The Kingdom of Falmouth was a vast nation, a sort of front door leading to the assorted nations to the west.
These nations had no direct ties to the Eastern Empire.
Instead of official relations, they had powerful merchants who took it personally upon themselves to distribute in-demand goods between the two lands.
Most of this informal trade went through the Armed Nation of Dwargon, which (publicly, at least) was neutral and thus gave their tacit consent to the goods going to and fro between them.
Part of Falmouth's territory was adjacent to the Dwarven Kingdom, meaning that anyone who lived in one of the so-called Western nations would have to go through Falmouth to reach Dwargon
That is, unless they were willing to brave a path through the Forest of Jura.
The Falmouth path was far safer and more monster-free, and even with the tariffs and fees applied, it still resulted in a
more profitable journey.
No merchant in their right mind would opt out of it.
It was better to be safe than to be sorry.
Humans were such creatures that would prefer to keep alive than to take risks traversing the unknown, knowing definitely that impending death befell them.
It was the natural instinct of all humans.
This all meant that not only rare Eastern Empire goods but also high-quality dwarven weapons and armor could be obtained by the Western nations through the informal trade market with Farmus.
It had made Falmouth's capital of
Marris, a well-funded and burgeoning trade city—home to people from all over the world and earned it the nickname of the "front door" to the west.
It also meant the kingdom's coffers were full to overflowing, both from the taxes charged to traders and the revenues from the more well-heeled merchants, paid in exchange for assorted services.
Among the nations of the West, it was certainly either the richest or very close to it.
That fate was soon to be broken by the actions of the chaotic duo in a certain forest.
◇◇◇
Nidol Migam, Earl of Migam, was indignant.
Falmouth was, indeed, a rich kingdom, no doubt, but so much power was tipped toward its central government that practically none of those riches reached the nobility tasked with running its more remote regions.
Redistribution of wealth was an
alien concept around here, and the earldom of Migam never seemed to see any relief from the taxes they were expected to collect from their citizens.
As with other nations, they were taxed based on their agricultural harvests—and yet, they were also charged with defending their borders against the threats posted by the forest.
That was the current source of the Earl of Migam's indignation.
"Have you ever heard something so ridiculous?" he spat out, recalling what the finance minister had just told him.
Simply remembering it made his blood boil: The Storm Dragon has vanished, and thus, the central government's special support payments will be ending, as of today.
What nonsense!
And that was that—no back talk
allowed. After being summoned to the capital. After being forced to wait for three hours.
That stipend had been a huge aid to them, certainly. The earl's lands went right up to the Forest of Jura, making it a keystone of Falmouth border defense.
But that wasn't just Migam's problem. It was a problem that loomed over the entire country.
"And yet…of all the patronizing things they could have done…!"
Nidol was so angry—he couldn't help but verbalize his thoughts.
There was too much to consider. He had to think about how he would keep the earldom going.
Sealed away or not, Veldora the Storm Dragon was a special S-ranked monster and thus ignored at one's own peril.
With the disappearance now
public knowledge, it was perhaps understandable that such "special"—i.e., provisional—support payments no longer made sense.
But the timing couldn't have been worse. The Storm Dragon was just as much a threat to the monsters, too—and no more dragon meant no more overlord to keep them in check.
They needed to strengthen their border forces, if anything,
for all the new monster activity—and then they lost their budget for it.
That, in a nutshell, was what angered Nidol at the moment.
The government might have a point, but to the Earl of Migam, that didn't matter.
How do I protect my land now…?
He pondered.
Then came the devastating news.
An orc lord was born.
It was all going south.
The orc lord, free to do whatever it pleased, had begun to lead an army of 200,000 B+ rank orcs towards the direction of the human nations.
The plan of it was unknown to all, so it was only natural to keep constant watch and guard over the territory.
But with the funding system nullified, especially during a period of time like this, it was only getting worse.
Mercenaries cost money. Adventurers from the Free Guild couldn't be trusted when push came to shove.
Now was exactly when the government should be extending a lifeline to him, not the other way around.
It was all driving this man named Nidol to black madness.
They were talentless fools, completely failing to grasp the situation.
If heaven forbid—Nidol Migam's lands were swallowed up by hordes of monsters, it'd cost Falmouth all the trust placed upon it by neighboring countries and large-scale merchants.
