We decided to sit and hash things out with the ogres the next day.
We chose the log house built atop the recently burned-out public square in the center of the village.
I guided the ogres to the house's reception room, looking around to make sure everything was built as I ordered.
They meekly followed behind, eagerly looking around the house like it was a novelty.
There was zero decoration yet,
so I don't know what enthralled them so much, but whatever.
The reception room had a large table, along with a few simple stools encircling it.
We were all gathered there—Rigurd, the four goblin lords, and Kaijin the dwarf as a mediator. Fourteen in all, counting me in with Fubuki.
Haruna came in with tea for everyone. She gave a quick bow once she was done and left the reception room.
It was still a tad awkward for her, but she was beginning to learn some manners. Wonderful progress.
I brought the cup to my lips. Bitter, but not distastefully so.
I didn't used to be so picky when it came to this sort of thing, but the long-awaited return of my
sense of taste was maybe making me more finicky.
The green tea–like bitterness played around my tongue. I could feel its heat, too.
My body could nullify heat, I suppose, but I could still feel this. Isn't it funny?
Fubuki, on the other hand, was staring at the green tea with sweat dripping down his entire face.
He was staring at it with an intensity that almost made me cry to the heavens.
I mean, for real, bro? Chill out, dude; it's just tea.
It's not like there's anyone among us who had such a terrible kitchen aesthetic, right?...Right?
「Author: (..... Well—shit.)」
The ogres seemed to enjoy it as well. I waited for them to settle in before we began to talk.
I started by asking why they were there in the first place. They replied that they were fleeing in order to regroup and rally themselves.
That, in itself, was disquieting. I had a feeling this would go on a while.
If there was a force out there that could defeat ogres, we had a serious threat on our hands.
These were B-ranked creatures, even solo, and I could tell that much from yesterday's battle. And these guys here were the cream of the crop.
Masters of the forest. The highest class of monster you'd find here, I was told. Better hear them out.
◇◇◇
To sum up the ogres' story…
There was a war, and the ogres lost. That was about it.
While I was busy fending off Ifrit at this village, the ogres were getting involved in a war of their own.
Kaijin: 「Who on earth could challenge the most powerful race in the Forest of Jura to war—and win?」
Fubuki: 「Actually, you'll come to realize that the ogres aren't the strongest race in this forest.」
Kaijin: 「Hm? What do you mean? Surely you jest.」
Fubuki: 「That is for me to keep and for you to realize on a later date. You'll be scared out of your mind, truth be told.」
Now thay didn't sound good. If the ogres, as I was told, were the strongest, does that mean there's another race of monster taking refuge in the forest?
We might be dealing with several ifrit threat levels here if what he says is true. That's, to be frank, really scary.
It sent a thrill of tension across everyone in the room.
Their faces tightened with concern.
I'm not gonna ask why Fubuki always seemed calm in these types of situations. Maybe he's just that strong.
"They attacked our homeland out of nowhere," the red-hair muttered angrily.
We kept the piece of info at the back of our heads, paying careful attention to every detail they let out.
"Their power was overwhelming…"
"Those hideous pigs, those orcs!!"
It was an army of them, apparently.
And unlike humans, monsters never thought about formally declaring war before dunking it out.
That's one thing about the jungle. Some annoying law that was.
So while the ogres didn't decry the surprise attack in and of itself, orcs attacking them was far from the norm.
Why? Simple: the difference in strength. Orcs were D-ranked creatures.
Stronger than goblins, but nothing a veteran adventurer would lose sleep over.
Ogres, remember, were two grades higher than that, rendering a one-on-one battle eminently predictable.
And yet, the weak challenged the strong, and they won…? Special circumstances may have prevailed in that case.
I decided to go a bit more in-depth.
The ogres' home was a fair bit larger than our own village—an informal collection of clans, which together formed a kind of battle-fort home to three
hundred.
They were about as powerful as a small nation's knight corps, in other words—a force equivalent to a three-thousand-strong army of fighters trained to B-minus
monster status.
These ogres lived a life you could describe as militaristic.
The clans held battle training with one another on a regular basis, occasionally joining this or that side to assist other races when they fell into conflict with their neighbors.
Some of the clans had even made their mark on history, forming vanguard forces of an army for one demon lord or another, and these ogres were descended from
them.
They lived, in other words, as de facto mercenaries.
—And the ogres of this world were quickly destroying the image I once had from my own fantasy
novels.
