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| Translation Group | Pacem Community Translations |
Day 91
Yesterday afternoon, we began our journey from the forest. Since our horses are actually Skeleton Centipedes, they don't need rest, so we could probably have gone without stopping.
Still, our wagon train draws far too much attention. Several dozen undead running down the road makes us an extremely noticeable convoy. I suppose as long as we keep moving in earnest, we won't greatly disturb the communities within the grasslands beyond the forest.
Our mission this time is to leave the forest, hills, and mountains, and trek into the unknown to find the fortress city of Trient. We should have enough time today to arrive before nightfall.
We might have even reached it by now, but we decided to spend the night in a nearby village on the prairie, so we're currently stopped in the grasslands.
The village we stayed in, Clute, has a population of around 300. It's a little plain, with just enough agriculture to sustain it. Actually, it reminds me of the village where I was born in my human life. By the way, the forest we were born in is apparently called the Kuuderun Great Forest, famed for its high-quality wood.
Even the administrator of Velvet's dungeon informed me that due to the high density of magic in the area, wooden products from this forest sometimes have magical properties and are famous for making musical instruments. This village also has a shop that makes a livelihood from selling such pieces.
I decided it was worth satisfying my curiosity and went over to the shop. Honestly, these items were stunning; they were imbued with the power of the forest's spirits. No wonder they're such a popular commodity among the rich and nobility here. Anyone wanting to become a famous [Job-Bard] would certainly have a big advantage with instruments like these.
Originally, this area was just grassland until several years ago. The story goes that several craftsmen, following rumors of high-quality lumber, settled here and built houses to practice their trade. They were so successful that others followed, and in time, this so-called craftsmen's village formed. Given the growth, I'd say this village might nearly double in size within a few years. Because the master craftsmen draw significant business from the kingdom's aristocracy, it seems that with enough skill and time, one could even rise in nobility. One such craftsman is apparently so skilled that he created man-made creatures, called [Golems], to protect the village.
In short, these guardians are Iron Golems. While they don't have much more offensive power than a Hobgoblin, they have massive bodies with high endurance. So far, I've seen about five of these creatures while walking around. For additional defense, they've installed trenches, ditches, and a watchtower built by a man named Kikabe.
According to Redhead, she met several privileged merchants who got their start in this village. It's safe to say these people feel very secure, to the point that their ignorance of the world almost annoys me.
Eventually, I found myself wandering full circle around the village's exterior. After seeing the black bodies of the Skeleton horses I'd created, I decided to use an item from my box to change them into normal-looking brown horses. It was a ring I had gained from Velvet's dungeon that allowed me to change the appearance of certain objects or people for a limited time.
After that, I headed further into the village, as I'd overheard people discussing trouble causing strife for the villagers. Sensing an opportunity for our type of work, I went inward.
Apparently, this village has been facing issues for several months with aggressive Orc clans. These Orcs hadn't caused much trouble in the past and mostly kept to themselves in the forest. When I heard they were monsters of the forest, my interest was piqued; this might have to do with my attack on their main compound from some time ago.
A villager told me that about ten years ago, a deal had been struck with the forest's Orc tribes to cease raids on the village in exchange for female slaves every six months. This was easier than risking lives to fight constant Orc raids.
However, the Orcs have recently begun breaking their contract, attacking logging parties and, in one case, capturing the daughter of an influential community member. This was the seventh large attack in recent months, and the Orcs' strikes have only grown more frequent.
There are quite a number of them, but they haven't yet risked attacking the village directly, though Orcs are strong enough in groups to overcome an Iron Golem. Even though the Iron Golems are sturdy, a village this size can't protect everything with only five of them. If the Orc tribe launched a full assault, it would fall to the villagers to fight. Currently, the villagers can no longer safely gather the high-quality wood.
The Orcs' sudden shift to brutality after a decade of non-aggression has left the village in confusion. Though Orcs have some humanoid characteristics, they are still monsters. Typical human mentality—to see things in black and white.
The village's history is short, and not many residents have spent their lives here. Though the skilled craftsmen like the village and are invested in its growth over the past decade, there's a risk they may have to abandon it if Orc raids continue.
These humans have no real fighting mentality; they'd rather cut their losses than die. To leave their village and all their hard work without a fight... Hmph, I suppose this is just typical human behavior.
Normally, I wouldn't care too much about human suffering, but business opportunities could arise from trading with this village, given their crafts using forest spirits.
