On 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.
And he did.
Gazel: 「Well, here I am, as promised!」
Fubuki: 「Uh, didn't you just leave like two days ago?」
And he came alone this time! Did he even have the time for this?
If you're that free, why don't you come over and drink a cup of tea or something.
As I silently stewed over these doubts, Kaijin came running up to me.
Kaijin: 「Your Majesty! You didn't sneak out of the castle, did you?!」
Gazel: 「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 training for them when I return home.」
Fubuki: 「I can already imagine you resting a blade on the neck of the person that spotted you.」
Kaijin: 「Well…I mean…they can't handle someone like him, my liege…」
Gazel: 「Mm? Did you want to say something, Kaijin?」
Kaijin: 「N-no, Your Majesty…nothing…」
Gazel: 「Oh? Capital, then!」
What a carefree ass!
Considering 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.
But—a king sneaking out of his castle? What's with that? Was the Dwarven Kingdom going to put up with this?
Is this a protocol? I'd be more than happy to apply same to our system—thank you very much!
Gazel: 「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.」
He tossed the bag he was carrying on the ground. It began to wriggle around.
Fubuki: 「What on…?!」
Kaijin: 「Vester?!」
Fubuki: 「Oh, geez, Vester. Just the guy I needed to see…」 I couldn't help but grunt. The very bastard who had trapped us.
Why here?
Gazel: 「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.」
I had no response to that.
Kaijin: 「But…」
Gazel: 「What, you don't want him?」
Kaijin: 「Of course I don't! You'd be leaking all his knowledge to us! Understand me!」
Gazel: 「You dare say that? Well, kinda 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?」
Didn't sound like a joke to me…
Well, there were always the hard decisions to make.
It all depended on one's heart and goal.
I guess with the way it all occurred, his decision to assassinate him wouldn't have been the wrong one.
Kaijin: 「True?」
Gazel: 「True! 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!」
Vester's eyes sparkled.
Gazel: 「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!」
Kaijin: 「K-King Gazel?! Should I take this to mean you're fine with letting us take every piece of dwarven technology you have?」
Gazel laughed. He seemed to find amusement in this situation.
My opinion wasn't even requested.
Quite laughable how the tables have turned, I guess.
Gazel: 「Pfft! Let me give you this request, then. I want you to take this land we stand upon now and harness it well 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.」
So that's the scheme. It's not a bad idea, actually, but would someone as prideful as this geezer be willing to lower himself to the likes of monsters?
That wasn't the big question, but it still held relevance. Is he capable enough?
Gazel: 「Let me give you this. 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!」
In a flash, he was on his horse.
Gazel: 「Vester, may you strive as much as you can to succeed in your research!」
Vester: 「Y-Your Majesty! This time… This time, I promise I will not let you down!」
Gazel: 「I am off!」
Then he flew away. A very sudden arrival, and a very hurried exit.
I swear—he does whatever, whenever.
The man was like a living thunderstorm.
Haze of Rumbling Heavens…
◇◇◇
With that hazy end to the subject, we were walking away from the main square when we heard a voice behind us.
Vester: 「Sir Fubuki! Sir Kaijin!. I deeply apologize! Please, let me atone for matters first.
And if you forgive me, please, I hope you will let me work here!」
I 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 better, I thought.
Fubuki: 「Well, let's get one thing clear first—you're following my orders. You got
that?
No more dissing us because we're all monsters here. You'll also have Rimuru to apologize to. Do you think you can manage that?」
Vester: 「…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.」
He sized me up, looking me in the eye.
Vester: 「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!」
Kaijin responded by patting him on the shoulder.
Kaijin: 「To me, 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,
Fubuki, so trust me on this one, and let's let bygones be bygones!
I'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.
As I usually did, I left it all to Kaijin. The work. Yes, I did it again. So what?
It was how I worked. No, rather, that's the best work one could ever expect me to pull off with excellence.
◇◇◇
As 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.
