After a brief moment of deliberation,
He headed with purpose toward the one person who would certainly know where Rimuru had gone.
What Diablo arrived at was the Intelligence Coordination Room—
The moment Diablo knocked, the door swung open and Soka stepped out to ask his business.
"Ku fu fu fu. I have business with Lord Souei. I'd appreciate it if you could arrange a meeting."
"Lord Souei is occupied at the moment. Please try again later."
Soka flatly refused, showing no warmth whatsoever in the face of Diablo.
But Diablo was not the type to give up so easily.
"Now, now, don't be like that. Or perhaps… do you intend to make me remove you by force?"
Still wearing a smile, he delivered a threat laced with Intimidation.
Soka grimaced, biting down on her lip with a quiet hiss to endure it—but— "Stop it, Diablo. If he wants to come in, let him."
A calm voice from within called out, and the tension dissipated.
"Very well then, I shall take you up on your offer."
Acting as though it were the most natural thing in the world, Diablo calmly entered the room and seated himself on the sofa.
As Diablo settled in comfortably, a demon knight—who knew when it had materialized—began attending to him.
Watching this from the corner of his eye, Souei asked coldly.
"What do you want?"
Diablo didn't answer immediately. He took a sip of the black tea the demon knight had prepared.
Then he surveyed the room.
*(Hmm. Judging by his subordinate's demeanor, it seems he was just in the middle of some exchange with Lord Rimuru. But let's see—)* Souei was tight-lipped. Normally, asking him directly wouldn't yield any answers. But Diablo decided to try a head-on approach anyway.
After a brief deliberation, he made his decision.
"Ku fu fu fu. It's a simple matter. Where is Lord Rimuru right now?"
"What are you talking about?
"Please. You of all people would know where the real Lord Rimuru is, wouldn't you?"
When Diablo fell silent after saying that, Souei met his gaze squarely and remained silent as well.
In that instant, their calculations collided.
Diablo intended to shadow Souei. Since Souei wouldn't talk, he had no choice but to follow wherever the man went.
And Souei, reading Diablo's thoughts with perfect accuracy, immediately judged that the demon would interfere with what he was about to do. But eliminating Diablo would be difficult, and the demon was far too cunning to be fooled with words.
"Needless to say, if you won't give me an answer, I won't be leaving your side."
"Right. And even if I told you I didn't know, you wouldn't believe me?"
"Naturally. You're physically connected to Lord Rimuru at all times through a constant communication link. There's no way you wouldn't know his location."
Diablo let Souei's words wash over him with a smile.
In truth, Souei was the only one among Rimuru's subordinates who had been provided with a physical communication channel—the one failsafe among countless emergency contact methods.
That method was a connection through Sticky Steel Thread that utilized Shadow Space.
It was essentially a string telephone, but with complex encrypted communication that allowed for faster exchanges than spoken conversation.
Thought Communication between subordinates could be detected by certain individuals, so this kind of analog transmission method had been prepared as well.
It was something Rimuru had prepared for the worst-case scenario, and Souei was supposed to be the only one who knew about it…
"How do you know about that?"
Souei's killing intent flared.
Diablo, in contrast, remained composed, but for once, he let his true emotions show. His beautiful features deepened into a diabolical grin.
"Ku fu fu fu. So it does exist, as I suspected. I thought Lord Rimuru would have arranged something of the sort. I hadn't felt the need to look into it until now, but given the current circumstances, I took the liberty of confirming."
*I've been had,* Souei thought to himself.
Falling for a leading question—that was a mistake unbefitting of Souei.
But it wasn't entirely Souei's mistake—it was also the result of Diablo's skillful thought manipulation.
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have fallen for it, but this was an emergency. Souei couldn't afford to spend his time dealing with Diablo at length—he needed to act immediately. And so, driven by a touch of haste, he'd walked right into the trap.
Souei clicked his tongue and sank deeper into his chair.
"I'm going to need your cooperation on this. That won't be a problem, will it?"
"Of course, not at all."
Souei asked with the expression of someone who'd just bitten into a bitter bug, and Diablo agreed with a satisfied nod.
And just like that, Diablo and Souei began working together.
◇◇◇ Having given up on shaking Diablo off, Souei decided to fold him into the plan.
"Come in."
The moment Diablo agreed, Souei called out to the next room as though every second counted.
