That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Vol. 7

by Fuse

  “Also, you’ll see a glowing stone tablet every six miles, but please don’t touch them. Breaking them will lead to severe penalties.”

  It was those glowing stones that kept the barriers running, he explained. They were these little glowing spots among the flagstones forming the road, which also helped travelers find their way in dark nights.

  All in all, the rules went into so much detail that the party could hardly believe they were enacted and enforced by monsters.

  “All right. Thanks for letting us know.”

  “Oh, it’s fine! You’ll see people like us patrolling the highway, so let any of us know if you run into trouble.”

  With that, the hobgoblin security detail darted down the road, leaving a dumbfounded Hinata behind.

  “Um, Lady Hinata…”

  “Hold it. Can you remain silent for a little while? I need to think about something.”

  Arnaud and the others obeyed. The party traveled in silence for the next hour until they stumbled across a drinking fountain—on the exact mile marker the hobgoblin said they’d find it at. These markers, located at every mile along the highway, began at zero on the western entrance to Rimuru (the capital) and counted upward from there. Each one provided quick guidance on how much farther the nearest water, patrol station, and inn was.

  Hinata, recognizing these from the trips she had taken on Japan’s expressways, immediately saw the value of these markers in a pinch. If you needed help and weren’t sure whether to keep going or double back, these provided instant guidance on what to do. It spoke volumes about how much this highway’s designers cared about traveler safety.

  It’s worth noting, by the way, that “miles” did not originally exist as a unit of measurement on this world, but Rimuru ignored that and simply used a system he was already familiar with. The inns were spaced every 25 miles based on the assumption that the average person could walk a little over three miles in an hour and manage that for eight hours a day easily enough. Merchant wagons went about as quickly as a grown person on foot, so as long as you weren’t in too much of a hurry, it was easy to organize a trip that gave you an inn to rest in every night.

  Clearly, someone had devoted a lot of thought into designing this. There was no doubting it now. Rimuru obviously craved interaction with the human race.

  The journey beyond Blumund went far more comfortably than the one before it. The drinking fountain the party found themselves at was just that—a clean source of drinking water, available to anyone for free. It was almost a dizzying sight to them. Seeing the very modern-day planet-Earth concept of free water applied to a forest as hazardous as this one made most of the party wonder what Rimuru could possibly have been thinking.

  These fountains were paired with cooking pits and cleared-out grassy areas for those putting up tents nearby, complete with benches made of sawed logs and roofed areas to get out from the rain. It was a campsite, just like any one you’d find off your local highway.

  Between this and everything else, the Forest of Jura—once seen as a forbidden holy sanctuary by the rest of the planet—was now calm and accessible enough for just about anyone. This forest that was supposed to be crawling with all kinds of horrid monsters; the kind of place where if you were an adventurer ranked B or lower, one false move could spell death.

  This wasn’t the domain of human beings. It was an Eden for monsters. And developing it to the point that it was open to anybody… Hinata hadn’t even entertained the concept. It wasn’t a matter of whether it was possible or not—it was just beyond her imagination, and probably that of fellow otherworlder Yuuki Kagurazaka, too. All that effort they had expended protecting humanity from the threat of monsters, and he made it look this simple?

  You’ve got to be kidding me, Hinata thought grudgingly to herself. Now at least I understand what Yuuki mentioned to me.

  She recalled a meeting with Yuuki at one of her favorite cafés in Englesia. They regularly met to exchange intelligence, and this time, the topic of Rimuru came up. Apparently, Yuuki said, Rimuru was earnestly serious about creating and developing a nation of monsters—and not only that, but he was sending out feelers toward the Western Nations, in hopes of getting friendlier with them. And that new brandy cake they were enjoying at the café? Readily available for purchase from Rimuru, who had invested in producing a wide variety of fine liquors.

  “He’s like nobody else out there,” Yuuki had laughed as Hinata took little bites out of her slice, savoring each one. “It’s like he does it all and makes it look easy, you know? And he’s got insight way further into the future than I do. I think that’s why he’s putting so much effort into bringing little treats like that cake into this world.”

  He warned her that hostilities with him would be ill-advised—which in turn suggested the Free Guild was siding with him. She let that slide without comment at the time. But now:

  …He was right, she thought as she watched some merchants gratefully taking advantage of the fountain near her. There’s no way he’d focus on these little things unless he really could “do it all.”

  Two hours after leaving the fountain, they sighted an inn, the last of seven built along this highway. Hinata’s party decided to spend the night here, and before long, they were situated in the dining hall.

  “All right,” she said once they were seated. “I want to hear your feedback. What do you think of what we saw today?”

  Arnaud, representing the rest of them, spoke first. “If I…may be honest with you, Lady Hinata?”

  “Go ahead. That’s what I want to hear.”

  “Judging by this highway alone, I think the demon lord Rimuru must be an incredibly gifted leader. The sense of security his patrolmen give this road must attract all kinds of travelers. I can’t see much of a future for the businesses lining the route through Farmus.”

  “Indeed,” rumbled Bacchus, “monsters are not the only threat out there. You have bandits targeting merchants; you have illness; you have the potential for injury; you might break an axle and be stranded. Such things happen often, and having more people up and down the highway can do much to keep people from worrying.”

