonder what was so important on the other end of this road.
4250
4251Her intel-gathering mission meant she wasn’t allowed to come too close to her target. With her magic eyes, however, she didn’t need to. She could see them well enough from far away, and her curiosity was driving her to track Phobio now. She continued doing so for a while, until she finally caught sight of a large, open area up ahead. It was still too far to be seen without magical support, but apparently that was where Phobio landed.
4252
4253So that’s where he went. The orc lord’s stronghold, perhaps? Perhaps he wanted to smash their headquarters first.
4254
4255Mjurran wasn’t sure what to make of it—until she turned her “gaze” toward Phobio’s landing point. She immediately regretted it.
4256
4257The… The demon lord Milim?!
4258
4259It was an absolute wave of violence, unleashed by that girl with the platinum-pink hair.
4260
4261The girl was grinning, this infallible presence that dominated the other demon lords.
4262
4263Milim, the Destroyer herself, was there—and despite the distant point Mjurran was observing her from, Milim still noticed her. With a smile, she rolled her eyes toward the faraway spy. Mjurran hurriedly turned off the spell, even as fear shook her, even though she knew it was likely too late.
4264
4265Her position was known, and she had to flee, no matter how futile she felt it was. If there was any silver lining to this, it was that Milim was in no hurry to take action. She was willing to let this “observer” go.
4266
4267“‘Don’t interfere with anyone’—that was the deal, right? I suppose I owe my life to that,” she said to herself.
4268
4269Slowly, Mjurran stood up. Locking eyes with Milim came as a shock, but they had both seemed to tacitly agree not to interfere. Very well, then.
4270
4271Some of the mystery magic-born she was shown in the images were near Milim as well—they must have survived, too, along with the orc lord.
4272
4273How should I report this to Clayman…?
4274
4275Wondering to herself, she left the site.
4276
4277*
4278
4279After finishing her report to the demon lord, Mjurran hefted a deep, depressed sigh. His first response to it was harsh—“Spotted by your observation target? That’s far too sloppy for you.” Just recalling it disgusted her.
4280
4281“If you can’t even perform the job I assign you, you really have no value to me. I can’t have you just up and dying on me, so please, try to be more careful in the future. Continue observing and wait for your next orders,” Clayman spitefully continued.
4282
4283To him, Mjurran had no value, just like Gelmud. That was the kind of man he was. The Marionette Master was, as his nickname suggested, an excellent commander of other people’s work—but he never treated his servants as anything special. It was a master-slave relationship.
4284
4285I failed. I completely failed… Why did I have to pledge my faith to a man like that…?
4286
4287Pushing her emotions back, Mjurran turned her focus elsewhere. If she wanted to live, she couldn’t afford to fail next time. She had only been tasked with intel gathering, but against the demon lord Milim, that was a tall order. Continual observation of her would be suicide. She knew Milim was not at all unintelligent—her temper often made people misjudge that, but it was true. What’s more, her instinct for picking up on other people’s thoughts made it all but impossible to hide things from her.
4288
4289Another concern for Mjurran were the “next orders” Clayman had for her. Something told her that continuing to follow his commands would be far from a good idea. Forget about following in Gelmud’s footsteps, she thought. Her situation wasn’t good. If she continued to stand by idly, she feared it would be the end of her.
4290
4291This is awful. But—
4292
4293She was prepared for what might come. She had no hope, but in some way, Mjurran thought this could also be her big chance. Serving the demon lord as long as she did, she felt she could read his thoughts a little by now. She was aware that Clayman was planning some kind of new, large-scale operation—one that, she predicted, she’d have to serve as a sacrificial lamb for.
4294
4295If she couldn’t escape from Clayman’s rule, then death was waiting for her. Maybe she could fake her death and beat him to the punch…or maybe she could free herself from the Marionette Heart and regain her freedom. Those were the hopes Mjurran was betting her life on.
4296
4297
4298If she could find some piece of information that would please Clayman, that would be perfect. If it was juicy enough to earn her freedom, even better.
4299
4300Regardless, she wanted to make it look like she died, as in her initial thought. Doing so might arouse suspicion, but having the demon lord Milim around actually made it more convenient. If Milim decided to kick up some dust, it’d attract attention from all corners. It’d be more than enough to attract Clayman’s eye, and after that, Mjurran would mean little to nothing to him.
4301
4302She had made up her mind.
4303
4304
4305She couldn’t read what Milim might do. But if the Destroyer was on the move, that would be one large stone she was throwing into the pond. The more ripples that resulted, the less Mjurran’s presence would stand out.
4306
4307There was no need to hurry on this. Clayman was not a demon lord to trifle with. He would see through a half-baked plan of action. For now, she needed to remain in obscurity, faithfully carrying out her orders.
4308
4309So Mjurran sat there quietly, waiting for time to continue onward.
4310
4311*
4312
4313The demon lord Clayman closed his connection to Mjurran and sneered.
4314
4315He had been a bit harsh with the witch, but so far, everything was still according to plan. Given Milim’s behavior at their summit, he presumed that she would head right into the forest. Based on that, it wouldn’t be good for her to think that he was uninterested in these mystery monsters. He was the one who hatched and supported this plot in the first place.
4316
4317What Clayman wanted was a demon lord who’d serve as his faithful puppet—and now that some uncertainties were making themselves known, supporting whoever survived as a future demon lord seemed dangerous to him. They would be too hot to handle, much less make into one of his underlings. If he could grasp some kind of weakness inherent to his target, that was one thing, but Clayman had no intention of dominating with sheer force, the way Carillon would.
4318
4319But there was no need to spell all of that out. Just indicating that he was interested, or making Milim think as much, would work fine without planting any seeds of doubt in her mind. Plus, his true mission was to entice Frey to join his side, and as long as that was so, keeping Milim’s attention focused on the mystery magic-born freed up his own movements a little.
4320
4321He was sure Milim was gloating right now, laughing about how much of a head start she had on him. Thanks to her keen sense of intuition, any attempt at deceiving her usually ended in failure. That’s why he needed Mjurran to take her assignment as seriously as possible—and if Milim took care of her in the process, that was no great issue, either. The moment Milim spotted her, Mjurran’s role in his life was over. Having Milim rub her out wouldn’t hurt Clayman at all.
4322
4323“By this point, Mjurran’s a pawn I can stand to get rid of. I’ve obtained all her knowledge. She’s largely useless in battle. It was about time to dispose of her anyway. This works well for me,” he mused coldly.
4324
4325Just then…
4326
4327“Just as terrible as always, aren’t you, Clayman? Sad to hear. You need to treat your tools right, or else they’ll fall apart. Didn’t Laplace tell you that?”
4328
4329The apparent response to Clayman’s whispers came from a hazy presence in a corner of the room. It revealed a young girl wearing the mask of a clown, one with tear marks running from its eyes.
4330
4331Her voice was equally forlorn. It didn’t bother the demon lord, who leisurely turned around to face the girl.
