**Chapter 14: Day 14 – Inside the Cave (Morning) / Night – Cave Interior (Girls' Meeting) / Night – Cave Entrance / Tent**
Breakfast arrived as usual. More fish. Another full fish festival. Another big catch.
I missed other meat just a little. With so many people around, rabbits were impossible to spot. Deer and boars supposedly existed somewhere in the forest, but I had never seen one.
And still no sign of orcs. Everyone described them as the upgraded, bulkier version of goblins—supposedly smarter too.
Well, smarter than goblins didn't mean much. Pretty much everyone was smarter than goblins. Even fish were smarter than goblins. Absolutely.
Still, I needed to test them once. Both for my sake and for the class rep's group.
Unknown enemies were frightening.
Unfamiliar opponents were dangerous.
If experience could be safely accumulated, it was better to gather it while the situation allowed.
The girls wouldn't stay together forever.
Once they became adventurers, they'd split up for different jobs. Right now was the safest time. Experience never went to waste.
We moved upstream along the riverbank. The boys might still be lurking farther up. But orcs were strong and the boys reportedly kept their distance from the old base. The boys probably wouldn't approach them.
This should be close enough. I focused Clairvoyance, Presence Detection, and Search, staying fully alert. Secretly appraising for edible things along the way, of course.
I paid attention not only to monsters and animals, but to humans as well.
The fake delinquents wouldn't venture into truly dangerous areas. The ordinary boys who had attacked the girls hadn't leveled much either—they shouldn't come this far. They'd get crushed by the class rep anyway, right?
The real problem would be the muscle-headed sports club idiots. They were sweaty, intense, and dangerous.
And they were being far too quiet.
According to both the otaku and the class rep, they were unnaturally subdued. Normally they acted without thinking—pure spinal reflex.
And they had clumped together as a group? Following behind the otaku in fights? That was strange.
Those guys charged in headfirst. Monster, cliff, whatever—they charged first and thought a tiny bit later.
That was what kept nagging at me. In that situation, they should have helped the otaku. No way they wouldn't.
It was isekai. People changed.
Life was on the line. Normal people became cautious.
You couldn't trust your surroundings—obvious.
But not them. No way. They were idiots.
I didn't know if orcs were smarter than them. I had never seen one.
But if orcs were smarter than goblins, then they were smarter than those idiots.
The muscle-head idiots surpassed even goblin stupidity. Their personalities changing? Becoming cautious? Doubting others? Impossible. They couldn't even think that hard.
There might be some reason. Maybe—just maybe—they had some kind of plan.
But the fact remained: they hadn't helped the otaku or the girls. I needed to stay cautious.
There it was. An orc. One. Solo behavior seemed correct. No other monsters or idiots nearby.
"I'll go first as a test. Hide and watch, okay?"
I left the girls on standby and advanced alone toward the orc. Seeing one fight would let me read its attacks and movements. That reference alone would make future fights easier and allow proper planning.
"Yeah, thank you. Be careful."
"Watch properly, okay? No complaints later."
I whispered to the girls, then approached while suppressing my presence and using Stealth.
The otaku had said orcs were physically strong and required concentrated magic to kill.
Appraisal.
**Orc A**
AGE 14 Lv 11
HP 66 MP 8
ViT 59 PoW 63 SpE 21 DeX 16 MiN 10 InT 8 Luk 19
Martial Arts: "Club Arts Lv4" "Heavy Blow Lv4" "Body Slam Lv3" "Super Strength Lv3" "Adamantine Body Lv2"
Skill: "Super Stamina Lv3"
Equipment: "Club"
Strong. ViT and PoW more than double goblins, and SpE and DeX still decent.
InT 8—dumb, but smarter than goblins. Way smarter. Probably still smarter than the idiots.
No point without testing. At least its stats were lower than mine. Level disadvantage, but…
I rushed at maximum speed while suppressing my presence, landed a full-power strike, then another, another, and for good measure—another strike… Hyahaaaah!!
…It was already dead? I already killed it?
Wasn't it supposed to be strong? They said physical attacks barely worked… really… it's not my fault… right?
""""Totally! Completely! Absolutely! Nothing! Nothing at all was useful!! Suddenly you backstab the orc, beat it to death—what?! What was that?! What are we supposed to reference?! No one can copy that!! The orc died doing nothing!!"""" Each girl shouted at me.
I did nothing wrong, but I reflected anyway. Next time—magic. No problem. Orcs were supposed to be killed with magic anyway.
The next orc was Lv12, stats probably similar.