  “True,” replied Litus. “If you’re someplace where you can expect help if you need it, that really puts your mind at ease.”

  “And you can save money,” Fritz added, “because you no longer have to hire a personal guard detail. That alone… It’s big.”

  The praise for Rimuru was glowing all around.

  “He seems to be more devoted to his rule than a lot of the barons you see out there. His title might be demon lord, but if that’s what he is, he’s a damn benevolent one.”

  “Yeah. There’s a lot we could learn from him. Including a few things our leaders in Lubelius would be advised to implement.”

  “I’m just glad the divine-enemy declaration never came down.”

  “Now we’ll just have to see if he’s willing to accept your apology, Lady Hinata.”

  Hinata nodded her agreement. “I’ll have to be as heartfelt with it as I can. If he still wants to duel with me, I’ll have to accept, but…”

  But she had her doubts. Why would he seek a duel at this point? Whether he forgave Hinata or not, she didn’t see why it called for another fight to settle. Rimuru just didn’t seem to be the kind of person to show off his newfound demon lord power like this.

  Even with those doubts in her mind, Hinata’s journey continued apace. They took advantage of an inn on the seventh day as well, and this one was already as ornate and luxuriant as any you’d find in Englesia. There was even a vast public bath, the perfect place to soak after a long journey.

  What’s more, these inns always had at least a few people recruited from Blumund working for them. Trading money for services was still kind of a novel thing for the monster staff, apparently, so her party often saw a human employee providing on-the-job guidance. It was, in a way, an ideal cross-species relationship, and it was more than enough to make Hinata see the need to recon
sider Luminism’s teachings.

  They would arrive at Rimuru, the capital, the next day—and with that, an encounter with the demon lord himself.

  I hope we can work this out with words instead of swords…

  She knew it was a selfish thought, but Hinata really meant it…even as a vast web of intermingled bad intentions schemed to prevent it.

  Hinata, still trundling along, was due in this evening, according to the latest report from Soei’s team. She had spent two weeks on this journey, making zero use of teleportation or other magical means to speed things up.

  “Thank you. It’s so vital to have this sort of intelligence early on. Keep it up.”

  “This is nothing,” Soei said, quietly accepting my praise. “We will redouble our efforts.”

  He’s literally a shadow. I mean it. And when someone as handsome as he is pulls that off, you can’t be jealous of that. He looked great.

  I should note, however, that when he gave me an urgent report from the inn Hinata first stayed at, he suggested poisoning her to “take her out of the picture sooner than later.” I gave him a few not-so-nice words about that idea. It still felt to me that Hinata was here to talk, not fight, as much as we still needed to remain on guard. Something about the way she stayed at every inn along the way, totally unhurried, seemed almost too bold to me.

  “Could this be a diversion?” Benimaru suggested. A diversion? Was she deliberately drawing attention while that separate force launched a surprise attack? It was possible, I guess. This was Hinata we were dealing with. As coldhearted as she was, I’m sure no method of securing victory was below her.

  “What are the hundred other paladins doing?”

  “They continue to lie low along the old path, sir. If we hadn’t spotted them just when they departed, I’m not sure we would have noticed them at all.”

  These guys, meanwhile, were in full-on military mode. Hinata was looking more and more like a lure. Either way, though, we couldn’t relax. Shion already had her force deployed; if these paladins made any moves, things would start happening quickly after that.

  “Given Hinata’s strength, her serving as a lure wouldn’t be strange at all. I’m the only one who can handle her—even now, Benimaru, you’d probably be in over your head. If I had to guess, I’m willing to bet she thinks she can beat all of us together.”

  “Heh. That’s quite a lot of confidence, believing such nonsense even after she knows you. I could only call it foolish,” Soei said with a thin smile, although to me, that assertion was the foolish talk.

  But who knows? She would only know me from before my ascension, but I knew just how capable she was. Looking back, it was blatantly clear how easy she was going on me back then.

  “We better not let the paladins fan out, then,” noted Benimaru. “If they build a Holy Field, that will put us at a huge disadvantage.”

  Soei nodded at him. “True. If so, we will need to contact Shion out on the field and try to have her eliminate them as soon as possible…”

  He paused mid-thought and then told me the one thing I didn’t want to hear:

  “Sir Rimuru, we’re detecting movement. They have attempted to fan out and cover the four cardinal directions around town, but Shion has intercepted them. Battle is reportedly underway.”

  So Hinata chose to fight. Ah well. If she wants to be my enemy, I’ve got a plan for that.

  Putting the inn behind them, Hinata and her companions prepared for the day’s journey ahead. They would likely reach the capital of Rimuru that evening, and the tension was written on everyone’s faces.

  “Well, here we are. I don’t know if we’ll actually see him today, but be prepared, all right? Even if this does end in a fight, I don’t want you laying a hand on him.”

  “But—”

  “That’s an order. There’s no further point to being hostile toward the demon lord. I’ll go in, I’ll take full responsibility for all this, and then we’ll talk things over—”

  Before she could wax poetic about her desire for peace, she was interrupted. An emergency message had just been magically sent to her.

