Pouring Gasoline on the Fire

Tae-hyun paused. What he was currently worried about was the heavily injured Orc Great Chieftain waking up and declaring, “Now that my wounds are healed, I shall slaughter those human bastards who dared to cross me! Summon every last Orc!”

But what if Monroso enslaved the Orcs and worked them to the bone like that? 'The closest place to here is the Auston Kingdom, so wouldn't they get ransacked first? It would take forever for them to reach my territory.' His mind spun rapidly! Tae-hyun finished his calculations in an instant.

“As expected of Lord Monroso! Your calculations are so flawless, I could never hope to match them!”

“Fufu. You certainly know how to appreciate genius.”

“Then, once you have the Orcs under your control, do you plan to attack the surrounding areas? Like the Auston Kingdom?”

“Hmm... The Auston Kingdom would be a fine choice.”

“The Auston Kingdom is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠perfect! I'm telling you, those guys are absolute pushovers!”

“Is that so?”

Monroso looked intrigued. To leave the Uruk Region and advance into the center of the continent, one would inevitably run into the Auston Kingdom first anyway. Hearing such a passionate recommendation made it sound highly appealing.

“Besides, there are territories occupied by those adventurer bastards over there, and those places are even easier targets. Kehehe.”

“Is that so...! Tell me more!”

Tae-hyun was wagging his tongue to wipe out the people he disliked without lifting a single finger! However, he went a bit too far. Upon hearing Tae-hyun's words, Monroso slapped his knee and stood up from his seat.

“If that's the case... then I cannot afford to wait any longer. I must lead them and strike immediately!”

“That is an excellent idea. Oh? But have you already brought all the Orcs under your control?”

“No. The Great Chieftain is still resisting, and I have only secured his direct subordinates and a few of the chieftains.”

“...Then how do you plan to launch an attack?”

“I must quickly bring the remaining Orcs to heel! Since the Orcs already know that the Great Chieftain delegated absolute authority to me, they will yield easily enough if I threaten them.”

“Uh...”

Tae-hyun tilted his head. Monroso's words weren't entirely wrong. Since he had been delegated full authority by the Great Chieftain, his words would carry some weight. But what was he going to threaten them with? 'Is he going to threaten to force-feed them that foul-tasting demon blood if they don't listen?'

“But what exactly are you going to threaten them with?”

“I must threaten them with overwhelming power. That is what works best on Orcs. Hmm... I should summon a demon.”

“Wait, didn't you say earlier that there was no need to summon a demon?”

“That was when we had plenty of time. But after hearing your words, I realize this is no time to be complacent. To think the Auston Kingdom is in such a vulnerable state!”

“...”

Tae-hyun sometimes forgot just how terrifying his Speech skill and his class correction could be. It was at a level where even he couldn't predict the resulting effects! 'N-No. All is not lost yet. Even if he summons a demon, as long as it's one that has nothing to do with me, it'll be fine.'

“Hehe. You are absolutely right. But what kind of demon do you plan to summon? Surely, a weak demon that is easy to control ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and unable to rebel would be...”

“Nonsense! What would be the point of summoning such a weakling? The Orcs would never be frightened by that! It must be a powerful demon.”

“Oh dear! Summoning such a demon is an incredibly difficult task! No matter how great you are, Lord Monroso, if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you summon a beast like that...”

“Are you doubting me? Fufu. Of course, summoning a powerful demon is no easy feat. However, I have acquired a crucial piece of information.”

“...?”

“Among the demons, there is one named Edaor who was severely defeated by a human and is currently injured. A demon in that state should be relatively easy to summon. Furthermore, since he was humiliated by a human, he must be desperate to be summoned back to the continent. This allows me to negotiate a contract from a much more advantageous position.”

“...”

“Actually, I was hesitating because preparing to summon Edaor seemed too inefficient, but hearing your words has made up my mind! To gain something grand, one must take grand measures!”

“...”

This was pouring gasoline on a burning house! Of all the demons, why did it have to be Edaor? 'If that bastard sees me, he's going to lose his absolute mind and try to kill me...' Tae-hyun smacked his lips. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't envision a good future. Meanwhile, Monroso let out a sigh and spoke.

“If only I had an item related to Edaor, or at the very least, the human bastard Edaor holds a grudge against. That would make the summoning so much easier.”

Flinch! Tae-hyun shuddered. He possessed Edaor's Greatsword, and he was also the very human Edaor held a massive grudge against! 'This bastard didn't say that because he noticed something, did he?' Tae-hyun stealthily gauged Monroso's expression. Fortunately, Monroso seemed to have spoken without any hidden motive.

“Since we have no such things, we have no choice but to...”

“No choice but to?”

“We will just have to sacrifice a massive amount of Orc blood.”

“That is an incredibly rational method!”

Tae-hyun nodded immediately. It was a far more acceptable alternative than sacrificing himself or Edaor's Greatsword. He had put out the immediate fire for now, but still... 'If Edaor gets summoned, he's definitely going to try to kill me, right?'

It was highly unlikely that Monroso would protect Tae-hyun from Edaor. If anything, Monroso would probably say, “What? This is the guy? Haha! I shall hand him over to you, so swear eternal loyalty to me!”

'In the end, I can't trust this guy either... Should I just kill him and run before Edaor is summoned? But then what happens to the Orcs? Will they regain their senses?' Tae-hyun realized the situation had become far more tangled than he had anticipated.

