nChapter 58 – Quantes (1)

nCrockta stood before a gate.

nThis was Quantes, the city of the gnomes. Perhaps that was why both the city and entrance seemed small. The gate was firmly closed. Crockta knocked on the gate and waited for the gatekeeper to show up.

nHowever, no one showed up. The door remained firmly closed. Crockta folded his arms. It seemed like there was a ban on foreigners today. The moment that Crockta was thinking about yelling…

nThe ground started to shake.

n“……?”

nSomething huge was running this way. Crockta turned around, his eyes widening in shock. From far away, huge monsters were leaping off the ground.

nOgres!

nThey were several times larger and much more burly than orcs. Their intelligence was low, but they acted on their instincts, and were one of the worst monsters that attacked others randomly, chewing them alive.

nThe ogres looked at Crockta and drooled, saw-like teeth flashing in their mouths. The flesh and blood of various unknown animals were stuck to them.

nCrockta tried to flee, but they had already found him and rushed towards him.

n“Kuweeeh!”

nThe ogre wielded a huge wooden stick that Crockta quickly dodged. The wind whistled in Crockta’s ears as the stick forcefully sliced through the air.

nA chill went down his spine. This was the ogre’s power. He heard the stories, but this was the first time he heard it directly.

n“Damn, Bul’tar…!”

nHowever, he was an orc, a fierce warrior. In addition, his weapon was Ogre Slayer, a greatsword crafted by the Golden Anvil Clan! Maybe he had finally met the right enemies. Crockta carefully moved his greatsword.

nHowever, there wasn’t just one ogre, but many more. Five other ogres soon began to approach Crockta. It was an emergency if even one ogre appeared at a city. Crockta fell back against the city wall.

n“This…!”

nHe had forgotten about his rear. As Crockta’s eyes widened, the ogres seemed to be smiling at him. Crockta scrambled to raise his greatsword and prepared for the worst. He vowed to kill at least one.

nBam bam bbam bba bam bam bamm-!

nSuddenly, trumpets sounded from above Crockta’s head and a loud voice could heard from behind him.

n“Quantes’ Gnome Garrison! Asura Thousand Wave Artillery, load!”

n“Asura Thousand Wave Artillery, complete!”

nCrockta looked up at the sound. At the edge of the wall, cannons were sticking out. The childish voices continued to shout, “Turn off the safety device!”

n“Off!”

n“Aim towards the target!”

n“Aimed!”

n“These guys! Let them know the cost of attacking out city! Launchhh!”

n“Launchhh!”

nLights flashed above Crockta’s head and there was the sound of something exploding as the lights flew towards the ogres. Red, blue, and other variously colored lights hit the ogres’ bodies.

n“Woooo…!”

n“Kueeong…!”

nThe ogres struck by the energy guns stayed still for a moment before falling over. The gnomes didn’t stop their attacks as a baptism of magic power followed. The ogres crouched and covered their heads.

nThe gnomes’ attacks struck the ogres without rest. It wasn’t a physical attack, but a magical bombardment of magic bullets made by using the extensive magic engineering skills of the gnomes. Then, the attacks stopped.

nHe could hear a fuss occurring on the walls.

n“Uwahh, charge faster, charge faster!”

n“There isn’t enough magic power dot!”

n“They’re getting up!”

n“Why are the supplies coming so late?”

n“Stay calm!”

nThe ogres crouching on the ground noticed the pause in bombardment and got up and started to roar.

n“Kuweeeh!”

n“Kuwaaaaaaaah!”

nThe ground rumbled as the ogres rushed towards the wall with angry expressions. Crockta hurriedly moved out of the way.

nKwaang!

nThey swung their weapons at the gate, cracking it. One ogre even started climbing up the wall.

n“What should we do, Captain Tiyo?”

n“C-C-Calmly!”

nThe angry ogres moved away from Crockta and rushed towards the walls and the gate, aiming for the gnomes. Crockta, who had been quietly watching from a distance, approached them from behind with Ogre Slayer in his hand. The ogre’s thick skin couldn’t be deeply wounded by an ordinary sword. At best, it would just raise the ogre’s anger.

nHowever, Crockta’s sword, Ogre Slayer, was different. It was a named sword. Crockta leaped towards the ogre climbing the wall and wielded his sword. The blade tore at the ogre’s skin.

n“Eeeeeng!”

nThe ogre fell from the wall.

n“……!”

