by Okina Baba
She’s useful to have around, but it’s not particularly a problem if she’s not.
That is Oka’s current value to me.
So I thought it would be fine if she died in the process of this teasing, but…
“Oka.” I address the still-trembling girl. “Was that really a reincarnation?”
At my question, she jumps to her feet.
Raising her head, she looks at me with a face still red with tears.
“Erm! That, well… I-it’s just…”
She opens her mouth, but the words that come out are nonsensical.
I suppose she doesn’t know what to say herself.
But amid her stammering, I suspect that some part of her is still trying to cover for that creature.
Shall I summarize her probable thoughts?
That was definitely a reincarnation, but she believes he had a reason for acting that way.
“Oka,” I repeat coldly as she continues to mumble. “Give up. That thing was no longer human.”
Oka freezes up in shock at that.
I’m sure she knows that herself, deep down. She simply does not wish to admit it.
Watching her dazed expression, I let my mind drift back to what happened before.
We led a unit of elves to the abandoned village at the foot of the Mystic Mountains to lie in wait.
It was originally built to help the empire conquer the Mystic Mountains, but for some reason or other, all the villagers died, or so I am told.
Because of that incident, no one ever comes near the empty village.
However, if Ariel and the others are aiming to cross the Mystic Mountains, they would have no choice but to pass through the village.
It sits directly in front of the entrance to the mountain range, after all.
Even if they tried to avoid it, we would be able to figure that out from the abandoned village.
It was the ideal place for an ambush…until that thing showed up.
“GRAAAAH!”
The ogre howled as it ran straight down the road toward the village.
Were it any ordinary ogre, this would not be a problem.
Because Oka was with us, I brought only ordinary elves without any special weapons.
However, they were still skilled fighters specializing in magic.
After all, they were meant to take on Ariel, even if I did not expect them to win.
They were really present only for my peace of mind. They were moderately useful yet ultimately expendable soldiers.
There was no reason they shouldn’t have been able to handle an ogre.
And yet, Oka and I were the only survivors.
Even I would have fallen if I were not in a body that could use Spatial Magic.
I had heard that it defeated some adventurers, so I knew it was no ordinary ogre, but I never expected it to be that exceptional.
I already had my suspicions that the ogre might be a reincarnation.
There was one reincarnation on Oka’s Student Roster who fit the description.
The information contained on the Student Roster is the reincarnation’s place of birth, current condition, and the time and cause of their death.
This one was born in the Mystic Mountains, its condition had been fluctuating wildly these past few days, and its time and cause of death were constantly being revised.
When a reincarnation’s condition fluctuates, that means they are in the midst of a battle.
And each time the time and cause of death are updated, it means they have avoided the possibility of dying in their current battle.
The death information already tends to be vague, and it often doesn’t end up coming true.
But when it changes that frequently, it means the reincarnation in question is repeatedly coming close to death.
Taking all this information into account, I strongly suspected that the ogre in question was a reincarnation.
After all, it was constantly getting into battles near the Mystic Mountains and using decidedly un-ogre-like strategies to defeat adventurers.
I was all but certain, but I decided to prioritize Ariel and company instead.
For even if the ogre was a reincarnation, there would be little point in bringing it to the elf village.
Reincarnations are difficult to keep as pets unless they are powerless.
If this ogre has already defeated multiple adventurers, it would be far too difficult to control.
This is why I chose not to tell Oka that the imperial army was attempting to subjugate the ogre, and I even thought it might be for the best if they succeeded.
Oka was quite concerned about the creature and had talked me into promising that we would search for it after dealing with Ariel.
Either way, I agreed because I assumed that she would no longer be able to worry about the ogre after encountering Ariel, although it has certainly come back to bite me now.
Especially because I have no doubt that Dustin was involved in the matter.
For the ogre to just happen upon us with such impeccable timing is all but unthinkable. No doubt someone was manipulating the ogre behind the scenes.
My guess is that Dustin’s beloved pet project—those covert operatives of his—was responsible for guiding the ogre straight to our location.
I must admit, though they are my enemy, they are infuriatingly competent.
However, since we were able to confirm that the ogre was a reincarnation in the project, I suppose I shall let it pass.
After all, my goal was only to tease Ariel and her little friends.
It was not a particularly constructive plan, nor was its failure a terribly big loss.
When I Appraised that ogre, it unmistakably had the n% I = w skill held only by reincarnations.
The ogre is without a doubt a reincarnation, then.
And one who we certainly cannot control.
If I brought out the Glorias, which I have kept hidden from Oka, then I would undoubtedly be able to defeat it.
