“What are they doing so late at night? They’re supposed to set out tomorrow, right?”

“It appears His Majesty’s wizard has told him that she could move the undead.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes. But she required His Majesty’s participation in the magic ceremony. So that’s why they’re here at this time.”

Oooh…

The gazes of the nobles were filled with curiosity, expectations, and anxiety as they stared at the carriage from afar. They were curious whether it was actually possible to animate the undead with something other than evil black magic or not. They wondered to what degree the undead would move if it were reanimated. Finally, they were anxious at the possibility that the undead might become hostile to the living.

“But His Majesty and the other knights are here, so we should be fine, right?”

“That’s right. There are even beowulf warriors here. It won’t be a problem.”

“Haha. Everyone seems quite worried. Right, it’s not like that ogre is going to eat us.”

Hahaha…!

Everyone laughed at someone’s joke. But unlike their relaxed and bold expressions, the nobles were busily retreating while keeping their upper bodies immobile.

‘I-I’m not joking! What if it suddenly jumps out and starts eating people?’

‘The undead is hostile toward anything living, right? If the King of Maren is actually a member of the Dark Tribe as the rumors have it, then he might have nothing to worry about. But what about us? We could be in some real trouble.’

The nobles maintained their smiles while quietly scurrying to the sides of their escorting knights.

Rattle!

“Oh my!”

“By the gods!”

The carriage located more than ten meters from them suddenly buckled, and the nobles jumped out while shouting. They quickly hid behind their knights and screamed with fear while drawing the holy symbol in the air. The carriage jolted a few more times before suddenly going quiet.

The nobles peeped their heads over the shoulders of their knights and stared.

Suddenly…

Booooom!

The carriage exploded with a thunderous boom.

“Uaaagh!” The nobles scrambled for their lives while the Beowulfs surrounding the carriage immediately erupted with their Fears and prepared for battle. The dark aura obscuring the area subsided; and three figures, large and small, could finally be seen.

“D-did they succeed?”

“His Majesty is safe!”

The nobles expressed relief when they saw Eugene standing proudly in front of the undead twin-headed ogre. A bright crimson light filled the undead’s eyes instead of a lifeless gray.

Booom! Boom! Boom!

The undead twin-headed ogre started following after Eugene’s footsteps, and the faces of the nobles turned pale once again. The fear in their hearts intensified when they saw the monster move. After all, it had been scary enough when it was immobile. Their legs started trembling to the point where it seemed like it was a miracle for them to have remained standing even now.

Eugene spoke to them in a calm voice, “Be at ease, everyone. The ogre will only follow my orders from now on.”

“…!”

Wasn’t that more of a problem? What if he ordered the monster to kill them immediately? Then it would carry out the order, right?

However, the nobles could not voice their true thoughts. They nodded while forcing awkward smiles on their faces.

“C-congratulations, Your Majesty!”

“This couldn’t be a bigger victory for magic and faith!”

“I-i-it truly is the epitome of mercy and faith! It is clear that the three gods are always watching and protecting Your Majesty!”

The nobles hurriedly congratulated Eugene in an extremely respectful tone, making sure to emphasize his ‘faith’. Although it was likely that their worries would never come true, there was no harm in being prepared.

Eugene responded with a faint smile, “Thank you all for your kind words, but my true faith and the faith of this fellow will be proven tomorrow.”

“What…?”

The nobles muttered with confused expressions. Eugene tapped the twin-headed ogre emitting hot breaths from its noses and mouths.

“I’m going to put it to work in rescuing the Holy Empire’s delegation.”

***

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The twin-headed ogre took the lead, and the two griffon siblings followed right behind. The two cubs had considerably grown up and were now the size of a calf. Eugene followed right behind the three alongside Princess Lilisain.

He turned his head and spoke to the princess, “It seems your horse has gotten used to them.”

