I have to say, this town was really starting to look nice. It's a lot nicer than I had thought it'd be.
Thanks to planning the city out from scratch, the buildings had all been arranged in very neat order. Nice to see my efforts didn't go to waste.
Though all I really did was yell at people to do my bidding.
I was like, "Do my biddings, assholes!"—and yeah, they did.
Bunch of goons, yeah?
The homes were in such orderly rows, like pieces on a checkerboard, that things could get a bit tricky if you lost your bearings—but that didn't really
matter, I felt.
My main concerns were things like toilets, water supplies, pest prevention, and bath equipment.
I know what the standards were like in Japan, and I had no
reason to lower my expectations over here.
I knew the levels of civilization I was working with, among all the monster races, and I had every right to ignore their standards.
So I planned things out the way I wanted, from the start.
This was about where I pictured things would be, once we had water and sewers worked out—but really, it was even more perfect than I was planning for.
Just look at the toilets, for one. At first, I had a toilet stall carved out of wood—which didn't work at all, so I had it changed out.
A wooden toilet, unlike the squat toilets you see across Asia, made cleaning a nightmare.
Splatter them with waste, and you're never getting that smell off, trust me. Let the cleaning slide a bit, and they'd start to rot.
You shouldn't let the cleaning "slide" in the bathroom, of course, but either way, going with pure wood presented too many longevity issues to be acceptable.
Steel or metal were ruled out—we had far too few resources for that, and expending them on
such luxuries were bound to be frowned upon.
So I decided to go with a toilet made out of something close to the porcelain I recalled in my memory.
Good ol' Thought Communication helped a lot with this. I was able to use it on anyone I liked, which made getting my point across child's play.
Concepts too difficult to impart with words or pictures could be
"imagined" in my mind and transmitted without any discrepancies creeping in.
The rest, I left up to our dwarven artisans. Porcelain did exist in this world, and a number of daily necessities were even made from it, so the seat itself
wasn't hard to make.
We just had to select the right kind of soil from the local
area, then cook it up to high temperatures with the furnace I prepared.
It was a trial-and-error process for them, but once they hit on the right formula, the rest
was easy.
In a flash, they recreated the exact sort of sit-down toilets I recalled from Earth.
Combine that with the wooden seats we had already made, and we
were all set.
So with that, every home now had a working toilet and drainage system.
It never failed to amaze me how handy these dwarves were. But that was only the first surprise.
There were really a lot of other things I would like to discuss, like the running water system, the pesticides reproduced with the help of Fubuki, the bath design, and many more matters, but there were other things that needed attention.
Our homes for everyone had been completed. And that, of course, meant we now had to focus on the residents' own issues.
Compared to before their evolutions, the monsters' reproductive rates had shrunk down to around the same as human families.
You could expect five to ten offspring per live birth before, but now it was just one or two.
That wasn't a bad thing at all—they were high-level hobgoblins from birth, which proved that
these really were evolved creatures I had "created."
But it meant I had to come up with a formal marriage system before long.
When it came to goblins and orcs, the stronger members of the tribe
reportedly had the right to select any partner they wanted.
It was a custom meant to ensure their children were as hardy as possible.
The question, though: Should I be allowing polygamy, or what?
It seemed practical in the case of (for example) female widowers who lost their husband, but I didn't want the alpha males hoarding all the ladies exclusively for themselves.
That would cause all kinds of discontent. The ogre mages told me they could procreate with one another, although they chose not to.
But if, say, Benimaru or Soei decided to start a harem, I wasn't sure too many of the
females would turn them down.
However, as Benimaru put it:
"You know, Sir Rimuru, you're about the only creature in the world who doesn't have to worry about exhausting their magicules.
A monster's magicule count is similar to a human's life force, you could say. Sometimes, giving a name to one of your disciples would sap your magicules to the point that you never recovered.
You wouldn't even see a demon lord–class creature tossing out
names to everyone, you see? And if we do something like sire children, my lord, that would affect our strength gravely."
This shocked me:
Whoa, whoa, whoa! I've given out, like, a zillion names, man! Don't tell me that now!
His genuine reaction:
"Y-you didn't know, Sir Rimuru…?!"
I hated it when Benimaru gave me that disgusted look.
Maybe I should thank my lucky stars that my magicules have kept refilling up to now. Going forward, I'll really have to start thinking about who I name and when.
I thought it was a given that you recovered your magic force over time. I was sure it was fine, but… Yeah, let's be more careful.
