YN POV
Three days had passed since we left town. The trees were thinning out, indicating we were near the marshlands. We were ahead of schedule, thanks to keeping our luggage to a minimum. There were no watering holes on the way, so I supplied the force's water from my Stomach stores instead, and that apparently gave the liquid a strength-boosting, fatigue-reducing effect. It let the wolves run longer with fewer breaks in between.
I should have thought about that, actually. The water in Rimuru's stomach must've been packed with magicules, which can affect monsters in all manner of ways. Maybe that morphed the water into some sort of healing elixir.
For now, though, we were resting here. I figured we would chill a bit, checking out the area before we contacted the lizardmen. We weren't due to meet with the chief for three days, and if we were this far along, there was no need to hurry. I ordered everyone to stand by, make camp, and rest up.
Souei was in front of me. Since I will be the one who has highest authority in this war on our side. Second to me is Rimuru and Sarena while after them is Benimaru. I arranged it like that for now. Rimuru is helping to set up camp with goblin riders.
Souei: "I will scope out the area, YN-Sama."
YN: "All right Souei. Let me know what you find. And try to figure out where the orc lord is, if you can."
Once I saw him off, Benimaru approached me.
Benimaru: "YN-Sama, is it all right if we go all out in this battle?"
YN: "Sure. But remember to retreat once I gave the signal. You better follow it, okay?"
Benimaru: "Oh, I doubt you'll need to, my lord! We've made it this far, and we're ready to annihilate them all! Right?"
He certainly sounded confident, at least. It was a good match for his naturally rugged looks. Hopefully we'd have a victory to back that up. It wouldn't look cool if he gave me all that bravado and lost. I was sure he'd be bursting with shame, but I wondered if the thought of losing had even occurred to him. I doubted they ever worried much about such things. .
Shion, meanwhile, was still marveling at her sword, smiling as she whispered, -I'll let you crack as many skulls as you want soon- and other creepy reassurances to it. At times, she acted mega-ditzy, and other times she exhibited this serial-killer streak. The more I knew about her, the more danger I sensed from her even Rimuru noticed her actions and seems to come same conclusion as me.
Rimuru: 'Let's just pretend I didn't see that, actually.'
Hakuro, for his part, was as cool as always. As serene as a mountain pond, you could say, the sign of a well-seasoned veteran of battle. Then I heard him whisper, -I do hope some of them will provide a challenge-.
Sarena was playing with Ranga. I remember she loved pets the most. And to play with Ranga is her type of motivation. Weird but anyway it is what it is. She was like that in past too. It is good to see her not change much.
Oh great. All are motivated. Should I say as expected. For ogres this battle was for their families, friends and all the other members in their village who lost their lives. To them this battle represents their stands for their future.
Timeskip
About an hour into our camping prep, I received a message.
Souei: 'Is now a good time, sir?'
My [Thought Communication] sprang into action as I watched everyone at work.
YN: 'What is it? Did you find something?'
Souei: 'Well, I found a group engaged in battle.'
YN: 'Is it Gabiru?'
Souei: 'No, not him. There's only one lizardmen, someone I believe to be a close aide to the chief. Here against a group of orcs--- one high-level orc, plus more under his command. Around 50 in all.'
YN: 'A close aide? All alone?'
Souei: 'Yes, my lord. The battle has only just begun, but I feel the outcome is already clear. It would appear one of the higher-level orcs is seeking to torment the lizardman in order to show off his strength. What should we do?'
YN: 'Could you capture this high-level orc and kill his men?'
Souei: 'It should be simple, sir.'
More of that confidence. I figured I could trust Souei on that. But what about that lizardman? I couldn't just let him die, but if the orc wanted a fight, now would be a good time to scope out their abilities.
Thought Communication allowed me to see the world through Souei's eyes--- a pretty handy feature, in my opinion--- but unlike myself, Souei couldn't keep the link going indefinitely. He needed to rest that muscle, so to speak, on regular occasions. This applied to everyone else -excluding Rimuru and Sarena-, they could receive all the thoughts they wanted but sending them was subject to certain restrictions. We could've linked together more closely if Souei weren't so far away, but no point complaining to him about that.
YN: 'All right. Try to observe them for as long as you can and relay what happens afterward. I feel bad for that lizardman but keep your distance for the time being. Step in if you think the battle's gonna turn fatal.'
Souei: 'Yes, my lord.'
The connection expired.
YN: 'Sounds like something's up, then. No way a lizardman would be alone in the outer regions of the forest otherwise.'
I gathered everyone around together.
YN: "Listen, people, we're not camping. It sounds like something's going down."
I saw the faces of the goblin riders tense up.
Goblin Rider: "So we're fighting?"
YN: "Likely, yeah. Our enemy numbers approximately 50, so I want to see two of you tackle each one. Remember, the Orc Lord's capable of absorbing the abilities of dead enemies. So don't push it. If you think you're in trouble, get out of there and contract Sarena or Rimuru
Are we clear?"
All: "Yes sir!"
