The Nation of Dwarves

"Chifuyu. I'm going to have to ask you to unequip Byakushiki for now. I know it's precious to you and you want to use it to protect me, but you can't walk in there with it." I says we begin to emerge from the forest.

"As you wish, Rimuru-sama," she says as the white light engulfs her armor and disappears. A white gauntlet appears over her left hand and she emerges from the light in a black business overcoat, white shirt, and matching black skirt.

'I still find it funny that she wears that as her default attire, though I guess its better than running around in her jumpsuit when she isn't in her armor.' I think before turning to Rory.

"You too. You can't walk around with Emroy, since people are likely to misunderstand." I say pointing to the ax.

"Guh! I understand..." Rory says as though she took critical damage and now appears to be sulking. She places the ax in her inventory, which she has as a result of being a Yggdrasil NPC.

In the original, Emroy was the god that Rory would serve as the apostle of, though now since she is something similar to my apostle, I decided to name her ax after the original god.

Emroy is unique in that it is infused with the powers of the Quake-Quake Fruit from one-piece. It can shatter the spiritual body and physical body of the opponents who it hits but it also can cause earthquakes and wide-ranging devastation to the environment when used. If someone with an analysis skill sees it, they will definitely want it, especially since it's a Divine Class Item.

After patting Rory on the head to cheer her up, we make our way out of the forest and towards the long line at the checkpoint.

...

After roughly ten minutes of waiting, we are halfway through the line by now which is relatively fast considering the long line. I was talking to one of the merchants ahead of me about the Dwargon "Trusted Business Partner Program" which helps expedite the process, but we were interrupted by a bushel of rowdy adventurers who decided to hit on Chifuyu and Rory, who were talking amongst themselves.

"Heya Baby! Yall are fi-INE!" Said the delinquent looking like a fighter.

"Yeah! These two would be honored to join us for drinks at 'Butterflies of the Knight' later, right boys!?!" said the one with an X-shaped scar and screw on his bald head.

"Excuse me, but those are my women you are talking to. I would prefer if you would kindly not pressure them." I said, stepping towards the men, trying to at least appear civil.

The only reason why I didn't cut out their tongues and cut their eyes for ogling and harassing my women was that I wanted Kaido, the dwarf not the dragon, to notice me trying to be diplomatic before I knock them out.

"Huh!?! Heya boys look like we got a pretty boy here trying to play hero!" The screw-headed guy yelled.

"Tell ya what cutie, go all of your things and beat it and we might forget about this!" The delinquent fighter yapped.

""HUH!?!"" Both Rory and Chifuyu yelled. I don't know if they were just confused or stunned that someone would have the balls to insult their master in front of them, but they didn't immediately kill them all, so that was nice.

"Listen, guys, I don't want to start trouble in front of the guards, so just this once, I will forgive you. Run along before I change my mind." I say, leaking my aura a bit. I was upset and forgot that most humans and demi-humans can't even feel auras, let alone this group of probably D Ranked Adventurers who couldn't even defeat the weakest Hobgoblin in Tempest.

"Your just a puny, little weakling! Don't you mess with us!" The fighter screamed as Kaido seemed to have taken notice.

"Your dead now! I was going to let you all live, but you've pissed us off!" Screw-head said, pointing a knife at me.

"Yukihira Type 2" Chifuyu said as a blue energy blade appeared in her hands.

"Emory" Rory flatly stated as the emasculate ax appeared on her left.

'*Calm down, you two. I'll deal with this*' I tell them both with [Though Communication EX]. In another moment, my eyes glow for a brief moment and I unleash the full force of my aura.

"Now you have women fight your battles for you!" Some bowl-cut mage says from the background.

"Let's kill him!" Said another mage with a large scar on his face.

"Heavy Hitting Cut" Yells the warrior with knight armor and a battleaxe.

"Slash Attack" Screw-head yells.

"{Fireball}" Scar Mage chants.

"{Magic Wall}" Bowlcut mage repeats.

All of the attacks come towards me and hit me, leaving a small dust cloud behind where I stand.

"HA! That's what he gets for trying to be a hero!" the adventures yell with a look of superiority on their faces.

"HEY!" Kaido yells as he begins running towards them.

'[Menace]'

*BANG!!!*

An explosive wave of energy erupts from me with enough force that the ground near me, already loosened from the earlier attacks, now shatters like glass, and wind pressure pushes the adventurers away at a frightening speed. Even Kaido, who was B-ranked, had a hard time withstanding the attack.

After a moment, the dust clears and I look around me.

[Notice! Damage report! 16 Fled, 68 became confused, 92 fainted, 34 soiled themselves.]

'You just wanted to repeat the same lines as the anime, didn't you?'

[...]

'Is that even true?'

[N-no. 210 fainted and all those who did soil themselves...]

'Thought so...'

"Hey you lot!" Kaido said as he arrived. He was by himself since the other two guards were frozen in place with fear. He pointed his pickaxe-spear, thing at us, though not before I witnessed him shaking slightly at the thought of arresting us.

