I tried not to think too much about the cook who tricked me, but I couldn't. That only showed how little I knew about this world. When I said the price for which I had sold the salt, the others laughed, but tried to hold it back. In a way, I laughed too, but I felt more anger than any other feeling.
I asked where I could sell it, but that was a bit complicated. It would have to be done more cautiously, since some nobles controlled the sale of salt, which was why it was expensive. But there was always someone buying on the black market, at least there should be a black market in the Capital, besides a few shops.
But that was something for me to figure out another time. What I needed now was to focus on finding the other orcs and finishing the mission. We were tired and, even after eating and resting, we still couldn't go very far. We could make our situation worse if we fought.
My body was exhausted. Healing magic always left the body drained, and the others had fought against orcs who, according to them, were stronger than normal orcs. Since this group was veteran, I believed their story. I couldn't even consider it an exaggeration, since I didn't see the strike that hit me.
According to them, I had been struck by a piece of wood that one of the orcs threw at me. They usually used weapons made of stone and wood, but I had never seen an orc throw something. That was strange even for the group.
We decided to return to the village and try to get a house or set up the tent outside, but inside the village. Not that it was the safest place in the world, but it was still safer than in the forest or near it, especially when we didn't know the exact number or exact strength of the enemy.
Luckily, we managed to get a cabin. The house was simple, but it had three beds, and we could take turns. That way we could be more comfortable. It was still light out and we decided to sleep as soon as possible, so we would be more rested.
The next day, we were feeling better. We ate bread and milk that the village chief's wife gave us. They were more at ease after learning we had defeated some orcs. We hadn't finished all the work yet, but showing some results brought comfort, which was good and made the situation easier.
I wanted to defeat the orcs quickly, first because I had lost my patience, the second reason was the exam for the Academy. It would happen soon, and I would be dead tired.
In the forest, everything seemed normal. Once again we saw the footprints and the marks on the trees. This time we started earlier, so we could go further.
After a few hours, we heard something. The sound came from the right side. We walked slowly so no noise would be made, but somehow, the orcs heard us. They came in our direction, and we took formation. Nima, Jasmine, Elys and Jasly stayed at the back. Tobias moved aside, Dain and I stayed in front. The group had more long-range firepower, but Dain handled the first orcs well.
I used fire magic, Elys could hit every arrow, and I used my ability to help her aim. Dain's sword was sharper, and Tobias could deal more damage with his daggers.
Jasly's strikes were better than mine, since she used wind magic and with that, the meat wasn't spoiled.
We stayed like that for at least five minutes, but the sense of time was strange. I was tired, but I kept attacking. Using magic several times in a row was something I wasn't prepared for. Each time, I used a strike that consumed more mana. Bedelia would be laughing at me.
Training is different from real combat.
We managed to defeat all twenty-four orcs. While we were cutting the ears, a bigger orc appeared. He was at least twice as tall and fatter than a normal orc. The ones we were facing were already bigger, but this one was much larger. His movements were fast, he could run as if he had no weight, which left me even more incredulous.
He simply threw me against a tree, but I managed to soften the impact using magic. This time, I was able to predict the attack.
Jasly used wind magic and tried to suffocate the orc, but it didn't work. Somehow, that didn't cause any damage to him, it was as if his lungs were prepared to go without air.
Elys's strikes also had no effect, his skin was tougher. Even with some arrows piercing his skin, it was as if they were only mosquito bites.
Dain's sword could make some cuts, but the orc regenerated.
"How is this possible, an orc that uses magic?" Dain shouted.
Jasmine and Jasly kept using wind magic and tried, in vain, to cause some damage.
I stood still, gathering mana into a single strike. Nima was watching me. She used magic to enhance my abilities, she could increase strength and use spells to improve other stats, which was very useful.
