Once more...

She's staring down at the map Rowena has put together so far, though she does intend to mentally connect to the Orges when they wake up to get anything they can add to it from them. Everyone else has gone to bed, and it's just her and Rowena awake. Though her H3 is disabled right at the moment and her actual mind has been fully pulled back to Lord of Wisdom focused on other things. Not to do with the Orc threat since they need more info on that, but on planning out parts of the village development at her request.

In a way, that leaves her alone, but it can't be helped. From the sounds of what the Ogres described, she's convinced they're fairly screwed regardless of whether they attempt to flee even if it was in her nature which leaves the only option as to fight. There's also nothing to be done if whoever takes part falls, so there's little point in halting development just because of the latest threat.

She sighs as she gazes out the slightly open tent flap.

It's just threat, after threat, after threat. She's been able to handle them so far, but considering they keep getting moredangerous, if things continue like this, she's going to eventually come up against something she can't handle as things stand. …She's starting to think she doesn't have time to wait for her magics to settle more with each other before she tries to call on them. Which means the only real option is to try to find a way to hurry it up, and if necessary, force the issue.

After a few more minutes of thinking about it, she sighs as she turns her attention inwards to start experimenting within Isolation areas.

It's frustrating, since no matter what she tries, she's still not making any progress. While she's doing that though, her attention turns to the limited unique abilities she possesses from previous lives. Parseltongue from her life as Calanthe, and the cluster that was Elemental Sight, Decomposition, and Regrowth from her life as Toshiko.

Parseltongue probably wasn't super useful, since the whole ‘using it to command magic’ thing wasn't applicable in her life as Toshiko -she'd tried with some Ancient Magic out of curiosity-, and she highly doubts it will work here either.

The trio though… That could prove very useful, if only she could get them to ‘play nice’ as it were with the magic of this world.

She straightens sharply as a thought strikes like lightning.

…Does she need them to get along? It didn't change anything for her physically, Elemental Sight didn't change her eyes for instance, it was limited to her Eidos alone. Which was the only place her Born Specialization existed. It never left the information dimension and interacted with the physical world in any way when she was using it.

Further, while she can't see it without Elemental Sight, whatever problems the magics were having with each other can't be affecting her Eidos if they were even occurring there, since there would theoretically be something reflected into the physical world. Given the way they explode like a particularly strong elemental reaction whenever she forces them together in isolation, there should theoretically be damage to her Eidos if they weren't getting along there, and that would hurt her physical body.

The natural conclusion being that arguably there's no reason she can't turn Elemental Sight back on and see if she can't get a better idea about the problem between the magics.

She nods firmly. She's being uncaringly reckless even if she doesn't want to acknowledge it, but if they aren't here then what's the point- taking some risks, she knows that, but she's also utterly sure of her reasoning and course of action as she reaches to turn Elemental Sight back on.

Much like in her previous life as Satomi when she turned it on in her teens, her awareness seems to explode as the data rushes in, and she takes a few moments to adjust. Her eyes slip closed at the surge of an immediate headache before her subconscious kicks back into automatically filtering it.

Before she can turn her attention inwards, a hand lands on her shoulder, startling her into opening her eyes to find Rowena in front of her, expression frantic as she looks her over, “What were you thinking?! That could have killed you Creator!”

She rolls her eyes, “I was thinking that obviously whatever problem the magics were having with each other, it clearly wasn't affecting my Eidos since nothing was being reflected onto my physical body which also doesn't undergo any sort of physical change with its activation. So there was no reason not to turn Elemental Sight on and try to get to the bottom of why the magics aren't playing nice. Hopefully leading to being able to use my other powers, which I may very well need given the way things keep happening with the danger only seeming to ramp up.”

Rowena looks frustrated, “There wasn't any guarantee that it wasn't simply not causing problems because it was inactive! It was beyond reckless!”

She shakes her head, “It doesn't really matter now, what's done is done, and you know full well Elemental Sight can't be shut back off once it's on so you may as well drop it.”

Rowena looks like she really wants to say more, but finally she just sighs, “Fine, fine, I'll drop it.” She points at her, “But I am so telling your soulmates later!”

She rolls her eyes again, “Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna start using it to look into the magic problem, so you may as well get back to what you were doing.”

Rowena gives her a dirty look, “I don't know if I should focus on something else when you're being so reckless.”

She gives her a look, “What else could I possibly do? I already have the magics within me and all that. Besides, I'm only intending to examine them to try and figure out what the issue is.”

Rowena sighs, sounding reluctant, “Very well then.”

As Rowena turns away, she starts to turn her attention to what Elemental Sight is telling her, but before she can turn that attention to her magics, she's taken by surprise by an entirely different question.

She tilts her head, “Hey Rowena? Think you might wanna hold off on designing for a moment.”

Rowena turns back, looking concerned, “Creator?”

She stares blankly at her, “Why is there Eidos data in thephysical world?”

He feels like stabbing something in anger, “I swear I'm gonna-! Gonna-! Fuck! I don't know, but it's gonna be drastic! What the hell was she thinking?!”

Darling looks at him tiredly, “Bit hard to spit threats when you can't threaten to stab or kill the thing you're threatening, huh?”

He gives his wife a dirty look, aware she's trying to distract herself from the heart attack inducing thought of Rimuru's risk, but not appreciating that the thing she chooses is giving him shit at the moment.

Sister tilts her head at the screen in curiosity, “On a different note, what's with this whole Eidos data being in the physical world?”

He knows she's trying to distract them both from the emotional turmoil of Rimuru being so reckless, and on some level he appreciates it, even more so since unlike Darling's attempt to distract herself it hadn't been at his expense. The problem is, there's absolutely a catch twenty-two in that it's meant to help with the mood, but he's in no mood for it.

Darling latches onto it like a lifeline though, “That's a great question actually. How in the hell is Eidos data in the physical world? I suppose I could understand why we weren't aware of it, but how did that happen and why?”

Sister places a pointer finger to her lower lip, “It has to be a result of something Veldanava did, right? I mean, what else could it even be?”