4332
4333“Oh, you’re back, Teare? That was fast.”
4334
4335He addressed her with a deep sort of affection, despite her entering the room unannounced. That was rare for Clayman but nonetheless to be expected. This was one of the demon lord’s very few true friends. Teare, the Teardrop Jester—much like Laplace, the Wonder Jester, her coworker and vice president of the Moderate Jesters—was an old companion of Clayman’s.
4336
4337“Uh-huh. It was pretty tough this time. I couldn’t move around too freely in Frey’s territory. She is a demon lord, after all.”
4338
4339“I could imagine. You weren’t noticed, were you?”
4340
4341“No problems there. Mission complete! I am part of the Moderate Jesters—you could learn to trust me a little more!”
4342
4343Clayman flashed her a contented smile. “Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Oh, I do, I do, Teare. I just worry you’re putting your neck on the line too much.”
4344
4345The concern he had for Teare was evident in his voice. It was a much different tone from what he used with Mjurran a moment ago. Anyone could see that any worry he had for Teare was the genuine article.
4346
4347“Ugh! Can you stop treating me like a child already?!”
4348
4349“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Yes, of course, Teare. But did you hear the news? Milim seems to have taken quite the liking to those magic-born. This is turning out even more interesting than I had thought it would. Who could have imagined that Milim herself would seek out one of Carillon’s Three Lycanthropeers? Such a pleasure to see unfold.”
4350
4351“Well, fair enough,” Teare replied quizzically. “But how do you think it’s going, though? I haven’t seen your crystal-ball recordings yet, but are these magic-born really amazing enough to keep Milim’s interest?”
4352
4353Clayman could sense her curiosity. He made no attempt to hide his own heart from her. “Well, to be honest, I suppose they cannot go on ignored. In terms of strength alone, I would easily be able to dispatch them…” He paused to think for a moment, carefully choosing his words. “But Laplace was…unnerved by them. He ‘felt’ something, is how he put it. I thought he was overthinking matters, but if both the orc lord and these mysterious magic-born survived, it does give me pause.”
4354
4355“Hmm… Really?” Teare sounded convinced by this assessment. “Well,” she continued, “if it was enough to unnerve that little sneak Laplace, there’s got to be something to it, doesn’t there? Either them and the orc lord made peace, or one side’s subjugating the other…or something else? It’s hard to judge their value, I think, as long as we don’t know. We at least need to know what the demon lord Milim finds so fascinating about them.”
4356
4357“Certainly… I can’t disagree with that.”
4358
4359“Right? You aren’t acting like yourself, Clayman. You’re usually a lot more cautious about these things.”
4360
4361Such a scathing comment forced Clayman to reconsider his approach. If some monster under his control made this statement, he wouldn’t have given it any kind of sincere thought. It might’ve enraged him into killing the poor creature.
4362
4363“Perhaps I might be a little too hasty here. I suppose I’d best collect more information from a variety of angles before I debate it any further.”
4364
4365“Yeah, I think you’re right!”
4366
4367So following Teare’s feedback, Clayman decided to investigate the magic-born a little more. He had no interest in recruiting them; his objectives were still the same.
4368
4369The only question he wanted to tackle: What was Milim so interested in with them? That was a major concern for him, and he thought learning more about the magic-born might lead to an answer.
4370
4371Otherwise, to a demon lord like Clayman, high-level magic-borns hardly mattered at all.
4372
4373
4374Recomposing himself, Clayman decided to listen to Teare’s report.
4375
4376“So how did your investigation turn out?”
4377
4378“Well, it looks like Frey has no intention of getting involved in the Forest of Jura.”
4379
4380“Ah… So she won’t make a move, then? Did you get a grasp of what was going on over there?”
4381
4382“Oh, absolutely!” Teare grinned.
4383
4384She had taken on this job because Laplace was busy with another assignment.
4385
4386Her mission was to investigate the demon lord Frey and collect intel on any potential weakness they could take advantage of. That was what brought Teare into Frey’s territory.
4387
4388Teare might have looked like a little girl, but much like the demon lord she served, she was a first-class superpower.
4389
4390“So, um, my impression was that Frey was kind of on high alert about something or other. She had harpies flying around all over her realm, like she was preparing for war or something.”
4391
4392“Ah. It figures. Did you find out why?”
4393
4394Teare snickered a little. “I did. And guess what?! She’s freaked out because Charybdis might resurrect itself!” she reported cheerily.
4395
4396It made perfect sense to Clayman. “I see, I see… Well, Teare, I’d like to make another request of you, but how’s your schedule looking?”
4397
4398“Eee-hee-hee! I thought you might say that. I have Footman on standby, too, so if it involves some rough stuff, we can handle it!”
4399
4400“Heh-heh… Well done, Teare. But I’d like you to keep this from turning violent. First, I’d like you to travel to where this Charybdis is sealed away and see if it’s possible to win this creature over to our side.”
4401
4402“Sure thing! Leave it all to me, Clayman!”
4403
4404“I believe the location is—”
4405
4406“I said, leave it all to me! I gotta get going, okay?”
4407
4408With that, Teare once more sank into the muddy darkness. Watching her leave, Clayman exhibited a twinge of worry in his eyes—an extraordinarily rare thing for him. In an instant, they were back to their bold, fearless shine.
4409
4410“Well… Charybdis, eh? Very good. If its power is truly up to demon lord standards, I can hardly wait to see what it packs.”
4411
4412The whisper was delivered with a joyful smile as he descended into his own thoughts.
4413
4414*
4415
4416Carillon, king of the lycanthropes, first declared himself demon lord four hundred years ago in his thirst for more power. The world was in a great era of upheaval back then, with demon lords stepping in and out of the picture at a dizzying rate, and he made the move near the end of a great world war, one fabled to take place every five hundred years.
4417
4418Frey was one of the other survivors of that era to join the demon lord club, with Clayman staking his claim a century later. Leon Cromwell, meanwhile, assumed the title two hundred years ago, with his defeat of the Accursed Lord under his belt.
4419
4420Together, the four young demon lords were known as the New Generation.
4421
4422The older ones, meanwhile, were wizened generals by comparison, all surviving at least two world wars, and their strength was on a completely different level from the new gang. That led many in the New Generation to strive to expand their own forces, and Carillon was one of them.
4423
4424It was little wonder, then, that he was now attempting to recruit some more brawn for his side.
4425
4426
4427Phobio, the Black Leopard Fang and one of Carillon’s Three Lycanthropeers, understood his master’s feelings better than anyone else. That was why, even after being trounced to a terrifying degree by the demon lord Milim, he was still hiding himself deep in the forest.
4428
4429There was no way he could do something as utterly shameless as returning home right now. If he explained everything to Carillon, he would no doubt laugh it off and forgive him. But Phobio’s pride refused to allow that. Failing to live up to the expectations of Carillon, the man who saved his life, would be unbearable.
