novelraw Chapter 63 : Chapter 63
Chapter 63 : Chapter 63
Chapter 63
As we descended to the ground, Hoodwock licked his lips and asked.
“Is there no way for us to intervene?”
He said that the Orcs and the Ogre clearly didn't seem to be on good terms, and that we might have a chance of winning if we helped the Ogre from a distance.
I shook my head at his words.
“What were the Orcs wearing just now?”
“Sir?
Orcs, wearing clothes?”
Exactly.
That was the problem.
They were all wearing not a single thread, with weapons and teeth strung along tree vines.
“Think carefully.”
With the exception of one person.
“What’s there to think about, Orcs aren’t human, so there’s no way they’d wear clothes… Ah!
Only the Great Warrior was wearing leather armor!”
Even after saying it, Hoodwock tilted his head as if wondering what was so special about that.
If he knew about the Legion , there was no way he wouldn't know… Was this information not yet known?
“The easiest way to judge a monster's intelligence is by its clothes.
The smarter they are, the more they express their rank in visible ways like clothes or tattoos.”
“Sir?
Well, that might be true, but even so, isn’t it only the special ones who wear them?”
“Of course.
And everyone in the Legion is special.
It’s a war unit formed by Orcs who have been recognized as warriors among warriors.”
So.
“The ones not wearing clothes are probably legion applicants.”
“Then all those guys gathered there were?!”
“Probably not a single warrior belonging to the legion, other than the Great Warrior, was gathered there.”
In the first place, if it had been the real Orc Legion, they would never have agreed to such a pointless death.
Because they were bastards whose heads were as full of flower fields as any knight, who would risk their lives for an honorable death.
“I’ll stay up here and watch, so come back after sending off the return party.
Let’s take turns watching how it ends.”
When nothing was certain, we had to find out as much information as possible.
“It seems like they’re trying to capture the Ogre.
I don’t know why they’re doing such a pointless thing, but I need to find out where they’re locking up the Ogre.”
“Yes!
Understood!”
***
Two days had passed since the war of attrition began.
What I had found out so far was that there were at least six camps near that old castle and at least four Great Warriors.
“Looks like it’s finally about to end.”
Just as the third Great Warrior cautiously approached the Ogre, which was now dozens of times slower than before.
Crunch!
The Ogre's fist, moving at an incredible speed, crushed the third Great Warrior, then glared at the fourth Great Warrior who was far away.
After that, the tedious war of attrition resumed.
The fourth Great Warrior threw stones to provoke the Ogre, as if intending to wait until the very moment the Ogre collapsed from exhaustion.
Eventually, the Ogre, which had been swinging its arms, fell to its knees.
Seemingly exhausted to the point where it couldn't even support its own strength, the Ogre, with a contorted face, glared once more at the Great Warrior and then collapsed.
“Finally!”
This was the moment I had been waiting for.
What did they want to do by capturing the Ogre?
What was it that they wanted to obtain, even by sacrificing hundreds of Orcs?
I watched them, unable to hide my excitement, but disappointingly, they did nothing.
They simply bound the Ogre with tree vines and left it on the ground.
Having heard that the Ogre had fallen, the Great Warrior from the first day came out and shouted something, and the Orcs moved busily to transport the Ogre.
The sight of hundreds of Orcs grunting and moving the Ogre, which was the size of a small hill, was a spectacle in itself.
“So what on earth are they going to use that for?”
I could guarantee that controlling the Ogre was impossible.
As you could tell from the beast that was swinging its fists until the very end, it was not an opponent one could compromise with in the first place.
No matter how I thought about it, I couldn't guess the Orcs' intentions.
“Shall we go down for now?”
For now, I had obtained all the information I could use.
Shall we see just how precious that Ogre is?
***
“Are you ready?”
“Tail and I are ready.”
“The soldiers are also ready.”
Vergil and Tail answered in turn.
Vergil, perhaps eager with anticipation for the mission, fiddled with his bow.
“How many arrows are left?”
“If we combine them all, we have about two hundred left.”
It was far from enough.
“Tsk, should I have brought more?”
“This was the limit.
Some of the soldiers came with more arrows instead of armor.”
Watching Vergil carefully stroke the bow limb as a knight would his beloved sword, I clicked my tongue inwardly.
‘My thinking was wrong.’
I thought there would be no danger unless it was an Ogre.
That's why I had supplied them with the 'Knight Slayer', an anti-monster crossbow made from an Ogre's bones and sinews.
It was a bow developed as a knight's personal armament, but once made, it turned out it couldn't be fired without a pulley, so it was hardly ever used for monster hunting and was one of the unfortunate strategic weapons used only in wars between humans.
One more unfortunate point was that it couldn't be used without specially made arrows.
“It’s not enough, but it can’t be helped.”
The plan was simple.
While the rest of the members draw attention with bows from afar, Hoodwock and I would scout the campsite.
The moment the arrows run out, the remaining members would evacuate to the forest, and we would also immediately pull out.
“Don’t forget your respective missions.
The first is to gauge their numbers while harassing them with arrows.
And more important than that is to never engage in a full-scale battle.
Even after evacuating to the forest, do not stop until the pursuit has ceased.”
I hadn't been able to confirm, but there were surely a considerable number of elite soldiers.
It was most important to ascertain their numbers without any casualties.
“When a suitable number of troops leaves their encampment, Hoodwock and I will enter the camp, and we’ll get out on our own.”
It would be good if we found what we were looking for in the meantime, but if not, it couldn't be helped.
