.
.
.
Alright, now that we had finished talking about the difficult topics about running
the nation, it was time to proceed with the reflection meeting.
I switched up my mood and wanted to hear what everyone had to say.
"Next—does anyone else have any opinion—?"
Hearing my words, someone stood up anxiously.
It's Veldora.
I've got a bad feeling about this, so I'm just gonna pretend that I didn't see…
"Rimuru, what the hell was that?"
How am I supposed to answer that?
"What do you mean?"
"The labyrinth! Of course. I was looking forward to it, and in the end, no one
managed to get to the 100th floor!"
Didn't I just give him a good scolding? Was he not reflecting at all?
He really just ignored everything I said.
And I wasted my time practicing what to speak—Veldora kept on complaining,
which really made me want to reply with a "so what." But I held back. If I were to
say something like that, he'd definitely lose control.
"Well, personally I'm not that satisfied with that part either."
"Right? You are still so reliable as usual. How do you plan to adjust things going
forward?"
It wasn't as if I would get an immediate result upon making adjustments. At
least not until we had adventurers who had the abilities to reach there.
"In any case, based on what happened, there's no way we can proceed with
this. Those adventurers were mostly either average or somewhat experienced.
They are already pretty good challengers—"
"Pretty good…"
"That sounded pretty rude…"
"But I don't feel like we can deny it either…"
The Cabal trio seemed down, but you guys spent all your time treasurehunting, so I can be a little salty.
"Don't be discouraged. All I did was walk the entire time. And for some reason
we ended up at the underground level 10. By the time I realized, my companions
had already killed the Level Boss…"
Masayuki was probably trying to comfort them, but no matter how you saw it,
he sounded like he was ridiculing them. But Elen didn't seem that discouraged by
it. Perhaps, to the trio, it didn't sound as bad. They looked surprisingly calm, so it
was probably okay to leave them alone.
"—In other words, you should think that it is still not your time to shine yet!"
As for Veldora, there'd probably never be a chance for him to shine.
"WHAT! Then were Milim, Ramiris and my efforts in vain!?"
Please count me in as well. While I thought this to myself, it'd be best not to
quarrel with him for too long.
"Don't worry. The labyrinth demonstration had a very good promotional effect
on the different nations."
"Huh?"
"Myourmiles-kun, please come and explain!"
As I ordered, Myourmiles stood up.
He then began to explain very confidently to Veldora.
"Due to the public display of the interior footage of the labyrinth, all of the
nations were very intrigued. The fact that a random treasure chest had the chance
to give rare-grade items also added on to the promotional effect."
"And it's all thanks to me…"
Um—I suppose you can put it that way… I guess?
"All the noblemen from the nations would definitely want to send their
adventurers there!" Myourmiles concluded his explanation.
It seemed that many noblemen hired adventurers or powerful mercenaries as
guards. In other words, once these people caught wind of a labyrinth with piles of
treasure, they would probably send a large group of adventurers to strike it rich.
Myourmiles also mentioned that the noblemen may sponsor challengers in
order to obtain the treasure. In addition, unemployed adventurers may want to
get involved for the money. They may try to challenge the labyrinth repeatedly.
They could probably tell from the experience of that Kai guy, that it was very
difficult to obtain rare-grade gear.
I wasn't gonna reveal anything here, but Myourmiles is in fact planning
something even shadier. It was something like a lottery, he had decided to spark
people's desire to draw lottery tickets. He was gonna intentionally let people see
others getting expensive items from the lottery in order to create a competitive
spirit. His plan was to make the adventurers and the nobles be our captives (money
trap).
Moreover, Myourmiles had other things planned out as well.
"In addition, I also want to establish a prize system. We will tell everyone that
once they reach level 100—in other words, when they actually conquer the
labyrinth—they can receive a huge prize. Naturally, many nobles would want to
sponsor adventurers and other challengers and send them down there,"
Myourmiles said with a smirk.
As long as we make the impression that the labyrinth is a place that will
generate enormous profit, even the scrooge of noblemen will fall for it. They will
probably hire the best of the adventurers, sponsoring them with gear to have a
better shot at challenging the labyrinth.
These noblemen were the so-called benefactors. If their adventurers
performed valiantly, the nobles themselves got to share the glory. Moreover, this
had tremendous potential for profitability. In other words, this was enough to
motivate the nobles.