If he killed Monroso? There was absolutely no way the Orcs, once freed from their shackles, would say to Tae-hyun, “Thank you! Since you helped us, we shall overlook the grudge of you killing the Great Chieftain's son! And as a bonus, we'll also forget the grudge of you severely wounding the Great Chieftain!” Instead, he would have to worry about his own survival first.

But if he left Monroso alone? There was no way the summoned Edaor would say, “Haha! We may have fought in the past, but now that we've met again like this, shall we make peace?”...

'Damn it. Should I decimate the Orcs as much as possible and then kill Monroso? How is that even possible? First, to prevent Monroso from summoning, I need to keep him completely distracted...' As Tae-hyun pondered, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him. The players who had gathered due to the Auston Kingdom quest. They were currently scattered, preventing their firepower from being concentrated, but if he could unite that firepower, it would become an immense force.

'There are times when I actually miss having the Guild Alliance around.' If the Guild Alliance were here, they would have taken the lead to guide the players. But now, with everyone scattered without the Guild Alliance, gathering them was going to be quite a headache.

'What should I do... Ah. There's Cain, right? Is he leading the players well right now?' Cain seemed like a decent option. He was a fairly famous ranker, and wasn't he currently leading the players successfully? If Cain instigated them by shouting, “Gather round! Let's hit the jackpot!”, wouldn't he do a good job? Of some concern was the fact that it was Cain, but as the saying goes, even a shoulder-rubbing dog can recite poetry after three years... 'Cain should be able to manage at least that much.'

“Chweek! We caught him! We caught him!”

“Chwek. This insolent bastard! A bastard to be burned to death! A bastard to be torn to shreds! I shall rip out his liver and eat it!”

“H-Hieeeek!”

“...??”

Tae-hyun turned his head toward the commotion behind him. It seemed some adventurer had been captured. Tae-hyun clicked his tongue. Just how stupid did someone have to be to get captured! Usually, players would fight until their HP ran out and they died; it was rare for them to be taken prisoner by NPCs. Most of the time, it happened because they were completely off guard and got ambushed, getting captured before they could even do anything!

“How foolish. They should have been more careful when hunting in the Uruk Region. To be taken prisoner instead of dying in battle. What kind of idiot... Huh?” Tae-hyun stopped mid-sentence. The equipment looked incredibly familiar.

Tae-hyun let out a deep sigh. He had been planning to give Cain a job, only for the guy to end up captured like this.

“Chweek! Monroso, we brought him!”

“Chweek! Let us deal with this bastard! He is our sworn ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠enemy!”

“Hmm? What kind of enemy?”

Monroso asked, not knowing who Cain was.

“Chwek! He is the enemy who killed the Great Chieftain's son!”

Flinch! Tae-hyun winced slightly, but he didn't bother to correct them. How could he possibly intervene here?

“What? He was such a fellow? Then take him away and burn him, tear him apart, or...”

“Wait! Lord Monroso!”

“...?”

“I wish to take him and torture him myself. He must possess valuable information. If you leave him to me, I will extract every last bit of it!”

“Chwek! An enemy of the Orcs must be dealt with by the Orcs themselves!”

“No! What matters is who can torture him better!”

“Hmm...”

His accumulated Infamy and Threaten skill! In matters like this, Tae-hyun was trusted more than an elite assassin.

“I shall leave this matter to this human.”

“Chwek! Monroso!”

“Silence. Do you intend to defy my orders?”

With those words, Monroso pulled out a massive skull necklace and shook it.

“...?”

“Chwek... Understood.”

'Ah. Is that the object symbolizing the Authority of the Great Chieftain?'

Tae-hyun's eyes sparkled as he looked at the massive skull necklace. If it was an item like that...

'I absolutely have to steal it!'

Ignoring the Infamy that rose as easily as he breathed, Tae-hyun read the item's message window. The fact that even someone with his level of Blacksmithing Skill couldn't view it meant it was definitely an item that couldn't be examined without meeting specific conditions.

'What, do I have to become the Orc Great Chieftain or something? Well, it's not like I'm going to wear it around anyway... I just need to steal it and use its authority.'

Unaware of what Tae-hyun was plotting, Monroso asked innocently, “So, what do you plan to do?”

“I intend to pour the essence of wicked black magic upon him. Kehehe! If he resists, I shall turn him into an undead and resurrect him.”

“An excellent idea. Do exactly that!”

Tae-hyun dragged the captured Cain into the tent. The Orcs glared with dissatisfied eyes, but ultimately, none of them dared to speak up.

“Keok! Krah! Keuooorgh!”

“...?”

Tae-hyun, who had been beating Cain up for the time being, tilted his head at the message window. Why did his Holy stat increase just from attacking Cain?

“W-Wait a second. Why are you hitting me?”

“The sound of your suffering needs to be heard outside.”

“...No one is watching, so can't I just scream on my own?”

“Tsk, tsk. That lacks detail.”

“I don't even feel the pain anyway! It just feels dirty—Ugh! Urgh!”

Tae-hyun beat him a few more times. Until his Holy stat stopped rising.

The Orcs wandering outside whispered to one another as they heard the sounds.

“Chwek, what an absolute beast of a man. Monroso said that guy is incredibly infamous even among humans.”

“Chweek. Is that true? I think I heard something similar. They say he's a monster who burns people to death and turns them into the undead.”