Chapter 16 - 3

CHAPTER 3

A DISTURBING PRESENCE

I had a rather unexpected boost to my military, and really, having more friends was something to celebrate. I decided to promptly meet with Diablo to discuss how to put these demons to work, and I'd have Testarossa and the other top demons join us as representatives to get their feedback.

"So there are three posts I'd like to assign as soon as possible. I need a diplomatic attaché to make decisions abroad on my behalf, a chief prosecutor to investigate the evils unfolding within Tempest, and a chief judiciary official to provide fair and balanced judgment over disputes. I just happen to have you three here, so what do you think about taking those jobs?"

I kept my tone casual, knowing full well just how insane this was. None of these jobs were particularly easy, and my cabinet may object to these appointments anyway, although it'd be Diablo's job to shut them up. Besides, these posts emphasized fairness; I didn't want people trying to curry favor with them, so I thought naming people as close to me as possible was the best bet. If any of them tried anything rebellious or illegal as part of their posts, I could just call upon Diablo to purge them. It made things easier for me, in a way.

"I would be honored to serve as a diplomatic officer."

"Wow, evils even bigger than me? That sounds exciting!"

"My judgments are always fair. I will do everything I can to live up to your expectations!"

Whoa. They accepted them without even listening to the job descriptions.

"Are you sure? I think they're pretty tough jobs…"

"I am eager to begin, my lord."

"Yeah! I'm good at investigations and stuff!"

"I will provide equal measures of death to all."

Um, I don't think that's how the jobs work, exactly! Now I was even more nervous. I glanced at Diablo. He had a smug smile, telling me all I needed to know about his thoughts. Here was a man thinking Thank god I palmed this trouble off on someone else. Yeah, he'd never agree to being a diplomat.

"Listen to me. Being a diplomatic attaché means speaking for me as a member of the Council of the West. Once we deploy our military across the West, you'll also be responsible for commanding them all. It's an important job, you understand."

"Yes, I do understand."

Testarossa softly smiled at me.

"Testa is a wise woman, you know. I guarantee you that she'll never do anything to harm your position."

No, Diablo, you just don't wanna do the job, do you? Diablo's guarantees weren't worth much in my mind, but maybe Testarossa did have a lot of wisdom.

"Well, with the laws we're writing for our nation as well, she'll need to understand and explain them to other nations…"

"Do not fear, Sir Rimuru. I have memorized them all."

Testarossa then began reciting the in-progress version of the laws of Tempest, stuff we were still trial-and-erroring our way through. She even pointed out some of the flaws in the current version.

"Okay, you're hired! I got no complaints now, that's for sure. It's gonna be easy for you to lose your temper in the Council, but remember—you have our nation's good name on your shoulders. Whatever you do, do not let anger get the best of you. Okay?"

"I am ready to serve, Sir Rimuru. And should push come to shove, I will leave no evidence of my involvement."

No, um, that's not the problem, exactly… But there was no denying Testarossa's talent. Nobody else was as qualified, and given my antics at the earlier Council meeting, I wasn't exactly a good role model. Let's see how this shakes out anyway.

So I had now appointed Testarossa as my councillor, but the other two had their own talents.

"Okay, me next!"

Ultima immediately began rattling off the parts of the legal code we were

in the midst of enacting. She was every bit Testarossa's match in intelligence.

"My lord," Carrera continued, "we are a race that respects our contracts. We are gifted in finding loopholes in regulations, and I guarantee we will never miss anything a common person could discover. We will also never be swayed by bribes. Anyone who wishes to subjugate us must do so by force,

and only a small handful of demon lords stands a chance at that."

She couldn't possibly lose to anyone, huh? The fact that she didn't say that outright indicated that some demon lords really were more powerful than her. I could name one off the top of my head easily—that redhead—but that's her problem, not mine. What mattered was that Carrera seemed dedicated to judging all criminals fairly.

"Okay, you're hired. I'll be expecting big things from all three of you!" """Yes, my lord!"""

Thus, I had three Demon Peers assigned to three important posts. Luckily, it was a smart move on my part. Soon, Tempest would become a constitutional state like few others, its systems and procedures providing an example that spread across the land.

These laws apply to me as well, by the way. I'll have to be careful not to get arrested for giving or taking bribes.

So now we had a constitution, part of the elite club of nations that made one. It was still in the testing stages, but our government was divided into three sections and functioning. Ultima and Carrera were dedicated to their work— and I have to add, they had some talented people working under them as well. They organized their respective departments in the blink of an eye, exercising the full extent of their powers.

Ultima had also taken a shine to Rogurd, calling him Rog and following all his instructions. Rogurd even reciprocated, calling her M'lady and treating her almost as nicely as his own daughter. Rogurd, in fact, had no idea who Ultima really was. He was a bold, courageous man, but if he found out she was such a powerful demon, even he might start acting all sensitive around her. In consideration of that, I only told him that she was "scouted" by Diablo. It's her work that counts anyway, so I saw this as harmless.

Carrera, our new chief justice, was also doing well. Rugurd, our attorney general, was back in our administrative office; our department of justice was now its own organization, so it'd no longer be affiliated with that branch. That didn't mean it could do whatever it wanted, though. The administrative, legislative, and judiciary branches of the government all kept an eye on one another now.

Rugurd, in his role, was observing and supporting Carrera, my appointee. From what I heard, despite any eccentricities in her personal behavior, she was a talented worker. She'd never fall to bribery or violence, so I suppose Rugurd accepted her. Good to see. There's no such thing as a perfect political system, so we just need to solve problems as they come up.

Now we had to provide the Council with draft copies of our relevant legal codes.

"So, Testarossa, are you all ready?"

"Yes, Sir Rimuru. Moss has made all the necessary arrangements."

Testarossa, that living beauty, was elegantly relaxing in front of me. She poured out some tea, offering it to me. It was good. Shuna's tea was always first-class and Shion's was up there as well, but Testarossa's was surprisingly delightful. The aroma had depth to it, the taste thick and rich. There was no bitterness, and even though I took it without sugar, there was a hint of refreshing sweetness to it.

"I did not know you brewed your own tea, Testa. Color me surprised." I felt Diablo's eyes open wide behind me.

"Hee-hee! Well, this is a special gift for you, Sir Rimuru. None for you, you understand."

"…That is fine. As long as you understand that my post is above yours, you may live your private life as you like."

Diablo prepared his own tea as he said this. I wasn't sure whether they were bitter rivals or just bickering friends. It didn't seem very strained between them, but I wouldn't call them good buddies, either.

"It's interesting, though, isn't it? The way other nations are reacting to us. Some are trying to curry favor, and some are trying to use us to their advantage. I'd say less than half are openly welcoming us; the majority are still rather suspicious."

Such was Testarossa's sudden evaluation of the scene. It was almost like she was there to see it, which was odd.

"Where'd you get that info from?"

"Oh, my pardons, Sir Rimuru. I enlisted Moss to investigate for me, so I may better serve you."

Moss again, huh? Pretty talented dude. One of the guys who evolved into a Demon Peer; stronger than Veyron and second in power only to the trio of ladies here. He was good at intelligence gathering, too?

"How accurate was the info he got you?"

Was it acquired via magic, or did he ask around more directly? If it was trustworthy, then fine, but if not, it'd just get in the way. I decided to check with Testarossa.

"Well, Moss has a special ability where he can deploy a large number of small, discrete Replicants across a wide range. To Moss, collecting and analyzing information across the world, all at once, is like child's play."

That's…pretty amazing. I gave myself a mental pat on the back. He was a nice pickup.

"Ah. Sounds reassuring, then. I'll introduce him to Soei sometime soon, and then maybe they can work together on intel. Together, I'm sure they can make up for each other's deficits, you know? That'd be good to see."

"My! All those complimentary words… I think I'm going to be jealous of Moss."

Testarossa smiled.

"Ah, enough joking…"

Now a figure I hadn't noticed before was standing behind Testarossa, breaking into a cold sweat. He didn't really stand out much, but this must be Moss. Veyron cut a very gentlemanly figure with his handlebar mustache, but Moss looked like the kind of cute-as-a-button kid you'd see anywhere. By appearances, he'd seem to be in the fifth or sixth grade (?) maybe. Strong would never be how you'd describe him. Was he really that much of a talent?

"Hey, um, about the information you picked up— Can we trust it? I mean, we just got done kicking out a bunch of councillors plotting against us. I can accept it if people are wary, but are there still nations out there seeking to take advantage of us?"

Not to brag or anything, but I think our nation was kind of badass by this point. Trying to hoodwink a nation as badass as ours made me wonder about the mental skills of the leaders running them. Honestly, I'd be far more likely to believe Moss had it wrong here.

"Moss, can you explain the situation to Sir Rimuru?" Surprisingly, it was Diablo ordering Moss, not Testarossa.

"Y-yes, sir. The region south of Tempest, focused on the Kingdom of Blumund, is generally friendly to us. However, our intelligence does not extend far into the north, and with many of the nobles there, it is unclear just how much we know about them is true. As for the councillors pushed out recently, it seems that even if they told the truth to their benefactors, their stories were not widely believed. This is speculation based on rumors, so I cannot attest to its accuracy very much, but I can state that certain members of royalty from several nations are plotting against us."

