CHAPTER 4 – FORTRESS WITHIN THE FOREST
My awakening in the morning, came because of the voice that could be heard from the corridor.
「Misasagi-san〜, the breakfast is ready〜」
「I understood, I will go down quickly〜」
I replied as if to match the inn hostess’s loud voice. Looking towards the window, it is still dark.
Does the morning for the people in this world, very early. Come to think of it, I was also guided to the inn together with the setting of the sun. Probably, they also sleep early during the night.
What a healthy lifestyle. I’m usually nocturnal, so it’s hard for me to wake up during this time.
While being ambiguously amazed by the rhythm of this world’s lifestyle, I went downstairs.
「Good morning. Have you slept well?」
「Yes, thanks to you, very comfortably. Thank you very much」
After saying thanks to the hostess, I went to the first floor’s dining room.
「This will be today’s breakfast menu」
She said menu, so I imagined something out from a family restaurant, but there were two different kinds of set meals on the top of the table that was pointed out.
The first one was a decent sized bread and soup set, and an apple-like fruit was with it. The other one, it was a hearty meal that only has several ingredients that were boiled together. When I asked about it to the hostess, most of the adventurers choose the latter.
The result of thinking about it, I ordered the bread set. The reason is very simple, it was just because I felt like it.
The breakfast, it was delicious.
Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much, but the bread was soft, and the soup was rich, on top of that, the fruit has a distinctive taste, I liked its sweetness very much.
When I asked the hostess about the fruit’s name, she said it was called makor.
Hou, makor. I found that somewhere. I searched for it while flipping the pages of the cheat book.
Makor was written in the book that I bought in the town. I liked it so I should quote it later.
「By the way, I have a message from the village chief. He said, after breakfast, he wants you to come to his house. The village chief’s house is a large two-floor mansion, so I think you can easily tell it apart」
「I understood, I will go now」
He〜, I wonder what’s it about. After saying thanks to the hostess, I left the inn.
【〈Makor〉has been quoted】
I went to the village chief’s mansion while chewing makor. Un, it’s really delicious. I arrived about five minutes from the inn. There was already a servant girl stand by in front of the gate.
「You are Misasagi-sama yes? Village chief is waiting in the private room on the second floor」
I followed the servant, and reached the study-like room on the second floor. Ohh, it’s not as much as the bookstore in the town, but many books were arranged on the bookshelf. Is all of this the village chief’s personal belongings?
「Misasagi-dono, have you slept well last night?」
「Yes, thank you very much」
The village chief came from the back of the room.
「Then, without delay, the reason you called me to this mansion is?」
「You saved our village, so I wanted to give grat.i.tude properly, do you have things that you want? As much as possible, I will try to meet them」
What a virtuous village chief. He let me stay for a night in the inn, yet he still wants to do something for me. But, if he’s saying that he want to give his grat.i.tude, I won’t hold back. There is only one answer from the start.
「Then, can I have some of the books here?」
「Books……is it?」
n? The village chief’s expression is weird, did I have a miss with my answer?
「Uhm, is there any problem?」
「No, normally, adventurers who saved villages and towns, they ask for large amount of money or food, and I have never heard about asking for books, so……」
Well, that’s how it is usually huh. Saving many lives, it’s not strange asking for that much. Of course, I don’t plan on demanding things other than books at all.
「The books placed here, they are collected by my father while he was alive as a hobby, but it is something that I don’t need anymore. If Misasagi-dono wants it, I hand over all of them, what do you think?」
「Please, if you insist!」
Honestly, I wanted to say「I want all of these books」, but I read the atmosphere and held back. I took about 15 books, and placed it inside the magic back after taking the village chief’s acknowledgment.
Of course, I’m planning to absorb it with the cheat book.
While I’m at it, I asked the village chief about the orcs. But the village chief hesitatingly said.
「Orcs, is it? I know that they are coming from the west forest, but other than that……」
Hmm, no information huh. This time, I should try the way I ask.
「Then, is there a nest of orcs around that forest?」
The village chief looked down and started to think, he immediately raised his head.
