Chapter 21
Chapter 21
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Peaceful Angmar #1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
There are all sorts of races in this world.
Humans, of course.
Nymphs, too.
And half-nymphs, the offspring of those two.
Beastkin covered in fur like animals, dwarves who are short and stout, and tall, slender elves who act all haughty.
But what I wanted to talk about right now was monsters.
The dark kin lumped together under the massive umbrella of "monsters."
Ogres were one of them.
━Humans. Weak. Me, Gorgor. Strong. I am king.
Ogres stood at least four meters tall. The biggest ones reached five. They were goddamn giants. Their skin was a pale, ashen gray.
They wore pants made of stitched beast hides like some goblin undies, and in their hands, they clutched thick clubs or half-smashed human torsos, swinging them around like modern art installations and splattering blood everywhere.
━King of the lake. Gorgor. Now, implementing conscription. Conscription good. But no benefits!
An ogre's intelligence was about that of a young child at best, but they were ferocious and brutal enough to serve as siege weapons and vanguard for Angmar's demon king's army.
And right now, one such ogre had illegally occupied Lake Castle—Ainrich—one of the eight scenic wonders of Monarch City, proclaiming himself king.
━King! Feels good! King now recruiting queen!
Of course, the ogre wasn't alone there.
━Hey! Drive it out quick! Shoot arrows! Chase that crazy monster bastard away! Fire, damn it!
━Captain, the arrows are bouncing off! That ogre's skin is too tough and thick—our attacks aren't getting through!
━Fuck. What the hell are we supposed to do?
I could see soldiers in leather armor reinforced with iron plates milling about in panic below the walls. Probably the guards of Ainrich Castle.
The ones tasked with protecting the tourist spot.
I approached them and asked what was going on.
“What happened here? Why the hell is an ogre up there doing that?”
“Stay back, civilian—it's dangerous! Even Sir Scout, who charged in to kill the ogre, just got cut in half and dropped!”
Sir Scout—probably the knight I'd seen the ogre cleave in two earlier.
Knights in this world are strong.
They pick up the sword as kids, hone themselves through endless training and real battlefield experience, becoming weapons of war. That's a knight in this medieval world.
When one charges on horseback, most foes go down.
But ogres were much stronger.
━Eek, s-spare me! Mercy!
━You. Invaded Gorgor's castle. Become my soldier! Conscription!
━Nooo…!!
The sight made my head spin.
I'd brought Aira here to heal with the beautiful scenery, not to show her this gruesome, hazardous mess.
The guard captain said,
“We've sent for mages, so reinforcements from the main force should arrive soon! Get back! Everyone, follow me! We'll flank and breach the keep!”
Then he started shoving my back. But at that moment, I spotted Aira slowly walking toward the gate.
This is bad.
Soldiers were climbing ladders here and there, while the ogre swung massive logs like clubs to fend them off.
━Argh!
━Eek!
The soldiers screamed nonstop. Burning smoke, the cries of the wounded, the stench of blood—it all made my head reel.
A thoroughly toxic environment, terrible for moral education.
That's why I shook off the guard captain's warnings and pushed forward. I'd handle this myself first.
“You there, ogre! What's your reason for this rampage? Let's settle it with words!”
━Gorgor! Tried words! No one listened! Now force! Everyone must obey me!
Then it hurled a rock at us—something that looked like castle debris. A pebble to the ogre, but to me, it might as well have been a meteor.
Whooooosh—.
━Run!
━Eek!
The soldiers bolted at the sight of that massive projectile. But amid the chaos, one stood firm: Queen Aira.
She stood tall.
The rock hurtling toward us halted midair.
I knew better than anyone that Aira had stopped it with telekinesis.
But the ogre, oblivious, scowled on its already ugly face and kept chucking rocks.
━Pebble! Broke?
Whoosh, whoooosh, whoosh.
Of course, none touched Aira. They just piled up neatly before tumbling into the lake beside us, sending up huge splashes.
Kwaaaaaah. A rainbow appeared in an instant.
Through the spray of water, the ogre called out.
━Got it! That woman there. Mage, huh. Hate mages! But... pretty! Pretty and strong woman. Queen material!
So ogre aesthetics weren't that different from humans'.
Not knowledge I particularly wanted.
Anyway.
I yelled at the enraged ogre.
“This lady isn't just any mage! She is the head of Angmar's council, the rightful heir to the Black Throne! Guardian of the Valkyria Federation, which rules over five kingdoms and four duchies—.”
━Too long!
“Her Majesty, the one and only rightful Queen of Angmar, Aira von Tarantara! Bow your head now!”
My booming shout made the air around us go still for a moment.
The chattering soldiers and the roaring ogre both fell silent, staring at Aira.
━Pfft, hahaha.
Then Ogre Gorgor burst out laughing out of nowhere.
━No queen in Angmar. Angmar's king is only Covenant King Abram Angmar. Angmar king promised. Ogres calm lakeside. Land flowing with milk and honey.
Gorgor trembled.
