Chapter 86: Territory of the Orcs
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 86: Territory of the Orcs
Once Guwon’s healing was complete, the party carved the Magic Stones from the corpses scattered about before deciding to move.
They couldn’t just stay here forever.
They found a safe place to wait for Sara to regain consciousness, ending up back at the spot where the mana pools grew.
The orcs probably knew about this place, so it wasn’t completely safe, but it was still far better than being out in the open. It would be easier to prepare for a surprise attack here.
“Is it just me? It looks like the mana pools have multiplied.”
“Really?!”
“Mm. It appears so to me as well. They spread quite fast.”
They were like weeds, sprouting up after just a few days of being left alone.
To think something like this was so rare and hard to find.
“Ughn…”
Just then, Sara made a sound.
“Sara, are you awake?”
“Where am I…? G-Guwon?! Wh-what is this…?!”
Coming to her senses, Sara immediately pulled her upper body away from Guwon.
For the record, Sara was currently being carried on Guwon’s back.
I mean, obviously. How else would she have moved while she was unconscious?
“Hold on. I’ll put you down now.”
“N-no. Wait!”
“Hm? Why?”
“I-I can’t get any strength in my body!”
“But just a moment ago…”
“My upper body is fine, but I still can’t get any strength in my legs!”
Sara’s voice sounded strangely desperate.
“More importantly, what happened to me?”
“They said it’s because you used up all the mana in your body.”
“…I see.”
It seemed her memory was finally returning.
Sara murmured in a calm voice.
“It’d be better to rest a little more, right?”
“Yes. N-no! Let’s go hunting again right away!”
“What? But…”
“I’ll be fully recovered by the time we get there. It’s not like I’m injured. Let’s leave immediately!”
No matter how important hunting is, this doesn’t feel right…
“In fact, I find it stranger that she hasn’t recovered by now…”
But contrary to Guwon’s thoughts, Diana, the mana expert, commented that it was suspicious she hadn’t recovered yet.
It seemed it really wasn’t that serious after all.
“R-right now, I just can’t seem to muster any strength.”
Sara said, pressing her upper body against Guwon’s back once more.
If Sara says so, then I guess that’s how it is. It’s not like she’d fake it just because she doesn’t want to walk, right? She’s not me, after all.
So, the party headed back toward the orc territory.
“By the way, were you that worried about me getting hurt? Enough to attack with all the mana you had.”
Guwon playfully teased Sara as they walked toward the orc settlement.
“Wh-what are you talking about! Who was worried!”
“Come on, you were, right? Why else would you attack like that?”
“I-it was because the party was in danger! And do you even think, Guwon? If you go down, the whole party is at risk, yet you let your guard down and get hit like that!”
Sara moved the arm she had wrapped around Guwon’s neck and lightly tapped his chest with her hand, as if scolding him.
“Ugh. S-sorry.”
She told me I was cool not too long ago, so I thought her affection level had gone up a bit and tried to joke around, but it completely fell flat.
That’s Sara for you. I guess just because she’s softened up a little lately doesn’t mean her cold, country-girl personality has gone anywhere.
“…B-but, is your injury okay?”
Then again, her ridiculously kind nature hadn’t changed one bit either.
Chatting like that, they soon arrived at the orc settlement.
“Are you okay? Can you stand?”
Sara had said she would be fine, but he was doubtful she could have really recovered in such a short time.
“Wait. I don’t see any orcs.”
Instead of answering, Sara peeked over Guwon’s shoulder toward the orc settlement and said that.
“What? No way. Almost half of them were left when they ran away.”
“But it’s true.”
Sara said, still showing no intention of getting off Guwon’s back.
“…Alright, let’s go check it out.”
There was no reason for Sara to lie about something like this, and even if the orcs were hiding, Sara would probably hear them and notice once they got a little closer.
But when they reached the settlement, there wasn’t a single sign of the orcs that had fled.
Did they run back to the settlement they originally lived in?
Thinking about it, that seemed right. They weren’t from here in the first place, and they were probably too scared to hide out in a place just a stone’s throw from where they’d escaped.
“Then we’ll have to go to another settlement. By the way, Sara. Is the strength back in your body now?”
“Huh? Yes…”
Her answer didn’t sound very convincing.
“Are you really okay? If you think you need more time, let’s rest here for a bit before we go.”
“No… I’m fine. Let’s go right away. Please put me down.”
“No. This won’t do. Right. Let’s at least have lunch before we go. It’s about lunchtime anyway.”
Actually, it was even later than their usual lunchtime.
Well, it had been a brutal fight.
“You said your upper body was fine, right?”
“Huh? Yes. Why?”
“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking I’d have to feed you if you couldn’t move your upper body either.”
“Th-yes, no, I-I’m fine. There’s no need for that at all.”
Sara answered as if she were lagging.
“At all”? Seriously? I was just trying to be considerate. Isn’t that a bit harsh? My feelings are hurt, you know.
Or maybe I should consider it a success that she didn’t make a disgusted face after hearing something like that, given her personality.
“…Still, thank you.”
Yep. This is more than just a success.
I guess when she said “at all,” she was just trying to decline out of modesty because I was being so considerate.
His mood instantly lifted by Sara’s single word of thanks, Guwon happily began the meal.