4430
4431“I can’t let that happen!” he half howled into the air.
4432
4433“Please, calm yourself, Sir Phobio!”
4434
4435“That defeat was unavoidable. Not even Lord Carillon could quell the rage of Milim—”
4436
4437“Shut up! Lord Carillon would never show his ugly face again if it happened to him. I was just too inexperienced for the job…but my pride forbids me from returning without anything to show for it.”
4438
4439The anger in Phobio’s embittered reply made his men fall silent.
4440
4441They had been hiding out for a week, taking shifts as they kept watch over the town. The demon lord Milim had stayed there the entire time—and they had also seen monsters engaged in a variety of tasks, from building construction to road expansion. There were also monsters tasked with procuring food and patrolling the area—the order preserved around town was amazing to see. Not even Phobio could hide his shock.
4442
4443“Just look at those bastards. Up and building a town for themselves… I dismissed them as lowly monsters, but they’ve got technology that not even I am aware of…”
4444
4445“You certainly said it. I wouldn’t want to subjugate them so much as open formal relations with their leader.”
4446
4447This was Enrio, a monkey lycanthrope, taking an intellectual approach to the question. He had a point. These monsters were working in orderly crews, under the command of their leaders. This was clearly some state-of-the-art engineering. It was incomparable with what Enrio knew in his homeland, the Beast Kingdom of Eurazania, with its crude stone houses and roads of bare, flattened earth.
4448
4449“Yeah. Even if Milim wasn’t here, we’ve taken the wrong approach. We tried to conquer them without any chance for them to counter us—and that cost us the opportunity to earn their trust. But what’s done is done. And even if I’m all healed up, my humiliation at the hands of Milim hasn’t disappeared. I have to find a way to get back at her! Some way that won’t put any trouble on Lord Carillon. I know in my brain that it’s impossible, but this is about my heart.” Phobio’s voice was dark, ghostlike, and bereft of its usual cheerfulness.
4450
4451Up to now, Phobio was an absolute ruler. Nobody could defy his strength—but now his first setback was giving him pause. He had never lost to anyone before, except Carillon. His logical mind told him that losing to Milim was unavoidable, but the flames of humiliation still simmered deep below.
4452
4453“I know what you mean, sir, but…”
4454
4455Enrio knew exactly how Phobio felt. But exacting revenge upon Milim was not in the scope of reality. He tried to make Phobio give up on the idea but found himself interrupted.
4456
4457“Ohhh, I completely understand. All that anger and frustration… I’m an old veteran of those feelings.”
4458
4459“Who goes there?!”
4460
4461“Since when were you here?”
4462
4463Phobio’s troops were far too late to react. The figure had already sidled right up to them as they sat around the campfire—and judging by the way it had avoided detection by an entire group of high-level magic-born, it must have been quite talented indeed.
4464
4465“Hohhhh-hoh-hoh-hoh! A good day to all of you! I am called Footman, member of the Moderate Jesters. They call me the Angry Jester, and I am delighted to make all of your acquaintances!”
4466
4467The polite greeting from the rotund figure was marred slightly by the enraged expression on its mask. The gregarious tone of the clown’s voice made its presence seem, in a way, quite surreal.
4468
4469“Mm-hmm. You don’t have to be so wary of us. My name’s Teare, a fellow Moderate Jester. We’re sort of jacks-of-all-trades, and I promise we’re not fighting against you!”
4470
4471And then, a female clown stepped out from behind Footman, this one with a tearful mask. The angry man and the sobbing girl—a very strange thing to see beside a peaceful campfire.
4472
4473Asking Phobio and his cohorts not to be “wary” of them was a tall order. But the way they appeared out of nowhere certainly hinted at their powers. If they weren’t foes, perhaps it was best to believe that.
4474
4475“Hohh? I’ve never heard of this Moderate Jesters group before. A jack-of-all-trades? Well, whatever. What are you after anyway?” Phobio asked, trying to work out their objectives.
4476
4477Footman seemed like he couldn’t wait to answer. “Hohh-hoh-hoh-hoh! Well, I was called here by your feelings of anger and disgust. The waves of rage I felt rippling from here were quite noteworthy, indeed! Were you the source of them? I would love to know what makes you so enraged. Would you be so kind as to tell me? Because I’m sure I could offer some assistance!”
4478
4479He transformed his mask as he spoke, making it erupt into an eerie smile.
4480
4481“You expect us to talk to someone as creepy as you two?” Enrio countered. “Sir Phobio, there’s no reason to fall for their politeness. May we dispatch them for you?”
4482
4483“He’s right!” another of Phobio’s men added. “It’s not normal, someone coming here without being asked to. You two look to be high-level magic-born as well, but you picked the wrong group to wrestle with. We belong to the Beast Master’s Warrior Alliance, part of the armies of the demon lord Carillon. Do you think a pair of wandering magic-born like you could defeat us?”
4484
4485*
4486
4487The group had little interest in hearing them out. The strangers were too suspicious-looking, and the way they dared to offer help riled their anger. Phobio’s group were in the elite echelon of Carillon’s forces—they hadn’t fallen to the point where they required the help of random creepsters.
4488
4489Ignoring them, Footman continued. “You seek power, do you not? Well, power’s just what we have. Quite a bit! It comes with a level of danger, of course, but if you can conquer this danger, the strength you could earn from it is tremendous!”
4490
4491“…Oh?”
4492
4493“Yeah! You want to beat the demon lord Milim, don’t you? So why don’t you become a demon lord, too?”
4494
4495Teare’s question drove the camp to silence. The sound of one lycanthrope swallowing nervously seemed to echo against the trees.
4496
4497“A…demon lord? Did you think you could trick us with such ridiculous—”
4498
4499“Charybdis. Have you heard of it?”
4500
4501The single word from Footman had earth-shattering effects. The moment he uttered it, Phobio froze in place.
4502
4503And then—
4504
4505“The evil powers that giant fish holds are incredibly massive! If you don’t need it, well, we can always offer it to someone else. See ya!”
4506
4507—Teare dealt the next blow.
4508
4509Gesturing to Footman, she turned and prepared to walk off. This was how the devil tempts you—by making you panic, stealing your decision-making skills, and blocking your ability to think rationally.
4510
4511“…Wait.”
4512
4513Phobio stopped her, defeated by his very own ambitions.
4514
4515“No, Sir Phobio!”
4516
4517“You can’t listen to these people!”
4518
4519“Tell me more,” Phobio asked, ignoring his men.
4520
4521The flames of crazed desire were dancing in his eyes as he turned them toward Footman. Maybe this was his chance to scare the wits out of Milim with all her power. It could even let him rule over the lands as a demon lord himself. None of it was a dream any longer. And imagining it made Phobio fling away all his composure.
4522
4523No. I never liked this from the start. Why did the demon lord choose me to dispatch a single, wimpy orc lord? I don’t need to take that crap. Yes… If it’s a new demon lord they need, nobody should have any complaints about me taking the helm. If it makes me stronger, I’m sure Carillon will laugh it off anyway!
