Chapter 48: Chapter 48
The ogre’s most prominent physical features were its gigantic physique, and its two arms that were long and thick to the point of deformity.
Even while standing still, the creature’s arms were long enough for its hands to touch the ground, and its fists were nearly as large as its head.
Saying that it had a total of two flails attached, one to each arm, would not be an inaccurate metaphor.
As if wanting to show that its two attached arms were not decorative, the ogre roared toward the subjugation force looking down from atop the hill and slammed both hands into the ground.
At that, a roaring sound reached even them, over several hundred meters away.
The sight of several monsters nearby tumbling over from that momentum was downright surreal.
“Whoa…”
“What kind of ridiculous strength is that?”
“As expected of an ogre.”
Generally, everyone named the dragon when asked what the strongest monster was, but when asked what the mightiest monster in terms of brute force was, the ogre was one of the most frequently mentioned.
This was because it was counted among the most formidable monsters solely through its immense physical capability, without possessing outstanding regenerative powers or any sort of supernatural magical abilities like fire-breathing.
An old knight, well over fifty years old and at an age where he should have retired long ago, clicked his tongue as he watched this.
“It looks much larger and stronger than the one I saw before… Is it really because it’s a pack lord?”
He was a man serving as an advisor, having participated in an ogre subjugation forty-some years ago as a teenage squire.
At the remark that it looked far stronger than an ordinary ogre, many people cowered, but conversely, a few grew excited.
Naturally, their true identities were knight-errants who had joined to win the honor of hunting an ogre.
In the first place, those cowardly enough to shrink back before danger could not even awaken Fighting Spirit by abusing their bodies to the brink of death.
“Far larger and stronger than an ordinary ogre, huh… Then we could well call it the king of ogres!”
“Slaying such a creature would naturally be an even more honorable deed.”
“If you permit it, I shall stand at the vanguard!”
The way they were already calling it names of their own making as if the hunt were already over was truly fitting of the expression counting one’s chickens before they hatched.
Shan stood a few paces away from them, recalling the overwhelming, monstrous strength the ogre had shown just moments ago.
‘It’s definitely incomparable to that Cockatrice back then.’
He had known that its tier as a monster was supposed to be only slightly higher, yet that creature exuded a power and momentum that felt capable of beating several of those Cockatrices to death.
Furthermore, large monsters such as trolls, owlbears, and werewolves were stationed in numbers around it.
Only now did they look like children because they stood next to the ogre; each of those creatures alone was a monster that could easily tear dozens of ordinary people to pieces.
Needless to say, there were over several hundred gnolls, banshees, and ghouls sprawling around them.
‘Can we win with this force…?’
He had thought that over sixty knights and roughly two thousand soldiers would be sufficient no matter how many monsters gathered in swarms, but seeing that ogre’s power somehow blurred his confidence.
Of course, if everyone moved strictly according to command, they would be more than capable of hunting it, but looking at the current state, it was clearly not such a situation.
While Shan was thinking that, unexpectedly, the monsters began breaking their siege and retreating first.
It seemed being caught in a pincer between the city and the subjugation force was burdensome to them.
At this, one of the lords glanced around subtly and posed a question.
“What do you think about pursuing them?”
“Hmm, the weather is a bit too bad for that.”
The one who answered was Count Kram, who had brought the largest number of troops among the nobles of the subjugation force.
Having brought six knights of his house and as many as one hundred fifty retainers and mercenaries, he was tacitly treated as something akin to a commander.
He did not possess official authority to command, but everyone respected his words.
Just as Count Kram said, a drizzling autumn rain was falling from the sky.
As the chilling wind whipped around their wet bodies, body heat would be drained in an instant, which was highly likely to lead to a rapid drop in stamina.
No matter how much clothing they wore, a human body was far more vulnerable to environmental changes than monsters.
Having lived for long years in Pendia, the kingdom of monsters, they too had learned this fact through experience.
