Demon Lord
Glurusis sighed inwardly.
They had been running nonstop without rest, and had only just been released.
What a terrifying person! One wrong move in handling her and things could have gone terribly wrong. He felt that to his bones.
But now — how should he steer this conversation?
He had learned through limited contact that Demon Lord Milim had no hidden agenda whatsoever. None at all.
It was true that demons were not good at lying, but they were not as helpless about it as the general public believed.
For higher-ranking demon races, it was a different story, but for most demons, a little lie here and there was no problem at all.
Combined with the technique of simply not telling the whole truth, negotiations could go smoothly enough.
But whether the concept of "negotiation" even existed in Milim's mind was questionable.
She would make demands head-on, and if refused, she would throw a tantrum. That was the only image he could muster.
In truth, Glurusis had planned to observe the situation and make contact while concealing his identity as a high-ranking demon.
But Milim did not seem to have any such intentions. If they traveled together, any attempt at stealth would be rendered utterly meaningless.
So, what to do...
How should he broach the subject and arrange to split up?
Glurusis racked his brain.
For Myuran as well, this mission held no image of success.
Naturally, the bottleneck was Demon Lord Milim.
A Demon Lord who relied on brute force was not merely unsuitable for a stealth operation — she was an active hindrance.
He could never say "you're in our way" to her face, of course...
After all, even Demon Lord
What was this — Puppeteer — nonsense, anyway? Handing over a useless Demon Lord and expecting them to keep a low profile? Impossible, obviously!
If you were going to call yourself a Puppeteer, then at least prove you could manipulate a more competent Demon Lord.
He filed that complaint-like thought away and focused on planning their next move.
The other demon, Glurusis, seemed to be thinking along similar lines, as their eyes briefly met.
So he thinks Milim is a hindrance too! She grasped this in an instant.
It would be wiser to cooperate here.
At the very least, if Demon Lord Milim did not split off on her own, their operation would be affected.
According to Demon Lord Clayman's analysis, Demon Lord
There had been several members of the Ogre race among the subordinates of a mysterious masked demon.
The ideal scenario was to absorb the masked demon's entire faction, but even if that proved impossible, extracting at least a few Ogres was Carrion's objective, or so they had predicted.
Glurusis would likely act in accordance with that goal. In that case, her role was to support him.
Gathering leverage or dirt — such things could not be obtained quickly unless something happened.
She would let Glurusis make his move and observe from there. That was her conclusion.
Nothing could be expected from Demon Lord Milim's actions. But she would certainly cause a big splash.
And the larger that ripple effect, the more easily they could slip in unnoticed.
Myuran's course of action was decided. All that remained was execution.
Demon Lord Milim surveyed the town spread out below her.
It was well-built. The residents' magicule count was high. They all appeared to be high-ranking demon race.
High-ranking demon race referred to demons with well-developed intelligence — it had nothing to do with strength. She could see at a glance that this was a demon community with strong cohesion.
Using her "Dragon Eyes," she assessed the abilities of each individual one by one.
Incredible. Unbelievably, every single one of them appeared to be Named.
She had given names to all of these creatures?!
She felt a surge of mixed astonishment and admiration.
Something that troublesome was far beyond her. Moreover, it required transferring a portion of her own power, with no guarantee that power would recover.
As a Demon Lord, she detested any loss of her own strength.
The reason she had come this time was simply to kill time.
If she were to act seriously,
Having two of them come after her simultaneously would indeed be troublesome. Not that she thought she would lose, even if that happened...
I'm glad I came! She thought.
It was interesting that demons had built this town.
Her own castle had been constructed by humans — worshippers who revered her as a god.
Humans living in demon territory had been attacked by high-ranking magical beasts. She had happened to pass by and dispatched the attackers, and they had apparently mistaken her for something else.
That territory became hers.
The other Demon Lords did not complain. Few were in a position to do so.
This time too, she had not come because she wanted subordinates. She wanted something to relieve her boredom and to see the frustrated expressions on Carrion and Clayman's faces.
That was the only reason she had come.
Once she was done teasing them, she had planned to hand over whatever fighting forces they wanted...
But this!
The quality of the demons living in this town. And the ability of the demon commanding them.
And the demon who ruled over all of them! Interesting!
The simple-minded girl had already wiped Carrion and Clayman from her mind.
She had found them!
In this town, someone whose magicule count rivaled that of a Demon Lord!
And she sprang into action.
