The Guardian of Hobgoblins

The goblin village chiefs gathered with paled faces.

Compared to before, their numbers significantly dwindled.

It all began with the coming of the Direwolves.

Or perhaps it began when they abandoned the village of the Named Warrior.

The villages which wanted to fight along that seemingly despondent village have now joined it.

A Savior appeared in that village.

A being with unbelievable power.

Those goblins came under the protection of that being, gained new powers, and successfully reconstructed their village elsewhere.

But the goblin chiefs can't do something as shameless as request to join them now of all times when before, they didn't dare to gamble their lives.

Actually, a lot want to do that. There are many who already have and already are enjoying evolution and a lot of food to eat!

But if they join them now surely they would be treated as slave. That was the thought that prevented them from making a decision.

However, time doesn't wait.

The orc army has begun their advance.

A few chiefs have decided to serve the orcs.

Rather than be trampled down by them, better to promise help in advance, and live under their protection...

With those intentions, they sent a messenger.

The messenger did not return...not all of him.

The orc envoy brought the messenger's head, and said this.

'Guhahahaha! We shall not permit your capitulation! However. If you chose to become our slaves, we shall at least spare your lives! Such is our response.'

And he leisurely left.

Yet anger did not arise within them. For they witnessed that overwhelming power.

That single orc could have slaughtered everyone in the village himself.

Normally, orcs are a rank D monster.

Stronger than your average goblin, but not so overwhelmingly strong.

Upon hearing the report, the village chiefs fell into an ever deeper despair.

They should have chosen to serve under fellow brethren, at least.

The orc who promised to save their lives also demanded that they give up all their food. "We won't kill you, but die!" That's what he's saying.

However, even if all the goblins assembled, they would certainly be annihilated.

The goblins who could fight numbered slightly less than ten thousand and their equipment was garbage compared to what that Orc had.

Their brothers from the savage regions, those not included in their gatherings, could not be contacted.

So, they were out of options.

At that time, an urgent report arrived.

Lizardmen warriors have entered the village! It read.

Was this not a glimmer of hope?

So the village chiefs went to meet the Lizardmen's Raid Leader; he was their only hope, they thought.

Moreover, he was a named monster! Surely he would become their savior.

And then, their messiah proclaimed

'Swear your loyalty to me! If you do, I promise you a bright future!'

They believe those words!

Thus, the village chiefs made their decision.

It was a mistake of the weak who had no one to depend on. There were some who insisted on serving their kind rather than the Lizardmen.

However, they were greatly outnumbered, so the goblins chose to serve Gabiru.

If only they knew that this decision would decide their fate...

xxx

Three days later...

'So that's what Shion's been doing lately.' Hakurou commented while watching Benimaru lead his class from afar. Rimuru approached him first about the matter. 'You encouraged her with music.'

'Yes. While telling me things, I deduced her fear of being forgotten because 'everyone else did this and that' and she's not skilled at many things other than fighting. Shion really wanted to stand out while also being demotivated.' said Rimuru softly. 'She's now trying out music after Myrd made instruments for her capable of withstanding Kijin fingers.'

'That's very kind of you, Rimuru-sama.' Hakurou remarked kindly, his opinion of Rimuru getting better.

'I take being a Guardian seriously, Hakurou.' Rimuru smiled. 'As long as one has worries, it should be addressed as soon as possible.' she said. 'If not by family, then by friends. A lost person needs guidance.'

'...are you really half a year old?'

'As a Slime, yes, and still counting.'

'...'

'I'll join the swordsmanship classes when at least I'm a year old and less work for me to overseer as well.' said Rimuru. 'I'm a Magician but I can't rely on magic forever. There might be a skill that will render me useless as a mage somewhere.'

'So you're carrying a sword as a reminder?' Hakurou inquired, eyeing the sword on Rimuru's waist. The guard, handle and hilt was blue and gold in color and designed for a young girl.

'Yes. Even the Hunter Unit is better than me at this point.' Rimuru snorted self-depreciatively.

'There is such a skill called Anti-Magic Field, a favorite of Western Mages...because the army who casts it first, wins.' Hakurou could only wince at the grimace on the young guardian's face at the mere idea. As a ball of slime before gaining her human form, being all she could do was bounce around for movement or fly through her Mimic skill, magic was really all she has. The mere idea of an Anti-Magic Field clearly spooked her.

For Rimuru, she lamented, 'Why trope, why?' she never dreamed this medieval world already has that too!

'Rimuru-sama.' Souei appeared behind them.

