Chapter 85 Interlude꞉ Nadja ③
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The trip went off without a hitch, and we reached the outskirts of Nada Village in good time. Unfortunately, Lil suffered her usual carriage sickness, which meant I spent the entire journey acting as her human pillow…
Fortunately – or rather, naturally – since the carriage was filled only with Clan members, I didn’t have to endure any envious glares. On the contrary, there were more than a few looks of jealousy directed at Lil.
Currently, our Orc subjugation unit is positioned in a forest about two kilometers from Nada Village. It’s an ideal spot for a concealed camp. Furthermore, Ryan and I had scouted ahead to a vantage point where we could watch the Orcs without being detected.
I climbed a tree and peered through my binoculars. Countless pig-faced monsters – green-skinned, built like sumo wrestlers, and standing nearly seven feet tall – strutted about the village as if they owned it.
While I watched, several Orcs disappeared into a relatively spacious manor. Almost immediately, an equal number of them exited the building.
”What’s the situation?” Ryan asked.
Seeing is believing, so I silently handed him the binoculars. For the record, these were custom-forged by Tatei’s alchemy. ¹
Ryan took a look and immediately clicked his tongue.
”It’s crawling with the bastards. No sign of the men… but the women…”
”See that large manor? I just saw a group of Orcs heading inside,” I noted.
”Tch. So that’s how it is. Let’s head back, Sieben. Still, these optics are incredible – to see that clearly from this distance…” Ryan muttered.
”If you want a pair, drop my name at the Dekoboko General Store ². They’ll make you some, though they won’t be cheap.”
”I see… I’ll have to do that,” Ryan replied.
Having successfully plugged the shop, I retreated from the area with Ryan.
Once back at camp, I entered a briefing with the key players: Shamrock and several Amber-rank ³ Monster Hunters. During the meeting, the rest of the troops ate their rations. Despite the distance from the village, they avoided lighting fires to hide the smoke, sticking to cold preserved food.
Lil is Amber-rank herself, but I let her rest to recover the energy drained by her motion sickness. Unfortunately, healing magic is frustratingly ineffective against a simple case of nausea.
”Right. I’ve got the gist of it. So the survivors are being held in this manor,” Shamrock said.
We held our strategy meeting over a crude map sketched into the dirt. Shamrock used a twig to point out the building where the women were likely being kept.
”And their numbers?” Shamrock asked.
”I didn’t get an exact count, but there’s at least two hundred. Maybe more,” I said.
”Hmph… Right. How do we play this?”
Shamrock and the others sank into deep thought. I, too, found myself staring down the dirt-map of Nada Village. It’s a tiny settlement, ringed by a wooden palisade about two meters high. The original population was barely fifty people. There are only two main gates.
Hmm…
”Hey, how about this? Whether it actually works is a different story, but…”
* * *
Explosions and pillars of fire erupted simultaneously at the front and back gates. The Orcs immediately swarmed toward the noise. From a distance, Lil, Honoka, Ryan, and I watched the chaos unfold.
My plan was simple enough. Hit both gates with a surprise attack to split their forces. While they’re distracted, an infiltration team scales the walls to rescue the captives. That was it.
The sorcerers in the diversionary teams blew the gates to hell, serving as perfect decoys. To coordinate, Shamrock led the front gate assault while the Buccaneer Clan sub-leader took the rear. My own members – Mime, Alisha, and Mercedes – joined the front, while Ms. Himezaki headed to the back.
That left us as the primary rescue and infiltration team.
I have Presence Concealment ⁴, and Ryan has a Stealth skill. Lil has neither, but her raw combat ability is second only to mine. I needed her reliability in case of an unforeseen variable. Honoka was strictly on support – not for us, but for the captives. While others had stealth capabilities, I wanted to keep the footprint small, so we limited the entry team to four.
For safety, we lurked outside the village perimeter, staying low. The sounds of the battle reached us even here. Both diversionary units stayed outside the walls, bottlenecking the Orcs at the gates. By holding the line, they ensured only a few Orcs could spill out at a time, creating a massive traffic jam inside.
Another roar of magic shook the air. Someone must have dropped a wide-range spell right into the thick of them. That should have bought us all the attention we needed.
”That’s the signal. Let’s move,” I said.
Everyone nodded. Under the shroud of darkness, we breached Nada Village. The palisade was high, but manageable. Lil vaulted the fence with ease, relying on her sheer physical prowess. Ryan found a few footings and slipped over just as smoothly. As for Honoka…
”M-Master… help me up…” she whispered.
Her stats were fine, but her height was a serious bottleneck. Left with no choice, I scooped her up in a princess-carry and jumped.
