Orc and Goblin Cavalry

I don’t know why the orcs are searching for me, but one thing is certain: allowing the enemy to escape would make things troublesome.

“…Should we go back?”

“I think that would be good. The problem is that now the stairs aren’t in a fixed location, but keep appearing and disappearing repeatedly.”

Inis took out her magic compass and showed it to me. The magic needle didn’t move at all.

“So there are no stairs nearby.”

“No.”

We didn’t know how far we’d have to travel to find stairs. I chewed on some jerky while pondering the situation.

“Maybe it would be better not to use divine power? I do have a weapon, so I could use that instead.”

I still carried a mace with me just in case.

“Maybe you could handle goblins, but would it be possible to face orcs? That seems too dangerous.”

Even Inis, who was professionally trained and blessed by Egun, was only now able to engage orcs in direct combat. How could I possibly manage?

“…It does seem difficult.”

With my physical abilities alone, I would still be active in the goblin cave. Without divine power, I wasn’t at the level to operate here.

“Or perhaps you could use it just to finish off enemies! That might work too!”

Isabella, who had been quiet until now, gently joined the conversation to offer her suggestion.

“That’s not bad. But as I said, it’s not bad—not that it’s a good idea.”

The divine power I received wasn’t meant for finishing off enemies, but rather to overwhelm them from the start.

“What if you use divine power when the enemy comes close enough that they can’t escape? How about that?”

“Hmm.”

It wasn’t much different from what Isabella had said. But these suggestions were probably the best we could come up with.

“Alright. Let’s go with that approach for now. You two handle the initial fighting.”

“Yes. Leave it to us.”

“I’ll do my best!”

Having reached a conclusion about using divine power, we got up. I took the magic compass from Inis.

I wondered how long we would have to stay here this time. It was a worrying moment.

Toot toot toot—!

The sound of a horn echoed across the plain.

“Master. They’re coming from behind!”

Inis shouted as she ran past us. Isabella and I quickly turned around.

Four orc riders and eight goblin riders. A unit comprised entirely of cavalry.

‘This is troublesome.’

Since our discussion earlier, we had fought several battles, and whenever enemies got close, they could never escape. But this time, we were facing a highly mobile rider unit.

“We might let them escape this time. Isabella, you’ll need to do well here.”

“I’ll do my best!”

Isabella answered energetically as she nocked an arrow to her bow. She immediately began firing.

Whizz—!

The wolf dodged the arrow that flew straight at it. Isabella clicked her tongue.

“Focus on taking out the goblin riders. I’ll handle the orc riders.”

It wasn’t easy to hit the wolves with the straightforward movement of arrows. They were extremely quick-witted creatures.

“Understood.”

She fired another arrow even as she answered. Unlike the orc riders, a goblin rider immediately fell after being hit by her attack.

“Phew.”

I looked at the approaching enemies and measured the distance.

How close would they need to get for the orc riders to be unable to escape? I couldn’t be certain of anything, but I needed to avoid putting Inis in a dangerous situation.

“Awooooo—!”

The howling of wolves.

I wiggled my fingers as I watched the enemies closing the gap in real-time. I wanted to use divine power right away, but I held back firmly.

“Ignite!”

The moment the enemy entered the range of my divine power, I quickly shouted.

Flare—!

Fire caught on the fur of the wolf at the very back. It made whimpering sounds as it rolled on the ground.

“Kuaaaaaargh—!”

As soon as the orc riders confirmed the flames, they began to turn their bodies. They immediately moved outside the range of my divine power.

“Fire Arrow.”

I immediately summoned a fire arrow. After setting it to track one enemy, I summoned two more. A total of three divine power arrows began chasing the enemy.

“Fire.”

Following that, I summoned flames to deal with the goblin riders who were trying to take the attacks meant for the orcs.

Whizz—!

Isabella also worked hard to kill the goblin riders.

“Master. I’ll handle this side!”

At her words, I nodded and focused on my divine power.

Three fire arrows.

I had rarely handled two divine powers simultaneously, let alone three. It might be possible with practice, but it was impossible right now.

However, I could use a trick.

Fire arrows had the ability to track enemies, so I could use that. If I just commanded them to track, the burden was much less.

I reduced the strain of handling multiple divine powers. However, since the wolves were much faster, the distance between the orc riders and the arrows kept increasing.

‘This won’t work.’

I looked at the arrows chasing the enemy. The faint magical power connecting the divine power to me. Through it, I sent magical power.

“Phew.”

A clear sense of connection with the arrows. I exhaled sharply, then sent magical power while conveying my will.

What I wanted was acceleration. Imagining faster arrows, I muttered softly.

“Accelerate.”

The arrows greedily consumed magical power and grew larger. At the same time, they scattered flames and became faster.

