Once Rimuru obtained a body, it felt as though everything started moving quickly again.
Between teaching Benimaru and Shion, training the fifty troops the [Ogre] village had decided to send after hearing the envoys' report, and expanding the [Goblin] village even further, the past month had passed in what felt like the blink of an eye to Adelio.
There was also the fact that Rimuru had become completely absorbed in eating after regaining her sense of taste, which meant Adelio, who was technically a guest, ended up taking on several times more work than before.
"I don't mind helping little by little... but at the very least, shouldn't you be the one managing the faction you built instead of leaving it to a guest?"
"...I-I'll get a grip and do better from now on...!"
He understood why she was happy to have her sense of taste back, but she really had gotten a little too carried away by her appetite.
To be honest, Adelio felt like he should have lectured her a bit more, but there were still other matters to deal with, so he had no choice but to back off halfway by force.
Namely—
"What?! You're telling us to go back already?!"
"It hasn't even been a full month yet!"
"She's right!"
—these three adventurers.
For people who had once complained that monsters had unstable living conditions, Kabal, Gido, and Eryun had somehow grown close to the [Hobgoblin]s in no time at all. They practically looked ready to grab Adelio by the legs as they begged to stay on this mission a little longer—or rather, this vacation disguised as a mission.
After spending nearly a month eating, resting, and taking it easy, it should have been about time for them to head back to Blumund, but Eryun's party stubbornly insisted that this much still wasn't enough to make up for all the hardship they had suffered so far.
"It's good that they've gotten close to the monsters, but staying here any longer won't do them any favors."
Figuring that simple logic would be wasted on them in their current excited state, Adelio pulled out the last card he had been saving and informed the three of them that a war with the [Orc]s would soon break out.
"No matter that they're originally human, they're still [Magius]. They probably won't want to get directly involved in a war between monsters."
Adelio expected that if Kabal and Gido put Eryun's safety first, they would naturally choose to flee this place before the war began.
And that prediction—
"We'll return immediately!"
"We'll explain things properly to the [Guild Master]!"
"We wish you good fortune in battle!"
—ended with the three adventurers making a frantic retreat.
"......"
Well, calling it a frantic retreat was a bit much. For ordinary people, it was the obvious choice.
It wasn't ten or twenty thousand. A full two hundred thousand monsters were preparing to wage war. It would have been stranger not to panic and run.
"Of course, there isn't exactly anyone normal around here."
Letting out a dry laugh, Adelio watched Eryun, Kabal, and Gido wave from the distance as they left. Once he confirmed that the three had gone far enough to vanish from sight, he turned to Shizue and Ria, who had been seeing them off beside him.
Meanwhile, Rimuru, the [Kijin], and the [Goblin]s had already said their farewells earlier and were busy preparing for the coming war.
"Shizu, you should go prepare with Rimuru's group now too. I've said it several times already, but this stage matters more to you than it does to Ria or me."
There was no chance Shizue would lose—or even get hurt—but if they were going to coordinate an attack against the Orc Lord, it was better to work out their teamwork in advance.
If Shizue accidentally ended up cutting down the Orc Lord in Rimuru's place, that would create problems of its own.
And Shizue, instantly understanding Adelio's concern, nodded with a bright smile.
"Yes, I know."
Adding that she somehow seemed to work well with Rimuru, she gave a light wave and headed toward the hill where Rimuru was waiting.
"Luckily, it seems Shizu likes her."
Ria drew Adelio's right arm into her embrace and smiled faintly.
As if she had been waiting for the chance to be alone with him, she let her red eyes gleam and spoke quietly.
"I'm still a little suspicious of her, though."
"Suspicious? ...Of Rimuru?"
"Yeah. Sometimes the way she looks at you and me feels strange. It kind of reminds me of Viole and Jonne."
Ria had mellowed somewhat after spending three hundred years in the middle world instead of hell, but that didn't mean those experiences had vanished.
If anything, after coming up to the middle world and observing humans who were more wicked and suspicious than demons, her eye for judging people had only sharpened.
"I don't want to doubt a monster you trust for no reason, but I'm sure there's something suspicious about her."
It was only because Ria trusted Adelio completely that things had gone this far. If she had been even a little more suspicious of Rimuru, she might have noticed the jealousy and sense of possessive greed hidden inside her.
But Adelio, still unaware of any of that, only laughed.
"Haha, aren't you worrying too much? It's true Rimuru isn't an ordinary monster, but I don't think she's the kind of dangerous monster you need to be this concerned about."
Placing his hand over the one wrapped around his arm, Adelio gently reassured her.
"If something serious really does happen because of Rimuru, then I'll take responsibility for it."
It had been Adelio who suggested accepting Rimuru as an ally in the first place, so he meant it when he said he would take responsibility no matter what.
Ria stared at him for a moment, then put on a pout and teased him playfully.
"Oh? You said that before too, and then Rain and Misery gave you plenty of trouble, didn't they? Hai-ro."
"!"
It had been a long time since his lover had called him by that old nickname, and Adelio felt his face heat up at once.
It wasn't even an especially embarrassing nickname, but whenever Ria called him that, it brought back memories of the days they had spent together in hell.
"Th-that... shouldn't they count as exceptions...?"
"Oh? So those two are exceptions?"
"N-no, that's not what I—..."
......
After that, Adelio had to spend quite a while dealing with his lover, who had clearly developed a taste for teasing him as usual.
"...The [Goblin] village, hm."
And while that was happening—
—the [Lizardmen], who would be the first to clash with the [Orc]s, were steadily drawing closer to Adelio and Rimuru.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register