In the World of Midgar 6 — Ouzelia Lucifen (5)

꒰ঌ Ouzelia Lucifen (5)

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"Oh, yes, Minako."

"Yes, what is it?"

The village which was supposedly near the orcs's nest was about half a day away from Ydalir by foot.

On the way there, I started asking Minako questions to kill time.

This world had several inconsistencies with my knowledge of it. As one might expect, one thousand years was not a small amount of time, and made a lot of difference.

"Earlier, you said that power levels now are much lower than one thousand years ago. Tell us exactly how much in a way that's easy to understand."

One thousand years ago… back when this was the world of the game, I was the strongest player. I was at the top of combined stat rankings, and I was confident I wouldn't lose easily to anybody.

It wasn't like I was far and away ahead of everyone else, though. In fact, players like me were everywhere.

If I remember right, the total number of players was around eight million… Out of that number, about 20% of players were at max level, and being max level was the lowest requirement to be considered a high ranking player. Of course, getting to level 1000 took quite a lot of work, but still, it was something you'd eventually get to by hunting every day. Just being level 1000 wasn't enough to be considered a high ranking player.

What was truly difficult and important came after that, when you were tested on just how efficiently you could get stat-raising items to get stronger now that your level wasn't going anywhere. Doing just that and raising your stats stupidly high once you were max level was how players started to get famous as a high level player.

I figured… Isn't it just that people in this world basically don't use stat raising items at all anymore? In other words, they stop growing once they reach max level, and that was the peak.

Isn't that why power levels went down?

Flying in the face of that, the response Minako gave me greatly undermined my expectations.

"Uhh, let's see… The country that summoned you, Laevateinn, is renowned as the 'country of swords' but… They have a person known as the 'Sword Saint' there, a beastman named Plue, who's put on a pedestal as the best swordsman in the world. I believe he's level 120."

"… 120?"

"Yes, 120."

I doubted my own hearing.

Wait just a second, 120?

The world's strongest swordsman is level 120?! That's way too low!

What a guy, to call himself a Sword Saint.

There were a lot of beginner players in the game that got full of themselves and gave themselves a nickname or title when they passed level 100, but I always just thought of them as those kinds of people. At the very least, get to 1000 before giving yourselves a name like that or else you'll humiliate yourself.

"That's a joke, right? There is a limit to how low your level can be."

"No, the real joke was how unreal people in that age were. Please think about it; you only have one life. Normally, there wouldn't be very many monstrously strong people who'd be able to safely get to level 1000 without losing their lives. Even more so, people fought tooth and nail every single day until they got there; they were doing preposterous things like training endlessly without rest… That era back then was bizarre in and of itself, with how many hero-level people like that were wandering around."

Hearing Minako's reasoning, I was once again made to realize that my perceptions were off.

I see, so that's how it is.

It was true that level 1000 was something you could only reach because it was a game. Even if your character died they just came back, and the player wasn't hurt at all.

Getting there was something that was only possible because of that… For example, if there was a rule that said, 'If you die, you'll never be able to log in as the same character again,' almost no players would get to maxing out their levels.

Every day, without fail, spend the entire day in a fight to the death with monsters, and continue that for over a year without dying. Just how many people would be able to pull that off in real life?

If they could, they'd be lunatics. No doubt, they wouldn't be normal.

In other words, thinking normally, even level 120 was an amazing feat. The person would be a superhuman that deserved a title.

I was the one that was mistaken.

"We see… Truly, this is quite different from what We know."

In this world, I was a lunatic and a monster. I felt like that reality was thrust in front of me, and I started feeling a little empty inside.

***

Eir village.

It was a small village half a day away from the Trade City Ydalir by foot, and there was nothing special about it. In Minako's words, 'it's a simple village where people live modestly.'

After leaving a patch of woods that actually wasn't all that large, there was a small, calm village that had none of the flash of a city. I see. There were several small, wooden houses lined up with fields in front of them.

Yep, I don't hate this atmosphere.

"The house that's indicated in the job form is… Ah, that large one over there." Minako pointed at a conspicuously large house while looking at the piece of paper in her hand.

Even though I say big, it's not actually that large compared to anything in a city. It's just big for this village.

It was most likely the house of the village chief, and when we got to the house, Minako knocked lightly on the door.

"Excuse me! We saw your request and accepted it! Is the village chief there?"

Minako said to leave all the negotiations and planning with the client to her, so, for now, I was just luggage. She said that my manner of speaking really stands out, no matter what.