But that wasn't the issue.
They had been defeated by far weaker monsters, and it looked like they were all still in shock—for in this reception room, we were looking at the sole survivors of the entire settlement.
The red-haired one had taken his sister, the princess, away from the place while their leader was spearheading a team to defend them from the orcs.
She was nobility, after all, a sort of ogre shamaness, and her people put her ahead of everything else in their lives.
"If only I were stronger…," the red-hair groaned. The last thing he saw was the orcs, clad in black armor, delivering the final blow on his leader.
A giant orc, one that let off an eerie aura.
And one other, a figure who didn't bother to hide their own brutally dark aura; one who wore a mask that looked a bit like an angry clown.
"It was one of the magic-born people, I am sure of it," the shamaness declared. "A high-level one. I'm afraid my brother never stood a chance."
"Indeed," the elder added. "We jumped to conclusions about all of you because we saw that fiend in action. We thought you were one with them."
Yeesh. Really? Cute li'l old me? Getting lumped in with this murderous freak?
The way they put it bruised my ego a bit, but then again, I was wearing a mask of my own back there.
Perhaps it was natural to associate me with that magicborn
guy.
I was under the impression that a magic-born person could be almost any intelligent monster.
Ogres would count as magic-born, even. But if this guy outclassed them that much, he had to be something extra fierce.
I knew from our earlier confrontation that nothing was more dangerous than monsters with a little intelligence.
They could wield magic with the ease of a human caster and handle weapons equally as well.
That, combined with physical strength that outclassed humanity's, made them difficult to counter at all.
And the higher level the monster, the more disastrous the results could be.
It'd be safe to assume we were dealing with an A rank, at least. Not welcome news.
Oh, and just for clarity's sake, goblins are a subrace of mankind, so their evolved hobgoblin forms don't count as magic-born.
Just wanted to let you know.
The ogres continued.
It seemed there had been three other orcs equivalent in strength to the black-armored one.
The four made short work of the ogre stronghold's elite fighters,
and as they did, the rest of the orc soldiers poured into the fort and kicked off the massacre in earnest.
There were several thousand—just an estimate on the ogres' part, but still a massive figure.
And the funny thing was, they were all clad in the sort of fullplate armor you'd expect a human watchman or the like to wear as a uniform.
Like a massive wave of metal, steamrolling across the forest.
If that was true, this had to be the work of more than simply the orcs.
Orcs were human types as well, but they were treated as low-level, unintelligent monsters, like goblins.
There was no way they could cobble together the funds
for such extensive and expensive armor.
Plus, there were lots of powerful
monsters in the Forest of Jura.
It'd be impossible for the orcs to avoid attracting attention on the way to the ogre stronghold.
It seemed fair to assume they were colluding with some other nation—a nation of humans?
But I couldn't guess what they wanted, and that concerned
me.
If the force was several thousand strong, they couldn't have merely wanted to crush that one ogre site.
They were gunning for the entire Forest of Jura at that rate.
Fubuki: 「You know, this might have something to do with a demon lord.」
Rimuru: 「Hm? That's dangerous. A demon lord, you say?」
Fubuki: 「Yeah. The humans, no matter how brash they appear to be, would never even think about striking a deal with scavengerous races like the orcs.」
Kaijin: 「Exactly what I had in mind! Not to talk of handing over war supplies, they would rather appreciate the idea of a head-on confrontation.」
Generally speaking, I didn't think any demon lord cared much about this forest.
Outside of it, their lands spread far and wide, and their fertile fields were mostly tended to by vast numbers of golems and slaves that had been captured
in battle.
Demon lord–controlled lands never had to worry about famines, and
as a result, these lords were rarely concerned about areas under human control.
The way it was explained to me, the so-called war slaves had it good enough that their lives weren't much different from anyone else's.
I couldn't say how human nations considered them, but as far as the Forest of Jura's denizens went, the demon lord lands were pretty chill.
So, if anyone was looking to conquer someone else's territory, chances were good that humans were involved.
At the same time, there could always be a demon lord or two who wanted to kick off a war just for fun or to pass the time.
Veldora the Storm Dragon and Sariel, the silver demon had
been another check on their behavior, but now, they were out of the picture.
It made sense. I had to think more about defending this forest, I supposed.
But either way, one thing was sure: This place was getting overrun by orcs.
If Fubuki truly is the Sariel person I hear of, he'd also be the so-called ruler of the forest.
