Because of the ambushes and traps set by us and the elven army, the humans lost a lot of their numbers. Especially after Father Elf improved the traps that they set up almost in every corner of the forest before hiring me with the traps I taught him, the damage that the human army sustained became much greater than expected.
Being the one who taught him how to improve the traps, I felt satisfied with the results.
The humans also realized that internal intelligence had leaked after their advancing routes became full of traps. So, as a countermeasure they temporarily withdrew their vanguards to revise their strategy.
In response, the elves continued adding traps in the forest and we continued training to increase our chances of survival even by a little, in the meanwhile, I continuously created more clones to increase the scope that I can collect information from.
And based on the information that I got as a result, we moved to set up a surprise attack targeting the human army's supply unit, which was scheduled to bring supplies to the human army stationed in the forest.
Supplies are a matter of life and death during a military campaign. This being a forest, food and water is easier to come by than, say, a desert, but due to the enemy's large numbers they would need correspondingly large quantities of food which is hard to get.
So I wanted to prevent their delivery, thus giving a serious damage to the enemy. Moreover, we can use the weapons and food, so it's like hitting two birds with one stone. No, it can also significantly lower the enemy's morale, so it's more like hitting three birds with one stone.
The supply unit came along from the plains. We can't attack them on the plains, because obviously, we are too few in number. Our numbers, including the 47 prisoners of war, barely reaches 200, and the number of those who can fight is even less.
In comparison, the supply unit consists of more than 600 people, more than three times our numbers. Due to this difference in numbers, it would be stupid to attack them on the open plains.
Well, they're not an enemy that we can't defeat on the plains if we play our cards right, but considering the possibility of other nearby units of the currently alert human army noticing the ambush, it's wiser to stop.
For that reason, we waited until the supply unit ventured into the forest to a certain extent.
At the moment I received the intel that the supply unit reached the 'Kill Point' - it's a little deep in the forest, which can stall some time for us even if the human army notice the raid considering the low visibility and the narrowness of the road, I decided on this location after getting information about the human army from Female Knight and Rusty Iron Knight - from my clones, I confirmed that everything is going according to the plan, then I looked at the slaves standing behind me.
Their bodies were trembling and they looked completely pale with fright. However, that's only an unconscious reaction, I raised my control over them through the ear-cuffs - which has fused with their flesh and contains a drop of my blood, in other words a clone - to the limit using [Parasite], so they can't move even a single finger out of their own free will.
It would be better if they would fight out of their own volition, like Rusty Iron Knight does, but this can't be helped. With that being the case, using them as disposable pawns would be the best course of action for me, even if I try eating them, they're not delicious, and they don't have much use that would tempt me to keep them alive.
They're just annoying with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, so I'm planning to have them play an active role in my plan this time.
The plan is very simple. First of all, out of the 17 male slaves, I had ten noble knights who didn't have any useful [Jobs] like [Wizard] or [Enchanter] run in the direction of the supply unit while we pretended to pursue them.
Human Knights were running away, followed by a group of ogres, goblins and kobolds, who were roaring while raising their weapons and emitting murderous intent.
Watching something like this, it's easy for anyone to identify their enemies and allies clearly, and in such a situation, one would try to protect those who looked like their allies without thinking.
That's because, their attention would be pulled to the ones looking nothing other than enemies before them, making it almost impossible to doubt the identity of the ones who looked to be their allies.
There was a chance that a competent commander could've seen through it and ordered the death of both the human and us, but just in case, I made them wear the high-class armors that they wore before we caught them which anyone can infer that only rich people like nobles can afford, and thus the first step of the plan succeeded.
After I confirmed that they had successfully infiltrated the supply unit, we retreated back and hid in trenches that we built a little farther away from the 'Kill Point'. Then, we used the mass-produced repeating crossbows to fire poison-smeared arrows at the enemy, being careful not to hit the slaves, those who could use magic fired spells at the enemy while suppressing their power for the same reason, the hobgoblin shaman summoned 6 ghosts and had them use attacks that cause mental state abnormalities such as [Depression].
Because of the trees and the bushes, the accuracy of our attacks wasn't that high, but our enemy had the same problem. We just had to wait for the preparations to complete, by attacking them like this, we're aiming to stop their advance while reducing their numbers and to gather them in one place.
After a while, the ten noble knights, who had been mistaken as allies by the enemy, managed to infiltrate deep into the enemy lines and their turn to act came.
