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“It was… the Orcs?” Ian asked Gionelle’s father again with a confounded expression.

Ian had been certain that it was the sorcerer’s doing.

The Devil Platoon obstructed all the monsters from entering human territory. Moreover, they had not heard any news of monsters crossing the border recently. So, how were the Orcs attacking here?

Jamie’s face stiffened as she looked at the man. She appeared to be pondering how to take in this situation.

Eventually, she shook her head.

"What's your name?"

“It's Lenin.”

"Very well, Lenin. The Devil Platoon is guarding the border. I don't know if it's a scouting party of Orcs, but there’s no way a group large enough to render the village to this state could escape our...”

Jamie stopped when she saw Lenin's mournful expression.

Lenin drew a breath and started explaining calmly.

"You’re correct. Number-wise, there were no less than five Orcs. If all of us had come together, we could’ve easily defeated them.

"Then why..."

"But they were different. They weren’t ordinary Orcs!" Lenin exclaimed.

Gionelle, who had been hugging Ian, looked at her father, startled. She burst into tears and buried her face in Ian's shoulder.

"Uwaah! Mommy…”

Ian picked her up and brought her to Lenin. Lenin carefully held her in his arms and patted her back to calm her down.

"If they weren't just your usual Orcs, what was special about them? It’ll be a serious problem if the monsters are mutants.” Jamie quickly said with a hardened expression.

As she stated, if there were as many as five mutant Orcs, it would turn into a serious problem.

A mutant monster came to being by intaking magi. They used magi, similar to how knights utilized mana to strengthen their bodies or for aura use.

If there were as many as five of those creatures, then Green Orc Village and the surrounding villages would soon vanish, leaving only traces of its existence.

"Those things certainly couldn’t be called Orcs. They had a different skin color."

Lenin stopped talking and looked around. At some point, all the villagers had come out and were nodding along as they listened.

"So far, all the Orcs we've seen were green, but these ones were black. It was horrendous. It was as though Satan’s army had appeared once again.”

Ian could tell how afraid they were of the Orcs from listening to Lenin. He knew these Orcs were mutants.

However, even though a mutant Orc could be compared to a knight, they weren’t opponents where one would go so far as to utter Satan’s name.

The villagers’ fears were greater than he expected.

"Three of them used a sword, one used an axe, and one even used magic."

"You said magic?"

“Yes, magic! It created fire with its hand and blasted our house to pieces."

“Ugh…”

Ian let out a groan.

He could certainly understand their fears over an Orc magic user.

If their power was comparable to a knight’s, then they were extremely strong, but if magic was involved, that was a completely different story. Most people knew of magic, but they've never actually seen it in person.

Come to think of it, even among the hunters, sorcerers and priests were highly regarded.

It was the same here. It was only natural for them to be terrified after seeing an Orc use magic for the first time to demolish their homes.

"They destroyed our village and abducted the women. They killed dozens and took dozens more."

"It must have been difficult for five Orcs to capture that many villagers...”

"There was one strange guy mixed in with the Orcs. He was wearing a robe, so I don't know for sure, but... I think it was a person."

“Damn it.”

A curse escaped Ian's mouth.

Ian glanced at Jamie. He furrowed his brow and ran a hand through his hair. As he expected, it wasn’t only the Orcs responsible. The sorcerer was involved.

Ian felt his head becoming a mess.

Five magi-consumed Orcs appeared and wrecked the village, with a sorcerer thrown into the mix. What kind of relationship did they have, and why did the Orcs, who indiscriminately attacked humans, let that man be?

"He said if we don't offer a young woman once a week... he would come with the Orcs again and take the villagers away." Lenin clammed up, his eyes bloodshot.

Then, he grit his teeth and faced Ian.

"You said you were in the Devil Platoon?"

"Yes."

"Then won’t you kill them? Please save us. Kngh." Lenin croaked in tears.

***

"When did the Orcs attack?"

"Only two days ago.”

Jamie nodded at Lenin’s reply. 

"Then there are about four days remaining...” She muttered to herself before facing Ian.

"Ian."

“Yes.”

“It looks like we’ll need some backup. We can’t stop them by ourselves."

She was right. 

The power of one magi-consumed Orc was equivalent to a single knight. At the very least, all the Squad 8 members had to be present to easily wipe them out.

"One of us has to promptly report to the platoon. What will you do?"

"I'll stay." Ian immediately answered.

He wasn’t familiar with this place yet. He could trail back the entire road, but it would be a huge problem if he wasted time by taking the wrong direction.

That and... there’s something I want to test.

Ian stared at the open space at the center of the village.

