ch7

Just InCommunityForumMoreRegrets and Wishes: One More Chance by jnscrtm Anime » Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken/転生したらスライムだった件 Rated: T, English, Hurt/Comfort & Romance, [Rimuru T., Ciel], Words: 104k+, Favs: 190, Follows: 196, Published: May 20, 2022 Updated: Jun 13, 202221Chapter 7: 5 - Preparation in the Village

CHAPTER 5 – PREPARATION IN THE VILLAGE

(Rimuru's Perspective)

"Well done. You have passed the test. I can see so much potential in all of you."

It is actually a line which I came up with in the previous timeline to, well, calm them down after I'd unknowingly been boasting my mystical aura and scaring the hell out of them. I said that line this time to tell them that I didn't demand anything else.

They are bewildered by my words. "Test, my lord?"

"Yes! You were still able to express your request clearly, even under the strong pressure of my aura. It shows that you, indeed, are worthy of being our subordinates. You can stop calling us 'strong ones'."

"Hahaha, so it was a test. But...how should we address you?"

"My name is Rimuru Tempest. And she"—I turn my head to Ciel-san, my right hand on her left hand—"is my partner."

"I am Ciel." She introduces herself, smiling.

"Now," I say. "You can raise your head."

"Thank you very much for your kindness, Rimuru-sama, Ciel-sama." They immediately raise their head and get up from dogeza back to seiza.

Having accepted their request, the very first thing we'll do naturally is assessing the goblins' current situation. "So, how many residents do we currently have? And how many are ready for battle?"

"We have approximately one hundred and fifty," answers the elder. "Counting the womenfolk, about eighty of them are ready for battle."

The number is significantly higher than the previous time. Well, it is a matter of course because we've come here, like, two weeks faster than we are supposed to be. And we also saved thirteen of them, on top of that. For a village of this size, thirteen is sure quite a significant number.

"Are there any folks injured?"

"No, sir. There are not," Rigur answers. "Thanks to your benevolence, our only injured folks have completely been healed."

"Rigur, your father said some moments ago that you'd gone with your team in order to retrieve information. So, what information have you managed to get?"

"Yes, sir. From all monsters that have been harassing us, the most prominent threat of all, I believe, are the direwolves. Looking from how we encountered them before, it is highly possible that they are targeting our village."

"If so, then we'll need to prepare ourselves. How many are they?"

"They appear to number around one hundred."

"One hundred...alright." I stand up, followed by Ciel-san. "I allow all of you to rest and calm your mind for fifteen days. One week before the night of full moon, we will all begin the preparation."

""Yes, sir!"" exclaim Rigur and his brother in unison. They all slowly stand up while supporting their father, bow at us, then walk out of the shack.

We're walking around, constantly checking the goblins' condition every certain period of time. If we ourselves want to rest, we usually choose a nearby tree and sit, leaning on it.

⁂

Two days later, an unexpected thing happens.

Ciel-san and I are resting on a tree. Suddenly a huge group of goblins come and visit this village. They consist of six different goblin tribes. All of them individually number around eight hundred and fifty.

For goodness' sake...

It turns out, they came here because they heard a rumour about two strong beings who had saved Rigur the named warrior and had accepted to protect this village. This apparently alarmed many other goblin villages, causing them to hold a sort of conference among their elders.

Opinions were split on what to do. Some suggested to travel and immediately beg for protection. Some others were against it, arguing that they might get enslaved if they did come here, considering that they were a weak race.

The conference ended without any concrete decision, leaving the both sides to do whatever they wanted. The side that sought our protection finally decided to travel here and beg for protection.

I cannot say no to them. But still...This would be quite a headache to deal with. Ah, it can't be helped, then!

Gathering food for the total of one thousand folks is not an easy task, obviously. The amount of work and the risks which come along with it are no jokes. They need to be physically strong, or else they'll easily be killed by merely a boar passing by. Moreover currently, we don't have any convenient transportation means.

We'll also have a hard time distributing the food to all of them. If we let them take the food freely, fighting for the limited amount of food is possible to occur, although the possibility would be low under our supervision. Even if they do not fight, there is still a possibility that some people might sneak and quietly take more food than the specified amount. Why do I get to think about that? Because there used to be some people who weren't afraid to do such stupid thing in front me.