"Oh boy, ha ha ha. Souei, you still have a long way to go, don'tcha? Got yourself perfectly outmaneuvered by Diablo there."
"Don't say stuff like that just to egg me on. Even I'd crack in a heartbeat if Lord Diablo started putting the pressure on."
Two figures entered the room. One was a man who seemed highly amused by Souei's blunder, and the other was a girl who brushed it off with a resigned smile.
"Shut up. Diablo's involvement is part of the plan. We don't have time. Let's get down to business."
Souei smoothly pretended his mistake had never happened and steered the conversation as though Diablo's involvement had been part of the plan all along.
"Hey!? Souei, you're just gonna act like your mistake never happ—"
"Lord Souei did just say 'Shut up,' you know?"
A kunai was pressed to Laplace's neck as he began making a fuss.
Breaking into a cold sweat, Laplace laughed it off and kept his mouth shut.
Souei completely ignored the exchange and began his explanation.
"As Diablo surmised, I have indeed received a secret order from Lord Rimuru. That order is—"
Souei laid out the contents of Rimuru's order without holding anything back. After all, he'd been wanting pieces he could trust.
The most critical task within Rimuru's orders was to ensure that not only Shuna and Shion, but also Milim, remained unaware of his movements and current location.
Shuna and Shion were preoccupied with the clones he'd left behind, but Milim would occasionally drop in from the sky. Souei explained that Rimuru was concerned that if Milim caught wind of what they were doing, she would ruin everything.
"Well, yeah… if it's that Milim, and she found out we were keeping secrets from her…"
"Indeed, that's precisely right. So that's why he's been so meticulous about leaving no traces."
Laplace and Diablo both nodded in understanding.
With that established, they began discussing how to carry out the orders.
The orders consisted of two tasks.
The first was to kidnap only the students from the airship Rimuru was on and take them to Marudarand Island. The objective was to release everyone there and have them undergo rigorous combat training.
The second was to investigate the internal corruption of the various academies. The gist of the order was to verify whether there were any abnormalities within the academies, so as to eliminate the root cause of the students' distortions. They were also instructed to inform the relevant parties that the students' arrival at Inglassia would be delayed by approximately one week.
These two tasks needed to be carried out simultaneously.
And the problem was that Rimuru's airship had already departed. Catching up to it and securing a vessel with enough space to hold the students was a race against time.
"Laplace, do you understand why I called you here?"
"Hey!? I mean, I figured, but—you want me to use my armed skyship!?"
"What else is there? Weren't you just bragging about it all excitedly? Use it now."
Laplace blanched at Souei's words. The armed skyship seemed to be something Laplace cherished dearly.
"By the way, what exactly is an armed skyship?"
Curious, Diablo asked Laplace.
Laplace suddenly perked up and began explaining with great enthusiasm.
"Oh, curious, are ya? You see, this beauty is assembled from parts that Lord Rimuru himself crafted—the gentleman's pursuit of refinement, it is! Just the other day, I raced against
"Hold on a moment."
Diablo cut off Laplace's torrent of boasting. There were many things that caught his interest, but now was not the time for Laplace to ramble.
"I've caught a few words that trouble me. Was Lord Rimuru also involved in the creation of this armed skyship of yours?"
"Hey, is that really what matters right now?"
"No, it is quite important, Souei. Are such items available in the current chip point lineup? And it's not just you—Lord Benimaru is collecting them as well?"
"That's right!
Leaving Laplace to chatter away happily, Diablo turned to Souei.
"Did you know about this, Souei?"
"I knew something was going on, but… I never imagined it had spread this far…"
Souei muttered, looking thoroughly unamused.
"You and I are both supposed to be the ones who know Lord Rimuru best, but it seems we both still have much to learn. Well, never mind. Let's set that aside for now and move on."
"Agreed. Once this is over, we'll look into it thoroughly."
"When that time comes, I'll expect an explanation as well."
Diablo and Souei nodded to each other and moved on.
They tasked Laplace with using the armed skyship to kidnap the students.
"So you really want me to use my ship—"
"Lord Rimuru's message is this: if you complete this mission, he'll prepare a Letter of Marque—"
"You've got a deal! Leave it to me!!"
Laplace broke into a beaming grin, grabbed Tear, and dashed off in high spirits. The two decided it would be fine to entrust him, given the wicked expression he wore beneath his clownish face.