The wolf couldn’t avoid the suddenly accelerated divine power, and it eventually engulfed the orc.

Flare—

I clenched my fist. I transmitted my will and magical power to the other two arrows as well. Another one hit. However, the last one somehow managed to avoid the attack. The arrow passed by.

“Ah!”

Isabella cried out as if disappointed. But it was still too early to make conclusions.

I strengthened the connection with the arrow. Much magical power was consumed due to the increased distance, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

Click-

I moved my hand. The arrow immediately changed direction and attacked the orc rider.

Whoosh—!

The creature dodged again, just barely. It was truly a persistent wolf. I moved my hand again.

Crash!

Finally, the attack hit, and the entire body burst into flames. Seeing this, I let out a deep sigh of relief.

“It gets harder the further we go.”

“Indeed.”

I could see Inis finishing off the fallen orc after chasing the enemy. I took out the magic compass. It still wasn’t moving at all.

“I think we should find a place to sleep soon. What do you think?”

“I think that would be good too. Master seems tired, and so does Senior Inis.”

“Then let’s look for a forest as soon as Inis returns.”

“Yes.”

I placed both hands on my waist and raised my head. Suddenly, I felt dizzy.

“Master!”

Isabella hurriedly approached and supported my body. I felt her chest against my arm. It was a moderate size, neither too big nor too small.

“Thank you.”

“N-not at all!”

She blushed and stepped back slightly. Soon, Inis approached us.

“Master. I’ve collected all the magic stones.”

“Thank you.”

I took the magic stones and put them all in my pouch. After putting them in my bag, I told Inis exactly what I had said earlier.

“Yes. I was thinking we should rest soon too. There was a forest on the path we came from earlier. How about we go there?”

“Do you remember which direction it was?”

“Yes. I remember it’s to the right from here.”

As expected of Inis. She was very capable.

“Alright. Let’s go that way.”

I adopted her suggestion. We immediately headed in the direction where the forest was said to be. The forest appeared shortly after we started walking.

“Wow.”

Isabella exclaimed softly. She seemed not to have expected to find it at all. Inis puffed up proudly.

We entered the forest and found a spot. Since we couldn’t use fire, we filled our stomachs with jerky and water. Inis immediately began digging under a tree to create a hideout.

“We should dig this side.”

I nodded with satisfaction as I watched the two slaves working. Yes, this is why I bought slaves—so I wouldn’t have to do this work myself.

“Like this?”

Isabella seemed quite clumsy at digging, perhaps because she had never done such work before. Still, it was admirable to see her trying to learn earnestly from Inis.

“Maybe we should buy a tent artifact?”

Seeing the two slaves working so hard, I had that thought. We still had plenty of money left.

“It would be convenient if we had one. We wouldn’t have to dig like this; we could just set up a tent in an open space. But it wouldn’t be cheap.”

“That’s right! You can’t use a tent artifact alone. You also need to procure an artifact that can guard the surroundings. And you also need artifacts that prevent light or smell from leaking out!”

“Isabella, it seems you’ve used one before.”

“Yes, I have used one before. I had to return everything except for 200 gold, a bow, and armor…”

Isabella’s expression was bright as she said this. Probably because she was now free.

After finishing digging, we put our backpacks inside. Since we had dug wider this time, our bodies didn’t touch even with all of us inside.

“It’s cozier than I expected.”

“It has its own charm, doesn’t it?”

Isabella nodded at my words.

“Well then, good night.”

I said that and immediately closed my eyes. Inis and Isabella also said good night, and we all fell asleep shortly after.

“Kerururuk…”

I woke up to the sound of goblins crying outside. My body tensed slightly. Looking to the side, I saw that Inis was already awake, while Isabella was still sleeping.

Tap tap-

“Eh…?”

She made a silly sound when I touched her. I immediately covered her mouth with my hand and shook her body more. Her eyes slowly opened.

“Shh.”

Isabella’s eyes widened as our gazes met. She moved her body slightly. After removing my hand and cautioning her, Isabella nodded.

We lay in place and focused on the sounds from outside.

“Kuaaaaaargh—!”

“Kerururuk!”

“Keruk. Keruk!”

The cry of an orc. Followed by goblin sounds.

Thud, thud thud- Thud-

Sounds like something was being touched. Sometimes there were sounds of hitting something hard, and sometimes sounds of hitting something soft.

Orcs and goblins gathered in the forest. There had been the sound of hitting something with a club for a while now. What was their intention?

‘Could it be…’

Thud—

Just as one possibility occurred to me, the tree above us shook.

Inis turned her gaze toward me, pointed upward, and mouthed ‘No way’. I nodded in response.

Yes. They were looking for us right now. Us who were hiding in the ground.