Vol 3 Chapter 10 (1/2)

LEVEL 3: Even the Best Laid Plans go Awry, but Such is This World

Chapter 10: Graduation

PART 1 of 2

It was almost dawn No oneto keep their breathing to a minimum In the profound stillness and silence, idiot Ranta suddenly pressed his hands over his ain A sneeze? What the hell? He was trying to suppress a sneeze? He had to be Godda!?

Oh crap Ranta was going to sneeze… he was actually going to do it crap crap, crap—just kidding He had soh of relief They were safe

The ht that, Ranta sneezed, “ACHOO!”

He couldn’t e to stop himself after all Everyone’s heads suddenly snapped towards hiize to all the Criesture that see!’ The idiot wasn’t afraid of anything He had skin thicker than a brick wall

Haruhiro poked his head out froing Orc-made tents were scattered all over, one or two and sometimes even three under each lookout post Some of the posts were n of ht the attention of the orcs, Haruhiro was relieved to see

The sun hadn’t risen yet, but it was light out already The ned to assault the eastern wall, had concealed thes, cloths, and boulders of former orc camp sites These camps were the remains of previous attacks made by Altana on Capo them killed, but when they had failed to hold the fortress, the cahtly different locations That left the landscape cluttered with clu places

But even if they were all hidden, Haruhiro had this uneasy feeling that they would be discovered anyti the hide-and-wait gaet it over with? he wished That was al now

The fortress and its three watchtowers formed a sort of corner shape and loomed in the distance like an ill oether by some kind of black-colored mortar that filled every crack and crevasse Some kind of pattern was painted on it in red—a word or maybe a letter It was also studded with spikes made of either metal or wood, a measure clearly more for defense than decoration The western and eastern walls were both thirteen feet high It wasn’t an iht, but still too tall to scale without ladders

The orc camps were littered with animal carcasses Some had been picked clean while others were… not so picked clean The latter were ani up on sticks and arranged in neat rows So that’s why this place was called Capomorti Fortress It was the fortress of dead heads Haruhiro hoped his head wouldn’t end up like that

Nah, I’ve got nothing to worry about… right?

Haruhiro’s attention went back to the ladder he was carrying under his ar was just bulky and extre to need to shi+eld hi over his back with rope That thing was bulky and unwieldy too

Bri suddenly stood up He glanced at his pocket watch, nodded once, and raised his hand Haruhiro’s breath caught in his throat It was about to begin Bri then lowered his hand with a swift chopping motion

“Attack!” he commanded

Battle cries filled the air almost immediately and Haruhiro couldn’t tell whether it was froles

“Go, go, go! Take out the orc camps!” At Bri’s co places behind the debris and charged the camps as ordered

“C-C’h-pitched than intended

He hoisted the ladder under his arm and followed everyone else froiment formation

“O light, under the divine grace of Lord Luminous,” Mary chanted “[LIGHT OF PROTECTION]!”

A hexagonal symbol appeared above his left wrist and he suddenly felt his body beco? They were all still with hio at a full run, but couldn’t actually do it The ladder was cuood deal Oh, and he was extre Was Choco still okay? Where was she? Wait, noasn’t the ti about that

Everyone around the the ca Alev firedown the lookout posts Camps were systematically obliterated before his eyes How far had the front line advanced? Haruhiro couldn’t see them so he had no idea He didn’t think they had reached the eastern wall yet, but oing faster was possible, though

“The snal’s been lit!” exclaimed Mary

Haruhiro turned towards her and saw that she was pointing towards so in the direction of the fortress A thick colu from the watchtower that occupied the corner position between the other two The signal calling for reinforcehold was also supposed to be under attack so no reinforcements should arrive

“There’s smoke comin’ from over yonder too!” Yume cried

Yu fronify? Maybe it was one of hold enty-five miles away so there was no way they’d be able to see s from Capomorti directly

Wait… isn’t that two colu from the relay station? Haruhiro wondered Suddenly it clicked Sot attacked it would light up a signal too Both locations were being attacked, so both were trying to communicate to the other That meant the Capomorti orcs would no that they couldn’t rely on Steelbone to send reinforcements

If they thought that reinforcements would come, they would probably attempt to hunker down and hold out until help came But if they knew they couldn’t expect reinforceht desperately to the death, atte to resist to the end?

