Troach and I, plus two subordinates, formed the scout group. I placed eight under Astoria’s command and designated them the raiding group. Mizuho was assigned two guards to form the support group. The scouts would take the lead, then signal behind when things were safe to have the rest of the force advance. We would act as covertly as possible, and as soon as we were spotted, we’d fight them head-on…
In all honesty, I didn’t know how effective it’d be to split things up this way. The first question was whether these people could function as a single unit. It relied on our subordinates’ work, though not as much as it relied on Astoria’s strength.
I’d made one fatal mistake in Ankara: trusting someone I shouldn’t have. Was it really the best idea to leave everyone’s lives, and the fate of our nation, to this woman, who was both a renowned knight and a streamer?
I looked over at Astoria. Noticing my gaze, she smiled and nodded back with no idea what it was I was thinking.
Mizuho, Troach, and all our subordinates were staring at me in the same way. My mind was made up.
When we began the operation, they would, without a doubt, mess up in some fashion. These things never, ever went according to the ideal. Some would be wounded and might even die.
But I was doing this job as part of a team, which meant trusting my comrades with my life. And to the last, they believed in me.
Shit… Fine, then. Let’s do this.
Signaling my squad, I stepped into the hall. Dust flicked into the air as we trod on the floor, which was marked with the ogrekin’s footprints.
Troach and I took the front side by side. Our two subordinates followed just behind, keeping an eye on our six. We’d told them to tap us on the shoulder to notify us of anything strange happening. I’d made them practice it before setting out, too, but it was stopgap knowledge, so I wasn’t sure if it would help.
We proceeded with caution, following the passage’s western wall. When we came to an empty doorway, we checked inside. Nothing. The lantern light, kept to its minimum, illuminated a fallen bookshelf and some broken dining ware on the floor. Farther along, we passed two similar entrances. The dust on the floor indicated that nobody had gone through them, so it was safe so far.
Now halfway down the hall, the next door we came upon was metal. I checked the door, gauging whether to have everyone else come up. Yet while I was pressed to the side of the entrance, the thing suddenly flew open from inside. The firelight inside the room showed: a muscle-bound man close to two meters in height with goat horns sticking out of his head.
That goat-head looked down at us, seeming taken aback. We were quicker in shaking off the surprise. I flung out my spear, stabbing the creature’s neck from below. The point pierced his fur and stopped when it hit hard flesh. A coughing cry came from his throat, at which point, Troach made her move. Her spear lanced in the dark, sinking deep just below the goat-man’s jaw. His mouth spasmed, then fell limp. We knew he’d died because all his body weight suddenly pressed down on our spears.
We peered into the room past the corpse. It was all clear. When we drew our weapons back, the goat-man’s body slid to the floor. Our two subordinates were frozen in place, staring at him. I waved a finger in front of them to draw their attention, then instructed the pair to go back and keep an eye on the rear teams.
Giving a gesture to Troach, who was looking smug after having trounced an opponent, we each took one of his legs and dragged the goat-man inside the room.
A stove sat at the other end of the room, a fire burning inside. Furniture had been used for fuel. Haphazardly smashed shelves were piled up against the wall. Once, they might have been antiques, if the remnants of their beautiful craftsmanship were anything to judge by. Greasy metal skewers and bones with meat still on them littered the space around the kiln. Had the monster been cooking and eating some creature? Mizuho had said that ogres ate humans. I put the unpleasant imagery out of my mind.
The stove was solidly built out of piled rocks, and its vent reached up and connected to the ceiling. It left me wondering how smoke exhaust and liquid drainage were typically handled in this world. We had a river right next to our country, and the palace opened right up to the Great Fracture, so I’d never had to consider it before. Waste management couldn’t be easy in other places. I’d have to ask about the matter later on.
That was when one of the subordinates keeping watch outside the room’s entrance frantically tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around as the door on the opposite side of the hall opened, and a legion of ogrelings came pouring out. They’d been heading to the stairs at the end of the corridor leading to the upper floor, but one of them had spotted us somehow.
The door of the room we were in was wide open, and the firelight inside was leaking into the hall. Seeing that, the line of ogrelings stopped and started debating something. As we held our breaths and watched them from the door, they suddenly began to shriek. Drawing swords and clubs, the monsters charged forward on their short legs.
I didn’t know what had tipped them off. All they would have seen was the cracked door. Had it been the scent of blood? Did they sense the presence of humans? Either way, now that our cover was blown, the first stage of our mission was over.
There were nine ogrelings total crossing the hall, making almost doglike barking noises as they went. The last one took a short horn it kept stowed in a scarf and began loudly playing. It sounded like a vuvuzela as it reverberated. The call immediately threw everything into a commotion.
Giving up on hiding, I exited from the doorway. The ogrelings, now directly faced with an enemy, became even more enraged as they charged at us.
Pinching my fingers and blowing into them, I whistled once. A moment later, a muffled, hissing roar rang from the south end of the hall, from which we’d come. The surprised ogrelings stumbled right in the middle of the hall. I watched as Astoria, astride Snorts, showed herself, stepping in from the doorway to the slime room. Snorts opened its mouth wide, stuck out its pink-and-purple tongue, and shook the loose-hanging skin around its neck. From its maw, another of those intimidating, hissing roars sounded.
The eight soldiers under Astoria’s command appeared from behind her as she rode in slowly, unfolding into a line of unmatching spears. Behind them were Mizuho and the two soldiers protecting her. She held something high above her—Astoria’s black mirror. It seemed she’d been instructed to record this. Was that really all right? There were essential support duties she needed to perform.
I thought of many reasons this mission could end in failure. It was wholly possible Astoria would mistime an attack if she was preoccupied with the stream. If Mizuho got wrapped up in that, too, a tragic disaster would be inevitable…
No, no, calm down, I told myself. We knew we’d be discovered during recon. Both the raiding group and the support group had deployed as I’d told them during the briefing. Well enough to deserve praise, in fact. But the vital part started now.
Astoria, sitting straight in the saddle, called in a voice that carried well, “Hey, hey! I am the great Astoria the Wing-Blessed! Knight of the Great Camp Bravo Kingdom and moving-image streamer! I come to conquer you lawless ruffians that have invaded our nation’s lands and brought harm to its people!”
Her message had caught the ogrelings’ complete attention. They diverted their focus from the scout group and began growling threateningly at the armored people slowly approaching.
“Quake in fear, miserable ogres who would do ill to humanity! If you value your lives, then leave here! But if you wish your heads on the floor, then come with as many as you wish!”