ch16

Just InCommunityForumMoreRegrets and Wishes: One More Chance by jnscrtm Anime » Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken/転生したらスライムだった件 Rated: T, English, Hurt/Comfort & Romance, [Rimuru T., Ciel], Words: 104k+, Favs: 190, Follows: 196, Published: May 20, 2022 Updated: Jun 13, 202221Chapter 16: 14 - Meeting of Two Kings

CHAPTER 14 - MEETING OF TWO KINGS

(Rimuru's Perspective)

The lunch has been finished. I, Ciel, and Gazel are now sitting on our respective chairs surrounding a circular table within a room dedicated for an important talk.

"Then, let's get down to our business, shall we?" King Gazel says. "So, I heard that you wanted to recruit some craftsmen. Is that true?"

"Yes, that is true," I answer.

"I also heard that you wanted to recruit the craftsmen to come to your village and teach their crafts to the villagers there. Is that true, too?"

"Yes, it is."

"Would you mind to explain a bit about your village?"

"Deep inside the Great Forest of Jura," I explain, "we are currently building a village of hobgoblins and direwolves. It's still a small, humble village, really. But someday, more people from many different races will come and fill our village, and our small village will eventually grow into a great country of monsters."

"'Country of monsters', you say? It sounds menacing yet strangely fascinating. So, may I take it to mean that you two are actually monsters?"

"You may. We never said a word about it to anyone, but I and Ciel are actually slimes, kind of."

In this new timeline, I assume my humanoid form much more often. So far, I only showed my true form, my slime form, once at that night after the battle against the direwolves. And even then, almost no one but Ciel and a few peeping hobgobs who saw it.

"Slimes?" He nearly chokes on his tea. He quickly puts his cup on the table. "With that kind of power?"

I change form into my slime form and hop onto my seat. "Yep, this is my true form."

"So, you are really slimes." He looks at me observantly. "But I see that your body diameter is way too big for a typical slime."

He quickly spotted anything weird with me being a 'slime', huh? He really is a clever fellow, I admit. He doesn't immediately judge someone just from one aspect, unlike those 'fools' who thought I must've been weak no matter what after knowing that I was a slime.

Using the freedom [Universal Shapeshift] gave me, I made my current slime form to be forty centimetres in diameter so that I can still "sit" on the chair. My true slime form would have a diameter of around seventy to eighty centimetres.

"Well, that is why I add 'kind of' at the end of my sentence. Our 'true' size would have a diameter of seventy to eight centimetres. We are not exactly slimes per se. But, well, it is not something worth pursuing right now." I return to my humanoid form.

"Still...if you go around and tell people that you are some kinds of slimes, will it not make people look down at you?"

He can deduce the possibilities just from a few given conditions. He is still as terrifying as ever.

I let out a sigh. "You are right in that case. I cannot recall just how many times had I been looked down at since then just because I was a slime. Not that I mind them too much, though, since I ignore them most of the time."

"Heh, I expected as much. Ah, sorry for this out-of-context talk and how about we move to our real talk?"

"Right," I say, changing my tone into a more serious one. "So, I hope we can forge a diplomatic relationship with your country. We would like a right for technology exchange between us, especially regarding Kaijin and the three dwarven brothers. With their help, I am certain we will be able to accelerate the development of our country. I understand that we ask too much when we and you have only met this once. But from that, your country will gain benefits, too. For example..."

I take out two items from my [Imaginary Space] while my eyes are looking at King Gazel's two attendants. They, understanding my signal, come closer to me, then to each I hand one item.

In a relationship forged between two countries, both factions shall get benefits. Our country will get a huge boost in development. On the other hand, Dwargon will receive beneficial investments. What are those investments? Those are...

King Gazel takes the spherical bottle filled with a special liquid from the first attendant. "Isn't this...a Full Potion like what you gave to the injured miners?"

"Yes, it is."

He returns the potion to the attendant. "And this"—he carefully takes the second item with both hands from the second attendant—"is a sword?"

He unsheathes the sword then holds it with both hands, its tip pointing upwards. "A pitch-black sword? This seems very different from the ones that Kaijin once brought the other day."

"Try to hold it and focus a bit of your magical power into it."

The sword's blade begins to turn white with a faint shade of silver in response.

