Disastrous Humans

On a Carriage to Tempest...

It was a cramped carriage, barely enough room to seat four people because there's a barrel inside of who-knows-what.

In it, are three young Japanese adults. Two men and one woman dressed like locals.

'It's been a while since we went on a trip.' said the woman, pushing a bit of curtain fabric out of her way to see the forest outside before shutting it. A short-haired girl with full lips. 'Tempest, was it?'

'Aa. Apparently it's being built by a Slime.' said a fox-eyed boy with brown hair framing his face.

'Keh, a Slime huh?' said the spiky-haired man in contempt. 'All this, for a crappy Slime?' he sneered in disgust.

'Hummm, if its against an army of over 22000, wouldn't that be enough?' said the other boy. 'Us and these guys to apparently, compensate.'

'Who knows about that? I don't care about this shit.'

'Ah~ I hate doing these jobs.' Kirara went to sit beside Kyoya grumpily. 'Do we really have to do this?'

'Well, not like we can go against Razen-sama's order anyway.' Kyoya pointed out.

'Stop calling that shitty old geezer with respect he don't deserve.' Shogo grunted.

'That's right, you're too serious!' Kirara agreed with him.

'Ahaha, it's become a habit.' Kyoya chuckled. 'Sore ni, you shouldn't let others see the real you.' he gently chided them. As far as Kyoya is concerned, getting by in society means one has to do anything, even if it meant faking their personalities to get what they want. Showing their true nature will make that hard or worse...you will lose in life.

All three were summoned by Falmuth at different times of the year three years ago.

The first to be summoned was Taguchi Shogo, the young man with spiky black hair and speaking crassly. Shogo was summoned when he was seventeen but he managed to defeat all 30 mages who summoned him immediately before being put under a cursed spell by Razen to serve as a living weapon for Falmuth, following his rampage as one: he was taken from all he knew with no way back. Two: he was still high-strung with adrenaline as he was in a gang fight...for keeps. Thus upon deducing what he got himself into after a flash of light and knowing anime, he was pissed that he killed all his summoners.

The only woman, Mizutani Kirara was still young, aged eighteen when she had been summoned into Falmuth-controlled land three years prior to attacking Tempest weeks after Shogo. Her skill— which involved influencing people's thoughts during negotiation— wasn't directly related to battle, which led to rough treatment and assumptions that she was just another failed summon at first.

Kirara then massacred all of her summoners until she was finally put down under a locking curse. Ever since, Kirara's skill had been sealed away, restricted from activating without permission as she won't hesitate to kill them for her situation.

The final weapon was Tachibana Kyoya.

This time, they learned their lesson after Kirara. As soon as he came out, bam. He too, was cursed. Unlike the other two, he was more savvy, thus got better treatment while also getting along well with the other two for survival's sake. He advised them to do at their own discretion as they're in a use-be used situation. Only, it's a one-way street.

Three years later, they're now young adults who never saw College.

Hell, didn't even finish high school. Well, Kirara was ABOUT to graduate so that's as close as she can get it...and she was gone.

Upon mastering their Skills, they were put out on missions as a team for Falmuth's interest in the next two years.

And now, for them this is just another job.

'Who the eff cares, just because we got cursed doesn't mean there's other ways to rebel.' Kirara huffed. 'That dried-up ol' geezer, I'll definitely kill him one day!'

Later, the coachman peered in. 'Hey, you guys, we're here.' he said coldly. 'You all know what your tasks are, right?'

These three otherworlders made their hatred of them clear, that they'll kill any chance they get as revenge.

The Coachman lost his cousin who was among the summoning mages, and his fiance to Shogo so he can't help but feel contemptible of them.

Granted, in their point of view, they lost everything by being summoned so they took their anger out on anything and anyone they can as there's no way back home.

Summoning these three, was the equivalent of summoning Demons themselves due to their high kill count. Heck, Kirara killed three of King Edmalis' sons on her first day, leaving the man with a grandson who's still an infant as heir to the throne as a result.

Only High Wizard Razen could handle these double-edged swords.

'Yes yes.'

