{"id":3495,"date":"2025-10-05T11:43:05","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T11:43:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/?p=3495"},"modified":"2025-10-05T11:43:05","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T11:43:05","slug":"chapter-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/?p=3495","title":{"rendered":"CHAPTER 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A DISTURBING PRESENCE<\/a><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>I had a rather unexpected boost to my military, and really, having more friends was something to celebrate. I decided to promptly meet with Diablo to discuss how to put these demons to work, and I\u2019d have Testarossa and the other top demons join us as representatives to get their feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo there are three posts I\u2019d like to assign as soon as possible. I need a diplomatic attach\u00e9 to make decisions abroad on my behalf, a chief prosecutor to investigate the evils unfolding within Tempest, and a chief judiciary official to provide fair and balanced judgment over disputes. I just happen to have you three here, so what do you think about taking those jobs?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I kept my tone casual, knowing full well just how insane this was. None of these jobs were particularly easy, and my cabinet may object to these appointments anyway, although it\u2019d be Diablo\u2019s job to shut them up. Besides, these posts emphasized fairness; I didn\u2019t want people trying to curry favor with them, so I thought naming people as close to me as possible was the best bet. If any of them tried anything rebellious or illegal as part of their posts, I could just call upon Diablo to purge them. It made things easier for me, in a way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would be honored to serve as a diplomatic officer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWow, evils even bigger than me? That sounds exciting!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\u201cMy judgments are always fair. I will do everything I can to live up to your expectations!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whoa. They accepted them without even listening to the job descriptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you sure? I think they\u2019re pretty tough jobs\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am eager to begin, my lord.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah! I\u2019m good at investigations and stuff!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will provide equal measures of death to all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Um, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s how the jobs work, exactly! Now I was even more nervous. I glanced at Diablo. He had a smug smile, telling me all I needed to know about his thoughts. Here was a man thinking Thank god I palmed this trouble off on someone else<\/em>. Yeah, he\u2019d never<\/em> agree to being a diplomat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cListen to me. Being a diplomatic attach\u00e9 means speaking for me as a member of the Council of the West. Once we deploy our military across the West, you\u2019ll also be responsible for commanding them all. It\u2019s an important job, you understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, I do understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Testarossa softly smiled at me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTesta is a wise woman, you know. I guarantee you that she\u2019ll never do anything to harm your position.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, Diablo, you just don\u2019t wanna do the job, do you? Diablo\u2019s guarantees weren\u2019t worth much in my mind, but maybe Testarossa did<\/em> have a lot of wisdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, with the laws we\u2019re writing for our nation as well, she\u2019ll need to understand and explain them to other nations\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo not fear, Sir Rimuru. I have memorized them all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

\u201cOkay, you\u2019re hired! I got no complaints now, that\u2019s for sure. It\u2019s gonna be easy for you to lose your temper in the Council, but remember\u2014you have our nation\u2019s good name on your shoulders. Whatever you do, do not let anger get the best of you. Okay?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am ready to serve, Sir Rimuru. And should push come to shove, I will leave no evidence of my involvement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>No, um, that\u2019s not the problem<\/em>, exactly\u2026 But there was no denying Testarossa\u2019s talent. Nobody else was as qualified, and given my antics at the earlier Council meeting, I wasn\u2019t exactly a good role model. Let\u2019s see how this shakes out anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I had now appointed Testarossa as my councillor, but the other two had their own talents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOkay, me next!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultima immediately began rattling off the parts of the legal code we were in the midst of enacting. She was every bit Testarossa\u2019s match in intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy lord,\u201d Carrera continued, \u201cwe are a race that respects our contracts. We are gifted in finding loopholes in regulations, and I guarantee we will never miss anything a common person could discover. We will also never be swayed by bribes. Anyone who wishes to subjugate us must do so by force, and only a small handful of demon lords stands a chance at that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She couldn\u2019t possibly lose to anyone, huh? The fact that she didn\u2019t say that outright indicated that some demon lords really were<\/em> more powerful than her. I could name one off the top of my head easily\u2014that redhead\u2014but that\u2019s her problem, not mine. What mattered was that Carrera seemed dedicated to judging all criminals fairly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOkay, you\u2019re hired. I\u2019ll be expecting big things from all three of you!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u201c\u201cYes, my lord!\u201d\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

These laws apply to me as well, by the way. I\u2019ll have to be careful not to get arrested for giving or taking bribes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

So now we had a constitution, part of the elite club of nations that made one. It was still in the testing stages, but our government was <\/a>divided into three sections and functioning. Ultima and Carrera were dedicated to their work\u2014and I have to add, they had some talented people working under them as well. They organized their respective departments in the blink of an eye, exercising the full extent of their powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultima had also taken a shine to Rogurd, calling him Rog and following all his instructions. Rogurd even reciprocated, calling her M\u2019lady and treating her almost as nicely as his own daughter. Rogurd, in fact, had no idea who Ultima really was. He was a bold, courageous man, but if he found out she was such a powerful demon, even he<\/em> might start acting all sensitive around her. In consideration of that, I only told him that she was \u201cscouted\u201d by Diablo. It\u2019s her work that counts anyway, so I saw this as harmless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carrera, our new chief justice, was also doing well. Rugurd, our attorney general, was back in our administrative office; our department of justice was now its own organization, so it\u2019d no longer be affiliated with that branch. That didn\u2019t mean it could do whatever it wanted, though. The administrative, legislative, and judiciary branches of the government all kept an eye on one another now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rugurd, in his role, was observing and supporting Carrera, my appointee. From what I heard, despite any eccentricities in her personal behavior, she was a talented worker. She\u2019d never fall to bribery or violence, so I suppose Rugurd accepted her. Good to see. There\u2019s no such thing as a perfect political system, so we just need to solve problems as they come up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now we had to provide the Council with draft copies of our relevant legal codes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, Testarossa, are you all ready?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, Sir Rimuru. Moss has made all the necessary arrangements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Testarossa, that living beauty, was elegantly relaxing in front of me. She poured out some tea, offering it to me. It was good. Shuna\u2019s tea was always first-class and Shion\u2019s was up there as well, but Testarossa\u2019s was surprisingly delightful. The aroma had depth to it, the taste thick and rich. There was no bitterness, and even though I took it without sugar, there was a hint of refreshing sweetness to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\u201cI did not know you brewed your own tea, Testa. Color me surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I felt Diablo\u2019s eyes open wide behind me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHee-hee! Well, this is a special gift for you, Sir Rimuru. None for you<\/em>, you understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026That is fine. As long as you understand that my post is above yours, you may live your private life as you like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diablo prepared his own tea as he said this. I wasn\u2019t sure whether they were bitter rivals or just bickering friends. It didn\u2019t seem<\/em> very strained between them, but I wouldn\u2019t call them good buddies, either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s interesting, though, isn\u2019t it? The way other nations are reacting to us. Some are trying to curry favor, and some are trying to use us to their advantage. I\u2019d say less than half are openly welcoming us; the majority are still rather suspicious.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such was Testarossa\u2019s sudden evaluation of the scene. It was almost like she was there to see it, which was odd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere\u2019d you get that info from?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, my pardons, Sir Rimuru. I enlisted Moss to investigate for me, so I may better serve you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

\u201cHow accurate was the info he got you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was it acquired via magic, or did he ask around more directly? If it was trustworthy, then fine, but if not, it\u2019d just get in the way. I decided to check with Testarossa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, Moss has a special ability where he can deploy a large number of small, discrete Replicants across a wide range. To Moss, collecting and analyzing information across the world, all at once, is like child\u2019s play.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s\u2026pretty amazing. I gave myself a mental pat on the back. He was a nice pickup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAh. Sounds reassuring, then. I\u2019ll introduce him to Soei sometime <\/a>soon, and then maybe they can work together on intel. Together, I\u2019m sure they can make up for each other\u2019s deficits, you know? That\u2019d be good to see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy! All those complimentary words\u2026 I think I\u2019m going to be jealous of Moss.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Testarossa smiled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAh, enough joking\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now a figure I hadn\u2019t noticed before was standing behind Testarossa, breaking into a cold sweat. He didn\u2019t really stand out much, but this must be Moss. Veyron cut a very gentlemanly figure with his handlebar mustache, but Moss looked like the kind of cute-as-a-button kid you\u2019d see anywhere. By appearances, he\u2019d seem to be in the fifth or sixth grade (?) maybe. Strong<\/em> would never be how you\u2019d describe him. Was he really that much of a talent?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey, um, about the information you picked up\u2014 Can we trust it? I mean, we just got done kicking out a bunch of councillors plotting against us. I can accept it if people are wary, but are there still nations out there seeking to take advantage of us?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not to brag or anything, but I think our nation was kind of badass by this point. Trying to hoodwink a nation as badass as ours made me wonder about the mental skills of the leaders running them. Honestly, I\u2019d be far more likely to believe Moss had it wrong here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMoss, can you explain the situation to Sir Rimuru?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surprisingly, it was Diablo ordering Moss, not Testarossa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cY-yes, sir. The region south of Tempest, focused on the Kingdom of Blumund, is generally friendly to us. However, our intelligence does not extend far into the north, and with many of the nobles there, it is unclear just how much we know about them is true. As for the councillors pushed out recently, it seems that even if they told the truth to their benefactors, their stories were not widely believed. This is speculation based on rumors, so I cannot attest to its accuracy very much, but I can<\/em> state that certain members of royalty from several nations are plotting against us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moss\u2019s power involved being able to listen in on conversations, so it was up to him, and us, to judge how accurate those conversations are. It was still really helpful, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\u201cIf we can pick up on suspicions before they spread, that can help us take countermeasures fast.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, my lord.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTestarossa, can I leave this matter to you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course, Sir Rimuru. Are we in agreement that the relevant nations need to be thrown into ruin?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, we are not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s going too far! Just force their rulers to take responsibility for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd try to avoid bloodshed while you\u2019re at it, please?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs you wish. I will not do anything that gives Tempest a bad reputation, at least.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

\u201cAll right, then! Proceed so our nation retains its current dignity, but don\u2019t be afraid to show them the full brunt of Tempest\u2019s gravitas!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so Testarossa was my new Council representative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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