However, I have no interest in keeping a mindless beast as a pet.
That thing was no longer human.
Soon, it will forget that it was ever human to begin with.
There would be no advantage in having a thing like that in our village.
“Still, isn’t there anything we can do?” Oka asks, as if in response to my thoughts.
No doubt it was a coincidence, but the timing is so precise that it startles me slightly.
But that doesn’t change my answer.
“No, I think not. As you saw, that thing was not human, and it didn’t appear to hear when you spoke to it. Judging by that rampage, I doubt it even has intelligible thoughts any longer. I know not whether it is because it was reborn as an ogre or for some other reason, but it has completely transformed into nothing more than a mad beast. There is no saving a creature like that.”
Not that I was interested in saving it anyway.
“But still! There has to be a way!”
“There is not. Even if there was, I have no intention of capturing that monster. It would be a waste of time and resources.”
Oka’s tear-streaked face turns dumbfounded at my bluntness.
“Besides, would you truly defend it after what you saw it do to our people?”
Personally, the loss of a few expendables matters not to me, but Oka is far more softhearted.
If I point out that she is continuing to be selfish after all those losses, it will no doubt be effective.
Besides, unlike me, Oka sees those expendables as individuals with value.
During the expedition, she spoke with every one of them, even forming a sort of friendship.
It seems that in most of society, it is the norm to mourn the death of someone you knew.
Attempting to capture that ogre would mean incurring just as many losses, perhaps even more.
Since she sees each expendable pawn as a person, that would be a difficult call for Oka to make.
Sure enough, Oka
closes her mouth and hangs her head again.
Turning my back to the silent girl, I begin to walk away.
This strategy was a complete failure.
And if Ariel’s group makes it into the Mystic Mountains, they are undoubtedly heading for the demon realm.
I do have some connections there, but it will be much harder to interfere with them than it was before.
So I have no choice but to call off my harassment attempts for now.
In which case, it is best to start taking action on other fronts.
Time is valuable, after all.
I cannot afford to waste a single second.
There is much that needs to be done. Where to begin?
“But I… I’m still his teacher…”
I hear Oka’s soft whisper behind me, but I pay her no mind as I walk away.
THE OGRE WORN DOWN
I consume MP to create a new katana.
I need to replace the one that I instinctively threw when the old mage put a hole in my head.
One of Weapon Creation’s greatest strengths is that even if I lose one of my weapons, I can re-create it as long as I have enough time and MP.
Before long, I’m swinging a brand-new sword.
My other hand releases the Appraisal Stone I used to check out my results.
The stone normally hangs around my neck on a string.
This is the same Appraisal Stone that man used in the past, so working it myself makes me sick to my stomach.
But having an Appraisal Stone is useful to examine the abilities of a weapon I’ve made with Weapon Creation, so I have no choice but to carry it around.
My Appraisal confirms that the newly made katana has the same lightning properties as the old one.
In fact, because I used even more MP, it’s actually better than before.
And while the old katana felt a little small in the hands of an Ogre King, this one is a perfect fit.
It’s not that the sword got bigger. It’s my body that got smaller.
After I turned the tables on the group that tried to ambush me in this village, my level went up and I was able to evolve again.
I’d thought that Ogre King was the end of the evolutionary line, so I was surprised to find there was another option.
This evolution is called an oni.
When I evolved into an oni, my body shrank from the giant size of an Ogre King to the size of a regular human.
Though I’m definitely smaller than I was as an Ogre King, I’m still pretty tall and muscular for a human.
I’m also the right size to wear human clothes, so I borrowed some of the clothes I found in this abandoned village.
I would have preferred not to wear clothes that belonged to these people, but the cold was too harsh on my bare skin.
When I gave in and put on clothes, I found that I looked more or less like an ordinary person.
As I was rummaging through the clothes left here, I realized that the uniform worn by most of the villagers was the same as the clothes worn by the soldiers led by that formidable elderly duo.
It must be the official outfit of whatever nation controls this area.
Not that this information makes much of a difference to me.
Whether the wearers of these uniforms were acting on some official duty or not, it wouldn’t change my actions.
Not in the past and most likely not in the future, either.
Even if I could go back in time, I would probably repeat the same events that happened in this village.
Not that there’s any point in a hypothetical like that.
At any rate, I’m now an oni, not a goblin.
But there was something even more surprising about my transformation than the change in size.
I glance again at my face reflected in the katana I just made.
I can see the same face I had in my old life.
The only major difference being the two horns growing from my forehead.
I don’t know why I have my old face now, when I never did before.
Maybe there’s no particular reason.
But when I saw that face looking back at me, I fell into a daze.
