Chapter 20

About two days by carriage to the east of the Royal Capital lies a dry region filled with steep cliffs.

Apparently, it used to be relatively lush with greenery long ago, but several hundred years ago, reckless and excessive grazing turned the surrounding area into a hollow patch of barren land. For a while, it was a wasteland where no one ventured, but in recent years, after it was discovered that high-quality stone could be quarried nearby, people gathered along the river. Now, it has grown into a reasonably sized town that builds its fortune on stone shipments while undergoing land reclamation.

Yes, the request for this Orc subjugation came from that town—Cliffia.

Inside the motive carriage, which kicked up thick clouds of dust as it advanced across the barren, grassless earth, the members of the Royal Foreign Hazardous Species Countermeasures Knights turned their thoughts toward the coming battle.

“Eh, it’s your hometown?”

“That’s right. Cliffia is where I was born. My family is a line of merchants—not quite enough to reach the privileged class, but well-off in their own right. Though that doesn’t necessarily mean I lived a life of luxury.”

“I see… but in a dry region like this, I imagine crops don’t grow very well, do they?”

“Not necessarily. It’s certainly harsher than other lands, but there’s a fairly large river nearby. Besides, soil improvement has progressed quite a bit over the last few years, so we get a decent harvest.”

While resting at the training grounds on the top floor of the motive carriage, I was talking about Cliffia with Senior Garmon, the Raid Captain, who had been training alongside me.

Senior Garmon was one of the top spear users in the country, a skilled warrior who had participated as the second fighter in the Imperial Matches. Furthermore, among the people in this knight order, he possessed values and ethics that leaned toward those of a fairly sensible person.

I was honestly surprised to learn that Senior Garmon’s birthplace was our next destination.

“It’s a good land. It might be less convenient compared to the Royal Capital, but the people are that much kinder for it.”

Seeing the senior smile as he spoke, I nodded in understanding.

In short, it was likely a peaceful enough place to raise someone as mild-mannered as Senior Garmon. A land rich in spirit is sometimes a better place to live than a place rich only in material goods. I felt that fact keenly when I first moved from the countryside to the Royal Capital.

“But…” He tilted his head in confusion.

“Honestly, I’m surprised. I haven’t heard anything in letters from acquaintances about Orcs appearing around there, and it’s certainly leaner land compared to other places. It’s not the kind of environment Orcs prefer.”

“Orcs like hot, humid environments with an abundance of food, after all. No matter how high their adaptability is, they wouldn’t choose to come to a wasteland unless there was a very good reason.”

“Yeah… there are few livestock or wild animals of the sort Orcs like, and the forests are narrow, existing only along the river. There isn’t much cover for them, and the sun is strong, which should be hard on Orcs since they have little body hair.”

“If that’s the case, are they just attacking because they stumbled upon it while looking for a feeding ground…?”

No matter how much vitality an Orc possessed, they wouldn’t willingly settle in a place where food was scarce and living was difficult. If they raided fields in passing to fill their bellies, they ought to set off in search of a different feeding ground within three days.

However, if that were the case, I didn’t understand the reason a subjugation request was sent to the knight order.

Senior Garmon must have realized that as well; he shook his head quietly at my words.

“I haven’t heard the details either, but the moment the knight order is called out, that possibility becomes low.”

“True. Our job is strictly the annihilation of Orcs that have settled in a specific area.”

We didn’t have the luxury of responding to every individual stray Orc or groups whose location was unclear. That was why the knight order only deployed when it was determined that a colony definitely existed.

To put it the other way, Orcs were breeding in this country to such an extent that we were constantly overwhelmed… but let’s set that aside for now.

“Well, talking here won’t get us anywhere. We’ll just have to go there and hear the story.”

“I believe there have been no casualties since there’s a local vigilante group… but I just can’t set my mind at ease. Varna-kun, care to spar with me for a bit?”

I gave a wry smile as Senior Garmon stood up and grabbed a wooden spear, as if trying to distract himself from the anxiety of whether his hometown was safe. To want to play at swords just to calm his nerves—this man had an unexpectedly childish side to him.

I nodded at his words, grabbed my wooden sword, and stood up.

“Please go easy on me, okay? Going up against a spear is tough.”

“Listen to you… What need is there for restraint now with the man who beat the Commander of the Holy Heaven Knights! You won so easily it was almost irritating!”

