Chapter 7
Chapter 7
The orc horde had gathered at the very edge of the barrier spread around the cave.
It seemed they had chosen it as a temporary resting point. Aside from a few guards, they had set down their weapons, but the blood staining parts of their armor had yet to dry, proof that they had fought a battle before coming here.
Orc warriors were cutting down trees and hurriedly building barracks, while an orc shaman waved around a staff decorated with skulls, casting rituals that resembled black magic for divination.
It looked like they were trying in their own way to break through the barrier.
The orc chief sat on a tree stump, drinking liquor from a leather pouch while scolding the orcs who were slacking off.
We observed the orcs from inside the barrier.
“So, what’s your impression of seeing orcs with your own eyes?”
“…They’re disgusting.”
Joshua, instinctively repulsed, hid behind me and only peeked her face out.
She looked so adorable that I barely resisted the urge to hug her.
I couldn’t keep indulging her forever, so instead of embracing her, I settled for patting her head with a bitter smile.
“Orcs usually move in groups centered around a leader. They’re monsters, so people tend to underestimate them, but they’re not all that different from humans.”
I pointed with my finger and explained the roles of each orc.
“The ones wandering around our surroundings are guards, checking whether there are enemies nearby. The one waving the staff around the barrier and using black magic is the orc shaman. Joshua, what level do you think that shaman’s skill is at?”
Following the shaman’s chant, black magic energy spiraled from beneath his feet up to his staff and struck the barrier.
But…
it didn’t leave so much as a scratch.
“It looks really weak…”
Even to me, it looked like black magic that ten-year-old Joshua could beat.
In a one-on-one fight, an orc shaman was laughable.
“Correct~ But think about it. If you’re fighting the orc warriors and the shaman starts using black magic, it becomes difficult to deal with. And the truly terrifying thing about an orc shaman is something else.”
The reason you had to target the shaman first.
In game terms, it was because the buffs they used were a pain to handle.
Status ailment immunity.
Groggy immunity.
Strength +10%.
In a turn-based JRPG, enemies below a certain health threshold were supposed to enter a groggy state and lose a turn.
But orcs buffed by a shaman became immune to groggy.
Even at one HP, they would still smash your party’s skulls in.
Among the community, it was known as the newbie killer for players unfamiliar with JRPGs.
In the game, you could just have the archer or thief take out the shaman first and then deal with the orcs.
But in reality, it was hard to even find the shaman.
And even if you did, the leader guarded the way to him.
That was why frontal combat against orcs was best avoided whenever possible.
“Orcs have excellent senses of smell, so ambushing them isn’t easy either. A lot of adventurers have said goodbye to the world after trying it carelessly.”
I pointed at the nose of an orc pacing in front of the barrier.
“And their strength is monstrous. They can lift a human woman with one hand. So the important thing is not getting caught.”
Bulging veins writhed under their green skin, looking ready to burst through.
“Ugh… I hate this.”
“Even if you hate it, listen carefully. You have to know your enemy to know how to deal with them. Life is lighter than you think. If you’re careless, it flies away quickly.”
Compared to being caught by orcs, some even encouraged suicide instead.
Men became food and were eaten alive.
Women were eaten in another sense.
The proof was right there.
Inside an iron-barred mobile cage, several human prisoners twitched weakly.
One man and three women.
The women’s eyes were already dead.
It looked like they were beyond saving.
The man wasn’t moving at all, probably unconscious.
It reminded me of the first time I encountered orcs.
Back when I had just become a witch and settled in my first little village—
the orcs had attacked, burning the place down and dragging people away for their feast.
When fighting orcs, you aimed for the head, not the heart.
They weren’t very intelligent, so traps worked well.
Mages should avoid close combat and secure safety first.
It had to be a boring lesson, but Joshua listened all the way through.
Her concentration impressed me.
“It’s exactly the same as what I read in the book.”
“Of course it is. I wrote that book.”
To think she had even read Estelle’s Grand Encyclopedia: Monster Edition, where I had recorded the characteristics of the monsters from Aria Chronicle based on my memories of my previous life.
As the series expanded, the monster variety increased, so there were only a few pages in there that were still useful now.
