Banquet Banter

Iruma POV

Rimuru and I spent a bit more time enjoying the festival, but after a while, Rimuru said there was a banquet that she needed to attend. But first, we had to stop to get put in some appropriate clothes for the event.

Grandpa and Opera were invited to get some outfits with us too, but Grandpa said he was already prepared clothing-wise, and Opera didn't plan on wearing anything different other than his normal butler uniform.

We ended up first getting fitted with new uniforms to wear at Babyls, though! Mine is pretty similar to what I'm used to, but with shorter sleeves and made of a different material. I'm not quite sure what it is, but it looks high-quality.

Rimuru also got a new outfit to use at school, which looks somewhat modeled after her Student Council Uniform, based on the colors, but with sleeker pants and a shorter collar.

After that, Shuna finally dressed us in stuff we're gonna wear to this banquet thing, which ended up being a simple white shirt, with a black tuxedo on top and a red bow tie to complete the look. Rimuru was given a thick-looking jacket similar to the clothes she wore when she went to Walpurgis, with some kind of animal fur around the ends of the sleeves and the neck of the jacket, and she also is being made to wear an embroidered cape.

I feel a bit stiff in this suit, but it doesn't bother me too much. If anything, Rimuru has it much worse when it comes to the fanciness of her clothing.

Once Shuna is done with us, we leave right away since Rimuru says we don't have much time before the banquet starts.

"Don't worry too much about this, it's gonna be pretty casual, just like last time. There'll be more people that I know personally there, but it'll go pretty similar, I expect."

"So you're going to get so drunk that you pass out again?" I tease.

"I didn't pass out from getting drunk! I passed out while drunk!"

Rimuru shakes her head a little and calms down from her fluster.

"Anyway, I don't think you have anything to worry about. I probably will be introducing you to some people you haven't met yet, but as long as you maintain your manners, they won't get offended by the small stuff. I know how hard etiquette can be when it comes to royalty and such, but these are people I know very well."

After Rimuru's reassurance, we head directly to where the banquet is taking place.

This event is definitely bigger than the one I went to during my first visit to Tempest, with even more unfamiliar faces milling around the room, all dressed extravagantly. I do spot a few people that I've met before, though.

One of them is the Demon Lord Luminous, who I met at Walpurgis. She's not wearing a maid's dress this time, instead a gothic-style black dress, but I still recognized her based on her silver hair and heterochromatic eyes. She's standing next to Hinata, who's wearing a sleek dark blue dress.

Then I remember; Hinata wants to talk with Rimuru! I nudge her to grab her attention.

"Rimuru, I think Hinata has something she wants to talk to you about," I tell her, leaving out the part where that lady tried to pressure information out of me.

Rimuru gives me a curious look, seemingly gauging what I mean by that before looking over at Hinata.

"Great…" she grumbles as Hinata locks eyes with Rimuru from across the room, taking Rimuru's attention as an invitation to come and talk.

Luminous follows along, curious why Hinata is coldly glaring at Rimuru and approaching.

"Hello, Hinata. You look lovely this evening!" Rimuru compliments with a smile. "You too, Luminous. I wasn't sure you'd be coming to this banquet."

"Oh, be quiet, you. I won't miss a good party, you know that." Luminous aloofly responds.

Hinata just continues to coldly stare at Rimuru, not amused by the compliment at all.

"Don't try to flatter your way out of this, Rimuru." Hinata answers.

"Flatter my way out of what exactly? I was just pointing out that your dress looks very nice on you."

"This isn't the time and place, but I have some things to discuss with you personally," Hinata explains, still staring daggers at Rimuru.

"Something personal, huh?" Rimuru asks and glances at me. "I'm guessing this is about Iruma."

Hinata nods. "And I'm sure you understand why I'm concerned."

"Not exactly, but I guess I could make some time to talk with you about him."

"My, my, Hinata, I didn't know you had an interest in that boy!" Luminous teasingly interjects.

