Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 279

15. The Overpowered Cowboy

Behind the Cowboy Oakland branch, a vast open space stretched out.

There, several Orcs were dismantling monsters caught nearby.

Their bodies were so emaciated that bones were visible, clad in tattered clothes that barely kept out the wind.

Adding to this, their vacant eyes, devoid of any will, testified to their identity.

A Cowboy holding a whip lashed it towards an Orc slave.

Swish!

“Ugh, ugh!”

Unhealed wounds split open, spraying blood from the Orc slave’s back.

“It, it hurts. Do, don’t hit. Orc hurts. Don’t hit.”

However, the Cowboy seemed to have no intention of showing mercy.

“Stand straight, you good-for-nothing…! What makes you think you can lie down and rest!? I clearly told you to butcher all the meat here by today. Why have you only finished this much?”

“Am, am doing. But too much. Orc, Orc needs more time.”

The Orc slave desperately made excuses, but the Cowboy’s anger showed no signs of abating.

“You Orcs have become too talkative. Aish! If you don’t want to starve tonight, work like you’re dead! What, too much? This is the medicine for your rotten minds!”

The Cowboy once again raised his whip and began to lash out like a man possessed.

The Orc slave screamed madly, but the whipping did not stop.

Gawain, who was following Cainchel to the training grounds, clicked his tongue as he watched.

“Tsk, I heard they were using slaves, but seeing it from an Orc’s perspective pisses me off a bit.”

It seemed he felt a strange sense of kinship, perhaps because he was transformed into an Orc, at least in appearance.

The Cowboy chuckled as he saw the excited Gawain snorting.

“Branch Leader, are those newly caught slaves? They look quite lively, don’t they? The way they’re drooling, they must know when their meal is. Here, have some.”

The Cowboy grabbed a chunk of meat that had been butchered and piled up in one area and threw it towards Gawain.

He didn’t need to ask what kind of meat it was.

It was the first humiliation he had experienced since becoming a Sword Master.

However, Gawain was not so easily provoked as to draw his sword in anger.

He merely twisted his lips and muttered softly.

“I’ve made sure to remember that guy’s face. I’ll sneak in at night and shave all the hair off his body. And I’ll lightly scorch him so that his hair never grows back.”

Gawain had enough ability and time to do so.

While the Cowboy was imagining things that would make him sweat buckets if he knew.

Cainchel was paying attention to something completely different.

‘I’ve heard that they use monster hides and bones to make armor and weapons, but that, no matter how I look at it…’

The Orc slaves showed no revulsion towards the monster meat.

Their gaze was no different from how humans look at beef or pork.

‘It seems Orcs have no aversion to monster meat at all.’

He suddenly wondered how Orcs cooked and ate monsters.

Perhaps the secret to Gran Karack’s fearsome strength lay in this.

When the Cowboys continued to taunt Cainchel and Gawain, the Branch Leader raised his voice, unable to watch any longer.

“They’re not slaves, but newly joined Cowboy aspirants. We will be conducting their entry test from now on, so anyone who wants to observe can gather at the training grounds.”

“Huh? But they’re not warriors, just ordinary Orcs, right? Even if we’re short on manpower, that’s a bit…”

“I heard from Parkerson that they’ve even subjugated a Gorgon [a monster from Greek mythology with snakes for hair, whose gaze turns people to stone]. If we raise them well, they might become decent Cowboys.”

“Hahaha. Branch Leader Marcus, your jokes are getting better every day. It must have been a coincidence, of course. They must have caught one that was old, sick, and collapsing.”

“It didn’t seem like that. The head was very fresh. Anyway, where are those Orcs from?”

Marcus was also feeling a sense of doubt. The strength of a branch is determined by the level of the Cowboys who belong to it.

That’s why he had searched the nearby villages for decent Orcs just a few days ago.

Of course, the harvest was zero.

“Even if Orcs grow quickly, if there was one that strong, I would have heard about it already. Still, just in case, we’ll do a direct test. We’ll know their exact skills soon enough.”

“I’m already looking forward to it. That ignorant guy probably thinks he’s stronger just because he’s big. Branch Leader’s Aura Sword is strong enough to become a Captain of the Knights. Show him the terror of humans.”

Marcus shrugged in response.

