Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Spendthrift Necromancer (30)

Resistance Army (2)

After finishing his conversation with Turon.

Minwoo gathered all the Orcs in one place.

They stood blankly like students listening to a principal's morning lecture.

“We're joining hands with the Dwarves.”―Gruk! Why! Orc strong! Dwarves weak!

Fierce protests erupted.

But this much was already expected.

Minwoo continued calmly.

“We'll protect them and give them food too.”―Gruk! Big Brother crazy!―He definitely sick!―Gruk! Orc hungry! We don't have enough food for us!

Boom!

Minwoo stomped the ground.

“Orcs have no equipment. Bodies weak. Two hundred already died.”―Gruk! Dying in battle is blessing!

“No! It isn't a blessing!”―……?

He spoke to the puzzled Orcs.

“Is dying against a weak enemy a blessing? That's just weakness! You have to die fighting a truly powerful enemy to be a brave warrior!”

He continued toward the now-silent Orcs.

“The Apostle and the Witch who tormented you! Dying after burying your axes in their skulls—that is a true blessing!”―……!

“Dwarves give equipment! Orcs become stronger! Apostle and Witch, we can kill!”―Gruk! Kill Apostle and Witch?―Gruk! Dwarf equipment good! Possible!

Even with Dwarf-made equipment, Minwoo doubted they could split open the Apostle's body, never mind bury an axe in the Witch's skull.

But that wasn't important.‘Dreams and fantasies.’In other words, vision.

Planting that vision was the entire purpose of this speech.

“Join hands with Dwarves and you can become true brave warriors! Any weak cowards still oppose?”―Gruk! Orc not coward! Get equipment!―Orc becomes strong! Smash Apostle's skull!―Gruk! Big Brother genius!

From the chiefs down to ordinary warriors.

The Orcs responded enthusiastically.

And so the Dwarves smoothly slipped into the middle of the meat feast.―Gruk! Dwarf, eat meat here! Then give equipment!

“Hoho, gladly. Hey now! Stop stuffing so much into my mouth!”

Perhaps because Dwarves were a naturally hearty race, they blended in with the Orcs almost instantly.

The atmosphere quickly heated up.

Then…….[532 Dwarves join the Resistance Army!]

A message appeared.

Perhaps it was a sign that the Orcs had finally opened their hearts and accepted the Dwarves as family.

Minwoo looked at the message with satisfaction.

Turon quietly approached and patted his arm.

“You're not only good at fighting. You're quite a speaker too. I think I understand why the Orcs follow you. They're simple, but they're certainly not stupid…….”

“You flatter me.”

“But why have you suddenly started speaking so politely? Doesn't suit you.”

“We're on the same side now.”

Minwoo smiled.

There was plenty to extract from the Dwarves.

And unlike the Orcs, they weren't completely reckless brutes.

They were simply a hearty, straightforward race.

Unless they were enemies, there was no reason to keep speaking rudely to them.

For the sake of clearing a stage, Kim Minwoo could change his manner of speech a hundred times over.

“Hoho. A young man who knows his manners.”

“Not at all.”

Minwoo shared a few pieces of Cockatrice meat with Turon.

“So how large is the force coming for the Black Rock Tribe?”

“……

It'll be a difficult fight. According to the refugees, there are ten Wraith Knights and at least twenty Corpse Collectors.”

Wraith Knights were corrupted souls that had gathered together and manifested physically.

Every one of them was stronger than a Chimera.‘They're troublesome.’Their bodies were made of spirit, so ordinary weapons didn't work well.

Unless the weapon had been coated in holy water or silver-plated, damage was usually reduced by more than thirty percent.

And twenty Chimeras on top of that.‘That's a lot.’Still, it wasn't incomprehensible.

Dwarves were indeed worse fighters than Orcs.

But they possessed excellent architectural and weapon-manufacturing skills.

They were experts at building fortified settlements and reinforcing defensive structures.

It wasn't strange that a much larger force had been dispatched against them than against the Orcs.

“We need equipment.”

“Of course. Come to our tribe.”

After cleaning up, Minwoo followed Turon.* * *An entrance leading underground.

Once they went inside, an enormous cavern appeared.

Inside stood a fairly large fortress.

“Bring out the equipment!”

At Turon's words, the fortress gate opened.

Several carts rolled out, piled high with equipment.

Armor, gloves, boots, pants, helmets.

