Say what you will about Gabiru, but I have to give him some credit. His entrance is certainly eye-catching. Reminds me of wrestling.
"Hey Rigurd, is this the first time he's doing this?"
"No Lady Pendragon, This is the second time he is doing this."
He must be doing this again now that he's meeting the leaders of this village.
There was a lineup of lizardmen making a straight path toward us. There were other lizardmen playing some trumpets announcing Gabiru's entrance. He came in on his mount and did multiple flips before landing perfectly in front of us, like a gymnast. The line of lizardmen next to him used mirrors to make him literally shine and glow.
It was a weird contrast, on our side we were just looking at their…performance. Yeah, it was more like a performance instead of some proposal for an alliance. He was just doing random poses and I had to give it to the other lizardman, they were probably the best hypemen one could have.
'I guess there won't be much for Rimuru to learn here. As soon as he starts waffling on about how great he is and starts demeaning Rimuru for being a slime, everyone here is going to try to stand up for him and then he'll have to keep everyone in check so they don't kill him or something.'
Eventually, Gabiru finished after who knows how long and he finally introduced himself. "Greetings. My name is Gabiru! I've been sent by my father to recruit surrounding villages to combat the orc menace in the forest. I've heard from other goblins that some of you have managed to bring dire wolves to your side. Those of you who have the dire wolves under your control will be granted higher-ranking positions. You all should consider my deal since I am much stronger than any of you!"
And there it is. It would have been salvageable if he didn't say that last line. Oh look, everyone here is ready to demolish him at a moment's notice. Just one order from me or Rimuru and they'll be more than happy to give him the smackdown.
Gabiru stood there in his dramatic pose looking at each of us waiting for a response. Rigurd, who was the only one with a mind not clouded in anger, spoke to Gabiru. "This request is very sudden. We need some time to consider something like this with our leaders."
Gabiru took a look at us again looking for the leaders Rigurd was talking about and he might be having bit of trouble from his point of view.
He's looking at a Benimaru, a Kijijn in some fur clothes, Hakurou, another Kijin in some plain white clothes, Shion, yet another Kijin who is holding a slime and then there's me, someone who stands out the most from everyone else present cause of my outfit courtesy of Shuna and Rimuru.
"You in the black and silver outfit. Are you supposed to be their leader?" He was addressing me and he got it right even if it wasn't that hard to guess.
"Yep." A short and simple response. No need to be fancy.
"Good. Since you are the leader then you can be my right-hand man. You should feel grateful for this privilege."
Almost immediately, the Kijijn grabbed their weapons ready to attack. Rimuru was going crazy trying to de-escalate the situation. They were barely being held back by Rimuru's orders, but this wasn't about him at the moment, it was about me. It was nice seeing them stand up for me, even though I wasn't the one that named them.
I wonder how Shuna would act if she was here. She may not be physically strong, but her strength lies in her magic. I don't know how she would be when she's mad, but I don't want to find out. It's usually the nice, optimistic, and always positive people you don't want to see mad or upset.
She'd probably unleash a barrage of disintegrations on him one way or another. Somehow.
Let's not think about that.
Rimuru was able to calm them down a little. Just a little, which is good considering that they were ready to kill at a moment's notice.
I would try to help out Gabiru, but he's dug a hole too deep and too fast for himself at this point. Honestly, it's quite impressive.
Since it's come to this point, there's not much reason to continue. It will just lead to him being more disrespectful, which will cause the people here to be more agitated and the last thing I want is for one of the lizardmen to die.
It seems I was a bit too optimistic about Rimuru being able to learn something here, but it was worth a shot.
"So Gabiru, I'm sure you've noticed, but my friends here don't really appreciate what you said, and while I may not show it that doesn't mean I don't feel the same." I walked up to him and stopped a few feet away from him. He got a little weary and prepared himself for battle.
"It's how the weak act. They feel like that because they know that what I'm saying is the truth."
He must be on an any% speedrun to get himself killed or something talking like that.
Despite Rimuru trying his best to calm our Kijin pals down, they rushed to Gabiru ready to strike him down. They could not tolerate the disrespect that he showed not only them but the whole village as a whole with his words.
I had to do something here. I let out a "little bit" of my aura and Benimaru and Shion stopped in their tracks immediately. "Stand down. I'll take care of this. It will be fast." They quickly apologized to me and went back.
I looked at Gabiru and I had to give a little bit of my respect to him. He stood there strong, without showing a bit of fear despite being close to me when I unleashed a bit of my aura.
"It will be like this Gabiru. You and me, one on one. If you win, we'll join you. If I win, you'll leave this village immediately and not come back. Very simple terms. Even you should be able to understand it." He looked a little ticked off which is exactly what I want.
"Those terms are acceptable. A fight between the strongest is a classic way to settle disputes. I hope you're ready to fight me." He grabbed his spear and entered a combat stance. "I am Gabiru! We lizardmen are descended from the great dragons, so you better be ready."