Thus, the duel between the unidentified Orc Gray and Oakland Branch Leader Marcus began.

Before long, more than a dozen Cowboys had gathered at the training grounds. Most of them had come to see Marcus beat the Orc to a pulp.

“There are more spectators than I thought. It would be a shame to end it too quickly, so let’s have them come at me one by one.”

“Al, alright.”

Marcus gave Cainchel, who was choosing a wooden sword for the duel, a bitter smile.

“There’s no need for that. You can just use the weapon you usually use. It doesn’t matter if it has a blade or not since you won’t hit me anyway.”

Cainchel’s eyes narrowed. Using a real sword in a duel was tantamount to tacitly agreeing that you wouldn’t complain even if you died in an accident.

“You’ll die, human. Gray strong.”

“Haha! That’s why it’s okay. I’ve done this kind of duel thousands, no, tens of thousands of times. Well then, shall we begin?”

Marcus looked at the gray-skinned Orc standing opposite him with a relaxed face.

He was wearing worn-out armor and had two swords that were strangely concerning.

He must have stolen them from somewhere.

And the moment Orc Gray drew his sword, an enormous killing intent washed over Marcus.

Rumble-!

It felt as if he had entered a cage of beasts naked.

In an instant, Gray’s figure disappeared from Marcus’s sight. To be exact, he was moving so fast that it only seemed that way.

“Wh, what is this…?”

Marcus’s back was drenched in cold sweat.

Before shock could even voice a question, his body reacted first. Marcus reflexively rolled on the ground without realizing it.

He felt a certain conviction that he would die if he didn’t.

The Cowboys who were watching tilted their heads with incomprehensible expressions.

“Why is the Branch Leader doing that?”

“Did he trip over a rock or something?”

“…Could that vile guy have used poison? Did anyone see anything?”

“I was watching with both eyes wide open, and the Orc didn’t do anything. He just drew his sword and took one step forward.”

“Then why is the Branch Leader doing that…?”

The voices of the Cowboys chattering away reached Marcus’s ears.

And he realized a chillingly terrifying fact.

“…What, he just took one step forward?”

It was an incomprehensible event. He hadn’t swung his sword, nor had he used an Aura Sword [a technique that enhances a weapon with magical energy].

Just taking a step had caused him to feel such overwhelming pressure.

It was an unbelievable event. Marcus had crossed swords with the Captain of the Oakland Knights several times.

He was a strongman to the point where he could not find an opponent in this area, a man who wielded the Aura Sword like a possessed person.

Even against him, he had never felt such an overwhelming gap.

Saliva dripped from between Gray’s slightly parted lips each time he breathed.

In appearance, he was an Orc commonly seen in the Aragon Union.

But from the moment he drew his sword, it felt as if he was facing a giant mountain.

The Orc’s lips parted slightly, and a nasal, clumsy voice flowed out.

“…Onion Swordsmanship.”

At the same time, the sword the Orc was holding multiplied into seven. Several of the Cowboys who were watching foamed at the mouth.

“Ju, ju, Intermediate Swordsmanship?!

“Damn it… Did I drink too much yesterday and start seeing things from midday…? Hey, sorry, but can you pinch my cheek for a moment?”

“I’d like to ask you too.”

“…Ugh! That hurts like hell!”

Most Orcs use basic swordsmanship that has been thoroughly honed in actual combat.

Thanks to their overwhelming physical abilities and innate fighting instincts, there are more Orcs who can handle Aura than one might think.

It’s like putting meat on a burning flame and having it grilled enough to eat.

However, the taste is, of course, incomparable to a properly seared steak.

Intermediate swordsmanship is also the same. It is not enough to have a slight Aura Sword form at the tip of the sword depending on emotions.

You must be able to control Aura completely like your own body to achieve the 1-star of intermediate swordsmanship.

In the end, being able to wield intermediate swordsmanship is enough to be called an Orc warrior representing the tribe.

Marcus could not even move as he watched the seven swords create a storm to shred his body.

Like a herbivore freezing in front of a beast, his feet would not move no matter how hard he tried.

And the seven sword strikes created many scratches on the armor Marcus was wearing.

Marcus felt a chill as he realized what that meant.

“He clearly said it would pass if it just grazed my body… Ugh, ugh!”

