Author's Note: Due to changes in my IRL schedule, I will be changing my upload day from Friday to Saturday.

Explanations

Sullivan POV

They should both be home soon…you can do this, Sullivan…you chickened out earlier when Rimuru caught you off-guard, but now you are mentally ready to face her…

I'm pacing back and forth in the living room, trying my best to gather my thoughts. I haven't felt this nervous since asking Rimuru to protect Iruma for me a few months ago. Most of the time I try not to think about how powerful Rimuru is, but right now I must acknowledge that unpleasant fact.

That's when I hear the sound of the main entrance's doors shutting, meaning my two grandchildren are home. Though by the time I get over there, only Rimuru is still nearby, the only evidence of Iruma having come home is the sound of his footsteps going up the stairs to his room.

"Hey." Rimuru greets me casually.

"Hello." I greet her back.

"Did you need something?" She asks.

You can do this, Sullivan…just ask the question. Even though she's a Demon Lord, Rimuru won't react badly, you know this already!

"Rimuru, I need to ask you some more... serious questions about what happened during the Walpurgis," I say, having mustered up enough courage to confront her on this.

Rimuru sighs before addressing what I said.

"Well…it's not like I wasn't expecting this. Sure, we can talk now."

"Why don't we sit; I suspect this will be a long conversation."

"Sure."

"Opera, you should join us."

"Y-yes, Lord Sullivan."

Rimuru and Opera follow me to the living room. I sit in one of the armchairs while Rimuru flops onto the couch and gets comfortable. She leans on one of the arms of the couch, resting her head on one hand and drumming her fingers rhythmically on her knee with the other.

"Fire away, Grandpa Sullivan."

"Tell me what happened yesterday," I say, putting on my best serious tone and expression.

Rimuru's eyes widen a little; she seems slightly taken aback by how commanding I'm being with her. I convince myself I need to be like this though since this is a serious issue.

"Yeah, sure. We arrived at Walpurgis and conversed some with the other Demon Lords. Iruma sat in my place just like we planned. Things were going well enough until the new guy started insulting everyone there. I can put up with some nasty words, but then he started insulting Tempest; that's when I started to lose my temper. I'm a relatively patient person, but even I have my limits."

"Why would someone insult an entire group of Demon Lords? That's the height of foolishness…" I say, shocked that anyone would be dumb enough to do something like that.

Demon Lords are immensely strong, so why would anyone intentionally insult even a single one, let alone an entire room filled with them?

"Not sure, honestly. All I know is that if it wasn't for that rule I added a while back to let new candidates talk and be voted on before being killed, one of the others would've taken him out long before I did." Rimuru replies, still keeping a casual tone despite the serious subject matter.

Wait…she has enough influence to change the rules the other Demon Lords follow? I knew that Rimuru was a very influential figure in her world based on what Diablo has told me, but still. That's not something small.

"You came up with a rule to give newcomers a better chance?" I ask, wanting more details.

"Yup."

"I suppose that's consistent with your personality," I respond with a nod.

"Uh, yeah…I'm not too fond of fighting or killing, to be honest, which is considered odd for a monster like myself. I'm generally a pacifist, only taking action after my enemy makes their first move. This has caused me some trouble in the past but it's just how I am." Rimuru continues to explain, rubbing her head and looking awkward while talking about herself.

"What kind of trouble? If you don't mind me asking." I reply, my curiosity piqued by what Rimuru said.

"Oh, someone who I thought was my friend betrayed me multiple times before trying to destroy the entire world as we knew it. He kinda succeeded too but thankfully I managed to reverse that whole mess." Rimuru says in a casual tone.

Destroy the entire world?! Excuse me?!

"…is that a joke?!" I ask, raising my voice in disbelief after a moment of silence.

"Nope," Rimuru responds bluntly.

Opera's eyes are bugging out as he processes what was just revealed to us.

I knew Rimuru was powerful, but saving her entire world from destruction?! I could never have imagined my adopted grandchild…

Opera and I gawk at Rimuru for a moment, still in shock from the ridiculous thing she just said.