—————— They had decided to sell mid-grade Recovery Potions as a local specialty of the town and should proceed with research toward mass production.
He had handed over several of his own self-made Recovery Potions for use in crafting mid-grade versions.
The difference was the extraction rate — was it related to oxygen binding? That was his hypothesis.
Extraction within the body was performed through a skill, but the process was roughly the same.
The only difference was whether it occurred in the air or inside a living body.
When he had relayed this to Vester, she had listened with great seriousness.
This world also possessed the concept of elements. They were apparently incorporated into magic as well, and Elemental Magic was the counterpart to Spirit Magic.
He didn't know much about the theory of magic, so he couldn't say for certain, but Vester seemed to understand it well.
She said she would examine his theory that oxygen might be playing a role.
He had only blurted out a half-baked idea, so if he turned out to be wrong, so be it.
Experiments were built upon countless failures. Even if this proved incorrect, it would still be a step forward.
With that rather detached thought, he left the scene.
In the end, their core interests were compatible. He was glad they had gotten along.
He returned from the Magic Circle in the cave back to the town.
He had placed a Magic Circle next to the town gate.
It landed in the open space in front of the soldiers' guardhouse. This was a precaution in case demons were teleported in.
Vester had told him that was absolutely impossible, though.
Since it required a chant to activate, it couldn't happen accidentally.
He supposed he was just being overly cautious. Using something he didn't understand the theory behind would naturally make one hesitate.
He really wanted to go learn magic soon.
Now then, he thought — let me go tell
His "Magic Perception" detected a massive mass of magic power hurtling toward him.
Bad news! In an instant of judgment, he dashed outside the gate.
Sure enough, the mass of magic power altered its trajectory midair and locked onto him.
The speed was outrageous.
He decided to meet it head-on once he reached the plaza outside the town. He was glad he hadn't fled into the town — buildings would have been damaged.
Steel himself, and observe the opponent.
The distance was closed in an instant. Even with the naked eye, he could make it out clearly enough.
A beautiful girl. Silver hair tied into twin tails, clad in an all-black Gothic dress.
A doll-like, adorable girl. Though the aura she radiated was the polar opposite of "adorable"...
The massive magic power — no, that beautiful girl — came to a dead stop right in front of him.
What was terrifying was that there was absolutely no shockwave on the ground or anywhere around her.
Flying at extreme speeds and controlling that velocity perfectly.
Could she perhaps be overriding the very laws of inertia?
He had no time to analyze the phenomenon that had just occurred before him.
"Well, hello there! I'm Demon Lord Milim Nava!
You looked like the strongest person in this town, so I came to say hi!"
The beautiful Demon Lord declared this to him.
A Demon Lord?!
What in the world was a Demon Lord doing here...
And even if she was going to come, wouldn't a normal one send an envoy or their Four Heavenly Kings or something like that?!
He desperately wanted to retort but held himself back.
But still... what should he answer?
Right now, he was in slime form. Naturally, there was no Demon Aura leaking out.
Recently, he had grown accustomed to magic control and could suppress it completely, even unconsciously.
In other words, to anyone who didn't know better, he should appear to be nothing more than a common low-level slime.
He had tested it with a clone — even when he scanned himself with "Magic Perception," he appeared to be nothing but a slime, having perfectly suppressed his Demon Aura.
And yet, she had seen through it effortlessly. How?
"Hello there... I'm Rimuru, the master of this town.
How did you figure out I was the strongest?"
In truth, Hakuro might actually be the strongest. He thought this but saw no need to mention it.
He probed with a question while observing her reaction.
"Hmph! That's easy for me!
These eyes — my "Dragon Eyes" — can measure even the magicule count an opponent is hiding!
Well, in front of me, you can't pretend to be weak!"
So her eyes had an analysis function.
A troublesome opponent. His own analysis clearly showed that her magic power was far superior.
Her skill was also undoubtedly above his — she was a genuine Demon Lord, after all.
This one he could not win.
If it came to a fight, he would have to use every skill at his disposal and rely on maneuvering to look for an opening.
She was clearly on another level compared to that fake Demon Lord, the Pig-Head Demon Lord.
"Those are impressive eyes. So — you said you came to say hello, but is there something else you need?"
He asked about her purpose.
No matter what happened, confirming the other party's objective came first.
"Hm? Something else...? No, I just came to say hello!"
"......"
"......"
This was a problem.
