Volume 2 - CH 4

It is Fate

A little while ago.

I headed out of the city mounted on Kokuyou to investigate the Northern Woods.

The day’s journey by carriage was less than two hours for me on the legs of my trusted companion.

The forest was in front of us, with a single road in it, wide enough for a carriage to pass through, which I was told was used for trading with the Lunette Empire.

Before I left the guild I was reminded,「Adventurers have no borders, but please refrain from crossing the border 」.

This advice was for the safety of the adventurers since the Lunette Empire was currently at war against Generate Kingdom.

For me though, I have Ferris waiting for me at the mansion and I don’t have a slightest interest to cross over there.

If by any chance I do meet Generate Kingdom one day, it’d be out of curiosity to find out if it is possible to return to Japan.

But knowing the nature of that country, I doubt it.

— There is also that “Hero” business.

If I went there, they’ll probably pretend to not know me, they may even try to get rid of me.

— That’s more reason for me to stay in my cosy little city.

Also back in Japan, I was already without parents, I was single—no wife nor children. By now the company would have retired me since I left without notice.

In that case—No, it might be too soon to tell.

I pushed those thoughts out of my head and activated Search to explore the forest.

There’s…… a lot of them.

I took out my two-handed sword from Dimensional Storage and carefully moved through the forest towards the monsters.

The monsters in this forest seem to roam at most in packs.

「Oryaah! 」

This again? I shook off the blood-stained sword.

Goblins, already carcasses, lie beneath my feet. The monsters I encountered were goblins, forest wolves, boas, and the occasional orcs.

The smell of the slain monsters attracts the other monsters to me leading to a cycle of subjugation of monsters.

They…… However, they are really weak.

For the request which I was tasked with in such desperation, only low-level monsters came out.

Is there any need for me to even take this……

「I have to find a colony or something…… I can’t go on like this 」

I tossed the defeated monsters into Dimensional Storage and went further into the forest.

The monsters that appeared though were also weak no matter how deep into the forest I went.

With a single swing of my sword they dropped like flies and the cycle continued.

I was sure I would find some speed in the forest wolves, but their movements are predictable.

And they are also a lot slower than me. More goblins came out, but they were a joke.

The only decent monsters that came out were orcs, despite their sluggish movements; they at least come out in large sizes.

The further along I went, the larger the response on Search I got.

「There’s dozens of them…… Is it a colony……? Definitely…… 」

I ran out at once. Finding the sword in my hand as a distraction, I chucked it away into Dimensional Storage and chose to use magic for fighting.

Since this is the forest I used wind magic as opposed to fire magic, and cast attack magic spells on monsters I zoomed past.

「Have to hurry…… 」

I zigzagged through the field of trees and kept the momentum, until I reached the break in the trees.

I whooshed into the open and was met with a striking scene.

It was orcs or dozens of them. They were surrounding and hungrily staring at their prey – a pair of girls.

Among the enclosing orcs, there were also a high orc species.

「I thought there was a colony here, but there are even people here too. Thank goodness. It looks like you’re both still safe…… 」

I was relieved.

There were people still alive.

The two girls, probably my age, were ragged and shaking all over.

…… Anyway, let’s get this over with.

I pulled out my Buster Sword again from Dimensional Storage and placed it on my shoulder.

「Hold on a minute. Don’t move from there 」

「Eh…….? 」

Perhaps they did not expect that kind of instruction or perhaps it was out of fear.

But that was the only reply that they gave me.

The orcs that surrounded the girls reacted to my voice by spreading out to surround me with clubs and other makeshift weapons in their hands.

I strengthened my body by dispersing magical power throughout my body.

「Let’s go then! 」

I readied my Buster Sword and started speeding towards them instantaneously.

I slashed down an orc in the front and with a single swing I flanked the orc beside him.

The rest of the orcs were now riled.

At the sound of the dying orcs, all the orcs that were in the village came towards me carrying weapons.

I swung my sword at the nearby orcs, slayed them into the ground, and shot wind magic with my left hand in the direction of the orcs in the distance.

As I mow down the colony, I see a corpse of a human lying on the ground.

Anger rose within me as I looked at the adventurer who had been swarmed by orcs and turned into a nursery and had her life taken with her eyes wide open.

「Prepare yourselves…… I’m not going to miss a single one of you…… 」

I thrust my sword into another orc.

As I was cutting every other orc that stood, a large orc emerged from the back.

Next to it, there were three other orcs that stood larger than the normal orcs and were equipped, albeit poorly.

「High-level orcs …… These must be the Generals, meaning the bigger one is…… an Orc King…… 」

We’re taught at the Adventurer’s Guild that in an emerging colony, there will always be a higher-level species, and depending on the size of the colony, there may be a “king class”. In that case, we’re reminded to always retreat and report to the Adventurer’s Guild to gather a few dozen people to subjugate it.

This is not the time for it.

The Orc King looked down at his fallen men, his face filled with rage, and he let out one of the loudest cries.

Done.

The five-meter tall Orc King was doomed in an instant.

At the sight of this, the remaining orcs fled with their metaphoric tails tucked between their legs.

But I won’t let them escape. I slayed the cowardly orcs as they attempted to escape, the other orcs that were out of reach of my sword I cut them into pieces with wind magic. After the ten minutes of orcs bellowing in agony, the area was filled with silence.

The place was littered with orc carcasses like a true hellscape.

I stored away my sword and exhaled heavily.

「Phew…… That was a lot of them, wasn’t it? I hadn’t expected there to be a king class. Oh…… That’s right…… 」

I remembered the two girls I had saved. I forgot about them when the Orc King showed up.

I moved closer to them and talked to them, the two girls had their mouths stupidly wide open and an incredulous look on their faces.

「—Are you guys okay ……? 」

My considerate words were met with—

「Kyaaaaaaaaaah! 」

A screaming of the pair of girls.

What? Did I miss an orc?