by Fuse
The boy closed his eyes, gleefully moving the mental chess pieces around in his brain. Then he heard the tapping of footsteps. His lips curled into a smile as he spoke to the woman behind him, a secretary.
“You were listening, weren’t you, Kazalim?”
“I sure was, Boss. Why are you intent on dismantling Orthrus now?”
This was Kazalim, a trusted confidant and adviser to the boy.
“It’s simple. I thought I’d let him play the good guy on this.”
“Is that the only reason?”
“Do I really need to say the other one? That slime controls the entire Forest of Jura, from one end to the other. If we go monster hunting in there, we’d get crushed. So why don’t we dissolve Orthrus now while it’d be to our advantage?”
“Yeah… I suppose. We just need to protect our core assets, huh? Like a lizard that’s lost its tail.”
“Right? So can I leave the arrangements to you?”
“‘Let him play the good guy’… Oh, him, you mean? You come up with the most interesting ideas sometimes, Boss. All right. I’ll take care of it.”
“Thanks, Kazalim.”
“Of course. Also, not to change the subject, but can you call me Kagali?”
The boy turned toward Kazalim, eyebrows raised. “Oh, you’re finally going through with it?”
“Uh-huh. With Clayman dead, it’s time to step up. Until I have my revenge against Leon, I’m putting the demon lord Kazalim name on ice.”
“Sure thing. In that case, get to work, Kagali.”
“Yes sir.”
They gave each other a glance and grinned—opening the curtain on a new age of chaos.
CHAPTER 1
RECONCILIATION AND AGREEMENT
Things became much, much harder after all that. Getting everything settled was more exhausting for me than fighting Hinata—a fact I made sure remained a closely guarded secret.
What had happened? Well…
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Luminus, the single god worshipped by the Western Holy Church, was none other than the demon lord Valentine. Her real name was Luminus Valentine all along. She had been using a trusted confidant as a stand-in, giving him her name, Valentine, so he could fully play the part of demon lord in her stead. That, of course, was all in the past, now that Veldora had so breezily blown her cover at the last Walpurgis Council.
The Crusaders, the team of paladin knights led by Hinata, stood in opposition to the demon lord Valentine, which earned the Empire the support of the general public. The entire setup was wholly contrived, something Hinata knew all along—but whatever rational sense the arrangement made, why did she go along with it?
“It was out of my hands,” she said, sighing. “Lady Luminus defeated me when I tried to put a stop to things myself. Not that she was much interested in the people’s support in the first place…”
She must have sensed my skepticism. Reluctant or not, apparently Hinata was incapable of defying Luminus’s will. She did, however, extract a promise from her that no civilians would be harmed in the process. As long as she stuck to that, Hinata was willing to hold up her end of the bargain.
But as the man who was with her then explained, this ploy wasn’t Hinata’s doing in the first place.
“No, I was the one who came up with the plan. My brother Roy was all for it. Lady Luminus had little to do with it, and Hinata was so against it at first that she tried to take us all down. If anyone has an issue with it, they should complain to me, not her.”
This was Louis—the Holy Emperor, as he called himself.
“All right, so…um, Your Majesty? Mr. Emperor?”
He chuckled. “Just Louis is fine, my demon lord.” Even though the paladins were right in front of us, he apparently didn’t have much time for formality. Given how I was a demon lord just like his boss, Luminus, I suppose being casual with people like me came naturally.
Louis then embarked on a recap of recent events, loudly enough for the paladins to hear.
“So the Valentine I met at Walpurgis was your brother?”
“Indeed—my younger twin brother, to be more precise. Unfortunately, it seems he was killed by unknown assailants on the way home from the Council.”
“Huh? Killed?”
He didn’t look or sound too broken up about it, but this news was kind of a surprise. I mean, stand-in or not, that demon lord Valentine was clearly a powerful dude.
