Chapter 38

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‘Ogre, huh….’

Joanie collected her thoughts.

Was it a sort of trend? Ogres, alongside goblins and orcs, were a staple in many fantasy novels, games, and movies.

Their strength and characteristics varied depending on the portrayal, but it was rare to see them depicted as weak.

Tough skin, a massive frame, and the strength to lift a log with ease…

Perhaps following this trend, a monster called “Ogre” also existed in Silia Online.

While not as common as goblins or orcs, they weren’t particularly rare either. Joanie had hunted a few before.

Not alone, though—always with a party.

“Do ogres usually travel in groups?”

—They usually wander alone.

—Saw four of them together last time.

—Heard they live in family units?

Joanie casually asked, and though none were true experts, a few chimed in with what they knew.

—There’ll probably be just three or four at most, right?

—People are making a fuss over nothing.

—Look at Silver being all cute, lol.

“I hope that’s the case….”

Sure, the players might know a lot about the monsters, but wouldn’t the NPCs, the natives of this world, know even better? For them to use the phrase “ogre horde”… was it really just three or four?

And even if it were that many, with the village’s current forces, they still wouldn’t stand a chance.

“Did you know there was an ogre nest nearby?”

“No… I had no idea. I’ve lived in these mountains for years, and I’ve never seen so much as a hair of an ogre.”

“…Who’s that?”

“He’s a hunter living in the nearby mountains. He’s tasked with reporting any threats like monsters or beasts, and he’s the one who alerted us about the ogre horde.”

Even as Joanie and Catherine whispered to each other, the hunter continued speaking.

“There’s no reason for ogres to live in such a small mountain with so little food. Unless they came from somewhere else, that is.”

“Came from somewhere else? Why would they?”

“How should I know? Maybe they fought among themselves or lost a territorial battle…”

“That’s not the point right now. We need to figure out what to do.”

“Hmm…”

“Ahem…”

At someone’s words, the faces of those gathered in the square turned awkward.

No one wanted to speak up first, each passing the burden to someone else.

The first to step up was a young man.

“If we use the palisades and hold out until reinforcements arrive…!”

“Against ogres? Please, unless you want to get flung away along with the palisades.”

That comment sparked a heated debate among the villagers.

“Are you sure it’s coming this way? It could change direction. Maybe we don’t need to worry about it?”

“What are we going to do if it attacks us while we’re just sitting here? Just die?”

“Let’s just run away!”

“We can’t! We haven’t even packed yet, and if we flee and the house collapses…!”

“Is the house more important than our lives?!”

“Young people can run, but the elderly….”

“When will reinforcements arrive?”

“They just left, so even if they’re fast, it’ll take at least a few hours.”

While the villagers were discussing these things, the merchant group and their hired mercenaries gathered to talk about their next steps.

However, Joanie noticed that the atmosphere between the villagers and the merchant group was quite different.

“No matter how fast the ogre is, if we leave now, it won’t catch up to us.”

“It might be tough, but we can push through to the next village and rest there.”

Almost everyone wanted to flee—there was no one, not a single person, suggesting they should fight.

The rest, like Joanie, were simply observing the situation in silence, not offering any other opinions.

‘Well, it makes sense. This isn’t their home, and they don’t have anything here they need to protect. There’s no reason to risk their lives.’

Just as Joanie suspected, the merchant group wanted to flee as soon as possible. But they hadn’t done so yet because they still had some compassion in their hearts.

It wasn’t easy to just abandon the people they’d been laughing and chatting with only moments before.

They didn’t want to fight, but they felt guilty about running away.

As everyone hesitated, someone came up with a plan.

“Why don’t we ride in the empty cargo space, and we can let the villagers ride in the open seats of the wagons?”

“That’s a great idea! We can’t take everyone, but if we prioritize the elderly, children, and women, we can evacuate safely!”

“If there isn’t enough space, we can throw out the less valuable goods. Sure, we’ll lose some profit, but human lives are more important than money.”

It was a way to save face while avoiding a fight.

Since they were even willing to discard their valuable merchandise, no one could criticize them.

Their self-preservation quickly turned into a rescue mission in the eyes of others.

But does that make them bad?

‘…No, not really.’

Joanie shook her head.

Unlike her, who could resurrect after death, the people of this world only had one life. Prioritizing their survival was the natural thing to do.

And even if their primary goal was to run away, they were still offering help.

While Joanie was deep in thought, one of the merchants went over to the villagers and conveyed the merchant group’s plan.

“…So that’s the situation. We can take some of you to safety in our wagons.”

“…”

“…I see.”

The overheated atmosphere had finally cooled down.

In the midst of residents arguing about whether to leave or stay, no one criticized the merchant who offered to help with the evacuation.

“We’ll try to gather the money somehow. Could you please help us?”

One brave person spoke up.

“But fighting an ogre horde… that’s beyond us.”

