Chapter 433 - Second Episode: Ogre Rehabilitation Plan ②
Is it really possible for an Ogre to rehabilitate? There seems to be no basis for the reason why Ogres like to torture and eat spirits and humans. As proof, Fenrirs do not actively attack humans. Neither do Cerberus or Orthrus. Even slugs, despite wanting magic power enough to gather near magic circles, only block the way in caves or eat cultivated mushrooms, and like house centipedes, there's no subjugation reward because there's no damage. In some regions, they are treated as livestock, and even ranching has begun.
"Will they be convinced if we explain?"
"Probably impossible."
When I asked Violet, she flatly denied it.
"Even if you say various reasons, in the end, if they really hated it, they wouldn't bully the weak alone. This guy can enjoy torturing to death. Besides, among monsters, Ogres are known for being mercilessly cruel. That's their status, so to speak. An Ogre that has become quiet might lose its value in the pack, right?"
It's the logic of a criminal group. As expected, is annihilation the only way...
"Then, why did you come this far?"
It's Eleanor-sama. Indeed, while saying this and that, she's been cooperating in various ways.
"Somehow, I think that if it's Jeanne, she might do something about it."
It's troubling even if I'm expected to.
"You're seriously thinking about coexistence and co-prosperity with this guy, right? Only Jeanne is like that. Even though he's such a hopeless guy."
She slaps the Ogre with a 'peshiri'.
Did she do it quite strongly? The Ogre plunged face-first into the ground. As it proceeded as if digging a groove with its face, it plunged into the pond with a 'bashan'.
"W-Wait, Violet, that's no good."
What strength. And doesn't she know how to hold back?
I pull up the Ogre whose head was half-buried in the soil. It was lucky it was the soft soil by the pond; otherwise, it might have died.
"Are you okay? Wait, eh!"
Somehow, a different face came out. Perhaps because it was rubbed when it dug the groove with its face, the hairy face is smooth. There are no horns either. Looking at the groove, they had fallen. They seemed to have come off from the root.
"Somehow. He has a refreshed face."
It's just as Violet says. Since it wasn't bleeding, when I wiped its face with a hand towel and made it clean, it was smiling gently. Didn't it hurt?
What on earth is this? Certainly, it was blank after fainting, but it never smiled.
"Is it the horns?"
What Eleanor-sama says is not unthinkable. In fairy tales, there are descriptions of monsters whose horns were struck and broken by knights, losing their power and becoming weak. However, far from losing power, the character has completely changed.
"This guy, I feel like I've seen him somewhere..."
Violet, with her arms crossed, is groaning. She's seen him before?
That newborn Ogre said something. It feels like its tone has also become calm.
"Somehow, it says it's hungry."
There are boars. However, when I point to them, it shakes its head with a look of dislike.
"It says it hates those."
In that case, when I take out Highway Cookies, it picked one with its hand and sniffed it thoroughly, then took a bite.
"It says 'so-so'."
So-so... I suppose it can be called a draw.
"It says it wants fruit."
Fruit? That's also a quite a change.
Beatrix says let's go, so we go to the Class of 175 to pick forest fruit. Since Bonnie is here, we'll find them right away.
"It's quite ironic that a monster that liked human flesh wants fruit."
"I wonder what happened to him."
Will and Bonnie are also suspicious. Well, I suppose so.
"Hey, Jeanne. Doesn't that look familiar?"
Familiar or not, I have no acquaintances among Ogres. They were always enemies.
"Look, Paul-san when we first met."
Now that she mentions it, it might be so. He was a different person when riding the sled, though.
"Eh! Master was like that!"
Bonnie shouldn't know. Paul-san returned to the wild when he released the Magic-Sealing Ring during the Revenant incident.
"Then, did he fall to the dark side?"
"I don't know, but the atmosphere is similar."
Certainly. Does that mean? If an Ogre wears a Magic-Sealing Ring, will it live quietly while looking at a lake?
"Wouldn't we find out something if we ask the other Ogre?"
"Right. As Will says, let's ask his companion."
Beatrix agreed with Will's suggestion.
Fruit was found immediately. Cranberries, pomegranates, and grapes were obtained. Just in case, I also took chestnuts, walnuts, and acorns.
When I brought them back, it was munching on them happily. Occasionally, it also munches on Highway Cookies, so it might have liked them. Just in case, when I put out bread, cheese, dried meat, and honey water, it's eating everything except the dried meat.
"First is fruit, second is cheese, third is nuts, bread, and Highway Cookies, it says."
It's become quite healthy.
"Hey, let's ask the other one."
Beatrix suggested to Eleanor-sama what we talked about earlier.
"Falling to the dark side? But it's basic magic, you know?"
"Yeah. But if the way of firing is different, it's possible."
