In the end, Milim somehow ended up becoming the bosom buddy of both Ren Kuroda and Rimuru.
At first, Ren had wanted to refuse the overly familiar girl's sudden declaration. However, Rimuru quickly stopped him.
After all, the person in question was Demon Lord Milim.
Not only did she look like a child, her personality seemed just as childish. If they rejected her outright… there was a very real chance the entire town might be flattened in the resulting tantrum.
Naturally, when Milim first made her dramatic announcement, both Ren and Rimuru assumed she was simply joking.
But after spending more time with her, they gradually realized something.
Milim was probably genuinely lonely.
And she truly wanted to be their friend.
Despite possessing absurd, overwhelming power, the girl seemed to have very few people she could even talk to in daily life. Feeling a faint sense of sympathy, Ren and Rimuru slowly accepted the idea of Milim as their friend.
Recently, because she had been dazzled by all the strange and fascinating things Rimuru kept introducing to her, Milim had practically taken up permanent residence in Rimuru's town.
Most of the time she was easy to deal with.
As long as there was delicious food around, she could usually be kept happy.
However, there were moments when she became a serious headache for both Ren and Rimuru.
For example, whenever Ren and Rimuru discussed important matters together, Milim would insist on inserting herself into the conversation.
In her mind, if they were all friends, then excluding her from their discussions was simply too sneaky.
The truth, however, was that the topics Ren and Rimuru were discussing were… not exactly appropriate for Milim to hear.
Because the matter they were secretly planning was how to deal with one of the Ten Demon Lords.
Clayman had clearly set his sights on them because of the Orc Demon Lord incident. Sitting around and waiting for him to make the first move would be nothing short of stupidity.
Still, they didn't know what kind of relationship Milim had with Clayman.
After all, they were both members of the Ten Demon Lords.
Discussing how to eliminate one of those Demon Lords right in front of Milim felt… somewhat inappropriate.
But what they hadn't expected was this—
When Milim heard that Ren and Rimuru were planning to deal with Clayman, she became even more excited than they were.
She immediately declared that whether it was Ren or Rimuru, both of them were far stronger than Clayman anyway.
"In fact," she insisted enthusiastically, "either of you would make a much better Demon Lord than him!"
Then she began enthusiastically explaining the advantages of becoming a Demon Lord.
Unfortunately, her ability to organize her thoughts was… questionable.
So the "advantages" she eventually managed to list sounded something like this:
"You get to shout really cool attack names really loudly!"
"And everyone recognizes how awesome you are!"
"Still," Milim added after a moment, "the Ten Demon Lords do have certain agreements."
"We're not allowed to reveal information about each other to outsiders, and private fights between Demon Lords are also forbidden."
"So if you're planning to deal with Clayman, I can't help you directly."
She crossed her arms thoughtfully.
"But with Ren's strength, I'm sure it'll be fine."
"In the current Ten Demon Lords, Clayman is basically at the bottom anyway."
"If Ren became a Demon Lord, he'd easily rank in the top three among the current Demon Lords."
She grinned.
"Honestly, he could probably beat ten Claymans at once without any trouble."
Although Ren had never personally declared himself a Demon Lord, Milim knew the truth perfectly well after fighting him.
Ren possessed the Demon Lord Seed.
And more importantly…
he had already awakened.
If he wanted to become a Demon Lord, it would only require a single declaration from him. He didn't need any recommendation from the current Demon Lords at all.
A monster who had become an Awakened Demon Lord was essentially a king without a crown.
Their status required no recognition from anyone else.
Even if Rimuru wished to become a Demon Lord, with Milim's recommendation—and perhaps one more Demon Lord supporting him—his Demon Lord Seed and current strength would likely be enough for him to claim a seat among the Ten Demon Lords.
Although Milim repeatedly insisted that the agreement prevented her from revealing any information…
her innocent personality made her surprisingly easy to trick.
Through a series of subtle questions and clever wordplay, Ren and Rimuru managed to extract quite a lot of information about Clayman.
From what they learned, Clayman himself was fairly average in terms of personal strength.
However, he commanded a considerable army of Majin subordinates.
If a confrontation broke out, it would very likely escalate into a large-scale war.
Moreover, regardless of how weak Clayman might be compared to the others, he was still technically a member of the Ten Demon Lords.
If Ren and Rimuru attacked him directly, wouldn't that be the same as slapping the entire Ten Demon Lords in the face?
For beings like Demon Lords, reputation was extremely important.
Even if Clayman's relationship with the others wasn't particularly close, the Ten Demon Lords were still a collective entity.
If Ren and Rimuru acted against Clayman without warning, would it provoke the displeasure of the other Demon Lords?
This was exactly what Rimuru was most worried about.
In the worst-case scenario…
he and Ren might end up facing eight Demon Lords at once, excluding Ramiris and Milim.
Ren eventually waved the concern aside.
"Forget it," he said.
"According to Milim, this Clayman guy is the scheming type."
"Leaving someone like that lurking in the shadows is just asking for trouble later."
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"And I doubt there are many Demon Lords as strong as Milim."
"If most of them are around Clayman's level…"
Ren shrugged.
"Then we'll just crush him and be done with it."
After saying that, Ren left the Great Jura Forest.
He arranged a time to return next time—bringing along the army of the Kingdom of Falmuth.
After all, Clayman wasn't some lone wolf.
But neither were they.
Rimuru was the leader of the Great Jura Forest alliance.
And Ren was the King of the Kingdom of Falmuth.
These days, if you didn't have a group of loyal subordinates backing you up…
you could hardly claim to be someone worth taking seriously.
Not long after Ren left the Great Jura Forest, Milim also departed.
Partly because she wanted to visit another of her friends—the Sky Queen, Frey—to show off the new weapon she had just obtained.
And partly because she was eager to share the news that she had made new friends.
When Frey heard Milim mention the names Ren and Rimuru, a faint look of surprise crossed her face.
She then presented Milim with a necklace as a gift.
Milim happily put it on without hesitation.
But the moment the necklace settled around her neck…
the excitement in her eyes vanished.
In an instant, her once-bright gaze turned empty and dull.
After that, Frey used magic to contact someone else.
On the other end of the communication spell sat Clayman, elegantly dressed in a refined gentleman's suit, leisurely holding a glass of red wine.
Frey calmly informed him that she had fulfilled their agreement.
She also relayed the information she had just learned from Milim—
that Rimuru and Ren were planning to take action against him.
Clayman listened to the report without the slightest hint of panic.
Seated comfortably in his chair, swirling the wine in his glass, he looked utterly confident.
After all…
the strongest Demon Lord, Milim, was already under his control.
Whether it was that slime or the so-called Majin…
in Clayman's eyes, they were nothing more than pitiful clowns.
Two ordinary monsters daring to challenge a Demon Lord just because they possessed a little power?
How laughably overconfident.
Of course, while Frey had indeed given Clayman information…
she had only revealed part of the truth.
Certain details were carefully omitted.
For example—
the fact that Ren Kuroda was an Awakened Demon Lord.
And the fact that he possessed the strength to fight Milim head-on.
Not a single word of that had been mentioned.