nThe gnomes hunting the ogres discovered Crockta’s presence.

n“What?”

nThe gnomes saw an orc swinging a greatsword at the ogres outside the wall.

n“An orc?”

nOrcs weren’t often seen in Quantes. Furthermore, it was the first time they had ever seenan orc fight against an ogre alone. The ogre backed away every time the orc’s sword flashed. Dazzling swordsmanship!

nCaptain Tiyo shouted at the garrison soldiers who were staring blankly, “Everybody move quickly! It’s impossible for an orc alone!”

n“Yep!”

n“This will give us enough time dot!”

nThe gnomes on the wall hurriedly charged their magic power. Captain Tiyo looked down with sober eyes. Out of the five ogres, the orc was completely marking one. The rest of them were attacking the gate, or climbing up the other walls.

n“Um…!”

nIt was dangerous. In particular, the gate was on the verge of crumbling. At that moment…

n“Bul’tarrr──────!”

nThe orc escaped from the ogre he was attacking and ran towards the one striking the gate. He swung the greatsword at one of the ogre’s legs.

n“Keooook!”

nThe ogre staggered and turned a pair of furious eyes towards the orc.

nThe orc shouted, “Come! Don’t run or hide!”

n“Uwoooooh!”

n“Kuooooh!”

nTwo ogres rushed towards the orc. The orc started running away after receiving their attention. His movements were swift but there was a limit. The ogre’s stick hit the orc’s greatsword.

n“Ugh!”

nThe orc blocked it with his greatsword, but his body flew through the air from the impact. He soon landed and rolled on the ground. The ogre’s stick aimed towards the orc again, who rolled to avoid it.

nTiyo started sweating as he watched the battle. The orc continued to attack the ogres with dangerous movements. Without the orc, the ogres would’ve climbed up the walls and killed the gnomes by now.

nA great warrior.

nCaptain Tiyo shouted, “Ready!”

n“Yep! It is ready!”

n“The preparations are complete!”

nThe Quantes gnomes soldiers replied. Tiyo also inserted magic power into the rifle on his shoulders. His weapon, the magic rifle ‘General’, was an ancient legacy that was classified as an artifact. Tiyo aimed for an ogre’s head.

n“Save the orc! Power aim!”

n“Aim!”

n“Launchhh!”

nBefore long, the colorful magic power of the gnomes sparked again. The red and blue magic bullets hit the ogres, who lost their balance and fell to the ground.

n“Uwoooooh!”

nCrockta looked up. A small gnome holding a rifle was staring at him from the wall. He pointed at the ogre and lifted his thumb and then turned it upside down. It was an obvious signal.

nCrockta nodded and firmly grasped his greatsword, Ogre Slayer. The ogres were still curled up as magic bullets continued to fall onto their bodies. It was time to end them once and for all.

nThere was no need to give them a good send-off to the afterlife. At a glance, life and death seemed to be quite distant. It was the fate of a swordsman to connect the two ends that seemed to be far away from each other!

nThe Ogre Slayer broke the neck of the defenseless ogres. Two ogres died in quick succession. The rest of the group was still attached to the walls. Their expressions changed as they saw that the situation was suddenly changing. The ogres’ disgusting faces seemed more demon like.

nThey revealed their saw blade like teeth and roared, “Kuweeeh!”

n“Kuaaaah!”

nThey launched themselves off the wall and rushed towards Crockta.

nThey were fools.

n“…Bul’tar!”

nCrockta raised his greatsword.

nRunning away from the walls just made them better targets for the gnomes’ magic power. The magic power of the gnomes poured towards the backs of the ogres, who were hit by the magic power. They rolled to the ground upon impact.

nThe destructive power wasn’t enough to kill them, but the gnomes’ Asura Thousand Wave Artillery caused each ogre tremendous suffering. Then Crockta’s greatsword, the Ogre Slayer, killed them!

nEven the fearful ogres of Elder Lord couldn’t beat this combination. Crockta sliced them one by one. The ogres suffered from bloodshot eyes and breathed their last breath.

nCrockta turned his head. The gnomes holding rifles and dressed in soldier uniforms were staring at Crockta.

nBam bam bbam bba bam bam bamm-!

nThe sound of the trumpet rang out again, like a signal marking the start of the battle. At that moment, a gnome with a long rifle saluted towards Crockta. It was the best honor for friends who fought together.

nFollowing him, the other Quantes soldiers also saluted Crockta. Crockta felt an unknown feeling inside as he was saluted by the small gnomes on the wall.

