The Twin-Headed Orco
The Twin-Headed Orco was a monster with two heads on a single body.
True to its extraordinary appearance, it was uniquely savage among monsters — and especially cruel.
A creature like that could not be allowed to reach Antico.
"Alright."
I straightened my bent knees and stretched, lacing my fingers together and pushing my hands high above my head.
"The trail continues from here, so we'll pick up the chase tomorrow."
Regardless of how dangerous the Orco was, it was far too late. Spending a winter night outdoors was as good as volunteering to freeze to death. Facing a monster required peak condition. By now the Orco would be sleeping somewhere itself — and we needed to make every preparation we could.
I spoke in a weary voice.
"Let's call it a day."
"Yes."
Pina nodded.
We marked the spot with red powder on a tree so we could find our way back. On the return trip, Nicoletta asked with a serious look in her eyes.
"What grade do you think it is?"
"Upper-grade monster."
Something on the level of an Orco could toy with most of the creatures living in this forest. The only thing that might stand a chance was the master of these woods — Alberoelva. But even Alberoelva didn't hold a favorable matchup. Alberoelva fought with thick, durable defenses; the Orco, like a vicious gorilla, specialized in smashing that kind of thing to pieces. If the two ever met, neither would die outright — but the disadvantaged Alberoelva would take the damage. The Orco had originally lived not in a forest like this but in a jungle thick with predators, so its aggression and raw power were something else entirely.
Nicoletta rolled her eyes thoughtfully.
"An upper-grade monster… soldiers would need at least a full squad for something like that."
She looked thoroughly uneasy. I tilted my head slightly and looked at her.
"I'm enough on my own."
"…Right. You have taken on supreme-grade monsters before. Still — be careful."
"Obviously."
No matter the monster, complacency was fatal. A human was always the prey. One mistake could turn me into the Orco's next meal.
Beside me, Pina clasped her hands to her chest and laughed softly.
"Don't worry too much. Alice-nim is here! No monster stands a chance against her. You'll get a spectacular show, if anything."
Nicoletta's eyes went round, and she clenched both fists.
"Ooh — really?"
"Ahem…"
I curled a fist in front of my mouth and cleared my throat quietly. Pina was praising me so hard my face was getting hot.
"Don't get your hopes up too high. Fighting monsters is all pretty much the same."
A hunter was neither a warrior nor a knight. There was never any need to square off in a fair contest of strength. Honor had no place in a fight against a monster — only winners and losers remained. That was why a hunter's battles always looked the same: circling lazily, gauging the distance, dodging and deflecting attacks while hunting for a weakness or creating an opening to exploit. Nothing but underhanded fighting, start to finish.
I laid the groundwork for Nicoletta in advance.
"Compared to the way knights fight, it won't be much of a spectacle."
"Still, seeing it in person has to be different."
Nicoletta added,
"My classmates who watched you fight were all in awe. Said they couldn't possibly copy it. I'm looking forward to it too."
These kids had already been talking about that?
I looked at Nicoletta with a face full of disbelief. She smiled faintly.
"Even if you say it's nothing special, for me it's going to be a huge learning experience."
It felt like showing someone a strategy video I'd recorded. I was going to have to put in some real effort. On the way back, I thought it over carefully. How should I handle the Orco?
Even lying in my sleeping bag, sleep wouldn't come easily, and the thoughts kept rolling on.
Morning. Alice woke everyone and started the day.
The three of them rose comfortably without having kept a night watch and ate their meal. In the early winter Forest of Illusion, a dry, brittle scent hung in the air.
"Let's move."
Alice said it quietly.
After a full night of thinking, her mind was perfectly calm. She had settled on a workable approach for the Orco. All that remained was to carry it out.
"This way."
Pina said, pointing to a tree.
Alice's party followed the red arrows they had marked on the trees during yesterday's return. In the early morning, small birds flitted about chirping as they hunted for insects. Nicoletta stretched out her hands toward them, cooing over how cute they were.
"What kind of monster is it?"
Pina asked.
"A vicious one."
Alice answered briefly. Pina tilted her head at that, so Alice elaborated.
"The state of that Pantanotor — it looked exactly like a toy a child had smashed to pieces."
"…Yes. It did."
Pina shuddered. Recalling the scene from yesterday made her stomach turn. Nicoletta watched Pina's face carefully from beside her.
Alice spoke up toward the two of them.
