Chapter 18

The naming of the newcomers had given Tempest not only new soldiers but a lot of working hands as well. Pero, as one who was overseeing the industrial development of the fledgling nation, could not be more excited to meet the kijin with skills tailor-made to boost production.

Just after the sunrise, Kurobe and Shuna waited outside the Tempest's royal castle as one of the Lords, Peroronchino approached them with his retinue.

Although there were two kijin standing in front of him, Pero could not peel his eyes off one of them. The pink-haired girl was far too cute for her own good. The dwarven trio were no better than him in that regard, as they too openly ogled Shuna, who stood motionless, with a confused expression on her face.

Kaijin, on the other hand, just shook his head in silence. He was already used to all four of them being like that the moment a pretty girl hit their radar. He could understand the dwarven brothers lacking any common sense, especially since neither of them was married, but Lord Peroronchino had a rather large harem with plenty of beautiful concubines.

Apito along with one of the spider matriarchs, Hanisz, pretended to not notice Pero's antics, but instead glared at the dwarven trio.

{ Lord is at it again. } Apito messaged Hanisz, while suppressing an urge to sigh in annoyance.

{ Lady Shalltear is not around. Maybe we should do something? }

{ No! You can deal with the three morons later but it's a bad idea to scold Lord Peroroncino for his behavior. }

'I wonder if Lord Peros will ever have enough?' Kaijin mused. He himself had managed to score a cute goblina who had fallen for his gruff charms and dealing with one woman was more than enough for him.

Once Shuna tilted her head in a silent question, Pero snapped out of his trance and said. "Aghm, let's start. It came to my notice that both of you have very useful production-related skills. Kurobe," He started with the man so he could pay more attention to the girl afterwards. "How does your skill work?"

"I received it only recently so I am only learning to use it properly, my Lord, but from what I have learned, it gives me an ability to almost instantly understand the full properties of the material or crafted items, have inventory space, and manipulate both material and items." Kurobe said with a bow.

"Sounds great. You were a blacksmith right?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"Kaijin, can you show this guy the ropes?"

"Of course Lord Peroroncino. We can always use more talented smiths." Kaijin said and waved for the kijin to follow. Kurobe straightened out and walked after the four dwarves.

With Kurobe out of the way and the dwarves gone with him, Pero could put his full attention on the girl. 'I wonder… Is she even legal? Eh, she probably is. I think Benimaru mentioned that she already had suitors before leaving the ogre fortress.'

After all, the age at which each species was considered adults varied and there were no set overall laws in place.

"So Shuna, how does your skill work?" He asked, sounding as smooth as possible.

"I tested all I could and I found out that it gives me the ability to both fuse and separate materials, gives transmutation, and I can make my own custom magical spells. My main specialty is weaving and tailoring, but I know other household skills as well." Shuna said with a certain amount of pride in her voice.

Being noticed by one of the Lords was unexpected. She was unsure how to react to his unashamed staring, but then again she was a shogun's daughter and had plenty of potential suitors in the past but none had gotten anywhere near her. Her father and her older brother had shielded her from their advances and as consequence, she didn't know how to deal with the current situation.

"Cute, knows household skills. Sounds like you would make a perfect wife." Pero said with a chuckle.

"I guess…" Shuna stammered, getting red in the face.

"My Lord, we can show her around and add her wonderful skills to the clothing department." Hanisz came to the girl's rescue.

Pero turned his head and glared at her for a moment, making the poor spider woman wish for the ability to disappear into the ground, and then said in a cold tone. "Fine. Show her around and find out where her skills help the most."

"A-As you command, my L-Lord." Hanisz said, getting paler by the moment.

Pero huffed his feathers and walked off, clearly trying to look as dignified as possible.

{ Are you suicidal? } Apito asked Hanisz.

{ The girl was getting uncomfortable. I was just trying to help. }

{ Real smart. }

{ I, I will apologize to him later. I'm sure he will understand. }

{ For your own sake don't go near him to remind him of this blunder while Lady Shalltear is present. } Apito just shook her head at her peer's foolishness and approached the kijin girl with a smile. "Let's go. We will show you around."

"I have seen most of the work areas and already made some clothing." Shuna said.

"Oh, even better. Eager to prove that Lord Momonga did not waste his magicules naming you?" Apito asked. 'The girl is as eager to prove herself as I was when Lord Momonga bestowed me with a name.'