Their job is to scatter around the magic items stored in pouches hid inside their clothes, the [Burst Seed]s, which is an original creation made by me and Alchemist-san.
It's made of materials that can be found easily in this forest, namely [Oil Grass] and [Burst Fruit].
Although the ingredients are easy to find and the creation process is quite simple, its power is very high. If detonated in a crowded place, it can bring about a large number of deaths and crippling injuries, not to mention the chaos and confusion that it can cause in the enemy lines.
Its power is very high, yet it's easy to mass produce, truly a very wonderful magical item.
However, in exchange for these benefits, the possibility of the user dying due to their close proximity to the explosion is high, however, the ones with this role are the most useless slaves that I have, some guys whose only use is acting as disposable pawns.
After confirming their positions, I gave them out the orders to start scattering the [Burst Seeds] around while running through the lines of the enemy forces. If they die, we'll pick up their bones.
The explosions of as many as 300 [Burst Seeds] continued thundering throughout the forest for sometime.
The explosions eventually died down, however, the enemy was still confused due to the sudden devastating explosions. I instructed Asue-chan to lead her corps, « Pleasure », and collapse the footing of the supply unit's soldiers.
As we had made preparations beforehand to make it easy to collapse when using a specific method, they were able to complete the task easily. The ground under the supply unit's soldiers dropped only about two meters, but that is enough.
Because of the sudden change in footing, they lost their balance and were unable to get away. As before, we sent down a rain of poisoned arrows and magic spells from a distance.
The elves, whom I'd told to climb the trees beforehand and stand by, sprinkled them with bottles of a venom that I created myself.
As the venom was a fast-acting paralyzing agent, the soldiers who got hit dropped to the ground immediately. They weren't dead, but they wouldn't be able to fight anymore.
I activated [Job - Minstrel] and [Red Crystal's Tone] while giving instructions. The sound of my singing voice, combined with that of an instrument from this world that resembles a guitar, strengthened my allies and weakened my enemies.
Because the supply unit's soldiers aren't really strong, doing that much isn't really necessary, but one cannot be too careful. The explosion sounds of the [Burst Seeds] may attract enemy reinforcements after all. To retreat as soon as possible, we had to go all out.
That's why, we couldn't afford to hold back, and thus the battle ended without any major delays.
Three of the ten nobles who were assigned to handle the [Burst Seeds] got caught in the blasts and died, 5 of them got severely injured when shards of rocks and some soldiers' weapons hit them, the remaining 2 returned unharmed. Those were all the casualties on our side.
I thanked the three who died for their work, then, while the others were collecting the spoils and the prisoners of war, I took a bite from a part - that I found lying around - of the dismembered body of one of them. I thought that his taste would be delicious because he's from a noble lineage, but that was not the case at all.
By the way, I didn't bring Redhead with us. Although she doesn't have any resistance against eating humanoid monsters' meat anymore, I think that it's still better to refrain from eating humans in front of her.
As it was a pain to heal all of the seriously injured soldiers of the supply unit, we killed them right there, gaining Experience Values, that way they didn't have to suffer any longer too. Then I ate all of their hearts and some of their bodies, leaving the rest to the others to eat.
Eating as much of my dead enemies as possible, and continuing living in their stead.
That is one of my beliefs.
I also had the others eat the ones they killed as a responsibility of being the ones who killed them.
We took those with light injuries as prisoners of war, they numbered exactly one hundred men. There were some women in the unit, but all of them died in the ambush. It's somewhat of a waste, but it can't be helped.
Also, the numbers of slaves we have now are sufficient, so there's no need to capture anymore.
As there was an insufficient number of ear-cuffs and collars, I solved the problem by spilling some blood and cloning myself, inserting the clones inside their bodies, then controlling them using [Parasite].
Fortunately, there were enough raw materials, including the blood of the fallen soldiers, in large quantities, so I didn't lose any strength due to blood insufficiency.
[Ability learned: Continuous Thrusts]
[Ability learned: Helmet Splitter]
[Ability learned: Stab]
[Ability learned: Armor Pierce]
[Ability learned: Sword Storm Dance]
[Ability learned: Sneaking]
[Ability learned: Attack Force]
[Ability learned: Job - Ranger]
[Ability learned: Job - Supply Soldier]
I obtained some of the Combat Arts that I heard about from Rusty Iron Knight too.
All of the abilities from [Continuous Thrusts] to [Sword Storm Dance] are Combat Arts.
