Traveler Starting from Type-Moon, Demon Lord Rimuru! Chapter 42

"Tsk." Rimuru seemed to be amused by the sheer absurdity, his eyes fixed on the red glow emanating from the golem's eyes. "In that case, you might as well just have Altrouge bow down and submit to you directly."

"I never said Altrouge couldn't hold power, Leviathan."

"Huh?"

"I won't place restrictions on Altrouge, nor could I," the White Winged Duke said in a low voice. "My only requirement is you. For that, I can even guarantee that until the world of the Dead Apostles stabilizes, I will not interfere with any plans you make—provided, of course, that they aren't misguided."

After hearing the White Winged Duke's words, Rimuru lowered his eyes slightly, falling into deep thought.

The other party's maneuver left Rimuru somewhat bewildered, as this move didn't actually weaken Altrouge's side; if anything, it vaguely helped Altrouge by blocking the very methods Rimuru might use to intentionally overstep his authority, which left him feeling baffled.

It is difficult for Dead Apostles to overstep their authority because they have no concept of military power; higher-ranking Dead Apostles have absolute suppression and command over those below them, and those of the same rank prioritize the commands of blood relatives—this is a nature derived from their bloodline and race.

Therefore, if Rimuru wanted absolute ruling power, he would have to persuade or win over a portion of the other ancestors' forces and perform a so-called "conversion," which meant repeating the Embrace to replace their original blood relatives.

But if he agreed to the White Winged Duke's terms and signed the contract, it would fundamentally cut off Rimuru's path to replacing those blood relatives. Even if many factions under his command were willing to follow him in the future, they would be unable to defy the orders of the White Winged Duke or the other ancestors.

Aside from offering no benefit to Rimuru, this had almost no impact on the forces of the White Winged Duke and Altrouge—it even helped Altrouge prevent herself from being foolishly and completely sidelined by Rimuru?!!

What was this? A lack of trust in him?

But if he didn't trust him, why make the command authority and the requirement to follow his own plans a condition?

To make him honestly act as a military strategist?

What for?

Rimuru pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Can you tell me the reason?"

He looked at the White Winged Duke's golem and asked in confusion, "I don't think this holds much significance for you. Even if you consider me your greatest future opponent, this contract doesn't actually restrict me much; it only makes Altrouge stronger."

"I admit this agreement doesn't do much against the combination of you and the Princess of the Black, but what about for the Dead Apostles, and for you individually?" The White Winged Duke chuckled softly and suddenly said, "This is actually an agreement I changed on the fly."

"Leviathan, I did originally intend to win you over and cooperate with you alone, because I thought you were the same kind of person as I am. But after you showed me the attitude Altrouge has toward you, I changed my mind."

"As I thought..." Hearing this, Rimuru actually smiled and said softly, "Your subordinate mentioned wanting to talk about the scabbard at the beginning... You probably guessed from that that there was discord between me and the Princess of the Black?"

The White Winged Duke was an old monster who had lived for a very long time, and the longer one lives, the more one knows.

It was no secret that Rimuru was a mage forcibly conscripted by Altrouge, and his willingness to submit to her might well be due to some leverage or contract.

In history, the legends of famous swords and scabbards were not just about Avalon, which heals all wounds, but also about holy swords that sever all contracts and slay all evil forces.

"Correct." The White Winged Duke nodded, confirming Rimuru's guess, and spoke slowly: "Leviathan, I don't care to hide anything. The reason I established such an agreement is that I acknowledge the combination of you and the Princess of the Black."

"But acknowledgment does not mean I am convinced."

"Leviathan, you and I are destined to be final opponents. I don't believe someone like you would have no ambition, nor do I believe you would willingly stay under Altrouge's banner forever. I believe that one day, you will eventually make the same choice as I did: the choice to stand alone."

"Even if you and Altrouge are united by a common enemy, you will eventually go your separate ways."

"But a person must be responsible for their own choices. So I thought, since you now keep saying that my past choice was wrong, then if you truly do as I expect and want to make the same choice as I did in the future..."

