The Third Tutorial (2)
The base camp of Baron Recount's forces was situated not far from the castle. It was close enough that the castle could be seen clearly from their position, meaning they could begin combat the instant an order was given.
“So we’re heading out in an hour?”
“Yeah. No real reason to hang around here, right? Might as well go straight in.”
Since our interests aligned, we agreed to launch an immediate assault on the castle after the bare minimum of preparation. When I relayed this to the others, they looked somewhat reluctant but still nodded in agreement. Not that any of them would dare talk back to me anyway. And since my decision wasn’t wrong, no one bothered opposing it just for the sake of opposition.
“How are the preparations coming along, Yoon?”
“We’re ready to move out at any time.”
“Unfortunately, we still need more time to organize our side. It seems we won’t be able to join immediately. That said, I have a proposal for you.”
“A proposal…?”
In the current situation, I couldn’t imagine what kind of proposal he could possibly have. I kept my expression neutral while inwardly wondering what Kailen was scheming.
“It’s nothing complicated. If you’re willing, how would you feel about joining us to hunt orcs?”
“Orcs, you say?”
“Indeed. Our forces are already stretched thin, and someone has to lead the soldiers. That leaves us short-handed in a rather awkward spot. But with your strength, I believe you’d fit in well with our group. That’s why I’m making this suggestion.”
I listened carefully to Kailen’s words and studied his face. He didn’t seem to be hiding any ulterior motives. It was true that they were short on knights. Even though the video footage hadn’t shown many, seeing the actual situation made it clear just how weak their forces truly were.
After a brief conversation with Baron Recount, I’d learned that there were only five knights present in total. Of those, the ones directly under the baron were Kailen, one unnamed knight tasked with protecting the baron, and Gilling, who had only recently been knighted. That made three. The rest were freelance knights hired with whatever valuables they’d managed to scrape together while fleeing the castle.
The unnamed knight had to stay behind to protect Baron Recount, and if Gilling was pulled away to command the soldiers, they would indeed be critically short on manpower. Still, the title of baron was a relatively low rank. It made sense that they couldn’t afford to maintain a large number of knights.
Or maybe not? Having three knights might mean they actually have some money?
I didn’t know if they’d started with three or not, so perhaps the baron wasn’t quite as destitute as I’d assumed. In any case.
“Understood. I have no objections.”
“Thank you. This puts my mind at ease. Hahaha.”
Kailen laughed heartily and left after I accepted. There was no reason for me to refuse, so I agreed readily. The only variable was how well I could handle orcs. Luniel had said that four or five people working together could take one down, so I probably wouldn’t fall behind if I joined them.
However, there was one thing I needed to consider. During the second tutorial, when I’d spoken with Luniel, she had subtly based her estimates on the best possible scenario. Taking that into account, the “four to five people” figure might also assume optimal conditions.
Of course, the only way to know for sure was to face them directly. But from the way she’d spoken, I suspected the latter was true. Like the old saying that star players can’t coach. Since the species were different, it was hard to gauge the exact power level.
“Alright! We move out now!”
Without any grand departure ceremony, we began our march toward the castle at Kailen’s straightforward shout.
The path to the castle was eerily peaceful. I’d expected to encounter goblins and orcs rampaging along the way since they’d supposedly taken over the area, but we didn’t see a single one. That only made it more suspicious.
Considering how the goblins had behaved during our previous encounters, the idea that they could be this well-controlled seemed impossible. For there to be not even one stray monster, it meant there had to be a higher-ranking entity in charge.
There might even be a goblin shaman.
It was possible that the orc named Kucharok was controlling the goblins as well. Since I didn’t know the exact relationship between the two races, I decided to assume there was a superior being managing the goblins. I quietly warned only Song Dayeong about it.
“A shaman? You mean one of those bulky, muscular goblins?”
“Yeah. Just be careful in case there is one.”
“If you’re that worried, you should’ve just stayed with me. Tsk.”
“Watch the casual tone.”
Song Dayeong had been sulking and grumbling ever since I told her I was going with the knights to hunt orcs. I shut her up and continued walking. Before long, the castle walls came into view, and the village below appeared in the distance.
From afar, the village looked completely destroyed, nothing but ruins remaining. Nothing unusual stood out at first glance.
“Halt. Gilling, take the soldiers and check the village.”
“Understood.”
To be thorough, Kailen ordered Gilling and the soldiers to investigate. As Gilling and the troops ran toward the village, I realized something I’d been wondering about ever since seeing the knights here. They had no horses.
The freelance knights I could understand, but even Kailen and Gilling—actual knights—had no mounts. Just how desperately had they fled that they didn’t even have horses? Or had they sold them to gather more men? I wasn’t sure of the reason.
The more I thought about it, the more differences I noticed between these knights and the ones I’d imagined. In any case, that wasn’t important right now.
“After checking the village, we found nothing inside.”
“Nothing at all?”
“Yes. It was completely empty. Not even a single corpse. It seems the monsters consumed everything.”
I could hear the way Gilling was clenching his teeth as he gave the report. The absence of bodies meant the monsters had devoured them all. His anger was completely understandable. Moreover, Gilling was a knight of this very territory. He was likely also feeling crushing guilt for failing to protect the people here, which only intensified his emotions.
