Harun Vol 4 Chapter 2

A+ A- Chapter 2
Haroon – Vol.4 Chap.2 – On the way to the training camp.

《On the way to the training camp》

 “Huh? Who’s that?”

 “Oh.”

 The Quad w.a.n.kers got up as soon as the sun rose, only to be surprised by finding strangers sleeping by the dying bonfire.

 “They were lost.”

 “They came here late in the night.”

 With Haroon and Teeno’s explanation, the Quad w.a.n.kers understood the situation. Out of curiosity, they drew closer and checked them out.

 “Oh wow. They are pretty.”

 Philip murmured. Their beauty was outstanding in fact. They were born with it, and the appearance parameters of Beyond made them look even prettier. Though the standard of beauty in Beyond and in reality would be different, they were simply way over the standard. In other words, their beauty would be apparent in any world if humans live there.

 “Not prettier than Serinn though.”

 Serinn smiled from Gitan’s words, without knowing.

 “They are so foxy,” said Ritrina.

 Though her face was quite characteristic, it wasn’t something that men would like.

 The two sleeping girls had no idea that they were being antagonized, just for being pretty.

“But how did they get all the way here by themselves? They don’t even have any weapons on them.”

 The perceptive Philip pointed the odd things out.

 “Well, one of them is a magician. The other one looks like a swordswoman but she doesn’t have a sword. They said they are travelling, but it’s hard to believe as they didn’t even bring any sleeping bags, nor a tent. Though, that’s none of our business, is it? Let’s just get moving.”

 On Haroon’s words, his members started to prepare to leave the cave. While Serinn was preparing the last meal in the cave, Teeno, Philip, and Gitan carefully stacked and packed up the leathers they’d gathered, and Ritrina packed up the rest including the sleeping bags and tents with Haroon’s help.

 Seeing them, Hall packed up her belongings as well. As she didn’t have much to begin with, she was the first one to finish packing up. After that, she entered meditation without giving any interest to anyone. Seeing how she meditated whenever she could, the others supposed that she was doing her training of some sort.

 The sisters woke up after the members of the Gusts of Wind and Hall had finished their breakfast. Although they didn’t wake up that easily because they were physically exhausted, they’d never been in a noisy situation while sleeping.

 “Hey, shut the f.u.c.k up, you petty commoners!”

 Shouted short-tempered Biryu, as soon as she was able to, not even being able to open her own eyes properly. Presumably, she thought that she was in her house and it was her handmaids that were bothering her sleep.

 But how could the others, excluding Haroon, know that? That shifted the Quad w.a.n.ker’s and even Teeno’s expression, who were peacefully going through the last check of their bags and weapons. Her annoyed words were somewhat comparable to Ritrina’s taunt skill.

 “What the h.e.l.l is wrong with that girl?”

 “Huh! I don’t know what to say. Now I’ve seen it all.”

 Perplexed, they murmured some words, but Ritrina acted differently. She walked to her and kicked around the middle of the sleeping bag Biryu was in. Seeing how her eyes were rolled over, it seemed she got taunted greatly.

 “Aah!”

 Not satisfied with just kicking once, Ritrina kicked the sleeping bag Seryu was

in as well.

 “Aaah! Who was that?”

 With pain in their guts, they screamed and woke up.

 “Get the f.u.c.k up, b.i.t.c.hes! Bring on those shameless f.u.c.king faces!”

 The tip of her eyes got raised, and her lips were trembling. It was her angry face. The training she had for the last few days didn’t only boost up her skill, but her overall atmosphere as well.

 Biryu’s eyes widened when she confronted Ritrina’s angry eyes directly. Startled, she jumped out of her sleeping bag.

 “Wh-Who are you?”

 Her voice was trembling, just like her whole body was.

 “I don’t know when and where the heck you pigs came from but we provided you a warm, safe place to sleep and you f.u.c.king pigs say what?  ‘Shut the f.u.c.k up, you petty commoners’?”

 “U-Uhhh…….”

 Finally seeing what she’d got herself into, she slowly moved to her sister Seryu’s side who was getting up with a mixed expression of pain and confusion on her face. She heard what Biryu said as well, half asleep. It happened quite often, and Seryu was actually feeling the same way since she was tired as well. Though Seryu got annoyed, her calm, sharp-minded personality made her realize the situation way faster than Biryu could. Seeing the NPCs scary eyes toward them, she started to tremble with fear.

