The next day dawned bright and clear.
It was hectic from early morning.
First, I woke up Milim first thing.
I got the sulking Milim to change clothes and made sure she was properly dressed.
The clothes I'd had prepared the day before were well made.
I'd had them make something other than a Gothic dress, since that would restrict her movements.
"Why does a Demon Lord have to wake up early?!"
She grumbled such complaints, but by the time she was eating breakfast, she was in high spirits.
Kids really are simple creatures.
While Milim was eating, I thought to myself.
It was fine that I'd been put in charge of her, but I wanted to visit a human town. Could I bring Milim along?
I wasn't too confident. No, let me rephrase—completely unconfident!
There was no way I could take such a dangerous child somewhere I'd never been before.
But leaving her behind was equally worrying.
While Milim was around, it seemed best to put off visiting human towns.
After breakfast, I took Milim to the forge.
Remaining in my human form, I pulled out my mask and put it on. I couldn't hold weapons as a slime.
At the forge, I greeted Kurobei.
"Is that thing I asked for yesterday ready?"
"Oh! This is it! It might work perfectly as Lady Milim's personal weapon!"
Saying this, he handed me the finished product.
The day before, I'd had him take a mold of Milim's hand size in clay.
It was a pair of Dragon Knuckles!
The usual purpose of Dragon Knuckles was to allow the wearer to throw powerful punches without injuring their bare hands, and typically they were designed to amplify power. But these were different.
They served the exact opposite purpose. A lightweight, hard core of
That's right! When equipped, these could reduce striking power to about one-tenth!
I'd relied on self-regeneration and used Magisteel. The key was that they weren't designed to increase power.
"Milim, try putting these on!"
When I handed her the Dragon Knuckles, Milim, who had been watching with keen interest, accepted them happily.
She immediately put them on.
She threw a few practice punches, moving lightly like she was shadow boxing.
"Oh! These are great! My hands feel lighter!"
Good, good. Success. If her hands felt lighter, then the power had been reduced too.
I received a new katana for myself.
The previous one had been broken by my own hand, so I'd had a replacement made.
I'd discovered through copying it myself that even an identical sword had different handling.
It seemed the craftsmanship of the maker couldn't be replicated.
The appearance and appraisal performance were the same, but there were truly subtle differences.
I drew the blade to test it. Excellent. Kurobei's skill was the real deal.
I longed to hold my own personal sword. It was nearly broken in, and while I wasn't rushing, I was eagerly looking forward to it.
I nodded and sheathed the blade.
Just as Milim and I finished confirming our new weapons,
The guy could really run.
"Lord Rimuru, you were here! A suspicious group has arrived!"
From what I gathered, an armed group had come to town.
They supposedly included a trio of adventurers.
Apparently, the trio had arrived at town leading an armed group.
Why did those three always stir up trouble? That's what I thought, but— "Well, let's go see them."
With that, I headed toward where Rigurd was waiting for us.
As expected, Milim came along.
When we arrived, Rigul and the garrison forces had surrounded over a dozen armed individuals.
Their outfits were somewhat uniform, but the equipment didn't look particularly expensive, and its performance was poor.
It didn't compare to the equipment made in this town.
However, among the group, there was a man and a woman whose equipment was on an entirely different level.
Not just their equipment—their actual abilities seemed high as well.
And then there was the familiar trio. The moment they spotted me, "Ah! Lord Rimuru, it's been a while!"
"Yoo-hoo! We came to visit!"
"It's been a while! A bunch of stuff happened and now there's a lot of us!"
they greeted me.
A bunch of stuff, huh. No doubt these three were behind it, without question.
"Hey there. So, who are these people?"
"Well, you see..."
I listened to the explanation of how this came about.
The man introduced as the captain, named Youm, was watching me carefully without letting his guard down.
As soon as I finished listening, "Pleased to meet you! I'm Youm, captain of the Border Defense Force attached to the Farmus Kingdom's barony.
I heard there was a monster town in this area, so I came to verify whether it was true.
I was told the town's leader is a slime—could I possibly meet with them?"
he introduced himself.
"Ah, I haven't introduced myself. I'm the leader of this town, or rather, its representative.
My name is
Even though I look like this, I'm a slime!"
I returned the greeting in kind.
"Is that so? My apologies.
I had gathered from Kabal that Rimuru was the leader's name, but I'd heard it was a slime.
You really do look human!"
Whether flattery or genuine, he seemed to be complimenting me.
Was a monster that could take human form really that unusual? Well, whatever.
"Not really. Are monsters that can look human that rare?
Well, that aside—is your business just confirming the town's existence?"
"Yes, that's right...