But what of Fubuki? The dude was merrily spamming out names like he had practiced for that very moment.
He couldn't have possibly done such a thing knowing that his "life-force" was on the line.
I'm sure he knows of the risk, but he did it either way, easily so.
The dude was frightening. Every single time I learned more about him, I got increasingly scared.
Like—what the—… For the love of…, c'mon!
That…What's his deal, anyway?
Really, I needed answers.
Anyway.
So basically, nobody was stupid enough to just go mating willy-nilly.
Childbirth didn't affect the regular goblins as much—they had to produce a lot of offspring
if they wanted the tribe to survive another generation—but for hobgoblins, it took up a huge amount of magic.
As they rather bluntly put it, the moment you consummated the act, you knew right then and there whether the impregnation "worked" or not.
It was kind of graphic, but it was the truth. If a healthy pregnancy resulted, it would cost the father around half of their maximum store of magic.
This would fill back up over time, but not if you kept at it repeatedly—that might permanently dent your magicule capacity.
Thus, I suppose, even if you had a bevy of girls to choose from, you couldn't just go and sire a huge herd of children.
Realistically, a man would take multiple wives just so he could protect them, not to build a family.
This didn't apply to the females, by the way. In fact, the way they put it, they were capable of willfully refusing impregnation unless the sheer strength of the
seed overpowered their bodies.
Therefore, if an undesirable partner violated ethical boundaries to commit the act, a child still wouldn't result.
Only those whom the women deemed worthy had the right to become fathers—and this was also true for other high-level monsters and magic-born.
You could say, surprisingly enough, that monsters mated strictly out of love a lot more than you'd think.
So I decided to make a rule:
"With regards to leaving behind descendants, polygamy is allowed strictly with widowed females seeking children."
Widowers who didn't want offspring could receive subsidized care from the nation, I figured.
If this caused problems, I could always change it later.
Like, maybe have a kind of ceremony at the start of each month where residents could confess their love to one another, and then we'd give out homes to the couples it created.
That'd be a nice tradition to start.
Single men or women could live in the dorms, although those with higher posts could have the right to a freestanding house, too.
There was also the ordeal with Gabiru, where I ended up recruiting him to our group.
Turns out that Gabiru's father disinherited him, leaving him with nowhere to go.
It was such a pathetic tale that I agreed to his request.
Besides, given the way he freely ate our food, without looking out of place at all among the hobgoblins, I figured he had a talent that I shouldn't make light of.
We currently had no defensive wall in place since it'd only hinder our construction efforts.
It must've been easy for them to breach our boundaries, but I could only guess that he convinced our patrols that he was one of my men.
His sister also followed, mentioning something along the lines of being enthralled by Soei, wanting to serve under him.
Seeing no problem with it, I agreed readily.
Well, not without a little Q&A with sneaky tests.
I named her Soka. She had four guards with her, two female and two male.
For them, I went with Toka, Saika, Nanso, and Hokuso. Each received one cardinal direction in their names—east, west, south, north, in that order.
To this, I added "ka," or flower, to the female names and "so," or spear, to the males.
There is no particular meaning to it. Just seemed nice
As for the other one…
It was a mess. Due to some unexpected events, I ended up renaming Gabiru.
I had no idea that you could, um, overwrite them like that.
Maybe the fact his original christener was dead meant the wavelengths were aligned with me instead, or something.
I couldn't know why, but either way, I named him. I was hoping to make him dwell on his crimes a bit longer, but what's done is done.
Maybe I could have him follow in Gobta's footsteps and show him hell at the hands of Hakuro.
Otherwise, this new evolution would just make him more self-absorbed and prickish than before.
He'll definitely need to be assigned a job later, I thought as I drifted away into my now-familiar sleep mode.
The next day, I set out to naming the other hundred lizardmen.
I had spent my immobilized time thinking up names, mostly random bits of alphabet strung together.
As high-level a monster as the lizardmen were, I had to take a break after around twenty of them.
The whole process thus took five days.
Now they were all dragonewts. A dragonewt was classified as a sort of demi-human with dragon's blood.
Surprisingly, you could far more easily tell the males and females apart.
The males didn't look much different from lizardmen, save for the dragon-like wings, the horns, and the firmer scales.
The biggest difference was the color of those scales—changing from a greenish-black to a purplish one.
The females, meanwhile, looked practically human. Rather pretty, even.
They did have those dragon horns and wings, though, and with the dragonewts' Scalify skill, they could transform their skin into leathery scales at any time—or for that matter, look even closer to a full-blooded human.
