As I carried my hobgoblin companion back to the camp, Treyni and I enjoyed ourselves in our conversation. I had noticed hobu-Mi awaken about halfway back after we fought the cockatrice and chickatrice. Still, considering what happened before dealing with the orcs, I let her continue pretending and held her firmly like a princess.
Along the way, Treyni also harvested some herbs and vegetables. Over the years, she has learned to cook various meals from observing adventurers. She supposedly had developed an excellent curry-based soup using chickatrice legs and some other ingredients. I was curious how she knew about curry, but it turns out she learned from an otherworlder that was sent into the forest to defeat a high-rank monster.
Eventually, we began talking about plans for the future. I myself didn't have any elaborate plans, but Treyni had downright nothing going for her after all this time. She just wanted to continue protecting her people and this forest.
"Hey, what if I could help you?" I suddenly asked as we mounted a hill just outside the Dublin caves. From here, you could see Gobu-Ji and the other goblins building several fire pits for our feast, while others we're still training in the clearing outside the caves.
"What do you mean, Orion?" Treyni asked while picking another herb. She stopped and looked at me, curiously.
"I intend to build a settlement in this forest. Probably in the area around where we met. I will build my own forces there. One formed not only of goblins but other trustworthy monsters and demi-humans too. I'd even allow humans to visit and take up residence there if they proved reliable.
Naturally, you and the treats would be welcome to join us if you wish. We would all support one another to defend against the outside forces targeting these lands, and we would no longer have to be concerned over the fight for supremacy due to Veldora's disappearance. What do you think?"
I won't create a monolithic organization made solely of goblins and their evolutions. I will make use of every race and tribe I can get my hands on, and in return, they will gain a strong backing and safe place to call home for themselves and their families here in the forest.
Treyni seemed genuinely surprised by my suggestion, but she didn't immediately reject it, so I guess that was a good sign. "What would be the benefits you could offer, and what would be required of us?" she asked, very business-like as she handed me the pungent bulb she had just plucked from the ground to store. I watched her use a purification magic to clean her dainty hands. I'm sure adventurers would pay a lot for such an ability or to hire someone with it, but I got it for free thanks to Saul's analysis.
I was just fielding the question for Treyni and didn't expect her to discuss terms with me. I honestly wasn't too great at this sort of thing, so I spent a minute thinking in the real world while using both parallel processing and hastened thoughts to come up with a solid offer for Treyni and her people.
"Currently, I don't have a lot to offer. I can only offer three things that might interest you. First is an alliance. Any enemies that come, we will face them together. Second, a safe community for you and your people where you can interact freely with others without the need to fear outsiders or the monsters seeking supremacy in the absence of Veldora. And lastly, a mana and spirit energy-rich land for you to enjoy." I laid out the only things that I could think of that might interest the dryads and treants.
Treyni sat down on a fallen log nearby and considered the proposition for a few minutes. "We are currently perfectly safe, so the alliance and the mana rich lands are all you could offer to us. What is it you want from us in return?"
"I only wish that you would help nourish our lands and grow our crops. I was hoping to grow some herbs and cultivate some crops to help grow our people. Given your natural affinity with nature, I was hoping your people could help us in this aspect."
"You don't wish to use us for combat?" she asked curiously.
"I have no doubts over your strength and magical prowess, Treyni, but from what little I know of your race, you seem more attuned to defending your home than heading out to the frontlines to stop your enemies. While such a need certainly exists, I would prefer you to focus on the agriculture aspects and perhaps medical expertise if you have it. Should you come to feel that our haven has become your home, a place you wish to stay and grow your family, I would more than welcome you to help defend it should the need arise, but that is not the reason that I wish for you to join us." I was sitting beside Treyni now, and looking her in the eyes.
Something I hadn't noticed before now due to my slight wariness of such a powerful being was our words, or our speech more precisely. Treyni, as a spiritual being, was using magically produced sound waves that carried the intent of one's words regardless of the language spoken. After my evolutions, I had unknowingly been doing the same. That was why both hobu-Mi and Treyni were perfectly able to understand what I was saying.
A side effect of that was that we both could inherently detect one's intentions. There was no way to lie with such a thing, just like when using telepathy.
"The offer to the dryads and treants is not without warrant, but it is not a decision I can make for us alone, nor is relocation one that we can make lightly. I would ask that you give us time to properly consider it, Sir Orion."
I smiled at her predictable response. "I understand Treyni, and I am grateful for your consideration. Now, let's head into the village. I'll need to drop off the orc carcasses for the goblin's feast, and then we can question the remaining few to see what they're up to. I am mildly concerned about what the orc general mentioned before his death."
