One Month Later:
Before anyone knew it, a whole month had passed. The children had, thankfully, managed to settle well into the capital of the Jura Tempest Federation. Between the dwarves' intellect and the orcs' stamina and great strength, the townsfolk had quickly built a fine longhouse for the children and Krone to live in. It was very different from the orphanage, but that didn't matter much. It was warm and dry, and the kids felt safe there.
Shuna had also taken it upon herself to tailor each of the children and Krone new outfits. Her offer was quickly accepted by all of them, as none of the kids had worn anything except plain white their whole lives, and Krone had nothing to wear except her old mom's dress, which, apparently, was a type of uniform. Soon, they were all wearing new clothes in a variety of different colours.
Emma, now sporting a short green dress, spent a lot of time looking after the younger kids, and keeping an eye on Krone, while the rest of the children each settled into a routine that suited them. Part of their day was spent in lessons, learning the written language used in their new world, along with the history and geography of the region. These were things that Rimuru insisted that they know. They also learned about the more dangerous creatures in the region. Knight Spiders, for instance, might be tasty when cooked correctly, but they were very dangerous while still alive. Rimuru pointed out that all of the kids needed to know what they should run from if worse came to worst.
The afternoons were given over to the kids' personal interests. Norman and Ray spent their free time at the forge, watching Garm work. Neither of them was strong enough to help with the actual forging, but they were put to work on simple tasks that allowed them to learn from the ground up, and get stronger at the same time.
Each of the kids found something to interest them. Anna was fascinated in the healing potion that Rimuru could make, after seeing one used to treat an injured hobgoblin. She asked how it was made, and was tasked with helping Gabiru and the other dragonewts in the afternoons to gather herbs in Veldora's cave.
When Emma traded off with Norman or Ray for 'Krone detail,' she watched Shion practice with her sword, and was, after a week or two of this, offered a chance to learn the forms. The woman proved an excellent teacher, though Emma couldn't come close to her level of strength and speed.
Gilda took an interest in sewing and the making of clothes, so she found herself working with Shuna, and was occasionally tutored by Dord. As with the boys working with Garm, she was learning all aspects of the middle bother's crafting skills.
The younger kids liked playing with the direwolves and learning to ride them. Gobta watched over them as they learned, and smiled at their rapid progress. For the moment, they were just playing, but if they kept at it, some of them might make good additions to his unit, the goblin riders, someday. He'd pass on the thought to Lord Rimuru, to see what he thought of it.
What surprised all of the older kids was Krone. She had taken to her duties easily enough, doing the work she was trained for, but over time, she had relaxed, a tension she had always had about her seemed to vanish, and she began smiling and even laughing with the children and townsfolk. The smiles weren't forced for the children's benefit, as they had been in the past, nor were they stress induced, near hysterical parodies, but were genuine happy smiles. These surprised Krone more than any of the kids.
All her life, she had lived with fear. It had been her constant companion from the time she'd left her orphanage at age 12. The removal of that constant companion had been so sudden that it had taken time for the reality of its absence to sink in. Tension had eased from her only gradually. She kept expecting to see grandmother or even a demon to pop up. But that, thankfully, didn't happen.
It took time, but she began to truly enjoy her new life. The kids she was looking after now had the chance to live long, happy lives. The notion was so alien to her, that she was slow to truly understand the implications. In truth, she admitted to herself, she might never really understand. What mattered was, for the time being at least, there was no fear. There were only children that needed looking after. That she could do.
She thought about her doll from time to time in the first week. It had been her other constant companion, something equally loved and loathed. Were she the sort given to introspection; she might have wondered about that. The doll had been a symbol of lost innocence, and a talisman against the monsters, though she hadn't thought of it that way. All she'd known was that she could share her feelings and pent up frustrations with the doll without consequences. She had accidentally damaged or even destroyed it from time to time, but she had always felt compelled to repair it. To have someone to talk to.
