“GUHYAAA!”

“GAAARHLG!”

Today, I learned how to swear in ogre speech.

…

No, seriously.

What’s up with this?

We found our target.

A blue ogre about eight meters in height, grasping a tree in his massive hand.

But, he’s not the only monster around here.

Standing opposite of him is a slightly smaller, green ogre, holding a much more refined wooden club, still tree-sized.

And next to him, there’s a handful of small green henchmen baring their teeth at the blue ogre.

Unlike the goblins Ignis wiped out earlier, these are armed with more than just sticks.

Swords, bucklers, helmets and even crossbows.

This could get very dangerous.

“GAAAAAARHHH!”

When I look closer, there are scars and scratches all over the blue ogre’s body.

I think it’s safe to assume he wiped out those goblins we saw earlier and now is about to fight their buddies.

“We should wait till they exhaust each other and then jump in.”

Ignis whispers a suggestion to me.

And I agree with it.

We might be relatively safe this far hiding behind bushes, but if we were to charge in right now, there would be too many opponents to take care of.

They might even join forces against us.

And so, we watched.

…

Or that’s what we intended to do.

But both of the ogres kept shouting at each other without making any moves.

What are you?

Politicians?

Start fighting already!

They kept on growling, which only drained my patience.

But it seems like I wasn't the only victim of that.

Not being able to take it anymore, one of the goblins fired his crossbow at the blue ogre’s head.

And that’s when I found out that ogre’s skin is really tough.

The arrow buried itself into his cheek, but no blood came out.

Instead, the beast roared as it pulled the arrow out and snapped it in two.

Surprisingly, the green ogre also got mad at the goblin who fired.

Did he want to resolve it peacefully?

I didn’t know ogres had enough intelligence for that…

Either way, the fight finally started.

One swing with the tree and two goblins were swept away like dust.

The smaller ogre brandished his club and tried to counter attack, but his opponent easily caught his weapon and smacked his side instead.

Oi, what is this?

Why is the blue ogre so much stronger?

Not only is he overwhelming the other ogre, he’s also stomping his minions as if they were nothing.

Is this really a C rank request?

What kind of monsters will I have to face at B rank and higher?!

While these thoughts ran through my head, I failed to notice a goblin flying toward us.

“Gyah?!”

It landed just in front of us and gave Ignis a scare.

Her voice prompted all the monsters to turn and look at us.

…

Uh oh…

“”GUAAAAARGH!””

Hey, weren’t you two fighting to death just a second ago?!

Why are you in a perfect sync now?!

“Cover me!”

I shout out to Ignis as I activate cat soul and jump forward.

“Leave it to me!”

With that, the battle began.

I zigzagged between the goblins charging at us while scratching then with my claws.

Right as I got through them, I was met with downward tree smash from the blue ogre.

I sidestepped the impact, but one of the protruding branches scratched my knee.

That made me realize why he isn’t using a smooth club like the other guy.

Before I had the chance to get close to him and attack, the green ogre came with his club and swung it down.

This one, not having any branches, I avoided with ease.

And to follow up on that I did something I have only seen in movies up till now.

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I jumped on top of the club and ran up his arm!

“GRRRAAAARH!”

He tried to pluck me off of him with his other hand, but I was too quick for him.

Dashing forward, I flew by and scratched his neck with my claws.

“Sun strike!”

As soon as I left the ogre’s proximity, a fireball hit his stomach and he stumbled backwards.

Looking back, it seems that Ignis took care of the goblins and was ready to provide support fire.

While I played with these two fellas, the goblins swarmed her.

But even if they possess better weapons and some wooden shields, it made no difference.

I could only see goblin-shaped black piles of ash with smoke rising from them.

However, that was only the goblins with swords.

With the melee squad out of the way, the crossbow goblins already had Ignis in their sights.

Naturally, I didn’t let that happen.

Before they could do anything, I ran through their group while slashing at them.

