After accepting the loyalty of the three, Rin's gaze once again fell upon Benimaru.

The young leader of the Ogre village, with his blood-red long hair, was in a state of deep inner conflict.

With his younger sister and two companions choosing to follow Rin, Benimaru had also begun to entertain the idea of becoming Rin's subordinate.

Especially when Rin declared his desire to become a Demon Lord.

From a personal standpoint, after having been crushed by Ogerpon's overwhelming power, he had long acknowledged Rin's strength.

Serving such a powerful existence, Benimaru felt no hesitation whatsoever.

But the problem was...

"Sorry."

Benimaru was extremely reluctant, but he still made his decision. "I am the young leader of the Ogre village. I cannot abandon the people in the village."

"So please forgive me. I cannot follow you."

"Is that so..."

Hearing Benimaru's reason for refusing, Rin wasn't angry. Instead, he felt even more appreciative. This was indeed the man who would become the Commander-in-Chief of the Jura-Tempest Federation in the original work.

With that level of responsibility and sense of duty, having someone like Benimaru guarding the rear would allow Rin to confidently leave the Cardinal World and seek opportunities in other worlds in the future.

"I think you misunderstood something."

Rin waved his hand and said, "I actually don't plan to leave the Ogre village."

"What?"

Benimaru was stunned. Shuna, Souei, and Shion were just as shocked.

"You mean..."

"I want to subdue the Ogre village!"

Rin didn't hide his ambition at all. "Then I'll build this place into my base, as the foundation for my advancement to Demon Lord!"

"This...!"

The four exchanged glances, momentarily at a loss for words.

Subduing the Ogre village, this essentially meant taking over the place.

If it were anyone else saying this, Benimaru and the others would have definitely fought them to the death.

The Ogre race would rather die than surrender. They'd never compromise in the face of violence.

However, Rin was different.

First, he had saved their lives. Rin and Ogerpon had rescued the village's younger generation, preserving the future of the Ogres.

Then, not long ago, Ogerpon had single-handedly defeated the entire Ogre village.

No flashy magic, just brute force.

An Ivy Cudgel, and a pair of pink fists.

Ogerpon had simply beaten them all senseless in the area the Ogres prided themselves on the most.

A fellow Ogre who had shown great kindness to the village, coupled with the overwhelming aura Rin gave off, along with his respectful and friendly attitude toward the Ogres.

Rather than a conquest, it felt more like Rin and Ogerpon wanted to become a part of them.

"What conquest?" Shion blurted out. "Clearly, Rin-sama wants to protect us and lead us forward!"

"That's right." Shuna tugged on her brother's sleeve, her meaning obvious.

If they refused something so good, they'd be idiots.

"Please accept my loyalty, Rin-sama!"

Benimaru no longer hesitated. He placed his hands on the ground and swore, "I can't make decisions on behalf of the village, but I'm willing to follow you!"

He was only the young leader. The real clan leader was his father.

But so what?

As for whether the Ogres should submit to Rin, Benimaru had already chosen a side.

Besides, he didn't believe his father was so foolish that he couldn't see the situation clearly.

To receive the protection of Rin and Ogerpon, the only price to pay was the leader's seat.

"Welcome to be my companions."

After Rin finished speaking, he raised his hand. Four invisible oaths enveloped the four of them.

"Here, I bestow names upon you."

"Benimaru."

"Shion."

"Shuna."

"Souei."

Rin didn't change their names. He followed the original work faithfully.

On the other side, the four who had received names were stunned.

They had thought Rin's talk about "following" was only superficial, but who would have guessed, Rin had actually named them.

"Rin-sama!!!"

Though shocked, the four were also filled with worry.

Everyone knew that naming monsters consumed a tremendous amount of magicules, which was a heavy burden on the master.

"No need to worry."

"Carefully feel the changes in your bodies."

In Rin's view, magicules were like money.

Using Capturer, Rin began transforming the four into his true subordinates.

Benimaru's initial magicules were 7500, Shion's were 7000, Souei's 7200, and Shuna's slightly lower at 6500.

Since 50% of a subordinate's magicules would be returned to Rin, this meant he gained 14,100 magicules out of thin air.

Now, there were two prerequisites for naming monsters.

First, there had to be a fundamental difference in magicules between the namer and the named.

In the original story, Rimuru named the Storm Dragon because they had exchanged names and formed an equal soul-level contract.

That situation was different from normal monster naming.

Additionally, a single naming required enough magicules to allow the target to complete their evolution.

Meaning, to name Benimaru and the others, Rin had to raise each of their magicules above 10,000.

Only then could they evolve from the Ogre race into the Kijin race.

"10,800 magicules?"

However, since half of their increased magicules would flow back to Rin, the real cost was only 5400.

"Going by that, I actually profited 9000 magicules."

So, after this wave, Rin didn't lose magicules. He gained, increasing his total from 18,000 to around 27,000.

If over 10,000 magicules meant A-rank,

Then with nearly 30,000, both Rin and Ogerpon could already be considered mid-tier A-rank.

The advantage of recruiting monsters from the Cardinal World as subordinates was that Rin already knew their initial rank and magicule count.

Unlike Ogerpon, who had been like opening a blind box.

Only after bringing her to the Cardinal World did her talent and potential become clear.

Considering the possibility of traveling to more dangerous worlds next.

Rin wanted to strengthen his team as much as possible.

Now that Benimaru, Shuna, Shion, and Souei had become his subordinates, Rin would be able to take them to other worlds, just like Ogerpon.

Boom!!!

The commotion caused by the simultaneous evolution of four Ogres was even greater than Rin's earlier transformation.

Because no isolation barrier had been set up, the eruption of power immediately drew the attention of the Ogres led by the Red Ogre leader.

In an instant, countless Ogres rushed toward the wooden house where Rin was, quickly surrounding it.

(To be continued.)