Trouble Comes

Upon getting home, they reported to the chief, putting down their shopping in his office, so they had to distribute the completed sewing kits to every female in the village, and put the materials in the workhouse, so everyone can make new clothes and shoes for everybody.

While blue oni went with Rimuru to give the magisteel to the forge, young master reported to his father about what they found out in Dwargon.

'Is that so...' the chief looks thoughtful. 'So what do you and spy think?'

'...I don't know if we can do it.' young master admitted shakily. 'To our eyes, she's still a baby, a singing, carefree baby who's innocent. But the real her is an unknown...and the Rimuru we know is fine with us killing her than have real her harm our village.' he fretted. 'So the swords she gave us will turn to her throat in the end?'

'If it comes to that...it should.' said the chief somberly. 'Rimuru likes our village and sees it as her new home. She would protect it even if it meant she's no longer here when the time comes. So for the good of our tribe, do what you must. Even she agrees on it.' he said. 'We will do what must be done, if you and our spymaster cannot.'

'Alright...'

'Get some rest and for now, back to normal.' the chief told him. 'Rimuru would appreciate what's normal until the time comes.' young master nodded before leaving his father's office.

'...when the time comes...huh.'

xxx

Blue oni watched as Rimuru played with the children, bouncing around and the only six kids in their village trying to catch her while he leaned on a tree.

'Boing-boing-boooooiiiing-booooooing!' Rimuru chimed in a playful sing-song voice.

'Kyaahahaha!' the children giggled, trying to grab her when she was near but missing.

'Come back here Rimuru!'

Kill her when the time comes.

He will not hesitate even if it pains him.

The Rimuru he knows is innocent. Just a baby.

But whether or not the true her is a good or bad person remains to be seen.

The village.

His family.

His neighbors.

They come first and she's OK with it as Rimuru likes them all she would rather not hurt them 'herself'.

She was fine with dying to protect them from her if the real her is a bad person.

He gritted his teeth behind his closed lips as he maintained a poker face.

He would not hesitate.

He would not.

He wouldn't...

He shook where he stood, fingers clutching his muscular arm tightly.

That night in a communal dinner, a Majin in white fancy clothes paid them a visit. He wore a leather beaked mask on his face.

'Good evening everyone.' he greeted as everyone paused in their feast to see the newcomer. 'I am Gelmud, the humble servant of a Demon Lord.' he took his hat off and bowed. 'I came here to extend an invitation that you may join us, and I will gladly give you names in exchange for your loyalty.'

This got chief frowning.

'We only choose masters worthy of us and our lives.' said chief coolly. 'I wasn't born yesterday you know! We will only choose and fight for masters worthy of us! Away with you!'

This got the majin seething.

'How dare you?!' he sputtered in rage at being insulted and rejected at the same time. 'Then this village is better off destroyed!' and he left in a huff.

'Father...' Princess looked at Chief worriedly.

'It's just a brat throwing a tantrum.' said Chief with a scoff. 'But I will also not dismiss that threat, assuming he IS a subordinate of a Demon Lord. Just incase, we will not sleep tonight.' he told them. 'After a meal, warriors, bare your fangs!' he ordered. 'Non-fighters, pack up necessities and prepare for evacuation.'

'That's...!'

'Just a precaution.' said Chief. 'Rimuru, is Veldora's Cave safe?' he asked her.

'It should be, I ate everything in there that no monster can spawn in there since I ate all magicules in there.' said Rimuru. 'Even children can play Test of Courage game in there without parental worries.'

'Test of Courage Game?' an elder inquired.

'Oh, it's when adults place hidden gifts in dark and creepy places, and its to motivate kids in overcoming the fear of the dark and unknown by willingly exploring the creepy place, and bring back evidence they did the test by bringing back any of the gifts hidden...a rite of bravery.'

That must be from her past.

There's no such ritual here.

'Then it's decided.' said chief firmly. 'Non-fighters will evacuate to the cave. Son, daughter, you go with them.' he ordered. 'I will not take threats lightly. I will prioritize our survival. Such is the duty of warriors!'

'Yes, sir!'

'Now eat and drink your fill! Looks like we'll have quite the night!'

Tonight was very tense as while the whole village packed up, Rimuru went to a tree and checked it for poison.

