Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: 5. Orphan Awakening System Open
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Unfortunately, the dramatic turn where the ice spirit let out a howl and the monsters and beasts screamed "Aaaah!" as they fled didn't happen.
If anything, it was because their own boss was even stronger.
But even if it wasn't that theatrical, a noticeable change still took place.
"Look at that! The blizzard...!!"
"The cold is fading too!"
No matter how weakened it was, the Mountain Lord was still a spirit king-level ice spirit. Naturally, altering the temperature and weather in the area was child's play for it.
And that gave the knights facing off against the onrushing monsters and beasts a surge of courage and conviction. It was far better showmanship than the spirit merely joining the fray.
Naturally, the more it did, the higher Laila's orphan power—or in other words, her price competitiveness—rose in real time.
I signaled to Margrave Richard, with whom I'd already finished discussing the matter ahead of time, and he nodded before shouting loudly.
"The Mountain Lord is aiding us! Knights of Beril! Fulfill your duty as the bulwark!!"
"""Raaaaah!!!"""
Was it because of the previous defeat? The knights, who had been steeled with grim resolve, were now brimming with morale as they charged. The knowledge that such a mighty ice spirit was on their side boosted spirits, but so did the warmer temperatures, the lack of blizzard interference, and the genuine boost to their combat effectiveness.
In contrast, while the Snow King's horde still outnumbered them filthily, most of its commander-level powerhouses had vanished.
Just as in years past, the Beril Count Family held the advantage in a head-on clash. If even one of their ancestors had ever lost, they never would have dared call themselves the northern bulwark.
Mana surged skyward, and the knights' auras burst like fireworks, painting the battlefield.
In the midst of all that, Ulfric and I...
"Senior, what should we do now?"
"Hand me some popcorn."
"Right away."
For the record, I didn't make this myself. Don't underestimate medieval fantasy—popcorn-level snacks already exist.
Anyway, unlike the knights clashing with the Snow King's horde, Ulfric and I stayed back. Not slacking or shirking responsibility, though.
"That one over there, the beast with three legs."
"Got it. Knight Captain! Target the one Director Yujin mentioned!"
"Yes, sir!!"
My original role was scout anyway, so hanging back like this was plenty.
"Then, Senior, what about me...?"
"You stay here and guard me and the Margrave well."
"Understood!"
Ulfric was assigned to protect me and Margrave Richard. A waste of manpower? Quite the opposite—it freed up troops who would've been stuck guarding the command staff to join the front lines instead. The Margrave's side had requested it first.
Besides, we didn't even need Ulfric stepping up. Trusting the Beril Count Family's knights? When I trusted even the staff at my business partners?
[Grrrrrowl!!!]
To be precise, it was trusting the temporary staff at our orphanage.
Every time the Mountain Lord roared, the local climate flipped. The biting cold that assailed the knights reversed course toward the monsters, and the blizzard blocking the knights now hindered the beasts' advance.
For the knights, the mere disappearance of snow and extreme cold was enough. The Beril knights were elite veterans hardened by battle.
Despite the enemy's numerical superiority, the knights seized the upper hand in the initial charge. But...
"Grrrk! Kruk!!"
"Kieeeek!!!"
"Damn these things...!!"
"Their numbers are higher than last time, damn it!"
No matter what, you couldn't ignore the difference in numbers. Especially not against monsters and beasts each larger than the knights, charging in mindless hordes.
Whether because so many commander-level individuals were gone, they weren't moving like an army this time—just brutishly charging ahead.
If anything, that made it worse. The Snow King's horde slowly pressed the knights back, willing to suffer massive losses.
If things continued like this, victory was far from certain.
"Unleash it."
[As my contractor wills.]
Laila, astride the Mountain Lord, murmured softly, and the ice spirit—larger even than the manor—gaped its maw wide.
Soon, an absolute zero chill, as if it could freeze the world itself, condensed in its mouth───
Kwaaaaa!!!
───and a single beam of annihilation cleaved the snow mountain in two.
The Snow King's horde, being monsters and beasts born of these snow mountains, shrugged off ordinary cold with ease.
But they offered no resistance to the azure beam the Mountain Lord spat. They simply shattered into pathetic ice shards. What's more, the blast didn't stop at the horde—it froze the rear snow mountains and even plummeted clouds from the sky.
Ulfric and Margrave Richard gaped at the terrifying power. Even the front lines briefly fell into a lull.
Ulfric, who had looked uneasy just moments ago, now stared grimly and asked me.
"Senior Yujin, what the hell is that? Even that spiritist geezer couldn't... Senior?"
"...Huh? What'd you say?"
"I asked what that is."
"W-What else? She became a spiritist. With a spirit that powerful, you must've guessed as much, right?"
"I did, but... is that normal? Pulling that much out of a spirit she just contracted? Did you know about this, Senior?"
Know about it?
'No idea... What the hell was that? Scary...'
Of course I didn't, damn it.
I'd only ever seen one spiritist before—that old codger—and even he was leagues above average. He used spirits purely as support, but he was still stronger than Ulfric, that old monster.
Yet what Laila had just pulled off surpassed that geezer by miles. Sure, comparing raw destructive power alone, the geezer still edged her out overall, but this was beyond imagination.
'That one shot just turned the tide.'
No—more than that, it handed the knights a crushing victory. With the horde's numbers thinned and a path cleared straight to the center, it was game over.
The monsters and beasts seemed more wary and terrified of Laila and the Mountain Lord than the knights' spears and swords right in front of them. Hell, even I'd be scared. This was a top-grade orphan? They basically handed us a human rights orphan screaming "Pull me!"
