Last Days in the Royal Capital
Now that I can rest in peace with regards to the children’s health, I decided that it was time for us to return.
When I told Ramiris that we were leaving and turned to do so,
「Wait! Heeeey, wait!」
She grabbed and pulled me by the collar.
Being strangled feels pretty nasty. Even if I don’t need to breathe, it is not a pleasant feeling.
「What? Picking a fight?」
Of course, you appreciation is thanks enough? But as a fellow person…?」
「Ah, my bad. I’m not a person after all! So… I’m off!」
I quickly retorted.
「Uwaaaaa~, wait, wait!
‘Cause you destroyed the golem we lost our guardian!
THE-RE-FORE! We’re in trouble! Can’t you do something about that?」
「…..」
Hmph.
Why did I have to vaporize it without a trace… Well, I guess it is true that I went too far there.
So it’s not a surprise that it melted.
I really should have dropped the output a bit…
I could compensate them with demonic steel, but I feel that would be a waste. Just imagining how much I would need to give to make a golem that size makes me dizzy.
Should I make a human sized doll and have the spirits possess it?
≪Solution. Verified command Create: Golem. Creation possible.
The outward appearance will be according to your imagination.
Please decide on a summoning target when creating the golem.≫
Way to go『Great Sage』.
A relatively simple magic. Summoning magic I first saw during the adventurer exam and have been analyzing it ever since.
A spirit, as the previous cases have shown, tend to without a personality.
Thanks to the summoning contract they cannot betray the summoner. Well, as long as it is reasonable.
But I guess it’s wrong to label demons as evil just because they are demons.
Frankly, I should be able to make an item far stronger than any A-ranked monster around.
「I got it, I got it. You’re noisy, Rami-chan.
As compensation, teach me a bit about the Ghost Researchers later on!
He was working on the Ghost Researcher golem before!」
「Hmm? Ah, a stronger one than the one I defeated…」
「I… guess. Oh, I’ll make it, but you can’t use it for evil deeds or anything?
「Okay, okay! No problem! But we can play around with it in here, right?」
And by the way, according to my (Great Sage’s) predictions, it’ll turn out really powerful!
If handled poorly there will be victims, okay?」
I said, and began preparations.
Having swam around in my magical energy for a long time, the steel is of excellent quality.
The children, interested, crowded around to watch.
「He–, where did you pull that from… I don’t even know anymore…!」
Ramiris started to say something but gave up half-way.
When I was pleased with the items I took out, I got to work.
Spreading my arms I began to chant a spell.
So only Ramiris is standing behind me.
I’ve used up quite a lot of power to alter the spirits.
From withing the magic circle a Greater Demon appeared.
Kneeling before me, facing the ground,
「Have you called me, my great master!」
It said.
I don’t know if there are individual differences between them, but it’s far more muscular than the lesser demon.
By the way, do demons even have muscles? Ah, whatever.
「Yup. I have called none other than you.
Payment is my magical energy. The length of the contract is…」
I look at Ramiris for an answer,
「A hundred years! In a hundred years I will finally grow up!」
Is what she said.
「Length of the contract is 100 years.
Afterwards, you can keep the body or throw it away. How about it?」
Had I said something like “Defeat the one before you!”, the contract would have been annulled. Anyways, what a troublesome thing the length of the contract is!
And as long as I watch over this being, I cannot summon another…. well, there is a way around that rule.
So let’s explain to him his duties.
「That much is simple, my great master! And I have already received the payment.」
Huh? The energy I used in summoning is enough?
In any case, it seems like slowly summoning him was a good idea. As a result, he shows due respect.
Just to be safe, let’s make sure we properly summon things and make proper contracts.
I start working on the demonic steel.
In my previous life, I was jealous of my friends who could make figurines from scratch. Unfortunately, the best the clumsy I could do was put together a model.
Thanks to『Great Sage』’s correction, it’s coming out just as I had imagined.
“Whatcha doing?” Ramiris peeked over my shoulder, and started making noise.
「Wha! What! This is amazing! What skill!
You are seriously amazing you know! Can you really make such a thing move?」
She was very excited. But even I, the creator, hadn’t believed I could make it with such precision.
The greater demon looking from afar, upon realizing that it is his body in the making, showed a face of pleasant surprise.
Probably… I can’t read demon’s expressions well.
「Wonderful, as expected of my master.
Should that be done, the golem will move. What a wonderful body has been made for me!」
Since he’s happy, I guess the body fits.
I made the face look like the mask I always wear; the golem was as large as a human.
For the large Greater Demon it must have seemed tiny, but I guess that wasn’t a problem.
The Greater Demon was able to possess it without any problem.
Furthermore, it can regenerate–in a word, it’s superb.
So honestly, destroying this golem will prove really difficult.
「How do you feel?」
Compared to incarnating into a monster or a human, the raw power aside, defensive abilities are far superior.
How wonderful!!! This is an amazing body!!!」
He reported after verifying the body’s abilities.