"Yes. Were you named by Lord Momogna as well?" Shuna asked.

"Most of us were named by Lord Momonga. Lord Peroroncino had named sprites and the rest of the leaders had only named select goblin tribes."

"How can he name so many so fast?" Shuna asked. Even for a very powerful majin, naming such amounts of monsters in such a short period of time was not normal.

"Those from Nazarick call the three lords the Supreme Beings, so, I guess, he is so powerful that naming countless monsters does not even phase him." Apito explained.

Shuna could only nod in agreement, as she followed the wasp and the spider. Both were curious types of monsters she had not seen before. Apito was some type of humanoid wasp or bee and clearly rivaled if not surpassed a kijin in magicule count.

Hanisz had a human female torso with a human head and a lower body that of a black arachnid. Much weaker than either she or Apito in terms of power, but not a complete pushover.

'I wonder how many other creatures live in Tempest. Maybe I could make some friends for once.' Sure, spending time with Shion was enjoyable in the past, but she was more of a bodyguard and was rather battle-oriented, not to mention far too simple-minded for more delicate activities. Shion's, smash it with the mace, approach rarely worked anywhere besides the combat.

'Maybe I could make some new friends.' Her two guides seemed friendly enough and what's more shared her passion for the craft.

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With permission to enter granted, Elma jumped out of the shadow in Demiurge's office and knelt before the archdemon. "Lord Demiurge, his majesty King Gazel requests my return to Dwargon for a detailed report." She said with a calm voice. Being in the presence of the demon had not gotten any easier. He still was as charming as he was dreadful.

Demiurge fixed his glasses and casually picked up a document from the pile, sitting on the table in front of him, quickly glanced it over, and said in a calm, but authoritative tone. "You have full permission to return to Dwargon and report everything you have observed."

Elma blinked in surprise. 'Is this some sort of trick? Would he not expect me to figure out what not to tell by myself?

Demiurge smirked, reading her confused expression like an open book. "You have not seen anything we would not like for our ally to know. However, please inform King Gazel that Lord Momonga would prefer that the details about Tempest's inner workings would not be shared with any third party for now."

"Of course. I'm sure his majesty will fully understand the position of his trusted allies."

"Miss Elma, please..." Demiurge raised an eyebrow.

Elma gulped and left the demon's office with another bow. 'I should not have spoken on my King's behalf. The less I speak the better.'

The moment she appeared outside the Tempest's royal castle, she was, once again, joined by the shadow demon.

{ Are you ready to go? } The ghastly whisper of the shadowy creature invaded her mind.

'I am. I hope you don't plan to lecture me on how to do the shadow movement properly.' Elma replied in the driest tone she could muster in her mind.

{ If you have not learned it by now, there is no point for me to waste energy on explanations. }

'Sure.' Elma replied with a sarcastic tone, knowing that the creature would not catch on.

Without much reason to drag things out, Elma once again jumped into her own shadow and started moving towards Dwargon's capital.

'Let's see if I can make the trip in less than five hours.' With the tips from her companion on how the shadow realm worked and a lot of free time on her hands, she was pretty confident she had mastered the skill.

For the first two hours, she moved in complete silence. Considering how often the shadow demon had previously interrupted her inner monologue she almost involuntarily thought. 'Nothing to say?'

{ We could discuss the intricacies of strawberry cultivation, if you like. That, surely, would be a fascinating topic. } The creature said in a dry tone.

Elma almost tripped at the next jump but quickly collected herself and could not help but to ask. 'Was that sarcasm?'

{ Why would someone like me not be interested in such topics. I can have hobbies, you know. } The demon said with a flat tone.

'Now I'm sure you are messing with me!'

{ Such lack of tact. How unsightly for a diplomat. } The shadow demon responded, clearly faking being offended.

'Whatever, I am not falling for it.'

{ Was worth a try. }

'Since when did you develop a sense of humor?' Elma asked after a moment, not being able to hold back her curiosity anymore.

{ I have free time as well, you know, and by constantly observing creatures of flesh it's inevitable to pick a trait or two from them. }

'I'm not sure if I should be scared or happy about it.'

{ My duties always come first. I would not impede your work when your actions are to benefit Nazarick. }

The more casual banter with the ghastly creature was a rather pleasant change of pace and before she knew it Elma stood before the familiar gates of the capital.

