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Look. We’ve all been a bit hard on this season of Tensura due to the amount of time sat around one boardroom table or another. However, I think it’s important to point out there are good boardroom episodes and bad ones—and this is thankfully the former. None of the scenes we get in this episode are about Rimuru or his sycophants blowing smoke up his butt. Rather, they are about other characters who we haven’t seen in a long time (or haven’t properly met at all) reacting to the current situation.
On one hand, we have the dwarves. At this point, they, along with the Kingdom of Blumund, are the closest and oldest allies of Tempest. However, thanks to Falmuth basically becoming Tempest’s puppet state, they are now almost completely surrounded—only a small sliver of their territory connects with any other country (the Eastern Empire). Simply put, if they want contact and trade with the rest of the world—especially the West or South—they have to go through Tempest-controlled territory.
Now, that wouldn’t be much of a problem if Tempest was what it used to be—a small, unimportant city-state surrounded by a giant, monster-filled forest. However, with its new infrastructure and trade routes—not to mention military success in several wars—it’s hard to see Tempest as anything but an emerging superpower. And then there’s the Elephant in the room, Rimuru himself.
He’s now a True Demon Lord—acknowledged and accepted by the other demon lords. While before they could have possibly decided to wipe him out if he grew too ambitious, now they don’t care what he does as long as he keeps out of their own business. And with Hinata defeated by Rimuru and the Holy Empire seeking a peace treaty, who is there to keep Rimuru in check? Basically, everything is at a tipping point. The dwarves can either accept Rimuru’s ascension or go all out to take him down. Luckily, King Dwargo has enough experience with the little slime to know his personality and ambitions. And more than that, he knows that Rimuru has never once betrayed an ally for his gain.
On the other side of the continent, the Elves are in a similar position—though without a solid personal connection to Rimuru like Dwargo has. They have the new Demon Lord right on their doorstep and—much to Emperor Elmesia’s chagrin—find themselves on the short end of the stick when it comes to their trade treaty with Tempest.
Elmesia sees the world in a way that only the dragons, demons, and demon lords do. As an immortal, she cares little for short-term gains for her country and views the long-term as paramount. Agreeing to a treaty that allows Tempest to pay a flat fee for trade (i.e., building a road) while her people will have to pay tariffs in perpetuity is a terrible deal.
This is even more the case now that Milim has united so much territory that she rules the largest country on the continent. Moreover, Milim’s closest—and perhaps only—ally is Tempest. Sure, Sarion can trade with Milim’s nation by sea but the only land route would be through Tempest. Luckily, the good news is that Rimuru likely didn’t intend for the lopsided contract to last forever—but still, renegotiating a new deal is likely something that’s not going to be easy. So to sum up the situation, when the god emperor next door who holds the economic future of your country in his hands asks you to come to celebrate his ascension, you do so—and happily.
So all in all, this episode does a good job of giving us a different viewpoint on Tempest and Rimuru. It also introduces us to Elmesia—both her quixotic personality and way of thinking. Oh, and it brings back Ramiris for some comic relief and gives her a way of helping draw people to Tempest. Of course, once the other kingdoms learn that not one but two Demon Lords are living in Tempest along with Veldora… well, perhaps even Dwargo might be forced to decide that Tempest is too big of a threat to leave.
Rating:
Random Thoughts:
• Wait, Ramiris can do mass teleportation of any object or willing person within a labyrinth she has built? Does that mean she could build small labyrinths across the world and create a teleportation network? Cuz that’s some world-changing stuff right there.
• I did some wiki browsing and am now super confused about the structure of Sarion’s royal family—mainly in how everyone is related to Elmesia given her age and lineage. I think I need to see a family tree.
• Why does Erald hide his ears even within his kingdom and in front of his emperor?
• I love how the dryads act around Ramiris. I mean, in their eyes, she is literally their infallible god, after all.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 3 is currently streaming on
Crunchyroll.
