Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken (LN)

AFTER THE FESTIVAL

It was the final night of the festival, and to cap it all off, we held a massive banquet. Shuna and Mr. Yoshida worked on full overdrive, sparing no expense to provide the best dinner spread yet. We wanted to leave a good impression at all costs.

Here, I started noticing more nobles chatting and laughing with one another. They mustve made friends over the past three days, and the mood overall was much more convivial than the first night.

Right now, I knew that Veldora, Ramiris, and Milim were enjoying a fun night in the labyrinth, alongside Carillon, Frey, and Middray, too. Treyni and the elves were working hard to keep them fed and entertained, and I was planning to join them later, dessert in tow.

Over in town, there were visiting merchants, adventurers, nearby farmers, and residents all enjoying good food and drink together. The bars and restaurants were opened up for free, letting people drink, sing, and carry on all they wanted. Here, too, people were letting their guards down. Monsters, humansit didnt seem to matter as the night wore on. There was music, along with singers following the beat and dancers moving to the rhythm.

In a way, it was painful to think that this moment was going to end. It seemed like such a waste, sort of. Starting tomorrow, everyone would be back at their old jobs. The thought depressed mebut, at the same time, made all the effort feel worth it. It was strange, and I didnt think I was the only one experiencing it, but everyone still looked like they were having fun.

That, I suppose, is what happiness is. And watching all the happy scenes, I hoped that this peace could last for a long time to come.

And so the night wore on

All too cruelly, the festival came to an end.

The highways had been full of people heading back home since morning. The security team, led by Rigur in place of Gobta, had been busy since before sunrise.

I bet you wanted to sleep past noon the day after this festival, huh?

Ha-ha-ha! You cant work security if you let the drink consume you, not the other way around!

Rigur was serious about his job. No wonder he was Rigurds kid. If this was Gobta, I was sure hed go right up to me and say, Boy, dontcha just want to sleep past noon the day after a festival? I was in full agreement with that, so maybe I wouldve spoiled them a little along those lines, but silence is golden.

Unlike Gobta, after all, Rigur never complained about anything, briskly giving orders to his patrol. Thanks to that, our VIP visitors began their journeys home without major issues. The highways were wide enough, so as long as a wagon didnt block the road, the waves of people shouldnt stop. Some even planned to stay in town for a few more days, anticipating the rush back, so I didnt think wed have too many complaints.

Leaving the highways under Rigurs management, I went back to my own work. Today, for starters, I had to pay out those gold coins. Over a hundred merchants were now seated in our main meeting hall, waiting for us. Rigurd and Mjllmile were maintaining order and explaining matters for me, but it was about time I showed up as well. This was going to be a critical moment, and I knew I needed to nail it.

Arriving at the meeting hall, I could already hear people arguing from the outside.

I told you, everybody is going to be paid today, so please stay calm and wait just a bit longer!

You think you can trick us like that?

I waited for you until the end of the festival. Hurry up and just pay me my due!

Whoa, whoa. I certainly understand your concerns, but can you show some deference to us, please?

Yes! Are you intending to drag our names through the mud for introducing you to our friend Mjllmile?

No, sir, were not. All we want is for whats owed to us to be rightfully paid

And thats why Im telling you to be patient. This nation isnt going anywhere, and they said they can pay everyone right now in anything besides Dwarven gold coins. Can you help us out a little and hold on until things are cleared up?

A likely story!

Yeah! Come onpay up!

It sounded like some of Mjllmiles merchant friends were trying to smooth things over with the tradesmen we owed money to. Maybe this was just how they operated as merchants, but I couldnt have been happier to see it. It proved that Mjllmile really was a good judge of character.

All right, everyone, can we please take a few deep breaths? I, Meus, representing the Kingdom of Ghastone, am here to tell you that not even a nation of monsters will default on their debts to any of you. Isnt that right, Mjllmile?

That sounded like a big shot. A noble from the Kingdom of Ghastone, one of the commercially active nations ringing Englesia.

Y-yes, Duke Meus, you are exactly right! However

Hmm. A prince from Ghastonenot a superpower but still decently sized. Any noble with a title like that was no slouch.

In that case, I do hope you will put to ease the minds of everyone here and provide payment, following the international regulations of the Council of the West.

Duke Meus was a powerful noble, but he was still acting like a gentleman in these negotiations. Mjllmile was an important person in my government, but for now, he had no official title or noble name. He was still something of a guest, with some temporary power as my representative at times like this. Rigurd, one of my ministers, was also there, but the fact that this prince remembered Mjllmiles name and dealt with him personally It was literally the royal treatment. I mean, a noble remembering a commoners nameoftentimes, even if they knew the name (which was frequently not the case), theyd pretend not to. That was how nobility worked, apparently, the way Mjllmile described it to me, so I bet hes the most surprised of all right now.

P-please, Duke Meus, just one moment. Our initial contract stipulated that payment via customary methods is acceptable. By customary, of course

Mjllmile, I am not here to concern myself with such trifling matters. When working with merchants, and with nations as well, trust is the most important thing. And trust is something created by keeping ones promises, is it not?

You are absolutely right, my prince, but?!

Silence! These people engaged in business with you because they trusted your team. You have no intention of trampling over this trust, do you?

Of course not. But we have our own issues to deal with

Heh-heh! I see, I see. So thats how it is, Mjllmile? Well, fortunately for you, Ive got an idea for how to solve those issues. Would we be able to talk in private for a moment? You can take Sir Rigurd there with you.

Ah. So that settled it. It was exactly what Elmesia had warned me about. It was like when something I studied until I had it perfectly down showed up on the testthat feeling of total control. It was like I had that inside me.

Im gonna ace this.

Um, what do you mean? Mjllmile continued, making a grand act out of it. Like any veteran merchant, he was both cold-blooded and a born actor. He mustve realized the same thing I did, but he didnt let any of it show on his face. I could probably just leave things to him and this problem would be solved, but I didnt want it that way.

It was time to take action. There was no point eavesdropping forever; I wanted to end this farce sooner rather than later.

Diablo opened the doors wide. That will not be necessary, I said as I walked through them. Behind me was Benimaru, followed by Shion and then Diablo, who quietly closed the door behind us.

Did you wait long? Benimaru asked, nodding at the merchants. Youre being rather loud, you know.

The merchants looked surprised to see me, my words turning them pale. They mustve figured Id stay away and let Rigurd and the others handle mattersbut here I was with my staff. I didnt think they knew what to do next.

The demon lord Rimuru has entered the building, Rigurd said, glaring at the merchants. Bow your heads!

A few of them stood up and hurriedly bowed. The majority stayed in their seats, giving me funny looks. It figured. If youre a small-time tradesman, not educated in dealing with nobility, its hard to react instantly.

Duke Meus himself was about to rise, so I spoke up to save him the trouble.

No need for such formality, Rigurd, I said with a smile as I looked around the meeting hall. Rigurd nodded and quietly stood aside.

Among the crowd, I saw not only merchants but a few journalists in disguise. I suppose they were going to report this far and wide if we disgraced ourselves as a country. Maybe Id fall to my knees and tearfully admit that we couldnt pay; maybe Id violently force the merchants to clam up. Either way, theyd play up the details in scandalous fashion in their articles, no doubt.

But we were on to them. A journalist more loyal to our side snitched about this to Diablo. Thus, he had praised the media assembledKeh-heh-heh-heh-heh, how laudable of you allbut they looked dreadfully scared, their smiles frozen in place. I could tell they had a strong desire not to antagonize Diablo; something bad mustve happened to them before. It sounded a bit threatening of him, but that was an issue between Diablo and the press, not me. Itd be clownish if I was to intervene.

Well, well, the demon lord Rimuru. I hope you are doing well at the moment? I apologize that we have not come to know each other before now.

He was the perfect prince, giving me an elegant bow. My presence threw him for only a moment; he regained his composure soon after. A gentle, relaxed expression was on his face as he greeted me for the rest of the group.

Duke Meus from the Kingdom of Ghastone? What brings you here? Im not sure we had any pressing business with you?

I smiled back, beginning with the line Id prepared in advance. I wasnt the type to wither in front of royalty, and here, too, I managed to smoothly handle the occasion. Advance prep and review are so important.

Well, you see, there are some tradesmen here doing business with this nation for the first time at your festival, and they have come to me claiming their valid rights have been neglected. It is the job of the nobility to protect their citizens, and while I regret my rude directness, I have come to mediate on this issue.

So brazen. You could just tell he was completely blackhearted. Im not far behind him, but since Im a slime, Im fetchingly translucent compared to him.

I see, I see. But thats strange. Mjllmile over there told me that our budget is ample enough. If people are still waiting for payment, then why is that?

Ah, well, these people only accept payment in Dwarven gold coins

Mjllmile was just meant for the stage. He took my question meekly, attempting to explain the issueonly to have Duke Meus interrupt him.

Isnt that to be expected, Mjllmile? A legitimate merchant from Blumund such as yourself should be fully cognizant of international commercial law, I would believe! Unlike the slipshod members of the Free Guild, the only currency these people trust is Dwarven gold.

Duke Meus was on the merchants side, not raising his voice a bit as he pleaded their case, making certain he remained a benevolent third party. I was sure he was waiting for the moment when he could intervene with me and make Tempest owe him a favor.

