“So, the Ogre Tribe’s Royal Guard… that’s two of them. Plus, there’s one guy who’s really unmotivated and I don’t know much about him. Apparently, they’re going to storm our place. Their objective is to forcefully break through our defenses here, abduct me, and drag me before some important person. That’s all I know… So, after hearing the opinions of you experts in combat, I want to devise countermeasures,”
As I said that, I looked around at the Manager, Kirika, the head of security Radcliff, and Lansia, whom I had gathered in the backyard break room after nightfall.
Incidentally, my pose was that of a commander, hands clasped under my nose and looking down. Today, I’d decided to go with the dashing look, complete with glasses and white gloves.
It felt like an appropriate BGM, like “Deh-deh-deh-don,” should be playing.
In actuality, I judged these four to be the most suitable as reliable fighting forces should we move to confront the Royal Guard. Mimi and Momo, and Mr. Santos are also trustworthy, but they aren’t combatants…
There are also Adventurers and Mercenaries, and Radcliff is their representative. Lansia, on the other hand, is a treasure boasting top-class experience and ability as a Magician. I invited her as a representative Adventurer with wide connections. Well, it’s also because we’ve become quite close.
Furthermore, Param is also present as an advisor.
“Hmm, the Royal Guard… and if it’s the Red Ogre, then it’s undoubtedly an encounter with the Oni-God Ursula. The other one is probably her younger brother, Coltva of the Fierce Arm… I expect. Either way, dealing with them will be tough. They are warriors who fought against a thousand Imperial soldiers single-handedly and defeated them all…”
Radcliff stated calmly and steadily… He seemed to know his stuff.
But… what’s with these “Invincible Barbarians”? “Thousand-man slayer,” who are they trying to imitate, Lu Bu from some warlord? I wonder if Radcliff is exaggerating? However, Radcliff himself also took part in the war to annihilate Valentia on the anti-imperial side, so I have a feeling it might not be an outright lie.
“Really, can one person really win against a thousand… If they’re surrounded and poked at from afar with arrows, no matter how strong they are, I think it would be impossible…”
Indeed, no matter how great a warrior, if overwhelmed by numbers, they fall quickly… Even highly acclaimed brave generals often meet their end by being outnumbered, with their swords broken and arrows spent… that’s the usual script.
“Arrows won’t hurt a Red Ogre…? When they fight, they become like demons, you see… they grow to about 3 meters in size and can harden their bodies like rock… On top of that, they have incredible, monstrous strength, and with that massive body, they can easily leap 10 meters… Facing them, you’d need more than one life.”
As expected of a fantasy Otherworldly setting. Heavy armor, high power… It’s a simple but effective combination, isn’t it! A 3-meter giant, big, heavy, and hard… Arrows are ineffective, so even normal magic would likely be questionable. My water pistol would probably just annoy it. Even firearms, a handgun would be like a popgun… a anti-tank rocket launcher might be more appropriate. Though, with the Manager’s cheat magic, it might not be impossible. Those light arrows have considerable destructive power; even a 3-meter giant would likely not withstand them. A new type of cluster bombing magic… dragons might die if caught in the blast zone of something like that. However, in a straightforward melee combat… Ogres are probably near invincible, I’d guess. Big, heavy, with high power… and a ridiculous combat power that allowed them to fight and annihilate a thousand enemies. But, could such a convenient story be true?
“In reality, even a Red Ogre must get hungry and thirsty during a prolonged fight… There must be a limit to how long they can keep fighting…”
That’s the limit that comes with being a living thing. They aren’t machines, so a limit will eventually be reached… That’s why nothing is truly invincible. In fact, during the Wyvern battle, the Manager eventually ran out of magic power and collapsed. If there had been another one, or if he hadn’t been able to finish it with lightning magic, honestly, it would have been tough…
“That’s right. Everything has its limits. They too, of course, have their limits… that much is for sure.”
“Yeah… Actually, I once ran into Ursula eating at the diner… she was eating about 20 servings. I wondered where it all went, but it means they can’t function without eating that much, right?”
Kirika offered some information… a big eater… in other words, they’re not fuel-efficient. More importantly, this is firsthand information, not just hearsay, which is a big plus. In reality, even machines, if they are big, heavy, and high-powered, consume a lot of energy in return… in other words, their fuel efficiency is terrible. I hear tanks can barely run 1 kilometer per liter.
“So that’s how it is… Still, if that’s the case, I don’t think it’s possible to fight while eating during a war… How did they cover that?”
Ogre Tribe = low fuel efficiency. This is a confirmed fact. From what I’ve heard, they seem to switch between a human-like form and a battle mode called “Oni,” but a 3-meter giant would be unable to live in a populated area, so they probably live in their human-like form… a fuel-saving mode. However, even with poor fuel efficiency, the countermeasure is simple. …Just resupply frequently. In fact, modern warfare consumes an unprecedented amount of supplies compared to the past, and logistics are extremely important to support warfare… it’s a factor that can even determine the course of a battle. In other words, for Ogres, supply… that is, food, is even more important than for humans. And not just a little… they need massive amounts of food… Even with high-calorie rations or energy drinks, that wouldn’t be enough. …Fighting alone like that, they’d quickly run out of gas… that’s the most likely outcome.
