by Fuse
In the realm of holy magic, there was something called Resurrection, the so-called miracle of the gods…but there were tons of restrictions on it. It was no panacea. And what’s more, all these magics (except for Bloodraise, which was species specific) were treated as “forbidden spells,” passed on strictly orally and never written into a book.
But that didn’t matter. The issue was that “evolve” thing. Monsters evolved all the time here, for reasons that were beyond me. Just giving them a name was a huge deal to them. Maybe there was some potential there? Maybe if I could just become a demon lord myself…
…just as that girl’s pet evolved and revived itself…
But I didn’t want creepy, soulless minions on my hands. And not even the Great Sage could use its analysis tools to determine whether their souls were still there or not.
But…hang on? Right now, this town was completely covered by a barrier that no monsters can go through. Maybe that’s keeping their souls in here, too, preventing them from flying to the four winds.
Understood. The chances of the souls of the individual Shion and the rest of the monsters being preserved within this space is…3.14 percent.
Whoa! It’s pi!
Well, okay, maybe not quite. It felt like a low number to me, but I had to think about it the other way around. It needed to feel like a big one. I mean, over a 3 percent chance of literally being able to resurrect someone. Plus, there’s no way someone as tenacious as Shion or as dopey as Gobzo could die. I couldn’t let it happen. They had to be doggedly clinging to this world, waiting for my help.
Now I had some hope. Next, I just had to carry it out. Of course, that assumed I could even become a demon lord, of course…
Understood. You currently satisfy the requirements for evolving into the demon lord type. In order to carry out evolution into a “true demon lord,” the process must be nourished with the sacrifices of at least ten thousand humans.
Oh, that’s it? Well, easy, then. Demon lord? Oh, I’m totally becoming a demon lord. Way simpler process than I thought. Hopefully all those garbage troops around the outskirts of town number at least ten thousand. But hell, if there aren’t enough, I’ll just add some more. If it brings Shion and everyone else back, I have absolutely no reason to waver.
Then I came back to my senses.
“Thanks for telling me about that, Elen. Are you sure about what you’re saying, though? I mean, you’re basically telling me to become a demon lord.”
I looked at her. She stared down at the ground silently, but just for a moment as she made up her mind. She returned my gaze, face resolute.
“Well, you know, I come from the Sorcerous Dynasty of Thalion, and… You know, I really looked up to adventurers and the freedom they had. But you know what? I’m done. I want to help out Shion, too, besides. I can’t let Farmus and the Western Holy Church get away with what they’ve done. I hate people who think monsters are evil just because they’re monsters. I know that telling you about this isn’t something I can ever go back on, buuut… I don’t know. It’s just terrible, I think, leaving things like this.”
And with that, she went on to explain that continuing to be adventurers would put undue strain on the Free Guild, so she wanted to change her band’s “home” to our nation. Live here, even, if possible.
Elen’s real name was Ellwyn, apparently, and she came from a noble family in Thalion. After being trained at the royal academy, she left the country in search of an adventuring career.
The confession made Kabal shake his head silently and Gido turn upward toward the sky, eyes closed. “Ah well,” Kabal said. “If that’s what the lady wants, you’ll see no complaints from me as her bodyguard.”
“Me neither. Guess it’ll be ‘Lady Elen’ from now on, huh?”
The other two, it turned out, weren’t exactly standard adventurers, either. Upon further questioning, Kabal and Gido revealed that they had followed Elen out of Thalion to serve as her personal guards. They were also good friends, obviously, given how they trusted her without question just now. Talk about a great trio. I was a little jealous of them.
“So, um, probably, when you become a demon lord, Rimuru, it’s gonna be totally obvious pretty quickly that I tipped you off. Thalion’s spy agency already knows that I’m involved with you, so it won’t take long for them to connect the dots. So…you know. Until then, I want to help you out as much as I can here. I want to see how it all works out in the end.”