It made more sense now. In the beginning of it all, the duo appeared to be very familiar to each other.
Veldora was also considered the secondary ruler of the forest, so they might've had quite the history without me even being aware.
So if my statements actually made sense, then things would get sickly ugly if those two ever decided, "Fuck this shit, I'mma go teach those fools a lesson."
I don't think they'll take that behavior from the demon lords lightly.
But, is Fubuki strong enough to take on a demon lord?
I get that Veldora is sealed and all, so his involvement is kind of impossible at the moment, but wouldn't all the responsibility fall on him?
Would he be able to take care of the demon lords? If it comes to that, I'd have to lend a long hand.
I didn't think so. Demon lords were like beings of absolute power who ruled over demons like him with tyranny.
I don't know how he managed to conquer the forest, but it seems it is now being fought over.
Everyone wants a share of this and that, and in the end, it's all intertwining to form one big chain of power struggle.
Well, he better do something about it. I don't want a Demon Lord after my ass.
I didn't get reincarnated into this world just to start running for my slife.
So what now…?
Fubuki: 「Don't give me the stares. I dunno.」
You run the fucking forest and you dunno?! That's the same way you won't know how you died!!
Instead of lashing out, I remained calm like the wise old sage-man I was.
I decided to hear everyone out.
Rigurd: 「We believe the orcs are seeking to seize leadership over the forest.」 Rigurd said after I prompted him with a glance.
Fubuki: 「Well, that much is obvious. It's all about what to do now. Rimuru? (Heh. Throwing him in the sea must be the best thing I've ever done.)」
Everyone was looking at me now.
This guy… I almost thought of spitting out some water blades, but I know what he wants.
Probably thought it funny to make an example out of me.
Well, I'm as calm as the lake, your plan won't work!
Now, back to business.
Fight them? Run? Or join their alliance?
The way the ogres were acting, they knew that we could be enemies once again, depending on my decision.
Suddenly, things were far more intense. But I didn't care.
Fubuki: 「*Sigh* You seriously don't know how to handle the atmosphere.
Well, let's relax for a minute. How about another cup of tea for now?」
Whew. That was good. He dissolved the tension with that casual remark.
One came to me (tea).
Everyone put their respective cups to their lips, and the tension abated somewhat.
Right.
Fubuki: 「So what are you people gonna do?」 Fubuki, taking my place, asked the ogres.
"What…do you mean?"
Fubuki: 「You know, I mean, what's your future direction? Are you gonna run so you can fight another day, or just hide out somewhere instead?
'Cause if you were planning to run, I was just wondering if you had someplace in mind.」
"Is it not obvious? We will build our strength, wait for an opening, and challenge them again!"
"Precisely. We must avenge our lord!"
"As must I! We are all but powerless right now, but I refuse to let those twolegged pigs live!"
"""We promise to follow our young master and princess!"""
Fubuki: 「Nice, nice. Six ogres taking on thousands of orcs. Yeah, truly a wonderful idea. I'm starting to like you guys more.」
The embarrassment followed.
Rimuru: 「C'mon, cut them some slack, will ya?」I remarked. 「So, here's the deal. How about ya'll join our side?」
"Huh? What are you…?"
Fubuki: 「He put it clearly enough, didn't he? If you guys were working as mercenaries anyway, why don't you work for us instead? If you wanna fight for your old Lord, I'd be happy to hire you to do that.」
"We…"
Rimuru: 「Besides, if it's strength you're seeking, don't you think you should side with us? I can't really pay you much outside of giving you three hots and a cot, but…」
"We couldn't! Doing so would involve this village in our quest for vengeance!"
Rigurd: 「I do not see a problem with this. We are here to serve Sir Rimuru and Sir Fubuki, and no other. If they will it, no one will work against their desires.」
Kaijin: 「Yeah. That, and I kinda expect we'll get involved in this
sooner or later anyway, y'know? If that many orcs are on the move, I doubt anyplace around here is safe.」
These guys were truly reliable.
"Very true," another goblin lord chimed in. "A lizardman spy once made contact with the village we used to live in.
As goblins, we were unable to understand what he wanted at the time, but I imagine he was investigating some new movement or trend.
That means this place could become a battlefield. It is best for us all to work together."
Fubuki: 「You heard them.」
They all seemed well enough in agreement.
Hmph. Not like a bunch of goblins could do much themselves.
If we had an orc horde coming, we needed as many people on our side as possible.
