A portal was opened in the main street of Tempest, the surrounding people were taken back by this sudden appearance and made a few jump from shock
Out from the portal came Kaijuno and Diablo which put the bystanders at ease knowing it was just one of the nation's rulers instead of a sudden invading force
It was only the pair as the demoness trio and subordinate demons have yet to obtain physical bodies to freely traverse in the Cardinal World so they were temporarily left behind until their vessels are prepared
As for the meantime, Kaijuno was immediately suprised by the site before him. He knew they were gonna be in front of town hall but he was expecting a big building that is a few stories tall but instead was an exceedingly large construct that resembles a small castle. It completely towered the previous design as it was definitely more than a few stories
Kaijuno had been busy in the demon realm and only came back recently for the expedition so he wasn't around during the construction process and the construction workers of Tempest are fast
Diablo payed no mind to this and casually walked in, frantically followed by Kaijuno. Kaijuno was in awe at the size of the place, it made the previous design look modest in comparison. Diablo walked directly to where Rimurur's office would be, he didn't bother asking where it is, it's like he has some sort of Rimuru anything detection. Kaijuno meanwhile was exploring the new place. While it used to he full of hallways, offices, and meeting rooms, now there were room for other environments like cafeterias and break rooms where people could play on the pool table or arcade machines, it was truly an upgrade
Kaijuno was strolling around aimlessly until he ran into Cameilla who was suprised by her master's reappearance
"So you're officially back now?"
"Yeah, everything I need to do in the demon has been done, I think Diablo is filling in on details with Rimuru so I'm just wandering around since I see things have changed . . . by a lot"
"Yeah, we have finished this redesign only recently. Speaking of recent, we have a special guest that has came by who is apparently acquainted with you"
Kaijuno wasn't sure who she meant by acquainted but whoever it was didn't seem to have left a good impression on her. Curious to see who this guest was, Kaijuno followed Cameilla to one of the guest rooms to whoever this is.
He arrived to the room to who he met up with was none other than Dino. A fallen angel just sleeping on the couch with a tray only holding crumbs. A Cameilla was not pleased with the sight but Kaijuno decided he'll deal with this slothful angel himself. The pink hair oni took her leave as Kaijuno sat on the opposing couch in front of Dino.
With a loud echoing of a fake throat clearing, the sleeping ruler awakened from his nap. Half awake as he was abruptly woken up, it took a moment to recognized who was now in the room with him. But once he knew Kaijuno was in front of him, he started acting like they were old friend
"Hey Newbie! What's-"
"Dagruel kicked you out"
Kaijuno wasn't in the mood Dino's nonsense would rather cut this interaction as short as possible
"How!?"
"You two were clearly in a strained position when I visited, also you're somehow giving a major sense of desperation. So you need a new place to crash right?"
"Y-yeah! Since I got kicked, I got nowhere else to live in so I figured I can stay here"
Kaijuno looked at this neet with an expression that was obviously saying is this guy serious.
"Uh huh, but why would I want you living here?"
"Cmon! As a Newbie, shouldn't you be looking out for your Seniors"
The disinterested Kaijuno now holds a smile that stretched out to the edge of his cheeks with eyes that didn't show any joy
Dino pressed the Newbie button, he really shouldn't have pressed the Newbie button. Especially since Dino was at his mercy unlike the other demon lords
Kaijuno immediately changed to a neutral expression as to not give Dino any ideas.
"Aren't you referred to as the Sleeping Ruler? Wouldn't you have a place to rule over?"
"Well . . . I'm not one to stay in a single place for too long"
"Oh really? Tell me, how long were you living in Dagruel's place?"
" . . . 60,000 years"
"Right , well I'm no charity so if you're just gonna be a lazy coach potato then I'd rather you show yourself out
"Wait wait wait! I brought a letter from Guy!"
