92-082 Destroy the Orcs

It took Haruka three days to learn how to use the Fire Arrow.

I don't know if this is fast or slow, but once she can use it, she can control magic as well as us. He was able to successfully activate two of them at the same time.

The power is perfect and will easily kill the orcs.

So we're finally going to eradicate the orc's nest, right?

That's right. I think we can handle it now. What we should be concerned about is the possibility that there will be at least two orc leaders, possibly more.

We've killed about 80 orcs so far. If we assume one leader per 30 orcs, then Natsuki's estimate is probably correct.

"Natsuki held them off last time, right?　This time, I'll hold them back too, and while I'm at it, I'll decimate the rest of the Orcs. ......3 If there are still Orcs, Nao, go for it!

I'm not sure what to say.　I'm not sure what to do.

I'm not sure what to say. I'm not going to be able to do that.

It is obvious that I'm the only one left, but ...... I'm not sure if I can handle that huge orc leader.

If there are three of them, you should avoid fighting. You'll have to rely on Nao-kun's scouting, though.

"Right. It's risky to leave it to Nao. The best thing is not to start a war. If they enter the battle, we should consider retreating if necessary.

I'm sure you've heard of it.

...... Yeah, I think so too, but you can't help but feel a little bewildered, can you?

It's like being told you're unreliable?

I'm not childish enough to be stubborn here and say I'll fight for you, but...

"Then let's go with that basic policy. Do you mind, Nao?

Yeah. I'm not going to do anything rash.

I nodded, and we headed for the forest.

The route I'm going to take is the same as last time, approaching in a spiral around the orc's nest.

I approached the nest with each lap at a distance of about half my search range, but the orcs didn't seem to be trapped at all.

After about three rounds, I paused just before the orc nest itself was caught in the spotting range, and like last time, Natsuki and I went out to scout. This time, we approached and investigated until the entire orc nest was within our search range.

...... 20 in all. Two of them are orc leaders.

"That's a lot fewer. Let's go back.

Once we've assessed the situation we have no more use for them. We'll head back to Haruka and the others without being noticed by the orcs.

"How was it?

When I told Toya the results, she nodded happily.

I'm sure you'll have no problem killing it.

Yes. If we're not too careful, we should be fine.

Then we all consulted a bit and settled on a plan.

Conveniently for us, the nest was of a certain size, and the orcs were scattered all over the area, not all in one place.

Taking this into consideration, the policy I decided on was to first approach them from downwind and surprise them with magic.

If the Orcs approach with that attack, they will be killed by long-distance attacks as much as possible, and Toya or Natsuki will deal with them when they approach at close range.

If the orc leader comes, the two of us will hold him back and lead him to a slightly distant place as we had planned, and the remaining orcs will be killed by me, Yuki, and Haruka as much as possible.

Let's go then.

Toya was in the lead.

As I led the way, we soon came upon a nest of Orcs.

It was the first time I had actually seen it in person, but it looked like a crude settlement.

In the cut forest, there were only structures with pillars and roofs.

There were no walls, and the roofs were made of wood with leafy branches on top.

They had a handmade cudgel, so they must be intelligent to some extent, but they could only use wood as stakes or ivy for tying, not enough to use stone tools.

I can see some orcs lying down under the roof.

The three of us confirmed each other's assignments with hand signs and fired the Fire Arrows at once.

The heads of the Orcs flew away and the screams echoed. The one who screamed was the orc that was not our target. The orcs that were our targets died before we could scream.

The Orcs that didn't seem to understand what was happening and were groggy were also hit. Four more orcs fell.

At this point, we leave the forest and break into the Orc's nest, and Toya and Natsuki move around the area knocking down huts and securing our vision.

...... What can I say, we're almost bad bandits, aren't we? I'm not sure what to make of this.

Hearing the commotion, the remaining 10 Orcs rushed over to us. Two of them were orc leaders.

That's enough distance. Six more fall prey to our magic.

One more shot--there's just enough distance!

"Left!

I declare, and fire a Fire Arrow at the Orc on my left.

At about the same time, Haruka said, "Right! At the same time, Haruka said, "Right!" and fired a Fire Arrow, while Yuki's Fire Arrow went to the Orc leader on the right.

As a result, only one orc leader was unharmed at the point of contact. The other orc was gouged in the left shoulder, and none of the orcs were able to reach him.

As planned, Toya faced the Orc leader on the left, and Natsuki on the right. Haruka switched to her bow to conserve her magic power and check him.

The plan was to concentrate our forces on the weaker one and take him down, but...

