Chapter 30 – Plains Rescue (1)
Crockta headed to the southeast. His destination was Arnin, the city of elves that was to the southeast of Anail.
His journey would now begin in earnest.
Users were rare in not just Orcrox, but Anail as well. However, Arnin was different. Apart from humans, many users also chose to became elves, and Arnin was a beautiful city of elves. There would be numerous users, and among those users, there would be Thawing Balhae Clan members.
However, there was a problem from the start.
Crockta gathered his hands together and begged, “Excuse me, Elf Guard. How about just a little…”
“The rules are the rules. Please understand.”
A beautiful elf with blonde hair and a slender figure shook her head. She looked like a supermodel, but she was actually one of Arnin’s guards.
That’s right. Crockta was refused entry.
“Nobody is allowed to enter Arnin except for the elves and the humans.”
“That is discrimination!”
“Then pray to be reborn as an elf instead of an orc. Tsk.”
The elf turned away while sweeping her hair back. She was a dazzling beauty that would appear in photographs, but the angry Crockta just wanted to squeeze her. Crockta couldn’t suppress his anger and spoke in rough language to the elf guard,
“Hey, elf with no manners.”
“W-What?”
“Is it because you are pretty? Just because you have the face of a goddess?”
The elf’s face turned bright red at Crockta’s words.
“Your eyes are finally working properly.”
[The appreciation of the elf Elwina has risen. The orc warrior Crockta’s reputation in Arnin has risen.]
Crockta couldn’t believe his eyes. Another message window popped up.
[Most cities have requirements to enter.]
[Build up your reputation to overcome this barrier!]
[There are a variety of ways to raise your reputation. Do good things to help the elves of Arnin!]
“……”
Crockta opened his mouth but he had no words. He had to build up his reputation to enter the city. What was this?
[Elwina’s appreciation has risen. Your reputation in Arnin has risen.]
“No matter how pretty I am, don’t open your mouth. It is nasty.”
“……”
Crockta chose not to respond. He spat out the words angrily, but it made his reputation rise. Instead, he was able to realize something. This elf was like a princess who liked praise. In order to enter Arnin, he needed to raise his reputation with the elves, and this elf liked praise. In other words, if he praised this elf, then his reputation would rise and he could enter Arnin.
Crockta forcible opened his mouth.
“I really admire Elwina’s beauty.”
“Oh my god.”
“Beautiful, gorgeous, elegant, do you know what those words have in common?”
“What?”
“They exist because of you.”
“Well, if you say so. Huhuhu.”
[Elwina’s appreciation has risen! Your reputation in Arnin has risen!]
Crockta said, “You have a sweet voice.”
“Hu, huhut. It is a shame that this is emerging from your mouth…”
“It would be even more embarrassing to keep my mouth shut in front of such a beauty.”
“P-Please stop. I’m getting embarrassed.”
“Beautiful.”
“Stop…”
Elwina became lost in front of the onslaught of attacks. Her appreciation gradually increased, but she couldn’t bear it any longer as she tightly closed her eyes and cast a spell.
“Your eyes…”
“A-Ah! Silence!”
“Heeok?”
Crockta was still weak to magic spells. He could endure a physical hit, but he was still defenseless to magic. So he was hit with her Silence magic.
“…Ueeh.”
He wanted to speak but only a strange groan emerged.
“I know that your eyes work properly. I am shy so don’t tell me any more.”
“Uhh.”
“The Silence magic will be released over time.”
“……”
He sold his conscience for reputation, only to receive silence in return for the praise. Was God punishing him?
Crockta turned around. He would honestly build his reputation. Somewhere, there would be something he could do to build up reputation. Suddenly, the elf guard Elwina spoke from behind him.
“Hey, Orc Warrior.”
“……?”
“If you go to the plains north of Arnin, then there might be work that will build up your reputation. No, what is that expression? Don’t mistake this for a desire to help you.”
