Treyni was being far too optimistic. If Ramiris wasn’t involved, Treyni was a capable woman of action, but there was no counting on her now. So since the other two people in the room weren’t using their brains, he tried to find a good way to navigate this. After all, he wouldn’t mind living alongside Rimuru, either.
I suppose that’s why I find even a situation as ridiculous as this exciting…
And it was a lucky thing he had a mask on, because under it was a smile almost childish in its glee.
After I saw Gob’emon go, I headed back to Tempest. I had been using Dominate Space to travel as of late, which allowed me to instantly transport myself to anywhere I had visited before. It consumed a nontrivial amount of magicules, but it was fairly trivial for me considering the energy I had to work with. I was free to use it as much as I wanted now, which made travel pretty simple—although I still tried to regulate my use, since I’d look so lame if I abused it and went into sleep mode as a result.
The moment I was back, Ranga sent me a Thought Communication.
(Master, Gobkyuu and the craftsmen have gathered at the western gate. However…)
He didn’t finish the sentence. What happened? Concerned, I headed for the gate, using Dominate Space despite promising myself to lay off a moment ago. Activating Universal Detect to gain a broader vantage point than what my eyes could give me, I spotted Ranga at the site—and if my destination was within sight, Dominate Space made it easy to rush over. Just a matter of changing my coordinates, really. Really convenient, but kind of hard to use in battle, since it takes a little time to set off. I’m always scared of leaving myself open like that. Besides, I’m trying to conserve it, remember?
This, on the other hand, was an emergency, so I reappeared right next to Ranga. We were outside the west gate, and immediately I spotted Gobkyuu arguing with someone. Universal Detect already told me who it was.
“No, you see, like I just said, we’re officially taking over this place!”
Oh no…
I took cover, listening in on the conversation.
“I know what you said, ma’am, but we can’t really accept that, do you understand? I’m going to ask Sir Rimuru now, so if you could just wait here and keep quiet for a little while—”
“No! We’ve already abandoned our previous labyrinth to come here! Are you going to kick out a poor, homeless woman with no place else to go?”
“N-no ma’am, I… This area is officially the territory of the demon lord Rimuru, you see, so you will need to obtain his permission first—”
“Pfft! Can’t sob story my way in, eh? In that case, I’ll have to resort to force. If you keep nitpicking every little thing, you know Beretta here isn’t gonna take that lying down— Ahhh!”
I couldn’t stand any more of it, so I sneaked up to the problem child in front of me and captured her in my hands. Taking a look at her, I confirmed it was Ramiris.
“What are you doing?”
“Um… Hey there, Rimuru! How’s it going?”
She was avoiding eye contact, clearly understanding she was in big trouble. Whatever she was up to, the small hut behind us clearly had to do with it. Ramiris was claiming the structure as her territory—she had to be hiding something inside. But how did she even bring it over here?
“Lady Ramiris! I’ve brought over some new wood!”
The riddle was solved by Treyni, coming over with an armload of wooden beams.
“Um, Treyni, what’re you up to?”
“Ah! Um, Sir Rimuru! I trust all is…well?”
She froze the moment she saw me. Did it not occur to her that building a hut right in front of the town gate might get spotted pretty fast?
“Can I ask what’s going on, Treyni?”
“W-well, this… It’s not what it looks like. L-Lady Ramiris did nothing wrong, um…”
The Treyni I knew always had this air of authority. Serving Ramiris had completely torn that apart. Like master, like servant, I guess. The only person here who could guide me through matters was likely Beretta, who was currently kneeling before me.
“Beretta, explain.”
“It always has to be me, doesn’t it…?”
Resigned to his fate, he relented.
It all began, he said, with something Ramiris told him.
“Beretta, you traitor!!” Ramiris shouted, freed from the prison of my hands, but I ignored her.
According to Beretta, Ramiris absolutely insisted on moving to my town, with Treyni in full agreement. I glanced at Treyni; she was staring into space and looking supremely awkward. Apparently, she spoiled Ramiris at all times, which I could see from the last time we met, so I believed it. Neither she nor Beretta would dare defy this lady, so they were all but forced into this would-be invasion of my land.
“And also, as Lady Ramiris stated, we came here after sealing off the entryway to the labyrinth we called home before.”
“Right! Exactly! So come on! If you kick us out, we’ll be homeless, Rimuruuuuu!”
She tried to sound as forlorn as possible, despite this being entirely her own doing. “Oh, poor, poor Lady Ramiris,” I heard Treyni lament. Please don’t keep encouraging her…
Either way, though, now I knew the situation. This wasn’t Gobkyuu’s fault at all—it was all on Ramiris and her servants.
“Sorry you went through that, Gobkyuu.”
“No, no, we were fine, but the gate guards had the worst of it…”
He eyed a nearby hobgoblin by the gate, sleeping soundly.
“…Um.”
“Yeahhh, uh, sorry. I got a little excited…”
“That wasn’t Lady Ramiris’s fault! That guard was saying terrible things to her, so I used magic to put him to sleep for a little while.”
What had gotten into Treyni’s mind anyway? She really did cast a spell, I presume for Ramiris’s sake. No wonder Beretta looked so guilty at the moment.
I would listen to Ramiris’s and Treyni’s excuses later. I wanted to learn more from Beretta, but he didn’t
