Prologue

Majins’ Tributes

Clayman is dead.
Laplace delivers the horrible news, and in front of him, everyone falls into
silence.
“Impossible! That’s not true!”
Footman shouts vehemently.
But no one else is making a sound along with him.
Laplace may seem casual and carefree most of the time; he won’t really
express his true feelings. Right now, he has yet to show his usual attitude, but
instead looks quite frustrated. Knowing this, everyone starts to recognize the
fact that Clayman has actually died.
“—Last night during the Walpurgis Banquet, Clayman’s connection with
me was suddenly cut. He was like my own blood, yet I couldn’t reach him.
That means he has really died… How can I accept this? Laplace, even with
your report, I still can’t believe that child is really dead, it’s just
inconceivable…”
Kazaream says with a heavy heart.
Tear begins to sob.
“It was my fault. I underestimated the Demon Lords. I should have been
more cautious collecting information before taking any action.”
Another person says with regret. It’s the black-haired young man.
The Ten Great Demon Lords—They are at the top of this world. But even
though they share the same title, one must still distinguish between the strong
and the weak.
Clayman ignored this principle after successfully dominating Milim with his
spell.
No, not only so—Even believing he could dominate other Demon Lords in
the first place was naive.
“If we are being honest, it happened because of my proposal. I had no
idea how things would develop, but it’s too late to say this anyway.” 
Suddenly, as if to sweep away the heavy atmosphere, Laplace says
teasingly:
“By the way, this happened all because Clayman was too stupid. I warned
him to be careful. It’s all because he got cocky and messed everything up.”
As Laplace continues to verbally insult Clayman, Footman interjects to
scold him.
“Laplace! You don’t have to phrase it like that!”
“But that’s just the truth. He felt so good about himself even though he
was so weak, that’s why he’s toast now.”
 “Laplace—!”
Footman, filled with anger, strikes, and begins to beat Laplace.
Laplace wasn’t planning to dodge. Footman’s fist hits his cheek. But that’s
all it is. Laplace stops the fist and remains balanced while staring back
at Footman menacingly.
“What, do you want a fight, Footman? Alright, I’ll fight you then!”
He says arrogantly with a disdainful smirk on his face to
provoke Footman. Laplace hopes Footman will pour all his fury onto him.
But Kazaream has already seen through him.
“Stop it, you two! Everyone is sad here.”
He shouts to stop the two.
“Indeed, Laplace, it’s not like you to play a villain like this! If anyone, it
should be me. I was the one who hired you guys in the first place.”
The youth says. Footman then finally realizes that Laplace had said those
things on purpose.
“So that’s why—Sorry, Laplace.”
“…It’s alright. But president and boss are so mean. I went through all the
trouble to be the villain; you don’t have to expose me like that.”
Laplace mumbles while rubbing his cheek. He looks rather comical,
somewhat easing the tension in the room.
The majins are motivated once more to discuss future plans.
They can’t comfort Clayman’s spirit in heaven by sighing—Kazaream was
able to help everyone focus and conduct their meeting under more tension
than they’ve ever experienced.
“—There is no way of knowing what happened there. But according
to Demon Lord Valentine, Clayman is indeed dead. As for who killed that kid,
we have no idea—”
“If only I had gotten an answer from him…”
“No. It’s already worth celebrating that you were able to return safely.”
“I was just very lucky. It happened to be the night of new moon, and
since Demon Lord Valentine is of the Vampire race, his strength was greatly
reduced. And with the location being the Saints Church, where the holy aura
overflows, my attack was therefore more effective…”
No one doubts Laplace’s words.
They all believe Laplace is capable of winning against the Ancient Demon
Lord Valentine, who might even rival Demon Lord Kazaream in terms of
strength—There are many reasons behind that belief.
Moreover, Laplace is the strongest lieutenant in the troupe. His strength is
second to none other than Kazaream himself. His role as the vice-president of
the Moderate Clown Troupe is not just for show. He is also highly capable.
 That’s why no one is doubting him, and all have accepted Laplace’s report
of his vanquishing a Demon Lord.
No one realizes the lies in his report, so the meeting continues.
“With that being said, things are getting more difficult.”
“I suppose. The base, army, and treasure that we gave to Clayman are all
gone. We’ve suffered a heavy loss.”
The black-haired youth nods in response to Kazaream’s words.
The content of the conversation is concerning, and Tear throws out a
question.
“Eh, what does that mean? Wouldn’t his base be fine regardless of
whether Clayman got killed by the Demon Lords or not?”
