Chapter 18: The enemy of the enemy has begun moving, but preparations continue anyway
The female adventurer who surrendered to the Orcs without resistance was bound with vines instead of rope and taken away.
The young Noble Orc had a vulgar smile on his face, pulling on the end of the vine as if she were his pet dog. The monsters following his command were also laughing.
They were likely happy because while this woman acted as a plaything for their master, their master's mood would be improved.
And so the female adventurer was dragged along by the Noble Orc and taken into the Orc Kingdom that his father had established.
Even though she would soon be forced to start giving birth to monsters until she died, the female adventurer had no expression on her face. However, nobody noticed this, even the Noble Orc himself.
It was impossible for monsters to read the detailed facial expressions of humans, and the Noble Orc had no interest at all in the woman's facial expression to begin with.
An oval-faced man sat deeply in his chair with his eyes closed, looking as if he was sleeping. Suddenly, his eyelids flew open and he pressed a handkerchief to his mouth.
「Oh, how repulsive…」
The bloody-smelling breath of Orcs, the laughter of Goblins, the cunning Kobolds. To top it all off, the pigs who were under the impression that they were high-class creatures. And, of course, the women who were being treated like cattle, unable to die even if they wanted to.
The man had been prepared to see this; he had known what he was being requested to do. Even so, he struggled to contain his nausea.
「Are you alright, Luciliano-dono?」
「Nothing to worry about. Uegh… More importantly, steward-dono, please call for the viscount. I have something to report.」
「Certainly; I will summon the master. I am terribly sorry, but please wait while I do so, Luciliano-dono.」
The butler, who apparently had happened to come by to check up on things, made a cup of fragrant black tea before leaving the room. It was likely an act of consideration, offering Luciliano some tea to ease his nausea while waiting for the master.
With the wonderful aroma of the black tea filling his nostrils, Luciliano felt the disgusting scenery that had been burned into his mind start to fade away. He was careful not to forget it, however, as it was his job to remember it.
「Your reconnaissance succeeded?!」
Shouting loudly about this top-secret request, a handlebar mustache entered the room. No, a nobleman with a handlebar mustache entered the room. Quickly putting his cup down, Luciliano gave the nobleman a bow.
「I will now report, Viscount Berno Balchesse.」
This nobleman, Viscount Berno Balchesse, was the lord of this region and the one who had hired Luciliano.
He appeared to be a smart nobleman in the prime years of his life with no outstanding characteristics other than his magnificent handlebar mustache; he was not an incompetent man. He was your typical nobleman.
「My Live-Dead has safely infiltrated the Orc village.」
Live-Dead. This is a special kind of Undead… no, a creature classified as an Undead, created using life-attribute magic.
It is created by casting a spell on a fresh corpse whose heartbeat and respiration have only just stopped, restarting its biological functions.
Though its heart and lungs move, it is classified as an Undead because it does not have a soul, but it looks no different from a living creature. It is warm to the touch and one can detect signs of life from it using magic. It does appear to be an expressionless, flat-toned person, however.
Its only drawback is that the spell is directly granting life to the body, so it still requires food and sleep. Also, unlike Undead, it is affected by poison and illness.
Viscount Balchesse had hired Luciliano to use this Live-Dead as a familiar and borrow its five senses to confirm whether the rumors were true or not.
The rumors that were drifting among the adventurers… The rumors of a powerful monster haunting the forest-like Devil's Nest that was further away from the town.
For some time, adventurers venturing to the distant forest-like Devil's Nest hadn't been coming back. At first, these were dismissed as being due to the adventurers being unskilled, but a Thief acting solo had witnessed something terrifying. A Noble Orc leading Orcs, Goblins and Kobolds.
In many cases, the intelligent Noble Orcs who were a higher race of Orcs were capable of organizing groups of monsters, and there were several hundred of them around the world.
Luciliano's job was to determine whether the monster that the Thief saw was really a Noble Orc, and if it was, he was to also find out how many monsters the Noble Orc commanded.
「The Live-Dead I am controlling has been captured by a medium-sized company led by a Noble Orc and has been taken to their village. The location is about three days' journey from the edge of the Devil's Nest.」
「So, how many Noble Orcs are there?! How big is their group?!」
「So far I have confirmed that there are at least two Noble Orcs, the one in command of the medium-sized company and one that is the king of the village. However, it seemed that there are one or two more. I believe the total monster count is around four hundred or five hundred.」
「Three Noble Orcs, and five hundred monsters…!」
Viscount Balchesse looked as if he was about to faint after hearing Luciliano's report. Noble Orcs were Rank 6 monsters at minimum, and individually superior Noble Orcs were even said to be capable of slaying Dragons. There were at least two of these, possibly four or even more. With five hundred monsters under their command, even if Balchesse mobilized all of the forces in his territory… The knights, city guards and even the active adventurers in the region, defeat was the only imaginable outcome.
「However, I believe that the Noble Orcs, including the king, are not superior individuals. Ah, of course, I mean in comparison to other Noble Orcs. If you would allow me to express my personal opinion, I would think that the situation could be dealt with if you were to gather around two hundred C and D-class adventurers with a B-class adventurer in command.」
「Really?!」
As Viscount Balchesse heard these words, blood returned to his face that had been as pale as a sheet of paper. However, a moment later, he gave a sigh.
「Even if that is the case, this is a serious matter. I must gather two hundred adventurers as well as a first-rate adventurer of B-class or higher. I am uncertain how well knights and soldiers can fight against monsters… It is beyond my capabilities to deal with this on my own. I must consult Marshal Palpapek.」
As a ruler, Balchesse had the power to request help from those in higher positions in situations that he couldn't deal with on his own. If he allowed his pride to get in the way, tried to deal with this problem on his own and then failed, he would not only be disgraced, but his entire territory would be overrun by monsters.
In that regard, Viscount Balchesse was a nobleman living up to his handlebar mustache.
「The Noble Orcs are apparently planning to move when summer comes. It seems that there is a group of monsters in the Devil's Nest that is not under their command, so they are acting to deal with that first. Those monsters are Ghouls, I presume.」
「So we have some time. Good work, Luciliano. I will pay the fee for your services to the Adventurers' Guild, but I request that you still keep this situation a secret. It would cause a panic among the people.」
「Thank you very much.」
Luciliano felt relieved, having finally earned some traveling expenses. He had been saving money for a long time to escape the Amid Empire and its nations, where the Church of Alda's influence was strong and the use of Undead was restricted.
