Banquet and Discussions

Rimuru POV

The fight is over and I'm relieved. I don't really like doing things like that, but it was necessary in this case. I was challenged, so I fought Beluran and he ended up losing. There was nothing more to it even if he made me quite angry in the process. That's irrelevant to the outcome, though. I can't show weakness in the face of an enemy, so his fate was sealed the moment he decided to challenge my seat among the Heptagram.

Afterward, Ciel told me she wanted to hold onto Beluran's soul instead of breaking it down into magicules and I didn't stop her. She said she had 'reasons' to keep it. I didn't pry for details; I don't need to know what she's planning.

I wouldn't say I'm in a good mood now, but I've at least calmed down for the most part. Well, some nice food during the banquet should cheer me up.

Iruma on the other hand…well, I think I scared him pretty badly. Being the sweet, innocent kid he is, he begged me not to finish Beluran off, but I don't regret my actions. I simply did what I needed to do as a Demon Lord and the leader of my country.

I'll have to make it up to him later, maybe explain some things better so he understands why I did what I did. The food should help improve his mood too, knowing how he is.

Now that that's all taken care of, I need to clean up. I'm a total mess as well as the area around me. Both are completely covered in Beluran's blood; gross. So, I use my ultimate skill: azathoth to absorb the grime and then I go about returning the room to its previous, smaller state. I also remove the barrier I put up to contain the battle and return the table to where it belongs in the center of the room.

After I finish up it doesn't take long before Guy begins approaching me, clapping slowly as he does.

"Nice job, Rimuru! Although I would have loved to see you play with him a bit more before finishing Beluran off." Guy complains in his normal arrogant manner.

*sigh* "I am not in the mood for this right now, Guy." I retort, not wanting to deal with his nonsense right after the emotional rollercoaster I just went through.

"I just think you went a little too easy on him, that's all. Well, since you were a little disappointing you might as well provide food for the banquet." Guy says, leading into him dumping his work on my lap again as usual.

"Excuse me?!" I shout irritatedly.

"You can, can't you?" Guy asks, grinning at me in an infuriating way.

"Well…maybe, but I don't want to!" I admit reluctantly.

"Rimuru's country does have the best food so I agree, he should provide it." Luminous chimes in.

"Seriously, you too?!" I yell.

"I want Tempest food too! Pleeease!" Milim shouts excitedly.

"Ugh, fine…lemme see what I have on me…" I grumble.

I guess I'll have to dig into my personal stash for this. I always keep food on me since stuff doesn't spoil within my imaginary space and sometimes I like to have a snack on a whim.

So, I start pulling out platters of food I 'saved for later' and laying them out on the table, a bit reluctant. It ends up looking like a total feast by the time I'm done so I hope everyone here is grateful.

I'll have to 'restock' after this…

"Hah, I knew he had the good stuff on him! I hope you have some of Tempest's fine liquor in there as well, I could use a good drink right now." Guy says.

"Shut up…you're lucky I even agreed to this…"

After I lay out the food, I take another look at Iruma. He's still standing in the same spot, staring off into space and looking shellshocked from what he saw. Feeling bad, I walk over and give him a friendly pat on the back. This seems to startle him a little; shows how zoned-out he was a moment ago.

"Hey, you okay?" I ask softly.

He looks at me painfully before turning away.

"I…don't know…"

"I'm sorry if that was shocking for you to see. We can talk about it later, alright? For now, how 'bout you enjoy some of this food?" I ask as I gesture toward the table.

Iruma, seemingly not having noticed the spread until I said something, glances at the table covered in an assortment of my favorite Japanese-inspired foods. His eyes light up and he starts to drool a little while staring at the feast I just laid out.

"It does smell really good…" Iruma mutters, almost in a trance staring at the platters of delicious food.

Heh, I knew it!

Iruma looks away from the table and back to me, shaking his head a little to snap out of his stupor.

"But…I…I don't understand…why did you…I just…I don't…" he mutters, sounding torn and confused.

"We'll talk later, okay? I promise." I reassure him with a smile.

"Um…but…*sigh*…o-okay…" Iruma mumbles, giving in.

