ch6

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 6: Interlude - Chaos and Confusion

This chapter was supposed to be uploaded together with the 4th chapter, since this was originally written as its "bonus" chapter. I forgot about it when uploading the 4th chapter, so now I uploaded this chapter together with the 5th chapter instead.

INTERLUDE – CHAOS AND CONFUSION

(3rd Person's Perspective)

Storm Dragon Veldora had disappeared—the one sealed for three hundred years, the living catastrophe. The news of his disappearance had been spreading throughout the world like a raging tempest. All were but shocked and confused.

Three hundred years of penance had done nothing to affect the dragon's rank as a Catastrophe-level threat. Even if he had disappeared, it didn't mean he couldn't be reborn anywhere and anytime, posing a new menace before long. He was a True Dragon, after all.

But after twenty days since the initial report of his disappearance came out, the Western Holy Church issued a worldwide announcement, that as far as the investigations could tell, Storm Dragon Veldora showed no sign of existing anytime soon. The words spread first in the area surrounding the Great Forest of Jura.

Once Veldora's fate had been broadly reported, each and every one of them sprang to their feet. Every king and every minister of every nation started holding day-to-day emergency meetings, gathering information and debating what to do next.

⁂

Count Nidol Migam is furious.

"That's bullshit!" he curses while recalling what the finance minister just told him.

Simply remembering it makes his blood boil: "The threat known as the Storm Dragon Veldora has vanished. Therefore, the special monetary support from the central government shall be halted, as of today." And that was it. No back talk allowed. After being summoned to the capital. After being forced to wait for three hours.

Falmuth is, indeed, a rich kingdom. But so much power is tipped towards its central government that practically none of those riches reaches the nobility tasked with running its more remote regions. Redistribution of wealth is a foreign concept around here, and the countship of Migam never seems to see any relief from the taxes they're expected to collect from their citizens.

Like the other nations, they're taxed based on their agricultural harvests; and yet, they're also charged with defending their borders against the threats posed by the forest. That's the current source of the Count of Migam's fury.

That stipend has been a huge aid to them, certainly. The count's lands go right up to the Forest of Jura, making it the primary defence line of the entire Kingdom of Falmuth. But that isn't just Nidol's problem. It is a problem that haunts the entire country.

"And yet...of all the patronizing things they could have done...!" Nidol is so angry; he can't help but verbalize his thoughts. There's too much to consider. He has to think about how he will keep the countship going.

Sealed or not, Storm Dragon Veldora is, nonetheless, a potent threat. He is a special S-ranked monster and thus ignored at one's peril. With the disappearance now a public knowledge, it was perhaps understandable that such "special"—i.e., provisional—monetary support no longer made sense.

But the timing couldn't have been worse.

The monsters are also a threat posed by the forest. But the Storm Dragon is just as much a threat to those monsters. The fact that the dragon has disappeared can only be attributed to monsters' movement. No more dragon meant no more overlord to keep all of them in check.

They needed to strengthen their border forces, if anything, for all the new monster activity; and then they lost their budget for it. That, in brief, is what angers Nidol at the moment. The government might have a point. But to the Count of Migam, that doesn't matter.

How should I protect my lands now...?

Mercenaries cost money. The adventurers from the Free Guild can't be trusted when push comes to shove. Now is exactly when the government should be extending a helping hand to him. They're talentless fools, completely failing to grasp the situation.

If, perish that thought, Nidol Migam's lands are swallowed up by hordes of monsters, it'll cost Falmuth all the trust placed upon it by neighboring countries and large-scale merchants. It will be the government that will pay the price for that. And right this minute, it is setting itself for doom.

The count continues to curse his superiors under his breath. None of this is his own responsibility. He knows that.

But still... He sighs in his wagon, his mind slightly more settled. As a last resort, he can appeal to the king. No one left but the royal family to press upon.

But when he recalls the king's face, it induces him with despair. The sheer greediness of that man will never allow him to care about the fate of some patch of the frontier land. It'll be blasphemy to utter that out loud. But those are Nidol's genuine feelings. Without the pretext of the Storm Dragon to support him, the Count of Migam might be forced to raise taxes, even.

His dominion borders only two other areas: the Capital City of Maris and the Great Forest of Jura. There is no reason to prepare for invasion from other countries, and thus no need for a permanent standing army.

The count's territorial force, tasked with repelling monsters and magical beasts, numbers no more than a hundred or so knights. The number makes Nidol grimace.

Technically speaking, the count has been taking the special stipend and pocketing it. The payments are meant to keep up strict patrols across the border with the Forest of Jura. But in this faraway region with no need for a large army, the only thing they have to worry about is handling monsters. With the rise of the Free Guild over the past decade or so, the costs of disposing monsters have dropped significantly too.

Thus, this whole disaster is something of a retribution for the count himself; a payback for failing to enact the measures he should have. He is aware of that. But it's still a bitter pill for Nidol to swallow.

⁂

That being said, Nidol is not the only one troubled by the situation. The kings and ministers of those countries are now hastily hosting an emergency council to devise a strategy.

One such troubled individual is the Baron Veryard, the minster of a small kingdom called Blumund. It's a trying time for him, but not half as trying as it is for the man Veryard has called into his private chamber today.

This is Fuze, a man just as renowned for his sharp, unrelenting eyes as he is for his small stature. He is the Guildmaster for this kingdom, a position affording him a hefty amount of authority even in such a small nation.