“The most important thing is safety.
If it gets even a little dangerous, leave the area immediately, no matter how many arrows are left.
Got it?”
After speaking, I looked at Vergil.
His face was full of determination, but I didn't feel the slightest bit of trust.
“Vergil, what’s the most important thing?”
“Survival and a safe return.”
The way he answered right away was somehow suspicious.
Wondering if entrusting the soldiers to this guy was the right choice, I warned him once more.
“Listen carefully.
If anything happens here, I’m the only one who can survive.
Even if everyone here dies, I won’t die.”
After all, I was someone who had survived even Demonkin and a Demigod.
Well, I might die if there was an overwhelming foe like a Sword Master, but otherwise, I was confident I could survive anywhere.
Above all, I had also come more than prepared.
“So if you ever need to save someone, save the soldiers first.
If we need help, we'll send a signal from our side.”
Vergil nodded.
“Then, since there’s still some time until night, tell everyone to get some good rest.
Once the mission starts, there won’t be any time to rest.”
After Hoodwock and Vergil left, I remained alone and looked up at the sky.
It was an operation I had performed thousands of times in the game.
No, even though the situation was much more favorable than in the game, my anxiety just wouldn't subside.
***
“Everyone, ready.”
As Vergil raised his hand, the soldiers simultaneously drew their bows.
“Commander, even for harassing fire, this is too far, isn't it?
We can't even see the enemy.
Shouldn't we move a little closer?”
Tail, who was looking at the old castle that appeared as a dot, asked cautiously.
No matter how long the Knight Slayer's range was, could it hit an enemy so impossibly far away that it couldn't even be seen?
It would be fortunate if the arrows even landed near the enemy.
For a moment, Vergil, who had considered moving forward as Hoodwock had said, shook his head slightly and spoke.
“We will wait here.”
The Young Lord had said that with that bow, he could hit an enemy a thousand steps away, so it would surely reach.
As he thought that, he turned back, and a soldier whose eyes met his nodded silently.
“Good.
We begin as soon as we see the signal.”
A heavy tension settled among the soldiers who were quietly nocking their arrows on the bowstrings.
***
“How is it on that side?”
At my question, Hoodwock took out the rod from his bosom, looked at the opposite side of the plain, and said.
“The main force has finished its preparations.”
“The location?”
“They have taken their positions at the planned spot.”
“The old castle?”
“There is no movement.
It seems they haven’t noticed.”
That was a given.
From the old castle, even the small ridge where Vergil was located wouldn't be visible.
“Reina?”
“She is on standby to the west.”
“Hoo……”
The preparations were complete.
“Then I'm counting on you.”
“Yes!
Just trust me, sir.”
I watched him move back after he finished speaking, and when I could no longer feel his presence, I began to advance step by step towards the old castle.
While waiting for the Great Warrior I had seen on the first day to notice.
***
Ten minutes for one step.
Another ten minutes for another step.
How many hours had passed since I started moving like that?
The old castle finally began to appear hazily, but there was no movement from it.
‘Damn it.’
He was the one who had spotted me on the tree from a place I couldn't even see without the artifact 'Bird's Eye'.
No matter how much I hid my presence, it didn't make sense that he hadn't noticed me when I had come this close.
Thinking he was a cautious one, I had moved so slowly it was annoying, but if he didn't react, I had no choice but to give up.
Even if everything else went according to plan, the operation would fail if I couldn't draw him out.
‘It's okay.
Now that I know he’s a cautious one, I can devise another strategy.’
Hiding my disappointment, the moment I stepped into the waist-high grass, a sharp aura burst forth from the old castle and rushed towards me.
“Good!”
As soon as I confirmed his aura, I turned and ran like mad, and I could feel him chasing after me even faster.
“You little bastard, you didn’t want to miss me, huh?”
To pretend not to know and turn a blind eye until now, only to react so actively the moment I was about to give up and go back.
Feeling his ever-closing presence, a smile spread across Ian's face as he ran towards the clearing he had scouted beforehand.
As expected, Orcs are at their best when they're stupid.
***
-Groooaaaar!
An Orc that fell from the sky with a fierce cry blocked my path and shouted.
“Human!
Where do you think you’re running!”
My goodness, an Orc that speaks the common language.
Just how broken is this world?
“Will you die with honor or live as a slave!”
The beast thrust its axe at me and growled.
Looking at the axe trembling with excitement and the drool dripping from his tusks, it seemed he had already made up his mind.
At that sight, I couldn't help but raise both my hands and say.
“I surrender.”
Orcs are a species that fundamentally considers death honorable.
Among them, the Orc Legion, which excels in war and battle, regards war as an honor and takes pleasure in fighting stronger opponents.
And among them, an Orc who had risen to the rank of Great Warrior would undoubtedly be one who enjoys battle.
In other words, I was a one-of-a-kind treasure to him.
“……”
The beast, who had closed and opened his eyes for a moment, spoke proudly as if he hadn't heard me.
“An excellent choice.
Raise your weapon, human.”
As expected, there was no way an Orc would want a slave.
In the first place, they probably had more slaves than several tribes combined already.
“You said you'd let me live?
I said I surrender.
Do you have a rope?
Should I tie myself up?”
At my playful voice, his crimson eyes glared as if to pierce through me.
The ferocious aura of a warrior who had lived a life steeped in conflict exploded outwards.
“I will teach you honor.”
Boom!
Before he could even finish his words, the beast raised its foot high, stomped down hard, and charged towards Ian.