The aftermath was pretty much the same as I remember. After all the orcs came back to their senses, we had a gathering between us, the orcs, and the lizardman. It wasn't much different from what I remember. The only main difference was that the orcs weren't feeling as guilty as they usually should have been. They still carried their guilt, but just cause they didn't kill any ogres, didn't excuse the other lives they took and homes destroyed.
The same thing happened with Rimuru giving a "pardon" to the orcs. He took on all the orc's sins and wanted to take them in. I was all for this since it meant that with the orc's help and labor, I could have a cool building I wanted made for me. Since I was planning to be a religious figure, I had in mind a super cool religious building I knew of. It's not a shrine, but something more European. Something…gothic.
The lizardman chief said how it was unfair for them since they suffered the most losses. Made sense but unfortunately for him, he had to talk to Rimuru, and if not, then me. And since monsters here respect strength, he didn't have much of a choice. It was kind of mean, but hey, that's just how things work around here.
The main problem was how to feed and take in all the orcs, which were around 120,000. A lower count than usual, which kind of surprised me a little. I wasn't expecting it to be 150,000, but at the same time, I wasn't expecting it to be this low. I mean, Ranga wasn't even fighting with us.
Oh…I just realized what might have caused this. My skill that boosts everyone's strength. Yikes, should have thought of that before using it considering that there were ogres, goblin riders, and Kijin.
My bad?
It shouldn't be too much of a problem. Yeah, a lot more died, but at least the food problem won't be so severe. Man, when I put it like that it sounds kinda messed up.
Anyway, Rimuru proposed banding together as one so we could help the orcs. Everyone was fine with it since, once again, me and Rimuru were kinda strong. That and Treyni was vouching and supporting us on behalf of the dryads and we had some Kijijn on our side. It was clear who had the lead on this.
So, the lizardman would share some of their food as well as the dryads, and we would give them back processed goods and the orcs would pay with their labor. Pretty simple stuff, nothing complicated.
Now the part to make it official. Since Treyni was technically the "boss" of the forest, she was the one who had the authority to make someone the new leader. She looked at both me and Rimuru, and I could already see where this was going.
To keep it short, she made us both the rulers of the forest. Co-leaders and stuff. If we wanted to say something, it was too late since almost immediately, everyone in the room was kneeling before us.
I myself didn't mind it since this was only the beginning for stuff like this, but Rimuru on the other hand was a little freaked out. He better get used to it fast, cause this whole battle was only his first major move that will and has already gotten the attention of some people.
So now that that was taken care of, it was time to head home and set the foundation of our future country, and that starts with Rimuru naming all the orcs and the other ogres, but first, we were going to head home.
/\\//\\//\
After our little trip, we finally made it home. And before I could do anything, I was immediately swarmed by Shuna, who was giving me a hug. I hugged her back, ignoring everyone that was around us.
"Shuna, what's this for?"
"I'm just happy you're back."
"We were only gone for a night, Shuna. You know nothing would've happened to me, but thank you for worrying about me. It feels nice coming home to a hug."
Even through my armor, I could feel her face get hot. I felt A LOT of intense stares at us, but I didn't care anymore. If it wasn't obvious before, then it's very obvious now.
I separated from our hug and noticed everyone was still looking at us. I cleared my throat and addressed everyone. "How 'bout y'all take a picture, it'll last longer."
Everyone around got back to what they were doing and finally welcomed us back properly. It was short-lived since almost immediately Rimuru started naming all the orcs and the rest of the ogres.
That whole process took him around 8 days. The whole time I was running our small town. Of course, not all the orcs stayed in our village, we had to spread them out to live in certain areas of the forest, but the ones that did stay here, I immediately put them to work on our small village with Geld taking charge of construction and Kaijin and his brothers in charge of planning our expansion. No need to change things.
Every new orc that Rimuru named and settled in our small town would get sent straight to work. It sounds kind of mean, but it's not like they were being mistreated. I made sure of that. I made sure they would have their rights and basic freedoms. They might see this as punishment, but I don't. People like the orcs and dwarfs who help in labor and construction are one of the most important pillars for any country that wants to prosper.
It was a slow start at first, but as the days went by and Rimuru kept naming them and they joined in in construction, the difference was like night and day. Kaijin and his brothers made a plan for the expansion of our small town and the orcs were following it while making some changes if needed. It wasn't much at first, but I could clearly see the prep for it. Surrounding trees were cut down for wood, they marked the ground for future planning and things of that nature.
