Before I knew it, I'd written quite a lot.
I want to keep going as long as I can!
We arrived at the goblin village.
It hadn't even been two weeks since we'd set out, but it already felt nostalgic.
Well, calling it a village was generous — it was more like a fenced-in open area...
While we'd been away, they'd apparently gotten by with makeshift tents and the like.
I noticed a large pot had been set up over the old fire pit in the center of the village.
Looks like cooking methods had advanced beyond "grill only" to include "boil" too. Remarkable progress.
Where'd they get that pot... upon closer inspection, it appeared to be crafted from the shell of a giant turtle.
Just how far had they expanded their hunting grounds...
Well, at least they hadn't been attacked by other monsters, which was a relief.
As soon as we entered the village, the resident Hobgoblins spotted us and came running out with cheers of welcome.
Unfortunately, I didn't have any souvenirs for them.
But I could see pelts from hunted monsters drying on racks, so the dwarves would surely whip up some clothing for them in no time!
Though eventually, I'd like the goblins to learn to make things for themselves.
Anyway, I went to look for
As it turned out, there was no need — Rigurd came running toward us.
But he had a troubled look on his face.
Had something happened? I was about to ask when he spoke first.
"Welcome home, Master Rimuru! I'm terribly sorry to trouble you the moment you've returned, but you have a guest..."
He bowed apologetically for bothering me while I was tired.
A guest...? I didn't know anyone here.
Well, I'd let the dwarves roam freely around the village for the time being and have them store their tools in an empty tent.
I left the dwarves in Rigul's care and had Rigurd guide me to the guest.
Rigurd led me to a rather large tent.
Who could it be?
I'd find out soon enough, so I stepped inside.
I ducked through the tent entrance and was startled.
Inside were several goblins.
A few were well-dressed, each trailed by several attendants.
Tribal chiefs and their bodyguards, presumably? They didn't seem to be carrying weapons — though even if they were, it wouldn't matter.
While I was still confused, the goblins all suddenly prostrated themselves! And then, "We humbly greet the great and noble lord! Please, we beg you to hear our humble petition!!!"
they declared in unison.
Great and noble lord? That had to be me, but what an exaggeration.
Still, the way they were looking at me was dead serious — no, beyond serious.
What did they expect from me? I thought, and then, "Very well. Speak!"
I decided to at least hear them out.
One of the chiefs spoke on behalf of the rest: "Ah! What a blessed fortune! Our wish is to be placed under your lordship's protection!!!"
The others nodded in agreement all around.
With eyes full of hope, they looked up at me and "We humbly implore you!!!"
bowed deeply once more.
Honestly, my first thought was: what a pain.
We hadn't even rebuilt our own homes yet! I don't have time to deal with you lot!
That's what I wanted to say, but the truth was our village was short on manpower too.
I'd already anticipated that we'd inevitably clash over territory in this area sooner or later, so bringing them into the fold now might not be a bad move.
But what if I took them in and they betrayed me from the inside?
That was a concern, but if it came to that, I'd kill them all. I wouldn't tolerate betrayal.
When leading monsters, sentimentality was a liability. I had to be ruthless.
To steel myself for that resolve, I decided to accept them.
I told myself again: if they betray me, I'll kill them! ...and so.
But wow... I'd just casually decided I could kill people. Like, just like that.
I surprised even myself.
Oh well, it was probably better than agonizing over it.
Anyway, it seemed these were only the representatives. How large were their groups exactly?
I realized I'd need to come up with names for all of them, and let out a long sigh...
Messenger goblins were dispatched to each of their respective villages to spread the word.
Now then, time to hear what the remaining village representatives had to say.
After listening to their story, I summarized the key points...
The root cause was that the balance of power in the forest had begun to crumble.
When the Fang Wolf tribe had attacked, Rigurd's village had been abandoned because there simply weren't enough forces to spare.
The Orc Tribe, the Lizardman Tribe, and then...
the Ogre Tribe!
The most cunning monsters of the forest had begun making moves for dominance.
There had been small skirmishes before, but by unspoken agreement, it had never escalated to open warfare.
However, with the disappearance of the forest's ruler, those simmering tensions were finally boiling over.
Monsters, by nature, were creatures who loved to flaunt their strength.
And so, each race had been busy preparing to unleash all that pent-up frustration.
Full-scale conflict was only a matter of time.
Weak races like the goblin tribe would simply be trampled underfoot.
The tribal chiefs were in a panic.
If things continued like this, they'd be dragged into the conflict and destroyed!
They convened a chiefs' council and held meetings day after day, but in the end, they were monsters without true wisdom.
No good plan was ever going to come out of those discussions...
Then, news of the Fang Wolf tribe's attack arrived, but they had bigger things to worry about. That was why Rigurd's tribe had been forgotten.
But then...
Just as no good solution had materialized and food supplies were running dangerously low, a report came in that a new threat had emerged in the forest!
Rumors of a black beast, and of those who rode it.
These beings tore through the forest as if sprinting across open plains, felling powerful forest monsters along the way.
Who on earth were they? The astonishing report continued.
They appeared to be former goblins... according to the intelligence.
Upon hearing this, opinions were split.
Some argued they should seek the newcomers' protection immediately.
Others shouted that it was too suspicious — it had to be some kind of trap!
Those crying "trap" refused to listen even when told there was no reason to lure them in.
And even if it wasn't a trap, there was no guarantee they'd be accepted.
Such was the sorrow of wisdomless creatures — no conclusion was ever reached through words alone.
And so, the representatives who favored seeking protection decided to come here in person.
I see.
Well, it was a pretty self-serving proposal. But they were goblins — weak and without wisdom. That couldn't be helped.
