I might not need to go this far alone.
Having come this far by myself, it might already be enough.
But it seems I can’t live such a skillful life.
To stall the Orcs until the townspeople’s evacuation is complete in five days, I return through the dark Forest to the Abandoned Village.
I had the option of returning to town once, but it was about a day’s distance from where I fought the Orc Soldiers, and wasting two days might cause the Orcs to start their invasion if the food procurement team didn’t return.
I might have been able to replenish some potions, but I judged it better to sleep during that time spent traveling.
But it doesn’t seem like I’ll have time for proper sleep…
When I arrived at the Abandoned Village where the Orcs were the next evening, they were gathering the remaining food and preparing to depart under the command of the last remaining Orc Soldier.
Judging from the situation, they wouldn’t leave immediately, but after the hunting party, which should be out now, returned, probably around tomorrow morning.
Perhaps the unit of Orc Soldiers I defeated wasn’t procuring food but was a vanguard to attack the town. That would explain their excessive strength.
…That was really close.
I can’t hold these guys here anymore, but I barely made it in time by arriving before they departed.
I climbed a giant tree far enough from the Abandoned Village to observe its movements, put the Blackberries and pills I found on the way in my mouth, and closed my eyes until it got dark.
My body is exhausted from not having proper sleep or meals in these three weeks.
Yesterday, I forcibly recovered with a Potion, but the accumulated fatigue had only recovered to about 60% even after a full day since the battle.
One hour until sunset… I consciously try to sleep to recover my stamina and energy.
Sleeping recovers twice as much Mana and stamina as being awake. I forcibly sleep to recover the accumulated fatigue, and an hour later—I woke up to the air darkening as the sun set, and I began to move silently, blending into the night’s Darkness.
I can’t stop the Orcs’ advance anymore. If about thirty Orcs, including higher-ranking ones, acted together, there was nothing I could do. But if they were scattered in this Abandoned Village before starting to move, there was something I could do.
That is the assassination of the Orcs.
If the Orcs were in normal condition, assassinating them with their high vitality would be difficult, but it should be possible now that they are weakened by poison.
First are the Orcs patrolling around the Abandoned Village. They no longer stray far from the Abandoned Village because their departure is near, but instead, they patrol alone instead of moving in groups of three.
“…………”
I went ahead of the patrolling Orc, hid in a tree, and as the Orc came directly below, I wrapped it in thread at the same time as jumping down, tightening its thick neck all at once with my entire weight and the speed of the fall.
“…Gugaa…A”
The Orc didn’t even realize it was being attacked, scratching its neck in sudden suffocation. But that’s not enough to cut the spider silk reinforced with Mana.
While half upside down, I kicked the back of the Orc’s head with my heel and tightened the thread all at once, completely strangling it.
What makes Monsters troublesome is that they revive after some time even in this state. So I used 【Water】 to wet the fallen leaves on the ground and plunged the Orc’s face into it to suffocate it.
That’s the twenty-sixth one… I don’t want to make it smell like blood yet.
I find the second patrolling Orc and sneak up on it. But this Orc seems to be a young individual, walking only in open places as if afraid.
To strangle the Orc’s thick neck in an instant, the falling speed from jumping from a tree is also important, so I can’t use the same method as before.
But if it’s an open place, there’s another way to fight. I immediately wrapped a spare thread around the handle of the Black Dagger and threw it in a large arc, hitting the Orc from directly above.
Thud…!
“…Ga…”
The Orc, having taken the handle of the Dagger reinforced with centrifugal force and Mana to the top of its head, rolls its eyes and collapses. I quickly approach, do the same as with the first Orc, and then casually sprinkle fallen leaves to hide the corpse before searching for the next one.
In the same way, I dispose of the other three patrolling Orcs. So far, the remaining Orcs in the Abandoned Village don’t seem to have noticed because I’ve hardly spilled any blood.
I check the surroundings with Night Vision that sees the color of Mana just in case, and I infiltrate the Abandoned Village, blending into the Darkness.
—Thirtieth one.
It would be easier if I had even half a day more and some powerful sleeping pills, but unfortunately, I can’t prepare either. In the first place, powerful sleeping pills can only be obtained from high-rank plant-type Monsters, so they are not easy to prepare.
The Abandoned Village seems to have some Orcs still awake, probably because their departure is near. For now, I decide to crush the western and southern settlements, avoiding the central part where the Orc General is likely to be.
There were only ordinary Orcs in the western settlement, with no sign of Soldiers, and none of the Orcs were awake.
I sneak into a ruined house where I can hear snoring, and since three Orcs were sleeping, I take out a small glass bottle, rare even in this country, from my pouch and let the contents drip little by little down the thread into the Orcs’ mouths.
This isn’t poison. It’s highly purified alcohol distilled many times for disinfection.
If a human had something like this poured into their mouth, it wouldn’t just be a matter of choking, but it’s not a problem for biologically robust Orcs.
I did the same to the four others in the other ruined houses, and when I returned to the first ruined house, the snoring of the Orcs I had given alcohol to first had become louder.
I stab the sleeping Orcs in the medulla oblongata, little by little embedding a large awl-like Black Dagger while avoiding the large blood vessels where blood would spurt out, finishing them off.
There was a final twitch and a groan, but that individual didn’t wake up, and the other Orcs didn’t notice, so I continued to kill the Orcs as they were.
The reason I don’t usually apply poison to my Knife during combat is that the poison’s effect almost disappears when it dries. Even if you apply it in advance, the poison deteriorates just by being exposed to the air.
The Female Thief who kidnapped Elena used a weak poison that was difficult to deteriorate and had a special sheath to preserve it, but I didn’t ask for it.
