Chapter 122 - Too Greedy

In the main headquarters of the Freedom Association, Yuuki can be seen in his office humming joyfully as he continued his work.

His assistant entered the office with a worried expression. "Sir, Rimuru-sama has come to visit."

His smile grew brighter hearing this, an opposite to his assistant's expression. "Oh, let him in. Have some drinks and snacks ready."

His assistant looked at Yuuki weirdly as he was not anxious. It had only three days since Rimuru, Demon of the Forest, came and 'talked' with the Council about their recent invasion of his territory.

The destruction of the Kingdom of Ballachia and the occupation of Kingdom of Falmuth has spread like wildfire to every person on the west. It has been the word in the streets ever since, nothing more important to discuss.

Fear began to seap through the people, especially those near Ballachia, which unfortunately includes Ingrassia. Many people have investigated near the borders of Ballachia, the only thing that can be seen is barren charred lands as far as the eye can see.

Not a single sign of life or structure even when they move further into the territory. Even birds and other animals did not dare to go in.

Yuuki was laughing after he heard of such a thing, hearing the door opening again he looked to see Rimuru, all alone. "Rimuru-san! Long time no see."

Yuuki stood up welcoming Rimuru, gesturing for him to seat down in the sofa with Yuuki sitting opposite of him.

"I heard the discussion in the council went well." Yuuki started.

Rimuru nodded as he leaned on his seat. "Not that hard to do, I had King Edmaris return to his kingdom after that and basically had him reform the government to my liking. A lot of people left the country, but I don't care about that. They won't be able to live easy being refugees especially from an official vassal state of a demon."

Yuuki agreed with that, after all knowing that the people living in Falmuth who are basically Demon Rimuru's slaves escaped to their homes, they would not be welcomed and probably pushed back into Falmuth territory.

"What made you change sides?" Rimuru changed the subject waving the letter he received from Yuuki. "Telling me about Granbell's plot, even though it wasn't much of a threat was pretty useful for me."

Yuuki's smiled deepen hearing that, he was actually taking a risk if Rimuru would even care about the information. "I knew that Rimuru-san would be able to handle it, I was just making use of the cards I had to free myself."

Rimuru recalled the request Yuuki wrote in the letter for the information. "Giving me something without my permission then demanding compensation. You really took a lot of risk there, I could have taken that as disrespectful."

Yuuki scratched his head awkwardly, "But I am alive now right? I knew Rimuru-san would find it amusing."

"It was," Rimuru said, he was admittedly very amuse with Yuuki. Enough so to free him from Granbell's manipulation. "Just so you know, I don't care if you betray me, just make sure your prepare for the consequences."

Yuuki felt a trail of sweat ran through his cheek seeing Rimuru's casualness to betrayal and threats. "Of course, I would never betray you."

"Sure," Rimuru rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I want you to bring me to Granbell. I need to make some things straight with him."

Yuuki stood, "Shall we?"

...

Granbell was holding his white hair, he was getting impatient with Yuuki's sudden lack of response to his summons. He speculated that some way, he managed to escape the soul bind place when he summoned Yuuki.

He looked to someone standing still in the room. It was a woman that he knew very well, his wife and the love of his life. "Maria..."

"Yo, Granbell!" Rimuru with no presence whatsoever to detect from kicked open the door to the room. "Can we have a chat for a minute?"

Granbell for his part remained calm, even if only from the outside as he saw one of the two people he planned to assassinate basically come in his hideout so casually with no army, back-up, or even preparedness.

"Rimuru..." He glares at Rimuru who welcomed himself sitting at one of the seats nearby.

Rimuru smirked at him, "No 'Rimuru-sama' huh? How disrespectful." He shrugged not really caring for formalities.

"Are you here to kill me?" Granbell looked at Maria then a glance at his blade hidden away, ready to be taken out for battle.

Rimuru chuckled gesturing for him to relax. "Hey, no need to be tense. I could care less about you. I just came here for a warning."