“Yes. Roy had a tendency to be overly confident; he must have left himself exposed. The Western Holy Church has many enemies. There are quite a few nations who see the Holy Emperor Lubelius as an eyesore. I imagine one of their assassins must have caught my brother unawares. It’s a great disappointment.”
Despite his lack of grief, Louis didn’t seem wholly unmoved by the loss. Louis was pretty strong, too; I could see that much. But if his demon lord–class brother was now dead, he must not have been too optimistic about his own future.
“I’d been enlisting Roy to work with the new recruits lately, for on-the-field training,” said Hinata. “One time, Saare actually managed to overpower him in battle, so he’d clearly been off his game—but we still need to watch out for whoever killed him. Not that any of that matters to you, I assume.”
She had a point. Roy had left hardly any impact on my life at all.
Now, at least, I had a handle on Louis, Valentine, and Luminus, as did the Crusaders listening in on us. This was all news to them, and they were all shocked into silence.
Now Hinata turned to her soldiers. “All right. You all heard us. It wasn’t my intention to deceive you, but I suppose that’s how this worked out, isn’t it?”
“L-Lady Hinata…”
She raised a hand to stop the question before it began. “I couldn’t tell any of you,” she coldly continued. “We needed to have as few people in on the plan as possible. If any of you revealed it, we would’ve been forced to execute you.”
Wow. Not mincing words, huh, Hinata?
“Heh… Heh-heh! Well, you won’t trick old Arnaud here. The god—or should I say, the demon lord Luminus—threatened you into doing this, didn’t she?”
This Arnaud guy was awfully brash. Hinata, however, swiftly shut him down. “No. I told you—our citizens are under the protection of Lady Luminus. That’s the truth. So I’ve chosen to carry out her will, as long as she remains friendly to humanity. You will not insult her around me, Arnaud.”
She shot her steely-eyed paladin a glare. I could see where this misunderstanding came from. No wonder Shizu had been concerned.
“Hey, now,” I said. “C’mon, Hinata, why don’t you try being a bit kinder? That’s not nearly enough explanation for them.”
“I’m sorry, does this involve you?”
Her glare was on me. Clearly, she wanted me to knock it off.
“I kind of think it does, doesn’t it? Because it’d be kind of annoying if you guys started infighting with each other here.”
“I don’t need your concern, thanks. Besides—”
“There is no need to worry,” Arnaud said, cutting her off. “You have fully earned our trust, Lady Hinata!”
“Arnaud is right,” his compatriot Renard echoed. “Good demon lord Rimuru, we are led by Lady Hinata, not Luminus. There is no disagreement that could possibly separate us.”
They might’ve all had their own thoughts about it, but none of that trumped the faith they had in Hinata. Having a trust-based relationship really is the most important thing, isn’t it?
“Well, all right,” I said, nodding.
“Besides, after watching that…” Arnaud pointed up, pausing. I knew what he was getting at. There, in the air above, Luminus and Veldora had just engaged in a battle that was nothing short of breathtaking—as much as I wished they hadn’t. I kept everyone on the ground safe through Uriel’s Absolute Defense skill, but they fought over such a large range, I couldn’t say if there’d be any outside casualties. Anyone
who had seen Luminus’s ferocious attack would be just as flummoxed as Arnaud.
Frankly:
“Looking at that battle, I can understand how Lady Hinata was defeated.”
“No, she certainly doesn’t call herself a god for show. If she turned her back on humanity, there’d be nothing we could do about it…”
To the Crusaders, the sight of it was far more convincing than any speech I could have given them.
“Well,” Louis said, “there is no need to concern yourselves about that. Lady Luminus is a generous god. She has no interest in tormenting those under her divine protection. Why else has she proven to be so friendly toward the humans who do not try to defy her? Of course, no one here is allowed to divulge her true identity, but…”
Maintaining confidentiality about the whole demon lord thing was top priority to him. It was Veldora who blew her cover anyway, so I saw no reason not to cooperate with that effort. And the other paladins seemed convinced this was a valid thing to do—mainly because Hinata wanted it, as far as I could tell. They must have loved her a lot more than I thought.