"That's how dangerous it is, so both of you need to be careful. You can tell just from the tracks — it's got a nasty temperament."
"Alice-nim, do you know what it is?"
"Yeah."
Alice said, the image of the Pantanotor's corpse rising once more behind her eyes.
"It's a Twin-Headed Orco. My gut is telling me so."
Pina heard the name and stopped dead in her tracks.
"…A-an Orco?"
Nicoletta asked,
"What's wrong?"
"An Orco is a truly horrific monster. Every hunter it runs into, it rips their arms and legs off and kills them. And it shouldn't even be in the Forest of Illusion — it lives way out in the Ravi Jungle…"
"Must be because of the distortion."
Pina stammered for a moment, then let out a sigh.
"That kind of cruelty… an Orco does seem the most likely. How awful…"
Alice spoke in a voice that could have been either joking or completely serious.
"Dealing with awful things like that is my job."
The three of them returned to where the Pantanotor's corpse had been. Even in daylight, it was still horrific. Now small animals and insects had joined in feeding on the remains, making the sight even more revolting.
Pina made a dying sound again.
"Ugh."
"Let's go. Quickly."
Alice tracked the trail with a slight frown at the disgusting sight.
From here on, it was Nicoletta's observation time again. Before Nicoletta could even find anything herself, Pina and Alice expertly located the Orco's tracks, left markers on them, and analyzed the path.
But an Orco that had suddenly appeared in the forest was never going to wander a fixed route.
"…From here, it climbed into the trees."
Alice said, running her fingers over shredded bark. Above, broken branches were visible. Connecting only the snapped ones made it possible to roughly deduce where the Orco had gone.
As they walked, Nicoletta spoke to Alice.
"Your judgment is incredibly fast. You just keep following the trail without hesitation. Experienced hunters really are something else."
"…"
"Oh — am I distracting you?"
"Ah, no. I was just concentrating."
Alice looked at Nicoletta and smiled faintly.
"We do this all the time, so the speed is inevitable. It's basically repetitive labor."
"Is that so? I get lost a lot, myself. Going in circles over the same ground, not knowing who to blame, and it just feels off. People who do the same work constantly really are faster. Before, I was talking to another Master Hunter, and—"
Alice clapped a hand over Nicoletta's mouth.
"Mmph…"
"Shh."
Alice's eyes moved carefully.
"…The trail ends here."
Pina lifted her head and looked up into the trees. Just as Alice had said, there were no more branches crushed by the Orco's passage.
Alice drew a deep breath and let it out. She took her hand from Nicoletta's mouth and slowly scanned the surroundings.
Fssss— A winter wind shook the branches.
Pina swallowed hard.
Crack— Then, from overhead, came the sound of a branch breaking.
Nicoletta's head snapped upward.
It had a thick, powerful body with muscles and veins bulging red and raw across its frame. Its dark-brown fur stood stiff all over, and its skin was black to match. The foot crushing a thick branch flexed its toes like a hand.
————GRRRrrr.
————KRRrrr.
Despite having only one body, it produced two sounds — because two heads sat on its shoulders. Each head bore a differently shaped single horn: the left head had a left horn that jutted out like a bull's, while the right head had a right horn that curled once like a mountain goat's. Four brown eyes across the two heads looked down on Alice's party, filled with razor-edged killing intent.
What followed was a noisy display of movement. The Orco stomped the branch and leapt, catching hold of a neighboring tree and sliding down it with a long scrape. Kagagak— Bark shredded under its hands and feet and fell away in pieces. Pina ducked her head from the falling debris; Nicoletta drew her sword at once and knocked a dropping branch aside.
The Orco leapt from tree to tree two or three more times, almost as if showing off. Drawing steadily closer to the ground, it finally landed on the snow-covered earth — one arm planted, the opposite knee bent.
What the hell is that thing.
Alice watched the Orco in silence, then reached for the hilt of the greatsword on her shoulder.
"…Everyone, fall back."
"Will you be alright?"
Nicoletta asked, still gripping her sword.
Alice answered at once.
"Dealing with things like that is my job."
The sword on her back was proof enough. She drew the greatsword from its scabbard and held it out before her. The Famine Sword Carestia salivated, hunting for prey to fill its hunger.
"Watch carefully. This is how a hunter fights."
The Orco sensed the hostility, pounded both fists against its chest, and roared.