Later that evening, Rimuru came out of his house alone, and told all the people of his village about Shizue's death. They were shocked and couldn't say anything but accept the fact. Rimuru offered Eren, Kaval, and Gido to stay another night since it was already late in the evening, but they declined and chose to head back to Blumund instead. After Team Kaval walked out of their village, the villagers' attention now centered on Rimuru who was simply waving his hand.
"Lord Rimuru, are you alright?" asked Rigurd.
"Hm, but leave me alone for now" replied Rimuru and went back inside his house.
While inside his house, Rimuru returned to where Shizue had last been lying. Rimuru was silent, looking at the mask Shizue had left on his bed. No one knew what he was thinking, only that his heart was still heavy accepting Shizue's decision. But that didn't mean he regretted his decision to fulfill Shizue's wish and suppress his ego to save Shizue.
Rimuru took the mask and brought his forehead together with the mask as if Shizue was in front of him.
"Shizue... don't worry, I will definitely keep my promise" Rimuru muttered.
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In the same night sky, deep in the Jura Forest a village was engulfed in a sea of fire. It was the village of the Ogre race, one of the strongest monster races in the Jura Forest. But even though the Ogres were relatively strong, they were currently being cornered due to the large difference between the number of their troops and the enemy troops. From beyond the darkness of the forest, a large army of Orcs invaded the Ogre village. The orcs burned and slaughtered every Ogre they saw.
"My son! Take your sister and get out of here!" shouted an Ogre who was the leader of the Ogre race.
Without thinking, the son of the Ogre leader immediately ran to find his sister, as well as gather those who still survived. He then led them out of the village, and told them to hide first.
"You guys wait here, I'll help the village chief" he said.
"Brother, be careful" his sister replied.
The red-haired male ogre nodded, then ran back into the burning village. Amidst the chaos, he kept looking for his father but when he found him, it was too late. The ogre saw his father losing to the leader of the orcs who was accompanied by a masked demon beside him.
'I'm... too late. No, father!' he thought in frustration.
"Please... run away...'" said his dying father.
"Father!" he shouted while glaring at the demon and orc leader.
He slowly walked backwards, and then started running to where his sister was. He told her about their defeated father, and together with the other four Ogres who survived, they left the village of their birth.
"Young master, we will surely avenge those who fell tonight" said an old Ogre with white horns.
"Yes, that is for sure!" he replied.
That night was one of the worst in the history of the Ogre race. Almost all of the Ogres living in the village were killed by the invading Orc army, leaving only 6 Ogres alive.
The next day, Rimuru came out of his house, and he saw all the villagers getting ready for their daily chores. After breakfast, the Hobgoblins started to pick up their tools and led by Myrd, they restarted the construction of the village. The Goblins were also working under the supervision of Garm and Dord on making clothes, and there was also a team of Hobgoblins and Tempest Wolf who would be hunting for dinner.
"Ranga, come with Rigur and help them" Rimuru ordered Ranga.
"Yes, my lord!" replied Ranga who jumped from within Rimuru's shadow.
Rimuru then greeted Rigurd and told him that he would be leaving for a while. Rimuru walked back to the hill where he and Shizue had spoken that evening, and there Rimuru piled up a stone and made it as similar as possible to a grave with a tombstone bearing the name "Izawa Shizue".
"I will not forget you" said Rimuru who knelt down while rubbing the tombstone.
The fresh morning air made Rimuru feel peaceful, and the wind blowing towards him also made him feel comfortable. Rimuru got up and looked at the construction of his village from the top of the hill, then he realized that his body had grown a little taller.
'Wait, is it just me or did I really get taller?'
<< Answer, Master's height has increased by 5 cm. And currently it has reached 165 cm >>
Rimuru felt a little happy with the growth of his human form, because previously Rimuru's height was the same as Shizue's height. Making the two of them seem as if they were twins, and if Shizue did not have a wound on her left eye the only thing different from them was their hair color and eye color. Rimuru spent the morning up there, trying to relax. But Ranga's voice that suddenly rang out in his head disrupted Rimuru's mood to laze around.