The transformation also affected their strength, not just their appearance.
Their already-honed bodies would be covered in solid, protective dragon scale, which automatically projected a multilayer barrier that protected them from melee and magical attack.
Dragonewts also had Resist Magic, something I discovered when the Receive part of my Gluttony skill granted it to me.
It made me regret expending all that effort to "Provide" them with Multilayer Barrier, but all the same, I felt like I got
something out of the deal.
I probably gave them a few more skills as well, but we'll find out what they were later.
It kind of annoyed me that I couldn't control that unless I
deliberately restricted a skill from 『Gluttony』 access.
◇◇◇
The dragonewts were well situated now, and Gabiru and the rest were fully used to life with their fellow townspeople.
A long series of peaceful days followed. Ah, nothing like peace, I blithely thought as Shion carried me around, her breasts bouncing against me in a
steady rhythm as she walked.
Boing, boing, boing, boing. Ooh, this feels great…
I was just letting myself descend to ever-lazier thoughts when—
"Sir Rimuru, we have an emergency. Several hundred winged horses are headed for the direction of town."
Soei sent me a cold, to-the-point message via Thought Communication.
Rimuru: 「Shion, it's an emergency. I'll call for Fubuki, Benimaru, and Hakuro, so get Rigurd to alert the townspeople for me!」
Shion: 「Right!」
She lowered me down, then briskly ran off.
Thought Communication wasn't enough to broadcast a message to an entire city.
We needed to ring a special alarm bell to make everyone gather at the public square.
I ran down the situation with the ogre mages, then turned my
attention to the sky, turning my Magic Sense all the way up.
It let me detect something coming from the Dwarven Kingdom. A force of around a thousand.
None ranked an A alone—or I should say, an A as a rider and mount alone—Wait, they had knights on flying horses?!
It had to be a welltrained
force, whoever they are.
«Understood. Using Analyze and Assess, I have determined the knights' rank tobbe A-minus. Their flying mounts are also appraised at A-minus.
However, their minds are synchronized to the point where one could treat each one as a single creature, ranked perhaps slightly higher than A.»
Right. So we're talking five hundred mounted, flying knights—A-ranked cavalry, as the Great Sage put it.
Even with all our forces pooled together, we couldn't hack this one.
Shion came back with Shuna, with Benimaru and Hakuro arriving
simultaneously. Soei had somehow appeared behind me, too.
Fubuki, somehow, got ahead of us all. He has his ways, I guess.
Geld was busy calling for the high orcs, currently handling construction and resource-gathering work in the forest.
He was running all over, trying to get his battle equipment organized, but I doubted any of it would be in time.
A force of C-plus high orcs would just get razed to the ground.
Benimaru: 「Orders?」
Fubuki: 「We don't know the intention, so for now, stay back. I'll handle it.」
Great, it looks like my turn to have the back row seat and watch it all unfold has been granted.
Shion: 「No biggies! I'll definitely rout them all if they dare cross the line.」
Fubuki: 「...」
I wanted to call her stupid, but I doubt she'd understand why. She and I had two different definitions of victory.
If we could expend all the sacrifices, we wanted to smash this team of five hundred.
If you asked me whether that was possible or not, then sure it was.
But if you want to avoid civilian casualties, I had to conclude that was impossible.
Fubuki: 「Shion, I'll need to have you restrained if you keep this up. Can't have you rushing straight for the kill with that spirit of yours.」
Shion: 「Whoa—?! No, surely you jest!」
Fubuki: 「.... I don't really need this.」
He paid no further mind to her and returned his focus to the incoming army.
I guess even he feels helpless dealing with her.
Fubuki: 「Well, what happens, happens. If this turns into a fight, our first priority is
evacuating our residents. We'll buy the time to make that happen.」
Rimuru: 「You got it. Indeed, this could be an easy win once we're in the thick of it!」
Shuna: 「I'll handle the magical support!」
Benimaru: 「Heh-heh-heh… My longsword is seeking blood.」
Soei: 「—I am only here to serve you two, my lords.」
It's good to see the gang up and kickin'.
I heard someone mutter in the group. Turning toward the
voice, I saw Kaijin lost in thought.
Kaijin: 「Hmm—?! No way…if these are flying knights, I've heard rumors about a top-secret force
under the direct control of the dwarven king. Just rumors, but…」
Fubuki: 「Hm? What about it?」
According to Kaijin, this top-secret personal army of the king's, independent of the seven official armies, was known as the Pegasus Knights.