It would be the government that would pay the price for that, and right this minute, it was setting itself up for doom.
The earl continued to curse his superiors under his breath.
None of this was his own responsibility.
He knew that, but still…
He sighed in his wagon, his mind a tad more settled. No one left, but the royal family to press upon…
He recalled the face of the king. It filled him with despair.
The sheer avarice of that man would never allow him to care about the fate of some patch of frontier land.
It would be blasphemy to say that out loud, but those were Nidol's honest feelings.
○
The group that Earl Nidol Migam put together in response to this was called the Frontier Expedition Force. It was composed of thirty members.
Nidol wouldn't lose a minute's worth of sleep over their deaths.
They were light on his finances, too, as an added bonus.
That was about all the thought Nidol put into their selection. But the group did not share the earl's motives.
"Pfft. That greedy old coot. If it's freedom he's giving us, let's accept it with good cheer, eh?"
Such were the feelings of Yohm, the man assigned to lead the thirty miscreants of the Frontier Expedition Force as a coherent unit.
"So what kind of expedition're we on?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you. It is a secret mission."
"Oh-hohh? What kinda nonsense is that yer spoutin', eh? I think you better tell me while I'm still askin' nicely, know what I mean?"
"I'm telling the truth! They haven't given me any details either, believe me."
"Hmm! I see, I see. Well, fine. They used contractual magic on us to make us follow your orders, but once this is done, we've all been promised our freedom.
Right?"
"Yes, precisely. The contract that was signed with my client, the Earl of Migam, said exactly that."
"Yeah, and I'm tellin' ya, man, that's BS! How the hell're we supposed to finish this mission if we don't even know what it is, huh? Bumpin' around in the
middle of this evil forest… You screwed in the head, or what?"
Facing the full brunt of Yohm's anger made Rommel feel like he'd faint from fear.
He understood that his explanation made little sense, but no way could he give them the truth.
If he did, he'd find it perfectly logical if they killed him
where he stood.
"L-listen, we… We received a report from the Free Guild that something strange is happening in the forest. So, like I told you, our mission is to use this
image-capturing magitool to record what's going on, then bring it back to town—"
"Oh-hohh! So you wanna die, huh? Now I get it. Or do you think some sorcerer off the street like you can take on a pack of natural-born fighters? You don't believe that contract means you get the right to treat us like crap 'cause we can't do anything, do ya?"
Rommel's heart was struck with the distinct sense that this man was serious.
The contractual magic meant that he had to follow Rommel's orders, but nownhe was starting to wonder how well that stuff even worked.
"Ah, ahh…"
He took a fearful step back, only to suddenly feel something cold upon his neck.
It pricked his skin slightly, but that was apparently enough to earn the assailant a few drops of flowing blood.
"'Ey, boss, wouldn't it be quicker to just kill 'im?"
A man dressed in black appeared as if oozing out from the darkness.
He held a knife, completely black in color, and it was now squarely against Rommel's jugular.
"Not so fast. I wasn't planning to, if he was willing to talk, but—"
"No! No, wait! I'll tell you everything! Just don't kill me…"
"Oh yeah? Are you willing to admit that we're here to investigate that orc lord yet?"
"Huh?! How did you know that?!"
"Ha! What, you think I'm an infant or somethin'? I got thirty people here—you thought I didn't have any guild insiders I could swap someone out for?
I left you alive so you could undo that contract on us, that's all. So… what happens next is up to you, I guess. What'll it be?"
Rommel, without hesitation, decided to release the contractual magic.
He clearly didn't have long to live right now, and Yohm's tone of voice indicated that it was best not to defy him too much.
Terror gripped Rommel's heart to the point that he was willing to do anything Yohm told him.
"Good thing we got a guy here who listens to reason, huh, bro? Forget about being used and abused to death! Now we finally got some real freedom!"
"So what're we gonna do with him?"
"Please! Spare me my life, at least!"
Rommel's voice was shaky, his face wet with tears as Yohm's men approached him.
"Well, hang on, now. I'm sure he's at least got a life search cast on him. We can't let this magician die without being able to report his mission results."
"Okay, so…what? If you're sayin' we gotta keep watch on 'im all hours of the day, I'd rather just kill the man."