For now, on the surface, he was acting tremendously fair. But all he was really doing was pushing his own rules on us. I glanced at Diablo. He read my signal and nodded back, smiling. We were all set to go.

Ah. Yes, I see. I had heard that members of the international media were here, so I was wondering what the issue was, but it was something that trivial?

That is why, Sir Rimuru, if you would be able to leave this matter to myself

Now Benimaru spoke up. His imposing presence visibly unnerved some of the merchants. They mustve thought I was going to threaten them into doing my bidding, like their plan called for.

Not so fast, Benimaru. Based on what I hear, I can understand the concerns of these merchants.

The audience looked a tad surprised that I held Benimaru back. Or dissatisfied, maybe. Things were going well, and then I had to rain on the parade.

But, Sir Rimuru, I cant help but wonder They may not be Dwarven coins, but we do have ancient gold coins. If they will not accept those, I think we could provide them with the equivalent value of our Tempest-made goods. Why are they not content with that?

I agree with you, but Im sure the merchants have their reasons.

I gauged Duke Meuss response as Benimaru and I bantered. He seemed to be waiting for a chance to speak up, unite the merchants, and entrap me.

Then how about this? Perhaps you could place your trust in our nation and, as Benimaru suggested, accept IOUs or goods in equivalent value?

Mjllmile, seeking to end this quickly, got the ball rolling. If the other side agreed to this, then perfectwe had an amicable agreement in hand. But if notif I was standing here at the negotiation table and they were willing to make me look foolishthen I was prepared for that.

II dont believe a word of it!

Y-yeah!

This is a nation of monsters, and that is exactly why we seek payment in reliable, trustworthy Dwarven gold coins. I hope you will find it in your heart to understand that and, please, be generous in your

The merchants here ran the gamut, from complete neophytes to veterans familiar with manners around nobility. But either way, their responses were all one-sided, not taking me into consideration at all.

Ah, I thought. Its too bad.

Meus thought the time had come.

He was worried the merchants might grow hesitant when faced with the demon lords coercive ways, but so far they were following his instructions, just as he planned.

And if you think about it, it made sense. Meus was a prince in Ghastone. He was young, just thirty-five years of age, but he had ties to the powerful Rozzo family. This made him one of the rulers of the Western Nations, part of just a small handful of upper-class nobility. Practically speaking, only a very few people could afford to turn their backs on his orders.

This plan came in the form of an order to him from the eldest member of the Rozzo family. Meus was asked to make the demon lord Rimuru owe him a favor and gain his trustand if he succeeded, he was promised a promotion to the Five Elders.

Yes. The Five Eldersthe very peak of the entire world. Meus was elatedand at the same time, he swore to tap every power at his command to execute this order, no matter what it took.

Thus he promised a lucrative future to the self-interested merchants he made contact with. He brought in newspaper writers from around the world to ensure his own safety. And now he was personally facing the demon lord, the lone job he couldnt leave to anyone else.

This Rimuru had made his presence known only a short time ago, but he had already killed Clayman, renowned for his cold cruelty, and declared himself a new demon lord. A fearsome one, said to be connected to the Storm Dragon that laid waste to an army of twenty thousand. Meeting him in person terrified Meus, but when placed on the scales with the glory he could earn, it was easy to bottle up his fears.

Meus himself knew exactly what he wanted. Thats why he was being used like this, although he hadnt noticed. It was exactly the way Elmesia El-Ru Thalion pictured it.

Seeing the demon lord and his personal staff in person honestly came as a surprise to Meus. He was planning to talk Mjllmile into a corner and ask him to bring the demon lord over. But while this wasnt quite in the script, it did save him some time. They had reporters in the audience, and there were many more in the hall below this one.

Everything was set up. Once the merchants rejected the demon lords offers, Meuss plan was all but complete. After that, he just had to assuage the merchants and start running this room. Thats all it would take to make Rimuru start to thank him.

A calm smile emerged on his face as he began to speak, already convinced of his success.

How about this, Sir Rimuru? If you are in something of a financial bind, then perhaps you could discuss matters with me personally? Indeed, fate may have brought us together here for a reason. If I could be of service to

It was just as I predictedand a pretty shoddy acting job, too. Duke Meus was making the request. My officials, standing behind me, looked on coldly at him. Noticing their gazes, the duke appeared a tad flustered. Maybe he felt something wasnt going to planbut it was too late for him.

Time to serve things up.

I appreciate the offer, but it will not be needed. Come in.

Following my order, Geld lumbered into the hall, carrying a large tray loaded high into the air with gold coins.

Wha?!

No

Is all of that?

The crowd stirred.

The moment he laid eyes on the coins, the color of Duke Meuss face visibly changed. He must have realized that his plan of action had failed.

You were seeking payment, right? Rigurd declared. Very well. Here it isall in Dwarven gold coins.

You could hear a pin drop in the hall.

Wa Please wait. Wait just a moment, Sir Rimuru?!

Duke Meus looked pretty panicked. Its a bit too late for that, isnt it?

Yes? I coldly asked.

Areare these all Dwarven gold coins? he asked, face contorting. Counterfeit currency is a clear violation!

Hmm Is that really something you should be accusing me of? Because that really sounds pathetic, Meus.

Rather a rude thing to say to Sir Rimuru, Diablo said, stepping forward. Benimaru was looking angry as well, and I was starting to get bad vibes from Shion behind me.

I My pardons. But is this really?

If you doubt them, I said with a smile to the withering prince, feel free to have them appraised.

In that case, if youll excuse me, I will use my trusty magic tools to examine them.

Itd normally be unthinkable to interrupt a conversation between Duke Meus and me, but Ah well. No point quibbling over little details. This merchant who just spoke up mustve been a protg of the duke, a colluder of sorts. No doubt these events disturbed him so much, he forgot his manners. He was a faker, not the real thingnot that Im much of a real king myself yet, of course. But lets move on.

Sir Rimuru, these reporters told me they wanted to write an article about these negotiations. What should we do?

Shuna, after receiving my Thought Communication, spoke to me from behind the closed door, just as we had rehearsed. The journalists had gathered outside the room at Diablos behestand when I gave the signal, theyd burst inside to serve as witnesses.

Well, they have impeccable timing, dont they? Benimaru replied. If we are going to appraise the coins, then let the press be in attendance as well.

Then, as planned, the reporters entered the meeting hall.

They Theyre real!! the shocked merchant/colluder bellowed. Of course they were.

Indeed, one of the reporters said with a knowing look, and these are some impressive gold coins at that. Some of these date back to quite a long time ago. They may not have been circulated before now.

Those were probably the ones Elmesia had traded to me. I was sure she must have tons of them squirreled away somewhere. And with the reporters attesting to their value, the merchant could do nothing else. Even if he wanted to try swapping real ones out for fakes, the media was practically breathing down his neckand if he did try that, then Soei, watching on from the shadows, wouldnt let that go unaddressed.

So is everything settled, then? I believe our merchants were concerned about their payments, so go ahead and settle our accounts for me, if you could.

Yes, my lord! Rigurd and Mjllmile said, answering my rather stuffy-sounding command. Producing a sheaf of documents and receipts, they began the payment process. It all went smoothly, under the watchful eye of the reporters.

And youre the last one, then.

Now we were all done. Our last piece of business for the Founders Festival was settled.

Ha Ha-ha-ha Impressive, Sir Rimuru. I have no idea how you managed to assemble such a fortune in Dwarven gold

Duke Meus looked dreadfully stiff now. In front of him were all those piles of coins, shining even after we paid them out. The merchants looked a tad confused themselves, unsure what to do now that things were off script.

In the midst of this, the merchant Id called the colluder spoke up.

Well, as far as were concerned, as long as you respect international law, we have nothing to complain about. We hope to continue doing business with you in the future

Um, well pass on that, thanks, I replied.

The merchants stared at me, eyes wide open. So, for that matter, did my staff.

Wh-what do you?

Our business with you is complete, I said, as if stating the obvious. Theres not going to be any more.

My staff was now shocked. Only Diablo looked on with a smile. I suppose he was the only one who guessed what was on my mind here. Thats too bad.

I-Im not sure I understand

What is the meaning of this? If you pay us, we can trust in you anytime?

Are you looking down on us simple tradesmen? You know that nations can hardly trade with each other without traveling peddlers?!

The truth was beginning to set in, I suppose, as the merchants started shouting.

Dontyou thinkyou are being quite rude to Sir Rimuru, the king of our nation?

Shion burned with a quiet anger as she spoke. The merchants fell silent, no doubt sensing the danger. I figured Id take advantage of the silence to finish things off.

You know, Im not into this cat-and-mouse stuff, so Im just gonna come out and say it. You guys were the ones going on about how you couldnt trust our nation, werent you? Well, trust is a two-way street. It requires both sides to believe in each other. I dont think it involves one side meekly accepting everything the other says to it. Mjllmile asked you all multiple times to trust in us, didnt he?

Th-that

But

I mean, I understand what youre thinking here. Were monsters, and you know we want to trade with the Western Nations, but youre not sure if we can truly abide by human rulesthat kind of thing.

Y-yes, exactly! And that is why

But, you know, thats why we suggested a compromise with bartering goods or using ancient coins. And you kicked all of that to the curb.

