Rimuru POV:
Two days, that's how long it had taken us to travel from the goblin village to the Armed Nation of Dwargon on the backs of the tempest wolves. Which was something I considered record time given the fact that the Rigur had said the trip took them two months on foot, I figured it would be at least a week with the how fast the wolves were, buy they proved me wrong by dashing across the woods as fast as a car.
With them running at speeds of 100mph for seven hours, and only needing short breaks in between, we made it to our destination within two days. At the current moment we stood in the outskirts of the forest leading to the path that walk right up to the large gates of the dwarven kingdom.
"We're here Lord Rimuru, welcome to the Armed Nation of Dwargon!!" Gobta shouted enthusiastically as a leapt in front of me and pointed towards the large gates.
"Huh, is the kingdom inside the mountain or something?" It seemed strange that someone would do something like that, then again these were dwarves, well known in various video games for their craftsmanship and affinity for earth, so I guess it was kind of fitting.
"Yes, dwarves are craftsmen by nature and prefer to live in areas where good mines are available." Rigur answered, the question had been rhetorical but I appreciated the confirmation nonetheless so I nodded my head.
"And here I was hoping for a lush fantasy vibe kinda place." I muttered lowly, first trip out of Jura and I'm spending it in the mountains, literally. Well I was here more for the sake of the goblins than myself, so it was best to just look for those artisans and get out of here. "Do they even allow monsters and majin in Dwargon?"
"Yes, the walls within Dwargon are neutral territory for all sentient species as long as we obey their laws and don't cause trouble." Gobta answered before a pained expression appeared on his face as if remembering a bad experience, "Though the problem usually start outside the walls for goblins like us. We're usually easy pickings for adventurers while waiting in the lines for entry."
"Right, then Rigur and I will be the ones to enter the city and get what we need. The rest of you will wait out here until we return, if you encounter any trouble retreat into the depths of the forest, do not engage in any conflicts." I ordered sternly, it would end badly for them if the a large army of soldiers attacked them at once.
"Yes sir!!"
"Alright, next problem is decent clothing." As I looked at Rigur who still only had animal skin covering waist to thigh with the rest of his body being exposed, "Walking in as you are now will more than likely get attacked as they will assume you are feral and unintelligent."
'[Great Sage] , think you can help out a bit in that regard?' I should have some materials left over from various creatures that can be put together to make some decent clothing.
《Affirmative: Taking the individual Rigur's measurements. Analysis complete. Crafting clothing from available materials. Complete. Request has been completed.》
'Awesome, thanks!!' I brought said clothing out of my [Stomach] and passed them onto Rigur who was more than grateful, swearing that he would take good care of them and all that, honestly I felt he was exaggerating a little, but the way the other goblins seemed to get jealous showed me that I'd have to be very careful how I handed out things between subordinates as the others may take that as a sign of favoritism even if that wasn't the intention.
About two minutes later Rigur returned fully dressed wearing a brown shirt that had black fur along the edges and leather pants and shoes. It wasn't the most fashionable or solid attire but it would work well for the time being.
"Looking good Rigur, we should have no problem entering the city now." I said with a nod, the goblin blushed faintly as the other goblins also praised the attire.
"You're too kind my lord, I swear I'll cherish this as the first gift you granted me." He said as he bowed at a full ninety degree angle.
"Yeah sure. Anyways we should get going, the rest of you keep look out and avoid trouble at all costs." I warned them one more time to which they all nodded their heads excessively.
We had no problems getting in from the front gate after a few hours.
~~~
Ogre Chiefs POV;
Its been nearly a week since Sir, no, Lord Rimuru had left the village to resolve the goblin crisis, and yet there's been no word or sight of him since.
Naturally I was concerned, but I also there was no need, for I knew he was a powerful individual capable of matching almost any creature in this forest. And if he truly was child of our guardian then he was even stronger than what he had displayed.
Our scouts had confirmed that the dire wolves had stopped their advance within the forest, and that the females and pups seemed to have joined up with their male counterparts. This had to mean that Lord Rimuru had been successful right?
If so then what was keeping him? Perhaps he other matters had arisen within the forest. Regardless, it wasn't my place to question what he was doing. He had said he would return and all we could do was wait until he did, and try to continue living our lives as we always did.
Though I doubt things would be quite the same when he got back. Word of his heritage had spread throughout the village before I could even make the official announcement, so much for trusting my council to keep their lips sealed, forcing me to make the announcement a lot sooner than intended just to prevent any unsavory rumors.
The clan took it well much to my relief, some being a little nervous at the fact that they treated him too casually, but I ensured them that if Lord Rimuru had a problem with that he would have let them know.
The only other issue that had changed was my son. Word of his actions and words towards our guest had also spread throughout the village, putting him in a rather unfavorable position, even though nobody would outright display it due to him being my son. It would seem he had lost the trust of some of the villagers, not that I could blame them. He brought this upon himself.