Darling hums, “That's a fair enough guess, especially given how firmly separate they were in our previous life. It's like breaking a universe law, but when you're a God making your own universe you aren't exactly obligated to pay heed to the laws of other universes, so… I suppose the real question becomes what difference resulted in it and the motivation for it.”

Sister shrugs, “No clue. I mean, we aren't really familiar with the information dimension and Eidos to begin with, so it's hard to speculate, isn't it? I mean, all we know is that it's data about the physical world, the magic calculation area is located in a person's Eidos, and I recall Toshiko mentioning a strange ‘membrane’ around a person's Eidos that no one had a name for or had even heard of.”

He stills as that sinks in, the thought of what Eidos data is striking like a lightning bolt hitting the powder keg of the understanding of this world's magic he's built up over the many years, “Hold on a moment… the magic calculation area… inside a membrane? The calculation area inside a membrane?” The girls are looking at him in confusion at him mostly repeating himself, but that's because he's still trying to wrap his head around the idea, “A non-physical computational device contained within something else. Oh dear lord, what the world we lived in when Rimuru was Toshiko called the Eidos, this world would call the Astral Body.”(1)

The girls stare at him blankly for a moment, struggling to wrap their heads around it, before Darling responds, not in a protesting tone despite what her words would imply, but numbly like it's habitual, “But she can see physical objects too. Like regular pebbles. Those don't have Astral Bodies.”

Sister tilts her head, none of them possessing the absolute genius -in his opinion anyway- that Rimuru does, but also having a stupidly large amount of experience, “Maybe it's more like they're visible due to a reflection of light? Like how a dark lake would be visible at night pretty much only because of the light of the moon and stars hitting it? Hell, maybe they actually do have their own Astral Bodies and we've just never been aware of it since they aren't living and/or sentient things themselves?”

Darling stirs slightly, “Could be something like one of those options. But jeez, no wonder Toshiko always had so much information pouring into her head if she was seeing the Astral Bodies around her. Regardless of which option you proposed, or even if it's something else entirely, to be seeing the computational device of the soul of everything around you-!”

Darling laughs a little hysterically, and Sister shakes her head numbly, “It sure as hell explains a lot, you aren't wrong there. Even before taking into account the non-living things within the range Elemental Sight has…”

He nods slowly, “Mm… If it is the case, that would make that membrane no one could tell her anything about being the Spiritual Body.(2) It even explains why she's seeing Eidos data in the physical world though, since that world is only a semi-physical world. Veldanava made it so entirely Spiritual lifeforms without physical bodies existed for starters but even when they aren't complex life…”

The other two nod, and silence lapses as they all absently watch Rimuru and Rowena speculating about it since they don't have anywhere near the required information to understand what she's seeing if he's right. They've only been in this world a couple of months, and they've barely brushed against magic in general. The only thing remotely approaching a chance to potentially confirm things if he's right until they can find their way to them and explain the missing information -assuming they don't come across it prior anyhow- would be when Ifrit took over Shizu's body completely, and Rimuru hadn't reactivated her Elemental Sight yet, so…

It was something to think about and maybe watch for signs until they can find a way to her, but that's about it at the moment.

She and Rowena haven't managed to get anywhere trying to work out what's going on for a couple of hours now, so eventually they table the discussion. To be honest she still hasn't gotten used to Eidos data in the physical world, especially given the information dimension reflects the physical world so there's literally Eidos data in the information dimension for the Eidos data in the physical world.

She'd been ignoring that with its headache threatening convolution and examining her abilities and magics while they were talking, and frustratingly finding there doesn't seem to be a way to get them to get along anymore than they already are. Them settling down seems to be more a matter of them finding equilibrium with their reaction rather than calming down.

She had noticed something while she was examining it, having picked up on the fact that Elemental Sight, while technically designed to work with the relevant universe's magic and draw upon them naturally when used, weren't actually inherently made of that magic in any way. None of the abilities, be it the runic design of her parseltongue, the magic coding of her Elemental Sight, or the engraving of Skills from this life had their data made of their respective universe's magic actually.

Which explains why there wasn't any change between it being inactive and active. There was an interesting difference in where they were though, and an even more interesting pattern in where they are compared to their power. Namely, some of the weaker ones she's picked up seem to be seeped into her flesh, then the next step up in strength seems to be engraved into that ‘membrane’ around the Eidos, and yet stronger ones are written into her Eidos itself. Even more interesting is what she can't see. Namely, Lord of Wisdom. Which, given the ladder of power having things that are more powerful tied deeper into ones being… implies there are layers beneath even the Eidos that she can't see.

Which in conjunction with the fact they aren't made of their respective universes’ magics makes her wonder… She stirs as she glances up at Rowena, who had lapsed into thoughtful silence of her own after they'd agreed they were just going in circles, “So given Elemental Sight is a magic sequence rather than outright made of the magic of that universal and the Skills of this universe have their own visible structure on the Eidos, it should be possible to copy them, right?”

Rowena blinks, “Hm? Well yes, but why?”

She tilts her head, “I wanna do an experiment in Isolation.”

Rowena tenses, “Creator? What exactly are you thinking of? The very fact you immediately want to use Isolation, which cuts them off from affecting you in the slightest from the get go…”

She hums, “I didn't want to potentially ruin the originals and also wanted them in case I need one of them alone in some later life, but I was thinking that the structures seem vaguely compatible and wanting to make copies of Elemental Sight and Universal Perception and try to merge them.”

Rowena's expression pinches with exasperation, “Creator-!” Then she sighs tiredly, rubbing at her eyes, “No, you wouldn't listen to me even if I tried would you? And arguing would just make it likely you wouldn't even warn me next time you were thinking of doing something like this so I could try to help contain the problem's potential cost.” She drops one of her hands to a hip, shifting the other so she's pressing the pad of her thumb and the top of her curled pointer finger to her forehead, grumbling out, “I suppose I should just be grateful she's conducting this little experiment in Isolation…”

She shakes her head at Rowena's dramatics, “I'm going for it.”

