bookworm

Whoa, Mr. Tempest is here?”
Now Kenya and Ryota noticed me, lagging a little behind the girls. They were drowned out by the other children.
“W-wowwww! Mr. Tempest!!”
“It’s really him! Whoaaaa!”
“Wait’ll I tell Dad back home!”
It was a big event, causing such a clamor that now the other teachers were coming in to see what was up.
“M-My lord?! You should have let me know in advance! I would have guided you around!”
“Are you kidding me?! I’m the vice-principal! If anyone’s giving Sir Rimuru a tour, it’s me!”
“Nonsense! Sir Rimuru named me the principal, and this is one responsibility I’ll never palm off on my staff!”
Another big furor.
These teachers were mainly retired adventurers, along with a few merchants Mjöllmile recruited from Blumund; we paid them a monthly salary. Our principal was one of the elders from the goblin villages. He was no good as a teacher, but he was great at settling disputes fast, and I wanted him to keep an eye on the kids and ensure the monster students weren’t being ostracized. The rest of the staff was all human, including a paladin we brought on as a special lecturer, and Hinata stopped in to look after Kenya and the others when she was free.
It all seemed to be going well, really. The paladin looked out of his comfort zone at first, but now he was instructing our monster and human students as equals, with no prejudice involved. That was a huge help.
“Yeah, um, call today a kind of stealth meeting. I had some business with Kenya’s class.”
“Oh, is that the case? Well, I hope you’ll be interested in sitting in on a class next time!”
“Indeed. Just let us know a date and time, and we’ll show you a perfect class!”
The teachers and students all nodded at one another. But hang on. What did he mean, a perfect class? I didn’t need them putting on an act for me. What was the point?
“Whoa, whoa, don’t put Sir Rimuru on the spot!”
This chaos would’ve continued awhile longer were it not for Fritz, the paladin in charge of my class today. Having a captain of the Crusaders preside over a class is pretty amazing in itself, I thought.
“You’re teaching today, Captain Fritz?”
“Aw, Sir Rimuru, no need for that captain stuff. Just Fritz is fine.”
“Oh? Then you can drop the sir stuff with me, Fritz.”
“I could hardly do that. Humor me with that much, if you wouldn’t mind. I might get dirty looks.”
Fritz smiled at me. He struck me as the last person to care about honorifics like that, but not even he could get that informal. And neither could I, really. Calling the heads of other states by their first names would be pretty stupid unless I was a real big shot.
“Ah yeah. If we were alone, sure, but not in a place like this, huh?”
“Thanks for understanding,” Fritz said with a wink and a smile. Getting winked at by a man wasn’t all that gratifying to me, but I did like his approach.
“But anyway, thanks for helping around this school.”
“Oh, stop! Compared with Lady Hinata’s harsh training, it’s like heaven around here. There’s free food; the children respect me… People in our group are fighting for this job, lemme tell you.”
I see. Not sure I really wanted to know about that. I appreciated how Fritz was being upfront with me, but I didn’t want to adopt his knack for creating awkward scenes…especially given that my Magic Sense had just picked up something.
“Oh? Well, that’s good, Fritz. My harsh training, huh? With your talents, I thought I was going easy, but maybe I shouldn’t have bothered.”
The cold voice was pointed straight at Fritz as Hinata appeared. A wave of anxiety coursed across the room, as both the children and the grown-ups stood up straight and froze. Even the faculty did, which I didn’t know whether to laugh at or be concerned about. Fritz, of course, had it the worst.
“G-gehh… L-Lady Hinata?! That, um, you misunderstand me! It was just a figure of speech, you could say…”
He tried to defend himself—in vain, I thought. This is exactly why situational awareness was so important. I prayed for his future happiness as I promptly hightailed it out of there.
We moved into the labyrinth. Hinata was here now, so I also took along the five kids and Kumara. Fritz—well, let’s not talk about him.
“I’ve been expecting you, Sir Rimuru…and you as well, Lady Hinata.”
“Ah, it’s the elder himself! Glad to see you’re well.”
We were greeted by Hakuro, who apparently had kindled a friendship with Hinata at some point. They were both smiling as they greeted each other.
“Sorry to make you take time out of your busy schedule.”
“Oh, it’s perfectly fine. We’ve taken care of all our major problems for the moment.”
“You did? Did you figure out who you’ll send to the Council?”
“Yes, Diablo attracted some new talent to our group. She’s been named Testarossa, and I’ll be glad to introduce you next time.”
“…She’s ‘been named’? There’s a lot I want to say about that, but we don’t have any time to waste, so I’ll hold my tongue.”