"Father!!" My daughter suddenly came rushing into the room, panting as if she had been running a marathon. It was a bit unsightly but I ignored it due to the slightly alarmed expression on her face.
"What's wrong?" I asked as I stood up.
"Th-they're some people here to see you. They're dryads!" She shouted, shocking me as I walked up to her faster.
"What did you say?" I asked as I placed my hands on her shoulders, I didn't want to alarm her but I needed to confirm her words.
"They are three dryads outside asking to speak with you father." My daughter responded.
Dryads hadn't been seen in the forest for over a hundred years, and now they were suddenly appearing here?! Why?!
No…wait, there was only one possible answer. They were the managers of the forest that acted on behalf of Lady Veredia herself, to ensure that the peace in her domain was maintained, they had knowledge of all the happenings of the forest. So that must mean they knew about Lord Rimuru.
I shook my head sideways, there was no point in driving myself mad trying to figure out why they were here. They were outside and it would be rude to keep them waiting any longer.
Placing a firm hand on my daughters shoulder I then walked out, her following close behind. It didn't take long to find the large crowd of ogres that were gathering, upon seeing my approach they split apart to give me way. Walking through the crowd I eventually made it to the front, and sure enough before us stood three dryads.
Their aura both imposing and yet calming, an ethereal green glow surrounding their bodies, the scent of a morning breeze filling the air and their eyes both warm and yet slightly calculating.
The one who stood in front of the rest turned her eyes towards me, I could only assume she was the leader based on her stronger aura.
"Are you the leader of this village?" She asked, more than likely already knowing the answer but simply asking for formalities sake.
"Yes, please forgive me for not greeting you earlier esteemed Dryads." I said as I bowed my head. If there was anyone deserving of our respect it was the dryads of the forest, aside from Lady Veredia herself they too played a major role in ensuring the forest was well protected, and their strength was well above our own.
"Do not worry yourself with such small things, if anything we should be the ones apologizing for visiting unannounced." The dryad responded as shook her head sideways, "My name is Treyni, and these are my sisters Trya and Dorris. We've come bearing a message from the young lord of the forest, Rimuru Tempest."
That announcement spurred a lot of talk from my people, but more than anything it confirmed that Rimuru truly is the son of the Storm Dragon.
"So Sir Rimuru truly is the heir of Lady Veredia." one of the ogres murmured in awe.
"Indeed he is, we can personally confirm this, as we dryads had prior knowledge of his existence before he hatched from his egg." Dorris spoke up.
"You see, Lord Rimuru's egg was one that was conceived a long time ago, before we dryads came into the forest of Jura." Trya explained, shocking us as to how long Lord Rimuru's egg had been within the forest.
"If you want more details you will have to ask Lord Rimuru himself. But he is the son of Lady Veredia, and we have been watching him since he left the sealed cave after the…passing of Lady Veredia." Treyni went on to explain, that was another thing confirmed.
The storm dragon truly had passed, and in her place stood her heir. We were extremely fortunate to have come across Lord Rimuru shortly after his awakening, and even more fortunate to have gained his favor. The Dryads acknowledging him as the lord of the forest meant they had most likely already met and given loyalty to him.
Things were changing in Jura, and Rimuru would be at the center of it all.
"I see, so you're aware that he has been a guest of our village for a while now. We only recently learned of his heritage before he left." I told the dryads.
"Yes, we are aware, and are in fact also grateful for the fact that you welcomed him." Treyni said much to my confusion, "As you already know prior to meeting you ogres Lord Rimuru had yet to encounter any other intelligent life within the forest, and before that his only interaction was with Lady Veredia who passed away shortly after naming him. Coming across your village helped rid him of his solitude and you even took it a step further by helping him develop as a warrior. While I have no doubt he would have developed well enough on his own, but through your village he has grown more than we anticipated."
I couldn't help but feel my pride swell and the genuine praise coming from the dryads, not to mention the fact that we had influenced Rimuru so strongly. I had been watching his growth under the elder since they first started training and even I had to admit that I was shocked by how fast he learned our haze sword style. At this point the only one who was above him in terms of skill was the elder himself, but that gap was being closed every time they spared or had a lesson. It would only be a matter of time before he surpassed the elder as well at this rate.
"You honor us with your generous praise." I said as I bowed my head, prompting the rest of my people to do the same.
"Now then onto the matter at hand, Lord Rimuru asked us to deliver a message stating that his return to the village may be delayed by another week or two at the most due to unforeseen results regarding the goblin and wolf crisis." Treyni stated, shocking many of us.
