Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Pumble!
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"Huff... huff..."
The forest of Karognar territory.
Inside a fortress built from the trees of that forest.
An orc panted heavily as it fled within the fortress.
"Damn it... I have to tell the Great Chieftain... the Great Chieftain...!"
This orc was the chieftain ruling over this forest.
After coincidentally devouring a knight's corpse and ascending to the 3rd hierarchy, it had become an executive under the being known as the 'Great Chieftain'.
It had been tasked with guarding this forest for that Great Chieftain.
Its mission was to kidnap travelers or knights passing through the forest and feed them to its comrades.
Thanks to that, it had managed to build a fairly powerful orc village in this forest.
'All that's left is to return to the Great Chieftain!'
It had been preparing to complete this army and return to the Great Chieftain.
But as if the heavens wouldn't allow it, disaster struck this orc.
'What the hell is that beastkin?!'
The orc chieftain caught sight of a white tiger beastkin rampaging in the central plaza of the fortress.
- "Orya!!"
With a thunderous shout, she unleashed an uppercut, sending an orc warrior flying into the air.
She smashed that warrior away with her elbow, then created a gaping hole in the solar plexus of a spearman aiming for her back.
When surrounded by a horde of orcs,
- "White Lotus Eight Trigrams!"
She erupted in a blast of black and white, sweeping away the entire area.
Her level clearly felt like the same 3rd hierarchy as his own, but with power rivaling the 4th hierarchy. The orc chieftain hurriedly dodged.
'Goddamn Karma!'
The chieftain spat curses at the Karma that had brought this monster into his life.
There was no place in this world for demonkin to set foot.
Even if they luckily found a spot by chance, they were driven out within ten years.
That was why demonkin didn't believe in the heavens.
'What has the heavens ever done for me, that it's taking even this from me?!'
Of course, there was a contradiction in the orc chieftain's thinking.
Starting with their cannibalistic culture—which took priority—but demonkin took genuine pride in it, making persuasion futile.
But none of that mattered to this orc chieftain right now.
'If I just survive...!'
If he, a 3rd hierarchy being, survived, he could make a comeback somehow.
To do that, he first needed to return to the city where the Great Chieftain was.
He threw his subordinates to the white tiger girl as sacrifices and headed for his carriage.
Squeal. Squeak.
He securely tied the wild boars to the carriage and whipped them.
"Hya!"
Squeeeeek!
The cannibalistic boars, fattened on human flesh, reddened their eyes and began to charge.
With their leg strength incomparable to ordinary warhorses, he was confident no one could catch them.
The carriage instantly left the stables, heading for the fortress exit.
But just before the exit, the carriage wheels spun idly as if caught on something.
"Hm? Stuck in mud?"
The orc chieftain stuck his head out to check below.
The wheels weren't stuck anywhere. They were simply floating in midair.
And it wasn't just the carriage.
The wild boars pulling it were flailing in the air too.
The chieftain panicked and rubbed his eyes.
Then, a figure walked toward the carriage.
"Did you think you could escape fate, Chieftain?"
A heavy voice rumbled from beneath the helmet as Duke approached.
The orc chieftain involuntarily swallowed at the helmet's intimidating presence.
"Who are you."
"Wrong question. You should be begging for mercy right now."
Of course, Duke had no intention of showing mercy even if asked—he just wanted to say the line.
"Tch."
The chieftain, still not grasping the situation, merely clicked his tongue.
"Should make a good snack on the way."
He pulled a hunting stone from the carriage and hurled it at Duke's ankle.
But the moment it left the chieftain's hand, the stone veered off course, wrapping around his neck and hanging him in midair.
"Gurk..."
In the chieftain's blurring vision, Duke's right hand emerged from his cloak, as if grasping something.
Only then did the chieftain realize something was terribly wrong.
Duke flung the hanged orc chieftain out of the carriage and clenched his left hand in the empty air.
Squeeeeek-!
Thud.
The wild boars, eyes red with charging instinct, collapsed with death cries.
Faced with this incomprehensible sequence, the chieftain began shedding tears of terror.
"Spa... spare..."
As if granting his plea, the noose around the chieftain's neck loosened.
The chieftain collapsed to the ground, greedily gulping the precious air.
Duke looked down at him and spoke.
"Your neck isn't mine to take."
Duke turned his back and walked away from the chieftain.
The orc chieftain's oxygen-starved brain couldn't fully comprehend Duke's words, but he grasped one fact.
'I'm alive...'
For some unknown reason, that grim reaper had spared him.
The chieftain hurriedly rose to flee.
But as Duke vanished beyond the hill, the white tiger girl who had been rampaging in the plaza appeared atop it. The chieftain could only sigh.