I raised an eyebrow at that. "You said you're descended from the great dragons right?"
"Yes. Do I need to repeat myself?"
"So. If you were to meet one of these dragons, how would you act toward them? Surely with respect right? Since you seem to take pride in being decended from dragons. Would you be able to know when a dragon is standing in front of you?"
"It would be an honor to meet one of them and it would be easy to know when a dragon is in front of me. Their strength would be noticeable and though the aura you let out earlier was impressive, it certainly doesn't fit a dragon. Their aura would be much more intimidating and imposing."
'So he thinks that the aura I showed was my max. I guess I should let him feel my aura, specifically the dragon part. That should help in the process of humbling him and making him a better person.'
"Well Gabiru, make sure to remember your words." I walked up to him and we both got ready to fight. "Rimuru, count us down."
"Artoria, shouldn't you switch to your armor or use your weapon?" RImuru asked me with a bit of concern.
"I appreciate the sentiment Rimuru, but that won't be necessary. I'll make this quick."
"Alright, Get ready and good luck"
'You should say that to him, Rimuru.'
/\\//\\//\
Artoria and Gabiru looked at each other ready to make the first move when the countdown was over.
"3…"
They tensed their bodies ready to move.
"2…"
The tension was building with each moment. Both sides were ready to see their leader become the winner. Gabiru's side was cheering loudly, constantly chanting Gabiur's name.
Artoria's side was more silent. They didn't have to say anything. They all knew that this fight would be trivial for her.
"1…"
Their eyes were studying the little movements they were making. The only question was whether their body could keep up with their thoughts.
"Fight!"
Instantly, Artoria ran up to Gabiru leaving only a blur and a streak of black. The ground beneath her cracked a little and kicked up a cloud of dust.
Gabiru could barely see what happened, much less react to it. Artoria got the first hit with a punch to Gabiru's gut. Gabiru leaned forward from the impact while also dropping his spear. Artoria followed up by hitting him on the chin with her knee, which caused him to be launched into the air.
Artoria unleashed a bit of her dragon aura but focused it so only Gabiru could feel it.
'What! That's a dra-' Gabiru's thoughts were cut short as Artoria kicked him while he fell back down. Gabiru's body was launched back to the other lizardmen. His body lay there, knocked out cold.
The lizardmen were instantly silenced as they saw Gabiru not moving.
It was a fast "fight" that only only lasted a few seconds.
"And that's how it's done. I have won this little fight, so if y'all would be so kind as to leave this village, I would appreciate it."
The lizardmen pick up Gabiru before leaving but not without saying words about how it was only a fluke and Gabiru was still better. You gotta respect the loyalty and support.
/\\//\\//\
Nothing like a good old three-piece combo. I made my way back to Rimuru and the others and they were giving me some kind of looks. Especially Shion. I think she wants to fight me or something.
"So Rimuru what did you think?"
"How did your hat not fall off?"
I looked at him with a deadpan look. "That's your main takeaway from that fight?"
"You went super fast, but somehow the wind didn't blow off your hat so it makes me kind of curious."
"Hat rules. That's why."
"What does that mean?"
"It means what it means. Anyway, we're going to have a meeting tonight to discuss the orc threat. It's still daytime so use this time to prepare and get yourself together."
/\\//\\//\
I was on my way to eat a small meal. Rimuru had invited me and I took him up on his offer. It's been a while since I had something to eat and while I don't need to it's good to enjoy a nice meal once in a while.
But I had a feeling I was forgetting something. There was a little feeling I was getting telling me to turn the other way.
'It's probably not much. I must be overthinking. What could harm me here in the village?'
I opened the door and saw Rimuru sitting down along with Benimaru and Hakurou. This was feeling a little familiar to me. "Hey Rimuru, I'm here. So what's on the menu for today."
"Hey Artoria, I don't know what we're eating since I asked for a surprise and for the best meal possible. Take a seat."
"Uh…Kind of weird, but okay." I took a seat and there was a bit of small talk between and everyone else here, mainly about my fight with Gabiru.
I was just chatting away when all of a sudden I felt this intense feeling. It was like my whole body was urging me to run away. Every part of my instinct and intuition was yelling and begging for me to be anywhere but here.
I got a small glimpse of the future, only a few moments, and finally realized why I was feeling this way. I looked at Rimuru who was none the wiser. "Hey Rimuru, who cooking the food?"
"Huh? It's Shion. She wanted to make me something."
I should have seen this coming when I was getting that feeling of deja vu. "Actually Rimuru, something important just came up that I just remembered right now. I had Kaijin make something for me and it should be ready right about now. I'll eat later."
I didn't give him a chance to say anything. I went into spirit form and got out of there as fast as I could through the walls.
Could Avalon protect me from Shion's cooking? Not risking it.
Shion's cooking? Call that a malevolent kitchen.
I'll go have a nice meal with Shuna instead. Honestly, I should do that from now on whenever I want to have a meal.