'Report.' Rimuru instructed.

'I witnessed a troop of Lizardmen.' Souei began. 'They make their home in the Wetlands, so its not normal to see them wander to this far.' he said. 'It seems they are attempting negotiation with nearby Goblin villages.'

'Good luck with that.' Rimuru deadpanned with a flat expression. 'Goblins have ordinary equipment scavenged from Adventurers. Without the ability to maintain what they got, their equipment deteriorate over time. And in making alliances, don't people normally approach tribes equal to their strength? They're grasping at straws here.'

'Its indeed unusual but something must have led to desperation...the Lizardmen may feel they're next.' Souei theorized. 'They might be here soon too.'

'Hmmm, if they ever showed up I'll see them myself.' Rimuru told him. 'For now, eavesdrop on the Lizardmen and the Orcs. You're using Body Double well that there's absolutely no risk for you, so you'll be alright.' she said, reassured with Souei's ability. 'And also, given the path of the Orcs, see what other tribes are thinking.'

'Yes.'

'I want everything in writing, so see the Dwarves for paper when you're done.'

'Rimuru-samaaa!' Shion called out, running towards them. 'I made some lunch today! Let's eat!' unnoticed by Rimuru, the kijin men were terrified at the idea.

'Oh? That's great, Shion!' Rimuru smiled. 'Guys, break! It's lunch time!' she called out.

'Er, I'll eat later.' Souei left.

'Hoho, I promised Riguru I'd teach him how to play Go.' Hakurou left as well.

'Boys, we're packing up and to the baths!' Benimaru ordered the guys.'

'...guess it's just us.' Rimuru blinked.

Later, she soon learned why the boys were quick to flee, and she swore she'll at least, make Benimaru pay for this...

It was good that she has Poison Resistance.

Shion has zero skill in cooking. Who the hell taught this girl?

'Shion, what did you use to make this?'

'Oh, the vegetables from the storage room!'

'Shion, there's a proper order as these are monster vegetables, not the stuff humans eat.' Rimuru sweatdropped. 'If done in wrong order it becomes a weapon of war instead.'

'Huh...?'

Then Rimuru got an idea.

'Maybe this could work for us after all...' Rimuru wore a dark smile on her face. 'Shion, should I teach you about...Enemy Hospitality...?'

xxx

Gabiru had easily acquired the Goblin Villages' support.

Without even having to show his power, the goblins quickly surrendered themselves to him, boosting his ego.

They are a pathetic race, after all. Should they show any intention to disobey, he'll quickly force them to obey.

Gabiru had completely forgotten the Head's words.

He had every village bring out food from their storehouses.

And, for have every warrior assemble before him.

The goblin warriors numbered 7,000.

They were clothed in battered leather armor, and armed with stone spears.

A poor fighting force, but good enough for now.

Those without the will to fight have already ran away.

'Clan chiefs! Are there any other villages around here?'

The chiefs exchanged glances.

One nervously replied,

'No,though not exactly a village, but there is a community...'

What's with that?

The way they are trying to avoid the question was getting on Gabiru's nerves.

And when he pressed further, they began telling him a bizarre story.

That there was a group of goblins hunting atop of Direwolves.

However, that makes no sense, he thought. Direwolves are powerful monsters that move in packs.

Called the rulers of the plains, they've thwarted Lizardmen's advances many times.

For them to serve some lowly goblins, impossible!

And moreover, they've concluded with a truly ludicrous statement.

Those goblins obeyed a slime.

A slime, the lowest of monsters! What wolf, or even goblin would serve such trash?

He decided to confirm their words.

There's probably some trick involved, he thought. If he handled this well, he could gain control over the Direwolves.

Gabiru thus decided, for the sake of his grand ambition.

The village was not where he was told.

That had angered him, but he decided to be patient. In order to control the wolves, he probably needed to be more patient.

To achieve his desire of ousting the current Head, he needed to have more self-control.

Thus, for the sake of his goals, he decided to be patient.

Gabiru perceived only one obstacle to his plans–a lack of an army.

If only he could command the wolves, the other lizardmen would surely follow.

And with the rulers of the plains and the rulers of the marshes under one banner, how could they even think to fear the lowly orcs!

Gabiru so believed, without even a hint of doubt.

By expelling the orcs, they would become the true rulers of the Jura Forest. And thus, surely Gelmud-sama would distinguish them for their service.

For such a grand dream, he'd wait as long as necessary.

The main army he'd already sent back to the Shiss lake, ordering them to be on standby.

