Hello Work – Volume 8 Chapter 11 (2/2)

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Chapter 11 – Battle on the Empire border Part 1 (2/2)

When we followed the direction Sati was indicating, we found a village in a valley getting attacked by orcs.

Coming in from the air let us see that there were….about a hundred or thereso of them. The orcs were already trying to scale the walls of the village. The villagers were fighting back though, so there were no breaches just yet, but we didn’t have much time either way.

“Let’s set down close by. Lilia, as soon as we get down, let one loose into the middle of the horde.”

Lilia started chanting in accordance with my instructions.

“The same time Lilia releases her attack, everyone move in and start annihilating them.”

Since the orcs had their backs to the village, any large scale attacks could threaten the village itself.

As we landed, Lilia launched a Wind Storm.

They were quite scattered in the first place, not to mention the bunch that were already clinging to the walls, so our first attack could only take down about twenty or thirty percent of them at most. However, our surprise attack managed to launch the orcs into a state of confusion quite well.

Next, we attacked with spells and Sati with her arrows.

I brought out a five meter tall golem and a box filled with archery equipment. However, the enemies were closer than I thought. It seems I didn’t have the time to exchange my sword for a bow.

“Vanguard, pull back for now. Don’t be further ahead than the golem.”

Well, even if they wanted to go further forward, there were always quite a few spells flying in the air, so they couldn’t move carelessly. They were quietly standing on guard by the spellcasters.

Creating a fortification with Earth Magic….didn’t seem to be needed for this.

Surrounding the village was simple farmland with no obstructions in sight. Unable to run or hide, they had no means to contend with our overwhelming firepower when sandwiched between the outer walls of the village and our group.

Sati was especially prioritizing taking down the orcs clinging to the walls.

We had archers from the village support us as well, so the number of remaining orcs were steadily going down. However, just as I thought that it would be over soon, an Orc King appeared. It must’ve been near the wall until now. We failed to detect it before this with the visibility low from all those spell impacts. Or maybe it used the small fry orcs taken down by spellfire as a smokescreen until it could get to us with a charge?

Anyhow, by the time we noticed, the Orc King was charging at us with a loud roar.

Damn, it was getting a bit too close. Someone’s spell managed to hit it dead on, but since it was even wearing armor, a Level 1 spell did not even budge it.

Francesca took a step forward and readied her sword.

“Leave that one to――”

Before Francesca could finish her declaration, an arrow shot by Sati impacted the Orc King’s leg, slowing its gait. The next arrow neatly hit it between the eyes. Even then it did not fall, but it stopped entirely to try and pull out the arrow.

Sati then quickly changed to her giant killer bow, and with flowing movements let another arrow loose. The specially made iron arrow pierced deep into the Orc King’s chest even through its metal armor.

Then another one. With that, finally the Orc King slowly fell over.

At mostly the same time, all the other orcs were annihilated as well. It seemed that was it? We couldn’t find any more orcs moving in sight range.

“Good work, Sati.”

It was a good idea to not leave it to Francesca.

“Thank you. Uhm…..I’m sorry, Francesca-sama.”

Sati felt pretty embarrassed after that display, so she apologized to the glum looking Francesca.

“No, it was fine like this. Who knows what could’ve happened if it managed to reach us. Sati, even if you didn’t do it, I would’ve taken care of it with magic.”

I don’t think Francesca would’ve lost, but an Orc King is terrifying.

“Mm, there is no need to apologize.”

Francesca did not seem like she was that displeased, she even accepted Sati’s apology without a fuss.

“However, A rank parties really are something else.”

“Today we were close to a village. This is nothing compared to when we go all out, you know?”

Right, if we were a bit more farther from the village then we would’ve just exterminated them with magic in one go. Or the vanguard could’ve gradually poked them to death if we had our backs to the village.

“Then, the possibility of this party coming across something it won’t be able to handle is…..”

“Very unlikely.”

She noticed that quite fast. I thought I could dodge that realization for a while longer.

If she wasn’t our escort target I could’ve let her get in front a bit more, but that’s not the case, so I can’t really do much about it. It’s unlikely Francesca will be able to accomplish the things she would like to. In fact, it would be a serious problem if she did.

“Safety first. Well then, stop chatting, we need to start the cleanup.”

