Middray

Middray serves as the high priest of the temple in the capital “Dragon Village” of the “Forgotten Dragon City,” which doubles as Milim Nava’s castle.

Within this city, he is the practical ruler and spiritual leader of the people who worship dragons.

He is a dragonewt born from a long bloodline descended from humans and dragon lords who took human form.

Although his origin differs from Gabiru’s line, he and Gabiru are considered the same general species.

Middray’s lineage strongly inherits the dragon factor granted by Milim’s first friend, the spirit dragon/chaos dragon Gaia.

Those who worship dragons, including Middray, are thus particularly close to dragons both in flesh and culture.

In everyday life he hides much of his true strength using a ki-based fighting method.

Despite this, his “existence value” is stated to be about double that of awakened Gabiru.

He is voiced by Atsushi Imaruoka in adaptations.

His actual age is implied to be roughly the same as Milim Nava’s, making him extraordinarily old by human standards.

Middray embodies a bold, hearty, larger-than-life personality.

He is open, straightforward, and deeply sincere in his faith toward Milim.

At the same time, he is extremely stubborn and set in his ways, clinging to fixed ideas and long-held traditions.

Once he decides something, he is very reluctant to change his mind, even when evidence contradicts him.

He strongly believes that brute strength and direct confrontation are the best answers on the battlefield.

Because of this, he dismisses strategy and subtle tactics as “cowardly” or unnecessary.

This mindset makes him a poor commander in large-scale or organized warfare, where coordination and tactics are vital.

He can understand other people’s positions and adjust his behavior to avoid outright conflict, but he is slow to truly internalize new perspectives.

His devotion to Milim is genuine and intense.

Out of religious passion, he studies and masters holy-type magic on his own, becoming a high-level healer capable of regenerating even lost body parts.

As a result, his title of “high priest” is not merely ceremonial; he is a real spiritual authority and miracle worker.

However, the same zeal that fuels his growth in magic contributes to his resistance to social and cultural change.

Middray is one of the strongest combatants in Milim’s territory, second only to Milim herself.

In terms of raw presence and power, he far surpasses many other dragonewts.

He is a martial arts specialist who places far more emphasis on skills and technique (levels) than on innate talent or raw stats.

In close-quarters combat, he is so skilled that he can serve as Milim’s sparring partner, which is an exceptional feat given Milim’s status as one of the oldest Demon Lords.

Middray specializes in grappling-based combat, using techniques reminiscent of jujutsu and other throwing/locking arts.

His “sparring style” is built around joint locks, throws, and using an opponent’s movements against them.

He uses a ki-fighting method to suppress and conceal his true power under normal circumstances.

When he drops this restraint, his strength becomes overwhelmingly obvious.

During the events around the nation of Userania (described in the light novel’s sixth volume), Middray fights Suphia and Gabiru at the same time.

He completely overwhelms the two, demonstrating that his combat level is far beyond awakened Gabiru’s, even in a two-on-one situation.

In addition to physical prowess, Middray independently learned holy magic, a discipline that manipulates spiritual particles.

He functions as a high-tier healer, capable of restoring even lost limbs and severe damage.

His combination of high-speed martial skill, immense physical power, and advanced healing magic makes him a devastating front-line fighter who is extremely hard to permanently injure.

However, his strengths are almost entirely individual; he excels as a warrior, not as a general.

Middray leads the people who worship dragons, the descendants of those given the dragon factor by Gaia.

For them, Milim is both a ruler and an object of deep reverence, and Middray is the one who channels and organizes that faith.

He has guided their culture for a long time, preserving traditions and practices with religious seriousness.

Under his leadership, the community has remained stable, devout, and fiercely loyal to Milim.

But his deep attachment to tradition becomes a double-edged sword.

He resists adopting new customs or technologies, believing that the existing ways are sacred and sufficient.

Because the nation’s development is anchored to his personal worldview, the people collectively begin to reject new learning and external influences.

This causes an almost total stagnation in their civilization’s progress.

Milim recognizes that this stagnation is a problem and wants to change things.

However, since Middray is both immensely strong and sincerely devoted to her, she refuses to simply crush his will or override him by force.

She knows that brute force would trample his faith and loyalty, which she values.

As a result, she is stuck, unable to “fix” the problem without damaging the relationship that holds her domain together.

The clearest symbol of Middray’s stubbornness is his obsession with serving raw vegetables.

In his mind, eating vegetables as they are, without cooking, is purer and closer to nature.

He insists on offering raw vegetable platters as a “feast” for Milim.

For Milim, who dislikes raw vegetables and other raw foods, this was nothing short of torture.

Milim repeatedly suffers through these offerings as ritual meals, which she absolutely does not enjoy.

Despite this, Middray never notices or understands how much she dislikes it.

His aide Hermes suspects that these raw vegetable offerings are one of the reasons Milim frequently runs away from home.

Hermes tries to point this out, warning that their customs may be driving Milim away.

Middray, however, keeps rejecting Hermes’s advice with flimsy objections and excuses.

This refusal to accept criticism or rethink sacred traditions is likely the single biggest reason the dragon-worshippers’ civilization failed to progress.

In short, Middray does not have malicious intentions, but his stubbornness and self-centered value system cause large-scale side effects.