!!

Ngh

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Mjllmile had practically thrown out his back bowing so much, trying to negotiate with them. But all the merchants here had laughed in his face. I wasnt about to forgive that.

You guys only want to do business with people you can trust. And you know what? So do we. We only want to do business with people we can trust. Therefore, I refuse to allow any of you to conduct work in our nation. I wont ban you from entering, but dont expect permission to conduct commercial activities anymore.

It took this declaration for the merchants to realize just how serious this was. We had a new market here, one that lots of people expected would balloon in size, and there was no place for them in it.

The statement made Duke Meus turn white. If he didnt know yet that he had failed, he did now. II refuse to allow such tyranny! he shouted, unable to hold it in. These people were only asking for their justified rights under international law

Did he see being unable to trade with us as a problem? I certainly had plans to make this into a giant new economic union, one bigger than all the Western Nations combined. That was probably why he wanted to join the bandwagon early and make friends with mebut if he could read us that far, he really shouldnt have taken this approach. I never show mercy to my enemies.

Their rights, huh? I think you may have the wrong idea, so if youll let me correct you real quick, our nation is not part of the Council of the West yet. Id like to join them sometime, but if I cant, then so be it. Im not gonna mind.

Wha?!

I mean, weve already decided this lands going to be the center of a vast new economic bloc. Why? Because I want it to be.

Wh-what kind of nonsense are you?! Such arrogance, strictly on your own volition

Its not arrogance. Were all working together as a team toward the same goal, and were bound to see results from it. All Im doing is helping out.

I was trying to make it sound all cool, but really, I was prioritizing the stuff I wanted to make happen first, I suppose. I wasnt sure I could deny claims of being arrogant, but I still had to lash back.

And I want to be on equal terms with the Council of the West, too. But, you know, if they try to keep us down, then forget it. Im not gonna force a relationship; we can just work through the Free Guild instead. Do you understand me?

Besides, if we really needed to, we could sign individual pacts with each nation in the west, like we did with Blumund and the Dwarven Kingdom. There was no need to hurry things along. Just polish up our nation, make ourselves more valuable, and in time, we were bound to have a country that people would trust in. As far as I was concerned, that way of thinking was set in stone.

All All right. In that case, I will be glad to serve as an intermediary with the Council. I think we have had some regrettable misunderstandings, but I hope I can be of aid to you, Sir Rimuru.

Duke Meus is certainly a hard worker. Ah well. If he had retreated earlier, I wouldnt have needed to say all that stuff, but noooo.

Mm, I dont think I can ask for your help, Sir Meus. Youve kind of lost your footing here already, you see?

Um?

Duke Meus froze, unable to parse what Id just told him. Well, all right. Its settled anyway. I didnt want to say it myself, but at this point, explaining everything start to finish was probably the kindest approach.

Once all the reporters here go back to their home nations, theyre going to write articles. Articles about this struggle related to merchant payments behind the scenes of the Founders Festival we held. Theyre going to make the truth clear, and Im sure all the stories are gonna be very entertaining.

Duke Meuss mind mustve been racing. It was telling him what would come next, and the results made him look sicker and sicker. See, this was exactly why I didnt want to say it.

Here, we have merchants who rejected our requests and demanded payment only in Dwarven gold coins. Then we have this upper-crust member of nobility who comes swooping in to unite them, even though hes not personally involved at all. If someone read that newspaper article, what would they think?

I, um, that

Of course, that was all Diablos doing. He had assembled the reporters, revealing the information in detail. That alone would prove we were justified as a nation, and most people would sense a conspiracy among the merchant ranks. I agreed with them. Information means something only if its used correctly. Instead of fabricating the facts and trying to spread them around, its always better to start with the facts and just hand them out.

It was my discussions with Gazel and Elmesia that helped me come up with this strategy, though. Diablo even personally thanked them, talking about how he still had a great deal to learn and all. I thought they both helped us a lot this time, and I wanted to more amply repay them sometime soon.

So there will be no need for you. Mjllmile, who you so thoroughly disrespected, has my full and utmost supportenough so that I trust all my nations finances to him. Hes been far more help to me than you have, for one.

Ah?!

Duke Meuss face twisted in humiliation as the merchants began to look desperate. Meanwhile, the reporters were having much more fun than they expected when they first filed in. Some of them were rapidly taking down notes of the eventone they didnt mind recording, since they didnt take any of the fallout. A few even had expensive magic items for recording images of our negotiations. This was definitely gonna spread wide. The prince may have called the press over to save his own hide, but it wound up having quite the opposite effect.

You can take care of the rest.

I would be happy to, Sir Rimuru.

I patted the shoulder of the deferential Mjllmile, whispering, Thanks, Mollie, as I passed by and out of the room with my staff. It sort of felt like he smiled back at me, but I didnt see it on his facehis calculating eyes were back on Duke Meus, then on the merchants around the room. I dont think anyone would mind if I made him our chief financial manager.

On the other side of the door, I could hear him speak: Now, since all our business has been settled, if I could ask everyone to accept their payments His way of putting a final period on these events, I suppose.

Chasing the duke out of town was gratifying, but we still had many problems to deal with. Thus, it was time for our customary review meeting.

We were back in the usual meeting hall, not the fancier one for the festivals receptions and banquets. It was the night after the festival wrapped up, but a few guests were still around for this conferenceGazel, Elmesia, Yohm and his gang, Fuze, and even Yuuki, Hinata, and Masayuki. They were joined by a few other rare invitees, all here on my invitation, and the rest of my staff were all on hand as well, making it a packed house. Milim and the demon-lord crowd were not invitedif I had too many people here, wed lose cohesion. We had a lot to talk about this time, so the itinerary was already pretty full.

One concern of mine, though, was Veldora. He was holed up in a corner of the room, pouting, and I was sure he was gonna say somethingprobably whining about how no challengers showed up. Hoping against hope that he wouldnt derail this thing, I got the meeting started.

Umm, first off, thanks to everyone for your help!

That was our signal to begin.

The first person to speak was Benimaru, surprisingly enough.

That was quite a shock, however, Sir Rimuruyou penalizing the merchants that way as well. I was not expecting that.

The rest of my cabinet nodded in agreement. I guess the majority figured it was water under the bridge once the coins were paid. Seeing how harsh I was mustve surprised them more than I thought.

Indeed, Rigurd said. I did not expect such draconian measures myself.

Hearing this must have piqued Gazels curiosity. What? How did you handle them, Rimuru?

I explained the whole story to the audience. When I was done, Gazel rolled his eyes at me.

That was certainlydrastic.

But he didnt get angry, at least, demonstrating he understood my view of things, if only a little.

Hee-hee-hee-hee! I think he did the right thing. If someone nips you, you nip them back. He was only thinking about whats coming ahead, wasnt he?

Ahhh, there was no outfoxing Elmesia. Her intuition, and her knack for deciphering my mind, was almost scary.

Whats coming ahead, Sir Rimuru? Benimaru asked.

I shrugged. Well, its just like I said to all of them. I have no intention of sitting downwind from the Council of the West forever. If possible, though, Id like to build a friendship where were all on equal footing.

Yes, were aware of that. That is why we were prepared for a patient process, up to that point.

I nodded back at Rigurd. Right. So listen: That duke, Meus, was just an errand boy, like Lady Elmesia said. I rejected him, and I followed their rules while I did it. If they want to continue this, their only choice is to send someone higher up on the food chain.

I suppose so, yes

So you think we will have another chance to negotiate with them soon?

Yep. And that round will come after the terrible mistake they committed today. I think well kick off our next round of talks with just as much of an upper hand.

I see

I think the other side doesnt want to make it look like theyre clearly our enemy. Thats why they wanted to put a dog collar on me, like we just saw them tryand now that they failed, theyre gonna have to face up and admit we can be an equal partner. And with that

Either they wage economic warfare against us or they go back to the table. And neither side is really prepared for the former. Each one, after all, has a fully functional economic bloc even if the other side doesnt exist.

Gazel was right. And in this case, once our negotiations ended next time, that would be itand wed have an overwhelming advantage.

And if thats how things turn out, then we can start working independently with each member of the Western Nations, regardless of what the Councils laws or whatever say. Its not war so much as an economic invasion, I suppose.

Keh-heh-heh-heh-heh And you can leave that to me, Sir Rimuru. In fact, I could present you with all the Western Nations on a tray in short order!

Im not asking for that, Diablo. In fact, its not what I want at all. He was freaking me out again.

Look, if you do that, its just gonna leave me with more garbage to deal with, all right?!

No. Definitely no.

M-my pardons, sir.

Ugh, you little brownnoser. Enough butting in and go fetch some more tea for Sir Rimuru!

Shion landed a follow-up blow to the dejected Diablo. I wasnt much a fan of her act, either, but lets ignore that for now.

Admittedly, I do think we could execute Diablos idea, if given ample time. Butfor now, at leasttheres no point in doing that. I could think about it if theres a bunch of conflict going on, but itd involve a lot of pain on our part. If were just trying to build friendly relations, I dont want to go through that much trouble for it.

That seemed to convince everyone. We had our hands full just trying to improve our own country. Our first priority right now, above everything else, was to establish a firm economic bloc for ourselves.

