Chapter 1 - Eve of the Opening Ceremony - Info=Uang=Receh

Masayuki’s team got a request from Yuuki to move out.


They had uncovered evidence of a massive slave trade market operating in Balakia, one of the small nations surrounding the Ingracia Kingdom. There was a lucky slave who managed to escape and subsequently called for help, which made it necessary to dispatch an investigation.


There was a chance that the whole nation might be involved, however small the possibility. The estimated threat level was above rank B+, which would prove no easy feat even for the most seasoned of adventurers.


“Personally, I wanted to refuse, but I couldn’t defy the sponsor’s request. I would like you guys to be the bait since you’re famous,” was the request Yuuki gave Masayuki.


The task was too difficult for investigators to handle alone, so they wanted Masayuki’s party to accompany them. While the investigators gathered evidence of the slave trade, Masayuki’s team would act as bait to grab Balakia’s attention.


That was the task given by Yuuki.


Even a nation such as Balakia couldn’t underestimate an A rank adventurer like Masayuki. Since the investigation would be carried out by fellow travelers, one could even call it a relaxing work vacation.


Masayuki didn’t think there would be any major issues.


“Masayuki-san, let’s agree to help them with this request. Even if this leads to war, our strength alone would be enough to topple such a small nation!” Jinrai proclaimed with a strong sense of justice. Ever since his defeat against Masayuki, his personality had changed, becoming so heroic that he only vaguely resembled his past self.


“He’s right. Slaves in this day and age, that is unforgivable. The opponent might think twice if someone as strong as Masayuki has been dispatched.”


Bonnie was neither famous nor well known, despite being an “Otherworlder” and possessing a Unique Skill. The latter probably allowed him to resist ‘Heroic Act’, but he seemed to respect Masayuki regardless.


From Masayuki’s perspective, he still couldn’t understand why he was respected. Instead of showing a respectable side, he often spouted nothing but complaints. Even so, Masayuki was trusted and was often given a lot of advice, something he always took to heart; especially coming from Bonnie, someone who constantly looked out for him.


So naturally, his words became the deciding factor this time as well.


“Yes, I’ll follow Masayuki-sama wherever he may lead us,” Jiu affirmed as always. Apparently holding blind faith in Masayuki, she seldom voiced objections.


Just like that, Masayuki’s team accepted the request and headed for the kingdom of Balakia.




Held in Balakia Kingdom’s Royal parlor house was a luxurious ball attended by royalty and nobility from the surrounding nations.


Masayuki, who was invited to the ball, stumbled into a situation so sinister he wanted to escape reality: he was able to witness the slave trade in action.


Please leave me out of this. Isn’t this the investigator’s job!?


I can’t believe this is happening again, the thought alone made Masayuki want to cry.


He had made his way to the restroom, and on the way back while walking past a room, purely by chance, he had heard people whispering. He didn’t really plan on eavesdropping, but he ended up doing it anyway. That’s when he saw the man who welcomed him to this country, Count Braver, and ended up locking eyes with him.


“……”


“……”


It happened in an instant.


“Uh, this is—”


“This complicates things,” Count Braver said with an unwavering smile, “there’s not much I can do if you've already heard the story. Talented guards were set up so we wouldn’t be bothered, but who knew they would be beaten so easily. Should I say that it should be expected of Hero-sama?”


No, No, there was no such person to begin with?!


“Wait a momen—!!!”


Masayuki was interrupted before he could make an attempt to refute it.


“En garde! Hero-sama doesn’t seem to be in his right mind—we cannot let him get away. Go, men!!! Take him down!!”


The person who was speaking with Count Braver grabbed a sword that was placed on the wall and suddenly stabbed the count. He then tossed away the sword and started frantically shouting for the guards, trying to frame Masayuki for this murder.


What followed was all too familiar for Masayuki.


Jinrai, who stood at his side, stared at the soldiers who came swarming together.


“Ho ho, they're really coming out of the woodwork. However, you guys are not even close to being a match for Masayuki. Let me take care of you.”


Jinrai sprang into action while laughing with a vicious face. Receiving Masayuki’s blessing, his movements were almost superhuman.


“Tsk, monster. No, the hero who trained him is a bother to me too.”


The man who stabbed Count Braver—Marquis Gossel—glared at Masayuki.


“It seems like the game’s over? Put down your arms and surren—”


Masayuki suggested, thinking that the winner had already been decided. Jinrai had already defeated all of the soldiers who seemed to have been on standby in the other room. But he had underestimated the situation.


“Hehehe, Hero-sama has a reputation for being considerate. But look at this situation; anyone who lays eyes on this atrocity will be on my side!”


Hearing this, Masayuki thought of Count Braver laying on the ground.


The hurried footsteps of people coming to check out the commotion could be heard down the hallway.


“Tch. This is bad, Masayuki-san…”


This was the kingdom of Balakia. Even if the Hero’s fame was widely known, Masayuki wasn’t anything more than a guest. If you were to compare the credibility of Marquis Gossel, who was a prominent figure of the country, to Masayuki, then the former would be higher.


That explained Marquis Gossel’s lax attitude, and why Jinrai was anxious.


However, Masayuki wasn’t too worried. Although he had a ton of complaints about this whole ordeal, he realized that this flow of events was something he had become accustomed to.


Unique Skill, ‘Chosen One’ was a terrifying Skill that always guided the situation towards Masayuki coming out as a hero.


This time proved to be no different.


Observers who came to see the commotion could see the faces of the Balakia Kingdom’s nobles and guests from other nations.


At first Marquis Gossel glanced at them, brimming with confidence, but his face quickly distorted with dismay.


“—Uh, um. What just happened to me…” Count Braver moaned, starting to regain consciousness.


“Masayuki-sama, this person is an important witness, right? We’ll treat him since he’s still alive.”


Jiu had suddenly come running and had cast a healing spell on Count Braver, and then turned to look at Masayuki, fishing for some praise.


“Hey, brother, be glad that Masayuki is a nice guy. If we were to make an honest testimony it’ll end with you getting punished for the slave trade. However, if you decide to keep hiding it—you’ll probably just end up getting eliminated by that guy there. So, how do you wanna do this?”


The reality of the situation struck Marquis Gossel as he heard those words come out of Jinrai’s mouth, who had a cunning smile on his face.


Apparently taking in the whole situation and realizing that there was no escape, he decided to give up. Count Braver confessed everything right on the spot with his head hung low.


“What happened? What is all this for?”


And as if right on cue, the King of Balakia appeared.


Even the clamoring of the nobles was silenced in the presence of the king, and the situation settled. It was as Masayuki had expected. After that, the situation rapidly developed.




The dispatched military police secured evidence of the slave trade by searching Count Braver and Marquis Gossel’s residences. With that evidence, they were able to uncover the surprising fact that Marquis Gossel was one of the chiefs of an illegal organization. But it didn’t end there, it was also discovered that the main base of the illegal organization was within Balakia.


The nation took this situation seriously. The illegal organization ‘Orthus (Slave Trade Union)’, that had been a thorn in the side of the Western Nations, had its headquarters in Balakia. This was a problem that the kingdom just couldn’t sweep aside.


Slaves weren’t the only product that Orthus had either. Their offerings of weapons, shields, suspicious potions, drugs, monsters, and trinkets from magic items to artifacts were widely spread.


It was something to be expected from this kind of organization, but it wasn’t something a small country could handle. So that was why the Balakia Kingdom had decided to bring the Freedom Association into it.


Needless to say, that was Masayuki’s party.


Being used to something happening was a scary mindset to have, but Masayuki still expected things to play out like this.


Ah, so it really did end up like this again… Yet he had still accepted Balakia Kingdom’s request.




Following that—


After Masayuki’s party, which was A rank, got involved, a large number of lesser ranked adventurers decided to help with the subjugation of Orthus (Slave Trade Union).


Combined with Balakia’s royal army, it was over 2,000 men, and with Masayuki heading the group, everyone in it went under the effects of ‘Heroic Act’ and were able to obtain skills beyond their previous abilities.


Orthus’s headquarters had hundreds of members as well, among them were bruisers who could be considered equal to A rank, and the captured monsters were no less dangerous.


A power worthy of being a nation. Even so, the illegal organization ‘Orthus’ was purged by the subjugation army lead by Masayuki. In truth, Masayuki didn’t get a chance to do anything. All he needed to do for them to win was to be there, yet he wasn’t aware of it.


The subjugation plan that Masayuki’s party lead had ended in success. And so this was how the infamous Orthus collapsed.


This time as well, as expected, even if Masayuki didn’t do anything himself it could be said that the situation was still improved due to his involvement. And Masayuki’s title of ‘hero’ was spread far and wide, not only in Ingracia but to the surrounding kingdoms as well.


As always everything was well.




It would have been nice if the story ended there, however, this time there was one more problem.


It turned out that among the monsters that Orthus was keeping there weren’t just vicious beasts, who were killed on the spot, but also some who they couldn't just kill like that.


Those were elves. And the problem was how they would handle these elves, who, for their part, were hoping to return to the Jura Great Forest, but they couldn’t just free them. The reason for this was due to the current situation of the world. It hadn’t been long since the Jura Great Forest was taken over by Demon LordRimuru, and they couldn’t predict how said demon lord would react if the elves were to report the cruelty of getting enslaved by humans.


He might retaliate to show off his power.


The misery of the Farmus Kingdom was widely known. If even a massive nation the likes of Farmus was annihilated, there was no chance that such a small kingdom like Balakia could hope to resist.


“Ma-Masayuki-dono. Please, please help us solve this problem!!”


The King, who was usually full of majesty, had escaped the eyes of others to plead to Masayuki while crying in a private room. Receiving the request, Masayuki felt too sorry for him to decline and ended up accepting it.


We’re only bringing them to Tempest so there probably won’t be any problems, right?


That naive thought was the beginning of his problems.


Hero Masayuki was heading to Tempest—the people who heard this news assumed Masayuki was going there to defeat the monsters. This rumor spread like wildfire.


However, Masayuki didn’t think much of this. He assumed that this problem would just solve itself like it always had, and he consequently adopted a mindset that had grown accustomed to this process.


Unique Skill ‘Heroic Act’ was a terrifyingly effective skill. And while that was an undoubted fact, it also had its pitfalls. That was equally true.


Masayuki had become so confident in himself that he had forgotten this fact…




Alright, then we’ll go with that and let’s meet on-site.


After confirming his plans, the magic communication with Yuuki ended.


Masayuki reported what had happened this time and discussed their future plans. Because the Ingracia Kingdom was being protected by multiple ‘Barriers’, ‘Magic Communications’ were only connected through encrypted transmissions on specific wavelengths. It was somewhat complicated to set up, which was why they had to arrange a date in advance to make it happen.


After the communication was cut, Masayuki shook his head and let out a sigh.


“Yuuki sure worries a lot.”


“Yeah, you’re right. If Masayuki-san were to fully make use of his skills even demon lords wouldn’t be something to be afraid of.”


“What he said was right. You must be the sword of justice.”


Masayuki touched on these topics in a conversation with his party members. In such an atmosphere, only Bonnie remained level-headed.


“However, Masayuki-kun, eventhat woman ended in a draw against Demon LordRimuru. It’s probably better to stay cautious.”


Upon hearing that, Masayuki reluctantly nodded. And then he thought, up until now, everything had gone well without any problems, and I never actually had to do anything myself.Masayuki didn’t know Hinata and never met her either, but Yuuki, who he respected, seemed to think very highly of her. If this Hinata person wasn’t able to defeat him, Demon LordRimuru may be more dangerous than he imagined.


Having such doubts, he felt like he needed to be more prudent.


“Yeah, he’s right. It’s said that Demon LordRimuru wishes to be friends with humans so we should probably refrain from attacking first.”


“Hah! So the demon lord begged for his life.”


“Demon lords are evil—this is an irrefutable fact!”


“Well, we have no choice but to see how he will respond before we act. Whatever the case right now, since Saint Hinata reconciled with the demon lord, there is no one else who fits the title “hero” but Masayuki-kun. We must proceed with care.”


After hearing that, Masayuki nodded as well.


“Yeah, that’s right. If everyone lends me their strength, I believe we can beat the demon lord, but right now we have to act with caution,” saying that, Masayuki placed his option to fight against Demon LordRimuru on hold.


They had decided to first see how things turned out.


Jinrai, Bonnie and also Jiu—these three colleagues were strong like beasts in Masayuki’s eyes. Masayuki himself wasn’t amazing but the three of them losing was unthinkable.


Well, I think we can win if we end up fighting, but it’s not like we have any grudges against Demon LordRimuru… Nothing good would probably come from it if we were to deliberately pick a fight, he pondered idly.


And so Masayuki’s party triumphantly began their trip to Tempest.




***




Even after the Reception Ceremony, my schedule was fully booked.


This time we had to greet these distinguished guests. The representatives of each country were currently arriving one after another.


I heard that the early arrivals had already stayed here all week. Not only the people who received my invitations were showing up, but also merchants who merely heard rumors of the festival, making the town quite lively. It seemed like the people who had been here before were guiding the newcomers throughout the town with a proud expression. The prominent figures and royalty of other nations seemed intrigued by the unfamiliar novelties and sights on display in our country.


Seeing all that, our plan of making this land into a tourist destination appeared to be going well.


That being said, the maximum number of nobles we could accommodate in this city was around 3,000. In regard to the common folk, we had enough facilities to take in up to 10,000, but we only had a few for the upper class.


The cost of providing meals, lodging and entertainment for the nobility was significantly different than the cost of providing for the common people. Considering the fact that these facilities were used by aristocrats, there had been a thorough investment in security as well. Therefore, an ample amount of living space was reserved.


We were exclusively accepting royalty and nobility this time, meaning we declined normal customers even when they offered a large sum of money. It seemed that there were also several business tycoons visiting, so I was worried that there would be complaints concerning that policy when receiving them.


However, these worries were unfounded. Myourmiles had already prepared for those cases in advance, going so far as to set aside rooms for the wealthy.




“Amazing. As expected from Myourmiles-kun.”


“Hehehe, Rimuru-sama. This is nothing. It’s thanks to Rigurd’s achievements and everyone in the city who handled things with a polite attitude!”


Myourmiles really was a trustworthy guy.


Those that worked under Rigurd and Rigur did well enough to be worthy of praise. But the ability to receive guests without any significant complaints was probably only possible thanks to Myourmiles’s efforts.


Everyone’s hard work and Myourmiles’s resourcefulness in harmony was what had started this event off on the right foot.


“I hope you can keep up with this.”


“You can leave it to me!”


I left the rest of the work to Myourmiles and focused my attention on receiving more of the important guests.




***




The location was the conference room.


Shuna and Shion were busy getting various things ready, as they had to prepare a lot in advance to arrange meals for so many people.


Gabil and Kurobee were busy as well, making their final rounds and checking on their exhibitions.


We were not receiving monsters this time, so we didn’t have to be so overbearing with our presence. Therefore, not all of the executive officers had to come out for the greetings. There was no distinct relationship showing who was superior and inferior, similar to the reception ceremony, so the atmosphere was far less dangerous in comparison.


Of course, I would be greeting the guests in my human form, as my intention was to dress up and show off my wealth and power.


And frankly, it was a real pain in the ass.


Although it was more comfortable to be in slime form, for this specific occasion I gave up on it, thinking that there was really nothing I could do about it.


And as such, I was able to greet the royals and nobles from the Western Nations without a hitch.




While this was going on, the King of Blumund had come looking for me. As always, he looked like a pleasant man, like someone straight from a fairytale. A young-looking queen stood at his side. Although I didn’t know her actual age, it was said that it had been 20 years since their marriage. They might not have looked like a good match at first glance, but in truth, it was said that they were adored by the people of Blumund for being love birds.


“I apologize for taking so long to show my gratitude. Appeasing the Farmus nobles Marquis Müller and Earl Hermann, as well as prompting the Freedom Association and the Western Saints Church to make a move, was highly beneficial to our country.”


It was thanks to this man’s consent that Fuze was able to act freely. My plans were able to succeed because he followed the contract. Their efforts in spreading beneficial news about us is the cause of my current reputation not being a poor one. Seeing the steady increase in the number of merchants coming to our country, it outlined to me just how significant Blumund Kingdom’s influence really was.


As I was showing my gratitude, the King of Blumund shook my hand with a smile.


“You’re welcome, Rimuru-dono,” he said with a hint of reluctance, “this isn’t something to be thanked for. All I did was abide by an agreement with another nation. And you also heard from Fuze, right? I put all my bets on you. Our luck, I placed it in this country. And of course, there are also reasons for profit in those bets, so you don’t have to thank me.”


Although he had the smile of a good man, he was someone not to be careless against—that was the King of Blumund.


He had straight up claimed that the reasons for helping our country were because of profit and that we didn’t need to thank him, with a smile.


“But still, I’m happy that you trusted us.”


It is important to express gratitude.


I didn’t plan to continue pestering him, but I expressed my gratitude, nonetheless.


After hearing that, the King let out a bitter smile while saying: “I can’t help but wonder whether you really are a demon lord.”


After that, his expression changed, looking me straight in the eyes, and he told me: “I heard this time that Kazak from our county has caused you trouble. It’s a relief that your people were rescued.”


He was talking about the case of Viscount Kazak. Myourmiles bore the brunt of that incident, and about the nasty things they did in the Great Forest of Jura, that happened before I rose to power as a demon lord.


However, a sliver of responsibility could possibly still be pinned on the kingdom of Blumund. Even when all the fault squarely fell on Viscount Kazak.


