That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Vol. 6

by Fuse

  “No,” Benimaru said, “what Sir Rimuru is most concerned about is what move the demon lord Milim will make. It is hard to imagine Lady Milim betraying us, but we cannot deny the possibility that Clayman is controlling her. Perhaps she has her own motivations, but at the very least, we are sure she has defeated Lord Carillon. I think it is not a bad idea to pursue the truth of that matter at the Council.”

  “Exactly,” agreed Soei. “I wonder why Lady Milim signed on to convene the event. Perhaps she has some kind of plot in mind?”

  Great to see they were of the same mind—sharing both my ideas and the issues they presented.

  “Yeah, it’d be crazy to think that Milim would just do whatever Clayman wants. I mean, Milim is so self-centered!”

  Are you really one to talk, Ramiris? Maybe not, but I couldn’t help but agree with her.

  “I find it impossible to believe that Lady Milim betrayed us,” Shion concluded. “I have no evidence to back it up, but that’s absolutely how I feel!”

  Right. No evidence. And I didn’t think she stabbed me in the back, either, really. Raphael complained about a lack of data to work with, but even I thought that scenario unlikely, unless there was some vast change in the state of things. I’ve decided to believe in Milim—but that doesn’t mean I’m letting her do whatever she wants.

  “I agree with all of you. Milim hasn’t betrayed us—which means something else must’ve happened to her. Like Ramiris suggested, I think it’s a good idea to consider Clayman the culprit—or at least the cause of this. That’s why I’d like to take up Benimaru’s suggestion. I’m thinking about joining the Walpurgis Council and seeing what I can find out in there…”

  Something definitely must’ve happened. At the very worst, Milim might attack us the moment Walpurgis ended. That was the real cause of my anxieties, the reason why I couldn’t let her be. Clayman alone, I could handle. Him plus Milim, I really wanted to avoid. Well, at least I’ve steered this in the right direction, and we won’t resort to violence as our first—

  “Right? Right, right! Looks like Detective Ramiris had the right hunch the whole time. So how about we just kick Clayman’s butt?”

  Oops. Maybe not. Not as long as Ramiris was here.

  “Besides, what the heck is with all you guys? You have this, like, treasure trove of powerful magic-born at your beck and call, Rimuru! If you had this many, what’s the big deal about just handing Beretta over to me for good, huh?!”

  She was getting carried away. The strength she saw in us was giving her a swelled head—and she still hadn’t given up on Beretta. Which, as I noted, Beretta has a say in, too, so her selfishness isn’t gonna get her anywhere.

  But she had her allies in the meeting hall.

  “I see. She makes a very good point. Right—perhaps I could come over and do a little killing?”

  “Whoa, chill out, Shion! And Benimaru and Soei, I see you guys packing up to leave town! You’re not going anywhere yet!”

  Here we go again. Just when I was ready to RSVP for Walpurgis.

  I needed Benimaru and Soei to fight Clayman’s forces. We’d be carrying out these plans at the same time, so I had to select the two attendants joining me carefully.

  Who should it be…? I could physically feel the pressure from behind my back. It was from Shion, of course. She might go nuts if I didn’t take her. It was getting harder for Benimaru to keep her calm, so maybe I should babysit her instead. Besides, Clayman’s schemes almost killed Shion—they did kill her, in fact. She might have a chance to take revenge for that, which was another reason to take her along.

  All right. She’s in.

  I wavered a bit on the second choice before settling on Ranga. I thought about having him stand by in my shadow, but that’d put us in trouble if a Holy Field or other special barrier was thrown over us. I could feel him perking his ears up toward me. Let’s go with him. He’d make a great bodyguard.

  So that was the two. They both knew Spatial Motion, so it’d also be easy for them to flee if it came to that. If I tried deploying the new barrier I devised based on Holy Field, I was pretty sure that’d get us out of there safe, at worst. That was something we could rely on as we joined the Council, at least.

