Vol 6 Chapter 2 - Info=Uang=Receh

Near the end of the meeting, I was about to conclude everything.

When suddenly, there was  a “PONG!” sound.

The door flung opened with someone intruding in.

——Afterward——

「Heed my words! This country is going to perish!」
said the intruder.



That someone is a tiny little girl.

Her appearance may be deceiving, but she is in fact one of the Ten Great Demon Lord, 「Fairy of Labyrinth」 Ramiris.

It’s one thing that she suddenly flew in here, now she’s spilling this nonsense.

W-what did you just say——! How I respond to this?

Ramiris flies straight towards me.

The door is wide open and Beretta, who followed her, carefully closes it on the way in.

I feel like he must have a lot on his mind.
 
No, it’s probably very tiring for him. I could almost see the way  he gets toyed around by Ramiris.
 
Just in front of Ramiris, a person wearing a classy butler suit stops her. It’s Diablo.

He’s been quietly observing the conference and awaiting orders behind me.. Looks like he won’t allow the intruder to just do what they want.

How should I put it, Ramiris is immediately apprehended.

Like a dragonfly being squeezed by someone’s hand.

She struggles while flapping her wings and shouts: 「Wa-wait a second? What are you doing——!」

What an interesting fairy. It’s very funny seeing her prestige as a Demon Lord being completely tarnished.
 
「Rimuru-sama, I’ve caught the suspicious intruder. What should I do with her? She’s been spouting nonsense about the destruction of our town, what do you wish for me to do with her? 」

Diablo returns before me and inquires with much respect.

I instead look at Ramiris.

She’s struggling frantically trying to escape from Diablo’s grip.

「EHHH——! Why I can’t escape with even all of my magic? A-are you some big shot as well? AHH, why are you doing this!? I didn’t do anything wrong!」

This girl’s still as noisy as ever.

But to be honest, Diablo does posses magicules rivaling those of Ramiris, so escaping should be pretty hard for her.

Yet she is a somehow still a Demon Lord.

If anyone thinks that Demon Lords are not all that strong then it would all be entirely thanks to this girl.

「Rimuru-sama, do you know this fairy?」

Fuze asks me.

Ah, the meeting got interrupted.

The only thing left for us to do is to confirm the procedures (of the previous plan)…. I really wish this bugger could have just arrived a little later….

But that’d be equally stupid.

「Well, she’s a fairy called Ramiris and an old friend. Despite her appearances, she’s still actually a Demon Lord!」

「Oi! What’s with that attitude? Don’t judge me based on my appearances, I am known as the most terrifying and strongest among the Ten Great Demon Lords!」

Ramiris still raises her chest proudly despite  Diablo’s restraint, and with a smug look too. She hasn’t realized herself that there is no prestige to how she looks at all right now.

「Eh? Demon Lord….?」

「Hah~this thing is what now?」

And words along the those lines start to be heard from the surrounding. The participants don’t seem to be surprised about it either.

「——Hmm? Eheheh——? Why? You guys should act more surprised! I am a Demon Lord you know! I am “Fairy of Labyrinth”, you know? Why is everyone’s so calm?」

No no no, even though you claim to be a demon lord, you are currently being restrained.

But I guess, everyone is probably baffled right now.

I considered them kind for not voicing such thoughts.

「No actually…….Since Rimuru-sama is Demon Lord as well, it’s reasonable to expect them to know other Demon Lords…..」

「Or perhaps I’ve gotten over the shock of the “Storm Dragon”’s revival, so I don’t really get shocked many other things…..」

People started talking and nodding to each other.

I see, it makes more sense with the way said it.
And looking back to Ramiris, she seems rather annoyed by everyone’s reaction.

「Huh? “Storm Dragon”.... You mean, has Veldora revived? Ha, you’ve all been tricked! I’ve blown away Veldora with one punch (one pun~)! That guys isn’t even worth mentioning. Anyway, his reign should have ended already. So if you’re all afraid of me, you should start worshipping me from now on!」

She begins to laugh loudly as she went on a tangent.

Please stop making a fool of yourself.

I taking Ramiris from Diablo and bringing her over to Veldora.

「Sorry, Veldora, could you spend some time with this kid? She’s a Demon Lord after all, so maybe she can make friend with you?」

「Huh? I’m busy solving a big mystery here.」

Veldora doesn’t want the be troubled and planned to turn me down. But I won’t compromise like that.

「Oh, about that, the criminal is XXXX. Alright, mystery solved? I’ll leave the rest to you.」

I ruthlessly revealed the criminal’s identity and go back to my seat.
   
On the other hand, Veldora opens his eyes wide like he’s been deeply traumatized by it as if to say 「Ehhhhh? Spoiler alert??」. It’s a bit mean of me to do that, but we are in a meeting here. Also I meant that for him to reflect on himself, so I couldn’t let the opportunity go.

As far Ramiris goes, she has since fainted upon seeing Veldora.

As such, the two maladjusted children have settled down so I used the chance to restart the meeting.
   
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First I need to confirm some unattended business.

「Benimaru, the enemy is Clayman. We will crush him!」

「I’ve been waiting for that order——!」

Benimaru shows an unrestrained smile and gives off a devious glow from his eyes.

Not only the Kijins, all of my subordinates look very delighted. Unknowingly, everyone has become warmongers.
 
Speaking of that, everyone currently in attendance was all part of this whole mess (Falmas battle) last time….

Never mind, high morale is a good thing.

「Then Regarding the Beastketeers and the Beastmen soldiers——」

「No need to continue. We will obey every order by Rimuru-sama.」

Same here——Anubis also gives  an devious and charming smile.

Same for Phobia and Sophia, so there’s no need for more words.

「Rimuru, do you stand a winning chance with just these people?」

「We gonna win this. That guy has really pissed me off.」

「Right, I’ll trust you then.」

Gazel gives off an worrying smile as he muttered with his even lower voice and says: 「You are supposed to be my junior yet you’ve grown so fast….」. I think everyone else except me must have not heard that.

「But this Clayman, he’s no Demon Lord you can afford to underestimate! It’s said that ee’s has many Majins under his rule, and it’s rumored that he even has connections with the Eastern Empire….」

Elalude cautiously adds, however——

「Don’t worry. War is not about quantity, but quality.」

I expressed such unexpected opinion with much pride and shut him up.

「Ah, I think I can hear the sound of my common sense collapsing  in my head….」

Even though Elalude responds in shock, he still looks rather interested in our power.

Even I feel my statement’s rather illogical but I’m definitely right.

Generally in war, the larger the size of the army  is the more advantageous side, but this does not work in this world. The battle against the Orc Lord would be a good example, as soon as we took down the enemy generals, we all could reach a conclusion based only on the battle between the most elite of both forces. 

Additionally, our number is looking quite compelling this time around as well.

Souei has gone to investigate Clayman’s movements. And since the meeting will be going on for some time, I decide to hear his report first.

He’s still investigating their specific number currently. As of right now they are known to be staying in Milim’s territory.

Souei’s 「Clone」 should be returning anytime now, so I’ll be able to make the judgement about that soon.

There’s still more to discuss regarding our war tactics. But first I need to confirm our plans for Falmas Kingdom.
After releasing the King, we would be looking for Marquis Miola and Count Herman to hold  the king responsible.

We’ll see how they react and then eventually have Youmu start the revolution, however…..

「Then, the issue with the war is our problem. So I hope you all can have faith in us to handle this matter. I hope everyone  would be willing to lend a helping hand by the time Youmu becomes the Hero King of the new age. 」

With that being said, the guests all nod in agreement.

I’d rather have them handle the issues with human society, that would probably eliminate a lot of mistakes.

I do hope they will help us with it.

「First off it’s Fuze-kun, please help us contact Marquis Miola and Count Herman in secret.」

「Alright, leave it to me.」

At my request, Fuze accepted with confidence.
We’ll discuss more about the moderation of the plan on another day, but right now we’ve finished outlining the plan.

We’ll pretend that Youmu has rescued the King and have Marquis MIola take the King in under his protection, so he can acts as Youmu’s back-up. We will release the three prisoners at a later point in time, which means….

「Right,  Shion, are the interrogations of the three captives going well? Have they revealed any useful information?」

Since she can do whatever she want to these people, I’ve sorta forgotten about them after leaving them in Shion’s care.

「Hehehe, of course, Rimuru-sama!」
Oh ho, Shion’s quite confident.

I’ve got an itchy dangerous feeling from her.

Youmu and Myuran also accompanied the investigation, I turned my gaze towards them both but they seem like they are avoiding my eyes out of embarrassment.

Still diverting their gaze, they begin to report.

「——About that, master. Investigation? Interrogation? Basically, the captives did reveal some information.」

「Yeah, they did……. But that wasn’t really an investigation, and calling it an interrogation it’s even further from the truth…...」

You guys can stop here now, I really don’t want to hear the rest of it.

Shion must have outdone herself. But since it was me who appointed her to the job, I shouldn’t and don’t plan on being the one complaining about it.

Either way, they wouldn’t have any way of stopping the deranged Shion anyway. Since I was in the cave that whole time, it didn’t seem like they’d be able to contact me either.

If someone were to be held responsible, I should be the one as I failed to find the right person for the job. In other words, let’s pretend I never found out about this.

Sorry, my friends from Farmas, but after all, it’s you guys who are at fault for making the first move.

I hope you will all understand that just surviving in and of itself is quite lucky.

That’s why I took the three captives alive.

After Shion’s interrogation——I mean investigation, they’ve revealed plenty of information.

「First off, we have Ed….Ednew? Eddie?」

「——Isn’t it King Edmalis?」

Seeing Shion’s struggle, Shuna whispers into Shion’s ear and gave her the answer she was struggling to come up with. How reliable.

Conversely, is shion really okay? it seems like she’s incapable of even spelling the name of a King….. Well, his name is pretty weird so, whatever.

「It would seem that some Merchants had approached King Edmalis in the past and presented the silk product from our country. That led the King to act on his greed. Apart from that, they were afraid that our nation would become an important trading hub in the future, which is what led to the incident this time——」

Shion continues to explain her findings which are all inline my prediction. If we have to get specific here, I’ve would have suspected that this merchant instigated Edmalis into committing these treacheries.

「Did you find out the identity of this merchant? Could he be an appointed merchant?」

「About that…. I’m very sorry.」

Shion looks frustrated like a leaking balloon. I immediately began to comfort. That was just a question I happen to think up, so it’s not really that important to me honest.

「That doesn’t really matter, what about the Church?」

I decide to pursue something else; lets see what type of information Archbishop Raytheon has.

「Yes! I’ve obtained information about the mastermind. His name is——」

She paused again for some time, could she have forgotten again….

「——The mastermind was Nicholas Spertus.」

Upon receiving Shion’s eyes that seek help, Myuran announces the name in her stead.

Shion’s interrogation was going rather well at first, yet it got derailed near the end. She’s not very good at memorizing jaron. Next time I should avoid having her doing this type of jobs.

Thankfully Myuran is here today to save the day. Not even Youmu is as reliable as her, a truly a competent assistant.

Apparently our nation is an enemy to their god, hence they plan on deploying  their army——It is said that this was Nicolas’ stance.

Plan on deploying their army——That means they are still in the planning phase.

「I see. So Archbishop Raytheon decided to preemptively attack the enemy of god in order to take the glory and receive commemoration from their headquarter.」

Fuze mumbles his realization, and everyone seems to agree with his conclusion as well.

「Anyhow, there’s still some room for wiggling. The Western Saints Church hasn’t made its final decision yet. If that’s the case, we may be able to avoid the confrontation.」

「Then, allow me to negotiate.」

Fuze decides to volunteer.