Horses were the favorite food of the griffons, and horses were always agitated and disturbed by griffons. However, the two griffons only looked and moved forward triumphantly. They neither seemed interested in Silion nor Princess Lilisain’s horse.

Princess Lilisain responded, “Yes. It’s because those children perceive me as their mother.”

“Won’t they target other horses, then?” Eugene asked.

Princess Lilisain answered, “There have been times like that, but they always glance at you before giving up.”

“Really? So, they’re pretty smart,” Eugene said in a disappointed voice while gazing at the back of the two griffons. He had been planning to teach the two griffons a lesson if they ever targeted a horse. 

The two griffons suddenly shuddered, but their gazes weren’t directed toward Eugene.

“Kieeh! If they ever try anything to subordinate number one, I won’t stay still! Underling number one! You just trust in me,” Mirian exclaimed.

Neiiigh!

Silion cried out as if responding to the spirit’s words.

“Hmm.”

Eugene observed the spirit and the steed for a moment before snatching Mirian out of the air.

“I just had a good idea,” he said.

“K-kieh?!”

Eugene continued, “You’re in charge of their education from now on.”

“W-what do you mean by that?” Mirian asked.

“Neither the princess nor I can watch and take care of them forever, right? So, you should take the responsibility for educating them,” Eugene explained.

“K-kiek! S-sir, you can’t do that to me. This statement is directly in contradiction to the providence of nature and—” Mirian retorted.

“A spirit of water going crazy about wealth is not particularly aligned to the providence of nature, is it? But you still exist, right? Take good care of them. If they ever try something, I won’t stand still. You’re my subordinate after all,” Eugene interrupted.

“No, I’m your contracted spirit, not your subordinate… Kieeee!”

Eugene ignored the spirit and threw her toward the griffons.

Half a day later, the group arrived at the entrance to the Cape of Pilo. It was no longer possible to continue with carriages and carts, so the expedition decided to set camp in a suitable location.

“We’ve given instructions to procure suitable ships and crew as soon as possible, so we should see a ship ashore within a few days.”

“Since we do not have many troops, we can use a boat and board the ship.”

“In the meantime, what do you think about taking a rest and devising a plan?”

The three lords gave polite suggestions. After seeing the mobilization of the undead twin-headed ogre, their fear and awe toward Eugene had significantly grown.

“Hmm.” Eugene turned his gaze away from the lords without giving an answer. He then looked over the Cape of Pilo before speaking, “…It’s a fine day.”

“What? Ah, yes. That’s right.” The lords weren’t sure why Eugene was suddenly talking about the weather, but they still nodded.

Eugene continued, “On a day like this, the pirate’s island is supposed to be visible from the end of the cape, right?”

“That’s right. On a day like today, it should be visible to the naked eye,” one of the lords answered.

“Yes. I can see it very well. Is it about thirty kilometers from here? There are two small islands and one big island,” Eugene responded.

“…???” The three lords were confused by Eugene’s words. It was getting harder for them to comprehend Eugene’s words.

After looking over the islands of the pirates once more using his heightened vision, Eugene turned toward the three lords and the knights.

“You said that none of you have ever been to the pirates’ base before, right? Because the current is strong and there are too many reefs,” Eugene asked.

“Ah, yes…”

Eugene continued, “Then there must not be much information about their base. You should have no information regarding exactly how many troops they have, what their defenses are like, and the existence and locations of hidden traps on the islands.”

“Yes. We’re ashamed, but that’s right,” one of the lords answered.

“Then, wouldn’t it be better to reconnaissance first?” Eugene asked.

“You are quite right. However… we don’t really have a…” one of the lords muttered. They weren’t idiots. If they could, then they would have done it long ago! The lords inwardly complained while simply gazing at Eugene’s face with awkward expressions.

“Ah, Perhaps…?!” Prince Localope stepped forward while clapping his hands. His eyes were filled with curiosity. 