  But what if Milim really was being controlled? In that case, it was likely that our town was next on the list for destruction. I had to do everything I could to prevent that. I had no interest in seeing this town be scarred again.

  “All right. I’m gonna join in. I’m taking Shion and Ranga with me. Ramiris, can you send word that I’ll be at the Council?”

  “Sure thing!” she casually replied, before immediately opening up some kind of special demon lord–only line and informing the others about my presence. It was powered by this ridiculously complex-looking spell, using spatial interference to allow for synchronous communication. I looked at it, curious about how it worked—and then I heard loud, haughty laughter coming my way.

  “Gwah-ha-ha-ha-ha! So! Finally thirsty for some action, are you? No need to hold back now, Rimuru! Why don’t you and I come along together? I will tag along with you! Those demon lords aren’t worth fearing for a single moment!”

  Come to think of it, I had totally forgotten I had this guy, too. I appreciated his confidence, but Veldora wouldn’t work, no.

  “Well, hear me out, Veldora. I want you to stay here in town so you can defend it.”

  “What?!” He looked genuinely shocked. “I said I will tag along with you. With me, you will stand taller than all the demon lords combined!”

  Hey, defending this town’s really important work, too. Like, the most important work. We’d have all available forces tackling Clayman’s armies. That just left a few of Rigur’s security platoons and Shion’s team. Defending the town only worked with Veldora’s presence. With him around, even if the Western Holy Church stopped by to attack, we’d have nothing to worry about.

  I tried explaining all this to him.

  “…So you see? You need to hold down the fort.”

  “Mmgh…”

  He seemed less than convinced. Right. Maybe I should give him the real reason. But just as I was about to open my mouth, Ramiris started shouting again.

  “Hey! Rimuru! I just got off the line! They said it was okay, but aren’t you being really mean to Master Veldora? He could just be one of my guests, then. That’d make me feel a lot safer, too!”

  That seemed reasonable, at first glance. But I could tell Ramiris just wanted Beretta and Veldora by her side so she could look supercool around her colleagues. Veldora probably thought along the same lines, too.

  “…Hmm? No, I wasn’t interested in coming so I could serve as your guardian, no.”

  “Uwehh?! Oh, you’re so cold, wise teacher!”

  What’s with that teacher stuff? Ramiris and Veldora had become manga buddies in record time, I guess. They definitely got along, but in terms of the power balance between them, I’d say this was all Ramiris trying to curry Veldora’s favor.

  …Well, fine. The most important thing was that my presence at Walpurgis had been recognized. That was helpful for me, although it probably had more to do with how the other demon lords didn’t want to venture near human lands just to deal with me.

  “We’re actually planning to start spreading rumors about you, Veldora. We discussed that at the summit earlier, but you knew that, right?”

  Having him be Ramiris’s attendant was an idea. Personally, though, I wanted the other lords to think he wasn’t coming, since it’d put them off guard for me.

  “Mm. Yes. Of course.”

  Nope. Sounds like he wasn’t paying attention. He was way too enthralled in his manga to notice any of our proceedings. In that case, it’d be easy to trick him.

  “Well, it’s like this: If I brought you along, it’d probably make Clayman think, like, ‘Oh, that Rimuru, he’s a wimp just bringing Veldora along as a ringer.’”

  “What?! Curse that Clayman! I’ll make him pay for that!” Shion cried. />
  “Heh. That insect doesn’t know what he’s waded into,” added Diablo. “Perhaps I should come over and kill him after all.”

  “Shion, Diablo, calm down already,” Benimaru chided, looking a little angered himself. “That was just an example.”

  Man, it’s so easy to tick those two guys off.

  “Yeah, like Benimaru said, that’s just what I’m picturing him saying. So I mean, if we bring Veldora to the Council, people will be so wary of us that it’d mess up the whole point of us being there, right?”

  Veldora blinked. “Hohh? Ah, I see.”

  Shion beamed, though I wasn’t sure she had thought about my words at all. “A fine idea! Well said, Sir Rimuru!”

