Radley was patrolling the forest surrounding the capital, Noeina, as usual, accompanied by Rick and Dant.
Whenever dangerous monsters approach human settlements, there are always signs of their presence left in the woods. You might find the mangled remains of animals or weak monsters, tracks left by giant bodies passing through, or evidence of trees being destroyed to mark territory.
Having received many requests for monster extermination as a member of a mercenary group, Radley would certainly not miss such obvious anomalies. Fortunately, there had been no such disturbances around the shallows of the Bezel Great Forest near Noeina until now.
At least, not until now.
“…It smells,” Radley noted as he advanced a bit further into the forest.
“Eh, really?”
“Oh, it’s the smell of blood. You two, keep a close watch around. And when I say ‘run,’ you need to escape to Noeina immediately and call for the other knights.”
Radley said this, sensing the tension from Rick and Dant behind him. It was understandable, as this was the first time Radley had given such an instruction.
He walked towards the direction of the blood scent, with Rick and Dant following cautiously behind.
Soon, they arrived at the source of the smell.
There lay several goblin corpses, so scattered that it was hard to tell which parts belonged to which individual. Those that had not been crushed bore expressions of fear, their eyes wide open in death.
“Ugh…” Dant couldn’t help but mutter at the sight, and it was no surprise.
While Radley and his team might conduct monster extermination patrols, they would never engage in such brutal killings. Yet these goblins had been dismembered beyond recognition.
However, that wasn’t where Radley’s attention was drawn.
He felt something was missing.
The number of scattered goblin limbs and the contents of their torn bodies were clearly insufficient. This indicated that something had attacked the goblins to prey upon them.
There were usually no monsters around here capable of capturing a group of goblins armed with weapons, inflicting such terror that they died in this manner.
Radley scanned the area around the scene of the tragedy. He checked the footprints on the ground and found the bark of a tree, likely rubbed against to mark territory, along with some attached fur.
“…This is bad. We need to report this immediately. You two, let’s go back.”
He said quietly, and with that, Radley hurried back to Noeina with the two of them in tow.
Upon returning from the patrol, Radley reported to Noein, who summoned the knights for an emergency meeting.
Soon after, all the knights gathered at Noein’s mansion for a discussion.
“Are you sure it’s orcs?”
“Yeah, there was fur stuck to the tree trunks. The footprints were definitely those of orcs.”
Radley nodded vigorously at Yuri’s inquiry.
“Orcs should only be found deep in the Bezel Great Forest, right? For one to come out this far, especially in midwinter…”
Noein murmured this with a somewhat tense expression, unaccustomed to such emergencies.
Though he had never seen an orc himself, he knew them to be dangerous monsters from his knowledge.
Orcs are said to have a hulking appearance resembling a bipedal boar, sometimes exceeding two meters in height, with tremendous physical strength. To combat them effectively, it is said one needs magic users who have received combat training, magic warriors capable of enhancing their physical abilities, or at least ten trained soldiers.
The fact that one appeared so close to Noeina made it impossible for the lord to remain calm.
“…It must be a failed hibernator. Most beast-type monsters gather food and hibernate in winter, but sometimes one fails and wanders around in search of prey. Those kinds of creatures can be particularly dangerous when driven by hunger and cold.”
“While searching for food, it likely made its way into the shallow parts of the Great Forest,” Yuri explained, with Pence adding on.
“Do you think it will come this far to Noeina?”
“It’s almost certain. The orcs from the Bezel Great Forest have likely never seen humans. They are unaware of human civilization or organization. They’ll perceive us as weak prey, just like goblins, and will attack.”
“The goblin corpses still smell of blood. They were killed today. As they’ve eaten so much, they should be fine for today or tomorrow, but after that, it wouldn’t be surprising if they find and attack here.”
“Is that so… can we win?”
When Noein asked, Yuri frowned slightly. The expressions of the former mercenaries—Pence, Radley, Bart, and Mai—looked grave as well.
“…It would be dangerous with just the former mercenaries. We lack manpower. But most of the other villagers are mere farmers. Even if they have received some emergency training, it’s impossible to have them face orcs.”
“I have some knowledge of swordsmanship and spear techniques from being part of the former village chief’s family… but the other farmers would likely freeze in fear and be unable to move.”
Yuri spoke, and Edgar, the representative of the farmers, agreed. For ordinary people, orcs are a terrifying threat.
“If I add my golems, will that provide enough strength?”
“Are you planning to send them into the forest? Your golems might be quite strong, Noein, but against orcs in the winter forest, you can’t be absolutely safe. Of course, we’ll do our utmost to protect you, but if luck is against us, we could be caught off guard.”
Rather than being intimidated by Yuri’s words, Noein broke into a grin. It was a wicked smile he hadn’t shown in a long time during the peaceful winter.
“I’m aware there’s some risk. But as the lord, I can’t be afraid of just one orc, right? That filthy creature trying to ravage my land and eat my important citizens will be dealt with personally by me.”
The crude words from Noein, who was usually gentle in front of his people, brought about a wry smile from Yuri and the other knights. They laughed, knowing that this ferocity was not directed at them.
“Understood. If you say so, we’ll base our strategy around the golems as the core of our strength.”
Thus, the discussion concluded with Lord Noein himself deciding to hunt the orcs. Aside from the hunting of weak monsters thus far, this would be Noein’s first battle.
