Army’s Arrival

In the approaching army, there was a female oni with waist-length blue hair who wore a luxurious red kimono with red embroidery. A nice figure with a flat chest.

She kept this cold look during the entire march of the army. She was cold to most, but there were a few who she wasn't. She was also jealous of those with larger chests than her.

Sensing the movement of mana, she looked in the direction. "Stop!"

She uttered it loud enough for everyone to hear.

"What is it, Rin? We need to finish this order as soon as possible." An oni next to her inquired, his face displaying impatience and irritation.

"I sensed the movement of mana near us. I also sensed someone watching us. For some reason, I couldn't determine where from." Rin answered, a serious look on her face.

"How? We didn't sense anything." A male oni asked.

"Rin is famed for being an expert in mana and detection, so naturally she would have higher skills in this area than us." A female oni replied.

They kept talking, not giving Rin a chance to speak.

"Everyone...! Silence." Rin shouted, forcing everyone to listen. "Here's the plan: we'll search for ten minutes. If we find something, we report back; if not, we don't and continue our march to the outpost."

They all nodded in response. None of them had any experience in the art of strategy-making, so they couldn't refute her plan.

"Alright, good." Rin nodded. "Search all over for any readings of mana. After ten minutes, return to this spot and report one by one."

All of them split up and searched different areas. A feeling of uneasiness rose inside Rin's heart, but she couldn't point to where it came from.

***

Time flew by as the ten minute mark passed by. They had all gathered at the return spot.

"What did you guys find?" Rin asked.

"Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Same."

"No signs of mana movement."

They all shared their discoveries and all of them were nothing noteworthy. Everything seemed normal.

Only one person had not shared...

"I found where the mana movement came from, but the changes in mana were scarce. I couldn't locate the location of who cast it." Rin said, a calm facade covering her irritation.

Yes, they did find "something", but it wasn't worth reporting to the city. In Rin's eyes, it was as useless as trying to fly without having mana or wings.

Without delay, they continued on towards the city, completely unaware of the dangers rising ahead of them.

***

The night that brought the darkness upon the world gradually disappeared as the sun soon showed its first light upon the world.

The small army had marched the entire night without taking any rest. They weren't tired, nor were they hindered by the darkness. Far away in the distance, they could see the wooden walls of the southern outpost.

"We, we finally made it." The lesser ranked ogres and goblins exclaimed.

Unlike the ogre lords and the Onis, they had little stamina to journey without breaks for this long. They felt their knees cramping as they willed themselves to move forward, almost collapsing as their bodies asked for sleep.

"Keep up the pace! We may be almost there, but that doesn't mean you should be slacking behind. When we get there, we'll begin our investigation immediately!"

"Yes, lady, lady Rin." All the exhausted ogres and goblins said. It was true that they were at their wits' end, but they would rather be at their wit's end than be truly dead.

Soon, they reached the 100-meter perimeter of the outpost. It was eerily silent, but that didn't cause suspicion as it was still early in the morning with barely any sun reaching under the canopies of the swamp. The majority assumed that the inhabitants of the outpost must still be sleeping. There was no reason for suspicion, even if there was some. Why would the inhabitants choose to attack? It was a suicidal plan. There was no way that they were foolish enough to attempt such a thing.

Even so, Rin still believed something was up; it was just that she couldn't put her finger on it. It was as if it was there, but it was covered by an invisible veil that prevented anyone from seeing through it.

"Everyone...! Tread carefully from now on. I feel like something's wrong!" Rin called out—this put frowns on those around her.

They thought: Why is she being so paranoid? It is only a group of exiled ogres. Why should they be afraid? It could be that she has finally gone crazy. After all, making such complex strategies has got to mess up her head in some way.

"I know I might sound crazy, but you should know that my intuition has always been right. Just trust me."

"Her words do have some truth. She is rumored to have great intuition." An ogre said this as his frown vanished.

Some of them agreed with his claims, but not all of them. They didn't know Rin at all--this left the only reason why they followed her orders to the fact that she was superior to them.

They moved forward, some treading carefully, while most treading casually, thinking that Rin was just over-exaggerating or crazy. They would not believe there was a chance that the exiled ogres would rebel.

The closer they got, the less they believed in Rin's antics. Some even mocked her in their hearts. And soon, they arrived at the wall of the outpost—all they had to do was enter and complete their investigation before leaving. After that, they could do whatever they wanted with the rewards they got for the completion of the queen's order.

If you failed at completing the queen's order, you would either be imprisoned, tortured, or killed. On the other hand, if you complete her orders, she'll bestow you with great rewards. It was like the saying, with great risk comes great reward.

Rin stopped and turned around.

"How?!?" She had an expression of shock and dread.