Don't… Don't underestimate me. I would never betray my friends—and especially not my clients. That, and that alone, is the ironclad rule of the Moderate Harlequin Alliance!
Clayman to Rimuru Tempest, The Octagram SoarsModerate Harlequin Alliance ｢中庸道化連, chūyō dōke ren｣ are a group of powerful majin raised by Kagali. They are a jack-of-all-trades that can be hired to do various kinds of jobs and their number one and absolute rule is to never betray their friends and clients. Their defining characteristic is their clown-like appearance with use of various masks.
They currently are in the employ of Yuuki Kagurazaka, who is allied with Kagali, the troupe's founder and leader.
Background[]
On the ruins of Soma, which was once the Super-Magic Kingdom of the Elves in the past, the Chaos Dragon appeared and terrorized its surroundings. Sarion Grimwald, the father of Elmesia, who would later found a nation in his namesake, was sent to dispatch it but was defeated in battle. A masked figure in robes approached the dying Chosen hero who had sustained serious injuries from the Chaos Dragon. Kagali, who went by the name Kazalim at the time, offered to resurrect Sarion, with a risk of losing his memories in the process and becoming her puppet. Sarion acquiesced to this. Using the forbidden spell Birthday, Kagali unified the tens of thousands of corpses in the surroundings to create a vessel to board the will of Sarion. Sarion became a Deathman, losing his memories in the process. That encounter birthed the "Curse Lord" Kazalim and the "Wonder Pierrot" Laplace.
Tear, Footman, and Clayman were already born by then. Kagali named each of them, and considered them her sweet, lovely children. Clayman was created with the intended purpose to see if majin capable of awakening into true demon lords could be artificially produced. He was Kagali's most trusted subordinate and she even inducted him into the Demon Lord council. He was specifically engineered to be a cunning mastermind and a tactical commander, similar to herself.
Tear and Footman were created to have formidable combat prowess that could make them a potential match against a Demon Lord. Even though their intelligence suffered, they compensated with sheer strength. Tear cannot recall her past in significant detail but describes it as a "mixture of memories and feelings". She was once the maidservant to Kagali. While Footman's backstory is unknown, he, like Tear, can't recall his past either.
Chronology[]
A Disturbance in the Forest Arc[]
Sometime before this, the group were in service for Yuuki Kagurazaka and, under the latter's orders, began by having Gelmud create a puppet Demon Lord. They are also the masterminds of the Orc Army and the destruction of the Ogre village. Their plan was foiled by Rimuru, resulting in Gelmud and the Orc Lord's death. After learning of this from Laplace, Yuuki and Clayman knew that they had to do something about Rimuru.[1]
Attack of the Demon Lord Arc[]
Tear managed to gain the info that Demon Lord Frey feared the return of Charybdis, and shared this info with Clayman. Clayman then offered Frey to eliminate the threat in exchange for a favor.
Footman and Tear incited Phobio to become the host of Charybdis in order to exact revenge against Demon Lord Milim Nava.[2] As a result, Charybdis was eliminated by the combined effort of Rimuru and Milim, and Clayman earned the bargaining chip he desired.
Human-Monster Interaction Arc[]
Clayman and Yuuki later formed a plan to defeat Rimuru and destroy his nation using Falmuth and Hinata Sakaguchi, but this failed when Rimuru faked his death to trick Hinata, freed Clayman's slave Mjurran from his control and tricked him into believing that she died, and destroyed Falmuth's army, using Veldora as a front. Clayman, Laplace, Yuuki, and the rest of the group completely fell for this, to which Clayman got the idea of turning Veldora into a puppet. Laplace warned him about his arrogance getting the better of him.
The Octagram Soars Arc[]
Laplace spoke with Yuuki and Kagali to arrange another plan to defeat Rimuru using Frey and Milim, who is brainwashed by Clayman using an Orb of Domination that Yuuki and Kagali gave him. While Clayman went to the Walpurgis, Laplace tried to infiltrate the Western Holy Church to try and find out the secret behind it. Footman and Tear helped to observe the war between Clayman's army and Milim's Dragon Faithful against the combined forces of Jura-Tempest Federation and Beast Kingdom of Eurazania. Phobio and Geld ambushed them, as the former wanted revenge on them for tricking him. Tear and Footman were too powerful for them, but left them alone after that as they were not ordered to kill them. However, this was Geld and Phobio's true intentions so to ensure that Rimuru's army would win and that they would be ready for them in the future. Clayman's plan to eliminate Rimuru fell apart due to Rimuru (who had become a demon lord) and Veldora being involved in the meeting, Frey revealing that she was never on Clayman's side, and Milim revealing that she was faking her brainwashing and that Kagali's neckless didn't work on her at all (which Yuuki and the entire Alliance failed to realize), resulting in Clayman's demise. Meanwhile, Laplace is caught by Hinata and had to flee the church, knowing that he can't beat her. Once learned about Clayman's death from Roy Valentin, he killed the vampire out of anger.[3]
Conflict Between Saints and Monsters Arc[]
They were seen mourning the death of Clayman and had to lay low for the time being, but Yuuki still intends to continue his plans.
The Majin Behind the Scenes Arc[]
Kagali and Yuuki went into the ruins together with Rimuru, Milim, Gobta, Ranga, and Shion, as a trap set up by Mariabell Rosso.
Awakening of the Chosen Hero Arc[]
Together with Yuuki, they conspired with Granbell Rosso in order to steal Luminous' ultimate weapon. They succeeded in unleashing the "weapon", but realized that they've been tricked by Granbell.
Abilities[]
The weakest member of the Moderate Harlequin Alliance is at least at a demon lord seed's level. In terms of strength, Laplace is leading while Tear and Footman are not far behind.
Clayman on the other hand was not that powerful compared to his fellow members being the weakest especially in terms of raw physical power, but definitely made up for it as the most educated and dexterous of the group through plotting and creating various schemes and tactics.
Members[]
Trivia[]
- Kagali wore a mask and a robe to hide her disfigured face. It was shameful for her to look heavily scarred. That's why all members of Moderate Harlequin Alliance hide their true faces with masks, in order to share in Kagali's suffering and because they stand in solidarity with their master.
- This group had a much smaller role in the web novel compared to the light novel. In the web novel, its members except Clayman only appeared during the Great Tenma War arc, the final arc of the story.
- Clayman hid his relationship with the Moderate Harlequin Alliance upon becoming a Demon Lord as he feared it could lead to an undesirable outcome in the future. The same applies with Kagali, who, during her tenure as Demon Lord Kazalim hid her relationship with her creations. However, it is eventually revealed that he's a part of the Jesters during Volume 6 where he refuses to sell out his friends and master to Rimuru.
- Ironically, it's the clowns' schemes that aided Jura-Tempest Federation into becoming a superpower that poses the greatest threat to them, beginning with the Orc Lord's rampage. It's their schemes that forced Rimuru and co. to seek allies and powerup themselves.