"Is there something the matter, young dwarf?" Rory amusedly asked.

"Y-you n-need to come with me." He said.

"And why is that?" Rory said, tapping the underside of her lip as though she was clueless.

"Y-you have disrupted trade to the c-city. I can't let that slide." Kaido explained.

"Humph! If you lot did your job of protecting the traders, then we wouldn't have had to defend ourselves. Honestly, what kind of kingdom allows for its merchants to be harassed at its gates. For all you know, my master could be the prince to some kingdom traveling undercover, and your refusal to protect your citizens will have caused a serious international incident." Chifuyu began laying into Kaido, who, at some point, began sitting on his knees in a seiza position to be scolded.

'I'm the one who was attacked, shouldn't I be the one to scold him?' I thought.

"Well, it's fine. I wasn't hurt, so that's a good thing. How about we call it here and you do all of the checks now. I don't think the others will be waking up any time soon." I said pointing to the 200+ passed-out merchants and adventurers who were standing in line.

"Y-yeah..." Kaido says, defeated.

'If I remember correctly, Kaido is a good guy at heart, so he would let us pass without issue.' I think while we move to the booth to be checked in.

"By the way, what are you here for?" Kaido asks in a much more relaxed tone, though still having his guard up.

"I am here to recruit artisans for my country. It's going through a bit of a time of expansion, you see. I would like to employ them and have them teach my people their crafts." I say, not telling him the whole truth.

"T-then that means your actually...!" Kaido yells, but I interrupt him.

"Yup! I'm actually just a guy on a tight schedule." I say to him with an innocent smile.

"*Cute*" both Chifuyu and Rory say in their minds at the same time, not knowing I still had [Thought Communication EX] active.

Kaido gulps and becomes more nervous. "O-of course, right this way then. I will introduce you to my brother! He is the best blacksmith in town and his friends are all artisans as well." he says as we are waved through the gateway, leaving two shaking dwarven guards and over 200 unconscious merchants behind us.

...

"Hoh? So there are quite a few artisans in Dwargon who we could recruit then?" I said as we walked the streets.

"Yeah. Officially, they were all fired from various projects in Dwargon since the new minister Vesta started cleaning house." Kaido said.

"Unofficially?" Chifuyu asked.

"Unofficially, Vesta seems to be getting rid of all of his competition in Dwargon to gain favor with the King," Kaid explained.

"Hmm. Well then, I ask that after we meet with this blacksmith brother of yours, that you guide Chifuyu to negotiate with them. I have a feeling that I won't get the opportunity later." I say as we arrive in front of the small smithy. Loud banging and clanging can be heard from within.

"Aniki!" Kaido calls out as he leads us inside.

"Ah, Kaido! Give me a moment." He says as he places the metal he is currently working on back into the furnace to heat up.

"What's this? Who are these beautiful people?"

"Aniki! These are Lord Rimuru, his attendant Chifuyu, and bodyguard Rory!" Kaido says introducing us.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Kaijin of the dwarves," I say as I shake his hand. "We have much to discuss..."

...

After a few hours of talking, including a small incident where I gave Kaido a barrel full of Full Potions to use on the injured dwarves and used [Hephestus] to create Kaijin's twenty longswords out of magisteel, we finally came to an agreement.

"Hmm... very well. I shall accompany you along with Garm, Dord, Myrd, and anyone who your assistant is able to recruit. I can't promise I'll stay, but I don't mind teaching you. Plus it'll be nice to get away from a certain former colleague of mine." Kaijin stated.

"Yeah!" Garm and Dord stated raising their fists.

"*Nod*" Myrd nodded but didn't speak, which caused Rory to nearly fall off the wall she was leaning against.

"Oy! Don't you speak!?!" she yelled comically.

"Well then, we should go and get some rest for now. Chifuyu and Kaido will be coming back soon." I said, trying to leave.

"Ah, wait! I've got somewhere I'd like to show you. as thanks for your troubles, of course" Kaijin said with a glint in his eye.

"Oh? perhaps I will take you up on that offer then," I said, returning his glint with one of my own.

Rory looked on at the scene with a sweatdrop. She somehow knew she wouldn't like where this was going and felt like she shouldn't go there with them. "Perhaps, I'll accompany Chifuyu then..." she said as she walked to the door.

"Do you know where she is?" I asked.

"I'll just use [Universal Detect]. You made all of us learn it for a reason right?" She said.

"Be careful and try not to cause trouble. Or when you fail that, try to leave no witnesses!" I say as she round the corner.

I hear a crash from where she was. 'Did she run into a trashcan? She is so clumsy...' I think to myself while the dwarves experience their turn for a sweatdrop moment.

...

After arriving at the 'Butterflies of the Night', we immediately begin to party. With my extremely handsome looks and deep pockets, the elves seem to be throwing themselves at me, giving me shot after shot.