「Ah! I remembered. I do not know if there is a nest, but from a long time, there was a fortress built there. Maybe, that is being used as the base of the orcs」
Bingo. That’s it, probably. Yosh, I should go and crush it.
「Thank you very much. For the meantime, I will go find that fortress or something」
「Is that so, please be very careful」
After the quest ends, I should go to this village again. I departed from the village while thinking of that.
For travel, I once again used the armored car. I ate makor while driving.
Ahh, I got really addicted to it.
Until now, I quoted things other than makor only once.
Quoting is very convenient even other than combat. It’s wonderful.
『I know right? Really, Misasagi-kun should be thankful and respect me you know〜』
Fuu, makor’s delicious. I should quote another one.
『Eh, you ignored me?! Isn’t that, awful?』
It’s not awful at all. You, every time, your entrance is too sudden.
「Then, what about this kind of entrance?」
n? The voice right now, it sounds different from earlier……
When I was thinking of that, my shoulder was suddenly tapped by someone. Surprised, I lost the control of the car for an instant, and the car shook terribly. After hearing the voice「Uhyaa!」from behind, I heard something fell to the floor. I stopped the car once, and checked the cause of the sound.
「Misasagi-kun, isn’t your driving too rough?」
It was G.o.d that fell to the floor.
「Why, are you in this world. I mean, you were able to come here!」
「Uhmm, this body is a mimetic body that I created. You wouldn’t believe it, I’m controlling it from a long distance. My powers itself are limited though. But it’s amazing right!」
She was making a smug face in front of me, but I don’t think that it’s that amazing. She’s a G.o.d after all, she should be able to do anything.
I let go my hands from the handle, and sent cold stare to G.o.d.
「Mukii! You’re conceited although you have a weird name〜」
It’s true that my name is Misasagi Ryou (陵 陵). It’s a weird name.
But, what of that. I have received name bullying for countless of times. That’s why I don’t mind being told something about it anymore.
「My name has nothing to do with it right. And, didn’t you come for some reason?」
I said that, and poked G.o.d’s forehead with my middle finger.
While rolling around the floorーー
「How cruel, being violent to women! This body also transmits pain you know〜……」
She groaned.
……looking at her carefully, she’s really not G.o.d-like at all.
While I’m at it, I tried to check her status, butーー
G.o.d’s status wasn’t displayed.
「It’s natural you know, Misasagi-kun. I’m G.o.d after all? I’m not tied up by the rules of this world」
Ah, is that so. Then I’m convinced. And, what did you really come for.
「E〜to, I wanted to see, how much of a monster Misasagi-kun became during this short period of time. I checked your status, it had become interesting huh〜」
In short, you only come to kill time. Ha〜, I want to kick your a.s.s.
After lightly hitting the armored car’s handle, I clicked my tongue.
「Well, I already checked your status, and Misasagi-kun also seems cheerful so I’m going back now. Well then, do your best okay〜!」
After saying that, G.o.d’s body disappeared.
As I’ve thought, doesn’t she have too much free time? I wonder if she can’t do the search for〈Book of G.o.d〉by herself.
Letting out a deep sigh, I fixed my sitting position on the driver’s seat.
The inside of the car became quiet, so I once again made the armored car advance. After that, nothing in particular happened.
After driving for a while, I reached the west forest. Inside the woods, it was eerily dark. Trees grew here and there, so it seems I have to go on foot from here.
After taking in the armored car, I entered the forest.
Ahh, it’s hard to walk. Should I once in for all burn the forest with it. When I thought of something terrible, I heard footsteps from behind. I hide in the shadows of the trees in a hurry, and took a peek to the direction where the sound was coming from. The owner of the sound were orcs.
Their numbers were about 10. Looking at them carefully, some of them were carrying something. It looks like it was human women. Ah, but I could see animal ears and tails, so some of them are probably demi-humans.
This is timely. I should follow them, and attack their base. It would be troublesome if the orcs find me, so I quoted a particular equipment.
【〈Ghillie Suit〉has been quoted】
Ghillie suits, it is a camouflage suit that is specialized to blend with the surrounding scenery. In this case, for use in the forest, the camouflage suits have plants, branches, and vines on it. With this, I shouldn’t be found.