"The blade is now shining white..." he murmurs in wonder, instead of shock like what I initially thought. "How beautiful."

This man has a high immunity against surprises and shocks, I swear...

"That sword was made from scarletite," I say.

(A.N., Scarletite is the other translation of "hihi'irokane" or "crimson steel")

"Pardon me, WHAT?!" He gets surprised, finally. "Scarletite, you say?!"

"Yes," I reply nonchalanty. "That sword possesses immutable properties. Basically, this sword can't be destroyed. When it gets damaged, it can be repaired by saturating it with magicules. Usually, a sword made of scarletite is black when not used. The fact that that sword responded and changed colour when you infused your magical power into it means that you have been recognized by it as its owner."

"I honestly thought it was just something out of a fairy tale. So, it is a real thing after all, huh?" He lets out a long sigh.

"You can have that sword for free. We give it to you."

"Huh? Free? But this is surely a rare, like, extremely rare weapon, is it not? Are you sure?"

"Well, your sword, it has taken quite a damage from our fight earlier, has it not?"

"It has. It was fortuitous that it didn't break, to be honest."

"Next time, you can use that as a combat weapon instead of it. Since that sword of yours is a national treasure, it is better kept safely, solely as heirloom display, is it not? The sword that we give you is of Legendary class, but since it was made of scarletite, you can expect it to be the top of the line among other Legendary-class weapons, even bordering the line of Mythical class. Consider it as a compensation."

"'Bordering the line of Mythical class'?! Even just 'regular' Legendary-class equipment is extremely scarce, and you say this sword is bordering the Mythical class? Literal mythical weapons said to have godly power? To think that you can create thing like this easily, I really need to reconsider my common sense after this."

Don't worry, King Gazel. Even I sometimes think that our own power is mind-boggling to the point of being broken.

Although...even then...I still lost in 'that battle'.

He sheathes the sword and gives it back to his attendant.

"We created those with our power," I continue. "But someday, our citizens will be able to create those things on their own. We will provide them with materials, tools, knowledge, and anything needed to create those things. Not only those two, but also many more in the days to come."

King Gazel seems to fall deep into his thought, scrutinizing what I just said. He crosses his arms, lowering his head and closing his eyes.

Just as I said, our citizens will be able to create those things on their own. In order to achieve that goal, our citizens will need materials, tools, and knowledge.

For potions, Vesta will be playing the most vital role as the lead researcher. His nature of curiosity as a scientist will be a huge help to the research later on.

Fortunately, the chain of events has told us that he'll someday get sent to us, so we don't have so much to worry about. Once he works for us, we will provide him more in-depth knowledge and let him experiment with everything in the laboratory as long as it benefits the researches.

With that, I also hope we will be able to reinvent many technologies that have been successfully invented in our previous timeline, and maybe even invent some new technologies that haven't ever existed.

For weapons, Kaijin and Kurobee will definitely be able to achieve their greatest potential. They just need to practice to polish and perfect their works.

We'll bring Tempest to reach new heights, higher than ever before. In order to make all of those possible, the very first thing we need to do is to cooperate with the dwarves in particular, and the Kingdom of Dwargon in general.

We will forge a diplomatic relationship with Dwargon. And later on, we will forge relationship with other countries, too.

King Gazel opens his eyes. "So, your country will receive a development boost from the craftsmen our country gives you. Then, once your country is ready to produce those things, you start sending and selling them to us. Is that what you mean?"

A big grin blooms on his face. He really gets our intention.

I smile widely. "Ah, perfectly right to the point, I see. I should have expected no less from the Champion King of the Armed Nation of Dwargon. So, what are your words?"

"Heh, needless to say, I will accept it. Full potions that can regenerate even lost limbs and the supposedly-scarce Legendary-class weapons—how can we ignore such a great investment opportunity which we might never get from other people at another time? Not just Kaijin and the three dwarven brothers, how about I give you more of our best craftsmen as well? With that, your country's development can be a lot faster."

He wholly agrees to forge a diplomatic relationship with us.

And he even offers more craftsmen to us.

With the way things are, we can develop our country much more easily and a lot faster. At this rate, we might be able to get a decent town already in a span of one month.

...

