Hinata and Luminous were seated in chairs, waiting for us.
Reading their expressions, I could tell that something had come up.
Honestly, it was a relief they hadn't found out I'd been slacking off. Who knew what they'd think of me if they had.
"Fuse, come on in."
With that, I ushered Fuse into the reception room adjoining the office.
She really was a wonderful princess. A far cry from that hopeless secretary of mine — though that secretary was apparently training her elite guard and subordinates quite diligently these days.
I had no right to complain when I'd been the one goofing off.
No, wait — I hadn't been goofing off. I'd been studying.
I shouldn't get things wrong myself. I'd have to be more careful.
I took a seat on the sofa across from Hinata and Luminous, with Fuse in tow.
The cushions, made from the finest materials, cradled my body gently.
"Hey, Hinata. Long time no see. And Luminous — well, it's not exactly our first meeting, is it? It's been a while.
This is Fuse. He's the branch chief of the Free Guild's Blumund office."
I introduced Fuse to the two women seated before us.
"H-H-hello! My name is Fuse, and I serve as the branch chief of the Free Guild in the Kingdom of Blumund!
It is truly an honor to meet you, the glorious supreme commander of the Western Holy Church, Lady Hinata!
And as for this beautiful young lady — I don't believe we've met, but you must be someone of great renown.
I'm just an ignorant fool, but please, take care of me!"
Fuse delivered his greeting while tense to the point of trembling.
But rather than acknowledging him, Luminous turned to me.
"Rimuru, was it?
It's been since the Banquet of the Demon Lords.
You seem to be in good health, which is fine. But that man is no good.
The Free Guild is the enemy. You do realize that, don't you?
The identity of the one who was manipulating Hinata here.
And knowing that, why are you associating with someone connected to the Free Guild?"
One of the Demon Lords — Luminous herself — leveled the accusation at me in a sharp tone.
She was a cute girl with silver hair, but her heterochromatic eyes gleamed with a fierce light.
Why was one of the Eight Star Demon Lords here?
I could understand why she might be traveling with Hinata, but a poor response could turn her into an enemy — something I wanted to avoid at all costs.
An alliance with the Western Holy Church would be an invaluable step toward integrating the Monster Nation into human society.
This was a deal I had to make happen. Since I didn't understand the relationship between Hinata and Luminous, it might be wiser to lay everything on the table rather than hold things back.
I'd operate under the assumption that Luminous already knew everything Hinata did, and selectively decide what information to share.
But first, I needed to get these two to trust Fuse.
Right on cue, Shuna entered the room carrying the tea she'd prepared.
Shuna finished distributing the tea, bowed, and left the room.
I watched her go from the corner of my eye, then spoke.
"Very well. Then let's start by having Fuse give his report, which will also serve as his introduction."
With that, I sent Fuse a look.
That alone was enough — despite his constant anxieties, Fuse picked up on my intent.
"Got it. Looks like I'm the one under suspicion here.
Let me clear up that doubt first, shall I?"
And with that, he began explaining the current situation within the Free Guild.
Fuse's explanation was concise and easy to follow.
Apparently, about ninety percent of the headquarters in Ingracia was under Yuuki's control.
Even the vice-commander, a woman named
On top of that, several high-ranking adventurers who served as coordinators for branch-chief-level operatives were also part of Yuuki's faction.
That meant it would be difficult to formally denounce Yuuki within the Guild's organizational structure. However, it seemed that outside of headquarters, his influence wasn't as widespread as feared.
It was a relief to learn that his mind-control and thought-manipulation abilities weren't all-powerful.
As for further useful information — it appeared that Yuuki had only been conducting thought manipulation on the general public.
Since monster attacks had been so devastating, the narrative pushed was that monsters were a menace. They'd been spreading that kind of information to instill fear of monsters in the populace — but that was the extent of their manipulation.
At that level, it wasn't impossible to build mutual trust through actual trade and demonstrating our usefulness. People would gradually come to understand us.
After all, in the satellite cities surrounding the Monster Nation's underground labyrinth, adventurers and monsters — orcs and goblins — sometimes even shared meals together.
A genuine bond of trust had been established there, proving that humans and monsters could coexist with understanding.
"But we can't dig any deeper than that.
One person who went to investigate Vice-Commander Kagali had their memory wiped.
They were found wandering the streets as a vegetable, and when we took them in, they couldn't even remember their own name.
There's no direct proof Kagali did it, but given the circumstances, there's no doubt.
Since we initiated this information war, we can't exactly make a direct complaint. And honestly, we're at a dead end."
It seemed there was a limit to how far they could push.