Fubuki: 「Right? Besides, if you were to simply wait for a turn to strike back, you'd have to scavenge. No base, no food, no water—would you really be secure?
You could get some things from the forest, but another factor to consider is the enemy's strength.
Think about it, this deal is a both party-friendly one. A once in a lifetime deal. Think wisely.」
Wow, that's an insane pressure he's applying with words alone.
He turned and gave me an expectant gaze. For what, though?
Oh, right. Hehehe. He's a demon indeed.
More pressure it is!
Rimuru: 「Right.」 I offered. 「If you agree to serve us, I think we might be able to make your dreams come true, too.」
"…How, exactly?"
Rimuru: 「Simple. If you join us, I promise I'll fight with you if something comes up. I never abandon my companions, and I'd like to believe the same goes for Fubuki.」
Fubuki: 「Oi! What's the big idea? I don't abandon my comrades.
(Heh, nice going, Rimuru. We've got this in the bag.)」
Wow. He understood the plan without us even saying a thing! Smooth one, buddy!
Rimuru: 「If you let me hire you on, I will be glad to cooperate with you.」
"I see. So we protect this village, and in turn, the village protects us?
It's not a bad proposal. In fact, it is a welcome one.
We could use this place as a base to assemble the resistance forces we need against the pigs…"
Fubuki: 「Yeah, exactly.」 Fubuki replied. 「We're gonna be fighting anyway. You might as well come along for the ride.」
"And could this agreement stay in place until the ringleader of the orcs is defeated?"
Fubuki: 「Sounds perfect to me. You'd be free to do whatever you like once the matter with the orcs is settled.
You could work with me to build a nation and go out on a journey and whatever. What of it?」
The red-haired ogre thought this over for a few moments while the others remained politely silent.
They must have respected his decision-making skills.
He closed his eyes, then opened them once more.
"Very well," he said. "We will serve under your leadership!"
So that's the path he chose. Good. That's a big help for me, too.
◇◇◇
Winning over the ogres was a major coup, as far as I was concerned. I figured they wouldn't be rankled by the idea of serving me in a mercenary capacity, and I was right.
And if we had several thousand orcs to deal with, we needed to beef up our numbers fast.
We had no idea what kind of strength this orc army had,
so I wanted as much to work with as possible.
It may have been strictly business, but they had sworn to follow me, and that meant we were friends now.
And if we were friends, I'd need them to have some actual names, or else it'd just be a pain in the ass.
Besides, Fubuki isn't around, so I might as well give it a shot.
So, a naming spree it is!!
Rimuru: 「Right! Get in line and get them—free names! Let me give you people a complete identity.」
"Hah? What are you…?"
Rimuru: 「What do you think? I said names. It's annoying not to have them, right?」
"N-no, erm, we are able to communicate with one another well enough already, so…"
"Hoh-hoh, indeed! Humans may have names, certainly, but we monsters have little need for them…"
Rimuru: 「Wha? Don't be stupid! I don't care if you don't think you need them or whatever.
I'm saying I need them, 'cause otherwise it's a pain in the ass to get your attention, okay?」
"Y-yes, but…"
"Please, wait a moment!" the pink-haired ogress explained.
"Giving a name can be a very risky maneuver. We had best begin with those of a higher ranking
first…"
Dangerous? Right, like I use too much magic, and I fall asleep?
Isn't that a good thing, though?
Well, I'll be fine as long as I don't try to name an entire village at once, right?
Rimuru: 「No, no, quit worrying.」 I said, ignoring the pink-haired ogress. 「It'll work out just great!」
It's time to think up some names. The ogres still looked dubious, but to hell with them.
Let's get this show on the road.
I was really on fire this time.
The ogres were kind enough to each have different hair colors, which made it easy to come up with ideas.
The red-haired guy became Benimaru, a name that means "red circle" and tends to get associated with the samurai of olden times.
Something virile seemed like a nice match overall.
The princess became Shuna, or "scarlet plant." She had pink hair and knew a lot about herbs and stuff. Sounded about right.
The white-hair became Hakuro,
"white elder," which was pretty obvious given how he looked.
Blue-hair became Soei, "blue shadow".
Purple-hair became Shion, "violet garden," because the way her ponytail stuck out somewhat reminded me of a flower.
Finally, black hair became
Kurobe, basically "black" but with a country flair.
That seemed to match him—
boorish, unrefined, but still likable.
