Chapter 429 – Ogre King
“Hmph!”
Rai, the guild master, put strength into his hand, trying to flip my arm.
Of course…
“Ughhhhhh!!!!”
No matter how hard Rai, the guild master, tried, I didn’t budge.
Rai, the guild master, strained until his face and arms turned red, but he couldn’t flip my arm.
If I kept resisting, the guild master would get tired, so I comfortably flipped my arm, being careful not to hurt Rai, the guild master’s arm.
Thump!
A sound echoed as Rai, the guild master’s hand hit the table.
“Huff… Huff…”
“I win.”
“…That’s, that’s insane!”
“The guild master, who was known for his brute strength, couldn’t even move him!”
“How strong is he!”
“Wow, a strong and powerful man…”
“He’s an S-rank adventurer after all!”
“Ughhh, my three silver coins!!”
The adventurer’s guild was filled with admiration and mixed emotions.
Rai, the guild master, wiped the sweat from his forehead and said,
“Hoo… It felt like arm wrestling a mountain. You’re really strong.”
“Strength is my most confident area.”
“You won’t have any trouble dealing with ogres. But… strength alone won’t be enough for this request.”
“Don’t worry about that either. I have a plan.”
“Oh, I see. It seems you have someone among your companions who is skilled in scouting. I’m guessing… is it that cat demi-human girl over there?”
“Noah, are you confident in scouting?”
“Huh? Me? Haha, what are you talking about, Rent? I do have stealth skills, but in dungeons, I’ve only ever fought monsters with Ninya.”
Noah slightly touched her ear and said,
“I’m good at eavesdropping on rumors and conversations, but I’m not good at scouting.”
Come to think of it, monsters are easily found by walking a bit, and she’s mostly fought in dungeons, so there’s no way her scouting skills would have improved.
“Hmm, then the request completion period will be longer.”
“No, you don’t have to worry about that.”
“That’s right, unlike what the guild master expects, the best scout among us is Rent.”
“Hmm? Dungeon Crasher, you?”
“Yes.”
I have clones, so if I use them in a human wave tactic, the scouting will be done quickly.
“Guild Master Dante knows that, which is why he sent me.”
“Hmm… Well, Dante wouldn’t send someone unsuitable for the request.”
I could tell that the guild master had great trust in the guild master of another region.
“Guild Master Rai, it seems you’ve confirmed my skills, so can we proceed with the request right away?”
That would be good for Kanol, and more than anything, I want to finish the request safely and enjoy sightseeing in Kanol with my lovers, just like when I was in Lidan.
“Ah, then I’ll leave it to you.”
◈
Guild Master Rai said he would leave the investigation method to me and handed me a map marking the locations where the ogres were found. I and everyone else went back outside the main gate of Kanol for the investigation.
“Please take care of it, Dungeon Crasher.”
“Teach those ogres a lesson!”
We received a send-off from the captain of the guards and Mr. Elron, and we first entered the mountains.
We had gone in quite a bit, but there was still no sign of ogres.
Ms. Tikia, who was walking instead of riding on my shoulders because she might hit her head on the trees in the mountains, asked me,
“Rent, aren’t you going to use your clone technique?”
“No, I was planning to use it now that we’re inside.”
“Then why didn’t you use it as soon as we came out?”
“The people of Pludan are used to seeing me use it, but… the people here aren’t.”
Of course, I do want to show them and hear them say, “Wow, amazing!!” and such, but I didn’t want to unnecessarily alarm the people who are already anxious about the ogres.
I prefer to reveal it after everything is resolved, saying, “I solved it this way!”
“I thought it would be better to show it after everything is resolved.”
“Is that so?”
Ms. Tikia didn’t seem to understand.
Anyway, let’s start the full-scale search.
“Let’s begin, haap!”
Puff puff puff puff puff!
I instantly created a large number of clones.
I had one clone float high into the sky to determine the direction, and I sent the rest of the clones in different directions towards the locations marked on the map given by Guild Master Rai to begin the search.
Of course, creating a large number at once wouldn’t be enough to search all these mountains, so I created more and sent them out.
I repeated that process several times.
“Are you going to show everything with your skills again this time?”
I shook my head at Ms. Ninya’s question.
“No, there are too many, so if I show them all, everyone will get dizzy. So, I’ll show you the video when an ogre is found.”
Snap!
I snapped my fingers and prepared chairs for everyone to sit on, a projector to display the video, and a white wall.
“Um… Rent. I’m sure we can find them quickly if we use your clones. But can you not lose your way?”
Elsie mentioned a difficult situation that could happen.
But there’s no need to worry about that.
“Don’t worry about it.”
I showed a very good example by displaying the view from the clone floating in the sky.
The video showed the mountains full of lush trees.
I stopped one of the clones that was still moving and shot a magic blast that was just a beam of light towards the sky.
Pewwwwwwwwww!!!
The light shot up into the sky from among the lush trees in the video.
“We can check like this.”
“Ah… then you definitely won’t lose your way.”
“That uses a lot of magic power, so a normal mage could never do it. Well, there’s no one else who can fly in the sky like Rent, except for me.”
In other words, I’m the only one who can use this method.
The only one…
Hmm, besides strength and magic power, what else is unique about me?
『Even in my dreams, Rent is the only one who can continuously violate me for days.』
If that’s the case, then Solly is the only spirit who likes such lewd things, right?
『Since Rent is the only one I’m with, I’m happy that I can have him all to myself in my dreams♡』
I’m also happy that I’m the only man who can have Solly all to myself.
