17 Phobio gets shot in the face

I was sitting on the floor spewing out threads with different properties. Apparently, if clothing was made with these threads they would retain their properties and affect the user. We were currently using threads like paralysis, poison, and other effects to train resistances in our fighters. Shuna and Shion were helping me sort out the threads for delivery to the clothing department.

Milim had put her new favorite plushy on my legs and was using that as a pillow to take a nap. It was a pretty simple and relaxing day until I got the notice from great sage.

[Notice. The individual you have been expecting is about to enter the city.]

*Sigh* I guess it is time. Turning my legs into slime to not disturb the cute sleeping nuke and reassembling myself standing up I called out to Shion.

"We gotta go, someone is about to cause trouble."

…

Arriving at the city center I could see a black-haired strolling like he owned the city I saw him talking to Rigurd just in time to stop him from attacking. I shadow stepped in front of Rigurd and caught the fist he had launched.

"Now, I do wonder why a stranger is attacking one of my citizens. Are you perhaps looking to start a fight?"

"Your city? So it is you I should talk to. I, Phobio, One of Lord Carrion's Three Lycanthropeers have been sent and I find that your city is quite good. It sure would make a fine addition to my lord's collection. You have the honor-"

"No, this is my city, I do not intend on giving it to anyone. If that is all you are here for you are free to go."

Phobio's expression instantly darkened and he tried to attack me. I just caught his fist a second time using body armor on my hand and pointed my other finger to his face as if it were a gun.

"Bang"

With that, I released a burst of Corrosive breath from my finger directly onto his face. It must have hurt quite a bit judging by his screams. That shit must have gotten into his eyes. Before too much damage was caused I splashed some full heal potion on his face and dispelled my skill. Even then he was still rolling around on the floor. So much for demon lord potential am I right. You just gotta be creative to win fights easily.

"Let that be a warning, I do not enjoy being nor seeing my citizens attacked for no reason. I do not mind having a proper diplomatic talk with Demon Lord Carrion but at least ask him to send a better envoy. Attacking the person you are trying to have talks with does not leave a great first impression."

At that moment I was attacked from behind me by a pink-haired missile. Once she was standing side by side she grabbed me by the collar and with the most dramatic voice she could muster asked.

"Rimuru! How dare you betray me. If it wasn't for my strong fun senses I would have missed out on this monkey rolling on the ground. My- bwahahahahaha- I'm sorry I couldn't resist laughing. What is going on with that guy?"

"Oh, that guy tried to start a fight saying I should give my city to Demon Lord Carrion, and once I rejected he tried to punch me. Next thing I knew he stopped, dropped, and rolled."

By now Phobio had stood up and looked ready for a fight. Just before he got ready to launch another attack he looked at the woman standing next to the leader of this city. Judging by the aura and appearance of the girl he couldn't mistake who she was.

"Why is Carrion sending such aggressive envoys? Doesn't he know the meaning of no standing in each other's ways? If he continues to mess with my friend I might have to pay him a visit to teach him not to break promises."

Taking a look at the two standing in front of him Phobio knew he had no chance. If it was only the Kijin who owned the city he was sure he could win. He had only been caught off guard by his attack and now that he was prepared he was sure he could beat him. But with Milim standing next to him all he could do was retreat for now.

"You will regret this." Phobio said as he started to walk away.

"Let Demon Lord Carrion know that I won't mind receiving his envoys if he does it the proper way next time. Just let us know ahead of time."

"Oh well, Milim, do you want some snacks? I gotta get back to making some more thread for a bit but I do feel like snacking."

…

A few days later I had done some more bug recruiting. They grew to be surprisingly strong so I might as well try to add some more. Though finding ones with actual growth potential was a bit rare I did find a few. An assassin bug which I had named Jouzu. A mantis I had named Maimai. And a spider I had named Silk.

Making my way back I had been informed of some visitors that had arrived. Among them was Kaval's party, Fuze, and a few other random adventurers which I assumed to be Yohm and his party.

I didn't really have a need for Yohm. After all, in the long term, I had easier plans for dealing with Falmuth than to make a complicated scheme to put someone like him on the throne. Plus it didn't help out much to increase human relations to "have assisted on the takedown of the orc lord". I'll pass him off to Hakuro to deal with if he decides to stay.

….

The meeting with fuze went pretty smoothly, I had secured myself a visit to make an alliance with Blummund if I wanted to. Fuze seemed to be a pretty smart guy so we ended up with pretty good standing with each other. Ellen and her party was a fun addition too. They hadn't seen much of the progress that had gone since their past few visits and they were pretty amazed by how fast everything was going. Fuze and them had decided to stay for a few days to get familiar with the city so I had prepared a few rooms for them to stay in.

We had decided to spread a different story about the fight with the orc lord. The dryads had come to our village and many others in the search for assistance with the orc lord. By bringing the ogres, the goblins, and the lizardman together to fight him off. After a grueling battle with many losses on both sides, we finally came out victorious. As a celebration and in order to prevent future chaos within our forest we all come together to build a city. And the dryads named me their leader.

The reason we needed a cover-up story was just in case Falmuth decided to chicken out if they knew we had beaten the orc lord with no problem. It wasn't really likely but it was always better to be prepared. I needed them for my evolution to demon lord and if I just went there and killed the people I needed I could end up making Tempest an enemy of the western nations which would really just be a pain to deal with. As long as they assemble their troops and attempt to attack first I could deal with the rest.

As for Yohm and his party. I had offered them a place to stay and work and since they didn't have anywhere else to go, after taking a look around the city, they accepted. I didn't really need them but throwing them out would seem like a bit of a waste. I just had someone take them to where Hakuro was training everyone and let him figure out what to do with them. If they were not up to his standards he was free to kick them out to do something else.

Now I just had to wait for Charybdis to appear. I did realize that since I was the one to confront him this time he probably would have a grudge with me and not Milim but if in the end if I can't defeat him I don't mind being a bit shameless and letting Milim help out.