After having a heart to heart talk with the Ogres who have now evolved into a higher species called 'Kijin', Benimaru and the last of his kind now live comfortably alongside all of you in the village. A few days have passed, but the infrastructure of the village has come a long way as well now that there are actually built homes with walls, roofs, windows, all the luxuries that no one in the village had before. Though there was still much more work to be done like paving out and creating proper roads, creating more buildings for other uses besides homes, and increasing the volume and quality of food now that the village has become so flourishing, things were still looked as if it could only go up and up from this point. You were taking a walk through one of the streets after just coming back from visiting Shizu's grave, and on your way, ahead of you were the three dwarf brothers who were out for a walk it seemed as well.
"Oh, hey there!" You called out as the three dwarf brothers turned around.
"Great Y/N! Out for a walk?" Garm asked as you walked up to them.
"Mhmm. I was on my way to see how Shuna and Mai are doing since they've been working together recently." You said to them.
"Really? So were we. Care to join us?" Dord asked as you nodded to them in agreement.
After linking up with the dwarf brothers who coincidentally had the same idea as you, the four of you walked over to the small building that was set up to create special linen, cloth, fabrics and other materials that could be used for clothes and other things. Sliding the door open, Dord was the first to step inside where he saw the whole shop was set up nicely and organized with shelves lining different rolls of fabrics.
"Shuna, Mai! How are things?" Garm spoke up as he and the rest of you entered the building.
"Hm? Oh! Garm, Dord and Myrd! Hello!" Shuna said as she turned around from the weaving loom she was working on, but was surprised when you walked in. "Oh! Great Y/N! You came to visit?" Shuna said with joy as she put down her weaving tools and got up from her seat to greet you.
"No need to stop working, I just wanted to check on you and Mai." You said as you heard the sound of wings flapping and looked over to see Mai come out from a storage closet with a basket of silk.
"My Lord, you're back, it pleases me to see you here just for us." Mai said as she floated over while Shuna walked up to you.
"Thank you for letting the two of us work together. The different amount of silks and fabrics the two of us have been able to make are amazing." Shuna said as she gently held your head in her arms and stroked your head gently.
"Oh, I just thought that it would be a good idea since you seemed to be good with things like this, and Mai can provide you special silk along with others that she knows where to get from. How have you been feeling about this, Mai?" You asked your loyal aid as she set down the basket she was carrying and floated over.
"Yes, I also am grateful to be working with such an amazing person as Princess Shuna." Mai said as she floated over towards you both. "Although she does seem to like my silk in particular..." She giggled as Shuna looked over to Mia.
"I'm sorry for asking you to produce so much from yourself, but it truly is something special that I could have only ever dreamed of working with." Shuna apologized as Mai shook her head.
"I'm happy that others in the village can find some use of me besides my Lord. Let's continue to get along well, Princess Shuna." Mai said as as the two of them share innocent and happy looks towards one another.
"Hehe! This stuff sure is nice." Garm said as he had pulled out and unrolled a little bit of some silk cloth.
"So this is silk cloth, Shuna?" Dord asked as you all looked over to the brothers who were admiring Shuna and Mai's work.
"Yes, that's from Hellmoth cocoons that Mai was able to find me. The cocoons they're made from are full of magicules, so it's very sturdy." Shuna explained some of the finer details about the silk.
"I see. So it should give us some good protection." Garm said as he was impressed by the quality the silk was made of.
"That's amazing!" You heard another voice call out as you turned around to see Rimuru had arrived at the entrance with Shion carrying him in her arms in his slime form.
"Great Rimuru!" Shuna exclaimed with joy as Shion walked in and handed Rimuru over for Shuna to greet and fawn over.
"Oh, you've returned, Great Y/N." Shion said as she walked over and hugged you, pressing your face into her massive bosom as your face exploded red.
"Y-Yeah...I'm back..." You said as a dumb smile found itself on your face as you didn't seem to mind being in that position for a little longer.
"Hiya./ Hey there./ Mhm." The three dwarf brothers greeted their other lord with kind looks.
"He still won't talk!" Rimuru thought in frustration of still not hearing Myrd's voice.
"You came to see us, too, Great Rimuru!" Shuna said with glee as she cuddled with the cute little slime.
"Y-Yeah. How're things going?" Rimuru asked as Shuna pulled away a little as Shion walked you over next to them.
"Great. The weaving loom Sir Kaijin made for me is very easy to use." Shuna sang her praises for the equipment that she was provided.
"Yeah? Glad to hear it. We're counting on you two to make clothes for everyone." Rimuru said as he looked at both Shuna and Mai, who seemed pleased to hear how much they were being relied on.
"Of course! Leave it to us!" Shuna and Mai said the same thing as they glanced at one another to share a giggle.
"Now then, let us go, Great Rimuru. Great Y/N. I've prepared lunch for the both of you and it will get cold if we don't go." Shion said as she suddenly tightened an arm around your neck, surprising you as she grabbed onto Rimuru with her other hand.