Well, insectars were always deemed strong creatures.
The ones as powerful as that Zelanus dude was strong enough to make Rose go all out, marking him as a catastrophe class being.
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.
I 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.
"…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.
The 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.
"Strong one," the wasp asked me, "you…protect us?"
I 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—Then an idea hit me.
Fubuku: 「Hey, can you guys collect nectar or whatever?」
"Yes… Can."
Sweet! I 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. Not to talk of the benefits.
Ahh, sugar…
Rimuru: 「Eh? What are you doing here?」
Fubuki: 「Oh? I'm just slacking off.」
Rimuru: 「Why you… Just…what happened?」
I explained everything to him.
He sorta wanted to lend them a few cells from his own slime form to treat them, using processed magisteel to replace the missing
parts of their exoskeletons.
Before that–
Fubuki: 「Wait, I wanna test something out.」
Rimuru: 「Hmm, sure. Could be interesting.」
The plan was to name them.
It was simply a secret curiosity that held me. Would naming an injured monster heal them?
I ended up consulting him for name ideas, and we agreed on one.
Okay, two.
Fubuki: 「You shall both serve us henceforth. The name's Fubuki. Well, not really, but forget that shit. I'm pretty sure your names were Zegion and Apito, right?」
Just like that, I named them.
As it turned out, naming them simply wouldn't do.
As explained by my manas, the energy would simply go to the spirit rather than the body of the named monster.
How it works is kinda like mind over body. The spiritual composition would evolve, and the body would adapt to the change.
So even if I simply named him, it would still take time for the body to heal.
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.
◇◇◇
So the city of Rimuru… pfft, 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 Universal Perception alerted me to a massive chunk of magic power flying our way—at a speed I could only call ridiculous.
Well, it's not ridiculous since I could move at such speeds, but really, I've been hanging out and around fodders, haven't I?
Their strength level is starting to get to me.
But, that energy mass is so familiar. I don't think Milim will actually visit a place like this now. Would she?
Let's head out.
I headed outside the gate at a full clip.
The energy mass kinda changed direction towards my location, but it didn't seem to be following my tracks.
As expected, when that energy mass landed, it created a huge pressure that uprooted a few trees.
And the culprit was…
*Sigh*
This brat, why can't she just…
Urgh, I'm gonna have to deal with it, huh?
It seems Rimuru beat me to the chase as he was already there, but they were currently having a chat.
I wonder what they would be talking about.
○
(Rimuru's POV)
I 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 minions for jobs like these first?
Or, like, one of the four subbosses?
Something like that? I wanted to chide her but opted against it.
Rimuru: 「Well, good afternoon. 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.」
"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.
You say that, but you didn't even recognize that Fubuki was actually the strongest.
I'm pretty sure he was. I mean, he doesn't seem fazed with any situation brought upon us.
Well, Shion's cooking sends that assumption to the dumpster, but still.
With the constant warnings I received, it seems to be true. He was by far the strongest, possibly on the level I place Veldora in.
But he never shows it off. I'd expect someone like him to show it all off, but I guess he still has a good head on the shoulders.
I'm sure he has a way of deceiving one's appraisal abilities, so he must've hidden his existence quite well.
My Magic Sense was useless against him.
But let's forget that.
This demon lord, she 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.
Since you want people to see how you look, how about this: You're flat, lady. Get some clothes!
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.
"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?"
She 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.
Rimuru: 「Oh, you mean this?」
I transformed into my humanoid form.
"Oooh, it was you! So you defeated the orc lord? I thought it consumed Gelmud and turned into a demon lord, kind of."
The 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.
Rimuru: 「Impressive! Yes, the orc lord evolved into an Orc Disaster, but…well, I fought it and beat it anyway, I guess.」 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?」
"Huh, scratch that. Mm? Help me? Um, I'm just sayin' hi, but…"
Rimuru: 「.....」
An awkward silence. The demon lord Milim and I stared at each other wordlessly for a bit. Then:
Shion: 「Prepare to die!」
With a shout, Shion slashed at the demon lord.