Rowena sighs, “Very well Creator. I shall assist however I can.”

She hums, and they get started. While they're trying, if there was any doubt about her notion that the best way to do things like this is to utilize the Skill's very nature rather than trying to use something external like Synthesis, it's once more backed up by how the experiments go. That is to say, it's much easier and much more successful when she presses on the Skills driving them to observe and examine each other thoroughly. Out of sheer curiosity since it wasn't a ‘Skill’ from this universe, she'd actually started with Elemental Sight, but perhaps it was just a fundamental aspect of unique powers in general given Elemental Sight does start stirring and moving when she urges it.

It takes a few tries to get them to successfully merge, not because of the inherent problems between the two magics as her notion that since it's not outright composed of the magic of that universe means Elemental Sight doesn't have violent reactions to Universal Perception inherently. The only issue there is the ‘code’ that tells it to power itself with its home universe's magic and it's easy to delete that part from its ‘code’ with the idea that once fused, it'll have Universal Perception's engraving telling it how to power itself. The problem was more because it keeps seeming to fail and dissolve them into meaningless masses of data from their respective ‘coding’ and ‘engravings' not meshing in any cohesive way.

Eventually though, after a solid two hours of trying and dozens of copies made, it works and the moment they let the new amalgamation out of Isolation, 《Upgrading to Multidimensional Perception… successful.》

Rowena examines it in curiosity, “Well Creator, it took a decent number of attempts, but I must admit that worked better than I expected.”

She hums, “Multidimensional though?”

Rowena shrugs, “The information dimension is technically separate.”

She hums, “I suppose that's true.” Then she shakes it off, “Well regardless, what do you make of that info that I apparently couldn't see before? I thought Elemental Sight could see everything, yet… It just appeared within view when it upgraded. However, there's nothing particularly special about it in and of itself, it's just… like someone brought the Eidos to the real world. Like someone copied the information dimension itself onto the physical world I mean. Which only makes the redundancy and its threat of a headache from copies of copies of copies worse since now there's Eidos data in the information dimension about that too, but… otherwise the only thing remotely unique about it is how small it is compared to normal Eidos data pieces.”

Rowena hums, “I must confess Creator, I'm not entirely certain.”

She sighs, “A mystery to ponder I suppose.”

Rowena nods, “Indeed.”

Now that her little experiment is over, Rowena soon gets back to her development planning while she continues to contemplate the additional Eidos data that had appeared, even as she pokes at the layers under her Eidos body the ability upgrade has brought into sharper focus. Before, when she first caught a glimpse with the other magicians that had been working with Igor Bezobrazov and even later when she'd tried to get a better look, it was like trying to look through tinted glass at more glass. Now, it was crystal clear. Some distant part of her notes that one of the two layers twists itself into the form of that Dragon she once saw through that old man's ability when she used Legilimency when she was going to visit Master Yakumo. He'd called it the soul, and to some extent she'd believed his notion of what he saw, given she was a Dragon animagus. If that is the case though, is this layer the soul? If so, why is there one even deeper?

She supposes she should be glad Rowena at least is being productive, given the experiment had given her no answers and only raised more questions.

Seventy-two hours after they staggered off, the Ogres reappear before her, led by Rigurd, who settles in off to the side to potentially assist her as necessary. They look much less rough looking, more like regular humanoids with the only distinction that they aren't human being the horns they have, though even those have changed from thick rough things to sleek and slender. 

She smiles at them, “I see you all evolved without issue. That's good.”

Benimaru nods, “We did, thank you.” He glances at the others, “We were wondering though…”

She tilts her head, “About?”

He straightens with determination, “May we alter the previous agreement? We aren't asking for more money, quite the opposite. We wanted to know if we could wave it and simply swear ourselves to you as our Lady.”

She blinks, even as Rowena's lips twitch as she turns away as though it will hide her amusement, “Ah? Why would you want to?”

Benimaru huffs in amusement, “Why would we not? You've been nothing but kind to us despite our ignorant misunderstanding at the beginning. We've seen for ourselves what you're trying to do here. And after experiencing your power for ourselves when you named us and during our evolution, we feel we've finally found a Lord worth swearing to, rather than simply temporarily working for.”

She tilts her head, still not really sure why but more due to a difference in world view then inherently not understanding why they may want to personally, “I'm not inherently against it, but you do realize I'm a former human otherworlder? And I haven't been in this world long. As well as the fact I was actually born into the body of a Slime since Words of the World is a bit literal when it comes to boons from the crossing and I'm actually just using a shape shifting Skill?”

Shuna nods firmly, her voice gentle, “Yes, Rigurd was telling us about it all when we were eating when we asked about you in curiosity.”

She tilts her head, “Well, if you would like to even knowing that, I won't turn you away.”

The Ogres all beam happily, shooting each other excited looks, and she gives them a bemused minute. Not really getting it herself but not so cruel as to pop their happy bubble, especially given they've been through a lot already. It takes a few moments for them to settle before Benimaru bows, “We thank you from the bottom of our hearts Lady Rimuru. We won't disappoint you.”

And man, does he seem weirdly blissful to call her that. She mentally dismisses the thought, though she makes sure not to habitually physically wave it away or anything, not wanting to give them a bad impression of waving off their feelings or sincerity or anything.

Just because she doesn't really understand it personally doesn't mean she's not going to respect it, that being said, “I look forward to seeing what you're capable of, but don't push yourselves too hard or stress yourselves out over it. I'm not generally the sort to form preconceived notions. Hypotheses and theories perhaps, but not firm expectations, so there's not some high bar you're aiming to live up to and that I'll be disappointed if you don't meet.”

They all bow their heads in acknowledgement, so she moves along, “Anyway, around halfway through your evolutions, I felt the bond from naming you all flaring and you all reaching for my Skills. As I said before, I haven't been in this world long, so I had to ask Rigurd to know what that was and he explained that if a strong enough monster is named and their namer allows it, they can gain copies of their abilities?” Benimaru nods in agreement, “You're probably already aware, but even if this was before you swearing yourselves to me, given the threat we were working together against, I authorized it. I couldn't actually tell what you got though, since you just sort of touched them all, presumably to find ones that suit you. What did you all end up with?”