Yes, Elmesia said, your opponent will have no choice but to negotiate. But I have to sympathize with them a little. Its rather hard to extract good conditions from a partner for whom economic sanctions and military threats mean next to nothing.

The same could easily be said for Thalion, I thinkbut she was right. Its safe to say that our rivals options were restricted at best.

I see, Geld replied. That makes sense to me. So why go down so hard on the individual merchants?

Maybe he felt I was being vindictive. It wasnt like all of them were in collusion with Duke Meusand those who were mightve been forced into it out of obligation or the like. Revoking their Tempest business licenses was the biggest surprise to my peers.

But I had a reason, of course. I smiled and tried to explain, but before I could open my mouth, Mjllmilehis smile even bigger than mineintervened.

Heh-heh-heh The reason is simple, everyone. Just like Emperor Elmesia said, if someone nips at us, we have to nip them back.

How do you mean, Mjllmile?

Nip them back?

I-Im not sure thats enough explanation

Benimaru, Rigurd, and Geld were still in the dark. Diablo was not, but he just poured out his tea instead of commentingmaybe he was still a bit bent out of shape about before. Pretty weak-minded for a demon, isnt he?

Sir Rimuru asked me to take care of the remaining details for him. What he meant by that was to make those stranded merchants obligated to us and turn them into forces for ourselves.

Wow, Mjllmile. I figured my message would get across to him, but he perfectly understood my intentions the whole time. I was going to fill him in afterward for safetys sake, but it looked like I wouldnt need to.

If you want someone to do your bidding, its far easier to have them owe you a favor, rather than browbeating or scaring them into it. Its also successful quite a bit more often.

Those were Elmesias words, and all I did was put them into action. There might have been a little scaring and browbeating added to the mix, but I dont think I made any mistakes.

Ah yes. Well played, Sir Rimuru.

Indeed, that makes sense to me, too.

So, Sir Mjllmile, did you succeed in winning them over to our side?

Heh-heh Without fail, indeed. I told them I would intervene in their cases, and now theyre all indebted to us. Thanks to that bit of threatening from Sir Rimuru, things went much easier than I expected!

Mjllmile grinned as he spoke, making him look a tad villainous. I was glad he was successful, but he was making me out like a mob boss or something. I wasnt too fond of that, but ah well.

Regardless, everyone seemed to understand my reasoning now, so we moved on to the next topic.

The next topicor really, the main topic, I should say.

So as weve described to you, Mollie here has taken care of the merchants for us. Its a problem thats given me a headache for several days, and now that its behind us, Id like us to share some thoughts on how we feel about the Founders Festival. Any feedback you have to offer is fine, so lets get talking!

The moment I finished speaking, Gazel cleared his throat. Rimuru, as the king of a nation allied to you, theres something I want to say. I think we talked a little bit last night about you going out of control, but what I saw during the festival disturbed me. What was the meaning of that?

Um, what?

I had no idea what he meant, but judging by the grumpy look on his face, I had done something bad again. What it was, I really had no clue. Maybe my outburst against the merchants? It didnt seem that way.

You arent aware of it yourself, then? See, this is exactly why I cant take my eyes off you for a moment! Vester, you said that projector was developed by you and Sir Gabil, correct? And was it also you who came up with the technology to transmit images from remote locations?

Ah, er, Your Majesty, that

Vester looked like a boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Did he get so wrapped up in research that he forgot to report back to Gazel? Probably so. Careless as ever, I heard Kaijin say under his breath.

My lord, Gabil said, that is incorrect. Sir Vester and I did develop that technology, yes, but the idea of incorporating the demon lord Claymans magical image-recording items in the projector was none other than Sir Rimurus!

Oh, thanks, Gabil. Did he really think it was smart to blab about that? I winced as Vester looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole.

I thought so, Gazel replied, looking tired. I truly wish you couldve given me some advance notice before you revealed that thing.

We only saw it as a useful, and vital, invention for entertainment purposes, but to the assembled royalty and nobility from the Western Nations who witnessed it, the reaction was quite different. Why, this technology has so many potential uses, Gazel ruefully continued. I hardly even know where to begin with it. But trust me, not a soul in the audience failed to understand how valuable it was.

Really? Because to me, it was justlikehey, check out the tournament fights on this big, easy-to-view screen. Everyone dug it, it was good, and thats that. But to the world leaders on hand, it was a pretty heavy dose of culture shock.

Something like that could change the way wars are waged, Gazels friend Vaughn chimed in, Dolph nodding in agreement.

It was all too easy, it turned out, to think of military purposes for it. Giving orders to armies from a safe location, for example, would provide a huge advantage. Generals could send in assault teams to conduct enemy recon and channel their findings over to the main force, all without exposing themselves to any danger. Compared to person-to-person magical communications, this provided far more information far more quickly. Everyone was provided with the same visual and audio data, vastly improving the accuracy of orders.

Thus, this thing that we casually revealed to them was actually a revolutionary technology, one that had the potential to completely revamp civilization as this world knew it. I made it because I thought itd be kinda nice to have, but it was really a Pandoras box of ideas.

I wish you told me earlier, I blurted out.

I wish you told me earlier! Gazel bellowed back.

Now I regretted itbut hey, thats what this meeting was for. Things dont go the way you want them to all the time.

Well, um, it should be said that running that projector requires a lot of magicules, so it doesnt work unless the users pretty powerful magically. The range and quantity of data also depend on the user, so I dont think this is gonna spread that fast, you know?

I tried to deflect the issue as best I could. That issue was actually being addressed with the development of a new magicule-gathering system, but something told me I shouldnt mention that right now. Id break the news to Gazel in private later.

For now, the Dwarven king sighed. Regardless, please try not to present such militarily useful technology without a moments thought again, could you? Why, I think you may be the only person in the world whod think of developing this for entertainment purposes.

I thought that wrapped up the topic, but then Elmesia spoke up.

Yes, if you have any other inventions like that, Id be happy to buy them, you know. I believe the world you come from has whats known as a patent system? I would gladly compensate you for the rights to this technology, if you would give us priority in harnessing them.

You know, Ellie, I think Thalion could do a lot with Tempests bath and toilet infrastructure!

I know, Elen. Our negotiations with Mr. Yoshida have paid off as well, so I hope to see you pay more visits to my manor in the future, all right?

Oh, of course!

Before I could reply, Elen broke into the conversation. She was seated adjacent to Elmesia, and the way they carried on, they seemed like two loving sisters more than anything. I knew they were related by blood and all, but Elen was acting shockingly familiar with the emperor of a dynasty. Meanwhile Erald, her father, was already going pale and shouting Elen?! in a high-pitched voice.

Y-Your Excellency! I know Elen is my daughter, but please refrain from spoiling her, if you would! And, Elen, you will not call Her Majesty Ellie!

Erald certainly can be loud, hmm?

Oh, I know! Dads always exaggerating like that!

Man. These two girls put together may be downright dangerous. I felt bad for Erald. It was really shocking, how perfectly in sync Elen and Elmesia were. They probably were close friends, not just acting that way. Given the high fives they occasionally gave each other, the class system hardly seemed to exist at all with them. Elmesia El-Ru Thalion, Her Excellency the Emperor of Thalion, a figure who not even national leaders from the Western Nations could gain an audience with, seemed like a much different woman here. The royal knight guard behind her looked just as surprised.

Members of the Magus! What you are seeing here is a state secret. Do not divulge it to anyone else!

Erald saw fit to give that order, but I wasnt sure how much itd be followed.

And so, Elmesia continued, paying him little mind, I would like you to send engineers from Tempest to our nation. This is an official request, of course, so I will gladly pay you for the guidance they will offer.

You want us to send manpower your way?

Thats right. If you want to keep your core technology a secret, you could always just send us whatever complete tools or resources we may need instead.

Hmm So wed need a way to export the parts we make here over to Thalion.

We needed to tackle a few issues before I could grant Elmesias request. The pipes used in our kitchens, toilets, and bathrooms were manufactured using technology from Kaijin and the other dwarves; I wasnt sure if Thalions engineers could re-create it, and teaching them from scratch would take too long. Instead, itd be much easier to just manufacture the needed parts here and send them over to Thalion.

And while youre at it, perhaps you could transport them via that train system you were talking about? I can provide the funding, so I hope you can begin developing that at once

It was like she was reading my mind. Gazel had a mind-reading skill or two, I knew, but was that the case for Elmesia as well? It didnt seem that way to me, but Id better keep my guard up. Regardless, though, her offer was worth considering.

We havent gotten around to developing an actual train yet, no. If some of your sorcerous science experts might be able to help with that, Id appreciate it.

Of course they can! Erald?

Y-yes, Your Excellency! I will send word out promptly.

Erald was still undauntingly faithful to Elmesia. He seemed more like a useful servant to her than a high-ranking noble. Gazel looked at him, his eyes piteousthe Dwarven king told me not even he could boss Elmesia around, so Eralds behavior mustve given him something to think about.

Thus Elmesia, Emperor of the Sorcerous Dynasty of Thalion, was interested in teaming up with us. Wed no doubt sign a technology-sharing agreement and begin tandem research before too long. With Thalions sorcerous science and Dwargons pioneering work in elemental engineering, linking these distant lands together might not be a dream after all. The overcomers Luminus planned to send our way might be able to help out, tooId need to see what they were like first, but maybe theyd provide some useful input.