Kaijin: 「The winged horses they fly are normally C-ranked magical beasts. Dwargon's been breeding them for their flight skills. You won't find too many A-minus ones in nature. I guess the rumors were true, huh…?」
What Kaijin said seemed to make sense.
Whatever could upgrade those creatures so dramatically must have been kept under tight secrecy.
Even an exofficer would've only heard half-told rumors.
So, was this was what we had to deal with…?
What a pain…
Fubuki: 「Kaijin, if what you say is true, do you think there's a chance the dwarf king himself is among them?」
Kaijin: 「Per…haps? King Gazel almost never leaves the royal palace these days, but he was lauded as a hero in his glory years.
If he thought it necessary, it wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility for him to personally lead a force like this.」
Rimuru: 「Can you think of any reason why he would?」
Kaijin: 「Well… Maybe because of the orc lord? But that's all settled now.」
Hmm? The orc lord…?
Rimuru: 「Hey, Rigurd, can I ask you a question?」
Rigurd: 「Yes, my lord?」
Rimuru: 「I told Kabal and his party to spread some rumors around their fellow adventurers, but did we ever tell them that it's over?」
Rigurd: 「Ah…?」
Rimuru: 「Oh, man, I forgot…I better send a message to 'em.」
Rigurd: 「I apologize for this oversight, Sir Rimuru…」
It wasn't just Rigurd's fault. I forgot, too, so we were even, pretty much.
I could get the message across through Soei in a flash, so I didn't see it as a fatal
mistake.
And while I wanted Soei to take care of that ASAP, I had to deal with our new visitors first.
Fubuki: 「No need. I already did that, but it seems it was already late by then. What a waste…」
Eh? He… man. I guess he isn't always slacking off like I thought.
That's one thing off our shoulders, at least.
Kaijin: 「Do you think the dwarven king heard about this and came to help?」
Kaijin was awfully optimistic, but it didn't seem that way to me.
But there was no point speculating what we didn't know anyway, so I closed the subject.
All we could do was wait for these uninvited guests, debating with one another about what to do should the worst happen.
A herd of winged horses was flying above town. They took sidelong glances at us as we watched them, looping around the city airspace a few times before
landing in an open field just beyond its borders.
We had some open space in town, too—the areas where we planned to build most of our central facilities, for one—but I suppose they didn't immediately touch down in the city out of
politeness.
That'd be pretty much a declaration of war, wouldn't it, if a nation did that to another?
International law probably didn't apply to monsters, though, and I wasn't even sure such a thing existed in this world in the first place…
No point thinking about it.
Leaving the evacuation efforts to Hakuro, Kurobe, and Gobta, I headed out of town to greet them.
Accompanying me was Rigurd, who insisted that negotiations with the outside world were in his jurisdiction.
Assuming we had any room to negotiate…
Obviously, Kaijin and the three dwarves were with me, too.
The knights were lined up in neat rows in the field beyond the city.
In front was one whose force of presence dominated over all of them.
He was flanked by four bodyguards, each obviously several times stronger than the rest of the force.
Counting King Gazel himself, that meant five incredibly powerful dwarves were before us.
I couldn't know exactly what kind of threat they were, but well
into A territory, at least.
Considering the aura of danger I felt when I was last placed in front of him—and considering that aura was still there now—his
powers had to be on another dimension.
If I had to guess, his four compatriots dated from his days on the road as Heroic King.
No wonder their kingdom was
so strong. If you ever bumped into these guys on the road, running was your best bet at survival, for sure.
We really have to avoid combat now. Otherwise, it'll get ugly.
Kaijin: 「Well, well, Your Majesty. It has been a long time—and quite an impressive showing, as well! May I ask what brings you here today?」 Kaijin stepped forward and took a knee before Gazel.
Gazel: 「A pleasure to see you again, Kaijin…and you as well, slime. Do you remember me?」
The king was surprisingly casual with us as I sized up his approach.
Are we doing away with the obnoxious formalities? I blithely wondered as I felt something dark and ominous from behind.
In a flash, Benimaru's smile vanished, and he had a steady hand on his sword, apparently not a fan of the king calling me just "slime."
Soei, on the other hand, kept it supremely cool—the faint smile on his face told us all how he felt. He was pissed.
He normally had no expression at all, but if you got him mad, he'd smile back at you.
He was a dangerous man to trifle with, and it was pretty funny how the only way to make Soei smile was to basically bait him into killing you.
