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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“I remember this place used to be human territory, but I thought it would have collapsed due to the recent commotion. But to think a warlock had made a nest here… And seeing you fight the orcs, it seems you could be of help.”
“So… those things are a branch of that main tribe… and you’re the ones who sent them here?”
“It wasn’t intentional.”
What he’s saying is that there’s a possibility we might have to fight orcs that we didn’t necessarily have to fight…
‘We got involved.’
He said it wasn’t intentional, but in the end, it was no different from harm coming to me.
If they had attacked first and we had repelled them, there would be no problem.
But now it turned out that I, my forces, had massacred the ones that were running away after being ambushed.
If the orcs thought that the hornorcs and I were on the same side, I would have no choice but to fight a war with them unless I abandoned this place.
‘We can’t win.’
If thousands of orcs come rushing in, even I couldn’t win.
Even if all these undead remained, we couldn’t win.
We’d just have to comfortably close the underground dungeon, endure, and if they didn’t withdraw, we’d have to run away.
Once my thoughts were organized, I felt anger rising to the tip of my head.
However, I suppressed it as much as possible without expressing it.
There was no gain in recklessly expressing anger here.
What’s done is done.
I coolly calmed my head and said to Rithild.
I couldn’t prevent my gaze from turning cold.
“You’re shameless. You forcibly involve us in your fight, and what? You’re requesting help?”
“…I apologize for that. As I said earlier, it wasn’t intentional. We thought this place would have already been destroyed by the previous commotion.”
The commotion seemed to refer to the monster wave.
There was a high possibility that the monster wave occurred due to those red ogres and hornorcs.
Their pursuit disrupted the power structure inside the forest, and I think the monster wave occurred at the end of the chaos.
Of course, that didn’t matter.
In the end, it was beneficial to me.
But this was a separate matter.
Even with his apology, my anger didn’t disappear.
Of course.
My hard-earned dungeon was in crisis, and I wasn’t in the mood to be appeased with just an apology.
What was needed was a definite solution and compensation.
If they showed irresponsible behavior…
‘Fighting the war together is unavoidable. But you should give up on the idea of returning safely even after it’s over.’
I’ll kill them all.
Hornorcs, who were relatively few in number, were easier to deal with than a large-scale orc tribe.
There was a physical limit to overwhelming with sheer numbers, but there was no reason for us to be pushed back in small-scale battles.
I was confident in magic battles as well.
And there were ways to receive some compensation.
‘Their horns… store mana.’
They served a role similar to gems.
I was planning to pluck them all out and use them as research materials while they were alive.
Rithild seemed to have felt that my anger hadn’t subsided, so he quickly continued.
“Of course, I’m not just asking for help for nothing. To be honest, our forces aren’t that weak either. If we just fight, our side will also suffer terribly, so we didn’t want to fight, but we’re not the ones being pushed back. The chances of winning are sufficient. We’ll pay the price too.”
He quickly spoke.
“The horns of our already dead tribesmen… and the treasure of the tribe. The horns… are single-use, but they have mana not inferior to decent gems. They are useful in many ways.”
From what I know, they don’t easily hand over the corpses of their tribesmen…
It indeed seemed to be an urgent situation.
“The treasure… is not as valuable as the lives of the tribesmen…”
“What is that treasure you speak of?”
“…It’s a dagger made from the fang of the wind dragon. We used it for rituals, but… you will probably use it differently.”
I suddenly remembered that they had said they were descendants of the wind dragon.
“It’s not an ordinary dagger. A part of the great wind dragon’s soul is imbued in it, so it has effects similar to magic. …You can consider it a type of artifact.”
“I’d like to see the real thing.”
He hesitated for a moment, then took out the sword and showed it to me.
“This is it.”
The white sword was indeed the size of a dagger, as he said.
The entire sword, from the blade to the hilt, seemed to be made of fangs, as it was all the same color, and it was covered in patterns that looked like they were drawn.
‘It doesn’t seem to be a magical engraving…’
He said it was for rituals, so it was presumed to be some kind of shamanistic drawing for rituals.