Moreover, while the noblemen sponsors stayed in our nation, they would also
enjoy all the entertainment.
It also seemed like a good idea to use the live footage of the labyrinth
walkthrough as an attraction. We would also be opening a variety of other projects
as ways to attract more consumers.
Speaking of sponsors—I was even more impressed by Myourmiles upon
hearing his proposal. He was already a bad boy in my book, but I didn't expect
him to take it that far.
Indeed, surely the sponsors will be happy as well if their challengers acted
violently.
He really did think of everything.
One last thing.
I needed the help of the Freedom Association with several project ideas I had
with Myourmiles.
Veldora also seemed to have been suppressed by Myourmiles's presence and
became a lot more well-behaved. This was a good opportunity for him to bring it
up. Myourmiles began to discuss the matter.
"Leader of the Freedom Association, Yuuki Kagurazaka-sama, the thing is, we
have a favor to ask, or rather, we have a proposal."
"Proposal? What would that be?"
"As I have just mentioned, our nation will be providing prizes for the labyrinth
walkthroughs. I would like the Freedom Association to handle the matter."
"Why?"
"The biggest reason is for the promotional effect. Your association has divisions
set up in different nations. It will be the fastest and most effective way to
promote."
"I see, that makes sense. But what other reason do you have?"
"Yes. In order to manage the challengers, I would like to utilize the identity
cards of the adventurers."
"I see now. Seriously though, that's some idea you've come up with…"
I'm not sure if Yuuki was impressed or shocked, he fell into his own thoughts
as he sighed.
Our nation could also issue the permits to enter the labyrinth, but that would
take a lot of extra work. We wanted to lower the budget as much as possible and
borrow the labor of the Freedom Association. Such planning to exploit others was
the core of Myourmiles's proposal.
"There're also benefits for the Freedom Association."
"Umm?"
"Due to Rimuru-sama's rule, the monsters in the Great Jura Forest have been
under control. We would be running the long border near the Great Jura Forest.
With that being the case—"
"I see, so you are saying that there will be less work for monster
extermination?"
"Indeed. However, there's a solution. It can be imagined that the interior of
the labyrinth will spawn a large number of monsters. By defeating these monsters,
you can gain 'Magic Crystals', fur, monster teeth, claws, etc. You can farm monster
materials on the regular—"
"—!"
"Surely the guild would gain profit through it?"
You could gain materials by exterminating monsters. Adventurers would sell
the materials as rewards. If not, the Freedom Association would act as the
middleman for purchasing these materials before selling them to buyers that
needed them, making money via handling the transaction.
And our nation could hand over part of the management of the labyrinth to the
Freedom Association and tax them for it. In this way, even if adventurers lost their
job in the future, they could also find new employers. This project would provide
multiple benefits.
How would Yuuki react to this?
"Will Rimuru-sama help out with ideas in the future as well? You must be
Myourmiles-san. I will consider your proposition; we will handle the matter and
build a division of our organization in this town. Will you be able to provide us with
the facilities?"
"Most certainly. When the staff are settled, we will discuss further."
"I'm truly defeated here, Rimuru-san…"
Yuuki gave off a wry smile.
And so, Myourmiles's and my proposal were taken.
***
I spoke to Veldora.
"Have you heard, the proposal has been accepted. There's gonna be more
adventurers coming in the future."
"Um, um."
"Within the first year or so, it may still pose a huge challenge. But after two,
three years, I think there will be more capable people."
"Ho? Do you have any proof for that?"
"Well, the reason is simple. There is a very low chance of dying in the labyrinth,
so you can practice your skills in it. There's no reason why you wouldn't become
stronger throughout the process."
"I see. As expected from Rimuru, now I've got to look forward to it!"
To someone with longevity such as Veldora, two or three years would pass by
in the blink of an eye. That's why his face was plastered with a smile as he
commented about his expectations.
Right, right, it's great now that I've managed to convince him.
While I was laughing internally, Hinata suddenly raised her hand to speak.
"Can I interrupt for a second?"
"What is it?"
Although I didn't think she objected to the matter until now, my nerves were
still kind of tense. I suppose I'm once bitten, twice shy.
