T-that is my ergency fund! Give it back! What is this tyranny? Didnt you say you were looking for a book?
No! You dont know how and when the book will appear! Maybe this is it? Is it a magic book in the shape of a jewel?
You said it would be returned after examining it closely, and it clearly isnt the book.
The man said this, but there was no way the rcenaries would return the items they took.
Even robbing their underwear. Will they take this too?
Azadine clicked his tongue as he thought of the copy of the book on him. He would definitely be caught.
What should he do? Should he reveal his identity and punish them?
If he did that, first it was Lord Kozel, and now these people, a future of him being pursued was obvious. As Azadine hesitated, the two children approached him.
What do we do?
Fight?
Wait. Just wait for a mont.
Azadine stopped the two children. It was because he could see a ssenger approaching and talking to the rcenaries.
The rcenaries panicked and began to collect all of the loot.
T-that is it for today.
They allowed those who had been searched to pass through, and those who werent finding places to stay outside also began to move closer.
What is happening?
The rchants were shocked at this.
I heard theres an ogre nearby.
Azadine told the rchants this.
Uh? What do you an?
I have good hearing, so I could hear what they said.
What?
The rchants and travelers who had planned to stay outside suddenly looked scared.
No what is that though.
Uh?
Once Azadine ntioned an ogre, the rcenaries clicked their tongues. They headed towards the gates while the rchants and travelers watched them closely.
Wait!
Let us talk!
The rchants moved closer, but the soldiers didnt respond.
What is this
T-they are doing it for real.
Looking at how the rcenaries were reacting, it was clear that an ogre had indeed appeared. Everyone outside fell into deep thought.
In the Eastern Hinterland, there was a high plain basin that was adjacent to the Anukai Desert. The area was known to be quite fertile due to the winds that blew the sand into the desert and the rains that fell during the rainy season.
However, people who lived there had no choice but to be driven away as ogres ca down from the Black Tooth Mountains to take control of the lands and settle there.
Ogres were muscular giants twice as tall as n and weighed ten tis more. They possessed superpowers that couldnt be compared to humans. Despite lacking in intelligence, they were a ferocious race.
One of the primary duties of the Count of Casel was to serve as a bulwark to prevent ogres from entering human territory.
Fortunately, the monsters could not unify or organize enough to make long-distance marches. Additionally, ogres of the highlands also attacked and ate one another instead of humans. Fighting amongst themselves was the main priority.
Taking advantage of this, successive Margraves of Salasma had begun building villages beyond the Gateway to the East. However, due to the recent unending drought, even the ogres had started to suffer.
Although ogres were not the most intelligent monsters and could not make long distant journeys, the lack of water motivated them to put aside their infighting and search for better lands.
Ogres? How many of them?
Tarki, the illegitimate son of Count Casel, asked the scout who had co to report.
We only identified one. However, it has hobgoblins and goblin soldiers under its command. The number of these is unknown, but according to what the scouts saw, there were more than 10
That is bad. If there are more than 10 of them, isnt that a full troop?
Proper ogres would have goblins and hobgoblins as their subordinates. In other words, the one they had found this ti wasnt a runaway ogre but one that commanded its own troop.
An ogre alone was a formidable opponent, but with goblins under its lead, it would make it even tougher for humans to deal with.
Of course, this was a gateway path, so an ogre could do nothing if they used the fortress walls.
There was no reason for Tarki to fight and waste his n either. It didnt make him money, and sending his n to battle would cost him more. There was a rule that the paynt rate would double if a fight were to occur.
It cannot be helped. Lets head back with the loot.
Tarki had decided to leave the place imdiately. However, a man entered the town hall at that mont. It was the hunter who also served as the village chief.
Sir Tarki, we have a problem.
Problem? What is it? Did the ogre arrive?
No, the people outside the gates are causing havoc. It seems like they had found out about the ogre.
What? What do you an? What idiot let them know?
Tarki was shocked. The ogres were heading south from the north, and the gate extended until the southeast. In other words, refugees and rchants outside the gates were also located in the southeast. This ant they could not see the ogres approach, so how would they know?
