Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken (LN)

Volume 3 - Ch 2

THE DEMON LORD INVADES

On a flying horse, the trip from Dwargon toughRimuru apparently took just one day. They were soon off, with Gazel promising to visit again soon.

And he did.

Well, Rimuru! the king half shouted as he dismounted. Here I am, as promised!

Uh, didnt you just leave two days ago? I couldnt help but point out.

What are you talking about? Your fellow swordsmanship pupil is here to visit! I thought you would be happier!

I hate people who obviously never listen to anyone else. And that fellow crap again. He wasnt even trying to hide the fact that he wanted to be my big bro at the sword dojo. It was really starting to affect his majesty as a dwarven king, and I didnt think I was imagining that, either. And he came alone this time! Did he even have the time for this?

As I silently stewed over these doubts, Kaijin came running up to me. Your Majesty! he shouted. You didnt sneak out of the castle, did you?!

Pfft! Can you believe it? A hundred-man security detail, and not one noticed me escaping! Such ignoble slackers! Its right back to hard drilling for them when I return home.

WellI meanthey cant handle someone like you, my liege

Mm? Did you want to say something, Kaijin?

N-no, Your Majestynothing

Oh? Capital, then.

Considering the speed at which he sprinted up to us, Kaijin was surprisingly weak against his king. He was refuted before I could even get a word in edgewise.

Buta king sneaking out of his castle? Whats with that? Was the Dwarven Kingdom going to put up with this?

Er, so what brings you here this time, Your Majesty?

Well, simple, really. You recall how I exiled you both from Dwargon based on my own personal judgment, so thats why I had to come here. And you will recall how our covenant included the sharing of technological expertise? Well, Ive brought along the perfect man for the job.

He tossed the bag he was carrying on the ground. It began to wriggle around.

What on?!

Flustered, Kaijin opened the bag, only to find a skinny, pallid man flying out.

Oh, geez, Vester?! I couldnt help but shout. The very bastard who had trapped us. Why here?

Heh-heh-hehprecisely! I banished him from the palace as punishment for his scheming against you, but itd be a waste to let him just play around for too long! So I brought him here.

I had no response to that.

Mymy liege, what do you mean by so I brought him here, exactly?! Do you even understand what it would mean, having Sir Vester work here?

Mm? Dont want him?

Of course I dont, Your Majesty! You would be leaking all his knowledge to us!

Kaijin was impassioned about pleading his case. Deep down, I guess hes more serious-minded than I had thought. Vester, meanwhile, didnt seem like he knew what had happened yet. I guess he was in that bag for the whole previous evening, on a winged horse, so I couldnt blame him.

Leak, you say? Gazel returned Kaijins look of concern. Well, a bit late for that now, is it not? It was already leaked the moment you left us! I honestly considered asking my covert team to assassinate you, do you realize?

It didnt sound like he was joking.

My My liege, is that

Its true! I called it off, though, after quite a bit of thought. There is nothing I hate more than wasting good talent. And thats why I want Vester working here!

Vesters eyes sparkled at the words.

YourMajesty

And dont you get the wrong idea, Vester. I have not absolved youbut as I said, I have great expectations for you. You may no longer serve me, but I hereby grant you the right to pursue your duties here. Make use of your natural talents and show me you can live an honest, fruitful life for a change!

K-King Gazel?! Kaijin sounded like he was beside himself. Should I take this to mean youre fine with letting us take every piece of dwarven technology you have?

The king laughed, like it didnt bother him in the least. Pfft! Let me give you this request, then. I want you to take this land we stand upon now and harness it to create technology like none seen before. You understand me? Your research should not rely on previous perspectivesyou must work more freely than that, as you conceive new ideas. That is the whole reason why I have allowed the free exchange of technology between my nation and yours.

So this was his aim the whole time, I thought as Gazel pressed his full royal authority upon them both. He wasnt just looking at my skillshe had his eyes on Kurobes forging abilities, Shunas weaving, even our top-secret potion development. His keen sense of self-interest let him sniff out what we were doing here, to some extent. No wonder the Dwarven Kingdom had been so prosperous for so long. In some ways, I was less than thrilled by it. He just kept leading us around by the noseas if he was reading my mind

I was interrupted before I could continue this train of thought.

Rimuru, listen to me. You failed to detect Haze, the deepest level of our concealment magic. Magic Sense is a powerful skill, but there are a thousand ways to outwit it. That lies at the core of any battleguess how your foe will scope you out, and get a leg up before he can. Relying on ones skills prevents real growth. And politics, you see, are just the same. You must read what your opponent is thinking and work beyond that. Fail at that, and you have no future as a politician. You must remain diligent.

See? Reading my mind. Good advice, though.

But really, this has to be

Understood. There is a high probability that the individual named Gazel possesses mind-reading skills.

Yep. That was the only explanation. In fact, that explains the whole thing. Dodging every single move of mine did seem a bit unnatural. His evasion was a little too spot-on, like he knew what I would do each time.

Hey, are you

Oops! Bet my covert force has caught up to me by now. Ill be on my way, then!

As if waiting for the opportunity, Gazel grinned and took a fist-size crystal from his pocket.

Let me give you this, he said. I took it without objection. This communication crystal will let us keep in contact. Vester should be able to set it up for you. Use it to call us in case of emergency. Farewell for now!

In a flash, he was on his horse.

Vester, he said with a final nod, may you strive as much as you can to succeed in your research!

Y-Your Majesty! Vester nodded. This time This time, I promise I will not let you down!

I am off!

Then he flew away. A very sudden arrival, and a very hurried exit. The man was like a living thunderstorm.

The king had left Kaijin and me staring at each other.

Kaijin, are you sure your nations safe with such a freewheeling man ruling it?

Who can say? Hes been ruling for centuries, so I imagine well be fine, but Certainly, he was not so flighty when I served him in the palace.

Ah, well. Im not one to speak, I suppose.

And I wasnt. I was planning to hang out in some human towns before long. No need to voluntarily put my foot in my mouth.

With that hazy end to the subject, we were walking away from the main square when we heard a voice behind us.

Sir Rimuru! Sir Kaijin! Vester was there, head bowed downward. I deeply apologize! Please, let me atone for matters first. And if you will forgive me, please, I hope you will let me work here!

I hadnt forgotten the trap he almost sprang on us. But Vesters eyes were clear now, not filled with the avarice from before. I can trust him, I thought.

Well, lets get one thing clear firstyoure following my orders, you got that? No more dissing me because were all monsters here. You think you can manage that?

Of course. Looking back at my behavior fills me with shame. It began with this terrible jealousy I had for Sir Kaijin, but every time I think about it, it makes me feel like a fool.

He sized me up, looking me in the eye.

Ive been given the chance to restore my good name, and I would never want to lose it. And I can assure you that I really do want to devote myself fully to the research I so enjoy!

Kaijin responded by patting him on the shoulder. To me, he said, itll be great just to have another talented researcher on hand. So you think you can give him a chance? You can yell at me about it if he gets up to anything bad, Rimuru, so trust me on this one and lets let bygones be bygones!

Id say Vester was more of a threat to Kaijin than to me, but Ah, well. He seemed pretty ready to believe in him, and if he was willing to let it slide, I had no reason to object.

Well, no complaints from me, Kaijin, if thats what you want. Welcome to town, Vester!

Y-yes sir! I am unworthy of your forgiveness, but I promise you that I will work as diligently as I possibly can!

Good news, eh, Vester? Kaijin added. I guarantee you, youre never gonna be bored around here. No time to worry about stupid stuff, let me tell you that much!

Vester needed a joband quickly. This time, I actually had just the thing.

Our hipokute-growing operation was finally starting to gain some steam, so I figured we could move on to the actual production of healing potion next. I was anticipating having to teach Gabil the process from the ground up, given he had no real relevant knowledgebut with Vester and his spirit-engineering experience, now it was a different story. I figured the two could work together on the project, with Gabil serving as Vesters assistant and cave bodyguard.

Before anything, though, I had to introduce them to each other. We headed to the Sealed Cave, Gabil hurriedly trotting out when I called for him.

Hello! My name is Vester, and it sounds like well be working on this research together.

Mmm. Gabil. I am tasked with cultivating hipokute herbs, but if there is anything else I can do, please tell me. Let us both work together for Sir Rimurus sake!

The two of them shook hands. I was concerned the sight of Gabil would unnerve him at first, but I didnt need to be. So I asked Gabil to guide him into the cave for me.

Sir Rimuru, look at this. All of this is freshly cultivated hipokute!

I had to nod my approval. The operation was really starting to go well. The open space beyond the caves door seal was awash in green, thriving hipokute, as far as I could see.

We had a problem, though: Gabil and I were one thing, but Vester didnt have any way of seeing in the dark. Light, whether from a torch or via a magic spell, still wasnt enough to let you even see where you were standing. There were some dimly lit parts of the cave, but not enough to really work with.

I recalled when Kaijin first entered the cave. His reaction: Boss, I cant see a thing in all this darkness And he was right. I had forgotten since I had no problems seeing in there, but no way could anyone perform real work in this pitch-blackness.

In the midst of this, it was Shionmy self-appointed secretary, and someone who hadnt joined the conversation at all until nowwho offered a solution.

So do we just need some light, then?

Yeah. Any ideas, Shion?

Yes! We can open a hole in the wall to bring in some light

No, you idiot!

Shion scowled at my immediate refusal. This was called the Sealed Cave for a reason. The walls were incredibly solidly built. Maybe you could smash a hole in them if you applied all your strength to it, but that ran the risk of a massive cave-inand losing all Gabils noteworthy cultivation progress. I hated to pop Shions balloon like that, but I had to.

Itd be nice if we could run some electricity through here, I muttered to myself.

Whats that, boss?

Could you tell me what you mean by that?

It seemed to grab Kaijins and Vesters attention. So I gave them a basic rundown of how electricity worked back in my realm, projecting the image of a light bulb into their minds.

I see Apply heat to a metal filament to generate light, then?

Hmm. Yes, it is quite astonishing. The luminescent moss here wont provide enough light to work with. It is certainly something we need to develop.

I was expecting to generate the required heat via electrical resistance. Instead, they proposed a solution involving a magic circle to compress magicules inside. Much like how a magic-imbued sword emitted a faint glow, applying a little magic engraving to metal would apparently let it light up. Wed be using magisteel for the metal, I assumethe best kind of raw material for swords, and very compatible with magicule usage. Itd generate a lot of light, as well as provide heat resistance and durabilityand the way it readily soaked in inscription magic meant there was little need to test anything else. Its pretty valuable stuff, but I had a vast supply on tapa supply that I kind of mined from this cave, so I might as well use it.

