3. The empty seat feels big
“Keugh… Let it go..!! Let go of this!! I’d rather kill it! Heuh…”
…What the f*ck am I doing.
I was taken aback by the sudden outburst of ‘that line’, but I was awakened by the crying voice of the female knight who grabbed my hair.
I caught the rebellious knight and went behind the giggling orcs, and I, located in a grassy forest in front of the knight, quickly followed the direction of the orcs and estimated the number of enemies by eye.
Two four six… Roughly fourteen.
About 10 of them are gathering around the knights and captured soldiers and giggling, while the other four are scattered all over the place, keeping watch on their surroundings.
Unlike the Orcs, a wild tribe with low intelligence, their behavior was organized… Crucially, an ominous mark drawn on hardened leather greaves.
They are the devil’s helpers.
I silenced the sound of my footsteps and snatched the cloth around the face of the orc who was standing in front of the grass where I was hiding.
“…?!!?!!”
Quickly covering his mouth with a cloth, he pulled the orc’s heavy body into the grass, then brought the shortsword he was wearing around his neck to his neck.
“#$@&$&?!!… #$$@!..!!!”
“Shhh…. Quiet. If you look back, you will die.”
The stealth skills trained in the Rangers, the elite unit of Maetel Kingdom, do not tolerate any noise.
The rustling of grass as you walk, the breathing of captured hostages, even the beating of your heart.
After lightly slashing his throat with a sharp blue blade, the orc who was about to go wild nodded stiffly like a wooden doll.
“That’s right. You’re an obedient friend, right? Now… I’ll open my mouth for a moment, so answer the question. I thought it wouldn’t be fun to shout. Did you understand?”
I could feel the breath on my palms becoming rough, and I could see the orc’s ears quivering.
Once again, he lowered the cloth covering the mouth of the orc who was shaking his head, and put his hand on the orc’s neck.
If you try to scream, I will tear your vocal cords out.
“Quik… Keheuk… Heck…”
“Yes, yes. Are you ready to answer?”
“Quik… You bastard… What the hell is… What is…”
“Oh… No no no, the answer is wrong… You say ‘yes’ in this case.”
“…What do you want?”
I don’t like the answer, but well, let’s move on.
“Now.. First of all, what is your name and affiliation?”
“Kwuik… The Demon King’s Army 7th Corps Red Feather Unit.. Morgue…”
“…Yes, Morgue. Why are you here? Wasn’t the Demon King’s army chasing the group of warriors who entered the forest?”
“..We… Are separate units from the main unit… Quiig… We are at the edge of the forest… Carrying supplies to a nearby human unit… Take care of them… Took over…”
– Quiik!! Where did Morgue go!
– I don’t know. Cookie! Morgue!! Where is Morgue! Kkuik!
…I don’t have time. The heroine’s resistance was gradually weakening. Fortunately, the orcs didn’t try to attack the female knight right away.
I glanced at the orcs watching the female knight fiercely rebel with a sinister smile, and I asked Morgue one last question.
“Yes, Morgue. I think there are about fourteen of them by eye. Are there any others?”
“…I can’t tell you… Kkkk!”
“I thought so.”
As it were, he grabbed his neck, tore out his vocal chords, and hid Morgue, who was slowly dying, gushing blood and making only a whimpering sound, and threw the wriggling vocal chords into the grass.
They had been fighting on the other side as well, so there was no smell of blood.
– Quick! Morgue! Where have you gone!
– Morgue, did you go pee? Kkuik!
Contrary to what Morgue didn’t reveal, I don’t actually feel another presence around me.
I quietly lifted my crossbow and aimed it at the two orcs searching for Morgue, then slipped the smoke bolt between my fingers on the hilt so I could load the bolt right away.
The wind died down, and I focused my sight on the tip of the sight and the bolt tip.
The moment the head of an orc standing next to another orc’s head overlaps in an oblique line.
– Paang!
The bolt, which was made as thin as a wire and carried the tremendous power of a string made by twisting several strands of hard but flexible mithril wire, passed neatly through the temples and between the eyebrows of the two orcs.