However, looking at things from another perspective, this would mean that some huge changes are destined to happen, no matter how hard we try to press them.

Are we ready to face such changes? Should I decline and stick with only Kaijin and the three dwarven brothers so there will be no changes?

But one big change already happened when six tribes instead of four came to seek for our protection. Even as we talk here, somewhere, some deviations—some huge changes that we are not aware of yet—are slowly forming themselves, ready to surprise us at any time.

It is not about us having been ready or not, because in the end, we must be ready.

Haven't I promised myself? That I will deal with the consequences of my own actions? That I will not cower and curse everything no matter what?

That alone should have made it clear, that I, in some way, have also promised myself that I am ready to face anything that came, comes, and will come to me.

...

And remembering that we have more first citizens makes me wonder if we do need more craftsmen after all.

"Rimuru?" King Gazel's words interrupt my train of thought. "What are your words?"

Ciel looks at me, clearly worried.

"Ah—sorry. I was thinking too much. But are you sure? Will that not slow down the production in your country?" I need to confirm his decision before going into the detail.

"To be honest, they cannot do much over here either. So, I figured out that it will be the best to have them go and use their talents elsewhere."

"Very well. Then, we will gladly take your offer. But...I think we should push the formality later on. Could you wait until our country has been fully built and running smoothly?"

"Alright, fine by me."

King Gazel calls out a few guards. He orders them to inform the Engineering Corps that the king has ordered them that some of the best craftsmen among them shall gather in the royal palace immediately.

The guards bow at the king, turn around, then run out from the room.

King Gazel turns his attention back to us. "Now, putting politics aside, how about we talk about your future as a leader?"

My future as a leader?

"What do you mean exactly by that?" I ask.

"You two have said yourself that you are monsters. Say, what is your policy in running your country? And regarding humanity, what will you do to them as a country of monsters? Not all countries will be like us, who are willing to cooperate with a bunch of monsters. Some of them might try to attack and subjugate your country for their own gain. Some others might seek to annihilate you out of their fanatical belief. It may sound so harsh, but it's just how humans really are: selfish and greedy. Surely you understand that, no?"

Ah, so that's what he means. I can see what he is really concerned about.

He wants to know how we will run our country. Knowing our identity as monsters, he must be concerned about what we will do the ever-growing humanity who are well-known for their selfishness and greediness. Perhaps, he's scared that we might destroy humanity just because of a small group of humans being hostile to us.

"We can understand you concern, King Gazel. We, monsters, always follow the rule of 'survival of the fittest'. Stronger monsters are generally satisfied by simply enjoying the power they have as the stronger ones. Many monsters, especially the higher-ranked ones, also have a relatively long lifespan. That is why monsters rarely put too much thought on wealth.

"But humans are different. Their short lifespan causes the majority of them to have an urgent desire to enjoy their lives to the fullest in such a short amount of time. It pushes them to do anything as long as their goals can be fulfilled to the point that they do not care about anything and anyone but themselves, even if it means that they have to kill anyone in their way, or abandon, or betray their own comrades.

"Nonetheless, our policy is to try to cooperate with humanity, to create an environment where humans and monsters can coexist together. We will not force anyone to cooperate with us. For those who are willing to, we will welcome them with open arms. And for those who are not, we will not do anything and will just let them be so long as they do not do anything to us.

"If they ever dare to oppose or wrong us, however, we will not hesitate to exterminate every single one of them without any mercy." I've finally finished explaining the summary of our country's view and principles.

Exactly as I stated, we will try to cooperate with humanity. We will try to cooperate with our former allies too, like Dwargon, Blumund, Capital of the Forgotten Dragon, Eurazania, Sarion, and many more.

For how it will progress, we can only hope for the best. Now that we have formed a connection with Dwargon much faster than we originally did, there will be some big changes. It might be slightly or even wholly different from our original timeline.

"Thank you. Now, I think I have fully understood the core purposes of your country. One more question: what if the ones who oppose you are the Demon Lords or the Eastern Empire? As you might have known, they are currently the two strongest forces and the two biggest centres of power in the world."

"As for now, it is true that our country—currently a village—is not powerful enough to fight them. In the worst case, we both alone should be more enough to deal with every single one of them, if it is just their pawns.