Yeah, I knew that, too, but for some reason, there was nothing I could do about it. It was as if this was how I'd been talking for many years. That was how naturally it came out.

"Ohh! I've been waiting so long! Here, here, come on in." The one who came to the door was a kind-looking, white-haired old man.

Seeing me, he looked doubtful for a moment, but even so, he must have had his back to the wall, since he didn't say anything about it and invited us in.

The inside was obviously in disrepair in some places, and I could see some traces of hasty repairs and reinforcement. The floor creaked loudly; it was like the state of the floor was a direct representation of how the village was doing as a whole.

"Please, take a seat."

I was shown a seat, so I sat down on a really unreliable wooden chair. I was worried that it would break at any moment, but it was holding up for now, somehow. If I were a beastkin or something it'd be over, though. Definitely.

"Now then, let's get into it quickly. The request is to exterminate a nest of orcs near the village. That's correct?"

"Yes. Even if you don't kill them all, I'll still pay you if you manage to drive them off. At any rate, if things stay like this we'll just get eaten by them and… The young women will be taken, the men will be killed, and even the children'll be killed, half for fun… Almost all of our crops have been stolen. We're at our limit here. Please, punish those damn pigs for us!"

"Of course!"

While listening to Minako and the village chief talk, I was actually impressed by just how refreshingly awful orcs were.

Orcs were, just like the setting in the game, and everywhere else, a race that did awful things almost instinctively, it seemed. I wanted to tell them all that that was exactly why they weren't included in the seven main races of humanity and were instead treated as monsters. Even vampires were treated as, basically, people, but when it came to those pigs…

Anyway, since my opponent's not nice at all, it's actually going to be much easier to do this, personally. I'm thankful. At the very least, crushing all the orcs won't hurt my conscience any.

"Leave it to us. We'll crush those orcs, nest and all. You'll see! At least, this person will!" Minako pointed to me with a smug face.

She was saying brave things, but in the end, she's just leaving it all to someone else. Well, actually, fighting is my job, though, so I'll just shut up and nod.

The village chief was making a face like she wanted to ask if I could actually do it, but there should be no complaints as long as I complete the job.

"P-please. Please save our village," the village chief said before bowing deeply.

After being begged like that, there's no way we could refuse. We didn't have any intention to do so in the first place, but now, I'm even more motivated.

After Minako and I promised to crush the orcs, we left.

"Now what? Should we just go in swinging?"

"That's a fine idea, too, but first, we must prepare. We cannot be sure that orcs will not attack this place while we are gone."

Most likely, crushing the nest won't be a problem. In the end, the difference in our stats is just too much. No matter how much I let my guard down as I fight, there's most likely no way for me to lose.

Still, if the orcs come this way while we're busy getting to the nest, it's still our loss if the village chief gets killed in the meantime. If the employer dies, there's no way for us to get paid.

"So, We are going to make a guardian."

"A guardian?"

"Yes, a simple golem. It won't be very strong, but it should be more than enough to stop orcs," I explained to Minako before using a random rock I found to create a stone golem with my Alchemist skills.

A golem's strength depended on the creator's class level, the formula being: [character's overall level/2 + class level] with any fractions being ignored.

For example, if a character's overall level was 20 and their class level was 5, then the golem's level would be [20/2 + 5], which comes out as level 15. And if their class level was 20, then the golem's level would be 30 and stronger than the creator.

In other words, low level players could make golems up to 15 times their level. It could be said that golems were an Alchemist's main strength during the early game.

However, even though class levels were limited to 100, overall level could get to 1000. Meaning that the higher leveled you got, the less useful golems became.

In short, if I were to make a golem, it would be, at best, level 600, given the formula: [1000/2 + 100]. On top of that, the materials are also a factor that sets the golem's maximum attainable level. With good materials, I can achieve a level 600 golem, but unfortunately, with just a random rock, I'd be lucky to see level 100… Honestly, it's not something that'd be useful to me.

But still, as a guardian for this village, it'll probably be fine.

"No no, it's more than fine. A level 100 golem is worth I don't know how many millions of el right now, you know?!"

"That price, for something We just made out of a random rock…"

For now, I set it as a guardian. Before leaving, I gave it a simple order, that being to render any orcs that come near the village immobile without question.

We went straight for the orc nest. The aim? Orc meat that raises HP.

We walked to where the orc nest was indicated on the map, trampling wild grass flat beneath our feet.

I understood where they were immediately. It was indicated on the map, but more than anything, they weren't hiding at all.

