The Reincarnations of Veldanava

Avaricious Collaborators

In the previous conference, Hinata had been called by the Council of the West to be an unbiased eyewitness. During that, they had mentioned the risk of inviting the Demon Lord to join the Council, as well as the risk of angering such an individual.

They had spoken something along the lines of "You don't want to end up like Muese the Foolish, do you?"

Duke Muese of Guston, the foolish man who tried to manipulate Demon Lord Rimuru, had become a cautionary tale of how to not deal with those cunning monsters.

The news reported that he had lost everything after the fumble he made. The wealth his family had accumulated through generations was gone, his connections with fellow noblemen were cut as well, and his reputation would suffer for at least a year.

"Muese the Foolish, eh? I couldn't think of a more suitable moniker for him," Testarossa mused, "His life may be in ruin, but he should at least be grateful that His Majesty has allowed him to live on."

If she was the one making the final decision, she would have deemed what he did to be blasphemy punishable by death. 'Rimuru-sama's generosity is broader than the sea itself.'

Testarossa could also see Rimuru's hidden attention. His generosity was like a rose, hidden under its beauty was harmful thorns. Death would be too merciful, so he was left to live a life in ruin instead.

"Live on? Oh, so you haven't heard of it yet? He was found dead in his manor not long after he was exposed."

"Pardon?"

"His death seems to be of a natural cause, but the timing is too perfect. Maybe someone took him out. He is a pawn with no usefulness left after all," Hinata said.

Indeed, it sounded suspicious even though there was no evidence of foul play.

'Health complication is something every human has to experience, so it might just be a coincidence.'

The timing was too perfect just like Hinata had said before. "Could it be...?"

"You have an idea?"

"You said his death is natural, right? I believe a skill that can inflict "death" was used," Testarossa said.

Hinata's eyes widened. She thought that the proposed explanation sounded too absurd. A skill that could inflict death on others — Did it truly exist?

The answer was "YES", and one of them belonged to Testarossa. The skill she had acquired via the Awakening, Hell King Belial, was one such skill.

Belial governed the aspect of death, and she could "bless" it upon others. If that function was to be used, a bomb would be planted, attached to the unfortunate target's material body. When the time ran out and the bomb was detonated, the target would be dead from a seemingly natural cause.

Because the bomb carried the power of the Sub-Skill Life Domination, it could force a material body to shut down.

'My skill operates on the level of an Ultimate Skill, and I doubt that the culprit has it. It might be a Unique Skill.'

There was nothing to guarantee that Muese died that way, but it would be better to keep her eyes open.

"To think that there is a manipulator behind Muese, how annoying. I don't think the mastermind will show up here, so I'll just report their existence to Rimuru-sama later," Testarossa said with a self-assuring nod to herself.

The problem at hand was Elric von Ingrassia, the prince. He and Reiner, the strongest knight of this nation, planned to take advantage of Testarossa's presence here and control her.