Moss's power involved being able to listen in on conversations, so it was up to him, and us, to judge how accurate those conversations are. It was still really helpful, though.

"If we can pick up on suspicions before they spread, that can help us take countermeasures fast."

"Yes, my lord."

"Testarossa, can I leave this matter to you?"

"Of course, Sir Rimuru. Are we in agreement that the relevant nations need to be thrown into ruin?" No, we are not.

"That's going too far! Just force their rulers to take responsibility for it."

"I understand."

"And try to avoid bloodshed while you're at it, please?"

"As you wish. I will not do anything that gives Tempest a bad reputation, at least."

Despite her flowery smile, Testarossa was really giving me the creeps. I worried a little over whether assigning her this was the right idea, but you need to test out these things. Still, if we acted too nice to our rivals, it could send our whole nation crashing down. Being seen as a pushover will just lead to more needless damage in the future.

"All right, then! Proceed so our nation retains its current dignity, but don't be afraid to show them the full brunt of Tempest's gravitas!" And so Testarossa was my new Council representative.

That took care of the biggest problems. Those had been giving me headaches for the past few months, but starting today, my mind would be much more at ease.

Huh? Was I retreating the lab to do a lot of whizbang research? Well, you know, I need to at least look like I'm trying down there, or I'll come off like a charlatan dropping in for fun.

Being a grown-up is knowing how to balance social responsibilities like that. In a way, you want to avoid making a one hundred percent effort in the workplace, because then that'll be expected of you every time. A real performer knows how to execute a "full effort" they can provide on a regular basis. Work's supposed to be fun anyway.

…Of course, I can try to sound like I know it all here, but that's still just an ideal. And I guess that if I'm satisfied with myself right now and have an environment like that to work in, I must be truly happy.

Anyway, today I decided to check out our new school building, which we recently completed construction on. The children I brought in from Englesia will study here, together with our own. Like I said to Yuuki, the best way to prepare children for adulthood is to get them interacting with one another— and in a school with nothing but monster children, I worried my kids would have trouble adjusting to human society later.

With this school, there'd be no worries. We now had a lot of adventurers and other people coming here for work, many of whom brought their entire families, children included. In many low-income families, children were obliged to work as well, but I prohibited that by law. A child's job is to play —and to examine and study whatever they were interested in. I wanted to have humans and monsters learning together, in the same classrooms, and in the future I wanted to see this grow into races and species working together. That was the theory behind this setup.

Plus, we didn't only have children learning in this school. Grown adults were mastering the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic here, too. They were highly motivated, given how these skills were rapidly becoming necessary in Tempestian life. Remaining illiterate would narrow their work options and potentially lead to errors that'd cause trouble for their coworkers —and adults understood that, which is why so many were studying now. One common refrain you hear in the classroom is "Am I ever gonna use this stuff in the future?" Not here, though. The sight of grown-ups studying so hard actually seemed to inspire the children watching them; they didn't want to get left behind.

Addition and subtraction were one thing, mind you, but literacy is another. Those classes were difficult even for me, and it seemed like Masayuki was in the same boat. We were fluent in conversation and could read just fine, but writing was a challenge. In my case, I could set Raphael to autopilot and cover for that, but without its aid, I wasn't sure I could pass even a basic literacy exam here. I had been shamelessly putting off addressing this—if I'm good now, why bother?—but for this, at least, I felt like I was cheating a little.

My kids, of course, were doing great. I gave them some manga translated into this world's language to motivate them, and that wound up being a huge success. They were carrying it around with them all the time, and it was getting popular even with students outside the reading classes. Kenya and the others, being the first kids to possess this manga, were uber-popular in class. Between those comics and his natural talent for winning fights, Kenya was already kind of the boss of the schoolyard.

"Come on, boys! Quit playing around and help me clean the classroom!"

Oops. Now Alice was mad. She had comfortably settled into the classpresident role, I see.

"Huh? Why do we have to do that stuff? "

"Whoa, Ken, you don't want to make Alice angry!"

"Aw, shut up, Ryota! Today I'm gonna whup Alice and become the real boss around here!"

Eesh. What are you, children? …Oh, I guess you are.

Apparently, Alice was the true boss of this clique—maybe that was why Kenya kept flaring up at her. I suppose it's like a lovestruck boy wheedling a girl in order to get her attention. It usually has little effect…or typically, the opposite effect. You need to be nice to the people you're trying to court, and if Kenya doesn't get that yet, he has a lot to learn. All he's doing right now, at least, is pissing her off.

"I told you, y'know! I told you I'll show you just how scary I can be!"

Alice, for her part, was acting less than her supposedly mature self. But she's only eleven, of course, and I wouldn't expect anything else from a sixth grader. Plus, everyone was already used to her act.

"Hey, who do you think will win this time?"

"Oh, it's gotta be the Empress."

"Yeah. She's the youngest and the strongest out of us all. Kenya's pretty good, too, but he's a bad matchup against the Empress." "Like, he's in love with her! No way he could ever beat her." Pretty cruel.

"Hey, Gail! Quit sayin' all that crap over there!"

"Yeah! No way Kenya has a thing for me. Are you crazy or what?"

Gail had no qualms about revealing Kenya's secret. But despite Kenya's objections, Alice just laughed the whole thing off. Hmm… Maybe they were still a little too young for love. Or maybe they were just fine, actually. The children, monster and human alike, all looked on with big smiles; they must've understood there was no bad blood involved. Gail, being the oldest, kind of took a leadership role with the others anyway, so I assumed he'd put a stop to matters before they developed into problems.

I could've just kept my mouth shut and watched them, but not today. Hinata was due in later. "Okay, kids, that's enough!" I said as I entered the room. "No horseplay in the classroom, all right?"

"Mr. Tempest!"

Chloe all but tackled me from the side as I entered. I never saw it coming; she must've improved her skills as of late. In fact, she must've noticed my presence long before I came in.

"M-Mr. Tempest?! No fair, Chloe!"

Alice was almost as quick to respond, hugging me with just as much force as Chloe. Good. They're still at that "cute" stage.

Then someone else dog-piled on me from the rear.

"It's great to see you again, Mr. Tempest!"

A charming little girl with a bowl cut leaped in front of me. She wore an elegant kimono and seemed about as young as Alice—but what really made her unique were her fox ears.

Hmm, I don't remember meeting a girl like this before…but I feel like I ought to know her. Could it be…? "Are you…Kumara?"

"That's right!" came her peppy reply.

Oh, right. Kumara was an upper-level monster who evolved after I named her, and I guess transforming into a human was among her new skills. I'm pretty sure I granted custody of her to Hinata, alongside Kenya and the rest. They were attending school regularly now that the building was completed, but I figured Kumara was manning the labyrinth or something in the meantime. In fact, she joined the others at school, and it looked like she had friends as well, so it appeared that things turned out fine.

"Whoa, Mr. Tempest is here?"

Now Kenya and Ryota noticed me, lagging a little behind the girls. They were drowned out by the other children.

"W-wowwww! Mr. Tempest!!"

"It's really him! Whoaaaa!"

"Wait'll I tell Dad back home!"

It was a big event, causing such a clamor that now the other teachers were coming in to see what was up.

"M-My lord?! You should have let me know in advance! I would have guided you around!"

"Are you kidding me?! I'm the vice-principal! If anyone's giving Sir Rimuru a tour, it's me!"

"Nonsense! Sir Rimuru named me the principal, and this is one responsibility I'll never palm off on my staff!" Another big furor.

These teachers were mainly retired adventurers, along with a few merchants Mjöllmile recruited from Blumund; we paid them a monthly salary. Our principal was one of the elders from the goblin villages. He was no good as a teacher, but he was great at settling disputes fast, and I wanted him to keep an eye on the kids and ensure the monster students weren't being ostracized. The rest of the staff was all human, including a paladin we brought on as a special lecturer, and Hinata stopped in to look after Kenya and the others when she was free.

It all seemed to be going well, really. The paladin looked out of his comfort zone at first, but now he was instructing our monster and human students as equals, with no prejudice involved. That was a huge help.

"Yeah, um, call today a kind of stealth meeting. I had some business with

Kenya's class."

"Oh, is that the case? Well, I hope you'll be interested in sitting in on a class next time!"

"Indeed. Just let us know a date and time, and we'll show you a perfect class!"

The teachers and students all nodded at one another. But hang on. What did he mean, a perfect class? I didn't need them putting on an act for me.

What was the point?

"Whoa, whoa, don't put Sir Rimuru on the spot!"

This chaos would've continued awhile longer were it not for Fritz, the paladin in charge of my class today. Having a captain of the Crusaders preside over a class is pretty amazing in itself, I thought.

"You're teaching today, Captain Fritz?"

"Aw, Sir Rimuru, no need for that captain stuff. Just Fritz is fine."

"Oh? Then you can drop the sir stuff with me, Fritz."