Our original goal was indeed to verify the town. We'd never heard of monsters building a town before...
Besides, even if the story was true, there was concern over whether this town could become a threat to us.
Now that we've confirmed the town does exist, we need to investigate whether it poses any threat to our kingdom.
We would very much appreciate permission to stay."
"Hmm. But if this town is truly one you fear could be a threat, shouldn't you not be staying here?"
When I countered with this question, the man named Youm scratched his head awkwardly.
"Ugh, what a pain. I'll just be straight with you.
To be honest, I didn't believe there was a monster town, but now that I've seen it with my own eyes, I believe it.
And if these adventurers' stories are to be believed, this town is apparently a wonderful place to live.
I'd really like to get permission to stay and use this place as an outpost!"
He blurted it all out in one go.
Then, turning back to the trio, "I'm sorry for doubting you. Please accept my apology!"
He bowed his head deeply in apology.
Observing him, I thought that this man might actually be pretty decent.
"Hmph! See, we told you!
As long as you understand, that's what matters! You shouldn't go around doubting people!"
Elen was acting all high and mighty for some reason.
The other two were bashfully muttering things like "Yeah!" and "That's right!"
Well, he didn't seem like a bad guy, but granting permission to stay was a separate matter.
"You mentioned wanting to use this as an outpost—what exactly do you plan to do?"
Youm turned back to me and explained the situation.
He told me that his unit was a force established in the Farmus Kingdom's barony for anti-monster purposes, and that their roughly thirty members were split into three squads.
From this location, they could quickly reach the highway and easily patrol the surrounding villages.
"If possible, having the road to the highway paved would cut travel time and make future trade more convenient.
Naturally, we'll handle the construction work ourselves!"
He even went so far as to make this proposal.
Horses could pass, but carriages could not get through.
They hadn't cleared the trees in the direction of the highway.
The biggest reason was fear of drawing attention, but that had been the situation before the turmoil in the forest.
Now, the forest had calmed down, and we wanted to use the highway for trade with the town.
Accepting his proposal might actually be worthwhile.
Rather than standing around talking, I led everyone to the main dining hall.
The meal options were limited, but the taste had improved considerably.
Unfortunately, seasonings like salt and pepper were still in short supply, so strong flavors were out of the question.
Still, thanks to
With the goblins having increased significantly in number, there were plenty of women as well.
The men handled the town's security, while the women took care of inn cleaning, cooking, and laundry.
Because people had different aptitudes, roles were divided among cooking, cleaning, prep work, sewing, assisting, and other tasks.
I thought Rigurd's management in this regard was truly impressive.
Once we'd moved to the main dining hall, the discussion resumed.
Whether she found something interesting, Milim sat down beside me.
It was endearing how she carefully kept the Dragon Knuckles on.
"By the way, Lord Rimuru, who is that young lady beside you?"
Kabal asked.
Milim had nearly reacted to being called a young lady, but she restrained herself. You got lucky there, Kabal.
In this dining hall sat a ticking time bomb named Milim. There was no room for carelessness.
"Ah, she's a guest. She's a very important person, so treat her with the utmost respect, got it?"
I said this with a warning implied.
Those who ignored such warnings would only learn their own stupidity firsthand. That much I knew for certain.
"The name's Milim. Nice to meet you!"
Milim introduced herself casually, but her true nature was that of a fearsome Demon Lord.
One must never be deceived by her adorable appearance...
The man and woman—the two with equipment that was on an entirely different level—showed a brief flicker of shock on their faces.
Or rather than their expressions, perhaps it was a change in their aura.
They looked at Milim with eyes of disbelief.
Had they noticed? Surely that couldn't be possible, but when I took a closer look at the two...
What the—why were demons disguised as humans? Yes, the two of them were demons.
They were disguised so convincingly that even my Magic Sense identified them as human, but my appraisal analysis couldn't be fooled.
Hearing that they'd joined the group along the way, I wondered if this was some kind of infiltration.
"Hey, two demons have infiltrated the town—be on guard!"
I used Thought Communication to issue a warning on the spot.
Well, as long as they didn't do anything suspicious, there wouldn't be a problem, but— "Lord Rimuru, could the fact that they arrived at the same time as Demon Lord Milim be connected somehow?"
"I was thinking the same thing. A strategy to catch us off guard, perhaps?"
"Wrooooong! I would never do something so troublesome!!!"
Milim had intruded on my Thought Communication. She'd apparently decoded the frequency and forced her way in.
What a thing to do.
It sounded simple, but it was an incredibly advanced technique.
"Wait, you can intercept Thought Communication?!"
"Heh heh! Of course, it's easy for me!
But anyway, that doesn't matter. Those two have nothing to do with me!"