Benimaru doesn't hesitate, “I wasn't aware we went over all of your Skills, since I don't remember it, but I received Ranged Barrier, Control Flame, and Black Flame from you My Lady.” He huffs a laugh as he looks down, “As shameful as it is to think back to how hasty we were to attack you, I must confess it's made me think about it once more. That lightning you used was powerful no question, but from what I understand of Dark Flame just from receiving it even without getting an opportunity to try it, we really were no match for you. As embarrassing as it is, I don't know if we'd have understood that if you'd shown anything less though.”

She hums, “That was why I went for Black Lightning to begin with. It was obvious from the way you were speaking that anger and grief had you in no headspace to really hear reason, so I thought going for the overwhelming factor would pause you long enough to listen. I am glad it worked though, as while I sympathized with your pain, I have to take care of my people, and I wouldn't have been merciful if you'd kept attacking.”

Benimaru bows his head again, “As would have fully been your right and no one can blame you as a dutiful leader.”

She nods her head, “Anyhow, we got a little off topic.”

Shuna pipes up then, “It's not surprising given the revelations. You were inquiring about our Skills though. Likely due to the fact I'm not much of a fighter, I've gained the Unique Skill Analyst based on your Skills. It contains the subskills Thought Acceleration, Analytical Appraisal, Chant Annulment, and All of Creation.”

She nods and Shion quickly jumps in enthusiastically, “I got the Skills Steel Strength and Strengthen Body!”

Soei adds in a quieter more level voice, “I obtained Replication, Shadow Motion, and Sticky-Steel Thread. If I may ask my Lady, I have heard of the Intrinsics from Black Spiders of Sticky Thread and Steel Thread, but…”

She tilts her head, “Oh that. One of my Skills lets me get some Skills from things I absorb. I'd absorbed a Black Spider previously, and I have a lot of free time when pretty much everyone is asleep, since Slimes are physically incapable of it. Got curious if I could merge the Skills and it evolved to possess the previous two and Sticky-Steel Thread.”

He nods his understanding. Kurobe scratches his cheek somewhat bashfully, “I'm not much of a fighter either, maybe even less than Miss Shuna to be honest. More of a blacksmith, and it seems to have given me Skills relevant to that. I did get the Unique Skill Researcher, but unlike Miss Shuna's four, it only has three subskills, Omni Analysis, Spatial Storage, and Transmutation. Think it got less subskills because I also gained Control Flame and Resist Temperature to help with my forging.”

She nods, “I don't know if you met him over dinner your first night already, but I'll have to properly introduce you to Kaijin since he's in charge of production.”

Kurobe smiles and nods back happily and she turns to Hakuro, “And you?”

He dips his head, “I regret to inform you Lady Rimuru, but almost all of the energy I was given that didn't go to evolving me into a Kijin directed itself into reinvigorating me and, as you likely noticed, making me a tad younger.”

She nods, “That's fine. Besides, you didn't say you're not a fighter,” He nods sharply and she smiles, “then given you've assumably already honed yourself considerably, it likely serves a better purpose for the energy to go to that rather than making you inherently more powerful or giving you new Skills anyhow.”

He bows his head, “I am gladdened that you see it that way rather than being disappointed.” Then he tilts his head, “We already allowed Miss Rowena to get the area information we have from our minds when we were getting breakfast earlier, so if you don't mind a question…” She waves him to continue, “When we were fighting, you called me out for ‘thinking I was sneaky’, but I was actually using an Art, a trained ability, known as Formhide. It allows one to conceal their presence from others, even those with Magic Perception, so how did you..?”

She blinks, “Were you? I honestly didn't notice… If it works even against Magic Perception though, I assume it functions by tricking the mind of the deceived itself rather than just making the deceiver invisible or something?” Hakuro nods, “That would be it then. In my first life, there was a form of a sort or passive magic known as Occlumency. It protected the mind against outside manipulation or influence. Well, of the supernatural nature anyway, obviously it didn't do anything against someone persuading you with just their words or anything like that.”

He gains an understanding look, “Ah, if you have some sort of ability to protect your mind, then no wonder Formhide didn't work on you.” He bows his head, “Thank you for answering my question my Lady.”

She nods, “It's no problem.” Then she sweeps her gaze over them, “I do believe one of the first things we'll need to do would be taking you all over to Garm and Dord to get fitted for new armor and clothes though. Slight though it may be, for all of you but Hakuro, the evolution has changed your proportions enough that those clothes don't quite fit you correctly now.” She glances at Shion, “Though, no offense Shion, but may need to have one of the female Hobgoblins take precise chest measurements since you're a good bit outside of the norm and they can't really go with their more standard torso proportions for female clothes.”

Shion blushes slightly, “Sorry, I don't mean to trouble anyone…”

She waves it off, “You have nothing to apologize for Shion. You can't control what your body looks like.” Shion relaxes slightly, expression somewhat relieved, “I was more saying it so you wouldn't be blindsided when they want to take a measurement so your clothes will fit properly.”

Shuna stirs slightly, “Are we required to wear the clothes available here for some form of unity or something?”

She looks over at her, “Hm? No, not at all, it's more that Dord has been teaching the Hobgoblins how to make clothes and helping get on top of it since when they evolved from Goblins to Hobgoblins they were obviously noticeably worse off then you when it came to their previous clothes fitting.”

The six get thoughtful expressions making it obvious they're mentally comparing the sizes between the Hobgoblins that got significantly larger, unlike a handful who remained around the same size if a bit bigger, then grimace as they realize how bad it must've been.

