We continued our journey as soon as I finished eating. But strangely, I got hungry after just walking a little.\n
Now that I thought about it, when I had talked to General Miralda about constantly feeling like I was starving, she had asked me how much I ate in one day and then thought hard on it.
âJudging by how much you have eaten so far, I would have expected a greater increase in mana⊠Perhaps itâs because of your evolution, but your mana recovery is still only at fifty percent.â
Races that used their special abilities oftenâfor instance, races that were good with magic attacks, had to eat in order to make up for the mana that they lost.
It was possible to absorb mana from the atmosphere while you rested, but it was much faster to bring it into your body through eating.
And so it was easy for anyone to calculate the amount of mana you took in.
According to the General, it was incredibly low, in my case.
While some races were slower when it came to recovery, Ogres were not supposed to be one of them.
And even for the races that took longer, this rate was supposed to be impossible.
âJust half of what should be expectedâŠâ (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
I did have an idea about the reason.
Where was mana stored? Of course, it was within the Orb of Control.
However, being large didnât necessarily mean there was more mana to use.
Your vessel needed to be large as well.
But things were a little different in my case.
It wasnât just me in the Orb of Control. There was another me as well. And the other me had a lot more mana.
Was it possible then, that the mana from the food I ate was split between us as it was absorbed?
If that was the case, it would make sense that it was taking twice as long for my mana to recover.
It was because of that conversation, that I decided to stuff myself to the limit every time I ate.
However, I would still get hungry after only a short time had passed. I hoped that I would be able to feel full soon.
I couldnât wait.
ââŠIâm hungry.â\n
How many times had I said that already?
âSir Golan. There is a Horned settlement up ahead. Should we stop by?â
Since it was a settlement and not a town, it would not be very large.
âWonât they find our presence a disturbance?â
While it was true that we didnât have much food, did that mean we could eat all of theirs?
âThis is not part of General Miraldaâs land, but I think they will understand if we talk to them. Otherwise, I donât think we will make it to the next town.â
âThatâs a problem. âŠI suppose we have no choice. Weâll explain things to them and ask them to share their food.â
âYes. Well then, I will send one of them ahead.â
One of the people carrying the baggage ran on ahead towards the Horned settlement.
General Miralda had already sent out a messenger to Demon King Tralzard in advance, explaining the matter to him.
It was part of her regular reports, and since the timing had been right, she said that she was sending someone to meet him.
âThere will be preparations to make, so take your time.â
She had said. And so we did just that, and moved at a leisurely pace.
âWell, it will be a lot of trouble if things continue like this after we arrive.â
And so I wanted to at least deal with this hunger first.
And so we headed to the Horned settlement.
âI see. ThatâsâŠamazing. How do they keep them from breaking?â
The Horned had two giant horns coming out of their head.
That being said, it wasnât like a rhinoceros. More like a reindeer, as they came out from the sides of the head and were intricate in shape as they spread out.
âIâm sure they do break sometimes. But they are a symbol of strength. And so they do not break easily.â
âIs that right? They do have very impressive builds. Even Ogres are not that muscular.â
Perhaps they should have been called Macho instead of Horned. \nI didnât see a single one who wasnât in great shape.
As for their faces, they resembled horses or reindeer.
The best way to describe them were muscular, bipedal herbivores.
âŠI think?
Once we arrived, we were led to a large room and food was served.
The person who had gone ahead had explained everything to them.
âItâs meat.â
âIndeed it is. Is there a problem?â
âNoâŠnot at all.â
As the Horned looked like herbivores, I had assumed that they wouldnât eat meat. But I suppose their faces had nothing to do with it.
It wasnât important anyway, and I immediately started to bite into the food that was steaming on the table.
The food on the plate started to disappear rapidly. Even the cook, who had at first had an expression that read, âclearly we made too much?â was now looking on in disbelief.
All Ogres were big eaters.
However, my capacity to eat was now through the roof.
It felt like the food was disappearing inside of my stomach.
Really, I wished that someone could help me.
âSo, I heard that this place isnât governed by General Miralda? Whose control are you under then?â
âThis area is all General Krunyaâs land.â
âGeneral Krunya⊠The General that wreaked havoc in the south, yes? I heard about that a long time ago.â
It was one of the stories I heard from a merchant that traveled to our country.
These stories that were related to war tended to be more memorable to me.
\nThey had so many special abilities like this, that it was no wonder they were disliked.
In fact, I had a secret suspicion that they were responsible for the plague in medieval Europe.
I was once again reminded about how different Generals were when it came to the countries of Demon Kings.
No one else would be able to make such people their subordinates.
ââŠHmm? Whatâs all this noise coming from outside?â
It was just as I was finally starting to feel full that I heard someone shouting.
âI will go and look.â
Said Stomel as he left the room.
âSir Golan. It seems like they are going to decide who in this settlement will be sent to the battlefield.â
âTheyâre being conscripted?â
âItâs the step before that, but likely the same to them. They will fight and choose representatives for the settlement.â
Settling it with a fight. How barbaric⊠Well, not really.
It was done everywhere in the Demon World. It was a normal thing.
âThat sounds rather interesting. Do you think we could watch?â
âIâm sure it is fine, but I will ask them.â
The youth of the settlement were going to have a tournament in order to decide who was the strongest.
These kinds of hot-blooded events needed to be seen up close.
âSir Golan, Iâve received their permission.â