And after that, I pursued the orcs for around two hours. Halfway, I mistakenly stepped on a branch, and I got worried about the sound it made, but the orcs moved forward without looking my way. It looks like, their heads were filled with the prey they got. Thank goodness orcs were stupid.
【Skill〈Tracking〉〈Covert Action〉has been acquired】
When it was about time the base of the orcs could be seen, I gained new skills. Both of their names are cool. It looks like being conscious of hiding my presence had its results.
I got thankful to the orcs that taught me this place. If I were alone, I probably wouldn’t be able to reach here. The path until here, paths that couldn’t be seen at a glance were used.
The orcs that were carrying women entered the fortress.
Hmm, I feel bad for the girls if they get dirtied by the orcs, so I think I should hurry up and attack the fortress. However, this fortress seems to be hard to take down. First, there is no place to hide in the surroundings. About a hundred meters radius with the fortress in the middle, trees were thoroughly cut down. And the fortress itself seems to be st.u.r.dy. They said that it was there for a long time, but I don’t have the impression that it has deteriorated.
With this situation, I thought of a plan then discard it, rework it, and when I thought of something, rework it again. And inside my head that was some kind of a loop, I reached a particular conclusion.
「Yosh, killing all the monsters that I find, should be okay huh」
【Skill〈Simple Thinking〉has been acquired】
Sorry for being a simple thinker huh.
By the way, the effect of this skill, it seems like it would increase the physical abilities in exchange for lowering the ability to think. It’s a skill that I gained, but I believe that there would be no time that I would use this. I also use my head while fighting, and muscle heads won’t be able to survive in the world.
Yosh, for the meantime, I should go. I regained myself, and walked towards the fortress.
「Yoisshotto. This much should be enough」
It would be troublesome if I were found by orcs immediately, so I hid behind the huge three that was about a hundred meters away from the fortress, and readied myself.
What am I getting ready for? Well of course, I’m preparing to kill orcs.
I quoted the things that I needーーpreparations are complete with this.
First, I made a stance with the sniper rifle.
【t.i.tle〈Sniper That Drives Out Others〉 has been activated】
【Skill〈Snipe〉〈One Shot Kill〉〈Head Shot〉has been activated】
There were a few orcs that were monitoring the surroundings from the windows of the fortress, so I shot one of those. After the shooting sound, it lost its head. It looks like the overlapping effect of a total of four t.i.tles and skills is very powerful. Without giving a chance to run away, I quickly shot the remaining orc guards.
【Skill〈Fast Shooting〉has been acquired】
It looks like taking priority on the annihilation speed lead to the acquisition of the skill. I jumped out from the back of the trees and sprinted towards the fortress at once. It didn’t take 15 seconds with my physical abilities.
【t.i.tle〈Single Ma.s.s Murderer〉has been activated】
Ah, I got found. Arrows flew in front of me with killing intent, but I dodged by moving my neck. And there, I noticed something.
I wonder why, right now, I feel that my abilities had extremely increased. I’m sure that it’s the effects of〈Single Ma.s.s Murderer〉, but its effects are in a different dimension from up until now. I had activated this t.i.tle for a few times until now, but there wasn’t much of a difference before and after activating it.
〈Single Ma.s.s Murderer〉’s skill increase rate is proportional to the number of enemies, so the more the enemies, the more I get stronger. So meaning, as a conclusion, there are so many orcs inside that fortress.
Well, even how many orcs would come, I don’t feel I’d lose.
There was a time, that I had thought of that.
What the heck is that. Countless orcs came out of the fortress. I could see some of them inside the fortress, so it doesn’t seem like all of them came out. How much are there really. I can’t say anything about other people, but aren’t they the ones who are cheaters.
But, it’s favorable. As planned, I should aim for gaining skills and t.i.tles huh.
I shot consecutively at the orcs that came like waves with the sniper rifle I used earlier. The bullets that were strengthened very much, it blows off several heads with one shot.
But, the waves of flesh pushed through without faltering.