“Um… Sorry?”
“It’s fine. I already know how much you’re lacking in common sense. Asking for more details will just give me another headache.”
She may’ve been whining a little, but pretending not to hear what Hakuro just said was probably the best thing for her, yes.
“Anyway, I’m here today because I wanted to show you how these kids were progressing. I’ve been teaching them alongside Sir Hakuro, but I want you to see what they’re capable of, too.”
Hmm… Not sure how I felt about that, but let’s play along.
“If you’re phrasing it like that, I guess they’ve kind of grown?”
“‘Kind of’ is one way to put it. Once you see them in action, you’ll get it. This labyrinth is so useful, isn’t it? You can fight at full blast without worrying about dying.”
Hinata grinned, projecting as scary an image as always. She always had this streak of intimidation that bordered on the sadistic.
“All right. How about I summon some Replicants to take them on?”
With some choice jiggles, I spat a body out of me. This was a human-shaped clone, me remaining in my original slime self.
“All right! It’s been ages since we fought Mr. Tempest!”
“This is so great. Now he can see just how much I’ve grown!”
Kenya and Alice, the two main fighters of the crew, gleefully took positions in the front row. Next to them, the more taciturn Gail was doing a few quick stretches while Ryota, despite his usual reluctance, was looking just as excited—if he wasn’t trying to run away, he must’ve had some confidence, at least.
And as for Chloe and Kumara, the last two:
“I’ll head out front first!”
“Huhhhh? But I wanna fight Mr. Tempest, too!”
They were just as enthusiastic.
“All rarin’ to go, huh? I can take you all on at once, but how about we try some one-on-one battles?”
Everyone smiled at me, excited to battle—and I certainly didn’t mind humoring them now and then. With that ill-advised optimism in mind, we began the mock fight.
………
……
…
One hour later:
“Y-you’ve gotten way too strong, guys!”
My shocked voice echoed across the labyrinth.
Kenya was clearly stronger than a rank-and-file paladin. He formed a perfect combination with the light elemental spirit inside him, unleashing a litany of sword moves from his weird, manga-like stance. Ryota wasn’t as good as Kenya with a blade, but with his mix of water and wind spirit magic, he demonstrated a nimble skill with battle. Gail was a steady presence in the fight, focused on defense and careful movement, and he handled his sword and shield well. He also had good control over earth-based spirit magic, making him a bit like fighting an iron wall.
Thus, the boys were surprising enough, but the girls were even more amazing. Now I could see why Alice was nicknamed the Empress. I don’t know where she was taking them out from, but she now had several dolls of magisteel that resembled Beretta and seemed almost alive as they lunged at me. She was every bit the Golem Master she was, and she wasn’t messing around with toy dolls today. If she faced anyone besides me, they’d be in real trouble.
But in addition to that, Alice had a finisher move where she willed a huge number of swords into the air and doggedly sent them flying my way. That was a surprise. Their paths were irregular and hard to predict; without my Predict Future Attack skill, I might’ve been run through several times. Another few years, and she could probably be an even match for a paladin captain.
As for Kumara:
“Okay, guys, time to show Sir Rimuru what we’re made of!”
With that shout, she released her full force, nine tails shimmering behind her cutesy figure. The next moment, each tail transformed into a magical beast. I kind of anticipated this, but still, having eight beasts to deal with at once was a surprise. Even two of those beasts boasted a lot of strength—I could see why Clayman treated them as a kind of last resort. And now there were eight of them.
The ninth one was apparently associated with Kumara herself, while the other eight were all magical beasts. Each one was over A in rank, so not even your average paladin stood a chance, and they all shared in one another’s battle experience, so they worked well as a team. At this point, I think they could possibly beat Fritz, making Kumara a little girl with the power of one of the Ten Great Saints. It’d be hilarious, except for the fact that it was all true. If those beasts gained any more experience, the strength level would just be incomprehensible. A worthy guardian for Floor 90 of the labyrinth, no doubt about that.
So that brings us to Chloe.
“Heee-yah!!”
It was a cute little shout, coming from her, but there was nothing cute about how she held a sword. She was faster than Kenya—or really, it wasn’t even something worth talking about on that level. I fought against six adversaries today, but Chloe was the only one I had to get real serious about. Or maybe I’m thinking about it the other way around. If I didn’t get serious, then Chloe was now strong enough to be a danger to me. I wouldn’t die if I went easy on her, mind you, but I didn’t want to look uncool in front of all the kids. As a responsible grown-up, I couldn’t embarrass myself around them. So that’s why. Don’t call it immature, all right? I’ll throw all generosity aside if it means protecting what little pride I have.
