(Albedo, why is Shuna here?)
(How should I know!)
(What are they doing?)
(Looks like Shuna's giving Master a lesson.)
(Huh? Master needs lessons!? Something's off—way off!)
(Shut up!)
Draco sensed something odd.
Inside Nazarick, any intruder would be spotted at once,
so he'd kept his Magic Perception-type skills deactivated.
Curiosity piqued, he unfolded a detection spell.
It revealed Albedo and Shalltear eavesdropping outside the door.
"These two…"
Draco didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Why they were here he could guess with his eyes closed.
He glanced at the time—indeed, it was late.
Shuna had work tomorrow, so Draco said,
"Teacher Shuna, let's call it a day."
A faint blush tinted Shuna's cheeks. "Sorry, I got carried away; I didn't realize it was so late."
"It's fine—you explained it brilliantly," Draco praised.
"Really?"
Shuna's eyes lit up, her smile dazzlingly cute.
"It's late. Get some rest."
"Oh, here—this is for you."
Draco handed her his guild ring. "With this, travelling will be much easier."
Unlike Albedo and the others, she didn't attach great importance to a guild ring.
To Shuna it was simply a ring with wondrous functions.
She accepted it naturally and slipped it onto her finger.
The scene left the two behind the door feeling thoroughly conflicted.
(Damn it! We guarded against everything—only for the purest Shuna to slip through!)
(If only we'd…)
Shalltear, Shuna's Mentor in such matters, felt she'd dug her own grave.
With the ring in hand, Shuna teleported straight back to her room.
Only Draco remained in the Library.
"Still not coming out?"
Draco arched a brow.
The moment he spoke, the two tiptoed in from the corridor.
Shalltear blinked, looking none too bright. "W-We saw Master hadn't returned, so we came to check."
"Then why hide behind the door?"
Draco regarded them with a half-smile.
Shalltear's head drooped; she played dead.
Albedo replied calmly, "We couldn't bear to disturb Master while he was studying so diligently."
See? That's what you call professionalism.
Draco's mouth twitched. "Forget it; it's nothing."
To forestall future peeping, he added a brief explanation.
"All right, off to bed—stop being so jumpy."
"Okaaay~" x2
Relieved, they followed him back to the room.
After a day of magic study that had fried his brain, Draco had no energy to fool around.
He collapsed onto the bed and fell fast asleep.
Seeing this, Albedo and Shalltear slipped under the covers on either side of him… Three Days Later, Goblin Village.
Rimuru had exhausted every last drop of Magical Essence naming them.
The result: three days of unconsciousness.
On waking, he found every Goblin—except Gobta—transformed.
Gone were the short, scrawny bodies; now they were all brawny and tall.
The Village Chief in particular sported competition-level muscles.
The sight gave Rimuru quite a scare.
Once he'd calmed down, Rimuru gathered the Goblins.
No rules, no order.
Since he'd taken charge, he had to lay down the law first.
"Everyone here? Good. I'm announcing a few rules—please follow them from now on."
No one spoke; they waited for his next words.
"Rule one…"
He'd meant to say "No harming humans," but remembering Draco's advice, changed it to,
"First: if no one attacks us, we attack no one!"
"Second: no infighting!"
"Third: never look down on any race—even a Slime!"
Having spoken, Rimuru looked them over. "Can you do this?"
"YES!" xN
"Great! I believe in you!"
Next, Rimuru began to worry about rebuilding the village.
The place was a wreck.
And with the Goblins suddenly human-sized, their old rags barely covered anything.
Though intelligent, they were still monsters living a primitive life.
So Rimuru called the chief over. "Rigurd, is there anywhere nearby we can trade or hire builders?"
The chief thought a moment, then nodded.
"Two places. North lies the Dwarf Kingdom—master forgers."
"East is the Nazarick Duchy; their market trades everything—coin, metal, monster materials."
"But reaching it means crossing the Jura Great Forest—a long trek."
Hearing Nazarick again, Rimuru frowned.
Truthfully, he longed to visit that nation.
Yet this trip was for rebuilding, so he chose the Dwarf Kingdom.
Preparations complete, he set off with several Goblins, riding Ranga toward the Dwarf Kingdom… Somewhere in the Forest,
Gelmud was cheerfully searching for suitable targets to name.
Yesterday he'd found the Lizardmen chieftain's son.
An arrogant fellow; a bit of flattery and Gelmud easily named him "Gabiru".
Thus Gabiru became a Named monster, gaining tremendous power.
In exchange,
the named could not defy the namer; Gabiru became Gelmud's subordinate.
Gelmud deemed the lad a useful pawn and was in excellent spirits.
Just then,
a Hoghead staggered into view ahead.
"A Hoghead this deep in the forest? Odd."
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