Huh? Was I retreating the lab to do a lot of whizbang research? Well, you know, I need to at least look<\/em> like I\u2019m trying down there, or I\u2019ll come off like a charlatan dropping in for fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being a grown-up is knowing how to balance social responsibilities like that. In a way, you want to avoid making a one hundred percent effort in the workplace, because then that\u2019ll be expected of you every time. A real<\/em> performer knows how to execute a \u201cfull <\/a>effort\u201d they can provide on a regular basis. Work\u2019s supposed to be fun anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026Of course, I can try to sound like I know it all here, but that\u2019s still just an ideal. And I guess that if I\u2019m satisfied with myself right now and have an environment like that to work in, I must be truly happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, today I decided to check out our new school building, which we recently completed construction on. The children I brought in from Englesia will study here, together with our own. Like I said to Yuuki, the best way to prepare children for adulthood is to get them interacting with one another\u2014and in a school with nothing but monster children, I worried my kids would have trouble adjusting to human society later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this<\/em> school, there\u2019d be no worries. We now had a lot of adventurers and other people coming here for work, many of whom brought their entire families, children included. In many low-income families, children were obliged to work as well, but I prohibited that by law. A child\u2019s job is to play\u2014and to examine and study whatever they were interested in. I wanted to have humans and monsters learning together, in the same classrooms, and in the future I wanted to see this grow into races and species working<\/em> together. That was the theory behind this setup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus, we didn\u2019t only<\/em> have children learning in this school. Grown adults were mastering the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic here, too. They were highly motivated, given how these skills were rapidly becoming necessary in Tempestian life. Remaining illiterate would narrow their work options and potentially lead to errors that\u2019d cause trouble for their coworkers\u2014and adults understood that, which is why so many were studying now. One common refrain you hear in the classroom is \u201cAm I ever gonna use<\/em> this stuff in the future?\u201d Not here, though. The sight of grown-ups studying so hard actually seemed to inspire the children watching them; they didn\u2019t want to get left behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addition and subtraction were one thing, mind you, but literacy is another. Those classes were difficult even for me, and it seemed like Masayuki was in the same boat. We were fluent in conversation <\/a>and could read just fine, but writing was a challenge. In my case, I could set Raphael to autopilot and cover for that, but without its aid, I wasn\u2019t sure I could pass even a basic literacy exam here. I had been shamelessly putting off addressing this\u2014if I\u2019m good now<\/em>, why bother?\u2014but for this, at least, I felt like I was cheating a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My kids, of course, were doing great. I gave them some manga translated into this world\u2019s language to motivate them, and that wound up being a huge success. They were carrying it around with them all the time, and it was getting popular even with students outside the reading classes. Kenya and the others, being the first kids to possess this manga, were uber-popular in class. Between those comics and his natural talent for winning fights, Kenya was already kind of the boss of the schoolyard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCome on<\/em>, boys! Quit playing around and help me clean the classroom!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oops. Now Alice was mad. She had comfortably settled into the class-president role, I see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHuh? Why do we have to do that<\/em> stuff? \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhoa, Ken, you don\u2019t want to make Alice angry!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAw, shut up, Ryota! Today I\u2019m gonna whup Alice and become the real<\/em> boss around here!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eesh. What are you, children<\/em>? \u2026Oh, I guess you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apparently, Alice was the true boss of this clique\u2014maybe that was why Kenya kept flaring up at her. I suppose it\u2019s like a lovestruck boy wheedling a girl in order to get her attention. It usually has little effect\u2026or typically, the opposite effect. You need to be nice to the people you\u2019re trying to court, and if Kenya doesn\u2019t get that yet, he has a lot to learn. All he\u2019s doing right now, at least, is pissing her off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI told<\/em> you, y\u2019know! I told<\/em> you I\u2019ll show you just how scary I can be!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alice, for her part, was acting less than her supposedly mature self. But she\u2019s only eleven, of course, and I wouldn\u2019t expect anything else from a sixth grader. Plus, everyone was already used to her act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey, who do you think will win this time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, it\u2019s gotta be the Empress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\u201cYeah. She\u2019s the youngest and the strongest out of us all. Kenya\u2019s pretty good, too, but he\u2019s a bad matchup against the Empress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike, he\u2019s in love with her! No way he could ever beat her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pretty cruel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey, Gail! Quit sayin\u2019 all that crap over there!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah! No way Kenya has a thing for me. Are you crazy or what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gail had no qualms about revealing Kenya\u2019s secret. But despite Kenya\u2019s objections, Alice just laughed the whole thing off. Hmm\u2026 Maybe they were still a little too young for love. Or maybe they were just fine, actually. The children, monster and human alike, all looked on with big smiles; they must\u2019ve understood there was no bad blood involved. Gail, being the oldest, kind of took a leadership role with the others anyway, so I assumed he\u2019d put a stop to matters before they developed into problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I could\u2019ve just kept my mouth shut and watched them, but not today. Hinata was due in later. \u201cOkay, kids, that\u2019s enough!\u201d I said as I entered the room. \u201cNo horseplay in the classroom, all right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMr. Tempest!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chloe all but tackled me from the side as I entered. I never saw it coming; she must\u2019ve improved her skills as of late. In fact, she must\u2019ve noticed my presence long before I came in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cM-Mr. Tempest?! No fair, Chloe!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alice was almost as quick to respond, hugging me with just as much force as Chloe. Good. They\u2019re still at that \u201ccute\u201d stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then someone else dog-piled on me from the rear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great to see you again, Mr. Tempest!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A charming little girl with a bowl cut leaped in front of me. She wore an elegant kimono and seemed about as young as Alice\u2014but what really made her unique were her fox ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hmm, I don\u2019t remember meeting a girl like this before\u2026but I feel like I ought to know her. Could it be\u2026?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you\u2026Kumara?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right!\u201d came her peppy reply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, right. Kumara was an upper-level monster who evolved after I named her, and I guess transforming into a human was among her new skills. I\u2019m pretty sure I granted custody of her to Hinata, <\/a>alongside Kenya and the rest. They were attending school regularly now that the building was completed, but I figured Kumara was manning the labyrinth or something in the meantime. In fact, she joined the others at school, and it looked like she had friends as well, so it appeared that things turned out fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhoa, Mr. Tempest is here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now Kenya and Ryota noticed me, lagging a little behind the girls. They were drowned out by the other children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cW-wowwww! Mr. Tempest!!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really him! Whoaaaa!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWait\u2019ll I tell Dad back home!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a big event, causing such a clamor that now the other teachers were coming in to see what was up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cM-My lord?! You should have let me know in advance! I would have guided you around!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you kidding me?! I\u2019m the vice-principal! If anyone\u2019s giving Sir Rimuru a tour, it\u2019s me!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNonsense! Sir Rimuru named me<\/em> the principal, and this is one<\/em> responsibility I\u2019ll never palm off on my staff!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another big furor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These teachers were mainly retired adventurers, along with a few merchants Mj\u00f6llmile recruited from Blumund; we paid them a monthly salary. Our principal was one of the elders from the goblin villages. He was no good as a teacher, but he was great at settling disputes fast, and I wanted him to keep an eye on the kids and ensure the monster students weren\u2019t being ostracized. The rest of the staff was all human, including a paladin we brought on as a special lecturer, and Hinata stopped in to look after Kenya and the others when she was free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

\u201cYeah, um, call today a kind of stealth meeting. I had some business with Kenya\u2019s class.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, is that the case? Well, I hope you\u2019ll be interested in sitting in on a class next time!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\u201cIndeed. Just let us know a date and time, and we\u2019ll show you a perfect class!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The teachers and students all nodded at one another. But hang on. What did he mean, a perfect class? I didn\u2019t need them putting on an act for me. What was the point?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhoa, whoa, don\u2019t put Sir Rimuru on the spot!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This chaos would\u2019ve continued awhile longer were it not for Fritz, the paladin in charge of my class today. Having a captain of the Crusaders preside over a class is pretty amazing in itself, I thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re teaching today, Captain Fritz?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAw, Sir Rimuru, no need for that captain stuff. Just Fritz is fine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh? Then you can drop the sir stuff with me, Fritz.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI could hardly do that<\/em>. Humor me with that much, if you wouldn\u2019t mind. I might get dirty looks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

\u201cAh yeah. If we were alone, sure, but not in a place like this, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThanks for understanding,\u201d Fritz said with a wink and a smile. Getting winked at by a man wasn\u2019t all that gratifying to me, but I did like his approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut anyway, thanks for helping around this school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, stop! Compared with Lady Hinata\u2019s harsh training, it\u2019s like heaven around here. There\u2019s free food; the children respect me\u2026 People in our group are fighting for this job, lemme tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see. Not sure I really wanted to know about that. I appreciated how Fritz was being upfront with me, but I didn\u2019t want to adopt his knack for creating awkward scenes\u2026especially given that my Magic Sense had just picked up something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh? Well, that\u2019s<\/em> good, Fritz. My harsh training, huh? With your<\/em> talents, I thought I was going easy, but maybe I shouldn\u2019t have bothered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cold voice was pointed straight at Fritz as Hinata appeared. <\/a>A wave of anxiety coursed across the room, as both the children and the grown-ups stood up straight and froze. Even the faculty did, which I didn\u2019t know whether to laugh at or be concerned about. Fritz, of course, had it the worst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cG-gehh\u2026 L-Lady Hinata?! That, um, you misunderstand me! It was just a figure of speech, you could say\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He tried to defend himself\u2014in vain, I thought. This<\/em> is exactly why situational awareness was so important. I prayed for his future happiness as I promptly hightailed it out of there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

