After Rimuru and the others left, the court was plunged into deep silence, a far cry from the loud arguing of a moment ago.
Amidst the reticence, the King spoke with a deep voice.
"...Vesta," he called out to the man kneeling in front of him, who had a pale and pained expression for a while now. His pants are also wet, his clothes visibly stained with sweat, and his eyes showing pure fear.
"Y-yes, your majesty?"
"Take a look at this."
At those words, a knight handed Vesta a small bottle of blue liquid. Vesta was confused, but he didn't voice out anything.
"I received this extra potion from the chief guard," he paused to see his minister's reaction, and continued "Apparently, it was strong enough to heal all of the miners, even with a tiny amount."
"!?" Vesta was shocked
Is this... but even the best dwarven techniques cannot produce a solution more potent than a mere 'hi-potion'!
"H-how did this-?" Vesta was trembling, growing more confused by the moment.
I want to know how it was made! He thought.
"It truly is a shame," the king sighed, "It was that monster who brought us that potion."
"!!??" Even the confused audiences cannot help but mutter among themselves in shock.
"And your actions have now severed any relationship we might have had with him... Is there anything that you wish to say for yourself, Vesta?"
It was then that Vesta realized his own stupidity. Why...?
Tears began welling in his eyes. He knew it all too well now-his lord had abandoned him. All he wanted was to serve his king. To win his approval. That was it. When did I go wrong? When I grew jealous of Kaijin, or before...? He didn't know. All he knew was that he had betrayed the king's trust.
"I...see. In that case... Vester! I hereby forbid you from entering the palace. Do not let me see you before me again. I shall leave you with this: I have tired of you!"
Hearing his words, Vester stood up and bowed deeply to his lord. Then he left, setting off to pay his penance for his foolishness.
The king watched them out of the corner of his eye. "My dark agent!" he shouted with some urgency. "Track the movements of that monster! Do not let it escape your notice. If he notices you, leave immediately."
The emphatic order of the normally taciturn king gave pause to everyone in the chamber.
"By my life, my liege!" the dark agent said before disappearing.
The king thought to himself.
Who was that guy? A type of monster, a very strong one, no doubt. The king knew he couldn't win, but he needed to keep his dignity in front of his subjects. Luckily, that white hair didn't take offense to it.
His hero's instincts were giving him a feeling he couldn't ignore. Trusting it, he began to take action.
••••••
After I stepped out of the portal, along with the dwarves and Ranga, I immediately reverted to my original appearance. It just felt right, but I didn't want to do that again.
The dwarves were very confused and surprised, and those emotions got amped several folds when they laid their eyes on me.
Not again...
YOU ARE READING
First Firmament (Tensei Slime Fanfiction)
Fanfiction(August 2023: This was something written back on August 2022, a whole year ago. I took it down not long after it was published but I thought about reuploading it. No plans to update it, however.) Satoru Mikami was an individual difficult to pin down...