He had decided to head to the neighboring Kingdom of Orbaume, and then find a comfortable city to live in.
「Well then, you will accept my next request, won't you?」
However, Viscount Balchesse's words postponed his plans.
Around the beginning of February, Vandalieu organized the surviving Ghouls of the Devil's Nest into an army to fight against the Noble Orcs.
Normally, a King would be in a heavily-defended stronghold, but Vandalieu had personally visited the other Ghoul villages to convince them to work with him.
The reason for that was to use the effects of the[Death-Attribute Charm]to gather the Ghouls smoothly, but…
「I wonder if I'm just some kind of handyman with the Title of King.」
「That's not true, King. By the way, our numbers have increased, so please build us some new houses, King.」
「Yeah, yeah.」
Vandalieu used the[Golem Transmutation��skill to have Wood Golems change their shape and build pit dwellings. He lacked the knowledge to build proper houses, but he had lived in pit dwellings for over a year, so he was familiar enough with them to build them.
The materials moved on their own to the places that he commanded them to and changed into the shape that he needed them to, so this method of construction using Golems was very easy. As long as he had the materials, it took him less than ten minutes to build a single pit dwelling.
「Oh, amazing! Ten more houses, please!」
「King, we're expanding the village so please build some outer walls as well.」
「Yeah, yeah.」
He turned felled trees into Wood Golems and changed their shape to turn them into lumber. He turned the dirt on the ground's surface into an Earth Golem and made it move back to create holes, then began building the pit dwellings. As long as they were all in his field of vision, he could build ten pit dwellings simultaneously.
Would Vandalieu be able to make a living doing this in the Orbaume Kingdom? He didn't know whether that country actually needed pit dwellings, but he was relaxed enough to wonder about these things.
After finishing building the ten pit dwellings, he began to work on the outer walls. This was even easier than building homes for the Ghouls. All he had to do was build sturdy walls.
He just needed to give the command and the walls built themselves, so it was finished in only a few minutes.
「That's our King!」
「How splendid!」
『King, King, King!』
The Ghouls raised their fists in the air and began chanting for their King. Ghouls were a fundamentally lazy race, so they didn't hold back as they praised Vandalieu who was able to quickly complete all of the difficult work.
It didn't seem like they were interested in following his example, however.
「He~ey, Van. Mother is calling for you.」
「Alright. Well then, I'm leaving the rest to you.
Vandalieu gave a short bow before leaving. As the Ghouls no longer had to do any hard labor thanks to him, they continued praising him for a while longer.
The Ghouls had absorbed four villages including Tarea's village, and they now had over two hundred and seventy members. Half of them were women, and though they were few, there were some elderly individuals as well. However, Ghouls were a race whose members made excellent warriors up until they were nearly three hundred years old, regardless of gender.
The strongest Ghouls in these villages were Rank 4 Ghoul Warriors, and there weren't any strong Rank 5 or higher Ghouls like Vigaro and Zadiris, but thanks to Tarea, they were all fully equipped.
Armor made of Iron Turtle shells, possessing the defensive capabilities of full plate armor while being nowhere near as heavy.
A spear with the horn of a Lance Bull as its tip, capable of piercing through iron armor.
Even D-class adventurers wouldn't be this well-equipped. Though not all of their equipment were Magic Items, the combat capabilities of the Ghouls couldn't be judged by their Rank.
Humans are physically weaker than monsters and don't possess special abilities like monsters do. To defeat monsters, they rely on three major components. Those are their coordination with each other, their skills and their equipment. The Ghouls had obtained the last of these components.
However, there was also something that they were lacking.
「What do you mean, you can't fight properly at your age? Have you really lived ten times longer than me?」
「What about it? I have used my ability to smith equipment and the weapon a woman is born with to rise to this position in the world. A little girl who has never even given birth to a child should just stay quiet.」
Basdia and Tarea glared at each other. One was a 190cm-tall female warrior in her mid-twenties, while the other was a small Ghoul who appeared to be in her late teenage years. In reality, one was a twenty-six-year-old young woman while the other was a two-hundred-and-seventy-year-old female leader who had lived an incredible life.
For some reason, these two didn't get along.
But the reality was that Tarea and the women of her village didn't know techniques for fighting. They could not even use the magic that they were supposed to have an aptitude for other than the spells that they used in their everyday lives, let alone combat-related skills. It was difficult to imagine that they would be useful in battle.
However, thanks to Tarea, they were a group of capable workers befitting of the Ghoul race. Though their skills weren't at Tarea's level, each of them were more than fully qualified as smiths and even now, they were creating more equipment for the warriors to use.
「V-Van will give me a baby!」
「Van-sama will, to this little girl?! Is that true, Van-sama?!」
「… It's true, though not in the way that you're imagining.」
They were referring to how Vandalieu would deal with the problem of low Ghoul fertility. But Vandalieu looked into the distance, wondering why these two were so hostile towards each other.
「You're being over-familiar with Van.」
「You are the one who is over-familiar with him, not even adding -sama to his name.」
They glared at each other with sharp looks. The loud grinding of their fangs was particularly Ghoul-like.
The two of them had been on bad terms with each other ever since Vandalieu brought Tarea back with him.
In order to curry favor with the Ghoul King immediately, Tarea had stepped on board the carriage, saying,「I have things to discuss with you regarding the upcoming battle.」And when Vandalieu took his afternoon nap, she had held Vandalieu in her arms until they arrived back in the village.
As Basdia came out to welcome him back, she saw this and got into an argument… and now things were like this.
No, Vandalieu had a good idea of what was causing this. But he couldn't understand why Basdia was so angry with Tarea, considering that Ghouls had no concept of marriage. Even if she felt as if her younger brother whom she was close with was being taken away, he couldn't imagine that she would act and speak the way she was doing now. And why were the two of them competing so seriously over a two-year-old in the first place?
「How about acting your age for once?」
「Oh my, I apologize. Perhaps because I was originally a human, I act as if my age was the same as my physical age without thinking. I am jealous of you, since you have grown so old.」
「… All things considered, they're quite saggy.」
「Saggy?! You are mistaken! They are not sagging, they are simply large!」
「Really? Mine don't hang downwards at all, though.」
Tarea lost her composure and began protesting angrily, and Basdia simply looked down at her calmly. Both of them were owners of plentiful busts, and in fact, Basdia's breasts were like cannonballs that projected forwards, showing no signs of sagging.
