CH 25

* Misato Gojo’s POV

I saw the monster when I was finalizing today’s dungeon attack and returning to the transfer stone.

“That’s an orc, isn’t it?”

I asked Sakura in a whisper.

“Probably.”

Until now, all the orcs we encountered on the sixth floor had only wrapped a dirty cloth around their waists. However, this orc appeared to be different. It wore a cloak and had something on its head.

“Why don’t we hunt it?”

Sakura suggested lightly.

“What do you think, Kubota?”

“Hmm, if anything, I’ll protect you both with my [sturdy] skill.”

“Okay, let’s make the first strike!”

“Hey, Sakura.”

Sakura readied her bow without hearing me trying to stop her.

“Yeah!”

The orc hasn’t seemed to notice us yet? Sakura shot an arrow at him. The arrow flew straight toward the orc. Alright, it’s gonna be a hit. As soon as I thought that, the orc flipped it’s cloak and countered the arrow with its sword.

“Ehh.”

“Both of you, get back! Come on!”

We should hurry! Suddenly, we saw more orcs in cloaks approaching. Their agility and speed were so great and the orcs we had encountered up until now were incomparable. Kubota stepped forward and held his shield out to protect us.

“Sakura! Try shooting again!”

“Sure!”

An arrow shot by Sakura raced towards the cloaked orc from behind, but it was again swept away with a sword.

“Come on!”

The orc ran with his sword held upwards. Kubota also repositioned his large shield to brace for impact.

“Gue.”

The orc threw away his sword on the way, almost as a way to ridicule us, and kicked Kubota’s lower part viciously. Kubota tried blocking, but the orc kicked him again. Kubota rolled over.

“Oh!”

Sakura shot another arrow from a short distance, but the orc blocked it with its bare hand. It then rushed to Sakura and struck her.

“Uh.”

I felt the familiar feeling of being cornered by the goblins previously suddenly revive within me. I couldn’t beat these orcs. But I also couldn’t leave my friends and run away. Actually, it would have been useless to run away in the first place. I was sure I could stop myself from running. Do not run away!  Don’t be scared! Face up! I reassured myself with these words and desperately set up my rapier.

“…”

“…”

My eyes met with the orc. There was what appeared to be a crown on the head of the orc. It wore armor under its cloak. This orc was obviously different from the others.

“Buoy.”

This special orc called out, it turned and I could see it with the cloak it was wearing get further away from us. The tension continued until the orc disappeared completely.

“Oh, we’re saved.”

I sighed out of relief. My hand that held the rapier was shaking.

“Uh.”

Kubota groaned. I hurriedly looked over to Sakura, luckily she was still moving.

“Oh, potion! Potion!”

I quickly whipped out a potion and administered it to them both as instructed. Both of them were only beaten and kicked, so it seemed that a beginner potion was just enough to heal them.

“Thank you, Miss. Gojo. We were saved.”

“Thank you, Misato.

“Ah. No. Actually, I couldn’t do anything because the orcs left without me having to do anything.”

The two looked at the situation suspiciously but didn’t speak further. I didn’t even know what had happened. There was no reason why an orc like that king could have been an ordinary orc. Something strange was definitely going on in this dungeon.