episode_0143

I started exploring the surroundings.

However, what I met was not an ogre, but a red-faced hosot.

In other words, it also means that there is no auger on the path we passed.

Hosott tilted his head when he saw me and let out a strange groan.

“······Why are you out there?”

It was a rest stop. Hearing a voice I knew made me feel somewhat at ease.

“I also don’t know why the resto is here.”

“Reconnaissance. I don’t know where it came from, but stay here. There is an auger on the way you came up.”

What are you talking about?

“No. Right now, I’m at the bottom of the mountain, straight ahead───.”

“Shh. Be quiet.”

Hueso extends his hand to me.

Hyuso tilts his head forward and tilts his head. Then, his posture begins to lower, he sits down on the floor and puts his ears to the ground.

“······Damn it!”

Hueso, who was astonished, quickly stood up, picked up the whistle, and began to look ahead while holding on to the crossbow.

───Wheeek!

A whistle sounds.

“What are you doing?”

There is only oxygen over there.

Hueso grabbed my hand and threw me behind a tree.

“No, what?!”

Ahhh────!

Hueso was crying towards the sky.

Like an animal. Then he opens his eyes and looks at me.

“Run there immediately───! He’s coming!”

what····.

“······?”

When I was thrown down and my hands and buttocks touched the ground, I felt vibration through my palms.

I quickly put my ear to the ground.

Kugugugugugung…

A vibration is felt as if a tram is passing nearby. It’s something I’ve heard before.

This····.

Vibration felt when heavy animals move in groups. Probably oxygen. But these footsteps probably don’t belong to the ogre, do they?

“Damn…! Why do they come here from so many places?!”

“I saw a group of oxygen on the way up earlier. What’s coming up now looks like oxygen, right?”

“You’re trying to break the siege by scaring oxygen! There’s an auger behind the oxygen!”

“···Is that possible?”

“Ogres are not monsters, they are demigods!”

That’s not it, I’m talking about the habits of animals.

On the way up, I saw a total of more than 10 cows, and they had cubs. When an enemy attacks, a mountain lion with a cub protects the cub and never runs away.

Although hossots do not hunt animals with young, Jules once warned me that I should be especially careful when raising young.

Because I will soon have a coming-of-age ceremony.

No matter how good a Huso is at shooting, the crossbow is structured so that it can only load six rounds including the chamber.

Can you really take down an ogre with six shots?

Absolutely not.

“Rest. I can never catch it alone. Just run away. Like others─.”

“If you run away, how will I be able to see you?”

Why are you saying that in front of me?

It’s like I came and couldn’t escape.

“Even if you fire back at the ogre, at least hide behind a tree. I came to catch the auger, not the cow.”

If you fight alone, you will definitely lose and die.

Even if we set up a chase team, it would be right to send them now.

Hyuso glanced at me and hid behind a thick tree.

“···I know I will die if I tell Yuso that I hid.”

Pride.

Hyuso carefully conceals it. A poisoned arrow was bitten on the bowstring. There is no way my bow could penetrate the ogre’s skin. You have to target the weak point.

The vibrations began to get stronger, and now the sound of the cow’s footsteps and the uniform pounding of the ogre’s footsteps began to be heard together.

When I think something is coming, adrenaline rushes through my body. Even though my body was tense and focused, my mind was clear due to excitement.

The first thing I saw was oxygen.

Behind the oxygen that was running aimlessly, an ogre was seen running slowly at the speed of a cow.

Even though it is a fairly humid place, there is a lot of dust and it is difficult to see in detail.

What we can see here is that although it is not as big as an ancient dragon, it is about 7 meters tall.

Now you can use rapid fire, but you can’t waste arrows and poison without knowing the vital location.

First, I held my breath and looked at the dust.

thud···!

The oxygen rushes away.

An ogre appeared from the dust behind it.

The ogre had skin similar to that of Lindwurm, an ancient dragon.

‘You have to find the weak point!’

When keratin-like skin is applied to a body similar to a human, it is normal for the flesh to burst like a lint swelling.

The joints where the skin has burst on the gray-brown skin have a slight whitish tint.

There might be an arrow stuck there.

Although the body is long, the width of the shoulders seems to be 4m.

As the shoulders are long, the hands are also long.

The Ogre’s forearms were similar in thickness to its thighs.

His arms were that long, and he must have already noticed Yuso, covering his solar plexus with both hands…

·

·

·

uh···?

Pop!

” Either get beaten to death─!”

Pop! Pop!

Hyuso jumps out and fires his crossbow mercilessly.

Such a crazy idiot?!

─Aaaa!!!!!

A scream as thick as a cockatrice’s echoed through the forest. Just screaming makes my body cringe. It was such a monster.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

The bolts lodged themselves in the ogre’s thighs and sides.

The one that hit the pelvic bone bounced off, and the one that got stuck in the ilium didn’t go in deep and just stayed stuck in.

However, the ones that got stuck in my thighs and sides went quite deep. The feverish Ogre opened its eyes and began glaring at Hyuso.

Foolishly, Hyuso, who only then realized the situation, looked up at the ogre without being able to fire the next shot.

