“There is nothing to fear. Sir Rimuru is a fair, generous leader, one who says he will treat everyone in his domain as equal. Please, feel free to share a few words with him,” intoned Rigurd.
The representative finally held his head up. He was young and fairly handsome, but there were deep rings under his eyes. Out of overwork or nervousness?
“O—O great demon lord Rimuru, please accept the sincere loyalty of the rabbitfolk…”
I gave him a firm nod. It seemed to relieve the guy. I could practically see a literal weight lift from his shoulders.
“See?” Rigurd beamed. “I told you. There is no need to be nervous!”
“Ha…ha-ha…! Um, I’ve actually brought my daughter along, but she got so restless once we entered town, I’m afraid I’ve lost sight of her…”
“Ha-ha-ha! Yes, the whole town’s in a festival frenzy right now. I can imagine a young girl would let her curiosity get the best of her!”
“Ah, this is so embarrassing… I let her out of my sight for a single moment, and she runs away to who knows where. I had wanted to leave her behind in the village, lest she offend Lord Rimuru, but she insisted…”
This leader must’ve been panicking about his daughter causing some kind of ruckus in town. So all those nerves weren’t just from being in awe of me? That’s good to know. I didn’t want the weaker races any more scared of me than they already were. But a young rabbitfolk girl, huh…? A pretty lass with rabbit ears would be a sight to see, I bet. Hopefully I’d get a chance.
As I thought over it, I began speaking a bit more honestly than I perhaps should have.
“If she’s that curious, then she must be taking in all the trends and different things around here, isn’t she? I bet she’ll make a wonderfully reliable successor to you.”
The direct compliment from me visibly moved the leader.
“Such…such kind words, my lord! If I have the chance, I would be delighted to introduce my daughter Framea to you.”
He bowed to me. It seemed like we had broken the ice a little. Rigurd then briefed him on political matters a bit, and they agreed on the spot that the rabbitfolk were officially part of my domain. He bowed several times again before finally leaving the altar. Hopefully, I thought as the next visitor was brought to me, this’ll show people that I’m not such a scary guy.
This visitor kneeled before me, turning an eye toward the other monsters seeking an audience. I knew this guy—it was Abil, Gabil’s father and chief of the lizardmen. Seeing him reminded me of the good old days—or it would have, if he didn’t look virtually like another person by now. He had transformed into a square-jawed warrior in the prime of his life. Giving him a name must’ve evolved him to this point—to a dragonewt, one far closer to humanoid than before. Gabil sure didn’t change that much, but Soka had gone almost entirely human, so maybe it depended on what the individual wanted.
“It has been far too long since we last spoke, Sir Rimuru. It pleases me greatly that you have risen to demon lord, er, the status of demon lord, and all of us er, are…”
Abil was acting oddly stiff. He was probably more on the “worship” side of matters. Gabil himself said demon lords weren’t that worth freaking out about. He already should’ve known what I was like, so why all the nerves?
I tried to be informal with my response. “Hey, Chief. Good to see you again. No need for the formalities here. We’re all part of the same federation, right? Keep up the good work.”
Benimaru snickered, and Shuna sighed at me, but I didn’t care.
“It is not that simple, Sir Rimuru. As a demon lord, you have grown into something extraordinary. You are not only our lord, but the de facto ruler of the entire Forest of Jura…”
As always, Abil was too serious for his own good. But that’s what I liked about him.
“All right, all right. There aren’t any other races in this chamber we’re in right now. You don’t have to be all nervous. Your son, Gabil, is working hard under my leadership. He’s become a full-fledged part of my administration. I couldn’t have done this without him.”
I decided to name-drop Gabil to ease the tension a bit, reminding Abil of his son and indirectly hinting that he ought to let him back into the family already.
“Ah, there is no fazing you, Sir Rimuru. So that no-good son of mine has been of service to you? He’s such an incorrigible fool, so…”
He must’ve noticed my intentions. The fact of the matter was, Gabil had still been kicked out of Abil’s family, so he must’ve thought it improper to ask how his son was doing without some kind of prompting. Now that I brought him up, that wasn’t an issue. I could already see his usual bold attitude coming back.
“Incorrigible? Hardly! I’m having him lead our research and development department, and he’s doing an excellent job for me. Aren’t you, Gabil?”
“Wha? Ah—yes !!”
Gabil, meanwhile, was frozen solid through all this, blushing all the way back to his ears, and when he was suddenly expected to join the conversation, his voice cracked.
“That stupid kid of mine…”
As Gabil continued to work himself into a panic, I unleashed just a little bit of Lord’s Ambition. That was enough to turn everyone’s attention back to me.
“Abil, chief of the lizardmen… Though I may be demon lord, I request your continued support as a member of my federation.”
“It shall be done! By the name you’ve given me, I will never forget my allegiance to you!”
He bowed down, head nodding deeply at me. He was the classic noble warrior, and he looked the part, even in this strictly formal setting. I nodded back,