"I could hardly do that. Humor me with that much, if you wouldn't mind. I might get dirty looks."

Fritz smiled at me. He struck me as the last person to care about honorifics like that, but not even he could get that informal. And neither could I, really. Calling the heads of other states by their first names would be pretty stupid unless I was a real big shot.

"Ah yeah. If we were alone, sure, but not in a place like this, huh?"

"Thanks for understanding," Fritz said with a wink and a smile. Getting winked at by a man wasn't all that gratifying to me, but I did like his approach.

"But anyway, thanks for helping around this school."

"Oh, stop! Compared with Lady Hinata's harsh training, it's like heaven around here. There's free food; the children respect me… People in our group are fighting for this job, lemme tell you."

I see. Not sure I really wanted to know about that. I appreciated how Fritz was being upfront with me, but I didn't want to adopt his knack for creating awkward scenes…especially given that my Magic Sense had just picked up something.

"Oh? Well, that's good, Fritz. My harsh training, huh? With your talents, I thought I was going easy, but maybe I shouldn't have bothered."

The cold voice was pointed straight at Fritz as Hinata appeared. A wave of anxiety coursed across the room, as both the children and the grown-ups stood up straight and froze. Even the faculty did, which I didn't know whether to laugh at or be concerned about. Fritz, of course, had it the worst.

"G-gehh… L-Lady Hinata?! That, um, you misunderstand me! It was just a figure of speech, you could say…"

He tried to defend himself—in vain, I thought. This is exactly why situational awareness was so important. I prayed for his future happiness as I promptly hightailed it out of there.

We moved into the labyrinth. Hinata was here now, so I also took along the five kids and Kumara. Fritz—well, let's not talk about him.

"I've been expecting you, Sir Rimuru…and you as well, Lady Hinata."

"Ah, it's the elder himself! Glad to see you're well."

We were greeted by Hakuro, who apparently had kindled a friendship with Hinata at some point. They were both smiling as they greeted each other. "Sorry to make you take time out of your busy schedule."

"Oh, it's perfectly fine. We've taken care of all our major problems for the moment."

"You did? Did you figure out who you'll send to the Council?"

"Yes, Diablo attracted some new talent to our group. She's been named Testarossa, and I'll be glad to introduce you next time."

"…She's 'been named'? There's a lot I want to say about that, but we don't have any time to waste, so I'll hold my tongue." "Um… Sorry?"

"It's fine. I already know how much you're lacking in common sense.

Asking for more details will just give me another headache."

She may've been whining a little, but pretending not to hear what Hakuro just said was probably the best thing for her, yes.

"Anyway, I'm here today because I wanted to show you how these kids were progressing. I've been teaching them alongside Sir Hakuro, but I want you to see what they're capable of, too."

Hmm… Not sure how I felt about that, but let's play along.

"If you're phrasing it like that, I guess they've kind of grown?"

"'Kind of' is one way to put it. Once you see them in action, you'll get it. This labyrinth is so useful, isn't it? You can fight at full blast without worrying about dying."

Hinata grinned, projecting as scary an image as always. She always had this streak of intimidation that bordered on the sadistic.

"All right. How about I summon some Replicants to take them on?"

With some choice jiggles, I spat a body out of me. This was a humanshaped clone, me remaining in my original slime self.

"All right! It's been ages since we fought Mr. Tempest!"

"This is so great. Now he can see just how much I've grown!"

Kenya and Alice, the two main fighters of the crew, gleefully took positions in the front row. Next to them, the more taciturn Gail was doing a few quick stretches while Ryota, despite his usual reluctance, was looking just as excited—if he wasn't trying to run away, he must've had some confidence, at least.

And as for Chloe and Kumara, the last two:

"I'll head out front first!"

"Huhhhh? But I wanna fight Mr. Tempest, too!" They were just as enthusiastic.

"All rarin' to go, huh? I can take you all on at once, but how about we try some one-on-one battles?"

Everyone smiled at me, excited to battle—and I certainly didn't mind humoring them now and then. With that ill-advised optimism in mind, we began the mock fight.

...…

...

…

One hour later:

"Y-you've gotten way too strong, guys!"

My shocked voice echoed across the labyrinth.

Kenya was clearly stronger than a rank-and-file paladin. He formed a perfect combination with the light elemental spirit inside him, unleashing a litany of sword moves from his weird, manga-like stance. Ryota wasn't as good as Kenya with a blade, but with his mix of water and wind spirit magic, he demonstrated a nimble skill with battle. Gail was a steady presence in the fight, focused on defense and careful movement, and he handled his sword and shield well. He also had good control over earth-based spirit magic, making him a bit like fighting an iron wall.

Thus, the boys were surprising enough, but the girls were even more amazing. Now I could see why Alice was nicknamed the Empress. I don't know where she was taking them out from, but she now had several dolls of magisteel that resembled Beretta and seemed almost alive as they lunged at me. She was every bit the Golem Master she was, and she wasn't messing around with toy dolls today. If she faced anyone besides me, they'd be in real trouble.

But in addition to that, Alice had a finisher move where she willed a huge number of swords into the air and doggedly sent them flying my way. That was a surprise. Their paths were irregular and hard to predict; without my Predict Future Attack skill, I might've been run through several times. Another few years, and she could probably be an even match for a paladin captain.

As for Kumara:

"Okay, guys, time to show Sir Rimuru what we're made of!"

With that shout, she released her full force, nine tails shimmering behind her cutesy figure. The next moment, each tail transformed into a magical beast. I kind of anticipated this, but still, having eight beasts to deal with at once was a surprise. Even two of those beasts boasted a lot of strength—I could see why Clayman treated them as a kind of last resort. And now there were eight of them.

The ninth one was apparently associated with Kumara herself, while the other eight were all magical beasts. Each one was over A in rank, so not even your average paladin stood a chance, and they all shared in one another's battle experience, so they worked well as a team. At this point, I think they could possibly beat Fritz, making Kumara a little girl with the power of one of the Ten Great Saints. It'd be hilarious, except for the fact that it was all true. If those beasts gained any more experience, the strength level would just be incomprehensible. A worthy guardian for Floor 90 of the labyrinth, no doubt about that. So that brings us to Chloe.

"Heee-yah!!"

It was a cute little shout, coming from her, but there was nothing cute about how she held a sword. She was faster than Kenya—or really, it wasn't even something worth talking about on that level. I fought against six adversaries today, but Chloe was the only one I had to get real serious about. Or maybe I'm thinking about it the other way around. If I didn't get serious, then Chloe was now strong enough to be a danger to me. I wouldn't die if I went easy on her, mind you, but I didn't want to look uncool in front of all the kids. As a responsible grown-up, I couldn't embarrass myself around them. So that's why. Don't call it immature, all right? I'll throw all generosity aside if it means protecting what little pride I have. "I can see why you did that."

"As can I. It is only with the young Chloe that I get serious in our mock battles, after all."

Really…? So Chloe was now tough enough to challenge Hinata and Hakuro, both above me in skill? It shocked me to the core. This innocent little girl was now making me shudder.

"No, dude, that was really great!"

"Right? Hearing Mr. Tempest say that gets me all pumped up!"

"Yeah, but Chloe totally stole the show today. I mean, you call me the

Empress, but I still can't beat her in combat."

"Ah, Chloe's on another level. She looks all meek at first glance, but rile her and she's a menace. You're not scary at all when you're mad, Alice, but with Chloe, I'm cryin' uncle pretty much immediately."

Ryota and Gail nodded next to the indignant Alice. The boys all seemed in agreement.

"Kenya's real good, too, though. It's just that his stance doesn't really match his skill set. If he worked on his stuff a little more, I think he'd be able to string some good combos together."

It was a very manga-like stance, but it wasn't inherently a bad one. It was just a poor fit for traditional swordplay, forcing him to take extra steps throughout his approach. If he could get rid of that, I think he could be stronger.

"That's the thing. No matter how much I instruct him, he's still sticking with that…"

Hinata must have noticed as well. She dejectedly sighed. "So what? I learned this stance directly from Masayuki!"

Huh? Did that fool give Kenya a little uninvited advice? I mean, the stance looked cool and was effective in its own way…but as someone who knows just how powerful he really is, it just seemed so wrong for him. No wonder it looked like something from a fighting manga—Masayuki probably lifted it directly from one series or another.

"Well, I suppose just telling him won't work. Let's teach him so he gets rid of his bad habits and polishes up his combo strikes some more."

Unlike Hinata, Hakuro wasn't hung up about doing things the standard way. He had a few off-book moves of his own, so if Kenya found this approach effective, Hakuro didn't mind going with that. It wasn't absolutely the wrong thing for him, either, so I'll let Hakuro work that out over time.

More importantly:

"Chloe, your sword moves are exactly like Hinata's, aren't they? Very pretty. A good example for everyone."

She smiled brightly at the compliment. "Yeah! It's the same as what Shizu used, so I tried to copy them!"

"They're not the easiest things in the world to copy, you know. I'm still reliant on skills for them, but you learned them entirely based on your own talents. I think you should be proud of that."