Metalwork and carving work were mostly done in Dolds wheelhouse, so we decided that Kaijin would discuss matters with him afterward. I gave Kaijin the necessary materials, and with that, my role in the project was over. The three had what they needed, and I figured Id leave it to them.

You know, I ventured, if were going to have some light soon, why dont we just build a laboratory in here?

Could we?! Vester excitedly replied. I do rather like the relaxed atmosphere in this cave. Having such a secret lab is a concept I always enjoy.

I guess Vester was more childlike than I thought. His eyes sparkled as he said all this, so I couldnt walk it back. For now, though, I thought it best to remind him of the local dangers.

You sure about that, though? There are evil centipedes all over the place. Thats like a B-plus right there.

Hmm? Not a problem, I would say. I have dabbled in magic myself a little, and I actually have quite a bit of skill at it!

I looked at Kaijin. He responded by shaking his head. Guess we cant rely on that too much. I pressed on, a little concerned for his safety.

Well, I could set one up for you, if youre sure you wont regret it?

Oh, absolutely! Besides, I have Sir Gabil to back me up. Oh, I do hope you could provide that!

True. Having Gabil around probably meant no attacks were forthcoming. With those concentrated levels of magicules, too, normal monsters couldnt even approach the place. Gabil and his team just barely got a pass, and even then, thats thanks to the magicules dissipating a fair bit after I swallowed up Veldora. Humans and demi-humans had no issues, though, and the dwarves and hobgoblins could come and go freely, too. It seemed to me like natural-born monsters were more easily affected by magic, somehow. That seemed to explain it.

Can I leave Vester in your hands, Gabil?

You certainly may! I am here, and I have two of my people on watch at all times!

Gabil had certainly become a lot more reliable as of late. He got carried away far too easily, which worried me, but he certainly had skill. I could tell he was getting used to his new life here, and he and Vester seemed to hit it off. I thought I was safe leaving things to him.

So before I could work on developing potions, I wound up having to devise a home and laboratory for Vester.

I had both of them wrapped up in a few days.

Its worth noting that Gabil and the other dragonewts slept immersed in water, so they didnt really need living quarters to speak of. They could handle a bed just fine, but apparently the wings got in the way, so they were more comfortable underwater. Soka and the other females could fully put away their wings, so they slept in rooms, but I suppose even dragonewts had their own likes and dislikes.

For Gabils room, however, he had several of his men dig out what looked like a pretty comfy personal space for him. There was a ventilation duct and everything. He had brought in all the stuff he needed, and it sure didnt look lacking at all to me.

Now we just needed a way for Vester to safely travel between here and town.

Sir Rimuru, is it all right if I install a magic circle in here? Summoning magics going to be pretty rough on this side of the door, but it appears to be possible outside of it. Id like to build one here, if possible.

Vesters chosen location was the spot where I defeated that first black snake way back when.

What kind of magic circle do you mean?

A teleportation circle, sir. It would let me travel instantly to any location I associate it with. Activating it takes some time, but no more than a few minutes, so I think it would do wonders to reduce travel times

He was talking about a Warp Portal, a type of elemental magic. The caster made them work by drawing the same series of symbols at the entrance and exit. These symbols worked strictly as pairs, so stepping into a Portal would always bring you to the same destination, but linking this cave with someplace back in town would still be a great timesaver. Maybe Vester really did know a thing or two about magic. It came as a total surprise to Kaijin, who knew nothing about it.

The required symbols for a Warp Portal would normally be drawn with intricate, and expensive, magical potions. Here, however, wed be using carvings made on magisteelwhich technically was even more expensive, but it meant we could reuse them many times without having to draw them repeatedly. This, we could use to link up top-secret facilities within our own nation.

Elsewhere in the world, magisteel was too precious to last very long without being stolen. Carving-based Portals could only be built in areas where theft wasnt a concernleave one out in the open, and itd face the full brunt of the elements, along with the potential for breakage or robbery.

We didnt have to worry about cave monsters teleporting themselves into town with it, either. The user needed to exercise a few magical muscles to activate it, focusing on the destination in their mind.

It all sounded good to me, so I gave Vester the nod to go ahead. Magic teleporters, though, huh? Pretty useful. Ill definitely need a primer on those soon.

Vester was proving to be a much more useful man than I had thought. Having total freedom to pursue his research made him a much less wily, treacherous fellow. He seemed to really love life now. And recalling my time in Dwargon, he didnt seem particularly happy over there, constantly struggling for power. Research probably suited him more than ladder climbing. Having greed and envy rule your life, instead of the stuff you really want to do, would change anyone for the worse. Its best to just do what you like, I think, as long as you arent bothering anyone.

So either way, we were all set to go, and before long, Gabil and Vesters tandem research efforts were under way.

It had been a bit of a hectic time with King Gazel visiting and Vester joining my crew, but we were receiving quite a few other guests in the meantime, too.

Just as Treyni warned, the town was now playing host to a wide variety of races. The kobolds came first, stopping by in their usual trade caravan, and they must have been taken aback seeing all the massive changes to the forest. We were, after all, chopping down trees to procure more empty land to place buildings on, and once we wrapped that up, we kept ourselves busy widening the road to the lizardmens homelands around Lake Sisu.

Wh-what is going on in here?! one shouted at me. They knew something was changing near their own lands deeper in the forest, and now their finely honed nose for business had led them to brave the risks and check things out.

But the changes these kobolds experienced werent just to the scenery.

Well, hello there, kobolds. I do so appreciate your business!

Er, who may I be talking to?

Ha-ha-ha! Its me. Rigurd!

They need more of a hint than that, dude And once we explained that Rigurd used to be chief elder of the goblin village, that made the kobolds yelp in surprise even more.

These kobolds, however, were pretty nice guys. The ones here spent their days wandering across the vast forest, covering their own sales territory, and one of them had been the main merchant handling Rigurds village. He was now talking cheerfully with several hobgoblins on the road.

Would we be able to have your permission, the kobolds asked me, to build an inn and storehouse to serve as our base of operations?

I gladly accepted the offer, and with that, I now had a kobold HQ in town, along with an entire clan of the guys to staff it. The old wandering-caravan days were over; instead, they used the town as a base to fan out and tackle all the other settlements they sold their wares to.

Some of our other visitors included halflings and merfolk. The halflings swore their allegiance to us, and I had them work on our farms. The merfolk, meanwhile, were seeking protection. They lived nearby a large lake that had recently become infested with a growing horde of amphibious monsters. I ordered Benimaru to send a cleanup force their way. Most of the trade between us and the Dwarven Kingdom would involve traveling along riversides, and I was sure the merfolk could provide some assistance with that. If they were willing to work with us, they were more than welcome.

As far as more uncommon visitors go, one time, while exploring in the woods, I came across an insectoidan insect-type monsterthat was near death. It was maybe a foot and a half tall, kind of a cross between a stag beetle and one of those big fighting ones, and I just thought it looked so cool. There was a dead blade tiger next to it, a B-ranked monster, and imagining this small creature defeating such a formidable foe was remarkable to me.

So I decided to take care of it. It was hostile at first, attacking me without a moment of hesitation. That seemed reckless, but I quickly realized the motivation. There was another insectoid behind itit had attacked me so the other one could make its escape.

I didnt notice the other guy until it spoke up. W-wait, it pleaded. This one was about a foot tall and looked like a garden-variety wasp. A foot-long wasp would be the subject of horror films in my world, but this one, too, was critically injured. It was intelligent enough, at least, to communicate with me via thought, albeit haltingly.

Why do you not flee? I have no way left to protect you. Forgive me, the insectoid who attacked me muttered, resigned to its fate.

The other guy mustve been pretty smart, too. And even though the blade tiger almost killed it, it was using whatever strength remained to confront me. It seemed to be choosing to die a noble death, perhaps realizing that the time was near.

Strong one, the wasp asked me, youprotect us?

I couldnt find it in me to just abandon them. Something about that beetle doing whatever it could, even near death, to protect its friend struck a chord. No reason why they couldnt join the party

Then an idea hit me.

Hey, can you guys collect nectar or whatever?

Yes Can.

I figured they might be able to collect nectar from flowers, and they could. That provided all the reason I needed to lend them a helping hand. They both had lost around half of their bodies, so I lent them a few cells from my own slime form to treat them, using processed magisteel to replace the missing parts of their exoskeletons. That, plus a dose of healing potion, fixed them right up. I named the cool-looking beetle Zegion and the wasp Apito, and now they were my subjects, or pets, or something.

The rarer plants I collected in the forest included those that would only bloom in special environments or places laden with magicules. Apparently such flowers bloomed readily in the treants settlement, however. I figured Apito, with its intelligence, could scope out those rarities for me and provide the nectar from them.

Treyni was kind enough to give permission for this, so I ordered Zegion to keep the treants safe while Apito collected the treasure. It would then deliver the nectar spoils to me on regular occasions.

So along those lines, we were starting to find more and more friendly people to interact with. But they werent all friendly. Sometimes wed get small gangs of lower-level magic-born sniffling around and spouting out classic hoodlum clichs like Whoo, ha-ha! What a fancy-lookin town this is! Were gonna treat it reeeeal good from now on!

Gobtas or Rigurs patrol teams were usually all it took to chase them off, but wed occasionally run into monsters with some actual strength as well. Such lower-level species always met a tragic end before long.

Oh, uh, Shion? Weve got some guests.

Yes, Sir Rimuru!

The idea of talking things out never registered in Shions mind. She was much more a fan of duking things out. Really more of a bodyguard than a secretary, and she was harsher on her opponents than Gobta or Rigur ever were.

It was the same thing every time, reallyno matter how many lower-level magic-born gathered together, there was just no beating Shion. And when they were sniveling on the ground, begging for forgiveness, only then would Shion smile and ask So how can I help you? Even the most arrogant of them would never be seen in town again after thatand if they did, Shion wasnt keen on second chances.

Generally, I asked her to avoid killing if she was able to. Monsters were all about survival of the fittest, and a convincing show of strength would usually be enough to force them into obedience. Any wayward souls who couldnt listen to reason and decided to be naughty a second or third time, though? Yeah, I gave her permission to execute them. I didnt have time for monsters who couldnt show regret for their actions.

There were still a lot of folks out there who looked down on me for being a slime, weakest of all monsters. That, or called me soft for not killing my foes, no matter how much they dissed me. But I figured those stories would disappear pretty fast, in time.

Soei, in particular, was even colder and more calculating than Shion; he tended to expel any would-be attackers only after introducing them to the meaning of fear. He told me he was busy building up a defense network for the town, but I think he was also doling out punishments for anyone who thought they could do whatever they wanted with us.

