The return of Izawa Shizue not only made the children extremely happy, but Rimuru was also very surprised, and he seemed to be more energetic than before when he started working.
With Jing and Hinata taking care of the children, the children no longer need anyone else to worry about them. The Demon Kingdom Federation is operating at full capacity and preparing for the grand founding ceremony.
This day is the day before the founding ceremony. The town of Rimuru has been decorated with lights and colorful, and it is as lively as a New Year's Eve. Even though hundreds of thousands of adventurers have entered the underground palace in order to buy Ji Xing's skills, there are still huge crowds of people everywhere.
Crowded.
Walking through the crowd, an old man and a young man are quite conspicuous. The old man looks like an ordinary old man. The only thing that is unusual is his extra straight back. The little girl he is holding, who looks about 10 years old, has blond hair and blue eyes.
Like a living doll, so cute that it occasionally makes people stunned.
They also walked through the commercial street like ordinary tourists. Both of them had a bunch of candied haws on their hands, and the girl also had a cute butterfly hairpin on her head.
While tasting the sweet and sour candied haws, the old man had a worried look on his face.
The little girl next to him fully understood what the old man was thinking, and said with emotion: "It's even more powerful than I expected. Humans and monsters are completely integrated without distinguishing each other, and this city... is really built to be scary, Grandpa."
The old man looked at her, and the little girl pointed to the horse gourd cover at her feet, and said: "This thing is called a sewer well. Grandpa, have you noticed that there are many places in the streets and alleys? This shows that the town was fully considered when it was built.
Without the sewage system, the dirty and sour smell like in ordinary towns will never be found here."
She pointed to the distance again: "The track being laid over there is even more remarkable. I told you, it's called a train, a 'transportation' that can connect Western countries.
When the train is officially put into operation, goods from various places can circulate quickly, and Demon King Rimuru has taken control of the economic lifeline of the West. In other words, this place is now the economic center of the West.
No one understands the power of finance better than me, Grandpa. There is no need to resort to force at all. Those merchants and nobles who have been facilitated by Demon King Rimuru will spontaneously support her. If one day a country offends her, Lee
Mulu only needs to cut off the logistics and transportation of that country, or only needs to increase the price of raw materials, and that country will be unable to bear it and will kneel down and beg for mercy.
Furthermore, it would be even more terrifying if that devil knew how to misappropriate resources by manipulating the exchange rate."
Knowing so much, she is not an ordinary little girl. She is the human being reincarnated into this world after death like Rimuru, Mariambell, and she was not an ordinary person before reincarnation.
She was the emperor who ruled Europe. She was known as a financial prodigy since she was a child. She controlled the exchange rate and amassed wealth through the country's strength. In this way, she lived until the end of her life before being reincarnated. She accumulated a lifetime of experience and became smarter.
But compared to life experience, Gulambel, who has lived for thousands of years, is more abundant beside her.
After listening to her words, Gulamber remained silent and did not express his opinion.
Mariambel was a little anxious.
"Grandpa! What have you been thinking about during this time? Have you forgotten the long-cherished wish of our Luozo family? I don't believe you will be frightened by the death of those six idiots!"
From the moment she was reincarnated into this world, she was determined to be the ruler of this relatively backward world just like in her previous life. At the age of three, she met Gulambel, who had the same goals as her, and she became his granddaughter.
The two of them should be moving towards the same goal, an ideal, and it is obvious that the existence of the Monster Federation has gradually shaken the foundation of the Rozo clan. However, except for adding fuel to the flames when dealing with Hinata last time, Gulan Bell has been slow to stop.
Make moves and prevent her from taking any action.
She didn't understand and was even very angry.
Faced with her doubts and dissatisfaction, Gulambel just shook his head slightly: "It's noon, let's eat, Marianne."
"I……"
Before she could object, Mariambel was already pulled by Gulanbeier into a nearby restaurant with a very impressive appearance - Pinhai Building.
Obviously, this is a high-end restaurant that specializes in seafood, and Jula Forest is not close to the sea. You have to go southeast through the Beast Kingdom to find the coastline and go fishing.
Not only does it have to cover thousands of kilometers, but the monsters that breed in the sea are also extremely dangerous. Therefore, in landlocked countries, even the princes and nobles rarely eat seafood, and they don't like it either.
Marianne Bell had eaten everything in her previous life, but in the past ten years of her life she had occasionally tasted stale food, which tasted very bad.
Therefore, when she walked into the Pinhai Tower, she couldn't help but lose consciousness for two seconds.
