Chapter 10 : I Will Bring It Back (4)
“Where do you think you’re running?”
The one who had staged this hellscape still had no intention of freeing the goblins from hell.
“Ghk!”
I, Hein Reichart, grabbed the bastard upside down, then left a huge gash in its abdomen and threw it straight back into the cave.
Rather than killing it after it escaped outside, it took less effort to just toss it back into the cave.
It would thrash around on its own anyway.
The monsters that were already excited would go even crazier, intoxicated by the smell of blood leaking from the goblin’s wound, and the scent of hallucinogen dissolved in that blood.
“Hm, hm♪♫”
I hid myself back up in the tree, humming as I waited for the situation to ripen.
Whoosh.
“Karrk!!!”
Whooosh.
“Ghk-ghk!!”
Whoosh.
“Karoaak!”
After that, a few monsters intermittently showed themselves at the cave entrance, but they soon ended up falling back into the cave with fatal wounds.
And after some time had passed.
“Kaaaargh!”
A massive roar, on an entirely different level from the previous sounds, echoed out. Sensing that howling, I immediately straightened my posture.
‘Alright, show yourself. Our esteemed captain.’
Wooooong.
Around the cave entrance, and around the tree where I hid myself, blue light flickered repeatedly.
“Kraaaagh!”
As the flickering light settled, along with a thunderous howl that seemed like it would shake the entire forest, the final survivor, the ‘Black Orc,’ revealed itself.
A height and shoulder width that looked to be one and a half to two times that of an ordinary orc.
Reddish-brown skin clearly different from a normal green orc, and tusks that jutted high toward the sky.
Around its log-thick neck hung a skull necklace it wore proudly, with the skulls of all kinds of living beings, including humans, neatly strung together.
Thud thud!
As if showing off its rage, it swung the iron club in its hand in all directions.
Each time, blood flowing down its shoulders and arms splattered everywhere.
‘It looks a bit worn down, but not critically injured.’
Watching the Black Orc’s fury closely, I slightly furrowed my brow.
The other monsters inside the cave had annihilated each other through infighting, but the ruler of the cave didn’t seem to have been affected by that tragedy at all.
‘Well, getting bitten by wild dogs wouldn’t deal a fatal wound to a lion.’
I swept my gaze up and down the enraged Black Orc’s entire body.
‘Found it!’
Moments later, I spotted a single sword glinting at its waist.
It was a sword far too noble to be hanging at the waist of something like a Black Orc.
“Hey, you there, pig head.”
“……!”
The eyes of the Black Orc and mine collided in midair.
Facing the hostility that was close to instinct, I spoke.
“That’s something with an owner. Spit it out right now!”
“Grr!”
Thud thud thud!
Instead of drawing the Family Sword at its waist, the Black Orc let out a monstrous roar and swung its club.
Crack!
With a single full swing, the tree I had been pressing myself against was split cleanly in half and scattered through the air.
Leaping through the flying splinters, I flew behind the Black Orc and fired a fireball toward the back of its neck.
Boom!!!
A scorching heat rose from the back of the Black Orc’s neck where the flame magic struck directly.
Riding that heat, I launched myself again and secured a reasonable distance from it.
“Hah!”
However, there wasn’t even a scratch, let alone a wound, left on the Black Orc’s neck.
‘I really have become quite the has-been.’
Even if it was a spell fired without much meaning, the fact that my magic couldn’t damage even the Black Orc’s hide made me let out a bitter smile.
“Grrr…….”
But I couldn’t afford to just smile bitterly. The Black Orc had started charging again, swinging its club.
Whooosh whooosh whooosh!
Despite looking sluggish due to its massive build, the Black Orc’s momentum was anything but light.
I barely managed to evade its assault.
“Karrk!”
Perhaps it didn’t like how I kept dodging its attacks, the Black Orc lifted its heavy leg and slammed it forcefully into the ground.
Boom!!
“……!”
The entire area shook violently, and my stance was inevitably thrown off.
“Kaaagh!”
Seizing that opening, the Black Orc swung its club in a wide arc from left to right.
Thud!
Struck head-on by the club, I was sent flying a long distance before crashing to the ground.
“Cough!”
Collapsed on the ground, I spat out blood along with a cough.
As if it intended to allow no opening at all, the Black Orc raised its club high and hurled its body toward where I had fallen.
“Grrrrk!”
When it brought down the final blow with its full weight behind it, a heavy impact sound rang out and thick dust billowed up.
And as the dust that seemed ready to cover the world slowly began to settle.
“Don’t you know this?”
“Grrk?!”
Startled by the voice coming from an unexpected place, the Black Orc hurriedly looked down at where its club had struck.
But all that remained there was a deeply caved-in patch of ground.
“Hallucinogens and illusion have excellent synergy.”
Realizing something was wrong, the Black Orc tried to leap once more toward where I was.
But—
Crack!
The ground beneath its feet collapsed just a bit faster.
