Chapter 81

81

“The reserves have been mobilized.”

Professor Lapit spoke. He talked as if he knew the battlefield situation in real-time. In fact, he was watching the battlefield unfold as if it were in the palm of his hand, using the sorcery ‘Eagle’s Eye.’

“Tch, it’s turning out to be less fun than I hoped.”

Shadow clicked his tongue in annoyance. He had hoped for a battle that was hotter, more intense, and blood-boiling. But the current situation was falling short of his expectations. If the human reinforcements arrived, there would be nothing more to see.

“Hmm, I need to play a card here.”

“What are you planning?”

“First, you.”

“Me?”

Lapit looked puzzled, as if to say, why me all of a sudden?

“I need you to replenish the lost forces.”

“How am I supposed to do that?”

“Heh, how? Isn’t it natural to replenish forces by making the dead fight again?”

Shadow said with a sinister smile. At that moment, Lapit’s expression twisted in disgust.

“Have you lost your mind? You want me, of all people, to use such an unsophisticated spell?”

The art of necromancy.

A high-level spell that forces wandering spirits into dead bodies to make them move.

Although it was a high-level spell, Lapit openly despised it.

It reeked of necromancy, a practice of playing with rotten corpses.

His pride wouldn’t allow him to use a technique that smelled even remotely like the lowly skills used by necromancers.

“That’s, well, troublesome. How about this? I’ll unconditionally help you next time, and this time, you help me.”

Shadow made an offer.

“Hmm.”

Lapit considered the proposal.

An utterly disagreeable person.

But his skills were undeniable.

He had more than enough talent to be worth using.

Then.

It might be annoying, but it would be beneficial to play along with him here.

Lapit came to that conclusion.

“Fine. I accept your condition.”

“Heh, good choice, friend.”

“Who’s your friend?”

“If you’re useful to me, you’re a friend, right?”

“…”

“Heh, lighten up and just help me out. Don’t you see time is slipping away while we’re talking?”

“Making requests like you’re some kind of lord.”

Lapit spat out in disbelief and continued.

“So, what do you want me to do? You’re not going to spout nonsense about raising all the dead, are you?”

Necromancy wasn’t an invincible spell.

There were naturally limitations in range and numbers.

Shadow knew this.

“Of course, friend. I want you to raise the orcs on the right high ground.”

“The right high ground?”

Puzzlement crossed Lapit’s face.

The right high ground.

Shadow knew the situation there as well.

There was no place more hopeless than there.

But he wanted the dead from that place raised?

It was hard to understand what he was thinking.

“Yes, the right high ground.”

“There’s no hope there, is there?”

“Heh, of course not. But we can tie them up a bit, can’t we?”

“Tie them up?”

“Yes, we need to tie up the most annoying ones so we can make moves elsewhere.”

Shadow grinned, revealing his teeth.

***

“Hurry up!”

A paladin urged the holy soldiers.

They were the reserve forces.

Their destination was the high ground on the right.

They had to hurry.

If that place fell, the main camp would surely be in danger.

Thump thump thump thump!

The holy soldiers, heavy in their armor, sprinted up the slope.

“Huff, huff.”

Breath became ragged, and sweat poured down like rain.

They were getting tired even before the battle began.

Normally, such an order would be foolish, contrary to the doctrines of the battlefield.

It showed just how urgent the current situation was.

“Don’t stop! Keep going up!”

As they neared the high ground, the paladin issued another order.

If they hesitated on the downhill side, they would become easy prey for the enemy above.

He was already considering the worst-case scenario.

A correct choice for a commander.

But.

“Uh…?!”

“What the…?!”

The faces of the holy soldiers who reached the high ground were painted with shock.

The high ground was filled with dense corpses.

They were not human forms.

All were the bodies of Red Orcs.

Not a single orc was standing.

All were dead and scattered.

It was an unbelievable sight.

Even if a paladin company had been there, they wouldn’t have been able to annihilate the Red Orc horde so quickly.

‘Ugh, the power of the academy is this great…?’

The paladin of the reserve forces groaned inwardly, unable to hide his astonishment.

He had heard many rumors.

But he had thought they were just that—rumors.

Yet.

The abilities they were witnessing firsthand seemed to surpass even those rumors.

It was a stroke of luck.

The worst-case scenario they had feared did not happen.

It seemed their worries were unfounded.

“Is this a surprise? Who planned this? The academy? The Order?”

Someone said with a spinning face.

It was Slaine, the eldest son of the Mercenary King and known by the fearsome nickname ‘Poison Fang of Slaughter.’

He genuinely found the situation amusing.

“What are you talking about right now…?”

The paladin, puzzled by the incomprehensible words, wore a confused expression.

Slaine laughed out loud.

“I mean, isn’t it? Otherwise, it means you didn’t detect the ambush right in front of you, which would be a stupid blunder, right? Especially for those who claim to protect the capital?”

The atmosphere turned icy in an instant.

Everyone realized why Slaine had made such a comment.

An overt provocation.

A provocation too difficult to ignore, laced with insults.

However.

Crack.

The paladin clenched his fist, suppressing the boiling emotions.

Regardless of the provocation, the criticism itself was a clear mistake on their part, hard to excuse.

“…I have nothing to say.”

The paladin finally bit his lip and spoke.

“Oh? It wasn’t a surprise? Then it really was such a stupid… oh dear.”

Suddenly, a flying branch interrupted Slaine’s words.

The branch flew with enough force to stiffen his expression momentarily.

Only a very few in the academy could imbue such power into a mere branch.