"Don't make it sound like something it's not, Lady Luminous. I am simply concerned about him."

"You really don't need to be worried about me, Hinata, I'm just fine in the situation I'm in," I assure her.

"See? He's okay, so we don't need to talk about him, do we?" Rimuru says to her.

Hinata sighs tiredly at Rimuru's continued attempts to get out of this.

"Rimuru." Hinata coldly says to Rimuru in a commanding tone.

"Fine, fine, we can talk." Rimuru gives in to her.

"When?" Hinata presses the issue a little bit more directly, she really doesn't want him to avoid it.

"Well…uh…tomorrow?" Rimuru tries to keep it flexible.

"When tomorrow?" Hinata presses for a specific time.

"Hinata." Luminous immediately commands her attention away from Rimuru. "Leave the slime alone, this is going nowhere and I don't want to waste my time standing here. There are some very nice desserts that we could be sampling instead."

Luminous leans against Hinata and starts caressing the other woman's hair. Hinata just stands there, completely unbothered by Luminous' touching, and continues to stare down Rimuru.

"I asked when you plan on meeting. We are both busy people, so I would like a solid answer from you." Hinata demands while Luminous is still hanging off of her.

"If you want an exact time, take that up with Shuna. She manages my schedule." Rimuru replies matter-of-factly.

Hinata squints her eyes, staring at Rimuru for a brief time before finally letting out a deep sigh "Fine."

As Hinata walks away, heading to the dessert table across the room, Rimuru frowns and then looks at me.

"Let's enjoy the banquet," Rimuru says, forcing a smile.

"Sorry about Hinata…she tried to ask me a bunch of things and I wasn't sure if I should answer, then she insisted on talking to you instead and-" I started rambling, realizing that I had caused Rimuru a bunch of trouble.

"It's fine, I'm used to Hinata being upset with me over things. I'm sure it'll all work out."

Suddenly, something comes flying through the air right at us before stopping right in front of Rimuru's face.

"Rimuru, Rimuru! They won't stop! Do something, do something!" the small blond-haired fairy screamed.

"What are you talking about Ramiris?" Rimuru asks in a level tone.

"ICan'tGetThemToStopFighting!EverythingIsFallingApartAgh!"

"Ramiris, slow down!"

"The room is already half-destroyed from earlier and they keep making it worse and there's four of them, Rimuru! All four tossing explosions and crazy magic at each other! Please, Rimuru, please! I can't stop them by myself!"

"Ramiris!"

The fairy Demon Lord finally stops yelling.

"Take a few breaths and tell me what's going on, or I can't help you. You're not making any sense right now." Rimuru states.

Ramiris yells, "The primordials! Those four girls have been going at it for hours! And this was after your sister Velzard beat Master up too, so the room is in shambles! I tried to go in there and give them a piece of my mind, but I got blown away by some stray nuclear magic! Make them stop, Rimuru, make them stop!"

"Wait, four girls? And Primordials? Who is the fourth, then? Don't tell me it's…no, no I told him that creeped me out last time, so I hope not…"

"No, no, it's Ultima, Carrera, Mizeri, and Raine!"

"Oh, well that's a relief. And here I was worried that Diablo took female form again." RImuru sighs.

Wait, what?! I didn't know that Diablo could do that…

"You called for me, Lord Rimuru?" Diablo appeared behind Rimuru with no warning.

"Uh…not really."

"They are still wrecking my precious Labyrinth, Rimuru! Do something, do something!" Ramiris pleads.

"Fine. Diablo, take care of the problem for me. Don't wreck the place any more than it already is, though, just tell them all to stop, or at least get Carrera and Ultima to cut it out."

Diablo bows and then disappears.

"I probably should've been more specific about how to stop them…" Rimuru grumbled then shrugged uncaringly.

"Why are they fighting?" I asked, a bit concerned by how freaked out Ramiris was about it.

