Chapter 255: The Journey of the Viscount's Second Son (End)

Sunlight spilled through the window, bathing the sleeping Edie's face.

Perhaps the light and warmth proved a little too much; groggy, Edie opened his eyes.

The memory suddenly hit him: he was in an Ogre's house. Startled, he bolted upright and snapped his head to the side. Seeing Milne still fast asleep, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Perhaps sensing the sudden movement, Milne rolled over, mumbled something unintelligible, and drifted right back to sleep.

The merchant wasn't used to life at sea and hadn't rested well during their days on the ship.

Seeing Milne sleeping so soundly, Edie couldn't bear to wake him. He quietly slipped out of bed and picked up his twin swords.

He had slept fully clothed, hugging his weapons the entire night. As it turned out, he had been overthinking things.

Standing on the cold stone floor, a chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to his head. He quickly found his shoes, tugged them on, and straightened his clothes before surveying the room where they had spent the night.

The room the Ogre had provided was much better than Edie expected. It wasn't luxurious by any stretch, but there were no scattered bones, and the smell wasn't overpowering.

For an Ogre, that last point was truly remarkable.

A strange whooshing sound from the courtyard piqued Edie's curiosity.

He walked to the door. First, he pinched the clapper of the bell hanging on the back and carefully unhooked it. Then he lifted the latch, pushed open the five-meter-tall door, and stepped into the main hall.

Edie took in the hall's layout. There were no frivolous decorations; the furnishings were rugged and bold, simple yet practical. Several large logs sat in a circle, serving as the Ogre's table and chairs. Edie walked over and patted one.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Solid wood!

Edie rolled his eyes. Milne would probably struggle just to move a single chair in this house.

The main entrance stood open. Edie walked straight out and immediately spotted the bare-chested Ogre, Hawke, swinging two large boulders in the courtyard. The stones generated the whooshing sound he had heard.

The massive stones looked like mere toys in the Ogre's grip. He hurled them higher than the roof, and as they plummeted, his millstone-sized hands caught them with steady ease.

Edie noticed the dense layer of sweat beading on Hawke's skin; his overheated body radiated a thick white steam into the cold winter morning air.

Clearly, Hawke had been at this routine for quite a while.

Stone-tossing was a common training method for Warriors in Nordhill. The practitioner would plant their feet wide apart, hurl heavy stones into the air, squat until their fingertips touched the earth, and then spring back up to catch the falling stones and throw them again.

It was a simple method requiring minimal equipment, and it effectively built both strength and endurance. Tossing with both hands simultaneously also trained multitasking and fine strength control. As a result, the exercise was incredibly popular, and even Edie, a dual-sword wielder, practiced it frequently.

Edie glanced at several other stones resting by the side of the yard and shook his head. While some were on the smaller side, they were only small for an Ogre. For a human like him...

Yeah... he would pass.

Hawke paid no mind to his audience, maintaining total focus on his exercise.

At first, Edie watched with a relaxed, casual attitude. Soon, his gaze grew intense, and ultimately, it shifted into pure shock.

He noticed that the two stones always rose in perfectly vertical lines, peaking at the exact same height. Even their rotational arcs through the air mirrored each other almost flawlessly.

This required an extreme degree of muscular control. Edie knew he couldn't pull it off himself.

That meant Hawke, an Ogre, had finer strength control than Edie, a true member of the nobility who had received elite training.

Edie swallowed hard.

If this level of discipline was common here, then the military might of the Overseas Archipelago was terrifying!

Edie mentally reviewed everything he knew about the local Ogres.

In the Overseas Archipelago, powerful races like the Ogres fell under the direct jurisdiction of White Castle. Every young Ogre underwent mandatory education, learning basic literacy alongside dedicated instruction as a professional.

This education lasted until the Ogres became Adults. Upon maturity, they were required to serve a term in the armies of White Castle. Once their compulsory service ended, they were free to choose: either reenlist or take their discharge pay and live a civilian life.

Edie considered it for a moment and concluded there was a very high chance this was indeed the norm.

White Castle's education system was simply too outstanding. If they could achieve universal basic education for a vast, low-tier race like the Murlocs, it made no sense for powerful monsters like the Ogres to receive anything less than elite training.

The moment Hawke finished his routine, Edie hurried over.

