Hey I actually made the deadline I set for myself this time! Anyway I learned that I have been spelling Peroroncino's name wrong for most of this series so I will be fixing it for all future installments
The Supreme Beings and Swords of Darkness were getting ready for their journey into the woods when Nifrea brought something up
"Kirai?"
"Yes?"
"We're going into the territory of the the Wise King of the Forest, so if we end up encountering them I was hoping you could chase it away instead of killing them?"
"Why is that?"
"Well the only reason Carne hasn't been attacked by monsters yet is because they are in its territory, so if you kill them then I'm afraid Carne might be attacked."
"Don't you think that's a bit much? It is a legendary monster after all." Peter pointed out
"No, don't worry about it, we can do that. However I would like to ask that if we do meet it you run so that we can fight it without worry."
As the others nodded the group headed into the forest
In the deeps of the forest, while Nifrea was stoping to gather herbs, the Supreme Beings received a [Message]. After some arguing about what to do they settled on a discussion
"I'm going to go ahead to cast some [Alarm] spells."
"Don't you think that's dangerous?" Peter asked, concern in his voice
"No, I can go with Meiyo, and even if we find any danger I can just use [Dimensional Move] to escape, and contact the rest of you."
"Alright but don't be to long."
When Momonga and Takemikazuchi were far enough away from the group so they couldn't be heard Momonga spoke into the brush
"Ok, you two can come out now."
From the trees a small elf girl jumped down, as a large wolf with a pink slime on its back appeared from the forest floor
"Chagama! Good to see you you again. How has your brother been?" Momonga asked
"Surprisingly fine, considering the circumstances, but that's not important. Aura said she found the monster you asked for."
"What level is it?" Takemikazuchi asked
"It's only around level 30, nothing compared to you, my lords." Aura said
"That's still pretty strong by this worlds standards. This should go perfectly."
As the group stared to leave the forest they heard a loud stomping a distance away from them
"W- what is that?" Nifrea hesitantly asked
"I'm not sure, but it's something big." Lukrut replied
"Do you think it could be the Wise King of the Forest?" Ninya asked
"Maybe but I can't be sure."
"Even if it's not we should retreat. Kirai, can we ask you to be the rear guard?" Peter asked
"Of course, you don't need to worry."
While that seemed to calm down Nifrea, the swords of darkness didn't look completely convinced
The others retreated from the forest as the Supreme Beings waited for their opponent to arrive. The stomping got louder and louder before stoping completely… and a scaled tail lashed out from the brush!
It came at them at speeds that would be nearly impossible for most to react to, but to the Supreme Beings it looked almost painfully slow. If he wanted to Touch Me could have easily killed whatever to came from in less then a second, but doing so would reveal how strong he was. Instead he slowed his movements to a more responsible level and pretended to buckle somewhat under its strength
'Impressive, I wonder how strong it must be to cause the great Touch Me to waver like that' A [Message] rang through the Supreme Beings heads
'Ulbert!? What are you doing here!?' Momonga asked
'Chagama told me and Peroroncino about what you were doing, so we decided to watch through a [Mirror of Remote Viewing]'
'Well for your information I-' before Touch Me could finish a voice came from the forest as the tail retreated
"How spectacular; to think thou could endure the blow of this one."
'Ah whatever I'll talk to you later.'
"Then, oh trespassers upon mine demesne. Shouldst thou decide to quit the field, this one shall not pursue thee, in honor of thine magnificent defense… what say thee?"
'Thee? This one? Who talks like that?'
"I'm afraid I have to decline, for now we fight. However know that when you see the diffence in our abilities you are free to surrender. For now show your self!"
"Oh? Does thou think that thee possesses enough strength to best this one? If so then thy will be disappointed. Behold this one's mighty form, and know thine woe!"
With that decoration the brush began to stir once more. The silhouette of a giant creature moved from it and into view. It's silver fur gleaming in the sunlight, and it's razor sharp claws poised to strike. On its body were eight faintly glowing symbols, which Tabula felt looked very familiar
"Oh my god." Yamaiko said
"Hahaha, thy call for thine gods in-"
"It's so cute!"
The giant fluffy hamster in front of them expression quickly changed from pride to shock. Probably. Really the Supreme Beings weren't the best at understanding non-human expressions
"H-has thou gone insane at the sight of this one?"
"I'm not going to fight something so... cute." Touch Me said sheathing his weapons
"Are thou surrendering before this-"
"Oh I have an idea!" Momonga said, thinking back to the flavor text on the beast tamer class
Walking up the Wise King of the Forest Momonga activated one of his abilities
"[Aura of Despair: Level 1]"
An aura of pure fear radiated from him, knocking into everyone present. While the Supreme Beings present were unaffected by it, the Wise King of the Forest felt it crash into them like a wave, as the fear seeped into every part of his body. Its hair stood on end and it could no longer support itself as it fell over backwards
"Ah! This one yields to thee!"