 ‘How do they even make such faces?’

 Especially seeing Ritrina’s threatening eyes turning white made her knees knock.

 “I’m terribly sorry! My younger sister made a huge mistake by thinking she was in her house! Please forgive us, it was not intentional!”

 She bowed low to apologize. Her face turning red.

 She always used to say a n.o.ble should never lose their grandiosity, but now she was apologizing to dirty folks, bowing low. It was humiliating, but it felt like things would go very wrong if she didn’t do so.

 Her fast decision at least eased the tension. Haroon was surprised.

 ‘Huh, so n.o.bles apologize too? I never thought they would fear anything, and it turns out they’re not so different from us when they are in trouble,’ he thought.

 And he thought that it was good to know.

 The n.o.bles he’d seen so far always had a high-handed stance and grandness. Even when things turned out to be mistakes they made themselves, they shamelessly dealt with it. Even if the opponent was the mighty authority of the school.

 So Haroon used to think the n.o.bles belonged to a somewhat special race unlike him. He thought that they were simply born differently. In fact, he was getting bullied in school as they found out he was the result of artificial insemination, someone who doesn’t even know who his parents were. His sense of inferiority of lineage, the old unwelcoming friend of his, was breaking down into pieces.

 ‘So I’ve been spelling it wrong, grandioseness as grandness?’

 He couldn’t find a proper way to put what he’d realized. It felt like he’d found a great secret. Maybe it was a secret just to him, but not anymore. He realized that he knew it by knowledge, but now that he’d learned it with his mind, it brought unbearable joy to him. The joy of breaking the image he had of n.o.bles, formed by experience and brainwashing.

 ‘Yeah! So you were just the same humans who s.h.i.t after eating and hide their tails when they are afraid, huh?’

 Haroon smiled deeply, without saying anything.

 “Leave them alone. We’ve got to use every bit of our strength if we are to go to Huk’ran Mountains, and we can’t waste anything just for them.”

 “But didn’t you see how shameless they are.”

 On Haroon’s word, Ritrina gazed at the sisters one last time, and stopped threatening them.

 Woken up by Biryu, Seryu saw how the NPCs have almost finished their preparation to leave the cave, and hurriedly packed up her and her sisters bags.

 ‘Well, without any makeup, I see that they are not much prettier than Serinn’

 Seeing their dishevelled hair and bloated, unwashed faces, the fantasies he had about the female n.o.bles were being shattered. Most female n.o.bles had beautiful faces and glamorous bodies, and usually became princesses or queens of the students, no matter what personality they had.

 Haroon thought it was fortunate that he got to play Beyond. If he never did, he wouldn’t have learned that the Unions have been brainwashing him, making him blind and deaf, and fearful of the power of n.o.bles.

 While he was in his thoughts, Seryu quickly packed up the sleeping bags and handed them to Teeno, thanking him, and came to Haroon.

 “May I talk with you a little bit?”

 “Do so.”

 Haroon intentionally gave a curt reply, and that made Seryu feel timid about talking to him.

 “May I ask who you people are, and where you are heading?”

 “We are a small group of mercenaries named the Gusts of Wind. We were heading to a certain place in the Huk’ran Mountains on a request.”

 There was a glimpse of light going through Seryu’s eyes when he mentioned the word mercenary, and certain place.

 “Are you heading north, then?”

 “We are.”

 “Then can we go with you, only to the riverside on the north?”

 Haroon just curiously looked at her instead of giving a reply.

 “Well, we crossed the northern part of the river. There wouldn’t be any danger for us if we can get there, but the way there is too dangerous for me and my sister who lost our weapons.”

 “Then do so. But take care of your sister so her words and rash act don’t annoy us.”

 Those words would have made her uncomfortable if she was one of the n.o.bles he knew, but it seemed she was just glad about being able to accompany them.

 “Thank you! Right, I’m an outlander, and I’m leading a guild named Ko-M.”

 Then Seryu paused there. While she was thinking something, Biryu nudged her. Seryu hesitated for a bit, then bit her lower lips, and faced Haroon directly.

 “I know this isn’t a place nor time to talk about this, but since you said you are mercenaries, can we make a request of you?”

