Preparations for the turbulent world that was soon to co were progressing smoothly. Using the enormous wealth earned from the casino built in the Kingdom of Falmuth, I outfitted the ordinary soldiers uniformly with at least rare-grade equipnt. To foster healthy competition and encourage growth, I provided unique-grade equipnt to the knight captains, high-ranking knights, and mages, hoping they would strive to reach higher peaks. However, the lion's share of the budget was directed toward the research district in my city.
That facility was vital to the nation, handling everything from the cyborgization of monsters to the developnt of various chanical weapons and the production and upgrading of golems. Consequently, sixty percent of the casino's earnings were funneled there, while less than twenty percent was required to supply the soldiers' equipnt.
I had given the overall director of the facility the na "Eve."
While I was making efforts on many fronts to strengthen our forces, a thought transmission arrived from a subordinate I had sent to monitor the Great Forest of Jura. The report was not sothing I could dismiss lightly.
"A horde of orcs?"
(Yes. We witnessed a group of orcs entering the Great Forest of Jura. Their number is 200,000. It is far too many to be a simple migration.)
Indeed, the sheer number of 200,000 orcs was strange, but the reason behind it was even more suspicious.
Orcs were monsters with an ambiguous level of strength—stronger than goblins, but weaker than humans. So even claid that orcs were born from the degeneration of lycanthropes.
While they possessed the typical appearance of large humanoid monsters with boar-like heads, they were not the mindless, instinct-driven creatures often depicted in popular dia. In reality, they were highly rational and gentle, a people who lived quietly as farrs.
"Hmm... Orcs have strong reproductive abilities, though not as potent as goblins. 200,000 isn't impossible, but why all of a sudden?"
There were two likely explanations: either they were searching for a more abundant food source, or soone was manipulating them from the shadows.
The subsequent report confird that the cause was the birth of an Orc Lord.
"An Orc Lord..."
An Orc Lord was a rare mutant born among the orcs. While they possessed formidable strength and excellent leadership, they were cursed from birth with the skill [Hungry One], leaving them in a state of endless starvation. This hunger extended to the orcs under their rule. Furthermore, they possessed the ability to absorb the characteristics of whatever they consud, a power shared among all the orcs in their horde.
In simple terms, it was a degraded version of Rimuru's [Predator].
An Orc Lord had appeared once in the past. At that ti, the creature had mindlessly devoured everything in its path, leaving nothing but a barren wasteland. I recalled that the various nations had to cooperate just to subjugate it...
"Hmm... an Orc Lord in the Great Forest of Jura... It's hard to believe this happened naturally. I suspect soone is pulling the strings."
According to my subordinate, several goblin villages had already been destroyed, and the horde included ogres who were far stronger than the local inhabitants.
'Co to think of it, two of my subordinates left recently, claiming they were going on a warrior's pilgrimage.'
"Keep monitoring the orcs' movents... and find Minayomi and Gaio."
(Understood.)
With that, the thought transmission ended. I looked down over the landscape.
"It seems many eyes are fixed on the Great Forest of Jura."
***
Feeling the need to precisely understand his own skills and resistances, Rimuru headed to the sealed cave where he had first t Veldora to begin training.
However, Rimuru's mind was currently preoccupied with the joy of being able to eat delicious food again. Rigurd, overjoyed that their lord would be joining them for als, had already declared that a grand feast would be held tonight.
"In that case, we must hold a banquet tonight!"
"Yes! I'm looking forward to it!"
Beaming at the thought of the al, Rimuru walked through the streets where restoration work was underway. The hobgoblins who saw his happy expression suddenly felt a surge of motivation.
On his way to the sealed cave, he encountered the goblin riders led by Rigurd.
"Rigurd! Are you heading out to gather food now?"
"Yes, Rimuru-sama!"
"Did sothing good happen? You've been smiling the whole ti," Rigurd asked. As if he had been waiting for the question, Rimuru's grin widened.
"Actually, starting today, I'm going to eat with everyone, so make sure to bring back sothing delicious!"
"Ooooooh!!"
The goblin riders' morale shot through the roof. However, in any large group, there is always one outlier. One particular hobgoblin completely failed to read the room.
"Oh! So Rimuru-sama is going to eat too? If you eat a lot, will your chest get bigger?"
The words, blurted out without a single thought passing through his brain, left a deep wound in Rimuru's heart.
"Gobuta is an idiot! I'm sexless, so there's no way they'd get bigger! That's so an—!!"
With cheeks flushed and tears welling in his eyes, Rimuru covered his chest with both hands and bolted toward the sealed cave.
