It was naive of me to think that I would be able to eat in peace…
I could hear screaming as I approached the scene of the battle.
It was Gobta.
He was crossing swords with an elderly white-haired ogre, but he was far out of his league.
Whatever physical strength and agility this adversary had lost
over the years, his swordsmanship and footwork made it clear he was no amateur.
Gobta, meanwhile, was totally an amateur. I had to hand it to him for managing to stay alive up to this point.
He seemed to be holding his own for now, wildly flinging his body around to dodge the ogre's strikes, but his astounding luck could only save him for so long.
The ogre sent a precise strike to his abdomen, aiming to temporarily incapacitate Gobta.
Gobta, seeing this attack, jumped out of harm's way, but alas, it was an obvious move.
In a flash, the old ogre appeared behind him, his sword still unsheathed, his stance impenetrable, and then, with a quick swipe, he slashed, aiming for Gobta's back.
Gobta, who had yet to land, somehow sensed this attack, and, in the nick of time, he spun around with his sword in hand, successfully parrying the strike.
But with the force of the attack, his aerial balance was lost.
He was sent flying towards a boulder, and I must say, the collision was nasty.
His back crashed against the boulder with a dry thud.
Oof—must've broken a few bones here and there.
A moment later, the elderly ogre closed the distance between them and landed a single slash across Gobta's whole chest, right before my eyes.
Gobta: 「Gaahhhh!!」 he shouted as he rolled on the ground. 「Oh, it—that hurts! It hurts!! I—I may die! I may very well die here!!」
I figured he was fine if he had the energy to plead his case with that much gusto.
Besides, to my eye, his opponent didn't seem very intent on killing him.
Noticing my presence, the wizened ogre abandoned the fight, confident enough that Gobta was no longer a threat.
Fubuki: 「Calm down, you. The wound is a shallow one.」
Gobta: 「Gah, Sir Fubuki! Are you here because you were concerned about me, my lord?!」
Fubuki: 「Yes.」he said. 「And I'm glad you're in good shape. Sure enough, you don't need a recovery potion or anything. I see…」
Gobta: 「Whoa, I, um, please? I—I apologize if I didn't make that clear enough!」
Yeah, he was fine. His wild instincts must've propelled him to the ground, preventing him from being any more seriously injured.
Fubuki: 「Rimuru?」
Rimuru: 「Sure.」
Knowing his request before he explained, I tossed Gobta a bit of potion, more to shut him up than anything.
One flask was plenty. The old ogre didn't move while I administered treatment; it seemed like he was observing me instead.
It was a little unnerving. The area around us was littered with fallen hobgoblin warriors and tempest wolves.
None appeared to be dead, but knocking them all out without dealing any grievous wounds would've taken some serious talent.
A magical strike, perhaps.
Farther off, I spotted a purple-haired ogress fighting with Rigur.
This, too, was sadly one-sided.
The ogress, wielding an iron mace that was little more than an
enormous hunk of metal, was apparently blessed with superhuman strength.
Rigur's sword was starting to bend against it, and his wooden shield was long since battered to splinters.
It wouldn't be long before he was out of action, too.
Ranga, noticing me, sprang to my side.
Ranga: 「Sir Rimuru!」 he said, 「my deepest apologies. I was here, and yet, look at this disaster…」
I stopped him mid-sentence. This wasn't Ranga's fault; they just had the misfortune of running into the wrong adversary.
These were ogres, one of the highest-level races in the Forest of Jura, and no hobgoblin could hope to last too long against them.
Rimuru: 「Hold your weapons.」
I softly ordered Rigur and the other stragglers. He instantly did so upon hearing my command.
The ogress, instead of striking any further blows, gave me a thoughtful look.
She was large-framed and muscular but still in proportion.
Her chest was formed enough to make her identifiable as female, and to my surprise, she looked quite a bit more noble than I expected.
Fubuki: 「Gotta keep your priorities straight, man.」
Ah, he noticed, didn't he? I swear, he could've been the perfect waifu if not for his gender.
I ordered Ranga to take the exhausted Rigur away.
