Being a King.

A bright flash of light occurred, and after the glimmer of light, I found myself back where I last was.

"Boss? Is there a problem?"

Dagger was where I last saw him, looking at me with surprise.

"Problem? No, there's no problem. I won the battle and came back."

"Boss won the battle? Didn't you just leave?"

Just left? I looked around, and everything was as it used to be, as if time had never passed. Wait a minute, time really hasn't passed. Everything is in the same place, and there's no change. Does this mean that time stops here while we're on a mission? Or perhaps the concept of time in the place we go to is different from here; I'm not sure. Anyway, it's better this way; this means I can always be at the village.

"Yes, I won the battle. I'll be in my tent for a while; make sure no one disturbs me."

"Boss is strong! Boss won!"

After finishing my conversation with Dagger, I headed towards my tent. I went inside and closed the tent door.

"Well, I hope this works."

[Portal]

I opened the portal, but no one came out from inside. A deep silence had settled in. Was Lilith dead? Maybe she was drifting in an infinite void.

"Lilith? Are you there? Can you hear me?"

Just as I was about to lose hope, I noticed someone coming out of the portal, and it was Lilith.

"Lilith? You're alive, hahaha!"

Caught up in the excitement of the moment, I hugged Lilith. However, a few seconds later, I realized that she was standing still, and I remembered that she was still naked.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Here, wear this. I'll find something for you to wear."

I took off the clothes I had on to give them to Lilith, but when I removed them, I saw that Lilith was crying. Was she feeling bad because I hugged her while she was naked? I'm really not a harasser!

"Hey, I'm sorry; I got excited when I saw you, so I-"

Lilith ran towards me, jumped on me, and hugged me. We both fell to the ground. Lilith was on top of me, crying while still holding onto me.

Lilith: "Thank you for saving me from that damn place. From now on, I'll dedicate my life to you."

I thought she felt sad and angry, but she was actually happy that I saved her.

"Your new home is here now; you can live freely. I remember what I said about serving me, but if you want, you can go your own way."

Lilith: "No, I'll stay here with you, my love."

"Then you can stay here as long as you want."

Did she just call me "my love"? I think I must have misheard; I shouldn't be thinking straight when such a beautiful woman is lying on top of me naked. I better get out of this situation quickly, or the monster in my pants will wake up.

"Alright, put these on, and in the meantime, I'll try to find you some clothes."

I went to the healing goblin, who used to be the former village chief, to ask if he could prepare clothes for our new female member because he was the one responsible for making clothes for the goblin tribe. After a short wait, he managed to make a leather skirt and a piece of leather to cover Lilith's chest using the rabbit hides we had obtained. It turned out to be a pure white and cute outfit. Seeing Lilith in these clothes reminded me of how fierce she looked during our fight. I took the clothes and returned to my tent.

"Try these on; for now, these are the best we have. But I'll make sure to get something better for you later."

Lilith happily took the clothes and started changing.

"Wait outside while I change!"

Lilith looked at me with a surprised expression.

"Huh? Why?"

I probably made a mistake by assuming she would think the same way as a human because she looked like one. She was from a different race, so undressing in front of a man might not be a problem for her.

"Anyway, put these on, and get some rest. I plan to sleep until evening; we've both been through a lot."

While Lilith was changing, I prepared a bed for her in the other corner of the tent and then went to my own bed to sleep. After a while, I felt a hug from behind.

"Lilith?"

Lilith had already fallen asleep, hugging me.

"Well, forget it."

I fell asleep, or I wish I could say I did. How could I sleep when her breasts and entire body were pressed against me? My heart was beating so fast that my fatigue seemed to have disappeared. Still, I knew I had to force myself to sleep; otherwise, I wouldn't be able to function properly later. I struggled, but I wasn't sure how long I slept. Time had passed quickly, and it was evening. When I woke up, Lilith was still asleep, so I went to find Dagger.

"Dagger, prepare something from the rabbits we caught. Today, I'll introduce you to someone new."

After my words, Dagger quickly started preparing the meal, and everyone gathered around the fire in the village center. Once everyone was there, I woke Lilith up to introduce her.

"Wake up, Lilith. I'm going to introduce you to the people you'll be living with from now on."

Lilith nodded in a sleepy and approving manner.

I led Lilith out of the tent and introduced her to everyone. Later, we all had dinner and stood up to discuss future plans.