Treyni nodded and followed me closely into the village. Although I don't think the goblins are that stupid, I will still warn them once they're all gathered.
As I returned to the caves, the entire goblin tribe was assembled. Seeing only hobu-Mi Treyni, and myself, some of them seemed disappointed while the rest seemed to be drooling over my new dryad companion. I quickly released my spiritual pressure to make the goblins understand who they were messing with. The goblins were not an entirely brainless race, just a bit simple. Once you showed them your power, they were much more amenable to your will.
Hobu-Mi quickly hopped down from my embrace and stood between us, trying to deescalate things. Although she was having some trouble standing, she was much better than the goblins and hobgoblins forced to kneel on the ground.
"Orion, please pull back your aura! I promise these guys won't try anything against our guest, or else I will handle them myself just like last time. Understand!?!" the awakened hobgoblin started addressing me, but by the end, she was threatening the others from her village. Judging by the way they all shivered hearing her, it seemed effective.
"Fine, hobu-Mi. For you, I'll let them off with a warning." I was only interested in using a display of power to earn their obedience, and later I'd use the orcs as a carrot to get them to follow me loyally, but if hobu-Mi wanted to put the fear of the gods into them, that was fine by me too.
I withdrew my aura and looked at the goblins while patting hobu-Mi's head. "My name is Orion, and I have been enlisted to protect your village for the next year, in exchange for you following my rules and instructions." I then turned to Treyni, "this is my guest, Treyni. She is a high-level dryad, so make sure you remain respectful, understood?"
All of the goblins and hobgoblins nodded, and some even whispered about the appearance of a legendary dryad. Perhaps they're much more reclusive than I thought. Maybe they are the fantasy version of NEETs?
"Now that introductions are out of the way, this evening we will be having a feast and then a naming ceremony. Here are the spoils of hobu-Mi's and mine hunt." I waved my hand, and the void split apart as the Garganta connected to my stomach appeared. From it, I reached in and tossed out the twenty orc corpses for them to prepare.
"Now I need to speak with our guest and elder Gobu-Ji. The rest of you can prepare the food for the feast." As I finished, one goblina raised their hand, hesitant to ask a question. I nodded to her and asked, "What is it?"
"Umm, Sir O-Orion, what s-should we do to prepare the f-food?" she asked nervously, glancing hobu-Mi to myself and then back to Mi.
I massaged my forehead in exasperation and was about to reply when Treyni whispered something next to me. "Perhaps I should be the one offering you a massage to relax..." she intoned quiet enough for only me to hear her. I could tell from the smile on her face that she would definitely be an "Ara Ara" type of Nee-san.
I examined the goblins before me. Although they were still bottom of the food chain, hobu-Rou had done a fairly impressive job training these guys. They all had developed lean muscles and some hunting skills, but with the changes in the forest, that would not be enough. Naming these goblins will be a crucial step in boosting my peoples powers.
From a cursory scan using [Appraisal], none of the goblins appeared to have any cooking-related skills, though not that that was particularly surprising. I simultaneously was looking up anything that could help teach the goblins to make a decent meal. On sale was Yukihira's Diner Manual, while Saul recommended the Duscae Cooking Manual. The benefit of the latter was that it offered a complete guide to preparing meals made from monsters, many of which could be found in this world. Ignis's work would likely excite Yukihira Souma and make him proud of Ignis' ability to innovate.
『Deducting 24,000 SP.』
Accepting the cost for a lifestyle improvement, I bought the Duscae Cooking manual and removed the thin, modern-looking journal.
"I need four volunteers willing to learn a new skill for a non-combat role. If you receive this skill, you will spend most of your time at the base, preparing the food that the other goblins bring back for our meals.
This will play an essential role in making our community grow. This role is ideal for those who are unable or don't wish to fight. We can still help you hunt to increase your level and evolve, but you will not be frontline fighters. Do I have any volunteers?"
There were only three goblinas that had chosen to volunteer as a chef. Like the time with hobu-Mi, I first absorbed the knowledge from the manual before handing it over to the others. I was surprised at just how much information this manual contained compared to the much thicker grimoire I had used before. I was even a bit concerned about whether or not the goblins would be able to absorb this much information.
While the golden lights we're imprinting the knowledge in my mind, I was discussing my concerns with Saul. 'Is there a way to lower the burden on the goblins when they use this?'
