"Wow!"
"So many!"
Rimuru, still new to such grand spectacles, was genuinely awestruck by the sight of hundreds of thousands of troops surging forward.
"The other world is terrifying!"
The blue-haired girl sat in the meeting room, surrounded by Treyni, Testarossa, Rigurd, and the Onis among others.
The Snow Empress and Artoria were absent.
They were tasked with handling the Western Nations and Clayman's schemes, leaving the internal affairs of the Jura Forest to others.
"The orcs have been fully consumed by the Ord Lord's Starved."
Treyni observed the orcs, who devoured tree bark and grassroots as they advanced.
"With such power, the lizardmen stand no chance. It's only a matter of time before they're overwhelmed."
Starved, a Unique Skill, allowed the Ord Lord to assimilate the traits of consumed monsters, converting them into his own power and sharing them with the hundreds of thousands of orcs.
In simple terms, if one orc ate a poisonous mushroom and gained poison resistance, all the other orcs would gain it as well.
Undoubtedly, this was an exceptionally potent battlefield enhancement skill.
"Should we save the lizardmen?"
Rimuru hesitated before asking tentatively.
"Denied!"
"Opposed!"
"Rejected!"
The responses were far more vehement than Rimuru had expected.
"What's going on?"
Rimuru looked at Shuna, Shion, and Akahiko, puzzled. What grudge did the ogres have against the lizardmen to provoke such resistance?
"I can't forget that arrogant jerk!"
Shion fumed. "This time, we need to teach the lizardmen a lesson!"
"Mm."
Even the usually gentle Shuna agreed with Shion's proposal. "The lizardmen are too haughty."
"What do you think, Lord Damien?"
Akahiko turned to Damien, awaiting his verdict.
"Me?"
Damien said, "Don't let my demeanor fool you... I can be pretty petty."
His words didn't make anyone think he was petty.
Lord Damien is so generous!
It's the lizardmen's fault for not appreciating him!
As for Damien's stance…
His statement had already made his position clear.
The lizardmen could be saved.
But not yet!
They needed to feel the pain 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?"
Honestly, after spending time together, Rimuru found Damien to be quite easygoing.
To have offended him meant the lizardmen must have some real skill.
"It happened before you joined us."
Treyni explained the situation to Rimuru, who frowned upon hearing it. "Those guys are way too full of themselves."
"So, I plan to abandon a portion of the lizardmen."
Damien nodded. "We'll keep only those with 'normal' mindsets."
The lizardmen's current situation could be divided into the Gabiru faction and the chieftain faction.
The lizardman chieftain was aging.
Meanwhile, Gabiru, ever since receiving a name from Gelmud, had grown increasingly brash, disregarding his father.
In the original story, Gabiru was forgiven by Rimuru and later became one of the Twelve Guardian Lords.
But so what?
Among the Twelve Guardians, Gabiru remained the weakest.
His achievements were largely due to being spoon-fed by Rimuru.
With the same resources, Gabiru's sister, Souka, might have accomplished just as much, if not more.
"The lizardmen are essentially Clayman's familiars, aren't they?"
Shion voiced her opinion, believing the lizardmen had betrayed the Jura Forest and aligned with the Puppet Nation of Jistav.
"You're not wrong."
Damien recalled the original plot.
Gabiru had accepted Gelmud's naming.
In a sense, he had indeed joined Clayman's ranks.
His refusal to submit stemmed from his belief that the mighty lizardmen didn't need to bow to the ogres or Damien.
In Gabiru's eyes, Damien, who had appeared out of nowhere, was inferior to Clayman!
In the original story, had Gelmud not abandoned Gabiru, he might have remained loyal to Clayman to the end!
"However, the lizardmen as a whole are innocent."
Damien said, "Gabiru doesn't represent all lizardmen. I hope you understand that, Shion."
"Yes."
Shion lowered her head, acknowledging her bias against the lizardmen.
Damien was pleased with Shion's willingness to admit her mistake. He turned to Rimuru. "This time, I want you to take a trip."
"Eh?"
Rimuru blinked. "Me? But I'm a desk worker!"
No, whether she was a desk worker or not didn't matter.
Rimuru insisted she was swamped.
Every day, she dealt with endless paperwork.
Treyni and the others treated her like a machine, sending stacks upon stacks of documents her way.
Over the past few days, Rimuru had become a corporate drone.
From morning to night, she was either working overtime or on her way to more overtime.
And now?
Not only was she handling administrative duties, but they wanted her to fight in a war!
They really weren't treating her like a person.
Use her until she dropped, huh?
"In the world of monsters, there's no such thing as a civil-military divide."
"And who said desk workers have to be weak?"
Damien stated matter-of-factly, "In my Monster Kingdom, even our clerks are top-tier experts!"
"Even if you say it so grandly, it doesn't make me happy."
Rimuru, in a display of defiance, reverted to her slime form and flopped onto the table, playing dead.
She felt utterly conned by Damien.
Where was the lofty Great Sage she was promised?
Or the right-hand woman?
He was literally treating her like an extra hand!
This scene of her slacking off made everyone struggle to suppress their laughter.
They didn't think Rimuru's attitude was disrespectful or that she was defying Damien.
The atmosphere in the Monster Kingdom had always been like this.
Damien saw them as friends and family, unbothered by formalities.
"Fine, fine."
Damien chuckled helplessly. "Complete this mission, and I'll give you a vacation. Deal?"
"You've got a deal!"
Rimuru instantly sprang up, transforming back into her blue-haired girl form. "What do I need to do? Take down the lizardmen or the orcs?"
For the sake of a blissful, work-free vacation, Rimuru didn't mind making the monsters of this world suffer a bit.
***
Hi everyone, I hope you're all doing well. I just wanted to let you know that right now I'm working on a really good and promising fate fanfic. If you're interested in reading it, feel free to give it a try:
[Fate/Max Level Returner]
Synopsis:
What if you took your max-level account and replayed the entire story from the beginning?
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