Chapter 6: DIREWOLF DIFFICULTY

"Yes, they're goblins." Rimuru answered.

'They don't quite look like the goblins I remember…' Akari thought as she remembered {Goblin Slayer}

Rimuru "breathed" in and shouted.

"HELLO! I'm RIMURU TEMPEST, A SLIME. AND THIS IS MY SISTER, AKARI TEMPEST. NICE TO MEET YOU!"

Akari yelped and smacked Rimuru because of his actions and the goblins cowered further.

"Rimuru! You conveyed your thoughts to loudly!"

"Sir! You don't need to raise your voice as we can clearly see your strength, Strong ones"

"Strong ones? Do you mean us?" Rimuru asked while turning his "head" all around.

"Surely you jest! We mean you, strong ones." The one who seemed to be the leader spoke.

Akari bounced forward and spoke softly, just enough for a normal conversation.

"So, did you need something from us?"

The leading gobbling raised his head and spoke.

"We sensed 2 powerful presences, so we came here as precaution to a potential threat."

Rimuru looked around again and spoke. "Really? I don't sense anything like that."

"Surely you jest! Even if you face us in that form, we can clearly see and won't be fooled."

"Strong ones, seeing your powers, we would like to ask your favours." The leading goblin added.

After that little encounter, Rimuru and Akari was led to the goblin village.

A shoddy village.

Akari and Rimuru was inside a tent together with the goblin from earlier and a much, much, much older goblin.

Some other goblins were also peeking into the tent.

Some were sticking their ears into it to hear better.

(A/n: Man, why does it sound wrong.)

Rimuru and Akari sat on an elevated platform.

"Hello visitors. I am the elder of this village."

Rimuru hesitatingly did a small bow and spoke.

"Hi, nice to meet you."

Rimuru turned towards Akari and saw that she was full on, intimidation mode.

Akari just sat there looking down on the goblins, as they started to shake.

"Hey, stop it! You're scaring them!" Rimuru reminded through enhanced thought communication.

Akari woke up from her trance and greeted.

"Uh, yes. Hello! Nice to meet you."

As Akari spoke the pressure eased up.

"So, what favour did you want to ask of us?"

The two goblins nodded at each other and proceeded to speak.

"Have you noticed that the monsters are much active as of late?"

The elder of the village asked.

"No." The siblings by name answered.

"Our god had disappeared one month ago. As result, other monsters in the area have been harassing us."

'Their God? Hm, they did say that, that God disappeared, and monsters harassed them after. Is it because of the high-magicule-density? Then, it certainly is Veldora.' Akari gathered what she has heard and drew her conclusions.

"We had tried fighting back but we lack the numbers… So, we hope that you would us, strong ones."

"But we're just slimes." Akari spoke and Rimuru continued. "I doubt that we could do what you had asked us for." The goblins smiled and spoke again.

"Haha, please, don't be modest. Normal slimes would not be able emit such horrid aura. You both are quite famous monsters, are you not?"

Rimuru shaped a question mark and asked. "Aura?"

'Aura?' Akari had the same question going on in her mind. 'Avant, could you please change "magic sense's" perspective?'

<{ Understood. Proceeding. }>

Akari's perspective changed to bird's eye view to let her clearly look at her and her brother in name's aura.

Akari stared at the menacingly horrifying aura of magicules that she emitted.

"Hail Mary full of grace~!"

Akari saw that her aura was all over the place and covering all of the goblins' aura. Inside and outside the tent.

The aura she let out made sure to obscure anything else but Rimuru's.

'Yabe… that's why the goblins were shaking when they first looked at me.'

Rimuru was shocked but not really shocked as he knew that Akari was stronger than him.

Rimuru and Akari chuckled nervously and spoke together while sweating buckets.

" "Leave it to the elder to notice…" "

"But of course. You cannot hide the formidable air about you." The elder answered.

"I see… So, you noticed… You guys have a lot of potential…" Rimuru spoke on behalf of them 2.

"What potential do you mean!?" Akari shouted at Rimuru using their shared skill, enhanced thought communication.

"I don't even know! I'm just spouting random BS!" Rimuru Answered.

"Just let me take over next words!" Akari shouted.

The 2 instantly sucked their aura back into their body.