She brushes it off verbally, “It's more that we don't really have anything else available currently but the sort of clothes you see around. What differences you may have noticed were in me buying a large batch of clothes when I visited Dwargon with the intention of tiding the village over until the Hobgoblins could learn how to craft the clothes themselves and we could secure a steady source of better materials. Not that it really worked out, given I came back to find the original one hundred Hobgoblins had basically been joined by four hundred more from neighboring villages that had come seeking protection.” Rigurd looks embarrassed, but she waves it off, “Don't make that expression Rigurd, I'm the one who made the decision to accept them.”

His expression turns to a smile, “Of course my Lady!”

She shakes her head in amusement at his usual enthusiasm, “Side effect of that is the clothes I bought weren't enough though. We haven't had the chance to secure a steady stream of practically anything but the hides and the like you see around though. Why do you ask?”

Shuna hums, “I may not be the Ogre princess anymore, but such rough clothes really aren't suitable for a woman is all. I was asking because if it isn't, I thank you for the offer, but I would genuinely prefer if someone could go and harvest Hellmoth cocoons when they aren't busy with more important matters to make better materials. Shion and I could have our clothes somewhat adjusted to tide us over, but it's not a permanent solution after all. And I do possess the knowledge and talent for crafting Hellmoth cocoons into materials to then sew into clothes.”

She hums as she raises her gaze to the ceiling, “Hellmoth cocoons huh? Given how it was made in other worlds, are you wanting to get silk from processing it?”

Shuna smiles, “You're quite knowledgeable my Lady. Yes though, they can be processed into silk.” Then she eyes her clothes, “If I may, from the looks of them compared to the hides your own clothes were amongst your purchases, yes?” She nods, and Shuna hums, “Did you purchase those clothes because you were particularly attached to them when you saw them in Dwargon, or were they a matter of convenience?”

She blinks, “Hm? It was just convenient since while I lack anything inappropriate to show on a body when I shape shift, I still didn't think it was automatically appropriate to be wandering around naked, so I couldn't really shape shift to one of my human forms until then. Why?”

Shuna gets firm, “As I said previously, rougher clothes really aren't suitable for a woman, and while the ones from Dwargon may be passable in general, that doesn't apply to you as our Lady.”

She tilts her head, “I suppose I can see where you're coming from since I was from a noble house in two of my three previous lives, but I'm not really bothered in general and it's not really a priority for me anyhow.”

Shuna only seems to get more upset, “That's even worse my Lady! Your nobility may not precisely have weight in this world, but the fact you have been a noble more often than not-! And that you haven't been paying it the attention it deserves purely because you're more focused on bettering the town-!”

Shuna isn't the only one upset, particularly after her last words, which seems to rile all of them up. She lifts her hands, “It's really not that big of a deal Shuna-

Shuna shakes her head firmly, “It is! It's wildly unacceptable to have our noble Lady in such low quality clothes! If you have been a noble, you of all people should know that! And if you've been a noble, I don't know how you tolerate it when it must be such an incredible inconvenience for you!”

She blinks, “I mean, in general I'm perfectly familiar with dressing for a part and all that, but I'm not particularly attached to high life.” She glances up briefly, “Though, given I was orphaned in my first life at about one and a half and didn't even know I was from a noble house on my father's side until I was seven and my maternal aunt who was the one who ended up with me after my parents’ deaths wasn't exactly… a good person or relative to put it mildly, it's not surprising.”

Benimaru's expression darkens, “Not a good person or relative’ in what way?”

She gives him a funny look, “Does it matter? She's long dead and it was another world entirely.” From the looks they're all giving her, the answer is yes, and she shakes her head, “It will just upset people for no good reason-” She sighs as their expressions make it clear they won't let it go, “Don't know why you're so hung up on it given it was a different world, and it was something like six hundred years ago for me personally, but if you really must know she practically treated me like a slave and was abusive. Physically, emotionally, verbally, any form you can think of really. It's likely the source of the fact that I've never particularly cared personally about the high life though.”

She shrugs, “Hard to when you spend the first part of your existence more concerned with whether you'd be allowed to eat any of the considerable amount of food you yourself were forced to cook despite your age. Or whether your relatives were going to find some reason to decide they wanted to beat you today.”

Rigurd's cup shatters from his hand clenching, his expression torn between rage at her previous treatment and looking heartbroken, “My Lady…”

She glances down, “Your hand all right?”

He glances down in surprise, apparently not even noticing, “Ah, I'm fine my Lady! My deepest, utmost apologies for breaking one of the cups you bought-!”

She waves it off, “I told you, those were just meant to serve as something to tide the village over until we can make our own cups and plates and all that. I'm not expecting them to last long in general, if only from basic wear and tear from use even if there aren't any accidents or anything. But this is why I said it would just upset people for no real reason, since it's not exactly conductive, now is it? This isn't that world, my aunt is long dead, and whatever trauma there used to be is long since gone.”

She raises her eyebrows briefly, “Trauma was long gone by the end of that life actually, given the magically active of that world had their age slowed by their magic. How much it was slowed absolutely depended on how much magic they had, and I was strong enough I lived to what was an unheard of -for that world anyway- five hundred years essentially. It doesn't serve any purpose to go over it now.”

They all look incredibly unhappy, but they can't seem to find any counter to it, so she shakes the old recollections of her aunt. Remembered perfectly if she reaches for them as one of the downsides of Occlumency's edict memory, but so forgotten it was like pulling a book untouched for so long it has an inch of dust on it off an equally ragged shelf.

She looks up thoughtfully, murmuring lowly, “Actually, that reminds me that I'll need to include a warning if I ever figure out a way to translate it…”

Benimaru gives her a concerned look, “A warning my Lady? About what?”

She drops her gaze to him in surprise having just been muttering absently to herself, “Ah? Oh, I was thinking about Occlumency. As something of a side effect of how it works, it gives practitioners an edict memory. It leaves every memory as vivid and so perfect you can recall it with a precision like it's actively happening right at that very moment.”

“Which is wonderful for good memories of course, especially if anyone in those memories is gone and that's all that's left. I was thinking I'd need to warn that it's a double edged sword though, as that applies to bad memories as well, since it's impossible to forget any memory. They can get buried and left untouched over time, but they remain just as vivid when you reach for them or recall them as they ever were.”

