With my skill, Sniper, this'll be easy.
Warp Shot!
It can't be! Why can I still sense Prince Elric's presence?!
One more shot!
No, I can't.
Clearly I underestimated that demon's master.
Indeed.
You underestimate Great Rimuru.
You are a fool to remain here after failing in your assassination attempt.
Who are you?
Soei. Great Rimuru's loyal spy.
That Demon Lord. I knew it.
You will tell me everything you know.
If you wish to resist, be my guest.
Well, if you insist, then I'll take you up on that!
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 4
Episode 79: The Mastermind's Identity
Well, if you insist, then I'll take you up on that!
Just like I thought. As a high majin,
he won't be affected by simple physical attacks.
Still...
I can't afford another failure!
I should've expected that.
He noticed that my knife's wrapped in magic.
He instantly identifies anything that's about to harm him and evades.
I can tell he's one of those guys who hates inefficiency.
For his type...
Oh? Very perceptive of you.
Well, thanks.
You're not half bad yourself!
Wasteful!
He fell for it!
So much for those good looks of yours!
I mixed in a Magic Shot with my bullets.
The confident ones always fall so easily for simple tactics like this.
I see. You can put magic into your bullets, as well.
Oh? You know what bullets are?
Well, that's one made from a clump of my magic.
See how well it works even on people like you
who aren't affected by regular bullets?
I do see.
Why don't you finish your explanation in Great Rimuru's presence?
He is very kind.
So long as you are honest, he won't kill you.
Sore loser, huh?
I'm sorry, though.
Since you've seen me, I have no choice but to kill you.
This will finish it.
Strong as he was,
I'm impressed he forced me to use all my trump cards.
Is that so?
Then I suggest you admit defeat and allow me to apprehend you.
N-No way! I just saw you die!
That was not enough to kill me.
I purposely took your attacks to learn what you're capable of.
Don't think you can bluff me!
Wait, what?
Two of him? No...
Four?!
Y-You can't be serious...
And they're all real?!
It's simple. I have a skill called Body Double.
Be proud that you defeated one,
even though they are a bit weaker than I am.
Now... I don't want to keep Great Rimuru waiting any longer.
Shall we begin?
Damn you!
Man...
That was such a long meeting!
A lot happened in the process, as well.
Yeah, for real.
That Gaban guy's plot was poorly executed,
but he was obviously antagonistic toward me.
In the failed assassination of Prince Elric,
all the others were just disposable pawns.
His true goal was to frame me for the prince's assassination
and have Tempest removed from the Western Nations.
A lot happened,
but I was lucky Hinata and Shuna snapped before I did.
As the nation's ruler, I shouldn't be the one doing the fighting.
I wouldn't say I snapped.
I merely corrected his manners a bit.
Same goes for me, Great Rimuru.
I only gave a bit of discipline to someone who was being rude.
R-Right...
Anyway, you did great keeping yourself in check, Benimaru.
Frankly, you were the one I was most worried about.
Oh, well... to be honest, I was so furious that my mind went blank,
but I managed to rein it in because Shuna stepped in first.
Had she acted a second later,
I would have burned everyone in that room alive.
Don't be so pleased with yourself!
It was just a joke.
Liar! You used your serious tone!
Sheesh...
That was close.
I already had one foot on the path to being an enemy of all humans.
I'll have to think carefully about who I appoint as our councilor.
Great Rimuru.
Oh, you're back.
Yes.
I see.
So that's what it was.
Good job nabbing the shooter.
You never let me down, Soei.
Thank you.
Still, she managed to take out three of my doubles.
I still have a long way to go.
So she never gave you her name, huh?
Correct. Her identity is unknown,
but she called you "that demon's master,"
so she must have a history with Diablo.
Hmm... Diablo didn't mention anything like that,
but he's Diablo, after all.
I could see him just terrorizing her and then saying,
"It was such a trifling matter that I forgot about it."
Also, regarding the shooter's weapon...
