“Rudeus!” I was asleep at the inn in the Third City of Heirelil when Eris’s voice woke me.
“…What’s up, honey? Lemme sleep a little longer.” I reached out to squeeze her breasts, but my hand was knocked aside. Boo, you’re so mean! Like, that’s violence. I’m the one who’s in the wrong, I guess… I touched, even though I’m supposed to be celibate.
“They’re here!”
“They?”
“Them!” Eris yelled, then ran from the room. I wished she would stop talking with her feelings. A rational person like me could never work out what she meant from vague words.
“Them…?”
Still not understanding, I got up. I rubbed my eyes, blurry with sleep, and looked out the window. There, I saw a group with dark red hair gathered in front of the inn.
“—Them!” I rushed out of the room down to the first floor.
The Ogre God sat, legs crossed, in front of the inn. The young ogres standing around him were watching him with pained expressions. Facing them were Eris and Ruijerd, weapons drawn and ready. When I stepped forward the crowd parted to clear a path. I walked toward the Ogre God. Once there, Sandor whispered in my ear.
“The Ogre God wants to make peace. It didn’t feel like a trap, so I brought him.”
“…All right.” I wasn’t going to say no if he said he wouldn’t fight any more. Who knew what Sandor expected, but it didn’t seem anything like a Geese scheme. From what I’d seen, Eris, Ruijerd, and Atofe weren’t stanced up, either. I guessed something had happened that convinced them to drop their guards.
The Ogre God glowered at me, then in a searching tone, said, “You, chief?”
“Yes. I’m Rudeus Greyrat. I’m in charge.”
“Me Marta.” I bowed and Marta, still sitting, bowed back. “Want talk.”
“…I have some questions of my own.” Copying the Ogre God, I sat down on the ground and crossed my legs. He’s in the same pose, so I hope it won’t come across as rude… I thought, just as a young ogre beside the Ogre God promptly knelt beside me and placed a wide, shallow cup on the ground before both me and the Ogre God. They were sake cups.
The cups were filled right away, mine with what seemed to be a local spirit. Into the Ogre God’s cup went a black liquid. That was probably soy sauce.
Between the soy sauce and the miso, the culture here seemed like Japan’s.
“Drink,” he said.
“Thank you.” The Ogre God downed his drink, and I copied him. It might be polite to drain your glass…but it’d be bad if I got drunk, so I stopped at a mouthful.
Now, where should I start? I suppose asking about Geese. If he’s a disciple.
Master Ogre God didn’t look all that clever. I’d have to make my explanation of difficult matters simple, easy to understand. Gently, like when I taught something to Eris.
“I hear story.” The Ogre God hesitated a moment, then said, “Demon King attack village. Steal food. Not forgive. But no-fighters all alive.” He looked at the ogres around us.
All alive…? If there was any fighting, no matter how minor, surely there were deaths…? Oh, he must mean no noncombatants died.
Apparently, even Atofe was capable of that kind of judgment, although obviously Moore had been the one to strategize it that way.
“I break, your house. But your no-fighters, I leave. Even.”
I didn’t say anything.
“Ogres protect kingdom. Kingdom admit, lost to you. Me ogre chief. No more reason to fight. Make peace.”
He wasn’t going to forgive Atofe for attacking the village. He’d attacked the office. At the same time, he hadn’t attacked any noncombatants. We were even. The ogres had a duty to protect the kingdom, but the kingdom had already admitted defeat. As the chief of the ogres, he saw no reason to fight, so he wanted to make peace. Something like that.
“What about Geese? Did he ask something of you?”
“Geese say you destroy kingdom. So I help. But Geese run away. You not destroy. Keep going, kingdom and ogres destroyed.”
Geese had said that I was going to destroy the Biheiril Kingdom. I hadn’t done it, and not only that, but Geese had fled. If this went on, the kingdom and the ogres would both be destroyed without a doubt.
“Geese lied. No more trust.”
I hadn’t destroyed the kingdom. It was all Geese’s lies.
“I surrender. Me, ready to die. But no-fighters, please spare.” With that, the Ogre God prostrated his massive bulk on the ground. It was like a kowtow. The young ogres around us were all silent. They must have thought I’d probably kill the Ogre God there. Obviously, you killed your enemy. Even though they didn’t like it, they were going to go along with it. The Ogre God would die, and they would live on. What was with the tragic nobility? Then, I understood. The kingdom had admitted defeat, which meant the Ogre God and the others had no backup. My side was stronger. Should we decide to fight, we could trample Ogre Island… Not that I saw much point in that.
Anyway. Should I kill him? Or not? The Ogre God had said he wouldn’t trust Geese anymore. He didn’t strike me as a man who lied, so I’d trust him. He wasn’t eloquent, but he didn’t seem stupid. If I’d interpreted what he said correctly, it was all clearly reasoned. He had a higher IQ than a certain immortal demon king.
But if he were smart, he might be lying.
I thought for a minute, then asked him one last question. “Master Ogre God, you’re not a disciple of the Man-God, are you?”
“No. Geese say Man-God’s name. Me not know. Even if I know, island precious.”
The Ogre God’s gaze was clear and powerfully direct. If he was lying, I could never trust anything again.
“Then I accept,” I said. The relief from around us was palpable. I should let him live. That would be better for later.
“One thing though, Master Ogre God. I want you to fight against Geese. I’d hate to do it, but if you run or betray me, I’ll attack the island.”
If we were thinking about foiling Geese’s trap, this was our best shot. The Ogre God’s connection to the ogres ran deep. I didn’t like making threats, but I couldn’t have him betraying me at the eleventh hour.
“Understood. I fight alone?”
“No, with us.”
“And I die, what of no-fighters?”
“In regard to the surviving ogres, one of us…well, whoever survives will take responsibility for their care.”
“Not lie.” The Ogre God nodded. With that, the young ogre from before poured more soy sauce into the Ogre God’s cup and more alcohol into mine. He raised his cup and I, copying him again, raised mine.
“On the ogre’s horns.”
“…On the name of the Dragon God.” I said it at random, but the Ogre God looked at me dead serious and nodded with a grunt of agreement. Then, he drained his cup.
So concluded our war with the Ogre God.