Potential Problems
Rimuru POV
What the hell could Guy possibly want?!
As soon as I heard his voice, I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. The only time he contacts me is when he wants something. It's never anything good either, usually some problem he wants to dump on my lap. I have a hard time saying no to him too since Guy is scarily powerful and manipulative. I think I could take him in a fight at this point, but that's the last thing I want to be honest. I don't even want to imagine the type of damage that would happen if we both got serious facing each other.
{{Yes, Guy, I'm here. Do you need anything?}}
{{I just wanted to let you know we will be having a Walpurgis meeting in one week. Be there.}}
{{Do you have a specific reason? You don't usually initiate them yourself like this.}}
{{Well, let's just say I have a thorn in my side that I can't dispose of due to that rule you implemented. I thought it'd be best to have you deal with it.}}
{{I assume you mean a new Demon Lord candidate has appeared?}}
{{Yes, he's quite the character too. I'm sure you two will get along ~wonderfully~ based on how ridiculous you both are.}}
{{Fine…I'll be there….}}
I don't exactly like being called ridiculous, but from Guy's perspective, being someone in charge of maintaining balance in this world, I can see why he'd call me that. I have a bad habit of breaking the rules of reality, or at least Ciel does, and she's part of me, which makes it my responsibility. (People call me the 'Chaos Creator' for a reason)
By the rule I implemented, I'm sure Guy means the rule stating that you must let people that call themselves a Demon Lord to have a chance to state their case to the others at a Walpurgis meeting without first being killed. They have to have 'Demon Lord Seed' status at least first before this rule applies, though. I came up with it to avoid purging of decent potential Demon Lords before they can even try to convince the others of their worth. I mean, back in the day, if Clayman was better liked by the others, it's possible they could've teamed up and killed me without a second guess. The reality of his plots and lies would've never come to light, so I think it's best to at least let them talk to us before being killed.
Before I came along, the rules of acceptance were vague at best, so I helped redefine them. Majority vote (at least 4 of the 7 must agree to accept them) or challenging and defeating one of the seated Demon Lords and taking their place, that's the two options for becoming one of us. Any 'challenging' must be done alone and in front of all the Demon Lords, though, so there's no possibility of cheating. This also makes it so people are less likely to attack us out of nowhere, which can be annoying. It doesn't completely stop that problem, but it definitely helps.
I'm glad that Guy, being the de facto leader of the Heptagram, accepted these changes I made, but it seems they're biting me in the ass right now. By his tone, I can tell that the 'candidate' isn't fun to deal with. He sounded annoyed, to say the least, so I don't think the meeting is gonna be very pleasant. It sucks I've got another meeting I need to go to now, but at least I have some advanced notice. I'm sure it won't be a problem for me to pay a second visit here, even if I have to deal with a new potential Demon Lord.
Iruma POV
Gobta takes me to a path nearby leading away from the clearing. It eventually leads to a wide stone road, much like the paved streets in the city, with many people traveling on it. Just like in the city, there's lots of diversity among them. Many of them have carts drawn by horses, but I also saw some hobgoblins mounted on large wolves. I think Rimuru had one of them with her at Babyls when we did the familiar summoning ritual, although hers was more impressive than the ones I'm seeing now.
The wolf-riding monsters are also wearing armor and carrying weapons. Maybe they're something like security? They seem to be looking at their surroundings as if surveying the other people on the road. Gobta waves at one of them as we pass making me think they might know each other.
"Oh, I have a tempest wolf partner too, do you wanna try riding them?"
Even though the wolves seem friendly, they're definitely scary beasts that could easily rip me to shreds. I try to ignore this fact, though.
"S-sure…" I say, somewhat hesitant.
After agreeing, I'm startled by a large wolf jumping out of Gobta's shadow while he wears a confident grin. He pats the beast on the head before hopping onto its back.
"Here," Gobta says as he reaches his hand out for me to grab. As soon as he gets a good grip, he yanks and swings me onto the large wolf so I'm riding on it behind him.
I'm surprised by how strong this guy is since he doesn't look like he is. Once again I need to remind myself that looks can be deceiving.
"So who're the others I see riding wolves?" I ask, looking around at the others on wolf-back.
"Goblin Riders, they patrol the roads and stuff to make sure nobody causes any trouble. Thankfully people know not to do stuff like that for the most part."
I'm not quite sure what he means by that, since even with tight law enforcement, crime still happens. People who don't care about consequences will do whatever they want, so I'm confused why that would be less common here.
"Oh. Why is that?" I ask.
"Well, not trying to scare ya, but Tempest is known for not letting people get off easy when it comes to crimes, at least compared to the human countries. It's necessary to keep people safe since being lenient led to some problems back in the day."
I gulp nervously when I hear this since I literally saw someone get arrested earlier today. His crime was bad too; trying to attack the leader of this country, so, if people don't get off easy for simple rule-breaking, what happens to serious offenders? I don't even want to think about it. I still remember how that Ultima girl said she'd 'have fun' with that criminal while wearing a creepy smile, so I can only imagine what she's capable of.
