by Fuse
That’s bad. We gotta stop him—if not for all those imperiled beastmen, then at least for my own ass. That being said, Eurazania’s people were on friendly terms with us, and trust is worth a lot more than money. Sometimes, compassion can help you as much as the other person. There’s no need to refrain from being fully involved.
“Benimaru, stop them.”
He grinned at my fairly reckless order. “You got it—or I should say, leave it to me!”
Nice to see he’s a man of integrity, too. Get him heated up, and he can’t help but drop the formal speech. He always treats me with so much respect in public, seeking to draw a line between personal and political life, but I wish he wouldn’t go through so much effort. I don’t want him openly sneering at me, so at least I don’t have to worry about that…not that public derision of me is a problem in this nation.
I suppose it’s kind of like if you get promoted beyond your former boss in your workplace, and it gets all awkward between you two. It’s just the way society works—deal with it. So I decided to deal with it and act the part of the boss.
“Great. We will now design a defense line for the Beast Kingdom of Eurazania. I want to hear suggestions for a way to win, with Benimaru taking the helm!”
My leaders all bowed at me.
“““Yes sir!”””
Even the Three Lycanthropeers joined them. I guess my dignity was more than intact.
Still, that Clayman’s even sneakier than I thought. Scheduling Walpurgis in the evening three days from now must’ve all been part of the plan. He’d stage his Eurazania genocide before any other demon lord could intervene, then gleefully report on it during the event.
It would take time to unite the scattered forces across the land; right now, any fighters in the Beast Kingdom would just be picked off, one by one. It’d be impossible to resist. And then you have all those powerless civilians being killed without a second thought…
Now that we’d decided to block that, the meeting hall was buzzing with ideas. Everyone wanted to assemble a force at once and head on over—but nobody verbally brought it up. Everyone here was deeply acquainted with the importance of starting with intel. I didn’t move immediately after declaring we’d defeat Clayman, precisely because I was awaiting Soei’s report.
Even now, we were having supplies gathered in the town’s main square and refreshing our soldiers’ equipment. Kaijin, Garm, and Dold were all crafting new weapons and armor, using their respective technical skills, and all our fighters were changing into them and preparing for the battle ahead.
No point in panicking. You had to know the enemy’s location, army formation, numbers, and mission. Running into the fray without at least that much won’t earn you any results to be proud of.
Now our deliberations were nearing their climax.
“So that’s about the war power we have on hand. If we can have them be there in time, we can win. The problem is transport, isn’t it? There’s no way to make it, so we need a way to buy time.”
“Why not send the goblin riders and Gabil’s force in first to stage a guerrilla resistance?” Hakuro suggested.
“No, it would mean nothing,” Benimaru calmly stated. “I’ve examined the geography of the Beast Kingdom, and much of it is either flat or features low hills. There are few natural elements to conceal oneself in. A surprise attack from the air would be effective, but a guerrilla force of a hundred or so simply wouldn’t be adequate.”
The best place to hide a force like this would be the fruit orchards lining rivers, but these were spread out across hilly areas with good drainage, so not as subtle as we’d want. The terrain wasn’t suitable for concealing large numbers of troops.
“Since when were you looking into our geography?” Sufia quietly groused. I was actually kind of wondering that myself. Benimaru probably did some research when I sent him to lead our first envoy team into the Beast Kingdom. I guess I really can rely on him to be thorough. Sufia didn’t seem genuinely offended, at least.
“We have a team of approximately four hundred beastmen who are geared for speed,” Alvis advised. “Bird types are rare among us—no more than a hundred. Sending them out in advance would be a death sentence.”
Simply being able to fly didn’t shield them from fatigue, after all. If they plus Gabil’s team couldn’t even reach two hundred, there was little point deploying them first. With the high visibility of the terrain, too, small squadrons couldn’t accomplish much.