Rommel barely felt alive as he listened to Yohm argue with his crew.
"Yeah, yeah, hang on. He's a sorcerer, remember? Maybe he'll be able to do a thing or two for us, eh?"
"Yes! Yes, I will! Anything!!"
"Yep, you hear that? 'Sides, he did free us from that contract and all. I wouldn't feel all that right about killing 'im, but whaddaya think?"
"Well, still…"
"I won't tell anyone! I swear I won't tell anyone, believe me! Please!"
"Hey, how 'bout this, boss? Jagi's a mysticist; maybe he could conjure up a spell to put 'im under our thrall?"
"Dahh, no way! At my level, Rommel's gonna resist it for sure."
"I won't! I promise I won't put up any resistance! Please, do it!"
"Great. Has anyone got any objection to that? 'Cause personally, I wouldn't mind having him around as our adviser, sort of thing."
"We'll do whatever you say, boss!"
"If that's what you want, bro, I ain't got no complaints."
Yohm's men said their lines, exactly like they worked it out beforehand.
Rommel completely fell for it, accepting the mystic binding spell in an effort to make Yohm believe in him.
The ruse fell apart immediately afterward when they all started laughing at him, but for the sorcerer, it was a moot point.
It was a moot point, but Rommel still had no issue with it.
This was it, the beginning of a truly free Frontier Expedition Force—one free of the Earl of Migam's leash and one sporting a sorcerer who would meekly follow
Yohm, wherever he went.
◇◇◇
Yohm and his men proceeded through the forest.
Several days had passed since they had cowed Rommel into submission.
They had no need to heed Nidol's orders any longer, and yet Yohm insisted on plunging farther into the wood.
He had no intention of returning to Migam territory—instead, he had a different destination in mind.
"Boss, why ain't we goin' back to town?"
"Yeah, I'd kinda like to find a girl to sleep with sooner or later…"
"Shut up, you fools! I don't trust that crafty ol' Nidol, but he's still nobility, y'see? We can't beat 'im in a head-on scuffle. It'd be easy enough to off the bastard, but then we'll be wanted by all o' Falmouth. You want the royal knights breathin' down our necks? They'll kill the whole group of us!"
"Yeahhh, but…"
"So where d'you want us to go?"
"Oh, now you're askin' me? Use your brains a little, guys—"
None of them had much in the way of brainpower, so Yohm spelled it out.
"We're gonna head for the central part o' the forest and find out what this orc lord's up to. Then, we'll travel in whatever direction's the safest, and whenever we hit another country, we will settle there."
"But, boss, why do we have to expose ourselves to danger like that first…?"
"Oh, what, you wussin' out on me, you imbecile? The orc lord's grown to the point where he's already got an army at his beck and call.
What do you think's gonna happen if we stop in some town and they're headed straight for it?
We'll be dead with all the other townspeople, is what. Yeah, it's dangerous, but we need more info if we wanna keep ourselves safe, okay?"
"Wow. Smart plan, bro."
"I got it now, boss!"
"Plus," added Rommel, "Yohm has no intention of actually engaging in battle. He'll just have me check on where the orc lord army is, then relay that information to the earl."
"Whoa, hang on, Rommel. Whaddaya mean by that?"
This was Kazhil, Yohm's right-hand man, who spoke up.
Rommel was quickly solidifying his position as the group's chief of staff—and everyone in the band recognized his extensive knowledge of matters.
"I mean, once we take care of the original job assigned to us, we can make the good earl think we were massacred by the orc lord."
"Wait, so…"
"We make that old coot think we're all dead, then we ain't got to worry about his men pursuing us, and if the orc lord decides to hit Migam, Nidol can figure
out a way to deal with it himself. I'd hate to just let my homeland burn at the orcs' hands, so we oughta warn 'em, at least, yeah?"
Yohm explained to Kazhil, who was having trouble understanding.
"Quite so. I will tiptoe up to the orcish army and use my magic to detect their activity.
Once I've confirmed where they are headed, I will teleport myself, and only myself, to the earl and report back to him.
This is when I'll tell him that you were all vanquished, so there's no need to worry about that.
Besides, if we've gone this far, I might as well collect our pay from him, yes? Then I'll make up an excuse to return here, so do make sure to wait for me."
The spark of understanding finally began to spread around the band as Rommel went more in-depth.