She knew she wouldn’t be living a life of adventuring freedom for much longer. And she wanted to spend that last bit of freedom here.
All three of them looked at me, faces stern. If I allowed them to live here, it might force me to tangle with Thalion in the future. I didn’t know what kind of impact their reaction would have on us, but they couldn’t just ignore one of their nobility in the custody of a foreign nation. It didn’t seem like she was in any real danger, though, and all she wanted right now was to be around for this battle… I wasn’t exactly sure what I thought about it, but it was a question we could safely save for later.
“All right. Well, let’s leave that for the future. I’d kind of like to avoid making any more enemies than I need to…”
“Oh? Aw, but it’s all right if I stick around long enough to see if you can save Shion, isn’t it?”
“All right. You’re the one who tipped me off. You can stick around until it’s over. But you realize that my becoming a demon lord might change me. I may even wind up attacking you guys. I can’t take responsibility for it if I do, but are you okay with that?”
“Hmm… I wouldn’t like that too much, no, but a little too late to worry about that now! I’ll just have to believe in you, Rimuru!”
“Whoa! Is that how much we’re involved now? Hoo boy. A little too late, indeed!”
“That’s right, Gido. A little too late for that. That’s Lady Elen for you, isn’t it? It’s always like this with her.”
The two bodyguards sighed. It didn’t seem to harm their loyalty at all, though.
Thanks to all this, I finally had a plan. I could save Shion, and Gobzo, and all the rest! And if it meant becoming a demon lord, then I was all in. The enemy forces were attacking in four days. I had a firm grasp of the situation. Now it was time to take action.
With the decision made, things could proceed faster now.
Step one was keeping all these monsters’ souls from dissipating. For that, I adjusted the great magic I’d acquired with Analyze and Assess and used it to strengthen the barrier around town. It wasn’t clear exactly how much longer Mjurran’s magic would last, and I was afraid it’d flip off like a light switch and send their souls flying. It cost me a surprisingly vast among of magicules, but it was nothing I couldn’t deal with now.
If anything, compared to the utter despair up until yesterday, I was practically elated. Good thing I thought to analyze that barrier, even though I didn’t see much of a point. That connected everything together really well, opening up our big chance to get Shion and the rest back.
My casting that great magic sent Benimaru and the others running toward me in shock, of course.
“Sir Rimuru, what have you…?”
“Benimaru, get everybody together here! I’m gonna hold a conference to outline our future plans!”
“Wha…?! Yes, my lord!”
They ran right back off, my orders putting a spring in their step.
“Elen, Kabal, Gido… I’m sorry I made you guys worry. I’m a lot better now.”
“Rimuru…”
I smiled at Elen as I placed my cracked mask back in my pocket. The show seemed to relieve them a little, too.
“If there’s anything we can do to help,” Elen said, “just say it!”
“Heh-heh! Yeah, you’ve been a big help to us. Now it’s our turn to step up!”
“You said it, Kabal!”
It made me happy, hearing that. I appreciated it, but I didn’t want the trio actively participating in the war for me. I�
��d have them explain the situation one more time at the conference, though. I wanted all of us, not just me, working together.
“All right,” I said before leaving them. “Would you guys mind joining me in the conference, then? I’ve got something to handle in the meantime.”
I then walked directly toward the quarters being used by Yohm and his team. Yohm looked flustered to see me as I walked in the door.
“R-Rimuru?!”
“I’ve decided upon Mjurran’s punishment, Yohm. Where is she?”
“Um, resting upstairs, but…”
The word punishment disquieted him even further. I felt bad about it, but what I had in mind just wasn’t something I could tell him. Not yet.
The moment I was up the stairs, I faced Mjurran and spoke.
“Mjurran, you’re going to die for me.”
“Hey?!” I heard Yohm yelp. I ignored him. Mjurran looked at me, eyes full of surprise, but gave me a resigned nod. She was prepared for this eventuality.
“Sir Rimuru, that—”
Gruecith tried to cut me off, but I wasn’t about to let him. Then Yohm stood between her and me.