That seems to disturb them and it's Shuna who speaks up, “Then… you still remember what your aunt put you through that vividly Lady Rimuru?”

She hums, “Technically yes, but I honestly haven't thought about it in centuries, so it's not like those memories are constantly on my mind or anything. The topic brought them back like dusting off an old book to find perfectly preserved pages inside though. It occurred to me I should include a warning for those attempting to learn it if I can find a way to translate it to this world's magic because of it though.”

Everyone looks even more upset and disturbed at that, and Soei pipes up in that gentle steady voice of his, “Just speaking of it brought them back so vividly..?”

She sighs, “Yes, but like I said, it doesn't really bother me anymore, its-” She straightens up, “It's like it's gone from a traumatic experience in my actual life to like I'm just an actor in a play. Yeah, it's still just as vivid as though it's happening right in that moment and that includes the emotions to some extent, but it's become more detached like the actor in a play analogy, see?”

There are understanding nods, but they all still look upset and disturbed to some extent.

Not wanting to go linger on it, she pushes to her feet as she smiles, “We've gotten distracted though. We were speaking about getting some at least placeholder clothes for you all.” She glances at Shuna, “That, and harvesting Hellmoth cocoons for silk, although I'm not sure if there are really any around here. I can't say I know all of the creatures in this area, but I haven't really heard of them before.”

Soei stirs, “They're a type of magic born monster, so strictly speaking they can form anywhere, but they don't seem very common in this area. There was a place near the Ogres village where they were nearly the exclusive monster that would come into being. Since I gained Shadow Motion and it allows one to cover an incredible distance between shadows, I could go and harvest some in perhaps an hour or two.”

She hums, “That works. Though I wonder what changes how frequently a certain type of monster spawns…”

Shuna shakes her head, “We wondered that ourselves, but we were never sure what sort of difference there was that caused the change in frequency in Hellmoths in that area.”

She nods, then tables the question for now, “Something to investigate later. If you are sure you can get them so quickly and easily Soei, I'll leave it to you. Especially given if it's near the former Ogre village that's behind the proverbial enemy lines, which would make it rather dangerous to send anyone else given the majority haven't really gotten the hang of Shadow Motion which would necessitate getting past the Orcs normally. Also that seems far enough away that it would be quite the investment of manpower otherwise. Be careful though, and do make sure not to take major risks. As I said, that's metaphorically behind enemy lines, and given not many can Shadow Motion, you'll also be on your own out there if something goes wrong.”

Soei nods firmly, “Understood Lady Rimuru.”

She nods again, then starts around the table, “Well, while there are undoubtedly other things to discuss, we may as well head over to the Dwarves so they can get your measurements and get started sooner.” She glances at Soei, “If you're going to be heading out for things like that and therefore taking a higher risk, perhaps they'll have some light armor that would fit you decently well that you can borrow until they can get something more permanent.”

Soei murmurs his thanks for her thinking of it and they all head out to get started on that. She finds herself wondering if Soei would be against her using him as a scout of some sort, given his Shadow Motion and Replication combo is quite beneficial to something like that.

Something to bring up. The question is how to do so in such a way that he'll actually disagree if he's against the idea for some reason, given she has a feeling the Ogres will be just as quick to practically treat her word like divine authority as the Hobgoblins.

The Ogres have been something of a boon in advancing the town. Shuna has plenty of skill in things like various cloth production and sewing which is being used to assist Dord. She also has a good bit of cooking ability, which is seeing itself applied to helping progress the Hobgoblins’ talent. As well as applying the offshoots of things like her plant knowledge on helping them set up cultivation of herbs and the like, smaller simpler things primarily for now. But she has been helping Lilina, the Goblin Lord in charge of agriculture, in how to go about cultivating on a larger scale.

Kurobe, on the other hand, was more helpful than she'd initially given him credit for. Not because she thought he was bad at smithing, but because she wondered if he'd have much to do beyond assisting the Dwarves. But Kaijin hadn't been kidding about the fact Garm specialized in armor even if he was capable of crafting weapons, and while Kaijin himself was stellar at that type of forging, Kurobe is apparently pretty damn stellar at weapons himself. Enough so that after talking with him a bit, he'd been perfectly confident to leave the weapon smithing to him and turn his focus more firmly on overseeing everything and research.

It left her a bit baffled, since she was under the impression the Dwarves were just coming to help them figure out how to do things, but they seem to be settling in a little more permanently. Not that she's against it or anything, she's just surprised. But they seem incredibly happy in their little town, so if they want to put down more permanent roots here, she wasn't going to chase them off.

Anyhow, Benimaru and Hakuro have mostly been training in Veldora's Cave, partly due to Benimaru wanting to get a handle on his new abilities but mostly due to wanting to flex their muscles as it were and get comfortable with their new evolution. It wasn't as big a change for Hakuro of course, given the majority of his naming energy went to turning him younger, relatively speaking, but that doesn't mean there weren't changes just from the species shift at minimum.

The only real hiccup they had was a proposal for Shion to be her guard, but given she herself is much more powerful, while obviously it's possible she could use some backup since despite her power she wasn't infallible, as she'd pointed out to them, while there certainly wasn't any shame in asking for help or anything like that, it didn't suit her since if she's in trouble, there's no question anyone with her would be in hot water themselves. Furthermore, if they weren't near her power level, it's practically a guarantee they'd be in over their heads.

She understood they swore their fealty to her, but a Lord or Lady also had some duty to look after their people. And she had zero desire to put them in danger like that. She does understand that since they swore themselves to her, ensuring her safety was arguably a top priority, but she's never been the sort of person who was okay with risking other people's safety to ensure her own.

They hadn't been too happy about it in general, but they hadn't exactly been able to argue that if she was in trouble, there was little they could do but sacrifice themselves to try to buy time. And whatever argument they may have tried to make with that died a swift death when she pointed out she'd inevitably end up staying trying to save them as her people in such a case.

