Promises and Dryad

A / N: It took me all day to write this. Praise me!

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In a huge room, Rimuru, and its executives were seated at a rectangular table. Rimuru, as the leader, was sitting at the end of the table in his human form with a serious expression.

Rimuru looked at Souei, a blue-haired Kijin who specializes in assassination and intelligence gathering, and asked, "How many Orcs are there, Souei?"

Souei got up, and replied, "I saw two hundred thousand Orcs. The main group heads north along the river.", he moved some stones on a wooden board that was on the table, which represented the Jura Forest and the Orcs, and continued, " Based on the displacement of their army and the detachment, they should cluster in the swamps east of here," Souei finished as he pointed to a part of the board that represented the swamp.

Rigurd then commented, "In other words, in the territory of the Lizardmen."

Souei nodded.

Rimuru rested his head under his fist and took a sip of tea. "Two hundred thousand, huh? It's such an absurd number that I can't even imagine it," he sighed. "I wonder what is the objective of the Orcs..."

Kaijin, one of the dwarves who were present at the table, scratched his beard and said thoughtfully, "Orcs are not very intelligent monsters. If there's something behind this invasion other than their instinct, we should suspect there's someone behind it."

Kurobee, one of the Kijin, blinked in surprise upon hearing Kaijin's guess, and said, "Eh? Do you think that someone is leading them?"

"Someone like, for example, a Demon Lord?"Rimuru said suddenly, and immediately a tense atmosphere formed in the room.

Rimuru turned to Benimaru, and said, "If that Gelmud, who attacked your village, is involved in this, then...", he then shrugged, and continued, "But well, there's nothing to prove it at the moment."

As they were about to continue their briefing, someone at the table excitedly raised a hand asking to be allowed to speak.

The waving hand immediately caught Rimuru's attention, and seeing who raised a hand, Rimuru nearly jumped out of his chair in disbelief while spitting out the tea he had in his mouth. " Eh? Tia-san?! What are you doing here!! Or rather, who let you in?!"

Yes, the person who was also sitting at the table, next to Haruna, was Tiamat. She thought about staying out of this meeting earlier but thought it would be a good idea to help in some way, and with that, gain positive points with everyone, especially Rimuru, as she not only planned on living in Tempest for a while but also planned to force-Ahem*, planned to slowly induce Rimuru to become her child.

As for how she got in there, well, let's just say a charming woman has her ways!

Rimuru was perplexed to see Tiamat, as until now he hadn't felt her presence. He didn't even notice that she was present at the table. Not just Rimuru, but everyone else turned to Tiamat with surprised, even hostile looks, as they also didn't notice her. The only one who didn't look surprised was Rigurd, who seemed to want to hide from everyone.

Nobody noticed her because she was hiding her presence so as not to disturb the serious meeting, but because she also wanted to give them a little scare, which was a success.

'Great Sage, was she here all along?' Rimuru thought.

[Afirmative. The individual called Tia was present from the beginning.]

'Eh? Really?! Wait, why didn't you tell me then!'

[You did not ask.]

Rimuru's face twitched upon hearing [Great Sage's] answer, he was an idiot to have expected something from this rude skill.

'So tell me how she managed to hide her presence, and how she got inside here,' Rimuru asked with slight irritation.

[The individual named Tia did not intentionally hide her presence. Her presence is naturally very weak. Also, she entered after asking the individual named Rigurd, and he let her in.]

Rimuru immediately looked at Rigurd in disbelief, not believing that he would allow a person who wasn't even from the village to enter such a serious meeting without his permission.

"Rigurd...Do you have something to tell me?" Rimuru asked with a smile, but the vein popping out of his forehead showed that he wasn't happy at all.

Letting a human woman, who wasn't even part of the village, enter the room where they would have a conference about the Orc invasion without Rimuru's permission, could easily be said to be treason. Fortunately, Rimuru didn't think about the gravity of what Rigurd did, and was just upset that Rigurd didn't ask for his permission.

He's a very nice and soft slime, after all.

Rigurd looked at Rimuru and immediately started crying. "Rimuru-sama! I'm sorry! I shouldn't have let her in just because she asked with puppy eyes! Please forgive me!"

Rimuru and everyone else looked at Rigurd with rather complex expressions. It was strange to see a tough Hobgoblin six feet tall crying like a little kid.

Rimuru sighed and decided to put this matter aside. He was too soft to be mad at Rigurd, who looked like a maiden in love. He knows that love can make anyone do things that they normally wouldn't do, so he didn't blame Rigurd.

"All right, you're forgiven. Just be careful that this doesn't happen again."