 “What is it?”

 Haroon asked, making a poker face.

 “The monsters we’ve seen in this area were quite different from what we’ve seen so far. Though we didn’t have our rankers with us, our accompanying members’ skills were decent, but they couldn’t survive for a week.”

 “Which route did you take?”

 It was Teeno this time, as he was interested in the geographical information.

 “We entered the Huk’ran mountains by the valley. It took two days to pa.s.s the valley after crossing the river. Then we headed southwest and moved for two days, but we started to encounter monsters every hour. So we didn’t move much actually. I have never heard of a place with so many monsters. Then we encountered some horned orcs yesterday morning and then……..”

 They could see what happened even if she didn’t continue. Just by seeing their dull faces, they knew that they got ma.s.sacred.

 “Hmm. So you guys have moved about the distance of a day but you were going all around.”

 “Yeah, that’s what happened.”

 “… And your members are…?”

 Haroon couldn’t believe that a group of users, in a form of guild, have all died but these two.

 “They’re all dead. But It doesn’t matter for us. We are outlanders who can revive. You have heard of it through the oracle, right?”

 Haroon made a bitter smile. Teeno smiled strangely at Haroon, knowing very well that he was an outlander as well, and went to where the Quad w.a.n.kers were. She was now confident that Haroon was an NPC. Of course, how could one think that a user would be leading an NPC mercenary guild?

 “In fact we are looking for a place as well. If you take us there, I’ll make it worth your while.”

 The n.o.ble sisters looked at Haroon with expectations in their eyes. But Haroon shook his head indomitably.

 “I can’t accept that request. We have things to do, and it’s a linked request so we can’t make time for that.”

 Haroon could see they were getting nervous.

 “I can give you 1k gold, no, 2k gold if you can get us there.”

 It seemed like it was an urgent matter, seeing how much they were pleading. But Haroon had no intention to receive the request. After escorting Hall, he had to go to the dungeon of lump orcs, and later find the hints of the Legendary Throwing Knife Master.

 “It is not about money. The life of us mercs are based on trust. I have to fulfill the request I received earlier.”

 On Haroon’s heartfelt words, hopelessness came across the two girls’ faces. Seryu couldn’t help but give up her request.

 “But you can accompany us for today.”

 “I really appreciate it! I will never forget your kindness. Hey! Biryu!”

 Biryu hurriedly thanked him, even bowing low.

 “Thank you, Boss!”

 Haroon smiled without knowing when he saw Biryu addressing him as a Boss and thanking him. He never thought the day would ever come, getting such polite words from a n.o.ble like her.

 ‘Ha! This really makes me feel good. Deciding to play Beyond has benefited me greatly.’

 Haroon gathered his members and made them introduce themselves to each other.

 “Well, as you may have heard, they will be accompanying us just for today as it would be too dangerous for them. Consider them as members as well, and treat them well.”

 The sister’s faces went lively with a sigh of relief on Haroon’s words.

 “It’s Philip. Nice to meet you.”

 Though he was usually the polite one among the group, he talked to them impolitely without knowing as they seemed younger than him. It looked like they felt humiliated by it, but they didn’t point it out.

 “My name is Seryu. I’m 25 years old, and I’m a 3-circle magician.”¹

 “Biryu. I’m 21 years old, and I’m a swordswoman.”

 Haroon laughed without making any sound. Seeing how they are revealing their age, it seemed they didn’t like how Philip talked to them impolitely. Now they really look human.

 “I’m Serinn. I’m a grade-E mercenary. Don’t mind me talking to you impolitely since an age gap below 10 is just a number in the mercenary world,” said Serinn, lying about a mercenary rule that doesn’t exist.

 “I’m Gitan. I’m a grade-E mercenary, same as Serinn, and I have strong shield skills. And don’t ever try to make a move on me no matter how handsome I look, since I’m trying to get Serinn.”

 Gitan didn’t intend to treat the uninvited guests well since their first impression was so bad. Also, their beauty was not on his mind since he was into Serinn.

 “It’s Ritrina. I don’t like you folks so let’s try not to talk, Okay?”

 Despite the sisters’ effort of mentioning their ages, the Quad w.a.n.kers talked to them impolitely anyways. And Ritrina was not even trying to hide her hostility toward them.

 “You can call me Teeno.”