…What have I been doing?
Fighting, killing, then fighting and killing some more…
It’s not as though my actions in my old life were always completely righteous.
I might have thought they were at the time, but in reality, I often solved my problems with violence.
Still, a far cry from my current life of bloodthirsty killing.
Things didn’t always go my way, but I never found myself in a kill-or-be-killed situation.
When I saw my old face reflected back at me, it made me painfully aware of that difference.
“Sasajima!”
Or maybe it was hearing my old name that reminded me.
There was one tiny girl among the group that was lying in wait for me in this village.
And she called out my name.
From my old world.
But I must have just misheard her amid the chaos of the battle.
An unfamiliar girl wouldn’t know that name, and even if she did for some reason, she would have no way of recognizing who I was when I was in ogre form.
But even if I did mishear it, the sound of my old name has brought back memories of my old life and sent me spiraling into depression.
At the same time, half of my consciousness is perpetually consumed by a smoldering rage.
Even now, my rational thoughts are tainted by violent impulses.
Now that I’ve wiped out all the enemies who were in front of me, my body is obeying my orders, at least.
I guess it’s calmed down now that there are no immediate enemies.
The black-clad figure who lured me here was probably among the group I defeated.
To be honest, I was only half-aware of myself while I was in battle, so I don’t entirely remember who I killed or how.
That girl who called out my name might have even been a hallucination.
As long as my sense of reason was still at least somewhat functional, I’m sure I would have hesitated to cut down such a small child.
Unfortunately, I lose all sense of reason in battle, so I doubt I was able to hold back.
If the same thing was to happen in my current, calm state, would I be able to respond properly?
…I don’t know.
If a battle broke out, my sense of reason would probably burn away, and even in my right mind, I might still cut that little girl down for all I know.
I should find that frightening, but there’s a part of me that doesn’t care.
I’m not as reluctant to kill people as I used to be.
In fact, part of me even derives a dark pleasure from it.
The swirling rage within me wants me to kill.
Yet, the more I kill, the more the rage deepens and the more violently it burns.
If I keep on fighting, keep on killing, then soon I’ll be fully consumed by rage.
Of that I have no doubt.
Unless I die before then, that is.
There are humans out there who are stronger than me, like that old mage who almost killed me.
I’m sure the time will eventually come that one of them kills me.
Will I lose my mind to madness and rage?
Or will I be killed before that happens?
Neither option is a particularly good way to go.
If I want to avoid being killed, I have to come up with more counterstrategies or simply get stronger.
I list some vocabulary words in my head.
Instantaneous movement. Teleport. Warp. Spatial Magic.
There it is!
This must be the teleporting skill that old mage was using.
Absorbing the enemy’s tactics is undoubtedly one of the fastest ways to g
et stronger.
If I find it difficult to deal with, I’m sure my enemies will find it difficult as well.
I acquire the Spatial Magic skill without hesitation.
It costs more skill points than anything I’ve picked up before, but I think that proves just how valuable this skill must be.
Still, it seems this Spatial Magic skill won’t be very useful until its skill level is higher.
I could put some of my remaining skill points into it to raise the skill level, but it might be better to save those and train it normally.
Raising my skill level a little bit probably won’t be enough to let me use Teleport like that old mage.
Just then, a thought occurs to me.
Do I really need to fight at all?
…No, I don’t.
The person I needed to fight, to kill, is already dead.
The only times I’ve kept fighting were when those adventurers attacked me or when I let my rage take over and went on a rampage.
There’s no reason whatsoever for me to deliberately go looking for a fight.
If I didn’t even realize something so simple, my tunnel vision must have gotten worse than I realized.
Although it’s probably because my rage makes it difficult to make rational decisions.
If I keep fighting like this, I’ll either be killed or lose my mind.
Then why do I need to fight at all?
Fortunately, through all the battles I’ve had so far, I’ve become relatively strong.
I’m sure I could seclude myself in the mountains and live by hunting and eating the monsters there.
That’s how the goblins lived in my hometown, so there’s no reason I can’t do the same.
Oh, I know. That’s it.
I’ll go back to the goblin village.
There’s no one left there anymore, but it’s the only place I can go home to.
I’m sure no humans will bother me there.
Why don’t I just go back to that village and live in peace?
This seems like the most natural course of action. Why did I never realize it before?
No, I’m sure I had already realized it somewhere deep down.
I just wanted to go somewhere I could expend all this rage.
Or maybe I was hoping to avoid my inevitable return to that village as long as I could.
I was so sure that I no longer had the right to call myself a goblin. I even used the Naming skill to change my name.
