Tensura Pirates Adventres! - Interlude

A brewing storm

"How long has he been like this?" asked Dagruel. 

"Well... sir..." the beastman wearing a red uniform frowned. "It's been about five hours-" He looked at the broken window. "We heard a loud crash and breaking noise from Rimuru sama's castle. We rushed here as fast as we could, only to see him lying here unconscious. We carried him here as fast as possible and immediately called for you." 

Dagruel looked at Rimuru lying lifelessly on his bed. "What in the world could have caused this?" he wondered, pacing to and fro tiredly. "Do you have any news about the intruder?"

"No, sir, I-" 

The sky thundered vigorously, and the winds raged violently. 

"There hasn't been any signs of our security being breached since the nation was established." 

"Luminous is helping Guy with the kids' training, so we can't have her heal him, and Dino is travelling with Milim and Leon. This is just the worst."

"Dagruel-san..." the beastman looked down defeatedly. "I am sorry. Even after Rimuru sama freed us slaves from those celestial dragons, in the end, we couldn't help him when at all. "

"There's nothing you could have done here, Raguel," said Dagruel. "We can only wait and see."

Suddenly, a gigantic bolt of lightning crashed down right before the castle. For a fleeting moment, the bolts sprayed and illuminated the dark evening. 

"Dagruel sama!" called a hurried voice along with rushing footsteps. 

"Akuta, what urgent news did you bring? Calm down," he said to the panting man. "Have you found a clue on the intruder?"

"No, sir," replied Akuta, drawing in a deep breath. "But there's something else that needs your attention." He showed him a piece of a white rock shaped like a broken skull. 

"That's..." 

"These things are scattered in large numbers across the shoreline," explained Akuta. "At first I believed them to just be the remains of sea creatures drifted ashore, but some of them are shaped so bizarrely that it's hard to say if they even belong to a creature of this time."

Dagruel examined it closely and handed it to Raguel. "Take it to the research centre. I will get Ramiris to look at it when she gets back."

"Yes, sir," Raguel went away. 

"Also, Dagruel-san," said Akuta, hesitantly. "About the visitor we received recently..."

"What is it?" 

"I don't mean to doubt Rimuru sama's judgement but, I don't believe we should allow him to roam freely given our current circumstances. After all, he is a pirate-"

"And so are we," said Dagruel adamantly. 

"Yes, sir, I know that but-"

"Listen here, Akuta, I understand it must be tough for you since you have served the Marines all your life, but you need to get over your prejudice soon."

"... Yes sir."

"If that's all, go back to searching for the intruder. We need to catch him soon. Who knows what hard is that creature planning."  

"I will bring you the good news soon."

Another bolt of lightning struck the ground as soon as he stepped out of the castle, and disappeared along with it. 

Dagruel sat down, all alone beside Rimuru, and dialled a number on his snail. 

Peru Peru Peru Peru...