As Artoria had predicted, Rain and Misery quickly appeared before him, calling for an emergency Walpurgis. Not only that, but Veldora was also urgent, and even messages from Masayuki about Velgrynd acting strange and concerned. Whatever Artoria did got the attention of literally the most powerful people in this world. However, reactions outside of these people were generally mixed. And the reaction came mostly from those who had good intelligence networks, but it's not like Artoria could hide what she did, and she didn't need to. She saw herself as doing the world and humanity a favor. Saved them from Guy, and then an emotionally unstable and possibly rampaging Velzard. If they had a problem, she had no problem spamming Rhongomyniad again. It's worked very well for her.
Needless to say, Rimuru had to talk to Artoria about what she did. She barely gave him an answer when she returned from whatever she did.
And that led him outside her house, banging on the door.
"Artoria! Artoria, what the heck did you do!" Rimuru frantically banged on the door. He didn't expect this when she left the aftermath of whatever she did to him.
The door opened suddenly, and his fist was caught in mid-air. "Rimuru, you don't need to barrage the door like that. So, I assume Rain and Misery came looking for you? Perhaps Veldora and Velgrynd also said something to you?" Artoria released Rimuru's fist as she stood at the doorway. She didn't have her armor on, instead dressed in casual clothes.
"Artoria, you gotta tell me what you did. What did you do to Guy? And what other things?"
"Well, unfortunately, or fortunately for the massive majority of the world's inhabitants, Guy has gone to live on a far. And his…partner? Yeah, I'll go with partner, since I think that fits best. His partner also went with him to a farm."
A farm? Yeah, Rimuru knew what she meant. He expected her to be more blunt and just say it, but judging by the little smile, she found it funny or amusing.
"You actually killed them? Is that even possible? There's no way that's possible, not a being like Guy."
"No, I didn't kill them. I merely erased them from reality; there's a big difference."
"Huh? Since when could you do that?"
"Now, look, you handle all that business. And don't forget to get Rain and Misery as maids for me. So, is there anything else? Any problems with the train or the sports stuff? Maybe reports from Benimaru from the Eastern Empire?"
Artoria looked a little impatient, wanting to get this conversation over with and go back to Shuna.
"Uh, no, everything is going fine. The cargo train is going nicely, the sports stuff seems fine, and recent reports from Benimaru say that things are proceeding fine and the reconstruction is proceeding as planned. Oh, and reports from our military stationed in new territory say that people are integrating very smoothly; they say the main reason is our laws, especially the no income taxes, and no property taxes on owner-occupant homes. They have a lot more money to spend on stuff."
"Very nice. So, if that's all, leave me alone." Artoria closed the door before Rimuru could say anything back to her.
Rimuru stood there for a few moments. This was a sort of weird conversation. At least, when it came to talking about Guy, he felt that she was getting more violent. No, that's not the word. She was getting more…protective. Well, whatever is going to happen, he would feel bad for anyone who went after Shuna as some kind of "weakness" to Artoria. Whatever the case, this was enough evidence to him that she was getting a stronger protective instinct.
/\\//\\//\
(A few hours later)
Artoria opened the door to a conference room. Now, why was she here when she had already decided she would be on leave? Simple, Rimuru was at a Walpurgis, and someone needed to be here. Rimuru slid a note under her door asking if she could do it, and since it was only a few hours, she agreed.
And since she was here, she was going to get something done. Particularly, something related to cargo trains. She knew that as soon as their allies saw the economic benefits of a cargo train, they would come running to them to also set up a rail network. And while it would be expensive, they were all connected by land, except for Lubellious. That would be a problem, since Ingrassia was an economic, political, and social mess.
"Soeui," Artoria said as she sat down, a shadow instantly flickering beside her. She held up her hand to stop any greeting. She would be getting straight to the point. "Soeui, the mission I'm going to send you on will be a black ops mission. You know what this means. The highest level of secrecy and infiltration. And you also know the dangers. If you or your team are to get captured, no rescue will come to get you out. It also means that anything that could identify you as part of Tempest will be removed. In the eyes of others, you'll be some kind of rogue, unaffiliated agent, or a terrorist, depending on the situation, if you are captured on your mission, but I know you can get the job done."
"What's the mission?"
Artoria took out one of the many maps they had in the conference room for purposes of drawing on and making plans. She took a red pen and drew a circle around the Ingrassia kingdom before drawing a horizontal line through the kingdom.
"Ingrassia is mess right now, Soeui; they are still dealing with the fallout of the Free Guild and Yuuki. They are basically a failed state in all but name with how much infighting there is. And there are many outside eyes on them as well, with other countries no doubt sneding in their own spies to observe the situation. With the economic chaos they are experiencing, it has led people to take more aggressive or extremist stances in their political landscape. There are even movements calling for certain regions of Ingrassia to become their own country. A little nudge here and there, and they'll go into full-scale civil war. There's also the thought of wanting to separate themselves from Ingrassia, the Free Guild, and the image they have to be able to make something new."
Artoria explained as she colored in the upper half of the Ingrassia.
"This will be your mission, along with your team. You're going to infiltrate and take advantage of everything there. Your goal is simple: you're going to get in contact with an influential figure, any of them, who supports breaking off from Ingrassia. You're going to convince them to make a declaration of independence and it needs to be the entire upper half of Ingrassia, and they also need to be willing to fight for it. Now, here's the important part, the declaration of independence they make has to spread fast; that's why you're going to take some new technology from Vesta, a mass-scale communication device using magic. It will send the signal as far as the Eastern Empire, but the important thing is that Tempest is also able to hear it, that way, we can respond immediately."
"This is…not like your other plans."
"I know. But here's where that comes in. Since no one will know you're affiliated with Tempest, we can move more freely. And don't worry about your disguises. I know you have knowledge, but Shuna also made magic items that will help you a lot, so you'll be taking some of those, as well as some 'magic batteries' to use them on the device, so no one can track your magic. Anyway, since everyone in the region is looking at the tense situation in Ingrassia, including us, as soon as the declaration of independence gets made, I'm going to come out in support and formally recognize that country. This way, we can develop very friendly relations with this new country to accomplish things on our end more easily with Lubellious. We'll send in troops to support this new country's war, but just their presence will be enough of a deterrent."
"This could escalate into a larger conflict."
"At worst, this will only be a regional conflict. The only ones that could get involved are the Western states. Other countries are far enough from any potential fighting, and no one will attack Lubellious. You have your orders, Soeui. If you need to communicate, use only physical means. It can be destroyed more easily and leave no trace. You have one week to prepare."
"I'll prepare swiftly." Soeui disappeared with a flicker of shadow.
Deciding that that was enough, Artoria went back to viewing standard reports before she would call it a day. The expeditions sent out to scout potential national parks, consolidation of the new territory, any new updates from Benimaru, and other related material. Deciding it was enough, she went back home.