The ogres, while still wary of me, made no move to stop him.
According to him, magic had felled them all. It was some sort of sleeping spell, and none had managed to resist it in time.
Good thing it wasn't a confusion-type, at least. That could've been murder.
Magic, though… talk about drawing the short straw.
I took my time to calmly access the situation at hand.
There were six of them, odd-looking monsters that contradicted my conventional wisdom of the ogre race.
Since they were well dressed and had good weapons, they had to be intelligent.
Meaning they must've attacked for a reason.
Let's get to the root of the matter!
Fubuki: 「Just so you know.」 He suddenly walked over to me and spoke up. 「We aren't getting away with this without a fight.」
Man~, what a bummer. The thought of it was there, but the little guy in me wanted to simply shrug it off.
Well, it won't hurt to try.
Before I could speak up, they beat me to it.
"What sort of evil monsters are these?!" the pink-haired one shouted as I gauged them all. "Stay on your guard, everyone!"
Her expression appeared to be honest fear now, and with her eyes fixed on both of us, she must have been referring to us…
Rimuru: 「Whoa—? Are?—You think we're evil? Wait, hold a second.」
"Oh, attempting to play dumb, is it?" the pink-haired ogress countered. "No good-hearted human would ever have control over such a heinous horde of monsters.
You appear to be hiding your magical aura from us, but you are
fooling no one in particular! Did you think you could deceive us?"
"You can not pull the wool over our princess's eyes! Reveal your true self, now!" the black-haired ogre bellowed.
"How nice for the mastermind to appear before us at such an early stage!" continued the elderly one.
"With their sparse numbers, we have every hope of victory!"
They didn't sound too interested in listening to me, then.
Fubuki: 「Told ya. Bunch of baboons, yeah?」
I did my best to plead my case, claiming this was all a misunderstanding, but to no avail.
They insisted I was a sinister presence, and that was that.
And so…
"Enough of this," the red-haired ogre snarled. "If you insist on making such flimsy excuses, we have ways of making you reveal the truth.
We know you are with the evil pigs who dared attack our allies!" This made no sense. But a battle now seemed unavoidable.
Evil pigs? Now that's bullshit. What type of nonsense play is this?
I'd rather gobble up evil pigs than work with them.
That'd only be a waste of quality meat! How dare you make such baseless accusations!?!
I could have easily fled, but there were still sleeping hobgoblins and tempest wolves all around me.
I wasn't heartless enough to leave them vulnerable.
Ranga: 「Masters.」 Ranga called out.「What do we do?」
Even a freshly healed Rigur and Gobta wouldn't help us much.
Fubuki, Ranga and I were the only really useful fighters here.
Fubuki: 「Ranga.」Fubuki called out. 「Rest easy. I'll handle three, Rimuru will handle three. You just put your mind into evacuating our fallen comrades.」
Ranga: 「But, Sir Fubuki, you two against six ogres…? Is that safe?」
Rimuru: 「Well, I'm good with the plan. We've got this in the bag, dude!」
The ogres within earshot stirred angrily. Of course, I didn't give a damn.
Ranga: 「Understood! I will head back and reassure the others while following your orders. Please be safe!」
Following his orders, Ranga zoomed into action. The ogres immediately fanned out in formation.
I took a moment to figure out how I was going to handle this. I wasn't lying before—I really didn't think I could lose.
Based on my experimentation over the past two days, I knew I had gotten more than a fair bit stronger.
Ifrit was well past A rank, apparently, and since he was part of me now, I had to be around A level.
Rigurd said ogres were around B to B-plus, meanwhile, and considering the stately dress of the ones before me, we might be dealing with A-minuses, even
—but stronger than Ifrit? Yeah, right.
It'd be easy to kill them, I thought, but our inability to talk this out was concerning.
If they clearly wanted to murder us, that would be one thing, but
they had killed none of my allies.
And while they weren't willing to listen to me, I was sure they would if we could all just chill for a second.
Fubuki: 「I call dibs on the pink-haired ogress, the big guy, and the blue-haired ogre.