Iruma POV

I'm still not completely believing what I just saw. Rimuru didn't just kill Beluran, she tortured him; that cruel cold look she had in her golden eyes; the fear even other Demon Lords showed when she was mad; and now the fact that Rimuru looks completely unbothered by it all.

The mood around me is shockingly light, unlike what I'm feeling internally right now.

Was I wrong when I convinced myself Rimuru is a good person? Maybe Rimuru did d-

My thoughts are interrupted by someone touching me. I jump a little at the unexpected sensation before looking for the source of it. It's Rimuru; she's smiling at me warmly but I quickly avert my eyes, not wanting to even look Rimuru in the face right now.

"Hey, you okay?" Rimuru asks in a kind tone.

How can she be smiling after…that...?!

"I…don't know…" I respond honestly.

"I'm sorry if that was shocking for you to see. We can talk about it later, alright? For now, how 'bout you enjoy some of this food?" Rimuru asks, waving her hand in the direction of the table. It was gone last time I looked in that direction so whatever Rimuru did with it earlier, she must've undone it.

Just like Rimuru said, the table is filled with plates of various foods, many of which I recognize as Japanese.

Where did that all come from?

"It does smell really good…" I admit as I realize how hungry I am.

But, I have more important things right now…I can't just let go of what I just witnessed. I shake the cobwebs out of my head and resolve myself to confront Rimuru about what she just did.

"But…I…I don't understand…why did you…I just…I don't…" my voice comes out very unsure and stuttery, which is frustrating. I'm scared, asking Rimuru this, but I need to do it!

"We'll talk later, okay? I promise." Rimuru says with another genuine-looking smile.

"Um…but…*sigh*…o-okay…" I'm torn for a moment, not sure what to say to that, before giving in. I just don't have the guts to say what I need to. Maybe it's for the best, waiting to discuss this since my thoughts are a jumbled mess right now. I also realize that all the other Demon Lords are looking at us so having a private conversation right here and now probably isn't a good idea.

It's not like Rimuru would ever treat me like that…she was protecting me, that's part of the reason she…um…ended Beluran… ugh, even in my own thoughts I don't like using the word 'killed'…

Everyone takes their seats again now that they are at the table again and a few more appear out of thin air, much like the table did. It seems like Rimuru was responsible for this.

"What are those extra chairs for, Rimuru?" Guy asks.

"The other people that are here," Rimuru responds casually.

*sigh* "The subordinates?" Guy asks and Rimuru nods "I swear…" Guy complains, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"I eat with my subordinates all the time so don't make a big deal out of it. I was the one that provided the food, remember? If I wanna let them eat some of it too, it's my decision." Rimuru retorts.

The two argue for a few minutes over whether it's okay to let the non-Demon Lords eat at the same table and it ends with Rimuru getting their way.

"You two are not allowed though. Rimuru is not your master, I am." Guy says to the two maids that showed people to this place before the meeting started.

The two maids nod solemnly and stand behind Guy's seat. Rimuru doesn't look too happy about this but I guess she has no say in this since they are Guy's servants, not Rimuru's. Everyone else sits and Rimuru gestures to the seat to her left while looking at me expectantly. Not wanting to be rude, I reluctantly shuffle over and sit. I'm still not comfortable being near Rimuru after seeing how terrifying she was earlier, but if I say no, I don't know how Rimuru will react. Plus, where else would I sit? This whole room is filled with scary Demon Lords!

I just want to go home, but I can't…at least the food looks good…

I follow everyone's lead and grab some food and start to eat. Despite the food looking, smelling, and tasting mouth-wateringly good, I can't bring myself to eat much. I'm hungry, but my stomach is still in a knot from earlier and the fact I'm surrounded by all these unpredictable, ridiculously strong people is making me persistently uneasy.

Rimuru glances at me, then my food, then me again questioningly, looking like she wants to ask me something but doesn't. Instead, she turns to Luminous who's sitting on her other side. The two start chatting with each other, but my attention is quickly grabbed by another conversation happening at the table.

"C'mon Guy! Read it, read it, read it!" Ramiris insists while waving a book in Guy's face. It appears to be manga.