{{ Rimuru-sama! }} from the intonation of Ranga's voice calling out to him, Rimuru could guess that they were in trouble.
'Raphael-san, where is Ranga's current location?'
<< 200 m to the southwest >>
A pair of wings appeared on Rimuru's back, and Rimuru flew straight to where Ranga was. It didn't take long for Rimuru to get there, and Rimuru saw that the entire hunting team had been defeated by 6 other monsters. All that was left was Rigur fighting a busty female monster with purple hair and Ranga fighting 3 other monsters at once.
Rimuru who saw Gobta being cut down by one of them immediately threw Gobta backwards and at the same time he also threw a Full Potion at him. Realizing that he was thrown, Gobta shouted then when he raised his head he saw Rimuru standing in front of him.
"Lord Rimuru!" shouted Gobta happily.
"Back off Gobta, Rigur! Ranga! Come back here!" Rimuru ordered the two subordinates to retreat and without arguing they both immediately did as Rimuru commanded.
"Forgive me Lord Rimuru" said the bruised Rigur while bowing to Rimuru. Rimuru threw a Full Potion at him.
"My lord, I'm sorry I summoned you for such a trivial matter. But..."
Rimuru looked at Ranga confused, because Ranga should be able to defeat all these monsters by himself. Seeing that there was a reason behind his actions, Rimuru chose to listen to Ranga first.
"What's wrong Ranga?" asked Rimuru.
"These ogres suddenly attacked us, but they didn't listen to me at all," Ranga replied.
"Then what happened to those lying there? Were they killed?"
"No, they were just put to sleep using magic by that pink-haired Ogre over there"
Rimuru turned to stare at the six Ogres now gathered before him, they were staring at Rimuru as if they were venting their anger at him. Rimuru didn't like the look in their eyes, and ordered Rigur, Gobta, and Ranga to take the sleeping goblins away from that place.
"Rigur, Gobta, Ranga, take those who are sleeping away from here"
"Got it"
Seeing that the battlefield was cleared, Rimuru stepped forward and unleashed his extraordinary aura. His sharp gaze and cold facial expression made Rimuru look like a tyrant with a beautiful face.
"I'm not in the mood to waste my time fighting, so you'd better tell me, what do you mean by attacking my subordinates?" asked Rimuru who looked very intimidating to the Ogres.
The six Ogres were forced to kneel before Rimuru as they could not resist Rimuru's aura which was too strong. Although Rimuru also controlled his aura so as not to kill them.
'What is this? An aura this strong? Who is he?' thought all the Ogres.
"Are-are you a Demon Lord?" asked the old Ogre with white horns.
Rimuru who watched them trying to resist his aura felt a bit sorry for them, and decided to use Shizue's mask to remove his aura. Just as Rimuru took out the mask, the red-haired Ogre immediately shouted angrily at him.
"So it was you! You demon!" he shouted then tried to stand back up as the pressure from Rimuru's aura completely disappeared.
'His aura disappeared? Is it because of that mask? But, the masked demon that attacked our village did not lose his aura' thought the pink-haired Ogre girl.
The Ogre girl stopped her brother in time before he acted rashly. Because she knew that if her brother attacked the person in front of them right now, none of them would survive.
"Brother! Don't attack him!" the girl's shout stopped her brother in his tracks.
"But he also has a mask similar to that demon's, I'm sure he's one of them too"
Rimuru listened to the argument between them, and became curious about their problem. The other four Ogres were still ready to attack Rimuru, but the Ogre girl stopped them all. Then the girl stepped forward and knelt in front of Rimuru.
"Please forgive our actions, but we are currently immersed in anger due to the destruction of our village. And we were wrong to think you were one of the demons that attacked our village" said the girl politely despite her trembling body.
"B-but, Princess, that mask he's wearing" said the busty Ogre woman.
"The masked demon that attacked our village did not hide his aura, but the mask this person has is able to suppress his aura. Moreover, a person with this much power doesn't need to order those pigs to destroy our village. He can do it himself" she replied.
Rimuru was impressed by this princess of the Ogre race, and decided to let them examine the mask.
