The Second Dragonoid's Tale

Chapter 52: Reconcile

The festival would host family reunions and the announcement would gather emissaries from the monsters residing in the Jura Forest egear to see the two lords. The formal audience was meant to allow the people to speak with the lords. There was one problem neither Laden nor Rimuru considered. The monsters thought they would only swear fealty to one of them.

Gathered at the top of the staircase at the townhall, on one side sat Rimuru on a pedestal in his slime form, with a crown and small cloak. Beside him, dressed in black formal suits, Benimaru, Shuna, Gabiru, Shion, and Souei. On the other, Laden, dressed in a bright red cloak and crown. Beside him, Adalmann, Cruz, Aruru, Cherry, and Erebus, are dressed in similar suits to the others. The emissaries gathered before them were confused, expecting them to appear different. A subtle way to show the unity between the two lords.

The first to be called forward by Rigurd, who stood at the base of the stairs, was the rabbitmen who were nervous, "Oh mighty Demon Lord Rimuru. Please accept us rabbitmen as your humble servants..."

Rigurd reassured them, "No need to be so frightened. The lords are very forgiving."

"The truth is, I wanted to bring my daughter as well," The man admitted, "However, she got swept up in the sights of your city, causing me to completely lose track of her..."

Rimuru laughed, "Curiosity is a good thing! Wouldn't a girl like that be able to handle changing trends more easily? Sounds like she will become a reliable successor."

"Thank you for such gracious words," The rabbitman was overwhelmed.

After that, the weaker races leaned more toward swearing themselves to Rimuru. Laden did not care. While the ones who were already familiar with both, like the druids, were more frank about wanting to be with Ramiris. Then there was the lizardmen.

A man with long hair and a strong body kneeled before them and spoke without worry. "Congratulations on becoming Demon Lords. I am honored to be able to share in the celebrations."

Laden and Rimuru glanced at each other before speaking in unison, "Who are you?"

The shock knocked the man back, Laden commented, "Joking aside, that's a real difference in appearance."

"Allow me to reintroduce myself," The man's face changed to Hadrian's original lizard face, "My name is Hadrian. Thanks to receiving your gift, I am now capable of transforming into a human form."

Laden hit the bottom of his fist into his other hand, "Right, forgot to rename you [Hadrian]."

A surge of power ran through Hadrian, shocking all present with the causal naming, Hadrian relented, "Truly, I am glad Gabiru has found a place among Lord Rimuru's people. That makes swearing to you, Lord Laden, easier on my heart."

"You realize swearing yourself does not mean picking a side, right?" Laden asked.

Hadrian looked confused, "But... that is exactly what it means..."

"I say it doesn't. So it doesn't," Laden looked over to Gabiru who was sleeping with his eyes open. Awake up, the mental message grabbed Gabiru's attention. "You're swearing loyalty, not abandoning your families and homes."

Rimuru tried to give Gabiru the hint to go have a father-son chat, but the lizard did not pick up the hints until Shuna pointed it out. To which, Gabiru requested to step away for a moment, and the two lizards stepped away to talk.

The touching moment did not survive long as troublesome ones popped up. Some monsters are bloodthirsty after all. The Gozu tribe and the Mezu tribe were minotaurs, the first with ox heads, and the second with horse heads. Both were on bad terms and had been at war for a hundred years. Laden was about to smack them into place when the barrier around the city was destroyed.