Dino frantically pulled out an envelope and handed it over to Kaijuno who already knew what the contents were. He briefly looked at what it was written just confirm what he already knew what Guy was write in it to then ripping the paper in half which shocked Dino
"I enrage Guy all the time, nothing is making this situation unique. If you're just gonna be an inconvenience to me, then you'd best be on your way"
Kaijuno casually began to walk towards the door only for desperately jump and clung to Kaijuno's legs with any sense of pride completely washed over
"Please please please! I need a place to stay! I don't wanna be eating out of trash in the alleys! I'll do anything I swear!"
Kaijuno wasn't facing Dino as he now held a disturbingly mischievous expression that shows his little trap has worked. He slowly looked down on the clinging Dino with only a small smile showing
"Anything you say?"
"Yes yes! Anything!"
Kaijuno walked back to the middle table there he placed a large stack of papers, much to Dino's confusion
"If you really want to live here, then first you'll need to sign all of these papers"
Dino was astonished by the excessive amount that he would need to write on. In reality this was an unnecessary amount of papers, infact all but the top had any writing but it was just nonsense that used a lot of complex and formal words just to appear more serious than it actually is
Kaijuno used his thought acceleration and changed his focus internally
"Hey Yagami, could you write up a contract that gives me a lot of advantages over Dino?"
"Negative, I see no need to do it for you"
"What!? Why not!? It can't be that difficult for you to do for me"
"Answer, you proclaimed yourself to be a scholar, so it can't be that difficult to you to for yourself"
Kaijuno decided to try to write up his own contract in his mind while Yagami went back to their project to which the said project expressed their astonishment
"Is that seriously how he acts!?"
"Notice, reorganization number 52 shall proceed"
A storm of screams erupted from the void within Kaijuno was too busy writing up a contract to notice
Kaijuno wrote up a 2 page contract, the front page was more generic and suggested that Dino would work in return for a wage and living arrangement. The second page was what included Kaijuno's personal demands that he hid from the first page which roughly included
To serve every command that Kaijuno gives
Wages will be discussed Rimuru Tempest
Dino's demon lord status will be irrelevant as an employee
Kaijuno must be not be referred to as "Newbie" instead in honorifics such as Kaijuno-Sama, Sir Kaijuno, King of the Monsters, etc
That last part was especially intentional out of petty spite. Kaijuno pulled out the 2 page contract and placed it on the table next to the stack of papers and suggested Dino just sign that one instead. Turns out Kaijuno didn't even need to hide the details in the second page as Dino went ahead and signed it without even looking over the first page, seems he was lazy not only in body but in mind too
Kaijuno held a cynical smile as Dino was focused on the contract but reverted back to a more plain smile when Dino finished
He copied the signed contract and handed it to Dino to have a copy for himself. This wasn't just on paper but was under the effects of a certain skill, Greed. It was specifically the effects a sub-skill, Greedy Contract which used to be the extra skill Devil's Contract that obtained back at the Western Nations meeting but it was merged into the Unique Skill Greed due to it's compatability with the Unique Skill
"Awesome! Now I have to get going, you see to it about the remaining details with Rimuru, I can get Cameilla to book you an appointment"
Kaijuno sent a thought communication to Cameilla to set up an appointment between Rimuru and Dino for the details of the lazy angel's employment
Kaijuno walked off and headed towards the Labyrinth there he made his way towards the lower floors, all the way down to the 100th Floor so there won't be any adventurers crossing by and the vessels Rimuru had prepared were located there
Although he wouldn't be completely isolated as this was where Veldora and Ramiris reside at as they have their manga collection here so it didn't take long for the two of them to appear
"Hey little bro! You're finally back"
"Finally done from your strange trip?"
"Yeah, it's over now and we can finally enjoy the fruits of this labor.
Out of the blue, Veldora remembered something he has been concerning in regards to Rimuru
"Hey Kaijuno, I've been meaning to ask about something. Rimuru looked a bit bothered by something when they came back from that expedition trip and I heard you were apart of it. Did something happen during that trip?