4524
4525Phobio, prone to hasty thinking even in the best of times, had been completely hooked by Teare’s and Footman’s sweet words.
4526
4527“Ooh! A fine decision, Sir Phobio. And the correct one! Who besides you could ever become a demon lord?”
4528
4529“You’re up for it, then?” Teare added. “Well, it makes sense to me. Someone strong’s gotta be demon lord, or else it’d be a terrible mistake! That’s what I think, too—and you’re just the man for the job, Sir Phobio!”
4530
4531Yet, Phobio was no fool. He still had ultimate authority over these two flattering him, and he hadn’t forgotten one very pertinent question to ask.
4532
4533“Knock that crap off! I said, tell me more. If I say yes to that offer, what do you get out of it? You gotta have some kind of endgame! So out with it!”
4534
4535Teare and Footman had expected this.
4536
4537“We do get something out of it, yes. If you become a demon lord, Sir Phobio, we’re hoping you can show us a little favor afterward. Hopefully, you’ll be able to accommodate us in a few areas?”
4538
4539“Hoh-hoh-hoh! And we could hardly subdue Charybdis by ourselves. We’ve discovered where it’s been confined and everything, but if we can’t tame it, it’d be such a waste! And just as we were pondering over what to do about that, who should we run into but you, Sir Phobio!”
4540
4541That was easy enough for Phobio to accept.
4542
4543“Huh. All right. But how do you know I can tame Charybdis any more than—?”
4544
4545“Hohhhhh-hoh-hoh-hoh! No worries there! I am positive you will succeed at the task, Sir Phobio! And even if you should fail by some incredibly unlikely event, we will demand no reparations from you. We only charge our clients if they win, win, win! On that score—at the least—you can place your full trust upon the jacks-of-all-trades at the Moderate Jesters!”
4546
4547Huh, Phobio thought. So when I become demon lord, they want it to be clear who helped me out the most.
4548
4549In that case, perhaps it was best to leave the demon lord Carillon’s army. That move could do him well, whether he succeeded at this or not.
4550
4551Phobio had a lust for power. He also felt confident that he could tame Charybdis. Instead of fearing failure, he was already sure of his success, ready to accept the deal. All the extravagant praise from this pair made him feel like he was sitting on a demon lord’s throne even now—or perhaps, Phobio was already caught up in their spell by then.
4552
4553“All right. I accept your offer!”
4554
4555Following his instincts, Phobio nodded, signing the papers that Teare handed to him.
4556
4557*
4558
4559Phobio then turned to his troops and gave his final orders.
4560
4561“I want you to go back to Lord Carillon and tell him what I agreed to.”
4562
4563“Sir Phobio?!”
4564
4565“But…”
4566
4567“Listen, you guys,” he said, stopping them. “I’m not gonna cause any trouble for Sir Carillon, so tell him I’m giving up my post in the Three Lycanthropeers and leaving the force. Nobody’s gonna whine about what I do if I’m just some magic-born unaffiliated with anyone. Besides…I’m going places. I’m going to be stronger. Strong enough to lay waste to the world. And I’ll make Milim recognize that!”
4568
4569Nothing could change Phobio’s mind—a mind that was almost unnaturally attuned toward revenge against the demon lord who slighted him. As if his unfading feelings of humiliation and anger were pushing him forward.
4570
4571Enrio silently watched him, thinking and observing as his companions exhorted Phobio to reconsider. After all the years he had been his closest confidant, he knew well that once he made up his mind, it wasn’t easy to make him reconsider. Phobio’s will was firm, and his heart could not be moved. So…
4572
4573“Very well, sir. I will report to Lord Carillon first. However, the strength of Charybdis is still an unknown. I would suggest you be careful with it—do not expect it to eat from your hand that easily.”
4574
4575And with that, he left, taking his companions with him. Considering the nonaggression pact the demon lords had with one another, Phobio picking a fight with Milim could become a serious crisis. Enrio needed to confer with Carillon and take countermeasures before that happened. It was with some reluctance that he left, but he couldn’t afford to do anything as foolish as let his emotions dictate his priorities. It was an order, besides, and one made with whatever reasoning power remained in his mind.
4576
4577Sir Phobio is not a fool. I cannot think he will be deceived for long by that strange duo. And even if this Charybdis actually exists, Sir Phobio should be able to tame it.
4578
4579He chose to have faith in Phobio.
4580
4581
4582With Enrio on his way, the only people left were Teare, Footman, and Phobio.
4583
4584“Well, shall we be off, then?”
4585
4586“Yes! I can’t wait to show this Charybdis my power and smash it to the ground. And with our combined forces, we’ll turn that demon lord Milim into a sobbing baby!”
4587
4588“Yep! You sure will! I’m totally cheering you on, too, so don’t let your guard down! Ready to go?”
4589
4590Teare and Footman motioned Phobio to follow behind them. After a short journey, they reached a small cave, deep in the very heart of the Forest of Jura.
4591
4592“Charybdis is here?”
4593
4594“Sure is!”
4595
4596“It has not resurrected itself quite yet, you see, but you can still feel its lust for destruction bubble into the air. We love such emotions, so that’s how we found it.”
4597
4598There was an evil grin on Footman’s face as he spoke. Phobio failed to notice, enraptured as he was by the strange aura he could feel from the cave.
4599
4600“Now,” the clown continued, “let me explain how this works. Resurrecting Charybdis requires a large number of corpses. Charybdis is a sort of spiritual life-form, essentially like a demon. We have to give it a physical corpus, so it can exercise its power in this world. So…”
4601
4602He gave Phobio a sidelong glance. Phobio could read what it meant. He gulped nervously.
4603
4604“Wait. Are you…?”
4605
4606“Why, yes! We are! To tame Charybdis, you must instill it within your own body. You will become one with it!” Footman’s voice boomed, revealing his obvious excitement.
4607
4608“Mm-hmm,” Teare added. “If you want to stop, now’s your chance, okay? This seal won’t last for much longer, and when it breaks, Charybdis will wind up resurrected on some battlefield or monster fight or whatever. In fact, it’s probably gonna try using the remaining dregs of its power to cook up the monster corpses it needs to resurrect itself—and if that happens, we’ll have gone through all this trouble for nothing!”
4609
4610Was that true? It might be. There was a slight twinge of impatience to Teare’s voice.
4611
4612“If Charybdis automatically resurrects itself, I doubt we’d be able to control it. It’s just a pure drive for destruction, so it won’t take orders from anyone, I don’t think. Not even if we defeat it. So…we have to unseal it before it resurrects and take its powers away, or it won’t work,” she continued, choosing her words carefully.
4613
4614Her eyes turned straight toward Phobio. They stabbed into him, much as Footman’s had. There would be no more eloquent way to ask the question they were asking.
