A terrible premonition seized me, and I immediately turned around. Unfortunately, bad premonitions had an unpleasant habit of coming true.
Orcs stood behind us—three of them, each carrying a spear.
I had been careless.
I had asked Metis when the gang pteranodons would return, but I had neglected to ask about any other monsters.
I had heard that other monsters rarely visited the white mushroom colony, so I had lowered my guard. Scraps of white mushrooms clung to the orcs’ mouths.
Come to think of it, didn’t pigs like mushrooms? Go eat truffles or something.
“Sibyl, I’ll ask just in case… You’re a former adventurer, right? Can you defeat orcs…?”
“Do you honestly think I can? If I could, I’d still be working as an adventurer…”
I was nothing more than an adventurer on paper.
“Run!”
At Neon’s shout, we sprinted in the opposite direction. Seeing us flee, the orcs charged after us at full speed.
Weren’t you here for the mushrooms?!
‘Which way should I run?’
Metis gave no answer. She could respond only to questions answerable with yes or no. Apparently, the sudden attack had sent me into a panic.
As we ran, I spotted a cave ahead.
‘Should we enter the cave?’
‘No.’
So going inside was a bad idea.
“Neon, don’t go in! Apparently, it’s dangerous.”
“Got it!”
‘Should we run to the left of the cave?’
‘Yes.’
“Run left!”
I relayed the direction to Neon. We plunged downhill through the densely wooded forest, forcing our way through the undergrowth. The orcs seemed only slightly slower than us.
We could escape!
Just as I thought so, a cry came from behind me.
“Ah!”
Neon had tripped over a stone while running downhill.
“Neon!”
I stopped when I saw her fall. But the orcs showed no consideration for our troubles and continued charging toward us at full speed.
This was bad. At this rate…
Neon’s lips trembled as she looked at me, her face full of despair.
My own legs shook with fear. I wanted to dash gallantly to her rescue, yet they refused to move. I was terrified. Neon must have realized it too: we couldn’t win.
I gripped my sword. I had practiced with one often since childhood. I had simply never improved. I was afraid of cutting people, and I was afraid of being cut. I was a coward. Nothing about that had changed.
Could I have rescued Neon with ease if I had trained harder? It was a pointless hypothetical now. The trembling did not stop, but I forced my legs to move and ran toward her. I passed Neon and planted myself before the orcs.
“Neon! Get up! I’ll buy time!”
Hearing my trembling shout, she hurriedly rose. Blood ran from her knee, but there was no time for first aid.
“What about you, Sibyl?!”
“I’ll catch up! If you want me to live, go on ahead!”
At those words, Neon began running.
“Please don’t die…!”
Even while we spoke, the orcs had closed the distance.
I didn’t need to ask Metis. I couldn’t defeat them. I gripped my sword and attacked, bringing the blade down toward an orc.
It easily dodged and thrust its spear at me.
“Gah!”
I failed to evade it, and the spear pierced the right side of my abdomen. But now the distance between us had closed all at once.
“Don’t underestimate the fruits of civilization!”
I hurled a red ball from my pocket directly into the orc’s eye. It struck perfectly.
“Gwooooo!”
The orc screamed and collapsed, writhing on the ground.
The red ball was a self-defense weapon made from spices that I had bought at the guild. It was an irritant; if it struck the eyes or another mucous membrane, it caused terrible pain and temporary blindness.
Because spices were used to make it, each ball cost a steep 10,000 G. Still, it worked remarkably well.
The other orcs froze at their companion’s sudden transformation.
“Now’s my chance. Take this!”
I slammed a white ball against the ground. Smoke spread throughout the area. While it filled their vision, I sprinted toward Neon at full speed.
‘Will I reach Neon if I continue straight downhill?’
‘No.’
‘A little to the right?’
‘No.’
‘A little to the left?’
‘Yes.’
I veered slightly left as I descended the mountain. After some time, I caught sight of beautiful blue hair.
“Neon!”
Neon turned toward me, and her tearful face immediately crumpled into a smile.
“Sibyl! You’re safe!”
“Yes, somehow. We can talk later. Keep heading down!”
“Okay!”
We continued rapidly down the mountain while I questioned Metis about the monsters’ locations.
By the time the sun began to set, we finally staggered back into Delcour.
“W-we made it…”
“We really did. I thought we were going to die.”
Overwhelmed by relief and exhaustion, Neon and I collapsed onto the ground.
“I can’t believe orcs nearly killed us instead of the gang pteranodons…”
“I didn’t know orcs came up there either. We’ll have to watch out for other monsters from now on.”
“I’m going to have the church treat me. The bleeding won’t stop.”
“That would be best.”
I went to the church and showed my injury to a healer.
“That is quite a serious wound. It will require intermediate healing magic, so the treatment will be expensive.”
“Please do it.”
The church was no charity. I paid 30,000 G and received healing magic. I had almost no money left. The bleeding stopped and the wound closed. It wasn’t completely healed, but at least it was no longer life-threatening.
“Your life is no longer in danger. You should avoid strenuous activity for a while.”
“Understood.”
Saddened by the unexpected expense, I left the church.
Neon appeared to have been waiting outside for me.
“Neon, what should we do about selling the white opal mushrooms? Go tomorrow?”
“No, there’s still time. We’re going today!”
Her eyes had completely turned into money signs. Neon was probably running low on funds too.
She led me to the Merchants’ Guild.