That was pretty much it. There was more to it, but I don't need to concern myself with the small details. That's Geld's and the orc's jobs as well as Kaijin's and his brothers. I'm just going to let them do their thing. I'm not going to micromanage them, that would just get in their way. However, I did make sure to leave some plots of land empty for some things I wanted built. Like a religious building and something for a business, I wanted to own.
Those 8 days passed by and progress was going smoothly. Turns out that when you have people who are competent and know what they are doing and don't get in their way with some stupid red tape, nonsense micromanagement, stupid requirements, and a whole bunch of BS, things turn out really well. Things like this make me think that leading isn't too hard, but I'm not going to get ahead of myself.
One thing I also made sure of was to get the help of Treyni and the dryads on our farms. The farms were one thing I really wanted to improve for special reasons that may or may not have to do with something I left a plot of land open for a future business endeavor. They were more than happy to help me. I don't know if it's because I'm a divine spirit or one of the new leaders of the forest or because it would help feed a lot of people. I don't really care what reason they had as long as they help.
To keep it simple, they used magic to improve our farms. Things like making crops grow faster, staying fresh for longer, making the ground more fertile, and things of that nature. This would also apply to future crops we would plant. Nothing too complex. It was a simple job for them and I appreciated it and made sure to thank them. They told me that if I ever needed their help again I was free to ask them.
/\\//\\//\
Right now I was just waiting for Rimuru to get back from his little break. It's a good thing I was here to make sure everything got a kickstart for the advancement of our town. It should be any moment now.
And like he was waiting for me to say that, he got up like new again. "Finally, I'm done and can go back!"
"Not so fast, Rimuru.". I quickly burst his bubble and I could see him literally deflate at my voice.
"Artoria, please. No more naming.". He told me almost begging.
"Well, the good news is that there is no more naming-" Rimuru jumped up and down at what I said. "-the bad news is that your job is not done yet.". Only to deflate back down again as I finished. "Don't worry too much though, this should only take an hour max.".
Rimuru let out a sigh as he responded back to me. "What are we going to do?"
"Not 'we', but you. I'll just watch to make sure that you actually do it." I picked him up in his slime form with one hand as we headed into the forest. I didn't need to worry about the village right now. They were doing their own thing and if they need to report something, there are others they can ask before it gets to me or Rimuru if necessary.
As we made our way into the forest, I made sure to tell Rimuru about what I did for the village. Needless to say, he was shocked but also thankful. Of course, he had his own ideas, but I told him we could talk about it later after we were done here in the forest.
Once we got to a more dense part of the forest filled with vegetation, I threw him on the ground and he turned to look at me. "So what am I going to do?"
"Here's the plan, Rimuru, to make this as fast as possible. First, you're going to make many clones of you. Second, you're going to absorb as many different and unique plant species as you can find. You just need to eat one of each, no need to destroy the ecosystem. Third, you're going to break them down and use the different plants to make new plants. More specifically, crops and stuff like that for our farm." I told him.
"Oh, okay. I'll get to it." Rimuru, then made many of himself and got to absorbing the plants.
"Rimuru, remember the list of plants I told you I wanted?"
The main Rimuru looked at me and was in thought for a while. "Wheat, barley, rye, rice, agave, corn, and some other grains and stuff."
"Yeah, close enough. Try to get those, but don't neglect other things too like fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices and things like that."
"Uh, ok." Rimuru and his clones then got to work.
It didn't take long thanks to the clones of Rimuru and eventually came up to me and was done. He spit out multiple seeds at me and I caught them all.
"I assume these seeds are different crops and stuff?"
"Yeah, Great Sage did all the work, analyzing the plants and a bunch of stuff that I don't know. These crops will be way better than usual though, Great Sage told me that those seeds improve on all aspects of a plant and crop. They'll have a higher yield than normal and grow a little faster and more stuff. This will make for a big combo with those farms the dryads improved."
"Speaking of that, Rimuru. With this much, we'll need bigger farms and the dryads to improve those new farms. Looks like our farmers will be working hard. Anyway, let's go back. We'll have a lot to do in the coming days."
Me and Rimuru went back to the village, where we would plan more things.