Building a World Class Empire in another World
Chapter 96: Talking to the leaders

Chapter 96: Talking to the leaders

Aric sat inside the office, his feet crossed on the desk, while leaning backward on the chair. He stared at the ceiling with a blank expression on his face.

Ariel and Elisa sat on the two chairs inside the office. Elisa stared at Aric while Ariel went through some papers that were on the table.

"That went a lot easier than I expected," Aric said, still having the blank expression on his face.

"It seems hobgoblins are not really a threat anymore," Ariel said, tossing the paper in her hands to the table.

"So what’s the plan now? You saved them, their leaders are downstairs waiting for you, and you are here," Ariel said.

"Uhm, I want the tension in the air to calm down a bit before we get into any talks with anyone," Aric said.

"Sigh, well you should do something fast because the village is now crowded with hundreds of homeless ogres," Ariel said.

"Fine, fine, I’ll get moving as soon as the spirits return from clearing out the remaining goblins. I left them out there after all," Aric said.

"How does that have anything to do with what we want to do here?" Ariel asked.

"Nothing really, just gives me a timeframe to work with," Aric said.

Elisa got up and walked to the window. She looked outside and saw the spirits coming back to the village.

"Well, it seems your time is up, Aric. The spirits are back," she said.

"Oh, come on, I’m freaking tired. I used way too much mana," Aric complained, finally saying the reason why he was trying to waste time.

He took his legs off the table and got up to his feet. "Tell the leaders of the ogres that I’ll speak to them now, but I’m not leaving the office. Bring them here," Aric said.

"Does overusing your mana also cause mood swings?" Ariel asked.

"I’m not moody, just tired," Aric said, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, definitely just tired," Ariel said, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she walked out.

"Hey, don’t be sarcastic with me," Aric groaned, but she was already gone.

"You know she is still mad at you, right?" Elisa said. She walked back from the window and sat down.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I’m too tired for that now," Aric said, swinging his hands. His moody fatigue hadn’t hit him until a few minutes after he finished killing the goblins, and he had been very moody and tired since then.

After a few minutes, Ariel returned. She opened the door and allowed the five ogres that he had met to walk in. Seemingly, they were the leaders of all the ogres there.

Immediately they walked into the office, they bowed their heads to Aric.

"No need to do all that, we already met before," Aric said. He leaned forward and placed both elbows on the table, his gaze locked with the grey ogre.

"I’m guessing you in particular are some type of prince or something," Aric said.

"I am the son of the chief of our village," the ogre said in response.

"I see, and what’s your name?" he asked.

The ogre dropped his head as he heard the question. "I have no true name. In our tribe, the chief passes on the true name before his son takes over. My father was supposed to name me, but sadly, he died from an unexpected illness."

"I see. I’m sorry for your loss. I’ll refer to you as Prince for now, if that’s fine by you," Aric said. His mood was still sour, but he forced himself to look like he was in a good mood so that he wouldn’t come off as bad to his guest.

"That’s fine," the ogre responded.

"Alright then, Prince. Tell us about what happened. Spare no details," Aric said.

"Our tribe lives not far from the mountain which the Terror inhabits. We have always been in a state of tension with each other.

The Terror could never attack our village because of my father, the chief and protector. As the only one with a true name, my father had evolved, and he wielded immense power—a power that made all fear him.

Even the Terror couldn’t face us because of my father, and so he never attacked us, despite the fact that we were enemies."

"Wait, wait, I’m confused. Why did he not attack because your father was strong? Could your father stop his whole army alone?" Aric asked.

"I understand your question, but the ruler of the ogre tribe has a special ability. It was an ability that gave all members of his tribe an immense growth in strength when he needed to.

It was our ultimate defense, one that made us formidable. But now with my father dead and the true name not being passed down, we were vulnerable, weak, and open to the Terror.

And the Terror took his opportunity. He grabbed it immediately, because at the break of dawn, the attack began, with his army marching toward us, coming in thousands.

Their numbers alone sent fear into our hearts. Seeing thousands and thousands of goblins headed for us, we knew that we would not make it.

Our warriors stayed back to fight. I should have been with them. I should have died with them there, taking down the enemies," he said, clenching his fist and grinding his teeth as he spoke.

"Don’t be stupid. You are the leader of what is left of your tribe and you want to go and die? Don’t you feel that’s awfully selfish, don’t you think?" Aric asked.

"Selfish? I want to die for my people," he said.

"And that’s stupidly selfish. Don’t you think so too, Elisa?" Aric asked, looking at Elisa as she nodded in response.

"You see? You are being selfish, wanting the sweetest escape of death when your people are alive here. Who do you want to rule them now that you, their leader, basically ran away and died?

Sometimes, the sacrifice isn’t about dying. It is about staying alive and doing what you are supposed to do—sacrificing your time and your life to rule those that are looking up to you," Aric said.

Elisa turned and looked at the prince. "The reason the ogres kept you alive and safe is because they believe you are the hope of their home.

I can tell you for certain that sometimes the sacrifice of death is not worth it in the slightest. I watched someone dear to me sacrifice himself to gain what he lost but ended up losing everything," she said, her tone dropping toward the end.

Aric looked at the prince. He stood and walked out from behind the desk, staring him in the eye, his head tilted upward.

"All that being said, I want to take down the Terror. I want to remove him from this forest and free all those that he has captured.

And to do that, I desperately need your help—your strength, and your expertise."

"Us? We have nothing to offer without the power of the chief," the prince said.

"Our goal is to protect our master. We won’t allow him to be put in any danger," the red ogre said, stepping forward.

"What are you talking about? Have you not already put him in a lot of danger? Today you would have all been dead as the sun sets, and you ran to us and we saved you.

Why did we save you? Because we had one same enemy. And now I’m telling you that you have the opportunity to take down the person that destroyed your home, and you are telling me you are too scared to do it?" Aric asked, looking the ogre right in the eye.

The ogre slowly stepped back and looked down, not daring to look Aric in the eyes again. Aric walked back to his seat slowly. He pulled the chair out and slowly sat down.

"I want to promise you, if you stay here and work with me, we will take down the enemy that faces all of us.

I have the resources to make this happen. All I need is skill and strength. You said you can’t all use your real strength because your chief is dead, right?

But that won’t be an issue here, because I can give all of you your true names, and all of you can have the strength your leaders had.

All you have to do is work with us so that we can take down a common enemy and finally be free from the tyranny of the Forest Terror.

So tell me, are you in for this, or are you not? I won’t chase all of you away no matter what you say, but if you choose to fight, there is a lot more to gain."