18. Hell for bunny-chan?

With Hinata's appearance in her new costume, the threat of a new commotion occurred. Luminas was on the edge of storming off to follow Hinata but decided, for her own good, against it because of the hostile glazes from Rimuru's attendants. When everybody finally calmed down, they changed locations to where the talks would take place. Hinata was also present, although still beet red in the face. Few had also noticed the face Rimuru made when seeing Hinata in the bunny outfit, and two people, one of them being Rain, took notes of it for the future. Hinata, realizing the stares she got, turned her head away in embarrassment and hoped inwardly for this hole thing to end so that she could lock herself up in her room. To her rescue came Luminas Valentine, who spoke up to start the meeting.

"So, I don't have much time, tell me what you came here for." She rather demanded than asking, in her usual arrogant demeanor, not realizing that it upset a lot of people.

"How dare you talk to-"

"Calm down, Rain, no need to get upset." Rimuru interrupted her before she could finish. After Rain sat down again, he continued.

"You see, Luminas Valentine here isn't really the way she is acting right now. She is trying her best to look intimidating. I mean there are two primordial demons, two demon lords, one dragon and a true dragon in front of her, of course she has to act like that in front of us in her own territory. Right, Luminas-chan?~" Rimuru said and finished his sentence in a tone which was actually typical for Luminas.

Luminas jumped up from her chair, her face red out of anger and embarrassment, but she was again interrupted by Rain.

"I see. So she actually has seen the greatness of Rimuru-sama and is trying to act benevolent in front of him. What an insight, as expected of Rimuru-sama."

Ultima also had a bright expression on her face. Meanwhile, Velgrynd deadpanned at the argument of Rain and Milim, well, she wasn't even listening to the whole conversation. She was too occupied with eating the honey she had received from Rimuru.

Luminas turned even redder and was close to bursting up. Chloe, who was silent the whole time, decided to speak up.

"Sensei, stop teasing Luminas. And Luminas, calm down. It's not like you to lose yourself over things like that!" She scolded both Rimuru and Luminas.

Rimuru in response let out a small chuckle while Luminas calmed down.

'To be scolded by Chloe, what a bliss' were her thoughts which she managed to hide behind a poker face.

"Alright, we also don't have that much time to spare. I make it quick. I came here to invite you to join the demon lords."

Luminas' eyes widened for a split second, but she managed to get a hold of herself. She didn't except such an offer at all. She knew about Guy Crimson and interacted with him before, even though shortly, and saw that her strength was irrelevant in front of him. Furthermore, she has also heard reports about Milim's recent rampage. And they wanted her to join. She asked herself if there are any motives she couldn't see right now behind this offer.

"What reason do I have to join your group?"

"Hmm let's see. Although we demon lords aren't actually best of friends, we still support each other when one is in need. You could also expect support in case of an emergency."

The offer didn't sound bad, but Luminas still couldn't see why they would want her to join. She could barely hold herself against the primordials under Rimuru's command, and she should become a demon lord?

"What do you gain from me joining the demon lords?" Luminas asked, still skeptical.

"Me? Nothing really, just a new fellow demon lord." Rimuru answered.

"Is it even up to you to decide who is going to join the demon lords? Isn't Guy Crimson the leader of the demon lords?"

"Oh, good question! Well, not anymore. We decided that I'll recruit some new demon lords. And one of them is you." Rimuru said, with a smile on his face.

"One of them? Who are the others?"

"Well, it's just one at this point. Dagruel already decided to join us." Rimuru said, with a mischievous grin on his face. He finally played his trump card.

He knew how much Luminas hated Dagruel and was sure that she would join after hearing this. That was the main reason why she joined in the original time-line too. And to no surprise, Luminas' reaction was exactly as Rimuru expected it to be.

"THAT DAMN MUSCLE HEAD IS JOINING? I ACCEPT, I WILL BECOME A DEMON LORD OR WHATSOEVER!" She shouted.

'I knew Dagruel was the reason, but does she really hate him that much? They made up after his revival, but neitherless, I didn't know it was this bad.' Rimuru thought.

"This meeting seems like a succes." Velgrynd said, indifferently.

"Yes, with that over, we now have two new demon lords." Rimuru said.

