"The battle just now, I wondered what will be happen if my party had encountered it first."
While Alvin is riding at the back of the Golem - he starts a conversation with me. Although he has been healed by Ann, it's still necessary for him to take a rest due to his severe injury. That's why he is getting transported by a Golem now.
"That might be the case."
That is the most probable case. Alvin face gets blue just thinking about it.
The Orc King has over 70 minions under him. Meanwhile he is just a D rank party with 4 people.
Let say if the Orc King group did return to their settlement, maybe we can just finish them off in one fell swoop. But, the risk involved might be higher. That Orc has a speed faster than any of us when retreating.
And that is if we don't have any baggage.
"Our rank might have increased, but there is nothing to shout about. We are still not at the entrance of the forests yet. I'm just lucky to know that we're still alive. But, the reward is not bad, and it is comfortable to ride at the Golem's back."
Originally, they group is just E rank. During the defensive battle at the fortress, they rank up to D. For now, I decided to split up the Orc into 7:3 ratio, excluding the part that is recorded in the Guild Card.
The Orc King is under ours. Since he is in upper level, we might be able to sell him for higher price.
After the fight, no other monsters appeared. This is what happening each time we encountered a big nest. Perhaps the Orcs already taken care of it on the way they go back.
We found a squared empty place and we decided to take a breather and eat.
Their menu is fairly simple, as in a bread with a dried meat. As for me I skewered the rabbit and grilled it with some seasoning.
"Thank you. It's help a lot that you are capable of Space Magic."
Alvin says that when he saw that I'm taking out lots of stuff from my Item Box. Alvin is capable of elementary Fire Magic. His sister is capable of using basic Water Magic. I don't have any problem with water, but normally people need to carry out a supplies and water, and after that the spoils too. Ordinary adventurers really have it hard.
"By the way, I really want to say this, that your party is full with girls."
He silently went to me, and asked. Although my wives are eating at the other side, maybe he just wants to be vigilant.
It seems that together with his sister, everyone came from the same village.
Olba san and Lazard san too originated from the same village. I wonder if this is common for other party.
"After past certain age, people from the village will enter the village post and start training. I want to become part of the guard for the village. That's why at that time I applied for a guard post."
I see. It sure is easier if you are used to some degree before becoming an adventurer.
So, what is it actually? Alvin nudged me to continue.
"All 4 of them are my wives."
This is quite an embarrassing thing to say.
"All 4 of them?"
He turns to look at Sati while saying that. Although this world allows polygamy, it is still 4 wives. Plus, all of them are in the same party as me.
"That's right. All 4."
"That is awesome. How can you be in love with 4 different persons?"
"Many thing happens. It's a long story."
"Excuse me, how old are you?"
"23."
"I'm 21 years old. I thought you are younger than that. You're on even higher ranking, am I being too rude?"
Yeah, I can understand why you thought that I'm younger. I'm short, and I'm baby faced too.
"There is not much difference in our age, and it will sound weird if you suddenly change now."
"Really? Then I'll just keep it this way!"
"By the way, your little sister is with the other guys. Are you sure you don't want to stay over there?" pg. 162
Alvin sister is eating lunch with the other 2, they seem to be in a good term.
"I don't want to disturb them. It is painful to stay there."
As a leader, also as an elder brother, although it should be a good thing, but looking them all lovey-dovey like that is painful.
"Re-really. You are having it rough too."
Which one does she actually date? I wonder if there is such thing about reverse harem.
Although it sounds amusing to me, talking about it must be embarrassing for him.
In the afternoon, we have 3 more encounters with the demon. But since they move alone or in small group, it went without a hassle.
After the sun finally set, we decided to secure a safe place to camp.
This is the first time we ever camping outside as a party.
"How about that place?"
"I don't know, it sure looks like a nice place."
I need to make sure that the place is comfortable for 5 persons. I tried to suggest a temporary basement room, but it was denied by Ellie. She said that it is important to get used with ordinary camping.