He can adapt socially on the surface, yet his core beliefs create a ceiling that no new idea can easily pierce.

Middray’s relationship with Milim is complex: he is both devoted believer and sparring partner.

He respects her as a goddess-like figure and as an invincible warrior.

Milim, for her part, recognizes his strength and sincerity.

She relies on him to manage the Dragon City and keep its people united.

However, she struggles with his inflexible mindset.

His stubbornness is so deep-rooted that she considers it nearly impossible to change through direct argument.

Because he is the second-strongest in her domain, using force to correct him would be easy but morally unacceptable to her.

She fears that doing so would damage his faith and their emotional bond.

Instead, Milim chooses an indirect solution: she writes to Rimuru Tempest.

In her letter, she asks Rimuru to teach Middray and his people about cooking and, more broadly, about new ways of living.

This request helps spark the idea of the Tempest Founding Festival, a grand event to introduce the Monster Federation (Tempest) to the world.

Through this, Milim hopes that exposure to Rimuru’s culture will finally crack open Middray’s rigid worldview.

Later, because Middray is the one who understands Milim best, he is appointed as the chief (first) member of Milim’s Four Heavenly Kings.

This position formally acknowledges both his strength and his insight into Milim’s character.

Middray and Gabiru share a good relationship, despite coming from different dragonewt bloodlines.

They bond over martial arts, aerial combat, and their mutual respect for strength.

After their sparring matches, Gabiru reports what he has learned about Middray to Rimuru.

Through Gabiru’s testimony, Rimuru grasps the depth of Middray’s stubbornness and Milim’s dilemma.

Middray cooperates with Gabiru in capturing flying dragons for deployment to the Blue Corps (Gabiru’s troops).

These aerial mounts significantly strengthen the mobility and striking power of Gabiru’s forces.

He also helps train the Flying Dragon Squad to undergo “dragon warriorization,” enhancing their combat forms and aerial warfare capabilities.

In this way, Middray contributes directly to Tempest’s and Milim’s shared military strength.

Despite being older, Middray treats Gabiru in an almost brotherly manner, sparring and working with him rather than looking down on him.

Their camaraderie is founded on mutual admiration and a shared love of straightforward, physical combat.

Milim’s plea to Rimuru Tempest for cultural help leads directly to Tempest’s grand Founding Festival.

Middray and his people are invited as guests of honor, giving them their first real exposure to Tempest cuisine and customs.

During the banquet, Shuna personally serves Middray a variety of cooked dishes.

True to form, Middray initially refuses to even taste them.

He denounces cooking as an affront to nature, calling the transformation of raw ingredients into cooked dishes “blasphemous.”

He refuses to try even a single bite, clinging to the idea that only untouched ingredients are pure enough to be worthy offerings.

Shuna, angered by his dismissive attitude, confronts him directly.

She insists that he at least give the food a fair chance instead of condemning what he does not understand.

Under Shuna’s firm but calm persuasion, Middray finally takes a reluctant bite.

The taste shocks him: the flavors and textures are far beyond anything he expected.

He is moved by how cooking can elevate ingredients rather than ruin them.

Shuna explains the philosophy behind cooking—respecting ingredients by bringing out their full potential through skill and care.

This experience finally cracks his impenetrable shell of tradition.

He realizes that his blanket rejection of cooking was not reverence for nature, but simple ignorance and stubbornness.

Shuna seizes this opening with remarkable skill.

She keeps explaining, step by step, how learning new things and innovating can coexist with faith and respect for tradition.

Through this layered, gentle “lecture,” she manages what Milim believed impossible: she forces open Middray’s value system without violence.

It is Shuna’s quick thinking and quiet strength that win this invisible battle.

Afterward, Middray sees Milim’s genuinely joyful expression as she eats properly prepared food instead of raw vegetable platters.

The sight strikes him deeply, making him understand how wrong he had been all along.

He realizes that his customs were making Milim suffer rather than bringing her joy.

This revelation leads him to sincerely repent and re-evaluate his role as a cultural and spiritual leader.

Hermes, who had understood this from the beginning, can only inwardly sigh, thinking, “Of course this is how it turns out…”

Still, Middray’s change of heart marks the beginning of genuine cultural progress for the people who worship dragons.

As Milim’s most knowledgeable retainer and the one who understands her best, Middray enjoys extremely high status in her domain.

He is respected both as a mighty warrior and as the spiritual head of the dragon-worshipping populace.

By the time of the events covered around volume 18 of the books, he is officially named the first seat of Milim’s Four Heavenly Kings.

This title cements him as Milim’s top general-equivalent and her closest high-ranking subordinate.

He continues to act as high priest of the temple in the Dragon Village, maintaining religious rites and guiding the people’s faith.

At the same time, his encounter with Tempest’s culture pushes him to be more open to new knowledge and practices.

Although he remains naturally strong-willed and straightforward, he now accepts that strength is not the only virtue.

Under Milim’s and Shuna’s influence, he starts to see that growth can come from learning, not just fighting.

His combination of unwavering faith, tremendous power, and slowly broadening perspective makes him a uniquely important figure in Milim’s faction.

He stands at the crossroads between ancient dragon worship and the modern, more flexible world shaped by Rimuru Tempest and Tempest’s allies.