"...I see." I couldn't help but mutter, it was clear to see that many were not pleased, myself included. But I had to remind myself that Lord Rimuru had responsibilities to the forest and thus couldn't always be here. "If I may ask, what is it that happened?" I asked.
With that question the dryads went on to explain everything that had occurred from the moment they met Rimuru. They told us about the goblin village he and Treyni came across, how the goblins swore allegiance to him in exchange for his protection. I was surprised to hear that he accepted, given their small numbers and the fact that goblins were such a weak race that most wouldn't even bother with them.
The Treyni told us of how she and Rimuru subdued the wolves by killing their alpha, making him the only fatality in the entire pack before the rest of the wolves submitted to him and also swore allegiance. The other two dryads had been assigned the task of finding and bringing in the female and young wolves which they did successfully by the next morning. To my surprise Rimuru went on to name all of the wolves and goblins over a period of time.
"Wait, he named all of them?!!" I asked in shock, which was reflected by pretty much everyone. We all knew the dangers of naming monsters without giving yourself ample time to rest and recover, one could potentially lose their strength or even their life. And now the dryads were telling us that Rimuru had named nearly six hundred creatures within the span of a few days!!
Regardless of how strong he was and how weak the goblins and wolves were, their mere numbers made it such that the risk would be too much even for him.
"Indeed." Treyni said as she and the others giggled at our reactions, "While it cost him a great deal of magicules, he seems to be capable of rapidly recovering those magicules. Perhaps it is the effect of a skill, regardless he named them with no risk to himself."
It made sense if he had a skill that allowed him to replenish his magicules. No monster, regardless of how powerful, would hand out that many names in such a brief period. Truly Lord Rimuru was something else.
"That being said, Lord Rimuru is currently leaving the forest of Jura and making his way towards the Armed Nation of Dwargon, in hopes of acquiring artisans that will help with the development of the named village." Treyni said.
"Artisans?" Could he not have come here if he was looking for people to help with the development of the goblin village?
Or perhaps he felt he couldn't. We ogres had displayed ourselves as a rather prideful race, ones who respected strength and powerful individuals. Lord Rimuru may have assumed we would take offense to being asked to lend a hand in the construction of a weaker races dwelling. Not to mention we had our own to look out for.
"I see." The journey to Dwargon was a long one, so we most likely would not see Lord Rimuru for a while depending on the progress he wanted to make within his new village before returning here, if he was even going to be staying here after all was said and done.
"With that being said, we have delivered the message we were sent to deliver. We will be taking our leave now." The dryad Treyni spoke up.
"Yes, thank you very much." I thanked them with another quick bow, as dryads they more than likely had other tasks to do in the forest, so it wasn't wise to hold them any more than necessary.
With a nod the dryads vanished in a swirl of wind and leaves, within seconds their presence had vanished entirely, leaving only traces of magicules where they previously stood.
"...father." My daughter spoke up pulling me from my thoughts, it was then that I noticed that all my people had turned to me and were waiting for my next words.
"Change is coming to the forest faster than I had anticipated, and it seems Lord Rimuru is at the center of it all. At this point there is still much to consider before I can safely determine the future of our people, but until then let us continue as we always have been." I spoke loudly so I could be heard by all nearby.
The future of this clan was still uncertain, but with the changes of the forest, some changes were bound to affect us and our position in the forest as well.
~~~
Rimuru POV:
Getting in the front gates had been a lot easier than I had expected. Rigur and I made it through without too much trouble from the guards or security detail. Something that I was actually glad for given that I thought they would be more guarded seeing a majin and goblin traveling together. Though masking my power with [hideform] probably had something to do with the fact that I didn't set off any alarms.
"I was actually kind of nervous for a while there, but the process turned out to be a lot easier than I thought." I muttered with a sigh as we walked into the city.
"It was as you said Lord Rimuru, our former appearances and state of dress made the humans weary of us when we came to trade, but this time they didn't even look twice before granting us access!" Rigur said in amazement and joy. These guys must have been harassed a lot when coming to trade here.
"Anyways, let's take a look around. It shouldn't take us too long to find a blacksmith or two. Or if we want to be quick about it we could just ask around." I said with a shrug.
It was still morning so we had ample time. We took the time to look around the city, wanting to see the various buildings, products and even the various species living in Dwargon. I doubted I was going to get another chance like this for a while so I soaked it all up while I could.
By the time noon came to pass we decided to ask around for the 'best blacksmith in town', the people were forthcoming and all directed us to one place. Making it clear that this specific individual was renowned for his talents, just the kind of guy I was looking for.
And so…
"I'm afraid I can't be of help to you lads." The dwarven smith, Kaijin, was his name. "Ya see, my blacksmithing license was recently revoked as a result I'm not allowed to craft anymore weapons."