We moved into the labyrinth. Hinata was here now, so I also took along the five kids and Kumara. Fritz\u2014well, let\u2019s not talk about him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been expecting you, Sir Rimuru\u2026and you as well, Lady Hinata.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAh, it\u2019s the elder himself! Glad to see you\u2019re well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were greeted by Hakuro, who apparently had kindled a friendship with Hinata at some point. They were both smiling as they greeted each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSorry to make you take time out of your busy schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, it\u2019s perfectly fine. We\u2019ve taken care of all our major problems for the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou did? Did you figure out who you\u2019ll send to the Council?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, Diablo attracted some new talent to our group. She\u2019s been named Testarossa, and I\u2019ll be glad to introduce you next time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026She\u2019s \u2018been named<\/em>\u2019? There\u2019s a lot I want to say about that, but we don\u2019t have any time to waste, so I\u2019ll hold my tongue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUm\u2026 Sorry?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fine. I already know how much you\u2019re lacking in common sense. Asking for more details will just give me another headache.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She may\u2019ve been whining a little, but pretending not to hear what Hakuro just said was probably the best thing for her, yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnyway<\/em>, I\u2019m here today because I wanted to show you how <\/a>these kids were progressing. I\u2019ve been teaching them alongside Sir Hakuro, but I want you<\/em> to see what they\u2019re capable of, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hmm\u2026 Not sure how I felt about that, but let\u2019s play along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re phrasing it like that, I guess they\u2019ve kind of grown?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018Kind of<\/em>\u2019 is one way to put it. Once you see them in action, you\u2019ll get it. This labyrinth is so<\/em> useful, isn\u2019t it? You can fight at full blast without worrying about dying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hinata grinned, projecting as scary an image as always. She always had this streak of intimidation that bordered on the sadistic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll right. How about I summon some Replicants to take them on?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With some choice jiggles, I spat a body out of me. This was a human-shaped clone, me remaining in my original slime self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll right! It\u2019s been ages since we fought Mr. Tempest!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is so great. Now he can see just how much I\u2019ve grown!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kenya and Alice, the two main fighters of the crew, gleefully took positions in the front row. Next to them, the more taciturn Gail was doing a few quick stretches while Ryota, despite his usual reluctance, was looking just as excited\u2014if he wasn\u2019t trying to run away, he must\u2019ve had some<\/em> confidence, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And as for Chloe and Kumara, the last two:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll head out front first!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHuhhhh? But I wanna fight Mr. Tempest, too!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were just as enthusiastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll rarin\u2019 to go, huh? I can take you all on at once, but how about we try some one-on-one battles?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone smiled at me, excited to battle\u2014and I certainly didn\u2019t mind humoring them now and then. With that ill-advised optimism in mind, we began the mock fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One hour later:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cY-you\u2019ve gotten way<\/em> too strong, guys!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My shocked voice echoed across the labyrinth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Kenya was clearly stronger than a rank-and-file paladin. He formed a perfect combination with the light elemental spirit inside him, unleashing a litany of sword moves from his weird, manga-like stance. Ryota wasn\u2019t as good as Kenya with a blade, but with his mix of water and wind spirit magic, he demonstrated a nimble skill with battle. Gail was a steady presence in the fight, focused on defense and careful movement, and he handled his sword and shield well. He also had good control over earth-based spirit magic, making him a bit like fighting an iron wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, the boys were surprising enough, but the girls were even more amazing. Now I could see why Alice was nicknamed the Empress. I don\u2019t know where she was taking them out from, but she now had several dolls of magisteel that resembled Beretta and seemed almost alive as they lunged at me. She was every bit the Golem Master she was, and she wasn\u2019t messing around with toy dolls today. If she faced anyone besides me, they\u2019d be in real trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in addition to that, Alice had a finisher move where she willed a huge number of swords into the air and doggedly sent them flying my way. That<\/em> was a surprise. Their paths were irregular and hard to predict; without my Predict Future Attack skill, I might\u2019ve been run through several times. Another few years, and she could probably be an even match for a paladin captain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for Kumara:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOkay, guys, time to show Sir Rimuru what we\u2019re made of!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that shout, she released her full force, nine tails shimmering behind her cutesy figure. The next moment, each tail transformed into a magical beast. I kind of anticipated this, but still, having eight beasts to deal with at once was a surprise. Even two of those beasts boasted a lot of strength\u2014I could see why Clayman treated them as a kind of last resort. And now there were eight of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ninth one was apparently associated with Kumara herself, while the other eight were all magical beasts. Each one was over A in rank, so not even your average paladin stood a chance, and they all shared in one another\u2019s battle experience, so they worked well as a team. At this point, I think they could possibly beat Fritz, making Kumara a little girl with the power of one of the Ten Great Saints. <\/a>It\u2019d be hilarious, except for the fact that it was all true. If those beasts gained any more experience, the strength level would just be incomprehensible. A worthy guardian for Floor 90 of the labyrinth, no doubt about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So that brings us to Chloe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHeee-yah<\/em>!!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a cute little shout, coming from her, but there was nothing cute about how she held a sword. She was faster than Kenya\u2014or really, it wasn\u2019t even something worth talking about on that level. I fought against six adversaries today, but Chloe was the only one I had to get real<\/em> serious about. Or maybe I\u2019m thinking about it the other way around. If I didn\u2019t<\/em> get serious, then Chloe was now strong enough to be a danger to me. I wouldn\u2019t die<\/em> if I went easy on her, mind you, but I didn\u2019t want to look uncool in front of all the kids. As a responsible grown-up, I couldn\u2019t embarrass myself around them. So that\u2019s why. Don\u2019t call it immature, all right? I\u2019ll throw all generosity aside if it means protecting what little pride I have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can see why you did that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs can I. It is only with the young Chloe that I get serious in our mock battles, after all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Really\u2026? So Chloe was now tough enough to challenge Hinata and Hakuro, both above me in skill? It shocked me to the core. This innocent little girl was now making me shudder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, dude, that was really great!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight? Hearing Mr. Tempest say that gets me all pumped up!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, but Chloe totally stole the show today. I mean, you call me the Empress, but I still can\u2019t beat her in combat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAh, Chloe\u2019s on another level. She looks all meek at first glance, but rile her and she\u2019s a menace. You\u2019re<\/em> not scary at all when you\u2019re mad, Alice, but with Chloe, I\u2019m cryin\u2019 uncle pretty much immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryota and Gail nodded next to the indignant Alice. The boys all seemed in agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\u201cKenya\u2019s real good, too, though. It\u2019s just that his stance doesn\u2019t really match his skill set. If he worked on his stuff a little more, I think he\u2019d be able to string some good combos together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a very manga-like stance, but it wasn\u2019t inherently a bad one. It was just a poor fit for traditional swordplay, forcing him to take extra steps throughout his approach. If he could get rid of that, I think he could be stronger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the thing. No matter how much I instruct him, he\u2019s still sticking with that\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hinata must have noticed as well. She dejectedly sighed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo what? I learned this stance directly from Masayuki!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Huh? Did that fool give Kenya a little uninvited advice? I mean, the stance looked<\/em> cool and was effective in its own way\u2026but as someone who knows just how powerful he really is, it just seemed so wrong for him. No wonder<\/em> it looked like something from a fighting manga\u2014Masayuki probably lifted it directly from one series or another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, I suppose just telling him won\u2019t work. Let\u2019s teach him so he gets rid of his bad habits and polishes up his combo strikes some more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike Hinata, Hakuro wasn\u2019t hung up about doing things the standard way. He had a few off-book moves of his own, so if Kenya found this approach effective, Hakuro didn\u2019t mind going with that. It wasn\u2019t absolutely the wrong thing for him, either, so I\u2019ll let Hakuro work that out over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More importantly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChloe, your sword moves are exactly like Hinata\u2019s, aren\u2019t they? Very pretty. A good example for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She smiled brightly at the compliment. \u201cYeah! It\u2019s the same as what Shizu used, so I tried to copy them!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not the easiest things in the world to copy, you know. I\u2019m still reliant on skills for them, but you learned them entirely based on your own talents. I think you should be proud of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIndeed! I\u2019ve instructed a great many students, but I\u2019ve never seen so much raw talent from one person. It\u2019s nothing short of ominous, in fact!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Hinata and Hakuro were both tough teachers, and they had nothing but praise for Chloe. I guess it really was<\/em> talent. She was still young, but I couldn\u2019t even guess what would happen as she matured. I wasn\u2019t sure if I was fearing it or looking forward to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It turned out, however, that Hinata had some other business today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI called you here in part so you could see how these children were progressing. They all have talent, but they\u2019re still young. I wanted you to have an accurate gauge of how they are right now, to ensure we don\u2019t guide them down the wrong path.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

\u201cAll right. We have a lot of people in town who can guide them, Hakuro included. Me too, for that matter. We\u2019ll make sure they don\u2019t go down any wayward paths.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHee-hee! I thought you\u2019d say that\u2026but just in case, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was such<\/em> a worrywart. I loved how kind she really was, despite that cold facade she always put up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo did you have some other reason to be here today?\u201d I asked her as the kids all play-fought against Hakuro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes. In fact, it\u2019s the main reason.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She stopped there, eyes turned toward the children. Even Hakuro had trouble dealing with five of those kids at once. He could keep up with their moves, yes, but if he delayed his reactions for even an instant, he\u2019d suffer a lethal blow. In terms of pure physical talent, someone like Kenya was easily above him. He couldn\u2019t let his guard down for a moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kumara, by the way, wasn\u2019t participating in this. If she really<\/em> wanted to fight, she\u2019d overwhelm Hakuro with pure numbers. But even without her, Chloe gave the kids a decisive advantage, so I thought this was a good pairing. It was, in a way, a grand demonstration of fighting skills, one boundlessly entertaining to watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIsn\u2019t that amazing?\u201d Hinata softly said. \u201cEspecially at her age.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was looking at Chloe. The other four\u2014Kenya, Ryota, Gail, <\/a>and Alice\u2014were all impressive enough in their own right, but Chloe was simply extraordinary. Without her, Hakuro could easily wrap up this battle without breaking a sweat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Hinata then moved on to the main topic at hand. \u201cSorry,\u201d she said, focusing on me again. \u201cI just got caught up watching them. But Lady Luminus, you know, she\u2019s pestering me about when we\u2019ll hold the music-exchange program. I figured she was interested in the idea, but she\u2019s even more enthusiastic about it than I thought. So I thought I\u2019d let you know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was unexpected\u2026or to be exact, I had been busy with so many other things that I kind of procrastinated on that proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOhhh, right, she really liked our recital, didn\u2019t she? Well, Baton and the orchestra are still practicing regularly. They\u2019ve been expanding their repertoire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHonestly, I\u2019m amazed you remembered all those songs. I can\u2019t read sheet music or anything, so writing down the songs in my head just seems impossible to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wow, so Hinata actually admits to being bad at something? She didn\u2019t seem too enthused about the concert, either. Maybe she was tone deaf. A feeling of superiority washed over me, even though I was wholly reliant on Raphael for that stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, maybe we ought to stop by soon, then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah. Transporting your musicians might be a pain, though. We could send over a few paladins and transport them via a Warp Portal, a few people at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d appreciate that, thank you. It\u2019s a big orchestra, and they have a lot of bulky instruments with them. A wagon caravan didn\u2019t seem practical to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lubelius, if I recall, was protected by a large Barrier that prevented anyone from teleporting directly in. We\u2019d need some other kind of rapid transport. A train system would instantly solve this problem, but that was for the future\u2014no point pining for it right <\/a>now. Plus, of course, this wasn\u2019t just about transporting the musicians. They all had their own instruments, which really complicated matters. If we used horse-drawn carriages, they\u2019d have to traverse a highway that\u2019s not even completed yet, and traveling down unfinished roads could lead to bumpy patches and broken gear, so I\u2019d like to avoid that if I could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Thus, I appreciated Hinata\u2019s offer. I\u2019d be helping as well, of course, so we began to make plans for the big travel day. As we went over all the details, the resting children gathered around us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you going somewhere with Miss Hinata, Mr. Tempest?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I explained to Chloe that we were holding a music concert in Lubelius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wanna go, too!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMe too!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d probably fall asleep during it, but if Chloe and Alice are coming, so am I!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd me!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGuess I\u2019ll join you, then. If I let them go alone, no telling what<\/em> they\u2019ll do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chloe led the fray as they all clamored to come along. Hmm\u2026 What to do? I supposed it\u2019d help broaden their horizons and all that, but I couldn\u2019t guarantee that it\u2019d be completely safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kumara looked up at me as I pondered this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2014I want to go, too\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being the guardian of Floor 90, she had a job to attend to, but she just looked so forlorn to me as she asked. Maybe the logical part of her brain told her this wasn\u2019t doable. But it\u2019s totally natural for a kid to want to join her friends on a trip, and I wasn\u2019t in the habit of turning that down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAw, there\u2019s no need to be so hesitant. Don\u2019t be afraid to say what you want. I\u2019ll indulge you at least a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>I didn\u2019t want her turning out like Milim, but it wouldn\u2019t do for her to lose her childlike charms, either. I patted Kumara on the head as I spoke. It felt just as soft and fuzzy as she was in fox-cub form. I suppose the kind of warmth it gave you was something that transcended boundaries between monsters and people\u2026although Kumara was in human form here, so maybe I\u2019m just thinking nonsense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhoo-hoo! And no school while we\u2019re on the road, too!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy do you want out of school so bad, Ken? You have fun in there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat are you, stupid? School\u2019s fun, yeah, but getting to play around while everyone else is in class\u2026 It makes you feel special, y\u2019know?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI get what you mean. I don\u2019t want people to think I\u2019m like you<\/em>, but I\u2019m kinda excited, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight? That sort of thing!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had yet to say yes to anyone, but the kids were already mentally packing their bags and openly talking about cutting school. I get it. I really do, but I never tried doing that when I<\/em> was a kid\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAh, fine. But you\u2019ll have extra homework to do while you\u2019re out, all right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHuh?! Aw, c\u2019mon, Mr. Tempest!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I ignored Kenya\u2019s protests. He needed to learn early on that you can\u2019t always get everything<\/em> you want. Life can often be unfair, so this was my way of toughening him up. Call it a rare parental gesture from me. I wasn\u2019t harassing or punishing them at all, so hopefully they would understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m just happy being with you, Mr. Tempest,\u201d said Chloe, the original instigator, with a grin. Well, whatever. It\u2019ll make for some good memories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re so<\/em> easy on them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, are you against it, Hinata?\u201d I asked, frowning my disapproval at her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPfft.<\/em> I didn\u2019t say that<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She looked peeved but put up no more opposition. We\u2019re good, then. So now we had our basic plan ready\u2014a tandem music concert <\/a>in Lubelius, a team of musicians headed over there, and a bunch of kids joining the fray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

