Chapter 86
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Grand Temple (1)
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Did he sense the gaze?
The expedition leader, Leon, approached Jun.
Jun spoke first.
"Did I live up to expectations?"
"...More than that."
Leon still wore an expressionless face as he said it. But Jun detected two emotions hidden within.
One was surprise, and the other was displeasure.
It wasn't directed at Jun specifically.
'He really hates prisoners, doesn't he.'
It was just frustration from not getting what he expected.
'Prisoners who resent their leader, and a commander who despises them without a shred of care—not even goblin hair's worth...'
This mission didn't seem like it would go smoothly either.
'Well, has any mission ever been easy?'
Jun quietly turned his gaze away.
He didn't like the expedition leader's attitude, but he had no intention of meddling right now.
It would only lead to hurt feelings on both sides, and they weren't desperate anyway.
'To step in properly, the best way is to make the other side desperate too.'
He was used to situations like this by now.
With that attitude, problems were bound to arise eventually.
'If no problems come up, great. If they do, we'll deal with them then.'
Knowing it wasn't time to act yet, Jun resumed walking.
Four days passed.
In that time, they fought eleven battles.
As they drew closer to the target temple, the battles grew more frequent.
Normally, the expedition would have suffered heavier casualties, but Eleanor's prowess kept the injured numbers low.
Watching her, Schneider spoke with great satisfaction.
"Hahaha! Excellent! Breite, is that the statue from the ancient tome you mentioned?"
In the direction Schneider pointed, a statue crumbling under the weight of time stood half-fallen.
It was quite far away, but just as Jun thought 'He spotted it somehow,' one of his assistants nodded vigorously.
"Yes, yes! That's it! The ancient Orc Lord, Hargone! Exactly as described in the tome!"
"The temple isn't far now. Let's head over there!"
The scholars plunged into excitement over the new discovery.
By the time the group reached the half-collapsed statue amid the scholars' fuss...
"It's written in ancient script."
Above the inscription directly below the statue.
Schneider carefully brushed off the dust, revealing the ancient letters.
Under the scholars' gazes, Jun translated and read it aloud.
This was one of his roles in this mission.
"'On the night the full moon rises, the hero who ends all wars shall return. In honor of the great hero, Hargone.'"
"Write it down quick, Breite!"
"Got it!"
Jun couldn't fathom the fuss over such a simple inscription.
'Like finding a fossil of an ancient creature? But we saw orcs the other day.'
He imagined Earth's scholars retorting, 'Then why go to a dinosaur museum when you can see them at a chicken farm?'
"According to the tome, the temple should be in the direction this statue faces."
At his assistant Breite's words, Schneider turned toward where the statue gazed.
"That way, then?"
"Probably not."
"Hm?"
Jun interjected then.
"Look closely—the statue is tilted. Likely from the ground collapsing over ages."
"You're right! What a meticulous mage!"
No. He said it because it pointed opposite the temple in the game.
The tilt was just an excuse he made up on the spot.
"Judging by the ground collapse traces... it should be that direction."
"You even know geology? Uhahaha!"
It pricked his conscience a bit, but Jun didn't show it and addressed the assistant.
"Did the tome have any more details on reaching the temple? Like terrain descriptions?"
"Ah... hold on, please."
Breite seemed to think for a moment, then snapped his fingers.
"Ah! Yes! It mentions passing the 'Ugly Twin Canyons.' See those asymmetrical canyons? That's definitely it!"
"Next destination set. Everyone, let's go!"
After that, Jun offered a few more pointers to guide them toward the temple.
"That inscription might warrant a rethink. The same words, but interpreted this way, mean the complete opposite, right?"
"This path... see that? Ten-step snake skin. Poisonous plants ahead. Better avoid it."
"How about circling this way? Terrain looks better here."
If Jun knew scholars' dynamics, he'd have noticed Breite's expression souring.
'Must be tired from all the walking. Size doesn't mean stamina.'
He even gave Breite a sympathetic look. Jun had struggled with stamina once too.
But to Breite, this was troubling.
The Issus Academy only recognized foot explorations as valid research, yet he was barely contributing.
All the credit was going to Jun.
And Schneider's attention was shifting to Jun too.
"You ever thought of trying this field?"
Explorations weren't usually this easy.
They involved near-death escapes and endless trial and error.
Schneider himself had nearly died multiple times wandering Blackout for years.
At some point, greed flickered in Schneider's eyes.
The look of someone spotting talent.
It reminded Jun of his college professor pushing PhD studies, so he refused outright. Schneider looked deeply regretful.
"What a shame! Such fine talent. No worries, though—I'll put your name on the paper!"
Even that had the face of a hunter laying a trap.
"There! The temple!"
About half a month since the expedition began.
The long-sought temple finally appeared.
But the group couldn't simply rejoice.
"The orcs' numbers..."
"That's a large village, right?"
"A bit short of that."
"Still too many to handle."
The three assistants pooled their opinions.
Before the grand temple, radiating past glory, sprawled from the hill below.