"Shion...Is your secretarial work going well?" Shuna asked with an innocent smile pointed towards her fellow Kijin, but you grew a strange look when on of Shuna's hands found itself on one of your spines, and Rimuru also grew confused when Shuna's other hand latched onto him.
"Of course, Princess Shuna." Shion replied with a similar smile as she talked about her self-appointed role of yours and Rimuru's secretary.
"Oh no...Behind those sweet smiles of theirs..." You thought in nervousness as you could actually see an intimidating aura come off both Shuna and Shion as they were about to fight over the two of you as both Kijin women turned greedy. "S-Scary...!" You thought in terror.
"I wouldn't mind taking care of Great Rimuru and Great Y/N myself." Shuna said as she began to tug on your larger dorsal spine and Rimuru's stretchy body.
"Oh no, Princess. There's no need for that. I will take good care of them." Shion said as you and Rimuru looked at each other with pained and estranged faces.
"These two seem to have a rivalry going on..." The two of you thought the same thing as your bodies began to get played in this tug-of-war while the dwarf brothers watched in amusement.
"I think I'll take care of both of them, after all." Shuna said as she pulled harder on you two, actually managing to pull you closer, but Shion readjusted and was now pulling on your tail.
"No, as their secretary, I'll do that." Shion said as sparks flew between their gazes and they were stretching you two apart at this point.
Great Rimuru and Y/N, would you prefer to have me or Shion serving you?" Shuna asked in a surprisingly calm tone as you and Rimuru were being stretched apart like dough.
"W-Well...You need to be weaving silk, right? Maybe we'll have you help out in your spare time..." Rimuru said as you and him were both confused.
"What the heck are you even asking for?!" You used Thought Communication with him.
"I don't know!" Rimuru replied to your though in a panic.
"I-I can't really lie...I also am kinda hungry after taking that walk up the hill. I also don't wanna disturb you guys any longer since we know we need to produce more clothes for everyone..." You said as Shuna seemed happy to hear that you two were depending so much on her.
"Very well! You're asking for my help, then?" Shuna said with a joyful blush on her face.
"E-Exactly! We're counting on you!" Rimuru said before turning his twisted figure towards you. "N-Nice thinking!" He told you with Thought Communication as Shuna's fingers had slipped under your lips and your mouth was being stretched with your teeth showing.
"S-Sure...!" You replied to his thoughts with a pained thumbs up.
"Well, then, please leave Great Rimuru and Great Y/N to me." Shion said as she rolled up Rimuru in one arm and pulled on your tail, making you yelp as she threw you over her shoulder, winning this battle against Shuna as the Kijin princess just pouted.
After being hauled away by Shion who said that she had something made for the two of you for lunch, you three made your way over to the building where everyone would be eating their meals most of the time since the new kitchen was there. Shion opened the door and entered while carrying Rimuru in her arms, while you followed behind them. Inside the main dining room was Benimaru, Hakurou, and Soei, who were just spening some of their free time having tea.
"Oh, hello, Great Rimuru. Great Y/N." Benimaru greeted you two as the other Kijin men gave you kind and acknowledging nods.
"Have you come to eat?" Hakurou asked.
"Yeah. Shion said she cooked us a meal." Rimuru said as you three passed the male Kijin's, but didn't noticed the shocked, tensed, and absolutely unsettled faces they grew once they heard what Rimuru just said.
You walked around the table and saw a nice cushioned spot on the floor for you since you were still too big for normal seats, and laid down comfily on your cushioned spot next to Rimuru as Shion set him down in front of his seat on the table.
"Want to join us, guys?" Rimuru asked as he looked at the men on the opposite side of the table who were nervous smiles.
"Oh, I'm not really hungry..." Benimaru seemed to reply in a rapid-fire tone.
"Yes, we'll just have tea." Hakurou for some reason responded in the same tone and speed as you and Rimuru looked over to Soei for his answer.
"I will..." Soei suddenly stood up from his seat with haste as he suddenly used his newly acquired Body Double skill.
"Oh! You can use that already? Amazing!" You commented on how much stronger he seemed to have become recently.
"...go out and scout the surrounding area!" Soei and his Body Doubles all said in unison as he suddenly vanished without even saying any parting words, confusing you, Rimuru and Shion.
Feeling a strange vibe growing throughout the air, you lifted your head over the table as you and Rimuru turned towards Benimaru, who for some reason had turned his head away from your area.
"I'll bring it out, then." Shion said as you turned towards her.
"Thank you, Shion. W-We can't wait..." You said with an unsure tone as you kept glancing back at Benimaru who you could actually smell was sweating a bit for some reason, and Shion rushed off to the kitchen. "H-Hey..." You tapped Rimuru with your tail as he turned into his humanoid form and sat in his seat and looked at you. "These guys...suddenly put on weird faces just now...I don't like it..." You said as a chill ran down your dorsal plates.