So for our strategy, we would have to go back to basics. Plow everything into doing what we could, as accurately as possible. That’s it. We’d send messages out to the fighters across the land, gather up as many civilians as we could, and evacuate them out. Once they were in Tempest, the dryads’ protection should do a lot for their survival rate. We’d then have our speedier forces to use guerrilla tactics to aid in their escape. The slower armies would march as well, swallowing up the refugees as they prepared to face off against Clayman’s force.
That was the basic wrap-up. It was a battle against time and relied a fair bit on luck, but we didn’t have any better ideas. Thus, to prevent the worst, we decided that all of us should go out on the field to fight as well.
Our top leaders—Benimaru, Shuna, Soei, Shion, Geld, and Ranga—had all learned the Spatial Motion extra skill, giving them control over “transport gates” linking two locations together. Diablo was “born” with that ability, too, but he was with Yohm’s team at the moment. I could call him back if things got bad, but I wanted to handle this with us seven if possible, myself included. Each of us may’ve had the power of a whole army, but we couldn’t afford to push ourselves too far. Shuna, in particular, wasn’t too suited for on-the-ground combat; I wanted to have Gabil and Hakuro covering for her, if possible.
“Guess it’s the only way,” I reasoned. “If we can help earn our forces some time, I think we can pull this off with a minimum of casualties. Would’ve been nice if we could just bring ’em all over there with regular transport magic, but…”
I brought up that idea mainly so I could publicly shoot it down. Our problems would be solved if we had magic that could instantly transport an entire army from one point to another, but not even my Spatial Motion worked on ten thousand troops at once.
But:
Understood. Transportation magic allows for the transferal of materials at a low cost. It works by using a separate dimension to link two points together, but it is not effective for handling organic matter, due to heavy magicule irradiation. However, anyone protected by a Barrier would not be affected by the transport. Those are the fundamental rules of transportation magic.
Ummm… So that’s the difference between teleport and transport magic? It’s just that teleport costs more magicules to cast, since it includes spells to protect who you’re teleporting? Wait, so…
In other words, since magic-born and monsters have natural magicule resistance, anyone capable of erecting a Barrier over themselves can be transported successfully without issue. A full-transportation spell that included measures to protect the target would also be possible.
So if you’re strong enough not to die when exposed to a ton of magicules, you can go across this “separate dimension” or whatever. I guess that’s the way the Spatial Motion skill works. I should’ve noticed that. What’s more, if you can fully protect whoever you’re transporting, it’s no problem to send ’em over. I suppose that’s a sort of teleportation, really, but wouldn’t that just waste a lot of magical energy? Besides, trying to adapt that into a legion magic you could deploy on tens of thousands of troops is far beyond what I could do right now…
Understood. The spell has already been developed. I have also succeeded in pairing it with the extra skill Dominate Space to greatly reduce the magical force required.
Well, look at that! I can’t believe how much Raphael has grown, developing new skills and magic without me even having to ask. I mean, my skills must’ve evolved a huge amount when I awoke into de
mon lord form, but I still didn’t have a grasp of them all. They would’ve just been going to waste without Raphael. If I had to guess, this was Ability Adjust at work—but either way, I couldn’t ask for anything better. Right here, right now, it had just provided me the exact spell I wanted more than anything in the world. No complaints here!
“Sir Rimuru,” Shuna warned me, aware of the danger, “it’s too hazardous to attempt transport magic on an army…”
“Yeah, you’re right, Shuna. But just now, I’ve successfully developed a new spell!”
All our problems were cleared away. I felt bad for Clayman, kinda. He would’ve won if it wasn’t for my evolution.
“Ohhh…!”
“What on…?!”
“Just now?!”
Everyone gave me surprised looks. I nodded back at them. “The question is: Are you prepared for this? If we use this spell, we can send our entire army over there at once. But it’ll be the first time I’ve ever used it, and we haven’t tested its safety at all. There’s no time to experiment with it. But do you still trust me?”
I, at least, trusted Raphael. If Raphael says we can do it, then there’s no room for doubt. But what about everyone else? Do they trust me enough to stake their lives on this?
