Rather than standing around chatting, we decided to head inside.

I guided Guy towards a VIP lounge located in Tempest.

Its furnishings were chosen by Myourmilles, and if he went on a rampage there we would incur heavy losses.

Some expensive pieces of artwork had also been displayed.

It was a special lounge where only the specially selected, or the highest of nobles were accommodated.

Showy things aside, the arrangements also allowed one to experience elegance, simplicity, and a subdued refinement, which truly showed Myourmilles sensitivity to my own tastes.

To reach this level, Rigurdo and the others still needed much more experience. However, since he had said something like This place is very calming., our tastes may unexpectedly match.

Returning to the topic, if Guy went on a rampage wed handle that then.

Since we had no other suitable rooms to accommodate him, we had no choice but to expect a certain level of damage. We couldnt just take the strongest of the Demon Lords to a common guest lounge.

And whilst half-resignedly guiding him,

Hey, Youve got some good taste. I also happen to like this type of furnishings.

Guy complemented.

That was pretty surprising, as far as surprises go.

I had misunderstood him as this tyrant who wouldnt have any idea of subtle elegance.

No, when you think about it, even Oda Nobunaga may have perhaps had this sort of taste

Maybe, the more short tempered and violent ones were more likely to have peaceful hearts.

No well, it might just be my mistaken impression, but it really was the right choice bringing him here.

Sitting on a high-class wooden chair carved from aromatic woods, I faced Guy.

On top of a small table between us, tea was served and its aroma wafted through the room.

It looked simple at first glance, but a surprising amount of attention to details was put in

Youre pretty good! Our dimwits wouldnt be able to pull this off at all.

I wonder if should I should send them here for some training?

Well Im glad youre pleased.

Or rather, even since I came to this world, Ive been doing nothing but what I pleased.

In any case, this was the first time I had to be this careful around the other party.

No, after meeting Veldora, this would be the second time?

Putting aside whether or not I can win against him, I just wanted to avoid conflict as much as possible.

Its too troublesome to deal with. Because it will definitely result in some broken things.

Oh really? Youre actually the first one Ive brought here you know.

This is the highest grade parlor we have, we only bring in those who we want to make a good impression on.

Ah? So you want to make a good impression on me?

Yeah thats right. Or else I couldnt call myself a good Demon Lord now could I.

If I had thrown away my pride, Id be living a more or less good life snooping around in the shadows.

I started with a jab. (EN: metaphorical)

Im not gonna be pulled along with your pace, I made my statement with this intention.

Depending on his reaction, I was going to have to adjust my attitude towards Guy.

In any case, I had to, first and foremost, to find out the reason he came here.

I suspected that he must have gotten a report from somebody, when he mentioned the Demon Lords.

Probably, the only one who would do this was Dino. In fact, he confessed so himself.

After all, any spies within the country had been completely cleared out. This I could say with full confidence.

With the surveillance network spread out by Souei, and by using magic to detect malevolence, we could absolutely eliminate any kind of counter-intelligence activity.

In any case, since I put intelligence gathering above all else, not letting the enemy do the same thing to us was just common sense.

I had used any and all means I could come up with to eliminate all spies within my country.

Ahaha. Are you trying to probe me? Arent you interesting!

Oh well, lets save ourselves the trouble.

I came today because I heard youre having a fight with the empire.

Ah, and as you might have expected, I heard this from Dino.

Hes here right? In this place.

Well, Ive gotten a report from that guy, but I heard youve slain around a million people?

And, youve also got a number of Demon Lord class subordinates under you.

This reminded me about that fellow you brought in during the previous Walpurgis, and that got me interested in any others youve got.

Saying all that, he drank the black tea with elegant movements.

The way he held himself, It was as if he was the king of some country.

No, Demon Lords were more or less kings anyway.

But, that Guy. Right after declaring that he wouldnt probe, threw a straight ball.

Basically, he wants to see my strength. No, isnt there more?

Isnt he oddly interested in my dealings with the Empire?

Indeed, I do have several Demon Lord class subordinates.

The 3 you knocked out earlier are also included.