So it looks like Veldora isn't the only person Rimuru gives manga to.

"I'm not interested, Ramiris."

"But it's great! It's chock full of knowledge about all sorts of things, specifically ~love~! See, it's even in the title!"

"As I already said, I'm not at all interested," Guy says, gently shoving the book away from his face.

"Phooey…why can't you at least try it!" Ramiris complains with her cheeks puffed out.

I look a little closer at the book and recognize it. It's one of the volumes of 'First Love Memories'.

I guess Rimuru must've somehow copied some of Ameri's volumes…I'm not surprised…

Ramiris seems to notice my interest in the book and flies over to me.

"Do you wanna read it? It's very good!" Ramiris exclaims enthusiastically.

"I know…I've read it before. Actually, I was an assistant on this manga so I helped make it."I reply.

"You made this?!" Ramiris asks with eyes sparkling with excitement and awe.

"I-I was only an assistant!" I say, not wanting to take credit for the whole thing.

Ramiris starts rambling on and on about 'First Love Memories' and I let her talk up a storm. I don't mind at all since it's taking my mind off things hearing her fangirl over one of my favorite mangas. At some point, she ended up sitting on my head and playing with my hair, but I didn't stop her.

"Can you tell me more about what happens next?! Rimuru hasn't given me the next volume and I'm dying to know!" Ramiris pleads.

"You want me to spoil it for you? Really?" I ask.

"Hmmm…no no no, never mind! Don't tell me!" Ramiris thinks for a moment before changing her mind about me spoiling the story as she asked me to.

"Hey…uh…can I ask you something?" I ask her.

"Anything for someone who worked on sacred texts! I'm super smart so ask me anything!" Ramiris says confidently, hopping down off of the top of my head and onto the table, now posing with her arms crossed. She's wearing an arrogant smile and seems fully convinced that she's 'super smart', as she put it.

"Um…how did you meet Rimuru exactly?" I ask.

"You wanna know that story? I don't think Rimuru would care if I told you about that one." She says before pausing and thinking for a minute. "I, the Great and most beautiful Demon Lord Ramiris was sitting around, completely bored in my Labyrinth. It was empty and not fun at all back then, just so you know. It was somewhere else too, not in Tempest…but back to the story. I sensed that six kids strolled inside, which was weird. Why is a bunch of kids waltzing into my place by themselves? I had no clue but I decided to have some fun with them by scaring them anyway." Ramiris says with a mischievous grin.

"But it wasn't any fun because they didn't even get that scared, especially Rimuru, who I picked out as the leader right away! They even had the gall to ask for help from me instead of cowering from the spooky voice I was using! So I led them to my prized toy so I could kill them without killing them for fun! You probably know already how people can't die in my precious Labyrinth unless I want them to, right?"

"Yeah, Gobta and Hakurou brought me there and told me about it," I reply.

"Good, so you get why it was fine for me to have my 'toy' attack them, but you know what that jerk did?! Rimuru whips out a ball of flames and melts my magisoldier into nothing! There wasn't even a speck of it left when he was done using his crazy magic! I worked so hard on it too…"

"I'm sorry…" I apologize, feeling bad for her having something she described as 'prized' destroyed.

"Oh, don't feel bad. I made him replace it so it's all good! Beretta's a lot cooler than that old thing!" Ramiris says, pointing to the metal person who came with her.

"Thank you Lady Ramiris." Beretta, who's sitting nearby adds.

"Heehee…I'm getting sidetracked…I was so upset, but there was nothing I could do since that black flame stuff he used was dangerous! Then, when I revealed myself he didn't even believe me when I said I was a Demon Lord! So rude!" Ramiris says with a pout.

"Soon, I found out he wasn't even human since he was hiding his slime-ness perfectly and that he wasn't a kid either. The others were, though, and were also his students. Rimuru brought them to me to get greater spirits to inhabit them to save their lives. It's my job as the Queen of Spirits to bless people, so I agreed as long as Rimuru replaced my golem."

"Wait…you helped save Rimuru's students? I was told a little about that story and met Chloe last week." I say, connecting the dots between the two retellings.