Benimaru might've had a short temper, but by ogre mage standards, he was showing remarkable restraint.
Meanwhile, the aura I felt from Shuna and Shion was nothing to sniff at, either.
They were showing the opposite of restraint, actively exuding danger with every fiber of their being.
Fubuki was pretty chill with it.
At least they were following Fubuki's orders.
Kaijin seemed surprised by his carefree demeanor.
Not gonna lie, I also didn't expect such a thing.
Gazel: 「Ha-ha-ha-ha! I see your head is unbending as always, Kaijin. Can you not see? I have come here strictly as a private citizen.
At least, on paper. Otherwise, I hardly would be allowed out of my own bedchamber.」
Kaijin, still flustered, exchanged looks with his king and me.
Realizing that nobody on the scene had any further comment, he took that to mean Gazel was
telling the truth.
It was hard for him to swallow. He froze.
So. The dwarven king wasn't paying us a state visit but just doing a little private tourism?
So what were all those ominous-looking knights behind him for?
Hmm. Thinking about it, they'd never allow a king to just walk around in the forest alone.
They had to be guards sent with him to appease the elders and
bureaucrats who formed the core of the dwarven government.
Well, if we're doing away with the procedure, I don't see any reason not to address him directly.
Trusting in my hunch that Gazel meant no conflict, I decided to take a bullish approach.
Rimuru: 「I'm free to speak?」
Gazel: 「By all means. This is no place to allow ourselves to be bound by formal ceremony.」
Rimuru: 「Right. Well, let me introduce myself first. My name is Rimuru.
You're right that I'm a slime, but I'd prefer if you didn't call me that.
I mean, I'm kind of one of the leaders of the Great Forest of Jura Alliance, so you could say things have changed a bit since last time.」
I took this moment to turn into my human shape.
Rimuru: 「This isn't exactly who I really am, but it's probably easier for you to talk to, no?」
I smirked. They were shocked. In other words, I rocked.
"It… It transformed?!"
"A magic-born…and such a high-level one."
"Hmm. I sense magical force but no casting of magic itself. A skill-based status transformation, I would say.
I sense no sudden burst of magicules, so it is likely
as it said—simply a change of appearance, not of nature. But this could change its method of battle.
At the least, being able to wield equipment like our own could boost its own offensive and defensive powers."
"Sounds like trouble… I haven't seen a rare variant like this in quite a while. And the monsters behind it are rather strange in themselves!"
"Hmm," said an old woman among them. "Those, I can identify. They are ogre mages—a race just as rare as orc lords."
"They are? That's the evolved form of an ogre, is it not? Should we not dispatch them before they grow too strong to handle?"
"—You think it'd go that smoothly? Four of them bear horns. We would have to prepare for a bitter fight."
"I hate to sound timid, but yes… Best not to underestimate them."
"Is that a human? But no magical signature whatsoever?"
"Careful there now. He's with the monsters. He must have a good amount of power behind him."
"You sure 'bout that? My son could probably do 'em all one-sidely."
"Guys, he's with the monsters. Isn't that the least bit suspicious? We'll have to take him in for investigation. We can't let this slide."
Gazel watched his followers talk it out whilst we just looked on silently.
Fubuki, on the other hand…
Fubuki: 「King Gazel, better put the leash on, 'cause no way in hell I'm payin' for "accidental injuries."」
The king looked on silently, but his personal companions seemed fairly unnerved.
They even guessed what Benimaru and his kin were. That old crone
must've used some kind of magic to prod us for data.
I didn't like being evaluated like that, but it was largely out of my hands. I needed to show off a little strength, or else they'd stomp all over me.
Even if we survived, I sure as
hell didn't want to be subservient to these guys.
Gazel: 「Silence!」 the king suddenly bellowed, never taking his eyes off me. 「Enough of this racket. This slime and I are speaking right now. Excuse me—Rimuru, I mean. I will evaluate him for myself, and I would appreciate it if all of you held your tongues in the meantime.」
True enough. Friend or foe, though, huh? That might be why King Gazel's here, then—to figure out exactly who the heck we are.
If I had to guess, he knew about the orc lord's defeat, and that compelled him to move.
As long as I could gain his trust, there was no need to be hostile.
Rimuru: 「Well, you can doubt me all you want, but we can't really
sustain a conversation that way, can we?」
Gazel: 「Worry not, Words are useless in the face of things at this point. My blade shall decide this event. I will use my sword to divine your true nature.
