Chapter 185 - A Forced Alliance
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As I went around town with Rimuru and Brontes, some of my wives ended joined us as we went through the city for the rest of the day. It was a rather peaceful afternoon, outside of the occasional twenty or so spies sent to the Kingdom every day, who were quickly disposed of by my Flesh and Slime Minions.
Suddenly, while I was trying out new dresses while being forced by my wives, I received a message from one of my Dhampirs.
"Master Kireina, we have successfully captured a spy alive. We paralyzed him before he could activate the poison bomb inside of its heart"
"Excellent! Leave the rest to my Slime Clone, it should be able to devour the poison bomb and brainwash the spy to extract all its information"
"Understood"
It seems that my servants have finally caught one spy alive. It is always troublesome with these spies, as even if we capture them, they will immediately activate a poison bomb in their hearts, dying almost instantly. Their brains aren't even left intact as the poison melts their brains into a soup.
I finished this afternoon date with my wives as I left them in the Athetosea Castle while I went to look for the spy.
Recently, I've absorbed Nanako Maki's surviving organization and combined it with my own network of Dhampirs, and whose headquarters are where they had the brainwashed spy captive.
When I reached the place, I was greeted by Nanako and Alice, who have been working together for some time by now. Its quite funny, as they seemed to hate each other some days ago. Nanako hating in Alice because she knew she was a Dhampir and culprit behind the Nobles brainwashing and Alice hating on Nanako because she wanted to mess with the plans, I gave to her.
Alice has become quite compulsive now, I am pretty sure that she would have killed Nanako if I didn't make her my concubine in front of her and my wives. She didn't like the idea that much, but slowly accepted it as she is still obsessed with me and would accept anything, I tell her.
Nanako told me that she had also been trying to catch these spies and that her organization was originally taking care of them to protect the Kingdom, but because of their poison bombs, she has failed to capture them. Her spies also use poison bombs, but since I introduced my Slime Clones, it is a more secure way to kill the spies if they get caught, the bomb was quickly replaced by them.
The captured spy was a Kobold Ninja, a race of beast-man with humanoid bodies, covered in fur and dog heads, they are rather cute as their species seem to resemble house dogs on Earth. This one spy was named Jirou, and was a Husky Kobold species, with mostly white fur and black undertones. He had blue eyes and had a brave but still adorable face. I wanted to pet him for a moment.
Because he was already enslaved by my Slime Clone, he was acting like my loyal servant, completely forgetting his loyalty to his previous owner or master. He kneeled while saying;
"Master! I am at your service, guan!"
Aah… He really did say "guan", I want to rub his belly…
As Jirou told me, he was a spy from the Azuma Empire, a Japanese-like empire that inhabits the other side of the continent, pretty far away. Just as I've read before, the Azuma Empire is mostly composed of demi-humans with various humans. It is a mixed Empire without much racial discrimination, a safe haven for most demi-human races, or even poor humans looking for a safe place to work in.
The Empire is currently being governed by the [Phoenix Empress], the new heir of the Empire throne, the royal family in the Azuma Empire is mostly composed of Phoenix Valkyries, a species of harpy with a refined humanoid body, refined and thin bird talons as feet and brilliant and massive wings in their backs, their colors are mostly red and orange, and possess incredible magical capabilities.
The Empress is named Sugita Masami Azuma, and the Imperial Family is named Azuma, they were the founders of the Empire after forcefully absorbing 80% of the scattered demi-human kingdoms in the past. However, despite their tyrannical past, the Imperial Family is full of peaceful people that seek coexistence between demi-humans and humans.
The demi-human diversity in the Azuma Empire is incredibly vast, going over hundreds of different species. There are Dodomeki, Onis, and its different subspecies, Kobolds, Rabbitkin, Cockatricekin, Lamias, Nagas, Harpies, Yokai, and so on… It is quite a paradise for a monster girl lover like myself.
They seem to have been interested in the Athetosea Kingdom for very long and have sent spies to update themselves in the situation. Even now, I think that they already know what has happened, and the only thing stopping them from investigating even further is that they are too far away from Athetosea.
However, not everything is so easy for them, as they are currently having various disputes over territory and resources with their neighborhood Kingdom, Thanatos Kingdom. However, much like Athetosea, Azuma Empire possesses its own Heroes and an equivalent to Champions and Elemental Knights to protect themselves. Making the Thanatos Kingdom be more cautious with their provocations.
Jirou doesn't know much himself, so he can't give me the juicy details, but he knows some common knowledge. In the Azuma Empire, there are four Heroes, three Champions, and five Elemental Knight equivalents.