I know you like them old, so the old timer goes to you. Plus, you've always liked big melons, no? You can take the rather busty one.
As for the red-haired ogre, we can't just dump him. Just try and put up with him for me. I'll be back. See ya!」
Rimuru: 「Why you–... —and he's gone. *Sigh*」
◇◇◇
Fubuki stood in front of the duo, who planned on protecting the pink-haired ogress.
It was simple: The two melee fighters would take Fubuki head-on whilst the magic user among the trio would cause distractions, and if possible, make an opening for the two.
A simple yet sound strategy.
Yet, Fubuki had his mind roaming elsewhere.
In front of overwhelming power, tactical planning becomes useless.
No matter how sound a plan was, if the opponent simply was an unstoppable freak of nature, as long as the targets weren't up to the task enough, it would all be meaningless.
That is why Fubuki adopted a rather carefree attitude.
"Let's see whether you can continue your smug persona after this!"
The blue-haired ogre dashed towards Fubuki with his dual blade in arm, aiming to overpower him with pure strength.
It's too easy. I wanted to cry for them. I have ultimate skills whilst they don't even have unique skills.
He pondered. He wasn't even activating his Thought Acceleration skill, yet he had time to think of unnecessary stuff whilst waiting for the ogre's attack to land.
With his evolution, his normal thought-processing speed trippled, so even without accelerating his thoughts, he was capable of seeing things at a much slower rate.
But it was just a passive natural phenomenon that only worked whenever he was in a fight.
Should I stick to the plot and fight averagely? That's plain and boring.
Then, the dangerous thought came naturally.
Well, I could also defy expectations and straight-up go overkill and use my three ultimate skills for each of them.
『Enma』 for the blue-haired ogre, 『Odin』 for the dark-skinned ogre, and 『Raziel』 for the pink-haired ogress.
That'll do!!
Kalisha: 「(Nice! Try it out! That'll wind up being a surefire way to alert the world of your existence. I never once doubted the master's brilliance! Im so enlightened!!)」
A-Ah, that's true… —totally forgot and stuff.
Hah-hah-hah-hah!!
「..... I won't lie—I am highly disappointed. If I had continued to bottle it up, I would've died from guilt. You always did tell me to express myself openly.」
I see… This is how eternal condemnation feels like…
Fubuki: 「More importantly…」
"—Aaaarrgh!!"
*Clang*
Right before the sword could land the "finishing strike," it broke into several pieces upon Fubuki's sharp parry (arm strike).
Fubuki simply raised an arm to deflect the strike from the two blades, and to their confusion, the blue-haired ogre's dual blade shattered into many fragments.
The pink-haired ogress attempted to summon elemental winds to disrupt his movements, but a swift earth stomp was enough to summon, or rather, create a localized mini-earthquake
The magnitude was controlled to only disrupt movement; hence, the destruction was regulated.
This prevented her from completing her magic spell.
Fubuki: 「Alright. Let's wrap it up in a nutshell.」
By this time, the shockwave causing the controlled earthquake had died out, allowing for the ogres to act.
The blue-haired ogre disengaged and jumped away from Fubuki, but before he could land, Fubuki sent a flash blow to nothing but the air towards the direction of the flying ogre.
*BAM*
The unsuspecting ogre was assaulted by a powerful yet super-compressed controlled wind pressure that forced out a breath.
A solid gust of wind generated from Fubuki's casual strike hit him clean in the abdomen, sending him far into the forest, his form obscured by the forest bushes.
His chest plate had shattered into myriad metal particles, Fubuki was sure that the strike didn't kill him, but it knocked him out.
"*Gasp* Why you–"
The dark-haired ogre's growling was cut short as Fubuki suddenly appeared behind and over him, sending a spinning heel to the back of his head.
A controlled (restricted) yet powerful kick in its own right.
With his strength, it would be easy to obliterate his entire body whole, but it was already obvious that he had quite controlled his power. Or rather–
「I've already restricted your power. When you really need it, it'll be handed over easily.」
I see… I definitely put in a lot of effort in that attack.
