"So? After ditching me, now you come crawling back?" I said with a slightly twitching eyebrow.
"Eheheh~" Ramiris laughed awkwardly while she rubbed the back of her head. Suddenly she stood up straight, gave a 90-degree bow, then yelled. "I'm really sorry! Please let me eat some!"
I looked at her with a disappointed face and gave a heavy sigh. She wasn't actually all that sorry, she just wanted the candied apples I'd created while everyone was celebrating Rimuru's new form. I looked over to the Dryad behind her who looked away from me, not matching my eyes. I squinted, feeling a slightly familiar aura from her but I couldn't quite place it, though it did remind me of the forest back in my hometown in this world.
I shook it off after a moment, convincing myself it was probably my imagination and gave a tired sigh. "Alright alright. It's a party for a number of reasons after all. Don't want you getting all down in the dumps about it." I said, handing over the tray of apples.
"Yah!" Ramiris yelped with joy as Treyni congratulated her master.
I then turned to the slime and woman of the hour, dancing together in the center of a small stage the goblins had thrown together for the party. Rimuru was still only a runt, 130 cm tops, but my handiwork spoke volumes. He looked like a young elf girl from a distance, and as long as one didn't sense his faint monster aura, he was perfectly disguised.
Shizue, on the other hand, was a completely different animal altogether. Slightly taller, and much more beautiful than before. It seemed after sleeping the night away last night she ended up evolving after awakening her Hero's Egg.
I didn't really understand it that much, but when I called over Ramiris to ask, she said that Shizue had always had it, it was just that 'something' was keeping her from it being unlocked. She guessed it was something mental, and I deduced it was probably from her feelings regarding her homeland, and now that Rimuru had put her at ease about it, she was able to finally evolve. /1\
"So is he... you know. HIM?" Ramiris asked, munching on her Candy Apple and looking at Rimuru dancing.
"I'm not 100% sure yet, but his aura feels like him, so I think I want to keep an eye out for him," I replied to her.
"I can see it. He doesn't have the Dragon Factor, but if his soul is too strong to be normal. It's as big as one of your wife's kin." Ramiris mentioned.
"Maybe once he acclimates and becomes stronger his memories and power will return." I guessed.
"I don't know about his memories," Ramiris commented.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"You know how I'm the 'administrator' right?" She asked.
"Of course."
"Well from what I'm seeing he is a completely blank slate in that regard." She paused to take another bite of the apple. "I can generally see things like 'Sealed Memories' inside of people and he doesn't have them. It's possible that I just CAN'T see them, after all, he is the one who created the system I'm using to check right now, but I doubt even he is that eccentric." Ramiris sighed.
"I see... is there anything I should worry about in this forest? I want to give him the best possible chance here and would rather he wasn't snuffed out too early." I spoke, somewhat somberly.
Ramiris put one of her free hands on my shoulders. "He isn't like THEM, Alaster. He'll be fine, but since I'm so nice, I'll tell you anyway!" Ramiris said, slowly becoming more braggy and annoying as the sentence went on.
"It seems there's an Orc Invasion going on right now in Jura!" She said. /2\
"Really? I know that Orbic is going through a tough drought right now, but I didn't think they'd do something so out of character." I mentioned.
"Seems to be an Orc Lord situation," Ramiris commented.
"Ah... Any plans?" I asked.
"Well according to Treyni, they overran an Ogre Village just yesterday, so they'll probably go for the Lizardmen next. I'll have to relocate the Treants to somewhere else just in case they come for their village." Ramiris commented.
"Not going to help?" I asked.
"No way~! Too much trouble. Besides, I wanted to have some more subordinates anyway. I'm thinking of making another Labyrinth somewhere. Think Yumina will let me make one under the Guild Headquarters?" Ramiris asked with a smile.
"I think you'll get smacked if you even ask." I chuckled but Ramiris looked devastated.
"Ugh! I don't want to go all the way back to Ulgrassia though!" Ramiris moaned. She had once created a Labyrinth there after striking a deal with their king in the ancient past but mostly left it on autopilot. She always said she hated it because it was lonely but never bothered making another one on that scale anywhere else.
Sure, she'd created a couple of smaller Labyrinths here and there, but never something that was pushing the very limits of her skill like the original Dwelling of the Spirits. Most spirits and fairies nowadays, have partnered up with adventurers and don't hang out there, she also didn't have any subordinates at that time, as while she was hanging around my guild, the forest that Treyni and her sisters managed was destroyed in a series of battles during the first few Insectar Invasions, so they moved to Jura.
"Maybe I'll ask Rimuru if I can make one here?" Ramiris said, mostly to herself.
"You can try, but I doubt he'd let you," I replied.
"Nah, if he really is HIM, then I think he'll cave eventually!" Ramiris said with a glint in her eye to which I face-palmed.
...
(3rd POV)
"Good! Good! Good! Eat up and become stronger, Orc Lord." Gelmud cackled to himself.
"Are you sure it's wise to continue with this plan? He's already stronger than you." An elderly woman spoke from beside him.
Gelmud turned and swung his cane, smashing it against her abdomen and causing her to double over in pain. "Shut it, worthless hag! You agreed to my plan because you need the benefit as much as I do, right!?!" He said.
The old woman shivered slightly as she looked up at the evil majin standing over her. She grit her aging teeth and used a bit of healing magic to heal her side. She had been doing that a lot these days. Her elderly body was well over 700 and she had pushed it to its limits trying to extend her life just a little bit longer.