"I wonder why the guys reacted that way...?" Rimuru whispered back to you before something unsettling came to both your minds. "Is it because, even though Shion looks really capable, it's going to end up being that old trope?" He said as you and Rimuru grew similar looks to Benimaru and the others as the door from the kitchen opened up.
"I've returned! Please, help yourself." Shion said as you looked down to see what food she would place in front of you, and to your shock, it was worse than you had imagined.
"She's not capable at all!" You and Rimuru thought in sheer horror of the sight as you felt lightheaded once the 'food' was placed in front of you.
"AGH! WAS THIS THE THING THAT MADE ME COLLAPSE THE LAST TIME?! MY PROTECTION AGAINST AIR-BORNE PATHOGENS HAD GREATLY INCREASED SINCE THEN, BUT MY NOSE IS STILL TELLING ME THIS IS DANGEROUS!!" You thought as you had to cover your nose with your tail, but the nose of someone's stomach growling caught both yours and Rimuru's attention as you knew it came from Benimaru.
"'Not hungry', my ass! They ran away because they knew she couldn't cook!" Rimuru thought in irritation of Benimaru not warning either of you of this disaster.
"Uwah, that looks grotesque! Are ya really gonna eat that? Really? That's hilarious~!" Your mother began laughing like a gyaru in your head as you were ticked off.
"SHUT UP!!! You're not the one who has to eat this thing!" You yelled your thoughts back at your mother.
"Then tell her ya won't eat it." Malenia said as you looked at Shion who had the most innocent smile in the world right now.
"Great Rimuru. Great Y/N, help yourself." Shion said as she gently ushered you two to try her food.
"I can't tell her no when she has such a cute face like that!" You thought as you were in a serious predicament and began to whimper while looking at the bowl of 'food' in front of you.
"Hey, you! Look at me! How dare you just casually sip that tea?!" Rimuru thought before noticing something else. "Ah! And the old geezer's totally erased his presence! HEY!!!" He thought as he couldn't believe the two of you were betrayed so quickly by your new members.
"Go on, Great Rimuru." Shion said as she held out a spoon for Rimuru to use.
"Forgive me, Great Rimuru. Great Y/N." Benimaru thought as he kept his tea to his mouth and his eyes closed.
"Consider this training." Hakurou found the only way he could justify this situation as he kept himself hidden as the door to the dining room opened and walked in Gobta and Gobzo.
"Whew! I'm starving!" Gobta said as he and his buddy walked around the dining table.
"Please, before it gets cold. Oh, Great Y/N, would you prefer if I fed you myself?" Shion asked with a giggle as she handed Rimuru his spoon before pulling out another and sitting on the ground and putting your head in her lap.
"O-Oh, you don't have to do that! The floor is dirty!" You said with a fearful smile on your face as Rimuru nervously grabbed his spoon, but Shion still sat with you.
"Even the dirtiest of floors could never stop me from helping you, Great Y/N!" Shion said as your jaw dropped in panic of how resolute Shion was to you two. "Now then, please have a bite!" She said as she held up a spoonful of the food in your face, making you whimper.
"H-Here I go, then." Rimuru said as he held the spoon up nervously.
"Yes!" Shion said as she was excited to see what you two had to say about her food.
"Ahahahaha! That looks like one of the monsters I melted after I used my Atomic Breath on them! Ahahahahaha!" Malenia was rolling over laughing in your head as you had tears running down your eyes.
"I don't wanna..." You thought as you weren't ready to die again.
"Well, hey, it's not like it's poison. We won't die or--UGH!" Rimuru stopped himself from eating the spoonful he had when he saw something unsettling.
"WHAT IS THAT?!!? IS THAT DEATH?! IS THAT WHAT DEATH LOOKS LIKE?!?!" You used Thought Communication with Rimuru as you couldn't handle this on your own.
"Okay, relax. Relax! It looks like it's possessed, but it's just our imagination!" Rimuru replied to your thoughts.
"HOW CAN WE HAVE THE SAME IMAGINATION?!?!" You replied to him in shock.
"I DON'T KNOW!! JUST KNOW THAT IT IS! Right, it's just...that!" Rimuru replied as Malenia jumped in and established her connection to this conversation and even included Great Sage.
"Hey, Great Sage! Get a load of this! It's too funny! Ahahaha!!" Malenia continued to enjoy the show while Great Sage began running simulations.
"A simulacrum. The tendency to see a face in anything with three distinctly visible points." Great Sage gave you all an explanation.
"Uh, we don't need that explanation right now." Rimuru responded to his Great Sage as Shion lifted the spoon towards your face.
"Here, Great Y/N!" Shion said as you saw something more horrifying that what Rimuru had.
"EEEEKKKK!!! Do something, Great Sage!" You begged Rimuru's inner voice as you were terrified of this vile concoction.
"Answer. If you close your eyes and insert the spoon at an angle from the right, you will not die." Great Sage gave a somewhat helpful response.
