Now then, for this species worshipped as the gods of the mountains—
Report. To be more accurate, they are not a species. They are a group born from a single individual, much like the subject Ranga.
Um, sure. Right. Honestly, I don’t really follow it all, but anyway, a bunch of crazy-powerful gods decided to create a bunch of crazy-powerful wolfmen, and then an angel incarnated themself in one, creating a new sentient species. The single individual that led to this species was the tengu elder—the mother of the girl before me. And since creating all these children apparently weakened the elder to the point of powerlessness, this girl was essentially the tengu leader.
This is why it’s more accurate to call this a summit. And not even that fully described how important this meeting was.
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Benimaru had come to the tengu’s domain once. They had been kind to us at times, permitting the migration of high orcs through their territory, but they were also proud, and if I floated the idea of enforcing my rule over the mountains to them, it’d almost certainly result in war.
I, of course, didn’t want that. I didn’t see any need to fight this race revered as mountain gods. Benimaru understood that, so he was on strict instructions to just get their permission to build a highway on their lands between Tempest and Thalion.
“The negotiations went successfully,” Benimaru had said when he later reported back. “Everything went well with them. Not even the tengu can afford to ignore you, Sir Rimuru, so they mentioned plans to come see you sometime.”
The news sounded good, but Benimaru looked exhausted.
“You sure there weren’t any problems?”
“No, not exactly, but…”
He was dodging the question. And Alvis, whom I sent along with him, had seemed off her game—or at the very least, miffed about something—ever since she got back. It seemed like something I was better off not asking about.
So I decided to force it out of Benimaru anyway—in private, over a few drinks, since he didn’t seem interested in telling the rest of our administration about it. The way he described it…
Benimaru had headed over to the tengu’s hidden homeland with Alvis and a dozen or so members of Team Kurenai. The journey over went smoothly, but in front of a cave near the peak of the Khusha Mountains, they were stopped by a young tengu warrior, dressed in white with a katana on his belt. On his back were two white wings, and he also bore a tail and doglike triangular ears.
Based on the refinement of his posture, he was clearly trained in battle, Benimaru thought. Speaking with him, they asked for permission to go through the “barrier” placed within the cave. The warrior agreed but allowed only Benimaru and Alvis to follow him inside.
On the other side, they found a flowery paradise. It was neither hot nor cold, the temperature always pleasant—a beautiful land, befitting the powerful race who called it home. In the courtyard they were taken to, Benimaru was greeted by a beautiful woman—one who looked human, unlike any of the other tengu. Her hair came down to her shoulders, pure white at the roots and fading into a crimson red around her ears. Her small, soft lips were the color of cherry blossoms, but her long, sharp eyes were the eyes of a wolf, watching Benimaru like a beast sizing up its prey.
Benimaru realized he couldn’t let his guard down. The commanding presence she had over the room was reminiscent of the demon lord Carillon—or perhaps even stronger than that.
“My name is Benimaru. I come on behalf of the demon lord Rimuru.”
“Welcome, kind messenger. I am Momiji, daughter of the tengu elder. What brings you to us? Are you aiming to take over this land?” the girl asked with a beguiling smile.
Her words were poison-tipped. Benimaru could tell he wasn’t welcome at all. But he didn’t let that bother him.
“I have no such intentions. What we seek is permission to venture over the Khusha Mountains along the border with the Forest of Jura. And, if possible, we’d like to request permission to dig a tunnel into this mountain.”
“Hmph. No ambitions of a land grab, then? You may pass through the mountains all you like…but what is this tunnel you speak of?” Momiji seemed less than enthusiastic about this conversation, but the word tunnel piqued her interest.
Benimaru didn’t know a great deal about it, either, apart from my vague description of boring a hole into the mountain. In fact, the idea had already been shot down by my team. A tunnel would be the shortest route between Tempest and the Thalion capital, but the highway would only lead to the nearest large town on the Thalion border, so no tunnel was strictly needed. Benimaru knew that, but he wanted to bring up the concept in his negotiations regardless.
“A tunnel involves digging a hole in the mountain to allow passage through to the other side. If you do not wish to permit this, we will not—”
“Wait. Dig a hole in the mountain? Are you quite serious?”
“I am. That’s what the project plan called for. But no tunnel is necessary for the route we have now, so I only wanted to ask in case it does become necessary in the future. If you don’t like it, I will not force the question.”
To a race who treats the mountains as divinity, digging a hole through one was seen as anathema.
“That is very ill-advised. You are free to let a slime become a demon lord, but as long as you do not interfere with us, I see no harm. I am even willing to shut my eyes to that slavering half-snake you’ve brought along with you. But if you wish to make a mockery of our glorious mountains—that I cannot abide.”
As if to prove the point, Momiji stood up.
Benimaru had no intention of
