Slime Who Turned into a Demon King
4.I'm the Demon Lord

Ugh. Just leave him alone. I mean, I'm glad he's happy to hear a compliment for me (even more than I do), but I know he's wrong to take criticism from

Me, so...In short, as soon as word got out about myself demon lord, I had a parade of visitors who beat the trails into this city, most monsters over

choosing to ask for my protection instead of risking wrath from me. In other words, we have a lot of visitors to deal with immediately.We must immediately conduct a cross-forest survey, looking for a smart race. This isn't

it will be a problem in the area where I've been a recognized leader, but anywhere else it will be an uphill climb.But if we stay busy with it...

“Hey, I just thought — we should spread the word around the forest about my ascension, right? So why don't we turn it into a huge advertising campaign and use it to expose this city to the rest

the world? It would be easier to get everyone to come here than to reach all of them, I think.”

“...How do you mean?” A confused looking Rigurd asked me, so I went into some details about the idea I just thought about. This city, the capital of Tempest, began to become more famous among the monsters in Jura. Koby, and the kobold caravans

led by him, did an amazing job of spreading rumors wherever they went. At least some people would be interested in visiting, and

I just think now is the right time to slightly expand our population. The beastmen hanging out here will finish their education

they and immediately return home; we need to make up for that loss, and if we are going to continue the teaching effort, then the more students, the more merrier.

Our food situation continues to improve, and we obviously have room for more people.

If anything, we are starting to face a shortage of workers. There are all these ideas, all these projects to explore, but not enough people to pitch them.

A grand and luxurious opening can be something that attracts more of them. They come to pledge their allegiance or whatever, they will learn about the city along the way, and at least some of them will consider a permanent move.

Two birds with one stone. In fact..“Plus... You know, we were all in pins and needles a while back. Why

we don't give back a little? Let's hold a big festival to start this!”We set up a certain time to meet and greet me, and we will

we held festivals all over the city to celebrate. That way, I won't have to spread the meeting for weeks. There will be a big party too

— I still have Milim's request put in my mind. It will be an opportunity for all of us to rest, show off what we have done, and get everything done in one fell swoop.

“Features..?” “Great! What a great idea!”

“Come do! It will be an amazing event!”

My colleagues are ready for that, at least. The city is getting more and more experienced with this, especially with the monthly parties we have already organized for ourselves,

and our developments in the food and beverage field are getting more and more complex and large-scale. Expanding it, and allowing everyone to join in, sounds really fun.

“This will be my public debut as well, so let's make it the biggest we can!”

““Ya, Milord!””

There's no objection. A budget? Ah, no need to worry about that. Rigurd will think of something. We're watering for now, and a little indulgence won't spoil it.Everything goes fast after that; I guess those words affect people a lot. Suggestions and feedback filled the hall, many surprises struck Me, and before I knew it, we extended the invitation to leading officials around the world. Is this a little rushed? Monsters are one thing, but do we also invite the head of the human state?We have a hot spring. We have plenty of accommodation, including a country guest house worthy of handling the highest nobility. Haruna and his crew have impressed super celebrities like Archduke Erald and King Gazel. I think we should be fine. Even if it is necessary to scramble the dates and locations around, or at least improve our security, this can be a great opportunity for

world leaders to know Me.

The supervisor of all these people (i.e., I) had just officially become a demon lord. I can see why people want to celebrate. I used to be Japanese, and Japanese people love their festivals. I think I should really finish this whole thing and

teach everyone about the actual party — about it and show them how much I am a friendly demon lord.With the promise to explain the details of the festival later, I conclude my report. We followed it up with reports from all of my main staff. I have

hold on to everything, but not everyone on the team knows what everyone else is planning — and maybe I'll learn something new myself.

Diablo, in particular, has a completely different worldview from mine. He doesn't seem to know what common sense is. Trivial things for me could be

big trouble for him, it felt like, and if something like that were to come up, it would be hard for me to handle it alone. That's why I set up the sharing report

this regular information.

Rigurd began his briefing by stating that our trading partners had already started returning to the city. Our sales numbers are likely to rise again, likely because Fuze is spreading the word that now everything is safe.

Beyond that, no other country has taken any noteworthy action.

My Ascension seems to surprise many of them, but for now, they tend to wait to see how Blumund and the Dwarven Kingdom will respond

We also say that Elmesia El-Ru Thalion, His Majesty the Emperor of the Thalion Dynasty, has expressed a personal desire to open a formal relationship with Tempest. Practically I can hear the whisper “so build the highway connecting us” under those words, but no doubt how useful that support is for us. His statement, which was spread by magic to all the world leaders, seems to have given rise to many

worries.“It can be said,” Rigurd happily closes, “that all our relationships fulfill their sworn duty and work hard for our benefit throughout

world!” Next came Soei. I had left him to investigate a lot of things, so I thought he would have the floor for a while.