Seeing its surrender Momonga turned off his [Aura of Despair: Level 1, as a pink slime slithered out of the forest
'I want to know what idiot decided to name this thing the 'Wise King of the Forest'' Ulbert commented through the [Message]
"Ah! What is-?" The Wise King of the Forest began seeing the slime
"Relax it's a friend." Tabula said as Bukubukuchagama began petting the Wise King of the Forest
"Well what should we do with them now?" Takemikazuchi asked
"If I may be so bold my lords," Aura began, jumping down from the branch of a tree "If you decide to kill it I would love to have its hide. It looks like it would make a great pelt."
At this Bukubukuchagama stoped petting the Wise King of the Forest
'Did… did she just-' Bukubukuchagama began
'Yes. Yes she did.' Yamaiko replied
Seeing Supreme Beings freeze for a moment Aura immediately prosecuted herself
"I- if you are fine with that my lords."
"No, no, it's fine. As long as it's hide does not have any useful magical properties then they may have it." Tabula assured her
Seeing tears in the Wise King of the Forest's eyes Bukubukuchagama said "I don't see why we can't just release them."
"That would just be a waste. At the very least it must have some valuable materials. Well, as valuable as you can get here." Tabula replied
The tears in the Wise King of the Forest's eyes only became more prominent after hearing that
"We are not killing them." Touch Me sternly replied
'What are you guys saying there's no sound.' Peroroncino commented
'Oh sorry, we're trying to figure out what to do with them.' Takemikazuchi responded
'I can think of a use, as long as it's a gir-'
'No' Bukubukuchagama said before he could even finish
Thinking for a moment Momonga spoke both through the [Message] and out loud '"Well they are supposed to be a famous and powerful monster, so if it gets out that we not only defeated them but also tamed them as our pet then that would be a massive increase to our popularity."'
"..."
'"Any against?"' Touch Me asked
"…"
"Then we're all in agreement."
"Th-Thank you very much! This one shall offer absolute fealty to thee for the gift of this one's life!" The Wise King of the Forest exclaimed while quickly getting up to do something equivalent to bowing
As they left the forest the Supreme quickly spotted the Swords of Darkness and Nifrea, who ran over with the exception of Lukrut
"Kirai, what's that thing behind you?"
"We were able to tame the Wise King of the Forest. Hey! Come out!" Touch Me shouted into the forest as the Wise King of the Forest came out into the open
'Wait' Yamaiko began 'they're not going to believe that. I mean, it's a giant hamster, who would think of it as being some legendary-'
"Incredible! To think you could subdue such a powerful creature!"
''What?'' All of the Supreme Beings thought at once
"It's so majestic! I can feel it's mighty aura from here."
"If we have fought it we would surely be slaughtered."
'What's happening? Why do they look so impressed?' Peroroncino asked
'They think... it's majestic and powerful looking' Momonga said, barely believing it himself
'No fucking way.'
"What do you mean? Don't you think that it looks cute?" Yamaiko asked
They could only look at her in shock as their eye became even wider
"Incredible, to think that you could look at such a mighty beast and see it as cute."
'I'm going to need to ask some of Nazarick about this.' Tabula said
While the swords of darkness were awing over the Wise King of the Forest, Nifrea began to get nervous
"But… if you take away the Wise King of the Forest, Carne will be attacked by monsters."
"No, this one does not believe that to be the case." The Wise King of the Forest spoke up, giving Nifrea a bit of hope "the balance of power in the forest has become chaotic. Even if this one were to stay, this one would be unable to guarantee your safety."
The hope in Nifreas eyes seemed to fade with that as his expression now between hesitation and indecision
'That's probably because of us.' Touch Me said
'Your probably right, but there's not much we can do about it.' Tabula replied
'Yes there is. Nifrea knows who we are so we can-'
'No.' Ulbert interrupted
'But you don't even know what's happening.'
'I can get the gist of it.'
"K-Kirai?"
"Yes?"
'Ok, are we in agreement to help them?'
'Yes.'
'Yup.'
'Of course.'
'Absolutely.'
'Checkmate.'
'Fuck.'
"Please let me join your team!"
''What?''
'Twice in less then a minute, it's a new record!'
"I want to protect Enri… Carne Village, but I don't have the strength to do it now. So I want to become stronger! I want to learn the secret to your strength! I don't mind if it's just a little bit! However, I can't hire an excellent adventurer like you on a long-term basis with the amount of money I have! So please, let me join your party! I have some confidence in my ability as a herbalist, but I'm willing to carry luggage and do other-"
"Wait, wait, wait."
Interrupting him Touch Me took a second to get a good look at him, seeing a kind of fire burning in his eyes
"While I admire your determination, I'm afraid we can't allow you to join us."
That Fire seemed to flicker for a moment before he continued
"However know that we will do everything we can to protect this village."