"You must bear the corresponding price. For that reason, if you want to use your combination with the Princess of the Black to force me into submission, you must sign such an agreement!"

The White Winged Duke's voice was low and rhythmic. As he said this, he laughed heartily: "And by then, even if I have already lost, I will still leave you with trouble."

"..." The White Winged Duke's explanation left Rimuru slightly silent. After a long while, he suddenly chuckled and said, "To think you can say such things with such righteous indignation."

"Is it that no matter the species, the longer they live, the more shameless they become?"

"Hahahaha! Perhaps." Seeing Rimuru shake his head helplessly, the White Winged Duke laughed with pleasure, but then suddenly turned serious: "Actually, it's not just for those reasons. More importantly, it's to provide some safeguards for the Dead Apostles."

"I don't believe you have no ambition, and precisely because of that, the fact that I cannot see any ambition in your eyes makes me even more worried."

"Between 'truly having none' and 'hiding it deeper,' I prefer to believe the latter."

"..." Should I say he's worthy of being an old timer?

His insight is sharp, but no matter how much he thinks, he would never guess that I might be doing this for the sake of humanity, right?

Rimuru curled his lips slightly and said softly, "So, compared to me, you trust Altrouge more."

"Yes." The White Winged Duke's familiar slowly approached the edge of the castle, as if the White Winged Duke himself were present, exuding the aura of a king as he rested his hands on the parapet: "Although I am loath to admit it, that child has indeed, as you said, perhaps grown quite a bit while bearing the will to protect the Dead Apostles."

"If I truly lose, the future of the Dead Apostles... should not fall into your hands."

The golem turned its head, and Rimuru seemed to see the White Winged Duke's smiling, resolute face on that mechanical visage: "Leviathan, that child trusts you because she does not know how terrifying you are."

"You think highly of me." Rimuru raised an eyebrow: "But then again, if I don't defeat you, I naturally pose no threat. But if I do defeat you, it just proves my terror. Making preparations in advance—that's a good plan."

"Looking at it this way, you can't lose."

"Hmph, yet, didn't I lose this time?" The White Winged Duke turned away quietly, and the light within the golem dimmed, indicating that the White Winged Duke intended to cut off the magical power supply: "Then, give me your answer tomorrow."

"Give you an answer tomorrow..." Rimuru looked at the dimming golem and suddenly shook his head helplessly: "There's no need for tomorrow. I can agree right now."

"Oh?" The red glow in the golem's eyes suddenly intensified as the White Winged Duke returned: "No need to consider it?"

"No need to consider." Rimuru said with a light laugh, speaking off the cuff: "You keep saying I have ambition. To put it bluntly, ambition is nothing more than a goal and a will."

"Altrouge's will is to protect the Dead Apostles, so have you never thought about this?"

"My will, perhaps, is for the sake of Altrouge herself?"

"For the sake of Altrouge?"

"Ah, there is a word among humans: 'like.' How can you be so certain that I am not willingly acting as a sycophant simply because I like Altrouge?"

"...Simp?" White Winged Duke repeated the word, unable to comprehend it. Although he didn't understand what a simp was, he grasped the gist of what Rimuru was expressing: "That is, indeed, an apt explanation."

"Then, I shall look forward to seeing to what extent your affection for Altrouge can go, Leviathan."

"Ah, the old fox is indeed not easy to fool."

Watching the puppet suddenly lose its magical energy, Rimuru tilted his head toward the sky: "If that kind of thing were said to that little girl Altrouge, she would surely have been narcissistic enough to believe it directly."

"Using a honey trap appropriately is not out of the question."

"Tsk, if you're going to be a gigolo, just be a gigolo, why call it a honey trap..." Rimuru shook his head helplessly, pushed the puppet aside, and looked toward Berlin in the night: "I already have enough ill-fated connections; don't go adding any more for me."

Suddenly, as if he had sensed something, he slowly retrieved the puppet and examined it carefully: "Not bad. As expected, no matter the merchant, they all have a habit of leaving backdoors in the things they produce, don't they?"

