Clarifications:
-"Person Talking"-
-(Person Thinking)-
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[Skills or Magic]
(JC: Author's Notes)
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Let's start
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So there we were. Back in the Goblin Village. Only two weeks had passed, but I was starting to miss it a little. Assuming you'd want to call it a village. It was more like an empty space with a fence around it.
While we were gone, a few simple houses had been tossed around the area. There were signs of progress, at least. I saw a large iron pot placed over the remains of the central fire pit. Goblin cooking had always been all about roasting, but now they had added slow cooking to the mix.
This was a truly remarkable development. -(Where did they even get that thing?)- Taking a closer look, I realized it had been made from the shell of a large turtle.
-(How much have they expanded their hunting grounds while I was gone?)- At least I was glad they had kept their base of operations safe.
The Hobgoblin residents quickly spotted our group's return, greeting us with cheers and applause. I would have liked to bring more items like clothes or supplies for them, but considering the monster hides and those drying stains here and there, the result of their hunts, I was sure the Dwarves would have everyone equipped and dressed in no time. I wished the Goblins would do those things themselves afterward, but one step at a time.
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-(And does that surprise you? Someone has to give orders here if we want everything to go well for the village. Until Rigurd learns to handle it, I'll have to do it)-
Then I started looking for Rigurd so I could introduce him to the Dwarves. I didn't need to. He ran straight to me. I thought he was excited to see us, but instead, he had something bothering him.
-"Welcome back!"- He said before I could ask. -"I hate to bother you so soon after your return, Yukimaru-sama, but we have visitors…"-
-(Visitors?...)-
I decided to let the Dwarves show themselves around. They would be living here for a while, and I was sure they were curious to see what it was like. I also stored the tools I had brought in an empty tent, thinking the cover would at least offer some protection from the elements.
Leaving our new residents with Rigurd, I had the elder guide me to our guests. He led me to one of the larger tents, which had been turned into a sort of meeting hall.
-(Who could it be? I guess I'll find out)-
I thought as I walked. Once I passed under the curtain, I stopped. Inside was a group of Goblins, of the regular kind. Several of them were well-dressed, each accompanied by a handful of attendants. Some elders and apparently their guards. No one was armed. Not that I cared about that.
Before I could ask what was going on, the Goblins prostrated themselves on the ground.
-"It is an honor to meet you, oh great master!"- They all shouted in unison. -"Please, hear our sincerest hopes!"-
-(Great master? I suppose they mean me. Years ago I might have liked being called that, but now it's going too far)- Still, they surely believed it. Their eyes could not have been more eager or determined. I didn't know what they wanted, but I thought I'd hear them out.
-"Very well. Go ahead."-
-"Oh, thank you for your generosity!"- Shouted one of the elders. -"All of us here wish to join your multitude of followers, sir!"-
-"""Please, grant us your magnanimous kindness!!"""-
The others said as they stayed on the ground, their eyes turned toward me before bowing.
Honestly, I didn't want to deal with this; I already have enough problems with the subjects I have.
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-(Yeah. Don't remind me…)- I sighed inwardly. -(But seriously, what are they thinking? We're just starting the reconstruction process here. I don't have time to waste on you!)-
I would have loved to just scare them off. But we have a labor shortage around here. And I could already imagine the territorial wars these guys would want to jump on us for sooner or later. Maybe it was better to take them in while we still could.
If they stab us in the back afterward, we can take care of all of them.
I wouldn't take traitors kindly. Turning a blind eye would get in the way when you're leading a group of Monsters. You have to keep a cool head around them. That was part of the reason I was willing to take these Goblins in—because I wanted to prove to myself that I was serious.
Once again, I reminded myself: -(If these guys turn out to be traitors, I'll personally deal with all of them)- Yet, it bothered me how I could think about killing people as if they were asking me where to go for lunch. It's an unpleasant nuisance, but situations like this need actions like that; even more so in the world I'm in.
-(By the way, if these were only the envoys, how many Goblins are we talking about in total?)- I sighed. I might have a lot of names to think about soon.
The guards accompanying the Goblin elders had returned to their respective villages to report the news. -(So, what did they have to say?)-
In short, their story went something like this…
It all began with recent disruptions to order throughout the forest. The other villages had indeed abandoned Rigurd during the Fang Wolf attack, partly because they simply didn't have the combat resources to assign there.
All the intelligent races in this forest—the Orcs, Lizardmen, and Ogres as well—were beginning to intensify their demands over this forest. Before, there had been smaller arguments in this regard, but there was also a kind of silent agreement that no one would allow armed conflict to occur. However, with the supervisor and the true overseer of the forest out of the picture, there were more than a few races ready to vent.