But it was enough information.
With this, rescuing the children should be straightforward.
I'd been hesitant about acting myself — it could cause problems if people thought a Demon Lord had abducted them. But if I had Masayuki handle the rescue operation, there shouldn't be any issues. After all, everything he did tended to be interpreted favorably by others, making him the perfect candidate.
Now that I knew Yuuki's control wasn't absolute, there was no need to hold back.
After rescuing the children, I'd crush him immediately. If people thought I was just playing around, that would be a problem, and I should do some actual work for once.
But memory erasure, huh? That was a troublesome ability… though I might be able to heal it.
"Fuse, the person whose memory was erased — let me try healing them.
If their soul and brain are intact, I might be able to do something about it."
"Wait, really? Please — you have to help them!"
At my offer, Fuse looked at me with eyes full of hope.
He'd ordered his subordinate to investigate, and they'd ended up as a vegetable. Of course he'd be desperate for any chance of recovery.
His face brightened, and he accepted my proposal eagerly.
The fact that he so readily believed the offer of a Demon Lord showed that Fuse had completely placed his trust in me. That made me happy.
And as the two of us interacted, Luminous cut in with ice in her eyes.
"Rimuru, do you genuinely believe you can coexist with humans?
Humans are creatures whose hearts you can never truly read, no matter what they say with their mouths.
Would it not be happier for everyone — humans included — if we simply dominated their minds and kept them under our control?"
She was a Demon Lord, after all. But her way of thinking was entirely at odds with mine.
When you considered the risks, it wasn't an unreasonable position — but still.
"Whoa there, young lady. For someone with such a pretty face, you sure say some awful things.
Mind-control over humans? Who do you think you are?
Even if you're some big-shot noble, looking down on ordinary people isn't cool, you know."
Fuse had apparently taken offense and snapped at Luminous.
Oh right — I still hadn't introduced her to Fuse. If I didn't do that first, he was going to step on a landmine.
"Now, now, Fuse. Calm down.
This is Luminous.
She's one of the Eight Star Demon Lords.
It's only my second time meeting her, and I think this is actually the first time we've had a real conversation.
This is our first meeting today, so let's not start off combative and try to have a positive discussion.
And this is Hinata.
You probably know more about her than I do — she's the Holy Knights' Commander of the Western Holy Church."
I introduced the two of them briefly.
Hinata and Luminous had apparently heard the details of what Fuse had investigated at my request, and they'd concluded through their own judgment that he wasn't one of Yuuki's allies.
However, while Hinata seemed convinced, Luminous still didn't appear to trust Fuse — or rather, humans in general.
"Wait, what did you say? Demon Lord? Who?"
Fuse looked back and forth between me and Luminous in confusion.
Given that his earlier outburst had been rather confrontational, his face went pale in an instant.
He looked a bit pitiful — I should smooth things over.
"Luminous, this man is my ally.
I need you to trust him for now.
I have no intention of interfering with your views on humans, but don't try to force your views on me either.
If you try to force me, then you're my enemy."
"How dare you? A newcomer like you dares to lecture me?
If you're looking for a fight, I'll oblige."
Luminous stood up and spread both arms, taking a fighting stance.
I'd only been trying to smooth things over, but somehow I'd ended up picking a fight.
And was it just me, or was she incredibly short-tempered for her appearance? I mean, being spoiled came with the Demon Lord territory, but could she at least read the room?
I really didn't want things to escalate into a brawl here…
"Hold it, Luminous. You came here to form an alliance, didn't you?
What's the point of making more enemies?"
Hinata spoke up with a hint of irritation, restraining Luminous.
"Hmph."
Maybe she hadn't been serious from the start, because Luminous readily backed down.
She sat back down in her chair.
"I suppose hostility is not what I came here for.
The purpose of my visit today is to propose an alliance between the Holy Papal State of Lubelius and the Western Holy Church together… with the Monster Nation."
A faint smile curved her lips as she made the declaration.
So it had been her goal from the very beginning — to gauge my reaction.
A Demon Lord with a personality far worse than her appearance suggested.
Putting that aside, we reintroduced ourselves and began discussing the alliance.
………
……
…
So in other words, Luminous was the ruler of the Holy Papal State of Lubelius?
I'd listened to the story after calming down, but what a startling revelation.
Fuse looked like his soul had left his body from sheer shock.
Of course he did.
The Holy Papal State of Lubelius — the sacred land where the holy dwelled — was the seat of the Pope served by the Western Holy Church.
No one would ever imagine that it was under a Demon Lord's control.
Then who was the Pope, exactly?
"Seems like the old man has some interest in the Pope's true identity?"
