Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Ch. 16 .｡.:✧ Chapter 16 ✧:.｡.
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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“You’re assigning a former knight as my teacher?”
“Yeah. We got lucky. Discard the mana breathing technique and aura cultivation method I taught you. You’ll learn new ones.”
At my words, Athena’s expression slightly frowned.
“I was just getting used to them…”
“Learn better ones. They’ll be more helpful.”
While I was talking with Athena, Kayla and Thea exchanged greetings with each other.
They knew each other’s faces and names, so their greetings were brief.
As soon as their greetings ended, I immediately spoke about the request I had received.
“We have to catch orcs? Isn’t that too dangerous?”
Perhaps because she was from a slash-and-burn village, Athena was well aware of the dangers of orcs.
“They move in tribes and have a strong sense of vengeance. If you’re not careful, you could be chased by hundreds of orcs.”
“Don’t worry. I know the location of a small tribe. With you, me, and Kayla, the three of us can catch them and more.”
I had received plenty of necessary items from Kuman.
“As long as we follow a few precautions and listen to my words well, it won’t be very dangerous.”
“What tricks are you planning to use…?”
“What tricks, you ask.”
I spoke as if it were obvious.
“I’m a Warlock. What else would I use if not black magic?”
Hunt
Of course, I didn’t plan to use only black magic.
I intended to faithfully use the methods monster hunters actually employ when capturing orcs.
There was no need to insist on using just one method when there were many tools available.
We didn’t rush straight to the orcs’ habitat.
I needed to know Kayla’s skills, and I had to confirm how much Athena had grown.
They also needed time to get to know me and each other.
Therefore, we spent about three days understanding each other’s limits.
‘As expected, it’s her.’
Among us, Kayla was undoubtedly the strongest.
To be precise, she fought me to a draw.
‘I couldn’t defeat Kayla, and Kayla couldn’t pursue me.’
The weakest was obviously Athena.
Athena had recently eaten well, gaining stamina and improving her mana control, but she was no match for me.
‘Against Kayla… the moment we made contact, there was no escape.’
She was immediately subdued.
Athena had an expression of incomprehension when she was subdued by Kayla, as if she couldn’t understand what had happened.
“Master, despite being a Warlock, you move like a warrior.”
“I couldn’t openly wander around like that.”
“Your disguise skills are impressive. Even judging purely by your close combat skills, you’re at the level of a mid-level mercenary. However, a high-level mercenary…”
“I know that too. It’s out of the question.”
It was an objective assessment.
Even though I could manipulate magic, it was difficult to engage in close combat against high-level mercenaries who could properly control mana and use aura.
“Athena… seems to have talent.”
“…When you say it like that, Teacher, it feels like you’re mocking me.”
Athena said with a small sigh.
“It’s an objective assessment.”
After briefly speaking to Athena, Kayla turned to me and said.
“Moreover, this child is lucky.”
“You’re saying that too, Teacher?”
“What do you mean?”
“Inha also told me I was lucky.”
“Did the master say that?”
I briefly shrugged my shoulders.
‘It’s true that she’s lucky.’
Her sister was saved, her life that was about to be ruined was saved, and even her teacher was provided.
This level of fortune would be rare even if three generations had accumulated good deeds.
It felt like I was being compensated for my miserable life in the first round.
‘Although it feels like I’m the one compensating, not the heavens.’
In return, I would use her to that extent.
“Well, being favored by the master is indeed fortunate. However, that’s not the luck I’m referring to.”
Kayla casually dismissed Athena’s words and spoke to me.
“You probably already know that I’m a former knight.”
I nodded.
“However… I wasn’t an ordinary knight.”
“Was there another kind of knight?”
“I’m of common origin. Moreover, although I was known as an ordinary knight to the outside world, it was a bit different on the inside.”
Kayla said with a somewhat bitter smile.
“I was a cleaner who handled all kinds of dirty work.”
‘I see.’
Athena’s talent was closer to that of an assassin than a warrior.
It wasn’t a coincidence that she had blossomed her talent under Kayla.
“The life of a noble may be glamorous on the outside, but it’s very dirty behind the scenes. The higher the rank of the noble, the worse it gets. Therefore, someone was needed to handle various dirty tasks.”
That meant Kayla was one of them.
This kind of work required secrecy as its lifeblood.
In other words, if you think about it, despite being called a knight, she had received training closer to that of an assassin.
‘There are those who specialize in handling such tasks…’
It seemed there were cases where they were disguised and directly raised.
However, they couldn’t neglect their duties as knights…
‘It sounds like she’s almost all-around.’
Of course, with her injured leg, she wouldn’t be able to perform such tasks now.
“As you may have noticed, Master, Athena is more suited to be an assassin than a warrior.”
“That’s right. Even if she’s well-trained, she gives off the feeling of a speed-type warrior, not a solid frontline fighter.”
“That’s correct. Therefore, if you allow me, Master, I would like to teach Athena the skills of an assassin.”
“Teacher, shouldn’t you be saying that to me?”
“The one who ordered me to teach you is the master. He’s also the team leader. If you don’t want to learn, then don’t.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to…”
Kayla, who had crushed Athena’s small rebellion, looked at me with serious eyes.
“I knew she had talent in that area. If her talent can be cultivated, there’s no reason to refuse. As I said, do your best. That’s all that matters.”