He had already been told about this change, so he didn't hesitate to strike with a little more force than usual.
It seems my durability has not been affected, but my strength has. I could do with this change, actually.
With that train of thought, he looked at the result of his attack.
The big ogre had passed out from whatever.
His attention was away from the pink-haired ogress, an appreciated gesture, and she thanked him from the bottom of her heart.
She hurdled a bright blue flame ball towards him, with the searing-hot flame making its way towards his figure.
*Woosh*…
The flame dissipated…
"W-Wah?! H-How?! How did you do that?!"
Her shocked expression wasn't uncalled for. In fact, it was only natural that she displayed such an expression in front of the brilliance of what she had just witnessed.
Besides, the miracle that had been performed before her was nothing short of mesmerizing.
To an average person, it'd probably be no big deal, but she saw through it.
This, this was…no.
It was the real deal. Magic in the deepest sense of the word.
Fubuki: 「I just snapped my finger, and *POOOF*—it went. Get it?」
"N-No…"
Wait, she actually tried to make sense from that? I thought I looked pretty dumb doing that.
Fubuki: 「*Sigh* Oh well, my dude over there wants to settle things peacefully, so if he succeeds, we might not be enemies anymore.」
"...What does that imply…?"
Fubuki: 「Meaning it won't hurt to share this secret. It was simple; I overwrote the laws backing your magic.」
"B-But how?! How is that possible? That on its own is absurd, but you did it ignoring the space and time!"
Wow. She actually got the details. She's pretty talented, I hate to admit.
Fubuki: 「I won't share much, obviously, but by controlling the magicules to an insane degree, one could simply change the basic and complex laws that support the magic in the very first place.」
She listened attentively as he tutored her. Her mind focused on keeping the intricate details without letting a word slip by.
At this point, they weren't even concerned about the battlefield.
Were they even enemies at this point?
One was willing to display their excellence, and the other was willing to learn from this excellence.
Fubuki: 「Long-ranged magic would absorb some of the magic in the air, so by working with that, it is possible to offset the motion of magic particles and disrupt the laws of the magic. Get it?」
She nodded repeatedly but, at the same time, probed for more questions.
"But, but, the space-time phenomenon…"
Fubuki: 「Ah, that… actually, if you have a deep understanding of how these two concepts work, it is possible to activate magic at any angle without giving respect to time at all.」
"W-Wow! That's… it's really amazing!!"
Fubuki: 「Heh. Of course it is. Any magic I perform must at least meet that requirement.
You know, you're not bad at all. I could teach you more about magic if you're interested.」
Then, the deal of fate struck.
"R-Really!?! *Cough*, *Cough*—I… Ehem—I mean, yes! I'd appreciate it!"
Fubuki: 「Good, good. What I wanted to hear. Let's discuss more. Have you heard of this magic called…」
—And just like that, the two magic geniuses bonded together, ignoring their current status as enemies.
From there on, a beautiful friendship was born.
◇◇◇
In a moment, the purple-haired ogress was upon me, with her cannonball-like mace swinging in the air.
The noble-faced ogress sneered, eyes like two long slits.
I waited for the moment she raised her mace high, then pointed my left hand at her and unleashed a spinning flurry of Sticky Steel Thread.
The flexible strands, strong
enough to even keep Ifrit restrained, had been synthesized with Deviant to grow even more durable.
They now cocooned the ogress, and she couldn't escape, no matter how she struggled. All that training really did pay off.
I sang my own praises and turned to look at how Fubuki was doing.
I instantly regretted it.
Rimuru: 「Eh?」
"S-Sister! What are you doing?! Get away from the evil majin!!"
"Don't distract me, brother! Can you afford to ignore the majin in front of you? Make haste and lose so that we can settle it all!"
Then why are you simply chilling and stuff, discussing life and current affairs with Fubuki, then?
I asked no one in particular. But for a moment, I felt that the intention was shared and felt.
Seriously, what's up with him? Has he fallen in love or what?
The other way around?
Nah, that's not it. He got carried away with magic, didn't he?
"Grrgh! Killing our brethren wasn't enough; now your kind dares to charm my sister?!"