He wants to drag the Council States down into this as well.
 
(sentence continues from perv line) with the goal of prompting the Council States to announce Jura Tempest Federation as a nation and advocate that they should stand together against the Western Saints Church.

Through promotion of the Western Council States, Tempest Federation would begin to gain recognition around the world and become a new hub for trading.

The only problem is that all of the residents are Mamonos, but they speak the human language and treat everyone kindly. With that alone we should be able to blend in with the humans. In fact that has already been proven here.

Or rather, their evolutions are very unexpected. To be frank, the goal is to have the humans  treat our mamono as demi human like they do with the Dwarf or Tengu10 who are similar to humans.

In order to support Fuze’s plan, King Gazel would also take actions.
 
He would actively increase the trading activities with our nation to raise the reputation of Tempest Federation.
The doctrines of Western Saints Church strictly points out that Mamonos are the enemies, so they would likely find it hard to accept us. However, both the Armed Nation Dwargon and Brumund Kingdom have already started a diplomatic tie with the Tempest Federation.

Even if the Western Saints Church executed on their authority, it can’t wipe away these layered relationships. Furthermore, kingdom of Mamono having a friendly relationship with human countries would most definitely draw the interest of  other countries.

And during this time, the Sorcery Dynasty of Sarion suddenly announces a formal diplomatic tie with Tempest Federation.

We will use this to  continue the pursuit for success.

「It’s rather disrespectful for me to say this, but tie with Tempest Federation is a double-edged sword. As such those who do should act cautiously if they don’t want to be bitten back by it. 」

There is no doubt that this is uttered by Fuze. He is right, Brumund kingdom has the most difficult stance among them.

Armed Nation Dwargon and Sorcery Dynasty Sarion both are both  uninfluenced by the Western Saints Church and have the power to potentially rival the Western Nations by itself. In comparison, the Brumund Kingdom is a small kingdom that can be greatly swayed by the pressures exerted by its neighbouring countries.

——But, those are topics for another day.

「Hehe, you are Fuze right? Don’t worry, through Tempest Federation, your country can communicate with us,Dwargon. As long as we back up your nation’s stance, the Council States won’t underestimate you. 」

Gazel is right.

Armed Nation Dawrgon and Sorcery Dynasty Sarion both have very different cultural background and technologies. With the addition of the exchange with Tempest Federation, this town would see surprisingly great speed of development.

A new era of culture would soon be upon us.

Moreover, the Magic-fueled Science Sarion is so proud of and Spirit Industrialization developed by Dwargon are two different branch technology. With the two combine——It will no doubt invoke to a fantasy like Industrial revolution.

And Brumund Kingdom gets to taste the cherry on top.

The profits to be gained, compared to the loss, definitely won’t be small.

As for the changes of Falmas Kingdom to come at Youmu’s hands, they can become an agricultural nation. We can satisfy  our region’s hunger  and inspire new food culture.

In order to prevent competition with the specialties among each other, we must share our opportunities for profits properly——In regards to that I’ve been planning something behind the scene.

Ultimate Skill 「Wisdom King Raphael」 has the processing power to outcompute a quantum computer easily. It is more economic and precise than the supercomputer 「World Simulator」11, so it’s easy piecey.

I feel like an member of the Illuminati, manipulating the events  of the world… But it’s okay since I am a Demon Lord after all.

But I also understand where Fuze’s worry is coming from.

Brumund Kingdom is small and is afraid of being exploited by bigger countries.
 
To break off from the States’ Council which recognizes the rights of smaller counties is a difficult decision. And this is the source of Fuze’s worries

No wonder why he would feel unease with the plan.

In fact, there may even be short-term benefits in continuing their interactions with the Council. If all of the intelligence forces from Brumund are utilized, it may not even be a problem to have catalyzed a total war between Western Saints Church and us.

If I had caused them to contact the Church from the moment we met, we might have already suffered a crusade.

But the people of Brumund didn’t choose that path.

They instead chose to believe me and fight alongside with us.

This so called result was the product of their free will after all.

Brumund Kingdom has chosen to align with us, then it wouldn’t be wrong of me to give them some advice back.

——After all, coexistence is my dream.
 
「Fuze, could you help me convey a message to the King of Brumund. I have something that requires his assistance.」

「Assistance? Is it something troublesome again?」
「Rude much! It would take too long to explain it now, in addition it’s something hard to comprehend, so I plan on explaining it directly to him myself next time I visit.」
 
「Aren’t you the rude one Rimuru-sama! Are you suggesting that my head isn’t good enough?」
「No, I didn’t mean that. Since, could you have happened to be an expert of economics? 」

「Ehhhhh….. Alright. I’ll deliver the message to the King and arrange for your meeting.」

Yeah, I respond while nodding, and ending the conversation.

The mission of Brumund Kingdom is to grasp the quantity of transactions in trades. To investigate the exports and imports of each country and deliver the right goods to the right place. In short, they will become the first trading company to be established in this world.

If this operation is successful, the small country would no longer be small. It would gather immense influence and give birth to the concept of international industries.

From the Brumund Kingdom and where they are geographically positioned, I hope they would one day become a trading hub.

But the details of these will have to wait before our attack plan is settled.
 
We need to take down Clayman.
And Youmu also needs to build up a new kingdom.
As for Fuze and Brumund Kingdom, they will utilize their expertise in intelligence gatherings and manipulation to stall the advances of Western Council and the Western Saints Church, at least till our side has achieved our victory in the upcoming war.

To us, the Western Saints Church is a huge threat.
Even though they may not take any immediate action, stalling them is still necessary.

The Western Saints Church will not recognize a kingdom of Mamonos, and neither will the Holy Empire Ruberios.

I want to try my best in reducing and delaying possible conflicts, and prove to the outside world that we are able to help everyone and live peacefully with humans.

If it ever comes to a war, I hope I would be able to settle things peacefully, but…… judging from Hinata’s reaction, it won’t be easy..

None of the problems have a simple solution.
Everything will depends on our actions’ from here on out.
 
⃟     ⃟⃟⃟     ⃟

And the next thing on our list, let’s have the three captives——Hmm?

We have King Edmalis, Archbishop Raytheon, and who’s the other guy?

Oh yeah! It’s the one I didn’t beat to death.

Is it really okay to let these kind of people walk free again?
「Shion, aren’t there three captives in total? The one who survived my attack, has he been a nuisance to you?」

「Eh? Ah, yes. You mean the man who’s still in shock, right?」

Still in shock? I see he’s barely surviving as well. So he wasn’t a big deal then.

「Oh, you are talking about that man who survived. It sounds like Knight Commander Fayken, is he?」

Gazel seems to have heard of this guy, does that mean he’s considered a strong general? Hmm——If that’s the case, wouldn't it be dangerous to release him like this?

I turn to Diablo and ask:

「What do you think of him? Shouldn’t he be quite strong? Is it okay to let him go?」

Amd Diablo responds with a smile still on his face no less.
 
「No, Rimuru-sama. He’s just a nobody (to me). However, in terms of human standards, he seems to be quite talented in conjuring magic.」

A mage? If that’s the case, it can’t be the Knight Commander named Fayken.

「Shion, do you know his name?」

Shion responds naturally as I ask.

「Yes! His name is Ramen!」

Oh, so he’s called Ramen.Eh, speaking of that, I haven’t eaten ramen for years.

The instant ramen I ate during night shifts tasted really good.

The nostalgia~ I should try recreating it next time.

I begins to recall things before my reincarnation…....

「Ramen? Is there someone called that name in Falmas?」

「I can’t recall one. And a magician? Magic? Speaking of magic, there’s a Majin called Larsen from Falmas…..」

「The Hero Larsen? That man is quite the character. 」

Fuze, Elalude and Gazel claims so.

Not only these though,

「Hero Larsen.. I’ve heard of him. His name proceeds even to the Beast Kingdom. That man is the guardian of the great Falmas Kingdom, so called “the wise Majin”. 」

「I’ve heard about it too. He is a human, but his magical ability could easily surpass any mages. I’ve wanted to have a fight with him.」

「But, we will probably have the upper hand in close quarter combat. Nonetheless, this human cannot be underestimated.」

It’s a surprise that even the Beastketeers knew him.

I can’t imagine someone like that would stay in Falmas Kingdom….

The man called Ramen isn’t important, but instead we should be cautious against this Larsen guy.

「Shion, are you sure that guy is called Ramen?」

「Yes, lemme think, probably yeah…. But, he’s super young! He’s one of the people who attacked the town, and definitely not the magician everyone is talking about!」

She did not sound sure about the first part, but seems very certain about the second half.
 
Eh, but, isn’t this a bit strange?

Diablo also mentioned that he’s a mage…..
It got me kind of worried, so I decide to inquire from not only Diablo and shion, but everyone else.

The one in captivity is a young man who once attacked this town. There is no doubt he is a 「Otherworld Traveller」. It would seem it also matches up to everyone’s testimony.

「Diablo, could it be that you are lying to get praises from Rimuru-sama?」

Shion starts to provoke him.
   
「What an surprising proposition. He’s just some cheap shot that got beaten by me. Only an idiot would hold him in such high regard. I was simply completing my task in order to have Rimuru-sama grant me the rights to serve him.」

Oh yeah, Diablo did once say he wanted to serve me. But he didn’t mention that his opponent was that strong, and he doesn’t seem that bothered about it at all.

This would mean…...

「——Speaking of this, about that “Otherworld Traveller”. When Geld and I cornered him to a desperate spot, there was a quite powerful mage who intervened. That man is indeed called Larsen. It would seem that he has come prepared with Nuclear Strike magic ready to be unleashed at any time. I thought it would have caused much damage to our side, so I decided to let him go——」

Hakurou recalls and reports to me.

So it’s not Ramen, but Larsen?

《Report. By casting a secret technique under the Spirit Magic series, one can replace his body. 》

Ah, so that is what it is.

「If that’s the case, could it be that this mage called Larsen has transferred his consciousness into the young man?」

「Ehh!」

With me pointing out the possibility, Shion begins to panic.

My guess is probably right that she was uncertain about the captives’ names.

「Kufufufufu. Whatever his name is, we should be able to find out soon.」

Diablo cuts off shion with that line, causing tears to accumulate around her eyes.

In the end, that man is indeed Larsen.
 
There is no Ramen guy, get it? So you can stop blaming shion now. It can’t be helped after all, Shion is Shion. Basically, it would be a mistake to assign any task involving brain work to Shion.

Apart from that——
 
「——But, to be able to beat the crap out of that Larsen!」

「I really can’t believe it, he’s been the Hero that Falmas relied on for hundreds of years....」

「His power as a mage could even rival with mine, and may even surpass mine, such rare prodigy has been——」

Etc, everyone is astonished at this revelation.

The one who they are astonished by is Diablo.

Thinking back now, Diablo is indeed a mysterious person.

Why does he want to serve me? Although since he doesn’t mind providing free service, I don’t have any reason to refuse.

But he talks so lightly of the man that everyone thinks we should be extra cautious towards. It would seem he is really strong indeed, and that’s before I named him.

And now he’s even showing off his strength in front of Shion. But it’s due to her own actions, that’s why she can only bite her teeth regretfully.

Anyway, all is well. There shouldn’t be any problems moving forward as long as Shion hasn’t considered Diablo to be her arch nemesis. Lame butler vs Elite butler, this type of relationship is probably the breeding ground for jealousy..
 
Right, I’ve decided!

「Youmu, the mission that initially involved you bringing the three captives, take Diablo with you too.」

With that being said, it’s Diablo this time who’s looking at me in panic.

Although I can see Shion’s smirk, I didn’t give that order for her.

