-Deva
Okay. So now we are guardians. What should we do next? To me, it just felt like bodyguard duty, despite the grandiose terms the elder used to describe us.
To start out, we had all the goblins capable of fighting gathered around.
It wasn't a pretty sight. They were in awful shape. No way could we count on them on the battlefield. And from afar, the remainder of the village looked like…nothing but children and the elderly to me. Reinforcements, in other words, were out of the question.
The village elder must have been shaking at the knees. Even if they fled the village right now, they'd practically starve before the day was through.
Meanwhile, the goblins around us were all staring with an almost religious faith in their eyes. This was excruciatingly uncomfortable. To someone like me, who lived a fairly easy life, those gazes added a lot of pressure.
"Right," Rimuru said, "do all of you know what kind of situation we're in?"
He wasn't trying to make a joke. I think he couldn't come up with anything inspirational I to say.
"Yes, sir!" the goblin leader instantly replied. "We are preparing for a battle to decide whether we live or die!"
The other goblins around him must have felt the same way. Some of them were visibly shaking, which I couldn't chide them for. A person's mind can think one thing and their body do something very different.
"All right," Rimuru replied, trying to act like the best general he could. "No need to get all worked up. Keep it chill, all right? Whether you're revved up or not, if we're gonna lose, we're gonna lose. Just focus on giving this everything
you've got!"
'That helped lighten my mood, at least. Maybe it worked better than I thought.'
I sighed looking at the goblins who look a bit better but still overall frightened.
'Might as well get started, then. If we screw up, that might be it for these goblins.'
-Direwolf Alpha
Night.
The direwolves' alpha had his eyes open. It was a full moon—the perfect night for a battle. Slowly, he rose, surveying the area, the rest of his pack looking on with bated breath.
'Just the right amount of intensity,' the alpha thought.
Tonight, they would level the goblin village, establishing a foothold for themselves within the Forest of Jura. Then, slowly but surely, they would hunt the monsters around the area, expanding their territory until they ruled the woods.
Soon, when the time was right, they would turn their eyes toward the south, invading it for the power it held.
They had the strength to make it happen. Their claws could rend the flesh of any monster; their fangs could pierce any armor.
"Awooooooooooo!"
The alpha gave the signal.
It was time to let the carnage begin.
There was, however, one concern.
The alpha had sent a scout a few days ago who had come back with some perplexing news—news of two monsters one small one that let off a strange, mystical force. Enough to surpass that of even their alpha. And a humanoid one that seemed to float in the air.
He had shrugged off this report at first. It was too preposterous to entertain. He himself had detected nothing of the sort in the forest. Every monster they'd encountered was a comparative weakling. Up to this point, nothing even resembling resistance to their advance had appeared—and they were almost in the dead center of the wood.
A dozen or so goblins had picked off one or two members of their pack, but nothing else. The scout must have been too excited about the upcoming hunt to think straight.
That was the alpha's conclusion as he kept his eyes forward.
Ahead lay a village. It was situated exactly where the scout said it was. He had followed the trail of a wounded goblin straight to it. Nothing about his report suggested it to be a threat.
This was not the alpha's first battle. He was cunning, and he never let his guard down. However, even he had to admit that the strange…thing around the village was a tad unusual.
It was…a fence, like one would see in a human village. The homes that once composed the settlement had been disassembled, formed into a defense that neatly covered all of the village grounds.
In front of the single opening in the barrier, was a slime. And floating right above it was a humanoid creature.
"All right, stop where you are, okay?" the slime said to them. "If you turn back now, I promise I won't do anything to you. Move away from here at once!"
'Impertinent little bastard. Leaving just one entryway open to block a mass attack? Just the kind of shallow thinking one should expect from a garbage monster like this. Our claws and fangs would make mincemeat out of that rickety old thing.'