In response to Luminous's words, the butler who had been standing behind her bowed respectfully.
"If I recall correctly, the current Pope is officially set at forty-seven years of age."
The moment he murmured those words, the butler transformed into a younger figure.
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am the current Pope — Gil Lir Lubelius.
Please remember me well."
As his appearance shifted to that of a young man — well, middle-aged, really — the butler was enveloped in a divine aura and clad in pure white robes.
His form now resembled that of a man in his prime. In human terms, he'd be around his mid-forties.
Seriously? So this butler had been playing the role of the Pope across different eras?
I glanced at Fuse and saw he'd fainted with his eyes still open.
Impressive composure, in a way. I was almost impressed.
"Wait, hold on — this doesn't make sense! Why is a Demon Lord's subordinate the Pope?!
What the hell is going on?! Is he a monster? Why can I feel a divine presence coming from him?"
Oh, he hadn't actually fainted after all — Fuse suddenly started carrying on like a switch had been flipped.
"Hmph. Gil, explain it to him."
At Luminous's command— "As you wish, my lady."
Gil — the Pope, no, the butler — bowed with impeccable grace.
I have to admit, having someone in such a grandiose outfit performing menial butler duties gave off a rather surreal vibe. I could've done without that.
In any case, the origins of the Holy Papal State of Lubelius dated back over a thousand years.
When the Vampire Kingdom had been destroyed by the Evil Dragon Veldora, there had apparently been no fatalities.
That was when Luminous and Chloe had met, and various things had transpired.
Chloe had apparently protected Luminous, though even without that intervention, it seemed like Luminous would have gotten away with only minor injuries.
In Luminous's mind, Chloe had likely been considerably romanticized.
After all, Veldora had pretty much just been playing around with a childhood friend. Rather than a brutal battle, the truth was more like a one-sided rampage.
But on the receiving end, it was no laughing matter. So Veldora had decided to hide away where he wouldn't be so easily found again.
But this was Demon Lord Luminous we were talking about.
She decided that simply hiding wasn't fun enough and built an underground empire.
Above it, she devised a plan to house the source of her sustenance.
At the time, the world was ravaged by wars, poverty, and conflicts between angels and demons, leaving few nations with real power. The Eastern Empire had only just managed to take shape.
Nations that couldn't even defend against the monster threat had no power to protect their people.
As a result, refugees and the Thieves who preyed on them ran rampant, and the world was in utter chaos.
Precisely because of those conditions, it had been easy for a Demon Lord to manipulate monsters to till the land, build a nation, and control the hearts of the people.
People sought salvation, and they gathered where salvation was offered.
Luminous showed mercy to those who came under her protection. In exchange for blood — or rather, life force — as sustenance, she granted them her guardianship.
And so, bit by bit, a nation had formed according to Luminous's design.
That nation was the Holy Papal State of Lubelius.
Luminous's reasoning, drawn from this history, was that leaving humans to their own devices inevitably led to conflict and disorder.
I supposed that couldn't be denied. But so what?
If people wanted to fight, let them fight. If they wanted chaos, let them have chaos.
If they wanted to reconcile afterward, that was their freedom. If they wanted to hold grudges, that was their freedom too.
Those things shouldn't be managed from above. It was precisely because they were acts of free will that they had meaning.
I was getting off track.
In any case, once the nation was established, Luminous felt it was preferable to control the ruling body through someone loyal to her.
That's where her right-hand man came in — Gil, a high-ranking demon.
Despite being a vampire, the butler Gil was also a top-tier Holy-Dark Mage and one of the Transcendents — beings who could walk in sunlight.
Transcendents were vampires who had the ability to walk in daylight. Currently, only Luminous and Gil had this ability, with a few others besides.
In those early days, Gil had been the only one, so he had inevitably taken on the role of Pope.
Using clones and various other tricks, he'd juggled multiple roles to govern the Holy Papal State of Lubelius from behind the scenes — it must have been exhausting.
Well, as it happened, Gil had held the role of the embodiment of light — the Pope — for so long that he'd acquired a special ability.
It was the Unique Skill "God's Representative."
— The ability to grant protection to the lost and those seeking salvation, while dominating their minds — It was an absurdly overpowered ability, practically a super-fraud's dream.
The fact that he'd been able to provide complete peace of mind to the residents without a single doubt was thanks to this ability.
Honestly, for a creature of darkness like a vampire to obtain a power of light — it was beyond unconventional.
While listening to this explanation, I'd noticed Hinata making a bitter face, and it was quite amusing.
She'd been spouting things like "The doctrine is everything!" but learning the truth had to be quite the dark chapter in her history.
