THE GREAT FOREST OF JURA ALLIANCE
The man sat alone, relaxing in an impossibly ornate room. He smiled, which was visible through his mask.
Elegantly, he waved a hand in the air, directing his servants to exit the chamber. They bowed to him, every motion carefully practiced, and left without a word. Just as they did, a jovial-sounding voice resonated from the previously empty sofa against the wall.
Well, so much for Gelmud, huh? After all the help we gave im, he screwed everything up right at the last minute.
The voice belonged to Laplace, bizarre clothing and eerie-looking mask still intact. The news he brought was grim, but he didnt sound particularly affected as he walked up to the man.
Pfft. It is not an issue. He died without breathing a word about our relationship.
True nough, Laplace observed as he took a seat across from his conversation partner. But after all that work setting it up, its gotta hurt that it didnt result in a new demon lord, isnt it? You wanted a demon lord thatd serve as your faithful servant, rather than having to work as equals with the others. That was the whole point, yeah?
The man gave Laplace a fatherly nod. It would be a lot easier, he observed, if you were willing to take that role for .
Ooh, no thank you! Cant say Im up for taking on that kinda responsibility, no. Those guysre a buncha monsters! If sothing went wrong, itd be my neck on the line. I an, the last demon lord that was born
Demon Lord Leon. The humanLeon Cromwell.
Yeah
They could feel the temperature palpably drop around them.
The one thing that any would-be demon lord had to bring to the table, above everything else, was strength. Real strength.
Nobody in this world was stupid enough to call themselves demon lords. Anyone who attempted it would attract the ire of the current ones at the top of the food chain and probably not live for much longer. But there were so out there who could rile a demon lord, then actually fend them off in battle. These were also recognized as demon lords for the force they so clearly wielded.
But for the past few centuries, no demon lord had been born with such latent strength. The last one was the forr human Leon Cromwell. His almost eerie charm allowed him to attract an army of magic-borns to his side, one after the other, before he declared himself the lord of his little frontier territory.
This enraged one nearby demon lord, known as the Cursed Lord, and he imdiately declared war on Leononly to be beaten back, at great loss of life. Not by Leons army, but by Leon himself, acting alone. That was enough to make the demon lord title permanent.
Such a debut, based purely on shows of force, was a rarity. In most cases, if you wanted to safely stake your claim to the title, you needed the backup of at least three current lords. That way, if anyone tried fighting the new candidate, theyd have to tangle with his allies at the sa tiso the theory went, at least.
Then a demon lord ca along who figured he could ga the system a little. Instead of engaging in tense negotiations and forming alliances with other demon lords, why not will a demon lord to life who was perfectly willing to do whatever you asked of it? It was a tempting thought, even if it risked the ire of ones peers.
That was how this plan worked, thento make the new demon lord birth look as natural as possible, so no one could possibly question its authenticity. Gelmud was key to that, and it was also key to make sure his own ambitions were stoked as much as possible along the way.
Well, the man said, ignoring the sudden chill in the conversation, enough of Leon. My real concern is that we have already reached out to two demon lords about this. I am sure they will be very disappointed to hear that the plan failed at this rather late stage.
The plan was ant to be put into motion a full three hundred years after Veldoras disappearance, set to unfold carefully over decades. But it was all over now, and the man would be lying if he said it didnt pain him.
Okay, Laplace countered, but look at these, will you? Theyll show you sothing pretty crazy.
He produced a set of four crystal orbs. Three contained the stored visual records of three orc generals, while the other one contained Gelmuds. Laplace had linked an orb to Gelmud without his knowledge as he handed him copies of the three others.
Watching what the orbs contained, the mans eyebrows arched upward in clear surprise.
The orc general orbs retold all their valiant glories in battle. Each one ended with the sight of the magic-born people who apparently defeated them, showing off overwhelming power as they did. They were ogre mages, a high-level race that the more elderly ogres might evolve into once every few centuries. With their abilities, they held the potential to be just as powerful as orc lords, even. They were fabled to crush the earth, rend the skies apart. And there were three of them recorded on these orbs.
That, and a magical beast the likes of which he had never seen before. It wielded lightning and gale storms with ease, putting it in the upper echelons of the animal kingdom. Perhaps a direwolf that had undergone so manner of untold transmogrification, but it was hard to tell from the visuals alone.
It was certainly well beyond A rank, though, and that ant there were four monsters in this battle that shot right past A and into the stratosphere. Gelmud never had a chance out there.
The real concern, though, was what the fourth and final orb showed. A single human being, standing tall in front of Gelmud. A child, it appeared, wearing a mask. But nothing at all was normal about him. It was more accurately a monster transford into a person. If not that, a newly born hero.
Both n in the room knew that human summoners and otherworlders could often be gifted with astounding abilities. But a child would be too immature to take full advantage of themand he or she certainly wouldnt be participating in a war between magical beasts and creatures. Thus, by the process of elimination, they assud this was so manner of monster in disguise.
It appeared from the visuals that this child had the four enigmatic creatures under his control. When the situation turned to battle, it was clear Gelmud was far out of his elent. The image went black quicklyno doubt when so attack landed a telling blow upon him.
