COTE x Reincarnated As A Slime (On Hold)

Chapter 29

3rd POV

Here in Seltrozzo, a small northern kingdom, a conversation was underway between a boy and an old man. The boy was Yuuki Kagurazaka, grandmaster of the Free Guild, and the man was named Johann Rostia— Council mainstay, generous benefactor to the Guild, and a duke of the Kingdom of Rostia.

Given his surname being Rostia, his being the elder brother to the current king of Rostia was obvious.

Yet in truth, his real identity was one of the Five Great Elders manipulating the council. They often gathered for their secret meetings in this land—the Kingdom of Siltrosso. This small kingdom on the border was perfect to fool the Western Nations, since an espionage organisation held their secret base here—the best espionage organization among the Western Nations, in fact.

It was called the "Silt Foreign Information Bureau." This organisation set its attention beyond the petty disputes of humans and instead aimed to deter threats of monsters. Its purpose was for crisis management.

Therefore, the agents from the agencies all had impressive portfolios. Every single member was rank B or above. They were few in number, but could all be considered as the elite among the elite. With such agents guarding the kingdom, infiltration of spies from other nations was impossible.

That was why they chose this location to conduct their secret meetings.

"Begin your report."

"Okay. Demon Lord Rimuru has completely seen through me and seems to have grown suspicious of me. That being said, I sent the eastern merchants in my stead and took various detours, so no evidence was left."

"In that case, couldn't you have made up an excuse?" Johann questioned.

"My subordinates suggested the same thing, but even if I did, wouldn't I still be in danger? This is a demon lord we are talking about! If I were to get on his bad side, it's no different than stepping on a tiger's tail," Yuuki replied.

Yuuki reported that Rimuru was suspicious of him, not trying to shroud that fact. Indeed, Johann of the Five Great Elders was Yuuki's superior. That being said, their relationship was strictly business related. The reason they preserved their relationship was due to the fact that both sides stood to gain a profit.

The Council funded the Freedom Association while the Freedom Association accepted jobs from the Council in return. The two organizations were equal in status and supported each other.

All the aforementioned relations were a facade. The Freedom Association needed outside funds. If they were to operate in other nations, they required the respective nations' approval and care. Without such support, they wouldn't be able to continue.

While the Association had greater influence than when it was just a mutual-aid society for the adventurers, in terms of authority and power, the Council was still superior.

Moreover, the reason why Yuuki was able to expand the Freedom Association in just a span of a few years was due to the aid of the Great Elder Johann. It was also why Yuuki was willing to take on great risks in his plans.

"Not even you can beat that demon lord?"

"Don't be absurd. From what I've seen, he's got more than a hundred rank A personnel. There's no way I could deal with that."

"That's a lot. I see that it was indeed the wiser choice not to antagonize them. But—" Johann paused before turning to Yuuki with a sharp eye. He continued, "The Grand Elder has been complaining about Demon Lord Rimuru being in our way. Yuuki, are you aware that this is because of your misstep?"

"Huh—what do you mean?"

"I'm talking about your plan to work with Demon Lord Clayman. Had your plan succeeded, even without those difficult eastern merchants, we would still be able to trade with the Empire. In addition, in another couple of hundred years, Veldora would be eliminated, and Great Jura Forest would no longer pose a threat. Moreover, the two demon lords Carrion and Frey would also become the barrier to protect us. Yet you..."