He had been hoping to smooth-talk her and, if lucky, send her on her way, but he had hit a wall immediately.
She had no objective?! He felt he had panicked for nothing.
"Oh! Right, right, I just remembered!
Aren't you going to call yourself a Demon Lord, or try to become one?"
The young Demon Lord suddenly blurted out something like that.
What are you talking about...?
"Huh? Why would I need to do something that troublesome?"
When he countered with that, she looked completely bewildered.
"Wha — but you're a Demon Lord! Doesn't it sound cool? Wouldn't you at least aspire to it?"
"Not particularly."
"...Huh?"
"Huh?"
It was clear that he and Demon Lord Milim had fundamentally different ways of thinking.
Their opinions clashed and they stared at each other — if a slime could have a face, that is.
"Then let me ask you — is there any benefit to becoming a Demon Lord?"
"Huh? Well, strong guys will come pick fights with you! Sounds fun, right?"
"No thanks, I'm already dealing with plenty of that. Not interested."
"Whaaat?! Then what do you live for?"
"Well, lots of things... but is fighting really the only fun thing about being a Demon Lord?"
"No, I guess not..."
"That sounds pretty boring, doesn't it?"
His words hit Demon Lord Milim like a bolt of lightning. Her expression was one of pure shock.
She had been bored after all.
His words had hit the mark so perfectly that she was left speechless.
There was no point continuing this conversation here.
While the Demon Lord was stunned, he wanted to send her on her way.
"Well, I've heard what you came to say, so I'll see you out!"
He thought he had managed to wrap things up, but — "Wait! You — you — you're doing something more interesting than being a Demon Lord!
That's not fair! Not fair, not fair!!!
I'm angry now. Tell me! You have to tell me, or I won't forgive you!"
She was throwing a tantrum now!
For a split second he almost shouted "Are you a child?!" but managed to restrain himself through sheer effort.
His opponent was a Demon Lord. Angering her carelessly could end badly.
Then again, if he treated her like a child, she might actually be easy to handle.
In situations like this, overthinking was the enemy.
In his mind, Milim had settled into roughly the image of "a relative's kid."
"Fine, fine. I'll tell you!
But I have a condition.
From now on, you address me as Rimuru — with the honorific "-san"!"
"What?! Don't be ridiculous! That's backwards!
You should be calling me Milim-sama!"
"......"
"......"
"Alright then. I'll call you Milim.
And you can just call me Rimuru. Sound fair?"
"Hmm hmm hmm... Fine. Got it!
I'll grant you permission to call me Milim.
Be grateful! The only ones allowed to call me that are other Demon Lords!"
"Oh, is that so? Then let's just use each other's names!"
After a heated exchange of sparks, their tone suddenly shifted.
They reached an understanding — they would call each other by name, no honorifics.
"Alright, I'll show you around, but don't wander off on your own, okay?"
"Got it! Rimuru!"
"There, there — not so stubborn. And you're not allowed to rampage through the town without my permission.
If you promise, I'll let you join us!"
"That much is easy! I promise, Rimuru!"
Hehehe.
This girl was even easier than he had expected. Like a child who could be won over with candy.
Weren't promises absolute for demons?
That should keep things in order, he figured, and began guiding Milim into the town.
—————— The sight of the Demon Lord Milim entering the town alongside a slime was observed by the demon Glurusis through "Far Sight."
Stunned, he murmured: "Hey... Demon Lord Milim snuck ahead and went into the town first.
She seems to have tamed a weak-looking slime and all..."
"Yes. But I think we should consider this a good thing.
With Demon Lord Milim around, stealth was never going to be an option anyway!"
"True. We should count it as getting rid of a headache."
The two of them nodded at each other.
If they had continued traveling together, every plan and operation would have been completely ruined — that was plain to see.
This outcome would make it much easier to move forward.
"So, what now? How do we infiltrate?"
"Well..."
Just as the two were pondering, Glurusis's "Far Sight" detected a group of humans heading toward the town.
"Hey, there's a group of humans! A demon extermination squad?"
"I wonder... Do humans know about this demon town?"
The two exchanged glances.
"Should we join up with them and investigate?"
"That sounds like the best plan. Let's take on human forms and infiltrate the town!"
The matter was settled.
The two were high-ranking demons, and assuming human form was child's play.
They held a brief discussion, then set off to join the group of humans heading toward the town.
Their destination: the demon town of Tempest.
And so the two demons came to meet the human, Youm.