Having been recognized by the Demon Lords without incident, I returned to the Monster Nation.
The trip there had been one thing, but the return via spatial teleportation was instantaneous.
When I got back, I was relieved to find the country hadn't been destroyed and everyone seemed to be in good spirits.
As I'd ordered, each unit had established alert formations around the perimeter.
They seemed more refined than before and contributed to the surrounding area's safety.
I suddenly wondered—wasn't this country's military defense capabilities far superior to any of the surrounding nations?
After all, even the common soldiers were mostly all at B-rank equivalent.
No ordinary magical beasts or demons would dare approach.
The area around this country should be much more secure now, but I worried about whether monsters that had drifted away from here were causing trouble somewhere else.
Maybe I should conduct a survey of that area too.
Thinking these thoughts, I entered town with Veldora and
The moment I stepped in, the townspeople and patrolling soldiers knelt at the roadside. A clear path was formed.
They must have been practicing while I was away at the Demon Lords' feast, because their movements were perfectly synchronized.
What on earth had they been doing? While I wondered about this, the senior officials approached from the far end of the road.
And then— "This is truly cause for celebration—the ceremony of your Demon Lord appointment! More than anything, we are so glad you have returned safely!"
I was quite embarrassed.
Every single time, the pageantry became increasingly elaborate and over the top. Honestly, while I was happy about it, the embarrassment outweighed the joy.
And as always, this led to a feast. But at this rate, weren't we having feasts almost every day this month? They held some kind of event every week.
Oh well.
Our master—well, me, technically—had officially become a Demon Lord.
I could understand the desire to celebrate. For humans, it would be the exact opposite, though.
And so, before I could return to my beloved home, things naturally progressed into throwing another feast.
The day after returning to town, I held a senior officials' meeting.
At the meeting, I instructed
Souei acknowledged the order while saying, "You may not need to worry as much as you think."
What did he mean by not needing to worry? That coexistence was possible?
Well, if they could coexist, that was fine by me.
Mindless monsters could be eliminated. After all, this country had many beings with strong Demon Aura, so the rate of demon generation would be increasing.
The issue was that we needed to not only maintain the highways but also ensure their safety so that human merchant caravans could travel securely.
Even weak demons were a threat to humans. So we needed to consider eliminating those monsters as well.
In response to my concerns, "Then how about we place anti-demon barriers along the highways?"
Vester suggested.
As if backing him up, "Boss, it's done! We've got a prototype barrier-activation magical device!"
Seriously?
These guys were too incredible.
I knew they'd been sneaking around with some development work, and they were probably frustrated that it hadn't been useful during the earlier barrier incident.
But to have a prototype ready in barely a month—were they geniuses?
Kaijin and Vester, along with
Kaijin had already handed off forging duties to Kurobei and was spending his days immersed in research.
Well, he was also co-head of all development-related matters for the Monster Nation, so he couldn't do research exclusively.
According to him, this area had become quite prone to accumulating high concentrations of Magicules. After all, even when suppressed, the area was thick with Demon Aura.
Even in ordinary caves, places where B+ rank creatures spawned in large numbers tended to have high Magicule concentrations. By that logic, this country was at an abnormal level.
For that reason, they had been analyzing the mechanism by which monsters absorbed Magicules from the atmosphere and produced "Magic Crystals."
By thinning the Magicule concentration in the atmosphere while simultaneously obtaining large quantities of "Magic Crystals," they could achieve both goals at once.
Lower Magicule concentrations meant fewer monsters and demons spawning, eliminating the worry about massive outbreaks.
It was a truly magnificent invention.
It seemed perfectly suited to this country's characteristics and would become an indispensable mechanism.
And the development had progressed further—they'd discovered a method to use the completed "Magic Crystals" directly as fuel, as well as a method to process them into Magic Stones.
The large quantity of Magic Stones I'd purchased from the Kingdom of Ingacia proved quite useful.
Well, I recalled hearing before that processing them into Magic Stones efficiently required large-scale equipment, and apparently the process was indeed quite difficult.
They'd figured out the method, but practical application would still take time.
On the other hand, using "Magic Crystals" directly as fuel turned out to be surprisingly simple.
Unlike Magic Stones, there was no need to further concentrate and purify the Magicules—which was why it was so easy.
So what they'd developed this time was a stone slab with a Magic Circle engraved on a
This stone slab had an artificial "Magic Crystal" built in to aggregate Magicules, supplying magic power to the Magic Circle.
It was a square, one meter on each side and about fifty centimeters thick—quite substantial.
The weight was naturally considerable, and moving it would be quite difficult.
However, once installed, it could absorb surrounding Magicules and maintain the barrier's power supply semi-permanently.
Since you could change the type of barrier simply by swapping the Magic Circle engraved on the Magisteel plate, the device was quite versatile.