“Even with Clayman’s army destroyed, can’t they still roll back and rise
again? Their base still has that crazy saint Adalman. That Undead King is
quite strong, even rivaling us. And while that Undead Dragon wasn’t at the
same level as the Charybdis, it still would pose a significant threat. Are the
curse spells cast by president still in effect?”
First Tear, then Footman inquires in surprise. Upon hearing so, the young
man and Kazaream look at each other awkwardly and make their bitter
response.
“That’s what we want to discuss with you today.”
“I handed over the base to Clayman, and it was taken last night. The
unbelievable thing is, that slime only sent a few subordinates to do so.”
“What did you say?”
“No way!”
“How is it possible?! Does that mean that the majins we saw during the
war are the only majins under Rimuru—no, wait, hold on for a second, then
that crystal ball was—”
After hearing Kazaream’s explanation, Laplace
and Tear exclaims. Footman raises his face, seeming to have recalled
something.
Seeing his reaction, the young man nods and responds.
“Indeed. Didn’t the footage recorded by Laplace include those majins? It’ll
be best if we face facts and recognize that every one of them has the combat
ability of Special Rank A.”
Hearing this, even Footman became speechless.
“—Seriously?”
Tear mumbles. But no one responds.
“At least that slime named Rimuru did not take part in that battle. If I have
to deduce, he may have used the battle as a bait for him to take down
Clayman’s base in person. If it’s that slime, it won’t be strange for him to have
broken through my proud defense system.”
 With Kazaream’s explanation, everyone finally realizes the severity of the
situation.
Then the young man opens up:
“That’s why we have to redraft our plans for the future.”
He declares that having lost most of their combat forces, they should halt
all on-going operations. Moreover, the death of Clayman has left them all with
keenly felt anguish…
Fortunately, they haven’t lost everything.
They’ve kept part of their assets as insurance, as well as their
organization based in the Western Nations—With these two resources to back
them up, they still have some level of political influence over the nations.
They also sent out fine subordinates, not skilled in direct combat, but
excellent in intelligence gathering, to ascertain the movement of all nations.
The youth started this organization from nothing, so there is always room
to come back, even from such dire straits.
It is for this reason—
“We will need to lay low for a while. It’s truly a shame what happened to
Clayman, but we will have to stand against the Demon Lords in order to
avenge him. Yet our power is still too weak for that as of this moment. In order
to realize our ambition of world domination, we will have to bear this burden
for now.”
This sentiment is unanimous.
“Yes. Our organization has grown a lot in the past ten years. And we may
have gotten a bit conceited.”
“Indeed. That’s also why Clayman got cocky.…”
“Hmm, although I don’t intend to give up (on revenge), it seems like we’d
lose everything if I act too hastily now.”
“I don’t want to admit it either, but patience is the right course now…”
Not everyone agrees, but the majins eventually accept his suggestion as
the most reasonable course of action.
“Hahaha, you should try to accept it, Footman. I still have all of you as my
trump cards. But I don’t want to lose you too because we acted rashly at this
point of time.”
The young man gives a wry smile while giving Footman a comforting pat
on the shoulder. These are truthful words from the young man and the reason
behind his decision.
After all, if he hadn’t given them this talk here and now, some of them may
be have thrown their life away in rage and grief.
Footman then decides to endure after learning where the young man is
coming from.
 “I understand, boss. I’ll hold on to this anger and let it all out some other
day.”
Footman knows in his heart, if he goes after the Demon Lords in a fit of
rage, he will only end up getting beaten.
Therefore, he decides to take the young man’s advice.
The young man is satisfied with Footman’s resolve, and glances around
the majins.
“With that being said, aren’t you guys roweled by being defeated by others
all the time? While we may not be able to work with our hands, can’t we at
least use our words? That slime has taken everything from Clayman, so we
should give him a taste of the same medicine.”
The young man says with a twisted grin.
“What are you planning?”
Kazaream asks, but the young man does not give a direct response. He
answers with a smile:
“That is no simple slime. He was able to accumulate a great amount of
power in only a few years. Honestly, it is astonishing, and normally we
shouldn’t antagonize him. Instead, we should determine how strong they
really are. To do so, I have arranged a trap.”
The young man pauses after saying so delightfully.
“Seriously, are you being devious again? Right, anything would be better
than my mission impossible. I’ll go observe their fight from the side this time.”
Laplace shrugs after saying so. The group is then dismissed.
As such, the majins exit the stage temporarily.
They now quietly maneuver in the shadows … And hone their claws for
the inevitable day of retribution.