“……”
Crockta, who was already tired, had no energy to answer. He didn’t look back and just raised his thumb over his head. It meant ‘I know.’ Elwina nodded as she looked at that dignified rear view.
“He is a moderately cool orc.”
An orc with the ability to recognize outstanding beauty and speak the truth! Furthermore, he was able to give a nice gesture like raising his thumb. Elwina felt some appreciation towards the orc. Wouldn’t it be really cool if that orc really did enter Arnin?
Crockta, who had no idea what Elwina was thinking, just trudged along. He thought about all the good things he could do to raise his reputation. The best thing to do was to help elves in distress. He listened to Elwina’s words and headed to the plains north of Arnin.
Just like the elf city, the forest on the outskirts was filled with beautiful flowers and bushes. As he headed north along Arnin’s walls, he eventually saw the wide plains.
“Ohh…”
Spacious plains! It was a spectacular sight, lifting the cold feeling in his heart. Crockta spread open his arms as he soaked in the sight of the plains. By the way, there were things constantly moving on the wide plains.
“……!”
Ian realized what they were. This wasn’t originally a plain. It was just that the trees and tall plants had been cut down and flattened. The main culprits of this situation were still moving and expanding the plains. They were huge monsters resembling rhinoceros.
[Get rid of the triters, enormous gourmands that enjoy eating plants and trees. They are the monsters that the elves are most wary of. Whenever they appear, the forest will become dry and bare. The land that they occupy will eventually become a desert.]
[If you hunt them, the elves might think differently about you.]
He had painted an image of rescuing a beautiful elf and entering the city. The reality was that hard grinding was required to raise his reputation.
Crockta sighed as he entered the plains.
A triter discovered Crockta and made a loud sound. Its cry was similar to that of a rhinoceros, but it had a lot of teeth to chew on the trees and plants. There was a huge number of them. If there were that many of them, they truly would eat until the forest was gone.
“Truuu…”
The triter’s cry sounded like a roar. No questions asked! Crockta approached the triters, who were wary of the strange invader. Indeed, they weren’t gentle monsters. Their eyes changed and their hind legs got into a position to pounce.
Crockta faced one of them. The triter kicked against the ground and jumped. A strong shock wave hit Crockta, causing him to fall down. It was the first time that he had been defeated in a contest of pure strength since he had become an orc. Crockta got up.
“Truuuuuuu…”
“……!”
Crockta glared at it. The eyes of the triter slid over him. One side of its mouth went up. Then it looked at Crockta and shook its head.
An obvious provocation! Crockta angrily pulled out his greatsword. The sword flashed and the expression of the triter suddenly hardened.
“……!”
The triter looked into Crockta’s eyes and started to turn its body away.
Crockta chased after it and blocked its path. The triter made an oblivious sound, like it was confused. Its eyes were innocent. Crockta couldn’t believe that it had laughed at him just a moment ago. Great acting skills!
Crockta blinked in shock.
This guy…? Were all the triters the same?
Crockta placed his greatsword back in his sheath.
Then other triters started to gather around the first triter. They discovered the orc and came to ask what was going on. Once four or five triters joined, it felt like Crockta was being trapped within a huge wall.
The first triter turned his head back towards Crockta again. Its lips twitched and its tongue moved from side to side. It was as if the triter was thoroughly insulting him! What a rapidly changing attitude happening after its friends gathered!
Crockta’s hands shook.
The triters looked towards him and cried out. They started calling towards Crockta like they were joining in on the provocation.
“Truuu…”
“Truuuuuuuong…”
Crockta stood in the middle and listened to their insults miserably. He raised his head with determined eyes. As he was unable to speak, he muttered something on the inside.
To enter Arnin, he had to become a friend of the elves.
Crockta’s eyes blazed passionately.
An enemy of his enemy was his friend! He pulled out his greatsword. The triters jumped at the sight of the weapon, but they believed in the absolute dominance of their numbers.
Arnin, the city where it was difficult to meet orcs. For the first time in a long time, the residents of Arnin heard the battle cry of the orcs echo through the plains.