'Tche, having to answer to a weaker piece of crap makes me feel like I'm in a goddamn penalty game.' Shogo grumbled as the trio got ready to disembark.

'It can't be helped...they have no Unique Skills.' Kyoya purred as they picked up their bags and got off the carriage. 'So they can't help but depend on us.'

He was just glad to get out of that carriage and stretch his legs as they're now on Blumund Highway. 'Us, being World Travelers who are the only ones who can have Skills.'

They were dropped near Tempest on purpose and left there.

The town is something they'd see in video games. Veeery Fantasy-ful if such a word existed.

'Ya know, compared to us these guys have it better, it's not fair.' Kirara complained. 'They clearly have easier lives than we do.' she said, looking around.

'Well, we're weapons of war due to our skills, we're no more than mere equipment to our Summoners cursed to obey their orders or else.' said Kyoya. 'For now I'm hungry. Let's get some food before we do our jobs.'

'Er, can we even eat monster food?' Shogo asked him skeptically.

'We have magicules and Skills to spend it on, we won't get hurt.' Kyoya shrugged. 'While our...jail wardens are definitely gonna die eating monster food.' he chuckled darkly. 'Oh yeah, let's slip some in their food later as a joke back at camp. Maybe they'll get monster diarrhea...'

'Hopefully...if Razen dies, the curse on us is gone.' Shogo grinned darkly. 'Aaaanyways, nearest resto...'

xxx

Back at Ingrassia, same time...

Hinata Sakaguchi waited...

Waited...

...and some more still, yet the info she had never happened.

Rimuru Tempest, the Boss of Monster Town Tempest did not show up with the otherworlder kidnapped children with her.

"..."

She got ripped off of her money. That's 60 coins darn it. Saint she may be but that doesn't mean her salary's satisfactory enough for her. Her worth as a Saint, is apparently 500 gold coins while those under her command have 350. Try as she may to console herself that her pay in yen equivalent is 50 million yen...but prices don't match with goods she needs to buy sometimes...

Clicking her tongue in annoyance as she dispelled the Anti-Magic Field and Holy Field she set up, she has to find another way of having legit intel.

Blumund it is since they do business deals there, right? Dwargon's too far.

xxx

Thanks to the warning of the wolves, Dwargon's Gazel got incensed with the Intel they got from the wolf messengers and the reason for Falmuth invading Tempest, so Tempest was up in arms, and Ranga running to Ingrassia to get Rimuru and the kids home after Souei's clone informed her of the threat to their town.

Right now, the strongest is Rimuru if the Holy Field is deployed because she's outside it and can retaliate with impunity and out of annoyance, recalled his country's merchants and never to do business with Falmuth until new leadership arises.

Because the wolf insisted it's a 'monster matter', they would try to resolve this themselves, but thought to inform allies of the truth of why they have an incoming attack on them so the truth won't get buried under the guise of 'Monster Cleansing' by the Church Soldiers King Edmalis managed to get his hands on.

In the end, the motive is money, as an angry Youm Farmenas griped about during the meeting regarding the matter. The aspiring champion and his group defected from Falmuth, taking their families with them to reside in Blumund after faking their deaths as Orc Disaster Survey Corps.

He would have to pen Blumund a letter.

xxx

Blumund?

Fuze twitched as the idiot trio were livid and furious.

'For now, we wait for tonight before going there, so I'll allow you three to leave at midday to scope the situation. Thanks to the Blumund Highway, what takes months takes hours now.' he told them. 'Right now even if we want to go, it's not safe. Us four, against thousands of soldiers?' he deadpanned. 'The odds aren't looking good for you three if you leave now. I have to inform the royal family of this too.' he took a deep inhale and exhale to calm himself.

'Suppose and I do mean suppose Falmuth succeeds, several countries will glare at Falmuth now that we got their motive for invading Tempest. Our brand of warfare is smearing their name into the muck! See how they like the world hearing why they launched an invasion on a neutral trading route just to get back their extortionate tariffs!'

xxx

While the monsters were acting, they were already keeping an eye on the teenagers.

Thank god for Beastfolk hearing they have a communication network.

Humans have Unique Skills acting as Weapons of War under Falmuth Control!