At the moment, the forests native races were most likely testing us, trying to see what this new force in Jura could do. Thats why we were kind of obligated to puff out our chests a bit, so we could get everyone else to recognize us. Well gradually roll that out, and slowly but surely, well make ourselves known.

So the city of Rimuru, in the heart of the Jura-Tempest Federation, was doing a pretty roaring businessbut then we encountered a guest we werent expecting at all. My Magic Sense alerted me to a massive chunk of magic power flying our wayat a speed I could only call ridiculous.

Oh, crap! In an instant, I jumped off Shions chest and headed outside the gate at a full clip. I was right to be concerned. The magic force changed its aerial trajectory and landed right in front of me. If it had gone inside town, I think we wouldve seen some substantial building damage. The nearby trees had been uprooted and blown away, and there was a crater on the ground where it landed.

I instinctively realized there was no way I could handle this level of force. Steeling my resolve, I decided to observe my opponent. Just one look was enough to see that this was on a completely different dimension from anything I knew.

A powerful will hid behind her blue eyes, and her platinum-pink hair was done up in a pair of pigtails. She looked around fourteen or fifteen, but there was no telling a magic-borns age from external appearancesand with the overwhelming amount of magical power that she didnt bother to hide, she couldnt have been the age she seemed to be. She was wearing an outfit that left quite a bit of skin exposed, made out of some unknown material. Andmore than anythingshe was a beauty, the likes of which I may never have seen before.

Before I could ask who she was, she arrogantly puffed out her chest (her breasts only barely developed). Hello, hello! I am the demon lord Milim Nava. You look like the strongest hombre in town, so I wanted to come n say hi! the beautiful and powerful girl declared.

A few minutes before, Milim the demon lord had spotted the town below her. It was a pretty placeneatly organized rows of buildings, attractive trees lining the city roads. It was a town that seemed to exist in perfect harmony with nature, and she could tell that several high-level magic-born, rated A or higher, lived there.

The biggest surprise of all, however, was that even the rank-and-file residents of town were at least low-level magic-born people as well. Their magic potential varied, but they were all creatures with intelligence, thinking for themselves and carrying out the work assigned to them.

Nothing like these people existed in the Forest of Jura before this point. Seeing such a settlement appear practically overnight would normally be unthinkable. They were all working together, regardless of their differences in strength. Milim couldnt even imagine what kind of leadership skills were required to make them all follow that.

It excited her like little had recently, and she used her truth-revealing Dragons Eye unique skill to gauge the abilities of people around town. Amazing, she admirably thought to herself. Unbelievably, nearly every single resident of the town was a named monster.

No wayeverybody heres got names?!

For the first time in several centuries, Milim felt a mixture of shock and excitement well forth from her heart. No way could she ever bother making something like thisgiving away a portion of your own power came with the chance that youd never get it back again. Any sane magic-born would never try something so hazardous. In a winner-takes-all world like this, there was nothing more distasteful to her than letting her own power flow away from her.

Milim laughed a little. She was happy. This! Good thing I dissuaded them all from coming here!

The moment their summit ended, Milim was already out the doorbut instinctively feeling she needed to lay a bit more groundwork, she had also engaged in direct discussions with two demon lords who might present problems. As negotiations went, it was pretty simpledont lay a finger on the forest, or else youll have Milim as your enemyand they ended with a mutual agreement.

Clayman, Carillon, and Freythey were the younger generation. In Milims eyes, they could do whatever they wanted; she was sure she could overpower them if push came to shove. But there were a few demon lords that even Milim found to be a pain in the rear. That applied vice versa as well, however, so as long as she made an arrangement or two with them in advance, she didnt have to worry about them meddling in her affairs.

Now, she was happy she made the effort. She had a feeling she was about to meet somebody very special, and nobody was going to interrupt her. Lets start, she thought, by tracking down this magic-born

She had signed on to Claymans proposal for the same reason she always did: a way to pass the time. As long as Milim had breathed, the day-to-day grind was just a bore. Whenever some interesting offer came along, she always snapped it up. Whatever that disgusting low-level magic-born Gelmud was scheming, she didnt careMilims only motivation was to see how strong the resulting orc lord would become. If Gelmud raised it up to become a new demon lord, that was fine. Being around for the magic moment, she figured, would add some spice to the usual tedium.

Gelmud failed, of course, and given the expectations Milim had heaped upon him, the letdown hit rather hard. But the images Clayman subsequently showed her were enough of a shock that the orc lord hardly mattered any longer.

Her unique skill, Dragons Eye, allowed her to view the truth behind whatever she sawsomething that worked even through Claymans crystal spheres. It wasnt a complete picture, but it provided enough information to pique Milims interest. The mysterious magic-born fighting Gelmud possessed enough power to place it far beyond merely high level. Carillon and Clayman may not have spotted it, but there was no pulling the wool over her Dragons Eye.

She also had a guess about who killed Gelmudsomeone who then gained Gelmuds power for their own, letting them evolve up to pretty much one step away from demon lord status. It must have been an awe-inspiring battle.

Wait. Maybe not. The orc lord wouldve only been able to evolve into a demon lordlevel creature. This magic-borns already far beyond that

And now she saw that, just as she figured, it was only the mystery magic-born who survived. She scanned the town from the skies, satisfied with herself.

When did they even build a town like this?

There were people maintaining the roads, people carrying around the chopped-up wood to and fro, monsters going in and out of construction sites. They were plainly building their own city.

Milims own castle was made by human handsthe devotees who worshipped her as a goddess. It was built to function as a temple, and really, the people were nothing more than a bother to Milim, but they never interfered with her activities. To her, they were worthlessbut to them, serving Milim had earned them a millennium of peace. Their lands were recognized to be Milims lands, and thus they were safe from anything up to and including a demon lord invasion. No demon lord complained about this; few even enjoyed the right to complain to her without consequences.

But thanks to that, life among her believers had stagnated. They were drowning in serenity, and none dared challenge themselves to try new things. They just went on, generation to generation, gaining absolute bliss from serving Milim. A thousand-year-long morass.

The townspeople here are a far cry from those boring old fools

She didnt come here because she was searching for new people to worship her. She wanted some new stimulus, something to fend off the boredom. That was the only reason. If Clayman or Carillon wanted more war power, she was willing to hand it over once she was bored. Shed tyrannize the young demon lords, watch them stew in their own juices, and once she was satisfied, shed think up some new game to play.

That was her original planbut the mystery magic-born was much stronger than any of the demon lords had guessed. She couldnt just leave this guy be, and she was too old to have anyone tell her what to do. She could fight and kill them, or

Now the other young demon lords werent present in her mind at all. She had found him. The one with the demon lordclass powers in this town.

Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! It really has grown to the point of a demon lord!!

Then she plunged forward, eagerly awaiting her prey.

I somehow managed to avoid blurting A demon lord?! out loud. What was someone like her doing here?! I didnt have to ask if she was realthe sheer force she exuded from her every pore was among the strongest I had ever seen. It was just as overwhelming as Veldora was. Plus I mean, dont these people send their underlings for jobs like these first? Or, like, one of the four sub-bosses? Something like that? I wanted to chide her but opted against it.

How should I answer her, though? I was in slime form, and I knew my aura wasnt leaking out at all. I had grown used to controlling my magic lately, and I could hold it back to some extent without actively thinking about it. To the uninformed observer, I shouldve just looked like a wimpy lil slime. I knew this because I created a copy of myself and ran Magic Sense on it; the only aura I released was what youd see from a slime out in the woods somewhere.

If this demon lord saw right through that, she was definitely not one to mess with. No point trying to deceive her. Either way, I had no offense I could hope to use on her. Better not to trip up and do something to anger her.

Well, good afternoon, I said, eyeing her closely. My name is Rimuru, and I am the leader of this town. I am impressed that you recognized this slime as the strongest presence here.

Actually, that might have been Hakuro. Thats what I thought, but there was no need to say it.

Hee-hee-hee! Thats kid stuff for someone like me. My Dragons Eye can measure all the magical energy people try to hide from me. Dont try to play the fool around me, you! she proudly boasted.

She had her chest stuck way out to emphasize her magnificence, although her chest size was, shall we say, disappointing. You could tell from one look that they werent fully grown yet. The skimpy outfit made it even more impossible to hide. I, of course, was too mature an adult to mention that out loud. Im not stupid enough to go dancing into an obvious minefield like that.

But she had a skill kind of like my Analyze and Assess, huh? No point trying to hide anything, then. This was a tad dangerous. My own analysis revealed that she had a clear power advantage, and Im sure her skill levels were far above mine.

I couldnt win. If we got in a fight, I didnt think anything would work on her. I could string my skills together to keep things even and buy some time, but thats about it. It made the Orc Disaster seem like a walk in the park.

By the way, she continued, is that how you really look? Was that silver-haired person I saw thrashing that bum Gelmud a transformation, then?

She knew about that fight? Either she heard about it from Soei, or somebody was watching us. I knew Gelmud was, but I didnt even think that someone would be watching Gelmud, too. So his plans were leaked from the start, thenor Gelmud was nothing but another puppet, another character in the grand show. He did mention that he had demon lord backingI thought he was just being a sore loser, but maybe he had some connections in high places after all. Someone at this level, for example.

Ah, did you mean this? I said as I transformed. My mask was off; there was no need to conceal my aura.

Oooh, it was you! So you defeated the orc lord? I thought it consumed Gelmud and turned into a demon lord, kind of.

The demon lord Milim seemed to enjoy this news quite a lot. So she knew Gelmud was dead, but nothing past that, huh? Maybe I could hide the truth a littlebut that still seemed dangerous. Honesty was probably the best policy.

Impressive! Yes, the orc lord evolved into an Orc Disaster, butwell, I fought it and beat it anyway, I guess. So I tried to change the subject. Are you just here to say hello today, or could I help you out with something? You arent here to, say, take revenge for Gelmud, are you?

If she answered yes to that, we were doomed. But she didnt look like the kind to resort to such pettiness. She might insist on me becoming her vassal in exchange for forgiveness, but thats about it. There wasnt much merit in rubbing us out right now, besides. Either way, though, I needed to figure out what she wanted, and how she intended to achieve it.

Mm? Help me? Um, Im just sayin hi, but

An awkward silence. The demon lord Milim and I stared at each other wordlessly for a bit. Then:

Prepare to die!!

With a shout, Shion slashed at the demon lord.

All the force this demon lord exuded must have robbed Shion of her composure the moment she caught up to me. She was trying to attack first and gain the upper hand. She was accompanied by a lightning-fast black shade; Ranga, leaping out of a shadow on the ground, similarly lunged for Milim. It was a total surprise attack, timed such that even if one strike was parried, there would be no dealing with the next.