To avoid detection by Milim, it was best to refrain from using things like Spatial Transfer as much as possible. The moment Souei received the order from Rimuru, delegating this mission to Laplace had been a settled matter in his mind.
However, not knowing that airships had become such a craze was an oversight he hadn't anticipated. Both Diablo and Souei silently reflected on this.
They then began discussing the second order.
◆◆◆ Some time had passed since the airship took flight.
Due to weather conditions, the timing would vary, but we were expected to arrive at Inglassia's academy city in less than ten hours.
But this time, a certain event was supposed to happen soon.
Just as I was thinking this, Laplace arrived right on schedule.
An in-flight announcement declared a state of emergency.
Fortunately, I'd been getting talked to nonstop by Magnus, who had taken the seat next to me.
What my favorite food was, what my hobbies were—the kind of questions where you just want to say, *Why should I have to tell you any of this?* I couldn't help but wonder—was Magnus actually trying to hit on me?
With the swirly glasses and mask I was wearing, along with my black hair and warm-toned skin, I looked pretty plain. So I figured I was safe enough…
Well, it didn't matter anymore now that Laplace had arrived. The days of having the luxury to flirt were about to be over anyway.
"Yaa-ha-ha-haa!! This vessel now falls under the dominion of the sky pirates—the Clown Troupe of Desire! Weep, wail, and despair!"
A gleeful voice echoed throughout the ship.
That Laplace fellow was clearly having the time of his life.
So this was why he'd wanted a Letter of Marque so badly.
Well, in truth, this didn't work against me. Attacking a Demon Sky Aviation ship was out of the question, but allowing other nations to develop ships that could take to the sky was equally undesirable.
As it stood, all technology related to airship development had been confiscated from the Empire. This had been set as one of the conditions for recognizing the Empire's independence during the postwar negotiations. I wanted to maintain Tempest's monopoly over the skies.
Unlikely as it might be, preventing the use of airships in interstate warfare was a matter of the utmost priority. Of land, sea, and air—take away air superiority, and any war would be limited to a regional conflict.
I doubted anyone foolish enough to pick a fight with us would appear for at least another century, but preventing wars between other nations was a different matter. We could serve as mediators, but stepping in too early risked breeding resentment instead.
Taking all of this into account, if wars needed to be contained to a level that wouldn't affect civilians, it was preferable to eliminate aerial combat capabilities altogether.
Airships were an invention that would change the very concept of war. That was precisely why I needed to keep them under my sole control. Therefore, any flight-related technology developed by other nations had to be crushed.
I'd been contemplating various schemes of my own, but leaving it to Laplace was perfect—the man would tackle such tasks with gleeful enthusiasm. All I needed to do was ensure no one suspected I was pulling the strings from behind the scenes. Getting exposed was fine, as long as no evidence was left behind.
With these thoughts in mind, I watched the situation unfold.
Then— "Don't worry! I'll protect you!"
The one called Magnus grabbed my hand and said this without a shred of embarrassment.
An uncomfortable, ticklish sensation shot down my spine.
*What the hell do you think you're doing?!* "Don't worry! I'll protect you!" What kind of nonsense was that?
Give me a break, you idiot. I already told you I'm a guy.
Setting aside my current body, my mind was unmistakably male. Magnus really was the kind of guy who never listened to a word anyone said.
I couldn't help but grumble to myself. At least I had the decency not to say it out loud.
Putting Magnus aside, I needed to focus on my job.
A jolt ran through the airship's hull, signaling that Laplace's ship had made contact. By now, the bridge must have been in a total panic.
I should put them at ease first.
I had anticipated this situation and equipped every vessel with an emergency communication terminal. Extending a Sticky Steel Thread from my fingertip, I quickly connected it to one of the terminals installed throughout the ship.
With this, I could now input text onto the monitors using encrypted communication. Using Thought Communication would have been simpler, but I was trying to avoid abilities that might leave traces, so it was harder than expected.
I complained about it, but in truth, I'd installed this equipment precisely because I wanted to enjoy situations like these. Nothing was better than having it prove useful. Secretly, I was getting a real thrill out of playing spy.
My messages appeared on the bridge's monitor, one after another. Seeing them, the communications officer was turning pale as he reported to the captain. Thanks to my Spatial Awareness, the situation was as clear as day to me.
