Chapter 79: Starving Beast 4
TL/Editor: Raei
Schedule: 5/Week Wed-Sun
Illustrations: Posted in discord.
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Charlotte Cavendish, a noble lady, a mage, and an adventurer, was ambitious.
As an inconspicuous noble daughter, she wished to escape her future as a pawn in political marriage and find success as a mage.
Therefore, she desired to live not as Lady Charlotte, but as Mage Charlotte.
Hence, Han Se-ah's party must be irresistible to her.
A junior mage whose talents are piques the interest of a senior adventurer.
As a testament to this, not long after becoming an adventurer, she managed to track down and deal with a Full Moon Wolf, and swiftly cleared the floors up to the 20th.
On top of that, she was the first to report the anomalies on the 20th floor.
"I want to be known more as a mage than as an adventurer. You don't plan to submit a paper to the Magic Tower, do you, Hanna?"
"Of course not."
However, Han Se-ah placed more emphasis on her activities as an adventurer than as a mage, leaving the research topic related to the Full Moon Wolf up for grabs.
Wouldn't a player be like a magical pot sprouting a myriad of research opportunities?
"I'll pay you a bit more than the average request reward. I also intend to help the party as a mage. The menial tasks will be taken care of by my maid. In return, I'd like the rights to research the Orc tribe..."
"Go ahead, I have no intention of joining the Magic Tower."
"Oh my, your dedication to adventuring is stronger than I thought."
Charlotte's eyes widened at Han Se-ah's declaration to never join the Magic Tower.
It must seem strange to her; a mage of remarkable talent from humble origins would typically join the Magic Tower to climb the social ladder, rather than roam as an adventurer.
From Han Se-ah's perspective as a player, she is determined to maintain her rank 1 position and dominate the game, but to Charlotte, it might seem like she's giving up the chance for social advancement for the sake of adventuring.
And so, Charlotte, in charge of observation, and Mari, in charge of meals, joined the party.
"Although I said I'd help, it doesn't seem like it's needed."
"That's because there's a senior adventurer in the party."
Of course, a 2 character wouldn't stand a chance sandwiched between 4, 5, and 6 characters.
When the Orc Warriors attacking in a pack were easily dispatched, Charlotte's voice shook, as if she was genuinely taken aback.
The scene where the Orc Warriors automatically fell to the ground upon touching a shield was quite different from what she had imagined our fights to be like.
We pressed on through the sun-lit forest path.
Because of the commotion, there were no Helmeted Deer or Moss Wolves to be seen.
From the safe zone to the opposite side of the path, we encountered groups of Orc Warriors three times before the forest ended and a clearing appeared.
To be precise, a place forcibly turned into a clearing unfolded before our eyes.
The trees, their trunks horribly broken, and Orc-made accessories littered the ground.
"Could this also be an anomaly?"
"Wow, what is all this?"
The bracelets on the ground were drops of the Orc Warriors.
Recognizing this, Charlotte and Han Se-ah's eyes sparkled as they surveyed the surroundings.
This gruesome scene was as if a giant monster had rampaged against the Orc Warriors.
Of course, no new boss monsters or gigantic creatures had made an appearance.
Familiar with the signs, Kaiden swept her hand over a broken tree and shared her thoughts.
"No, it's not an anomaly. It seems Rebecca went this way. We should probably go in a different direction."
"...Are you saying these are traces left by a person?"
Charlotte was startled by Kaiden's words.
Having never seen a senior adventurer in full fury, she found it hard to believe a person could leave such a trail.
The ground looked as if it had been bombed, rocks that had shattered trees were scattered as if kicked into the air, beautiful fir trees were knocked over like dominoes; it was indeed hard to believe it was the work of a person.
However, the rest of the party members nodded in agreement.
After all, they'd seen me face off against a horned wolf in the city, smashing the ground as I leaped, and shattering the plains with a single strike against the Full Moon Wolf.
"Well, seeing Roland..."
"Rebecca has claimed this direction, and it seems like she's moving quickly, not even collecting the loot. How about we head towards the passageway of the 20th floor?"
"So you're saying we should go in the opposite direction? Not a bad idea."
With this thought, it felt like we were characters in a monster movie.
We couldn't leave the coins rolling on the ground, so after hurriedly collecting the loot and magic stones, we turned around.
With Rebecca in a fury and seemingly charging straight ahead, we decided to head in the opposite direction.
Mari, like a typical rogue, started walking beside Grace, while Charlotte found her place next to Han Se-ah.
We retraced our steps past the safe zone, heading south.