Additionally, she may have guards situationally as called for, but by and large, it was a waste of limited manpower to assign anyone to holding that position permanently. That, more than anything, had gotten them to drop it. As such Shion, as someone who was also combat focused when it came to her talents, has taken to training with the other two as well. Which… she very much preferred to her having free time. After the… disaster that was the first time Shion ‘helped’ with cooking, she'd had to ban her from actually cooking until she learned enough not to poison people. Again. She honestly doesn't know how she even achieved it, given none of the ingredients she used were poisonous to begin with. She didn't expect her to go against her order, but it made her feel a bit better if Shion didn't have a whole lot of free time to get ideas.

Soei had in fact been more than happy to be a scout keeping a stealthy eye on things, so other than occasionally collecting Hellmoth cocoons for silks, he was doing that. Currently his focus was on monitoring the situation with the Orcs for her.

Which brings her to her current concern. Based on the what she's gotten from everyone on what they knew of the layout of the Forest of Jura as well as the heading of the Orcs, the next major settlement they'd be hitting would be the Lizardmen the Ogres had told her about living in the marshes of what's called Lake Sisu(3).

There was also the troubling revelation that the Ogres territory wasn't even in the way of the trajectory of the main force and the bitter understanding that they were actively sending out forces to wipe out any potential threats. Or maybe it didn't even have anything to do with threats and they were just wiping everyone out.

His report on the fact they number two hundred thousand, however, had sparked the rather reasonable question of how they were supplying such a force. The unsettling truth hadn't taken long to hit home after Soei added that everywhere they've attacked had no bodies left behind, including the Ogres’ home.

They were eating the dead, not paying heed to the barbarity of eating those with intelligence like the Ogres.

That had apparently been the missing piece to spark them remembering something known as an Orc Lord. A rare type of Orc with the Skill Starved. Starved was quite a nasty beast. What little is known about it is that it lets them take control of Orcs under their command and turn them into a mindless ravenous hoard, and as they fed, there was a chance to gain traits of those they devour. Wings from eating creatures with them for instance.

It wasn't quite just a matter of physical traits though, they could get those yes, but usually the more problematic part was the ability to absorb Intrinsic Skills which were tied to the flesh of the physical body. It's also why every Orc Lord in the past has always been defeated by humanoids, since they lack Intrinsics for them to potentially absorb from anyone who dies during the fight.

With the loosely curled side of her second finger against her bottom lip and her pointer extended up resting on her cheek, she stares at the map and the layout of the settlements the Ogres and Hobgoblins were able to inform her of, trying her utmost to see if she's missing anything. Arguably, if the Ogres are any indication, it doesn't really matter whether or not they're in the direct path, but…

Lifting her gaze to the rest around the large table she drops her hand, “Well then. We have to warn the Lizardmen what's happening given the trajectory goes right through them, but in a way, this may actually be a boon.”

Benimaru tilts his head, “My Lady?”

She sighs, “If there's one thing I've learned from you Ogres and Direwolves, it's that anything that isn't at the very bottom when it comes to strength amongst quote unquote monsters is that you all tend to be stubborn and don't move unless made to. This Orc Lord is a threat to everyone, but it wouldn't surprise me if people didn't try to bury their heads in the sand, so to say, and hope it sorted itself out without involving them. I don't particularly desire others to be in the line of fire, but we all likely are anyway from what you've told me of Orc Lords and the size of this one's army. Them being in the direct path, as heartless as it may be to say it, may help us make them see sense and listen when we warn them and potentially get them to work with us to handle the problem.”

Benimaru lets out a bit of a tired chuckle, “Much as I'm loath to admit it, you aren't wrong. It seems cruel to consider it a boon in any manner, but you aren't incorrect about stubbornness being something of a shared trait, and if it's unavoidable for them already, it should light a proverbial fire under them to get moving. I'm not sure how much assistance we'll need given the blessing you've given us with our names, but…”

She shakes her head, “It is never wise to have that way of thinking Benimaru. It can all too easily lead to finding out you've overestimated yourself, underestimated your enemy, or worse, both. Then you're in a whole world of trouble. It's always better to assume the worst, to overestimate your enemies and underestimate yourself and prepare with that in mind. One should always work under the assumption the absolute worst case scenario is true, making plans and backup plans for that. Treating any plans for better case scenarios not as what's expected but as a ‘just in case’ it's easier than expected so you won't be caught off guard. Assuming you haven't grossly miscalculated, the worst you can be is surprised at how easy it was.”

Benimaru nods, “I can certainly see the wisdom in that.”

They're far from alone at the large planning table, and there are agreeing nods and murmurs, though it's Kaijin who pipes up, “Aye, there certainly is worth in it, since it means unless you're lacking information or severely miscalculated, you're never caught off guard if the situation is worse than it looks like it should be at a glance.”

She nods, glancing over at Soei, “Which is part of why I had Soei begin gathering intelligence immediately, so as to get as much of a headstart on getting a better picture of things from the get go. You've done incredibly well and it will certainly be invaluable.”

He bows his head, “It pleases me greatly to have been of such assistance to you my Lady.”

She nods before turning back to the table, “So then, it's better to begin planning with the worst case scenario and work our way backwards. The worst case for us specifically would be them pushing all the way here and managing to drive us away from valuable infrastructure like our smithies. The question is, where would we fall back to and try to regroup?”

A delicate female voice suddenly pipes up from near the doorway as it opens, “I believe I can assist with that.”

Looking over, she properly takes in the unknown woman she'd absently noted approaching with a Goblina, as the evolved female Goblins are called, but hadn't really paid much mind to since she was focused on the meeting. The woman was actually somewhat see-through, almost like a ghost, but for one thing, unlike the ghosts she met in her first life, there was plenty of color to her, and for another, there was something very much alive about her insubstantial form.

The woman smiles gently but warmly, “I apologize for butting in. Miss Gobibi here was about to announce me, as I requested to speak with you urgently regarding the Orcs.”