Oh, yeah.
I think it was a weapon we had in the other world.
Answer.
Answer
I surmise that the shooter created it herself from her own magic.
It seems quite similar to Reality Weapon.
Which means...
She's probably an Otherworlder who manifested it from her memories.
Yes.
It seems she was hiding a most troublesome skill.
Hinata?
You'll find out either way, so I'll tell you now.
The woman I saw through my Thought Communication
was one of the Three Battlesages of the Master Rooks.
"Raging Sea" Glenda.
She was my subordinate.
Wha?!
Boss?!
It's been a long time, Glenda.
B-But... why?
I'm relieved to see that you're well.
I guess this is the end of the line for me.
Just kill me. Any spy who gets caught is just—
Quiet.
All you need to do is answer our questions.
Looks like her spirit's already broken.
May I go first?
S-Sure.
I thought it was strange.
There were times when it seemed like
the Council was acting with a clear view of the Western Holy Church's mindset.
I suspected there was a spy very close by, but still...
You were betraying me from the start, weren't you?
No comment.
Who manipulated the Council and ordered you to assassinate Prince Elric?
No comment.
If you tell me who hired you,
I'll reduce the severity of your crime by a degree.
I keep telling you, no comment!
I see. Then I have one last question.
Did you believe in Lady Luminus?
There is no god.
If you're gonna believe that nonsense, give me money to—
Too far, Hinata. This is an interrogation.
You wanna kill her?
That was not my intention.
Liar! You obviously meant to kill her!
Don't worry, Great Rimuru.
Even if this woman dies,
we won't lose our information source.
Huh?
I will simply use resurrection magic.
Exactly. I can also use Resurrection.
It wouldn't have been a problem.
Uh, that's not the point here.
Anyway, Hinata, just keep quiet and watch for a while.
From now on, I'll ask the questions.
Now, let's start over, Glenda-san.
I am Demon Lord Rimuru.
Charmed.
Before I start, let me say one thing.
I'm sure just asking a pro like you to give me answers isn't gonna work.
So for now, you can just hear me out.
Try to keep up that poker face if you can.
Hmph. As if I needed the invitation.
Okay, Raphael-sensei, you're up!
Understood. Commencing interrogation of the individual named Glenda.
Okay, let's get started.
Unique skills are often rooted in one's soul.
It seems you are no exception.
There's a strong force connecting you with your soul.
Really? First I've heard of it.
And? So what?
There were many councilors at today's meeting
whose souls were stained with greed.
It was most likely planted there by someone else's unique skill.
Hah! All humans are greedy by nature.
That's true.
But all of them displayed greed on the same wavelength.
I believe that was due to the influence of a third party's ability.
And you, Glenda, are also under its influence.
What did you say?
But in your case,
your own unique skill preserves your soul.
That seems to have prevented it from being completely overtaken.
Raphael-sensei, this is all news to me, too...
Continuing.
Yes, ma'am.
Actually, there were some people at our festival with that same greed.
And when a large number of people are affected by such a skill,
its user is likely to be somewhere nearby.
In other words, your employer was at our festival.
My Appraisal skill is exemplary, you know.
Not only can it tell when a skill exists,
it can even tell when someone's trying to hide one.
This person must've really wanted to prevent me from figuring out their skill.
That's why they dispatched a subordinate carrying hints of their presence.
Maribel Rozzo.
Does that name ring a bell?
C-Couldn't say.
Rozzo?
I see. So the Rozzo family is involved in this.
Their head is Granville Rozzo, the former Hero
who united the Western Nations, and head of the Seven Days Clergy.
Granville died, but I suppose his will has been carried on.
Maribel's the one who hired you, isn't she?
It didn't work. We failed.
It's a shame about Gaban.
He really devoted his all to you.
But we did draw out the Magic Inquisitors thanks to him.
Isn't that a win in itself?
True.
Grandfather was concerned,
so I investigated through Gaban while I was controlling him...
and he was absolutely useless against a Demon Lord.