I sneaked behind. The girls watched from a distance. Jito eyes… ignore it or lose.
Last time Fire Bullet had been low-power spam to counter numbers. Now—try one strong shot. Experiment.
Concealed, formed one Fire Bullet. Poured mana. Sharp, hard… go!!
Right after firing, next one. Next! Next next next next—gigi gigi giii![1]
…Dead again?
No? They said magic barely killed them? Said they were super tough… dead?
"Did I get it?"
""""You got it! Way too much! First shot—no movement. Second—head exploded!! 'Did I get it?'—it's already in pieces!!"""" They glare/
No more next time? Not my fault?
I silently searched for more orcs. Come out quick? Four jito eyes behind…so scary.
In the forest with twenty high school girls—wanting to meet orcs… no, nothing. I said nothing.
Ah—finally. Missed you, orc.
"Okay everyone—finish it off? Like that?"
Nice weather. The girls were flying through the sky. Not skills or aerial combat… they were blown away. Yeah, very manga-like. The orc flew them back with a simple swing.
Shield users were knocked flying one after another. Swords, spears—no effect. Bows—useless. Magic shaved HP but too much—couldn't finish. Recovery team ran around.
If I did nothing I'd get yelled at—so I sniped the club away with a Fire Bullet.
Oh no. Orc went for a bare-handed grab at the girls.
Bad… Super Stamina Lv3, right?
I jumped in and cut both arms at the wrist. Well—"Tree Staff?" but it cut their arms, right?
Still wouldn't go down.
Just beatdown left. Leave to the girls… They're not dying. Omg, still? Not yet?
Yeah—prepare lunch. Good idea.
Nice weather, in the forest. BBQ! Fish and mushrooms, but BBQ.
"Why, while everyone's desperately fighting the orc—delicious smell? Why happily BBQ? Why chairs and table ready? And when did you pick flowers to decorate?!"
Oh they finally killed. Took long. Lv20 all?
"Uh~ thought everyone hungry? Flowers pretty, right?"
""""Yeah, flowers pretty… and?""""
Got scolded. So unreasonable! Made food and waited… i didn't even eat the super delicious meal I made.
…
Today—level up with goblins/kobolds on return, tomorrow orc revenge.
"Big moves needed after all."
"If I could cut arms…"
"Need magic bullets! Strong ones!"
"Proper kill method anyway?"
As the girls, mumbled I guess there was no plan decided. Back to the basics. Beat to death! …No thanks, I got no opinion.
So they hunted goblins/kobolds till evening—levelled up.
Five groups of four, pure annihilation.
Not combat—massacre…
Mouth sealed like rabbit. Man, now I want rabbit. Where's the deer/boar? Heck, I'll even take yakitori right about now!
**Day 14 Night – Cave Interior (Girls' Meeting)**
If Haruka-kun can't get stronger, we get stronger. We get strong and protect everyone.
That was what the meeting was supposed to be…
"What was that thing?! Why was it so hard?!"
"Assassin berserker? What job? Unemployed what?"
"That thing has no cheat… what cheat? Do we need it? That?"
"Absolute level world… then what is that?"
"I have Sword Saint and Sword Extreme but can't cut that… why wooden stick cuts?"
"I have Four Great Magics Max but impossible. Why head explodes?"
"But no decisive technique… just beat to death?"
"Protect everyone together… can't even kill? That? Not protect level!"
Huh? Leave it alone okay?
No—I guess they can't leave it alone. But I can't explain what I just did.
**Day 14 Night – Cave Entrance / Tent**
Tent size? Fine for 20! Only 20 people anyway! Prepared big, but nobody came. Finally, true loner, yeah.
Finally relaxed… ah status open.
[Status updated—Lv 08, HP 106, MP 107, big gains, new skill Serial Thinking Lv1, titles Hikikomori Lv4/NEET Lv3/Loner Lv4/Archmage Lv5, equipment same + Bracelet PoW+1% SpE+1%, etc.]
Yeah, I'm quietly getting good at it. What am I becoming? Stalker?
Serial Thinking? Ah, from my chuuni continuous same magic shots. Previous kobold—varied aim, and curved shots = parallel. Makes sense. With Mana Manipulation, could be the reason it's decisive?
Tch, my Wooden Puppet up. Oh, god don't tell me, from the girls bullying? My teaching being called useless?
**Day 14 End**
[1] What "gigi gigi giii" actually isギギギギギィィィ！ (gigi gigi giii!) is Japanese onomatopoeia / battle cry / meme scream.It's the sound effect for:Rapid machine-gun fire / continuous shooting