"As you know, our village is developing, and we have a diverse population with various races. Goblins, lizardmen, wyverns, and now Lilith. Each of you has unique abilities. Lizardmen are stronger and more powerful in heavy tasks but terrible at handcrafts. Goblins, on the other hand, are skilled learners, so they handle tasks like farming, craftsmanship, and construction. I'm not even mentioning how much our military strength will increase with Lilith and the growing wyverns. But we are still far from a modern life, and we cannot obtain everything we need from this forest."

Everyone was listening carefully, and this decision might sadden them, but I had to do it for a better life.

"That's why I've decided that what we need is new resources and new allies. I'm planning to explore and find new settlers and different abilities for our village, and the main goal is to trade. I've decided that trading is the key to reaching a level where we can truly call ourselves a kingdom. The greatest measures of a country's power are often measured by its wealth, and we have none. Right now, it's unlikely for us to encounter humans since we live in a forest, but humans are invasive beings. One day, they will explore this place, and when that time comes, we must be strong enough."

A deep silence filled the air. I wondered if I was making them sad by telling them that I would leave for a long journey and didn't know when I'd be back.

"But don't worry; I'll come back occasionally to check on you. You can consider me as your king, and I'll make sure to visit from time to time using my portal ability."

The atmosphere lightened a bit, and then unexpectedly, cheers and chants erupted among the villagers.

"Long live the chief!"

"The chief is working for us!"

"Did you hear what the chief said? He mentioned a kingdom!"

"So, should we call him king now?"

"LONG LIVE THE KING!"

The excitement and cheers continued, and I realized they had misunderstood the situation. They were thinking that Lilith and I were a couple. She stuck with me because she was grateful, and her culture might be a bit different; most likely, everyone had misunderstood the situation.

Anyway, I decided to let them call her "queen" for now. I would explain the situation to them later. I went to Lilith, who was still hugging onto me.

"Lilith, it seems they want to call you queen."

Lilith nodded, seemingly unfazed. The villagers were still celebrating.

"Alright, let them be happy. By the way, Hançer, I know it's late, but can you spend the night exploring other monster camps in the forest? Take Alpha team with you and gather information about the locations of all monster camps. It's nighttime, so not many monsters should be awake, making it easier for you to move."

"As you command, my king!"

Having such a reliable subordinate made me feel fortunate. Moreover, everyone had quickly gotten used to the idea of me being a king.

["King of the Monsters" Title acquired. Your fame is spreading among monsters.]

Monster king? Is it a good thing that my fame is spreading? Perhaps, as it might attract more monsters to our village. Before leaving, I needed to find out if there were more monsters in this forest. If I could gather them here, we would become larger and stronger.

"By the way, Hançer, I know it's late, but while you're out there, could you also check if there are more monsters in the forest? If you can bring them here, it would be great."

"Understood, my king. I will do my best."

After finishing my conversation with Hançer, I called Lilith into the tent. I was going to ask her to accompany me to explore other monster camps. Additionally, there was something else I was curious about.

"Lilith, what happened inside the portal?"

"Actually, not much happened. As soon as I stepped into the portal, I found myself here, so I was quite surprised."

So, she didn't wait inside at all? Does that mean time stops inside the portal? I didn't think she had such a powerful ability to control time and space. Could I use this ability for offensive purposes? I guess I would have to test it.

"Anyway, I was going to ask if you would come with me to explore the other monster villages."

"Are we going to kill them?"

"No, why does everyone ask that?"

"Because no one wants to build a civilization with monsters. Even monsters fight among themselves a lot. Well, except for you; you're the first one I've seen like you."

"We'll try to negotiate with them and invite them to join our village."

Lilith nodded approvingly. The night was still young, and I had already slept a lot. I decided to read the books I had brought to gain more knowledge and skills. Currently, I had only one skill that used mana, so I saved the magic book for last. Tonight, I would read [Beginner Blacksmithing Book], [Beginner Alchemy Book], [Poisonous Plants Book], and [Medicinal Plants Book]. These books were quite thick, so I put the sword mastery book aside.

The sun was starting to rise, and I had finished reading the books. Upon completing the plant-related books, I gained a skill called [Botanist]. This skill allowed me to see the properties of all plants and what I could do with them. Like most of my skills, it didn't require mana. I had expected to gain blacksmithing and alchemy-related skills as well when I finished the corresponding books, but it didn't happen. Most likely, the reason was that I lacked experience in those fields. I had gained most of my skills when I met two conditions: having knowledge about the subject and practicing it. I should be able to acquire new skills related to blacksmithing and alchemy once I gained more experience. However, for that, I needed to visit a city because I couldn't perform such activities in this forest.

Hançer entered the room.

"We've discovered three goblin villages and two lizardmen nests nearby."

"Alright, get ready, Lilith. We're going."