“…Just by possessing it, the blessing of the wind dragon dwells within, making the body feel lighter. If you infuse a part of it with mana, a faint wind blade is generated, and if an excessive amount of mana is injected, you can even use Wind Cutter.”
The effects were permanent, he said.
“Depending on the quality, quantity, and control of the infused mana, it can exert power exceeding a decent aura, so don’t think of it as an ordinary Wind Cutter.”
Even though he was speaking in stiff human language, his tone was full of pride when introducing the dagger.
“It’s one of the treasures passed down through generations in the Dolgaebaram Tribe. Its name is Wind Dragon’s Fang. Few tribes possess such a treasure.”
Indeed, if it had such effects just by being made from a wind dragon’s fang without any special enchantment, it was certainly not lacking to be called a treasure.
Honestly, it was more than enough as compensation.
In the present where dragons have disappeared, such a weapon couldn’t be obtained even with money.
To be honest, even if it was said to be worth more than the three roots of Trenelci’s Blue Root that I had obtained in the past, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
That was a one-time use, but this was literally a family heirloom that could be passed down for generations.
If it were a royal family or noble house, they would probably value this dagger more than Trenelci’s Blue Root.
From my perspective, I preferred the Blue Root, but objectively, that was how much value it had.
‘It means its power varies depending on the user.’
The value was clear, but this was only useful if we could overcome the crisis.
There was something more important than that.
“How strong are your forces?”
“The personnel here are only a part. Most of our people are currently protecting the young tribe members. The number of people capable of fighting is about 50. All of them can use 3rd-class or higher wind magic, and I am at the 4th-class level.”
‘They’re more useful than I thought?’
Having 50 3rd-class or higher magicians was equivalent to a decent magic brigade.
“…Originally, we were a much stronger tribe, but most of the previous generation was annihilated in the war…”
It seemed that even their current power was nothing compared to their past glory.
‘Perhaps this guy also became the chief recently.’
Objectively, there was no way a tribe possessing such a treasure could be this weak.
Looking closely, he indeed didn’t look like a very old orc.
“The problem is… we lack a front line. If your undead can just buy time, we can easily deal with a tribe of that scale. So please help us.”
Indeed, according to his words, the chances of winning were sufficient.
If we put the young orcs in the underground dungeon for protection and use this place, the land of death, as the battlefield…
‘It’s sufficiently feasible.’
The anger that had risen to the tip of my head subsided a little.
Instead of giving a definite answer, I started calculating coldly.
If the main tribe only expressed anger towards the hornorcs, it might be more helpful not to fight.
It was not that I didn’t covet that artifact, the Wind Dragon’s Fang.
I coveted it.
But safety was more important than that.
I couldn’t put myself and my companions in danger for a single desire.
I had that much discretion.
However, while they might not recognize us as enemies, there was also a high possibility that they would recognize us as enemies.
‘If we’re going to fight, now is the right time while the undead are intact.’
If we took time to grasp the situation, the temporary undead would all collapse.
If they recognized us as enemies then… there was a high possibility of suffering unnecessary damage.
So the decision had to be made now.
‘The compensation… honestly, it’s not bad.’
No, honestly, it was good.
With that level of compensation, I could sufficiently forgive their ‘mistake’ that they did to us if we won.
‘Moreover… the hornorcs will eventually belong to the alliance of other races.’
Then… it wouldn’t be a bad choice to establish connections with them.
I was in a position where I had no choice but to be hostile to the Holy Empire anyway.
Although the alliance of other races disliked humans, they were not stupid enough to be hostile to a capable human for no reason.
In fact, most of the kingdoms belonging to the Six Kingdoms Alliance maintained a neutral relationship with the alliance of other races.
‘The problem is, if we’re going to fight, we need to lure the orcs of the main tribe here…’
It didn’t seem difficult.
Although it was quite far, it was not impossible if we prepared for about two days.
‘For now, we just need to crush their main force once.’
After that, it becomes a divide and conquer, and from then on, it’s our stage.
With a magic brigade on our side, the chances of winning are sufficient.
‘In the first place… rather than entrusting our fate to someone else’s choice… it’s right for us to choose.’