And here we were\u2014the Holy Empire of Lubelius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Already, the kids were agape at the exotic sight of Lubelius\u2019s city streets. Baton and the musicians, meanwhile, were tensed up, unable to stay at ease. Diablo was with me as my secretary, as well as Shion\u2014I had her stay home during my last trip, so she got to come along this time. Instead, Veldora was watching over things in Tempest; I reminded him of his vital position as labyrinth master, which kept him from getting any funny ideas. Really, Veldora could go to pretty much any nation besides<\/em> this one\u2014he and Luminus in the same place was just far too dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Report. The chances of a problem occurring are one hundred percent.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You couldn\u2019t spell it out more clearly than that. If there\u2019s a big mine in the ground in front of you, you\u2019re not gonna march straight for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hinata was our guide here. \u201cWelcome to Lubelius,\u201d she casually told us. \u201cThe Holy Emperor himself will be greeting you shortly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was talking about Louis, and I had insider knowledge, of course, that he was only playing the role of Lubelius\u2019s leader. Baton and the others, however, didn\u2019t\u2014it was classified information, and I told the kids to keep mum about it around the orchestra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo tonight there\u2019s going to be a dinner party to formally greet all of you. Tomorrow, we\u2019ll be tuning things at the concert hall, and we\u2019re slated to begin rehearsals the day after that. The show\u2019s scheduled for three days from now. Does all of that sound good to you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat do you think, Baton?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cY-yes, Sir Rimuru! I think that will be fine. Everything\u2019s been magically transported here already, and I believe it all made the trip safely. We\u2019ll need to adjust our setup for the concert hall\u2019s size, but I <\/a>understand they have an orchestra of their own, so I don\u2019t anticipate any issues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sounds good to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou sure, though? You\u2019re only getting one day for rehearsals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHa-ha-ha! Here in Lubelius, yes, but we\u2019ve never missed a day preparing for an event like this back at home. We\u2019ll all work as one to answer the call!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great, then! If he was that confident about this, I was sure their extended efforts would pay off. Talent really can<\/em> beat hard work sometimes, but then again, hard work is never gonna betray you. It connects to confidence, giving you the internal strength you need to express your full skills in any situation. Keep up a regular effort, and you\u2019ll truly start believing in yourself. I internally gave Baton\u2019s response an A-plus as I nodded at him; if he was that confident, I felt safe expecting big things from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

\u201cUm, Sir Rimuru, we\u2019re just regular citizens of Tempest, you know. Is it really all right to be afforded rooms like these?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

The dinner party was just as swank, featuring a cavalcade of bite-size courses served on top of a small spoon\u2014a feast for the eyes and the palate. Each course was small but carefully seasoned and designed to keep your attention. Everyone loved them. Kenya and the kids acted like it wouldn\u2019t be enough for them at first, but by the end of the banquet, they were all rubbing their full bellies. As a slime, I had a de facto bottomless stomach, but theirs<\/em> were beholden to the laws of physics. Stack up enough tiny courses like this, and you\u2019d still have trouble eating them all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Unlike these innocent kids, though, our orchestra had mixed feelings. Tempest was full of culinary delights of its own, but you weren\u2019t going to see intricate masterpieces meant for kings and princes like this. They\u2019ve never had anything like it, and they certainly had not enjoyed this level of service before. I could tell them not to be nervous, but it was an impossible ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAh, don\u2019t worry about it. It just shows how much they\u2019re looking forward to your performance, I\u2019m sure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At times like this, I took solace in the fact that I wasn\u2019t doing the performing. I didn\u2019t need to go up there and sing, as it were, for my supper. If I were in the same position as Baton, I\u2019d probably be too anxious to eat anything\u2014talk about a wasted opportunity. So I encouraged our band to enjoy themselves more as the dinner party went on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After it ended, everyone retired to their rooms. The kids were already asleep by now, overstimulated and exhausted from the day\u2019s events. With everyone else resting, I was all alone. My newfound ability to take naps helped for such occasions, but it looked like I wouldn\u2019t have to rely on that. There was a knock on the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy apologies for interrupting you late at night. Our leader has invited you to visit her, Sir Rimuru\u2014would you happen to be available?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had been silently approached by Luminus\u2019s personal maid, an overcomer. She seemed like quite an elegant talent, unlike the ones who populated our research lab. I had thought Luminus was going to snub us today, but it looked like she wanted to see me after all. There was no need to turn her down, so I roused Shion and Diablo, and we followed the maid down the hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood to see you again, Rimuru,\u201d Luminus offered me in greeting. \u201cI admire the restraint you show, not bringing that evil dragon along.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was talking about Veldora, right? I couldn\u2019t blame her, given what he had done, but it still seemed kind of mean. But that was none of my business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, good to see you, too. And he\u2019s a troublemaker, you know? <\/a>If I brought him to something like this, it\u2019d be more of a headache for me than anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHee-hee-hee! You know him well, then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a short exchange, but I felt a real connection to Luminus now. Veldora\u2019s helping me in unexpected ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waiting for us in that ornate chamber were three people, Luminus included. Gunther, her elderly butler, was stationed to her left, and Louis, the man serving as emperor, was standing to her right. With the passing of her stand-in Roy, this meant all the surviving members of Luminus\u2019s Three Servants were on hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wasn\u2019t sure why Hinata was missing, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut you didn\u2019t call for Hinata?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Gunther replied. \u201cShe may have advanced from Enlightened to Saint, but she\u2019s still a former human being. Whether she no longer requires sleep or not, she has still not shed her human habits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI did reach out to her,\u201d added Louis, \u201cbut she told me some nonsense about sleep deprivation being bad for her skin\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was indeed past midnight, so they didn\u2019t force Hinata up. That made sense to me, but then Luminus gave me a light smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s odd, though. Her body\u2019s structure has transformed to something closer to a spiritual life-form, so skin deterioration should be the least of her worries. But it\u2019s true\u2014Hinata actually does<\/em> require sleep. Even as a Saint, her body\u2019s still as it was during her human years. It will take many more years for it to undergo the full evolution. A lot of people have the wrong idea about this, but there\u2019s nothing superhuman about Hinata at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She had a little laugh at this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike monsters, humans cannot undergo sudden, explosive physical transformations. That means Hinata still retained some of her human characteristics\u2014which, if looked at from a certain angle, could be seen as a weakness. This was something I subconsciously suspected, but it just showed how ridiculous monster transformations could be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

But regardless, if Hinata wasn\u2019t here, it wasn\u2019t my job as Luminus\u2019s invitee to care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight, well, here\u2019s a souvenir for you. It\u2019s a collaboration between Shuna and Mr. Yoshida\u2014an apple-brandy pound cake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thought Hinata would complain about serving this while she was absent, but late-night snacks are a beauty no-no, I\u2019m sure. She liked this kind of thing, but if she didn\u2019t know about it, she wouldn\u2019t have to agonize over taking a slice or not. It\u2019s an act of kindness, really.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat a feat! How thoughtful of you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luminus was certainly complimentary. I must thank Shuna for letting me have this. My two self-styled secretaries would never demonstrate that kind of good sense. Diablo was always extremely considerate of me, but that didn\u2019t apply to anyone else. They both have a screw loose, really. But anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo what did you want to see me for?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, well, I wasn\u2019t entirely sure whether to inform you, but I\u2019ve decided I should. It seems that Granville is up to his tricks again. I am very much looking forward to our concert in three days, and I don\u2019t want anything to get in the way of it. So I thought I would ask for your assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A rather casual way, I thought, to give some unpleasant news. I wanted to tell her that it was no topic to discuss over cake. Shion was nodding at this, but I don\u2019t think she understood the portent of it. Diablo, meanwhile, looked like he couldn\u2019t care less. If an enemy came along, he\u2019d eliminate it\u2014those were his thoughts, no doubt. But this was<\/em> a pain to me. I was on foreign soil, not my own country. I could summon the demons, as well as the forces Soei deployed across the land, but I didn\u2019t want to go overboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s that big of a deal, shouldn\u2019t you really be telling Hinata?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

<\/a>\u201cHmph! Do not<\/em> underrate us, please! No matter what kind of rabble attacks us, Lubelius\u2019s defenses are ironclad. We\u2019ve thoroughly enhanced our defensive measures to prepare for that evil dragon, after all. But we are not flawless. There is a possibility they may sneak in undetected through some previously unknown opening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The way she was talking, no invading army could manage to shake her steadfast confidence. I mean, if they were planning for war against Veldora, your typical army of ten thousand was no sweat. But that wasn\u2019t Luminus\u2019s concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome previously unknown opening? Ah, right, Granville Rozzo headed the Seven Days Clergy\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExactly,\u201d chimed in Louis. \u201cGiven his secret maneuvering around Lubelius across many years, I am positive he has at least one or two hidden routes he can take advantage of. Humans are gifted at sneaky tricks like that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd as irksome as the thought is,\u201d said a seething Gunther, \u201che once fought against Lady Luminus as the Hero of Light. With that experience, he could conceal himself entirely, and we\u2019d have no idea he was there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That did<\/em> sound dangerous. Kind of an inside job, then? Nobody would know the terrain better, certainly, and there was no doubting his strength. They say he\u2019s more powerful than the late demon lord Clayman, so you didn\u2019t want to let your guard down here\u2026or so I thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRidiculous. I wish you wouldn\u2019t disturb Sir Rimuru with such trifling matters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Diablo suddenly spoke up, sounding as brash as always. And here I thought he\u2019d been behaving rather well\u2014now the bomb was going off. I really wish he\u2019d learn when to keep his mouth shut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Louis and Gunther looked put off for a moment, but Luminus\u2019s smile kept them in line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHee-hee-hee\u2026 Well, Noir, I see Rimuru\u2019s certainly tamed you, hasn\u2019t he? Even seeing it in person, I can hardly believe it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wasn\u2019t sure why Luminus was smiling in a situation like this. But it kept things from getting awkward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\u201cI wish you wouldn\u2019t call me that. I have a wonderful name granted to me by Sir Rimuru\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEnough, Diablo. I\u2019m on friendly terms with Luminus, and I\u2019d like to keep it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I gave him a warning that, hopefully, worked as an apology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy pardons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Refraining from addressing her any further, Diablo heeded my request and quieted down. He even bowed his head a little to Luminus and her servants, and while I\u2019m sure he had no remorse whatsoever, I was willing to accept that. Luminus, after all, was asking a favor of her guests, so I didn\u2019t want to aggravate matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, I\u2019d say Diablo there is correct. Perhaps it is wrong of us to make this request at all. But there is a good reason why I decided to share this with you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Very considerate of her, calling Diablo by name\u2026even if it was a nickname. She chose not to sweat the details and quietly began explaining why she\u2019d summoned us here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs I mentioned when I discussed how Hinata still needs sleep, humans cannot quickly adapt their bodies after an evolution. It is something they must settle into, through many years\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Enlightened figure, one qualified enough to be a demon lord, can evolve into a Saint, equivalent to an awakened demon lord. However, given the time it takes for this evolution to finish, you could say that a newborn Saint is not that<\/em> much of a threat. They may have swells of energy flowing within them, but if they don\u2019t know how to wrangle them, it\u2019s pointless. Hinata could control her energies down to pretty exacting rates, but that was dependent on her own personal skills. It didn\u2019t come as naturally to her as breathing, so the resulting burden had a physical and mental effect upon her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But why would Luminus bring this up while she wasn\u2019t there? \u2026Actually, maybe it\u2019s the opposite. She waited for her to be absent before<\/em> she brought it up. And if human beings took a while to evolve, then\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow, going back to Granville for a moment, he is not currently <\/a>a Saint. He is someone who has hatched out of a Hero\u2019s egg, if you will\u2014grown and flown away from the nest. Not even I can guess how powerful he has become.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So he\u2019s a true Hero, then?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, this world had many types of Hero\u2014some self-styled, others true Heroes in training as recognized by the world itself. Some were even \u201creal\u201d enough to do things like seal Veldora away for years. Just as seed demon lords could portray themselves as the real thing, those bearing hero eggs could be recognized as fully Heroic, and the difference in strength was roughly proportionate between the two. Heroes and demon lords really were<\/em> united by fate that way\u2014and in Granville\u2019s case, we were safe in assuming he had the strength of an awakened demon lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026You think he\u2019s stronger than Hinata, maybe?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I first heard Gren was killed by the likes of Nicolaus, I doubted my own ears. A Disintegration spell is among the most powerful magics of all, but Gren wasn\u2019t enough of a fool to leave himself completely exposed to it. But back to your question\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luminus looked me straight in the eyes. So this<\/em> is why she didn\u2019t invite Hinata.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026Yes. You\u2019re right. I had hoped to tame that man for myself. Having fought him once, I know for a fact he\u2019s stronger than the demon lords of old.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