Not even worth mentioning.
And then there's Demon Lord Rimuru.
Forget framing him for an assassination
and removing Tempest from the Western Nations.
He only solidified Tempest's value to the Council.
I was a fool. I underestimated him.
Johann, I intend to have you continue to investigate the Demon Lord.
Me? The Demon Lord?
You don't know why I pitted you against Gaban?
I did it to make the Demon Lord trust you more.
And if I fail, I'll be eliminated, too?
Maybe working with Demon Lord Rimuru is the wiser move?
He desires coexistence with humans, does he not?
So why go out of our way to make Tempest the enemy?
You are sorely mistaken.
Do you truly understand the reason I advised Grandfather
to get rid of that Demon Lord?
Isn't it...
because he's threatening us with his talk of creating a new economic sphere?
Yes, but that's only the official reason.
The true reason is...
because we'd be left with no way to go up against a Demon Lord.
What do you mean?
The Demon Lord has tremendous combat potential.
He has the Storm Dragon on his side, no less.
And what do we do if a Demon Lord
with that kind of power comes trying to negotiate with us?
But he said he would obey the rules of the Council.
He'll obey them for now.
But once the value of Tempest becomes widely known,
it'll be the Western Nations that are forced to obey.
And thus the Demon Lord wins supremacy by peaceful means.
It's laughable. Just laughable.
The very idea that one could ignore such an obvious fact of life
and think a Demon Lord and humans could live as equals...
They may speak of friendly discussion,
but that only works as long as the Demon Lord allows it to!
Humans live short lives.
If we don't stop this Demon Lord's ambitions now,
the Rozzos' dearest wish is as good as doomed.
The idea of working with a Demon Lord, or even using him...
There was never any chance of that working.
Give me a break!
This makes it look like I coughed up all the info you wanted!
Serves you right, Glenda.
A fitting ending for a traitor.
Damn it... The way this is going...
The way this is going, I'll be killed.
Is this Maribel person that dangerous?
It's way beyond that.
People like us who were summoned from the other world
are bound by a curse that prevents us from disobeying her.
The moment she concludes that I've betrayed her...
she'll shatter my soul.
Which means you didn't betray Lady Luminus of your own free will,
but merely because you couldn't refuse?
Well, it's complicated.
Part of me was desperate to lean on God's mercy,
but no matter what I do, I can't escape the curse.
I never really thought God would just come along and save me.
Or rather, I couldn't.
It's true that God's mercy can't fix this.
Even Resurrection can't save someone whose soul has been shattered.
Raphael-sensei, can you solve this?
Understood. Not a problem.
Shall I undo it?
Okay, your job's done. You can live as you please now.
Ah. One last show of compassion?
Nope, not that.
I just removed the curse that had you bound.
Huh?
In other words, you're free now.
Wha...
You really can do anything, can't you?
Oh, and this goes without saying,
but if you decide to be our enemy, we'll show no mercy.
No, that's not...
I'll overlook what you've done this time.
That's not the issue here!
You said you removed the curse...
Is that true?
Yep. You feel better, don't you?
I realize this is impudent of me,
but I have a favor to ask.
Would you please hire me?
Huh?
I'll do whatever dirty work you want!
You might not believe me, but I'll swear my loyalty to you!
So please, Great Demon Lord!
Uh... I'm not sure I can hire a former spy...
Of course, I'll tell you everything I know.
You guys seem to think Granville is dead...
but he's alive.
Huh?
Granville is alive?
Gran, the Sunday Priest of the Seven Days Clergy,
is just the vessel hosting Lord Granville's spiritual body.
Lord Granville is the one who sits above Maribel.
And... I don't know what Maribel is thinking,
but I know she's his most powerful pawn, and a massive threat to you guys.
Yuuki Kagurazaka, the Grandmaster of the Free Union...
He's completely under Maribel's control!
Next time, "The Groundwork of Greed."
The Groundwork of Greed