She then used magic to turn one tree into several flasks with corkscrew caps, and began filling them up with Full Restore, having a 'limb' pour forth a thin flow of the precious liquid in wooden flasks.

She was nervous to be honest.

If worst comes to worst, this is her first time fighting.

'Phew, all done.'

'What's in those bottles?' Chief asked her.

'Full Restore, one for each man incase you get a fatal injury. Be careful using it up!' at this, the fighters took a bottle for themselves. For a full-restore can even restore lost limbs or fully-heal a dying person. So this is a precious resource.

'Lead everyone to the cave to take shelter.' said Chief. 'I will send a messenger if nothing happens.'

'OK.'

xxx

It was quite the exodus as Rimuru covered the group in a barrier she controls so they are not seen in the dark...

She mapped out the most efficient way to get to the caves, but they had another encounter.

Three severely-injured humans sporting terrible burn wounds they'd be dead before leaving this forest alive as their injuries crippled them.

'What happened to you three?' Rimuru asked them.

'I-it's one of our party...please save Ellen!' the blonde man pleaded, cradling the lone girl in his arms.

'We barely got away...' the other man wheezed as Rimuru smacked them with potion-jellies, fully-healing them.

'What happened?' young master inquired.

'We were from Blumund. To be specific the Blumund Branch of Freedom Guild Association. We're Adventurers.' said blonde man. 'Guildmaster Fuze tasked us to survey the forest for any changes since Veldora's disappearance. Us three are the original party when she, the fourth came asking if she could join us.' he explained. 'Well, Ellen was happy there's another girl in the group so she let Shizu join us. Well, more swordsman in a crazy place like this is also better anyway...'

'Indeed she was good, saved our asses more times than I can count since this moron kept poking nests and she was nice, albeit quiet.' the brunette deadpanned, glaring petulantly at his partner.

'Hey, our job is investigation you know! We do what we gotta do!' the blonde snarked back. The monsters sweatdropped. 'But suddenly, this morning...she screamed in agonizing pain and collapsed...next thing we know, she's on fire and dead-set on cooking us...Ellen barely managed to give us the slip to get away but we're already half-cooked...if not for you guys we'll be dead in a few hours more.' blondie shuddered. 'Who knows where Shizu is now, probably committing arson everywhere and we're in the woods...yeah, lots to burn here at her state...'

'We'd know if she's here if we see signs of fire from afar.' said the brunette. 'We gotta get out of here quick.'

'Humm...we'll investigate this.' said Rimuru. 'For now come with us to Veldora's Cave. We're sheltering there because some majin who claims he's a Demon Lord's subordinate approached our village...in exchange for names, everyone's loyalty. Chief didn't want the tribe to submit to some shady guy just for a name. That majin dressed like a rich guy threw a tantrum and left, leaving a threat to us all...so we were ordered to evacuate while the fighters stay behind. They would see what that threat is.' that got the two humans horrified.

'Jeez, this and that happens!'

They joined their group into the caves.

But what awaited them, was a Dryad.

'Greetings to the Unique Powers blessed by Veldora-sama.' she greeted. 'I am the Dryad, Treyni.'

'What are you here for?' young master asked her.

'Jura Forest is currently having two issues.' said Treyni grimly. 'One is the majin the oni have spoken to...and the other is the friend they speak of.' she said.

'Shizu...where is she?!' brunette asked her.

'That, is not Shizu any more.' Treyni shook her head. 'We came to stop her as well, but we are no match for fire. But there was an instance she was able to resist...and speak to us.'

'What did she say?' blondie asked her.

'Her time is up...despite how she looks, she reached her end of her lifespan as a human which is why Ifrit was able to force possession, to gain her body as his vessel to exist in the mortal plane here. She has an incomplete fusion with Ifrit as a child which is why she avoids people as much as possible...for for years, he occasionally manages when she is at her most exhausted. She wants someone to stop her because she can no longer stop Ifrit, even with her magic-nullifying mask.' Treyni took out a white mask in her possession and gave it to them.

'...and you can't due to...elemental incompatibility.' Rimuru sweatdropped as wood and fire DON'T mix.

'Yes...' Treyni admitted weakly.

'While I can handle Shizu, what of our other problem?' Rimuru asked Treyni. 'That Majin who came to the village?'