"Everything's all good now so you don't need to make faces like that you two," Rimuru says, laughing uncomfortably at the silence that now fills the room.

"I'm sorry, I'm just in shock…" I respond, still very surprised.

"Y-yes, I would have never considered…" Opera mutters.

"I guess that's understandable, but I hope you get the point of me telling you that. I can't let blatant threats walk away scot-free, that's why I did what I did." Rimuru continues to explain.

"Yes, I do understand why letting a dangerous foe continue to be a threat would be irresponsible for someone in charge of as many people as you are. Obviously, you know what you're doing based on how prosperous Tempest seemed while I was visiting. There is one thing I'm wondering about, though…didn't you say before that Beluran posed no threat? That was why Iruma was allowed to come along with you."

"He didn't pose any threat with me around, let me make that perfectly clear, but I can't take the risk of him or his subordinates possibly attacking my citizens at some point. Compared to my strongest people, he's nothing, but to the average Tempestian, he'd be a dangerous majin to leave alive. As someone with many people relying on my decisions, I can't just sit on a potential threat and let it fester."

Yes, that does make sense for someone with as many responsibilities as Rimuru. She is not always around to defend her people so she has to eliminate any potential threats before they harm her citizens.

"So you were worried about him coming back and potentially hurting someone else you are responsible for, not necessarily Iruma. I think I understand." I reply.

"I'm glad you get it, Sullivan; so I'm gonna move on to the rest of what happened, alright?"

"Yes, please continue."

Rimuru clears their throat before talking again.

"After dealing with his insults for a painfully long time, he started saying some particularly nasty things about my people and country and Iruma said something back on my behalf. I was impressed by the confidence he showed, but then Beluran retaliated by throwing a silver, paralysis-imbued poisoned knife at him... and just so you know, even if he didn't manage to dodge, the barrier I put on him would've protected him from it, but the fact that Beluran directly attacked him was enough to make me step in and take over."

That's good…after what Iruma told me, I was afraid my precious grandson was in real danger. If Rimuru had him protected all along, that eases my nerves quite a bit.

"And that led to you ending that man's life; Iruma being attacked was the trigger," I say, putting the pieces together.

"Essentially, yes. I don't take kindly to people I care about being attacked like that. But it's not like all my reason flew out the window. I didn't attack him on the spot, but I did step in and intervene at that point."

"Yes…if things got that tense, it would be best to pull Master Iruma out of that situation…" Opera adds.

"Yes, I am glad that you stepped in when you did Rimuru."

"Yeah, I'm glad I did too. Up until that point, it was just words being exchanged, but when things got violent, I decided it was time for me to stop messing around. After that mess, we all took a vote and nobody accepted him. He'd already challenged me by throwing that knife at Iruma, but I still gave him one more chance to back down. He didn't of course, not like I expected him to. So, I set the room up to fight him. He did and said a few more nasty things before it actually started, but that didn't matter much since he already forfeited his right to live the moment he decided to fight me."

"Then you ate him, didn't you…?" Opera asks a little fearfully.

"Iruma mentioned that? Yes, I used my magic to consume Beluran in an instant, but not immediately. I would've killed him quicker, but he brought up something that he shouldn't have, so I lost my temper."

"I-in a mere instant…" Opera says, the fear in his eyes appearing to grow.

"Opera, go get some air," I order him.

"Yes, s-sir…" Opera mumbles as he leaves the room.

I can't help but wonder what would upset Rimuru that much, but I think asking right now would be a bad idea. If simply bringing it up is enough to anger her, I think I'll avoid the subject for now.

"So what I'm getting is that this man intentionally provoked you into attacking him by not only attacking Iruma but insulting you as well?"

"Yes, he came in clearly asking for a fight from me in particular. I think that's partly the doing of one of the other Demon Lords, though. He likes to cause problems to see how I'll react and I think he influenced Beluran's opinions about me. That doesn't change Beluran's actions, though, so it didn't affect what I decided to do."