"New demon lords noda? Who is it noda?" Milim asked surprised.

Everyone sighed out loud at her carefree attitude.

"We're going to talk about it later, Milim."

"But-"

"Later!" Rimuru said.

Milim sulked and continued to lick off the honey from her fingers.

"Before I forget, there is another thing I wanted to say. Chloe and bunny-, I mean Hinata, do you two want to come with me? I can train you for a while. Especially Hinata. You're not strong enough right now and could use some training.

Hinata glared at Rimuru, mostly because of the slip of his tongue, but before she could refuse, Chloe already butted in.

"We accept, sensei! I can't wait to train with you!" She said gleefully.

"What do you mean train? We have capable people to train Hinata, I should be plenty enough!" Luminas hissed, detecting that her precious friends would leave her side.

"Luminas, sensei is really strong, there is no one better than him to train us. I bet that he was also the reason for the earthquake days ago."

Luminas and Hinata deadpanned at this until they saw the faces of everyone else. They looked proud and smug for a reason. Especially Rain and Velgrynd.

"Don't tell me..." Luminas stuttered.

"Indeed, Chloe-san, the earthquake was caused by Rimuru-sama knocking out Guy-sama after he kicked him to the ground." Rain said, before Rimuru could tell her to shut up.

Luminas' pale skin turned visibly paler, and she had a look of disbelief on her face. Hinata had already witnessed Ciel's wrath and knew what he was capable of, but was shocked nevertheless.

"He he he, I guess that was it. Anyway, Chloe and Hinata, I take it as a yes then?" Rimuru laughed it off and asked.

"Yes, sensei, we accept."

"Why does nobody ask for my opinion." Hinata silently said, defeated.

"Alright, seems like we finished here. We have to return now, I bet Guy is already curious how everything turned out. I will inform you in the next few days when we are going to meet, Luminas." Rimuru said and stood up.

"Sensei, I have to pack my lugg-"

"Don't worry, you don't need anything. I have everything necessary for you two. Just hurry up and come along."

Chloe and Hinata looked curious, but decided not to ask further questions.

"Alright, Luminas-chan, see you later~" Rimuru said and teleported them out of there.

------------------------------------------------------------

"Are we going somewhere else, sensei?" Chloe asked.

The reason for that was their current location. They weren't in the frozen continent, but just a few kilometers away from Luminas castle. Rimuru gulped and looked nervous for a reason.

"Ehmm, Chloe and Hinata, your training will start now. I need you two to go to my imaginary space."

"Imaginary space? Why? Aren't you going to train us?" Hinata asked and was skeptical about it.

"Aren't you coming with us, sensei? I thought you will train us?" Chloe asked.

"I w-will! I will! I will come after I've settled t-things with G-guy." Rimuru said, clearly sweating.

"Alright, I'll be waiting sensei! Let's go Hinata."

Hinata didn't believe Rimuru a bit. He looked far too suspicious. But before she could retort, Rimuru sent them to his imaginary space. But before that, she could clearly hear Rimuru saying "I'll pray for you" but didn't know why.

>> Ciel, are you sure this is a good idea? <<

<< Fufufu, no need to worry, master. I will thoroughly beat-, I mean train Chloe and the little bunny. >>

>> Sigh... Don't overdo it, alright? <<

<<..>>

Rimuru had a bad premonition about this whole thing but didn't dare to say anything. He made a deal with Ciel and this sacrifice was worth the prize.

'I believe in you, Chloe and Hinata' he spoke his prayer in his mind and teleported the rest of them to the palace of white ice.

Meanwhile...

"Huh, is this his imaginary space? I don't see its end." Chloe said, amazed by everything she saw.

"The more I learn about him, the more ridiculous he becomes." Hinata simply muttered, but still amazed by the view in front of them.

But suddenly, a cold voice echoed and Rimuru, no, a similar figure with red eyes appeared in front of them. When they realized who this was, Hinata's face grew pale in horror.

"Fufufu, Chloe and Bunny-chan, welcome to our first training session. Let's see if you're worthy." Ciel said.

Hinata simply wished to return to Luminas side, even if it meant trying out her ridiculous outfits. But that was wishful thinking right now as their nightmarish training with Ciel started...