"Oh get over yourself lady and get up! It's time we moved out and without your magic, there is no way we could stay hidden from the Dryads for long." Gelmud said, stepping over the woman as she rose to her feet.
'Just a bit more. Just put up with it a bit more!' She cried out in her mind. 'Just until the Harvest Festival! Once that's done, I'll get my youth back.' She declared to herself as she steeled her resolve.
...
(Rimuru POV)
"Rigurd, Gobta, you two are back early. And who are they?" I asked the two leaders of the Goblin Riders who were in charge of procuring food and securing the area.
As I looked past them, I saw nine large, muscular monsters with large horns on their heads, different-colored skin, and what looked to be Samurai armor of some kind. Three of them seemed to be women while the other six were men.
'What kind of monsters are they?'
<
"Ogres huh?" I said aloud, elucidating astonished looks from the hobgoblins in front of me. I smiled internally at this. It always was nice to look like I was more aware of everything than I really was. [Great Sage] was just too big of a cheat, especially after the new Unique Skill it was able to create with this new human body. It's been making new skills like no one's business. /3\
"Come on! It seems we've had more and more visitors lately." I said with a smile as I led the Ogres through the town.
"Oh yeah, by the way, what are your names?" I asked, trying to make small talk.
"Oh, there are no named among us." The Red-Skinned Ogre. He had a tall, burly build with firey red hair and two black horns poking out from his forehead.
"Oh... I see. I forgot that most monsters don't... I see." I said as I began to think quietly to myself.
'As I thought, not having names makes things kind of difficult...' I thought as we arrived at the village meeting space.
We had attracted quite the crowd but a few words from Rigurd and they all scattered back to their regular jobs of building the foundations for our new town. As much as I really didn't like that guy, having Alaster around to use Earth Magic helped a lot. I wanted to see if I could recruit him at least until our town was built, but it seemed like he was going to be leaving the day after tomorrow as Kaval's party finished their survey.
I tuned back into the impromptu meeting that was sparked by Kajin, Rigur, Rigurd, and Alaster all sitting together. I felt slightly embarrassed that it had started without me when I wasn't paying attention, but when I glanced at Alaster, he gave me one of his evil smirks.
'Damn that guy! He knows what he was doing!' I thought.
"Orcs attacking Ogres? That doesn't make any sense!" Kaijin said loudly.
"You're right. Under normal circumstances, Orcs would never attack Ogres, but that seems to be the case this time." Alaster commented.
"Do you have any information?" The Red Ogre leader asked.
"I do, and I don't mind sharing it, but..." Alaster stopped and looked at me for a moment. "This isn't my forest. To be honest, if the Orcs took over, it wouldn't be all that big of an issue for me, so I think its the responsibility of the people here to decide what to do with it."
I narrowed my eyes. "What do you mean?" I asked him.
"I mean, if the Orcs decided it was an acceptable risk to attack the Ogres of all monsters, a village of Goblins and a Slime wouldn't even be up for debate and they would come for you too, my friend." He said looking at me.
The red ogre leader narrowed his eyes at Alaster. "What are you suggesting?"
"As I said, this isn't my problem, but if I had to suggest it, it would be an alliance between your lot and our slime friend here," Alaster said, pointing to me.
"Slime?" The cute looking pink haired ogre asked in confusion.
I sighed at this and began to dissolve into my slime form before bouncing out of the pile of clothes I left behind. I've gotta figure out how to transform with them on at some point.
"Allow me to re-introduce myself. My name is Rimuru! Rimuru the Slime! Its nice to meet you!" I said, trying to seem friendly.
The red ogre leader's brow furrowed. "Is this a joke? You want us to ally with a Slime?" He spat.
"Oy!" I called out.
"That slime is stronger than all nine of you put together," Alaster said confidently.
'Oy! Are you trying to get me into a fight, Alaster!?!' I yelled in my mind.
"Ogres only yield to the strong. If he is too weak, then this conversation is over." The red ogre said, seemingly taking Alaster's challenge to heart. He stood up and drew his blade. "Rimuru the Slime, fight with me!" /4\
"How did it turn out like this!?!" I yelled.
.~.~.~.
/1\:
Something similar happened to Hinata in the LN. She had the capability to evolve and awaken her Hero's Egg, but she never did, due to the trauma and guilt she felt for killing her father. Once she learned to forgive herself for that, she evolved immediately.
Pirino got a gift from it, becoming a Human Saint, whereas Pizu became a Great Spirit Fox, which is Demon-Lord Seed level.
/2\:
In the Web Novel, Gelmud wasn't backed by Clayman and the Forest Disturbance Arc was all his idea, so in this canon, it is too, but with a few twists.
/3\:
[Great Sage] took the information on [Deviant] that Alaster left for it and created the Unique Skill [Degenerate] out of it.
I know in the LN [Deviant] and [Degenerate] are interchangeable, but in my canon, I'm treating them like how the Ultimate Gifts [Immortal] and [Eternal] have the exact same properties but different names.
Also, more Ogres escaped due to the Orcs not having plate male armor and being easier to take down without the backing of a Demon Lord like Clayman and they didn't attack Rimuru since there was no Footman who attacked them either.
/4\:
The Ogres never fought Rimuru in this timeline, so they look down on him as a Slime. It was only after being shown his true power that they conceded, so in this timeline, they will need to be beaten into submission by him.