Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: The Ogre's Territory
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Come to think of it, lately there had been a lot more small and frail creatures, along with quite a few bizarre ones I'd never seen before in my life. Out of curiosity, I'd caught a few, but got lazy and just left them be.
In the end, from the perspective of the Big Fang, they were all just "small and frail" no matter what they were. As long as they didn't carelessly intrude into his territory, he didn't pay them any mind.
But what if... what if by some slim chance that "existence" came looking for him today?
"Krraaaah... Chomp!"
The Big Fang bit his tongue without realizing it and flailed about, not even caring about the blood gushing out. (His tongue would heal back to normal soon enough anyway.)
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The ogre, appointed by Sion decades ago as the "Monster Manager" of the Brandin Mountains, grabbed the massive black ebony axe—its blade embedded over an area the size of a man's torso, a gift from Sion (crafted by the Iron Mountain dwarves)—and bolted from his lair like lightning.
Even an elite monster on the verge of becoming a champion, with a lifespan two or three times longer, didn't have human-level intelligence.
Thus, the Big Fang had no detailed plan.
The grand proposition in his head was simple.
- A human who could beat me to death anytime told me to manage these smaller, frailer humans well.
That was the starting point of his logic.
-> But lately, those small and frail ones had suddenly multiplied.
-> The somewhat less small and less frail ones eat or toy with the even smaller and frailer ones.
-> So, beat up every somewhat less small and less frail one I see, and let them handle(?) the even smaller and frailer ones somehow.
-> PROFIT!
A truly perfect plan.
Even as he raced down the mountain like a madman, the Big Fang felt his brain had gotten smarter. He was satisfied.
Of course, separately from that satisfaction, he mobilized every sense—his hearing, sight, smell, and even his instincts—to track traces of those "somewhat less small and less frail" ones.
He found them quickly.
His kin living on the peak right next to his territory.
No, not exactly kin.
A few years ago, when he was still a juvenile, one had ignorantly crossed into the Big Fang's territory and barely escaped half-dead. He'd wondered back then if it really was kin.
Anyway, the Big Fang hadn't forgotten the scent of that freak with only one eye, and he followed the arrogant trail leading down from the peak.
"Krrah?"
In the midst of it, the Big Fang noticed something off.
He didn't just stay in his own territory. When bored, he'd wander elsewhere, and in his younger days(?), he'd roamed the entire Brandin Mountains.
So he knew the scents of all the "somewhat less small and less frail" types by category.
Back when he was around their strength level, he'd clashed with plenty of them, even nearly getting done in himself a few times.
'Why are there scents mixed from somewhat less small and less frail ones?'
Weird.
This had never happened before.
Those types usually stuck to their own territories. Even if they ventured out, it was just two or three squabbling over turf, and that was it.
It was the first time in his life he'd smelled such a jumble of diverse scents from somewhat less small and less frail ones down at the mountain base. Even the smaller and frailer ones' scents were chaotically mixed in.
'This is weird. And this means...'
Things were about to get a lot worse.
What if that inhuman human found out?
"Krroooaaargh!"
The Big Fang's sprint grew frantic, snapping and smashing full-grown trees and whatever else in his path.
* * *
Krroooaaargh...
"Huh?"
"Did you hear that just now?"
"What, what was that? What was that?"
The Falcon Unit and Rozin soldiers, having just wrecked over three hundred goblins' habitat, all whipped around toward the Brandin Mountains.
While the Falcon Unit members just furrowed their brows slightly, the ordinary Rozin guardsmen looked downright tense.
And for good reason—most of them had just experienced their first "real combat."
Sure, the Falcon Unit had done the heavy lifting, and the soldiers had mostly just mopped up goblins too slow to flee, like battlefield cleanup. But wading through rivers of sticky blood, with marrow and guts spilling everywhere—that was a whole different level.
Quite a few soldiers puked up their breakfast, and the rest went pale as ghosts.
So when a terrifying roar echoed from the distant mountains, it was only natural for the soldiers to freak out and tense up.
"An ogre?"
"Sounds like an ogre. Heard 'em back home too."
As Zanstrick mercenary veterans murmured among themselves, Sion conversed with Priel.
"How many ogres are in the North Mountain Elves' managed area?"
"Four, last I checked. But there could be more by now. Still, none should have come down this far."
"Figured. Go fetch that S... Stella Gosan."
Calling his dead wife's name still felt awkward.
"Yes."
Priel went to the elf squad, soon returning with Stella, her glossy golden bob swaying.
Sion glanced at Stella's status window for a moment.
Her innate talents, plastered with S and A ranks, were still overwhelmingly superior. Though they didn't work on him, of course.
"That roar just now—sounds like the Big Fang, right?"
