After Rimuru woke up the next morning, he found himself sandwiched between a naked Milim on one side and a naked Ciel on the other. He stretched his arms and turned his head to see Ciel staring right back at him. He gave a warm smile and she pecked him on the lips before turning over to see his other lover still sleeping peacefully. As much as he just wanted to stay in bed forever, and he was seriously tempted to stop time and enjoy the moment, Ciel had other plans.
{Master, I'm not letting you stop time for such a matter.}
He gave her a pointed look. "But you have no problems doing it for us when we are together."
Instead of acknowledging the hypocrisy of her own words, she doubled down. {If they want to spend more time with you, they can learn to stop time on their own.}
"Oh, really? And how often do you allow such a thing?"
This time, Ciel didn't have an easy rebuttal, and so she turned her head away from him. She certainly has gotten better in terms of her possessiveness, but there were times where she felt that she needed to always have something above the other wives. It was something that she felt a constant struggle with. She fully understood that there was no way Rimuru would ever leave her, or even relegate her position in favor of someone else, but for some odd, irrational reason, she felt the need to keep him only to herself.
Wanting to switch the topic to something else, she turned back to him and said, {Master, what will you do with Carrera and Ultima? They've already talked to Shuna and Chloe about searching for a reason to be with you.}
While Rimuru knew that this was going on, he was secretly hoping that this thing would just be a passing fad for the two demons. Impulsiveness was something that the two were known for, and one of the main reasons he didn't think the two were serious about joining his harem. However, now he wasn't too sure about it. If their previous behavior was any indication, the two were clearly showing dedication to join his harem, but the main thing he wanted to know was whether they were joining through their own wishes or because they further wanted to be of use to him.
As he continued pondering about the subject, Ciel interrupted his thoughts. {Please make no mistake. The two, or rather almost everyone who is a subordinate of yours, wife or not, wants to be of the upmost use to you. These two, while incredibly fervent, are no exception.}
"Are you saying that I should take them in?"
Ciel sighed at his question. Try as she might to ignore it, she couldn't avert her eyes to the fact that Rimuru was not only incredibly trusting to the people around him, but also felt something of an obligation to answer to the people beneath him. That was how he was before his reincarnation, and while he was able to put on the display of a king when necessary, it never changed who his core was.
{Master, you need to understand that you aren't solely responsible for everyone's happiness. While you shouldn't accept them if they aren't serious about joining, you also shouldn't accept them out of guilt.}
He certainly felt that his manas made a good point. Accepting them out of pity or guilt was basically asking for problems later on down the line. However, since he was convinced that they were actually serious, as they rarely put in so much effort into anything they did unless he asked or it was one of their hobbies, it was now more of a question of if he was ready to accept them. There was also one more little problem that echoed in his mind, and that Ciel voiced out loud.
{Diablo will also not take this sitting down.}
If Rimuru were honest, the primordials were sometimes too much of a burden on him due to their extreme zealousness. They each felt that he was the only reason for their existence, practically ignoring the previous tens of thousands of years they have lived before him. As such, while they were very proficient when it came to doing any job he asked them to do, when it came to what basically amounted to their mental stability, they were incredibly dependent on him.
If he showed any one of them too much favor, they were bound to cause all sorts of trouble, and when something like marriage pops up, while they wouldn't go and question his decision, he wouldn't put it past them to make the life of whoever he chose incredibly difficult unless he showed them the same treatment. So far, nothing ever really warranted such an extreme course of action, but again, he felt that it was really only a matter of time.
But to the point of whether he wanted to accept them, no matter how much he thought about it, he felt it was more pathetic to try and make excuses about why he wasn't able to, rather than just go with what he felt like doing and deal with the consequences later on down the line. Something he resolved himself to do when he first came into this world was to simply do what he felt like doing, and then judge the rest of his decision making based on that.
Even though Ciel knew his thought process and knew him through and through, he always felt that it was better to say these sort of things face to face. As such, Ciel wasn't caught off guard in the slightest when she heard, "I want to take all of them. I know it's stupid, and I know that it will cause more chaos, but at the end of the day, I'd rather have them here than not here."