A blue fireball appeared in my right hand. I managed to mold it into the shape of an arrow and kept gathering mana. Dain was buying time. The sword strikes were useless, since the orc kept healing. Then, another orc appeared and threw himself in front of the orc king. My strike hit him and opened a hole in his belly. The orc king was only left with a few injuries, but soon they were healed.
"Did you notice?" Dain was pointing at the orc king. "He's taking a bit longer to heal, the time increased."
I didn't notice, but Dain was convinced of it, so I believed him and kept gathering more mana. Dain kept attacking.
Elys was out of arrows, Jasmine and Jasly were helping Dain as much as they could.
After a few seconds, which felt like hours, I managed to hit a strike on the orc. When he fell to the ground, Dain ran over and cut his head off.
"We can't take any risks," he said laughing.
Tobias used the dagger to cut the orc king's ear. "Orcs are C-rank monsters, but these here were at least B-rank, and the king was A-rank."
"We need to report this, I just hope the guild master doesn't ask for the orc king's meat, the meat is worth at least 1 gold coin."
We were exhausted. We took a short break and then cut off all the orcs' ears. The item bag was almost full, but we managed to store all the bodies.
In the village, we handed a paper for the chief to sign. With that, we completed the mission and would receive 8 copper coins and 10 silver coins. The mission had a very small reward, because in these cases the meat could be sold, so the mission's value became just a small detail.
The next day, we returned to the Capital and went straight to the guild. We showed the mission paper and received the reward after delivering all the orc ears. There were twenty-six pairs of ears. The attendant called the guild master, who took a few minutes.
He entered the room, and I looked at him a little afraid, but he didn't even seem to remember me. He looked over the ears and then fixed his gaze on the pair of large ears.
"Explain to me how you managed to capture all these orcs, I also want you to explain what this pair of ears is," he said pointing at the orc king's ears.
Dain reported everything. He started with the villagers' fear and ended with the orc king's appearance. He was interrupted by the guild master, but then went back to speaking and explained how we brought down the monster.
"I won't claim ownership of this orc's body, I'll buy it from you," he said as he left the room. Then he came back and placed 2 gold coins on the table. "This should pay for the meat," he said looking at Dain.
"We have no objection."
"I don't want you talking about this orc, for now it will be a secret. Talking about him would only create more confusion. A few days ago…" He made a long pause. "I also want this to remain a secret, this conversation cannot leak." He sat on a sofa in the room. "A few days ago we received a report from a villager of a nearby village. Most of the villagers were killed by goblins. Lord Overchain, lord of the lands, considered that it was an attack by some other noble or even a neighboring country. But no, the survivors reported that they had been attacked by goblins, E-rank monsters. What we know is only that these goblins were stronger than normal goblins, and more numerous. One of the survivors reported seeing a hobgoblin commanding the army. The witness said he looked like a human general leading the troops."
Hobgoblins were smarter than goblins, but still dumb monsters.
"We don't yet know what to do about this, we don't even know if the appearance of the orc king and this goblin attack is just a coincidence, or if they are connected. Or if this will happen again," he looked tense. "Just be careful."
After the meeting, we went to the butcher shop. A muscular woman attended us.
"Put the meat on the table, I'll evaluate it."
Dain first placed the orc king's body. "This one is for the guild master, he said you should keep it for him."
She was startled when she saw the orc's body. The room was big, but it felt smaller after the orc was taken out of the item bag.
"So they exist," she said as she bent down to look at the orc's head that was on the ground. "I've heard some stories, but I never thought I would see one up close."
"Do you know anyone who has seen one?"
"Yes, some adventurer friends, but I never believed it. They never showed anyone. If I captured one of these, showing it to more people would be the first thing I'd do."
Then we took out all the other orcs and received 225 silver coins for the twenty-five we sold. Adding the 10 coins from the mission and the 2 gold coins, we had 255 silver coins and 8 copper coins. Since we were seven, it came to 36 silver coins for each, and we still had 3 silver coins and 8 copper coins left to eat something together.