There were two orcs boldly talking in front of a cave. They seemed to be guards of a sort, but honestly, their wariness level was a straight 0. They were acting boldly, as if they didn't expect to be harmed in any way. Not even a little.

"There they are. Agh, they're so ugly every time I see them… I bet even the Goddess Naru regrets these failures."

"You have quite the poisonous tongue, don't you? Apparently, she's a goddess that loves everything equally, according to the clergy, anyway."

"That's just a lie. They're pushing their delusions onto her. There's no doubt, even the goddess has her favorites."

While listening to Minako criticizing orcs, I thought about how I was going to kill them all.

1: Go straight in and kick them to death.

Honestly, there's no need to be afraid of them at all. Even if I went straight in without trying to hide, I could probably win easily. But I don't know how many orcs I might let escape if I do things like this.

2: Use my skills as an Alchemist to crush the nest itself.

I think this is the safest route. I can't use any attack magic, but with Alchemist skills, large-scale attacks aren't impossible. But doing it like this destroys the nest, so I don't know how many pieces of orc meat'll get buried in the rubble, never to be found.

3: Use my skills to their limits to assassinate everyone before they even get a chance to scream.

Doing things this way, I won't have to worry about anyone running away, and there's no chance of not being able to get all the orc meat that drops. I'm not sure how this would look, the Black Emperor going this far against just orcs, but the meat comes first.

I don't know how many of them are in there, but given the drop rates, if there're at least fifty I should get at least one or two pieces. And if there're about one hundred, I should be able to get three. Orc meat raises HP between 100-300 per piece at random, so at the very least, I'll get 300 HP with three pieces.

… Kinda eh? Not at all. Repeating this several times definitely stacks up.

"Now then, let's get this over with quickly."

"Go for it, Big Sis!"

I started creating some items using my Alchemist skills. The material was the dirt itself, and the end product was shurikens.

For now, I went with a light fifty shurikens, and I used the Esper skill 'Psycho Throw' to make them float.

To be honest, I was far better at close combat, and out of my maxed out classes, four of them were specialized for close combat. No, Striders are pretty heavy on close combat, too, so I guess five?

On the other hand, since I couldn't use attack magic, I ended up being not that great at long-distance fights. I didn't even take the Archer class, and I've only gone halfway through the Esper class, with it being level 50.

But still, comboed with the Alchemist class, I could hold my own, somewhat.

The Alchemist's item creation skill, just like it said, was able to make items out of materials that were either on hand or just happened to be around. The range of creatable items was wide, from healing items to equipment, and, depending on how materials are used or combined, you could make an almost infinite number of different kinds of equipment.

This time, I just created normal shurikens, but my class level was 100, so if I wanted to, I couldn't make a legendary weapon, but I could make something close in ability.

And Espers were just what it implied, a psychic powers class. Espers could bind people or move things around without having to get near them. 'Psycho Throw' was the biggest example of that, and it allowed me to launch my items at enemies.

I believe there was a villain from an internationally famous visual novel in the past with a skill that let him to throw any kind of weapons to his enemies; just think of it as something like that.

This skill worked really well comboed with the Alchemist class, and it allowed you to kind of feel like a last boss yourself when you started shooting countless weapons at your enemies with your arms crossed.

All fifty shurikens flew at the orcs on watch, and they pierced through their heads, chopped through their necks, ran their hearts through, and cut off their arms and legs. They were filled with shurikens in an instant, and the orcs, which now looked like hedgehogs, didn't even twitch.

I walked out of the bushes and extracted the shurikens with my psychokinesis before starting to take the orcs apart.

… Huh? Could it be this isn't a 3% drop chance, but instead something I could just get if I butchered them?

"Ahh… That's no good, Big Sis. You ruined the filet. The orc's filet — or the softest part inside it — is the part that increases your vitality, but if you damage it even a little while it's alive, it loses its effect."

"Hm? Really?"

"Of course. Although, orcs already fight a lot, so a lot of times their filets are already damaged. It's said that the chances of the filet still being undamaged, as well as leaving it that way when fighting, is about 3%.… Did you forget about all that while you were sealed?" After hearing Minako's explanation, I was impressed.

I see, that's why it's 3%. So, the drop rates in the game that I didn't really pay any attention to had this sort of reasoning behind them. That's pretty interesting. And now that I know this, that means that if I do well in defeating it I can raise the chances of getting them depending on my skill.

"That's very useful. We shall be more careful from now on."

I did something wasteful just now. Turning them into hedgehogs like this, there was no way there'd be any part of them left to salvage. Of course, the filet wasn't an exception. Unfortunately, while it seemed these orcs could still be food, they wouldn't be raising my HP.

