Chapter 41: Hunting (2)

Yuri galloped in silence when Jared, who was closely following him, shouted.

“Prince! Do you even know where you’re going?”

Yuri shook his head.

“No!”

“Then why are you riding like that?!”

“We need to find the orcs!”

“But it’s not enough to just find them! If they run, we have to surround them…!”

Yuri pulled something from his robe and showed it.

It was a necklace with a red gem embedded in it.

Jared’s eyes widened, and then he let out a small laugh.

“Understood.”

While still galloping, Yuri pulled a map from a scroll case and checked it.

Although it wasn’t very detailed, he had a rough idea of where the orc settlements were located.

“I saw some riding lizards around here.”

Sometimes, orcs watched the alliance’s movements from afar. If they sensed cavalry approaching, they would flee immediately.

“Prince.”

“Hmm?”

“I saw them right over there.”

It was Laurent who spoke.

“They were orc riders.”

Finding enemies on such a vast plain wasn’t common. Once spotted, they shouldn’t be allowed to escape.

“Let’s go!”

Yuri immediately turned in that direction, and the cavalry squad followed suit. As they moved, Yuri scanned the ground for tracks.

In his previous life, he had also learned tracking. As a mercenary who took on all kinds of jobs, he had to master many skills.

“A group of komodo drakes passed through here.”

“Huh?”

“Three or four. Judging by the tracks, they’re beasts domesticated by orcs.”

“And where did you learn tracking techniques?”

“In books.”

The tracks of the komodo drakes zigzagged across the terrain.
Following them, a small lake appeared beyond the horizon.

“There they are.”

A group of orcs was resting by the shore. They seemed to have come to drink water.

“Attack!”

Yuri shouted, spurring his horse. The entire cavalry sped up.

The orcs hurriedly mounted their beasts, trying to flee.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Yuri pulled out the red gem again and activated the Manamestone. The orcs froze.

“Prepare to fight. We have the numerical advantage, don’t overdo it.”

“Yes!”

The orcs’ eyes glowed with a red light. Mounted on their komodo drakes, they charged straight toward the cavalry.

Yuri raised his hand as a signal.

“Disperse!”

“Yes!”

The riders split into several formations and surrounded the enemy. The orcs, crazed, became confused about whom to attack and struck at random.

Yuri advanced.

“Hey!”

An orc with a halberd charged at him, aiming the tip of the weapon. Yuri dodged and struck with a slash. Blood burst from the orc’s abdomen.

“Kraaaaah!”

The orc, ignoring his wound, leapt off his mount trying to grab Yuri. The horse dodged nimbly, but the orc managed to grab Yuri’s leg.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Yuri pulled the reins and the horse began to rear. Even while being dragged and slammed against the ground, the orc didn’t let go.

“Let go of me!”

Yuri kicked him in the head. Even so, the orc clung on. He looked back. The knights were surrounding the other orcs.

Although the orcs attacked like madmen thanks to the gem’s power, the knights weren’t taking the hits. Instead, they waited for an opening to strike and then withdrew.

They already knew how to deal with them.

“Good.”

Yuri stopped channeling mana into the gem.

The internal mana dispersed and the stone lost its glow, becoming an ordinary rock. The madness surrounding the orcs began to dissipate.

“Graaaah…”

As their excitement faded, heavy fatigue set in. The orc holding onto Yuri lost strength and let go of his leg. He rolled onto the ground and lay still.

“It’s quite a useful item… Even if I don’t understand how it works.”

Yuri looked at the red gem necklace in his hand. It was more powerful than expected.

If even mounted orcs couldn’t resist its effects, it could drive most enemies mad.

“Kill them all.”

The knights finished off the orcs one by one. Yuri also stood before the orc who had grabbed him.

The orc, gasping through a hole where his nose should have been, looked at him. He seemed resigned to die, but Yuri wasn’t fooled.

He stomped the ground and kicked dirt into his eyes. The orc twisted in pain. Yuri took the opportunity to stab his sword into the orc’s neck.

Then the orc dropped the stone he had hidden in his palm. Yuri cut off his ear and put it in a sack.

He got back on his horse and muttered.

“Do I really have to do even this…?”

The alliance’s situation was critical. What was the point of these kinds of tasks?

But he couldn’t avoid it. Before facing Okua, he had to fully earn Ragnar’s trust.

“Let’s circle the lake. Orcs need to drink too.”

“Good idea.”

With the gem in his possession, all he had to do was find them to force a fight. Yuri galloped through the plains again.

Each time he found orcs, he used the gem. The crazed enemies charged at them like moths to a flame.

The sack of ears was starting to get heavy. Then he came across Liberta’s squad.

Wolf Gain greeted Yuri.

“Prince, have you collected many ears?”

“More or less. And you, Sir Wolf?”

“Same here, more or less.”

“Really?”

“That’s right.”

“I see.”

They looked at each other and burst into laughter. It was obvious they were hiding the number of ears they’d gathered.

But Yuri had a way to find out Liberta’s results.

“Ah, there’s Sven.”

Sven Gain, Wolf’s son, commander of Liberta, and someone Yuri had leverage on, was trying to hide behind the squad, but Yuri spotted him immediately.

“Nice to see you, Sven. Have you been well?”

“Ah, yes…”

Yuri approached him like he was warmly greeting him and patted his shoulder. While doing so, he whispered quietly:

“How many do you have?”

“T-that is…”

“I won’t ask again. How many?”

“Uh…”

Sven finally replied in a whisper.

“None.”

“Really?”

“They all ran away. We lost them.”