“Well, I’m sorry, pal, but I’m here to protect her!”
He knew he had no chance at all, but he still tried to resist me. He’s such a nice guy that way. I mean it.
So I bound both him and Gruecith in Sticky Steel Thread.
“Rimuru, please!!”
Mjurran gave them a light smile. “I loved you, Yohm. You’re the first person I’ve fallen for in all my life. If there’s such a thing as reincarnation, I hope I can live together with you in my next life, so… Good-bye, then. Try not to fall for a bad woman next time, all right?”
Another smile, and then she closed her eyes. I love that resolve. You don’t see women as good as her too often. To be honest, this act was making me feel tremendously guilty… But hey.
So, without hesitation, I plunged my hand right through Mjurran’s chest in a chopping motion. Her head lurched forward, powerless, as Yohm and Gruecith screamed their heads off. Then—with a look of utter confusion and puzzlement on her face—she opened her eyes again.
“Um… I’m not dying. That didn’t even hurt.”
Well, yeah. I know I said she’d die for me, but I wasn’t planning on killing her. You hear stories about people dying and coming back to life all the time, don’t you? I had a bunch of people I needed alive again, Shion included, and I figured I’d try my luck at padding the probabilities a little here.
“Oh, um, yeah. You were dead, for maybe, oh, three seconds?”
“…Huh?”
“Wha—?”
“What does that mean?”
Report. The individual Mjurran’s “pseudo-heart” has begun regular operation.
Nice. Came off without a hitch. With the Sage’s confirmation, I removed my hand from Mjurran’s chest.
“Well, the operation’s a success, I guess, so let me explain what I did. You don’t have to look at me like that, guys. Have a seat and kick back if you want.”
“Whoa, pal, what kinda crazy talk are you giving me?”
“There better be a good explanation for this,” Gruecith grumbled. Look at them! Crying just a moment ago and now whining and complaining. Mjurran, meanwhile, was just as calm as always.
“Shut up, guys! Mjurran’s gonna laugh at you if you keep carrying on like that. So the deal is, the temporary heart inside Mjurran was being used so Clayman could listen in on her. It’s a form of encrypted communication that runs on electric signals and natural magnetism, so it doesn’t use up any magicules at all.”
In essence, alongside providing a pulse and electrical signals for the body, her heart also emitted encrypted signals that ran across the Earth and made it all the way to Clayman. He was forcing her to file detailed reports with him anyway, just to make sure she never noticed.
It was an underhanded trick worthy of a demon lord. Those rumors about how he treated his staff were true. But you had to hand it to him, too. If he was pulling something similar with all his people, that’s a vast amount of encoded information he was receiving and unraveling in his head. No wonder they called him the Marionette Master. It’s that huge network of data he collected that served as the invisible “strings” on his puppets.
Funny coincidence that I managed to notice that. Or maybe not so much actually. You could call it proof that Shion’s still helping me out. When I cast that great magic to prevent all those souls from fading out, the Great Sage discovered an all-electronic signal that the barrier reacted to. It was easy for it to decipher the coded message, so I figured I could just use that device to fool Clayman into thinking I killed Mjurran.
“…And so it was all just a prank on my part! Sorry!”
“Just a prank?! Goddamn, pal!!”
“Whoa, Yohm! It wasn’t something he could deal with that easily! I mean, that’s the whole secret behind the demon lord Clayman’s power! Something nobody else knows about!”
And now they’re carrying on again. What a pain.
“But let’s not sweat the details, all right, guys? …So! Mjurran! Guess there is such a thing as reincarnation, huh?”
“…What?”
It was at that moment that Mjurran finally realized the curse upon her life had been lifted.
“You’re a free woman now, Mjurran. Well, sort of. Before that, I have one favor to ask.”
She turned toward me, still not fully cognizant of what was going on. “Say anything. If you wish me to swear my loyalty, I will, gladly.”