"Th-thank you! I will help you in any way I can!" Nifrea said
"Good, we can discuss this later, but for now we should return."
Within the halls of the 9th floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Sixth, one of the 41 homunculus maids was walking in the most dignified posture she could manage. This was the posture she normally held while working, but it was even more important now, as she was going to meet not one, but two of the Supreme Beings. Making even the slightest mistake would be reflect poorly on every denizen of Nazarick
In her hands was a report that she had been tasked with delivering, more specifically a report on the progress that the surveillance teams had made. Despite its large size, it still felt lackluster for something that would be given to the Supreme Beings. Ever since seven of them returned, the members of Nazarick had been meticulously checking everything presented to them. No mater the reason they left one thing was for sure, Nazarick would not be seen as unworthy of them
She had been told that the Supreme Beings she would be seeing, lord Peroroncino and lord Ulbert Alain Odle, would been in lord Ulbert Alain Odle's room. As she approached the fear in her heart grew, but so did the joy of being able to see them outside of her scheduled time. Oh how kind her lords had been, letting such feeble beings personally serve them
As she came up to the door she could feel the powerful aura of two Supreme Beings combined. Lord Peroroncino's felt uplifting and warm, but not in the same way as lord Ulbert Alain Odle's. Lord Ulbert Alain Odle's felt like it was burning and lashing at her skin, were as Lord Peroroncino's felt comforting like a lovers embrace. In the face of such a aura her face seemed to become hot with a blush but she quickly schooled it. Such a thing as unbecoming of a maid
When she arrived outside her lords room she knocked on the door, as proper edict dictated, and waited. Soon enough the door was opened by one of her fellow maids, Increment, who was one of the maids lucky enough to be assigned to one of the Supreme Beings today.
As the door opened she heard, groaning? Moaning? She wasn't entirely sure, it came from deeper in the room for her to properly hear
Deciding to ignore it she told Increment why she was here
"I'm here to deliver a report from the surveillance teams."
Moving back into the room Increment closed the door without replying, after all, that would only serve to waste the Supreme Beings time.
…
What was taking so long?
It had been nearly a minute since Increment closed the door, and yet she had not returned. Were they doing something important? Oh no, had she interrupted them!?
No, if they were doing something important then Increment would never interrupt them by saying she was here
Then was that it? Was that all or-
Before she could finish that train of thought the door was opened by Increment again
"Follow me." Was all she said
As she was lead into one of the Supreme Beings room she attempted to take in as much as she could without slowing down.
To call what she saw a 'room' however, would be a severe understatement. From what she could see alone there were at least four other rooms just adjacent to the entrance, and the entire place gave off a imposing aura. The walls were made of beautifully carved black brimstone, as were the ceiling. All of the furniture was made from a black metal, with spikes in numerous places and cushioned with red silk
All in all it look like how one might imagine a cartoon villain's room might look, but Sixth could only see the room as being incredible
She was lead into one of the adjacent rooms, this one seemed to be a study. On the metal table was a floating mirror facing away from her. Strangely their was no one at said table, but the strange sound she was hearing seemed to be coming from it
Increment simply walked behind the table and stood off to the side, as if waiting for orders. This just confused Sixth even more, until she realized that the Supreme Beings aura was even stronger then before. Were they the one making the noise? Now that she had gotten closer it sounded more like... laughter?
Deciding to just deliver the report she spoke "My lords, have have brought the report from the surveillance teams."
From behind the table lord Peroroncino emerged in all his glory. Each of his feathers gleamed like a diamond and with his beautiful gold wear made his seem like beauty incarnate. As far as Sixth was concerned that was what he was. His aura had become nearly unbearable, and she found herself nearly unable to stop the blush on her face
The only thing that tarnished his appearance, was the tears that were forming in his eyes
As he spoke his voice came out like a melody even the best Musicians could struggle for 100 years to recreate, however even that was unable to hide the elation he held
"He he, yes, yes, just leave it on the table." He said, before looking over at the mirror and collapsing into a laughing fit again
Opting to simply follow her lords orders and leave, Sixth placed the report on the table. As she turned she caught a glimpse at the other side of the mirror, and saw what it was that had two of the Supreme Beings like this
The mirror was showing several of the other Supreme Beings, walking through a city who's poor excuse for buildings might fall over at any second. What truly drew her eye however, was lord Touch Me riding in a giant hamster
Truly it must be something I am unable to comprehend. Was the only thought going through her head, and more then likely was what was going through Increment's head as well
As she left the last thing she thought before leaving was, every time I see them the Supreme Beings show me how much a feeble servant like myselfam below them
And with that she left, returning to her normal duties
I hate this so much. Was the only thing going through Touch Me's head as he heard laughter coming from behind him, and awed whispers coming from the streets farther away
If you're wondering when I'm going to diverge from cannon more, more major changes will start next arc, but I'll still be following the same overall direction until the invaders of the tomb arc which will be extremely different