A few days have passed since the whole food poisoning incident occurred. I've just been hanging out for the most part considering right now there isn't much I have to do or even can do. Eventually though, something finally comes up.
I'm sitting on the side of a nearby house when a Hobgoblin comes up to me with news. He says, "Lord Migeru, Lord Rimuru is holding a conference and asked me to come, inform and invite you."
"Looks like this is finally going to begin." I say as I stand up, "So, where are they?"
He points me in their direction and I thank him for the information. Walking over to their location I think about what to say in the following conversation. Assuming the general idea stays the same I'm not planing to change much. Part of my plan to get as strong as possible involves the timeline remaining pretty much the same at least until the Walpurgis. Past that it won't really matter.
I arrive at which a Hobgoblin guarding the entrance bows and opens the door. "Welcome, Lord Migeru."
"Eh, thanks?" That's oddly serious considering the rest of the village.
I walk into the open door to see all the most important people in this village all gathered around a table. Kaijin, Benimaru, Shuna, Souei, Rimuru, etc. Next to Rimuru on the leader section of the table is a chair obviously meant for me. Sitting down I wait for the conference to start.
I know that I already know what's gonna happen in this conversation assuming everything goes according to plan but I still want to hear it out. Obviously because my presence might change some things but also because I just want to see it in person.
Rimuru starts off the conference itself by asking Souei who we had sent off on a spy mission to scout the Orcs. He responds saying, "From what I've seen I would say 200,000."
Rimuru yells out, "200,000!" Rimuru's shocked response makes the air a little more uneasy. I guess seeing one of their all powerful leaders react like that was a bit hard to see. Some of the Hobgoblin chiefs turn to me to gauge my reaction. My lack of responce reassures them a little bit.
Benimaru thinks back to when they got attacked by the Orcs, "So that means the ones that attacked our village were only a small division."
Souei nods, responding, "Yes, after investigating that much became clear. Currently their army of 200,000 are heading south towards the marshes."
Rimuru still doesn't have a proper layout of the Forest of Jura in his head so he asks if they have something like a map to get his head around this. They apparently don't know what a map is which is interesting. I would have thought at least the Ogres would know considering their history.
Rimuru explains what a map is to which some get a good understanding of it and attempt to get a basic one down on a block of wood. I gesture at them to stop for a moment as I pull out a sheet of paper from my [Stomach]. "Try putting it on this," I say pointing at the paper, "It'll be easier."
Rimuru, shocked, asks, "You made paper!?"
I cross my arms and smuggly say, "Well, yeah, I use them during research back in my lab. It's not that hard to make once you have the right materials. I will say…I did not like the series of events leading to me acquiring paper though." I think back to when I searched for the perfect type of wood to make paper out of and accidentally fell into a hole and got eaten by a type of monster called a Stone Worm. "Disgusting."
"Eh, what did you say, Migeru?" Rimuru's question snaps me out of my flashback. "Eh, oh, nothing." He then asks, "Lab?" That reminds me that I still haven't taken Rimuru to see it and my house. "Oh, yeah, I still haven't shown you it. Come with me later."
Because we don't really have anything to draw a map with, I decide to absorb and use [Predator] and [Great Sage] to draw the map on paper. Ejecting it I show a perfect recreating of the Jura Forest. Rimuru asks why I know the layout of the whole forest to which I say I saw a map of it during my travels.
The monsters are looking at us partially confused at our conversation. They definitely don't know what most of that meant. Realizing this I say, "Oh, sorry. You probably didn't understand much of that."
Rigurd says, "We apologize for our ignorance."
I gesture him to calm down saying, "No, don't worry." I explain that the paper shows a map of the Jura Forest and that we'll use this to get a general idea of our situation.
I use [Predator] again to make little wooden figurines of everyone and place them where everyone is. This includes the Lizardmen which I place in their marshland home. Souei places a figurine shaped like an Orc where he last saw them and using that we figure out their movement. After that is figured out we move onto the question of how an army this big even managed to form in the first place. An army this big would require ungodly amounts of food which Kaijin partially explains by saying Orcs can basically eat anything. Even then the question still lingers as it would still be near impossible to feed that many Orcs.
Souei brings up something that terrifies everyone, "Could it be an Orc Lord?"
Finally this conversation is picking up speed.
Benimaru responds, "Thinking about it, it's unfortunately our only option. Only the Orc Lord could raise an army this large."
As everyone freaks out Rimuru asks what the Orc Lord is. Everyone explains the whole story. Long story short, he's a warrior that spawns from the Orc race every 1000 years or so. He's really strong, durable, etc. Your classic fantasy boss backstory.
While some of the Goblin Chiefs say that it is too early for another Orc Lord to have appeared from what they know it is quickly shot down. There is no other option in this situation and we have to prepare for the worst.
Rimuru looks down, "If that's true then the Lizardmen don't stand a chance."
Benimaru responds saying, "I'm afraid so."
Rimuru finally makes a decision, "I want to set up diplomatic relations with them. I know we are few in numbers but I can't just leave them to die."