"...Ahead, there are vines tied together artificially."
"Right, there's an orc hunter lurking beyond them too. Seems like they're watching us."
"Let's ignore the hunter and keep moving."
"Hold on, should we disarm the...?"
Despite her being only a one-star rogue, Mari was efficient at sweeping up the loot amidst the dirt mounds and even spotting the orc hunter's trap.
Of course, I could physically block a trap set by an orc hunter, but knowing about it beforehand and getting caught unaware are two different things.
I stopped Mari, who was about to untie the rope, and strode forward.
A sturdy branch flew towards my chest with a 'swoosh' sound.
They must have learned from the same trap school since the branch also had a stone attached to it.
There was no way my armor, which can withstand a giant's kick, would get damaged by a mere stone.
I continued walking, brushing off Mari's incredulous gaze.
"You took that with your body..."
"It's easier for the vanguard to physically handle an orc hunter's trap."
Her lady, Charlotte, who she serves, wasn't familiar with senior adventurers, so it's not surprising that a mere maid wouldn't know.
It hurts when she looks at me like I'm some strange creature.
In the face of the traps, the orc hunter, who had sensed Grace's presence, fled far beyond her detection range.
The boisterous orc warriors charged at me, while the slightly smarter orc hunters disappeared quietly as soon as the trap was destroyed.
"There's definitely something odd going on."
"Right? It seems even the orc hunters were affected."
Charlotte, who had been clinging to Irene's side, was gleaming at the sight.
However, Han Se-ah seemed to have forgotten the conversation we had earlier about the orc hunters.
The one who reminded her was Kaiden, who was escorting the rear.
"Orc hunters are the kind who will hound anyone relentlessly, regardless of who they are, making their lives miserable."
"...Ah, right! Even with the size of your group, they stalked around setting up traps."
-Didn't you listen to the teacher?
-She made the strategy herself on stream, yet she forgot about it.
-How high is your IQ, by the way?
-No wonder words like "youth Alzheimer's" and "early-onset dementia" are created.
-My neighbor Kim was chased for two days.
Seizing the opportunity, the viewers eagerly rushed to the chat.
Most of the viewers teasing Han Se-ah had also probably forgotten.
While having such suspicions, Charlotte's mutterings echo as if explaining for the viewers.
"The orc shamans set up bases, the warriors roam around in groups, and the hunters hide as soon as they see a strong enemy. Do you think they flee to one of the bases? Or are they just hiding?"
"Do you think there's a base where the Orc Hunters fled to?"
"It might be worth investigating. Next time we spot an Orc Hunter, let's tail it."
Charlotte may not have much talent as an adventurer, but she has a strong curiosity well-suited for research.
Han Se-ah played along, appearing surprised at her words.
Not only did her words seem plausible, but the quest window that popped up on stream updated as well.
[Uncover the mystery of the Orc Shamans and the tribes that have started to appear on the 20th floor]
[Investigate the peculiar behavior of the Orc Hunters]
These sentences indicated the progression of our quest.
As the two mages' opinions aligned, there's no need to find other reasons.
Continuing down the forest path, they quickly dispatched a helmeted deer and kicked away a bunch of goblins.
At that moment, an orc hunter appeared again.
As soon as Grace spotted the orc hunter, Mari found a pitfall trap.
"Roland, do you see the tree with its roots entangled in the rock on the right? It seems to be lying behind the tree stump."
"Then I'll take the lead. Follow my trail."
While it's not something that can be found straight away, if the location is pointed out so precisely, there's no chance of missing it.
As Grace nodded, I jumped into the forest, and the sound of hurried footsteps followed.
Jumping over the traps and pushing through the trees, the Orc Hunter bolted as if it hadn't expected me to charge straight at it, unable to conceal its surprise.
The sound of branches snapping, hurriedly shoved aside tree trunks, fluttering leaves scattering, and even the sound of pebbles rolling down the slope.
I pursued the Orc Hunter, keeping a safe distance, feeling as though I'd morphed into the murderer of a horror movie.
-I'm starting to feel for the monster
-It's freaking scary to be chased like that
-Running with a warhammer makes him feel like a real killer
-It's quite impressive to see him run around the forest in armor
Afraid that getting too close would make the monster become desperate and attack, I kept my distance.
As I was chasing the Orc Hunter, something from the forest came rushing out at an incredible speed.
"You pig-headed bastard!"
"Rebecca? Stop!"
The Orc Hunter that I had been following was turned to mana stone.
Damn it, how far did she travel through the forest to get here?
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