He went on to explain his dilemma to us, apparently Dwargon was preparing for the possibility of going to war with another nation, and so had asked their blacksmiths to produce twenty magisteel weapons each within a short period of time, failure to do so would result in said smiths losing their licenses and being unable to work as blacksmiths.
Due to a lack of necessary resources, the magisteel ore, Kaijin sent three fellow dwarf brothers he had close ties with, into the mines to collect these resources, but unfortunately there was an incident that caused the mine to collapse on itself and as a result the three brothers were critically injured and crippled from the incident.
In the end, Kaijin failed to meet the required target and his smithing license was revoked. Nowadays he sold weapons and armor made by other blacksmiths who wanted to use his former fame to market their products. Most of the money went into getting the three brothers the treatment they needed and taking care of their mother too.
"I see, that's a rather dismal situation you find yourself in." I couldn't help but admit with a frown. I honestly believed that this nation was foolish to let it's most talented smith just sit around just because he failed to meet some quota. Kaijins talents were too great for him to be selling second rate equipment made by other smiths.
"Aye, so I'm afraid I can't help you. If you're looking for custom jobs I can refer you to another skilled smith in town." Kaijin said, clearly trying to divert attention from his story. I understood that a bit, even I wouldn't want to talk about my sap story to every customer that came in, he didn't need the reminder of how far he had fallen.
"I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding, you see I didn't come here for equipment, but rather I came looking for artisans. You see I'm currently in the process of building a town in the Great Forest of Jura, and some skilled artisans would go a long way to seeing its development. I want you to come and work as a blacksmith in our town. Naturally you will also be paid accordingly." I explained with a grin much to the shock of Kaijin, I'd pretty much just laid my offer on the table, but I could tell Kaijin was still hesitant so I went on to sweeten the deal, "Those three brothers you mentioned earlier, were they also artisans before the incident?"
"Yes, they worked in various fields, construction, clothing, armor and accessories. Each skilled in their fields, a shame they can no longer work." Kaijin said as he hung his head, I could feel the guilt rolling off him in waves through [desire, he obviously blames himself for what happened to them and now he had nothing to show for the price they paid.
"Perfect!" I exclaimed with a smile prompting both Kaijin and Rigur to look at me in confusion. "Kaijin, I want you and the dwarf brothers to work in my village. Should you accept I will see to it those three are fully healed and capable of working again by the end of the day."
"W-what? But how, many of the best doctors Dwargon has to offer have tried?" Kaijin asked, wanting to believe that I could do what I was promising but also not wanting to get his hopes up.
I quickly produced a bottle of healing potion from my [Stomach] and showed it to Kaijin.
"Using this. Its a full healing potion, a bit of surgery, magic and this stuff and those three will be as good as new. They'll be able to live out their lives as if this incident never happened." I explained, Kaijin reached out to take the bottle, holding it and looking at it in awe and wonder as if it was the holy grail itself. He then turned towards me skeptically.
"And all you want in exchange is for us to work for you?" He seemed to be having doubts about me specifically now. Which was fair, even I would be cautious around a guy who just showed up and claimed to be able to fix my problems in exchange for being his subordinate.
It sounded a lot like making a deal with a devil.
"Yeah, I'm building a village currently comprised of goblins and wolves within the Great Forest of Jura. But as you'd expect they lack the know-how of building and clothing. Your craftsmanship along with that of the three bothers would be greatly appreciated." I told him, best to lay out the deal as it was.
"I see," Kaijin muttered before turning towards Rigur who had excused himself and was now taking a look at the various weapons and armor in shop, "I take it he's one of yours then?"
"Yes, his name is Rigur, and he's the goblin chiefs son." I told him.
"Hmm…you also mentioned something about pay earlier." Kaijin said as he turned back towards me, it was at this that I grinned. Based on some details I had learned from [Great Sage] I had the perfect way to pay these dwarves.
It was here that I brought out two magic ores with large chucks of 100% magisteel growing out of them. The magistone ores I had stored within me had been further refined into magisteel ore upon being exposed to more magicules. I could tell just by the way that he froze and his eyes widened that I had already gotten him.
"Now this is some high quality stuff!!" Kaijin practically yelled as he leaned down to inspect the ores, I ignored Rigur who seemed to jump a bit at the sudden outburst, only to resume whatever he was doing upon seeing there was nothing wrong. "I've never seen magisteel this pure, not to mention such a large amount on one ore. It shouldn't be impossible to make such a find! And you have two of them?! Do you have any idea how valuable these ores are?!!"
"I've been told that a magic ore of 50% magisteel is enough for someone to live a noble life for a good twenty years or so but even then it's extremely rare, given that this is 100% and of larger than average size, I'd assume its a lot more valuable. And have a lot more than that actually." I said calmly with a smirk causing him to snap my head towards me. [Great Sage] had been kind enough to fill me in on the details and potential values of the magisteel ores I had in possession.
