After Artoria had left the meeting, the ogres in the room stayed silent before the village chief finally spoke up. "So what are everyone's thoughts on her and what she said?"
The old ogre in the room responded to the chief's question. "I have to say this now since it's the most important, but if what she has said is true, then an orc lord has emerged.'
The other ogres were surprised at hearing his words. They've heard about the power of an orc lord from many stories told, but they've never actually lived to see one be born among the orcs.
The village chief had his suspicions, but hearing it come from the ogre who has lived the longest, gives it more credibility.
"The main thing we have to figure out right now is if we can trust her. My opinion is that we can trust her."
"Father, why are you choosing to trust her so easily? We've barely known her for less than two days. I think you are rushing this." His son responded to him trying to refute him.
"I don't know how to explain it, but there is something about her that makes me believe I can trust her. Do any of you also feel what I am trying to talk about?"
Most of the ogres nodded along with him, but his son was still a little reluctant.
"Listen son, I know you feel it too even if you're trying to force yourself to not feel it. Tell me why you are being so stubborn."
"It just doesn't feel right that we have to let a stranger basically tell us what to do with our village, but I also have that feeling that I can trust her."
"I understand how you feel son, but this situation is bigger than just our village, it will have an impact on the whole forest."
"Speaking of the whole forest, isn't the number of one thousand orcs a bit too small for an orc lord? Unless this is just a recently born orc lord, I feel that one thousand is just too small. I think the number of orcs is much larger than what she is telling us."
The old ogre in the room spoke out his own thoughts finding something off about what Artoria was telling them.
The village chief hearing him also agreed with what he said. "I agree with that, but she said that one thousand was the number that was attacking us. She didn't mention the total number of orcs under the orc lord's command. It should be safe to assume that there is a much larger number than what she has said."
"Then what do we do now father?"
"That is what we are here to discuss. You heard what she said as she left. We essentially have the choices she presented to us. Either we leave now with everyone alive or we end up losing many lives fending off an attack leaving almost no one alive."
"What about finding a new home? If the whole forest is in danger, then what place in the forest could possibly be safe?"
"We can worry about that later. Right now, I need to come to a decision. We have limited time so any input will be appreciated."
/\\//\\//\
I was currently at my temporary residence in the ogre village waiting for some kind of message or response from them. It will probably take the rest of this day, maybe a bit into tomorrow. In my eyes, it's a very easy decision to come to, but that is from an outsider's perspective and also cause I know more than what I told them.
I wonder how they would have reacted if I said there were one hundred thousand orcs in total under the command of the orc lord. I said nothing about that except about the number of orcs attacking the village.
There's no way they think that there will only be a measly one thousand orcs in total. I'll let them come up with their own number. The number they come up with themselves will be more impactful to them instead of what I say.
I was outside just hanging out with Dun Stallion while I explained to him what happened and what my plan is.
'Don't you think you are going about this in a roundabout way? There has to be a simpler way to get them to go to your village. They're ogres, just challenge them to a dual or something and make them leave that way.'
'I could do that, but forcing them wouldn't be the 'right way' to do it. If I force them to leave, they'll resent me and probably try to find some way to get back at me. I need the ogres to leave their homes under the village chief's order, that way even if they feel some kind of resentment it will be toward their chief and not me.'
'Whatever, that's your own thing, not mine. I'm not exactly qualified to give advice on whatever it is that you're doing. My job is to carry you into battles and other things of that nature.'
'Well, that chance might come if they take too long to make a choice.'
'I look forward to it, but couldn't you have waited for the orcs to already be attacking the village and come in and save them?'
'I could, but there would be ogres that would be dead and the orcs would get stronger if they ate the bodies of the dead ogres. I don't want that happening and make things harder than it should.'
'I'll go relax then. Have fun eating grass and lying down on it.'
'I don't think you understand what you're missing out on.'
'I'd rather not find out. At least about the eating grass part.'
I just spent the rest of my time relaxing outside enjoying the view of the forest while the day passed waiting for a messenger to come to me.
Eventually, it reached the next day. This was now two days that had passed. The ogres better make a decision now at this point. Anything more after this and they'll be cutting it close. For me, the trip from the goblin village to here might have been extraordinarily fast, but when I have to go back with the ogres it will be much slower and take a long time to return. Perhaps a week at best if we keep a steady pace, but if I'm going to be realistic I'd say two weeks to account for unforeseen circumstances.
It was about noon I'd say from looking at the location of the sun in the sky. I was in the field by the house with Dun Stallion.
I sensed someone approaching and saw that it was Benimaru. Just him no one else.
"My father wants another talk with you. Preferably, now since you stress that time is of importance."
"Sure I'll go. Lead the way."
\//\\//\\/
I'm back at the village chief's place in the same meeting room as before.
"Am I to assume you have come to a decision? Or do you want to discuss more information?"
"While we trust you when you say there will be an attack, we think there are some things you aren't saying about the orcs."
"What, that there is an orc lord?"
