The Hoghead tottered up to Gelmud.
With a thud it collapsed.
"Food… hungry…"
Gelmud looked it over—apparently starved half to death.
"Tch!"
He nudged the creature with a foot.
"Quit playing dead! Get up and answer: why are you here?"
The Hoghead weakly lifted its head. "Famine… entered forest… food…"
Gelmud frowned. "What do you mean, famine? There's no famine in the forest."
"Food… need food…"
It tried to stand, then fell limp.
"Dead?"
Gelmud crouched: the Hoghead had stopped breathing.
"Damn thing couldn't even talk properly—another idiot."
Cursing, he continued on.
Not far ahead another Hoghead appeared,
equally gaunt and shaky.
The same scene repeated: identical pleas for food.
"Annoying! What are these fools after?"
Gelmud halted, scrutinizing the Hoghead.
"Wait—Hogheads, famine, invading the forest…"
He rubbed his chin, eyes gleaming.
"Hahaha—perfect pawns!"
Gelmud laughed wildly for a few moments, then walked towards the south of the forest.
Not long after he left...
Demiurge slowly emerged from the shadows nearby.
"I've never seen such a stupid fellow; I actually had to remind him so many times."
As he spoke, the Hoghead that had been lying on the ground slowly transformed into a demon.
"My Lord!"
"Mhm, the performance was quite good. Keep it up."
In an instant, the two of them vanished from the spot... and a month passed by.
Rimuru had successfully returned from the Dwarf Kingdom, bringing back four very important dwarves.
Kagali: A world-renowned dwarven blacksmith and weapon maker.
Garm: Capable of crafting first-rate armor.
Dord: A master of handicraft manufacturing.
Myrd: An architect.
These four were the most important core figures for Rimuru's early development.
With them, the construction of the town would advance rapidly.
Rimuru chose a piece of vacant land more suitable for building a town, right in front of the Sealed Cave.
In the nearby mountains, there were also an iron mine and a limestone mountain.
Inside the Sealed Cave, there were large quantities of rare mineral magic steel blocks, which could be used to forge powerful weapons and armor.
One could say it was a perfect start.
Unlike Draco, who had to find everything himself, which was not easy at all.
If he hadn't arrived two years early, his development speed would definitely not have kept up with Rimuru's pace.
Furthermore, Rimuru had some items given to him by Draco, such as the thing he was currently holding in his hand.
"I remember this seems to be called the Goblin Horn; it's said to be able to summon a Goblin army."
Rimuru toyed with the horn in his hand. "Since we're a bit short on manpower right now, I'll give it a try."
[Report: This item lacks key materials and cannot be replicated.]
"This can be used multiple times, so there's no point in replicating it anyway."
Rimuru muttered a sentence and then began to blow the horn.
"Wooo~~~"
A melodious sound emanated from the horn, penetrating the entire jungle.
Soon, groups of Goblins came rushing from a distance.
The commotion was quite large, but when the dust cleared, what appeared before Rimuru's eyes was a group of poorly dressed Goblin warriors.
There were about several dozen of them, holding wooden bows and short swords, looking somewhat weak.
"Hearing your summons, the Goblin squad is at your service."
"This is exactly the help I need."
Rimuru smiled with satisfaction.
All he needed was manpower; whether they were strong or not didn't matter, as he could name them at will anyway.
These were just the weakest Goblins, very low level, with only F-rank strength.
But after being named by Rimuru, they would receive a large amount of Magical Essence, thereby evolving into B-rank Hobgoblins.
A few with outstanding talent would evolve into A-rank Humanoid Ogre Race.
The muscular village chief was a typical example.
Rimuru blew the horn twice more, stopping once the number reached over a hundred.
Currently, the food in the village was not enough for him to continue summoning.
Originally, because of the Direwolf Clan's invasion, only about a hundred members of the Goblin village remained.
With these newly joined members, the village's population reached two hundred.
After spending three days naming them, the village began to develop toward the form of a town.
As is well known, the Goblin Horn has a hidden function.
There is a chance to summon a well-equipped Goblin army of 5,000.
As for why Rimuru didn't trigger the Goblin Horn's hidden function despite blowing it so many times, it was because the conditions had not been met.
First, the summoner must possess the Goblin General class; second, they must already possess a Goblin squad.
The most crucial part is...
When blowing the horn, one must be facing a crisis that requires a Goblin army to deal with.
Or be facing a hostile force equal in number to a Goblin army.
Only when these three conditions are met will the hidden function be triggered.
Given Rimuru's strength, it likely won't be triggered... During the month Rimuru went to the Dwarf Kingdom.
Over at Nazarick, Shuna had imparted all basic magical knowledge to Draco.
Draco could now create any magic below the fourth tier as he pleased.
Although these spells were relatively weak in power, they were the foundation for constructing even more powerful magic.
During this month, Draco studied late into the night every day before resting.
He basically fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.
This caused Albedo and Shalltear to become like two resentful wives in a secluded chamber.
They couldn't say much, so they could only stare at Draco resentfully every day to express the emotions in their hearts.
As time passed, Milim would occasionally leave Nazarick.
She didn't return to the Dragons Capital either; it seemed she had Demon Lord duties to handle.
This made Nazarick quite a bit quieter.
Since Kurumi began her hellish training, the maids of the Pleiades became Milim's followers.
Responsible for cleaning up the messes she created.
These past few days, they had become idle and were able to spend time by Draco's side.
Edoma
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