 At least Teeno was giving them a good smile. Haroon introduced himself and Hall, after seeing the n.o.ble sisters making awkward smiles.

 “I am Haroon, the leader of the Gusts of Wind. And she is Hall, a 4-circle magician. She has a quiet nature, so note that.”

 Their eyes widened upon hearing the words ‘4-circle magician, as she looked to be as young as them.

 As Haroon expected, Hall didn’t say anything. Hall, who rarely talks with him and his members, and even Teeno whom she’d known for a long time, was not even looking at the sisters. It almost made him feel relieved that she was not mentioning that his description might give the wrong idea that she was a member of the guild as well.

 “Well then, let’s get moving. As you might have heard, we might face some lump orcs on the way, so get ready.”

 “Alright! Let’s show them what the real deal is!”

 The Quad w.a.n.kers’, and even Teeno’s face was full of determination. Recalling the humiliating memory of being beaten by the lump orcs set fires within them.

Seryu and Biryu followed Haroon and his members who were heading toward the mountain where the dungeon was at.

 The forest was forming between the rocky mountain they were staying at and the mountain that the dungeon was at. Between the trees, Teeno went about 20 steps ahead to scout and guide the members safely.

 “Halt!”

 Haroon sharply whispered as soon as Teeno gave him a signal by making a small bird noise.

 Soon, two giant black bears pa.s.sed by, knocking small trees down. They could have fought with them, but there was no need to spare any time and strength for them when there was a long way to go with yet unknown dangers.

 They went on, and after a long time, Haroon sharply whispered again after three long, sharp bird noises were heard.

 “Spread out!”

 The members looked for covers and hid themselves, and silently took out their weapons. Without having any idea, the sisters climbed up a high tree to hide.

 “Sis, any idea of what’s going on?”

 “Nope, but I can tell it’s quite dangerous.”

 As they whispered to each other, five black orcs appeared in front of them.

 Black orcs were a stronger species than grey orcs and amber orcs which lived in plains, and usually had low, gentle mountains as their habitat.

 It seemed like they were hunting for food, and were approaching towards where they were hiding, leaving gaps between themselves and firmly holding their weapons. They must have felt something weird. It was a place where lump orcs live, so their skill and strength must be high as well. Everyone looked at the rock that Haroon was hiding behind, waiting for the signal.

 And there was the signal, of Haroon throwing knives. As two knives cut through the air, his members got out of cover and charged at the black orcs. Two black orcs saw the throwing knives and rashly swung their clubs, but the blades were already cutting through their skin.

 As the other orcs looked back, surprised upon hearing short screams from the ones that got hit, Gitan charged at them and made a horizontal slash with his giant shield.

 They quickly swung their wooden clubs without getting into proper stances as soon as they saw Gitan appearing from their blind spot. The two wooden clubs broke on impact. But Gitan didn’t stop there. His shield was actually aiming at the one behind the two disarmed orcs. The things that were waiting for the two orcs in the front were Philip and Ritrina’s swords.

 “Multi Blow!”

 “Swift!”

 Philip and Ritrina attacked the ones with broken clubs. They’d instinctively moved aside to dodge, but now Philip and Ritrina’s swords didn’t miss such a chance. As the tip of Philip’s rapier penetrated the orc’s forehead, Ritrina’s sword had already slashing the other one several times.

 The black orc in the middle with a giant axe swung its weapon, and Gitan blocked it with his shield. With a loud sound on impact, their bodies bounced back, but Gitan only moved back by two steps. As Gitan took the lead by strength, he lifted his shield so that the blade on the side pointed towards the orc, and swung it with both hands at the orc.

 While the ones that got hit by Haroon’s throwing knives pulled out the knives and angrily threw it on the ground and turn their faces toward him, another two knives were heading toward their head. Thrown with great strength, the tip of it was glowing with blue light, and it was as fast as a raindrop. The knives were out of their sight, so the only fate they were facing was their death.

 The black orc that was standing in the middle faced the blade on Gitan’s shield. Not even given enough time to do something, the top half of its head got messed up, and it met its death without even being able to scream, unlike the ones that got hit with the throwing knives.

 All five black orcs got killed, and it all happened in the blink of an eye.

 The sisters who watched the fight from start to end trembled from what they just witnessed, shocked by the scene. It was not about their ability, it was about the combos they made and how fast they were able to execute them.

