Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint-Chapter 505: Even a Schoolyard Dog Learns Internal Energy in Three Years

Obeli’s plaza. Ever since Orcma seized control of the city, the square had been noisy with unrest. But now, a solemn air had settled over it. Not because Orcma had withdrawn, but because news had arrived that even Orcma could not ignore.

Even Grull, who rarely showed himself, was standing heavy with presence. The regressor stepped forward and spoke.

“The wolves have appeared.”

The regressor didn’t like standing in front of crowds. Not because he was shy, but because it was a hassle. So if he was standing in the plaza, pressing everyone like this, it meant that something beyond mere annoyance had occurred.

“The entire outpost was wiped out by wolves. The news came late because the wolves didn’t leave so much as a drop of blood behind. According to reports, a few days ago, a shepherd raised the alarm, saying he had seen a wolf.”

An outpost to the south had been completely annihilated. Several shepherds had lost their lives. Half the flock had been devoured as food for the wolves, and only after outlying settlements on Ende’s borders were attacked did anyone realize that the wolves had arrived.

Now that the enemy was right at their doorstep, the regressor swept a sharp gaze over the assembled crowd.

“You didn’t send any word at all. Do you have nothing to say for yourselves?”

The crowd’s attention turned to Urukfang. Under the weight of their collective stares, Urukfang rolled his eyes in frustration.

‘Why are they looking at me? I’m not Orcma. I was just the leader of the Fangs, Orcma’s allied mercenary group. Sure, I mostly took requests from pig beastmen in Ende, and yeah, I did help Orcma quite a bit. But don’t just shove the role of general onto me as if it’s obvious! Especially when you don’t even treat me like one!’

But mercenary groups lived on reputation. And with both the regressor and Grull watching, venting his complaints wouldn’t change anything. So, Urukfang answered obediently.

“...We did deploy when we heard about the wolves.”

“And?”

“We found neither fur nor footprints. So we concluded that the shepherd must have been mistaken.”

A heavier silence fell over the square. The crowd, now realizing where the problem lay, stared at Urukfang with wide eyes.

Anticipating this reaction, Urukfang squeezed his eyes shut.

“Are you all idiots?”

The regressor snapped.

“We knew the King of Wolves was coming, didn’t we? We planned to fight. So shouldn’t we have at least paid attention to reports of wolves? How could you dismiss a sighting without a proper investigation?”

“There was nothing there....”

“Nothing?! There was a report of a wolf sighting! If you weren’t sure, you should have at least told me or Grull!”

It wasn’t just the regressor accusing him. Even the other orcs were muttering as they looked at Urukfang. They murmured about his carelessness, about who was responsible for this mess.

Feeling wronged by the unexpected wave of criticism, Urukfang tried to deflect some of the blame.

“What was I supposed to do? My men and I have been run ragged! We’ve been guarding Obeli, hunting down nobles all night, and now you want us to patrol the entire outskirts of Ende too? Are we supposed to have ten bodies each?”

“The Obelisk Soldiers used to do it.”

“We’re a mercenary group, not the Obelisk! And it’s worse now without the Watchdogs! And who was it that locked up the Obelisk and drove out the Watchdogs in the first place? That was you!”

Oh. There it is. Until now, it had been “we.” Now it was “you.” This was the first crack in the once-united front of Orcma.

“You? You owe your position to Orcma!”

“I needed the Watchdogs and the Obelisk to actually hold that position! What am I supposed to do now? Dig my own grave? You’re treating me like a pig beastman slave!”

“That’s too far, Urukfang! We gave you freedom! This is different from the past, when we were all forced into hard labor!”

“I’m the one being forced into hard labor right now!”

Voices grew louder.

Sensing that a full-blown conflict was about to erupt, Poyna shouted,

“Stop! This is not the time for us to fight among ourselves!”