'Its indeed as he claims. He is indeed the servant of a Demon Lord...which one is unknown.' said Treyni grimly. 'But Gelmud has been roaming around, searching for monsters...the strongest of their tribes, and offers names in exchange for submission to his lord. There are those who accept as Naming is a great honor especially from a powerful individual.'

'There's a but, isn't it?'

'Yes...Naming grants evolution and power onto a monster if its master to subordinate. But even then, it will depend on that master how much magicules to give that the process can be...cheated in a way.' said Treyni. 'There's a goblin village with a Named Goblin there but he never became a Hobgoblin, just a small boost of power. Same goes for a Lizardman Prince in the marshes. The only one he truly evolved, was the Orc Lord Geld.' the oni gasped.

'Orc Lord!'

'This is bad, real bad!'

'...w-what's that?' blonde man gasped nervously.

'All Orcs evolve to High Orcs upon being named.' said Treyni. 'But among all Orcs, there is one special individual who can either become an Orc King, the correct path, or Orc Lord the disastrous path.' she said. 'The Orc Lord has a Unique Skill: Starved Ones. Starved Ones allows the user to bestow the effects of the Skill upon his subordinates which allows them to eat anything and everything in sight in exchange for a constant feeling of starvation. The ones under the Skill's effects develop a sense of collectivism that also enables those under its effects to share their gains and improvements remotely. Although they cannot not obtain all the abilities of those they eat, they can still acquire some of their special features.' she elaborated.

'The strength of the users rises the hungrier they are. It also increases when the user eats a being with high energy levels or power.'

'Yikes...who on earth would want a power like that? I think I'd rather die!' brunette sputtered in dread.

'Then, our fathers and elders back home...' princess choked out.

'Chieftain evacuating you all was a wise choice.' said Treyni grimly. 'An hour after you left your village, Gelmud had a fraction of his orc army attack the Oni Village.' that was to their horror. 'But thanks to your unique grade swords, they were able to fend the orcs off.' that was to their relief. 'But even then, it was a hard battle due to the current level of the Orcs...thus the warriors will also flee to here to regroup with you.'

'But where can we go now? It's not safe to return home...' Princess whimpered. 'If we go back home, we'll be a burden to our warriors!'

'Rimuru...'

'Y-yes?'

'I have a task of you.' Treyni told Rimuru. 'Shizu's wish, was to not die in our world. I offered her a solution.' she said.

'T-that is...?'

'Defeat Ifrit, and devour her body.'

'WHAT?!' Rimuru was shaken. 'I have to eat her?!'

'Shizu is fine with it, before Ifrit took over and I was forced to run away.' said Treyni. 'She is eight hours away southeast of this cave. My sisters will guide you.' she promised. 'I will keep watch over the Oni.'

'Wait, that can't be right!' brunette cried. 'What's eating Shizu have to do with 'not dying here'?!'

'...before she can explain, Ifrit didn't exactly give us a choice.' Treyni sadly shook her head in apology. 'I don't know what she meant by that. Rimuru may come to know, after defeating Ifrit.'

'OK. I'll go.' said Rimuru. 'Please watch over everyone, Treyni.' she requested. 'I can guess that you have eyes and ears everywhere. This way, forewarned is forearmed. I will leave when the warriors arrive, I will refill their potion bottles.'

Soon, by daybreak...the warriors arrived. Young master explained to the weary warriors, and led everyone to Veldora's Room in the caves.

'The water here is clean, though it has magicules mixed in. Its safe to drink anyway though it will restore your strength. It still has that effect if you use it for cooking.' Rimuru told the oni. 'Just be careful for the kids though...' Rimuru created a large stone bowl using magic, put some water in, but took away the magicules. 'This is safe for the children to drink after eating magicule-soaked food.'

'That would be great for the kids.' said the chief. 'Go and do what you must.' Rimuru then left the caves, after building a wall for ladies' privacies, and placed barriers into the room so they wouldn't be found by all means.

xxx

The forest...

Rimuru followed Treyni's directions. Took her eight hours indeed but directions changed that she had to be guided by the Dryads...to a blazing inferno as Ifrit was now fighting Direwolves. His form was that of a red-eyed Shizu.

Many wolves are burnt alive with about twenty survivors left. But gravely injured.

