〜〜 Second Knight Order Vice Captain Beiger Dalton 〜〜

Beiger roared and dodged an orc charging at him while wielding a one-handed axe. He then used his dual swords and the skill [Twin Blade Strike], but it wasn't a fatal blow.

Shit! What the hell's going on? I didn't receive any reports of orcs being in this area!

Beiger, with three subordinates from the knight order, was training against monsters. However, they unexpectedly encountered orcs in this area, where there shouldn't have been any.

These orcs are tougher than usual, and there are still five of them... If things continue like this, my subordinates will be in danger!!

"I'll hold them off. You guys go back to the capital and inform Captain Guell!"

"Vice Captain Beiger, we can't just leave you behind and run away!"

"You can't handle them!"

Please, just run! It's the only way!

"Even so, leaving Vice Captain Beiger behind..."

"Just go!"

"Guh!?"

Turning towards the source of the sound, I saw one of my subordinates, Azeth, bleeding from his left shoulder and kneeling. An orc was about to strike him with a club when suddenly an arrow pierced the orc's eye. It seemed like Myurina shot the arrow to help Azeth.

"Bwahhhh!!? Bwhee!? Bwhee!!?""

Now's my chance!

Beiger, taking advantage of the distracted orc, slipped into its blind spot and crossed his dual swords.

"Uoooooh!!"

With a roar, Beiger delivered slashes to the orc and, as a finishing move, kicked it in the jaw.

"Die!! You damn monster!!"

The orc struck by Beiger fell to the ground, collapsing onto its back.

"Sorry, Vice Captain."

Azeth, held his left shoulder, kneeling, and looked at Beiger's face as he spoke. However, Beiger, still with his dual swords at the ready, spoke to Azeth while facing the orcs.

"Forget it, just hurry over to Lizlina and get healed."

"Yes!"

After saying this, Azeth ran towards Lizlina.

Four more orcs left... Huh? One is missing. Where did it go?

"Kyaaahhh!?"

Turning towards the direction of the scream, this time, Myurina was caught in a situation where an orc was overpowering her.

Damn! While I was focused on Azeth, Myurina got caught.

I needed to help Myurina, but as I rushed to her, the orc holding her turned towards me.

"hUmaN, iF yOU cOMe AnY cLosER, i wILL KIll tHis wOmaN."

"What!?"

I stopped running towards the orc. Looking closely, it had both hands around Myurina's neck, seemingly attempting to snap it.

"Myurina-senpai!? Ursula, please! Help Senpai!"

"Wau!!"

"Stop it, Lizlina! If you do that, Myurina will be killed!"

I prevented Lizlina from trying to use her summoned beast to rescue Myurina.

The orc can talk? These are not just ordinary orcs... What should I do? This is getting dangerous.

"GoOd, jUSt sTaY StiLl liKE ThaT."

"Let Myurina go!"

"BuHIhiHi!"

An orc approached me with a contemptuous expression, sneering in an irritating manner.

"It'S nO UsE, wE'll tAKe tHe WomEN wIth uS. we DOn'T nEEd tHe MEn, sO KilL theM!"

"Vice Captain! My- Guhh!?"

The orc holding Myurina's neck tightened its grip and didn't let her finish speaking.

"sHUt Up, wOMaN."

Damn it! What should I do... How can I save my subordinates?

While thinking about a way to rescue them, an orc approached from behind and swung its rusty sword at me.

"Buhihi! dIe!"

Am I going to die here without being able to save my subordinates?

"Kyaaahhh!"

Amidst Myurina's scream, a resounding explosion echoed through the air. What in the world happened to Myurina?

"Eh? ...Huh!?"

"U- Uwah!?"

"Ah!"

For some reason, Myurina and Azeth seemed surprised, and Lizlina appeared to have noticed something. Then, the orc that was about to kill me stopped moving, freezing with an unbelieving expression.

Following the orc's gaze, I looked and, to my astonishment, there was a hole in the head of the orc that had taken Myurina hostage – it was dead!

"Wha- What? Who in the-?"

"Vice Captain! Quickly, get away from the orc!"

Lizlina said that, while I found myself trying to comprehend the phenomenon unfolding before me. I had forgotten to take action – whether to move away from the orc or to attack. Realizing this, I turned around and noticed someone with bloodshot eyes, breathing heavily!

"Crap!"

"yOU'vE dOne iT NOw! i'Ll kiLL yoU!! whAt tHe HEll!?"

Now, the orc that was trying to kill me suddenly knelt, clutching its right side with its left hand and groaning, and its head exploded midway.

The distinctive sound echoed again, this time with a slight delay, and what's more, there were two sounds this time.

"BuhI! yOu, wHAt THe hEll...?"

Among the two orcs that were a bit away, the one on the left side from my perspective fell, spraying blood from the right side of its head.

"BuhIi!? Bu- bU- BUhiIii!!?"

The orc, witnessing its companion's sudden death beside it, seemed to understand that it was its turn to die. Whether it comprehended its impending demise or was terrified by its comrade's death, I couldn't tell. However, the action it took was singularly simple – it threw away its weapon, turned around, and started running. Yes, it chose the path of surviving rather than avenging its fallen comrade.

"Ah!?"

I tried to chase after the fleeing orc, but for some reason, at that moment, my body wouldn't move... No, it might be more accurate to say that my body refused to move.

 〜〜〜 Elaina's Perspective 〜〜〜

"Ah, it's running away."

I muttered while peering through the scope of the SVU OTs-03 (7.62×54Rmm) at the orc running pitifully 400 meters away. But I didn't have the slightest intention of letting it escape.

Orc... You got unlucky.

I aimed at the orc's right leg, squeezing the trigger just before the primer fell. After inhaling lightly and exhaling, I held my breath.

...Now!

Simultaneously with that thought, I fully squeezed the trigger. Almost simultaneously with the sound of the gunshot, the bullet pierced through the orc's right leg.

Shot through the right leg, the orc collapsed towards the ground. As it tried to get up, I adjusted my aim to its head, took a deep breath, and prepared to kill.

...Last one!

Pulling the trigger, the 7.62×54Rmm made a distinctive sound. Almost at the same time as the sound, the bullet blew off the orc's head, ending its life.

"Phew... Alright! No other enemies around."

After confirming there were no other enemies, I still had bullets left in the SVU (OTs-03) magazine, but I switched to a new one. This was what they called a tactical reload.

"Why didn't he attack immediately after I created an opportunity by helping his comrade captured by the orc?"

It seemed like he was kind of puzzled, but... well, whatever.

In the end, I ended up exterminating all the remaining orcs, but it became a good point of reference, so it's fine.

Lizlina... You'll owe me one for this.

Thinking this, I looked at the knights through the scope of the SVU (OTs-03). However, I noticed something strange.

Huh? ...The knights' behavior seems odd. Everyone, except for Lizlina, is starting to hold weapons and become vigilant.

Oh!? Now, there's someone wielding swords with both hands, and it looks like they're arguing. Moreover, Lizlina's summoned beast is also involved.

"Haah... Can't be helped."

I decided to walk over to the knights in order to put an end to the conflict.

"First, let's put away the sandbag, then store the Humvee in the hangar."

I opened the menu, put the bag filled with sand that was under the gun into the item box, then stored the Humvee 1151 in the hangar. After that, I stood up and began walking towards the knights.

"To think our reunion after such a long time would turn out like this... More than joy, all that comes out are sighs. Haah..."

Elaina sighed repeatedly as she walked over.