"Indeed! I've instructed a great many students, but I've never seen so much raw talent from one person. It's nothing short of ominous, in fact!"

Hinata and Hakuro were both tough teachers, and they had nothing but praise for Chloe. I guess it really was talent. She was still young, but I couldn't even guess what would happen as she matured. I wasn't sure if I was fearing it or looking forward to it.

It turned out, however, that Hinata had some other business today.

"I called you here in part so you could see how these children were progressing. They all have talent, but they're still young. I wanted you to have an accurate gauge of how they are right now, to ensure we don't guide them down the wrong path."

That was always a consideration for me, of course, but I accepted the word of caution. Shizu had watched these kids, after all, so to Hinata, I suppose they were kind of like her own siblings.

"All right. We have a lot of people in town who can guide them, Hakuro included. Me too, for that matter. We'll make sure they don't go down any wayward paths."

"Hee-hee! I thought you'd say that…but just in case, you know."

She was such a worrywart. I loved how kind she really was, despite that cold facade she always put up.

"So did you have some other reason to be here today?" I asked her as the kids all play-fought against Hakuro.

"Yes. In fact, it's the main reason."

She stopped there, eyes turned toward the children. Even Hakuro had trouble dealing with five of those kids at once. He could keep up with their moves, yes, but if he delayed his reactions for even an instant, he'd suffer a lethal blow. In terms of pure physical talent, someone like Kenya was easily above him. He couldn't let his guard down for a moment.

Kumara, by the way, wasn't participating in this. If she really wanted to fight, she'd overwhelm Hakuro with pure numbers. But even without her, Chloe gave the kids a decisive advantage, so I thought this was a good pairing. It was, in a way, a grand demonstration of fighting skills, one boundlessly entertaining to watch.

"Isn't that amazing?" Hinata softly said. "Especially at her age."

She was looking at Chloe. The other four—Kenya, Ryota, Gail, and Alice —were all impressive enough in their own right, but Chloe was simply extraordinary. Without her, Hakuro could easily wrap up this battle without breaking a sweat.

The mock battle came to an end, all the children panting as Hakuro started giving them advice. If they were fighting this hard every session, I could see why they were advancing so fast.

Hinata then moved on to the main topic at hand. "Sorry," she said, focusing on me again. "I just got caught up watching them. But Lady Luminus, you know, she's pestering me about when we'll hold the music-exchange program. I figured she was interested in the idea, but she's even more

enthusiastic about it than I thought. So I thought I'd let you know."

That was unexpected…or to be exact, I had been busy with so many other things that I kind of procrastinated on that proposal.

"Ohhh, right, she really liked our recital, didn't she? Well, Baton and the orchestra are still practicing regularly. They've been expanding their repertoire."

"Honestly, I'm amazed you remembered all those songs. I can't read sheet music or anything, so writing down the songs in my head just seems impossible to me."

Wow, so Hinata actually admits to being bad at something? She didn't seem too enthused about the concert, either. Maybe she was tone deaf. A feeling of superiority washed over me, even though I was wholly reliant on Raphael for that stuff.

"Well, maybe we ought to stop by soon, then."

"Yeah. Transporting your musicians might be a pain, though. We could send over a few paladins and transport them via a Warp Portal, a few people at a time."

"I'd appreciate that, thank you. It's a big orchestra, and they have a lot of bulky instruments with them. A wagon caravan didn't seem practical to me."

Lubelius, if I recall, was protected by a large Barrier that prevented anyone from teleporting directly in. We'd need some other kind of rapid transport. A train system would instantly solve this problem, but that was for the future—no point pining for it right now. Plus, of course, this wasn't just about transporting the musicians. They all had their own instruments, which really complicated matters. If we used horse-drawn carriages, they'd have to traverse a highway that's not even completed yet, and traveling down unfinished roads could lead to bumpy patches and broken gear, so I'd like to avoid that if I could.

I was really starting to envy the dragon airships the emperor of Thalion used. A train trip would be fun enough, but if you really wanted to cut down travel times, air was the only way to go. Land and sea were your best bet for transporting goods, but for recreational and other travel, a plane flight was always the fastest and easiest way.

Thus, I appreciated Hinata's offer. I'd be helping as well, of course, so we began to make plans for the big travel day. As we went over all the details, the resting children gathered around us.

"Are you going somewhere with Miss Hinata, Mr. Tempest?"

I explained to Chloe that we were holding a music concert in Lubelius.

"I wanna go, too!"

"Me too!"

"I'd probably fall asleep during it, but if Chloe and Alice are coming, so am I!"

"And me!"

"Guess I'll join you, then. If I let them go alone, no telling what they'll do."

Chloe led the fray as they all clamored to come along. Hmm… What to do? I supposed it'd help broaden their horizons and all that, but I couldn't guarantee that it'd be completely safe.

Kumara looked up at me as I pondered this.

"I—I want to go, too…"

Being the guardian of Floor 90, she had a job to attend to, but she just looked so forlorn to me as she asked. Maybe the logical part of her brain told her this wasn't doable. But it's totally natural for a kid to want to join her friends on a trip, and I wasn't in the habit of turning that down.

"Aw, there's no need to be so hesitant. Don't be afraid to say what you want. I'll indulge you at least a little bit."

I didn't want her turning out like Milim, but it wouldn't do for her to lose her childlike charms, either. I patted Kumara on the head as I spoke. It felt just as soft and fuzzy as she was in fox-cub form. I suppose the kind of warmth it gave you was something that transcended boundaries between monsters and people…although Kumara was in human form here, so maybe I'm just thinking nonsense.

"Whoo-hoo! And no school while we're on the road, too!"

"Why do you want out of school so bad, Ken? You have fun in there."

"What are you, stupid? School's fun, yeah, but getting to play around while everyone else is in class… It makes you feel special, y'know?"

"I get what you mean. I don't want people to think I'm like you, but I'm kinda excited, too."

"Right? That sort of thing!"

I had yet to say yes to anyone, but the kids were already mentally packing their bags and openly talking about cutting school. I get it. I really do, but I never tried doing that when I was a kid…

"Ah, fine. But you'll have extra homework to do while you're out, all right?"

"Huh?! Aw, c'mon, Mr. Tempest!"

I ignored Kenya's protests. He needed to learn early on that you can't always get everything you want. Life can often be unfair, so this was my way of toughening him up. Call it a rare parental gesture from me. I wasn't harassing or punishing them at all, so hopefully they would understand.

"I'm just happy being with you, Mr. Tempest," said Chloe, the original instigator, with a grin. Well, whatever. It'll make for some good memories.

"You're so easy on them."

"Oh, are you against it, Hinata?" I asked, frowning my disapproval at her. "Pfft. I didn't say that."

She looked peeved but put up no more opposition. We're good, then. So now we had our basic plan ready—a tandem music concert in Lubelius, a team of musicians headed over there, and a bunch of kids joining the fray.

And here we were—the Holy Empire of Lubelius.

Already, the kids were agape at the exotic sight of Lubelius's city streets. Baton and the musicians, meanwhile, were tensed up, unable to stay at ease. Diablo was with me as my secretary, as well as Shion—I had her stay home during my last trip, so she got to come along this time. Instead, Veldora was watching over things in Tempest; I reminded him of his vital position as labyrinth master, which kept him from getting any funny ideas. Really, Veldora could go to pretty much any nation besides this one—he and Luminus in the same place was just far too dangerous.

Report. The chances of a problem occurring are one hundred percent.

You couldn't spell it out more clearly than that. If there's a big mine in the ground in front of you, you're not gonna march straight for it.

Hinata was our guide here. "Welcome to Lubelius," she casually told us. "The Holy Emperor himself will be greeting you shortly."

She was talking about Louis, and I had insider knowledge, of course, that he was only playing the role of Lubelius's leader. Baton and the others, however, didn't—it was classified information, and I told the kids to keep mum about it around the orchestra.

"So tonight there's going to be a dinner party to formally greet all of you. Tomorrow, we'll be tuning things at the concert hall, and we're slated to begin rehearsals the day after that. The show's scheduled for three days from now. Does all of that sound good to you?"

"What do you think, Baton?"

"Y-yes, Sir Rimuru! I think that will be fine. Everything's been magically transported here already, and I believe it all made the trip safely. We'll need to adjust our setup for the concert hall's size, but I understand they have an

orchestra of their own, so I don't anticipate any issues." Sounds good to me.

"You sure, though? You're only getting one day for rehearsals."

"Ha-ha-ha! Here in Lubelius, yes, but we've never missed a day preparing for an event like this back at home. We'll all work as one to answer the call!"

Great, then! If he was that confident about this, I was sure their extended efforts would pay off. Talent really can beat hard work sometimes, but then again, hard work is never gonna betray you. It connects to confidence, giving you the internal strength you need to express your full skills in any situation. Keep up a regular effort, and you'll truly start believing in yourself. I internally gave Baton's response an A-plus as I nodded at him; if he was that confident, I felt safe expecting big things from them.