「You muscle-head!」
「You don't know? Van likes muscles.」
「Well, more than liking them, I admire them.」
Muscles were power, and those with power were strong. In other words, if Vandalieu could get muscles, he could graduate from being one of the people who were trampled over by others. Ah, how wonderful muscles were.
Whether they could hear Vandalieu whispering such thoughts to himself or not, Basdia and Tarea continued their quarreling. As Vandalieu watched Tarea shouting while Basdia dealt with her calmly, he could only imagine a future where the wisdom of her years would be defeated by the youngster. However, as Tarea refused to give up, that future was still distant.
The future where they would have a constructive discussion about how to deal with the Noble Orcs, when would that come?
「What can I do to make them stop?」
Though Vandalieu asked himself this question, Zadiris was whispering,「Try putting yourself in my position, where you have neither muscles nor breasts.」Meanwhile, Vigaro was deep in thought with his arms folded… or at least, he appeared to be. As the chiefs of the other villages were lower than Tarea in the hierarchy, they seemed to be reluctant to say anything.
『You should stop them here, Bocchan.』
Sam was unable to leave the carriage that was his body, so Saria was here in this place, saying these words to him.
『You wish to become a nobleman, do you not, Bocchan? Then you must be able to do at least this much.』
「… I think the image of a nobleman that I have in my mind is going to go through a lot of changes.」
『Noblemen struggle with relationships with women. It was no different in the noble family that we worked for.』
The conflict between a wife and a mistress was apparently a sight to behold. This topic reminded Vandalieu of the stories he had heard when he was living in Japan about the Edo Castle's inner chambers during the Edo period*.
Neither Basdia nor Tarea were his wife or mistress, but him being the cause of their conflict was a fact. Vandalieu knew that he should be the one to stop them, so he stood up.
「Hmph! I will settle this after one of the weapons that I created takes the Noble Orc's head off!」
「Yeah, after I use your weapon to do it.」
Why did they finish their argument just as he stood up?
「Well then, I want to build a plan to defeat the Noble Orcs now.」
Vandalieu was almost satisfied with just being able to say that without trembling.
Their current military forces were represented by around two hundred and thirty Ghouls and Vandalieu himself. Between the Magic Items that Vandalieu had distributed and the equipment that Tarea had created, they were all fully equipped.
They were at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, but their equipment was clearly superior to that of the Noble Orcs' troops. No matter how many Orcs, Goblins and Kobolds the Noble Orcs gathered, their subordinates wouldn't become any smarter, so their equipment would only be a little superior to other groups of monsters.
But they were unsure whether that alone could counteract the difference in numbers and strength.
In regards to numbers, Vandalieu thought to mass-produce Golems and Undead, but as this was a forest, rocks to use to create the Stone Golems and Rock Golems that would be able to fight against Orcs were scarce, and so the idea of using Golems was rejected.
Undead created from the corpses and bones of monsters would be Rank 1, hardly of any use against Orcs, so Undead were also rejected.
There was also the option of creating more Living Armors, but using suits of armor to equip the Ghouls better was a more effective way to increase their strength, so that idea was also rejected.
It was a difficult situation.
「First of all, we are going to be the ones who attack them. I believe that this has already been decided.」
Everyone agreed with Vandalieu's words. Since they were at a large disadvantage in numbers and the enemy was a little stronger than them as well, there was no other choice but to attack first.
The Orcs that represented most of the enemy's strength were monsters with exceptional charging abilities and superhuman strength. Only humans who build strong fortresses would be able to defend against such enemies. The wooden walls surrounding the Ghoul village would only last seconds in a defending situation.
On the other hand, Orcs were also not suited to defending.
「We have already established where the enemy is positioned, and I have already finished scouting them through the eyes of my Undead insects. The map that I produced with great effort is here.」
Vandalieu couldn't make out fine details through the composite eyes of insects, but they had been sufficient to figure out the layout of the buildings. The Ghouls stirred as they were presented with a map drawn by using dyes on an animal hide in place of paper.
「This is a map, huh?」
「What is this square?」
「You're amazing, Van, you can even draw a map, huh?」
「Van-sama, Ghouls do not normally use maps… I believe more explanation is needed.」
「… But my hard work…」
He had lived here for almost two years so he had forgotten just how much of a culture difference there was between humans and Ghouls.
Thinking about how much time and effort he had put into drawing the map easily made him feel depressed. Vandalieu used[Golem Transmutation]to make an Earth Golem out of the ground surface inside the pit dwelling and create a model of the Noble Orcs' village.
It was a satisfactory piece of work.
「Boy… If you had used this method from the beginning, perhaps you would not have had to put so much effort into creating a map?」
「Yeah…」
Vandalieu was quite depressed.
「Oh, this is amazing!」
「Is this earth-attribute magic?! But I've never seen someone with this level of fine control!」
「This is even more amazing, Van! It's much easier to understand than the map!」
His audience even valued this higher. Vandalieu decided in his mind that from now on, he would simply make models like this instead of going through the bothersome process of drawing a map.
「Putting that aside, the enemy village has outer walls made of logs and two entrances, one to the west and one to the east. There are four watchtowers, one each at the north, south, east and west. However, they are manned by Goblins or Kobolds.」
「Orcs have heavy bodies. It's unlikely that they would enjoy climbing the towers.」
The average Orc was about two meters tall. Their body weight easily exceeded a hundred kilograms, and their weapons and armor would only add to that. Rather than them wanting to avoid climbing the towers, it was possible that they were unable to build towers that could support their weight in the first place.
「All of their buildings are generally made of wood. However, we should try to avoid using fire as much as we can.」
「Indeed; if a fire were to start, the captive women would burn to death as well.」
In the Orc village, there were over a hundred female Ghouls and over a dozen female adventurers held captive and being used as playthings. For the Orcs, they were precious mothers for their children, but it was difficult to imagine that the Orcs would risk their lives in battle in order to save them.
「They could even be used as hostages.」
「Yeah, that sounds likely.」
None of the people that Vandalieu had rescued so far had been used as hostages. That was because Bone Man and the other Undead were at the forefront of the fighting and the enemies had thought that hostages would be meaningless against the Undead, however.
In this battle, Vigaro and the other Ghouls would make up the main fighting force, so of course the Orcs would think of using the captive women as hostages.