Monsters, in general, had a tendency to snort and engage in regular displays of power. Now, every village in the forest was quickly preparing to kick some ass. It was only a matter of time before heads rolled. And the Goblins, the smartest kids around, were doomed to let most of these other races make a total mess of them.
This, naturally, alarmed most of the other Goblin elders. The moment they got involved in this territorial war, it would all be over for them. So they held a conference, talked about it for several days, and were too flabbergasted to suggest any decent ideas.
Not that I expected anything else from them…
News of the imminent Fang Wolf attack came in the middle of this, but their attention was elsewhere. Rigurd's village was abandoned and almost forgotten. Their conversations continued, with no miracles in sight.
Just as the villages' food supplies were starting to run low, they heard news of another new forest threat—rumors of huge Dark Beasts, ridden by people on their backs. They rushed through the trees as if traversing flat plains, completely defeating the forest's most powerful monsters. Who were they? The concept made the Goblins tremble with fear and surprise.
Apparently, they were… Ex-Goblins.
Opinions were divided on how to handle this. Some suggested traveling to them immediately and begging for protection. Others found the story too extraordinary to swallow, worried it might be a trap, and refused to believe that the Ex-Goblins would have no reason to deceive them.
However, trap or not, there was no guarantee this new race would accept them. Especially since they had abandoned Rigurd's village. Forgiveness seemed a useless hope for many of the elders. Even the Goblins were capable of embarrassment, it turned out.
In the end, realizing they had reached the limits of their intellect, the conference ended with a total lack of concrete conclusion. Then the side that sought our protection decided to travel here.
Now it all made sense. Even so, pretty selfish of them. We're talking about weak and defenseless Goblins, so I should have known. I had already agreed to take them in, anyway.
-"Anyone who wants to come, let them come,"-
I told the Goblin representatives. That was enough to send them back home for now.
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That's where my problems began.
As I looked at the crowd of Goblins, I thought: -(This is… too much, isn't it?)-
Too many to house within the village space.
Anyway, why did this have to be my problem? In the past few days, we'd been stuck building axes, using them to chop trees for wood, and similar tasks. We hadn't even started on houses yet. There was too much to work on.
Kaijin was handling wood duties, while the three Dwarf brothers worked on processing animal hides into Hobgoblin clothing. The looks they'd been giving the women were less than polite. I thought it best to put them on that work before anything else.
We were in the middle of this when the Goblins arrived. Four tribes, around five hundred of them in total. The rest were still in the villages with the elders who chose to stay behind.
-(Well, it's time for a move)- There wouldn't be much difference in terms of work, assuming we did it right now. I reviewed my mental map of the area. Ideally, I would have liked somewhere with nearby water and some cleared land suitable for farming. As I walked, I realized the most ideal location was… the area near the cave I had come from. -(Hmm)-
I decided to ask Rigurd about the state of things there.
-"It was considered a forbidden zone,"- He reported. -"Unlike the forest, it was a real cave of powerful monsters…"-
-"No problem there then. I mean, I lived there for a while."-
-"Y-YOU WHAT?!"-
-"Yes, and I know the place well… It should be fine."-
-"… I'm constantly impressed, Yukimaru-sama. I'm astonished."-
Funny thing for him to say. -(What's so surprising about living in a cave?)- If he was fine with it, then it was fine.
Then I called Mildo, the youngest of the three brothers, and told him everything I could about how architecture worked in the world I came from. Topography and measurement in this world were actually quite accurate, thanks to magic. That, plus the almost professional knowledge I brought to the table, helped us decide to create a topographical project for the local area.
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-(Eh, I studied all that for… Eh, um, a project I abandoned a long time ago…)-
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-(Nothing important. Don't worry)-
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I still didn't want to be too open about my dreams and ambitions in my "years of rebellion." Nowadays, I'm embarrassed by the kind of person I was back then.
Back to the construction plan. The Wolves didn't need it much, but for the Goblins and Dwarves, having a waste management center would be necessary. I thought it would be good if we could set up a pseudo-septic system that could store waste and turn it into fertilizer. We'd need something to keep infectious diseases at bay, too. That was another thing I added to Mildo's list.
-(However, do Goblins get sick?)-
I wondered. The answer was yes, they were susceptible to disease like anyone else. Pretty weak monsters, if you ask me. Though considering the kind of filth they lived in before I appeared, it's no wonder…
They lost many people, but made up for it with a large number of babies. Simple math. Although that wasn't quite the case with the Hobgoblins; they gave birth to fewer offspring at a time, which was another reason I assumed their lifespan was longer.
Either way, if we lose too many to disease, we won't be able to maintain our numbers. I didn't have much medical knowledge, much less about this world; anything a potion couldn't handle was beyond me, and we had no magical healer.
So, while we were in a construction frenzy, I decided it would be better to follow up with hygiene at the end. Mildo, for his part, actually had considerable knowledge about waste systems like this. I shouldn't have been the only other one to talk about this with the people.