"While we are willing to protect our citizens at all cost, however, we do not want our country to depend too much on us. We want our country to be able to stand and walk on its own feet. That is, the unwritten rule for all people under our protection: 'For those who are under our protection, every single individual shall be fully protected, until they can protect themselves on their own.'

"We may have unlimited wealth. We may have immense power. But if the citizens rely too much on their king and queen, they will never grow. And if the citizens do not grow, the country will be slowly falling apart, and eventually will fall into its own destruction."

But if we're talking about the horrific world-scale war that they—especially that one manas and that one Primordial Angel—may wage, not even we can be sure that we can come out victorious.

That angel whom we fought in the last battle wasn't even his main body, just a mere [Multiple Existence]. And yet, our fights always resulted on stalemate. If his main body, the one said to be created directly by Veldanava's own hands, were to come out, I couldn't imagine just how powerful he would be.

There was also Ivaraj, who hadn't appeared in the previous timeline. No one knew how strong exactly was Ivaraj.

It may be different this time, now that I have gathered [Turn Null] energy enough to recreate tens of thousands of worlds. But even so, I cannot afford to be careless, because this power is very difficult to control. One slight wrong step and the whole world will get wiped out.

We still need more power. And more importantly, We still need more proficiency in using our own power. And that is exactly why, I want us to also grow up, together with our people.

We will give our all to protect them while helping them to grow up. We will provide any guidance they need until they can hold on their feet. In return, we can also grow up by learning and discovering something else about our power that we perhaps are still unaware of.

When that day comes, if the extremely long chain of wars ever gets ended, they might not need our help anymore. I might be the king only in the name. Only a very few crucial things will go through me.

That would mean, I can finally get rid from those goddamn papers. And If I can get rid of them, it means I will have much more time to spend with Ciel. Needless to say, I'll still hold the absolute power over the country.

Speaking of Ciel, her face suddenly changes into red.

Huh? Why is she blushing? Did I say something wrong?

"I see," King Gazel says. "It has been so long since the last time I heard such thoughtful and deep words from someone else. And I really did not expect that the one from whom I would hear them was a monster. I am sure you will be a great king, Rimuru."

'King'? He knows that I am a guy, huh? I guess that Henrietta had heard our conversation that time, when I told those dwarves that I am a guy.

"It is a grand honour to hear it directly from you, King Gazel." I sip my tea.

"So, if you are the king, is Ciel is your queen?"

"Pffft—" I instantly spit out my tea hearing it.

Wait a minute, King Gazel! How in the world did you arrive at that conclusion? Did I say it before? Did I? Did I?!

I quickly review my memory, trying to recall every word that has come out from my mouth.

...

'...But if the citizens rely too much on their king and queen, they will never grow...'

'...rely too much on their king and queen...'

'...KING AND QUEEN...'

Even if it was not quite obvious, I did say 'king and queen'—wait! Was that why Ciel reacted the way she did before?

AHH! What a damn mouth!

My face heats up. "Ah—I don't know. Umm...well...maybe..." Embarrassed, I roll my eyes, looking at King Gazel, then at Ciel, then back to King Gazel, and so on for several times.

"Gahahaha, okay. I understand both of your situations. Young love really is a wondrous thing." He just laughs looking at our behaviour.

"EH?!" W-what the—? Y-young love?! What the hell are you talking about, King Gazel?!

"Please do not misunderstand, King Gazel. We...uh...we are just..." I try to clarify but my mind refuses to think, leaving me stuttering at the end. Just what, Rimuru? You and Ciel are just what, Rimuru?

If I am to answer that we are partners, it won't help clarifying and will just end up sparking another "conspiracy". I never thought that I would mess up really badly.

"Alright, alright, no need to embarrass yourself further about it." He takes a glance out the door. "Oh, it seems the preparation is already complete. Follow me." He stands up then walks away.

Sigh...that guy... I can't believe he can create a sight like this...

"Come on, Ciel." I stand up.

"Y-yes, Master." She also stands up. There's still a slight red colour on her cheeks.

We follow King Gazel behind, walking to the palace's main hall.

There we can see Kaijin, the dwarven brothers, and twelve other dwarves. They're divided into 3 lines with each of dwarven brothers in front of each line and Kaijin in front of all of them.

