[Book 2] That time I got reincarnated as a slime,no, a DRAGON?

CH-65

3rd Person POV
6 months later...

In the span of six months, Shinsha had managed to take considerable amount of territory under her. After taking over Hor, all the smaller villages in the Western part of the country were left without resources and soon surrendered.

Alicia, who had to take care of all the administrative work decided to put high taxes to obtain funds. With a tax rate of nearly 60% produced, which was three times of what our was in Tempest, she thought that the people would definitely be angry, but surprisingly, it seemed that the taxes had decreased for the people. In reality, they were paying nearly 90% of their own produces as taxes.

All the villages were struck with famines. Apart from a few territories, where taxes were lower such as the Floyen dukedom, very few places in the Empire were livable. Unbeknownst to Shinsha and her group, they had managed to earn the trust and support of the people. This made it easier for new laws to be implemented.

There were high tensions between Floyen dukedom and Shinsha's territory, which was called the Demon lord's territory, but they hadn't broken out into a fight yet. In these six months, Shinsha had managed to fully establish herself.

All the territory she had was self-sufficient and could easily be charged a separate country. The villages were developing and people were living richer lives, vitalizing the economy.

Shinsha had lost a total of 2000 soldiers in these six months. These soldiers were dead, but were saved by revival magic. But Rimuru forbade them from fighting again to make sure Shinsha understood that lives weren't disposable.

So now, Shinsha had a total of eight thousand soldiers to use against the Empire. Surprisingly, the Empire itself had yet to make any major move. All the nobles had either fled or fight against Shinsha with their own soldiers, but they didn't get any assistance from the Church. All the Church did was collect valuable resources in the name of preparation for war, but they didn't seem to be using it.

Back at Tempest...

While Shinsha was busy dealing with the Empire, there was a new problem that had come up in Tempest. Two months prior, Veldanava announced that the Gods were planning to hold a meeting to meet the new generation of Gods. Veldanava's presence was necessary, so he couldn't deny going as his world is one of the first to be liberated.

All the demon lords were now in a dilemma regarding whether to attend or not. Though they are strong, most of them can't even compare to Veldanava. If all the other Gods are as strong as him, they would no doubt be the weakest, which was not to the liking of many demon lords.

Yet, it was also an opportunity to expand your influence and form factions. Veldanava has already briefed them regarding most of the factions, but he had also warned them to tread carefully.

Flashback...
Walpurgis....

Veldanava has just told everyone about the meeting.

"I won't stop you from joining any faction. But let me warn you, things are getting heated. I believe a war will start in a matter of decades, if not years. It's better to choose a side that can protect you and support you."

"Why are they even fighting?" Guy asked, quite interested.

"What else can it be apart from power?" Veldanava said with a sigh.

"I doubt that they just called us because they want to see us. I am pretty sure that they will make us fight and reveal our skills." I point out.

"About that, you all can stay easy. It seems like Orcanyx, ruler and God of the undead world has declared war on Finn's world and Behemoth, the God of Dragon world has supported Orcanyx.

It's best if we stay quiet, then the spotlight won't be on us." Veldanava told us.

"Well, considering that we will have to join either of them, joining Orcanyx seems like the better plan. After all, he is not only a fourth Era God, but also has the entire world under him.
Meanwhile Finn just became a God, so it's most likely that he is not good with his powers." Rudra pointed out.

"True. But we can't overlook the fact the Finn managed to kill a third era God. It is without a doubt a crazy achievement. It's best not to look down on him." Ruminas gave her suggestion.

"Well... I don't really like taking sides. Why not just stay at the sidelines and expand our power? Take a page from Rimuru's book and create a third faction?" Guy says with a smug.

"As much as I want to say that's a good idea, let's not forget we are not completely safe either. There's some goddess of technology on our back. Though she has made no major movement, it's best to stay safe and stay quiet.

I have already interrogated an Ultimate Skill holder that we had caught. He was not from this world. He was a direct subordinate of that Goddess. He had his memories altered and taken away. The body only contained a part of his soul." Rimuru added.

Rimuru's POV

"Did you kill him?" Ruminas asked.
"No. His soul seperated from the body. I tried to capture it, but it completely dissipated. He completely sacrificed a part of his soul." I reply.

"Well, not only is that a problem, but you all have also had contact with individuals from another world. They world is under the dominion of Yggdrasil. Shockingly, it was able to make contact with this world, despite not being able to even break the World barrier. As such, many Gods are interested in that world as well.

And since it the Cardinal World that is connected to it, there's a lot of attention on what you guys do. I will not intervene unless the stability of the Cardinal World itself is in danger, so don't expect anything much from me." Veldanava said. The only world that I can think of that did this feat would be my own world whose past had been connected to us.

But if that's the case, the God of our previous world would be Yggdrasil. If we follow Norse mythology, it should be the tree of life. But even then, didn't my previous world break the Dimensional Barrier. Then how come they travelled across the Dimensional Barrier.

This can only mean that those two worlds are different. If that is the case, then Earth is merely a replica of my previous world, which had the original Earth. It is imperative that I make a move right now.

Flashback ends...
3rd Person POV

Right now, Rimuru was walking around town asking Ciel and Chloe. Chloe's engagement with Rimuru was made public right after Shinsha departed for the other continent.

As for which part of the town they were in, they were at Myourmile's Square. As the name suggests, it is to give homage to Myourmiles who created this part of the town.

Instead of buildings, there are small sections of land marked and seperated from each other. Each of these lands can be obtained for a week free of cost to set up a temporary shop. This helps small merchants to not only advertise their products but also grow. If any merchant were to become quite trusted and popular, they might receive subsidies from Tempest to set up a shop.

And right now, in this part of Tempest, Rimuru, Ciel and Chloe found an interesting shop.

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A bit early, but I hope you guys enjoyed it.