Magisteel of higher qualities were so rare due to the fact that they could only be found places with high amounts of magicules. But such magic centric areas were usually filled with powerful monsters of high ranks that other nations usually implored the help of the Western Holy Church, an anti-monster religion that specializes in monster subjugation quests and holy magic, to help them make their way through to the ores. But that came with the disadvantage of the Church charging ridiculous prices for the service or demanding a greater share of the loot. And even then, the highest they got was 60% magisteel in those ores if they were extremely lucky, with common finds being 30% magisteel or less.
The value in magisteel weapons and armor came in the fact that they were used to craft unique grade weapons that are very durable and heat resistance, being able to withstand even lava. They possessed a unique trait that allowed them to 'grow' with their user, by absorbing their magicules. The more magisteel a weapon has the more conductive it is to magicules, making it more efficient in battle as well as absorbing magicules faster for its evolution.
"And before you ask, no I won't tell you where I found them. But I am willing to pay you and your friends two ores every four years. Not only that, but you'll be working with these kinds of products regularly as well."
"Aye, you drive a hard bargain Rimuru. I'd be a fool to turn down such a generous offer." Kaijin said as he stood up and stretched his hand out for me to shake, I couldn't help the genuine smile that made its way onto my face as I stretched out my own hand.
"It's only so generous because I pay for high quality work Kaijin, I'm looking forward to working with you Kaijin." I said with a toothy grin as we had a firm handshake to solidify our agreement. Kaijin genuinely seemed like a pretty swell dude, and I could tell we would get along just fine for a long time to come.
~~~
What followed after solidifying our deal was Kaijin taking me to the hospital where the three dwarf brothers were. Rigur had to wait out in the lounge as we were taken to the room where the three were. Not wanting to make a big deal out of things until everything was said and done I asked Kaijin to keep a tight lid on why we were here.
Once we were in the room the three brothers were being kept in the extremely hot and sexy elven nurse left us to our business, telling us to call her if we needed anything.
…I could certainly think of a few things in that moment.
《Hmph!》
'Ow!!' I mentally yelled with a flinch as I felt a spike of pain from deep within my mind, it felt like my mind had been pricked by a needle, 'Great Sage…did you just sting me or something?'
《Negative: I am here to serve the best interests of my master. Injuring you would be contradictory to my purpose.》
I could have sworn there was a lot of sarcasm behind that statement, but with Great Sage's even tone it was almost impossible to tell, either way the fact that Great Sage hadn't identified a threat mentally attacking me proved that it was the one responsible, even if it wouldn't admit it.
《...》
With a chuckle I brought myself to reality and turned towards Kaijin who was looking at the three beds of unconscious dwarves. I could feel the weight of his guilt through [desire] and man was it a lot. If it wasn't for the skill I wouldn't have been able to tell at all due to how schooled his face was.
Turning to the bedridden dwarves I couldn't help but cringe a bit at the sight. Whatever had happened to them in the mine had really done a number of them. Missing limbs, burns, gashes, large scars and a whole bunch of life support tools connected to them. They looked like they'd seen war didn't come back in one piece.
'Great Sage, not that I doubt you ability or anything, but are you sure we can fix this? It looks pretty heavy?' I asked these weren't simple wounds like the ones one got in a fight, these had scarred over time.
《Affirmative: though the damage is more extensive than we initially assumed it is still within my ability to operate.》
'Alright, Dr.Sage in the house!!' It was a relief to know I could count on, otherwise I don't know how I would have been able to face Kaijin and tell him I couldn't deliver. I prided myself in being a man of my word, and I promised Kaijin these three would be healed and I have every intention of sticking by that word.
"Alright Kaijin, I'll go ahead and start now, this may get a bit bloody and disturbing so…" I didn't know if he'd be able to stomach watching someone more or less get dissected, but he merely shook his head sideways.
"No, I'll stay. It's the least I can do after they got hurt trying to get me that ore." Kaijin said as he took a seat in a nearby chair. I merely nodded my head, I wasn't gonna tell the guy what he could and couldn't do, especially when it concerned his friends.
I turned back towards the patients, putting on the necessary gear, that we had acquired on the way and stored in my [Stomach].
'Alright Great Sage, do your thing.'
《Understood: Switching over to autopilot mode.》
I felt my consciousness get pulled into the depths of my mind as [Great Sage] took the reigns in controlling my body. It was a strange experience, watching and feeling my body move despite not being in control. I wondered if this was what it felt like to be Great Sage.
And so the operations began, it was a slow and fragile process that took a total of three hours, a lot longer than I had expected given the efficiency of the full healing potion. But Great Sage explained that they had to remove all the damaged tissue and flesh in order to maximize the effect of the healing potion. And removing all that at once could kill the patient if they weren't careful, meaning we had to deal with one injury at a time until we were done with the whole thing.