Naming them and letting them evolve can do the job. But naming a thousand of them all at once will be disadvantageous, I am afraid. Yes, it is true that they can go without food or drink for about a week straight. But there are some problems.

The first problem which comes in mind is the space. I mean, this village is rather small. Evolving into hobgoblins means much bigger bodies. That doesn't actually matter, though, because their physiques are also much stronger, which means they won't have any problem sleeping outside the shacks.

The second problem is about suspicion. I can still sense some people going in and out of the area around the Sealed Cave, even though it's far fewer in number compared to the first twenty days after we isolated Veldora in [Imaginary Space].

If we evolve all goblins and divide the tasks to all of them, suspicion may very well increase. Evolved monsters which are pretty rare back then. But if suddenly there are abundance of them, such a thing will certainly ignite a suspicion. If their superiors hear about this, they will very well send more people to investigate it further and find the root of it. Having to deal with them will make our business even more complicated.

Nonetheless, a clear chain of command must immediately be formed. With that in mind, I concluded that the very first ones to be named should be "them".

"The elder of every tribal village, come forth!" I command, standing up. "This village's elder included."

"""Yes, my lord.""" One by one, they come in front us then kneel, or at least trying to kneel.

"I will give seven of you names."

They are shocked by my words. "But, my lord, naming a monster is—"

"I know." I raise my hand, interrupting an elder's words. "Worry not. Even naming a hundred thousand of you won't be enough to exhaust my magicule capacity. From now on, your names shall be: Rigurd, Regurd, Rugurd, Rogurd, Ragurd, Ririka, and Ririna."

Two of them are foreign faces for me—Ragurd and Ririka. As one might've guessed, I took the name "Ragurd" because it would complete the "R-gurd" name series, while the name "Ririka" was simply taken from "Ririna" with "na" being replaced with "ka".

They were surprised when I gave them those names so casually.

Shortly afterwards, their bodies begin to shine and reconstruct themselves. They begin to physically grow in such an instant time until they become comparable to human adults, or even bigger.

When the light dies down, they are still kneeling in front of us. They are no longer fragile, old goblins. They've evolved into hobgoblins for the male elders and goblinas for the female elders.

The jump from goblins to hobgoblins or goblinas in terms of lifespan are very significant. The elders who were reaching the near of their life as goblins now are hobgoblins and goblinas in their prime.

Their previous clothes can no longer properly cover their body, even more so for the female. But clothes can wait, because we have a more urgent problem in hand.

"""We cannot thank you enough for having given these beautiful names, my lord!"""

Even such silly-sounding names are beautiful for them, eh? Seriously, I'm glad that my monster subordinates are so appreciative of almost everything I give them.

"By the way," I say, "calling me 'my lord' feels a bit awkward. My name is Rimuru Tempest. And this girl beside me is Ciel, my partner. You can call us with those names."

"""Yes, Rimuru-sama, and Ciel-sama."""

Managing the total of one thousand goblins are no doubt going to be tough. So, I divide the tasks which I need the elders to do until we enter the preparation period.

"Rigurd, since we get a lot of people this time, I need you to help us by managing all folks under this village's protection. But don't worry, you won't do that alone. Ragurd, Regurd, Rogurd, Rugurd, Ririka, and Ririna; the remaining six of you will be responsible for overseeing food distribution and ensuring that everyone gets what they need as fairly as possible. All of you will report the situation to Rigurd. Is there any objection?"

"""No, sir!""" they answer in unison.

"Then, here is my first order. From your respective tribes, I'd need each of you to: appoint one man who is most skilled in combat, if any, to form a small joint team for watching over the village, five strongest men to form a joint team for gathering food, and three women to assist the food distribution. If you have finished what I order you to do, immediately report and bring them to us."

"""Understood!""" They immediately run around to their respective tribes to find the suitable folks as we told them to.

Not so long later, they've been already back with the chosen folks. The folks chosen are now kneeling in front of us.

The village guard team consists of seven strongest men, each one chosen from one tribe. Of course, I have figured out that Rigur might just get chosen by Rigurd as the member of village guard team. He used to be this village's guardian, so it makes sense. And his physical prowess was already higher than the others even when he was still a nameless goblin—according to Rigurd.

