The World's Ego

The Budding Conflict

Rimuru POV

The next day, Gadra arrived in the nation and greeted me with the three challengers from yesterday. We were currently at the entrance of the Central Office when they were brought over.

"I am Archmage, Gadra. These three are my disciples."

"I am Shinji Tanimura."

"... Xin Liuxing."

"My name is Mark Lauren."

"They are actually working under Yuuki-dono, but they are currently under my care for this investigation. Apologies for the late greetings, Your Majesty."

After saying that, Gadra prostrated himself in front of me while the other three followed suit.

"Well, I thought it was something along those lines. We won't be able to have a comfortable discussion here, so stand up. We will be going somewhere else to talk." I told them

"Y-Yes, ma'am!"

The four stood up and followed us into a reception room. This particular, cheaper reception room had more comfortable furniture and I liked it more compared to the fancier ones. Shinji and the other two boys seemed to think the same since their expressions were less gloomy than before. I hid a giggle.

How cute.

"Do you prefer coffee or tea?" I asked

"T-Then..." Shinji hesitated before continuing, "... coffee."

"S-Shinji!"

I calmed Gadra down and asked him the same question, "What would you like, Gadra-san?"

"M-Me? Uh, t-then, I'll have the same thing as Shinji."

Mark and Xin nodded wordlessly.

I guess they want the same thing. Or maybe coffee doesn't exist in the Empire...

"Are you okay with a stronger blend? If not, we could always have a lighter blend. We have the caramel blend too." I suggested

"C-Caramel?" Shinji sputtered

I tilted my head in confusion, "Hm? Is that not to your liking?"

"N-No no, I didn't mean it like that... Y-Your Majesty Rimuru, are you perhaps an Otherworlder?" Shinji asks

"Eh? Yeah, I am."

Hold on a minute... Shouldn't it be basic information by now?

I glanced at Gadra and he had the expression that said that he had forgotten to tell them. I shrugged it off as I let Shuna serve the caramel coffee for them.

"Okay, can I hear the details now?"

Shinji took the first sip and was amazed by its taste, "This is delicious!"

Gadra shot him a sharp glare but I ignored their reactions and listened to Gadra's next words, "Actually, I am a reincarnated person."

I hummed a little, not as shocked as the three boys, and let Gadra continue with his story. Gadra wanted to become a great sorcerer for the longest time and reincarnated himself countless times. Whenever he reincarnated, he studied all treasured books he could find in various places, hence his current wealth of knowledge. It was during one of those times, when he was researching magic in secret, and met Adalman and the two became fast friends.

"As I said before, I have nothing but hatred for the Western Saints Church. They killed my friend Adalman. For centuries, I have been planning to pit the Empire against them."

When he learned that Adalman had fallen into a trap and was killed, he swore to exact revenge. With this resolve, he went to the Empire with nothing but his name and worked hard to gain their trust. Apparently, he has fought Veldora before too.