"Ahh. Now I see. Then we can escape to somewhere safe and start a new life, huh?"
"Yep. Exactly."
Yohm's intention was to have the entire band join the local Free Guild or whatever, gaining a little security for themselves.
Free Guild identification papers were added to a ledger kept by magic, ensuring they were valid in any nation.
Criminal records, meanwhile, weren't.
It felt like the perfect plan to Yohm, but any crimes they committed after joining the guild would also be marked on their magical records, so they'd have to be careful about that.
"Well, we can think about our next moves once we reach our new homeland.
With our numbers, we oughta be able to take on some decent monster runs and live off o' that. But before that, we need to make it outta this mess. You
hear me?
If the orcs stumble upon us all first, we're gonna be in deep trouble. Y'all keep your eyes open, you got that?"
With that, Yohm closed the topic.
First, find the orc lord's army.
Then, get out safe. They could bitch and moan at one another all they wanted, but one thing was for sure: They could absolutely never let their guards down.
◇◇◇
Several hours later…
The band was on the move, running regular patrol shifts to stay alert.
They could hear fighting up ahead.
"Whoa! Stop, stop, stop! We go there, we're walking right into its trap!"
"But…but I don't think we can win if we keep fighting like this!"
"Guys, I can only keep our position here for so—whoa! Look out!"
They could hear all the shrill complaints above the *Ting*! *Ka-shing*! of solid metal clashing against metal.
"I swear, you guys… Why do you do all this dangerous crap every single time?!
How do you even survive, performing all this utter nonsense?
I knew I was putting too much faith in you… Dah! Elen! Look out! It's headed over there!"
The noise grew louder. They could hear the entire conversation now.
They were humans, apparently ambushed by monsters. Several of them, Yohm figured, based on how the sounds of battle never halted for a moment.
"What now, bro?"
Yohm wasn't sure. He didn't answer, instead carefully eyeing the woods ahead.
What a pain in the ass… Well, sorry, you guys, but we're outta here— Wait. That girl?!
Just was he was prepared to give the order, Yohm spotted a woman running at them from ahead.
There was the sound of a female among the voices he heard; it must have been one of the fighters.
"Dehh! All of you, prepare for battle. That bitch spotted us!"
It was likely the "boss" of the local territory, and between its foreboding appearance and its apparent strength, it was a far cry from any monster Yohm's
band had defeated before.
Those adventurers look pretty expert, so they'll probably hold out for now, but attrition's gonna kill 'em in the end… That swordsman's still keeping things
pretty even, but…
All the same, Yohm didn't expect this to end well for any of them.
"That… That's a knight spider! An A-minus monster! Oh no… Yohm, there's no way we can defeat it. Let's go! We're just no match for it!!"
Rommel, using the elemental magic spell Clairvoyance, was already looking pallid as he gave the report to his boss.
Yohm wasn't interested in listening.
"Forget it. Look at that monster move. It can use the trees to go wherever it wants. Once that party's annihilated, we're gonna be next—it'll hunt us down in an instant and kill us all. Running at full speed ain't gonna save us now, huh?"
They were surrounded by trees—trees that the spider could cross more quickly than skittering across the ground to catch its prey. Once it caught sight of you, it was all but hopeless.
Yohm steeled himself.
"Dammit, I'll make you pay for dragging us into this, ya bastards! Rommel, cast some strengthening magic on me! Kazhil, you direct our men! Form a circle, and if anyone's hurt, change 'em out. You're all gonna
survive! That's an order!"
Following his command, the band formed a circle formation. In the middle were healers and scouts—men who were not suited for battle—and Rommel.
The rest were forming a shield to protect them.
Their orders were to focus exclusively on defense and not launch any attack.
Instead, they would let the fighters in the safe zone deal damage with arrows and magic.
"Excuse meeee!"—shouted a lady as she wriggled her way inside the circle, not bothering to ask for permission.
The moment she was safe, she took a moment to catch her breath.
"She's got a lot of nerve," Yohm thought.
"Whoa! Lady! That's not fair, going in alone!"
Somewhere amid the chaos, another man—a thief, by the looks of it—had made his way inside as well.
"These ass-lickers…!", Yohm thought as he rolled his eyes, but he had other things to attend to.