– Poop!
When the bolts that went through the two orcs were driven into the trees with a splitting sound, and I saw the orcs crowding around the knights and soldiers turning their heads, I had already loaded the second shot.
Even when I was serving in the Ranger, my proprietary technology, Rapid Fire, which no one in the unit could follow.
The moment I met their eyes, I immediately fired a loaded smoke bolt.
– Peroong!!
The bolt that was stuck in the chest of one orc exploded with huge smoke, and the orcs, whose vision was instantly obscured by the blood mist and smoke screen, began to wander.
“Kkwiik!! What’s going on!!”
“Humans! Humans! Enemies!!”
I grabbed my shortsword and quickly jumped out of the grass and ran towards the orcs.
At the edge of the smoke screen, he quickly cut the scruff of the orc who was coming out of the smoke screen, grabbed the neck where blood was gushing out, and shot another orc behind the falling orc with a crossbow between the eyebrows.
Including Morgue, six fell in an instant, and eight remained.
After decapitating the three orcs escaping the smoke again, the smoke was gradually clearing.
“Curllock!!! Cool!! Kkeuk..!! Mo.. Gather everyone! Don’t be scattered!! Kkuik!”
As expected, it’s an Orc belonging to the Demon King’s army. Intelligence is quite high.
I lightly shook my blood-stained shortsword to scatter the blood, then turned my gaze to the position of the vice-captain orc who was trying to gather the remaining orcs in the smoke screen that was half-curved and partially exposed.
Hook the hook bolt to the crossbow, aim quickly at the nape of the vice-captain orc’s neck, and shoot.
– Hook!
“Kuiik!!!!! Human!!! Kkeulreuk… Where are you..!!!”
The hook that pierced Orc’s neck caught in a good way, and the hook bolt connected with the rope strongly pulled his crossbow, which was firmly fixed.
I ran to the vice-captain orc, who was being dragged helplessly by the hook bolt that had been caught in his neck like a fishing hook, and pierced his heart with a shortsword.
Two orcs groaning in front, one orc prostrated to the right looking for a weapon that fell in the blurry field of view, and the remnants of a smoke bolt that had just exploded seemed to have popped into his eyes, rubbing his bloody eyes and shouting out loud. One orc to the left.
After removing the grappling bolt and quickly loading the normal bolt, I fired two bolts at rapid fire at the two chattering orcs in front of me, threw a throwing dagger at the blinded orc’s neck, and landed on the floor with my face down. I ran to the groping orc and thrust the knife into the back of his neck.
The smoke screen completely cleared, and there were no orcs standing.
* * *
“Damn it… If it was the 4th year of the warrior, I would have gone through all of them with one knife.”
I walked across the ground where orcs were lying and retrieved bolts that were still intact.
This bolt with an Orichalcum bolt head was so expensive that the price was jaw-dropping, so I couldn’t waste a single shot from my point of view after leaving the warriors’ party.
There are three bolts.
“I… There…”
As I was putting the bolts in good condition into the container, a female knight who had been coughing because of the smoke came over and started talking to me.
“Yes?”
“My name is Oren Alexis, the eldest daughter of Duke Alexis. Excuse me, could you please tell me your name?”
Alexis… Duke Alexis…
“…Ah.”
I remembered.
A man with an impressive mustache stood next to the king in the throne room of the palace when he had an audience with the king three years ago.
When we first met in the audience room, the man who suggested to me, a commoner, that ‘If you go to a warrior’s party as a commoner, you might hear bad things about it’ and that he would give you the status of a baron, so that I would later become his vassal.
“…My name is Austin, who served in the Ranger. It’s an honor to meet Princess Alexis.”
I didn’t want to reveal that I was a member of the warrior’s party, so I only told the fact that I served in the Ranger.
“Austin…Austin……. By any chance.. Was he with the hero..?”
The plague was discovered at once.
“…Do you know me?”
“I know! Of course I know! I met you at the palace three years ago! Sir Austin… Remember me…?”
It was so funny that a commoner was given the title of honor to me, so I smiled and opened my mouth.
