"Oh, I see it! I see it...!"
Is that... a worm? No, a Earth Dragon? The thickness is different.
The thing kickng up that massive trail of dust seems to be a dragon that lives underground—a Earth Dragon. That said, it's not exactly what you'd call a "classic dragon." It's more like a giant earthworm. It's a species of dragon that spends its life tunneling through the earth, though occasionally, an individual pops up to the surface to find a snack.
Nice! A lucky find! This is going to be an easy hunt.
Unlike the common worms, these guys don't swarm; they're usually solo. Plus, because they likely retreated underground to escape surface predators, they're actually quite weak. If I really wanted to, I could probably take one down by myself. Some of them set ant-lion-style traps, but today's specimen is just running around energetically in the open. Its body might be huge and its attack power high, but if its skin is soft, it's just "prey" to us!
"Flock! Circle around! This way!"
"""This way!"""
There's only one rule: never pick a fight from the front. Its mouth is big enough to swallow a luxury mansion whole. Therefore, challenging it head-on is the act of a total moron—the kind of "idiot ostrich" that has forgotten its wild instincts. A smart ostrich bypasses the front and launches a total assault on the soft flank of the body. Once you tear through there, the match is over.
One half of the body might try to ditch the other and escape into the earth like a lizard dropping its tail, but even one half is more than enough to fill the bellies of the entire flock.
To set an example for the ostriches following behind, I spread my wings and tilt sharply to the right. The dust cloud is so thick I still can't see what the dragon is chasing, but there are no obstacles nearby. It'll have to keep moving in a straight line. At first, I thought it might be chasing one of our kind, but the escape speed seems a bit too slow for an ostrich. I'll have to stay sharp to avoid an ambush even after we take the dragon down.
I shift my direction to line up with the target's flank, then bank left at the exact moment our speeds synchronize.
Alright, the rest is on auto-battle!
"CHARGE!!!"
"""WAAAAAAAH!!!"""
Following the principle of "the commander leads from the front," I spearhead the assault.
The distance between us shrinks rapidly. Just as I predicted, when we make contact, the dragon's soft underbelly is right there. All I have to do is deliver a kick with everything I've got, and my job is done. I can leave the rest to my lovable idiots. Now, time to check the dragon's movement.
Using the recoil of my kick to leap into the air, I drift backward, watching the flock begin their coordinated assault from above. They may be fools, but they aren't so stupid that they've lost their predatory edge. If an enemy is in front of them, they'll keep attacking until it stops moving, and if they take a nasty counterattack, they know enough to retreat.
However, if one bird retreats, the others usually follow suit out of habit. If that happens, the battle line collapses instantly. As their "brain," I have to keep a sharp eye on the timing and the point of withdrawal.
I land behind the flock, out of their immediate line of sight, positioned so I can monitor both the dragon and my group.
(It should be fine, but some individuals are fast enough to counterattack...)
The speed at which an ostrich can bisect an enemy's torso is generally faster than the enemy's reaction time. With our base specs, the speed bonus from the charge, and our sheer numbers, even a monster that could swallow a house isn't scary. But the only two things these lovable idiots understand are "Charge" and "Retreat." If it looks like we're going to take casualties, I have to call for an immediate withdrawal and pivot to the next plan...
"Oh, looks like we're good this time. Talk about luck!"
My worries were for nothing. Before me lay the Earth Dragon, torn in two. It looked like the lower half was retreating, burrowing into the ground while kicking up a fresh cloud of dust. Oops, I better give the signal to gather, or they'll scatter. I let out a loud cry to alert them to my presence in the rear, drawing them away from the prey for a moment. If I don't do this, some of them will literally wander off to the horizon...
I praise the blood-stained efforts of my comrades in simple terms, lightly patting a few of them on the back. Man, they got filthy. We'll have to move to the river later. Whoa, okay, I get that you're happy to be praised, but don't rub your bloody bodies against me! I get it! We'll go for a soak after we eat!
If this were a human group, we could split up tasks, but with these guys, the moment they leave my sight, they forget everything. It's a real pain that the whole group has to move as one every single time.
