The Prince from Another World Wants to Save the World

Chapter 23: The Hunt and Negotiation (3)

Four days by carriage northwest from Yotun Bay, a vast mountain range rises to block the path.

This is the Zairut Mountain Range.

It forms the natural western border of the empire, and though it is officially claimed by the empire, for thousands of years it has been recognized as the territory of the ogres who dominate the mountains.

Most ogres reject interaction with humans. They refuse to descend from the mountains, and equally, they don’t allow humans to ascend them.

The only exception is the Mar tribe.

They mine silver and trade it with humans, in exchange for food and other essentials, under a mutual non-aggression pact.

But a few years ago, the Mar ogres suddenly broke the pact and seized an imperial village in a violent uprising.

“I can’t wait any longer!”

In the middle of the occupied village, the Mar chieftain, known as Three-Eyes, swung his massive club through the air.

“At this rate, our tribe will perish! Three-Eyes must protect the tribe! The women’s time is running out! If we miss this chance, we lose everything!”

“No! A chieftain must be patient!”

Behind him, one of the tribe’s elders, Six-Fingers, grabbed Three-Eyes by the back, trying to restrain him.

“If we invade the empire now, we’ll all be killed! Humans may be small and weak, but those in armor are strong! They outnumber us by hundreds, even thousands! And they have mages!”

“Stop ranting about mages you’ve never seen! And this is imperial land now! We’ve held this village for over a year, and the empire has done nothing!”

Three-Eyes grabbed the elder with one hand and tossed him aside.

Boom!

A large house was demolished in an instant, but the elder climbed out of the wreckage unharmed, standing once more in front of the chieftain.

“There are only ten of us here! If you want a real war, bring more warriors!”

“If we bring more, the other tribes might attack us! If that happens, we’re finished! We have to do this on our own!”

“That’s why we can’t fight! Mar made a pact with the empire!”

“It was the empire that broke the pact first!”

“You’re right. It was the empire’s fault. I apologize for that.”

I revealed myself, stepping out from where I had been hiding in the middle of the village, bowing my head. Instantly, Three-Eyes glared at me with all three of his eyes wide open, shouting.

“Who are you? Human! Where did you come from?”

“I’ve been hiding here for a while. You see, I’m pretty small, so it wasn’t hard to sneak in without being noticed…”

“Catch him! Grab that human!”

Two ogres nearby rushed toward me. I lifted them into the air with Reverse Gravity and then released the spell.

Thud!

They crashed to the ground, kicking up dust as they rolled around. Then, they got up, looking around with confused faces.

“Huh? Huh? What just happened? Did I fly?”

“…”

“Was that you, human? That was fun! Do it again! Quickly!”

Judging by their expressions, they had completely forgotten they were trying to catch me. These fools… but that’s part of their charm, I suppose.

“Calm down. If the negotiations go well, I’ll let you fly again.”

“Really?! Then you have to do it twice more for me!”

“I want three times! I want to fly three times!”

As you can see, an ogre warrior’s body is as strong as steel.

Despite looking like lumps of clay hastily mashed together, their durability and strength are beyond what any human could ever hope to surpass.

Of course, if I really wanted to kill them, I could use elemental magic. But that’s not why I’m here, so I’ll have to restrain myself.

“Anyway, relax and listen. I’m Claude, a prince of the Faywood Empire.”

“A prince? So you’re the emperor’s son?”

Three-Eyes pushed his subordinates aside and stepped forward. Good heavens, he’s huge. When he stood in front of me, he blocked out the sun, casting everything into shadow.

“Huh? But you…”

The giant, who was about 4 meters tall, crouched down, trying to meet me at eye level, though even then, he couldn’t quite match my height. He tilted his body awkwardly to the side.

“You’re really small. Humans are small, but you’re especially small.”

Tell me about it. It’s been a month since I started drinking that horrible growth potion, and still, no change in height.

“Yeah, I’m not happy about it either. Anyway, I’m here as a representative of the empire to negotiate, so let’s not fight.”

“A representative of the empire! Why did you come so late? We’ve been holding this village for over a year to warn the empire! The empire broke the pact, and we’re desperate!”

“Sorry about that. We’ve had our own problems.”

“Problems? What kind of problems?”

“First, a communication problem. The Mar ogres and the empire had a pact: silver for meat, plus mutual non-aggression, right?”

“Yes. My grandfather’s grandfather made that pact.”

“Well, the empire placed more importance on the ‘mutual non-aggression’ part, and saw the silver-for-meat deal as secondary. But for you, the meat was the critical part.”

This was the root cause of all the current issues. Three-Eyes frowned, clearly struggling to understand.

“Is that true? We thought the opposite. If the trade continued, peace was guaranteed.”

“Exactly. And for ogres, meat is essential.”

This might make them sound like meat-obsessed fanatics, which, to be fair, they are… but there’s a deeper survival issue at play.

“Right now, your women are in their fertile period, right? Ogres can only conceive once every ten years, and even then, only one or two times in their entire lives.”

“Gasp! That’s a secret! How do you know that?!”

“I told you, I’ve been hiding here for a long time. I overheard all your conversations.”

Of course, that’s a lie.

In reality, I’d only arrived five minutes ago. But from their perspective, it made sense to assume I’d been eavesdropping for a while.

Three-Eyes narrowed his eyes, his lips twitching.

“Eavesdropping isn’t good. But we didn’t catch you, so it’s partly our fault. We’ll let it go this time, but don’t spread those secrets around.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t. Anyway, I also know that the ogre women need large amounts of meat to conceive properly. Without enough meat, even if they get pregnant, the chances of miscarriage are high.”

“That’s true. But… Did I mention all of that? I don’t remember…”

Three-Eyes scratched the back of his head, looking confused. Ugh, the smell! I took a step back to escape the overwhelming stench and continued.