”Mmm… thank you so much… I… I was just carried by Master…”
Honoka was bright red, but we didn’t have time for a moment. I set her down the second we cleared the fence. Even so, she stayed flushed, looking like she was suffering from a sudden fever.
”Stop dazing and move. We’re in a hurry,” I said.
”Y-Yes… Master…” Honoka replied.
We planned to sprint straight to the manor, but fate wasn’t feeling particularly generous. It seemed they had anticipated an infiltration; a massive group of Orcs stood guard at the entrance. There were at least thirty of them. Even with the diversions, they still had this many left over?
And one of them was clearly not like the others.
”An Orc General… Dammit, so this is where he was hiding,” Ryan hissed.
The Orc General stood a full head taller than his kin. His skin was a dark, bruised crimson, and he gripped a massive greatsword. He was actually wearing functional metal armor. God knows where he scavenged that from.
”Well, well. I wondered what you were up to… and here you are, delivering more females right to us. How thoughtful,” the Orc snarled.
The monster spoke with a disturbing amount of fluency. He leered at us with a vile, predatory smirk.
”It happens sometimes. The strong ones pick up human speech. Not that you can actually reason with them,” Ryan explained in a low voice.
I see. So fluency was a benchmark for power. However, looking at this thing’s filthy, mocking face, images of “Shit-Pig” Antonio and Sugita flashed in my mind. It made my skin crawl.
On top of that, he was already undressing Lil and Honoka with his eyes. That alone was reason enough for me to kill him. I drew my greatsword, carved from a dragon’s fang.
”Lil, Honoka. Ryan. I’ll hold the line here. I’m going to clear a path – use it to get inside and save the captives,” I commanded.
”Yes.”
”I’ve got it, Master,” Honoka said.
”What?! Are you sure you can handle this alone?” Ryan asked.
Lil and Honoka knew exactly what I was capable of and didn’t hesitate, but Ryan lacked that context. He looked at me with a mix of doubt and concern, thinking I was being overconfident.
Still, when someone asks me if I’m okay, there’s really only one way to respond. Besides, I’ve always wanted to say this.
”Don’t worry. It’s not a problem.”
I raised my greatsword into a high guard. And then –
”Howl, Storm Sword! ⁵“
I swung down with everything I had. A localized hurricane erupted along the blade’s path, sending dozens of Orcs flying. The path to the house was blown wide open.
”Now! Go!” I shouted.
At my signal, Lil and Honoka sprinted forward. Ryan stood frozen for a second before snapping back to reality and shaking his head.
”Sorry! I’m leaving this to you!” he yelled.
He chased after the girls and vanished into the manor. For the record, Ryan wasn’t the only one stunned. The Orc General was equally speechless. He likely intended to intercept them, but that window had already slammed shut. I wouldn’t have let him anyway.
”What… what was that?” the General grunted.
”Do I look like I owe you an explanation?”
That was the Storm Sword, a wind-attribute Magic Sword. Like its fire counterpart, the Crimson Lotus Sword ⁶, it coats the blade in its element, but it can also release focused blasts. I could have conjured a full tornado if I wanted, but that would have leveled the house, so I showed some restraint.
”No matter. It makes no difference if I let them pass,” the General sneered.
”What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
”I anticipated this. There is another General waiting inside just like me. Too bad for you!”
The Orc General let out a shrill, grating laugh. I didn’t see what was so funny. Sure, an Orc General is strong, but they weren’t strong enough to stop Lil and the others.
”I’m going to throw those words right back at you. You’re going to die here without gaining a single thing. Too bad for you.”
”You little brat. Let’s see how long that tongue stays sharp. Kill him!” the General roared.
At the command, the horde of Orcs surged forward. A rookie Hunter would have been trampled in seconds. Even a veteran would struggle.
But.
”Freeze… Ice of Sloth ⁷.”
Here there was no one else here to watch me. I could unleash my power without holding back. A power that made Magic Swords look like toys.
The charging Orcs didn’t even have time to scream before they were flash-frozen into hideous statues. The stillness only lasted a few seconds. Cracks spiderwebbed across the frozen monsters, and they shattered into a million glittering shards.
”What… in the…”
The Orc General stared at the empty space in sheer disbelief.
”Now it’s just you. If you want, you can try running back home,” I said.
”Don’t you… mock me!”
The Orc General charged, bringing his massive blade down. I met the blow head-on. Steel ground against steel with a deafening screech, sending sparks flying.
”Nugoooh! How can you block my full strength so easily?!”
”Is that really all you’ve got?” I asked.