This is my judgement after much thought..

We are waging war against Clayman soon.

Veldora will be taking the duty of protecting this town, and I happen to be worried about who to put in place to assist Youmu’s party.

This individual must have clear head and the abilities to play to adapt to various situation. In addition to that, this person needs to be able to travel fast.
Souei is the most suitable candidate, but I wish to see how he performs on the battlefield.

Benimaru is the leading general of the army.

Shion is a no go.

Hakurou can’t use 「Shadow Step」 and 「Dimension Transportation」, making transportation more time-consuming.

As for Geld and Gabil, their appearances are too eye-catching in human society. And considering their personalities, they definitely aren’t the most qualified strategists here.

In lieu of these, Diablo is the only person able to fulfill all these conditions. He once said he is willing to take down Falmas Kingdom himself, so he shouldn’t be objecting to it.

And I also want someone to watch over that troubling guy Larsen, surely Diablo should be able to handle it.

「I’ll be counting on you, Diablo!」

「Yes, I understand, Rimuru-sama!」

Having been requested by me, Diablo gives out a joy-filled smile.

Something’s amiss about this, but since he’s agreed to it, it’s no problemu~desu. I can picture Diablo right now as the strongest here after Veldora and me. He should be able to act accordingly no matter what happens.

「It might take a few years, so you’ve got to keep your composure. Whatever happens, you can contact me whenever you wish using 「Telepathy Net」.」

「No problem. It won’t take that long, I will quickly resolve the issue.」

Such a confident response, we’re talking about eliminating an entire country here. But it is precisely because of that, I am able to reasuridly task him with this mission.

Now that we have one less problem to deal with. We can now fully focus on waging total war against Demon Lord Clayman.

As such, the our time of making confirmations for the arrangements has come to an end. So the meeting with the heads of nations is concluded for now.

At the very end I want to confirm whether there is any other issue anyone wishes to address. And it turns out someone did raise their hand.

It’s Elalude. He looks at me as if  wanting to say something.

「What’s wrong?」

Hearing this, Elalude begins to talk without hesitation

「My nation Sorcery Dynasty Sarion is also quite a ways off from here——That is the Tempest Federation. There are very annoying forests and mountains in between our nations. If there was a direct path between our nations, it would greatly reduce the time spent in travelling. If we are able to open a road in between us, it would be highly convenient for our exchanges——」

He winks at me as he finishes.

Hmm huh——I know where he is getting at.

Since we’ve established ties with the Sorcery Dynasty Sarion, it would be much more convenient to have a direct road constructed to each other. Of course I would undertake such construction.

The benefit is being able to directly transport goods  instead of of taking the previously longer detour, that is why I’ve considered it as part of my plan from the start.

But the construction would require a mass-reform of the land, for instance, deforestation, digging of tunnels as well as paving operations on the roads. It will expend a massive national budget in order to execute all of the above operations.

The Sorcery Dynasty Sarion may be strong, but that doesn’t mean it can easily provide a budget at the scale of this.
Elalude, by his careful consideration from the standpoint of a Duke, he would likely push all the work on to us.

「Elalude, you are being real scummy here. How could Rimuru agree so easily to such a substantial request.」
Gazel decides to defend me.

But hold on a second, didn’t we take up the responsibility for the entire project of constructing the direct roads to Dwargon?!

「Surely you jest, Gazel! It’s perfectly reasonable for Rimuru-dono to reject me, you of all people should know that you don’t have a say in this!」

Ah, so Elalude knows about that as well.

Could we have avoided this had we rejected Gazel’s request?

To be honest, it’s alright if we are to take full responsibility. Constructing roads are just a small investment compared to having more human recognition.

But with that being said, if I just agree to it like this, it may entice other countries to take advantage of us in our future diplomatic relationships. Just like how I was taken advantage of during my trip by Brumund Kingdom. Humans are truly cunning creatures.

So I’ve got to knock him down from his high horse right now.

「I understand what Duke Elalue meant. I believe is fine for us to handle the construction of the road, however——」

「However?」
 
Elalude gulps as he looks towards me.

Don’t be so nervous, I don’t plan on doing anything outrageous.

「However, we would also be the ones responsible for the security and hotel business on the road. And of course, the cost of construction would eventually be transferred to the road users via a carefully considered amount of toll.」

These rebuttal are what came out of my mouth.

In simpler terms, we will create a charging mechanism like those on highway. Travelers will be charged a certain amount of fee every some distance away at a alarm outpost. This will turn into long-term profits. Despite how it seems to be unprofitable in the short terms, it would gradually transition to profitability as time goes on. This is the so called conscienceless national income.

Additionally, we get to do another country a favour by taking the job of constructing a road.

「——I understand now, that’s a great idea. And it sounds very reasonable. But, regarding the toll you mentioned. I hope we get to renegotiate it every couple of years.」

Oh? Elalude is not so simple-minded after all. I see that he has guessed my thought immediately.

No problem, we will have to build this type of things on the basis of consensus. There is no point in pricing the toll too high, hence I will accept his suggestion.

「Okie, we should do just that!」
「So casual!」

Fuze shouts out in surprise, but I don’t really mind.

Diplomacy is all about judgement.

「Geld! You’ve got more work to schedule!」

「Understood! Much Obliged. We’ve learnt much about labor coordination from all the projects we undertook so far, and some even gained the skill of supply and manipulate earth from transporting resources. Whatever work Rimuru-sama give us will be the best field for military training! 」

EH! Ah, so…..

That’s how they feel about their work.

And I thought Geld is a sensible man, but as it turns out he’s quite the aggressive war-monger too. What a surprise, it caused me to be speechless for the moment.

「Ah-Okay then. IF that’s the case, we’ve got to end the battle quickly and start working early.」

「Indeed. Do come around to check on the results of our daily training!」

Geld seems very motivated.

He would definitely be very active during the battle against Clayman.

No other people seems to have much else to say.

After all the twists and turns, our meeting has finally concluded.

All the nations involved in the meeting all have their own agendas, in an effort to create a world where Human and Mamono coexist, they exchange their views.

This meeting that took place without prior scheduling——The future generations call it the Meeting of Man and Mamono——It’s considered a significance historical turning point.

——A big step forward again towards our ideal.

⃟     ⃟⃟⃟     ⃟

Now that the meeting with the nation leaders has concluded for some time now, we can finally conduct the military meeting regarding the war against Clayman.

I’ve had everyone to be ready and hope they would all listen to Souei’s report together with me.

I feel as though I’ve forgotten about something….. With the thought flowing through \ my head, I realize.

Right, Ramiris.

What was that annoying fairy actually trying to say?
 
Come to think of it, is she still fainted?

I am starting to worry about her so I decide to see to Veldora and check on her condition….
 
I can’t believe this is happening.

Ramiris is over there intently focused on reading manga.

And here I thought I would make her cry if I don’t go spend some time with her. That concern is clearly unnecessary.

「——Oi, you there, what in the world are you doing?」

I had to ask.

「Hush! I’m just getting to the good part, talk to you later.」

Ramiris won’t even raise her head, and instead making this comment to try and sneak out of the conversation.
 
What is she doing here anyway?

Currently she’s got all her attention on manga, but didn’t she have something important to say?

Perhaps it went down like this——Ramiris who awakened from her coma and was about to cause a scene but discovered the scattered manga on the bench. Then she was drawn to the manga so much that she immersed herself in its world, not even realizing that the meeting has ended.

She seems awfully similar to Veldora. It’s almost as if her fainting was an act. The two now are so close that both are requesting services from Beretta.

I’m speechless.

My look turns to Beretta.
   
「I should congratulate you for your evolution to Demon Lord. I’ve wanted to express my gratitude since I’ve also evolved thanks to your evolution. With your blessing, I have evolved from “Arc Doll” to “Chaos Doll”」

As he finishes, he bows to me respectfully.
 
Beretta seems to have evolved into a Chaos Doll, which possess the opposing attributes of Holy and Demonic at the same time.
It may have resulted because of his unique skill 「Amanojaku」12(Heavenly Evil Spirit)

This skill would automatically obtain the opposite attributes for whatever attributes Beretta gains. In other words, take Beretta for instance, his birthright as Demon race can be reversed to give him powers of Angel race as well.

The new 「Spirit Core」 generated in Beretta’s body combined with the old 「Demonic Core」 ended up giving birth to 「Chaos Core」. It is said that when he utilizes the power of this Chaos Core, Beretta could even mitigate his past weakness, the Holy attributes.

That’s just way too crafty——I believe I am not the only one with that thought.
 
With his body built from tight magical steel, most physical and magical attack won’t be able to harm him. And on top of that, even his weakness got patched up, this is definitely one of the strongest evolutions.

Him learning the unique skill 「Amanojaku」 also seems to be related to me.

I think it’s probably my anxiety back then that granted him such strong emotion.

When I was trapped by the 「Holy Purification Barrier」, my magicule was sealed and I felt as though I was nothing. Perhaps that sensation led him to obtain such power.

「Arc Doll」 operates on magicules and he knew if he is in the same place, he would be rendered unable to move. That’s why, his evolution is a solution to that concern.
Whether it is the unique skill 「Amanojaku」 or his 「Chaos Core」, these are all very intriguing research materials for me.
 
《Report. Unique skill 「Amanojaku」 has been compiled by ultimate skill 「Covenant King Uriel」. This skill can now be replicated through the all-attribute-viable skill「Law Manipulation」. In addition, the production of 「Chaos Core」 would require the presence of the following ingredient under the conditions of——》

Nani!

「Wisdom King Raphael」 begins to report as if it’s nothing again, what a genius!

Oh yeah, I have 「Food Chain」!

The skill 「Food Chain」 is part of my ultimate skill 「Gluttonous King Beelzebuth」 that allows me to acquire the prototype of skills from my subordinates.

Beretta seems to be part of that as well.
Afterward, I had a little chat with Beretta.

He seems rather happy, not much complaints so far.

And he was conducting all sorts of experiments in the labyrinth. He only discovered my evolution after he himself evolved during the incident.

「Anyway, it’s reassuring to hear that you’ve been doing well. Let’s talk more when the business at hand is resolved. 」

「Haha, thank you for your care. I will be looking forward to that.」

「Hmm, it’s great that you’ve got the abilities to accommodate Ramiris’ whimsy now. Anyway, just follow her orders unless it’s something unreasonable and things should turn out fine.」

「Leave it to me. I will definitely meet up your expectations!」
 
「Hmm, good luck. By the way, why did you guys come here?」

I ask Beretta and look towards Ramiris who’s still wholeheartedly devoted to her manga.
「A-about that…..」

Beretta seems to recall the intent of their journey and begins approaching Ramiris and persuade her.

「Ramiris-sama, now it’s not the time for this. You should tell Rimuru-sama about that thing fast——」

「You’re super annoying! I’m busy right now!」

「Please state the intention of your visit.」

「I-HAVE-TOLD-YOU! This is my destined encounter! In this great reading material called manga, which boy would the heroen choose—— 」

Ramiris speaks as if she’s justified.

Beretta sure has it hard.

Beretta seems too pitiful like this, but it can’t be helped.

I have a vague idea of the type of manga she is reading. With a sigh, I went over to threaten her. If I don’t, I may have to wait until she finishes.

——By the way, that manga is a forty-volumes long mega piece. Even if everyone says I am as kind and tolerant as a Buddha, there are things that even I can’t bear.
 
「Oi, Ramiris. If you don’t want me to spoil who the heroen will fall in love with, state your business here immediately!」

My prediction was right that my intimidation would work.

「YES!」
She jumps up with both hands while trying to recall the intention of her visit.