"You can confirm for yourselves" said Rimuru who threw the mask to the girl.
"And also I'm not the Demon Lord, I'm a Slime" Rimuru continued then changed into his slime form.
Realizing their mistake, the six Ogres immediately knelt down and apologized to Rimuru. Then Rimuru asked the girl to wake up the sleeping Goblins and Tempest Wolf.
"You guys come with us, I want to hear your stories about the destruction of your village" Although it seemed commanding, but Rimuru was actually inviting the Ogres to come to his village.
"Thank you, we gladly accept" replied the Ogre with red hair.
Rimuru turned to look at Rigur and his team, then sighed.
"Huff... but before that, we have to find food for tonight" said Rimuru.
In the end, Rimuru along with Team Rigur and the Ogres hunted together. They got a lot of prey, all thanks to Rimuru being able to detect the presence of the animals. With that, they returned to the village with a big catch and new friends.
Like other nights, tonight their village also held a feast. Everyone sang and danced around the campfire, and Rimuru sat in a long chair set aside just for him. Rimuru liked the freedom that his villagers had, in fact Rimuru not only regarded them as subordinates but also as friends. Rimuru noticed that the Ogres, who previously seemed to be always on guard, now began to lower their guard. The Ogre princess who spoke to Rimuru earlier was also able to blend in well, and the other Ogres were the same.
Not far from his place, Rimuru saw Rigurd, Rigur, Kaijin, Young Master Ogre, and the Old Ogre talking, then Rimuru recalled the matter of the Ogre village attack. As his curiosity returned, Rimuru got up from his chair and walked towards them.
"Uhuk... Orcs attacked the Ogre village? No way" said Kaijin who was surprised by the story from the red-haired Ogre.
"That is the truth" replied the Ogre.
"Normally Orcs are weaker than Ogres, attacking a race stronger than them is impossible" said Kaijin who started trying to refute the truth. Indeed, it would be hard to believe if someone said that the Orc race attacked the Ogre race. The vast difference in strength between the two races meant that the Orc race would not stand a chance against the Ogre race.
"But they did come, those pigs in full equipment. And showered our village with fire arrows, then behind that forest they stormed in huge numbers" he replied.
"Equipment? Armor and weapons?" Rigurd asked.
"That's right, they wear armor like humans, Full Plate Mail" replied the Ogre.
Rimuru silently listened to them talk, and concluded that it was impossible for the orcs to move alone. There must be someone directing them.
'What do you think Raphael-san?'
<< Answer, As Master suspected, the Orc race is not a race that moves in groups. And if there is an Orc capable of leading them in large numbers, it means that a Unique-Monster Orc Lord has been born. Then from the Ogre's previous story, the possibility of the Demon Lord's interference in this incident is very high >>
"But what is the reason for the Orcs to cooperate with the demons?" Rigur's question caught Rimuru's attention, which made Rimuru return to listening to the Ogre's story.
"I don't know either, but out of all the Ogre villagers only six of us survived"
Rimuru saw the expressions on the Young Master Ogre's and the Old Ogre's faces become depressed. Their story about the destruction of their village made Rimuru want to help them.
"No wonder you guys are furious" Rimuru said suddenly which surprised them.
"Lo-Lord Rimuru?! Since when have you been here?" asked Kaijin who was surprised to see Rimuru leaning against a nearby tree.
"Since earlier. Hey, your little sister is great, huh, even though she was scared of me but she was still able to remain calm. And now, she is even able to befriend the Goblins well" Rimuru said to the Ogre.
"Thank you, after all, she was always restrained since she was little"
"Then, what are your plans for the future? As the leader, your friends' fate is in your hands, right? And don't say stupid things like wanting to get stronger and then take revenge, I don't want to hear that" Rimuru asked while drinking.
"..."
'I knew they had no plans at all' thought Rimuru.
Neither the red-haired Ogre nor the Old Ogre answered Rimuru's question. Seeing that they could not answer, Rimuru then offered them to stay in this village.