”Don’t screw with me!”
He rained down blow after blow, but I blocked every single one with zero effort. I wasn’t even parrying; I was just stopping him cold.
”What’s wrong? Is that it? Fine. My turn.”
I caught his next overhead swing with a rising counter from below. The sheer force snapped his arms upward, leaving him wide open. To his credit, he managed to keep a grip on his weapon.
”Guh… What insane strength…”
It was then that a deep, guttural scream echoed from inside the manor. That definitely wasn’t Ryan’s voice. Which meant…
”Impossible! How can this be?!” the General cried.
Looks like things were wrapping up inside, too.
”What are you… What the hell are you people?! You… you monsters!”
”Funny, being called a monster by a literal monster,” I replied.
”Shut up, you freak!”
The Orc General began swinging his sword wildly in a desperate frenzy. The air pressure was intense, but wind doesn’t matter if you don’t get hit. Besides, I was starting to get bored.
”Hey. Let me show you what a ‘full-strength strike’ actually looks like… Wrath Impact ⁸!”
”Nuoooooooh!”
The General tried to brace himself, but my blade didn’t even slow down. It carved straight through his steel and through him in a single diagonal slash. His torso split from shoulder to hip, the two halves sliding apart with sickening slowness.
”You… monster…”
Those were the Orc General’s final words.
—
Summary:
Sieben and his team conduct a night raid on Nada Village to rescue captive women from an Orc occupation. Using a dual-gate diversion strategy, Sieben’s infiltration team reaches the central manor where they encounter an Orc General. Sieben effortlessly annihilates the guards using high-level elemental magic before bisecting the General with a single strike.
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Trivia:
- The binoculars were made by Tatei, emphasizing Sieben’s connections to skilled crafters.
- Healing magic doesn’t cure motion sickness in this world’s system.
- Sieben purposely holds back his most powerful wind magic to avoid destroying the manor containing captives.
- The Orc General’s ability to speak human language is a direct indicator of his high power level.
- Sieben’s motivation for the kill is partly triggered by trauma associated with characters named Antonio and Sugita
—
Character Insight:
Sieben demonstrates a cold, ‘trolling’ arrogance in battle, reflecting his ‘Overlord’ status. He shows a protective, albeit bossy, side toward his clan members, especially during the ‘princess-carry’ incident with Honoka. His loathing for ‘vile smirks’ suggests a deep-seated hatred for those who abuse power, likely stemming from his past as a ‘loser’ or victim.
—
Behind the Scenes:
Author utilizes classic ‘Cheat’ tropes where the MC’s low-tier-looking equipment (dragon fang sword) far outclasses the enemy’s heavy plate armor.
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TL Notes:
Notes:
• Lil – One of the heroines. Height 166 cm, B-W-H: 90-56-90. She is a top-tier beauty with long indigo hair down to her waist, a large scar on her abdomen and sharp golden eyes. She has wolf ears and a tail.
• Ryan – A scout with Stealth skills. Initially skeptical of Sieben’s overwhelming power.
• Tatei – Tatei Kozoo. Height 186 cm, weight 52 kg. Natsumi’s otaku friend. Originally a tall and sturdy man, but he became skin and bones due to anorexia. Possesses the skill ‘Materialization Alchemy’. Created equipment for the class.
• Tate – Male Otaku friend of Reese. Gaunt and thin, wears glasses. Possesses Materialization Alchemy skill.
• Sieben – Young man with black hair and a mask covering his eyes. He purchased Honoka and Ria.
• Shamrock – Leader of the diversionary force for Orc’s Subjugation on Chapter 85 at the front gate.
• Honoka – A member of the relief team with healing magic. Despite her cute, short, ‘transistor glamour’ appearance, she is cold-hearted and mocks Sasaki, now a bound slave to him.
• Mercedes – A girl with black hair, rare in the world. Small chest, thin pubic hair trimmed in an inverted triangle. Large, upturned eyes that lost their light due to trauma.
• Alisha – A Miko with fluffy pink hair and a prodigious, triple-digit bust measurement.
• Mime – Former mercenary with short red hair, cat-eyed warrior, wheat-colored skin, and a toned, athletic build with visible abdominal muscles.
• Antonio – Slaver Guild Master. Obese, pig-like features, wearing gaudy clothes.
• Sugita – The leader of the Sugita gang and the primary bully of Natsumi Sasaki. His grandfather is the Superintendent General and his father is a Police Superintendent, so the two of them covered up all his crimes. Because of this, he does whatever he wants wherever he goes. He has a lean build, sharp features, and a calculating gaze.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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