If these simple-install barrier activation devices—dubbed "Mr. Barrier"—were placed every ten kilometers along the highways, they could secure safety throughout the surrounding area.
Apparently, the most challenging part was adjusting the barrier's activation range to follow the highway's path.
The creation of this device drew on not just Vester and Kaijin, but the combined expertise of the entire fabrication team, including
It wasn't something built in just one month—it was the culmination of all the techniques they'd developed over time.
I was actually quite moved.
I immediately gave my approval, and highway installation was added to the project schedule.
I also modified Souei's orders to include investigating the effects of the device's installation.
And so, step by step, we continued advancing toward transforming the Monster Nation into a hub of trade.
Next, I received status reports.
I really should have heard the reports first, but I couldn't help blurting out whatever came to mind, throwing off the order of things.
I needed to be calmer going forward.
There were no changes in the surrounding situation, and no countries were making notable moves.
We had a handle on Youm's situation. The king we'd placed on the throne appeared to be acting in accordance with our wishes.
With no experience as a king, Youm couldn't possibly negotiate with nobles on his own. So if that king was willing to cooperate with our agenda, it might be interesting to bring him on board as an ally.
If he joined us, he'd surely be of use to Youm.
As I listened to the status reports, I jotted this down as a mental note.
The senior officials' meeting had reached a lull after the status reports were in.
Since everyone's hidden efforts had immediately resolved my concerns, I asked if there were any other issues.
"It's not exactly a problem, but I'd like to inform our fellow tribesmen of Lord Rimuru's Demon Lord appointment."
Gerd raised his hand and spoke.
Come to think of it, with all the highway construction lately, he'd probably been wondering how the Ogre villages were doing.
I'd received reports that their food situation had improved, but I'd left them alone after that.
I granted permission. And then, "Oh, right. I forgot to mention—my domain now extends across the entire Great Forest of Jura."
"So if—though I don't think it'll happen—they're invaded, we'll need to intercept."
"Also, how do I formally declare this as my territory? Should I just leave it be?"
At those words, the senior officials all looked at me at once.
Huh? Did I say something wrong?
"Um... the entire forest? Is that really true?"
Rigurd asked cautiously.
"Whoa, seriously? This area was designated as an inviolable zone."
"The Tree People—we have connections with them, and they basically don't move around, so that should be fine..."
"The real question is how the reclusive Long-Ear Tribe will react."
"No, no—this isn't really our problem."
"But to them, it's a huge deal."
"After all, it means the Demon Lords have officially recognized that Rimuru holds the rights to all the forest's resources."
"This is massive."
"Before this, whether it was clearing land for towns and villages or gathering resources, everything was done without explicit permission."
"We were doing it too, and nobody had permission—it's the same thing. There was no need to get permission."
"But from now on, living in the forest will require Lord Rimuru's approval."
"Whether it's the elves from before or the Long-Ear Tribe in their hidden village, the same applies."
"They'll have to come and ask Demon Lord Rimuru for permission."
"This is going to be a big deal!"
Kaijin got extremely excited saying all this.
Now that he mentioned it, before this, you didn't need permission to live here.
"But what about it? They're already living here—do they really need to ask for permission now?"
I asked.
"Well, they can either accept Demon Lord protection or live without acknowledging the Demon Lord."
"The choice is theirs, of course."
"However, if they choose the latter, they won't be able to complain if they're attacked."
"At the very least, we went and paid our respects. I'll let my father know too!"
Gabiru said in a fluster.
I had a bad feeling this was going to become a big deal.
Veldora seemed carefree about it all, but for some reason, Shion was looking rather proud.
If this was going to be a big deal, I wished someone had told me in advance... but of course, Shion would never notice something like that.
Also, Shion, it's not like I gained this territory because of your efforts or anything.
Honestly, despite the perfect exterior of an ideal secretary, she was completely useless where it counted.
I was truly, deeply disappointed.
"Fu fu fu! For Lord Rimuru, this is only natural!"
Shion started saying something incomprehensible with a proud look on her face. I decided to just ignore her.
In summary, the normal procedure for gaining a Demon Lord's protection was to come and pay respects.
They would now survey the Great Forest of Jura and investigate how many intelligent races lived there.
Just when we'd gotten the highway construction on track, I was going to be just as busy.
Well, we still had highway construction remaining toward the Magically Dynasty Sarion side too, so there was still a mountain of work ahead.
Rigurd would prepare to receive the visits from the various tribes he expected to come, guiding and readying the townspeople.
As I'd suspected, becoming a Demon Lord came with troublesome responsibilities.
Just as I was about to end the meeting, I remembered something I'd forgotten.
Right—hadn't I been waiting for a reply from Hinata?
"By the way, the envoy I sent back to the Western Holy Church—they delivered the message safely, right?"
"Has the reply come yet?"
To that question, "Kuhuhuhu. My master, of course it was delivered safely."
"No, the town's security is airtight, and there have been no suspicious individuals."
