Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Chapter 7: Hunting and Negotiation
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Northwest from Yoton Bay, after traveling by carriage for four days, a massive mountain range blocks the path ahead.
This is the Jairut Mountains.
It forms a natural border on the western side of the empire and is nominally empire territory, but in reality, it has long been recognized as the domain of the ogres who have ruled the range for thousands of years.
Most ogres rejected any interaction with humans. They refused to descend from the mountains, just as they forbade humans from ascending.
The only point of contact was the tribe called 'Marr'.
They mined silver from the mountains and traded it to humans in exchange for food and daily necessities, maintaining a mutual non-aggression pact.
But a few years ago, the Marr ogres suddenly broke the pact and committed the outrage of occupying an imperial village.
"I can't wait any longer!"
In the center of the village they had occupied, 'Three-Eyed', the chieftain of the Marr ogres, swung his massive club into the air.
"If we keep going like this, our tribe is done for! Three-Eyed must protect the tribe! The women's time is running out! We'll miss the chance at this rate!"
"No! The chieftain must be cautious!"
At that, 'Six-Fingered', the tribe's elder standing behind him, hugged Three-Eyed's back to restrain him.
"If we invade imperial territory now, we're all dead! Humans are small and weak, but armored humans are strong! They outnumber us a hundred, a thousand times over! And they have wizards!"
"Stop babbling about wizards you've never even seen! And this place is already imperial territory! We've held this village for over a year now! Yet the empire hasn't responded!"
Three-Eyed grabbed the clinging elder with one hand and hurled him far away.
Boom!
An entire large house shattered in an instant, but the elder buried in the debris stood up unscathed and once again blocked the chieftain's path.
"It's only been ten days since we came here! If you really want war, we need to call more tribal warriors!"
"If we call more, the other tribes might attack us! That would be the end! We have to manage with what we have!"
"That's why we can't fight! Marr has a pact with the empire!"
"The empire broke the pact first!"
"You're right. The empire was wrong. I'll apologize on their behalf."
I released my stealth in the center of the village and bowed my head. In that moment, Three-Eyed widened all three of his eyes and shouted.
"What are you! Human! Where did you come from all of a sudden!"
"I've been hiding here since earlier. Can't you tell I'm on the smaller side? So I snuck in without being noticed..."
"Grab him! Seize that human!"
Immediately, two nearby ogres charged at me. I hit them both with Reverse Gravity, sending them flying high into the sky, then released the spell.
Thud!
The falling ogres rolled across the ground, kicking up clouds of dust. Then they abruptly stood up, looking dazed as they glanced around.
"Huh? Huh? What was that just now? Did I fly into the sky?"
"......"
"Was that you, human? That was awesome. Do it again. Hurry."
From their expressions, they seemed to have completely forgotten they were just trying to capture me. These idiots... But that's part of their charm, too.
"Fine, calm down. If the negotiations go well, I'll do it again."
"Really! Then do mine twice!"
"I want three times! Three times flying in the sky!"
As you can see, an ogre warrior's body is steel itself.
Though their forms look like roughly molded clay, haphazard and wild, their durability and strength surpass anything humans can dream of.
Of course, if I really wanted to kill them, I could use elemental magic. But I'm not here to fight, so I have to hold back.
"Anyway, calm down and hear me out. I'm Claude, prince of the Payud Empire."
"Prince? So you're the emperor's son?"
Three-Eyed shoved his subordinates aside and stepped forward. Good lord, he's enormous. With him in front, the sun was blotted out, plunging the surroundings into darkness.
"Hmm? But you..."
The four-meter-tall brute crouched down to match my eye level. But it still wasn't enough, so he tilted his body sharply side to side.
"You're too small. Humans are small, but you seem especially tiny."
Tell me about it. It's been a month of choking down that horrific elixir, and I still haven't grown at all.
"That's my complaint too. Anyway, I'm here as the empire's representative for negotiations, so let's not fight."
"Empire representative! Why are you only showing up now! We occupied this village to warn the empire over a year ago! The empire broke the pact first, so we're in a hurry!"
"Sorry. We had issues on our end too."
"Issues? What issues?"
"First off, a communication problem. The Marr ogres and the empire agreed to 'silver for meat' and 'mutual non-aggression', right?"
"Yes. My great-grandfather's grandfather said so."
"But the empire placed great importance on 'mutual non-aggression', while treating the silver-for-meat trade as a mere side matter. When in reality, that trade was your biggest issue."
This was the root cause of everything. Three-Eyed widened his eyes, his face showing utter incomprehension.
"Really? We thought the opposite. Non-aggression should naturally follow as long as the trade continues, right?"
"Exactly. To ogres, meat is the truly vital thing."
Saying it like this makes them sound like rabid meat fanatics... Oh, well, they are meat fanatics.
But before that, there's a critical issue tied to the tribe's survival.
"This is the ogre women's ovulation... no, fertile period, right? Ogres can only bear children once every ten years, and only once or twice in a lifetime."
"Gasp! That's our secret! How do you know that!"
"I told you earlier. I've been hiding here a long time. I overheard everything you said while eavesdropping."
Of course, that's a lie.
I actually arrived just five minutes ago. From their perspective, since I know things they shouldn't share, they have no choice but to buy it.
Three-Eyed furrowed his brow and pouted.
"Eavesdropping isn't nice. But we failed to find you, so it's partly our fault. We'll let it slide this time. But don't go blabbing about it."
"Understood. Anyway, I know the ogre women need to consume large amounts of meat right now. It helps with conception, and even if they do conceive, it reduces the risk of miscarriage."
"Right. But did I mention that much here? I don't remember well..."
Three-Eyed scratched the back of his head with a dumb look. Ugh, the stench! I took a small step back from the overwhelming odor emanating from him and continued.