Don't worry!　Nao-kun, go towards Toya-kun!

Natsuki shouted as she walked around to the left side of the Orcs and thrust out her spear.

The orc leader was unable to keep up with his quick movements. Rather, the spear is already sticking out of his ear and into his skull. The effects of the [Skaven] and [Strengthening] are incredible.

When I saw the orc leader's body lose strength after having his head gouged out, I prepared a more powerful "Fire Arrow" and shot it at the orc leader Toya was dealing with.

The orc leader was facing the back of my head, which Toya had successfully provoked, so there was no way to miss. Thanks to a little movement at the end, only the top half of his head disappeared, but the result was the same.

"Geez!

In an instant, the orc leader was out of breath, and Toya rushed to avoid his body as he fell.

"Phew. ...... complete.

I'm not sure what to do with it.

You've got it right this time.

I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I'm not the only one who has a problem with this.　It's very well done.

It's because we're well organized.

In our case, we discuss in advance who will attack when the enemy comes to what range, and what our priority targets are, so that we can avoid overlapping targets.

We also decide how to signal, what type of signal to use, and the number of seconds before the attack, so that we can coordinate our timing.

In addition, to some extent, we can act in unison, so there is no need for us to complicate things.

Besides, if you shout unnecessarily, you won't hear what you need to hear.

We don't say unnecessary things, including magic names, out loud as much as possible. That's our policy.

That way, what you say out loud will be heard better.

The "left" I shouted earlier is a declaration that I will attack the orc on the left.

It was already decided that me, Haruka, and Yuki would attack the orcs first, but there were only two orcs left. From the left, we positioned the Orc leader, two Orcs, and the Orc leader.

If the two Orcs were defeated by the two of them, one of them could attack the Orc leader, but it was not clear who would be in charge, so I dared to declare it. Haruka also declared immediately, and as a result, Yuki was able to smoothly direct her magic at the orc leader.

Incidentally, shouting is okay in close combat because it gives you more strength, but Natsuki almost never shouts and Toya only does it occasionally.

Toya has a skill called [Roar], and I think she could use it more, but it's not popular with the ladies, so she rarely uses it. We are on the same side, so Toya's [roar] won't frighten us, but it's simply too noisy. ...... I'm sorry, but...

As a result, the only sound in our battle is the demon's voice. But it's not much, because it blows your head off.

I'm not sure what to do.　Enemy approaching!　Orc 10, Orc leader 1!

They were out hunting!　How long?

Tens of seconds!

We didn't shout too much, but the orcs were shouting quite loudly. The orcs outside must have heard it. It was approaching us at a considerable speed.

Direction!

Behind you!

The orc's response came from the direction we'd entered the nest. They're coming straight at us.

We'll intercept them!　Natsuki, Toya, you hold off the orc leader!　We'll take out the rest!

Got it!

We've used a lot of magic, but there's still no problem with this level of magic power.

Prepare your weapons and ambush them.

The first one to jump out was the orc leader. With the corpse of an orc lying in the depths of the nest and our backs to it, he lunged at us, screaming in anger.

We spread out a little to the side and shot magic at the Orcs following behind us, while Toya and Natsuki split off to the left and right at the moment of the collision to fend off the Orc Leader's attacks.

We each took one more shot. The remaining orc I confronted with my spear, and killed with a rapid-fire shot to the leg.

And by the time I turned around, the orc leader, who had been attacked from behind by Yuki and Haruka, had already fallen.

...... Is this the end?

I'm not sure what to make of that.

I don't know. ...... We've killed 4 orc leaders so far. There are over 100 orcs. If your calculation of 1 in 30 is correct, that means there are about 10 orcs left. ......

You're not that exact, are you?　I'm sure you're right.

That's right. I'm not going to neglect to look for the enemy, so don't worry about that.

You didn't neglect it just now, did you?

"Nao-kun, it's great that you don't let your guard down even right after victory!

"Oh no, ...... hahaha.

I laugh at the unexpected praise. The fact that I'm almost always on the lookout for enemies is already something of a habit. This is partly for my own peace of mind, but it has also raised my level to three.

To be honest, without this, I would have been constantly on my guard in the forest, and would have suffered a mental breakdown.

"What about dismantling the orcs?　Do you want to do it here?

"Yes, it would be better to clean up this nest, so let's do it here.

I don't know if it's easier for orcs to nest if there are still orcs' nests left, but it seems that in the past, guild-sponsored orc extermination operations have burned these huts after they were finished, so we decided to follow suit.