In the end, while the subjugation force dithered without making an immediate decision, the monsters moved completely away from the city.
Watching that sight, Shan murmured as if to himself.
“It won’t be easy…”
“What won’t be? The ogre?”
Roden, standing beside him, asked quietly in return.
“Yeah. It’s strong, of course, but it seems to be an intelligent one. Like the troll we caught before.”
The man-eating troll of Obilos that they had hunted in the past had tormented hunters to a degree incomparable to ordinary trolls due to its outstanding intellect.
If that ogre, even if not to that extent, was a creature that made judgments through deep reasoning instead of relying purely on wild instinct, hunting it was bound to be truly difficult.
All the more so in a situation like the present, where there was virtually no command structure.
*
By the time the monster army retreated until they were completely out of sight around the castle, the subjugation force entered Shedil City at a leisurely pace.
The residents of the city passionately welcomed and cheered for the subjugation force from atop the castle walls, having repelled (though they had never actually fought) the monster army.
Because the temperature had dropped due to the rain, white breath flowed from their mouths.
On the way in, Shan confirmed that cracks were split across various parts of the city walls.
The large, spherical marks remaining all over the castle walls seemed to have been left by the ogre’s punches.
Perhaps because of that, the mana stones reinforcing the city gate and walls appeared drained of power, their color duller than usual.
The people cheering for the subjugation force were in no better shape.
The sight he had seen when visiting here in the past, buzzing with the enthusiasm of Demonic Realm explorers who had come chasing dreams, was nowhere to be found.
Even quite a few people presumed to have starved to death could be seen scattered across the streets.
As they headed toward the inner castle along the main avenue, the Old Bear, Count of Shedil, was out with his soldiers.
With no trace of the arrogant attitude he had shown to Shan and Roden in the past, he greeted the nobles with a broad smile across his face.
“Oh, welcome, welcome! You must have suffered greatly coming such a long way!”
“It has been a long time, Count of Shedil.”
“Indeed. Though I cannot say I am glad to meet under such circumstances. Let us go inside first. You will catch a cold in this autumn rain.”
The strategic meeting combined with a banquet held after entering the inner castle also nakedly revealed that the situation in Shedil City was far from good.
Perhaps because the bread had been baked from flour kept for a very long time, it smelled stale, and the food made from salted meat also tasted sour.
Needless to say, the vegetables were all completely withered and even covered in mold.
Thanks to that, several nobles who had eaten only good things all their lives grimaced and did not even lay a hand on the food.
Shan also set aside food that was excessively spoiled, concerned that his health might be harmed.
Count of Shedil said with an embarrassed expression as he watched the nobles and knights.
“I apologize for the lacking spread. As it is a situation where the entire city is short on food.”
Originally, a city was a settlement that sucked in food produced from surrounding villages.
Moreover, this Shedil fief was adjacent to the Demonic Realm where monsters frequently roamed, so farmland was even scarcer.
In such a situation, the monsters had laid waste to nearby villages and even besieged the city, so it was natural for things to turn out like this.
If the meal the count served to welcome guests was at this level, it was astonishing that a riot had not broken out until now.
“At this rate, a prolonged war will be difficult.”
“Is there no place nearby to bring food from?”
“I heard that Count of Palles is coming with support.”
“Food supply wagons from the capital are also scheduled to arrive soon.”
“So until support arrives from somewhere, we must be self-sufficient. That won’t be easy.”
An army of two thousand men, who did not possess a particularly generous amount of food, had joined a city of thirty thousand people that was entering a state near starvation.
In other words, it meant that the matter had to be settled through a swift, decisive battle.
“First, how much military force remains in the city?”
“Excluding those necessary to maintain public order, we can deploy three knights, fifty soldiers including guards, and about fifty explorers. If we conscript young men, we might add a few hundred more. Though they could hardly serve as a meaningful fighting force.”
“For a city of this size, that is far too few.”
“Many died or fled in the previous battles. And we cannot simply use untrained citizens as soldiers.”
