She shot her steely-eyed paladin a glare. I could see where this misunderstanding came from. No wonder Shizu had been concerned.
“Hey, now,” I said. “C’mon, Hinata, why don’t you try being a bit kinder? That’s not nearly enough explanation for them.”
“I’m sorry, does this involve you?”
Her glare was on me. Clearly, she wanted me to knock it off.
“I kind of think it does, doesn’t it? Because it’d be kind of annoying if you guys started infighting with each other here.”
“I don’t need your concern, thanks. Besides—”
“There is no need to worry,” Arnaud said, cutting her off. “You have fully earned our trust, Lady Hinata!”
“Arnaud is right,” his compatriot Renard echoed. “Good demon lord Rimuru, we are led by Lady Hinata, not Luminus. There is no disagreement that could possibly separate us.”
They might’ve all had their own thoughts about it, but none of that trumped the faith they had in Hinata. Having a trust-based relationship really is the most important thing, isn’t it?
“Well, all right,” I said, nodding.
“Besides, after watching that…” Arnaud pointed up, pausing. I knew what he was getting at. There, in the air above, Luminus and Veldora had just engaged in a battle that was nothing short of breathtaking—as much as I wished they hadn’t. I kept everyone on the ground safe through Uriel’s Absolute Defense skill, but they fought over such a large range, I couldn’t say if there’d be any outside casualties. Anyone who had seen Luminus’s ferocious attack would be just as flummoxed as Arnaud.
Frankly:
“Looking at that battle, I can understand how Lady Hinata was defeated.”
“No, she certainly doesn’t call herself a god for show. If she turned her back on humanity, there’d be nothing we could do about it…”
To the Crusaders, the sight of it was far more convincing than any speech I could have given them.
“Well,” Louis said, “there is no need to concern yourselves about that. Lady Luminus is a generous god. She has no interest in tormenting those under her divine protection. Why else has she proven to be so friendly toward the humans who do not try to defy her? Of course, no one here is allowed to divulge her true identity, but…”
Maintaining confidentiality about the whole demon lord thing was top priority to him. It was Veldora who blew her cover anyway, so I saw no reason not to cooperate with that effort. And the other paladins seemed convinced this was a valid thing to do—mainly because Hinata wanted it, as far as I could tell. They must have loved her a lot more than I thought.
So I didn’t think I had anything to worry about. Which was good. Because in my eyes, Hinata tended to be too terse, too blunt, too easily misunderstood for her own good—
“Were you thinking something rude about me again?”
“Huh? N-no, I wasn’t…”
Does she have ESP or something?! She’s got to be reading my mind…
Incorrect. No influence of that sort detected.
No, Raphael? Then maybe she just has the uncanniest sixth sense ever. Better watch what I’m thinking around her.
At that very moment, he came onto the scene—falling at terminal velocity from the sky, of course, and making a small crater on the ground. He stood right back up, though, none the worse for wear, and ran up to me. It was Veldora, obviously, and now he was sidling up behind me, using me as a shield as he glared up at the sky. Ahead of him, up above, I could see a beautiful silver-haired young woman, a mask of rage on her face as she floated in midair.
“R-Rimuru, give that pigheaded woman a piece of your mind! I’m giving her as generous an apology as I can, but she refuses to listen!”
Uh, yeah… Sure. But can you please stop bringing me into this? Seriously.
This time, at least, it was completely Veldora’s fault. Has it never not been, if you think about it? He hadn’t even been resurrected for that long, and already I felt like he’d been a huge thorn in my side.
I had been watching them, but the method Veldora chose for his apology only served to rile up Luminus. She was trying to put her sword away, and then he went off like “Kwah-ha-ha-ha! I had no bad intentions back then. Call it a youthful mistake and forgive me with your most generous of hearts!” That was easily enough to set her off.
“Bring that lizard here,” she ordered me, in a voice that’d make your hair stand on end, as she glared behind me at Veldora in all his haughtiness. Frankly, I didn’t want to get on Luminus’s bad side over something like this. I knew exactly how she felt. That was no apology at all. Veldora ought to be taught a lesson over this, I thought. So:
“All right.”
Without hesitation, I grabbed Veldora by the neck and presented him to Luminus.
“Gehh?! Rimuru! You’ve betrayed meeeee!!”
At a time like this, it’s important you get your message across. I needed to make sure everything was crystal clear to everyone about this, if I didn’t want Luminus to have any lingering resentments.
She gave me a surprised look, then let out a smile cold enough to freeze blood. “Yes. I am glad to see, Rimuru, that you possess great senses of perception. Unlike that lizard over there.”
“Oh, it’s nothing that great. But I know he’s been a real thorn in your side this time. If you agree to forgive him afterward, you can feel free to rake him over the coals as much as you like.”
Luminus grinned and nodded.
“Mmm. I will give that some thought.”
That seemed to smooth things over with Luminus well enough. Veldora was shouting things like “Wait! Does—does my opinion not matter at all?!” as she dragged him away, but neither she nor I was paying attention.
“Time to let off all the steam I’ve been building up… Embracing Drain!!”
“Gaaagghghhh!!”
It looked like Luminus was giving Veldora a hug, but there was certainly no sweet sentiment behind it. It was really