King Gazel steps in front of all the dwarves with us standing at his sides. Noticing their king's presence, all dwarves immediately kneel.

He turns, facing them directly. "All of you, O the best craftsmen the Armed Nation of Dwargon has. As our pride as the dwarves, I, your king, give you the topmost order: give your best to help Rimuru and Ciel to build their country and follow every and each single order that they give you. This is my last order which all of you must carry out for the rest of your lives. Is there any objection?"

""""We have no objection, my liege. We promise we will live up to your expectation!"""" they exclaim in unison.

"Then, as of today, you are no longer under my wing and hereby I declare Rimuru and Ciel as your new masters. May you serve them well!" declares King Gazel majestically.

He changes his attention to us. "Rimuru, Ciel, do you need an escort to return to your village? We can offer you Pegasus Knights as your escort so your journey will be faster."

"I appreciate your consideration, King Gazel, but I am afraid that we do not need any." I glance at Ciel.

Understanding what I mean, Ciel raises her right hand straight, palm facing forward. A [Portal Gate] appears, showing a goblin village at its other side.

[Portal Gate] isn't really a skill name. It's just a kind of term that we use for a special usage of our skill.

The creation of [Portal Gate] involves linking two points in the space through another dimension, then distort the space-time that connects those points using [Space-Time Domination] of [Azathoth]. But instead of using it instantly for ourselves, we make it so that the "gates" at both points will stay there for a while longer, allowing other people to enter for a certain duration of time. We call it [Portal Gate] because it resembles a portal gate you might've seen in some sci-fi movies.

As usual, all witnesses—from both this side and the village's side—are astonished.

"There is really nothing you two cannot do at this point," says King Gazel, quickly regaining his composure. "So, when will we meet again?"

Oh, right. We haven't discussed this matter yet, have we?

"When will that be, I wonder... Ciel, do you have any idea?"

"Yes, Master," she says. "King Gazel, would you mind to wait until the first quarter moon after six new moons? The next morning, you can come to visit."

Wow, she answers really quick.

This night is a night of waning crescent moon; the first new moon after this will be two or three nights from now. So, 'after six full moons' in this case are actually, like, five months? Wouldn't that be too long a time?

And why did she use the term 'new moons' instead of simply 'months'?

Ciel-s—oops, I mean Ciel isn't someone who'd be reckless in deciding. I mean, she was born from [Raphael], the one that bears the name "Lord of Wisdom". She must've taken anything into consideration, like the current condition, how fast our country's development, etc. It's just how terrifying my partner really is.

So, let's just try to figure it out.

With Veldora's disappearance, the non-aggression pact the Demon Lords have signed with Veldora will immediately be denied. Some of them will begin to expand their territory. That cunning, cautious guy surely will not waste this opportunity to also carry out his own plan to gain a puppet Demon Lord like what he always hoped for.

But he won't immediately execute his plan. He will need some help from his three fellow Demon Lords. It will take some time to ensure that all of them can hold a meeting to discuss this matter together. Arranging hundreds of thousands of orcs isn't something you can do in a mere day. At least, it will need around a month, if everything goes smoothly. If not, it will take much longer time.

The Orc Lord will appear. At the same time, the orcs will begin their rampage.

After some time, they will attack the ogres' village as well. If we spot them trying to attack ogres' village, we can just evacuate them at that exact moment. We will have around three weeks to solidify our military with those ogres and form an alliance with the lizardmen then start our counter.

After we accept the orcs, we will need a few months, assumedly three months, before all problematic situations at the time get settled down.

After six new moons, the next morning after the first quarter moon...

...

...

...

Oh, now I get it! In our previous timeline, King Gazel first visited my would-be nation when this world's moon was still around its first quarter phase.

"First quarter moon after six full moons?" he says after seeming to be thinking very hard. "Very well. If that is your decision, I shall wait until that day. I will not question you any further. Since the time and date is weirdly detailed, I'll just presume that you deem it to be the best time."

"Then, let's we meet again at that time." I offer my hand to him.

He shakes my hand. "I wish you success in building your country."

He lets go of my hand then steps aside so he won't get in our way.

"Let's go." I and Ciel lead the dwarven craftsmen passing through the portal, towards our future great country.

~TO BE CONTINUED~

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