"I have a request, or rather, a proposal."
Her tone was giving me a bad feeling.
Myourmiles on the other hand, was sweating while trying to avoid eye contact
with her.
"…I'm listening…"
"Thanks, then allow me—"
What Hinata brought up was "Crisis awareness may be reduced as a result of
labyrinth activity."
If they become accustomed to not dying in the labyrinth, it may cause them
to become careless outside. That was Hinata's fear. I was worried about that too,
but I felt that the adventurers should see to that themselves. I was a bit short on
words while Hinata pointed it out.
"Uh—I guess we can only remind them to pay more attention…"
"Don't think that you can just hand wave this away, this is a matter of life and
death."
"Ayy, let's not put it that way."
"No."
"Come on, Hinata-san?"
I begged Hinata. She finally decided to bring up her own proposition.
"—But, if you are willing to accept my proposal, I may just approve your plan."
"What proposal would that be, please indulge me?"
Making Hinata angry will make me die pretty horribly. That's why I should
humble myself. But I may have worried too much.
"Hehehe, Rimuru, Rimuru—it's nothing really. You don't have to be that
nervous, this proposal would benefit us both."
"Eh?"
"The labyrinth poses a pretty good challenge. Not only can one train their
ability down there, we can also practice effective fighting strategies against
monsters. However, I'm worried that people may put their guards down against
death. That's why I want to dispatch the Priests of the Western Saints Church
there."
"The Priests! No way, are you serious, commander Hinata-sama?"
It was Fuze who suddenly interrupted.
Many at the scene were shocked, and upon inquiring about it, I learnt that
Priests were very capable users of holy magic.
Now that you've said so, I believe I've heard similar rumors.
There was a group of people whose ranks were above the average ministers
and have learnt the secret "Holy Magic" of the Western Saints Church. And Bishops,
as well as higher ranked personnel, could even perform "God's Miracle", a spell
strong enough to restore damaged body parts.
"Yes, I'm serious. It was indeed a secret technique, but with how things are
progressing, they won't grow in the future. Even though these people may have
the talents of geniuses, none of them are able to cast God's Miracle "Resurrection".
If this is to continue, the knowledge passed down from ancient times will be buried.
It may be a different case when it comes to wartime, but such a technique is
difficult to pass on during peaceful time."
In summary, are their resurrection skills rusting because they don't have
people to revive?
While I felt that something was off, I understood what Hinata meant. She
wanted to use our underground labyrinth in order to train their "Holy Magic".
This was also pretty beneficial from our perspective.
Even though not everyone could practice God's Miracle of "Resurrection", if
people capable of using revival magic in general increased, combat outside the
labyrinth would be safer as well. In addition, it was also helpful for me to quickly
fully understand the "Ultimate Secret of faith and grace" of Ruminism via actual
information of their practices.
I don't oppose the idea.
"Same here, we would be troubling you as well."
"Hehe, I knew you would say that."
Disregarding the shocked crowd, Hinata and I agreed to each other's
proposals. Now the matter of dispatching Priests into the labyrinth was also settled.
Just as I thought that the matter was finished, Hinata raised another proposal.
"By the way, there's something else. I want the Holy Knights to challenge the
labyrinth as well as part of their training."
"Huh?"
"Veldora-san over there—eh, weren't you selling takoyaki out there?"
"T-that's irrelevant to the topic, right? Let's get down to business already!"
"R-right, I definitely did not sell takoyaki under an 'alias'!"
"…Oh, and I almost managed to convince myself otherwise… It was you after
all. Never mind, it's really nothing," Hinata muttered to herself tiredly.
It was impossible to deceive Hinata. Honestly, to anyone who had heard of
Veldora in the past, there was no way you could fool them either.
Because Veldora was insistent on opening up a teppanyaki shop, I asked
Myourmiles to help him prepare shop staff. Veldora later came up with some ideas
and requested Kurobee to prepare some iron griddles. It was the specialized iron
griddle that is commonly seen in Osaka, Japan for takoyaki.
The condition for Veldora to open shop was to not expose his own identity.
With that being said, the residents of the town already knew who he was. That's
why I told him to at least hide his identity from the staff, and use an alias… And
Veldora actually decided to use the name "Alias."
Allegedly, the shop called "Alias Takoyaki" had quite the popular sale.
