Vol 1 Chapter 16 – The Ogre【Vol 1 – Spoiled Princess Arc】

“OOOORAAAAAAAH!!”

The ogre roared and charged straight at Miriam.

A distance that would take even a trained warrior a dozen seconds to cross, it covered in a heartbeat.

Its leg strength was nothing short of monstrous.

Miriam, who lacked true combat skills, had no time to dodge or guard—

—but Erik, her partner, darted between them.

With a smooth motion, he drew his sword and braced for the oncoming beast.

“Ah—”

Miriam had known Erik for years; she noticed at once.

His legs were shaking.

It made sense—despite the Hero title, he was still a former farmer who’d never known real battle.

Faced with a monster capable of swatting seasoned adventurers like flies, fear was inevitable.

The shake in those legs definitely wasn’t excitement or battle thrill.

“GIEEAA!!”

“Ghh…!?”

The ogre’s descending claw met Erik’s rising blade.

Even an ogre’s hide would split if sliced…

…so it swung with its talons—

—razor points that could pierce a human torso with ease.

Harder and sharper than any human nail, the claws clanged against Erik’s sword with a metallic screech,

a sound that alone proved how deadly they were.

“Ngh… ugh!?”

And the ogre’s raw strength dwarfed any human’s.

Locked in a contest of strength, Erik’s sword was pushed back inch by inch.

Erik was still a Hero—stronger and more seasoned than any foot soldier—

—but next to an ogre, he looked painfully underpowered.

“Gwaaah!”

“Erik!?”

At last he could no longer hold the line and was flung away.

Well—“flung” was misleading; he’d used the ogre’s force to gain distance.

He scraped along the floor, earning nothing but extra bruises in the process.

“I-if this keeps up…”

Watching the clash, Miriam concluded that Erik couldn’t win.

Ogres were powerful monsters to begin with.

Normally they spawned far below the second stratum—dozens of floors deeper.

Top-tier adventurers might manage to slay one, but Erik, farmer-turned-Hero, was outmatched.

The deepest Erik and Miriam had ever reached was the seventh floor.

“Princess Debora!”

“Y-yes?!”

Debora—watching the duel with sparkly eyes—jerked at Miriam’s sudden shout.

Miriam bit back Why are your eyes shining like that? and pressed on.

“Princess, if this continues, Erik will die!”

“Mm, it’s a good fight, right? Feels like a story scene—my heart’s pounding.”

“That’s not the point!!”

(How carefree can this pint-sized brat be?!)

Yet Debora’s thinking had always run off-track from that of normal folks—

—which explained how she could blow people up without batting an eye.

“Ogres don’t go down easily. Erik’s strength alone can’t finish one. That’s why—”

“My explosion?”

“Y-yes.”

(If you knew that, why didn’t you start there?) Miriam grumbled silently.

An ogre’s defense was as high as its offense.

Half-hearted slashes would only nick its hide, and basic magic barely scratched it.

Debora’s explosions were different.

Their one-shot power could kill a human instantly; even an ogre would take real damage.

Miriam hated asking a Vilemse royal for anything, but Erik’s life mattered more than her pride.

So she asked—

“Ah… sorry, but I can’t.”

“Wh-what!?”

Debora offered an awkward smile, scratching her cheek.

Miriam reeled at the reply.

(Is she refusing just because she’s annoyed? Seriously?)

“I-I’ll bow as many times as it takes, please—”

“No, that’s not it. Sure, you’ve been getting on my nerves, but that’s not why I can’t use the blast.”

“Eh…?”

Debora shot down Miriam’s assumption.

Before Miriam could ask “Then why?”, Debora explained.

“My explosions… I can’t control them at will.”

“…Huh!?”

Miriam lost her usual calm and gaped.

(She can’t control them?)

The notion was so shocking it barely made sense.

“They pop out on their own whenever my emotions spike. If I could steer them, I’d do it way better.”

The tiny princess giggled and scratched her head.

That was exactly why people feared her as the Spoiled Princess.

When her feelings surged, someone was engulfed in fire—Debora’s intent or not.

That was her terrifying skill.

…And given how guilt-free she felt about past blast victims, it plainly didn’t bother her much.

“Th-then what do we do?!”

Miriam looked back at Erik battling the ogre.

He’d already taken several cuts; blood trickled here and there.

Still, the fact that he was holding out at all was astonishing—

—especially for someone who wasn’t a born warrior.

But that endurance was only because Erik focused solely on defense.

“Hmm… the Hero’s putting up a fight, but there’s no path to victory. Checkmate?”

“D-don’t joke around…!”

Miriam snapped at Debora’s easy tone.

“Ghh…!?”

“Erik!”

Right then, Erik was sent flying again.

Even blocking, he’d taken some nasty wounds.

But he hadn’t gone down quietly—just before being hurled back, he’d sliced the ogre’s arm.

While the beast howled in fury and pain, he called to Miriam.

“Miriam. A little healing, please.”

“R-right.”

She hated using her flawed healing magic on Erik, but he needed it now.

Steeling herself, she cast the spell.

As always, it brought a stab of agony—Erik’s face twisting in pain and relief alike.

Once the bleeding stopped, he thanked Miriam and turned to Debora.

“I’m sorry, but it seems my power alone can’t fell the ogre.”

“Yeah, looks impossible.”

“Indeed.”

Miriam couldn’t believe these two could sound so casual in such a hopeless spot.

Sure, panicking wouldn’t help—but chatting calmly while an ogre glared at them like they were lunch? She couldn’t manage that.

“Therefore, I’d like to rely on Princess Debora’s explosion.”

“E-Erik, I told you, I can’t. …Useless.”

“Hey, I heard that.”

Erik had reached the same conclusion as Miriam.

Having felt its sheer force firsthand, he knew Debora’s blast could kill the ogre.

But if she couldn’t trigger it on command, asking was pointless.

“Yes, I heard. We must heighten your emotions, correct?”

“Uh, pretty much. So I can’t really meet your expectations—”

“Then we simply have to rile you up.”

“…Huh?”

Debora and Miriam both tilted their heads.

(Rile her up—how?)

If her explosions followed a predictable trigger pattern, people wouldn’t fear her nickname; they’d just avoid pushing those buttons.

But like an autumn sky, her emotional thunderclouds shifted at random—no one knew when the blast would hit.

Still, Erik knew with certainty what would set Debora off.

“I am going to insult Princess Debora now.”

“…Come again?”

Debora blinked.

She had no idea why he’d bother warning her—or why he’d do it at all.

“I’ll say things like ‘idiot’ and ‘moron.’”

“Hmm…?”

A vein twitched on Debora’s forehead, but that alone didn’t flip her switch.

Under normal circumstances she might have exploded already, but with Erik… no sparks yet.

Which left Erik in a bind.

Given his special taste, dishing out abuse wasn’t exactly in his toolkit.

“…Erik, come here.”

Miriam beckoned him over.

Kind-hearted and famed as the Altruistic Charity Hero, Erik apparently couldn’t sling insults.

Fine—she’d arm him.

When it came to slandering Vilemse royalty, Miriam had ammunition to spare.

She whispered a string of choice barbs; Erik thanked her and stepped back.

“Hey. What’d you feed the Hero just now?”

“…Secret.”

“I’m starting to think you could set off an explosion yourself.”

Debora’s look turned positively menacing.

Erik might have liked to ask her to glare that way more often, but the ogre—finally done roaring—fixed them with murderous eyes; he had no time to indulge.

“All right, I’m off. Princess Debora, I leave the rest to you.”

“Eh?! H-hey, Hero, wait!”

Ignoring her protest, Erik dashed straight at the ogre.