Volume 5 - CH 3.2

The receptionist, who had gone to see to the request, returned in a few minutes.

“How about this one? Although it may be a little lacking considering your ranks.”

We checked the request form she presented to us.

The content of the quest was to subjugate a horde of ogres.

The difficulty level of subjugating a single ogre is B-rank.

Although Asha at the moment is only a C-rank, her training has made her more than capable, so she can handle two or three ogres at the same time, with no problem. Kusel, on the other hand, is already as good as an S-rank, and if the need arises, I will be there, so they won’t be in any danger.

As I was checking the request form with this in mind, the receptionist explained. 

“It’s a subjugation quest of a horde of ogres, and it’s been confirmed that there’s an Ogre King among them. The difficulty level is an A-rank, leaning close to an S-rank, but since Master Haruto will also be participating, I decided it shouldn’t be a problem.”

I nodded at the receptionist’s explanation and then asked Asha and Kusel.

“I’ll leave it to you two to decide whether to take it or not.”

Asha was a little worried, but decided to vote on taking it saying, “I think it’ll make for a good training opportunity since you’re also here, Master Haruto”.

Kusel seemed more enthusiastic, saying, “This should be fun”.

After confirming this, I turned to the receptionist.

“You heard them.”

“Understood. Then let me begin the process.”

A few moments later, the process was completed and the final explanation was given.

“Please bring the horns of the king and other high-ranking individuals as proof of subjugation of the horde.”

“Got it.”

We immediately left the adventurers’ guild and headed for the forest on the outskirts of the holy city, as specified in the quest.

It took us only fifteen minutes to get there, and from there we walked deeper into the forest.

We encountered some goblins along the way, but they were just the normal bunch and were killed instantly by Asha and Kusel.

They were really dependable.

After walking for a while, Asha muttered.

“No sign of an ogre here at all much less a horde.”

“Tell me about it.”

Asha’s words were met with a nod from Kusel.

In fact, there’s no reaction to my normal detect presence skill.

I used the map function of my <God Eye> to search a wider area, and when I probed further into the area, I caught multiple reactions that seemed to be a horde of ogres.

“Found them. They’re just a little further in.”

“Got it.”

“Okay.”

We continued on our way toward the horde.

“Haruto, I’ve got movement.”

After advancing for a while, Kusel seemed to have detected the presence of the ogres.

A tad bit later, Asha also seemed to have found them.

After a closer look, we found that among the horde scattered over a wide area, there was one particularly large one. Perhaps this is the Ogre King that the receptionist had mentioned.

“Found one that looks like the Ogre King. The size of the horde is about fifty…you good?”

Asha and Kusel nodded, their expressions tightening at my words.

We then closed in a little more and approached the two ogres on the outer perimeter of the horde.

The ogres didn’t seem to have caught on to our presence yet.

“There are two of them. Which one of you will do the honors?”

“I’ll do it. This is the first time you’ll be going against an ogre, right, Asha?”

“Yes. Please.”

As Kusel responded to my question, Asha nodded.

Kusel then drew her sword from her waist and stepped in front of the ogre.

The ogre noticed Kusel’s presence and tried to raise its weapon, but it was too late.

“Whoever strikes first wins.”

Saying this, Kusel channeled mana into her sword and swung it diagonally from below.

As the sword cut deep into the ogre’s belly, Kusel turned her sword towards the other ogre in a fluid motion.

The ogre, which had lost one of its companions, shook its fist at Kusel in panic.

“What a slowpoke.”

But while spilling such words, Kusel leisurely observed the approaching ogre’s fist and cut off its left arm from its shoulder.

She then circled instantly to the back of the screaming ogre and pierced it through the heart.

After wiping off the bloodstain on her sword by swinging it, Kusel returned to us.

“Just like that. Ogres are slow, so the trick lies in the movement.”

“I understand.”

I see, she opted first so she could show Asha the ropes.

“That’s a very good performance, Kusel.”

“Oh please, it’s not worth mentioning. Assuming there were five of them now, it may have been a little challenging.”

Yeah right, she probably would have made quick work of them altogether, or is it just my imagination…?

As I was thinking this, Ellis, the ego created by the auxiliary function of my Extra Skill, All of Creation, answered me.

<<No, it’s exactly as you surmised, master, the current Kusel can handle five ogres at the same time. I believe she can handle at most ten of them at once without using any skills but her pure physical abilities.>>

Whoa, that’s so badass…

If so, that means Kusel alone could pretty much handle this quest all by herself.

<<Probably.>>

Looks like the lady receptionist totally botched this one. Then again, it may very well be most appropriate, if she picked the quest solely based on our ranks.

…Speaking of which, I wonder what the determining factor for Ellis making an appearance and not, is. Or maybe it’s on a whim. Even now, it doesn’t seem like she’s psyched to answer me.

Anyway, these ogres are somehow arranged as if they are monitoring their territory, aren’t they?