Trying to ignore the disturbing thoughts about the type of punishments a monster country would dish out, I decided to look around at my surroundings a bit more. I notice something resembling train tracks to the side of the road.
"Oh, make sure you stay off of that while you're here. You wouldn't want to get run over by a magitrain." Gobta says, noticing my staring at the tracks.
"So they are train tracks then; I thought so!"
"Yeah, magitrains were Lord Rimuru's idea; he said he came up with them based on something from his past life. He's always coming up with good ideas!"
"Sounds like you really respect Rimuru a lot, don't you?"
"Of course! He's done so much for us and still does, so why wouldn't I?"
Gobta continues to go on about this and that, raving about all of the great things Rimuru's done for the people here. He also mentioned some of the times they got into trouble together too, which I'm not too surprised by. Though, I get the feeling Gobta's saying too much. Some of the stuff he brought up sounds like things Rimuru wouldn't want me knowing.
"…and then he got all mad and cheated by shooting a bunch of water out of his mouth at us! I guess I shouldn't have messed with him like that, hahaha!"
"Hey, are you sure you should be telling me all this?" I ask.
"You're Lord Rimuru's friend, so I think it's fine."
We keep talking as we ride until we make it back to town. There seems to be some screening at the entrance, but we got through just fine since Gobta seems well known. I think I heard the term 'Big Four' thrown around, whatever that means.
As we go along, Gobta points out some of the buildings and greets some people. I can't help but think about how nice things seem here. Everyone is friendly for the most part, despite some of the people having scary appearances. They all seem to have a deep respect for Rimuru, just like Gobta does. It's to the degree of almost being unsettling, something like cult members, but I guess that has something to do with the connection they have through naming. But it can't be just that, since there were humans too who seemed to adopt this almost religious reverence, and I think that naming connection thing only applies to monsters.
"Hey, I get why the monsters are so attached to Rimuru, but why are the humans like that too?"
"Oh, some of them are people Lord Rimuru spared during the war with the Eastern Empire along with their families. After the war, they were allowed to stick around as long as they contributed."
"Rimuru never mentioned a war…"
"Yeah, thankfully nobody on our side died since Lord Rimuru ordered us not to. We all know how he felt the first time he lost some of us so there's no way we'd do that to him again. It was hard to see him like that. He got so angry that he…um…oh, sorry, but I shouldn't be talking about that!" Gobta interrupts himself frantically at the end, his eyes wide from his near-blunder.
"Uh, why not?" I ask.
"State secrets! Can't go blabbin' about them in public like this!" Gobta explains.
So now he's keeping his mouth shut?!
"Can you tell me later? When we're away from other people?"
"Nobody's supposed to bring it up, so no. I already said too much…" Gobta says with an awkward laugh to cover up the fact that he's screwed up.
My curiosity is burning about what Rimuru did when angry back in the day, but I hold my tongue. I'll just have to ask Rimuru about that later. Hopefully, she'll answer me, but I'm not counting on it. If it's a secret she might refuse to even with the friendship we've built up.
Another part of what Gobta said is bothering me too…Rimuru ordered them not to die? I thought that was a given, but apparently not. The way Gobta worded it, it seems that Rimuru cared more about Tempest's soldiers surviving than winning that war.
To distract from his mistake, Gobta continues going on about all the fun places in Tempest, even stopping to buy us both a snack from a stand.
"Here," Gobta says as he hands me some kind of meat on a stick.
"What kind of meat is this?" I ask while looking at the mystery meat impaled by a skewer. It smells good, but I'm hesitant to put something unknown into my mouth. I've done so with Netherworld food, but that was prepared by someone I trust, not some random street vendor.
"Bull-deer; it's a Tempest favorite."
Bull…deer? So…like beef and venison mixed together? Weird…
I take a small bite and my mouth immediately waters from the delicious flavor of it. The meat is about what I expected based on the description, yet much better. It's perfectly seasoned, tender, and juicy. I quickly gobble the whole thing down, still wanting more. I'm too shy to ask for seconds, though, since I barely know the person who's paying for it.
"Want another?" Gobta asks, seemingly reading my mind about wanting more meat.
"Sure!"
"Alright, one more please!" Gobta says to the vendor, but this time I notice him say something strange. "This is Lord Rimuru's guest, so put it on his tab, okay?" he says while pointing at me.
The vendor looks confused for a moment before nodding in acknowledgment. Like I've already noticed, Gobta seems to be well known, so this guy believed him without a second thought.
"Wait, you're buying this with Rimuru's money?" I ask.
"Uh…" Gobta says, his eyes darting from side to side nervously.
"Are you sure you should be doing that? Won't they get mad?"
"Well, you're his guest, so I don't see the problem! Plus, it's just a few meat skewers, he won't mind!"
"If you say so…"
None of this is my fault, so if Rimuru gets mad, it'll be at Gobta.