The Ogre’s anger froze his body.

Moreover, he didn’t even wear armor.

If you get hit even once, you will die from shock!

The angry ogre runs towards Hyuso!

“No!!! Don’t stand there like an idiot, run away!”

─What?

The ogre turns its head towards me.

Only then did I let go of the bowstring to protect the resting place, but because it turned so sharply, it bounced off without being hit.

It seemed like he didn’t even notice that he had been hit by a bow.

Boom!

The ogre opened its eyes and began to approach me.

Because it is so big, its eyes feel that small.

It almost feels like my attempt to get it right was in vain. Its teeth resemble those of a human rather than that of a carnivore, and its upper head, resembling that of a gorilla or elephant, protrudes slightly backwards.

The nose was small, as if it had almost no cartilage, and the mouth was quite large. In particular, the chin is very thick.

─You…

“Ogeoda! There’s an ogre here—!”

“Catch and kill───!!!”

Pop!

A bolt was thrown into the ogre’s back.

After hearing Hyuso’s cries, reinforcements arrived!

The ogre opened its eyes wide and looked back, then saw me again, gritted its teeth and started running towards the place where the ogre had run away.

Confusing.

I had expected that Ogre could communicate with him because I knew he was a demi-human.

However, what I didn’t expect was that the ogre was running away, driving the herd of Sansan, with both hands full of Sansan’s babies.

*

I wanted to sting Hyuso like a wasp to stop him from doing anything crazy, but I was reluctant to throw cold water at him as he was being encouraged by the villagers.

“Good. I can smell his blood. It doesn’t matter if you take your time tracking. Let’s wait for everyone to join.”

Heilang smiled brightly and started applying poison to the bolt.

The same goes for other hosots.

A smile filled with life, excitement, and joy appeared on his face.

“Heukrang, I have a question.”

Heilang raises his visor and glances this way.

“You’re not even wearing armor, so what were you thinking? This is something that can explode your body with just a snap of your fingers. Go down to the village.”

“Don’t ogres eat meat?”

“It is omnivorous. I eat everything. Guys like wild boars.”

Just now, the ogre was running away while holding oxygen in its arms.

It was 5 years ago, a very long time ago, but I remember it.

When Hyuso was chasing oxygen, Ogre intercepted it. What if it wasn’t intercepted, but protected?

Isn’t there a problem with Hosott, who has been stealing other people’s livestock, claiming that oxygen is delicious?

Of course, this is not something to say easily.

“When Heukrang settled in this area, I heard that ogres lived here in clusters.”

“That’s right.”

“Isn’t this a very dangerous place? May I know why you settled here?”

“This is the best place for meat-rich hoofed animals to live. We have a much-needed water source, a place to shelter from the rain, and trade can be carried out fluidly between two major cities.”

“This is what I felt when I just saw the ogre, but it was ridiculously huge. My forearms were thicker than my body. How could you think of attacking a place where more than ten of those creatures live?”

“Life as a wanderer without a home is hard. The reason our village was named Ogre’s Nest in the first place was because the Ogres protruding from all directions interfered with passage and hunting. There were quite a few dead at that time. Thanks to this, I received support from the Union Alliance.”

······The fact that there were dead people means that they were not unconditional victims.

That came as comfort.

Because ogres are not necessarily good.

“I found out earlier that I can talk to ogres───.”

Heilang holds out his hand as if telling me to shut up.

“Don’t even think about having a conversation with that barbarian.”

But do I want to do that?

Hey, I’m sorry. I have to sell you.

“Armor certainly has incredible protection, but it is weak against shock. Hardness, strength, and elasticity tests were also conducted centered on Horsott. There is a possibility that it will not be able to withstand the power of the ogre.”

Heukrang’s eyes make me feel like I’m looking at a frustrated child. At the same time, there is anger.

“It’s dangerous, so are you letting me go?”

“That’s not true.”

I looked at the resto.

“Hyuso almost got stepped on by an ogre and almost died.”

They indirectly attacked Heilang, who was in a position to take care of the village members. Heilang glances at Hyuso. There was no sense of reprimand or reproach in those eyes, but rather an encouragement.

“Rest. Are you feeling okay?”

“Yes. No problem.”

Hyuso looks at me sullenly.

Just take it. Because that becomes a story to tell while drinking.

“If you step on any small object, it will wriggle. I understand that the village has been carrying ogres and chucks since its origins, but I still think it’s better to handle it safely. I’ll go and talk to the ogre───.”

“Didn’t I tell you? Don’t even think about mixing things up.”

Turn your head.

Roll!

“Heukrang. What Ogres do is livestock farming. The auger is directly growing the oxygen in this mountain. It is probably because the auger took care of all the low sea water, and it is highly likely that the cockatrice was killed because the mountain was torn up.”

Heilang’s eyes sparkle.

I guess I was annoyed by the mention of cockatrice.

“What do you want to say?”

“If you can’t raise a cockatrice, shouldn’t you get something else?”

“I don’t know what to get from that barbarian. All I can get from that guy is tent leather.”

