Chapter 155 – Mountain Smasher (1)
“……!”
They were baffled by Crockta’s suggestion to accompany him.
“Go with you, what…?”
They didn’t know whether they liked it or not. Crockta was waging war in the south against the Heaven and Earth Clan. He was busy running off to save another place.
Crockta looked at them before climbing back on his horse. Then he started to move past them.
“Uhh…”
The back view of the increasingly distant Crockta seemed somewhat desolate. Suddenly, the words he spoke seemed meaningful.
‘I don’t believe in that admiration.’
He was a hero to both users and NPCs. But whether it was the north or south, he was fighting alone. There were countless people who said they admired him, but Crockta was always alone when fighting against enemies.
“Shit…” A silent person grinned. “Looking at that back view…I have no choice but to go?”
“Shaq?”
“I am going.”
“But it is dangerous. What if the Heaven and Earth Clan are there? You will die!”
“Hey, didn’t you fill out the application form when you joined?” To those who were trying to dissuade him, the man called Shaq asked. “What was your answer to the last question?”
“……!”
The ‘He’s an Orc, yet still Praiseworthy’ fanclub operated on a membership system, but not everyone was qualified to join. When filling out the application form, there was a minimum of personal information as well as one question at the end.
[Do you respect the actions of Righteous Orc Crockta?]
Of course, the answer was ‘yes.’ Those who didn’t answer correctly wouldn’t be admitted. That’s right. They all respected Crockta.
“Crockta says that he can’t believe us, so I have no choice but to show him directly.”
“Shaq…”
“I am going.”
Shaq started walking after Crockta. The members of ‘He’s an Orc, yet still Praiseworthy’ had come because they had an intense desire to meet Crockta. They never expected a battle.
“Yare yare…” Gilgamesh, who was in love with Japanese anime culture, shook his head. “Looking at that back…doesn’t it make you tired…? Kukuk.”
He wasn’t playing a role now. It was his usual self. He never broke his distinctive tone even when other members criticized him. In other words, he was a man of perseverance.
“Well, those who follow will follow. Today, the ‘military power’… will we be able to see it? Kuhuhu…”
He started walking after Shaq. The remaining members looked at each other and sighed.
“It can’t be helped.”
“Really?”
“We are going…”
Then Gilgamesh suddenly turned around. “Hey. Think well.” He laughed and continued. “Right now, this is ‘hell.’ You rookies.”
“……”
The other users, listening quietly, started to walk forward.
“Today I will kill that otaku bastard.”
“Put up with it!”
“Aaaah! I’ll kill him!”
“Hey, you!”
In no time, they had caught up with Gilgamesh. Thus, the members of ‘He’s an Orc, yet still Praiseworthy’ plunged into the southern battlefield to help Crockta.
***
Camelot was once a knight, but he had retired and settled in a small town to become a farmer. He was satisfied with his current peaceful life. He had a wise wife and beautiful daughter. Despite not being rich, they had good neighbors. In addition, the rich southern land repaid his sincerity with a lot of crops.
He imagined living here for the rest of his life and thought there would be no happier life if he closed his eyes with his grandchildren around him. But he had to abandon the farm equipment and pick up a weapon.
It was because the emperor appeared.
“I think it would be good to join Espada.”
“It is too far. Knights are everywhere.”
“It is the same here.”
The village was holding a meeting to discuss the future. They had been discussing for a few days about whether they should incorporate into the empire or not.
“Why don’t we just join the empire?”
“If we are going to die on the battlefield anyway, let’s not die as slaves and resist the emperor!”
“Aye!”
Camelot looked at the meeting that had come to a standstill and recalled the long sword he had left at home. Perhaps the villagers would fail to reach a conclusion until the end and this discussion would continue. Eventually, the imperial forces would come here.
Fortunately, the imperial army couldn’t move in an orderly fashion due to the orc called Crockta. They might be able to stop it if a reasonable number of troops came.
“Camelot, you don’t have an opinion? You were once a knight.”
“I don’t know.”
He was serious. He didn’t know what the right thing to do was. It didn’t seem like any path would resolve it well. The emperor and empire were enemies that were too big. The moment that the discussion was going to start again…
An alarm started ringing.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
The urgent ringing lifted people to their feet. The village chief instructed a young man to find out what happened. But it was obvious what was happening before he even came out.
“Armed forces!”
“Knights are coming! Get ready everyone!”
The knights of the empire. There were many rumors about knights on horses appearing to occupy villages and drag villagers to become serfs of the empire. But when it came to reality, no one could react properly.
Camelot shouted. “Steady yourself!”
At his words, the residents started to move. They talked about what they should do next.
“Grab your weapons at him then bring the women, children, and seniors back to this place!”
They had to gather. If they were separate, they would be killed by the knights.
“Quickly!”
