The first thing the newly evolved Oni requested after rimuru woke up was to serve under him.
Benimaru was the first to speak, "Sir Rimuru, we have a request! Please, we beg of you to accept our solemn oath of fealty!"
Not suprisingly, like the other group he named, they wanted to be his subordinates, I wonder if rimuru can take over the world by naming everyone.
"Hmm? Geez, you don't have to get all formal about it. Just because you're my mercenaries doesn't mean I want you groveling at my feet." replied Rimuru.
"It is not that, my lord. We wish to serve you as your loyal retainers!"
They were told that they were free to go once this little skirmish was wrapped up, but I guess Benimaru and his people had other plans. They must have talked this out among themselves in advance.
"""Please, give us your benevolent aid!!""" they now intoned in unison.
Rimuru had no reason to refuse so he accepted the group's allegiance, Thus, the village's population grew by six in a single day. They were also quite the addition to the overall strength of the village.
Taking another good look, It was quite obvious exactly how much they all had changed. They had shrunk a decent amount, which made their clothing flap loosely about and since I also wanted some new clothes, Everyone decided on visiting Garm's cabin.
"Hey, boss!" he greeted, smiling as he stopped working. "Those the new ogre friends we've got? You sure about that? 'Cause they sure don't look like ogres to me, but…"
He looked pretty surprised, his eyes right on Shion's chest, can't blame him though.
"Yeah, well, I named 'em all, so they aren't exactly ogres any longer. Oni people, is the term for 'em now, I think." replied rimuru.
"Oni?! That's a high-level race, isn't it? Born only on extremely rare occasions among the ogres…"
"Is it? Well, there you have it, I guess. You think you could make some clothing and armor for them?"
"Oh. sure thing, Raiden you also came for new garments."
"Yeah, can you make a kimono similar to what I was wearing before?"
Garm accepted the request and brought us inside to take our measurements, except for Hakuro who was good to go as is as he hasn't changed much, and Kurobe who apparently borrowed a few days' worth of outfits from Kaijin. Simple work clothes, really, but Kurobe seemed happy enough with them.
And before I went in I was reminded. Why did their clothing look so Japanese?
"Hey," I asked Hakuro, "your weapons are pretty different, aren't they?"
As he put it, around four hundred years ago, a group of armored warriors came to the ogres' homeland, heavily wounded and seemingly lost in the forest. The ogres were a warfaring bunch by that point, more akin to monsters than they are now, but even then, they blanched at attacking the defenseless. They were a high-level race, not very preoccupied about food, so they took care of them.
The warriors, thankful for this, instructed the ogres in battle techniques and gifted their armor to them. One among them knew how to forge these katana-style weapons, and after a long trial-and-error process, they succeeded in producing large numbers.
"One of the warriors they trained was my own grandfather," Hakuro said proudly, "and he made well sure to teach me every skill he had."
"Yeah," Kurobe added, "and my family's among the blacksmiths that supply 'em all!"
"So you can make those swords yourselves?" I asked with some anticipation.
"I am more versed in a straight sword," said Hakuro, "but I have learned how to take care of these well enough, at least. Kurobe, though, is a sort of weaponsmaster to us."
"Yep! I made all o' these swords. I ain't too good at fightin', but you want me to bang some metal together, I'm your ogre!"
Now that's some good news for me, maybe he can help Kaijin in making an asauchi since he seems more versed in making Japanese swords. This group from four centuries ago might have been otherworlders like us, I figured, not that I had any way of knowing for sure. The important thing was that the ogres were intelligent enough to keep their tradition going.
"Very good," Rimuru said. "In that case, Kurobe, you're going to be our village's dedicated swordsmith from now on."
"You're on, Sir Rimuru! I'll do my best for you."
We introduced him to Kaijin at once, and since they had already met yesterday, our discussions went quickly. The two immediately hit it off, and by the time we left, they were already talking about my requested magisteel sword that they would craft—that, and some kind of weird "research" Kurobe wanted to tackle.
I don't know if it's because of this, but it turns out that Kurobe possessed a unique skill known as Researcher. It sounded a tad like my Rimuru's Predator skill, and it was geared for producing things, offering subskills like Full Analysis, Spatial Storage, and Transform Material. Spatial Storage was basically like his Stomach, and Transform Material allowed him to mess around with the stuff he kept in Spatial Storage. For example, he could "store" a big heap of scrap iron and transform it into solid ingots for further processing. More or less like Copy skills.
It was funny how Researcher gave Kurobe the kind of skills that he, and only he, would find useful. He had also obtained Control Flame and Resist Temperature, and while I'd peg him as B rank in battle, those skills would make him a pretty tough fight for most people, wouldn't it? Although it seemed the man himself wanted to devote his life to forging katanas.
Now at least I know that the asauchi that they will make with progress at a much faster pace. as rimuru supplied them with an ample amount of magisteel for the job.
"I'm gonna make the best sword you ever did see!" he promised, striking a fist against his chest to prove the point. I was looking forward to it.
We returned to Garm's place after this small Interlude, Their measurements taken, Benimaru and Soei stepped back outside, dressed in fur outfits that fit their build now.
"Hmm? Where's Shuna and Shion?" asked rimuru.
"Ah. Yes. About that…"
Benimaru was a little reluctant to explain. After prodding him a bit, We learned that the two were apparently unsatisfied with wearing simple fur. Given how fancy Shuna's royal vestments were, I guess I couldn't blame her. She said she'd just fix up her own outfit, finding bare fur to be too itchy for her tastes.
"Princess Shuna, you see," Soei said, "is quite gifted with sewing and such. One of the best among us, in fact."
I could believe it. She and Shion had been dressed in a fabric I could only describe as silk, assuming that existed here. It was made by weaving together string spun for cocoons by nearby creatures known as hellmoths, then infusing the thread with a large quantity of magic for extra protection.
They were also wearing clothes made out of what looked like hemp fabric—not far removed from the bare rags the goblins wore, though much better cared for. We weren't talking about the same base plants, of course, but it was basically identical. The ogres grew a large amount of a cotton-like crop, something I supposed Shuna would be able to process, and the resulting fabric was sturdy enough.
It'd be useful for everyday clothing, but that silk is quite handy! We definitely needed more silken battle gear, what with the defense it offered. It'd be perfect for a base layer underneath the armor Garm made for us. We decided to bring it up once I enter to take my measurements.
"I see," Garm said. "Clothing from woven fabric…"
"Yeah, I was wondering if we could make something out of silk, actually."
"Silk?!"
I was shocked by how much of a surprise this was to Garm. Though maybe I shouldn't have been, given how expensive that stuff looked in the Dwarven Kingdom when we were there. Hemp and cotton clothes were all over the place, but silk was a rarity. They didn't even know how to make it, and the core materials were beyond precious.
"Perhaps I could help with that," Soei interjected.
Hellmoths were B-ranked monsters, capable of charming people with the powder they released from their bodies, but as larvae, they were defenseless. They simply searched for cocoons containing juvenile insects and harvested those.
It was decided to leave the harvesting to our troop of goblin knights, with Soei leading them to whatever secret spots he knew for that. Sooner or later, We would want to capture some larvae and try raising them in a building on-site. Not that I knew much about how that worked, but if they could raise silkworms in captivity back on Earth, it had to be possible. Probably a bit of trial and error, though.