Ultimately, he was just playing a small role in the whole debacle; even if his personality was the worst, he never personally did anything.


Be that as it may, a crime was a crime. Moreover, Kazak allegedly said something along the lines of ‘Do whatever you want with those lowly monsters, but there is no reason for me to be punished!!’


Innocence would be an absurdity.


“As long as the problem has been taken care of safely, we have no plans to make it an issue.”


“That, I’m thankful for.”


“By the way, what will happen to Viscount Kazak?”


As long as he remained a noble of Blumund Kingdom, we couldn’t punish him under the rules of our country. Even then, not being punished at all would be unacceptable. I didn’t want to cause further problems, but this depended on how the King of Blumund would handle it. And the King, who seemed to have understood that well enough, replied in a voice that abandoned all mercy.


“Kazak is a Viscount. That man has done things tantamount to abandonment of his duties as a nobleman, such as helping local criminal organizations, to say the least. We cannot allow such a person to be a noble of Blumund. We deprived him of his title and wealth and exiled him from the country. In truth, we concluded this case with the ruination of his entire family.”


If that was the case, then we had no problems with it.


This might seem like a draconian punishment, but slave trade is an international criminal act. It would be deeply disparaging to Blumund if they were to give any lighter punishment.


Thinking of it that way, the Viscount’s punishment wouldn’t seem like a harsh one anymore. As someone who had lived their whole life as a nobleman, it would be hard for Kazak to adapt his lifestyle. After losing his title and wealth, and being exiled from the country he lived in, it would probably be difficult enough for him to barely live through it.


However, as long as he was alive, he could turn over a new leaf.


I had no further opinion on the matter because I deemed it a punishment befitting of his crimes.


“I understand, I shall see it as a punishment fit for him.”


“It’s a relief to hear those words. Then, can I take this as us maintaining the agreement between our countries?”


“That is something I would want as well. Then I’ll be in your care from now on.”


The King of Blumund and I held our hands tightly and shook.


And with this, the case came to a close.




After that, we went on to the main topic.


The King of Blumund put on a pleasant smile and asked, cutting to the chase, “By the way, Rimuru-dono, I heard back from Fuze. I believe he had told me that you had a grand plan in play?”


He seemed to have heard about it in detail from Fuze.


“This isn’t something that would end with just my country and your country. I think we should gather representatives for all countries involved and hold a meeting. I have considered stepping forward and explaining it to other nations, but…”


“Hohoho, you’re quite reserved about it. I have heard a brief explanation from Fuze, but this could put our country in an awkward position. We cannot just leave this to the civil servants.


“Then, maybe a little bit—”


I planned to open a formal meeting later on. Therefore, I ended my explanation stating that my plan was to make Blumund Kingdom the logistics hub.


That’s what I did, but…


“—Indeed. So that's it.”


“Sire, I believe we must carry out this plan regardless of its difficulties.”


I only explained things loosely but the look in the King’s eyes had changed; they revealed his true nature full of burning ambitions. And even the Queen, who had been holding back from saying anything, couldn’t hide her excitement. It seemed like the Queen could keep up quite well too. It looked like they were able to calculate just how much profit they stood to gain from merely hearing my story.


Maybe there are more people to watch out for than just the King of Blumund.


The King of Blumund with a gambler’s instinct, able to make rational snap decisions, and the composed and calculative queen. It’s because these two combined their strength that Blumund was able to maintain its influence despite being a small country.


“We would have to discuss that after we conclude the Opening Festival, without issues, in three days.”


“If that’s so then I don’t think we need to worry. It’s already this prosperous when we haven’t even started. Without a doubt, this plan will require us to reach a consensus with the other countries involved. In preparation for that, we’ll be sure to solidify the public opinion in our country.


“Hmm, my Queen is right. Rimuru-dono, I’m glad to hear such good news. Then, we’ll excuse ourselves.”


“We wish you the best for the Opening Festival,” the two of them said in unison, standing up.


The nobles were just going around talking with each other, not wanting to waste our time. After hearing everything they needed from me, it probably meant that they had nothing else to see me for.


In fact, they were easy to understand, and so I felt like they were good people.


“Please do enjoy your stay in our kingdom.”


“I will do so.”


“Yes, I have great expectations.”


The two left, leaving those words.




***




It was the next day after meeting the royal couple of Blumund.


The person who came looking for me was the Dwarf King Gazel.


“I have come, Rimuru. Having not ridden the carriage in a long time seems to have tired me out.”





He sat down opposite to me, acting as dignified and confident as always, and reached out for the snacks placed on the table like it was normal.


“Wait, leave some for me too.”


Turns out that I was too late in stopping him. Every last donut I had saved for later had disappeared into Gazel’s mouth in the blink of an eye.


So he indulges in alcohol but curiously enough has a sweet tooth as well… It seems I can’t underestimate this man known as Gazel, either.


“What a small-minded guy. Seeing how you sweat the small details; you still have a lot to learn.”


What do you mean “I have a lot to learn.” You’re the one who inhaled someone else’s entire plate of donuts.


I narrowed my eyes and stared at him. However, Gazel didn’t flinch in the slightest and accepted the stare.


“The elders spontaneously requested to come along, increasing the number of carriages dramatically. This is all your fault, Rimuru!” Gazel said.


If they were to use the pegasi they could arrive within a day from Dwargon. But since this was a formal visit, they couldn’t use the pegasus knights.


This wasn’t just for the escorts. There was a need for a large and powerful country like Dwargon to show its majesty to the nobles of other countries that would be visiting the festival. And for that reason, not only did they prepare multiple outfits to change into, but they also had to bring aides to manage all the clothes and servants to help change into them. Because there was a need to bring them all they had to plan a large-scale visit.


“To act like a king, there needs to be a preparation to its scale. It was a relief that at least the roads were properly maintained but the last few days still made for a very tiring trip.”


So that’s why Gazel often snuck away to visit here with a small number of people.




Speaking of which, I received a report from Souei that the road to Blumund had been jam-packed. It was so crowded that they needed traffic enforcement and all the inns were full.


This was a report gleefully calling for a larger scale of transportation.


Modern Japan didn’t have problems with cars breaking down often. And even when it happened, there would be insurance agencies that would respond. However, it was always a big problem when carriages broke down in this world. Just clearing the carriage off of the road to not obstruct traffic took a lot of effort.


You also had to take care of the horse’s condition, meaning you couldn’t use it however you wish.


We had constructed the roads with extra width in preparation, but as expected, problems still arose. Though I did instruct them to collect information on how we could handle these problems in the future.


Just now, after hearing what Gazel said, it dawned on me how big of a deal it was for nobles to travel.


The current problem with congestion seemed to come down to there being a higher number of aristocrats participating than expected. So, next time it would be better to take more things into consideration.


Though it would be better if we could invent the train and transport them using that… Well, putting that aside.




“I didn’t know you would come in person. I had thought that you would send an emissary instead.”


It was true that I didn’t expect Gazel to come. In hopes that he wouldn’t get angry, I responded honestly. But Gazel was not convinced.


“Hmph! How could I not come! You seemed to be plotting something again, so I couldn’t have peace of mind until I saw it with my own eyes to judge it myself! And… I have something to ask.”


“What is it?”


“You seem to have fought with Hinata Sakaguchi…the rumor that you ended in a draw is a lie, right?”


I did expect to be exposed but, as expected, Gazel seemed to know everything about my fight with Hinata already. Not only that, but he seemed to be completely convinced that the official statement was false.


“Well, that is true. Although I did win the match, I feel like I lost the game, I guess a win is a win.”


After firmly stating that this was a secret, I told Gazel the full story of the fight between Hinata and me.


“Unbelievable. That woman…in honesty is stronger than me. It would be another story if we were to talk just about swordsmanship, but in overall strength, I’d be pushed back. Yet you really still won?”


Taking my lead, Gazel spoke honestly as well. There was no way the Hero King Gazel would actually fight with Hinata. Therefore, he probably had a covert agent gather information and analyze her strength and concluded that he would be at a disadvantage.


He must have been genuinely shocked that I had beaten someone of that caliber.


“Luck also played a role in it. Truthfully, Hinata was even stronger than Demon Lord Clayman, who I had beaten. I believe the reason I was able to win was mostly because of my Skills.”


Honestly, if it wasn’t for Raphael-sensei I would have lost.


Although Raphael-sensei was also one of my Skills, it was really the one that was managing all my strength. If Raphael had not utilized the strength even I didn't know I had, my loss to Hinata would’ve been inevitable.


“Hmph, luck is still part of your skill. Although I’m happy for your progress it feels bitter that you accepted your defeat so easily.


“Even if you say that… My real skills still can’t beat Hakurou.”


“You sure are a weird guy. Whatever your real abilities are, aren’t your Skills still part of your skillset?” King Gazel uttered with a dumbfounded look, but I was being honest. If it wasn’t for Raphael-sensei I would probably just be at Gobta’s level.


Of course, I would never actually tell this to anyone.


“Alright, fine. That’s that, but what are you planning this time?” he started to ask while changing his dumbfounded expression to a more serious one.


This was probably the main topic. Nevertheless, even if he asked what I was thinking, I couldn’t…


“What do you mean?”


I couldn’t understand at all what Gazel was trying to say.


“What do you mean…that’s not it! The Western Saints Church is trying to formally open a window for future negotiations with our Dwargon. Why did the Western Saints Church, who viewed us as something akin to monsters, change their doctrines now? This sudden change reeks of your doing!!”


Ah!


Hearing Gazel getting angry at me, I remembered my talk with Hinata and her crew. Looking back, I remembered advising them that bringing King Gazel into this would probably be a good idea.


The Dwarven Kingdom was a nation that had stayed neutral for over a thousand years. Because of its remarkably high credibility, even the Western Saints Church’s most devout believers probably didn’t regard dwarves as monsters. And even if some did, it was probably a really small minority.


The reason I suggested it to Hinata was that I believed this, but I seemed to have forgotten to get King Gazel’s approval of it. It's probably more accurate to say that I didn’t seek his approval because I didn’t think I needed to.


I didn’t reckon Gazel would get this mad.


Hinata probably won’t say that it was my idea, so I’ll just feign ignorance.


“Hey, hey. I have no idea what you are saying. W-well, I think we had a spark of friendship with Hinata after fighting for real with her. And because of that, we made up, and we decided to get along. So, maybe they wanted to get along with not only us but also wished to formally establish a friendly relationship with Gazel’s side too?


“—Ho?”


Gazel looked at me suspiciously. I honestly thought that I should be in slime form for situations like this. I could feel cold sweat dripping everywhere, despite being unable to.




<<Notice. Individual Gazel Dwargo is reading your mental state with ‘Dictator’. It was left alone because there was no hostility or harm, but do you want to interrupt it? YES/NO>>


YES! Of course YES!!


Please tell me something as important as that right away Raphael-sensei—!!


I understood now. I had thought about it a few times before, but Gazel could really read people’s minds. No wonder I felt like he was looking through me since the first time we met. Like the way he seemed to have expected my speech, and the time he accurately predicted my attacks during our battle; it all made sense if he could read minds.


It must have realized ‘Mind Read’ being invoked ever since Great Sage’s evolution to Raphael. I was glad that it didn’t seem like an ability that’s always active, but I wonder how much of my mind he read in that short moment just now…




I snuck a glance at Gazel; he smirked as veins throbbed on his forehead.


“Ha, haha, so you figured out my ‘Mind Read’, huh. I will praise you for that, but interrupting that means you have something to hide, now doesn’t it?”


“N-no no. I don’t think that’s it.


“You dummy! I caught a quick peek of you thinking that it would be a good idea to bring me into this!”


Bad deeds are not easy to commit.


Because of how furious Gazel was, I had no choice but to spill the beans on every detail of my conversation with Hinata. And then—


“So that’s it. The ones to claim to support Human supremacy were the ‘Seven Celestial Sages’…”


“Right. So Hinata’s side is considering purging everyone who was under the influence of the ‘Seven Celestial Sages’. With them gone, they would probably think that all power is under Hinata’s authority.”


I hid Ruminas’s identity and only explained the internal situation of the Western Saints Church and Holy Empire Ruberios to Gazel.


He nodded and took a while to contemplate.


“—That does make sense. Then it would be foolish to turn down the offer.”


And so, his decision, in the end, was to accept Hinata’s—the Western Saints Church’s—proposal.


“I knew you would say that.”


“Shut up, you even acted on your own without permission… Well, fine. Since we’re at a festival and all, we shall end our boring discussion here. You did prepare the best seat for me, right? You should do your best to entertain me.”


King Gazel who, after venting all of his anger before me, was now saying we should stop the boring talk. You’re only saying that because you’re satisfied—is what I thought, but I was not stupid enough to actually say that. I was informed that Hinata’s side had also participated in the Opening Festival, so we determined to discuss this in detail after meeting each other in person.


Gazel similarly indicated a need to discuss things among his subordinates that followed along.


I sent Gazel off after promising him that I would arrange a meeting after the festival.




***




It was the morning three days after Diablo’s return.


Youmu’s party arrived.


He happened to come at a good time, seeing as tonight was the eve of the celebration and starting tomorrow, after the long wait, would be the start of the Opening Festival.


We were in the usual conference room, in front of me were Youmu and several of his subordinates lined up.


“Your Honor, it’s been a while! As promised, I have become a king.”


Although his outfit had changed to something fancy, his personality had not. With a brusque attitude and a grin, he looked straight at me.


I returned his gaze with a smile.


“Clothes truly do make the man, Youmu-kun. I will be in your care from now on as well.”


“Haha! That’s my line. Making a person such as me a king, I will serve you well until the end. We are all prepared to join in on your ambitions. I’m not the type to half-ass things,” Youmu said with a smile.




As promised, Youmu had become a great king. Thanks to Diablo putting in the hard work behind the scenes, the groundwork seemed to have been firmly established.


And so Farmus Kingdom’s long history had come to an end. Now giving rise to a new nation with Hero Youmu as the king. They decided to call the new kingdom “Farmenas”, with the meaning being a country that was born while experiencing danger. At the same time, Youmu, who was the founding king, decided to call himself Youmu Famenas.


The two majins beside Youmu—Myuran and Grucius—were also with him. As long as these two guardian escorts were with Youmu, he would be safe.


Although Myuran wasn’t a mere guardian escort.


“Your Majesty Rimuru, I apologize for the late greeting. I am the wife of the King of Famenas, Youmu, Myuran Famenas. I will be in your care.”


Seeming to have noticed my attention switching to her, Myuran gave a curtsy and offered me a polite greeting. Her beauty could outshine any other noble lady.


“Myuran displays the striking presence of a queen.”


“Right? That’s because unlike me, Myuran has refinement.”


As I was complimenting Myuran, Youmu joined in with a proud expression.


“I may look like this, but I do have experience. Because Clayman was at least a man of manners—”


Thanks to what you may call his interest in aristocracy, Clayman had developed a sophisticated taste for the finer things. He would decorate his castle with high-quality furniture and artworks, so he was probably just as meticulous with the education of his subordinates.


And like that, help came from a place we least expected it.


“So, it’s good to have experience in anything. I’m also having difficulty learning proper mannerisms. Not long ago I was having a hard time being set up as a decoration while greeting the different monsters of Jura Great Forest.”


“Ah, I can understand. The noble's never-ending requests for an audience give me a headache, not to mention the idiots stirring up fights in an attempt to gain some power. Although those problems are often solved by that old man—Chief Sorcerer Razen.”


Speaking of which, it didn’t seem like he would be coming. They said he was busy since things within the country weren’t stable yet. I thought maybe he would betray us—but thinking about it, he was under the effect of Diablo’s ‘Tempter’. So my worries were unfounded.


Even the retired king decided to hide his identity and become an advisor. While helping Youmu, who lacked knowledge and finesse, he had been a lot of help on the political side of things.


Then there was the other majin, that being Grucius.


“And I heard you became the chief of knights?”


“That is right, Rimuru-sama. I declined, but this guy just won't quit once he makes up his mind…”


It seemed that Youmu forced the position onto Grucius. Looking at his skills alone, he didn’t lack the talent to fit in this position, so the others didn’t complain. They couldn’t let a talent like that go to waste by just letting him play around, so they requested him to be the chief of knights of the newly founded Famenas Kingdom.


However, Grucius had a bitter expression. I advised him that following his heart would be the right thing to do. Although Grucius thought that too, he couldn’t decline Myuran’s request.


After receiving her personal request he couldn’t refuse, Grucius was formally appointed as chief of knights.


Are you okay with that, Grucius? I thought, but he didn’t seem to hate it, so I wasn’t in the position to make it an issue.


“I still believe I’m a subject of Karion-sama, but I plan to look after this idiot for a while.”


“Shut up—, you’re the stupid one!”


Nothing seemed to have changed between these two.


Myuran just looked at them dumbfounded.


Seeing this scene made me feel nostalgic. Until now it was a pattern that I had experienced over and over, but this time we had an unexpected intruder.


“Really! His Majesty Youmu and Chief Grucius…this is an act that is of discourtesy to Demon LordRimuru!” shouted a boy who looked like he was still in elementary school. He was a handsome, nerdy looking boy.


“Edgar! You’re so stiff.”


“Haha, what of it. If the people see how quick-witted I am, everyone will realize that I'm most qualified to be the next successor to the throne.”


“Chief Grucius! Things will get complicated if you make such jokes. Since I’m working hard as an attendant for his Majesty to be a great king!”


Edgar spoke with his face flushing red with anger. Surprisingly, I was told that he was the son of the former king, Edmalis. Although Edgar was only ten, he seemed very trustworthy. Seeing him already accustomed to pointing things out like that, he was probably going through a lot, despite being a wee lad. Dealing with a sloppy adult must be a strenuous job.