"Oh, come on…Are you in any position to whine at me?" the woman said.
"Whaddaya want from me? There's nothing I can do against that guy! How am I supposed to strike any kind of lethal blow with a dagger, I ask you?"
This pair, at least, didn't seem too concerned about the danger.
Alright, this is my only chance. Make it count!
He readied his weapon, ready to strike, but before he could–
"Man, these guys just don't keep to themselves, huh?"
Following that, a purplish-blue colored flame projectile was shot towards the spider, and that was it.
The flame burned with no heat, radiating a demonic invisible light that sent out long, intense wavelengths outside the range of the normal human eye, but even with that, the loud screech of the dying spider was silenced.
It died instantly, no physical damage done whatsoever.
Its effect seemed to bypass physical forms and all resistance and nullification-type abilities.
It was the work of a true monster.
That was what they all thought.
All eyes turned to the perpetrator.
"No way, Fubuki!"
Fubuki: 「Oh? Elen? The rowdy trio? I certainly didn't expect you three. What's the deal?」
Elen: 「Hey—!, that's mean! We're not rowdy!」
Like hell you aren't.
"Uhh, can someone explain what's happening?"
The humans, meanwhile, had nothing to say.
Not even Fuze could fully parse
what had happened.
"—What the hell was that?!" he stammered out.
Fubuki: 「Well, we're gonna have one heck of a feast today! Since Gobta and the others haven't made it just yet, I guess I'll have it sent to Hakuro myself. There's gotta be some great eatin' on this spider!」
His eyes were on the knight spider—not as a foe but as a yummy piece of prey.
Fuze: 「Whoa, whoa, that's an A-minus area boss! And you're worried about eating
it?!」
Fuze was ignored once more, his voice rapidly losing its strength.
His mind had trouble keeping up with the sights before him. All he could do was sit there and watch absentmindedly.
Yohm and his men were just the same, gazing at this former clear and present danger to their lives that had been swatted down like a bug.
Yohm didn't like that much, although he couldn't articulate why.
A natural sort of disappointment spread across his face as Fubuki ignored him and kept toying with the spider.
A few minutes later, Gobta and the four goblin riders arrived, only to be met with a smug face.
Gobta: 「Sir Fubuki?! I didn't think you'd be out for us like that! That's not fair!」
Fubuki: 「Well, I was kinda here for the humans, but I decided to help ya out with the meal, and that's my thanks? Geez, I guess we demons have it rough in life, huh?」
Gobta: 「G-Gah! I didn't expect such kindness from you! Sorry!!」
Heh-heh-heh. It's so easy to mess with 'im.
A few minutes later, the humans were presented with a dissected knight spider.
Gobta was next to it, looking incredibly pleased with himself and chatting with someone via Thought Communication.
Gobta: 「They'll have a recovery team here before too long. You leave three of us here to stand guard. I'll guide Kabal and his friends back to town.」
Rimuru: 「Got it. Be careful.」
After finishing the conversation, he briefly discussed with his right-hand man, Gobchi.
Gobta: 「Well, ready to go?」
And with that cheery question, Kabal and the others set off.
Fuze was too flabbergasted, Kabal's gang was too overjoyed, and Yohm was too annoyed to formulate any answers.
It was up to Yohm's band to shout their approval instead.
They weren't quite sure how it all worked out, but regardless, they were all on their way to
Tempest, the land of monsters.
○
(Rimuru's POV it is!)
Fubuki certainly sounded triumphant in his briefing.
We were at the usual meeting hall, Milim seated next to Fubuki like she had somehow earned the right.
Fubuki also sat next to me, chatting with Milim as if he had nothing to do with this meeting.
Shion and Soei were behind us, with Rigurd and Benimaru seated ahead.
Next to Gobta were Kabal, his two friends, and an unfamiliar middle-aged guy.
He was joined by a tanned, rugged-looking man and a fairly nervous-looking magician type.
Shuna had just taken her own seat, ordering one of her
assistants to bring out tea for the group, and then Gobta began talking.
Once he finished, we all decided to introduce one another. The middle-aged guy was Fuze, the top guy at the guild in the kingdom of Blumund.
Must've been the dude who told Soei he wanted an audience with me.
The meeting began.