“No need to worry,” Benimaru said with a brazen smile. “I have given you my loyalty—and as your loyal retainer, I would gladly die if ordered to do so. I know all too well by now that you’d never give us a meaningless order.”
The rest of my leaders agreed—even Diablo, the new guy, was nodding with that eerie grin on his face.
The Lycanthropeers joined them. “You got my trust,” Sufia declared. “We can’t start getting suspicious of someone whose help we’re askin’ for.”
“He’s already saved me once. Our fighters know that, so I ain’t about to start whining now.”
“Oh dear, Phobio, you’re making it sound like I have no choice but to agree. But we’re the slowest force, and as long as we are, I’ll want to rely on Sir Rimuru’s power to help us out.” Alvis seemed a tad dubious still but not enough to turn us down.
I nodded at them all. “I hear you loud and clear! Time to turn the tables on Clayman’s schemes. It’s all up to you men and women now. Let me see some victory!”
“““Rahhh!!”””
I was starting to see some wild, ferocious smiles. If we can all make it in time, we’re sure to win. Plus, no matter how closely Clayman’s surveilling the highways, he’ll never notice our troops get transported in. It’s practically in the bag. No wonder everyone seemed so confident again.
So I left reworking our strategy to Benimaru. While he was doing that, Soei gave another report—that a group of one hundred “Dragon Faithful” had merged with Clayman’s force.
“One hundred? That much shouldn’t be a problem,” said Benimaru.
Did Benimaru know about this group already, or…?
“Soei,” I meekly asked, “what are these Dragon Faithful?”
“The name for those who worship the dragon—in other words, Lady Milim, the Dragon Princess.”
Oh, Milim’s people? I thought Milim said she didn’t have anyone working under her. So kind of like her fans, then? Her domain, which didn’t really have an official name, featured a population of under a hundred thousand, mostly people living off the land in harmony with nature. Maybe they were acting as bodyguards to Clayman’s force as they proceeded through their domain.
Soei didn’t have any more information yet, so we dropped the subject. For now, I ordered him to continue monitoring the Clayman army, as well as search for a suitable area to deploy our own forces.
That wrapped up how we’d handle the battle. Next came the Walpurgis Council Ramiris had warned me about. The Three Lycanthropeers were already gone, relaying our strategy to their troops and convincing them my transport magic would work.
Mjurran left as well, since Walpurgis was my problem, and she wouldn’t have any feedback for that. Her job was to assist Yohm.
This meant it was just the usual Tempest gang and me, which put me quite a bit at ease. There was no need to hold anything back for politeness’ sake now.
“If we only knew where Clayman was, I could just teleport right on over and put an end to this pronto, but…”
If his military was in motion, that meant his headquarters had to be more lightly guarded. My leaders and I could’ve zoomed right over and finished him off without having to worry about a counterattack. Of course, I couldn’t afford to laze out on this town’s defenses while I was away, either. Better keep that in mind.
“I apologize,” Soei said. “There is an area in the region surrounded by a thick fog of magicules. I found it too dangerous to proceed inside.”
No need for him to be sorry. He needed to be careful in everything he does, even with a Replication of himself. It’d be a lot worse if he screwed up and the enemy found out what we were up to. Clayman’s HQ ought to be beyond that cloud—this was already enough of a lead to go on.
“Should several of us explore the area while it is unguarded?” Benimaru suggested.
“Isn’t Clayman holding Walpurgis shortly?” Shuna coldly countered. “I fear we may miss him entirely.”
“True, true,” added Hakuro as Benimaru winced. “It would reflect quite poorly on us if we underestimated the enemy force and tasted defeat. We need Sir Benimaru to keep our forces together.”
“All right. Any other suggestions?”
Shion’s hand shot up.
“Yes?”
“Why don’t we storm that Walpurgis thing and slash up both Clayman and any other demon lords who have a problem with us?”