"It doesn't really matter, trust me. They do it a lot. Although, it's strange that Mizeri and Raine were involved. Those aren't my subordinates, but Guy's. I hope they didn't do anything that'll cause conflict between us…wait, didn't you say something about Velzard beating Veldora up, Ramiris?"

"Yeah! She was super mad and dragged him down there by his collar! She asked permission to enter the Labyrinth, of course, but it's not like I can say no to her, especially when she's angry!"

"She wasn't mad with me too, was she?" Rimuru asked, sounding much more serious all of a sudden.

"I don't think so," Ramiris replies.

"Phew…thank goodness…wait, Veldora is fine, right?"

"He's resting in his bedroom and refusing to come out. I tried to get him to stop those girls but he just said 'Kwahahahaha, I must slumber for a great many days! It is time for the Mighty Storm Dragon Veldora to rest, and restore his great power!'" Ramiris explained, doing a hilarious impression of Veldora while quoting him.

"Wow, and he was so pumped about running that stand… I guess the people he hired to help will have to manage it on their own."

"I thought that was him wearing that mask. He kinda tried to pretend he didn't know me but wasn't very convincing." I added, remembering what had happened earlier today.

"Oh, you got to see him in action running that thing?" Rimuru asked.

"Yeah, and later a white-haired lady even asked me where to find that place, so I pointed out where it was."

"Oh, you innocent child…" Rimuru muttered under her breath.

"What?"

"That was Velzard, I bet." Rimuru clarified, sighing at my ignorance.

"I ran into your older sister?! I showed her right to Veldora and that got him attacked!" I exclaimed, realizing that I was partially responsible.

"No, no, she can find her siblings no matter what, so it's not your fault. I wonder why she even asked you in the first place, though…maybe she sensed your connection to me and got curious. I'll have to ask her later, maybe." Rimuru mumbles.

"You can ask me now if you wish, Baby Brother." a smooth voice comes from behind us, scaring me quite a bit.

Rimuru instantly whips around, plastering a bright smile on her face to hide her surprise.

"Velzard! I wasn't sure if you actually came with Guy or not this time!" Rimuru cheerfully greeted the woman that is definitely the same one I talked to earlier.

"Silly boy, you know I won't miss a reason to visit with my precious little Baby Brother Rimuru~! Also, call me Big Sister, not Velzard." Velzard says in a babying tone, talking to Rimuru as if she's a small child.

"B-but, Velzard, it's awk-" Rimuru complains, but hastily stops.

Velzard stares at Rimuru with a smile that doesn't reach her eyes and the air around us noticeably chills.

"Sorry, Big Sister…"

"There, that's better," she says in a doting tone, patting Rimuru on the head.

"Um… what happened with Veldora earlier? If you don't mind me asking." inquires Rimuru.

"He disrespected the names of the True Dragons, including your own. I wanted to teach him that such a thing isn't acceptable."

"So nothing to do with me then? I didn't get you mad at me somehow?"

"Oh no, not at all! You're a good little brother, unlike Veldora!"

She starts giving Rimuru more head pats and ruffles her hair which Rimuru seems annoyed by but doesn't complain.

I hear a scoff as soon as Velzard said Rimuru was the good one between them and Veldora, which turns out to be Demon Lord Guy walking over, having changed clothes.

"That 'baby brother' of yours has caused more trouble in the short time he has been existing in this world than Veldora has since he first came into existence!" he loudly complains.

"You have to expect a little trouble from a baby, Guy."

"Could you both please stop referring to me as a baby? I'm an adult, you know."

Demon Lord Guy replies, irritated. "You haven't even lived through a single century, Rimuru. That's nothing for a Demon Lord, let alone a True Dragon. I think we both have good reasons to call you a baby."

"You only call me that because you know it annoys me, Guy!"

"Yes, and you were also causing trouble at his age and even older. I still remember you challenging my older brother back when you were still young, arrogantly thinking you could actually win. I think that's much worse than anything Rimuru has done."