Fubuki: 「Well, nice to meet you all. My name is Fubuki Tempest, and I'm one of the leaders of this place. I'm actually a demon. That explains my power, doesn't it?」
Seeing the state of things, he decided to speak up first.
I followed next.
Rimuru: 「Guess I better speak up, too. My name is Rimuru Tempest, and I'm the other leader of this town, or nation, or whatever you wanna call it.
The Jura-Tempest Federation is the official name for it. And as you can see, I'm totally a slime!」
It felt necessary to mention that, given how I was the only non-human in the room.
It made the older guy—Fuze, I mean—open his eyes wide.
"Truly? A demon and a slime…?"
Rimuru: 「Yup.」
Kabal: 「So, uh, Rimuru, who're all the new faces in the room?」
He must've meant the ogre mages. I gave them all an intro.
That just left Milim, who spoke up before I had a chance to point her out.
Milim: 「And I'm Milim. Good to meet ya!」
That's a pretty casual intro, especially for a demon lord prone to bouts of cruelty like she was.
Hopefully, nobody was fooled by the pretty face.
Fuze was the only one to respond to the name "Milim" with any sort of suspicion; maybe he knew about her demon lord side.
Meanwhile, Kabal and Gido were alternating their gazes between Shuna and Shion.
Milim might've been cute, but they must've already dismissed her as too much of a child.
They certainly are honest to themselves, at least.
Yohm and Fuze must not have been too interested in potential romance—or maybe they were just nervous, having to deal with monsters like this.
Their faces remained stony serious. I wish Kabal and his gang could learn from them a
bit. I can understand how they feel.
It was odd, though. Gobta ran down the whole story for me, but I still didn't understand anything about what went on.
Why were Fuze and Yohm fighting
together?
Just as I thought it, Fuze opened his mouth.
Fuze: 「Allow me to explain, perhaps…」
He must have noticed that Gobta's report wasn't quite enough. I'm glad to see someone has some tact around here.
Witnessing my slime form must've thrown him off a bit, but he was still being remarkably polite with me.
Better hear him out.
◇◇◇
Once he was done, I think I began to get the idea. I guess the orc lord news had sparked so much chaos that he decided to have Kabal guide him here to check things out for himself.
Rommel provided some supplementary info of his own, too.
He was largely in the same boat, driven by the guild in Earl Nidol Migam's fief in response to the
rumors spreading across Blumund.
The magician told me everything he seemed to know about Nidol's thoughts on the matter, and judging by that, he had a pretty accurate grasp of what was going on.
Rimuru: 「Why are you being so honest with me?」 I asked.
To which he replied, "Well, to be frank, I'm really not sure what I should be doing here right now. I just figured, you know, honesty would be the best policy, as we try to move things forward."
I solemnly nodded at him. That sure helps me, too.
Suddenly, the previously silent and sullen Yohm shouted out, like someone had flipped a switch.
Yohm: 「That crap doesn't matter! What I'm wonderin' is: Why is this slime actin' like he's king of the world around here? I mean, y'all realize this is insane, don't you? And how do slimes even talk anyway? I mean, what the
hell? Why's he got all you guys under his spell or whatever?
And, hello? There's a demon here, Goddammit! Shouldn't we be kickin' ass and stuff?!」
Shion: 「How dare you be so rude!」
Yohn: 「Shut it, mellons!」
Ooh. Bad move, I thought—but before I could even finish that thought, there was a dull thud as Shion used her sheathed longsword to send Yohm crashing to
the ground.
Rimuru: 「.....」
Shion: 「Ah! I'm sorry, I just…」
Rimuru: 「You just what?!」
I should have expected it, but I really need to do something about Shion's temper.
Yohm may have been out of line, but this instantaneous resorting to violence had to be addressed sooner or later.
I immediately had her look after
Yohm—she hadn't put much force into it, so at least he wasn't dead.
Just a few shakes of healing potion, and he woke right back up.
He winced at the sight of Shion looking right down at him but otherwise returned without a word to his seat.
I had to hand it to him. It took a lot of guts to pull that off.
Rimuru: 「Sorry about Shion there. She tends to lose her patience a lot. I hope you'll
forgive her.」
Yohm nodded—I'm sure very reluctantly.
Shion: 「But that was so terrible! I'm known for my endurance under fire, you know!」
That was news to me. I figured it was safe to ignore her babbling.