If the opponent had even a slight intention to kill, he would have ended up like the monsters sprawled in the corner.

Marcus looked at the Orc still holding the sword and realized that he had forgotten something very important.

He didn’t want to admit it, but the result was too clear.

“Ha, ha, ha, you pass, Orc warrior Gray! From today, you are a Cowboy of the Oakland branch!”

Cainchel put Durandal back into its scabbard with a satisfied expression.

“Orc earn money. Can’t carry all alone. Green strong. Many monsters near here.”

“Cough, cough!”

It was an almost perfect performance.

Would anyone in this place know that the Orc in front of them was actually a hero of Britannia?

‘I’m glad I studied Asura beforehand. You can always use what you learn.’

Marcus’s face turned white at the word Green. He had forgotten for a moment, but the test was not over yet.

But could he really survive this time?

“Green strong. Doesn’t end with grazing.”

“Hiiiik!”

Thus, Gawain, who had been warming up next to him, ended up only warming up until the end.

The two Orcs, who received copper hexagrams from Marcus, officially became members of the Oakland branch.

‘This is the symbol of the Cowboy. It’s not much different from a mercenary.’

And he headed to the reception desk to see if there were any worthwhile subjugation requests.

The Cowboys who were watching opened the way without saying a word. The man who had thrown monster meat at Gawain was nowhere to be seen.

‘Well, I probably won’t see him again.’

Gawain, who was walking side by side, asked.

“By the way. I thought you were going to kill the Branch Leader at first because you even used intermediate swordsmanship. But you only grazed him. How did you do that?”

Cainchel shrugged in response.

When you use ‘Brilliant Road,’ the optimal sword path becomes visible as light. But recently, I’ve also been able to see the worst sword path.

‘No matter how hard I swing my sword with all my might, I can only give the opponent a grazing wound. But sometimes that can be very useful.’

From the beginning, he had no intention of hurting Marcus or the Cowboys.

What he needed now was not notoriety. Pure strength that the Great Chieftain of the Orcs would covet.

He was going to prove it from now on.

* * *

There are two main types of Cowboys.

Bounty hunter types who receive subjugation requests registered with the branch and receive rewards for defeating the targeted monsters.

And adventurer types who freely roam around and wipe out monsters in the vicinity.

The latter can earn a fortune if they are lucky because they can keep all the byproducts obtained from the monsters.

However, many people who are confident in their skills are reluctant to do so because they never know when they will encounter a dangerous monster.

Of course, both types of Cowboys were welcome from the Branch Leader’s point of view.

The former receives about 30% of the money in the name of commission, and the latter exclusively purchases byproducts.

In return, they provide repairs and production of weapons, information, etc., which can be said to be a mutually beneficial relationship.

As Cainchel approached the reception desk, a man with a familiar face jumped up.

His attitude was completely different from a few hours ago.

“Orc now receive request.”

“O, of course. There are plenty of monster subjugation requests, so you can choose the one you want and go. However, C-class and above are highly dangerous, so I would like to recommend those below that.”

Monsters classified as C-class are those with great strength, such as trolls, ogres, and minotaurs.

Of course, even if they are weak, those with dangerous characteristics like Gorgons are ranked one level higher.

‘They have ranked the monsters in order of how difficult they are to deal with. I’ll have to find out more about this later.’

Of course, those classified as S-class are those that humans cannot deal with through normal means, such as demons and dragons.

And A-class is a level that the Knights or Cowboy branches must face with the determination to be annihilated.

In the end, B-class is said to be the limit that the branch can handle.

“How about subjugating the Gnolls [a race of hyena-like humanoids] that are frequently appearing near the fortress among the E-class requests? If you subjugate their leader, Gnoll Chieftain, it will be treated as D-class, so the reward is quite high.”

“Grrr.”

Cainchel narrowed his eyes as he looked at the requests posted on the bulletin board. When a subjugation request is received, a scout goes to check the monster and then determines the rank according to its danger level.

Most of the requests were D~E class, and occasionally C class was seen.

At that time, a request covered in dust came into Cainchel’s view.

When he read the letters written on it, his mouth watered without him realizing it.

‘This is it.’

Cainchel tore off the request form and took it to the reception desk. Then the receptionist’s eyes widened.