I don’t intend to stick to a particular way of fighting. If it’s to reliably kill an opponent I have to kill, I won’t hesitate to use it. But if I continue to rely on poison too much and become trapped by it, I felt like I wouldn’t be able to reach the strength I was seeking. It’s just my selfishness.
That’s the thirty-seventh one—
Next, I head to the southern settlement, but there were only three Orcs still awake.
There should have been many more Orcs in both this and the western settlement, but they were probably with the hunting party and the Soldiers. The reason these three were awake might be that they were replacements for the patrolling Orcs.
The three of them were huddled together, eating something like a long potato. This is troublesome… I watched for several minutes, but since they showed no signs of separating, I forcibly carried out the assassination.
“—【Feel】—”
I used 【Feel】 on the two on the other side who were sitting in a circle, and as those two touched their ears and turned around, I snuck up on the one who seemed puzzled because they didn’t understand, and stabbed it straight through from the medulla oblongata to the mouth with the Black Dagger.
“Bubot…”
Before the two who had turned around at that strange sound could face me, I released the Dagger, and my palm strike that shot out flicked its chin, turning the Orc’s face back to the other side.
“Buo!?”
From under the chins of the Orcs who hadn’t even understood despite the pain, I thrust the thin Knife pulled from my boot and a spare Dagger into their brains, finishing off two at the same time.
That’s the fortieth one—
Since a lot of blood flowed, I don’t know when they’ll notice the spreading smell of blood.
The remaining ones are one Orc General in the center, one Orc Soldier, and about a dozen ordinary Orcs. But the problem isn’t the number. Just one Orc General is as threatening as fifty Orcs.
“…Haa”
I release my anxiety along with the air accumulated in my lungs and stretch to loosen my body.
Both my Mana and stamina are about 70%. My body has some pain and scratches, but there is no tendon pain or bleeding, and the pain from bruises isn’t enough to hinder my movement.
I move through the Darkness and start running towards the central settlement where the Orc General is.
When I arrived there a few minutes later, I decided to scout first, learning from my previous failure.
Even just confirming with my “eyes,” there are 11 ordinary Orcs. All of them are gathered in the central plaza, having finished preparing to invade.
Standing in the center was a single Orc Soldier, wielding a crude bow made from a bent sapling with a string attached.
And… behind it, the massive Orc exceeding three meters in height must be the Orc General.
I retreated once and ascended to the roof of the abandoned house closest to the Orcs.
I detached a short bolt from the crossbow mechanism on my gauntlet, and took out a steel short bolt with the longest range from my pouch, checking it for any damage or bends.
The miniature crossbow I received from my master was a close-quarters weapon for deterring enemies within five meters. Even at that distance, it lacked the power to penetrate bone, and when aiming at a wooden board, it wouldn’t deeply penetrate if more than 30 meters away.
Just from this position, I felt it would be futile to shoot at the Orc General. It could probably evade long-range attacks even if they were surprise attacks. The reason I climbed onto the roof was to snipe the Orc Soldier with the bow.
The distance was approximately 32 meters by estimation. Even with a steel arrow designed for range, skull penetration was impossible. Therefore, I would use a “trump card” to make the snipe shot effective.
I took out two small white porcelain bottles from my pouch. I carefully removed the lid from one of them and dripped a few drops onto a leaf I had prepared, then closed the lid.
I removed the lid from the other bottle and dipped the tip of the arrow into it, then closed the lid and returned both to the pouch before finally exhaling.
When I mixed the chemical dripped on the leaf with the tip of the arrow soaked in the chemical, an unusual odor rose as it immediately began to corrode the steel arrow.
This was a two-part potent poison created by my master. Each part was harmless on its own, but when mixed, it transformed into a powerful corrosion poison. The reason I hadn’t used it until now was because it was dangerous even to inhale the fumes. Using something like this twice in one day would also damage the user.
Moreover, it was vulnerable to moisture, and its effectiveness would decrease just by being exposed to atmospheric moisture. I carefully loaded the arrow into the mechanism, being careful not to inhale the fumes or even breathe on it, and chanted the Dark Magic I had constructed in my mind.
“――【Weight Up】――”
This wasn’t about changing the weight, but about directing an object in an arbitrary direction. The reason I called this Magic instead of Sorcery was because I had already altered the composition to increase its precision.
My 【Archery】 skill, using a crossbow, was only at level 1, but by using 【Weight Up】 at level 3 Dark Magic in conjunction, I could increase the hit rate, range, and power by more than 30%.
At that moment, the Orc General raised its face, and the Orc Soldier with the bow let out a warning cry while nocking its arrow.
Whether it was due to the smell of the poison or the use of magic, the bowman noticed me. It nocked an arrow that was almost as tall as I was onto a bow that was probably two meters long, drew it back in one motion, and aimed it at me. Even as I was targeted, I channeled Mana into the mechanism and carefully aimed.
Sweat streamed down my forehead from the extreme concentration. The bowman with level 4 Archery grinned and raised the angle, aiming at my face.
Shupat!
The arrow was released from the bowman. I burned the trajectory of the arrow, which cut through the wind and roared as it approached, into my eyes, and I also fired the crossbow arrow from the mechanism.
The instant I fired, I tilted my head, and the excessively precise arrow passed by the side of my head, cutting off a few strands of hair. The crossbow arrow, flying along the exact same trajectory as the fired arrow, pierced the left eye of the bowman, who momentarily showed fear and froze.
…Forty-first.
You weren’t weak. You just lacked a little resolve.
This time, it’s a snipe shot with poison.
I don’t intend to make poison a very convenient weapon. Powerful instant-death poisons are dangerous to handle and for the user, as in this case, and they can’t be mixed into drinks.
Next time, the Orc General battle.
Probably, the update is scheduled for Saturday or Sunday.