Frontier Garrison
The morning of the following day,
First thing in the morning I woke Milim up.
The new clothing she wore was the one she had requested yesterday, and it came out pretty well.
The Gothic Dress was probably difficult to move in, hence the reason for her request.
「Why does a demon lord need to wake up so early in the morning!」
She was grumbling haughtily, but her mood improved by breakfast.
While she was eating, I was busy thinking.
I kind of have a bad feeling about doing that. No, let me rephrase… it’s bound to lead to a disaster!
But even so, leaving her here is bad for my heart.
While Milim is visiting I should probably abstain from leaving for human cities.
After we finished breakfast, I took Milim to the smithy.
And once we reached it, I greeted Kurobee.
「Is the thing I asked for yesterday ready?」
「Oo! This one, right? Should be good for Milim-sama’s personal use!」
He said, showing me the finished product.
It’s Dragon Knuckles!
No, our goal was the exact opposite. The light but dense “Demon Steel” is actually surrounded by a shock-absorbing material.
And we used Demon Steel in hopes of attaching a regenerative effect to them. The best part of it all will be the decrease in her destructive power.
「Milim, try this on!」
I pass the dragon knuckles to Milim, who, clearly excited, happily accepts them.
She lightly throws some punches in the air.
「Oh! This is great! My hands feel really light!」
Alright, seems to be working. If her hands feel light, I guess her power should have decreased a bit.
The last one I had broke myself, so I had them repair it.
Seems copying an item is impossible when the creator’s skills are too high.
I draw the sword to check. Amazing. Kurobee’s ability is truly something.
Nodding, I put the sword back into the scabbard.
The moment Milim and I acquired our weapons, Rigurdo came running over.
How well he runs…
「Rimuru-sama, this is where You were! An unknown group has come!」
From what he told me, we have an armed squad near the city.
Somehow, the three idiots managed bringing an armed group over.
Why are so many problems occurring now? Those idiots… so I thought, but,
「Well, let’s go meet them.」
I said, and headed to the place where Rigurdo left them.
When I arrived I saw Rigur and the guards surrounding ten or so armed men.
Our equipment is worlds superior.
And not just their equipment–their skills also seem pretty high.
And of course, the three idiots. When they saw me,
「Oh! Rimuru-danna, it’s been a while!」
「It’s been ages! Things happened… so there’s more of us!」
They greeted me.
Things happened, huh. Seems like they are the cause of this “incident”,
「Yo. So, who might these people be?」
「About that…」
They explained the details.
When the idiots finished,
「Pleased to make your acquaintance! Farmas Kingdom, Count’s Domain, Frontier Garrison Captain Youmu’s the name.
I heard the chief of the city is a slime, could I meet it?」
He greeted us thus.
「Ah, please pardon the belated introduction. I am the head of this city and its representative.
Though I currently appear thus, I am, in fact, a slime!」
I responded.
「Is that how it was, pardon my rudeness.
Your human transformation is simply marvelous!」
Whether flattery or not I don’t know, but he seems intent on praising me.
I wonder if monsters capable of human transformation are rare? Not that it matters right now.
「Be that as it may. Are monsters capable of transforming into humans rare?
「Ah, about that…
Moreover, should that report prove true, there’s the possibility that you will pose a threat to our country.
Could we possibly impose upon you our presence?」
「I see. However, if we were intending on becoming your enemies and were such a terrifying city, how could we let you stay here?」
Upon hearing my retort, the man named Youmu scratched his head.
「Ah, damn it. I’ll just tell you the truth.
And, according to these three adventurers, you’ve got really good living conditions around here.
Please allow our stay and the stationing of troops here!」
He said in one breath.
And to the three idiots,
「I apologize for doubting you!」
He deeply bowed his head in apology.
I had planned to observe him for a while, but maybe it’s alright to consider him an honest guy.
「Fufuuun! Didn’t we tell you!
Well, as long as you understand! It doesn’t do to always suspect people!」
For some reason, Ellen proudly responded.
Well, he doesn’t seem like a bad guy, but approving their presence is a different matter.
「Regarding stationing your troops here: for what purpose? 」
Youmu faced me and began explaining their situation.
From where we stood, they could easily access the highway and nearby villages.
「Moreover, if we lay roads to the highway, we’d be saving time and establishing a trade route.
Of course, we will offer our labor towards that end!」
He ended with a proposal.
We hadn’t cleared any trees in the direction of the highway.
Now that the forest has begun to calm down we should think about opening a trade route.
So perhaps it might be a good idea to accept his proposal.