When all the orbs were sifted through, the man leaned forward and let out a long, deep sigh. Gelmud, an A rank, one of the greatest of those born of magic, had been overwheld by a child. A child with four upper-level magic-borns of his own. He was still unclear about the ultimate fate of the orc lord, but with this kind of force at play, he doubted there was much hope for him.
This kind of force. A force that could no longer be ignored.
Pretty crazy, eh?
Yes, very interesting, the man ventured with a smile. Sowhat now?
Laplace took a mont to answer. Two demon lords, just as powerful as he was. And the person he had ntioned the potential birth of a new demon lord, too. There was much to consider.
Well, keep the ship afloat for now, is what Id say. If you think you need any help, youll get my regular discount, okay? Take care for now, Clayman.
He disappeared, leaving the manthe demon lord Claymanalone in the room. He replayed the orbs several tis over, thinking quietly.
The battle was over.
That wasyeah, pretty rough. If he had fully completed his evolution, I dont think anyone couldve beaten him. I won precisely because we made it to him in tijust in ti, as it turns out. It wouldve been so much easier pre-evolution, too; I was still kicking myself over that. But I had it coming. I shouldve killed him fast instead of getting all cocky. It was more than half luck that earned victory for , in the end.
But the rewards I reaped from it made all my regrets look like a drop in the bucket. Thats rightits unique skill ti!
I had obtained my fourth unique skill from the spirit of the demon lord Geld, although I guess it got rged into Predator without so much as a peep. The Great Sage gave the rundown after the battle:
Report. Following the rger of the unique skill Ravenous with the unique skill Predator, the unique skill Predator has evolved into the unique skill Glutton.
The Sage had the habit of combining skills that resembled one another a fair bit, although everything was still downward-compatible. I analyzed this new skill, then closed my eyes.
This skill, Glutton, consisted of four old abilitiesPredation, Stomach, Mimic, and Isolatecombined with three new onesCorrode, Receive, and Provide. The new ones worked like this:
Rot:
Performs Rot on the target, decomposing it if it is organic. Monster corpses partially absorbed in this manner will reward the user with part of the monsters skills.
Receive:
Gain the ability to obtain skills from monsters under your influence.
Provide:
Grants part of your abilities to monsters under your influence or linked to your soul.
Giving each the once-over, I had to say, this was so pretty damn sweet stuff. My Stomach got a huge upgradeit felt maybe twice as big. And Rot sounded downright scary, although handy for things like destroying armor.
Receive and Provide were the real plums, though. This ant, basically, whatever new skills people like Benimaru and Ranga earned when they evolved, I could get em for myself, right? And redistribute them to anyone on my team I wanted?
Understood. You may interpret it as such, yes. However, there are restrictions to providing abilities. You will not lose the original skill, but if the receiver is not capable of making full use of the skill, they will not be able to obtain it.
Seriously?
It appeared that my underlings tended to grow stronger whenever I did, and vice versa. Giving skills to them seed to offer no disadvantage, but I guess the receiver still needed to have whatever latent talent the skill required for it to work. I couldnt just pass around skills willy-nilly, in other words, which was fine with .
In a way, this skill was pretty scary, too. I couldnt use it to share personal knowledge or magic spells, and I would still need to put in the daily effort to raise my level, but still, it was really sothing. I gotta hand it to that Orc Disaster. I was kind of pissed that he got Gelmud and all, but if anything, this was an even better bonus. The more I put into it, the more I got out.
By the way, it appeared that Analysis, originally part of Predator, had been rged into the Sage itself while I wasnt paying attention.
Huh? I dont rember being asked for permission on that, much less giving it. But ah well. Im probably just overthinking it. No way the Sagenothing more than a skill, reallywould do sothing on its own volition. Analysis always seed a little weird for the Predator umbrella anyway. No point giving it much more thought than that , I figured.
Still, the battle was over, as was all the joy and sadness and despair that swirled around the battlefield. Hoo boy. I cant help but think this every ti, but the cleanups always much more of a pain than the battle itself.
The day after the demon lord Geld fell, representatives from all the races were gathered inside a temporary tent pitched in the central part of the marshes.
On my end, I was with Benimaru, Shion, Hakuro, and Soei. Ranga was inside my shadow, as per usual, and I was sitting on Shions lap in sli form. I had pretty much revealed what I really was when I defeated Geld, so there was no point hiding it now.
Treyni was here to represent the immobile treants. She had appeared without having to toss a Thought Communication her way, claiming she caught the waves the two of us released or sothing. What a case. She was hiding just as much power as I was, I supposed.
From the lizardn, we had the chief, the head of the chiefs guard, and her assistant. Gabil was currently in a cell sowhere on charges of treason. Son of the chief or not, they couldnt exactly let his acts go unpunished. As idiotic as he was, a lot about him piqued my interest. But I was still in no position to provide unsolicited advice on his treatnt.
The goblins were represented by each chief of the assorted villages, sowhat huddled at the far corner of the table as they marveled at all the high-level monsters surrounding them. That was understandable, given how there was a dryad in the room, sothing they never wouldve imagined seeing even if they lived to be a thousand years old.
Finally, from the orcs, there was the sole surviving orc general, along with sixteen chiefs from their tribal federation. The mood was understandably gloomy among them, given how they were the main catalyst of all this. Whether the orc lord had seized their minds or not, it wasnt like they were completely free of responsibility. They must have known that, judging by the hangdog looks on their faces.
