by Fuse
This Dragon Knuckle did a whole lot to save us all. We’d been engaging in mock battles every morning with Milim since that day; it had become a regular part of the routine. Her power was just ridiculous, her agility practically cheating, her stamina inexhaustible. Thank heavens she was on our side.
Only Hakuro could put up any real fight against her, which taught me all over again how important actual technique was, instead of relying on physical strength and skills. Of course, even with Hakuro’s technique, a Milim who took the fight seriously would offer him no chance.
Technique was important, but it wasn’t enough. What I lacked most of all, however, was battle experience. These morning combat sessions were my attempt at playing catch-up.
Why was I going through this? Easy. Compared to my past life—my past world, really—there were far too many issues that were solved here by duking it out. The orc lord. Charybdis. I was on good terms with Carillon, but the other demon lords could be a different matter. Plus, I had that vendetta against Leon.
After meeting two demon lords in person—Milim, then Carillon—I realized there was no way I could take on one of them right now. So I was working hard, taking the steps I needed to improve on that.
I stayed busy otherwise, too. Training with Milim occupied my mornings; after lunch, I did my rounds in each section of the town. It was an orderly, scheduled life, and I stuck to it for many weeks.
Having a nice, nutritious meal after a training round was always pleasant, too. Fried chicken, steak, hamburger, croquettes. Fried shrimp, too—or at least, an animal that looked kind of like shrimp. It was called ebiira, as well, which was frighteningly close to ebi, the Japanese for shrimp. Funny coincidence.
We never had to worry about food getting contaminated, either. Shuna’s hygiene and disinfection habits were perfect, and besides, I could Analyze and Assess anything presented to me, so I knew my stuff was safe. I still wasn’t exactly sure if monsters got food poisoning, but…
All this variety to the menu was lifting Milim to ever-higher heights of ecstasy. “Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! How can cooking the same meat produce such amazing food?!” That was her reaction to her very first steak.
Every day brought her new joy.
With the fried shrimp, she gobbled it all up instantly, not exchanging a word at the table. I suppose trying to recreate foods popular with kids paid off well, and Shuna was polishing her skills more than ever.
Glad Milim’s such a fan. She’s repaying me with her training, so I’ll want her to stay in high spirits if I can.
So the days passed by, all of us growing even stronger than before.
Hakuro’s skill set was already complete, so he didn’t grow as quickly, but everyone else? You could hardly recognize them. If Treyni decided to pop in right now, Benimaru or Soei could give her a serious run for her money.
I was growing, too.
“You’ve certainly improved, Rimuru! If you declared yourself a demon lord now, I sure wouldn’t complain!”
If Milim was putting it that way, I must’ve been improving by leaps and bounds. I kept telling her I wasn’t interested in the role, though. Plus, she whipped the four of us again today. Trying to join the Demon Lord Club right now would result in nothing but trouble for me.
“By the way, why did you become a demon lord, Milim?” I asked to change the subject.
“Ooooooooooh… Hmm. I’m not sure? Something really bad happened, and it got me so angry that I became one?”
“Why are you asking me…?”
“Well…I don’t remember. It was a super-long time ago, so I forgot!”
Despite her cheerful reply, I wondered if maybe something bad had happened after all. It’d be rude to prod her any further about it.
“All right. If you forgot, you don’t have to try to remember it or anything.”
I ended the conversation there.
Milim looked and acted like a child, but inside, she was a full-fledged demon lord. One of the oldest, in fact. She’d probably lived far longer than I could even comprehend. Maybe she didn’t have any friends, thanks to her expansive life span separating her from her companions over time.
I decided to ask about something else I had wondered about.
“Hey, so… Do you have any, um, family, or people you’re looking after? You’ve been here this whole time, but are you sure you don’t need to get in contact with anyone?”
“Mm. I have people who take care of me, but I’m not worried about them. I’m the strongest one out there, so it’d be too intimidating for people if I showed them some care, even, you know? That’s why you’re my only friend.”
The sudden declaration made me pause a little. Maybe BFF, the way she defined it, meant a lot more to her emotionally than I had thought. I’d better take that seriously and try to live up to it.
“Yeah. Well, let’s hope we keep it that way for a while, Milim.”
I gave her a pat on the head. She just looked so childish, I couldn’t help but feel like she was some family relative.
She gave me a happy smile.
“You bet!”
Several days later…
“Okay, I’m off to work!”
Milim made a sudden declaration.
“Huh? That’s kind of sudden, Milim. Right now?”
“Mm? Well… This isn’t, like, the last time I’ll see you or anything, so yeah, I’m headin’ out!”
With that, she changed back into the bikini-ish outfit she’d first arrived in. She used Change Dress for the job, a bit of magic that was so helpful that I had her teach it to me. It’s recommended to anyone with a lot of clothing, although you need to learn spatial magic first (for clothes storage), which actually makes it tough to learn.
In her original outfit, Milim turned to me and smiled. “I’ll be sure to tell the other demon lords not to lay a finger on this place, okay? You’ve got nothing to worry about, Rimuru!”
