Luminara had already left.
But as Ren Kuroda stared at the two nuns she had deliberately left behind as "liaisons," his expression twisted with pure, indescribable frustration.
There was a very simple reason for it.
According to the two young nuns themselves, they were already in their twenties. However, since they were vampires, their appearances had long since been fixed in place. Their physical growth had slowed to a crawl.
No—actually, for a long-lived race like vampires, being in their twenties probably didn't even qualify as "grown up" yet.
In other words…
They looked exactly like little girls.
And just like the strange universal rule that many Demon Lords ended up looking like little girls, vampire lolis also seemed to be some kind of default configuration.
Ren could already think of examples he knew.
Like Leticia.
Or Krul Tepes from that other anime he remembered, Seraph of the End.
"…That woman, Luminara," Ren muttered irritably.
"All I did was notice that the pattern on her cute little underwear had cartoon characters on it. I said she didn't seem very much like the so-called 'Lord of Lust,' and asked how old she actually was."
"And for that she's taking revenge on me like this?!"
The two vampire girls had been left behind as official contacts.
But other people clearly didn't see it that way.
If things kept developing like this, Ren suspected the filthy rumor that he was a lolicon would become impossible to wash away—even if he jumped into the Yellow River.
Now, if the topic was personal preferences…
As a man, Ren definitely had them.
But compared to lolis?
He was absolutely a proud member of the "Cao Thief faction."
However, even if he boldly confessed his preferences now, nobody would believe him.
People would just wave it off and say, "No need to explain. We get it."
"So-called 'Cao Thief,' huh? You're into married women?"
"Nope."
"You're into their daughters!"
Ren could already imagine the conversation.
And it made his head hurt.
Ever since Luminara's visit—and especially after she left those two loli vampires behind—the nobles of the Kingdom of Falmuth had started pushing their daughters and granddaughters toward the royal palace more and more frequently.
More than once, Ren had even secretly caught Alice asking Medea whether there was a spell that could restore someone's body to their teenage years…
And even when Ren left the palace grounds, he could clearly feel it.
The way the citizens of Falmuth looked at him was… different now.
There was still the same respect.
The same admiration.
But why was everyone subtly pulling their little girls behind them when they saw him?!
What the hell was that supposed to mean?!
Did they seriously think King Ren Kuroda was some kind of depraved monster driven by lust?!
The citizens of Falmuth, however, had their own logic.
After all, no one in the world was perfect.
Their king was already incredibly amazing.
Having one tiny flaw was completely normal.
Being a lolicon compared to certain degenerate nobles…
Well, okay.
Still a pervert.
But to be fair, His Majesty Ren had never issued any strange royal decrees just to satisfy personal desires.
Because of this constant mental torment—both inside and outside the palace—Ren finally decided he needed to get out and clear his head.
If he had known staying here would damage his majestic reputation this badly, he would've left much earlier.
Ever since becoming one of the Nine Pillar Demon Lords, Ren had received a notification from the System informing him that he could leave this world at any time.
However, this particular journey hadn't been a normal dimensional crossing.
Ren had used a special item called the Designated World Travel Ticket.
Because of that, even after completing the world's main mission, the exact timing of his departure was left entirely up to him.
Back then, Ren hadn't been in a hurry to leave.
He had decided to remain for a while longer and continue training.
But now…
He regretted it.
He had even summoned Nekomata and the Samurai Spirit to this world.
And thanks to the recent rumors, they had started genuinely believing their young lord was a lolicon.
If they returned to their original world carrying that belief…
Ren didn't even want to imagine the consequences.
The dignified image he had worked so hard to build was already shattered.
The title "Lolicon Lord of Yokai" probably wouldn't stay limited to this world either.
Nekomata, Wiz, Medea… if those people started spreading the story in other dimensions…
Ren's reputation would be doomed everywhere.
"…Maybe I should go take a vacation at Rimuru's place," Ren muttered.
"I heard a few days ago that idiot wants to build some kind of underground labyrinth. He even said he wanted me to invest in the project."
With a light step, Ren stomped the air beneath his feet—
Boom!
The compressed air exploded like a shockwave as he launched himself forward.
Sneaking away from the Kingdom of Falmuth—the place currently causing him endless embarrassment—Ren set off toward Rimuru's territory, hoping to relax and find some new entertainment.
Recently, the Tempest Federation had been extremely lively.
Drama after drama seemed to unfold there every day.
First, there was Albis, one of the Three Beastketeers.
After the previous war, she had become completely infatuated with Benimaru. Now she showed up at Tempest every few days without fail.
Then the Tengu clan suddenly appeared in the Jura Forest.
One of them—a girl named Momiji—turned out to be the illegitimate daughter of Hakuro.
Not only that…
She was also Benimaru's fiancée.
Naturally, the resulting love triangle quickly escalated into a full-blown battlefield of jealousy.
Rimuru and the others were having the time of their lives watching the drama unfold.
But Benimaru's romantic chaos wasn't the only entertainment.
The most down-on-her-luck Demon Lord in history—Ramiris—had completely failed to keep her own domain running. With nowhere else to go, she eventually ran to Tempest to seek refuge under Rimuru.
To help Ramiris build a new home—and also to give the constantly bored Ramiris and Veldora something to do so they wouldn't cause trouble everywhere—Rimuru decided to launch a massive project.
A truly massive one.
Previously, during the war with the Western nations, the Tempest Federation had completely annihilated the invading armies.
That victory was also the event that allowed Rimuru to awaken as a True Demon Lord.
At the time, Rimuru and his monster subordinates had felt incredible satisfaction.
But the consequences of that battle had also caused serious problems for the Tempest Federation.
Rimuru's dream had always been simple.
He wanted to create a nation that humans would acknowledge—A country where humans and monsters could coexist peacefully.
And because Rimuru himself was a reincarnator, he had done quite well in pursuing that goal at the beginning.
If Clayman and the Western nations hadn't grown greedy and interfered, the Tempest Federation might have gradually earned the trust of the surrounding human kingdoms.
But after the complete slaughter of the Western armies…
The small amount of trust Tempest had painstakingly built was now completely gone.
Human kingdoms that didn't know the full story now believed only one thing:
Monsters were still monsters.
Cruelty and brutality were simply part of their nature.
Even if they imitated humans and founded their own nation, the moment something displeased them, they would still slaughter humans without hesitation.
Although Rimuru had already established diplomatic relations with the Dwarven Kingdom and the Beast Kingdom of Eurazania, he understood something important.
That alone wasn't enough.
Whether people admitted it or not, the most numerous race in the world was still humanity.
Compared to monster tribes that usually lived in isolated groups, human kingdoms were spread across nearly every corner of the world.
Under Rimuru's rule alone, the Orc race numbered over one hundred thousand.
And considering their reproduction rate, that number was still rapidly increasing.
If Tempest didn't establish trade with human nations, then forget about making the federation more prosperous.
Just feeding that many monsters every day would eventually become a massive problem.
The Underground Labyrinth of Jura Forest was therefore not just a residence for Ramiris.
In Rimuru's grand plan…
It would also serve as the first step toward rebuilding communication and cooperation with humanity.
...
Want to unlock up to 60+ early-access chapters and exclusive novels and NFSW CONTENT ALSO? Join my Patreon today and dive deeper into the adventure!
patreon.com/denji21