They weren't shocked or anything like that. I was right. They came to the conclusion that there was an orc lord thanks to Hakurour no doubt.
"Is that you confirming our suspicions that there is an orc lord?"
"I don't wanna sound rude, but it was kind of obvious that there would be an orc lord."
"What about the number of orcs under the orc lord's command?"
"I don't know the total number of orcs, but I have seen more than what is attacking your village. They are going around destroying and eating the residents of any village they come across. Your village was the closest one to where I was when I saw the orcs, that's why I came here to give a warning."
Why did I lie about not knowing the number of orcs? Easy. I can't appear like I know it all. If I show some kind of fault, I'll be more approachable.
"They're eating the bodies of the villagers they attack?"
"How else is an army of their size supposed to be fed? Another thing to think about, if for some reason there is still some thoughts of fighting back. The ogres who die will be eaten and I'm sure you don't want the bodies of your kind to desecrated in such a way with absolutely no respect."
Am I scaring a bit much there? Probably, but it's the truth. Most of the time it's something ugly we don't want to face, but we eventually have to.
They were still in contemplation, processing the new information I presented to them. They shouldn't know about the skill of the orc lord that makes all the orcs stronger when eating a body. Who knows what they're thinking?
"Is that the only reason though? Eating just so they can feed the army? If that's the case, then they must be in an extreme case of hunger. The orc lord being able to control so many orcs despite them being that hungry is honestly impressive and also scary."
"I don't know since I didn't do much investigation or observation beyond just knowing they eat the bodies of the ones they kill."
"Fighting an enemy who is hungry and willing to do things like that will be a massive challenge. They will fight with a different kind of ferocity."
"I suggest making a decision by the end of the day. If you take any more time you will be cutting it close."
I got up and prepared to leave again, but not before reminding them what choices they had. They had no objection to me leaving this short meeting compared to yesterday.
\//\\//\\/
I went back to the small house and saw Dun Stallion munching away on some grass. He seems to be a heavy eater. I swear he's been doing that since when he woke up.
More waiting for me I guess, but there better be a messenger at night or morning at the latest. We have to leave now to get a good head start. If we leave any later there will be a fight with the orcs and I can't guarantee there will be no ogre deaths.
The hours were ticking away and it was feeling very slow to me. I can only imagine what the ogres were feeling knowing that the more time passed the more pressured they would be into making a decision. Time is probably going really fast for them.
More time ticked away and it eventually became night. It was now or never if they wanted to evacuate and guarantee everyone's survival.
I stayed awake as did Dun Stallion. He told me he would have no problem not having any kind of sleep for a few days, so he was completely fine with having no sleep.
I was just standing around waiting and then I sensed a small group of people approaching. I looked toward the locations and saw that it was the village chief along with his wife, his son, his daughter, and the old ogre.
"What choice have you made then?"
"I have decided to evacuate the village. I've already sent out some people to notify them as well as give them the reason for it."
"Are you being truthful in the reason?"
"Yes. I've ordered them to explain that we have to evacuate due to an attack that we can not defend against. We've come here to thank you for telling us and for what amounts to saving the lives of everyone here."
"Don't think much about it. Do you have an idea of where you're going to take everyone?"
"No, I don't. The important thing is that everyone lives. We can build new homes somewhere else if needed."
'Perfect. This is exactly the situation I wanted.'
"You know, If you need somewhere to call home, I know a village that would be happy to take in new residents. It's a village that's still developing, but the progress is very fast. I could show you the way to the village if you want."
"Give us a few seconds."
/\\//\\//\
The village chief and his family were huddled close together discussing the option, borderline lifeline, that Artoria presented to them. They were whispering to each other.
"What do you all think about this?"
"Father, do we have to? You're supposed to be the leader and strong, you can't just bow your head to someone else."
"Son, I know how you feel, but sacrifices have to be made in dire situations like this."
"Um, I think we should follow her." The ogre princess was the one who spoke up.
"Why do you think so daughter?" Her father asked her since she hadn't said much during these two days.
"I don't know, I just know I can trust her for some reason."
Her mother looked a little close to her. "Dear, is there something more to what you're saying?"
"No mom, I don't know what you're talking about."
Everyone looked at her, paying more attention to her, and she looked away from all the attention..
They felt something else was at hand, but they couldn't be too sure.
The village chief decided they could talk about it later. "I'm making the decision. We're going to follow her to the village she's talking about."
His son was reluctant, but not as much as before. He was still prideful, but at least it went down a little bit. He was still in need of a humbling ecpericne though. Everyone else supported the decision. All that was left was to tell the other villagers.
/\\//\\//\
I saw that they came out of their little discussion. The village chief stepped up and told me his decision.
"I've decided that we will follow you to this village you are taling about."
"Good choice, Be ready for a long trip though. It's going to take a long time to get there."
"Don't worry, we ogres are tough. A little walking isn't going to scare us."
"I like the energy. Get ready then, we're leaving tonight."