"Huh? What the hell? Don't go ruinin' the show, Great Sage!" Malenia whined as Great Sage sighed at her complaints.
"I don't really get it, but okay!" Rimuru thought as he decided to have faith in his inner voice's suggestion.
With one swift move, you and Rimuru shut your eyes and he shoved the spoon of 'food' towards his right, and once it came into contact with something, there was a strange noise.
"Mrgh!" You all heard which confused you.
"Mrgh?" You and Rimuru repeated the noise as you cracked open one eye to se what happened.
Whilst enacting Great Sage's plan, it would appear that Gobta was caught in the crossfire and the spoon Rimuru shoved to his right had actually shot right into Gobta's mouth, filling his taste buds with Shion's cooking. You, Rimuru, and everyone else in the room watched in shock to see what would happen, before Gobta suddenly exploded with purple steam exiting his ears. His cries of pain could barely be heard as the food couldn't go down or out of his mouth as he rolled over on the ground in horrifying pain and began frothing at the mouth while turning a dangerous shade of purple. He would go on like this for some more moments as Benimaru and Hakurou tried their hardest to ignore the horrifying scene that was happening in front of them, and a few moments later as Gobta tried reaching out for you, his body fell limp and he was unresponsive.
"Oh, dear." Was all Shion had to say with a slightly nervous smile as she put her finger to her left cheek in wonder.
"Shion." You and Rimuru spoke her name as she tensed up immediately.
"Y-Yes?!" Shion stood up straight as she grew more and more nervous of what you two might say.
"Next time you make food to serve to someone else, get Benimaru's approval first." Rimuru said with a scolding tone as you nodded and pointed at Benimaru with your tail as he was shocked and looked betrayed.
"That's just cruel, my Lords!" Benimaru thought with a scared look on his face as you both glared at him.
"Don't blame us. You're her supervisor now." Rimuru thought as you and him both stuck your tongue's out mockingly towards Benimaru while closing one eye.
"Gobta...Benimaru will make sure no other person ends up like you..." You said as you bid farewell to the dopey goblin and covered his face with a piece of cloth.
After that whole incident, you left Benimaru to take care of Shion as Rimuru went off somewhere else and you just had more spare time to do whatever you wanted. Though you found that hard to do since there wasn't really anything that came to mind at the time. You walked around the village checking up on everyone, to which you'd hear the same 'We're doing great!' or 'Oh! It's Great Y/N! What an honor!' from everyone you passed by. You'd try to help whenever you saw some construction being done, but they would always insist that you needn't do any of the physical labor, as they couldn't imagine forcing their own leader to work with them. You wanted to help so that you could do something, but you also didn't want to seem pushy so you just agreed to their wishes and let them be. You were just kicking a rock down the path you were walking in boredom as you somehow wound up at the entrance of the village when something strange caught your attention. Turning towards the main road to the village that was being paved out for the future, you heard the faint noise of multiple feet marching across the ground and the sound grew closer and closer. Turning fully towards where the sound was coming from, in the distance you could see a group of monster heading your way, and to your surprise, it was a large group of what seemed like lizards who walked up straight like normal people, and even had armor and spears. After the first few encounters your village had with outsiders, your guard was more than ready for any sort of surprise attack as you heightened your senses of the surrounding area. You remembered how Soei mentioned before that there were lizard men going around the forest trying to recruit goblin villages into some sort of alliance, so you assumed that this was the group that he mentioned before, but you still didn't get the feeling that they were too friendly as they marched up to you and made way for what seemed to be their leader of the group.
"Who are you?" You asked them in a firm tone.
"Hup!" You grew confused when the lizard man on his mount suddenly leaped into the air and landed before you, but the even weirder thing was how some form of lighting helped make him shine brighter. "I am Gabiru of the Lizardmen. You will all serve under me. Consider this a great honor!" He announced to himself as you left stunned and dumbfounded by what you were seeing.
"Yeah, Sir Gabiru!" One of this subordinates yelled in awe.
"You're the best!" Another one yelled.
"So cool!" Another lizardman yelled as you seemed annoyed at this strange entrance.
"Huh?" You said in confusion, but heard another group of people say the same as you turned around to see Rimuru being carried by Shion, Benimaru, Hakurou, and Rigurd standing behind.
"...I have to ask again, who are you?" You said with a raised and confused brow as one of his loyal subordinates turned towards you all.
"Remember him well. This is the man who will be the next chieftain of the Lizardmen! Bow down!" One of his servants said as Gabiru proudly put his hands on his hips.
"Huh?" Rimuru and the others said in just more sheer confusion.
"That's what I'm trying to tell you...How the hell are we supposed to know all this when its our first time meeting?" You said as you were getting a big headache now from how uncooperative these guys were being.
"'You will serve under me'? 'Consider it an honor'? Bigshot! Who does he think he is? And..." Rimuru thought before a more serious matter began to happen to him. "W-Wait--! Shion-san, please stop! You're gonna make this slime way too slim!" Rimuru cried out as Shion was instinctively squeezing Rimuru too hard in anger of Gabriu's abrasiveness, and forgot she was even holding him.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Shion was bowing her head up and down to Rimuru as Benimaru was now the one in charge of holding him.