Heroes are still called Heroes, Champions are called Azuma Warlords, and Elemental Knights are called Azuma Generals. Jirou doesn't know about the details in the Azuma Generals and Azuma Warlords, but the Heroes are very well known.
The first Hero is the [Hero of One Hundred Slices], it's a veteran Warlord that awakened as a Hero twenty years ago, he specializes in using his pair of Katanas in different styles, said to be able to even cut space for a brief moment. His name is Yoshinaga Hiroshi.
The second Hero is the [Hero of Brilliant Poems], this Hero used to be a storyteller and a bard, but after awakening his [Epic], he obtained this title. He's a relaxed young man with a beautiful appearance and long white hair, resembling a Yuki-onna. His powers are related to stories and poems, and he can use his words to enhance the morale and strength of his companions and friends. His name is Mihara Hideaki.
The third Hero is the [Heroine of Sakura Storms], she is a beautiful young woman that used to be a diviner and mage until she awakened her [Epic]. She has a relaxed and happy personality, enjoying tea time with her sisters and family, shopping, and doing very simple things. She became a shrine maiden and is taking care of her family's legacy while protecting the Empire. Her powers are related to Nature and Wind, she can control a giant storm of Sakura Petals that can be used for a variety of purposes, being offensive or fully supportive. Her name is Sakura Miwa.
And last but not least, the fourth Hero, [Heroine of Alchemy], she is the youngest Heroine in the Empire to have ever awakened, at the age of 18. While everyone else always awakened over 27 years old. She is a brilliant young woman and an incredible genius, she has an amazing creative talent and in the last years, has created hundreds of powerful items that are being mass-produced and sold towards different Kingdoms, earning the Azuma Empire a fortune. Her name is Izumi Yuko.
Jirou kept talking until he said everything he ever knew, he even told me his a family name, all his family members, when he was born, and even the name of his favorite noodles. I told him to stop before he told me his fetishes or something.
I patted Jirou's head as a reward and wondered what should I do in this situation. If the Azuma Empire is really in a long dispute against the Thanatos Kingdom, I could take advantage of this in some ways. And because of the Azuma Empire being made of Demi-Humans and Humans coexisting in harmony, and its slight resemblance to my own Kingdom, which has pretty much the same nature, I decided to send a message through Jirou to the Azuma Empire, hopefully, if it was taken by the Empress herself.
In the message, I stated that, instead of doing anything rashly against each other, it was better to ally, crush Thanatos, and split the resources and benefits gained. It was a juicy offer as I can already assume that she knows the potential of my servants and some of my true strength. If she is an intelligent woman, she will quickly realize that it is beneficial to become an ally with a demon than to provoke it and call doom upon your Empire.
Of course, I am not really into alliances that much, so whenever I have the opportunity in the future, I plan in taking the Azuma Empire for myself as well.
Because Jirou could get killed if they found out he was brainwashed before being able to say a word, I equipped him with strong Illusion Fabric equipment and weapons, alongside several enchantments and magic shields. To top it all, I added several hundreds of Slime Clones on his equipment to guarantee his safety. And even if he still dies somehow, the Slime Clones will still be able to talk with the Empress, infiltrating through the city and the castle.
"Very well, Master! I shall deliver your message even if it cost my life, guan!"
Flash!
With a powerful yet silent jump, Jirou ran through the city buildings, quickly making its silhouette dim until it was finally gone.
Having this done, I decided to have a small talk with my family over these events as they understood my next course of action. However, for this, it may take a lot of time, so there was still plenty of time to relax and laid back before another war came knocking in our doors.
Although I am not planning to laze around any longer, as I have already begun to plan what to do at this time. I will most likely explore the [Forsaken Labyrinth] on its entirety, probably stealing it from its God, and maybe the Wyvern Overlord Dungeon, which name I don't know yet.
However, for that to happen I'm waiting for Brontes and Rimuru to give birth first, as I want to bring them along, preferably with our children if they can grow fast enough like the first four. I will bring my entire family so everyone can gain a lot of EXP. The stronger everyone gets, the more reliable they become, which means fewer problems for everyone.
When it was evening, we had a delicious dinner in the Athetosea Kingdom which was once again served by the Royal Chefs. It was all pretty good, but I really want to hunt some monsters by myself by now. I must be patient, Brontes, and Rimuru will give birth in the next three days…
Tonight, I decided to give some attention to my wives, I had a busy night with Nesiphae, Zehe, Gaby, Mady, Adelle, Charlotte, Lilith, Altani, and Nephiana. Nanako, Ismene, and Acelina were in their own rooms, Nanako was with her family this night.
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