Naturally, we didn't actually gather the entire village near the village entrance. We just gathered the village leaders. Anyone else that came was just curious, like Gobta, who'd earned Ailment Resistance after nearly dying, having the spoon with Shion's 'salad' on it forced into his mouth thanks to Great Sage's advice yesterday. Luckily, I was able to use that as an excuse to order her to have Benimaru taste-test her food from now on, as retaliation for him leaving me to die.
So it ended up being Rigurd, me, Shion, Hakuro, Risa, and Benimaru. I knew that Ranga, Raya, and Soei were probably hidden in my and Risa's shadows, though. Soei'd been keeping a Replication there in case of an emergency.
By the time the lizardman envoy actually came, it'd been roughly an hour since the messenger had shown up. I'd made sure to have everyone, especially Risa, promise to be absolutely polite to the messenger unless I said otherwise, but I could tell that Risa was already bored and annoyed, to the point in which it'd be a major win if she didn't stay quiet all throughout the lizardmen's visit.
The fact was, though, that this was a pretty major deal. The messenger alone was riding a hover lizard, reserved for the knight classes, so this envoy must've been a pretty big deal among the lizardmen. I didn't want to get on their bad side if I could help it.
There were ten lizardmen in all, all riding hover lizards. After a moment, one of them dismounted, sauntering up to us like he owned the place. Judging by his ornate armor, he must've been their leader. He did seem stronger than the others, but not by much. I was pretty sure that Rigurd, by himself, could probably take on their entire troupe and win in a fight. Maybe.
"I thank you for greeting me! I have decided to grant this village, too, the chance to submit to my rule! And consider it a great honor!"
'And consider it a great honor!?' I was too dumbfounded to even think of a real response. Not in my wildest imaginations had I thought that the envoy would be stupid enough to start off with a declaration like that. None of my companions knew how to respond either. Hakuro had his eyes closed, his breathing even. Benimaru wasn't moving a muscle, Risa had a smile on her face that, frankly, terrified me, and Shion had tensed her arms, in which I was sitting comfortably. If she tensed any more, it'd be pretty uncomfortable for me.
"I apologize, sir, but asking us to submit to you out of the blue like this-" Rigurd tried, but the lizardman idiot interrupted him.
"Pfft! I'm sure you've heard, but those orc pigs are on the move. They will attack this village soon, and only I can save your weak hides! Because I am strong!" I sort-of understood his reasoning. If we were being overrun by a giant horde of orcs, then seeking solace under the lizardmen was one option, but I was still waiting on Soei's report. We had five Hazard class threats in Ranga, Benimaru, Soei, Shion, and Hakuro, then another half-dozen A equivalent goblins around, plus Raya, and each and every one of our Riders were A-minus equivalents, give or take. Add Risa and I's powers to that, and I wasn't too worried, all in all. Worst case scenario, I was sure that we could at least buy time for our village to evacuate.
On top of that, it annoyed me that this idiot was acting like we were already his loyal subjects. I wanted to work with the lizardmen, but, as Napoleon once said, 'The thing to fear is not a competent enemy, but an incompetent ally.'
"Ah, yes! By the way, I understand that there are some among you who have tamed the direwolf race to do your bidding! Whoever accomplished this task, I will gladly reward! Bring them out now!"
Ummmm…
I jiggled a bit to let Shion know that she was crushing me a bit. Apparently, her temper had a hair trigger. Another stupid strong loose cannon to deal with… great.
Still, though. I could barely believe how much of a fool this guy was. Seriously, why would anyone make him their representative?
"Okay… I'm the one who tamed, or rather made friends with, the direwolves. Maybe?" As much as Ranga and Raya acted like my pets, they were still wild, powerful beasts by nature. Lords of their own domains. And they worked with us because they chose to.
"Huh? A lowly slime-!?" The idiot started talking, but faltered for a moment, shivering. "Huh. Strange breeze?" Yeah, that was raw killing intent from Risa. the 'lowly' part hitting a nerve for her. She didn't kill him on the spot, though, so, progress? "Anyway, enough joking. Let me see some evidence."
Yeah, this wasn't going to get anywhere unless I knocked him from whatever high horse he believed that he was standing on. I didn't want him dead, though, so…
"Ranga."
"I am here!" He immediately stepped out of my shadow, his full fifteen foot size.
"This guy wants to talk to you. Could you hear him out for me?" I tossed the ball over to Ranga.
I figured that Ranga was the best guy for this job. After all, even an idiot like that would be intimidated by a snarling, fifteen-foot long wolf, right? I mean, this guy was so stupid that he hadn't even sensed any of our overwhelming auras.
"My master has ordered me to interact with you. Speak." Ranga ordered, lacing coercion into his words as he talked. It seemed to really hit home among the lizardmen, who pretty much all froze in place, after backing up a step or two. Unfortunately, the main envoy still somehow managed to keep his cool, mostly. Maybe he was stronger than I thought? Rigurd would still give him a pretty good fight, though.
"I see! You must be the leader of the direwolves! I am Gabil of the lizardman tribe! Your fur is shiny, your teeth powerful. You're clearly one of the strongest things in this forest! So why do you debase yourself serving a measly little slime! Allow me to defeat this slime who has so clearly deceived you!" Wow. I was in slime form, and in Shion's arms, but I could still feel my jaw hit the floor at this guy's sheer audacity and idiocy.
"You filthy lizard, mock my master!?" Ranga gritted his teeth, eyes turning red as he seethed in anger. I could tell that Gabil was, once more, on the verge of passing out again from the pressure that Ranga was exerting on him. Honestly, though, I didn't care anymore.
Nobody would give an idiot of this capacity unilateral authority over anything, right?
I could tell that Ranga just wanted to get rid of this guy, too. So, he looked back at us for a second. "Aha." Ranga exclaimed quietly.
"Heh-heh-heh. If you truly believe yourself capable of defeating one of us that we deem worthy, we will listen to you." Then, he motioned toward Gobta. Perfect.
Everyone else here clearly wanted to hurt this envoy. They were pissed. I was pretty sure that, if he'd chosen Risa, she'd have casually vaporized the guy on the spot. Meanwhile, Gobta was too dopey to really understand what was going on at all. Besides, he was tough. I was sure that he could take whatever this guy dished out, and survive, though he'd probably lose in the end.
After all, Gobta'd been learning swordsmanship from Hakuro alongside me, and Risa had a habit of experimenting on him, giving him new resistances that'd piled up on the poor goblin over time. Apparently, at first, he'd been terrified of it, but after he'd learned Terror and Pain Resistances, he'd become fine with it.