Chapter 19-1
Ogres are monsters that typically live alone. Each one had a huge activity radius, almost like a territorial animal.
Furthermore, they had no sense of kinship, so if they happened to run into each other, they would fight to the death.
However, these solitary ogres gather together only once a year, during the mating season in autumn.
Strangely enough, male ogres do not have a mating season. Only females do.
During mating season, the female ogres in the heat become abnormally strong and their size increases by more than 30 percent. Their sexual desires also become incredibly vigorous, and their temperament becomes much more vicious.
So, when they encounter males, they beat them to near-death and forcibly mate with them. This was very gruesome.
During each mating season, the bodies of male ogres who were beaten to death or killed themselves out of shame were commonly found.
Therefore, during mating season, males would form groups of at least seven to eight individuals to survive. This was to prevent being killed by females.
“You know how crazy the females are right now, don’t you? It’s the time when males also form groups to survive. It’s too dangerous to attack ogres now.”
“I know. But if we do it now, we can wipe out all the ogres at once, can’t we?”
Since ogres usually live alone, it was very difficult to catch them.
How could they hunt down ogres scattered all over the place?
Besides, ogre hunting was not an easy task.
“No matter what, we can’t do it. If we run into the male ogre group, our entire army will be wiped out. If we run into even a female, we’re done.”
Camille trembled at the thought.
“You know how powerful a female ogre in heat can be, right?”
The combat power of a female ogre in heat is about five times that of a male ogre, which can easily be beaten.
It is said that in cases where a female is an extremely powerful individual, they have even been known to defeat entire groups of males and then mate with them.
“I know all of this, but we have to do it. But, the area is suffering from ogres, and if we can clear out only the ogres in that area, the trade route will open up, and our economy will be revitalized.”
“Mmm.”
“I have a way, so let’s try it once.”
“What do you plan to do?”
“Let’s go first.”
Otto took out a bag and hoe used for collecting herbs from his inventory and handed them to Camille.
“Are you going to collect herbs somewhere?”
“Yes.”
“Why are you suddenly going to collect herbs?”
“You’ll know when we get there.”
Camille didn’t understand Otto’s intentions, but he decided to follow him and see what he was up to.
***
A few hours later.
Otto headed north with Camille towards a valley in the northern mountain range.
The valley was very damp and extremely cool, even during the day, with frost and ice visible in many places even though winter had not yet begun.
“Let’s see… where is it?”
Otto looked around the valley, searching for something diligently.
“What are you looking for?”
“An item that will make us rich.”
“Um…what is it?”
“I found it!”
Otto pushed Camille aside and ran towards it, shouting, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
His cry echoed through the valley.
“What is it…?”
Camille looked at the unknown plant that Otto had discovered, raising her head in confusion.
[Euphorbia]
A poisonous plant that bears fruit resembling an acorn.
It grows only in cool areas where the sun does not shine.
Classification: Weed (perennial)
Grade: Rare
Note: If you consume the fruit, your heart rate may increase rapidly, leading to death.
“Euphorbia.”
“Euphorbia…?”
“Look.”
Otto pointed to the fruit that had opened on the plant.
“It looks like an acorn that has dried up.”
“That’s true, but what is it used for? It looks like a poisonous plant.”
“It is poisonous.”
“Really?”
“If you eat it raw, you’ll get sick and throw up. It’s toxic, and you can die from cardiac arrest.”
“Are you suggesting we feed this to the ogres and poison them…?”
“No way.”
Otto answered, as if wondering what she was talking about.
“Would you eat it? Besides, it probably wouldn’t have much effect on the ogres.”
“Then what are you going to do with it? This unknown poisonous plant won’t make you any money…”
“Yes, it will.”
Otto smiled.
“It will make a lot of money.”
“How does it make money?”
“If you process this fruit and make a potion out of it, it will give you a lot of energy.”
“Really…?”
“Yes, it’s an aphrodisiac. It’s very effective, and there are no side effects.”
“……!”
“And it’s said to be extremely helpful for promoting sustainable growth, as it stimulates male hormones.”
“Is that true?”
Camille’s eyes widened.
“Does this fruit of the Euphorbia plant really have such an effect?”
“That’s what they say.”
“If… if that’s true… we could make a lot of money.”
A potent and low-side-effect sexual enhancer was like the hope of all middle-aged men.
If what Otto said was true, it was only a matter of time before they sat on a pile of money.
“This Euphorbia plant will become a specialty of our kingdom. Specifically, it’ll be the potion made from the Euphorbia plant.”
Otto had no intention of disclosing the Euphorbia plant, the raw material of the potion, and planned to monopolize the supply of the potion made from the plant on the continent to suck all the honey alone.
“If everything goes as planned… our territory… no, our kingdom won’t be just a dream of becoming a wealthy nation.”
“Will it really happen? Of course, not right away. We need to have cultivation and processing facilities. We need to establish distribution channels and do advertising.”
“Didn’t you think of all that?”
“Isn’t it basic?”
Otto laughed and pulled Camille along.
“Let’s just collect all of this first. They’ll come in handy when we go on an ogre hunt.”
“Okay.”
Otto and Camille collected all the Euphorbia plants and put them into their harvesting bags.
Ding!
Then, a quest notification popped up.
[Notification: Special product found!]
[Notification: Progress of the ‘Build a Dynasty’ quest has increased!]
That was how Otto started the first step of the ‘Build a Dynasty’ quest.