Seeing how casual she looks, surely she on has some mundae news to report. It must have only been her own exaggerations before.

The other guests from different nations who were chatting and packing up in preparation to return home also seem to recall that there is this Ramiris here. They all paused their actions and probably also want to hear what she has to say before leaving.

Ramiris seems rather pleased with the situation and raises her flat chest. She crosses her arms and begins nodding as if she has something on her mind.

Then——

「I will say this one more time! This country is going to perish!」

That line came right out of her mouth.

「W-what did you say——!」

I responded with flat tone.

Then Ramiris begins to follow up insatiably, as if she has granted me a great favour.

「Huh huh! Eh, I didn’t want to see that happening either, that’s why I came to inform you, so be thankful!」

It would probably take too long for me to deal with her seriously, so I’d just have to casually respond.

「So, why will our country perish?」
「About that, before I could tell you the reason——」

Ramiris paused and switches to a more serious look. First she glances around at all the important individuals from each country, and with a slight consideration she continues with nods.

「Alright, this may still be relevant to the humans. Very well, you guys should hear it too. Demon Lord Clayman has proposed to initiate the Walpurgis Banquet!」

「Walpurgis Banquet?」

「Yes, Walpurgis Banquet. The special meeting where Demon Lords across the land sit under one roof.」

What in the world, when she said “initiated”, I thought it is some sort of grand magic. Wouldn’t it be worrying if he took the initiative in attacking when we are in the midst of planning an attack ourselves?

After further inquiry with Ramiris, I discover that Walpurgis Banquet seems to mean having all the Demon Lord gathered at one place.

In order to initiate Walpurgis Banquet, it requires approval from at least three Demon Lords. Once initiated, all Demon Lords have a high level of obligation to attend. It is one of the few agreements among the Demon Lords to force Demon Lords, who are acting as they desire, into order.

It is said also that some more casual individuals who won’t attend the meeting themselves, but instead they would appoint their subordinates to attend in their stead.

「——If that’s the case, there are records which states that there will be a great war after each meeting among Demon Lords. That’s why the Western Saints Church decided to name that day the Walpurgis Banquet.」

According to Elalude, it is a document from about a thousand years ago that recorded the event. It is said that the Great War has led to great catastrophe with heavy casualties.

Due to the Western Saints Church naming the event  Walpurgis Banquet, the people all think it means 「The Demon Lords’ feast that will destroy world and plunge it into the chaos.」
The so called great war is probably referring to the great world war that has happened countless times.
Or is it really true that when the Demon Lords gather there will be a great war? Or could it be that they were preparing to provide support to someone for a great war?

「Does that mean that the great war was caused by the Demon Lords?」

「No way! I don’t have that kind of free time, isn’t waging war super complicated? No one wants to do that!」

Ramiris instantly dismissed my doubts.

No matter how you look at her, she looks like she’s got all the spare time in the world…… No, nevermind.

Now that I think about it, she is one of the Demon Lord too. And she seems to have lived for quite long, so it wouldn’t be strange if she had attended the meeting thousand years ago.

Then, Elalude nods at Ramiris and proceed to say:

「Demon Lord Ramiris’ words are probably true. The great war has the official name “Tenma Great War” (Great War between Angels and Demons), where all major forces are vying for  control. With that being said——」

According to Elalude, the great war takes place every five hundred years.
 
The reason for that, it is said that the angelic force from heaven would attack the earth.

The army from heaven——meaning the angel race.

The angels are like the Mamono’s natural nemesis , but they attack indiscriminately.
Or rather, for some reason, they always pick the most advanced cities to attack first. The reason is unknown, but, that is just a rumor.

「That’s the reason why we’ve stayed underground and refuse to come out.」

Says Gazel.

The development of Dwargon is going well and surely to be eye-catching, so this decision is most definitely the right one.

It’s the same case for the Sorcery Dynasty Sarion which has its cities built inside the giant caverns of the God Tree. I recall Gazel mentioning the 「City embraced by the God Tree」 to Elalude. It must have been a reference to this fact.
The two powerful nations both took the necessary precautions in defending their nations.

On the other hand, the Western Nations——
The Council——It was made up of Western Nations in order to defend against the Mamonos. And the other reason is to survive the Great War.
The countries in the council pledge to helps each other out, while Dawrgon and Sarion are both able to hold their own ground. The enemy here is the angel race alone——But it’s not the entire story.

When the angel race attacks , the Mamonos also become more active. The Mamonos in question are ones that possess intelligence, aka the Majins.

Some Demon Lords would take advantage of the great war to invade human nations. It was the case a thousand years ago and tales depict it to be a brutal scene.

Even so, the humans themselves aren’t enemies to be underestimated either.

The current hypothetical enemy, Easter Empire——Sovereign Alliance of the Nasca Namrium Ulmeria Empire, could be onto something.
 
The hegemonism of the Eastern Empire doesn't care for time or location. They could very well march against the Western Nations as soon as they discover their weakness.

In conclusion, this is the great war mixed with Angels, Mamonos and Humans——so called 「Tenma Great War」
If that’s the case, it would be a false accusation to blame the Demon Lords as the cause of the Great War.
I myself also wouldn’t want to start a war either.

Speaking of that, if the angels would attack the more advanced nations first...

I was hoping to develop this town and outrank other cities in prosperity. But, this can wait I suppose.

It would be wise to at least hold off on that for now and we prioritize the development and fortification of essential infrastructure for defense.

But that would come later, I need to take note of that mentally.

First we have to deal with the Walpurgis Banquet.

「If that’s the case, what is the point of Walpurgis Banquet? Why are all the Demon Lords gathering?」

If it’s not related to the great war, there must be other goals…..

Ah, could that be it? Milim did said that the Demon Lords would judge individuals who self proclaim to be Demon Lord. Could they be holding a meeting to decide on sending someone to deal with me?

「About that——First of, you seem to have misunderstood, so allow me to explain.」

Right after which, Ramiris speaks of something that’s the furthest from what I could imagination.

「We actually hold the Banquet quite oftenly. It only needs three or more Demon Lords’ approval to initiate, so it’s not hard to initiate. In it’s past, it’s the equivalent to me, Guy and Milim, us three having a little tea party——」

Ramiris tells us and continues:

「In other words the Walpurgis Banquet is just the Demon Lords gathering together to update each other on each others’ status while discussing trending topics. It’s just that the humans certainly wouldn’t know about that, but it’s really nothing dramatic. 」

She breaks the huge news.

I always thought that this fairy is too simple minded and probably has a horrifyingly large gap in perception compared to the rest of the Demon Lords. So I can’t exactly take her words seriously, or it may really lead to something tragic.

I’ve got to scold her for it.

「Idiot! If it’s just a small tea party, why would you say our nation is doomed?」

She’s really done it this time getting someone as gentle as me angry.
 
This annoying brat sure is stupid.

「Ah, no! The problem isn’t the Banquet itself, it’s the subject-matter!」
   
Ramiris corrects herself.
 
The subject-matter? So the Demon Lords have indeed gathered to exterminate me….?

According to what Ramiris just said, there are two other people supporting Clayman’s initiation.

They are Demon Lord Frey and Milim.

Due to the three Demon Lords’ motion, including that of Clayman, the proposal is approved.

Apart from that, the subject of discussion is——「The rise of the new force in the Great Jura Forest and the Leader of Forest Alliance dares to self-proclaim as a Demon Lord.」

It must be talking about me.

「I mean did you….. Did you proclaim yourself a Demon Lord?」
   
「Yeah, and I don’t regret it, nor do I intend to reflect on it!」
I replied honestly since Ramris asked.
   
「Hmm——I am not surprised it’s you. You should be fine as long as you stay tenacious, even though there may be a lot of trouble on the way.」
 
Says Ramiris sounding quite relaxed and delighted, as if it’s none of her business. No, it’s indeed none of her business.
   
Anyhow, I’ve already prepared myself mentally, so anything goes.

「So, are they going to punish me?」

They’ve indeed planned on punishing me——Or so I thought, but things seem different from what I will hear from Ramiris soon.

「That is the case in name, but whether you get punished is not the point, it’s simply a unwritten rule in our industry. Clayman initiated the Banquet because he claimed Demon Lord Karion has betrayed everyone. Not only that, Clayman is also going to press the issue that his subordinate Myuran was murdered.」

Is being Demon Lord considered a job? What industry are you talking about? I teased so but got ignored.

It seems that Clayman is claiming someone has murdered Myuran and would probably say the criminal is 「The new-comer named Rimuru who dares to self-proclaim as a Demon Lord」. His goal is likely——
《Report. Presumably he is planning to take over territory of Demon Lord Karion and subjugate the Great Jura Forest.》

——Probably. I think so as well.
 
Is that why Clayman’s army has taken action?Clayman wants to take the initiative before we could act.

Demon Lord Clayman is better than expected——

「You! How come you are so calm in face of such an important issue! According to my source, Karion seems to have been beaten by Milim. Majins under Clayman also seemed to be commenced military operation. In other word, you are no longer being judged, this is already war ! Clayman has found the excuse to attack you all out!」
   
Even under these circumstances Ramiris, looking surprisingly serious and went on a tangent.

Her words caused panic in the crowd.
   
To some bigger nations, it’s a tremendous deal when a Demon Lord is getting attacked.
 
That’s to be expected, after all, it may break the balance of power between the Demon Lords.
   
I was expecting it myself, but it was very big surprising for the rest of the guests. This seems to be a serious topic for discussion.

Also——

「How dare you say that Karion-sama is a traitor! How rude——!」
「Clayman cannot be forgiven. Nice idea of his, but I’ll crush his ambition.」

「Even without Karion-sama, our army is still around. We won’t allow Clayman’s subordinate to just do what they want!」
 
The ones who reacted the most are no doubt the three Beastketeers.
That is to be expected. Since Clayman has by himself declared their master a traitor.
And according to what Ramiris said, Clayman also seems interested in taking over Karion’s territory.
 
We are a step behind. I can’t believe he’s taking action so fast…..

But you can’t expect him to be acting with good intention, so we have to clean this mess up soon.
 
「Calm down, Ramiris. I did proclaim myself to be a Demon Lord, but I didn’t kill Myuran.」
 
「What do you mean by that?」

「Nothing in particular, those are lies of Clayman. I’ve expected that he would come looking to punish me by accusing me of killing Myuran.」

Besides——
 
「H-hold on a second? Do you have a single fact to back that up?」

Well about that——
 
「——Pardon me, Demon Lord Ramiris-sama. Please allow me to speak. The rumored to be dead Myuran who’s Clayman’s Majin subordinate is actually me….」
I plan on thurley destroying Clayman.

I intended to have him misjudge the situation of Myuran’s death, hence why I’ve expected Clayman to make a move.

It’s not me who got baited, instead it’s Clayman fell for my trap.

This has nothing to do with the other Demon Lords.
Ramiris astonished upon hearing Myuran’s name, but she regained her composure shortly after.

「Ah? Eh? That would mean…… I get it! The real criminal is Demon Lord Clayman!」
 
I think anyone can see that.
Ramiris begins to brag about her deduction.
 
But sadly, it is an easy deduction anyone could make.
 
「Oh, I agree to your view, but I’ve got something to ask too.」
I feel rather piteous towards her, so I played along a little.

Additionally, I have some concerns with regards to some of her claims so I decide to ask.

「Oh, what’s the matter? Why don’t you just ask me, the famed detective Ramiris?」
Oh shoot, I was just playing along and now she’s gotten all cocky.
And where did this famed detective come from?

Could it be that she also had a peek at Veldora’s manga too? No, that’s not my concern right now.

I need to ask my question.