\u201cIndeed, we never directly fought Gren, so\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut you would rate him that highly?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would. I gave Gren free rein because I wanted to keep him in my personal sandbox. We both shared common goals, so I forged an agreement with him because I thought it would be fun. As head of the Seven Days Clergy, he was granted all kinds of political power. In a way, I kept him as my personal ace in the hole.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That ace wound up betraying her before she could play it, going over to the other side and wrapping his hands around her neck. It <\/a>was an error in judgment, I suppose, but I felt like I was a part of the cause, a little bit. Not that I was to blame, but\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, Maribel\u2019s dead now, after all. The cherished child of the Rozzo family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the notoriously careful Granville was on the move now, that had to be his motivation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAh yes, the child I caught sight of at your festival. I wasn\u2019t aware at the time, but she was quite a foe, wasn\u2019t she? If Granville treated her with so much respect, she might have been the key to all his ambitions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maribel was<\/em> a handful. If she stayed away from the spotlight, letting her conspiracies naturally play out, we\u2019d have a maelstrom of evil to deal with. The enemy in front of you is never as potentially lethal as the one seething from far away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, though\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo what does Granville want? He can\u2019t be taking action at this point out of some twisted desire to avenge Maribel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is probably\u2026 No. Never mind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luminus stopped herself from saying something. She shut her eyes for a few seconds, deep in thought, before quietly continuing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven long ago, his one hope was to spread peace across the world. He fought against countless slavering monsters and vicious magic beasts, defeating them in his quest to protect the human regions of the world. I fought that stubborn old man many times, until he understood that I wanted to live alongside humankind instead of eradicate them. Once we forged an agreement with each other, that was when peace finally spread across the West. Legions banded together to form small nations, which prospered and grew into larger ones over time. And it was Gren himself who appealed to them behind the scenes to create the Council of the West.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hearing the story like this, Granville\u2014or the Hero Gren\u2014really did seem like a legendary figure. He was now part of the shady Five Elders, but it was still all in the name of protecting humankind. No matter the motivations behind it, if you looked at the results he put up, Granville basically gave the human race a thousand years of peace, didn\u2019t he\u2026?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\u201cThe ancient elves who rule over Thalion have no territorial interests. We in Lubelius serve as a shield against the tyranny of Earthquake Daggrull and the Storm Dragon Veldora. The demons to the north keep attempting to intervene from their ice-shrouded world, but it\u2019s more for entertainment than anything. If Guy were serious about it, he would have brought the world to its knees long ago, after all. That just leaves humankind\u2019s other great outpost on this planet, and Granville has worked alongside the dwarves to combat it and hired merchants to prod its innards. He\u2019s been doing all this by himself for ages.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Put it that way, and Granville really seemed amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026No. No, now\u2019s not the time to commiserate with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll right. So if he\u2019s done all those noble things, what does he want?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHee-hee\u2026 Don\u2019t hurry me, now. I\u2019d like to say that Gren has no reason to confront me, but I can think of one thing. I can think of it, but I have no intention of telling you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh. I figured as much, given that pause earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut I did receive some concerning news about his motives. Do you know Yuuki Kagurazaka?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure. You said he gave off bad vibes or something, didn\u2019t you? He\u2019s the mastermind who incited Farmus to fight and set Clayman against me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, you picked up on that? That saves me some time, then, but you should know that Yuuki has contacts with Gren. There is some kind of business going on between them, and it seems they\u2019ve forged a pact of their own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yuuki again? I\u2019m really getting sick of him playing around with us. Without Raphael, I\u2019m sure he would\u2019ve easily pulled the wool over my eyes. If we kept letting him run around free, I\u2019m sure we\u2019d be constantly encountering the same problems. Maybe it\u2019s about time to settle matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo Yuuki\u2019s motivations are lurking around behind Granville\u2019s moves?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat they are. And I think one of his targets is all of you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>I see. And with me outside of Tempest, now was the best time to attack?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInteresting. So that child Yuuki wants this Gren character to fight against Sir Rimuru?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

\u201cKeh-heh-heh-heh\u2026 Perhaps they think they enjoy an edge now that a few of us have left the country, but they had best think again. We have not one, but two members of the Big Four guarding you. No scheme of theirs could possibly cause any harm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diablo, meanwhile, was the same as always. I really wish he wouldn\u2019t bring up the Big Four right now. It\u2019s so embarrassing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, remain on your guard. Once three days pass, it will be none of your business anyway. As I said at first, all I care about is enjoying a nice concert.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

Today we\u2019d be bringing in and setting up all our equipment in the concert hall. We were guided to a grand cathedral, one of the nation\u2019s main buildings. It was large enough to hold crowds of parishioners while also serving as a defensive post for the road that lay beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had nothing in particular to do. Best to let the professionals handle their own instruments. Instead, as I planned, I\u2019d be taking the kids out for some on-site social studies instruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, after listening to Luminus, I exercised the cards I had <\/a>in hand. First, I called for Venom, who answered directly to Diablo, and ordered him to go on security duty. I\u2019m sure this sudden invitation confused him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDiablo, I want you to watch over Baton and the rest as they prepare\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSir Rimuru,\u201d he interrupted, \u201cone moment, if you please. I thought we may run into some trouble here, so I made some arrangements overnight. The orchestra will be safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great. Diablo must\u2019ve foreseen and addressed anything that\u2019d make him leave my side. This is exactly why he assembled so many troops, I\u2019m sure, so I didn\u2019t mind that at all. But apparently he told Venom to come here in ten minutes or less<\/em>. Venom actually did it, which was funny enough, but if that\u2019s the kind of order Diablo gave without a second thought, he really was<\/em> heartless. Which he was, of course. He\u2019s a demon. I marveled at his talents all the time, but at that moment, I couldn\u2019t imagine how hard it was to work under him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the next thing I knew, Venom already had a hundred demons helping the orchestra. These were all above A in rank, and I couldn\u2019t imagine any security issues from Luminus\u2019s side, either. The band was nothing if not very well guarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, guided by Hinata, the children and I observed the goings-on around Lubelius. My personal take? It\u2019s the exact opposite of Tempest but not always in a bad way. Here, you were guaranteed a happy society at the expense of personal freedom. There was no competition, really. You just followed your assigned instructions to carry out your work, and then you did it a million more times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That could break you down mentally, maybe, but you\u2019d never be beleaguered by starvation or pain. Anyone who couldn\u2019t live in this environment left long ago, I\u2019m sure, and besides, if this is all you knew from the day you were born, it wouldn\u2019t occur to you to complain about it. You can\u2019t envy what you don\u2019t know about. If you never felt inferior to anyone else, you\u2019d never be inspired by those feelings to try to improve yourself. That\u2019s all it took to craft a society free of conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\u201cSounds kinda boring,\u201d whispered Alice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah.\u201d Kenya nodded. \u201cI mean, people our age are working and stuff. Is there no school or anything?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other children didn\u2019t comment, looking confused at the unfamiliar landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, there\u2019s no school here. It\u2019s a nation managed from the top down, with everyone living peacefully as equals under the name of our god.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hinata sounded proud of it, but did she really think it was right? She and her forces got to enjoy a luxurious life, but didn\u2019t she feel bad about having a monopoly on that? Of course, it didn\u2019t feel right to tell some hapless commoner about what they were missing out on, but\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter all, some things you just can\u2019t have, no matter how hard you try. You can\u2019t yearn for something if you don\u2019t even know it exists in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI guess not, but\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kenya was no fool, either. He understood what I was getting at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026In this managed society,\u201d Hinata continued, \u201cthe population enjoys high levels of happiness across the board. That\u2019s all the more reason why we need to go through the Western Holy Church to build relations with other countries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, I\u2019ll bet. You couldn\u2019t expose this oblivious populace to stimuli from other nations without warning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMakes them sound kinda sheltered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut if they\u2019re happy, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s really our place to comment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah. Happiness doesn\u2019t come from material possessions, after all. If it\u2019s emotional happiness you\u2019re after, then a society like this works.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not that I could ever stomach it. Now that I knew better, I\u2019d always be pursuing more abundance as my mission. Way back in the past, when I spent my afternoons playing tag with my school friends, maybe I could have accepted something like this. Everyone has their own idea of what happiness is, after all; it\u2019s not the sort of idea that you could point at someone and say they\u2019re wrong about <\/a>it. You had to think for yourself and act accordingly\u2014that\u2019s the best way, I figured. It was food for thought, but\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026But none of these people can survive on their own, right? They can\u2019t keep this up unless they\u2019ve got someone protecting them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chloe was speaking my thoughts out loud. Never underestimate a child\u2019s knack for observation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hinata blinked a little at this. I guess she must\u2019ve picked up on that as well\u2014just how warped this society really was. If everyone was oblivious, they\u2019d be unable to do anything without someone managing them. Having no freedom meant that someone else had life-or-death power over you. It wasn\u2019t much different from being livestock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026Yes. And that\u2019s why we\u2019re working to avoid that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHmm\u2026 Well, okay. But I think it\u2019d be better if this was a group effort, Miss Hinata. That way, everyone could pitch in instead of you having to do everything!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was one ideal, yes. But someone always had to suffer eventually, because it never really worked out that way. We\u2019re all born with different levels of talent, and everyone produces work at their own pace. Words like equal<\/em> sound nice, but there\u2019s always going to be a cruel, unequal reality attached. Ideals and reality\u2014a contradiction that could never be fully buried. Prop something up here, and something else has to sag over there. There\u2019s no correct answer. You just have to keep rushing down the path you believe in\u2014and that\u2019s what makes life interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think today gave the kids a lot to ponder; it\u2019s also reminded me that material possessions aren\u2019t enough to make you happy. I knew that, but I just couldn\u2019t stop. That was the conclusion I made, but I still didn\u2019t think today was a waste for me. My approach was, in a way, just one of many correct answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The diversity I enjoyed was the very potential that drove people\u2019s lives, I thought. But I wanted to reconsider my life one more time, carefully. No need to decide what\u2019s correct or not. I was stabbed in my previous life, and then I got reborn as a slime. Nobody could <\/a>tell you what\u2019s coming next for me\u2026and if that\u2019s how it was, I\u2019d be missing out if I didn\u2019t enjoy the present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what today made me think. And even now, the gears of fate were turning\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cJaune has disappeared?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes. It is hard to believe, but I detected a massive amount of magic force\u2026and then the demons sleeping there seemed to vanish\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026Unfathomable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leon thought he misheard Arlos\u2019s report at first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Leon\u2019s domain was an area shared with the demon realms, the spiritual world that demons call home. It was a land covered in thick miasma and magicules, one where a demon with untold powers could occasionally manifest itself. Your typical demon, bereft of a physical body, could be handled by Leon\u2019s knight corps, even if they were an Arch Demon. However, they had discovered an older demon in this land, one that\u2019s such an absolute threat that not even Leon could ignore it. This was Jaune, the Original Yellow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