“Uahhh (Bul’tar)──────!”
Crockta’s greatsword tore through the air towards the triters.
***
An elf user, Yurin, chose the archer class and became confident as her character grew.
She couldn’t be satisfied with just the archer class anymore. She was aiming for the higher level elemental archer that was only available in Arnin. However, she wasn’t qualified enough, and had to complete various quests to raise her skills and level.
This quest required hunting the triters that damaged the forest.
“Chahat!”
She drew back her bowstring. The thin line shook, like it was going to break. Within a short time, she created an arrow with her magic power. The arrow flew and pierced the body of a triter.
“Truuu…”
However, the leather was so thick that it didn’t die. She pulled back the bowstring again. The bleeding triter glared at Yurin. It snorted angrily and charged towards her. Yurin’s heart started running wild. She had to shoot again before it arrived. However, her mind was shaken. The eyes of the triter were so wild.
Her hands became tangled and she dropped the arrow.
“Ehhh…?”
The triter kicked against the ground. She hurriedly escaped, but the triter was much faster. It would mean death if she was hit by the triter.
“No!”
She avoided a frontal collision, but her body was thrown in the air. Blood oozed from a wound on her skin. She didn’t pay attention to the injury and escaped again.
She had suffered for a long time after being killed by a monster in the past. The aftereffect of death was that her skill proficiencies fell. Her assimilation rate dropped rapidly and a sense of lethargy seemed to follow her around.
If she died this time, then she would have to go through it all again. She just wanted to avoid that. She ran through the plains with an elf archer’s unique jumping skills, but she couldn’t get rid of the triter.
She made one last attempt to shoot an arrow, but the triter was too close to her. She closed her eyes.
“……”
Nothing happened. She opened her eyes.
“……!”
Her eyes filled with doubt. Standing in front of her was an orc.
“H-How did you…?”
Orc mobs or NPCs shouldn’t be here. In addition, he was an orc warrior covered in tattoos! Orc warriors could barely deal with high level users. Arnin obviously wasn’t an orc filled area.
The orc swung his sword without any hesitation and sliced the triter. Blood spilled from the triter as it collapsed on the spot.
“……”
Her heart was shaken for a moment at the sight of the ferocious, bloodied orc.
The orc looked at her. She couldn’t help but gulp nervously. With her skills, she would surely die if she met an orc warrior. The orc started to approach.
“S-S-Spare m…”
The orc extended something.
“……?”
It was a glass bottle filled with glowing red liquid. It was a potion. It was a low grade potion, but it was still expensive.
“A-Are you giving it to me…?”
The orc nodded without saying anything. What was this? She didn’t know what to do so she sprinkled the potion that the orc gave her on her wound. Her wound was restored.
Perhaps he was a user…? The orc had a black bandana over his forehead so she couldn’t tell.
“Are you a user?”
“……”
The orc just nodded.
“Why is an orc user here?”
Despite the recent trend of orc users, most of them were unable to overcome the limits of their species and reset. The orc had given Yurin a potion and even bandaged the areas that weren’t healed. An unfamiliar confidence sprang up as the orc kept remaining silent. This was a reliable orc that she could trust.
The orc silently gave her a thumbs up after treating Yurin’s wounds.
Thumbs up! Was he an orc that couldn’t speak? He expressed his mind using his thumbs.
An unknown bond formed between the orc and the elf, who hunted the triters on these wide plains. Both of them hunted the triters close to each other.
“Be careful!”
They helped each other in times of crisis. This time, the orc was the one in trouble. As he was about to be flattened by a triter, her high speed turned it into a honeycomb. The triter in front of the orc fell down.
The orc stared at her from where he was lying on the ground.
Yurin grinned. The debt had been paid off, Mister Orc. This time she raised her thumb first.
The orc warrior nodded and returned to battle. The exchange of friendship between an orc and an elf!
“…Heh.”
“…Kul.”
The two of them turned their backs to each other like they were embarrassed and snorted.