It wasnt just guilt driving them, either. They were near the end of the food supply they had brought with them. Soei told they carried little with them, and Geld the demon lord didnt offer much to them, either. They were in danger of starving all over again, except this ti, they werent under the spell of a unique skill that kept them pressing forward. Cannibalizing one another to do so. That certainly wasnt normal orc behavior. In fact, being freed from the spell made so of the orcs faint imdiately from malnutrition.
Their current situation cast a pall over the entire tent. The orcs had no aningful reparations to offer, everyone knew, even if they had asked. Their whole impetus for going to war, in fact, was the desperate starvation they faced in their holand.
There were still around 150,000 left, and I doubted they had the ability to feed themselves at all. All those soldiers, and they still lacked the will to continue warring. Nothing sumd up their ntal state better at the mont.
Without Ravenous, they really would starveand my peek into Gelds mories taught even more. I had ntioned the number 150,000, but those survivors also included won, the elderly, and children. In other words, the entirety of every orc clan was right there, in the marshes.
The issue was a famine.
The lands ruled by demon lords were generally safe zones with bountiful arable lands, protected by the great powers of those who ruled over them. Even if a monster or magical beast stirred up trouble, the magic-borns who served the demon lord would ensure that law and order ruled the day.
All of that, of course, ca at a costin this case, high taxes. In exchange for living among fertile lands, the citizens were required to give up a healthy percentage of their harvest on a yearly basis. And the orcs, who tended to multiply quickly when they had the resources, were an indispensable part of demon lord lands, their labor keeping the farms and mines humming along smoothly.
Failure to pay these taxes, though, ant death, though not at the hands of the local demon lord himself. The lands were dangerous. Many monsters attacked it, seeking bounties for themselves. If anyone didnt pay their due to the lord, the lord wasnt obliged to protect them. And that was that.
The orcs were normally able to take care of themselves well enough. Even if an attack killed off half, they reproduced so quickly that their numbers were right back to normal before long. But the current famine made it impossible to pay their tax to the demon lordor lords, as it happened. The orcs territory had the misfortune to border the domains of three different demon lords. Attempting to raid the lands of such powerful beings would mark the end of the orc species, but without the protection their taxes bought them, they had no way of surviving in the suddenly barren land they called ho.
So they stread into the Forest of Jura, all but chased away from their hos, in search of food. They wandered around its fringes for a bit, fighting off the hunger, and that was when the orc lord was born. But even that wasnt enough to make them strong enough to fend off the monsters that harangued them constantly.
It was at that point when Gelmud extended a hand to them. Help they readily accepted, not realizing what was motivating this unexpected benefactor. And that was when their troubles began.
That was about all I knew about them. I didnt have the fine details, exactly, but I was still able to glean that much from Gelds mind just before he vanished. Could I use that info to help them, though? The thought weighed heavily in my mindjust like it in did in everyone elsesas we got started.
Hakuro would serve as diator. I asked the lizardmans chief guard to take the position, but she refused. The role is too weighty for ! she protested. It felt weird to have the losing side in charge of the negotiation, so I threw the responsibility ater, I an, asked Hakuro to handle it, since he was practically born for it anyway.
Once he declared the eting under way, silence fell. No one dared open their mouths, instead turning right toward .
What a pain. I really hate etings. Companies that hold lots of etings never actually accomplish anything. The important stuff should be left to people capable of handling it, really. But ah well.
Well, I began, before we get down to business, Id like to tell all of you what I know at this point.
Everyones faces tensed up. I tried my best to ignore it as I discussed what I learned from Gelds mories, as well as what Soei had researched for . The reason why the orcs took up arms, and the current state of their affairs. The orc delegation looked at wide-eyed. I guess they werent expecting this to co up. As I continued, so began shedding tears. Perhaps they didnt think theyd have a chance to give their side at all. Perhaps they were prepared to die on the spot.
Then I gave Hakuro a look, indicating that I wanted to move on.
Ahem! In that case, he said. I would like to make sure all of us are on the sa page when it cos to the casualties wrought by this invasion.
The conference slowly sprang into action, the lizardn going first. As they reported their numbers lost, the orcs hung their heads, unable to speak.
Well then, Hakuro ventured, do you have any demands you wish to make of the orcs, Chief?
Id never been in a war myself, so I wouldnt know, but when it ca to asking for compensation, the winning side had a lot of say in how that worked. No way Id have the confidence to run a conference like this.
Not particularly, the chief replied. This victory was one we earned through none of our own doing. It ca thanks to the aid of Sir Rimuru.
Thus, he essentially forfeited the right to ask for reparations. Not that he couldve expected to get much out of them.
So were the orcs up next? I turned to their chiefs, wondering what they would say.
Please, allow to speak! the orc general suddenly shouted, all but rubbing his head against the rough ground as he bowed to . All of us here, we wish to make up for this disaster with our very lives I know even that is not enough, but there is nothing else we could possibly pay you!
He was ready to die, I could tell that much. This monster, ranked A-minus or so, would no doubt provide us all with a wealth of magicules to harness, and he wanted to put that on the table in exchange for our forgiveness.
I had no interest in this, and it was beside the point anyway. I was really starting to resent this eting. All these procedures and formalities were eating away at the ti we could spend actually talking matters over.
