After the group finished their fooling around, the tea party officially began.
The venue returned to its original state, and the eleven Demon Lords took their respective seats.
"Little Raine, get me a cappuccino."
Raine: (▼ヘ▼#)
Likely due to Draco's influence, the Walpurgis had seemingly turned into a tea house.
Milim, Ramiris, and the others followed suit, joining in on the fun.
"Raine, I want some too."
"Me too!"
"Give me a glass of red wine."
"Black tea, please."
"Whiskey, with ice."
"Pearl milk tea."
"Cola."
"..."
Looking at this group of demon lords, Rimuru suddenly realized they were actually quite... fun. Without Clayman stirring up trouble, the atmosphere of the venue was exceptionally cheerful.
Only Raine had a reluctant expression as she served tea and drinks to everyone. Finally, she didn't forget to glare at Draco, as if saying "you're so high-maintenance."
Draco shrugged, indicating it was none of his business.
Raine gave a soft huff and slowly withdrew. Then, Guy, as the host, stood up and spoke.
"Now then, regarding the current agenda, the issues of the Jura Tempest Federation instigating a Holy War and Rimuru calling himself a demon lord have been resolved. Does anyone else have any objections?"
Looking around, Frey suddenly raised her hand.
"Frey, do you have any other objections?"
Shaking her head, Frey said, "It's not an objection; I have a request."
Guy smiled and nodded.
"I have decided to serve Milim from today onwards."
Milim: "Eh—!?"
Everyone: "???"
"Therefore, I have decided to return my position as a demon lord." Frey looked at Milim with a smile.
"Wait, Frey! This is the first I've heard of this!"
Milim was completely bewildered. She never expected Frey to make such a choice.
"Because I never said anything, of course you wouldn't know. As for the reasons, there are many..."
Frey recalled a long time ago... in her originally peaceful study.
"Bang!"
Milim burst in with an excited look, the door completely trashed.
"Hey, Frey, do you want to be friends with me?"
Seeing Milim's serious expression, Frey was somewhat confused.
"...Why say this all of a sudden?"
"It's Draco. I've become friends with him. No, wait, we're besties~"
"So, do you want to be friends with me? If we run into trouble, we can help each other out."
At that time, hearing this, Frey couldn't help but think Milim was truly naive.
"...I see~ If Milim can help me, I can be your friend."
"Really? Then it's a promise."
"Yeah, it's a promise."
Frey had entered into a friendship with Milim with the mindset of humoring a child.
Compared to Milim, Frey actually had even fewer friends—or rather, none at all.
This aloof queen, who was unwilling to trust anyone and lived alone, had for the first time gained something called a friend.
Later, after witnessing the strength shown at Nazarick's Founding Festival, Frey realized her own strength was far too weak.
Clayman, a demon lord on the same level as her, was eliminated by Draco in no time. What about herself?
Previously, she became a demon lord to better develop her country, but being a demon lord wasn't that easy.
Recognizing this grave problem, Frey chose a path of "retreating to advance."
Becoming a subordinate of Milim.
This way, with Milim, the Dragon Princess, as a backer, even if the Winged Race didn't have a demon lord, other races wouldn't dare to act insolently toward her country.
Furthermore, the Heavenly Wing Country and Milim already had an alliance. With that contract in place, Milim wouldn't do anything to harm the Heavenly Wing Country.
Even without that contract, with Milim's childlike personality, Frey wasn't very worried about her being disadvantageous.
Based on the above considerations, Frey made this decision that went against her ancestral traditions.
"I feel that as a demon lord, my own strength is too weak. Seeing the battle just now, I've become certain of this."
"Even if I were to fight Clayman, it would be a draw at most. Against an awakened Clayman, I would have no chance of winning."
Everyone present fell into deep thought. Only Dagruel of the Giant Race spoke up to persuade her.
"But Frey, you excel at aerial combat. There's no need to belittle yourself like that."
Frey slowly shook her head. "That may be so, but having an advantage is one thing; if your strength isn't up to par, it's still useless."
Glancing at Rimuru and Draco, Frey chuckled. "Moreover, Milim can't keep being so willful forever, right?"
"Isn't it time to consider the development of your own territory?"
"So, everyone, what do you think of my proposal?"
Suddenly, all eyes in the room turned to Milim.
"...B-But, I've always insisted on not having subjects. This matter is really... this..."
Milim felt that management was far too troublesome. Wouldn't it be better to just hang out at Nazarick for food, drinks, and fun?
At this moment, her forehead was covered in sweat, and her little head began to spin at high speed, thinking of how to refuse.
"In that case, I have something to say too."
Carrion also stood up at this moment.
"To be honest, I've also realized this problem. My strength can no longer match the position of a demon lord, so..."
"I have decided to swear fealty to Milim."
Frey exchanged a look with him; the two understood a lot from each other's eyes.
Carrion's thoughts were not much different from Frey's. Both intended to find a backer to develop their countries in peace.
Milim had shown him kindness, her strength was unfathomable, and she disliked managing things, making her the best choice for Carrion.
Since becoming a demon lord was for the sake of developing the country peacefully anyway, choosing Milim as a backer would achieve the same effect.
Having an extra backer—why not?
"What!?"
One wave after another. Milim's head was spinning. Did these two take the wrong medicine today?
If she had known, she wouldn't have come to this tea party.
"So, from today on, I am your new subordinate."
Carrion walked up to Milim, patted her shoulder, and showed twelve pearly white teeth. "Please take care of me, Boss!"
"...Ugh..."
"Wait, wait! Hold on a second! I'm not listening, I'm not listening!"
Milim covered her ears, starting her childish way of acting spoiled.
Draco and Guy looked at each other and shared a knowing smile.
"Milim, we're friends, aren't we? Don't you want to help your friends?"
Frey was better at coaxing children; one sentence immediately threw Milim into a dilemma.
"But..."
"If you become my subordinates, won't we be unable to play together? You won't joke around with me anymore..."
"..."
Only then did everyone realize that Milim's train of thought had gone in this direction. It wasn't just about being playful; they had slightly underestimated her.
"No, that's not it. This way, we can be together often and do more happy things."
For example, grading documents, handling national affairs, and formulating policies for national development—such "fun" things.
Frey silently added these words in her heart; she certainly wouldn't say them out loud now.
Get her to commit first.
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