“Oh? Great. So you’re off to meet them?”
“Mm-hmm! That’s my job!”
She puffed out her chest proudly.
There was apparently some kind of conference among her, Carillon, and the assorted other demon lords out there. The concept kind of scared me—a secret tryst where the demon lords of the world wove their sinister conspiracies in private. The whole orc lord thing resulted from one of those meetings, so I felt I had a personal stake.
But—hey, if it means the other demon lords leave me alone, then great. Perfect.
The group Milim was affiliated with, by the way, reportedly didn’t include Leon in its ranks. Leon was one of the newer demon lords, so Milim didn’t know too much about him, either. Carillon didn’t seem like such a bad guy, though—what were the rest of them like? I was a tad worried, but it wasn’t like Milim couldn’t handle them. She was cunning, and she was on a whole different level from the demon lord pack.
I did warn her, at least, to watch out for other people trying to deceive her. “Oh, you worry too much. I’m really smart, Rimuru, so nobody’s gonna trick me!” she replied with a smile.
Yeah, it’s that confidence of yours that I’m worried about…
“Well, I’ll be back soon!”
And she was off—into the air. So sudden, just like when she came. And in another moment, she was silently breaking the sound barrier (no shock wave, oddly) and falling out of sight. She said the site was pretty far-off, but at that speed, she didn’t have long to travel.
“Hmm? Did Lady Milim go somewhere?”
Shion looked concerned. They had become rather good friends.
“Yep. She said she had work.”
“Work?”
“She had promised to meet up with a few other demon lords.”
“Other demon lords…? I hope they don’t trick her…”
See? That’s what you’d totally think. Shion had the exact same worry I did.
“Well, she said she’d be back once her work was done, so there’s no point worrying much about her.”
“Quite true. Rather rude of us, I’d say, worrying about someone so much stronger than any of us.”
“True…”
“I’m going to grow stronger—and when she comes back, I’m sure going to surprise her!”
“Better train harder than ever, then.”
It didn’t seem right, feeling all sad about someone like Milim, but losing her so suddenly like this did make one feel lonely. Thinking about it, she had really become a big part of this town. The way she could take over your mind like that… She was one mysterious demon lord.
For now, though, let’s focus on what the ogre mages want to be stronger. And let’s see if we can’t shock Milim when she’s back.
So before long, I resumed my training under Hakuro, my mind refocused on my mission.
It was a broad, expansive, and decadently decorated room. The demon lord Clayman was taking a moment to drink some wine and take in the elegance. Across from him, Frey the Sky Queen was seated, looking out the window and acting depressed.
“How did things turn out, then?”
“Apparently quite well, Frey. We took advantage of a servant of Carillon who was disgruntled about Milim to set Charybdis on her.”
Clayman smiled broadly.
“Milim defeated the beast, according to our observers. You have nothing to worry about now, yes?”
Yes, everything went exactly as Clayman wished—including the results of the battle. Milim was clearly going to win; there was no doubt about that between the two demon lords.
“But none of this angered Carillon himself at all?”
“Why would it? There’s no evidence linking any of this to me. If Carillon’s angry at anyone, it’s either Milim or that mystery pack of monsters. Or perhaps he’ll point it toward those jacks-of-all-trades that tricked that Phobio gentleman, but as long as he doesn’t learn that I hired them, that’s not a problem.”
Another light chuckle.
The Moderate Jesters, his true friends, were a group shrouded in mystery. There was no way Clayman’s involvement with them could ever come out. Carillon had no way of contacting them, no way to figure out where they were—he couldn’t touch them.
Still, though…
Clayman recalled the final set of images Mjurran gave him.
Milim, pulverizing the all-powerful Charybdis in a single instant. Her—and someone else.
“This magic-born, though. The one who defeated Gelmud. It attempted to take on Charybdis solo. Very powerful, indeed; I can see why Milim is so preoccupied with it. If we aren’t careful, it may grow to become as strong as us demon lords.”
“Heh-heh! That’s a pretty funny thing for you to say, Clayman.”
Frey didn’t sound terribly interested. Instead, she changed the subject to the main issue at hand.
“So about your compensation, then. What am I supposed to pay you?”
She turned her eyes to Clayman. This was why the two of them were here today.
“You don’t have to be so wary of me, Frey. This time, if you could just listen to a request of mine, that is more than enough. I helped you out, and in exchange, you can do the equivalent.”
“All right… I’ll do that, if I’m capable.”
“Thank you very much. I was sure you would say that.” He gave a satisfied smile at the deal.
Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee. This should help make things go my way at the next demon lord summit. It’ll also let me approach my other goal—hmm? Wait a moment. If this goes well enough, I could even take control of Milim. Yes, with that certain item I was provided…
Clayman almost found himself shaking at the thought. With Frey now on his side of the chessboard, the idea he had just come up with no longer seemed so impossible.
“However,” he said, stopping Frey as she tried to leave the room. “this now means that the only thorn in your side at the moment is Milim alone. Having superiority in the air means nothing against her, doesn’t it, Frey? I would be happy to discuss matters with you, so if it’s something I can help with, don’t hesitate to mention it. You can contact me at any time.”