\u201cShe\u2019s an insane demon, the sort who\u2019d throw nuclear-level magic spells around for fun. She would be impossible to live alongside, and she has no interest in negotiating. Without your backup, Sir Leon, she would even threaten my<\/em> life. And now you say she\u2019s gone?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, Claude. I couldn\u2019t believe it myself, so I went to see\u2026and the region that normally overlaps with the demon realm has been dimensionally repaired. I can only assume that someone has blocked the Gates of Hell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cImpossible\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Claude, the Black Knight widely considered the strongest fighter <\/a>in all of El Dorado, was snapping at Arlos, the Silver Knight and his comrade-in-arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

The Gates were a kind of door that overlapped between the physical and spiritual worlds. Its presence allowed bodiless demons to appear and interact with \u201cnormal\u201d space for a limited time. Many knights had been deployed to close this door, but the demons stopped them. Ever since Leon built his nation here, there had been continual skirmishes on regular occasions. What made this so difficult for the knights was that spiritual life-forms could resurrect themselves as long as you didn\u2019t kill them at the root. Even worse, a demon just killing some time could easily cause massive damage to Leon\u2019s forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Leon, who ruled over an otherwise bountiful realm, only the demons kept him up at night. If he truly wanted to, perhaps he could sweep them all up by himself\u2014but one false move, and it could lead to Jaune awakening. And even then, Leon could probably beat her, although it\u2019d require the fight of both of their respective lives. That\u2019s why he had avoided that so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What could have happened? Jaune is just\u2026 She\u2019s not like Mizeri and Raine, the way Guy describes them. She just doesn\u2019t listen to reason.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Now more news was reaching Leon\u2019s nervous ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReport, my lord! There are currently five children being kept under wraps in Tempest. We\u2019ve confirmed our intelligence with their former academy in Englesia, and we\u2019re almost done assessing it. It would appear the demon lord Rimuru is forging a secret pact to sell the children to the demon lord Luminus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\u201cLubelius and Tempest have signed a peace treaty; both demon lords are on good terms with each other. Our guess is that Rimuru has deceived Yuuki Kagurazaka and is using the magicule-rich children for his own business dealings!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They had just received a magic call from a member of the Azure Knights currently investigating Tempest. The news gave Leon pause. The Rimuru he met at the Walpurgis meeting didn\u2019t strike him as the sort to pull a move like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHave them observe this agent of ours closely. He may have a good contact\u2026or he may be under someone\u2019s control.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t think\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe demon lord Rimuru, perhaps?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo. I just don\u2019t see any reason why Rimuru would get rid of the children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo why, then?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSomeone\u2019s trying to make us fight. Someone who stands to profit from it. There\u2019s a chance the demon lord Luminus is being dragged into this as well. For all we know, Luminus may be behind it all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat in\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leon thought for a moment\u2014gauging the situation in the Western Nations, figuring out who\u2019d be the prime suspect. The conclusion was as obvious as it was unnerving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026The Cerberus society?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Perhaps the Rozzos have discovered our summoning program\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, maybe those merchants joined forces with them in a real, palpable way. If he started to doubt them, there\u2019d be no end to it for his troubled mind. Besides, that report was suspicious on its face. Leon wouldn\u2019t have any motive to take action over just five children\u2014or so he thought. Normally, demon lords avoided interfering with one another as much as they could. Butting into a conflict between demon lords that he had no personal stake in <\/a>would be the height of folly; it could give him two enemies where there used to be none.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was best to ignore these events. Luminus might be scheming at something, but it\u2019d all be pointed at Rimuru, not Leon. There was, by Leon\u2019s reasoning, no point in making a move. This time, however, he could feel his judgment wavering. Perhaps detecting this, Leon\u2019s advisers began debating the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI see\u2026 So there are people out there trying to take advantage of Sir Leon?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShould we quash them?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leon stopped them. \u201cNo. Cerberus has major clout in the Eastern Empire. It\u2019d be unwise to make enemies of them without any evidence. They\u2019re no doubt fanning the flames here, but the Rozzo family might not be so faithful themselves. And besides that\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was taking the situation coolly, providing suitable instructions for his forces, but there was still a pang of anxiety in Leon\u2019s mind. That name, Scoey Colbert. Could that be\u2026?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026No, there was no reason to make a move. In fact, any moves would mean falling for the bait. Leon understood that, but he still had trouble resisting the impulse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Jaune was alive and well somewhere, he couldn\u2019t do something ill-advised that could affect the very land he stood on. The scales in his mind remained stationary, pointing out the correct choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strange. I just feel like I have to act right now\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had fallen silent, his adviser looking up at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy lord, we are all your faithful knights. We will gladly follow any orders you give us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes! No matter how selfish you may be, we will never chide you for it. Grant us your orders, and I promise we will make them come true!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arlos, Claude, and all the other knights were unquestionably loyal to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026Either Jaune\u2019s disappearance is an extraordinary stroke of luck, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leon closed his eyes. When he opened them again, there was a fearless smile on his lips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI accept your loyalty. I must go myself. Guard this land in my stead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u201c\u201cYes, sir!\u201d\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