“…Food on the battlefield, for them, there’s plenty of it. Their other name is ‘Man-eating Ogre’… There are tales of them eating the corpses of enemy soldiers they killed on the battlefield, and drinking their blood to moisten their throats as they continued fighting… They did so with great relish. That’s one of the reasons they’re feared on the battlefield… For them, the battlefield is like an all-you-can-eat buffet and an arena to rampage. I wouldn’t want to face them on the battlefield under any circumstances. Being devoured alive is the worst possible death imaginable.”
Radcliff’s words even shocked me. No one could say anything in response. …Ah, so that’s how it is. Eating their defeated enemies… in that case, the battlefield is like an all-you-can-eat buffet with free drinks… Self-sufficient… their prey is everywhere, offering an endless feast… it would be paradise. Combat machines that can fight endlessly, fueled by their defeated foes. As long as they fight, as long as there are enemies, they don’t need supplies. …A self-sufficient, invincible fighter! That’s a cheat! A total cheat! Facing something like that head-on is too unpleasant… maybe I should just surrender or run away? Or maybe I should throw the Manager at them and make them physically cease to exist? No, no, that would lead to a quagmire, which is why I’m thinking of countermeasures…
“I’d heard rumors, but you’re quite ghastly… When I was mobilized to clean up after Red Ogres fought, I heard stories from my Adventurer friends… it was apparently horrific. That friend couldn’t eat meat afterward and became a vegetarian. Well, we Elves are a healthy, vegetarian race… talk about opposites… like barbaric counterparts… Frankly, I don’t want anything to do with them.”
Lansia, however, isn’t a vegetarian… Recently, she’s been saying Eleven Chicken is delicious and I see her eating it at least once a day. She says, “Elves don’t gain weight, so it’s fine,” and enjoys convenience store bentos and Santos Diner food… Though, I suppose I should say that things have changed a bit lately? Her cheeks, compared to when I first met her, are visibly chubbier, and the softness of her lap pillow is decreasing day by day. At this rate, after just two weeks, she might actually become quite plump?
“Yeah… We love meat, but… we don’t want to be eaten ourselves. Isn’t it better to just run away? If we’re just running around in a jungle, I think we can manage. The opponent is problematic… this is.”
“What do you think, Owner? Perhaps we could have you run around the forest, and have the forest dwellers collectively set traps and use hit-and-run tactics to slowly wear down the Ogres chasing you. When facing large Magic Beasts, the tactic is to use the terrain to your advantage and wear them down with numerically superior forces.”
Integrating Kirika’s and Lansia’s opinions… run around and overwhelm them with sheer numbers. …It sounds like we’re facing some kind of giant monster…
“No, using human wave tactics or attrition warfare would play right into their hands. In fact, the French forces apparently encountered Ursula and her group first… and it wasn’t just a thousand, it was an entire division that was routed… That incident apparently led them to quickly withdraw from the war. The French are known for their bravery and fearlessness, believing they go to God when they die… but facing the prospect of being eaten alive and whether they’d still go to God was a questionable matter, so they became thoroughly disheartened. It was truly an unfortunate event, and I genuinely sympathized.”
Ugh… I really can’t believe how terrifying they are. An entire division, that’s easily ten thousand people… to be routed by just a few of them… We are merely bait… fighting endlessly, leaving piled-up casualties, literally having our bones picked clean. That’s not even combat… it’s nothing but a nightmare. The country of France is apparently a great power on this continent, rivaling the Empire, but it’s no wonder they lost heart and withdrew when they encountered such beings right at the start. An opponent against whom the standard large-scale attrition tactic doesn’t work. If such beings appeared as a group, there would be nothing but despair… However, that brings up a question.
“But how did the Empire manage to repel them…? In the end, Valentia was also overrun by the Empire, so those Ogres alone couldn’t have turned the tide of the war, could they?”
…A simple question. A faction that possesses such seemingly invincible monsters with perpetual motion engines, how could they possibly lose? If they can scatter even a division, numbers would be meaningless. Sending just one into a stronghold would decide the battle… they are that powerful… they are strategic weapons. …Even in a large city, two or three of them could cause its complete destruction… they’re like nuclear bombs. It’s likely that France withdrew from the annihilation war because they judged that they couldn’t possibly deal with such beings… They are beings capable of driving away the forces of an entire nation… Nevertheless, during the annihilation of Valentia, the Ogres allowed the Empire to trample over Valentia… meaning they were defeated somewhere… that’s what it must mean. There’s only one possibility… there is a surefire way to defeat the Ogres.