"Also, orcs are very hardy, so I don't recommend hitting their bodies in the first place. Aim for their neck or head, Big Sis."

"Understood. You're quite knowledgeable, Minako."

A single orc came out of the cave, saying, "It's time to change watch," so I used a single fuma shuriken to quickly lop off its head.

Minako clapped lightly in response, saying, "Well done."

I once again butchered the new orc, and this time, I found a nice and pretty undamaged filet.

"Look, Minako. This time, We got one."

"As expected! Good job!"

If it was just 'me', I definitely wouldn't have been able to look at an R-18 butchering scene directly or even kill another living thing. It's probably not right to just be thankful for my situation when it's convenient like this, but right now, I'm glad I have Lucifen's senses.

Now then, there's still a mountain of orcs around. For the job, let's make sure none of them get away.

"Wha—? Who the hell're— …Guaahh!"

"I-Intru— … Grraaaggh!"

"Someone sent from that vi— … Gyaagghh!"

"Heh, good job making it this far! I am the strongest of the orcs's Four Heavenly Kings… Nnwhaaaggh!"

"W-wait! Please, spare m— … Hhgyaaahhhh!"

I suppose it should've been called a massacre. Corpses of orcs trailed behind me everywhere I walked, and orcs that were about to be corpses were arrayed in front of me.

Thinking this would be a good chance to do it, I was going to try out a bunch of skills, but doing it here wouldn't tell me anything. I mean, no matter what skill I used, they all died instantly anyway. Like this, I wouldn't be able to tell just how powerful each skill was.

"Minako, how is it over there?"

"This one is… no good. It's a miss."

After extracting each orc's filet and checking it to see if it was good, I was taking any usable filets and keeping them in my bag. Anything else was being unexpectedly cleaned up by Minako.

Apparently, he could use teleportation magic, and he was moving all the orcs to Heart Tower, since we couldn't very well carry them.

Minako said, "Once this is over, I'll go back to the tower for a bit and make them into examp— … I mean, dried meat."

So apparently, that's how it is. Man, I'm so lucky to have an actual, useful advisor.

Anyway, there was a little too much of it, even if it was made into dried meat, so apparently, most of it would be sold in markets after being processed. I'd leave all of that to her.

"This is the deepest part, isn't it?" I kicked open the door and went in.

The orc near the entrance got up, surprised, but I just stabbed him through the head with a kunai I created before moving on, stabbing through the different-colored orc that was panicking and trying to run away further in.

The only ones that dropped orc meat were regular orcs. So that meant I didn't have to care about the different-colored one, the orc lord. Countless kunais stabbed through him, and he died without even being able to scream.

"So, that's all of them, right?"

"Most likely."

After hearing Minako's reply, I breathed a small sigh of relief. That meant the job was finished…

I killed quite a lot, but as always, I'm not bothered at all. It's as if this is just an extension of my daily life; that's how calm I am. Even if I manage to go back — if I can go back, that is — I don't know how I'll be if I stay like this. Not thinking anything of killing, that's way too scary a thing in the modern world.

"Uhhh, the girls who were taken… Oh, there they are." Minako looked around and found a cage.

No, is that really a cage?

It was true that they were in something made so they couldn't run away. That was for certain. But there was furniture, they were properly wearing clothes, and there were even gems and flowers and stuff in the cage.

The women were all sleeping with faces clinched tight in fear, but at the very least, it didn't seem like anything had happened to them yet. Actually, it looked like they were being properly cared for.

And that was to be expected. In truth, orcs weren't violent towards women (and only women); they were a very kind creature in that respect.

People thought that as soon as they kidnapped a woman off the streets, they'd immediately do them, but it was actually different in this world. Orcs would kidnap women. That much was certain and for a very compelling reason — to reproduce. Somehow, they always made males, no matter what they did. It was a sad flaw of their genes, so they had no other recourse but to mate with women of other races.

And for that, they only went for human women. Since, out of all the races of humanity, human women were the only ones they could mate with.

Elves? Orcs wouldn't even give them the time of day.

But it didn't just end with orcs taking women and mating. They were, at their roots, barbaric beings that only knew violence since birth, so they couldn't even raise children properly. That was why they needed the women they took to raise their children properly, and if they forcefully raped or even displeased the women, of course they wouldn't bother with raising children.

For orcs, that was a huge problem.