"Ahem! Forgive me...You called yourself Gabiru, yes? This request to serve you is rather sudden..." Rigurd tried talking with Gabiru, but the lizardman was too in his own world to give him any thought.
"Good grief. Must I spell it out for you? You've heard the news, have you not?" Gabriu talked to him in a condescending tone.
"What news?" Rigurd asked in confusion as Shion seemed to win back her permission to hold Rimuru.
"The news that those Orc pigs are invading the Great Forest of Jura." Gabiru said as this piqued everyone's interest here. "Which is why it would best suit you to become my men." He said as his men used their shields as light sources to make him shine brighter. "I, Gabiru, will protect you weaklings from the threat of the Orcs!" Gabiru said while striking a strange pose. "Weaklings!" Gabiru said as he looked and noticed Rigurd's insanely yolked body build. "Weaklings..." Gabiru said as he took notice of the fierce and piercing looks of the Kijin men. "W-Weak..." Gabiru said...as he saw scary huffs of steam exit your nostrils. "Weaklings?" Gabiru...said...as his eyes landed on Shion before they locked onto something incredible.
Just then, Gabiru seemed to begin processing just who he was stood in front of as he regrouped with his three closest subjects and began to converse the strangeness of the situation they found themselves in.
"I don't see any Goblins." Gabiru said as he talked in a low tone with his buddies.
"What?" His lighter green friend said as he seemed confused.
"This was supposed to be a Goblin village." His blue colored lizard buddy said.
"In fact, I don't see anyone weak around here..." His lighter brown colored pal commented on how no one looked too weak around here as they continued to converse.
"H-Hey, Rimuru..." You walked over to your slime friend as you kept a confused lock on Gabiru. "What should we do about these guys?" You asked him.
"Well, if Orcs are invading, I guess forming a united front with the Lizardmen is one option..." Rimuru said as you both looked at Gabiru with questionable looks. "But I'm not sure I want him watching my back. He seems pretty stupid." Rimuru said.
"Oh, it's like that one saying. 'What one should really fear is not a competent enemy, but an incompetent ally.' I think that was Napoleon who said that." You said as Rimuru nodded assuming the same thing.
"Ahhhhh...! Ahem!" You all heard as you turned back to see Gabiru standing before you all again to speak once more. "I've heard that there are those among you who have tamed Direwolves. I will make those of you who have officers in my army. Bring them to me." He said with a cockish and condescending tone which Shion didn't seem to like in particular as she began digging her fingers into Rimuru's slimy flesh.
"Uh-oh...Shion's getting pissed again!" Rimuru thought as Benimaru suddenly shot you two a bewildering, enchanting smile.
"Aha~ Sure!" Both you and Rimuru said as you were captured by his charm, but snapped back to reality. "Wait, no! No! NO!!!" Rimuru yelled as you tried holding Benimaru back, but began to panic as he just dragged you along while cracking his knuckles.
After managing to finally calm down all your friends who were currently in attendance of this strange meeting, you and Rimuru were stood before Gabiru to try and make sense of what he was planning to do with you all.
"Um...We didn't exactly tame the Direwolves. We made them our allies, and we're the ones who did that." Rimuru said as he gestured to you and himself with a small slime appendage.
"A slime and lizard did that? Please don't make such jokes." Gabiru said as he didn't believe it at all, slightly ticking off Rimuru.
"Ranga." Rimuru called out his loyal star wolf as Ranga jumped out of his shadow.
"Yes, master!" Ranga called out as he grew in size and landed in front of Gabiru with an intimidating bellow.
"He says he wants to talk to you. Hear him out." Rimuru said to Ranga.
"As you wish." Ranga responded as he used his skill, Menace, and intimidated all of the Lizardmen except Gabiru.
"Wait, was he always that big?" Benimaru asked in surprise of his size.
"That's his true size. This size works better for intimidating people, you know?" Rimuru said as Ranga glared down at Gabiru.
"My master has order me to hear what you have to say. So speak. I'm listening." Ranga said as he further tried to scare Gabiru.
"Are you the leader of the Direwolves?" Gabiru said in a calm tone, surprising you and Rimuru.
"The other guys are practically shaking in their feet, but Gabiru's actually not afraid? Either he's got some pretty serious guts...or he's just that stupid." You thought to yourself as you seemed skeptical about him still.
"Your beautiful fur, your keen eyes...You truly have a majestic presence. However...It is a bit disappointing to know that your master is a slime!" Gabiru said in mockery of both Ranga and Rimuru.
"What?!" Rimuru got seriously ticked off, along with Ranga who was greatly offended and angered.
"It seems you've been deceived. Very well. What this slime has done to you is unforgivable...so I shall defeat him for you!" Gabiru said as he pointed straight at Rimuru.