I put back the sniper rifle without panicking, and shot out grenades from the book consecutively. Because the targets were densely crowding, each of them produced tens of kilos of meat.
【t.i.tle〈Bomber〉has been acquired】
I feel like the waved have considerably weakened. And here, I took out my favorite sub-machine gun, and scattered bullets towards the orcs.
【Skill〈Shooting Spree〉has been activated】
The bullets I shot killed the orcs on the front lines one next to the other. The sound, *Kachin*, echoed from the gun, calling the out of ammunition.
At this point, my distance with the orcs is about twenty meters. I decreased the orcs by around half, but they closed so much distance. If it goes like this, there’s the possibility that I would lose to the violence of numbers.
It can’t be helped, I should use that.
Thinking of that, I took out few grey colored cans from the book, and threw it towards the orcs with all of my strength.
【Skill〈Throwing〉has been acquired】
The sound of air leaking out from the cans could be heard. And following that, I took out a big fan that was as long as my height. This is a weapon called〈Wind Fan〉, it is written in the weapon ill.u.s.tration book that I bought in this world.
This fan that releases wind easily by fanning it, is most suitable for the plan that I’m about to do.
I fanned the fan towards the orcs, and the gas that came out from the cans scattered towards the orc horde. The orcs that were closing in ahead of me, they rolled around while holding their eyes and coughing.
I took out a gas mask from the book, and equipped it.
Tear gas was inside the cans that I threw. And the result of spreading it with the wind, the orcs outside of the fortress couldn’t move anymore. It was what you call a single strikeout.
I don’t know how long the tear gas would have an effect to the orcs, so I killed them in a hurry.
Holding hand guns in each of my hands, I shot at the orc horde while walking. Of course, I aimed at their head. I repeated reloading every time I was out of bullets, and just continued to shoot.
【Skill〈Double Trigger〉has been acquired】
When I got fed up of it, I took in the hand guns, and took out the metal bat that I used before. I held the grip with both of my hands, aimed for an orc, and erased its head with a full swing from the side. The headless corpse convulsed hugely once, and stopped moving.
【Skill〈Full Swing〉has been acquired】
After that, I destroyed the orcs steadily. Killing enemies without resistance was an easy work, but their numbers were plenty so it took a few minutes to annihilate them. Just like that, only the orcs inside the fortress remains. I wiped off the spurt of blood in my cheek with the sleeve of my clothes.
【t.i.tle〈Matchless Warrior〉〈Bringer of Destruction〉has been acquired】
In this battle right now, I got 3 t.i.tles, and 4 skills. Each one of them seems to be useful so I’m satisfied. However, this〈Bringer of Destruction〉, I think that it’s a t.i.tle that Demon Kings should have though……
「Well, whatever」
As long as it’s useful, how dangerous its name sounds doesn’t mater.
I walked forward through the fortress surrounding that got empty, and pa.s.sed through the front gate. The fortress that can be seen very closely seems to be built very st.u.r.dily. If it’s this size, it’s not strange having that scale of orcs inside. I entered the fortress while being cautious of the surroundings.
The inside was very quiet. There was a branching path immediately as I entered, I went to the left side with intuition.
And in that instant, several orcs thrust their spears.
d.a.m.n, an ambush!
I barely dodged its tips by taking a back step.
I repressed the feeling of edginess, gripped the neck of one of the orcs while stepping forward, and strangled it with all of my strength. The feeling of the neck bone getting broken pa.s.sed through my hand.
I threw the corpse that lost its strength towards the orc that was trying to attack me with its spear.
The two orcs that collided rolled on the floors with momentum. When they stopped a few meters ahead, their heads were bent in strange directions.
I looked at the remaining orcs. The three pigs’ faces were clearly dyed with fear. They were full of openings, so I charged at them.
I grabbed the shoulder of the nearest orc that was trying to run away, and thrust it. While feeling a slight resistance, my five fingers easily pierced the orc’s body.
I gripped and crushed the warm thing that I tore inside its body, and pulled out my bloodstained hand.
And here, the remaining two started to run away.
【Skill〈Pursuit〉〈Smash〉has been activated】
Of the two, I kicked down the one that was behind.