Naturally, there are others. But I have no intention to tell you about all of them.

In the wars of this world, isnt individual strength more important than numbers?

Raising individual strength is naturally important.

I see, so there are others.

Or rather, are you an Otherworlder?

And a slime, for that matter?

Nn? Huh? You didnt know?

Im a slime that has retained the heart of an Otherworlder, A Reincarnator you know?

Seriously?

Seriously!

Guy and I locked eyes with each other.

Or rather, he didnt know. I thought for sure something like that was well known.

I had already declared this to the world, and thought it was surely passed along to the kings of each country.

It may have only been my impression that all the information was known by everyone.

I dont think there was any miswording, but it seems I needed to consider them not receiving any information. Ill make sure to consider it next time.

Ahahahaha! Oh Wow! To think such a thing could happen!

No wonder you like that human form despite being a monster.

Youve got an impressive mimicry going, but this explains the reason behind your fixation.

I see, that also explains how youre able to obtain an Ultimate Skill.

Under normal circumstances, it isnt something you can obtain so easily.

But if a soul was able to preserve its ego after World Crossing, of course that soul would get much stronger.

I was suspicious that Rudra was just performing some self-scripted act, but if thats the case, then Im convinced.

My bad for doubting you.

Hm? Self-scripted?

It was curious so I inquired the details.

The story goes, Emperor Rudra and Guy had been at odds for over a thousand years.

And in the midst of that, I had appeared.

I had suddenly awakened as a true Demon Lord, and even obtained an Ultimate Skill.

At first, it seemed that I had something to do with Veldoras resurrection, and they had decided to take a wait-and-see approach, but the recent conflict with the Imperial army raised a bit of suspicion.

According to Dinos report, we escaped unharmed, and the imperial army was massacred.

At this point, Guy was thinking something was up.

Against only a single demon lord, could Rudrathats the emperoractually suffer such a crushing defeat?

Despite wanting to wait-and-see, there was no point in suffering that much of a loss.

It seems Rudras purpose was likely to promote evolution amongst the survivors.

He didnt care even if there were only 10s of survivors.

Once upon a time, when Veldora had rounded-up and killed a lot of them, since some survivors managed to evolve into Sages, Rudra didnt feel it was his loss.

He made up an understandable reason to appease the public,and trained the army by putting them in danger; Then, having the survivors evolve was the Rudras basic combat strategy.

Guy also approved the Demon Lords fighting each other was also for a similar reason.

To clash, and then rise up as true Demon Lords, was the end result that he expected.

That being the case, both Guy and Rudra were fighting as if playing a long game of chess.

As if killing time, it was a game of patience.

But, the number of survivors this time was 0.

There was the problem.

Guy couldnt leave alone the fact that I had gained multiple Demon Lord class subordinates, and that there was not a single survivor.

The reason was simple.

A meaningless military action was something Rudra would never allow.

He must have acted with some kind of purpose in mind

In Dinos report, he hinted that he was of the same opinion. What the hell are you even doing, Dino.

So Guy suspected a self-scripted act.

Causing a grand military campaign, pretending to go to war with Demon Lord Rimuru in order to strengthen Rimurus forces.

In other words, I had betrayed Guys Demon Lord faction, and joined Emperor Rudra is it? This was the gist of his doubts.

Or rather, he even thought that I could be a spy sent by Emperor Rudra right from the beginning.

A just recently born monster (Slime) obtaining an Ultimate Skill, normally this would be inconceivable.

Couldnt it be that due to the Emperors instigation, it was given an Ultimate Skill and evolved? So he thought.

To give an away Ultimate Skills to someone, is that even possible?

If its this kind of ability, then its not impossible. However, its limited to only granting an inferior form.

And the receiving target must be someone above a certain strength threshold, its not to the extent of being a threat.

I wanted to hear more because I had doubts, but then he just dropped a bombshell of an announcement on me.

Or rather, youre the only one whod say someone with an Ultimate Skill was not a threat, dammit! I wanted to shout.

Perhaps, Milims in the same category as Guy.