『Although the pain will still last a short while, you can use a partial transmission that will limit the amount of information they receive from the manual. The Duscae Cooking Manual is neatly divided into sections based on the difficulty of the dish and rarity of the ingredients. I suggest starting the goblins with the rank-E Knowledge and have them work up from there. Simply will the knowledge to be locked to that level and that will be all they can access.』
I did as Saul said before handing it to the first goblina and warned her that there would be some pain from the transfer of the knowledge. Treyni, of course, looked on in mild curiosity seeing this strange method to share knowledge. After the first finished, both of the others reluctantly picked up the manual.
Just as I was about to pick someone, I felt a tug on the sleeve of my shihakusho. I looked over to see Treyni smiling at me.
"Orion, I was hoping that you can share this knowledge with me. In exchange, I will also help with meal preparation and the gathering of ingredients for the meals while I observe your organization. How does that sound?" she asked while watching each of the goblinas absorb the information.
I nodded to Treyni, "That sounds like an excellent idea. I hope you can help train the others so that they can quickly understand how to use this information." I unlocked the limits on the book and explained to her roughly how it works before handing her the book. She frowned slightly, but still successfully absorbed all the information after a few minutes.
Then I looked to the goblins, "For tonight eat however you want and as much as you want. We'll have some more orcs in a short while if you need them." Looking at the goblinas, I also encouraged them to attempt to experiment with their new knowledge to create a dish while Gobu-Ji, Treyni, and I interrogated the remaining orcs.
We were about to step into the caves for privacy, but my robes were pulled again to stop me. This time, it was hobu-Mi. "What should I do, Orion?"
I examined hobu-Mi, who seemed to be brimming with energy and used [Appraisal] on her.
/-------------------------------------\
Status:
Name: hobu-Mi(faux name)
Race: Hobgoblin(2nd Evolution)
Lv. 100/100(Locked)
Parameters:
STR: A[839] (879)
END: B[720] (740)
DEX: SS[1340] (1440)
AGI: A[850] (944)
MAG: SS[1577] (1667)
SPR: S[980] (980)
Unique Skills: [Innate Magician: B]
Skills: [Goblin-Language], [Common Written Language], [Ranged Combat Specialist], [Archery], [Blood Thirst], [Mana Perception]
Magic: [Sagitta Magica]
Special notes: A high-level hobgoblin with extraordinary parameters given its race. Mi has developed a robust magical foundation along with an unheard of spirit parameter for her race. Her intelligence and beauty are a deadly combination as she bombards her enemies from afar.
\-------------------------------------/
The effects of being saturated in the mana seemed even greater than I thought. All of hobu-Mi's stats had massively improved, and now she had already surpassed two of her evolution conditions, meaning she could evolve whenever she wanted. She had even almost reached the mortal limit for her spiritual energy.
"Come with us, hobu-Mi, you have already heard part of plans from my talk with Treyni. I also have plans for you and the rest of the village, if you're willing to follow and support me. It's important to know what you are getting into, though."
Hobu-Mi seemed surprised, perhaps because I seemed to ignore her on the way back to the village, but she nodded and walked up to my right side, opposite of Treyni, who occupied my left. There seemed to be a competitive tension between the older and younger sisters, but Treyni just laughed slightly with a bit of a "fufufu, " while hobu-Mi just gifted and looked the other way.
Gobu-Ji, on the other hand, seemed quite happy as he approached us. "Hoho, you young ones have so much energy. You must've 'trained' hobu-Mi quite hard out there for all these hours since you had to carry her back like this." he said, winking suggestively towards me.
It took me a split second to understand his meaning, but it took Mi even less time to break out in a blush. Treyni, of course, didn't miss the chance to tease her, "Oh, indeed, the poor girl was mercilessly handled by this brute as he explored every nook and cranny of her body."
"Huh? Lady Treyni, you were watching them...or perhaps you... Joined them?" Gobu-Ji gulped his saliva down as he stared at me with jealousy, no doubt imagining something illicit as his loincloth formed a small tent.
Based on what he knew about dryads, aside from being the managers of The Great Jura Forest, they were also supposed to have ravenous sexual appetites that were known to drain the life of men. The fact that I was still alive and healthy after encountering a dryad made Gobu-Ji look at hobu-Mi with pity. "It must've been hard on you, Mi. Do your bes-kuh!"
Gobu-Ji tried to encourage her, but before he could further embarrass them, both hobu-Mi and Treyni hit him in the face.
"Hobu-Mi, I would like you to represent your village in our discussions. I'm afraid the elder goblin is busy taking his nap." Treyni said as she tidied her clothes and tried to behave seriously despite her blush betraying her.