I start imaging and start chanting. The earth wall gradually forms a hemispherical shape according to the casting, and the dome is completed. The entrance is small, just enough for people to crawl into. For the time being, I didn't make the wall too thick.
Ellie and Tilika slowly crawl inside.
"How is it?"
I take a peek inside and asked.
"It's quite small, but we can sleep just fine."
Since they approved it, I'm going to reinforce it a bit more. This place shouldn't be destroyed by a few attacks.
"Alvin, are you fine with the same design?"
"Yes. But won't it be bad for you?"
"Drop it. There is no need to worry because I still have surplus magic power."
We killed the Orc King together! It is my mistake that you get severely injured by the Orc King. If we are really unlucky then you might have been dead.
I also create the Kamakura for Alvin.
"Is it okay for you to use that much magic power? You already use much of it when we were having a battle earlier, plus the Golem too……"
"I can still do much more. Don't worry."
He is surprised that I'm a high rank mage with much magical power, but I think it is helpful.
Alvin's younger sister help Ann and Sati preparing the meal. The menu is the Orc meat baked with bread. Recently, I don't care less about eating demons' meat anymore. Might be because I'm used to eat it already.
After dinner, we decided the turn for the watch. It was decided that 2 people must be on watch duty each time.
"Me and Sati is enough. Other people just sleep tight."
"I hope Tilika can rest today."
"That's right. Tilika can take it off today."
Although Tilika is the second oldest among us, somehow, she is being treated as if she is a child.
I don't know if they are worried that she might be weak physically, or that she looks just too young, but it is clear that everyone wants her to take a rest.
"I'm doing it."
Because Tilika insists it, we all take a draw using the pieces of woods, and as the result only Ann will be taking full rest.
The first watch team is Sati and Tilika.
"Then, careful. As soon as something happen, wake us up fast."
"Yes, good night, Masaru sama."
"Don't fall asleep halfway your duty, Tilika."
"I won't!"
Tilika who is usually expressionless suddenly indignantly say it.
"I'm joking. Then we are going to sleep first."
I am a little worried, but if Satie is there, it would be fine.
Just in case, I'll leave two 5-meter Golem within the magical lighting area. Although it can be said that the monsters might likely less attacking if the place is light up in fire, but being in illuminated area is still not good. Still, this should decrease the probability of getting attacked.
I thought about letting Taiga out, but it will be troublesome if he were to be seen. Well, when the time is right then we will call him out.
"Hey, is the guy we fought earlier is really Orc King? That guy is certainly strong."
Taking a cover inside the Kamakura, covered in blanket, we talked about it before sleep. It is not so cold outside, but it is hard to sleep covered in rug only.
"That guy must be the Orc King. It's already hard enough to 1v1 him. With his dexterity, he can be as annoying opponent as the Dragon."
He is as fast as the wind, and our magic do little to no damage too.
Level 2 or above magic can do some damage, but its strong armour like skin is not penetrable.
Both its speed and power is way above our league, and it also has a weapon that can cut through bone.
Now that I've known his power to some extent, event I doubt that I'm capable of taking him head on.
"That guy was gravely injured too. If the Heal was delayed then he might have died."
Alvin……his injury really was severe as I expected? But he looks normal during meal time just now.
"Is that a grumbling noise just now?"
"No need to think hard about it. Even if you worried too much it's not like we will encounter that type anytime soon."
Ellie raise another flag again. Thinking that there is still possibility that we might encountered such demon again, we need to resolute ourselves. I have to take some precautions.
"Hey, let's get to sleep already. It is our turn to watch after this."
"Okay. Good night, everyone."
Before going to bed, I check my menu first. It seems that I levelled up by one, and following that I raised my Swordsmanship to level 5. Like this I can sleep soundly.
"Masaru, everyone, wake up."
I wake up due to Tilika shaking up my body.
"Onee chan said something is approaching."
"Understood."