"I still didn't make him suffer nearly as much as I could have, but I did beat him up pretty badly before finishing him off. Beluran's personality was too troublesome to let him continue to live; he'd just come back again and again, asking for more and provoking me further."

"I pinned Beluran to the floor, having decided that I've punished him enough, but just as I was about to end things, I noticed something. Iruma was banging his fists on the barrier and pleading with me not to kill Beluran. It wasn't until a moment of quiet happened that I personally noticed Iruma's reaction to what was happening."

"I'll be honest; I wasn't paying much attention to Iruma in the heat of the moment. Ciel, my partner that you met a while back was taking care of that for me, but when it comes to other people's feelings, she's not the most…sensitive…you could say."

"I was doing my job and Iruma didn't like what he saw. As I already said, I regret having him see me kill Beluran, but I don't regret my actions outside of that."

"I know you somewhat explained your reasons before, but why exactly did you bring Iruma with you?"

"He's too timid; I'm worried that once I eventually leave him he won't make it here. I thought that him being put in a situation where he has to act confident might help make him more assertive. I considered Walpurgis a safe environment to test this since I know all the Heptagram members personally and a good amount of them are even my friends and allies. I can tell the political environment here is getting a little…tense, not that I want to interfere with that mess. Demons going 'back to basics' like Kiriwo; I feel like there will be more of them in the future and I want Iruma to be ready to face them if he needs to."

I finally understand Rimuru's motivation for taking Iruma along with her; she was worried that he might not survive after she goes back home permanently. I can't say I wasn't thinking the same thing myself. Just like Rimuru said, the number of demons going back to basics is rising and unrest is growing here in the Netherworld.

Things obviously didn't go to plan and that lead to our current situation.

"I agree that the Netherworld has been growing more dangerous, especially for a human like Iruma. I'm glad that you're also considering this, but putting him in that situation…"

"Yes…I know I screwed up…" Rimuru says, looking down at the floor before looking up at something behind me. "Oh, Iruma."

I look and see Iruma standing in the doorway, looking hesitant about interrupting us.

"Uh…"

"Are you ready to talk?" Rimuru asks.

"Y-yes…I need t-to." He says, appearing to be mustering up some courage.

Iruma POV

Here I am, standing in front of Rimuru, finally facing the fear I've been experiencing. She's sitting on the couch, looking regretful about something.

"C-can you explain to me why you k-killed Beluran? N-not just with 'I had to', b-but something I can understand better…" I say, finally getting out the words I've been stewing on.

"Do you understand how Demon Lords work in my world?"

"Not exactly…"

"Claim the title and that gives the others free rein to kill you if they want. If you're not powerful enough to survive, then you die. No ifs, ands, or buts. Beluran attempted to claim the title, putting his neck on the chopping block, but survived for as long as he did because of me." Rimuru explains seriously.

They kill you simply for calling yourself a Demon Lord?! And what does Rimuru mean by saying she was responsible for him being alive as long as Beluran was?

"I don't understand…" I respond.

"I made the rule that kept him alive until after the vote. Remember how Guy said that I 'already forgot my own words'? Well, that's what he was talking about. I didn't like all the senseless killings so I changed the rules to allow new candidates to state their case and join based on words, not strength."

"So you m-made a rule to minimize the killing?"

"Exactly. I don't enjoy killing; I only do it when I have to. Maybe fighting is fun on occasion, but not killing. Please understand that, Iruma."

"Yes, my precious grandson. Someone in Rimuru's position must do things that they don't want to sometimes. It is something that comes with being in charge of other people."

"Just what he said, Iruma."

"B-but I saw you smiling w-while attacking him…" I protest, remembering that smile Rimuru was wearing during part of her torturing of Beluran.

"Smiling doesn't always mean someone's happy, and I promise you that I was anything but happy during that fight."

"Oh…"

"Hey, it's okay! It's understandable that you read that wrong, so don't worry about it. Your main issue is the fact that I killed Beluran, not that I fought him, right?"

"Yes, I still don't understand why you had to go that far. You had him on the floor, completely helpless and beaten. Why couldn't you just put him in jail or something if he was a threat?"