All 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.
Not against Milim, though.
"Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Oh, did you want to play with me?"
With 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.
Rimuru: 「W-Wah?! Hold your horses, guys!」
Soei: 「Not even a demon lord can escape from this restraining web.」
Using Ranga as a distraction, Soei had used Demonwire Bind to capture Milim.
Benimaru, meanwhile, was preparing to encase her in a Hellflare blast.
"And now, the final blow. Burn to a crisp!"
It 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…
"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…"
Her aura began to expand rapidly.
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.
"…It won't work on meeee!"
In 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.
Now 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 poses so much of a threat. What a nightmare—but it
was our reality.
Shion: 「Sir Rimuru… please run…」
Ranga: 「We can… take care of…」
Rimuru: 「You just stay there and rest. I'll handle this.」
Shion: 「B-but…」
Rimuru:「If I give up, this is over, so I'll do what I can, all right? Just don't expect too much. Go reach out to Fubuki. We need him here now.」
Benimaru: 「Understood.」
"Hohh? Do you wanna take me on? This is gonna be fun!"
That's for you!
Urgh, I really need to teach them to stop doing that.
Rimuru: 「Of course, as far as I can tell, there's only one attack that stands a chance of
working against you at all.」
"Oh?"
Rimuru: 「Do you think you have the confidence to try withstanding it?」
I knew full well, frankly, that nothing I could do would win this.
How should I put this…?
«Understood. 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.»
I 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.
So 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.
"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?"
Ooh, there's a stroke of luck! She's even more generous than I thought.
The fact that 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.
Rimuru: 「Okay. You got it. But if it does, you're gonna let my team here go unpunished, okay?」
"All right. Let's get this going already!"
Accepting 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.
Rimuru: 「Take this!」
"Mmmm…?!"
I 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.
Rimuru: 「It is done…」
"What… What is this…?! I've never eaten anything so delicious in my life!!"
She 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.
Rimuru 「Heh-heh-heh! What's wrong, demon lord Milim?」
I grinned as I conjured up
another water sphere to show her.
Rimuru: 「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?」
Milim'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.
This 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.
Same for Fubuki.
I don't think he's needed here at this point.
I've got this in the bag, dude.
Rimuru: 「Mmmm, this is good stuff!」
Milim: 「Ah!!」
Rimuru: 「Whew, what a day. It's really good. Oops! I'm almost all out~.」
Milim: 「Daaah!!」
This is fun. She's just like a child, ripe for getting picked on.
Rimuru: 「So you gonna admit that I won?」
Milim: 「…Wait. I have a suggestion.」
Rimuru: 「Let's hear it.」
Milim: 「Call it a draw. How about we call it a draw this time?」
Rimuru: 「And what do I get out of agreeing to that?」
Milim: 「I'll forget about everything that happened.」
Rimuru: 「Oh?」
Milim: 「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?!」
I won!
Her 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.
Of 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.
Rimuru: 「Sounds good to me. I accept. We'll call it a draw, then.」
I 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.
The danger was gone.
She was in a good mood, and the most unprecedented catastrophe to ever hit our town ended before it began.
○
(Fubuki's POV)
I guess it was all over. I wasn't really needed after all.
I hoped that she'd just shoo off after the whole event, but she persisted in following Rimuru.
Asking stupid questions like, "Wanna become a demon lord?"
Yeah, I totally expected that one.
Really, I'm just thinking of her as a child, but it made dealing with her a cinch.
Judging by their 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 stupid children of my aunties.
Well, I decided to stay away for some time, hoping she would later leave, but…
Milim: 「I'm Milim Nava, and starting today, I'll be living in this city. It's good to meetcha!」
Um, wait. What did she just say?!
This…This is bad.
Rimuru decided to make a public announcement of Milim's arrival, but I didn't really expect it to fall like this.
Worst of all, I risk the chance of my identity being exposed.