Well, Haruhiro figured that the higher-ups would have already considered that possibility It wasn’t so the rank and file needed to concern the the job assigned to them, which meant the ladders

Once the other reservists had taken care of the camps, they’d run the ladders up the walls It looked like the majority of the camps in the area had already been destroyed Choco’s party was behind the slower than his own teaht for a split second before rejecting the notion Things were never that easy

He hadn’t even coed to soht at hi for Choco’s party

“Watch out! Two orcs coive the alarm

Choco’s party stopped in their tracks—wait, what!? Why were they stopping? It seemed that the members of Choco’s party had no idea either

“Oy!” one of them shouted

“crap!” another said simultaneously

“The ladders!!” cried a third

This was bad Really bad Everyone in Choco’s party was co around like headless chickens There was no way they would be able to put together a defense against the attacking orcs

“We can’t afford to lose half our ladders!” Haruhiro yelled “We have to help them! Drop your shi+elds and ladders for now and take out the orcs!”

“R-right!” Mogzo placed his ladder on the ground and unstrapped the shi+eld buckled to his back

shi+horu picked up the shi+eld that Yume dropped and stacked it on top of her own Mary nodded to Haruhiro and placed the ladder she carried on the ground at her feet

“We’ll do this withoutforward

He decided to test the strength of the orcs first It was too early to expend ht ahead of them… probably Team Haruhiro slipped neatly between the orcs and Choco’s disarrayed party Mogzo attacked Orc A straightahile Ranta set his sights on charging Orc B The orcs were equipped with scalebut their faces, and durable looking swords Orc A’s yellow hair spilled out and down froreen skinned

Haruhiro winked at Yue, not so much in stature but in bulk They were taller than Haruhiro and not quite as tall as Mogzo, but their bodies were broad and thick Two humans side by side could probably fit inside the skin of an orc All considered, Haruhiro’s izo, and Mogzo was about six feet tall And these orcs were probably just average No wonder it was said that orcs were the biggest hu as they appeared

Of course, Ranta was being pushed back by his opponent and using [PROPEL LEAP] repeatedly to retreat Naturally, the orc gave chase, forcing Yuet into their respective positions at the flank and back of the orc

Mogzo was having a tough ti several hits and only his ar cut down If ary, then Haruhiro would say that Mogzo and Orc A were about evenlytowards the orc The difference was in the orc’s raw strength and sheer bulk

Orcs had stronger muscles than hus too Even if the extra er endurance running over distances and they were able to ju and bulky didn’t ility was also related to muscleout of theot smashed into their faces

To humans, they were NOT attractive Actually, they were rather hideous But they didn’t seeence to build lookout posts and design tents The carcasses and anies, but they ily enough to offer the hudom real opposition And it was perfectly possible that they purposely kept their cahten humans

Orcs were physically superior coence-wise they were probably on par If so, then in a siainst a human

“Don’t let yourselves be intiet used to fighting against them!”

She was right Or at least Haruhiro couldn’t afford to let himself think otherwise If he didn’t believe he could win, then he would lose, even when victory was possible

PART 2 of 2

“Mary’s right!” Haruhiro exclai orcs yet, that’s all! Mogzo, you got this! You’re stronger than any orc!”

With a grunt of effort, Mogzo went on the offensive Or rather, he used the heavy-armor skill [STEEL GUARD] He purposefully warded off Orc A’s sith his shoulder pauldron and, while the orc was reeling frozo returned the attack with his huge ed to block, but Mogzo’s sas powerful enough to crush through it

Orc B saw its ally stagger backwards, and its own movements faltered for a split second In that azes met

“No need to tell me!” shouted Ranta

When Orc B stepped forward this time, Ranta didn’t use [PROPEL LEAP] to retreat Orc B’s movements were slower, more hesitant than before With a yell, Ranta leapt forward and ainst the orc with [EXPEL FRENZY] and then folloith [ANGER THRUST] To Haruhiro, the coed to twist its body sideways and dodge

It was a close call though Probably too close for the orc’s comfort; Ranta’s attack missed it by a hairsbreadth