『Rent♡』
While having a sweet moment with Solly in my mind, I continued the search.
About three minutes passed.
Uga…
Ogre groups were found in five different locations.
“I’ve found ogres in five places.”
“What, really?”
“Show us the video quickly!”
“Okay.”
Since there were many found at once, I additionally created white walls and projectors and displayed the videos.
In five places, five ogres were walking in groups.
Ogres had huge bodies like trolls and yellowish-brown skin.
They were bald and had horns on both shoulders.
“That’s… an ogre. What should we do? Should we take them out first?”
At my question, Ms. Tikia said,
“We’ve only found five groups so far, right? And they’re all in different places.”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s take them out… no, let’s use telekinesis to restrain their movements and see what they have.”
“Okay.”
“Yes.”
Using clones, I used telekinesis to stop the ogres’ movements.
Uga…!?
The ogres seemed confused by their sudden immobility.
First, I had the other clones continue the search, and I approached the ogres with five clones.
Uga…!!
The ogres immediately made fierce expressions when they saw me.
Ignoring the ogres, I checked what they had.
“This is…”
In the five ogre groups.
I found something like parchment at the waist of the ogre walking at the very back of the group.
Ugaaa…!!!
The ogres reacted violently when I took the parchment.
Just from that reaction, I could tell that it was a very important item for the ogres.
I unrolled the rolled-up parchment.
“Huh…?”
There was a drawing on the parchment.
No, should I even call this a drawing?
It was mostly just squiggly lines, and there was a triangle drawn in the middle…
The other four parchments had similar drawings.
I thought it might be a special pattern unique to ogres, but there was no consistency in the five parchments.
I showed the drawing in the video and asked my lovers.
“What does this look like to you?”
“Um… well… it’s not a magic circle at least.”
“Squiggly lines and a triangle… what could it be?”
“I’m sorry, I have no idea.”
When everyone was at a loss, Noah said,
“Isn’t this a map?”
“”A map?””
“Yeah, the squiggly lines are probably roads? Mountain ranges? And the triangle is probably a tree?”
Does it interpret that way?
“But as a map… it’s too crude… no, I don’t think ogres would draw in detail.”
“Hmm~ maybe they just wrote down the curves of the path they walked? They said a lot of ogres were found, right? So, they could draw a small area on one parchment, and then connect them all together?”
…That makes sense.
If that’s the case, it would explain why ogres were found in multiple places.
The reason they didn’t attack people was because they were busy drawing maps…
If we assume that they were threatening those who followed them to avoid revealing their base, then… everything fits.
“Noah.”
“Yeah, why?”
“You’re really smart.”
“Oh? Really? Ehehehe♡ I’m embarrassed.”
“Ugh, to be outdone by Noah in this area… the reputation of a genius magical girl…”
Ms. Tikia, who was frustrated, is cute.
“Hmm… if they were drawing maps, then that means they were preparing for something that would require a map, right? And ogres don’t usually think about making maps. So…”
“Yes, Ms. Ninya. It seems like there really is an Ogre King.”
Elsie clenched her staff tightly and said with sparkling eyes,
“Then what we need to do now is to eliminate the ogres and subjugate the Ogre King! Re, Rent is really going to subjugate an Ogre King that’s only in legends! Like a hero!”
I’m already being treated like a hero as the one who stopped the flood, but there’s no harm in adding more achievements.
Rather, I can imagine Elsie jumping up and down with joy every time I add to my achievements, so the corners of my mouth loosen.
I made a bicep with my right arm and tapped it with my left hand, saying to Elsie,
“Elsie! Watch me make another legendary achievement!”
“Yes, Rent!”
Then, the top priority now is to search for the location of the Ogre King.
It’s incredibly inefficient, but it’s an ogre with enough intelligence to make a large number of ogres create maps.
If it finishes its preparations and starts commanding a battle, I can’t imagine how much of a threat it would be to people.
At least, it was clear that Kanol would be in danger if left as it is.
But I couldn’t think of a good way to find the Ogre King.
Of course, if I sent out a large number of clones, I could find it, but I don’t know how long it would take.
Isn’t there a more reliable method?
“Ms. Tikia, how should we find the Ogre King?”
Ogres don’t understand words, and even if they did, I don’t think they would willingly tell us where the Ogre King is.
“Hmm… how about instilling fear and letting them go?”
“Fear?”
“Yeah. Even if they’re under the command of the Ogre King, they’re still monsters. They can’t overcome primal rage or fear. For example, if Rent overwhelmingly kills four ogres and leaves only one alive, it will be terrified.
And if you lightly wound the remaining ogre and let it go… wouldn’t it head towards its base, which is the safest option for it?”
“What if it just runs away without thinking?”
“Well, then it would be a wasted effort… but fortunately, the ogres are scattered, and more than anything, Rent is super fast. Rent can run in the direction the ogre escaped, and if it’s not there, you can try again, and if you find it, that’s great.”
Ms. Tikia crossed her arms and continued,
“Actually, I wouldn’t even suggest such a reckless method, but Rent is capable enough, right?”
“That’s true.”
A normal adventurer might take days to go in the direction they escaped, but I can reach the end of the mountain in less than an hour.
It’s a reckless method, but that kind of reckless method was perfect for me.
“Thank you, Ms. Tikia.”
I just happened to find 12 more groups of ogres in other areas.
With this many, at least one of them will go in the right direction, right?