"Mr. Hawke, your strength is incredible! And the way you control it is truly admirable. An elite Warrior like yourself must rank among the strongest Ogres around!"

"Hahaha, of course!"

Edie's mix of genuine awe and deliberate flattery left Hawke feeling rather smug. He rolled his thick neck and flicked his arms to shake the sweat from his hands.

The two struck up a conversation. Edie carefully steered the chat, extracting information from the Ogre to confirm his suspicions.

While Hawke vastly outclassed Edie in sheer power, his wits were no match for the shrewd member of the nobility. Edie easily buttered him up, and before long, the two were chatting like brothers, with Hawke letting slip some casually restricted details.

Even those casual details were enough to leave Edie stunned.

The Ogre Hawke was a Level 6 Warrior. Combined with his Creature Level, that made him equivalent to a High Tier human Warrior.

He hailed from the Bonesplitter Clan, an obscure, minor faction among the Ogres. Even within that small clan, Hawke was only considered average among his peers. Compared to the members of truly powerful clans, he was likely on the weaker side.

The stone-tossing exercise was a fundamental part of a young Ogre's basic education. Hawke merely possessed a slight talent for strength control, which put him slightly above his peers in the Bonesplitter Clan.

Just like any other Ogre, Hawke had gone through the childhood training regimen and served several years in the military. Where he differed from most of his kin was in his final choice: he opted to leave the army, pooling his discharge pay and saved wages to purchase a home in the newly established Snowsurge City.

As a veteran, he even received a discount on his first officially issued home.

Just like that, Hawke settled down in Snowsurge City and found employment at the city hall as a city guard, eventually becoming a squad captain.

Edie and the Ogre were deep in conversation when Hawke suddenly scowled.

"Broken Tooth, you bastard. Sneaking into my house again? Come out, I can smell you."

To Edie's astonishment, a gnoll wearing a painfully smug grin stepped out from the shadows in the corner. He spoke with exaggerated flair.

"Oh! What's this I see?! Our very own Captain Hawke, chatting it up with a human!"

The gnoll tossed a small dried fish into his mouth. Edie noticed that one of his fangs was indeed snapped off.

When Hawke saw the familiar shell holding the dried fish in the gnoll's hands, he flew into a rage. Snatching up a stone from the ground, he hurled it at the intruder.

"Broken Tooth! You bastard! Stealing my food again!"

At the same time, Edie heard panicked scrambling from inside the house. Milne had clearly woken up.

The gnoll casually twisted his waist to dodge the projectile. The stone smashed into the ground, and the gnoll strutted over, his grin growing even wider.

"Oh, don't be so stingy. I'll treat you to drinks tonight."

Though the Ogre was still furious, the food was already in the gnoll's hands. There was nothing he could do. He ignored the smug intruder and introduced him to Edie.

"This is my colleague, the gnoll Sako. He's also a city guard squad captain. His nickname is Broken Tooth, and he's an absolute bastard."

Edie fully agreed with Hawke's assessment. However, he wasn't naive enough to think they actually hated each other. In reality, they had to be close friends; otherwise, Broken Tooth would never dare steal an Ogre's food.

Stepping closer, the gnoll held out the shell of small dried fish.

"Want some? This is Dried Ink-Knife Fish produced by the famous Tidal Murloc Clan. It's prime stock, stuff you can't even buy on the open market."

The gnoll wore a triumphant smile, immensely proud of uncovering his friend's secret stash.

Hawke snatched the shell back, but the gnoll just kept grinning, casually reaching into the shell to grab another piece of Dried Ink-Knife Fish and toss it into his mouth.

With a nod from the Ogre, Edie picked up a piece of the fish and popped it into his mouth.

Edie's eyes immediately widened. He suddenly understood why the gnoll was willing to buy the Ogre drinks in exchange for this small shell of Dried Ink-Knife Fish. After all, Hawke's alcohol tolerance was utterly terrifying.

The air-dried Dried Ink-Knife Fish was incredibly crisp, carrying an intoxicating oceanic flavor mixed with a unique blend of spices. It had likely been cured using Overseas Archipelago spices that were worth more than their weight in gold. The taste was phenomenal, fully living up to the gnoll's high praise.

Back inside, the Ogre's thunderous roar had completely jolted the merchant awake. Terrified, Milne bolted out of the house.