“Yes. I remember the young lady holding onto the collar behind Duke Alexis and holding onto her collar. You have become a full-fledged young lady before you know it.”
“It’s… Naughty. Really…”
Feeling a strange sense of alienation at Princess Alexis shyly wearing her heavy armor, which seemed too heavy for an adult man to carry, for a moment, I watched the soldiers treating the wounded behind her.
“Why did Princess Alexis come to a place like this?”
“…Ah…”
Princess Alexis turned her head to follow my gaze, looked at her fallen soldiers with her sad eyes, and opened her mouth.
“We set off from Cologne to deliver supplies to the troops facing the Demon King’s army… But unfortunately, we got lost and ended up in the forest.”
This is a truly pitiful situation.
Usually, it is standard for units on the front line to have two rangers assigned to each unit, but rangers are not a unit that just accepts gossip.
Manpower is limited, and there are many places that need it.
The result is like this.
It will probably take quite some time to find a new ranger, even in the warrior party, unless you go back to the capital and find it yourself.
“If you’re not rude, would you mind if I accompany you?”
It would be foolish to continue the mission while the supply wagon was broken in the evening and half of the troops were killed in the orc attack.
Princess Alexis, who had heard me, seemed to have the same thoughts as me, and nodded her head as she brightened her complexion.
“Yes! Of course! It would be very reassuring if Sir Austin would accompany me!”
After obtaining Princess Alexis’ consent, I, who had ample supplies and food for her, started walking side by side with Princess Alexis at the head of the soldiers.
“Um… Sir Austin?”
“Yes, Princess Alexis?”
“That … But where are the hero and his companions …?”
“…Ah, that.”
I thought about it for a while while looking at the map.
“I’m at a party, I am.”
* * *
“f*ck… f*ck..!! Adrien! Where the hell are these bastards shooting!!”
“Right! I think I’m between the trees on the right!”
“So where’s the right one!!!”
Lee Yu-jeong, the hero who cut down the fireball that flew right in front of her nose with her holy sword, screamed loudly at Adrien.
Because of the sudden appearance of the Skeleton Arch Mage and the endless swarm of advanced ghouls, the shoulder blades were already crushed and blood was flowing from the head.
“You baal… Gracie! Take the lead!! Maya!!!”
“Aww… The shield doesn’t last long..!! Maya.. Hurry up..!”
“Oops… Ba… The wind!”
A gust of wind caused by Maya swept the place where fireballs had just flown, and the Skeleton Arch Mage, who had been a magician, was destroyed, and the senior ghouls melted like slimes.
“Whoa… Whoa… Why is it so hard? What the hell!!”
The hero with his holy sword slumped on the ground, his anger soared at the current situation where the enemies he had easily defeated until recently had suddenly become very difficult.
And it was a fact that all of them knew that the reason was Austin’s absence.
At this point, not knowing is strange.
“…We have to bring Mr. Austin… Back. We have to go back to the city and get his equipment repaired.”
Since Isabel, whose stamina was exhausted from a single battle, sat down and spoke with difficulty, silence fell over the party for a while.
When a name that no one had mentioned before was mentioned again, Adrien tousled her hair and opened her mouth while everyone was watching.
“…Damn it, yes. I have to admit I need Austin to some extent. I can’t go back to the capital now and set up a new scout.”
“Hmm… Certainly, it seems difficult to recruit new scouts. Recently, I heard that the ranger is having trouble dispatching personnel due to a lack of personnel. Even if you go to the capital and recruit new scouts, at most the mercenary guild It must be about a thief.”
Gracie agreed with Adrien’s words by fiddling with his scorched and dented shield, and Maya, who was wiping away the ghoul’s blood, nodded.
“…To find it. Let’s go. Austin.”
They struggled to stand up, opened one of Austin’s few items, a map, and searched for the nearest city.
It was not difficult to locate them because Austin had clearly recorded the route he had walked.
“…Cologne.”
Concluding that if Austin had left us, he would surely have gone to this place, and began to lead the way, clutching his holy sword.
If Austin doesn’t follow, he will come by force.