Velzard starts scolding Guy and he seems to get more irritated by it, which Rimuru smirks at while still being held close by Velzard.

Listening to this conversation, I wonder what it is that Rimuru did to 'cause trouble'. Honestly, I'm pretty lost on what exactly these three are talking about; I'm missing some important context.

"Oh, did Rimuru not tell you about all the things he has done? All the headaches he has caused me?" Guy asks with a toothy smile, finally seeming to notice my presence. He and Velzard had been completely ignoring me up until now.

Can he read minds?...

"Uh-uhhh…" I freeze, not really liking having this scary demon lord's attention on me. Well, Rimuru is a Demon Lord, but she's not scary in the same way Guy is, all poised like he'll bite off my head…

"Quit bugging Iruma, Guy." Rimuru interrupts snappily. I guess being called a baby has upset her.

"N-no, I…" I am scared, but I also want to know what's going on here. Rimuru wanted me to work on my confidence, right? So… "Um, Rimuru, what did you do that 'caused trouble' exactly?"

"I would like to hear this story too."

Out of nowhere, Grandpa appeared alongside Opera, nodding in agreement, also wanting to hear about this.

"We are not having that conversation right now, not in public. If you're that curious about what Guy calls 'trouble', I'll tell you later." Rimuru responds to me, clearly uncomfortable with the subject.

"Now, Rimuru, I don't think it's a problem. Tell the boy about how you literally destroyed everything I built up over the millennia and threw the entire world into chaos." Guy said with an evil smile.

"At least when I'm in charge of things, violence isn't the first solution to every problem." Rimuru shrugs.

"Yeah, but you playing all nice with the humans and pretending you're not secretly manip-" Guy starts to reply.

"I said we're not talking about this right now!" Rimuru says insistently.

"Yes, Guy, stop teasing the baby." Velzard coos, giving Rimuru's head a stroke.

"Velzard, please don't call me that!" Rimuru pleads with her, squirming like she's trying to escape the woman's grasp.

"Big Sister. Or even better, Big Sis." Velzard corrects, drawing in Rimuru even tighter.

"Big Sis…" Rimuru covers her eyes as she says it while her cheeks go red.

"Oh, hey. Rimuru, I see this is a bad time. Uh, Velzard seems to have broken ya… I feel ya there." A platinum blonde-haired man in an unnecessarily ornate outfit waves his hand in Rimuru's face a few times.

Who's this? I feel my attention drawn to him in the same way Ronove's bloodline magic seems to draw attention.

He's dressed very extravagantly but has a pretty casual way of talking to Rimuru. He must be pretty familiar with Rimuru.

"Oh, Masayuki! And Velgrynd too. It's nice to see you both." Rimuru says, sounding a little relieved.

"Are you pestering our little brother, Velzard?" Velgrynd asked the other woman and tried to pull Rimuru away from her.

"Not at all Velgrynd, I'm just protecting him from this idiot of a demon," Velzard replies, pulling Rimuru back.

"Wait, what?" Guy asks, stunned by Velzard calling him an idiot.

"He's your partner, sister, so you can only blame yourself for being with an idiot like him." Velgrynd points out.

"He's my idiot, though, so I think it's fine. He does have a bad habit of teasing our little baby brother Rimuru, though, I can punish him for that later." Velzard replied, completely ignoring Guy at this point and still hugging Rimuru.

"Excuse me?! I don't like what I am hearing, ladies!" Guy complains.

"Oh, shut up you 'idiot demon'!" Masayuki blurts out.

Guy immediately glared at Masayuki who then backed off, looking almost like he was surprised about what just came out of his mouth.

"That was Rudra, not me! I promise!" Masayuki desperately says to Guy, sounding apologetic.

"But you are Rudra!" Guy points out, jabbing a finger in the man's direction.

