Reconstruction was a long process, to rebuild the homes of many, most of whom would never return. Even still, I took pride in doing so, believing it was our way of gaining forgiveness for allowing such an atrocity to fall upon our nation. With us Orcs having arguably the largest number of survivors out of any of the races, our construction force was able to begin to act fast and rebuild faster.

For the most part, it was mostly the homes that needed repair or replacement, the roads having been left untouched by the invaders for logistical uses. Aside from the large number of houses burnt to the ground, many buildings remained intact. I assume Falmuth were using them for military housing or simply intended to use them as the foundations of their own city. Whatever the case, it was fortunate for us as it meant it would take only a few weeks to fully repair the city, even if it meant nearly working ourselves to death to get it done.

Just the day before, our master Rimuru had finally emerged from his isolation, with him later that day being proclaimed as the ‘Storm Emperor’ of Jura. It was certainly a change of tone for someone who formerly had hated such formalities and was even hesitant to take on the role of Chancellor of the Jura Forest Alliance. The once modest slime had grown more aggressive, seemingly in an attempt to deter further violence.

Many of us felt a change in tone from our leader, though none dared to say it, and in part, many had felt a similar change in themselves. The once cheerful town had grown more gloomy, and the once happy people had become angered. The town wasn’t without its life, and as the days went by it seemed to be returning to some normalcy. Even still, it was now impossible to return to the normal we once had, and it would be weeks, months, or years even before the people of this village could truly begin to move on.

Nevertheless, as the leader of the Orcs, it has become my responsibility to handle reconstruction. Despite some drawbacks, progress has gone faster than we anticipated, and we hope to have it done soon. The bunkers we once hid in to protect those who couldn’t fight have since begun renovation into a more proper shelter. Tunnels would eventually need to be dug from these tunnels deep into the forest, perhaps even to Veldora’s cave, but that would have to come later.

Speaking of Veldora, his sheer presence has once more brought hope to the people. What was once a lingering fear that Falmuth may return and strike yet another devastating blow has since faded. With Veldora on their side, even seemingly befriending their master, most held hope that Falmuth would soon be wiped off the map completely. I initially thought this desire to be a bit extreme, violent perhaps, but even I have come to understand that desire to a degree. To say I outright wish for the eradication of Falmuth would be an exaggeration, but I certainly wouldn’t complain.

But for now, we work. We work as hard as we can to see this town restored to its former glory. Rimuru has granted us a home, a new place where we can reside without fear of starvation. This is our home now, and through our might, we shall rebuild it.

PRAISE THE STORM EMPEROR!

---

I sat in my recently rebuilt office, waiting for my visitors to be brought in. Well, I say rebuilt, the proper term would be re-renovated. In truth, Falmuth hadn’t bothered to tear down the central government building, instead repurposing it for their own government. In doing so, they had basically torn out everything in it, so it had to be replaced. I tried to convince them to focus on rebuilding the homes first, but they insisted. It's not too big of a problem, we don’t need most of the homes at the moment anyways, unfortunately.

To my right was Diablo, my personal assistant and butler, though with the Empire being recently declared so too is its government organized, leaving Diablo without a technically official position. While the government of the Empire is de jure the same as the prior Federation government, not only was that government itself mostly a disorganized mess, but now with so many dead it had numerous holes in many essential positions. As such I have taken de facto direct control over all matters of governance, at least for the time being.

The whole process has been a headache to handle, not only managing the logistics of reconstruction of the city but also facilitating the reorganization and rebuilding of the army. Add all of that on top of the fact I’m now the one managing all government affairs and I’ve got myself one hell of a headache trying to manage it all.

Luckily nobody seems to be bothering much with the official bureaucracy of it all, simply being straightforward in asking for requests. Technically speaking, the ‘government’ of the Empire exists in name only, and by all accounts, it could hardly be called a nation at all in its current state. Nevertheless, a nation it is, and part of being a nation is handling foreign diplomacy.

The Beast Kingdom of Eurzania is one such nation with which the former Federation had relations. While we never had a direct alliance with the Beast Kingdom or the Demon Lord which ruled it, our relations have long since been friendly since the Charybdis incident. The fact remains though that a representative of the Beast Kingdom died within our city and while under our protection. Whether or not the Beast Kingdom interprets that as our fault or Falmuths is up to them, but judging by their current circumstance, their choice is pretty clear.

