Chapter 42: Showdown! Ogre Lord! ……From a Long Distance
Hello, this is Ren. I am now sneaking through the forest.
After that, the adventurers I had saved asked me for help. However, I declined them because of the age restriction and since I wasn’t originally a member of the subjugation party. The adventurers who I helped left the forest and went to the designated emergency meeting place, and after seeing them off, I snuck into the forest. I wanted to get revenge for Norn since she was always taking care of me.
But I didn’t want to attract any attention. That and I didn’t have the ability or weapons necessary to challenge the ogre lord at close range. The only way I could fight it would be to snipe it from a long range.
So after thinking it over for a while, I gave Norn a letter and was now laying in wait with Bell.
Hmm, I could see an ogre-like group and adventurer-like group fighting in the distance, but I couldn’t see them very clearly even if I squinted……wait, didn’t I have a skill that could enhance my vision or something? I just need to use mana or-……ah, there we go. I could see now. I checked my status. Skill: Hawk’s Eye. It was a skill that would enhance vision through using mana or stamina.
Since I did learn the skill, it was only natural to use it.
I had Norn deliver the letter to the guild master. It seems that the guild master was accompanying the subjugation group. As his muscular appearance would show, he was originally a B rank adventurer. And the contents of the letter were:
- A share of the defeated ogre materials
- Exemption from penalties for violating age restriction
- Do not reveal that I defeated the enemies
- Defend me from anything bad that would occur as a result of defeating the enemies If you agree with the above terms, please notify Norn. As soon as I hear Norn’s howl, I will start sniping them.
Something like that. Well, if I sent out Norn who was always following me, people would probably still figure out that I was involved. But as long as I don’t show myself, nothing could be said, right?
I could see what was happening with my enhanced vision. Somehow there were also people that looked familiar among them……ah, them, it was Neil and his group. Ugh.
Just as I was thinking that, I saw Norn jumping into the struggling subjugation party surrounded by ogres. Norn handed the letter that she was holding to the guild master, and the guild master started reading it……yep, that was quite the expression he had on.
After thinking for a while, he told Norn something. It seems he agreed, because soon after, Norn’s howl resounded. Alright, time to attack.
However, it was impossible to immediately aim for the ogre lord. Because there were numerous ogres surrounding it. A meat shield? The total was……..16. I would have to reduce some of their numbers.
Prepare a knife, activate the rifling barrel, speed…….I think 600 speed should work? Aim and fire. It met its mark and the target fell. Alright, next.
Next, I tried three shots at once. All of them landed. The ogre lord……looks like it’ll still be difficult to hit it? Let’s reduce their numbers a bit more.
What was the subjugation party doing? Everyone was shocked and standing still. Isn’t that dangerous? Guess it can’t be helped, let’s reduce their numbers some more.
Exploding sounds!
Hmm, looks like the ogres are fortifying their defense around the ogre lord. Let’s continue reducing the numbers then.
More exploding sounds!
An opening formed, At that moment, Norn jumped towards the ogre lord. So far, just as planned, I guess? Now I just need to snipe the ogre lord through the opening I made. The timing would be…….now! But it ended up hitting the arm, the knife was stuck fairly deep into its arm.
Ah, it didn’t work. It seems like it was surprised for a moment, but its movement didn’t change. And it managed to avoid Norn’s attack. It also started guarding against my snipe attacks, so I wasn’t able to continue sniping it.
……I only have 90 MP left. So I couldn’t afford to use too many attacks. I would have to ensure that it would stop moving on the next attack. Then where should I aim? If I’m going for mobility, then the knees? In that case, let’s make sure there’s no regrets.
Activate rifling barrel, 800 speed. The MP cost was 40. I increased the speed a bit more. 1000 speed. The MP cost was 70. If I shot this, I wouldn’t be able to continue fighting today. Nevertheless, I decided to shoot it. I enhanced my eyesight to the limit. Aim………………………and fire.
The ogre lord’s knee burst opened and it knelt on the spot. Norn leapt forth without missing the opportunity and slashed her front legs. The blade of wind sliced through the ogre lord’s neck.
…….We won.
After waiting for a bit while observing the situation, I headed towards the guild master at an appropriate time. The other adventurers were scattered about cleaning up the remaining six ogres.
” ……Hello.” “Oh, hello.”
“Are you alright?” “Thanks to your help……I’m fine. But to think that both you and your familiar have the power to defeat ogres…….that was quite surprising.”
“I was able to fight because I hid from a distance. If I fought them directly, I would be killed in a matter of seconds.” “No, each person has their own way of fighting. No one would complain about your fighting style. Above all, the power and accuracy themselves are more than praiseworthy.”
“Is that so…….ah, you are willing to keep to those conditions, right?” “Yeah, don’t worry. For two C rank parties, the promising D ranks, and even myself to survive when we were just about to die, those conditions are more than acceptable. There’s absolutely no problem.”
“Really?” “Yeah……Harula is currently short on manpower. Most of the talented folks are either in the royal capital or fief capital, so it takes some time to recruit more people.”
“Okay.” “You don’t seem very interested……never mind. Anyways, a share of the materials and exemption from penalties are all fine, but what’s the point of concealing your identity? Don’t you want fame?”
“Um, I just don’t want to stand out.” “I don’t get it……no, I can understand that you don’t like getting involved in troublesome matters. Then, I believe the next is…? There’s a limit to what I can do, but I’ll do as much as I can.”
“Thank you very much.” “No, you don’t have to thank me. So how do you want me to handle the share of the materials? Do you want to give them to me here and just receive the money for them?”
“Ah, that’s right. Let’s go with that then, please.” “Alright. Oh, and I need to transport the ogre lord and all the surrounding corpses to the guild, can you help me? As expected, it will be difficult for the subjugation party to transport all of these.”
“Ah, I would like to retreat before the people who went to clean up come back.” “Right, you’re trying to keep everything a secret……then is it possible for you to just transport them to the emergency meeting place?”
“There are other people here, right? Doing that is a bit………” “I see…….never mind, I understand. Sorry for asking something unreasonable.”
“Sorry for not helping.” “Don’t be, it’s time-consuming, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do it. Anyways, I guess it would be better for you to leave the area then?”
“That’s right. Then I’m heading back to Harula first.” “Right, see you later then.”
“Yep.”
And so the confirmation was complete. Now time to escape from the forest with Norn! Ah, but I should recover the knives from the ogres before that. Evidence was important.
I was glad that I could help everyone without having to worry about the consequences.