Poyna, the chairwoman of Orcma, didn’t possess any outstanding abilities or experience. But her loud, commanding voice alone was enough to silence the unruly Orcma faction. That was why she had taken the role of chairwoman and spokesperson—and now, she used that skill to full effect.

“Urukfang, please wait a little longer. We will gather the orcs of Ende and organize a new security force as soon as possible.”

Urukfang, a little calmer now, let out a deep breath and grumbled.

“Those guys won’t be useful right away. They’ll have to train for a long time before they’re worth anything.”

“It’s necessary. Our orcs have never had such an opportunity before. They need to learn and grow until they can secure their place in Ende.”

“We don’t have the manpower....”

I wasn’t sure why they were insisting on using only orcs for security, but there was no point in arguing further. Seeing that there was nothing to gain from fighting any longer, Urukfang sat down, exhaling in relief.

‘Phew. At least they’re not all blaming me now. I guess that settles it.’

He was practically a politician at this point.

Now that Urukfang had quieted down, Poyna turned to the regressor.

“Pointing fingers over past mistakes won’t solve anything. Let’s discuss our countermeasures now.”

“I agree, but coming from you, that sounds shameless.”

“...Hmph. Regardless, we have experts here who specialize in handling the King of Wolves. We should hear their opinions.”

Poyna, while pretending to mediate, subtly shifted responsibility onto the regressor. It wasn’t as complex as human politics, but it was still effective. Orcma was learning politics—though, unfortunately, they were adopting its worst aspects first.

“The hunt begins.”

Grull slowly rose from his seat.

Unlike when Urukfang had stood, a different kind of pressure weighed down on the plaza. The orcs who met his gaze instinctively shrank back in fear.

With a heavy presence, Grull spoke.

“Wolves are pack hunters. Each has a role—scouting, intimidation, herding, and killing. They harass their prey, circle around, slowly drive them into a corner, and when the time comes, they bite down on the throat and end it.”

Even if Ende’s citizens were familiar with wild beasts, they couldn’t compare to the Beast Faction, who lived among them.

“The ones that have come now are scouts. They sneak in from a distance, watch, and provoke their prey to observe its reactions. Sometimes, if the pack senses weakness—if their prey is sick or feeble—they’ll snatch a few away early. It seems Ende has been judged as weak.”

“But when the orc mercenaries went to investigate, they found no wolf tracks. Unless they’re using internal energy, how do you explain that?”

“They are using internal energy.”

Grull’s voice was firm. The orcs around him murmured in confusion.

Internal energy was a human power. Beasts, who /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ lacked reason, could not wield it. Even pig beastmen understood that as common sense. Yet, Grull had just denied it.

“What? But beasts can’t use internal energy....”

“Spiritual energy accumulates in long-lived beasts. You’ve all heard of the Wolf Lord who terrorized a vassal state, or Naema’s Lion that devoured an entire city, or Bangger’s man-eating tiger.”

“But those were simply creatures that grew stronger over time. Unlike humans, they can’t systematically cultivate internal energy.”

“What makes you think that’s impossible? I’ve seen humans dumber than wolves. Especially recently. So there’s nothing strange about wolves using internal energy.”

“But... how would wolves understand Heaven and Earth Circulation?”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

An orc who had at least a vague grasp of internal energy asked cautiously. Grull answered.

“Because the King of Beasts is there.”

“You mean the King of Wolves? The beast king in human form?”

“You’re catching on. That’s right. The King of Beasts is the bridge between humans and beasts. If the King of Wolves has learned internal energy in his own way, he could pass some of that knowledge on to his kind.”

“That’s... I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Of course not. I just said it for the first time.”

“What?”

An orc who had been listening intently let out a baffled sound. But Grull continued without care.

“Our Beast Faction has been keenly aware of the changes in wild beasts. They were always dangerous, but after forming packs, they caused less harm. Then suddenly, we began losing warriors to wolves. Even those trained in internal energy were found torn apart by claws and fangs.”

“Are you saying...?”

“Someone is training the wolves. That is the conclusion I’ve reached.”