Her eyes were gleaming as she said it. It was my fault for letting that idiot talk in the first place. I could feel the veins throbbing around my temples, but I held it all back. This wasn’t the first time I had to deal with something like this.
“Shion, how are you going to ‘slash them up’? Can you give me something more realistic to work with?”
Clayman solo was one thing, but picking a fight with yet more demon lords would never work. We needed to handle them one at a time, something Shion would have to learn sooner rather than later.
My scolding made her visibly depressed. Eesh. Let’s try to soften the blow a bit. I may not act it all the time, but I like being kind to her.
“But crashing their Council might be a good idea.”
Her face rose, full of expectant joy. She was never willing to let a bit of praise go unnoticed.
“Listen, Ramiris. You have experience with them. Do you think I could join in this thing, too?”
“Uweh?! You want to participate, Rimuru?”
“No, I just wanted to ask. Clayman’s gonna be there, so I thought it would be interesting if I paid a visit as well.”
If I’m being targeted, showing up somewhere Clayman didn’t expect me ought to rock him a little bit. Resorting to violence during a Council might not be too apropos, but I could consider my options once I’m there.
“Hmm… I think it’s probably okay. But you can only have two attendants along with you!”
Any more than that would lead to trouble that all the demon lords preferred to avoid. Once, one of the newer demon lords brought along a hundred or so warriors to the Council as a show of force. This stoked the ire of another demon lord whose nation had just been razed and was looking for someone—anyone—to serve as a little stress relief. That newer lord wound up killed, along with all the magic-born for dessert. Ever since, it was forbidden for relatively powerless magic-born to participate, and only two guests per demon lord were allowed.
In other words, Walpurgis Councils had ended in violence before. Which meant it wouldn’t be, you know, unprecedented if I did it. Maybe I should seriously consider trying to rile Clayman into a fight over there.
“Well, what do you think, guys? Think it’d be fun to join in?”
“Heh-heh-heh-heh. A wonderful suggestion. I would be happy to join you at�
�”
“Diablo, you fool! I will be by his side, and I refuse to allow anyone else!”
There they go. Shion and Diablo, back at it again. Bringing those two along would be suicide, so I crossed them off the list from the start…
“…But either way,” Diablo said, “if we go into battle with the demon lords, as long as we can defeat them, all is well. What need do we have for a demon lord besides yourself, Sir Rimuru?”
Shion briskly nodded her total agreement. “Exactly! I had thought you were an idiot, but for a new recruit, you seem to have much potential! You stated exactly what I was trying to say!”
Are they friends, or foes, or what? Whatever they were, I used to think Shion was the only one who didn’t think. But no, they both agreed that killing all the other demon lords was a fine idea.
Why’d it turn out like this? Looking around the room, I could see a few other people nodding their agreement. A few were more conservative, but a lot of them seemed more interested in spilling blood than securing a victory. The flock of war hawks in my leadership seemed to be growing. But that was just way too reckless. Better hit the brakes on this conversation.
“Whoa, whoa. No need to go crazy. We haven’t decided on anything yet. Besides, Diablo, I put you in charge of Farmus, so I’m not bringing you along either way.”
“Ah, true. I understand.”
Diablo seemed to think of conquering Farmus as a children’s pastime. I liked that confidence, but hopefully it didn’t cause him to miss something and mess up the whole thing. His emotions appeared mixed to me—disappointed but glad to be assigned work.
“Isn’t that dangerous, though?” Shuna asked. There we go. That’s the kind of opinion I wanted to hear.
“It is,” replied Geld. “Besides, even if we don’t join the Council, wouldn’t it be more effective to seize Clayman’s headquarters while he is away?”
He was absolutely right. It was better to proceed with a battle we could win without exposing ourselves to danger. Geld was as much a hawk as any of them, but he wasn’t that impulsive. I was glad to hear that from him—but I had my reasons to contemplate attending Walpurgis, too. Something concerned me about it.