A bright smile immediately appeared on Rigurd's face; he then tapped his forehead on the table, and said gratefully, "Thank you, Rimuru-sama! I won't fail you again!"

Rimuru nodded, and then looked at Tiamat. "Tia-san, I'm sorry, but this is a private meeting. I'll ask someone to accompany you to one of our rooms. As it is already dark, it is dangerous to travel alone. The least I can do is offer you to stay for the night."

When Rimuru was going to tell someone to escort her, however, Tiamat slammed her hand on the table in refusal, and said determined, "No...I can...Help!"

Shion immediately snorted at Tiamat's statement, and said contemptuously, "You? Help us? A useless human who has magicule compared to a horned rabbit? Ha! What do you intend to do? Seduce the Orcs with these bags of fat? You would only be able to serve as a meat shield!"

Shion was really pissed at the light blue-haired woman. Not only was she disrespectful to Rimuru several times, but she also got in the way of negotiations with the lizardmen, and lastly, she invaded their meeting without Rimuru's approval, saying that she wanted to help! Who does she think she is?

Sniff!

After saying that, Shion and everyone else heard the sound of someone about to cry. They immediately turned to Tiamat and saw her with an indignant expression with puffed cheeks and with tears gathering in her eyes.

Rimuru and everyone else at the table looked at Tiamat with pity, and then they looked at Shion with judgmental eyes.

Feeling their gazes on her, Shion cringed in embarrassment. She immediately regretted letting the irritation she felt for Tiamat answer for her in the heat of the moment, but that was no excuse for what she did.

Tiamat wasn't faking that, she was genuinely feeling upset about what Shion said about her. Even though Tiamat is a Goddess pretending to be a fragile human, mean comments like that still hurt her, because, in the end, she has feelings too, and oddly enough, she is quite sensitive about it.

Kaijin sighed. "Miss Shion, I don't know what this lass did, but was this really necessary?"

"Shion, that was kinda cruel..." Shuna murmured.

"Shion, that was very rude. She's a guest, and she just wants to help. Apologize, now," Rimuru said next to Shion. He was quite surprised and discontent by Shion's behavior. It was true that Tiamat didn't seem strong, but he knew that Tiamat was being honest about her desire to help, and he didn't even need to use his skills to realize that.

Shion hesitantly looked at Rimuru, to only meet his disappointed gaze, and she immediately lowered her head in shame. She then turned to Tiamat, and said, trying not to meet her eyes, "I...I apologize for my rude behavior. I hope you can forgive me."

Hearing Shion's apology, Tiamat knew Shion was being sincere and was feeling sorry for saying those mean things to her. Tiamat readily forgave her inwardly, as children who sincerely apologize for their wrongings are good children. On the outside, however, she pretended to remain upset.

Why, do you ask? To use this situation as an excuse to make Rimuru agree to her requests, of course!

"I can...Forgive her...But...Two conditions." Tiamat said to Rimuru, still pretending to be upset.

"As long as I can fulfill these conditions, sure. A mistake of my subordinate of mine is also my mistake after all." Rimuru replied.

She showed her hand with two fingers raised and said as she lowered one finger, "One...Let me...Help."

Rimuru sighed, already guessing that this would be the case. "I don't know what Tia-san is capable of, but any help is welcome," he nodded, accepting the first condition.

Rimuru's thinking was simple. Even if Tiamat isn't strong, she could still help with other things, like taking care of the goblin children or helping with household chores.

Tiamat then lowers her second finger, smiled, and said, "Second...Let me...Live here."

" "Eh?" "

This last condition took everyone by surprise, as they didn't expect her to ask for that.

"Tia-san, do you want to live here? In a village of monsters? Why?" Rimuru said intrigued, then his imagination flowed and he quickly thought of a possibility. "Don't tell me... Are you something like a princess who has run away, and wants to hide in our village?!"

Tiamat immediately turned her face away as she tried to hold back her laughter. What's with this fertile imagination? But she couldn't blame him, as it's really strange for a 'human' to want to live in a small village full of monsters.

Tiamat shook her head, placed her fingers over her mouth in an X shape, and said, "It's a...Secret..."

Rimuru raised an eyebrow. "A secret?"

Rimuru really couldn't understand what was going through the head of the light blue-haired woman. Why would she want to live in his village when it's so much better to live in a human city? Is she some sort of spy or subordinate of the same ones who are supposedly controlling the Orc Lord? He doesn't know, but strangely, he felt he could trust her.

After some time in silence, Rimuru sighed and answered, "All right, you can live here in Tempest."

Everyone looked surprised at Rimuru agreeing to her condition, as it was very strange for such a beautiful woman, who dressed so well, to want to live in a village of monsters.