It was time to show this slime their true power. The alpha gave the order. As if they were his own right hand, about a dozen direwolves immediately set off to attack the fence—the picture of coordination, the exact reason the pack essentially functioned as a single monster.
The Telepathy skill enabled their collective behavior. It was far faster than giving verbal orders, letting the pack work in perfect tandem.
The first wave should have been all it took to destroy the fence. Instead the alpha, already picturing a screaming rabble of goblins struggling to flee after the miserable failure of their stratagem, let out a surprised yelp.
The force he had sent toward the fence had been blown straight backward, some of them bleeding profusely as they writhed on the ground.
'What could this be?' The alpha kept his mind sharp as he surveyed the area. The two by the entryway had not moved an inch. 'Did they do something?'
One of his men sidled up to him to report.
'It was them, boss! The thing with the mystical force that outclassed yours and the floating human!'
'Nonsense,' the alpha thought as he looked at the slime. It was a small monster. They would occasionally be born here and there along the plains.
Even calling them "monsters" at all seemed absurd—their whole existence was petty. 'That thing, holding more force than me…? It must be the tricks of that human the slime must be its puppet!'
The alpha fumed.
'Damned human!'
Few, indeed, were the monsters more sly and crafty than the alpha. He had years of experience to draw upon, and he could summon it on the fly to calmly, nimbly formulate a new plan. And his years of experience told him that this human could not possibly be stronger than he was.
Right there, for the first time, the alpha committed a fatal mistake—one that would ultimately decide his fate.
'You wretched little worm—I shall crush you to pieces!'
-Deva
'Yeesh. That was a shock. I didn't think they'd go lunging at the joint straight out. I even gave them that heroic little speech about how I wouldn't do anything if they turned
back, but they totally ignored it.'
'They are wild monsters did you really think they would listen to heroics?' I lay on my back while in the air observing the scene as it carried on.
'I guess not but they could've at least considered it. I was hoping we could talk things over a little first, but they forced me to throw out my entire script. And after all that rehearsing I did while the fence was being built.'
'What I want to know is why the Alpha is directing its anger at me, I didn't build this fence!'
'I know, you just say there and watched us do all the work!' He angrily turned towards me.
'I'm a public figure now I can't be seen muddying myself with you common folk. Plus, I was supervising.' I gave a sly smirk.
'You're just freeloading!'
I ignored his protests and pointed towards the dire wolves, 'They're attacking, focus.'
The direwolves all started moving at once, attacking the fence from pretty much every angle they had.
-Rimuru
Earlier In the day.
The first order I give the goblins was to show us where the wounded were. Adding a dozen or so survivors to the sixty fighters we had wouldn't make the work go much more efficiently, but given their devotion for us, we did what we could for them.
They were all lying down on the floor of a large, fairly unhygienic-seeming building. Looking over them, I started to think. Apparently, they're using some herbs to treat them…but left to themselves, they'll die before long.
They were all in rougher shape than I'd thought—skin slashed by teeth and claws, and some were sporting nasty-looking gashes with God-knows-what growing out of them.
Better splurge a little bit, I figured as I took action. Consuming the wounded goblin closest to me, I sprayed some recovery potion on him, then hawked him back up. The elder prepared to say something to me, but he thought better of it as I worked my way down the row—swallowing, splattering, spitting out.
I would have asked Deva for help but he seemed preoccupied with watching and avoiding responsibility, like the pretentious bastard he is!
After I'd finished up with a few of them, I took a look behind me.
There they were again, kowtowing to me.
What is with these guys?
They must've assumed I'd resurrected them with my powers or something. To avoid future misunderstanding, I opted to just spit the potions out directly from there on, healing the goblins' wounds out in the "real" world.
The healing process took a little time, but it worked. Once I was done with everyone, I gave the remaining goblins a new order—the fence.
A simple wooden affair would have been fine, I thought, but we didn't have much time or material to work with. We had to go with what we had, so that was what I did—without a moment's pause, I had them tear down their homes and use the wood and other components to fortify the whole community.