"Warning?" Granbell raised a brow, he would think that Rimuru came here to kill him after basically staging an invasion and assassination to both himself and Hinata.

"You know, I kinda liked you back then." Rimuru crossing his legs. "I heard you were trained by Rudra, meaning you basically learnt his swordsmanship which is mine." He pointed to himself.

"And this is enough to spare me?" Granbell stared at him suspiciously.

Rimuru laughed loudly, uncrossing his legs and holding his stomach.

"No, obviously." He continued recovering from laughing. "I owe you, one way or another in a different life. So, just this once I'll spare you."

"What are you talking about," Granbell frowned confused, he had been trying to assess the real reason for his arrival. This made him even more confuse than he would normally be when Rimuru would spout random things in the past.

"Nothing," Rimuru stood up from his seat. "Just don't cross me, Hinata or even Luminas ever again."

Rimuru closed the door leaving Granbell with his thoughts. Frustration bubbling inside him as Rimuru basically give him an ultimatum sparing his life for the first and last time.

If ever he tries to make a move, then Rimuru would show his true dark colors. He had already made an example of Ballachia, which made the entire West cautious about angering him.

He stood from his seat and began throwing and destroying stuff in the room. His sword in his hand began to slash and cleave from every furniture and object that can be hit in the room.

"Maria... what should I do.." He kneeled down in front of the emotionless woman, tears falling from his face.

"Oh yeah," Rimuru barged again, not caring about what Granbell was feeling at the moment. "Here, a gift."

He pushed the gift inside the room then slamming the door close again.

"Granbell..." A rough but somewhat concerned voice echoed in the room.

Granbell looked directly at the suppose 'gift' and walked towards it.

"Razul," He uttered hugging the Insectar. "It's good that you're alive."

"Are you okay Gran?" Razul asked, patting his friend on the back.

Granbell sighed, backing away from Razul and taking a sit to the seat with the back broken.

...

Rimuru looked around the castle, bored and not wanting to return just yet.

Then he found someone amusing and began walking towards them. After moving around the corridor, he finally managed to meet them.

"Hey there, little brat!" Rimuru smiled brightly, ruffling the blonde girl's hair. "You sure are an interesting fellow."

Mariabell, irritated, held her tongue. She knew he was more powerful than her, and she knew that he was the one her grandfather had been talking about eliminating.

"Who might you be, sir?" Mariabell asked innocently, moving sideways to avoid his hand, which had been continuously messing with her hair.

"Hm?" Rimuru tilted his head, his hand still held up. "I'm Rimuru, Demon of the Forest Rimuru. I was the person your grandfather wants gone."

Mariabell froze at that. She already knew about it, but to have Rimuru openly admit it to a literal child was something she hadn't anticipated. "Pardon?"

"No need for the childish act," Rimuru laughed, pointing at her. "You just look like an idiot trying too hard."

Mariabell's eyes twitched for a second. "What do you mean, sir? I don't know what you're talking about."

Rimuru looked at her, then sighed in disappointment. "Well, that got old quick. I was just amused that you're a reincarnator. No need to act foolish like this. Whatever."

With that, Rimuru activated his transport magic and left the place.

Mariabell bit her thumb, mulling over her thoughts as soon as Rimuru had gone.

"That demon, saying whatever he wants... How dare he look down on me?" she muttered under her breath. Without another word, she activated her own transport magic and left for Ingrassia. More specifically, she headed for the Freedom Association, to Yuuki's office.

"Yuuki!" she barged into his office, where he was flipping through some books. "Get up, you idiot! We have a problem we need to eliminate!"

Yuuki looked at her oddly, wondering, Didn't she get the information that I am a traitor?

"Mariabell? Did Granbell-sama bring you here?" Yuuki tilted his head, confusion clear on his face.

"I came here alone. Quick, we need to do something!" she said urgently.

