Chapter 67: Ogres Can Be Friends Too!

Leo led the ogres into the abandoned watchtower, moving as if he were returning to his own home. As he walked, he introduced the place.

“You can put up a roof over the open ground inside the walls and live right there. The rooms inside are too small for you to stay in, but they’re perfect for storing food.”

“Actually, the tower isn’t that small—it’s just that much of it has collapsed. If you have the time, you could try repairing it, but I wouldn’t recommend it; you might just bring more of it down…”

Leo continued his explanation, while the ogre chieftain followed behind, nodding vigorously and saying, “Good!”

The ogre chieftain was the largest among the fifteen two-headed ogres. Of his two heads, one was robust and powerful, with keen, gleaming eyes; the other was withered and shrunken, drooping lifelessly. The robust head did all the talking with Leo, while the scrawny one kept its eyes shut, as if asleep. The chieftain’s strong head grinned widely, clearly delighted with their new home.

The humans of the North are so warm and hospitable, he thought. He’d been expecting a trap and was ready to swing his club at any moment!

Once the ogres were settled, Leo gave a final word of caution. “Now that you’re here, try not to go robbing people—it leaves a bad impression.”

The ogre chieftain scratched his head, troubled. “If we don’t rob, what do we eat?”

It was a fair question...

Leo could only coax and persuade, “All the folk around here—they’re my friends. If you rob them, and they come to me for justice, who should I help?”

“Besides, the local lord’s army here isn’t like the cowards elsewhere. They have hundreds of knights in full armor! If you rob them today, they’ll come and wipe you out tomorrow!”

“Hunt as much as you can. If that’s not enough, try farming a little.”

Fear flashed in the ogre chieftain’s eyes. Any outland tribe dreaded the human lord’s army—if they didn’t, they wouldn’t have been driven into the wilderness in the first place.

For ogres, this was doubly true. Their appetites were enormous, and no place could feed too many of them at once. They could only split into small wandering tribes of ten or twenty, roaming until they met a stronger foe and were destroyed.

That’s why they were so adept at disguise.

As for those scenes in games or novels of hundreds or thousands of ogres gathering together, that simply didn’t happen. A single ogre ate more than ten humans and was useless at farming. Living by hunting and pillaging alone, they could strip an area bare within a year, leaving not a blade of grass for miles. If hundreds or thousands gathered, they’d end up eating each other in no time, and be wiped out entirely.

So, despite their individual strength, ogres were still a vulnerable race, able only to bully the smallest wild tribes. When they encountered anything larger, they would avoid it.

The ogre chieftain clearly took Leo’s words to heart, nodding repeatedly. “Yes, hide, hunt! Farm!”

Sensing Leo’s goodwill, the chieftain placed a massive hand on Leo’s shoulder and declared solemnly, “You, friend! Cannot eat!”

“Yes! We’re friends!” Leo’s heart nearly stopped as that huge hand landed on him—one squeeze, and he’d be crushed.

After settling the ogres, Leo finally breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped out of the tower.

On the way back, Ivan stared at him quizzically, unable to hold back any longer. “Leo, is there anyone you can’t be friends with?”

Leo shrugged. “Why not?”

“These ogres are lazy and gluttonous. Won’t they end up eating people anyway?”

“Settle them down, make the rules clear—if they follow them, fine, leave them alone. If not, we can always root them out,” Leo revealed his true thoughts.

“This area’s mostly kobold territory. I’ll have Faisa keep a close eye out. As long as they don’t eat our Riverbay folk, we can talk about everything else.”

“And anyway, bandit-hunting isn’t just our problem. If there’s a real fight, we can bring in the southern knights and the garrison from the western watchtower—let them share the burden.”

Ivan nodded thoughtfully, realizing how much he still had to learn.

In fact, Ivan was a year older than Leo, yet he’d ended up acting as Leo’s follower. Before, it was because Leo was a strong fighter, second only to Ulyan in Riverbay. Now, it was because Leo had become shrewd, accomplishing much through unlikely means, opening Ivan’s eyes and earning his loyalty.

The next morning after returning to Riverbay, a shrill horn sounded from the canal watchtower at dawn.

Leo scrambled up to the lookout atop the lord’s manor, glanced at the situation outside the canal, and shouted down to the crowd, “It’s all right! All clear!”

Though he said the alarm was lifted, Leo still gathered more than twenty militiamen before heading to the canal.

There, the ogre chieftain he’d only just reassured yesterday had arrived with two ogre warriors, standing on the far side of the canal, facing off against several militiamen.

The militiamen were pale and trembling, but they didn’t run. They stood firm, swords and shields raised, blocking the ogres from crossing.

That took courage—defending their homes had doubled their morale.

If they’d run, the villagers would have suffered. Holding out here for even a few minutes, allowing the militia to gather, was worth their lives.

Leo looked with satisfaction at these sentries—the militia was finally coming into their own. With the right equipment, their courage and fighting spirit were on par with regular Imperial infantry.

One of them could chase off ten peasant conscripts!

But before the ogres, even that was insufficient. Not even heavily armored veteran soldiers could withstand a single blow from them; only awakened warriors stood a chance.

The three two-headed ogres, however, showed no anger at the resistance. They waited quietly outside the canal for Leo to arrive.

“What are you here for? Come to visit?” Leo pushed past the frozen militiamen and stepped up to face the chieftain.

“Hunting! Success!” the chieftain’s robust head explained, while the withered one added, “Friend! Gift!”

At his words, the ogre beside him swung down a deer from his back and tossed it across the canal.

The massive carcass landed at Leo’s feet with a thud, raising a cloud of dust.

It was a young horned deer, already as large as a donkey. There were plenty of horned deer near Riverbay, but they ran faster than horses and were extremely wary. Leo had no idea how the ogres had managed to catch one.

Relieved, Leo happily accepted the gift and said to Ivan, “Quick, get some men to bring a few sacks of wheat—I want to return the favor.”

Seeing Leo so pleased, the ogre chieftain was delighted as well and turned to leave. As he walked away, his two heads began to converse loudly:

“Humans smell delicious!”

“Friends. Can’t eat!”

“Snatch some in secret! Eat them in secret!”

The militiamen who overheard them turned even paler, each feeling as if fate had dealt them a cruel hand.