{But you also need to know that they only wish to be of use to you. If the best way to be of use to you was to blow up every country, that is what they would be aiming for.}
"Then perhaps I want them. I don't really know. It's difficult to put into words. I know that they only wish to be of use to me, even to the extent of seeing themselves as tools to be used. But I still want to answer to their wishes."
{You're not understanding. Their only wish right now is to be of use to you. That is their entire reason to serve under you. Testa was the first one to want more out of her relationship with you. The other three are only acting in a way to both not lose to her and to be more of use to you.}
"...Fine. But, they will pursue this to the end. Sooner or later, we will need to address it, and the best way would be for them to join and let them find out what they want out of a relationship. It doesn't have to be now, but it does need to be soon."
Exasperation, relief, and annoyance trickled throughout her mind in mild amounts. She, again, felt at a loss as to why they were having this conversation if the end result was going to be the same, yet for some reason, didn't see any of it as wasted effort. While she has posed this question multiple times to many people, with the most times to Rimuru, the only consistent answer she ever got was love. When she pressed further, none of them were able to provide an answer for her, and it was just one of those things that she would sometimes let go, and other times would cling onto in hopes of finding a better answer than love. Yet, to this day, she hasn't been able to find such a thing.
{I suppose that means more work for me.}
Rimuru laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry Ciel. I know just how hard you work for me. If there's anything-"
{I wasn't complaining. I was simply commenting.}
Oh boy… How do I work around this one…? "You know, Ciel, it's perfectly alright if you want to complain about it. If nothing else, I'm here to listen."
Rimuru truly tried not to do anything that would overburden Ciel or make her unhappy, but the main issue when it came to any tasks he asked her to do, especially if it was something that she picked herself that aligned with her interests, she would stubbornly see it through to the end at the same level of competency that she did everything else.
{Again, I was only commenting. My calcu- suspicions showed that you would most likely accept the rest of the primordials under you. I've prepared to manage them well in advance. You need not worry about it.}
Rimuru ignored the mild slip of the tongue that she said, and while he gave a quick thought about whether it was purposeful or not, he pushed it aside in favor of listening to her. Ciel still wasn't anywhere near the best when it came to her emotions, and while she would spare few words when it came to chiding him for something, she struggled to truly see herself as an equal to him. This often lead to situations like these, where she would push aside her emotions and deal with whatever assignment she had at hand.
"Ciel…"
{Hmph.}
A few seconds passed in silence, and it was quite palpable at this time. Rimuru was wrestling with what he could say to her to open up a little, as he knew his partner long enough to know when she felt a little disgruntled, and Ciel was struggling with the right words to say, both in an attempt to appease him and voice her concerns.
After a couple more seconds, she said, {I'm not too worried about the demons themselves. They have a very strict sense of hierarchy, and while they can be annoying, I have no doubt that they will listen. I just don't want to see you having too many partners, man or woman.}
Rimuru heard what she had to say, and felt that it was perfectly reasonable and well within her bounds. In fact, if it wasn't for Ciel, there was no way he would ever be comfortable with any sort of harem, as the time and effort that went into one relationship would be more than enough for him, especially with how busy he normally is just about every single day. There were a few especially drunken nights where he voiced this, along with saying how he should have stopped with her.
However, he was caught in a loop when she retorted. {I'm not worried about not having time with you. We're connected in a way that all of your subordinates would envy. I'm worried about you overburdening yourself. With the added demons and Luminous, you are already in the double digits.}
When Rimuru heard her worries, he struggled to hold back a laugh. Ciel maintained her pout, but Rimuru was still wrestling with holding back his laughter for several more seconds. Once he finished, he said, "But didn't we plan for this? I know Luminous is an unexpected addition, but I think both of us sooner or later expected Diablo to join. I'm not planning on being the next King Solomon, if that's what you're worried about."
Ciel struggled to work out how she was currently feeling. It was true that they had planned well enough for the current situation, save for Luminous, but what about the future? What would that hold for them? The last thing she ever wanted to see was him gaining far too much responsibility and breaking from it, as something incredibly similar happened when Shion died. Sure, everything worked out in the end, but it was undeniable that it mainly happened out of a series of very fortunate events. In other words, luck.