I look at him. "Rigur, with this I will rename you. But this will sever your soul connection with the one who formerly named you. Is it alright?"

"It is completely alright, sir," he answers without any hesitation while smiling. "You have shown far more care and attention than my former master. He named me then left me just like that. So, I have nothing but gratitude if you do intend to do so."

"If you see us that way, then very well. From now on, your name shall be Rigur Issei."

(A.N., Issei [一世] here literally means "the first". "Rigur Issei" means "Rigur the first" or "Rigur I")

I add "Issei" (the first) into his name, clearly because there will be someone whose name will get "Nisei" (the second) as a part of his name. To avoid confusion, maybe I would just call him "Issei" from now on, especially if there are two Rigurs at the same place.

Just like the elders, he evolves from a goblin to a hobgoblin and physically grows instantly. He becomes a hobgoblin who just entered the start of full maturity period, whilst as a goblin, he was considered a middle-aged goblin. He is around ten centimetres shorter than Rigurd in terms of height.

"I, Rigur Issei, will devote myself to this task you have given me," he says as he completes his evolution.

Then, I proceed to name and evolve the other members of village guard team into hobgoblins. I name the rest of them: Gobuhiko, Gobuemon, Gobumasa, Gobuyama, Gobuhiro, and Gobuaki.

Then from the food-gathering team, we got thirty-five strong hobgoblins. This time, Issei's younger brother is chosen to be a member of this team. I name him Rigur Nisei (Rigur the Second).

I name the remaining thirty-four members with either "Gobu..." or "Ri..." name series: Gobuyuki, Gobusuke, Gobutaro, Gobutsuji, Gobukichi, Gobushi, Gobuzen, Gobuhisa, Gobuki, Gobuen, Gobuyoshi, Gobukashi, Gobutsugu, Gobutaka, Gobutomo, Gobutoshi, Gobuo, Gobunaga, Rikuzou, Rikutou, Ritsuo, Rikio, Rikiya, Rikimaru, Ritou, Riichi, Riji, Rizou, Rishi, Riroku, Rishichi, Rihachi, Riku, and Rijuu.

Continuing to the twenty-one members of food distribution assistance team, I toss some Japanese feminine names which I am familiar with: Aika, Aimi, Airi, Chiemi, Chihou, Emi, Erika, Eriko, Yuuna, Yuuko, Yuumi, Fumika, Fumiko, Fumino, Hana, Haruna, Harue, Haruhi, Hatsue, Hisako, and Kahou.

This concludes the first wave of naming for the goblins. Statistically, we now have the total of seventy evolved goblins—forty-seven hobgoblins and twenty-three goblinas.

"For the village guard team: patrol around the village area and watch out for suspicious movements from outsiders. For the food-gathering team: start gathering food and water for the upcoming night. For the food distribution assistance team: start distributing the food and water once it is time for night meal. Now, dispatched!"

"""We shall live up to your expectation, Rimuru-sama!""" They all immediately stand up at the same time and start doing what they're told to do.

Oh, gosh...I really didn't expect myself to give orders with such a dignity.

Even Ciel-san beside me is just smiling with a somewhat satisfied face.

It is the time for night meal. They try to give us food and drink, but then Ciel-san answers before I can even utter a word. "We do not need it. If the situation was not like this, we would be more than happy to receive it. But for now, give it to the folks who need it more."

Now the other problem is about shelter. This village usually only contains less than two hundred inhabitants. But now that we have a thousand folks, this is going to be quite troublesome if not getting solved immediately.

With the acceptance of all folks, we've decided that every night, the elderly and the children will sleep inside the shacks, while the hobgoblins and the youngsters who are in their prime and have strong physiques in goblins' standards will sleep outside, either on a pile of leaves or directly on the ground.

Our calm period continued until eleven days later.

I can already sense some direwolves lurking from the distance, observing their surrounding environments. I order the food-gathering team to gather food much more than usual. It is because we will soon enter the pre-battle preparation period.

Two days have passed. It is a week before the night of full moon.

We begin the pre-battle preparation period by first informing all folks of what we will do for a week straight. The duty of food-gathering team will also be halted for a time being. Food provision will be handled by me and Ciel-san special for an emergency situation like this.

