Chapter 10
As I and my group approached, Rimuru's group gathered around him.
"We came to help, but it seems that it wasn't necessary." – I commented, when I and Rimuru were face to face.
"Who are you?" – asked Benimaru, taking a defensive stance in front of Rimuru.
"Wait, Benimaru. I saw them approach with "Magic Sense", but they don't seem hostile." - Rimuru intervened.
"My name is Rogan. And these are my companions, Okimura, Hiroka and Yoshi. They are former acquaintances of the ogres who lived in the village that was ravaged by the Orcs." – I explained. All around us the Orcs surrendered, seeing that their leader was dead.
"Oh! It's you! It's good to see you're okay." – Benimaru said, taking a good look at my companions.
"It's good to see you, Lord Benimaru. Lord Rogan has given me the name of Okimura, and just like you we have evolved into Kijins." - Okimura replied. "My siblings, Hiroka and Yoshi, were also named by Lord Rogan."
"Now that the battle is over, it would be best to regroup with the Lizardmen in their lair. You should come with us, so the Kijin can catch up." – Rimuru proposed, and we all accepted.
As we walked toward the caves that were home to the Lizardmen, the Kijin told each other the stories of how they survived. Rimuru and I walked to the front, giving them some privacy, and we also started talking.
"From the names you gave the Kijin, I'm assuming you're from another world, right?" – I asked Rimuru. It was something I wondered ever since I heard Shuna's and the other Kijin's name.
"That's right, I'm from Japan. Are you also a reincarnated? – The slime asked me.
"Yes. I'm originally from England. I died during a robbery when I was traveling in Japan, and was reincarnated here as a Ghost."
"A Ghost? So you can transform into other creatures like me?" – He asked me, suddenly very interested.
"That's right, one of my Skills allows me to possess other creatures and transform into them." - I answered.
"And do you have…you know…down there?" – He asked me.
"What?" - I ask, totally confused.
"You know... the little warrior... the magician's staff..." - Rimuru continues, now blushing.
Wait. Does he mean… "You mean, a penis?" – I ask directly, completely amazed by the question.
"Shhh. Lower your voice!" – He sayed as he looked towards the Kijin to see if they were listening to our conversation. "And then… do you have it?"
"I haven't had much time to think about it, and I don't need to use it, but yes, of course I do. You don't?" – I asked.
"Nope. Since slime don't have a defined gender, even if I take another form, it seems that I have no sexual organs." – Rimuru told me, with a defeated expression.
"Men! That must be hard." – I told him, sympathizing with him.
"Tell me about it!"
During our rare conversation, we had finally reached the caves of the Lizardmen, where after a brief interview with their leader, we withdrew until the next day, where a meeting was to be held with representatives of all the races involved in the conflict. Rimuru asked me to be present, to which I agreed.
The next day, the meeting was held to discuss what would happen now that the battle was over. Representatives of all races attended: the leader of the Lizardmen, representatives of the goblins and Orcs. I even got to meet Treyni, Thorny 's sister.
With Treyni's prompting, Rimuru began the meeting by stating that he didn't plan to impose any punishment on the Orcs, as they only did what they did due to famine. He went on to state his ideal of creating an alliance where all the monsters of the Forest of Jura work together in harmony. After some opinions and deliberations, all those present agreed to form such an alliance. And so the Great Jura Forest Coalition was born, with Rimuru Tempest as their leader... although he didn't exactly seem excited by this fact.
After the meeting, that crazy slime gave names to the Orcs… to the 150,000 surviving Orcs! If Thorny had been present she would surely have had a fit! The amount of magicules required to do such a thing was unimaginable! After naming the Orcs, he also named the Lizardmen's boss.
From that moment, I decided that the best thing would be for us to get along with Rimuru Tempest.
After chatting for a while longer, and agreeing to stay in touch, we bid farewell to Rimuru and his men, and headed back to the city to pick up our companions and return to our village at last.
In the city, the farewells were very emotional, especially between Dorian and his former teacher Kaijin, who had moved to the city at the request of Rimuru. Both blacksmiths had met again during our stay in the city and it wasn't long before they disappeared into the forge to discuss forging techniques and other topics of interest to them.
Once everyone said their goodbyes, we started our journey back to the village.