'You guys must have thought she's lunch, but she's way too spicy for you.' Rimuru remarked, splashing potions on all of them that they all healed instantly.

'We haven't eaten in days. We're willing for anything at this point.' said the wolf near her. 'It's like all the prey vanished...' he said in an unhappy voice.

'Its not that 'they vanished'...they all ran away from danger.' Trya the Dryad told him. 'There's disturbances in the forest...Ifrit, and the Orc Lord.' she said. 'Unless these two disasters are dealt with, normalcy will not return.'

'That's...really bad for us...' the wolf wasn't happy. 'With threats about, we can't live a week without food...that liquid healed us and erased our hunger but that is only temporary...!'

'At any rate...I'll handle her! Stay back a bit!' and Rimuru flared all she had to intimidate Ifrit with Menace and that terrified anything within a radius of her strength. Ifrit shook and sank on his knees as Rimuru created Shiva, the one from FFVII Remake.

She had Shiva blow a painfully-icy blizzard on him nonstop containing power stronger than him by ten levels of his strength.

That was clearly too much for Ifrit who was severely weakened, enabling Rimuru to predate Ifrit and separate him from Shizu.

'...you may have overdone it...' Trya sweatdropped as about a hundred meters behind Shizu, is a part of a forest encased in winter wonderland of snowy slush.

'...oops...' Rimuru sweatdropped. She then approached Shizu who was clearly dead. '...you're dead by the time we got here.' she said softly as Shizu is clearly, a Japanese Woman by the looks of her face. She was a countrywoman.

Very reluctantly, Rimuru ate Shizu and gained access to her memories to understand her.

She was a woman from the Taisho Era...where Tokyo was destroyed by a bombing raid. After losing her mother, she was summoned to this world through a swirl of flames that caused her burning injuries she wouldn't survive from, but her summoner fused her with Ifrit for her to heal, the Demon Lord Leon Cromwell.

For a time, Leon gathered children who were Summoneds by other human countries and stabilizing them as he had Shizu, and let them live as they pleased after education and training. Some chose to serve Leon, some chose to do other things freely as long as they don't cause trouble.

However, Shizu was plagued with Ifrit's possession of her, losing control and even burned her friend Pirino and her pet fox in front of her.

That made Shizu decide to live a lonely life in fear of being made to kill, and avoided people. She originally stuck by Leon as he can stop her, but one day, a Hero named Chronoa came to Leon's castle.

They fought, but in the end, Leon fled while Shizu was left behind to her dismay, but Chronoa took her in and became her mentor and companion. However, eventually Chronoa left her too, giving her the mask Shizu now wears.

She became the A-Class Adventurer known as Conqueror of Flames for her powerful fire magic. She gained great respect but its not easy to find her.

She takes dangerous jobs in hopes she'd die but she was just too good.

Eventually, she has two students ten years ago. Sakaguchi Hinata and Kagurazaka Yuuki. But a month into training, Hinata left them. Yuuki stayed with Shizu for five years before leaving her too. She was fine with that.

But suddenly, while looking for a Quest, she got told she was called by her former student to Ingrassia, to be a teacher for five Summoned Children...who are in a bad state. Nobody was wiling to teach children who will die in five years. She stayed with them for a year and a half, but left as she nearly got Gale killed, triggering her trauma from Ifrit killing Pirino.

She vanished without warning from the school three months ago, and resolved to use the rest of her life to find Leon to help her students before she dies.

'...I understand, Shizu-san.' Rimuru began transforming into a functional female body with little resemblance to Shizu. Hairstyle and eye shape yes. But her skin is milky-fair, her blue hair symbolizing her color as a slime, and citrine-yellow eyes. She was a beautiful adolescent appearing around age twelve.

She modified Shizu's clothes for her size, and ditched the cape. She also kept the sword within the body as a memento.

'Trya...I understand Shizu's last wish.' said Rimuru. Her child-like voice as a slime was no longer there as a human, sounding like a girl her age, even if her voice remained 'tinkling like bells' but softer and gentler. 'Her life was...difficult, to say the least...but she still hopes to save her students despite her deteriorating condition that she joined those three humans in order to travel to Demon Lord Territories she heard of south of Jura when she got wind of their mission to the forest until she gets south enough to part ways. She hopes to talk to one of them to know where Leon is.' she told Trya.