That was why they always tried to make sure women were happy, no matter what. The women lived better than they did themselves; they were given a lot of food, and they even got offered a veritable mountain of gems and flowers and the like. It's a lot of work, trying to keep women happy.

On top of that, they wouldn't even touch the women if they didn't have consent, and they'd stake their lives on protecting them, too. Their motives were impure, but the pigs here were relatively gentlemanly.

Still, to the people who were taken, that didn't matter one bit. Even if those pig-faces treated them well, all they'd do was live in fear.

It's sad, but in the end, they just weren't compatible with humans.

"Okay, the women are fine. Let us go back to the village."

"I can erase their memories, too. Should I do that?"

"Is that necessary?"

"I do feel that it's better for them not to remember getting kidnapped by pigs."

"Hm. How far can you go with it?"

"If I feel like it, I can implant them with fake memories and personalities."

"… You just casually said something really scary there. Well, there's no reason to go that far. It doesn't seem like anything was done to them, either."

For now, it should be fine to leave the women as they were. It was most likely a scary experience for them, but in the end, they were fine. Still, we checked that nothing was done to them, just in case.

I left checking the women to Minako, while I started to explore the room. There should be some scant fortune or food to be had, which the orcs stole from the village. I should find as much as I can and return it to the village.

Well, I do feel kind of sorry for the orcs, but I really shouldn't let this one go. I mean, robbery is robbery. I do feel sorry for them, but that doesn't excuse anything.

After leaving the orc nest and making sure Minako and all the others were out as well, I unleashed one of my Alchemist skills at the nest itself. The cave was blameless in all this, but leaving it alone wasn't a good idea. Other orcs might come, lured by the smell of orcs here, and if that happened, the first thing they'd do is go after the village again.

So to prevent that from happening, I had to destroy the cave as cleanly as possible.

"Create: Hrungnir's Right Arm," I declared, and at the same time, a huge arm of rock manifested above the cave.

In size, it was a huge right arm that looked to be larger than 50m in length. Among all the Alchemist's attack skills, this one was the most reliable in terms of physical attack power and range.

It mercilessly struck at the orcs's nest and crushed it flat. It made a huge boom and shook the earth, and even just the aftershocks of the action caused winds to blow.

Even if there were orcs that managed to escape my notice and hide, they should be dead now.

"Nice work, Big Sis. All the girls that were being held in the orc nest are safe."

"Yes, good job."

Minako, who returned via teleportation magic, stood behind me as I thanked her for her work.

No, really, I can't be thankful enough for her.

I left all the work of dealing with the orcs, preserving their meat, selling them, and even checking up on the women to hee. Even though it was a game and there was nothing to be done about it, I wondered just how the 'Lucifen' before I became her managed to treat Minako as background. The blond girl's so capable it's actually surprising.

"Ahh, right. I tried grilling one of these; would you like to try it? You've moved around a lot, so I think you might be hungry."

"That is…"

Minako revealed a plate from somewhere and showed it to me. On the plate was a steak that seemed almost grilled to perfection, and the smell alone stirred my appetite.

"It's a steak I made using orc meat. It'll be delicious with rice."

"Indeed, We shall have it." I agreed with no hesitation and sat down on a nearby stump.

Now that I think about it, I still haven't eaten anything ever since I was summoned here. So much has happened, so I almost forgot that it hasn't even been one day since I came to this world.

I snapped and formed a wooden table before having Minako place the plate in front of me.

"Oh yes, does it keep its effect even if you cook it?"

"That's fine, yes. You must only avoid damaging it while the orc is still alive. It seems that the orc's filet, or the softest and best part of its flesh, works to gather its vitality, but if it's damaged while the orc is alive, it loses its effect and releases all the stored vitality into the rest of the orc. But, if the orc is dead, all the vitality stays inside the filet."

"What kind of mystery being are they…?"

While Minako was talking, I created a wooden fork and knife before cutting into the steak. It was surprising how soft the meat was when I touched it with the knife. It only raised my expectations before I even got to eat it.

Then, after a bite — Saying that the meat melts in your mouth is an old and clichéd expression, but now, I see; it's so soft that's the only way to describe it.

The meat's umami was overwhelming, and I was rendered unable to speak. The salty-sweet sauce on the steak was absolutely irresistible as well. It wonderfully brought out the tastiness of the meat.

Unable to take it anymore, I scooped up the rice with a spoon and put it in my mouth, and it was actually fun how well the rice paired with the meat.

The strong flavor of the meat mixed in with the rice changed the flavor, and they both heightened the other to new levels.

"Is this sauce homemade?"

