Ch.108Chapter 108: Orc Expedition.

After a brief strategy meeting, Valt’s group departed the next day directly for the Oscar Kingdom territory of the Eastern Alliance.

Their role was to join an Orc expedition force composed of adventurers and mercenaries to defend against an Orc detachment.

The plan was to buy time while Grace’s forces drove away the Orc troops.

No matter how strong Valt was, he couldn’t single-handedly block an Orc force exceeding 30,000.

Thus, Valt, Lisa, Arias, Lilith, and Grace arrived at the Leverin territory, one of Oscar Kingdom’s domains.

“Teleportation is certainly convenient. Gerungtu should build facilities like this soon too.”

Indeed, transportation was Quan’s biggest concern for Gerungtu.

If teleportation became available in the South, where black horses had been the main mode of transportation, the region could develop exponentially.

However, since it was costly and time-consuming, teleportation facilities weren’t widespread yet.

But that was just a matter of time.

In any case, after quickly arriving at Leverin territory, Valt’s group exchanged farewells with Grace.

“This is where I leave you. I don’t think you’ll have trouble with mere Orcs, but be careful anyway, Valt.”

“Sure, I wish you good luck.”

With those words, Grace departed via teleport to another region to intercept other Orcs.

Looking back, Valt saw that Lisa, Arias, and Lilith had very excited expressions.

That was understandable since none of them had much experience traveling across the continent.

Lisa was obvious, but Arias had only lived in the Great Forest. The same went for Lilith—having lived only in dark places, she had been deeply moved when she first came to the Academy.

“Let’s find an inn and unpack first. Is that okay with everyone?”

Lisa, who had been looking around curiously, agreed with Valt’s suggestion.

“Yes!! Valt, let’s eat too! I heard there’s a famous restaurant here? They’re known for their pork tenderloin steak with special barbecue sauce!”

When visiting new places, trying local specialties is always fun.

“Sure, let’s go.”

***

After quickly securing rooms at an inn, Valt’s group went out to eat.

There had been a small commotion when booking the inn.

It was because Lilith had said she would share a room with Valt.

With only two rooms left due to the Orc expedition force taking up space, and both rooms being doubles, this caused an issue.

In the end, it was decided that the three women would share one room, which was spacious enough, while Valt would have a room to himself.

‘Lilith… saying such outrageous things with such a nonchalant expression…’

Leaving behind the subtle tension between Arias and Lilith, Valt’s group went to eat and discuss their plans.

“Wow!! This is incredibly delicious!? It’s so different from what we eat in the Imperial Capital, right!?”

As Lisa said, the barbecue pork had a truly special flavor.

Even Valt, who would eat almost anything, was surprised by how excellent it tasted.

Especially Arias and Lilith, who loved meat, enjoyed the food so much that they each ate two portions.

Valt, of course, ate five portions.

While enjoying the food, Arias asked Valt:

“What’s the plan now? We’re joining the expedition force, right?”

Valt nodded at Arias’s question.

“Yes, that’s why we came here. I think it would be best if we all get assigned to the mage unit.”

Mages were quite rare.

Especially when forming expedition forces of mercenaries and adventurers, those who could use magic were typically assigned separately.

However, every single person in Valt’s group could use magic.

In other words, they were a party composed entirely of mages, though thanks to Valt, they appeared outwardly to be a well-rounded party.

“I’ll go as the representative to register. The expedition force registration office is outside the village. You all can look around the village in the meantime.”

Lisa was the most excited about Valt’s suggestion.

“Hehe, Valt is the best! I’m counting on you!”

What happened next was predictable.

Valt went to the expedition force registration office, showed his Stone Bullet spell, and completed the registration while the staff looked on in amazement.

No one could argue against Valt being classified as a mage after witnessing the power that could collapse a mountain with a single stone.

***

Despite not being regular troops, the expedition force was quite systematically organized.

Given the large-scale battle ahead, a chain of command was necessary.

Command groups were formed based on mercenary and adventurer ranks, and troops were organized into units accordingly.

Naturally, the mage unit that Valt joined was led by an outstanding mercenary mage.

Upon inquiry, he learned it was an S-rank mercenary wind mage named Martina.

