Alliances

Rimuru returned home by nighttime, sleeping and in her puddle form by a pack of large wolves that hardly resemble Direwolves now.

'Rimuru!' blue oni took Rimuru back from Ranga. After which, the large wolves shrunk to normal-sized wolves.

'Master is exhausted.' said Ranga. 'She might still sleep for a bit while longer.'

'Alright.' blue oni looked at the puddle in his arms that she was draped on him like a jelly-like cloth. 'By the way, what are you?'

'We were Direwolves before.' said Ranga. 'But unlike my father, I believed in the gains of one becomes everyone's gains. Master told me to pray with my heart for my desires and wishes before she named me. The result of that is our change of race, and gaining Skills we never had before. But I have no idea what my wishes had to do with those skills...but we can do more now.'

The two men exchanged looks.

'Come inside. That Orc Army can be anywhere!' and they went inside, and shut the gate.

The Oni had a long talk about it with each other.

The humans staying with them are called Ellen, Cabal and Gido.

They couldn't leave in fear of Orc Lord finding them AND eating them, thus they were reliant on the hospitality of the Oni, and learned why Shizu joined them.

They had been despondent, but pulled their weight in the cave. And as Rimuru slept, they were all dependent on the Dryads, telling them where it's safe to hunt food without fear of the Orc Army that eight groups can bring back prey to feed everyone for five days' straight with full stomachs.

On the fifth day, Rimuru woke up, feeling better and was able to become human again, becoming a young girl in blue oni's arms.

'Fueeeehhh...' she yawned. She found herself in a familiar cave. 'Oh, I'm home...'

'Rimuru!' blue oni exclaimed. The slime he knew became a beautiful young girl with clothes, wearing a smaller version of Shizue's dress, and sleeveless. On her legs were black tights and shrunken boots.

'How long has it been?' Rimuru asked him.

'About five days.' said blue oni.

'Oh...well, conjuring a power that can defeat Ifrit instantly took a lot out of me...' said Rimuru sheepishly. 'He's a high-level spirit and its my first time pushing myself.'

'Um...' they turned to see Cabal's Party. 'Can we know more about Shizu?' Ellen asked Rimuru. 'From what we learned from the Dryads, we failed to see that she was suffering...because she put up a mask.' she said. 'If only we knew...' she said somberly.

'Iya, you're not at fault.' Rimuru reassured her kindly. 'When I ate her body, I learned that despite having the body of a seventeen year old human girl, she's actually 74 years old.'

Shock ensued from that revelation.

'For a human, it's fortunate enough to live past seventy as elderly people.' Rimuru told them. 'There are many health factors why humans have short lives. Vices like smoking and getting drunk every day. Eating greasily-cooked fatty food or too much sweets yet hardly any fruits and vegetables. Exposure to pollution by living in a place that makes too much smoke being reliant on charcoal and firewood, as well as drinking dirty water. And for a short period of pleasure, taking illegal drugs. Due to those, humans mostly live less than 60 years old. The shortest being 20 or younger than that due to suicide out of despair. Only healthy humans live past 60.'

OK, that must be her previous knowledge speaking if not from Great Sage, the oni thought.

'Shizu could have lived a long life as a slow-aging majin, but she didn't choose to.' Rimuru continued. 'She was too traumatized with what Ifrit did in her childhood that she gained the Unique Skill: Degenerate to prevent Complete Spirit Fusion and kept herself human...that further led to her difficult life down the road with occasional bouts of murderous possessions that she spent a life alone than be made to hurt others. She shot herself in the foot out of despair and realized that too late leading a life of lonely misery.'

'But still, she remained kind and gentle in spite of it all...she was very strong in spirit and heart even if she cried a lot.' Rimuru continued on sadly. Her tale causing a somber atmosphere in the cave. 'She wished for friends. The happiness of a woman by falling in love, marrying and having a family...but she unwittingly tore herself from it all as a child. To prevent her hunger...craving for company to end the loneliness of silence, she deliberately lived and worked alone...only staying long enough to help fellow otherworlders before losing herself to Ifrit that would be enough reason to leave without telling anybody.'

'I see...so that's how it is...' Cabal mused mopingly. 'Shizu-san didn't have it easy.'

'She had no idea if you guys survived that takeover...she dreaded Ifrit killing you guys.' Rimuru continued. 'Seeing him burn you in her last minutes of life drove her to despair as she finally died in sorrow and guilt. That she didn't live long enough to know you were saved.' the boys gritted their teeth in grief while Ellen cried. 'Live on if only for her. She never knew...you actually survived.'