I spent most of that time browsing through my skills and checking on the progress of the scanning of [Unlimited Imprisonment, which is probably what Great Sage spent most of its free time doing as well, trying to find the best way to optimize my skills. As expected
I couldn't help but wonder if there was a way for me to communicate with my mother? It must get pretty lonely within the empty space of [Stomach]. Then again she had survived three hundred years within the sealed cave, another hundred or so before being finally freed should be nothing to her, I hope.
For now all I could do was protect the land she had entrusted to me and maybe make it better than it was when she got sealed. I wanted her to be proud of my accomplishments by the time I gained the data and power necessary to free her.
I had been reborn into this world from my old one, and as the child of one of the most powerful beings no less. And while the concept of seeking my mothers approval may seem childish given my adult mind, I knew it also had something to do with my nature as a dragon.
In the numerous games and manga I had access to in my previous life, dragons were always portrayed as prideful, greedy and powerful creatures by nature. And I couldn't help but wonder if my draconic nature would affect me in any way, or maybe it already had and I just hadn't realized it.
Either way, I was determined to do my heritage proud as the son of the storm dragon. Though I probably wouldn't go around razing villages as she did.
~~~
About three hours later, all three dwarves had been fully healed and restored to health. Though the excessive use of healing potions had sapped a lot of their strength, meaning they were probably going to sleep through the night and then some. According to [Great Sage] they were mostly likely to wake up around noon tomorrow, so that gave us plenty of time.
"Rimuru! I can't thank you enough for what you've done!" Kaijin said as he immediately bowed at a ninety degree angle, "I honestly believed they wouldn't ever be able to walk again, but now…" he stood straight and I could see the tears gathering in the corner of his eyes from gratitude.
"Don't worry about it, I'm a man of my word and I'm glad I could help. The potions heal them but also tax the body, they'll probably come around after some proper rest. They'll probably wake around noon tomorrow." I explained to which Kaijin nodded his head in understanding whilst whipping the tears from his eyes. "With that being said I should probably get looking for an inn or something for Rigur and I since we'll probably be here for another day or two."
"Aye, under normal circumstances I would offer to host you, but my home is in a less than ideal state." Kaijin explained as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
I didn't think much about it, any man in his situation would have spiraled into despair and depression. The guy had lost his job and license to craft, something he was passionate about and an art he spent his whole life honing. He had basically lost three of his friends to a request he made. And now he had been selling third rate gear made by other dwarves of lesser skill.
Even would be depressed if I was in his shoes. So his house being disorganized was no surprise given his situation.
"While I can't host you, I can at the very least do this much." Kaijin said as he pulled out a bag of coins and held them out for me to take. I was actually kinda shocked, "I figured you wouldn't have any money on you given everything you've told me. Am I right?"
"Well…you're not wrong, but-"
"Then take it, about three dozen silver coins. It should be enough for your stay and still have plenty left over to grab two or three meals." Kaijin said with a grin as he pushed the bag into my arms, "Don't worry about me, I've still got plenty saved up from my glory days. Not that I'll be needing it after tomorrow." Kaijin said with a boisterous laugh. Hearing that put me at ease about taking the money.
"Okay then, thanks Kaijin." I said as I nodded my head appreciatively. To be honest I hadn't really considered the fact that we didn't have any money. I guess I may have traded a few pieces of the magisteel I have for some coin, but Kaijin had just saved me the trip. The gesture in itself meant a lot more, as it proved to me that he could be a trusted ally.
"No worries, but I have a question." Kaijin stated as he turned back towards the three unconscious dwarf brothers before turning back towards me, "What should I tell the nurses or doctors who come in and ask about them?"
"Just tell them it was me, though refrain from mentioning our deal. I'm just a majin acquaintance you once sold weapons to who used magic to heal your friends. Don't mention my possession of magisteel or full potions." There was no point in trying to hide that I had healed the two brothers, but hiding my potions and ores was a wise move, as those were more likely to land me in bigger trouble from greedy folks and stuff like that.
"That's probably for the best." Kaijin said as he nodded his head in agreement, good to see that he saw the logic in my words.
"I'll come by your shop tomorrow around sunset, should be enough time for them to not only wake but for you guys to catch up, and fill them in in everything." I said, obviously I was going to talk to them a bit myself regarding how they felt about things. I wasn't one for forced labor so if they weren't up for it then that's that.
It would be a shame, but at least I would have gotten Kaijin. His talents as a blacksmith alone would more than make up the difference.
And so with that my meeting with Kaijin was concluded for the time being, but I left that hospital feeling confident in my alliance with the blacksmith and very hopeful of the other dwarf artisans would also come back to Jura with us.
~~~
Time flew fast and before I knew it it was already the following sunset the following day.
