Ugh, this is killing my motivation.
Why on earth do I have to be the one to go ogre-slaying?
Are they saying that a waste of space who can't even properly fulfill the hero-training mission bestowed by that person deserves nothing more than ogre extermination? Is that what they're trying to tell me?
Just thinking about it makes my blood boil.
Those religious fanatics from the Divine Word Sect.
I told them I'd raise the strongest Hero, and they ripped the boy right out of my hands!
And the Empire — don't even get me started on the Empire.
Why do they just roll over and do whatever the Divine Word Sect says?
They should stand their ground. They're a great nation, for heaven's sake.
Well, the current Sword Emperor is nothing but a mediocrity who inherited the title. No surprise there.
Which is probably why he's pinning all his hopes on his young son.
Word has it the prince, born a few years ago, is being hailed as a genius from birth.
Even a mediocre father carries the blood of kings, I suppose.
None of that concerns me, though — I've been banished to the hinterlands.
But of all places, they had to send me to Dazarao Fortress, right on the border with Demon race territory.
Given my past achievements and ability, I'd expected a somewhat lighter assignment.
So that business about "protecting the Hero" must have ruffled more feathers than I thought. Did the Divine Word Sect pull strings behind the scenes?
"Lord Ronant! There it is! That's the forest where the ogres nest!"
The knight shouting obnoxiously at my side drained what little motivation I had left even further.
"I can see it without you yelling."
"Oh, is that so!"
Unnecessarily loud. My ears hurt.
The source of this din was Nyodozu, an imperial knight.
Unnecessarily boisterous, unnecessarily noisy, unnecessarily strong.
An eccentric of pure, concentrated pointlessness.
He was close to my age, but our postings had never overlapped before — until I got shipped out to this godforsaken border, and now here we are together.
Nyodozu was a commoner-born knight who'd risen through the ranks and had been stationed out here for ages. I, on the other hand, had spent most of my career in the capital and only crossed paths with him every few years at most. Yet thanks to his utterly excessive presence, I remembered his face better than people I met constantly. What a waste of memory.
"With your magic and my swordsmanship combined, we'll be absolutely invincible! No foul ogre could possibly defeat us! Let us march!"
He raised his sword dramatically overhead and was about to charge forward.
Really. Stop wasting my time.
"Hold. The ogres here are apparently a special breed. Charging in blindly will only result in heavy casualties among the troops."
"Indeed! Lord Ronant speaks the truth! How could I have forgotten such a thing!"
You didn't "forget" — you never thought about it in the first place.
"Anyway, Apprentice Number Two. You did actually go and gather information on the ogres, right?"
"Sure did. But hey, Master — we went to the guild together, so why was I the only one who actually listened to the briefing? I should get about an hour of payback for that, don't you think?"
"Denied."
Even my second apprentice was wasting my time.
If I had time to listen to ogre intel, I'd rather spend it getting one step closer to the essence of the arcane arts.
"Ugh. Fine. So, you guys probably didn't listen, but this ogre apparently has multiple special Skills and is pretty smart. The confirmed special Skills are: sudden full recovery — heals not just wounds but magic and stamina too. Then there's a temporary explosive Status boost. The duration is short, but when combined with that recovery, it gets nasty. And lastly — this is the big one — there's a strong chance it has a Skill that creates demonic swords."
"Demonic swords!?"
"I've never heard of such a Skill, no."
"First time I've heard of it too. It's still in the realm of speculation, basically unconfirmed intelligence. But it's supposedly been confirmed that the ogre possesses multiple demonic swords."
"An ogre wielding demonic swords! This calls for a duel with my beloved blade!"
"Don't get some weird competitive streak going. Do we know what abilities these demonic swords have?"
"The ones we know about are a lightning sword, a fire sword, and apparently one that you bury in the ground and it explodes."
"Bury it in the ground?"
"Yeah, apparently it's planted underground, and when something steps on it, it detonates. That's how most of the adventurers got taken out."
Fascinating.
Had there ever been a fool who used demonic swords that way before?
Demonic swords were difficult to manufacture and exceedingly rare.
And you're telling me they use them as... landmines?
Impossible.
The cost-to-result ratio would be terrible — one sword per adventurer killed. Absolutely not worth it.
And yet they do it without batting an eye.
If that isn't fascinating, I don't know what is.
"My interest is piqued."
Motivation's back.
"The buried demonic swords apparently detonate when enough force is applied to the ground.
"Would it be practical to hammer the ground with wind magic from above?"
"With your ridiculous mana pool, couldn't you do it?"
"Don't be ridiculous. You do it, girl."
"Wha— ME!?"
The girl was the youngest daughter of a minor noble family. She had talent, but her laziness and foul mouth had left her without prospects until I picked her up.
I'd failed that person's command to raise a Hero, so I thought I'd at least take on a disciple and gain the experience of nurturing someone.
In the end, I learned a great deal.
Teaching and guiding others was far harder than I'd imagined.
I was, in my own way, a man who'd been called a genius.
What I discovered through teaching was that even things I did without thinking were often beyond my disciples' comprehension.
And I couldn't understand why they couldn't understand.
That happened so many times that, while searching for answers, I sometimes arrived at entirely new perspectives.
Through that process, I found myself learning alongside my disciples.
That person had surely foreseen all this when they told me to raise a Hero.
Truly admirable, as expected.
"There's no way! No way, no way!"
"Girl! Deciding you can't do it before you even try is a terrible habit! That's how things that should be possible become impossible!"
"Just give it a shot. If you fail, all that happens is I laugh my head off at you. That's it."
"Master, you're the worst!"
"I think you mean the best.
Now then — a hundred imperial knights under my and Nyodozu's command.
How will the ogre fight?
This should be worth watching.