That Time I Got Reincarnated as an Underground Labyrinth Manager

Chishiya sat in the main seat, arms folded, expression unreadable. Benimaru and the others stood silently behind him.

Below were the representatives of the Lizardman Tribe and the Goblin Village, led by Rimuru.

And in the center… the captured Orcs.

The war was over. Of the original 200,000 Orcs, only a little over 100,000 remained.

Even though the number had been halved, the problem of what to do with the remaining Orcs still loomed large.

"What—!!!"

"You have to take us in!!!"

The Orc in the black cloak looked up in disbelief.

The tribesmen behind him were even more shocked.

They genuinely couldn't believe their ears.

Chishiya nodded.

"Yeah. You heard me right."

He turned to look toward the Lizardmen.

"I know you're not gonna like this."

"I'll skip the polite words."

"I want to take them in. If anyone here has a problem with that, feel free to come talk to me directly."

The black-cloaked Orc stood up abruptly, panic flashing in his eyes.

"Please wait a moment…"

"No matter what happens, we're so sorry…"

Chishiya glanced at him.

If he remembered correctly, this was the same Orc Tribe Rimuru had taken in during the anime.

The one who later inherited the name of his father, Geld.

Didn't seem like a bad guy by nature.

Chishiya waved his hand.

"You were used by demons. And you've got kids among your people, right?"

"Without someone backing you, your future's gonna suck."

The Orcs lowered their heads.

...True.

In the dangerous Jura Forest, there was no place for weak monsters without a protector.

Chishiya continued.

"Since Benimaru has already forgiven you, I'll accept you too."

"Really…"

The Orcs looked up at Benimaru and the others.

Benimaru gave a slight nod.

"When a brave man is angry, he draws his sword against the strong. When a coward is angry, he draws his sword against the weak."

"With the death of the Orc Lord, the grudge between our two tribes is settled."

"The one we truly cannot forgive… is the clown demon who caused all of this."

"He's the one we want to bring down."

Chishiya was briefly stunned.

A brave man draws his sword against the strong. A coward draws his against the weak…

Hearing those words, even Chishiya felt a flicker in his heart.

As expected of Benimaru.

That's exactly the kind of magnanimity a nation's marshal should have.

Looks like pulling him in early was the right move after all…

The Lizardman leader stepped forward and nodded.

"I see. You care deeply for your people."

"We understand."

"But we still have one more thing to say."

Chishiya narrowed his eyes.

Of course. It wasn't going to be that easy.

"Go on."

"If the compensation is reasonable, I'll do my best to accommodate."

The Lizardman leader didn't hesitate.

"We'd like to seek refuge with you."

"Please let us become your subordinates as well!"

Chishiya blinked. "Take refuge with me… that's not… huh?!"

"Wait, what did you just say?"

He froze.

Did he hear that correctly?

The Lizardman leader continued.

"We've all seen your strength, and your attitude toward your people."

"After the Storm Dragon disappeared, the forest's been a free-for-all. Without a powerful figure to rely on, we can't protect ourselves."

"So we hope… that you'll accept us too."

"Please allow us to pledge our loyalty to Chishiya-sama!"

With that, the Lizardman leader got down on one knee.

All of the Lizardman followers followed suit and knelt.

What Chishiya didn't expect the most.

Gabiru even knelt down beside his father.

Gabiru.

That arrogant lizard actually bowed?

So they'd discussed this in advance.

Chishiya finally returned to his senses and rubbed his temples.

"Alright… stand up."

"I accept."

"Thank you, Chishiya-sama!!"

Just when Chishiya thought everything was finally settled…

Rimuru suddenly stepped forward.

"Chishiya-san, I also have something to say."

Chishiya: ???

There's more?!

Rimuru: "I'd like to join you as well, along with my subordinates."

Chishiya: "Ah???"

This is escalating way too fast.

Sure, he'd thought about recruiting Rimuru to trigger a reward.

But...

He never expected Rimuru to come knocking on his own.

Rimuru stepped forward.

He was impressed by Chishiya's strength—and more importantly, his leadership.

Originally, he'd just planned to establish diplomatic relations with Chishiya.

But now...

With both the Orcs and Lizardmen joining...

Chishiya already had nearly 200,000 monsters under his command.

Rimuru scratched his head.

So really...

What were 2,000 goblins and the Garou Tribe in comparison?

A short silence later, Chishiya replied.

"No problem, Rimuru. We'd be glad to welcome you to our city."

"I've heard the dwarven craftsmen in your village are top-tier."

"We've got some blacksmiths of our own. Maybe they'll hit it off."

"I hope we can learn from each other moving forward."

He extended his hand.

Rimuru paused for a moment, then shook it.

"Thank you, Chishiya-san. Please take care of me from now on."

Definitely a chill guy…

Right then, a round of applause broke out.

Dryad Treyni's voice rang out clearly.

"Chishiya-san, thank you for your help."

"According to our previous agreement, the dryads will also offer their support."

"And finally—"

She stepped forward.

"As the guardian of the forest, I, Dryad Treyni, hereby declare!"

"We acknowledge Chishiya-sama as the new leader of the Jura Forest!"

"In the name of Chishiya-sama, the Jura Forest Alliance is officially established!"

"Congratulations, Alliance Leader!!!"

The Lizardmen and Orcs cheered in unison.

And with that—

The number of monsters under Chishiya's command officially reached 200,000.

---

Chishiya led the 100,000 surviving Orcs back to Ogre Village.

Rimuru and his people followed to pay their respects.

Seeing the massive army arrive.

Chishiya rubbed his forehead.

The company definitely had enough staff now.

But… over 100,000 names...

Seriously...

Where the hell was he supposed to start with that?

"Sis… is this Ogre Village?!"

Trya trailed behind the others, glancing around with wide eyes.

Now she finally understood why her sister had been so obsessed with this place!

The town was beautifully built.

There were still some houses under construction...

But rows of neat wooden homes already lined the streets.

The urban planning was flawless.

Some roads were even paved with cobblestones!

Even more surprising—there were street lights and fountains!

And this was before all the newcomers, there had already been nearly 10,000 monsters living here.

"Oh my god…"

She'd been shocked when she saw Rimuru had 2,000 subordinates.

She had not expected Chishiya to be this over the top.

"Wow… this is amazing…"

Rimuru also looked around in amazement.

The level of development was insane.

He'd thought his Goblin Village was doing pretty well…

But now that he'd seen Chishiya's place?

They weren't even playing the same game.

Just looking at housing.

His village had thatched huts.

This place had polished wooden houses with detailed interiors.

Even the streets…

Fifty meters wide.

Enough space for four or five carriages to pass side-by-side.

And everything was paved with stone tiles.

It wasn't fully completed yet.

But from the layout alone, it was obvious this town was designed with full-on urbanization in mind.

"This is incredible…"

"Yeah… I definitely made the right choice."

(To be continued.)

***

For every 200 PS = 1 extra chapter. Support me on P/treon to read 30+ advanced chapters: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves

(Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)