Arthur, Raye and Adelaide are once again training on the mines to accumulate experience with their weapons and magic spells. They also made sure to stick only to the weaker monsters so that they can ensure their safety. They already know how to take care of themselves even without Elaina on their side.
"Ugh, I could have wished either Mier or Layla came with us to fight. It would have been a good idea to get them to help out and they can even practice their abilities. And besides, time does not flow properly, Mier’s mother won’t know it unless we tell it," Arthur sighed.
"Well, we can’t push them to help us. Unlike me who wanted to improve my magic spells, the two of them has no reason to go and fight monsters like us. They prefer the peaceful life away from the monsters and I think that is fine," Adelaide shrugged.
"I agree with Adelaide, Arthur. Those two did not grow up to fight and they love the peace in the farm. Unlike us who seeks the thrill of combat, I don’t think we can convert them so easily to help out and fight monsters."
"Fine...just saying since Layla has great water magic and Mier knows how to use healing magic, they can be a good support in the backline and not just let my twin carry all the roles of attacker, healer and support all in one," Arthur sighed.
"I appreciate the concern, Arthur but I am fine with this. A good way to train my abilities without restraint, I must say," Adelaide grinned.
"Well, guess I won’t be worried then," Arthur grinned.
"Alright, since we have wrapped up on this, how about we hit back home and rest? If we get plenty of rest, perhaps we can still help out Mother on her work at the farm," Raye suggested.
"Good idea. I want to eat something when I get home. I am a bit famished," Arthur said as the trio went out of the cave.
However, they haven’t totally left the cave when Raye detected something and stopped the two of his companions.
"Hmm? What’s wrong?" Arthur frowned.
"Someone aside from us is nearby and it seems they are looking this way," Raye said as he put his guard up and ready his sword.
"A monster?" Adelaide also tensed up.
"Not too sure. I can only sense his presence since he is still far from us but I can tell that he is not here to harm us. I can’t see him clearly so if we wanted to know who this person is, we have to get close. One thing is for sure, this guy is not a human as his wavelength that he is releasing is different from everyone. Thankfully, the presence is faint, and he isn’t showing any hostility, but still can’t be too sure. Monsters can feign ignorance at first, only to show it once we let down our guard. If we approach it, we needed to heighten our guard just to be sure," Raye suggested.
"Good idea. Ade, prepare to cast subversion tactics if we have trouble against this one," Arthur grips his sword tightly.
"On it," Adelaide readies herself as well.
They act casual, but they remain on guard as they slowly approach the presence that Raye mentioned. And it seems that Raye’s instincts were correct. There is indeed someone else currently walking towards them. It wasn’t a human as his skin is dark greenish.
"An ogre?!" Raye frowned.
"No, that’s a greater ogre! Ogres don’t grow hair on their heads, while Greater Ogres are more intelligent and have hair to differentiate them from regular ogres!" Adelaide quickly corrected him as the three of them quickly assumed battle stance.
The greater ogre was startled by this, but he didn’t immediately assume combat stance; he threw off his weapons on the ground and threw his hands up in the air.
"No fight, humans! No fight! Me here, not want to fight!" the Greater Ogre speaks in broken dialect, but he still managed to convey his surrender.
"You are right. Regular ogres can’t speak, but Greater Ogres do. But I thought they lived deep into the mountains and avoided humans at all costs to avoid triggering a problem that can endanger their tribe?" Arthur frowned. He might not be as book-smart as his twin, but he still knows his stuff regarding monsters.
"That’s what I want to know to and since this Greater Ogre here can speak our language, might as well question him first," Adelaide said as she stopped silently channelling her magic and instead took the weapons the Greater Ogre dropped and held it using her magic. She can’t carry the weapons he wields after all, considering they weigh more than the three of them combined.
The Greater Ogre was worried, seeing his weapons were taken away from hi,m but he didn’t protest and got angry. It seems he did come in peace, and he didn’t really want to fight.
"Alright, boys. I will handle the talking, you two should watch his movements in case he does something funny," Adelaide suggested.
"Good to know. Might as well hand the talks to you than on us, who can easily fumble that easily," Raye nodded.
Adelaide approached the Greater Ogre, and although she remained on guard, she also observed the behavior of the Greater Ogre before them. Pretty calm and steady that Adelaide was convinced that what the books said about the Greater Ogres being a bit of a barbaric version of regular ogres was a bit false. They might be monsters but they are intelligent and they know their attitude.
She also quietly deduced that the Greater Ogre before them is a juvenile Greater Ogre. He wasn’t as big as regular ogres, and considering Greater Ogres are bigger compared to regular ogres, Adelaide was clearly it was still a child. But that is why she is wondering why a child Greater Ogre is currently so near the human settlement,t considering they actively avoid routes used by humans to avoid crossing one another.
"Speak, Greater Ogre. What is your purpose in coming here? Are you here to scout and report it to your kin so that you can launch an attack?!"
"No! No! Gobruk comes in peace! Gobruk didn’t want fight! Come talk to humans, deliver warning to help humans!" Fınd the newest release on noᴠelfire.net
Adelaide frowned. "A warning? Why send a warning? Is there something going on that would cause problems with the humans?"
"Very big! Me come here, to stop meaningless bloodshed. Not want humans to misunderstand!"
Hearing this, Adelaide sighed and turned to look at her companions.
"He is in the clear. It seems he is talking about something very important. I think we should talk this out to Mother and let her listen to this."
"What? Don’t tell me you are going to bring this Greater Ogre back to the farm?!" Arthur frowned.
"Don’t worry. I sense no malice in his words, and he isn’t showing hidden hostility toward us. He really came for peace."
"Are we sure we can bring him with us? Mother will be so shocked by this development," Raye is worried.
"We don’t have a choice. Mother is the best candidate to allow him to properly convey whatever he came here for, and Mother would know what she needed to do after the warning. We are still kids, so we can’t do anything about this matter," Adelaide explained.
"Fine. But make sure to cuff him if we are bringing him with us. Even though he isn’t violent against us, we can’t afford to be so nonchalant about it. He might do something we didn’t expect."
"Don’t worry about that," Adelaide nodded before she turned to the Greater Ogre. "Is Gobruk your name?"
"Name is Gobruk. Gobruk, my name. Noble name."
"I see. Then, Gobruk, if you want to talk with someone, we will bring you to them, but since they might be cautious against you, would you allow us to bind you with cuffs? Treat it as something that would allow us humans not to be scared of you. Don’t worry, we will remove it later."
Gobruk nodded and readily put his hands before Elaina, waiting to be tied up. Based on what he is doing, Adelaide is very sure that the Greater Ogre named Gobruk didn’t want any problems, and if getting tied up would solve the problem, he would readily do it. Adelaide sighed in relief after seeing this. Thankfully, he ran into them and not the patrolling soldiers. Even if he begs for the soldiers to help, they will not listen and will mobilize the force just to fight and kill him in the process, even though he didn’t want to fight.
Snapping her fingers, a cuff link made of magic appeared on Gobruk’s hands.
"Then come with us. Don’t worry, since you didn’t come to harm us and you wanted to discuss this in peace, you don’t need to worry about your life. Come, we will talk to someone you need to discuss this matter with.
Thanks to Adelaide’s words, the Greater Ogre successfully went with the three children to enter Elaina’s farm.