"Do you know them?"
"...Huh? N-no, but?"
"..."
"..."
"Fine, whatever. Just keep your guard up!"
It didn't seem like they were connected, but she apparently knew of them.
If she didn't want to talk about it, she didn't have to. I decided to simply be cautious about the matter.
While we were communicating through thought, introductions were progressing among the others.
Before I knew it, they'd finished.
"Now that introductions are out of the way, let's get to the main topic!"
The main topic was establishing a base in this town, so I started identifying potential issues.
"Is this purely a personal request on your part, Youm?"
"Yes, I'd like it to be seen that way. In fact, I'd rather not report this to the kingdom at all."
"Why not?"
"Well, there are several reasons, but honestly, I can't stand that lord.
My employer is Baron Nuram Gaim, and he's no good.
He prioritizes his own interests over his people.
He's greedy and stingy, and he works people hard.
He imposes heavy taxes on his subjects but won't spend money on the guards to protect them.
He's the worst.
Well, I'm no good either for badmouthing my own employer, but still.
The point is, we don't have enough hands to protect the villages.
If we could establish a base here, patrols would run much more smoothly.
But if I report this, I can't guarantee he won't meddle with this town.
The clothing of this town's residents—it's made here, right? It's far superior to anything from the lord's towns.
This place is something of a neutral zone, so I doubt he could meddle on his own, but still..."
I see.
A greedy lord. I'd heard that one before.
Indeed, having that kind of pest bothering us was the last thing we needed.
But the fact that he was telling me all this—was this man for real?
He truly wanted to establish a base here. To earn my trust, he was speaking honestly.
The discussion continued from there.
Taking into account the opinions of Rigurd and the Ogres, we reached a conclusion.
We decided to provide one of the vacant dormitories.
Of course, we attached the condition that they would be expelled if they caused trouble in town. Additionally, we decided to charge fees that included food.
We set the rates based on
Three silver coins per person per day. The average daily wage in town was apparently five to eight silver coins.
The town's inns charged an average of three silver coins per stay, with a light meal included.
A bed-only stay seemed to run one to two silver coins.
In places with more people, like the royal capital, prices were apparently fifty percent higher.
Incidentally, one hundred silver coins made one gold coin. I still had the twenty gold coins I'd received from
If you think of it simply, one silver coin was worth about one thousand yen, and one gold coin about one hundred thousand yen.
It was a rough estimate due to price differences, but Kaidou had apparently been quite generous.
When I learned the value of Recovery Potions, that too made sense.
Well, it was more than enough for operating funds in town.
"Three silver coins is too expensive! Give us a discount!"
Youm tried to negotiate a lower price.
"Hmph! Listen, this inn comes with three meals. Plus, there's a bath!
If you've got a problem with that, we have a temporary warehouse open—want us to rent that to you instead?
That'd only be one silver coin? But no food included!"
At Kaijin's words, Youm pondered for a while but eventually gave in and seemed to accept.
Perhaps he was remembering the taste of the meal he'd just had.
And so, lodging facilities were provided for the Border Defense Force attached to the Farmus Kingdom's barony, led by Youm.
In addition, the inn's first floor was offered as their headquarters.
Youm and his people brought in equipment and set it up.
Apparently, they used magic orbs with a function similar to a transceiver called Magic Communication, which allowed communication between units.
Unfortunately, they could only communicate for three minutes per hour. The magicule consumption was high, and supply couldn't keep up.
They reportedly carried two for regular inter-unit communication and two for emergency communication each.
They were apparently quite expensive, as they'd only been issued six.
Even that reflected the lord's stinginess.
The unit, including two new recruits, apparently had a total of thirty-two members.
Geographically, from this location they could reach the border villages within a day—much more efficient than traveling from village to village.
The squad members had already gotten used to life here.
They'd coordinated through Magic Communication and gathered here. They were all friendly, cheerful people.
"We look forward to working with you!!!"
They all said this in unison.
"Likewise! But if you cause trouble in town, I won't guarantee your safety. Be careful!"
I returned their greeting while throwing in a light threat.
It was obvious that we were monsters, but their wariness lasted only at first.
I was making sure they wouldn't let their guard down and end up getting beaten for rampaging through town.
There seemed to be more good-natured people than I'd expected, so maybe I was worrying too much.
During my meeting with Youm, I introduced Rigul.
I explained the town's security situation, and Youm's unit would cover the gaps by surveying the areas between villages.
With the added capacity, one squad was reassigned to highway improvement.
Since the Orc construction corps was available, I assigned them to help with the highway work.
And just like that, far more smoothly than expected, Youm's Border Defense Force settled into the town.