After a few moments, Shuna opened the door, making a slight polite bow before speaking, “The Three Beastketeers from the Beast Kingdom of Eurzania have arrived to meet with you, Emperor Rimuru.”

Shuna was arguably the one who changed the most from her evolution. The once calm girl, albeit one that was powerful when angered, was now far more powerful than all the others. The only one who could rival her directly was Benimaru, but in a one-on-one duel, the only advantage Benimaru would have is experience. With enough training, Shuna could easily become equal to Benimaru, if not surpass him, in sheer power.

This seems to be a result of her evolution into a ‘War Oni’ rather than a Mystic Oni like Hakurou and Souei. Benimaru too evolved into the same race, though I’m not sure what caused it.

«The evolution most likely came about from a mixture of multiple things, most notably a strong bond and synched desire with you»

What’s that supposed to mean?

«When undergoing evolution, you have a strong desire for revenge. It is most likely that at the same time, the individuals ‘Shuna’ and ‘Benimaru’ had the same or similar desire. This, mixed with being closest to you, allowed them to receive more from their gift, increasing their bond with you while evolving them into a stronger variant.»

It seems they share a similar sentiment that I do. I definitely can’t blame Shuna for that either. While Shuna spoke and moved as she did before, there was a clear difference in the glint of her eyes, not to mention the obvious absence of her right horn. I don’t know what happened which caused her to lose her horn, but from what I’ve heard, she was taken away to be a slave in Falmuth where she lost it before her evolution. I can only imagine what she went through there.

The thought of it infuriates and disgusts me to no end.

But that’s not important now, what’s important is this meeting, and I’ve spent long enough rambling in my head.

“Send them in, but you don’t need to be calling me Emperor at all times. ‘Great Rimuru’ is still more than enough.” I responded, though Shuna simply shook her head.

“You are an Emperor now, I cannot refer to you in an official manner as just ‘Great Rimuru’.”

I sighed, “Then I suppose we can compromise. You can call me ‘Lord Rimuru’ or something like that. Constantly calling me ‘Emperor’ is a bit egotistical.

«You are the one who proclaimed yourself an Emperor.»

You and I both know that was to secure my claim on the forest!

«It would have been just as effective to proclaim yourself as the ‘Storm King’ of Jura rather than the Emperor»

I ignored {Raphael} as Shuna continued, “Understood, Lord Rimuru. I shall go fetch the Beastketeers now.”

After a few moments, the Three Beastketeers entered my office with Shuna a bit behind. The Three Beastketeers were among the strongest within the Beast Kingdom, the Demon Lord Carrion’s closest and strongest advisors in the entire nation. When Tempest and the Kingdom officially began trade, it was them who arrived as representatives, so it makes sense that they would do so again but…

This wasn’t just some normal meeting. Considering the excessive amount of refugees here, the total of which outnumbers our own population following the massacre, this could hardly be considered a ‘diplomatic mission’ in the conventional sense.

Albis, the snakewoman leader of the three stepped forward and offered a slight polite bow, “It is great to see you Emperor Rimuru. I would like to send the Beast Kingdom’s greatest condolences for what happened to the city.”

I simply shook my head and gestured for them to take a seat, “I appreciate it. I am not fully aware of the situation in your Kingdom, but considering the amount of citizens you arrived with, I take it that something bad has occurred.”

The three took a seat with Albis sitting up front as she explained, “About a week ago, Milim Nava declared war on Demon Lord Carrion. In their battle, Milim destroyed the Beast Kingdom’s capital. Carrion had insisted we flee, and so we did with the residents of the capital. Luckily casualties from their battle were minimal, but Demon Lord Carrion…” Albis began to trail off as she became visibly frustrated.

“Carrion’s strong, but the chances of him winning one on one with Milim are slim.” I muttered as I looked toward the lycanthropes in front of me, each of them looking down or away in silent shame.

“There’s more though, firstly the Demon Lord Frey also interfered in the battle against Carrion. What's more, when Milim fled, she didn’t fly toward her domain. We believe she flew to the domain of the Demon Lord Clayman.”