「What would the other Demon Lords do in circumstance such as this?」
 
I didn’t hold much expectation towards her, but I’ll ask away anyway.

After all, she’s probably a good reference source since she’s been a Demon Lord for such a long time. I asked this question based on all these considerations…...
 
The assembly quiets down awaiting Ramiris’ answer. The others are also interested in finding out the answer to my question.
 
Ramiris however doesn’t seem to care.

「Uhh? How am I supposed to know. I’ve only been told about the Banquet initiation and was told to participate!」
 
She answered without a care.
Of course, it’s a waste giving her any expectation.

She’s a little kid after all. I’m lucky enough that she even bothered to come and report this to me.
Next question,

「Then Ramiris, let me ask you, when will the Walpurgis Banquet be held? Do you know a specific date?」
 
In order to create a plan to defeat Clayman, I need to take that into consideration.
 
「Hmm, didn’t I tell you? Lemme think, I think it’s three days from now, the night of the new moon.」
   
Three days from today, it seems earlier than I expected.

It would be pretty difficult to try and take down Clayman in three days.

Hmm——How about this…...

We will make a final stand with him after the Walpurgis Banquet?
 
Now I’ve got to discuss this with everyone.

As such, I’ve asked Ramiris all the things I wanted.

Considering that seems to be the only thing Ramiris came here to do, I wouldn’t be able to get more information out of her.

And suddenly another thought hit me, so I decide to ask another question.

「Right, so why did you come here to inform us?」
 
「Hmm? Well, honestly, if you got killed, I don’t know what would happen to my Beretta. That’s why I decided to make the trip to help you. That’s all it is. it’s why I also plan to build an entrance to the labyrinth here, it’s fine right?」
 
「You’d better be! Eh, how did we end up on that topic? And an entrance to labyrinth, what the heck are you trying to build here?」

I’m glad that you came to inform me but this seems to be a completely different matter.
「Eheh————! It’s really nothing, so don’t mind this type of small favour now!」
She’s not even listening to me with her own speech. That attitude seems to suggest the deal is already settled.

Seriously, this fairy sure is laid back.
 
「I mind it a lot, and you’d better be cautious with your words! Also, please stop treating Beretta like some personal object you own!」
 
You’d better not try and make any decision on your own——I’ll reject it without hesitation. If you create an entrance to your labyrinth here, it will definitely lead to more trouble. And about the issue regarding Beretta, it’s not just about me. Beretta’s opinions matters in this too, so how could you just “decide” like that.
 
The concerns that I had just sent the conversation on a pretty unexpected path.

We got into a heated debate that amounted to nothing. I can’t really stand that.
In any case, we parted on the spot.

I’m a currently quite busy  too, so I have no time to spare hanging around with Ramiris.

Since Ramiris has also completed her mission, she went back to read her manga.

I’ve also made promises with the guests from the other nations to check back with them on other information. They’ve also accepted. Aftward, the participants of the meeting left.

Fuze decides to stay in the inn for the night before returning.

「Now that your nation has caught the ire of the Demon Lords, do prepare yourself. Demon Lords are dangerous existences, Even though I know ,Rimuru-san, that you’re pretty powerful as well…..」
 
Says Fuze  out of his worries for me.

I understand him.
In the worst case scenario, I may make foes out of several Demon Lords.
Within the Ten Great Demon Lords right now, who could we expect to become our enemies?

Demon Lord Karion is still missing.

Ramiris seems to suggest she would be on my side, so she can be excluded.

As for Milim…… I’m worrying about her the most. She must have been tricked by someone, so I’ve got to plan for the worst.

If we end up in a stalemate for real, I may end up becoming enemies with the eight other Demon Lords. Despite that, even if we are to become enemy with just Milim, we’d better run as far as we can.

「Don’t worry, when there’s a will, there’s a way.」

I said trying to reassure Fuze.

Elalude is also being scummy and wants to stay here for a few days, saying that he hasn’t had the chance to chat with Elen for far too long,

We didn’t take him to a inn but, instead, to our luxury hotel. This facility is the pride of our nation and if we want to impress him, we will definitely have our hotel welcome the Grand Duke if we get to impress him.
 
Speaking of Elalude, his professional and private personas are so different to see. He’s so attached to his daughter while Elen instead only wishes to stay away from him. I do pray that he won’t further anger Elen.

Gazel also decides to spend the night so we arranged for him to stay at the hotel where Elalude is staying. I could tell from their conversation that they’ve known each other for a long time. It is rumored that they’ve even fought alongside each other once, and Elalude also seems to be a very powerful mage.

It is quite surprising for sure, but since they would also be communicating with our nation in the future as well, it’s a good thing to have their friendship strengthened.

By the way, all the guests at the meeting are all important figures.

In the future, these heads of nations would make an incredible impact on the way of life in the human nations. In retrospect, we were already equal in status.

Even though our meeting turned into a wild goose chase after that stubborn fairy showed up, it was still a fruitful meeting.

As such, the meeting concludes.
   
⃟     ⃟⃟⃟     ⃟

Afterward, we didn't get a chance to rest.

We still have to draft our plans in case we attract the ire of the Demon Lords.

After we all had a chance to have our meals, we gather at the meeting room once again.

This time the only guests are the Beastketeers and Myuran.

Youmu, Grucius are preparing for their journey to come. Grucius wanted to participate too but got rejected by the Beastketeers. The two of them hold a lot of responsibility with their coming mission, so Phobia hopes they could try their best.

We were planning to have Myuran preparing for it as well, but she’s the only one here who’s familiar with Clayman. So we decided to let her assist us and attend the meeting.

The strange thing is that even Diablo decided to join.

「Kufufufufu, I don’t need to do any preparation.」

Since he’s so adamant, I kind of have to accept his proposition. But his participation won’t matter too much even if he joins so I’ll just let him be.

Ramiris, for some reason, also joined in the meeting.

「Ah, it’s you! What’s this all about? What is going on?」

As soon as I entered the meeting room, Ramiris flew up to me and complains.

「What’s what now?」

I ask, as she begins to complain with a blush on her face.

Here’s what she had to say.

During the break time, she was brought to the canteen.

I completely forgot about her, but there are people who came to spend time with her

Indeed, those people are the Dryads such as Treyni-san.

They all once served under Ramiris when she was the Queen of Spirits and recognized Ramiris instantly. Then Ramiris received a warm welcome from them.

「That sounds great.」
   
「Yeah! It’s superb! That’s why I’m staying here too, Rimuru!」

It seems Ramiris has taking a liking to this town. This Demon Lord who’s been alone and without subordinate gets all cocky once she receives some admirations.

Anyway, Ramiris was touring the town accompanied by others.

She was mesmerized by all the sights and decided to stay here from now on.

「I told you to not make any wild decision on your own! Besides, Treyni-san and the other Dryads are the moderators of the Great Jura Forest. They live in a different place than us, so they can’t spend their every day accompanying you.」
 
The three Dryads sisters were looking really delighted while waiting behind Ramiris during the conversation,. I glance towards them and continue to lecture Ramiris.
 
But Ramiris won’t listen.

「You meanie——! Isn’t it great, no matter what happens, you get to enjoy assistance from me, the strongest, world dominating, Ramiris-sama——!」

If I ever need your help, it would probably——No, I shouldn’t say it.
 
If I tell her my honest opinion it would probably make Ramiris cry.

「Rimuru-sama, we will take care of Ramiris-sama, please think of it in a positive light.」

「「「Please consider it!」」」

Not only Ramiris, even Treyni-san and her sisters begins to asking me for the favour.
 
But, no matter how you look at it, all she seems to be is a troublemaker. If Ramiris ends up just casually running around here while we get more communication with humans in the future, she will definitely become an eyesore.

Hmm——I’ll need to think on this request some more.
「I understand, I’ll take it into consideration…...」

「Really! Sasuga Rimuru, such a doll!」

I’ll figure out what type of situations we may run into when Ramiris comes to this town later.

Right now I’ve got other issues to deal with at hand.

With Ramiris quieting down, we can finally commence our military meeting.

「Well then, I know everyone must be exhausted from the long meetings, but I hope you will all endure it for a just bit more. Right now we have two subjects to discuss. First being “Battle against Clayman” and the other is the “Walpurgis Banquet”. Thanks to the information of Ramiris-chan here, I know we’ve been targeted. Let’s first hear Souei’s report and draft an attack plan. Souei, please tell us about Clayman’s army. 」

「Yes sir!」

After my opening speech, Souei begins the report.
 
Just as we were having the meeting, Clayman’s army seemed to be on the move.

They’ve been resting in MIlim’s territory and entering combat formation. Apart from that——

「The one leading the army doesn’t seem to be Clayman himself. The commander has brought several Majins with unusual magicule, but they are about to be one the same level as the Beastketeers. It is too weak to be Demon Lord Clayman.」
Souei concludes.

But, that guy sure is arrogant……

「If we are talking about Clayman’s subordinates that can rival the Beastketeers, there are three that come to my mind——」

So many! I see no matter how despicable he is, he is still a Demon Lord.

They are “Middle Finger” Yamza, “Index finger” Adalman, and “Thumb” Nine-head Beast.
These three seem to be the members of Clayman’s proud organization known as the「Five-Fingers」.

By the way, Myuran apparently was the “Ring Finger”.

Additionally, there is “Pinkie” Piorra. That guy seems to rarely show up given his role as an intelligence collector.
 
I’m more concerned about the Moderate Jester Association, but Myuran claims to know nothing about them.
   
「Clayman is the type of Demon Lords that won’t even trust his subordinates. I won’t be surprised that he has ordered someone else to overlook the operation.」
Is he like the audience watching a puppet show?

It may end up like the Orc Lord incident where people are operating even without the knowledge of Clayman’s subordinates’ involvement. We need to be cautious.

「About that, Myuran, who is the commander?」
 
Souei saw a slim Majin that it’s the commanding general. 「Telepathy Net」 sure is convenient for sharing information with everyone.

「He is Yamza. The Magic Frost Swordsman Yamza. He is a despicable and cruel scumbag, but nonetheless a powerful individual. I didn’t get along well with him given the fact that he voluntarily pledged his loyalty towards Clayman.」

The commander is Yomaz.
 
From Myuran’s description, he seems to be the strongest Majin within the Five-Finger.
Clayman gave him a priceless magic sword possessing the power of freezing, and the title of Magic Frost Swordsman which is a title that spread extensively across the land.

In other words, what his  capabilities are is unknown.

As for Clayman’s army, it consist of thirty thousand Majins led by Yomaz.
Each and everyone of which possesses different ability.

From Souei’s observation, eighty percents of who are of Rank B. The remainings ones are almost all A-. Some of the higher=ranked officers may even reach Rank A or on par with Gelmud in terms of power.

Although they are a lot more powerful in comparison to the Falmas Army I eliminated, there is still little to fear.

The problem lies with the commander Yamza or rather it disappoints me.

「Aren’t they a little too weak?」
From our standpoint, there are more than twenty thousand people that has taken refuge here from Beast Kingdom Yuurazasia. Half of them are capable of combat, making up roughly ten thousand people. They are already Rank B under normal circumstances, they would even evolve to A- after their beastilization, which make them an incredible force to be reckoned with.

Even the Knight Order from Falmas Kingdom average out to a B with their magic fortification. It just goes to show how strong the Beast Kingdom warriors are.

Not to mention the a huge gap between the basic abilities between Human and Beastmen.

Just these people alone can form a huge combat force, besides, there are other available combatants spread around. After they’ve retreated from the capital, they reunited with Beastmen members from the nearby tribes scattered over the land. The veterans from Beast King Army took command of these individuals and rearranged them into capable force hidden near the area. With these forces combined, there will be an additional ten thousand more soldiers.