Since only the governing Guild in the nearest town could dispatch a punitive request to handle the Orcs, I went there to offer our services—for a suitable reward, of course. Charity isn't my style unless it benefits me.
Ah, I think I may have uncovered the root of this crisis. It seems I truly was at the center of this. My party and I had raided the Orcs' base and slain their leader. Due to their lack of intelligence, that was likely enough to spark a tribal civil war among the survivors. There were probably several divisions, each one trying to secure their own lives by trying to lead the rest. Survivors from recent Orc raids estimate there are thirty to forty Orcs left from the dozens that were slain at the mine.
It may have been that all of the Orcs with even the slightest bit of wisdom had been present at the mine during our attack. As such, all of their supplies, leaders, Mages, and organizational hierarchy were all wiped out. The survivors are probably no more than mere beasts that rely on pure instinct. A better way to picture what is going on is to imagine all of the survivors are like Ogakichi-kun without my influence. With their food running low, they are attacking the closest source of food possible — the village and those that went out to collect the lumber.
Orcs were never really that weak, but as we are now there would be no trouble in removing the threat. For normal untrained human civilians however, an Orc is a frightening opponent when you bring up the discussion of fighting back. It would be extremely difficult to subdue the Orcs to ensure the safety of their lumberjacks.
Recent sightings of the Orcs portray them as far more skinny than they had been previously, an obvious sign that they are struggling to secure proper sources of food.
The Orcs probably held off on attacking the humans until hunger got the better of them, and they came looting the humans even though they remembered the warnings that their superiors had told them before we slaughtered them all. Since the crop fields were almost totally undefended, the Orcs also struck there.
Sigh, since this is a problem that I have caused, I suppose I can't just leave it as it is. Especially if, for some reason, it comes to light that it was me who caused the Orcs to attack the human settlement, who knows what the results would be. Most likely, my relations with the humans would be tarnished for a very long time. Not that I feel sorry for kicking the Orcs out of the mines. The spirit stones that were extracted from the Orc mines were far more worth their cost than the humans. The experience at the time was also nice.
Spirit stones are precious to the humans and many other races for their magical properties. If I were able to clear out the remaining Orcs, selling them here would bring an enormous pile of gold in. Since this place has such a high demand for high-quality magical materials, I see it almost as if it was filled with money-growing trees. It's not something that my greedy heart could just pass up. Well, for now I'll keep the information I've discovered to myself while I discuss the matter of a contract to deal with the Orcs. For me, what I have done to the Orcs is a thing of the past.
It's not like I have anything against the Orcs, but, with the idea of gathering a reward, I pushed any possible morals aside. Though as a consolation, I suppose I'll throw in for free the treatment for all the injured people from the constant Orc raids. There is even benefit in doing this — it makes me appear as a benevolent soul in their eyes. I may even be given special prices for my goods once this is all over.
Anyway, with the contract with Clute Village made, I had a few small conversations with some of the head Guild members before I made my way out. If I play my cards right, I could turn this short-term contract into a formal long-term contract to protect the village from future attacks. Even this would be in my benefit. If I'm going to be doing business with these people by selling them our spirit stones, I may as well makes sure it doesn't get pillaged or razed to the ground. Being sure of this deal's future, I made my way back.
After the contract was made, it wasn't even evening before all of the Orcs were being fried up as roasted pork. The village's Orc problem has been all wrapped up. With a delicious meal thrown in, I can accept that price of one day's worth of travels.
While we were wiping out the Orcs, we made sure to not harm the human women in their possession. By taking this precaution, we managed to recover the three of them that had been kidnapped during the Orc raids. When we returned, a deal was signed for the future protection of the settlement. So I sent for ten Goblins and ten Hobgoblins led by a Hobgoblin Mage to garrison the village. They should be here within a day or so and would be greeted with great kindness upon arriving.
The trust I gained from this was great.
While keeping the slave women would be nice, I decided to free them and leave them in the village. I gave the Guild Master a request to treat them as equals, to which he agreed to.
I think the environment of this village is better than before.
That's good. The better the relations with a village, the better the business.
As we were back on the road, the effects of the ring wore off.
I decided to eat the ring for the chance of picking up the ability for myself.
Ability learned: 【Shapeshift】
For now, I changed the color of my body to be more human-like, though I left my tattoos.
With that, we continue to proceed onward to our destination.