When I’d heard over a hundred orcs were heading toward the village, I hadn’t known what to say. I’d felt so hopeless that I’d collapsed on the spot.
The hunting party dealt with orcs regularly, so I’d almost forgotten how dangerous they were. But these were monsters that even a group of seasoned soldiers would struggle to take down. A single orc could’ve destroyed our entire previous village, and now a horde of hundreds were attacking... What other word could there be to describe the situation than “hopeless”?
Mayor Luke approached me while I was in a daze.
“Berlitt... I have something to ask you.”
Then he said something that completely caught me off guard: He wanted me to arm the men of the village and have them fight for our survival. He was essentially asking them to risk their lives. But as I looked at his face, courage stirred within me. I didn’t know where it came from, but I found myself immediately responding, “All right! Let’s do it!”
“Oh, and just to be clear, you won’t be directly fighting the orcs, okay?”
“We might not have any Gifts or combat experience, but we can each take down one orc for sure! We can wipe them out in no time if we all work together!” I said.
“Um, are you listening?”
Luke was already preparing to head to the front lines, so I went around to persuade the men to join. But honestly, I didn’t have to do much to convince them—everyone had already made up their minds. They were deeply grateful to this village.
We might’ve already been dead if we hadn’t found this village, and now we were living comfortably. My wife and kids had been so thin and weak, but now they were finally healthy again. We’d even brought back the elderly we left behind.
But most of all, Luke was a kind village chief who’d encouraged us all. I heard he was the son of a great noble family, but he never acted above us. He treated people with warmth and respect. And no matter how small the problem, he addressed our concerns right away.
He was nothing like those other nobles who ignored the commoners and only thought about expanding their lands. We loved the mayor and didn’t hesitate to give our lives for him and to protect this wonderful village, if need be.
And now it was our time to spring into action.
“Are you ready, everyone?”
“Yes, Mayor!”
“Stab the orcs through the holes in the walls! Let’s go!”
“Raaaaaah!”
We charged in response to the mayor’s command, plunging our weapons through the gaps in the wall with all our might.
“Graaaaaaarghhh?!”
The orcs were trapped in the passage, and we heard their death rattles.
“It worked, everyone! Thank you!”
Wow... That was even easier than I’d thought...
✦ ✦ ✦
“Wh-What the—” an elf muttered in disbelief.
“The stone walls are moving?” another asked. “What in the world is going on?”
“Did we...did we make it?”
Ruuumble...
I moved the stone walls again to open the passageway, revealing the orc horde that now lay scattered across the ground, dead. The villagers’ spears had finished the job. None of the orcs were moving.
“So that’s why you gave them the spears,” Seren said, her expression between shock and admiration.
“At first, I thought we could just attack them over the walls, but I realized it would be difficult if the orcs could still move. I decided to trap them between the walls so they couldn’t escape,” I explained.
“I swear, only you could pull off a strategy like that,” Seren said with a laugh.
I knew roughly how fast I could move the walls with Facility Customization, but still, the timing was a challenge. I had to ensure the orcs were far enough down the passageway, but if I waited too long, they’d just run through.
It’d ended up being pretty close, but the elves’ arrows helped me adjust.
“Hm, it looks like some stragglers did survive...” Some orcs that had been farther back had escaped through the north gate. I could spot a few of them still outside, looking as though they might flee at any moment. They were clearly terrified to see so many of their fellow orcs slain.
“Wait, one’s coming in!”
One of the orcs stepped through the northern gate, stepping over the bodies of his fallen comrades.
Wait, that one’s huge!
After closing more closely, I realized he was clearly twice the size of an average orc.
“What?!”
The massive orc let out a terrifying roar, releasing all the fury it had built up from seeing its comrades slaughtered. It charged at us with unbelievable speed before we could even react.
“Grrrrooooaaar!”
How can something that big move so fast?!