 “Oh my gosh!”

 After a while, Biryu dropped her jaw. She was also capable of dealing with a black orc, but she was not confident that she would be able to make a fast, clean kill like them.

 “What on Union are these people?”

 Seryu couldn’t help but to marvel at what she just saw. Not to mention how Gitan, the tanker of the group, and Ritrina and Philip, the damage dealers executed their job decently, Haroon’s knife-throwing skill was somewhat scary.

 But that was only the beginning.

 They saw Serinn came out of nowhere and headed toward the black orc corpses, started skinning them very skillfully, and soon Ritrina joined her. They felt like they were going to vomit on seeing how the corpses revealed their flesh under the two girls’ skillful hands. They couldn’t tell which one to be more shocking, the black orcs getting killed in the blink of an eye or two ladies with decent beauty turning corpses into some pile of flesh, even if they may be mercenaries.

 Seryu and Biryu couldn’t say anything. Only the branches they were holding were shaking to express their feelings.

 After easily defeating the monsters, the Gusts of Wind lifted their loads and moved on. Of course, with Teeno scouting.

It wasn’t long after the short lunch break, when they encountered some lump orcs.

 “Halt!”

 Teeno quickly returned to the group who stopped in the middle of the woods on Haroon’s order.

 “Boss, it is the lump orcs, a group of five. They are guarding the only pa.s.sage to where we are heading.”

 “Why are they all the way here? Is their habitat this big or is it a group from another tribe?”

 Gitan asked, shaking his head, but no one could answer that question.

 “Maybe they are here to hunt.”

 Said Ritrina, as if it was no big deal.

 “No, seeing how it is guarding the only pa.s.sage and patrolling a certain distance, it seems something wrong happened to them.”

 Teeno gave his opinion, objecting to Ritrina, and it p.r.i.c.kled Haroon’s conscience. He recalled the moment a.s.sa.s.sinating the lump orc tribe chief. Supposedly these orcs were out here to take revenge.

 ‘But it is odd how these orcs are patrolling all the way out here. It would take about a days walk by foot,’ he thought.

 Though it was natural for him to think like that, that showed how little they knew about the dungeon. They were not counting the possibility that there are multiple entrances to the dungeon, when in fact, there was one on the southwest side of the mountain, and the entrance they found was on the opposite side.

 “Do you call those horned orcs as lump orcs?” Seryu asked.

 “You are right on that.”

 “M-my guild members got killed by those devil-like monsters. What are we going to do?”

 Seryu and Biryu trembled with anger and fear, and looked at Haroon. They were struck with the fear of facing the lump orcs again, recalling how her decent members, although they might not be the greatest ones, got ma.s.sacred by the lump orcs. She wanted to avoid them if she could. She felt like the fear of the lump orcs were overwhelming her heartbeat, as she still remembered the moment of her members getting killed vividly.

 Opposite to the n.o.ble sisters, great determination was rising on the mercenaries’ faces.

 “We are going to pay them back what we owe.”

 Philip clenched his fists, recalling how he lost to a small raid leader, perplexed by the situation and not being able to fully utilize his ability.

 “And we are going to show our true skills.”

 Gitan clenched his teeth, recalling his shameful days of being a coward.

 “Everyone, get ready to make a sudden attack! Me throwing a knife is the signal as usual. Teeno, Serinn, a.s.sist us from the flank using the poison darts. The rest will be marking one each.”

 “Got it, Boss!”

 While they prepared for combat, the two sisters fell back further from the group with expectations and curiosity. Though it was frightening to see the lump orcs again, the fear soon went away by seeing the NPC mercenaries’ confidence.

 The mercenaries cautiously approached with Teeno leading the way. Soon, they could see the giant orcs with lumps on their foreheads. The one in the center had two lumps, a big one and a small one. It was a small raid leader, the same cla.s.s as the one Philip fought before.

 One of the orcs had a necklace with a horn made out of antlers. It meant these orcs had invented a system to alert the other groups in emergency situation.

 They were moving around, looking for the suspect that killed their tribe chief. It seemed it would be hard to avoid their eyes, but the mercenaries had Haroon with them.