Souei, the one who was most wary of Tiamat, spoke telepathically with Rimuru, [Rimuru-sama, are you sure...]

[Don't worry, Souei. If anything happens, it will be entirely my responsibility.] Rimuru replied.

Souei fell silent and sighed.

With Rimuru's permission to live in Tempest, Tiamat bounced around happily. 'Success! I'm one step closer to adopting Rim-chan! Yay~!'

Rimuru then coughed, drawing everyone's attention. "Now that this has been resolved, let's continue. What do you guys think about a Demon Lord controlling the Orcs?"

The first to respond was Benimaru, "I don't know if a Demon Lord is involved, but...This strengthens the suspicion that an Orc Lord has appeared."

"The unique monster that appears once every several centuries?" Rimuru asked.

Benimaru nodded. "Yes. I don't believe in the possibility that an ordinary Orc is leading two hundred thousand of them."

Rimuru placed his hand on his chin and looked thoughtful. A bespectacled Hobgoblin then spoke, "I believe that, in this case, being cautious is wiser than being optimistic."

"Hm, yeah, that's true," Rimuru replied.

As they continued their conversation, Souei suddenly seemed surprised by something, catching Rimuru's attention.

"Souei? What's wrong?"

Souei put his hand to his ear as if listening to something, and then replied, "One of my reconnaissance clones found someone."

"Eh? Found Someone?"

"Rimuru-sama, she asks you to be an intermediary. What should I answer?"

"Who is it? I'm already fed up with Gabiru and Tia-san, I don't want to meet another weirdo..." After saying that, Rimuru felt a chill run down his spine, and saw Tiamat look at him intensely.

'S-Shit! I forgot she was still here because of how little presence she has! I shouldn't have said that out loud!' Rimuru thought regretfully.

Souei, who didn't notice Rimuru's strange behavior at that moment, continued, "It's not a strange person, but...It's a pretty unusual encounter. She is a...Dryad."

Everyone sighed in surprise, and Rimuru blushed. "D-Dryad?"

Tiamat looked at Rimuru, who was having thoughts about the Dryad, with dead eyes. 'You have a literal Goddess present here, you know?'

"Has it not been several decades since a Dryad-sama appeared?" Rigurd questioned.

Rimuru quickly composed himself, and said, "A-All right! Bring her here!"

As he allowed the Dryad in, a blinding green light that carried leaves and the scent of the forest appeared under the table. From the green light, a root appeared, and in the blink of an eye, the root curled up like a flower, and then opened, revealing a beautiful woman with green hair.

She stood in front of Rimuru and said with respect and elegance, "Ruler of monsters, and all who are loyal to him, forgive me for this unannounced visit. I...", feeling a somewhat familiar aura, the Dryad suddenly stopped talking, and turned around in confusion. Turning around, she saw a light blue-haired woman waving at her with a smile friendly on her face.

The Dryad stood still for a few moments, and then immediately her calm and elegant expression broke; her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. 'HUH?!T-Tiamat-sama?! W-What is Tiamat-sama doing here?! E-EHHHHH?!'

The once calm and collected Dryad was now having a mental breakdown.

The Dryads were the protectors of the forests, and servants of the Queen of the Elements, Ramiris. As her handmaidens, they naturally knew Tiamat, who is a True Dragon, and the self-proclaimed mother of Ramiris. Even though Tiamat is hiding her magic power and her true form, the Dryad knew that woman was Tiamat.

The problem is, it's been over Two Thousand years since Tiamat's last appearance. Nobody knew what had happened to her. Not in her wildest dreams had she expected to find Tiamat just sitting comfortably there!

Tiamat, knowing her identity was exposed to the Dryad, giggled at seeing her funny reaction.

Before the Dryad could say anything, Tiamat put her finger under her mouth, signaling her not to say anything, and winked playfully.

{Let's talk about this later, okay honey? Carry on with what you came here to do.} Tiamat said telepathically to the Dryad, who nodded still in shock.

Fortunately, it seems that no one noticed what was happening between Dryad and Tiamat, as everyone was very engrossed in the Dryad's appearance.

At Tiamat's request, the Dryad immediately pulled herself together, and her expression reverted to dignified and calm again. She then turned to Rimuru and continued with her conversation. However, while talking to Rimuru, from time to time the Dryad would sneak a peek at Tiamat, probably thinking she was some sort of hallucination.

'I wonder how Ramiris is. The last time I saw her, she was such a cute and obedient girl. It's been two thousand years. Does she miss me as much as I miss her?' Tiamat thought wistfully. She promised herself that after the Orc Lord's confusion, she would visit Ramiris, one of her beloved daughters.