“I can see why you did that.”
“As can I. It is only with the young Chloe that I get serious in our mock battles, after all.”
Really…? So Chloe was now tough enough to challenge Hinata and Hakuro, both above me in skill? It shocked me to the core. This innocent little girl was now making me shudder.
“No, dude, that was really great!”
“Right? Hearing Mr. Tempest say that gets me all pumped up!”
“Yeah, but Chloe totally stole the show today. I mean, you call me the Empress, but I still can’t beat her in combat.”
“Ah, Chloe’s on another level. She looks all meek at first glance, but rile her and she’s a menace. You’re not scary at all when you’re mad, Alice, but with Chloe, I’m cryin’ uncle pretty much immediately.”
Ryota and Gail nodded next to the indignant Alice. The boys all seemed in agreement.
“Kenya’s real good, too, though. It’s just that his stance doesn’t really match his skill set. If he worked on his stuff a little more, I think he’d be able to string some good combos together.”
It was a very manga-like stance, but it wasn’t inherently a bad one. It was just a poor fit for traditional swordplay, forcing him to take extra steps throughout his approach. If he could get rid of that, I think he could be stronger.
“That’s the thing. No matter how much I instruct him, he’s still sticking with that…”
Hinata must have noticed as well. She dejectedly sighed.
“So what? I learned this stance directly from Masayuki!”
Huh? Did that fool give Kenya a little uninvited advice? I mean, the stance looked cool and was effective in its own way…but as someone who knows just how powerful he really is, it just seemed so wrong for him. No wonder it looked like something from a fighting manga—Masayuki probably lifted it directly from one series or another.
“Well, I suppose just telling him won’t work. Let’s teach him so he gets rid of his bad habits and polishes up his combo strikes some more.”
Unlike Hinata, Hakuro wasn’t hung up about doing things the standard way. He had a few off-book moves of his own, so if Kenya found this approach effective, Hakuro didn’t mind going with that. It wasn’t absolutely the wrong thing for him, either, so I’ll let Hakuro work that out over time.
More importantly:
“Chloe, your sword moves are exactly like Hinata’s, aren’t they? Very pretty. A good example for everyone.”
She smiled brightly at the compliment. “Yeah! It’s the same as what Shizu used, so I tried to copy them!”
“They’re not the easiest things in the world to copy, you know. I’m still reliant on skills for them, but you learned them entirely based on your own talents. I think you should be proud of that.”
“Indeed! I’ve instructed a great many students, but I’ve never seen so much raw talent from one person. It’s nothing short of ominous, in fact!”
Hinata and Hakuro were both tough teachers, and they had nothing but praise for Chloe. I guess it really was talent. She was still young, but I couldn’t even guess what would happen as she matured. I wasn’t sure if I was fearing it or looking forward to it.
It turned out, however, that Hinata had some other business today.
“I called you here in part so you could see how these children were progressing. They all have talent, but they’re still young. I wanted you to have an accurate gauge of how they are right now, to ensure we don’t guide them down the wrong path.”
That was always a consideration for me, of course, but I accepted the word of caution. Shizu had watched these kids, after all, so to Hinata, I suppose they were kind of like her own siblings.
“All right. We have a lot of people in town who can guide them, Hakuro included. Me too, for that matter. We’ll make sure they don’t go down any wayward paths.”
“Hee-hee! I thought you’d say that…but just in case, you know.”
She was such a worrywart. I loved how kind she really was, despite that cold facade she always put up.
“So did you have some other reason to be here today?” I asked her as the kids all play-fought against Hakuro.
“Yes. In fact, it’s the main reason.”
She stopped there, eyes turned toward the children. Even Hakuro had trouble dealing with five of those kids at once. He could keep up with their moves, yes, but if he delayed his reactions for even an instant, he’d suffer a lethal blow. In terms of pure physical talent, someone like Kenya was easily above him. He couldn’t let his guard down for a moment.
Kumara, by the way, wasn’t participating in this. If she really wanted to fight, she’d overwhelm Hakuro with pure numbers. But even without her, Chloe gave the kids a decisive advantage, so I thought this was a good pairing. It was, in a way, a grand demonstration of fighting skills, one boundlessly entertaining to watch.
“Isn’t that amazing?” Hinata softly said. “Especially at her age.”
She was looking at Chloe. The other four—Kenya, Ryota, Gail, and Alice—were all impressive enough in their own right, but Chloe was simply extraordinary. Without her, Hakuro could easily wrap up this battle without breaking a sweat.
