Hugo

We continued southbound, visiting Fontaine before crossing over to the region controlled by the Wisdom Demon Lord. Though technically, now this whole northwest peninsula was under his control.

There, we only stayed for a single night. We didn't really have any business here so there was no reason to dally.

Though that single night was enough for me to meet up with a certain overly enthusiastic elven bard that I once met in Fiania. What were the chances?

She, of course, immediately made a move to interrogate me for her tales. Thankfully, Felicia was there to put a stop to it.

In the end, she had to settle with interviewing Theo instead. And of course, he had my blessing. As my biggest fanboy (not to toot my own horn here), he was more than happy to tell her about my exploits.

Hmm, a fanboy and a fangirl… Heh, would be funny if they end up hitting it on. Go for it, my young Padawan! She has great thighs and butt! Just look at those tight leather trousers of hers!

Of course, he didn't tell her where we were going. Or else she would stalk us for sure.

Afterwards, we continued southward. Myrilla decided to skip Ixon, the demon capital, as it was located more to the west than our optimal route to where Sherry's village was.

Eventually, we left the northwestern peninsula entirely, entering the mainland Demon Continent. I expected the difficulty of our journey to increase, but it seemed Myrilla was knowledgeable enough in her geography to always take us through the least monster-infested routes. I asked her about it, and she explained that there was a set route that one must follow in order not to be swarmed by S-rank monsters. The monsters knew that if they settled on said route, they would be slaughtered by the demons, so they would stay away from it for their own survival, with the exception of a wandering few. I then asked her how she knew where the route was, since all around us was just a blank wasteland with barely any landmarks. She answered by pointing upwards, to the stars that decorated the night sky. She told me that as long as a certain constellation remained at a certain angle, they were on the right path.

She really was an expert adventurer. I was starting to think that she was a lot more experienced at it than Mother and Father. Now, I didn’t know her age (she just gave me a scowl when I thought to ask it of her) but I had a feeling she was at least a hundred years old. And if that long age was spent mostly on adventuring… yeah… Father and Mother could never compete.

Oh yeah, around this point, a few months had passed, and I should already be fourteen years old. Looking at a mirror, I certainly could notice the growth spurt I experienced from when I started to be thirteen a year ago. Now, I actually looked more like an adult than a kid. I was now taller than Felicia even. And thankfully, I still kept my dashing good looks in the process.

Soon, we shifted our direction, slowly heading east instead of south. Myrilla noted that Kawa, the ogre city where she was staying before, was to our west. We wouldn’t be visiting that place either.

What a shame. I really wanted to see how an ogre city looked.

Sherry’s village was located at the far east, beyond the Great Fairy Forest that covered a significant chunk of the continent. However, we wouldn’t be traveling through said forest. Not even the Demon Lords dared to. It was pretty much its own dimension, where it was impossible to keep a bearing to where you were going. You would be lost forever in no time at all, swallowed by the forest and stuck being the plaything of the feys.

And yes, you couldn’t ask your fairy summons so help you navigate through it either. The Fairy Queen, Titania, ruled over the region with an absolute fist, and she didn’t tolerate outsiders trodding on her land. She only allowed mages making pacts with her subjects, only visiting the place in a dream.

In short, our only option was to take the northern route, taking a detour around the Forest until we could go back south without entering it.

------------

On the way there, I kept up with my training, both physical and magical, though mainly the latter. As I walked, I would continue my training, learning to be able to focus my raw mana even without standing still. Every time we took a stop, I would polish my spellcasting, careful not to waste all my mana in the process as we would still need to defend ourselves if a monster were to appear. And when one did appear, I would try to use Asphyxia and Heartbreaker to kill it. Only after it did not work that I resorted to my sword or my Boom Cannon.

It didn’t take long until Myrilla came to me, asking me about it.

It was after I put down a small pack of jackals by taking away their breaths. They were A-rank monsters and there were five of them. My Asphyxia could now cover a small range around me so I could kill them all with one fell swoop.

“That spell of yours… the one you used to choke those jackals… was what that? I have never witnessed such a spell.”

With a smile, I explained everything. How I had developed my own style of wind magic, separate from the common form used by the mages of this world.

“I see. That’s… peculiar. Almost unbelievable, if I haven’t seen it for myself.” She stared at me, probably reading my mind.

“You know, I’m surprised you didn’t ask me about Boom Cannon.” I had defeated a couple of monsters before this by that spell.

She retained her gaze. “It’s just a compressed sphere of wind being shot out at high speed. It’s certainly unique, I have to admit, but I can understand it. This Asphyxia thing however… taking away the air inside your opponents’ lungs… I don’t think it is possible. Normally, you can’t manipulate natural objects that are far from your mana core. Not to mention how your own mana would resist the manipulation.”

