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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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It seemed they knew that and allocated fewer personnel to this area.
We invested five days just for this scouting.
We didn’t forget to make the necessary items for hunting in between.
We prepared capture nets, scent-removing potions, reagents to aid in magic use, and even monster perfume.
Monster perfume wasn’t anything special. As the name suggested, it was a perfume that emitted a scent similar to other monsters’ body odors.
This was the wyvern version.
‘Wyverns are also the natural enemy of orcs.’
Although I don’t know all the combinations for each monster, I knew quite a few.
One of them was wyvern.
I planned to leave a little behind after the hunt was over.
‘With this, it’s the perfect crime.’
The orcs would have no idea that it was our doing.
After such thorough preparations, we moved to the orcs’ territory, receiving Thea’s send-off.
Athena was worried about leaving Thea alone, but we couldn’t bring her along.
‘It’s not a good idea to temporarily send her to the development castle.’
There was a possibility that Kuman would find it strange.
Instead, we covered the area around the house with traps and instructed her to flee to the basement in case of an emergency.
‘I gave her the key too.’
If she fled inside, she would find out that I was a Warlock, but it was much better than losing Thea and having Athena break down.
She would find out eventually anyway. I just wanted to keep it hidden until the territory collapsed.
When we entered the territory of our target orcs…
“Something… feels strange.”
Kayla looked at me and Athena as if sensing something odd.
Since it was the two of us who had scouted this area, it could be considered a natural reaction.
However, Athena and I couldn’t answer.
It seemed that something had happened to the orcs.
I instructed the two to set up a base camp and infiltrated the orcs’ territory.
‘The atmosphere is chaotic.’
I felt it at the entrance, but it became clear as I ventured deeper inside.
‘What happened in just a day?’
There were only a few days left until the request deadline.
This request was something we had to succeed in.
Kuman had invested a lot, and if we completed the request, I would also gain a lot.
Not only money but, more importantly, I could have an opportunity to build trust and connections.
This was something that required time, but with this single request, I could greatly shorten that time.
I couldn’t waste such an opportunity so futilely.
As I headed deeper into the territory, traces of battles were found in various places.
I took a slight risk and delved deeper into the territory.
‘…There was a war.’
It seemed to have been a fight between orc tribes.
I climbed a tall tree and observed the internal state of the tribe.
‘One, two…’
The number of tribe members had decreased significantly.
Moreover, as if they had fought with all their might, there were many injured orcs.
‘But it seems they didn’t collapse?’
The worst-case scenario was for the orc tribe to crumble and be absorbed by a large-scale tribe, but that didn’t seem to have happened.
Judging by how they endured, it was either a similar-scale tribe, or perhaps it was an attack by a different monster, not orcs.
‘Well, considering that males were mainly injured… it seems to be the former.’
In battles between orc tribes, if another tribe falls, all the adult males are killed, the children are enslaved, and the females are taken as spoils of war.
Therefore, when a war breaks out between orcs, the males literally fight without regard for their lives.
The puzzling thing was that there were no orc tribes of a size that could properly compete with them in the surrounding area.
‘Did the existing tribe split? Or did a whole new tribe migrate here?’
Both possibilities were valid.
However, there was no time to investigate that in detail now.
I tracked the ones who had invaded the territory in case of any unforeseen situations.
‘The war might not be over yet.’
However, it seemed they had completely given up on the area.
‘They left.’
At that moment, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
‘Isn’t this… an opportunity for me?’
The tribe I was targeting had been weakened due to the aftermath of the war.
Especially the adult orcs, particularly the males who mainly went hunting, had been severely injured.
Even in such a situation, they couldn’t avoid hunting, so they would eventually come out to hunt…
‘If they’re weakened… it’ll be easier to catch them, right?’
If the adult males disappear, the orcs inside the village will starve.
It’s not that they don’t have stored food, but…
‘We can catch them as they come out one by one.’
Although females aren’t weak, it’s true that they are weaker than males, and if we take our time, it’s not impossible to catch them all.
‘Anyway, if the tribe itself disappears, there will be no one to take revenge.’
Orcs’ vengeance arises when fellow tribe members are harmed, not the entire species.
Kuman’s request was to bring back as many orcs as possible.
If we first fulfill the quota and then catch more afterwards…
‘This seems good.’
It looked like it would be profitable and not detrimental to me.
However, I wondered if Kuman would have the money to buy all those orcs…
‘There are ways to make him accept them even if he offers a lower price.’
That wasn’t something to worry about.
I immediately rushed to where my companions were.
The two had set up a base camp of a suitable size.
“What happened?”
“It seems there was a war in the day after we left. Based on my speculation, it was a conflict between orc tribes.”