Well, screw it. Lets try things my way for a sec.
One mont! Hakuro said, apparently noticing my intentions. I believe Sir Rimuru has sothing to say!
The orc general fell silent, looking straight at . So did everyone else. I was never a fan of being the center of attention, but I couldnt exactly say so.
Um, I began, Im gonna have to admit that Im not very good with big etings like this. So let just say whats on my mind right now, and maybe we can all mull that over for a little while, all right? First off, I wanna make one thing clear. I have no interest in charging the orcs with any cris or whatever.
I went on to explain my reasoning. Staging an invasion of the forest was, if you had to rate it on a scale of naughty or nice, pretty naughty. Whether Gelmud was using and abusing them or not, the mont they said yes to him, they were accomplices. But it was also clear that the forest offered their only possible hope for survival. All the races here mightve decided to do the sa thing in their shoes.
Simply asking us to accept their presence was, I suppose, tough. It would be like asking our neighbors to hand over their land. Nobody would simply roll over and say yes to that, and that was doubly true for the survival-of-the-fittest types around here.
There was no point debating over what was now firmly in the past. Right then, we needed to talk about what would happen next. We couldnt spend all day dwelling on apologies and reparations and such. Plus, I promised Geld I would take on all the orcs cris for him. Maybe it was pushy of , but I wanted to make sure everyone knew I was serious about that.
That is my thought about this, I said, and Im sure you all have your own thoughts, but I see no need to punish the orcs for anything. I say this because I promised the demon lord Geld as much. I have taken on all the cris committed by the orcs. And if any of you have a problem with that, Id like to hear it!
The orcs stared at , clearly shocked.
Benimaru, I said, ignoring them, your holand was annihilated by their hands. Do you take issue with this?
I do not, my lord, and I doubt any of my fallen comrades would. The sole, immovable rule that links all monsters together is that only the strong have the right to survive. We faced up to them without fleeing, and thus we were prepared for the worst. And, Sir Rimuru, we would never have an issue with the decisions you make.
The other ogres nodded in agreent. Everyone appeared to be with . I then turned to the lizardn, but the chief spoke before I could.
We, too, have no complaint with your stance. There is one thing I wish to ask, however.
No complaints? Really? I was kind of expecting so. He was more sympathetic to their plight than I thought, maybe.
What is it?
It is a good thing, I think, not to pursue the orcs cris any further. We were saved by you, Sir Rimuru, and are thus in no position to make any grand proclamations. However, there is one thing I wish to be fully clear on
The chief stopped and looked straight at .
Are you suggesting, Sir Rimuru, that we accept the entire orc populations right to live in this forest?
And here we go. It was an obvious question, and it ca at a critical ti.
I am, I said as graciously as I could. Instantly, the eting erupted into a commotion. The orcs, shocked, discussed whether such a thing was even possible. The goblins were screaming incoherently, so foaming at the mouth. Treyni watched silently, gauging the situation with a hostile eye. Only my ogre mage friends remained undisturbed.
Silence! Hakuro shouted, finally bringing order back to the tent after a prolonged furor. He had waited for everyone to get over their initial surprise before giving the command.
I understand what all of you are thinking, I said, and I understand how the thought makes you nervous. And youre rightI have no idea whether its possible or not. But I think it is. Like I said, I just want you to hear out.
So I began talking about my idea. The vision of a Great Forest of Jura Alliance, a proposal that wouldve been dismissed as a hopeless dream at any other ti.
Even if we let every orc in the marsh off the hook right now, they were still dood to starve. The straggler forces, left without stronger leadership, would form small raider bands thatd strike the lizardman and goblin villages before long. They had nothing to eat, no place to live, and nothing about this conference would an anything until we tackled that fundantal issue.
Hence this alliance.
The lizardn had plentiful water and seafood resources. The goblins had living space. We had a wealth of manufactured goods. The orcs, in exchange, could provide their labor resources.
Their settlents would have to be spread out among us all to so extentthey numbered in the six figures, after allbut I was sure we could maintain decent lines of contact. Wed need to put so in the mountains, so in the foothills, so by the river, and so deeper in the forest. My team and I could provide technical ho-building assistance, although we still wanted them to handle their own affairs otherwise. We were already short on labor in my town; we didnt have the capacity to look out for others. If anything, my ulterior motive here was to obtain more stout n to beef up our own workforce.
The land the ogres ruled over was now free, of course, and I figured wed build a town there sooner or later. Forest land extended well into the nearby foothills, offering a wealth of resources to harness. Itd have to wait until my town was finished, but by then, I wanted the orcs to be proficient enough that they could build their own. Then all the dispersed orc populations would have soplace to live together again.
Everyone in the tent listened attentively as I explained.
That about covers it, I said. We will form a great alliance among the peoples of the Forest of Jura and build cooperative relationships with one another. Itd be pretty neat if we built a nation composed of multiple races, I think, but
Unlike before, the conference was now filled with a sense of excitent. The attendees enthusiasm was starting to pervade the room, as if I had just taken their anxieties and replaced them with a flickering sense of hope. Shion straightened herself up, like she was presenting as a prize, which I didnt really appreciate. I forgave her, though. It ant she was pushing her breasts against , which was pretty nice, after all. I always have an open mind about that sort of thing.
The orc general was slow to react. Usbuilding a town?! It is all right for us to join in this alliance?
