Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 53

53.

The first time I actually saw a ‘monster’ was on a scorching afternoon four days later. That day, we were nearing the first of three checkpoints we had to pass before reaching Clamor. The monster I encountered on the wide-open plains was, absurdly, a creature with a human body and a pig’s head.

Its mouth, panting heavily, revealed long, sharp tusks. The weapons they carried were mostly crude spears or short, clumsy axes.

“Orcs.”

As if deliberately targeting the convoy, the monsters quickly occupied the road, beginning to encircle us widely. A quick count suggested there were over a hundred of them.

“Orcs? Is that a monster?”

“Yeah, that’s right. They’re relatively easy to deal with as low-level monsters, except they move in groups. They don’t scare easily and persistently follow you, which is a bit annoying, though.”

“Hee, I see.”

To think I’d see a monster I’d only heard about like this!

Despite being low-level monsters that were only a threat in groups, no one seemed tense in the face of so many enemies. Only Isana, who had as little experience with monsters as I did, was frozen stiff.

“Schweee! Schweeee!”

The orcs’ breathing sounded rough, like metal scraping. They also seemed to emit a foul odor from their fur and bodies. Then, one of the orcs in the group shouted in a loud voice.

“Schweek, humans! If you leave your belongings, we won’t kill you, schweek! Hand over your goods quietly, schweek!”

“Schweek, we outnumber you, schweek! Don’t resist uselessly, schweek! Hand over your goods!”

‘Wow! They really do talk!’

It was fascinating to see a pig’s head on a human body speaking human language. It was like a pig standing and talking like a person.

Just then, Trowell, who was lightly stretching, gave me a look.

“El, move to the side.”

“Huh?”

What was he planning to do?

As I looked at him, puzzled, he smiled gently and replied.

“They won’t back down easily, so we have to take care of them. There might be some unpleasant scenes, so you and Ly can cover your eyes.”

“Unpleasant scenes?”

“…It’ll be over soon.”

He muttered something completely unrelated to the question, avoiding my gaze. He looked somehow embarrassed.

“Tch, the first ones are just a bunch of orcs.”

Then, Herol, who had been cracking his neck from side to side, took something out of the luggage on his back and began assembling it quickly. Clang, clang—in the blink of an eye, it was complete: a giant axe-spear. It was so large that most people would have trouble holding it with both hands. He gripped it in one hand and shouted boldly at the orcs.

“Hey, pig-heads. We’re very busy right now. If you just quietly run away, we won’t kill you. Okay? What’s it gonna be?”

“Wahahaha!”

At the same time, laughter echoed from the mercenaries here and there. It was obvious to anyone that they were blatantly mocking the orcs. Even monsters with low intelligence seemed to understand that much.

“Schweek! Arrogant humans, schweek!”

“Attack, schweek! Kill them all!”

The offended orcs roared and began swinging their axes. This soon led to a battle with the waiting mercenaries.

Thwack! With a dull sound, an orc’s head was split in half by a descending spear, rolling onto the ground. Splattered brain matter and red blood began to soak the ground.

“Ugh!”

I wasn’t even fighting, just watching, but my heart was pounding like crazy. Was this the price for ignoring Trowell’s advice? Having foolishly watched the battle, my face froze at the horrific scene of slaughter unfolding before my eyes. It was a good thing I was a spirit; if I were a normal person, I probably would have been revisiting what I had for breakfast (which was just soup, anyway).

In the meantime, the orcs were being mercilessly butchered.

“Kuhahaha! This is the taste! I was dying of boredom from just traveling! You guys are helping me out! Puhahaha!”

“Herol! Kill even the ones that are running away! If we leave these guys alive, they’ll bring back more!”

“I know! Leave it to me!”

Herol replied with a wild laugh to Sherry’s shout. He was moving through the orc ranks with only his axe. Whoosh! At the same time as the heavy sound of air being cut, the heads of three orcs in front of him fell off at once. And then, another fountain of blood erupted. Ugh! I shouldn’t have watched.

“You damn bastard! Think about the kids watching! Can’t you kill them a little more gently? You’re not a troll, why are you slitting their throats?”