Not against Milim, though.

Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Oh, did you want to play with me?

With a teasing laugh, Milim stopped Shions sword with her right hand, swinging her left arm as if to swat Ranga away. There was a high-pitched clang, like someone hammering at solid metal, and the sword was stopped cold. She took the longsword straight against her skin, and it didnt hurt her at all. Ranga, meanwhile, was blown backward by an invisible shock wave, every hair on his body standing on end. I only realized after it was all over that her left-arm swat had unleashed a faster-than-sound shock wave.

Wh-whoa, wait, guys?!

By the time I could tell them to stop, they were already making their next moves.

Not even a demon lord can escape from this restraining web.

Using Ranga as a distraction, Soei had used Demonwire Bind to capture Milim. Benimaru, meanwhile, was preparing to encase her in a Hellflare blast.

And now, the final blow. Burn to a crisp!

It was a merciless attack, one made with full knowledge that this was a demon lord. They put every ounce of energy they had into it. I imagine that was the ogres best idea for dealing with something like this. But

Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha!! Impressive! If it was any demon lord except for me, Im not sure that kind of attack would leave them unhurt. You might even be able to defeat them! But

Her aura began to rapidly expand. Then, another shock wave, as if a volcano had just exploded on the spot. She hadnt unleashed an attack or done anything, reallyall she did was unleash the aura she had been keeping restrained.

It wont work on meeee!

In a moment, the web restraining Milim was shredded to fine pieces. She had her freedom back, and while it was a bit late to say this, the demon lord was just too much. Trying to use cheap tricks or overwhelm her with numbers was never going to work. As King Gazel of Dwargon put it, high-level magic-born were classified as calamity or hazard-class dangers. A demon lord was a disaster, and certain dragonoid types (like Veldora) were feared as catastrophes.

Now I could see it for myself. This was a catastrophe. The demon lord before me had force like a howling storm of nature, something no human being could ever contest. One person, posing so much of a threat. What a nightmarebut it was our reality.

So now what?

Right this moment, all four of my alliesShion, Benimaru, Soei, and Rangawere on the ground. Not dead, but certainly out of the battle. But Shion and Benimaru still found it in themselves to try to stand up, giving me a chance to flee.

Sir Sir Rimuru Please, run away

We can takecare of

I knew it was impossible, and I knew escape wasnt an option. Plus, I didnt exactly have a lot of self-respect, but not even I could toss away my friends and run off by myself.

You just stay there and rest. Ill handle this.

B-but

If I give up, this is over, so Ill do what I can, all right? I shrugged. Just dont expect too much.

That seemed to calm them down a bit. There was no running away, and I had to give it a shot, at least.

Hohh? The demon lord gave me a curious smile, beckoning to me with one hand. You want to take me on? This is fun!

Well, sure, if you put it that way. If this is what its become, no point trying to be modest. Time to bluff and bluster my way out of this.

Of course, as far as I can tell, theres only one attack that stands a chance of working against you at all.

Oh?

Think you have the confidence to try withstanding it?

I knew full well, frankly, that nothing I could do would win this. How should I put this?

Understood. The measurable phase indicates a magical energy supply at least ten times greater than yours on the low end. On the high end, it is immeasurable.

I suppose the Sage put it a lot better than I could. And ones magicule count wasnt everything, really, but being outclassed ten times over was a tad insurmountable. No wonder the ogres full-bore attacks didnt work.

So theres just one strategy for me to try. If it was a given that none of my skills would work, Ill just have to form a plan using the items I have on me. All this, of course, assumes that Milim falls for my prodding.

Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! All right. Sounds fun to me. But if it doesnt work, promise me that youll become my servant, all right?

Ooh, theres a stroke of luck. Shes even more generous than I thought. The fact she wasnt going to kill us all despite our preemptive attack was a big win. We could just be her lackeys for life instead. That works.

Okay. You got it. But if it does, youre gonna let my team here go unpunished, okay?

All right. Lets get this going already!

Accepting my challenge, Milim gave me an expectant look. Id better live up to her expectations. With a kick against the ground, I ran with all my might toward her. Without removing my sword, I stormed straight toward her and created a small sphere of water in the palm of my hand. She looked on, full of curiosity, as I approached at full speed. She could tell exactly how I was moving, so I knew no underhanded tricks would work.

Take this!

Mmmm?!

I stopped right in front of the demon lord, then threw the sphere of water at her. She seemed breezily nonplussed by this, knowing full well this wasnt much of an attack. Thats why she let it splash against her, uncontestedright on her mouth.

This bit of water wasnt an attack at all. It was just there to ensure the item I had for her didnt spill out mid-delivery. Now it was just a matter of whether Milim took an interest in this item or not. Our entire fate rode on her reaction.

What What is this?! Ive never eaten anything so delicious in my life!!

She shouted at the top of her lungs, clearly excited. Her cute little tongue was licking at the droplets stuck to her lips. Whew. Looks like victory is mine.

Heh-heh-heh! Whats wrong, demon lord? I grinned as I conjured up another water sphere to show her. Lay a hand on me, and the secret behind what I just treated you with will be lost and buried forever. But if you accept that I won, Ill give you some more of that. Okay?

Milims eyes were fixated on the sphere, following it as I tossed it around in the air. She couldnt have been more enthralled. I was starting to feel like I could talk my way out of this after all.

This was actually some of the honey that Apito was collecting for me after I rescued it. Id be lying if I said I thought itd come in handy at a time like thisI just hid it on me because I wanted to eat it later. I hadnt eaten anything sugary at all since coming to this world.

I was finally able to enjoy some decent grub with this body, so I wanted to satisfy my sweet tooth next. But! Even when I asked Shuna, she said that sweets are considered mega-luxury items and you almost never run into any. The only way to taste anything sweet at all was, realistically speaking, by eating fruit. The western kingdoms and Eastern Empire apparently cultivated sugar, but only rarely did it leave their borders, and its at no price the average person could afford.

Well, so be it. I turned my eyes toward honey first, figuring wed start with something simple. Lucky thing I helped out Apito when I did, in that case. We were still in no shape to be mass-producing honey yet. I had to work hard to gain this small supply of it, soas guilty as it made me feel about all the othersI was hiding it for myself.

Meanwhile, the demon lord Milim was clearly at an impasse. I could see she was having an internal conflict, interspersed with Nnnhh But But and other mutterings. Lets be doubly sure about this. I tossed the sphere I was playing around with into my mouth.

Mmmm, this is good!

Ah!!

Whew. Really good. Oops! Im almost out.

Whaaa?!

This is fun. Shes just like a child, ripe for getting picked on.

So you gonna admit that I won?

Wait. I have a suggestion.

Lets hear it.

Call it a draw. How about we call it a draw this time?

And what do I get out of agreeing to that?

Ill forget about everything that happened.

Oh?

That, thats not all, either! I swear I wont meddle with you guys at all! And you know, if you have any problems, you can talk to me about them, okay?!

I won!

Her strength was overwhelming, but inside, she was every bit the kid that she looked like. Against a grown-ups negotiation skills, she had no chance. Yep. Grown-ups play dirty.

Of course, trying to extract anything else out of her would be dangerous. She was a catastrophe-class demon lord, and if I got on her bad side any further, I ran the risk of my town being turned into ash. I decided to play my hand before she changed her mind.

Sounds good to me. I accept. Well call it a draw, then.

I had a fair bit of inventory left, so I put a generous supply of honey into a jar and handed it to her. It wasnt a fancy jar, misshapen and handmade from clay, but Milim still accepted it with a smile, scooping a bit up and sucking at it with gusto.

The danger was gone. She was in a good mood, and the most unprecedented catastrophe to ever hit our town ended before it began.

I had just healed the ogres and started to head back into town when I realized that Milim was following me. Oh, brother. I thought I had talked my way out of this, so I assumed she would be going back home, but already my plans were failing.

Holding the jar of honey drops carefully, the demon lord stuck right to my side in lockstep. Does she want more honey? I had a supply, but no intention of letting her have more of it. I didnt want my portion to run away on me.

Hey, she asked, sidling up to me as we walked. Hey, have you ever thought about calling yourself a demon lord, or trying to become one?

What on earth is she going on about?

Why would I want to put myself through that? I asked.

She gave me a genuinely perplexed look in response. Huh? I mean Were talking about a demon lord, here! Theyre really cool, you know? You kinda want tolook up to them, right?

Nope.

Huh?

Huh?

It appeared that Milim the demon lord and I saw things in very different ways. We looked at each other.

Well, lemme ask you this: Do you get anything good out of being a demon lord?

Huh? Umm, well, all these strong guys seek you out to try to start fights. Its fun!

Im already getting in enough fights now, thanks. Not interested.

Whaaaa?! Well, how do you get your fun in life?

Oh, all kinds of things. Theres practically too much for me to do, if anything. I only just got my hands on that honey a little bit ago. Theres lots of other stuff I want, too, so I really dont have the time to be a demon lord. Or is there something to it besides fighting?

No, butyou can act all big around humans and magic-born?

Isnt that kind of boring?

The question caused Milim to make a face like she was just struck by lightning. I guess it was kind of boring. I was so on the mark that she had nothing to say.

We were almost back at town again, and if she was that shocked about it, I kind of wished she would go away and leave me alone.

Well, I guess you know my story now. Be careful on your way back home, all right?

I thought that was a pretty smooth way to drop the hint. I was wrong.

Wait! Y-you?! Youre doing stuff thats more fun than being a demon lord? Thats not fair! Its totally not fair! Now Im angry. Tell me what it is! And let me join you, too!!

I did my best not to call her a spoiled brat to her face. She was a demon lord; riling her could have unexpected consequences. Really, just thinking of her as a child made dealing with her a cinch. Judging by our confrontation just a moment ago, it was super-easy as an adult to talk around her. You cant try to read someone like this too deeply. Just work around her selfishness and nudge the conversation in your directionthats the real key to it, and along those lines, I was already treating Milim like the children of my relatives.

All right, all right. Ill tell you. But on one condition. Can you start calling me Sir Rimuru from now on?

What? No! Youre crazy! It should be the opposite. You need to call me Lady Milim! Dont go bandying about my first name like that

Oops. Maybe I got a little too cocky? She looks and acts like a child, but angering a walking potential catastrophe could be lethal.

Well, hang on a sec. We just drew our last fight. Thats fine, isnt it?

Nnngh

All right. Lets do this. Ill call you Milim, and you can just call me Rimuru. Sound good?

