'Testarossa, how is it going there?'
'The humans seemed to have stopped before entering the forest my lord. I suspect that they have sent scouts ahead in order to ensure a safe route that the army could use.'
Scouts huh, a wise decision, although it will probably be in vain. Because of Testarossa that is.
She has successfully infiltrated the human army, it was a bigger one than what Farmus sent against us. I'm assuming this is Yuuki's fault, why I think so is because of how he was behaving recently.
I had though that he'd stay put this time, but I'm guessing he was quite suspicious of me. I did come out of nowhere, and Clayman must be the man that provided these extra people. There are about 30,000 of them from what Argo*sees.
10,000 more men than last time... I should let Testarossa gather information about the army's purpose. If they have a different motivation than last time, I'll spare them with my mercy. But if they don't... I'll kill them all.
I know it's harsh, but it's what I gotta do, the moment you hesitate, the infinitely higher risk of you losing something dear to you. I learned that the hard way.
'Testarossa, can you gather some intel on what exactly did they gather this army for.'
'...!! I see, you truly are benevolent my lord, I will see to it that I do not disappoint you.'
She saw through me... guess that was too obvious. I'll have to come home to Tempest as soon as possible.
*
I visited Shizue and the kids for a short while, saying my goodbyes, for now. On my way towards Tempest, I sense a sky dragon, that very same one from before. Or at least I thought it was...
<<Master, I think that one's a bit different>>
Huh? What do you mean by that?
<<Although it has the very same appearance, I can confirm you that the magicule amount of that dragon rivals an unawakened demon lord>>
Wait what! That's a big deal, how did it get that much magicules though?
<<There seems to be an individual riding on it, said individual must be the culprit>>
Hmm... now that I look closely, there is a person riding there. Although I don't know who the hell that person is though.
Let's just bring it down for now, there we go... and I knocked it unconscious, great, as expected of me.
<<......>>
Okay I was just kidding! I didn't meant to knock out the rider. But I get to look more closely now, he's got a peculiar body type, similar to a demon.
<<I have confirmed master, this person is a demon, from Guy's lineage>>
Would you look at that, he really is a demon, it's kinda easy to tell from the way he looks though. Wait, did you say from Guy's lineage? What's he planning on doing now... ohhhh, he wants to do it now.
Well, gotta tell him off for a few weeks, can't let there be constant attacks on Ingrassia while Shizue and the kids are still there.
Let's splash a potion on this Guy, he looks like he's dead.
"Hello, are you alive there?"
"Argh my head, .....! Who are you!?"
"Rimuru Tempest, nice to meet ya."
"Rimuru.... please forgive my rudeness!!!"
Whoa, calm down there dude, don't suddenly kneel in front of me with all these people coming around. You know what, let's take advantage of this.
"Tell me, why are you here with such a creature with you, were you planning on harming the city?" I say loudly with a cold tone.
"N-not at all!...."
"I can tell you're lying from the way you're behaving right now."
"....Please spare me!!! Lord Guy has given me a task that I must not fail. My only fate depends on this particular mission."
"Hoh? And what would that be, if you don't mind me asking."
"I've been ordered to cause a ruckus here, Lord Guy said that no matter what, I must at least put the town into chaos."
That Guy.... I swear his timing is too deliberate sometimes. Plus, some knights are coming our way, although they aren't approaching now since this sky dragon is intimidating the hell out of them if they get too close.
"Well tell this to Guy, hold off on this attack until after Walpurgis, got it?"
"But–"
"Under my name, you will tell him this, I'm sure you could get a way with a scratch or two if you mention my name."
"Yes! I'll do so immediately."
Just like that, he flew off into the sky like he never existed. But it's strange, doesn't he tell either Mizari or Rain to do the attacking instead? What could have possibly gone on his mind.
"You there miss, can we have a talk?"
"No thanks, I'm busy."
I'll just run fast enough so that they'll eventually give up on chasing me. I ran almost immediately, seems like he's chasing me so far, then I'll just have to speed up a little.
"Hey! If you won't–"
"Leave this to me."
I stopped at the sound of that voice, that voice clearly has a calming tone, yet to me, I hear the tone of malice.
I turned around to see the source of the voice. What did I expect, it was Hinata, captain of the Paladin Knights. Should I continue to run or... shoot it, run Rimuru, run!
"Hey, if you stop now, I'll have a little chat with you, how about it? We're far away from the city now."
"....Fine"
I didn't drop my guard even once while my back was turned to her. Surprisingly, she's actually willing to hear me out. You don't know how much I wanted our first encounter to be like this.
"What do you want?"
"How... did you save Shizue sensei?"
You're asking that question? And don't look at me with that nostalgic face, it's weird.
"Did you meet Shizue perhaps?"
"I have, now, answer my question, how did you save her."
"Simple, by reforming her body, something like re-creating her body of sorts"
"Is that why you look like her?"
"Something like that yeah."
Hinata grips her sword tightly, she seems disoriented about something.
"Although I owe you a great amount of thanks for saving her, I must confirm myself that you have no ill intentions towards her!"
"You wanna go?"
Oh crap, that just slipped out of my mouth, hey, hey, hey! DO NOT look at me like that. I don't mean any harm! Now this is just going down the same way as before. Well, let's send a message to Benimaru for now.
"Sorry, but I must do what I believe is right!"
She dashes a straight line towards me, does she underestimate me perhaps? Yeah yeah, I did loose to her once, but that one didn't count.
To me now, her attacks are slow, refined but slow, even without thought acceleration. Thanks to that, I was able to dodge her attacks swiftly, I've gotten better at spotting faints too thanks to my daily training sessions with Milim and Hakuro.
"Why aren't you pulling out your sword?! Do you think I'm not worth it!"
And she's mad, look girl, you attacked so suddenly, didn't even let me draw my sword. Don't get mad about me not pulling it out.
And besides, can you're sword even withstand mine? I've brought my main sword with me this time. Well, let's just hope for the best.
"Wha– how did you do that? You broke my sword with just one parry."
"Didn't you notice the difference? If you want a fair sword fight, then at least get a legendary class sword."
"...Fine, I'll retreat for now."
***
*Argo here means God's eye, it's a skill that Rimuru has that let's him see anything in the world.
I just want to say, THANK YOU, for reading this poorly written fanfic of mine. And thanks to YOU reading this, we hit a milestone that I didn't expect!
We're currently #1 on the spoiler rankings! This really did not cross my mind when I first started this fanfic. Even just getting 100 reads was really really accomplishing for me.
In my way of saying thanks, I'll give you this chapter! Hope you enjoy!