Author's Note: Alright, dear readers, I need your opinion on something. If I were to drop down to uploading every other week, would that upset you? I feel like I could make longer chapters if I did, but I don't want to do it if people prefer more frequent, somewhat shorter chapters. I don't mind doing either so just let me know what you think, please.

This is Walpurgis?

Iruma POV

I stare at the door, intimidated by how large and creepy it is. Rimuru doesn't seem at all concerned about it, unlike me. After gawking at the door for a moment, my attention is quickly snapped away from it by Rimuru saying something.

"Oh, one more thing before we go. Set your ring to its 'com' setting. So we can talk without talking." Rimuru says.

I nod and reach to my right hand to switch my ring's setting so that I can communicate with Rimuru.

{{Is it working Rimuru?}} I think to myself, just to make sure. I don't want to walk into Walpurgis without being able to communicate with her.

{{Yup. I can hear you loud and clear!}} Rimuru replies cheerfully, their voice appearing in my head.

Just a moment later, the strange, scary door swings open, causing a billow of purple-ish smoke to spill from the doorway. I'm hit with the same horrible sensation that I felt when Rimuru was trying to teach me magic sense, causing me to wince. Rimuru looks over at me, somewhat surprised before appearing to remember something.

"Oh yeah! The barrier…I almost forgot about the barrier."

Rimuru waves her hand and the sensation fades almost immediately.

"What was that?" I ask, still a little dazed from the experience.

"The other Demon Lords' magicules. All of us have loads of those, but the others don't hold them in as much as I do, so the room ends up flooded with them. I put a protective barrier around you that'll block them out along with protecting you some as a bonus."

I smile awkwardly, very nervous about what might lie behind the doorway. I watch as a figure steps out of the mist obscuring out view of the other side. It's a woman with blue hair (actually pretty close to the color of my own) dressed as a maid, but instead of the classic black, her dress is a deep red color.

She initially had a stoic, blank expression on her face, but when she noticed Rimuru, her lips tightened slightly and formed into a tiny smile. Her eyes also seemed to sparkle a little with excitement, but it was very subtle and only lasted a moment.

"This way, please. Lord Guy is waiting." She says.

She must work for that man Rimuru said was the 'de facto leader of the Demon Lords'.

The woman gestures behind her and turns around to show us the way. I notice another small smile sneak its way onto her lips as her face turns away from us.

We follow her through the doorway, passing through the ominous smoke and into a large circular room. There is a similarly shaped table in the center with 8 chairs around it, a few of them already occupied.

I almost instantly notice the piercing gaze of one of the people seated at the table. He has long red hair and is grinning at me and Rimuru. He stands up and starts approaching us and I'm immediately put on guard. There's something about this man that's very scary, but I can't quite put my finger on exactly what. Is it his smile, maybe his demeanor? I'm not sure but I can at least tell this is someone dangerous.

"I knew you had something fun planned for today, Rimuru, but I didn't expect you to show up dressed like that!" he says gleefully.

"Hello, Guy…"

"Oh, come on Rimuru, where's that smile you normally wear? That cocky grin, that confidence, that air of power you tend to put on; those are nowhere to be seen!"

"It's kinda hard to do that when you're dressed like this, Guy, maybe you should try it yourself some time so you can understand. I bet Mizeri or Raine would be glad to swap spots with you for a day!" Rimuru quips back sarcastically, grinning at Guy.

"So you do want me to take female form, then?" Guy grins back.

"No, no, I don't need to see that!" Rimuru responds quickly.

"All jokes aside, there is something we need to discuss before our guest shows up…" Guy swiftly pulls Rimuru closer to him, placing his hand on their exposed back. Their faces are much too close together for comfort and Rimuru bends backward to put more distance between their face and Guy's "If you ever sneak off like that again without even a word…"

"I don't need to tell you when I take a little vacation." Rimuru retorts.

"What about your promise to keep those pets of yours on a tight leash?" he asks in a semi-playful tone.

"They're not my 'pets' Guy, they're my subordinates!" Rimuru retorts, now sounding pretty irritated.

"Same difference," Guy responds nonchalantly as he pokes Rimuru in the cheek causing her to glare at him even more than they already were.

"Ugh…I promise I've got everything under control. There haven't been any real issues so I don't see why you're so upset!" Rimuru says as they shove Guy away, escaping his grasp.

"There haven't been any issues? The source of my headaches suddenly vanished without a trace; you'd think I would be happy about that but it was the exact opposite. I was convinced you were doing something crazy again, something I would have to address! That on top of this new…candidate…your nonsense has caused me a lot of trouble over the last few months!" Guy then turns his red eyes to me, looking me up and down, scrutinizing every inch of me. "And then you brought a human to Walpurgis…" Guy adds with disdain.