"I know, I know, but like…ugh, it's hard to explain…" Masayuki groans and Velgrynd pats him on the shoulder comfortingly.

"What's going on…I'm so confused…Rimuru, please…" I mumble, holding my head since it's starting to hurt from all the craziness.

"Don't worry, my grandson. I am also confused by these people." Grandpa says softly while ruffling my hair.

"Long story; two minds, one soul." Rimuru waves her hand dismissively.

"Like a split personality?"

"Sort of, except that other personality was a person once and lived an entire life of their own."

"Wait, what?" I ask incredulously.

Now I'm even more confused!

"Like I said, it's a long story," Rimuru says, holding her hands up.

"You have some weird friends, Rimuru…" I grumble.

"Like you're one to talk." Rimuru chuckles.

"I guess you have a point there."

"Hey, Rimuru, who's this guy with you? I don't think I've seen him before and you seem to be pretty friendly with each other." Masayuki asked curiously.

"This is Iruma. You have a lot in common, like having everyone think you are something you aren't."

Masayuki's eyes light up at this.

"But he doesn't have it quite as bad as you did. Oh, and you're both from Japan too. That's another similarity."

"Oh. Are you an otherworlder then?" He asked me.

"Well, yes," I'm actually from two other worlds I guess, but that seemed complicated to explain and I didn't know if Rimuru wanted everyone to know where she was taking her 'vacation.' "What does Rimuru mean, you're from Japan?"

"Oh, that." Masayuki rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, causing Velgrynd to immediately begin fussing over his hair, but he ignored it. "Well, you know how it is, ending up in another world?" Sort of, I thought. "Well, I wound up in this world by random chance and people immediately started calling me a… hero…" He turned his head away in embarrassment.

"Really? Rimuru said that people shouldn't call themselves that 'cause it's tempting fate or something…"

"Yup," Masayuki grimaced. "What do you think happened to me? There I was, just an ordinary high schooler, and now I have blond hair, an empire, and a hot dragon for a wife!" Masayuki spread his arms in a 'whatcha-gonna-do' sort of gesture.

I stare at him dumbfounded. During this moment of silence, I can hear Guy and that woman, Velzard arguing about something.

Masayuki turns toward where Guy and Velzard are, with Rimuru approaching them "Grynd, can you help Rimuru deal with whatever is going on over there?"

Then Masayuki grins at my shocked face. "Yeah, if it wasn't for Rimuru I probably would've died. But who knows, if he's taken a liking to you, maybe you'll be a king someday!" He patted me on the shoulder.

"Ah, I certainly hope not," I laughed nervously. I glanced towards Rimuru, who was trying to stop a fight between Guy and that Velzard lady from breaking out. That's not why she likes me, right? I think she cares about me for who I am, but…

"He did WHAT!?" A loud exclamation suddenly broke off our conversation. Velgrynd had joined the commotion, it seemed, and was shaking her head in astonishment while facing Velzard.

"He should know better than to have used your name in such a way, do I need to beat some sense into him?"

"I told you, I already disciplined him." Velzard shrugged, "But if you want to put in an extra word…"

"No, no, please!" Rimuru immediately interjected, tugging on both of them. "I'm sure Veldora learned his lesson, alright? Why don't we sit down? They'll be bringing out food soon." Under her breath, I think I heard her mutter "It'll be impossible to make him do his job if you both go after him…"

Rimuru's 'big sisters' heard it too, and Velzard immediately wrapped him in another hug. "I'm so sorry little baby," she cooed, and I could see Rimuru turn bright red. "We would never cause trouble to your country!"

"You should stop babying that little brat though," Velgrynd added, equally sweet. "I mean Veldora, of course. He can take a little punishment, don't worry."

She looks around for a moment then looks back to Rimuru.

"Where is our misbehaving brother anyway?" Velgrynd asked.

"Ramiris told me he's refusing to leave his room in the labyrinth. Something about needing to rest a few days to recover his power." Rimuru shrugged.