Youmu and Grucius may complain a lot, but they seemed to actually adore Edgar all the while.


Although I would have liked to continue this heartwarming conversation, we had to move on. Youmu’s party must’ve been exhausted from the long travels and other high-status people were coming here for the eve of the festival.


After agreeing to have a drink with Youmu at our leisure later, I ended our conversation.


“Putting that aside, I have a gift for Youmu-kun for keeping your promise. Diablo—”


“Yes, Rimuru-sama. Were you looking for this?”


Diablo apparently noticed even without me finishing. He brought up a certificate that he had prepared in advance. I handed it over to Youmu.


“Your Honor, this is…?”


Youmu wasn’t used to reading yet, so he handed it over to his attendant, Edgar.


The look in his eyes changed after examining it.


“I-I shall void the remaining balance for the reparations. Is that what you’re saying?!”


“That’s right, now with Youmu as king, they serve no further need.”


Actually, we already got 1,500 star gold coins. 10,000 star gold coins was an excessive amount, and since I had already achieved my goal, I did not need it anymore.


“Haha, I don’t quite get it but that’s what he says, Edgar,” Youmu beamed at the wide-eyed Edgar.


Although Youmu didn’t seem to understand, it looks like Edgar grasped the ramifications.


I hoped Youmu’s reputation would improve with this.


Thus, Youmu was heralded as a successful man due to getting the reparations forgiven by me—a demon lord.




My greetings with Youmu’s party wrapped up.


Taking the baffled Edgar, Youmu left the scene.




***




As the afternoon rolled around, my busy schedule became a bit more relaxed.


The stream of visitors kept pouring in, but in order to prepare for the evening’s Opening Festival, we didn’t have time for talks. There were a lot of people requesting an audience, but I decided to schedule them for a meeting after the festival.


And so, after barely getting any time off, I went to Ingracia Kingdom to meet Yuuki as promised. On the way there I was going to visit the academy and bring the kids too. Since it was a festival, I thought that it would be nice for them to have some fun as well.




The nostalgic scenery of Ingracia’s streets.


It had only been a few months, but a smile crept across my face as I remembered my time living here.


I headed for the headquarters of the Freedom Association without running into any trouble. Through modern-looking automatic glass doors, I stepped into a temperature-controlled room. At that moment, several sharp looks focused on me.


This was a place that only people who were rank B or above could enter, so naturally, only skilled people were around. Satisfied with the place not looking any different from before, I slowly strolled around.


I noticed that some people were trying to size me up. Seeing that they were gathered at the headquarters this early in the morning, there might’ve been a big job they were preparing for.


“—Who is that?”


“It’s not a face I know. A newcomer? Do you know?”


“No, I don’t know anyone that beautiful.”


Hearing whispers like that made me feel a little uncomfortable.


To forget me in less than a year—at first, I was a little peeved, but then it hit me. I had forgotten that I wasn’t wearing a mask. Now being able to completely control my aura, I confidently went in with a bare face thinking that I didn’t need to wear it anymore.


I had considered disguising myself, but it was already too late. Luckily, my clothes were those that I often wore as an adventurer, so if I acted confidently, no one would realize that I was a demon lord.


After all, the demon lord attire for the audience was masterfully handcrafted by Shuna. It was impossibly luxurious. The decorations were fancy, and it was a beautiful product of the highest quality. The headdress was also exquisitely decorated, making me look like a completely different person.


In this world, the ability to take pictures has yet to become commonplace, so my face shouldn’t be widely known yet… it’ll probably be okay not to worry about it. I decided to just roll with this look.


Someone blocked my way as I was confidently striding towards the reception desk.


I felt like something like this had happened before.


“Wait, I don’t know from which countryside you earned that B rank, but walking by without greeting your seniors is something unacceptable—hey, you. Don’t you know it’s the etiquette for a junior to reveal his name first?”


Déjà vu—that was it, I remembered now.


This guy was an acquaintance of Kabal. Seeing as how they complained about greeting seniors last time as well, he looked like the type who put great emphasis on and valued the relationship between juniors and seniors in a sportsman kind of way.


“You, if I remember correctly, your name is Grasse? You seem to always be in the headquarters, do you have a lot of free time?”


“Huh? You know my name? That means—”


“I’m Rimuru. I was with Kabal’s party, remember?” I cut Grasse off and introduced myself.


Putting that aside, what was up with Grasse? I did take off my mask, but my voice stayed the same, didn’t it? Why don’t you recognize me…


“What!? Ri-Rimuru-san?”


“Yes. You, although it’s my first time showing you my face, you should be able to recognize me from my voice.”


“Uh, um, I mean…huh? I think I remember you being a bit shorter back then?


As I revealed that my name was Rimuru, Grasse quickly became confused. My rank was way higher than Grasse’s, so if we were to base it on his standard, I was his superior.


Fundamentally, adventurers are all about strength, making the relationships between seniors and juniors not nearly as important to most. When I first started out, I did occasionally show my respect to those I owed a favor, but I didn’t even owe any favors to this guy, so no reason to act as such. It would be another story if we took a job together, but among adventurers your rank was everything.


“I grew.”


Actually, I evolved, not grew, but I didn’t really have to be honest about that. I laced my tone with a hint of irritation, thankfully Grasse took the hint.


“S-so that’s it. Putting that aside, Rimuru-san, you’re gorgeous! Now that you’ve grown you must be invincible! I’m touched to actually see a face this gorgeous in person!”


Grasse straightened his posture like Kabal’s party did and started dumping vapid flattery on me. Although he was weaselly, he was someone you just couldn’t hate.


“Alright, alright. More importantly, you seem to always be here, is it okay for you to slack off?”


“Hehe, please don’t say that. Actually, this is one of the jobs I took; I train newcomers here. As you might know, there are different levels of strength within the B rank, so it’s my job to teach those newcomers that act up. Those guys are in the same position, but since we don’t have anything to do right now, we were just resting while on standby at the headquarters,” Grasse said while pointing at the men who were looking at me, to which they promptly stood up and greeted me.


“I can’t believe it was actually Rimuru, someone of B+ rank, I apologize for not recognizing you,” the man, who seems to be the representative, said with everyone nodding in agreement.


“I don’t believe I changed much…”


“No, No, No, No, please don’t say that, the only thing that we could recognize are your clothes.”


“Yes, he’s right. That face is almost like a cheat. It goes well beyond merely catching someone’s eye…”


Hmm, is that so?


“Alright, will wearing the mask suffice?”


It was a hassle to go over this every time, so even if it was a bit of a bother, I didn’t think I had a choice. After I secretly made a mask within my ‘Stomach’, I put it on my face. The adventurers’ moods deflated, their eyes filled with disappointment.


I don’t know if that’s really something to make a fuss about, but it was over.


“Then I’ll excuse myself. Don’t be too hard on the newcomers.”


After leaving those words, I headed for the reception desk.




I gave my name at the reception desk and requested to meet Yuuki. Word apparently got through and the man at the reception desk directed me to Yuuki immediately.


“Oh, Rimuru-san. Long time no see! You seem to have gone through a lot of difficult experiences since the last time?”


“It’s not something you can just sum up as being difficult. Getting a surprise attack from Hinata, Farmus’s army marching down on us, I even got summoned by the demon lords… It’s been a never-ending barrage of torment for me. Just saying ‘that it was difficult’ doesn’t even begin to describe the misery, wouldn’t you agree?”


“Haha, even after all that, coming out unscathed feels just like you, Rimuru-san,” Yuuki responded playfully, but it was true that those things were actually awfully grueling to deal with. Yuuki probably understood this too. Although he was smiling cheerfully his voice did contain a touch of compassion.


“In short, since I have made up with Hinata, I can say that it all turned out well in the end.”


“That seems to be the case. Occasionally meeting with Hinata to exchange information gave me the chance to speak well about you from time to time. Regrettably, Hinata does seem like the type who is loyal to a fault.”


“Ah, I know what you mean. She doesn’t listen at all to what others say.”


“You’re right. She’s the type that only believes what she has seen and heard with her own eyes and ears. That personality of hers has put me through quite a lot over the years…”


That we could agree on, launching into a delightful conversation.


Yeah. There were moments when I had no clue what Hinata was thinking. I could only imagine the hard times Yuuki must’ve had.


“Well, but you’re the only one I can talk about this with, Rimuru-san.”


Hinata’s circle of believers was vast, allowing even the slightest, casual slander to trickle back into her ears, or so they say. In the first place, disparaging people wasn’t something you should often do. Therefore, I thought that I should be careful as well.


“Well that’s that, so what do you think? You don’t have to push it if you’re busy, but if two or three days is okay, wouldn’t you like to participate in the festival?”


“Heh, I should go, of course. I’ve been desperately finishing my work just to attend, you know? And, not to worry, I have a trustworthy subordinate to take care of my work while I’m absent. Wait a moment.”


After I brought up the real purpose of my visit today, asking if he’s attending the Opening Festival, Yuuki left those words and stood up, then seemingly calling someone, he left the room.


I took a sip of the tea he had left me, and not much time had passed before Yuuki returned with a woman in tow.


“I’ll introduce her to you. Her name is Kagali and she has taken the job of the Freedom Association’s deputy grandmaster,” he said, introducing me to that woman—Kagali-san. Her appearance was one of beauty and elegance, clothed in what resembled a suit with ornate designs unique to this world. It suited her perfectly. She had navy-blue eyes and blonde hair tied in a bun, but most remarkable were her long, pointed ears. Her species was undoubtedly elven in nature.


“Nice to meet you, Rimuru Tempest. No, Demon LordRimuru-sama. My name is Kagali. It’s an honor to meet you.”


“Happy to meet you. This is my second time here, but it seems we weren’t able to meet the last time?”


I had seen the woman who served the tea, but it was my first time seeing someone called Kagali. If it’s someone great enough to be the deputy, I wish he would have introduced me to her earlier—but there was a reason for that.





“Haha, there wasn’t much I could do about that; I just recently returned. My lifelong passion has been the exploration of ruins, and a few days ago we discovered the world’s largest ancient ruins, ‘Soma’.”




Kagali-san was at the top of her field in the exploration sector. Before Yuuki established the Freedom Association, she was said to have been captivated by ruins, exploring them day and night. Yet because she didn’t participate in an adventurer’s group, which was the core feature of the Freedom Association, her name was not well known. Regardless, her skills were undoubtedly exceptional, catching Yuuki’s attention, who then recruited her.


Fighting wasn’t the only purpose of the Freedom Association—a sentiment Yuuki believed in as well, hence the appointment of Kagali-san, an expert archeologist, to the honorable position of deputy. And with Yuuki’s support, it was said that Kagali-san had made a breakthrough achievement this time. That was the surprising discovery of the ancient ruins called “Soma”.


With this outstanding feat under her belt, Kagali-san’s reputation was revised in the public eye. Even those who were convinced that she had been afforded a high position solely through her personal connections with Yuuki now acknowledged and revered her as the deputy grandmaster.




“We discovered the ruins, but we still have a lot left to explore. We were only able to make a full map of the top floor; many of its riddles remain yet to be solved.”


“But that’s the job of the exploration adventurers. If they have Kagali’s map, even they could explore without problems.”


Instead of leaving it all to one accomplished exploration adventurer, it seemed like they were mobilizing people to start excavating. Since it would also help nurture young rookies, I think it would be killing two birds with one stone.


And so Kagali-san took up the job of training exploration adventurers of at least rank B at the Ingracia Freedom Association headquarters.


The pay was quite high, and apparently, some of the income earned from selling the things found in the ancient ruins went straight into her pockets. Considering that the transactions were all made through the guild, the profits they reaped couldn’t be underestimated.


“I see. Ruins seem to be quite profitable.”


“That’s right. Although in my case I’m not in it for the money, it’s more of a hobby. Although, occasionally, I put the things I found up for auction to top off the activity funds.”


As expected, exploring ruins was expensive, she seemed to have had a hard time.


Yes, yes, talking about ruins…


“I have something I want to ask, who owns the ruins? Does the country they are in manage it?”


“Uh-um, that’s a bit complicated. Take, for instance, the topic of our conversation, the ancient ruins of ‘Soma’; they are under the administration of the Freedom Association. That’s because its location is a bit of a gray area, found in the region far west of the Western Nations in the desert known as ‘Barren Lands’.”


“Strictly speaking, the ‘Barren Lands’ is close to Demon LordDagruel’s territory, causing everyone to fear it and dissuading any attempts to rule it. So, no one currently claims ownership of the ruins found there.”


“Is that so… Then, as expected, it is necessary to carefully consider how to manage such a place…”


“Huh? Is there something that’s bothering you, Rimuru-san?” Yuuki asked, seemingly bothered by my reaction.




The thing on my mind was, of course, the ruins under Clayman’s castle. Likely magical items and other things were sleeping in that place, so exploring it would, by my estimation, earn us some hefty profits.


But there was something that bothered me. It was the question of rightful ownership surrounding the findings from the ruins. Another thing that bothered me was the potential of attracting unsavory adventurers in it only for the money or even distasteful outlaws.


Although the proposal of digging up treasure in ancient ruins was enticing, we ought to consider their historical value as well. Investigating them can tell us a lot about how the ancient people lived back then. The world of ancient civilizations captures a certain sense of fascination. If we act too hastily, we will run the risk of destroying valuable information. That was my biggest concern.


The ruins weren’t something I intended to hide from them, so I decided to discuss the matter with Yuuki and Kagali-san. It seems like I came at just the right time to meet an exploration specialist.




“The truth is, I found ruins in Clayman’s base.”


“What? Is that true?!”


The moment I said that, Kagali-san shot a sharp stare at me, radiating an incredibly intense force that made my skin crawl. I was somewhat taken aback but decided to continue my explanation.


“Clayman had accumulated an immense fortune, and he also handed weapons and shields with magic effects to his subordinates. So I was wondering if he was making use of the things he found in those ruins, but—”


“—But?”


After hesitating a bit, I let out my thoughts.


“It may be rude to say this to people who make a living with ruin exploration, but I refuse to tear apart the ruins merely for a chance of treasure. What kind of life and culture did the residents have and what ultimately lead to their downfall—these are the things I want to find out. Even if it’s just to make meaningful use of the past, I think we should show our respect to the ancient people.”


Well, those were probably just my overly emotional thoughts. It’s not that I didn’t have an interest in treasures, but I believed there to be something more important. And that’s why I ordered for the ruins to be sealed for now.


“Hmm, surprisingly, you’re quite the romanticist,Rimuru-san…”


“‘Surprisingly’, what do you mean? I’m a romanticist through and through.”


“Haha. hearing that, I guess you’re right. If it weren’t for your romantic spirit, you wouldn’t have thought of making a country of monsters,” Yuuki said with a smile of agreement.


As for Kagali, she was nodding while deep in thought. The murderous look in her eyes had long subsided, now shining with the light of reason.


“I wonder… It’s something I haven’t thought of, but I can understand. I would also like to prevent wanton destruction of the ruins. Therefore, I’m planning to properly educate the research group before dispatching them to Soma.”


My sentiment—romanticism for the ancient times—didn’t get across, but I think she at least understood that the ruins needed to be protected.


She’s a well-qualified person, so maybe I should ask her to explore the ruins.


Then that still leaves me with the question…


“In regard to Clayman’s territory, it is currently under my sole authority. Later on, it will be merged with Milim’s territory, but right now we’re the ones who are managing it, after all, we're the ones who defeated Clayman. I think even that guy took good care of the ruins, we wouldn’t want to be the ones to ruin it, right? That’s why I thought we should get Milim on board with this and have her take good care of the ruins.”


“Huh-hmm, so Rimuru-san won’t be the one to continue managing it?”


“I think that would be difficult. It’s adjacent to the Eastern Empire, making considerations for the perimeter defense a hassle—something needlessly tedious. We can’t spare the military forces to fortify that area in the first place.”




Clayman’s territory was the buffer zone with the Eastern Empire. There you could find a road called “Death’s Valley” winding through jagged mountains. It was a rough, unfastened road that, if you managed to pass, would allow you to travel between Clayman’s territory and the Empire. Despite this treacherous road being laden with monsters, traces of Clayman’s subordinates using the road had been found. Therefore, the Empire was possibly in collaboration with Clayman and might mobilize their forces. We would have to remain vigilant.


Even if we wanted to dispatch an army there, we were too short on numbers. Managing the Jura Great Forest on its own was already an arduous task, and so if I could leave Clayman’s territory in Milim’s hands, it would be up to her alone, if or when the Empire decided to make a move.




“Then, does it mean that we need Demon Lord Milim’s permission to explore the ruins?”


“That would be the case.”


“Is that so… You’ve intrigued me with those ruins, can’t we somehow take a look?”


“I doubt she would turn us down if we asked, but she would, in all likelihood, ask to come along.”


“That would be…”


She seemed hesitant to go exploring together with Milim, which came as no surprise, considering that that demon lord was infamous for causing disasters. Kagali already looked dejected—but it’s too early to give up. Milim is gonna tag along, that’s for sure, but if I were to accompany them, it might be okay.


“I intended to investigate them sooner or later anyway, and I’d feel reassured if a pro like Kagali were to come along. This too might be fate, so I would like to formally request an investigation from the Freedom Association, with remuneration, what do you think?”


“In other words, the rights to the things found in the ruins will belong to Rimuru-san?”


“No, that needs to be discussed. I have my own museum, leading me to be more interested in displaying things there than digging. First, it’s part of Milim’s territory, we have to discuss it with her. I think it would be difficult to decide now.”