"Sir Gabiru, you're awesome!" His loyal servant called out.
"Show 'em what you're made of, Sir Gabiru!" Another one cheered.
"The peerless Gabru!" One more cried out in awe.
"And you, there!" Gabiru pointed over to you as you raised your brow in confusion. "I can also see the strength in your eyes, but you must've also been tricked and fooled into falling under that slime's control! I shall free you and take you back to our lands where you can be free amongst your kind!" He said as you cocked an angry grin at him.
"Say it! Gabiru! Gabiru! Gabiru! Gabiru! Gabiru! Gabiru! Gabiru! Gabiru!" They began clapping and chanting out his name as Gabiru struck different poses.
"A mere lizard dares to insult my masters?!" Ranga was beyond furious as his killer instinct let loose and he was ready to swallow Gabiru whole.
"Uh-oh. He's dead." You and Rimuru thought as Ranga inched closer and closer to his new food and he was about to devour him before...
"Hey, hey, what're you guys doing?" A sudden appearance from Gobta had interrupted everyone as you all turned around in shock.
"Gobta!" Benimaru was surprised to see him.
"You're still alive?" Rimuru said in disbelief of his survival.
"Gobta! Thank goodness! I thought we'd lost you!" You said while tearing up and patting his head with your small arms.
"Hey, that's kinda mean. Of course I'm alive." Gobta said while striking a little flex pose for you all.
"Oh, this little guy's surprising! He had learned the Poison Resistance skill so that he wouldn't die." Malenia commented in surprise of Gobta.
"...Well, when your body is in a fight or flight moment, it'll do whatever it takes to survive." You replied to your mother.
"Oh...Even I don't have Poison Resistance. I'm impressed." Rimuru said in awe of Gobta.
"Really? Ehehehe..." Gobta said as he began to get a bit bashful from the praise.
"Good timing." Ranga spoke up as he suddenly leaped over everyone and landed behind Gobta.
"Huh?" Gobta was confused when he felt Ranga suddenly grab onto the hood of his coat and lift him off the ground.
A few moments later, Gobta was sat in front of Gabiru with a spear in hand and the scrawny, dopey goblin was beyond shocked in confusion as he was suddenly put into a duel against the Lizardman before him.
"What the heck is going on?!" Gobta yelled in confusion of why he was about to duel someone.
"Lizard, if you can defeat this one, I will consider your offer." Ranga said as he began nudging Gobta closer to Gabiru.
"Why me?!" Gobta asked Ranga as he didn't really want to fight anyone.
"Wow, Ranga! He's being so calm about this! Yeah, of course. If you fought him, you'd kill him." Rimuru thought as he was impressed by his Starwolf as Ranga backed away from the duel.
"Fine by me. Having one of your subordinates fight saves you the shame of losing. Hmph. Wouldn't you agree, slime?" Gabiru said as this ticked Rimuru off again.
"Gobta, don't hold back! Get him!" Rimuru began cheering and encouraging Gobta.
"Jeez, why the heck am I doing this?" Gobta asked as he really didn't want to fight.
"If you win, I'll have Kurobei make a special weapon just for you!" Rimuru said as this seemed to lift Gobta's spirits.
"Really? That motivates me a little!" Gobta said with a new sense of excitement.
"And if you lose, you have to eat Shion's cooking!" Rimuru spoke the punishment of loss as Gobta found a new source of strength buried inside of him as he was so fired up, he almost looked like a Super Saiyan from those manga you read in the other world.
"ANYTHING BUT THAT!!!" Gobta said as he was fully prepared to bring victory to the village.
"For some reason, this conversation makes me very unhappy..." Shion said with a dark look on her face as she began instinctively twisting Rimuru's slime form while you stared at her nervously and took one step back to Benimaru.
Gabiru raised his spear and spun it around in the air at rapid speeds to display some of his mastery with his weapon as he men cheered him on. His eyes were filled with determination as he faced the goblin before him with no fear.
"Are you ready?" Gabiru asked Gobta.
"HHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Gobta let out his war cry as he channeled all of his strength in his body together.
"Then begin!" Ranga howled as the duel had commenced while Gabiru stood with a confident smirk.
"Hmph. We Lizardmen, descendants of the great Dragons, could never lose to a mere Hobgoblin...?" Gabiru cut his statement short as he was shocked when Gobta suddenly threw his spear at him with great speed and power, and the Lizardman was barely able to react and dodge with shock. "How dare you?!" He tried retaliating by slicing his spear in the direction Gobta was coming from, but was shocked when he saw that mere Hobgoblin was no longer there. "Huh? Impossible! He disappe--DOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh--Nn.." Gabiru had fallen to the ground in dramatic fashion as Gobta appeared behind him and delivered a powerful spinning back kick to Gabiru, knocking him out.
"HUH??!?!?! G-G-GOBTA!! GOBTA JUST USED SHADOW MOVEMENT!! RIGHT?! RIGHT?!" You were so in shock, you grabbed Rimuru and shook him around seeking confirmatoin.