Since I sleep with my armour on, I immediately go out and brandished my sword.
It is bright outside the Kamakura due to the Magic Lighting. I activate the Presence Detection and I caught up 5 signals. The distance is still quite far.
"What is it?"
I asked Sati, but she just shakes her head. Now even Alvin is out from his Kamakura.
"Is there something?"
"Yea. It seems that they are getting closer to here slowly."
"It's better if they didn't come here at all, to be honest."
While watching towards the depth of the forest, Alvin muttered his thought.
"Are you going to move the Golems?"
Ellie who just came out of the Kamakura said while yawning.
"Right. We can just finish them off."
I moved the Golems toward the direction where I picked up the reading. Are 5 meters too big? It is hard to get through the trees. I forcefully proceed while snapping the branches.
Contrary to my expectation, that produced a good result. The five reactions that I picked up quickly moved away. After moving the Golem some more, I turn back while making noises again.
"Looks like they went somewhere else."
"Yea. Since there are more than one, it might be a pack of forest's wolf."
It is powerful demonic wolves that hunt in a pack actively during night. It has large physique, and can be as huge as 3 meters. Although they only appeared during night-time, they are the type to hide and quietly approach and attack their preys. Frightening.
Last time, I wonder what is so dangerous about the forest at night. Now, I wish I've known about it earlier.
After making sure that the demon is outside my detection parameter, we all gathered at the bonfire.
"It's still quite early, but I guess we can switch now. Sati and Tilika go get a rest."
Sati still looks fine, but Tilika looks pretty sleepy.
"Yes. Tilika chan, let's go."
After making sure that Sati and Tilika get inside the Kamakura, I look around a bit. Only small animals were caught in my detection. There is no danger presence. I return to the bonfire and report about it.
"How do you know?"
Alvin asked. Yeah, that is a good question. I don't have a sensitive ear like a beast man. That's why even though I said it with confidence, it will remain doubtful.
"Sign, or something like that."
"Sign…?"
"Right, sign. Um, just wait……there is something there."
When I looks for any sign at the surrounding, I noticed there is something at the back of the Kamakura, moving a little. I killed my presence and slowly moves toward the target.
It is a snake. I take out a knife, and launch an attack. I slice it at its head, and it is not moving anymore.
When I take the snake's head and show it to Alvin, he looks quite surprised.
"Now you get it."
According to Alvin, this snake can be eaten. Because it is not a poisonous kind, each time he found it, he will catch it. Since I don't know how to cook it, I lend it over to Alvin. He handled it cleanly, shook salt on it and grilled it on fire.
I never eat a snake before, but since I came to this world I have tried many things, so I just gnawed it.
It tastes oddly crisp, but since it was burn nicely, it doesn't taste too bad.
Ellie didn't say anything either, and silently eating it.
"Thanks for the food. Sometimes this kind of stuff is good too."
"Right. I never thought that this thing can be eat."
"You need to be more grateful, Masaru. It's not like we have access to food 24/7 during journey."
"Have you ever had it before?"
"It is not a problem, you know~? It's just a mental attitude stuff."
Aren't you!
Well Ellie did have an Item Box. Then something was caught in my detection.
"Nrgh. Something is coming. It is alone, but it is quite big."
While thinking about a comeback for Ellie, I detected something approaching.
"It is alone, want to hunt it down?"
"I'll check it over for a while, Alvin!"
I tell Alvin who is about to call everyone up. There is still quite some times before morning, but I don't think that I'll get bored.
After that, there are 3 more raids before the sun rise. Although the first one ran away, the following one don't. The second one is a huge moth. I burnt it out by using a Fire Magic, but Ellie got angry with me.
Seems like its wing is some kind of material.
But listen to me first. A 1-meter or over Moth will be attracted here.
Even after getting shot by the fire arrow, it still struggles a lot. It can't be helped if it gets burnt completely.