After the first week in their new home, she had grown too busy to think about her doll. By the time she did stop to reflect on her lost companion, it surprised her to realize that she didn't need to talk to it anymore. There was no fear here. Despite Rimuru's initial threat, she was not worried. She had been treated well, and knew that she would never give him any reason to act against her. It was still a shock that she didn't need the doll. When nothing else had given her pause, that realization did. After a moment, she gave another genuine smile.
Admittedly, there was some stress, but it came from an unexpected source. The goblin lord, Rigurd, had taken to coming around often and talking to her. She also saw him at the market when picking out food for the kids. She first assumed that he was there to watch over her, as Rimuru had said they would, but lately he seemed to have taken an interest with virtually everything else about her. And for a reason that baffled her, he would often flex his muscles in her presence.
She found herself blushing when he did that, which was odd, as mostly such displays just made her wary of him. It seemed a dominance display of some sort. Did he see her as some kind of threat? That didn't make sense. She made sure to always be polite, but always made an excuse to leave as soon as she could. Until she figured out what he wanted, being around him was a risk she didn't need to take.
Some of the hobgoblin females saw what he was doing, and laughed quietly as she passed by. She considered asking, but she didn't know any of them, and felt likely that the joke was on her, somehow.
She put it out of her mind as best she could and focused on her work. Keeping the kids in line was easier when everything was regulated, as they had been at the orphanage. Now they left the longhouse for their lessons, and then went their own way until they returned home for the evening meal. The youngest ones were always around, as were a couple of hobgoblin 'helpers'. Krone knew they were there to keep an eye on her, but she wasn't doing anything suspicious, and took some satisfaction in putting them to work.
Despite Rigurd's odd behaviour and her 'assistants', Krone was pleased with her new life. The kids were safe and happy. They were settling into their new home and even making new friends among the monster children, and they were thoroughly enjoying exploring their new world. She hadn't had to deal with anything worse than scraped knees and other simple play-related injuries.
She knew she'd given her hosts nothing to complain about, so it was with some confusion and a little trepidation, that she answered a summons from Lord Rimuru. She had always dreaded receiving such summons back home. People tended not to return from meetings with the masters.
Rimuru, however, was nothing like the masters. He wasn't malicious. He didn't eat children. And, frankly, he looked stranger in his real form.
The council was waiting for her when she arrived. Rimuru was in his natural slime form, being held by Shion who was hugging him close, tucked under her breasts, as was her habit. Geld, Benimaru, Hakurou, Souei, and, for some reason, Gobta were also there. She took a seat at Rimuru's direction.
"It's been a month," Rimuru began without preamble. "You and the kids are settling in well. The kids are fitting in and making friends, and I'm happy to say I've gotten nothing but glowing reports of your work."
Krone only nodded. No point in responding to that.
"But time continues to pass on both worlds, and I'm not prepared to just leave who knows how many kids to be food for demons. I think it's time we took action."
Krone resisted the urge to heave a sigh of relief. Although the idea that they were planning on returning to and attacking her former home was stressful, to say the least, she was thankful that at least none of them had any complaints with her work.
"What do you have in mind, my lord?" Benimaru asked.
"We need to rescue as many of those kids as we can. I can have Milim open a portal, and have a strike team go through to scout the plantation. Find out where the others are, and what it will take to get the job done."
"My riders will be a big help there," Gobta offered. "The wolves have great noses, and can pick up anything unusual. Tracking any guards at the place shouldn't be hard. Then we can catch one of them and get some answers."
"We'll need to do that soon enough," Rimuru agreed, "but at first, I'd like us to conceal our presence there as much as possible."
"I can scout without being seen," Souei assured them. "The goblin riders can cover more territory, but scouting inside the walls should be left to me. I can create duplicates of myself to search even further."
"Works for me," Rimuru agreed. He turned to Krone. "What I need from you is to go over everything you've told us before. Any additional details, no matter how small, may help."
"Of course, but I doubt I can tell you anything significant. They'll have had time to tighten security around the plantations, and likely around headquarters, too. The layout of the headquarters building won't have changed, but there are sections of it I've never seen. Humans weren't allowed."
"Understood," Rimuru replied. "Nevertheless, I want to be as well prepared as possible."
The group settled in to make plans.