At a baron’s grumbling, Count of Shedil answered in a helpless tone.
Shedil City was a city that took the full brunt of the monster invasion’s impact, so there were many victims in the initial battles.
Explorers who had no duty to protect this place took the opportunity to flee altogether.
Come to think of it, Sir Gowell, a senior who had received Sir Darkal’s teachings and become a knight just like Shan, was nowhere to be seen.
He hoped that he was simply injured and unable to come out.
Along with that thought coming to mind, Count of Shedil’s gaze turned toward Shan.
“Come to think of it, I have not even offered my congratulations on your becoming a knight. Congratulations, Sir Shan! Your help played a tremendous role in keeping this city intact.”
“My… help, you say?”
When Shan reacted with puzzled wonder because nothing came to mind no matter how hard he thought, Count of Shedil chuckled.
“The mana stone of the Cockatrice you hunted played a huge role in reinforcing the city walls. If not for that, they probably would have collapsed long ago.”
“Ah…”
At Count of Shedil’s words, the nobles and knights of the subjugation force surrounding them looked at Shan with renewed eyes.
It was as if they had suddenly recalled what they had forgotten all this time… that this fellow was the one who had hunted a Cockatrice.
“Was it here in Shedil City that Sir Shan hunted the Cockatrice?”
“To be exact, I heard he hunted it inside the Demonic Realm. I do not know the exact location myself, though.”
When Shan became the center of attention like that, an Old Faith believers lord cleared his throat to draw attention, seemingly uncomfortable.
“By the way, where do the monsters get their food supply? Judging by their size and numbers, they must eat an immense amount.”
“Why, humans of course, what else?”
Unlike his smiling face just moments ago, there was no trace of laughter on Count of Shedil’s face as he replied.
Several people shivered, chilled by his expression, which felt almost sinister.
“You can consider almost all the villages around here annihilated. Those creatures are deliberately operating food supply units. They don’t even just kill everyone on the spot; they bring them back alive to slaughter and consume them fresh.”
“Heh…”
“At this level, they are smarter than most human bandits.”
Needless to say, such acts by the monsters had surely crushed the morale of the people holding out in Shedil City.
After a few more exchanges, the strategy was settled simply.
To rest in the castle today, and tomorrow, as soon as the rain stopped, for everyone to swarm out together and fight an all-out battle against the monster army.
The remaining food was far too scarce to devise complex strategies.
Was it not a situation where even within the subjugation force, people who lacked food were borrowing from others or commandeering from villages encountered along the way in overflowing numbers?
The problem arose during the process of determining the formation prior to the battle.
“I shall stand in the center!”
“No, I will! Do you even know who killed the man-eating tiger of Mount Bekam?”
“It’s not even a monster, putting on airs over killing a mere tiger!”
The knights competed to stand at the forefront, shouting and growling at each other forehead to forehead.
The servants nearby trembled at the fierce tension, which felt as if swords might be drawn at any moment.
Shan stood quietly a step back, watching their disgraceful display.
Then Sir Lug beside him bowed deeply and whispered softly.
“Um, Sir Shan… is it fine like this? At this rate, we look bound to be pushed completely into a corner.”
In truth, whether in war or monster hunting, things were bound to end up like this in most situations lacking an authoritative commander.
The place with the highest probability of succeeding in hunting the biggest prey was obviously the central force, so no one wanted to go to the flanks where they would only hunt leftover monsters.
Perhaps Sir Lug’s action drew attention, as an Old Faith lord looked at Shan and smiled sickeningly.
“Ah, right. Sir Shan! Could you perhaps take the lead of the left wing?”
“Indeed. Your honor has already soared sky-high by hunting a Cockatrice, so we consider it a virtue to yield to others now.”
Other Old Faith lords and knights agreed with this, trying to keep Shan in check.
Where had the behavior of refusing to even speak to him while calling him a trashy Altoan throughout the march gone? It was truly nauseating hypocrisy.