The two talked a bit more on how their plans were going to go before Milim eventually woke up. As the three eventually got ready for the day ahead of them, another two were starting to get ready before they eventually had to go to their respective posts.
A man with vibrant red hair with red eyes to match was in one of the administration rooms of the labyrinth with another man who had matching hair color and eyes, except this time it was a shade of dark blue. Both men would equally be given the label of incredibly handsome, and this caused a bit of an uproar when they were eventually married, but someone who would look at them for the first time would immediately notice the dual onyx-colored horns protruding from the redhead's forehead, and the ivory-white horn from the dark-skinned man's forehead.
Currently, Souei was watching his longtime friend, and current right-hand of the Demon Lord, covering his face and nursing what seemed to be a nasty headache. Perhaps the current scene would be better if they had little to no responsibilities for the day, but unfortunately, no such case could be found today.
"You know, I always keep telling you not to drink so much whenever we have a big dinner."
It was a fairly silent comment, but Souei's words still throbbed inside Benimaru's head. "Fuck you. I won't drink a single drop more after today."
Souei raised his eyebrow at the regretful comment. "You say that after you pass out every single time."
Benimaru felt that it was too early to deal with Souei right now. As far as to why they were even in the same room in the first place, the simple answer was that Momiji and Albis didn't want to deal with him when he was that drunk, as the children had a nightmare and were sleeping with them. By no means was he a belligerent drunk, but he was a silly drunk, and often times lacked the awareness to know when it was a time to remain silent or to act in a certain way, such as not singing random songs or drunkenly telling stories when they were trying to put the kids to sleep.
Seeing that his friend was retreating, he changed his approach. "Why don't you just increase your poison tolerance? Your headache will go away immediately."
Benimaru groaned in response before answering, "I really wish I could. Unfortunately, Momiji cast something to prevent me from increasing it, and she'd know immediately if I just broke it with sheer power."
Souei realized that last night must have just not been the night to piss his wives off, and so they must have wanted to punish him accordingly. This surprised him somewhat, as to his knowledge of their marriage, which was increasingly vast, there was no real problem with their marriage. Sure, they'd argue, but it was always cleared up as soon as possible.
Instead of pressing on what happened, he got his friend some ice packs and some water to better nurse his hangover. Fortunately, it only took the better part of half an hour before Benimaru felt good enough to go about his day. Once he was in a better mood, Souei decided to change the subject to something different.
"How are your kids doing?"
Benimaru scoffed at the comment. "They are proving to be far more difficult than I ever imagined. Seriously, I have no idea how anyone is able to maintain any form of a lifestyle while dealing with kids."
It truly was a fair criticism except for one little thing that Souei was more than happy to point out. "Well, if you decided to do the rational thing like many of us did and simply have the maids take care of them to teach them, I'm sure you'd have plenty more energy throughout the day."
"Well, excuse me mister 'I can clone myself thirty fucking times without issue.' Not all of us can both serve Rimuru and be with our kids."
It was true that for people of their position, there was absolutely no shortage of people who would be more than happy to take care of their little ones. While there were certainly some people among them who would do so for more nefarious purposes, they would never even make themselves known for the simple reason that they didn't want to be on some watch list, having each of their actions under heavy scrutiny. However, like Benimaru said, both of them were first time parents, and therefore wanted to see as many moments of their kids as they could manage.
"Still," Benimaru continued, "I'm surprised that you wound up with more wives than me. Especially with your anti-social nature."
This was a thing that initially shocked Benimaru to his core. Souei, while certainly handsome, has rarely showed any interest in the opposite sex. It was a complete surprise that he wound up with anyone, much less three women, who were all content in being with him. The first, and the current head wife of his harem, was Souka, the vice-captain of the Shadow Squad that he captains. The second one was Glenda, who initially tried to kill him when she was controlled by the hero Granbell, and the third was a holy knight who went by the name of Litus who, ironically enough, also tried to kill him. Perhaps the most surprising thing was the fact that they rarely ever fought amongst themselves, especially given how they were all at each other's throats at one time.