━Here. Promised land. Promised by Angmar. Ogres' home. Only Gorgor came. My family. Worked as slaves. All died.
At the same time, Aira let out a long "Hm." from her nose. It made my hair stand on end.
Denying Aira's royal authority right in front of her, while elevating the fallen demon king Angmar?
Aira would snap, tear the ogre apart, get a taste for slaughter, upgrade to Blade Queen Aira, and then the guillotine.
My thoughts raced that far, and I couldn't stay quiet.
“You fool, King Angmar died long ago!”
━Angmar king. Doesn't die. Will return! For abandoned kin. Return and rule all again!
The ogre bellowed, kuaaaah—.
“That's enough.”
Amid the uproar, I clearly heard Aira's gentle voice. She snapped her fingers—click—and suddenly the ogre's body floated up into the air.
━Gorgor. Flying. In sky!
The floating ogre slammed into the nearby lake.
Gorgorororo—. Splash, splash—.
The ogre flailed in the water, but its massive body stayed pinned below the surface, as if gripped by invisible hands, refusing to rise.
“M-Miracle.”
“Is this the power of Queen Aira...?”
“The ogre that toyed with knights in full plate like children... with just a flick of her finger....”
The watching soldiers' eyes filled with fear and awe. A 7th-circle archmage who transcended humanity.
You might witness that majesty once in a lifetime, if ever.
Clank, clank—.
Soon, everyone dropped their weapons—iron bits clattering to the ground—and knelt, heads bowed. The only one standing proud was Angmar's sole queen, Aira.
Not a bad outcome.
This awe would spread as rumors, reaching the masses.
But I couldn't just bask in it.
“Uh, Lady Aira. How about letting him go now?”
“Spare this ogre? He insulted my royal authority.”
Aira looked ready to kill it.
Truth be told, she was right. Leaving a rampaging monster alive was wrong. But I didn't want Aira stained by killing.
There was another reason to save the ogre, too.
“Wise Lady Aira. As you already know, ogres are fool enough that they wouldn't conceive of seizing a castle without someone's orders.”
“True enough.”
“If you're torturing him to uncover his backer, now's the perfect time to haul him out and release him.”
“Hm. I was thinking the same.”
Swish.
Click.
Aira snapped her fingers, and the drowning ogre rose into the air, dropping to the ground with a thud.
Pffft— Gorgor spat out water.
━Water. Hate. No more drinking....
He looked too drained to resist further.
I asked the ogre,
“You don't strike me as the type to pull this off alone. Who put you up to it?”
━Put up? Gorgor got nothing. Came to get! Last year. Worked hard on Ainrich Castle repairs. But. Wages. Unpaid!
“Unpaid wages?”
━Gorgor worked hard. Fixed castle. Rebuilt parts too. But no pay.
What the hell?
I turned to the guard captain beside us.
“Is this true?”
“There was... that issue. Sir Scout, who managed the castle's outside contractors, did delay the payments....”
He pointed at the bisected corpse.
So, to sum up: this ogre Gorgor was an employee at Ainrich Castle who'd gone unpaid?
“How much are the back wages?”
━Two years, ten months, twenty days!
That's a lot.
I asked,
“Wage theft is forbidden by the sacred royal laws, isn't it? Why didn't Sir Scout pay up?”
“Well...”
The guard captain scratched his nose, glancing nervously between me and Queen Aira before saying,
“Sir Scout claimed his rights. Y'know... the right not to pay. Same vein as the right to whip slaves.”
“What? There's no such right.”
“The royal code's thick as a brick—bound to be in there somewhere.”
“It isn't.”
My firm denial made everyone around gasp and murmur.
━No right not to pay?
━Even bigger shock: no right to whip 'em.
━What about the right for slaves to get one lash a day?
I held back from saying more.
So this was a slave revolt born of unpaid wages and rage.
I'd strengthened slave rights precisely to prevent stuff like this.
━Gorgor! Has right to fight injustice!
But what really piqued my curiosity was something else.
As I said before, ogres lack the brains for rights or laws. Someone must have put ideas in his head.
It didn't seem like he'd act on random hearsay, so I asked the ogre again.
“So, Gorgor, no one whispered in your ear to do this? Talked about rights or laws?”
A chance to sniff out rebel agitators.
━There is. Smells like you. Similar scent.
Swish.
All eyes turned to me in an instant.
Why me?
It wasn't me.
First time seeing this guy today.
“Theo.”
Aira called from behind me then.
Chills ran down my spine.
I hurriedly opened my mouth to defend myself.
“It wasn't me. First time meeting this ogre today.”
I kicked his tough hide—thud thud. But then the ogre's murky brown eyes gleamed.
━No. Gorgor. Feels like met you. Somewhere before.
“What?” My words slipped out casually. But Gorgor closed his eyes.
━But not yesterday. Yesterday's person. Woman. Told me human rights. Said Gorgor's labor. Has value.
What kind of nutjob?
Who in this world talks human rights? Now I wanted to meet her.