That's the real reason why I don't even wanna meet up with her.
Urgh, what a pain.
Then came the declaration. I guess Rimuru officially got himself a BFF.
...Pfft-hahahaha! So lame. I didn't see that one coming.
What the hell? I'll make sure to laugh my ass off when we meet next.
The whole introduction ended, and everyone got back to life, though a new gossip topic began.
A demon lord's invasion…
◇◇◇
Rimuru took her elsewhere, probably to get her a good taste of our food.
Well, that's got nothing to do with me.
I just realized something crucial.
In the case where Rimuru hadn't succeeded in pulling Milim to his side, I would've had to take her on.
Knowing her, she would definitely ask for a fight.
I knew absolutely nothing about my abilities at this point, so a bit of practice would come in handy.
Looking back at it, I only focused on magic because I really loved it.
I guess my skills must've been crying out to the heavens, praying to escape the hands of that tyrant.
I can't believe I betrayed my skills and left them to Reina.
I gotta make up. I just hope they don't turn out to be out of control.
I mean, the unique skill version of my soul ability was downright terrifying, then it became a legit, official ultimate skill.
Geez, I'm almost scared.
Alright, let's head out.
The cave isn't really an option since Gabiru works there, but any part of the forest would work.
As long as there weren't any sentient monsters, I'm cool.
It's just Treyni.
That little conniving witch would never miss an opportunity to bug me.
Urgh, seriously. Why is it all headaches recently?
Alright, let's do this.
Reina, please show me my stats or whatever.
「At once.」
Name: Sariel Tempest.
Race: Demon God — (Primordial Demon) — 「Devil Lord」.
Blessing: Sariel's Compassion.
Title: Divine Protector:「Universal Guardian」.
Magic: Aspectual Magic, Physics Magic, True Soul Magic, Holy Magic, Dark Magic, Illusion Magic, Spirit Magic, Summoning Magic, True Dragon Magic, Chaos Magic, Primitive Magic.
Manas: Reina.
Skill:
Intrinsic Skill: Universal Perception, Soul Lord's Haki, Existence Concealment, Attribute Neutralization, Soul Resonance, Infinite Regeneration, Existence Erasure, True Body Release.
Ultimate Skill: 『Lord of Heavenly Wisdom: Raziel 』, 『Lord of Lost Souls: Enma』, 『Lord of Ultimate Authority: Odin』.
Unique Skill: 『Space-Time Administrator』.
Resistances: Pain Nullification, Physical Attack Nullification, Natural Effect Nullification, Abnormal Condition Nullification, Spiritual Attack Nullification, Holy-Demonic Attack Nullification.
Hmm, you did something, didn't you?
「.....」
You… *Sigh*
Just… continue.
「.... Understood.」
Ultimate Skills.
1. 『Heavenly Wisdom Lord: Raziel』.
[Subskills]
1. Thought Acceleration
2. Analytical Appraisal
3. All of Creation
4. Chant Annulment
5. All Creation Alteration
6. Parallel Computation
7. Skill Replication
8. Skill Assimilation
9. Skill Domination
10. Attribute Conversion
11. Future Attack Prediction
2. 『Soul Lord: Enma』.
[Subskills]
1. Existence Gluttony
2. Soul Sublimation
3. Soul Appraisal
4. Soul World
5. Soul Domination
6. Life Creation
7. Spirit Integration
8. Soul Blade Summoning
9. Soul Ruler's Ambition
3. 『Ultimate Dominion Lord: Odin』.
[Subskills]
1. Ultimate Level
2. Essence Fusion
3. Essence Separation
4. Essence Creation
5. Ultimate Imprisonment
6. Ultimate Barrier
Unique Skill
1.『Space-Time Administrator』
[Subskills]
1. Dimension Leap
2. All Creation Severance
3. Space-Time Manipulation
4. Future Memory
...Well shit.
—————————————————————————————————
Word Count: 「4915」.