Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken (WN) 2018

c86 - Those who move in the dark

After being recognized by the other demon lords without any problems, I returned to the Monsters' Country Tempest.
Coming over here was one thing, but returning was a quick leap via Spatial Movement.
"I came back and the country wasn't there!" Scenario didn't happen and seeing everyone's happy faces put me at ease.
As I ordered, various divisions have dispersed in a defensive formation.
And thus improving their skills, they are even contributing to the safety of the region.
Truly, our country's defenses are so superior to other countries' that they can hardly pose a threat to us.
After all, our average soldiers are mostly B ranked.
Such that surrounding magic beasts and steer clear.
And while it's great that the vicinity has gotten rather peaceful, I worry that the monsters chased away from here would wreak havoc elsewhere.
I guess we need to investigate that some time.
While thinking these things I brought Veldora and Shion into the city.
When I entered the city, the citizens and the patrolling soldiers bowed on the the edge of the street–opening a road.
Maybe they were practicing while I was away at the Walpurgis Banquet because they moved as one.
Just what are they doing, I thought, and then saw the Department Heads coming over.
And,

「Hither we sought to honor Your ascension to the seats of the demon lords!
We are filled with endless joy that You have returned to us!」

Rigurdo exclaimed as the representative.
Well, this has gotten rather embarrassing.
Every time, every single time, his performance gets even more grandiose. Honestly, I'm happy, but far more embarrassed than happy.
And since every time we have a banquet follow so hasn't nearly every day of this month been spent in festivities? At this rate every week will attract tourists.
I guess it's fine?
Our lord (well, me...) had officially become a demon lord.
So I do understand if they wanted to celebrate. Though I guess the humans disagree, right~?
And because of this and that, before returning to my house, we held a banquet.

On the day following my return I decided to hold an urgent meeting with the department heads.
In the mean time, I ordered Souei to observe the movements of monsters in the region.
Souei accepted, albeit added that「There' probably no longer a reason to worry about that」
What does he mean there's no longer a reason to worry about that? Are they all coexisting happily now?
Well, I'd be happy if they were.
Eliminating the brainless monsters is probably a good idea. And besides, since so many of us radiate powerful auras, the chance of a youma appearing has decreased.
After all, we need to insure that the human merchants are able to traverse our roads safely.
Moreover, the weaker monsters could also be a threat to the humans. So I guess exterminating the said groups is our only option.
In response to my worries,

「In that case, how about we set up an anti monster barrier along the roads?」

Bester suggested.
And as if planning this in advance,

「Danna, we have succeeded! A magic tool that creates barriers!」

Kaijin exclaimed with a satisfied smile on his face.
Seriously?!
These old geezers are too amazing.
I did know that they were developing this in secret, but it's a real shame that it didn't come in handy during the earlier incident.
But to be able to create test products in less than a month, aren't they just geniuses?
Kaijin, Bester, and I guess Gabil have developed quite a few things already.
By now, Kaijin had completely left the smithy to Kurobee and wholeheartedly devoted himself to research.
Well, as someone who represents our entire Development Staff, I guess he can't spend all his time on research.
From what he said, the magic energy concentration around here is now able to gather easily. Moreover, superior auras tends to drift freely around here.
Even the concentration inside the cave, where B+ ranked monsters tend to spawn, has gotten denser. In other words, our country is rather abnormal.
As a result, they have been analyzing the effects of change in atmospheric magic energy concentration on the formation of demon crystals.
It seems that at the same time as magic concentration decreases, "Demon Crystals" tends to appear.
Moreover, as the concentration decreases, the chance of a monster or a youmaspawning also decreases, thus rendering my worries meaningless.
It's a truly wonderful discovery.
This is crucial for our country to release competitive products.
And as a byproduct of their research, we have now obtained a way to obtain Demon Crystals and have also discovered the creation methods for Magic Stones.
Seems like the Magic Stones I acquired in the Ingracia Kingdom came in handy.
Well, they did tell me that creation of magic stones involved various large instruments, but it truly is an arduous process.
Even if we had discovered the method for creating them, it will take time for us to produce any.
On the other hand, we can easily use demon crystals alone as fuel.
Unlike the more purely concentrated energy sources that the Magic Stones are, using Demon Crystals is easy.
Now, what was recently developed was a barrier inscribed on top of Demon Steel.
It uses the artificial "Demon Crystal" as a fuel source.
It's currently shaped like a cube with a volume of 1 meter. The thickness of the barrier is 50 cm.
Thus, it's pretty heavy and hard to carry.
But, once you start it, it will naturally absorb magical energy from the surrounding and continue functioning indefinitely.
It would be great if we could reduce it to a single sheet of demon steel, but at least it's easy to use.
So when we put this simple magic circle – we named it "Barrier-kun" by the way – into operation along the 10 km long road we will ensure security along the route.
But I guess adjusting it so that it runs just along the route of the highway is the most praiseworthy part.
I've been told that it took the combined knowledge of not just Bester and Kaijin, but also Shuna and Kurobee.
It wasn't something they've been designing for the last month but something they were imagining for that long.
It's a bit moving.
I quickly gave my approval and had them plan to set it up along the highway.
I altered the order I gave to Souei to include observing the effects the barrier will have.
And so, the Monsters' Country Tempest has been steadily trying to become the center of this world's commerce.