"How about you all live here and become my subordinates? Well, I'm not forcing you, the final decision is yours. All I can give you is a house, clothes, food, and protection. But from what you said earlier, right now those orcs want to take over the Jura Forest, right? That means, they will eventually attack this village," said Rimuru.
"So I think it would be best if I increase the village's combat power. How about it? Do you want to?" offered Rimuru who looked at the Ogre Young Master.
"But, this village could be involved in our revenge plan"
"I'm not offering this just for your sake. But, well... I don't really care about your plans either. If you want revenge, do as you please but I only care about my friends. I won't let those orcs ruin whatever we've built in this village"
"And if you agree to stay here, I will also help you"
Rimuru's words made the Ogre bow his head.
"Let me think about it" said the Ogre.
"Of course, it's your decision. Think about it carefully" Rimuru replied then walked away from their place. Seeing Rimuru who had rejoined the rest of the Goblins, the young ogre lord turned to look at Kaijin and Rigurd.
"Lord Kaijin, Lord Rigurd, please excuse me for a moment" he said.
"Yes" Kaijin and Rigurd replied.The red-haired ogre stood up and walked into the forest to find a quiet place. He was really thinking about Rimuru's offer.
Rimuru Tempest P.O.V
After speaking with the young lord ogre, I went to find out the truth about the orc army. Using [Universal Detect] I scanned the entire Jura Forest, and sensed the presence of a large number of troops divided into 2 units.
'Wh-what the hell is this number?!'
<< Report, a large Orc army was detected with a total of 200,000 Orcs. The main unit of the army consists of 190,000 Orcs and the other unit consists of 10,000 Orcs. The existence of the Orc Lord has been confirmed, and there are many of the Orcs who have evolved into Orc Generals >>
It was only natural for the Ogre village to be destroyed, as it was impossible for them to win against this number. If this problem is left alone then it is likely that every race in this forest will be massacred.
'Raphael-san, at what point will the two units of the Orc army gather?'
<< Answer, from the direction they are moving their two units of troops will regroup at the river area of the Lizardmen's territory >>
"That means we don't have much time, there are about less than 2 weeks left before the orcs attack the Lizardmen's territory"
After grasping the situation I returned to the village and started thinking of a plan to strengthen the village's combat power. And I also hoped that the Ogres would accept my offer. When I returned to the village, I saw that everyone was already asleep. Some of them went back to their homes, and others were lying on the ground.
I left them alone and walked back to my own house. I lay down on my bed and tried to sleep.
.......
.......
The next day, the Ogre Young Lords met me in the morning. I brought him into my house, as I was sure he had something to say to me in private. Once inside he immediately knelt in front of me.
"The Ogre race is a fighting race, and that is why we are willing to follow someone if that person is very strong indeed. Lord Rimuru, you have shown us your strength. We are willing to serve you" he said.
"Raise your head, I accept you. But do you have any other conditions?" I asked.
"If I may, our service is only until the Orc Lord is defeated" he replied.
"Of course, I have no problem with that. After the Orc Lord is defeated, you are free to do whatever you want. If you want to remain as my subordinates that's fine, if you want to go traveling around the world that's fine too" I replied, smiling at his decision.
'He really thinks of his friends, he accepts his weakness and throws away his ego for revenge' I thought.
"You know, when I first saw you, I thought you were just a fool with a high ego. But your answer today shows that I was wrong about you. And I won't make you regret your choice today" I said.
"Call all your friends here" I continued.
The Ogre stood up and walked out of my house, not long after he returned with the other five Ogres. I looked at all of them who immediately knelt down when they saw me, suddenly I told them to get up because after all I was not a respect crazy person.
"As a sign that you have become my subordinates, I will give you names" I said firmly with a small smile.
"P-please wait a moment, isn't that too much? Naming a high-level monster is very risky" replied the Ogre princess.
"Don't worry, it's not a problem for me" I said then walked forward towards the red-haired Ogre.
"Benimaru, from now on your name is Benimaru" I named the young Ogre lord then turned to the dark-skinned Ogre beside him.
"Souei, I give you the name Souei" after naming the Ogre, I moved on to the Old Ogre.
"Hakuro, your name is Hakuro" then the large male Ogre.