“Somethings wrong then. Milim most likely wouldn’t stoop to such methods. She wouldn’t let anyone ruin her ‘fun.’ And that name… Shuna, what was the name of that Majin which helped place up the barrier in the town before it was attacked?”

“It was Mjurran, Lord. She confirmed herself to be a servant of the Demon Lord Clayman.” Shuna replied as I sighed.

“No way in hell it's a coincidence. This would mean that the Demon Lord Clayman is working with the Kingdom of Falmuth. Or perhaps he's manipulating them from behind the scenes. That doesn’t explain the holy church’s interference though… It's possible Falmuth swayed them to join themselves but then Hinata…” I began to muse to myself before recalling my battle with Hinata, “How did she know that I was the one who ate and killed Shizue? Someone must have told her…”

«The most likely suspect is…»

Yuuki. Could he be the one organizing all of this? Or is he simply an accomplice of Clayman? 

«It is unlikely that Yuuki is subordinate to the Demon Lord, Clayman. Rather, it is possible that the two are working together under a mutual goal of some kind. Possibilities include: A partition of the Jura Forest, pacification of monsters in the Jura Forest, or the elimination of a mutual rising threat in the Federation. It is also likely that there is more to this plan than meets the eye.»

I see… “Well, in either case, I’ll destroy them both.”

Albis looked somewhat shocked yet overjoyed, “Does that mean you’ll be helping us? We were simply planning to ask for temporary residence but-”

“I will help you. I will have some diplomatic requests to make of the Beast Kingdom afterward such as an alliance and some trade deals, but for now, you needn’t worry about that. Clayman has attempted to bring about the destruction of my nation, too. Furthermore, he’s seized control over my friend, and I will make certain that she is freed.”

“I thank you, Emperor Rimuru Tempest. On behalf of the Beast Kingdom of Eurzania and of Demon Lord Carrion, I recognize you as the temporary leader of the Lycanthropes and of the Three Beastketeers.” Albis and the others began to kneel as I stood up.

“Good. Let's hope this is a fruitful partnership. Together, we will make certain that Clayman sees retribution for his sins.”

The Three Beastketeers looked up with a nod, shouting in unison, “Yes!”

---

I walked through the town with Benimaru to my left and Veldora to my right. The people were a bit more active than they were before, and many were returning to a new sense of normalcy. The normalcy was far different than it was before, but it was good that people were able to begin continuing with their normal lives despite the massacre that happened just about a week ago.

Walking through the town I closely analyzed our current fighting force, or rather, the lack thereof. Tempest’s military had always been on the smaller side compared to the average nation, however when the average well-trained soldier in our army could probably solo a dozen normal human soldiers in a good situation, it could hardly be considered weak.

Tempest had always been more of a ‘quality over quantity’ nation when it came to its military, after all, we fought against the Orc Lord with almost entirely just the Kijin and Goblin Riders. Now, with our army reduced to mostly just a force of the Onis, Orcs, as well as some Goblins, Ogres, and Kijin, we’re forced to go ‘quality over quantity’ to the extreme.

I have no worries about winning the war against Falmuth by any means, in fact, I could arguably win it through subversive means if I sent in someone like Souei or Diablo. I’m confident that even by myself I could completely collapse the Kingdom of Falmuth, but that’s not what I’m after. I want a show of force, to not only show that the nation is led by a powerful Demon Lord or happens to have a few powerful Majin but to show that its whole army is a force to be reckoned with.

If I want to pull that off, we need to look more intimidating. The war with Falmuth will end up less of a war and more of a play of sorts. A perfect stage for the Empire to show off its might and secure our position. Of course, the mere presence of the Storm Dragon and the one who freed him should be enough to do that, but it wouldn’t hurt to make our army look strong anyways.

For now, our largest force is the Orcs, so there’s a good chance we can make them into our front line. Their defensive capabilities make them more than suited for the role, and the fact that their numbers still go strong could work towards making them more intimidating.