That makes around twenty-thousand Ranked A- warriors. That is indeed an impressive amount of combat prowess, as expected from a Demon Lord who dominates his land.
「This is indeed strange. No matter how strong this Majin Yamza is, us Beastketeers will not lose to him. And even if we have less men in the army compared to them, we still have an overwhelming advantage in terms of quality and combat abilities of our warriors.」

「Right. We are quite confident with leading soldiers to wars!」

「Do they think can look down on us because Karion has passed away? No way, Clayman isn’t be that stupid….. 」

Anubis agrees with my views.
Phobio and Sophia also followed up to express their views, believing that the Clayman’s army won’t much of a threat.
If that’s the case——

At this moment, Benimaru mumbles:

「Wait a second? Could it be that Clayman never intended to target this town?」

Yeah, we may have been misled.

This town has constantly been a target, and with Ramiris telling us that we’ve become a target of Clayman’s, we were misled into believing that  this town is his target.
 
I was planning to initiate a pincer-attack on Clayman’s army when he passes through Yuurazania in order to beat him…..

But things aren’t as simple as I expected.
「Does he want to attack the Beast Kingdom? There are only refugees plus the ten thousand warriors in the area. Even if it has higher quality of warriors compared to the enemies, they still can’t handle the immense difference in number.」
 
It does make sense.
 
According to Souei, his army’s been staying in Milim’s territory for now, but his army has already began reorganized. Tomorrow, if not the day after, he would likely march on to the Beast Kingdom Yuurazania.
   
It is unlikely they would take any action tonight, but I have to consider that as a possibility as well.

「This might mean that clayman doesn’t know about us given we’ve been extra cautious of him——」

Geld calmly states, but I won’t to put too much expectation on it. We must plan for the worst-case scenario in order to remain adaptable to various situations.
 
「If he is indeed heading to this town, Clayman won’t ignore the many dangers lying behind him. So he would likely only commence that operation after getting rid of all the threats.」
 
Myuran concludes.

Indeed, that’s exactly how I would go about it.
   
Is that the case, eh, getting rid of threats?

「Oi, do you mean then……. that Clayman plans to kill all of the Beast Kingdom warriors?」
   
It may be passable if he’s only killing the warriors but——
   
《Answer. Prediction towards Demon Lord Clayman has updated. The chances of his goal being to awaken as「True Demon Lord」 is one hundred percents. Prediction: He would not include this town in his plan. But his method is sloppy and in addition with incorrect deductions, it is most certain that he would decimate all life forces within the borders of the Beast Kingdom Yuurazania——》
 
Is that so? Of course, he is planning on killing everyone without mercy.
I may sound rather hypocritical saying this, but, his ruthless method really appalls me.

Clayman is very cautious with his actions, he may even have eyes on this town as part of his  extended road map. In other words, any reinforcement I send would likely be discovered by him.
And even without considering that——
 
「Clayman has very strong intelligence gathering capabilities. That’s why he must have already known that the Beastketeers and Karion’s army has evacuated to this town. Besides, it will take at least two days to move from here to the Beast Kingdom…..」
 
We are at a complete disadvantage here.

As Anubis has said, Clayman has seen through everything.
   
We won’t make it in time even if we deploy the Rank B equivalent warriors’ regiments and move out without sleep or rest.
   
I want to have all of my subordinates to take part in the fight, but by the time we arrive at the battlefield, the people from Beast Kingdom would likely have already been slaughtered….

Would Clayman awaken if everyone is massacred?

《Answer. Despite the lack of efficiency, it will grant him a large amount of souls. Clayman’s rate of success in awakening——Seventy-eight percents. Additionally, his chances of success would increase if he has obtained the required amount of soul within a shorter time-span.》
   
This is becoming a really difficult situation, I must stop him.
   
It’s not even for the citizens of the Beast Kingdom whom I’ve never met, but for myself.

I’ve never met those citizens, yet they were willing to forge a friendship between our nations.
   
Trust is more valuable than gold, and kindness should be repaid with kindness. That’s why I won’t go light on my interventions here.
   
「Benimaru, go and stop them.」
 
I assigned him an extremely challenging task, yet he only responds with a smile.
 
「Aye, I’ll do just that——No, it would be my pleasure to carry out your orders!」
Benimaru, he is pretty obedient in heart.
   
He often goes back to his original tone of voice whenever he gets excited.
 
But he believes that there is a difference between his professional and private life, so he is always very respectful to me in front of others……..but you don’t have to treat our current meeting as that important.
 
It’s indeed unpleasant to be looked down upon, and I understand you are doing so to prevent that from happening, but….. In this country, I doubt there is anyone who looks down on me.
   
It’s like, performing better than your senior would probably result in a awkward relationship.
People realize this type of things when they enter the society.
 
That’s why I decide to steel my heart and give Benimaru the order as his superior.
 
「Hmm. As such, the defence battle of Beast Kingdom Yuurazania is officially commencing. Let’s talk about how to win the battle with Benimaru acting as the key player.」
   
「「「Understood!」」」
   
Everyone bows unanimously.

Even the three Beastketeer also joined in, it seems I did sound quite imposing.
 
This Clayman is far more cunning than I expected.
Perhaps the Walpurgis Banquet on the night of three days later is also part of his plan.
 
He is probably planning to slaughter the people of the Beast Kingdom before any other Demon Lords intervene and plan to report it to them afterward.

It will take some time to unite the local combatants, if things continue as it is, the warrior groups would be defeated one by one even with being much futile resistance put up to it.
 
And what would follow would likely be the massacre of the residents who are incapable of fighting back…..

Since we’ve decided to stop this, everyone was eager to voice their opinions.
   
Everyone wants to gather forces and head out immediately. But, no one spoke up.

Everyone here knows the importance of information gathering.

The reason why I’ve announced my intentions of taking down Clayman but made no immediate actions is because I’ve been waiting for Souei to report back. In addition, our soldiers are currently switching gears and gathering resources at the town plaza.

Kaijin, Garm and Doldo have applied their craftsmanship to help create new weapons and armors for them. Those are the new gear everyone would be switching to in preparation of war.
 
so there is no use rushing.
   
We need to know where our enemies are, the structure of their army and its number, as well as their intent.
   
We won’t make much of anything by simply marching in blind without the knowledge on these matters.
 
Right now, our discussion will soon conclude for a while.
   
「We’ve confirmed their force to be there. We will definitely win if we are to make it in time. But the problem lies in how we’re going to get there. We have to buy some time or we won’t make it as things stand right now.」

「How about we send in the Goblin Riders and Gabil’s forces first to distract them for a while?」
 
「No, it would be pointless. I’ve sent men to investigate the geography of the Beast Kingdom. It mostly consists of plains and small hills. It’s not a great place for ambush tactics. It may be more effective to make an air based assault, but a mere hundred soldier assault would barely do anything.」
Benimaru regained his cool.
If we are to ambush, the orchards near the bank of the big river would be good, but the many hills there that are beneficial for water drainage makes it too eye-catching. So the geography is also unsuitable for having our troops perform an ambush attack.

Hakurou’s suggestion got rejected, so far Benimaru is making the correct judgement calls. I heard Sophia whisper: 「What in the world, when did he investigate our nation’s geography…..」 I’m curious about that as well.

It’s likely that he sent someone to do the investigation when he was acting as the head of the diplomatic team. Should I see this him being overly cautious or reliable in work…..

Sophia doesn’t seem to be holding a grudge of it, so I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear it.
「There are only four hundred Beastmen troops that are specialized in speed. There are less than a hundred too for the rare Bird-beast type soldiers. They would be sacrificed in vain if we are to send them first.」
Anubis is also worried.

It also doesn’t mean they won’t be tired from flying, and even with Gabil’s troops, there are barely two hundred of them. So sending them first really won’t do much to help.

The location has a clear field of view, so there is no use sending smaller units.

As a result, we went in circles with our attack plan.
 
We have to give it our all.

We can have the soldiers all over the location to find the residents and help take them refuge.

Once they enter the Tempest Federation, Treyni-san and her companions can act as support to raise their chances of survival. Then, we will have the speed-oriented units engage in guerilla warfare to facilitate in their escape.
 
We will then have the slower ground troops to both accept the refugees and fend off Clayman’s army.

That is about it.
   
It’s a race against time with much luck involved, but we can’t think up of any better ideas?

That’s why, in order to prevent things from escalating in the wrong direction, we (Tempest) will engage with the enemy too.

The fellow executives——Benimaru, Shuna, Souei, Shion, Geld and Ranga——They’ve all learnt extra skill 「Dimension Transportation」 and can manipulate the 「Teleportation Door」 that connects spaces.

Diablo seems also capable of this, but he’s moving out with Youmu’s party this time, so there is no chance for him to show off this time. If the situation worsen I would call him back. But, I wish to resolve the situation with the seven persons in total including myself.
   
Even though I could take on the army by myself, showing off in battle is a big taboo.

Especially since Shuna is not good at face-to-face combat. I’ve sent Hakurou and Gabil to protect her.

「It can’t be helped, this is what we have to do. As long as we are able to buy more time, we can prevent casualties. Wouldn’t it be great if I can just somehow use teleportation magic to transport them here——」
 
I mumble that to myself as a joke.

If we can use magic to teleport the our troops there, it will resolve the issue immediately. But even with my 「Dimension Manipulation」, it is impossible to transport a thousand-men army.
 
However——

《Answer. Teleportation magic can transport goods at relatively low cost. It can directly connects different dimensions to the coordinates of the teleportation location. This would induce large amount of magicules to surround the area, unsuitable for transportation of organic matters. However, by using 「Barrier」 to protect their bodies, it will mitigate the effects during teleportation. This is the principle of teleportation magic—— 》
 
Hmmm……..
 
So that’s the difference between teleportation and transference……..The key difference is to have additional magical protection applied to the objects being teleported, so it uses more magicules.

Ehh? That would mean…..

《——In other words, for Majins or Mamonos who possesses resistance towards magicules or if they are able to cast 「Barrier」 on their own, teleportation would become feasible for them. Alternatively, one can also cast the complete teleportation technique that invokes protection on the target.》

That would mean as long as the target possess strength to withstand a large amount of magicule exposure, they can then pass through to special transportation dimension. This seems to be the same principle as the extra skill 「Dimensional Transportation」, I’ve got to keep an eye on the matter.

To be clearer, it would be possible to even teleport people if the subjects being teleported is completely protected beforehand.No no no, that would be the actual way to use transportation magic, but even if that’s the case, wouldn’t it still cost a lot of magicules? Plus there isn’t enough time for me to modify it to the point of being able to accomodate an army of over ten-thousand of soldiers.

《Answer. The magic has been developed. Additionally, with the combined use of 「Dimensional Manipulation」, its magicule cost has been successfully reduced.》

Wow, this is really impressive!
   
What’s with this sudden growth of Raphael-sama?
   
It has already developed magic and skill for me even before I request them.
   
Speaking of that, after I awakened as a Demon Lord, my skill has all evolved dramatically and I’ve not been able to familiarize myself with them all. If not for 「Wisdom King Raphael」, I would have been wasting away the potential of those skills.
   
Raphael was able to develop magic likely due to the effect of 「Ability Change」. Regardless, it is more than desirable to me. It has even prepared the magic I’ve been dreaming off, simply perfect.

「Rimuru-sama, using teleportation magic to transport army would be too risky——」
 
Shuna tries to persuade me as she also seems to be aware of its dangers.

But, that part has been resolved just now.

「Indeed, Shuna is right. But just now, I’ve developed a new magic!」

I’m beginning to sympathize with Clayman.
   