The mock battle came to an end, all the children panting as Hakuro started giving them advice. If they were fighting this hard every session, I could see why they were advancing so fast.
Hinata then moved on to the main topic at hand. “Sorry,” she said, focusing on me again. “I just got caught up watching them. But Lady Luminus, you know, she’s pestering me about when we’ll hold the music-exchange program. I figured she was interested in the idea, but she’s even more enthusiastic about it than I thought. So I thought I’d let you know.”
That was unexpected…or to be exact, I had been busy with so many other things that I kind of procrastinated on that proposal.
“Ohhh, right, she really liked our recital, didn’t she? Well, Baton and the orchestra are still practicing regularly. They’ve been expanding their repertoire.”
“Honestly, I’m amazed you remembered all those songs. I can’t read sheet music or anything, so writing down the songs in my head just seems impossible to me.”
Wow, so Hinata actually admits to being bad at something? She didn’t seem too enthused about the concert, either. Maybe she was tone deaf. A feeling of superiority washed over me, even though I was wholly reliant on Raphael for that stuff.
“Well, maybe we ought to stop by soon, then.”
“Yeah. Transporting your musicians might be a pain, though. We could send over a few paladins and transport them via a Warp Portal, a few people at a time.”
“I’d appreciate that, thank you. It’s a big orchestra, and they have a lot of bulky instruments with them. A wagon caravan didn’t seem practical to me.”
Lubelius, if I recall, was protected by a large Barrier that prevented anyone from teleporting directly in. We’d need some other kind of rapid transport. A train system would instantly solve this problem, but that was for the future—no point pining for it right now. Plus, of course, this wasn’t just about transporting the musicians. They all had their own instruments, which really complicated matters. If we used horse-drawn carriages, they’d have to traverse a highway that’s not even completed yet, and traveling down unfinished roads could lead to bumpy patches and broken gear, so I’d like to avoid that if I could.
I was really starting to envy the dragon airships the emperor of Thalion used. A train trip would be fun enough, but if you really wanted to cut down travel times, air was the only way to go. Land and sea were your best bet for transporting goods, but for recreational and other travel, a plane flight was always the fastest and easiest way.
Thus, I appreciated Hinata’s offer. I’d be helping as well, of course, so we began to make plans for the big travel day. As we went over all the details, the resting children gathered around us.
“Are you going somewhere with Miss Hinata, Mr. Tempest?”
I explained to Chloe that we were holding a music concert in Lubelius.
“I wanna go, too!”
“Me too!”
“I’d probably fall asleep during it, but if Chloe and Alice are coming, so am I!”
“And me!”
“Guess I’ll join you, then. If I let them go alone, no telling what they’ll do.”
Chloe led the fray as they all clamored to come along. Hmm… What to do? I supposed it’d help broaden their horizons and all that, but I couldn’t guarantee that it’d be completely safe.
Kumara looked up at me as I pondered this.
“I—I want to go, too…”
Being the guardian of Floor 90, she had a job to attend to, but she just looked so forlorn to me as she asked. Maybe the logical part of her brain told her this wasn’t doable. But it’s totally natural for a kid to want to join her friends on a trip, and I wasn’t in the habit of turning that down.
“Aw, there’s no need to be so hesitant. Don’t be afraid to say what you want. I’ll indulge you at least a little bit.”
I didn’t want her turning out like Milim, but it wouldn’t do for her to lose her childlike charms, either. I patted Kumara on the head as I spoke. It felt just as soft and fuzzy as she was in fox-cub form. I suppose the kind of warmth it gave you was something that transcended boundaries between monsters and people…although Kumara was in human form here, so maybe I’m just thinking nonsense.
“Whoo-hoo! And no school while we’re on the road, too!”
“Why do you want out of school so bad, Ken? You have fun in there.”
“What are you, stupid? School’s fun, yeah, but getting to play around while everyone else is in class… It makes you feel special, y’know?”
“I get what you mean. I don’t want people to think I’m like you, but I’m kinda excited, too.”
“Right? That sort of thing!”
I had yet to say yes to anyone, but the kids were already mentally packing their bags and openly talking about cutting school. I get it. I really do, but I never tried doing that when I was a kid…
“Ah, fine. But you’ll have extra homework to do while you’re out, all right?”
“Huh?! Aw, c’mon, Mr. Tempest!”
I ignored Kenya’s protests. He needed to learn early on that you can’t always get everything you want. Life can often be unfair, so this was my way of toughening him up. Call it a rare parental gesture from me. I wasn’t harassing or punishing them at all, so hopefully they would understand.
“I’m just happy being with you, Mr. Tempest,” said Chloe, the original instigator, with a grin. Well, whatever. It’ll make for some good memories.