\u201cAh, the demon lord Leon\u2019s on the move, huh? Just as I thought\u2014it\u2019s not just any<\/em> child he\u2019s looking for. So maybe Chloe really is<\/em> the one\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It meant that Leon\u2019s true desire wasn\u2019t the children, but a certain person who came from another world. By the laws of cause and effect, this made it seem quite likely that Chloe was what Leon wanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut, Sir Yuuki, Leon\u2019s not necessarily going to do what we want, will he? He\u2019s probably headed for Lubelius, but I doubt he\u2019s accepted the info we\u2019ve given him at face value. In fact, I\u2019m sure he doubts it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure he does. But it still let us narrow down his motivations. That\u2019s good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yuuki was satisfied, but Kagali and the others didn\u2019t see things his way. They seemed concerned, unsure about his thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI agree that Chloe merits attention, but don\u2019t we lack concrete proof that she\u2019s the central figure? Relying on uncertain odds like that strikes me as out of character for you, Sir Yuuki.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, right? And here we are, leakin\u2019 sensitive information to him. It\u2019s all but askin\u2019 him to doubt us, y\u2019know? So what was the purpose of all that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to know, too, Boss. I don\u2019t think you made a mistake, but now Leon\u2019s gonna have it in for Cerberus, won\u2019t he? It\u2019s basically ended our relationship. I don\u2019t see how we\u2019ve gained anything at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laplace and Teare weren\u2019t hiding their concerns now. Footman <\/a>didn\u2019t join them, and the ever-wise Kagali felt it proper to keep her mouth shut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can understand if the clowns here are confused,\u201d Misha said with a bewitching smile. \u201cIt\u2019s true\u2014we didn\u2019t stand to gain anything from this. We did it for just one reason, and that\u2019s because the boss has decided we can\u2019t deal with the demon lord Leon any longer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That set off a light bulb in Kagali\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI see. So that\u2019s how it was? Not that we won\u2019t<\/em> deal with him, but we can\u2019t\u2026<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHuh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWh-what do you mean, Lady Kagali?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHoh-hoh-hoh! Not like we\u2019d understand her if she told us. All we have to do is follow the orders, and\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cQuiet one second, Footman. Whether I can understand it or not, I want to hear it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Footman scowled a bit at Teare\u2019s interruption. They usually got along well, so it stung a bit. The way he saw it, they didn\u2019t need to get mired in complex reasoning\u2014just do what Yuuki and Kagali and the others said, and everything would work out fine. He truly believed that, but now it seemed he was the only one. The others trusted Yuuki and Kagali, but they wanted to know what they were working for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yuuki looked at them and smiled. In terms of being easy to use, Footman sure is a helpful guy\u2026but if you want a better chance at success, people like Laplace are leagues better. Of course, it\u2019s not like we had some grand reasoning behind this\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he thought over this, he began to venture an explanation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, the fact that Leon\u2019s taking action now is all the reason we needed. You know how we had you guys deliver one final shipment of classified goods to him? I only did that because we were planning to shut off business with Leon, and I wanted you to have a chance to see your hated nemesis in person once.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHuh? So you really wouldn\u2019t have cared if we started kickin\u2019 ass in there?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re exactly right. Assuming you escaped alive once you were done, that is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Yuuki grinned, a smile brimming with confidence as he attempted to calm his minions down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChildren or not, collecting otherworlders takes a lot of hard work. We know Leon did it to boost his fighting power, but we kept helping him anyway. You know why, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, \u2019cause we wanted to keep that connection with him?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight. So what did we need to keep that relationship going?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe classified goods, right? The otherworlder children?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMm-hmm. And now we can\u2019t get any more of them. Why?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, because the Rozzos we had been countin\u2019 on to summon them for us are\u2026 Oh. Ohh.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat? What is it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou see, Teare? This way, we can pin the blame for cutting things off on the Rozzos. If we can\u2019t get any new supply in, we certainly can\u2019t keep our business going. We can\u2019t go around looking for kids that just happened to wander into this world, but we can<\/em> pretend we are and sell them that way. So this way, we\u2019re seizing the initiative. Even if we cut Leon off for now, we can still make contact with him later if we need him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s still no reason to deliberately make him suspect us,\u201d a confused Teare said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNah,\u201d groaned Laplace, the truth dawning on him. \u201cYou see, they\u2019re tryin\u2019 to make the Rozzo family out to be the real<\/em> bad guys. I tell you, Boss, you\u2019re a mean one, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Thanks for the compliment. Yes, like you said, Laplace, I\u2019m intending to shunt all the blame on old man Granville.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt annoys me to say this,\u201d Kagali added, \u201cbut Leon\u2019s a very careful individual. We\u2019re the only ones he\u2019s suspecting right now\u2026but at the same time, I\u2019m sure he thought, There\u2019s no way Cerberus would do something so immature.<\/em> He\u2019d eliminate Rimuru or Luminus as suspects, and in his eyes, there\u2019s nobody else who could be scheming against him. The Rozzos are probably the least of his worries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLeon\u2019s careful, yeah, but he\u2019s also got a lot of self-confidence. He\u2019s not gonna let himself get hurt by some human he wanted to take advantage of. He didn\u2019t even try to learn<\/em> about the Rozzos. <\/a>I don\u2019t think he could even guess that the real<\/em> threat was lurking among their ranks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can imagine. The Five Elders were nobody too big, after all, except for those<\/em> two.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTwo? But if Maribel\u2019s gone, that just leaves Granville, don\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, you didn\u2019t know, but there were actually three people in the Rozzo family we needed to be careful with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maribel was dead, but two still remained\u2014such was the information Cerberus gave them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course, to be exact, it\u2019s not one of the Elders. It\u2019s this one guy who worked for Cidre, that frontier margrave, and he\u2019s apparently real<\/em> bad news.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a grin, Yuuki told the room what he knew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cidre was the aristocrat responsible for protecting the peace in northern Englesia. In this region was a family of protectors who guarded the land from generation to generation. The current one, a man decked out in a full mask and armor with no skin visible, had been serving Granville all this time despite nobody knowing where he came from. He wasn\u2019t part of the Five Great Elders, but anyone aware of him knew better than to ignore him. Yuuki heard about him from Damrada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd you know, Damrada himself told me \u2018I have no idea who\u2019d win between us unless I actually fight him.<\/em>\u2019 So no way he\u2019s weak. The only other<\/em> person he\u2019s described in terms like that is Hinata.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far as Yuuki knew, Damrada kept a close eye out for only three people in the Western Nations\u2014Hinata, Maribel, and this man. To him, the man was even more of a menace than the head elder, Granville himself. And if Damrada the Money\u2014one of Cerberus\u2019s leaders and a man who enjoyed Yuuki\u2019s full trust\u2014rated him like that, there was no way Yuuki could afford to ignore him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo what\u2019s he like?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat I don\u2019t know. I\u2019ve never met him. But he pretty much single-handedly keeps the peace up in the north, you know? Damrada said he happened to see him in combat once, and he himself was fightin\u2019 against a bunch of demons from the north.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>This statement was like dropping a bomb in the room. Kagali and Misha were already aware of it, but even they seemed to have trouble accepting it. That\u2019s how much of a revelation it was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe man\u2019s name is Razul, apparently. Granville personally named him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGranville\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe named<\/em> him?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWait, so you mean\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou weren\u2019t aware of that, Lady Kagali?\u201d asked Misha. \u201cWell, it\u2019s true. Damrada told me that Razul isn\u2019t human.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d Yuuki added. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t wear all that armor just to protect himself. It\u2019s also so nobody finds out what he is, according to Damrada.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Laplace and the others, however, that was just a small detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAh, that doesn\u2019t matter. Lemme get this straight. By \u2018demons from the north<\/em>,\u2019 d\u2019you mean from the lands of that demon lord?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cR-right! If the Lord of Darkness is taking action, the West would\u2019ve been a heap of ash long ago\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nobody, not even Yuuki, could smile at the normally composed Laplace and Kagali acting so out of sorts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlease, calm down. You guys are pretty scared of the demon lord Guy Crimson, huh? Well, we\u2019re fine for now. Regarding your question, yes, the northern demons were people working under Guy. It looks like Guy\u2019s tolerating it when his forces decide to attack human settlements for fun. It\u2019s just a game for the demons, but the victims sure don\u2019t see it that way, of course. So it was Razul stopping them before they could cross into his territory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just one man, protecting human society from all those demons? The thought stunned everyone except Yuuki into silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hardly believe it, but I\u2019m convinced. If Guy isn\u2019t serious about this, that explains why the Western Nations are still safe. This Razul person sounds like quite a threat, but\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is just crazy. Not even I could pull a stunt like that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cB-but\u2026I know he\u2019s strong and all, but what\u2019s he have to do with Leon? Are we trying to have Leon travel north and fight against him?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>As everyone regained their composure, Yuuki found himself smiling at Teare\u2019s question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight, let\u2019s go back to the main topic. Like I said, the Rozzos have this Razul as kind of a last resort. He\u2019s there to fend off the demons who might attack at any time, so they couldn\u2019t afford to move him away from the north.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Yuuki had been aware of Razul for some time now. He hadn\u2019t used him in his strategizing so far because he simply didn\u2019t have the chance. Any false move with him, and Guy\u2019s forces were capable of laying waste to the West. He didn\u2019t want that, and thus the northern regions were hands-off to him. Now, however, things had changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to level with all of you. A while back, I had a conference with Granville where we worked out an agreement\u2014an agreement I\u2019ve already briefed you about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The smile disappeared from Yuuki\u2019s face. Everyone else nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight,\u201d said Kagali. \u201cThe god worshipped by the Western Holy Church was exactly who we expected it to be. And out of sadness for losing Maribel, Granville decided to join forces with you, Sir Yuuki.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStupid old man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSilence, Laplace. So along those lines, Granville asked for your help with something. Are the preparations for that going along well, Sir Yuuki?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yuuki and Granville\u2019s secret meeting. In the midst of it\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yuuki was the one who informed Granville of Maribel\u2019s death. She had challenged the demon lord Rimuru to battle and lost. Left with no other option, she set off a magical control reactor, got caught in the resulting explosion, and died. It was the same story <\/a>Yuuki told Rimuru earlier. Yuuki had considered giving Granville another lie but opted against it\u2014now that Rimuru\u2019s suspicions of him were gone, he didn\u2019t want to be needlessly inconsistent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although he couldn\u2019t say how Granville would react, Yuuki wasn\u2019t at all afraid of him alone. Even if he was part of the Seven Days Clergy, those protectors of humankind, Yuuki saw him as just a poor elderly man possessed by a mad, greedy desire for power. He wasn\u2019t about to let his guard down, but he viewed Granville as a beatable opponent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The old man had several of his guards with him at the conference, including a couple of otherworlders. It\u2019d be a bad idea to make enemies out of all of them, but Yuuki still felt at ease. With Maribel gone, all he really needed to watch out for was this Razul guy. Thus, he faced up against Granville, not bothering to hide his true nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI see\u2026 So Maribel is dead\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMm-hmm. And lemme tell you, it was hard for me as well\u2014her controlling me, making me fight against Rimuru\u2026 I know the Free Guild\u2019s built under the Council and gets their operating budget from them, but this is really<\/em> a breach of contract, isn\u2019t it? I had my free will taken from me, and I really<\/em> think I deserve some compensation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo what happened with the demon lord Rimuru?\u201d Granville asked, pushing Yuuki\u2019s demand aside. Yuuki expected that to some extent, shrugging without showing any real disappointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat happened? Nothing, really. He may have doubted you before, perhaps, but now I think he believes all of this was Maribel\u2019s scheme. That\u2019s the way I framed it with him, besides, and I hope you won\u2019t think ill of me for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMmm\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Granville\u2019s expression hinted at severe exhaustion, something Yuuki didn\u2019t anticipate. He shut his eyes tightly, remaining silent for a moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026I see. So Maribel is gone. Now all hope is lost for the Rozzo family. And if it is, we must use the secret treasure she hid away for our revenge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\u201cShe? And a secret treasure, you say? I\u2019m not sure what you\u2019re talking about, but I\u2019d like to stay out of it, if you don\u2019t mind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHeh-heh-heh\u2026 Ah, don\u2019t say that, Yuuki. You know already, don\u2019t you? You\u2019re no fool.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026Know what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHmph! That the god of Luminism is none other than the demon lord Luminus herself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yuuki had assumed as much, but it surprised him to hear it from Granville\u2019s own lips. At the same time, he wondered why he\u2019d reveal such a vital secret to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, if you\u2019re telling me that, then what are you scheming?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cScheming? Oh, don\u2019t call it that. I\u2019ve accepted you, you know. With Maribel gone, you\u2019re the only person I could entrust the future of the Western Nations to\u2014or really, the human race itself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Granville rose from his sofa, speaking to Yuuki in exaggerated tones. Yuuki wasn\u2019t obedient enough to believe him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAh, come on. I don\u2019t need to be some savior\u2014Rimuru\u2019s probably gonna step up to do that anyway. He really does<\/em> want to live alongside humankind, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yuuki snickered a little. He assumed all talks were off now. But Granville wasn\u2019t done yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re still young, Yuuki, very young. Maribel could see into the future, but it appears that you cannot. That demon lord, Rimuru\u2026 We cannot ever permit his continued existence. Lady Luminus had no interest in the human world, and that\u2019s exactly why she and they could coexist. But not Rimuru. He\u2019s going to corrupt humanity and spread chaos worldwide, I\u2019m sure of it. There will be seas of blood.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh? Wow. What\u2019s your basis for saying that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy sixth sense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHuh? That\u2019s kind of irrational\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy sixth sense as a former Hero. It is pleading with me to slay the demon lord Rimuru.