YN: "Right. I'll get their position from Souei. Once we're there, I want you to surround them, then rub them out as quickly as possible. Benimaru began to clear the camp. We might have to go as quick as possible."
Benimaru: "Yes, my lord!"
I watched as Benimaru and Hakuro led the riders off. Shion was staying with Rimuru. The riders could handle the infantry-level orcs, but I wanted to see this -High-level- officer myself. The more I knew about our enemy, the more I'd have troublesome in the upcoming battles. I had Souei and Sarena working on my side, even they weren't then too I could have no doubted it'd be not a dangerous for me.
Thus me and Sarena took the air while everyone excluding us are mounted by Ranga and made beeline for Souei.
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Rimuru POV
As Yn and the other's reached Souei as he deflected a sword slash from an Orc that had just jumped off a tree limb. The orc bore a pair of heavy scimitars, curved to look like enormous meat-cutting knives but thick enough to slice through bone.
The long arms on the orcish races made it hard to estimate their offensive range. Souei engaged in a little back-and-forth with him, his constant array of leaps and dodges bringing him precariously close to defeat at times, to an outside observer. I wasn't worried, though. This orc was, in my eyes, really weak. Unlike Hakuro, whose strikes seemed impossible to avoid even with the instincts of a born hunter, I could still predict this orc's moves just by looking at him. It was cute, in a way.
Orc: "Gehh! Who are you?"
The long-armed orc shouted at YN, his face a mixture of pig, wild boar and human.
Orc: "Here to be consumed by an orc general?"
Ah. This was the high level one, then? The orc general?
YN: "You are not even worth to remove my sword from sheath. Insect should know their place."
Lizardmen: "Oh. You..."
I looked down at this new, faint voice. It belonged to a lizardman, looking up at me. She appeared to be cowering, wounded from head to toe and just barely breathing. She had lost a lot of blood. I doubted she'd last long unaided. I knew Yn had asked Soei to remain impartial for as long as possible, and I guess he followed his orders to the letter. He wasn't at fault for that, but now I wish he had stepped in a bit earlier. Yn was starting to look like a total villain, and I figured it was time for a good deed to make up for him. Well knowing him he wouldn't care if he is a villain or a hero.
Rimuru: "Drink this."
I tossed the lizardmen a recovery potion. She hesitated for a moment but quickly drained the bottle. The effect was dramatic--- in an instant, all the cuts and bruises were gone.
Lizardmen: "What on...?"
Orc: "Impossible..."
The orc general and lizardman both expressed their surprise simultaneously.
Rimuru: 'Nice. That sought a improve my rep a little. Good thing I earned some brownie points with these guys before the big meeting with the chief.'
As I patted myself on the back, the lizardmen approached me.
Lizardmen: "P-please, sir! Please, I need you and your envoy to rescue my father, the lizardmen chief... and Gabiru, my brother!"
Rimuru: "What-"
I was about to ask what happened to her when the orc general came rushing in towards YN. I could already sense it with [Magic Sense]. I could also see Sarena holding on Shion.
Sarena: "Let YN-Sama handle it. He needs to warm up before the war after all. It is his old habit."
I heard from Sarena that Yn used to be a battle manic.
The orc general swing his blade down at YN. Who didn't move from his place. It wasn't because he couldn't move but because he didn't have to. The blade stopped at 2-3 centimeter before touching the clothes. The orc used every strength in his body to put pressure on the blade to cut him down, but the blade didn't even go down.
Great Sage: 'Report YN has created a barrier with magic.'
Orc: "I-Impossible..."
YN: "There is no way a weakling like you would even bypass my natural magic barrier. You should know your place."
Yn then kicked the orc in the stomach sending him flying away. He went and crashed in the tree. It wasn't over though. Yn vanished and reappeared in front of the orc.
YN: "Sorry but you can't die now. You have to answer some questions."
Orc: "Dammit! All of you, seize this-"
YN: "Sorry to say you but all of your underlings you brought has already passed away."
Benimaru: "They hardly put up a fight at all. Hardly worthy my time!"
Benimaru said as he rides and came near me.
Gobta: "Yeah, Rimuru-Sama. Boy, talk about a letdown, huh? Going two on one almost made me feel bad for them."
Added Gobta who also ride alongside Benimaru and came near me.
They had apparently wrapped up the encirclement and, massacre, just as Yn ordered. The speed with which they had carried out those orders shocked me into silence. Hakuro was just cutting down the few surviving orcs behind them. Maybe I was worrying too much.
Orc: "You are kidding me..."
YN: "Now, answer my questions honestly and I will grant you a painless death or I will have to do in the hard way."
Orc: "Y-you..."
Yn just sighed in disappointment by the orc idiot behavior. He put his right-hand index finger in Orc head and then the orc turned into black mist and disappeared from the world. It went without saying that he died.
YN: "Oops. He seriously was this weak; it seems like I did go overboard though. Well, it doesn't matter. What a disappoint."