Since they didn't have much provision, they had to act quickly. Time was of essence.

And after receiving reports that tracks were found, he quickly issued orders.

Including himself, he selected ten elites.

Mounting the Overlizards, they ran towards their objective.

The wolves were nothing to fear, as although they were certainly powerful, they obeyed some lowly goblins. Probably the leftovers of a pack.

"I'll train them myself, and have them regain their former power!" So he thought.

Oh, but how could he have imagined what would lay before him...!

His head was filled with the dream of becoming a ruler of the forest and serving Gelmud-sama.

xxx

A Lizardman envoy arrived at the village and his jaw dropped.

"Are these guys really Goblins?!"

Compared to the tiny, filthy runts who can't even talk right, what is this sight before him?

They are all well-dressed. Wearing shoes even, with high-quality clothes.

The huts are of good quality as opposed to those...flimsy dwellings his group saw in past villages.

The men are tall and very muscular. The women are pretty.

What. the. hell?

Is this really a community ruled by a Slime?!

Intel he got should be tossed to the trash! He approached a pretty goblin lady.

'Excuse me, can I see your Leader?'

'Oh, Chief Rigurd?'

'No no, I heard your Leader is a Slime?' the woman placed her hands on her hips.

'Gee, where'd you hear that from?' she snorted. 'Lady Rimuru made it clear she's our Guardian, our Protector. She let Chieftain Rigurd remain our Chief and after him are Four Goblin Lords, each with a societal bureaucratic Jurisdiction. Rimuru-sama guides us to prosperity and we do the rest under her teachings.'

'Er...a Slime, teach?'

'Rimuru-sama is a Unique Slime. She Named us all and we all evolved to Hobgoblins! She taught us farming and a better way of life!' the woman chided his doubts. 'And not long ago the Oni that joined us became Kijin!'

'E-ehhhh?!'

What?

A Slime so powerful she has a village of Named Monsters?! Goblins became Hobgoblins? Oni survivors from back then became Kijin?!

'I gotta meet this lady of yours!' he sputtered out.

'She should be overseeing construction somewhere...look for a blue-haired girl if she's in her humanoid form today. Sometimes she's a human sometimes she's back in her slime form.' telling the lady thanks, the Lizardman searched the village with nary a security halting him, just passing him by actually while carrying this and that for construction...

And he found her taking down notes and talking to a bald-headed dwarf.

'So the adjustments to those pipes should be at Section 5-9...' the dwarf mused.

'Yes, to keep the future sewage away from our farms and potentially annoying neighbors down south.' Rimuru moaned as she gave a piece of paper to the dwarf when an injured hobgoblin made quite a ruckus.

'RIMURU-SAMA HEEEELP!' a hobgoblin clad in high-class armor came to her with a broken arm snapped cleanly it was hanging limp, other than bruises on his legs. His armor was also dented in many places. 'I ended up falling into a deep hole that's actually a Horned Hare nest during patrol!' he wailed. 'It kicked my arm and its babies started kicking me too!'

Unlucky bastard, Horned Hare is a C+ class monster and the female becomes a B upon having it's first litter too...the lizardman felt sorry for him.

'Oh dear, accidents like that DO happen so always stay on our dirt roads Gobugetsu!' Rimuru took out a glowing, squishy-looking something and made it go splat on Gobugetsu's arm by smacking it on him. Gobugetsu glowed green and his arm was fully healed! That was actually a potion? But to heal to that extent it must be a Full Potion! Not even a High Potion can do that! 'Feeling better?'

'Thanks so much Rimuru-sama! I gotta note that location too as a no-go zone in our territorial map...'

'Come to think of it you're so unlucky lately...did you hang around Cabal's team too much their bad luck rubbed off on you?' Rimuru joked. 'You've become danger-prone like they did!'

'Don't tease meee!' Gobugetsu whined to the slime's and the dwarf's laughter.

'Get a break and have Garm fix your armor! Once it's fixed you're back on duty.'

'Yes!' and Gobugetsu left them. Lizardman decided to approach them then, but found himself strung up by strings.

'Eek!'

'Who are you and what is your business with Rimuru-sama?' a cold, deep voice spoke from behind.

'I-I'm a messsenger from Gabiru-sama!' the lizardman squeaked. 'He wishes to gather this village's warriors under his banner to strike at the Orc Forces! I really am just a messenger!'

'...Gabiru?' Rimuru inquired from Souei.