"Yes. Did it not suit your tastes?"

"No, well done."

I don't think I'll ever get tired of this meat. I prefer beef steaks, but really, you can't just dismiss pork steaks either. Orcs look pretty awful, but if their meat is this good I feel like I can forgive that.

"Minako, you're not eating?"

"Nah, I'm fine."

"Hmm…"

Is she being considerate, since I'm here? Or maybe she just really hates orcs? Well, if she says it's fine then I suppose I don't really need to force it out of her. Everybody has one or two things they hate.

I finished up the orc steak, and then checked my stats.

[ Black Emperor Ouzelia Lucifen ]

[Level]: 1000

[Race]: Flugel

[HP]: 335000 → 335300

[SP]: 44300

[STR (Strength)]: 9200

[DEX (Dexterity)]: 8750

[VIT (Vitality)]: 10300

[INT (Intelligence)]: 8300

[AGI (Agility)]: 10778

[MND (Mind)]: 9550

[LUK (Luck)]: 9280

Great, my HP actually went up.

This time, I managed to get another four filets by completing the job, so at the very least, my HP would go up by another 400.

My HP was already higher than most players, but I still felt like it could go higher.

Actually, since there's no one else competing for orcs here, I can hunt them as much as I like, so if I'm lucky, I think I might be able to break 1 million HP.

… No, I guess that much is impossible. No matter how good it is, I don't think I'd be able to stand eating that much orc meat. Also, if I actually went that far, even orcs would go extinct, probably. In fact, I'm impressed they haven't done that already in these one thousand years.

"Thank you for the meal. It truly was good, Minako."

"I'm happy you enjoyed it."

After I finished the meal, Minako cleaned up the table and utensils before teleporting away. Then, after a few seconds, she came back without any of the luggage. She probably just left it somewhere in Heart Tower.

… I wish I had teleportation magic. I can't use magic at all, so I just get really jealous of that stuff.

"Now, let's go back, Big Sis."

"Let's." Ushered on by Minako, I started moving.

But going back in silence was just sad. I decided to ask Minako about that memory manipulation technique she talked about as a conversation starter.

"By the way, about that memory manipulation talk from earlier: will it ever come undone once you apply it?"

"My memory manipulation magic won't stop working as long as nothing too unusual happens. However, once they're formed, memories are really resilient… It's not unusual for memories to come back thanks to some small thing that happens."

"We see. Then, even if you were to erase those women's memories, they might still remember that they were kidnapped by orcs if their memory was jogged by something?" I muttered, after hearing Minako's explanation.

It seemed that even if it was called memory manipulation, it wasn't perfect. Most likely, it didn't truly erase memories but instead sealed them deep down. That was why, if something caused them to regain their memories, the person could quickly go back to how they were before.

"What a convenient, but hard to use, magic."

"Exactly." Minako laughed, looking troubled.

Memory manipulation, huh? … Sounds like it'd be good for use in caring for people after traumatic experiences or for removing evidence. There might be a time when I'll have to rely on that, eventually.

While continuing our conversation, we carried the unconscious women back to the village. Well, I say carried, but since I couldn't move my arms at the moment, I was just floating them along with my Esper powers.

"Ohh, you're back! And with the girls, too! So, they were all right!"

When we got back to the village, I spotted the chief running towards us happily. I placed the women down in front of him and took a step back.

As always, I left all the conversation to Minako.

"Yes. Apparently, the orcs haven't laid a hand on them yet."

"Ohh, that's great to hear. There's nothing that makes me happier than hearing that our girls are safe."

Minako told him about the condition of the girls before handing them over. During the few days while they were kidnapped, they just ended up being endlessly wooed by the orcs. But their faces were twisted in fear, and it didn't seem like any of the orcs managed to capture their hearts.

In the end, this game is all about faces, you orcs. You all've been given an insurmountable handicap from the moment you were born. No matter how gentlemanly you are or how gallantly you act, you'll never win against some hot guy that's just standing there.

The world is filled with unfairness like that.

"Well then, here is your 1500 el and our thanks."

"Yes, this looks right."

"Also… uhm, what is that golem that's been standing there like it's protecting the village? It somehow looks incredibly powerful, even to these amateurish eyes…"

"That's just my master's kindness. Don't worry about it, and let it protect your village."

While listening to them talk, I started thinking.

With this, we've managed to secure funds and food for a while. I felt like the things I needed to think about myself have increased as well, but that was only natural on someone's first day.

For now, let's just rest for today and set out tomorrow. Today was really long.

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