Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken novel Chapter 171
Rather than standing around chatting, we decided to head inside.
I guided Guy towards a VIP lounge located in Tempest.
Its furnishings were chosen by Myourmilles, and if he went on a rampage there we would incur heavy losses.
Some expensive pieces of artwork had also been displayed.
It was a special lounge where only the specially selected, or the highest of nobles were accommodated.
Showy things aside, the arrangements also allowed one to experience elegance, simplicity, and a subdued refinement, which truly showed Myourmilles' sensitivity to my own tastes.
To reach this level, Rigurdo and the others still needed much more experience. However, since he had said something like This place is very calming., our tastes may unexpectedly match.
Returning to the topic, if Guy went on a rampage we'd handle that then.
Since we had no other suitable rooms to accommodate him, we had no choice but to expect a certain level of damage. We couldn't just take the strongest of the Demon Lords to a common guest lounge.
And whilst half-resignedly guiding him,
Hey, You've got some good taste. I also happen to like this type of furnishings.
Guy complemented.
That was pretty surprising, as far as surprises go.
I had misunderstood him as this tyrant who wouldn't have any idea of subtle elegance.
No, when you think about it, even Oda Nobunaga may have perhaps had this sort of taste......
Maybe, the more short tempered and violent ones were more likely to have peaceful hearts.
No well, it might just be my mistaken impression, but it really was the right choice bringing him here.
Sitting on a high-class wooden chair carved from aromatic woods, I faced Guy.
On top of a small table between us, tea was served and its aroma wafted through the room.
It looked simple at first glance, but a surprising amount of attention to details was put in......
You're pretty good! Our dimwits wouldn't be able to pull this off at all.
I wonder if should I should send them here for some training?
Well I'm glad you're pleased.
Or rather, even since I came to this world, I've been doing nothing but what I pleased.
In any case, this was the first time I had to be this careful around the other party.
No, after meeting Veldora, this would be the second time?
Putting aside whether or not I can win against him, I just wanted to avoid conflict as much as possible.
It's too troublesome to deal with. Because it will definitely result in some broken things.
Oh really? You're actually the first one I've brought here you know.
This is the highest grade parlor we have, we only bring in those who we want to make a good impression on.
Ah? So you want to make a good impression on me?
Yeah that's right. Or else I couldn't call myself a good Demon Lord now could I.
If I had thrown away my pride, I'd be living a more or less good life snooping around in the shadows.
I started with a jab. (EN: metaphorical)
I'm not gonna be pulled along with your pace, I made my statement with this intention.
Depending on his reaction, I was going to have to adjust my attitude towards Guy.
In any case, I had to, first and foremost, to find out the reason he came here.
I suspected that he must have gotten a report from somebody, when he mentioned the Demon Lords.
Probably, the only one who would do this was Dino. In fact, he confessed so himself.
After all, any spies within the country had been completely cleared out. This I could say with full confidence.
With the surveillance network spread out by Souei, and by using magic to detect malevolence, we could absolutely eliminate any kind of counter-intelligence activity.
In any case, since I put intelligence gathering above all else, not letting the enemy do the same thing to us was just common sense.
I had used any and all means I could come up with to eliminate all spies within my country.
Ahaha. Are you trying to probe me? Aren't you interesting!
Oh well, let's save ourselves the trouble.
I came today because I heard you're having a fight with the empire.
Ah, and as you might have expected, I heard this from Dino.
He's here right? In this place.
Well, I've gotten a report from that guy, but I heard you've slain around a million people?
And, you've also got a number of Demon Lord class subordinates under you.
This reminded me about that fellow you brought in during the previous Walpurgis, and that got me interested in any others you've got.
Saying all that, he drank the black tea with elegant movements.
The way he held himself, It was as if he was the king of some country.
No, Demon Lords were more or less kings anyway.
But, that Guy. Right after declaring that he wouldn't probe, threw a straight ball.
Basically, he wants to see my strength. No, isn't there more?
Isn't he oddly interested in my dealings with the Empire?
Indeed, I do have several Demon Lord class subordinates.
The 3 you knocked out earlier are also included.
Naturally, there are others. But I have no intention to tell you about all of them.
In the wars of this world, isn't individual strength more important than numbers?