'Y-yeah, we'll do that.' Cabal sniffled. 'We're gonna live for her!' they swore as a team on this.

'For now we're sticking around...trying to go home with Orc Army about, we're gonna die for realsies.' said Gido fretfully. 'We'll wait here until you guys declare it safe. We also pull our own weight here by helping with the cooking after the hunting teams bring back food and Ellen fixes the water for the Oni kids to prevent magicule poisoning.'

'Yeah, even monsters get that, if they try to have more, before they mature or evolve.' said Ellen.

'Speaking of that...' said young master. 'Rimuru, the council of elders had a talk when you got home with the wolves.'

'What about?'

'The Orc Army numbers around 200.000...that's before father and our warriors killed off the orcs that attacked our village, that is.' said young master. 'Due to Unique Skill: Starved Ones, they must have eaten enough monsters to be too strong beyond their class could afford them. The only way to get stronger strong enough to survive our predicament...'

'...is the Naming.' Rimuru mused. '...by Gelmud?' are they gonna beg for his mercy now?

'No. You.' said young master firmly. 'We just waited for you to wake up.'

'I see...you guys being Oni, I can only name a few a day OK? I'm not exactly a wellspring of power.' she said. 'For all my strength, I'm inexperienced. I've done goofed by using too much power on Ifrit before naming Ranga. I'll have Great Sage do computations first and ahem, budgeting my strength per individual warrior, OK? But I can make A-Classes out of you.' Rimuru promised.

'Ou.' and young master stood up to tell his father who was a ways away from their group.

'Naming monsters huh? This'll be our first time seeing this.' said Ellen.

'Well, information is gold and Blumund lives off of information.' said Gido.

Soon, deliberations are done.

'Given magicule budgeting concerns, I can only name 18 people every time I'm at full power.' Rimuru reminded them. '18 every five days, and we have an incoming war so only 18 gets to evolve today, our 18 strongest.' she said. 'I need to fully recover because I too, will fight after that.'

'Alright. We decided who goes first in what order, the rest of us can wait.' said chief.

'Mm. Blue oni told me that the culture of the village was founded thanks to Byakuya Araki, an otherworlder warrior who taught you many things. By looking at the village, combined with Shizu's memories, they are from the same world, but different timeline. So I will give you names Japan, their country uses.' that got everybody talking now, as the samurai was a figure of high respect to the Oni for his noble personality, kindness, educated them and was a hero at one point in times of a bad crisis.

Rimuru used skin color as inspiration with the Oni. Color, + a word or trait that described them best. Or objects or nature-related things containing those colors.

Chief is Koushiro, a name that means 'red castle'. Young master is Benimaru, a name that means 'crimson circle'. Blue oni became Souei, a name that means 'blue shadow' to name a few, until all 18 individuals are Named.

She granted Koushiro 110000 magicules, and his son and Souei 100000 because she was...partial to her friends, and the fact that Koushiro is chief and needs power to keep everyone in line. Not that she told them that though. Everyone else, 95000.

The massive power boost she granted that spoke volumes of how powerful Rimuru actually is, made them very powerful Kijin, more powerful than actual Kijin who took till their elderly years to evolve as they all felt the amount of magicules that leaves her body each time she names someone. The amount of power she gives, is enough to wreck a whole town's worth of magic spells!

The men all became very handsome biseinen version of themselves with fairer skin and retained their facial markings. Their teeth became pearly-white and evenly straight, with their canines becoming smaller to prevent over or underbites caused by their canine teeth. In the case of Kijin with dark skin mixed with color matching their hair that as an example Souei had dark skin mixed with blue making him look grayish, lost the 'mixed tone' and gained tanned skintone instead.

In the case of two elderly Kijin, they got taller, younger looking up to their fifties with no wrinkles, no sagging skin and no age spots, becoming handsome elderly Kijin instead, receiving a 'completed evolution', gaining the same boons as the younger ones.

They also have slimmer, but very chiseled muscular bodies in forms unique to themselves with no body hair any woman would drool over as Rimuru imagined their evolution to be. The few women among the 18, grew to be beautiful bombshells in figure but with emphasis on toned and shapely arms, fat-free flat small waists, flared shapely hips and legs shaped by muscle and not fat. She did not make changes to their chest sizes. They're big enough as it is.

Their horns also got narrower. The oni who already possessed formidable physical prowess, had their current physical prowess tripled as Kijin...and because Rimuru knew of their fertility issues, tried her best to influence their evolution with helping the men gain virility and the female Kijin boosted fertility and pray that it worked, so she's not gonna tell them, only for them to get disappointed in the end.