Since it’s bad taste to continue such discussion on our feet, I guided everyone to the cafeteria.
Since we unfortunately are low on salt, pepper, and other seasoning, we can’t offer any subtle spicing.
The number of Goblinas has been steadily increasing.
Since they have their individual talents, they spread themselves among Cooking, Cleaning, Education, Sewing, Assistance, and other professions.
After switching to the cafeteria we continued our discussion.
It’s kind of cute how carefully she handles her dragon knuckles.
「By the way, Rimuru-danna, whose daughter would she be?」
Cabal went and asked.
Can’t forget that this cafeteria has the bomb named Milim.
「Oh, a guest. A really important person, so treat her with utmost respect, okay?」
I warned them ahead of time.
If they ignore my warning, they’ll have only themselves to blame. Not my problem then.
「I’m Milim. Please to meet you!」
Though Milim so simply introduced herself, let’s not forget she is a cruel demon lord.
But a man and a woman, whose equipment was much better than the rest, had a worried expression on their faces.
They looked at Milim with complete disbelief.
Huh? Why are two devils disguising themselves as humans among them? Yes, the two of them are devils.
From what Youmu said, they joined them half way. Infiltration, is that it?
(Hey, two devils infiltrated the city, be on your guard!)
I announced using 『Thought Transmission』.
Well, it’s fine as long as they don’t do anything funny.
(Rimuru-sama, considering that they showed up at the same time as Demon Lord Milim, could they be connected somehow?)
(Nooooope! I wouldn’t do something that annoying!!!)
Milim made her way into my『Thought Transmission』network. She seems to have figured out our frequency and forced her way in.
Even if I make it sound so simple, make no mistake–it requires an absurdly high level of skill
(Hey you, did you just break into our network?!)
But let bygones be bygones. Those two have no relation to me!!)
(… Eh? I.. I don’t?)
(…)
(Well, whatever. Just stay on your guard, everyone!)
Though they aren’t related, they are acquainted it seems.
While I was conversing thus, everyone was busy with self-introductions.
And that seems to have ended a second ago.
「Now that everyone introduced themselves, let’s get to the heart of the matter!」
The main question was whether to allow them to establish a base here; but, before that, they need to clarify something.
「I should be considering this a personal request of Youmu-san, shouldn’t I?」
「Why?」
Our employer, Count Nidole Maidam, is no decent man.
He’s greedy, and rough with his men.
The worst kind of man.
In any case, as a result, we are severely understaffed.
But, if we report this, he’s bound to meddle with your city.
Well, this is considered neutral zone, so I can’t imagine him moving independently, but…」
I see.
Yes, I wouldn’t want to have to deal with such a gloomy character.
He seriously wants to set up a base here. To earn my trust, he’s speaking only the truth.
Our conversation continued.
We decided to let them use a single empty house.
That we decided to include after hearing Kaijin’s opinion.
A single room at an inn could be as low as 3 coins. That includes a single simple meal.
The imperial capital would easily be five times as expensive.
By our standards, a single silver coin equals a thousand yen, and a single gold coin is a hundred thousand yen.
That’s only expected considering the value of the medicine, however.
Well, it should be enough to kick-start our economy.
「Three coins is too high, please lower it slightly!」
Youmu began negotiating the cost.
「Hmph! Listen up, the room includes three meals a day, and a bath!
There we’ll charge a single silver coin, but no meals!」
Youmu pondered Kaijin’s words, but gave up in the end.
And thus, we lent out lodging to Farmas Kingdom’s Count’s Domain Garrison Guard led by Youmu.
Youmu’s group brought in their equipment there.
However, unfortunately, they can only speak for three minutes every hour. The magic cost is simply so high that so they can’t supply enough.
An expensive piece of equipment, they seem to only have six of those.
That’s also due to how cheap their employer is.
Including the two “newcomers”, the human squad is composed of 32 people.
They’ve also gotten used to life here.
After Youmu contacted them via the magic communicator, they all assembled here. A merry bunch they are.
「「「Please take care of us from now on!」」」
They all shouted.
「Our pleasure! However, should you cause any trouble, I can’t guarantee your lives. So be careful, okay?」
I threw in a light threat in there.
But let’s not allow them to let their guard down so much that they cause a ruckus here.
As planned, I then introduced Youmu to Rigur.
Since there’s a lot of room to spare, a single unit can work on building a road.
And the free high orc construction division will be sent to help them with that.
Thus, albeit very unexpectedly, Youmu’s group became familiar with our city.