Not like you got anyone, or anyplace, to return to, do you? Well getcha soplace to live, but you gotta work, all right? No room for lazy orcs around here.
Yes, my lord! The orcs imdiately stood up and took a knee, overco with an emotion that drove tears to their eyes. Of course, of course! We will dedicate our very lives to the tasks ahead!
The lizardman chief nodded. We have no objection. If anything, we would love to cooperate! He kneeled as well, imitating the orcs, and the goblins hurriedly took action to follow suit. Was this the rule when forming alliances here, or? I dunno.
I attempted to copy their lead and hop down to the floor, but Shion tightened her grip on .
What are you trying to do, my lord?
Huh? Oh. I thought this was a ceremony or sothing.
Oh dear, Sir Rimuru. It certainly is not
I wasnt sure why she was speaking to like a wayward child, but I must have been embarrassing her. And the ogres, judging by the looks they shot at . She stood up, placed on a chairand then fell to one knee before , accompanied by Benimaru and the rest.
Very good, Treyni said. As a warden of the forest, I, Treyni, make the following declaration. I hereby recognize Sir Rimuru as the new leader of the Forest of Jura, and the Great Forest of Jura Alliance hereby established under his good na!
Then she kneeled, too. I guess she had word from the treants that they were all for it.
Um, can you give a mont, guys? Why am I suddenly the dude whos supposed to run all this crap? Because I dont rember any discussions along those lines. Whyd it turn out this way? I wanted to ask, but my voice was cut off by all the passionate eyes fixated upon .
All right. I get it, guys
I knew the fate of the orcs rested on my shoulders anyway. Leader of the forest? Whatever. Ill take it.
Well, so be it, I said, resigned to my fate. Do proud, guys. Everyone took that cue to prostrate themselves before .
Yes, my lord!!
The sheer fervor was as clearly present in all their voices as it clearly wasnt in mine. The Great Forest of Jura Alliance was born, and already it was making break out in a cold sweat.
Uh, guys? We still have a problem, right? Like, a really big, botherso problem? I hate to rain on the party, but wed better get to talking about that, yeah?
Right, thats enough, I said. So now that we have this alliance in place, we need to solve the largest problem facing us right nowthe question of food supply. We have 150,000 surviving orcs here, and we need to keep them from starving to death. Id like so ideas, please?
The orcs had less than two weeks worth of provisions on them, overall. Now that the unique skill Ravenous was no longer doing its thing on them, theyd be well and truly dead once these supplies were exhausted. We had no ti to raise crops for them, and wed exhaust the river of fish if we tried going that route.
It was a real thorny issue. The lizardn had enough supplies for ten thousand people to live off for half a year. Even if they cleared all their storehouses right this instant, it still wouldnt keep the orcs going for more than a couple weeks. That ant our maximum ti limit was just about a month.
So now what?
Everyone in the tent turned their minds to the issue. Nobody seed to be acting like it wasnt their problem, which gladdened a bit. Maybe this alliance would work out after all.
Then Treyni stepped up, smiling. So the issue is a lack of food supply? she asked. In that case, I think I might be able to help. The treants that I help protect have agreed to join this alliance, and I think they might co in handy sooner than I thought.
So they were interested, then? Well, great. And if they were that enthusiastic about handling the food issue, let them, Id say. Not like we had any other great ideas.
With all our most pressing issues covered, we ended the conference.
And that was the day my na was first written down in the annals of history.
The day our great alliance was ford was one which, I suppose, no monster would ever be able to forget. It was, after all, the day I decided that each and every one needed a na.
Which, yes, I said I would, and I was super-cool about it.
But why were they counting on to co up with all those nas? I an, yeesh, a hundred-fifty thousand orcs alone. Insane. It took three days to co up with five hundred goblin nas, guys! I couldnt imagine how long itd take to handle this job.
I gave serious thought to simply up and running away this ti, but I still had all those orcish cris to gobble up for them.
Orcs were D-ranked monsters by nature, but they were more like C-plus while the orc lord was still influencing them. So basically, this was just a matter of taking in the magicules lost to the air after Gelds defeat and breathing them back into each one. That way, I could na them all without exhausting myself in the process.
The problem I had, though, was what the nas should be. Simply going down the alphabet wouldnt save this ti. Maybe I could divide them by race or start giving out last nas or sothing, but managing all that would be even more of a hassle.
In the end, the solution I ca up with was as simple as it was beautiful. The perfect series, one that I could extend for as long as necessary, all the way to infinity.
Thats right: Numbers. It was a little like assigning an ID number back in my ho world, but damn , did it make things easier for .
So I had all the orcs in the marsh stand in neat lines before . I was worried they might resent being given such unfashionable nas without any right to say no, but the magic they had lost could directly lead to their deaths. They might decide to take matters into their own hands if it ca to that, and then the village raids would begin.
The cause of this confusion was the orcs numbers. There were too many, in other words, and naming them would help with that, too. Evolving into a higher-level monster would do a lot to lower their reproductive rate, sothing I saw for myself with the hobgobs.
Now was no ti for to moan about my responsibilities. As Benimaru said, they always had the right not to be nad if they didnt want to. I spread the word, since itd certainly save so ti, but not a single one took up on the offer. So much for that.