Kaijuno made an uncomfortable pause only to give a stiffened reply
" . . . Yeah, me and gobta opened up a few traps and awakened a couple of golems. You know how it's been, I do something on a whim . . . and Rimuru doesn't appreciate it"
Veldora almost considered to pry for more details as it clearly was just a case of inconvenience but his Ultimate Skill Faust gave him the idea to go pry the details from gobta instead as Lavandra seemed to be especially furious when they got back
With that brief discomfort out of the way, Kaijuno carried on with summoning his newly recruited demons. Summoning a large magic circle over the floor, the ritual proceeded. Steadily, many demon rose from the summoning circle, tall or small, muscular or slim, an overwhelming number of demons erupted to face their master. Three in particular were in front of the whole crowd, Blanc, Jaune, and Violet who one by one bowed and announced their loyalty to Kaijuno
"I, Blanc hereby offer all of I have in service to you, Kaijuno-Sama"
"I, Violet pledge my all to be of use to you, Kaijuno-Sama"
"I, Jaune shall fulfill all commands that you command me, Kaijuno-Sama"
In unison, all of the primordials and their servants bowed towards Kaijuno. Kaijuno himself brought out his throne that he keeps in his storage space to sit on. This scene, an army of ferocious demons that can wipe out the entire western nations if he gave the command and they're all for him to do as he see fit. All that authority and power as presented, a silent adrenaline was rumbling in his head.
This felt . . . great as hell
The vessels were stored in a large nearby room with layers of many available vessels for the demons to occupy. Kaijuno made sure take note for the three vessels that the demoness will be using. He made sure to remember that the vessels for them were fused with gold in order to create stronger bodies. And sure enough that was the case, when he merged the vessels with gold, the material had changed to orichalcum which delighted the three demoness
There was one fork on the road though. With Kaijuno collecting more demons than the number that Diablo did so in the source material, the overall number of demons that are expected to join Tempest was roughly over a thousand. So there wasn't enough available for all of the demons inhabit, especially since some of the ones that were in production were used to assist the dryads to obtain their own physical bodies. So this was a bit of misfortune for the stray demons that Kaijuno collect along with the soon to he venom and his servants that Diablo recruited on the way back. But Rimuru was the one busy creating these vessels so this will be a them problem
. . . Speaking of them
Cameilla reached out to Kaijuno through thought communication to notify him that Rimuru wants to speak to him in their office. This made the formally excited Kaijuno now feel complete dread. He didn't want to speak to Rimuru but it wouldn't make things better if he ignores them so begrudgingly, he made his way back to the city hall albeit in a leisurely pace.
But eventually he did make it to the door of Rimuru's office. He didn't turn towards the door but kept facing the hallway, contemplating whether or not he should even open the door. Finishing his stall for time, Kaijuno eventually grabbed the knob and opened the door.
There he was met with Rimuru simply sitting on the chair of his desk, not busy with any piles of paper that would be common to see, they were only waiting for him
The door closed behind Kaijuno, now all of the focus was only between the two, neither immediately said anything to the other. There was only a brief silence only then Rimuru finally decided to speak
"Kaijuno . . . I'm sorry"
Kaijuno was genuinely taken aback from this, he was expecting Rimuru to scold them harsher than usual but this time it was them who was apologetic. Kaijuno wasn't sure how to respond to this, what should he be expected to do. But Rimuru continued
"I shouldn't have punched you back then, it was an inappropriate choice to make. I hope you can forgive me"
Rimuru then lowered their head to show their apologetic intentions
Kaijuno was shocked at the sight of Rimuru blatantly bow their head to him in remorse
Kaijuno decided to stop to looking so clueless and finally give a response in hopes to clear the tense air
"Y-yeah . . . I'm sorry as well for going a bit overboard back there.
While both expressed remorse, the atmosphere didn't magically clear up. Even when both try to put it past themselves, there was some sort of lock that kept them in that position
Seeing as they might have concluded what they need to talk about, Kaijuno turned to grab the knob until Rimuru interupted him with only a single word
"Why?"
Kaijuno froze, he thought they could be done with this matter but Rimuru intended to go over more
"Why were you about to attack them?"