“Your Majesty, are you planning on using them?” Prince Localope asked while pointing, and everyone’s gazes went over to where he was pointing.

Keeeek! Kieeeeng!

The two griffons were acting cute while showing their bellies in front of Princess Lilisain as if they were some kind of a pet. The eyes of the nobles glimmered when they saw the two creatures.

“Griffons! They have wings, so it might be possible to reconnaissance with them!”

“And they are obedient to the princess! Oohhh!”

The nobles exclaimed.

“Tsk, tsk. Even if none of you have ever seen an intermediate or a high-ranking monster in an evil land before, isn’t this too much? Sirs, how could you be so ignorant about monsters?” Eugene said while clicking his tongue.

“What…?”

Eugene explained, “Griffons are not capable of flying long distances. Even a fully grown griffon can only glide for a few kilometers at most. Aside from that, they’re still young, so they can only fly a few hundred meters at best.”

“Ah…” The nobles took on disappointed expressions.

“Then how are you planning to scout ahead?” Prince Localope asked.

Eugene responded while staring at the twin-headed ogre. The creature stood tall in front of the garrison like a guardian statue.

“We have him, right?”

“…???”

Everyone took on confused, bewildered gazes. They were at a complete loss about what Eugene was talking about.

“Come here,” Eugene muttered to the undead twin-headed ogre—no—to his first ‘thrall’. Even though the creature was located well over a hundred meters away, it immediately turned to Eugene and began to briskly walk over to him.

Ohhh…

“What a wonder…”

“It certainly obeys His Majesty’s orders without fail.”

“But… how is His Majesty planning to use that for reconnaissance?”

The twin-headed ogre moved very quickly, betraying its large size, and it was definitely and tremendously powerful. However, it could only be used in battles. In the first place, it made absolutely no sense to use such a large monster for reconnaissance, as reconnaissance required secrecy, and the twin-headed ogre was anything but covert.

“Well, it’s not necessarily just reconnaissance. I suppose you could also call it a preemptive strike in addition to reconnaissance. Anyway, if it’s this fellow, no, it’s only possible with this guy,” Eugene said.

“Uh…”

So, just how exactly were you going to do that?!

The nobles shared the same thoughts. Eugene scanned the nobles before speaking, “You don’t necessarily need to fly or take a boat to scout an island, do you?”

“What?”

“I’ve heard that the water isn’t very deep here, is that right?” Eugene asked with a grin while pointing at the fluttering sea.

***

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

“…”

Boom! Boom! Fwoosh! Thuwap! Thuwap…..

“...”

The members of the expedition; regardless of their status, gender, and race, stared at the beach with their jaws agape. The scene unfolding before their eyes was truly shocking and amazing. The two-headed monster king was walking into the sea as if it were trying to drown itself. Soon, the twin-headed ogre’s two heads were completely submerged.

Prince Localope finally removed his gaze from the monster and spoke with a dumbfounded expression, “I have heard quite a few stories from minstrels, but I swear I have never heard of an ogre going into the sea before.”

“Well… In the first place, ogres usually live in mountains or valleys. It would be rather difficult, or rather, impossible to see one near the sea.”

“T-there are also no records of an ogre being able to swim.”

Eugene spoke with a smirk, “As an undead, it doesn’t need to breathe. There’s no fear of drowning, so it would be strange if it couldn’t go into the sea. Besides, it’s not quite swimming, is it?”

“…”

Indeed, Eugene’s twin-headed ogre wasn’t swimming across the sea. It was extremely ridiculous, but it was fulfilling Eugene’s order to ‘walk’ through the sea—in a straight line—all the way to the pirates’ base.

“The once undead twin-headed ogre will play a big role in rescuing the priests of the Holy Empire. What do you think? Won’t the distrust disappear? And you never know, the high priest may even bless it or something.”

“…!”

How ridiculous!

But what if Eugene’s plan really succeeded?

‘It’s… entirely possible!’