Grull swept his gaze across the Obeli plaza before issuing a warning.

“That ‘someone’ is using the wolves to attack Ende. Even for us, who battle beasts daily, this threat forced us to send our people into hiding before coming here. If you lack the resolve, you’ll all be devoured.”

Perhaps the others didn’t notice, but those in power understood the weight of his words.

Poyna, in particular, looked deeply uncomfortable. She hesitated before speaking.

“We—we are prepared for this!”

“What preparations have you made to fight the wolves?”

“We’ve ordered the trapmaker, Kito, to set up traps. With her Unique Magic, she can deploy and maintain a field of traps without any cost. The wolves will have to break through a minefield before even reaching Ende!”

“Hmph. We’ll see how useful that is.”

Grull didn’t know much about the city, but the regressor, who had seen Kito’s abilities before, held back a grimace.

‘That won’t be useful at all. Kito’s Unique Magic, Rabbit Snare, is called a trap, but its true nature is sustaining an unstable state. It holds tension in a drawn wire for a brief time. In a complex urban setting, that might work, but out in the plains? It wouldn’t even hold a knot in a blade of grass.’

The regressor rarely remembered trivial details, but he had seen this firsthand before his regression. However, in the current timeline, he had no connection to Kito. If he acted like he knew too much, it would raise suspicion. There was no need to ruin their plan outright, so he simply stayed silent and returned to his seat.

Since neither Grull nor the regressor had anything more to say, Poyna felt as if she had successfully handled a difficult issue. In reality, she had only delayed an insurmountable problem. But with every day being a crisis, there was no time to worry about that now.

“In that case, from today onward, we will gather the orcs of Ende and train them to fight the King of Wolves. Grull, we’d like you to serve as their instructor.”

“It would be better not to have weaklings. They’ll just end up as wolf food. Bring the Watchdogs instead.”

“The Watchdogs refuse to obey. It would be better to train the pig beastmen. This is a necessary step toward standing on our own....”

“What you need is to restore order as quickly as possible and gather strength from other beastmen. Don’t dump your responsibilities on me.”

Grull drew a firm line.

Even Poyna’s commanding voice couldn’t sway him. The only reason he had attacked the Obelisk was that circumstances aligned. It wasn’t because he had been moved by Orcma’s cause. Even now, he held his own territory in Obeli, surrounded by beastmen of various kinds. And he looked upon the increasingly unruly pig beastmen with clear disapproval.

“Then....”

“Bring me the Watchdogs. You fight wolves with dogs. I’ll teach them how to fight the wolves.”

“But they... are under house arrest for aiding in the nobles’ escape.”

“So you’re just going to keep your guard dogs tied up?”

“That’s...”

Poyna trailed off.

Orcma’s power came from occupying Obeli. The citizens tacitly accepted Orcma’s rule because Grull had defeated the Obelisk. It was only natural that pig beastmen’s victories would empower their kind.

But Orcma knew the truth. Grull wasn’t on their side. He was merely an ally of convenience for the battle against the King of Wolves.

And now, they were supposed to hand weapons to the Watchdogs and send them to Grull? What if, before fighting the wolves, they decided to reclaim Obeli for its original rulers?

“Do it.”

Grull made his demand clear.

Poyna had no choice but to nod.

The meeting was drawing to a close, yet no real solutions had been reached. On the contrary, more problems had piled up.

As everyone looked at the endless stack of issues, a realization settled in.

Orcma’s government had come into power through a delicate balance. But it wasn’t functioning properly.

The sweetness of victory was fading, and the weight of reality was closing in.

Doubt spread among the orcs. Was this truly sustainable?

And then, that unease became reality.

An orc burst into the plaza, panting too hard to even catch his breath.

“Poyna! This is bad!”

“We are in a meeting. Unless it’s urgent, it can wait—”

Updated from freewёbnoνel.com.

“The horse beastmen are fleeing Ende all at once!”