Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: Orc Subjugation (2)
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Late at night.
The two black mages began putting their plan into action.
“Noctis, did you prepare what I asked for?”
At Marina’s question, the bald woman replied confidently.
“Of course! As if I’d forget a request from you, Marina.”
Noctis clapped her hands, and orcs brought over several wooden barrels filled with water.
Marina opened one vial of poison and poured it into a barrel. The poison mixed with the water, turning into a sticky liquid.
“Wow… that’s amazing. What is this stuff?”
“It’s a poison called Septi’s Tears. Made primarily from moon dream grass. Even a little inhalation causes hallucinations, headaches, nausea, and the like.”
Noctis’s voice brimmed with strong pride.
“There are stronger poisons, but using them would leave traces of us, right? Septi’s Tears is different. While they’re lost in hallucinations, we just have the orcs kill them.”
“Ooh… Marina’s so smart, as expected!”
Marina poured the poison into the other barrels as well. Then, she cast black magic.
The poison liquid inside the barrels transformed into solid spheres. Noctis stared at the spheres in fascination.
“What kind of black magic is this? I’ve never seen it before.”
“It’s black magic that contaminates the soil in a specific area, poisoning all living creatures on it.”
“Ooh… the black magic of the Myriad Poisons School is always so fascinating, no matter how many times I see it.”
“Order the orcs to throw these spheres over the walls.”
“Got it! Hey, you lot, hear that? Pick them up one by one.”
Noctis commanded the orcs. But not a single orc obeyed.
They merely stared at the spheres with eyes full of fear and disgust.
They had instinctively realized it. That touching those spheres wouldn’t leave them unscathed.
“Noctis, the orcs aren’t listening to you?”
“They’re just misunderstanding! My kids are so good, just wait a sec.”
Noctis pointed at the orcs and cast black magic. Black mana flowed from her into the orcs’ ears.
-Kraaaah!
-Uwoooooh!
The orcs clutched their heads and screamed. Moments later, their eyes turned glassy.
“Kids, pick up those spheres one by one.”
The orcs obediently followed Noctis’s command. They hugged the spheres with both hands.
The moment the spheres touched their bodies, the orcs’ skin began to fester rapidly.
It was a poison that induced hallucinations, but it was so potent that mere skin contact had dire effects.
Yet the orcs stood there blankly, oblivious to it all.
“Alright, kids, go on and hurry back!”
At Noctis’s words, the orcs bolted toward Walnut Castle.
The orcs left the forest and crossed the plains. It was late, and the world was silent.
“Huh? What’s that? Orcs?”
“Orcs at this hour…?”
But before they could cross half the plains, shouts rang out. Knights were charging toward them on horseback from afar.
“Sir Demian was right! The orcs are attempting a night raid!”
“Those muscle-headed idiots are actually scheming for once!”
The knights charged at the orcs. They swung their weapons, cutting them down in single strokes.
The orcs, having lost their reason to black magic, didn’t even think to resist.
“What’s this? Something weird here.”
The knights examined the spheres the orcs had been carrying. The spheres were still round and solid.
“What’s that smell?”
“It’s sweet, like honey.”
As they inspected the spheres, the knights suddenly began complaining of pain.
“Ugh, my head’s killing me all of a sudden.”
“Urk, my stomach… urk…”
“W-what’s that? Ghosts, staring at me!”
As all the knights panicked, someone shouted.
“Everyone, calm down! Sir Demian gave us something for times like this!”
The knights pulled small beads from their pockets and popped them into their mouths. Just one bead made the symptoms vanish instantly.
“Phew… now I can breathe.”
“What the hell are these spheres?”
“Poison, maybe? The foul smell, our symptoms… nothing else fits.”
“Orcs using poison this vicious?”
The knights stared at the spheres in confusion. Then one spoke up.
“Anyway, what do we do with these?”
“Sir Demian said to burn anything suspicious on sight.”
“Yeah, that was the order.”
The knights doused the spheres with oil. Then they used a magic tool to ignite them.
The spheres caught fire and burned up in an instant. The sweet smell grew even thicker.
“All burned. We can head back now.”
“Let’s report to Sir Demian quick.”
With that, the knights returned to the castle.
* * *
Noctis and Marina stared blankly at the flames raging in the middle of the plains.
“M-M-Marina… w-what… what do we do? Th-the poison’s all burning up!”
Noctis turned to Marina with a panicked face. But Marina wasn’t in any state to answer.
“M-my Septi’s Tears! Do you know how much moon dream grass I used to make that?! Th-that precious stuff… burning like that…?”
Marina was so furious she looked ready to foam at the mouth.
“M-M-Marina! Calm down! You can’t collapse here! Marina!”
Noctis hurriedly soothed Marina. Fortunately, they avoided the foaming stage.
“I swear it. I’ll catch those bastards and melt them down in acid!”
Marina’s shout echoed loudly through the forest.
* * *
For all her words, Marina didn’t move right away.
“The knights didn’t get poisoned. And not only that—they burned the poison on sight. That means the enemy was prepared for poison.”
“Then the patrol at that exact time wasn’t a coincidence? Maybe they were anticipating us using poison.”
“I agree. No way it was coincidence, no matter how you look at it.”
“Then maybe… they know you’re here?”
“No way. How would they know of my existence?”
Marina shot down Noctis’s speculation outright. It was pure conjecture, no matter how she thought about it.