“Want me to teach you? You’re a wind mage too, right?” I grinned. “In exchange, you teach me your Wind golem spell. Or whatever that spell was when you made those men out of tiny whirlwinds. When I first saw that spell, I was surprised that you could even do that as a Wind mage.”

She nodded. “I doubt I would be able to do what you did but you becoming stronger is necessary. You’re the strongest fighter we have now and I know just how badly you want to protect everyone here.” She glanced at the others, who were sitting under a tree several feet away from us.

“Thank you!” I grabbed her hands and shook them. “And you’re right! I do want to be stronger!”

Her next reaction was not what I expected however.

She abruptly pulled her hands away and looked to the side, as if I had offended her.

And was that a light blush I just saw on her face?

---------------

And so, from then on, Myrilla became my next teacher. As promised, she taught me about her wind golem spell, or rather, Whirlwind Automata. As I expected, it was a spell that required great mana control. It was similar to how some earth mages could construct golems from the earth to fight their battles. It was not a direct damage spell, which meant I was not used at all in its casting. Less skilled mages had to continuously channel the spell but Myrilla could already make them run automatically, which made her a master of the art of magic constructs.

She soon discouraged me from learning the spell though, believing that I should focus on my own spells instead, as they were more powerful than it.

Well, perhaps. But I still would like to know how she did it anyway.

--------------

After fifteen weeks of travel, we arrived at one of the stops in our journey — one of the nomadic ogre clans’ encampments in the region. To be more specific, it was the camp of the Menet clan, the clan that Orluk belonged to.

Myrilla knew where they were just by the time of the year. The Menet tribe’s wandering route was mostly set in stone, unlike some of the other tribes. And they were right on the route we were taking so we didn’t even need to take a detour. She believed it would be prudent to ask them for information about the northern route, since recently, the ogres had been fighting the orcs coming from the east, right to where that route was.

And since I was an acquaintance of Karla, that unpleasant ogress who was too fond of young boys, we should be able to ask for her help.

Ooh, so this is how an ogre camp looks!

The place was big, bigger than I expected. It was pretty much an entire small town constructed out of tents. Or rather, yurts, similar to those used to the tribes of Central Asia, back at Earth. They were made out of animal skin and feathers, not fabric as our tents were.

It was quite fitting for them to be that way, actually, considering that we were now in a region filled with endless grassland. The grass was blue, however, and quite poisonous to any humans (not demons). Thankfully, we had our wise and clever alchemist, Felicia, who brewed preventative antidotes for it.

When we arrived, we were greeted by a pair of ogre guards, tall and red and as menacing as ever.  And by "greeted", I meant they eyed us suspiciously, asking what our business was in the place. Their rough right hands were gripping their spiked iron clubs, ready to strike us if we were to do something out of line.

I walked forward and explained the situation. "We're here to meet with Karla!"

"What?! Karla?! What do you want with the chief’s daughter?!"

Sheesh, he sure is loud.

"I’m her friend.” I put up a polite smile. “Tell her my name and she’ll call for me straight away.”

“Her friend? A scrawny human like you is friend with one of the strongest fighters in our tribe? Bwahahahaha!”

Each of them held their hands on their muscled abdomen as they were assaulted by their laughter.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I noticed the sourness of Felicia and Theo's faces. I even had to stop the latter from walking forward and defending me, knowing that it would only make things worse.

"Do you want me to prove my strength?" I smirked. "I'll take you two on at the same time. And I wouldn't even need to use my staff or sword."

"Huh?! You serious, kiddo? I'm warning you. We're not afraid to roughen up snotty little brats like— u-urgghhh!"

And there we go.

The two knelt down, clutching their chests. "W-what? I-I can't… I can't… breathe…"

My smirk widened. I won't lie. Seeing them like this… it gives a small tinge of satisfaction.

"Alright, everyone! Let's go in!" I gestured at the rest of the party.

"W-wait, you… guaahhh…" One of them fell to the ground, his left hand outstretched, begging for us to stop.

I didn't worry though. Once we walked away, they should be able breathe again, once they were out of range of my Asphyxia.

"Well well well, look who has decided to visit. My favorite human!"

A woman suddenly landed on our path. Judging by her trajectory, it seemed she had jumped from one of the yurts' ceiling.

It was Karla, of course. Who else could it be? That well-toned mountain-like body, that tooth-filled sneering grin, it could only be her. And her massive steel club was with her, resting on her right shoulder.

I had noticed her out of the corner of my eye at the entrance. She wanted to watch how we would handle her guards. For her own amusement, no doubt.

"Let me guess. You come here to be my husband?"