This was a Concealment Puppet, intended to deceive the Primate Murder's unique perception of life and Altrouge's terrifying intuition. Not only did it fail to deceive them, but it also turned out to be a trap set by someone else, White Winged Duke!

Rimuru directly used Decomposition Magecraft to completely dismantle the puppet, looking at the core inscribed with Concealment Magecraft and Spiritual Evocation Magecraft. The reason White Winged Duke could converse as if he had descended in person was because it utilized a portion of the knowledge and technology from the Department of Spiritual Evocation, allowing the operator's consciousness to manipulate it as if they were physically present.

But within this, Rimuru keenly discovered something amiss.

"F?" Rimuru looked at the mark inscribed on the core and quickly understood that this was Fim's signature. This wasn't a problem in itself; after all, it was normal for a Puppeteer to mark the toys they created. The problem was that the mark itself was a piece of magecraft—

A tiny Eavesdropping Magecraft that transmitted sound to another location in real-time.

"Tsk, Fim, I was wondering why you never came to find me..." Rimuru narrowed his eyes: "So... it's because you knew I had a guest."

"Then, since I know you can hear me, are you coming to find me, or... should I go and invite you?"

Nebula M78 756365104

PS: The title was supposed to be [Redacted], damn it, the site actually censors that word!

Launch Announcement: Three chapters today (12,000 words)

Launch Announcement:

It's time for the launch. Although it's not my first time, I'm still a newbie here at Ciweimao!!

At 220,000 words, I suppose this is a rather late launch, but the late launch is indeed because the story is a slow burn, which was a trade-off I made.

I know many readers don't like the Dead Apostle and Magus arcs and want to see the Holy Grail... but I can only say that I will speed up the progress. After all, to maintain the integrity and logic of the story, the outline and corresponding threads must be written.

This book can be considered a test run from another site. It's mainly because my writer friends here tell me every day that the environment at the cat site is good, the editors are good, and the readers are good. Although the results aren't very ideal, not even as good as the one on the other site, it was within expectations. After all, my writing style... is indeed incompatible with other works—

Other works have much more interesting openings, and all kinds of memes make me not even want to type, just focus on following those stories.

But since my style is like this, I can only write it as a niche work, hahaha! However, I will work hard to learn and write well. What if... what if I don't suddenly drop dead? Right?

Alright, I've said enough about the disadvantages; let's talk about the advantages.

First, the author will not flake! Four thousand words daily, with extra chapters depending on the situation!

Secondly, because I came from another site, I'm used to long-form writing (starting at two million words, though I don't know if that's an advantage QAQ), as well as focusing on outlines and threads—I really want to say the later parts won't collapse, but... considering this is a crossover anime work... ah, I'm falling apart.

Finally! This book has magic. Readers who read this book will become exceptionally handsome and wealthy (at the cost of the author never finding a boyfriend in this life!)

Yeah, that's it... and, please give me your first subscription!

I heard that the tradition at Ciweimao is to explode with chapters upon launch, but I only have a few chapters in stock... so, hehe... just a few chapters, 12,000 words, that should count as six chapters, right?

Still, I beg for the first subscription to save this child.

Then there's the issue of word count. Although a friend recommended that 2,000 words per chapter is better for the first day of launch, since 4,000 words per chapter might make some... well, some kids misunderstand that my chapters are more expensive, but I'm really used to 4,000 words per chapter. Can you imagine the horror of having to rack your brains to cut in the middle when the continuity of the story chapters is based on 4,000 words?!

Ah, my OCD is killing me.

So I decided to compromise with my OCD: 4,000 words per chapter!!!

To the 2,000-word fans, I kneel before you QAQ

Please subscribe! The most important thing is definitely the first subscription!

Please!!!

This is really important to me!!

Chapter 058: To be honest, I don't want to be a scumbag.

After speaking, Rimuru looked back into the distance. While waiting patiently, he habitually searched for Altrouge's figure, having nothing else to do.

