As I watch the unconscious Gabil and his men make a hasty retreat, I think to myself…

I wanted to knock him out…

Like, that was probably the closest chance I would get to knocking out an arrogant young master type as I would ever get. I mean, there are a few more arrogant bad guys that I can remember, but they all have some sort of power to back them up.

So I have to at least use SOME semblance of effort to face-slap them, and it’s just not the same. I wanted to feel what those cliché cultivation protags always felt-

M-MASAKA! Is Mikoto the protag!?

*Cough*

Anyway, I asked Rigurd to gather everyone to have a meeting about these orcs. He quickly left to do as I asked and a few hours later, everyone is gathered inside the building designated for meetings and the like. Once everyone was ready, I asked Soei to give us a report on everything that happened.

Soei began with the nearby goblin villages. A few of them didn’t want to join us and decided to remain independent. Once the orcs started moving, Gabil went around to these villages and began to recruit them under him.

Of course, there were still some goblin groups that didn’t want to be recruited under him and decided to flee, mostly into human territory. It’s an idiotic decision since humans are very territorial, but it’s not like they had much of a choice.

Either run and gamble your survival or fight directly against the orc army. Even so, I believe running isn't the smart decision.

No, wait, unless those goblins realised Gabil is a lost cause? Then they might be the smart ones? Hmm…

And finally, Soei began talking about the orc army itself.

Soei- “I was mistaken. The orc forces number approximately 200,000.”

Now THAT got everyone shaken up.

Benimaru- “So the force that attacked our home was merely a small fraction…”

Rimuru- “Do you know where they’re going?”

Soei- “Yes, they’re moving up the river and should meet back with the separate force that attacked our village at the marshlands.”

Rigurd- “In the lizardmen’s territory?”

Soei just nods.

Well, I knew all of this beforehand. But it’s not like I can just say “yo I know the future and this is what’s gonna happen lol” and just continue on like normal…

Hold on, I might be able to. I mean, my subordinates see me as some kind of god anyway, so they would just be like “sasuga Rimuru-sama” and stuff like that.

I could just make some kind of bullshit up for Mikoto… Nah, I don’t wanna bother. I’ll just act as some kind of wise king that can foresee any kind of trouble ahead and ‘miraculously’ avoid it.

Hehehe… and then I can sneak into the women’s hot spring while saying “I sense great impurities, I’ll have to cleanse everyone here huhuhu” while using my slime tentacle thingies to their full potential-

*Spark*

Oop, back to the meeting.

Looking at the map I made of the entire forest (because maps are rare stuff in this era), they realised that after the marshlands, there’s a great chance that they would then head into human territory. Because of this, everyone is discussing what exactly is the orc’s goal.

Rimuru- “Well, I guess it’s time to say this…”

Rigurd- “Rimuru-sama?”

Rimuru- “Well, I felt a rather powerful presence, so I looked into it. It turns out that the orcs are being led by an Orc Lord.”

This set off a wave of murmurs throughout the room. Mikoto, who is sitting beside me, leans towards me and whispers.

Mikoto- “Hey, what’s an Orc Lord?”

I reply through [Thought Communication].

Rimuru- ‘A powerful orc, one born every few centuries. A Unique Monster. They have special leadership skills and each one brings chaos across the world.’

I talked to her about the Orc Lord through [Thought Communication] while Mikoto is slightly embarrassed and fidgeting at having forgotten the [Thought Communication] skill.

So cute.

Rigurd- “So their goal is to absorb all of the monster races and gain their powers…”

Kaijin- “Rimuru-sama, it’s not like we’re doubting you, but… Are you sure it’s an Orc Lord?”

Kaijin speaks up and everyone quietens down. In return, I just look back to Soei.

Rimuru- “Did you find any?”

Soei just shakes his head with a sad expression.

Mikoto- “Find any… what?”

Mikoto hesitantly asks what’s on everyone's mind, getting a bad feeling.

Benimaru- “Corpses.”

Rimuru- “Orc Lord’s have a Unique Skill called [Starved]. This skill afflicts their allies with a severe hunger that never passes. Anything the orcs eat will be transferred over to the caster, physical attributes, powers and even skills. And it’s because of this severe hunger… they’re even willing to eat the bodies of the fallen, both allies and enemies.”

Mikoto’s face pales. If she didn’t already see records of the deaths of some of the Sisters back in her old world, she might have puked already. I just hold her hand  under the table while looking worriedly at her. Feeling me grabbing her hand, she looks over to me, noticing my worry.

She takes a couple of breaths, regaining some of the colours on her face, and nods at me with a small smile.

Soei- “… Hmm?”

Rimuru- “Soei? What’s up?”

Soei- “One of my body doubles scouting the area have made contact with someone… they request an audience with you, Rimuru-sama.”

Rimuru- “Hmm… it doesn’t happen to be a Dryad, is it?”

Soei- “No, it is.”

Soei looks at me with a surprised expression, before morphing into a face of “As expected of Rimuru-sama” along with the other monsters in the room. The edges of my lips twitch a bit.

Rimuru- “Well, call her here then…”

After saying that, the centre of the table glows brightly in a shade of green as a plant begins to grow on the table. It continues to grow and change shape before bursting open, revealing a stunning woman with green hair and marks next to her eyes. She also happens to be wearing a dress of white and light green. Vines also hover around her, attached to her…

Where the fuck do those vines come from!? And also…

Why is she standing on the damn table! You almost tipped over the plate of meat buns next to your foot you know that!?

Well, she immediately dropped and grabbed a meat bun before standing up straight again, acting majestic as she nibbles on the meat bun. I guess I can forgive her, but…

Rimuru- “Your image was ruined the moment you bent to grab that bun, you know…?”

Treyni freezes, coughs, hides the meat bun in her sleeves for later and continues to act like nothing happened.

Treyni- “I apologise for the unannounced visit. My name is Treyni, a Dryad. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Rimuru- “Mmm. Well, I'm Rimuru. Nice to meet you too.”

Treyni smiles at me.

Treyni- “I have a request.”

Here it comes…

Treyni- “I would like you to… make more meat buns for me.”

.

.

.

Wot?

Treyni- “Sorry, not that. *Ahem* I would like you to defeat the Orc Lord.”

Oh…

-----

Name: Rimuru

Race: Origin Slime

Protection: Crest of Space

Title: Highest Tier Spirit, Leader of the Monsters

Ultimate Skills: [Illya, Heaven's Feel] [Raphael, Lord of Wisdom]

Intrinsic Skills: [Infinite Regeneration] [Universal Shapeshift] [Universal Sense] [Multilayer Barrier] [Enhanced Replication] [Universal Thread]

Unique Skills: [Predator] [Creation] [Rune Master]

Extra Skills: [Lord's Ambition] [Thought Communication] [Control Wind] [Spatial Motion] [Dark Flame] [Control Particles]

Tolerances: [Cancel Pain] [Resist Melee Attack] [Cancel Natural Elements] [Cancel Ailments] [Resist Spiritual Attack] [Resist Holy Attack]