"Spiritist... I've heard the term, but I never imagined...!!"
Margrave Richard seemed even more shocked. Having faced the Snow King's horde in the north for so long, he understood just how much value a single strike that flipped the battle held.
Snapping out of his daze, he raised his voice as if ready to charge out himself.
"This changes everything—surely we can take down that vile Snow King now...!!"
"Margrave, calm down first."
"Don't worry, I know the priorities. For now, ask Laila to cooperate again, and whatever she wants..."
"No, that's not it."
"Hm?"
Laila couldn't spam attacks like that endlessly. From the glow just now, she seemed roughly on Karen's level. If she could've fired off multiples, she would've already.
Through the telescope, Laila looked visibly exhausted. Her ragged breathing suggested even a 4-Star Orphan struggled right after contracting—it was too taxing. With her orphan breathing disrupted, continuing the fight looked impossible.
Of course, she could rest and recover mana, or the Mountain Lord could wade in with its massive bulk if needed. The Beril knights' forces were preserved, morale sky-high. It was an unprecedented landslide victory.
And that's why I said to stop here.
"We can't push further. Pull back the knights and focus on cleanup first."
"Director Yujin, if you say so, I'll hear you out... but this is our chance. With that detestable Snow King's horde so thinned, we have to strike now───"
Sure, Margrave Richard had a point. Logically, it made sense. Give them time, and the horde would replenish.
But that was mere "common sense."
'...Ha.'
Turn your head just slightly from Laila, and beyond those snow mountains, light shone. Not whiteout from sunlight on snow, nor a sun behind the peaks.
In the prior battle, I'd scouted by discerning monsters' and beasts' talents. Possible because my ability wasn't limited to humans.
The Snow King was no different.
'Monstrous bastard.'
That light beyond the snow mountain range. It made Laila's beam, the knights' weapons, even the manor's glow fade in comparison.
The light emanating from the Snow King. A mere beast's "talent."
It was literally like the sun.
"5-Star..."
We classify Karen and Laila as 4-Star Orphans because there's a basis for comparison. If I hadn't seen it, they'd be 5-Stars.
But I had seen a "5-Star talent" light like the Snow King's once before.
The Snow King's light was comparable to the Mountain King's—and in no way inferior.
"Let's head back."
"Director Yujin?"
"We have to."
So why send only these half-hearted forces instead of coming himself? Simple.
Unlike what Margrave Richard or the Empire thought, the Snow King didn't see this as a battlefield to begin with.
His focus lay deep in the northern snow mountain region—he couldn't care less about the outskirts.
Even if his horde and commanders died off somewhere? Zero interest.
That's why he was arrogant.
...And that's why he was king.
"I'm worried about Laila."
"...If you put it that way, very well."
"Thank you."
Above all, the most important "cleanup" still remained, didn't it?
Our Laila had awakened from a 1-Star Orphan to a 4-Star Orphan, and contracted such a mighty ice spirit to boot.
From a gun-toting orphan with orphan power around 5 to the orphan sovereign with 530,000 orphan power.
Naturally, the contract from her 1-Star days needed a full overhaul.
'Now I can finally get to the important stuff.'
After wrapping up this Snow King horde sideshow.
Time to return to my main job.
*
[Wise choice.]
"Hoo, hoo... What do you mean?"
"...Including you?"
Gasping for breath, Laila looked at the Mountain Lord. Ever since contracting this ice spirit, she'd been able to peer into its emotions and thoughts as if they were her own.
And right now, the Mountain Lord was expressing cold fury laced with terror. Terror at this unrealistically powerful spirit that had halved its swarming horde in one strike.
"Again."
"Good. Don't forget the contract terms. I might let it slide for others, but I won't tolerate you talking about the Director like that."
But it was fine. They'd achieved their goal of aiding the Beril Count Family, and with power like this, it'd surely be a huge help to the Director.
Imagining Karen's twisted expression, Laila nodded in satisfaction—right before...
"That's why the Director's the exception? If you hate humans so much from the start, why contract with me?"
As the Director had explained, a spiritist's talent hinged on compatibility with mana—and the spirit's preferences played a huge role.
The Mountain Lord was a spirit that openly despised humans. She got why it needed a spiritist urgently, but its attitude toward the Director and toward her was blatantly different.
Just because she was the contractor? If that was really it───
"...Huh? What?"
"Yeah?"
Pop!
With a deflating sound from somewhere, Laila plummeted. The Mountain Lord's massive body, which she'd been standing on, had suddenly vanished.
Thanks to her new spiritist ability to manipulate nearby ice, she avoided injury—but startled, she hurriedly scanned her surroundings.
"...What?"
She soon spotted the Mountain Lord. No longer filling the cave cavern or dwarfing the manor... now just tiger-sized.
Still big. Big, but...
"What happened to your earlier form?"
"...So right now?"
"This is contract fraud! I want a refund! Refund! Wait—now that I think about it, that avalanche a year ago was you too?"
"You're seriously getting refunded! Y-You! Because of you, the Director!"
Forgetting the Mountain Lord's cryptic words from moments ago, Laila pummeled it wildly. The Mountain Lord could only whine pitifully, unable to resist. It really hadn't said anything about not leaving the snow mountains.
Thus crumbled Laila's rosy dream of a future. She just kept screaming "Refund!"
Coincidentally, it was exactly the thought some orphanage director had once harbored about her in this very spot.