「Therefore, our first objective is to secure the buildings here, here and here.」
They decided on rescuing the captive Ghoul women. Many of the Ghouls' spirits were begging Vandalieu to do so, and even Zadiris and the other Ghouls had decided that they should rescue them during the attack, so no objections arose.
「What are you planning to do with the human women?」
「We will rescue them, too. As for what to do with them afterwards, let's decide after we rescue them.」
Vandalieu gave this reply to Vigaro's question. Even though they were being held captive, the female adventurers were enemies to both Vandalieu and the Ghouls. There was no guarantee that they would feel grateful for being rescued; from their point of view, they might think that the situation hadn't changed than that their masters were now Ghouls instead of Orcs.
In fact, there was the possibility that they would run away in the confusion of battle, or in the worst case, even attack the Ghouls, but this was unlikely. There was no way that the Orcs were behaving in a gentlemanly way towards the women; they would be physically and mentally worn down and thus unlikely to be able to move very well.
Vandalieu also wanted to save them if possible because he wanted to give the cheaters reincarnating here in the future as few excuses to attack him as possible.
「Well then, on Vandalieu's signal, we'll charge in and then secure the women. After that, we'll kill the enemies until they start running away. This is fine, right?」
「In the end, they're just a group of monsters being ruled through fear. If we kill enough Orcs, the Goblins and Kobolds should start to flee.」
「The only race that Noble Orcs command absolute obedience over is the Orc race, isn't it?」
Leaders of monster groups generally ruled through fear. If presented with a greater fear than the fear of the ruler, the group of monsters would collapse.
Orcs would obey the Noble Orcs that were their superior race, but the Ghouls needed them to stay where they were. If they quickly ran away and built another large village in a few years' time, there would be no end to this cycle.
「And I think we should defeat the problematic Noble Orcs, with Vandalieu's support.」
Vigaro, the most combat-capable individual present here, suspected that he could fight evenly against a Noble Orc one or two Ranks higher than himself if he had Vandalieu's support.
「Until the Noble Orc that rules the village comes out, I will leave Vigaro and Zadiris in command. We will be conducting hit-and-run attacks.」
「I think it is questionable for a King to be conducting hit-and-run attacks, but that is indeed the most effective way to make use of your abilities, boy. However, you must prepare Undead for scouting as well as a way to communicate with the rest of us. None of us can hear the words of the Undead insects or the spirits other than you, boy.」
Vandalieu had been inaugurated as Ghoul King, but as he had said when he first accepted the Title, he didn't have the ability to command others in a group battle. For that reason, he planned to ignore his Title of King and simply conduct hit-and-run attacks during this battle.
「Be careful, Van. Your life doesn't belong to just you.」
「Yes, in regards to the Ghoul children, my life is more than just my own. I still have more things that I want to do as well, so I will take care.」
Vandalieu had to learn the[Alchemy]skill and solve the Ghouls' birth rate problem. After that, he wanted to try making walnut miso and acorn miso, and he wanted to create a Magic Item that cast the[Maturation]spell, and a refrigerator that used the[Demon Light]spell before he departed for the Orbaume Kingdom as well.
There were a lot of things that he wanted to do for the Ghouls, and there were also many reasons that the Noble Orcs needed to be killed. He had to be careful and not take any risks.
On top of that, he had to revive Darcia and achieve his revenge. There was no shortage of reasons that he couldn't die here.
「Well then, let's leave in three days from now.」
Bubububububu*.
Several insects flapped their wings loudly, flying further and further west.
There were Undead rhinoceros beetles, flies, dragonflies and ladybirds. Some of the insects among them were natural predators of the others, but they paid no attention to this as they continued flying.
These were the Undead insects that Vandalieu had released just in case.
Their mission was to find another Devil's Nest, for the very unlikely event that the Ghouls decided that they should run away. And their other purpose was to discover what was along the way, as Vandalieu would one day make the journey to cross the western mountain range.
Day and night, the insects flew on. Some were lost to birds and others to living insects, but still they continued. Crossing cliffs with rocks as sharp as blades and hills where terrifying carnivorous plants grew freely, they flew on and on.
And then the insects stopped a little past the mountain range, at a section of an enormous stone wall. It was so large that one might have thought that it was part of the mountain range itself, but there were cracks in its surface here and there, and parts of it had crumbled away. The insects flew near the wall's surroundings, investigating it, and then finally attached themselves onto it.
They had completed their mission. Now they were to wait here for their master to contact them. They would remain here until then.
Name: Bone Man
Rank: 3
Race: Skeleton Soldier
Level: 100
Passive skills:
Dark Vision
Superhuman Strength: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)
Active skills:
Swordsmanship: Level 1
Shield Technique: Level 1
Archery: Level 1
Silent Steps: Level 1
Coordination: Level 1 (NEW!)
Name: Bone Bird
Rank: 3
Race: Phantom Bird
Level: 98
Passive skills:
Dark Vision
Spirit Form: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)
Superhuman Strength: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)
Active skills:
Silent Steps: Level 1
Swift Flight: Level 1
Name: Sam
Rank: 3
Race: Ghost Carriage
Level: 65
Passive skills:
Spirit Form: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)
Superhuman Strength: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)
Rough Road Travel: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)
Impact Resistance: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)
Precise Driving: Level 3
Active skills:
Silent Steps: Level 1
High-Speed Travel: Level 1
Charge: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)
Name: Saria
Rank: 3
Race: Living High-Leg Armor
Level: 82
Passive skills:
Special Five Senses
Physical Ability Enhancement: Level 2
Water Element Resistance: Level 2
Physical Attack Resistance: Level 2
Active skills:
Housework: Level 2
Halberd Technique: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)
Archery: Level 1 (NEW!)
Coordination: Level 1 (NEW!)
Name: Rita
Rank: 3
Race: Living Bikini Armor
Level: 81
Passive skills:
Special Five Senses
Physical Ability Enhancement: Level 2
Fire Element Resistance: Level 2
Physical Attack Resistance: Level 2
Active skills:
Housework: Level 1
Naginata Technique: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)
Archery: Level 1 (NEW!)
Coordination: Level 1 (NEW!)
Chapter 19: Carrying out a dirty attack
The large village of Orcs ruled by the Noble Orc Bugogan was peaceful at night.
To be more descriptive, the screams of the captive Ghoul women and female adventurers could be heard, and one of Bugogan's sons, Bubobio, could be seen executing Goblins who had made small mistakes.