Mmmmhh Well, okay. I got it! Ill allow you to call me just Milim. You better appreciate that, though! Only my demon lord friends are allowed that.

Well, thanks. I guess were friends now, too, huh?

Huh?!

Despite all the sparks, we had overcome our naming dispute. Wed just call each other by our own namesno honorifics or anything.

Okay, well, Ill give you a tour of the city, but no wandering around by yourself, okay?

Okay, Rimuru! Ee-hee-hee!

The demon lord Milimjust Milim to mewas being oddly cheerful.

Great. Theres a good girl. And no starting fights in town without my permission, either. Promise me?

Of course! I promise, Rimuru!

So far, so good. Easier than I thought, even. I ought to be fine now.

Well done, Sir Rimuru. Taming the wild demon lord so briskly

We should expect no less of Sir Rimuru!

I will let Sir Rigurd know about thisand to take care not to anger the demon lord.

The feedback from the ogre mages seemed positive enough, too. No complaints, at leastand if they did have complaints, I thought as I guided Milim toward town, lodging them to a demon lord wouldnt do much.

It seemed, by the way, that calling yourself a demon lord was a good way to make the other demon lords punish you. If you couldnt prove your strength, theyd boot you right out of the club.

Whew. That was a real close one. If I declared myself a demon lord, like Milim was semi-pushing me to do, Id start to get watched by real demon lords. Not that Milim wasnt one, but either way, I dodged a bullet without realizing it. Hearing that story afterward, I gave myself a mental pat on the back for refusing the bait.

I was showing Milim around town.

It turned out to be much more laborious than I was expecting. If youve ever taken a young child to an amusement park, I think you can imagine how it was. Take your eyes off her for a moment, and shes gone. It was exactly like that.

Hey! I told you to stop running off!

Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Im over here! Whats this thing?!

Listen to me! Just calm down and pay attention.

Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Whats the big deal? Im listening!

She plainly wasnt. She was running up and down the streets, her tension level so high that it honestly made me wonder about her.

Ah, Sir Rimuru!

Just inside town, we ran into Gabil, who was carrying a box.

What good timing. I am here because our test run is complete.

He may live to regret calling it good timing.

Oooh, a dragonewt! Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Thats pretty rare. Doing okay?

Well, well, heres a new girl. Indeed, I am Gabil the dragonewt! As Sir Rimurus right-hand man, I have been tasked with the development of a secret potion. Are you new to town, too, lil lady?

Snap!

Huh? What did you just say? Little ladyyou dont mean me, do you? You want me to kill you?

She was all smiles a moment ago. Now, Milim was transformed. Guess she didnt like what Gabil called her.

Grabbing Gabils head with a single hand, the demon lord pulled it toward her, then planted a fist in his stomach. I had no time at all to stop her. With a pained exhalation, Gabil had been brought to the brink of death.

Uh Wait. What happened to her promise not to start a fight without my permission?

Listen to me. Im in a very good mood at the moment. Thats why Im willing to forgive you now that Ive done thatbut not next time, so watch yourself, got it?

I dont think she couldve done much more than that without causing literal death. Some forgiveness. It was like she expertly judged the exact amount of force to bring Gabil up tobut not overthe cliff. This girl was fearsome! She probably used Dragons Eye to gauge the strike, but still, fearsome.

Good thing Gabil was carrying a test run of our healing potion. We quickly used it on him. It worked.

Phahh?! I saw my father waving at me from across the river! he shouted upon waking up.

Guess youre fine, then, I muttered, rolling my eyes. Your fathers still alive, isnt he?

Eroh, right. Many pardons. I really was rather close to death, however. Who is this girler, this esteemed lady before us?

Yeah, Soeis informing Rigurd right now, but I guess nobody told you guys in the cave yet. This is Milim. I guess shes a demon lord?

Huh? Whaaatt?! A demon lord?!

Gabil was so shocked, he looked ready to piss himself. I could understand why. I waited for him to compose himself, then explained that Milim would be staying in town for a little while.

I see No wonder that was such a powerful punch. I suppose I should be glad to be alive

Yeah, well, she promised that she wouldnt start any fights, so I doubt shes aiming to kill anyone.

Wah-ha-ha! Of course not! That was just my way of saying hi!

Hell of a way to do that. I guess I shouldnt trust her on that promise too much. A little love tap from her would have life-altering consequences for any of us. Id have to make sure everyone here is sufficiently warned.

Ill head to the cave later, so let Vester know, too, all right?

Yes sir.

Gabil bowed as he bounded off. Considering the punishment he just endured, he looked in pretty good shape. Maybe the potion was pretty potent, or maybe Gabil was really that tough, or maybe both. Milim gave him a broad, approving nod, waved, then turned to me like nothing had happened.

Wow, hes pretty solidly built, huh? Maybe I oughta turn it up a notch next time?

Um, dont ask me, I pleaded from the bottom of my heart.

Hey, um, you know you cant start punching people just because youre mad, okay?

Hmm? Its his fault for angering me. Plus, like I said, thats just a form of greeting!

No, Milim. No, its not.

Well, Im not gonna let you greet people with a boxing match, all right? No more of that!

No? But I gotta show people a little force to start out, or else theyll think Im a pushover

I said, you cant! Ill tell everyone in town to treat you with respect, all right?

You will? Well, great. Ill leave that to you.

Yeah, thanks. Just chill for now, okay?

That was about all I could warn her about at the moment. I had a feeling Id need to gradually teach Milim some common sense over the next little while. It felt like the demon lord had a couple different triggers that enraged herId just have to pray that Gabil was her first, and last, victim.

We continued our journey across town. It was almost dinnertime, when most people would wrap up their work and gather around outdoors, and I figured it was high time to introduce her.

Soei had been nice enough to spread the word around town about our little tyrant, but it was probably safest to show her around and make sure everybody knew exactly what she looked like. I really doubted anyone was stupid enough to try to make a pass at her, but it paid to be doubly sure.

I sent out the announcement for everyone to gather at the main square. They slowly filed in after finishing work, and once the square was filled up, I hopped up on the podium.

Umm, so starting today, well have a new friend living with all of us. Well be treating her as an honored guest, so Id like you all to treat her politely for me. Shes also promised to follow all the town rules, so if you see her violating any, please let me know.

I wasnt willing to let a ton of things slide just because she was a demon lordbut given her violent force, figuring out how to lay down the law was a thorny question. I did make her promise to play nice to the general public, and she seemed confident that shed stick to that.

Arent you worrying too much? she said. I always keep my promises!

I had my concerns about that, but I couldnt just sit here and doubt her every move. I decided to trust in her.

Next, Milim took the podium.

Im Milim Nava, she told the crowd, and starting today, Ill be living in this city. Its good to meetcha!

Um, wait. What did she just say?!

Whoa, hang on. What do you mean, youll be living here?

Um, thats exactly what I mean. Ive decided to live here, too.

Wait, wait, wait. Dont you already have someplace to live? Arent there people you have to worry about over there?

Oh, theyll be fine. Ill just go home every now and then, and itll be no prob!

Its a huge prob to me, you idiot! I had to mentally keep myself from screaming my thoughts at her. Well, whatever. She was a pretty flighty girl. Once she got bored of us, I was sure shed be outta here.

Well, you heard her, so treat her well, I said, defeatedly addressing the crowd.

Milim was free to do as she pleased, and the residents generally seemed positive about the newsWhat?! Lady Milim, the demon lord?! My stars, Ive never seen her royal countenance in person before! Well done, Sir Rimuru! Striking such cordial relations with that tyrant! Ahh, itll be peaceful days for Tempest now! And so on.

The name of a demon lord had a lot of cachet around here, Milims in particular. Nobody accused her of being a fake, eitherwith my good word to back her, there was no room for doubt.

So just to make sure were clear, starting today Well, Milims one of us. If she runs into any problems, I want you all to help her out.

Yes! Rimuru and I are friends now, so if something comes up, Im your girl!

I didnt expect Milim to require help from any of us. If anything, wed take the brunt of whatever drama she conjured up. That was what I meant from the statement, but that didnt register with the demon lord. She took it straight, and I couldnt deny her.

Still

Friends, huh?

Was that really all right? Befriending a demon lord and all? I mean, in the short time wed known each other, Milim seemed nice enough and all, but

The girl herself, perhaps picking up on my whisper, began to blush. Yeah, she said, friends does sound kind of odd. Uhmm Maybe not friends, so much as BFFs!

Um BFFs? Milim, when did I give any indication that we were BFFs?

Er, BFFs? I hesitantly asked.

Huh? Arent we?!

I could see the tears welling in Milims eyes alreadybut if anything, the hostile force in her already-balled fists came even more quickly. Crap!

Hee-hee-hee! Kidding, kidding! BFFs forever, man!

I quickly corrected myself. Now theres a mine I almost planted my foot on. I was not gonna go down the same road as Gabil.

Right? Totally! You sure are good at scaring people! Milim beamed at me, indicating I had made the right call.

Too easy. Too easy, but still a tough one to handle. No letting my guard down any longer. This had been a real lesson for me. The land of Tempest had a new resident, and she was more dangerous than a warehouse full of powder kegs.

With her introduction over, we filed into the dining hall. Food was on the way, and todays main dish was curry.

To be honest, it was a dish that did its best to simulate curry. We had discovered a grass that resembled wild rice well enough, and we were in the midst of improving upon it right now. It wasnt very nutritious at the moment, and it certainly didnt taste great, but currys great at covering up stuff like that, so the results turned out pretty well. I had Shunas culinary gifts to thank for that. If we could figure out how to grow some honest-to-goodness white rice, I think itd be a classic, but either way, this worked, too. We also had some ersatz Indian-style naan bread, so you could choose that instead.

Cooking in this town was the result of a long trial-and-error process. We had a stockpile of recipes at this point, but without any sugar, recreating the dishes I knew on Earth was a challenge. I had monsters scouring the forest for anything that resembled sugarcane. There might be plants with sugar stored in the roots, like sugar beets or whatnot, so Id been asking our patrols to come back with as many different types of plants as they could. A sample was all I needed to run Analyze and Assess, figure out what was inside, andover timeextract real sugar from it.

Milim certainly enjoyed the meal. I figured she had pretty childish tastes in food, too, so I asked Shuna to put some extra fruit juice in her curry to make it sweeter. Judging by the way she tore through her helping, I guess I made the right choice.

Wowwww!! I havent eaten anything this good in suuuch a long time!

Shuna smiled as she doled out a second serving. It was a darling little scene. One that was ruined by the bombshell Shion had for me.

By the way, Sir Rimuru, I had been wonderingwhat was that present you gave to Lady Milim outside of town?

Erk.