"I believe you know why I summoned you here," says the baron as Fuze walks through the archway. "You have heard about the Storm Dragon by now, no?"

He nods. "Of course, my baron," he answers in a low, hoarse voice.

"Hmph," Veryard spits out in response. "I suppose I should have expected as much of a Guildmaster. Now, may I ask you what measures the guild intends to take?"

"We have no particular plans at the time, sir."

"...I'm sorry, did I hear you correctly? You have no intention to take any actions?"

"Yes, sir," Fuze replies with a voice devoid of emotion, silently asking the baron what he is so bothered about. "I do not feel any actions are necessary."

The baron, not being a great fan of this kind of response, chooses to keep those feelings hidden. "Rather a strange thing to say, is it not? Not necessary? The disappearance of Veldora the Storm Dragon may portend further monster activity in a span of days, even hours! And you are taking no measure against it at all?"

"It would strike me as a rather strange job to do, sir, for taking such measures is the kingdom's job. I am responsible for the Free Guild. We are not volunteers. We do not work for free, my baron."

This is the truth, as far as Fuze is concerned.

The Free Guild is an independent, non-governmental organization. Its members are afforded no special guarantees of security or comfort but the basic rights that all citizens are entitled to. Their only official debt to the kingdom comes in the form of taxes.

That is the system in Blumund, as it is in nearly all nations that surrounds it. In other words, the Free Guild is a group that operates outside the framework of any nations; and one far more unified than a single government as well. It is a fact that some of their operations occurred without the knowledge or consent of these nations, whether the guild intended it to be seen that way or not.

"Is it not the responsibility of the state," the Guildmaster continues, "to protect the assets of its people? In the same way, it is the guild's responsibility to protect its members' lives. We both have a lot of trouble to cope with, I suppose."

"Enough pretense, Guildmaster! How many mercenaries can you provide us? How many adventurers with combat experience? What is the size of the defence force you can provide in service? I need numbers!"

Fuze rolls his eyes and sighs. "I do hope we are on the same page when I say this, sir. But I will remind you, we are not an army of volunteers. If we are talking about a mobilization based on the terms of our agreement, I can provide you the equivalent of one-tenth of our members. If you wish access to anything beyond that, well, that would all depend on our compensation."

The population of Blumund is almost exactly one million. The membership log of the local Free Guild totals around seven thousand, not including family members. Thus, if the kingdom decides to invoke its agreement with the guild and muster ten percent of its members—seven hundred in all—these fighters will officially join the command of the national army.

Such an order, of course, will apply only to guild members who belong to Blumund and no other nation. All Free Guild members fall under the same banner, but their home nations are also clearly stated in the logs for this reason. What's more, while a nation has the right to define its own mobilization period under this agreement, it is also obliged to give the guild a one-fifth discount on taxes collected during the entire period.

This allows governments to rapidly summon a powerful force, and the guild to make sure its men will not be obligated to the state for too much of their time. For a group like the guild, which is required to pay salaries to all deployed members in advance, it is the obvious approach to take.

Besides, even if a government asks for every man the local Free Guild has, there will be no way to handle them. After all, only about half of any guild's membership have any fighting skill. The Blumund nobles are fully aware of this.

Normally, they won't have their top minister attempt to bully the Guildmaster into better terms...but the times demand otherwise. The monsters are stirring, for one. But even beyond that, they have more pressing motivations.

"Enough of this. Are you trying to wring the truth out of me, Fuze?"

Fuze raises his eyebrows a little at the mention of his name. Veryard rarely, if ever, calls him by it. He turns his eyes towards the baron for the first time.

"The area near where the Veldora was sealed in was meant to be an absolutely impassable region," he says. "Now that route may potentially be open to direct navigation; and that means we must consider the possibility of the Eastern Empire taking action."

"Ah, certainly so!" replies Veryard. "Whether they were letting Veldora be or were simply afraid of the seal being broken, we have been detecting sudden new movements in the Empire after a long period of silence. Do you understand what it means? If they can get through the forest, this kingdom will instantly be swallowed up. Oh, and we can just forget about the Western Holy Church providing us any meaningful support! The countries around the Great Forest of Jura have no meaningful alliance with each other, and eventually, we will all fall into the empire's rule in the blink of an eye."

"No support from the Church...? I am afraid it is not. No. They never were really interested in wars between mere mortals from the very start. Annihilating monsters is what their doctrine calls for."

"Indeed. If we could have them deploy even one of their paladins, the Empire would not be so quick to move... Not needing to prepare for monsters' attacks would at least buy us some time."

"I doubt anything could make the Church spring into action," Fuze says. "The fall of a nation or two gives no effect to their own finances. They cannot help everyone; not even their own congregation." He takes a moment to look at the baron's face. "You look so exhausted. Are you getting enough sleep? You have got more grey hairs too, even."

"Hmph."

"As a favor to a childhood friend, I will gladly conduct my own personal inquiries," Fuze offers. "I would advise you not to expect much. But I can at least gauge the state of the Great Forest of Jura and around the Empire."

"...I would appreciate it."

There is no guarantee the Empire will act against them. If it's going to, it'll undoubtedly be with a huge force. It is never a nation to waste its time with small skirmishes. No, it'll casually send over a force of a million or so and trample over every nation in the area, one by one. Assembling such an army will take time, at least three years or so; which is not a short period.

"I had better begin gathering information, then." Fuze closes the conversation. "There is a little time. I am off!"

"Thank you..."

Two of them nod and go to their separate ways. There is much to do.

~TO BE CONTINUED~

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