As the sun rises, I gathered every Orc and Direwolf to discuss a matter.As they assembled before me, I pondered,
"What now? Who will take care of all these Orcs and Direwolves? Hmm, it seems their numbers are roughly equal. Then... Attention, please! We are going to pair you up and have you live together!"
The group responded, "Pair?"
"Yes, it means two individuals working together as one. Alright! Yesterday's enemies are today's friends! From now on, you will support each other and foster harmony. Understood?"
The collective replied, "Yes, sir!"
"You will assist one another to ensure smooth functioning. Now, let's focus on clothing, food, and shelter! We will form teams for searching for food, building houses, and protecting the village. But first, uh... What are all your names?"
The Orc leader replied, "Monsters do not typically have names. However, we can still express our will to one another without them."
I responded, "Really? Well, it would be better if you had names. May I name all of you?"
Everyone was shocked about my suggestion.
"Names? Would you really?"
"Yes, of course."
This brought about shouts of happiness from the group.
"What? Why are they so excited about getting names?"
Shreder replied, "Master, having a name is special for us monsters."
"Is that so?"
I then instructed everyone to line up to receive a name.
"Alright, the leader first. Let's see... What was the name of your late son, the warrior?"
The leader of the village replied,
"It was Keishu."
I replied,
"Retsu, huh? Then you'll be Retsu. Retsu!"
The leader of the village replied with falling tears,
"My deepest thanks, Retsu! I am overjoyed!"
I said to myself,
"I just picked it because it sounded good."
I then named his son and said,
"You'll inherit your brother's name, Keishu!"
He replied,
"Yes, sir!"
The leader of the village said,
"I am so moved that my son's name has been inherited!"
The father and son then kneeled to me, saying,
"Thank you very much!"
As I saw them kneel, I said to myself,
"What's with these reactions?"
I then named all the Orcs and Direwolves lining up in front of me.
"You'll be Orcki."
"Yes, sir! Thank you very much!"
"You're Orta."
"Orda."
"Ordo."
"Orji."
"You'll be Orga."
....
As I finished naming some of the Orcs, they started shouting and jumping with happiness, but I thought to myself,
"I'm just getting lazier and lazier at naming them... Man, you're all happy, but I still feel sorry."
Then Retsu and Keishu came to me and said,
"Excuse me, Great Ken. We are thrilled to be getting named, but... We know you possess incredible magical power, but are you certain to name us all at once?"
I replied to Retsu,
"Huh? Oh yes, it's no problem."
Retsu replied to me,
"If that's the case, then it's fine."
I didn't quite understand what Retsu meant, so I continued naming the others, asking,
"Who's next?"
"Mmm, you'll be Haruna."
"Thank you!"
As I continued naming them, I finally finished naming all the Orcs. I saw their smiles filled with joy, and now it was the Direwolves' turn.
"All the Orcs have been named. Next up... Oh, that's the son of the Direwolves' boss, isn't it? I wonder if he resents me for what I did... or rather... I don't seem to be resented all that much."
I noticed all the Direwolves' tails were wagging, so I assumed they didn't resent me.
"Mmm... Wolf. Fang. Wind. Thunder... Oh, that's it! I'll give him my newly created family name. Miruzu. Miruzu Fang. Miruzu Wind. Miruzu Thunder. Arashi. Oh, Arashi! That's a good name! Alright, you'll be Arashi."
He replied, wagging his tail,
"Hmm... Arashi."
As I saw his wagging tail, I thought he seemed happy.
"That's goo-
Uhhh... what's this? My body..."
"Great Ken!"
"My vision is getting dark..."
Everyone shouted,
"Great Ken!"
Shreder saw me collapse on the ground and then appeared in front of me, saying,
"Master! Snap out of it!"
The mysterious voice said to me,
"Warning: Mana levels have fallen below the minimum limit. Entering sleep mode. Estimated time until full recovery: Two days."
"Huh? I've used too much mana? How?"
I couldn't move, talk, or sense my surroundings, but I was conscious.
"I kinda like it though, sleeping for two days... it's like a vacation back in my past life."
In the village, it's now evening, and they have placed me in the most beautiful house they made for me. The other Orcs are guarding my body until I wake up. Retsu said,
"Oh, this happened because he named so many of us at once."
Shreder walked to Retsu and said,
"Please guard my master because I'm going to leave tomorrow, but I'll be back when I finish it."
Retsu replied,
"Sir Shreder, where are you going tomorrow?"
Shreder replied,
"It's a secret."
.....
I finally noticed that naming monsters uses up a huge amount of mana.
"That must be the reason why Retsu was worried. Do all monsters know about this? Someone has to tell me these things!"
After two days...
"I'm fully recovered!"
The lady Orc that I hadn't met before stood in front of me and said,
"My great Ken! Good morning!"
I replied,
"Th-thanks."
Haruna replied,
"You seem to be in good health."
I said to myself,
"Huh? Who's this?"
As Haruna walked outside, she said,
"I'll go call Leader Retsu!"
I replied,
"Oh, okay."
"Was there a girl like that in this village?"
Retsu shouted,
"Great Ken! Have you truly awakened?!"
I replied,
"Oh, Retsu! Who was that girl just now... uhhh... Who are you?!"
Retsu replied with a proud smile,
"I'm Retsu."
I asked him,
"Just what happened in these two days?"
Retsu replied,
"It's because you named us!"
I replied,
"Just from that?!"
Retsu replied,
"This is what it means to become a named monster! Your status as a monster increases, and you evolve!"
I replied,
"I... I see... so it's different from mine. So that's why you were all so glad to be given names and why I used so much mana."
As Arashi heard that I had awakened, he rushed towards the house where I was and destroyed the wall with a cloud of dirt.
"Master, allow me to express my heartfelt joy for your recovery!"
I said,
"That horn, those long fangs... You're Arashi, right?"
Arashi replied,
"Yes!"
He wiggled his tail wildly, creating strong winds that caused a tornado and destroyed the house. All of them gathered and started throwing me in the air.
"That's Retsu... And Keishu... Orcki... You didn't change much, huh. Mmm, still, they look less like they evolved and more like entirely different monsters."
The mysterious voice suddenly spoke,
"Male Orcs have evolved into Fighter Orcs. Female Orcs have evolved into Orcans."
Retsu then told me that Shreder left the village because he had something to do. I thanked Retsu for reporting it to me and assured him that Shreder would be back soon. I talked with Arashi, saying,
"Arashi, I only named you, so how is it that all of the Direwolves have evolved?"
Arashi replied,
"Master, all Direwolves are one unit. We're all connected, and thus my name has become our clan name."
I replied,
"Mmm, so it was taken as a group name, and you've all evolved."
Arashi replied,
"We are no longer Direwolves. We are Miruzu Wolves!"
I replied,
"Miruzu Wolves? Well, good for you!"