However, these were everyday occurrences and nobody paid them any attention. There were no signs of anything that wasn't an everyday occurrence… such as an attack by other monsters.
Peaceful days were more common than non-peaceful ones. This was the village ruled by a Noble Orc.
When creating villages in Devil's Nests, weak monsters such as Goblins and Kobolds tend to do so in places that are difficult to spot from the outside by digging caverns and tunnels. However, groups of monsters that include high-Rank monsters build their villages boldly on the earth's surface.
That is because they generally have no need to worry about the enemies outside the village.
The monsters created by the Demon King and the evil gods that had appeared from another world have no concept of living in harmony with other monsters. Some races even kill and eat other members of their own race.
However, monsters do not dare to attack monsters that are clearly superior to them. They have no interest in committing suicide. For example, most monsters wouldn't dare try and mess with a monster like a Noble Orc.
Other monsters would instinctively sense Bugogan's presence and avoid the village.
There were incidents of inferior monsters incapable of understanding this throwing themselves at the outer wall of the village, however.
Watchtowers had been built along the outer wall and bow-wielding Goblins and Kobolds were stationed on them to prevent that from happening.
「Gyih.」
「Kihihi.」
However, the guards in the watchtowers were not very diligent with their work. They were confident in the wall's durability.
Severed logs had been driven into the ground in a row to form a three-meter-tall wall. They were tougher than they appeared and resistant to fire. This was because the logs used to build the wall came from plant-monsters called Ents.
The wall was strong enough to withstand a ramming attack from a five-meter-long Mad Boar, providing a stronger defense than a stone wall would. Rather than defend such a wall, the Goblins were more interested in discussing when the Orcs would next hand them a used woman.
But that was a mistake.
Just a little before the moon was high in the sky, the outer wall that was supposed to be unyielding gave a creak. The startled Goblins readied their bows in panic, but there weren't any targets for their arrows to be seen. But every single log that made up the outer wall was creaking.
What on earth was this?! Right before the confused Goblins' eyes, the wall transformed.
『GYIIIIIIIH!』
『OOOOOOOOOHN!』
They transformed into Wood Golems that let out screams that sounded just like the high-pitched creaking of wood being split and roars that sounded like those of vengeful ghosts.
「Gyih… Gyahiih!」
As the outer wall that was supposed to protect the village from outside enemies turned into outside enemies itself, the watchtowers that the Kobolds had built fell to pieces and the Goblins were thrown into the ground.
The Goblins should have been vigilant. However, it was also true that even if they had been vigilant, there was nothing they could have done.
「The first stage is a success. For some reason, it was hard to have my Mana absorbed by the wood, but I did manage to create Wood Golems.」
Vandalieu nodded as he confirmed that the difficult-to-break outer wall had joined his own forces.
He had done the same thing as when he had turned the outer walls of Evbejia into Rock Golems, but because he had obtained the[Mana Control]skill and his[Golem Transmutation]skill had increased in level, things had gone more efficiently this time.
「Well, they're still only Wood Golems.」
「However, destroying the wall would have taken time. You have saved us that time while also attacking from every direction; it is not bad at all.」
Zadiris was holding a staff and wearing battle garments decorated with feathers. As she said, the preemptive strike was a great success. If the enemy village had only Goblins and Kobolds, this alone might have been enough to secure victory.
「BUGOOOOOOOH!」
However, the main force of the enemy was comprised of Orcs, who rampaged more like wild boars than pigs when their blood rushed into their heads. Though the bizarre situation of the outer wall turning into attacking Golems would render normal soldiers unable to move from astonishment for a while, the Orcs began fighting back immediately.
Making the decision on their own to charge in with their heavy weapons was a foolhardy action, but it was far more problematic than if they had stood still or started running around aimlessly.
「But those Wood Golems are holding up better than I'd expected.」
「They're harder than they look, huh. Van, is this the power of death-attribute magic as well?」
The Ghouls were unaware that the outer wall had been built from Ents and were as hard as iron. As they saw the Wood Golems fighting better than they had expected, they assumed this was because of Vandalieu's magic and got fired up.
「Now then… GAAAARRRRRR!」
Using the howls that Ghouls use to communicate during battle, Zadiris gave orders each group. The contents of these orders were『Each group is to begin the attack! Eliminate the Orcs, capture the target buildings and secure the women!』
「GAAAH!」
「GRRR!」
The Ghoul warriors bared their fangs and growled to say affirmative, and then began their assault on the now-naked village whose outer wall had been removed.
They were using equipment that D-class adventurers would be envious of. In addition, Vandalieu and Zadiris had applied supportive spells on them.
Ghouls and Orcs were generally about even in strength, but with the equipment and supportive spells, they had the clear advantage.
「GROOOOOH!」
Among the battle was Vigaro, wielding an enormous battleaxe that one could tell was incredibly sharp with a single glance, closing in on an Orc that had cut down a Wood Golem with its two-handed axe.
The Orc's armor looked unusually simple, but this individual was likely an Orc General, as its body was bigger than normal Orcs. This Orc General's axe met Vigaro's.
「GAAAAH!」
「Bumogyugyoh?!」
The Orc's protruding nose was slammed so hard by Vigaro's shield that it caved in, and then its belly was sliced sideways, sending blood and organs scattering everywhere.
The Orc General was Rank 5, same as Vigaro. Normally, the battle wouldn't be decided so easily. But there was a large difference in their strengths due to the training that Vigaro did every day that wasn't reflected in his level or Rank, the support spells, the effects of the[Strengthen Followers]skill and most importantly, the battleaxe that was a Magic Item that Vandalieu had given him.
The effects of his everyday training, the[Strengthen Followers]skill and the Magic Item wouldn't decrease in effectiveness over time, but the effects of the supportive spells would wear off. To prevent that, the caster has to re-cast the spell, but Mana was not unlimited.
「Now then, I'll replenish your Mana.[Spirit Form Transformation.]」
This was where Vandalieu, who possessed a near-infinite amount of Mana, came in. He used[Spirit Form Transformation]on both of his hands, which branched out like the roots of a plant to connect to the bodies of the male and female mages, including Zadiris.
「Kuh…」
「Ngh…」
「Aah!」
Small voices rose up here and there… and one large moan, followed by heavy breathing. Putting that last sound out of his mind, Vandalieu released the no-attribute magic that he learned in Zadiris's village.