“I see. Regardless, you'll still be doing your own investigations, correct?”


“That’s it!”


“So, I'd be happy to accept your offer if I didn't have to worry about the funding. If you could handle negotiations with Demon Lord Milim on our behalf, I’d be more than willing to accept the offer.”


Kagali-san struck me as the type that is interested in scientific research, rather than someone who’s just in it for the money. If that was so, then there was no problem. I would take on the job of convincing Milim and leave the organization of the investigation team to Kagali-san.


“Can I entrust this to you?”


“Yes! Please leave that request to our Freedom Association!”


“I’m looking forward to it. Then along with taking care of things while Yuuki-sama is out, I will finish up the preparation for the exploration.”


That was the situation. The conversation had completely derailed at this point. The whole point of me being there in the first place was to invite Yuuki.


“Then I’ll let you handle everything, Kagali. I’m sorry that you can’t enjoy the festival with us.”


“Hahaha, it’s alright. Then, Yuuki-sama, please have a great time.


“Yup, I’ll leave the rest to you!”


After our little greeting, Yuuki and I left the Association headquarters.


Things were on the up-and-up for the exploration of the ruins, as we received a helping hand from a place we never expected it. Previously, I was having a hard time deciding who to take along, but I felt reassured now that a pro was taking part. I was eagerly looking forward to checking out the ruins after we wrapped up the Opening Festival and took a short break. Who knows, maybe it could be reference material for the underground labyrinth. There'll be a lot for me to study.


I thought about these things while taking Yuuki to our next destination.




***




I removed my mask as I was leaving the Association’s headquarters. Since its ability to hide my youki had become meaningless now, I didn’t have to wear it unless I was in a place where someone was likely to bother me.


Yuuki came over to speak to me, with a giant bag in tow. He must have prepared in advance, like I told him to in the letter I had sent. The ridiculous size of that bag suggested that he intended to stay for a couple of days.


“You’re bringing those kids to the festival too, right?”


“Yep. Since I reconciled with Hinata, there’s no one openly hostile to us. There might be some small incidents here and there, but when it comes to security, I’m well prepared.”


Since we’re inviting prominent figures from each country, we’re especially focused on that part. Therefore, inviting those five kids to our country’s festival won’t be an issue.


“Okay, then I will allow it,” Yuuki nodded, then continued with a smile, “they’ve been studying and behaving well lately, so I think it’s okay to give them a breather.”


We didn’t send a letter to let the kids know in advance, meaning this would be a total surprise to them. I kept quiet about it until I could be sure that it was okay. I hoped they would understand that part. Normally with things like this, you would need to get the person’s consent first, but, depending on the situation, inviting the kids could be postponed. I believed that it would be better than getting them all excited only to let them down.




A short walk later, the familiar school building came into view. The imposing structure was the pride of Ingracia, a training institution for association members—the Freedom Academy.


After a brief exchange with the guard, he immediately conveyed the message inside. Yuuki’s presence expedited the process immensely, he was the chairman after all, and the person to guide us soon arrived.


After greeting the principal, we headed for the classroom.


“Hey. Have you kids been well—” Before I could finish, Alice came charging like a bullet, ramming me squarely in the stomach.


“You’re late, sensei!”


How could it be? It didn’t really feel like it had been that long, so maybe it’s because I’m an adult? Kids have a different sense of time; they must’ve felt lonely.


“Yeah! You promised to come to play often!”


“Yes, Gale is right. I was worried that you had forgotten all about us.”


“But now you’re here, we’re so happy, sensei!”


Gale, Kenya, Ryota, these three gathered around me had big smiles on their faces, in spite of their complaints.


And lastly, Chloe as well, “Welcome, sensei!”


She came running and hugged me with a smile.


“You’re still as popular as ever, I’m envious,” Yuuki observed while looking at the children.


“Ah, big bro Yuuki is here too!”


“Big bro Yuuki, you’re going to battle me today too, right?”


“Me too!”


“That’s a good idea. I’ve been able to get a good grip of the spirit’s power recently.”


As the kids recognized Yuuki, their happiness shot through the roof. Kenya challenged him, while Gale and Ryota seemed to have the same in mind. Now that they could properly control their powers, they seemed to really want to try out their skills.


However, that’s not what today was going to be about.


“Ah-haha, it’ll take another hundred years before you get a shot at beating me!” Yuuki teased. “I can be your opponent, but not today.”


“Awwww, why?” Kenya grumbled, at which point I decided to jump into the conversation, “It’s a shame, but we don’t have time today.”


“What are you saying?” Chloe asked as her eyes widened in excitement.


I looked her straight in the eyes and answered, “I’m inviting the five of you to my country. There is a festival tomorrow. But if you don’t really want to go—”


“Hurry up, let’s get ready!”


“Alright, Ken-chan!”


“Wooow! Tell us important stuff like that sooner—!!”


“That’s right, Rimuru-sensei! You’re telling us too suddenly!!”


“Ah, but I’m still excited!!”


The kids darted off without letting me finish. They had all agreed to go in a heartbeat.


“Just pack up a change of clothes!” I shouted after them, but there was no response.


They disappeared in a gust of excitement.


The teacher left standing in the classroom had observed our interaction with a surprised expression. And once the kids disappeared, he let out a sigh of defeat.


“Ah, how amazing. They never treated me with such affection…”


“Ahaha, you’re doing well. It’s gotten a little bit better now, but there are no other teachers who can handle those kids.”


“No, it’s nothing. If you don’t show your skill, they won’t take your lead. It’s, admittedly, a pretty reasonable demand. Embarrassingly enough to say, even I could lose if I were careless. The strength of those kids is the real deal. Anyway—” told me a teacher I was unfamiliar with, someone they likely hired as my replacement back then.


“Ah, I’ve yet to introduce myself. I am the kids’ former advisor, Rimuru. I apologize for interrupting the class.”


“Ah, you really are Rimuru-sensei. I heard a lot about you from the kids, so I guessed it was you. My name is Clouse. I was employed at this academy as your replacement. Don’t worry about the class; I was informed in advance by the chairman that the class could be on break for a while,” Clouse-sensei said with a defeated smile.


According to Yuuki, Clouse-san was an A- rank adventurer of the subjugation division. At his ripe old age of 50 he was slowly preparing for retirement.


“Wait a minute? If they’ve gotten so far as rivaling you, then just how much stronger have those little rascals gotten?”


“What are you saying? They are going around, proudly proclaiming that they were taught by none other than you.”


“Yeah, that’s right. Honestly, if I were ever to get foolishly careless, even I would lose to them,” came the admission from Yuuki.


If he said so too, it’s gotta be true.


No, no, it’s really amazing that they were able to grow this much in such a short amount of time, I marveled, deeply impressed, when Clouse set his gaze on Yuuki and me with a determined look.


“Yuuki-sama, I have a request.”


“Yes? What is it?”


“I would like to ask Rimuru-sama to listen as well, as this is about the kids—before long, they will surpass me in strength if this carries on. We’ve seen this happen time and again; If the kids become complacent, it’ll be to their detriment. We need an adult that can be a mountain for them to climb.”


“What do you mean?”


“Elementary, Yuuki-sama. Those kids have much room to improve. We need someone who would teach them how to fight, so that they won’t be satisfied with merely beating me.”


I wonder.


Clouse-san was worrying for them like they were his own kids. Each of them housed a greater spirit of their own, allowing them to borrow that power to neutralize the energy they were imbued with on their travel through worlds as an “Otherworlder”. As they grow older, they would eventually gain the ability to control it on their own, opening the path for them to use the excess energy in fights, allowing even things like ‘Spirit Magic’ to be wielded with ease. That way, they could become powerful spirit-wielder like Shizu-san.


Moreover, a Spirit of Light deemed Kenya to be in possession of the qualifications to become a ‘True Hero’, so under the guidance of a great teacher, acquiring tremendous strength could be within his grasp.


Like Clouse-san said, we needed to find a great teacher. But that raised the question—


“That’s it. We need to find someone to be a good teacher for those kids, right? But if it’s someone stronger than Clouse, he would need to be an active A rank. Having a first-class adventurer like that take on the role of a teacher is a bit of a stretch…”


That’s the problem.


Once you retire from the adventurer lifestyle, then accepting a stable job in education makes sense. But if you’re an active adventurer, it would be in your best financial interests to prioritize doing more high ranked jobs, rather than looking after kids. And even from the Freedom Association’s perspective, it would only be right for them to have the great and talented people prioritize protecting the public.


“Precisely. Assuming at least Rank A, I can’t think of anyone who would accept the job of a teacher. If it’s academic studies or various adventuring skills I could teach them, but alas…” Clouse let out a sigh.


In spite of him being the one who suggested it, he fully understood that it was a difficult task. That must be the case. Asking adventurers to be teachers would be difficult. Then… Thinking along those lines I gave a suggestion, “Then how about we do this? I am planning to build a school in our country. We have plenty of B ranks and our ‘Sword Master’ Hakurou is the instructor. Based purely on swordsmanship, he still outpaces me comfortably, he could teach them—”


If we were to focus solely on swordsmanship, it’d be okay to leave it to Hakurou. But I wanted to teach lots of other stuff besides that.


“That’s amazing! Then can we entrust the kids to Rimuru-san’s country?”


“That’s one option. But if we were to do that, it would be hard for the kids to learn about human society.”


Living among humans teaches one the common sense required to get along in their society. If we were to deprive them of this opportunity, I was afraid that they might grow up with a lack of communication skills.


Over the course of time, the number of adventurers would increase, and their kids would probably go to schools. But that was still a future awaiting us several years from now. Until then, they would be learning in an environment without any other human children, and I thought that that could pose a bit of a problem.


“Ahh, because there are only monsters and no human children.”


“I see. That could be a problem…”


Yuuki and Clouse-san ostensibly shared my apprehension and nodded in agreement.


I was glad to be on the same page with them.


But it was too early to relax. There was one last thing weighing on me.


“Well, there is the option of leaving only the skill training to us. We can utilize teleportation magic after all, conveniently making it possible to take care of them a few times a week. But more importantly, I think the kids need to deepen their understanding of the spirits.”


At this point it wasn’t an issue yet, but this also wasn’t a matter we could just accept and forget. To protect the lives of the children, each of them had a spirit in their bodies. To use that power properly, I thought it necessary to know more about the spirits.


And that was something I could not teach. Saying this might be too obvious, but my knowledge is something I learned through experiencing it myself. Like trying to explain how to breathe, my disposition would make it prohibitively difficult to explain. You could easily expound the nature of spirits, yet doing so will never capture the essence.


That’s when Hinata and the Holy Knight’s combat tactics came to mind—one of them the technique of fusing spiritual magic with a sword. Reaching those depths requires a similarly deep understanding of spirits.


If we could teach that to the children…


“If we’re talking about spirits, then the Holy Knights are unmatched. Should I ask Hinata?”


“Uh-um, I thought about that as well, but isn’t Hinata too scary?”


“Ah, yes. That is true…”


“The kids probably won’t underestimate her, though I worry that she might be too strict with them…”


“I cannot deny what you said,” Yuuki admitted, as both of us looked at each other and sighed. We decided to put this on hold for now.




I could see the kids running towards us with their luggage.


Shifting gears, attending a festival was a rare occasion. Moving forward, we would have a fun time, it’d be a shame to spoil it with these tiresome matters. For now we’d leave it to Hakurou and think about what would follow later on.


We’re really just sweeping our problems under the rug, but I’m sure it’ll probably work itself out somehow.


As usual, I decided to take it lightly and stopped worrying about it then and there.




***




After we headed out through the kingdom of Ingracia’s gates, I opened a ‘Teleportation Gate’ in a secluded place, away from prying eyes. Since this wasn’t magic, it could be cast without the use of a magic circle. Yuuki looked at me surprised, but the kids were already used to it.


“That’s so easy for you, sensei, you should come visit us more often!” was the complaint I ended up hearing from Kenya. He had a point, so I ended up apologizing. I struggled to find the time among the many things vying for my attention, I couldn’t guarantee their safety either, but that didn’t need to be mentioned. There’s no reason to bring up trivialities that just make the kids feel uncomfortable. So I just brushed it off and promised to visit more often.


After that, I guided Yuuki and the children to the inn that I was very proud of.


Separate from the section housing the kings and nobles of each country, this was a private sector for the executives to stay in.


After seeing Yuuki off to his room, I turned to look at the kids.


“I’m sorry but I have things left to do. I think I can only meet you at night.”


“ “ “Huuuh—?!” ” ” the kids cried out in dissatisfaction.


“Hush!” I took out a pendant and showed it to the sulking kids to quiet them down.


“I considered using this to play a game—?”


Before the words could leave my lips, the kids’ eyes lit up, gone was their bellyaching as they were captivated with what I was about to say.


Once I confirmed that I had captured their attention, I continued to explain.


“Check it out, this is a free pass to all of the street stalls that will be installed for the festival starting tomorrow. With this, you can eat and drink at any store, all you want, and you can freely enter any event venues as well. However, the budget has an upper limit, it’s 100 silver coins—use them all up, and it’s game over. If that happens, you must go back to your room, where homework will be waiting for you as punishment. If you have kept up with your studies until now, you’ll be able to have a blast for all three days. So, do you want to play my game?”


I knew from the start that I would be saddled with taking care of the kids, so I concocted a way to compensate in advance. To get the most out of a festival, having money to spend on snacks and trinkets is indispensable. Allowing them to roam freely was the main idea. I felt sorry that I couldn’t be with them, but I thought that the kids would be able to enjoy going around by themselves.


Souei and his subordinates were on duty for surveillance inside the city. Even if they were to go their separate ways, I already had it set up for them to be monitored in secret.


And so I had prepared for the kids to be able to enjoy themselves without worry. The amount of allowance was an unconventional 100 silver coins. Most of the things they’d sell at the street stalls wouldn’t even be worth 1 silver coin, so it would be hard for them to spend it all in three days. It was a game in name only, a simple excuse.


“I wanna play!”


“There seem to be a lot of weird things, you’re excited, right, Ken?”


“Yup. It seems like fun!”


“Thank you, sensei.”


“Oh, we’ll also buy you a present, sensei!”


The kids fell for my scheme, hook, line, and sinker. They were overcome with excitement in anticipation of the festival that started tomorrow.


I gave out a pendant to each of the kids, then looked them up-and-down before nodding. I thought to myself, it’s only natural for there to be a lot of excitement on the eve of a festival.


I had considered telling them that Ramiris was in town, but I decided against it. I had planned for them to meet at the end of the festival anyway, there was no need to rush. Additionally, the kids, with Kenya and Alice in the lead, seemed like they were busy making plans for the next three days starting tomorrow.


For the remaining time, the hotel’s waitresses would be taking care of the kids.


“Then, you guys, if something happens, tell it to the waitresses in the inns. I don’t imagine this would become necessary, but if you really want to contact me, hold the pendant and pray in your mind. It will activate magic that sends messages.”


“ “ “Okay!” ” ”


It sparked joy in me, seeing the kids answer so energetically. I didn’t think the kids would be raising a ruckus anymore, so I slipped out of the room.




And with this, I could mark the end of today’s checklist.


There was still a little time before the eve of the festival and I thought of resting for a bit in preparation for tonight, but… It didn't seem like it would go the way I wanted it to.


“—Rimurusama, it seems that ‘hero’ Masayuki’s party has arrived outside the city,” Souei quietly appeared to report and whispered into my ear.


A hero, huh.


Let’s see what kind of guy he is.


With that mindset, I went to meet him right away.


A wagon with several elves who I suspected had been caught as slaves came into view. The story of them being saved from a criminal organization called ‘Orthus(Slave Trade Union)’ was, apparently, true. The wagon looked fairly high-class and they seemed to have been treated well.


A blond boy was riding on a small sized carriage, separate from that wagon. He was in the driver’s seat, but there was another man who was holding the reins.


Is that boy the ‘hero’ Masayuki?


He appeared to be Japanese, but his face also looked kinda like a foreigner.


Should I say he looks like an idol?


Smooth blond hair and deep double eyelids in his long narrow eyes—he had a bit of a baby face, but on the whole he looked cool. He was a considerably handsome young lad.


Frankly, he didn't look strong at all. But I must not be fooled by his appearance.


Masayuki was definitely an “Otherworlder”. Because, although it was weak, he was exuding ‘Heroic Act’. It was a coercive force, but it didn't work on me. I didn’t dare to get careless and tense up. While acting composed, I turned my gaze towards Masayuki. And his party seemed to have recognized me too, as I came to meet them. They slowly proceeded and came to a stop in front of me, then approached on foot.


“Hey, are you that demon lord called Rimuru? To think that you would come to meet us.”


“Masayuki-sama is a great hero. Obviously he cannot be ignored, even by a demon lord.”


“Hehehe. Masayuki-kun, what should we do? Should we declare a winner right now?”


They seem to be babbling whatever nonsense they pleased, these humans. I’m thankful for them saving the elves, but I don’t see a reason to listen to this.


But I held back, it would’ve been foolish to get angry here.


I was promoting myself as a benevolent, not harmful demon lord, who made up with even Hinata. It was out of the question to make all those efforts go to waste.


“Wow, you’re pushing it a little too far, hero and company. As thanks for saving the elves, who became my subjects, I will permit you to stay in this town. If you really need it, I will prepare a place for your stay as well, so feel free to stick around as long as you want. However, I do not plan to fight here, keep that in mind.”


There were many merchants around, and I decided to lower myself by showing a friendly attitude for now. However, the response wasn’t favorable.