 “Chei-k”

 “Chuak, chuek”

 The orcs made weird noises. Presumably reporting to the raid leader that everything seems A-okay. As the raid leader turned away from where the mercenaries were hiding, three throwing knives left Haroon’s hand consecutively. The blades of the knives were glowing with blue light. It meant his body was imbuing mana into the knives when he threw them with all his strength, though he didn’t know he was doing so.

 The raid leader saw the knives and parried with its greatsword with an agile movement, but because of that the other’s vision got blocked so the lump orc warrior on one side got hit in shoulder, and one on the other side got hit in its waist. Without giving any time for them to realize what just happened, Haroon’s members made successive attacks.

 “Charge!”

 “Die!”

 “Shield Attack!”

 The five mercenaries charged at the orcs, and they had their weapons ready for action. Haroon’s steel sword was heading toward the neck of the raid leader which was staggering from parrying the mana-filled blade. But it was a skilled fighter as well, so it was able to get in a proper stance to block Haroon’s attack just in time.

 Haroon’s sword bounced back after the impact, but Haroon used its momentum to strike again while the raid leader’s chest was wide open as it staggered from the consecutive impact. Just as he dashed forward toward the orc’s chest, his blade was already inflicting a piercing wound in its chest.

 “Kuaaa!”

 The raid leader shouted to inflict fear, out of pain of being wounded and with frustration of losing the lead, but it was too late to turn the tide. It was busy enough from blocking Haroon’s quick attacks, not getting an opportunity to attack back.

 As the field got filled with the metallic sound of weapons crossing, Haroon’s sense sword started to read the trajectory of the greatsword. Like the movement of a snake going through a small gap, his steel sword found its way to the orc’s heart after a few parries.

 The raid leader looked down at its chest, with anger in its red eyes. But it soon faded away as Haroon lightly twisted his hand. The heart that was pumping hard just a moment ago got messed up, and stopped.

 As Haroon cut off the lumps, he looked around to check the current situation.

 ‘Hmm, not so bad. It seems like the training was quite effective.’

 The combination of Gitan dealing with the orc’s attack using his strength followed by Philip’s counterattack seemed to be forming a proper shape. As Gitan opens up a chance by messing up the orcs’ stances with his Shield Attack and Shield Crossing, Philip attacked them by using his Smashing Blow. As they were moving twice as fast as before, Philip couldn’t aim for the vital spots like he used to but it still inflicted serious injuries.

 And because of the speed, it wasn’t hard for them to deal with two orcs at the same time. The one with the signaling horn tried to blow the horn no matter what, but Philip’s quick stabs with the sword didn’t allow him to. The orcs they were dealing with were bleeding from their entire bodies, and were still moving wildly, but it was only matter of time until they bled to death.

 But of course, they were not easy enemies. The orc that got stabbed in its shoulder by Philip suddenly dashed at the tree behind it and kicked on it to bounce himself high up in the air. It was intending to attack Gitan using the momentum, whom was guarding himself with his giant shield.

 “Crossing Attack!”

 Gitan lifted his shield posed like he would throw it at any moment, and dashed forward. There was another orc on his front-right side, but he didn’t care.

 The orc’s greatsword that aimed at Gitan’s head bounced off the shield, and at the same time, the blades on Gitan’s shield hit the orc in front. No matter how tough the lump orcs’ leather was, and how hard its bone were, it shattered on impact when it hit the shield full of Gitan’s strength.

 At the same moment, another orc swung its axe at Gitan, and Philip’s sword penetrated its neck. The orc couldn’t dodge his sword as the orc couldn’t see Philip, because Gitan’s shield was blocking its view.

 “You gnoll c.o.c.k like orc r.e.t.a.r.d! Die! Die, c.o.c.k sucker!”

 Ritrina crazily slashed an orc numerous times while hurling curses at it. Ritrina’s eyes turned white, and she was making a mysterious smile. Even if the orc didn’t understand a single word from her, her taunty expression and her tone drew out the orc’s anger so much that Haroon felt like he was seeing steam coming out of its ears like in a cartoon.

 The Swift sword technique that she learned just fit her fighting style. Even without it, her body was quite flexible and her movements were light, so having it was like a bird who learned to use its wings.

 She fought like she didn’t fear death, and dodged the enemies’ attacks with her swift body. Her light and quick sword moved like a flow of wind, increasing the size and number of wounds on her enemies’ bodies.

