Chapter 18

"...What is this?"

And here we were, back to the goblin village after two weeks. Well, you couldn't call it a village just yet, it was still just a few goblins surrounded by a flimsy fence.

There were at least a couple of make shift tens scattered about the area, but there was one thing that really stood out amongst the rest.

"Why, it's a statue of you Rimuru-sama."

Yep, they made a statue of me. Using some dried leaves, branches, and some stones. The goblins had made a taller and skinnier statue of me in the middle of the village.

And this is why I forgot to bring souvenirs

I didn't have any knowledge that they'll make a statue of me but if I did then I definitely wouldn't have gotten them any gifts. Kaijin and the others would just suit them up whenever they have the chance.

They're already drying pelt anyway.

"Right, where's Rigurd?" I asked Peanut butter and he immediately pointed to the behemoth of a goblin running towards me.

"Welcome back!" he said before I could ask. "I hate to bother you so soon after returning, Sir Rimuru, but we have visitors…"

Visitors? I don't remember having any friends though...

I decided to let the dwarves show themselves around. They'd be living here for a while, and I was sure they were curious to see what it was like. I also stowed the tools I'd brought along in an empty tent, figuring the covering would at least offer some protection against the elements.

Leaving the new residents to Rigurd, I had Peanut butter guide me towards the supposed to be visitors. They were staying in a really large tent, one that I'd assume to be like a makeshift city hall or something.

"Ah, goblins."

The small, weak kinds. Not mine

Before I could ask what was up though, the goblins prostrated themselves on the floor.

"""It is an honor to meet you, O great master!""" they all shouted in unison. """Please, listen to our most earnest of hopes!"""

First of all, I'd have wanted to be call something like Senpai or something really cool but eh, beggars can't be choosers

"Sure, go on ahead."

I shrugged and sat on a chair that I had stolen from Kaijin's workshop, and yes he doesn't know nor does he need to know.

"Oh, thank you for your generosity!" one of the elders shouted. "All of us here wish to join your throngs of followers, sir!"

"""Please, grant us your magnanimous kindness!!""" the others said as they remained on the floor, eyes turned to me, before bowing low.

So that's what this is, honestly I should just burn them to a crisp after they left Rigurd alone but I do need manpower.

I doubt they'll betray us though, but if they do then I'll personally slaughter each and every one of them. One by one, no one gets left behind, even the innocent ones.

...Damn now I need to think of more names, well I guess I can just call them Peepee or Popo.

And to sum up their story, it goes like this.

Ever since the direwolves attacked and they left Rigurd behind, the goblins had tried to actually make new homes deeper into the forest but unfortunately for them that was a pipe dream.

All of the intelligent creatures of the forest— mainly the orcs, the lizardmen, and the ogres– were starting to set up their claims on the forest. With Veldora gone, they were now all frantically going at each other's throats to abuse the opportunity to get more land.

And that's why the ogre race was wiped, I just hope Benimaru and the others will get here safely.

Monsters were always beasts of simplicity, so now they were gonna go against one another in a rough display of power. In other terms, a turf war was about to go down.

"Sure, anyone who wants to join us then come here. Otherwise just live peacefully until your end." I waved them off and went back to Kaijin and the others.

I already knew they were gonna bring a lot of goblins back but who knew there was a ridiculous amount of goblins in the first place?

"...Yeah this is a problem."

I deadpanned with a sigh while looking over the basically lake of goblins in front of me.

Over the past few days, we'd been stuck building axes, using them to chop down trees for wood, and so on. We hadn't even started on houses yet. There was just too much to work on.

Kaijin was handling wood duties, while the three dwarven brothers worked on processing the animal pelts into hobgoblin clothing. The looks they had been giving the females were less than savory. I figured it was best to set them on that job before anything else.

We were in the midst of this when the goblins showed up. Four tribes, about five hundred of 'em in total. The rest were still in the villages with the elders who opted to stay put.

...There's more.

Welp, time to move!

I took Rigurd away for the time being to ask what would the situation be if we were to move in front of the cave where Veldora was sealed.

At first they were shocked to realized that I had lived there for a while but ultimately agreed to move the rapidly growing village there. It was then when I asked the Great sage for help on building some houses that came from my previous world, as well as maybe a septic system since.

"Don't forget my hot bath okay?"

I reminded Mildo who simply shrugged at my strange fixation for hot baths but nevertheless he agreed to not leave it out.

And because I was lazy, I once again decided to throw the responsibility to Mildo, because I had no choice.

I am very sorry, please be successful.

After having Rigurd assign a few people to Mildo's detail, I sent them all off to survey our potential new home. Ranga joined them, just in case.

And with that, the relocation was underway.

But with this, a new issue emerged.

"Great sage, how can I save Shizu Izawa."