“Haha, as expected, the demon lord fears Masayuki,” bellowed the guy who acted as a coachman, a man with a big body dressed in armor that still left him half-naked, and leered down at me with a fierce sneer.


“You wanna get along with us humans, but I wonder how much of that we can believe. Rumor has it that the one who plotted the downfall of Farmus was you, demon lord. You might have deceived Hinata the Saint, but if you think you can do the same with Masayuki-kun, it’ll get ugly.”


Is this what they describe as being “slow to catch on”? It felt like he was trying to paint me as the villain. But what puzzled me was how the hero himself remained silent until the end. Every time he seemed to be about to say something, his party members cut him off.


The lengths to which they were going suggested they were Masayuki’s attendants, rather than his teammates.


“Hmph! We need to punish the evil beings. Masayuki-sama, let’s defeat this demon lord right now and bring peace to this land—”


No, you see, this land is already peaceful.


The merchants nearby were left out of the loop and I saw them making bewildered expressions, this was one pot I couldn’t let them keep stirring. That said, I couldn’t just fight them then and there, either…


I was brewing over this conundrum when someone stepped in with a helping hand.


“What are you guys doing here?”


Yuuki had changed his clothes when he heard the commotion and made his way over.


“Ah, Yuuki-san!” Masayuki called out, speaking for the first time.


Just like me, he sounded like he had found a light in the darkness.


But his attendant’s reaction was cold.


“Huh, well, if it isn’t Yuuki-san. Did the head of the association purposely come to inspect the demon lord?”


“No, Jinrai. You guys, Rimuru-san really wants to establish a friendly relationship with us. As evidence, you are still alive.”


It seems like the big guy’s name is Jinrai.


Yuuki told him that I was strong enough to end in a draw with Hinata. Additionally, he explained to Masayuki’s party that I was not a bad demon lord. Yet despite that there was someone who couldn’t accept it.


“What do you mean? Listening to your explanation, it sounds like you’re saying that Masayuki-sama is weaker than Hinata the Saint?”


“I would be grateful if you didn’t look down on us. Something like a demon lord is no match for Masayuki-sama. Even if you are the head of the freedom association, we cannot forgive you for insulting Masayuki-sama!!”


Masayuki had yet to say anything, but his attendants were raving zealots.


“That’s right, Yuuki-san. Like Bonnie and Jiu said, you know we cannot forgive you belittling Masayuki-san? I have no clue how strong Hinata is, but you’re saying that at best she’s tied with that demon lord there. Then don’t you think it’s time to lay down the trump card? Masayuki-sama will make light of that demon lord and flatten him to the ground!”


But Masayuki seemed to be at a loss, hearing the reaction of his entourage.


Maybe Masayuki himself doesn’t want to fight with me?


Perhaps Yuuki noticed that as well, he started to calm down Jinrai and his other colleagues.


“I told you to calm down. I’ve said this multiple times already, but Rimuru-san isn’t hostile against us. There is no point in fighting.”


“But that guy is a demon lord. We don’t know when he’ll do bad things. Right now, when even the Western Saints Church moved out, don’t you think it’s an important time for Masayuki-san to show his strength as a hero?”


“No, you see—”


Uh—um, that seems to be the case.


It’s not like I didn’t understand this guy, Jinrai’s claims. In short, he was saying that I, as a demon lord, had no credibility. For sure he’s right. Considering the fact that many didn’t know I was formerly human, it was a given that there would be people who thought like Jinrai. I didn’t know what the man known as the hero, Masayuki, thought, but if we kept this going, this conversation would’ve gone nowhere, which is why I decided to accept the challenge. But—


“Alright. Then under one condition. In the festival that will start tomorrow, we plan to hold a tournament. If you go out there and win handsomely, then I will accept your challenge! You can prove your strength there, so I assume you have no problems with that?”


I would accept the challenge. But before that, I offered it in exchange for Masayuki’s party to participate in the tournament. Doing that, I would be able to learn their skills and possibly not have to fight them at all.


Huhu, I think this is an awesome idea.


Although deciding who to put in the tournament would prove to be difficult. And there was one more issue.


I had planned for people below A rank to participate, so the structural integrity of the arena had me a bit worried. It could endure magic of high ranked spiritual level—in other words, A rank magic, but… Oh well, if it breaks, we can just fix it. As long as there were no injuries among the spectators, it probably wouldn’t be a big problem.


“Oh ho? Do you want to be embarrassed in front of countless people?”


“Masayuki-kun, how should we do this?”


“You have to accept this proposal. For us to spread Masayuki-sama’s name in one fell swoop, let's demonstrate justice in front of the people we should protect!”


“Ah, yes. That’s right…”


Attendants with burning desires. In contrast, Masayuki’s eyes kept darting left and right like a lamb at sea.





Is that guy alright? Is he perhaps a novice who likes to brag a lot… No, that can’t be.


According to Souei’s reports, ‘Orthus’ was a considerably dangerous organization. Masayuki and his comrades crushed an illegal organization like that, that’s not something a novice who just likes to brag could do.


If what I was thinking was right, then he would decline my offer.


“—I guess I have no choice. I will accept your offer.”


Sure enough, I was overthinking things. Masayuki had thought for a moment and then accepted my offer.


“Wait, Masayuki-kun. Will it be alright?” Yuuki asked in a worried voice, Masayuki replied with a bitter smile, “Well, even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise. Things will definitely turn out alright, like they usually do,” Masayuki declared.


He’s got a lot of guts for saying that with me standing in front of him. As far as my observation went, it didn’t seem like I needed to worry about it too much.


“Well, I wonder if the tournament will stay free of casualties? I hope you’ll be careful.”


“Hmph, who do you think you’re talking to? Let’s go, Masayuki-san. Let’s rest a lot in preparation for tomorrow.”


“Since there are a lot of eyes on us, the demon lord won't do anything cowardly, Masayuki-kun.”


“Don’t worry. I’m always on guard against poisoning or assassination.”


“Th-then we shall go. Let’s check the time for tomorrow’s match.”


With that, Masayuki’s party went on their way.


“Rimuru-san, will you actually fight in earnest with Masayuki-kun?”


“Uh-um, I guess? First of all, that guy, do you think he’ll win?”


“Ah, I want to know that as well. In the tournaments held in Ingracia Kingdom, Masayuki-kun remains undefeated. I never actually heard of him losing in a fight with monsters, and his skills are still unknown…” Yuuki answered with a sigh.


His face looked pained, as if saying that an annoying problem had reared its head.


“Well, let it go for now. Instead, it’s pretty fortunate that a hero joined the tournament lineup, raising the bar; I’ll think of it as a good thing.”


Having the right mindset can change everything.


Things definitely became tiresome, but compared to the Walpurgis banquet and the fight with Hinata, this wasn’t something to worry about too much. I probably had to think of a solution later, but I decided to put it on the back burner for now.




***




Later that night, in the lobby of the extravagantly decorated parlor house, the important figures of each country were gathered in once place. There was a large number of nobles attending, each garbed in luxurious and flashy clothing.


Looking at the ratio between men and women, I felt like there were a couple more men. It seemed like we were afforded a considerable amount of trust, considering how many brought their wife and kids as well. Among them I saw a cute blonde-haired girl, who looked like a doll. There were attendees of all different ages, it seemed.


This time people could participate freely, leading me to put a lot of effort into this being a fun party. It was arranged so that the people can enjoy meals while standing, with various dishes placed on buffet tables for guests to enjoy as they strolled around.


Additionally, we had set up curiosities that were unheard of in any other country. Among them was a “tatami room,” which covered half of the wide space, and where it was prohibited to wear your shoes. In many countries it wasn’t customary to take off your shoes, therefore I only saw people enter from time to time. But it wasn’t like it remained deserted, I could occasionally witness people sitting down and getting flustered by the unfamiliar sitting cushions—King Gazel was one of them. It wasn’t his first time experiencing this, so he seemed quite at home, and we chatted for a brief moment.


I was told that he inspected the city’s developmental situation this morning, and things like the sewage system, as well as the work-in-progress rails, caught his eye. Not only that, but I heard he was also staring at the facilities and recreational equipment that I came up with on a whim, like he would gobble them all up.


“That thing called a ‘rail’, with what purpose did you make it?”


“I have something to consult you about, regarding it. I plan to develop a thing called a ‘train’. I hope that I can count on your assistance.”


“Oh-ho? Since it’s a request from my adorable junior, gladly—how could I ever refuse?” King Gazel announced his decision on the spot.


He probably weighed the benefits after laying eyes on the rails and saw the potential. If he was this enthusiastic about it, he would likely have disregarded a “no” and vehemently insisted on joining the project, leaving me little choice, other than bringing him on board straight away.




During my discussion about it with Gazel, a man came up, saying, “Excuse me,” and sat down at the seat facing me. A familiar face—it was Youmu. He confidently plopped down in front of King Gazel, who received him with a grin and liberally poured Youmu a glass of wine.


A king of a developing nation confidently speaking with Gazel, king of a mighty nation. Those who saw this, would, no doubt, reevaluate their stance on Youmu.


After Youmu cut in, we started shooting the breeze and eventually ended our conversation. Gazel’s goal was to show that we had a friendly relationship, and as a result, profiteers would have no choice but to gauge me and Youmu as high value. Those who carefully observe the Dwarf King Gazel—that assessment will raise my worth in future dealings with them. This was, in a sense, King Gazel’s way of supporting us.


In all likelihood, it came down to him running the numbers on what I had told him before, and ultimately concluding that Dwargon stood to gain a great deal, but I was eminently thankful regardless.


Gazel sure is trustworthy. I saw a new side of him.




There were those who went ahead and experienced the large bathhouse before the eve of the festival. Most deemed it favorable and had asked many questions to the one in charge of the bathhouse. I heard there were large bathhouses in other big countries, though many found the hot spring itself to be breathtaking. The ingredients providing the medicinal effects were a tightly guarded secret, severely hampering attempts to reproduce it.


I had received copious requests, asking us to introduce them to their countries as well, but I decided to gather and file those guests’ requests for later review.


That said, all I could tell them was to please visit us often.


Among the people who were satisfied after soaking in the bath, several were now sitting in the tatami room with a Yukata we provided them. It painted a dignified image, with them throwing glances at each other in admiration of the outfits.


In the midst of this, there were people who wanted to speak to me one-on-one, though talking with everyone would’ve stretched me too thinly, so I only met those I encountered at a fortunate time, and proceeded to make my way across to sit in the seat of honor.


Many people were seeing me for the first time, so, understandably, I could feel a lot of curious looks being thrown at me. From those who turned pale, knowing I was a demon lord, and on the other hand, those who observed me attentively, it was a mixed bag. Their prickling gazes were unnerving, so I greeted them lightly and immediately announced the start of the banquet.


“Ah, it is a pleasure for me to welcome you here today. I am Demon LordRimuru. I would prefer for this night to be free of serious topics, and instead would like to direct you towards our nation’s dishes that I hope you will enjoy. Long speeches are not my strength, so please excuse me for cutting it short. I wish you all a grand time; let the party begin!”


The preparation was perfect. The way we served the dishes was the cherry on top. I hoped our sincerity could be conveyed fully.


Each table had a waitress assigned and Vester strictly educated them to bring dishes with every request. Everything was laid out to serve the guests—the results of intense education and training were now on full display.


I called for a toast after I finished my greeting.




The eve of the festival had been set in motion.


Gasps swept through the crowds as they all drank a glass of cold beer. Tempest’s beer must have been surprising to those who had only tried poorly carbonated drinks before. After all, they were kept freezing cold.


The method of preparing a cold glass cup, was something taught by the meticulous style of Japanese service. Even for my own sake, it wasn’t something I could compromise on.


Not only that, but elven ladies were pouring alcohol. It wasn’t forced, you know? I only accepted those who voluntarily offered to help.


This was another huge success. Beautiful elven ladies were roaming around the banquet hall carrying various kinds of alcoholic beverages. Those who were accustomed to wearing formal dress seemed to be enraptured by the Yukata adorned elves’ voluptuous figures. In addition, the way the elves greeted the guests by putting 3 fingers on the floor, shook the hearts of men equally among all nations. I could see their faces turn red even when they weren’t drunk. The view of the elves’ chests, laid bare behind the Yukata, must’ve been an alluring sight.


Hehehe. Like I intended.


I would say that this was the pinnacle of merging western and Japanese traditional culture. The heterogenous mixture of those clad in Yukatas among the nobles wearing formal attire made for quite the scene—it was something you could only see here.


That was what we planned, but, nonetheless, it ended up being a wildly chaotic party. From a commonsense standpoint, this really looked like a mess. But if this bothered you, then you had already lost.


I acted as if this was the norm and observed the condition of the guests.


The extravagant dishes on the tables were made by Shuna and Yoshida, who went through a lot of effort to create delectable meals, and I could confidently say that the guests would all be satisfied with them. Smoked chicken-duck meat and sandwiches filled with vegetables, cow-deer steak, fried vegetables marinated in sauce, karaage fried chicken, roast beef salad.


We also prepared a sherbet made with an assortment of fruits as refreshments, and going so far as to recreate dishes like the black tiger meat stew and grilled fairy-leather bird from the Walpurgis banquet. Although we had quite a hard time looking for the monsters we could use as ingredients, we were somehow able to track them down within three days, using the information we had gathered before.


We were able to satisfy the aristocrats, who were accustomed to luxury, with the dishes made from precious ingredients that were the pride of our country.


That wasn’t all. In the banquet hall, at the dividing line between the Japanese traditional space and the western space, a large fish was being carted in. It was a fish with an extremely hard exoskeleton and a sharp, spear-like horn. This abominable ocean monster was called a “spear tuna”, and, excluding the horn, had grown to four meters in length of heinous-looking fish.


Now, the reason why we brought this fish. It had, in fact, a delicious, savory taste to all of that blubber, which was unthinkable, based solely on its appearance. Under the armor-like exoskeleton, red meat that looked similar to tuna was hidden.


I actually caught the fish by coincidence during the course of a competitive fishing match, which Gobta and I had placed bets on, and, fortunately, I thought to use ‘Analysis’ before tossing it away. It was found to have non-toxic and highly nutritious meat. I dipped it in our commercially available soy sauce before giving it a try, and…it was exceptionally delicious.


I remembered this savory treat and decided to unveil it before everyone at the banquet, so I went out by myself and caught one. I was used to traveling under water, so it was a great experience. But we'd have someone else catch it next time.


So anyway, the fish was a recent catch and still fresh.


Hakurou was responsible for cutting the fish, and using the long kitchen knife Kurobee had forged, he made us sashimi previously. But this time, as a performance to entertain the guests, the process of preparing the dish was slowly shown in front of everyone.


Hakurou’s kitchen knife was flying to and fro, avoiding the hard exoskeleton armor. The spear tuna was dismembered in a beautiful display of artistic skill. It was something even Shuna would be astonished with. Holding that kitchen knife, he made the impression of a dignified master.


Behind me, Shion was holding the kitchen knife I had gifted her, looking like she wanted to help out, but I calmed her down, telling her to bear it this time.


We had invited numerous prominent figures from foreign countries, so naturally, we absolutely could not present a dish prepared by unskilled hands. This wasn’t something we could play off as a joke. I just hoped Shion could properly fulfill her role as my secretary and guard.


As for the reactions coming from the guests, at first, they were frightened and scared by the grotesque sight, but, as Hakurou’s excellent performance of carving up the fish progressed, their faces started to shine with admiration.


The head was discarded, and the body was divided into four pieces, then sliced up as the plates were loaded with sashimi. In the middle laid the marbled belly meat, enveloped by red meat. The mouthwatering sight alone had me drooling, but the majority of people present hadn’t tried it before and remained hesitant, waiting for someone to make the first move.


Hakurou looked at those crowds and made sushi as well.











It was a specialty that I had not expected him to have.


White rice, alcohol, vinegar, cooking wine, and soy sauce—these alone opened the door to a vast assortment of sophisticated dishes. That said, I had never seriously expected that I would be able to eat authentic sushi in this world. As it turned out, back when Hakurou was young, he often heard his grandfather mention…he had fond memories of sushi, its taste forever eluding him since his arrival in this world. He must’ve been deeply embittered by that.


Thinking of it this way, I sure was a lucky guy. Hinata said this as well, claiming that reproducing Japanese dishes in this world would normally be a highly ambitious endeavor.


Well, that’s that, but getting back to Hakurou’s grandfather.


I clearly heard that he was an “Otherworlder” named “Byakuya Araki”; perhaps he could’ve been someone from the Edo era? I don’t think he was a chef; I wonder just what era he was from.


Well, alright. It doesn’t really matter. For now, let’s just enjoy the night.




There were a lot of people gathered around the buffet tables of the standing party section. The dishes were well received, and people were singing their praises. After all, Shuna and Yoshida pulled out all of the stops, so I just nodded, thinking that kind of reception was to be expected. In stark contrast, no one seemed to want to even touch the fish sashimi and sushi Hakurou had prepared. They might have been intimidated after laying eyes upon the horrid sight of the spear tuna. But It seems like anywhere you go, there will always be those who want to appear knowledgeable, despite not knowing anything. You could hear people saying “Ah, could that fish be the Rank A…”


There’s no way that raw fish being served right after getting sliced would taste any good—I would like it if they stopped saying things they didn’t know and tried a bite instead.


It was possible to check for poison in this world, so it surely didn’t come down to a fear of getting poisoned. They had jumped to the conclusion that it would be a lousy dish, due to the appearance.


No one was willing to take the first step, leading me to seize the initiative.


“I shall try it.”