"Someone at his level isn't very easy to contain. I'd have to dedicate a lot of resources to something like that. It's not practical and there's nothing to gain from it. Yes, he lives, but it's not like Beluran would be happy in a cell. He wouldn't learn his lesson, he wouldn't change, he'd stay the same person he was because that's how people like him are."

"Rimuru…I…I still don't…I don't know what to think…"

"My world is harsh, ruthless, and often cruel. I've done my best to remove that aspect from the daily lives of my citizens, but when it comes to those with power like myself, that's often still the reality. I learned this lesson the hard way, many times over."

Learned this the hard way?

"Are you saying that you've had to kill before?" I ask.

"Yes. Tempest has gone through a few wars in its short life, none of which were started by me or my people. I've had to kill to protect the people I care about, just like I killed Beluran to protect you and potentially my citizens in the future. Never without reason, though."

"So you felt like you had to k-kill him?"

"Yes. I can't let someone with a dangerous personality like his walk free. He would come back and cause worse problems."

"I-I can't say I completely agree with you, but I think I can accept it…" I mumble.

I still feel like killing is wrong, but now I understand better what caused Rimuru to do what she did. It wasn't just what happened at Walpurgis that caused her to kill him, it was the potential issues that could come up later on if she let him go. She has a whole country to protect, and it sounds like bad things have happened to Tempest in the past. Rimuru already told me about an incident that she blames herself for, the one that spurred her to become a Demon Lord.

"Hey, you don't have to fully agree with someone to be their friend. I just want you to know that you don't have to be scared of me ever hurting you, okay?" Rimuru asks, giving me a genuine reassuring smile. Her golden eyes are filled with warmth, unlike the coldness when she was fighting Beluran. This is the Rimuru I know, not the side of her that scared me.

"I knew that… but you really scared me, you know? I…I've never seen you like that before…" I admit, looking at my feet.

"I know, Iruma, and I'm sorry for that. I won't kill in front of you again, I promise." Rimuru says, still smiling at me as she places one hand on my shoulder comfortingly.

"Thank you Rimuru…I'm sorry for avoiding you…I was just so scared after seeing that side of you…"

I do feel guilty for the way I've been acting the last day or so. I know for a fact that it's been upsetting Rimuru, but I couldn't help it. I'm still scared, but I think I can push that fear aside and focus on the positives. That's what I've always done in the past when in a bad situation in the past, look at the light in things.

**The Next Day**

Rimuru POV

I'm glad that I made up with Iruma yesterday. I don't think things are back to the way they were beforehand, but that's okay. When friends fight, it takes time for their relationship to recover so I'll just give it time and be careful not to scare Iruma again in the meantime.

I end up walking with him to school again, this time actually walking with him and not behind him like yesterday. Azz and Clara seem relieved that we're not 'fighting' anymore too.

"You really had me concerned, Master Iruma."

"Hehe…sorry Azz…"

It doesn't take long before we reach class again and I sit down in my usual spot. Part of the class goes by before it's interrupted by something.

"Student Council President, please come to prep room 3 immediately." A voice comes over the intercom. It's distorted and fuzzy, making it somewhat hard to actually understand.

"Seems like the thing's broken…" I say to nobody in particular.

"Yes, there does seem to be something wrong with it." Azz responds. He's sitting nearby with Iruma just like usual.

I don't pay it much mind since it's not like maintaining the school's equipment is my responsibility.

The class goes on normally for a little while before the intercom turns on again.

"Rimuru Tempest please come to the Student Council's room immediately." The intercom says, no longer sounding messed up and broken.

Weird…any clue what this is about? I'm guessing it has to do with Ameri getting called to that prep room a bit ago.

[[Do you really want a spoiler, Master?]]

Oh, so it's something interesting then? Sure, I can be a bit patient.

I stand up, everyone in the room looking at me with curiosity.

"Do you have any clue what that is about?" Kalego asks sternly, looking irritated that his class was interrupted.

I simply shrug since I have no clue yet and walk out.