Ah, I put too much strength.
I clearly heard something broking from the orc’s two legs. Dirty screams echoed continuously. With that, I raised my feet high, and stamped at the face of the orc in agony. Its head exploded, and the orc’s body convulsed, but it stopped immediately.
It looked away from that that became a chunk of meat, and stared ahead.
While I was doing that, the remaining orc had taken plenty of distance.
And there, crouching down, I placed my hands on the floor. When my strength had charged to its limit, I released the force out of my feet at once. The floor cracked, and I chased after the orc with my maximum speed.
【Skill〈Charge〉〈Sprint〉has been acquired】
I thought of using the skill that I just got, but I immediately caught up with the orc. I grabbed the orc’s clothes from behind and raised it. And just like that, I made it take a half turn, and smashed the orc to the floor. My sight was dyed with red. I wiped off the blood out of my gas mask, and looked away from the thing that was once an orc.
【t.i.tle〈No Weapons〉has been acquired】
【Skill〈Self-taught Hand-to-hand Techniques〉has been acquired】
And after that, I encountered groups of orcs for several times, but I was able to annihilate them without having a difficult fight. It was probably because I had killed most of the orcs inside the fortress. I feel like the effects of〈Single Ma.s.s Murderer〉was fading out. Most likely, there are only several orcs remaining.
I walked through the unmanned corridor. And, I finally reached the highest floor.
The rugged thick doors, it was closed as if to reject those who had come.
「Un, it’s probably the boss room」
「That’s right, it’s the boss」
「……」
G.o.d was standing beside me when I noticed it. I wonder why she could naturally act as she’s a comrade. I started to stop getting surprised with her sudden appearance.
「Well really〜, Misasagi-kun, I wonder if you don’t have what they call hesitation〜. It would be troublesome if you have, but I didn’t think you would thoroughly kill them just like earlier〜. You had easily gained them, but the things called t.i.tles and skills aren’t easily gained through normal battles you know」
I also heard it before, but the main way to gain skills are from leveling the jobs up. It seems like a specific skill would be gained upon reaching a certain level. For example, the〈Smash〉that I have, it’s a skill that seems to be able to gained with the level 10 of martial arts-type jobs.
But just like me, skills can be gained by training without needing to have a particular job. But even so, she said that it’s something very difficult. Well, my job is fixed, so the way of gaining skills would be mainly by this though……
「Just ahead, Orc King is waiting so be careful okay〜」
Orc King? Ahh, that’s why there are only orcs as enemies.
……I mean, before that, there’s something I want to know.
「Why is there this much orc in here」
I was dubious about it all the time. Even if there was an outbreak of them, their numbers are too high.
「One of the〈Book of G.o.d〉that I dropped is in here. It’s because of its ability」
Wait a minute. 〈Book of G.o.d〉? Isn’t this bad?
With not caring about my unrest, G.o.d answered.
「No, I think that it’s okay, it’s weaker compared to the others after all〜」
「……there wasn’t only one〈Book of G.o.d〉!!」
「Eh, didn’t I say it? That’s right, one day, when I was cleaning my room, I dropped the whole bookshelf together with the〈Book of G.o.d〉in this world you know〜……eh?! Wait, Misasagi-kun!?!」
I grabbed the duffle coat that G.o.d was wearing, and walked towards the nearest huge window. While I was doing that, G.o.d was struggling, but I ignored her.
「Reflect with this for a bit okay」
「No, even if I’m like this, I’m a G.o.d you know? If you do that, divine punishment will……ill………ll…………l…………」
I dropped G.o.d from the window. I heard some screams, but I shouldn’t mind it. I think that her lack of explanations should be cured a little with this. Well, she’s a G.o.d after all, she wouldn’t die.
*PanPan*, I brushed my hands, and let out a deep sigh.
It looks like there are several〈Book of G.o.d〉in this world. I thought that there was only one. But, to think that I would find one in my first quest, is my luck good, or bad……
Once again, I quoted the things I need, and prepared. It’s a boss fight after all, I should choose strong ones.
And I, slowly opened the door in front of me.