Seriously? Eh?!
"I will personally put an end to your tyrannical reign, you evil majin!!"
Wah—? I thought the intention was shared and felt and shit. So much for connections—Fubuki seems to be hitting it off perfectly.
Does being a femboy get you all the ladies? I honestly won't mind, you know? Now I'm jelly.
But this slow dude…
Rimuru: 「Do you see how strong I am now? Are you willing to hear me out a little?」
"Silence! Now I am more convinced than ever—you lie at the very root of this calamity.
It was your cohorts who led those fetid pigs to destroy our home, was it not? Yes, yes, it was you!
A simple horde of orcs would never be enough to defeat us normally. It was you! The magic-born who doomed us!"
Um? The magic-born who what? This was getting to be one serious
misunderstanding.
And when that red-haired ogre said pigs, was he talking
about orcs?
Rigur and his crew suggested there was some kind of struggle
going on over forest territory…
Is this what all this's about?
Rimuru: 「Wait, you've got the wrong ide–」
I attempted to state my case, only to be stopped by a premonition behind me.
I turned around—the elder wasn't there. Was the other one lecturing me just to divert my attention?!
In a panic, I turned, blocking a strike from behind with my right hand.
It was a shock, someone evading Magic Sense to get so close undetected. Eh? Ehh?!!
Thankfully, the unique Great Sage skill sped up my thought process to a thousand times faster than normal.
The elder unsheathed his blade in a flash, and I was just barely in time.
But something about my arm felt unusual. My skill set kept me from experiencing pain, but—oops—he had lopped the thing right off.
This old guy's skills were incredible. Even with Multilayer Barrier and Body Armor in place, it was like he could cut through paper.
"Mmh… I must be growing senile. I was sure I had decapitated you there…"
He did the signature beard stroke.
Senile, my ass! His physical skills were no match for his companions, but his speed was ridiculous. He was lethal.
Retrieving my amputated arm, I stepped back a little ways.
"I will not miss next time," the elder said as he resheathed his sword and readied it anew.
There's no way I would underestimate his advanced age now. I needed to show him everything I had.
Apparently, waiting for the moment I was fully focused on him, he leaped up, and with a shout of "Die for my comrades!" slashed at me from my flank.
"Hah!" the red-haired ogre shouted, still targeting me.
"Losing an arm should be the end for you. You were strong, I'll grant you that, but you were arrogant.
You thought you could take us on alone, but that was your undoing!"
He had a unique way of moving, too, one that let him stab at my weaker points head-on.
He must have seen me as enough of a threat to not bother keeping alive.
Master-level teamwork like this was a huge pain in the ass.
I was incredibly strong, so I didn't pay much attention to it, but I was really just an amateur in a fight.
Whatever rubbed off on me during practice class was about all I had.
Getting all serious against a total newbie seemed a little immature, but then again, I did tell them I couldn't lose.
I suppose I had it coming. But I still had to make it out of this scrape, by hook, or by crook.
I considered the situation as I worked to keep the two at a distance.
Taking them on with a single arm sounded like a steep order, so I used my Predator special skill to reabsorb it.
Self-Regeneration, the slime-intrinsic skill I started with, was good enough to heal me when paired with Predator in the past.
Hopefully, it could handle more delicate surgeries like this…
«Report. Combining the mimicry skill of Predator with the slime-intrinsic skills Dissolve, Absorb, and Self-Regeneration have earned you the extra skill
Ultraspeed Regeneration. This comes at the cost of the slime-intrinsic skills Dissolve, Absorb, and Self-Regeneration.»
Losing all those slime skills at once seemed kind of a hefty price to pay, but I couldn't complain about the results.
I never used those things anyway, given that Predator covered for them all.
Launching Ultraspeed Regeneration, I focused on rebuilding my right arm.
The arm I had consumed was taken apart and instantly absorbed into my body—and in the blink of an eye, it was back.
It was crazy fast, like none of my recovery skills from before. "Ultraspeed" was right.
…Oops. No time to gape at my own handiwork. Let's try a quick bluff.
