Infiltration Recon
Seeing that the other side was willing to let her notify "that woman",
Auna agreed quite straightforwardly.
"It's settled then."
As Auna spoke, she patted the injured "Becca."
"Go bring my friend here. Just say that the great 'Shortie' would like to meet her."
"Awoo."
Becca seemed worried, so Auna reassured her.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine."
"Awo!"
Hearing this, becca had no choice but to agree. She hobbled away, limping as she left. She couldn't help but look back at Auna, but after a moment's hesitation, she finally ran slowly towards the jungle. She knew that only by finding Aruka and Serea now could she hope to save Auna.
"Alright, come with us. But to prevent you from escaping, we have to tie you up."
"No problem."
Auna's hands were bound, and her weapons were confiscated by the ogres. Next, they would return to the Shorties tribe.
...
Meanwhile, not far from them in the jungle, Aruka was using Hidden Fang to summon the wolf riders scattered throughout the jungle. Answering the call, the direwolves scattered among the woods brought the werewolves to Hidden Fang's location.
Five wolf riders burst out from the jungle and saw that Aruka was leading the main force towards them. They mounted their direwolves and raced over quickly.
"Chief!"
Seeing that all six wolf riders had suffered varying degrees of injuries, Aruka asked,
"What happened to you all? Where is Auna?"
"We fell into a hunting trap in the woods, and then we ran into ogres. Because the direwolves were injured, we decided to split up and escape, then regroup once it was safe. But when we regrouped, Captain Auna never showed up. I'm afraid..."
As they spoke, one wolf rider was the first to kneel, and the others followed, kneeling to the ground.
"We're sorry, chief, we failed to protect Captain Auna."
Watching his tribespeople kneel before him, Aruka took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
"Hoo... this is not your fault. It's my fault for making everyone hunt separately in unfamiliar jungle terrain, and ogres are natural counters to us. So, this isn't your fault."
As Aruka spoke, there was now only one thing that needed his attention.
"We have to find Auna as soon as possible."
Just as he finished speaking, a wolf's howl was heard from the distance.
"Awo!"
That howl called out to the wolf pack. Hearing it, Aruka looked excitedly into the jungle. That was Becca's voice. If Becca was still around, then maybe Auna was too...
"Awo!"
Becca, limping badly, burst out from the dense woods. To everyone's disappointment, auna was not on her back—and Becca was also seriously injured.
"Becca!"
"Awo!"
Both Aruka and Hidden Fang called out at the same time, and then the group quickly rushed over.
"Becca, why are you alone? Where's Auna?"
"Awooo."
Becca let out a low sound. Serea couldn't understand, so she asked,
"What did Becca say?"
"She said Auna was captured by the ogres and wants us to hurry and rescue her."
"Got it."
At that, Serea looked over at Leklis, who was being carried by Little Black.
"You know where the Shorties tribe is, right?"
"Uh... I only know a general location, so we might have to search for a bit."
"That's a bit troublesome."
Serea felt a bit troubled. Although they had a general direction, searching the vast sea of trees would be a hassle.
"Don't worry, becca says she knows where Auna is."
"That's great."
With that, Serea turned to Lola.
"Heal Becca, then we'll set out for the Shorties tribe immediately."
"Yes, queen."
Lola's healing spell was very skilled, and soon Becca had mostly recovered. At least she could move normally now.
"Awo!"
Once healed, becca rushed forward. Seeing this, Serea gave the order,
"All troops, move out!"
The grand force followed Becca and charged towards the Shorties tribe. Meanwhile, the goblin named Shortie still had no idea what kind of existence he had provoked.
...
Thirty minutes later, with Becca leading the way, Serea found a wide stretch of land by the river. The area had been cleared, and a camp surrounded by a wooden palisade stood there.
To avoid detection, Serea told Little Black to go scout ahead, while she and the main force stayed back.
Rustle rustle rustle!
The sound of passing through grass. But this faint noise didn't disturb the ogres snoring away. The timid, alert goblins merely glanced toward the source of the sound, but didn't spot whoever made it.
Relying on the effects of Phantom Veil, Little Black climbed over the wooden palisade and into the camp.
The camp wasn't large, but it was incredibly filthy, filled with heaps of miscellaneous junk, including lots of bones.
Just from the picked-clean bones, it was obvious that this was the ogres' "food."
Most were beast bones, though some were human, and even...
Seeing a set of massive bones, Little Black guessed the creature it once belonged to must have been several meters tall. Could the ogres have eaten one of their own kind?
No, it didn't seem so. Judging from the bones, this creature appeared even larger than a normal ogre. Clearly, it was a different giant species, and there were many more such bones piled up throughout the camp.
Besides that, through Little Black's eyes, Serea discovered many other odd phenomena.
The camp was littered with the wreckage of wagons, and their cargo hadn't yet been taken out. Most eye-catching of all was the familiar merchant guild emblem on one of the wagons.
Xiyun Merchant Guild!
These guys had actually ambushed a Xiyun Merchant Guild caravan. Which meant those human bones were...
An idea appeared in Serea's mind. To confirm it, she needed more evidence.
Avoiding the sleeping ogres, Little Black continued to infiltrate the camp, coming before a relatively tidy wooden house. The four ogres guarding it weren't particularly attentive. While they were asleep, Little Black leapt onto the roof, and through a small hole peered inside.
Inside was a girl tied up—that was Auna!
Seeing this, Little Black prepared to find a way to rescue Auna, but just then, the camp's horns suddenly blared.
Woooo! Woooo!
The goblins blew the horns, waking all the ogres around.
Seeing this, Little Black immediately revealed his sharp bone claws.
"Don't! Don't! Don't cause a commotion—come back now!"
Seeing Little Black about to make a dangerous move, Serea hurriedly stopped him.
Little Black, of course, obeyed the Queen's order. Sheathing his bone claws, he jumped off the roof and withdrew.
The alarm wasn't actually directed at Little Black, so he was able to withdraw without opposition. But as he left, he noticed a completely stone-sealed little house.
He could sense something unusual inside it, but there was no time to investigate. He had to withdraw quickly.
(To be continued.)