"Oh, so he is sulking then, is he?" Velgrynd giggled.

"Can we please just sit down?" Rimuru asked, smiling through her teeth.

"Of course!" Velzard lets go of Rimuru so she could move to her seat at the head of the largest table.

Isn't that where Rimuru is supposed to sit?

I chalk it up to Rimuru just letting her older sister do what she wants in this case.

Rimuru motions to Grandpa, Opera, and me, gesturing to a few seats near her and we all sit down. Opera didn't sit down, though, and instead stood behind my and Grandpa's seats, scanning the room with his eyes.

I just focus on the food that was soon brought to the table while everyone else struck up conversations. Grandpa seems interested in Masayuki for some reason and kept asking him questions, but I'm not really sure why. Velgrynd seemed to be getting annoyed by this at first until Masayuki reassured her it was fine.

I'm seriously out of my element here, sitting at a table with a bunch of important people who are talking about things that I don't really understand. Rimuru seems to be having fun, though, chatting comfortably with this and that person.

The next thing I know, I'm left alone at the table with just Grandpa and Opera standing nearby. Rimuru's walking around and greeting people we didn't just eat with, but not really knowing many people here, I can't figure out what I'm supposed to be doing.

"Hey kiddo, what're you doin' standing over there all mopey!" A man I don't recognize calls out as he stumbles toward me.

Opera steps forward as if to protect me from this man.

"Oh, you don't need to be all worried about me, man. Imma friend of Rimuru's, you see, and you've got some sort of friendship with him too, don'tcha? You can call me Youm, and despite all this fancy stuff I had to wear to this event, I'm about as normal of a guy as you can be on the inside."

He holds out his hand for me to shake and I hesitantly take it, not wanting to be rude, especially if he personally knows Rimuru, which seems to be the case with everyone here.

"Hi, um…Youm, I'm Iruma." I introduce myself.

"Iruma, huh? Well, it's nice to meetcha! Oh and before you find out from someone else, I'm actually the king of Farmenas, but just like I said, I'm a pretty normal guy. Started off as a commoner, actually, so you don't have to act all stiff around me!"

"King…of Farmenas?"

I don't know what this 'Farmenas' is, but if he's a king, he's acting very casual with me out of nowhere! I think he might be a bit drunk, but still…

"That's right, kid. Now that I've shared a bit about myself, why don't you let me in on exactly how you know the Demon Lord Rimuru? I'm kinda curious about what he's doing with a teenager like you, showing up to the party together and everything."

"Oh yeah…I met Rimuru a few months ago and we've become friends. She helps me a lot since my life can be a bit crazy at times, to be honest."

"Yo, did I just hear you right? She?"

Crap!

"No, no, I said he! I said he!"

"Oh, hahaha, I guess the drink's blurred my hearing a bit too! Sorry about that kid! I thought you mighta slipped since he does look pretty feminine most of the time, at least in human form. The first time I saw him like that I was stunned into silence!"

"Yeah, Rimuru is very pretty," I admit, remembering how I compared Rimuru to a goddess the first time we met. "How'd you end up meeting him?"

"Well, if you're his friend I guess it's fine to tell you." Youm suddenly grinned wide and slung an arm around me, and I froze. "See, I was part of this group of ruffians who were just trying to escape from the shithole we were living in and Rimuru went and hired me and my group to pose as a bunch of champions of humanity. I was pretty skeptical at first, but that slime made it work out, and then the next thing I know, he went and asked me if I'd step up as king of my home country! The stuff that led up to that was pretty complicated and I really shouldn't get into it, though."

"Oh…"

Rambling on, Youm continues. "Dunno why Rimuru thought I would make a good king, was a rough start but surprisingly no one really opposed it, from a common crook to a king. Crazy what happens when you are a friend of Rimuru's."

"Yeah, it's kinda hard to tell what Rimuru is capable of sometimes."