“Ohh, then please try this.”


Hakurou made the effort to make me a new piece of sushi with the belly meat. I dipped it in soy sauce and took a bite. The strong scent of the wasabi and the buttery belly meat that melts in your mouth complemented each other spectacularly, exploding in a heavenly taste.


Delicious—!!


It’s so delicious. I doubt the places in Ginza could even keep up with this!?


“It’s the best, Hakurou!!”


“Of course. The fish that came in was so delightful, it had me worried that we wouldn’t have any left, however, it’s a pity that it hasn’t been well received. But I’m looking forward to the post-dinner drinks.”


Hakurou’s colleagues would have their meal after the guests left, so it seemed like they planned on saving some sashimi to go along with sake. It was unfortunate that the guests didn’t take too well to it, but if they were going to be picky about their food, that would be fine as well. Rather, it might’ve actually been what Hakurou and co. wanted and couldn’t be thankful enough for.


However, Hakurou’s plan went up in smoke.


“Could you make sushi with that belly meat and without the wasabi?”


Someone turned up, making a comment that left me dumbfounded. Not only did she ask for the belly meat from the start, but she even asked to remove the wasabi?


“What are you, a kid?”


“Shut up, I don’t like the burning sensation in my nose,” Was the arrogant retort coming from none other than Hinata.


Hinata, wearing a simple evening dress meant to be worn outside, ordered the sushi like it was natural.


“I would also like it if there was a wider variety of fish.”


As if that wasn’t enough, she stepped it up with such a cocky request. Not only did she want the wasabi to be removed, but also more kinds of fish? Surely, the wasabi part could be a difference in preference, granted, it could be hard to handle for people trying it for the first time. I, too, asked to remove the wasabi when ordering, that is, until I was in middle school. But now as an adult, I believed that you could only say that you were eating it properly, if you knew how to relish the taste of wasabi.


“What nonsense. That’s neither here nor there, all that matters, is that it’s delicious,” she smirked at me.


…But she did have a point.That damn Hinata, she fired back a logical response without a flinch.


Although Hinata was like that, she received the plate Hakurou was handing her with a broad smile on her face. She closed her eyes as she slowly placed the sushi in her mouth.


“It’s really great. The sashimi, and the sushi as well… I’m a tad angry, but I respect you, Rimuru.”


She seemed satisfied, savoring the belly meat to her heart’s content.


“Then I would like one as well. Ah, I’m not a child, so you can include the wasabi.”


Yuuki came by, following Hinata. Seeing how he was dropping light, sarcastic remarks, he had likely been watching us from the start. Despite already having loaded up in the buffet area, his appetite remained unwavering. As he was receiving the plate from Hakurou, he immediately shoved the sushi into his mouth and started chewing, as if he had been waiting for it.


“Wow, it melts on your tongue! To think that I would be able to have sushi this delicious in this world, I’m slightly moved,” he said as he moved his hand towards the sashimi as well, beaming with glee.


Seeing Yuuki like that, Hinata also shot a sarcastic remark, “It sure tastes differently from freshwater fish. I had made a request to the Freedom Association, but they denied it and even said that it cannot be sent through magic, so I had given up, but it seems like my joy in life will increase a bit from now on.”


Hinata had said that she wanted to eat seafood dishes and had previously requested Yuuki to transport it. But it proved to be too difficult, and facing far too many problems, so in the end, the request went unfulfilled.


To get him back for the wasabi incident, Hinata brought up that topic.


“There was nothing I could do? The sea to the north is inhabited by large beasts, so it’s too dangerous, and the south is unviable because of the distance. And transporting the fish from the inland sea is prohibitively expensive,” Yuuki bitterly replied, with a troubled face and a wry smile.




Yes. The market of this world was still fragile. Sure enough, as I expected, people who lived inland usually didn’t get the chance to eat freshly caught fish. It was because of the innate hurdles that made the transportation of seafood a laborious task. You could only transport small amounts with carriages and keeping them frozen was tricky. The only options were hiring a mage exclusively for this task or preparing large quantities of ice in each city. Even with all of that, it remained uncertain whether or not the freshness of the fish could be preserved throughout the journey from the coast to the inland cities.


If you weren’t among the fairly rich, the luxury of eating fresh fish would remain beyond your grasp. It was something entirely unthinkable to most.


Taking into account that dishes with steamed fish could be had, you could say that the problem came down to distribution. That issue was being improved upon like I had hoped. Seizing this opportunity, we could make the existence of luxury dishes exclusive to our country’s public knowledge. When the time would come, we planned to organize a logistics network, but until then, our country would monopolize it.


Perhaps it was the appearance of the spear tuna that made the guests reluctant, or maybe they were hesitating because of the disparity in food culture, but either way, there was still no one daring to touch the sushi and fish sashimi.


However, Yuuki and Hinata were doing their part in flipping the public sentiment by showering the sushi with praise.




“Rimuru-sama, may we try that as well?” asked the man sitting to the side of Gazel, as he stood up and came towards me. This person was the head of the Pegasus Knights Dolf.


“Yes, alright. I shall bring it to you.”


In reaction to my words, Hakurou’s hands sprang into rapid action. Freshly made sushi, sashimi, and soups were lined up and served by the elven ladies. The dishes were placed one by one in front of Gazel and Youmu’s party, who were sitting in the tatami room.


Now, let’s see how they react?


“—Hmm, this definitely is outstanding.”


“Kua, this is delicious!!”


Gazel ate sashimi while enjoying the cold, Japanese alcohol. And the feelings they expressed were those of amazement.


Youmu did as Youmu does, dropping all semblance of royalty as he was enraptured by his first time eating sushi. And the reaction of everyone at the table was the same.


“To think that that infernal fish could be this delicious!”


“Speaking of fish, I thought that frying it was the way to go…”


“Well, what does it matter as long as it’s scrumptious.”


“Every dish Rimuru-sama provides is spectacular, without fail!”


That’s a relief. I was elated to find that everyone seemed satisfied.


And then—a lot of heads had turned to watch Gazel’s company and saw their reactions.


“I, I too want to try that!” one person shouted, followed by a stampede of others, scrambling to order from Hakurou in a frenzy.


It became all the rage. Hakurou made a very slight happy expression, at the same time it was tainted with wistfulness.


I got where he was coming from. In this situation, he wouldn’t have any left to eat with sake later. Actually, I have another spear tuna that I caught, so I should hand it to him later in secret.


After Hinata and Yuuki had a light quarrel, they voiced their opinions on things and argued while having a drink.


I’m not sure whether they get along or not.


But at the end of the day, you could thank their quarrel for acting as a successful promotion. I didn’t want to bother them now and decided it would be better to thank them later.




The banquet proceeded with minor incidents here and there. So far, it was a great success. Western and Japanese dishes, both were very popular.


Attendance of tonight’s party was voluntary, but, despite this, many people had participated.


I didn’t forget to imply that the food’s ingredients were in store for those willing to trade with us in the future.


In short, that was also part of the plan. My job was to subtly promote things this way. The purpose wasn’t merely to wallow in luxury. I wasn’t burning money to satiate my greed; it was just a thorough preparation for times like this!


—That was my excuse at least.


Anyway, that's that. Even if I was to think of it that way, the banquet was proceeding as smoothly as planned, except…


“Bi-big trouble!!” a soldier rushed into the parlor house, shouting.


It seemed like a problem was afoot.




***




Naturally, we had soldiers stationed around the parlor house. There were even the escorts of the prominent figures that came, all together it was very crowded outside the building.


Under those circumstances, the likelihood of the problem being a massive headache to solve was high.


“Why, what’s wrong?” I slowly asked to calm the soldier down.


I wanted to run out and check the situation, but I couldn’t show myself panicking as well—I spoke with that thought in mind. But before the soldier could even reply, the escorts from each of the countries came running in a panic.


What is happening here?! The security should have been airtight; if something were to happen, it would be very disgraceful.


I didn’t feel a big aura approaching us, and it wasn’t like a monster had appeared either. If something like that had happened, we would’ve noticed it sooner. Milim and Karion’s group seemed to be a bit late, but even if they did arrive, the soldiers wouldn’t have panicked. Then what exactly…


“A large flying object came flying outside the city!!” the soldier looking at me reported, soon to be drowned out by the escorts from other countries informing each of their masters.


“Reporting! The Sorcerer’s Dynasty’s Guardian Dragon King has appeared!!”


“B-big problem here! E-Elmesia ElaureSarion, the Emperor herself is coming down here right now!!”


“Her Imperial Majesty Elmesia and her entourage are approaching this location right now—!!”


They all shouted in disarray, so I was stunned for a bit, but without having to put together all of the pieces I heard, it seemed like Sarion’s empress was just arriving late.


“Ah, don’t scare me like that. I was wondering what happened.”


I mumbled absentmindedly, which prompted Gazel to rise from his seat and move beside me, with a dumbfounded expression.


“You’re the same as ever, carefree and without a clue how the world works. If the Divine Emperor Elmesia came out of her country, then it’s natural for this commotion to happen. The humans from each country and even I have to be careful and watch her complexion, if that divine empress is the opponent, then it would be hard to handle. Even the people who aren't here right now must be panicking and sending messengers to their countries.”


“What do you mean?”




As I asked for a more detailed explanation, Gazel dove into it as if he had been waiting for the opportunity. This guy, even if he talks a lot, I get the impression that he just wants to show off to me by expounding his proud knowledge. Either way, it was honestly a big help nonetheless, so I don’t really have any complaints, I thought while listening to the breakdown.


According to Gazel, the Sorcerer's DynastySarion was a superpower. It was one that held national power on the order of magnitude comparable to the Armored Nation Dwargon, without even participating in the Western States Council. And just like the name “Dynasty” implied, it was a federation formed by 13 royal families.


If you were to compare the levels of influence, the Western States Council was undoubtedly the most powerful. However, as long as they upheld the council system they adopted, they lacked the efficacy to take immediate action. Leveraging that flaw, Dwargon was, in contrast, an absolute monarchy under the rule of Gazel, allowing it to exert more influence than the Western States Council, despite falling behind in total strength. Likewise, the same was true for Sarion.


“The empress of the Sorcerer’s Dynasty Sarion, Elmesia, holds absolute power. She calls herself a descendant of god and declared herself the divine empress. I don’t know the truth, but it is an undisputed fact that the high elf with the name Elmesia revived the country. So, that girl lived longer than Sarion’s history.”


They were on fundamentally different levels. The Armored Nation Dwargon spanned 1000 years of history. Compared to that, the history of Sorcerer’s Dynasty Sarion was known to go back at least 2000 years.




“And so, Rimuru, before Elmesia, even I can’t raise my head. Much more, to humans with their short lifespans, it’s impossible to even think of meeting her.”


Seeing how Gazel made a bitter expression, the person called Empress Elmesia must’ve been a very troublesome person to deal with.


Uh-um, I was planning to invite only Duke Elalude… I ended up calling the absurd bigwig as well.


“Ah, I see. I should have written proper names in the invitation.”


“…I don’t think that’s the problem here.”


Gazel stared at me through narrow eyes; she had already arrived, it would be a fool’s errand to make her leave. I had no choice but to do my best to receive her.




During our conversation, a commotion had been brewing at the entrance.


“Looks like they arrived.”


“Do not get careless, Rimuru. Just think of her as a beast who’s been through all sorts of hardships.”


I took Gazel’s insistent words to heart and prepared myself for an abnormal encounter. I looked at Gazel and nodded firmly to show that I understood.


A great commotion broke loose inside the parlor house. Someone who you normally could never meet, no, not only that, the empress of a superpower, who had not shown herself for tens of years, appeared. I should say it was natural for others to be causing a ruckus.


Empress Elmesia ElaureSarion. Someone who called herself a divine empress, was confidently walking into the venue. An incarnation of beauty, was the thought passing through everyone’s head as they gawked, bereft of words, at Empress Elmesia.


I thought that as well. Because that appearance, no matter from which angle you looked, she was a beautiful girl. She had skin as white as freshly fallen snow, and soft, silver hair. Sharp, pointy ears and jade green eyes that seemed to see through everything.


Gazel said she was a girl, so she definitely had to be female.


If she was a high elf, then did that mean she was a pure-blooded fairy? Or she might’ve had blood that was infinitely close to pure. Calling her a fairy addresses too broad of a category, but they were said to be a race that evolved from great spirits, so this Elmesia standing before me seemed to be one of those ancient beasts from a time long gone. She was a big enough deal to warrant a warning from Gazel.


I also needed to remain vigilant of the guardians protecting the Empress. From each and every one, I felt extreme power, despite them wearing formal garments. It must’ve been magic armor, and this was just my guess, but they were legendary-grade. The power I felt emanating from those formal clothes was equivalent to the feeling I got from the Moonlight rapier Hinata wielded. Their skills would, naturally, be on equal footing with Arno and the Holy Knights. No, thinking about the quality of their weapons and armor, the Empress’s guards might’ve been superior.


The world sure is big—that thought passed through my mind.


Holding back one of her guardians from stepping forward, the Empress herself approached.


“I am thankful for the invitation. I am happy about it.”


A mellow voice—I almost mistook it for charm magic, but it wasn’t magic at all. It was simply her voice being that charming.


“I, too, am honored to meet you,” I answered in front of her, at which point I could see my own reflection in Elmesia’s jade green eyes.


<<Notice. ‘Mind Interference’ detected—Interrupted. This doesn’t seem like an attack, just an effect of ‘Heroic Spirit’ that seeped out.>>


This was dangerous. This person seemed to have a higher level of ‘Heroic Spirit’ than even Gazel. In other words, her strength was not only equal to Gazel, but there was a chance that she was able to top it.


Maybe she’s a demon lord class? It would be good not to be hostile towards this person. This was a peaceful invitation; I would try my best to appease her in the hopes of friendly relations in the future.


“Then, though it may not be up to standard, we have prepared meals as well. I hope you will enjoy yourself tonight.”


“Hmm, I am happy to receive such consideration from Rimuru-sama. I expect a lot from the festival that will take place tomorrow, so please make me happy. And—” she said with a leisurely smile, then brought her face near mine, and whispered in a hushed voice only I could hear, “It doesn't have to be today, but I hope you can make time for me. There’s something I’d like to discuss with an open heart, in a less formal setting.”


That informal way of speaking must’ve been Elmesia’s true self. As someone who was still not used to being a stern and dangerous demon lord, but had to play the part nonetheless, this made me feel a bit more intimate with her. And so I answered: “Alright. I’ll contact you when the date is decided.”


Elmesia nodded with a look of satisfaction, then retreated to her guards’ protective circle.


And just like that, Elmesia gave a cute, entertaining smile to the people who were preparing to meet her for the first time, while walking towards the table laden with food.


On a side note, I was wondering why Duke Elalude, the person I initially invited, was nowhere to be seen, when I landed eye-contact with one of the Empress’s escorts. No, wait a minute. That person is Duke Elalude?! He had such a gallant expression that I almost went past him, but anyway, he apparently had come along. We only caught a passing greeting by sight, but I thought that I should say hello to him later.




***




It was a short conversation, yet a very tiring one. I was so exhausted that, while all eyes were on Elmesia, I snagged the opportunity to go and sit down in the tatami room. I thought tonight would be easy-going, because participation was optional, but a bigwig just had to show up.


“Yeah, I’m really tired.”


“I felt like I was gonna fall over the moment I met her. If I don’t keep my mind straight, that grand—”


Gazel swallowed his words and shut his mouth. Then he mumbled a bit and ended up just drinking the cold alcohol.


Seeing as how I could feel a terrible chill coming from Elmesia, that was probably the reason. I wonder what Gazel was about to say? If it’s something that starts with “grand”—then it must be that. They say elven ears are sharp, so I’m glad I didn’t say it out loud. Loose lips sink ships; I should be careful as well.


Ah, whatever, I’ll just drink for now.


I talked with Gazel and Youmu about how the world goes around, and this and that, over some drinks.




But our leisure time didn’t last long. Noticing how the entrance was starting to get noisy again, I could sense that another bigshot had showed up.


“Our guests have finally arrived.”


“Yes, it seems like they’re here. I was worried because they were running late,” I answered Shion with a nod, then tried to stand up after excusing myself from Gazel. Maybe it was because Youmu was familiar with all of this, that he figured out who it was.


“Ah, it’s Milim-san. Seems like she’ll spruce up the evening.”


After having experienced it once before, Youmu seemed to be a little in over his head when it came to Milim. On the other hand, since it was only by a bit, then maybe that meant Youmu really was that much stronger now? To use “san” with a demon lord was something normal people would never imagine doing, even in their wildest dreams. I thought to myself that Youmu really was an awesome guy.


“—I see, the demon lords have arrived.”


Gazel was also observing Milim and her group with a sharp eye, but Youmu’s words seemed to have tipped him off. Well, many others had also recognized them.


No wonder, since Benimaru, Diablo, Geld, and even Gabil, four of our country’s executives were there as guides.


Even Gazel was tense when seeing the group, because the ones who stepped into the parlor house, with the executives guiding them, were ten powerful people, including Milim.


She was in the lead, flanked by two subordinates.


A bald man wearing a priest’s gown—a warrior called Midley who was strong enough to be acknowledged by Benimaru. There was another man wearing a priest’s gown, but with a less serious demeanor—this was the guy known as Hermes, who fought with Gabil.


The ones following the three of them were two former demon lords. ‘Beast Master’ Karion and ‘Sky Queen’ Frey. Karion had a solemn appearance as always, and Frey-san wore a lascivious dress and radiated extreme sexiness. I could feel great dignity from both of them.


