Holding a large obsidian axe, the greedy monster ogre tore apart beasts and devoured them alive, causing everyone to lose their fighting spirit and tremble in fear.
Azadin had plucked out one of their eyes each, and the remaining eye witnessed a gruesome scene that was horrifying beyond blame.
They struggled to twist themselves out of the meat cage they were trapped in, but seeing the goblins underneath desperately trying to devour the blood and flesh seeping through the cracks, they changed their minds.
Even if they escaped, they would only end up being devoured by the goblins.
Just then, the ogre halted.
"Human village. Big, strong fortress. Plenty of meat."
The ogre said this while patting its belly.
"Boss, what should we do?"
"What?"
Everyone was shocked.
Usually, a group consisting of an ogre, hobgoblins, and goblins would have the ogre as the boss. But now, this ogre was clearly referring to one of the goblins as the boss.
Then, one of the goblins stood up. Not even a hobgoblin the size of a human, but a goblin similar in size to a human child. It was covered in tattoos of dark blue pigment on its body and held a wand adorned with beast bones.
"The Great King of the Fang desires the Book of Divine King. That village has the Book of Divine King, so… that… the Great King of the Fang... grrrr!"
The goblin, who had been speaking fluently like a person, suddenly began clawing at its own face with its nails. Blood spattered, and chunks of flesh fell off as the goblin self-mutilated, opening its eyes wide.
"Book of the Divine King! It's mine! Mine! The King of the Fang? Let him eat dung! The King of the Fang is far, and I am near! The Book of the Divine King is...!"
The goblin raised the bone-adorned wand. A sinister yellow flame ignited on the wand, flickering like a tail in the wind despite the still air, pointing in the direction of the village.
"I'll take the Book of the Divine King! Let's go, Goldu!"
The goblin yelled and urged the ogre.
"Goldu, store meat. Don't eat it all at once, store it to eat for a long time. Goldu, a smart ogre who knows how to invest for emergencies."
The ogre patted its belly and began moving forward along with the other goblins. Soon, the gate illuminated by bonfires appeared before their eyes.
***
The village militia stood in the watchtower, observing the approaching ogre's army.
"…Damn."
"There's so many of them."
An ogre, three hobgoblins, and about ten goblins under those hobgoblins—all wearing clothes adorned with tribe emblems.
These weren't just wandering monsters; they were part of a formal tribe, likely a vanguard or scouting party.
"It's fine. Our gate is sturdy…."
Just as the hunter was saying that—
Whoosh!
A large boulder flew and struck the gate wall. The ogre had lifted a massive boulder and hurled it.
The gate held, but the latch sprang up violently, and dust and wood fragments spilled from the cracks in the gate.
"Eek?!"
"Dammit!"
"Fire!"
At the hunter's command, the archers began shooting arrows. But the ogre had strapped a meat cage made from large trees to its front, causing the arrows to bounce off harmlessly.
"Heave-ho!"
The ogre picked up another boulder. The hobgoblins raised their shields and approached the gate, with the goblins following behind them in a charge.
"Tsk!"
The archers had made a mistake by focusing their initial attacks on the ogre. The second and third volleys of arrows managed to take down some goblins, but the enemies had already reached the base of the gate wall.
The hobgoblins raised their shields above their heads to block the arrows, while the goblins beneath them fiercely hacked at the gate with saw-like weapons.
"Heave-ho!"
The ogre hurled another boulder. This time, the boulder flew over the gate wall, aiming to crush the militiaman shooting arrows from above.
"Ahhh!"
"Watch out!"
Just then, a hand suddenly shot up from beneath the wall, grabbing the militiaman's belt and yanking him back to safety. The boulder barely missed his head and embedded itself in a nearby building tower.
"Eek?!"
"Who—who are you?"
"What the?"
Everyone was shocked. A man wearing a hawk mask was hanging from the gate wall, holding the militiaman's belt with one hand and gripping the wall with the other.
An incredible display of strength.
It was already remarkable to lift a person with one hand, but he was supporting the weight of both of them with the other hand gripping the wall.
And that bird mask on his face?
"Can you climb down?"
He placed the man back down below the wall and climbed up himself.
"I'll assist with defending the gate."
"Who are you?"
"A passing… herald of the emperor."
He said this as he unstrapped the bow slung across his waist and strung its bowstring.
Normally, stringing a bow requires wedging the bow between one's legs and using the entire body's strength to bend the bow before attaching the string. But this man strung it effortlessly with just his hands, as if it were a child's toy bow.
"Herald of the emperor?"
"One of the Herald Clan?!"
"Indeed, a member of the Herald Clan."
The unexpected figure declared himself a member of the Herald Clan and picked up the quiver of arrows lying on the ground.
***
"Be careful," a woman holding a lantern said, worried for Azadin, as she cautiously lit the way.