“Understood. Then, I will align Athena’s growth direction in that way.”
Over the course of two days, we assessed each other’s skills and briefly worked on our coordination.
When I judged that we had a sufficient understanding of each other, I slowly began to share information related to the hunt.
“As Athena mentioned, orcs move in tribes. They have their own territory and live within it.”
If the territories of the tribes overlap, they even go to war with each other.
This was a natural occurrence. Whether it was beasts, monsters, or humans, it was no different in this regard.
“If a hunting party disappears from their territory, they don’t just let it go; they track them down. Therefore, it’s important not to leave any traces.”
If traces were left and we were tracked, we would have to fight a war with an entire tribe.
This was why it wasn’t easy to capture orcs unless they were wanderers or stragglers.
‘They have excellent individual combat power, yet they act in groups.’
“Anyway, even if it’s a small-scale tribe, I have no intention of fighting the entire tribe.”
Athena and Kayla nodded at my words.
Even though it was a small-scale tribe, there were dozens of orcs. Even excluding the children and female orcs (female orcs are stronger than most adult males), it was not a scale we could handle.
‘The hunting parties and the warriors defending the village alone numbered over twenty.’
It was difficult with our current strength.
“I’ve roughly confirmed the territory. The first thing we need to do is identify the hunting parties’ range of activity.”
We had to start from there.
“Once we’ve identified the range… we’ll do an ambush hunt.”
“Ambush hunt?”
“We’ll use the beasts captured through trap hunting as bait to lure them in. And then… we’ll throw the net.”
I had received items from Kuman for that purpose, and there was also equipment that Nenson had.
Given their excellent physical abilities and possession of weapons, simply throwing a net doesn’t guarantee their capture.
After restricting their movements with the net, I planned to cast a curse on them.
Originally, the method I knew involved trapping them in a net, spraying poison, and tormenting the orcs with long-range weapons from a distance until they fainted, without killing them.
On top of that, we had to be prepared for the orcs that would come to support after hearing the smell of blood and sound from the surroundings, making it quite complicated.
When one hunting party was attacked, if another hunting party noticed this fact, they would come to support.
In such cases, the orcs’ movements became very simple.
Hunters used this in reverse, setting up traps at chokepoints to easily capture even the reinforcements.
‘Nevertheless, the number of hunters shouldn’t be too high.’
It wouldn’t be cost-effective.
Orcs have a keen sense of smell and quickly detect the scent of humans. If we were discovered first, they would become the hunters instead.
Therefore, it was necessary to eliminate the scent, but the chemicals that remove human body odor were quite expensive and not completely perfect, so if the number of humans increased, there was a high possibility that the orcs would notice.
That’s why each individual needed to be excellent.
Moreover, thorough preparation and a lot of practice were necessary. If we got tangled up with each other, we could be annihilated on the spot.
‘But now, there’s no reason to use that method.’
I’m a mage. Although I’m only 1st Class, it would be problematic to treat me like an ordinary 1st Class.
‘I can use a few curse spells.’
Moreover, with a few preparations, orcs who couldn’t use mana wouldn’t be able to resist magic.
If there was no sound, we only needed to avoid the smell, which could be done by knocking them out without shedding blood.
‘It’s simple with Kayla.’
Even if Kayla wielded a club, it wasn’t a difficult skill level to handle orcs whose movements were restricted by the net.
As for Athena, she was supposed to throw the net and check if others were coming.
I explained the hunting process and each person’s role, and the two listened to my words seriously.
“How many are usually in a hunting party?”
“Normally, it’s four to five, but since it’s a small-scale tribe, there are often cases of three moving together.”
We would target those hunting parties of three.
“If it’s just three, it shouldn’t be difficult.”
Kayla nodded.
“But will it really be that easy?”
“It’s possible.”
It was sufficiently possible.
At my resolute attitude, Athena also nodded.
“Alright. Let’s give it a try. Considering your skills and Teacher’s, even if we fail, it doesn’t seem like our lives will be in danger.”
“It’s an opportunity to see the master’s magical abilities.”
Perhaps because their trust in me was high, both of them eventually agreed to my plan, and we began preparations for the hunt.
Due to her leg condition, Kayla couldn’t scout, so she was in charge of Thea’s exercise for the time being, while Athena and I moved together to scout the orcs’ territory.
“It’s amazing. This eliminates body odor?”
“A very faint scent still remains. That’s why monster hunters move in small numbers as much as possible.”
Only a faint scent that even humans who had awakened mana would have difficulty detecting remains.
However, perhaps because they were a different species, orcs often noticed it if there were more than five humans.
“You’re keeping up better than I expected.”
“Although I’m from a slash-and-burn village, my father used to hunt as well. In fact, we had no choice but to hunt, or we would starve to death.”
I wasn’t surprised, as I roughly knew she had hunting experience.
“Well, he passed away now.”
Athena spoke relatively calmly.
I didn’t ask for details. Instead, we focused on the orcs.
“It really is a small-scale tribe. It seems there are less than 100 in total.”
“They’re operating… three hunting parties.”
It could be considered a lot of operation for a small-scale tribe.
There were at least eight personnel constantly defending the village.
Therefore, the number of hunting parties often changed.
“It seems this area has the least number of personnel coming.”
Based on my map, which was an improved version of Nenson’s map, there were indeed no threatening monsters in this area.
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