“The theory lesson is over! Shall we move on to practice?”
“W-wait…!”
Ignoring Joshua’s sudden wide-eyed panic,
I snapped my fingers.
The barrier disappeared.
The orc guard, who had been serving as our convenient anatomical model, suddenly noticed us standing before him and flared his nostrils.
“Chief! The barrier’s gone! We can pass through now!”
The orc chief, who hadn’t cared at all about the shaman’s report—
“Chief! A female!!!”
At the guard’s thunderous shout, the chief jolted upright with urgency.
“A female!!!!!!! Where’s the female?!”
The magic stone embedded in the orc chief’s forehead glowed as his instincts surged.
“…Oh.”
I had heard rumors that orc battle cries could induce panic.
“Joshua? My dear assistant? Hellooo?”
Joshua had broken.
Ah.
This was bad.
My plan to restore my dignity with a cool performance was going off course.
I waved my hand in front of her face.
Shook her shoulders.
No response at all.
If I could see her status window, she’d probably be Level 10 with a beginner badge.
Considering you were supposed to fight orcs at around Level 30, it really was too early.
What a shame.
The kid should’ve been more of a genius.
She learned everything I taught her so quickly, so I thought she’d catch up fast in combat too.
Starting with orcs from the beginning was a bit much, wasn’t it?
Should I have started her with slimes after all?
Combat might have been too intense for a fifteen-year-old.
“Chief! I found her first! She’s mine!”
I blew off the head of the orc trying to touch Joshua without permission.
The nerve.
Touching someone else’s precious child.
“My beloved assistant. Could you close your eyes for a little while until I come back?”
I stroked her head to reassure her.
It seemed she had snapped back to her senses.
Joshua’s eyes filled with tears as I smiled at her.
Watch carefully.
My ridiculously amazing control.
The kind of open-field action RPG you’d never see in some click-and-play game.
And later, I’d tell Joshua’s descendants and their descendants forever about how she cried her eyes out after being scared by orcs.
Just imagining it was enough to keep me entertained for the next two hundred years.
Contrary to Estelle’s thoughts, Joshua wasn’t afraid of fighting.
As a child, she had admired the heroes in storybooks who defeated evil dragons and villains and reached happy endings.
The orcs’ shouting was loud.
Annoying.
But not enough to send her into panic.
As she listened carefully to Estelle’s kind explanations, she had even started imagining ways to fight them.
The problem happened just before Estelle dispelled the barrier.
Even though the barrier should have prevented anyone from seeing this side—
Joshua met the eyes of one of the women trapped behind the bars.
“Wait…!”
The moment she saw the woman’s lifeless eyes,
her body froze.
Only her lips moved soundlessly.
For some reason, Joshua felt the hope and despair contained in those eyes.
Save me.
Help me.
Kill me.
“Please save me! If you spare me, I’ll do anything— Aaaahhh!!”
The image of herself as a trembling little girl hiding under the floorboards came back to her like a reflection in a mirror.
It felt like the screams from back then were right beside her.
The fear of what was about to happen.
The helplessness of doing nothing but silently cry.
Her mind went blank.
Even as the orc’s giant arm came down toward her head,
she couldn’t even think of running away.
Maybe—
if that arm crushed her—
she could escape this suffocating pain in her chest.
She shut her eyes tightly.
Bit down so hard her teeth felt like they might break.
It was time to go meet the parents who had left before her.
But instead of the rough touch of an orc—
what touched her was unbelievably gentle.
Joshua slowly opened her eyes.
The same warm hand as when they first met,
even though ten years had passed.
Or perhaps it was the warmth she had felt even before then,
flowing from Estelle’s fingertips.
“My beloved assistant. Could you close your eyes for a little while until I come back?”
“My beloved daughter, Joshua. Until Mommy comes back, you must never come out. Understand?”
Tears welled up.
Estelle and her mother overlapped in her vision.
Now she had no choice but to admit it.
And because she never wanted to lose her mother again—
she couldn’t stop here.
The powerless seven-year-old girl named Joshua no longer existed.
The blank white in her mind was painted over with the colors of Estelle and Joshua.