Partners [Tensura X Oc]

Chapter-12 Meeting

YN POV

Once Souei returned from his latest recon trip, the entire gang was at the conference room. 

With my signal Souei began his report. It was generally divided into 3 parts--- the state of things in the other goblin villages, what was going on in the marshlands, and the orcs' advance. Each area had 2 Souei clones devoted to it, nimbly gathering intel. A few were still out in the field, rooting around for more.

We all fell silent, listening to his tale.

First, the goblin villages. Most had affiliated themselves with Gabiru.

Rimuru: 'Ah, the one who just paid us a visit. They're following that idiot?'

The goblins who refused to this had run for the hills in a state of panic, several attempting to flee to human territory. No one gave them much of a chance at survival. It was one thing if they lived in humble forest villages in uncharted lands, indeed another if they crossed the border. It's natural for anyone to want to keep their homelands protected, and the humans would undoubtedly give them no quarter.

Souei had some more information on Gabiru for us, too. He had apparently gathered the fighter goblins from the assorted villages to assemble a force some 7000 strong. They were now camped at the foot of the mountain range near us.

Quite a number. They had accepted the exact offer given to us--- safety against the orcs, in exchange for whatever food resources they had. I suppose it was the best decision, but with all their food in the hands of others, they were doomed to starve, regardless of how the orc battle turned out.

It was something we all would have to consider, too. This town wasn't complete yet, but I couldn't bear the thought of abandoning it at this point. If we let the orcs invade this far in, they'd ransack the surrounding forest and make it hard to keep ourselves fed.

If we wanted to retain the lives we enjoyed now, we'd have to repel the orcs--- and repel them at the marshlands, not here. 

Speaking of the marshes, the lizardman chief had been summoning some armies of his own. A force of 10,000 had already been assembled, safe and well-fed from the fish in nearby Lake Sisu. They were holed up in a maze of natural caves and caverns, ready to resist an orcish siege for as long as necessary.

So, they thought the orcs were that much of a threat, then? The lizardmen, a strong bunch of fighters despite Gabiru's little display, were even recruiting the weaker goblins.

Rimuru: "So, how many orcs' are there?"

Souei: "The orc forces number... Approximately 250,000 fighters."

Rigurd: "250,000?!"

Sarena: "That's quite a big number."

Benimaru: "So you mean to say that the force that attacked our home was merely a fraction of the entire army?"

Souei: "Indeed. That is what I found in my investigations. We believe the total number involved to be 250,000. The main force is working its way along the Great Ameld River from the south, covering a relatively broad range as they do. My estimate is based strictly on the length of their marching forces and the width of the roads they are using, but based on that, they can number no fewer than one hundred fifty thousand. I've confirmed that some squadrons affiliated with them are making inroads here and there into the forest as well, so I would warn against lowballing our estimate."