I was pretty satisfied with my choices. I came up with them almost immediately, like a divine revelation of sorts.
But as I patted myself on the back, I suddenly began to feel drained.
Wah…? Wait a minute…
By the time the thought occurred, it was too late. It was back to sleep mode for me.
Why would naming six people exhaust my magic like that?
I thought as I reverted into slime form, no longer able to control my body.
"Wha—? A slime?!"
"How on…?! You were a slime all along?!"
I was too weak to respond.
This, apparently, alarmed the ogres a lot. They fell to the ground, seemingly just as drained as I was by the ceremony.
What's going on here? I wouldn't have my answer until my magic was recharged.
◇◇◇
Taking another good look, I realized exactly how much they all had changed.
They had shrunk a decent amount, which made their clothing flap loosely about, but they still had the dignity to wear it well.
Beauty's a damn helpful thing to have at times like these.
I didn't think Kurobe could pull it off, but I guess he borrowed an outfit from Kaijin, and it worked on him.
If not for the horns, I'd almost mistake him for a dwarf.
Hakuro was the only one who hadn't physically changed that much. His outfit still fit him normally.
Shion, on the other hand, was a bit precarious, her now much ampler chest threatening to spill out.
Eep. Better do something about that.
Garm should be informed of this at once, I thought as I kept sneaking secret peeks at her bosom.
Soei's chest plate was still in pieces, too.
I had forgotten about Fubuki smashing that up, but, hey, there's an easy way to make up for it.
It was time for all the ogre
mages to get new clothing and equipment.
I had promised to take care of their basics, and I didn't want them to fight with old, banged-up crap.
So I took them all to Garm's cabin.
Garm: 「Hey, boss!」 he greeted me, smiling as he stopped working. 「Those the new ogre friends we've got?Are youu sure about that?
'Cause they sure don't look like ogres to me, but…」
He looked pretty surprised, his eyes right on Shion's chest.
Birds of a feather always flock together.
Rimuru: 「Yeah, well, I named 'em all, so they aren't exactly ogres any longer. Ogre mages is the term for 'em now, I think.」
Garm: 「Ogre mages?! That's a high-level race, isn't it? Born only on extremely rare occasions among the ogres…」
Rimuru: 「Is it? Well, there you have it, I guess.Do you think you could make some clothing and armor for them?」
Garm: 「Oh. Yeah, sure thing.」
Garm still seemed dubious but refrained from commenting further as he brought the ogres inside. I was sure he'd be measuring them all shortly.
Hakuro was good to go as is, and Kurobe apparently borrowed a few days' worth of outfits from Kaijin.
Simple work clothes, really, but Kurobe seemed happy enough with them.That reminded me: Why did their clothing look so Japanese?
Rimuru: 「Hey.」 I asked Hakuro.「Your weapons are pretty unusual, aren't they?」
As he put it—around four hundred years ago, a group of armored warriors came to the ogres' homeland, heavily wounded and seemingly lost in the forest.
The ogres were a war-faring bunch by that point, more akin to monsters than they are now, but even then, they blanched at attacking the defenseless.
They were a high-level race, not very preoccupied with food, so they took care of them.
The warriors, thankful for this, instructed the ogres in battle techniques and gifted their armor to them.
One among them knew how to forge these katana-style weapons, and after a long trial-and-error process, they succeeded in
producing large numbers.
Hakuro: 「One of the warriors they trained was my own grandfather,」 Hakuro said
proudly. 「And he made well sure to teach me every skill he had.」
Kurobe: 「Yeah, and my family's among the blacksmiths that supply
'em all!」
Rimuru: 「So you can make those swords yourselves?」
Hakuro: 「I am more versed in a straight sword, but I have learned how to take care of these well enough, at least.
Kurobe, though, is a sort of weaponsmaster to us.」
Kurobe: 「Yep! I made all o' these swords. I ain't too good at fightin', but you want me to bang some metal together, I'm your ogre, Sir!」
Wow. I had no idea there was a weaponsmith among them.
Kurobe was notably weaker than the others, so I guess strength wasn't the only thing he
was good for.
This group from four centuries ago might have been otherworlders like me, I figured, not that I had any way of knowing for sure.
The important thing was that the ogres were intelligent enough to keep their tradition going.