It started with the trolling of the Dolgaebaram Tribe, but I had no intention of being swayed from beginning to end just because the situation had become like this.
Even in this situation, we had to move as proactively as possible.
‘We will win no matter what.’
I had no intention of losing this hard-earned resting place.
“…You said an alliance? I’ll accept it. However, I’ll receive the compensation first. Especially that dagger.”
I didn’t know about the horns, but… that dagger was immediately useful.
He said they didn’t have a vanguard anyway, so it was right for us to use it.
“I have someone who can use it right away, so hand it over. Then I’ll accept the alliance.”
“…We’re in an urgent situation, so… I’ll accept.”
Rithild, who seemed to hesitate for a moment, finally nodded his head.
Seeing that he knew about the Black Star, it would be difficult for him to trust a warlock, but the current situation was very unfavorable for them.
Moreover, it was a situation where they had made a mistake first.
In this situation, if I had said I couldn’t trust them because I was a warlock, it would have been no different from saying let’s not form an alliance.
I didn’t know about his inner thoughts, but at least outwardly, it was right for him to act like that.
‘Fortunately, he’s not stupid.’
I immediately used the undead to receive the dagger and checked it several times.
‘…It’s really a dragon’s fang.’
It wasn’t difficult to confirm since my staff was also made from a dragon’s body.
As soon as I finished checking, I handed it over to Athena.
“…Is it okay for me to receive this?”
“You’re the one who uses a dagger. You’re the most suitable person to use this, so of course you should use it.”
I didn’t even use mana, so I couldn’t use it in the first place.
Moreover, he said it was a dragon’s fang.
At my current level, I couldn’t even pollute it with magic.
‘I don’t think even the me from the first round could do it…’
To that extent, tainting a dragon’s body with magic was not an easy task.
In Kayla’s case, she was not at a level to be beaten by orcs even without such a thing.
After handing over the dagger, I said to Rithild,
“For now, bring your tribesmen. Due to circumstances, we’ll fight the war as soon as possible, and the battlefield will be here, this place. We need to lure them.”
“…I understand. Magicians usually exert their greatest power in their own territory.”
They could also be considered magicians in a broad sense, so they seemed to have immediately understood my words.
“I’ll protect your tribe’s young children in my dungeon. The enemy isn’t easy, so don’t think you can spare anyone who can fight.”
Even if he couldn’t trust me, he had no choice but to entrust the young tribe members to me in this situation.
He also understood that.
“I understand. I’ll be back.”
As Rithild left, Kayla said,
“We got involved in a troublesome matter.”
“It can’t be helped. We would have had to fight a defensive battle at least once anyway. Let’s think of it as a twist of that. …We received good compensation too.”
“…It certainly doesn’t seem like an ordinary weapon. Just by holding it, my body feels lighter…”
“Don’t rely on it too much. Relying on an item stops growth.”
“You’re saying the obvious, Teacher. Don’t worry.”
Although things got twisted, if this matter was resolved well, there would be nothing bad as a result.
‘If you think positively… we’re using the hornorcs to eliminate a threat in the area.’
Except for one large-scale orc tribe, there was no factor that could threaten us in the area.
At most, it was just the Siglen County, but they had no reason to be interested in us unless we did something strange.
‘The pioneer territories that were created with great effort have all collapsed, so they won’t even want to look this way for the time being.’
Moreover, they lost the dwarf too.
So the Siglen County was fine.
“For now, gather all the defensive traps Mutre made.”
“…Mutre will be disappointed. He made them in advance to protect the underground dungeon, but they’ll all be used because of some strange fellows.”
“This is also a form of protection. Let’s just think of it as bringing forward a future battle.”
It was better to do something that helped solve the problem rather than lamenting and resenting what had already happened.
“Got it. But you said we’re going to fight here, so we need to lure them… That main tribe has over a thousand combatants. Can you draw them in?”
“It’s enough. In the first place… the hornorcs said they had already disturbed them, right?”
“…That’s true.”
Athena, who was well aware of their vengeance, immediately nodded as if she understood my words.
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