Ch.193[Chapter 193] Unexpected Connection

“This is quite troublesome.”

“What’s troublesome about it? This is what happens when you’re so careless.”

Bishop Arcus lowered his head to look at the sky.

In this alley where the rooftops of buildings formed a line narrowing the sky, Bishop Arcus and mercenary Ogreson were in a very, very difficult situation.

“To think we’d fall for such a simple trap…”

“That’s why I kept warning you. I told you to be careful.”

Arcus turned his head at Ogreson’s scolding.

It was because Ogreson’s ugly face looked even uglier upside down.

Arcus brainwashed himself into thinking it definitely wasn’t because his pride was hurt by Ogreson being right.

Yes.

Right now, Arcus was caught in a snare trap, dangling upside down in mid-air.

“This damn thing won’t come loose. Can’t I just cut it?”

Ogreson spat on his hands, rubbed them together, and raised his greatsword.

He was suggesting the simplest solution instead of making things complicated.

“Ah, but then I’ll suddenly drop, won’t I?”

Arcus lowered his head again to look at the sky.

The snare trap was so crude that his head was only about 30cm from the ground, but the proximity actually made the fear worse.

While these visitors from Ferallant were engaged in their messy banter…

“Today’s our lucky day. A rich-looking cleric and a dull-looking mercenary.”

“Yes. Lucky indeed.”

“Lucky indeed.”

As always, all sorts of things happen with predictable regularity in Gacharland’s alleys.

This time was no different.

The most common event—a thief attack—was occurring.

Of course, what made this different from a game event was that these were actual citizens desperate enough for money to commit robbery.

“Hand over everything you’ve got and we’ll release you from the trap and spare your lives.”

“Lucky fellows.”

“To meet such kind people as us.”

“Lucky indeed.”

The number of robbers kept increasing.

Those scattered throughout the alley were gathering, having smelled money.

The two travelers from Ferallant had only thirteen silver coins between them, but even this was barely enough for their journey ahead.

“…Absolutely not.”

Mercenary Ogreson, who hadn’t fallen into the trap, raised his greatsword.

For Ogreson, whose only pleasure on this arduous journey was having a beer in each town with the bishop’s money, these remaining coins were as precious as life itself.

A mercenary sometimes sells his life for a single beer.

He gripped the long handle with both hands, raised the blade almost to his head, and pointed the tip forward.

A stance like a bull presenting its horns.

This was the best stance Ogreson could take after assessing the situation.

Most of the thieves were only holding daggers and had weak defenses.

His plan was to target their vulnerable upper bodies to neutralize these thieves as quickly as possible.

Arcus wanted to help Ogreson, but he knew that in his current state, swinging like a pendulum, any help he offered wouldn’t be effective.

In the end, Arcus had no choice but to cheer for Ogreson.

As the thieves and Ogreson faced off…

“…My patience is wearing thin. Attack!”

“Lucky day!”

“That hat is mine!”

The thieves, tired of the long standoff, began to charge first.

Ogreson was momentarily surprised by a thief who rushed forward with surprising agility, pushing off the ground and walls.

And that surprise inevitably created a small opening.

When the gap appeared, the thieves rushed toward it like a pack of wolves.

Ogreson accepted his mistake and prepared to accept its consequences.

But the consequences Ogreson expected never came.

With a loud BOOM! one of the buildings in the alley went flying.

Fortunately, there seemed to be no one inside as only the building collapsed with a rumble.

But naturally, the collapsing building raised an enormous cloud of dust in the alley, making it impossible to see anything.

The thieves looked toward the collapsed building with annoyed expressions.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

And they realized something was wrong.

“Delivery! Come out!”

As the dust settled slightly and visibility improved, there stood a dinosaur with a goblin riding on it.

“Come out quickly! Come and get your rose cream pasta!”

The goblin shouted loudly with kingly dignity.

The thieves were greatly intimidated by these words.

Of course, there was nothing particularly intimidating about the words themselves, but the atmosphere made them feel they should be intimidated.

“Is it you? Is it you?”

The goblin pointed at each thief one by one.