"Yes, I was the one who saved them! Rimuru couldn't have done it without the amazing me!" Ramiris says, pausing to strike another overconfident pose.

"I found out later the place he built, Tempest, was a pretty fun place so I asked to move my Labyrinth there. It took some time, but Rimuru agreed, and then we turned my new Labyrinth into something even more special!" Ramiris continues.

"Can I ask something about Rimuru's students?" I ask.

"Yeah, go ahead!"

"Why did they need spirits to go inside them?" I ask, still not understanding how that helps save someone's life.

"It was a solution Rimuru came up with to stabilize the energy otherworlders absorb when coming to the Cardinal World. Children don't have enough willpower to gain unique skills, at least usually, so the energy doesn't stabilize and kills them after a few years. He got the idea after he met that lady that Leon shoved a fire spirit into when she was a kid…huh, what are they going into over there?" Ramiris stops, turning her attention to Rimuru and Luminous. I turn my attention to them since it seems like something important is about to be talked about.

"While we're all here, shouldn't we finally settle on the whole Darmangania problem? We've been discussing it on and off for a long time now. I wanted to give their new leader some time to reach a certain point and possibly join us, but it's taking too long." Rimuru says, mostly talking to Luminous but she's speaking loudly enough that the entire table can hear.

"It hasn't been that long, Rimuru," Guy says.

"It's been more than two decades, what do you mean it 'hasn't been that long'?!" Rimuru asks incredulously.

"You really need to grow out of that mortal perspective on time. It's about time you got past that, Rimuru." Guy replies offhandedly.

"Can we just get back to the point?" Rimuru asks, starting to get annoyed.

*sigh* "I suppose we could finally close on the issue." Luminous replies.

"You're still wanting this portion, right Luminous?" Rimuru asks, conjuring up a large, floating map with magic. I assume it's of the continent we are currently on. I can't read what's written on it but that's what would make sense.

One of the countries is lit up brightly so it must be the country they're talking about.

"Of course." Luminous responds calmly.

"What do you think about me taking the majority under my control, including the coastline, while you claim this portion that borders your territory?" Rimuru asks Luminous and the lit-up portion changes color, the larger section of it becoming blue and the smaller red. I guess the blue represents the part Rimuru will take and the red represents Luminous' section based on what was said.

Is Rimuru really talking about taking control of an entire country over a dinner?!

I look around the room in disbelief. The other Demon Lords look more bored with Rimuru's discussion if anything, not appearing to be listening much at all.

They all seem so casual about it too, even Rimuru, and she seems the most serious out of all of them!

"I don't mind that; you already have your slimy fingers intertwined in their politics anyway, so taking over in an official sense wouldn't make much difference to the world's balance as a whole." Guy chimes in, interrupting Rimuru's talk with Luminous.

"What are you implying?!" Rimuru asks coldly.

"That you are secretly controlling that place already." Guy smiles.

"Darmangania is an independent country that Tempest just happens to have a decent relationship with at this point so don't insinuate anything more than that, Guy!" Rimuru insists.

"Hehe, you're still touchy from earlier, aren't you?" Guy asks teasingly.

"Can you not do this right now? I'm trying to have a serious discussion with Luminous, which doesn't involve you." Rimuru complains, sounding fed-up with Guy's teasing.

"Why are you being so serious, Rimuru? We're just having a casual conversation over a nice dinner!"

"A 'casual conversation' that's deciding the fate of an entire country!"

Guy just laughs off Rimuru's complaint. He seems to take everything even less seriously than Rimuru, and I thought she was bad about that! I guess 'deciding the fate of an entire country' as Rimuru put it, is a very important subject so it makes sense for her to be serious. This seems to be out of the norm though, compared to all the others at the table. I always thought Rimuru too most things too casually, but I guess when seriousness is necessary.

"Ugh…so is it all settled, then?" Rimuru asks.

Nobody complains and Rimuru seemingly takes this as agreement. Rimuru and Luminous stand up and shake hands to seal the deal before both sit back down at the table.

"Glad we finally sorted that out…I was getting sick of getting brushed off every time I brought it up…" Rimuru says before sitting back down and taking a bite of her food.