In fact, Shan’s influence played a large role in why they acted this way.
No matter how much fame he had built, in the end, was not a Cockatrice something slain by a frail Altoan brat?
Yet, a vague optimism had seeped in… that there was no way well-trained Western knights gathered together could fail to catch an ogre slightly stronger than that.
Rather, they were anxious that Shan might snatch the ogre for himself.
“Hmm? No, that is a bit…”
“Is it not improper for someone like Sir Shan to be deployed to the edge instead of the center?”
“The most skilled knight ought to stand in the most dangerous place.”
Naturally, there were also those who objected to this.
They were knights friendly with Shan, or lords viewing the situation more objectively.
A knight powerful enough to hunt a Cockatrice naturally should be placed in front of the ogre.
Because unless a warrior above a certain skill level confronted such a large monster, it would cause truly exponential damage.
Even setting that aside, there were also those who opposed unconditionally out of pure spite simply because someone they disliked was on the opposite side.
Thanks to that, the meeting hall turned into total chaos in an instant.
The sight of them spitting as they grabbed each other by the collars over the trivial topic of whether to place Shan in the center or on the flank was absurdly hideous.
At this, Shan pondered for a moment, then drew attention by imbuing Fighting Spirit into his hand and tapping the wall.
With a thud, a small hole formed in the stone wall.
“Uh…”
Although he had drawn attention as desired, Shan, who had not intended to break the wall, wore a momentary flustered expression.
That too was brief, and quickly composing his expression, he spoke.
“There is no need to fight. I shall stand on the left wing as mentioned earlier.”
“Well decided, Sir Shan!”
“As expected, unlike the greedy crowd, knowing how to see the greater good…”
Shan nodded lazily, accepting the disgusting praise of the Old Faith lords.
Knights friendly with him spoke with regret.
“Why did you do that! How great a loss to our battle strength if you step back from the center?”
“Is there a reason you are not standing at the vanguard?”
Among them, there were even those who criticized him with disappointed expressions as if he were a coward.
Shan calmly explained the reason for his stepping back.
“Having traveled a long way, we must rest quickly and recover our full strength to fight. I have no desire to watch people bickering for days over a position like mine.”
“Mmm…”
Seeing the remaining people still shouting that they would stand at the center vanguard, it was hard to laugh off the story of bickering for days as an exaggeration.
Even with such a sacrifice by Shan, it was long after that when a proper formation was finally drawn up.
Sir Lug, who was accompanying him, was lumped together with him and deployed to the left wing as well.
“You ended up coming along because of me, Sir Lug.”
“No. I thought Sir Shan must have an idea of some sort… besides, it would have been hard for me to stand in the center even if I had insisted anyway.”
The ones deployed to the center of the formation after the discussion were mostly Old Faith lords from the west and their subordinate knights.
Since Hasra City was in western Pendia, the majority of those who responded to the summons were from that region, making them the loudest and most powerful faction.
“Really, is it fine like this…”
The old knight’s sigh as he watched this scene drifted away vainly.
*
On the way out after finishing the meeting, Count of Shedil called Shan.
Looking closely, his face, which had originally looked old for his age, appeared far older from fatigue and frustration.
His hair had also turned completely white, so much so that one would believe it if told he was a seventy-year-old man.
“Do you have a moment?”
“Yes, of course.”
“That is fortunate. Let us walk a little. That tall knight over there must be Sir Lug, correct?”
“Do you know me?”
“How could I not? I heard you were the runner-up of the Hasra jousting tournament. Word has spread all the way here that you engaged in a famous match with Sir Shan here. Are the two of you friendly?”
At the count’s question, Shan glanced at Sir Lug, who wore an expectant expression, and then nodded.
“Yes. Though there is a bit of an age difference, we get along like friends.”
“Friends! I am learning a great deal from Sir Shan! He is a warrior more outstanding than any I have ever seen!”