Nearly two hundred orcs lived nearby, by rough count.
"Touch one, and they'll swarm like bees."
"Damn, this is screwed."
"Heard working with Issus Academy means either jackpot or wipeout. True after all."
The prisoners muttered uneasily.
Leon quickly silenced them.
"Hmm... Too many orcs. Infiltration... tough."
Breite suggested.
"No goblin villages nearby? Pit them against each other?"
"There are, but few. And they'd cower from orcs anyway."
Schneider sighed regretfully at Jun's reply.
"That's the case. Thought this expedition would be easy, but no. Can't be helped."
Was he about to leave?
As Breite's face wavered anxiously...
"I saw patrols. How about picking off the patrols?"
Schneider proposed a new direction.
But that could take ages here.
Missing patrols might trigger a full orc mobilization.
'From layer 4 on, expeditions eat months normally.'
Season end was near.
And there was a surer way—why bother?
"Breite, do you have the tome's original?"
"...Yes. Why?"
To his guarded look, Jun reassured.
"One interpretation you mentioned stuck with me."
"...Are you saying my translation's wrong?!"
"No. Just, it might solve our current issue."
"Hm?"
Schneider perked up too.
"Breite, better than wasting time here. I know you've worked hardest. Show us."
"..."
Reluctant, but Breite handed Jun the original.
"Handle with care."
"Yes."
Achieving his goal, Jun scanned the book.
Crudely written by an orc, but legible.
'Not too much text.'
The gods raged.
A curse fell on their great village.
Orc hero Hargone bore it instead.
He died, and orcs warred, blaming each other.
'Thus, the curse of the temple where the blue flame descended ended... That's it.'
Finding it, Jun spoke.
"Focus here: 'The curse of the temple where the blue flame descended ended.'"
"Blue flame? That breaks our stalemate?"
"Yes."
He'd found this hidden piece late in the game.
Thanks to story indifference, 'Lee Jung-jun' had lured and fought these two hundred orcs piecemeal, wasting time.
'In game, lighting a blue flame in the temple's brazier made orcs panic, thinking the curse returned, and flee.'
Then hunt scattered orcs for XP or enter the empty temple.
'Issue is... someone sneaks in to light it.'
"Orcs fear fire, right?"
"Mm. Recall—your enchant scared them. They don't use fire at night either."
Scholarly insight was sharp.
"If a blue flame rises in the temple brazier, won't they panic? Worth noting, so effective likely."
"Makes sense. But how blue flame?"
"My magic."
Normal blue flame wouldn't work—needed the blue-glowing charcoal inside.
No need to explain that.
"Good idea. But lighting inside?"
"My colleague and I handle that."
With Maya's stealth blending and Jun's Fog of Silence, easy.
"Night op, then."
Built rapport lately—Schneider approved quickly.
That night.
Op succeeded flawlessly.
"Blue sea! Blue sea! Orcutas too daruda! Blue sea!!"
Blue flames erupted from the temple unbidden—orcs paled, abandoning even their land to flee.
"T-they really... all left...?"
As one assistant muttered, the midnight uproar ended with two hundred orcs vacating instantly.
"This smooth is eerie."
Another added.
Plans abounded, but Blackout variables crushed them.
Such smoothness unnerved them.
Soon, the expedition reached the eerie temple.
There stood the mage who lit the blue flame and a woman.
"We can enter now."
"You're... incredible!"
Schneider teared up, reverent.
Now Jun feared him.
Atmosphere screamed kidnapping.
"Missing talent like this is the real disaster...?"
Hearing the mutter, Jun knew no more delay.
"Breite. Inside."
"...Right."
Jun lit the passage with Light.
Interior bore neglect: columns intact-ish, but statues and walls cracked.
"Ooh...!"
Breite memoed nonstop, enraptured. Schneider smiled.
Stepping back, he addressed Jun.
"He's backed me nearly ten years. First lead under his name, so prickly—forgive him."
"Sure."
Jun cared little for Breite, nodding vaguely.
"Haha! So understanding!"
"...Ha, haha."
Schneider's praise terrified Jun.
Ironically, Breite saved him.
"Sch-Schneider! Hieroglyphs here!"
"Where?!"
Jun warmed to Breite, who seemed to dislike him.
'Hieroglyphs—no ancient script, my expertise useless.'
Jun turned away.
"We'll check outside for returning orcs."
No issues likely, but better safe.
Orcutas's war plains lacked notable events.
Or rather, events existed but not now.
'Mid-to-late game phenomenon. Not even hidden.'
Jun knew only field monsters and flora-fauna.
"Thought expeditions epic... but like what we've done."
Late night.
Aiden muttered beside him.
"Makes sense. No real setbacks."
"Ah."
Aiden's books likely dripped tension.
'Normally, even entering needs stealth ops.'
Jun's orc knowledge skipped that.
"New to mercenary life, huh."
A deep male voice nearby. Burly man.
Luke squad leader, Joseph, approached.