“No, I mean, that was for the sake of the order–!?”

Whoosh!! The sound of air being sliced echoed as the wooden spear’s horizontal sweep grazed the tip of my nose.

It was an attack of a level that would have reshaped my nose into something quite amusing if I hadn’t pulled back instantly.

The face of the senior who swung it showed absolutely none of the mild-mannered aura from before; he was overwhelmingly serious.

A drop of cold sweat trickled down my cheek.

‘I… I forgot! This person is basically a good guy, but when it comes to martial arts, he’s an incredibly sore loser!!’

If I had refused, there would have been hope. If only I had refused.

However, a person belonging to an organization cannot tell a senior afterward that they can’t do it.

The sad and cruel hierarchy of rank heartlessly robbed the junior of any place to run.

After that, I was forced to desperately dodge a terrifying storm of spear thrusts until the senior was satisfied, leaving me exhausted before the mission even began.

Furthermore, even though I tried to hold back because I couldn’t afford to let him get injured before the task, the senior ruthlessly exploited every opening. Please don’t blame me for thinking for a split second about knocking him senseless.

Someone please teach this man the phrase “putting the cart before the horse.” I mean it.

This is just a bit of trivia, but the knight order doesn’t head outside immediately upon arriving at the scene.

First, it is customary for only those involved in operational planning—the Vice Commander, squad leader ranks, and experts from the Research Institute including Nonoka-san—to disembark ahead of time to hear the story from the person in charge of that region.

Even for a knight order, if outsiders suddenly surged in as a large group, it would exert unnecessary pressure on the residents and could become a source of trouble. Therefore, the responsible parties actually listen to the story, observe the situation, and then discuss whether it’s okay to let the knights into the village.

Additionally, in that process, they investigate the local common sense and taboo words as much as possible; otherwise, someone might mess up later and create an awkward atmosphere. There are even stories from the past about a village refusing to sell food because a member screwed up, showing how deep-seated the problem can be.

However, in this town, it seemed that such caution was unnecessary.

Having been brought along with the squad leader ranks for some reason, I made that judgment after seeing the state of the town.

Even before we reached the Mayor’s house, the citizens were already gathered on the main street in a hullabaloo, noisily watching us.

The atmosphere was one of welcome. And their gazes were focused on Garmon-senpai.

That impression turned into a certainty upon seeing the Mayor’s reaction.

“Oh, you’ve come, Garmon-kun! Or should I call you Sir Knight Garmon now! It’s a joy to have a local luminary come to our aid like this!!”

“It’s been a long time, Mayor Ricky. I’m glad to see you’re in good health. Also, please stop with the ‘Sir.’ It’s lonely being treated like a stranger.”

“Mm, is that so? Well, you’ve finally returned home, so let’s do away with the formalities!”

In front of my eyes, Senior Garmon and the strangely muscular Mayor were exchanging a sweltering, passionate handshake. I had heard he was from around here, but I hadn’t realized they were on such intimate terms.

‘Ah, but Senior Garmon is well-known as one of the top knights in the country. From what I can see, this isn’t exactly a huge city, so he must be a local celebrity…’

Being selected for the Imperial Matches was an honor that would go down in history.

If I were to return to my own hometown, I’d be a celebrity too, in a way.

However, the reaction I’d get would likely be that specific brand of humiliation where the village elders dig up a young man’s needless past the moment he returns from working away. Since it was a village with a heavily aging population, there were almost no people my age left; they had all moved away for work or relocated entirely.

The only ones who would actually respect me were the neighborhood kids. What was with this disparity?

“Is my brother the same as always?”

“Oh, of course! If anything, ever since the news of the Imperial Matches reached us, he’s become even worse… I mean, he’s become even more energetic!!”

“Ah—excuse me, Mayor Ricky. I’ll make sure you have time to speak with Knight Garmon later, so could we get to the heart of the matter soon?”

“…Ah, my apologies! Honestly, everyone in this town is like a relative! I got carried away talking!”

At Vice Commander Rony’s tactful intervention, Mayor Ricky bowed his head in embarrassment.

Thus, the details of the Royal Foreign Hazardous Species Countermeasures Knights’ task were laid out.

“It began about two weeks ago. It started with eyewitness reports from the miners at the quarry.”

There was an extremely high cliff face near the quarry, and apparently, an Orc had been seen moving along a very narrow foothold on that cliff.

