Otome Game no Heroine de Saikyou Survival-Chapter 76

A Small Town

It was the hometown of Gill and his family, but geographical information on the area around this barony was made public by the guild.

The detailed geographical information would be military information, but it would not be a problem if I just wanted to go there, and I was able to access more detailed information as a Rank 3.

“Are you going to that town?”

“Should I not?”

The receptionist spotted me looking at the map and called out to me, but when I asked her what it was about, she just shook her head and told me.

“I would like to stop you because of your age, but in terms of your ability, you alone will have a higher survival rate than the other adventurers. However, you must not be reckless. Our guild expects our Rank 3 scouts to bring back local information.”

“Will you buy the information I collect?”

“Of course.”

She and I had a small laugh, she gave me an update on the Orcs, and I spent the rest of the day gathering information before leaving town the next day.

I did not meet that adventurer who got entangled with me the other day. I had no intention of meeting him, but if he had met with me outside of town, I just wouldn’t need to wait until he pulled out his blade this time.

Since I was going to a dangerous area, of course there were no horse-drawn carriages. I heard that the merchants did not provide carriages either, so I bought a lot of salt just in case.

Well, I would never use a horse-drawn carriage anyway.

Gill and Shuri’s hometown was a day’s ride by carriage, and two and a half days on foot from the town where the Baron lived.

After leaving the north gate and walking a little, I gradually increased the speed and ran through the streets at about 60% of the maximum speed.

When there were more forests around, I matched the color of my magical element to the surroundings and used Concealment to muffle the sound with strengthened leg muscles, while keeping an eye on my surroundings with night vision.

Since the area was close to a demon habitat, many demons could be found near the border. Even so, I didn’t think there would be too many of them on the roads near the town, but according to the guild’s research, demon wolves and horned rabbits were said to appear on the roads here as well.

“Ah.”

Suddenly, a hobgoblin appeared from the forest beside me.

I reinforced my body while in a state of Concealment, kicked the hobgoblin in the side of the head with my heel as if doing a special move, and using the momentum of the kick, I drove my black dagger through its neck, then vaulted over its head as a springboard before the hobgoblin fell over and continued running.

…I was a little surprised.

The fact that the hobgoblin was there, which should not have been around here, meant two things.

First, the Orc settlements existed without any doubt, and the demons that were originally in that area were beginning to flee to other areas.

And the fact that demons were appearing on such a road meant that there were no soldiers who were supposed to patrol the area, or they might have been holed up somewhere.

The baron’s side was in a complete state of confusion…

I didn’t know if they could exterminate the Orcs with the forces they had. So, they might probably be asking for help from Count Torus, who was the baron’s parent, to minimize the loss of their soldiers.

But that was not the right answer.

Even if Count Torus responded to the call for help, it would be at least two months before the help could arrive here, and if they were being too careful with preparations, they might not be able to leave, not until spring.

The same would be true for the Adventurers’ Guild.

For the guilds, adventurers were their assets. With only a maximum of Rank 3 adventurers, the guilds could not receive the requests, and if there was a Rank 4 party in the guilds of Dandol or Count Torus, the guild could only send a request and wait.

Things might change in a few months, but the small town wouldn’t be able to last until then.

I ran through the night, taking naps along the way, and the next morning I arrived in the town I had confirmed with the guild.

The population was about 2,000. More than half of the residents made their living by farming, giving the impression of a large village rather than a small town.

There were fields outside the town, but they did not appear to be well cared for. The town, which could be seen in the distance, was covered by a stone wall about the height of a man, but even if it could withstand the attacks of beasts and goblins, it was unlikely that it could withstand repeated attacks by Orcs.

I was thinking that the blockade made up of logs and wooden stakes might not last that long in a siege, but it was still better than nothing.

“Hey, you there, what do you want in this town?”

As I approached the town, a man who looked like a soldier called out to me from the top of a tower inside the closed gate.

“I’m an adventurer. I was asked by an old resident to check on the town.”

“An adventurer? A girl like you?

“You won’t let me in?”

“Oh, oh, sorry. I’m sorry, I’ll open the gate, and you can come in.”

The soldier rushed down from the tower, and the heavy gate creaked open slightly.

“Sorry, I’ll be closing it in a minute, please come in through there.”

“Okay.”

I entered the town through a gap in the gate that opened about 50 centimeters, and two soldiers immediately closed the gate and hung a thick bolt on it.

“Hmm…adventurers, huh? You know the situation in this town, don’t you? Frankly, I’d appreciate it if you could help us…”

“I know.”

The first soldier’s eyes lit up when he saw what was inside.

“This one’s good. The merchants aren’t coming, so even a small amount will help.”

If they were going to be fighting in a siege, especially if they plan to turn the village into their stronghold, they probably didn’t want to spare the food for travelers who wouldn’t fight for them.

I bought 3 kg of salt. If there was not enough salt, it would affect the body and at worst, the body would be seeking it. It might not be enough for all the current inhabitants, but it should be more than enough for working soldiers and the people reinforcing the walls that would be sweating a lot, not to mention that the rations from the town were running low since the merchants had stopped coming out of fear of the Orcs.