This world, for its part, had something called Spiritual Engineering, a unique field of study that gave rise to all kinds of strange discoveries, inspired by the technology of an ancient civilization. What it didn't offer, however, was a way to make fertilizer outside of people's landfills. Mildo was surprised to hear the idea from me.
Despite everything, after some deliberation, I appointed him Head of Construction Operations for our village and left everything in his hands.
Another classic case of throwing responsibility…
After Rigurd assigned some people to Mildo's details, I sent them all to study our possible new home. Ranga joined them, just in case. I didn't think the Monsters would come out en masse from the cave toward them, but you never know. Ranga should be able to handle whatever appears, so it's better to be safe than sorry.
That solved one problem, but I had something bigger on my plate: naming.
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-(I remember! I still have that memory very clearly…)-
Just thinking about giving names depressed me. I had the unpleasant feeling that when half of the five hundred or more Goblins arrived, I'd be running through the alphabet.
Even so, I had to start. It took me about a day and a half to finish all of them, and I stuck it out until the end. Not as exhausting as last time, since I didn't enter rest mode like last time, but it's not a process I'd want to repeat soon.
-(Didn't enter rest mode like last time? You literally named over five hundred Goblins…)-
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-(I'm just as confused as you…)-
There were still things in this world that completely confused me…
Back to the names; I called the tribal elders. They knelt in their majestic Hobgoblin manner. Rigurd was there, and following him were three others I had just named: Rugurd, Regurd, and Rogurd.
That left one elder unnamed, and she was a woman. Something feminine sounded better, I thought, so I chose Lilina. One advantage of them all being Hobgoblins is that I can really tell them apart by gender. [Magical Perception] could help me do that with regular Goblins, but at first glance, it was a challenge.
So here we were. A few hundred Hobgoblins. Maybe it was time to build a class system for them? There had to be a clear chain of command, especially given how many monsters valued strength.
-"Alright!"- I said. -"I'm going to give all of you ranks!"-
Rigurd received a good reclassification to Goblin King; the other four elders became Goblin Lords. The rest of the Goblins in the village immediately bowed to them, which was a chilling sight to behold.
-"""Y-Yes, our Lord!"""-
The elders said. The subsequent cheers were deafening. I had inadvertently written a new chapter in Goblin history.
Kaijin kindly brought along all the carpentry tools we needed. Garm and Dold were proving capable of commanding at the front of clothing production. We were building a miniature wooden tower in an empty space in the village. Preparations were progressing smoothly.
The moment I had evolved all the Goblins and made sure I hadn't forgotten anyone, Mildo returned to the village. The surveying work was carried out smoothly. All systems ready. I looked at the different buildings in the village I had planned. It really was more of a city than a simple village. A new home for all of us.
After making sure everything was in place, we set off. It was our first step toward a new land. Toward a new nation for us!
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The man's name was Fuze, and he was the Master of the Guild branch of the Free Guild in the kingdom of Blumund.
His competence in his position was unquestioned, and even before that, his skill as an adventurer had brought him to A- rank.
And as he had promised the Baron of Veryard, he quickly set out to conduct an investigation on his own. However, what his various intelligence contacts told him was that the Empire was not making any moves at all. He could proceed like that, of course—that was Fuze's hunch—but there was no room for error.
He continued to have his people monitor the Empire. It wasn't his usual work, but for now, at least, he was willing to make an exception.
One day, he received news that another research team had returned to his city. He went to his office and sat slowly and deliberately on the reception room sofa he always used for classified meetings. In front of him sat three people, two men and a woman, all B-rank adventurers.
He already knew this group well. There was Gido, a thief who excelled in reconnaissance. Kabal, meanwhile, was a master of defense. Being a fighter class, he voluntarily served as a wall for the rest of his group, and did his job well. He often joked a lot, but he wasn't lazy. Finally, there was Elen, a sorceress whose skill set was oriented toward the more unique types of magic. She had a wide variety of spells at her disposal, but her true ability lay in her supernaturally enhanced movement. It was also worth noting that her careful planning always worked wonders to increase her group's survival chances.
This was the team Fuze had sent to examine the cave where Veldora had once been sealed. His first reaction upon seeing them was slight surprise that they were safe. That cave was more appropriate for people with B+ ranks or higher, and if you took their master into account, sending one or two A- travelers was your safest bet. Even if Fuze himself ventured in, it wasn't that the guild branch's responsibilities left him free these days—it would probably be a major undertaking if he did it solo.
Regardless of their ranks, this was the group Fuze had sent to find out what had happened to Veldora at that time. He had made the decision due to their unusual ability to stay alive. The ability to avoid battle while gathering intelligence, in this case, was worth far more to him than employing a famous B+.
