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Northwest of the Orc settlement. The 4 members of Dark Night’s Star were fighting against the Orcs.
「Bumoo~!」
Blocking the Orc’s sword with a shield, a stab was sent out, piercing the Orc’s throat.
The Orc, who’s throat was pierced, fell to the ground with it’s neck partially severed.
「Seriously, there’s no end. Al, Sunyi, it’s safe!」
Swinging the sword that cut the throat of the Orc to get rid of the blood and flesh that was stuck to the tip, Seryl called out to two people nearby.
「I’m still okay.」
「No problems here either……Sis, two Orcs ahead!」
While getting Seryl’s attention, she pulled her bow back and shot an arrow.
「Bugi~!?」
An Orc that had approached under the cover of darkness was pierced by several arrows, shot in quick succession by Sunyi.
「Anyway, the first attack was in the east, so not many Orc will come to the north west area we’re in charge of. Al, you can deal with the Orc with the arrows.」
「I understand!」
Ordinary Orcs are basically not equipped with protective gear like armour. Though it’s not that difficult to obtain armour, the biggest reason was the Orc’s body. They had muscles with strength several times of a normal person. They also had a thick layer of fat covering them. Let alone an ordinary sword, it’s difficult to pierce through the fat even if they were stabbed with a spear.
It was similar with Sunyi’s arrows. At first glance, the Orc that had been struck by a large amount of arrows may look like it had been turned into a hedgehog, but the arrows had been stopped at the fat and hadn’t done any fatal damage.
However, the arrows that had pierced it’s body would become an obstruction to movement, making it unable to move for a moment.
「Go to hell, you fake pig!」
Finding a chance to strike, Al put his weight behind his bastard sword and hammered in a blow to the body of the Orc.
「Bumoo~」
Though the Orc tried to block the sword from hitting it, the arrows prevented it from moving and and his body received a deep cut.
Rather than a cut it, it was more of a chop, the Orc that had lost the lower half of his body, fell to the ground silently, blood and entrails spilling on to the ground.
「Haa, haa, haa」
Al, who took down the Orc, stabbed his sword into the ground to support his body, he started to fix his rough breathing.
Al was originally a D rank adventurer, against the D rank monster Orc, he had the ability to fight one on his own, one way or another. However, that’s merely a 1 on 1, if it was repeated battles, naturally, his physical strength would be drained.
「Sister, shouldn’t we take a break?」
Sunyi saw Al’s state and advised Seryl, Seryl knit her eyebrows and quickly pierced the head of the remaining Orc.
Though her breathing rate had gone up, she still had strength to spare, showing the difference in ability between the C rank Seryl and the D rank Al.
「Yeah. Al’s having a little difficulty……even then, it’s hard to find that rookie among the crowd of Orcs. Any reports from Murgas?」
Sunyi shook her head at Seryl’s words.
Murgas was literally running around the settlement at this time, looking for the appearance of Rei. Though Murgas was a coward, with Seryl’s threats, Al’s soothing and Sunyi’s persuasion, he agreed to do it this once, in other words, finding Rei’s mobile unit in the Orc settlement once the night attack started, if things went well, the only thing they had to do was to steal the item box. But they couldn’t launch a surprise attack, they could only move when they knew where Rei was, Seryl thought. Because of that, they were unwillingly fighting Orcs here.
After all, it should have been much easier as the main combat force was focused on the East of the settlement, in the opposite direction of where they were. And yet, they were attacked by a considerable number of Orcs for some reason. Because of that, they had there hands full with the situation.
In fact, there was a problem with the party composition of Dark Star. Though they were originally a 4 person party, without Murgas, the thief, they only had 3 people. Two of them were women. Seryl was in her 30’s and Sunyi was in her 20’s, they could be said to be at a woman’s prime. Naturally, they stimulated the sexual desire of the Orcs that saw their appearance. After all, since the settlement was established, they only had two human women for breeding, which they encountered while moving.