Aw, geez, Shion, whyd you have to bring that up all of a sudden?

No! You cant have any! That jars mine!

Milim immediately tucked her jar of honey drops out of view. Sheesh. She couldve just tossed it into Spatial Storage, but noooo.

Oh, dont worry, Lady Milim. Nobodys thinking about taking your things at all, Shuna said, smiling.

Yeah, Id hope not. Nobody was suicidal enough in town to try it. And the moment she realized her honey wasnt in danger, she grinned and resumed her mealso completely defenseless, one would begin to wonder how demon lord-ly she really was, if at all.

Though Milim wasnt really the problem. The problem was that people now knew about my secret honey stash.

You know, Shuna continued, I have been noticing a rather fragrant scent around here lately. I had thought it belonged to you, Lady Milim, but was that what Sir Rimuru gave you, perhaps

Crap. I did not like her leading the witness like that. This was bad. Soei had his head turned aside, pretending not to be involved, but Benimaru was already giving all of us a curious look. There were six of us seated at the table: Benimaru, Soei, Milim, Shuna, Shion, and me. Shuna was the only one not there for my confrontation with Milim, so I couldnt explain my way out of it.

Ah, such was my fate, I guess. I was hoping to keep it under wraps until we could figure out how to mass-produce it, but oh well. I took out some honey from my pocket and filled a nearby cup with it.

Okay, well, this stuff is called honey. I got this as a substitute for sugar, but I cant make very much of it yet, so I cant give you all a supply.

I directed them all to scoop some up with their fingers and give it a try.

Ah?!

The looks on the two females faces were of abject shock. Soei just raised a single eyebrow, but Benimaru was already looking at me expectantly, hoping for more. Milim, of course, scooped up a bit herself, not that I invited her to. You already have your own, you greedy brat!

So as you see, the honey tastes extremely sweet, but it also has a medicinal effect. In fact, it can cure almost any disease, but sometimes there can also be poison mixed in, so you need to be very careful extracting it. Thats not a problem if Im doing it, but still.

And you think we can make a larger amount?

Not right now, no. I can produce maybe a single cup of this a week. If I pushed Apito hard enough, we might be able to up that to three cups, but there was no pressing need to, so I let it slide. I want to conduct more research into its makeup to evaluate it as a medicine, so theres not a lot to spare for eating quite yet.

This wasnt a lie. My Analyze and Assess skill told me that this was a special-grade panacea. The rarity of the plants we extracted it from no doubt meant it had all kinds of astonishing benefits.

Yes. The nectar we harvested from giant honeybee hives simply doesnt compare to this. As a sweetener, it was fairly disappointing.

Shion nodded. She was always a font of information about stuff like that, even if it didnt directly connect to cooking. And she was rightgiant honeybee nectar was more poisonous than sugary, making it ill-suited for food. I figured I could analyze it and extract something decent from it, but taming giant honeybees sounded like pretty tricky business to me anyway.

If we could prepare a suitable garden for them and let that be their territory, I think we could get some pretty decent honey from them, though.

You think? Shion said, finally seeing things my way.

You said this could be a substitute for sugar, Shuna asked, clearly curious. Is sugar itself really this sweet?

I could see Milims and Shions ears perk up at the question.

It sure is. Theres no medicinal value, but its so sweet that people get literally addicted to it. You can use it in food, in drinks; all kinds of areas. Well be able to craft a great deal more food than before, once we have it, I explained.

Ah I see. In that case, I will have us devote all our efforts to discovering this sugar, starting tomorrow. Shion

Yes, Shuna. I promise you, I will stake my life on discovering this sweet plant for us all!

Yes! Very good!

The three women gave one another firm nods. I wanted to ask why theyd stake their lives on this (and since when were they all best friends, too?), but it was fine for now. I took a final lick or two of the remaining honey, already assured that real sugar would be ours sooner than ever now.

With dinner wrapped up, I directed them all to the bath, my crowning achievement. The tub, made with the finest dwarven marble out there, was filled day and night to the brim with hot-spring water, ready to be used at any time.

Milim had joined us, meekly following along behind Shuna and Shion. Normally, Id nonchalantly hop in the bath with them all in slime form, but that definitely didnt feel right today. Shed be happier alone with the other females, and besides, I would need to discuss things with the ogres whenever Milim wasnt around.

So I moved on to our meeting hall and gave a rundown of the days events to the people assembled there. My goodness I hardly know what to say. I never expected a demon lord to visit here on her own volition, Rigurd said, shaking his head.

I could understand his position. I had never pictured this happening, myself.

Well, I think itll be all right, though, I said. Shes promised not to start any fights in here, at least. Not without my permission.

I wasnt exactly confident about that, but I had little choice but to trust her on that count.

Perhapsbut shouldnt we be more worried about how the other demon lords will react? Kaijin spoke up.

Hakuro and Benimaru nodded at this.

How do you mean? I honestly asked.

Well, there are multiple demon lords out there, and they all work under a convoluted system of checks and balances. You and Lady Milim just declared each other allies out in the public square, and that basically means this towns under the protection of Milim the demon lord. And normally, I suppose, that would be incredibly desirable, but

Sir Rimuru, you are leader of the Great Forest of Jura Alliance and ruler of the Jura-Tempest Federation, Hakuro interjected. I suppose the actions of today would seem, in the eyes of the other demon lords, to mean that the Forest of Jura has forged an alliance with Milim herself.

Yes! Benimaru added. It means that Milim, who hardly has any subjects of her own, suddenly has a much larger force backing her up. It shakes the foundation of the current power balance among the demon lords. One wrong move, I fear, and the entire forest could become subject to a major war.

Hmm. Yes, I will admit to not thinking too deeply about it, but I suppose my decisions could wind up affecting the whole forest, huh? But I mean

Practically speaking, though, none of us could stop Lady Milim if we wanted to, could we?

Rigurd offered his opinion, and he was right. Even all of us at once would never have a chance. It left us with nothing but the most passive of approacheswaiting for her to grow bored and leave.

To be frank, Benimaru said, her strength is on a totally different dimension from any of us. There is no point even debating whether we could beat her or not. None of us would be alive now were it not for Sir Rimurus quick thinking.

Exactly. If other demon lords oppose her, I honestly like our chances against them more than her. Milim the demon lord is a walking catastrophe.

Soei nodded at his compatriots honest feelings.

That largely settled it. There was nothing else to be done, and that was that. So how to handle Milim in the meantime?

In that case, I vote that we should leave the day-to-day handling of Lady Milim to herah, BFF, Sir Rimuru. All in agreement?

Aye!!

Wha?! Dammit, Benimaru! But by the time I had the thought, I was too late. I was used to tossing the ball to someone else most of the timethis time, they did the same to me.

Besides, Hakuro said, Lady Milim is one of the oldest and strongest of demon lords. A lord that we absolutely must not be hostile toward, one could say. For this issue, at least, I see little we can do besides let Sir Rimuru handle it.

Way to drive the stake in like that. I didnt think she was that dangerous, but so be it. I sighed. Nobody else seemed to know how to curry Milims favor, and since I was apparently a genius at handling children, I suppose it was up to me to help out. We now had a silent, but steadfast, agreement that the demon lord Milim was my problem.

Milim was already looking drowsy by the time she left the bath. Apparently, she was beside herself with excitementfew baths large enough to swim in existed in this world, so I couldnt blame her. Most people had to make do with quick dips in cold water, and even nobility had to be content with hot water in cramped little tubs, I was told. Assuming you lived in a rich enough nation to have dedicated baths at all, which wasnt always the case.

I was admittedly kind of picky about having this bath. Selfish of me, I know, but it had turned into a lovely facility. If people liked using it, I couldnt be happier.

I asked Shuna to lead Milim to a guest bedroom and put her to sleep. There werent any Western-style beds here, just pseudo-tatami mats and futon mattresses on the floor. I worried that shed have some complaints about that, but it wound up not being an issue. She immediately fell asleep, looking snug as a bug.

It was the demon lords first day and night in Tempest, and by and large, it could have turned out a lot worse. Of course, the whirlwind she was kicking up had only just begun.

We were busy as bees the next morning.

First, waking up Milim at sunrise wasnt easy Why does a demon lord have to wake up early?! she grumbled.

We managed to get her up and dressed. Her current outfit was just too exposed, so we prepared some other clothes for her the previous eveningjust a quick outfit built from whatever we had around, but she was pretty enough that she looked just fine wearing anything.

This is hard to move in.

Oh? Well, it looks nice. Isnt that better for you?

I made a decent attempt to mollify her, and her mood instantly improved. No complaints there. Children can be so simple like that sometimes.

Next up was breakfast. Something resembling bread, fruit jam, and milkchilled cowdeer milk. I had been telling people about how good cows milk was, and this was close enough. That, plus some hot vegetable soup.

The jam used fruit that had been boiled, cooled, and then sealed in chilled jars. It used no additional sugar, and I wasnt wholly sure what kind of fruit it was, but it was Shunas homemade recipe and quite a bit sweeter than I expected. It was more sour than sweet to my palate, but in a world so lacking in sugary food, this was still a rare luxury. Most people in town just had bread and the remaining vegetable soup for breakfast, so the jam was more reserved for honored guests, so to speak.

Wowwwww!! This is incredible! Milim gushed as she ate. Glad she liked it. I watched her go as I thought over a few things.

I didnt particularly mind being the go-to guy for Milim-related issues, but should I really just be acting normal like this? Most of my work around town involved inspectionchecking on construction sites, fields as they were being tilled, the weapon production workshop, our food storehouses. Id discuss things with the supervisors of each location and nail down our future direction.

If any trouble happened around town, Id sometimes stop by to arbitrate. With all these races living in the same space, we needed rules in place that everybody had to follow. It was one thing when this was just a village or settlement, but we were now a federation with a population in the tens of thousands, and the rule of law was more important than ever. I didnt have enough time in the day to enact a ton of laws by myself, so the town still ran on a lot of general guidelines more than anything. Thus, if there was a difference of opinion or some other dispute bubbling, I was left to make the final decision.

Rigurd and the rest of my staff solved most issues for me, thankfully, so I didnt hear about it unless it was something pretty serious. It seemed to me that this was on purposethey made sure not to bother me about something unless it really was that important. It was surprising, seeing how well these monsters could cooperate with one another. Im sure everyone had their complaints, but we now had a culture where, instead of acting out physically, people preferred to let me do the judging.

For today, at least, there were none of those problems to tackle. When there was, Id be contacted about it at least a week in advance, giving me time to listen to both sides and everyone else time to gather evidence and such. Which meant that the only planned appointment for today was a quick stop by Gabils place.