"Ah..."
As if mocking his despair, Duke passed by Ari and said,
"I've prepared your share."
"Thank you, sir."
"Gain experience and repay Rex. That will suffice as thanks."
"Yes!"
Ari responded with a warrior's hearty shout and charged straight at the chieftain.
'Damn humans...'
Tears and snot streaming down his face at his plight, the chieftain gripped the axe on his back.
"Raaargh!!! I won't be humiliated!!"
With a bellowing war cry, the chieftain charged at her.
A few minutes later.
Boom!
At the fortress exit, the orc chieftain with a caved-in solar plexus was put on display.
After the orc fortress subjugation ended, Rex took time to evaluate the battle results.
'This mission was easy... Ah, my senses have been off lately...'
Strictly speaking, the orc fortress subjugation was an S-rank mission.
A fortress occupied by a 3rd hierarchy S-grade adventurer-level orc chieftain and numerous 2nd hierarchy A-grade orc warriors.
It was a disaster for ordinary citizens.
But for Ari, it wasn't particularly difficult.
'Ari's basically 4th hierarchy now, right?'
With that thought, Rex checked her status window.
Hard to believe, but it was growth achieved in just half a year.
Rex focused especially on the stats rather than the level.
Normally, if stats exceeded level, it was called over-spec, and she was over-spec in 'Technique' and 'Martial Force'.
'It's a bug.'
Her Technique was even 5th hierarchy level.
Rex had an idea of the cause.
'This is why superhumans obsess over fateful encounters with masters.'
Just meeting a good master had caused her Technique to skyrocket like this.
Considering her skills, her hierarchy could be seen as 4.5.
'As expected of Duke.'
As Rex felt proud, Duke and Ari returned.
Ari came running, her black-and-white tail swishing.
"Rex!"
"G-Good... work..."
"I feel like I'm about to break through the wall soon!"
"Already?!"
"Yes! From now on, I'll smash all of Rex's enemies!"
Rex was stunned.
If she broke the wall like this, she'd be 4th hierarchy.
From 2nd to 4th in half a year.
It was growth that wouldn't be strange if superhumans tried to kill her out of jealousy.
At that moment, Duke asked Rex's permission in a serious tone.
"Rex. Before we head back, Ari should meditate here first."
Rex and Ari tilted their heads but listened to Duke.
Rex perched on his carriage watching the two, while Duke sat her on the ground and began urgent Zen questioning.
"Ari. Why do you take lives?"
The reason Duke was so urgently making her meditate was the realization that had taken root in her heart during this battle.
"Why did you pile up those orc corpses?"
"For Rex, of course."
"Then, what did you realize this time?"
"I'll eliminate Rex's enemies and make his dream come true."
Duke shook his head at that.
"That's the mistake."
Killing must never take root in enlightenment.
No matter how noble the purpose, the moment killing mixes in, it becomes muddled.
Ari tilted her head.
"Because of Karma, it'll eventually harm Rex?"
"Not that. Don't use the shock of killing as a means to gain enlightenment."
Duke wasn't a pacifist.
He had piled enough bodies in the Empire's downfall to form a mountain range; he had no intention of preaching non-killing now.
What he meant was a matter of efficiency.
"Raising realms with killing intent is like quenching thirst with seawater. Even a tiny fragment of killing intent rooting in the mind makes you seek it amid thirst."
This wasn't about good or evil.
In Duke's view, enlightenment had no good or evil.
But the moment you used killing as a means to enlightenment, you hit a ceiling.
You become addicted to killing intent, and eventually, realm advancement through other enlightenments becomes impossible.
"Those who turn the thrill of killing into enlightenment become drunk on blood, unable to use other means—be it elixirs, masters, or anything."
At best, they reach 6th hierarchy; with luck, 7th—and growth stops.
Because from that realm on, there are few equals to kill.
Others might not care once at 6th hierarchy with near-immortality guaranteed, but Duke, planning to raise her to at least 8th, wanted to avoid it.
"If you've forged enlightenment into words, don't insert 'killing'. If you've tempered an image, don't paint blood in it."
Only then did she nod in understanding.
The questioning ended, and she entered meditation.
"I get it. To protect Rex, I must grow stronger, but stay vigilant not to become numb to killing."
Nod.
It diverged slightly from his own enlightenment, but Duke respected it as hers.
With her new enlightenment, her level dropped to 36.
Duke praised her.
"Letting go of what you hold is the hardest law. But your tower's foundation is now even firmer—be proud."
Rex was amazed, seeing a level drop for the first time.
[Levels can go down too, huh.]
"Yes, when releasing impure mana accumulated in the body or misguided enlightenments. But once you pass a wall, it's irreversible."
That's why the urgent meditation.