When I glanced at Hinata with a smirk, our eyes met.
The cold glare she gave me was enough to make me think I might be killed. Scary — I should probably stop teasing her about this.
Pretending I didn't know was probably the kinder thing to do.
And with that, butler Gil's explanation came to an end.
Next was Hinata's turn, and she explained how the alliance had come about.
How she'd gone to rescue the children and had clashed with Yuuki.
Hinata's death, and the awakening of the Hero.
Luminous's revival of Hinata, and the fateful connection between the Hero Chloe and Luminous.
And Chloe's current situation, along with the necessity of an alliance to oppose Yuuki.
I see.
The rescue of the children, which had been my primary concern, had apparently been carried out by Hinata in my stead.
That was a relief.
"So how are the children doing?"
"Oh, they're touring the country right now. Kenya in particular was fired up, vowing to get stronger and show Chloe what he could do.
He was probably upset that Chloe had left without saying goodbye to any of them."
Hinata's explanation made sense.
But I could understand Chloe's feelings too.
Being the only one left behind had to be painful, and she'd been the only one who'd grown up.
When the Physical Body of the Hero — shaped by all its past experiences — had awakened, Chloe's current powerless form had been swallowed by the Hero's shadow, making her existence unrecognizable.
The only ones who could perceive her were those who had known Chloe from before and had awakened to an Ultimate Skill.
She must have been terrified.
Having obtained the spiritual power of Hinata's soul, she'd journeyed into the past. The hardships she must have endured, the harsh journey…
"Rimuru — the replica of the Holy Spirit Armament you gave me.
I entrusted it to Chloe. She traveled to the past with my soul and protected us.
That equipment saved us. I owe you my thanks."
Hinata looked straight at me and bowed her head.
Please stop — I was getting embarrassed.
But so that was…
"So you traveled through the past together with Chloe as well.
Thank you for protecting her."
"Stop. There's no need to thank me. I simply did what was expected."
Hinata brushed off my gratitude lightly.
She said she'd transferred the spiritual energy of her soul to the Hero and only remained as a remnant — but even so, Hinata was still a Hero in my eyes.
She'd said she'd lost the power to fight, and there was a hint of sadness in her voice, but I didn't think Hinata's heart was weak.
She'd gained a different kind of strength than before — a sure, solid strength. Hinata had grown too.
Through a journey across unimaginable lengths of time that I could never even fathom.
Hinata's story was finished.
But that had been a close call.
There was no way I could admit to having been slacking off while Hinata had gone through all that.
Getting away with it at the beginning had been pure luck.
I could have just owned up to it and not cared, but if I'd been dismissive about it, I didn't want to imagine what they'd think of me now.
I was relieved I'd made the right choice.
Now, let me think about the substance of Hinata's story.
It was hard to believe, but apparently Chloe had become a Hero.
However, she was under Yuuki's control and couldn't act freely until she'd carried out three commands.
From what I'd heard, her ability seemed close to the strongest there was. She probably couldn't manipulate time, but something close to stopping it entirely seemed possible.
They'd sent a Hero on a journey through time to create the strongest Hero.
And in one timeline, the future had been headed toward destruction, and I'd apparently died there too.
But would it really have come to that?
True, if I'd fought Hinata head-on upon first meeting, I would have lost. There was no doubt about that.
But maybe I alone would have survived somehow.
If so… no, I should stop.
There was no point in hypotheticals.
The important thing was that Chloe was safe. Rescuing Chloe should be the priority.
Luminous's objective was also to rescue Chloe, and she said she wouldn't hesitate to form an alliance for that purpose.
The remaining children had been brought along as well, which meant my concerns about the Kingdom of Ingracia were no longer an issue.
I could oppose Yuuki without worry.
"Alright, I understand the situation.
We would like to request this alliance."
At my words, Hinata and Luminous nodded.
Fuse, meanwhile, was staring into space with a blank expression.
"This is insane… this has turned into something completely insane…
Why is it that every single time I show up, some enormous issue lands on my plate?
Every single time — this isn't normal.
I'm just a humble hired branch chief…
This isn't the kind of thing you take on for that measly fee!
What did I ever do to deserve this…"
He was mumbling to himself like a man whose soul had been completely burned away.
Thinking about it, his role was pretty much like this every time.
I could totally sympathize with his desire to complain, but I'd just pretend I hadn't heard.
There was still plenty of work for him to do.
And so, ignoring Fuse's lamentations, the three-party alliance between the Holy Papal State of Lubelius, the Western Holy Church, and the Monster Nation was officially established.