On to business.
“So this is what a map is,” I said. “A way of showing what the land looks like that everyone can understand. I want you to look at this as I speak to you.”
Everyone gathered around the boards in the middle of the table. I linked it with everyone via Thought Communication to ensure we were all focused on the same thing.
“Okay. I’m going to use this map to predict how the lizardmen and orcs are going to act. We’re trying to figure out what the orcs are thinking here. If we can grasp that, it’ll be easier to plot our next move.”
They all nodded.
I had Soei place a small piece of wood on the orc force’s current location. I had written ORC on it in big letters, like a game piece.
From the center of the Forest of Jura, there were three basic directions an army as large as the orcs could go. All involved tracing the Ameld River, which stretched out from the Canaat Mountains. This river forked into two tributaries near the center of the forest, one flowing into Lake Sisu. The larger branch moved upward in a north-south orientation, traversing nearly the entire continent. Toward the end, it made a slow curve before dumping out into the ocean to the east.
The forest hugged this river for much of its outward flow, and generally speaking, the area east of it was occupied by the Eastern Empire—human lands. After exiting the woods, the Great Ameld fed the fertile plains that were ruled over by demon lords. That plurality was important. Shizu had said as much as well, that the demon lord Leon was just one of them. It sounded a bit odd, the idea of multiple demon lords, but there you go. For all I knew, Leon and the one who gave Rigurd’s son his name were two different people.
The topic deserved more exploration, but that would have to wait. We were trying to suss out the orcs’ invasion route and ultimate objective.
According to Soei’s report, after leaving their habitat near the demon lord lands, the orcs had been making their way along the Great Ameld. It was the only route large enough to hold an entire army, but apparently, they had also been sending squadrons into the forest, picking off the stronger monsters that might threaten them along the way—including the ogres. They were after food, I wagered, but it still seemed odd.
“What do you think?” I asked as I moved other wooden pieces around to simulate the orcs overtaking the ogre fort.
“In what way, my lord?”
“I mean, why would they send a splinter force off like this? Why couldn’t they just march right through the forest?”
“Moving such a large force,” Hakuro said, “would be very difficult, what with all the trees in the way.”
Made sense. But in that case…
“Why raze our homeland at all?” Benimaru asked. “If we weren’t in the way of the main force, why couldn’t they have left us be?”
“Hmm… A good question, actually,” Hakuro replied.
They were right. The orcs didn’t seem to have any motivation for picking off higher-level foes not directly in their path of advance. They could seize their food stores, yes, but if that was the sole objective, they paid an extremely dear price for it. The orcs numbered several thousand, but that was still a pittance compared to the main force. Why devote so relatively few fighters toward such an obviously tough opponent? Was food really the only reason they were willing to accept so many casualties?
“Remember,” Benimaru said, “they didn’t even offer to hire us as mercenaries. I can only conclude they were prepared to kill us all from the moment they arrived.”
Shuna nodded. “Very true. My Sense Threat extra skill told me as much. They were fully hostile toward us—nothing more, nothing less.”
So the orcs wanted the ogres dead. And that wasn’t all.
“Judging by the routes the main force and this splinter team took,” Hakuro said, eyes focused on the map, “they would likely regroup in the marshlands.”
Everyone looked down as he moved two ORC-labeled pieces forward. He was right. Proceeding in a straight line, they met right at the marshlands the lizardmen called home. A region large enough for the main orc force to regroup and prepare for the battle ahead—assuming they didn’t mind the lack of dry land to work with.
“So they’d definitely run into the lizardmen sooner or later, right? Did they want to eradicate them so they could be king of the forest or whatever?”
“Put that way, I’m not so sure… It makes little sense.”
“Or maybe they’re in cahoots with a demon lord, like you said?”
“They are receiving support, no doubt about that, but I cannot say whether it is demon lord support. We had best not jump to conclusions.”
“Okay, but even if they are working with someone, what does annihilating the main powerbrokers in the forest achieve?”
Everyone on hand offered their own response. In the end, though, no one had a definite idea about what the orcs wanted—the most important question.
“Plus,” Shuna whispered, “how are the orcs feeding an army of two hundred thousand?”
The observation made everyone freeze for a moment.
“How?” Benimaru ventured. “That’s what they’re seizing food supplies for, no?” Then he fell silent, realizing how dubious that sounded.
Shuna had a point. It just didn’t seem right.
“Soei, did the splinter force have a supply team with them?”
“…I did not see any, no. The main force appeared to have a caravan carrying food supplies in the rear, but… Indeed, not nearly enough of one, in terms of size. Nowhere near enough to keep an army of two hundred thousand nourished.”
Marching near the river eliminated any worries about fresh water, but they were essentially unable to supply themselves. Whatever food they had would dwindle quickly. Both forces needed something, didn’t they? I doubted the orcs had perfected some just-in-time method of supplying a full military force nobody was aware of, but I also doubted they would just let all those orcs starve while they fought.
And if they didn’t bother to supply the splinter force, no way they’d seize the ogres’ food, then just deliver it all back to the main army. They had their own mouths to feed. And “splinter” force or not, we were still talking several thousand grown orcs, and that was an awful lot of people to force into potential starvation.
I noticed Soei step up to say something, only to catch himself.
“What is it?” I pressed. “Did you want to say something?”
“This is just speculation on my part, but I wonder if, perhaps, they were…foraging upon the bodies of those who died of starvation or battle wounds. I say this because, while I conducted thorough investigations of the battlefields they fought in, I found not a single corpse.”
“What?!” Benimaru exclaimed. “Including our own homeland?”
“…Yes. There was absolutely nothing, and no one, left.”
“How?!”
“Oh no…”
The ogre mages were at a loss for words. Oof… I could see why. That’s what orcs are like? Just imagining it made me queasy.
“That’s… That’s just too hard to accept…”
“They are omnivorous, I know, but… Really?”
Soei eyed Rigurd and Kaijin stoically. “It is simply speculation,” he repeated. “But wherever they were known to be, I found not a single corpse—and our homeland was completely devoid of anything. That is the full truth. And that brings to mind a certain skill…”
He stopped, and his face twisted.
“No!” Benimaru shouted. “An orc lord?”
“Indeed. I have not confirmed it, but I cannot deny the chance that an orc lord has appeared. I have, at least, confirmed the presence of high-order orc knights. Our attackers, likely.”
“Indeed. They would have to be, judging by their strength. I could imagine orc generals among them, even.”
“That would certainly explain everything…”
The ogre mages’ faces grew more and more concerned. They seemed to know who this orc lord was—not that it meant anything to me, Kaijin, or the other hobgoblins.
“Whoa, who’s this orc lord guy?” Kaijin asked, finally unfreezing himself. “Could you maybe include us in this conversation, please?”
“Yeah,” I added. “If you don’t mind?”
That was our first insight into exactly how fearsome the orc lord was.