If you insist on such ribald boasting, calling yourself the 'leader' of this forest, it may be about time to show you your place. If that sword of yours isn't mere decoration, I ask you
to accept my request.」
Talk about annoying…
With that, he handed the halberd he carried in his hands to an attending knight on his side.
My katana-style sword must have set off his battle lust or
something.
Fubuki: 「If you're so jealous about such petty matters, how 'bout you do your research properly.」
Gazel: 「Hmm? And… you are—?!... Hm—?!」
Fubuki had just done away with the form he adopted back at the marshlands.
Wait, now that I think about it, why didn't he do that earlier?
He only created mayhem upon his return to the forest, with many of the residents demanding answers for the appearance change.
Let's just say it wasn't an easy thing to deal with—all those monsters having to deal with it.
Gazel: 「You… You're the man with all those golds!」
Fubuki: 「Yup. I really enjoyed the business deal.」
Gazel: 「You…」
Hey, what's with the flow? Does he have an unsettled grudge or something?
Fubuki: 「Actually, I tricked him into trading refined golden coins for raw gold.」
Eh? He what? Hey, isn't that like, kinda dangerous?
No, now that I think of it, that's really cool.
Fubuki: 「And the worst part? The quality of the gold was that of an era far undeveloped and underage. After making the deal, I let up on it, and he started whining up storms.」
Hey, wasn't that really reckless? I mean, yeah, they've never met, and he didn't even bother to know the details.
Did Fubuki do something sneaky? Dude, pulling up stunts on a king no less, this guy's fearless.
Fubuki: 「That aside, what do you have to say about the challenge, Rimuru?」
Oh, right, that…
Rimuru: 「I accept the request. And I'll make you regret calling me a boaster.」 I said, looking King Gazel in the eye.
Gazel: 「Regarding the rules, if you can block a single string of my attacks, you may call yourself the victor.
Not that it has to be said, but you are free to attack me at any time, too.
But remember: I am Gazel Dwargo, Master of the Sword, and my blade shall not be taken lightly.」
He took his weapon in hand and aimed it in front of his eyes.
It held a single edge, with a bit of a curve to it, and pretty patterns were etched up and down
its length.
It resembled a samurai sword but had its own unique design—
certainly, a very well-made weapon for the Master of the Sword to carry.
Just when I was preparing to draw my own blade, a clear voice penetrated the ring.
Treyni: 「Allow me to watch over the match!」
As it did, I felt the presence of three more among us, hearts pure and bereft of evil.
One had spoken—Treyni, a dryad I was familiar with. As always, she had a knack for appearing and disappearing whenever it suited her.
She'd only make an appearance when Fubuki called for it, but aside from that, forget ever seeing her without a good reason.
The other two resembled Treyni, so I assumed they were among the "sisters" she spoke of.
"Dryads?!" exclaimed the elderly woman who scanned us earlier. I couldn't blame her surprise.
Anyone would be alarmed at a monster teleporting in from
out of nowhere.
Treyni smiled as she gave both of us a quick glance.
Treyni: 「Dwarven King, you are terribly arrogant to our forest leader. Calling Sir Rimuru a boaster tells me you are willing to make every denizen of this wood your enemy. Is this right?
However, if Sir Rimuru has accepted this challenge, it is my role as his subject to allow it. I will close my eyes to it this time. But relent on your promise, and do not expect mercy from us.」
She was willing to accept no back talk against this. My companions nodded at one another—it was like Treyni said what they all were thinking.
The dwarves, on the other hand, didn't look well at all.
"The loftiest presence in the forest," one whispered, "siding with a single force?"
"They are as powerful as high-level elementals. And three of them! I hope you are all ready for this, my friends…"
The mood was grim among them.
This was exactly why I wanted to avoid combat…
Gazel: 「Ha! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! So 'one of the leaders of the forest' was no boast, after all. I apologize for branding you a liar, Rimuru.
And I think I have a vague understanding of the situation here. But I still seek to gauge your true nature. I will later inquire about the other rulers, but this duel comes first.
And if we have a referee for this contest, all that remains is to cross swords!」
Gazel seemed completely unmoved.
He had been watching me the whole time, without wavering.
Rimuru: 「Yeah, you're right. We'll have a quick match, and then we can talk about what has brought you here.」
Gazel: 「Heh-heh-heh…And if you can beat me, I will do what I can to answer.」
There was no longer a peep from our audience.
Treyni stood between the two of us as we confronted each other. The match was officially on.