In my case, if I activate a Combat Art that I gained as an ability and used it in the traditional way at the same time, the power can be greatly boosted compared to using each individually. Since as I said before, only humans can use them, I have to be careful whose eyes see me when I use them, but nonetheless, they can be very useful in case of emergencies.
Having finished sorting everything, we carried the prisoners of war and the loot back to the base.
While we were on our way back, looking at the gloomy faces of our new prisoners, I suddenly thought of something.
We still have a sufficient amount of space left in the base, but these supply soldiers aren't really that strong, so they don't have that much use as pawns. There's also the option of using them as disposables just like the nobles this time, but it feels kind of a waste to use them like that.
For that reason, I decided to give half of them to the elves, I'm planning to sell them to the elves as a way of repaying my debt for the wine I received the other day. This will profit me more than simply using them as disposable pawns too.
We changed our route and walked to the « The Elves' Village », then I had father Elf buy them.
Having humans who'll listen to any of their orders can widen the range of the tactics they can take greatly, making his decision to buy them prompt.
As payment, I received some magic items useful for daily life. Incidentally, while we were exchanging information, I asked him about the secret medicine that the human army came for.
It seems to be a medicine with a very strong medicinal efficacy, moreover, there aren't any side effects to its use and it has many applications.
It's made of very rare materials using a special manufacturing method, also, it seems like the power of the [Demigod of Lush Greenery] is subtly mixed within, due to this, its effects became very strong to the extent that it's said that it's almost an all-purpose medicine. Although it's not that effective against curses and spells with special effects, it can cure almost any disease.
This... Wouldn't I acquire new abilities if I ate it?
While thinking so, I suddenly remembered that I had already been given the elves' secret medicine.
It was that day, the day when I first met Father Elf. He gave it to me as a present, together with the elven wine, but at that time I was too preoccupied with the elven wine and thus forgot about it after that day, to this day it was put away in my [Item Box] without me taking it out even once.
Remembering this, I wondered why he had given me a precious secret medicine like that?
When I asked him, he answered me "It's against the law to give it to "humans", but giving it to an "ogre" who saved his daughter doesn't violate the law".
What the hell? Wouldn't that mean that the empire would've gotten the secret medicine if they had sent a demi-human instead?
I drank the secret medicine on the way back.
[Ability learned: High Speed Regeneration]
[Ability learned: Blood Elixir]
The "Demon blood" flowing inside my body turned into the secret medicine.
To experiment, I made one of the slaves, whose wounds have yet to be healed, drink a drop of my blood, then I saw an unbelievable sight.
All of his still open wounds quickly closed up, and seeing the improvement of his complexion, it seems like his lost blood got replenished, also, he said that the low back pains that he've been suffering from since a long time ago got healed too.
What's this? Scary. If these are the effects of only one drop, what would its effects be if drank in large quantities? Although I don't have any intention of trying it out, I'm still curious. Wouldn't you get eternal youth or something close it if you do that?
If word got out about the existence of such a "Gold mine-like ogre", I'll definitely get targeted by humans for profit, that sounds scary.
To look at the bright side, my healing ability rose greatly, however, I still think that the benefits and the accompanying risks aren't balanced.
Since humans are greedy, arrogant, obstinate and great in numbers, I have to take care that none of them finds out about it. No, even if some find out, I just have to kill those who know about it.
While I was thinking about such things, we returned.
Day 74 Sidestory: One of The Nobility-Class Slaves Who Were Forced to Conduct a Surprise Suicide Attack POV
[ POV: One of The Nobility-Class Slaves Who Were Forced to Conduct a Surprise Suicide Attack ] [Time Axis : day 74]
WHO DO YOU THINK I AM?!! I AM THE SECOND SON OF THE TSUKAEN VISCOUNT FAMILY WHICH HAVE BEEN SERVING THE KINGDOM FAITHFULLY SINCE ANCIENT TIMES , I AM COITZ・CANARY・TSUKAEN!!
My father kicked out my useless, foolish older brother and married off my incompetent little sister to another family, ONLY TO ENROLL ME, THE YOUNGEST SON, IN THE ACADEMY IN ORDER TO PREPARE ME TO BECOME THE NEXT HEAD OF THE TSUKAEN FAMILY!! I AM A GREAT PERSON, I AM THE NEXT HEAD OF THE TSUKAEN FAMILY!!
YET....
WHY, WHY DID A PERSON AS GREAT AS ME GET SUCH A ROLE?
