"...He disappeared."
As soon as I confirmed that slime had been born, I immediately tracked down [Noir].
At this point, after waiting three hundred years, he was exactly the kind of existence who could give me the information I needed while also posing a threat to me.
I wanted to find and assess people like that in advance, and among those nearby, [Noir] was the only one who fit.
Veldora was just as strong as [Noir], but I could firmly count him as an ally, so I did not need to worry much about him.
To begin with, he was soon going to end up trapped in subspace anyway, and getting information out of him was very easy.
But [Noir] was not an easy opponent.
"..."
[Noir], who had been talking with me just moments ago, vanished from right in front of my eyes in an instant.
Without even the slightest sign of using magic, he left behind only a hint and immediately concealed himself.
'...In raw power, we're almost equal now, but when it comes to utility outside of combat, I'm still behind.'
If I used Areadbhar to expand the range of my senses, I might be able to find him again. But looked at another way, that meant I would need an [Ultimate Skill]-class ability just to barely track him down.
That was how high [Noir]'s level of skill was in every area beyond simple combat strength.
[Question. Would you like to pursue the individual [Noir] using the authority of [Ru-Lawather], [Sword Emperor Heavenly King]: Areadbhar?]
'...No. Even if I found him, it would be pointless. That bizarre personality of his isn't going anywhere.'
I did want to know what kind of connection existed between that slime and Veldanava, but with no way to force [Noir] to talk, stopping here was my only option for now.
'Still, since Noir learned of this one's birth earlier than in the original story, I should be able to dig up a little more information.'
Right now, I was something like an assistant.
The blue slime visible inside this orb—
"Your name is Rimuru. Rimuru Tempest!"
—the assistant of Rimuru Tempest.
**
After [Noir] left, and after I finished the last of my business, I passed through the [Underworld Gate] and returned to the middle world.
Now that Rimuru had received his name, he would start from the [Goblin] village and gradually expand his forces, and I would have to watch his progress and move according to the situation.
Normally, I would stay at the Free School with Shizu and the [otherworlders] children, or in Ruberios where Hinata was, but since most incidents began in this great forest, Rimuru's movements were what mattered most.
'And the most important place right now is... the [Ogre] village after all.'
The village of the [Ogre]s.
One of the places destroyed by the rampaging [Orc]s at the hands of Clayman, [the clowns], and the homeland of those who would later become Rimuru's close retainers.
That was exactly where I was headed.
'In the original story, the [Ogre] village had already been destroyed by the time Rimuru appeared, so it couldn't be saved. But now, it's still possible.'
The [Ogre]s numbered well over several hundred. They were an extremely valuable fighting force.
Once they received names later and evolved into higher races, they would become strong enough to have almost no rivals in the Jura Great Forest.
They would be a tremendous asset for Rimuru.
Of course, that would also make Clayman more wary... but that much did not matter.
The caution of a [Deathmen] who could not even realize he had been mind-controlled was no more threatening than a child's prank compared to the petty tricks used by [Cryptid]s.
'Besides, with two hundred thousand [Orc]s about to start rampaging... it wouldn't be strange to use that as an excuse for my intervention in the Jura Great Forest either.'
From the perspective of the [Demon Lord]s, two hundred thousand [Orc]s were not such an overwhelming force, but from humanity's perspective, it was an enormous army.
There were few great mages capable of properly wielding [Nuclear Magic], and even fewer champions who could face a force of that scale head-on.
In other words, from humanity's point of view, the rampage of those two hundred thousand [Orc]s was a disaster that had to be stopped somehow.
If they were not stopped while still inside the great forest, humanity would most likely become their next prey.
And in a situation like that—
—what if I suddenly appeared in the great forest as a [Hero]?
It was the perfect situation for people to misunderstand and think, "Ah, the [Hero] has personally stepped in to stop this disaster."
That was possible because, thanks to the reputation I had built over three hundred years, most of the western nations, including Ingrassia, held me in extremely high regard.
Aside from that absurdly lucky 'other [Hero],' the only person in the West with more influence than me was my public 'fiancée,' Ermesia.
'I went through every kind of hardship to build that reputation. It's about time I made use of it.'
Unless I did something truly insane, my reputation was not going to be damaged, which meant there was no need for me to move with excessive caution.
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