Her magic, which could summon storms and included many large-scale area spells, was well-suited for major conflicts like this.

“What? A barbarian mage?”

“That’s right. They said there’s a barbarian, an elf, a vampire, and a human. All of them are mages and they asked to be assigned to the mage unit.”

Martina was deeply intrigued by the barbarian mage and the other non-human mages joining her unit.

Since the Orcs hadn’t advanced yet, they were still on standby.

So Martina planned to meet these non-human mages the next day.

The following day.

Training to face the Orc army began.

While such training might be unnecessary for individual combat, at minimum, formation training was needed to reduce casualties.

Though it was training in name only, it was still much better than nothing, so Valt and his friends naturally participated.

Mage training was somewhat unique.

Since mages typically provided rear support, their training involved memorizing unit formations and practicing appropriate support methods.

Of course, the hastily organized training wasn’t perfectly coordinated, but as an S-rank mercenary, Martina was a battle-hardened mage with considerable expertise in conducting such training.

Arriving at the training ground a bit early, Valt looked around.

‘Hmm, interesting. It’s my first time seeing so many mages gathered.’

From Valt’s perception, most were mages below the 5th circle, but considering how rare mages were—especially high-circle ones—this wasn’t bad at all.

“Hmm~? If Lisa were placed here, she’d be considered quite skilled among these mages?”

At Valt’s comment, Lisa scratched the back of her head.

“Hehe, really? Being around you all the time has lowered my self-esteem a bit, but hearing you say that gives me some confidence.”

Lisa’s magic focused on enchantment.

The enchantment magic Lisa taught Valt was very basic, but the Valentine family’s enchantment magic wasn’t something just anyone could use.

The Valentine family was unrivaled in enchantment magic.

Their enchantment magic had become a genre of its own.

“Anyway, since I’m assigned to the mage unit, I should use some magic… What kind would be good? Increasing casting speed seems good… but the duration is too short… And giving elemental attributes to close-combat troops seems difficult too. This is hard, really hard.”

While Lisa was contemplating how she could be helpful, someone approached Valt’s group.

A tall mage with green hair. Despite her beautiful appearance, she had a small scar on her face.

It appeared to be a scar from a sword.

That scar added to her experienced aura.

“Are you the non-human mages…? Sir?”

Martina had started to speak casually when looking at Lisa but added honorifics after seeing Valt’s appearance.

Valt’s appearance made it impossible to believe he was only 20 years old.

Now quite civilized, Valt had long since broken the habit of speaking informally to everyone—at least when they addressed him respectfully.

“Yes… I am. What can I do for you?”

In response to Valt’s answer, Martina smiled brightly and extended her hand.

“Ah! Of course! With such a different appearance, how could I not recognize you! I’m Martina, the captain of this mage unit. Nice to meet you.”

‘Hmm? This woman? She’s certainly quite…’

As befitting an S-rank mercenary, Martina was a powerful 7th circle mage.

There were stronger mercenaries, but seeing Master-rank mercenaries above S-rank was as rare as catching stars from the sky.

After assessing Martina’s power, which she wasn’t hiding, Valt quickly lost interest.

Honestly, her magical ability was at a level that Lilith could handle on her own.

But Valt’s words displayed manners that would be impeccable even for someone from the Central Continent.

“To be greeted by the captain herself. With such a skilled person as captain, the mage unit has nothing to worry about.”

Martina was also trying to gauge the abilities of Valt and his companions.

‘My goodness, a barbarian at 5th circle? No, what about that white woman? I, I can’t gauge her? That means she’s similar to me or even stronger?’

Lilith expressed her displeasure at Martina’s intense stare.

“Is something wrong? Why are you staring at me like that?”

Startled, Martina apologized.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I just sensed such powerful magical energy… You’re 7th circle… aren’t you?”

Lilith merely nodded slightly at Martina’s question.

“I, I see! Please wait here for now. We’ll begin training once the other mage unit members arrive.”

With those words, Martina quickly left.

“Hehe, she seems surprised by Lilith’s ability. I wonder how that lady will react when she sees Valt’s magic later?”

Lisa could already vividly imagine Martina’s shocked expression.