And so the ordeal began. I decided to start by assigning a basic sort of tribal na to each one. I devised ten of these: Mountain, Valley, Hill, Cavern, Ocean, River, Lake, Forest, Grassland, and Desert. If you were part of the Mountain tribe, your na would be along the lines of Mountain-1M if male, Mountain-1F if female, and wed just go from there.
What about the generations to co, then? Like I gave a crap. The first son born among the Mountain tribe could be Mountain-1-1M for all I cared. Simple. Though maybe itd be nice to offer enough leeway for middle nas and real wordbased titles. I had a feeling things might fall apart a bit if two orcs from different tribes had a kid, too. But, hell, let them worry about that. I didnt care.
And so I consud so magic lost from each orc and used it to na each one in succession. They were already lined up by tribe, males and females separated, so things actually went pretty quickly. It still took ti, but I no longer had to think up fancy nas, so at least it was efficient. Wherever each orc was among the lines they ford, those were their nas. It didnt matter to how each orc related to the next. If they didnt mind, I sure didnt.
So we breezed along; I gave the nas and one mber from each tribe wrote them all down in a ledger, just in case anyone forgot their own. That turned out not to be a problem in the leastit was that special for them all to finally be granted a na of their own. Having part of soones soul infusing the na youre given must make a lot of difference.
The naming process continued anon. Once I got in the swing of things, it took maybe five seconds per orc, although I still lost ti here and there. It was going to take a grand total of ten days and ten nights to wrap it all up. I had the Sage to thank for letting pull that feat off, but I had a feeling that Id never want to look at a number again for a good while to co.
Of course, while I was busy naming a small citys worth of orcs, my ogre mages werent just screwing around. They were on their way to the treant settlent, guided by Treyni. I had left procuring our food supply to them, although privately, I had my concerns about how theyd co up with enough.
Treants were monsters that lived off water, sunlight, air, and magic. They didnt need food in the first place. But they did produce fruit from the magic they didnt need, which were beyond the reach of mosttreants couldnt set foot nor root outside of their own sanctuary, so they simply collected and stored the fruit on-site.
These were magical fruits, of course, and when dehydrated, they would never go bad. People called these dried treants , and as I found out later, they were considered rare delicacies on the public market, going for outlandish prices among foodies and the like. Considering how treants almost never connected to the outside world, you just didnt see them all that much. But rarity alone didnt dictate the pricesdried treants were packed with an intense amount of magical energy, enough to keep you alive and well for seven days at a ti without even feeling hungry. A condensed drop of manna from heaven, in other words.
It was these dried treants that we were apparently going to receive a bountiful supply of, helping the orcs stave off starvation.
I wasnt too worried about the transport process. Keeping up proper supply routes was always the thorniest part of waging war; starving the soldiers on the front lines quickly spelled total defeat. They needed to be fed, and that was always a logistical challengebut these fruits didnt take up much space at all.
The real problem was transport ti, and the tempest wolves were ready to help with thator to be exact, the starwolves evolved from them. As a newly minted tempest starwolf and leader of his pack, Ranga was able to evolve all the other wolves in his pack to regular nontempest starwolf status. Each one was ranked around B, making them high-level magical beasts, and while we still only had a hundred, I had a feeling wed be caring for more soon.
As part of his newfound skills, Ranga was able to summon sothing he called a Star Leader, an A-minus commander wolf that would serve as his representative during the transport effort. His take on Replication, I supposed; he could summon and dispel it at will. Geez, Ranga, you really dont want to leave my shadow, huh? Ah whatever.
It was worth ntioning that all the starwolves were now capable of Shadow Motioning themselves around. Not at the near-lightning speeds that Soei and Ranga could manage, but still far quicker than their feet could take them. That was the neat thing about Shadow Motion; it always brought you to your destination in a straight line, ignoring all obstacles in between. As a rule of thumb, the starwolves could traverse this straight line at around twice their regular speed.
With their enhanced strength, the starwolves would load up with the food at the treant settlent and bring it back. A regular caravan would take over two months to traverse the roundabout path one way; with them, they could do a round trip in one day. Crazy. Wed need to build a larger cart-accessible highway soti, but at least that wasnt a problem for now.
One little snag: The wolves hobgoblin riders couldnt accompany them, since they could only remain in Shadow Motion space for as long as they could hold their breath. Itd be nice if they could be trained to fix that, sohow, but in the anti they were helping with the whole orc-naming process. I definitely didnt want them idle while I was going through this ten-day-long ordeal.
Either way, we finally had a nice, clean solution to the most present problem facing us. I was satisfied.
Ten days later, I limped my way to the finish line. I could see nothing but numbers dancing in my head by the end, but the feeling of achievent was like nothing else. I an, were talking 150,000 here, you know? Think about even counting that high, and you can get an idea of how much torture it had been.
By the ti I had wrapped it up, they were already starting to distribute our new food supply. Fifty pieces of dried treant per person. Each one somberly accepted their ration, fully cognizant that losing it ant death.
The naming process had evolved each orc into a high orc. I didnt use any of my own magic for it, so they didnt need to see as their ruler or anything. They entered the alliance under their own free will, and I could only hope that we remained on sunny terms.