In the meantime, I ordered the goblins who were decent with a bow to go on scout duty. I warned them not to wander too far afield—wolves were bound to have good noses. I could tell by their eyes that they were willing to sacrifice themselves for the cause. They were ready to shout out "By my very life!" at any moment.
A lot more bravado than I really needed right now, but I doubted there was any quick fix for it. As night fell, around a day after I arrived at the village, the final planks were on the fence. The finishing touches were mine—spider silk to
strengthen and solidify the paling and a few Steel Thread traps here and there.
Anyone touching the fence without knowing the secret would be carved up before they knew what hit them. I'll have to remember to go fetch a body or two later.
I made sure the fence had a single entryway on one side. Once it was lined with Sticky Thread, my job here was done. All that remained was to wait for the scouts to come back.
By this time, the wounded goblins were starting to wake up, healed from their wounds. They furtively poked their bodies, staring curiously down at themselves.
Looks like that stuff packs a wallop. I'd assumed I'd need to
apply several doses to the graver-looking of the patients, but it worked a hell of a lot better than I'd thought. I had no complaints about that mistake.
After that, I had the goblins collect the extra material, pile it up in the center of the village grounds, and set it on fire. It reminded me of more than one camping trip, but now was no time for marshmallows.
We would need to keep watch the whole night through. I offered to handle it alone but was sharply refused.
"Nothing doing, Sir Rimuru! We could never allow you to shoulder such a heavy burden!"
"She is right! We will handle watch duty for you. Please, Sir Rimuru, take the time to rest a little!"
The rabble around us echoed their approval. I appreciated the thought. Although there is definitely someone who should be doing something to contribute. I peaked at Deva who was floating above the whole village basking in the moonlight.
He was in his own little world mumbling things under his breath that I couldn't catch.
The goblins had to be far more exhausted than we were by now, but I agreed to handle the watch in shifts and rest when I wasn't on duty.
Just before midnight, the scouts returned—some wounded, but all safe.
The direwolves had begun to move, they said. Funny how I thought they were these ugly, filth-ridden monsters two days ago. Now I was starting to feel actual affection for them. If I had my way, I thought as I applied the final Sticky Thread to the entryway, I'd like to get them through this without
losing a single one.
So that was our prep process, more or less. Hostilities were under way, so there wasn't much else I could do. At this point, we had to stick to the plan.
I wasn't convinced the fence was strong enough to hold, but fortunately, the direwolves couldn't grab hold of it long enough to do much. The traps mostly sprang just as I'd planned. That was a relief.
Anticipating this, I had ordered small slits built into the fence at regular intervals. Those openings were for arrows so the goblins could attack from the inside and interfere with the enemy's movements. They opened fire, and even with their crappy aim, they made more than a few direwolves scream
their last.
A few of the enemy force tried to pry the spaces open and break in that way…only to have their heads caved in by the stone-ax-wielding goblins on either side of each hole.
Two hours wasn't nearly enough practise time, but this village was playing for keeps.
They listened to everything I said, understood it, and took
action. And we were reaping the rewards. The wolves were strong, yes, capable of taking on a gaggle of goblins at once, and maybe they were even stronger as a pack. But if they were powerful solo, we could just strike 'em all together.
If they were powerful as a team, we'd make sure they couldn't team up. Use your head, and you can make it work. The strongest creature in the world, after all, is a human being with a little intelligence!
Your luck just ran out, I thought to myself as I stared into the cold eyes of the direwolf boss. Some stupid animal beating me? How conceited can you get?
-3rd
The confused direwolf alpha was shocked at how far awry his plans had gone.
His pack was beginning to fall into disarray. That couldn't be allowed to continue. The direwolf tribe shone its brightest only when grouped together.
Mistrust in the alpha would lead to fatal results. He understood that, too—and that was why he then made his greatest mistake of all. He was enraged at the weakness of his pack, unable to overcome a simple fence, but he was even
more afraid that his team's frustration would soon be directed at him.
