In the Demonic Forest, Rir frowned at the Huge Claw Wolf that Yuki had brought with him, observing the monster intently. Even though it had been summoned by the senate president, an enemy, it had been able to determine on its own that it would be no match for Yuki. Therefore, it had followed him and survived.
“...”
“...”
Under Rir’s watchful gaze, the Huge Claw Wolf remained frozen, unable to move at all. The difference in rank was simply too great. The monster felt that even more keenly because Rir was a closer species to it than Yuki was, and so, it sat there motionless out of fear.
A while ago, when it had fought several monsters of the same rank alongside his new master, the scene had felt like carnage. But that seemed like child’s play compared to now. The intimidating aura emanating from Rir’s entire body told the wolf that one wrong move would spell its doom. Its instincts screamed at it to run away. He could easily imagine that if it did, it would be killed and torn to pieces, so it dredged up what it could of its rationality, on the verge of disappearing, and desperately suppressed those instincts. However, one could say that it was precisely because the monster was able to make such decisions that it had managed to survive facing Yuki, despite originally appearing as an enemy monster.
As for Rir, he wasn’t actually trying to intimidate the new addition to his monster army. He was simply assessing the strength of the wolf in front of him. He could tell it was afraid of him, but that didn’t mean he’d try to ease that fear. If it were to run away just because of something like this, it probably wouldn’t be able to live with them in the first place.
That said, when it came to this wolf, Rir had already decided to look after it for the immediate future. Just a short time ago, Yuki and En had said to him, “Take care of this one! Its combat skills aren’t that great considering its level, but throw it in with your monster gang and it should be able to manage life here,” and “Yup... This doggy may be weak, but it did its best for Master. It’s a cute little thing, so do your best to take care of it.” Upon hearing that, Rir had decided to accept his new charge.
And besides, Rir’s assessment was that the new recruit probably had potential. He’d heard that it was smart enough to have realized before fighting that it couldn’t win no matter what and to show an honest, submissive attitude. It had also had the courage to challenge six opponents of the same rank to a life-or-death battle just to prove that its submission was genuine. Even with Yuki and En on the scene, if it could accomplish that much, then it had potential, and with a little looking after, it would be able to live here without any problems. That was what Rir thought.
“Grr, raar.”
Thus, after completing his initial observation, Rir began to talk about how to live in the Forest. The first rule was not to attack people. If they attacked first, countering was fine, but if they showed no signs of aggression, just ignore them and let them go. Any sightings of mankind’s young in particular were to be reported immediately.
Naturally, that part of the rule had been created with Yuki’s family in mind. Iluna and the other girls had been strongly advised to always have Yuki, Lefi, or Nell accompany them when they went out into the Demonic Forest, and they made sure to obey, so it was unlikely any of the monster army would actually see the little girls outside on their own. However, it didn’t hurt to keep his subordinates aware of that fact. Rir also never failed to remind them that anyone who failed to abide by that rule would be deemed an enemy and eliminated expeditiously.
Fortunately for monsters, they almost always followed their superiors’ orders to a fault, so both Rir and his lieutenants, the other family pets, had yet to get rid of a single subordinate. One could say that was a sign of how deeply they respected his authority as their supreme leader. In essence, when Yuki wasn’t involved, Rir possessed a noble presence befitting a king of monsters. However, the moment their master appeared, his hardworking nature, which some might call that of a middle manager, suddenly came out.
The next thing Rir taught the new recruit was how to tell the difference between friend and foe. In the dungeon, there was a door in a cave that led to a meadow area. That cave could be considered the “starting cave.” Anywhere within a five-kilometer radius of it was part of Rir’s territory, so the wolf could assume that any monsters inside that range were allies. If it couldn’t tell the difference, it should state its name and speak to them. That was the quickest way to determine if they were enemies.
As part of his lesson, Rir told the monster it was vital to be on good terms with one’s allies. Though many of them were of different races, they lived as one big pack, so fighting was unacceptable. If any races absolutely couldn’t get along, they were to stay away from each other, and in such cases, report to him to mediate any issues.
As long as the wolf abided by the above guidelines, the pack would accept him. This forest was a harsh environment. Therefore, they needed to help each other to survive. In addition, Rir stressed that since the new member was a wolf, it should, to a certain extent, instinctively understand how to live with a group.
While he was explaining the rules one by one, Orochi and Seimi, two members of Yuki’s pet army, seemed intrigued by the situation and wandered close. Their comments translated to, “Is this the new addition, Lord Rir?” and “Ooh, a new friend?” Incidentally, while Orochi could express himself through his hissing, Seimi never spoke or made any noises, so the only way to understand her was via her floating movements. However, Rir had no problem with her method of communication since he’d spent so much time with her and the other pets. Furthermore, because they were dungeon summons like him, they could each tell what the others were thinking to a degree, even without expressing themselves explicitly.
That wasn’t the case with the other monsters under Rir’s direct command, though, so understanding Seimi was an absolutely necessary skill. Usually, she just floated to and fro. She never showed any signs of anger, and she didn’t involve herself with their subordinates more than required. Yet she was clearly a superior. And her intentions were difficult to grasp. The other monsters couldn’t afford to do anything that incurred her displeasure, so they all desperately tried to understand her.
“Grr,” Rir greeted the two with a nod, then continued. “He’s a newcomer, relatively close to us. He’s weak, but has the determination to protect our master, so I think he’ll manage with us.”
Orochi and Seimi looked surprised at his words. Well, technically speaking, neither’s face changed much, and Seimi’s floating was the equivalent of a “Hmm.”
“Hsss.” Translation: “I see you’re a smart one. In that case, you’ll definitely be fine here.”
In response, Seimi said... Perhaps it was better to say that she expressed her emotions through her movements. At any rate, Seimi said, “Then put on a show! Tell us a joke or something!”
The Huge Claw Wolf looked confused, still not fully understanding her intentions, so Rir translated for him.
“G-Grr?” Translation: “Huh?”
He froze again. He didn’t have any jokes. And what was a show? What exactly did she want him to do? Nevertheless, the request had come from a superior being, one he could never defeat. With his high intelligence, he realized that he had to do something interesting, so he frantically put his brain to work and...curled up.
“Grar.” Translation: “Ta-da! A furball!”
Silence filled the air. Thickened it. Then, Seimi handed down her review. You’re a funny guy!
“Grr.” Rir’s growl translated to, “Isn’t that nice? She liked it.”
“Hsss.” Orochi said, “Good job, newbie.”
Breathing a sigh of relief at their words, the Huge Claw Wolf couldn’t help but think to himself, This place is gonna be rough, huh?
Those who could think always faced challenges. Perhaps that was one aspect of monster society that set it apart from mankind.