If Ari crossed 40 like this, a blood-drunk tiger would be born.
'Wasn't in the original. Must be my fault.'
The original Ari hadn't woven killing intent into her image.
She had struggled penniless with Rex, deeply feeling the weight of killing.
Here, Duke had raised her as an over-spec tiger, making killing feel lighter.
'My responsibility, so I'll normalize it.'
As Duke adjusted her training plan, Rex, lost in thought, spoke up.
[By the way, out of curiosity—does your enlightenment lack that killing intent too, Duke?]
Duke nodded without hesitation.
"My purpose hasn't changed once since I gripped the sword. And I've never allowed space for killing intent in my enlightenment."
Rex and Ari sent admiring gazes to the proudly declaring Duke.
'He's extreme, but a knight's a knight.'
'As expected of Master. Even dirtying his hands, he never lost purpose.'
But Duke's enlightenment differed slightly from their thoughts.
'Killing intent sacrifices the late game for early growth—why would I make it my enlightenment?'
Duke wanted to be the final boss, not a mid-boss.
Above all...
'A blood-drunk final boss has an ugly end.'
He just didn't want to be unsightly.
He'd do it if necessary, but not take it for granted. That was killing's place for Duke.
Naturally, he didn't reveal that, basking in their admiring gazes piercing his helmet.
'Yes. This is it. Who'd look at a blood-drunk knight like this.'
Charismatic knight Duke was sublime today too.
Rex's party, having annihilated the orc fortress, returned to the adventurer guild.
But instead of the receptionist, the guild master greeted them.
"Oh, everyone. I've been waiting. Someone's here to see you—could you spare some time?"
The guild master rubbed his hands, polishing them to a shine matching his bald head.
Rex felt uneasy about meeting someone but couldn't refuse.
I mean...
"Please, I beg you!!"
With the guild master pleading so humbly, refusal felt too guilty.
Moreover, this guild master had actively helped Rex during the last clan commotion.
Rex clearly remembered the middle-aged man's devotion, even sacrificing his scant remaining hair to keep the incident from the lord's ears.
So, for this likable uncle, Rex decided to grant the request.
"O-Okay..."
"Thank you!"
The guild master bowed and guided Rex.
As Ari and Duke followed, Duke sensed familiar mana in his senses.
'Hm? This is...'
Familiar 3rd hierarchy mana and the guild master's attitude.
From those two, Duke predicted the guest in the parlor was a high-grade knight.
'Whatever it is, better say it upfront.'
In the original, Rex and Hana met a bit later.
He had no intention of strictly following the original flow, but no reason not to if possible.
Duke immediately sent telepathy to the high-grade knight.
[I am seeing you for the first time today.]
Duke unilaterally informed and ended the transmission.
The high-grade knight momentarily panicked at Duke's voice in his head.
But as a veteran, he quickly understood and nodded.
'He already knows I've come looking for him.'
Originally, Hana should have come to Duke.
But with the count watching her, personal contact was difficult.
So the high-grade knight came on her behalf, but the method was the issue.
Unable to track Duke's movements, he'd investigated indirectly and learned Rex was his liege.
But investigation, no matter how careful, was rude.
The knight pondered how to treat first-time Rex and acquaintance Duke, when Duke provided the answer.
'He'll overlook the investigation if I show proper respect to his liege, Rex.'
Duke was advising to act as if Rex the S-rank adventurer, not knight Duke, was the target.
'How considerate.'
A bit dangerous due to telekinesis, but fundamentally a knight—reassuring.
Slight misunderstanding aside, the high-grade knight grasped Duke's intent.
As he prepared, Rex entered the parlor.
"Greetings. I'm White, high-grade knight of Sneria territory."
"Hellooo, Mr. White."
Rex greeted, suppressing fear.
'Why's a knight so polite?'
Rex rated the high-grade knight's first impression highly,
'This is Rex? Masterful at hiding hierarchy.'
The knight assessed Rex as a polite-habit mystery powerhouse,
'Hm. As expected of Hana. Well-trained knight.'
Duke praised the absent Hana.
Amid their mismatched impressions, the conversation began.
"Lord Sneria wishes to entrust a request to Rex."
The knight said refusal was fine anytime.
Rex nodded at the proffered request.
'Hm. Joint mission in a city occupied by 4th hierarchy demonkin? Doesn't seem too dangerous.'
With his crisis sensor broken, Rex deemed it acceptable,
'Definitely a monster. Must inform intel.'
The knight's misunderstanding deepened,
'Why does this story start like this? What did I do? Hmm... Whatever. Wish Hana had come instead.'
Duke was in his own world.
Thus, amid their crossed sentiments, the negotiation strangely harmonized.