'Child Summons from another world cannot manifest skills...thus the power meant to become skills upon traveling through worlds has nowhere to go...that in five years or less, that power will kill the children.' she said, shaken by what she found out. 'She hopes to find Demon Lord Leon Cromwell to do what he did for her when she was a child summon herself...stabilizing their magicules so the kids will have a future. Do you know anyone with that skill if finding Leon is impossible?' she asked Trya. 'At least I know where the children are.'

'I will ask around.' Trya promised.

'Please inform Treyni who will inform the Oni that I am done here. I'll go home to the cave soon.' Trya then vanished into the trees. 'Now then...what will you guys do?' she asked the wolves.

'...our pack leader was my father.' said the wolf with the star on his face. He glanced at the burned corpses of wolves not far from them. 'I am now Alpha but I am still coming to terms with it.' he said.

'I see...would you like a Name from me?' Rimuru offered. 'Because of Orc Lord, we need all help we can get.' she said.

'...very well. We wish to live another day.' said the wolf in determination. 'I desire our survival for we are all that's left.'

'Then, focus on your desires and wishes from the bottom of your heart as Alpha to your packmates.' Rimuru advised as the Direwolf closed his eyes. This is the first monster she would name. So she wants it a wee bit special.

She had Great Sage calculate his strength for her so she would know how much to give to help them overcome Orc Lord and his massive army.

Direwolves are C-class monsters, but a pack led by an Alpha becomes B-Class as a whole. She needs them all at high B at least, almost an A as right now, she's tired, OK? She only has so much to spare.

'I name you...Ranga.' upon naming the wolf as Ranga, basing the name from Tempest, the storm that Veldora was, it influenced Ranga's pack as wolves, becoming a new breed of wolf known as Tempest Wolf.

However, unknown to everyone, Ranga's wishes and beliefs triggered a piece of Demon Essence. Unlike his father, Ranga believes in the concept of All for One. As a result, his fellow wolves also evolved into Tempest Wolves alongside him when he did at the exact same time, gaining also, the same strength he did that took quite a lot of Rimuru's energy, making her quite exhausted.

She didn't see that coming, but she had no idea that despite what she was willing to give, Ranga took more than that?

/Answer: He wished for his pack to evolve just like him with the exact same benefits, resulting in this process./

"Aiya..." 'Uweee...so tired...' Rimuru went slime mode. 'Ranga, take me to Veldora's Cave. I need to return to the Oni.' she said sleepily, now as a puddle of slime that Ranga picked up and tossed a bit so she would land on his horns.

'Yes, master!'

Wait, what did he call her?

Nevermind, so sleepy...

xxx

Upon gaining information from Trya, Treyni went into the cave to inform the refugees of Rimuru's win against Ifrit, along with the aftermath of the not-quite-fight as all it took, was one powerful hit from Rimuru. She conjured powerful ice magic by creating her own Ice Spirit to help her out, and what Rimuru saw in Shizu's last moments.

'I see, so that's how it ended.' chief mused. 'She gave Shizu the end she desired and gained a human form with almost no resemblance to Shizu.'

'Yes.' said Treyni. 'Rimuru is heading back home with a Direwolf Pack. She named one of them but somehow, all of them evolved. They are now B-Class Monsters. She made them her subordinates to aid against Orc Lord.'

'Father, what will we do after this?' young master asked his father.

'...the orcs we fought are now equal to us in strength.' said the Chief, frustrated. 'Orc Lord gained so much power already. If it wasn't for our superior swords and that potion, we'd be done for!' he swore in vexation. 'But the weirder thing was, they all wore full-plate armor, and rare-grade equipment! Somebody's backing them up, so Gelmud's claims aren't far-fetched! They aim to rule Jura and all who live in it by using the Orcs as their personal henchmen, controlling their appetites by directing them where to go!'

'...the council will discuss our next decision.' he said as he and the village elders went to a far-off part of the cave to begin discussion.

'I think I see where this is going...' said young master. 'To survive...we would need names...'

'Yeah...and its Rimuru who has to name us.' said blue oni, catching on. 'She is stronger than that Gelmud but this is risky on our part too. Because we don't know the true Rimuru...should she get her memories back.'