"Kurobee"
After finishing naming the male Ogres, I turned to look at the two remaining female Ogres. I walked up to them, and they immediately knelt down in front of me. I placed my hands on the tops of their heads and then gave them names.
"Shion, and Shuna"
Just when I had named them all, again a large amount of magic energy came out of my body. The magic energy enveloped the six Ogres and when their evolution was complete I did not recognize them at all.
'Where did these handsome men and beautiful women come from? Who are they?' I thought as I saw Benimaru, Souei, Shion, and Shuna.
Benimaru, has a good body to match his handsome face with red hair. Souei, has more or less the same body as Benimaru and his face is also handsome. Shion, her fierce face turned softer and prettier, then her body also developed, especially her breasts which looked bigger. Shuna, initially she was already quite cute but after evolution made her even cuter.
Hakuro, became taller and also younger. And finally Kurobee, I'm very happy with Kurobee's evolution, because compared to the others he's very normal.
"Ahem, well as my first order. I want Hakuro and Benimaru to train the Goblins, then for Souei, I want you to keep an eye on the surrounding area. And as for Kurobee, what are your skills?"
"I am quite good at forging weapons, Lord Rimuru"
"Then, you can go meet Kaijin. Then Shion and Shuna, do what you can"
"Yes, Lord Rimuru"
When they had all left my house, I asked Souei to stay and gave him a special task. I asked him to keep an eye on the swamp of the Lizardmen territory and also tell him the location where the orc army was currently located.
"Souei, don't attack them. Remember that, keep an eye on them until I give you other orders"
"I understand Lord Rimuru"
In the afternoon I went to the training area to see the progress of the Goblins from the training given by Hakuro and Benimaru. I saw Benimaru standing alone watching the Goblins doing physical training, and decided to greet him.
"Benimaru" I called out.
"Lord Rimuru" he greeted.
After talking with him for a while, I started to get curious again about the reason behind the Ogre village attack.
"Hey, isn't there another reason behind the orcs attacking your village?"
"Hmm... If I'm not mistaken, there was a demon who suddenly came to our village and said "I'll give you a name". That's what he said, but because he looked very suspicious we chased him out. Then he left while getting angry" Benimaru's answer made it all make more sense.
'As I suspected, there was something strange about the orcs dividing their army into two different units. There's no point in doing that if the other unit only contains 10,000 orcs. It seems that the demon is the one who started the chaos in this Jura Forest'
"What's his name, huh? I forgot..." Benimaru tried to remember the demon's name, but the one who continued Benimaru's words was Souei.
"Gelmud, that's his name" said Souei who suddenly appeared from the shadow of a tree.
"Ah, yes that's the name" replied Benimaru.
"What's wrong Souei?" I asked Souei.
"I saw a group of Lizardmen who came to this area. It looks like they're trying to request reinforcements from the goblin villages around here" Souei replied.
"I see, that means they'll be coming to this village as well" I muttered.
"Good job, keep an eye on them but for now we focus on strengthening our strength first" I said to Souei.
And in the next few days, the Lizardmen actually came to our village. Right after Souei told me about their arrival, I along with Shion and Benimaru went straight to the village gate. As soon as we got there, Rigurd was already dealing with the Lizardmen.
"What's wrong Rigurd?" I asked.
"They are asking to see you, Lord Rimuru" Rigurd replied.
Then I turned my gaze to the group of Lizardmen, and the next second, they suddenly formed a formation and opened a path for one of them riding a lizard.
'Is he the leader? Even so, a lizard riding a lizard?' We watched the Lizardmen's opening performance, and then a Lizardmen who I was sure was their leader jumped off his mount and landed in front of me with style.
'So over-the-top, somehow just seeing him makes me feel annoyed' I thought.
"My name is Gabil, a messenger from the Lizardmen tribe. I have come to give you the opportunity to become my subordinates, be honored" Gabil said loudly and then the other lizardmen praised their leader.
'Subordinate? Who does he think he is? Wait, he has a name. So, because he has a name, he's arrogant' I thought.
"Sir Gabil, right? Even if we are asked to be your subordinates, we will refuse" Rigurd replied.
