[INDEF. HIATUS] Regrets and Wishes: One More Chance

Chapter 24 - Welcoming Party

~~~

第24章　歓迎会

(Rimuru's Perspective)

The night has fallen upon us. Below the dark sky, every townsfolk has gathered at the centre of town, including Shizu-san—without her mask—and the trio. In front of the crowd, Ciel and I are standing on the prepared wooden stage. We can see that everyone's excited about the upcoming party.

But before that, we have something important to tell. And it's going to be hella long, no doubt. I'll be the master of ceremonies, but Ciel is the one who'll convey the announcement.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" I begin my opening speech, taking one step forward. "Before we start our merry celebration to welcome our new friends, let us make some important announcements."

Everyone stops their chit-chats and goes completely silent. All eyes are fixed upon us.

"First of all, since we've got new friends joining us, I'm going to remind you of the three rules to which you must adhere as this town's citizens. First, don't attack humans—or any other races—unless they attack you first. Second, don't fight amongst yourselves. Third, don't belittle other races."

My eyes quickly scan through the audience. I can see that some of the (freshly-named) kijins are wearing a somewhat unsatisfied face, especially a purple-haired boy among them.

"...Don't think you're way better than them just because you've got 'a little' stronger thanks to the naming," I emphasize. "Many of you know very well how it feels to be trampled on by the strong. Some of you have even experienced how humiliating it is to be trampled upon by those who are supposed to be far weaker. Take your eyes off for a moment, and you may suddenly find some insignificant slime crushing your pride and confidence into nothingness."

"Slime crushing us? What is Rimuru-sama talking about?" Some perplexed murmurs can be heard from the kijins' group.

"And that very slime is right here, in front of you." I quickly change into my slime form and hop into Ciel-san's hold. "I, this master of yours who had named all of you without a single break, am originally a slime, the supposedly weakest type of all monsters."

This is the first time I show my slime form publicly—to all our citizens, at least. Once again, the crowd goes completely silent.

Shizu-san and the trio aren't surprised at all, since they've seen my slime form before. My hobgoblin folks aren't too surprised, maybe because some of them were "secretly" peeking at us sleeping after conquering the direwolves that time and might've told it to their friends.

But the kijins sure are flabbergasted. That purple kijin boy, in particular, has the widest jaw-drop out of all. He must've not expected that I'd slip out of his [Analysis] ability that easily for the second time, with the first being when I was talking with the nameless Akamaru this morning.

I jump back to my previous position and return to my humanoid form. "Have you now understood why you shouldn't belittle other races?"

Everyone is just nodding their head, no words coming out of their mouths.

"Akamaru, Rigurd, Benimaru, Shuna, Garm, Dord, Gobuichi, Shion, Kurobee, Kaijin, Hakuro, Kurio, Shizu-san, both Rigurs, Gobta, and Souei!" I pronounce the long list of names out loud. "Those whose names have been called, please come forth."

The said individuals immediately separate themselves from their groups and step forward, neatly lining themselves up in front of us.

"Akamaru," Ciel begins after making sure that everyone has lined up accordingly. "From now on, we declare you as our Ogre King. As one of our Kings, you will work together with the other king to keep our town well-governed. Your first assignment tomorrow is to discuss with our dwarven craftsmen regarding the houses where the kijins will be living."