This includes initial preparations for the highway between here and Thalion, follow-up surveys and so on before we put the shovel into the ground. I had been working the general route of my eye view over the forest, so Soei was sent out to check out the nearby monster village or other construction barriers.

This was something I asked him to do for a walk to Dwargon and Blumund as well; it was quite an important job. You don't want to get rid of it, unless you want trouble later. So far, the monsters affected

the highway has cooperated with us, so there are no big issues to talk about, but you never know when we should get someone out of the domain of their ancestral home or anything else.

Very few of them will defy my will, I became a demon lord and all, but I don't want to act like a tyrant, so I have to be careful. It's easy to push them away by force, but I want to

avoid it if I can. Coexistence is my belief, and it applies equally to humans and monsters. Hopefully I won't have any problems at all times

these.

I'm not in this case to ask for anything from the monsters that I rule over.

Anyone who wants protection I get it, but instead, I don't want to interfere — well, unless they stay right in the middle of the projected path of Me. But I want to avoid useless conflicts, so if they're willing to negotiate, so am I. I'm happy to make all the moving arrangements for whoever moved, should I need. After all, which village

even near this road will surely be a resting place, a crowded place full of lodging and taverns and tourists who travel there

hither.

It will not all be smooth, but it will make a better life for the natives. That's how it worked for the previous two highways, and hopefully it will be once again.

“I did not find any hostile monsters in or near that route

projected,” Soei getting started. “When I explained Sir Rimuru's plan to

they, they all give ready consent to Me.”

Ah good. I'm glad he made it clear we're not going to throw anyone out of their house.

“It's cool. In that case, make sure you complete surveys and other work when Geld is free again.”

The investigative work in the rough place is done. If we don't find any more security issues after this, it's time to send our technicians.

“Ya, one second. I found one problem. The Jura Forest is in your jurisdiction, Sir Rimuru, but the Khusha Mountains are located on one of its borders. The area is filled with high peaks and dangerous canyons, and at higher elevations, it is said there are settlements inhabited by long-nosed tribes known as tengu. It was information from the locals, so I found it hard to ignore it completely. ”

On the land southwest of Rimuru, the capital and the center of Tempest, there are mountain ranges scattered on the shores of Lake Sisu. This is Khusha, an area that has migrated the high orcs in the past; the southern branch of this range is also

home to the castle of former demon lord Frey. This place is famous for its long, beautiful row of towering peaks, many of which are dangerous and not

the current plan calls for the construction of a highway up to the border with

Thalion. There was a medium-sized city there located between the mountains that would serve as the tip. We don't have to go through Khusha alone. So what was Soei worried about?

“What's the big problem about it?”

“Tengu are said to be friendly, but at their core, they are a race of warmongers.

Even demon lord Frey avoided direct conflict with them. I would suggest seeking his advice on this..” Technically, Soei advised me, the Khusha Mountains are outside the Jura Forest and thus not our territory. It also does not belong to Frey, making it self-sufficient, unclaimed land. I could have used the power of a demon lord

I was to beat them into submission, but it might be better to check and explain things to avoid trouble in the future. In their eyes, they might see Me as a greedy demon lord trying to

expanding territory.

Soei sounded disappointed to have to hand the decision on this matter to me, but I really thought better of her for it. I'm so proud of him for not forcing this issue and trying to work with

tengu himself. He was as careful as that, and it made him endlessly help missions like this.

“Good. So should I go and—?”

“Ah, one second. If that's the case, let me think.”

Just as I was hoping to finish this quickly, Benimaru stopped me. Whenever he volunteered for something like this, it always made me a little worried — but he was right. I handed the matter to him.

“You seem to be kind of friendly with Lady Alvis lately, brother. I hope you don't volunteer just for a chance date with her?”

Shuna commented.

Huh huh? Benimaru and Alvis know each other?!

“What does it mean, Benimaru?” If Shuna is telling the truth, this is serious.

“You misunderstood, Sir Rimuru. Shuna, enough of your bullshit.”

He acted quite calmly. It seems he didn't lie to me. But let's face it. Benimaru is a great catch for any woman who can catch her attention. Anyone can see it.

“Don't worry, Sir Rimuru. Whether Benimaru is here or not, you will

always have it!” Oh, good, more Shion bullshit.

“Hah? What are you talking about?”