“In any case, the empire stopped sending you fish a few years ago, right?”

“Yes! They stopped sending fish! But we’re different from other tribes! We’ve depended on the empire for meat, and that’s why we had to act!”

“Again, I’m sorry. The fish the empire used to send came from Yotun Bay. But a few years ago, sea monsters infested the bay, making fishing impossible. So the supply of fish was cut off.”

That’s how the ‘Sea Serpent Route’ I completed four days ago ties into the current ‘Ogre Rebellion Route.’

Thanks to that, I had to drag my exhausted body here in person. Do you know how hard it is to sleep in a carriage when your body’s already messed up? It feels like my limbs are being torn apart. Ugh.

“Hmm… So you’re saying…”

Three-Eyes blinked slowly for about a minute before responding.

“The empire couldn’t fish because of sea monsters, so they couldn’t give us meat?”

“Exactly. Of course, if the empire had valued the pact more, they could have sent other livestock instead of fish. But, as I said, they only cared about the non-aggression part and didn’t think the meat trade was that important.”

And that’s how this mess started.

From the perspective of Regent Jess, he probably wanted to send knights to crush the Mar ogres for breaking the pact.

But the Mar tribe alone is not to be trifled with. If the conflict escalated, the entire ogre population of the Zairut Mountains could unite and invade imperial territory.

The empire’s land borders are already surrounded by hostile or unfriendly factions. If the balance tips even slightly, it could trigger attacks from other sides.

Though the empire’s military is the strongest, its forces are spread thin due to the sheer length of its borders.

“And your tribe’s breeding season just happened to fall during this time. So you tried to gather wild game from the nearby mountains, right?”

“Uh… yes, that’s right.”

“But there weren’t as many animals as before. After investigating, it turned out that human miners had been recklessly extracting resources from your mountains, which drastically reduced the wildlife population. The Zairut mines release toxic fumes when improperly managed.”

“Yes. Humans can’t handle mines like we can. They couldn’t even find the right veins but still managed to release toxic gases everywhere.”

“So, you got angry and seized the village the humans had built for trade with the ogres. After all, trade had stopped, and the miners were ruining your land.”

“…You’re impressive

.”

Three-Eyes blinked, looking surprised.

“How do you know all of this? Can you read our minds?”

“I told you, I’ve been hiding and listening to everything you said. Now that I understand the situation, let’s resolve this peacefully. I brought some meat with me to help.”

“Thanks, but…”

Three-Eyes sniffed in my direction, wrinkling his nose.

“You’re too small.”

“What?”

“The meat you brought isn’t enough to feed our women.”

“You think I came all this way with just a pocket full of jerky? Wait a little longer. A caravan of wagons is on its way.”

“Wagons?”

“Chieftain! Chieftain! I smell fish! There’s fish!”

Just then, an ogre guarding the village entrance raised his arms and shouted. The convoy of dozens of wagons I had sent from Yotun was finally arriving at the foot of the Zairut Mountains after a four-day journey.

—

That night, Three-Eyes returned from the village with a gleeful expression, arms wide open.

“Thank you, Prince! The meat you brought is excellent! Our women are going crazy over how delicious it is!”

“That’s the meat of the sea monsters that once occupied Yotun Bay. But please, no hugs! I’ll die!”

I barely dodged as Three-Eyes lunged at me, his excitement getting the better of him. Ugh, my body’s in such terrible shape that even simple movements feel like torture.

“Oh, sorry. I was just so excited because there’s enough meat to last us a week!”

Three-Eyes helped me back up, laughing heartily. But the thought of them devouring 30 giant sea serpents in just a week… Do they have a bottomless pit in their stomachs?

“The most important thing is the taste! This sea monster meat is the best we’ve ever had! I’ve never eaten such delicious meat before! I brought a piece just for you to try!”

“I’ve already had enough. You can have it.”

“Really? Then I’ll eat it!”

Three-Eyes happily chomped down on a massive chunk of sea serpent meat tied to his thigh. To the ogres, it was a delicacy, but for humans, it’s too tough and fatty to enjoy.

“Mmm! It’s so chewy and flavorful! Honestly, the small fish we’ve been getting before weren’t that great. They were too small, too salty, and not fresh. But this meat is perfect!”

The reason I brought the priests along for this route was precisely for this.

During the journey, they used Anti-Corruption magic at regular intervals to keep the meat fresh. I have to thank them for that.

But all that effort wasn’t just to please the ogres’ taste buds.

Sea serpent meat has special properties for ogres.

When ogre women consume large amounts of it and conceive, it has a profoundly positive effect on their offspring.

This fact was proven through the two previous regressions where I completed this same route.

Ogres, like Three-Eyes, who have extra eyes or more limbs, are much stronger due to their mutations.

However, such mutations are rare, occurring in only about one in a hundred ogres.

But when ogres eat sea serpent meat, the chances of mutations skyrocket to over 50%!

“Anyway, I’m thrilled today. It’s great that we didn’t have to fight the humans. So, for tonight, I’m lifting the tribe’s restrictions and inviting you, Prince, to our village as a guest!”

Three-Eyes made the declaration with a proud, resolute expression. Phew, I was worried he wouldn’t say it. I nodded calmly, as if I had expected this all along.

“Thanks for the invitation. Mind if I bring two humans with me for protection?”

“Two humans? That’s fine. Come and enjoy our Mar ogres’ honey mead and wild berry wine!”

Three-Eyes laughed heartily as he led the way toward the village. I called out to Meredith and Didi, who were near the wagons, and followed after him.

Everything is going as planned.

But I can’t relax just yet. The most critical moment of this ‘Sea Serpent and Ogre Rebellion Linked Route’ is about to begin.

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