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Jura-Tempest Federation · Courtyard Pavilion
A gentle breeze drifted through the open pavilion as Kaito and Benimaru sat across from each other.
"Why the sudden interest in demons?"
Benimaru glanced around and lowered his voice.
"Because I've noticed that the demons Diablo brought from the Demon Realm are, across the board, incredibly strong. It got me thinking about whether we could recruit other Primordial Demons to push our combat power even higher."
Kaito blinked at him. Good heavens. The man still wasn't satisfied.
It wasn't hard to understand why Kaito thought that way though. After all, he had thrown out millions of souls over the past week alone. The Conqueror's Banner now had only about a million backup souls remaining. But as they say, investment yields returns.
The current combat power of the Jura-Tempest Federation could no longer simply be called terrifying. The only word for it was invincible. Truly, genuinely invincible.
Setting Kaito's own exceptional strength aside, there were already two SS-rank fighters in Rimuru and Diablo.
S-rank fighters were even more plentiful. Benimaru, Hakurou, and Ranga had all reached S+ level.
Souei, Shion, Geld, and Rengoku Kyojuro, along with several other key pillars of the federation, all possessed S-rank strength.
Even the relatively lower-ranked Shuna, Gobuta, Rigur, and Kanae Kocho had been brought up to S-rank.
And then there was Sakuya Izayoi, rated S+ in the system, though Kaito privately estimated her actual combat power was closer to SS-.
As for A-rank fighters, there were so many it was almost hard to keep track. All three hundred demons Diablo had brought from the Demon Realm were Special A-rank.
Rimuru had originally wanted to name them the Black Legion.
Kaito, in a moment of what could only be described as peak chuunibyou, overruled all objections and gave them the title of Royal Knights instead.
These three hundred were specifically responsible for protecting Kaito and Rimuru's villa, serving as the Imperial Guard of the Imperial Guard, with Diablo as their commander.
The broader Imperial Guard Corps, led by Sakuya, also boasted A- to Special A+-rank strength across the board, thanks in no small part to Kaito's rather obvious favoritism.
On a side note, Kochou Shinobu, Tanjiro, and the others currently fell into the same "hard to keep track" category as well.
The lowest-ranking soldiers in the other units were B-, and squad leaders ranged from B to B+. Anyone below C-rank didn't even qualify to enlist.
It was no exaggeration to say that in the current Jura-Tempest Federation, A-ranks were everywhere and B-ranks filled the streets.
And even that didn't account for certain hidden combat powers that hadn't been factored in. A certain school principal, some bees and beetles Rimuru had picked up along the way, and a certain potato spirit, figures who had no reason to act for the time being.
"Benimaru, I think you need to ease up a little. With the strength we have right now, there's no one we need to be afraid of."
Kaito had picked up on something in Benimaru over time. Deep down, the man seemed to carry a kind of obsession, what people nowadays might call a severe case of firepower anxiety.
It probably traced back to the helplessness he had felt when his village was destroyed. The fear of that happening again, of watching everything he cared about crumble while he stood there unable to stop it, had never fully left him. So no matter how strong they became, it never felt like enough.
"Yes, Kaito-sama. Perhaps I was overthinking it."
Kaito watched the furrow in Benimaru's brow slowly ease and smiled.
"That's right. You can't get stuck like that. Where else would I find a General Commander this dedicated?"
Benimaru let out a short laugh.
"I've caused you trouble."
"By the way, Kaito-sama, the patrol just reported signs of Charybdis in the area. Do you want me to deal with it preemptively?"
Kaito paused.
Something was nagging at the back of his mind.
"Charybdis, that's the monster that formed from Veldora's leaked magical energy in the original story. A+ rank if I remember right."
"Such a minor thing, wait."
"Hold on."
"WAIT!!!"
"I just remembered what I forgot!!!"
"Rimuru, you unreliable scoundrel! It's been a whole week and you still haven't released Veldora?!"
That was it. In the chaos of the past week, Kaito and Rimuru had completely forgotten to release Storm Dragon Veldora.
Kaito had been busy pouring strength into everyone in the city, so his forgetting was at least understandable. Rimuru, on the other hand, had spent every single day running around with Milim and hadn't spared Veldora a single thought. Hence, unreliable scoundrel.
Kaito jumped to his feet.
"Just send someone to handle it! I just remembered something urgent, I need to get back!"
Benimaru stood up immediately.
"Yes, Kaito-sama!"
"Mhm!"
Kaito nodded and headed back toward the main hall at a brisk pace.
Inside the house, Rimuru and Milim were happily working their way through the pudding Sakuya had made for them.
Chew chew chew.
"As expected of Sakuya's handmade pudding. It really is something else!"
Milim nodded along vigorously.
"It really is the most delicious pudding in the world!"
Sakuya, who was attending to the two of them, gave a small bow.
"You flatter me. It is only a simple dessert."
Diablo stood to the side, watching with barely concealed envy. He too longed for that kind of praise from Rimuru-sama.
'Perhaps I should ask Miss Sakuya for guidance at some point. If I could make something this good, Rimuru-sama might pat me on the head and say something kind. Ah. That would be wonderful.'
Just as Diablo was quietly lost in that particular fantasy, the door swung open and Kaito walked in.
Without a word, he crossed the room, snatched Rimuru's pudding right out of her hands, and swallowed it in one go.
"Ah ah ah! My pudding! You terrible Kai-chan!"
"Wahahaha! Rimuru, you couldn't even protect your own pudding! Unlike me! gulp!"
Having thoroughly mocked Rimuru, Milim immediately shoved her own pudding into her mouth before Kaito could even look at it.
Kaito picked up a napkin, wiped his mouth, and turned to Rimuru with a perfectly calm expression.
"Rimuru. Did you forget something important?"
Rimuru looked puzzled. She ran through everything in her head and came up empty.
"Kai-chan, I haven't forgotten anything!"
"No? Think about where your name came from."
Rimuru frowned, murmuring to herself.
"My name, Veldora gave me my name, so what does that..."
"Wait. VELDORA!!! 0 Д Q"
'She finally remembered.'
Veldora: You finally remembered me! ╥﹏╥
"Exactly! It's been a whole week! Why haven't you gone and released him already!"
Kaito looked at her with the expression of someone who had completely given up trying to understand her.
"Hehe! I'll release him right now! Kai-chan, come with me!"
Rimuru grabbed Kaito by the arm and the two of them vanished from the hall in an instant. Milim, left behind, tilted her head in confusion, watching the spot where they had just been standing.