Milim: 「Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Losing your patience, huh? I see you've got a lot to learn, Shion.
You need to broaden your horizons, like I have! No wonder you're so hot-tempered!」
Fubuki: 「.....」
I felt like I could hear Milim happily blurting out nonsense like that, but I'm sure I was imagining it.
No doubt it was the last thing Shion wanted to hear from her.
But anyway.
It was time to put all these reports together.
Fuze: 「The very idea of monsters creating towns—Ah, pardon me. I can understand demi-humans building settlements well enough, but a town where multiple races live together? I've never heard of such a thing.
I have a habit of not fully believing something unless I witness it with my own eyes, you see. And if this whole story was true, I wanted to figure out how we would interact with it and how much.
The reports I received told me this land wasn't a threat…but I thought ascertaining for myself would be the best move. So that's what brings me here.
I was hoping you'll permit me to stay a while so I could survey the entirety of your operations.」
It made sense to me. I'd hate to be feared as a potential threat, so I readily gave him permission.
Fubuki: 「Sure, as long as you don't do anything sneaky.」
And that was it.
Rimuru: 「You might not believe it, but I'd really like to be friends with the humans. I already told Kabal and his friends about that.
I'm not asking for it immediately, but you know, I think it'd be nice if we could start engaging in trade or some other kind of interaction.
We've already opened formal relations with the Dwarven Kingdom along those lines, which you're free to confirm for yourself.
I think your merchants would find it pretty convenient if they could run caravans through this area, but what do you think?」
Fuze: 「Hang on— I mean, please, just one moment. Do you mean the Armed Nation of Dwargon?!
I know that is a neutral kingdom, one that had close relations with
many demi-human races…but you're saying it's recognized this land of monsters as a nation?
Because I find that extremely hard to believe…」
I had asked him to trust me, but he was proving a tough nut to crack.
So I called for Vester as a witness. It turns out Fuze was familiar with him.
Fuze: 「Minister Vester! …Or not anymore, I suppose. But regardless, I never imagined meeting someone of your stature here… Is all of this true?"
"Ah, well met, Sir Fuze! It has been quite a while, hasn't it? Well, you are
correct.
Through a rather unique turn of events, I am now living quite peacefully in this land.
Everything Sir Rimuru has told you is the truth—they signed the covenant themselves.」
The conversation wended its way across a few other topics, but I still had the impression Fuze thought he was dreaming all of it.
Yohm's motives, meanwhile, were a bit more complex.
Hearing all this made me think a bit.
Rimuru: 「All right, so…Fuze, people already know around your kingdom that the orc lord was defeated, right?」
Fuze: 「No… Only the king and a few select people are aware.」
And that meant—
Rimuru: Okay. So, Yohm, wanna forge a contract with me?"
"Huh? What the hell're you—erm, how do you mean, sir?」
Now, both Shion and Shuna were glaring at him. They must not have liked that tone of voice. Maybe it'd be kinder of me to pretend not to notice.
Rimuru: 「Well, to put it simply…」
To put it simply, Yohm and his band of thirty men would become the saviors of the day, the slayers of the orc lord.
That monster was well and truly defeated, and yet Fuze still eyed me with suspicion—because I was a slime, a monster.
He had nothing against Fubuki until his earlier power display.
He also had no idea that there was apparently a second ruler.
That one goes to the idiot trio.
In that case, why don't we frame the rumors we'd spread so that I merely cooperated with Yohm, and he was the one who pulled off the feat?
There'd be a few unnatural time-related contradictions to that story, but the general public didn't need to know all the details.
If the top brass who did know the truth were willing to keep mum, the regular Joes out there could work out the rest of the tale for themselves.
As for the surviving orcs, we could say that there was a mutiny in the army, and there you go. A nice, simple story—and easy to believe, as long as that two-hundred-thousand figure didn't get mentioned.
Meanwhile, I could've helped Yohm with supplies, armor, what have you, instead of directly participating in combat.
That way, I could establish myself as this really helpful, trustworthy slime who gave our man of the hour material
support, right?
That, I figured, would paint me in a better light than being this
mystery threat of a monster to everyone.