Either way, I'd already decided to accept them.
Anyone who wanted to come was welcome.
I conveyed this message to the visiting goblin representatives.
Upon hearing my words, the goblins returned to their respective villages.
Now here was the real problem.
Looking at the goblins who had actually shown up, I thought: Aren't there... a little too many?
The village didn't have space for this many.
More importantly, why did I have to be the one worrying about this?
Over the past few days, I'd been crafting axes, using those axes to chop wood, and processing timber — but we hadn't even reached the stage of actually building houses.
The three dwarf brothers were busy processing pelts and producing clothing for the Hobgoblins.
The way the three dwarf brothers looked at the village's women was frankly unnerving.
Maybe I should push them to finish faster!
In the midst of all this hectic activity, the new goblin tribes had arrived.
Four tribes, roughly five hundred in total.
The rest had reportedly gone to opposing villages.
I guess we'd have to relocate.
The work involved would be the same either way — might as well do it now.
With that thought, I checked the mental map I'd been building.
There was a suitable open area near a water source with good farmland potential.
Of all the places I'd walked through, the closest match was...
near the area right outside the first cave I'd emerged from.
Hmm.
I called Rigurd over and asked about the situation around there.
"That area has been designated as forbidden territory, sir. Unlike the forest, the interior of the cave has become a nest for powerful monsters..."
"Then there's no problem. I used to live there."
"W-What?! You what?!"
"Well, I more or less grew up there, so it should be fine."
"As expected of you, sir! This Rigurd is truly impressed."
He said something completely nonsensical.
What was there to be impressed about? Just because I was born in a cave?
Well, he seemed satisfied, so let it go.
I immediately summoned Mild, the youngest of the three brothers, to put his knowledge of construction to use.
Mild and I had an extensive discussion.
I shared whatever knowledge I could recall from my past life about construction and building.
The surveying techniques of this world turned out to be fairly advanced, blending magic with measurement.
Adding my half-baked knowledge on top of that, we drew up a plan for surveying the new site.
The Black Wolves wouldn't need them, but the goblins and dwarves would require sanitation facilities.
Rather than doing things halfway, I figured it was best to set up proper sewage infrastructure and compost the waste into fertilizer.
From a hygiene standpoint, it was basic knowledge that open waste was a prime source of infectious disease. I explained this to Mild.
I did wonder whether goblins could even get sick, but apparently they could catch infectious diseases just fine.
Monsters who were so fragile despite being monsters.
Well, given how unsanitary things were, of course they'd get sick...
In the goblins' case, their prolific birth rate had been enough to outpace the death toll and maintain their numbers.
Though apparently, evolving had drastically reduced their fertility.
On the plus side, it likely meant their lifespans had been extended as well.
Mild did have solid knowledge regarding waste processing as far as academic knowledge went.
Not surprising, given that several "Otherworlders" had already been confirmed in this world.
This world had Spirit Engineering — an entirely unique field of study — which had shed light on all manner of mysteries.
That said, he knew very little about repurposing waste, so he listened to my explanation with genuine surprise.
Once we'd hammered out the basics, I appointed Mild as the construction team leader.
My classic move: hand it off completely.
I instructed Rigurd to assign several workers under Mild's command and sent them out to survey the site.
Just to be safe, I had
I didn't think any monsters would come out of that cave, but you never knew. With Ranga there, they'd be able to handle anything.
And so, Mild and the construction team were sent on their way.
Next came the naming.
Just thinking about it was depressing. Nearly five hundred names — at this point, I might have to resort to the forbidden ABCD method.
I could only get halfway through the Iroha syllabary anyway.
I started naming right away.
True to form, I slipped into a low-activity state partway through, but I managed to name everyone within four days.
The fatigue was less severe than last time, which was a blessing, but I never wanted to do it again.
I called the chiefs forward.
The evolved chiefs knelt before me.
Rigurd at the head, followed by
Lined up like that, the pattern was obvious. That's right — it was ra, ri, ru, re, ro.
The fact that Ranga happened to start with "ra" was pure coincidence.
I knew the naming was pretty lazy, but whatever! No one would ever figure it out.
I made sure to project an air of "I worked really hard on this, you know!"
I am a man who excels at advertising how hard he's working!!!
The one leftover was female.
I named her
Evolution had made it possible to distinguish their sexes.
With goblins, it was technically possible to determine gender, but it was hard to tell by appearance alone.
I briefly wondered whether I could turn these names into a series too, but I decided to stop thinking about that. It was too soon.
That wasn't something to worry about right now.
Now then — the Hobgoblins before me. Should I establish a hierarchy among them?
Being buddy-buddy and treating everyone as equals? That was impossible in reality.
A clear chain of command was essential, especially for monsters who valued power above all else.
I made my decision and declared: "Listen well — I shall bestow ranks upon you!"
I promoted Rigurd to Goblin King.
The remaining four chiefs were elevated to Goblin Lords.
All around, every goblin still in the village prostrated themselves, watching the ceremony with bated breath.
"Yessir!!! Understood!!!"
At those words, the cheering nearly tore the air apart.
A new chapter in goblin history had begun.
Kaijin had prepared the woodworking tools without a single thing missing.
Clothing production was proceeding smoothly under Garum and Dold's direction.
Lumber was being steadily stockpiled in the village's open spaces.
By the time every goblin's evolution had been confirmed, Mild returned from surveying the planned site for the new village.
Everything was on track.
I reviewed the planned layout for the new settlement.
It was less a village and more a town in terms of scale.
Our new home.
Confirming that all preparations were in order, we set out.
We took our first step toward new land.
The first step in building our own nation!