4615
4616“All right,” Phobio replied sternly. “I’m already committed to this; I ain’t gonna chicken out now. I am ready to make the power of Charybdis my own!”
4617
4618“Yeah! That’s the spirit!”
4619
4620“Hohhh-hoh-hoh-hoh! Well said, Lord Phobio. I really must thank you—and toast our good fortune as well for running into such a trustworthy partner!”
4621
4622So it was decided.
4623
4624Phobio ventured into the cave alone, eyes filled with the pride he held as a high-level magic-born. A finely purified will that believed in victory without fearing defeat. But sadly, his heart was still filled, deep down, with his grudge against Milim and his buried anger at his own immaturity.
4625
4626To the spiritual life-form known as Charybdis, nothing could be more delicious.
4627
4628The moment he fell for Teare’s and Footman’s sweet words, his fate was sealed—a fact he had failed to notice as he plunged into the cave’s darkness.
4629
4630
4631Time passed.
4632
4633“He is gone, isn’t he?”
4634
4635“He certainly is.”
4636
4637“Hohh-hoh-hoh! Hohhh-hoh-hoh-hoh!”
4638
4639“Ha-ha-ha… Ahh-ha-ha-ha!!”
4640
4641The laughter came loud and fast once they were sure Phobio was fully inside.
4642
4643“Exactly the sort of person one would expect to be serving that blockhead Carillon, eh? And after all the excuses we practiced beforehand, he barely questioned us at all.”
4644
4645“Totally, totally! That monkey guy looked a lot smarter than him.”
4646
4647They had contrived a fairly extensive amount of arguments and strategies to convince Phobio to accept the offer from this pair of odd-looking strangers. But Phobio’s eyes were so clouded by rage and greed that it went far easier than predicted. They ridiculed him for it in his absence—so easy, it was almost a disappointment.
4648
4649“Is that the end of the job, then, Teare?”
4650
4651“Mm-hmm! All I heard from Clayman was to revive Charybdis and have it head for Milim.”
4652
4653“And no new business after that?”
4654
4655“Nope. This job’s all wrapped up! Oh, and how about we just dispose of the lesser-dragon corpses we brought in? We’re not gonna need ’em anymore.”
4656
4657“Indeed. We go through all the trouble to prepare a temporary body, and then that fool volunteers for the job instead! No need for these corpses, no.”
4658
4659So they tossed the bodies to the ground.
4660
4661There were a dozen or so lesser dragons in all; they had killed an entire flock of them for the job. Lesser dragons were not part of the draconic races that Veldora belonged to; there was nothing inherently magical about them. They were unintelligent creatures, incapable of handling magic, but they were protected by a tough body and strong scales, giving them a killer advantage in close-quarters fighting. The human race usually ranked them around a B-plus or A-minus, but not even such a powerful beast was any match for two high-level magic-born.
4662
4663Their lives were cruelly taken, and now they were being treated like garbage. Bringing them to a human town and selling the assorted parts from them could fetch a small fortune, but to Teare and Footman, they were just an encumbrance.
4664
4665Once they removed the corpses from their spatial-magic storage and dumped them on the ground, they left the scene, satisfied at a job well done.
4666
4667*
4668
4669It had been several weeks since Milim arrived, and the time really passed by in a flash. Every day was a battle with her.
4670
4671Some days, she would check out our agricultural operations and even help plow the fields. I was willing to bet that we were tilling the fields created after clearing trees from the forest faster than any modern farming equipment could manage. It was exhilarating, seeing how quickly the job was being done.
4672
4673Other days, she’d observe our workshops. Watching Kurobe forge a new sword practically made her swoon for the guy—and then she’d immediately get bored and whine about wanting to try doing it herself. He said yes, and of course, her approach was incredibly violent—one strike was all it took to almost destroy the forge space, anvil and all. It taught us all that Milim wasn’t really suited for delicate work.
4674
4675Chaotic days, to be sure, but at least they were peaceful now.
4676
4677
4678Not much had changed with life around town after Yohm and his crew left. The only real difference was the guests we were now hosting. Kabal and friends were still staying here, as was Fuze.
4679
4680“Uhh, don’t you kind of need to get back home sooner or later? How long were you planning to stay anyway?”
4681
4682I decided to bring up the question with Fuze while Kabal and his gang were taking Milim out hunting. They got along pretty well with her, too; by now they were her second favorite after me. I needed to take advantage as much as I could.
4683
4684“Well, is it all right if I stayed a little bit longer? There’s, you know, a lot of things to tackle.”
4685
4686He wanted more time. He, too, had been walking around town, observing the assorted goings-on. He wasn’t liable to cause trouble if I took my eyes off him, unlike Milim, but it still made me nervous.
4687
4688“Oh, come on, you’re still not convinced that we’re not a threat?”
4689
4690The whole reason for his stay was because he was suspicious of us—or me, really. The longer he stayed here, the more concerned it made me.
4691
4692“Mmm? Oh no, I’ve long since dropped any worries I had about you, Sir Rimuru. It’s just…”
4693
4694His voice trailed off.
4695
4696“Okay, so why are you still here?” I pressed.
4697
4698Fuze scowled a little, then resigned himself to reveal the truth. “Well, it’s just comfortable living here, you know? Thinking about it, it’s been a long while since I’ve had a chance to rest and take it easy, so…you know, I was thinking this was a good chance to let my hair down for a bit.”
4699
4700What? Wow, talk about brazen! I’ve been on pins and needles worrying about Fuze, and he was treating this as a resort vacation?!
4701
4702“Uh, you realize I permitted you to stay here because you were going on about trying to ‘gauge us out’ and so on, right?”
4703
4704I was truly at a loss for words. All the politeness I extended to him at first now seemed like a truly stupid idea. And that wasn’t all—there was one other thing too important to forget.
4705
4706“Also, what happened to your promise that you’d help make Yohm and his band into champions?”
4707
4708“Oh, no need to worry! I’ve decided that I can trust you, Sir Rimuru, so I’ve already instructed my team to finish up the arrangements.”
4709
4710Apparently, he had already reported to Blumund and gotten everything set up for Yohm over in Farmus. Despite being on vacation, he was still handling his job for me. Shrewd of him, I guess—or maybe, indicative of the fact that I couldn’t let my guard down around him.
4711
4712“Really? Well, great, then. So you like it here?”
4713
4714“I should say so! This town is amazing! Having such a fine place to rest and recuperate so near to Blumund is truly welcome. Of course…I can’t help but think about the dangers involved in traveling between here and there.”
4715
4716I suppose Fuze really did see this town as a kind of health spa. Guess installing that hot-spring bath and working hard to improve our food quality paid off. It was more the work of Shuna and the three dwarven brothers than me, but still.
4717
4718Our diets, in particular, had dramatically changed over the past few weeks. It still wasn’t all that varied a menu, but each meal had started to taste quite a bit better. We didn’t have much in the way of seasonings, such as mirin or soy sauce, so no really strong flavors yet—but we did have salt, as well as something kind of like pepper and a variety of condiments from the fragrant grasses of the forest.