As a result, several Orcs went against the order of the high ranking species and attacked Dark Night’s Star. Other Orcs who found the friends fighting Dark Night’s Star also followed their sexual desires……leading to the current situation.
「It can’t be helped. We’ll hide from the Orcs in that ragged hut. Al should fix his breathing.」
「Haa, haa, haa. ……I-I’m sorry.」
「Look, seriously. It’s because you have so much trouble with things like Orcs that you’re still a D rank.」
Seryl covered Al, who was dragging his feet, to an Orc building which hadn’t caught fire. Sunyi followed at the rear, keeping watch of the surroundings. And at last, the three people were able to take a break.
「Really, those Orcs are really bothersome aren’t they. If only they didn’t come here in such large numbers, this time we might be able to find that rookie.」
「Big sis, shouldn’t we postpone taking the item box for now and focus on the Orc subjugation quest?」
Al, who finally fixed his breath, called out to Seryl, however, he was met with scowling eyes.
「Oh, Al. Do you have a complaint with what I’m doing?」
「No, but why not? What if in the off chance we’re caught by an Orc halfway through fighting?」
「Hmph, we’ll escape straight to the Imperial Capital after stealing the item box. I don’t care what happens to the city of Gilm.」
At this time, ignoring Al, Seryl was also quite fatigued. She had fought Orcs with eyes looking at her with sexual desire for too long. Even if she was a C rank adventurer, the mental fatigue had piled up. Because of that, she had carelessly revealed her true intentions.
「Big sis, now what?」
Al asked Seryl in a slightly low voice.
「Ah? What I said about the city of Gilm? I meant what I said. Why would you even care about the city of Gilm when we get to the Imperial Capital after this is done? I said this before, but knights from the Imperial Capital will come if this subjugation force is defeated. Though there might be some damage, it will be resolved somehow.」
「……Certainly, but that might not be so……」
As Al was starting to become more vehement, Sunyi, who was watching from the table, gave a short cry.
「Big sis, Murgas is back.」
「Really! Right, keep watch Sunyi. I want to hear the news when Murgas comes in. Al, the talk with you will be postponed. Obey my orders for now.」
「……Ah.」
Al gave a reluctant nod as Murgas simultaneously entered the building.
「Big sis, sorry to keep you waiting.」
「Seriously, I’ve been waiting a while. So, have you found the rookie?」
「Yes, somehow. As he’s a guerrilla unit, he comes down to fight the Orcs. He defeated some Orcs which were sneaking round to the rear of Axe of the Thunder God in the East a little while ago. Though the group was lead by an Orc Mage, it was blown away by the Griffon.」
Seryl frowned her eyebrows at those words. Because Seryl’s group was aiming for the item box, naturally, they wanted Rei in the same group as them. This was because the surprise attack could then be carried out at any time. However, because they had said that the Griffon couldn’t be relied on during the previous night, Rei ended up becoming a mobile unit.
……Moreover, several other adventurer parties had wanted Rei to be a mobile unit while a member that had fed Set, made a direct appeal to Hobbes for Rei to work with them
「So, is the rookie still at the East, behind Axe of the Thunder God?」
If that was so, it would be difficult to attack, but as Seryl was thinking so, Murgas gave an unexpected reply.
「About that, he seems to be tired out from the continuous fighting and came down to take a break where the fire hasn’t spread. I thought that we maybe able to attack, which is why I returned.」
「……Heh. In a place that the fire hasn’t spread. By the way, are there any Orcs or subjugation force members in the vicinity?」
「There’s no problem there. There are no subjugation force members close to the rookie and I only saw a few Orcs on the way back.」
「Then, how about the Griffon?」
After all, the most difficult thing to deal with when attacking Rei was the Griffon. Even if the members of Dark Night’s Star, including herself, went all out, Seryl didn’t feel that there was even the smallest chance of beating the Griffon in a fight.
However, the answer from Murgas was also unexpected.
