3rd person POV
In a room inside the castle, Myourmiles along with a merchant, were sitting in the chairs. The merchant was far, not as much as Myourmiles, but none the less fat. He had various golden armaments with precious metals and jewels embedded in them. Yet the person in question was sweating furiously.
"You messed up big time Carter." Myourmiles said.
"What was I supposed to do? I would have died either way. Either by that stupid King or the demon lord. I'd rather die here in Tempest. Atleast my family will be safe."
"Do you really think so?"
"Ha. You know me Myourmiles. If there is one thing I take pride in, it's in judging people's character. Once I saw him in the party years ago, I was sure. He might act all villain like, but in reality he is kind. But that doesn't mean he is forgiving. He will definitely punish me. But not someone who was caught up in it, like my son."
*Creak* the door slowly crashed open and Rimuru walked in.
"I really hate people like you, good at guessing people's character." Rimuru said as he sat on his chair, opposite to Carlos and Myourmiles.
"And the irony is, I am quite good at it as well." Rimuru continued.
"Then-" Carlos tried to speak, but Rimuru interrupted him.
"I know you were forced. But that doesn't mean you are not to blame either. I have already talked with Aegil."
Myourmiles's eyes twitched as he remembered Rimuru's promise, which he, more or less, knew was worth nothing.
"I see. So all the commotion going in the West is your reason?" Carlos asked.
"Yep. But I have to say. You have quite the guts. You are shivering in fear, yet you can keep taking and interacting as if nothing is wrong."
"Hahaha. I guess I have my experience as a merchant to thank."
"Well then. Let me tell you what will happen to you."
As soon as Rimuru said this, Carlos and Myourmiles, both, gulped nervously.
"You will be banished from Tempest. While you were on your way back, you got into an unfortunate accident and some wild monsters killed you. Luckily, you were the only who died. So your wife and son come back to Tempest and continue to live here, like usual."
"I see. So you only want my life. That's alright. But aren't you afraid that I will spread rumours? And thinking about the timing, it will be quite suspicious."
Hearing this, Rimuru grinned.
"True. They might believe that I did it. But that's exactly what I want. This way they won't need with me anymore."
"I see."
"Also, only Carlos has to die."
Carlos looked towards Rimuru confused.
"Change your name and get a new identity. You can live with your family also."
Hearing this, not only Carlos, but even Myourmiles was left stunned.
"Wa.. what?" Carlos asked in shock.
He had seen this demon lord a few years ago. At that time Carlos had concluded that he wouldn't stop at anything if it meant to punish someone who tried to get in his way. His eyes were like they only had one single goal. Yet now, his eyes had been softer. As if the goal they had to accomplish had been done.
"I just took a liking to you. Nothing else. Also, your son. He is quite a rare talent. Instead of forcing him to take over your job, why don't you let him invent me things. He is talented enough to create things like this with limited resources and no former training." Rimuru said as he took out what appeared to be a toy carriage. What was surprising was that it could move completely on its own. Just like an RV.
It even has a controller with magic inscribed into it to make it move. Any person can use it, even if he doesn't have any magicules.
"This is quite an amazing product. Something like this could revolutionize how things are produced." Rimuru says laying emphasis on the child's dormant ability.
"To tell you the truth, under proper guidance, he could even be one of the people leading entire scientific revolutions." Rimuru continued.
Hearing this, Carlos was left shocked. He had never even thought about letting his son try his hand in something new.
"So, here's the deal. Discard your current identity and sign a contract starting that your son will only work for Tempest. All his products will be controlled by Tempest. Obviously hota name as their creator can be spread, but Tempest will have the Monopoly on how we use them. In return, you can stay with your family. All the resources for your son's growth will be provided by Tempest." Rimuru said as he stood up.
"Quick. Make a decision. I don't have a lot of the time."
"I-I.... I agree."
"Good." Rimuru said as he left the room.
Just as Carlos breathed a sigh of relief, Rimuru peaked inside.
"Don't even think of betraying me. There won't be a second chance, considering what you have done." Rimuru said as he finally left.
Carlos finally sank into the couch. Even though he had resolved himself to face the worst, he came out relatively unscathed. True. Carlos would have to die. All the work he had done till date, all the fame he had gathered, all the fortune he had collected would be lost. But as the saying goes, when one road closes, another one opens. The deal that he hastily made with the demon lord was nothing less than a deal with a devil. One wrong step and it wouldn't end with just his life. But the rewards to be gained are enormous, he was sure of it, especially after seeing Myourmiles.
After all, Myourmiles, who was just one of the many merchants in the West, now had wealth on par of a small country's annual income. He knew that as a merchant, he could never give up this opportunity. And that's exactly what he did. He seized the opportunity as soon as it was presented to him.
Few days later...
It went exactly as it was planned. Carlos, who was on the way back to Ingrassia was killed by monsters who had ambushed him. His body was completely eaten by the monsters. Not even his bones were left. The only thing left was the broken carriage. Meanwhile Carlos, who was allegedly dead, was living with his family with a new identity. His family continued to live as they used to. The only thing that changed was that Carlos now worked under Myourmiles instead of being an independent merchant, and his son, was now given much more freedom in what he wanted to do.
Rimuru's POV
Now that the entire ordeal is settled, I doubt anything like this will happen again.
<Colour me surprised. I definitely thought you would kill him.>
Haha. Even I had thought that. But looks like you were right. It seems like I am becoming softer. But that child really has a lot of potential. Like, a lot of it.
<I agree. His skills could easily reach, if not surpass Vesta's. The only drawback, without a doubt, is that he is human. He won't live long enough to hone that level of perfection.>
True. But for now, let's focus on what's ahead of us. We still have Ivarage left to deal with. We can think about what to do after that later on.
--------------------
I hope you guys like it.