Jura Great Forest – One Week Later
It had been exactly one week since Rimuru bestowed names upon Benimaru and the others. During this time, Benimaru and the rest had slowly settled in, until… *Whoosh…*
A figure clad in a blue bodysuit with short, dark blue hair suddenly appeared in the conference room, kneeling on one knee to report:
"Lord Zhong Chen! Lord Rimuru! My reconnaissance has discovered a large force of Orcs, estimated to be 200,000 strong. Their main force is heading north along the great river."
"And judging by the movements of the main force and the separate detachment, their rendezvous point is the wetlands to the east!"
"Mm, very good, Souei, rise and find a seat before we continue!"
"Yes."
As Souei sat down, Rigurd, the village chief, who was seated first on the left side of the conference table, spoke:
"That would be the Lizardmen's territory, then!"
"Mm, yes!"
Hearing the specific number of Orcs, Rimuru, holding a teacup in his right hand and resting his left hand on his cheek, said, "200,000? That's an exaggerated number that feels unreal! Hmm… What is the Orcs' objective? A-Chen! What do you think?"
Rimuru finished speaking and looked at Zhong Chen, who was sitting directly opposite him, asking.
"You all tell me your thoughts first!"
Zhong Chen, knowing the truth, decided not to speak for now, wanting to hear everyone else's opinions in the room.
After all, there were many more people present than in the original story; not to mention the Demon Slayer Corps, even Shizue had come to attend the meeting.
On a side note, the three-person team of Eren had already left the town. On the day they left, they cried buckets while hugging Shizue and Rimuru.
However, upon seeing the high-grade equipment crafted by Kaijin that Rimuru had prepared for them, they became excited and danced with joy, eventually leaving happily.
Kaijin, sitting next to Rigurd, spoke:
"Orcs are inherently unintelligent monsters. If their invasion isn't driven by instinct, then we should suspect there's someone pulling the strings behind them!"
Hearing Kaijin's statement, Kurobee, with his short black hair and honest face, said, "A mastermind, you say?"
Hearing about a mastermind, Rimuru rested his left hand on his cheek and said with a serious expression, "Like a Demon Lord, perhaps?"
"If this is related to the demon named Geld who came to your village…"
After a pause, Rimuru continued, "Well! There's no evidence yet! Shizue-san, do you think Demon Lord Leon might be involved?"
Shizue thought about the Leon she knew and gently shook her head, saying, "It shouldn't be him. He probably wouldn't be interested in such matters!"
"Mm!"
Rimuru nodded in understanding, then continued, "Regardless of whether a Demon Lord is involved, how did a force of 200,000 Orcs get organized?"
The well-traveled Shizue suddenly thought of a possibility and said, "For such a massive Orc force to appear, I think it's highly likely an Orc Disaster has emerged!"
Looking at Shizue, who had guessed the appearance of an Orc Disaster so quickly, Zhong Chen couldn't help but marvel that her 80-plus years hadn't been lived in vain.
As expected of the legendary adventurer known as the 'Flame Dominator,' she truly knew a bit about everything!
"Orc Disaster?"
Rimuru, hearing this name for the first time, asked with a confused expression.
"Lord Rimuru, an Orc Disaster is a special monster that only appears once every few centuries. Only an Orc Disaster has the ability to command an army of up to 200,000. I'm afraid Shizue-san's guess is correct!"
Benimaru answered seriously after hearing Rimuru's question.
Hearing Benimaru's explanation, Rimuru nodded in understanding. At this moment, a goblin wearing glasses raised his hand and said,
"Given the possibility of an Orc Disaster, we should raise our guard!"
"Many of our Demon Slayer Corps members haven't joined the guard yet; they can be conscripted at any time to participate in battle!"
Kagaya Ubuyashiki said calmly, propping his chin with both hands. Since coming to this world, the Demon Slayer Corps members had either been training or building houses.
At most, those who joined the guard could go into the forest to clear out some monsters. After being rigorously trained by Zhong Chen and significantly increasing their strength, everyone was eager for a good fight.
Hearing Kagaya Ubuyashiki's words, Zhong Chen considered the current strength of the Demon Slayer Corps and felt that completely annihilating the Orcs might be difficult, but stopping them would be very easy.
After all, the nine Pillars had all reached B+ rank, just one step away from A rank.
It's worth noting that Benimaru and Hakurou, who had received names from Rimuru, had only just reached A rank.
Of course, Hakurou's strength couldn't be simply calculated by rank, but even so, it was still astonishing.
It's important to remember that when the Demon Slayer Corps first arrived in this world, the Pillars only had C-rank strength. Now, even the other ordinary members have no one below D-rank strength.
Zhong Chen carefully calculated the entire town's combat power and found that it wasn't weak at all.
Three Special A-rank individuals: Rimuru, Shizue, and Izayoi Sakuya.
Five A-rank individuals: Benimaru and the others, excluding Kurobee, were all A-rank. Benimaru and Hakurou even reached A+.
Twelve B-rank individuals: Village Chief Rigurd, Gobta, Rigur, and the Demon Slayer Pillars were all B-rank (B+ also belonged to B-rank).
330+ C-rank individuals: The lowest-ranked members of the guard were C-rank.
2000+ D-rank individuals: Many goblins and former Demon Slayer Corps members were at this level.
If he, a pervert who was at least SS-rank, was included, Zhong Chen declared: "Rimuru, let's go save the world!"
Leaving Zhong Chen, who was letting his mind wander, let's return our attention to the conference table.
"I can also begin conscripting the goblins! We are always ready to charge into battle for Lord Rimuru and Lord Zhong Chen!"
Rimuru looked at Rigurd, who was so excited he had stood up, and quickly waved his hands, saying, "No need, no need, Rigurd, don't get excited yet. Calm down first!"
"Yes! Lord Rimuru!"
Watching Rigurd finally sit down and slowly calm down, Rimuru secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Sometimes, having overly loyal subordinates could also be a hassle! (*･ω-q)
Just as Rimuru was about to say something else, Zhong Chen, who had been silent, suddenly spoke, "Rimuru, wait a moment before you speak. We have a guest!"
"A guest?"
While Rimuru was still confused, a gentle breeze suddenly swept through the center of the conference table.
Accompanying the breeze were emerald green leaves. The leaves and the breeze slowly merged to form a human figure.
When the leaves and the breeze disappeared, what appeared before everyone was a beautiful woman in a dark green gauze dress, with long light green hair and pointed ears.
Seeing the woman's appearance, Benimaru immediately stood up and exclaimed in surprise, "Dryad!!!"