Had I not evolved, you likely would have emerged as victor.
「Oh oh……!」

「Nani!?」

「——developed just now?」

Everyone appears to be surprised and looks at me with respect.
   
I nods in response, and ask them:

「It all depends on your resolves now. I could use this magic and transport the entire army to their destination in one go. However, it would be my first time casting such magic, so no there’s guarantee of your personal safety, nor would I have time carry out experimentation. If that’s the case, would you still be willing to trust me?」
I have faith in 「Wisdom King Raphael」.
If Raphael says it’s fine, then it won’t be a problem.

But I don’t know what everyone else thinks.

Are they willing to believe me like this and entrust their lives to me?

「You don’t have to worry. I’ve sworn loyalty to you. Since I am a servant under Rimuru-sama, I shall sacrifice myself even if that’s your desire. Your order will never trouble us and we are all aware of that.」
   
Benimaru responded with a wild smile.

The veterans all agree with his view and even the new-comer Diablo, as he nods with a bizarre monstrous smile.

Apart from that, the Beastketeers also followed——
   
「We believe you. We’ve come to seek your help so there’s no way we’ll doubt you Rimuru-sama——」

「Indeed. I’ve been saved once already. My subordinates are all aware of that, and they certainly won’t complain,」

「Ara ara, it seems like I can’t disagree with this. My troop happens to be the slowest, and I do hope Rimuru-sama would give us a helping hand.」
Sophia came to that conclusion without hesitation.

Phobia has had faith in me from the start,

And Anubis, who initially was doubtful and hesitant, but nonetheless chose to believe in me in the end.

I nodded.

「Then your live have, here and now, been entrusted to me! This way we can surprise Clayman. The rest of it will be up to you, you must achieve victory!」
   
「「「Yes Sir—————!」」」
Brave smiles begin to emerge on everyone’s face.
 
If our troops move now, their victory would be guaranteed. No matter how tightly Clayman has been surveilling the town, he won’t be able to discover the movements of our army now.

We’ve got victory in our grip.

Naturally, everyone rediscovers their calmness now.

I give the task of redesigning the attack plan to Benimaru.
Meanwhile, Souei has brought us some updates to his report.
   
He says that about a hundred of the Worshipers of Dragon has joined Clayman’s army.
   
「A hundred? If that’s the only people joining, it shouldn’t be a problem…..」

Does Benimaru know of the background of these Worshipers of Dragon?

「Oh yeah, Souei, who are these worshipers of dragon?」
   
I’m not sure about it so I decide to ask directly.

「To your question, they worship dragon, that is the Dragon Princess Milim-sama.」
   
Oh, I see, so they are subordinates of Milim. Wait, but Milim said she doesn’t have any subordinates. They may actually be worshiping her on their own volition.
 
This organization don’t seem to have a name for their nation, yet they have a total population of around hundred thousand. They probably have been in peaceful co-existence with nature and leading a quiet life.

Clayman seems to also be watching over them by crossing their domain and having them accompanying the army.
Souei wasn’t able to dig in more, so the Worshipers of Dragon are temporarily listed as part of the individuals under observation.

I order Souei to resume the surveillance over Clayman’s army and find an appropriate location for the deployment of our army.

As such,  the subject of「Battle against Clayman」 has concluded.

⃟     ⃟⃟⃟     ⃟

Alright, now for the next topic in line.
 
In regards to the 「Walpurgis Banquet」 reported by Ramiris.

The Beastketeers left the meeting room first having to inform their subordinates about our decision. They trust me and agreed to using the teleportation magic. So they probably went to inform their soldiers.
   
Myuran also followed suit, since the issue at hand now is our problem and doesn’t require her input any longer.
   
Her job is to assist Youmu.
 
Now that there are only my close companions left in the room, I got to relax a fair bit.

Given the circumstances, the atmosphere of the meeting has changed drastically, I’ve decided to just chat about what we think without any restraint.
 
「If I could locate Clayman’s location, I could just use “Dimensional Transportation” to hop over and give him a round or two of beating to finish things up.」

With his army on the move, there can’t be that much left at his base. So I won’t have to worry about the attack. I only need to move with my subordinates and we may be able to put an end to him.
   
On the flip side, if I am to attack someplace, we need to make sure we don't let down the defense of this town.
   
I need to spend more time thinking about this.
   
「Apologies. There emerged of multiple areas that possessed a high magicule concentration. We deemed it dangerous so we didn’t pass through.」

Souei started to apologize to me as he reports, but it’s alright. After all even with his 「Clone」 active, he still had to act cautiously. It will be bad if the enemy got hold of our movement if we just end up moving into a trap.
 
The enemy’s base of operations may be hidden behind this fog bank, so Knowing this is enough.
   
「How about we send out a few people to investigate their base using the weak points in enemy force?」
 
「But, wouldn’t Clayman be attending Walpurgis Banquet? There’s a chance we might miss him.」
   
Benimaru expresses his view though Shuna rejects it calmly.

Benimaru made an awkward expression in response.
   
「It makes sense. In addition, if we underestimate the enemy force, our vanguard would get overwhelmed instead resulting in their pull back. This would render our efforts rather meaningless. I think Benimaru-sama should focus on leading the army instead.」
 
Hakurou delivered the final blow and ended the conversation.
   
「Is there any other ideas?」

Anyhow, let’s hear about everyone else’s ideas.
 
Yes! Shion begins to raise her hand energetically while looking at me...
And I gave her permission to speak up.

「How about we attack the site of Walpurgis Banquet directly and kill off not only Clayman, but any other Demon Lords who dare to disagree with us?」
 
She says with sparkling lights in her eyes :ShionSparklings:.
   
It’s my bad asking for advice from an idiot.
   
The annoyance is almost causing veins to emerge on my temple, but I’ve endured it. This seemed to have happened before.
   
「Shion, how are you going to do that? I mean, can’t you provide some more practical ideas?」
   
Killing Clayman alone is tough enough as it is, how are we supposed to fight all the other Demon Lords together?
   
At the very least we should take them down individually——I scolded Shion strictly.
With that being said, she loses all her spirit and looks very down.

There’s really no helping with her, guess I’ll play along a little.
   
So I went on a tangent (to praise her), after all I still adore Shion a fair bit
   
「But, maybe rushing in may actually be a good suggestion.」

Shion then raises her face with excitement written all over her face.
   
What a realist approach.
   
「I’m just asking, Ramiris, but is it possible for me to participate?」
   
I asked Ramiris who’s more experienced with it.
   
「Eh? Do you want to participate, Rimuru?」

「No, it’s just for reference. Since Clayman is going to participate in the meeting, so if I take the initiative, it might make things more interesting.」
 
Since I’ve already been targeted, striking first may actually be a good idea.

Preemptively striking is tactically basic, but Clayman most definitely would be surprised with me showing up to where he would least expects me.
   
It might not be a good idea to use violence at a meeting, but I’d like to try it first.
   
「Hmm——It should be fine. However, you can only bring at most two people as companions!」
Bringing a bunch of subordinates would only bring unnecessary trouble, so I can’t take too many with me.
I’ve heard story of some newly enrolled Demon Lord tried to be imposing and brought hundreds of his close subordinates to the meeting.
This action uncanningly enraged a Demon Lord who’s been mad at (her) territory having been wiped out at the time.

That Demon Lord’s anger probably could have been vented on anyone. And so he ended up kil
After that incident, the meeting forbids Majin with insufficient strength to participate. And among the Demon Lords, they may only take two companions along.

But this would also mean, there has been that type of disputes in the past. So it should be fine for me to go as someone looking for trouble.
   
Barging in and accusing Clayaman directly, I should seriously consider this idea.
   
「What do you think? Wouldn’t my participation in it be very interesting?」
 
「Kufufufufu, this proposal is wonderful. Would you allow me to accompany you——」
 
「Bastard, Diablo! I will be the one to accompany Rimuru-Sama. I won’t let you have him!」

And the two of them begin to argue again.
   
It would be suicide bringing these two along, but I wasn’t planning to have the two of them in the same place.
   
And just as this idea was raised——
 
「——Since we will eventually fight against all the Demon Lords anyways, let’s just kill them all. After all, shouldn’t it be enough to just have Rimuru-sama as the only Demon Lord?」
   
And even Diablo begins to spout out nonsense.
   
Shion agrees completely and begins to nod her head excitedly.

「That’s right! And here I thought you are an idiot. That’s some very profound views from a newbie! I didn’t expect you to give voice to all my thoughts!」
Should I see them as sharing a tacit relationship or being on bad term?

If I have to pick someone, I think Shion is more brain dead, but…... both of them seem equally bent on beating up the other Demon Lords.
How did things end up like this?
 
Looking around, I find several people at the scene agreeing with their views.
 
Some people are being cautious, while some are highly ecstatic, even giving off a killing intent.
   
For some reason, the number of warmongers among us has only increased.
   
And that method is way too reckless. So I have to interjected quickly to bring the discussion back on track.
 
「Wait a second, don’t get ahead yourselves now. We haven’t settled on things yet. And as for Diablo, I’ve assigned you on the mission concerning Falmas Kingdom. So there’s no way I can bringing you with me.」
   
「I-Indeed. Understood.」
 
It seems Diablo thinks the mission regarding the Falmas Kingdom is rather simple. He seems confident enough but I hope he won’t suffer a Waterloo if he underestimates his enemies.
With some regrets and a mix of joy in being assigned a mission by me, Diablo made a mixed expression.
   
「But, wouldn’t it be too dangerous still?」

Shuna’s tone gives off a sense of worry.
 
Indeed, these are the opinion we hold.
 
「That’s right. Moreover wouldn’t it be more efficient to try to attack Clayman’s base when he’s not there? Hence there’s no renson to attend the Walpurgis 」
Geld speaks up cautiously, seemingly agreeing with Shuna’s views.
 
It seems to be the more viable tactic, avoiding risk and fight winnable battle.

Geld is also quite eager to fight, but he is not as reckless. It’s very delightful to hear so many opinions under much consideration.
 
But there are other reasons why I am considering attending the Walpurgis Banquet.
   
Something is concerning me.
   
「No, Rimuru-sama is worrying about the intent of Demon Lord Milim-sama. It is unthinkable that Milim-sama would betray us, so she’s most likely being manipulated by Clayman. Or she has some plan of her own, but at the very least she did in fact attack Demon Lord Karion-sama. So attending the Walpurgis Banquet to find out the truth behind it wouldn’t be such a bad idea.」
   
「Indeed. Milim-sama being one of people who initiated the Banquet is also concerning. There must be some sort of conspiracy behind it, right?」
   
Surprisingly, Benimaru’s comment aligns perfectly with my thoughts while Souei also points out my concerns.

Sasuga Benimaru and Souei. They have the same views as me.
 
「Yeah, Milim following Clayman’s every orders, there’s no way that that would have happened in this world. Because Milim is way too stubborn!」
 
Do you have any right to criticise her, Ramiris? That thought popped into my head, but she and I shared the same view.
   
「Milim-sama would never betray Rimuru-sama. Even though this is just my sixth sense without proof, but I still pretty sure I’m right.」
Shion asserts.
   
Right, we don’t have any proof either…..

But I also wouldn’t think that she’d betray us.
   
「Wisdom King Raphael」 also reached the same conclusion even though it couldn’t be hundred-percent sure without sufficient information to back up this claim, there’s no way such a thing would happen without a drastic change in situation. I decide to have faith in Milim.
   
But even if that’s the case, I can’t just leave it this way.