4719
4720These ingredients, combined with Shuna’s genius in the kitchen, were producing some pretty high-grade food.
4721
4722“Ahh, being able to consume such fine cuisine, day in, day out. I am a happy woman indeed!” Milim also approved.
4723
4724She had made friends with Shuna while I wasn’t paying attention, and the sight of her stealing—er, sampling—tastes of food in the kitchen became a regular occurrence. Shuna was fond of her, too, and sometimes I wondered if anyone saw her as a demon lord any longer. But hey, having friends isn’t a bad thing.
4725
4726We were also training apprentice cooks for Shuna’s operations. From both genders, too. Shuna didn’t have the analysis and assessment abilities that my unique skills provided; she had to rely on her five senses to make the food she did. The new cooks stuck to Shuna’s advice along those lines, working hard to keep bellies full across town.
4727
4728With all the different races coming in, our population was starting to swell. This naturally meant we needed to employ a large number of people to cover our food needs, along with keeping the peace, cleaning the rest houses, and doing the laundry. Everyone had their strong and weak points, so we had decided to divide the work into six categories: cooking, cleaning, upkeep, sewing, assistance, and miscellaneous. Rigurd was responsible for taking command and providing assignments. He was good at it, and the job he was doing bringing all the town’s monsters together was a wonder to see.
4729
4730Yohm’s band also had nothing but good things to say about our food. They liked their living quarters, too, along with the town experience in general. If it wasn’t for that, I’m sure they would’ve fled from Hakuro and his demonic training regimen long ago. Judging by the way monsters around town treated them, they must have enjoyed the work well enough. Once we started hosting merchants in here, I was pretty sure it’d work out just fine.
4731
4732It’d be great if we could all work together and turn this area into a tourist destination. I had certain plans along those lines, but nothing concrete yet. For now, our first priority was convincing everyone else that we weren’t dangerous.
4733
4734
4735Danger on the roads, though…?
4736
4737That was probably a good point. It’d be exceedingly rare to run into something as big as a knight spider, but there certainly were a large number of monsters out there. A forest as deep and thickly vegetated as this one was no place for a human being to live—the monsters posed a danger, but so did getting lost and running out of food. Nobody was around to treat you if you hurt yourself, and the threat of illness on the road was also present. It took nearly two weeks to complete a one-way journey between Blumund and here, but you could expect to tack on a few extra days for all sorts of reasons.
4738
4739Having Shadow Motion and the like on hand made the distance something we could cover immediately, but that wasn’t available to adventurers. Even seasoned travelers like Kabal’s team needed around ten days to cover it, no matter how quickly they went. If they got in a fight and lost their bearings, it was a given in this world that they’d need to expend a few days getting back on track.
4740
4741I wanted to use the merchants to spread the word about this town for me. That was my plan, but there were still a few stumbling blocks to cover before we brought it to action.
4742
4743“Hmm… I see. It’d be quicker to build a new road, wouldn’t it?”
4744
4745“Huh? What do you mean?”
4746
4747“Um, well, I’m having a crew pave a road between here and the Dwarven Kingdom, but I’ve also got another team handling building construction. Their work’s settled down lately, but I was thinking maybe they could put in a road to Blumund. It’d keep people from getting lost, at least.”
4748
4749“Wait, really? That’s kind of a big national operation, isn’t it? You’d need a ton of money to—”
4750
4751“There you go again, Fuzie.”
4752
4753“Fuzie? Something about you calling me that really creeps me out.”
4754
4755“Ah, don’t worry about it, Fuzie. If we can build a road and pave it with gravel, that’d open passage to carriages and wagons and such. It’d save a ton of time, plus, it’d be useful for future relations, right? And we’d be happy to undertake this operation. Just one thing…”
4756
4757“What’s that?”
4758
4759“I want you to spread the word, like you promised. Just let everyone know that we aren’t a pack of dangerous monsters. And I’d also appreciate it if you could introduce me to an expert in customs and tariffs and stuff. I want to sell some of the goods we produce, so if I could get in contact with people who can help with all that stuff, that’d be great. How about it?”
4760
4761Right now, the path between here and Blumund was little more than a rough animal trail, capable of accommodating horses but not full carriages. We had started to build a road to Dwargon, but we hadn’t even gotten around to clearing the trees that dotted the path to Blumund. We hesitated to, because we were afraid of calling too much attention to ourselves, but that was before all the battles and such in the forest.
4762
4763Things were starting to calm down again, and I wanted to have some highways we could leverage to improve our trading activity. I was prepared to leave that issue alone if we were seen as “the enemy,” but if we were building diplomatic relations with other countries, we needed some real roads, fast. And since I ran things in the forest, it was up to us, I felt, to do all the construction work.
4764
4765I figured now was a good time to plead my case to Fuze about this, even if it sounded a tad patronizing, and have him do his job for me. It had the intended effect. Fuze looked honestly touched.
4766
4767“Sir Rimuru, you would really do all that for us? In that case, we’ll do our best to provide any kind of support you need!”
4768
4769Heh. That was easy. Fuze will probably be singing our praises to anyone who listens to him once he returns home. At the very least, if he didn’t have a narrow, prejudiced view of us, then I’d say I won this battle.
4770
4771If using some of our idle man power to build a road was enough to earn that much appreciation, it’s a pretty cheap deal for us, I think.
4772
4773*
4774
4775Kabal and his friends were back by the time I had finished cajoling Fuze. Milim came running up to me, a big smile on her face.
4776
4777“Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Another bumper crop today!”
4778
4779Behind her, Kabal and Gido were both carrying a huge number of monsters on their backs.
4780
4781“Boy, that Milim sure is something else! She can spot out monsters in the blink of an eye! She made things so much easier for us.” The empty-handed Elen beamed as she trailed behind the demon lord.
4782
4783There wasn’t a speck of dirt on Milim at all; I guess she had the men in the party handle all the heavy lifting. She was wearing a new dress from Shuna, and I suppose she didn’t want to splash any blood on it. Not exactly hunting gear, I don’t think…
4784
4785“Phewww! Finally back!”
4786
4787“That was a hard day of work, eh? Let’s hit the hot spring and grab a mugful of something.”
4788
4789“Ooh yeah! The fruit wine here is awesome!”
4790
4791Kabal and Gido didn’t seem to mind being used and abused, at least, although that probably wasn’t the way they thought about it. The men were spoiling Milim, after all, and it wouldn’t be very nice to gripe about that and stir up conflict. If they had no problem, neither did I.
4792
4793*
4794
4795It did, however, remind me all the more about how, no matter which world you lived in, some men were doomed to have women use them. I, at the very least, could show them a little kindness.
4796
4797“Hey, good work, guys. Why don’t you get yourselves cleaned up first?”
