Some time after Milim dropped onto the hill, a few monsters who had only belatedly sensed her magicules, along with Shizue, came rushing over to find Adelio and Rimuru with urgent looks on their faces.
"Teacher! Mr. Slime!"
"Are you all right?!"
"Lady Rimuru! That enormous magicules just now...!"
Milim's absurdly overwhelming magicules were so oppressive that even without any bloodlust or anger behind them, they were more than enough to force the [Kijin] into battle readiness.
'If Milim had come here looking for a fight, every monster in Rimuruber would have noticed those magicules.'
But that wasn't why she had come this time. She wasn't here to fight Rimuru or Adelio.
"Calm down, everyone. Milim didn't come here to fight us."
Stopping the [Kijin], who all looked ready to put a hand on their swords or unleash magic at any moment, Adelio gently peeled Milim off from where she was tilting her head like a puppy against him and watched the monsters' reactions.
"...Mi-Milim...?"
"Milim...? Don't tell me..."
"One of the [Ten Great Demon Lords]... a [Demon Lord] on the level of a [Catastrophe]?!"
As expected.
The moment they recalled the name of Milim, one of the most famous [Demon Lord]s in the world alongside Guy because of her monstrous might, the monsters turned pale and froze where they stood.
Unlike the [True Dragon], who were born as living natural disasters and worshiped as gods, Milim and Guy had reached the same realm as them—or even beyond it—through nothing but their own pure power. To monsters who revered Veldora like a god, they were beings so far above them they could barely be comprehended.
"...She looks very different from the legends, but her magicules and strength really do feel bottomless."
Grrr...
"...Why would one of the strongest [Demon Lord]s come all the way to a place like this...?"
It was a good thing Adelio had already told them she hadn't come to fight. Like Rimuru, these monsters were meeting a [Demon Lord] for the first time, and even while frozen stiff, they couldn't relax.
Instinctively, they understood that if Milim changed her mind and went on a rampage, they would die in an instant like fallen leaves scattered by the wind.
"..."
Before long, all eyes turned toward Adelio, silently asking him to explain what exactly was going on.
"I was just about to explain. It's a bit messy here, so let's head down to the middle of the hill first."
Nodding naturally, he started walking with the monsters.
**
"...So... you came here because you wanted to greet us and also persuade us to join your side?"
"Mm, exactly!"
It didn't take long to explain why Milim had come here.
Milim, who preferred simple lines of thought, answered the monsters' questions honestly and without hiding anything, and Adelio already knew what she was after, so he was able to explain it clearly a second time.
"Like Treyni said when she first appeared, Clayman was involved in what happened with the [Orc Lord], not just the clowns. Through Clayman, Milim must have seen us defeating the [Orc]s, right?"
"Mm!"
"And after watching us take down the [Orc Lord], you took a liking to Rimuru and the monsters here, so you came to recruit them to the side of the [Demon Lord]s."
"Mm-hm! Exactly!"
Milim kept nodding at Adelio's neatly summarized explanation, and once he finished, she looked back and forth between him and Rimuru before continuing.
"If they are Adelio's companions, then they are also the companions of me, one of the [Ten Great Demon Lords]! That is why, just this once, I have personally come to grant them the chance to become a [Demon Lord]!"
Planting both hands on her hips and puffing out her chest confidently, Milim wore an arrogant smile as if the possibility of Rimuru refusing had never even crossed her mind.
But—
"...No, I don't really have any interest in becoming a [Demon Lord]..."
—there was no way Rimuru, who already felt burdened enough just by becoming the ruler of the great forest, would want to become a [Demon Lord].
"W-what?!"
Milim gaped in disbelief, looking so shocked it practically came with a thud sound effect, then quickly raised her voice as if demanding to know what Rimuru even meant by that.
"A [Demon Lord] is the dream of all monsters, so how can you reject it so easily?! If you become a [Demon Lord], you can throw your weight around in front of monsters and majin whenever you want, and people will even understand if you loudly shout your finishing move!!"
Milim was clearly very proud of being a [Demon Lord]. Clenching her fists, she urged Rimuru to think it over again and tried her best to persuade her, but...
"...But doesn't that just mean it's embarrassing?"
"...?!?"
...Milim went down in one hit from Rimuru's completely unintentional counterattack.
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