In Apple Kingdom, only her sister Leona and Alexander Apple at her side knew of the two women’s existence.
So how would they know about Marina?
“Maybe they got burned badly by poison users in the past… and prepared for that reason. And I just happened to get unlucky.”
“You think…?”
“What’s certain is our old methods won’t work. We need to try something else.”
Marina dug a pit and gathered all the poison liquid in one place.
The poison was so virulent that the weeds and trees around the pit withered completely.
“Marina, what are you planning this time?”
“I’m going to turn this poison liquid into gas and send it flying.”
The Myriad Poisons School researched not just poison creation, but also usage methods.
Turning poison into gas and dispersing it was the most effective way.
“Amazing! Then why not use this from the start?”
“…This uses a ton of poison, so the material costs are insane!”
“S-sorry for asking.”
Marina snapped, and Noctis apologized immediately.
“Wait a bit. I’m casting black magic.”
Marina unleashed black magic on the poison liquid. The pooled liquid dried up rapidly, turning into fluffy cotton-like fluff.
“Noctis, tell the orcs to carry this to the forest outskirts and burn it.”
Ideally, they’d get as close to the castle as possible to burn it. But that risked detection by knights, so the outskirts were best.
“Got it! Kids, what are you doing? Hurry and carry it… where’d they all go?”
By now, the orcs had retreated far away. They didn’t want to come anywhere near.
“Get over here right now!”
But Noctis was a black mage of the Aberration School, which manipulated monsters.
When Noctis cast black magic, the orcs had no choice but to carry the poison cotton.
Poison gas leaked from the poison cotton, melting the orcs’ skin. Some orcs even vomited blood.
“Come on, move it quick!”
Noctis didn’t care in the slightest. The Aberration School controlled monsters—it didn’t cherish them.
To black mages of the Aberration School, monsters were mere pawns.
The orcs headed to the forest edge, carrying poison cotton and torches.
Noctis followed the orcs, her face full of delight.
“When I give the order, you all burn the poison cotton together. Got it?”
That was when Noctis said it.
Far away, the castle gates opened. Knights poured out.
“…Huh? What are they doing? Why are they suddenly charging out?”
While Noctis panicked, the knights reached the forest.
Noctis hurriedly hid behind a tree. It kept her from being spotted.
“Sir Demian was right! The orcs are up to something suspicious!”
“Torches and… cotton? Is that cotton?”
“Doesn’t look like ordinary cotton. Look at that orc holding it—its skin’s melting completely.”
But they couldn’t hide the orcs. The knights attacked the moment they spotted them. The orcs fell without resistance.
“Y-you damn jerks… interfering again!”
Noctis fumed once more. She wanted to rush out and fight them herself.
But her sister Leona had strictly warned her. They absolutely could not reveal their presence.
“Eat this poison instead!”
Instead, Noctis ordered the orcs to scatter the poison cotton at the knights.
The orcs crumbled the poison cotton in their hands and flung it at the knights.
“Kraaack! What the hell is this!”
“The orcs are spreading poison!”
The knights covered in poison dust screamed. Even the horses screamed and collapsed, sending the knights tumbling to the ground.
“Kyahahaha! Serves you right!”
Noctis reveled in the sight. But it was too early to celebrate.
“Urgh, that was close.”
The knights stood up unscathed. Noctis was stunned.
“W-why are they fine? Th-they definitely got covered in poison…?”
The poisons made by Marina of the Myriad Poisons School were tremendously potent.
Especially this one, meant to be burned and dispersed—its toxicity was off the charts.
And they survived it? No, they were completely fine?
“Good thing we applied the oil Sir Demian gave us beforehand.”
“Blue-green snail oil blocks poison excellently, he said. Incredible.”
The recovered knights slaughtered the remaining orcs.
They gathered the leftover poison cotton, buried it, and returned to the castle.
Only after the knights left did Noctis emerge. She dry-washed her face at the miserable scene.
“…Marina’s gonna be furious when she hears.”
Noctis’s worry was spot on.
“What? All the orcs dead and the poison cotton buried? What kind of bullshit is that?!”
With the second plan failed, Marina raged as if she’d spit blood.
“M-M-Marina, calm down!”
“@%#$#^%%@.”
It took Noctis great effort to finally calm Marina.
“…This won’t do. We need to change tactics completely.”
Marina, barely cooled, said to Noctis.
“What tactic this time?”
“They’ll have no choice but to enter the forest to wipe out the orc horde. So we dig traps in the forest and wait.”
The Myriad Poisons School wasn’t for frontal fights.
It dug traps, waited, and cornered enemies.
“Now that poison’s exposed, we can’t let any of them leave alive. If word gets out that orcs used deadly poison, the Church will investigate.”
The Church’s eyes and ears were everywhere. Leave even a trace, and they’d act immediately.
“Then can I call in all my kids too?”
“Of course. Call them all. Bring everyone and kill them.”
Noctis lit up at Marina’s words.
“Really? No take-backs? Hehehe, I can’t wait. I put a lot of effort into making a cool new friend this time. You’ll be shocked when you see…”
That was when it happened.
-Kweeeek!
-Kieeek!
Orc screams echoed from afar. The two women bolted outside in shock.
“We found the orcs! Kill them all!”
“Don’t let a single one escape!”
Demian Haksen and the knights were raiding the orc village.
“…Huh?”
“…Yeah?”
At the sudden event, Marina and Noctis’s minds went blank.