They now have a new problem.

Their clothes and armor no longer fit anymore!

'Urk...I have no idea Oni go slim upon becoming Kijin...' Rimuru sweatdropped as the ladies quickly helped the skinnies adjust their clothes while she was in slime puddle-mode but not tired enough to hibernate. 'I thought they were always muscular beefies!' Cabal's party was behind a conjured stone wall as the 18 named are naked down to their fundoshi, that their mothers/wives/sisters were adjusting their clothing for them and their shoes. Even more horrifying, the Oni and Kijin have no sense of shame regarding nudity and pretty casual about it. Heck, they even began comparing!

So it was mostly the humans hiding behind the wall Rimuru made for them, HIGHLY EMBARRASSED.

'Rimuru, aren't you shy about all that naked people about?' Ellen squeaked out.

'...should I?' Rimuru piped up. 'Monsters don't care about stuff like that.'

Besides, how many bodies of naked boys and their thingies did she see in her many BL Doujinshi back home in varying art styles? And being a human woman once, she's seen her own breasts enough.

'Well, shows what we know about monsters...' Gido croaked out. 'Now they have clothing and shoe issues before they can worry about going to war with Orcs.' he said wryly.

'Ehhhh...' Rimuru scratched her head. 'On the bright side the room is full of dreamboats and beauties, don't you think?'

'Hey Rimuru, play with us!' the oni kids approached Rimuru who went Slime Mode.

'OK! Catch me if you can this time! Boing-boing-boooooiiiiiiiinngggg-boooooooooooiinngg!' and she bounced off.

'Get back here!'

That, was cute, the humans thought with flushed faces.

'That was kinda cute.' Cabal chuckled.

'Yeah, that boing-boing sold it.' Gido grinned.

'Hard to believe she's only over a hundred days old.' said Ellen wryly. 'But more powerful than anyone in this room.'

'Yeah, no kidding.' Gido nodded sagely.

After clothing disaster, chief gathered everyone.

'We will go to see the Lizardmen for an alliance as this matter concerns us all who live in these woods.' said Koushiro. 'I sent Souei as an envoy and he can tell all we know, all we have to do is wait for word from him.

xxx

Lake Siss...

With his newfound powers, Souei got to Lake Siss real fast.

Considering his job is Spymaster, he knows where ALL tribes are located.

Thus he was able to exploit a skill he gained with his evolution, Spatial Travel.

He was able to get there in a jiffy when it would have taken him five days, and they DON'T have five days.

'A good day to you sir.' Souei spoke. 'I am Souei, envoy of the Oni Tribe.' because majority of them are still Oni, Chief Koushiro decided they are to be Oni as a whole until all adults are fully-evolved. The youngsters who will marry young for the sake of procreation, will remain Oni until too powerful to have children.

'You're a Named Monster...what does the Oni wish to speak of?' the Lizardman Chieftain asked of him.

'Our Chieftain, Chief Koushiro wishes to form an alliance with the Lizardmen for the common goal of surviving the Orc Lord and his army of 175000.'

'You mean all of you weren't annihilated as we thought?'

'No. When that arrogant majin who visited our village offered us names in exchange for our servitude, Chief rebuked him upon seeing his sinister and shady true nature. We Oni may be mercenaries as our livelihood, but we only choose noble clients, not crooks.' said Souei. 'So we split into two groups. Our fighters remained while our citizens evacuated to safety after packing necessities...and an hour after our citizens left, a fully-armored orc army attacked us all, equipped with full-plate mail and rare-class weaponry.' the Lizardmen gasped at this. 'That majin set them on us.'

'Not long after, a Dryad approached us.' said Souei. 'Asking our aid to deal with the Orc Lord.'

'...I knew it.' the Chieftain groaned, face-palming. 'But its too early for an Orc Lord to be born, but evidence can't deny it...not long ago, our scouts reported that army marching around!'

'We suspect it depends on the Naming System.' said Souei, repeating Rimuru's 'wisdom'. 'If a benevolent monster names another and does things properly, their evolution proceeds to a correct path. But if a sinister monster...they will stray and become calamity. There was more to Naming than just granting power and triggering evolution, and its possible to cheat the benefits of Evolution if the Namer deliberately held back their magicules instead of the system automatically taking what was required. This concerns all of Jura as a whole and the Dryads ask our cooperation. Once you approach the nearest tree they will speak with you to verify my words.' he said.

