After returning to our land and patching up the wounded, I used some chunks of charcoal to draw the enemies I’d scouted on the wall. I would have liked a camera, but for now, I’d just have to make do with my artistic re-creations.
“As far as I could confirm, there were about forty ogrekin. One of them seemed like the leader. Additionally, there were three enemies with relatively well-built bodies that were taller than humans. It was too dark to make out their features, but their silhouettes implied they each either had horns or were wearing hats or caps.”
The eyes of those crowding around were glued to me as I continued my report.
“There was also…one humanoid monster four times the size of a person. I thought it was a statue at first, but it was definitely moving. That far side of the hall was spacious and dark, with the only light coming from the torches. I admit I could have missed something, but those were all the hostiles I saw. It’s not much, but can anyone make heads or tails of this?” I asked.
Mizuho was the first to speak up, inquiring, “What did the ogrekin’s leader look like?”
“A little skinny, with facial hair. And it looked older. It had several decorations on the ragged clothes it wore.”
“That would be a shaman. They can be trouble; they instigate the ogrelings. I believe the horned ogres you saw were a type called beast ogrekin.”
“What about the biggest one?”
“Most likely…that was an ogre giant. A terrifying creature that will even eat friendly ogrelings if they’re in reach.”
A frightened stir rippled through the dark of the palace.
All ogrekin ate people. That simple fact was more than enough to express how threatening they were. Everyone agreed that even those stupid-faced ogrelings couldn’t be taken lightly.
I turned back toward the northern passage. After retreating from the farmland with the wounded, we’d put out all the torches in the greatbat cave and blocked off the route with a barricade made of as many things as we could pile up. We also hung spoons and forks from strings to act as alarms, but those countermeasures were all we could manage in such a short time frame.
What would we do if the ogres attacked now? Everyone would be eaten. Most folk’s expressions made it plain that they had already given up. If I let them be, they’d panic.
How do I keep them calm?
Immediately, I took the flashlight from my waist and flicked it on. There was a chorus of startled cries as everyone covered their faces. I hadn’t turned on my SureFire in quite a while, so it dazzled me as well.
“Everyone, please calm down. We’re going to be all right.” After confirming that I’d snuffed out the fires of panic, I turned the flashlight off. As everyone blinked, I continued, “It’s not over yet. Enemies will be at our doorstep before long, but I know you all—and I trust we can handle it.”
“He’s right. You’re all getting a little too worked up,” Mizuho added right away, raising her voice. “We survived that storm, didn’t we? And our nation has Taiga. The incredible soldier of the Regiment, come from another world—Taiga the Special!”
“Yeah, yeah!” Troach cheered as though she were an unrelated bystander.
Mizuho took it in stride and carried on. “We have to believe in the one who’s saved us countless times, often endangering himself to do so. Taiga will think of a way to defeat this threat. You can be sure of it. Isn’t that right, Taiga?”
“Uh… Yeah. I promise to give it my best.”
“See? Did you hear that, everyone? Three cheers for Taiga! Three cheers for the Great Camp Bravo Kingdom!”
With Mizuho and Troach stoking everyone’s enthusiasm, the people raised their voices. I groaned to myself. That was one more Colonel Kurtz point for me.
After all the praising, Mizuho raised a hand. “The three of us will now hold a war council. Please make sure you know your watch shift, and if you don’t have anything to do, then get some rest. Until then, await further instructions! Dismissed!”
We’d avoided a general panic, at least. Still, no one looked especially hopeful.
“Thanks for that,” I whispered to Mizuho.
“You’re welcome… What will we do?”
“I’ve been thinking about it. Even with all the tricks in the book, I’m not sure we can drive off a raiding party of that size. And even if we did, we’d probably have to abandon both our new locations.”
“A difficult situation indeed.”
If the enemy invaded our nation’s territory via the farmland and went through the cave to attack the palace, the two passages connecting the three areas would be choke points. Both of them were sturdy stonework partway through, but if we could get one to collapse, we would be safe.
Unfortunately, that was only true if I assumed that these ogres were capable of what humans were. That ogre giant, or whatever that had been, wouldn’t be able to go through human-sized doorways or the farmland shaft, but with its sheer size, I’d be better off treating it like an armored vehicle that could crash through most obstacles. The battle with the treant had taught me how dreadful Million Dungeon’s monsters were. The tree had restricted movement, though. It was unwise to assume every big monster was just as slow.
I’d heard something shocking while carrying the wounded back here. The ogrelings were tied with humans for the title of weakest race in Million Dungeon. In other words, normal humans were no better than ogrelings. Pretty much all the monsters inhabiting this world were stronger than us.