The Hero Escapes the Saint's Sudden Dungeon Run
Thanks to the captain's consideration, we were able to cross the border right away. The people lining the road were so thrilled they ignored the proper order and still chanted "Hero!" as we passed, acting like I had really defeated monsters.
...Is this what it feels like to be famous?
“Hero-nim, why are you slumping like a worm~? How foolish♡”
“...It’s praise, so it’s fine.”
Honestly admitting it, the saint smiled with sparkling eyes.
“Eung♡ The Hero is starving for compliments, huh. You really are a baby♡”
“Isn’t praise good no matter your age?”
“Of course, but you never make faces that are cute...foolish~♡”
“...What was wrong with my expression?”
“You looked like a stupid goblin♡”
...Damn it.
I wanted nothing from you. Just say the destination and shut up, navigator.
“...Where are we going?”
“There’s a rest stop village for people crossing borders in the neutral zone. It’ll be dark soon, so we’ll spend tonight there and enter the kingdom tomorrow.”
“Understood.”
It felt exactly like a highway rest area.
“How much longer?”
“Not much~♡ Are you tired?”
“Not really....”
“Your stamina is really pathetic, Hero-nim♡ Really, I should train you properly later.”
...Dammit, pay attention.
“Living in a neutral zone might be dangerous.”
It was Cloe who spoke up. It was true—neutral zones belonged to no country at all, which meant no protection from any nation. In an era full of monsters, how could anyone live there?
“Don’t worry about that. Both countries regularly patrol these neutral villages. There’s also a self-defense unit inside the village.”
“Ah, I see.”
“As I mentioned last time, upper-class monsters don’t appear often here, so it’s safe enough. The chimera we saw before was just a special case....”
Then the saint suddenly stopped mid-sentence and froze.
“Saint-nim?”
“Shh.”
The saint put a finger to her lips and pointed ahead. She crept forward carefully, then signaled us to crouch.
I glanced at Cloe and raised an eyebrow. Why is she doing this? Cloe shook her head slightly.
Following the saint’s lead, we crouched low. Crawling toward her, she whispered.
“Do you see it? Even your terrible eyes should spot this♡”
“...Green?”
There were green-skinned monsters. Heavy bodies, pig-like heads, and clubs in their hands. It was one of the monsters I had already fought.
“...Why are orcs here?”
“The village is in ruins. There must have been an attack.”
“What? This was a village?”
“There are building ruins over there. Your narrow vision, Hero-nim♡”
“...Oh.”
Yes, ruined buildings lay behind the orcs. But how had these orcs leveled an entire village?
“Even an ogre wouldn’t do that.”
“Hmm, it’s not impossible, but with only orcs it’s tough to turn a village into rubble. This one even had a trained self-defense unit.”
“Then what happened?”
“Probably...a mutant individual that could lead the orcs intelligently.”
“A mutant? You mean a Noll Chieftain?”
“You remember♡ Thank goodness you’re better than a gorilla~♡”
“...Yeah.”
A mutant orc? Maybe an orc champion or something?
“What do you plan to do?”
“...Since the orcs haven’t spotted us yet, we could just pass by and alert the kingdom army, but that wouldn’t make me the hero, would it~?”
“Yes.”
Leaving behind monsters that had killed humans would not make me the hero? Satisfied with my answer, the saint smiled.
“Pathetic hero, it’s training time again~♡”
“What?”
“We’re catching orcs today~.”
Training here and now?
...When do we have time for that? I have to kill every single one of them anyway.
“It’s about time you feel how much stronger you’ve become. I’ll pull a few of those orcs forward. Fight them without blessings.”
“...Without blessings?”
Stiffening at the thought of fighting middle-class monsters bare-handed, I replied.
“Don’t tense up♡ No matter how pathetic the hero is, you should be able to handle middle-class monsters by now.”
“...How do you know for sure?”
“Don’t you trust my judgment?”
“...Not really.”
“Don’t worry, get ready to fight orcs. You too, Cloe.”
Cloe jumped in surprise and pointed at herself.
“Me too?”
“You have to help the hero.”
“...Oh, okay.”
The saint started to stand. I asked her.
“Will I really be able to do this?”
“...You should have more confidence, Hero-nim♥ Even if you’re pathetic, the orcs are even more pathetic~♡”
“...Okay.”
She was planning to bring several at once and finish them off? That might take too long.
First, I had to figure out how to fight orcs. They were probably slower than ogres or chimeras, so I could block their attacks...but
“Yo, hero-nim.”
“What?”
Still thinking about the battle, I felt Cloe shaking me.
Why are you shaking me? Stop it and just say what you want. I’m going to get dizzy.
“...Is that okay?”
“What?”
Cloe pointed ahead.
I looked and saw the saint. She had crept up silently, grabbed an orc’s club lying on the ground, and swung it at the pot of rice the orcs had placed on a wooden rack.
“Eat♡”
“Kweh?”
Crash! The precious pot of rice for the orcs shattered.
The orcs stared blankly at the broken pot, then spotted the saint. Realizing what happened, they roared in fury.
“Kweih! What are you doing!!!”
“Kweh! Why are you breaking our pot!!!”
“Kyah~♡ A face only half-finished, ugly orc is chasing us~♡”
...She’s crazy. Completely insane.
The saint dashed toward us at a speed that looked like she was about to be grabbed by the orcs. The orcs entered my range and I drew my holy sword.
Slash!
“Well done, hero-nim♥”
The saint passed me and the orcs, stunned by their dead comrade, backed away warily.
“Kweh!?”
“Kweih!! Grok is dead! Our clan’s finest handsome man!!!”
