CHAPTER 476: GREATER OGRES SETTLING DOWN

With the arrival of the Greater Ogres, the northern part of the farm became quite busy and noisy thanks to the cacophony of various sounds coming from sawing logs, rocks being piled, and other materials being used for building.

Still, despite them settling down, Elaina was surprised that they didn’t take up too much space of their own to accommodate the whole tribe. Only a small portion of the farm’s space has been taken over by the Greater Ogres, and it is only the same size as the barn that houses the Wild cows and the wild pigs. It was like they were saving too much space to the point that they were too cramped.

Seeing this, Elaina decided to approach and check out why they were only taking a small space of what was supposed to be their own space for their tribe. When she reached their place, Elaina saw Gobruk helping out the other men of their tribe build the other tents for their other people. Upon seeing her, he stopped what he is doing and gave a deep bow to her.

"Gobruk greets Boss."

Elaina was surprised when she heard the nickname Gobruk decided to use for her.

"Why are you calling me boss now?" Elaina asked.

"Other creatures work for you, call you boss. Gobruk thinks that is how you are labeled. Gobruk now calls you Boss."

Elaina sighed and realized that Gobruk is just mimicking the way the Feys are calling her "boss" when talking or calling for her. And since Gobruk and his tribe are now under her command, it is also appropriate for him and them to call her the same.

"Well, I don’t mind that. Anyway, I came to check the progress of the work and noticed that instead of taking over the plot of land that I assigned to you, you are only taking a quarter of the land, making the area where you are staying a bit cramped. Why not expand a bit?"

Gobruk looked at the erected tents and shook his head. "Back in the mountains, us build tents like this. Mountain space wide, but only use small space. We Great Ogres likes tight spaces."

Elaina was confused. It doesn’t make sense, and even back in the mountains, they still do this? That’s a strange thing. And there’s no actual explanation either that allows her to understand their reasoning, as Gobruk didn’t think it was that weird. It was a regular thing that they had been doing for many years, to the point that it was a normal thing for them right now. There is nothing she can do about it.

Also, looking at their tents, Elaina thinks that their home is a bit too primitive. There’s nothing wrong with primitive ways; it is just a bit weird that they didn’t even use much wood to create their homes. Elaina even thought that they were cutting trees to build their houses’ skeletal infrastructure, but it turned out to be not the same case. They used them as pegs for their tents.

But even if she criticized these habits of theirs, Elaina decided not to pry and force them to change their ways immediately. There is a chance it was their culture in the first place, and it would be rude to just force her vision on them. But if it turns out not to be the case, Elaina will not hesitate to change their mind about it. Of course, now is not the time.

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Now that the Greater Ogres have settled down on her farm, Elaina has gained a strong extra pair of hands. She is no longer going to rely on Curaj for heavy work and watch the poor guy suffer back aches for a few days.

Despite being built for war, these Greater Ogres are quite gentle beings. They would rather avoid open conflict and would rather start farming. Many of the women in their tribe took an interest in farming and observed the work around the farm. Although there are some parts that have been automated and have been done by the Tractor ever since it was completed, there is still some work that needs to be done manually.

Aside from farming, the Greater Ogre’s main strength is its knowledge of Animal Husbandry. Upon seeing that Elaina is raising various livestock, including a few of the wild pigs that she has gathered from the last raid, they started helping out Curaj with the work. They even gave him tips on how to do some things much easier, which helps make his work a lot lighter to do and doesn’t take too much time.

In short, these Greater Ogres are great farmers on their own right, they just didn’t have the good land to cultivate and create their own farms to grow their crops.

One more change is that the Greater Ogres are not afraid of the Grand Sage like other people and creatures who hear that the Grand Sage is around. And even the Grand Sage is not hostile to them, but more on friendly terms. She often sees a few of them gathered outside his tower and drinking Ale and various spirits like they were old friends.

It’s not a massive change in scenery, but now that the farm has gotten more lively, Elaina is slowly seeing the piece of land she once thought she would be managing alone to be filled with various entities that even non-humans have started living with the farm. It was like she was gathering all sorts of races on her farm and was making a sanctuary just for them.

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A few days have passed since the Greater Ogres have settled down on her farm. Despite the farm being near the town, no one has noticed the existence of the Greater Ogres on the farm. Elaina already informed Princess Tabatha about this matter, and it seems she has already relayed this matter to the soldiers as well. She is thankful that the settling process of the Greater Ogres didn’t cause any sort of big troubles. It’s just that she is a bit weirded out that not even a single issue arises after the event.

But since no one complained, Elaina didn’t bother to care about it. She decided to focus on her new task. Since the Goddess of Taming has returned, Elaina has finally returned her attention to the taming process of monsters and other wild animals.

With the addition of the Grower Pigs, Elaina is currently studying and helping the Goddess of Taming compile information regarding the two pigs. They have little data related to these pigs, making the process of using the Almanac to check for information on how to care for them unreliable. The Almanac only contains basic information about them, making the process of properly taking care of them harder than expected.

She even tried asking the Greater Ogres about them for additional information, but even them has little information. It was great information, but Elaina has barely gotten much that would help with how they work and how their backs actually do things. She tried to compare them to the crabs she tamed for the specific reason that they grow flowers on their back, but it was not the same way for some reason. The flowers on the crabs almost last forever, while the ones on the Grower pigs work differently.

Elaina even asked the Harvest Goddess for help about this matter, and the latter is fascinated by the pigs.

"Interesting pigs, farmer. And you said they are not meant to be eaten since their flesh tasted like soil and mud?"

"That’s what the Almanac has said, not my own experience, so I can’t factually check it."

The Harvest Goddess grabs one of the pigs and checks the back of the pig that is currently growing a shrub of berries on its back. She picks one of the berries and eats it.

"Strangely enough, these fruits growing on their back are the real deal. They aren’t just mere imitations that mimic the fruits. I tried eating the fruit to see if it was poisoned or anything that could help attract smaller creatures as a way of gathering prey passively. But these fruits are the real deal. They aren’t used for attracting small prey."

Once she confirmed the berry, she also checked the whole back of the pig. Without hesitation, she strikes her fingers straight to the brown patch of skin of the pig where the plants are growing. Elaina was about to say something, but realized something seemed to be different than when she expected it.

"Interesting. Don’t worry, farmer, for doing it like that, surprisingly. But thanks to that, it seems I have a good grasp on what these brown patches of the pig’s back are and why they are there."

"What is it?" Elaina frowned.

"It was actually the excrement of these pigs, but instead of being disposed of from their butts, they pile up on their backs and became soil instead. These piles of soil on their back are humus soil, and not only that, it seems that their backs are a bit hollow enough just to be able to house a single plant that can grow big. They are walking garden pots for vegetables and small shrubby fruits."