Rimuru: 「Te-he-he… Heh-heh-heh… Ahhh-ha-ha-ha-ha! Did you think cutting a simple arm or two off meant you had won?
Well, sorry to disappoint you. I will admit to underestimating you all earlier, though. It's time to get a little serious!」
I removed the mask and placed it in a pocket. The ogres, already spooked at how fast I had rebuilt my arm, were positively stunned by what they saw under the mask.
Releasing my full magical aura made my hair begin fluttering in the air.
They must've instinctively sensed the danger.
At the same time…
Fubuki: 「Yo Rimuru, it looks like things have gotten outta hand, eh?」
Fubuki, who was done discussing with the ogress, came to stand by my side.
I wonder, did he manage to convince her that we aren't exactly "evil majins?"
Or was he simply flirting his head away?
Fubuki: 「I was told that they're quite insistent, so I figured a little power display wouldn't hurt.」
Now that's what I'm talking about!
Rimuru: 「Heh. I had the same thing in mind.」
The ogress, on the other hand, was busily healing her fallen (comatosed) comrades.
"You monster!!" the red-haired one intoned. "I'll kill you with everything I have! Ogre Flame!"
He seemed to be directly referring to Fubuki, but it didn't mean I wasn't a target.
I guess fire was his ace in the hole.
We were immediately the center of a hellish vortex that might have been two thousand degrees or more.
Rimuru: 「That small? Won't work!」
It would have vaporized any random person other than me, but Thermal Fluctuation Nullification meant that it didn't even torch my hair.
As expected, Fubuki wasn't even fazed.
Seeing his finisher fail so spectacularly sent the red-haired ogre, for the first time, into an obvious panic.
He kept his head through sheer force of will, resolutely staring at us.
He wasn't broken yet, I had to hand him that, but considering I didn't want to kill him if I could, I kinda wish he'd accepted defeat sooner rather than later.
Right now would probably be my best chance.
The ogres were by and large stopped, wary of what I might try next. Let's bust out something huge to break 'em all at once.
And if that didn't work—if they still didn't want to hear my story—then I'd have no other choice but to finish them off.
"Please let this be enough"—I prayed as I made my move.
Rimuru: 「You want to see what real fire is like? Look at this!」
I let the Dark Flame whirl around my left arm. I was hamming it up, I knew, but I had to if I wanted to make my foes grovel before me.
"M-my brother!" the pink-haired ogress tangling with Fubuki earlier shouted, the fear apparent on her face. "That flame… Your illusory arts are nothing compared to it!"
It shocked her, at least. Her brother's Ogre Flame was a mystical art, one that turned his very fierce aura into flames.
Mine, meanwhile, was an innate skill, which must've thrown her off a little.
Rimuru: 「Heh-heh-heh, you're right! But I've got something even more fun than that!」
Now it was time for some Dark Thunder from my right hand. I needed this to be the clincher, the thing that finally scared them out of their wits.
There's no need to hold back, although I couldn't waste all my magic on it, either.
I adjusted the force to around a third of its usual level, then sent the particles flowing.
Rimuru: 「Behold, my true power!」 I screamed as I loosed a bolt of Dark Thunder at a handy boulder nearby.
It instantly evaporated, and a beat later, a blast echoed.
So how will the ogres respond?
"…Tremendous. It pains me to say this, but your powers are in a class far above ours.
However, as the next in line to rule my band, I was raised to take pride in my race.
How could any leader allow his fallen comrades to suffer in silence? Whether I succeed or not, I must strike a return blow!"
"…Young master, let me join you!"
Well shit…
Great. The exact opposite effect!
Now, the red-and white-haired ogres were playing the tragic heroes, their faces bewildered.
They were ready to sacrifice
their lives against us.
It wasn't how I meant to end this, but against that attitude, it'd be hard to suppress them without causing their deaths.
So there's no other way?
Whether they were mistaken or not, I couldn't let them run free now—it'd just lead to further trouble later.
I hated to say it, but I was starting to understand it was their own damn fault for being so damn stubborn!