But that's really irrelevant to our topic right now.
"Please forget about that first, I want to discuss in detail about the Holy
Knights' training."
I managed to force the topic back on track. Hinata didn't seem to mind, so we
continued as if nothing had happened.
"In my opinion, those who have just been enlisted as a Holy Knight wouldn't
be able to win against Gozer. That's why I want to split them into groups of five to
six people to challenge the labyrinth. On one hand they can practice combat, on
the other hand, we can also train the Priests we mentioned. I believe anyone with
experience can easily break through level 50."
"Ho? I'm fine with that. In fact, that's just down my alley!"
Veldora's spirits were high.
Indeed, all members of the Holy Knights are over Rank A. Considering their
abilities, only a group of a few Holy Knights may have a chance against Gozer.
"In addition, I wish to let some of the captains join."
Hinata dropped the bomb on everyone at the scene.
"Are you serious? Hinata-sama!"
"Are we to join the labyrinth challenge as well?"
Arno and Bacchus, who were stationed in our nation, immediately asked
Hinata. She was not fazed one bit and answered quite casually:
"Isn't that only natural? This is the perfect training ground, there's no worry of
death. Since there is already someone that strong guarding level 50, surely it
would mean there would be even stronger guardians as you go further down,
perhaps someone even you guys won't be able to win against."
"Um um um," I heard Veldora responding as he listened with extreme
satisfaction.
On the other hand, Arno and the others began to protest. It seemed that their
displeasure was at the maximum as well.
"No no no, there's no such thing, Hinata-sama. We are the strongest of
humanity, the Holy Knight Order—and 'Saints' who can stand against 'Demon
Lords'."
"Indeed, we would agree if the opponents are the demon lord's subordinates,
but mere labyrinth monsters—"
"If that's the case, show your strength to me now."
Arno and Bacchus's opinions were crushed before Hinata.
Indeed, if they could manage to break through all 100 levels of the labyrinth,
they may stand correct.
That would be a simple truth that cannot be rebutted.
However, the sad thing was—
"Eh, hold up a minute, could the one guarding level 100 be…"
"Kukuku, GA-HAHAHA! This is supposed to be a secret, but let me tell you real
quietly here. Indeed, the guardian on that floor is me, 'Storm Dragon' Veldora!"
Veldora-aniki looked really happy about that. In comparison, Arno and Bacchus
were white as sheets out of despair. The yin and yang here made a pretty drastic
contrast.
And so, I agreed to Hinata's proposal.
***
Given the state of the matters, everyone seemed to have spoken.
There was one more thing that I hoped to confirm with the opportunity. Or
rather, it was the reason why I gathered all my connections.
"There is one thing I hope to ask—"
With that said, I began to ask about the eastern merchants.
I was guessing those people had been busy scheming behind everyone's back,
mentioning this matter was also a reminder to everyone.
"Dwargon welcomes and accepts all, so with everyone coming and going, the
eastern merchants probably also passed by. However—"
"To answer your doubts, King Gazel. All people entering and exiting our nation
are under our surveillance."
While near the border of Armored Nation Dwargon, anyone would be under the
surveillance of the spymaster Anrietta. To try to sabotage things would be the
equivalent of committing suicide. So, the eastern merchants would probably
behave there.
"Unfortunately, our nation was too weak as a trading partner. Moreover, the
only advantage our nation had was the espionage department. Even though we do
have a record of the flows of relevant goods, we don't often see any eastern
merchants."
"Oi oi oi, your king is present right here, how can you say something like that…"
It seemed that not many people traveled to the Blumund Kingdom. And since
the nation itself was capable of surveilling these people, we didn't need to be
worried about them.
"Is our nation fine in that regard?"
"Of course. All the foreign imports are overseen together, the thirteen royal
families were not given authority over them."
Basically, Sorcerer's Dynasty Sarion was almost in a lock-down state. There
wasn't much communication with other nations, so the eastern merchants wouldn't
be able to sneak in there. Moreover, there were few people that could manage to
fool the eyes of Elmesia, so I didn't think it would be an issue.
The only nation that concerned me was the newly established nation of
Farmenas run by Youmu.
"Right, Diablo-san did order Larzen-san to run the books logging trades."