...You all look exactly the same. What handsome man are you talking about? It’s not like there’s a separate league...
“Kweh! Humans, kill them! Offer the corpses to the chief!!”
“Kweih! Good, comrades!”
Now that I thought about it, orcs really did have deep bonds of friendship.
I had learned it when I cut one earlier. I now had enough power to pierce middle-class monster skin without blessings. If I fought well, I could handle as many orcs as I wanted.
The orcs chasing the saint were four. One I had stealthily cut down left three.
“Kweh! Halp! Tell the chief!”
“Got it, kweih!!”
Halp, the orc I was called, was trying to warn the chief. Oh no, what if...?
“Lightning Bolt!”
Zap!!!
“Kweiieeh!!!”
“Kweh! Halp!”
The lightning struck Halp. There was no reason for thunder to fall from a clear sky...just like Cloe’s magic.
“Thanks, Cloe!”
“I’ll tie up that one! Hero-nim, handle the other two!”
Great. Two was much less tiring than three.
I was a little worried about Cloe, but remembering how she had melted the ogre’s face last time, I decided not to worry too much.
“Kweih! This won’t do! We have to kill this human and save Halp!”
“Kweh! Correct! We can’t abandon comrades!”
...Even monsters have such sticky friendship bonds. I feel like a bad guy.
The orcs slammed their clubs on the ground and roared toward the sky.
“Kweiieeh! Orc warrior Prokalt! I’m going into battle!!”
“Kweiieeh! Orc warrior Zapod! I’m going into battle!!”
It seemed like their personal battle ritual. How interesting.
If it was just about honor, it might have been similar to WarCraft orcs.
Right after their roar, the orcs charged me at lightning speed. Their heavy bodies moved faster than expected. If this was the first time, I would have been shocked, but I had seen this speed before.
They were fast for their size, but slower than ogres or chimeras that were bigger and quicker. Compared to a chimera’s speed, it was almost crawling.
That’s why their attacks were so obvious. I could see exactly where they would swing, making it easy to dodge.
“Kweh!?”
“Kweiieh! Avoiding our coordinated attack, you’re a skilled warrior!”
Skilled? You’ve only been a hero for three months....
The orcs paused for a second, then regained composure and continued their coordination.
It was probably thanks to never fighting an ogre before that I found it hard to dodge. Their single blows were heavy and intimidating.
“...Still visible.”
Slash! I felt the sensation of orc skin slicing open. My holy sword cleanly cut off Prokalt’s forearm.
“Kweiieeh!!!”
“Kweh, Zapod!!”
Zapod, the orc whose right arm was severed, staggered back. Prokalt stepped in front to block him.
“Kweiieh! Protecting our comrade!”
...I really feel like the villain. If we swapped races, I’d be the soldier protecting a comrade from orcs.
“Stop talking about how ‘we protect our comrades’!”
“I’m not complaining. That’s the truth, right?”
“Kweiieh! How dare you insult our friendship!!”
“Monsters attacking a village instead of...just leaving it alone!”
“Kweiieh! Shut up, human!!!”
Prokalt charged at me in a rage. You feel guilty too, right?
Compared to Zapod, whose arm I had cut earlier, this one seemed stronger. Still, orcs were orcs. Not much difference from Zapod.
Whoosh!
“Kweh!? I-I dodged...it...”
“Die, you green monster!”
Thud!
My forward thrust of the holy sword easily pierced the orc’s body. The blade emerged from its back.
“Kwe...h...”
I felt Prokalt’s body sag. He was dead.
“Kweh! Prokalt!!”
Zapod, missing one arm, raged at his dead comrade and swung the unfamiliar club wildly with his other hand.
I had seen attacks from his usual hand, but swinging with the less-used one was...unimaginable.
The moment I pulled my sword from the orc’s corpse, I blocked the club with the flat of my blade.
Bang!
...Orcs really are strong. I felt the vibration from the holy sword. Ah, my hand was tingling.
“Enough killing!”
“Kweiieh!”
After blocking the club with my holy sword, Zapod quickly steadied himself and swung at me.
Crunch!
Before the orc’s club could smash my skull, I horizontally slashed across his body from the left. The hard club flew from the side and stopped near his shoulder.
Kong! The massive orc collapsed.
“Cloe.....”
She hadn’t finished yet. Of course Cloe was fine, but Halp was battered.
I wanted to finish quickly, so I drew my holy sword and stabbed the orc in the back.
“Hero-nim?”
“I finished the others. So I helped...was I meddling?”
It felt like I stole the final blow, so I felt a little guilty and asked. Cloe shook her head.
“Not at all! By the way, you took down two already?”
“Yes. It was doable.”
As expected, fighting strong monsters made me stronger faster. Of course I had been training basics like strength and stamina, so that growth made sense.
My eyes were high but my power was still weak. I must have struggled to pierce the orc skin.
...Ah, this is the holy sword, so it doesn’t matter? My power didn’t improve.
...Anyway, the saint’s special training really helped. My stamina improved a lot and my movements became faster.
“Amazing, Hero-nim!”
“Thanks to the saint-nim’s training, right.”
Even if the words are bad, the training results are clear. I should thank the saint later....
“...Huh?”
“Why are you looking at me, Hero-nim?”
“...Where did the saint-nim go?”
“...What?”
The saint was nowhere.
“Saint-nim!?”
No sudden moves, damn it!! Where did she go!?
“Hero-nim! There’s something over there!”
“What?”
I ran to where Cloe was calling. On the ground lay a piece of paper.
[I’ll go look around the village for a bit~.]
...Ha ha.
She said she’d go and come back, you damn woman!!!