Chapter 354: 'Become stronger.'

"We want you to avoid harming humans and mine ore for the city we're building."

Rosa told the Leader what they agreed upon before their arrival. The Ogres' Leader frowned heavily. He glanced at Arthur, who was still releasing his aura, but shook his head and answered.

"He refuses to be a slave of humans and halflings," Rosa said with an uneasy expression. "Should I tell him about the Law of Racial Equality?"

"No, they don't see themselves as Demis." Arthur looked at them with a thoughtful expression. "Ask them about their demands because this is an equal trade."

Rosa nodded and told the Ogres. The frown on the Leader's face eased a bit as he pondered and answered.

"He asks about what will happen if they only avoid attacking humans," Rosa said. "He doesn't want to mine the ores."

"Tell him that we'll agree to that, but we will mine the ores instead of them,"

Hearing his words, the Ogre shook his head. He said a few things before he disappeared with the rest. Arthur frowned and was about to chase them before Rosa stopped him.

"He's not running away but wants us to follow him," Rosa explained, making Arthur retract his aura. Gruen, however, was worried.

"Is it a safe call to just follow after them in this mountain range?" The dwarf gave a valid point. "After all, maybe they're luring us into an ambush where those powerful monsters are waiting."

"Even if I can't handle the monsters, I can get us out of there if things went wrong," Arthur reassured him.

They walked up the mountain after the Ogres, who made sure they were slow enough for Arthur and co to see them. The Ogres walked deep into the mountain range and didn't stop until Arthur could see a giant altar.

Ogres were surrounding them from each side as they walked through the valley where a giant statue was erected. As they got close, Arthur could see it looked the same as the one he saw earlier.

The Leader waited for them between two giant rocks. He held a massive club in hand and leaned on it for support. When the group got close enough, he said many things to Rosa, who kept nodding in response.

"What did he say?" Arthur asked when the Leader finally closed his mouth.

"He explained why we're here," Rosa said, taking a deep breath. It seems that she used the active form of her ability even with Arthur. "This is the altar of the Ogres and a place of worship. The giant altar represents their protector. If they want to work with us, they would have to ask him."

"Then, why are we here?" Arthur asked. "We could have waited outside the valley until he asks him."

"The Protector needs to judge our character. If The Protector senses malice, it will refuse our existence in this land."

Arthur frowned as he heard this and looked at the giant altar in the middle. Can this statue judge their character? He could sense some presence within it, but that wasn't what bugged him.

'What is this feeling?' Arthur questioned as the presence in the altar was threatening but familiar. He felt as if he knew this feeling, but it was masked with layers of fog.

"Should I agree, Seika?" Rosa asked with an edge of urgency. Arthur hesitated before he nodded. There was no reason to refuse, and several to accept.

Rosa relayed his decision to the Leader, who nodded and turned to walk into the valley. With Arthur in the lead, the group followed the Ogre's Leader into the valley. Inside, countless treasures and bones were lying around.

'How can a creature be this loved by a bunch of monsters?' Arthur looked at the statue in the middle of the horned creature with a frown. The presence was growing stronger the closer he got. No, it was Arthur who perceived it better.

They followed the Ogre on a trail toward the base of the statue. When they got to the platform in front of the altar, Leader Ogre fell to his knees and grabbed his club, leaning on it.

'I hope he's not expecting us to have a worshiping session with him.'

Luckily, the Leader didn't ask of such a thing but kept muttering things. Rosa began to whisper them to Arthur in Yalveran Language.

"Mighty One, I come to you with a question today. These humans and halflings seek out a treaty between us. They demand of us to mine and not attack humans who get close."

After it finished its words, silence followed. The valley had no other sound but the wind's whistles as it breezed through the countless bones.

'This reminds me of Schelera,' Arthur mused how all religions were the same, worshiping and following entities who ignored them. As he was thinking about getting out  of this awkwardness, a small stone on the statue's base glowed.

The presence that Arthur felt earlier began growing stronger without ceasing. The more it grew, the more Arthur felt an itch inside his mind that he wanted to scratch.

It was similar to the feeling of wanting to sneeze but not being able to. Then, a voice appeared from the round stone, and it resounded in everyone's minds while bypassing language barriers. 

"The one-armed man can be trusted."

After saying this single sentence, the glow of the stone disappeared. The Leader looked shaken to the core, but it nodded without hesitation and stood up.

"The judgment has been given." Rosa translated his words as the Leader said them. "We will aid the one-armed man." It said with a resolute expression.

"Seika," Gruen looked at the Ogre with a baffled expression. "Maybe I should cut off one arm too?"

"You want Aimee to kill me?" Arthur scowled but couldn't shake what happened off. The monster this altar was erected after said Arthur could be trusted, but how did it know?

There was no interference with Arthur's mind or an entity that tried to read his it. Even the King of Yalen couldn't read his mind, so Arthur didn't understand how this creature knew he could be trusted.

The itch disappeared with the voice, and so did the presence from the altar. Then, as if it was fleeing Arthur's detection, the presence vanished from the valley. Before it did, it left a few words that shook Arthur's heart and others couldn't hear. 

'Become stronger.'

***

"Well, they are monsters, alright," Gruen said with a frown as they sat in the village of the Ogres. There wasn't much to behold other than waste and half-eaten corpses. The Ogres lived in caves on the base of a cliff that oversaw the forest where Hidden City will be built.

They sat on a tree trunk around a campfire, surrounded by the giant Ogres. The Leader sat in front of them as several ogres brought chunks of meat and placed it in front of Arthur and the rest.

"The hospitality is top-notch!" Arthur gave the Leader a thumbs-up, but the Ogre couldn't understand the gesture. When Rosa translated, the Leader showed its teeth in what resembled a smile.

"Seika, I think we'll need to eat if you say that," Gruen said with an uneasy face as it looked at the unprocessed slab of meat. It wasn't even cut properly but torn out.

"Nothing like a big slab of questionable meat in the morning," Arthur said with a grin as he grabbed the bowl.

"It's the afternoon, and what about hygiene?!" Gruen shouted, almost slapping the bowl away from Arthur's hand.

"Well, that's true." Arthur's spiritual energy covered the meat, and debris began to rise from it. He threw them to the side before he controlled the meat as well, raising it in the air.

He began spraying spices and salt on the meat before flames engulfed it. As the crowd watched with dumbstruck expressions, the aroma of meat spread on the cliff.

"Gulp."

Arthur glanced at the Leader, who gulped after smelling the meat. He gave a sly smile before spinning the meat around the flame, making the aroma even stronger.

When Arthur felt that the meat was cooked properly, he infused his mana into it. The aroma exploded so strongly that some ogres began to drool as they stopped eating.

"Damn Seika, what spices are those?" Gruen wiped away his watering mouth. Arthur didn't reply and simply smiled. They were specialties of Kera, his home city.

He didn't eat the meat and presented it to the Leader, who gulped again as the giant slab landed in front of him. He glanced at Arthur, who nodded in approval, before reaching out toward the meat and pinching it.

The Leader seemed shaken by how easily the meat tore apart, unlike its previous nature. He placed the meat in his mouth, and it slid right through as his eyes widened in amazement. Its arm turned into shadows as it devoured the meat in a few seconds under the envious eyes of its followers.

"Janei Ka..." The Leader muttered.

"That means heavenly," Rosa said with a smile. Arthur grinned and stood up.

"Well, I guess it's time to have a barbeque party."