The elder, still eyes closed, spoke.

"Ah… Have you been testing us?" The goblin elder trembled as he turned his head towards the entrance of the tent where some goblins were peeking.

"It's unfortunate that most of us were frightened by your aura."

Akari answered this time. "That's right!"

"You must have potential to be able to talk to me without running away!"

"Thank you so much." The elder spoke in a shaking voice.

"Ah, about our request we wish to ask…"

According to the goblins, wolf monsters; dire wolves were attacking from the east.

And many goblins had died in the ensuing battle.

Apparently, Dire wolves are so much powerful than goblins that it takes 10 goblins to even have a chance against one Dire wolf.

And there was one warrior among them that had a name, who served as their guardian.

Even that warrior was killed, leaving the village in peril.

"There are about a hundred dire wolves." The elder spoke.

"How many fighters do we have then?" Rimuru spoke.

"We have about 60 people including female who could fight."

Akari turned to Rimuru and spoke. "This feels like an impossible game to win all right."

Akari turned back towards the goblins and asked. "So did the goblin warrior fight against the dire wolves despite knowing that he would lose?"

"No… That warrior gave his life retrieving information on the dire wolves for us. The warrior was my son, and his elder brother." The elder goblin bent down in grief.

"I see…" Akari spoke. "I'm sorry for asking that."

Akari sighed and looked down. "Ahhhhh… I feel pretty bad for these goblins. Nii-chan. Why don't we just help them?"

Rimuru too felt the sadness the village was facing as he looked at the children peeking at the entrance of the tent as they listened to the conversation.

'The warrior must have been like Jesus to them…' Rimuru thought.

Rimuru looked back at the elder and spoke.

"Elder, tell me one thing that I need to hear?"

"Y-yes?" The elder goblin said.

"What will the both of us get in return of helping the village?"

Rimuru asked. "What can you give us?"

The elder and the goblin beside him looked undecided and a bit hopeless, including the goblins outside the tent, peeking.

"Hey! Nii-chan. Forget about compensation. Let's just help them!" Akari spoke in thoughts.

"I'm not actually looking for compensation. I just need to put a little show that we're not some pushover who'd listen and do anything for them." Rimuru answered.

Rimuru's specific use of the term pushover made Akari shake, but she returned to normal right after. "Alright, I understand." She had to change.

The elder goblin finally chose an answer and spoke. "W-we will give you, our loyalty! Please grant your protection upon us."

The elder goblin bent down again and spoke. "If you do, we will swear our loyalty to the both of you!"

The elder's son followed after him and bent down. "We will swear!"

'This looks familiar.' Rimuru thought as he remembered his memories of his kouhai asking him for something.

" 'Senpai! Just this once, please!' "

The words resonated in his mind as he looked up.

'When all is said and done, I can't just say no.'

"AwooooooooOooOOooOOoOooOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

The goblins, the siblings and the rest of the village heard the cry of dire wolves.

The goblins started to panic and run all over the place.

The 2 goblins in the tent went outside and the elder goblin's eyes finally opened as he saw the impeding danger.

"Th-the dire wolves!" one shouted and covered his ears in fright.

"This is terrible!" Another one spoke.

"We're done for!"

"We'll all be eaten!"

"Let's run!" one proposed.

"Where to? The dire wolves will still catch us with their superior speed!"

The elder stepped into the chaos.

"E-everyone, please calm down."

He spoke but his voice was drowned by panic of the others.

Akari looked at the scene and felt her heart wrench.

She bounced towards the panicking goblins and declared.

"There's no need to fear!"

The goblins were alarmed by the sudden loud shout and quieted down and looked at the 2.

"We're going to defeat them." Rimuru declared.

The elder goblin's body shook at the silver of hope the siblings gave them.

"Y-you mean?"

Akari looked around and spoke when all attention was on them.

"In lieu of the Storm Dragon Veldora, I, Akari Tempest and my brother Rimuru Tempest will grant your wish!"

The goblins teared up and quickly bent their knees to show respect.

"Thank you very much! We are your loyal servants, great Akari-sama, Rimuru-sama!"

Akari "smiled" and spoke.

"You can leave it to us!"

And that is how, Akari and Rimuru became the goblins' leader, their Guardian.

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