Complicated Matters with the Dwarf King

I am 100% glad that I can inhabit multiple bodies at once. I have never in my entire life, ever, had been so grateful for a seemingly random power as I am right now. Currently, I am facing 4 situations simultaneously that all require my full attention.

First things first. Gazel Dwargo just arrived here with his legion of pegasus knights. It seems he has come later than in the original since I am currently standing next to Fuze and Youm, who I just finished escorting here. I also recall Akasha stating that Phabio and his party have just entered the forest and should be here by tomorrow. All the while, I am currently entertaining Milim in Mario Cart in the palace and letting her win by an ever-so-close margin to keep her temper down.

"R-Rimuru-san. Is that?" Fuze asks with a sweatdrop.

"Yeah, that's Gazel Dwargo, ruler or the nation of Dwargon," I say as I look over to Henrietta who is in her spy uniform and looking downward with a guilty expression on her face.

She was extremely worried when I asked her to send a message to Gazel and became bashful and embarrassed when I told her I'd known she was a spy since meeting her outside Dwargon's gates. We had treated her extremely well and the fact that we knew that she was constantly betraying us by giving information to another country after swearing allegiance to us made her feel extremely guilty and resentful of herself. I know she would do it 100 times over if she would be ordered to, but it doesn't mean that she felt good doing it.

"Don't take it personally, Henrietta. You were just doing your job" I said before turning to Gazel who arrived before me once again.

As I was about to say something, Kajin ran past us huffing and puffing, followed by Lisbeth. They have become extremely close ever since I deemed Kaijin's work suitable to allow him to use the Soul Forge. I never touched Lisbeth in all my time sleeping about, so it seems that the two have entered into a secret relationship together.

I think they think they are being sneaky, but when they are both openly flirting with each other whenever someone comes in to have their weapons repaired, it makes it rather obvious.

"It is a pleasure to see you again, your majesty!" Kajin says as he bows on one knee.

"It's been a while, Kaijin"

"Yes sir!"

'Well, might as well start off,' I say, stepping forward. "I'm sure you are already aware, but I'll start with introducing myself first. I am Rimuru Tempest, King of the Nation of Tempest in Jura." I say, cutting off my speech as if to allow him to introduce himself.

"Hmm," gazel nods to himself before looking directly at me. "I am the Warrior King Gazel Dwargo, King of the Armed Nation of Dwargon."

"It is a pleasure to meet you"

"Likewise, however, if it's all the same to you, I would like to skip the pleasantries," Gazel said with a small sweatdrop.

"Very well then. Why are you here?"

There was a small silence before Gazel hardened his eyes and resolve. "As you know, the spy I sent with your group has been reporting back to me all of the developments in this Nation as well as your true character and ambitions."

"Yeah, I tried to let her give you all the important details you'd need to know."

"I must ask. Why do you wish for global domination? Is there anything that I- no, that my country can do to fend off invasion?" Gazel asks.

I feel the air tense and the Pegasis Knights all twitch and a few even slowly reach for their weapon. I simply move my eyes over them and they twitch, returning to their previous posture. I shake my head and sigh to myself before looking back to Gazel.

"I'll be blunt. There really isn't anything you could do to stop me if I wanted, however, I am not unreasonable nor am I overly cruel. This world is sick, all worlds are. Corruption runs rampant and the lives of the innocent and downtrodden are constantly made worse by the powers that be with no way to defend themselves. I am disgusted by this world, as I am with many other worlds, however, I am not a saint nor messiah.

I will make a world where everyone has freedom, true freedom. I will make the world into a Utopia where no one has to go hungry, where the sick are cured before they even acquire symptoms, where the poorest person lives like the wealthiest of Lords, and where there is justice for all." I say, making a grand display.

"I know the power you possess. You could easily dominate this world in a matter of months. Why not just use your armies and your power to crush us all?"

"Like I said before. I am no Saint nor Messiah. I am a selfish and cruel person at heart. I will save this world, but I will do it in a way that makes me look the best while doing it. I am immortal, or at least, I will not die from things like disease or old age. The only way I will die is through being murdered or killed in battle. This world will be my home for tens of thousands of years, f not longer. Allow me to ask you a question, King Dwargo. Would a sane person allow their house to rot away around them so long as their own bedroom remains clean?"

Gazel narrowed his eyes "You mean to say that this world is rotting away and you intend to stop the rot?"

"No. I intend to destroy the house myself and build a better house that won't rot for a million years." I say.

I ignore Fuze sweating bullets and trying to make himself look small beside me while enjoying the look of confusion on Youm's face as he doesn't quite get what's going on. Demiurge, Shiroe, and Albedo are currently gone, right now so I don't have any of the more intelligent types to say something like 'Sasuga Rimuru-sama' but I can tell that they would be doing something to that effect.