It had been almost three weeks since I had left the village to travel to the Kingdom of Ingrasia, but already I missed its tranquility and the familiar faces of Browen and Tuatha. These were my thoughts as I flew over the slope of the Dragon's Peak, three days after leaving Rimuru and his city. At this distance, I should be able to use "Thought Communication" to talk to Browen and let him know of our arrival, so I did.
"Browen! Can you hear me?" - I called to him.
"Lord Rogan! I'm so glad to hear your voice! Are you back already?" - He asked.
"Yep. And I bring company!"
"Company you say, Lord Rogan?" - Browen asked me, now curious.
"That's right. I met some new friends, and they've come to live in the village with us. You will soon meet them." - I told him.
"I look forward to your return, then. I will notify my sister, and we will prepare a banquet to commemorate your return."
"Okay. I count on you!" – I told him and cut off the communication.
An hour later, we reached the outskirts of the village and I landed to walk the rest of the way. When we arrived at the entrance to the village, a large crowd of Dark Elves awaited us, their expressions full of joy and glee.
"Welcome home, Lord Rogan!" – They all said together, and my heart beat faster. It was wonderful to have so many people waiting for my return, and suddenly my throat was having a hard time working.
"Welcome, master!" – A very happy Rogue told me, while he licked my whole body with his gigantic tongue.
"Hello everyone! It's wonderful to be back!" – I managed to say. "These are my new friends." – I told them, pointing to my fellow traveler. "They've decided to follow me and come to live with us, please treat them well!"
After introducing the guys to the Dark Elves and many more greetings and welcomes, we moved towards Tuatha 's house, the Dark Elf and her brother following us. Once in the house, we gathered in the dining room at a large table, where I introduced Tuatha and Browen to the new inhabitants of the village.
"Guys, this is Tuatha. She is my right hand and takes care of the day to day life of the village. If you have any issues, you can come to her without problem." – I told them, pointing to Tuatha, who nodded while smiling. "And this is Browen, Tuatha's brother. He takes care of the security of the village." – I said, pointing to Browen, who also nodded, but remained serious.
"Tuatha and Browen, these are my new allies. The Kijin siblings: Okimura, Hiroka and Yoshi. The humans are Anne and little Jack, and Lara. The Elves: Dorian, Riannan and Mab. And the family of Mermaids and Mermen: Triton, Aquata, River, Ocean and Coral." – I said, pointing at each of them.
"Welcome, any friend of Lord Rogan, is a friend for us." - Tuatha said and when Browen remained silent for some reason, she nudged him with her elbow.
"Yes, yes. Welcome." - Said Browen, although he didn't seem very happy.
"We have some empty houses that you could use, if you will please follow me." – Tuatha said and led the others out of the house, while me and Browen were left alone.
"Browen. Do you have a problem with the new members of our village?" – I asked.
"Lord Rogan... I... just didn't expect you to invite their kind here." - Brown said, looking down.
"You mean the Elves, right?" – I asked, remembering the resentment that Browen has for the Elves.
"That's right, Lord Rogan"
"Sit down and let's talk." – I told him and took a seat. Browen did the same. "Those Elves are not to blame for what the Elves of Sarion did. They're not originally from there. They used to live in a village in the Forest of Jura, until they fell into the hands of a slaver who used Mind Magic to control them and make them obedient." – I told Browen, and immediately his face changed.
"A slaver? That's horrible!" – said Brown, his face full of anger towards the slaver.
"It was. That's why as soon as I could, I killed the slaver and freed them." I said, and Browen nodded, approving of my actions. "After I freed them, they had nowhere to go. A very similar situation to the one you guys faced when you ran away from the Demon King Clayman. If I had refused to help them, then I would be no better than those Sarion Elves you despise so much."
"I understand, Lord Rogan. Please excuse my stubbornness!" – Brown asked.
"Don't worry about it. Just welcome everyone."
"I will do so, Lord Rogan" - he answered and retired to meet with the new members of our village.
I knew that the moment he learned of the Elves' difficulties, his attitude would change. Browen was a protector by nature.
While the others spent the rest of the day and night getting to know each other and celebrating my return, I spent it planning the future of our village.
The next day, we met again in the dining room of Tuatha's house. Both Tuatha and a more humorous Browen were present, as were as Thorny, the Kijin, the humans, the Elves, and Triton and his family.
The first thing I did was assess everyone's skills, both skills and daily life abilities.
I evaluated the Kijin first, starting with Okimura.
