Leaning back against his throne, Dwarf King Gazel rested one arm on the armrest and stared into the distance.
The reports sent by his spies replayed in his mind one after another.
At the beginning, it had been nothing more than caution.
Rimuru's strength was abnormal, even by his standards. When she left the Dwarf Kingdom, Gazel had ordered spies to follow her in secret. They lost her trail almost immediately.
Even so, he did not withdraw the order.
After repeated attempts and relentless persistence, the spies finally located her movements within the Great Forest of Jura. From that point on, information began arriving regularly.
Then came the first shock.
Monsters.
Building a town.
When Gazel read that report, his reaction was not anger or alarm.
It was confusion.
Monsters did not do that.
They fought. They hunted. They gathered.
They did not lay foundations, plan streets, or construct infrastructure.
No matter how he looked at it, what his spies described did not align with any monster society he understood.
Before he could even finish processing that, the next report arrived.
And this one made him sit upright.
Traces of the Orc Disaster had appeared in the Great Forest of Jura.
Two hundred thousand Orc soldiers.
For a brief moment, Gazel wondered if the report was exaggerated.
Then he dismissed the thought.
The Orc Disaster was not something that could be misreported.
As the ruler of a powerful military nation, Gazel knew very well what the Orc Disaster represented. If such a force went unchecked, it would not stop at the forest.
It would spread.
And when it did, the Dwarf Kingdom would not remain untouched.
The response was immediate.
Nationwide alert.
Martial law.
The elite Pegasus Knights were mobilized.
Other military units began gathering at once.
The kingdom moved as it had countless times before, prepared to face catastrophe.
And then-
Nothing.
Days passed.
No further reports arrived.
Gazel waited.
Every passing hour only sharpened the tension.
Finally, the long-anticipated message reached his hands.
"Several high-ranking Majin participated. The war has ended. Our surveillance was discovered and obstructed. Details are unclear. The Majin are likely subordinates of the slime. To continue missions under optimal conditions, we request permission to use top-tier equipment."
Without hesitation, Gazel held the parchment over a candle.
The flame consumed it silently.
"My king," the Knight Captain asked cautiously from nearby, "what did the spies report?"
Gazel closed his eyes.
"The crisis appears to be over," he said. "The war has ended."
"What?"
The reaction was instant.
The Knight Captain's voice rose despite himself. The Pegasus Knights stirred, armor shifting as murmurs spread.
Gazel raised one hand.
The movement alone was enough.
Silence returned.
"Even I find it hard to believe," he continued calmly.
That was enough to bring the knights back to attention.
Only then did Gazel allow himself to think.
The report mentioned that their surveillance had been exposed.
By a Majin.
That alone was alarming.
His spies were not amateurs. Their stealth was among the best the Dwarf Kingdom had to offer. For them to be discovered so completely-
It was unsettling.
According to the report, they had barely managed to escape pursuit.
The spy captain had raised the danger level and formally requested permission to relax equipment restrictions.
Gazel understood the implication.
Further infiltration would not be safe without preparation.
"Issue additional orders," Gazel said after a moment.
"The Pegasus Knights will remain on full standby."
"Other forces will reduce their alert level and shift to quasi-martial law."
"Remain prepared."
"Yes, my king!"
The war's end was good news.
But declaring the situation safe too quickly would be foolish.
That was Gazel's judgment.
He approved the spies' request and ordered deeper investigation.
Three months passed.
When the new reports arrived, Gazel felt something close to disbelief.
The Orc invasion had been subdued.
Not exterminated.
Subdued.
The remaining Orc soldiers had been taken in and properly arranged.
The Great Forest of Jura had returned to peace.
No disasters followed.
No secondary threats emerged.
The feared chain reaction never came.
Relief spread through the kingdom.
And yet-
A new problem surfaced.
How should they face the slime who now effectively controlled the forest?
After repeated deliberation, Gazel reached a conclusion.
"I will go myself," he declared.
"I want to see with my own eyes whether the one ruling that forest is an enemy."
The streets were wide.
Flat.
Clean.
As Emiya Shirou walked forward, his gaze drifted naturally to the bustling shops on both sides. Voices overlapped, merchants called out, and laughter carried through the air.
It was alive.
Rimuru sat casually on his shoulder.
"You've done an impressive job," Emiya Shirou said. "Really."
"Of course," Rimuru replied without hesitation. "I worked in construction before, you know. This is well within my expertise."
Under Rimuru's relentless effort, the city's drainage system and surrounding waterworks had been completed flawlessly.
Problems that would have taken years elsewhere had been solved with magic.
At Rimuru's insistence, nearly every household now had its own bathroom.
And under her firm pressure, the dwarven brothers had even built hot springs.
This point, in particular, pleased Emiya Shirou greatly.
Bathing was a habit he had never abandoned in any lifetime.
Now that conditions allowed it, there was no reason to give it up.
"Seeing everyone smiling like this," Rimuru said quietly, "I feel like all the exhaustion was worth it. Compared to before, the city feels so lively."
"That's inevitable," Emiya Shirou replied. "There are one hundred thousand Orcs living here now."
With a glance, he could immediately tell.
The proportion was obvious.
"Yes, but it's a pity," Rimuru said. "Their future reproduction rate won't be very high."
"True."
They both sighed at the same time.
After goblins and orcs evolved into Hobgoblins and Orcs, their reproduction efficiency had dropped sharply.
Now, their rate was no different from humans.
That was normal.
Their children were no longer lower monsters.
They were born as true Hobgoblins and Orcs.
As a creature's strength increased, reproduction naturally became more difficult.
The stronger the lifeform, the lower the efficiency.
It was one of nature's rules.
"But this is fine," Rimuru continued. "Quality over quantity. With proper training, they'll be strong."
"Of course," Emiya Shirou said. "After all, those are the soldiers you trained."
"In that case, I'll accept the compliment."
"Haha."
They continued walking, chatting easily.
Behind them, Little Rimuru and Little Emiya ran back and forth between stalls, curiosity pulling them in every direction.
"By the way," Emiya Shirou said suddenly, "how's Gabiru doing?"
Rimuru froze.
"That guy?" she said. "He's driving me crazy."
Emiya Shirou raised an eyebrow.
"I told him to plant Hippokute herbs in the cave where I was born," Rimuru continued. "And he grew weeds. A whole bunch of weeds."
"To be able to grow weeds in that kind of magicule-rich environment," Emiya Shirou said seriously, "that's talent."
"As expected of Gabiru," Rimuru said. "Comedy master. Maxed-out stats."
"Haha!"
Emiya Shirou couldn't stop himself from laughing.
The image was just too vivid.
Too ridiculous.
And as their laughter echoed through the streets, the city continued moving forward-unaware that the attention of an entire kingdom was already turning toward it.
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