"Seriously, don't put it that way. Excuse us, Diablo-san asked Larzen to read
through all the materials and check on the influence of the eastern merchants in
order to cut them off from our nation."
That's reassuring, Diablo seemed to have handled everything. He's way too
competent, how scary. I was going to praise him, but perhaps not in front of the
guests.
"As for the Freedom Association, I'll have to leave the judgement to each
division."
He had a point. Not all eastern merchants were schemers, surely there were
people who just wanted to do business normally. You couldn't order the association
to just suddenly pause trade with these people. The members of the association
needed to make a living as well.
To this point, Yuuki promised to send people from the Freedom Association HQ
to instruct things in secret. I'd leave it to him.
"The Western Saints Church—actually, Holy Empire Ruberios have ceased
trading with any eastern merchants."
"Eh?"
Hinata said something unexpected.
Upon inquiring, I learnt that Hinata was almost manipulated.
"The merchant's name was Damrada, some kind of a big-shot. That's why I
trusted his words… And it turned out he deceived me."
"Deceived you?"
"Right, that night—Demon Lord's Walpurgis—someone invaded Ruberios. I
managed to get back in time to chase him away, but in reality, the enemy seemed
to have a meeting with Damrada."
"Um, they must be connected."
Upon hearing Hinata's explanation, Gazel also agreed that Damrada and the
invader were in the same band.
I concurred.
The mysterious rival Hinata mentioned—are these people tied in with the
eastern merchants?
Speaking of which, it was the day that Demon Lord Roy was murdered. Could
it be, that it was the invader who killed Roy?
"Right, anyhow, I hope everyone has an idea of the situation now," I concluded
as everyone nodded in agreement.
That's good. We are going to put up our guard against the Eastern Merchants,
and we should do our best in getting hold of their future movement.
After confirming everyone's will, the meeting was dismissed.
***
Later, the conference room was left with me and my companions alone.
"So, Rimuru-sama, do you have a conclusion?"
"Um, I'm certain now. 'That lord' spoken by Clayman must have been Yuuki
Kagurazaka."
"Kufufufufu, my thoughts exactly. The only major hindrance was the lack of
evidence, however, it was definitely him."
I answered Benimaru's question with Diablo's agreement. There was no longer
any doubt. After hearing Ruminas's advice, I was mostly certain about the fact.
While I'd reserve my judgement about the other person, Yuuki was no doubt the
puppet master.
After all, there were few people that knew about my relationship with Shizusan. I was wondering who gave the information to Hinata, and she admitted herself
that it was the eastern merchants. Moreover, as I was gathering information, I
came across something interesting.
"Myuran claimed that she has never heard of the Moderate Clown Troupe."
"Clayman was a conniving demon lord, but he didn't even trust his own
subordinates enough to reveal the existence of the clowns."
I nodded to Geld's words.
Indeed, Clayman didn't trust anyone, and so no one knew there were the clown
troupe behind the scenes.
"But on the side of the eastern merchants, the result checks out with Shuna's
investigation. Clayman seemed to have publicly gone into contact with them.
Myuran has seen them a couple of times, she was even a consultant to the
merchants."
"Ho, in other words—"
"Have those clowns been disguising themselves as merchants and kept on
being in contact with Clayman?"
Geld and Gabil seemed to have understood as they nodded in response.
"Regarding that, Adalman also provided us with some evidence. The Moderate
Clown Troupe seemed to have revealed themselves before him. They didn't
disguise themselves as merchants in front of Adalman and didn't care to hide their
tracks."
It was now for certain that the clown troupe appeared near Clayman's base,
though no one in the castle had seen them. In that case, my theory may turn out
to be correct.
"The Moderate Clown Troupe has ties with the eastern merchants, that's gotta
be how it is," Diablo's smile deepened as he commented.
"It would also mean that the person that murdered Demon Lord Roy was
Laplace. The guy that vanished during the great war."
Benimaru gave off a smirk as he presented his own theory.
We knew that there were three clowns in total, with Footman and Tear acting
behind the scenes during the great war. They seemed to be managing majins that
were suspected to betray Clayman.
Under those circumstances, what could the last clown be doing…
According to Benimaru, we could assume that he invaded Ruberios in search
of a certain object.