"Anyway, the empire steadily sent meat for years, then suddenly stopped, right?"
"Yeah! The empire cut off the fish they were sending! But we're different from other tribes! We've relied on the empire's meat all this time! That's why we had to do this!"
"I'm sorry again. The empire government used to buy rockfish caught in Yoton Bay and ship them here, but a few years ago, sea monsters ravaged Yoton Bay, halting fishing. That's why we couldn't supply the meat."
And so, the 'Sea Serpent Route' I completed four days ago connects to the current 'Ogre Rebellion Route'.
Thanks to that, I had to drag my exhausted body all the way here personally. Do you know how torturous it is to sleep in a carriage when your health is already poor? It feels like my limbs are being torn apart. Boo-hoo.
"Hmm... So..."
Three-Eyed blinked for nearly a minute, his comprehension lagging, before responding.
"The empire couldn't fish because of sea monsters, so they couldn't give us meat?"
"Exactly. Of course, if we'd valued the pact, we should've slaughtered other livestock instead of rockfish and sent that. But as I said, the empire only cared about the non-aggression clause and deemed the silver-meat trade unimportant."
Thus, this mess erupted.
Naturally, from Governor Jess's perspective, he probably wanted to dispatch a knight order to wipe out the pact-breaking Marr ogres.
But even the Marr ogres alone are no pushovers, and if things escalated, all the ogres of the Jairut Mountains might unite and invade imperial territory.
The empire's lands are already surrounded by hostile or unfriendly races everywhere except the sea.
If the balance tips on one side, the others might seize the opportunity to attack. The empire's military is the strongest, but defending such a vast border requires dispersing forces in all directions—a weakness.
"And it just so happened that this coincided with the start of your tribe's fertile period. You first scoured the nearby mountains desperately for any mountain beasts you could find?"
"Uh... Yeah."
"But for some reason, there were far fewer mountain beasts than before. An investigation revealed that humans had been freely entering Marr ogre mountains to mine recklessly, causing the beast population to plummet. The Jairut Mountains' mines release toxins if not properly managed."
"Right. Humans can't mine like we do. They miss the veins but hit nothing but poison veins."
"So, in your anger, you forcibly occupied this village, which humans built for trade with ogres. Even though they unilaterally cut off trade, the miners who ruined the mountains were using it as a base."
"You're amazing."
Three-Eyed blinked in astonishment and asked.
"How do you know all this so well? Can you read our minds?"
"I told you, I hid here and heard everything. Anyway, I've grasped the situation, so let's resolve this peacefully through negotiations. First, I've brought the meat you need right away."
"Thanks. But..."
Three-Eyed sniffed toward me and wrinkled his nose.
"You're too small."
"What?"
"The meat you brought isn't enough to fill our tribe's women."
"You think I'd carry jerky in my pocket for you? Wait a bit. Wagons are heading this way now."
"Wagons?"
"Chieftain! Chieftain! I smell something! Fish smell!"
At that moment, an ogre guarding the village entrance raised both hands and shouted. The dozens of wagons that left Yoton were finally arriving here at the foot of the Jairut Mountains after four long days.
* * *
That night, Three-Eyed returned from the tribe's village with arms spread wide and a joyful face.
"Thanks, Prince! The meat you brought is top-notch! The tribe's women are raving about how delicious it is!"
"That's the meat from the sea monsters that occupied Yoton Bay. But hold off on the hug! I'll die!"
I barely dodged sideways to evade Three-Eyed's tackle. Ow, with my body in this state, even simple moves like this are agony.
"Whoops, sorry. There's so much meat, enough for another week at least. I got excited."
Three-Eyed carefully helped me up from the ground with a grin. But devouring thirty huge sea serpents in a week? What bottomless pits do these guys have for stomachs?
"But the real star is the taste! Sea monster meat is delicious! I've never had anything this good before! I even brought a chunk for you to try, Prince!"
"I ate plenty already and got sick of it. Go ahead and eat it."
"Really? Alright!"
Three-Eyed shoved a large chunk of sea serpent meat hanging from his thigh into his mouth and chomped away. It must be a delicacy for ogres, but for humans, it's too tough and greasy to eat.
"Nom nom. So chewy and tasty! Truth is, those little fish you sent before were too small and meh. Over-salted too, and not fresh, but this meat is fresh and perfect!"
That's why I brought priests on this route.
They used Anti-Corruption at regular intervals en route to keep the meat fresh. I owe them thanks.
But this elaborate effort isn't just to cater to ogre tastes.
Sea serpent meat has special effects on ogres.
Especially if ogre women consume large quantities during conception, it positively influences the fetus.
This is a proven fact from the two previous regressions on this same route.
Among ogres, those with extra eyes like Three-Eyed, or extra arms or fingers—mutants—possess greater power.
Such cases are rare, maybe one in a hundred in ogre society.
But offspring from parents who ate sea serpents have over fifty percent chance of mutation!
"Anyway, Three-Eyed is thrilled today. Ending this without fighting humans is great. So tonight, I'll lift the tribe's taboo and invite you, human prince, into our tribe's home!"
Three-Eyed shouted with a face full of resolve. Phew, was worried that line wouldn't come. I nodded calmly at the expected response.
"Thanks for the invite. Mind if I bring two human escorts?"
"Two? No problem. Come taste the honey mead and mountain berry wine brewed by Marr ogres to your heart's content!"
Three-Eyed laughed boldly and turned toward the tribal village. I called out to Meredes and Didi near the transport wagons behind and followed him.
Everything is going according to plan.
But I can't relax yet. The moment right now is the most crucial for reaping the rewards of this 'Sea Serpent and Ogre Rebellion Linked Route'.