...She was still eating
Shizu Izawa, the woman behind the mask, acted as if she wasn't at all shocked or surprised that a race that had been believed to be extinct had suddenly popped up right in front of her.
I guess it's a better reaction than these three.
I heaved an exasperated sigh as the three adventurers began to cough all over the place, an aftermath of speaking while they had their mouths full of food.
"W-Woah, I thought all tieflings were extinct... I never thought we'd be saved by a monster tribe that was led by one"
"Oh! We're human adventurers, by the way, and this meat is really good! We've been running for the past three days, I think, so it's been hard to eat much of anything… Thank you so much!"
"Yeah, thanks. I sure didn't expect some hobgoblins to be building a village around here."
"Urrp… Koff! Glug glug."
"Well, " I said as I scratched the back of my head. "Feel free to enjoy what we have to offer, we can always talk once you're done."
I really wished Vester would come here soon. He's the one who taught the hobgoblins some manners after all.
Still, I wasn't one to sweat over the small things so I didn't really care if they haven't mastered good manners yet. They were already evolving beyond leaps and bounds so I'm sure they'll master it sooner than later.
So I left the tent, I wasn't really fond of watching people eat in the first place, and I was already busy of thinking of another important manner.
How to save Shizu...
The first option that comes to mind is absorbing her through predator, and then separating ifrit and her inside my stomach, but the question is how can I stop her from aging rapidly?
Veldora might have some idea but... I don't really know how I can talk to him yet.
Veldora and the original Rimuru had always been able to talk once he evolved but I couldn't remember any ways of them talking before said evolution.
Hmm, I really need degenerate... Raphael is an ultimate skill that's too good to pass up even if it means Shizu might die.
In the end, perhaps letting Shizu die was my only option, considering the alternative is probably a timeline where I couldn't get Raphael which is ultimately gonna end with me dying one way or another.
And I wasn't too keen on dying for a girl, no matter how pretty or good company they are. My second life won't be wasted just because of some red string of fate.
There's still shuna and the others.
I nodded to myself and ordered the goblin guarding the tent to escort the four to the cave once they were done eating.
"Don't worry about it," I reassured the crestfallen-looking Rigurd as we walked. "We can work on manners later."
Settling down back in my tent, I began patiently waiting. Rigurd had one of his female assistants prepare some tea for us. It looked more palatable than the last drink I'd tried from them, but I could only guess at the taste. Neat how evolution even affected areas like that.
Slowly, we were settling down into a truly cultured society. Something about that tea convinced me.
Still really bitter.
After a few more moments, the four adventurers popped in, immediately giving a hearty "Sorry 'bout that!" as they entered. The tent was a little cramped with all of them inside.
You guys don't look sorry at all though.
I eyed them awkwardly which caused the blonde-haired girl to nervously avert her gaze while Shizu mainly stared back at me as if she wasn't afraid of backing down.
Anyways, the goblins served them tea, a good sign that they were indeed evolving. Makes me feel really proud of them as their technical father.
"Good to see you again, I've already introduced myself but as a refresher I'm Rimuru Tempest, the leader of these group. So what brings you guys here?"
I figured it was a valid enough question. They nodded at each other—must've expected this—and began to speak.
"I am glad to meet you, Rimuru. My name is Kabal, the leader of this band…more or less. This is Elen, and that's Gido over there. We're adventurers, all ranked B—you know what that means, I imagine?"
Was that... was that a threat? Something like " We're stronger than you" ?
"Hi! Elen here!"
"Gido, sir. A pleasure."
Ah yes, the three who had entered the game. B-rank would mean they're strong but not strong enough to survive in Veldora's cave meaning that they're definitely carrying some artifacts that can help with them.
Or so I would naturally think if I hadn't know the truth behind the group in front of me. But I'm sure it doesn't matter at the current state of things so let's forger about that.
Wouldn't want to antagonize them yet.
"This, meanwhile, is Shizu, a temporary addition to our team for this mission."
"Shizu. Charmed."
Ah, the cool beauty speaks.
The way they acted made it seem like they didn't care about the fact they were in the middle of a monster den at all, as if they were confident in their selves which I can agree based on the truth behind their identities.
"You too. So,"
...
...
....
They were exceedingly forthright with their story, apparently not wary of my motives in the least. Their guild master had sent them to examine the area around the cave and check to see whether anything suspicious had taken place…but this mission was proving to stymie them.
"Yeah, that's the thing!" Kabal continued. "We're here looking for 'suspicious' things, but what the heck is 'suspicious' supposed to mean? We're clueless here!"
"Totally!" Elen chimed in. "I wish he could've said, like, 'Look for this or that or the other thing' instead of leaving it so vague!"
"We might be good scouts and all that, but we can't do everything, y'know?" Gido added.
"Uhh," I began and looked at them with an exasperated stare. "You don't think it's suspicious that a tiefling emerged and has decided to create a tribe of goblins?"
The trio stared at me then stared back at each other as if thinking about the very thing I've said which made both me and Shizu sigh.
"I mean, we even set camp around Veldora's cave of all places, is that not suspicious to you?"
Again, silence.
Oh boy, these three are idiots.