"You don't need to tell me that twice, kid!"

"Yeah, I still remember this one time when Rimuru joked about being able to eat the entire universe, but it was just a joke! I mean, is anyone capable of that?"

"Pfft…to be honest, Rimuru might be. I mean, I gave up on being surprised by his nonsense decades ago, y'know? It seems like that Demon Lord can do whatever he puts his mind to."

Youm's bleary eyes suddenly sharpen as he notices someone far away in the room. I look in the same direction and see a woman with mint green hair staring at Youm with her arms crossed and a stern look on her face.

"Hehe, I gotta go, my woman's lookin' for me." Youm nervously laughs. "Well, nice meeting you, Iruma. You're lucky to know Rimuru, he's a trustworthy guy, I can promise you that."

With that, he hustles away, leaving me puzzled about that entire interaction. It kinda came out of nowhere, but he seems nice.

"You handled that well, Iruma. Rimuru sure has a few odd friends, I've noticed." Grandpa comments.

"No odder than the ones both have made at Babyls, Sir. They both seem to attract that type. That's not a bad thing, of course." Opera added.

"I still think Rimuru's friends are weirder…" I muttered.

I mean, they are all world leaders and stuff, yet some of them act all friendly with a normal kid like me. It makes Rimuru's casual attitude seem less weird given her position as a Demon Lord.

I should go find Rimuru…

I scan the room with my eyes and spot her sitting with a bulky dark-haired man with a beard. He's wearing armor, strangely; a chest plate and those metal shoulder-pad armor things I've seen in manga a few times.

"Like you're one to talk, old man! You sneak out of your country on a monthly basis! Why are you lecturing me over it!?"

"Yes, but you've been gone for longer than I ever have, and as your senior, I must ensure you remain disciplined!"

"Oh, shaddup about that 'senior' stuff! You know that doesn't matter right now!"

Rimuru's been drinking again, I can tell…

The man Rimuru's arguing with seems just as drunk, and I can't help but get nervous about it. They seem to be getting really into it…

"If you have a problem with my seniority, Rimuru, why don't we let our swords do the talking?"

"You wanna duel me, old timer?! If you're sure that's what you want, I'm game! It's been like forever and a year since I've had a worthwhile spar!"

"I sure do, you pipsqueak slime! Let's see if you've kept up with your training!"

"And I'll prove to you that I have! Let's go; I've got a place we can fight where we-...oh, Iruma. Hey there…"

"Wait, Rimuru, you're gonna go fight? Really?"

"Uh…well…"

"Who are you, young man? You seem quite familiar with my junior disciple in the art of the sword. Did you perhaps take on an apprentice, Rimuru?"

"No, not like that, Gazel. This is Iruma, and he's just a friend of mine."

"Hmmm…well, I see no reason not to go through with what we just agreed on. Come, Rimuru, and let us put our skills to the test!"

"Ugh," Rimuru groaned, her feisty attitude quickly draining. "Well, I'd like to, but maybe later tonight. Once we've both sobered up a bit, ideally. I need to do stuff here, besides."

Slamming down a cup, Gazel drunkenly rambles, "Yes, Rimuru, you need to learn to keep your temper in check. As the king of a nation as great as Tempest, you have to set an example for-"

"Shut it, old man!" Rimuru snapped back. Then she and Gazel immediately got back to bickering, their short truce already forgotten.

"Sir, should we intervene in some way?" Opera asked worriedly.

Grandpa responded by walking over and politely interjecting himself into the argument. "I don't mean to overstep my bounds," he said, "but would you like to come to eat with us Rimuru? We haven't paid the dessert table a visit yet."

Rimuru turned her head toward him in surprise, but she didn't look angry. "Oh," she said. "Sure, if you want. We'll talk later Gazel, okay?"

I guess food is always a good way to sway Rimuru. After a few more words and a promise to "test each other's mettle," Rimuru followed us over to the dessert table.