「[Mana Transfer.]」
The most useless spell among no-attribute nagic spells. Mana Transfer.
It is a spell that transfers colorless Mana that has not been stained with any element's color to the target, and at first glance, it seems very useful. However, during the transfer process, most of the Mana is wasted.
The efficiency of Mana transfer can be increased based on the caster's relationship with the target, the caster's mental state, magical compatibility between the caster and target, the race of the target and so on, but on average, it is about five percent. There have been recorded cases where twins who trusted each other and had good magical compatibility with each other produced more Mana than the originally supplied amount, with a transfer rate of a hundred and twenty percent. But there were many cases where the amount of Mana transferred was less than the starting amount.
And currently, there were no discovered methods to consciously increase the transfer efficiency.
For this reason, it is very often more effective to use one's own Mana, rather than transferring it to someone else. If a hundred Mana is spent to transfer only five Mana, this is the natural conclusion.
However, Vandalieu possessed over 100,000,000 Mana.
To transfer a hundred Mana, he would spend two thousand. To transfer a thousand Mana, he would spend twenty thousand. To transfer ten thousand Mana, he would spend two hundred thousand. He possessed an amount of Mana so great that he wouldn't hesitate to do this.
「This is the Mana version of burning money to create light.」
「Boy, I do not think that one can burn gold and silver coins… Well, anyway. Everyone, use the Mana that the boy has given you to your heart's content!」
「Yes! Here we go, everybody!」
「I'm overflowiiiing!」
And so the Ghoul mages whose Mana had been replenished and the warriors who were guarding them pressed forward after the group who had charged in first. Vandalieu saw them off before clambering aboard Sam, who had been on standby at his side.
「Now then, we'll be doing hit-and-run attacks like we planned, so I'm leaving the rest to you. I don't think you can see them, but I have left Familiars attached to everyone, so please call for me if there's an emergency.」
「Mhmm, leave it to us.」
The Ghoul King Vandalieu's role had been to unite the Ghouls with the[Death-Attribute Charm]skill and strengthen them with the[Strengthen Followers]skill. But it had been decided that once the battle started, he would be conducting hit-and-run attacks with Sam.
He didn't have the ability to lead, and he didn't have a wide field of vision overlooking the battlefield, either. Instead, he did have the ability to cast the[Magic Absorption Barrier], a death-attribute spell capable of effectively turning the Orc Mages, among the most problematic of the Orcs, into wooden dummies.
The best way to use this ability was to form a hit-and-run squad that made use of Sam's mobility around the battlefield.
Though Vandalieu had the feeling that he was doing the most work even though he was the King, his morale was high.
He was part of a hit-and-run squad. In many fictional works, this role is left to the protagonist who then plays a very important part. How could he not get fired up?
「Sam, move out.」
『Certainly.』
The spirit-body horses neighed as Sam began to move. Rita, Saria and Bone Man were riding in the carriage, while Bone Bear, Bone Bird and the others ran alongside the carriage.
The hit-and-run squad that would be very problematic for the Noble Orcs charged into the village.
For the Orcs and Bugogan who ruled over them, receiving a surprise attack was something completely outside their expectations. It is appropriate to say that they believed that surprise attacks were something that they themselves used, not received.
Bugogan had considered the Ghouls and humans dangerous and moved so that they would not find out about him.
That was why unmotivated Goblins and Kobolds had been stationed as lookouts while the Orcs were either using the captured women as an outlet for their lust or simply being lazy.
Having been awoken by the sound of Wood Golems striding across the village and the screams of Goblins and Kobolds, the Orcs jumped onto their feet in a panic. Rather than waiting for orders from the higher-ranked individuals, they simply began fighting where they stood.
An Orc General who had coincidentally happened to be outside the village tried to gather the Orcs around him, but was butchered by a single blow from Vigaro.
This only increased the Orcs' panic, and since their Orc masters were panicking, there was no way that the slave Goblins and Kobolds could move in an organized fashion. In fact, many of them were caught up in the wild swings of the Orcs' clubs and axes.
In the midst of this, the ones who recovered from this chaos were the relatively intelligent Kobolds. They gathered other Kobolds to form a group with Kobold Chiefs and Kobold Mages at their center, slipped through the Wood Golems that they had little chance of defeating in order to try to ambush the Ghouls.
「GAAAAAAAH!」
「GYAOOOOOH!」
But they were attacked by the Ghoul shock troops. Using their arms that were so long that they touched the ground even when standing upright, they ran on all fours like gorillas to rush in.
The male Ghouls with their lion's heads looked quite comical at a glance when they were running like this, but with their muscle strength increased by the[Superhuman Strength]skill, their speed was equivalent to a war horse's charge.
「UOOWAN!」
Against this speed, the only thing the Kobolds could do was fire a single arrow each. However, they had almost no effect due to Tarea's tough, light armor that didn't hinder movement, and the supportive spells cast on the Ghouls by Zadiris and the other mages.
「GYAIN?!」
The Ghouls closed in on the Kobolds and swung their prided claws, mowing these hindrances down. Even the Kobold Chief that had been in charge was unable to resist as it was slaughtered.
「GAAAAH!」
With their bodies stained in the blood of their enemies, the Ghouls roared as they attacked even deeper into the village. To humans, they may have appeared to be nothing but bloodthirsty beasts, but those who understood the battle language of the Ghouls would know that this roar meant,「We've come to save you」, and these Ghouls were warriors searching for their precious women.
『Bocchan, there is a group of Goblins ahead!��
「Push -」
『Certainly! I shall push through them!』
A three-horse carriage pulled by blue-white horses charged into the Orc village. The carriage was equipped with spikes made from the carved fangs of monsters, effectively turning it into a chariot capable of attack.
That alone was quite impressive. But the most fearsome thing was the coachman, Sam, with his blood-red eyes shining, a white-blue face and a grin that exposed his teeth.
「Gyabuh!」
「Gyahyiih?!」
「Gyugeh! Gegegegegeh!」
The Goblin Soldiers and Knights readied their spears and shields to try and stop the carriage, but they were unable to stop its momentum at all. They were trampled by hooves, gouged by spikes and caught up in the carriage's wheels.
Normally, there would have been some damage done to the carriage as well, but numerous Ent parts had been used to rebuild the carriage, so there wasn't even a scratch.