"Understood. Violet, please."
"Okay."
The other one was still unconscious, but when Violet kicked its back, it regained consciousness. Quite rough.
When we explained the situation and showed the Ogre munching on fruit, it let out a grand sigh.
"Somehow, it's rare, but there are those like that, whose hair goes bald and horns fall off. Like they lost their essence, or became calm."
"Falling to the dark side?"
"Maybe."
Falling to the dark side, huh. Since the horns fell off, it might be 'falling to the horns'. (T/N: A pun on 'dark side' (ankoku) and 'horns' (tsuno).)
"Ah, that's good. Let's call it 'horn-dropped' like Jeanne just said."
Won't he be angry?
Even though she shouldn't, when Violet asked the horn-dropped one, it was laughing. It doesn't seem to mind. We all decided to call him Horn-dropped. Well, if he hates it, we should stop.
"Does he go back to normal?"
"He says he won't go back anymore. He'll leave the pack, hole up deep in the mountains, and live eating nuts and fruit. He won't participate in battles, and he won't hunt. He'll only use magic to start a campfire. I remembered. I've met one like that before. Somehow several of them were together, sharing the fruit and nuts they gathered with rabbits and squirrels, living peacefully. They were originally Ogres, weren't they?"
Is it okay? Even if they aren't the type to belong to the Demon Lord's army, won't they be attacked and eaten by bears or wolves?
"Ufufu, you're worried. But it's okay. Magic beasts won't attack humanoid monsters unless we pick a fight. Insects are dangerous, but in a normal forest, it's fine as long as you're careful of spiders."
Violet, who hugged me, said.
Now, the rehabilitation plan has become realistic. We just have to make them horn-dropped. If they become herbivorous and live peacefully, that's definitely better.
"Then, should I go catch Ogres together with the Gigant?"
"Basically, that's how it will be."
I wonder how many there will be. Ogres would be about ten percent of a pack at most. Assuming there are about ten thousand monsters in total in northern Nakanohara, if ten percent of the total, it would be a thousand. If they all hole up at once, there might not be a place to live. Winter is coming. A sudden shift to herbivory would be hard. Especially their favorite fruit won't be available in winter.
"Hey, Violet. Can't we make a village by gathering the horn-dropped?"
Beatrix seems to have thought of something. Does she intend to become the landlord of a new village?
"If you gather them in one place, the food will run out immediately."
"We'll trade with them."
"Trade?"
According to Beatrix, we'll have the horn-dropped gather acorns. The Class of 175 will give bread and cheese in exchange. That way, the trade will be established.
"What will you do with the acorns?"
Eleanor-sama asks, but that's simple. It's probably pig feed. It could be for humans too.
"We'll raise pigs in the Flatlands. We'll pick them up before the snow piles up at the end of the year and use them as winter feed. Our farm is, look, fine because we have Serena's acorns, but we can't take those outside."
"Pigs in the Flatlands?"
"That's right. There's a forest where Serena and Little Serena gathered acorn trees, but if we're going to make it a full-scale industry, we apparently need a bit more winter feed."
"How much exchange will it be?"
"That's, um, I won't know unless I ask Lyudmila."
Hmm. The idea isn't bad. If we have Lyudmila plan it, we might have a prospect.
"Wait a moment, please."
While we were all talking about various acorn gathering, Henry-sama cut in.
"I think making a village for horn-dropped Ogres is very fine, but I want to hear Serena and the others' opinions."
Come to think of it, Henry-sama had promised to hear Serena and the others' opinions. He must want to keep it properly.
Riding the medium-sized bowl, we go to Serena's forest. Since there's a clone at the outer edge of the forest, we talked and had her guide us to Serena's tree.
"Horn-dropped?"
"Yeah. Even though he looks like this, he was originally an Ogre."
"Is this an Ogre?"
She's comparing the horn-with-one, who became a bagworm again, and the horn-dropped, who is sitting on a burl chair with everyone drinking cider.
"He's become quite calm. I can't believe he was originally that."
By 'that', she probably means the horn-with-one. She seems to dislike him quite a bit.
"After knocking him out using the method Jeanne mentioned, Violet just added a little force and his hair fell out and his horns fell off, and he became like this."
A little force, huh... Looking at Violet, she's looking out the window together with Eleanor-sama. Really, even if they are old acquaintances, there's no need to coordinate that much.
"Then, are you going to make all Ogres horn-dropped?"
"That's the problem."
When Henry-sama winked, Beatrix talked about the horn-dropped village.
"Does telling me that story mean you want me to gather acorn trees?"
"No, I haven't thought that far. I intend to leave the village to Violet and the Gigant."
"Then, it's better to hear the Gigant's story too. Let's have a discussion including that horn-dropped. It would be better to hear Sister's and Alex's thoughts too."