"Then is there no way for us to avoid conflict?" Gazel asks with a hint of inspiration in his voice.

"On the contrary, your nation is one of the few that has only just begun to rot, rather than being rotten to the core. Ministers such as Vesta, who actively hurt a country for their own pride and benefit have only just begun cropping up, so your nation still has the chance to be saved."

"Then what is it you would have us do?" Gazel asks with the slightest bit of hope in his eye.

"Become a province of my Kingdom. I shall make you its governor and I will allow for the military to continue to exist for five years, after which, it shall be integrated into the Grand Military of Tempest. Your nation will have to legalize the Bill of Rights and any of the other laws passed by the Kingdom, though you will still be able to pass your own laws on top of that. Your governorship will become an elected position, with elections once every five years, and all of your nobility will receive a generous stipend and be allowed to keep their current assets to give up their titles and responsibilities."

Gazel looks at me shocked. "You realize that what your asking is essentially to reorganize my country and even start a Civil War between myself and the nobility!?!"

"I do, but that is where my nation will come in. We shall rebuild the entire nation within one year. All the homes will be upgraded with new codes. New schools and hospitals will be built and run free of charge. Trade will increase to Dwargon as new, safe, trade routes open up to the other regions outside of Falmuth's high tariffs. Your people will prosper like they never have before.

All of this, within the year. If you can convince your people to accept the year of changes, then I promise you, they will hail your name in history not just as a Warrior, but as the Enlightened One who brought an age of prosperity to Dwargon like it hasn't seen in its entire history. This will be your ticket to immorality.

However, refuse, and your name shall become one of scorn and ridicule. The name of the last king of Dwargon who led them into a war with the nation of Tempest which cost them dearly."

Gazel was silent a long while and his head has held downwards. He was probably contemplating his legacy already. He was without an heir and he was already old. Some of the nobility was already starting to make their moves to secure the kingship for themselves after his passing while others were beginning to push marriage to their daughters and sisters to ensure their bloodlines would rule. Dwarves only lived 400 years at the most and Gazel was already well into his 300s.

While having longer lives than humans allowed Dwarves to hone their skills more, it also came with the drawback that their legacies would be long remembered by those who were still young when they passed. They would tell their children and their children's children, and their children's children's children, etc.

If Gazel rejected this offer and what I said came to pass, after Dwargon's complete and guaranteed military defeat, he would be remembered for a thousand years as the fool king who fought pointlessly to keep his power at the expense of the benefit of his people. He really only had one option and he knew it, but his pride as a king wouldn't allow him to accept this so easily.

Gazel looked at me once more and sighed. "Please allow me some time to think on this matter."

"Very well. In the meantime, come! I invite you and your guards to my palace for a feast!" I said as I led the convoy through the main street of the city.

Most of the Pegasis KNights were in awe of how clean and beautiful the city was. I had purposefully made every single house and building conform to having white stone walls with tile rooves of differing colors. Purple for the education district, Yellow for the Market, Green for Residential, Red for Military, and Blue for everything else. The main streets were a minimum of 20 meters wide with a 5 meter wide minimum for side streets. Each Stone on the streets was enchanted with runes for 'Clean', 'Dry', 'Auto-Repair', and 'Glow (Faintly). Although dramatically increasing the manufacturing cost, it allowed us to never have to repair the streets and the faint glow they gave off allowed the whole area around them to be illuminated without causing glare. Of course, here were hanging paper lanterns with glowstone crystals in them and lamp posts with etherite that powered the various runes on the shop buildings.

The monsters of Tempest went about their days in bliss and with a carefree mood, though many stopped to stare at the small collum of knights and many even saved at me and Gazel while we walked.

"Your nation certainly is prosperous, Rimuru," He said, still looking around in wonder.

"That it is, and we haven't even opened up to foreign markets yet. I have a few laws in place to prevent franchising and keeping the size of most commercial businesses small, so all of the shops are owned by local families which enriches the common person.

Of course, I own every arm of logistics and most of the industries that provide items everyone needs, such as paper. This keeps prices low due to no competition and no need for profit. Under normal circumstances, this may lead to inefficiencies and corruption, but one of my Skills keeps my subjects working happily at their full capacity while also making them sick to their stomach at the mere thought of corruption."

"What? Such a useful skill could make any kingdom a world power! Without corruption, and will the workforce putting their all into their work, this nation will have unrivaled productivity and low unemployment along with quick innovation."

"Exactly, though I also treat my subjects right. Mandatory 8-hour workdays with a maximum amount of 10-hour days and no more working more than 4 days per week. This allows for workers to spend ample amounts of time with their families. I also control all of the housing and rent prices, keeping it at a maximum of 15% of their pay, so they have more money to spend to support the economy."