Then Ellis answered immediately.

<<Affirmative. The Ogre King seems to be leaving its territory in the hands of its subordinates.>>

Looks like my guess was right on the mark.

So, if they heard the screams of the ogre earlier, wouldn’t they converge on this spot?

<<Yes, in a few minutes, a horde of ogres will gather here.>>

When I checked the map, I found that a large number of ogres were indeed making their way down here.

At first, two of them appeared at a visible distance.

“Asha, think you can take ‘em on?”

Seeing the ogres in the direction I indicated, Asha took out her knife and readied herself.

The two ogres that had arrived had found the corpses of their kin and were scurrying around, searching the area.

How to go about engaging them would depend on Asha’s timing.  

Asha had been looking for an opening, but she rushed out at the right moment to exploit a blind spot.

The ogre then swung its fist hastily towards Asha, who suddenly leaped in front of it.

Asha leapt to avoid the swinging fist and threw several knives at the back of the rattled ogre.

The knives lodged into the ogre’s back, but…were a little shallow.

That wouldn’t cause any real damage.

The other ogre picked up a small rock about thirty centimeters in diameter and threw it at Asha, who landed on her feet.

“——Ow?!”

Asha tried to avoid it as quickly as she could, but was out of luck and the rock grazed her side.

Her maid’s uniform, which she had stubbornly refused to change out of even though she knew she would have to fight, got torn, and blood soaked through.

But Asha was not intimidated, and as she approached the ogre with the knives in its back, she grabbed the two knives that were still stuck in and stabbed them even deeper.

The ogre’s screams of pain echoed through the air.

“It’s not over yet!”

Asha then pulled out one of the knives used in the stabbing and threw it at the other ogre from a distance.

The knife hit the ogre in the ankle, or more precisely, in the tendon of its foot.

The ogre fell to the ground and put its hands on the ground attempting to get up.

But Asha quickly took out an additional knife and threw it at the back of its neck that was left unguarded.

“Gaaaaaahh——…”

Finally, the ogre fell to the ground.

Now, one was down, and another to go.

The ogre that had thrown a small rock earlier was now lifting a large rock, about two meters in diameter, and then threw it.

It flew straight toward Asha, sending up a cloud of dust.

The ogre, perhaps trying to check on the corpse, approached the rock and lifted it up, but——lo and behold, Asha was nowhere to be found.

And then Asha appeared from above it, with knives between the fingers of both hands, and threw all of it at the defenseless ogre.

The knives stabbed into both eyes, wrists, and ankles, and the last one plunged deep into the ogre’s forehead, ending its life.

Asha retrieved the knives and returned to me and Kusel, brushing the dust off her maid’s uniform.

“How’d I do?”

“Brilliantly.”

“Really——ow?”

Asha looked happy, but then she frowned and screamed, as if the graze on her abdomen had hurt her.

“Let me see that.”

As I said this, Asha showed me the wound, though she looked embarrassed.

It wasn’t deep, but there’s some dirt in the wound.

“It’s going to sting a little, but bear with it.”

With that, I rinsed the wound with water conjured from magic and removed the dirt.

Asha let out a small “ouch” as the water seeped into the wound.

The wound then closed up nicely after I applied recovery magic.

Good, it didn’t leave a scar.

“There you go. Does it still hurt?”

“N-No. Not anymore. Thank you.”

When Asha thanked me, I replied with, “It’s no biggie”, and Kusel, who had been watching silently until then, opened her mouth.

“Asha. Never forget it’s two against one. The wound you sustained just now was because it slipped your mind.”

“Yes. I got a little careless because the ogres were sluggish.”

Kusel stole the limelight and said what I was going to say.

“Hey, don’t be discouraged. You did good, so next time you’ll just have to be on your guard.”

“Yes, sir!!”

Asha clenched her hands as she raised her voice.

Then, nearly a dozen ogres appeared.

“You two want to give it a shot? Or should I?”

“No, we’ll take ‘em on together. That okay with you, Asha?”

“Of course. I’ll try not to hold you back!”

Asha held up her knives and Kusel drew her sword.

“Let’s go, Asha!”

“Okay.”

Kusel rushed in and approached the ogres, swinging her sword.

An ogre was closing in behind her, and about to swing its clenched fist at Kusel.

“Oh no, you don’t.”

However, Asha threw a knife at the ogre, which pierced its neck ending its life.

From there on, Kusel just frantically continued swinging her sword and Asha continued throwing her knives to cover her blindspots…and just like that, in no time at all, they had defeated ten ogres.

“Good job, both of you. So, Kusel, what’d you think about Asha?”

I asked Kusel, while commending both of them.

“Well, she made it fairly easy to fight, that’s for sure. By leaving my back to her to take care of the enemies behind me, I was able to go on a rampage as much as I wanted without care.”

Kusel nodded in satisfaction, and Asha looked pleased with the praise. I was relieved to see that their fighting styles seemed to mesh well.