Camelot shouted before moving first. His house was on the outskirts of the village. It would be one of the knights’ first goal. He was worried about his wife and daughter waiting at home, and couldn’t stay any longer.
“Dammit!”
The closer he came to his home, the more his uneasy feelings became true. Not far from his house was the flag of the empire. As he crazily ran past them, the horrible scenery was revealed. The knights were carelessly dragging his wife and daughter. They resisted but the knights didn’t care, throwing them on the ground.
Flames surged in Camelot’s eyes.
“Son of a bitch!”
He rushed with all his power and kicked the knight, who fell from the weighted blow. He was wearing heavy armor so he couldn’t get up. Camelot grabbed the knight’s sword on the ground and pointed it at the enemy.
“Who?”
“This fellow!”
The knights also threatened Camelot with their swords. Camelot hid his wife behind him and warily looked at the enemies. His daughter was still in the hands of a knight, staring at him with a terrified expression.
“Knights who have no shame.”
“We hear that a lot.”
The knights laughed. Camelot was desperate. The knights he knew weren’t like this, but the south had gone crazy after the emperor’s inauguration. There were no knights left who honoured the weak and helped those in crises. Rather, they had become dogs of the emperor, with only the savage, ignorant orc left helping.
Camelot gritted his teeth. “Return my daughter and I will join the empire. I was a knight of the Dietrich family, so I will be more helpful than ordinary farmers.”
“You!”
Camelot looked at his family and shook his head. Camelot was desperate. However, the knights mocked him, “Don’t make me laugh. One man is more helpful than two women? I don’t think so.”
“……!”
Their attitude made them seem more like bandits than knights. One knight asked another knight, “Hey, is he to your taste?”
“No.”
“He said that he would be more helpful.”
“Maybe that is his taste. Kuhuhu.”
“Puhahat.”
Camelot gripped the sword tightly. After hearing the knights’ words, he was determined to die. He would die today. However, he would take out at least one of them with him. He cursed the emperor and prepared to run.
However, his strong mind didn’t last long.
“Hey, drop the sword.”
“……!”
A knight was holding a sword to his daughter. “I can tell what you’re intending from the look in your eyes, but don’t even think about it. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee the lives of your daughter and wife behind you.”
“……”
“I won’t kill them if you surrender. Do you understand? Even if it is miserable, isn’t it better than your wife and child being killed here?”
Camelot thought about it and the tip of his sword slowly dropped. He dropped the sword. At the same time, a fist hit him.
“Cough!”
“Honey!”
It was a punch from a knight wearing thick steel gauntlets. A few teeth flew in an instant. Camelot fell to the ground and spat out blood.
“This bastard dared to kick me?” It was the knight that he had first attacked. He kept kicking Camelot. “Hold this bastard tightly.”
He commanded another knight to grab Camelot. Then he grabbed his sword and walked towards Camelot’s daughter.
“Your daughter will suffer because of your kick.”
“What are you doing?”
“Look at what you have done.”
“I’ll apologize so stop! Stop!”
The sword was pointed towards his daughter’s face. Camelot shook like crazy. However, he was held by the knight and couldn’t stop it. The knight kicked Camelot and forced him on his knees. The nauseous Camelot lay on the ground.
His blurry vision could see the sword heading towards his daughter’s ear. The knight was going to cut off her ear. Camelot used all his strength to try and get up and attack the knight. However, another knight knocked him down again.
The moment that he felt total despair…
There was a huge roar.
Kuaaaaaaang!
A black object jumped from the bushes and struck the knight’s face. The knight’s neck was torn and his head flew through the air.
“……!”
It happened so abruptly that no one could respond. The body of the headless knight collapsed as blood splattered everywhere. Camelot’s daughter closed her eyes and screamed as blood covered her.
“Kyaaaak!”
However, no one else in this place opened their mouths. The ‘huge’ thing was standing in the middle of them. This…
“Grrrr…”
It was a great tiger the size of a house. The teeth were big and sharp, as if they could chew through an ogre’s skin, and the eyes were fierce. There was a package tied to its neck, but no one thought it looked ridiculous.
“W-What?”
“This…”
The tiger’s pressure pushed at them. Every time the tiger growled, the low frequency would overwhelm their bodies. But it didn’t end with just the tiger.
“What, tiger! Why are you so fast?” The tiger was accompanied by someone. “What is this? Grrung!”
There was an orc that was just as big as the tiger. He scratched his head and nodded as he found the girl trapped by the knights.
“Tsk tsk. Humans can’t help themselves! Grrung!”
A knight recoiled at his appearance and stammered out.
“C-Crockta?”
“Crockta? Don’t compare me to such a baby! Bah!”
Crockta was the only fearsome orc in the south. Then who was this orc? The orc struck his chest and declared, “My name is Kumarak! Grrung!”
He was ‘Mountain Smasher’ Kumarak.
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