It wasn't until five minutes later that he frowned slightly and looked back at the mark in his hand—the Great Sage's perception could not be wrong, which meant...

Just as Rimuru was feeling somewhat dissatisfied, a scarlet energy source suddenly appeared in his perception of the path leading to the lower level of the castle.

At this moment, Rimuru looked at the mark in his hand with slight astonishment, stunned for a long time: "You... you actually just walked over here?"

"An evening stroll is a good habit." Fim sauntered out from the castle door and pointed casually. The mark in Rimuru's hand turned into dull, lifeless material and began to dissipate in the wind: "Well, the evidence is gone, haha."

"Neither White Winged Duke nor I care about evidence." Rimuru tilted his head, applying pressure.

"I didn't hear anything." Hearing this, Fim shook his head hurriedly and laughed: "Alright, Leviathan, from the first moment I saw you, I smelled the scent of a fellow traveler."

"You and I are both beings who pursue profit. In finance, mutual price-cutting and competition are always the worst strategies. Forming a technical barrier together and monopolizing the market is a win-win deal, isn't it?"

"Indeed." Rimuru nodded, understanding the other's meaning.

The other party knew the key information that he was Rimuru of the Clock Tower, and Rimuru had caught the other party red-handed eavesdropping on White Winged Duke's conversation—in this situation, both sides exposing each other's secrets would only lead to mutual destruction. Using this as leverage to cooperate was the correct choice.

In fact, Rimuru even suspected that the leverage of the eavesdropping was intentionally delivered to him by the other party, with the goal of establishing the best possible start for their cooperation. Otherwise, if only the other party held Rimuru's secret, it would clearly make Rimuru wary of him, or even view him as a threat.

"What do you want?" Thinking of this, Rimuru laughed. If he were to be honest, Fim was clearly the most difficult to deal with among all the Dead Apostles. Because he was also well-versed in some of the experiences and theories summarized by the secular world today—though not as advanced as those of later generations—he was indeed the most powerful business oligarch in the world at present.

But for some reason, Rimuru felt that chatting with him was the most relaxing.

Fim had already taken the lead in the meeting by showing his support for Rimuru, so after the session ended, it was naturally time for Rimuru to pay the price.

"I am a businessman, and businessmen, of course, love money." Hearing this, Fim also laughed and said, "If the Kingdom of Dead Apostles is truly formed, I want my business empire to continue to shine."

"Even if you didn't come to me, no Dead Apostle would dare to compete for business with an Ancestor like you."

"But there is still you, isn't there?" Fim narrowed his eyes, smiling like a Maitreya Buddha: "If I'm not mistaken, you planned from the very beginning to use another identity to cooperate with the Clock Tower, right?"

"When a war reaches a stalemate, compromise is inevitable." Rimuru nodded and said softly, "Winning is impossible, but as long as we don't lose, the Kingdom of Dead Apostles will surely emerge."

"At that time, there will inevitably be negotiations and exchanges of interests—so, which piece have you set your sights on?"

"I wouldn't say I've set my sights on anything specific." Fim said cheerfully, "I just feel that I can contribute a little. I have good relationships with the conglomerates in the secular world, and even the Kingdom of Dead Apostles will surely need economic circulation, right?"

"Tsk, you want to swallow the entire import and export trade between the Dead Apostles and the outside world?"

"The Dead Apostles need human blood, and the Mage's Association can't handle that." Fim turned around and chuckled, "But I can."

"War criminals in the human world, destitute vagrants, and even the bodies of those who die of old age or illness in hospitals."

Fim said indifferently, "Under the operation of capital, they are all my assets."

"I could handle that too." Rimuru raised an eyebrow—

"I know." Fim nodded, "Although you were selling off your assets not long ago, I believe in your ability, which is why I came to you."

"In this world today, win-win cooperation is the trend, right?"

"We will be very good friends, Rimuru."

"Indeed." After pondering for a moment, Rimuru laughed softly, "Pleasure doing business with you."