Chapter 52 | I, the Ogre

...

“What on earth is going on...”

Only after making several turns through the labyrinthine sewers and ensuring no one was following did Ogre finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Only now did he have the time to reflect on everything that had just occurred.

‘Is it Viscount Border... No, it shouldn't be him. He wouldn't offer up leverage against himself at a time like this...’

Ogre's first thought was the family of that blue-haired Knight, but he immediately dismissed the idea...

Ogre then thought of other nobles.

‘Then, is it Border's rivals... No, although those nobles are greedy, they aren't fools. There are still so many mysteries surrounding me; even if they wanted to frame me, they wouldn't use such a crude method.’

But he quickly dismissed this thought as well.

Ogre knew that although those nobles were greedy, they were absolutely not stupid.

True fools were not qualified to take over a family.

Did anyone honestly think nobles had so many children just for fun? Anyone who took them for mere idiots would only end up suffering for it.

“As for the other nobles who weren't even present, it's even less likely they're involved in this...”

The timeframe was too short. There actually weren't many people who could target Ogre so quickly.

“It's also impossible for either of the two major churches to strike at me for no reason...”

Ogre ruled out the two major churches as well.

The archer who had made the move was clearly not part of either system.

Neither of the two churches saw eye to eye with the nobility; they mainly sought to win over commoners and powerless illegitimate children.

No matter how they looked at it, there was no need for them to curry favor with any of the noble factions—not even a Count had the ability to make them do so.

“Someone from the arena? That doesn't seem likely either. They have no reason to spark this incident...”

The arena management was probably the last group that wanted this matter to blow up, as it would directly hurt their interests.

Ogre felt that the arena's most desired outcome would be to let things cool down first.

Only after everything became clear would they step in to smooth things over or offer a favor.

Even if they did nothing, that was still far more probable than them starting trouble.

“The person who attacked... didn't want to kill me. Tch.”

Ogre noticed an interesting point: the opponent was fully capable of directly attacking him before framing him.

Why did they have to kill the servant first?

They could have easily dealt with that afterward.

“They wanted to provoke me...”

When faced with an emergency, people rarely thought things through completely.

Even Ogre, at that moment, had immediately thought of the nobles.

“What if they mistook my performance in the arena for hot-headedness?”

Under those circumstances, if he had truly resisted the way he did in the arena...

That was likely exactly what they wanted.

“It seems they want to use me. That leaves very few candidates. To act so quickly, those with such high levels of information are even fewer.”

Even his escape might have been within their calculations.

It was just that they probably hadn't expected Ogre to dive straight into the sewers so decisively.

“They want me to cause a scene, huh...”

A vague answer began to form in Ogre's mind.

He began to play out the scenario.

“So, who would benefit the most from this...”

“The Professionals Association... No, that's not right. It should be someone associated with the Professionals Association.”

“Imperial law... There are quite a few people who can pin a charge on me so directly. If it wasn't the City Guard, then who else? Let me think...”

If he made a scene, only a handful of people would actually stand to gain.

For instance, the city lord sent by the Empire. He had a massive headache dealing with those nobles, so he would definitely be happy to make trouble for them if given the chance.

But he couldn't possibly have acted this quickly.

What if it were someone from the Professionals Association?

What would they gain? They could gain his loyalty after he was backed into a corner...

The potential he had displayed was obvious to everyone.

It was hard to say that no one had designs on him.

But this had happened far too fast...

It didn't look like a carefully thought-out plan.

This seemed more like the work of some restless underlings of an influential figure, looking to muddy the waters.

“It must be someone I don't know...”

Ogre felt that this was highly likely the spontaneous idea of some underlings of a prominent figure...

This underhanded method was essentially no different from the tricks played by street ruffians.

Although he had used his enhanced vision to spot some general characteristics of the other party's attire, the archer had clearly come prepared.

It was hard to say if that information would be of any use.

“Nasty little pests indeed...” Ogre patted his forehead and sighed.

Even though he had figured it out, he still felt this matter was exceptionally troublesome.

Sometimes, human society wasn't much better than the Forest of Monsters—as long as you tried every means to climb up, you would always encounter mysterious obstacles.

Sometimes, during the process of climbing upward, the truly difficult hurdles to overcome were not the high-and-mighty figures, but the petty lackeys beneath them.

Just as goblins never worried about a dragon threatening them, they were probably more afraid of the ogres in the middle of the forest.

Just as a dragon would never worry about a goblin climbing to its level.

A dragon's only opponents were dragon slayers.

But a hybrid dragon had many rivals...

“It's too complicated... It seems I have to return to the Forest of Monsters for a while.”

Ogre had only correctly anticipated the thoughts of some nobles.

In such a short time, he could not, and it was impossible to, predict everyone's thoughts.

Even if the timeframe were extended, Ogre still wouldn't be able to do it.

“I guess I can't go back,” Ogre sighed helplessly.

In any case, after this incident, going home was definitely out of the question. Going back now would be no different from walking straight into a trap.

“Forget it. Since I've already escaped, one more trouble won't make a difference. Ultimately, it's still because my strength is lacking.”

Since it wasn't the work of some high-profile figure, Ogre naturally didn't have to worry about subsequent trouble.

This incident would probably spread throughout the city.

“I never expected that one day I'd become the center of a vortex. Though it looks like I'm going to disappoint some people,” Ogre laughed self-mockingly.

He then pulled out the Dandelion Badge he had just obtained earlier—it was the greatest wealth he possessed.

“Thankfully, I was decisive enough to exchange the money first.”

As long as the money was in hand, other problems didn't seem so significant anymore.

As for the gold coins accumulated back home, Ogre could only helplessly abandon them. In any case, compared to the over three thousand six hundred gold coins on his person, that little money was nothing.