Chapter 32: Chapter 32
"So there Sir Vester was," he continued, "sitting back at this club and enjoying an alcoholic beverage, when this gang pushed their way into the place and exposed him to dreadful violence! This is not the kind of behavior that should ever be forgiven!"
"Is that the truth?"
"It is, my liege! I heard it from Kaijin himself, and I also have written testimony from the owners of the club. There can be no mistaking the course of events that night!"
*Um, what? What did he just say? I thought he was on our side, and it took all of five minutes for him to go turncoat. That can't be good, can it?* - Rimuru
*This jerk is already paid* - Vegito
*Well I wouldn't be surprised if he did something like this, after all our opponents are ministers* - Liu
"My liege!" Vester exclaimed, egging him on. "You have heard it for yourself! I beg of you to deal with these miscreants harshly!" He flashed us a smile of supreme confidence.
'Bastard. Maybe I should've hit him after all.'
The king remained motionless, eyes closed. In his place, one of the guards beside him spoke.
"Order! I will now give the verdict! Kaijin, the mastermind behind this crime, is sentenced to twenty years of labor in the mines. His accomplices are sentenced to ten years of labor in the mines. With that, this court is hereby —"
"Wait," a deep, quiet voice interrupted.
The king opened his eyes and looked at Kaijin.
"It has been a while, Kaijin. Do you remain in good health?"
"...Yes, my liege!" came the instant reply. Presumably he had the right to speak now. "It gladdens me that you remain so as well!"
"Yes. Now, do you and your friends"—looking at us —"have any desire to return to us?"
The audience in the royal court murmured among themselves. It must have been an unusual development. Vester immediately blanched. Our traitorous representative, meanwhile, had developed a deathly pallor.
"I beg your forgiveness, my liege, but I have already found a master to serve! I have made my vow, and it has become my treasure. A treasure so fine that, indeed, not even the direct order of my liege could make me part with it!"
This clearly angered the audience. I could see the guards staring daggers into Kaijin's forehead. But he stood strong —chest puffed out, the picture of dignity.
The king, seeing this, closed his eyes again. "I...see." Silence ruled for another moment.
"I have made my decision. Listen well to my sentence! Kaijin and his friends are hereby exiled from the kingdom. After midnight tonight, when the new day comes, they are officially no longer welcome in my lands. That is all. Begone at once!" Opening his eyes, the king made his proclamation in a loud voice.
Ah, the dignity of a born leader! His overwhelming presence sent shivers through my body. Although, being king around here seemed like a terribly lonely job to have.
*This old man is strong* - Liu
*yes, he's a king after all* - Vegito
*You better not challenge him* - Rimuru
'I see him having a hard time making this decision, yes I don't blame him, after all from talking with Kaijin, I know that the old man and Kaijin are very close' it's been served for years, but was forced out due to an incident that caused by his own subordinates who have jealousy or grudges.
I saw Kaijin who was next to me, he was crying "Be strong Kaijin, just because you stopped serving him doesn't mean you won't be able to meet him" I said to him while patting his shoulder.
So there we were, after the trial, back at Kaijin's shop. That little celebratory drink we wanted to get sure broke bad, didn't it? Now we had to pack up and leave for good.
'Oh, wait, is Gobta all right? We're still only at day three with him, right?' I was a tad nervous about that as I opened the door to his punishment room.
"Oh! Welcome back sir! Did you guys have fun? God I hope you guys take me with you next time!"
There he was, jumping off the couch to greet us! How did it happen.
"Oi Rimuru, how did he escape your strings?" Liu asked while looking at Confused Gobta.
'Yes you are right, as I recall Rimuru tied Gobta hands, feet and whole body with his thread, so it's impossible to untie it yourself unless you are strong enough to sever it from inside something nearby, yes it's like a couch, but that's life.'
"Wait why is that Sofa thing alive and similar-" yes my words cut short when I saw it I realized that the pillow Gobta was using on the couch was actually a Tempest Wolf.
"Wait, seriously? He actually summoned that person?" Rimuru muttered in slight surprise when he saw Gobta summon the Tempest Wolf, so he asked Gobta out of curiosity, "Uh, Gobta, how did you get that wolf in here?"
"Oh! Right! That! I just thought, 'Hey, can you come over here?' And he did, sir!"
He makes it sound so easy, that bastard. None of the other hobgoblins had managed to remotely do so before. Maybe his brain cells are dedicated to his natural talent, not actual intelligence. That seems crazy to me. I concluded that it must be a coincidence.
"he is stupid but talented at this" said Liu slightly interested "I wonder if Gobta was born with a special talent for fighting" Liu was a bit curious.
"Yeah, I'm also curious about that" very curious.
"It seems my gaze on him has increased a little," said Rimuru while looking at Gobta and the Tempest Wolf he summoned.
I then realized that the sight of the Tempest Wolf had frozen the dwarves in their tracks. "What is wrong?" I ask. "We should start packing, right?"
"W-wait a second!" answered the panicked Kaijin. "What's a black direwolf doing here?!"
"Yes! You must run! It's a B-rank monster!" And now they panic.
They looked so ridiculous, I was totally amused.
"Oh he's fine! Really! No problem! He's like a big dog, Really! We keep him indoors and everything!" Rimuru's attempt to calm everyone's nerves was deadlocked in silence.
By the way, the black direwolves are a bit ahead of the regular direwolves. If they evolved in a more magic-oriented way, their fur would turn black. The Tempest Direwolves' coat is also black but with a unique colored sheen.
Direwolves shouldn't have evolved into the "storm" element in the first place—it was just a side effect of the name Rimuru gave it.
In volcanic areas, Direwolves will evolve with the fire element and become Red Direwolves. Near the body of water, you'll find blue direwolves. In the forest there will be a green wolf. In other words, adopting elements was a fairly common evolutionary pattern for these people. The magic-infused black ones, henceforth, seemed to be a well-known threat to humans and nearby humanoids. The tempest element makes our wolf pack glow purple on the black, something you wouldn't notice if you weren't paying attention.
"And also Kaijin, you are surprised by the Tempest Wolf but not surprised by Fenrir" I said pointing at Fenrir who was snoring above my head, this brat till he was drooling, just watch out.
"Fenrir?" Kaijin was a little flustered and slowly looked above my head, he saw a white feather on top of my head, but when he looked further, he saw that this white feather was breathing.
"Wait don't tell me?!" somehow Kaijin immediately looked like he was going to have a heart attack.
"Yes he is Fenrir, his rank is still B+, he is different from the Tempest Wolf, and his race is White Wolf" I said while stroking her silky white fur.
"White Wolf? I've only heard of an elemental wolf that evolved due to the nature that the Direwolf inhabits, and also a Black Direwolf, but White Wolf, I've never heard of it" as I thought, Kaijin didn't know about the White Wolf.
I guess, for a while Rimuru will call him Gobta's pet for now and move on.
After hastily urging the dwarves to wear their traveler best clothes, I pushed them out of the shop, went back in myself, and Rimuru started swallowing the contents of the building whole. Capacity-wise, it seems Rimuru is still fine, but swallowing the entire building might draw too much attention, so I suggest keeping him there.
Once our preparations for the trip were complete, we headed to where Rigur and the other goblins were waiting.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone