But where was 1? Oh that's right 150+ chapters ago. Get used to the title because you'll be seeing it a lot soon.
Year 7446, Month 9, Day 6
All of us who had started taking a break in the rocky area just before the room the ogre mages nest on the 7th floor continued to watch the backs of {Black.Topaz} as they disappeared into the forest.
At longest I guess it was about 15 minutes or so?
What was? Of course before {Black.Topaz} entered combat.
The presence detection abilities of ogre mages reach 100 meters even in a dense forest with bad visibility. The diameter of the room is roughly 500 meters so if anyone from the outside intrudes into the room they'll notice from the center where the ogre mage group usually is when they reach about 150 meters inside.
The speed of advancing in this sort of forest for the first time I guess would be around 10 meters per minute or so.
They'll advance just a bit while hiding themselves behind bushes to check if it's safe in the surroundings. Obviously, I doubt they'll aim straight towards the center from the start. It seems they scattered soon after entering the room as well. That's why they're heading towards the center at a speed of 10 meters/minute.
That's about it.
For those progressing deep into the dungeon of Baldukk this ogre mage room is certainly a large wall. But recently even we've been able to claim victory with some leeway without even using paralysis poison or freezing them so if they can make it to the 7th floor on their own abilities then I'm sure they won't be wiped out. Or maybe they will?
If things get severe or if Anderson thinks things will get severe then I'm absolutely sure she'd call out to us. In that area, I think she's the type who would always choose her allies over her own pride in the end. However, just like an adventurer she also knows full well when to show some backbone as well. Previously, like the combat we saw between them with the {Frost Lizard} on the 5th floor, that was completely her showing her backbone. Well it seemed like they knew the general outline of the {Frost Lizard}'s abilities so in the end I'm sure she guessed they could have won though.
I think it would have been different for old man Viruhaima. That old man, he's amazing at seeing through the places where he can push things and where he can't after all. All their members are completely veterans and just like that one time we encountered them on the 6th floor in the end they would manage without backup. The reason why they bought healing potions from me was nothing more than insurance.
That old man if it was a situation like this, I guarantee he'd urge us go ahead first. After that, he'd investigate the corpses of the monsters we defeated. I think he might even investigate the footprints on the ground and the directions they're facing. First he would check what kind of formation they're in the room, whether the intervals between steps are the same as the ogres you encounter in the halls, what things are different with the corpses, and whether anyone notices anything, he'd thoroughly investigate it.
And then, after returning to the surface he'd make assumptions as much as he can on the various variations of attacks and start training to deal with those. I used to steal glances at the training of {Verdure.Brotherhood} a number of times in the past but those details were definitely this. From a glance it just looks pointless so the first time I saw it I didn't notice.
However, after realizing it a considerable portion of it was good reference so I incorporated a lot of it into the {Slaughterers} training as well.
Honestly, my only basis is the sight of them training but for some reason I'm confident on it.
..................................
It's almost been about 10 minutes.
I wonder if {Black.Topaz} has progressed about 100 meters yet?
I tried using the spell {Detect.Life} to confirm it.
Yeah, after all it's about that.
The group of ogre mages that are believed to be in the center are too far so I can't detect them.
It seems that {Black.Topaz} is moving in the formation {Double.Echelon}.
Everyone's long since finished drinking their tea.
They're all glancing at the forest here and there and are somewhat fidgety.
Putting aside Miduchi, they're about to leave the range that Ralpha and Bel can detect with {Detect.Life}. after all.
Well, it's certainly true that sis Anderson has some part of her that makes her liked by people.
She looks after people well after all.
Also, whether it's Basu of {Verdure.Brotherhood} or Kaku of this {Black.Topaz}, their sub-leaders all feel like worldly-wise men so I can't come to hate them.
It can't be helped~