The Ultimate Sage Who Faked Incompetence and Was Disinherited Just Wants to Enjoy His New Life! - Episode 45: Geper Village

Episode 45: Geper Village 

The next morning. After eating some bread and soup for breakfast, we headed toward Geper Village. According to what the village chief told us yesterday, the village houses were likely burned down. 

The attackers were large monsters with horns on their heads. These creatures showed no fear of fire and charged at the villagers regardless. 

Most living creatures, including monsters, tend to avoid fire. The villagers had tried to drive them away with flames. But instead, it only seemed to enrage the monsters. Those things then set the buildings ablaze. No one knew what had become of the farmland surrounding the village either. 

“This is a crisis. If we can’t get eggs, that means no pudding.” 

“Forget pudding—fresh meat might stop reaching the royal capital, and prices could skyrocket. Horned monsters………. Could they be Ogres?” 

“That’s highly likely.” 

Ogres are far stronger than Goblins. Even an ordinary Ogre is said to be stronger than a Goblin General. That alone makes them a serious threat. If their superior species were present as well, things would be even more dire. 

Flying would make us too conspicuous. So we traveled on foot to avoid drawing attention from any monsters. There were no signs of monsters along the way. 

As we moved forward, we spotted what appeared to be the village’s perimeter fence. It had been utterly destroyed, with some parts scorched black. 

“This is worse than I expected.” 

“Rebuilding the village in the same place might not be possible.” 

Lilia was usually cheerful and energetic. Even she fell silent in the face of this devastation. As far as the eye could see, the houses bore the marks of fire. The buildings were destroyed. And broken furniture and daily necessities were scattered everywhere. 

“It looks like there aren’t any monsters nearby. Where did they all go?” 

“Did they return to the mountains? Either way, we should investigate the village thoroughly first.” 

“Agreed.” 

There were signs of struggle throughout the village, but no corpses. The Platinum Rank adventurers who arrived before us had likely taken care of them. 

I wanted to confirm their whereabouts as well. But it seemed they weren’t here anymore. 

“No survivors. Nothing to clean up.” 

Lilia concluded. Even her Analyze spell found no signs of life. Naturally, mine detected nothing either. 

“Let’s check out the farmland and ranch. If the monsters targeted livestock, that might explain what happened.” 

“That seems like the most likely case. The villagers were just collateral damage.” 

“But for collateral damage, this level of destruction is excessive.” 

An entire village wiped out. Once again, I was reminded of the terror monsters could bring. Without proper countermeasures, things could end up like this. 

We made our way toward the farmland and ranch. We followed the directions given by the village chief. From what we could see, the farmland seemed to be intact. 

“The farmland looks fine. But the ranch…” 

“I don’t sense any living creatures.” 

Did they all escape, or were they eaten by the monsters? Either way, we might find some clues. With that in mind, we headed toward one of the cowsheds. 

Inside, all that remained were scraps and ruins. Judging by the size of the cowshed, around thirty cattle had likely been kept here. 

“Look at these footprints. Given their size, it’s definitely Ogres. And over here—these prints are even bigger. That means there must be a superior species among them.” 

“A superior Ogre species… Could we be dealing with an Ogre General? Or maybe an Ogre King?” 

“Possibly. Ogres move in packs, which makes them especially dangerous.” 

Lilia really knew her stuff. She had lived for a long time—though I never asked exactly how long. I knew she had existed for an eternity. 

“There are also human footprints. They’re fresh. Those adventurers must have been here too.” 

“Then maybe they followed the Ogres’ tracks?” 

We traced the tracks. They led into a nearby forest. 

Instead of heading back toward the mountains where they supposedly came from, the Ogres had gone in another direction. That meant something must have happened in those mountains.

“Alright, let’s follow these footprints too. The fight might already be over. But if we head straight for the mountains and get caught in a pincer attack by the Ogres, that could be a real problem.” 

“You’re right. It’s best to eliminate the risk of being attacked from behind. Let’s go.” 

We headed into the forest where the Ogres had supposedly gone. Their footprints stretched deep into the woods. Suddenly, my Analyze picked up something—an Ogre’s presence. Beyond that, I detected three human presences as well. 

“They seem to be surrounded.” 

“Looks like it. And it seems they don’t have a mage with them., so they’re lacking firepower. If this drags on, they might run out of stamina.” 

“In that case, it might seem like we’re meddling. But should we step in?” 

“Yes. Just act like you’re ‘practicing magic’ or something.” 

“………….That excuse is pretty weak.” 

Despite the lighthearted exchange with Lilia, we closed in on the Ogres. Ogres were a troublesome foe. They possessed both high physical and magical resistance. But I had a way to break through that. 

I just had to use stronger magic. 

“Flame Arrow!” 

I cast Flame Arrow, an advanced version of Fire Arrow. 

I had considered using the ultimate-tier Flare Arrow. But it seemed like overkill. Plus, after that time I used Flare Burst on the magic ship and got scolded by Lilia, I figured I’d better be more careful. Next time, I might not get away with just sitting in seiza as punishment. 

The Ogres struck by Flame Arrow turned into particles of light one after another. Looks like this level of magic was effective enough. 

“Fel, the trees around us are catching fire! Water Mist!” 

Lilia quickly cast Water Mist to douse the flames. I had aimed carefully to avoid hitting the trees. But the heat from Flame Arrow must have set them ablaze. That was close. 

Maybe I should use a different spell? But earth magic leaves behind rocks, which can get in the way. Surprisingly, earth magic isn’t very convenient for offensive attacks. 

“Lilia, can you keep using Water Mist? I’m going to stick with Flame Arrow.” 

“That’s fine, but make sure we switch roles sometimes, alright?” 

“Got it.” 

Looks like Lilia wasn’t satisfied with just putting out fires. She probably wanted to do more in battle. Taking turns, we continued pressing forward. By now, we had probably taken down more than thirty Ogres. 

Eventually, we arrived at a small clearing. There, we saw the three people I had detected earlier. 

Around them was a donut-shaped open space. It seemed that any Ogre that stepped into that area was being reduced to particles of light. Scattered within the area were numerous magic stones. 

As we broke through one part of the encirclement, some of the surrounding Ogres became visibly shaken. Their coordination was falling apart. This was our chance. 

“Lilia, let’s take them all out at once. We can put out the fires afterward.” 

“Understood. Flame Arrow!” 

“Flame Arrow!” 

Now that we had a bit more space, we unleashed a barrage of Flame Arrows. The merciless flames rapidly increased the surrounding temperature. 

“Hot! Water Mist!” 

“We’re gonna get roasted! Water Mist!” 

Panicked, we scrambled to put out the flames and lower the temperature. 

“…What the hell are those two doing?” 

“They look like they’re having way too much fun.” 

“Wait… those two… could it be?” 

“You know them, Ardan!?” 

Even though the area around them must have been quite hot, those three adventurers seemed relatively composed. As expected of Platinum Rank adventurers. 

Just then, a loud roar echoed from deep within the forest. From my Analyze’s reaction, an immensely powerful monster was approaching.