So I didn’t think I had anything to worry about. Which was good. Because in my eyes, Hinata tended to be too terse, too blunt, too easily misunderstood for her own good—
“Were you thinking something rude about me again?”
“Huh? N-no, I wasn’t…”
Does she have ESP or something?! She’s got to be reading my mind…
Incorrect. No influence of that sort detected.
No, Raphael? Then maybe she just has the uncanniest sixth sense ever. Better watch what I’m thinking around her.
At that very moment, he came onto the scene—falling at terminal velocity from the sky, of course, and making a small crater on the ground. He stood right back up, though, none the worse for wear, and ran up to me. It was Veldora, obviously, and now he was sidling up behind me, using me as a shield as he glared up at the sky. Ahead of him, up above, I could see a beautiful silver-haired young woman, a mask of rage on her face as she floated in midair.
“R-Rimuru, give that pigheaded woman a piece of your mind! I’m giving her as generous an apology as I can, but she refuses to listen!”
Uh, yeah… Sure. But can you please stop bringing me into this? Seriously.
This time, at least, it was completely Veldora’s fault. Has it never not been, if you think about it? He hadn’t even been resurrected for that long, and already I felt like he’d been a huge thorn in my side.
I had been watching them, but the method Veldora chose for his apology only served to rile up Luminus. She was trying to put her sword away, and then he went off like “Kwah-ha-ha-ha! I had no bad intentions back then. Call it a youthful mistake and forgive me with your most generous of hearts!” That was easily enough to set her off.
“Bring that lizard here,” she ordered me, in a voice that’d make your hair stand on end, as she glared behind me at Veldora in all his haughtiness. Frankly, I didn’t want to get on Luminus’s bad side over something like this. I knew exactly how she felt. That was no apology at all. Veldora ought to be taught a lesson over this, I thought. So:
“All right.”
Without hesitation, I grabbed Veldora by the neck and presented him to Luminus.
“Gehh?! Rimuru! You’ve betrayed meeeee!!”
At a time like this, it’s important you get your message across. I needed to make sure everything was crystal clear to everyone about this, if I didn’t want Luminus to have any lingering resentments.
She gave me a surprised look, then let out a smile cold enough to freeze blood. “Yes. I am glad to see, Rimuru, that you possess great senses of perception. Unlike that lizard over there.”
“Oh, it’s nothing that great. But I know he’s been a real thorn in your side this time. If you agree to forgive him afterward, you can feel free to rake him over the coals as much as you like.”
Luminus grinned and nodded.
“Mmm. I will give that some thought.”
That seemed to smooth things over with Luminus well enough. Veldora was shouting things like “Wait! Does—does my opinion not matter at all?!” as she dragged him away, but neither she nor I was paying attention.
“Time to let off all the steam I’ve been building up… Embracing Drain!!”
“Gaaagghghhh!!”
It looked like Luminus was giving Veldora a hug, but there was certainly no sweet sentiment behind it. It was really more of a bear hug, despite the height difference.
You’d think that wouldn’t be enough to hurt Veldora much, but…
Understood. She is absorbing the magical energy from the target, while injecting it with signals of intense pain and discomfort. These signals likely install themselves into the “soul” of the individual until cut off, regardless of Cancel Pain possession.
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Um… So to a spiritual life-form like Veldora, this attack “hurts,” then? In a way, this seems a lot more effective than just destroying him. With the near-infinite stores of energy Veldora had, no amount of energy draining on Luminus’s part would kill him—but she could wear him out. Adding pain and discomfort to the mix would make for a punishment he’d not soon forget, I imagine.
Luminus kept going with that attack for a decent amount of time. Veldora started crying out, tear-filled eyes longingly staring at me, but I watched silently and offered no mercy. This was for Veldora’s sake… Or really, if sacrificing him was all it took to make Luminus feel better, I’d say I got a bargain. Call it a political transaction. Forgive me, Veldora.