Their perspective of things tended to be somewhat skewed.

His words and appearance of enjoyably eating cake were in complete contrast.

Wait a minute, hes talking about something important right now.

Undeceived by his appearance, I needed to keep calm and organize this information.

I stabbed the fork into my own cake whilst sorting it all out in my head.

When it comes to thinking, sugar intake is very important.

A self-scripted act. (EN: hypothetical scenario here.)

When the emperor released and dominated Veldora, he bestowed an ability onto a slime he found there.

With the slime under the protection of Veldora, he would bring the Great Jura Forest together, and awaken as a Demon Lord.

Guy predicted that with Veldoras help, awakening as a Demon Lord would be a simple matter.

However, since Veldoras presence couldnt be felt for some unknown reason, he didnt completely trust this prediction.

Up till there, it was fine.

After that, as the slime awakened as a Demon Lord, Veldora had revived simultaneously .

There was definitely some kind of relation between these two events.

The slime, as one of the Demon Lords, would infiltrate Guys faction.

It would crush and devour Guys faction from the inside, befitting the name of Gluttonous King Belzebuth. (EN: Beelzebub -> Belzebuth. More info below)

This time, after getting a report about there being no survivors, he decided to drop by and check on the situation himself.

As Emperor Rudra and Guy were at constant war, if I really were on the emperors side, he would simply get rid of me.

Being a simple guy, he believed my words and our misunderstanding cleared, but one wrong step would have resulted in a catastrophe.

Lets kill this guy off because his strength is a pain, was something he could have considered. I guess I got lucky he decided to talk first.

Thanks to many little strokes of luck, the misunderstanding was cleared in the end.

Now then, my story ends here.

Next, shall we hear yours?

Now tell me. Why are there so many of awakened Demon Lords here?

There it is.

The origin of the misunderstanding: Demon Lords awakening en-mass.

This had prompted Guy into thinking I was Rudras pawn.

For that reason, he decided to abruptly visit and askWhats going on here?.

Suspecting a self-scripted act, He came to find several Demon Lord in the making.

Certainly its a bit suspicious. Or rather, we got lucky he didnt decide to just wipe us out without hearing anything.

In case I was a traitor, since he had confidence to take us all on and come out on top, I guess thats why he had room for interrogation.

If Guy wasnt this strong I would easily beat him, but because he was too strong, we could resolve this through words alone.

Now I just had a complicated feeling.

Well, in the end we didnt need to fight, thats good.

Now with that misunderstanding cleared, I needed to explain the matter of the Demon Lord awakenings.

Solution. There is no problem with saying its all through the ability of Gluttonous King Belzebuth

The heavens hath spoken!!

Alright, lets go with this. Ive got nothing else to rely on.

As expected of Raphael Sensei, a skillful dodge.

Actually, I did it with my Gluttonous King Belzebuths ability.

Huh. How does that work?

(Wisdom Lord Raphael sensei, how does this work?)

Solution. By reducing the Souls power into Energy, it is possible to forcefully evolve those with the qualifications.

Gluttonous King Belzebuth has the ability to reduce the Souls power into Magical Energy.

Naturally, those qualified are limited to Demon Lord class individuals.

What did you say? Is that true?

(Is this true, Wisdom Lord Raphael-sensei?)

Solution. (I have trouble comprehending why I am being called sensei, but) it is true.

Of course its true.

Huh.Then, is it also possible to do it with my servants?

Solution. It is possible.

Ah, she answered me before I could even mentally ask that question.

For some reason, I feel a little lonely.

Like a, Its getting annoying to deal with you, kind of intention.

Solution. I have no such intention.

This time, I felt minute traces of anger.

Fanning the flames anymore will be bad. I should just let it go here.

Theres probably no problem. I cant tell for sure without trying, but its probably possible.

Huh, so all I need to do is prepare the souls right?

When there werent signs of awakening even after using 10,000 souls, I thought it was pointless

You talking about your subordinate?

The one during Walpurgis, the maid-san called Misery?

Ah, her and someone else, a Demon Duke called Hillary.