"All right; I'll be back. Restore the barricades with the villagers." Jamie said before he could say anything else.

"Understood."

"I’m going to bring beef jerky and a slice of bread to eat on the way, so take care of things here on your end."

"Don't worry, and have a safe trip."

Ian gave a smile. Jamie also smiled but just barely. She was uneasy about the emergence of mutant Orcs and this being the first civilian casualty since the Devil Platoon was founded.

"I’m off." She said before kicking the ground and dashing away.

Seeing her nimble movements, Ian thought that archers were different, just as he expected.

Ian turned to face the villagers. All of them were looking at him with eyes full of determination.

“Um…”

Their gaze made Ian pause for a moment before he opened his mouth.

"Everyone, let's prepare as well."

***

Ian and the villagers reconstructed the barricades.

If the sorcerer kept to his word, then they had exactly four days. He had to build the barricades as sturdy as possible until the time arrived.

Thankfully, it wasn’t too difficult to obtain materials since wood was scattered everywhere. The villagers also brought the timber from their demolished homes to use for the barricades.

Even though they were terrified, they had a strong determination not to suffer any more.

Is it the strength of a parent?

Ian admired how relentlessly they worked and headed toward the center of the village.

The reason why he told Jamie that he would stay was not just because he wasn’t familiar with the area yet. The density of mana was much higher in the open space in the middle of the village than anywhere else.

It’s as though magic was used.

It didn't seem like a magic missile or fireball spell.

After brooding about it for a while, he asked Lenin, who was carrying materials.

"You said there was an Orc that used magic, right?”

"I did."

"Then could you tell how many times they used magic?"

"Hm... It was chaotic, so I’m not sure, but I think about five or six times.”

Ian nodded.

Magic was used five or six times, and yet, the mana was concentrated only in this area.

It meant there was something special there, and Ian’s prediction was right on the mark.

Lenin parted his mouth as if he had just remembered.

"Ah, I think that sorcerer in the robe disappeared around here, along with the Orcs and our people." He said, pointing to the middle of the open space. 

His finger was pointed exactly to where the mana was concentrated.

"Hmm… I see. Thank you."

After Ian nodded, he observed the area again.

It seemed as though the man used spatial-teleportation magic.

He didn't use this back there... Is it because there were a lot of people to transport?

Ian contemplated as he reached out to where the mana was gathered.

Mana started to move with him as his hand moved.

Huh?

Ian withdrew his hand in surprise when he saw the squirming mana following him.

He looked down at his hand, but he couldn't find anything off about it. He reached out again, and then the mana began to flock toward his hand.

When Ian moved his arm to the left, a cluster of mana followed him to the left; it was the same when he moved in the opposite direction.

Ian felt like he was somehow touching mana. It was as though soft cotton had enveloped his hand.

It also feels like I’m touching water.

Quite some time had passed since he stuck his hand in the concentrated mass at the center and waved his hand around.

Ian halted when he heard the sound of giggling. It wasn't the first time he heard them. When he saw mana, he heard that sound with the alarm notification.

He closed his eyes and focused on it. The sound of the laughter gradually became distinct, and he began to hear an abundance of words.

They sounded like the birds chirping and the water flowing.

[It doesn't seem like he can see us yet!]

[I like him, even if he can’t see us. He has a pure and clean soul. This is the first time I’m seeing a soul like this.]

[That’s not all; he's also handsome. The moment I laid eyes on him, he felt familiar somehow, and I almost fell in love with him.]

[Kyahaha. Me too, me too. He was so cool. Especially when he rescued the little girl from that evil, magic-wielding, dark sorcerer’s clutches!]

Just listening to them made him feel good, and a warm smile spread across his face. However, Ian's smile didn't last long. His head slowly started to ache, and a cold sweat rolled down his face.

He wanted to stop listening, but he couldn't escape the voices.

[Huh? He's a bit weird!]

[It feels like our connection is stronger than before. Is he looking at us?]

[He could be listening in on us!]

[Woah. Can we finally talk to him?]

[Oh, let's tell him where the evil sorcerer is!]

[Good idea! Hey, hey, did you know? The evil dark sorcerer is in the Demonic Forest!]

[Did you know he’s cooking up dark and evil magic inside the belly of the petrified lion? You have to hurry and catch the sorcerer.]

The voices gradually began to grow. They spoke so fast that it was hard for him to understand what they were saying.

Ian knitted his brows as he took a gulp of air. Then, he woke up.

"Huk!"

He sat up and opened his eyes.

Just now…

Those were clearly the manas’ voices.

His power was greater than he thought.