The royal castle of [Dwargo].
After making a secret [Contract] with Rimuru and seeing her off as she returned to Kaijin and the others, Adelio came back to the castle before leaving [Dwargo], intending to meet Gazel one more time.
He meant to help Gazel deal with a few nobles in the royal court who were making absurd complaints about how a [Hero] who had not entered through official channels had suddenly appeared in the courtroom.
Of course, [Dwargo] was a nation famed for the absolute authority of its monarch, so there was no chance a king like Gazel would be pushed around by court nobles who were little more than fledglings. Even so, appearances still mattered.
'Following Rimuru right away wouldn't be a bad idea, but I also need to find those three in [Kingdom of Blumund] first... Better to settle this side of things before that.'
Thinking that over as he recalled the conversation he had shared with Rimuru before sunset, Adelio turned his head toward the checkpoint.
The towering walls blocked his view beyond them, but for some reason, he felt that by now she would be over there with Kaijin and the others.
"......"
'If that fortune-telling about her fated one was really accurate... then she should be able to handle a slight 'change' somehow.'
Rimuru thought the divination used by the [Elf] at [Night Butterfly] merely identified a future lover, but the truth was more complicated than that.
The fated one shown by that reading did not simply reveal the person who would become your future lover. It also pointed to the person with whom your life would be most deeply intertwined for the longest time.
In other words, because Shizue's fate—the one most deeply tied to Rimuru's connections—had changed, some new change connected to Adelio had also appeared in Rimuru's own destiny.
And whether that change would lead in a good direction or a bad one... only the laws of the [World], created by the [Creator God], would know.
*
At the top of the royal castle.
"You really have been worrying over a truly monstrous slime."
When Adelio arrived at the very top, where Gazel's office was located, Gazel spoke in disbelief while stamping documents. Adelio answered with a similarly incredulous smile.
"That goes both ways, doesn't it? I came to help, but... looks like there was no need for me to step in at all."
As expected of a seasoned king, by the time Adelio had reached the castle, many of the court nobles had already failed to refute Gazel's words and authority, and were hanging their heads with bitter expressions.
And Vester's relatives, who had been making a racket as if mounting one last stand, clamped their mouths shut the moment Adelio appeared and fled at once like herbivores spotting a predator.
True to the name Adventure King, he had shattered every objection from those shameless bats through sheer natural charisma alone.
"...Do not try to change the subject. That slime called Rimuru Tempest is unquestionably a being blessed by the [Storm Dragon]."
Letting out a long sigh, Gazel Dwargo released a golden magic power as steadfast and solid as rock.
As the grandson of the first emperor, the Adventure King, [Gran Dwargo], and the heir to his talent in full, Gazel had noticed the trace of Veldora sleeping inside Rimuru from the very first moment he saw her.
"...Even though you could not possibly have failed to notice that fact, you chose not to kill her. That means there must be a reason beyond my place to question, so I will say nothing about it. However, others will not see it that way."
Gazel had ordered the covert operatives led by his closest assassin, Henrietta, to investigate the fact that Rimuru had helped Kaijin's group and possessed Full Potions. He did not wish to make an enemy of her, but neither could he simply stand by and watch the return of the [Storm Dragon].
No matter what the monsters who worshiped him might say, and no matter what the monsters who feared him might say, [Catastrophe] was without question humanity's worst disaster.
"It may be fine for now, but someday, one of the great powers will make its move."
"...Yeah. I know."
Adelio knew exactly what Gazel was worried about.
The reason he had not said humanity, but only great powers, was because there was only one nation strong enough to halfheartedly think of opposing Rimuru while she had the backing of both Veldora and Adelio.
A foolish great power that was not as shrewd as the [Eastern Empire], not as composed as [Sarion], and not as steadfast as [Ruberios]—
'—the Kingdom of Falmuth.'
A country of nobles rotten with greed.
"Since she is one blessed by both you and the [Storm Dragon], most nations would not even dare speak of attacking her. But a foolish leader remains foolish forever."
Even if generations changed, the roots of a giant tree that had already rotted through would never truly change.
With its many branches, it might bend toward a somewhat different path, but in the end, all that remained was the same result: rot, in one form or another.
If anything, it might rot even deeper than the generation before it.
"That is why we of [Dwargo] intend to treat her favorably through Kaijin and the Garm brothers, who have now left for foreign lands."
"...Oh?"
Some might criticize Gazel's decision as little more than a gamble left to luck, but Adelio saw it differently.
"The fact that you're telling me this directly means—"
"—Yes, I have already decided. If she can create Full Potions that even [Dwargo]'s technology could not perfect, and if she is a monster worthy of this much concern from you, then she is more than worth investing in from our side."
Unlike in the novel, Gazel had not exiled Kaijin and the three [Dwarf] brothers, which meant he could maintain his ties with them. That gave him far more room to choose.
And because of that, he was now able to choose the best possible path.
A road that would let him speak as an equal with the powerful beings destined to stand at the summit of this world,
the road where honor and power would come pouring in.
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