He threw Beta, who was tied up in a sack, onto the ground.
"Lord Rimuru, I'm handing this guy over to you!"
Rimuru stared blankly at the sack on the ground, thinking to himself, 'Isn't this basically kidnapping?'
"His Majesty the King?!"
Kagali and the dwarves noticed something was wrong and rushed over.
"Kagali, how is it? Life here is treating you well, I assume?" King Gazel asked, looking at Kagali.
"I am indebted to Lord Rimuru's care!" Kagali said, scratching his head.
King Gazel nodded in satisfaction.
At that moment, Beta crawled out of the sack, his face filled with confusion.
"Where is this...?"
When he turned around and saw King Gazel, he immediately scrambled to his feet and gave a respectful salute.
"His Majesty the King!"
King Gazel waved his hand dismissively.
"It would be a waste to leave a talent like you idle. You shall work hard on your research here!"
Beta immediately understood the King's painstaking intentions.
"My King, I will certainly not fail your expectations this time!"
"Lord Rimuru, Lord Kagali, I am truly sorry for what happened before!"
"Please, let me work here! I'm begging you!"
Beta pleaded with the two of them, hoping to receive their forgiveness.
"If Kagali doesn't mind, then I'm fine with it."
Kagali looked at King Gazel, and the latter nodded.
And so, Beta stayed in the Jura Tempest Federation.
Because Beta needed a quiet and safe place for his research, Rimuru carved out a stone room deep within the Sealed Cave to serve as Beta's laboratory.
Furthermore, for ease of access, Beta used the Magisteel within the cave to set up a small teleportation circle.
This led Rimuru to believe what Draco had said before—this guy really did have the ability to create a more advanced Stronghold Teleportation Method.
Consequently, the first task Beta received was to research a more convenient and advanced teleportation circle.
Having dealt with these matters, Rimuru found Rigur, the son of Rigurd.
The farming techniques of the Beast Kingdom required a delegation to be sent to learn them, and Rigur was currently very suitable for the task.
Additionally, the trade route between the two countries needed to be opened up; future trade could not rely entirely on teleportation circles.
Teleportation circles could not transport large quantities of goods, as the energy required would be far too massive for the formation to sustain, making it clearly impractical.
Even if items were placed into Space Scrolls for teleportation, the required energy would not decrease because of it; the Law of Conservation of Energy still applied.
If the quantity of items being transported was small, it wouldn't be a problem, but trade between nations starts at tens of thousands of tons at minimum, requiring an unimaginable amount of energy.
A trade route was a necessity.
"If you want to get rich, build roads first!"
Rimuru intended not only to build roads to the Beast Kingdom but also to the Dwarf Kingdom, Nazarick territory, and various tribal cities in the forest.
After that, he would only need to collect tolls from passing merchants to make a fortune.
Such a massive project was naturally to be handed over to the Orcs in the forest; it would be a waste to leave 150,000 free laborers unused.
After making some preparations, Rigur set out for the Beast Kingdom with a squad of Humanoid Ogre Race soldiers.
Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion... Meanwhile, inside the Nazarick Duchy.
Milim and Kurumi finally recovered on the second morning, getting out of bed feeling refreshed.
The first thing the two did after getting up was eat.
"We missed three meals; we have to make up for all of them today!"
Kurumi said fiercely.
"Mm-hmm!"
Milim nodded in total agreement, and then the two of them ran toward the dining room.
"You two are finally awake!"
Ramiris was already sitting at the dining table waiting for them.
"Oh, Ramiris, good morning!"
Milim greeted her with a grin.
"I'm going back, Milim," Ramiris suddenly reminded her.
"Eh?!"
"Well, take care on the road. I won't see you off then."
"Yeah, bye-bye~"
Kurumi also waved goodbye.
"You dummy, my point is that it's too dangerous for me to go back alone!"
Ramiris rolled her eyes. "Aren't you going to see me off?"
"Uh... well... that's such a pain."
"You jerk, you brought me out here and then you don't care if I live or die!"
Ramiris's eyes went wide; she shouldn't have trusted this unreliable fellow in the first place.
"Actually, I can see you off."
At that moment, Kurumi spoke up while eating her breakfast, her words muffled.
"Kurumi is going out on an adventure anyway, so I can see you off on the way. Besides, Kurumi is very strong, you know~"
As she spoke, Kurumi proudly puffed out her small, budding chest.
When Draco became an Awakened Demon Lord previously, Kurumi had received the World's Blessing along with him.
By now, Kurumi had successfully evolved from a High-ranking Demons to a High-Level Magic Spirit, and the tails behind her had grown to seven.
If we're talking about combat power alone, Kurumi should be able to compete with Clayman.
Although Kurumi was indeed very playful, her talent was certainly not low.
Having also undergone Hakurou's hellish training, she could now skillfully utilize both Battle Will and Aura Control techniques.
Even the current Benimaru and the others would find it difficult to contend with her combat strength; this was the unbridgeable chasm of a high-tier race.
Ramiris looked at the showing-off Kurumi and curled her lip.
"I just feel like you're not very reliable~"
"You're the one who's unreliable!"
Kurumi was displeased and stood with hands on hips, glaring at Ramiris.
"Well~ Ramiris, Kurumi is actually quite strong. Though she can't compare to me at all, seeing you back will be no problem. Don't look down on her."
"Hah? Milim, what do you mean? How can I not compare to you? If you're not convinced, let's fight!"
As soon as Milim finished speaking, Kurumi couldn't take it anymore. She rolled up her sleeves and began sweeping through the food on the table.
"Our previous match was undecided; we'll continue today!"
"Who's afraid of you!"
With that, the two began a competition to see who could eat more.
Although both of them were flighty...
Ramiris did believe what Milim said.
With the "Dragon Eye" that could see through everything, nothing in this world was more authoritative than Milim's words.
Ultimately, Ramiris accepted the proposal to have Kurumi see her back to the Labyrinth.
-------------------------------
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