That night, his orchestra received the royal treatment from the nobility. For the most part, it made them more nervous and awkward than ever.

"Um, Sir Rimuru, we're just regular citizens of Tempest, you know. Is it really all right to be afforded rooms like these?"

We were traveling with over a hundred people, and they were all given their own room to stay in, each with a maid on standby in an adjacent chamber so you could call them in at any time. There was even a salon on the level of a four-star hotel spa, available completely for free. Baton and his musicians hardly knew what to do with themselves.

The dinner party was just as swank, featuring a cavalcade of bite-size courses served on top of a small spoon—a feast for the eyes and the palate. Each course was small but carefully seasoned and designed to keep your attention. Everyone loved them. Kenya and the kids acted like it wouldn't be enough for them at first, but by the end of the banquet, they were all rubbing their full bellies. As a slime, I had a de facto bottomless stomach, but theirs were beholden to the laws of physics. Stack up enough tiny courses like this, and you'd still have trouble eating them all.

Unlike these innocent kids, though, our orchestra had mixed feelings.

Tempest was full of culinary delights of its own, but you weren't going to see intricate masterpieces meant for kings and princes like this. They've never had anything like it, and they certainly had not enjoyed this level of service before. I could tell them not to be nervous, but it was an impossible ask.

"Ah, don't worry about it. It just shows how much they're looking forward to your performance, I'm sure."

At times like this, I took solace in the fact that I wasn't doing the performing. I didn't need to go up there and sing, as it were, for my supper. If I were in the same position as Baton, I'd probably be too anxious to eat anything—talk about a wasted opportunity. So I encouraged our band to enjoy themselves more as the dinner party went on.

After it ended, everyone retired to their rooms. The kids were already asleep by now, overstimulated and exhausted from the day's events. With everyone else resting, I was all alone. My newfound ability to take naps helped for such occasions, but it looked like I wouldn't have to rely on that. There was a knock on the door.

"My apologies for interrupting you late at night. Our leader has invited you to visit her, Sir Rimuru—would you happen to be available?"

I had been silently approached by Luminus's personal maid, an overcomer. She seemed like quite an elegant talent, unlike the ones who populated our research lab. I had thought Luminus was going to snub us today, but it looked like she wanted to see me after all. There was no need to turn her down, so I roused Shion and Diablo, and we followed the maid down the hall.

"Good to see you again, Rimuru," Luminus offered me in greeting. "I admire the restraint you show, not bringing that evil dragon along."

She was talking about Veldora, right? I couldn't blame her, given what he had done, but it still seemed kind of mean. But that was none of my business.

"Yeah, good to see you, too. And he's a troublemaker, you know? If I brought him to something like this, it'd be more of a headache for me than anyone."

"Hee-hee-hee! You know him well, then."

It was a short exchange, but I felt a real connection to Luminus now. Veldora's helping me in unexpected ways.

Waiting for us in that ornate chamber were three people, Luminus included. Gunther, her elderly butler, was stationed to her left, and Louis, the man serving as emperor, was standing to her right. With the passing of her stand-in Roy, this meant all the surviving members of Luminus's Three Servants were on hand.

I wasn't sure why Hinata was missing, though.

"But you didn't call for Hinata?"

"No," Gunther replied. "She may have advanced from Enlightened to Saint, but she's still a former human being. Whether she no longer requires

sleep or not, she has still not shed her human habits."

"I did reach out to her," added Louis, "but she told me some nonsense about sleep deprivation being bad for her skin…"

It was indeed past midnight, so they didn't force Hinata up. That made sense to me, but then Luminus gave me a light smile.

"It's odd, though. Her body's structure has transformed to something closer to a spiritual life-form, so skin deterioration should be the least of her worries. But it's true—Hinata actually does require sleep. Even as a Saint, her body's still as it was during her human years. It will take many more years for it to undergo the full evolution. A lot of people have the wrong idea about this, but there's nothing superhuman about Hinata at the moment." She had a little laugh at this.

Unlike monsters, humans cannot undergo sudden, explosive physical transformations. That means Hinata still retained some of her human characteristics—which, if looked at from a certain angle, could be seen as a weakness. This was something I subconsciously suspected, but it just showed how ridiculous monster transformations could be.

I, of course, did not require sleep, and neither did Diablo. Shion did, more or less, but three hours per session was enough, and she could stay continually active for seven days or more without rest. Benimaru and Soei were apparently the same way, which showed just how well monsters adapted to their environments.

But regardless, if Hinata wasn't here, it wasn't my job as Luminus's invitee to care.

"Right, well, here's a souvenir for you. It's a collaboration between

Shuna and Mr. Yoshida—an apple-brandy pound cake."

I thought Hinata would complain about serving this while she was absent, but late-night snacks are a beauty no-no, I'm sure. She liked this kind of thing, but if she didn't know about it, she wouldn't have to agonize over taking a slice or not. It's an act of kindness, really.

"What a feat! How thoughtful of you."

Luminus was certainly complimentary. I must thank Shuna for letting me have this. My two self-styled secretaries would never demonstrate that kind of good sense. Diablo was always extremely considerate of me, but that didn't apply to anyone else. They both have a screw loose, really. But anyway.

"So what did you want to see me for?"

"Yes, well, I wasn't entirely sure whether to inform you, but I've decided I should. It seems that Granville is up to his tricks again. I am very much looking forward to our concert in three days, and I don't want anything to get in the way of it. So I thought I would ask for your assistance."

A rather casual way, I thought, to give some unpleasant news. I wanted to tell her that it was no topic to discuss over cake. Shion was nodding at this, but I don't think she understood the portent of it. Diablo, meanwhile, looked like he couldn't care less. If an enemy came along, he'd eliminate it—those were his thoughts, no doubt. But this was a pain to me. I was on foreign soil, not my own country. I could summon the demons, as well as the forces Soei deployed across the land, but I didn't want to go overboard.

Besides…

"If it's that big of a deal, shouldn't you really be telling Hinata?"

Yeah, this kind of thing was right up her alley. She was far more qualified to patrol this nation than visitors like us. But Luminus shook her head.

"Hmph! Do not underrate us, please! No matter what kind of rabble attacks us, Lubelius's defenses are ironclad. We've thoroughly enhanced our defensive measures to prepare for that evil dragon, after all. But we are not flawless. There is a possibility they may sneak in undetected through some previously unknown opening."

The way she was talking, no invading army could manage to shake her steadfast confidence. I mean, if they were planning for war against Veldora, your typical army of ten thousand was no sweat. But that wasn't Luminus's concern.

"Some previously unknown opening? Ah, right, Granville Rozzo headed the Seven Days Clergy…"

"Exactly," chimed in Louis. "Given his secret maneuvering around Lubelius across many years, I am positive he has at least one or two hidden routes he can take advantage of. Humans are gifted at sneaky tricks like that."

"And as irksome as the thought is," said a seething Gunther, "he once fought against Lady Luminus as the Hero of Light. With that experience, he could conceal himself entirely, and we'd have no idea he was there."

That did sound dangerous. Kind of an inside job, then? Nobody would know the terrain better, certainly, and there was no doubting his strength. They say he's more powerful than the late demon lord Clayman, so you didn't want to let your guard down here…or so I thought.

"Ridiculous. I wish you wouldn't disturb Sir Rimuru with such trifling matters."

Then Diablo suddenly spoke up, sounding as brash as always. And here I thought he'd been behaving rather well—now the bomb was going off. I really wish he'd learn when to keep his mouth shut.

Louis and Gunther looked put off for a moment, but Luminus's smile kept them in line.

"Hee-hee-hee… Well, Noir, I see Rimuru's certainly tamed you, hasn't he? Even seeing it in person, I can hardly believe it."

I wasn't sure why Luminus was smiling in a situation like this. But it kept things from getting awkward.

"I wish you wouldn't call me that. I have a wonderful name granted to me by Sir Rimuru—"

"Enough, Diablo. I'm on friendly terms with Luminus, and I'd like to keep it that way."

I gave him a warning that, hopefully, worked as an apology.

"My pardons."

Refraining from addressing her any further, Diablo heeded my request and quieted down. He even bowed his head a little to Luminus and her servants, and while I'm sure he had no remorse whatsoever, I was willing to accept that. Luminus, after all, was asking a favor of her guests, so I didn't want to aggravate matters.

"No, I'd say Diablo there is correct. Perhaps it is wrong of us to make this request at all. But there is a good reason why I decided to share this with you."

Very considerate of her, calling Diablo by name…even if it was a nickname. She chose not to sweat the details and quietly began explaining why she'd summoned us here.

"As I mentioned when I discussed how Hinata still needs sleep, humans cannot quickly adapt their bodies after an evolution. It is something they must settle into, through many years…"

An Enlightened figure, one qualified enough to be a demon lord, can evolve into a Saint, equivalent to an awakened demon lord. However, given the time it takes for this evolution to finish, you could say that a newborn Saint is not that much of a threat. They may have swells of energy flowing within them, but if they don't know how to wrangle them, it's pointless. Hinata could control her energies down to pretty exacting rates, but that was dependent on her own personal skills. It didn't come as naturally to her as breathing, so the resulting burden had a physical and mental effect upon her.