I nodded and continued:
"Those who knew my relationship with Shizu-san have all been present during
the meeting just now. That's why I asked him that one last question."
With the exception of Cabal, Elen and Gido, both Gazel and Elmesia were also
off the list. As for Fuze, Veryard and the Blumund Royal Court (the King and
Queen), I guess you can say that they've washed themselves of suspicion. Since
their connection with the eastern merchants was decidedly minimal. There also
wasn't any clear motivation for them.
There was also Hinata, but given the fact that she was almost manipulated,
there's no way she was the one behind the scenes.
That left us with Yuuki.
"He has admitted that he has ties with the eastern merchants."
"He couldn't really deny it. For instance, the high-quality paper they use were
obviously exported from the Eastern Empire. The fact that Yuuki had plenty in stock meant that there's undoubtedly a tie between him and the eastern
merchants."
"Kufufufufu, if he really wants to deny it, we can use this against him. What a
missed opportunity."
A missed opportunity indeed, but you don't have to be too pessimistic.
I didn't tell anyone unfamiliar to the whole ordeal about my special relationship with Shizu-san. If someone deliberately leaked out such information, it would
obviously mean that such a person was hostile towards us. More importantly, the same person was certain that the information would enrage Hinata—that's gotta be Yuuki.
I had my doubts towards other people as well, such as Cabal's party. However,
it was thanks to Elen's suggestion that I decided to become a demon lord in the
first place. And after learning that she had Emperor Elmesia behind her back, to leak my information to the Eastern Empire would gain her nothing.
Such an important secret must have only been leaked as bait.
The same logic could apply to the people from Blumund. In the hypothetical scenario that they had wished to be hostile towards us, why sign all the treaties. They should have been quietly observing and profiting from the start and wouldn't
have tried to find ways to communicate and deepen our relationship.
"I'm afraid that the goal of these eastern merchants may be to expand their
influence on the western continent. Is that why they felt that the church was in
their way?"
"I think so too. The reason why they had Hinata and Rimuru-sama duel each
other was probably to exhaust both of their strength."
"It didn't matter who would win, their goal was very obvious."
Benimaru and Diablo agreed with my views, and so I continued:
"Among the Western Nations, there are the two major powerhouses that are
the Council and the Western Saints Church. I believe the eastern merchants have infiltrated both. They were probably thinking about expanding their influence slowly over time. And the organization assisting their goal would be—"
"The Freedom Association?"
Hearing Diablo's response, I nodded deeply.
This was the most likely explanation in terms of motivation.
Although I didn't have any concrete evidence, I was almost certain.
"Well then, what should we do?"
Let's go kill him right now—that seemed to be what Diablo was hinting at,
please stop.
"Let's watch what they will do next, first. Since he has already generously
agreed to provide aid, I almost doubted whether my suspicion was misplaced. But we must act cautiously from now on to catch their tails."
"Understood. Then I will be observing the newly built department of the
Freedom Association in our town first."
"I'll be counting on you, Souei. And everyone, you must not act on your own!"
" " "Yes sir!" " "
This would do.
Honestly, I really wanted to just question Yuuki now. But we didn't have any evidence, and he may just run away after spouting out some clever rhetoric. Yuuki was the head of the Freedom Association after all, we couldn't touch him without proof.
There's also the possibility that I may have misunderstood him.
<
Estimate, you say. I suppose it's the same for Wisdom King Raphael-sensei,
even you can't make a definite claim without concrete evidence.
"Anyhow, in the country I stayed in my past life, there's a principal that
protects people who are not guilty. The general gist of it went 'One is innocent
until proven guilty.' With that said, please don't put your guard down!"
The lieutenants nodded firmly to my words.
What was Yuuki thinking—that I have no idea.
Me, Hinata and Clayman.
Even the eastern merchants, the Freedom Association, or perhaps the Council itself. Everyone had been manipulated by Yuuki.
While we couldn't prove that yet, it wouldn't be the same in the future. Right now, he was a target that had been locked on by us. We just had to prepare quietly before our final confrontation—
The happy days of the festival had ended.
The busy daily life returned.
There were still tons of things for me to do, and there were still more problems
for me to resolve. Right now I had no time to be upset.
The thought that I'd have to put on a mask during my future encounters with
Yuuki made me sigh with sadness.