I dared a quick glance at Milim. Would I be okay taking her into the cave? It was now filled with Vesters valuable laboratory tools and experimentsa sort of federal research facility.

Suddenly, I had a good idea. Milim still had only a patchwork outfit on. If her stay here would be extending a while longer, wed need to prepare several outfits for her. Which meant

Hey, Milim, once youre done eating, you want to go get some clothes custom-made for you?

Why? Isnt this good enough?

Youll probably want more than one outfit. Besides, I think youd look nice in something cuter anyway.

What? You have cute clothes?!

Sure. You can pick out whatever you like.

Perfect! Ahh, I should have known, Rimuru! This town has everything!

The moment I brought it up, she was already dancing around in her seat. Perfect. That oughta buy me some time. Going into that gauntlet of a dress shop, it was easy to spend half a day without realizing it. I had experienced it for myself, being stuffed into outfit after outfit like a dress-up doll. Most of the designs were made for fun looks anyway, so Im sure Milim would be able to find something she likes.

Oh, Lady Milim is choosing some clothes? Id be happy to join her.

Yeah, if you could, Shuna? I got an errand to run in the cave, so toss me a line with Thought Communication if something comes up.

Certainly.

Oh, you arent coming, Rimuru?

Ah, um, I already have some clothes, so. Ill come back to see you once youre all set, Milim, so feel free to select whatever you like and have em tailor it to your size. You could even have some new clothes made for you.

Ooh! Got it!

Great. That went well. The moment she heard the magic phrase new clothes, her interest immediately launched her in that direction. It oughta keep her from starting a riot or genocide in my absence for a while.

She went off with Shuna to the production workshop after breakfast. Now I needed to get my own errand over with.

I headed for the Sealed Cave with Kaijin coming along.

Were you all right after yesterday? I asked Gabil, who was waiting for me. He seemed fine to me, but a cheap shot from a demon lord could lead to all kinds of aftereffects.

No problem at all, sir! he replied with a hearty laugh. I am supremely confident in my bodys durability!

He certainly acted like always, too. I breathed a sigh of relief as Vester gingerly came up to me.

By the way, Sir Rimuru, I did file the report with King Gazel as well. I hope it was all right?

A report about Milim was what he meant. I asked him to send one off yesterday. Our pact with Dwargon did include language about providing whatever support we could if danger befell one of us, and this definitely counted. There wasnt much Dwargon could do, really, but itd be polite to at least let them know and prepare for the worst.

Not a problem. Did the communication crystal work all right?

It did, yes. It connected me to King Gazel almost immediately. All I said to him was that the demon lord Milim attacked and that you handled it, Sir Rimuru, but was that good enough?

I could understand Vesters concern. That terse report probably threw the Dwarven Kingdom into chaos, scrambling to collect whatever intel it could. Vester was probably being swamped with requests for more information.

Well, we talked it over last night, and it was decided that Id be taking care of Milim. The only conclusion we came to was that, uh, there really aint much else we can do right now. I cant do anything besides warn him, but I figured itd be nice to do that, at least. If they have any bright ideas, Id love to hear them.

Yes, I am sure. The demon lord Milim is a class beyond all the others, as I understand

Quite, Gabil added. The strongest in the world, as far as I am aware.

Huh. Famous enough that even these two knew about her? Hakuro mentioned she was the oldest and strongest of demon lords as well, so Gabil couldnt be lying.

But maybe this was a good thing, depending on how you looked at it. If every demon lord was such a monster, then no way was I ever going to keep my promise to Shizu and slay her nemesis. Milim being such an exceptional force meant that hey, maybe I had half a chance at offing your run-of-the-mill demon lord after all. The thought lightened my spirits a little.

The passiveness of our current approach notwithstanding, maybe we really would have better luck duking it out with the rest of them. On that point, at least, my staff agreed.

But there was no point in worrying all day. I had time to think about demon lord politics later. For now, I wanted to ask about healing potion.

Do you have your report, then?

Gabil nodded, then began explaining his current status with Vester.

The potion from yesterday was apparently the newest that Vester had produced. Something quite different from the things he tried making using dwarven technology, as he put it.

The potion I produced within myself was the result of a 99-percent extraction of hipokute herbs. Drink it, sprinkle it on someoneit worked great either way. Meanwhile, the dwarves could manage only 98-percent purity at best, and that single percentage point made a world of difference in performance.

The official name for the magic elixir I had created was a Full Potion, one that could fully heal any type of injury or woundeven repair missing body parts, like arms and legs. There were a lot of ways to lose those in this world, whether they were bitten off by a monster or blown off by a magical blast, and this potion could fully rebuild them. Magic was the only word for it.

According to the Great Sage, all this was possible because my potion could read genetic information from the body to regenerate limbsas long as the subject wasnt born that way, anything was healable.

What dwarven technology could make, meanwhile, was called a High Potion. It was a first-class concoction, capable of healing even major injuries, but sometimes it couldnt fully restore certain woundsand it definitely couldnt regenerate lost body parts all the time. I conjectured this was because the potion wasnt quite pure enough to fully read all the bodily data it needed for that. It could handle most injuries but couldnt quite push itself up to perfectionthat was the difference.

The hipokute we were growing in here was of the same quality as natural-grown plants. The best out there, in other words. So any difference in quality from the potions that resulted were purely the result of production issues.

Yknow, Id think a High Potion would be good enough, most of the time, Kaijin said as he scratched his head. He had a point. Already, down here in this cave, they had replicated the best that the dwarves could do in their homeland.

Perhaps, Vester replied, but listen, Sir Kaijin: Once a scientist realizes there is something yet better to achieve, he refuses to make any compromise until he reaches it!

Once he knew what my potion could do, he wanted to achieve that for himself. Which led up to what we saw yesterday.

The potion used on me yesterday was in no way inferior to Sir Rimurus own potion. If I may be so presumptuous to say, I feel we have succeeded this time. Even Gabil was confident in this batch of medicine.

Let me assess it, I said, running Analyze and Assess on the vial presented to me.

Understood. This medicine is equivalent to a Full Potion.

Oooh. Nice. Vester really made it.

Good job, Vester, This is definitely Full Potion, all right.

Hohhh! Ive done it!!

Superb work, Sir Vester. I am grateful to have aided you.

Yeah, not bad, Vester. I always thought you were best suited for research work like this.

As Vester was almost overcome with emotion, Gabil and Kaijin gave him their blessing.

Man, I didnt think he could really do it.

I couldnt have done it without the hints you gave me, Sir Rimuru, Vester said, turning to me. Geez. I didnt really do anything. It was all the result of his efforts, so I didnt want to unfairly take the credit. I just gave him my thoughts, thats all. It didnt seem to me that Vesters work process was much different from the extraction I did within my own body. The quantities involved differed a fair bit, but I thought it odd that he saw so much more of a performance hit than I did.

My reasoning was that it had something to do with the way the potion reacted to the atmosphere around it. The work space inside my stomach was a complete vacuum, free of impurities and the like, and I figured that let me perform the most complete extraction possible. The fact that even this produced only 99-percent purity, I chalked up to the resulting liquid being highly reactive to particles in the air.

I explained this to Vester, and he took it seriously. It was just a passing idea on my part, but Vester believed in me and carried out the relevant experimentsand that, I guess, is what led to this Full Potion before me.

Which was great and all. But you know, not everything about it was great.

I bet this could be a huge source of income for Tempest if we sold it, Kaijin. What do you think?

He thought it over a bit, then shook his head. Ooh, that could be tough, boss. If anything, this stuff is too good. The purity levels so high that its not something you can use on a whim, yknow? This kind of quality, maybe some hero-class adventurer would bring it along now and then

Vester hmmed his agreement. Quite true, I fear. Im happy this resulted in the best quality youll ever find, but in terms of selling it? Im not quite sure the market is prepared for it.

So what the hell were we making it for? I kept myself from interjecting. But thinking about it, maybe I was wrong this whole time. I thought we could make this potion kind of the towns flagship product, but Vester and Gabil were picturing it more as a potion of last resort, so to speak.

Still, Sir Rimuru, there are not so many educated doctors in the Dwarven Kingdom. There are alchemists capable of mixing compounds together, but it is rare for someone to make his entire living off selling High Potions. The medicine you see in the markets is actually Low Potion, made by diluting High Potion with water. They just call it potion in the shops, however. Thus

Vester had probably noticed my disappointment. Listening to him, it was actually rather simple. Naturally grown hipokute was a rare thing to find. You almost never saw it bought or sold in the marketplace. There were some benevolent botanists who cultivated it themselves, but even they could only harvest a very tiny amount of it. Along those lines, our mass-production project was a totally alien concept. Thats why even diluted potion was considered a rarity.

Instead, Vester suggested this: Perhaps we could negotiate with King Gazel to have them accept delivery of Low Potion from us for sale over there? Id imagine hed want us to take in those few medicine makers who work in the Dwarven Kingdom in exchange, but

Yeah, that might actually work, boss. If they leave the potion making and selling to us, they can just buy in whatever they need for their own purposes. That may account for a lot of the motive behind their technology-share request, actually.

Kaijin had a point, but that was fine by me. He and Vester began talking between themselves, figuring out how to best convince Gazel of the idea. It was hard to believe they came to blows not long ago, given how well they got along now. They must see eye to eye on a lot of things, deep down. Good thing, I thought.

One Full Potion could apparently be diluted down to a hundred Low Potions. If this idea gained any steam, it could be a pretty lucrative source of income. But no great need to hurry. I didnt want to hurt any of the Dwarven Kingdoms vested interests. Wed have to work things out so wed both benefit from the deal.

So I decided to let the topic simmer for the time being and took my leave from the meeting.

The friendliness of our chat made me stay longer than anticipated. It was just a little bit into the afternoon, but I was sure the goblinas at the workshop were working their dress-up-doll magic on Milim, so I figured I better pick her up. Meals in Tempest were handed out in the morning and evening, but if she was up for it, I intended to get her something in between.

The moment I stepped out of the magic circle, the fracas was under way.

There was shouting, screaming, and a great pillar of fire coming from a plot of land near the center of town that hadnt been built on yet. It was a pretty sordid-looking scene. There was no damage, thankfully, and no workers nearby got caught up in whatever it was.

Soei, realizing I was there, sidled up to me.

What happened?

Well

He gave me a quick rundown, although once I reached the site, I found it easy enough to figure out for myself. While I was off to the cave, the town had another visitorone who was positively livid with Milim.

I was guided to the center of it, where I found Shuna, Shion, Benimaru, Hakuro, and Rigurd with a few other hobgoblins. Rigurd was sporting a heavy bruise on his face; someone must have hit him.

