I was reincarnated as bait for the summoned hero
In the center of the High Orc settlement stood a particularly large wooden building, where the King resided.
Beside the King’s dwelling were the homes of his close aides, the General-class Orcs. Surrounding them in concentric circles were numerous huts, as if protecting the King.
The outermost dwellings could hardly even be called huts.
Compared to them, pit-style dwellings were far more sophisticated. These structures were nothing more than holes dug into the ground, with a few wooden pillars placed together and grass spread over them. In such conditions, groups of five or six lived together.
Encircled by around fifty of these makeshift huts, the central wooden house—where the High Orc King resided—was the prime target for elimination.
Sheera’s wind magic would generate a tornado, which could then be enhanced by Kotesu’s spirit magic.
Though the ice and snow magic of the cat fairy Cait Sith seemed unassuming at first glance, when combined with the tornado to form a blizzard, it would become a formidable force.
Orcs, with their thin fur, were weak against the cold. Their movements would be significantly hindered.
“Orc and goblin settlements must be completely destroyed after taking down their leaders.”
『Because respawned monsters will gather back in the same place and multiply again.』
“Exactly. The guild recommends it, too. We might as well demolish everything while we’re at it.”
If we could take care of it all at once, it would be killing two birds with one stone.
Rei, who was in his tiny dragon form, tilted his head as he listened to the explanation.
『But isn’t that still not enough?』
“Hm? That’s why I’ve got a special spell in store.”
Well, it wasn’t really that much of a secret.
“Alright, you two. Let’s hit that big building in the center with our magic.”
Confirming the target I pointed at, the shima-enaga bird let out a sharp “Chipi!”
Kotesu’s tail flicked back and forth. He had marked it as prey. His little rear wiggled in excitement, which was adorable.
To prevent him from pouncing too soon, I casually scooped him up under my arm.
Sheera, sitting atop my head, seemed to be waiting for the signal.
For reference, I was perched on a large tree overlooking the High Orc settlement.
Rei had admired my agility, saying I climbed like a monkey, but I’d prefer he recognized it as the skill of a High Elf instead.
The High Orc settlement was completely off guard.
A low-level orc, seemingly a sentry, held a wooden spear while letting out a massive yawn.
Even without using my 【Presence Detection】 skill, I could tell the King was holed up inside the building.
He probably had some kind of 【Intimidation】 skill, using his pressure to keep the settlement under control.
“Alright, let’s begin the attack. 3, 2, 1…”
I kept the countdown brief.
At the moment I murmured “zero,” a deafening roar and a massive shockwave erupted.
The intermediate-level spell, infused with abundant magic, was practically equivalent to an advanced large-scale spell.
As planned, the hurricane rampaged through the settlement, carrying the blizzard along with it.
All the huts were blown away. Even the grand wooden structure was half-destroyed.
The High Orc King must have been enraged.
An ear-splitting roar mixed with the howling storm.
“As expected, he survived. Time to finish this.”
It was a bit embarrassing to boast, but I had to follow through.
Extending my right hand forward, I aimed carefully and snapped my fingers.
A sharp, tingling pain ran through my fingertips—static electricity.
（Good, success.）
Dark clouds loomed over the ravaged settlement.
A massive lightning bolt struck, consuming everything.
I had poured my dense High Elf mana into the lightning attribute spell.
Not only the High Orcs, but even the debris was obliterated.
『Mastering lightning magic…』
Rei, for once, looked genuinely shaken.
“Is it really that surprising? Well, learning it was tough, but…”
『Lightning is known as the hammer of the gods. Only divine beings, heroes, or saints with holy attributes should be able to use it…』
“Huh? I’m just an ordinary guy who got dragged into this. I can use light magic, but I have no connection to holy attributes.”
I had simply wanted to use lightning magic, so I worked hard to learn it.
Even the book I received from the Creator God had no information on it, so I had to figure it out on my own.
“Remember that magic bow we found in the dungeon that could shoot lightning arrows? I studied it to analyze lightning magic…”
In the end, the simplest approach worked—generating static electricity with a finger snap to call down lightning.
Since lightning forms through friction and charge separation in colliding ice particles, I had Sheera summon a tornado and Kotesu cast a blizzard simultaneously.
（I’m glad that actually worked.）
I hadn’t expected the lightning strike to be that massive, but it worked out in the end.
（Even if it failed, Sheera and Kotesu had already wiped out half of them.）
Worst case, we could have used magical weapons to finish off the rest.
“Efficiency is important.”
As I nodded in satisfaction, Rei muttered quietly.
『But retrieving the dropped items is going to be a pain, isn’t it?』
“Ah…”
Right.
I hesitantly glanced down at the former settlement. Scattered across the ruins were magic stones, meat, weapons, and other loot.
“Aaaahhh…”
『So, about that “efficiency” you were talking about…?』
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Unfortunately, there was no way to speed up the process of collecting drop items.
After spending more than ten times the effort it took to destroy the High Orc settlement, we finally managed to gather the drop items from 300 corpses.
Since each of them had a magic stone, picking them up one by one was a real hassle.
However, High Orcs’ earth-attribute magic stones contained a high amount of magical power, so their selling price should be promising.
With the mindset of “every little bit counts,” I diligently gathered them.
“So much meat!”
“Nyaa!”
Since she couldn’t pick up items in her bird form, Sheera had returned to her original form and was happily holding up a piece of High Orc meat.
Yep, that’s meat. High-quality High Orc meat, even better than regular Orc meat.
And considering the number of higher-ranked ones we took down, tonight’s dinner was definitely going to be a pork-based feast.
We could sell about half of the lower-ranked High Orc meat.
“The dropped weapons aren’t anything special… Just some sturdy iron swords and spears. Let’s sell these too.”
“There should be a drop item from the King. A leader of such a large settlement might have had a treasure chest.”
“A treasure chest…!”
Rei, who had also returned to his humanoid form to help pick up items, sparked a moment of excitement with his words.
“…Do you really think a treasure chest could have survived in all this burnt wreckage?”
“Hmm… I’ve heard treasure chests are quite sturdy. Perhaps it somehow survived?”
“I’ll search for it, but I won’t get my hopes up.”
“…Alright. I’ll help.”
Besides magic stones, meat, and iron weapons, we also found dropped items such as gold and silver coins, as well as some gemstones.
Several magical tools were discovered as well.
“A magic tool for barriers, a storage magic tool… And this is a power ring? According to my appraisal, it enhances physical strength.”
That would be perfect for the physically weak Sheera.
The storage magic tool was also in the form of a ring, with a capacity roughly equivalent to a wagon. Not bad.
“Oh! There’s a treasure chest!”
While I was appraising the magic tools, an excited report came in.
Following Rei’s pointing finger, I spotted a half-buried treasure chest.
“The surface is completely charred…”
“Well, that was an intense lightning strike.”
The Blizzard effect seemed to have amplified it. I should probably be more careful next time.
But more importantly, a treasure chest!
“What do you think is inside?”
“Nyan-nyan!”
“This is exciting!”
With hearts full of anticipation, we carefully opened the battered treasure chest.
Inside, we found the High Orc King’s crown and scepter—along with a beautifully decorated magic staff.
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