Name: Okimura
Race: Kijin
Intrinsic Skills: Steel Strength
Unique Skills: None
Extra Skills: Wind Manipulation, Ultra-Speed Regeneration, Magic Sense, Kamaitachi's Wind.
Common Skills: Strengthen, Far-Sight, Thought Communication.
Resistances: Magic Resistance, Pain Resistance, Thermal Fluctuation Resistance.
His other abilities leaned more towards combat and warfare. He would be a good leader for the military faction I was planning to create once we moved to the island, but for now, I would have him train the Dark Elves working under Browen. Although the Dark Elves, especially Browen, were quite good with swords, Okimura's innate talent made him the perfect teacher to further increase their sword skills.
After Okimura, I evaluated his sister, Hiroka:
Name: Hiroka
Race: Kijin
Intrinsic Skills: Steel Strength
Unique Skills: None
Extra Skills: Spatial Manipulation, Ultra-Speed Regeneration, Magic Sense, All-Seeing Eye.
Common Skills: Strengthen, Far-Sight, Thought Communication.
Resistances: Magic Resistance, Pain Resistance, Thermal Fluctuation Resistance.
Hiroka's skills leaned more towards exploration and espionage. Her abilities would be very useful to us in detecting possible enemies from a safe distance, so for now, her job would be to periodically scan the surroundings of the village in search of any threat.
Next was Yoshi, surprising me.
Name: Yoshi
Race: Kijin
Magic: Fire Magic, Healing Magic.
Intrinsic Skills: Steel Strength.
Unique Skills: Alchemist.
Extra Skills: Ultra-Speed Regeneration, Magic Sense, Fire Manipulation.
Common Skills: Far-Sight, Thought Communication.
Resistances: Magic Resistance, Pain Resistance, Thermal Fluctuation Resistance.
Yoshi's magic was certainly powerful, but where his skills shone the most was in the area of research, so much so that he had acquired the Unique Skill "Alchemist", which was made up of the Sub-Skills:
Analytical Appraisal which allowed to analyze and evaluate a target;
Natural Process Acceleration which allowed the user to accelerate natural processes such as the growth of plants or the aging of metals;
Transmutation which allowed the user to change the qualities and properties of matter;
Pouch which allowed to store materials and objects in a dimensional pocket, similar to the Spatial Spell "Spatial Storage".
Yoshi would dedicate himself to the investigation of precious metals and plants, and new uses for them. And when he wasn't doing research, He'd be working with Tuatha on a hospital I was thinking of building.
Once I was done giving the jobs to the Kijin, I continued with the human girls. Unfortunately, the girls were not fighters or magicians, but their personal skills far outweighed their shortcomings. Lara, as I had already mentioned to her, would be the new teacher at the school I was thinking of building, something that Tuatha was very happy to hear, since until now she had been in charge of teaching everyone. Anne, on the other hand, would be part of the group that was dedicated to planting in the small farmlands of the village.
Triton and his family would fish close to shore, where there was no danger of encountering strong sea monsters, and I would personally bring them back in my Wind Dragon form, along with the day's catch.
The Elven girls didn't seem to possess much in the way of magic, but they knew how to distill wine and alcohol, which, like fish, were considered expensive delicacies. They would be in charge of producing wines from the fruits that we obtained from the forest.
The one who really surprised me was Dorian, the blacksmith. As an apprentice to a great blacksmith like Kaijin, Dorian's skills were above average, being able to create ten Special Grade weapons in a single day, or one Rare Grade weapon per day. His ability to create armor and other items was similar. His job would be one of the most important in the village, as I planned to equip our warriors and scouts with the best gear Dorian could create.
And lastly, there was Thorny. She was very powerful, as a A+ rank monster, but her true value was not only in her magical power, but in her connections. A very harsh reality was that our village lacked military power. After seeing the great army of Orcs, it was obvious that we needed to increase our military power if we didn't want to be crushed by some external force. So, I entrusted Thorny, a servant of the former Queen of Spirits, to search the entire Spirit Realm for the most powerful spirits she could find and offer them to join me in exchange for a Body, since Spirits could not remain in the physical world a long time without one, and a Name. How would I get the bodies? I would think about that later, I was sure something would occur to me. Thorny didn't seem very convinced, but when I told her that doing me this favor would cancel her debt to me, she immediately left for the spirit realm.