Rigur and I had stayed the night in a decent in room, the young goblin heir fretting over the fact that he would be sharing a room with me and offering to sleep outside and something since that would be taboo.
It took me a whole thirty minutes just to convince him to get in, and another twenty just so he would use the other bed in the room rather than sleeping on the floor.
Like I get the whole loyalty and subservient thing but that was a step too far, even for me.
Still we slept had, had breakfast in the morning, and went around town for most of the day. I spent quite a bit getting souvenir for some of the ogres.
I was probably worrying them by staying away to long, the dryads should have delivered my message by now and most likely answered any questions they had. Though they were two ogres in particular I could see fretting about my absence more than the rest.
The childish purple haired ogress, and the ogre princess. I'd grown closer to them than most of the other ogres in my time there, so the least I could do was bring a gift, a peace offering of sorts to save my hide if need be.
Aside from that I bought some other stuff for some of the ogres like the rest of the royal family, annoying redhead included.
I soon found the money Kaijin had given me finished so I went with my initial plan and sold a decent sized magisteel fragment at a blacksmith shop earning me about a bunch of gold coins. With this I was free to splurge and I'd still be left with plenty of change after I was done.
Next on the list was getting essentials for the goblin village, whilst we would be having artisans and stuff to help with the production of clothes, I was expecting a major population boom by the time we got back due to the goblin parties I'd ordered to go and recruit other goblin villages. Meaning it was best to buy some clothes and other basic necessities.
I went over the things with Rigur and we ended up getting basic clothing. It should at least work to properly cover everyone and the possible new additions, at least until we started making our own clothes.
We also got seeds for the goblins to plant and grow their own food outside of meat and fruits, but we also got word that some of the plants wouldn't do well in high magicule areas and that they might mutate. I had a basic ideas on which plants worked and which ones didn't thanks to the ones I saw in the ogre village, but regardless I took all types of seeds I found in the shop. Some plant mutations whilst inedible and even poisonous to humans were tasty and edible for monsters. So it would just have to be trial and error until we figured out what worked and what didn't.
We got a few other stuff too before time seemed to catch up with us and we finally headed for Kaijins workshop.
"Aaahh Rimuru, I've been expecting you for a while now." Kaijin said jovially as he opened the door wide, his mood much brighter than it had been, meaning that everything had turned out well. "Come on in you two!" He said as he cleared the way for Rigur and I.
With thankful nods we made our way into the shop, and I immediately took note of the three dwarf brothers approaching the entrance. They looked as good as new, no scars, blemishes or disfigurement to show any sign of their previous crippled state. I wouldn't even know they had gone through such a horrific incident if I hadn't seen them at the hospital just the other day.
"Hey, you must be Rimuru!" The eldest of the bothers, Garm if I remembered correctly, greeted warmly as they approached us, "Kaijins told us a bit about you, and it seems we have you to thank for healing us!"
"Yeah, you really saved our bacons!" Dord the middle brother added in gratitude.
The last of the three brothers, Myrd, yet surprisingly the tallest, merely nodded his head and hummed in agreement, if it weren't for [Desire] I doubt I would have been able to tell just how grateful he was. It seemed that he wasn't the talkative type, oh well that's fine with me.
"Don't worry too much about it, Kaijin and I had a deal, and I'm a man of my word." I said as I tried to downplay their praise, [Great Sage] was the one who had done all the work anyways. I doubt I would have been been able to do it on my own.
《Hehehe…》
'Hey why are you getting all smug!'
《I was not, it was probably just your imagination.》
'Riiighht' I didn't know [Great Sage] could be sarcastic and sassy too, it seemed Great Sage had the potential to be emotional, but I rarely saw that side of her so it was easy to forget sometimes.
"I told them about our deal Rimuru." Kaijin said as he walked up to the group, "They all agreed that they'd be willing to join in and the contract and come work in your town."
"Really?" I asked as I turned towards the three dwarf brothers, each of them shooting me a grin and a thumbs up, "I was honestly prepared to do some convincing. Don't feel obligated to work for me because I saved your lives though, that was just part of the deal I made with Kaijin." I stated, making it clear they didn't have to work for me, but rather it was just something Kaijin and I had discussed.
"Hahaha, don't worry about it too much Rimuru. While you saving us had some sway in the decision, the main reason is because the three of us want to stick with Kaijin, we've been as close as you can imagine for a long time." Garm reassured.
"Besides the deal you were offering is just to sweet to pass up. Two large ores of Magisteel every four years?! Do you have any idea just how valuable that stuff is?!" Dord asked, looking at me as though I was insane for giving away such valuable stuff, which was probably a bit fair, but given the circumstances it was a bit fair.
