by Fuse
I didn’t know what kind of firepower the nearby humans had, but I was sure it’d make quick work of exhausted goblin stragglers. Which meant the goblins had little choice but to live hidden in secrecy, which didn’t exactly paint a rosy picture for their future.
Soei had some more information on Gabil for us, too. He had apparently gathered the fighter goblins from the assorted villages to assemble a force some seven thousand strong. They were now camped at the foot of the mountain range near us.
Quite a number. They had accepted the exact offer given to us—safety against the orcs, in exchange for whatever food resources they had. I suppose it was the best decision, but with all their food in the hands of others, they were doomed to starve, regardless of how the orc battle turned out.
It was completely careless, really—thoughtless of the village elders who agreed to the proposal. Guess they figured it was better than getting their heads caved in by an orcish ax. Or were they betting that a substantial number would survive the war? That there’d be enough to keep going afterward?
It was something we all would have to consider, too. This town wasn’t complete yet, but I couldn’t bear the thought of abandoning it at this point. If we let the orcs invade this far in, they’d ransack the surrounding forest and make it hard to keep ourselves fed.
If we wanted to retain the lives we enjoyed now, we’d have to repel the orcs—and repel them at the marshlands, not here.
Speaking of the marshes, the lizardman chief had been summoning some armies of his own. A force of ten thousand had already been assembled, safe and well-fed from the fish in nearby Lake Sisu. They were holed up in a maze of natural caves and caverns, ready to resist an orcish siege for as long as necessary.
So they thought the orcs were that much of a threat, then? The lizardmen, a strong bunch of fighters despite Gabil’s little display, were already in a state of near-total war preparedness—to the point where they were even recruiting the weaker goblins.
Finally, I asked about the orcs.
“The orc forces number…” Soei paused for a moment. “Approximately two hundred thousand fighters.”
“Two hundred thousand?!” someone shouted.
I think it was a few thousand that laid waste to the ogre’s fort…
“So you mean to say that the force that attacked our home was merely a fraction of the entire army?”
“Indeed,” Soei reported. “That is what I found in my investigations. We believe the total number involved to be two hundred thousand. The main force is working its way along the Great Ameld River from the south, covering a relatively broad range as they do. My estimate is based strictly on the length of their marching forces and the width of the roads they are using, but based on that, they can number no fewer than one hundred fifty thousand. I’ve confirmed that some squadrons affiliated with them are making inroads here and there into the forest as well, so I would warn against lowballing our estimate.”
A massive parade of orcs, occupying entire roads for miles on end, as far as the eye could see.
“Do we know where they’re headed?”
“Yes, my lord. The force is aiming for the marshes that spread around Lake Sisu, working straight through the lizardman territory. However…”
“However?”
“However, with their current trajectory, they will reach human territory immediately afterward. It is unclear where their ultimate objective lies, but if they continue along a straight line, they will be unable to avoid confrontation with a number of different human kingdoms.”
Wow. What’re they thinking? Wait a second… If all they wanted was control over the forest, would they simply stop once they destroyed the lizardmen? What did they want anyway?
“What do you think about all this, Soei? Are the orcs seeking to destroy the lizardmen? Or will they continue their conquest into human lands?”
“It is hard to say as of yet, my lord.”
I suppose not. I had only a dim idea of the geography involved anyway.
“Well, I think finding out about that should be the next priority. Do we have a map or something handy, Soei?”
“What do you mean by…‘map,’ sir?”
“Huh?”
………
……
…
This was a bit of a surprise. The concept of a map was seemingly alien to most everyone in the room.
Kaijin, bless his soul, knew what I was talking about. He knew, but he didn’t have a lead on one we could purchase. Apparently, the way the world was at this point in its history, maps were still considered confidential military intelligence.
Well, so be it. I had the assembled members line up a number of wooden boards on the table and then craft something simple for me so I could see where things were, relative to one another. Most monsters had Telepathy, which let them share a pool of information with one another. This was helpful, but it had the adverse effect of delaying the development of printed, or recordable, media.