Among the refugees, consisting of the elderly, children, and women, the relatively sturdy young women were assigned to carry the lanterns and illuminate the path. Two of them were specifically tasked with guiding Azadin, Midiam, and Ishmael.
"It's fine," Azadin said, grateful for the kindness of those who had given them two of their precious lanterns.
"Pathetic," Midiam clicked her tongue.
"What is?"
"A knight who lives off the people's taxes abandoned them. It's disgraceful, unbecoming of nobility."
"So you think protecting the people of Hubris is more beautiful than abandoning them?"
"…Ah."
The Herald Clan, the people of Aragasa, held various opinions about their future.
One of the key issues was how to interact with the native people of this continent, the people of Hubris. Opinions on this were divided.
They persecute us, so we should hate them in return.
They are inferior to us, so as their superiors, we should rule over them.
To the Aragasa people, who had lived cursed and oppressed lives, the people of Hubris were disgusting beings, weak and ignorant, daring to challenge them without knowing their place.
But...
Despite that, Midiam was saying it. When a knight abandons the people, it's disgraceful.
The Aragasa people have long harbored hatred for the people of Hubris due to years of persecution and oppression, yet here she was, saying that protecting and safeguarding them is a beautiful thing.
"That's true. Is it strange that I, an Aragasa, feel sympathetic toward the people of Hubris?"
"It doesn't matter. I think so too."
Azadin said this, pulling a mask out from his coat.
"Anyway, people are way too kind when I pretend to be blind."
***
When pretending to be blind, you often encounter kind people.
As an Aragasa, persecuted by the people of Hubris, it would be easier if he could hate them all.
But after experiencing such kindness, it becomes difficult to hate everyone.
Of course, even those who are kind to a blind man might throw stones once they realize he's part of the Herald Clan, but that's inevitable as long as the king's church rules over the people.
[Protecting the people?]
The emperor's voice called out as Azadin climbed the mountain path, heading toward the gate village.
[How admirable, my herald!]
"Does that earn me a gold coin?"
[No, not quite. But still, how admirable. My praise is the emperor's praise—aren't you honored?]
"Praise without a single coin? Empty words…"
Muttering complaints, Azadin ascended the mountain path alone, making his way back to the gate village.
He turned his pilgrim clothes inside out to change his appearance, straightened his crouched posture to alter his impression, and after donning his mask, entered the village, saving someone about to be sacrificed and climbing the gate wall.
"A Herald Clan member?"
"The gold coin devil?"
"The soulless heretic… why is he here?"
As the people murmured in confusion, Azadin kicked up the quiver of arrows from the archer he had saved.
The arrows shot into the air, and Azadin reached out, grabbed one, and fired it at the ogre.
Whoosh!
"No way..."
Even though he had shot arrows, they had previously been blocked by the chest-mounted box on the ogre, and the thick layer of fat had made them ineffective.
But this time...
Thwack!
Two arrows simultaneously pierced the ogre's eyes.
"Gruaaagh!"
The ogre screamed and fell backward, causing the people trapped in the chest-mounted box to spill out.
"Gasp?!"
"What—what is that?"
It was almost like magic.
The Dual Immortal Bow, a technique unique to the Herald Clan, involves shooting two arrows that hit their target almost simultaneously. Without the Dual Immortal Bow, the ogre would have protected its second eye after the first arrow hit due to the pain.
But Azadin used the Dual Immortal Bow to simultaneously take both of the ogre's eyes before it could even react.
"Arrgh! My eyes! It hurts!"
The ogre, flailing in anger, swung its obsidian axe, but without its vision, it couldn't walk properly.
It tripped over rocks, stumbled down the mountain path, and rolled around, inadvertently causing trouble for the surrounding goblins.
"Amazing!"
The tide of battle had turned instantly. With the ogre, the strongest opponent, neutralized, the rest could be handled by simply defending the gate.
But...
As the militia members stood stunned, the Herald Clan member who had taken both of the ogre's eyes in a single shot leaped down toward the goblin army below the gate.
"What?!"
"Is he insane…?"
It was a suicidal act.
In the darkness of night, a sharpshooter capable of hitting an ogre's eyes from this distance had no reason to abandon the advantage of the gate and jump down.
Shooting enemies from long range and diving into the chaos below were entirely different things. Just as their concerns were about to peak, a thunderous sound echoed.
Thud!
Azadin had jumped down from the gate wall.
"What?"
He landed directly on a hobgoblin holding a shield.
It was a stomp. As if crushing an ant, Azadin effortlessly trampled the hobgoblin, shield and all, standing proudly as he surveyed the goblin horde around him.
That arrogant, powerful, and composed figure captivated the eyes of the militia and the people of Hubris, who otherwise would have seen a Herald Clan member as an enemy.
"Amazing."
An awed exclamation escaped on its own.