“Oh…”

Their hopes were dashed by the merchant’s response.

Apart from Joanie, all the mercenaries hired by the merchant were silver-ranked. Though they could infuse their weapons with mana, their skills were still too immature to cut through the tough hide of the ogres.

“I’m not leaving.”

“Grandma!”

At that moment, an old woman pushed through the crowd. She was the one who had shown Joanie the way earlier.

Recognizing the wrinkles on her face, Joanie’s eyes widened.

“I’m old, won’t live much longer anyway. I’d rather stay here than suffer on the road.”

“But—”

“Don’t worry about an old woman like me. Just go, all of you.”

Whether the young man was her grandson, son, or just someone who knew her, he tried to persuade her, but the old woman was resolute.

Even Joanie, who wasn’t fluent in Granic, and those who didn’t understand it at all, could sense the nature of the conversation between the old woman and the young man from the mood between them.

“Then we’ll just take the others—”

“No, wait! I’ll convince her! Just give me a little more time!”

“But time is—”

“Please, just a little bit longer!”

The young man’s desperate plea put the merchant in a difficult position. As he hesitated, unsure of what to do, Catherine approached Joanie.

“Joanie.”

“…Yes?”

“You’re a gold-ranked mercenary, aren’t you? Couldn’t you help them?”

Unintentionally meeting Catherine’s eyes, Joanie held her breath.

In her brown eyes, a storm of emotions raged—pity, sympathy, guilt, sorrow.

And a sense of kinship.

“A gold-ranked mercenary?!”

Before Joanie could respond to Catherine’s words, a man who had been talking with the old woman suddenly interjected between them.

“Please, help us! If things keep going like this, the elder will have no choice but to stay in this village!”

“Come on, man! How do you expect even a top-tier mercenary to deal with a horde of ogres? I understand your concern, but don’t push it.”

Joanie made a conflicted expression.

The man was right; she couldn’t take on a group of ogres by herself.

Ogres typically ranged from the high 30s to the low 40s in level, while Joanie was level 43.

In terms of rank, she had only recently entered the realm of Experts, so even facing a single ogre, let alone an entire horde, would be overwhelming for her.

‘More than that, I’ve never fought an ogre solo before.’

Fighting monsters alone meant that a single mistake could be fatal, but when in a party, teammates could cover each other’s errors. Also, hunting was much faster with a group, which is why most players teamed up for hunts. Only in cases where party formation was impossible, or for rare exceptions like Yuki, did players go solo.

‘Is there any way I can help…?’

As Joanie pondered, her eyes caught the chat window.

“Is anyone nearby who can help? I’ll make sure to compensate you.” S~eaʀᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

—Already tried, but couldn’t get into the channel because it’s full.

—Whoa, that many people?

—I made it in though, lol.

“That was fast.”

Her tension eased a little. If the channel was full, that meant at least a few dozen people were around, enough to easily handle a group of ogres.

Feeling relieved, Joanie smiled and said, “I’ve contacted the nearby Apostles. They’ve all agreed to help.”

“Oh…!”

“Thank you so much!”

The man, along with the other villagers, visibly brightened at Joanie’s words. They had only chosen to evacuate because they saw no way to stop the ogres, but none of them actually wanted to leave behind the home they had worked so hard to build.

‘If only Kana would step in, none of this would be necessary…’

Even though Joanie had already relied on her quite a bit, she didn’t want to depend too much on Kana. That would go against what Joanie had always strived for.

Besides, the mercenaries didn’t ask Kana for help either. Even though they had learned from past experience that Kana was stronger than them, the idea of a young girl fighting ogres was still too unbelievable for them to accept.

Perhaps their pride wouldn’t allow them to ask such a small girl for help.

The merchant group, the villagers, and Joanie all prepared for the coming battle.

They waited with a unified heart for the arrival of more players.

Fortunately, the ogre had not yet appeared.

Soon, players began gathering in the village of Blum.

Ten players gathered, greeted by the villagers with cheers, exuding confidence.

Joanie, arms crossed, waited anxiously for reinforcements to arrive.

However, despite the passing time, the eleventh player showed no sign of appearing.

“…What’s going on? Why aren’t they coming?”

There had to be more players, as the channel’s capacity certainly wasn’t limited to just this many. Joanie, sensing something strange, checked again.

“Still can’t get into the channel?”

—”Yeah, it says entry blocked.”

—”Yup.”

Could they be hiding just to mess with me?

Or maybe the people who dislike me occupied the channel on purpose…

Joanie chewed her nails nervously, contemplating such thoughts, when suddenly a sinking feeling washed over her. She lifted her head, eyes widening in realization.

“No way…!”

As if to confirm her suspicion, a system window appeared in front of her and the other players.

“Mutation Event….”

Seeing the words on the screen, Joanie let out a hollow sigh, filled with dismay.