This is a great thing to hear, Lady Elmesia. It ought to vastly accelerate development. We may just see magitrains become practical for regular use sooner than we think.

Oh? You call those magitrains?

Yeah. My basic idea is to develop spirit cores, or spirit magicdriven power reactors, then install them into a sorcerous science-based control system. Sounds perfect, right?

Ha! You make it sound so easy.

How fascinating! Very fascinating indeed. I hope we can see it sooner rather than later.

Gazel mustve thought I was far too optimistic, but his smiling face told me he was sure Id manage it. Seeing him like that, I dont think he was really one to talk about going out of control on projects like this Elmesia, meanwhile, looked like a girl who found a new toy, her expression astoundingly bright. It left quite an impression, much unlike the depressed-looking Erald by her. This definitely would accelerate development, for sure.

All right. In that case, well start by laying down rails to Thalion first. We can do that alongside our highway construction, so thatll save us some time.

If we were leading the project, itd be easy to make sure it was all unified under the same standards. Completing the rail network first shouldnt be an issue, I thought, but:

Wait! Sir Benimaru suggested the concept of a tunnel to me at our meeting. Will you be needing one of those in the future?

The question came from Momiji, an unexpected participant. If she was asking whether tunnels would be necessary, was she saying Thalion was open to us blasting one into their mountains?

If possible, I would like to open one in the future. Our first order of business is building a rail nexus in Blumund. From there, well go through the Kingdom of Farminus and connect to the western entrance into Dwargon. Meanwhile, we plan to lay track south of Blumund as well, eventually winding up in Thalion. If we try to go through the Western Nations, wed get tied up acquiring land-use rights and such. In other words, if we detour the track around the mountains, itll lead to huge losses. At the same time, though, we dont want to force you into anything you dont want to do.

I understand. I will trust in you, Sir Rimuru. If you can guarantee that it will not affect our mountains, I am willing to give you permission to build this tunnel.

For real?!

Yes. Um, for real. But as a personal request, I hope you will enlist Sir Benimaru to overlook this

Momijis cheeks reddened as she spoke. I didnt need her to finish the thought.

Benimaru!

W-wait a second! Are you trying to sell me off, Sir Rimuru?

Dont make it sound like that. Gelds in the middle of a big job, too, you know. Well need someone good at leading people, and youre the best guy we have!

Geld nodded at me. Benimaru, meanwhile, looked like I was driving him up the wall.

Im afraid its just not possible. I dont know anything about construction!

No, I bet not.

Ah yes Yes, it may not be possible, huh?

And here I thought I could sacrifice Benimaru and get this whole thing wrapped up fast. Things never quite work out like that, I suppose. I didnt want Benimaru out of town for that long anyway, so this idea was a stretch from the start.

Well, sorry, but Benimarus my right-hand man here. Perhaps he could join me during my regular visits to inspect our progress, but

Oh, thats fine, too. As long as he will visit our homelands when you do.

Momiji was all smiles. And judging by Hakuros triumphant chuckle, I suppose that compromise was acceptable from the start.

Are you giving in yet, Benimaru?

I am not, but if you need a bodyguard during your inspections, I will accept that position.

He shrugged. That was as much as he was willing to give. But it still made Momiji happy, and I wasnt going to force any more out of him. The rest, you could say, is up to them. Id just reap the profits.

So, Lady Momiji

Just Momiji is fine, Sir Rimuru.

Hakuro nodded at me as well, not minding the informality.

In that case, Momiji, Id like to conduct some surveying work to see if a tunnel is possible. Is that all right with you?

Yes. Feel free to carefully inspect the range for any potential issues.

And if we didnt find any, that meant we could start digging. With the tengu rapidly softening their stance against us, it looked like construction would go far more smoothly than I thought. Good. Next time Im over, Ill be sure to say hello to Kaede, Momijis motherand Ill make sure Hakuro is with us.

So, Lady Elmesia, if we have your permission to perform similar surveying and excavation work within Thalions borders?

You may have any permission you like. Erald, please make the arrangements.

Elmesia so readily passed off responsibility to other peopletruly, a living ideal for me to follow.

Yes, Your Excellency. Sir Rimuru, I will prepare the necessary permits. However, when construction work begins within Thalion, I request that workers from our nation be brought in for the project.

Erald was looking more bedraggled by the minute. Working under such a free-spirited emperor would turn anyone into a gifted servant. But he never forgot to add his own conditions, making sure each of his bullet points was fulfilled. If we handled all construction, that might make things harder for him, I supposebut I had no objection, so I accepted the offer. And with a promise to help out if we ran into trouble along the way, we wrapped up the conversation.

This had started as a review meeting, but now we were rapidly deciding on a variety of important issues. Thats because, thanks to the political leaders in the hall, we were cutting through an astonishing amount of bureaucratic red tape all at once. Though, really, it was mostly Elmesias doing.

In the midst of this, Yohm, who had been silent so far, spoke up.

Hey, paler, Sir Rimuru. I got a question, but is now okay to ask it?

Simply offering ones opinion in this room packed with the worlds biggest names took a lot of courage. Yohm mustve been maturing as he grew into his new role.

Whats up, Sir Yohm?

Well, Id prefer to explain it myself, but Im not too well versed in this stuff, so Id like my lady here to go over it instead. That okay?

By which he means Mjurran? Because Yohm doesnt strike me as the kind of guy whod take in concubines. My mind was put at ease when Mjurran stood up.

Sorry I havent been around lately, Sir Rimuru.

Me neither, um, Lady Mjurran. Glad youre well.

After everything youve done for me, Sir Rimuru, you hardly need to add Lady to my name.

Um, actually, I do, dont I? I knew everyone there, Elmesia especially, had been talking really informally all evening, but I didnt think this was something shed want to get used to. But it was a bit too late for that, I suppose. Lets hear her out, then tackle that subject later.

Okay, Mjurran, whats your question?

Right. This is related to the highway from Blumund to Dwargon running through our nation, as you discussed earlier. Should we consider this a part of the Monster-and-Man Cooperative Alliance youve mentioned before?

Monster-and-ManCooperativeAlliance?

I liked the sound of that.

You can treat it that way, yes. And I think I like that name for it, too. It encapsulates the ideal were aiming for really well.

Monster and man working together for each others benefit. The term monster covered a diverse spectrum, of course, including some species better termed demi-humans. But regardless, that was the exact ideal I had in mind.

In the center of this alliance was our nation, Tempest. To the east, the Armed Nation of Dwargon. To the west, the Kingdom of Blumund. To the south, Milims domain. This alone was a vast alliance of monsters, and to that we could add the human side, centered around Blumund and including Farminus up north and Thalion down southan expansive amount of human-controlled land. Plus, Blumund was our interface to the Western Nations and the people who lived there. If these diverse lands could join hands and form a true team, then I thought the Monster-and-Man Cooperative Alliance was a fine name for it.

Thank you very much. Now, my question. In order to realize this ideal, our nation is willing to cooperate with you as much as we possibly can. Luckily, Diablo has coercedum, I mean convinced our noble ranks to join our side, and they are now very submissiveer, cooperative with us, so I think they will listen to anything we tell them. Thus, as one of the first steps our fledgling nation takes, we are thinking of launching a new national-level project to help support you.

Basically, her question was what kind of project they should launch.

Well, itd involve agriculture, I guess, like youve been talking about.

Everything is going well there. Were having our people grow the designated crops without issue.

Um, so what else?

Was there something else? Everything I thought to ask her about was already taken care of. Diablos work cowing the noble ranks into submission was complete, and Yohm enjoyed overwhelming support among the people. The role of the military in his government was clearly defined, and the entire nation was now united.

The old Farmus was gone, and the new Farminus had taken root in its place. I thought that tying up the loose ends from that was job one, but as Mjurran explained, that was already finished. The citizens had by now been notified that agriculture would be the nations focus for the next little while, too.

I was impressed. Diablo mayve set everything up, but Mjurran, taking over from him, had a greater talent for this than I thought.

Okay, well, can you bring together anyone whos still out of work for me?

Certainly, Sir Rimuru. We were hoping that we could help with the rail-laying work for you as well. This transportation network will be a lifeline for moving around the crops we produce, wont it?

Yeah, I imagine so. Youll probably be producing a lot more than wed be able to consume internally, besides. I think its important for a nation to bring food to anywhere its needed before it rots.

Back in the Farmus era, when the government had traded on the sly with the Dwarven Kingdom, the products involved were crafts, weapons, and other durable goods that didnt deteriorate over time. Responsibility for their transport was assigned to the merchants; the nation collected customs taxes as essentially free income for no work on their part. That would change now. The nation would need to boost its trust, guaranteeing goods alongside the merchants. It was the start of a new era, one where Farminus provided guaranteed logistics for trade.

I look forward to the day when these magitrains run across the grasslands of our nation. I think they will transform our merchant class and how they conduct their business. We have much to learn if we want to contribute.

Yep. Theyll run far faster than wagonsa journey that takes a week now will be run in less than three hours. And thats with carrying over a hundred times more goods at once, I imagine.

