Despair And Hope 2

Once they had all moved into his office, Benimaru began explaining what had transpired before Rimuru's arrivar.

Earlier that day, a group of three travelers- two men and a woman, arrived in the city in a small caravan of merchants. Once inside the city, the woman accused Gobza- one of Gobta's underlings- of having harassed her, even trying to use a unique skill to incite the people around her; however, Shuna used her own skill to cancel her's out, at which point the two men joined in and from there it escalated into a fight between them, Shion and Hakuro. Then the two barriers were erected, and about a hundred royal knights from the nearby kingdom of Falmuth stormed into the city. Upon seeing the monsters fighting the three humans, the leader of the knights shouted about how they came to investigate the nation of monsters only to find innocent humans being assaulted, then began cutting down everything in their path, sparing no one, not even children. As they left, he announced that an army of Falmuth and the the Western Holy Church will arrive within one week to subjugate the city. Apparently, the king of Falmuth himself, Kind Edmaris, will be leading it. Then they left.

-'...What a joke.' Rimuru said as Benimaru finished his report. 'This was obviously a set up; if their army is just a week away from us, they had already decided on invading us for a while. Those three must have been their agents, trying to make up an excuse...'

-'Yes, I believe so too.' Shuna said from behind him. As he turned to look at her, she continued 'Based on their unique skills, they were likely otherworlders.' she explained.

-'Otherworlders, huh?' Rimuru said lowly 'That makes little difference to us. In any case, while I understand the Church's position, what I don't quite get is why Falmuth gains from this?'

-'If I may...' Mjollmile said 'Their reason is part of what I wanted to talk about.' he said as he stepped forward from where he was standing.

-'Go ahead, Mjollmile.' Rimuru said.

-'Right. You see, Falmuth has always been a prosperous trading hub, especially between the Armed Nation of Dwargon and the other Western Nations. The Jura Forests has always been too dangerous with all the monsters roaming about, and the northern sea route is even worse; going through Falmuth was the only viable way for the majority of western merchants. Taxation of those merchants made the kingdom rich. But...' he continued as everyone in the room gave his their full attention 'with the rise of Tempest, that is no longer the case. You pacified the forest, built a road for easy access... the new trade route is safer, quicker and with much lower taxes. Falmuth will lose out massively in the long run; they see you as a rival, though I imagine they would rather subjugate you than eliminate you...' he finished his explanation, looking around to see everyone's reaction.

Rimuru carefully considered Mjollmile's explanation 'So this whole thing...is just greed?' he said with barley contained disgust and anger 'I see...I never intended to run roughshod with the arrangements of neighbors, but I am just an amateur at this stuff...I suppose this really is my fault...'

-'I'm afraid so...' the merchant said 'but please, do not misunderstand, sir Rimuru.'

-'Huh?' Rimuru looked at him confused

-'I was merely describing the background that informs Falmuth's motives. I wasn't trying to make judgement of their actions.' he explained 'First of all, its rather strange that they did not run this through the Council of the West. As you said, the first three humans were likely saboteurs, intended to stir up a motive they can sell to the general public. In any case...right now, I stand before you representing the human merchants, traders and adventurers staying in the city. We are all in agreement: we will stand with you against Falmuth!' he said with conviction as the other humans assembled behind him nodded in agreement 'Weapons, supplies, we will provide with whatever we can...'

-'I'm an adventurer from Blumund...' one of the adventurers said as he took a step forward 'this city has been my base of operations for some time. If you take me, I will join your fight!' 'Me too!' 'And me!' a number of adventurers shouted.

Rimuru looked at them in appreciation 'That's comforting....' he though 'However...'

-'While your offers are very much appreciated...' he said as he stood in front of the gathered humans 'I will have to decline. Thank you very much for your offer...' he said with a small bow 'but we need to take care of this ourselves.'Besides which, if something were to happen to any of you, Falmuth and the Church would just use it as an example to stir up people against us.' he explained to them; though they did not seem to like that idea, they also nodded in understanding. 'There is something you can do for me, though...'

-'Anything you want, boss.' Mjollmile said.

-'Thank you. Basically, I want you to return home and support our side of the story if it comes down to it. Do you think you can do that?'

The humans nodded one by one in agreement. 'Thank you. Now, please gather your things and meet me in the central square. I will send you off with a spell...'

-'Send us off with magic? Why not just walk...' one of the merchants asked, but was interrupted by the first adventurer to offer help

-'We are unnecessary witnesses, that's why.' he said in realization 'Falmuth probably has those troops that attacked watching the road leading west. They would not hesitate to kill us, would they?' he asked no one in particular; most seemed to grasp the meaning of his words quickly though, looks of disgust clear on their faces. Rimuru nodded.