Raising individual strength is naturally important.
I see, so there are others.
Or rather, are you an "Otherworlder"?
And a slime, for that matter?
Nn? Huh? You didn't know?
I'm a slime that has retained the heart of an "Otherworlder", A "Reincarnator" you know?
Seriously?
Seriously!
Guy and I locked eyes with each other.
Or rather, he didn't know. I thought for sure something like that was well known.
I had already declared this to the world, and thought it was surely passed along to the kings of each country.
It may have only been my impression that all the information was known by everyone.
I don't think there was any miswording, but it seems I needed to consider them not receiving any information. I'll make sure to consider it next time.
Ahahahaha! Oh Wow! To think such a thing could happen!
No wonder you like that human form despite being a monster.
You've got an impressive mimicry going, but this explains the reason behind your fixation.
I see, that also explains how you're able to obtain an Ultimate Skill.
Under normal circumstances, it isn't something you can obtain so easily.
But if a soul was able to preserve its ego after "World Crossing", of course that soul would get much stronger.
I was suspicious that Rudra was just performing some self-scripted act, but if that's the case, then I'm convinced.
My bad for doubting you.
Hm? Self-scripted?
It was curious so I inquired the details.
The story goes, Emperor Rudra and Guy had been at odds for over a thousand years.
And in the midst of that, I had appeared.
I had suddenly awakened as a true Demon Lord, and even obtained an Ultimate Skill.
At first, it seemed that I had something to do with Veldora's resurrection, and they had decided to take a wait-and-see approach, but the recent conflict with the Imperial army raised a bit of suspicion.
According to Dino's report, we escaped unharmed, and the imperial army was massacred.
At this point, Guy was thinking something was up.
Against only a single demon lord, could Rudrathat's the emperoractually suffer such a crushing defeat?
Despite wanting to wait-and-see, there was no point in suffering that much of a loss.
It seems Rudra's purpose was likely to promote evolution amongst the survivors.
He didn't care even if there were only 10s of survivors.
Once upon a time, when Veldora had rounded-up and killed a lot of them, since some survivors managed to evolve into Sages, Rudra didn't feel it was his loss.
He made up an understandable reason to appease the public,and trained the army by putting them in danger; Then, having the survivors evolve was the Rudra's basic combat strategy.
Guy also approved the Demon Lords fighting each other was also for a similar reason.
To clash, and then rise up as true Demon Lords, was the end result that he expected.
That being the case, both Guy and Rudra were fighting as if playing a long game of chess.
As if killing time, it was a game of patience.
But, the number of survivors this time was 0.
There was the problem.
Guy couldn't leave alone the fact that I had gained multiple Demon Lord class subordinates, and that there was not a single survivor.
The reason was simple.
A meaningless military action was something Rudra would never allow.
He must have acted with some kind of purpose in mind......
In Dino's report, he hinted that he was of the same opinion. What the hell are you even doing, Dino.
So Guy suspected a self-scripted act.
Causing a grand military campaign, pretending to go to war with Demon Lord Rimuru in order to strengthen Rimuru's forces.
In other words, I had betrayed Guy's Demon Lord faction, and joined Emperor Rudra is it? This was the gist of his doubts.
Or rather, he even thought that I could be a spy sent by Emperor Rudra right from the beginning.
A just recently born monster (Slime) obtaining an Ultimate Skill, normally this would be inconceivable.
Couldn't it be that due to the Emperor's instigation, it was given an Ultimate Skill and evolved? So he thought.
To give an away Ultimate Skills to someone, is that even possible?
If it's this kind of ability, then it's not impossible. However, it's limited to only granting an inferior form.
And the receiving target must be someone above a certain strength threshold, it's not to the extent of being a threat.
I wanted to hear more because I had doubts, but then he just dropped a bombshell of an announcement on me.
Or rather, you're the only one who'd say someone with an Ultimate Skill was not a threat, dammit! I wanted to shout.
Perhaps, Milim's in the same category as Guy.
Their perspective of things tended to be somewhat skewed.
His words and appearance of enjoyably eating cake were in complete contrast.
Wait a minute, he's talking about something important right now.
Undeceived by his appearance, I needed to keep calm and organize this information.
I stabbed the fork into my own cake whilst sorting it all out in my head.
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