Chapter 154: Multi-Race Alliance 4
TL/Editor: Raei
Schedule: 5/Week Wed-Sun
Illustrations: Posted in discord.
Join the discord! Here
As we ventured deeper into the northwestern wastelands, the land became increasingly desolate and barren.
Now, there were no trees or shrubs in sight.
Tumbleweeds, like those seen in Western films, rolled about, and the wind kicked up dust clouds that obscured our vision.
The air felt dry, parching our lips.
We could feel it on our sensitive skin.
"Should we have brought horses or something to ride?"
"If the orcs returned within a day, they couldn't have gone too far. Riding wolves, it would take half a day, but at our pace, we'll catch up in a day. ...Though we'll still have to camp out."
Han Se-ah turned off her stream with the promise of turning it back on after finding the orc base.
She moistened her lips with water droplets conjured by magic and walked through the wasteland.
It's a tedious and challenging journey, but the women were filled with enthusiasm.
Perhaps it was witnessing a bandit who sided with the orcs, a traitor to humankind, that reignited their sense of purpose.
"How can a human bow down to orcs? No matter how hard life is."
"I thought the West was rich because of the traders, but it seems that the wealth gap is more significant than I thought."
"In the north, if you leave the village, you'll freeze to death, so there aren't many people like that... It's not that people develop bad intentions just because it's harsh. Those guys, even if they die, are just worthless scum."
Lily remained silent while the others exchanged words.
She seemed relieved that the orcs hadn't harmed the captives, but the sight of humans tormenting others unsettled her.
Recognizing this, Irene gently approached Lily and comforted her.
"You seem very worried about your group."
"Well, yeah..."
"I haven't heard about your companions. Who are they?"
"There are three of them, all intermediate adventurers. One woman and two men. So our party had an equal gender split."
Whether to distract from the monotonous walk or to calm her uneasy heart, Lily began to speak.
The rest of the group, who were previously just trudging along, began to listen intently.
Lily, like me, was a senior adventurer.
She also worked as a mercenary, traveling to the West and occasionally trading.
It was only natural for the less experienced members of the group to focus on her story.
"We were all originally intermediate adventurers, but after a request with Roland, I learned some things and advanced to senior adventurer first. But my group is close behind, and they'll soon reach my level."
"And they were... Oh, I'm sorry."
"It's okay. Mercenaries and adventurers are both occupations like that. But given their skills, they probably weren't defeated by the orcs. This isn't just wishful thinking; they might have defeated the orcs and, due to some money issues, are now taking on requests."
"Have you experienced something like that?"
"Once, I went to assist in hunting a large monster, and we got separated. I lost both my money pouch and food, left only with my weapon and adventurer badge. Like a desperate novice mercenary, I quickly completed requests to earn money and then got in touch with them."
Being on the verge of harnessing mana outside their bodies, her companions were probably at the very peak of the intermediate level.
In gaming terms, they were likely stuck at the 'X9' level, on the brink of advancing.
That's probably why she strongly believed that they wouldn't be defeated by a mere twenty orcs.
That's why the mood did not sink into hopelessness.
After all, if orcs on wolf-back and bandits are all they're up against, things do seem hopeful.
The likelihood of them being captured and tortured by orcs is lower than them losing their belongings and fleeing.
Perhaps because Lily wasn't all that down, the rest of the party seemed to have hopeful thoughts.
To the villagers, orcs might mean certain death, but to intermediate adventurers and above, they're just orcs.
Lily had felt uneasy about losing contact with her companions and the odd behavior of the orcs.
But seeing the wolf riders and bandits easily dealt with made her feel somewhat reassured.
Grace, how is it? Can you find any traces of the wolves?"
"The wind is blowing strongly, so it's a bit faint, but fortunately, I can see traces here and there. From what the captives said, some people were taken two nights ago. These seem to be their tracks.
Even if the enemy forces were weaker than expected and their direction was clear from the tracks they left, we still decided to set up camp as the sun set and the moon rose in the vast wilderness.
In such an open wasteland, wherever you pitch a tent becomes the campsite.
Following the wolf tracks that ran straight in one direction, we set up our tents next to a large mound that blocked the wind and looked up at the moon.
I can't do much when it comes to cooking.