I moved the golem back to the hole it came from and turned it back into earth. We landed on the road leading to the village, however with orcs indiscriminately rampaging and due to our own spell fire, the farmland around the village was in dire shape.

“I’ll go and check inside the village,” Ann told us.

Sati brought Syrah-chan to check the defeated orcs. They went to finish off those still alive and retrieve any usable arrows.

“I will also stay here. Will, I’m leaving checking the village to you.”

In addition to Will, Francesca and Tilika also followed in Ann’s footsteps.

I needed to start on gathering up the bodies of the orcs and repairing the walls. One part of the wall was broken through, probably done by the Orc King, where villagers could be seen peeking through. It seems we really got here just in the nick of time.

The villagers looked like they were in a daze because they could not keep up with the changing situation, but when Ann walked up to the gate and waved with a smile, they hurried to open the gate for her.

Together with Ellie we managed to clean up a good part of the orcs, so I moved on to check on the crumbled part of the wall. It seems some villagers were standing around the hole in the wall, discussing what to do between each other.

“It’s not that hard to fix, mister adventurer.”

The orcs made a hole in the wall large enough for them to leisurely walk through, but only that one part of the wall was destroyed, so it can be fairly easily repaired by filling it with rocks. There was indeed not much need for me to help out with this.

However, even if they fix it, monsters could come and knock it down again.

From what I’ve seen, the wall wasn’t that thin. It was the standard size of an average village outer wall, both in height and width, perfectly enough to ward off the normal monsters.

The Orc King managed to destroy it though.

It would indeed be for the best if they could reinforce the walls, but even with everyone from the village pitching in, this undertaking would take a few months to finish for the entire length of the outer walls.

“I see, I see. To tell the truth, I’m quite good with Earth Magic you see. Would you like me to help out a bit?”

I only intended to fix the broken parts, but I still have a lot of mana left.

“Well, we would welcome it of course, but…..”

“Let me just show you how it will turn out first.”

I rose to the sky, checking out the makeup of the whole village. Leaving aside some of it for Ellie to do….

I got down to the ground outside the wall and activated my Earth Magic. I made a wall of the same height and width right next to and outside the previous one. I also made a moat out of the place all that earth came from.

By using the earth, I could save a lot on mana, and since its shape was also simple, it was easy to create.

“What do you think?”

It’s not that tall or wide as our walls back at our village, but making a better one might require more than one day’s worth of mana, even with the help of Ellie. However, with the added moat, this should still greatly increase the defensive capabilities of the village.

“Ooh, a wall this thick should be able to stop even that orc from before.”

“Then let me do the rest like that. No no, there is no need to pay. It’s for free, really.”

However, even though the wall itself seemed well-received, the moment I said it would be free, the villagers changed their expression as if they smelled something fishy.

“But….you just saved us. How could we accept….”

They really don’t seem to trust me. Though this indeed sounds a little too good to be true, to be honest. Maybe it’s because we are adventurers?

“You saw the priestess going inside just now, right? Our party’s job is to help out like this. It’s part of the church’s volunteer work program.”

Why do I have to explain this away with that, ugh. This makes me want to take money for it instead and really gouge them on the price, but if we start with a price negotiations then who knows how long it could take. I have no idea what a normal price to ask for it would be either.

“It’s fine, really. I promise I won’t be changing my tune and ask you to pay for it after.”

Just as I managed to lay the villager’s worries to rest, Ellie and the others came to check on me.

“Making a wall again?”

Ellie was doing that just this morning as well.

“Yeah. I would like to have a wall like this around the entire village, but how are your mana reserves?”

“I’m pretty much back to full already, but….like that for the entire way around?”

“Yes, the entire way around.”

“That is….ah, very well. I guess this must also be part of your job as a Hero. I will help.”

“No no, this is just helping out a bit. It’s just a volunteer job from the church, as you know.”

“Is that so?”

Maybe doing it all could be going a bit too far?

However, it wouldn’t be too much trouble and we can’t have a wall remain this weak. An orc managed to break it down now, so if we don’t do something the village might get wiped out a few years later because of it. That’s something I very much do not want.

Now that I think of it, I should’ve helped Ellie with the wall this morning instead of just leaving it all to her.

“No matter. Let us get started. I will begin on this side.”

Well, nothing good comes of dwelling on it any more. Let’s just do what I can right now.

Making the wall did not take even an hour.

It seems I might be able to get a proper rest tonight.

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