The next force is the Goblins, Ogres, and Kijin. What I never realized was that they were all part of the same evolutionary chain, but nevertheless, it does mean we do have some serious firepower even among the small number of them. Many goblins which were formerly fairly weak have gotten stronger, though they still lack experience. Those who were already strong but managed to survive the invasion often evolved into Ogres, and those who were among the strongest of the Goblins jumped all the way to Kijin. In the latter case, Rigurd comes to mind as he too has evolved into a Kijin from my evolution.

Hakurou has been working hard to train the next force of Tempest in order for us to have a sizable military, but even that will take time before they’re properly ready. I don’t want to send out a force that can barely fight, even if they’re physically stronger than their average opponents. Even still, with how many people died in the massacre, and considering the fact it consisted of most of our fighting population, we don’t have too many left who can be trained, and since some still need to remain and manage the city, we can’t train everyone.

It was all of this which raised the question, “How do we make up for the lost numbers…?” Which I mused silently, mostly to myself.

“So long as we’re ready to deal with any magic barriers, I believe we have more than enough to take out Falmuth. If we increase recruitment of nearby races in the forest, I’d imagine we could amass quite the population again.” Benimaru replied as he looked down to his right towards me.

I simply shook my head, “I know, in fact, I’m fairly confident that I alone could wipe out Falmuth, but we need a show of force. Not just to Falmuth, but to the entire world. I don’t want us to look like a nation that just happens to have a handful of powerful majin.”

Veldora, with a smug grin, stated “Why not build those giant awesome robots from the sacred texts!” Veldora pumped his face as he gave off an energetic and excited expression, “We can add all sorts of guns, swords, lasers, they’d stand no chance! Kyahahaha!”

“I don’t think that’s practically possible…” I muttered. Though thinking back to Ramiris’ Labyrinth, that elemental colossus could perhaps be rebuilt on a larger scale with enough powerful spirits… “Well, it might be possible, but it's impractical for now. If I get the chance to meet with Ramiris again, I may see what she thinks of the idea.  But for now, we’ll need something that can be done more in the short term without expending our much-needed resources.

Veldora seemed slightly disappointed but excited at the fact it was still a possibility, despite how unlikely it still was. “Well then, perhaps something more grounded in your reality would work well?”

“What did you have in mind, Veldora?” I asked, wondering what chaotic idea this dragon could possibly have.

“Well before I settled on the sacred texts, I looked through many aspects of your memories… Though I quickly learned to avoid your computer…”

Good choice.

“...Regardless, I found a bit about your world’s history. I found it a bit boring, but I thought some of those big machines you humans created to kill each other were awesome! Not as cool as the giant mechs, but they’re pretty nice in their own right.”

“Big Machines? What do you mean, Veldora?”

Veldora continued, “You know, those giant metal boxes with the tracks and whatever. The giant guns strapped on top of em’ and they rolled around shooting each other? Those things? I don’t think your country actually got too invested in em’, but those other countries from Eura? Eoorop? Euipi? Whatever, they liked to use them a lot.”

“Wait… Are you talking about tanks?” I asked.

“Yes! That’s what they were called! Those things! One of the sacred texts I read had a lot of them, though it focused more on the flying child with the fancy necklace rather than the actual tanks.”

“It's still a bit much but…”

«Task Complete: A basic schematic for an early Magic-Based Tank has been developed. Due to a lack of knowledge over certain aspects, the tank is a fairly early model with much to be improved upon»

‘Well damn, you work fast! Good work, Raphael!’

«Thank you»

Wait, did she always say ‘thank you?’ Whatever. If we can develop tanks, that’ll be more than enough to blast anything Falmuth has out of the water. Due to how they work, we wouldn’t need the best fighters to be in them, just people capable of being trained to do it.

With that in mind, even the weakest races should be able to use a tank. The only problem comes with size, though only a few races would actually have much of a problem. For one, the Orcs are out of the question, all of them are too big to have a full tank team fit in one, but other races such as the Goblins and other races of the forest could be used as their replacement.

As for its model, I’ll need to set up a research team to find out more about how to improve it. Theoretically, if we can replicate some of what Ramiris pulled off with her own research, we could not only make tanks, but other technology as well. Formerly I would’ve thought to keep such weaponry out of this world, but now the situation has changed.