'Well?!' Shuna asked Rommel quickly.

'I remember three years ago.' said Rommel. 'I was a fresh graduate from the Military Academy. There were people speaking on how they summoned a monster who killed thirty mages who summoned him so Razen had to put a leash on him. It's what Count Maigam had me do to Youm and the others back then. I thought they stupidly summoned a demon and I thought 'serve them right'...but to think they actually summoned otherworlders as only Otherworlders can gain Unique Skills when summoned, and they're valued as Weapons of War for that...though clearly sometimes they don't get any as evidenced with the children Rimuru-sama adopted.'

'...oniisama asks if they're a lost cause or not?' Shuna asked him. 'They're captives after all.'

'Forget it, two are unreasonable that the third guy they summoned, a leash was put on him immediately and producing mages aren't easy you know.' Rommel sweatdropped. 'While I understand that they got their lives stolen and made as weapons of war, it doesn't excuse the atrocities they committed without remorse, even if the summoners deserved it.' he said. 'It's so bad they need a binding curse to keep them in check. Falmuth stupidly summoned psychotic otherworlders.' he shuddered before looking serious. 'And it's us or them. Rimuru-sama won't be happy if you guys got hurt.'

xxx

Shuna transmitted the conversation between her and Rommel to every able-fighter in town.

Benimaru made a decision that if they try anything, it's so On. So giving them a last meal on their last day on Earth isn't a bad idea. They're not exactly helpless if a Holy Field is put up: they still have their physical strength as monsters!

Thus they contacted the monsters into Restaurant Rimuru to watch out.

And so?

'Er, the menu doesn't have meat...you guys don't eat any?' Kyoya asked the 'waitress', noting there's no meat dish in the menu. And for a monster town it's weird.

Not only that, food terms in the menu...

'We do but in winter only-nyah.' the werecat informed him. 'Rimuru-sama banned meat for three seasons for ten years since overhunting is bad she wants the prey to repopulate this decade. So Spring, Summer and Autumn it's vegetables, seafood and fruit only in Tempest.'

'Heee...'

'Ooh, I want King-Sweet Sea Urchin! This is expensive but it's cheap here!' Kirara requested excitedly. 'It looks big too! Along with this I want Spaghetti!'

'I want Lily Oyster noodles.' said Kyoya.

'...grilled Matsalmon Skewers.' said Shogo. 'Five of em'.'

'OK! Anything else?'

'Humm, did Rimuru-sama design the menu?'

'She did nyah.'

'I see...that's all.' and the werecat left. 'Guys.' Kyoya went serious. 'Did you notice something odd about the menu?'

'What is it?' Kirara asked him.

'They're Earth Terminology.' said Kyoya. 'And the Monster Queen designed the menu.' he said in Emphasis. 'Given what we learned albeit unwillingly three years ago...if we are Otherworlders, there's also a Reincarnator.' he said. 'The food alone is enough hint of what she is. And given the food items, she clearly created new species of food with her power since I'm familiar with the names on the menu so you guys didn't notice.'

'Meaning?' Shogo egged him on while frowning deeply at what Kyoya was implying.

'Rimuru Tempest, the Slime Queen is a fellow Earthling like us, reincarnating as the super Slime Monster we're here for.' Kyoya concluded as the other two...and so did the weres in the restaurant stiffened in shock as word spread via Thought Communication. 'If she is now a powerful monster, don't you think that means she can get this curse off us as help to fellows from the same world as her before she died and got reborn here? We're about to eat Japanese Cuisine so she's our countryman.'

'She ain't even here, we got intel she's in Ingrassia remember? It's why that ol' geezer wants to strike while she's gone as she's the only danger in this mission. She Named these guys so that means she's the Head Honcho here.' Shogo snarked. 'This town is toast before she gets back and like hell she'll cooperate after she gets wind we torched her town. She'd sooner torch us.'

'Euuugh...'

'That's reality.' Kirara huffed. 'We're dead before we're free and that's that. At least I get to eat classy food before I bite the dust.' she grumbled, then sighed. 'If I die here I wish I reincarnate back in Earth into my family. I miss home.' she said with a sulk.