"Yes, I did. Iruma is a friend of mine." Rimuru responds.

"A 'friend' huh? I suppose you've always had strange taste…nice attempt at hiding what he is though. That little charade might even fool the newcomer."

Guy then steps closer to me.

"But what is it about you that caught Rimuru's attention? You seem so weak, so timid, so ~vulnerable~…what is it that's different about you, hm?" he asks with a creepy smile splitting his lips.

He's getting uncomfortably close to me now and I look to my side to try to ignore his intense gaze. I feel like every cell in my body is telling me to run away from this dangerous demon.

{{Iruma, look him in the eye.}}

{{Why?!}}

{{Show him that you have at least a little confidence.}}

It wasn't easy, but I do as Rimuru says and force my eyes to meet Guy's. He seems to think this is funny because his smile widened when I did.

"Oh, so you have a little spunk in you after all then? Let's see how you react to-" Guy starts to say as he leans in very close to my face, almost whispering in my ear.

"That's enough, Guy." Rimuru intervenes, forcing their way in between Guy and me, much to my relief.

"But I'm not touching him, am I? Just like I promised, ~no touching~." Guy says playfully, smiling widely at Rimuru, apparently thinking Rimuru's irritation is funny.

"Guy," Rimuru says in a more stern tone.

Guy responds to Rimuru's threatening tone with a chuckle and pinches Rimuru's cheek, much to Rimuru's annoyance.

"You're no fun at the worst times, Rimuru. Fine, I'll give him some space." Guy says as he backs away a little. "Have fun playing pretend, human." He says to me over his shoulder, waving as he walks away from the two of us.

I breathe a sigh of relief, glad that Rimuru fended off that scary man. She wasn't joking when she said that he's someone you shouldn't mess with. I could feel the danger he poses, just from his presence and demeanor alone.

"Ignore him, Iruma. He just likes to mess with people like that." Rimuru says flatly while rubbing the cheek Guy pinched and looking annoyed.

"He's really scary Rimuru…I'm not sure if I can do this…"

"Hey! Cheer up, alright! I'm right here so don't worry too much about Guy!" Rimuru reassures me.

"B-but-"

I'm quickly interrupted by someone behind us.

"Oh ~Rimuruuuu~! What a wonderful sight, seeing you in that dress!" A woman with silver hair and heterochromatic eyes says.

Rimuru whips around, surprised.

"L-luminous! Wait…why are you wearing-?" Rimuru asks surprisedly.

This must be the vampire lady Rimuru talked about.

"What? Did you think I would let you have all the fun?" Luminous responds in a teasing voice.

"But…the exact same dress? Really?" Rimuru complains.

"Why not? It will make for some amazing photos!"

"B-but…I don't-" Rimuru starts to argue.

She then looks at me, ignoring Rimuru's objection.

"I see…so this is who you are having sit in your place today, Rimuru? This boy?" she asks.

*sigh* "Yes, this is Iruma." Rimuru responds.

"H-hi." I nervously greet her.

"How funny, having a human sit in the seat of a Demon Lord! I bet he would look good in a maid dress as well!" Luminous chuckles mischievously.

#I can't say you're wrong…# Rimuru mutters.

"Rimuru!" I complain.

Rimuru chuckles a little before Luminous abruptly grabs their arm and yanks them away.

"Hey! Luminous! Stop that! Lemme go!" Rimuru complains.

"It's time for the photoshoot, Rimuru! Come here and let's get a few shots of us together before that Beluran fellow arrives!" Luminous insists.

"I don't want to give you more blackmail material!" Rimuru yells.

"Blackmail? What makes you think that I would do something so ~cruel~?" Luminous asks, trying to look innocent.

"What're you talking about?! That's the only reason I'm wearing this stupid dress!" Rimuru corrects her.

"Oh, you are so funny Rimuru, making jokes like that!" Luminous giggles and continues to pull Rimuru away.

"I'm not joking!" Rimuru whines. "Ugh, fine. I'll give you a few photos if you promise not to tell 'you know who' about 'you know what'." Rimuru adds.

I guess that explains why Rimuru agreed to wear that outfit…

Luminous just giggles as she drags Rimuru away, leaving me sitting awkwardly at the table.

I sit there for a few minutes, looking around and trying to pretend I belong here. I just need to act confident and self-assured even if I'm extremely uncomfortable in this strange room. Suddenly, I hear a voice that snaps me out of my thoughts.

"I suppose this is the 'entertainment' Rimuru had prepared for today."

"Huh?" I turn around in my seat and find Leon looming over me, glaring at me with those ice-blue eyes of his.