“So, what’s the situation?”

When I approached the soldiers, who were happy to have a decent meal now, their faces instantly darkened and the two soldiers began to speak in turn.

“You heard about the Orcs, right? A group of Orcs came a few weeks ago and killed some peasants who were working outside the walls.”

“Some adventurers came to the village, saying they were sent by their lord. They checked and found that there were many Orcs.”

“I think the Orcs are in a place that was abandoned ten years ago. They are omnivores, and they took the crops outside the walls. But when their food runs out, they will definitely come and attack us. If the lord’s army didn’t arrive by then… Hey, what’s going on with the Adventurers Guild? Will there be someone coming over here…”

At that moment, our conversation came to a halt when we noticed four men who looked like adventurers in armor rushing toward us from the town’s settlement.

“Hey, what happened?”

“Oh, you!”

It was the man who had tangled with me at the Adventurers’ Guild and his friends.

As expected, the thief who was dressed as a scout seemed to be missing from their group, but the man who had been at odds with me came up to me, staring at my figure.

“What are you doing here?”

“Wait, wait, wait! I don’t know what’s going on here, but stop it, Kevin!”

I remembered this guy, Kevin. It was said he was from a town, probably this one. Kevin was about to attack, when a soldier who seemed to know him stopped him, most likely because of the salt she had given the soldiers.

Seeing this, Kevin’s friends joined in and began to stop him.

“Yeah, stop it. This girl is pretty strong, right?”

“Yes, she is. Did you become Rank 3?”

“Yes.”

I opened the collar of my dress and took out a tag, just in case.

“Tsk.”

Kevin clicked his tongue at the sight of the Rank 3 tag and stepped away.

“So, what are you doing here?”

“I was just asked to check on this place by some people I know. They have family and friends here. More importantly, aren’t the residents going to escape?”

Kevin’s eyes widened at the light-hearted question.

“You know what? These people have been living here since they were born, they only know how to live here, and some of them even said that they will die with their fields!”

“Kevin!”

“I’ve had enough of this.”

Kevin was about to attack me again, but his friends grabbed him and stopped him.

The first soldier, who seemed to think that we were getting nowhere, let out a sigh and told me, “I have relatives in another town.”

“About 20% who have relatives in other towns have already left town. The rest of them, the ones who can escape, are getting out, little by little. But this idiot is right. About 30% of the residents can’t escape, like old people who can’t live outside, families with sick people, and so on. Hey, can’t the Adventurers Guild do something?”

“No. The guild won’t do anything without a Rank 4 party available.”

“I see…”

“If you’re really a Rank 3, then do something!”

Kevin, who was being held back by his friends, looked at me and spat that out.

I see…

“Let him go. I’ll give you a shot.”

“Wait a minute, this guy’s just upset.”

At my words, one of the guys who had been holding Kevin down came over to stop me.

“You want to know, don’t you? If I really am Rank 3 or not.”

“You bastard!!!!”

Kevin, enraged by my provocation, pulled out his sword.

As expected, the soldiers tried to stop him, but I unleashed Level 3 Intimidate with a killing intent.

[–?]

“Uh-ooooh!”

Everyone in the room stiffened at the sight of my killing intent. Among them, only Kevin brandished his sword at me with his face scrunched up.

I dodged his sword and struck Kevin in the face with the bottom of my palm. Knocking his focus off, I next struck the joint of his arm to make him drop the sword, and then used both hands to connect a palm strike to his unguarded chest and stomach.

I did not use the dagger. I knew that he had been wielding that sword more than ten times than I had been wielding my dagger. But his blade lacked power.

You had a sword pointed at me, but you lacked the resolve to kill me.

Kevin was unable to even follow me with his eyes as I mercilessly struck him in the arms, stomach, chest, shoulders, and stomach again, and unilaterally beat him into a pulp.

[…]

“Uahhh….”

Kevin fell on his back, tattered to shreds, and looked at me with a frightened look on his face, who had done everything in only ten seconds.

“Who is your enemy? What is your reason for wielding the sword?”

I did not need to finish him off. Normally, if someone turned their sword against me for their own reasons, then I would kill them as retaliation but not this time.

“Gu.”

Kevin gripped his sword with his eyes flashing with intense anger and raggedly raised himself up to endure the pain.

“I’ll… save… the people… of this town.”

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

“Then do it.”

I turned away from him and faced the people around me.

“You adventurers, keep an eye out for Orcs and let the town’s inhabitants escape. Soldiers over there. How long will it take to finish evacuating the residents who can escape?”

“Oh, oh, five weeks…no, give me four weeks! Just four weeks! I’ll be working with the soldiers in town and wait.”

“Please do so.”

“What about you?”

I glanced at Kevin’s companions, who were giving me anxious looks.

“Didn’t he already say it? If I can prove that I’m a Rank 3, then it’ll settle everything.”

Seeing the look on their faces now, I was sure they’d be fine.

Now they would take care of the evacuation of the residents without me having to do anything. And I could do my job. So…

I pulled out my black dagger and turned towards the direction of the abandoned village where the Orc settlement was located.

“One month. I’ll buy you that much time.”

That was the promise I made.