As a substitute when the early-gathered food has been eaten off, I give them the boar I killed around a month ago. It is still in fresh condition, of course, since [Imaginary Space] where it was saved is essentially not bound by the laws of time.

The boar is enormous, so I approximate that it will be enough to feed even a thousand goblins twice a day for three-to-four days at best. If they eat the specified amount, that's it. Every time they finish a meal, I will save the boar's remains back into [Imaginary Space] to keep the freshness.

Just in case, I also quietly send my another [Multiple Parallel Existence] to hunt down a few cowdeers as a reserve food.

As we already have hobgoblins, we don't have to assign fighters from the currently-unevolved goblins. A hobgoblin's base capabilities are naturally much higher than those of a normal goblin, so we don't need too many of them.

We only choose thirty hobgoblins as the fighters. The remaining hobgoblins are ordered to help building and fortifying the defence fence, while the goblinas are ordered to continue managing the food distribution.

Ciel-san and I are standing in front of them to brief the fighters and the builders.

"Alright," I begin. "First of all, I believe that you've all understood the situation we're currently in, no?"

"Yes, sir." Issei, as the leader of the hobgoblin fighters, has his right hand on his forehead, imitating a saluting-like gesture. "Even if it means we have to sacrifice ourselves in the upcoming battle of life and death, we are prepared."

With an undaunted expression and a firm posture, he declares as such without hesitating and stuttering.

The same thing can be said for the rest. Maybe if they were still goblins, their legs might've been shaking violently at the knees. But as hobgoblins, both their physiques and mentals have grown significantly, giving them much more bravery and confidence.

Still, if they're scared inside, I cannot blame them. No matter how one looks at it, they are still one of the weakest races in the world. On top of that, they're going to fight against a race whose base speed and agility outmatches theirs by a huge margin.

If there is one thing in which they are more superior than the direwolves, it'd be their level of intelligence. But that is the exact thing we need above all. There is a saying "there is no greatest weapon than a prepared mind". No matter how fast and agile the enemies are, if they're not smart enough, they'll only be an easy target.

"Good. Don't get all worked up and keep it chill. To begin, the builder team, start building and fortifying the defence fence!"

"""As you command, Rimuru-sama!"""

One week should suffice to gather the materials and building the fence. There'd be no need to tear down the houses.

The builder team starts cutting down a few trees and chopping them into manageable woods. In the meantime, I also order a few hobgoblins from the fighter team who are decent with a bow to go on scout duty. I warn them not to wander too far, since the direwolves are gifted with their sensitive nose. One never knows when one is about to be attacked.

⁂

Seven days have passed. As night falls, the final planks have been on the fence. I give it a final touch with spider silk to strengthen and solidify the fence and a few sticky-steel thread traps created using [Universal Thread].

I make sure the fence has a single entrance on one side. Once it is lined with [Universal Thread], my job is done. All that remains is to wait for the scouts to come back.

I have the goblin folks stay inside the shacks or around the bonfire. Afterwards, I have the hobgoblins collect the leftover material, pile it up in the centre of the village, then set it on fire. We'll need to keep watch the whole night through. Ciel-san and I offer to handle it alone, but obviously it is sharply refused.

"Please, you do not need to do anything more, Rimuru-sama, Ciel-sama!" rejects a goblina. "You two have done so much for us. We could never allow you to shoulder such a heavy burden!"

"She is right!" comments a hobgoblin fighter. "Rimuru-sama, Ciel-sama, please leave it to us and take the time to rest a little."

The other hobgoblins and goblinas are also voicing their approval of their friends' words.

Because they look dead serious, I cannot say no and let them to do the job, although when it comes to the boss, it will still be our job as this village's guardians. If anything, I appreciate the fact that they are such thoughtful people. They really understand their position.

Just before midnight, the scouts have returned—some lightly wounded, but all safe. They reported that the direwolves have begun to move. At the same time, my [Universal Perception] can feel an intense hostility are under the way from the front of the village.

I and Ciel-san walk to the front of the fence, facing straight ahead.

"It's time, folks!" I exclaim without turning my head, signalling the fighters to fully prepare themselves. "It's time to show those wolves who you really are!"

~TO BE CONTINUED~

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