  (…nally, we connected to… You hear us, Lady Hi…? The Three Battlesages…en route to…)

  It faded in and out, but the urgency and the identity of its sender—Cardinal Nicolaus Speltus—were both obvious. Something must have been jamming it.

  Hinata tried to send a message back—(What is it? What happened?)—but she could sense the transmission dissipating into the air before it got far.

  (Beware the Seven Days…)

  And with that final message, Nicolaus’s presence disappeared. Something must have happened, Hinata realized.

  Was he trying to send a message to me over and over before he finally succeeded? Maybe whatever happened, happened well before now. But the Three Battlesages are joining in…? Wait, were they part of the chaos in Farmus?!

  The blood drained from Hinata’s face as she crafted another magical transmission, this one pointed at Holy Emperor Louis.

  (What is it? That’s a rather poorly formed spell you used. Has something gotten you flustered?)

  The emperor sounded serene as usual. That was a relief to Hinata.

  (Yes. No time to explain. I’m just going to ask this right out: Did you order the Three Battlesages deployed?)

  (What? I did nothing of the sort. Did they?)

  (Yeah, I didn’t think you suddenly took an interest in human nations. I was on orders from Luminus to keep them on standby, and they’re not the sort of people to work on their own volition. Something’s going on.)

  Louis’s main interests in life were Luminus and the city of Nightgarden. This was why Hinata called the actual shots around Lubelius. The Battlesages weren’t afraid to voice their discontent, but Hinata’s orders were always followed. It was hard for her to imagine them choosing now, of all times, to defy her.

  So yes, something must have happened. Or someone was feeding the Battlesages a line.

  Seven Days…?

  She was now sure about the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Immediately, she resolved to return home. A little transport magic would help make up for lost time. She really wanted to be fully refreshed and ready for the potential battle against Rimuru, but now was no time to whine about that.

  But the clock was already against her.

  (Yeah, it looks like it. I’ll need to—)

  An audible thunk of dull pain ran across her head as her link with Louis was cut off. Some kind of force field covered the area around her, blocking the casting of magic. As it did, she could sense a large battle unfolding not far away, making the very air shimmer.

  “Wha…?! Is that…Renard?!”

  Arnaud, watching over Hinata, quickly expressed his surprise at these sudden events.

  “Let’s go!”

  Things were moving fast—and not in a good direction. She hadn’t even encountered Rimuru yet, and the situation was rapidly deteriorating. Unease filled her mind as she ran at full speed for the battlefield.

  Hearing that Hinata was making contact with someone, I chose to block her signal. Once I did, she reportedly began running for the battlefield at full tilt. That would nip in the bud whatever she was scheming.

  Now, though, it was certain.

  “That was Hinata’s doing, huh?”

  “It would appear so,” replied Benimaru. The way she immediately changed tactics once she knew we were on to her… Shrewd as always.”

  “Well, let’s follow the plan. Hinata and I are gonna work this out, just the two of us.”

  “Roger that! I will let no one interfere.”

  “Yeah. Keep the paladins at bay. Let’s move!”

  “““Yes sir!”””

  With a quick, reassuring nod to Benimaru, I turned into my human form.

  “Good luck to you!”

  Shuna waved as we all set off—Benimaru, Soei, Alvis, Sufia, and me. Bracing myself, I cast Dominate Space and popped over to Shion’s location before Hinata
could reach it. I appreciated her holding her own out there, but against a pack of Crusaders, Team Reborn would face an uphill climb…

  …or so I assumed; and sometimes, I assume wrong.

  I had no idea what was going on. I thought I was going out of my head. How did this happen?! The sight before me made me completely lose my sense of speech.

  What was I seeing? Well, it was Shion, arms folded in front of her, issuing orders to Team Reborn. That much was fine—part of the plan. It was the way they fought that was the problem. In a good way, it was completely unexpected.

  “What in the…?! Our attacks don’t work on them!”

  “These aren’t undead! What is the meaning of this?!”

  The paladins sounded just as shocked. The one who asked that particular question would never receive an answer, as a Reborn member took him down with a quick dagger strike. The Reborn had used his own body as a feint to land the attack, making the most incredible use of his immortality.

  But I knew it couldn’t last. The paladins would regroup soon, and then it’d be a one-sided match…or so I thought.

  Again, my predictions were turned on their head. Less than three minutes later, our foes were almost at the breaking point.

  As I thought, the paladins did rally, successfully closing the distance between them and Team Reborn without a challenge. Given the difference in core strength, they must’ve figured being immortal wouldn’t be enough to make them unbeatable. So they attempted to pin them down instead—but it didn’t work. Slash ’em up all you want; the Reborn guys immediately heal, something the paladins couldn’t manage. As soon as they fell, they were quickly bound up by the Team Kurenai members on standby, ensuring they were out of the fight.

  “Hee-hee-hee!” said one of the Reborn, a small child, as she half taunted one of the captured paladins. “Y’know what? This knife has this superstrong sleep medicine rubbed all over it! The moment we land a strike on you, we win!”

  I wasn’t a huge fan of her spoiling the whole trick, but ah well. She’s just a kid.