"Although I didn't expect…that…" Leon says with a disapproving shake of his head as he glances over at Rimuru who's still with Luminous.

"A-apparently it wasn't Rimuru's idea…th-the dress part I mean…"

"Well…it's not like I care," Leon says as he sits in the seat next to mine.

I decide that Leon isn't someone I want to talk to; I get the feeling I would just annoy him if I tried. I go back to looking around, briefly glancing at Rimuru and finding her plenty busy with that Luminous lady. Rimuru seems to be pushing her away while Luminous keeps trying to get too close for comfort, maybe trying to touch places she shouldn't.

"There's nothing down there so stop trying to sneak shots up my skirt with a second camera you vampervert!" Rimuru shouts.

"Oh hoh hoh! You're just full of jokes today, aren't you Rimuru!" Luminous responds, giggling at Rimuru's anger.

"I'm serious! I'll smash that camera if you keep trying!" Rimuru yells back, the anger clear in her tone.

"But you oh so lovingly gave me it as a gift, so why would you want to destroy it?" Luminous asks teasingly.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe you trying to commit a crime with said gift?!" Rimuru snaps back snarkily.

The two bicker back and forth about getting more pictures when someone else enters the room through one of those spooky magic gateways Rimuru and I used to get here. It's a man that looks awful tired and came along with Ramiris, the fairy I met at that ice cream shop last weekend.

He looks at Rimuru, then me, then Rimuru again, not showing much expression.

"Huh, that's different." He mutters dully.

Ramiris then looks at me and flits over excitedly.

"Oooooh, look who's here! It's that kid that Rimuru made friends with!" she says as she pokes the tip of my nose while hovering a few inches in front of my face.

"The one you were talkin' about last week?" the guy she was with asks.

"Yeah, Dino! The human kid! I didn't think I'd see him here though!"

Ramiris scans my outfit with her eyes and I shrink into my seat slightly, already feeling awkward before being inspected.

"Woooow, Rimuru's even got you all dressed up in one of his favorite outfits!"

"Yeah, I guess…" I say sheepishly.

Dino seems to also stare at me with interest for a moment, although it's hard to tell since he's still wearing that same dull expression.

"He's not very impressive, is he? I bet even a pipsqueak like you could beat that kid up!" Dino says to Ramiris, chuckling slightly.

"I am not a pipsqueak, Dino! And for your information, I, the amazing Ramiris, could take this human out in one punch!" Ramiris says confidently before freezing in place for some reason.

Both Dino and Ramiris look off to the side with worried expressions. I join them and see that they're both looking at Rimuru who's still busy with Luminous. It looks like Rimuru's wrestled the camera away from Luminous who's attempting to get it back, smiling all the way. It looks more like they're playing a game than anything serious. This isn't stopping Rimuru from glaring at the two other Demon Lords, though, dodging Luminous' grabs and swipes while not even looking in her direction.

Despite being distracted, Rimuru must've heard what Ramiris said and isn't happy about it at all. Ramiris' immediately backpedals on what she just said, talking to Dino but still looking at Rimuru for approval.

"B-but I would never even think about doing that! Hehehe…" Ramiris says with an uncomfortable chuckle and Rimuru goes back to ignoring them.

Dino sighs, still mostly expressionless.

"Well, I'm gonna get some sleep before the excitement starts."

"Excitement?" I ask.

"The new candidate!" Ramiris replies.

"I wonder if he'll piss off Rimuru…" Dino ponders.

"I dunno, but watching Rimuru fight would be fun!" Ramiris adds.

*yawn* "Eh, maybe…just as long as I'm not involved." Dino says uninterestedly as he pulls a pillow out from somewhere and sets it on the table. He then lays his head on it and almost immediately starts to snore.

I guess Rimuru wasn't kidding when they said this guy likes to sleep…

Ramiris looks a little annoyed that Dino decided to take a nap, puffing her cheeks out and crossing her arms. She hovers over Dino for a moment before grabbing his ear and pulling on it. Dino doesn't even stir from this though, sleeping through her attempt.

"C'mon Dino, I'm bored!" she complains, but Dino's already sound asleep and is showing no sign of waking up.

It only takes a moment for a green-haired lady that closely resembles the one I saw in the Labyrinth to pick her up and cradle her in her hand. She seems to be one of Ramiris' attendants.

"There, there, Lady Ramiris. I'm sure it won't be much longer before the meeting starts." She says as she pats Ramiris on the top of her head.

"But Treyni! Rimuru's over there having tons fun with Luminous, Dino's being a party pooper and taking a nap, and Milim's late again! I don't have anyone to play with!"

