CH 194

“Just as we thought, there’s a settlement.”

“But from what we heard, it’s probably small.”

After taking down five guards, we reach an open area created by them cutting down trees, with ten buildings that can’t be said to look good even if you’re being nice.

“Should we catch them off guard with magic, and deal with the ones still standing individually?”

“That sounds good. It’d be hard for us to start coordinating attacks. Let’s go with that.”

We decide not to use fire magic, and instead focus on wind area attacks to destroy the buildings.

Just as the reference materials I read said, the buildings go down to wind magic. That sound brings out orcs that were in other buildings, and I’m guessing they’re already on high alert, because many of them are holding weapons.

Another sorcerer has magic on standby, and fires it, creating more panic.

The orcs yell as what looks to be their boss gives instructions.

Those instructions manage to control the panicking orcs, but then Hikari and the others fall on them with mostly close range attacks.

Joshua stands ready with a sword in hand, as he watches how everyone is moving.

It’s true that it’d be hard for our two parties to coordinate our attacks, but it’s important to see everyone fight and gauge how strong everyone is.

We did a few mock fights just to check, but actually fighting monsters is different, and so are the weapons we use.

“Her name is Sera, right? Is it just me, or is she too strong?”

Sera quickly approaches their boss and puts it down in one hit. It all happens in a second.

Then she takes out three more while Joshua’s party is busy fighting one.

Hikari and Rurika aren’t as fast as Sera, but they’re going through orcs quickly too.

“Are those mithril weapons?”

“Yes. We got lucky and found mithril in a treasure chest when we defeated a boss. There was enough for the two of them.”

“That’s incredible. Miss Leila and her party also use mithril weapons, but to actually be good enough to match those weapons is… Sorry, I can’t really put it into words.”

Joshua sounds excited, and the sorcerers in his party look surprised too.

Now that I think about it, this is probably their first time seeing them actually fight. We mostly used magic from the twenty-first floor, and the undead monsters were too slow for any close-quarters fight with them to be intense.

The settlement has been destroyed. We check to see how everyone’s doing after the fight, but no one’s that tired.

“Let’s put the bodies in item bags.”

Splitting everything later would just be extra work, so I lend Joshua an item bag.

There were twenty seven orcs in total, so we take fourteen, and they take thirteen.

Undead monsters appear even if we retrieve the corpses, and more will appear too. It’s weird how the dungeon works. Who made this?

“Should we keep going?”

We form up again, and keep going.

I check Presence Detection, and luckily for us, I don’t see any orcs in our way.

Maybe that’s why we don’t find any more traps either, but we don’t know for sure, so we have to stay alert.

Maybe it’s because they’re not used to walking in a forest, or maybe it’s because they have to constantly be on the lookout for any orcs, but I get the feeling that Light of Hope is gradually becoming exhausted.

Of course, the ones with scouting abilities have been talking to us, but they can’t seem to relax, probably because of the unfamiliar environment.

But there’s nothing we can do about that.

This means that the monsters aren’t our only enemies, the forest itself is a threat.

Mia isn’t too experienced either, but maybe all the walking we did before coming to the Magic State worked, because it looks like she’s still fine.

Her multiple experiences on the fifth floor are probably playing a part in that too.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes, this forest still isn’t too hard to walk in.”

There’s a lot of space between the trees, probably so the big orcs can pass between them. The three in front can’t do that, but the ones on the back get to walk relatively far from the trees.

“Do you want to take a short break?”

It’s been an hour since we fought those orcs, and we’ve been walking ever since.

No one’s complaining, but they are getting tired.

I look around and don’t see any monster reactions, so we should rest here.

“Yes, we still have a long way ahead of us.”

A few people look relieved after Joshua says that.

It might be a good idea to warm up some water and serve a simple soup.

I pour something I previously cooked on cups and hand one to everyone. Light of Hope look surprised that it’s hot, and relax while enjoying it.

“I didn’t think we’d get to have something hot right away.”

“This is specially made, and has an insulation feature. If I make soup when it’s time to cook, we can have it again while resting.”

I basically made this with a vacuum flask in mind.

“That’s handy. Where are they sold?”

“I bought it in another country from a traveling merchant. I don’t know where he is now.”

Obviously, I’m the one who made it, but I can’t sell it.

I don’t have the materials. Maybe I could mass produce them if we hole up in the fifteenth floor, but we don’t have time for that right now.

“That’s too bad.”

He really sounds disappointed, but there’s nothing I can do. Maybe I’ll make one if I find the materials for a low price on the market.