Making potions without the help of goblins was a very cumbersome task.
It was the same even now that I could command monsters.
The absence of Nanaluk, who understood my words so well and acted with finesse, felt this empty.
Right now, Nanaluk would be conquering the goblin tribe in the great forest.
Valiantly, like Alexander the Great.
But I still hadn’t heard that my title of Ouroboros had risen in rank.
Well, it’s only natural since it hasn’t even been a month since we parted.
Anyway, I used the fairly valuable potion generously on the gorilla.
“Kuoooong, family, wooong! My arm… was torn off…!”
The gorilla lady seemed more shocked by the fact that she was driven out of her group than by the pain in her arm.
Come to think of it, considering how she had said she would accept me as family and give me love, it’s understandable that she would feel betrayed.
And I was feeling a bit guilty.
Of course, it wasn’t my fault that the gorilla ended up like this, but because of that ferocious leader who was a crazy monkey.
At that time, while fighting in the monkey forest, I lost track of the gorilla at some point.
“Woooong.”
‘Stop crying.’
I made a gesture to close her mouth.
I should be calm too.
When acting cool, just imitate Steel Gunter.
‘You can stay here. I’ll even attach your arm if you want.’
Actually, I needed the gorilla lady anyway.
This gorilla can speak.
She seems much more intelligent compared to other monsters.
I’m sorry to say this to Spot, but I need a smart subordinate.
「Using Taming lv7.」
If she becomes my subordinate!
The gorilla lady looked at me with a start.
“Are you… accepting me… as family…?”
It’s not family, but subordinate.
I nodded for now.
“Thank you…”
「Successfully tamed Strong Arm Gorilla lv40!」
「The proficiency of Taming lv7 rises rapidly.」
「Taming lv7 has become Taming lv8.」
The skill level has risen.
It seems this monster wasn’t so easy to tame.
“Should I… be your sister…?”
‘No.’
Last time when she mentioned being a mother, I hit her with my tail, and now she’s talking about being a sister.
“Ah, I see…”
‘Yes, you are my subordinate. And an advisor.’
“Umm…”
‘Hmm…’
I noticed a bit late.
The gorilla answered as if she understood my words.
‘Advisor.’
「You have named the Strong Arm Gorilla lv40 ‘Advisor’.」
‘Huh, I just called her that.’
“Is that… my name…?”
「Strong Arm Gorilla Advisor lv40 likes her name.」
「Your bond with the tamed monster deepens.」
Well, if she likes it.
‘Can you understand my thoughts?’
“More or… less…”
Could it be the effect of taming?
Come to think of it, Spot seems to understand my instructions better these days.
It might be the effect of the skill.
However, most monsters couldn’t even grasp my thoughts at all.
It might be possible because the gorilla has high intelligence, or high aptitude.
‘This is about 0.7 Nanaluk.’
Unfortunately, it wasn’t at the level of understanding like a ghost like Nanaluk.
Anyway, I got an intelligent advisor without arms.
‘You need arms, right?’
Now it was time to attach arms to the armless advisor.
“Mmm…!”
I brought a prosthetic arm that was lying around in the display case.
A huge prosthetic that an ordinary human could never use.
It seems this junk has finally found its owner.
‘It might hurt, but bear with it.’
“Huh, huk!”
To attach the prosthetic, a 15cm long needle had to be inserted into the severed shoulder.
I learned for the first time that day that a gorilla’s face could turn pale too.
==
It was a sudden event.
When that message rang out.
「An unripe fruit has grown on a nearby root.」
Until now, all the messages I’ve heard were about myself or something right in front of my eyes.
But to even inform me that fruit has grown on a World Tree root that sprouted somewhere around me.
Judging by how all the monsters around me raised their heads at that moment, it seems other monsters felt it too.
Saliva started flowing from the monsters’ mouths reflexively.
It’s because they’ve already tasted the fruit.
There’s an expression ‘White Tiger on the left, Azure Dragon on the right’.
If I were to revise it to fit my current situation, it would be something like ‘Gorilla on the left, Hyena on the right’.
The Strong Arm Gorilla Advisor lv40 has now truly become a monster worthy of the modifier “Strong Arm”.
‘Let’s go!’
When I shout like that, she immediately understands and roars.
“Let’s-gooooo-!”
“Awoooooo!”
Spot howls as if not to be outdone.
Twenty monsters under my command ran down that hill.
At the bottom of the hill, one root had sprouted, and three fruits had grown on that sprouted root.
Looking at the orange color, they’re still unripe fruits.
But that sweet scent spreads up to here on top of the hill.
I jumped up onto the gorilla’s back.
I was planning to check just how strong she had become.
It seems the gorilla was a stronger monster than I thought.
She soared up in one breath.
That leaping power is so strong, it feels almost like flying.
We descend for a while, as high as we went up.
Along with that heavy weight, she strikes down the monsters crawling on the ground with her newly acquired arm.
Kwaaang!
What’s swarming on the ground is a swarm of insects.
It seems they’re monsters belonging to the insect army.
Even though we rushed as soon as the fruit appeared, the insects were already approaching the root.
Could they be subordinates of King Centipede?
But in this wilderness, we can’t survive by considering all that.
Cat-sized locusts jump up over the rising dust.
──────────────
[Black Sawtooth Locust lv21]
──────────────
Those creepy things, five, no, seven of them.
I thought about stepping in, but it seems I can trust the gorilla for now.
She was a warrior with more romance than I expected.
That is, she knows how to shout technique names.
“La-ri-at!”
She spins around with both arms spread.
Is that really a lariat?
But the rotation of that hunk of metal was comparable to a storm.
Pububububuk!
The locusts burst, spraying purple juice.
Excellent. With both strength and intelligence high. Comparing to the Three Kingdoms, she might unexpectedly be a talent like Cao Ren.
The number of insects gathered here was more than us, but their quality was much lower.
My crew ‘Beasts of the Zoo’ easily defeated the swarm of the insect army.
Honestly, I felt a bit relieved.
Because there weren’t any very strong enemies.
My subordinates were already crowded around the root.
But then, the gorilla leaped towards the root.
A Seven-legged Lizard lv16 that was climbing the root without hesitation suddenly snatched one fruit.
The Gorilla Advisor grabbed the lizard’s tail.
“No… way!”
Kwang!
The advisor slammed down the lizard while holding its tail.
Spot caught the fruit that popped out of its mouth.
Spot, very admirably, brought that fruit to me instead of chewing and swallowing it.
And the gorilla, to the lizard that dared to try to lick it first.
“Punishment…!”
Bang! She patted its head.
The lizard retreated in a hurry with its head dented.
Is that not dying?
Anyway, the gorilla seemed to be an advisor with a clear system of rewards and punishments.
This much was an excellent recruitment of talent.