His disappointment was clearly shown in his face. It seems he didn't try to kill him but he accidentally used a lot power then he intent to causing the Orc to die. He came near me.
YN: "So what is happening here?"
He was looking at lizardmen who was kneeling in front of us.
Rimuru: "We could have got information from the orc."
YN: "I knew, I tried to interrogate but it seems my methods were to hard for him to not even survive."
Rimuru: 'What is he talking about?'
Great Sage: 'Answer: Yn was trying to use poison on the orc general, but the poison was too much to handle to his body. YN probably tried to vanish his one of the limbs but instead of limb it occurred in his full body.'
Rimuru: 'I see, then he just made a wrong calculation.'
I mentally shifted gears as I turned to the lizardman. At least we wouldn'tbe interrupted any longer.
Rimuru: "There's still a few days until our meeting. What happened?"
She looked at Souei, then Yn and then finally setting her eyes upon me.
Lizardmen: "I'm the daughter of Lizardmen chief, I served as the head of his royal guard, In advance of our alliance, my brother Gabiru has overthrown the royal family and imprisoned the chief. He intends to wage open battle against the orcs, but he vastly underestimates their strength. If this keeps up, we will lose, and the lizardmen race will be wiped off the land."
She paused for a moment, searching for the right words.
Lizardmen: "The chief instructed me not to put an undue burden upon you as I related this message. But... please, as the one who offered us this alliance, I beg you to help us!"
Now she was fully prostrate on the ground at me.
I looked at Yn. He is the one who will make decisions during this war. In true sense I have no authority over YN in this war. It was decided during meeting that any war or battle related to town be it a defense or any kind of combat will be under Yn. It means that this alliance is only depended on him.
YN: "Well, keep in mind that we haven't forged this alliance quite yet. The chief knew he couldn't count on us to get involved with an internal dispute at this point, so he sent you over to keep us informed of things. Is that how it is? If so, then why're you asking for our help?"
Yn asked the same thing that was in my mind. Yn sounded mean, I knew, but we weren't bound by any debt to the lizardmen. It'd be one thing after I signed on the dotted line, but it'd still be a lot more intelligent for us to get out of there. I was also starting to resent her not having a name, either. I had heard monsters could tell one another apart viathe subtle vibrations they emitted as part of their emotions, but as an ex-human, it was all Greek to me. I felt weird calling her a -lizardman- and -chief's guard leader-, though.
She seems to be shocked about Yn interfering in this. She looked at me and I glance at YN saying that he is the one to decided. She understood it and face YN.
Lizardmen: "I thought that ones who have evolved to be as powerful as yourselves may have the strength to rescue us all. If the dryads who watchover this forest have recognized your skills, then I only hope you have the mercy to help. I fully know how selfish this is, but please..."
Now everything depended on Yn's answer. If he were to reject her here. We couldn't do anything about it. And if she were to face me and begged me then the most, I could be to persuade YN to change his decision. But if he were to have a strong reason then even, I can't do anything. As it is clearly stated that Yn has the highest authority during the war and defense of the town.
From the corner of my eyes, I could see Sarena is scolding Shion. Shion seems to be jumping in this situation, but she was blocked by Sarena. I remember YN requested Sarena to trained Shion to be a proper secretary. At first Shion rejected but somehow Sarena convinced Shion. As she was scolding loud, but the voice didn't come near us. I see, a voice barrier huh, any voices done inside the barrier cannot go outside.
YN: "In that case I will see you as a representative of the lizardmen because of your royal blood and we will form an alliance here. In this alliance the lizardmen will be in defense while our side will be in attack. I will also protect Gabiru and the others and also evacuate them to back, but before the arrival of us if there is any casualty then it will not fall on us too. And also, if the any lizardmen or any of your allies after evacuation were to come to battlefield then our side will not protect them. It is their own responsibility of protection. Finally, after the war the lizardmen owes us a debt and a favor towards us and it is your responsibility to convey this alliance towards your tribe and if something were to happen that will break the alliance you will be held accountable. Am I clear?"
What Yn was asking was too much, but everything was correct. The lizardmen broke the agreement of to be in defensive due to their inter conflict but it has nothing to do with us. It may sound cold and cruel, but this is a heavy damage to us also.
Since now the lizardmen broke the contract and went to offensive then it not a surprise that orcs had already killed a lizardmen and ate it, making every orc under the orc lord gaining lizardmen's skill and abilities and due to which we will have to face orcs who have become much stronger.
This is war. If one solder were to get strong then it didn't matter much, but if all the enemies strong then it could change all tides of the war. It only takes them to kill a single lizardmen and eat it gaining the upper hand in the war. That was the reason we told the lizardmen's to be on defensive until we come.
Lizardmen: "Ye-yes sir. I have agreed the conditions of this alliance and as a representative of lizardmen tribe I accept the conditions and make sure to rely on to the others."
Yn nodded and hence the alliance between our town and Lizardmen has finally been established.
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AN: I hope you all like this chapter. Tell me your honest opinion until then good bye.