“You’re so easy on them.”
“Oh, are you against it, Hinata?” I asked, frowning my disapproval at her.
“Pfft. I didn’t say that.”
She looked peeved but put up no more opposition. We’re good, then. So now we had our basic plan ready—a tandem music concert in Lubelius, a team of musicians headed over there, and a bunch of kids joining the fray.
And here we were—the Holy Empire of Lubelius.
Already, the kids were agape at the exotic sight of Lubelius’s city streets. Baton and the musicians, meanwhile, were tensed up, unable to stay at ease. Diablo was with me as my secretary, as well as Shion—I had her stay home during my last trip, so she got to come along this time. Instead, Veldora was watching over things in Tempest; I reminded him of his vital position as labyrinth master, which kept him from getting any funny ideas. Really, Veldora could go to pretty much any nation besides this one—he and Luminus in the same place was just far too dangerous.
Report. The chances of a problem occurring are one hundred percent.
You couldn’t spell it out more clearly than that. If there’s a big mine in the ground in front of you, you’re not gonna march straight for it.
Hinata was our guide here. “Welcome to Lubelius,” she casually told us. “The Holy Emperor himself will be greeting you shortly.”
She was talking about Louis, and I had insider knowledge, of course, that he was only playing the role of Lubelius’s leader. Baton and the others, however, didn’t—it was classified information, and I told the kids to keep mum about it around the orchestra.
“So tonight there’s going to be a dinner party to formally greet all of you. Tomorrow, we’ll be tuning things at the concert hall, and we’re slated to begin rehearsals the day after that. The show’s scheduled for three days from now. Does all of that sound good to you?”
“What do you think, Baton?”
“Y-yes, Sir Rimuru! I think that will be fine. Everything’s been magically transported here already, and I believe it all made the trip safely. We’ll need to adjust our setup for the concert hall’s size, but I understand they have an orchestra of their own, so I don’t anticipate any issues.”
Sounds good to me.
“You sure, though? You’re only getting one day for rehearsals.”
“Ha-ha-ha! Here in Lubelius, yes, but we’ve never missed a day preparing for an event like this back at home. We’ll all work as one to answer the call!”
Great, then! If he was that confident about this, I was sure their extended efforts would pay off. Talent really can beat hard work sometimes, but then again, hard work is never gonna betray you. It connects to confidence, giving you the internal strength you need to express your full skills in any situation. Keep up a regular effort, and you’ll truly start believing in yourself. I internally gave Baton’s response an A-plus as I nodded at him; if he was that confident, I felt safe expecting big things from them.
That night, his orchestra received the royal treatment from the nobility. For the most part, it made them more nervous and awkward than ever.
“Um, Sir Rimuru, we’re just regular citizens of Tempest, you know. Is it really all right to be afforded rooms like these?”
We were traveling with over a hundred people, and they were all given their own room to stay in, each with a maid on standby in an adjacent chamber so you could call them in at any time. There was even a salon on the level of a four-star hotel spa, available completely for free. Baton and his musicians hardly knew what to do with themselves.
The dinner party was just as swank, featuring a cavalcade of bite-size courses served on top of a small spoon—a feast for the eyes and the palate. Each course was small but carefully seasoned and designed to keep your attention. Everyone loved them. Kenya and the kids acted like it wouldn’t be enough for them at first, but by the end of the banquet, they were all rubbing their full bellies. As a slime, I had a de facto bottomless stomach, but theirs were beholden to the laws of physics. Stack up enough tiny courses like this, and you’d still have trouble eating them all.
Unlike these innocent kids, though, our orchestra had mixed feelings. Tempest was full of culinary delights of its own, but you weren’t going to see intricate masterpieces meant for kings and princes like this. They’ve never had anything like it, and they certainly had not enjoyed this level of service before. I could tell them not to be nervous, but it was an impossible ask.
“Ah, don’t worry about it. It just shows how much they’re looking forward to your performance, I’m sure.”
At times like this, I took solace in the fact that I wasn’t doing the performing. I didn’t need to go up there and sing, as it were, for my supper. If I were in the same position as Baton, I’d probably be too anxious to eat anything—talk about a wasted opportunity. So I encouraged our band to enjoy themselves more as the dinner party went on.
After it ended, everyone retired to their rooms. The kids were already asleep by now, overstimulated and exhausted from the day’s events. With everyone else resting, I was all alone. My newfound ability to take naps helped for such occasions, but it looked like I wouldn’t have to rely on that. There was a knock on the door.