And from the sunken earth, blue light that had been flickering at my gesture before the fight began burst forth.
Wooooong.
The blue light that burst out soon became thick chains that wrapped around the Black Orc, taking shape as a beautiful blue magic circle.
Crack……!
Intense sparks flew from the magic circle engraved with dizzying rune letters.
Instinctively sensing the outcome that was about to come, the Black Orc twisted its body with all its might.
“Ugh!”
But the bands of light coiling around it only tightened further.
“Bang!”
At the moment I uttered the incantation.
Kwaaaang!
A violent wave of light engulfed the Black Orc’s upper body.
Crack!
By the time the waves of light pouring out of the magic circle disappeared, everything from below the Black Orc’s neck to above its waist was gone without a trace.
A 3rd Circle spell, Acrylic Laser, had completely melted away the Black Orc’s upper body.
Srrng…….
Parting the acrid smoke as I stepped forward, I pulled out Reichart’s Family Sword that had been stuck at the waist of the Black Orc, which had lost its owner and was left with only its neck and lower body.
Woooong.
As if happy about the reunion after so long, the Family Sword emitted a low vibration in my hand.
‘This seems even better than I expected?’
Checking the condition of the Family Sword, I let out an admiring sound.
The strength of the blade, its sharpness, its sensitivity in accepting mana, and even the spells engraved on it. Its performance exceeded what I had expected.
‘At this level, it’s almost a waste to just use it briefly and throw it away.’
Feeling deep satisfaction at the unexpected performance of the Family Sword, I quietly chanted a spell.
The mana infused into the sword began to course through its entire body.
‘Bingo!’
A smile formed at the corner of my mouth when I discovered the trace I had been looking for.
Even without the help of a mana scroll, the ‘eyes’ I possessed clearly showed the impure trace.
A dull crimson mark staining one corner of the Family Sword that was otherwise covered entirely in blue light.
Staring at that impure trace I had finally found, I whispered in a low voice.
‘Wait for me. Alain. I’m coming right now.’
***
“Captain, the young master is in sight!”
“What? Really? Does he look injured anywhere?”
Hearing the lookout’s shout from the watchtower, the Captain of the Guard called back loudly.
It had been around noon yesterday when Hein left the Defense Fortress.
Seeing him finally appear after more than twenty hours of waiting anxiously for his safe return, his voice naturally grew loud.
“Yes. From the way he’s walking, it doesn’t look like he has any major injuries.”
“That’s a relief. Truly a relief.”
The Captain of the Guard repeatedly let out sighs of relief, patting his chest.
If something had happened to Hein, the garrison would have had to brave the forest at great risk.
In the worst case, they might even be charged with the crime of failing to protect the Family Head’s son.
Thud!
Moments later, the fortress gate opened and Hein appeared.
“Welcome back, young master. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Thanks to you and the others worrying about me, I returned safely.”
Aside from the fact that he was carrying a large bundle over his shoulder, Hein didn’t look much different from when he had left the fortress.
‘Fortunately, it seems this immature brat has come to his senses.’
Seeing that, the Captain of the Guard nodded to himself without Hein noticing.
Whether he had simply gotten scared, or belatedly realized his own shortcomings, he assumed Hein had given up on hunting the Black Orc midway.
Clatter!
Unaware or uncaring of the sharp looks around him, Hein set the heavy bundle down on the ground without changing his expression.
With a dull sound, a dark red liquid seeped out from the bundle that hit the ground.
“Bring me a horse.”
“Young master, are you planning to return to the castle immediately?”
“That’s my intention. There’s something I need to do back at the castle.”
“You must be tired. Wouldn’t it be better to rest here even briefly?”
“I appreciate the concern, but I’ll decline. I don’t have much time.”
Refusing both rest and the offer of an escort, Hein mounted the horse and the Captain of the Guard and the soldiers prepared to see him off.
In truth, the offer had been made purely out of courtesy. None of them had the slightest desire to keep Hein around any longer.
“Oh, right. Could you bring me the map?”
Just as he looked ready to depart at any moment atop the horse, Hein suddenly asked the grinning soldiers for the operation map.
Scratch scratch scratch!
“Then, take care.”
After handing the modified operation map to the Captain of the Guard, Hein left the fortress just like that.
“No, what did he do to a map used for operations?”
Once Hein was out of sight, the Captain of the Guard examined the map he had been given.
“……Huh?”
In the cave where the Black Orc lived, there was a red X mark drawn in ink.
“……What is this?”
“Captain, come over here quickly!”
As the Captain of the Guard tilted his head in confusion, the shocked voices of the soldiers rang out.
“What is it that you’re making such a fuss about—!”
About to scold them for overreacting, the Captain of the Guard froze the moment he saw the contents of the bundle Hein had left behind.
Like the others, his mouth fell wide open.
“This…… this is……”
Inside the mouth of the half-open bundle lay the head of a Black Orc, its two eyes wide open, placed there starkly.