“I’ll kill them three times over!”
Orietta’s weapon is a hammer, even when she’s wearing her armor. The head of the hammer, the part you strike with, is as big as a Kei car. She hurled it at a Lich she spotted ahead.
The ogres surrounding the Lich, and everything around them, were engulfed as if a bomb had landed at the point of impact. A massive explosion and crater formed around Orietta’s hammer.
“That’s three times over!”
Seriously, what is this?
“Idiot. If there are no corpses, it doesn’t count towards your score.”
“It’s self-reported! Plus, I killed about ten ogres.”
“You just need to kill the Lich. Don’t touch my prey.”
“Yes, yes.”
This… is this going to be a one-sided massacre? Will another page of the White Lily Corps’ dark history be written?
“Captain, the armor’s operational time is about ten minutes left. We don’t have enough charge after yesterday’s Sand Dragon fight.”
What?! Just charge it from the wall socket. The operational time is related to Orietta’s magic power, isn’t it? Orietta is an Alchemist, not a Mage. She has magic power, but it’s far less than Sophia’s or Rufina’s. So she wasn’t messing around then.
“Orietta, do you have a replacement hammer?”
“No. Nothing that big fits.”
That’s a bit suggestive. …But now is not the time. Why would you throw your only weapon? Are you going to retrieve it from among the ogres?
“We’ll retrieve that hammer and escape. Priscilla, take point. Alana, stick with Orietta and provide support.”
Once the strategy is decided, we move fast, because we’re mercenaries. Priscilla swings her Halberd, clearing a path for the ogres Orietta had taken away. I perfectly fulfilled my role of “providing support and catching the Halberd as it flew back.”
“Stopping!”
Huh?! It hasn’t even been five minutes. Is it the battery or the magic power? You need to manage the operation properly.
“Orietta, take off the armor. We’ll abandon the hammer. Priscilla, Alana, buy us some time.”
“This is embarrassing!”
I’ll drag you out of that armor. It’s dangerous because we might get surrounded, so hurry and get down here. The three of us formed a formation around Orietta, blocking the ogres’ attacks.
I saw light shining in the distance. Orietta must be changing out of her armor. Now all we have to do is escape.
“Orietta, you can go back now…”
A beautiful girl in a white athletic swimsuit stood there, looking embarrassed, blooming on the battlefield. She was breathtakingly beautiful. Give me two seconds… Okay!
“Orietta, does that outfit have any defensive magic on it?”
“It’s just clothes.”
Is this girl an idiot? Don’t stand on the battlefield nearly naked. Deciding that combat was over, I scooped Orietta into my arms.
“Priscilla, Alana, we’ll retreat to the castle wall. Follow me without falling behind.”
“Now’s the time to rack up points. The Lich is worth triple.”
Godspeed.
“The last place gets a ten percent score reduction.”
Full power!
Godspeed, carrying Orietta. No matter how much I use Godspeed, she’s still heavy. No, it’s not that Orietta is fat. It’s just hard to run while carrying a girl.
Ogre corpses littered the ground. Dodging and running, the two of them overtook me. Help out a little!
“Last again…”
“Last place indeed…”
I should have switched to Mode Two. Is that what you say to me, who ran to the castle wall, out of breath? They really care about their captain, those cute guys.
“Orietta, your score is reduced by ten percent, since you’re last.”
“Right. Last place.”
Orietta looked like she was about to cry when she heard that. Don’t pick on a girl her age. It’s a lot of work to support her.
“They’ll come back once they regroup. You two protect the castle wall. And the commander proceeds as planned. Orietta, come over here.”
I gave instructions to the commander who approached and then took Orietta’s hand, leading her a short distance away from the castle wall. She looked at her free hand and seemed to be crying a little.
What must I look like to those around me, leading a crying girl in a swimsuit? I’m a timid person who cares about what people think. I took Orietta to a secluded spot, away from prying eyes, and was about to do something strange… I won’t!
“Orietta, don’t cry. It was a joke from Priscilla and the others. Besides, I was the one carrying Orietta, so I was at the very back. Orietta’s score hasn’t been reduced.”
Orietta hugged me and cried without making a sound. After a while, seeming relieved, she looked up at me, closed her eyes softly, and I gently kissed her and held her close.
“Orietta, go change, meet Sophia at the South Gate, and get some magic power from her. There are still ogres and trolls left.”
After seeing Orietta off, I quickly stepped to the side. A heel landed where I had just been. I anticipated it.
“You shouldn’t be peeking.”
“No! A fast horse just arrived saying the vanguard will be here tomorrow morning, so we have to hold out until then.”
Does he drop his heel when he reports? Will I get a lump and grow taller first, or will my cartilage get crushed and I shrink?
“What about Christine and Rufina?”
“We can’t see them, so Alana is sending out Doron.”
I’ve killed Harpies before, and while those unknown large beings are a concern, those two and one person should be fine. I can only imagine the slaughter.
The one Lich I dealt with, and Sophia said they needed several to deflect the Platinum Laser, so if they were reanimating the slain ogres, they couldn’t spare fighters. I should have cut off its head.
“Let’s go back. They’ll be here soon.”
The Lich was an unexpected problem. If they can revive even after death, this will drag on forever. Only Rufina can handle that here. Should I go back? But only Christine and Rufina can handle aerial combat… This is troublesome.
When we reached the broken castle wall, a group of ogres was coming through a narrow, inverted-V shaped gap. I wished they would keep coming like that, but they moved laterally, and then another group, and then another.
Eventually, four hundred ogres formed a horizontal line in front of the castle gate, followed by fifty trolls, and the ten unknown ones were Black Flame Dragons. It looks like people are riding them, but are they controlling them?! I want to try that too.
“Quite a magnificent sight. This is getting fun.”
“Trolls are good. That’s five times, right?”
“What about Christine and Rufina?”
“There are no Harpy-like things flying. They seem to be fighting three large ones.”
They can’t come this way… Even though it’s broken, the castle wall can only let one group through at a time. We can’t hold them here, so the second strategy will be to lure them into the city.
As I was thinking, the ogres began their advance. We have over two hundred adventurers. For one ogre, we need five people. Simply put, if we had two thousand people, but that’s on open ground.
If we lure them into the city, we won’t be surrounded and beaten black and blue, and defensive magic won’t be as effective. The city is full of traps. If we use them, half the city will be rubble, but there’s no other way. I’m really not cut out to be a Hero.
A Hero would be a great success, protecting people and the city. Perhaps marry a princess after defeating the Demon Lord. How enviable.
Well then… time for some fun work.