Gobuta stood frozen, his own face turning red at Rimuru's reaction. However, for the cri of making Rimuru cry, he was promptly and rcilessly beaten by the goblin riders, Rigurd, and Ranga, who had been watching everything from within Rimuru's shadow.
Though he had rushed off in a fit of emotion, Rimuru began to worry that Gobuta might have been hurt by being called an idiot. As if reading his mind, the Great Sage responded.
『Answer. That is unlikely. There is an 88% probability that he is, in fact, pleased.』
"Eh? Why?"
『...Unable to answer.』
'I guess even the Great Sage has things it doesn't know,' Rimuru thought, dismissing the useless curiosity to focus on his original purpose.
Together with the Great Sage, Rimuru reviewed the abilities and techniques he had acquired through [Predator]. In this process, the [tamorphosis] skill obtained from Ifrit proved to be incredibly useful.
By fusing or linking skills with similar properties, he could evolve them or create entirely new abilities. Through this, he developed [Black Fla], the Extra Skill [Molecular Manipulation], and [Black Thunder]. He also fused his heat-fluctuation resistance and immunity to heat-based attacks into a comprehensive heat resistance. Furthermore, by constantly linking various resistances and area barriers, he established a permanent multi-layered barrier to protect his beautiful body.
While so skills seed to disappear during the integration, they were rely rged, not lost.
As he was practicing these various abilities by firing them into the air,
(Rimuru-sama!!)
A frantic thought transmission from Ranga reached him. The Great Sage identified the tone as a request for rescue. Without a mont's hesitation, Rimuru leaped out of the sealed cave and raced to Ranga's side.
Upon arriving, Rimuru found Ranga and Gobuta fighting against six ogres. He spotted a white-haired ogre about to strike Gobuta and leaped in to shield him just in ti.
"Gobuta! Are you okay?!"
"Rimuru-sama!? Ah, yes, I'm fine! A little scratch like this is nothing!"
Seeing Rimuru's tearful, worried face, Gobuta forced a smile and acted tough, ignoring the pain of his wound.
"Don't lie to ! Here, take this recovery potion! Drink it now!!"
Rimuru practically poured the recovery dicine from his stomach into Gobuta. The slash wound on Gobuta's body closed instantly, vanishing without a trace.
"Thank you! Thanks to Rimuru-sama, I'm completely healthy again!"
As Gobuta perford an exaggerated gesture to show he was back to full strength, Rimuru let out a sigh of relief and sank to the ground. Despite his earlier rude comnt, Gobuta was deeply moved by Rimuru's genuine concern.
"My lord!"
Ranga, who had been engaging two ogres in midair, imdiately returned to Rimuru's side.
"I apologize. Despite my presence, I allowed this to happen..."
As Ranga lowered his tail in apology, Rimuru gently patted him, checking for injuries. Ranga responded by wagging his tail happily.
"It's okay. You're not hurt... What about the others who collapsed?"
"Yes! Everyone is safe! They were simply put to sleep by magic."
"Magic?"
"Yes, it was the work of the pink-haired woman behind the red-haired man."
Ranga pointed toward a girl ogre dressed in attire resembling a shrine maiden. She and the other five ogres were glaring intensely in their direction.
Intimidated by their gaze, Rimuru let out a small shriek and clung tightly to Ranga, trying to hide.
"Reveal yourself, evil majin!!"
The red-haired ogre, who appeared to be the leader, shouted in a voice full of rage. Rimuru began to tremble, his eyes filling with tears.
"U-um, I'm sorry!"
Clinging to Ranga, Rimuru apologized in a shaking voice. This reaction completely bewildered the ogres.
"...Um, I'm not a bad sli."
"Stop playing innocent!!"
"Eek!!"
As the red-haired ogre raised his voice, the terrified Rimuru collapsed to the ground and burst into tears.
"You bastard! How dare you make Rimuru-sama cry!!"
Ranga's deanor shifted instantly. He bared his fangs, venting his fury with a ferocity that was a complete 180-degree turn from his behavior toward Rimuru.
"He's right! How could you make such a cute girl cry!"
Suddenly, the purple-haired ogre began comforting the sobbing Rimuru like an adult soothing a child, while casting a reproachful glare at the red-haired leader.
"Exactly! Brother, you went too far this ti!!"
Even the pink-haired ogre, who had cast the sleep magic, sided with Rimuru. The atmosphere shifted so rapidly that the red-haired ogre beca the villain of the scene. Being condemned by his own closest friends, he felt as though he had committed a grave cri.
"Eh...?"
After being scolded and lectured by his own companions, the red-haired ogre eventually knelt before Rimuru and offered a sincere apology. In this manner, the conflict was peacefully resolved.
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