Whats up, Rigurd? You all right?

Ah, Sir Rimuru! This much is nothing to me!

That was just an act; the damage was obviously fairly serious. I handed him some potion and turned toward where everyone else was watching.

Did he get you?

Yes, my lord?

I didnt need to check, but I did anyway. There was a dark-haired magic-born on the ground, apparently struck by Milim as well. His face was twisted in pain, his tongue sticking out of his bloodstained mouth. He seemed alive, but motionless, his eyes rolling into his skull. Around him were his entourage of underlings, frozen stiff and too thrown by this state of affairs to know what to do.

The fallen magic-born was wearing a fancy-looking outfit, dyed in black, and some rather expensive-looking armor.

According to Soeis report, he identified himself as working for the demon lord Carillon, and Soei had hurried to the scene after the intruder set off his alert network, only to find this magic-born and his group coming down to the vacant lot from the heavens.

Rigurd handled them first since I was away, and things came to a boil pretty quickly afterward. Before Soei could even grasp the situation and report to me about it, everything was already done with. I apologize for failing to inform you earlier, he said to me, but I couldnt find much fault with him.

First, the magic-born had begun by taking a self-guided tour of the city, going around like a would-be conqueror. This was when Rigurd had shown up, and the magic-born had this to say to him: I am Phobio! The Black Leopard Fang! One of Lord Carillons Three Lycanthropeers, and the strongest of all in the Beast Masters Warrior Alliance! What a fine town this istruly one worthy of falling under the rule of the Beast Master himself, wouldnt you agree?

Surely you jest was all Rigurd had managed before getting punched out without further comment. The visitor did not use his full strength, keeping the injury merely serious instead of critical. Soei judged him to be a formidably strong magic-born, and as he put it, a full-power strike could have killed Rigurd on the spot. Kind of hard to imagine, given how frozen and helpless he was now, but still.

But why was he on the ground? Simple.

Spotting the presence of the Black Leopard Fang Phobio or whatever, Milim flew in, saw that Rigurd was down, and got angry. Phobio hurriedly responded with a skill he called Panther Fang Explosive Chop, although nobody knew what it was supposed to beit seems Milims force of will deflected it and sent it hurtling into the sky.

That was the pillar of flame I saw, and the fallout from that singed the cute dress she had just put on. No longer able to contain her rage, Milim plunged her fist into Phobios stomach, which brings us to the current scene before me.

So now what?

Ah, Rimuru! This freak was acting like he was the big boss around here, so I put him back in his place!

Now Milim noticed me, and she was evidently proud of herself. Fishing for compliments. Should I take the bait? He started it, yes, but I didnt want to spark a conflict with another demon lord quite yet. I had never heard the name Carillon before, and I had no idea what kind of force he had, even. But we just decked one of his men, and we couldnt say we werent involved anymore.

I swear. Take your eyes off her for a momentand all these headaches she gives me.

Didnt you promise me you wouldnt cause a ruckus without my permission?

Geh?! Um, I, erm This, this is different! Hes not from this town, so its all right! Really!

No, its not! Still, you did help keep Rigurd safe. Well just say no lunch for you today and call it even

Youre mean! Thats so mean! Waaahhhh!

Well, thats what you get for bothering me when I was just thinking about lunch. I didnt need to eat anyway, and Milim must have been the same. What a glutton of a demon lord.

Dammit, this is all his fault! And that Carillon, breaking his promise like that What a scoundrel! One shots not enoughlet me hit him again

Wait, wait, wait!

I had to spring over to keep her from punching Phobio again. His men turned white as a sheet of paper, terrified at her brutality.

Look, how about we go somewhere else? I pleaded to the bawling Milim.

This was really turning into a travesty, so I decided to try talking this out away from the carnage.

We were back in the old meeting hall. They had just finished taking Milims measurements and were preparing something new for her when all this happened, so her outfit was quickly replaced.

I didnt want to spoil her, but we wound up serving her lunch anyway. This was partly because she had revealed a couple curious things during her wailing, and I wanted to follow up on that. She happily nibbled on her sandwich, once again in a good mood, so everything was fine with me.

The hall was draped in tension, though. Milim was about the only one unaffected by it. She definitely earned the demon part of her name, catching trouble the moment I wasnt around. Perhaps this wouldve happened even if Milim werent here, but it wouldnt have gotten so complicated this quickly.

Well, no point dwelling on the past. The future was more important.

So what are you all here for? I said as I sized up the now-awake Phobio.

Hmph! And I have to reply to you lowly would-be magic-born?

Benimaru and Shion immediately glared at him. I motioned them to stay cool, and they reluctantly stayed there, watching things unfold.

It was just Rigurd, Benimaru, Shion, and me, along with Milim. Phobio had three of his own troops with him; we hadnt restrained him or anything, which could be why he was giving us so much attitude. I figured Id try to outclass him, tossing in a bluff or two for good measure.

Call me lowly if you want, but Im definitely stronger than you. Also, Id advise you to just give me some answers. I dont know this Carillon guy, but depending on how you act around me, maybe hes gonna have to answer to us before long, okay? Think youre ready to make enemies with the entire Forest of Jura?

Ha! Well, look at you! The most self-important slime in the world, eh? And this entire town carries out the orders of such a base creature? What a bunch of wimps you must have here. And just because Lady Milim likes you a little, dont let that get to your head, boy.

Magic-born, just like monsters, tended to flock to whoever was strongest around them. Reacting to all these barbs would do nothing but tire me out. Certainly, this guy was toughone of the Three Lycanthropeers, the so-called Black Leopard Fang, whatever. And even without all that bluster, I could tell he boasted a fair amount of magical energy. Maybe no match at all for Milim, but likely stronger than Benimaru or Shion. Even I wouldve had trouble a bit ago, although not with the Orc Disaster stored in my Stomach now.

This was a powerful magic-born, one worthy of being categorized as a subdemon lord. I was fairly sure I was stronger, but I was in no hurry to test that out. Itd just make things harder, and winning would accomplish nothing. It may even earn me the ire of this Carillon guy; we could seriously be at war soon. I wanted to avoid that, so I had to exercise my social skills to extract some info from him.

A base creature? Milim, done with her sandwich, raised her voice again. You think you can pick on my friend like that?

She was more than an ammo dump; she was explosive all by herself. Before I could even begin the conversation, I had a premonition she had ruined everything. But I was getting the hang of dealing with her. Lure her in with food, and she was easy to soothe.

Hang on, Milim. If you do anything else, Im seriously taking dinner away from you, okay?

O-okay. Ill be good, I promise.

Great. With that squared away, it was time to start the investigation.

Well. First off, youre right; I am a slime. But Im a slime that rules over thirty percent of this forest, and if youre rarin for war, then Im willing to accept that. So Id advise being careful in how you respond to me.

I mixed a little Coercion in with my subsequent questions. The answers came surprisingly more readily than I thought. Milims threats must have hit home, after allprobably not my Coercion, sadly, but at least I got what I wanted out of him.

The pouting, sullen answers could be summed up as follows: The demon lord Carillon had ordered him to try to scout either the orc lord or the mystery magic-born that fought him, whichever had survived. The magic-born referred to us, apparently, which suggested that the demon lord backup Gelmud had hinted at wasnt Milim after all.

I didnt think multiple demon lords were involved with this, but thinking about it, I doubted Milim would bother with such a convoluted plan anyway. It was more natural to assume someone else was behind it.

Getting back to the subject, whoever won the fight between the orc lord and his foe was likely going to be an incredibly strong foe, so Carillon sent the Black Leopard Fang Phobio, a subdemon lord in his own right, to check it out. Carillon had a good eye for that kind of thing, apparently, but Phobio was just too much of a moron for the job. If the demon lord wanted me on his side, he shouldve sent a more intelligent magic-born, one who could bargain with me and put an enticing offer on the table.

Carillonnnnn Breaking our promise not to get in each others way Milim was stewing next to me. Phobio, meanwhile, averted his eyes, as if afraid of her.

The proud subdemon lord was just a pale imitation next to a real one. Feeling her seething next to me, I reasoned that just about anyone who came here wouldve wound up the same way. Id definitely need to ask her about that promise later, too; that sounded important.

Now that we had gotten everything out of Phobio, I asked him to take his leave.

Milims presence meant that Phobio had no power here, so he glared at the two of us, barked out You will regret this! and took his crew out of the city. I told him to relay a message to Carillon, telling him to contact me at a later date if he wanted to negotiate with us, but I doubted hed ever receive it. When I left that job to Phobio, I knew hed only provide whatever info made him look good. Itd be better for him to tell the truth, given how his mission was a failure and all, but that was Phobios business.

Id better get as much info as I can from Milim about this Carillons personality and other traits, so I can be ready to deal with whatever hes got. But how to bring up the topic?

All right, Milim. Id like some more details.

I cant let you do that! We made a promise that we wouldnt meddle with each other, so I cant even tell you, Rimuru.

Ah, thanks for revealing youve got a secret, then. Now we had a grown-up and a child trying to outwit each otherand honestly, I liked my chances.

Oh no? Was this a promise that youd keep things a secret from each other?

No, nothing like that. Just not to meddle

No? Well, its fine, then, isnt it? I mean, Carillons obviously told his minions all about you, huh, Milim? Besides, were BFFs, and we gotta help each other out, yknow? And I just figured, I better know what I can about demon lords besides you, Milim. Plus, if I dont know what kind of promise you made, how can I make sure I dont accidentally start meddling, huh? I put a special emphasis on BFFs.

YeahbutBFFs

Just one more push. I decided to offer a toy to cheer her up.

Oh, right How about I make you a weapon sometime? I cant help but worry about my BFF, so

Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Youre right! Being BFFs is the most important thing, huh?

And down goes Milim. Just way too easy.

I kept my lips from spreading into a maniacal grin as I nodded with the breezy confidence of a grown-up.

So I successfully extracted what I wanted from Miliminformation on three other demon lords besides her, and what they all wanted; what happened just now; and what was happening behind the scenes. Quite a bit about the mysteries I was concerned about.

Butwow. Demon lords, trying to create a puppet demon lord of their own Milim was in on it just to alleviate her boredom, but this was a pretty serious operation, wasnt it? And if Im getting in the way of it, then no wonder theyre after us.

Thiswill soon involve other demon lords, will it not, Sir Rimuru?

A sordid state of affairs. We had best bring this up with Treyni at once.

Not a problem! With Sir Rimuru at our side, we have nothing to fear from any of the demon lords!

All of us (save one) were holding our heads at this disaster.

The gale that blew in with Milims attack was growing in strength, and it was creeping ever closer to Tempest.