The thieves instinctively shook their heads frantically.

“Strange. The address is correct…”

The goblin stared at his phone, lost in thought.

The map app clearly showed this was the destination… the goblin thought.

It never occurred to him that the building he had just demolished might have been the destination.

“Cough, cough! What can you, cough! see?”

Bishop Arcus still couldn’t see his surroundings due to the lingering dust.

So he asked Ogreson about the situation.

“…By the Carrion Crow. Good heavens.”

But Ogreson was in no state to explain anything to the bishop.

Ogreson stood with a blank expression, invoking a deity he normally never sought.

He was filled with awe at the sight of the massive lizard exuding tyrannical dignity.

Could this be the dragon from fairy tales? he wondered.

…

Sir Dominic finally got up from his seat and headed to the counter.

The battle between the orcs and the magical girl had reached its final moments.

After a fight that seemed to end but wouldn’t, the orcs emerged victorious.

“Little human, you won’t call us cowards, will you?”

“Grrr. How cowardly to gang up on me!”

The orc chief laughed heartily.

“Everyone who faces me says the same thing, little human.”

Strangely, the orc chief had begun referring to the orc group in singular form.

“We are one! Born from one source, we are one bundle! So we are all one, and you lost in a one-on-one battle, little human!”

The orc chief began to present a strange logic.

But the orc chief’s logic wasn’t entirely wrong.

In reality, Gacharland’s system viewed the orcs as ‘one’ character.

This was one of the Unborn President’s ideas—an experiment to treat multiple characters as a single unit to bring a fresh perspective to Gacharland.

For example, there might be cases where three shield bearers or five riflemen were bundled into one card.

This was perhaps also an act of mercy for citizens who couldn’t advance beyond 1-2 stars.

A merciful thought that bundling those who could no longer grow into a single card might increase their value somewhat.

The orc chief and his orcs were selected as part of this project.

“…Grr. Kill me!”

The magical girl looked at the orcs with expectant eyes.

“What are you thinking, boing? You still have your second and third transformations left, boing!”

Tiramisu the mascot whispered quietly enough that only the magical girl Belle Fleur could hear.

“Well… they’re orcs, right? Surely they’ll handle me this way and that way and every which way?”

The magical girl whispered to Tiramisu with a smile so bright it illuminated her surroundings.

Tiramisu couldn’t understand how Belle Fleur, who had seemed perfectly normal at first, had developed such twisted tastes.

It wasn’t what Tiramisu had intended when encouraging Belle Fleur to endure through tough times with grit and determination.

Magical Girl Belle Fleur was eagerly anticipating the orcs’ actions.

Would she be torn apart? Toyed with? Ground up into dinner?

Thoughts too frightening for a magical girl full of dreams and hope.

But Magical Girl Belle Fleur was soon to be disappointed.

“Little human, you fought very well. We like humans who fight well! Now you are honorary orc! Friend of orcs!”

“What about us becoming honorary humans, Chief?”

“Orc become human? Human become orc? Hu? Man?”

The orc chief extended his hand to Belle Fleur.

The orcs had never met someone who fought so well.

Fighting well meant having skills comparable to the orcs—neither winning nor losing decisively.

They disliked opponents who were too strong or too weak.

The magical girl’s strength was just right for the orcs’ taste.

Impressed by this, the orcs decided to befriend the magical girl.

It was the perfect example of “slap them hard enough and they’ll be moved to grant your request.”

But the magical girl’s expression was rapidly souring.

This wasn’t right. Why were the orcs being so gentlemanly?

Belle Fleur looked at the hand extended by the orc chief.

And she slapped away the thick hand offered so kindly.

“Negotiations failed! Second round starts now! Right now!”

The magical girl rose to her feet, transforming into a new form.

She seemed upset about not getting what she wanted.

“The little human is right! Such softness is not the orc way! Battle with blood and flesh flying is how we become friends!”

And for some reason, the orc chief, whose offer had been rejected, seemed quite pleased with Belle Fleur’s behavior.

“What a mess.”

Sir Dominic remarked in that brief moment as he finished paying for a cookie for Alice at the counter.