“In just a day?”
Athena sighed as if dumbfounded.
“Then what happens now?”
Kayla asked, and I answered as if it were no big deal.
“Fortunately, they weren’t annihilated. It seems they managed to survive somehow.”
“I’m thinking of proceeding with the plan, or rather expanding it.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“They’ve become weaker than expected. Especially the number of hunting party members we were targeting has decreased, and their physical conditions are all poor.”
The two seemed to have caught on to what I was trying to say.
“Then…”
“We might be able to capture all the hunting party members. In that case…”
“We could also capture the ones left in the village.”
“It will take some time, though.”
It would probably be difficult to hand over all the orcs in the village within the given period.
‘We can negotiate that part.’
If it comes down to it, although I don’t like it, we could forcefully capture them by receiving support from mercenaries and slaves, accepting some losses.
‘The losses would be significant.’
But even if they were beaten to a pulp, couldn’t we catch about half of them alive?
“Anyway, the beginning is the same. No, it will be even easier.”
“Well, you did say they were injured.”
“The important thing is to fasten the first button well.”
Just doing that would achieve our initial goal.
The rest could be challenged without burden.
As it was about time for the hunting parties to move, we relocated to the place we had originally planned.
If it were normal circumstances, we would have had plenty of time, but since we spent time assessing the situation, it was a bit tight.
‘It helped that we allocated ample time.’
Otherwise, we would have wasted a whole day just figuring out the situation.
We meticulously applied the scent-removing potion to our equipment and entire bodies.
After that, Athena climbed a tall tree and hid, while Kayla and I also concealed ourselves in slightly separated locations.
‘The wind direction is good too…’
They would be sensitive right after the war, but their physical condition wouldn’t be good either, so it should be fine.
As time passed, the hunting parties indeed began their activities.
‘Two?’
The difficulty level had dropped to an extreme.
Kayla looked this way, and I slightly nodded.
As expected, the orcs were in a heightened state of alertness, but they didn’t detect us.
The kill zone, or should I say capture zone. The orcs reached the area we were targeting without any suspicion.
I gave a brief signal, and Athena immediately sprayed the net along with the sealed reagent.
“Kraaaah!”
[Silence.]
The noisy orcs instantly became quiet.
The sprayed reagent had the effect of lowering the target’s resistance.
The orcs couldn’t even handle mana in the first place. The entire area fell silent at once.
Before their resistance intensified, I quickly unleashed curse spells.
“[Blind], [Disease], [Sleep]…”
Most of the magic was poured into Silence, so the effects of other curses would be lacking, but since their resistance had also decreased, it would have a considerable effect.
‘To use them properly, I need to be at a higher class.’
The power of these curses varies depending on the class. However, in the current situation, this was more than enough.
Thud! Thwack!
Kayla, who had appeared at some point, was beating the resisting orcs as if it were nothing.
Their mouths opened wide, but no sound came out.
They showed the will to resist somehow, but they were engulfed in a tough and heavy net and afflicted with various curses, so they couldn’t even properly draw their weapons.
In the end, they were beaten one-sidedly without much resistance and passed out.
“No. It was easier than I thought.”
Athena, who had confirmed that the situation here was resolved, came down and said.
“The other hunting parties didn’t notice.”
It ended much more smoothly than expected.
‘Both of them seem to be in good condition…’
I took out the map and checked the range of movement and the routes the other hunting parties mainly traveled.
‘Their movements aren’t always the same, but…’
Nevertheless, there were places they inevitably passed through.
For example…
‘Like now, when they’re about to go hunting… and when they return from hunting.’
“We’re catching one more team.”
“I thought so.”
Kayla also didn’t object, perhaps disappointed that the capture ended too easily beyond expectations.
Being able to hunt this smoothly was not only due to skills but also because of thorough preparation, and on top of that, the environment was in our favor, so the capture proceeded without a hitch.
We put the orcs into the capture cages and sealed their bodies.
We added reagents, put them into a deep sleep with Sleep, and even stuffed them with sleeping pills.
Using too much could kill them, but they would be fine for about a day. They were incredibly sturdy creatures, even if they were injured.
‘How much money are we spending this time?’
It’s 2 gold per orc, so it’s not a loss, but…
It can’t be helped. If you lack skills, you have to make up for it with money.
In the second hunt, we captured three orcs. Considering that the remaining hunting party has three members, there are about ten adult male orcs left in their village.
We sprayed wyvern scent at the hunting site, so they wouldn’t suspect us.
After resting at the base camp and observing the situation, we saw another hunting party departing today, indicating that the internal situation was dire.
‘They’re in pairs now.’
When we captured two parties this time, the cages were full, so we decided to withdraw for now.
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