This hall seems to be a miniature ocean world, with rows of large aquariums inlaid on the walls and central area of the restaurant.
Each one shimmers with a mysterious and alluring blue luster, and is home to a variety of marine life - colorful fish species shuttle and play among the emerald green anemones, and orange and white stripes appear in the water.
It is particularly bright. Not far away, several more elegant fish are swimming slowly. They have ribbon-like fins, fine blue and yellow patterns painted on their bodies, and their tails are wagging like dragons.
Marianne Bell even suspected that there was a trace of dragon magic in this fish!
Then, she was attracted by a spectacular sight - a huge flat fish hovering quietly at the bottom of a water tank. Its huge body was covered with gray-brown scales, glowing with a metallic luster under the light.
It is astonishingly over eight meters long, and even those monsters in the ocean may not dare to easily provoke it.
In addition, there were all kinds of exotic shellfish, colorful corals, and sea turtles passing by in other tanks, which made her realize for the first time that there are so many seafood in this world.
Even she was like this, and the other guests who walked into the restaurant were even more shocked. They all forgot to eat and order and fell on the water tank.
Humans and monsters dressed in standard shop assistant uniforms warmly welcomed these customers and introduced them to these sea creatures - most of them must have been given new names, because Marianne Bell heard many familiar names from her previous life.
"What a luxury..." she murmured.
She could not imagine how much it would cost to build such a restaurant in this world, nor how extravagant it would be to maintain a supply of seafood. Even the Luozo clan would find it difficult to create such a grand spectacle.
Soon, a store clerk noticed her and Gulamber and greeted her: "Sir, have you made an appointment before?"
"Oh, do you need to make a reservation to eat here?" Gulamber asked.
"No, no, no, it's because some dishes require long-term preparation and can only be prepared." The clerk said quickly: "As long as you don't order the dishes that are marked as requiring pre-preparation, we have seats here, so you can come over at any time."
Gulamber nodded slightly: "We are here to find someone, that room."
He raised his finger and pointed to a room on the third floor. The clerk looked at it and his expression changed slightly: "I'm sorry, sir, may I ask...are you sure?"
"That's right."
"Then... please come with me."
When did grandpa make an appointment? Mariambel was a little strange. When she looked at Gulambel inquiringly, she didn't get a response. She followed the clerk all the way, and then she discovered that this restaurant had actually installed a simple elevator.
But considering that there is even a cable car, there is no need to be surprised at this level of technology.
Arriving at room No. 306, the clerk knocked on the door gently and said, "Mr. Ji Xing, there is an old man with a little girl here who asked to see you. Do you know them?"
Marianne Bell's face changed.
Ji Xing? Skill merchant?!
"Invite them in."
"Yes!" The clerk looked respectful, opened the door sideways, and invited the grandfather and grandson to walk in.
Mariambel put on a sullen face and immediately observed the situation in the private room.
There were three people. The young man sitting in the main seat had an unspeakable temperament and was looking at them calmly. The woman with long crimson hair on the left lowered her head and tasted some kind of fish. She seemed to have no time to pay attention to them, and she didn't seem to care much about the two of them.
arrival.
Ji Xing, the information merchant, and Mariambel, the dragon-blooded warrior warrior, have not seen each other before, but they can recognize them. She is very familiar with the woman standing on the right side of Ji Xing, gently stirring the soup pot on the table.
Cagalli who was following Yuuki before!
Seeing the two of them, Cagalli nodded to them calmly, without any previous restraint.
'Tsk, that guy Yuuki broke away from my skill control once he came to the Demon Kingdom Federation and disappeared without a trace. Is it really related to the skill merchant?'
Mariambel, who hid the haze in her eyes and didn't know the situation, said nothing. Gulanbeer said, "Excuse me, Mr. Ji Xing."
"You're already here, why are you being so polite?" Ji Xing said, "Take a seat, you two, just in time to taste my Pinghailou's dishes and make suggestions."
"It turns out that this restaurant was built by Mr. Ji Xing, no wonder he is so generous." Gulanbeier nodded politely, motioned for Marianne Bell to sit down and said at the same time: "This is my granddaughter Marianne Bell, a reincarnated person.
Marianne Bell, say hello to Mr. Ji Xing."
Although Mariambell was unswerving in her heart, she had long been accustomed to pretending, and immediately showed a sweet smile: "Hello, Mr. Ji Xing, I heard that you are also a summoner? I don't know which country you are from?"
"China."