"Geez, haven't you heard yet? The Orc race is currently trying to conquer the Jura Forest. And I, Gabil, am the one who deserves to lead all of you weaklings" said Gabil.
'Seriously! Where did this weirdo come from?! Cooperating with the Lizardmen is a good idea, but this weirdo lizard....'
I could see Benimaru and Shion's anger written clearly by their expressions, and it seemed that the Lizardmen saw it too. Because they started to observe us even more closely. Then they realized that none of us were "Weaklings".
I was completely speechless when I saw Gabil who turned around and whispered with his subordinates. 'Huff... I'm tired. Let's hurry up and get rid of this stupid lizard'
"Ahem, I heard that in this village there is a person who has conquered the Direwolves, I'll make him my executive subordinate. Bring him here" said Gabil, still with that annoying arrogant face.
"That's me, you better cut the crap and get out of here. We don't have all day to deal with someone like you" I said back.
"Huh? Human? Don't joke" As Gabil belittled me, Ranga immediately came out of my shadow and pounced on Gabil to the ground. Ranga gave Gabil a sharp look, and at the same time he used his [Intimidation] skill to make the other Lizardmen stand still.
"Grrr... A trashy lizard like you dares to insult my lord" Ranga threatened seriously.
'Shit, that freak could die'
"Ranga back off" I ordered Ranga to let go of Gabil, and Ranga bowed to me and did as I ordered. After that, I walked over to Gabil who was still sitting on the ground.
"Your idea about cooperating with the Lizardmen race is good, but I refuse to be your subordinate. Now get out of my sight" I said before turning around and walking away from the village gate.
'Seems like tonight I have to start planning something to deal with those orcs'
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Later that evening, right after dinner, Rimuru gathered everyone together to hear their opinions on the problems they were currently facing, then asked Souei to explain the current state of the Jura Forest. Rimuru listened to them seriously, and asked Benimaru to retell the story of a demon who came to the Ogre village. After hearing Benimaru's story, Rigurd said that the same demon had also come to this goblin village before Rimuru.
Rimuru began to think and try to guess what this demon Gelmud was up to, but he still couldn't figure it out. 'Even if this Gelmud is a subordinate of the Demon Lord, why would he bother giving names to every monster race in the Jura Forest? Could it be that the Demon Lord he serves wants new followers? Then why not bring those who have been given names directly back to their master?' Rimuru was lost in his thought, until Kaijin's words snapped him out of it.
"Orcs are not a highly intelligent race of monsters, it is impossible for an Orc to lead an army of that size" Kaijin said.
"Indeed, 200,000 is an absurd number. Moreover, how could they feed such a large army?" asked Rigurd.
"Corpses, they eat whatever is in front of them. Be it the corpses of their own comrades or the corpses of the enemies they killed. And also, the Orc Lord who leads them really exists" replied Souei.
"Lord Rimuru, do you have anything to say?" asked Benimaru who had been watching Rimuru.
"Souei's report about the Orc Lord and the number of Orc troops was not a lie. Even so, the involvement of this demon named Gelmud makes me feel a bit uneasy. If my guess is correct, then sooner or later we will be dealing with one of the Demon Lords" said Rimuru.
"Lord Rimuru, sorry. One of my clones met someone, she asked permission to meet you" Souei said suddenly.
"Who? Gabil again? If he is again forget it" replied Rimuru.
"N-no, but maybe this is a bit rare. Because the one who asked to meet you is a Dryad"
"Dryad?! Now?" asked Rimuru, and Souei nodded in response.
'Does he mean that beautiful nature spirit woman?!' thought Rimuru.
"That's fine, let her meet me"
After receiving permission from Rimuru, the Dryad in question immediately appeared right in front of Rimuru. Due to her sudden arrival, Benimaru and the others immediately moved to Rimuru's side, ready to protect him in case the Dryad meant any harm. Rimuru raised his hand, and ordered them to back off. On the long table, the Dryad that had appeared earlier slowly knelt in front of Rimuru, and of course this confused Rimuru.