"Y-YEAH! YEAH!" Rimuru yelled as you violently shook him and Gobta wiped a bit of sweat from his face.
"That's that." Ranga said with some hint of pleasure before speaking out loud. "The fight is over! The winner is Gobta!" Ranga announced as your side was more than amazed and happy for Gobta.
Gobta couldn't help but let out giggles of happiness as he was tossed up and down in the air by Rigurd and Ranga to celebrate his victory while the rest of you watched with proud smiles.
"Nice work, Gobta. I knew I saw promise in you." Ranga sang praise for the young Hobgoblin.
"Well done showing them what a Hobgoblin can do!" Rigurd also yelled in proudness of Gobta showing just how amazing his race is.
"I misjudged you. I'll pretend I didn't hear that rude comment you made about me earlier." Shion thought as she watched on from the side.
"Looks like he's gotten stronger since he fought us." Benimaru commented on the rate of Gobta's growth.
"It appears he has talent that would be worth nurturing." Hakurou said as he began to see Gobta more and more as his disciple.
"Is he actually some sort of prodigy?" Rimuru thought as he didn't know how to feel yet about this strange, yet somehow amazing, Hobgoblin in front of him. "I thought they'd pick a fight over it and end up beating the snot out of that guy." Rimuru thought as he imagined Rigurd, Shion, Hakurou, and Benimaru dressed like a bunch of scary roughians.
"...You have a strange imagination." You said with a skeptical look towards Rimuru.
"G-Get out of my head!" Rimuru yelled while waving his little slime arm towards you before turning back as Shion walked him forward as you rejoined everyone. "It's okay. I'm a guy who can pick up on the mood. I'll pretend I expected this to happen." Rimuru thought as he was stood in front of Gobta. "Good job, Gobta. As promised, I'll have Kurobei make you a weapon." He said as this excited Gobta.
"All right!" Gobta pumped his fist in the air as he was excited for a new weapon while you and Rimuru turned towards the other Lizardmen who were still stunned and frozen from the shock of Gabiru's loss.
"Hey, Lizardmen, Gobta has claimed victory of this battle. You can snap out of it." You said as this seemed to break their shocked trance. "If you really are here to ask for help against the Orcs, we'll think about it. However, you can forget about us becoming servants to you. Take your leader already and head off, that's all for today." You said as they gathered Gabiru's unconscious.
"W-We'll be back!" One of the three loyal servants to Gabiru said.
"Indeed. This is not over!" The second servant said as the last one turned to shoot a cold glare towards you all.
"We..." The last loyal servant spoke with a strange sniffle before they tucked tail and rushed off in the opposite direction of the village. "We'll remember this!!!!" They all yelled while running away in embarrassing fashion, leaving you all confused on how strange they all were.
"Okay, then..." Rimuru spoke up to break the awkward air around you all as you looked towards him. "I guess we'll have to plan where to go from here." Rimuru said as you all headed back into the village to change topics of discussion.
After spending some time to get some rest and gather your bearings after that strange first interaction with the Lizardmen, you and the rest of the figure heads of the village were gathered in the dining room where you'd be holding a special organization meeting to discuss what actions would be taken forward in regards to the oncoming Orc invasion. You and Rimuru, who was in his humanoid form, Mai, all the Kijin, Kaijin, and Rigurd with some of the other Hobgoblin leaders, were gathered at the table with a small wood map laid out as Soei relayed information on the movements of the Orcs from one of his patrols.
"I saw 200,000 Orcs. The main army is moving north along the river. Based on the movements of this army and a detached force, I expect they will regroup in the marshlands east of here." Soei said as he pointed to location that was in range of the village.
"In the Lizardmen's territory, you mean?" Rigurd said as Soei confirmed his assumption.
"Two hundred thousand, huh? That's such a huge number, it's hard to even imagine it." Rimuru said as Mai noticed a few peering eyes from the window and saw Gobta and his friends peeking in to try and listen. "Hmm...Just what is it the Orcs are after?" Rimuru said in wonder as you stood up from your spot next to Rimuru and walked over to the window.
"Orcs are not very intelligent monsters. If there's something behind this invasion other than just instinct, we should suspect there's someone backing them." Kaijin spoke of a certain possibility as you opened the window and gestured to them to stay quiet as you allowed them to listen while you returned to Rimuru's side and Mai let out a silent giggle while you patted her on the head with your tail.
"Someone backing them?" Kurobei said in wonder of who could be possible of doing that.
"If that's true, then the one who's backing them must be a pretty serious character." You said as you sat back on the floor next to Rimuru.
"Just what kind of person would have the power to command such an army?" Mai said in wonder and concern.