But why would Luminus bring this up while she wasn't there? …Actually, maybe it's the opposite. She waited for her to be absent before she brought it up. And if human beings took a while to evolve, then…

"Now, going back to Granville for a moment, he is not currently a Saint. He is someone who has hatched out of a Hero's egg, if you will—grown and flown away from the nest. Not even I can guess how powerful he has become."

So he's a true Hero, then?

Of course, this world had many types of Hero—some self-styled, others true Heroes in training as recognized by the world itself. Some were even "real" enough to do things like seal Veldora away for years. Just as seed demon lords could portray themselves as the real thing, those bearing hero eggs could be recognized as fully Heroic, and the difference in strength was roughly proportionate between the two. Heroes and demon lords really were united by fate that way—and in Granville's case, we were safe in assuming he had the strength of an awakened demon lord.

"…You think he's stronger than Hinata, maybe?"

"When I first heard Gren was killed by the likes of Nicolaus, I doubted my own ears. A Disintegration spell is among the most powerful magics of all, but Gren wasn't enough of a fool to leave himself completely exposed to it. But back to your question…"

Luminus looked me straight in the eyes. So this is why she didn't invite Hinata.

"…Yes. You're right. I had hoped to tame that man for myself. Having fought him once, I know for a fact he's stronger than the demon lords of old."

She sounded completely confident, surprising not just me but her servants Louis and Gunther. They were both silent now, perhaps not realizing how misinformed their judgment of him was.

"Indeed, we never directly fought Gren, so…"

"But you would rate him that highly?"

"I would. I gave Gren free rein because I wanted to keep him in my personal sandbox. We both shared common goals, so I forged an agreement with him because I thought it would be fun. As head of the Seven Days Clergy, he was granted all kinds of political power. In a way, I kept him as my personal ace in the hole."

That ace wound up betraying her before she could play it, going over to the other side and wrapping his hands around her neck. It was an error in judgment, I suppose, but I felt like I was a part of the cause, a little bit. Not that I was to blame, but…

"Well, Maribel's dead now, after all. The cherished child of the Rozzo family."

If the notoriously careful Granville was on the move now, that had to be his motivation.

"Ah yes, the child I caught sight of at your festival. I wasn't aware at the time, but she was quite a foe, wasn't she? If Granville treated her with so much respect, she might have been the key to all his ambitions."

Maribel was a handful. If she stayed away from the spotlight, letting her conspiracies naturally play out, we'd have a maelstrom of evil to deal with. The enemy in front of you is never as potentially lethal as the one seething from far away.

Still, though…

"So what does Granville want? He can't be taking action at this point out of some twisted desire to avenge Maribel."

"That is probably… No. Never mind."

Luminus stopped herself from saying something. She shut her eyes for a few seconds, deep in thought, before quietly continuing.

"Even long ago, his one hope was to spread peace across the world. He fought against countless slavering monsters and vicious magic beasts, defeating them in his quest to protect the human regions of the world. I fought that stubborn old man many times, until he understood that I wanted to live alongside humankind instead of eradicate them. Once we forged an agreement with each other, that was when peace finally spread across the West. Legions banded together to form small nations, which prospered and grew into larger ones over time. And it was Gren himself who appealed to

them behind the scenes to create the Council of the West."

Hearing the story like this, Granville—or the Hero Gren—really did seem like a legendary figure. He was now part of the shady Five Elders, but it was still all in the name of protecting humankind. No matter the motivations behind it, if you looked at the results he put up, Granville basically gave the human race a thousand years of peace, didn't he…?

"The ancient elves who rule over Thalion have no territorial interests. We in Lubelius serve as a shield against the tyranny of Earthquake Daggrull and the Storm Dragon Veldora. The demons to the north keep attempting to intervene from their ice-shrouded world, but it's more for entertainment than anything. If Guy were serious about it, he would have brought the world to its knees long ago, after all. That just leaves humankind's other great outpost on this planet, and Granville has worked alongside the dwarves to combat it and hired merchants to prod its innards. He's been doing all this by himself for ages."

Put it that way, and Granville really seemed amazing.

…No. No, now's not the time to commiserate with him.

"All right. So if he's done all those noble things, what does he want?"

"Hee-hee… Don't hurry me, now. I'd like to say that Gren has no reason to confront me, but I can think of one thing. I can think of it, but I have no intention of telling you."

Oh. I figured as much, given that pause earlier.

"But I did receive some concerning news about his motives. Do you know Yuuki Kagurazaka?"

"Sure. You said he gave off bad vibes or something, didn't you? He's the mastermind who incited Farmus to fight and set Clayman against me."

"Oh, you picked up on that? That saves me some time, then, but you should know that Yuuki has contacts with Gren. There is some kind of business going on between them, and it seems they've forged a pact of their own."

Yuuki again? I'm really getting sick of him playing around with us. Without Raphael, I'm sure he would've easily pulled the wool over my eyes.

If we kept letting him run around free, I'm sure we'd be constantly encountering the same problems. Maybe it's about time to settle matters.

"So Yuuki's motivations are lurking around behind Granville's moves?"

"That they are. And I think one of his targets is all of you."

I see. And with me outside of Tempest, now was the best time to attack?

"Interesting. So that child Yuuki wants this Gren character to fight against Sir Rimuru?"

Now it was Shion speaking up out of nowhere. I gave her a surprised look. Knowing her, I assumed she was spacing out on the conversation by now, but she actually had a full grasp of it.

"Keh-heh-heh-heh… Perhaps they think they enjoy an edge now that a few of us have left the country, but they had best think again. We have not one, but two members of the Big Four guarding you. No scheme of theirs could possibly cause any harm."

Diablo, meanwhile, was the same as always. I really wish he wouldn't bring up the Big Four right now. It's so embarrassing.

"Well, remain on your guard. Once three days pass, it will be none of your business anyway. As I said at first, all I care about is enjoying a nice concert."

Luminus never wavered. She called Gren a threat, but to her, the entertainment came first. And as we concluded this private midnight talk, I began thinking I could learn from the way she compartmentalized things.

So was Granville really going to do something? And was Yuuki going to take advantage? With those worries in mind, I greeted the second day of our stay in Lubelius.

Today we'd be bringing in and setting up all our equipment in the concert hall. We were guided to a grand cathedral, one of the nation's main buildings. It was large enough to hold crowds of parishioners while also serving as a defensive post for the road that lay beyond.

I had nothing in particular to do. Best to let the professionals handle their own instruments. Instead, as I planned, I'd be taking the kids out for some onsite social studies instruction.

Of course, after listening to Luminus, I exercised the cards I had in hand. First, I called for Venom, who answered directly to Diablo, and ordered him to go on security duty. I'm sure this sudden invitation confused him.

"Diablo, I want you to watch over Baton and the rest as they prepare—"

"Sir Rimuru," he interrupted, "one moment, if you please. I thought we may run into some trouble here, so I made some arrangements overnight. The orchestra will be safe."

Great. Diablo must've foreseen and addressed anything that'd make him leave my side. This is exactly why he assembled so many troops, I'm sure, so I didn't mind that at all. But apparently he told Venom to come here in ten minutes or less. Venom actually did it, which was funny enough, but if that's the kind of order Diablo gave without a second thought, he really was heartless. Which he was, of course. He's a demon. I marveled at his talents all the time, but at that moment, I couldn't imagine how hard it was to work under him.

So the next thing I knew, Venom already had a hundred demons helping the orchestra. These were all above A in rank, and I couldn't imagine any security issues from Luminus's side, either. The band was nothing if not very well guarded.

Thus, guided by Hinata, the children and I observed the goings-on around Lubelius. My personal take? It's the exact opposite of Tempest but not always in a bad way. Here, you were guaranteed a happy society at the expense of personal freedom. There was no competition, really. You just followed your assigned instructions to carry out your work, and then you did it a million more times.

That could break you down mentally, maybe, but you'd never be beleaguered by starvation or pain. Anyone who couldn't live in this environment left long ago, I'm sure, and besides, if this is all you knew from the day you were born, it wouldn't occur to you to complain about it. You can't envy what you don't know about. If you never felt inferior to anyone else, you'd never be inspired by those feelings to try to improve yourself.

That's all it took to craft a society free of conflict.

"Sounds kinda boring," whispered Alice.

"Yeah." Kenya nodded. "I mean, people our age are working and stuff. Is there no school or anything?"

The other children didn't comment, looking confused at the unfamiliar landscape.

"No, there's no school here. It's a nation managed from the top down, with everyone living peacefully as equals under the name of our god."

Hinata sounded proud of it, but did she really think it was right? She and her forces got to enjoy a luxurious life, but didn't she feel bad about having a monopoly on that? Of course, it didn't feel right to tell some hapless commoner about what they were missing out on, but…

"After all, some things you just can't have, no matter how hard you try. You can't yearn for something if you don't even know it exists in the first place."

"I guess not, but…"

Kenya was no fool, either. He understood what I was getting at.