The problem now comes with powering it… I could try to summon spirits but I’m not confident I can get enough for an entire army. Wait, Raphael, would a Medium Elemental be enough to power a tank?

«They would be able to maintain functions for a single medium-sized tank for about as long as they would likely be needed»

That's promising, and were the Fire Salamanders that Ifrit summoned back when I fought him Medium Elementals?

«Yes»

So if I bring back Ifrit, I could get him to summon a bunch of them. Raphael, can you get me into contact with Ifrit if he’s still in there”

«Connection Established. You may now speak freely to Ifrit»

“Ifrit, Veldora has given a good word about you, so I’m willing to make a deal with you.”

The voice that replied sounded startled, likely having not expected to ever see any interaction since Veldora left and stopped playing Shogi with him, “Y-Yes, Lord Rimuru! I thank you!”

He’s already calling me ‘Lord?’ Well I suppose he probably wants out…

“Here’s the deal, if you can provide me with fire elementals to fuel some of my weaponry, I’ll see about granting you a more permanent physical body.”

“I can do that, however, couldn’t you already summon some on your own?”

“I can’t guarantee that they’d always come to me, let alone be willing to comply. If you summon them, I can at least guarantee that you’ll bring a few Medium Elementals that will loyally do what I need.”

“I understand, I will do my best.”

With that, I stopped the other two who walked beside me. Creating a body double in front of me, I allowed Ifrit to inhabit it temporarily. It wouldn’t be strong enough for him to do much in, but for a temporary body, until I can get him his own, it would work well enough.

Quickly this body double erupted into a sphere of swirling flames, extinguishing after a few seconds as it took the same appearance as Ifrit had taken when I fought him last. Nodding his head he began to summon numerous Medium Elementals, summoning well over a dozen which I quickly absorbed and turned into proper cores and engines for the tanks.

Silently, Ifrit dropped to his knees, bowing, “I’m sorry, Lord Rimuru, that is all I could summon for the time being. I thank you for this opportunity.”

Counting them all, we had enough for 14 tanks, a solid number to start with. I’ll want more for the actual war, but this was good enough to start with.

“Ifrit! It’s good to see you again, I’m glad Rimuru let you out!” Veldora stepped forwards, picking his friend off the ground and patting him on the back.

“It is only thanks to your word that I have been given this second chance.” Ifrit turned to me again and continued, “I apologize for what happened with Shizue, I believe our conflict came about from a misunderstanding. If I had a second chance I would not take the same actions as I had before.”

I shook my head, “It’s fine, really. She wasn’t too fond of this world anyways. She only had one wish in this world, and it was partially because of you that I found the answer to it, so I can’t blame you entirely. I’ll see about getting you a more stable physical body later, for now, you’ll have to stick with a Body Double. Unfortunately, you’re not like Veldora who can simply turn his body double into his physical body.”

“Kyahahaha! Don’t worry, I’ll make sure my buddy Rimuru gives you the coolest body!” Veldora proudly proclaimed before going off into another laugh, whispering to Ifrit silently “What are your thoughts on shoulder guns?”

I sighed and turned my focus towards Raphael who, in that time, had already successfully built all 14 of the tanks I had requested. As for Ifrit’s body, it was a situation that would have to come later. While I could easily cough up a basic golem body or some sort of skeleton, I’m curious what would happen if I gave him an organic body to infuse with.

«Notice: In order to fuse the spirit with an Organic body, high amounts of compatibility would be needed with the spirit itself. The very structure of its DNA and other cellular structures would require immense precision, the payoff however would be the creation of a being of more power than with a golem body, even if at the cost of some defensive strength»

I see, so while it would lack the strong framing that would make it pretty strong against attacks, its organic body would allow it to more easily grow and become much better offensively, right?

«Affirmative»

So it's highly complicated and potentially expensive, but it may just be worth it. Raphael, how long would it take you to make Ifrit a body?

«Due to the complete analysis of the Ifrit, the creation of an organic body would take approximately a week»

A WEEK?! A week wasn’t a lot by any means, but considering just how powerful Raphael was, for her to take a full week was a true show of how complicated such a task was. I don’t want to bother Raphael with wasting her processing on multitasking for the next week, so for now Ifrit will have to wait.