At first, everyone around thought it was a mistake or an optical illusion.

There had been no sighting reports of Orcs until then, and to reach that mountain in the first place, one would have to migrate across a fairly long stretch of wasteland. So, initially, it was even suggested that it might be a different creature entirely.

However, just to be sure, the Mayor asked the vigilante group to investigate the vicinity of the cliff. As a result, they did indeed spot an Orc on the move.

“Even so, the number of Orcs confirmed at any one time was two or three at most. Therefore, we assumed they were just strays and immediately had the vigilante group hunt them down.”

“A vigilante group? That’s unusual, isn’t it?”

“We have no members of the privileged class in our town, so we have no choice. If we had privileged citizens, we could have knights dispatched immediately, but it doesn’t work that way for a rising city like ours…”

Nonoka-san, who didn’t seem to quite grasp the meaning of Mayor Ricky’s sorrowful smile, gave the hem of my clothes a little tug.

‘Hey, Varna-kun, do you know what he means by that?’

‘It means the voices of the privileged class and the voices of commoners sound different to the Council and the Royal Palace.’

Since the privileged class has the right to participate in the Council and serve in the Royal Palace or its direct organizations, their words cannot be ignored, no matter who the individual is. But for the voices of commoners, whether the higher-ups listen or ignore them is entirely up to their whim.

‘I hate to put it this way, but the Council couldn’t function if they dispatched knights every single time two or three stray Orcs were found. Even if a petition were sent, a secretary or official would probably crush it before it ever reached the ears of anyone important. That’s why if you don’t have connections, you have to protect things with your own hands. That’s what the vigilante group is for.’

‘Eeh… they should just use a guild system. Near Nonoka’s home country, regular soldiers were such money-munchers that they left the small details to the guilds, you know?’

‘It’s not that simple here. Well, I’ll explain the details later.’

Since she was from overseas, those kinds of circumstances were likely hard for her to fathom.

While I was explaining to Nonoka-san, the Mayor’s story continued.

The vigilante group had succeeded in making the Orcs fall to their deaths using bows and arrows, but before a day had even passed, Orcs appeared again.

This time, the Orcs were wary of arrows; they stayed in even higher positions and began throwing stones at the humans.

Naturally, the vigilante group, who possessed no weapons with a longer reach than bows, was forced to retreat.

That said, if they were just strays, there should only be a few left. As long as the cliff was monitored, the Orcs shouldn’t be able to reach the town.

Having judged as much, the vigilante group began monitoring the cliff face twenty-four hours a day in shifts.

However, this plan turned out to be a massive failure.

The following morning, every single fish that had been left to dry on the town’s riverbank had been stolen.

From the traces left behind, the culprit wasn’t a thief, but an Orc. The vigilante group was dumbfounded.

If this was the work of Orcs, they wondered, then what were those few Orcs they had been watching on the cliff?

“Damage to the fields and livestock followed, and we finally realized that the Orcs weren’t strays, but a pack. The number of Orcs hunted by the vigilante group so far is five, but the number of confirmed Orcs is more than double that. The damage has continued intermittently for two weeks.”

“Indeed, that’s too many for stray Orcs. Since they’re still launching attacks on the town even after having their comrades killed by the vigilante group, the possibility that they’re acting as a pack is extremely high.”

“What do you say? We would very much like to request the ‘Pig-Hunt Knights’—you who bear that nickname—to subjugate them.”

Mayor Ricky faced Vice Commander Rony-san with sincere eyes.

“Pig-Hunt” was a derogatory term within the order, but for commoners, it was a symbol of the power to eradicate those loathsome Orcs.

The Vice Commander, understanding this well, gave a deep nod and reached out a hand to the Mayor.

“We, the ‘Pig-Hunt Knights,’ swear upon our swords to see this request through.”

“Oh…!!”

For the sake of our pride and stubbornness, we would protect the future of this oasis that was regenerating the desolate land.

Everyone present was surely gathered here with the same resolve as the Vice Commander.

Thus, the curtains rose on our new battle.

…Which was all well and good, but I had one question.

‘Why was I brought along to the executive meeting in the end? …Don’t tell me this is the Commander’s—that bearded old man’s—doing, trying to make me gain experience since I’m becoming Vice Commander next year?’

If that was the case, I wished he’d just said so from the start, I grumbled to myself.

I had no way of knowing then that the fact I’d think that was also something the Commander had already predicted.