"…In this managed society," Hinata continued, "the population enjoys high levels of happiness across the board. That's all the more reason why we need to go through the Western Holy Church to build relations with other countries."

Yeah, I'll bet. You couldn't expose this oblivious populace to stimuli from other nations without warning.

"Makes them sound kinda sheltered."

"But if they're happy, I don't think it's really our place to comment."

"Yeah. Happiness doesn't come from material possessions, after all. If it's emotional happiness you're after, then a society like this works."

Not that I could ever stomach it. Now that I knew better, I'd always be pursuing more abundance as my mission. Way back in the past, when I spent my afternoons playing tag with my school friends, maybe I could have accepted something like this. Everyone has their own idea of what happiness is, after all; it's not the sort of idea that you could point at someone and say they're wrong about it. You had to think for yourself and act accordingly— that's the best way, I figured. It was food for thought, but…

"…But none of these people can survive on their own, right? They can't keep this up unless they've got someone protecting them."

Chloe was speaking my thoughts out loud. Never underestimate a child's knack for observation.

Hinata blinked a little at this. I guess she must've picked up on that as well—just how warped this society really was. If everyone was oblivious, they'd be unable to do anything without someone managing them. Having no freedom meant that someone else had life-or-death power over you. It wasn't much different from being livestock.

"…Yes. And that's why we're working to avoid that."

"Hmm… Well, okay. But I think it'd be better if this was a group effort, Miss Hinata. That way, everyone could pitch in instead of you having to do everything!"

That was one ideal, yes. But someone always had to suffer eventually, because it never really worked out that way. We're all born with different levels of talent, and everyone produces work at their own pace. Words like equal sound nice, but there's always going to be a cruel, unequal reality attached. Ideals and reality—a contradiction that could never be fully buried. Prop something up here, and something else has to sag over there. There's no correct answer. You just have to keep rushing down the path you believe in— and that's what makes life interesting.

I think today gave the kids a lot to ponder; it's also reminded me that material possessions aren't enough to make you happy. I knew that, but I just couldn't stop. That was the conclusion I made, but I still didn't think today was a waste for me. My approach was, in a way, just one of many correct answers.

The diversity I enjoyed was the very potential that drove people's lives, I thought. But I wanted to reconsider my life one more time, carefully. No need to decide what's correct or not. I was stabbed in my previous life, and then I got reborn as a slime. Nobody could tell you what's coming next for me… and if that's how it was, I'd be missing out if I didn't enjoy the present.

That's what today made me think. And even now, the gears of fate were turning…

"Jaune has disappeared?"

"Yes. It is hard to believe, but I detected a massive amount of magic force…and then the demons sleeping there seemed to vanish…" "…Unfathomable."

Leon thought he misheard Arlos's report at first.

In Leon's domain was an area shared with the demon realms, the spiritual world that demons call home. It was a land covered in thick miasma and magicules, one where a demon with untold powers could occasionally manifest itself. Your typical demon, bereft of a physical body, could be handled by Leon's knight corps, even if they were an Arch Demon. However, they had discovered an older demon in this land, one that's such an absolute threat that not even Leon could ignore it. This was Jaune, the Original Yellow.

She had yet to obtain a physical body, which limited where she had access to. However, her presence was still enough to keep Leon from moving an inch from where he stood. Anyone else would have been helpless against the carnage she wrought.

"She's an insane demon, the sort who'd throw nuclear-level magic spells around for fun. She would be impossible to live alongside, and she has no interest in negotiating. Without your backup, Sir Leon, she would even

threaten my life. And now you say she's gone?"

"Yes, Claude. I couldn't believe it myself, so I went to see…and the region that normally overlaps with the demon realm has been dimensionally repaired. I can only assume that someone has blocked the Gates of Hell."

"Impossible…"

Claude, the Black Knight widely considered the strongest fighter in all of El Dorado, was snapping at Arlos, the Silver Knight and his comrade-inarms.

Everyone who lived here, not just Leon, was tormented by the demons. If Jaune, the original source of all their woes, had disappeared, it was such good news that nobody would dare believe it. In fact, the missing Gates of Hell seemed to portend even more ominous events for the future.

The Gates were a kind of door that overlapped between the physical and spiritual worlds. Its presence allowed bodiless demons to appear and interact with "normal" space for a limited time. Many knights had been deployed to close this door, but the demons stopped them. Ever since Leon built his nation here, there had been continual skirmishes on regular occasions. What made this so difficult for the knights was that spiritual lifeforms could resurrect themselves as long as you didn't kill them at the root. Even worse, a demon just killing some time could easily cause massive damage to Leon's forces.

To Leon, who ruled over an otherwise bountiful realm, only the demons kept him up at night. If he truly wanted to, perhaps he could sweep them all up by himself—but one false move, and it could lead to Jaune awakening. And even then, Leon could probably beat her, although it'd require the fight of both of their respective lives. That's why he had avoided that so far.

What could have happened? Jaune is just… She's not like Mizeri and Raine, the way Guy describes them. She just doesn't listen to reason.

After carefully weighing his interests, Leon decided to maintain the status quo, even if it meant taking some losses. And now, out of nowhere, that threat was gone. He and all his forces agreed about one thing: No way had it just happened to turn out like this.

Now more news was reaching Leon's nervous ears.

"Report, my lord! There are currently five children being kept under wraps in Tempest. We've confirmed our intelligence with their former academy in Englesia, and we're almost done assessing it. It would appear the demon lord Rimuru is forging a secret pact to sell the children to the demon lord Luminus."

"What?"

"Lubelius and Tempest have signed a peace treaty; both demon lords are on good terms with each other. Our guess is that Rimuru has deceived Yuuki Kagurazaka and is using the magicule-rich children for his own business dealings!"

They had just received a magic call from a member of the Azure Knights currently investigating Tempest. The news gave Leon pause. The Rimuru he met at the Walpurgis meeting didn't strike him as the sort to pull a move like that.

"Have them observe this agent of ours closely. He may have a good contact…or he may be under someone's control."

"You don't think…"

"The demon lord Rimuru, perhaps?"

"No. I just don't see any reason why Rimuru would get rid of the children."

"So why, then?"

"Someone's trying to make us fight. Someone who stands to profit from it.

There's a chance the demon lord Luminus is being dragged into this as well.

For all we know, Luminus may be behind it all."

"…?!"

"What in…?"

Leon thought for a moment—gauging the situation in the Western Nations, figuring out who'd be the prime suspect. The conclusion was as obvious as it was unnerving.

"…The Cerberus society?"

Only that shady pack of merchants knew Leon was collecting otherworlder children. Well, not just them. The people he tapped for their knowledge of summoning spells knew, too.

Perhaps the Rozzos have discovered our summoning program…

Yes, maybe those merchants joined forces with them in a real, palpable way. If he started to doubt them, there'd be no end to it for his troubled mind. Besides, that report was suspicious on its face. Leon wouldn't have any motive to take action over just five children—or so he thought. Normally, demon lords avoided interfering with one another as much as they could. Butting into a conflict between demon lords that he had no personal stake in would be the height of folly; it could give him two enemies where there used to be none.

It was best to ignore these events. Luminus might be scheming at something, but it'd all be pointed at Rimuru, not Leon. There was, by Leon's reasoning, no point in making a move. This time, however, he could feel his judgment wavering. Perhaps detecting this, Leon's advisers began debating the matter.

"I see… So there are people out there trying to take advantage of Sir

Leon?"

"Should we quash them?"

Leon stopped them. "No. Cerberus has major clout in the Eastern Empire. It'd be unwise to make enemies of them without any evidence. They're no doubt fanning the flames here, but the Rozzo family might not be so faithful themselves. And besides that…"

He was taking the situation coolly, providing suitable instructions for his forces, but there was still a pang of anxiety in Leon's mind. That name, Scoey Colbert. Could that be…?

…No, there was no reason to make a move. In fact, any moves would mean falling for the bait. Leon understood that, but he still had trouble resisting the impulse.

If Jaune was alive and well somewhere, he couldn't do something illadvised that could affect the very land he stood on. The scales in his mind remained stationary, pointing out the correct choice.

And yet…

Strange. I just feel like I have to act right now… He had fallen silent, his adviser looking up at him.

"My lord, we are all your faithful knights. We will gladly follow any orders you give us."

"Yes! No matter how selfish you may be, we will never chide you for it.

Grant us your orders, and I promise we will make them come true!"

"You…"

Arlos, Claude, and all the other knights were unquestionably loyal to him. "…Either Jaune's disappearance is an extraordinary stroke of luck, or…"

Leon closed his eyes. When he opened them again, there was a fearless smile on his lips.

"I accept your loyalty. I must go myself. Guard this land in my stead."

"""Yes, sir!"""

Here, in the Golden Land of El Dorado, great forces were now in motion. Leon Cromwell, the Platinum Saber, was about to reach for his sword and end his long silence.