The black leopard is a good hunter, lurking within the darkness. However, faced with my detection skill, there is no escape for him. Not only that, it's black shiny fur is popular too. Unlike the common one, this black leopard is much bigger than the one on Earth. If it were to launch a surprise attack on night time, then there is no doubt that many people can't handle it.
Alvin has a blue face when he looks at it. He really is a dangerous demon.
While looking upward, Alvin said that the sky is gradually turning bright.
"Hey, is it okay for us to be on this watch duty?"
"Yes. But well, you did have more people in your party, aren't you?"
"But we are not helpful at all……"
"I don't do much too. We all depended on Masaru. That's why don't think too much about it, okay?"
"The Stealthy Step is a good way to defeat an opponent silently. Just like the night hunter, hahahaha."
Night Hunter is what people refer to black leopard. It is certainly frightening, but it is not a dangerous enemy to me.
"Good grief. I really don't know what Masaru want to be actually. Perhaps, you want to be an assassin?"
"I want to be a great Mage though……"
"That's it. I'm going to be a great Mage too, so that I can defeat the Orc King."
"Eh~ but that guy is super strong. Don't you think so, Alvin?"
"It is quite impossible to defeat it alone, I think…"
"Just take a look at our situation. What are the most dangerous moment during a fight? It is during approaching the enemy. In other word, you need to increase your melee combat skill more than your magic. Just take a look at Sati. Although I'm the one to attack the Orc King, I'm not injured. That is because it is aiming at Masaru."
I'm not trying to think about it, but you are going to open the topic, huh. But me acting as a vanguard is too scary to think off.
"I don't have the confidence to be a vanguard. To be honest, I'm too scared. I just want to continue shooting magic from behind."
"You are scared of Orc?"
"I'm not scared of Orc."
Not like before, now an Orc is a small fry to me.
"Well then, Harpy?"
"Not too scared with them, surprisingly."
Harpy usually are in large number, and I think that I was able to cope well last time.
"Then, the Orc King?"
"I'm scared a bit, but the next time I'm going to take it down."
Just to be on the safe side, I already raised my Swordsmanship to level 5. It should be okay next time.
"Then what is it that you are afraid of, duh?"
Oh? I'm not scared of anything, huh? Then what on Earth am I so scared for…?
"It's the Orc. Orc is scary, supposedly. That's why I'm going to stick on being a magician……"
That's right. When I went inside the forest for the first time, I thought that being a vanguard is totally impossible when I saw more than one Orc came out. However, with my current capability, it's going to be okay even if there are 5 or 6 Orcs.
"So, you can handle the Orcs now?"
"Yeah. It is not as scary anymore now that I think about it. But I'm going to pass it if you ask me to tank the Dragon."
"It is easier if everyone were to take it down together. But won't it be too easy then?"
"Right. I'm sure it will be easier."
I don't know how I will look, but I'll most probably cry if it was me when I was just summoned. Our party's offensive power is truly amazing.
"Easy win against a Dragon?"
"Yeah. In the end, it is just a big lizard that is spewing fire."
I see, there is no particular problem on being a vanguard. Even though we can still launch a magical attack as a first strike, we still need to consider a melee combat as a finisher without using any magic.
"Ellie is so smart."
"Wh-what are you saying now. This much is just normal!"
I can treat the Swordsmanship skill as something that I used to only protect myself anymore. From now on I need to use it to strike the enemy offensively.
I've been skipping lots of training lately. When we come back, I need to join the training with Sergeant dono.
"I'm hungry. Let's wake up everyone else and have breakfast."
"Right. I've eaten the snake only, now I'm hungry as well."
"You've been eating, snakes?"
For a while now, Tilika has her head out of the Kamakura.
"Yea. But it is not that tasty, wasn't it?"
"Not fair. I want to eat it too."
"Yes, yes. Masaru, get it for her later, okay?"
"When we are moving then."
"Can't wait for the snake."
Is it that good till you can't wait for it?
With that in mind, I take out the ingredient from my Item Box and start preparing breakfast.