Supporting Rimuru I also add that with their resources they might help a lot in the development of the village after this mess is over. After both of us decide that this is the best course of action the rest of the people at the meeting don't argue and unanimously decide to do as we said.
First, Rimuru sends Souei to send a message to the Lizardmen informing them of our plan to help them in this war. After that, we set up more basic plans to see what we could do in this war assuming the Lizardmen accept, which they are forced to do considering the situation.
After that ends the conference itself concludes. As we leave I tell Rimuru, "Now that this situation is more serious I guess it's about time I show you my lab. Follow me."
We head to the road connecting the village to my house which surprisingly Rimuru didn't even realize existed and we head to my house. When we arrive Rimuru's mouth drops to the ground. "When did you build this!?"
I proudly say. "Pretty incredible, huh. I've been working on it for a couple weeks. It's still not complete but it should be getting there." After Rimuru marvels at its size and design for a few seconds I say, "Moving past that I've got something to show you."
We walk into the pitch black building, "Sorry for the lack of light. As I've said, it's not complete. I'm planning on making magic powered light bulbs soon so it shouldn't last long. Just use [Magic Sense] for now."
"Okay."
I walk towards a walk and open it revealing a secret room. I decided that for extra precaution I'll make a secret safe in the lab where I'll keep the unstable materials for the Magicule Bomb. "We're here."
The safe itself wasn't too hard to make, just really expensive considering it's made of metal. Opening it I pull out a magic stone that is warm to the touch. Not like Rimuru could really know considering his Heat Resistance as I hand it to him. "This is a Heat Rock. They are pretty common so I'm sure you've seen one before but it's a crucial part of a weapon I made."
"A weapon!?"
"Yeah, a bomb."
"A bomb!?"
I casually say, "Yeah, a bomb. Try not to get too surprised though. In this world a bomb isn't as insanely devastating as they are on Earth." Casting a barrier around the Heat Rock in Rimuru's hands we walk deeper into the safe revealing another door. "Don't follow me." Opening the metal door out bursts a wave of Magicules. It's been leaking Magicules.
I walk over to the chunk of Magisteel. It's not too big so carrying it with two hands isn't that awkward to carry around. Grabbing it, taking it out of the room and putting it on a nearby stone desk I inform Rimuru, "These two components when touching make a bomb."
Rimuru asks, "How?"
I explain the basics stressing that he needs to make sure these two materials never touch here. I explain that detonating these two materials right now could force us to relocate temporarily due to Magicule contamination. Kind of like a Nuclear Bomb would contaminate an area with nuclear radiation the Magicule Bomb would contaminate an area with high levels of Magicules. While sure the amount it leaves behind wouldn't be concentrated enough to be harmful to the Kijin, the stronger Hobgoblins and us it would be harmful to the citizens which isn't better. Hearing this, Rimuru gets a little anxious.
I laugh at this, "Don't worry, with the precautions I've set up it shouldn't be too risky. It's actually worth the risk of having this bomb considering we're a monster village with Kijin inside. If we get attacked by a Human country, having a nuclear option might come in handy if things get bad. Don't worry, the odds of this bomb blowing up accidentally under my watch is 0%!"
{Notice- The odds of the Magicule Bomb blowing up accidentally under your watch is actually 0.001%.}
Wasn't asking [Great Sage].
Rimuru asks why I made the bomb to which I say, "You can't be too well prepared Rimuru. I'm looking ahead and making sure crises' are solved before they happen. This bomb is just one of those preparations." He still isn't convinced what I did was a good decision.
He nervously asks, "How strong is this bomb?"
I knew he would ask this, "Uh, let's just say a detonation from here would end the village for sure. That's all I'll say."
"That's not very reassuring!"
"Don't worry, as I've said, the protocol I've made is guaranteed to work if done correctly." I get serious for a bit, "Now, I guess it's time I explain the real reason I brought you here."
He asks, "The real reason?"
"I want to test this bomb on the Orcs. If we end up participating in the war I will use this bomb."
"Why?"
"I need to test this bomb. This is the perfect opportunity to see this bomb's capabilities. I might not get another chance."
Worried for the Orcs he says, "Is this going to kill them all?"
I smile at him, "Listen, I'm your brother now. I don't want to do something that will sadden you. I know you're a pacifist so I will say that this bomb doesn't have near enough range to kill even 10% of them in a single shot. Don't worry about that." Getting serious again I say, "But don't think I'll decide against it. I will do it no matter what."
Knowing there's no stopping me he just looks down and says, "I don't think I can stop you. Go ahead."
"Good intuition. I recommend you factor this into your plans okay." Sitting down I say, "Listen, a lot of them were going to die in this war. Don't let this bomb linger on your mind. Thousands of Orcs were going to die either way." Taking the Heat Rock out of his hands I go to put everything back. "Now let's go."
As we walk out I see Rimuru recover. I guess the idea of mass murder through a weapon was harder to accept than through his own magical abilities. He gets over it quickly though and by the time we leave he's back to normal. I smile as I think about this interaction. I treat him like a younger brother now sometimes.. Isn't that interesting.