"I have a decent idea, I sold a small piece earlier whilst we were out shopping and got about a thousand gold coins or so. I was pretty surprised at how valuable the stuff is all things considered." I said, I had nearly had a heart attack after that exchange, the things we had bought afterwards just didn't compare to that wealth seeing as we only used about 20 gold coins in total.
"Well those larger ores of yours would sell for nearly a hundred times as much! Between the four of us that's fifty thousand gold each, that's more than enough for most people to sit pretty for the rest of their lives if handled well! And you'll be paying us this every four years!" Well when he put it like that it did sound a bit ridiculous.
If I had to give a ruff estimate of the value of gold coins in this world were equivalent to a hundred dollars from my old world, silver coins equivalent to ten dollars and copper coins equivalent to a dollar. 1 gold = 10 silver = 100 copper. That was the basic monetary system of this world. The coins were used universally across the many nations of this world but their exact value depends on which nation you're in.
"Well I'm only paying so much because I'll be counting on you guys for a lot of things. We're building a village from ground up, and as time passes it might even expand into a town depending on how things progress. You won't just be working, but I'll also be counting on you to teach the residence your talents so they are also self sufficient." I explained to them, with these three l teaching the goblins their arts and crafts, things were bound to progress more smoothly as the village grew and expanded.
"Hahahaha, you can count on us Rimuru. We'll make sure to deliver your moneys worth." Kaijin said with a grin and a thumbs up while the dwarf brothers nodded their heads. It was good to know that I would be able to count on them. "Anyways Rimuru I was thinking we should celebrate tonight. The recovery of these three as well as the start of a new friendship!"
"A celebration? What did you have in mind?" I asked rather curious, the lecherous grin that appeared on all for dwarfs faces made me all the more curious.
"You'll totally love it! It's a place filled with lots of cute elf girls!" Garm declared as he suddenly appeared right beside me.
"Elves?!" My interest was suddenly peaked.
"Yeah, its a bar called Butterflies of the Night and its loaded with lots of beautiful women! They'll wait on you hand and foot all night long!" Dord explained with excitement, Myrd appearing beside him also nodding his head frantically in agreement.
"Come on Rimuru, you've gotta come! Think of it as a last hoorah before we leave this kingdom." Kaijin said before a wicked grin suddenly made its way onto his face, "Besides, don't think I didn't see the way you were checking out that cute elf nurse from the hospital."
'-ack! Caught red handed!' I felt some heat rising to my face from being called out like that. I had to admit the idea was extremely enticing. From the moment they mentioned 'elf girls' I knew I was going to go to this bar with them. No way I was going to miss out on such a unique experience.
~~~
…which is how I found myself standing outside the elf bar with the four dwarves and Rigur. I had to admit there was a certain excitement that came with the thought of actually seeing and being served by pretty elf ladies, though I had to quickly calm my pubescent hormones before they manifested.
Hold on…
"Kaijin?" I called out as I turned to the blacksmith, "Would a place like this even except someone like me here? I mean, I basically look like an adolescent human child." I pointed out, it was something that I hadn't really thought about before now.
Strangely enough my age hadn't been an issue the whole time I had been in Dwargon, nobody had questioned me about it and the more I thought about the more I realized nobody had treated me like a child either. It was almost bizarre.
"Hehehe, there's no need to worry about that Rimuru. The aura and presence you give of makes it clear that you're not human, and Majins come in all shapes and sizes. You wouldn't be the first young looking lad to visit this place and I doubt you'll be the last!" Kaijin said with a pat to my back, this guy was being way too casual with me.
Then again, I didn't mind it too much. Thus far everyone within the great forest had treated me as either a powerful entity or their lord and master, having a casual friendly relationship with someone was actually quite refreshing.
"If you say so." I said with the shrug of my shoulders, if there wasn't a problem then there was no problem.
It was then a brilliant and perverted idea came to mind. One that would allow me to get physically closer to the elf girls of this establishment!
"Hey guys, I should probably tell you that this body you're seeing is just one of two forms that I have." I said bringing the attention of the four dwarves to me.
"Lord Rimuru?!" Rigur suddenly called out in alarm.
"It's fine Rigur." I said with a nod, calming the panicking goblin, this prompted dwarves to tilt their heads in confusion, "The truth is…"
I promptly shifted from my human form into my dragon hatchling form, flapping my wings to keep myself in mid air.
"...I'm an elemental dragon!" I declared proudly with my head held high.
" Whaaat?!!"
Authors Notes:
And that's a wrap. The ending may have seemed a bit rushed there but that's honestly because I felt the chapter was becoming too long.
I originally planned to type 5k words per chapter, but now I'm seeing myself getting to about 8k to 10k words. Not that its a bad thing, but I'm just not one for lengthy chapters.
Either way I hope you enjoyed this chapter and feel free to ask questions, review and comment please!!