Rimuru: 「Good. Very good. In that case, Kurobe, you're going to be our village's dedicated swordsmith from now on.」
Kurobe: 「You're on, Sir Rimuru! I'll do my best for you.」
I introduced him to Kaijin at once, and since they had already met yesterday, our discussions went quickly.
The two immediately hit it off, and by the time I left, they were already talking about new weapons they could craft—that, and
some kind of weird "research" Kurobe wanted to tackle.
I don't know if it's because of this, but it sounded like Kurobe possessed a unique skill known as 『Researcher』.
It sounded a tad like my own Predator skill, and it was geared for producing things, offering subskills like 『Full Analysis』,
『Spatial Storage』, and then 『Material Transformation』.
Spatial Storage was basically like my『Stomach』, and the other one,『Material Transformation』 allowed him to mess around with the stuff he kept in spatial storage.
For example, he could "store" a big heap of scrap iron and transform it into solid ingots for further processing.
It's more or less like my
Copy skills, then. It was funny how 『Researcher』 gave Kurobe the kind of skills that he, and only he would find useful.
He had also obtained 『Flame Manipulation』 and 『Thermal Fluctuation Resistance』, and while I'd peg him as B rank in battle, those skills would make
him a pretty tough fight for most people, wouldn't it?
Although it seemed the man himself wanted to devote his life to forging katanas.
Now, at least, I was pretty sure the hobgoblins wouldn't have to worry about where their weapons were coming from.
But before they swung into mass production, I really wanted them to craft some swords for me and the other ogres.
I gave Kurobe a fairly massive supply of magisteel for the job and set him at it.
Kurobe: 「I'm gonna make the best swords you ever did see!」 he promised, striking a fist against his chest to prove the point.
I was definitely looking forward to it.
◇◇◇
Lake Sisu was situated in the center of the Forest of Jura, surrounded by a broad region of marshland. It was the domain of the lizardmen.
A smattering of caves surrounded the lake.
These formed a sort of natural underground labyrinth that stymied anyone who tried to go inside, and at the end of it lay the vast cavern that contained the lizardman stronghold.
There, the race held control over the lake area, secured by the natural protection they were blessed with.
Today, however, the lizardmen were greeted with news that had the potential to affect their people's very future.
The orc forces were here, and they were advancing on Lake Sisu.
The chief, upon hearing this, still managed to retain his composure.
"Prepare for battle!" he bellowed. "We shall kick these pigs back to the abyss they came
from!"
He was supremely confident, but that didn't mean he would rest on his laurels.
Along with the attack order, he sent the call to gather as much accurate information on the orcish army as his people could find.
They had to have a grip
on their numbers, to start.
One average lizardman, carnivorous and ferocious in battle, ranked around a
C-plus.
Their battalion leaders would probably manage a B-minus, maybe a few up to B, even.
The conventional wisdom was that a fully armed knight corps from one or another of the small kingdoms around the forest was a solid C-plus threat.
But that was besides the case.
This would be a fight on their home turf, so chief liked his chances.
But there was still something that bothered him.
The orcs had no problem with going after weaker opponents, but they never dared to defy those higher up on the food chain.
Lizardmen were not weaklings. They were "higher up," as
it was.
Goblins would be one thing, but what was making them act so fearless against lizardmen?
The question gave birth to a small seed of doubt in his mind, one that even now stabbed against the chief's heart.
He was a bold man, but he was also careful—a balance of anyone who wanted to lead such a fierce tribe had to have.
And the chief's concerns wound up being all too perceptive.
"The orc force numbers a total of two hundred thousand!!"
"Two hundred thousand!?! Nonsense!!"
The spy team's report to the chief and his council of tribal elders sent a thrill of fear across the great cavern.
Its content, which was delivered amid halting breaths by the lizardman warriors, froze everyone in place.
"Ridiculous. That couldn't be possible!" one of the elders scoffed.
The chief agreed—he would have said the same, if so many others weren't in attendance.
He had a duty to be a rock for his people, unmoved by every ill
tiding that greeted them.
He couldn't believe it, but he couldn't simply say so.
If the report turned out to be accurate. He would have to accept it and come up with countermeasures.
"Is this true?" he ventured.
"By my very life, it is, my lord!"
"Very well. You may go and rest."
He gave the warrior a composed nod and ordered the lizardmen, who no doubt had run at full speed day and night to deliver the news, out of the chamber.
The sight of the chief, as sage and reserved as ever, must have
relieved them a bit—so much so that they fell to the ground, right where they stood, too exhausted to continue.