However, if anything had happened to them, Fuze would have had to take the blame as Guild Master. Sending people into areas unqualified by rank was a clear violation of guild rules. A branch chief daring to attempt it would create controversy if the incident became public knowledge.
But this was the group Fuze wanted, and no one was happier to see them now than he was.
-"Let's hear the report"-
He said, always careful not to betray his emotions. No matter how grateful he was inside, he made a point not to offer any reassuring words. The trio was used to this.
-"It was horrible, man!"-
Kabal said.
-"I need to take a bath…"-
Elen agreed.
-"Yeah, the hardest part was trying to stop these two from tearing each other apart, I'd say…"-
Gido commented.
Their meetings almost always started like this. Their eyes, however, were deadly serious.
-(It was probably really horrible)-
Fuze thought. The report began with a description of the monsters they had encountered in the cave. After tricking their way past the Storm Serpent that served as the area's guardian, they passed through the sealing gate. It had been clear from the beginning that Veldora was gone, but they had spent another week or so exploring the cave, just in case. The final result: definitely no guardian, or leader, to speak of inside.
But one thing had caught their attention.
-"Here's the thing"- Kabal said. -"Once we finished our examination and went out the gate… The Storm Serpent had disappeared"-
-"Right, yes!"- Elen exclaimed. "-I couldn't activate Escape inside the gate, so I spent all that time figuring out how we'd get away from it… I feel like an idiot!-"
-"Yeah"- Gido said. -"I brought an illusion trap and a heat generator, and I didn't even use them. Still, it at least saved us some time. Getting through on the way in was one thing, but getting out would be another"-
What did this mean? This Storm Serpent had a tentative rating of A-. It was absolutely the strongest presence in the cave. Not even Fuze liked his chances against it much. That was why he had been worried about this trio's odds of a successful journey.
Something had definitely happened there. Fuze could tell that. And he needed to know what.
-"Alright, guys. I'll let you rest for about three days, but after that, I'll need you to return to the forest again. Not inside the cave this time—instead, you'll examine the area around it. I want you to leave no stone unturned, alright? Be thorough. That's all"-
-"'That's all,' he says! "-
-"Three days? That's all?! Give us at least a week!"-
-"Yeah, yeah… You know he's not going to listen, guys"-
Fuze didn't let the protests bother him. He had some new information to think about. -(What could be happening in that forest…?)- He lost himself in thought for a moment… Then he opened his eyes, only to find three pairs of resentful eyes staring at him.
-(These guys…)-
He sighed, and then shouted at them as always.
-"Why are you still here? Get out! Now!"-
The trio hurriedly excused themselves.
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Three days later, Kabal, Elen, and Gido were preparing for their journey to the forest.
-"That was barely any free time…"-
Elen grunted.
-"You said it, girl"-
Gido replied.
-"Could you stop complaining for a moment, guys?"- Kabal, the more or less leader, admonished with a lack of conviction that indicated his agreement. -"You're bringing me down now"-
They had few routes to the forest to choose from. Monsters had been incredibly more active in recent days, to the point that not even merchants were willing to send wagons into the forest. Hiring bodyguards was out of the question; if they did, they would lose money on this job. If they wanted to visit the forest, they would have to go on foot for the time being. They would have to walk at least a little, as the path to the Sealed Cave was too treacherous to navigate in a horse-drawn carriage.
As a result, preparation would be key. Procuring preserved food for several weeks was a challenge in itself, but without it, they had every chance of starving before reaching their destination. Elen's magic, at least, guaranteed them drinking water whenever they needed it.
When they were almost done and it was time to leave, a person approached them, speaking in a voice that was somewhere between young and old, male and female.
-"Excuse me. If you're heading to the forest, could I join you on the way?"-
The mask worn by the figure prevented guessing the face behind it. It was a beautiful, ornate mask, but it had no expression. There was something vaguely unsettling about the whole ensemble, but…
-"Fine by me"-
-"Wh-Whoa! I'm the leader here, Elen! What's your problem?!"-
-"Ahh, you know her. Once she decides something, there's no changing her mind"-
-"Thank you"-
Those words of gratitude were all the masked figure said before silently following them. And so, Kabal and his group gained another companion as they ventured into the forest.
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
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Author's Notes
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Please note that this story is mostly centered around Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken and another novel that you may recognize. Please also note that Rimuru is completely replaced by my own character (Yukimaru). You are warned.
Disclaimers:
The character or story mentioned from an anime, or novel, does not belong to me. Instead, it belongs to Ichiei Ishibumi (High School DxD), Fuse, Mitz Vah (Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken) and Patora Fuyuhara (Isekai wa Smartphone to Tomo ni)
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Upcoming chapters (Spoilers):
Chapter 17- The Conqueror of Flames
Chapter 18- The End of a Long Journey
Special Short Film No. 1- Memories of the Past