One elf uses the Extra Skill [Clairvoyance] to peer into the future under the guise of fortunetelling and sees who my destined one will be, only for the crystal ball to show a massive harem of women so large no one, in particular, can be made out.

"Umm... well it seems that Rimuru-sama is a very important person, to have so many..." the dark elf says with a deep blush. If it wasn't for her skin being brown, right now, she would be a new race of Red Elf.

Of course, just as my [Poison Resistance] skill procced to clear the aphrodisiac, the bartender poured into my drink, the cock-block of the hour bursts our bubble. I saw him walk through the door almost twenty minutes ago. Was he really waiting that long to introduce himself like some sort of anime villain?

"Is it really alright? For you to be wasting time like this, Kaijin?!" The minister said.

"Minister Vesta..." Kaijin said, mostly to inform me.

"Is this the time to be playing around? I believe the deadline for the longswords is..."

"I just sent them in." Kaijin said as he interrupted the cocky minister, who looked like at us in disbelief.

"Wha... what..."

'You want to see the invoice?"

"N-no thank you. W-well finishing your work on time is to be expected." Vesta began to rant as I tuned him out.

'*Rimuru-sama. Rory and I have completed the negotiations. The dwarven craftsmen will be ready to leave by tomorrow morning.*'

'*Nice work, Chifuyu. It seems like there is going to be trouble, so I would like you to meet me in the forest with them then. Was there a particular reason they were so quick to move?*'

'*Yes, Rimuru-sama. I told them of the special resources in Tempest and showed them a sample of an Ebony Dagger and Etherite Crystal. They can't seem to pack their things fast enough.*'

'*Wait to go. I'll have to reward you later!*' I say, ending the conversation.

"Heh! It seems this one thinks he can ignore me!" Vesta said as he took a drink from the table and poured it on my lap.

'This is the reason I had Rory and Chifuyu sent away. If they had seen this, they would have raised this entire kingdom to the ground for allowing such an incompetent and arrogant fool like him to insult me' I thought while standing up.

"{Dry}" I said as the zeroth tier magic, also known as everyday magic, dried my clothes. I looked at Vesta with a smug grin while he looked at me with fury.

*BAM!*

Kaijin threw a punch at Vesta, hitting him square in the face and throwing him clear across the bar.

"Vesta! I hope your prepared to pay for treating my guest and future employer like trash!" Kaijin said, cracking his knuckles.

"Thanks for that, but the guy's a minister ya know. Your gonna get in trouble for hitting him." I said as I placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Heh. You were looking for skilled artisans, right? I'll just move there rather than taking a vacation." He said as he smiled at me.

"Glad to have you onboard..." I said, shaking his hand while Vesta ran out of the bar saying petty villain stuff, like 'you'll pay for that!'

...

After being arrested in magisteel cuffs and brought to trial, everything proceeded as it did in the original, with Gazel Dwargo offering Kaijin a place at his side in exchange for freedom and Kaijin declining while tears threatened to spill from his eyes.

As the trial was wrapping up, Gazel called out to me.

"You there, young majin. I give you permission to speak! Answer me this before I cast judgment." He said, his voice booming while he released his aura. "What are you? Why have you come to my kingdom? I know you are recruiting many former subordinates of mine for your kingdom."

'You are well informed, your majesty. My name is Rimuru Tempest. I am a Celestial who has taken up residence within the Jura Forest. With the permission of Veldora Tempest, the Storm Dragon, I have established my kingdom there, but my newfound nation is lacking in experienced artisans and teachers, so I came to this place to get them.

I will not force them to help me, but it appears as though many of your more talented subordinates are eager to make use of their talents. Even if they do so elsewhere." I state. i also leak my aura to match Gazels but mine is far more intense.

Under normal circumstances, releasing my aura like this would cause the guards to attack me, but my aura is so dense and full of magicules that the knights lining the room have all passed out. Vesta and the dwarf brothers are only safe because I allow it, though if the quickly wettening pants of the minister are anything to go buy, Vesta is now keenly aware of who he insulted and tried to frame.

Gazel looks at me shocked for a moment before retracting his aura. I do the same in kind. Somehow the speaker of the court hasn't passed out, meaning he is at least B+ Ranked, around where Shizue is, otherwise he too would have passed out.

"Very well, I shall allow you to take them, however! For the crimes of assaulting the minister, Kaijin and his companions are to be exiled!" He says before walking away, followed quickly by Vesta, who rushes towards the exit with the king soon afterward, not saying a word.

"Heh..." I chuckle to myself as I break the magisteel cuffs and walk out to be escorted with Kaido to the gate.

"Those can withstand the full force of an Ogre you know!" Kaijin says as he and his companions run after us.

'I wonder if Gazel will give Vesta the speech about the full potions?' I think as we walk out the front gate.

Little did Rimuru know, but Gazel would alter the speech to include the information about the shards of Etherite and Ebony Dagger as well.