Behind the friendly face, a new artifice was beginning to formulate itself. Frey didn’t notice, or pretended not to if she did. “I’ll be glad to when the time comes,” she said as she offered her good-byes and left Clayman’s castle.
Alone in his room, Clayman was deep in thought.
If I could obtain Milim’s power, there would be no need at all to incite the other demon lords. I will need to take the time to seriously consider this. And I hope you’re looking forward to it, Milim…
He removed a mask from his pocket and placed it against his face. He could feel his heart relaxing itself. To Clayman, he only felt like his true self with this mask on.
But still… This mystery magic-born cannot be ignored, no. We’d best be careful with it, just like Laplace and Teare warned. I could assign Mjurran to infiltrate their base of operations—it’d be a fine chance for her to restore her good name.
Mjurran’s intel helped a lot more than he expected. He had thus decided to use her as much as possible, until there was nothing left.
Besides, this infiltration job was right up Mjurran’s alley. If it went well and she curried their favor, great. If not, and Mjurran was rubbed out, Clayman had the perfect excuse to get personally involved. It would provide the best pawn to replace Mjurran with.
That mystery magic-born needed to be watched, but compared to bigger things on the horizon, it was still a small presence. He just had to wait, gather information, and use it when the time was right, just in case the monster interfered with the plan he was hatching.
He was not giving it his full attention, perhaps, but regardless, the demon lord Clayman was not watching Rimuru and his city.
An ashen sort of joy erupted across his heart, a smile running across Clayman’s face as he worked out his new artifice…
AFTERWORD
Nice to see you all for the first time in a while. This is Fuse.
First off, thanks to all of you for picking up this book. I think I mentioned that in Volume 1, but if you didn’t pick it up, we never would’ve gotten started with this, so I’m sure I can write that as many times as I feel like!
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime has reached its third volume on sale. It’s all thanks to your support, so really, thanks a bunch, and I hope you’ll continue supporting me.
With those pleasantries out of the way, I thought I’d talk a little bit about the content of this volume. There are some spoilers in here, so it might be better to save this afterword for after you read the rest of the book. That’s doubly true if you haven’t read the web novel version yet!
I warned you above, so let’s get to the main meat of this.
The concept of this volume was pretty simple: the demon lord Milim! From the cover to the concept, we decided to have Milim be the main thrust of this volume.
A lot of different people and motivations were involved in this. The first time I recall it coming up was when my editor showed me some ever-so-slightly risqué illustrations. I liked them, I thought it could work, and so we went with that “cute/erotic” concept with Milim. (She was portrayed as more of a goth-Lolita in the web novel, but that’s changed a lot in this published version, something you can see right on the cover.)
When I first saw that illustration, I actually said, “Hey, can we maybe make this a little more provocative?”
“Sure,” my editor said, “I’ll discuss it a bit with Mitz Vah.”
But—and this is a true story—when I saw the rough for the final cover of Volume 3, it wasn’t exactly a “little more” provocative, huh?
“Um, her bottom’s mostly just string now, but is that all right?”
“No problem!”
Nice to have an editor I could rely on. In that case, I had no objection.
So that was how we figured out Milim’s look. Which makes it sound easy, but there was a lot involved to it. The designs for the characters that I didn�
��t give any special instructions for (Frey in particular) were settled on a lot more easily, so we really devoted a lot of energy working out Milim among ourselves.
That’s the kind of passion that me, my editor, and Mitz Vah brought into creating her. It’s not like we were driven by sexy art or anything, so don’t get the wrong idea.
Actually reading the book, you’ll see how it worked out, but unlike the cover and illustrations, the text is quite serious. Well, I’m not sure if I could fully call it “serious,” but either way, it is not sexy at all.
Disappointed? Well, I am a little, too. I added a lot of new writing to the web version—three-quarters of this novel is new material—and as a result, there’s a new chapter that’s not on the web at all, “The Demon Lord Attacks.”
Dividing the content of the web version’s third chapter into two sections was something my editor and I decided on after talking it over, although it was mostly just me being selfish, I think. I had a personal desire to take a few episodes that I kind of glossed over on the web and cover them in more depth. After several discussions, we ultimately decided to place the spotlight on Milim in this volume, and that’s what let me exercise my selfish desires to the hilt.
This volume features a lot of development—a bigger town, negotiations with the Dwarven Kingdom, and so on—a lot of intrigue from foreign nations, and quite a few new characters. If you were able to grasp and accept the actions and motivations of each character, then I’ll call this volume a success.
There’s also a magic-born or two who got edited out entirely to make the going easier for those who haven’t read the web novel. I think you’ll be seeing them in future volumes, but I’m afraid I can’t give guarantees quite yet.
Whether you’re new to this or read it on the web, I’m working hard to edit the content so it’s engaging to both audiences. The main thread of the story will remain on the web, but I plan to continue to change the little details here and there, so watch out!
