This adventurer is overly righteous.

"Your finger isn't healed yet. If you leave it there, you'll only have seven fingers forever!"

The ogres' voices were extremely unpleasant, and they were arguing with each other again. Their rough roars, like millstones, echoed under the trees. The ogre that had been driven back by Kroya and Carter was now being mocked by another ogre, whose three heads were shaking in the air, looking quite angry.

"I will go and get my finger back!"

It growled, gazing with resentment into the distance where its finger had been severed, at the two men, one clad in an iron suit, the other with skin as white as snow. It hated them.

"I'll eat them too!"

"Haha, they'll cut off the fingers on your other hand too, then you'll only have four fingers left."

Before the words were even finished, the two ogres were already wrestling, their huge and fat bodies rolling around on the ground. When they hit a tree, the leaves fell like rain.

Croya and Carter began to worry that the other would bump into the tree they were standing on, causing the leaves they were using for cover to fall and the branches supporting their bodies to break.

However, the two were lucky; another troll, seemingly larger than the other two, stopped their fight, and by then they were very close to the tree where Carter and Kroya were hiding.

"Hurry up and start a fire," it urged succinctly. It seemed to be the leader of the three ogres. "Because you didn't catch anyone yesterday, we have nothing to eat. Now, hurry up and start a fire to lure those who might pass by at night."

  

Flames at night do not signify safety; they may be lit by bandits or cunning monsters.

"Oops......"

The ogres gathered dry branches and leaves and piled them in front of the tree where the two were hiding, apparently intending to start a fire there.

Flames are dangerous; the light would greatly increase the chances of the two being discovered.

An ogre leaned against a tree, its three heads moving erratically in the air. Whenever one of its heads raised its head, it could see Kroya and Carter, who were lying on the branches two meters above it.

"Don't move..."

Even without speaking, Croya could read Carter's eyes.

If Kroya used the magic of his boots to speed up, the three trolls would most likely not be able to catch up, but it would be a different story for Carter. Escaping from the three trolls would not be easy.

Use Flash.

Kroya thought to himself.

He knew that ogres were creatures that feared sunlight. Their eyes were extremely adapted to darkness, but if they encountered a sudden burst of intense light, their eyes would become temporarily blind, giving him and Carter a chance to escape.

The only problem is that the light from the Flash spell can also affect the caster and their companions. Suddenly using a Flash spell with extremely high brightness can have a significant impact on unprepared people, and Carter might even suffer temporary blindness like the trolls.

Therefore, that can only be a last resort.

"Why don't you help me get my fingers back!" the ogre growled, leaning against the tree. Taking this opportunity, Kroya and Carter saw his left hand clearly. Only his little finger and ring finger remained. The other three had been cut off by Kroya and burned to ashes, but the ogre was unaware of this.

Given the troll's self-healing ability, as long as those severed fingers can be found, it can reattach them on its own.

"Let's go together, we can capture the entire village with just a bag!"

Those two humans wouldn't be a match for the three of them either; they had enough food to fill the cave.

"If we both show up, they'll be scared away!"

For Kroya and Carter, the ogres looked and sounded the same; they could only barely distinguish them by their size. The finger that was speaking was intact and slightly larger.

"And adventurers will come to hunt us down."

The existence of adventurers had long been known among monsters with a certain level of intelligence. Even a stupid creature like a troll knew that if it went too far and ate too many people, some unknown entity would appear and hunt it down.

Therefore, they always take turns hunting, maintaining the illusion that there is only one troll.

The ogres lit a fire, its flames like tiny stars in the darkness. Then, they skillfully retrieved water jugs and various filthy cloths from their caves, setting up tents to disguise the area as a camp. These items were obtained from humans. In the firelight, their shadows were elongated, but they looked almost identical to human shadows.

If anyone thinks this is a human camp and chooses to approach—whether they are travelers or bandits—they are doomed.

Kroya had read about this in a book; it was a common trick used by trolls, but seeing it in person was quite novel.