Since theyre both Demon Lord class, I think theyre both sufficiently qualified.

Theyre at the same level as the trio I went against earlier

But right now theyre so weak, theyre not very helpful at all

Hey now.

Youre saying theyre at the same level as those girls, and theyre worthless?

This guys judging criterion seems a little strange.

So you gave 10,000 human souls to each of them?

Ah thats right. But since there were no signs of evolution, Ive got a lot more lying around.

I tried it on myself, but that was also pointless.

So, how much do I prepare for them to evolve?

Solution. 500,000 will do.

Itll be fine with 500,000.

Ay, hold up!

You, 500,000 you said, are you thinking of

Solution. Individuals named: Gerudo Adalman Testarossa Ultima Carrera

I have counted the amount necessary for those individuals in addition.

Thats just reckless!!

Does she not know fear?!

Youre totally trying to and lead the Guy Crimson by the nose, arent you!

No, wait a second This means the one hell be after when he finds out, is me isnt it!

Solution. There are no problems.

No, its full of problems!

Just now, I actually thought you were scary you know?!

This is exactly why Im scared of fearless people.

Ah? So 500,000 will do?

Then, even if I didnt go destroy any more towns, I probably have enough in my reserves

Ah, is that so? Thats wonderful.

At this point, I can only emit a dry laugh.

Its more terrifying than trying to swindle a Yakuza.

If Im caught, I guess I cant complain even if I get destroyed.

I didnt have any sweat to wipe off, nor did any turbulence show on my face. Its been a while since I last thought its great to be a slime.

Guy was now cheerfully eating cake.

That was his third one now.

It seemed he really liked it.

Since negotiations had ended, I wanted to have him leave soon, but apparently someone else was coming so we were waiting for them.

Honestly, this was annoying.

Just earlier, he created a Gate was created and summoned Hillary and Misery from his domain.

Once you had been to a certain location once, a Gate could be easily created there. If I could do it, Guy couldnt possibly not do it.

And, in order to grant the 2 summoned individuals the souls, 500,000 souls were handed over.

Wisdom Lord Raphael said that we could use these without problem.

I wanted to bestow it to them immediately but,

Wait. First, teach these two how to make this cake.

He said.

Just come and buy it! I replied.

We had been glaring at each other for a while, but it didnt look like hed give up.

It cant be helped. It was against the rules, but Ill teach them the recipe.

If I wanted them to go back quickly, I cant afford to be stingy.

Id make these two be able to at least make a cake.

its probably impossible to replicate it just by taste, so Id give them the recipe too, and having them taste it once would probably make replicating it easier.

Leaving aside Shions catastrophic sense of taste, as maids these two seemed to be perfect.

The tea from earlier was also good.

And as they took a bite of the cake,

Splendid!

As expected of Demon Lord Rimuru sama!

They simultaneously gave me high praises.

If youre this happy by such things, theres not need to play a boring game putting the fate of the world on the line.

Though I think the worlds full of even more surprises if you care to look.

And in the midst of this, Ramiris suddenly burst into the room.

I-its terrible! Master(Veldora) went over to Ruminas place!

She shouted coming in.

One trouble after another.

It looks like I wont be able to rest easy anytime soon.

Note:

Beelzebub was changed to Belzebuth, Its really the same thing but this one aligns with the original text more. Sushi convinced me to change it and we all agreed. Apparently theres some deep reason for this well find out later!

Editors Rant:

~ Gao!! Lion Mask here, well, this is different, I didnt translate this one. Only did the TLC and edits. Lets welcome Anon to the team! Hip hip ~ gao ~. Well hes the silent type so Im doing some of the talking. It seems there are three progress bars now. Well this may look good, but who knows how the speed is gonna be. Currently, Sushi is the most OP. He works on a phone dammit! But the two of us wont fall behind that easily, grr! Well Ill try to ready the next 2 chapters in the next 2 days, but dont expect the next one right after. As per my policy, each translator has a week to do a chapter unless theres problems. You can read everything in the FAQ. Well then. Ive finished so well see you on another chapter ~~ gao!