“Well,” an expressionless Louis observed, “at least Lady Luminus seems to be enjoying herself. It’ll let her work through all her negative emotions as of late. I couldn’t be happier.”
“Yes,” Hinata said, nodding. “Given we don’t know who killed Roy, we don’t want any needless hostility right now. By the way, just to be sure, that guy over there… Is he…?”
She looked at Veldora, a tad unsure of herself. Oh, right. We hadn’t made introductions yet, huh?
“Yeah, that’s Veldora. Kinda hard to tell when he’s not in dragon form and all, but it’s definitely him. I think he’s kind of busy right now, but I’ll introduce you to each other later.”
“W-wait, Rimuru! N-n-now! Introduce us nowww—”
“Hmm? Still haven’t had enough, eh?”
“Worrrgghhhh!!”
Poor guy. It was his fault for trying to escape Luminus. I could tell she increased the voltage or whatever just now. Loose lips sink ships, and so on.
“…So this was the Storm Dragon who Lady Luminus feared so much? Certainly, the amount of sheer power is astounding, but…”
Hinata looked disappointed. Who could blame her? Right now, Veldora was little more than comic relief. No sort of draconic majesty whatsoever. It was hard to believe this was a Catastrophe-level monster straight out of a nightmare. The other paladins must’ve thought the same thing, because they couldn’t have looked more confused.
“I—I can’t believe it…”
“That? That’s the Storm Dragon we were told such terrifying tales about?”
“Surely you jest? I honestly feel a little sorry for him.”
I think the form he had taken was tricking a few of the paladins, to be honest. Plus, I’d based my own Replication on a younger Shizu. So similarly, if Veldora kept his mouth shut, he looked like a pretty handsome young man. If a guy like him was shouting for help with that desperate plea in his eyes, it’d move the hearts of untold numbers of women.
But don’t be fooled. Indulge him just a little, and he’ll walk all over you. I needed to teach him some firm discipline right away, or else we—well, really, I—would pay dearly for it later.
Report. The aura of Veldora the Storm Dragon, previously in danger of spontaneously combusting, has fallen back within the threshold of stability.
…What?! Wait a second. Did Raphael predict Luminus would do that, too? No way. That was a bit much for even me to swallow. It�
�d be impossible to read that far ahead. No need to give him that much credit—the fight with Hinata had followed Raphael’s plan so closely, though, I couldn’t help but feel that way.
I shook my head, banishing the thought.
“Right. I’d say it’s time to head out. I know we’ve had a few misunderstandings, but once things calm down, I’d like to discuss our future plans.”
With that, I guided the paladins back to town.
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Rigurd was waiting for us at the gate, panting. I had sent Soei on ahead to send the news, and he had just now run out to greet us. He didn’t need to do that—I was sure I gave him ample warning—but the guy just likes to run, I guess.
“On behalf of the city of Tempest,” he said with a friendly smile, “I welcome each and every one of you!”
Nice smile there. He must’ve learned it as part of his diplomatic efforts, and it put a professional service worker to shame. I appreciated it, especially given how we had our swords at the ready against these guys not long ago.
“We will prepare meals for all of you, so please let us know if there is anything you’d prefer not to have.”
I had to hand it to Rigurd’s zeal for study—making sure to check if anyone had any allergies or religious reasons to avoid certain foods. He must’ve been roping in adventurers and merchants while I wasn’t paying attention, learning about human culture and thought. Would anyone believe that this guy used to be a helpless goblin?
“Oh, um, there is no need to go out of your way for us…”
Hinata looked a bit awkward about this, preparing to turn the offer down, but we needed to talk about our future relations. It was already evening by now, so that talk would likely come the next day—and since they were here anyway, I couldn’t ignore a chance to advertise our city a little.
“Ah, don’t worry about it! We can talk in more detail tomorrow, so for today, let’s treat ourselves to a peacemaking party!”
“Oooh, a party! A fine idea. And with that will come fine drink, yes?”