Problems that can be solved by force, I can handle, but when it comes to cooking or setting up tents, the party doesn't give me a chance to do anything.
It's not that they underestimate me, but rather it's their way of expressing their willingness to take care of these tasks themselves.
I naturally handle the dirty work, such as interrogating bandits, so they are probably trying to be considerate in return.
Hmm, this smells good. It smells better than usual?
The innkeeper gave us some preserved food for adventurers. Seems like they baked quality grains for this.
The savory smell wafted through the darkening wasteland.
We seem to always end up having stew or soup, but thats alright.
If you boil water in a pot and it's thin, it's soup; if it's thick, it's stew.
Isn't it better to fill our stomachs with a warm broth than to chew on hard bread or eat cold jerky?
Irene crushed some preserved biscuits into powder and fried them with butter in a large pot.
Then she poured in magically made water, added the finely crushed grain rations and some dried meat and let it simmer.
The cooking process couldn't be simpler, but when I taste the result, my mouth is filled with the rich and sweet taste of the grains.
It fills my empty stomach with warmth.
I can't help but feel grateful to Irene.
We should keep watch tonight, right? We dont know where the orcs are.
I'll take the night watch. The rest of you should get some rest.
Huh?
As everyone gathered closely, enjoying our stew, the topic of a solo night watch surprised them.
Lily nodded in agreement, but the rest looked at me with concern or surprise.
Originally, the purpose of taking turns standing guard was for training in the tower, and even a low-level adventurer could stay up all night for several days without any problems.
But it seems they don't know that.
Nevertheless, since we have to traverse the wasteland, I urge them to sleep.
One by one, they retreat into their tents.
---
Raei Translations
---
In a barren land with nothing but the footprints of wolves and orcs, the sun rises.
We had a peaceful morning without incidents like wolves sniffing our scent or orcs discovering the bonfire flames.
The only notable occurrence was that Han Se-ah logged off the game late at night and reconnected to sync up with her streaming schedule.
We should be seeing their base soon.
How do you know?
There are overlapping traces. It seems like a place where they gather people they've kidnapped from various places.
Grace thinks that in a few hours, we will run into them.
Han Se-ah discreetly fiddled with the system window, still viewing the pre-stream interface.
It breaks my heart watching Han Se-ah and her quest. It looks like she hasn't grown at all since the last time... She hasn't even thought of asking the magic tower for support even once. It's so sad...
The Knights Division is clearly involved with this quest, but she seems determined to do this all with just her party members... My heart is aching...
To soothe the viewers who were starting to feel bored with the wasteland and orcs, and to give a brief direction to Han Se-ah's stream, I wrote a short post.
Although we climb the tower to defeat the Demon King in the name of the Goddess, we don't necessarily have to personally protect the peace of the world.
Once we find Lily's companions, the rest is the job of the Knights.
To think that the orcs who escaped from the Knights, from the forest they protect under orders from the Royal Family, are plundering the kingdom's merchants?
If they don't want to tarnish the name of the Knights Division, this is a pressing issue that demands their attention.
Ah sh*t, what now...? Do I need to ask Roland to contact the Knights Division? It seems like the viewers are getting bored too."
Did you see it already?
After a quick meal of reheated leftover soup, we resumed our journey.
Han Se-ahs mutterings could be faintly heard.
As it's related to outside the game world, the NPC party members couldnt hear it, but I clearly heard her self-talk.
Considering how much advice from Mr.Heartache seemed to help, she probably had set notifications for it.
Judging by her swift reaction to the post, a post I discreetly wrote only 3 minutes ago, she didn't find it by chance.
Roland, look ahead!
Whats happening, oh?
And thus, we discovered the orc base.
Or rather, what used to be the orc base.
...Isn't that Rebecca?
Large tents made of giant animal hides lay trampled and shattered, with mana stones scattered about.
A dust cloud in the distance indicated that the smarter ones might have fled.
People, who had been hostages, huddled terrified amidst the ruins, some even wetting themselves in fear.
Responsible for this devastation were four individuals.
A man with a shield, a woman with a staff, a man with a bow.
Maybe she has an unlucky star? Or a star that clashes with orcs?
And then there was Rebecca.
Looks like her mercenary group was ambushed by orcs again.
---
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l