This question really made Kaijuno feel cold. He hoped this would go more swimmingly than he had hoped to be but it was beginning to get as confrontational as he dreaded it would be
" . . . The expedition team? They were . . . Just simply in my way. Just poor placing"
"What were they in your way for?"
Now Rimuru went from firm to mildly irritated at Kaijuno dodging what they meant. Kaijuno only turned slightly to the side but he still mostly faced the door and not looking directly at Rimuru, resisting the urge the answer
" . . . To go after Yuuki"
Rimuru put both of their palms on their face, trying to contemplate this
"Why were you even going after Yuuki in the first place?"
Kaijuno was struggling to come up with an answer, he feels like he's cornered with each question
" . . . I could just see it in his eyes, same eyes as clayman, the eyes of a schemer."
" Seriously!? You were actually about to attack them for what was basically a hunch!? Do you have any idea how reckless that was!!!"
Rimuru was now becoming furious at Kaijuno's reason and Kaijuno was becoming upset in return
"You were just about to kill him yourself, I saw how much hell you put him through with that technique. Why are you getting mad at me for finishing the job?"
"That was only when I thought he was too far gone to be saved, once he was out of Mariabelle's control, there was no need to fight him anymore"
"Well so what if I did end up killing him. If anything, it would save us a lot of trouble if he is taken out now than letting him run to cause us more problems later"
"You really thought there would only be benefits to killing Yuuku, you didn't think there could be no consequences from that!?"
Kaijuno was still facing the door but he rolled his eyes when he heard this
"Consequences? Oh really? Then go ahead and tell me, what consequences could have happened from finally getting rid of him"
"For startes, he's the headmaster of the Freedom Association which has an influence over the western nations. If killed not onyl Yuuki but Kagali too, our position in the western council could be put into question and maybe even outright kick Tempest out of the council, ruining all the progress we made.
Then there is the matter for Hinata is a personal friend and a fellow student of Shizu. If we were responsible for his death, it could possibly strain the relationship between Tempest and Luberious as she is the head saint"
Kaijuno almost paused but shook his head instead
"Well so what? I'm sure Luminous won't just drop our diplomatic relationship for the death of someone she's not associated with and I very much doubt the western council would be brave enough to drop us for this, I am a demon lord so they'll twice about it. Demon lords are not exactly known for being individuals of moral higj grounds so this stuff is expected"
Now this confident reply made Rimuru slam their hands on the desk
"God dammit Kaijuno! It doesn't matter if you're a demon lord! You can't just go around doing terrible stuff and then excuse it by using your title as a demon lord like that is actually a valid reason to be an awful person! You gotta need to stop making excuses and get off your high horse!"
Rimuru was even more mad gave Kaijuno an earful but instead of being apologetic, this time was only enraged right back at Rimuru and swiftly turn away from the door looked straight at Rimuru
"Excuses? EXCUSES!? Don't you dare tell me I'm full of excuses when that's all you're making for that smug bastard! You shouldn't be defending him after all that he done to us!"
"What do you mean?"
"Clayman gave that confirmation one of the times I was at his cell. Apparently Yuuki really had a part in encouraging the invasion to happen"
" . . . You didn't tell me why?"