Mariambell hesitated for a moment, obviously not expecting it: "I see, I am a European, and I often taste food from the big Eastern countries. In terms of food, I feel that no country in the world can compare with your country."
She sat down in a hypocritical manner, and when she lowered her head, she suddenly found a set of unopened tableware in front of her.
So she subconsciously looked around the round table filled with various dishes and found exactly five sets of tableware, and the two unopened sets were placed in front of her and Gulambel.
As expected, grandpa made an appointment with him, and even I kept it a secret when we did it.
"If you like to eat, eat more." Ji Xing nodded and said, "In order to determine which sea fish in this world are delicious, Shyvana has been busy for almost a month, and the ones left behind are all exquisite."
It turned out that the demon king personally carried it, which was quite a luxury. Mariambel complained, while Gulambel laughed and said: "That's really a blessing, I'm sorry."
He quickly unpacked the tableware and took a chopstick of the 'mixed fish' stewed with several kinds of fish in front of him. The rich aroma of sauce filled his mouth. He was slightly absent-minded and shook his head: "It's really embarrassing. I think about this thousand years of experience."
, I can’t think of any food that can compare with its deliciousness.”
"The most important thing in life is eating, drinking and having fun." Ji Xing said with a smile: "The existence of magic element allows this world to have many food conditions that our world does not have, but it lacks development."
"I can only agree with half of this point."
Gulamber said: "There are always things that are more important than eating, drinking and having fun, such as ideals, family, and...race."
"You are right." Ji Xing said, "But you and I have different mentality and ideas. I'm afraid it will be difficult to reach an agreement on this point."
"Is that so?"
Gulambeer looked disappointed: "The incompetent have been searching for thousands of years but cannot get it, and the capable people have it at their fingertips but have no interest. This world will always disappoint people. Maybe this is the truth of the world?"
"You are too modest to call yourself incompetent." Ji Xing said: "It is just a Western Holy Church. It is impossible to unite the Western countries into one force. Luminas is a guy who doesn't take care of things very much.
It’s not because you are working hard, there can’t be peace and no war among the Western countries.”
"So what? In the end, it was all in vain." Gulanbeier sighed: "I have a limited lifespan and limited abilities. A sudden change can destroy my hundreds of years of planning. After all, the world is still heading towards a future that makes me uneasy.
."
He is a 'racist'.
In Gulamber's eyes, monsters cannot be trusted, and demon kings are people to be wary of.
Over the years, with the help of Luminas' power, he has twisted the Western countries into a rope. The once brave man has become an excellent politician, and the Rozo family has been brought to the pinnacle of power by him.
There is peace in the West, and mankind is united to resist monsters. Ninety percent of the credit for this must be attributed to him, but he is not satisfied.
Monsters and the Demon King cannot be trusted after all. He wants to change the state of the world and allow humans to truly control the world. He is even ready to turn against Luminas and die.
As long as he takes a step closer to his ideal, he is happy with it, but the appearance of Ji Xing overturns all his plans and leaves him with nothing to do.
He couldn't even fully trust Luminas, who had served him for thousands of years, and naturally he didn't trust Rimuru even more. But he knew that as long as the person in front of him interfered, no matter what he did, he would never succeed.
The Ji Xing in front of him was an existence on a completely different level from Luminas and Rimuru. He was someone he could not match even if he burned everything.
And the most important point is that Ji Xing is a human being, which makes him unable to be hostile at all!
Ji Xing knew this. He had eliminated Qiyao and Liuyao, leaving only Gulanbeier in front of him. This was not because the former brave man could get any special treatment, but because he had never had any hostility towards him.
.
Even now, he rejected his hints and hints, saying that he was very comfortable here in Rimuru and had no intention of changing, and he did not have the slightest bit of hostility towards Ji Xing.
Therefore, Ji Xing does not dislike Gulamber.
'Those who are not of my race will have different hearts.' This sentence can actually be used in any world. It is difficult to find a happy world where races are mixed and mixed, so the concepts and ideals that Gulanbeier upholds are not the same.
Makes no sense.
A brave man who can implement his ideals and will to this extent is worthy of admiration.
In comparison, the little girl next to Gulanbeier was much different.
Mariambel seemed to understand the implicit conversation between Ji Xing and Gulan Beier, and thought that her grandfather was holding back during this period because he wanted to secretly contact Ji Xing and form an alliance with Ji Xing.
This was different from her original plan of using her own skills to influence and control Ji Xing, but she also knew that was difficult to do and it would be easier to do so.
So she said: "I wonder what Mr. Ji Xing did before he was summoned?"