"Anyway, good job. I'm going to check on whatever was being chased."
"Food?"
"Is it food?"
"Eat?"
"Big one!"
"That comes later! Alright, follow me!"
Leaving the giant Earth Dragon carcass behind for a moment, I head toward the front where the chase was happening. The dragon had likely braked hard when we attacked; the cross-section of its body looked like it had been gouged out diagonally. The cut was decent, but given that we attacked while it was in pursuit, there was a chance the prey had already been crushed...
"Right about this distance. STOP!"
"Stop?"
"Stop!"
"Stopped!"
"Am I good?"
"Yes, yes, you're a very good bird. Now, there might be someone here, so SEARCH!"
When I shout that, they all start looking around, chanting "Search? Search! Searching!" They'll forget the order in a few seconds, but if I can get them to shift their gaze during those few seconds, that's enough. Even if they don't know why they're looking that way, they'll shout if they find something.
Now, what will we find? I hope it's tasty prey. The others don't seem to care, but Earth Dragon meat isn't exactly a delicacy for me. There's a lot of it, and it's filling, but the flavor is a bit... heavy. Living in the dirt probably means they don't eat anything high-quality. Sigh. I miss Earth supermarkets.
I was hoping for those caterpillars. They don't live around here, so it's a slim chance, but their meat is creamy and delicious. You can't eat them raw, but if you grill them and sprinkle on some crushed rock salt, they're amazing. Then again, salt itself is a miracle. By the way, we Ostrich Beastmen have stomachs made of iron; we can digest basically anything. Hyper-omnivores. You could say we wouldn't survive here otherwise.
(It's better now that we can hunt as a group, but things were pretty tight in the beginning. Our calorie consumption is insane.)
While I'm daydreaming about hypothetical gourmet meals, a cry goes up from an ostrich looking in the direction the dragon was heading. They found something—and it's actually quite close. It was right where anyone would have found it if they just looked. Are my eyes failing me?
Taking a closer look, I see what looks like human heads. There are several of them, but... they aren't very big. They're about the size of a pre-adult ostrich, or a well-grown child.
Is it that? I'd crossed "Ostrich" off the list because the speed was too slow, but maybe they're just young ones? Maybe some chicks got separated from their parents and were running from the dragon? Well, in my flock, I know everyone's face, so no one gets lost, but in other flocks, they sometimes forget their own children even exist.
"Stopped for some reason and before they knew it, they were alone. Yeah, that happens. Guess we'll take them in."
"Nakama (Friend)?"
"Oh, you figured it out? Yeah, new friends. I think they're kids, so be nice to them."
"Okay!"
Chatting with the ostrich girl who walked up to me, I move toward the children. I don't know how long they've been lost, but this environment isn't kind enough to let kids survive on their own. They probably haven't eaten anything; I'll have to give them some meat. Little ones need to eat! Eat up and become part of our flock's strength!
"Nakama! Nakama!"
"Friends, indeed."
Ah, but I wonder if I'm increasing our numbers too much? Thanks to running around this plateau for ten years, I've surveyed the hunting grounds. I have a rotation mapped out in my head that shouldn't disrupt the ecosystem's balance for years. I can live off this info for a while, but eventually, we'll hit a limit. I'm constantly scouting new grounds, so we won't starve, but a leader should always keep that possibility in mind.
(Our Engel coefficient—the percentage of income spent on food—is through the roof...)
Usually, we form flocks of a dozen or so, but with over a hundred of us gathered in one place, breeding results in a proportionate number of couples. An ostrich lays about 4 to 5 eggs at a time, and we Ostrich Beastmen are about the same. Normally, parents forget to incubate them or predators raid the nests, so the numbers stay low. But in this large flock under my direction, our hatching rate is abnormally high.
As a result, my flock has a huge number of children. I mean, even the kids are strong enough to be useful in a fight, but the food prep... It's fine for now, but when the current kids start breeding, the population is going to explode. It's not a bad thing, but as the one responsible for the flock, I have the duty to keep everyone's belly full.