However, he froze in sheer bewilderment. His good friend was casually sharing snacks with the Ogre, Hawke, and some strange gnoll. Milne had absolutely no idea what was going on.

The Ogre waved Milne over.

The four of them shared the Dried Ink-Knife Fish and chatted for a bit. Seeing that the Ogre was in high spirits, Edie offered to pay rent to stay a few more days. Hawke waved his massive hand dismissively, waiving their fees, and tossed Edie a large Key.

While Hawke wasn't a genius, he certainly wasn't stupid. From their manner of speech alone, these two foreign humans were clearly a cut above the common rabble. Furthermore, he liked Edie's attitude as a fellow Warrior, so he was more than happy to build a good relationship with them.

As for worrying about them stealing anything from the house? One only needed to remember what Hawke did for a living.

A city guard! A captain, no less!

Beyond patrolling and guarding the gates, the city guards were responsible for public order, acting as a hybrid of city management and police forces. They wielded immense power. The only one reckless enough to steal from a guard captain's home was that shameless gnoll, Broken Tooth.

The Ogre shot the gnoll a sidelong glare.

Soon after, Hawke hoisted a terrifying Spiked Club over his shoulder, bid the two humans farewell alongside the gnoll, and headed off to work.

Once the Ogre was gone, the two humans began to chat in the yard. As a merchant, Milne obviously knew his goods.

"Tsk, tsk. I never would've guessed you had this in you, Edie," Milne said. "Tell me, how did you butter up that Ogre? He actually shared such precious Dried Ink-Knife Fish with us."

Edie chose to play coy.

"It's a friendship between Warriors. A sly merchant like you would never understand."

Even after such a short time together, Edie had developed a genuine fondness for the straightforward Ogre.

Seeing his companion's expression, Milne couldn't help but find the situation utterly absurd. A human from the nobility had actually forged a friendship with an Ogre.

They then shifted topics to their future plans. Realizing they still lacked crucial information about the city, they decided to spend the day gathering more intel and stepped out into the streets.

Hunger was a demanding master, however. They planned to grab a meal before getting to work.

As they walked the streets of Snowsurge City, they noticed a theme. Perhaps because the Master of the Overseas Archipelagos was a White Dragon, the monsters of the region clearly favored the color white. The city's buildings were either constructed from white stone or coated in white paint. Combined with the lingering snow on the rooftops, it painted the entire world in a brilliant white.

Hawke's home was located in a designated residential block for large creatures. The area was sparsely populated and devoid of breakfast vendors, so the duo headed toward where they remembered the Wolf and Wine Tavern being located. Taverns always served food.

Along the way, they passed a kobold sweeping the street. The creature wore a strange yellow vest over its thick winter coat. In fact, every single street sweeper they passed was wearing the exact same yellow vest.

The yellow vests must be the uniform for the city's sanitation workers, they concluded.

Against the pristine white backdrop, any filth would stand out immediately. That was clearly unacceptable to the city's administrators, who had heavily invested manpower and resources into street sanitation in Snowsurge City.

Soon after, they spotted a troll dragging a massive, foul-smelling cart. They watched as the yellow-vested street sweepers dumped their collected waste into the cart, finally understanding how Snowsurge City managed its garbage disposal.

Ignoring the strange looks from passing monsters, the two humans finally exited the large-creature residential zone. As soon as they crossed the boundary, they spotted several street vendors selling all sorts of snacks along the road.

There were steamed buns and stewed meats, but the overwhelming majority of the food was seafood: squid, mud turtles, kelp...

Taking in the dazzling array of breakfast options, they couldn't help but marvel.

"Snowsurge City certainly has a rich breakfast spread!"

With so many street vendors around, there was no need to walk all the way out to the Wolf and Wine Tavern. They eagerly joined the crowd to browse.

...

Over the next few days, the pair continued lodging at the Ogre's house. They mingled with monsters from all walks of life across Snowsurge City, and after gathering enough intelligence, they finally had a clear direction.

They bid farewell to the Ogre Hawke—their very first and best friend in Snowsurge City—and set their plans into motion.

Half a month later, a piece of explosive news reached their ears: the Overseas Archipelago was going to establish itself as a sovereign nation come spring. People from all walks of life were invited to Oqi City to witness the founding ceremony.

The nation's name would be Yafiavi!