"Kohun! You seem to be right, lady Treyni. I shall take my duties seriously." Hobu-Mi played along.
I looked at them askew as I poured a bit of my healing tonic on him.
"Kohun, kohun! What happened? Did I fall asleep again?" Gobu-Ji asked. I could hear the two ladies "tsk" in the background, but I ignored them and helped the elder goblin up.
"Don't worry, Gobu-Ji. You just bumped your head a bit. Nothing too serious, I think." I said, patting his shoulder. Despite saying that, the elderly goblin had two lumps on his forehead that made it look like he was sprouting horns of his own, though they were quickly disappearing due to my potion.
"Ah! Lord Orion, could you remind me what we were doing? I seem to have forgotten." I looked at the two women cautiously, just how hard did they hit the old man to make him forget?
"Uhm, we were just about to interrogate our orc prisoners and discuss our plans for later, right ladies?" I asked, trying to move past their previous argument.
Thankfully, neither Treyni not hobu-Mi we're particularly upset, so they let it go. We quickly made our way to the isolated area of the cave, where the goblins kept their prisoners.
I opened the Garganta and pulled out a single orc to begin our questioning. Rather, it would serve as motivation for the others to answer quickly and truthfully. Of course, I would question them one at a time to check their stories against one another. Torture is terribly unreliable after all, and we needed information we could be sure of.
After tossing the first orc on the ground, and turned to Treyni. "I think I should probably ask the questions, but is there anything, in particular, that you would like to know?"
Treyni's smile disappeared, and she seemed to be analyzing this orc while she considered things. He was an orc knight, a C-plus ranked monster. He should be reasonably high ranked, but still less knowledgable than the general. It's a shame I killed him due to my impatience and his foul mouth.
"We need to know if there is a genuine orc lord on his way and how big his forces are.
I nodded as I bound the orc with a mixture of my [Steel Thread] and [Sticky Thread], two abilities I gained from eating the demon spiders in the cave. The threads we're reinforced with my mana, which nearly guaranteed the orcs confinement.
I was about to slap the (p)orc awake when I noticed that Gobu-Ji seemed to be having a panic attack. Instead of the orc, I hit the elderly goblin to restart his system, and that seemed to do the trick. "Are you alright now? What has you so bothered?"
Gobu-Ji fell to his knees, trembling as he grabbed at my robes. Thankfully they were made from my spirit power, or else he might have pulled torn my outer robes. I then looked over at hobu-Mi, who was still wearing my haori without noticing it. I don't particularly mind, but it is sure to cause some misunderstandings if I don't give her back her clothes soon.
Still, I first needed to understand what was going on with the elder goblin. He kept mumbling something about orc lords are scary and that we are all going to be eaten, so I lifted him up and smacked him again with my freehand.
"L-L-Lord Orion, is it true that an orc lord is heading this way?" he asked, still terrified.
"It appears so, but we will need to verify that among other things from these guys here." I said, pointing to the bound orc.
Gobu-Ji looked shaken to his soul, and if things remain the same as in the Tensura storyline, then we have a lot of work to do before we're capable of dealing 200-thousand C-ranked orcs. Time and our ability to gain allies would be the most significant determining factor. Even for me, it would be difficult to fight off an entire army on my own, the best I could do is devour the orc lord and hope that it would force the others to surrender.
"Let's focus on what we can for now; if worse comes to worst, I'll handle the orc lord." I spoke confidently, surprising Treyni and reminding the elder that he had a high-level Majinn guarding his village.
"Hahahahaha! That's right, even if we have an orc lord on our doorstep, don't we still have Lord Orion on our side? It looks like you just evolved too. Those swine won't know what hit them!"
It's good that Gobu-Ji had gotten out of his funk, but I decided to give him a reality check. "It's true that I can, without a doubt, handle the orc lord, but there will still be other monsters to fight such as his orc generals and the orc knights like this guy.
"I will be training you guys hard to prepare for facing these enemies, and we will also need to find some reliable allies," I spoke the last bit, looking at Treyni.
She nodded to me. "I will be returning after this to inform the others of this discovery and bring your offer to them. For the moment, it seems unlikely they will join your organization, but I do not doubt that the others will assist you in preventing the scourge of an orc lord from invading our lands."
"Well, let's get started then..." after that, the pained cries of the ten orc knights silenced the entire village. It wasn't until they all spilled their guts that the festive atmosphere returned though somewhat more subdued. After that night, they would all see their new leader in a bright and slightly terrifying new light.