You want me to carry large quantities of exploding-type magic items, then seek my allies' shelter? And after I penetrate deep into their lines, you want me to scatter around the magic items that I carry? DON'T SCREW WITH ME!!
IT IS COMMON SENSE TO ASSIGN SUCH DANGEROUS TASKS TO DISPOSABLE CANNON FODDERS LIKE CONSCRIPTS AND COMMON FOOT SOLDIERS, NOT A NOBLE EXISTENCE SUCH AS ME.
YET, FOR HIM TO ACTUALLY... TO ACTUALLY... TO ACTUALLY DARE TO UTTER OUT OF ALL THINGS SOMETHING AS AUDACIOUS AS "You're useless" IN MY FACE AND TO USE SUCH A DEVIOUS METHOD TO CONTROL MY BODY!! THERE IS NO WAY THAT CAN BE FORGIVEN!! I WILL MAKE YOU REGRET THIS!!
IF THE TSUKAEN FAMILY GETS SERIOUS, A LOWLY OGRE LIKE YOU WILL INSTANTLY-- ST- STO- STOP!! DO NOT GET CLOSE. Kuh, please don't eat me. I'm begging you, please don't bite off my head!!
Fuuh... he left, didn't he?.
... SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT.
DON'T SCREW WITH ME, DON'T SCREW WITH ME, DON'T FUCKING SCREW WITH ME!!
WHO DO YOU THINK, WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK I AM?!! I AM NOT SOMEONE THAT CAN DIE IN A PLACE LIKE THIS, THERE ARE MANY THINGS THAT I STILL WANT TO DO.
AHH, STOP IT, STOP SAYING STUPID THINGS LIKE "Start the operation", STOP MOVING MY BODY AGAINST MY WILL.
WAIT, WAI~~T ｰｰｰｰｰｰ!!
... Ohhh! Isn't that my close friend Gudon?
Please help me, take away the pouch filled with magic items stored inside my pocket, and remove the magic item installed in my ear.
HURRY, HURRY, HURRY IT UP!! QUICKLY RELEASE ME BEFORE HE GIVES OUT THE ORDERS. OTHERWISE, YOU WILL NOT SURVIVE.
STUPID, STOP IT, DO NOT ATTACK THEM. THEY ARE JUST A DECOY, THE GUYS WHO ARE PRETENDING TO BE PURSUING US ARE JUST DECOYS, THE REAL THREAT IS HERE, IT IS THE MAGIC ITEMS THAT WE ARE CARRYING.
THAT IS WHY, QUICKLY HELP-- STOP IT, STOP MOVING, MY ARM!! DO NOT GRAB THAT MAGIC ITEM!! DO NOT THROW IT!! DO NOT THROW IT!! I WILL GET CAUGHT UP IN THE EXPLOSION--
STOP, STOO~~P ITTT!!
« *Explosion*, *blast*, flashs of light-- many [Burst Seeds] exploded »
AAAAAAAAAAAARGH! A SHARD, A STONE SHARD IS STUCK IN MY FACE. IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT IS PAINFUL, IT IS VERY PAINFUL!!
YET, MY, MY BODY IS NOT STOPPING. DO NOT THROW THE MAGIC ITEMS, STOP, STOP THROWING THEM.
EXPLOSIONS, EXPLOSIONS, EXPLOSIONS, BE IT THE MAGIC ITEMS WHICH HIT THE GROUND, OR THE MAGIC ITEMS WHICH HIT MY ALLIES, ALL OF THEM JUST CONTINUE EXPLODING!!
MY BODY GOT BLOWN AWAY BY A BLAST, BECAUSE OF THE EXPLOSION'S IMPACT, THE MAGIC ITEM THAT WAS IN MY RIGHT HAND EXPLODED TOO, MY RIGHT ARM GOT BLOWN AWAY, AAHHHHHHHHHH!! IT IS PAINFUL, IT IS TOO PAINFU~~UL.
STOP, STOP IT, PLEASE STOP IT!!
Yet, Yet, Yet, Yet, I can't stop my body. Stop it, STOP ME, PLEASE STOP ME, I WILL GIVE YOU AS MUCH GOLD COINS AS YOU WANT, someone please, help me aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!
My... body isn't... moving anymore.
What... became... of me?
... *Breathing* ..., my sight... is... dimming.
Is... it... death? Will... I... here?
Ah, I... can't... die...yet.
..... a flash of light? *explosion*--
« Cause of death: An explosion »
« Age at death: 22 years old »