"Lord Rimuru Tempest, please forgive my impudence. I am the Dryad named Treyni, pleased to meet you" she said.
"Y-yes, nice to meet you Treyni... -san. Stand up, you don't have to kneel to me, I'm not your superior after all. So, what is your purpose in meeting me?" replied Rimuru.
"I want to ask you to defeat the Orc Lord and stop the invasion of the Orc army in this Jura Forest" Treyni then stood up and answered Rimuru's question, but right after that Benimaru immediately threw his question to Treyni.
"You suddenly appeared and asked Lord Rimuru to defeat the Orc Lord. Isn't that a bit disrespectful? Why did you come asking for help to this village anyway? Surely there are other races stronger than Goblins, right?" asked Benimaru.
"That's right, if only the Ogre village hadn't been destroyed, I would have come there. But I can't ignore this person's existence either. If we Dryads were also targeted by the Orc Lord, even we wouldn't be able to fight him. That's why, I'm asking for your help" replied Treyni who was focused on Rimuru.
"What do you mean you can't ignore my existence?" asked Rimuru.
"Lord Veldora's disappearance has something to do with you, doesn't it?" replied Treyni who smiled at Rimuru.
'Ah, that's right. Ever since I moved Veldora into my stomach, the activity of the monsters in this forest has also increased' thought Rimuru.
"Huff... well I understand, besides, without you asking I also intend to defeat that Orc Lord" said Rimuru.
Treyni then participated in their meeting that night, and gave all the information about the Orc Lord's power to Rimuru. Treyni also said that she would help them to find and expel the demons involved with this incident.
"Souei, go meet the Lizardmen chief and tell him that I, Rimuru Tempest, wish to form an alliance with them. We don't have much time, Kurobee, Kaijin, I'll leave the weapons to you. I, Benimaru, Hakuro, Souei, Shion, and the Goblin Riders will go to the battlefield in five days from now, then the rest of you stay in the village and protect it."
"Yes! Understood!"
After their meeting was over, Rimuru remained sitting in his chair while eating potato chips and watching Treyni who was also eating potato chips. Rimuru scrutinized every inch of Treyni's face and her overall appearance.
'For some reason, this real Dryad is very similar to the dryads I saw in the game. As expected of human fantasies, their fantasies have no limits'
'Hmm... wait a minute, there are about 200,000 orcs. After this civil war ends how many of them will still survive, maybe I can take them as my subordinates and hire them all'
'This is a great idea!' Rimuru thought in between his thoughts, and this certainly made Rimuru even more excited. Because if he could really bring the orcs over to his side, then his problem concerning the labor shortage could be solved easily.
"Hey, Treyni-san, if we kill the Orc Lord then this will all be over, right? And the remaining orcs will be free from the influence of his Unique-Skill, right?" asked Rimuru.
"That's right, but why are you suddenly asking that?" replied Treyni.
"It's fine, I'm just curious," said Rimuru with a smile.
Shortly afterwards Treyni said goodbye to Rimuru, and returned to her duties as the supervisor of the Jura Forest. Seeing Treyni's departure made Rimuru realize that he was currently alone, so Rimuru decided to return to his home. On his way, Souei appeared behind Rimuru while kneeling down.
"Lord Rimuru, I'm sorry to delay your return trip" Souei said.
"It's okay, what about them? Did they accept it?" asked Rimuru.
"The Lizardmen chief accepted our alliance offer, but he wants to meet you first. I've told them that our side will be leaving 5 days from now, and asked them to hold off the orcs until we get there" replied Souei.
"Good job Souei, but by the way is the Lizardmen chieftain the same as Gabil?" replied Rimuru.
"No, Lord Rimuru. He is not a strange and stupid person like Gabil before, but rather the type of person who is critical in making decisions" said Souei.
"Alright, thank you for your hard work. Go home and rest, it's late"
"Well, then good night Lord Rimuru"
Souei bowed his head slightly lower in respect before disappearing from Rimuru's sight.
"Looks like I'll be busy for a while" Rimuru muttered as he looked at the full moon shining brightly that night with a small smile on his lips.
~To be continued~
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