「About that, it seems he let the Griffon return to the sky as a guerrilla unit. That’s why I returned now.」
「……I see, it surely is a clear once in a lifetime chance. While he’s taking a break, he leaves the guerrilla attacks to the Griffon to keep acquiring achievements. He’s an idiot. He’ll lose his life from being too greedy.」
TL Note: -_-
Grinning, a smile floated onto her face as she thought about managing her future. She quickly settled down and spoke up.
「Listen up, first, we’ll all attack the rookie. However, Sunyi will strike preemptively with arrows. Though if possible, aim for the head to kill him instantly, I don’t mind if you hit the body or limbs either.」
「Big sis, are you making light of my weapon? The rookie only just registered with the guild, I’ll take him out in one shot.」
While Sunyi, who was standing at the entrance, puffed up her cheeks to complain, Seryl gave a small shake of her head.
「You seem to have forgotten, the rookie has the ability to defeat the Claws of the Hawk by himself. Being careless is a mistake.」
「……I understand.」
「Good girl. So, when we confirm Sunyi has hit with the arrow, we all dash in and attack. Kill him there if possible. If it takes some time, Hobbes will know we’ve moved.」
「So, the Imperial Capital after that?」
「Ah. Because the carriages and warhorses are gathered with Hobbes, if possible, Murgas and Sunyi will grab four warhorses without being noticed. At the very least we need 2. Warhorses won’t collapse on the way and we can run full speed to the capital after that. ……Well, if we can take a warhorse then we won’t have to worry about pursuers for a while, though we’ll likely have to substitute horses in an emergency……indeed, it will be impossible for Hobbes to not miss us.」
「Though we’ll be able to get to the Imperial Capital in a few days, what about food?」
「There’s enough in the item box. If there’s no food in it, we can sell off items in it in villages along the way and buy food with the money.」
「Sister, even if we can get to the Imperial Capital, do we have the connections to sell off the item box?」
To Sunyi’s voice, which came from the entrance, Seryl nodded with a smile.
「Ah. I was previously in the care of of a person in the city of Gilm who was in an organization related to that. Naturally, I know his address.」
「Right, big sis. Then we’ll carry out the surprise attack on the rook before he finishes his break.」
「Ah. Murgas, we’ll need you to guide us. As for Al and Sunyi, don’t get found by the Orcs.」
Thus, Dark Night’s Star’s once in a lifetime gamble was started this night.
Moreover, it was a gamble that Seryl had recognised as already won.
In this case, if Murgas had told Seryl there was a possibility he could use magic, the result of Dark Night’s Star’s attack might have been different. However, Murgas didn’t have any information that Rei could use magic at all, he hardly knew the ecology of a Griffon either and thought that it might have been the peculiar ability of the Griffon to burn all the Orcs except the Orc Mage.
There was a place in the Orc settlement with a single person. Rei took a break at a place where the fire hadn’t spread. ……Even if was barely, he disguised himself to look as if he was taking a break. That was correct.
The figure of Set couldn’t been seen nearby either. Though the purpose was to trap Dark Night’s Star, who were aiming for him, he couldn’t neglect the guerrilla attacks for the other fights occurring in the Orc settlement.
(In addition, I can’t overlook the chance to make contributions to the guild.)
Rei murmured in his mind. Speaking only in this regard, Seryl’s thoughts were correct.
And……
(They’ve finally appeared)
He had a chiri~ chiri~ feeling. It was the same feeling he had when fighting the Queen Ant and Goblin rare, however, the monsters gave a much purer feeling, the feeling he had right now was clouded with greed. That is……blood lust.
Subtly putting strength into the Death Scythe he was holding, he made his preparations inside the Dragon Robe so to not be seen and readied himself to fight back at any time.
Though they had moved so as to not be found by Rei, his five senses exceeded that of an ordinary person and could hear the sounds of Dark Night’s Star encircling him, with his 6th sense, he could also roughly feel the blood lust.
And he heard a kiri~ kiri~ sound, the sound of a bow drawn to its full extent.
(I see. It’s a preemptive strike with the bow. Then……）
Thinking out a plan to deal with the fools attacking him……the next moment, the arrow was fired!