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This made Yuuki pause. He squinted at Granville. He may have called himself a former Hero, but to Yuuki, he looked like a shriveled old man. He had fancy clothes, sharp eyes, and the charisma <\/a>and drive of a leader and ruler\u2026but Yuuki just couldn\u2019t see the kind of \u201cstrength\u201d that would put Granville above Maribel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA Hero? You\u2019re joking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPfft!<\/em> You can choose to believe me or not. But I want to know whether you\u2019ll assist me in defeating the demon lord Rimuru.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHa-ha! Assist you? Why would I ever agree to something so hazardous? I want to keep my current relationship with him\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEnough nonsense, you fool! Maribel is dead! Now\u2019s not the time for us to be playing mind games with each other! We could<\/em> leave everything to the Empire, but there\u2019s too many question marks in their government. And who knows how much we can trust the merchants you\u2019re connected to?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMmm\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who\u2019s talking nonsense now?<\/em> Yuuki thought, chiding Granville in his mind. Unlike Granville, he didn\u2019t take a humans-first approach to life. No matter what happens to humankind, it was all good to him\u2014as long as he had full control of it in the end. But this talk of a secret treasure still concerned him. By the sound of it, Granville felt this would be enough to defeat Rimuru, and Yuuki wanted to find out what it was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Granville, meanwhile, paid Yuuki\u2019s thoughts no mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI won\u2019t ask you to believe me. I simply want us to join forces, just once.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026Again, how does that benefit me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will grant you Lady Luminus\u2019s hidden treasure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd that is\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe ultimate weapon\u2014the one that sealed Veldora away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This sudden bombshell was impossible for Yuuki to ignore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe greatest Hero of all time. I have not met her personally, but Lady Luminus is protecting her in a special ark.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA demon lord protecting a Hero? What kind of joke is that\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHa-ha-ha! None of that, now. I was just as confused at first. But in the great battles that unfold in this world every few hundred years, I have<\/em> seen this Hero in action. Truly, she is the supreme figure among her kind, capable of annihilating any form of evil.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\u201cStronger than you in your prime?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would not even compare.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those words sounded honest to Yuuki, and he was pretty confident in his lie-detection skills. Granville was telling the truth. And if he was, Yuuki had an idea why this Hero disappeared and left Shizue Izawa to herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026There must be some limit to this Hero\u2019s career. Her life span? Well, regardless of the reason, if we can seize that ark or whatever Luminus is guarding, we can get the strongest pawn of all for ourselves, and then\u2026?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So this \u201cultimate weapon<\/em>\u201d was in the custody of Luminus, likely under some sort of spell. If Yuuki and his friends could figure out what kind of spell it was\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s quite fascinating. But I\u2019m not enough of a mark to believe you at face value.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure you\u2019re not. So here\u2019s a suggestion. I will attack and cause a scene at their main cathedral. It\u2019ll no doubt lead to confusion and chaos at Lady Luminus\u2019s castle, and in the midst of that, you can fly in and steal the ark.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was an attractive suggestion\u2014so advantageous to Yuuki, in fact, that he doubted it all the more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat do you<\/em> gain from this? Isn\u2019t the demon lord Luminus your master? You\u2019re so bent on getting revenge for Maribel that you\u2019ll defy Luminus herself ?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Granville greeted this question with disgust. \u201cOf course<\/em> I am. I was once on good terms with Lady Luminus, but she\u2019s already disposed of me. Our relationship hinged on the promise that she wouldn\u2019t oppose the human race. Now that she\u2019s joined hands with the demon lord Rimuru, Lady Luminus\u2026or rather, the demon lord Luminus is my enemy\u2014and nothing more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The malice was clear in his words. Yuuki picked up on it, astonished by its sheer force. Wow\u2026 I thought he was a used-up old man, but he can still cut it on the front lines, can\u2019t he? Maybe this isn\u2019t such a bad offer after all\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He began to seriously consider it. On one hand, he\u2019d insist upon Granville rising up first. That reduced the chances of a betrayal and gave him an opportunity to size up his powers before putting <\/a>his own skin in the game. In the worst case, he could claim Granville tricked him with his lies into joining in\u2014but he could judge how serious he was once battle began. If he couldn\u2019t gauge whether Granville intended to actually fight this out, there was no point joining in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInteresting\u2026 Very interesting. I still have a few doubts, but considering what I stand to gain from it, maybe giving it a venture isn\u2019t such a bad idea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHa-ha! I thought you would say that. It will be a temporary alliance for us, but there will be no better way to cap off our friendship. Can I count on you for this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, if you\u2019re willing to set the table that<\/em> much for me, I might as well trust you a little, huh? So how are we gonna make this a success?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, well\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two of them began going over the finer details\u2014and at the end of it, the mastermind in full control of the Western Nations shook hands over it with the magic-born scheming to conquer the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, the Rozzo family would exercise their full resources in an attack on the cathedral. All the agents from the Selt Foreign Information Bureau would be there, as well as the survivors from Blood Shadow and some otherworlders summoned by the Rozzos. Even Razul himself, guardian of the Western Nation\u2019s northern boundary, would be present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m curious to see the full measure of the Rozzos\u2019 strength,\u201d muttered Kagali, grinning evilly\u2014and she spoke for everyone in the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, Sir Yuuki, do you have a read on where this ark is hidden?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGranville gave me all the details. We\u2019ll have to proceed carefully, though, just in case he\u2019s tricking me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s my<\/em> job, eh?\u201d said Laplace. \u201cI\u2019m a little anxious about sneakin\u2019 in by myself, so I\u2019m takin\u2019 Teare and Footman along, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\u201cI\u2019d like to say yes, but I have another job for Teare.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh? Well, just Footman, then. But what\u2019re ya gonna do with her?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe\u2019s taking the most important job of all. But back to you for a moment. I want you guys to avoid combat as much as you can. Just focus on completing your mission.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlways consider the possibility of a trap,\u201d advised Kagali. \u201cIf you sense any danger, don\u2019t hesitate to retreat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI ain\u2019t a kid, y\u2019know. You don\u2019t have to remind me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laplace exuded confidence, Footman silently nodding his approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood,\u201d said Kagali. \u201cRemember that Luminus was the master of Valentine, a demon lord as powerful as I was. I don\u2019t need to remind you how strong she is. She could easily defeat me in my prime. Do I make myself clear, Laplace? Your first priority isn\u2019t to steal the ark. It\u2019s to get as much info as you can without pushing your luck and come back home safely, all right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFine, fine. I ain\u2019t got no obligation to old man Granville. This ain\u2019t a Moderate Jesters job anyway, so I\u2019ll do my best for you guys, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah.\u201d Yuuki nodded. \u201cSo for this job, I\u2019m gonna be supporting you. If that ark\u2019s every bit the decisive weapon Granville claims it is\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSupport? What, don\u2019t you trust me? That hurts\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that. We need to firm up our defense. There\u2019s bound to be a trap or two, so we can\u2019t be too careful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yuuki trusted Laplace and his cohorts well enough. This time, though, not even he could predict what would happen. No matter what, he couldn\u2019t afford to have them go easy and risk messing up the whole thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be following you all in secret,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt\u2019ll be up to you guys to carry out your end of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOoh, so we\u2019re gonna be a diversion for ya, huh? That would<\/em> be smarter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd if things fall apart, use the confusion to bail out safely. I\u2019ll take our prize in the midst of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He grinned. The plan was perfect, and after several rounds <\/a>of planning with Granville, Yuuki realized he was dead serious about it. This was definitely going to be the best shot he\u2019d get. The chances of another opportunity like this were slim to none. Regardless of how things shook out, Yuuki thought, he absolutely had to get his hands on that ark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOkay, but is this ark really<\/em> everything yer sayin\u2019 it is?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is. He said it houses the Hero who sealed away Veldora himself. Supposedly this Hero answers to Luminus, but my plan\u2019s to undo whatever spell\u2019s been put on her and make her mine instead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHuh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeriously? Are you kidding me?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWh-what are you talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHoh-hoh-hoh\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTalk about priceless, wouldn\u2019t you agree? The East is ready to accept this ark at any time. We\u2019ll figure out how to gain control of the ultimate Hero; trust me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The whole room was surprised to hear Yuuki\u2019s casual revelation. Now the ark was more valuable than any of them could imagine, and it was hard for anyone to hide their excitement. Even Misha, who was ordered to prepare for this ark in advance, couldn\u2019t hide her blushing cheeks. How could she? They were attempting to gain control over the figure who defeated the True Dragon, the most powerful presence in the world. World conquest, as envisioned by Yuuki and Cerberus, was no pipe dream now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can see why yer bein\u2019 so careful, then, Boss.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, if that\u2019s<\/em> how things are, I\u2019d gladly volunteer to join in the research.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHa-ha! Not so fast, Kagali. It\u2019s too dangerous to accept Granville\u2019s story at face value\u2026but I do<\/em> think it\u2019s pretty plausible. So we can\u2019t mess this up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure Sir Yuuki\u2019s presence puts all our minds at ease, but we can\u2019t afford to have any of you drag us down, am I clear?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRoger that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHoh-hoh-hoh! Understood!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning the gravity of their mission enthused Laplace and <\/a>Footman all the more. Yuuki gave them both satisfied looks, then turned to Teare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow, Teare\u2026 We\u2019re actually going to have the demon lord Leon\u2019s support for this operation. It\u2019d be rude if we didn\u2019t give him a warm welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Leon on the move, Yuuki\u2019s team now had a mission. If he chose to stay put, they would\u2019ve likely done the same, maybe providing a little help on the sidelines\u2014but now even Leon was on his way to Lubelius\u2019s holy lands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No doubt about it. The battlefield was going to be chaotic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf Leon\u2019s been lured here,\u201d Kagali said, \u201cwe should make him think Cerberus is being used by the Rozzos, too. That way, he\u2019ll mistakenly believe that he can trust us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd then we can tell Rimuru that Leon\u2019s ruthlessly after those little kids, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight. And to make that more convincing, we need some of the kids we were planning to give Leon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh! And that\u2019s where I come in?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou got it, Teare. It\u2019ll mean showing your face in public, but knowing you, it\u2019s not gonna blow your cover, is it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot at all! With my acting skills, duping Rimuru is no problem!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was ready for the job, but Yuuki still cruelly shook his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, I have high hopes for that, but it\u2019s not gonna be enough. The demon lord Rimuru\u2019s an incredibly cautious leader, and he\u2019s got a real sharp eye for trouble. He might realize we\u2019re up to something, so we\u2019re gonna need to confer with Granville first\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In hushed tones, he gave his orders to Teare. The evil thoughts of the magic-born began to swell past all limits. The fated day was soon, very soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Deep inside a darkened room:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course we will strike the demon lord Rimuru. And the demon lord Leon. And\u2026Lady Luminus as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Granville\u2019s eyes were twin wells of bottomless hatred as he muttered the words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more than a thousand years, he had devoted himself to humankind. Perhaps his goals had shifted over time toward absolute rule and administration with an elite secret cadre, but there was no doubting his ultimate goal of peace across human society. It presented him with one hardship after another\u2014an endless string of betrayals, accompanied by the deaths of the companions who supported him. Still, with his indomitable spirit, Granville had overcome all his hardship, guarding the people of this world up to now. The demon lord Luminus assisted him, but his own efforts were just as extraordinary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those long-gone days when he discussed his ideals with his friends. The promises he forged with those who died before him. They all led up to the birth of Maribel, a great hope that brought his plans one step away from fruition. But now that hope was gone. His ultimate dream was to merge West with East, creating a united front to face the demon lords. Otherwise, keeping human society going seemed impossibly difficult. Now that the Octagram had been formed, their power was simply too great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were two down from their days as the Ten Great Demon Lords, but their authority was more dominant than ever before. Guy Crimson, the Lord of Darkness, was letting his demons treat the northern lands as their personal playground. Earthquake Daggrull\u2019s interests in territorial expansion were drawing his attention toward human lands. He hadn\u2019t acted yet, out of concern over clashes with the Queen of Nightmares, but he couldn\u2019t restrain himself forever. And now even the Eastern Empire was showing signs of a figure among them beyond humankind. Granville had also thought the Sleeping Ruler might attempt something, but he was so far unable to confirm his intentions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These were the giants he had protected humankind from so far. But now\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook at these upstarts and their petty ambitions. Well, if they feel up to it, let them try. I\u2019m too tired for it now\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not even Granville knew how much longer he had to live. With <\/a>Maribel dead, no one was left to be a worthy successor to him. And without anyone to arbitrate over the proceedings to come, humankind would quickly meet its doom. It was simply a species far too ready to lay bare its greed and start infighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long ago, his wife\u2014a woman who resembled Maribel in many ways\u2014was killed by such people. Granville had kept living, bottling up his sadness out of concern for the children she left behind, but that was in the past now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll this world has done is take from me. It deserves to fall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His true feelings dribbled out from his lips. As far as he was concerned, this was the plain, honest truth. He had already given up his body to the madness\u2026and that was exactly why he had such firm resolve now. The madness had reached his mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A DISTURBING PRESENCE I had a rather unexpected boost to my military, and really, having more friends was something to celebrate. I decided to promptly meet with Diablo to discuss how to put these demons to work, and I\u2019d have Testarossa and the other top demons join us as representatives to get their feedback. \u201cSo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rimuru"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3495"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3496,"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3495\/revisions\/3496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}