Hold on for a second though, did you say ‘the Ifrit?’ What's the deal with that?

«‘Ifrit’ is not its name. To consider its name ‘Ifrit’ would be to consider your name as ‘Demon Slime’»

Ah, I see. He’s Veldora’s friend, so when it comes down to it, I’ll simply allow Veldora to name him, once he has a physical body of course.

With that affair handled and with Veldora having dragged Ifrit off to the side, I extended my hand as black smoke erupted from it, engulfing a large area before finally fading away. As the smoke faded away what was left was a massive hunk of steel, wheels, and a massive gun on top: Tempest’s first tank.

The tank could be manipulated through two means, the first was manual control inside the tank as one would do any other. The other method was through mental control, though I’d imagine only a handful of people within Tempest could actually do it. I’m able to do it, and with Raphael, I could probably do it on a whole army at once, but that defeats the purpose I believe. I can’t be a one-man army, if we fight a two-front war I’d be sort of out of options.

Benimaru looked in awe and slight confusion at what I made as the nearby residents had similar reactions of varying levels of shock, awe, amazement, or confusion. Veldora seemed pumped, looking over at me, “Kyahaha! Amazing Rimuru! Can I get one?! Please?! Please?!”

He sounds like a pleading child. Oh well, it wouldn’t hurt. Knowing Veldora he’ll probably want something a bit more grand. Raphael, what’s the biggest tank you can replicate?

«While it would be utilizing inefficient methods and technology with many areas it can potentially be improved upon with research, it would be possible to replicate a Maus Tank»

Maus Tank? The hell did you find something that sounds like that?

«The model was retrieved from that two-hour-long online video documentary you watched on it ten years ago»

Jesus, you’re really digging in deep to find this stuff. Whatever, I’ll see if Veldora’ll take it.

“I can give you the biggest tank possible, but… I believe you’ll need Ifrit to actually serve as its core. I’ll make sure the core still allows him to use a body double. He won’t be able to really do anything offensively while he’s fueling the tank, but if you want to play Shogi or something in it, be my guest.

“That sounds awesome! You don’t mind, right Ifrit.” Veldora shouted, turning now to Ifrit for his approval.

“Anything you wish, Lord Veldora.”

“Alright then! Let's do it!”

“This thing’s quite big. So don’t go rolling around with it in town. Try to keep it in more open areas if you’re gonna use it.”

“Understood!”

«Modifications are complete. The Maus Tank has been fully modified to be compatible with a Fire Spirit Core. Furthermore, the Fire Spirit Core has been adapted to allow more freedom of skills for Ifrit. Lastly, final modifications have been made to make up for already-present shortcomings of the Maus Tank»

Thank you, Raphael! Alright then, let's make this!

Holding out my hand, the previous tank was quickly devoured by {Gluttony} as the Maus tank took its place. Well over a story tall, this behemoth of Magisteel definitely amazed everyone who could see it. Looking at Veldora, his face had a wide, amazed smile as he looked at the now house-sized tank that was entirely his.

“I’ve added some enchantments on the Magisteel, it should be able to absorb some of your aura. You should be able to let loose your aura a bit, though don’t let it all out completely. Who knows what would happen if you released all of your aura at once.”

«Notice: The current release of all of Veldora’s Aura would result in an explosion several Megatons large.»

WHAT?!

Wait… Can we weaponize that?

«Quite easily. It is possible to consistently create an explosion upwards of 200 Megatons large without running into any significant issues. Such a blast of magicules would destroy the strongest barriers. It is unlikely anything would remain»

Well that's… terrifying. We should probably worry about that later. It’ll take some time before his aura gets pent up that much if we’d ever need an explosion that big. Just how much damage would that do?

«It is enough to leave Tokyo in a smoldering pile of ash while leaving a roughly ten-mile wide crater right at its center. Any city directly hit would simply cease to exist»

Noted. I thought Veldora’s strength alone was powerful, but leaves the door open to some… very interesting possibilities…

---

Thanks to various editors and helpers on the Discord who helped with things like plot decisions, grammatical errors, and other aspects of the chapter:

Terraman60 (Just one this Chapter)

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