“Heh! Falling because of Alvis's trap and ready to leave our nation, right?” Shion

proceeding. “We're going! Do whatever you like!”

“Shion, how do you interpret such things?”

I can see the throbbing veins in Benimaru's head. I mean, yeah, I'm also kind of jealous of her two-year-old —, and I still haven't got a boyfriend to talk about — but I don't think she's going to go elope or anything.

“Yes, I really doubt that, Shion.”

“You heard him, Shion. Sir Rimuru, you believe me, huh? ”

“It's not a matter of trust now. You are one of my closest partners.”

No cell in my body questioned Benimaru. She couldn't be less like my old co-worker Tamura, except in the way the two of them found a stable date before I did. But I can handle it later.This whole conversation has become ridiculous. “Good. If we keep talking about this, Shion's imagination will go wild on her. Benimaru, I'm assigning this job

you!”

“Yes, My Lord,” he replied with a tired nod. Yep. However, Benimaru is the right person to be my representative here. He's number

two under Me, and I doubt he'll underestimate any enemy he encounters. I

not expecting a hidden mountain settlement on the Thalion border, but

considering the future, it is better to solve everything with

they are sooner or later — and Benimaru is better than me in that regard..

There's one thing I haven't heard.

“Can you tell me something about the changing ecosystem of our monsters,

Soei?”

I asked him to investigate the trends among the monsters in the city and along our highway. Many residents are practically filled with Magic; the air is already quite thick with it now, and that's exactly how you get their — savage beasts to spontaneously manifest from that collection of items, and the more that is created, the more likely it is that at least one will be harmful to us. Beasts like this required constant patrol around the forest. They are a threat to humans even at D rank or below, so we have to be wary of such things. If one of the B ranks appears, it requires immediate attention.

Rigur, as the head of our security department, is the main person in charge of handling them. His team is experienced now, and even newer ones can provide capable services after a few weeks of training.

They patrol the highway, ensure the trade carts can launch their trade peacefully, and they do a good job —for now, no problems reported. But they could not cover the entire forest, so no one knew where the new, and powerful, creature might be hiding.

Soei has told me that there is not much to worry about, which is confusing. What does he mean? Like, can we live safely with them? If they don't harm us or the travelers, then of course, I can take it. Any monsters smart enough to negotiate are free to live their lives, but you never know when a new threat, like the A-minus-ranked knight spider that Gobta is fighting, is,maybe raise his ugly head and start defending

its territory.

That's why I'm worried about the forest outside the highway and other areas we inhabit. Those places, I think, are more likely to harbor this potential threat. Soei asked for her Rep looking around for this for me, so I had enough

sure he at least had a hunch by now.

“I did not find anything problematic,” Soei replied coldly. “If I had to mention one, it would be a grizzly saber that I happen to

find it in the northwest reaches of the forest, but I safely beat it.”

Hm. There's no problem?

The saber grizzly was equivalent to an A-minus rank, similar to a knight spider.

What's?!

“Whoa, that, um, that's nothing a normal adventurer can do!”

I can't hide my surprise. He made it sound so ordinary that I didn't understand it at first. There are no traders

who can travel in an area with a freak like the one nearby. They would be a danger even to Gobta and the patrol team.

“Uh,” Gobta snorted, answered my concerns, “is that right, Soei? Because

I don't want to spread anyone new and untested to the place where they are. That would be dangerous.”

“I won't worry. After all you're spoiling them too much, aren't you?”

“Heyyy! Waita minute! Maybe you won't worry, but for us, if we lower our vigilance, we will die!” “Then go to Hakuro,” replied Soei cheerfully as Gobta continued to whine.

“Let him train you harder. You'll be fine.”

Hakuro nodded like this clearly. I feel a bit bad for Gobta, though,

although his reaction piqued my interest. He himself did not seem too afraid

with saber grizzly. The magicules that came out from him seemed to be higher than

before; he was probably at the higher end of B rank now.

But there's a pretty big jump between B and A, I think...

Hey, Raphael, I didn't misread Gobta's powers, did I?

Understood When Unified with a starwolf, the resulting battle rate growth could not be measured in numbers.

Uh. Alright. Yeah, I think Unification is A-minus. However with the Gobta head of the goblin riders, perhaps the saber grizzly would not be a big deal to him. But didn't he mention successfully defending against an attack by one of Clayman's squad leaders? Between Hakuro's training and his own experience, he must have improved, in his own way. He doesn't look any different, but maybe it's Gobta's power to be reckoned with?