'Welp, we can never go home. We'll have to do what we have to do and spite back as much as we can.' said Kyoya. 'Killing Razen and that King is impossible revenge, but we'll take what we can get. If we attack and she knows Falmuth is responsible, she can avenge us then since we'll die later.'

'Tche...at least I want to enjoy myself.' Shogo grunted. 'If I'm going out it better be with a bang. I refuse to die a lame death here. I'll fight the most macho guy here in a fight to the death, the end!'

Well? Geld asked among the communication.

What we learned is a shock that Rimuru-sama is a possible reincarnate from the same world as them. said Benimaru. But despite being from the same world, Rimuru-sama is gentle and generous and took care of us all. She would even adopt children and hopes to marry someday. he said The children are from the same world no doubt which explains why she's more than eager to adopt them, to protect them from their summoners. But despite what she learned today, she chose us over humans, what she used to be. We are her people now. Forever.

Mm. But we'll confirm later once we dealt with this treacherous country and grant these youths their calling. said Rigurd. They believe if they die here, they can go home through reincarnating. Let's grant them that wish.

Everyone agreed.

Nobody on their side is gonna die. Not on their watch if they can help it.

Soon, after the humans had their meal, it began.

Oh no! They could set up Holy Fields fast?! Shuna gasped out, They have Cry...!

And connection cut.

She meant to say Crystal Pillars and they were powered up before they came here.

Crap.

All of them fell weak as the humans came out of the restaurant...

'Welp, this is it, the signal.' said Shogo, cracking his knuckles. 'Who can still fight here, hah?!'

xxx

When the Holy Field activated during the exam back then, Rimuru got anxious as she lost contact after a warning from Souei.

It was why after the formal End-of-Year Ceremony, she rushed home with the kids in the shadows with Ranga.

"20000 soldiers. The Church is involved..." she fears for her town. 'Let's speed up Ranga. We lost contact with the main town...it's like a large gap in my heart...' she choked out. 'I felt...lonely and alone?' she stammered out, getting really anxious now. 'At least the Orc Subtowns are safe, it's good we haven't built roads to those towns yet, they're still vulnerable...'

'It's the field's interference. Those guys will be OK.' Ranga reassured, sensing his master's anxiety. 'Let's believe in everyone.'

'Y-yeah...I'm counting on Shuna to back everyone up now.' said Rimuru. It took them hours to get to the forest area and watched from above the shadows. By the time she could see, a lot of her people are...dead? Yet physically unscathed?

"Great Sage, analyze the barriers over town!" Rimuru commanded.

/Analyzing...the effect of the greater 'anti-magic field' is revealed to originate from the inside, and the decrease of magicule accumulation coming from the outside./

"So it's like the Holy Field?"

/Negative. The effect is weaker. Analyzing...the spell is called Prison Field. It is possible to resist the multiple barriers./

"A barrier originating from inside...we have a traitor among us. Trace the energy!" Rimuru instructed. 'Ranga, you don't have Resistances yet, remain in the shadow. I'll go out as I have resistances.' she instructed.

'Yes.' and she came out of the Government Building grounds where Shuna and Youm's band are.

'Rimuru-sama!' Shuna gasped out as she and Grucius were weakened, being monsters thus the mercenaries were tightly protecting them.

'We have a traitor among us.' she said grimly. 'I analyzed the barriers and through the energy trace, tracked down the caster...and there's an Anti-Magic Field so Shuna couldn't counter the Magic cast on Tempest. The origin of the field is from inside, so there's only you...Myuran.' Myuran gasped at Rimuru's words.

'Myuran?!' Youm sputtered out in disbelief. Grucius was just as shocked, considering...they both fell in love with Myuran.

'I traced the energy signature. It's her.' said Rimuru with a hard stare at the squirming woman. 'I'd like an explanation. Now.'

Myuran knew everything's over.

'I'm ready to pay the price...after I tell you everything while the Anti-Magic Field is up.' she said. 'I will take responsibility for the deaths I have a hand in because of this field but I must tell you what I can before that man finds out.'

'That man?'

'Yes...'

To be triple sure, Rimuru cast another barrier with an unexpected result from Great Sage.