"Yes, Instructor. Nothing else around here can roar like that all the way to us. The other ogres are strong, but mediocre compared to the Big Fang."
"Thought so."
It had been so long, he'd half-doubted.
For all he knew, another powerful ogre might have risen in his absence from the dukedom.
"Anyway, good timing. Stelma, gather up the byproducts, tidy things roughly, then tell the soldiers to rest in that village we passed earlier today."
"Yes!"
"And send two people to manage the soldiers in the village with them, but the rest move out together. Pack just two days' rations. Everyone still fresh?"
"Of course. If not, drill 'em till they are."
Stelma grinned.
It sounded nonsensical, but coming from her, it somehow made sense.
While the soldiers choked down their nausea for cleanup, the Falcon Unit finished prepping to move.
Not sure about "fresh," but as all veterans, they didn't seem particularly taxed.
"Move out!"
At Sion's command, the Falcon Unit's gaus lumbered forward in groups of about ten.
Not exactly orderly, but in a formation optimized for threats during travel, they headed toward the forest at the Brandin Mountains' foothills.
* * *
"Isn't this a bit weird?"
"Hmm. Definitely not normal."
Even military gaus couldn't march for hours without rest, so during a brief break, the elf rangers chatted.
Human squad members lingering nearby slyly joined in.
"Right? We've been thinking it's odd too—no mid-to-large monsters showing up this deep in."
"Ah! You all deal with monsters a lot in the northeast, huh?"
"You bet. Back in the Zanstrick Mercenaries—not to brag—we were ghosts at monster hunting. Even we think this is off. And wasn't this place crawling with them originally?"
"Exactly. Around here, you should normally see a troll family—swamp, rock, whatever. Or at least a manticore or some giant mantises."
"Whoa? Those guys too? Wild."
Miska, still smitten with female elves, jumped in quick, chattering away.
"Giant mantis aside, manticores are no joke. So you ladies took those down?"
"You bet. Our South Mountain has a different environment from North or High Mountain—lots of hybrids and insect-types."
That was true.
The North Mountain Elves' main stage was echo-free forests, teeming evenly with herbivores, carnivores, bipedal small monsters, and mid-to-large ones.
High Mountain had few forests, mostly high plateaus with basins, so more goats, mountain sheep, and pumas or black leopards—thus bird-type monsters dominated.
South Mountain, at the humid end of the Brandin range with its lakes, ponds, and waterfalls, hosted far more diverse flora and fauna, hence complex and varied monsters.
"Follow this stream a bit further, and you'll hit the Elgreys Swamp. All sorts usually lurk around, but this is normally their activity limit."
"But no signs at all? Even with the monster surge now."
"Right. Makes it even stranger."
The human squad members, who'd joined to get closer to the female elves, now looked a tad serious.
But their questions soon resolved.
Krroooaaargh!
Uwoooargh! Woargh!
Kieeeek!
"......!"
Everyone's heads snapped around.
Following that overwhelming roar from the goblin wipeout site came successive shrieks from something else.
And not far from here.
Crack!
Regardless of race, the battle-hardened veterans' gazes locked on one man.
Sion hopped onto Blackie's saddle with a blank expression.
"All rested? Let's go. About a kilometer, I figure."
"Yes!"
"Let's roll!"
Seeing their instructor-cum-leader—the strongest here, maybe the strongest in the entire Sion Dukedom including monsters—act so casually filled everyone with confidence.
Weird situation or not, if that superhuman leader treated it like no big deal, it really wasn't.
Proof?
His track record so far.
Clop! Clop!
In an instant, the Falcon Unit mounted their gaus and trotted off.
About ten minutes later.
"Uh...?"
The squad froze at a sight beyond imagination.
The Elgreys Swamp lived up to being the largest lake in the southern Brandin Mountains—vast indeed.
Primeval forests lined the shores, mangroves tangled above the surface in a fantastical scene.
Everyone except the South Mountain Elves was seeing it for the first time.
Even the romance-blind Zanstrick mercs and Black Eagle legionnaires might've marveled at the mystical, grand swamp under normal circumstances.
But the spectacle unfolding in the shallow-looking marsh erased all thoughts of mystery.
Kieeeek!
Ugaaaargh!
A one-fanged ogre, freakishly oversized, sat on a huge rock with arms crossed, a man-sized blackish axe propped beside him—fine, whatever.
A mantis with scythe-sharp forelegs as big as the ogre's torso, brawling with a one-eyed giant wielding a 3-meter log—slightly smaller than the ogre but passable as nature's harsh law.
But.
Manticores, griffins, swamp trolls, forest trolls, etc.
Mid-sized monsters that could throw a territory into chaos with just one or two were encircling the brawl.
Trembling, stealing glances at the ogre acting like the ringmaster? Referee? Boss of this circus, anyway.
(To be continued next time)