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Pere~Pere~Pere~Pere~
"Moshi Moshi, this is Sengoku."
Fleet Admiral Sengoku, in his full uniform with his braided beard, picked up the Den Den Mushi and spoke in a measured tone.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, this is Captain Hina. Hina has an urgent report."
Hina had pulled out her Den Den Mushi the moment she was alone in the quarters the guards had arranged for her. She needed to get this information to Sengoku directly.
"Hina? This must be serious if you're calling me personally. What's happened?"
A look of confusion crossed Sengoku's face. Under normal circumstances, a direct call to the Fleet Admiral meant something had gone very wrong.
"While pursuing the Scythe Pirates, Hina stumbled onto a country that doesn't appear anywhere in our records..."
A quarter of an hour later, Sengoku set down the Den Den Mushi and said nothing for a long moment.
If what Hina was describing was accurate, then a nation with power comparable to one of the Four Emperors had simply appeared in the world without the Marines ever knowing. And it wasn't even affiliated with the World Government.
"Understood. For now, stay put and observe. Do not take any action."
"Yes, Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"
Click.
The call ended. Sengoku looked toward the door and called out.
"Someone!"
The guard outside stepped in and snapped to attention.
"Go and find Vice Admiral Tsuru and Vice Admiral Garp. Tell them I need to see them."
"Yes sir!"
The guard hurried out. On the other side of the call, Hina let out a slow breath.
"At least it's off my hands now. This is way above anything Hina can deal with on her own."
She had to admit, though, that she genuinely liked what she had seen of this place.
The smiles on the faces of the people here weren't forced. They were real, and that was something she didn't see often enough in her travels.
One thing still puzzled her, though. Were there always this many children in a country? And those green-skinned people with the pointed ears — what race were they exactly? She had never encountered anything like them before.
She shook her head. 'If Hina can't figure it out, there's no point overthinking it. Hina will take a proper look around tomorrow.'
What Hina didn't know was that not far from her room, hidden high in the branches of a large tree, Souka was already reporting back.
"Souei-sama, that's the full situation. Do I need to take care of her?"
Souei's reply came without a beat of hesitation.
"No. Keep watching. As long as she does nothing that threatens the country, leave her alone."
"Understood."
Souka's voice faded back into the shadows of the tree.
Not far from Hina's quarters, the Commercial Street had acquired a few uninvited guests.
"Bang!"
"You... you... have you paid... today's protection fee...? Ba... Baka Yarou!"
Kaito looked at Rimuru, who was standing there red-faced and stammering, and slowly shook his head.
"A lost cause."
He stepped in front of her and faced the stall owner himself, slapping both hands on the table with practiced flair.
"Baka Yarou! Don't you know this entire street is under our organization's protection? You're running a stall here and you haven't paid us a single coin!"
Unfortunately, his commanding performance had absolutely no effect on the stall owner.
The man just smiled warmly. "Oh my, you're right. How rude of me to set up here without paying your esteemed organization a visit first."
"Allow me to make up for it right now!"
He picked up a small bundle of candies from the table and held it out to all four of them. They accepted with suitably smug expressions.
"Hmph hmph! This Mrs... you wouldn't want... bah, bah... you're pretty smart about this! Let's move!"
The four of them strutted off with wide, self-important strides, heading for the next stall down the street.
The four large characters spelling "Doing Nothing" on the backs of their capes swayed with every step, drawing the eyes of everyone they passed.
"Hehe! Those four are certainly spirited, aren't they! Don't you think so, Miss Tamayo?"
Tamayo, who had long since overcome her weakness to sunlight, covered her mouth with a gentle laugh and glanced after the group before turning back to Kie Kamado with a smile.
"They really are. But isn't this exactly what a good life looks like?"
"If it weren't for the medicine Rimuru-sama developed, I would never be able to stand in sunlight again. I'm truly grateful to all of them."
Kie Kamado thought of Tanjiro, who was doing well in the army, and her other children, Nezuko included, who were currently in school. The look in her eyes as she watched the group walk away grew very soft.
"Rimuru, you need to actually sound threatening when you do this. You're stammering all over yourself. Have you never seen Crows Zero?"
Kaito lectured as they walked, and Milim chimed in from beside him.
"Kai-chan's right! You're just hopeless, Rimuru! It's not that hard. Look at me, I got it immediately!"
'That's because you've always been like this, Milim. You're not acting at all.'
"Hahaha! I have to say, I really do love this feeling. Arrogance and tyranny, there's nothing quite like it!"
"The only frustrating part is that everyone just hands things over the moment they see us coming. This great me never even gets a chance to actually show off!"
Veldora walked with his cape billowing and his chin raised, managing to look both delighted and genuinely inconvenienced at the same time.
"I've never been a delinquent in my life! And besides, we're 'Doing Nothing,' not some street gang! Why are we even doing this?!"
Kaito turned to look at Rimuru with an expression that suggested she had just asked the shallowest question he had ever heard.
"You want to know why?"
He raised his nose, turned to face the street, and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Boredom!"
"Boredom!"
"Ahh!"
Every head on the street turned toward them at once. Then, one by one, people broke into relieved smiles and went back to what they were doing.
'Hey! What kind of image do you people have of us?!'
"..."
"Well, if you're that bored, why not go back and help Diablo deal with that kingdom?"
Rimuru asked with genuine curiosity.
"That trash country? I don't need to lift a finger for something like that. Now, if it were the Holy Empire, that might actually be worth my time."
"The Holy Empire?"
"Oh, I know this one!"
Milim's hand shot up. "The Holy Empire Lubelius! That's Luminous's country, right?"
"Who's Luminous?"
Veldora turned the name over in his head. It felt familiar somehow, but he couldn't place it, so he stopped trying. Probably nobody important.
"Luminous Valentine. She's a Demon Lord, just like me!"
Rimuru blinked. A Demon Lord?
In all this time, the only Demon Lord she had actually met was Milim. The only names she knew were the Platinum Devil, Leon Cromwell, and Clayman. Now a third one was coming up.
"But why would a country with a name that holy be ruled by a Demon Lord?"
Kaito picked up the thread without missing a step.
"That's because..."