No one told them.
Soone must have overheard the words of the ssenger.
Urgh, stupid idiots.
What should we do?
What can you do? What can you people even do? Close the gate! Fucking cheeky idiots.
Uh?
The hunter was dumbfounded at the order to lock the gate. Once the ogres approached, the people protesting outside would be defenseless in a fight. It was as if he was leaving those people to die.
Now that we confird that none of them have a copy of the magic book, we can leave. Let those people stop the ogres and other beasts from getting close.
What is this
The hunter was embarrassed. From the mont the man had begun plundering, he knew that he was no real knight or even had the mindset of one. Yet he didnt expect the man to be this shaless.
Didnt you enlist useful young people?
I will be leaving them behind. Well, since they are trained as soldiers, they should be of good enough use now.
He had conscripted them as soldiers for a day and spoke as if they were trained. It was truly shaless, but the hunter could say nothing.
Then lets at least bring the people outside inside. I will be in command of defense here.
As the hunter suggested this, Tarki snorted.
What can you even do when you arent even a knight?
Is this what this man, a knight, was saying while preparing to run away?
The hunter didnt ask it out loud, though.
Fine. I will entrust the defense to you!
Tarki said this and called in his rcenaries. They proceeded to commandeer horses and oxen from the village and loaded their loot into carts.
The travelers and rchants outside were shocked by the word of an ogres approach.
Oh my, everyone will die.
What? Shall we get out of the way and run to another place now?
But the sun will soon set.
Crossing the mountain once the sun had set was no less than suicide. No one would know where beasts and monsters would approach on the roadside. Even stepping on a misplaced stone could lead to death or injury.
Traveling at night was only possible on a well-laid road. Alternatively, they would need to have great vision, like the dwarves and elves.
However, as the people began to panic, the gate in front of them suddenly opened. The villagers who opened the gate were aged, with nary a sight of the young among them.
W-what is it?
Knights?
The knights and rcenaries left.
What now?
Co inside now.
The man who looked like a hunter gave them permission to enter. Azadine pretended to be blind and walked with his cane and goat. The mood in the village was quite low.
It seed like their young n had been conscripted, and the village had been looted. Those who had stayed behind were those who loved their lands, a handful of old n who were preparing to defend their hos.
As you can see, we are in a tough spot now. Saying this, would you be fine with helping to defend the village?
The hunter said this politely, but the spear-wielding people around him had scary expressions.
Help? Of what kind?
Those who can fight will do so, while those who cant fight will support the others.
Euk?!
The rchants were shocked when they heard this.
No, wait.
Usually, when we decide to help, it would be to beco a battle rchant.
When a rchant was drafted into war, they would beco battle rchants. They played the role of one who would be able to buy or sell necessary goods along the battlefield, but they would not be expected to fight using their skills.
This was more advantageous rather than having them fight. In other words, the rchants would bring supplies to the soldiers who fought.
However, that only applied to a long-term war. rchants were useless in a small conflict such as this, where they had to protect a gate from a dangerous enemy.
What do we do then?
A blind man asked this. He was a young man with a horizontal scar on his face.
Behind him were two children, a boy, and a girl, wearing dusty cloaks. Both seed to be in their early teens. People of the south had a custom of early marriage, but even these children looked too young.
The blind and children please go with the weak and elderly.
The hunter said this and began devising a strategy.
An ogre ca while carrying the flag of the Broken Tooth Clan on its back and descended the mountain path.
The path through the Deserts Backbone mountain range, which ford the border between the Kingdom of Korassar and the eastern lands, was quite rugged. Anyone who detoured to avoid the mountain peaks would inevitably arrive at the village gate.
The ogres were approaching through various paths and were able to capture humans whose eyes were removed and their feet broken.
You, the portable rations. They belong to .
They captured the fleeing humans in large boxes of at that they carried on their backs. The captured scread as they fell into a large box filled with parts of human, goblin, and animal corpses.
S-save !
Damn it! Damn that ssenger Clan bastard.
AHHHH Heavenly Kings! Please save !
Those trapped among the corpses scread for help.
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