Hakuro started by drawing the general area around the ogre homeland, using what he heard from his grandfather as reference. The lack of paper was really starting to bother me, but I had more boards brought in so we could draw up the region around our town. Thought Communication came in handy for this, letting people pick up on exactly what one another was picturing in their minds. Too handy, really, given how it let people exchange accurate information without putting it down on paper. I wouldn’t necessarily call it an improvement over life on Earth. It was a dilemma, honestly, even if it posed no hindrance to day-to-day monster life.
It was a given that humans were a lot better at transmitting knowledge down to future generations than monsters. That was the core behind developing a civilization, after all. The monsters around me might dismiss this mapmaking as a needless extra step for now, but I was sure they’d thank me later.
I had the Sage collate all the information people were feeding me with their minds. Once I had it all, I neatly jotted it down on the wooden boards. The result was a fairly serviceable map. The distances and such were bare estimates, of course, but it could stand up to practical use well enough. Sucked that I had to waste a bunch of time on this map before we got to the main subject, though.
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.
To put it briefly, an orc lord was a unique monster with advanced leadership skills. They appeared one at a time, out of the blue, once every few hundred years, to spread chaos across the world. One bad hombre, in other words.
What made them so nefarious was the skill they were born with—the unique skill known simply as Ravenous. It allows the caster to make his allies devour everything around them, like a swarm of locusts, afflicting them with a severe hunger they never have any hope of sating. It sounded like torture for the victims, but it had great benefits for the caster. It very efficiently removed all organic matter from entire regions at once, transforming it into energy for yourself. And even if it starved your people—hell, because it starved them, the ultimate effect was tremendously powerful.
But the scariest thing of all was that whatever monsters the hordes consumed in their mad dash for sustenance, their skills would be transferred over to the caster. Monster powers, physical attributes, even skills. It wasn’t a sure thing every time, but the more monsters you consumed, the better your chances. In other words…
“The orcs aren’t trying to eradicate the forest’s higher-level monsters at all? They’re trying to take their powers for their own?”
Silence fell upon the room. It indicated, once and for all, that my compatriots had already made that conclusion.
We all paused for a few moments. The air had grown heavy around us, whether we ha
d solid evidence of an orc lord in our midst or not.
We weren’t helpless against this threat, of course. This monster had appeared on the scene before, multiple times, and there was already a known strategy for dealing with them.
“And this is?” I impatiently asked. The ogre mages responded by giving one another awkward looks. Kaijin and Rigurd stared at them, a tad put off.
“It embarrasses me to say it,” Shuna finally began, “but the orc lords of the past have all been defeated by human efforts. Ravenous is a powerful unique skill, no doubt about it, but it works only by seizing the powers of those the orc lord defeats. While monsters may have intrinsic skills or other magic-oriented effects an orc lord can take for itself, humans bear none of that. They bear Arts, not skills, and those are strictly the fruits of practice and effort. That’s what enables a human nation, or band of nations, to defeat such a threat.”
Huh. Don’t feed the beast, and it won’t grow, huh? I suppose they hesitated to say it because it meant we’d have to get humans involved, sooner or later.
Well, at least we had something to go on now. We had a general idea of the skills the orc lord might’ve seized, and we could find ways to counter them. It might not be that much of a threat yet, assuming it hadn’t been around for too long.
Maybe this’ll be easier than I thought? Maybe not. He already had a knight corps, for one, not to mention that two-hundred-thousand-strong horde of slavering, starving orcs. That, and whatever organization fronted the funds to equip and armor all those guys. No point being too optimistic. If it gained any intelligence boosts through Ravenous, it could even become a demon lord in time, I bet.
Bad news all around. Definitely should’ve gotten to him quicker. But ah well. Right now would have been a great time for some lofty hero to show up, but I didn’t have one handy, to my regret.
“All right. Let’s see if this orc lord exists or not, before anything else. If one’s really been born, I suppose we should get a message over to Kabal and the rest of my adventurer friends.”