Well, with their brains, they won't have a single worry in the world.
(Anyway, the Earth Dragon should fill most of them up. It was making a lot of noise, so other monsters should have fled. We have time to let the newcomers recover, then move to the next hunting ground...)
"Nakama! Nakama! Naka... ma?"
"Hm? What's wrong... WHAAAT?!!!"
The voice of the ostrich girl next to me turned into a question, snapping my consciousness back to reality.
Lying on the ground before me were creatures with arms instead of wings. Creatures wearing clothes and carrying weapons clearly made under some form of civilization. There was no doubt about it.
They were Humans.
Humans. Not my kind—actual humans. For ten years, I had been searching for this!
"Wait, HOLYYYY—!!! AND THERE'S ONE WITH LONG EARS TOO!!!!!"
"Pya!"
"Ah, sorry. I scared you. There, there."
"Ehehe~"
"So... you guys are... humans, right?"
"Y-Yes."
"Indeed."
"Yeah..."
YESSSSSSSSSSS!!! Alright! Alright! Alright! An encounter with a civilized race! And they speak the same language! YES! I'm so lucky! I'm the best! Worship me! I am the Leader of the Ostriches! Basically the Ostrich King! The Queen! Invincible! Kyaaaa!
I found myself jumping for joy, clenching both wings. The civilized folk just stared at me blankly. Well, yeah! I get it! You think you were about to be eaten by a dragon, then you wake up by a river having water splashed on you! But try to see it from my side! I've been living a primitive life taking care of these idiots for ten years! I'm allowed to celebrate!
Hey, you lot! It's a festival! A feast! You worked hard dragging that dragon meat all the way here! Eat all you want! We don't have booze, but we have water! Drink and eat until you burst! The more noise we make, the more the other monsters will stay away!!!
"Food?"
"Food!"
"Food! Food!"
At my voice, the flock swarms the Earth Dragon carcass. A woman with long ears—likely an Elf—is looking at my people like she's seeing something impossible. Cut us some slack, lady. We don't have hands, so we have to bite directly. I'm the only one who can start a fire, so eating raw is the norm. It takes some guts at first... but you get used to it! Eventually, your heart stops feeling anything!
"I... I see..."
Ah, are you guys hungry? Wait a sec, let me carve some—actually, I can't. If I give these guys a complicated order, they'll forget halfway through! Hey, move it! I'm carving the meat!
I nudge my kin aside, use their shoulders for leverage, and leap into the air. I aim at a fresh part of the Earth Dragon and deliver a full-power kick. The trick is to use the claws at the tips of the toes. My leg, snapping like a whip, leaves four clean lines, carving out a chunk of meat a bit too large for three humans. I catch it with my wing and present it to them.
"Sorry about that! I did it with my foot, so the outside is a bit messy, but the inside is clean! Oh, do you want me to start a fire? You probably can't eat it unless it's grilled, right?"
"Ah, no. Don't worry about us..."
They turned me down, saying they had rations. Oh, really? Wait, your faces are looking a bit pale... ah, right. Civilized people probably don't eat giant earthworms. Since this is a fantasy world and they came all the way out here where there's no trace of civilization, I thought they might be hardcore.
Well now, my apologies! ...Hm? What is it, my little lovable idiot? Oh, you want to eat this? Go ahead.
"Yay!"
The moment I give permission, she dives face-first into the chunk of meat. Blood and meat scraps fly everywhere. It's a sight I'm long used to, but for civilized people, it must be a bit much. Seriously, sorry. We aren't smart enough to make pretty clothes or cool tools like you guys. No matter how much I try to teach them, they're just too... you know?
"Ah, no. Truly. It's fine... S-So. Who are you?"
"Me? I'm the leader of this flock..."
The first question I've been asked since I entered this body. A question where a single sentence clearly carries multiple layers of meaning. Oh, it's amazing. We're having a civilized conversation. It's not just throwing single words like "Food!" at each other! For the first time in this life, I've been asked a proper question! Conversation! I'm conversing! Oh no, I think I'm gonna cry...
"Are you okay?"
