The lizardmen had originally been rescued by Rimuru and the others, so they naturally had no standing to voice any objections now.
As for the goblins, their strength was laughably weak. At this moment, they were huddled quietly in a corner, not daring to utter a single word.
Although Benimaru and the surviving ogres were among the most direct victims of the conflict, they had now become Rimuru's subordinates. As such, they naturally chose to respect his decisions.
Thus, upon hearing that Rimuru had no intention of punishing the orc race, the various monster races of the Jura Forest were certainly surprised—but none of them raised any objections.
That said, this didn't mean that everyone present was willing to accept it without complaint.
"Rimuru, don't you think this way of handling things is a bit too reckless?"
"Yes, Lord Rimuru. The orcs are the defeated side, and because of this war, we've suffered considerable losses in both manpower and resources."
Both the Dwarven King and Fuze of the Kingdom of Blumund looked visibly displeased when they heard Rimuru's plan to let the orcs off so lightly.
It was true that the orcs had been influenced by the Orc Demon Lord—there was no denying that. However, the fact remained that their soldiers and subordinates had died at the hands of the rampaging orcs.
"Ren Kuroda, do you feel the same way?" Rimuru asked.
Hearing the Dwarven King's and Fuze's objections, Rimuru let out a helpless smile.
Indeed, even though he had inherited the Orc Demon Lord Geld's final wish and promised to protect the orc race as much as possible, too many factions were involved this time. It was no longer something he alone could decide.
If even Ren Kuroda wanted the orcs punished, then the vote would be three to one. In that case, no matter how much Rimuru wanted to honor Geld's will, he would have no choice but to abandon it.
"Why should they be punished?" Ren Kuroda said calmly. "This is the Jura Forest, isn't it? And they're monsters.The survival rule among monsters has always been simple—survival of the fittest. As far as I'm concerned, they were just trying to live. They didn't actually do anything wrong."
To Rimuru's surprise—and delight—it was obvious from Ren Kuroda's words that he was firmly on his side.
"But even if that's how monsters survive," Fuze countered, "does that mean the rest of us, who paid such a heavy price to defeat the orcs, are just supposed to swallow our losses?"
If this had been anyone else's opinion, neither Fuze nor the Dwarven King would have cared much. But with Ren Kuroda siding with Rimuru, they could already tell this matter was slipping beyond their control.
At this gathering, no one dared to underestimate Ren Kuroda—neither in terms of status nor strength.
In terms of status alone, Ren had already declared before the meeting that he was now the Emperor of the Kingdom of Falmuth.
Among the surrounding nations, Falmuth's power was on par with the Armed Nation of Dwargon. A small country like Blumund was practically insignificant by comparison.
Though the Dwarven King and Fuze didn't know what exactly had happened within Falmuth in such a short time, Ren Kuroda wouldn't have spoken so boldly in this setting without confidence.
And even setting aside status, Ren's strength alone was more than enough to earn everyone's respect.
Knocking fifty thousand orcs unconscious with sheer pressure.Slaughtering over half of the high-ranking majin single-handedly.Overpowering the calamity-class Storm Disaster.And finally, obtaining the seed of a Demon Lord.
To put it bluntly, the entire tide of this war had been turned largely because of Ren Kuroda. As the greatest contributor, his words carried the most weight.
"Even if you want postwar compensation from the orcs to make up for your losses," Ren continued evenly,"have you actually thought about what they can give you right now?Don't forget why they went berserk in the first place. They're a race so poor they can't even feed themselves. What exactly do you expect to take from them?"
Hearing this, both the Dwarven King and Fuze fell silent.
He was right.
The orcs couldn't even feed themselves—what compensation could they possibly provide?
Kill them all to vent their anger?
That was ridiculous. Even as the defeated party, the orcs weren't idiots who would just sit there and die. If fighting resumed, their desperate counterattacks would only cause even more casualties.
And judging from Rimuru's stance so far, if they insisted on executing the remaining orcs, Rimuru would almost certainly intervene.
Of course, neither the Dwarven King nor Fuze actually wanted to slaughter the orcs. They weren't tyrants. They simply wanted something in return to offset their losses.