-'Indeed' Rimuru agreed 'I doubt they actually give a damn about other humans. They'll kill you all with no remorse. That's why, I will send you off myself.'

A little time later, in the town square, he opened up a teleportation port to Blumund for all the humans to use. Mjollmile was the last to leave, saying he would get word of what really went on in Tempest to all who would listen. As the portal closed, he had Rigurd take him to the injured.

Both Gobta and Hakuro were among those that were gravely injured but survived. As he entered, he saw them both lying on beds, bleeding heavily. Shuna had left his office to continue helping out with and greeted him there. As he stepped closer to the two, she said 'One of the three humans had a spatial-type skill. Healing spells and even our full potions have no effect...'

Rimuru approached Hakuro and placed a hand on his shoulder. After some brainstorming, he had an idea 'Great Sage, can I use Gluttony to consume the effects of the spatial kill?'

Confirmed the sage informed. A second later, a black mist surrounded the old ogre. A second later, his wounds were healed (he had placed some of his own full potion while using Gluttony).

-'My thanks, Sir Rimuru...' Hakuro said. While Rimuru went to heal Gobta too, the ogre continued 'Though it shames me to have ended up in such state...'

-'Don't worry about it' Rimuru said as he healed Gobta 'It wasn't your fault.' With a jolt, Gobta woke up, patting himself to check for injuries. Then he was stupid enough to call Hakuro an 'old geezer.' Predictably, he almost ended up requiring more healing. Rimuru and Shuna stood on the side, snickering

-'What troublemakers...' he said jokingly 'Speaking of 'troublemaker'...anyone seen Shion around? She wasn't...' his words were interrupted by a heavy atmosphere that descended on the room. He looked around at everyone avoiding eye contact. 'Guys?' he asked, sounding more like a lost child than the leader of a monster nation 'Benimaru...where is she?'

The ogre said nothing and merely motioned for him to follow. As he did so outside the building and through the town, a feeling of dread assaulted him. Then it turned to despair as he stopped in front on of the rows of dead. There was a body covered by a bloodied sheet. Then Benimaru lifted the blanket, and standing there was a dead Shion.

'Huh?' his mind once again could not work properly 'Why...is she here?'

-'Gobzo!' he could hear Gobta shout in despair nearby; he was kneeling and crying next to the lifeless body of the goblin rider in question. Hakuro moved to place a comforting hand on his student's shoulder.

-'I heard she was protecting a child from the attackers when the barrier was placed...Gobzo tried protecting her, but...' Benimaru could not finish his sentence. A massive aura erupted from Rimuru, one filled with anger and sorrow, that nearly swept everyone nearby of their feet. However, it was gone in a second; then, as if out of battery, Rimuru collapsed down on his knees in front of Shion's body.

-'I...would like to be alone for now.' he said in a barley audible voice. The gathered crowd obeyed his wish and began to scatter. Before she did so too, Shuna came from behind and hugged him, then left too. However, his mind did not even register any of that. All he could think off were the dead in front of him. After a while, he could feel the sorrow threatening to spill out again; he ordered the Great Sage form a copy of Shizu's mask to suppress his aura. However, as he placed it on his face, it cracked from the pressure.

'Why did things came to this?' What did I do wrong? What should I do now?' those question raced through his mind at a million miles an hour

Unable to answer was all Great Sage could tell him

'And why haven't I shed a single tear?' he finally asked through the sea of emotions 'Oh, I see...' he realized 'I truly became a monster, haven't I?'

His mind crippled with pain, he sat there, unmoving, for two days.

A cold wind blew through the city as it leader sat under the starry night, alone with but the bodies of his dead subjects.

Notice: no search results returned. No magic found on the resurrection of the fully deceased. Great Sage said in his mind. He had ordered it to go through all the books and scrolls he had copied in Ingrassia, which took even the Sage many hours to do. However, it was futile.

'I see...' he said as he looked at Shion's unmoving face. As he sat there for a little while longer, a though occurred to him 'I can't just let them stay here forever. Eventually, their bodies will decompose and be returned to its base magicules, lost forever. I can't allow that...'

He stood up with determination and extended his arm forward; a faint black sphere appeared in his hand and extended in a cloud around him 'Gluttony...' he ordered his skill to prepare itself 'At least, they will find peace within me...' and prepared to consume them. However, loud footsteps and a voice interrupted

-'Wait, Rimuru!' he turned around to see Eren, Kaval and Gido, the trio adventurers who escorted him to Ingrassia, looking like they rushed there all the way from Blumund.