Building a Monster Nation From Zero in Another World

"How many Goblins can be recruited from the surrounding area?"

"This..."

Shuna said, "The closest Goblin village to us probably only has a few dozen people."

"Only that many?"

"I apologize, Rin-sama."

Shuna said, "Our people are too few, and the forest is too vast, so we truly cannot conduct a more accurate search."

The Great Jura Forest in the original work seemed small.

But only after truly transmigrating to this world did Rin realize how vast the real Great Jura Forest was.

Though called a great forest, it actually featured diverse terrains, including grasslands, swamps, lakes, and hills.

These areas were separated by dense forests, which formed the monster circle of the Great Jura Forest.

"It's alright, you've done your best."

Rin naturally wouldn't blame the loyal Ogre Clan.

"I know about Goblins, you see."

Just as Rin was contemplating how to better search for tribes in the forest, a figure slowly appeared before Rin and the others. It was the Dryad, Treyni.

Nearly a month had passed since Rin displayed Explosion Magic last time.

During this time, Treyni had paid close attention to Rin's movements.

She would occasionally visit Rin, who would then warmly invite her to taste the village's delicacies.

Dryads are the guardians of the forest.

With them, the forest can thrive endlessly.

Therefore, it was beneficial to get along well with Treyni.

"These are our newly made potato chips. Please taste them, Treyni-san."

Shuna brought a bowl of freshly fried potato chips, and Treyni's attention was instantly drawn to them. "Well, then I won't be polite."

"Crunch!"

Treyni held a potato chip in one hand and gently stroked her cheek with the other, her eyes filled with enjoyment and intoxication. "Ah, this food called potato chips is too delicious."

Rin didn't quite understand Treyni's love for potato chips.

However, he had read the original work and knew about Treyni's potato-elf meme, which was why he offered potato chips to cater to her preferences.

The effect was self-evident. Treyni was completely immersed in the potato chips, unable to extricate herself.

Rin felt that in a while, he might even be able to convert her into a new dependent.

Yes, a dependent.

Treyni and her sisters are the guardians of the Great Jura Forest.

In the original work, she eventually followed the Fairy Queen.

But this has not happened yet.

Rin had every opportunity to win over Treyni, and by extension, bring this forest completely under his supervision.

'Unfortunately, now is not the time.'

In Rin's opinion, it wasn't difficult to gain Treyni's favor.

Even now, he had a certain chance to persuade her to become his dependent.

But the problem was that Treyni's monster level was still above Rin's current level.

Don't underestimate Treyni.

The Dryad big sister seemed not strong, but her magicules value was over 100,000.

Capturer cannot convert beings with magicules higher than Rin into dependents. This is also a major flaw of the Capturer.

"Treyni, are you willing to help us subdue the Goblin tribes in the forest?"

"I've always been entertained by you, and sometimes I want to do something in return."

Treyni thought highly of Rin. She believed Rin had hope of unifying the Great Jura Forest.

The Storm Dragon is the lord of the forest, but he is sealed beneath the labyrinth and rarely interferes in daily matters.

If a powerful monster could step forward and lead the monsters in the forest, Treyni wouldn't have to worry about external forces infringing upon this land.

"Then you've truly helped us a great deal."

Shuna asked, "Treyni-san, do you know how many Goblins are currently living in the forest?"

"I remember Goblins should be monsters that reproduce very quickly," Shion said, "When I was little, there seemed to have been a Goblin disaster, with over 5 million Goblins rampaging through the forest."

"How many?!"

This was the first time Rin had heard this number, and he could only say, as expected of Goblins.

But a problem arose.

Rin didn't remember Rimuru having so many Goblins under his command.

In the original work, Rimuru seemed to have only subdued one Goblin village, with a total of only sixty or seventy Goblins.

Even counting the Goblins who joined later, the total number wouldn't exceed 2,000.

But according to Shion, the number of Goblins was so vast that they could almost establish a country.

"That's right, there was indeed such a thing."

Treyni, who was listening, recalled, "At that time, Goblins were rampant, and their figures could be seen everywhere in the forest."

"They expanded recklessly, eventually attracting a massive subjugation by human adventurers."

"It was because of that incident that the number of Goblins sharply decreased, and a large portion of them fled to the eastern part of the forest."

"Is the east safer?"

Rin thought the Goblins in the forest had migrated, which was why Rimuru only had so few Goblins under his command.

"No."

Treyni shook her head. "The Goblins who went to the east almost all died out."

"Uh..."

Soon, Rin learned the reason from Shuna.

The Great Jura Forest, in terms of ownership, was considered the territory of the Storm Dragon, Veldora, and the Demon Lord's Domain to the east, the Western Nations, and the Northern Empire all tacitly acknowledged this.

There were a large number of magical beasts and monsters in the forest, and many countries would hunt monsters living on the forest's edge.

During the Goblin rampant period, the Northern Empire and the Western Nations acted together to drive them back into the forest.

They thought that as long as they stayed away from humans, they would be safe.

However, the three Demon Lords in the east similarly looked down on this group of weak Goblins and carried out a massive purge against them.

"By now, only the Goblins living in the central area of the forest remain, estimated to be no more than 30,000."

Normally, the Goblins in the Great Jura Forest shouldn't be as few as they were in the original work.

Otherwise, wouldn't human adventurers not receive any quests to subjugate Goblins?

But the situation at that time was quite special.

The Storm Dragon's aura disappeared, and the monsters in the forest became unrestricted, beginning to devour each other.

It's not surprising that the number of weak monsters like Goblins plummeted from tens of thousands to around 2,000.

"Will Goblins not go extinct?"

"They won't."

Treyni said, "Monsters are very difficult to truly exterminate."

Monster factors will not disappear because of the extinction of a certain race.

Even if all the Goblins in the world were killed, new Goblins could still be born in the future.

(To be continued.)