'I need to display my strength to them,' he thought. 'I am the strongest of my pack. I am more than strong enough, even by myself!'
That was the moment when everything was decided.
-Rimuru
My eyes were still firmly upon the direwolf boss. To the goblins, he had disappeared, I assumed, but to me, he was ambling along at a yawn-worthy pace.
Everything was going to plan. I had considered a few possible outcomes, and now one of them was playing out in front of me. These were animals, after all. Not ex-humans like Deva and I.
The Sticky Thread over the entryway immediately captured the boss. For all I knew, the silk wouldn't be enough to keep a direwolf leader stuck tight.
There'd been no way to test it beforehand, but that didn't matter anymore.
The Sticky Thread was there just so we could keep the boss in place for a single moment.
If I didn't hold him in place and he dodged the ensuing Water Blade attack, that would look super lame. Or worse, I could catch my team in friendly fire. In the midst of a battle, that was entirely possible.
That was why I devised the trap. But maybe I over-engineered it a little.
These guys hadn't even gotten the fence down yet. I'd considered lining the entrance with Steel Thread instead but opted against it, worried that it wouldn't be enough of a final blow.
In situations like these, it was my job to play the ultimate strongman, the ruler of the roost. That was what all this was for—and that's why, without another moment of self-doubt, I launched a Water Blade at the boss's head.
It hit home. The head launched upward, and then gravity took it. I had killed the boss—and more importantly, I made it look like a laugh.
"Listen, direwolves! Your leader is dead! I will grant you one final choice. Submit to me or die!"
'Was that you trying to be intimidating? You do realise you're a slime right?' Deva chimes in unnecessarily might I add.
'I know that!'
So how will they deal with that? Will their boss's death drive them into such a frenzy that they'll bum-rush me? I'd like to avoid that, if I could.
The remaining direwolves showed no sign of moving. Uh-oh. This isn't gonna be one of those "I'd sooner die than submit to the likes of you!" things, is it?
'Cause if it is, it's gonna be all-out war. We were still losing
numbers-wise, and we'd definitely take some casualties. We made it this far without any goblin blood—I doubted we'd lose at this point, but I'd prefer it ended without a struggle.
It was oddly quiet, compared to the pitched battle of a moment ago. I could feel the gazes of the direwolves upon me. Amid their stares, I gradually started glooping forward.
I couldn't tell how they'd interpret this, but I wanted to hammer it home that their boss was dead. In a moment, I was at the alpha's limp body. Nobody offered any objection. One of their pack, which had taken up position nearby, retreated a step.
Then I swallowed the corpse. As was my right as victor, yeah?
The Sage's voice rang in my mind.
"Analysis complete. Mimic: Direwolf ability obtained. Direwolf intrinsic skills『Keen Smell』『Telepathy』and 『Coercion』 acquired."
Sounds like a win to me. But despite seeing their own boss eaten in front of them, the rest of the direwolves still showed no sign of movement.
Hmmm… At this point, they were either gonna freak out and run, or freak out and come for me.
…Oh, right! I told them "submit or die," didn't I? Ah, shit. That might've been throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Better give 'em an escape route, I thought as I transformed myself into one of them.
Activating Coercion, I spoke to them in a loud, guttural scream. "Arh-arh-arh! Listen to me!" I declared to them.
"Once, and only once, I will let this go unpunished. If you refuse to obey me, I bid you to leave here at once!!"
I figured that'd be enough to make these dogs scamper off. I was wrong.
"We pledge our allegiance to you!"
Now they were kowtowing to me, although it looked more as if they were having a lie-down for a nap. But regardless, they had apparently chosen "submit" anyway. Maybe they'd been having a little Telepathy conference about it while they were standing there like statues.
It beats having to fight them, anyway. That, more or less, marked the official end of the battle at this goblin village.