"As for how to deal with the orcs," Ren said after a brief pause, "I do have an idea—actually, it's one of the reasons I came here in the first place.For a race as destitute as the orcs, monetary compensation is impossible. But punishment is still an option, isn't it?As one of the most numerous races in the Jura Forest, they can serve as labor."
With that, Ren took out a map he had prepared in advance and spread it out in front of Rimuru, the Dwarven King, and the others.
"This was one of my original objectives for coming to the Jura Forest.I plan to build roads—more accurately, to repair and establish trade routes.I'd like to know if the people here are interested in cooperating."
"Dwargon possesses unparalleled metallurgy thanks to its vast dwarf population and can produce high-quality weapons and armor.Blumund has the most adventurers, excellent intelligence networks, and some agricultural resources.As for the Jura Forest—it's rich in all kinds of materials, and with Rimuru's potions added to the mix, once the roads are built, I guarantee you won't just recover your war losses—you'll make a fortune."
"Until now, due to political tensions between nations and the sheer danger of monsters in the Jura Forest, building such roads was unrealistic.But now that we're all sitting at the same table—and after this battle, Rimuru has effectively become the recognized leader of the Jura Forest—I think this plan has real potential."
"And since road construction requires a massive workforce, which would normally be an enormous expense, we happen to have one hundred and fifty thousand orcs on hand.Let them work as punishment. What do you all think?"
The moment Ren finished speaking, Rimuru's eyes lit up, and he immediately raised both hands in enthusiastic support.
As a fellow modern person, he understood the immense value of infrastructure. More importantly, Ren's idea aligned perfectly with thoughts he'd already had himself.
Building roads between nations required huge manpower. This solution not only gave the orcs proper punishment but also provided them with work and sustenance.
The Dwarven King fell into deep thought after hearing Ren's proposal and seeing Rimuru's wholehearted endorsement.
Fuze, however, with his keen business sense, agreed after only a brief moment of consideration.
The reason was simple: the impoverished orcs truly had nothing else to offer. Accepting this plan was far better than leaving empty-handed.
Moreover, based on years of governance experience, Fuze could already foresee the enormous benefits Blumund would gain once trade routes between these nations were established.
Compared to Dwargon or the newly transformed Falmuth, Blumund was a small nation. Now that it had a chance to cling to these giants, Fuze saw no reason to refuse.
The Dwarven King hesitated at first, but after glancing at Rimuru, then at Ren Kuroda, he finally nodded in agreement.
Dwargon might be relatively isolationist, but the Dwarven King was no fool.The Jura Forest and the reborn Kingdom of Falmuth were already formidable powers. If they formed an alliance through trade, their growth would only accelerate.
If Dwargon didn't keep up, it might one day be left behind—even by a small nation like Blumund.
Besides, compared to Blumund, the Dwarven King shared a far closer relationship with Rimuru—one akin to senior and junior disciples.
And after witnessing the Orc Demon Lord and the Storm Disaster incidents, he had come to realize that having powerful allies was not a bad thing at all.
In the end, the postwar conference regarding the orcs concluded.
Rimuru, having earned the unanimous respect of those present, became the leader of the Jura Forest Monster Federation.
Soon after, alliances were formally established between the Jura Forest, the Armed Nation of Dwargon, the Kingdom of Falmuth, and the Kingdom of Blumund.
As for the orcs, their punishment was clear: they would be tasked with constructing the roads connecting these nations.
For the orc race, this verdict brought tears of gratitude.
They had expected severe punishment—perhaps even extermination.
Yet not only did Ren Kuroda and Rimuru spare them, they even provided them with food and shelter.
As for building roads, the orcs didn't view it as punishment at all—it was simply labor in exchange for food.
To them, as long as they could fill their stomachs, physical work meant nothing. Strength was something they had in abundance.
Once everything was settled, Ren politely declined Rimuru's enthusiastic suggestion to help name all one hundred and fifty thousand orcs and returned directly to the Kingdom of Falmuth.
Due to Ren's evolution into a Demon Lord Seed, his subordinates—such as the Spider Princess and the others—also received the Blessing of the World.
Among them, Tōbei, Hand-Washing Oni, and the rest saw their demonic power rise directly to B+ rank. The Spider Princess, already the strongest, advanced from A− rank to A rank.
As for Ren Kuroda himself, after exiting his Half-Demon Transformation, even his normal state now possessed demonic power at the A+ level.
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