Chapter 70

Something’s Fishy

「No, it was enough. It should’ve been. But the government issued another condition.」

「Another condition?」

「To kill an A-rank monster, the Emperor Ogre. Apparently there’s an Emperor Ogre in the Great Forest of Elias and it’s the cause of the current situation. Unless it’s killed, the threat will not go away and the town will be forced to migrate. The deadline is seven days.」

I see. Well, it makes sense. Considering the timing and the current situation… there’s something fishy going on.

「How did the government find out that there’s an Emperor Ogre in the Great Forest of Elias?」

「I don’t know. Maybe they sent a reconnaissance team. 」

「An Emperor Ogre is no pushover. I don’t think a reconnaissance team can go in there and get out alive.」

Hungry Ogres are very skilled at searching for enemies. Even if you approached them carefully, they’ll spot you easily. They’re quite fast on their feet as well, so an inexperienced adventurer is dead meat once he’s spotted.

An Emperor Ogre is a powered-up version of a Hungry Ogre. Its enemy search range is pretty much the same as that of the latter, but its ability to see through hiding spells is way higher than that of a Hungry Ogre. Most concealment spells are useless against it.

It goes without saying, but escaping after you’ve been spotted by it is next to impossible. Those who are experienced in fighting monsters like BBO players might be able to. But not in this world; it’s impossible. The people here treat Wolves, the weakest mobs in BBO, as a formidable foe.

「Don’t you think it’s strange?」I asked.

「I do. The time between the increase in casualties to when the government made their move is too short. There have been cases of migration due to monster attacks before. But none as quick as this.」

「Maybe it was the Cardinal’s orders.」

「No. It’s too fast still. The orders to evacuate the town arrived in less than five days since the monster attacks. Normally, it would take more time than that for the info to reach him in the first place.」

Five days, huh? That’s too slow in Japan where there are phones. But in this world, it’s too fast. After all, you’d have to dispatch messengers to deliver information, or send messenger birds.

Under these circumstances, Cardinal Georgis received the info about the monster attacks, put pressure on the kingdom and proposed an evacuation, and got the government’s approval all in just five days. He might have quite the authority but it’s still physically impossible.

「It’s almost like the Cardinal knew when the Hungry Ogres will appear in the Great Forest of Elias and the monsters will go violent.」

The manager was taken aback by my words.

「Are you saying Cardinal Georgis plotted the monster attacks?」

「It’s possible considering the circumstances. There’s no other explanation as to how the government moved so fast.」

「But abnormal monster outbreaks are a natural phenomenon. Humans can’t cause them.」

「Normally, yes… But there are people in this world that possess incomprehensible crafts.」

A normal Skill can’t control monsters. The best one can do is make them sleep or angry. But in BBO, there were several incidents where monsters were manipulated to bring about disaster.

There were events in the game where disasters were caused by methods a player can’t use. And then we were supposed to do something about it. One of the organizations that specialized in such monster manipulation was the Garden of Despair.

「There were indeed incidents before where it was suspected that monsters were manipulated and used. But with no way to get proof, we never knew the truth. Are you saying that’s what’s going on here?」

「Yeah. It’s highly possible.」I said as I tried to recall incidents in BBO.

The Garden of Despair in the game and in this world are a bit different, but I might be able to know the methods they could use from my knowledge of the game.

The biggest hint I have at the moment is the Emperor Ogre. Normally, when an Emperor Ogre appears, there would be a lot more Hungry Ogres than this. So I have to assume that they’re doing something to reduce their number.

Reduce the number of Hungry Ogres and increase their HP at the same time. Make the monsters in the area violent and force them to appear frequently on the main roads.

There’s only one kind of monster that can cause all this: An artificial monster called『Demon Venom』.