And when the meal was over, Guwon once again bent down in front of Sara.
“Wh-what is it?”
“Just so you can rest a little longer. I’ll carry you until we get to the next settlement.”
“…F-fine, then.”
She said it quite haughtily, but she’s probably thanking me on the inside, right?
Her affection level must have gone up again.
And so, the party headed for another settlement.
This time, it was the one next to the settlement they had cleared out yesterday.
“Alright, Sara. Don’t push yourself. If you feel unwell, tell me immediately.”
After getting reasonably close, Guwon said as he let Sara down from his back.
With a goal like hers, she has a tendency to overdo it when hunting.
“I-I’m telling you, I’m really fine.”
Even as she said that, Sara slid off Guwon’s back very slowly.
“What’s wrong? Is it still your strength…?”
“I’m attacking now.”
Sara was getting down so slowly that Guwon was about to voice his concern again, but she immediately fired an arrow as if to shut him up.
Unlike the way she’d dismounted from his back, her movements were swift, and the arrow was filled with power.
Looks like she’s fine.
“Oh?”
“What is it?”
“I hit one, and now they’ve all hidden.”
What? Those incarnations of charging headfirst? The ones who only know “Lok-tar ogar!”?
“Kurorororo!”
As if to dispel that doubt, a huge number of orcs suddenly swarmed out in an instant.
An all-out attack after just one hit? Have we become famous among the orcs or something?
But that didn’t seem to be the case.
The number of orcs that charged out was large, but it was too few to be the entire settlement. At most, it was about half of them.
Moreover, although they charged out with a thunderous roar, they hesitated to advance any further.
Don’t tell me these guys are…
“Sara. Be honest. I’m about to take all of them on. Are you really in good condition?”
“Yes. No problem.”
“Good. Then I’m going in. Hey, guys! We’ve met before, right? Good to see you again!”
Guwon took a large number of quivers from his inventory, set them on the ground, and charged forward with a loud shout.
“Kuruuk!”
Only then did the orcs begin to charge back at him. But there wasn’t a shred of fighting spirit in their movements. It was more like they were being forced to fight because Guwon was charging them.
Just as I thought. These are the same ones that ran away earlier.
And so, Guwon clashed with the horde of orcs.
At first, it was easy. The orcs were terrified from the start, and even when Guwon attacked relentlessly without bothering to defend, they couldn’t even land a proper hit on him.
But the situation changed the moment the orcs began to fall one by one.
They started charging with a do-or-die desperation, which made them incredibly tricky to deal with.
The only saving grace was that, in their blind rage, none of them tried to attack the women in the rear.
That meant as long as his stamina held up, he could fight indefinitely.
“Alright! Let’s see who wins this!”
In the end, Guwon won. Of course he did.
It was a given, since he never would have started a fight he was going to lose.
He was, however, incredibly exhausted.
He had wiped out an entire settlement that housed a Transcendent Species before the day was even over.
Even for Guwon, who was nothing without his stats, it was impossible not to be tired.
“Ughhhhh.”
“Hehe. You worked hard.”
As soon as the fight was over, Guwon collapsed onto the ground, and Leia came over to heal him.
Worked hard? Just hearing an angel’s voice gives me strength.
“So we ended up wiping out another settlement with a Transcendent Species today.”
“Yeah. We did.”
Hearing Sara’s words, Guwon fell into thought for a moment.
The very first settlement definitely didn’t have a Transcendent Species. It couldn’t have been already killed. It was hard to imagine anyone else knew about this place. And it was also unlikely that it was killed by another monster; on the 1st Floor, the only thing that could take on an Orc Transcendent Species was probably a Werewolf Transcendent Species. And there were no Werewolf Transcendent Species in this area.
In short, the first settlement never had a Transcendent Species to begin with.
But the next two settlements did. And they were right next to each other.
Doesn’t that feel like something?
Guwon was picturing the map of the standard route in his head.
He was sure that on the map, the Transcendent Species were clustered in a circle around the Floor Boss’s location.
Could this be…?
Guwon immediately shared his hypothesis.
“Are you saying there might be another Floor Boss here?”
“Hmm. That’s entirely possible. As you said, the Transcendent Species are clustered around the Floor Boss on the lower floors as well. And the path down was always guarded by a Floor Boss. However, until now, there has never been a case where more than one path to the next floor was discovered on any given layer. The same goes for Floor Bosses. That’s why they’re called the Floor Boss. If another Floor Boss and a path to the next floor are truly discovered here, that alone would be a major finding.”
As Diana spoke, her interest was clearly piqued, and her tone grew more and more heated.
Even Diana, who had little interest in dungeon exploration, was this excited.
“Th-that’s amazing.”
At Diana’s words, Leia’s eyes also sparkled as she gazed at Guwon.
“It’s nothing. It’s not even confirmed that there’s a Floor Boss here yet.”
“No. The Goddess’s guidance is with you, Guwon. I’m sure it’s there.”
“Let’s go find it.”
Even Sara’s eyes were shining as she said that.
It seemed that even for Sara, who considered the dungeon merely a means for growth, she wasn’t so uninterested as to just ignore a discovery like this and demand they go hunting.
And so, by unanimous decision, the party’s objective changed from grinding job levels to finding another path to the next floor.