「I also agree with all of your points and I don’t think Milim would betray me. Therefore, something must have happened. As Ramiris has said, let’s assume Clayman isn’t the culprit here, but I still think it is highly likely that he has been the puppet master behind all of these events thus far. So I’ll take Benimaru’s advice and participate in the Walpurgis Banquet to investigating how things were there…..」
Something would definitinately happen in between the session.

In the worst case scenario, Milim may attack us by the end of Walpurgis Banquet.

That is what concerns me the most, and the reason why I think it’s still dangerous even if we just leave it as it is.
   
Fighting Clayman alone won’t really be a problem, however, the goal is to avoid engagement with Milim in any form of confrontation as much as possible.

「See? I told you I’m right! Indeed, indeed, everything has been expected by the famed detective Ramiris. If that’s the case, we just have to go beat the crap out of Clayman!」

And I thought I was successfully in leading the topic and concluded the most dangerous conversation——yet now Ramiris begins to shouting some bizzare nonsense.
   
「Also, what even is the deal with her? Why are there so many powerful Majins just running around here? You should just let Beretta be my servant since you have so many strong subordinates already!」

And she then dare to say that.
 
Ramiris sure is being quite outrageous. She’s only gotten more bold after discovering the strength of my companions.
But I didn’t plan on giving Beretta up.
 
But more importantly, we need to consider what Beretta wants in this situation, not just what Ramiris wants.
   
Moreover, some of my subordinates seems to share the same sentiments with Ramiris.
 
「I see, that sounds reasonable. Very well, I shall go kill him. I shall return shortly——」
「Eh, hold on hold on, calm down now Shion. Let’s prepare first before going, you too, Benimaru and Souei!」
 
Seriously,
   
The situation turns into something of a mess like this as soon as I decides to participate in the Walpurgis Banquet.
   
Benimaru has to engage in with Clayman’s army, so is Souei.

As the military meeting continues, I need to assess cautiously about the candidates for my two companions to the Banquet.
   
So, the candidates I’m looking for are…...
   
I suddenly felt the pressure from the sharp stares behind my back.
   
You can figure it out with your joint that it’s Shion.

She would probably go crazy if I didn’t take her. It would seem it’s becoming increasingly hard for Benimaru to keep her in check, so I guess i’d have to take care of this mess.
   
What’s more, Shion almost died by Clayman’s ploy——or should I say that she was literally killed over it——hence, this may be a great chance for revenge, that’s why I wish to bring her along.

Just like that, Shion has been selected.
   
The other one is rather hard to choose, but Ranga seems like a good candidate.

I was planning to have him hide in my shadow, but it will be problematic if the location has some special barrier similar to 「Holy Purification Barrier」.
   
I found out that Ranga has been listening in all this time anticipating to join, so I suppose I should take Ranga.
He is a competent bodyguard after all.
 
Just like that, I made my decision to bring Shion and Ranga with me. Both of whom have the ability of 「Dimensional Transportation」which is one of my reason for bringing them since they can easily escape with me if anything happens.
As long as they’ve experienced the newly made barrier inspired by 「Holy Purification Barrier」, they should have a good chance of escaping even in the worst case scenario.
   
The three of us should move out together and head straight to the Walpurgis Banquet.

If Milin is indeed being unfortunately controlled, the next thing being destroyed would most likely be this town. That is a possibility that I need to prevent no matter the cost.

I will not let this town suffer once more.
   
「Let’s participate then. I’ll bring Shion and Ranga along. Ramiris, could you help convey my message that I wish to participate?」
   
「Hmm, I understand!」

Ramiris answers without hesitation.
 
And then she seems to have initiated a certain Demon Lord special communication line to inform the rest of the Demon Lords about my participation.
It seems like some sort of high level skill that could communicate through the interference of space.
   
I observe her looking impressed for a while, and at the moment, someone walks towards me while laughing loudly.
   
It’s Veldora. It seems he’s done with his manga and has been listening to our conversation.
 
「Gahahahaha! Yes, you are finally taking things seriously! Although you're not being a good friend, RImuru, bring me along as well! You don’t have to worry about those Demon Lords at all with my company!」
   
He makes such proud statement full confidence.
 
Speaking of that, I’ve completely forgotten about the fact that he’s here
   
But, I don’t plan to bring Veldora along.
   
「Oh well, don’t get ahead of yourself now, Veldora. I hope you can stay in the town and focus on defense.」

「Nani! Wasn’t I supposed to be going along too? Take my words, I won’t lose to those Demon Lords at all!」

With my words, Veldora received a huge surprise, probably not expecting that I would say this.

Defending this town is also an important mission, perhaps the most important task.
 
We are marching all of our force to take a final stand against Clayman. There will only be police force led by Rigur, whose numbers are pretty small, as well as Shion’s subordinates.
   
The strategy is based on the precondition that Veldora remained here to defend the town.
If the Western Saints Church is to send out invasion force, Veldora alone should be able to handle them.
 
「——That’s how it is, so I hope you can stay back for the defense.」
   
「Uhh…….」

He seems unable to accept it.

It can’t be helped, I guess I’ll tell him the real reason——I was just about to speak up before Ramiris, who finished the communication, begins to shout.
   
「Hey, Rimuru! They’ve approved your participation, but aren’t you being too mean here? It will be okay if I have master to participate as my companion (underling). It’s safer for me as well!」
 
Well, with that being said it does sound reasonable.
   
But from my perspective, Ramiris’ intention is crystal clear. She’s trying to bring Veldora and Beretta there to bluff.

I think Veldora has also seen through about that——

「......huh, no? I don’t want to go as you bodyguard at all.」
He rejects without hesitation.
「AWH REALLY——！EHHHH how could this….. You are so cruel, master!」

I mean, what’s with this master thing about Veldora….
   
Ramiris and Veldora seemed to have grown a friendship because of manga.

It’s certain that the two have good relationship, but in terms of their power, it seems Ramiris is one-sidedly trying to get on good term with Veldora.

Doesn’t matter, it’s a good thing anyway.

Our focus should be us participating the Banquet.
   
For some of the Demon Lords, they may find it more troublesome to go around human towns. But that’s just to my advantage.
「Veldora, we’ve been intentionally releasing fake news about you. You should know about that from the meeting we just finished.」
   
It could have been a way to have him follow Ramiris as a servant. But honestly, I think it would lower the guards of the other Demon Lords to make them think that Veldora didn't follow along.
   
「Hmm, Hmmhmm, of course I know.」

Ah, it seems he doesn’t know.
 
And he is pretending that he’s listened. He must have gotten addicted to reading manga.

However, it’s then much easier now to make up stories for him.

「Besides, Clayman must be thinking that the Majin Rimuru is a bluffing scum who relies on Veldora’s name——」
   
「What! That bastard Clayman, we’ll see about it!」
   
「He... this ignorant bug, I shall go myself to personally take him out.」
 
「Ahhh, calm down you guys. Rimuru is just giving an example.」

I was halfway through my sentence before Shion and Diablo started acting all angry in my stead.
 
You guys really can’t keep your cool now, can you?
   
Benimaru was a bit mad for a moment, but since the other two spoke first, he got to regain his composure.
「Don’t get riled up now, Benimaru’s right, that was just an example. Anyway, if we bring Veldora to the meeting and cause them to be on alert, wouldn’t it be pointless? 」
   
「Oh, so it’s like that.」
   
「I understand now, sasuga Rimuru-sama!」

「Gufufufufu, anyone who dares to insult Rimuru-sama is unforgivable. I wanted to exterminate him by my hands, but perhaps I shall allow Shion senpai perform the act stead.」
   
「So you want to lead the opponent into lowering their guard in order to drive the negotiation in our favour, right?」
   
Veldora who realizes my point nod and says so while Shion praises without using her brain.
Diablo is again making some dangerous statement, but he does think the best candidate to take down Clayman in this case is Shion.
 
Benimaru looks quite happy having read my thought.
   
「But, shouldn’t we try to avoid danger?」
 
Shuna asks me.
   
Her comment  seems to have resonated with others as Geld and Gabil nods in agreement.
   
「Even if you are considered by the enemies as an individual to be cautious of, should you not perhaps focus on your personal safety?」
   
Says Hakurou to me with Souei agreeing.
   
Indeed, I can see where everyone’s worry is coming from.
 
With that being said, I’ve also assessed that part.
 
「It’s alright. I can use my skill “Storm Dragon Summon” to call out Veldora at any time. That wouldn’t count as companion to the meeting, right? That’s why ,since I can seek help at any point I wish, I hope you will defend the town quietly before that happens. 」
   
I said so proudly with a face as if saying 「How about that?」
 
My companions all seem very impressed.
 
「GA—————HAHAHA! So I am actually the Hero for the finale.」
Veldora is feeling good about himself again.

As long as you don’t object, I won’t say a thing.
   
「That’s so cunning….」
Ramiris pouts by herself.

「Baka, Ramiris. You should praise me for being so smart.」
Ramiris is still upset while Veldora whispers to himself 「So that’s the case.」
   
I take the chance to bring up one more thing.
   
「Besides, now you’ve got an extra spot for servants.」

Upon hearing this, the eyes of Ramiris along with the rest of my companions begin to glow.
   
「You knows me too well, Rimuru! Very well, who are you sending as my servant?」

Ramiris seems satisfied with her servant number increased to two. Given how she looks now, she’s really just trying to show off to the other Demon Lords.

Anyhow, it’s alright as long as she accepts.

One more spot…...
   
I realize that everyone who hasn’t been selected has been looking at me nervously, however, this servant must be strong enough.

If I am being honest, Benimaru is the best choice, but the war can’t be fought while I am not present, so Benimaru has to make up for it. Thus I have to select someone else.

——Which would mean——

「Sorry to keep everyone waiting, I choose Haku——」

「Please hold on a second!」

Someone interrupted me as I was halfway through nominating Hakurou. It was the woman standing behind Ramiris——Treyni-san.

「Rimuru-sama, please allow me to take this mission no matter what——!」
「Treyni, what a stubborn child!」

Ramiris also looks delighted with her eyes soaking in tears.
It can’t be helped then, I’ll choose her then.

「Fine. Then we will go on with Treyni-san’s aid.」

I announce so agreeing to the participation of Treyni-san.
As such, the members participating the Walpurgis Banquet are settled.
 
My subordinates are Shion and Ranga.
   
While Ramiris’ subordinates are Beretta and Treyni-san.
   
And our trump card is the summoning of Veldora.
 
It’s my good luck that the Demon Lords have approved my participation.
 
I may even meet Leon Cromwell, one of the Demon Lord whom I have grudges against.

But, this time I’ll first be checking out just what kind of a person he really is.
   
I still carry and unable to deal with Shizu-san’s dying wish and cannot just leave it like that, but this time my target is Clayman.

The riot caused by Orc Lord is still fresh in my memory.
As well as the ordeal with Myuran.

Most importantly, I am worried about MIlim.

If we aren’t careful, we would end up fighting Milim. I’ve long made up my mind to take a final stand against Clayman, but if it’s Milim, there is no way we can win…..

I must utilize the opportunity well and have Clayman duel me. It would be even better if I can take care of him through the Walpurgis Banquet directly.
   
If things don’t go as planned, we will see about it later.
 
Clayman, you’ve treated me like an enemy.

I am no kind-hearted soul to let people who antagonize me to walk free. If you wish to kill you must also be prepared to die. (D: Rimuru and Naofumi sure watches the same stuff)
   
You dared to harm my companions, and I’ll have you pay the same price.
Ah——I feel like I’ve been infected by Shion’s impulsiveness.

I let out a sigh because of that, but there  also a sense of joy I feel.

That’s because——

I am finally freed from all the annoyances and able to go and face my responsibilities head on.