One month.
After Vester and the [Lizardmen] came under Rimuru's command, a whole month passed in the blink of an eye.
"Lord Adelio! Lord Rimuru! Look! I've already succeeded in cultivating Hipokte herbs!"
The [Lizardmen], who had received new names from Rimuru, evolved into [dragonewts]. Among them, Gabiru's younger sister, Souka, who had changed into a form closer to a human, along with her followers, became Souei's subordinates by their own request.
And Gabiru, along with the followers who had come with him, was put in charge of mass-producing and cultivating Hipokte herbs in the cave where Veldora had been sealed, working together with Vester based on their experience living in the natural caverns of the marshlands.
"...That's just a weed."
Of course, they had run into quite a few problems along the way, which caused no small amount of trouble, but after repeating the process for about a month, things seemed to have settled into place, more or less.
It just got buried under his tendency to let enthusiasm run ahead of everything else, but Gabiru and his followers were capable in their own way, with talent to back it up.
"At least he's as persistent as he is enthusiastic."
Watching them gradually grow accustomed to life in [Tempest] at a steady pace, Adelio gave a wry smile and started walking again.
*
The forest of the [Trents], near the dwelling place of the [Dryad].
As a lower species, the [Trents], who lived under the protection of the [Dryad], the caretakers of the forest, also protected weaker races unsuited to the law of the jungle and lived in symbiosis with them.
Just as the [Dryad] punished those who disturbed the order of the forest, the [Trents] maintained their own order in their own way.
"...Hey, Adelio. Why did you suddenly want to come here?"
Until a few hours ago, Rimuru had been checking with Adelio to see whether the [dragonewts] and Vester had adjusted well to [Tempest]. Now she looked at him with open confusion after he had suddenly brought her to the forest of the [Trents].
She already knew what kind of place this was from what Treyni had told her, but with the small uproar caused by the revelation of his true identity, this wasn't exactly somewhere they needed to visit right now.
However—
"If you wait just a little longer, you'll find out."
For Adelio, now was the perfect time to come to this forest.
At a glance, this place looked like land inhabited only by monsters too weak to protect themselves alone, but hidden inside were not one, but two monsters from the [otherworld] with potential comparable to a top-rank demon.
'Looking at it this way, Gelmud really was unlucky. If he'd tried to make that one a [Demon Lord] instead of the [Orc Lord], he really could've brought the eleventh [Demon Lord] into existence.'
Adelio thought of a certain monster, one that could treat even an [Orc Lord]—a being said to appear only once in a hundred years thanks to carrying the bloodline of the [Insect Kaiser], a lineage equal to or greater than even the [True Dragon] race at the summit of monsters—as nothing more than a mere creature. Feeling his heart leap with anticipation, he scattered his magic power across the entire forest.
'Normally, I would've only found them after a [Blade Tiger] attacked, but there's no need for that now.'
Fwoooosh...!
Drawing out not only [the body of a saint] but all of his demonic magic as well, he seized control of the entire forest in an instant and immediately found two life-forms whose magic power was utterly opposed to that of a demon.
"...There."
Rustle...
Before long, Adelio also succeeded in locating the magic power of a [Blade Tiger], not far away, which had sensed those same two presences. He drew [Black Star of Domination], which had been quietly humming at his waist.
"Rimuru, you can feel the magic power in the forest right in front of us too, can't you?"
"Yeah. Two... no, about three?"
"Two of them are exactly why we came here. They're the kind you could make into new retainers."
"...Huh? Out of those three?"
He was saying they had come to take two of the three, even though none of them possessed magic power on the level of a [Dryad], let alone a [dragonewt]. Rimuru tilted her head, unable to understand his intent, but soon accepted it for the time being.
Tap!
The moment Rimuru answered, Adelio wrapped his body in magic power and shot into the forest. At the same time, he thrust [Black Star of Domination] straight at the head of the [Blade Tiger] that was leaping toward its prey.
"Grrr?!"
The [Blade Tiger], which had jumped into the air completely exposed without even realizing there were other predators nearby—
Crunch...!
—died instantly, its head pierced through along with the brief sound of a blade cutting into flesh.
And then—
[......!]
The two insects, resembling a giant stag beetle and a bee, who had been fleeing from the nearby [Blade Tiger], widened their jewel-like eyes in shock.
"......"
'They're cuter than I expected.'
Their race was [Insect].
In childhood, they were no different from ordinary insect-type monsters, but as they matured into humanoid forms, they became top-tier monsters capable of being the natural nemesis of demons.
And among them, the stag beetle-like [Insect] was none other than Zegion, the strongest [Insecter], who would one day become one of Rimuru's three wings and be reborn as the absolute ruler of the [Labyrinth].
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register