CH 52

"Starting Training for the Incoming Oak King."

Translated by Dawn

“Let’s hear how it turned out.”

After lecturing Bold for a while, the guildmaster urges Girumzak and the others to report the results.

I guess the reason he doesn’t ask me first is that he is, after all, skeptical of what I’m saying. ……Jeez, totally skeptical.

However, to believe what I’m saying without question is not quite the same thing, so we’ll forever be on a parallel track on this.

“Shisho–Rolando boy is telling the truth. I have identified the Orc General and the thirty Orcs under his command.”

“Haa. Well, thank you for your efforts. You can go now.

“No, now that I’m involved here, I’ll stick around until the end.”

“…… I see, I get it. So, boy, I’ll get right to it. I’m going to promote you to C-rank adventurer starting today. This is a confirmed decision.”

“Understood.”

I have to agree with him on this one: not only did I annihilate an orc pack equivalent to B rank, but I also defeated an Orc General single-handedly. I too would like to say, what a joke such an adventurer is to be ranked D.

The C rank promotion procedure will be done later, but the guildmaster seems to have something else on his mind and asks me more questions.

“So, boy. You said that the Orc King was behind this herd of orcs, are you sure about that?”

“I can’t say for sure……but I’d say there’s probably a pretty high probability. We need to do some research for that.”

I am neither omniscient nor omnipotent, nor do I have powerful cheats like the protagonists in otherworldly fantasy novels. Well, if I have memories of my previous life, that knowledge itself is a cheat, but it does not mean that I am an invincible existence that no one, no matter how powerful, can come close to me.

There are probably many beings in this world whose power I cannot match at this point in time, and I have no evidence or confidence that I am the strongest person in the world at the moment. Although I have not met them yet, there may be fantasy races that excel in power, such as dragons and demons, and I must further improve my ability to deal with them.

“Okay. We’ll look into it.”

“We’d better hurry if we can. If I’m right, they should be in town within the next half month.”

“All right. Okay. Thanks to all of you for your hard work. You can go home.”

As Bold was about to return to his post, the guildmaster grabbed him by the neck and said, “You’re still in the middle of your sermon!” We left the room while the two protested.

After we left the room, Gyrmzak and the others, who had remained silent until then, opened their mouths.

“Shiso–Rolando-kun, what do you mean by the Orc King?”

“The herd led by that Orc General could be the advance troops released by the Orc King.”

“Then does that mean that an army of Orcs will attack this city in the near future!”

“I-isn’t that a bit much of a leap?”

“As I told the guildmaster, it’s just a possibility; they may or may not come. Whatever the case, if the Orc King is going to attack this city, we need to be even stronger to intercept him. That includes me and you guys.”

As for the Orc General this time, it was not a head-to-head victory. I had prepared carefully and only took advantage of an opening when my opponent was caught off guard and defeated him by using a lame-ass move. If we had fought head-on, I would have lost with a very high probability.

The Orc King is a superior species to the Orc General, and his power is incomparable to the General. Moreover, since he is the King, it is easy to imagine that the number of Orcs he leads is extraordinary.

At the very least, it is expected to be no less than 3,000. If not, it could be as high as 5,000 or 10,000.

“Sensei–Rolando, aren’t you going to run away?”

“If the Orc King is really coming, I’m going to fight him. It would be easy to just run away, but I’m the one who started this whole thing, and I have to take responsibility for that, don’t I?”

“Shiso–It’s not all your fault. Everyone acts to protect themselves when their lives are in danger.”

As usual, I try not to let them call me “shiso” or “sensei” by giving them a sharp look, but I somehow understand what they are trying to say.

Yes, no one would blame me if I ran away. However, it would have left a bad aftertaste, and above all, it would have been contrary to my upheld principle of living as one pleases.

If I were royalty or a nobleman, I could choose to flee to another country, but this time I would be dealing with a monster that was a threat to humans. If I escaped, this town would be overrun and destroyed by orcs.