'A Named Lizardman who's the Chieftain's son.' said Souei. 'I'm keeping an eye as instructed but while the Chief is a level-headed, careful man, the son is overconfident and narcissistic.' Souei reported. 'It does not help that three Lizardmen are always goading him on and its actually driving him into careless actions. With a mindset like that, being Chieftain is just a dream, his sister has a better shot.'

'W-what're you talking about, Gabiru-sama is capable!' the Lizardman cried defensively.

'If he is to be capable, I suggest better friends to hang out with as well as give him common sense.' Souei told the Lizardman coolly. 'And is the one who named him Gelmud?'

'Y-yes! Gabiru-sama hopes to be Ruler of Jura Forest serving under Gelmud-sama!'

The Lizardman then noticed that the atmosphere plunged and not in a good way. 'Er...'

'Myrd, report to King Gazel.' Rimuru spoke to Myrd the Dwarf. 'It seems Garm's suspicions are correct. But this still remains a Monster Matter.' she told Myrd seriously. 'If we fail to kill that little bastard and suppress the trouble he's causing, we'll take out the big guns and I'll have to apologize to the Dryads afterwards by planting new trees to replace the ones I might wreck sometime soon in battle.'

'Yes milady!' and Myrd ran off in haste.

'As for you young man...' Rimuru glowered at the Lizardman. 'Have a little lesson with the low-low cost of a migraine, and run home to your Chief.'

'E-eh?' Rimuru placed her hand on his head and infodump ensued.

But the invasive way of doing it made his head hurt!

'Gyaaaaaa!'

Er? Souei glanced at Rimuru inquisitively because a mere touch to the head caused the Lizardman to howl in pain. He wondered if its a torture tool for interrogation...

I call it invasive information dump. Rimuru snorted. Its a way of safely giving classified information but given its invasive nature as a magic spell...yeah, it really will cause a migraine.

Ah...

xxx

Lake Shiss, hours later on Overlizard...

This same Lizardman staggered into the Chief's throne room before collapsing.

'What happened to you?! Did you get under attack?' the chief's daughter croaked out worriedly. 'Send for a medic!' she cried as she helped the man lie down in a more comfortable position.

'N-no need princess...its the side-effect of a spell on me.' the lizardman groaned but appreciative with the princess' kindness. 'It's causing me a migraine but I have to tell what I was informed of!'

He told what he found out in a Hobgoblin Village protected by a powerful Unique Slime who clearly has ties to the Armed Nation of Dwargon as there's dwarves helping with the Hobgoblin Village construction.

By the time he was done, the throne room was plunged into silence.

'F-father...' the daughter stammered out. 'Have we...invited ruin unto ourselves?' she shook, upset.

'Gabiru-sama was cheated over what should be a great honor...' an elder shook. 'And Gelmud-sama is actually a Demon Lord's Agent who intends to take over Jura for themselves and try to upset the delicate balance of power between them?! We'll all be a battlezone from those monsters! We'll all die!' he cried in horrified dismay.

'Damn if we do, damn if we don't.' the Chieftain swore. 'Its because the Oni Village drove him away, that Gelmud-sama retaliated by leading the Orcs into their village as they justifiably have no respect for him. And its only because we were respectful and hospitable that we were spared the same fate, but we got cheated while we're at it. Someone give this man a potion, and accompany him to Rimuru's Village. I feel that allying with her is a lot better than dealing with a turncoat! If we are of no use to Gelmud-sama, he will abandon us to a miserable fate through treachery!'

'...wise choice.' Souei's body double spoke, startling them all as he showed from the shadows.

'Eeek! It's that string-using kijin!' the lizardman has a healthy fear of Souei now. The whole room gasped as Souei released his potent aura to prove he is what he is, stunning all of them.

'A Kijin at a young age...that cannot be!' the Chieftain choked out in disbelief, looking at Souei. They know the strength of Oni so this strength is no doubt the power of a Kijin indeed! 'You're so...young! The last time I met a Kijin was when I was a child when father took me once to visit the Oni Village! And he's elderly!'

'Unbelievable, but true, Chieftain.' said Souei politely. 'Rimuru-sama Named us all with no harm to herself and enabled our evolution. That we can indeed, avenge ourselves should that bastard ever show his face.' he stated coldly in contempt. 'You have stated your decision to ally with Rimuru-sama, yes?'

'If she is the path to justice and our survival, then I shall for my people's sake.' said the Chieftain. 'My people will always come first. If we are to survive, I would choose a powerful, but wise and reliable ally.'

'Mm. I shall inform Rimuru-sama of your decision.' and Souei was gone, disappearing before their eyes.