"No, I come here to ask you a favor. We're seeking a passage to the east and we wanted to know about the orc situation there."

You should never humor a woman like her.

"Oh, that's a shame." She licked her lips, her naked feet stepping closer to us. "You might be a little bit older—and taller—but you're still as cute as ever."

I looked up, staring right at her eyes without blinking for the slightest. There was no need for fear. If she tried anything, I would put her down in an instant.

And besides, you had to assert your dominance to these musclehead types.

"Hmph." She turned away. "Fine. I'll tell you everything. Come to my tent."

--------

Our trip through the camp took about ten minutes or so. And as we did, even with Karla at her side (or perhaps even more because of her), we earned wary looks from the ogres. I could see frowns everywhere, with some even reaching for their clubs immediately at the sight of us.

Wow, what’s up with the tension here? I guess they just don’t like strangers? Especially human ones, I imagine.

Other than that, I got to see the usual activities you could expect from a nomadic tribe like them. I saw them having pents where they kept their animals, both for milking and for meat. They were not sheep or goats however. Instead, they were massive bisons, easily towering over even the tallest ogre. Respect to them being able to domesticate such a beast! There were also a number of ogres who were tanning their hides out in the open. I imagined the caveman-like clothes they wore were made out of the bison’s hide.

"By the way, do you want to meet with my little brother? He's here, you know."

Karla’s speech broke me out of my reverie.

"Wait, Orluk's here?" I turned my head towards the ogress.

"Yes. He and that dark elf of his." A smirk appeared on her face.

"I thought he was kicked out."

"Oh, Father has forgiven him. And he's better here than in Kawa. Those Altra Clan snobs thought he was some barbarian. They even tried to arrest him, the nerve." She huffed.

If I'm not mistaken, the Altra Clan is the one running Kawa. An estranged ogre clan due to their decision in building a permanent city instead of staying a nomad like the other ogres.

"So now he's here. With that little runt taking all his attention these days. He even went to that upstart orc's place once just to meet with the runt's mother. And surprise, a dark elf betraying her tribe for a man."

Heh, that expression… she's jealous. Orluk's her brother but she doesn't get along with him as well as he gets along with Fia.

Human or demon, sisters everywhere are the same.

"Wait, run me through that again. Fia's mother was kidnapped by the orcs, right? By a man, you mean—"

"Yes, the very orc that slaughtered her kin. According to Orluk, she refused to leave him, even with her own daughter begging her to. The whore had become addicted to that upstart's prick."

...Oh no. A dark elf being raped and then falling in love with her rapist. That's actually a thing in this world.

"This 'upstart'... he's the leader of—"

"The orcs, yes. Garosh Battlesong. The self-proclaimed Demon Lord of War. I'm honestly surprised he allowed Orluk to leave without a fight."

Ah, I remember Orluk talking about him. He united all the orcs tribes before launching an offense on the dark elves. And now he's at war with the ogres.

"Here we are! Orluk's tent!"

Well, that looks… ordinary.

I expected his yurt to be bigger but it seems it's as big as the other yurts.

Guess thanks to him running away, he's now treated like any other ogres in the tribe.

"Orluk! Tia! Come out! I have guests for you!"

It didn't take long for the two to appear—Orluk first and Tia later, with the latter hugging his leg with a wary expression.

At least, until she saw me.

"Big Brother Hugo!"

She ran towards me with lightning-fast speed before jumping and hugging me with all her might. And since dark elves had superhuman strength, it was enough to send a wave of pain through my entire body.

"You came!" She burst into a laugh.

"Y-yeah, I came. Nice to see that you're doing well, Tia!" I chuckled nervously, trying to ignore the pain. I'm just a squishy human mage, goddamnit!

Thankfully, she soon released me, landing on her bare feet perfectly on the blue grass.

"Master Hugo, what brings you all the way here?!" Orluk looked as if he just saw a ghost. He promptly walked up to me and knelt.

“What else? We’re going to that place now. You know... the place.” I winked at him. Karla was there so I didn’t want to speak about the Izurd openly.

Orluk paused, his expression showing that he didn’t comprehend what I was hinting at. Come on, ogre man! Don’t tell me you’ve forgot! But, when his gaze traveled towards Myrilla, a lightbulb lit up in his head and he quickly nodded. “Of course. I understand.”

“Hey hey, what are you two talking about? Keeping secrets from your sister, aren’t you?” Karla bonked Orluk’s head with her spiked club. Gently, of course, or else his head would’ve been a splatter to the dirt.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you.”

“Heeh?! Why not?!” She bonked him again and again. Multiple times in fact.