At Shan’s words calling them friends, Sir Lug waved his hands in surprise and spoke.
Count of Shedil chuckled heartily and nodded.
“Indeed, a warrior powerful enough to bring down a Cockatrice single-handedly. I told Sir Shan before that an Altoan could never become a knight, but I did not know it would come to pass in less than a year… Though it was closer to the Princess’s whim.”
“I do not think the advice you gave back then was wrong.”
Shan’s ability to become a knight was merely due to the specificity of the circumstances.
Just looking at Cheryn losing the support of the lords after knighting Shan proved Count of Shedil’s words were not exaggerated in the slightest.
Come to think of it, he had heard the atmosphere in the capital was bad before leaving; was it alright?
As the thought suddenly crossed his mind and he gazed westward, the count opened his mouth to speak.
“Sir Gowell passed away not long ago. He gave his life to slay a wyvern that attacked over the castle walls. It was a knightly death.”
“I see.”
At the fact that a familiar face (and one with whom he had crossed swords and shared memories of training under the same master) had died, Shan felt something bitter slide down his throat.
While it was hard to consider them deeply close, the death of someone he knew was unpleasant beyond words.
“May his soul reach the Goddess safely.”
“It surely will.”
Everyone traced the symbol of the Goddess with their hands, mourning the deceased Sir Gowell.
And a moment later, raising his head, the count gestured with his chin toward the other lords and knights walking away in the distance.
“What do you think?”
“Pardon?”
“Do you think they will be able to hunt the ogre?”
At the count’s question, Shan thought for a moment before shaking his head.
“As expected, you think so too. Damn it, I don’t know what the central leadership is thinking. They don’t even think to send a lord with proper command authority… I naturally thought Marquis Abel would come as commander. Whether in skill or prestige, that single man would have kept everyone from uttering a peep.”
In truth, the reason this subjugation force was so disorganized was largely due to the mess in the central leadership.
Because the King was unable to get out of bed, and the two princes did not possess enough authority to press down other nobles and lead the board.
It seemed that the count, relatively slow to receive news from the center, did not know how far the atmosphere in the capital had escalated.
“Indeed.”
Instead of explaining all of those circumstances, Shan answered briefly.
Because that too was knowledge he only knew from hearing it from Roden, he lacked confidence to explain it coherently, nor did he see a reason to do so for the count.
“At any rate, if things go as you and I think, once those guys fall apart, we will need a hero to resolve the mess and slay the ogre.”
Speaking in a low voice, the count posed an out-of-the-blue question.
“By any chance, do you have a usable magic sword?”
“Yes. I have one that is decent enough.”
“Let me have a look.”
Shan immediately drew the longsword at his waist halfway to show him.
Although it was not a magic weapon newly created by Cheryn due to time constraints, it was nonetheless a masterpiece steel sword bought at a high price from a capital smithy and enchanted with top-tier magic.
Even this alone was fair to call a far better weapon than the one he had used when fighting the Cockatrice in the past.
However, as it seemed not entirely satisfactory in the count’s eyes, the old bear clicked his tongue upon seeing it, unbuckled the sword at his waist without hesitation, and tossed it to Shan with a flick.
“Unsheathe it.”
In truth, Shan already knew its identity even without drawing the sword.
Because ever since seeing it once before, he had engraved the pommel, crossguard, and the shape of the scabbard into his eyes.
The only change was the bloodstains faintly remaining on the hilt, not yet fully wiped clean.
Schwing. As he lightly unsheathed the blade halfway, ancient Altoan runes engraved in the middle of the blade could be seen glowing faintly.
It was the powerful magic sword that Sir Gowell had used when sparring with him in the past, preserved by House Shedil for long generations.
“Sir Gowell did not let go of that sword until his last breath, thrusting it into the wyvern’s heart. I hope you will carry on his will with this sword.”
Adding that he did not mean to go die in battle, the count appended in a lighthearted tone as if deliberately trying to lighten the atmosphere.