"Ah, the demon lord Leon's on the move, huh? Just as I thought—it's not just any child he's looking for. So maybe Chloe really is the one…"

It meant that Leon's true desire wasn't the children, but a certain person who came from another world. By the laws of cause and effect, this made it seem quite likely that Chloe was what Leon wanted.

"But, Sir Yuuki, Leon's not necessarily going to do what we want, will he? He's probably headed for Lubelius, but I doubt he's accepted the info

we've given him at face value. In fact, I'm sure he doubts it."

"I'm sure he does. But it still let us narrow down his motivations. That's good enough."

Yuuki was satisfied, but Kagali and the others didn't see things his way. They seemed concerned, unsure about his thoughts.

"I agree that Chloe merits attention, but don't we lack concrete proof that she's the central figure? Relying on uncertain odds like that strikes me as out of character for you, Sir Yuuki."

"Yeah, right? And here we are, leakin' sensitive information to him. It's all but askin' him to doubt us, y'know? So what was the purpose of all that?"

"I'd like to know, too, Boss. I don't think you made a mistake, but now Leon's gonna have it in for Cerberus, won't he? It's basically ended our

relationship. I don't see how we've gained anything at all."

Laplace and Teare weren't hiding their concerns now. Footman didn't join them, and the ever-wise Kagali felt it proper to keep her mouth shut.

"I can understand if the clowns here are confused," Misha said with a bewitching smile. "It's true—we didn't stand to gain anything from this. We did it for just one reason, and that's because the boss has decided we can't deal with the demon lord Leon any longer."

That set off a light bulb in Kagali's mind.

"I see. So that's how it was? Not that we won't deal with him, but we can't…?"

"Huh?"

"Wh-what do you mean, Lady Kagali?"

"Hoh-hoh-hoh! Not like we'd understand her if she told us. All we have to do is follow the orders, and—"

"Quiet one second, Footman. Whether I can understand it or not, I want to hear it!"

Footman scowled a bit at Teare's interruption. They usually got along well, so it stung a bit. The way he saw it, they didn't need to get mired in complex reasoning—just do what Yuuki and Kagali and the others said, and everything would work out fine. He truly believed that, but now it seemed he was the only one. The others trusted Yuuki and Kagali, but they wanted to know what they were working for.

Yuuki looked at them and smiled. In terms of being easy to use, Footman sure is a helpful guy…but if you want a better chance at success, people like Laplace are leagues better. Of course, it's not like we had some grand reasoning behind this…

As he thought over this, he began to venture an explanation.

"Well, the fact that Leon's taking action now is all the reason we needed. You know how we had you guys deliver one final shipment of classified goods to him? I only did that because we were planning to shut off business with Leon, and I wanted you to have a chance to see your hated nemesis in person once."

"Huh? So you really wouldn't have cared if we started kickin' ass in there?"

"You're exactly right. Assuming you escaped alive once you were done, that is."

Yuuki grinned, a smile brimming with confidence as he attempted to calm his minions down.

"Children or not, collecting otherworlders takes a lot of hard work. We know Leon did it to boost his fighting power, but we kept helping him anyway. You know why, right?"

"Yeah, 'cause we wanted to keep that connection with him?"

"Right. So what did we need to keep that relationship going?"

"The classified goods, right? The otherworlder children?"

"Mm-hmm. And now we can't get any more of them. Why?"

"Well, because the Rozzos we had been countin' on to summon them for us are… Oh. Ohh."

"What? What is it?"

"You see, Teare? This way, we can pin the blame for cutting things off on the Rozzos. If we can't get any new supply in, we certainly can't keep our business going. We can't go around looking for kids that just happened to wander into this world, but we can pretend we are and sell them that way. So this way, we're seizing the initiative. Even if we cut Leon off for now, we can still make contact with him later if we need him."

"But that's still no reason to deliberately make him suspect us," a confused Teare said.

"Nah," groaned Laplace, the truth dawning on him. "You see, they're tryin' to make the Rozzo family out to be the real bad guys. I tell you, Boss, you're a mean one, that's for sure."

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Thanks for the compliment. Yes, like you said, Laplace, I'm intending to shunt all the blame on old man Granville."

"It annoys me to say this," Kagali added, "but Leon's a very careful individual. We're the only ones he's suspecting right now…but at the same time, I'm sure he thought, There's no way Cerberus would do something so immature. He'd eliminate Rimuru or Luminus as suspects, and in his eyes, there's nobody else who could be scheming against him. The Rozzos are probably the least of his worries."

"Leon's careful, yeah, but he's also got a lot of self-confidence. He's not gonna let himself get hurt by some human he wanted to take advantage of. He didn't even try to learn about the Rozzos. I don't think he could even guess that the real threat was lurking among their ranks."

"I can imagine. The Five Elders were nobody too big, after all, except for those two."

"Two? But if Maribel's gone, that just leaves Granville, don't it?"

"Well, you didn't know, but there were actually three people in the Rozzo family we needed to be careful with."

Maribel was dead, but two still remained—such was the information Cerberus gave them.

"Of course, to be exact, it's not one of the Elders. It's this one guy who worked for Cidre, that frontier margrave, and he's apparently real bad news."

With a grin, Yuuki told the room what he knew.

Cidre was the aristocrat responsible for protecting the peace in northern Englesia. In this region was a family of protectors who guarded the land from generation to generation. The current one, a man decked out in a full mask and armor with no skin visible, had been serving Granville all this time despite nobody knowing where he came from. He wasn't part of the Five Great Elders, but anyone aware of him knew better than to ignore him. Yuuki heard about him from Damrada.

"And you know, Damrada himself told me 'I have no idea who'd win between us unless I actually fight him.' So no way he's weak. The only

other person he's described in terms like that is Hinata."

As far as Yuuki knew, Damrada kept a close eye out for only three people in the Western Nations—Hinata, Maribel, and this man. To him, the man was even more of a menace than the head elder, Granville himself. And if Damrada the Money—one of Cerberus's leaders and a man who enjoyed Yuuki's full trust—rated him like that, there was no way Yuuki could afford to ignore him.

"So what's he like?"

"That I don't know. I've never met him. But he pretty much singlehandedly keeps the peace up in the north, you know? Damrada said he happened to see him in combat once, and he himself was fightin' against a bunch of demons from the north."

This statement was like dropping a bomb in the room. Kagali and Misha were already aware of it, but even they seemed to have trouble accepting it.

That's how much of a revelation it was.

"The man's name is Razul, apparently. Granville personally named him."

"Granville…?"

"He named him?"

"Wait, so you mean…?"

"You weren't aware of that, Lady Kagali?" asked Misha. "Well, it's true. Damrada told me that Razul isn't human."

"Yeah," Yuuki added. "He doesn't wear all that armor just to protect himself. It's also so nobody finds out what he is, according to Damrada."

To Laplace and the others, however, that was just a small detail.

"Ah, that doesn't matter. Lemme get this straight. By 'demons from the north,' d'you mean from the lands of that demon lord?"

"R-right! If the Lord of Darkness is taking action, the West would've been a heap of ash long ago…"

Nobody, not even Yuuki, could smile at the normally composed Laplace and Kagali acting so out of sorts.

"Please, calm down. You guys are pretty scared of the demon lord Guy Crimson, huh? Well, we're fine for now. Regarding your question, yes, the northern demons were people working under Guy. It looks like Guy's tolerating it when his forces decide to attack human settlements for fun. It's just a game for the demons, but the victims sure don't see it that way, of course. So it was Razul stopping them before they could cross into his territory."

Just one man, protecting human society from all those demons? The thought stunned everyone except Yuuki into silence.

"I hardly believe it, but I'm convinced. If Guy isn't serious about this, that explains why the Western Nations are still safe. This Razul person sounds like quite a threat, but…"

"This is just crazy. Not even I could pull a stunt like that."

"B-but…I know he's strong and all, but what's he have to do with Leon?

Are we trying to have Leon travel north and fight against him?"

As everyone regained their composure, Yuuki found himself smiling at Teare's question.

"Right, let's go back to the main topic. Like I said, the Rozzos have this Razul as kind of a last resort. He's there to fend off the demons who might attack at any time, so they couldn't afford to move him away from the north."

That was why not even Maribel factored Razul into his calculations. Why not? Because as a champion working directly under Granville Rozzo, not even Maribel had the clout to order him around.

Yuuki had been aware of Razul for some time now. He hadn't used him in his strategizing so far because he simply didn't have the chance. Any false move with him, and Guy's forces were capable of laying waste to the West. He didn't want that, and thus the northern regions were hands-off to him. Now, however, things had changed.

"I'm going to level with all of you. A while back, I had a conference with Granville where we worked out an agreement—an agreement I've already briefed you about."

The smile disappeared from Yuuki's face. Everyone else nodded.

"Right," said Kagali. "The god worshipped by the Western Holy Church was exactly who we expected it to be. And out of sadness for losing Maribel, Granville decided to join forces with you, Sir Yuuki."

"Stupid old man."

"Silence, Laplace. So along those lines, Granville asked for your help with something. Are the preparations for that going along well, Sir Yuuki?" Yuuki and Granville's secret meeting. In the midst of it…

...…

...

…