“That’s what I should be saying, witch! Control the strength of your whip! Can’t you see that torso split in half?”

“Shut up! It’s much better than a smashed head!”

“Don’t be ridiculous! A severed head is better than spilled guts!”

“What did you say??”

Ughhh, this is mental torture! Even though I was averting my eyes, I covered my mouth because of the live broadcast (?) from Herol and Iril. Isana’s face was also rapidly turning pale. Seeing that, Trowell frowned slightly and quickly stepped between them to stop them.

“Herol, Iril! If you have time to argue, finish the fight quickly. It’ll be dark soon.”

“Ah! S-sorry, Matthew.”

“Tch, just know that I’m holding back because of Matthew!”

But even after that, their argument didn’t end easily. The only good thing was that they no longer argued about the way they were killing monsters.

To be so relaxed even while fighting. These things seemed like natural daily life to them, like breathing.

Thwack!

At that moment, a light striking sound rang out right next to me. Trowell had delivered a spinning kick to an orc that was attacking him. The orc, kicked away by his foot, foamed at the mouth and collapsed to the ground. It was clear that he had died from a single kick.

Not only that, but he lightly leaped into the air, landed lightly on the orcs’ axes extended towards him, and then quickly struck. It was a clean way of dealing with things without blood splattering or gruesome remains.

Hewsen was also suppressing only the vital points of the monsters with equally clean movements. Wherever he passed, the orcs’ corpses piled up like fallen leaves in a cold wind.

Even to my untrained eyes, their movements were all beautiful. Even the other mercenaries, who should have been busy fighting, were넋 놓고 staring [넋 놓고 staring (neok nohgo staring) is a Korean expression that means to be so engrossed in something that one is in a daze]. Isana was also engrossed in watching their fight with admiring eyes.

“They’re really amazing…”

“Yeah, incredible.”

In the blink of an eye, most of the monsters were dealt with. As the situation was roughly coming to an end, Trowell approached me as if he had no more regrets. Even after facing so many orcs, there wasn’t a single drop of sweat on his face.

As he stepped back, the other Champagne mercenaries also turned around, and the remaining few orcs met their final end at the hands of other mercenaries. The bitter smell of blood and the scattered corpses made me grimace, but I smiled brightly at the returning group who had achieved great success.

“You’re really amazing. To deal with so many monsters in the blink of an eye.”

“Hehe. This much is like an after-dinner dessert for us. How was it? Was I cool?”

“Yes, you were really cool. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“We’re fine. It looks like those humans over there are a bit hurt, though.”

As Mighty said that, he pointed to the Vodka mercenary group at the front. I heard that they also had multiple Silver Badges like Hewsen and the others, but it seemed like they had suffered more damage than expected. There were red marks all over their shoulders, legs, and head.

As the noisy surroundings were somewhat settled, someone appeared from inside the carriage. Since it was rare for someone inside the carriage to come out, everyone’s attention naturally focused on that side.

Carefully walking out was a black-haired man wearing a pure white robe. He approached the injured and muttered something while placing his hand on the affected area. Then, white light emanated from his hand, and the wound healed in the blink of an eye. The group’s eyes widened at the same time.

“Gasp, could it be a priest?”

“Hee, really. As expected of a merchant group that’s among the top three on the continent. To accompany a simple baggage carriage schedule with such an expensive priest. They must have money to burn, huh?”

Priests with healing abilities are very expensive as they are rare. The amount of money it costs to receive treatment once at a temple exceeds the monthly living expenses of ordinary people. So, it was unimaginable how much it would cost to accompany them on such a long-term journey.

Mighty muttered with a regretful expression as he watched the priest quickly heal the injured.

“If I had known this would happen, should I have gotten hurt a little? I wanted to be treated by a priest at least once in my life.”

“You’re crazy. Do you think a priest’s divine power is omnipotent? It only looks like they’re healed on the outside, but they need to rest for a while even after receiving treatment, and it takes a long time to return to their previous physical condition. If I were you, I just wouldn’t get hurt.”

“Tch, I was just saying!”

While they were arguing, the priest who had finished the treatment returned to the carriage. I only saw his back from a distance, but he was an existence that left a strong impression in a short time.