A moment like this would've made Kaijuno freeze as even with the believable cover up, him bring it up in the first place was a slip up but he always already in too deep to care about appealing to Rimuru
" Cause it wouldn't if I did. You're clearly biased for him. He was clearly someone who stabbed you in the back and yet you're going out of your way to defend him. Honestly that stupid bias of yours genuinely piss me off
Let me guess, Oh! He's Japanese, I can't kill a fellow country men and he's another student of Shizu, I don't want to disrespect her memory by killing him. Excuses, excuses, excuses, just dumb excuses for someone who would gladly you use to his benefit and drop you when you become problematic"
Kaijuno scratched his head and abruptly made a decision
"You know what, screw this. I'm done bothering with this stupid conversation"
Kaijuno grabbed the knob but Rimuru had one last thing to say before he left
"Bring up Shizu in stuff like this again, then I'll see to it about taking away that demon lord title that you're obsessed of"
Kaijuno's grip on the door knob tighten to the point that it was crushed. He instantly leaned toward Rimuru's direction with a glare
"Watch it. As far as I and everyone else is concern, we're on equal footing. If you dare take my title away from me . . . then you'll be in for a bad time"
Then with that finishing threat, Kaijuno slammed the door open and aggressively walked down the hall where he passed by Rigurd
"Kaij-"
"If Rimuru ever ask to summon me to their office again, tell them I won't come"
Then Kaijuno continued to walk down the hall while the poor Rigurd was only left concern and confuse
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Prior to the meeting between Kaijuno and Rimuru, Diablo was rambling on about his time in the demon realm while Rimuru was patiently waiting for him to finish while holding an uncomfortable expression which Diablo had noticed
"Whats seemed to be troubling you Rimuru-Sama. If there is any way I could be of assistance, I'll gladly provide"
Rimuru flinched and attempted to brush it off but quickly failed
"Ah it's nothing, nothing . . . Just . . . You wouldn't happen to know how to you should apologize to someone not simply for an accident but more so for something that you did something really terrible and you're not even sure if the other is willingly to accept it"
"It depends, what exactly is it for?"
"Well . . . in the expedition trip I went on recently and by the end of . . . I ended up hitting Kaijuno"
Diablo held back his own emotions in regards to the matter as his master's emotions were the priority in the situation
"I don't . . . It was just . . . it was just the heat of the moment. And he immediately left so I didn't get the chance to say anything"
Rimuru wasn't hiding his regret on the matter while Diablo remained compose as to not bring more concerns for his master and gave an answer a demon could best provide
"If I were to be in a position, I would be specific about what I'm apologizing for and absolutely made it clear what I did was not something I should have done
We also shouldn't hesitate to go over what led to the situation in the first as to establish an understanding and avoid creating this same scenario"
This answer was more out of a logical view as again, this was a demon that sure wasn't a therapist. Rimuru was tapping the desk as they thought it over
"I'll think it, you're dismissed Diablo"
Diablo silently bowed his head and teleport to a room in the labyrinth made for his personal use. With no one and especially Rimuru to view, he finally let out his emotions on the news
He jumped for joy in glee as if he recieved an autograph from his favorite idol. Tears were flowing from his eyes, tears of joy and relief as the one who he admired had punched the one who he loathed
He sang his praises for Rimuru even more over the top than usual. This continued on for the rest the day, not knowing his advice ironically backfired on his master
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Within the depths of Kaijuno's soul, Yagami paused their progress to analyze their current results
While said result was reflecting upon the current matters
"Is he always this much of a brat?"
Yagami gave a hard slap on the head. They were genuinely mad at Kaijuno but they weren't gonna tolerate anyone else giving any disrespect
"OW! Damn it!"
"Negative, it was only a short while ago when his behavior became problematic"
"And this project supposed to be of assistance for that?"
"Answer, analysis of the course based on the source novels and Kaijuno's influence has been predicted for multiple courses to take. Use for you has been confirmed and the set up project #2 has already been made"
"Project #2? What do you mean project #2? You're really saying there's gonna be more like me?"
"Answer, thanks to Kaijuno's agreement with individual Dino, Project #2 will eventually be in development soon"
Project #1 was squinting their eyes in confusion although their current form didn't provide the ability to make this expression but Yagami provide a few bits of Kaijuno's knowledge about Dino. Project #1 looked it over briefly but they need to take long to catch on to what Yagami meant. Now with a horrified tone they were baffled at what Yagami could be trying to pull off
"You're seriously playing God with this idea"
Yagami didn't immediately gave a response and let an eerie pause come through before making their response
"Negative, . . . That's implying I was ever playing Man to begin with"
As if Project #1 wasn't already afraid of Yagami to begin with
Look at that it took less than a month to wrote this one. Yeeeeeaaaaah, things ain't looking good for the two, boy ain't that gonna be quite the problem. Well we're just gonna see how that turns out
Also hopefully we'll get to the Granbelle plot soon. I actually got a few things planned for that
Hope you enjoyed the pain- I mean reading >:)