“Enough, don’t you think? We’re still in the middle of a battle.”

One of those few, the student council president Regina, spoke coldly.

“Wow, that’s fierce, President. But the battle on this side is over…”

“Don’t you see?”

“Huh?”

Slaine turned his head involuntarily to where Regina was looking. And then…

“Uh…?”

There stood a Red Orc, its eyes flashing wildly with fury.

“What’s this? I thought we took care of them all?”

Slaine’s face was a picture of incomprehension.

The others wore similar expressions.

But that was just the beginning.

Suddenly!

Orcs began to rise from the ground here and there, like resurrected undead.

The aura they emitted now felt even more ominous and stronger than before.

“Such, such evil power!”

“Could it be that a heinous sinner who defies the divine providence is here?”

The holy soldiers reacted with shock and extreme revulsion.

Necromancers were the worst beings, completely antithetical to the Order.

An existence that could never be tolerated.

“We must find and punish the sinner at all costs!”

The paladin’s solemn cry.

And so, the fight on the right high ground began anew.

***

Preparing for what seemed like the last battle with my exhausted body propped up by sheer willpower, a baffling change occurred.

The Orc chieftain and the remaining orcs, who seemed ready to charge at any moment, suddenly stopped in their tracks.

Not only that, but they also began to retreat stealthily.

“What’s with those bastards all of a sudden?”

I muttered, dumbfounded.

Before long, the orcs had retreated a considerable distance.

Clearly beyond the range of our bows.

“Do you have any idea why they’re doing that?”

I asked Hiresia.

“Hmm… I’m not sure.”

Hiresia’s face showed she didn’t understand either.

Their movements were so unexpected.

It would have been easier to understand if they had fled, but that wasn’t the case.

“Ah well, they’ll come back or not, let them do as they please.”

I flopped down on the ground.

Whatever their scheme, at this distance, they couldn’t harm us.

So it was better to just relax and recover our strength.

But then…

Soon after, I heard the sound of a group’s footsteps approaching from behind.

I turned my head to identify them.

“Reinforcements are finally here.”

A paladin who appeared to be a commander and dozens of holy soldiers.

Judging by their numbers, it seemed like the reserve forces from the rear had been hastily sent this way.

They looked momentarily surprised to see the unscathed mages from the Tower of Light.

The mages who had spotted the reinforcements pointed towards us and spoke urgently.

It seemed like they were asking for help.

My guess was correct, as the paladin and holy soldiers immediately rushed towards where we were.

“Can we let go now?”

“Seems like it.”

Hiresia agreed.

We had reduced their numbers significantly, so they should be able to handle the remaining orcs.

“Are you alright?”

A paladin who had approached us asked.

The emblem on his chest was a bronze cross.

It meant he was a third-class paladin.

Being third-class didn’t mean he could be disregarded.

More than half of the paladins didn’t even have an emblem, meaning they were of the lowest rank.

But in the First Paladin Corps of the capital, even the lowest-ranked paladin held the position of third-class.

It was a force befitting their heavy responsibilities.

“As you can see, we’re perfectly fine.”

Even as I replied, I didn’t get up from where I had sat down.

There’s no need to get up when it’s time to rest, right?

But it seemed the paladin didn’t see it that way.

After all, being covered in orc blood and dirt, it would be strange if I looked fine.

“You seem to need treatment. And besides…”

The paladin’s words trailed off.

He seemed speechless at the number of orcs we had killed.

It must have been hard to believe that just the two of us had done all this.

“All of this…?”

“It’s not important right now. There are still orcs left over there.”

I pointed towards the remaining orc remnants that had gone off into the distance.

Realizing what was urgent, the paladin’s expression changed.

“Yes, you’re right. We will take care of the orcs now.”

The paladin turned to the holy soldiers.

“Go and wipe them out now!”

“Yes!”

With a resounding cheer, they charged with great momentum.

“They’re useful.”

“Quite useful.”

I echoed Hiresia’s words.

As the elite of the elite, fit to protect the capital, they would surely clean up the remaining orcs without issue.

We could leave it to them and rest comfortably… Hm?

“They’re running away?”

Hiresia noted.

True to her words, it seemed the orcs had chosen to flee.

No matter how fierce and aggressive they were, it seemed they knew to avoid a certain death.

The paladin and holy soldiers began to pursue the fleeing orcs.

“Wait a minute. Should they be chasing them?”

I tilted my head, sensing something was off.

“We can’t just leave them be. If we do, they’ll pose a threat to public safety.”

Hiresia was right.

Leaving that many monsters would defeat the purpose of the hunt.

They would pose a danger to travelers and could even descend to the city and cause harm.

But what bothered me was…

“Doesn’t it seem like they’re luring us? Could it be a trap?”

“Lowly monsters using a trap?”

“If they’ve hidden and ambushed us, why couldn’t they use a trap?”

My reason for concern.

Their movements were different from ordinary monsters.

It felt like someone who knew how to strategize like a human was commanding them.

Could it be the Orc chieftain?

Regardless, this movement didn’t seem unrelated to the ‘mysterious incident’ speculated to have occurred during this hunting competition.

“…That’s a good point.”

Hiresia seemed to realize the fact anew at my words and looked thoughtful.

I made a decision faster than she did.

“Senior.”

“What?”

“I think we should go check it out. Something doesn’t feel right.”

“Hmm, well, let’s do that.”

Fortunately, Hiresia agreed.

“Then let’s go before it’s too late.”

And so, we followed behind them.