"How could you, Kai-chan, you actually..."
Rimuru was on the verge of tears, staring across the table at Kaito, who wore the expression of someone who had just been asked to clean up someone else's mess.
But the eyes around the room were all on her. Especially Rigurd, whose face had taken on the particular look of a man preparing to do something drastic if the answer was no.
Rimuru's shoulders dropped.
"Fine. Fine! I'll do it! ╥﹏╥"
"Wonderful! I knew Rimuru-sama would agree!"
"Hmph! Of course! This is Kaito-sama's closest friend we're talking about!"
"With Rimuru-sama as ruler, the Great Jura Forest will know peace for generations!"
The room erupted. The monsters in particular were barely containing themselves, each privately arriving at the conclusion that their judgment in pledging loyalty to Rimuru had been, in fact, exceptional.
Once the noise settled, Treyni, who had been standing on the table, smiled and folded her hands.
"Now that Rimuru-sama has agreed, shall we move on to discussing how the Orc Lord is to be subjugated?"
"Yes, let's... but Miss Treyni, perhaps you'd like to come down from the table first?" Rimuru glanced sideways. "Shion, could you bring a chair?"
"Yes, Rimuru-sama!"
Treyni pressed a hand to her chest and dipped her head. "I'll trouble you then."
Once Treyni had taken a seat among them, a cup of black tea in hand, Rimuru continued.
"The Orcs are moving on Lizardmen territory for now, which gives us some distance. What are everyone's thoughts?"
The room stirred with conversation. Then Shuna turned to Souei with a slight frown.
"Souei, you surveyed the area around our village as well. Did you find anything?"
"Yes."
"Then... there really was nothing?"
"Correct." Souei's expression didn't shift. "Not a single body. Neither our kin nor any Orcs."
Rimuru tilted her head. "What does that mean exactly?"
Souei said it simply. "The bodies were eaten."
Benimaru, seated beside him, picked up the thread without pause. "I've been wondering how an army of 200,000 sustains itself on the march."
Rimuru's face changed. "Don't tell me..."
"[Starved]." Treyni's voice was quiet but clear. The room stilled.
"Starved?"
"It is a unique skill the Orc Lord carries from birth. A calamitous power that marks it as a monster capable of reshaping the world. Every creature under its dominion is driven to consume everything around them, stripping the land bare like a plague of locusts."
She paused.
"Whatever they devour, they absorb. The strength, the abilities, all of it becomes theirs." She glanced briefly at Rimuru. "It is, in some ways, very similar to your [Predator]."
She continued before anyone could react to that.
"But the price of [Starved] is that the hunger never stops. The Orcs will keep consuming until there is nothing left."
As Treyni spoke, the weight of it settled over the room. By the time she finished, nobody needed it spelled out further.
Rimuru waited until the silence had done its work. Then she reached across the table, picked up a potato chip, held it up, and looked around the room.
"Tempest Wolves, Ogres, Goblins, members of the Demon Slayer Corps. Whatever the flavor."
She shook it lightly.
"Every single one of you is exactly what they want to eat."
Benimaru smiled, just slightly. "You haven't forgotten the most tempting bait of all, have you?"
Rimuru looked at him blankly. He gestured.
"Right here. The strongest Slime and the strongest human."
Rimuru put the potato chip in her mouth and looked away with complete nonchalance.
"I don't see anyone like that."
Kaito said nothing, but the corner of his mouth moved.
Treyni pressed on. "There is one more thing. The birth of an Orc Lord is rarely a natural event. I have confirmed the presence of a Demon Lord behind this. I trust you won't overlook that."
Rimuru rested her chin in her hand. "A Demon Lord..."
"Rimuru." Kaito's voice was easy, unhurried. "Don't overthink it. Forget about the Demon Lord. Just do what you want to do."
He leaned back.
"I've got everything covered behind you. A Demon Lord is nothing. Even if a Demon King showed up, I'd scatter the ashes."
The room went quiet for a different reason this time.
Rimuru straightened immediately, the tension leaving her shoulders all at once. With Kai-chan behind her, somehow nothing felt that heavy.
Everyone else was staring at Kaito. They had always known he was strong. But hearing it said that plainly made something click into place.
"As expected of Kaito-sama." Kagaya, who had been observing quietly from his seat, smiled. "It seems we made the right choice, following you to this world."
"Kai-chan's words are incredibly arrogant." Kanae tilted her head with a grin. "I love it."
"With Kaito-sama here, there's nothing to fear!"
"Kaito-sama is unbeatable!" Gobta shouted, apparently unable to help himself.
The truth was, while both Kaito and Rimuru led the town, the two of them inspired different things in the people around them. Kaito commanded a deep, instinctive respect. His strength was so far beyond the ordinary that people unconsciously treated him as an immovable constant, something to stand behind rather than stand beside.
Rimuru, on the other hand, was loved. She had a way of being so genuinely herself that people stopped thinking of her as a figure of power entirely. They adored her the way you adore someone you want to protect, which conveniently caused most of them to forget she was also frightening in her own right.
As for leadership, everyone in the village quietly understood that the real day-to-day work fell to Kagaya and Rigurd. The Security Force had always been Kanae's domain. Kaito and Rimuru mainly appeared for things that mattered, and the rest of the time they were either fleeing Sakuya or had slipped off somewhere to enjoy themselves.
"Alright, alright, that's enough! Keep going and I'll actually get embarrassed!"
Kaito finally put a stop to it, his face going slightly red despite himself.
"Right. Back to the point." Rimuru straightened and looked around the table. "Now that we understand what the Orc Lord is capable of, we need to be ready for it."
"Kai-chan, since you're sitting this one out, you'll stay and hold things here."
"As for the rest of you, here's what I'm thinking..."