"I'm grateful you say that."
The first hurdle is cleared. After that, let's consult with everyone, including the Gigant, the spirits, and Lyudmila.
So, we return to Nakanohara to have a banquet... I mean, a discussion. Since the Gigant is participating, the place was the north shore of Nakanohara Lake. Goblins and Alraunes also participated. Marcelo-san, Angelica-san, and Paul-san also came. Dune, of course, and Mel were also called.
The conclusion was that it might be difficult. What I envisioned was starting from a small village of about twenty. After all, we have to make them survive the winter safely.
According to Lyudmila and Flora's estimation, if the feed given in winter is centered on acorns, for the growth of one pig, nearly twenty bags of acorns are needed per year.
"For one?"
It's not just Beatrix who is surprised. Except for Lyudmila, Flora, and the horn-dropped, everyone is surprised.
"Yeah. So, acorns alone are no good. We have to feed them oats, grass bulbs, and various other things to make it in time. If snow is piled up, we can't graze them either, so we have to sell them by the end of the year."
Hmm. No wonder the pigs on our farm don't increase. Recently, we've been buying seven or eight piglets in spring and making them into large pigs by the end of the year to sell. There are quite a few acorn trees besides Serena's sawtooth oak and the oak for transport, but we really can't increase them any more. Cherries for the honeybees and rowan for jam are also necessary. A forest dedicated to pigs is needed separately.
"For example, how many pigs are needed for one horn-dropped to survive the winter?"
At Eleanor-sama's question, Lyudmila and Flora begin to consult. Midway through, Wilson-san also joined and began writing various numbers on the ground. Eventually, Serena and Renata were called. Next, Violet and the Gigant were called. Finally, even Marcelo-san, Robinson-san, the Goblins including the Elder, and the Alraunes were called, and they moved away from everyone to form a circle and began talking about something.
"Hey, the scale has become quite large, but can you tell by calculating?"
It's Alex. Even the great earth spirit of the mine has probably never managed a village.
"Estimation is necessary. Of course, there's no such thing as being able to do exactly as calculated. Even so, if there are no concrete guidelines, it's better not to move the group. Probably, Wilson is hearing everyone's stories to produce estimated values and, based on that, thinking about the management method of the horn-dropped village."
"I see."
For Alex, Eleanor-sama is the employer, including the mine. Seeing as he backed down easily, he must recognize her skill.
They were saying this and that, but it seems the estimation is finished. They broke the circle and came back.
"From the Ogre's body weight, we assumed that food costs twice as much as a normal adult male are necessary, and calculated based on the premise of how much wheat is needed for the four months from December to March. The price is this year's average price."
Wilson-san's explanation began. We all formed a circle and listened with a "hun-hun".
According to the calculation, during winter, an Ogre needs two bags of wheat, which is two gold coins. The selling price of a large pig is also two gold coins. In other words, one pig is needed to survive one winter. Therefore, twenty bags of sufficiently large acorns are necessary.
"For that, from October to mid-December when acorns fall, an Ogre must pick up more than two thousand five hundred acorns a day."
Sighs of "doyo-doyo" occur.
Impossible. I couldn't even pick up a hundred a day.
"However, if there are about five hundred mature oak trees, it's possible if you graze them. Suppose there are a thousand Ogres in the entire northern Nakanohara. Since a thousand pigs are also needed, five hundred thousand oak trees are necessary. In that case, the required area would be equivalent to fifty fields. However, that's if the only tall trees are oaks and they are densely planted. In reality, it would be many times, no, many tens of times that area."
That's not even a forest anymore. It's not even an estimation. It's faster to say it's impossible.
Naturally, there are no forests of only oak trees in the primeval forest. Actually, the northern edge of the Flatlands and the eastern forest where Serena chose trees and moved them would have a much higher acorn density. But in terms of numbers alone, there are more than enough oak trees in the area between the mountain stream and the mountains to the north, which Violet and the Gigant frequently patrol. But there are magic beasts like bears and wolves. Packs of Orcs might attack from across the mountains. Raising pigs is not easy. Eventually, if a vast area where monsters and spirits can coexist and co-prosper is created between the north side of the mountain stream and the mountains, centered on Violet and the Gigant, it might become possible to live with the horn-dropped Ogres and trade with humans while raising pigs.
Neither Henry-sama nor Eleanor-sama could immediately answer the grand content Wilson-san summarized. As a result, it was decided to be considered as one of the future goals.
The Ogre who remained a bagworm also became horn-dropped. He continued to fire fire balls toward the lake, and after he fainted, when Violet pushed his back on the beach, he became horn-dropped. I think it's a bit much to plunge his face into the ground every time, but it can't be helped. There are now two calm ones, and the Gigant decided to take care of them.