An Unusual Situation

The Hungry Ogres that tried to climb the cliff got caught in the collapse. They’re not weak enough to die from something like a rock slide though. It’s enough that I deal some damage and stop them in their tracks.

I timed the explosion accordingly so the collapse will block their path of retreat. They’re not going anywhere now.

「Flame Circle.」

The spell roasted the cornered Hungry Ogres. I managed to kill seven Hungry Ogres with only two Flame Circles and a Small Explosion.

Then, something caught my attention.

「They seem tougher than last time.」

The Hungry Ogres I killed yesterday were a bit tougher than the ones in BBO. But I chalked that up to being just one of the simple differences between this world and the game.

But the Hungry Ogres today were tougher than yesterday. I can tell how much damage my attacks deal to a Hungry Ogre based on my BBO experience. Just off of that, it was clearl that the Hungry Ogre’s HP went up five percent since yesterday.

Five percent is just that… five percent. A small number. But the problem is how they got stronger so quickly. Monsters don’t just get powerful all of a sudden without any reason. There has to be an explanation for their sudden increase in power.

「The possible causes are a large-scale spell or a monster that can buff other monsters.」

There are lots of ways to buff humans, but not a lot for monsters. The most common causes I can think of are either『Mana Saturation Calamity』, a large-scale spell that strengthens monsters in the area, or there’s a monster that powers up other monsters in the immediate environment. I would know right away if a spell like Mana Saturation Calamity has been used, so it’s probably the latter.

However, only Boss-level monsters have Skills that buff other monsters. If such a monster is in this area, that would mean there are two Bosses here including the King Ogre. That makes this an abnormal situation.

Normally, there would only be one Boss in one area. The only times there are two at once is when there’s been human interference. Something fishy is going on here.

This doesn’t change what I have to do at the moment. I need to kill as many Hungry Ogres as possible to decrease their number.

And kill the King Ogre as well. That’s my goal right now.

It doesn’t matter if humans are butting in. I still want the Wisdom Stone from the King Ogre. Also if I keep killing monsters, I’ll effectively be hindering the plans of the guy who planted two Bosses in this region.

「Let’s do this.」

I started looking for my next target. There are still lots of geographical features I can use. I’m gonna hunt them all.

◇

A few hours later.
I used up all my MP hunting and was on my way back to Elias. As soon as I arrived, something was off. There were a lot more people out than usual and they all looked tense. I made my way to the guild and was met by the branch manager standing at the entrance.

「Eld!」

He called as soon as he saw me, his face indicating something bad had happened.

「Did something happen? I got some Hungry Ogres for you.」

「Thank you. By any chance, did you kill the Emperor Ogre as well while you were at it?」

「You need careful planning to kill an Emperor Ogre. What, did something related to the Emperor Ogre happen?」

Under normal circumstances, the number of Hungry Ogres in the forest means that the Boss is most definitely a King Ogre. But if there’s a second Boss in there that’s giving power to the Hungry Ogres, then it’s a different story.

「Related to the Emperor Ogre? No, it’s about the migration.」

「The number of monsters I killed wasn’t enough?」

If I recall, whether the town will be abandoned depends on the number of monsters killed. Even the number of Hungry Ogres I killed yesterday was not enough?

The branch manager looked annoyed and spoke.