'And for the record, I am a properly-evolved Kijin.' said Souei, flaring his aura that got everyone in the caverns floored. The aura of an A-Class Monster is before them. 'My people and I are evidence of the correct path through a benevolent power. However, only 18 of us can be named in a day by our benefactor. And that's not enough against that massive army and she herself is fighting in the front lines alongside us, so she needs to rest for five days.'

'Then...what of my son?' the Chieftain croaked out. 'He is certainly a named, but he is only a bit stronger than me now, but not becoming a Dragonewt...oh no...' he shook in horrible realization. 'My son gave his allegiance to him and yet...'

'Indeed. He is among the swindled and possibly corrupted.' Souei confirmed as the Chieftain looked like he lost strength out of shock. The female beside him was no better in horror etched on her face. 'There were others before your son who was shorted. The only one he caused to stray, was the Orc Lord as the Orc Lord had that Unique Skill upon evolution thus useful to Gelmud. It doesn't change the fact that his actions are backed by whatever Demon Lord he's serving that's causing all this trouble, and rendered many tribes extinct as we speak by attacking and eating them.'

'...then through your connections, where are they?' Chieftain shook shakily, his fists clenching. 'And is there a way to save my boy from himself?'

'We will have to ask those wiser than us.' said Souei. 'We'll try our luck with the Dryads. We're familiar with Miss Treyni as she was the one who approached us. What is your response to our alliance offer? The Orcs will be here in five days and by then, we're ready to strike.'

'We're next?' the female guard stammered. 'But Gabil swore allegiance to Gelmud! What about us?!'

'...as long as you have numbers to feed an army...you're as good as food.' said Souei bluntly, greatly shaking her in fear. 'That is why he is leading them here. Us Kijin will be here in five days with Tempest Wolves. This is the only ideal time to put an end to the Orc Lord. Anywhere else in Jura is impossible. This is why Chief Koushiro has approached Lizardman Chieftain for an alliance.'

The chieftain thought about it.

'All things considered...our marshes are open ground indeed, ideal for a battlefield.' he said. 'Evacuate our women and children! Us fighters will remain here!' he barked to his council. 'Ready our men and sharpen our spears! In five days, fate will decide if we die or live to see next week!'

'Yessir!' and the council ran off, out of the throne room.

'Daughter, find your brother and be careful of the army.' the Chieftain instructed his daughter who was beside him.

'...where did he go?' Souei asked him.

'I sent him to form alliances with as many tribes as he could meet.' said the Chieftain witha weary sigh. 'But all that's left are goblins now in such a short time...for what are our 10000 against 175000?' he chuckled bitterly. 'But at this point, nobody can afford to complain.' he said. 'I wanted to approach you Oni first, for one of you is worth a thousand to make up for the numbers, but my messengers found your village a mess and nobody left...nobody could have known you were in fact, all alive and luckily, approached us.'

'Well, let's just say a good idea one dinner night saved us all.' Souei chuckled darkly. 'I will report to Chief Koushiro. If Chieftain's answer to our request is positive, we will mobilize to this area immediately with our wolves and kijins. By the way, this me you see is a mere clone.' and 'Souei' dissolved into magicules.

xxx

The truth was after Souei was done flaring his aura to prove his claim that he is a kijin, he switched with his clone while the lizardmen are still floored and left the rest to it as he controlled his clone from afar.

'Chieftain's reply is positive. We can mobilize immediately.' Souei reported. Koushiro nodded before beginning barking orders.

'Mm. Pack some provisions everyone! Even with a short trip thanks to the Tempest Wolves, nobody can still go to war hungry and thirsty!'

'Yes, Chief!'

'Rimuru, are you really going?' princess asked Rimuru who stood up.

'Yeah. Anyone who can fight has to go.' said Rimuru. 'So we can all go home sooner since the cave isn't comfortable for everyone here.' she said. 'The kids are already getting antsy. They have yet to learn how to endure the life of a Disaster Refugee.'

'This is your first time as a refugee too you know.' princess pouted. Rimuru laughed weakly at that.

'Ahahaha as a Slime, I can live anywhere, even inside a flower vase and still feel OK.' Rimuru laughed. 'Because I can't feel pain thanks to my Pain Nullification. So yeah, discomfort? What's that? Great Sage taught me what it was when I noted the children are getting uncomfortable so we gotta hurry this.' princess looked at the children who were complaining to their mothers about aching backs from having to sleep on a rocky floor.

'...only a bit while longer, then we can all go home.' she said softly. Rimuru nodded.

'Yes, but if we win and can go home, we have another problem...Koushiro said that the Orcs wrecked our houses, right...?'

Princess choked.

So much for returning home for comfort!