My head hurts when I talk to these people.

Heilang refuses to think about revenge.

‘If that’s the case, why have you been putting off hunting ogres for so long?’

This is behavior that should never be shown as a person sitting on top of another person.

But this person is quick at self-reflection. I’m sure you understand what I’m saying.

“My opinion is that it is better to increase the number of cows through ranching.”

“You want to tame that vicious animal?”

“Because it has been hunted for a long time, there may be a perception among the Sansan group that Hosott is dangerous, but it is not afraid of the even more dangerous Ogre. The end of livestock farming is slaughter. It’s not that there is no room to tame oxygen.”

A strange look appeared in Heilang’s eyes.

“Let’s listen.”

Thank you for listening.

You fell for my trick!

Let’s think. Horses and cows are, in a word, trucks and cars.

However, a horse that is born with a fearless face like that of a cat cannot be run by a horse in the first place.

“First, I would like to explain organs. Horses have large lungs and hearts, but their remaining organs are small and they only have one stomach. Even that one is small.”

“As a result, fuel efficiency is poor due to poor digestion, and maintenance costs are extreme as grains for horses to be eaten are imported from Horus.”

“Also, it is so timid that Hosott cannot handle it. This is the difficulty. Because there is no substitute.”

In Romaria and Horus, where herbivorous humans who ate grains and farmed were the majority, it would have been possible to obtain oats and beans for horses to eat using the three-poll system farming method, so maintenance costs were low.

‘The language doesn’t suit the South in the first place.’

If it was a place where horses could live in the first place, there would have been wild horses.

Heukrang knows that too, so he looks at me without answering.

They say you can save a business you thought was ruined, so of course you’ll be excited.

“But cows have four stomachs, so even if they only eat messy grass, they digest it well and grow well on their own.”

“If you boil the grass in it, it will be very pleasant.”

“You just have to release it, so there are no maintenance costs, and the fact that you are not afraid means that we have the conditions to grow it.”

“In addition, they gave their babies to the ogres. Seolrang said that oxygen never gives up its own offspring.”

The reason they were surprised was because of the body odor of Hyuso wafting from the mountain.

“It is said that cows are slower than horses, but I think even Heilang, who enjoys hunting, knows about the unique power of oxygen.”

“Cows are good at pulling heavy wagons. Humans already use cattle for transportation or farming.”

“Your body is strong, so you are less likely to get hurt than a horse.”

“Also, I am less susceptible to minor illnesses and my body is strong.”

“Oxygen must be domesticated. You can’t miss this opportunity. This is an opportunity given by Maal.”

Heilang takes his eyes off me.

And started loading the poisoned bolt.

The ambition that was thought to be extinguished seems to be burning again in his eyes.

“In that case, you just have to kill him and take his cow.”

Oh my god.

Why is it concluded that way?

“But, you don’t know how to raise them, do you? We have to learn this from Ogre.”

“Learn something with that beast? This is ridiculous.”

“They say that Ogre is an evil person that cannot be interacted with, but don’t they say that even a three-year-old child can learn something?”

“What you said was very interesting. Let’s do it this way. I will cut off his tendons, bind his limbs, and torture him, so you can interrogate him.”

The Heilang I knew wasn’t this crazy.

It’s not that it’s incomprehensible, but it’s at the level of madness to live like that.

I felt like I knew how deep my love was for my lost husband.

And, that madness is about to turn towards me.

No matter how much I want to mediate, I don’t have the motivation or enjoyment in life like I used to.

Now I want to live.

Therefore, we had no choice but to compromise.

“What I’m saying is, I’m not asking you to become friends with Ogre. Shouldn’t we instill in others the will to cooperate so that they don’t tell us everything they know? After that, you can kill him by sticking a knife in his back.”

At the words of killing Heilang, the demon-like look in his eyes softens a little. I felt a rush of relief.

“Medicines make sounds.”

“There is no need to be polite or polite to the person who has committed a crime.”

Heilang looks straight into my eyes.

“···I will give you time until the sun sets. However, once the sun sets, negotiations are over.”

It starts now.

“Thank you.”

Before we knew it, nearly a hundred people had gathered.

Dressed in plate armor, looking at Heilang and waiting for orders, he looks like a knight.

“Yuzu. Go down and deliver the news to the village.”

“Yes.”

Yuzu?

Why is Yuzu here?

One hosot raises the visor.

It was Yuzu.

“Do you have anything else to do?”

“It’s going to be a tedious wait, so I’d like you to ask the remaining people to bring a meal. Please upload Amy too.”

“Okay.”

Yuzu passes me and goes back the way she came up.

I made eye contact with Yuzu, who glanced at me as I was passing by.

“······Why are you coming out there?”

“Why are you here?”

Even though the question was answered as a question, it doesn’t feel that bad. Because it was a mandatory conversation and didn’t mean anything.

“Well, I wanted to do that.”

Thanks to this, the answer came out half-heartedly.

“Me too.”

Yuzu shrugs.

…I guess I wasn’t the only one who was crazy.

Yuzu closed her visor and went down the mountain.