First Encounter with Goblins

The next day, just as dawn broke, Mo Li prepared to wake Rimuru from her slumber.

"Rimuru, wake up. Rimuru, wake up. Stop sleeping."

Mo Li shook Rimuru a couple of times, cradling her in his arms.

"Ari, is something the matter?"

Rimuru opened the large eyes she had conjured from slime condensate.

"It's dawn. Time to set out."

Mo Li looked at Rimuru and spoke softly.

"Oh, got it."

Rimuru replied lazily.

"First, let's find a place to live. After all, staying in the forest forever isn't a solution. But since we're monsters, we can't go to human towns. So let's find a safe spot in this big forest, build a small house out of trees, and figure out the rest later."

Mo Li explained to Rimuru while laying out his plan. In the original story, Rimuru had just left the cave when she encountered a group of goblins, but the story didn't specify the exact location. After all, this wasn't some novel or anime, so Mo Li couldn't force it. He'd just have to find a place to stay and take it slow.

After all, Rimuru's great steward and many of her elites were among these weak goblins.

Before Mo Li could finish, he heard a snore. He turned his head and saw that Rimuru had fallen asleep again at some point.

Looking at Rimuru like this, Mo Li could only smile helplessly. What else could he do? He had to spoil his own people, and besides, this was his future ticket to power!

Mo Li had no choice but to hold Rimuru in his arms and begin the day's journey.

Before long, Mo Li heard the sounds of a scuffle.

Hearing this, Mo Li followed the noise and walked over to a patch of bushes.

Mo Li slowly parted the grass and saw a small group of monsters being hunted by several humans.

The monsters being hunted had green skin and pointed ears—clearly the type of monster extremely common in other worlds.

"Goblins."

"Found them."

Mo Li's eyes lit up. Wasn't this the first batch of monsters Rimuru encountered in the Cute King storyline? They were also the first residents of Tempest. It could be said that the existence of these goblins gave Rimuru the idea of creating the Demon Country Federation.

To be honest, goblins were a very unpopular existence in many anime.

In many anime, goblins had dark green skin, were short and ugly red-eyed dwarves, greedy and despicable by nature, inclined toward evil, cunning and skilled at deception, and had one particularly disgusting ability: no reproductive isolation. (For example, Goblin Slayer.)

But in the worldview of Cute King, goblins were shaped into a likable existence.

Among these goblins, the ones that left a deep impression on Mo Li were none other than Rigurd, hailed as the great steward, and Gobta, who took two punches from Milim and still didn't die.

"Ari, what's happening?"

At that moment, Rimuru in Mo Li's arms woke up.

"Here, look."

Mo Li pointed a finger at what was happening ahead.

Rimuru followed Mo Li's dragon claw and saw several humans who were clearly adventurers hunting goblins.

Seeing this, Rimuru was puzzled. Wasn't it normal for humans to hunt goblins?

"Ari, is there a problem?"

Looking at Rimuru's confused expression, Mo Li realized that was indeed the case. The current Rimuru wasn't the Cute King in Mo Li's memory. She wasn't the ruler of Tempest (the Demon Country Federation), nor the overlord of the Jura Great Forest, nor an Eight-Star Demon Lord. She was just a reincarnator whose past life had been changed into a female by the butterfly effect. Although she had now transmigrated into a slime, her thoughts were still stuck in human thinking. So, to her, humans hunting goblins was only natural. Otherwise, that tragedy wouldn't have happened later in the story.

"Rimuru, I want to save these goblins."

Mo Li said to Rimuru.

"Why?"

After all, in Rimuru's view, humans hunting monsters was perfectly normal.

"Rimuru, don't forget, we're not humans anymore. We're monsters too."

Mo Li lectured Rimuru. To be honest, even with his own groundwork laid, Mo Li still hoped Rimuru could change her thinking as soon as possible, so her kindness wouldn't harm her. The tragedy of the Demon Country Federation happened because Rimuru always held goodwill toward humans. Mo Li didn't want Rimuru to regret it after things happened. Even though there were ways to fix it, why let a bad thing happen if it could be stopped at the root?

"First, we're monsters now, so we should side with the monsters. Second, we're not familiar with this forest yet, so we can save these goblins and lead them. Third, we don't have a place to stay yet, so we can ask to lodge with them. Got it?"

"Got it, Ari."

Listening to Mo Li's words, Rimuru responded with a half-understanding.

"So what should we do?"

Rimuru asked doubtfully. To be honest, asking the current Rimuru to fight humans was really pushing it.

Seeing her troubled expression, Mo Li smiled.

"Don't worry, you don't have to fight humans. We just need to release our magicules outward and make those humans think a powerful monster is coming."

Hearing Mo Li's words, Rimuru smiled.

"Ari, you're great."

"Alright, stop being cheeky. Don't you have that mimic skill or something? Use the mimic skill to imitate the aura of a monster you've once devoured, and that'll do."

Mo Li offered Rimuru a suggestion.

"Alright."

Rimuru quickly used his mimicry skill to simulate the aura of a B-ranked monster, the Black Spider.

A human leader among those hunting the goblins seemed to sense something.

"Everyone, run. There's a powerful monster's aura here. At least B-rank."

With that, he abandoned the goblins and turned to flee.

"What, B-rank? How could a creature like that be in these outskirts?"

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and run."

"What about our mission?"

"Just get out of here. If you lose your life, what's the point of the mission?"

"Exactly, you idiot. Which is more important, your life or the mission?"

In the blink of an eye, the seven or eight people had vanished without a trace.

The rescued goblin tribe, exhausted from their ordeal, collapsed to the ground.

"Chieftain, we need to run too. A powerful monster is coming."

A noticeably sturdier goblin spoke anxiously.

"Run where? A B-ranked monster—how could we possibly escape?"

The Old Goblin said, his voice tinged with despair.