However, there is a limit to what I can do on my own, and at this point in time, I am only as good as the Orc General, so I’m not a match for the Orc King.

If that is the case, there is only one option I can take now……I have no choice but to train to gain more strength.

“Anyway, I’m going to train for a while assuming the Orc King is going to attack this city. What about you guys? Run or fight?”

“Don’t underestimate us! We’re not so low as to run away with our tails between our legs when we hear such a story!”

“I’ll fight too!”

“I’ll do what I can.”

“I’ll do my best!”

Gyrmzak dared at my words, followed by Akini, Azul, and Maylene. …..Good grief, they’re so stubborn. If they escape now, their lives will be saved.

“As I told the guildmaster, we have only half a month at the latest, or ten days at the earliest, before the pigs arrive. In the meantime, I’m going to train you as well as I can. It will be tough because we don’t have much time, but don’t be whiny!”

“I’ll do whatever you say!”

“Hehe, let’s do it!”

“I’ll try to do as much as I can.”

“Please take care of me!”

“U-umm…”

While they were having such a good time, Nicole, who was there, interrupted the conversation with a strange look on her face. Milian had the same look on her face.

I realized that I had completely forgotten about their presence and tried to think of a way to cover up the situation, but no good idea immediately came to mind, and then Nicole threw a question at us.

“Looking at your relationship, it seems as if Rolando is the master and you four are the disciples?”

“”””Yes, it is!!””””

“Hey!”

“E-eh…really?”

All four of them answer Nicole’s words without hesitation. …What about the terms? What about the terms that we agreed on?

Well, these two have been taking care of me on a regular basis, and I decide that it won’t be a problem if I tell them about my relationship with the four of them, and I tell them that I have a promise to start training with them today.

Then, both of them looked wide-eyed and surprised, with expressions of disbelief. No wonder.

In what world is there a D-rank adventurer who teaches them, an A-rank adventurer……? That’s a load of nonsense!

“So, Rolando-kun is the master of Gyrmzak-san and the others, is that correct?”

“No, that’s not–”

“”””Yes it is!””””

“You guys want to shut up for a minute?”

Afterward, I tell them that I want this to remain a secret. Of course, they both readily agreed.

I then returned to the Adventurers’ Guild reception desk, where I quickly completed the procedures to be promoted to C-rank and was promoted to C-rank without any problems.

And I knew I had to tell Nicole about the future, so I told her.

“Nicole. I need to talk to you about our future.”

“Yes”

“I’m going to start training myself and these guys to be ready for the Orc King, so I don’t think I’ll be taking requests for a while.”

“I understand. I hope Rolando-san’s prediction is wrong.”

“I hope so, but just to be safe I’ll do what I can. See you later.”

“Please do your best!”

Then I left the Adventurer’s Guild with Gyrmsak and decided to talk to the four of them about our plans for the future.

For now, what they lack is basic physical strength and basic skills. If they can make up for these deficiencies, there is no doubt that they will become even more capable than they are now.

“So, three days. During these three days, you three should just keep running. Of course, don’t use the physical enhancements unless it’s an emergency, okay? After three days, I will give you the next instruction.”

“””I understand. Shisho.”””

“Don’t call me Shiso! And, Maylene, do the magic control and magic manipulation I taught you, and do it for three days, the same as the three of them.”

“Yes, Sensei!”

“…… were you listening to me? That’s enough. Go.”

I was beginning to regret my decision to take on teaching them, but I had other things to do as well. I don’t have time to worry about these four.

I need to analyze what I’m lacking first, and let them do their best.

After giving instructions to the four of them and parting ways, I returned to my base of operations for the time being, the inn. And when I sat down on the bed at the inn, I realized something important.

“Oh, I didn’t return the guild’s magic bag……well, whatever.”

The pouch-type magic bag was still attached to my waist. This is a fairly high-performance magic bag borrowed from the guild.

I was going to return it but decided that I should concentrate on my training now and start thinking about what I am going to do.