“My apologies for interrupting you late at night. Our leader has invited you to visit her, Sir Rimuru—would you happen to be available?”
I had been silently approached by Luminus’s personal maid, an overcomer. She seemed like quite an elegant talent, unlike the ones who populated our research lab. I had thought Luminus was going to snub us today, but it looked like she wanted to see me after all. There was no need to turn her down, so I roused Shion and Diablo, and we followed the maid down the hall.
“Good to see you again, Rimuru,” Luminus offered me in greeting. “I admire the restraint you show, not bringing that evil dragon along.”
She was talking about Veldora, right? I couldn’t blame her, given what he had done, but it still seemed kind of mean. But that was none of my business.
“Yeah, good to see you, too. And he’s a troublemaker, you know? If I brought him to something like this, it’d be more of a headache for me than anyone.”
“Hee-hee-hee! You know him well, then.”
It was a short exchange, but I felt a real connection to Luminus now. Veldora’s helping me in unexpected ways.
Waiting for us in that ornate chamber were three people, Luminus included. Gunther, her elderly butler, was stationed to her left, and Louis, the man serving as emperor, was standing to her right. With the passing of her stand-in Roy, this meant all the surviving members of Luminus’s Three Servants were on hand.
I wasn’t sure why Hinata was missing, though.
“But you didn’t call for Hinata?”
“No,” Gunther replied. “She may have advanced from Enlightened to Saint, but she’s still a former human being. Whether she no longer requires sleep or not, she has still not shed her human habits.”
“I did reach out to her,” added Louis, “but she told me some nonsense about sleep deprivation being bad for her skin…”
It was indeed past midnight, so they didn’t force Hinata up. That made sense to me, but then Luminus gave me a light smile.
“It’s odd, though. Her body’s structure has transformed to something closer to a spiritual life-form, so skin deterioration should be the least of her worries. But it’s true—Hinata actually does require sleep. Even as a Saint, her body’s still as it was during her human years. It will take many more years for it to undergo the full evolution. A lot of people have the wrong idea about this, but there’s nothing superhuman about Hinata at the moment.”
She had a little laugh at this.
Unlike monsters, humans cannot undergo sudden, explosive physical transformations. That means Hinata still retained some of her human characteristics—which, if looked at from a certain angle, could be seen as a weakness. This was something I subconsciously suspected, but it just showed how ridiculous monster transformations could be.
I, of course, did not require sleep, and neither did Diablo. Shion did, more or less, but three hours per session was enough, and she could stay continually active for seven days or more without rest. Benimaru and Soei were apparently the same way, which showed just how well monsters adapted to their environments.
But regardless, if Hinata wasn’t here, it wasn’t my job as Luminus’s invitee to care.
“Right, well, here’s a souvenir for you. It’s a collaboration between Shuna and Mr. Yoshida—an apple-brandy pound cake.”
I thought Hinata would complain about serving this while she was absent, but late-night snacks are a beauty no-no, I’m sure. She liked this kind of thing, but if she didn’t know about it, she wouldn’t have to agonize over taking a slice or not. It’s an act of kindness, really.
“What a feat! How thoughtful of you.”
Luminus was certainly complimentary. I must thank Shuna for letting me have this. My two self-styled secretaries would never demonstrate that kind of good sense. Diablo was always extremely considerate of me, but that didn’t apply to anyone else. They both have a screw loose, really. But anyway.
“So what did you want to see me for?”
“Yes, well, I wasn’t entirely sure whether to inform you, but I’ve decided I should. It seems that Granville is up to his tricks again. I am very much looking forward to our concert in three days, and I don’t want anything to get in the way of it. So I thought I would ask for your assistance.”
A rather casual way, I thought, to give some unpleasant news. I wanted to tell her that it was no topic to discuss over cake. Shion was nodding at this, but I don’t think she understood the portent of it. Diablo, meanwhile, looked like he couldn’t care less. If an enemy came along, he’d eliminate it—those were his thoughts, no doubt. But this was a pain to me. I was on foreign soil, not my own country. I could summon the demons, as well as the forces Soei deployed across the land, but I didn’t want to go overboard.
Besides…
“If it’s that big of a deal, shouldn’t you really be telling Hinata?”
Yeah, this kind of thing was right up her alley. She was far more qualified to patrol this nation than visitors like us. But Luminus shook her head.
“Hmph! Do not underrate us, please! No matter what kind of rabble attacks us, Lubelius’s defenses are ironclad. We’ve thoroughly enhanced our defensive measures to prepare for that evil dragon, after all. But we are not flawless. There is a possibility they may sneak in undetected through some previously unknown opening.”