“Nah, that’s fine. Actually, it turns out there’s a possibility that we can resurrect Shion and all the others—just like how you died and came back, you see? And I want you to help me pull that off.”
“Huh?”
“Resurrect?”
“How?” Gruecith asked. “Raising the dead isn’t even possible for high-level magic-born like me.”
“It’s just a hypothetical for now. But I’m gonna make it happen.”
Yep. Just a chance. But I couldn’t ever allow myself to mess it up. I’d do everything I could to boost my chances, and to do that, I needed Mjurran.
“But,” I said, “if I do pull that off, what’ll you do after that?”
“Well… I may be free, but if I’m limited to an all-too-short human life from now on…maybe I don’t mind being a little confined after all.”
She gave Yohm a look that made him blush in the most darling fashion. Her own cheeks reddened a bit. I had to feel bad for Gruecith, though. He had been turned down, pure and simple.
“C’mon, cheer up!”
“Don’t give me that smile of yours!” he protested. “Besides, Yohm’s human, so he’ll live maybe a hundred years. After that, it’s my turn!”
“What the hell’re you talking about? Was that the dirty kinda crap you were thinking of, you deranged wolf man?!”
“Shut up! If you don’t like it, just try to outlive me!”
“You dog turd! You can howl all ya want, but would your master Carillon even allow that?!”
“Ha! Lord Carillon’s a generous leader. He’s asked me to broaden my horizons here. My loyalties are with him, but it’s not like I’m forced to stay in the Beast Kingdom, y’know!”
“How is something like that okay?!”
“Shut up!”
“…Actually, I take back what I said. I just lost my head for a moment there.”
“Oh, come on, Mjurran!”
It was a pretty chaotic scene, but it did make the smile return to my face a little, too. I’d offer more of a celebration if it was any other time, but right now wasn’t it. I braced myself and returned to my other main priority.
“By the way, Yohm, I’ve got a favor to ask of you, too…”
“Say it! I’ll do whatever you want, pal!”
Good. I figured he’d say that. I was kind of counting on it, and that was why I helped out Mjurran. I wasn’t usually as calculating as this, but ah well. I couldn’t affor
d to make any mistakes here. So:
“I need you to be a king for me.”
Yohm gave the offhand remark a puzzled look as I explained.
Basically, it was like this: We were going to kill the entire army attacking us. That was a must, and I wasn’t going to compromise on that. That led to the next question—what to do with Farmus. Should we kill all the people in that country? No, there was no reason for that. I mean, I wouldn’t hesitate to if I didn’t have enough sacrifices to become a demon lord yet, but let’s just concentrate on their military first.
Soei had reported that their total number likely did exceed ten thousand. That, honestly, was a huge relief. Kind of funny to be thanking the enemy for providing such a huge force. If it was a given that we’d kill ’em all, there was no reason to go easy on them. That made things simpler for me. I didn’t want to hurt any civilians, as much as I could, so having a nice big crowd of career soldiers to work with served my needs well.
So what would happen once this army was annihilated and I was a demon lord? That was the problem. If Farmus kept attacking me, I would have to kill them, but if possible, I would like to arrange an armistice somewhere along the line. Everyone in the Kingdom of Farmus’s executive levels of government would die, though. They had to take responsibility. Of course, that meant the central core of government would be wiped out—and that’d put the people in a bind.
“You see? And that’s where you come in.”
I gave Yohm a domineering look. His role, in essence, would be to clean up the rotten government. I’d kill anyone who came out of the country, and he’d take care of the garbage left inside it. He’d also lead the people and take on a role as the new king—and then we’d build formal relations with each other.
“Heh. You make it sound so easy. I mean, me, a king?”
“It is easy. I mean, hell, I’m a king. You oughtta try it out, too.”
King, demon lord, same thing.
“Yohm, Sir…Rimuru believes you can do it. I promise you’ll have my full backup, so why don’t you inject a little excitement in your life?”