In terms of monster strength, they had gone down from their forr Ravenous-driven C-plus rank to around a Cwhich was still better than D, so Im sure there were no complaints. Their intelligence had undergone a nice upgrade, too, and they had retained all their intrinsic abilities. The evolution, in other words, had made them far more adaptable to a variety of new environnts.
Each of the tribes thanked in turn and set off for their new hos, guided by a squad of ten goblin riders. We were planning to send tents and other supplies once they reached the area of their choice, along with technical instruction so they could build their own settlents. It wouldnt happen overnight, but wherever they settled down, I was sure theyd have better lives than before, at least.
Treyni was sending notice to the races that lived near the areas where we were planning to have the orcs set up shop. She could teleport around magically, too, pretty much, so the notification process apparently went quickly. Nobody would be willing to turn down the request of a dryad (whatever they thought about it internally), so I hoped no major problems cropped up. We had deliberately chosen areas that werent populated by intelligent races, so I figured wed be fine, but you never know.
Soon, the high orcs set off on the road to their new lives.
But we werent done yet. I turned toward the several thousand remaining souls.
It seed that the orc general, along with the high orcs who directly served him, were insisting upon working directly under my command. I said yes, as reluctant as I was. I did need so spare hands to handle the work around there, and we were still chronically short on people to build the town. They wouldnt number enough to put a major dent in our food supplies, either.
So I didnt need to think too much about my decision, even though it ant a lot more people answering to . Around two thousand, in factthe remainder of the elite orc corps, numbering two thousand or so, decked out in their black full-plate armor. Their strength mustve been what helped them survive this long.
If they were going to be my elite guard of sorts, I couldnt very well put them in the sa naming series as the rest. But if not, what, then? Given the yellow auras they emitted, I figured Id na their tribe after that color instead.
Through the lens of Analyze and Assesslike Shuna, I could use it to analyze people to so extent via my eyes aloneI sized up the elite guard, then lined them up in the order I decided on. I then gave them numbers from strongest to weakest, without dividing them by gender.
Such was the birth of what would later be called the Yellow Numbers.
That left only the orc general to tackle. I had a feeling Id have to contribute so magic of my own into this one. Fortunately, I already had a na picked out. Hopefully hed be able to pick up where the previous orc lord left off.
I hereby declare that you shall inherit the will of the Orc Disaster. You shall be called Geld from now on!
Yes, sir!!
Our eyes t. His overflowed with tears. And the mont I gave the na, the orc generals body was wrapped in a yellow aura as he began to evolve. At the sa ti, I could feel the magic flowing out of . Oh crap. Not that much
Once more, I was back in sleep mode.
I have taken the wrong path. But I am happy now. In the end, I was fulfilled.
Lord Geld, II will take your na, and your will. May you rest in peace.
Indeed. There is no need for you to suffer any longer. You did not warn your father, and no one will bla you for that. I am here precisely because he survived, back then. And your cris will disappear as well.
Yes, my lord. By the na I have taken up, I swear to protect the one who has taken all our sins for himself.
Indeed I trust you will.
All the magic I put into that sent into a deep sleep again. I suppose the exact level of consciousness I retained depended on how much magic I spent.
I felt like I had so kind of weird dream, but I couldnt rember what it was. Youd think I wouldI dont need to sleep any longer, so any dream was bound to be pretty valuable. Couldnt do much about it then, though.
I awoke to a situation that I probably should have expected by now. There were two thousand soldiers in front of , now high orcs. Still ranked C-plus, since they were stronger than the rabble, I guess.
Geld, though
My loyalty is forever yours, my lord!! he shouted as I groggily tried to get it together. I cursed him for being so damn ceremonious about everything.
Lets see. He had evolved into Whoa, an orc king? Thats pretty much the sa level as an orc lord, isnt it? Hmm. About what I figured. They were functionally identical, but Geld wasnt as creepy.
He had also gained the unique skill Gourt, which granted him abilities like Stomach, Receive, and Provide. The latter two were restricted to his own race, but apparently all two thousand of his troops had access to that Stomach. Maybe they could use that to transport supplies to faraway places? What a goofy skill. It could turn the entire transit industry on its side, to say nothing of military supply lines. The only limitation was volu, not type of item. It could store about as much as I could, but it couldnt hold anything too bigin other words, about the size of an orc itself. A suit of armor was about all it could take in at once. (My Stomach had no such limitation.)
The ability to make his n consu the corpses of their comrades was gone, thankfully. No need any longer, I imagined. Not much point retaining a skill if the user didnt want it, besides. The magical energy in him had also ballooned to the point where he was easily an A rank on the level of Benimaru.
Overall, if the demon lord Geld hadnt lost his mind, he probably wouldve wound up turning into a magic-born person like this, a combination of reasoned intelligence and overwhelming presence. I was glad to have more powerful people on my side, but would it really pay for him to follow soone like ? I reminded him that this wasnt exactly a salaried position, but Geld simply smiled and said that was no problem.
Well, if he said so. Id feed and clothe him, at least. And if he decided to strike down his own path later, that was fine. I kinda doubted he ever would, though.
Thus, the Grand Naming Project ended.
Before I took my leave, I decided to wish the lizardman chief a fond good-bye.
Hey. Sorry we never really got a chance to talk amid all this nonsense. Hope we can keep this ship sailing smoothly, huh, Chief?
Ah, hello there, Sir Rimuru! Theres no need to call Chief like that. It puts on edge to hear it from you! he exclaid in surprise.