"The reply hasn't come yet."
Benimaru answered that there was no reply.
So maybe they were still deliberating.
I didn't particularly want to end up fighting Hinata, but it depended on the other side.
I didn't think I'd lose at this point, but she was absolutely not an opponent to let your guard down around.
Ideally, they'd apologize on their own, though I knew better than to hope for that.
I wished I could just focus on developing the country.
And so, with the same routine as always despite having become a Demon Lord, I finished reviewing the issues at hand, and the senior officials' meeting came to an end.
————— Deep within the Eternal Night Kingdom, in a place known to no one, a silver-haired beautiful girl advanced solemnly toward a hidden chamber.
The girl's name was Luminous Valentine.
She was the ruler of the Eternal Night Kingdom—the "Demon Lord" known as the Queen of Nightmares.
Within the hidden chamber, sealed behind Luminous's immense magical power, lay the Spirit Coffin where her beloved girl slept.
Very few could even reach this hidden chamber, and no one should have been able to undo Luminous's magical barrier...
Luminous suppressed her pounding heart, thinking of her beloved girl, and stepped into the chamber.
The moment she entered, she sensed something was wrong.
The still air had been disturbed, and there was the scent of someone other than her beloved girl.
It was faint, but it couldn't fool the nose of a vampire like her.
But more important than that trivial detail...
The Spirit Coffin, carefully hidden within the chamber, was gone.
At first she was confused, unable to accept reality, thrown into disarray.
Even for a Demon Lord like Luminous, this was something that should have been impossible.
But her冷静 side rebooted her thought process, forcing her to recognize reality.
No matter how much her emotions resisted accepting it, her rational mind presented the cold facts.
The Spirit Coffin had been stolen.
Eventually, surging along with her rising fury...
Luminous unleashed a roar of rage as she released her hidden magical power.
In an instant, the hidden chamber was destroyed, swallowed by a maelstrom of chaotic magical energy.
A space of death had been formed that no living soul could approach.
Separate from her anger, her calm mind analyzed the situation.
The barrier she'd placed on this chamber could only be undone by her.
No—more precisely, only someone of her caliber, meaning someone on the level of a Demon Lord, could undo it.
If that was the case, then whoever had entered here possessed power comparable to a Demon Lord.
And they knew about the Spirit Coffin kept within.
That meant they knew who rested inside the Spirit Coffin.
Otherwise, there would have been no point in entering at all.
Moreover, even if they broke in, they couldn't achieve their goal with Luminous present.
That was why they'd been waiting for an opportunity—and if that was the case, they must have known about the Demon Lords' feast.
It was impossible to believe they'd sneaked in by chance and just happened to find Luminous absent.
If so... the culprit was...
Luminous thought.
Among the seven other Demon Lords, plus the two former Demon Lords—was the culprit among them?
Considering each one's personality and current circumstances, none seemed like likely suspects.
But.
"Wait... I forgot about one person."
She murmured.
It was the Demon Lord who was already dead.
He was such a small fry that he'd almost been erased from her memory.
But what had he said with his dying breath?
Something about... "Curse Lord" Kazalim having been revived.
Not a current Demon Lord, but someone with power rivaling a Demon Lord.
And Kazalim could have learned about the Demon Lords' feast through Clayman.
Rather... if Kazalim's true objective had been the Spirit Coffin all along...
"He ordered Clayman to arrange the Demon Lords' feast, and used that opportunity to steal the coffin...?"
The pretext for convening the feast could have been anything.
Manipulating Clayman, having him attempt to eliminate the newcomers—that would have been fine on its own.
If the true objective could be achieved, everything else was just a bonus, wasn't it?
Luminous's expression flushed crimson with rage and humiliation.
She was nearly certain that her deduction was correct.
Fury at having her beloved one stolen, and fury at being outmaneuvered despite being a Demon Lord.
She regretted not assigning subordinates to guard the chamber, all because she didn't want anyone else to touch what was hers.
Though, of course, having guards might not have made a difference anyway.
Regardless...
"I won't forgive this. I will absolutely not forgive this! I'll find them and tear them apart!"
In the dim underground ruins of the hidden chamber, the silver-haired beautiful girl screamed, continuing to unleash her wrath.
That fury was beyond anything she'd felt even when Veldora had reduced her kingdom to ash—it tore at the very heart of the Demon Lord girl.
And that unfulfilled desire brought about a certain change within Luminous.
《Conditions verified. Requirements met.
Unique Skill "Lustful One" has evolved into the Ultimate Ability "King of Lust."》 The Voice of the World echoed, but Luminous paid no attention.
"I don't care about that! I don't care about any of that!!!"
She screamed.
The domain of her evolved ability was "life and death."
It was fortunate that this was the City of the Dead, where no living beings existed.
Deep within the Eternal Night Kingdom, the silver-haired beautiful Demon Lord's screams echoed endlessly, without end.