What?!

Gazel and Elmesia didnt seem surprised, perhaps assuming this kind of leap. Everyone else was stunnedit was just so unexpected. Yuuki, Hinata, and Masayuki, meanwhile, all cracked smiles for other reasons.

So yeah, Ill want to purchase the land we need now and plan our rail lines out to be as straight as possible, for efficiencys sake. Gelds staff, and the beastmen studying here in town, should be mastering surveying before long. Im thinking of leaving that work to them and just performing the final checks when theyre done. Mjurran, I can put all the workers you can give us under their command. Divide them up into teams, led by whoevers literate out of them.

Very well. This is getting a little exciting.

Mjurran sounded up for it. She seemed ready to offer her support from the very start, so things would go pretty smoothly with Farminus, I felt.

The next person to raise a hand was Fuze. He smiled at me.

With all the leaders here, I havent had a chance to introduce myself yet. Hello.

He had attended the full festival, including the prelaunch banquet, but all the celebrities I was hanging with apparently made him too timid to speak up. I had noticed him, actually, but sadly, the timing never quite worked out. Hed looked like he was enjoying the show, though, so Id resolvedand then promptly forgotto chat with him later.

Ahhh, sorry about that. I meant to say hello, but

No, no, its fine, Sir Rimuru. You looked busy regardless. But anyway, today I have a friend who wants to speak about the very topic weve been discussing.

He then introduced the Baron of Veryard, a man I knew well, to the audience. I remember how much of a hard worker he was, one I trifled with at my own risk.

My name is Veryard, and I appreciate being granted the permission to attend. Thank you, Sir Rimuru, and thank you in advance to everyone else I am speaking to.

He stood handsomely upright, then gave the hall an elegant bow. It was an impressive performance. One could hardly believe he was a rank-and-file noble from a small nation.

Now, on behalf of my lord, His Majesty King Doram of Blumund, I wish to ask a question.

Veryard took a moment to survey the audience. The king himself was in attendance, along with his wife, the queen. They barely even registered. I hardly knew they were in here. I had told King Doram that wed plan an official conference shortly, but I suppose we didnt need to any longer. This was kind of functioning as one. He was all smiles, an affable old man in appearance, and I wasnt sure if that was a good look for him right here.

In his place, Veryard began to speak.

I was informed by Fuze that Sir Rimuru would be speaking about matters related to our homeland of Blumunds future place in the world. I have also heard from King Doram that he plans to make Blumund into a hub for commerce and distribution. I have been thinking about what that might look like, but listening to everything discussed today, I now have a much clearer picture. It appears, Sir Rimuru, that you envision Blumund as a sort of clearinghouse for logistics. Now, the magitrains you speak of will no doubt vastly change the norms of this field. If a hub in this new logistical network is built in our nation, I am sure we will see goods from every corner of the land gather within our borders. Naturally, we will need someone to oversee all these goods, as well as people to oversee what each nation is lacking and make the necessary arrangements to address that deficiency. Sir Rimuru, do you wish for us to perform these roles?

Thats Veryard for you. A lot sharper than Fuze, to be sure. And he put exactly what I was thinking about into words.

Yes, thats right, but can you manage that? Because Im sure it goes without saying that if all you can provide is space for this, thats fine, too. In that case, wed promise to pay you a percentage tax every year for use of the land, but?

Oh, nothing of it. Staying out of this business and lazily living off the profits is something our citizens would never be satisfied with. Certainly, we are willing to offer education and prepare for the times to come!

Man. How many years into the future was this guy looking? I had the good Professor Raphael watching over me, but this guy was using his own brain to keep up with all of this? That went beyond just being visionary; it was like his mind was more sharply refined than anybody elses in the room.

But he was right. Blumund was about to experience a paradigm shift that would make it reconsider its value system for just about everything. The same would be true for other nations, but for Blumund, Id imagine the results would be dramatic. Veryard could see this, and he just declared that he was preparing for it.

What a guy this is. He had already bested me in one round of negotiations. Just as I thought, I definitely had to stay alert around him. I swear, Im really glad hes not my enemy right now.

In that case, by all means. Id like you to examine what sort of goods will be imported and exported from each nation and build ways to transport products to places that need them. For a nation so gifted in gathering and manipulating information, youll be uniquely qualified, Im sure.

Ah, theres no pulling the wool over your eyes, Sir Rimuru. Very well. I promise you that I will bring this issue home and deliberate over it in further detail.

Like youre one to talk, I thought as I nodded.

I was trying to hold a Founders Festival review meeting here, but now itd turned into a huge political war of nerves. But it was worth it, because I no longer had to negotiate with Blumund. I was expecting to take more time navigating all manner of tricky issues, but Baron Veryard helped spring me from all of that. Was that a good or bad thing? I wasnt immediately sure, but if we were at this point, might as well throw all my weight into supporting it.

With that, I promptly began to agonize over what I would ask Veryard for first.

So we had talked on end about thorny issues related to running our nations, but now it was really time to focus on the festival. I mentally changed gears, preparing to listen to everyones feedback.

All right, does anyone else have anything to add?

Someone shot to their feet, as if waiting for the signal. It was Veldora. I dreaded this moment so much, I thought about pretending I didnt notice him, but

Rimuru, what is the meaning of this?

Whats the meaning of what?

How do you mean?

The labyrinth! You know what I mean. I was anticipating so much, and nobody even attempted to tackle the hundredth floor!!

After all that lecturing I gave him, he still wasnt the least bit apologetic, was he? He just. Doesnt. Listen.

Already, he was going on about the lines he memorized for the fateful encounter and so forth. I wanted to snap back at him about how little I cared, but I didnt. If I did, thats when hed start really throwing his weight around.

Well, yes, I have my thoughts about that as well.

Do you? How reassuring to hear. So what are you going to do about it?

What? I dunno. At the very least, wed have to start dividing adventurer groups by strength levels.

Well need to work on it, thats for sure. Because the challengers who came in were all decent, at least. Intermediate or better, you know?

Decent?

Thats kind of rude

But Im not sure I can deny that

Kabals party gloomily sighed at me. Considering how devoted they were to robbing my treasure chests blind, I hoped they would forgive at least a little sass.

Nah, nah. Me, all I had to do was walk a little bit, and we were on Floor 10. The next thing I knew, my companions beat the boss for me

I think Masayuki meant to comfort them with that, but it just came off as self-aggrandizing. Then again, Elen didnt seem too despondent about the experience, so maybe it wasnt a big issue. I figured I could leave them be.

So I wouldnt count on anyone knocking on your door for a while to come.

Of course, for Veldora, he might not ever get any visitors, but

What?! Then what did Ramiris and Milim and I work so hard for?!

He really shouldve included me in that list, but ah well.

Hey, dont worry. In terms of worldwide advertising, yesterdays unveiling was a big success.

Oh?

Can you give us the details, Mollie?

Mjllmile stood up, brimming with confidence as he addressed Veldora.

The footage we revealed from inside the labyrinth drummed up interest from multiple nations. I think Rare items appearing from the treasure chests generated a great deal of attention.

And that was my doing.

Ummm Actually, Veldora may have done something right, maybe?

If my guess is correct, the nobles in the audience will likely be sending the adventurers on their payroll into the labyrinth before long!

As he explained it, the noble classes often hired adventurers or stout mercenaries to serve as bodyguards. Now that they saw the treasures potentially available in the labyrinth, theyd likely send those people over to collect the booty, earning the rights to whatever they picked up in exchange for supporting them. Even adventurers without wealthy patrons would likely take multiple trips in, searching for fortune and glory. As Gaiye so eminently showed us, Rare weaponry and armor really were that hard to pick up otherwise.

We wouldnt mention it here, by the way, but Mjllmile had an even more vicious scheme in mindbringing on shills whod score big in the labyrinth for him, like a crooked lottery, to stoke everyones gambling instincts. Having them obtain flashy items that everyone could see as valuable would no doubt drum up a competitive spirit among the adventurers. Between that and other little tricks, we were planning ways to get adventurers and nobles alike addicted to this thing.

And Mjllmile had even more plans in store.

Thats not all, either. I am considering instituting a bounty system as well. If we announce that anyone who conquers the Dungeon down to the hundredth floor will win a vast sum of money, I believe many nobles will bring adventurers over and support their quest to win it all.

He grinned. Dangle a vast fortune in front of nobility, he suggested, and theyre all too greedy to resist. Talented adventurers would quickly find patrons to hire them, no doubt, using their wealthy bosses funds to shore up their equipment and tackle the labyrinth in better shape.

Itd be like athletes taking sponsorships, actually, wouldnt it? And if their adventurers performed well, thatd paint their patrons in a better light and maybe earn them more money elsewhere. Thatd offer more than enough reason for them to step up, Mjllmile thoughtand the noble sponsors could kick back in the city, too, enjoying all the entertainment while their team hacked away.

It could be fun, too, to broadcast labyrinth runs to the coliseum seats. Between this, that, or the other thing, wed likely be able to attract large audiences.

Sponsors, though, huh? Hearing that concept from Mjllmile really impressed me. I always knew he was talented, but I didnt think he had this much insight into the future. Theres no doubting that sponsors would love adventurers in their stable landing a huge item or scoring an impressive boss defeat. Theres no telling what hed think of next.