Disregarding the comment about his wives, he focused on the quip on himself and retorted with, "I'm not anti-social. I just don't drink myself halfway to death like you do every single time there is a party."
"Oi. I don't drink at every single party. It's more like… once every three parties."
"Oh sure."
While the topic of children still lingering in the air, Souei posed a question that he hoped wouldn't lead to some sort of verbal jabbing. "How's Kenya's progress going?"
Kenya Misaki is currently a child living in Tempest along with the rest of the 'student heroes' whom Rimuru both saved, and were able to help in the Tenma War, despite Rimuru's wishes, especially being that the oldest one of them was twelve at the time. Currently, Kenya was a bright young man at the age of 22, but was still disparaging at the fact that even though he has carried a hero's egg for over twelve years, he still hasn't been able to awaken it.
Benimaru sighed at the comment. "Kenya still doesn't properly understand that it's definitely for the best that he will never face a situation where his hero egg is awakened. The sheer amount of stress that one must go through is immense, and the only way to currently do so is artificially."
Souei looked at the ground in thought. "Hmm. And what is he currently doing?"
"He is currently trying to single-handedly beat the labyrinth. It's gotten to the point where Rimuru-sama might just show him what's required to shut him up, or just outright ban him from the labyrinth. None of us want to see the kid break."
Souei grimaced, but ultimately knew that it was his decision to make. The main issue with Kenya was that he was far too ambitious when it came to being a hero, and that was mainly attributed to Chloe, who recently evolved past a True Hero into a Demi-God. He always had a competitive nature about him, but in times like these, he struggled with the concept of letting something go. Everyone had no doubt that someone would step in if he got in too over his head, especially someone like Shizue, Hinata, Chloe, or Rimuru, but again, they would rather not have him awaken it, or at the very least, wait for a less dangerous way to awaken it.
As the two teleported into Benimaru's office, they continued their conversation before hearing something down the hall. When Souei went to investigate, he found a pudgy man with a short kid who would be mistaken for someone entering middle school. However, Souei recognized exactly who the two were, and tried to silently make his retreat back into Benimaru's office before he unfortunately got recognized by them.
As the two entered his office, Benimaru greeted them. "Cien and Moss. It's quite a surprise to see you here. What can I do for you?"
The two demons looked at him for a bit before Moss finally said, "Oh, just spit it out already. Let's get this stupid idea over with."
Cien looked uncomfortable at his words, but nonetheless explained why he was here. When he finished, the two oni stared at him for a bit before Benimaru started cracking up and Souei covered his forehead with his hand while looking down. Once Benimaru finished with his laughing fit, he said, "You are right, Moss. That was a stupid idea. As much as I would love to go and tell Testa about how you want her to take back her position, at this point, anyone who says anything that involves taking her away from Rimuru-sama will definitely be facing her wrath in the labyrinth. As much as I love to fight, even I don't want to be fending off an angry primordial."
Poor Cien looked dejected that his idea was shut down so quickly. Of course, there was no way he could ever talk to Testa about this, as in the demon hierarchy, you pretty much always did what your superior said, no questions asked. If he did complain to her, while he wouldn't die, as they were also protected by Rimuru and he wasn't fond of just killing his subordinates, the hell that awaited him in the labyrinth was something that would certainly make him wish he was dead.
Before he could walk out, he heard a voice telling him to wait. Turning around, he looked at Souei who said, "Here's what you can do. We have plenty of people around who aren't really doing much. I'm sure you can ask permission to grab some of them to help you lighten the load a little."
Cien thanked him for the suggestion as he and Moss left the room. Afterwards the two oni still left in the room began preparing for the day ahead of them. While it was certainly much more peaceful than before, they couldn't afford any complacence that would threaten the things that they've created, and more importantly, the vision that Rimuru had. Fortunately, nothing incredibly eventful happened throughout the rest of the week until the last day when Rimuru, Testa, and Hinata were set to go back.