My, my, I saw Phobio-kun, who I hadn’t seen for a long time. He seemed a bit thinner, but I am glad he looked healthy.


Looking at the people following Frey, there were two beautiful twin girls. One had silver hair while the other had gold hair, which fit well together. I heard that they were attendants of Frey, called the Twin Wings. I didn’t know they were twins, but they seemed like strong ladies as well. These were rulers of extreme power who accepted Milim as their new queen.


It was hard for people to hide their nervousness, and I honestly couldn’t blame them.


“Sorry. I’ll have to excuse myself for a minute,” I said before leaving to meet Milim’s group.


Milim’s face lit up with a big smile as soon as she saw me.


“Huhuhu, this day finally came! I’ll expect dishes good enough to make Midley shout from the rooftops today!” she announced for everyone to hear.







“Ah, leave that to me,” I answered, then in a subdued voice: “But first of all, didn’t you get scolded?”


Milim often snuck into the dungeon whenever she managed to slip out of Frey’s sight. She was here until yesterday, so her arrival today was also later than planned. I was a little worried about whether she’d been found out and was being scolded by Frey.


“It, it’s okay. I became self-aware that I am a ruler, so I made Frey believe me by emphasizing that I was protecting my borders,” Milim replied in a small voice, claiming she had made Frey accept it.


Seeing how she was sweating bullets and her eyes kept darting back and forth,it didn’t seem like she fully convinced her… Frey had a keen intuition.


What Milim was protecting wasn’t her territory, but the floors of the labyrinth I assigned to her. If that was found out, I, who was wholly unrelated, might get scolded as well. I had no choice but to believe in Milim for now. But—


Even if Milim ended up folding, I could just cling to saying that I had nothing to do with it.


“Thank you for inviting us today. I sincerely apologize for being later than the scheduled time,” Frey came towards me with a greeting, after waiting for my conversation with Milim to end. Then she looked me in the eyes and asked as if it were an interrogation: “Our Lord, Milim, had gone missing until this morning. So it took time to get her changed into formal dress—”


“Ah, hahaha, so that’s it. Ah, I don’t mind, so please enjoy the next few days free of hassle.”


I got the feeling that she could see right through me, so I looked away and politely brushed it aside. Had I been in my slime form, there would be no signs of agitation. But right now I was in my human form, causing me concern over my line of sight betraying my real intentions.


I must not meet eyes with an opponent that had such sharp senses.


“—I will do so. To be invited, despite being indebted to Rimuru-sama for building our new city. I am very grateful,” she answered with a smile, which melted my anxiety away. Then, naturally, I ended up saying something potentially inflammatory.


“No, No. I would hope that the dishes are to your liking. Right, are there any ingredients that you don’t eat? There is a dish made with a bird, if that is a problem—” Those words slipped past my tongue, before their meaning had caught up to me.


“A, bird…”


A freezing tension suddenly paralyzed me.


I’m in big trouble—but it was already too late.


“Ah—”


“Did Rimuru-sama want to say that I am on the same level as a bird?”


“That, wasn’t my intention—”


Frey was still smiling, and the Twin Wings were seething with bloodlust.


I screwed up big time. The saying, “The mouth is the source of trouble,” fits me perfectly right now.


This was unbearable. That moment of suspense filled with worry.


“Pfft. Hahahaha! Amazing, truly amazing, Rimuru. You really are an amazing guy. To actually treat Frey like a bird, this is a masterpiece,” Karion had burst out in laughter, looking like he couldn’t read the atmosphere.


“Hmm, it’s something even I can’t copy,” Milim said in admiration.


Don't do that, please don’t look at me with those sparkling eyes.


“What’s so funny, Karion? And Milim,” Frey huffed angrily.


No matter how you look at it, this was my fault.


“No, it was just my bad manners. What I just said was a slip of the tongue. I brought up a pointless concern, worrying that you might dislike bird dishes.”


It’s best to apologize truthfully in these situations. Stubbornly insisting on some irrelevant point could lead to a bigger argument. Based on this notion, I bowed my head and apologized in order to appease Frey, despite being in front of everyone. And I was met with surprise from Frey.


“Huhu, how befitting for Rimuru-sama. You’re just as I expected. I knew that you didn’t mean to insult me, though I wanted to test, for a moment, how you would react. But this was very telling. That Milim will grow by your example,” Frey finished, this time showing a gentle smile from the heart.


Milim being a tyrant was a thing of the past. In spite of her current appearance, her tendency to listen to others had markedly increased. Thinking that the reason for that was me, she used my slip of the tongue to test me. And probably intended to let Milim learn from my attitude. Bowing immediately was the correct answer. As long as Milim followed my example, then from Frey’s perspective, of course she’d want to test me. If I had been a bad influence on Milim, then she would no doubt be limiting playtime with me.


This really made me see Frey in a new light. I thought she was just a scary lady, but she seemed to be looking after Milim well.


Then, if we were to talk about bad examples…


“Well, what about you, Ka-ri-on? What’s so funny? Could you explain it clearly for me to understand?”


An incredible pressure seized Karion’s head, strong enough to make cracking sounds. Frey turned to Karion in a flash and grabbed his head with her soft hands. In brute force alone, Karion was far stronger, but looking at grip strength on its own, Frey had the upper hand.


“Wa-wait! Ow, ow-ow-ow, that hurts, really!!”


Frey hardened her arm from the fingertips to her elbows. Her fingernails started to transform into knife blades that were stronger than steel, then continued to grow bigger and embedded themselves in Karion’s head. It looked awfully painful.


“Dangerous, if this gets any worse, it will really be dangerous! I was wrong, I’m sorry, so please forgive me, Frey!!”


Their master was screaming, but the three Beastketeers did not try to move. Only Phobio was worried and didn’t know what to do, and the other two just stared at them looking baffled. Well, Karion still had the strength left to scream. And unlike me, he didn't seem to be reflecting, so it was a natural consequence of his actions.


“Did you see, Milim? You need to apologize when you make a mistake. That is the right choice, alright?”


“Hmm, okay. Before that, I will try to avoid doing things that will make Frey angry.”


Milim seemed to understand what I was saying. Playing in the dungeon was fun, but you must do it in moderation. First you finish the things you need to do, after that, leisurely playing around could be more fun. If you did that, you won't have any trouble, so if you didn’t want to get punished like Karion, you needed to be careful.


“Wait, hey! Wait! Stop the idle talk and help me!!”


Seeing Karion desperately struggling to break free from the claws as an example to learn from, Milim and I looked at each other and nodded.


“Hey, don't ignore me. Ouch, ow-ow-ow-ow—” Karion’s voice was slowly fading away.


Pledging not to forget his sacrifice, Milim and I waited for Frey’s anger to subside.




***




Next, making use of the extra time afforded by the commotion, Shuna was still finishing her work at hand.


“There, the extra orders are complete!” She said with a smile, and brought various dishes, all the while met with cheers from the guests.


Ignoring Karion’s sacrifice, we moved places.


“That was too mean, Milim and Rimuru. Even though I pleaded for dear life,” came the immediate complaints from Karion, who was just released by Frey.


“You’re fine, so stop complaining!”


“Yeah, Frey wasn’t super serious about it. That much was nothing, right?”


Because Karion was still so lively, I didn’t worry too much and told him that. But it was more dangerous than I thought.


“That’s not true? From the moment my head was caught in Frey’s claws, I lost access to my Skills. It’s probably her special Skill. To think that she would use that on me, this is no doubt an expression of her love.”


You’ve got it all wrong—but I kept that to myself.


That aside, right now Shuna’s cooking was more important. Countless dishes were stacked on top of a round table. The people who were waiting to serve, handed out the dishes according to the number of people in Milim’s group.


“I'm counting on you today. Midley is really stubborn, he expects dishes straight out of heaven.”


“Fufufu, I understand, Milim-sama. Please enjoy the meal,” Shuna assuaged Milim with a smile. Maybe it was because Milim was good with Shuna, but she seemed more relieved than when I told her. But—


“—That’s highly disagreeable, Demon LordRimuru-sama. To teach our Milim-sama such blasphemy…”


The thing that came out of Midley’s mouth, who followed as Milim’s attendant, as soon as the dishes were placed in front of him, was criticism. According to this Midley, he was the representative of “the people who want to follow Milim,” in the letter Milim sent.


Hermes, who was sitting off to the side, was making either apologetic or prayer gestures directed at me. Maybe he was doing it because he was worried that I might get angry at what Midley said. He seemed like the type that didn’t neglect to worry about the small things, a pleasant guy.


The nobles were watching us from afar, they had already filled their bellies and were enthusiastically talking about the ways of the world. Even if they were talking about the current affairs, their sphere was the world of aristocrats, and the goal was information collection. Right now, they seemed to be more interested in our conversation, than their own stories. In other words, Demon Lord Milim and her associate’s reactions, and the dishes they felt were good, that was what they were curious about. Especially since there were people like Midley, who didn’t understand the luxurious life of humans in the first place…


There was nothing to talk about when traditional values were vastly different, but if we gave up that easily, then getting humans and monsters closer together would be hard—there were likely people coming to that conclusion. There was nothing we could do about that, but it would probably be okay this time.


Hermes, another one of Milim’s attendants, said that he wanted to spread the concept of cooking to the Worshippers of Dragon, therefore, I responded to Midley with confidence.


“Blasphemy, you say?”


First, I countered with another question to figure out what Midley was thinking.


“Hmph! To be thankful and enjoy the taste of nature at its purest, that is the proper way, the rule we had set in stone long ago. To do this to them…”


There was dressing on the salad. The potato salad was mashed and devoid of round shapes.


“And what exactly are you doing? Cooking the meat, that’s fine. But to then tarnish the meat by pouring an unknown liquid on it? Pathetic. This deed is truly pathetic!!” he bellowed while glaring at me with throbbing veins on his forehead, he must’ve been furious.


Seemingly irritated after hearing that, Shuna, who had prepared the meal, stared at Midley with an eerie smile. Hermes, noticing the intimidating atmosphere, went pale as a sheet and bowed to Shuna in apology without end. But Midley paid him no mind and kept ranting.


“To show such insolence to the gifts of nature! It doesn’t matter if you do as you like in your territory, but it is nonsense to rope our Milim-sama into this as well!”


While jabbing a finger at the soup filled with ingredients and the bite size cream croquette, among others, Midley was persisting on his views of it being an insult to the natural ingredients. This was ridiculous, it’s no wonder Milim asked me for help.


These kinds of people were always tiresome to deal with, talking sense into him would be hard. He seemed like the type of guy that thought himself to be infallible and disregarded anything other people said. However, that would come to an end today.


It would be a problem if their tongue structure was different, but this was solely a conflict with Midley’s values. And he simply believed it to be true, there was no legitimacy behind his ideas. In the first place, Milim herself, who Midley served, wanted to eat delicious dishes. Even now, she looked like a dog that had been told “wait,” while there was food in front of her, so let’s settle this quickly.


This time it would be an easy victory. If the word “delicious” came out of Midley, then it would be our victory. If he even has a bite of Shuna’s food, then our victory will be assured—I had that kind of an optimistic outlook. But I was being too simplistic.


“I can never accept something like this!!”


Midley was furious and didn't want to touch the meal. Victory’s prerequisite was making him eat at least one bite, but if Midley didn’t even want to lay his hand on it, then we lost the battle before the fight even began.


Milim was eyeing me anxiously.


Hermes looked to the skies with a crestfallen expression.


The dispute had gotten slightly out of hand and seemed to have drawn a lot of eyes. Even the low-ranked people who were too lowly to deal with Elmesia, started to watch how things were turning out. Were I to falter before Midley’s opinion, in front of so many people, then this wouldn't just end with me losing face.


“Rimuru, I didn’t know Midley would be this stubborn. Do you think it would be better to tell him to stand by in a separate room?” Milim proposed, worrying about me.


“My apologies. Our High Priest has been rude. He does have a bit of a temper on the regular, but he isn’t a bad person… I didn’t expect him to get this bent out of shape over food.”


“Uh-um. I naively thought that he would understand once he tried the food. It’s not good to force it either, so there's nothing we can do…”


Well, it wasn’t like today was our only shot at this. The festival started in full swing tomorrow, so there was no need to rush.


Let's rethink and finalize our plan of attack against Midley by using today’s failure as an example; right now we have to prioritize taking care of the current situation—I decided to put this problem off for later.


But there was someone who could not accept that in this situation.


BAAANG!!


A loud noise echoed throughout the parlor house. Shuna had suddenly slammed the table hard in front of Midley, with a smile quite unlike the one from a while ago.


Midley’s eyes went wide. The expression he made was not because it hurt, but because he could not understand what was going on.


That’s how it happened. Shuna was surprisingly fast, so much so, that, even though he was caught off-guard, not many could’ve reacted to it.


“What, what are you doing?”


“Shut your mouth!!” Shuna shouted loudly, without losing her smile as she glared at Midley. Then she grabbed the bowl with the soup and handed it to him.


“Look at this soup. There are a lot of ingredients in it, right? This is Rimuru-sama’s ideal.”


Huh? What does that mean?


Disregarding my confusion, Shuna continued, “Under Milim-sama, beastmen, harpies, the monsters who served Clayman, and your dragonites are gathered. You could say that any one of them possesses tremendous power. But if you combine your strength—you’ll be able to act with far greater strength in unity. Please try this.”


Showing unexpected power, Shuna handed Midley the spoon, and likely cowed by her demeanor, he tried the soup as he was told. I had almost given up, but Shuna pulled it off this easily…


Since we got this far, it would follow as planned.


“—!!”


Midley’s face was overcome with astonishment.


“Thi-this is—?!”


“How is it? It’s delicious, right? This is what we call ‘harmony’. Just like each and every one of the ingredients in the soup limiting their self-assertiveness can bring an overall complete taste, this soup contains that desire.”


Aha, so that’s it. Heck, I only thought of it as a tasty soup…


“It…it’s delicious. More than any vegetable I have eaten… This one spoon of soup has a deeper taste…”


No, that’s obvious. Compared to totally raw vegetables, Shuna’s cooking being far better was obvious. But to Midley it seemed to be a groundbreaking discovery.


“Hey, if you could stop looking at us with those pitiful eyes, that would be great…” Hermes said with a bright red face. His attitude clearly portrayed that he was asking not to be treated at the same level.


Certainly, I understood why he wanted to say that. After all, there are superiors who refuse to listen to their subordinates, even when they make a good point. Nevertheless, when something happens, then they have joint responsibility, making things tricky.


He looked rather pitiful, so I gave him a nod to show that I understood. That was that, during my time with Hermes, Midley had eaten all of the soup, down to the final drop.


Shuna told Midley after finishing the soup: “As long as you understood, that’s all I ask of you. But please remember the following at the very least. Cooking goes beyond just one dish.”


With a calmer expression, Shuna was teaching Midley. With the wonderful taste of the soup in mind, Midley now seemed to be willing to take in those words.


“What do you mean?” he asked Shuna in an earnest fashion.


“If this soup is the new country that Milim-sama rules,” she replied, “then this bread here is the Blumund Kingdom, and this steak is the rising nation Famenas. If this Terrine made with Foie gras is the Dwarf Kingdom, you could say this seafood dish is Sorcerer’s Dynasty Sarion. The variety of combinations is diverse. Cooking isn’t something that could be complete with just one style. It’s the same with nations. Forming wide and deep relations and being entangled can give you a more plentiful satisfaction. That is the world Rimuru-sama wishes for.”


Shuna smiled from the heart. Midley seemed to be moved by those words, lowering his eyes to take in the spread out dishes, he silently descended into deep thought. It wasn’t just him, but the people stealing glances from afar reacted similarly.


“Is, is that so…”


“The relationship between countries, that’s definitely important.”


“That’s correct. However, to think that his Majesty Demon LordRimuru had thought that far ahead…”


“It’s really an amazing idea! Even if we were to talk about just one dish, it’s true. If you don’t get the right amount of salt, it won’t taste good. On this basis, you’re saying you made various dishes that harmonize with each other and complete a full course. Truly, I could truly say that this is a fascinating idea!!”


We reached a situation where people started to talk about it with excitement.


Uh-um, you see, I hadn't thought of it to that extent. Shuna’s powerful persuasion seemed to have beautifully touched the hearts of others. They were apparently spinning glorious narratives about the haphazard selection of dishes that were available during the party as well.


I admired Shuna, with an honest heart, I thought that she was amazing. Transcending the strength of words alone, the spectacular taste of her dishes made it all the more convincing—


The difference in values—even the people who were afraid of that, after listening to the word “harmony” derived from the cooking metaphor, probably saw a future where humans and monsters could join hands.


“Also, not everything that mixes is good, so please keep that point in mind,” Shuna mentioned that caveat, and for a split second, she shot a glance at Shion standing behind me, but I’d just ignore that.


“Well then, I think you understood. Shall we move on then, food is best eaten warm. Milim-sama, Karion-sama, Frey-sama, and accompanying people, please eat before it gets cold.”


On Shuna’s mark, Milim dug into her food like a starving dog.


“It’s so delicious!!”


A face full of smiles.


A reply like that was obvious. You didn’t need fancy words, her face said it all.


“I see… I had the wrong idea… Does that mean Milim-sama had waited for me to realize my mistake all this time…”


Midley became aware of it as well. After a long period of time, he was finally able to realize his mistake.


“Now, now, Midley-sama, being disheartened will only make the people around you uncomfortable. Let’s eat before it gets cold!”


He was not able to read the mood—no, because Hermes said that, purposely acting oblivious, veins started to show again on Midley’s forehead.