He has always been curious about the world, and his choice to become an adventurer was also partly motivated by a desire to explore. However, now, his main focus is on keeping the warning "don't go near any strange firelight at night" firmly in mind.

"Do not go near firelight at night."

Kroya silently recited in his mind.

The three ogres then sat down and waited quietly for their prey to come to them.

However, while this strategy is ingenious, it is not always effective. Otherwise, the ogres would not have attacked the village last night. The long silence made the hungry ogres restless.

"It tastes better when it's baked."

A troll suddenly spoke.

"Especially for those who are on the heavier side, I like the caramelized aroma of oil..."

"I prefer it cooked; the broth tastes better, and there's no waste..."

Driven by hunger, the three ogres spoke in hushed tones, their voices indistinct, as if they were a group of campers discussing tonight's dinner and tomorrow's breakfast.

But Kroya knew that the ogres were discussing far more than just ordinary food.

For Kroya, the most bewildering thing about this world is that it's not just humans who possess intelligence; these monsters, or even the legendary elves, dwarves, and gods, all have intelligence comparable to that of humans.

An intelligent creature was discussing how to hunt its fellow Chroa, viewing them as meat on a chopping board, and how to cook them...

This made Kroya feel disgusted and angry.

"Enough! Enough!"

It's unclear which ogre interrupted the conversation, but then Kroya and Carter saw an ogre get up, dust itself off, move into its cave, and emerge a moment later carrying a pile of bones that were either yellowed or blackened.

It sat down again, placing the bones in front of it, among which were skulls clearly of human origin.

Ogres would attack passersby, eating them along with their horses and people. The bones left over would be hidden in caves and used as food when necessary.

Among the bones that the ogre had taken out, Kroya saw five human skulls.

"These are all the bones we have left."

Then, the ogres chewed and swallowed the bones as if they were munching on biscuits, the soft, grating sounds of which were terrifying in the night.

No one knows exactly how much time has passed, but the ogres possess a remarkable ability: they can tell when daylight begins and ends, even when hidden in completely isolated caves.

They knew the sun was about to rise, and they still hadn't gotten any food tonight. They had already been struggling to bear the hunger since yesterday, and tonight they could only eat a few bones.

"You ate my bones!"

A troll growled, its three heads baring their teeth.

"So what!"

The other one was not to be outdone.

"You couldn't even bring back food, and you even had your finger cut off!"

The hungry ogres growled at each other.

"They're arguing..."

Having spent almost the entire night in the tree, Kroya and Carter grew tense. This might be a chance to escape, but after hanging there for so long, their bodies were stiff and numb.

Perhaps there was some discord from the beginning, because the ogres' argument this time was much more intense than before, with roars coming in waves. At first, they would lower their voices for fear of scaring away nearby prey, but now the sound was almost as loud as lightning striking at their feet, with all three heads talking at the same time, making it extremely chaotic.

If this continues, they will keep their attention on each other until dawn, never looking up at each other.

However, the ogres, whose bodies were becoming noticeably larger, spoke once more.

"Shut your mouths!"

It also seemed somewhat angry; hunger can make any creature irritable.

"Do you think food will fall from the sky if you keep arguing like this?!"

Seeing that the other party was about to get angry again, the two ogres who were arguing had no choice but to sit down reluctantly in their original positions.

Food fell from the sky?

Because of a careless remark, one of the ogre's heads unconsciously looked upwards and saw dense leaves and thick branches, all of which were inedible.

No, what is that?

The ogres peered suspiciously into the gaps in the leaves, and all the ogres, drawn by this anomaly, looked in the same direction.

Something was clinging to the branch.

With the trolls' night vision, they spotted two figures trying to hide themselves among the leaves.

A hairless monkey?

Do not!

"That's a person!"

Food is practically falling from the sky!

The ogres laughed loudly, drool dripping from their mouths. They rose from the ground and faced Kroya and Carter in the tree, their eyes gleaming with a greedy, eerie green light.

"Quickly, it's almost dawn!"

Not a single troll wanted to give up this delicious meal.