  “Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh… Still, he will pay for making light of you. I’d love to make him atone with my own two hands, but perhaps I should let Shion do the honors?”

  “So you’ll throw the enemy off their guard in order to make your negotiations easier?”

  Benimaru, at least, had the right idea.

  “But shouldn’t we be avoiding danger as much as possible?” asked Shuna. She had a point, and Geld and Gabil nodded their agreement.

  “If the enemy is going to be wary of us anyway,” added Hakuro, “would it not be best to focus more on our own safety?”

  Soei gave this a silent nod of his own.

  I could understand everyone’s worries, sure. But I could cover for that.

  “It’s all right. I can actually call for Veldora anytime I want with the Summon Storm Dragon skill. That doesn’t count as an attendant, right? So if things go bad, I can ask for his help then. Until that happens, if it does, I want him protecting this town.”

  I smiled triumphantly at the audience, asking them to defy me.

  My leadership seemed impressed, at least, as did Veldora: “Gwaaaaahhhh-ha-ha-ha! I see! I’ll be the great hero who swoops in to the rescue at the last moment!”

  Great. If you’re fine with that, so am I.

  “Isn’t that kinda unfair…?”

  “Don’t be stupid, Ramiris. I was hoping you’d call it smart.”

  Ramiris may not have liked it much, but Veldora was already murmuring his agreement. Just one more push…

  “Besides, that gives you one more slot to fill for Walpurgis, doesn’t it?”

  This visibly excited her, as it did the rest of my government.

  “Oh, that totally makes sense, Rimuru! So who’re you gonna match me with?”

  I guess she had no complaints. Really, I think all she wanted was a chance to show off to the other demon lords. But at least she was on my side.

  Now for that last one. I could feel all the unpicked holding their breath, but sadly for them, I needed someone strong in that position. Benimaru would’ve been great, but he’d kinda be handling a war in my absence, so I went with someone else:

  “Sorry to disappoint you all, but I’d like Haku—”

  “A moment, please!”

  I was stopped by the woman standing behind Ramiris—Treyni.

  “Sir Rimuru, I hope you will give me this assignment!”

  “Oh, Treyni! Just look at you!”

  Ramiris was already tearfully accepting the offer. Well, so be it.

  “All right. I’ll let you go along, Treyni.”

  Now we had our member assignments for the Walpurgis Council. Me, with Shion and Ranga as my attendants, and Ramiris, with Beretta and Treyni under her. Then, if we needed it, Veldora was a quick summon away.

  Lucky thing, indeed, that I was accepted.

  Me and Leon Cromwell also kind of had some issues to tackle, but I’d settle with just meeting him in person this time. I had Shizu’s request to fulfill, and I didn’t want to ignore that forever, but my target right now was Clayman. I hadn’t forgotten about the orc lord chaos or about Mjurran.

  But most of all, I was concerned about Milim. One slipup, and I might be forced to fight her next. I was prepared to face down Clayman, but the idea of a life-and-death struggle with Milim made me singularly unenthusiastic. It’d be great if I could get all that worked out at Walpurgis. If not, I’ll think of something then.

  Clayman, you’ve made an enemy out of me. And I’m not lenient enough to easily forgive someone I’ve identified as such. You better be ready for me. And if you lay a hand on any of my people, you can expect to pay for everything you dish out.

  Dahh… Now I’m starting to adopt Shion’s way of thinking. Still, I couldn’t help but feel a little happy about it. The time for fretting in darkened rooms was over. Now we had a clear, concrete goal to reach out to.

  CHAPTER 3

  THE EVE OF BATTLE

  It turned out to be unusually easy for Clayman to convene a Walpurgis Council.

  The use of Carillon’s “betrayal” as the topic was important to him. The way it was explained to the demon lords was basically that Carillon violated their nonaggression agreement by invading the Forest of Jura, and Milim punished him for it. That was clearly a screen, but none of the other demon lords protested. It would all be coming out during the Council—but by then, it’d be over. That was Clayman’s aim. Walpurgis would earn him valuable time toward awakening himself, becoming a true demon lord, and obtaining immense powers. And Milim would be there, too. If she acted subservient to him in front of the other demon lords, that’d just prove to them all that Clayman was not willing to accept any back talk.