Now, just one more thing.

After a great deal of discussion, Mjllmile and I had something we wanted to work on with the Free Guild. My financial partner had everyone in the hall enthralled; even Veldora had shut up. Realizing this was his chance, he spoke up.

Now, while we have Grand Master Yuuki Kagurazaka here, I have a request, or an offer, to present to you.

An offer? Whats that?

As I said, we are planning to offer bounty prizes in the labyrinthand thats something we would like the Free Guild to manage.

Why is that?

Mainly for the advertising effect, you see. With all the Guild locations out there, youll be able to spread the word quickly worldwide.

Yeah. Thats certainly true. But what else?

Well, in addition, I wanted to use Guild membership cards to manage the challengers.

Ah. Wow. Yeah, thats quite an idea

Yuuki sighed, either amazed or exasperated.

We had thrown around the idea of issuing Labyrinth Cards to challengers, but this actually required a lot of work. This way, we could reduce running expenses and give some of the workload to the Free Guilds staff. In a way, it was Mjllmiles quest to palm off responsibility for it on someone else.

But this offers certain advantages to the Free Guild as well.

Oh?

You see, the monsters in the Forest of Jura are managed by the orders of Sir Rimuru. That management will be expanding to the edges of the forests expansive borders in the future

Ah. And when it does, therell be less monster-hunting work to be had?

Precisely. But that wont be a problem, because the labyrinth will be home to a vast number of monsters in time. Hunting them down provides magic crystals, as well as pelts, fangs, claws, and other components, all on a regular basis

!!

And wouldnt that boost the Guilds profits as well?

Defeating monsters let you obtain parts and ingredients from them. Selling them to the Guild earns adventurers income. When the Guild sells them to shops and so on, they earn the resulting profit margin. And meanwhile, wed leave adventurer management to the Free Guild and collect taxes from them.

Going forward, there was likely gonna be a lot of out-of-work adventurers going around. This labyrinth can help create new outlets, and new jobs, for them to take advantage of. Nobody loses, I thought.

But how would Yuuki respond?

Im sure Rimuru gave you a few suggestions about this, didnt he? WellMjllmile, was it? Id like to think about this idea, but its likely that well accept it and establish a new location in town here. Would you be able to provide a building for it?

Of course. Once you know who youll assign here, we can work out all the details later.

Man, theres just no beating you, Rimuru

Yuuki grinned at me. Mjllmile and I had our deal.

I turned back toward Veldora.

Did you hear that? Once thats accepted, were gonna have a ton more adventurers going in.

Mm-hmm

And a year may be asking too much, but in two or three years, I think well see some pretty formidable challengers.

Oh? And why is that?

Well, its simple logic. Theyll be polishing their skills in a labyrinth where theres almost no chance of dying. Itd be weird if they didnt get stronger.

Ah yes. Well said, Rimuru. I look forward to this!

To someone as long-lived as Veldora, two or three years went by in a flash, I imagined. He was smiling now, chatting about how exciting this could be. Right. If that placated him for now, then we were good.

As I gloated internally, Hinata raised her hand.

May I have the floor?

Yes?

I didnt think shed complain to me at this point, but I still tensed up anyway. Once I decided I had a hard time with someone, it was difficult to shake that image from my mind, I guess.

I have a requestor a suggestion.

The way she put that wasnt exactly encouraging. Mjllmiles eyes were averted, sweat running down his head.

Im listening.

Thank you. If youll excuse me

Hinatas concern was for labyrinth users failing to conduct adequate safety measures during outside work. If they grew used to not dying inside there, she feared, they might wind up unprepared when theyre in the real world. This had occurred to me as well, but I concluded it was just a play at your own risk thing and that was that. Having Hinata point it out left me tongue-tied.

Hmm Well, apart from warning people, I didnt think I could do very much

Its an issue that could affect peoples lives, you know. You cant just let it go unaddressed.

Um, yeah, but?

No.

Y-yeah, but, Hinata?

Before I could plead with her, Hinata offered a suggestion of her own.

But if you accept the suggestion Im about to make, Ill be fine with what youre doing here.

All right. Ill listen. What is it?

I tried to be reserved with her. I shouldnt have worried.

Ha-ha-ha! You are such a Never mind. You dont have to tense up like that. This could be useful to both of us.

Huh?

Challenging this labyrinth is a fine idea. Itll help improve your core skills, and I think you can learn how to effectively dispatch assorted monsters better this way. But Im concerned that itll reduce peoples awareness of the potential lethality involved. So Id like to send over a Priest or two from the Western Holy Church.

A Priest?! No! Have you lost your mind, Chief Paladin Hinata?!

It wasnt me shouting but Fuze. A lot of other people were surprised as well, so I asked why. It turns out a Priest, in Church parlance, was a kind of magic user, a religious healer. I think I had actually heard about them beforethey were a rarity, in fact, one of the few individuals in the Church hierarchy able to harness holy magic, which the organization kept a guarded secret. Those ranked a bishop or higher could apparently perform divine miracles, including the replacement of lost body parts.

I am quite serious. Yes, their abilities are classified, but they, too, need to learn and grow. No matter how much genius-level talent they have, only a very few manage to master the divine miracle of Resurrection. At this rate, we risk losing skills and lore that have been passed down for ages. Times of war are one thing, but it can be frustratingly difficult keeping this knowledge alive during peace.

So basically, raising the dead as a skill was dying out because there were fewer dead to raise? Maybe it wasnt exactly that, but I understood what Hinata meant well enough. Her idea was to use my Dungeon to help improve her peoples holy magic.

It was heaven-sent, exactly what we needed here. Even if they never learned Resurrection, having Priests with high-level healing spells around would help keep people safer during work outside the labyrinth. If I wanted to fully learn the secret skills of faith and favor Luminus turned me on to, seeing and analyzing a Priests skills in action would be a good shortcut as well. I had no reason to turn Hinata down.

Well, theyd all be welcome here.

Hee-hee! I thought youd say that.

Ignoring the gasps of surprise around us, Hinata and I came to an agreement. Priests were now going to be lurking around the labyrinth.

I thought that was the end of the meeting, but Hinata had one more suggestion.

Also, changing the subject a little, Id like to have the paladins try conquering the labyrinth as part of their training.

Huhhh?

We could have Sir Veldora over theresay, werent you selling takoyaki at one of the food stalls?

That That doesnt matter, does it? Just go on with what you were saying! I begged.

Y-yes! I was certainly not running a takoyaki stand under the name Alias!

Oh. And here I was trying to kid myself that it was someone else Well, all right, Hinata grumbled, looking a bit tired out. But there was no fooling her. Although, really, anyone who knew Veldora wouldve spotted it.

The Storm Dragon insisted that he wanted to run a food stall with a grill during the festival, so I asked Mjllmile to get him a space and someone to help out. Then, for reasons that were beyond me, Veldora convinced the busy Kurobe to craft a special grill top for himone made for cooking takoyaki, the balls of batter and octopus, more popularized in the city of Osaka.

I allowed this provided that nobody found out it was Veldora running it, butreallyeverybody in town knew the guy anyway, so I begged everyone involved to just keep it a secret from the coworkers at the stall. Along these lines, I asked him to come up with a fake name for the festival, and he decided upon Alias for it.

Thus we had Alias Takoyaki among the stalls, and from what I heard, it was actually a huge success. But now we were going way off-subject.

So, um, if we can forget about that for a moment, can you tell me more about the paladin training youre picturing?

I lobbed the conversation back toward Hinata. She didnt protest, thankfully.

Based on what Ive seen, new paladin recruits likely wouldnt be able to win against that Bovix guy from the tournament. So Id like to group them in parties of five or six and let them go inside. Itll give them more on-the-field training, and itll also help train the Priests I mentioned. And if I had to guess, our higher-level paladins could probably make it to Floor 50 right now.

Oh? That is quite fine by me. In fact, bring them on!!

Veldora was certainly up for it. And paladins were all ranked A or higher. With that kind of force, a few of them in a team could probably get past Bovix.

Id also like some of our captains to join in.

More murmurs of surprise from the crowd.

Do you mean that, Lady Hinata?!

You would have us dive into the labyrinth as well?

Arnaud and Bacchus, the first paladins to ever stay in Tempest, immediately fired back at Hinata. She didnt relent.

Why wouldnt I? Its the perfect training ground, and youll never get killed in there. If foes that strong are found around Floor 50, theyve got to be even stronger below there. Maybe even you couldnt win.

Veldora contentedly nodded. The paladins, meanwhile, were livid.

N-no, um, I dont think so, Lady Hinata. Were the Crusaders, the most powerful army out thereand we have a Saint among us, the complement to a demon lord.

Exactly. The demon lords personal leaders are one thing, but a typical dungeon monster would be cannon fodder to us

Then prove it to me.

Arnaud and Bacchuss defense was pulverized by Hinatas perfectly fair argument. Certainly, if they could beat Floor 100 and conquer the whole labyrinth, thatd prove they were correct, all right. That was the pure truth, and there was no possible way to spin it.

Sadly, though:

W-wait a minute! But isnt the guardian of the hundredth floor?

Heh-heh-heh Kwaaah-ha-ha-ha! Its supposed to be a secret, but I will let you in on itit is I, Veldora the Storm Dragon!!