The way she was talking, no invading army could manage to shake her steadfast confidence. I mean, if they were planning for war against Veldora, your typical army of ten thousand was no sweat. But that wasn’t Luminus’s concern.
“Some previously unknown opening? Ah, right, Granville Rozzo headed the Seven Days Clergy…”
“Exactly,” chimed in Louis. “Given his secret maneuvering around Lubelius across many years, I am positive he has at least one or two hidden routes he can take advantage of. Humans are gifted at sneaky tricks like that.”
“And as irksome as the thought is,” said a seething Gunther, “he once fought against Lady Luminus as the Hero of Light. With that experience, he could conceal himself entirely, and we’d have no idea he was there.”
That did sound dangerous. Kind of an inside job, then? Nobody would know the terrain better, certainly, and there was no doubting his strength. They say he’s more powerful than the late demon lord Clayman, so you didn’t want to let your guard down here…or so I thought.
“Ridiculous. I wish you wouldn’t disturb Sir Rimuru with such trifling matters.”
Then Diablo suddenly spoke up, sounding as brash as always. And here I thought he’d been behaving rather well—now the bomb was going off. I really wish he’d learn when to keep his mouth shut.
Louis and Gunther looked put off for a moment, but Luminus’s smile kept them in line.
“Hee-hee-hee… Well, Noir, I see Rimuru’s certainly tamed you, hasn’t he? Even seeing it in person, I can hardly believe it.”
I wasn’t sure why Luminus was smiling in a situation like this. But it kept things from getting awkward.
“I wish you wouldn’t call me that. I have a wonderful name granted to me by Sir Rimuru—”
“Enough, Diablo. I’m on friendly terms with Luminus, and I’d like to keep it that way.”
I gave him a warning that, hopefully, worked as an apology.
“My pardons.”
Refraining from addressing her any further, Diablo heeded my request and quieted down. He even bowed his head a little to Luminus and her servants, and while I’m sure he had no remorse whatsoever, I was willing to accept that. Luminus, after all, was asking a favor of her guests, so I didn’t want to aggravate matters.
“No, I’d say Diablo there is correct. Perhaps it is wrong of us to make this request at all. But there is a good reason why I decided to share this with you.”
Very considerate of her, calling Diablo by name…even if it was a nickname. She chose not to sweat the details and quietly began explaining why she’d summoned us here.
“As I mentioned when I discussed how Hinata still needs sleep, humans cannot quickly adapt their bodies after an evolution. It is something they must settle into, through many years…”
An Enlightened figure, one qualified enough to be a demon lord, can evolve into a Saint, equivalent to an awakened demon lord. However, given the time it takes for this evolution to finish, you could say that a newborn Saint is not that much of a threat. They may have swells of energy flowing within them, but if they don’t know how to wrangle them, it’s pointless. Hinata could control her energies down to pretty exacting rates, but that was dependent on her own personal skills. It didn’t come as naturally to her as breathing, so the resulting burden had a physical and mental effect upon her.
But why would Luminus bring this up while she wasn’t there? …Actually, maybe it’s the opposite. She waited for her to be absent before she brought it up. And if human beings took a while to evolve, then…
“Now, going back to Granville for a moment, he is not currently a Saint. He is someone who has hatched out of a Hero’s egg, if you will—grown and flown away from the nest. Not even I can guess how powerful he has become.”
So he’s a true Hero, then?
Of course, this world had many types of Hero—some self-styled, others true Heroes in training as recognized by the world itself. Some were even “real” enough to do things like seal Veldora away for years. Just as seed demon lords could portray themselves as the real thing, those bearing hero eggs could be recognized as fully Heroic, and the difference in strength was roughly proportionate between the two. Heroes and demon lords really were united by fate that way—and in Granville’s case, we were safe in assuming he had the strength of an awakened demon lord.
“…You think he’s stronger than Hinata, maybe?”
“When I first heard Gren was killed by the likes of Nicolaus, I doubted my own ears. A Disintegration spell is among the most powerful magics of all, but Gren wasn’t enough of a fool to leave himself completely exposed to it. But back to your question…”
Luminus looked me straight in the eyes. So this is why she didn’t invite Hinata.
“…Yes. You’re right. I had hoped to tame that man for myself. Having fought him once, I know for a fact he’s stronger than the demon lords of old.”
She sounded completely confident, surprising not just me but her servants Louis and Gunther. They were both silent now, perhaps not realizing how misinformed their judgment of him was.
“Indeed, we never directly fought Gren, so…”
“But you would rate him that highly?”