I smiled a little as I pondered this. “Now, now, I think Gobta has good points. Just because you can handle it doesn't mean the whole

the world can, Soei.”

It was meant to defend Gobta a bit, but I also wanted to remind Soei not to try to solve all her problems alone. If the stronger ones among us use themselves as benchmarks, it will bring the world of grief to anyone who cannot live up to it. It also makes things more inefficient for the strong themselves, burdening them further and ultimately leading to their destruction. I spent a few moments explaining this to the team, combining some real-world examples.

“...I understand. I didn't think carefully enough.”

Everyone is different. Soka and the other members of Soei's team are talented enough to meet her harsh demands, but it takes a special group of people to do that. I appreciate his apology, but I wish him

remember that fact somewhere. The same can be said of Benimaru and Hakuro; I want them to be a little more broad-minded in the way they raise a new generation. Geld and Gabil, on the other hand, thought more about the people below them, so I wasn't too worried about them. I hope everyone can learn from them. It will make a relationship

better all around.

Meanwhile…

“Although I must say that training Gobta and the others is a thing

the great. You have to make sure they are ready for the unexpected!”

Hakuro sneered as Gobta lowered her head. Sure, not everyone develops at the same rate or reaches the same level, but training itself is never a bad thing. It's like going to school — it'll definitely help you later.

Convinced that Gobta is on the right track, I return to the main topic.

As I feared, we began to see new, and dangerous, monsters born in the forest. Our patrol team has potions on them if the worst gets worse, and the starwolves are very fast with their feet, so I'm sure they can escape quite easily. But I can't expect an upcoming visitor to act the same way.

“If we have all these magicules join together, it will create more unusual monsters to deal with. It's too late for us if they kill someone. We need a plan to react.”

We can try tighter patrols, but that will not address the root of the problem. We have to keep it forever, stressing us all out. Unless we identify and remove anything that creates these dense clouds of magic, I must continue to worry about this for good.

So now what...?

As I contemplated this, a voice helped call from an unexpected place.

“Then, why don't we place an anti-magic barrier on the highway?”

That was Vester. Kaijin immediately stood up to answer.

“So you know, buddy, we just finished the perfect device for it.

” He grinned at me.

“A fully automatic barrier-producing magic generator!”

I know he's been working on some things in secret. But really?

Automatic magic generator?

Apparently, this is a device that automatically makes magic spells run, as long as you guard it with mana. A great innovation, it seemed, was some sort of advanced version of the inscription magic-driven tool he had created earlier. I thought Kaijin and Vester, who were disappointed at how useless they were during the barrier crisis we experienced, stepped in to try to develop this. These guys are amazing. Create a model that works in a short time... What is it, geniuses?

Turns out, these aren't just some guys who work in garages. Gabil throws during his free time, as well as Kurobe (who is not with us at the moment). Even Shuna helped. In a way, we have some of the world's greatest magic holders coming together for this project. That's kind of epic.

Kaijin has long devoted his days to research, leaving false assignments to Kurobe. I'm sure it's not just research, what with his duties as head of Tempest's production department, but still.

When he explained to me, the automatic magic generator made use of magicules that were naturally floating in the air. He thinks we have a lot of people around us right now, and that there should be a way to take advantage of that — because that's his idea. The Prison Field that covered the city worked by purifying the inner space of its magicules, absorbing them. In much the same way, monsters

taking magicules from the air and producing magic crystals from them. They have researched this natural process, analyzing how it works.

Another thing, which I have mentioned, is that this country is naturally full of Magic. We all projected quite a heavy aura even as we tried to endure it. Even in an ordinary cave, its density could be enormous in the area, enough to give birth to a group of B-plus creatures. It's all too weird for this country. Kaijin and his team have been trying to figure out what to do for a while, it seems.

“So if we use this automatic magic generator, we can make anti-magic barrier?”

“We sure can,” Vester said with confidence. “But it's not the only one!”

They both grinned at each other now. I can hardly believe that the two of them ever hurt each other's throats. But anyway.

“What's the point again? I think the obstacle is the point. ”

“Heh-heh-heh... Get this, buddy! These generators include mechanisms that collect and collect magicules from the atmosphere. We can use this to lower the Magic density in the air!”

Whoa! Really true? I had to refrain from shouting happily. That's the solution we're looking for!

“Definitely, Sir Rimuru,” says Vester. “But it is not without its drawbacks. It requires a certain magicule density to work; otherwise, it is too inefficient.”

“Not that we have to worry about it around this city, yes, buddy?” I nodded in agreement. That's not a matter worth considering.

“So basically, this device will suck magicules from the air and automatically make a barrier for us?”