Ji Xing shook his head and smiled: "I forgot."
"..." Mariambel choked: "I have long heard the legend of Mr. Ji Xing selling skills. It is said that after you gave those adventurers skills, you just asked them to donate to some welfare organizations a year later. Now it has gradually
Fulfilling it is truly a meritorious and admirable thing.
But there’s one thing I don’t understand. You can obviously gain countless followers and easily reach the top of the world with your own abilities, so why don’t you seem to be interested at all?”
She tried to seduce Ji Xing's desire, but her unique skills and greed were already quietly working.
This is not an attempt to control Ji Xing. She has also heard that Ji Xing defeated the Burning Flame Dragon and rode the cable car. Although she is confident in her skills, she feels that it must be a long process to control Ji Xing, and she will definitely be beaten.
Ji Xing realized that she couldn't rush forward. So she just wanted to grasp the context of Ji Xing's desire and take control of the conversation.
Just like she had done countless times.
Gulamber didn't stop him, or even cared about it, but lowered his head to enjoy other dishes.
At this time, the doll-like Mariambell suddenly began to tremble.
Her pupils then dilated, as if a ferocious ghost appeared in front of her eyes. Sweat quickly oozed from her body, and her clothes were soaked until she fell from the chair, gasping for breath as if she were surviving a disaster.
No one in the room showed any reaction to this, including Gulambel. Cagalli's mouth curved slightly with disdain, and she returned to her intellectual secretary state, serving a bowl of soup for Ji Xing.
"Please use it, Lord Ji Xing."
"Well, you should sit down and eat too."
Ji Xing smiled: "Shvana, Gulambeer, you have to drink the soup and serve it yourself. This fish ball soup is even fresher than wild mushroom soup, several times fresher. I guarantee you won't forget it after drinking it."
"Really? You're welcome, then!" Gulambel stood up and saw that Shyvana moved faster. He gave up for three seconds before filling the soup and sitting down.
The four of them quietly tasted the delicious seafood feast. Gulambel let out two praises from time to time, while Shyvana lowered her head and just ate, as if to make up for the hard work she had done in the previous period.
Mariambell, who was sitting on the ground, seemed to have been forgotten. It took her a while to get up tremblingly, her feet slipped several times, and she didn't even wet her pants. This was the accumulation of her two lives.
'Then, what is that?'
The moment she used her skills to spy on Ji Xing, her mind entered a black hole, which seemed to contain boundless malice, greed for power, greed for beauty, greed for money, and greed for the entire world.
…
She has never felt such a huge amount of greed in anyone, and even the greed she has felt in the ten years of reincarnation is not as good as the one she saw this time! Her skills were madly attracted by that greed,
Even her soul sank into the bottomless abyss and was swallowed by greed!
Why? Is this really human?!
She frantically tried to escape from the room, but finally managed to restrain herself, climbed onto the chair, lowered her head and gasped for breath.
Seeing her appearance, Gulanbeier couldn't bear it after all. He put down his chopsticks and sighed: "Please, Mr. Ji Xing, please teach her this lesson. I think she will have a better memory after coming to Marianne."
"I didn't do anything." Ji Xing smiled.
Gulambel nodded and gently touched Mariambel's wet head: "This is my fault, Mariambel. Because I need your ability, I have never taught you a truth or this world.
It's completely different from the world you come from.
Quantity is ineffective when faced with quality.
A top-level combat power cannot be replaced or offset by a million ordinary combat powers. Sitting here, Ji Xing is already at the pinnacle of the world."
"You have had memories from birth and have controlled countless people since you were a child. But do you remember meeting me when you were three years old? Why didn't you control me? Because you knew you couldn't do it. You said my will could restrain mine.
'greedy'.
But these years have been so smooth that you have forgotten what you once understood. The stronger the person, the stronger the desire, and relatively speaking, the tougher the will, unless he has become a slave of desire. I think you are here
The desire seen in him may be...ten times that of me, right?"
Mariambell is silent, ten times?
"You ask me why I haven't taken any action during this period. It's because my original plan was to rebirth the strongest warrior." Gulanbeier shook his head: "My heart as a brave man has been blackened by these years of life, and my will
I can no longer control my desires, and I am not sure what I will do next.
I want to revive Chronoa so that she can intimidate the demon kings with her power, and at least ensure a fair living environment for mankind, that's all."
"You...have been lying to me? You don't want the Rozo family to become the masters of the world?" Marianne Bell said in a difficult voice.
"No, I do have such an ideal." Gulamber said: "But... that is just an unattainable dream."