“Save that anger for the battle ahead.”
“Understood.”
Kailen patted Gilling’s shoulder encouragingly, then turned to look at us.
“We’ll take a short ten-minute rest, then advance directly on the castle! The knights, including myself, will lead the charge and open the way. Focus on eliminating as many goblins as possible!”
“Yes, sir!”
Both soldiers and Hero Candidates answered Kailen’s command in loud voices. It finally felt like we had a proper army. Honestly, while we were marching here, I’d thought the soldiers—especially those who had served in the military twice like me—must have seen us as some kind of ragtag militia. But now that the operation was about to begin, everyone seemed tense and their attitudes had improved considerably.
The ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye.
“Yoon.”
At Kailen’s call, I took position behind him. My role was to follow right behind the man at the very front and carve open a path. Once I was in place, Kailen scanned the soldiers and Hero Candidates behind us, then faced forward and shouted loudly.
“All forces, advance!”
There was no elaborate strategy. It was a simple, crude charge. However, the ferocious momentum Kailen displayed at the head of the formation made it look far more impressive than it was.
Keeek!
As we crossed through the wide-open castle gates, we finally encountered the main horde of goblins.
“Trash, get out of my way!”
Sword energy erupted from Kailen’s blade, and the goblins blocking our path were sliced in half with a single swing. Before anyone could even react to his absurd display of martial prowess, more goblins came swarming in. Since I hadn’t encountered any orcs yet, I focused on clearing out the goblins without overexerting myself. I ran hard to keep up with Kailen, who was literally carving a path of slaughter through them.
Occasionally, orcs appeared to block Kailen’s way, but even they couldn’t stand against him. So far, everything matched what I’d seen in the video. Kailen dominating the battlefield like a one-man army, monsters falling left and right. The real question was what came next.
When exactly would this Kucharok bastard show up? And just how strong was he?
While I was thinking, the castle came into full view up ahead, and Kailen suddenly came to a halt.
“We’re going straight inside. Prepare yourselves.”
The freelance knights nodded silently at Kailen’s display of power. I did the same and was about to follow them into the castle when—
Thud!
An orc dropped from above the castle walls, blocking our path.
“Sorry, but you humans aren’t getting in there. Chwik.”
Its physique was similar to the other orcs, but its entire body was covered in dense tattoos. It looked exactly like the Kucharok I had seen in the video.
Still, this guy talks almost like a normal person.
The other orcs I’d encountered on the way here had spoken in very crude, broken sentences. This one, however, spoke clearly and fluently—aside from the occasional chwik.
“So you’re the orc who attacked the territory while I was away…”
“Just one more of you won’t change the outcome, human.”
“Shut your mouth, orc!”
Kailen released an even stronger surge of sword energy and charged at Kucharok. With twice the intensity he’d shown while slaughtering goblins, he swung his sword down at the orc. But—
Boom!
Kucharok casually raised his axe and blocked the strike. Kailen planted his feet firmly and tried to push forward with all his strength, but a brief flash of light erupted from Kucharok’s tattoos, completely repelling him.
“Chwi-ik! A strong human indeed. I will grow even stronger by offering you as sacrifice!”
“Damn it! What are you all doing? Attack already!”
We had been momentarily stunned by the rapid exchange between the two. Snapping out of it, we quickly joined the fight.
“Cowardly human bastards! Chwik!”
Once we entered the fray, Kucharok was clearly pushed back. Whenever Kailen unleashed a barrage of fast, powerful strikes that the orc blocked with his axe, the rest of us—me and the freelance knights—aimed for the openings. Our four-person coordination wasn’t perfect, but with Kailen, who was on a similar level to Kucharok, holding the orc down solidly, even our comparatively weaker attacks left Kucharok staggering and forced him to retreat.
We pressed the advantage without letting up. Eventually, wounds began to accumulate across the orc’s body. The only disappointing part was that his hide was so thick we couldn’t inflict any truly fatal injuries. Still, as the saying went, even a drizzle can soak you through. If we kept accumulating damage like this, no matter how strong he was, he wouldn’t be able to endure forever.
I was already thinking about how many points I’d get for cutting off this bastard’s head when it turned out I had gotten ahead of myself.
“Kroaaaaah!”
Kucharok let out a beast-like roar, and an intense light burst from his tattoos. The tattoos had glowed whenever he exerted great strength before, but never this brightly.
“We can’t wait for his transformation to finish!”
The other three seemed frozen, waiting for the cliché transformation sequence. I shouted loudly to snap them out of it. We immediately charged at the glowing orc, intending to stab our swords into his defenseless body and tear him apart. But—
Clang!
Our blades didn’t penetrate. We had all poured aura into our attacks, so we’d assumed they would work. The moment they were blocked, we retreated in shock. The light radiating from the orc’s body gradually faded, and soon he stood before us completely unharmed. However, it seemed he couldn’t use the ability often. His tattoos had clearly become much fainter than before.
“His tattoos have faded! He can’t have many uses left!”
The color had lightened so noticeably that there was no mistaking it. This was certain. Just as we were about to charge again with renewed hope—
“Fuck, what the hell is that coming from the top of the castle!”
A massive amount of black smoke began pouring out from the highest floor of the castle.