There's a moment of calm before I'm startled by something loud coming from behind us.

"Kwahahahaha! I have arrived!" a booming voice shouts.

"Veldora?!" Rimuru asks surprisedly.

"Yes, it is I, your sworn brother Veldora Tempest!" Veldora declares loudly.

"Yeah, I get that Veldora, but what in the world are you doing here?" Rimuru asks, now sounding more annoyed than surprised by Veldora's sudden appearance.

"I have brought something special to show you all!" Veldora announces in a grand tone.

"You stupid lizard, why must you stand so close to-" Luminous starts to stand up to turn around and chastise Veldora for popping up behind her out of nowhere, but simultaneously, Veldora strikes a confident pose and inadvertently elbows her in the back of the head. Luminous' face ends up going straight into the takoyaki on her plate as she smacked into the table by Veldora's elbow.

Rimuru laughs uncomfortably and backs away as Luminous slowly stands up, wipes the sauce from her food off of her face, and glares at Veldora.

"Damn dirty lizard…how dare you…!" Luminous yells angrily. "You better not stop me Rimuru!" she turns her angry gaze to Rimuru who simply puts up their hands in defeat.

"Do what you want with him, he deserves it for barging into Walpurgis again."

Luminous then springs forward and for some reason hugs(?) Veldora. It wasn't a gentle hug though, more like her roughly squeezing him. Veldora squeals in pain as she does this and he looks at Rimuru with pleading eyes.

"Rimuruuuu! B-but…GAAAAH!...I'm just delivering this special…GWAAAAH!...something Diablo gave to me!" Veldora explains, being interrupted multiple times from waves of pain caused by Luminous.

"That can wait," Rimuru says sternly.

This goes on for a few minutes as Rimuru indifferently watches Veldora get painfully squeezed by Luminous. I feel bad for Veldora, but it's not like I can do anything about what's happening to him right now.

"Why is she so mad? It was just an accident, right?" I ask out loud while watching helplessly.

"Centuries long grudge…he deserves it; trust me," Rimuru responds, still watching Veldora get punished.

"You didn't tell me you were bringing your brother today, Rimuru," Guy says, watching Veldora be tortured by Luminous with a smile.

"It wasn't something I was expecting either. He just…pops up out of nowhere like that sometimes. I keep telling him to ask first but he gets excited and forgets, I guess." Rimuru replies.

"Is Veldora gonna be okay?" I ask.

"Oh, he'll be fine, just a little tired when Luminous is done with him," Rimuru says casually.

Milim walks up, seemingly curious about what's going on.

"What's that 'thing' that uncle Veldora dropped?" Milim asks Rimuru.

"Huh…seems like a projection crystal…" Rimuru says as she picks up the small, blue-ish crystal off the floor, ignoring the screaming dragon completely now.

"What's that?" I ask.

"A magic crystal that can record videos and project them…kinda like a DVD but it acts as the player as well as the disc…I wonder what's on it…?" Rimuru says, peering curiously at the crystal while holding it a few inches in front of her face.

"Hey, Rimuru; what's a DVD?" Milim asks.

"Oh, it's something from my previous world. As I said, it's similar to this, but less useful since it needs another device to work."

"I wanna see what's on that, Rimuru!" Milim declares.

"Yeah, me too!" Ramiris chimes in, zooming over to Rimuru.

"Yes, please show us," Guy adds.

"Fine, fine, I'll play it," Rimuru says.

"I might as well see what all this excitement is about," Leon says with a shrug, not sounding at all excited.

"I suppose I can delay that annoying lizard's punishment to see what this crystal contains," Luminous says, letting go of Veldora.

"Hey, Veldora, do you have any clue what's on this thing before I show it to everyone?" Rimuru asks Veldora.

"No, Diablo just said it was important and agreed to give me extra desserts if I brought it here and made sure everyone saw it. He seemed desperate…" Veldora replies, scratching his head.

"Hmmm…well, I guess it won't do any harm to play it…" Rimuru shrugs and sets the crystal on the floor.

Everyone gathers around to see what's on the crystal with varying levels of excitement. Even Dino woke up to see what was going on.