Preparing to Name

Before long, every Goblin and Direwolf had found a partner.

Looking at the dozen or so remaining Direwolves, Rimuru said,

"From now on, patrol duty will be yours."

"Yes, Lord Rimuru!"

The remaining Direwolves shouted in unison.

"Oh, right. Do you have names?"

Rimuru turned to the old Goblin and asked.

"Lord Rimuru, we do not have names. Ordinary monsters generally do not have names."

The old Goblin explained it to Rimuru.

"Then how am I supposed to address you? You all look so alike. It is manageable with the Goblins, but the Direwolves are practically identical."

This issue gave Rimuru a headache.

"Lord Rimuru, if we spend enough time together, we will become familiar with one another even without names, so there is no need for you to worry."

The old Goblin explained to Rimuru.

"But it is still rather inconvenient, isn't it?"

Rimuru still found it troublesome.

"I have an idea. How about I give you all names? Would that be all right?"

Rimuru said to the Goblins and Direwolves.

Before Rimuru had even finished speaking, everyone present fixed their eyes on him. Even the Goblins and Direwolves standing at the very back excitedly rose to their feet.

"Lord Rimuru, are you serious?"

The old Goblin asked in disbelief.

Those unsettling stares gave Rimuru quite a fright.

"W-What is it? Is there a problem?"

Rimuru stammered.

"No, nothing. We are simply a little excited."

The old Goblin hurriedly said.

"Ari, what is wrong with them?"

Rimuru asked Mo Li, who had been sitting off to the side all along.

Seeing Rimuru's clueless expression, Mo Li could not help but sigh.

"Looks like you did not remember a single thing Veldora told you, did you? Have you forgotten what Veldora said about Named Monsters?"

Mo Li asked Rimuru in return.

Hearing Mo Li's words, Rimuru fell into thought.

Looking at Rimuru's clear yet foolish expression, Mo Li was reminded of those foolish college students from his previous life.

"The reason they are so surprised is that names cannot be given casually."

Mo Li had no choice but to explain it to Rimuru again.

"Why?"

Rimuru asked, completely confused.

"Uh, I will not go into the details. Do you not have Great Sage? Ask Great Sage in your mind. She should explain it more thoroughly than I can."

Mo Li suggested to Rimuru.

"That is right. How did I forget? I have Great Sage."

Only then did Rimuru realize.

Seeing Rimuru's expression, Mo Li seriously suspected that even if he sold Rimuru off, Rimuru would still help him count the money.

"Great Sage, why can't names be given casually?"

Rimuru asked Great Sage in his mind.

Great Sage, who had been observing all along, watched Rimuru's performance just now and could not help but wonder, Did I really choose the right one?

Great Sage could not help falling into self-doubt. Forget it. She had chosen him herself, so even if she had to cry, she would have to accept it.

"[Named Monster], as the name suggests, refers to a monster with a name. In this world, ordinary monsters do not have names. When low-level monsters evolve into high-level monsters, another named monster must name them at the cost of its own magicules for the evolution to be completed. During the naming process, the namer expends an amount of magicules equivalent to the named individual's level. Sometimes, the namer cannot recover the magicules lost through naming. Therefore, high-level monsters generally do not name other monsters casually."

After a moment of silence, Great Sage continued.

"Furthermore, Goblins are a degraded spirit race and are low-level D-rank monsters. Even after evolving, male Goblins can only evolve into C-rank Hobgoblins, while female Goblins evolve into C-rank Goblinnas—Goblinnas! Their strength is not particularly high, and they offer poor value for the cost. High-level monsters generally do not name a lowly race such as Goblins. Although Direwolves are stronger than Goblins, they are not much stronger, so naming these two races is extremely uneconomical."

Great Sage not only told Rimuru what Named Monsters were, but also analyzed for him the advantages and disadvantages of naming the Goblins and Direwolves.

Only after hearing Great Sage's explanation did Rimuru finally understand.

"No wonder they were so surprised when they heard I was going to name them. Great Sage, do I have enough magicules to name all the Goblins and Direwolves?"

Rimuru asked Great Sage.

After pondering for a while, Great Sage spoke.

"In theory, your magicule reserves are insufficient, but you have a backup energy source."

Great Sage clearly hesitated when she said "backup energy source."

"A backup energy source? What backup energy source?"

Rimuru asked curiously.

"It is the herbs, ores, monsters, and so on that you have consumed in the past."

Great Sage slowed slightly when mentioning monsters, clearly concealing something.

Yet Rimuru did not notice at all.

"I see. Then I will name them."

Rimuru said nonchalantly. To him, he had consumed plenty of ores and herbs, so using up a little was no problem.

It seemed he had not realized that among the monsters he had consumed, only Storm Dragon Veldora possessed that amount of magicules. Great Sage did not point it out either. As far as Great Sage was concerned, she would only do what benefited Rimuru.

Moreover, Storm Dragon was a supreme Holy Spirit, namely a True Dragon. True Dragons and dragons were entirely different races. True Dragons were spiritual lifeforms born from the degraded hereditary factors of the Star King Dragon, the Creator God. No matter how many times their physical bodies were destroyed, they would revive when their spirits gathered again, though their memories would not be completely preserved. In a sense, True Dragons were immortal and indestructible beings. On top of that, Storm Dragon possessed the greatest quantity of magicules among the four True Dragons. It simply could not fully control them at present, so even if Rimuru's own magicules were insufficient, Great Sage could draw magicules from Veldora to make up the difference.

Seeing Rimuru preparing to begin, Mo Li spoke up and asked,

"So, you understand everything now?"

"I do. Great Sage explained it all to me."

Seeing Rimuru's expression, Mo Li knew that Great Sage definitely had not told Rimuru about drawing magicules from Veldora.

Forget it. Mo Li had originally wanted to remind him, but upon further thought, he decided against it. It was only drawing a little magicules, and among the four True Dragons, Storm Dragon Veldora had the greatest supply. In the original story, Storm Dragon Veldora was basically Rimuru's power bank. Having read the original story, Mo Li also knew that even when Great Sage drew magicules, she would keep things within reasonable limits.