 “Aaaagh! DIE!”

 The orc lost its fighting spirit and ran away when the shouting Ritrina charged at it, then it lost its head to Ritrina’s sword. It seemed that even the tough skin of the lump orcs couldn’t bare several slashes with pinpoint accuracy against it.

 Teeno and Serinn’s combination attack made with great effort was working as well. It was one person shooting poison darts at the orcs while the other one distracts its movements, and it was oddly very effective. The orc focuses on parrying and making counterattacks from Serinn’s attacks, only to restrict its movement to get hit by Teeno’s poison dart, and the more it got hit by poison darts, the slower it moved.

 The poison of hobgoblins that the goblins use worked on the nervous system, so that the entire nervous system slows down, restricting its victim’s reaction and focus. Thus the longer combat dragged on, the less the orc could focus on Serinn.

 At last, the orc’s heart got penetrated by a sword. The last attack was unexpectedly made by Teeno, who put his blowpipe in his bag and charged at the orc. Though Serinn has fought well, she was exhausted near the end of the fight so he had to finish it.

 “That, was AWESOME!”

 Serinn, the weakest one of the group when it comes to combat, ran to the corpse of the orc she just dealt with.

 “Man, what a shame. It’s so messed up! We can’t sell this one at its regular price.”

 The others burst out in laughter at the cla.s.sic words of Serinn’s, whose Skinning skill was already an intermediate one. The lump orcs, which were a source of fear to them, were now just a good source of rare, valuable leather to her. She was not realizing how much she has improved over a week, considering how she got knocked down by a single blow the last time she fought with a lump orc.

 Her eyes looked for the other corpses.

 “And that one is even worse. It’s just a piece of c.r.a.p.”

 She clicked her tongue looking at the one Ritrina has slain. The leather that got repeatedly stabbed everywhere was not marketable at all. But after seeing the corpses that Philip, Gitan, and Haroon dealt with, she smiled brightly.

 “Now, these are the ones I would call as proper ones.”

 Forgetting to rest after the fight that had exhausted her, she took out three daggers. Those were the ones Serinn personally bought in Paros Castle, and they had different sizes and thickness with different purposes. Scolding Ritrina who turned the leather into a rag and forcing her to help, Serinn started skinning the lump orcs. And while she was doing so, Haroon cut off their lumps.

 The sight of combat now horrified Seryu. Biryu’s eyes were on Serinn.

 “Eww… Sis, what exactly is she supposed to be?”

 Seeing how a beautiful lady, who they annoyingly couldn’t help but to admit that they can’t confidently say if they are prettier than her even by themselves, skillfully skinning a monster made them tremble. Especially seeing her proudly smiling at what she has skinned seemed b.l.o.o.d.y as h.e.l.l.

 “I-I don’t know. How could anyone be like that?”

 Seryu couldn’t hide the fear in her voice.

 “Sis, these people are really on another level! Did you see how easily they handled those monstrous orcs that killed our guild members? Just how high are their level to be able to kill those orcs that easily?”

 “Maybe having this level of skill is why they could receive a request to find somewhere in this land of fear, the land where the other NPCs tried to stop us by reasoning that it’d be too dangerous.”

 Seeing the members of the Gusts of Wind resting in the middle of a field full of wood pieces cut off by the weapons that the orcs swung and the ground stained by the orcs’ blood, the sisters’ minds started to get filled with awe and admiration.

 ‘What if those monsters that these people just killed were simply different species from the ones that killed our guild members?’ Seryu thought.

 Then she shook her head, knowing that it was a useless thought.

 Lump orcs were simply different from the orcs she’d encountered so far. The size was way larger than the normal ones. They had vastly developed muscles to wield weapons that were as long as their height, and agility that she couldn’t easily track with her eyes.

 She supposed that the lump orcs would easily dodge most magical attacks. If those monsters were skillful enough to kick a tree and jump high up in the air to use it as an attack, almost none of the swordsmen or swordswomen would be able to deal with even one of them single-handedly.

 ‘I have to persuade this mercenary guild! They will be able to find that place, if it is with their ability and experience.’

 Biting her lower lips, Seryu determined to make the Gusts of Wind accept her request by using any means necessary.

Translated by Channy
Edited by Tom and Kmatt