I relayed the situation and made it clear that I had a complete picture of the bridge's status.
Sure enough, being the elite aeronauts they were, they quickly began acting according to the script I'd laid out. Grins appeared on their faces, as if to say the monotonous flight had finally gotten interesting.
Most importantly, the fact that the orders were being given under my name carried enormous weight. These were commands from the head of their own company. Of course they'd be eager to comply.
◇◇◇ After that, everything proceeded smoothly.
"Yaa-ha-ha-haa! I, the great one, require powerful subordinates. You bright young things! Become my underlings, and I'll spare your lives!"
I got that Laplace was in high spirits, but couldn't he at least fix that bizarre way of speaking? If this kept up every time and someone figured out they were his subordinates…
No, better not think that far ahead. Right now, I should just enjoy the show.
"Y-you! A teacher of the glorious Tempest Academy of Human Resource Development is—Gubaa!?"
One brave teacher challenged the overconfident Laplace. Needless to say, he was quickly defeated.
Many of the teachers were talented, but even the grade leaders were roughly A-rank at best. They couldn't be selected based on strength alone, so in terms of combat ability, that level was considered sufficient. Regular teachers ranged from B-rank to A-minus rank, so there was no way they could beat Laplace.
That teacher showed promise. I couldn't afford to lose him, so I'd visit later with a get-well gift.
"Fu fu fuun! I am the strongest! Did you really think someone like you could beat me? How naive—so very, very naive!"
Laplace's performance was getting more and more spirited. Whenever he was satisfied with himself, he'd glance over toward me, clearly fishing for praise.
I quickly averted my gaze.
What was that idiot planning if someone figured out we were in cahoots? And the subtle hand signal he'd flashed was unmistakably asking for bonus chips. I had to admit the acting was committed, but the sheer audacity was something else.
Be that as it may, while I was busy facepalming at Laplace, the passengers aboard the ship were anything but amused. They were on the verge of panic, starting to rise from their seats.
However— "Aaaand stop! I just checked, and it looks like this ship is carrying quite a few academy students, Captain. How about we just grab the brats this time? Taking some old geezer over there wouldn't be much help… he'd be useless even if we trained him from now on."
That was Tear. She must have come over once the ships were linked.
In the end, no further combat occurred aboard the ship. This was because Tear showed up dragging two unconscious attendants behind her. Well, unconscious was a strong word—they were faking it.
Realizing that even B-rank-class martial artists were no match, the regular passengers and even the academy teachers all gave up resisting. After all, if a real fight broke out inside the ship, there was a good chance the vessel itself would be destroyed. They had presumably determined that would mean death for everyone.
Following Laplace's lead, the students began transferring to his ship.
"Listen up! Don't you dare cause trouble on my ship! If you do, I will be extremely angry!"
That one was no joke. Laplace cherished this ship deeply. Damage it even slightly, and he would throw a tantrum without a shred of composure.
Come to think of it, it was impressive that he'd actually agreed to use the ship. The Letter of Marque I'd offered wasn't the only reason—there had to be something else. Maybe Diablo had put pressure on him? Laplace was wary of Diablo, and he might have decided it was better to concede quietly and accept the Letter of Marque rather than refuse.
If that was the case, then Diablo was probably in on the entire situation. As expected, Diablo had read my movements with remarkable accuracy.
And so, the students transferred to Laplace's ship. Those who had been in the luxury cabins came along without exception—Tear had apparently gone ahead and silenced them.
Just as I had planned, I successfully had all academy personnel transported to Marudarand Island aboard Laplace's ship.
Incidentally, after we had left, on the ship…
"—We sincerely apologize for the commotion. The sky pirates you just encountered were a bit of entertainment devised by our own
An announcement along these lines was broadcast.
This swept away the passengers' anxiety and fear, and the relief quickly turned to excitement throughout the cabin. No complaints were filed, thanks to my name being attached to it.
Well, no damage had been done, and by and large there hadn't been any real problems…
He figured it was inevitable that, later on, some people would connect Laplace's sky pirate act with this incident. When that time came, he swore to himself he would firmly declare it a copycat act.
*—Besides, having people draw connections between the incidents is all part of the plan. It serves as an implicit threat that Lord Rimuru will not tolerate anyone else's encroachment into the skies—* I had the feeling someone was smirking to themselves somewhere, but it was probably just my imagination.