nHe was a soldier who often crossed the line, but he didn’t receive salutations often. People were too afraid of him to pay tribute to him. He wasn’t a soldier guarding the border, but one who broke through the border in order to kill people.

nThis was a strange feeling. Crockta faced them and saluted.

nBam bam bbam bba bam bam bamm-!

nThe trumpet of victory sounded again. The eye contact between warriors!

nIt was the first meeting of Captain Tiyo of the Quantes Gnomes Garrison and the orc warrior Crockta.

n

n***

n“What did you come here for?” Captain Tiyo asked in a loud voice.

nHe had a childlike quality to his voice, but the force behind it was like a general’s voice during a wartime rally. They were sitting in front of the entrance management office, located across from Quanta’ gate.

nCrockta replied, “I came to get help before heading north.”

nCaptain Tiyo frowned. The north was the dangerous area where the group of ogres that almost defeated them today came from, and the place where many other scary things dwelled.

n“Well, it doesn’t really matter. You have your circumstances. But Quantes isn’t accepting outsiders for a while dot!”

n“Why not?”

nCrockta knew that Quantes was a city of gnomes, but it wasn’t a place with limited access like Arnin.

n“These days, many creatures are pouring from the north dot. Not just the ogres, but doppelgangers and the evil lich dot. They have blocked access to outsiders due to the doppelganger dot.”

n“Umm…”

n“The doppelganger is still somewhere here dot!”

nCrockta understood the situation. However, this made it difficult for him. Tiyo said, “But I can believe in you dot. You are a fellow who defeated the ogres along with us! I will guarantee your identity and send you in.”

n“Yes!”

nCrockta nodded. He reached out.

n“Thank you.”

n“Bah! Don’t say it like that dot!”

nTiyo waved his hands as if he was embarrassed. The gnome’s words and behavior were completely different from each other.

nGnomes were the size of a child. If the dwarves gave off a small and reliable impression, the gnomes were cute like small humans. However, they excelled in magician engineering, and were the best in the field of magic, enchanting, and engineering.

nDespite being a great alternative to the elves, they were the next least popular species after the orcs.

n“Good dot. What is your name? Where are you from?” Tiyo asked since he was acting as the entrance attendant.

n“My name is Crockta. I became a warrior at Orcrox Fortress, and am currently heading to the north.”

nTiyo’s eyes widened. “Crockta? Honorable Orc Crockta?”

nCrockta’s shoulders went up. “Hum hum, some people call me that. Kulkulkul.”

n“Ohh! Glorious!”

nTiyo stood up excitedly before sitting down again. His response made it seem like he was trying not to lose his dignity.

n“Hu, hum hum! In any case! You use a big sword, and have tattoos all over your body, so you fit the description of Crockta. The bravery you showed today also fits with Crockta dot. Welcome to Quantes dot.”

nThus, Crockta was allowed access to Quantes.

n“But you should be careful. Right now, the public sentiment in Quantes isn’t good dot. Recently, a doppelganger has committed a series of murders. In particular, you are a scary orc so…”

n“It’s okay.”

n“Did you say you came to Quantes before going to the north?”

nCrockta nodded.

n“The North… There are students studying the north, so it would be good if you visited the academy dot,” Tiyo said. His tone was grim and sober, but he had a child’s voice, so Crockta couldn’t help smiling. Tiyo noticed and frowned.

n“An oversized orc shouldn’t ignore gnomes dot. Gnomes are very clever, wise, and powerful dot.”

n“I know. Your magic power is really great.”

n“Hmm hmm! It is natural. We are proud of our gnomes dot. Kikik.” Tiyo was in a good mood and laughed loudly. “Crockta, I will authorize your access.

n“Thank you Tiyo.”

nHe left the administration office with Tiyo. The city of the gnomes was small and charming, but everything was organized. Unlike other cities, the streets were blocked and arranged regularly in a modern configuration.

n“Hum hum. Crockta?”

n“……?”

n“When I saw your salute before, your posture was quite excellent dot. Do you have any military experience?’

nCrockta laughed. “I once served.”

n“Hoh, I see. You were a soldier.” Tiyo’s eyes lit up. “I have agreed to drink with the squad members who defeated the ogres. Crockta contributed as well, so you should go with me!”

nAlcohol. No man could refuse.

nThus, Crockta wandered the streets with the gnome captain Tiyo.

n