"The emergence of skill merchant Ji Xing has made me both happy and worried before today. To be honest, Ji Xing..." He looked at Ji
We are surrounded by monsters and demon kings, but seeing him today made me feel relieved.
If one day mankind is oppressed by monsters, you don't look like someone who will stand by and watch. With you here, Chronoa is no longer necessary. You are not a brave man, but you are enough to continue peace for mankind for another thousand years. By then... who knows
Woolen cloth."
Mariambel was secretly resentful. We clearly agreed to be the masters of mankind together, but what kind of bravery and heroes are you secretly doing?!
But when she noticed Ji Xing's eyes, she immediately shrank and shivered, and the sense of superiority from her previous life disappeared.
Ji Xing shook his head and said: "You have to educate this child well. Another point is that Rimuru is also a reincarnation, a human being reincarnated into a monster. You can try to believe her."
"...She is also a reincarnation?" Gulanbeier was startled, and his expression gradually became complicated: "I see, but it doesn't matter whether I trust her or not. The most ridiculous thing is that I have no confidence in human beings."
There are many racists like him. Can this monster kingdom really be peaceful? Can the misunderstanding between monsters and humans really be eliminated?
He was not optimistic about this, and could not rest assured about Rimuru being reincarnated into a monster. Although it was rumored that the 20,000 troops of the Kingdom of Farmus were destroyed by the storm dragon, Granbell, who knew about Rimuru's awakening, knew best.
specific situation.
Even if Farmus invaded first, how can we guarantee that this kind of thing will not happen again in the future? If a monster wants to become a demon king, it needs to sacrifice 10,000 human souls. This is its natural enemy!
At this moment, there was another knock on the door of the private room. Gulamber turned his head and saw a familiar figure appearing outside the door.
"Ji Xing, you're looking for me... huh?"
Hinata, who was coming in a hurry, paused and suddenly raised his alarm: "Granber?!"
This guy has disappeared since he planned something detrimental to Luminas-sama more than two months ago. How dare he come here?!
Gulanbeier was also stunned for a moment, and then his old eyes flashed, and he said in surprise: "Egg of the brave? Hinata, when did you obtain the qualification of being a brave? No, when did you...when did you forgive your past self?"
This guy... Hinata's face was cold. Gulambel actually knew the burden that I had not let go of before. How did he know my secret?!
Gulamber didn't pay attention to her hostility, and was dazed for a while. Hinata Sakaguchi was his most promising successor during his tenure as Nanaya, but his mental flaws were also obvious. In the past two years, he gradually gave up hope, but today
As soon as I saw you, I walked out of the shadow of the past without knowing it?
Is it the help of skill merchants?
Or are there other reasons?
He thought of Hinata's two attacks on Rimuru, and recalled Ji Xing's words before: 'You can try to believe her.' So Gulambel suddenly asked in a confused manner: "Hinata, what do you think of Demon King Rimuru?"
What kind of guy is Lu?"
Hinata frowned and did not answer.
But Gulamber has his answer.
Hinata, who was the most merciless to monsters before, hesitated, this is the answer! The wrinkles on his face relaxed, and he suddenly laughed: "Hahaha..."
"Hahahaha!" The more he laughed, the happier he became, and the more he laughed, the younger his old voice became.
At the same time, his old face rapidly transformed, and his body seemed to become more upright. From an octogenarian, he quickly transformed into a young man who looked only about twenty years old, with all his sharpness!
Hinata was shocked: "You...unlocked Luminas-sama's 'blessing'?! Are you crazy, Granbell!"
A brave man can be reincarnated, but he cannot live for a thousand years with one life. Gulambel can survive to this day thanks to the power given by Luminas, but now he has expelled that power from his body and restored his youthful appearance, but
It also means that his life has entered a countdown!
"Although I didn't get the best answer I expected, I have found a future that may make the world more perfect, and this future does not require me, and I have long been tired." Gulanbeier's voice was clear.
The brave man Granbell, who had quietly lived under the command of Luminas and been active for thousands of years to protect mankind for thousands of years, was relieved of the burden of being a brave man at this time!
There was only one last thing he wanted to do, and that was to teach his 'granddaughter' well. So he took Mariambel's hand, passed by Hinata, nodded approvingly towards Hinata, and walked away.
Hinata couldn't help but ask: "Ji Xing, what happened? What happened to Gulan Bell?"
"Another Shizue Izawa, someone who has lived a harder life than Shizue Izawa, decided to let go of everything and enjoy his old age."