"Woah!"
"So many!"
Rimuru, who hadn't seen much of the world, was genuinely shocked at the sight of hundreds of thousands of troops surging forward.
"The Otherworld is so scary!"
The blue-haired girl sat in the conference room with Treyni and Testarossa beside her, along with the Oni and Goblin King Rigurd, among others.
Snow Empress and Artoria were not present.
They were responsible for the Western Nations and Clayman's schemes, and didn't need to concern themselves with internal matters of the Great Jura Forest.
"The Orc Tribe has been completely affected by the Orc Lord's Starved."
Treyni watched the Orc Tribe, who were shoving bark and grass roots into their mouths as they marched forward.
"With this kind of power, the Lizardmen cannot possibly stop them. Being devoured is only a matter of time."
Starved is a Unique Skill that allows the user to transform the traits of the monsters they eat into their own power, and share it with hundreds of thousands of Orc Tribe members.
Simply put, if a single Orc eats poisonous mushrooms and gains poison resistance, then the entire Orc Tribe instantly gains the same resistance.
Undoubtedly, it's a very powerful battlefield-enhancement type Unique Skill.
"Should we go and save the Lizardmen?"
Rimuru thought for a moment and asked tentatively.
"Overruled!"
"Opposed!"
"Rejected!"
However, the response this time was much more intense than Rimuru had expected.
"What's going on?"
Rimuru looked at Shuna, Shion, and Akano, who were all speaking, completely unaware of what kind of grudge the Oni had with the Lizardmen and why they were so adamant.
"I can't forget that arrogant guy!"
Shion said angrily, "This time, we have to teach the Lizardmen a lesson!"
"Mm."
Even the usually gentle Shuna agreed with Shion this time. "The Lizardmen are too arrogant."
"Rin, what do you think?"
Akano turned to look at Rin, waiting for his opinion.
"Me?"
Rin said, "Don't look at me like that. I'm actually a pretty petty person."
That was what he said.
But no one believed Rin was actually petty.
'Rin is so generous!'
'It's all the Lizardmen's fault for not knowing what's good for them!'
As for Rin's real meaning.
His words already showed his attitude.
The Lizardmen could be saved.
But not right away.
The Lizardmen had to suffer and pay the price for their arrogance.
"So..."
Rimuru quietly asked Treyni beside her, "What exactly happened? How did the Lizardmen offend so many people?"
To be honest, after spending time together, Rimuru felt that Rin was actually very easy to get along with.
To be able to offend him.
It could only be said that the Lizardmen were truly talented.
"It happened before you arrived, Rimuru."
Treyni told Rimuru what had happened at the time, and after hearing it, Rimuru frowned. "Those guys are too conceited."
"So, I plan to abandon some of the Lizardmen."
Rin nodded. "Only keep those with 'normal thinking.'"
The current situation among the Lizardmen was mainly divided into the Gabiru faction and the Chief's faction.
The Lizardmen Chief was already old.
And Gabiru, ever since he received his name from Gelmud, had grown increasingly arrogant and no longer respected his father.
Although in the original story, Gabiru was forgiven by Rimuru and even became one of the Twelve Kings of the Monster Nation later on.
But so what?
Gabiru was still at the bottom among the Twelve Kings.
His ability to reach that point was entirely due to Rimuru nurturing him all the way.
Given the same resources, if they had been given to Gabiru's sister, Souka, her achievements might have even surpassed his.
"The Lizardmen are actually Clayman's subordinates, right?"
Shion offered her opinion, believing the Lizardmen had betrayed the Great Jura Forest and joined the Puppet Nation.
"What you said isn't wrong."
Rin recalled the original plot.
Gabiru accepted the name given by Gelmud.
Indirectly, he had indeed joined Clayman's command.
The reason he refused to submit was because he believed that the powerful Lizardmen didn't need to bow to the Oni and Rin.
In other words, in Gabiru's eyes, Rin, who had appeared out of nowhere, was inferior to Clayman.
And in the original story, if Gelmud hadn't actively abandoned Gabiru, he might have turned completely evil.
"However, the Lizardmen are innocent after all."
Rin said, "Gabiru doesn't represent all Lizardmen. I hope you understand that, Shion."
"Yes."
Shion lowered her head, acknowledging her prejudice against the Lizardmen.
Rin was very satisfied with Shion's willingness to admit her mistake. He looked at Rimuru and said, "This time, I want you to go, Rimuru."
"Eh?"
Rimuru said, "Me? But I'm a clerical worker."
Well, whether she was clerical or not didn't matter.
Rimuru stated that she was really busy right now.
She had to process documents every day.
Treyni and the others didn't treat her like a person, sending her stacks upon stacks of paperwork that piled up like mountains.
These past few days, Rimuru had completely become an overworked corporate slave.
From morning to night, she was either working overtime or on her way to work overtime.
And now, it was even worse.
Not only did she have to handle paperwork, she also had to go to war.
They really didn't treat beasts of burden like people.
As long as she didn't die, they'd work her to death, right?
"In the world of monsters, there's no distinction between civil and military."
"Also, who says clerical workers must be weak?"
Rin said as if it were obvious. "Even if they're clerical, the cadres of my Monster Nation are all top-tier powerhouses!"
"Even if you say it so righteously, I still won't be happy."
Rimuru resigned herself and reverted to her Slime form, lying motionless on the table.
She felt like Rin had tricked her.
What happened to the promised Great Sage, lofty and dignified?
And her right-hand man?
Did he really treat her as a hand?
That resigned pose made everyone burst into laughter.
No one thought Rimuru's attitude was poor, or that she was disrespecting Rin.
The atmosphere within the Monster Nation had always been like this.
Rin was their friend, their family. He didn't care about formalities.
"Alright, alright, alright."
Rin said with a wry smile, "Once this mission is over, I'll give you a vacation. How about that?"
"You say that and I'm not sleepy anymore!"
Rimuru instantly bounced up, once again turning into her blue-haired girl form. "What do you need me to do? Deal with the Lizardmen or the Orc Tribe?"
For the sake of a wonderful holiday with no work, Rimuru didn't mind letting the monsters of this world suffer a little.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)