『Fuhahahaha! This is truly exhilarating, Bocchan!』
『Father, you're getting carried away, you know?』
『Yay! Go, go!』
『Don't you get carried away too, Rita!』
Thanks to the group of Ghoul craftsmen under Tarea's instruction, the carriage that was Sam's body had been substantially remodeled with the extravagant use of monster materials.
It was similar to performing surgery to turn a human into a cyborg with no anesthesia, but according to Sam, there was no problem changing up to ninety percent of the parts as long as his body remained carriage-like in shape.
Vandalieu had been replacing broken and cracked bones for Bone Monkey and the others, but he hadn't thought that replacing almost all of the bones wouldn't cause problems, so he was surprised by this.
Though Sam was still a Rank 3 monster, one could clearly see the effects of the reconstruction on his effectiveness in battle.
『Bocchan! This time, there is a group of Orcs in front!』
There was a group of three Orcs straight ahead, breathing wildly through their noses, armed with a club, an axe and a spear. Like Sam, they were Rank 3, and as their individual body weights easily exceeded a hundred kilograms, they were far heavier than Goblins.
Their heads were those of pigs and they had plenty of fat on their bodies, and beneath that were powerful, thick muscles that protected their bones and organs. Their bones themselves were far more durable than those of humans.
Saria and Rita fired arrows upon which Vandalieu had cast[Bloodshed Enhancement], but they were unable to penetrate the walls of fat and muscle, instead only making the Orcs angrier. The magic cast on the arrows should have been decreasing their vitality, but it wasn't having any visible effect.
Vandalieu opened his mouth to suggest going around to avoid them.
「Safety -」
『Certainly! Prioritizing safety first, I will run them down!』
How absurd! Before Vandalieu could say this, Sam increased his speed. Planning to kill the three horses and then destroy the carriage, the Orcs readied their weapons.
「Bugooh!」
[Single Flash],[Bisection],[Double Thrust]- these were level 1 and 2 martial skills that even novice adventurers could use, but used by the inhumanly strong Orcs, they were incredibly powerful… But in this case, they had picked a bad opponent to use them on.
As the club, axe and spear touched the blue-white horses, the Orcs only felt the sensation of cutting through a thick liquid; their weapons passed straight through them.
「BUGOH?!」
「BUGYAAAAH?!」
The unexpected consistency of the horses' bodies caused the Orcs to lose their balance from their attacks, and then their lives were ended as they were sent flying like rubber balls by Sam's[Charge.]
At first glance, the three horses pulling the carriage simply look like blue-white horses. However, they were only a part of Sam's body manifested by his[Spirit Form]skill; they were Astral-type monsters that were mostly unaffected by physical attacks. No matter how hard a mass of steel was swung at them, it would be meaningless.
The Orcs, not knowing this, lost their balance and had no way of withstanding Sam's[Charge.]
『Truly! Truly exhilarating! Each time I crush the life out of an enemy, I am filled with power!』
「Ah, you're gaining Experience Points. You can earn as many Experience Points as you like, but please drive safely.」
『Certainly!』
Sam had been the spirit of a kindhearted old man, but the joy of gaining Experience Points was steadily causing his pupils… his whole eyes to shine with a piercing light. It was evident that people could easily change, though his daughters didn't seem to mind as they thought their father was very cool.
But could a single carriage act as both a high-class limousine and as a tank of annihilation? Vandalieu questioned Sam's future, but hearing a loud cry from Bone Bird, he directed his attention to other things.
『GAAAAAH!』
『AOOOOOOHN!』
The battle was proceeding well behind him; Bone Bear was using his strength to gouge out Orcs' stomachs and Bone Monkey was delivering final blows to other Orcs weakened by Bone Wolf's poisonous breath.
Bone Bird was reporting each individual Orcs' movements from the sky above, moving precisely around the battlefield to attack the Orc Commanders, causing more chaos in the enemy ranks.
「My army is overwhelming, isn't it?」
Feeling like a true commander, Vandalieu felt relaxed enough to say a line like this. The reason for that was the spirits of the enemies gathering to him after being killed, one after another.
They were not only the enemies killed by Sam, Bone Monkey and the rest of the hit-and-run squad, but also the enemies defeated by Vigaro, Basdia and the other Ghouls.
In other words, half of the enemies had already been defeated. There wasn't a single spirit from his allies.
The enemy had lost around fifty percent of their numbers, while Vandalieu's side had sustained no losses. If their enemy was a human army, they could firmly believe that they would be victorious.
「But our enemy is a group of monsters. The Noble Orcs haven't come out yet, either… I suppose it's time to make proper use of my『Lemures*.』」
Sam's carriage ran freely around the village, but at present there seemed to be no allies in the midst of fierce battle. The buildings in which the captive Ghoul women were being held were already fully under their control.
However, the Noble Orc boss had yet to show himself. Wary of this, Vandalieu began to make use of one of the fruits of his lessons with Zadiris, the『Lemure.』
Each attribute of magic has a spell that creates a familiar. Mana dyed with an attribute is made to hold a shape and a spell formula is written to make the familiar obey the caster to create something like a remote-control drone that uses Mana to move.
Their abilities and shapes vary greatly depending on the caster; many of them resemble small animals such as butterflies made of flames and small birds made of wind.
The shape Vandalieu had chosen was a skull that could fly through the sky.
『Ooh…』
The resulting Lemure was in the shape of a mostly-transparent skull. Other than the basic abilities that all familiars have such as being able to share its five senses with its master, it was hard to spot, and also had one other ability.
「BUGAAAH! BUOOOH!」
『BUOOOOOOOH!』
An Orc General leading Orc Knights appeared in front with perfect timing, so Vandalieu decided to test it out.
『Muh, Bocchan, shall we avoid them?』
The way they held up their shields was the same as the Goblins had done earlier, but Sam knew that the power of their charge would be vastly different, so he calmly asked Vandalieu this question. However, Vandalieu gave the brief reply of,「Charge.」
『Certainly!』
Sam used[Charge]for the third time. Seeing this, the Orc General's pig-like face twisted into an expression of ridicule.
He was able to perform a[Shield Bash]capable of sending even a five-meter-long Mad Boar flying, and he had two Orc Knights supporting him.
This carriage charging directly at him from the front would definitely be broken to pieces.
Confidently believing this, the Orc General and his subordinates quickly moved to perform their[Shield Bash]skills.
But right behind them, they felt a terrifying bloodthirst… the presence of death.