"Are you okay?"
"Enemy?"
"No, no, I'm fine. Also, these people are friends. Got it? Don't attack them."
I got a bit too emotional and started crying, which made some of my kin come over out of worry. The more hot-blooded ones were already trying to label our guests as enemies. No, I'm just crying because I'm happy. They aren't the same race, so you might be confused, but they're friends. Don't attack.
"Nakama!"
"Nakama?"
"Naka... ma?"
"Friends, friends. Be nice."
The moment I said that, they forgot they were about to attack and started nuzzling the guests. Though, their faces are bright red from eating raw meat. Ah, stop! Don't rub your cheeks like that—ohhh boy...
Before I could stop her, one of our females started nuzzling the Elf woman. Maybe the scent of a non-ostrich human was rare; she seemed to have taken a liking to it. She was happily rubbing her body against her, murmuring "Ehehe." If you just heard the sound, it would be a cute scene. But the Elf's face was turning beet red...
S-Sorry, okay? Our brains are a bit behind a three-year-old's. We really don't mean any harm. Oh, and please don't attack them, even if it's annoying. Right now they've flagged you as "allies/slightly different kin," but if you turn hostile, they'll all start kicking you until I tell them to stop...
"I-I understand..."
"Anyway, sorry for the interruption. Again, we are Ostriches. And I am the one leading this flock. As for a name... I didn't have a use for one, so I don't have one. I'll think of something later. I'm the only ostrich here you can actually talk to, you know?"
"I... I see."
The man who seemed to be the leader of the trio replied. It looked like two men and one woman. The Elf was dressed like a mage, the leader had a sword, and the other man had a dagger. Are they... Adventurers? That classic isekai occupation!
"First, allow us to thank you for saving us."
"No, don't mention it! To us, it was just our usual hunting! Don't worry about it~."
Truly, they didn't need to care. We approached to scavenge if it was a monster fight, or to expand the flock if it was kin. As I thought earlier, more numbers mean more food problems, but it also means we can hunt prey we couldn't before.
This plateau is harsh, but rich. We'll need to find new hunting grounds, but with our legs, it's no trouble at all. Protecting three people is easy. In fact, I'm the one who wants to thank them. I finally found out that there are other humanoids in this world besides ostriches! And we can talk!!! Nothing could make me happier.
"Oh! Then, I don't know if this counts as a return favor, but! Could you guys introduce yourselves? Like, tell me where you came from! Around here, we're the only 'Humans? Beastmen? Birdmen?' around! I really want to know that stuff!"
[The Multiplying Ostriches]
A problem that is becoming quite serious. It's manageable for now, but if measures aren't taken, things could get ugly. Normally, when plants or animals reproduce, the number of offspring is inversely proportional to the organism's "strength." Weaker individuals consume more energy to produce more offspring to ensure the species survives.
Ostrich Beastmen are no exception. Normally, due to their lack of brains and numerous predators, they lay 4 to 5 eggs per cycle just to keep the species going. They evolved to lay this many.
However, because of a single "bug" (the protagonist), they gained a genius-level (relatively) commander. They now flock in massive numbers and can protect themselves from predators. While a normal flock might incubate a dozen eggs, this group is currently incubating nearly a hundred. Even if they don't all hatch, the survival rate is astronomical compared to the past.
This "buff" will be lost the moment she dies... but until then, there's no telling how much the population will grow. When the current "chicks" reach adulthood and start breeding, something major is bound to happen. The population will increase exponentially.
If she had never discovered other humans, she likely would have assumed they were the only intelligent race and focused on splitting the flock to ensure their survival after her death. What would follow is... War. A war between humans trying to deal with the ostriches for survival, and the overpopulated ostriches who just want to find more food. Not a Great Emu War, but a Great Ostrich War.
Humanity possesses many individuals with "Special War Potential," but in a battle of average strength and sheer numbers, the advantage would go to the ostriches. Since ostriches lack the civilization to build tools or ships to cross oceans, humanity wouldn't be wiped out, but there is a very real possibility of an entire continent being occupied by ostriches.