He was certainly enjoying himself, as Arnaud and Bacchus turned pale with despair. There was no turning back now. I gladly accepted Hinatas request.

That seemed to finish up most of our business, so I decided to take this opportunity to get one thing straight. In fact, this was the main reason Id called so many people in here.

Now, theres one thing Id like to ask all of you

My question was about the merchants from eastern lands. I had a suspicion they were plotting something, so I wanted to discuss this as I cautioned the rest of the hall about them.

Our nation is open to anybody, and we allow people to go in and out as they please, so Im sure Eastern merchants are taking advantage of that. But

Yes, King Gazel, we have been putting them all under surveillance.

Henrietta, knight assassin and head of Dwargons intelligence organization, had been keeping tabs on them. That kept them from doing much, Im sure. Taking any action would be suicide, in fact.

Unfortunately, we have only a small presence as a trade partner, but we do have a talented intelligence agency. We do receive goods from the East, but not many of their merchants are seen within our borders. Perhaps they do not see us as worth the effort.

Um, should you really refer to yourself in those terms?

So they came to Blumund, too, if not in great numbers. It sounded like they were watched over carefully, so no worries there.

And is my own kingdom safe from them?

Of course, Your Excellency. All imported goods are kept internally by our dynasty. The thirteen kingdoms are not given the right to access them.

The Sorcerous Dynasty of Thalions borders were all but closed to foreigners. It barely even interacted with other nations, and there was no way for merchants from the East to get inside. I sincerely doubted any of them could hoodwink Elmesia, so they were likely fine as well.

My main worries were for Farminus, the new nation Id left to Yohm.

Hey, by the way, did Razen check our account books like Diablo asked?

You need to stop speaking so informally, Yohm Sorry. He said he examined them all, investigated how much impact there was from the merchants, and severed ties with them all.

Of course Diablo had it handled. Its scary how talented he is. I thought about giving him some praise, but not in front of all our guests.

And as far as the Free Guild goes, well have to leave those decisions to each office.

I was sure theyd have to. Not all Eastern merchants were government agents; some of them were just conducting regular business, no doubt. The Guild headquarters couldnt tell every regional base to cut off all current trade with them. Their members needed work, after all. Thus, Yuuki instead promised hed make sure the headquarters provided guidance as best they could, so Id leave matters to him.

And the Western Holy Churchor, I should say, the Holy Empire of Lubelius has halted all business with Eastern merchants.

Oh?

I wasnt expecting that from Hinata. I asked why, and she replied that they came close to being taken advantage of.

There was a merchant named Damrada, a fairly important one, so we trusted in him I never thought hed actually try to trick me.

Trick you?

Yes. On the night of the Walpurgis, someone snuck into Lubelius. I happened to be around to chase him away, but I was actually supposed to be meeting with Damrada then.

Hmm. And those two events have to be connected, huh?

Listening to Hinatas rundown, Gazel agreed with herDamrada and this intruder must be related. I thought so, too. But how was this mystery foe involved with the Eastern merchants? And wasnt that when the demon lord Roy was killed, too? Was that this intruders doing?

Well, I concluded, either way, I think we all know what were dealing with.

Everyone nodded. Good. Building a network of nations on the alert for Eastern activity would help us get a grip on their future moves. And now that I knew we were all on the same page, I officially adjourned the meeting.

Now, only my own staff remained in the meeting hall.

So, Sir Rimuru, have you come to a conclusion?

Yep, I said to Benimaru. No doubt about it. The patron Clayman refused to identify is Yuuki Kagurazaka.

Keh-heh-heh-heh-heh I agree. The lack of evidence is an issue, but I have no doubts, either.

If Diablo agreed, there was no room for questioning it. I had only become sure of it after Luminus gave me her advice. The other woman I was reserving judgment on for now, but Yuuki was definitely suspect.

I mean, only a very few people knew about what had happened between Shizu and me. I wasnt sure who leaked that info to Hinata, but she told me herself that it was a merchant from the East. Then, as I conducted my own investigations, I came across some interesting information.

Mjurran told me that she never heard of the Moderate Jesters.

Clayman was always a careful demon lord, Geld said. He didnt trust his own men one bit. I think he kept that company of clowns a secret from them all.

He was right. Clayman believed nobody, and he wanted the Moderate Jesters to remain unknown to his entire bureaucracy.

However, as Shuna proved in her investigations, he and the Eastern merchants had public connections to each other. Mjurran saw them herself. She even advised them a few times.

Hohh. Which means

The clowns approached Clayman disguised as merchants?

Geld and Gabil seemed convinced. I nodded back at them.

I got some testimony from Adalmann on this subject. Apparently, the Jesters showed themselves to him.

The Jesters did not go through any particular pains to hide themselves. They certainly didnt disguise themselves as merchants, and if Adalmann saw them, they must have at least ventured near Claymans manor. No one had seen them inside, howeverwhich made my theory more likely.

Diablos smile widened. The Moderate Jesters and the Eastern merchants Theres little doubt these two groups are connected.

Right, Benimaru said with a smile of his own. And if Laplace didnt show up in that battle, then it was likely him who killed Roy.

Out of the three Jesters I knew, Footman and Teare were busy behind the scenes in the battle against Claymans forces, looking for and killing any magic-born liable to betray the demon lord. What was the third among them doing, then? Benimaru had to be rightthis other Jester was infiltrating Lubelius, in search of something.

Everyone who knows about Shizu and me was present at todays meeting. That was why I asked the last question I did.

Kabal, Elen, and Gido were out of the question. Gazel and Elmesia could be crossed off the list. Fuze, Veryard, and Blumunds royal couple were beyond a reasonable doubtthey had no clear motive and only trivial connections to the merchants. And Hinata, being almost victimized herself, couldnt have perpetrated this.

That just left Yuuki.

He admitted that he has connections to Eastern merchants, yes.

He couldnt have pretended otherwise. That high-quality paper theyve got is made in the Eastern Empire, apparently, and Yuuki always had an ample supply of it. Theres no way he couldve denied it.

Keh-heh-heh-heh-heh We couldve extracted something more from him today. A written confession or the like. A pity we didnt.

It was, but I wasnt too sad about it.

Shizu and I had a unique relationship. Nobody who knew about it was the kind of person whod breezily gossip about it to complete strangers. If someone leaked the news, it had to be someone opposing me. And if you considered the list of people who were sure that information leak would make Hinata actYuuki was the only one I could think of.

To tell the truth, I had suspected Kabals group at first. But it was Elens advice that made me decide to become a demon lord in the first place. Plus, with Elmesia backing her up the whole time, thered be no reason for her to tell the Eastern Empire about me. Revealing such a vital secret would benefit the enemy alone, not her at alland the same was true for the Blumundians. If they wanted to oppose me, they wouldnt have signed a treaty with me. They wouldve just held back, avoiding deep ties with us, and profited from the fallout.

If I had to guess, the Eastern merchants are trying to expand their influence in the Western Nations. And the Church forces got in the way of that, didnt they?

I think so, too. If they pitted you against Hinata, Sir Rimuru, chances are they hoped you would kill each other off.

Yes. It is clear that it didnt matter to them who killed whom.

Benimaru and Diablo were in agreement with me. I went on.

The two main influential groups in the Western Nations are the Council and the Church, and Im guessing the Eastern merchants are trying to work on both of them, slowly expanding their clout over time. And working with them

is the Free Guild, then?

I briskly nodded at Diablo. As motives went, this was the biggest and most plausible one. I had no physical evidence to back it up, but my conclusion was already made.

So what will you do?

I thought I could hear Diablo offering to assassinate him at once, but I pretended not to.

Thatll depend on what our foe does. I wondered if I was wrong for a moment, judging by how much support he offered us today, so lets just be very careful with him and see if we find a way to grab him by the tail.

Very well. I will ensure the Guild building in town is kept under constant surveillance.

Thanks, Soei. Everyone else, I dont want to see any unauthorized moves from you!

Yes, sir!

Excellent.

Honestly, I wanted to corner the guy right now and interrogate him. But without evidence, if he talked his way out of it, Id be sunk. Yuuki ran the entire Free Guild, and I couldnt accuse him out of the blue with nothing to fall back on. And besides, maybeI mean, its not a nonzero chancemaybe I really was wrong about all this.

Understood. The chances of that are believed to be extremely low.

Theyre believed to be, thats for sure. Without real evidence, not even Raphael could make a firm conclusion.

Well In my old world, we had a concept called presumed innocence. In other words, someones always innocent until it can be proved that theyre guilty. But even so, dont let up on them.

My staff nodded their understanding.

I had no idea what Yuuki was thinking. Hinata, Clayman too, the Eastern merchants, the Free Guild, maybe the Council itself, and Iperhaps we were all dancing on the palm of his hand. We couldnt be sure of that right now, but that was about to change. We knew who to watch out for, and now we just had to quietly prepare and wait for the confrontation to come

The excitement of the festival was over. Normal life rushed back into the scene all too quickly. We had a mountain of things to do; problems kept piling up, no matter how many we solved. There was no time for me to wallow in melancholy.

I heaved a gloomy sigh as I thought about the game of wits Yuuki and I were likely about to engage in.