  That was his plan, and to make it reality, he needed his military operation to succeed. It had to wrap up quickly, before the other demon lords could interfere. He also had the perfect excuse—to punish Carillon for violating that treaty, just like how the Council was convened. He just had to produce the evidence he needed to prove it.

  With everything in place, Clayman immediately took action. Passing through the demon lord Milim’s domain, his forces pressed on into the Beast Kingdom of Eurazania. Yamza, a man faithful to Clayman from his very heart, was chosen to be their leader. He was the only one who knew his master’s true aims—to drive his army of thirty thousand into Eurazania and claim the over ten thousand souls inside before the Council began.

  “These people drive me up the wall! How dare they propose that we work together?!”

  The man yelling angrily was Middray, head priest of the temple built for the Dragon Faithful in their domain’s largest city. This made him leader of those who worshiped Milim as a goddess.

  “But, Father Middray, failing to follow this order would put us in serious trouble. Yamza, their commander… He bore an imperial edict from Lady Milim herself, did he not?”

  The simpering associate pleading his case before Middray was Hermes, a member of the priests who served this temple. He had a transcendental air about him, which most people mistook as him being spaced out and insincere. It grated on Middray’s nerves.

  “Silence, Hermes. I don’t need you telling me that! I know it!”

  Hermes couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the enraged head priest, even though he understood too well what irked him. It was those magic-born who had been camped out since yesterday. They had come here, to the City of the Forgotten Dragon, without warning and promptly occupied it like it was theirs all along. Apparently, they were a force from the demon lord Clayman, heading for the demon lord Carillon’s domain to investigate an agreement he had broken.

  Refusing them simply wasn’t an option. Middray could rant and rave all he wanted; it wouldn’t have changed a thing. There was a pretty good reason for this—the demon lord who toppled Carillon’s Beast Kingdom of Eurazania was none other than Milim, the object of Hermes’s and his fellow priests’ worship. If their supreme being was involved, it was only natural for Clayman’s forces to ask them for help in collecting evidence against Carillon. In fact, if they didn’t find anything, that would put Milim in an embarrassing position. Milim herself wouldn’t care, but Hermes and the others would.

  “Ah, Lady Milim can be such a handful sometimes…”

  Her selfishness could be forgiven, H
ermes reasoned, but just a little—really, a tiny amount would be fine—he wished that she gave them a moment’s worth of consideration.

  “How dare you, Hermes! You will never cast doubt upon Lady Milim’s actions!”

  “No, I know that, but…”

  But it’s getting harder and harder for us because we’re always spoiling her. He didn’t say it. It’d just spark another wave of anger from Middray. This is quite a handful, he thought, sighing.

  He recalled how things had spiraled downward since yesterday. The army had requested permission to pass through in advance, and even then, their high-pressure tactics rubbed the priests the wrong way. This force clearly looked down upon the Dragon Faithful; it was obvious that their requests for “support” weren’t really requests at all. They were orders, through and through.

  The Dragon Faithful that resided here, in the City of the Forgotten Dragon, numbered less than a hundred thousand in total. They all worked together in their daily lives, there being no central government to speak of. As a result, none were particularly gifted in battle—they relied on Milim’s protection to keep the peace.

  That, at least, was how it appeared to outside observers. But this was only half right.

  Yes, there was no government. All the crops and other goods produced were collected at the Central Temple, where it was distributed equally by the head priest. It might seem like this system would fail, encouraging people to grow unproductive and lazy, but that wasn’t the case. Everyone, workers and nonworkers, was guaranteed at least a certain amount of the wealth—and the more hardworking would also be provided with additional supplies.

  This was similar to the “universal basic income” idea that had gained traction around modern Japan. The main issue was who got to decide how much of a contribution each individual made to society…and that was Middray’s job, granted exclusively to him by Milim.