I knew the monsters had other ways of identifying themselves, but I wasnt delicate enough to pick up on that junk. His not having a na really annoyed .
Well, yeah, but I know. Youre Gabils father, right? Why dont you try calling yourself Abil, or sothing?
I always had a tendency to blurt out whatever was on my mind like that.
What?! he exclaid, half in shock.
And so, in the midst of a little friendly chitchat, it ca to pass that I nad the lord of all the lizardn who walked the earth. Not every lizardman who existedugh, nothing that big again. Just the chief, I figured, and maybe others later, as kind of a reward for their exploits in battle or whatever.
That I inadvertently transford him into a dragonewt just because he didnt like Chief, well, whoda thunk?
Everything was now well and truly wrapped up. Only about three weeks had passed, but I felt like I was now a battle-hardened veteran. Really, Im pretty sure I fought harder than anybody else in the marshes. These death matches were really trying on a body.
Lets just go ho and relax a bit.
Gabil was marched up to his fatherAbil, the chief.
He had been hauled off to jail the mont the battle had ended, given one morning al and one evening al a day, and otherwise nobody said anything to him. That had continued for two weeks straight. His cri of rebellion was obvious to all, and he had accepted this punishnt without complaint. He had had the best of intentions when he did the deed, but the results had almost brought the lizardn to the brink of extinction.
This was all his fault. He recognized that, and he could neither make excuses for it nor intended to. He figured he would receive the death penalty, and the thought did not particularly bother him.
But when he closed his eyes, he could rember the incident. It was more shocking to him than anything; and it made the betrayal of the one who believed in him seem like a petty detail by comparison.
It was the magic-born disguised as a human being completely dominating him, and then taking on the demon lord himself. Even now, he could perfectly recall the sweet little child, his silvery hair flowing in the wind. It almost moved Gabil to tears, the sight of this creature standing strong to protect him. Any pain and anger he felt at Gelmud for turning his back on him was imdiately whisked away.
All that Gabil had left was his near-worshipful adulation for this creature. But what was even more shocking was the way he then transford into a sli. The very sli he had dismissed as a low-level piece of garbage. Thats rightlow level. He was, but he wasnt, too. That sli was special. Not in a unique or a nad way. Even more special than that.
If he ever got the chance, Gabil wanted to ask: Why did you help ? This sli nad Rimuru had no reason to rescue this worthless, completely bamboozled lizardman, this utter buffoon. It was the one thing Gabil thought about for those two weeks.
Now he was in front of the chief. He turned his face upward, finding it hard against the heavy atmosphere surrounding him. His father stood there like a grand boulder, and his eyes opened wide. The chief was brimming with youth, such was his newfound strength.
Despite his fathers power, Gabil dared to defy him just because he had a na and his father didnt. He realized his eyes had deceived him all along, and now he mourned that fact.
His father seed far stronger than he rembered. It didnt seem possible. Gabil looked up, locking eyes with him, though the chief betrayed no emotion.
One look at his cold, calculating eyes was all Gabil needed.
Ahh Hell put to death
The leader of the herd must never show any weakness. He must retain discipline at all tis, or else he would set a terrible example for the rest. But Gabil didnt mind this. Those were the rules, and the rules were set in stone.
The chief opened his mouth.
It is ti for your verdict! Gabil, you are hereby expelled from our caverns. You may never call yourself a lizardman again, and you are forbidden from ever returning here. Leave us at once!
Huh?
Whatdid he say?
He was taken by his fathers royal guard and shoved outside the caverns, tossed out on his rear.
You forgot this, the chief said from behind the entrance as they left, throwing sothing at Gabil. Take it!
It was a long, thin object, wrapped in cloth, that was part of his belongings. When he picked it up, the weight imdiately told him what it was: the Vortex Spear, a magic weapon and one of the lizardns greatest treasures.
Tears fell from Gabils eyes. He turned to his father as he tried to say sothing. But nothing ca out. He was no longer part of them.
Instead, he saluted his father, face filled with solemn emotion. And as he hung his head, Gabil almost thought he heard his fathers voice:
Gabil, as long as I, Abil, am still healthy, the lizardn will be safe. You may live as you please from now onbut whatever you do, you must put every fiber of your body into it. Rember this well
Y-yes, my lord! I will beco a fighter worthy enough to gain your praise, as I serve underneath our savior.
With this unspoken reply, Gabil turned and walked away, straight ahead, without another word. He still felt lost, but he had resolve in his heart, as he began to walk the path only he could take.
After a while, Gabils way was blocked by a familiar-looking settlent.
We were awaiting you, Sir Gabil!
It was the hundred knights under Gabils direct command.
Wh-what are you all doing here?! I have been exiled from our people!
It doesnt matter, sir. We are here to serve none but Sir Gabil. If you have been exiled, then so have we!
The rest smiled and cheered their agreent.
What fools , Gabil thought. The tears almost flowed from his eyes again; he just barely kept them in. Now was no ti for crying. He tried to summon up all the dignity, all the majesty he inherited from his father, letting out a hearty laugh.
Ah, you people are incorrigible! Very well, then. Follow !
And so Gabil walked ahead with his peoplewith confidence, where none existed before.
It would take another month before the small force t with Rimuru again.
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