Instead, I gave him a magically created doll, but that doesn’t seem to have caused any problem. Perhaps he recognized it as a monster.
After thoroughly investigating the body, he faced me on his knees, and
「I hope to prove my usefulness to You with this body!
After I have protected the fairies for a hundred years, please allow me to serve under you!」
He suddenly said.
A hundred years from now… will I be alive then or not, I myself don’t know.
「Would I even be alive then?」
If you only promise me this, I will never bother you with another payment!」
That being said, just how long is my lifespan?
However, he seems very attached.
I don’t have much energy remaining. Judging by previous cases, a high ranking monster will absorb a lot of energy.
If anything, he’s at least rank A-, but with a body he’s definitely at least A rank. So, considering all the demonic steel I used to create the body, he’s way over rank A.
Ah… should be fine, right? I still have over 40% left, after all.
「Alright! In that case, you shall be known as Beretta from now on!
I expect your best effort!」
I bestowed upon him such a name.
And then my energy was sucked out. But this time, I had endured it. Barely above empty.
And after being named by me, he started to evolve.
He first formed into a circle, but then chest, head, hips, arms, and legs formed, along with a face.
A gender-less human. His expression was now hidden behind a mask and, instead of the black skin, long black hair now adorned his body.
As the transformation began to stop, clothing appeared.
Now, I wander what abilities it had inherited from me? Its appearance has become very human-like.
Seems like the body was perfected along with the evolution.
And what a beautiful body it had become.
Only death would await those who have seen his expression. To all, other than the master, of course.
Beretta stood up, and once again bowed deeply before me.
「My great master. I am the Ark Doll Beretta.
Who lives and breathes to fulfill your will!」
And, after bowing again, he turned to Ramiris.
「As commanded by my master, I shall protect thee.」
He declared.
Ramiris, as if overwhelmed by his presence, nodded timidly.
「Ah, yeah! I’ll be in your care! Do protect us!」
After regaining her composure, she so said.
At least twice as strong.
But it seems I have gotten carried away and used more demonic steel than I had intended.
So remember, I went through the trouble to make you, so you better be useful!
The children have fallen asleep while I was making the doll.
They held well up until now, and can finally relax.
As they say, you sleep well, you grow well.
So let’s wait until the children wake up. Until they do, I’ll also rest up.
Thus, after creating a guardian for the fairies, we left the『Spiritual Dwelling』behind.
Or so I thought…
As per Yuuki’s request, three months have passed.
We have considered having Tempest take custody of them, but figured they need a better learning environment.
Moreover, they themselves have chosen to study here. They had thought that I’d be staying with them, so they cried when I told them about my departure.
Of course, we’ll throw a party.
The magical power no longer leaks, and has stabilized around normal levels. Nor will people with analyzing abilities be able to discover them.
I had asked Yuuki about that once.
「At least, three years from now, when they think the children dead and buried, they should be safe」
If they stay patient for three years they’ll be able to depart on their own.
Yuuki has many times asked me how I had saved them, but I decided not to tell him.
Their power is currently being balanced by spiritual energy; when that balances out, they might acquire their own unique skill.
Besides, they might not even acquire one. So I didn’t tell the kids about this.
Ending the matter with the children thus, I spent the rest of the time having fun.
My sales are also going well, and when I had time I visited Myormiles, in the middle of the second month here, he warmly welcomed me.
And using the gold I received from him, I bought some Magic Stones from Yuuki.
So doing this and that, the three months in the Royal Capital passed.
On the day I set off for home, I left the crying children and the Royal Capital behind.
Though the incident with the children was troublesome, I was able to bond with them as a result.
And I made a fortune with the sales.
So everything is going well.
… No, everything was going too well.
In this world, jealousy and envy, the feelings of a loser, creep into one’s heart when you least expect it.
However, if you make a mistake in the data, you will inevitably come to a wrong conclusion. As『Great Sage』says, if the question is wrong, the answer will also be wrong.
I had thought that I understood that fact, but hardly did I know how much I underestimated them.
And the result…
「I have been searching for you, Rimuru-san!」
When I had left the Royal Capital, a voice called out to me.
He was struggling to catch his breath, having run all the way here non-stop.
By the looks of it, something has happened.
「What’s wrong?」
To my question,
「The Farmas Kingdom… has sent troops towards Tempest!」
The worst case scenario unfolded before me.
I had immediately decided to return to Tempest.
「Will you come with me?」
When I asked, as if something had happened to Youmu’s group, Grucius gladly took me up on the offer.
Thus, together with Grucius, we tried transferring to Tempest.
…………
……
…
Since being born into this world as a slime, I have lived as I had always wanted.
While I was busy fulfilling trivial desire, a great storm loomed over my city.
As a civilian that I was, I hardly had any practice in predicting the political machinations of countries–hence the result.
The gears of fate spun nefariously, leading me closer to my fate.
The era of peace has now passed, and the time of war has begun.