/Notice: an unknown wavelength reacting to the third barrier was detected./ he reported.

"What is it?"

/Speculated to be a decrypted electrical signal./ this caused Rimuru to realize they've been had through Myuran and she had to do it, being spied on. It's a do it or else. Or its possible she's a real spy but she seemed to not want to do it. She was willing to tell things and seemed to imply she will die soon once her purpose is served.

"Wiretapping?! Yes, decipher it!" 'For now I'll put you under arrest. Something interesting came of notice when I activated my own barrier so we're protected from the Prison Field.' Rimuru looked rather intrigued, before putting a Binding Curse on Myuran. 'This is to avoid the activation of a potential Dead Man's Switch. Rommel, put Myuran in a holding cell under the Government Building. I'll go to town and rescue those still alive. There are plenty of dead.' she said in a pained voice. 'I saw from the shadow dimension. Hakurou, Souei and Shion...and many others...' Shuna gasped in horror. 'I have to go.' and she ran off.

'M-my brother...how is he...?' Shuna whimpered to Rimuru who was running away. 'Rimuru-sama...'

xxx

Town...

The remaining fighters were there, laying the bodies in rows. Others were feeding Benimaru potions but he wouldn't heal.

'Benimaru!' Rimuru cried as hearing her voice, the other monsters recognized that their master returned alone.

'Rimuru-sama, his wound wouldn't heal!' Geld told her. 'I have similar non-healing wounds, but its not fatal on my part, but his is!'

Rimuru reached for Benimaru to touch his body to analyze his injury. /Notice: there is a space-attribute effect on the cuts, preventing regeneration effects of potions and magic. Analyzing...it can be removed with Gluttony./ Rimuru did so, before smacking a Potion Jelly on Benimaru's wound, healing him to full health.

'Anyone with an untreatable injury come here! Whatever cut you has a space-attribute side-effect that prevents healing!' about twenty people lined up with a struggle as they were weakened from the barrier and injury. Casting Gluttony on all their wounds, she gave them Potion Jellies afterward and they hurriedly smacked it on themselves to avoid dying. 'What did this?!'

'It's three Otherworlders.' said Benimaru. 'They are what the children would have become, had they gotten here with Unique Skills.' he said, fully-recovered from his fatal injury. 'Thanks to the beastfolk's hearing, they are here as weapons of war and unwilling to be here. They despise Falmuth, and they are counting on your revenge to avenge them after we justifiably killed them as per your rules.'

Do not attack humans, but if they attack, kill them so they can't tattle back and start a war.

'That's good...but...' Rimuru mournfully looked at the bodies of her people. 'What on earth did they have to make that possible? Everyone's powerful even without magic, I made sure of that...'

'One of the Otherworlders can kill on her command alone.' said a mouseman. 'She told people she pointed at to 'die' and...' he shook, deeply shaken by the memory.

'Since they have Unique Skills, Souei and Hakurou shielded me when that girl pointed at me and others near me.' Benimaru said bitterly. 'Shion fought the spiky-haired man while I fought the brown-haired one...leading to my fatal injuries and the others took over.'

'After that, those soldiers came in here.' Geld continued. 'They attacked the weakened others. Then made a proclamation:'

We heard about the Nation of Monsters and have come to investigate! But look at this! a knight exclaimed. We will act accordingly to the laws of mankind!

'And after killing the others, they said we have one week to surrender then making proclamations about some god named Luminous and getting support from the Western Saints Church...'

Their words greatly angered Rimuru and she was failing to hold back her anger.

She was livid because they were justifying murder with such a baloney...!

Even in Earth, back in medieval times, how many innocents died because of so-called Witch Hunts and Trials when in reality, no such thing exists? The Church mocks the Ten Commandments itself for their own greedy gains, and the same shit applies here, too!

For the others, her anger is dangerous.

Weaker beings cannot withstand the aura of strong beings and Rimuru is their master, and the strongest.

Benimaru did damage control by hugging her, stunning her and many others.

But for him, this might be the only time he can actually do this. She would see this as comfort.

She burst into tears and cried.

Their master grieved in sorrow.