“I would. I gave Gren free rein because I wanted to keep him in my personal sandbox. We both shared common goals, so I forged an agreement with him because I thought it would be fun. As head of the Seven Days Clergy, he was granted all kinds of political power. In a way, I kept him as my personal ace in the hole.”
That ace wound up betraying her before she could play it, going over to the other side and wrapping his hands around her neck. It was an error in judgment, I suppose, but I felt like I was a part of the cause, a little bit. Not that I was to blame, but…
“Well, Maribel’s dead now, after all. The cherished child of the Rozzo family.”
If the notoriously careful Granville was on the move now, that had to be his motivation.
“Ah yes, the child I caught sight of at your festival. I wasn’t aware at the time, but she was quite a foe, wasn’t she? If Granville treated her with so much respect, she might have been the key to all his ambitions.”
Maribel was a handful. If she stayed away from the spotlight, letting her conspiracies naturally play out, we’d have a maelstrom of evil to deal with. The enemy in front of you is never as potentially lethal as the one seething from far away.
Still, though…
“So what does Granville want? He can’t be taking action at this point out of some twisted desire to avenge Maribel.”
“That is probably… No. Never mind.”
Luminus stopped herself from saying something. She shut her eyes for a few seconds, deep in thought, before quietly continuing.
“Even long ago, his one hope was to spread peace across the world. He fought against countless slavering monsters and vicious magic beasts, defeating them in his quest to protect the human regions of the world. I fought that stubborn old man many times, until he understood that I wanted to live alongside humankind instead of eradicate them. Once we forged an agreement with each other, that was when peace finally spread across the West. Legions banded together to form small nations, which prospered and grew into larger ones over time. And it was Gren himself who appealed to them behind the scenes to create the Council of the West.”
Hearing the story like this, Granville—or the Hero Gren—really did seem like a legendary figure. He was now part of the shady Five Elders, but it was still all in the name of protecting humankind. No matter the motivations behind it, if you looked at the results he put up, Granville basically gave the human race a thousand years of peace, didn’t he…?
“The ancient elves who rule over Thalion have no territorial interests. We in Lubelius serve as a shield against the tyranny of Earthquake Daggrull and the Storm Dragon Veldora. The demons to the north keep attempting to intervene from their ice-shrouded world, but it’s more for entertainment than anything. If Guy were serious about it, he would have brought the world to its knees long ago, after all. That just leaves humankind’s other great outpost on this planet, and Granville has worked alongside the dwarves to combat it and hired merchants to prod its innards. He’s been doing all this by himself for ages.”
Put it that way, and Granville really seemed amazing.
…No. No, now’s not the time to commiserate with him.
“All right. So if he’s done all those noble things, what does he want?”
“Hee-hee… Don’t hurry me, now. I’d like to say that Gren has no reason to confront me, but I can think of one thing. I can think of it, but I have no intention of telling you.”
Oh. I figured as much, given that pause earlier.
“But I did receive some concerning news about his motives. Do you know Yuuki Kagurazaka?”
“Sure. You said he gave off bad vibes or something, didn’t you? He’s the mastermind who incited Farmus to fight and set Clayman against me.”
“Oh, you picked up on that? That saves me some time, then, but you should know that Yuuki has contacts with Gren. There is some kind of business going on between them, and it seems they’ve forged a pact of their own.”
Yuuki again? I’m really getting sick of him playing around with us. Without Raphael, I’m sure he would’ve easily pulled the wool over my eyes. If we kept letting him run around free, I’m sure we’d be constantly encountering the same problems. Maybe it’s about time to settle matters.
“So Yuuki’s motivations are lurking around behind Granville’s moves?”
“That they are. And I think one of his targets is all of you.”
I see. And with me outside of Tempest, now was the best time to attack?
“Interesting. So that child Yuuki wants this Gren character to fight against Sir Rimuru?”
Now it was Shion speaking up out of nowhere. I gave her a surprised look. Knowing her, I assumed she was spacing out on the conversation by now, but she actually had a full grasp of it.
“Keh-heh-heh-heh… Perhaps they think they enjoy an edge now that a few of us have left the country, but they had best think again. We have not one, but two members of the Big Four guarding you. No scheme of theirs could possibly cause any harm.”
Diablo, meanwhile, was the same as always. I really wish he wouldn’t bring up the Big Four right now. It’s so embarrassing.
“Well, remain on your guard. Once three days pass, it will be none of your business anyway. As I said at first, all I care about is enjoying a nice concert.”
Luminus never wavered. She called Gren a threat, but to her, the entertainment came first. And as we concluded this private midnight talk, I began thinking I could learn from the way she compartmentalized things.