Bonus – Visit to the Unknown – 05 Veldora’s Excuse

“–What are you doing, master…?”

Ramiris asked Veldora, who was cooking okonomiyaki with a big grin. She had been the first to return.

As Veldora had gone against their agreement after being left alone for just a short while, it could not be helped that there was a sharpness in her voice.

However, Veldora did not seem to take notice. He kept pouring more batter over the grill and added shredded cabbage on top.

It was a mystery as to where these ingredients were coming from, but he handled them expertly as he mixed them into the batter.

And then he said:

“Kaaa-hahahaha! Ramiris, do you want some too?”

“Yes. But, that’s not the problem!!”

Ramiris nodded to Veldora’s light-hearted response but quickly remembered herself.

I won’t be tricked by food! It was with this strong will that she rained down words of reproach over Veldora.

“We just talked about this earlier. We are supposed to act with caution!”

However, Veldora just snickered at her.

“Ramiris, calm down. If you’re just going to complain about everything, I will just have to keep these spoils of war for myself, won’t I?”

“…What?”

“Look at this. If you put it together like this…”

While waiting for the batter to cook, Veldora quickly assembled a robot.

It was a torso on top of what looked like a tank.

A simple machine with two arms.

However, the left arm was distinctly shaped like a drill.

“Huh. That’s an interesting combination.”

“It looks so cool.”

“I’m going to copy that…”

The children watched it with interest and were clearly impressed.

This only made Veldora more and more arrogant.

“Hehehe. Of course. It should be no surprise that I can create a partner who is both cool and strong!”

He said with a satisfied nod.

And then he glanced at Ramiris and continued.

“What do you think, Ramiris? Will you still pretend to be uninterested?”

He must have been sure of his victory because he said this with a puffed-out chest.

Veldora’s words were more than enough to make Ramiris hesitate.

“Huh? Uh!?”

Ramiris’s head seemed to spin as she began to wonder what to do.

And it was then that a freshly cooked plate of okonomiyaki was put in front of her.

It was an exquisite dish that used lots of shrimp and pork.

Savory sauce, seaweed, and bonito flakes covered it. The smell alone was enough to make her drool.

Ramiris gulped.

“This is for you. Eat up.”

“Uh, aah…okay. I will then…”

That strong will to resist any trickery now disappeared from Ramiris’s heart.

Veldora thought he had won then, but it did not last for long.

“Lord Ramiris. Do not be deceived.”

Ramiris was looking at the okonomiyaki with sparkling eyes when Beretta’s warning reached her ears.

“Huh? What?”

She was clearly shaken as she looked around her.

She looked at Veldora, then Beretta and then back at the plate of okonomiyaki. It was obvious that her heart was not sure.

Ramiris really did want to side with Veldora, but her brain was telling her that it would not end well.

She didn’t know what to do.

Veldora watched her and smirked. Then he suddenly shouted, ‘Rocket Puuuuuunch!’

And then, right in front of Ramiris’s eyes, the newly made robot began to move.

Bang!! There was a loud sound.

And then the part passed the elbow of the right arm fired off like a rocket.

The fist slammed into the wall.

Veldora shouted again.

“And now the deathblow! Drill Break!!”

The robot heard this and started to move again.

The caterpillar groaned and then the string attached to the right arm began to pull the body in.

Once the right arm was back in its socket, the left arm rotated like a drill at a tremendous speed and slammed into the wall.

There was a deafening sound.

And then, destruction.

“WOOOW!!”

The children were greatly excited by this.

And so was Ramiris.

She stood up while still gripping her chopsticks and then shouted excitedly.

“Amazing! That was amazing, master!!”

“Kaahahahahaha! Kaa-hahahaha!! Of course, it is.”

Delicious okonomiyaki.

Children to play with.

A cool robot.

New entertainment.

Everything was here.

And so it went without saying, that Ramiris gave in.

◇◇◇

Ramiris began to happily eat the okonomiyaki. Beretta sighed with exasperation.

However, he had not given up yet.

Ramiris was simple, so he had fully expected her to be tricked by Veldora.

What was important, was when it came to determining who was responsible–and that would happen for sure–was how to ensure that Ramiris would not get in trouble.

Because Ramiris’s mistakes = him being rebuked. Or so Beretta thought.

–You were there, and yet you could not stop them?–

Beretta could imagine Rimuru’s face as he asked this.

You ask too much of me–was how he really felt, but he would never say it out loud.

Beretta took things very seriously.

And so he wondered what it was that they needed.

For instance, what he considered the ideal, was the relationship between Milim and Frey.

As self-centered and forceful as Milim was, she somehow always obeyed what Frey said.

Veldora also could not go against his sisters.

If it was an order from Velzard or Velgrynd, Veldora would have no choice but to quietly listen.

In the world, everyone had someone they were no match for.

It wasn’t necessarily about combat ability, but there was a special relationship that determined who was above who.

(Perhaps if I was trusted by Lord Ramiris more…)

Beretta thought.

Beretta believed that Ramiris would listen to him more if she trusted him.

But Beretta was mistaken.

When it came to Milim and Frey, she also got quite the headache.

It was the same with Veldora and his sisters.

If Veldora really did listen to them obediently, then they would not have had such a hard time with him.

While Veldora did not do much mischief these days, he had been responsible for much in the past.