“You, you fool…”


“Wha-what’s wrong? Making your head stripy like a melon—”


“Wahahahaha! You don’t have to get angry like that, Midley. Let’s eat like Hermes said, or I might end up eating it all.”


“Tch, you escaped death, Hermes. I will forgive your disrespect today in consideration of Milim-sama and this excellent dish!”


And the place was filled with laughter. Regardless of human or monster, it was like all became one in heart.


“Your little sister is really amazing.”


“Right? She’s my proud little sis.”


As I complimented Shuna while meeting eyes with Benimaru, he nodded saying that it’s only natural. Maybe because she heard our conversation, Shuna dashed to the corner of the parlor house with a bright red face.


After that, the eve that was planned to go from six to nine in the evening, was extended for two more hours. One of the reasons being that key figures who were hesitating to participate, attended with the news of Elmesia turning up. Midley’s and Karion’s group were quite the heavy eaters, so satiating their hunger took a while, that being another reason.


Well, whatever the reason was, it didn’t matter. Judging by the unprecedented results, it was a huge success.


And with this, the eve together with multiple promotional efforts aimed at prominent figures from other countries, despite some diversion that brought us off course a few times, but, nonetheless, had exceeded expectations, finally came to an end.































Intermission 1

Midnight Meeting






After the pre-party ended, the time was twelve at midnight. We held an emergency meeting.


“Sorry to have to summon you all this late. Surely you are all very tired by now, but I hope you all can hold up for just a while,” saying so, I glanced around the people gathered. First, I wished to commemorate the biggest hero of today’s event, Shuna.


“Shuna, it’s all thanks to you today. The food was truly delicious, and you also helped convince that Midley who has been troubling Milim as well. You have my sincere thanks.”


After expressing my gratitude towards her, Shuna gave off a sweet smile.


“That was too kind of you, it’s all thanks to Yoshida-san’s help that the meals turned out to be such a success. Moreover, Rimuru-sama couldn’t stop complimenting Hakurou’s fresh sashimi. I was quite troubled and felt that my culinary skills weren't as good.”


Whether it be fillet, fancy-looking sashimi, and even hand-made sushi, Hakurou’s culinary skill far surpassed Shuna’s. It’s not that Shuna wasn’t trying hard enough, it was just his unique craftsmanship… Though Shuna still seemed rather troubled by it. With that being said, she candidly accepted my thanks, nonetheless.




Next, I turned to Myourmiles, who was quietly working behind the scenes.


“Myourmiles-kun, what’s the situation with the merchants? Were there any issues?”


In order to sell things during the event, we imported a variety of goods from different countries. It was being managed by Rigurd and Lilina-san. We entrusted Myourmiles with receiving visiting merchants to our kingdom.


“The merchants gave very positive feedback. They were all astounded by the majesty of our nation. The food provided by our residents tonight also made a great impression on them. Many farmers from neighboring countries also visited us. It was an unprecedented sight to behold. The goods provided by the merchants were mostly of high quality, so hopefully we can stay on good terms with them in the future—”


At this time, Myourmiles turned his eyes slightly to Rigurd. He nodded in response and continued the explanation.


“Indeed, as Myourmiles-san mentioned, there have been many goods, such as fresh vegetables, fruit, dried meat, dried fish as well as precious artifacts gathered here. Not to mention, some have even brought livestock, so the preparation for the celebration is water-proof at this point.”


Rigurd guaranteed that there was no need to worry about the adequacy of the products.


“We’re planning to start using these imported goods as food ingredients for the nightly gala from tomorrow onwards,” Lilina-san added, after nodding to Rigurd’s words.


“Right, so there doesn’t seem to be any problem.”


“Yes, there shouldn’t be any problem. It’s just that—no, there shouldn’t be a problem.”


Hmm? Myourmiles wanted to say something. This actually just made me more curious, hopefully he will explain clearly.


“Oi oi oi, don’t hold back and say it already! It’s really bugging me that you stopped mid-sentence.”


I tried to get Myourmiles to come clean. Benimaru and Souei seemed to approve of my view as well and nodded in agreement. Unable to withstand this pressure, Myourmiles scratched his head and opened up once more.


“Perhaps I’m just worrying too much, but the vendors that came with the well-known merchants were all unfamiliar faces. Despite the impression I may give to others, memorizing people’s faces is my specialty. So that really caught my attention. That’s why I had it look into—”


Even though he was concerned, there shouldn’t be an issue. That’s how Myourmiles put it. From shop-owners he was acquainted with, he learnt that they were indeed only trading with these people recently. But they hadn’t heard anything negative about them. These people were offering quality goods at low prices, and the shop-owners all jokingly commented that Myourmiles was worrying too much. Myourmiles tried talking to these people to probe their intentions and they also responded rather kindly.


“I’ve been too excited having taken this important responsibility that even I am a bit on the edge,” he finished with a wry smile.


Recently, Myourmiles’s workload had reached jaw-dropping levels. I was a bit worried and asked whether he could hold up.


“Oi oi oi, are you sure you’re gonna be able to hold yourself together? You’re not going to force yourself too much and fall into illness…?”


Yet this time Myourmiles did indeed dismiss my worries with a smile.


“Hahaha, please don’t worry. As opposed to this, there’s more important things to attend to! The Chosen Hero, Masayuki-sama himself, is going to partake in the martial tournament tomorrow! The news has hit the town like wildfire, I heard a betting pool was immediately set up in the bar.”


He was full of passion towards this job, so this was no time for him to quit. Myourmiles declared himself. He also pointed out the more important business, which was Masayuki’s decision to join the tournament tonight.


“Right, that’s why I’ve gathered everyone here.”


The people who went to receive Milim and the others weren’t aware of this ordeal yet. Benimaru even eyed Souei, asking “What is going on here?” hoping to hear an explanation from him. Yet Shion was a step ahead of Souei and took the chance to explain.


“That guy was a pain in the ass! All talks and no cider, he went on about dealing with Rimuru-sama. I wish I could teach him a lesson myself…”


“It was me who intervened. Since there was an audience, we couldn’t have Shion be that reckless. It may affect the ceremony tomorrow.”


I see, no wonder Shion was behaving that well. And I thought she had become more restrained lately, it seems it was too early for me to be relieved of that. Thankfully Souei was there.


“It was fortunate that you stopped her. My friend Yuuki was there at the time, if the news that she’s been looking to brawl with the chosen hero at the town gate started spreading, people would definitely be needlessly wary of us,” I said with a sigh, and saw Benimaru nodding.


“Well said. Shion, you need to keep your head cool.”


“Hmph, there’s no need for you to lecture me so. I was just a bit triggered, not that I actually wanted to crash the scene. That being said—”


“Kufufufufu, I can understand Shion-san. You meant that you couldn’t sit still as your master was being looked down on, didn’t you? Had Benimaru-san been there to witness the scene, surely you would have had a similar response?”


“—No way. I’m always very calm,” Benimaru responded with a slight pause, while shifting his eyes.


Uhh—that doesn’t sound all that convincing.


“By the way, Rimuru-sama. You mentioned that you have something to discuss, could it be that you intend to eliminate that hero? If you leave it to me, I’ll make sure to take care of him tonight without a single trace.”


Diablo gave this horrifying proposal without a flinch of an eye. This guy was one-hundred percent serious. He would really do it without hesitation, how terrifying.


“Not at all; don’t you act reckless now,” I repeatedly warned him.


Then I proceeded to discuss what I was actually planning.




“The thing I wanted to discuss is the martial tournament tomorrow. Which ones of my lieutenants would like to participate in it?


My words riled up the crowd—


“Ho?” Benimaru’s eyes lit up.


“I see how it is.”


Shion was smiling maniacally. I thought she secretly prepared something behind my back. Is she just going to abandon it now? Perhaps she has forgotten about it now that her mind was focused on the combat.


“Kufufufufu, intriguing, that’s truly intriguing.”


Even Diablo was giving off an unusually bright smile.


“Then please allow me to demonstrate my martial prowess for the people to see,” Geld was very motivated as well.


“Heh,” Souei followed and gave off a thin laugh. He looked ready to participate. There was also Hakurou. He didn’t say anything, yet he started to look distressed. Gabil said that he had some activities to attend to, and now regrets were written all over his face.


—And so on, these reactions were as I expected.


The only one who did not respond was Ranga, who had been slumbering in my shadow. I won’t allow him to participate anyway, so there shouldn’t be an issue.


Seeing that my lieutenants were about to start arguing about who were to attend the tournament, I brought them to my attention with a dry cough.


“Hold up, there will be many foreign spies at the scene, surely you guys wouldn’t need to show your true strength?”


“Kufufufufu, even if I don’t fight seriously, I will absolutely crush—”


“STOP! Let me make one thing clear. Benimaru, Shion, Diablo and Souei, you guys are banned from participating.”


“WHAT!”


“What do you mean—”


I held up my hand to quiet the shocked crowd as I explained to them the rationale.


“First of all, Souei, aren’t you the “Covert Spy”? How can you attend a tournament in front of an audience?”


Souei was brought back to his senses with my words. He seemed to agree and said no more. He no longer insisted on participating. Thankfully he wasn’t stubborn and asked to participate in disguise. But just to be safe, I had another bit of leverage.


“As a result, I want to give you a new role title.”


“A role title?”


“Indeed. Since you have been in charge of the espionage activities of the nation, I now officially appoint you as the leader of the royal spies. I also give your troops the title “Shadow Squad”. People such as Souka under your command are eligible to join, but not those who still can’t handle themselves!”


“Understood! Thank you for the title, Rimuru-sama!”


Souei’s gratitude exceeded my expectations a bit. That was really just an excuse for him to not participate, although it was good that he also felt so happy about it. Nowadays his troops had reached around a hundred members. He only needed to pick out the elites to form the “Shadow Squad”. Souei was able to accept that kind of arrangement. The problem now lay with the other three.


Among my subordinates, these three were the strongest. If I allowed these folks to participate, there would no doubt be problems everywhere. I was aware of the consequences, so I’d already come up with a solution.


“Heed me now. In order to match the political needs of the Western Nations, I will be adding the roles of the ‘Four Heavenly Kings’.”


“The Four Heavenly Kings…”


“So that’s—”


“I see how it is now.”


The expressions of the three changed drastically. Obviously they all fell for it.


“You three are especially strong among my subordinates. Benimaru will be appointed as the leader of the ‘Four Heavenly Kings’. Another two seats will be taken by Shion and Diablo.”


Among the three, Benimaru was most suited to lead. Since he was my representative after all, the man to fill in the role of commanding general. That was why Benimaru was the most suitable for the secretive role of the “Four Heavenly Kings”. I made it sound all mysterious to mask the fact that it was just the title of a made-up role. It was mainly an excuse to prevent them from participating in the tournament.


“Appointing me as the leader… I shall obey your divine command!”


Alright, Benimaru had accepted it.


“Although I can’t agree to the point that Benimaru took charge as the leader, I hope you may reconsider it after seeing my performance in the future. I am most glad to be among the ‘Four Heavenly Kings’, Rimuru-sama!”


Shion also accepted it. Not sure where she got her confidence though, but since she had accepted it, this’ll do.


“‘The Four Heavenly Kings’, I see? Although I would like to be Rimuru-sama’s choice of top subordinate, I’m still just a green-horn for now. I can’t be too greedy. Right now my goal is to try my best to draw my strength closer to Rimuru-sama’s!”


Hmm—does that mean he accepted it too? Diablo’s personality was really troublesome, seriously.


Anyhow, from now on these three would be the “Four Heavenly Kings”.


“Thank you for your frank approval. Next, as for why I’ve barred you from participating, it has to do with this ‘Four Heavenly Kings’.”


“What do you mean?”


“Yes, it is because the last Heavenly King is difficult to choose. I meant to appoint Souei, but since he is a “Secret Spy” and cannot show up in public easily, he wasn’t suited for the role.”


I quietly observed everyone’s reaction as I finished. They seemed to nod in agreement.


“That’s why I will have the remaining folks join the tournament. I think whoever wins will deserve the title of the ‘Four Heavenly Kings’, what do you guys think?”


I fired my words in quick succession. In the conference room, folks began to look at each other to see their reactions. A most unexpected voice was suddenly raised.


“Uh, hmm… I would like to attend, but from tomorrow onwards, I’ll be having dates with Momiji—I mean, I promised her to show her around the town… But, since Rimuru-sama has given the order—”


Hakurou, who I’d put most expectations in, wanted to decline the request. Someone as skillful as Hakurou was most suitable for such an important role, but the timing seemed off. Although I could indeed order him to attend, it just didn’t seem appropriate. Hakurou was the best man to test out Masayuki’s true strength, or so I thought—but since he had the rare opportunity to have some memory with his daughter, he’d hold a grudge against me if I intervened.


“That’s quite a big deal, Hakurou. If you back out, Momiji may not talk to you again, EVER.”


“T-that’s…”


My senior from my last life didn’t go through with his promise to his daughter. He later came to work and lamented about having been ignored over a week or so. These two just got reunited, if he were to break his promise so soon…


“Besides, as opposed to appointing Hakurou as “The Four Heavenly Kings”, he is more suitable as Benimaru’s military consultant. You seem to be quite satisfied being an adjutant already, so you don’t have to join.”


Hakurou nodded gratefully in response. For his sake, I decided not to have Hakurou participate. In that case, the available participants would be—


“I still have my technology conference to attend… Geld-san is stronger than me, so I’ll give him the opportunity!”


It seemed that Geld was the only one left. Due to his own scheduled activity, Gabil would not be able to participate. He had placed his hope in someone else and decided to cheer for Geld instead.


“I see. I’ll do my best to defeat that brat called Masayuki!”


Geld nodded his head firmly in response to Gabil’s expectations. Geld was an incredible talent in terms of strength, but to be frank, “The Four Heavenly Kings” were set just for show; it’d be somewhat inappropriate to have Geld join…


I only appointed Benimaru so he would restrain the other two troubled kiddos, so it doesn’t really seem fair to Geld. Never mind, I’ll think about this later. First I’ll have Geld test out the strength of Masayuki.


And just as I was about to make up my mind—


“I would like to recommend a man that is suitable as a Heavenly King!” Rigur suddenly stood up and said to me. There may be some complications due to issues with the grouping during the tournament. In order to prevent such a thing, it was best not to send just one participant. Since the person in question was someone worthy of Rigur’s, who is Rank A, recommendation, I was pretty reassured.


“O-okay. Although I figure it’d be fine with Geld alone participating, who would that be?” as I thought to myself, I hurried Rigur to explain.


“Unfortunately, I am unable to participate due to security duty, but there’s a man whose strength is only next to me, that is—”


Someone strong enough to stand next to Rigur—could it be!


“Gobta!”


Oh… Saw it coming. As I expected, Rigur had given his highest approval.


“Gobta would be most suited to join in representing us,” he said.


“Hehe, that guy is among the best of my disciples. He’s got a quick mind as well as good techniques. Although he hasn’t evolved in terms of raw power, it’d be interesting to have him grow with this tournament.”


Even Hakurou was saying so. None of the lieutenants seemed to object. I would like to confirm his willingness in person, however…


“Zzz—Zzz—”


Uhh. It seemed that the participant was eager to fight as well. No problemo. So it shall be, I decided to send Gobta into the tournament.




And just as I was about to end the meeting, someone had a word to say.


“Master, I would like to join in the martial tournament!”


Ranga woke up at some point without my notice and stretched his neck out of my shadow. He had commented while wagging his tail.


“No no no, Ranga, surely you're not suitable. The theme this time is martial combat, after all…”


“Y-you have a point, the Summoner is joining the battle, so there should also be summoned beasts… But it would be pretty odd to have Ranga-san join the tournament…”


The tournament was a battle of strength and technique. Ranga was indeed strong, but he didn’t fit in accordance with the rules of the tournament. Based on these views, I rejected his proposal. Myourmiles also expressed approval.


Ranga looked at Gobta hatefully. He seemed upset, but that was a point I couldn’t compromise on. I steeled my heart and refused Ranga from participating.


“Then we should arrange Geld-san and Gobta-san as the seeded participants. The number of participants has exceeded two hundred, we will have them group in six teams to partake in elimination matches. Then we will decide on the official participant.”


Over two hundred! There were quite a lot of people participating. The preliminary rounds tomorrow were originally supposed to select eight final official participants of the tournament. But we couldn’t spend too much time in the preliminary matches, so we planned to split them into eight teams to fight in elimination rounds. Now that we considered the two joining the tournament, it became a match of six.


“I’ll be receiving guests from other nations tomorrow, so I’ll leave the commanding post to Myourmiles-kun, sorry for the trouble!


“Just count on me!”


Hearing Myourmiles’s reliable voice, I nodded reassured. And next in line is—


“Diablo, are you acquainted with all the foreign journalists?”


“Yes, I’ve invited them to participate in the founding festival. I have made preparations for them to promote us positively.”


Diablo sure was comprehensive in preparing things. Now that we had been covered by the media, there was no need to hide our strength. In other words, perhaps having a fearsome demon as referee—such contrast may more or less change people’s impression of him.


“Sorry about it, I didn’t want to trouble you with the referee role. But since the Chosen Hero Masayuki, Geld and Gobta are joining, it doesn’t feel safe to have a hobgoblin as referee.”


“Kufufufufu, please leave it to me!”


And so it was done. If anything happened, Diablo would definitely help.


“That’s it for now, sorry for taking up your time. It’s a bit late, but everyone can relax for the day!”


“ “ “Yes sir!” ” ”


Now the meeting was finally over. And so, we went to bed before the official start of the actual ceremony tomorrow.