"What do you need, Mariabell-chan?" Yuuki placed his book on the table and walked toward her. "Who is this problem?"

"That damn demon, Rimuru!" she shouted as she sat on the sofa, visibly seething. "He barged into Stilrosso and insulted me to my face, all while spouting my secrets!"

She angrily grabbed her hair, making it messier than it had been after Rimuru had ruffled it.

"Rimuru-san?" Yuuki feigned surprise, concern flashing across his face. "But even Granbell-sama's trump card, as well as the East's saints, couldn't handle him. What can we even do?"

Mariabell bit her lip, her mind racing as she formulated plans and simulations to deal with this problem. Yet, no matter what she came up with, she couldn't see herself on the winning side of the battle. Whether frontal assault, sneak attack, political maneuvering, or any other approach, all would result in failure and annihilation.

"Let's just calm down for now," Yuuki said, pouring her some tea and placing the cup on the table in front of her. "We can't rush things like this. Even I can't imagine myself fighting Rimuru-san."

"I know that already, I'm not an idiot," she clicked her tongue, taking the cup and calming her nerves.

You look like one right now, Yuuki thought to himself. After all, she had walked into a traitor's home base with no announcement of her departure from Granbell's side, no precautions against him, other than the bind, which was no longer in effect.

Mariabell smirked, as though a sudden revelation of ingenuity had struck her. "Do you know about the pet dragon of Demon Lord Milim?"

Yuuki actually began to sweat, genuinely, unlike before when he was feigning concern. "Are you insane?!" he shouted.

"If we have Rimuru 'eliminate' her pet, then Demon Lord Milim will handle his arrogance. Nothing is stronger than Demon Lord Guy Crimson and Demon Lord Milim Nava, other than true dragons."

"Yeah? Well, Rimuru-san has Scorch Dragon Velgrynd!" He fired back, beginning to look around nervously, checking if Rimuru was somehow listening in on their conversation. He needed to show absolute denial of the plan. "Ballachia literally faced True Dragon Velgrynd's flames!"

"No, it is possible," Mariabell insisted. "You can make it possible. Even if you aren't capable of killing Rimuru, stealing the pet dragon from Milim Nava's territory is easy for you."

"You're literally insane," Yuuki sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You could have us killed just by saying these things."

"Huh?" Mariabell glared at him with disgust. "Are you seriously saying that? Maybe you've forgotten something here. We aren't equals, Yuuki."

She stood from her seat and walked toward Yuuki, who was sitting on the opposite side of the room. She was about his height while sitting down.

She stared at him, grabbed his clothes, and pulled him closer. "Don't forget you are bound to obey my orders."

"Not anymore," Yuuki's voice changed, deepening as he looked at her coldly.

Mariabell felt a chill run through her. She let go of his clothes and was about to back away when she felt a sudden force near her chest. A sharp pain coursed through her as something dripped from her mouth.

She looked down and found Yuuki's arm fully embedded in her body, reaching past his elbow.

"Ghak..." Mariabell coughed, more blood dripping onto her clothes and Yuuki's arm. "You...! Scoundrel..."

Mariabell felt as if her soul was being pulled away. It was as though Yuuki was directly grabbing her spiritual and astral body. She could feel her soul weakening, the energy within it moving through Yuuki's hand.

"You won't be needing this anymore," Yuuki said softly, looking into her eyes with his usual cheery and innocent smile. "Ironic, isn't it? That you died from being too greedy?"

He withdrew his arm fully once he had what he wanted, and the light in Mariabell's eyes faded as the transfer of the Unique Skill: Greedy One was complete.

"I'm not dumb enough to face a literal God," Yuuki muttered to himself, glancing at his own hands, recalling his goals in life and what he had planned after being summoned here. "Man, this sucks. I have to give up on that."

A/N: Yeah, currently I don't know what I'll do with Yuuki. He doesn't have the clowns and Cerberus doesn't exist because he didn't have free will to make them back then.