4798
4799“Yes, I would hardly want you to remain all dirty like that—”
4800
4801Shion started to comment, but then—
4802
4803“Hmm?!”
4804
4805Suddenly, Milim ran next to me, eyes pointed forward.
4806
4807“Who’s there?!”
4808
4809Shion handed me to Milim as she addressed some presence in front of her. I’m not a piece of baggage, you know. I have no idea why they’re ferrying me back and forth, like I’m some fragile work of art.
4810
4811Benimaru and Soei took position behind Milim as I grumped about this for a moment, Hakuro standing nearby among the trees. I didn’t spot him arriving—he must have been training just now, but his clothing was still in perfect order. Impressive. And with Ranga bursting out from my shadow, we now had the town’s main force gathered together.
4812
4813Geld was out working on the road project, so he wasn’t here. He had reported to me a few days back about how he sensed something suspicious nearby, but he never actually saw anything, so he chalked it up to his mind playing tricks on him and kept up the road construction. I had a feeling that I was forgetting about someone else, too, but—hey—with all the guys we did have, I didn’t predict any issues.
4814
4815Besides, the person facing us was familiar to me.
4816
4817“It has been quite a long time, my leader.”
4818
4819It was Traya, a dryad and Treyni’s younger sister.
4820
4821“Sure has. But why are you looking like that? All like you’re about to kill someone?” I said as she kneeled before me.
4822
4823The seething rage was something you could detect even from far away, sharp enough to make both Milim and Shion react to it. Her semitranslucent body was a bit hazy in places; perhaps she had taken some damage. It was clear that something happened to her.
4824
4825“…Well, I am afraid it is an emergency. Charybdis, a calamity-class monster, has revived itself. The power wielded by this great spirit is akin to a demon lord’s. My sisters are keeping it immobile for now, but we are hopelessly outclassed. Plus…it appears the great spirit is seeking out this land. Charybdis is a tyrant of the skies; ground-based forces can do little against it. I came here to advise you that you must solidify your defenses and prepare some aerial war power.”
4826
4827The fatigue was clear on her face as she explained.
4828
4829Tension quickly filled the air. Surprisingly, Fuze was the first to react—he was stunned to near silence the moment he saw Traya (“A dryad?!” he had shouted), but the mention of Charybdis’s name got his brain in gear again.
4830
4831The blood drained from his face as he shouted. “Charybdis?! Oh, man, if it’s really revived, that’s a bigger threat than any demon lord. Unlike those guys, you can’t even reason with this thing. It’s classified as a calamity, but I’d say it’s safe to assume it’s a full-on disaster, if anything…”
4832
4833As he put it, its strength was demon lord–caliber, but instead of leading an army, it just went around by itself wreaking havoc. A sort of unintelligent monster, to put it another way.
4834
4835However, thanks to its unique Summon Monster skill, it could call out schools of megalodons, a large, shark-type monster, anytime it wanted. The otherworldly creatures dissipated after a period of time, once the magicules giving its body physical form were exhausted, but even so, they were an A-minus force that couldn’t be ignored. What’s more, Charybdis could summon ten or so at once, making even its servant beasts a formidable presence.
4836
4837If Fuze was right, then I honestly had to agree with him. This was worse than a demon lord.
4838
4839“I don’t know why we would be targeted, but if we are, this is great for us. We must choose the best fighters we have and prepare to counter this force.”
4840
4841Benimaru was certainly excited, but we needed people who could fly…
4842
4843Oh! Wait! I forgot!
4844
4845“Right. I forgot Gabil. He’s probably doing research in the cave. Can someone get him for me?”
4846
4847Soei went off to fetch him. In the meantime, I decided to go back to town and hold a prep meeting.
4848
4849
4850We were back in the now-familiar meeting hall, Traya using Thought Communication to speak with her sisters.
4851
4852Soei was back with Gabil, with Vester joining him, so we could make contact with King Gazel if need be. On the question of aerial firepower, the first thing that crossed my mind were his Pegasus Knights—each one of them were A-ranked fighters, so if I could gain their support, I couldn’t ask for anyone better to rely on.
4853
4854Gabil and his fighters could fly as well, but they were no better than B-plus, and taking on someone ranked higher than you was gravely dangerous. I preferred to think of a way we could guarantee victory for ourselves, with minimum damage.
4855
4856“Things couldn’t be much worse,” Traya began. “For some reason, the summoned megalodons have incarnated themselves in the corpses of some lesser dragons. They’ve manifested to creatures over sixty feet in length, like nothing we have ever seen before, and there are thirteen of them. My sisters estimate that each one is in A-ranked territory.”
4857
4858“““…”””
4859
4860Everyone in the room lost their voice at this. A creature as strong as a demon lord, plus thirteen other A-ranked monsters? I wanted to ask if this was some kind of a joke.
4861
4862“What will we do, Sir Rimuru?” Benimaru asked.
4863
4864Ugh, that’s what I want to ask…but I’m the leader of this alliance, and it’s my job to make the decisions. Plus, no matter how much I hemmed and hawed about it, there was only one answer to give.
4865
4866“What’ll we do? Well, we’ll kill it, won’t we?” Reluctant though I was, I presented that conclusion to the others.
4867
4868The moment I said it, everyone in the room took action.
4869
4870“Heh. I didn’t need to ask. In that case, I will begin to prepare.”
4871
4872“Indeed, what else could we do?”
4873
4874“Exactly! This will be no sweat for Sir Rimuru.”
4875
4876When it came to this sort of thing, they knew exactly what to do. Nobody voiced any disagreement with me; instead, they sought out their roles and sprang into action. The sight made Fuze lose his head a little.
4877
4878“Whoa! Is that all? Don’t you understand? This is a demon lord–class enemy…”
4879
4880“But even if we stalled for time, we can’t expect much support from Blumund, can we, Fuzie?”
4881
4882“Well, no, but…”
4883
4884“I’m not fighting to lose this, of course, but if it comes to it, I hope you’ll consider taking in some of our residents.”
4885
4886“Not fighting to lose…? But even the dryads can’t handle this monster! Now’s no time for this kind of easygoing nonsense. It’s a huge problem! One that requires an international response!”
4887
4888I wasn’t intending to sound easygoing. I was honestly fairly panicked myself. That’s why Benimaru and the other ogre mages were so quick to begin preparations—and Gabil himself was running off to gather his troops. Hakuro was in contact with Gobta to get the goblin riders assembled.
4889
4890Each of them was a B-plus threat alone, but working together as a coherent unit, he declared that they could easily have one or two of the megalodons for dinner. They even looked forward to the chance to experience battle against a higher-ranked enemy. Crazy.
4891
4892Meanwhile, Rigurd was bringing the town leaders together, explaining the situation and ordering Rigur to lead the evacuation. Calling attention from the air would make you a target, so I imagine he’d take them all into the forest.