"How do you make back the money to pay for everything? Surely your taxes wouldn't cover all of your generous well-fare?"

"If this were a normal human or dwarven kingdom, you'd be right, but by keeping the bureaucracy small and using Golems to substitute for most unskilled labor in civil construction, I can eliminate the biggest costs, salaries. That, plus a small Sales Tax, I can effectively make back all the money I want and more. I also own all the banks, so I can give out loans and hold onto money the citizens use. By giving them a small amount of interest for permission to reinvest their money, I can effectively regulate the economy. Finally, by selling bonds, I can control inflation by reducing the amount of currency in circulation."

"I see. It's a system that only works because there is no corruption, otherwise, something like a sales tax couldn't work" Gazel said, pondering for a bit.

'Well, I can't tell him that I made electronics that do the whole process automatically like in my previous life's worlds, so I'll just keep him thinking I'm awesome.' I think to myself as we arrive at the teleporter that takes us to the palace.

After stepping inside and being transported to the top of the cliff, Gazel becomes speechless.

"Commercial Teleportation!?! With this, you could cut shipping expenses to nearly nothing!"

"Unfortunately, I only allow Teleportation within the limits of my cities. If not, then there would be no need for roads other than for vacations, plus it serves as a security risk. If some rogue faction from the outskirts of my kingdom could use the system to teleport from any small town of 100 to the capital, they could easily cause chaos. The easier it is to travel, the greater the risk of terrorism from radical groups.

The teleportation grid in the city helps cut down on foot traffic significantly. Don't worry, though, I am currently working with the Gremlins and the Dwarves on creating Airships for transporting bulk goods between cities." I say as I gesture off to the distance.

There, just outside the city, one can see dozens of giant rectangular holes in the ground being dug. The Shipping sector would be entirely underground, with all stores having a basement where they could receive shipping from an underground rail system. The airships, which would look more like something out of a sci-fi movie rather than out of GranBlue or Guns of Icarus, would land in the giant underground hangers outside of the city and carry cargo crates like ships from my old world.

To be honest, I did this whole thing out of spite. I always hated delivery trucks and busses blocking the road and driving super slowly on highways, so I made the entire system obsolete with the underground transport line. With a teleportation grid, there wouldn't need to be subways, buses, trams, monorails, etc as long as they were frequent enough, which they were. One about every three blocks was a good start.

"I see. Your town-"

"Altair"

"Yes, Altair is splendid. Even the high nobility of my kingdom don't have such luxuries, nor do they have the foresight or construction capabilities that your nation does. Henrietta even told me that the town wasn't even finished 3 months ao and now it surpasses every city on the continent in terms of ergonomics. The foresight that has gone into it is too much, even for the best architectural minds in Dwargon." Gazel said, genuinely impressed by the work of art that is Altair.

"This is just one of my cities. All of my other cities are similar, though their architectural design may differ on the surface and their city layout is obviously not the same, identical infrastructure allows for unrivaled efficiency and a pleasure to the citizens who can enjoy the same amenities and quality of life anywhere they wish."

"Will Dwargon also share this prosperity?"

"Of course it will. Dwargon will be even better, though, since the various historical sights and places can attract tourists on their days off while also having its own unique flavor of parks and attractions."

"Hmm..."

"Oh yeah, and I'll also give you access to the mining dimensions"

"Mining Dimensions?"

"Yup, separate spaces that house nothing but an infinite amount of ore for your people to mine. You never have to worry about running out of resources in my Nation"

Gazel's eyes went wide when he heard this. It wasn't known publicly yet, but Dwargon was running out of resources extremely quickly. In another 100 years, all of them easily accessible minerals would be gone and only the harder to access and more expensive to produce and manufacture resources would remain. Gazel's successor would be faced with an economic collapse, as no more cheap resources would make Dwargon uncompetitive with foreign markets and make them lose their monopoly on the weapon and armor trade.

If it wasn't clear before, it was definitely clear now. Gazel didn't just have to accept due to Rimuru's personal and military might. He had to accept the future of his people. Even if he didn't accept and somehow managed to survive the onslaught, Tempest would just out-compete Dwargon in resources and cause an economic collapse.

Gazel bit his lip in frustration. There was no choice. He knew this now. Rimuru hadn't invited him to his palace as an act of friendship. He invited him to show off exactly what would happen to his nation and his legacy should he refuse and the benefits his leadership would bring.

Fuze also picked up on this and remained silent. Officially, he couldn't make any decisions for Blumund, as he was the adventurer guild's master, not a diplomat, but his report to the king of the land would only include one sentence.

'WE MUST SURRENDER TO TEMPEST, WE HAVE NO HOPE OF WINNING!'

And thus, the war of words that Dwargon and Blumund didn't even know they were fighting, ended, with Tempest's unquestionable victory.