"Like a Demon Lord, perhaps?" Rimuru said as this piqued your interest at the mention of a Demon Lord, as this touched a certain wound inside you. "If that Gelmud guy who came to your village is involved in this..." Rimuru trailed off in wonder as he looked towards the Kijin to contemplate before shaking that assumption off. "Well, there's no proof to base that on right now." Rimuru said as he looked towards you and saw just how serious you gotten at the mention of a demon lord. "And even if it is a Demon Lord, it might not be the one that made Shizu-san suffer." He thought as he saw your eyes briefly glow red as you turned your head to avoid his gaze.
"I don't know if a Demon Lord is involved, but..." Benimaru trailed off as Rimuru looked towards him in wonder of what he wanted to say.
"But?" Rimuru asked as Benimaru turned towards him.
"I think this makes it much more likely that an Orc Lord has appeared." Benimaru said as you were reminded when he first talked about this legendary monster.
"The unique monster that only appears once every few centuries?" Rimuru asked.
"Yes. I can't imagine an ordinary Orc leading an army of 200,000." Benimaru had good input and points to make about the situation as you and Rimuru took this deep in thought.
"I believe caution would be wiser than optimism in this case." One of the Hobgoblin lords under Rigurd suggested.
"I agree." Rimuru said before Soei seemed to be shocked by something and caught everyone's attention. "What is it?" He asked as Soei put his hand to his head.
"One of the body doubles I had scouting the area has made an encounter." Soei reported.
"An encounter?" Rimuru said in confusion.
"With what? An Orc?" You asked him.
"No, but they request an audience with you two. How shall I respond?" Soei said as you and Rimuru looked at each other in wonder.
"Who is it? I already had my fill of Gabiru, so I'd rather not meet anyone weird." Rimuru commented on the standards he now had for people visiting you all.
"I don't believe this one is...weird...But it is a highly unusual encounter. It's...a Dryad." Soei said as this completely shocked those who knew of the Dryad race.
"A Dryad?!" You and Rimuru exclaimed as pink excited hues covered your cheeks slightly and your mind filled with the erotic, beautiful images that you knew of Dryads from your world.
"Aren't those the girls you see in a lot of games who are, like, tree spirits?" Rimuru used Thought Communication with you as you nodded in excitement.
"Hasn't it been several decades since the last time a Dryad showed itself?" Rigurd turned to ask Kaijin for confirmation.
"Hm? Dryad, huh? I'd want to meet her if I were you." Malenia spoke up in your mind as you took note of her. "I had a final encounter with the Dryad's when I came here for my final rest. They were saddened about my parting, but treated me well until the end. They're pretty wise and if you can get on their good side, you might find their aid of great help." She suggested as you turned back to Soei.
"We'll meet with them. Let's not keep them waiting." You said as you and Rimuru had excited smiles on your faces.
"Sir." Soei said as he seemed to relay the message.
Not even a moment later once you gave the approval, a strange green light began to shine in the middle of the table you were all sat around as you turned towards the light in wonder. A leaf suddenly appeared and fell in front of you and Rimuru as a pillar of green light began to rise from the table as Shion and Shuna stood up in defensive postures in front of you and Rimuru. Just then, a root sprouted and quickly grew into a strange flower before vines began to twirl and curl into a cocoon like shape before it burst prettily and out came the Dryad in all her beauty.
Once she had appeared, all the Kijin were on their feet now and took defensive positions in order to protect you and Rimuru. All the while, you and your friend were just in awe of the apperance of this Dryad, and how stunning she looked before you two.
"The two Rulers of monsters, and all those who are loyal to them, forgive me for this unannounced visit." The Dryad said as she put her hand to her chest for introductions. "I am Treyni, a Dryad. It is a pleasure to meet you." She said with a beautiful, and heart warming smile as you two felt no form of hostility from her.
"I'm Rimuru Tempest, and this is Y/N Tempest...um, Treyni-san. So what brings you here?" Rimuru asked in wonder of her appearance before you all.
"I have come to request a favor." Treyni said as she looked to you two.
"A favor?" Rimuru asked in wonder as you raised your brow as well.
"Rimuru Tempest, ruler of monsters. Y/N Tempest, last remaining child of the Great Malenia and sole survivor of the Gojira race." Treyni suddenly spoke the name of your mother as you were shocked by her knowing who you were. "I would like you two to defeat the Orc Lord." She spoke her wish as you were all surprised by her request from you two.
"...Huh?" All those who heard what she said were all unsure if what they heard was true as they turned towards you and you were nervously sweating bullets.
"Last remaining child of the Great Malenia?" Benimaru repeated what he heard.
"Sole survivor...of the Gojira...?" Rigurd said in a shaky tone.
"H-Huh? W-W-W-What do you mean? I-I-I-I'm just an ordinary lizard...mhmm........." You said while trying your best to whistle and avoid their gazes, but all came out your lips were strange noises of air as you tried harder to whistle.
"HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH?!?!??!?!?!?!!" Everyone except Rimuru and Treyni erupted in shocked screams that shook the entire building you were in as the cat was now out of the bag and this Dryad's request just accidentally revealed your origins.