4893
4894All of this was done in orderly fashion, without anyone getting too worked up about it. Sadly, with the frequency of the crises we’ve been asked to tackle, I suppose we’ve gotten use to things like this.
4895
4896Fuze, being unaware, must’ve thought I wasn’t sensing the danger enough, and I can’t blame him for that.
4897
4898*
4899
4900Milim, meanwhile, was going with Shion to the bath.
4901
4902Some enemy coming to attack the town wasn’t any concern of hers. Her devotion to the routine was at least helping keep everyone around her calm.
4903
4904After everyone sprang into action, the only people left in the meeting hall besides me were Fuze and Kabal’s trio. We took the opportunity to talk over a few things.
4905
4906“All right, I’m not gonna tell you guys not to worry about anything, but I intend to do everything I can for this. I’m having Vester make contact with King Gazel for me, so we should expect some more support, too. After that, well, I’ll do what I can,” I said.
4907
4908Fuze looked less than optimistic. He had a lot of questions, doubts, and other thoughts in his mind, and I got the impression he was having trouble forming them into words. I was in no hurry, so I wanted him to calm down a bit.
4909
4910“…You aren’t going to run?” he finally asked after a moment of thought, clearly worried for all of us. He was gravely serious, and I thought he deserved a serious reply.
4911
4912“What would running accomplish? I’m the strongest dude in this nation. I’ve told my people to take refuge if I ever lose, but you know, just because I lose one fight doesn’t mean I’m giving up on the battle. If there’s absolutely no chance of winning, then sure, I’ll run away and think up another plan. If not, though, then it’s important that I go right in front of our foe and gauge how strong he is with my own eyes, isn’t it?”
4913
4914I need to do that if I want to formulate any kind of strategy. Plus, since I am the strongest in the Alliance, nobody’s running as long as I don’t lose.
4915
4916I thought about saying that, but I found it a little too embarrassing.
4917
4918It just felt so lame, telling people that it was a leader’s job to take the loss sometimes. That’s why I tried not to lose, if I could. Until I actually did lose, I had to play the strongman role to live up to everyone’s expectations.
4919
4920And even if I was defeated, I didn’t have much to worry about—not after telling everyone so many times to take refuge in that case.
4921
4922“…Ah. That’s what being a leader of monsters means, I suppose.”
4923
4924“Yeah, well, this isn’t the kind of nation that would crumble after losing its king anyway, so…”
4925
4926Fuze nodded at me. He looked convinced enough. “Still, it strikes me, Sir Rimuru, that you think quite a bit like we humans do. You don’t seem like a monster at all. Plus, it’s just so strange, having a slime be the most powerful being in the realm,” he said with a chuckle.
4927
4928He might be right. It didn’t seem like anything unusual to me, since I was a former human, but to Fuze, having a monster think and act so human must have thrown him. Plus…
4929
4930I’d actually been hiding something from Kabal and his friends. I still hadn’t told them what had happened with Shizu in the end. It was kind of a tough subject to bring up, so I intended to stay mum about it until asked. But if I was ever going to come out with it, now seemed like a good time.
4931
4932“Hmm… Maybe so. You might find this hard to believe, actually, but I used to be a human being, too. You know Shizu, right? I think I’m probably an otherworlder, just like she is. Though, really, it was more like I died in my old world and got reborn as a slime in this one. And while I’m at it—”
4933
4934I used my Universal Shapeshift extra skill to transform into a human.
4935
4936“What on—?!”
4937
4938Fuze’s eyes lit up as Kabal’s crew audibly yelped in surprise. It was Elen who noticed first.
4939
4940“Umm, looking at you… That’s like a smaller version of Shizu, isn’t it?” she timidly asked.
4941
4942“Oh, no way, Elen.”
4943
4944“Yeah, Shizu was an old lady! She wasn’t anywhere near as cute looking as this.”
4945
4946Kabal and Gido were quick to protest, but Elen held her ground.
4947
4948“No, there’s no doubt about it. I mean, I saw her! Like, what she looked like under the mask…”
4949
4950Oh, she did? It was just for an instant, so I didn’t think any of them caught a glimpse, but… This works well for me, though. I was going to tell them now anyway.
4951
4952I removed the mask from my pocket and put it on the table.
4953
4954“That’s Shizu’s mask, right?”
4955
4956They eyed it, then me.
4957
4958“Yeah. I wasn’t really hiding it or anything, but I didn’t take this form around you guys because I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea. Elen’s right—I inherited this form from Shizu.”
4959
4960*
4961
4962“…Inherited?”
4963
4964“Yeah. When I ate her.”
4965
4966The four of them looked surprised, but none seemed angry. They retained their cool as they waited for me to continue. They had chosen to believe in me, luckily enough.
4967
4968“Shizu and I came from the same country. When she died, she asked me to take over her mission…and as proof that I’ve taken on her will, I picked up the form you see here. So…I can’t go around acting like an ass while I look like Shizu, you know?” I said quietly.
4969
4970About half of that was my real feelings. The other half, really, was just an excuse I was using to deceive myself. Guess there’s no helping it if they’re suspicious of me now, I thought, as I turned my eyes to Fuze.
4971
4972“…Can you tell us what happened?”
4973
4974There was not a trace of doubt in his voice. So I spent the next few minutes describing Shizu’s final moments, as well as the circumstances behind my death and rebirth.
4975
4976“I see… So that’s what it was…,” Fuze whispered.
4977
4978Perhaps Fuze had been spending so much time in this town because he wanted to ask me about Shizu. Just like me, he had trouble finding the right time to bring it up.
4979
4980“Well,” Kabal said, “I believe in you, pal.”
4981
4982“Yeah, me too.”
4983
4984“And me! And me!” Elen insisted. “But… Wow, Shizu really did everything she could to make her dream come true. And now you’re gonna try to make that happen, Rimuru?”
4985
4986Elen’s question was more to the point than I had anticipated. But there was no need to tiptoe around answering it.
4987
4988“I am. I promised her as much. I’m going to free up all the emotions that are binding her heart down. Not that I’ve met the guy or anything yet, but as far as I’m concerned, the demon lord Leon is my prey to catch.”
4989
4990“Wow… I always knew I could believe in you, Rimuru!”
4991
4992Elen flashed me a friendly smile. As for the other three men:
4993
4994“Leon? Huh?!”
4995
4996“You’ve got a death wish, Rimuru. I mean, Charybdis is practically a pushover compared to that guy…”
4997
4998“Yes! You can’t go around calling someone like that your prey! Don’t blame me if it leads to your death!”
4999
5000They were, to say the least, a little unnerved. Well, so be it. Wish they could learn a little from Elen, but our little heart-to-heart seemed to have earned me all their trust. They each offered to join in this battle, but I turned them down. If I blew this, as I explained, it’d be up to them to figure out a new plan immediately. They relented pretty quickly.
5001
5002
5003Charybdis, though, huh…?
5004
5005Thinking about the battle up ahead was already dampening my spirits.