The orcs were cunning. They didn’t fight battles they couldn’t win. It seemed that when they saw they were outnumbered by Liberta, they chose to flee.

From the looks of it, not just Liberta, but most squads hadn’t gotten good results.

Yuri, still patting Sven’s shoulder, discreetly slipped a couple of ears into Sven’s pocket.

“Keep them.”

Sven’s eyes widened.

“T-these are…”

“Appearances matter. At least hold onto them.”

“But…”

“You never know.”

Before Sven could refuse, Yuri had already walked away.

“Sir Wolf. It’s been a pleasure. See you at the alliance camp.”

“Yes, Your Highness. Have a good day.”

The two squads said their farewells and parted ways. After that, they barely found any more orcs.

Yuri surveyed the surroundings. Jared approached him.

“Your Highness. No more signs.”

“Yes? It would be a shame to go back like this.”

If some other country had been lucky enough to find an orc unit, the advantage wasn’t guaranteed.

“I detect nothing with my senses.”

At Laurent’s words, Yuri raised his head.

“With your senses…?”

The Manamethod could enhance various knightly abilities. Not only did it increase strength and endurance, but also sharpened the five senses.

In that case, could he detect distant orcs not visible to the naked eye?

Yuri dismounted and drew a dagger.

It was one of the Four Blades of Four-Leaf, specifically the Earth Sword, imbued with the power of the ground.

Just as he had used the Crystal Sword to repel fire, he thought he might be able to do something with this one as well.

“Your Highness?”

“Shh.”

Yuri stabbed the Earth Sword into the ground and used its blade as a channel to extend his perception.

He felt a vibration in the earth. The ground pulsed with a steady beat.

Through the sword, he listened to that beat. Thump, thump. With each pulse, Yuri’s mana also expanded.

The mysterious Manamethod, Cut of the soul and heart, which could adapt to will, now absorbed the earth’s energy.

And then, multiple pulses came. First, he sensed horse hooves beyond the invisible horizon.

Focusing more, he detected beasts crawling on the ground, and the movement of insects burrowing underground made him shudder.

He had to go further.

Yuri applied the total mana control he had felt when facing Laurent. His mental energy depleted rapidly. The amount of information hitting him was overwhelming.

He couldn’t maintain it for long.

“Kh…”

Just before letting go of the sword, he sensed something. The footsteps were small but intense.

Four legs pounded the ground rapidly. They were large, heavy, but fast. Their rhythm was nothing like horses. He didn’t need to see to know—they were komodo drakes.

And there were many. Yuri opened his eyes.

“It’s in that direction.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s ride!”

***

As evening fell, each squad returned. In front of Ragnar, the sacks he had distributed to each squad began to pile up.

Smiling, he picked up one of the empty sacks and shook it.

“And what’s this?”

The country that hadn’t managed to collect anything lowered their heads in shame.

But they weren’t the only ones. As Ragnar shook the sacks, the number of empty ones increased. He tossed them to the ground without hesitation.

Then two ears appeared.

“Two.”

Ragnar picked them up.

“Not much, but better than nothing.”

He checked the sack.

“Liberta.”

Ragnar’s eyes moved to the front. Wolf, who was standing there, bowed his head.

“How shameful.”

“No, good work. A result is a result.”

With a tilt of his chin, his aide noted down the data. All of these merits and demerits would be evaluated and tallied at the end of the alliance campaign.

At that moment, Wolf and Yuri’s gazes met. Wolf gave him a subtle look. Yuri shrugged.

It seemed Sven had handed in the ears Yuri had given him.

“And now, the next one…”

A few ears dropped from Brusen’s sack.

Jonathan spoke.

“We found a patrol. We got lucky.”

“Luck is also a skill. How many have died because of that ‘luck’?”

Ragnar counted the ears.

“Six. So far, the best result.”

The Brusen squad waiting nearby cheered. They were still quite expressive.

Ragnar opened other sacks. Most were nearly empty or contained very few ears. There were no outstanding results.

Only two sacks remained. At a glance, both were fairly full.

“Two left.”

Ragnar picked up one of them. It was a red sack.

“In fact, we also sent a squad from the Empire. I forgot and dispatched them an hour late.”

All eyes turned to the imperial squad, clad in black armor. They remained still.

Ragnar shook the sack.

“I was afraid they’d embarrass themselves, but they collected quite a bit.”

The ears poured out in a cascade.

“Twelve.”

Ragnar smiled broadly.

“Good work.”

The atmosphere grew tense. No one denied the Empire’s strength, but the fact that they had gone out an hour later and still brought back more ears stung the pride of many.

If they didn’t want to be just tagalongs of the Empire, they needed results.

“Only one left…”

Ragnar picked up the final sack.

“Hm…”

He made a strange expression. Unlike the previous sacks, he didn’t empty it right away. Instead, he opened the mouth of the sack and looked inside.

He reached in to feel its contents. The sack shook violently.

That meant it was quite full.

“This…”

Ragnar let out an incredulous laugh and dumped the sack. A mountain of severed ears spilled onto the ground.

Everyone stood stunned, mouths agape, staring at the scene.

The murmurs began.

“What is this…?”

“How many are there…?”

Ragnar crouched and sifted through the ears.

“Judging by the still fresh blood, it looks like they were all collected today…”

His gaze fixed on one person.

“What’s your secret?”

Following Ragnar’s gaze, everyone turned. The third prince of Briol, the knight who had recklessly charged with impressive bravery in the last battle.

And now, the commander who had collected dozens of orc ears. Yuri Briol shrugged.

“I just did my best, that’s all.”