"I am sure that your boredom won't last much longer, Lady Ramiris. It shouldn't be long before the meeting starts." Another person(?) that was standing nearby behind Ramiris says. Their body seems to be made of some kind of metal and their 'face' resembles a mask more than an actual face.

"Okay, Beretta…" Ramiris responds.

The two people who I assume are Ramiris' attendants, dote on her for the next few minutes. One of them gave her a cookie at some point that's huge when compared to her tiny body. Once again I don't understand where she'd possibly put all that food, but Ramiris sat there munching away anyway.

I sit there for a minute, trying not to think too much about how delicious that cookie looks, I get startled again.

"You!" I hear a voice shout before I'm abruptly yanked out of my seat by a girl with pink hair worn in pigtails. "What're you doing in my bestie's spot?!" she shouts as she shakes me back and forth by my shoulders.

My vision blurs and begins to darken from the intensity of the jolting and I start to feel very lightheaded. I'm scared of what might happen if she doesn't stop soon, since there's no way I can tolerate this much longer.

"I…uh…I j-just…um…" I try to explain but the shaking makes it impossible.

"Milim! Stop!" Rimuru shouts, pulling the girl off of me.

"Rimuru!" she exclaims cheerfully, her angry expression immediately changing to excitement. "Why is that human sitting in your chair and wearing your clothes?!"

"Because I asked him to; remember how I said I had something special planned? Well…this is it. He's a friend and I'm having him pretend to be me for the meeting." Rimuru explains.

"He's your…friend?" Milim asks, tilting her head to the side and looking at me curiously.

"Um…yes, we're friends…" I respond, still trying to recover from being shaken.

"Yeah, so please don't give him a hard time," Rimuru adds pleadingly.

"Hmmm…well, any friend of Rimuru is a friend of mine! What's your name, kid?" Milim asks cheerfully, completely different from her terrifying anger from a moment ago.

"Iruma…" I respond.

"Nice to meetcha, Iruma! I'm Demon Lord Milim Nava, but you can call me Milim!" Milim says as she extends her hand out for me to shake, smiling brightly from ear to ear.

"Okay…M-milim," I respond, letting her grab my hand. She starts shaking my arm up and down violently. Once again I'm being whipped around like a ragdoll by her.

"Let go of Iruma, Milim. You're gonna rip his arm off if you keep that up." Rimuru warns.

She looks at my pained expression and lets go of my hand.

"Sorry, Rimuru…" Milim pouts. "Also, why are you and Luminous dressed the same?! I would've worn something like that too if I knew everyone was dressing up all special!"

"It…wasn't something I planned for. Luminous did that all on her own."

"Fine. But you should have Shuna make matching outfits for us that we can wear next time!" Milim says, pouting with her arms crossed.

"Okay, Milim." Rimuru sighs, smiling at her.

"So, I have to pretend you're Rimuru later? That's gonna feel weird…" Milim says to me.

"That's the plan Milim so please try not to ruin the surprise. Treat it like a secret, okay?"

"Wahahaha! Don't worry Rimuru, I'm great at keeping secrets!" Milim insists confidently.

Based on the incredulous look Rimuru is giving Milim, I don't think that's true, but Rimuru doesn't call Milim out on that.

"Hey! I just realized, where are Frey and Karion? I thought you'd bring them with you?" Rimuru asks her.

"They had some stuff to do and I was okay with coming alone this time," Milim responds.

Milim and Rimuru chat a bit more nearby and I go back to looking around the room at all the Demon Lords. Another person seated at the table is a tall man with blonde hair and what looks to be vampire fangs poking out from behind his lips. He's a vampire so he must be with Luminous, probably doing the same thing I am and standing in as her replacement for the day. He never even looked in my direction and simply watched Luminous from a distance.

"Hey, Rimuru!" I hear Guy call out from across the table.

"Huh?" Rimuru asks, stopping mid-conversation with Milim.

"If you want your 'fun' you better fall into that 'maid' character you're playing. Mizeri should be here with Beluran at any moment."

"Oh, is it almost time to start already? Thanks, Guy."

"Heh, don't thank me; I just want to see what will come of this little game you and Luminous are playing, that's all." Guy replies offhandedly.

"I know," Rimuru responds before addressing me. "That's our cue, Iruma. Let's have some fun with this, alright?"

"Okay…Rimuru. I'll try my best." I respond.

"That's all I'm asking of you." Rimuru calmly says before taking their place behind me, up against the wall. This puts a considerable distance between us since this room isn't small, but I know Rimuru is very fast so it shouldn't matter. The other 'attendants' here are doing the same as the Demon Lords all take their seats, leaving one available for Beluran.

While wondering what type of person this 'Beluran' will be, I watch as the door that everyone entered through opens one more time and someone steps out of the smoke pouring from it.