Just then, the ogre princess shouted out.
"Please, wait!"
The pink-haired ogress stood before her red-haired brother, arms open wide to stop him in his tracks.
"My brother, you must think calmly about this. Such powerful magic-borns using low-minded tricks to send the pigs to our homeland?
It is absurd, for they themselves are strong enough to lay waste to all of us single-handedly.
They are unique, to be certain, but I am no longer sure they are with the horde that attacked
us."
"What?!" The flustered redhead looked at me. "But…perhaps…"
Rimuru: 「Guys, I keep telling you, you've got me all wrong! Are you finally ready to listen?」
Steam was billowing from the spot where the vaporized boulder used to be.
"How am I not sure that this is the scheme of the majin? How will I know if he charmed you—?!"
*Slap*—!!
A loud sound echoed throughout the battlefield. A resounding slap it was! Talk about a change in plot
"Can you stop for a moment and think? The majin I fought against was wielding magic I had never seen before. He took out our comrades within the span of half a minute.
He could've killed me if he wanted to, but he decided against it and explained everything to me.
They aren't the ones, brother. Do you really want to drive our race to extinction?"
"I-I see…"
It was more than enough to back up the ogre princess's argument.
The redhead glanced at her, then us again, finally falling to a knee.
"My apologies to you two. Perhaps I was driven into having the wrong idea about you. I hope you will accept my deepest regrets."
So he finally admitted he was maybe wrong about this. I appreciated the thought. It came as a relief. Whew.
Rimuru: 「Well, no point talking here. How about we go back to the village? You guys come along. I'll be glad to feed you, at least.」
And so the conflict that started for reasons unbeknownst came to a peaceful conclusion.
◇◇◇
The hobgoblins began to awaken, perhaps because the princess released the illusion spell on them.
It must have been one heck of a charm, considering all the noise
from my magic didn't even bother them at all.
For my part, I simply released the Sticky Steel Thread covering the purple-hair ogress and sprinkled a bit of potion on the unconscious blue-hair.
Nobody was seriously hurt, so we all headed for the village. And just like they promised before I left, there was some magnificent food waiting.
That's Rigurd for you! The ultimate bureaucrat. His organization skills were nuts.
I still didn't feel hungry, but I had been looking forward to this since morning.
It had been a physically active day, and between that and the test of my taste sense coming up, I was champing at the bit.
And here it came. That first forkful of meat.
The champion has arrived!!
Rimuru: 「It's so gooooood!!」
I thought I might cry.
The flavoring was a worry for me earlier, but they had taken the juice from assorted types of fruit to make a sauce.
The promotion to hobgoblin status
must've upgraded their palates, too, and they were now experimenting with all sorts of new recipes.
This magical beast was cowdeer, right? Well cooked, it was tasty enough even without any extra spices or such, but adding some fruit to the mix provided a
very different—and very engaging—sensation to my taste buds.
It did wonders to mask the gamy flavor and tie a neat little bow over the whole package.
That was how Lilina, the goblin lord, overseeing our food stocks, and Haruna, the proud cook, explained it.
I followed their suggestions as I cleaned my plate, taking in the experience I'd missed.
The pink-haired ogre made a surprising contribution, too.
She knew a great deal about herbs and aromatics and the like, and she brought in a few wild grasses we could use to hide the meat's more unpleasant odors.
"I hope this will atone for our rudeness a little," she said as she helped collect the
ingredients.
She was a high-level creature, and she worked briskly, putting the freshly evolved hobgoblins to shame.
The other ogress—the one with purple hair—was just eating along with the others, though.
Perhaps female ogres weren't necessarily banished to the
kitchen in their society.
If it was this delicious, I wasn't going to care about
genders.
It wasn't long before pink-hair was getting along swimmingly with the rest of the goblinas in the village.
They'd try to learn as much as they could from her, I was sure.
It was nice to have another positive influence around town.
All's well that ends well, I suppose.
The roast-meat feast I was so looking forward to went off without a hitch, and our new companions were all too happy to join us as we drank through the evening.
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Word Count: 「5590」.