If they didn't do something about it, they would be killed! The Orc General felt this biologically fundamental fear in the core of its heart. He and his subordinates quickly turned around and raised their shields to face this dreadful enemy.
However, after turning around, they saw nothing there.
「Bu-bugoh?」
That powerful bloodthirst had vanished, leaving the Orc General and his subordinates dumbfounded.
「Buhibegoh?!」
And then Sam ran them down.
No matter how good the Orcs were at charging the enemy down or defending against attacks, they couldn't withstand being run down from behind with their shields not even raised.
「Bu… Buhih…」
The fact that the Orc General was still alive was perhaps to be expected from a Rank 5 monster. He attempted to get back onto his feet unsteadily, but did not succeed.
「Sam, stop. And then reverse.」
『Certainly.』
After running the Orc General over, Sam's wheels began to turn backwards, stopping the carriage. And then the carriage began accelerating in the reverse direction.
「Bugeh!」
With an expression as if he was thinking that it was impossible for a carriage to move in reverse, the Orc General's life was ended as he was run over a second time.
As the Lemure disappeared, it released a powerful bloodthirst that attacked the target's survival instincts.
It performed no physical attack, only releasing this bloodthirst. It was perhaps only just enough to cause a heart attack in the weak-hearted elderly. In normal situations, it was probably only an annoyance.
However, there was no greater disturbance than this in the middle of battle. Its effectiveness only increased against more powerful foes that were more sensitive in detecting bloodthirst.
「If only I'd been able to make Lemures in Origin��� No, I suppose nothing would have changed.」
Well, it was better to focus on the present than on the past.
And then Vandalieu ran through the wide, tall, Orc-sized passages of the village, choosing intelligent monsters such as Goblin Mages, Kobold Mages and Orc Mages and rendering them useless with the[Magic Absorption Barrier], one by one.
At the same time, he distributed Lemures around the place to support the Ghouls and prepare for the appearance of the Noble Orcs.
And less than a minute later -
「Noble Orcs are three-meter-tall Orcs with blonde hair, right?」
『That is what I have heard.』
「I've found them. Three of them.」
One Noble Orc was in front of Vigaro, blocking his advance.
The second was closing in on the rear guard that Zadiris was leading.
The third was headed towards the group of warriors that Basdia was in.
Each of them was larger than the Orc General that Sam had just run over, with golden hair that gleamed in the moonlight.
They were likely the sons of the Noble Orc that was the leader of the village. According to the Kobold Shaman's spirit, they were Rank 6 monsters whose abilities were far above that of an Orc General.
They were far stronger than any of the Ghouls, including Vigaro and Zadiris.
「… Bone Monkey, Bone Wolf, Bone Bear and Bone Bird, go and back up Zadiris, I'll have the Lemures guide you there. Sam, we're going to head to where Basdia is.」
Luciliano was reluctantly investigating what the Noble Orcs were doing tonight as well, through his Live-Dead.
He had originally wanted to hurry and be on his way to the Orbaume Kingdom, but Viscount Balchesse's grand chamberlain had discovered that as long as Luciliano's Live-Dead familiar was still in good health, he was able to borrow its five senses.
And thus Luciliano was in the difficult situation of having to accept the viscount's direct high-priority request in exchange for a purse packed full of gold coins.
『Th-this is torture… The viscount and Adventurers' Guild are trying to destroy my healthy heart!』
Luciliano possessed life-attribute magic that was unique and unparalleled in its ability to gather information on the Noble Orcs' movements at no risk. However, there was a simple reason that he hated it so much.
Upon receiving Viscount Balchesse's request, Luciliano had turned the fresh corpse of a female into a Live-Dead. For some reason, the Noble Orc Bugogan had taken a great liking to it.
Luciliano, who had learned the language of the Orcs, had involuntarily let out a scream when he heard Bugogan declare,「I will grant this female adventurer the great honor of giving me my fourth son!」
Sharing the five senses of the Live-Dead during that process meant experiencing being raped by a Noble Orc from the woman's point of view, something that could be called an assault… no, a disaster for his eyes.
In this vast world, there were apparently some with peculiar tastes who would feel aroused at the sight of beautiful women being sexually assaulted by beasts and monsters, but he had never heard of a fetish where one would want their vision to be filled with the sight of a hideous Orc breathing wildly through its nose.
Even though Luciliano possed the Title of[Degenerate], he had no such tastes, at least.
Fortunately, the Live-Dead's sense of touch was almost non-existent and its sense of smell was weak, so his task had still been somewhat bearable.
『Still, I managed to hear a variety of bits of information. I suppose even monsters loosen their tongues when they talk to themselves in bed.』
Bugogan had no suspicions regarding the Live-Dead that Luciliano controlled. That was to be expected; for Bugogan, the Live-Dead was an instrument that would give birth to a son that wasn't rebellious and showed no reaction to anything. Thus, he talked to himself for Luciliano to hear, making his everyday complaints, and even talking about his grudge towards the Noble Orcs of his home who had rejected him.
As Luciliano was relaying all of this information to the viscount and the viscount's associates, his pockets were considerably full.
Tonight, too, he had convinced himself that this was necessary to get valuable information and was looking up at the straining Bugogan through the Live-Dead's eyes. Suddenly, in the middle of this sexual encounter, a servant Orc barged in.
It seemed that there was a large-scale attack being conducted on the village.
『I did think it was unusually noisy… So it wasn't the Orcs getting drunk and rampaging around.』
The attacking enemies were Ghouls, and the battle was not going favorably. Numerous Orc Generals had already been defeated, and the number of Orc Mages had grown smaller as well.
「BUGAAAAH! BUGIGI BUBOBIO!」
Bugogan roared to express his rage at the fact that his army that he had worked so hard to grow was being taken apart. He ordered Bubobio and his other sons to deal with it and stepped back from on top of the Live-Dead. It seemed that he was planning to prepare for battle himself as well.
『This… I need to report to the viscount.』
The Ghouls would probably be defeated in the end, but the Noble Orcs should sustain large losses. In that case, their plans to attack the city between spring and summer would be postponed.
If the Orcs' forces were weakened, it might be possible that less than a hundred adventurers would be needed; perhaps only one or two B-class adventurer parties would be enough.
『I hope the Ghouls overdo it a little and destroy this Live-Dead in the process.』
If that happened, he would be paid and then dismissed, leaving him free to leave on his journey.
As if answering Luciliano's request, the sounds of battle coming from outside Bugogan's house grew even fiercer.