{ I will wait outside. Inform me if his majesty King Gazel wishes my direct input. }

Once the shadow demon left her alone a drip of paranoia mixed with her relief. 'What if there is something much more hidden attached to me and can trick the senses of King Gazel?'

That surely was a horrific possibility. Who knows what sort of creatures dwelled in the depths of the fabled Nazarick?

Pushing the unproductive train of thought aside, Elma arrived in a dark room with a large round table and took the seat assigned to her.

"Is the creature waiting outside?" Gazel asked in his usual deep, calm voice.

"Yes, your majesty." Elma replied, looking around. Each seat was filled with the King's advisors, all half hidden by the darkness. Everyone, of course, knew one another but the tradition of secrecy had remained. For a brief moment her eyes met with her mentor Henrietta who looked her with both disappointment and understanding

"Good. You can start your report." Gazel said and motioned for her to start.

With a lot to reveal, Elma didn't hesitate and started to retell what she had seen in great detail. It was rather clear that some of the advisors simply refused to believe the information. Gazel, however, slightly touched his chin with his right thumb and put the index finger on his cheek, and listened carefully with his eyes closed.

'Naming and evolving forty ogres within an hour of naming countless other creatures. This is bad! My assessment of their power was off by a wide degree. There is no way for Dwargon to win a war with Tempest. At the very least, the western nations and the Western Holy Church would need to be involved to even hope to stand against the monster nation.' With each new titbit of information it became harder and harder to keep a calm outside appearance. Even a seasoned politician, like Gazel, had his limits.

He listened as Elma continued to rely on what she had heard and seen. 'Thousands of deadmen with enchanted armor! The rapid development of the industry, with increasing amounts of high-quality armaments! Once western nations find out… I need to decide where to stand! It's not if but when the humans and the church, in particular, will start a conflict with Tempest.'

Gazel let out a heavy sigh betraying his worries to his advisors. Elma stopped talking and turned to look at her king. "Carry on." Gazel said without opening his eyes. "I need to hear the entirety of your report before I can make any sort of decision."

"Of course. During the last few weeks, I spotted dryads being present in Tempest as well. From what little I heard, they are serving a young majin called Mare who, supposedly, has a skill that lets him manipulate nature on a scale that vastly exceeds that of the abilities of the dryads . Lastly, it is only a rumor, but those who come from Nazarick itself talked about the Storm Dragon Veldora wandering the Nazarick's halls in a human form." Elma stopped for a moment. "I cannot confirm it, but it seems Veldora considers Overlord Momonga and other leaders of Tempest as his friends not as his subordinates, and treats them as his equals."

"Is there any merit in such rumors?" Gazel asked with the slightest hint of worry in his voice.

Elma gulped. For the always calm King to show any sort of emotion was a disturbing display. "It's hard to tell, but if I can speak plainly… Lord Momonga named over a thousand strong monsters in a row. That is way beyond what a regular subordinate of a demon lord would be capable of doing."

"Indeed. Thank you for your report. I hope you understand that you must leave this room for now. Take a day's rest before returning to Tempest. A decent relaxation fund is waiting for you in the treasury." Gazel said and straightened out in his chair.

"Thank you, your majesty." Elma said and jumped in her shadow, leaving the room.

After a moment of silence, one of the advisors spoke up. "Your majesty, if her report was correct, we cannot defeat Tempest in open warfare. Even a defensive entrenchment may not be an option."

"I know. For now, we will expand our military as much as we can and do not do anything that would be seen as a hostile action by Tempest."

'If I chose the wrong side my nation is doomed. With a non-aggression pact in action, Dwargon could claim neutrality but it would be seen as an act of cowardice and the winning side might retaliate. Our only excuse is the constant threat from the Eastern Empire. I think I should start planning an official visit to Tempest and fully decide to either ally with them or start plotting an invasion.'

With an inevitable conflict between the monster nation and the humans in the future, decisive action needed to be taken now. There also was a possibility that the demon lords would let Lord Momonga claim the same title and join their ranks, as he, undeniably, had enough power for such an action.

Whatever would happen, it was obvious that the Eastern Empire would not sit idly by, as well. With a heavy sigh, Gazel listened to his advisors but none could offer anything he had not already considered. 'Just why did this have to happen? As if there weren't enough problems in the world already.'

Proofreading by placid_void and kamijazz