Rimuru: 「…That's the basic idea of it, but what do you think?」
Our guests were dead silent. Too frozen to react. Kabal and his friends, meanwhile, were so lost in this conversation that they had decided to sit there
and enjoy their tea instead.
Compared to that, Benimaru and Shuna were thoughtfully nodding, impressed at the idea.
Fubuki looked thoughtful for a moment before sighing and nodding in agreement.
Was he bothered about his identity?
I get it and all, but he's gonna have to reveal that sooner or later.
Milim and Shion were all smiles and puffed-out chests, but I'm not so sure they understood me.
Fubuki: 「*Sigh,* Since you behaved so well today, I'll lift the punishment. Here you go.」
Milim: 「Ooh, honey! Thanks, Fubuki, you're the best!!」
Fubuki: 「Yeah, I remember you cursing me after the whole punishment thing.」
Milim: 「*Gasp* I would never—!」
Rimuru: 「—I was there, too, you know?」
Milim: 「E-Eh?!」
Hehe, it looks like she's quite under his control. I'll use this to get back at her for all the stuff she did to me.
The headaches, the pain, the suffering, all of it. She will pay—!, hah-hah-hah!!
Fuze: 「Wait… Wait, wait, wait, what kind of idea is that?! What do you mean, 'what do you think'?!」
Yohm: 「Come on. Me, beating that guy? You want me to be some fairy-tale hero or somethin'?」
Fuze and Yohm were protesting in stereo. I didn't expect them to be very amenable to it at first.
That reaction was a given.
Milim: 「Whoa! No 'hero' stuff. That's someone special, so you can't just call anyone that. Being a hero comes with a lot of baggage from the past. Just call yourself a…champion instead.」 Milim replied.
Hmm. Interesting. So, just like with demon lords, people didn't take kindly to guys declaring themselves heroes with a capital 'H.'
Hero, champion, whatever—I wanted Yohm to be that for me.
Yohm: 「That's not the problem, you little brat! Besides—」
Thud!!
A cold wind drifted across the hall.
Fubuki: 「.....」
Rimuru: 「Hey!!」
Shion: 「Lady Milim…」
Milim: 「W-wait! No! This isn't my fault!」
Fubuki hadn't said anything yet, and she was already on her knees in front of him, tears pouring down her cheeks like a river.
That got me.
Rimuru: 「*Sigh,* I don't want to hear any excuses, Milim. But this is your last chance, alri–」
Fubuki: 「That's it. Give me that honey!」
Milim: 「W-Wait—Nooooo!!」
He snatched the jar filled with honey from her hands and placed it on a tray, handing it over to Shuna, who looked at her with pity.
It took a few moments for her to calm down, but she decided it best to sulk in the corner of the room.
Fubuki: 「Good, shall we continue?」 He asked with a bright, charming smile.
Geez, that was rough…
Yohm: 「Nngh… What… What just…?」
He was still a bit confused, but nothing was wrong with him.
Getting beaten by Shion and Milim in rapid succession like that made me marvel at his natural
toughness.
That potion's some hot stuff, but he deserves credit for surviving at all.
Yohm: 「Um, Rimuru…yeah? Well, all right. I'll do whatcha say. All these menaces to society you got servin' ya,
I gotta admit—you're one hell of a slime. From now on, as far as I'm concerned, I'm all yours, pal. Tell me whatcha want.」
It was a surprise, hearing that the moment he got his marbles together.
I didn't like how we more or less had to beat it out of him, but if that convinced him, there was no need to browbeat him about it.
Rimuru: 「Yeah, sure thing. And thanks.」 I nodded at him in agreement.
We were now together, and the whole event was enough to make Fuze forget all about Milim.
Fuze: 「In that case, I have no objections about working with you on this, too. However, would you mind if I made absolutely sure, first, that you are on the side of the human race?」
Rimuru: 「Mm? Okay. That's fair enough.」
And now Fuze was with me, too
With that, the meeting ended.
—————————————————————————————————
「Note: Long, plain, and boring, I know, but it's good to suffer at times, you know? Right, so here's the end of another chapter.
Gotta admit, though, you guys are really doing a good job puttin' up with this story.
Well, it's just me being a scam and writing trash to increase the word count, but with how long I make my chapters nowadays, I think that's unnecessary.
Well, whatever. As usual, do what I paid you for (vote for your right!) and stay healthy!
See ya!」