I naively thought the poison would quickly finish them and thus didn’t bother to aim for their vital spots.

And that was when I saw three arrows fly toward Ignis.

She dodged the first two, but the third one hit her and buried itself in her shoulder.

“ARGH!”

Crap!

I messed up!

And the blue ogre is running at her now!

I need to help her!

I ran straight for her, but something big and green blocked my way.

Even with his belly dyed black from the fire spell, the green ogre roared as he stood in front of me.

The wound I gave him didn’t even bleed.

Ogres really do have thick skin, don’t they?

My poison probably didn’t even enter his bloodstream.

He held up his club for a sideways swipe.

If I try to run past him, I will get hit.

If I run around, I won’t make it in time.

There’s only one option now.

I ran at him and just before he swung his weapon, I jumped over it.

Naturally, he was too tall for me to jump over his entire body like that.

That’s why, I used one of the tricks I practiced back in Buanna before taking on the werewolf.

Double jump.

I did a sweet somersault right above his head and landed behind him.

I spotted Ignis, fending off the blue beast with her fire spells, but to no avail.

Her legs were too small and slow compared to the ogre, she couldn’t run from him.

Right before she got hit byt the tree, I caught her in my arms and leapt out of the way.

A loud sound echoed behind us.

“Are you okay?!”

I gained some distance as I carried Ignis.

The arrow in her shoulder looked painful.

But better than if it hit her knee…

She wouldn’t be able to move at all then.

“I’m not! It hurts!”

Hey, I know I said it must be painful, but shouldn’t you be used to pain?

You are a C rank adventurer!

“Okay… let’s hide for now.”

Hearing angry growls behind me, I picked up my pace.

Once we got far enough from them, I laid her against a rock and pulled out a bandage out of my item bag.

I have no idea how to treat a wound like this…

Don’t I need to disinfect it or something?

No, wait.

I’m pretty sure illnesses shouldn’t exist in this world.

That’s how I set it up.

But if Kat changed that as well…

“H-hurry up…!”

Alright then…

I’ll risk it.

Worst case scenario, we’ll pay for a healer!

“GYAAAAH!!!”

I pulled out the arrow in one go.

Blood spurted out of the wound and I hurriedly bandaged it up.

Then, I pulled out a healing potion out of my bag and let Ignis drink from it.

Well, I say healing potion, but it’s not like it instantly heals wounds.

It just speeds up natural regeneration and helps recover blood.

It’s not as convenient as making you regrow limbs after a single gulp.

“… should I carry you to the village and take care of the rest?”

Thinking about it, I might have been better off going solo.

Thanks to my speed, I can dodge most attacks.

And even if I get hit, I will regenerate almost instantly.

The scratch wound on my knee is completely gone already.

“No! It’s fine! I’ll go with you!”

Holding her bandaged shoulder, she insists on coming.

Well…

I don’t know…

You would need someone in the vanguard to hide behind if you can’t dodge or defend against projectiles…

And I’m not really good for that.

I dodge them myself.

I don’t block them.

…

Actually, how in the world did you reach rank C solo?

“Please… I swear I won’t drag you down…”

So she realized she’s dragging me down, huh?

Well…

I don’t want her to die.

Just like with Kuro, I will have to say…

“No.”

…

“I… have a way to immobilize those ogres. If I can use that, it will be easier for you.”

Really, now…?

Why didn’t you use it sooner then?

“I need to get close to them to use it, so…”

…

I don’t like this.

What you are basically saying is…

You want me to carry you and get us near them.

And while, yes, these ogres are really troublesome for me because of their thick skin…

This sounds really dangerous.

“What exactly is this ‘way’ you have…?”

“I just need to… touch them. On the neck, if possible.”

Just a touch?

That seems…

Too convenient.

Just what kind of ability are you hiding?

“What exactly does it do?”

I need to confirm it.

“Well, basically…”