The Second Dragonoid's Tale

Chapter 45: Plan For A Festival

Rimuru and I had drinks with Geld, who was having his fair share of problems with the newcomers. Thanks to his efforts the people who would be constructing my city were reliable, hand-picked by him to be good workers. Then with Hakurou's return, I was informed that dark elves in Clayman's former castle were charged with guarding ancient ruins. Something to explore later and to be kept secret for now.

With all the important figures returned, we all gathered in the conference room. I started the meeting off, "As some of you are aware, both Rimuru and I have been recognized as Demon Lords. As part of that, the territories of the Jura Forest and Clayman's former domain have been redrawn. Rimuru's will encompass all land west of Lake Siss and the lake itself, mine will encompass all of the east, including Clayman's."

"As of this day," Rimuru announced, "F/N will be departing here to build a new city."

The people at the table began to murmur, "Then the people of the forest will want to meet you both..." Shuna said, troubled.

"What's the matter with that?" I asked.

Shuna explained, "Not coming to the new lord of their territory would be perceived as a sign of rebellion. Those on the other side of the lake are outside the reach of the Dryads, there is no telling how they will react."

"The emergence of not one but two Demon Lords claiming the same forest, they'll no doubt have a headache," Benimaru mentioned.

"Which means a headache for me," I rubbed my temples, "I can't deal with building a city if the current residents cause trouble showing up. I can put them in their place but... Plus we need to make it clear that the two lords of the Jura Forest are friends, in case they're that out of the loop."

Rimuru in his slime form bounced, "Then let's have them all come at once here. With the constant building and the tension between the newcomers and old residents, why don't we take a breather and have a festival?"

"You know, that does sound nice," I agreed with the idea, and in no time at all, preparations were underway.

Invitations were sent out to leaders of various nations, including to some Demon Lords. A budget for the event was no concern thanks mainly to the money sent from Falmuth. Which was turning into a heated situation as the new king was gathering a military force, bringing the country one step closer to a revolt. While the Western Church, not happy after my visit, are tempted to strike back. However, they are fully aware that if they do then next time will be their end.

Somewhere in the conversation, I could tell Rimuru was thinking of something important. But along with the festival prep work came the increase in security. A topic I brought to both Vesta and Kaijin since their recent work involved the absorption of magicules in the surrounding area to create barriers along the road. For Veldora, Velzard, and Milim to all gather in one place without releasing an extraordinary amount of magicules, and without putting strain on themselves. I'm fine since I borrow Rimuru's skill to store all of mine in his stomach.

There were different matters, however, that I was occupied with when I learned from Adalman that he reincarnated through the use of a secret art his friend developed. And listened further about his past life. After much deliberation, I asked Rimuru to meet me in the field outside the city, along with Benimaru who I asked to bring the ogres he selected some time back. Those gathered were under tension caused by the presence of the Death Dragon under Adalman's command.

"I take it you're about to do some naming," Rimuru guessed correctly.

"I'm not only going to do that." I addressed the crowd of monsters. "Listen well. The country I envision will be the home to some of the most powerful people in the world. However, just because someone is powerful doesn't mean they can protect everyone all the time. That is no way to live life, constantly being on guard, obsessed with protecting people. That is why countries have armies, generals, and heroes."