Ignoring her, Orluk returned his gaze back to me. “I assume you would need to pass through orc territory to get there? Then, you would need a guide. Please, allow me to be of service.” He rested his head on the grass, prostrating himself towards me.

“Sure! You can come!” I answered with a grin. At this point, I knew it was futile to try to make him treat me like his equal.

---------

We decided to take the night’s rest in the camp, before departing the earliest we could in the morning. However, Orluk needed permission from his father first, who was the Tribe Chief, before he could go, or so Karla said. Orluk disagreed, saying that it would be fine if he just sneaked out without him knowing. He then said that he would be too busy with his wives to care about him.

The bitterness in his voice and expression didn’t escape my notice. Recalling back to our first meeting, if I remembered correctly, he had a falling out of sorts with his father, leading to him leaving the tribe.

Should I ask him about it? I don’t want to be rude…

...Oh, right! Myrilla can tell me about it! She can just read his mind after all!

Though, it’s still a pretty scummy move… but I can’t help it! I just want to know!

And so, I whispered to the demoness my request. She responded by giving me a questioning glare but didn’t seem to refuse, thankfully enough.

Once Karla left, after losing to Orluk’s stubbornness, I excused myself, saying that I had to take care of a certain “personal business”, an euphemism for taking a leak. It was the easiest excuse I had to have a private chat with Myrilla.

The ogre, however, laughed, saying that there was no need for such soft words. If an ogre wanted to take a leak, then he would say it loud and clear. He then chuckled at humans and their sheepishness.

Heh, as expected, human customs don’t really apply in a “barbaric” culture like this.

He then directed me to the nearest “watering hole”, the ogre’s name for their lavatory. Yes, it was just a hole they dug on the ground that they used for their business. And yes, it sounded as uncomfortable as it sounded.

Thanking silently that the humans in this world still had civilization, despite not having modern plumbing, I departed with Myrilla, gesturing at the demoness to follow me.

Now that we were away from his sight and ear, I asked her the million dollar question.

Only for her to sigh and give me a chastising gaze. “Why don’t you ask him yourself? Looking at how he kowtowed to you, he should be willing to tell you this. Asking me instead… it’s quite the cowardly act, you know.”

“Oh come on. Since when do you care about the privacy of— owww!”

She hit me.

She hit me on the head with her metal staff.

It hurt.

“I am not the one trying to be the best person he can possibly be. If your father was in your position, he would’ve asked him straight up instead of going around him like this.”

She's right. Father would've definitely done that.

Heh, me being an introvert is just an excuse. I'm simply a coward.

“...Fine. I guess you’re right. I’ll ask him directly now."

I forced a smile and gave her a small nod before walking back to where Orluk was.

What was I thinking? Asking a telepath to do your dirty work, just because you don’t feel comfortable socializing with others— that’s lame, Hugo. That’s a really lame thing to do.

Now, go back there and ask him.

------

"And that's how we three became his followers. Quite the tale, is it not?"

When I arrived, Orluk was engaged in a conversation with Tira. The two were sitting inside the yurt—a small space with barely anything other than the fur carpet they were sitting on. Heh, glad to see they're getting along just fine.

"Hey! I'm not his follower! I'm just here for Theo!"

Tama was hugging Theo, her tail flicking back and forth in the process. Just like a house cat.

Theo himself on the other hand was staring at Orluk with a dazed look. If I didn't know any better, I'd think he's a girl swooning over the manly bare-chested ogre.

He probably is just being his usual fanboy self. He wants to be manly so he'd look up to ripped guys like him.

Too bad he has such a pretty, feminine face. He really should just embrace the cute young boy look he has.

"Oh, you're back, Master Hugo. That was fast." Orluk smiled.

"Yeah, I needed to go pretty badly so I rushed there." I lied, giving him a sheepish grin.

He laughed. "You humans really are a curious thing. You killed all those people without batting an eye yet you're this shy in answering nature's calls."

Oh great now he gets the wrong idea.

I sat cross-legged beside Tira. "Look, when you're traveling in a group like this, you don't want to stop every time you feel you have to go."

He chuckled. "True. Us ogres can hold pretty long, especially when we're out there, hunting and scouting."

Okay, enough about this stupid talk. Do it, Hugo! Ask him now!

"Orluk," I put up my serious expression. "I want to ask you a question. Feel free to not answer if you don't want to."

"Well…" I took a deep breath. "I want to ask you about your father. Why do you not get along with him?"

I went straight to the point. No meaning in dodging around the bushes.

His smile disappeared. He fell silent, suddenly finding his legs very interesting.

"Uhh, it's okay! Forget about—"

"It's fine. I'll tell you everything. I owe you my life. So it's only right you know everything there is to know about it."

And then, he began his story.

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