Gobibi looks a little nervous, “I apologize for interrupting your meeting my Lady, but well, I mean, Miss Treyni here is a Dryad and I figured if she was coming to speak to you- and I mean, Lord Rigurd wasn't available to ask-”

She waves it off, “Don't worry about it Gobibi.” The Goblina relaxes and she turns to Treyni, as Gobibi called her, “Now what were you talking about?”

Treyni smiles, “You mentioned a fallback point if things go wrong. I was actually coming to speak to you regarding the Orcs, as we Dryads have noticed the same as you. That is, that the Orcs are actively branching out to wipe out threats at minimum. Even ignoring that as wardens of the Forest of Jura we can't ignore such a problem anyhow and just haven't moved yet as we were trying to figure out the best course of action, as we Dryads are stronger then even the Ogres, undoubtedly we are in their line of fire as well. Given your group is both rather strong and intends to face off against them, we came to the conclusion our best bet would be to ally with you. Particularly given it's better to strike now when it's merely an Orc Lord and has yet to evolve into an Orc Disaster.”

Treyni looks troubled for a moment at the end before shaking it off and continuing, “In light of that, the Treant territory the Dryad's also live in could easily serve as your fallback point if all goes wrong and you need to regroup.” Treyni steps over to the table to point to a blank section of the map Rowena has been putting together, “It's here.”

She nods, “Undoubtedly our best bet if we have to withdraw. So then, the step up on things going wrong would be the Orcs managing to come all the way here but us managing to hold our ground. In the situation they get all the way here, we need to evacuate the more vulnerable portion of the population.”

The planning continues, Treyni easily transitioning into helping them. She'd seen through Soei's eyes when he was scouting and uses him as a relay to get a lock on the area with Multidimensional Perception. The latter had revealed the majority of the Orcs were under mind control, which complicates the matter of their potential innocence. However, while she can investigate that later, she has to see to her own people first. And overall, given the mind control, she's of the opinion that the best move for everyone would be a precision hit on the Orc Lord himself rather than facing the entire hoard.

With him gone, the mind control should break, which Treyni backs up from familiarity with previous Orc Lords. And while they need to work backwards through their plans from worst case to best case and it would only confuse things if they jump ahead, they go through it all in order. When they do get to that part, Treyni comments idly, “Even if they continue to be hostile, which I doubt given most Orcs’ usual natures, without being strengthened by an Orc Lord's ‘Staving’ Skill, it would be considerably more manageable.”

She hums, “So then, the idea that it's better to go for something more like a precision strike against the Orc Lord himself likely is the best move.” She glances at the Ogres, “Does it bother you? To potentially not be able to enact revenge if they truly are nothing like the beings who attacked your village without being under the influence of the Orc Lord and they're actually innocent that is.”

Benimaru smiles, “Not in the slightest my Lady. If that truly is the case, the culprits would essentially die the moment the Orc Lord does and that version of them ceases to exist.”

Treyni nods, “Indeed. That being said, while no conclusion has ever been reached since there has never been opportunity to observe it, no one has ever been certain whether it's that some Orcs will have their personalities permanently warped after being under an Orc Lord's influence for too long, or if the naturally crueler ones just have an easier time holding onto themselves under that twisted influence. Regardless of which though, sometimes some of the Orcs under an Orc Lord won't just be merciless as is to be somewhat expected given the mind control and what it drives them to do, but even relish in the agony and turmoil they cause.”

“From what we Dryads have observed, all but one of the Orc Lord's generals meet that description and are undoubtedly beyond help. In the handful of times in the past that one such Orc General outlived their respective Orc Lord, they would immediately evolve to become a new Orc Lord and take its place. If multiple survived, they'd either immediately instinctively turn on each other to fight for the title, or if one was inherently more dominant it would automatically go to them while the others became their Generals. The Orc Generals are the ones in the black armor such as the one in charge of the attack on the Ogres village.”

Benimaru smiles, the slightest bit frigid, the slightest bit bloodthirsty, “Then there is even less reason to be upset at potentially sparing the majority of them if they truly are innocent. The Generals certainly aren't and can't and won't be spared after all, and it was one of them who led the attack on our homeland and one of them who killed my father.”

She hums, “Given we can't afford to leave them alive to potentially become another potentially crueler Orc Lord, you aren't wrong.” Then she shakes that off, turning back to Treyni, “You said all but one of the Orc Generals earlier…”

Treyni looks troubled at that, “Well… the last isn't an Orc General in the terms of evolution per say, merely holding that title by the Orc Lord's recognition… He's easy to tell apart, being the only higher up not in black armor. However, while we've observed some conversation between them that tells us the reason he hasn't become an evolution Orc General is because the Orc Lord has left him completely untouched of being ensnared by Starved, we don't know why. They're clearly aware we Dryads can view anything in the Forest through the plants and have been careful to hold their tongues. What little has been brought up that lets us piece together what we have, that he's untouched by the Orc Lord's power specifically, has had to be deduced from what little they dared allude to. I cannot answer the purpose for that anymore than their overall goal for similar reasons.”

She nods slowly, then shakes herself, “We shall have to see if we can't get answers once everything is said and done. For now, we have our plans, and we must begin moving in earnest, since the longer we wait the more victims there may be and the stronger the Orc Lord and his hoard gets from the benefits of Starved.” She turns to Soei, “As we discussed, I need you to go and speak to the Lizardmen. We have the twofold of them being at an advantage in the marshes and the Orcs being at a disadvantage. We need to utilize them to try to delay and possibly distract the Orc hoard to minimize any further damage until we can get rid of the Orc Lord with a precision strike. Don't forget to reach out to Elen and the others about spreading the word about an Orc Lord appearing in case we need to draw on human aid since they don't have Intrinsics the Orcs can absorb. Though, it will undoubtedly take them time to get their forces ready, so we should probably give them a heads up one exists now so they have time to prepare.”

Soei bows his head, “By your command my Lady.”

She nods, and she's not even surprised when Soei Shadow Motions away without another word, off to speak to the Lizardmen.