It was all the proof the room needed that their news was true.
Two hundred thousand? It is insanity…
Watching their fellow warriors carry the spy team away, the chief found himself forced to reassess the situation.
The orcs were certainly a fast, multiplying race in terms of numbers, but he doubted even they could assemble such a huge array of fighting men and women in one place.
How could they even have the logistics to supply two hundred thousand hungry stomachs?
It would be a gargantuan effort, keeping those supply lines fed. Transporting all that food couldn't have been feasible for such an undisciplined rabble.
"These orcs are selfish louts," one of his advisers whispered to him, "not a care in the world for anyone but themselves. How could anyone have wrangled them into a single cohesive unit?"
That's the question, the chief thought. Even the most gifted leader couldn't control a force of two hundred thousand at once, not unless they had absolute
control over them all.
A thousand at once would be about the practical limit.
Orcs were D-ranked monsters with intelligence beneath that of humans.
They cared little for anything that wasn't directly in front of their faces.
They were foolish, to a man, and the word cooperation didn't exist in their vocabulary.
The chief had his hands full managing all the lizardmen who served him, which numbered around twenty thousand.
And that was a race that, by and
large, lived in harmony with one another. Add a zero to that figure, and it was simply beyond comprehension.
"Is there some manner of genius class among them leading the forces?" the chief said to himself.
"It could hardly be the case," his adviser replied. "Anyone capable of maintaining order among them would need to be a unique monster, and I have
never heard of more than one such creature appearing at the same time."
"Indeed," another chimed in. "The idea of multiple unique monsters of your caliber, my lord, being born among the orcs… Impossible to think of."
The chief nodded as they each shook their heads in . No. It makes little sense. But there is no point denying facts. If I am to assume this report is valid, what are the orcs capable of doing?
Even if the orcs did have several unique monsters like the lizardman chief, would they have it in them to work together toward the same objective?
Assembling an unheard-of force like this would require some other presence, something pushing all those talented, unique monsters to strive for a common
goal without going at one another's necks.
Such a uniquely charismatic leader would mean that even low-level orcs could not be trifled with.
In fact, they could be a threat like none before.
Should I take action under the assumption that such a superior leader is among them? Do the orcs have it "in" them, so to speak…? Wait. Could it be…?
Reaching a certain point in his own logic, the chief grew visibly agitated.
The thought was something he wished to banish from his mind, but he couldn't.
Someone capable of ruling over such a force. Someone said to be born only once every few centuries…
"Could there be an orc lord among their ranks…?!"
As soft as the chief's whisper was, it transmitted loud and clear to his people despite the rising commotion.
Those who understood it fell quiet, eventually silencing the entire cavern.
"An orc lord…"
"But surely…"
"If, by some chance, this were the case…"
The elders who served as the chief's advisers were similarly unable to shake the possibility.
An orc lord was the stuff of legend and, in their thoughts, indeed capable of commanding a six-figure army. The more they mulled over the idea, the less they could imagine any other reason for this state of affairs.
"If… If, somehow, they have an orc lord among them, that would certainly explain why they have come together in this way…"
"But for what purpose?"
"Does it matter at this point? The only question is whether we can defeat them or not!"
The cavern was in an uproar once more, the advisers exchanging opinions after hostile opinions.
Whether we can defeat them or not…?
Fighting on a plain would put the outnumbered lizardmen at a heavy
disadvantage.
The marshes, however, were their backyard. With a careful hand and the right traps set in place, they had every chance at victory.
Or they thought they did.
If this was just a simple orc horde like any other, the chief knew how to dispatch them any number of ways.
But if an orc lord truly had been born, it wasn't so easy any longer.
If they were this outnumbered, they would need to maintain high morale and overwhelm the enemy with their teamwork.
The chief knew it was possible, what with their knowledge of the local lands, but that strategy wouldn't work against an orc lord.
An orc lord was a monster,
through and through, one who could sniff out and consume the very fear that lay in his allies' hearts.
The chief thought to himself, How can we escape this dilemma? If this orc-lord thing turned out to be a nonexistent threat, he could ask for nothing else.
But nonetheless, he felt compelled to take every measure he could before the confrontation came.
He would need backup.
The chief, his mind made up, called for one of his men.
This man's name was Gabil, and as prudent and thoughtful the lizardman chief was, not even he could see the sheer amount of fuel he would soon add to the flames of this chaos.
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Word Count: 「6380」.