Steel equipment filled the carts.

Minwoo examined them.[Dwarf-made Steel Armor][Rank: Magic+][Required Level: 110][Armor forged by hammering steel. Crude in appearance, but its performance is beyond reproach.][Effect 1. Impact damage reduced by 20%.][Effect 2. Strength +20, Stamina +20][Dwarf-made Steel Axe][Required Level: 110][Rank: Magic+][An axe with a vicious edge. Getting hit looks like it would split your skull.][Effect 1. Downward-strike damage increases by 20%.][Effect 2. Strength +30]

Minwoo's eyes gleamed as he looked at the equipment.‘Plus items. As expected of Dwarves.’Plus items.

A special property mainly attached to crafted goods.

It allowed an item to produce greater effects than ordinary equipment of the same rank.

Naturally, you couldn't get it through normal crafting.

Only exceptionally well-made goods had a small chance of gaining the mark.

But with Dwarves, it wasn't strange for them to create items like these.

“Ahem! What do you think?”

“The Dwarves' reputation is well deserved. Impressive. But it's unfortunate there aren't many. Looks like this would only equip around two hundred Orcs.”

Turon nodded.

“I know. But this is everything we currently possess. From equipment brought by refugees to the stockpiles our tribe had stored, we've brought it all out.”

Kim Minwoo nodded.‘True.’Five hundred Dwarves had joined.

Among them were probably elderly people, women, and children.

Once filtered down to those capable of fighting, there might not even be two hundred.

If anything, possessing this much equipment was impressive.

“How many sets of equipment like this can you produce per day?”

“……

Even counting the refugees, we have only around fifty blacksmiths. We have plenty of materials, but let's see…… even if we run the forge all day, producing more than 100 sets would be difficult. Even we need to put real care into things like these.”

“Lord Turon, you saw the wandering Orcs constantly joining us even on the way here.”

“……

I did.”

“The more of the Witch's forces we destroy, the more will join us. That production won't be nearly enough.”

“Sigh…… What can we do? We lack workers. If only we had plenty of apprentices to handle the basic work, things might be different. But right now, we simply don't have enough people capable of working.”

Turon sighed and looked toward the Orcs.

“And if we tried making those Orcs serve as apprentices…… I trust you can imagine the result.”

Kim Minwoo grinned.

He had already expected the conversation to flow in this direction.

“What if you had plenty of excellent apprentices? How much could you produce then?”

“……

If we truly had enough apprentices, two hundred sets a day wouldn't be a dream. We'd work ourselves half to death, but that hardly matters right now…….”

“I have them. Those apprentices.”

“……

You do?”

“Yes. Friends who can work twenty-four hours a day without a single complaint, possess enough loyalty to leap into fire, and are more than willing to learn.”

“If you have friends like that, please introduce them! Back in my day, apprentices like that were everywhere, but children these days…….”

Then.

A scout came running over in a panic and urgently spoke to Turon.

“Chief! They're coming! They'll probably arrive in an hour!”

“……

They've already gotten this close?”

Turon looked toward Kim Minwoo.

Minwoo grinned and nodded.

“I'll introduce the apprentices a little later.”

Battle came first.* * *Wraith Knights and Corpse Collectors approached the Dwarf fortress.

Even with walls and equipment on your side, being poor at fighting still meant death.

They had already wiped out three tribes.

Nothing stood in their way.

Then.

A strange sight appeared before the fortress.

Orcs everywhere!

There were well over a thousand of them.

The Wraith Knights' expressions stiffened.

One or two Orcs were nothing special.

But more than a thousand was another matter.―Orc! Orc!

Their fierce cries thundered through the cavern.―……

To think the Dwarves would bring in Orcs…….

And that wasn't the only problem.

Orcs that had once lived scattered among countless small tribes had united.

There had to be some unusual individual serving as their center.

One cunning enough to even join hands with Dwarves!

Orcs.

A race that had once ruled this continent.

The Witch had invested enormous effort into shattering their strength.

Because once they began gathering, their explosive potential was terrifying.‘To think they'd rise up in a backwater like this…….’Leave them alone, and reaching ten thousand or a hundred thousand would happen in the blink of an eye.

Worse, an Orc command-type individual grew explosively stronger the more subordinates it possessed.‘Dangerous. We cannot allow another Mutakta to emerge.’―……

Aldren. I'll give you five Corpse Collectors. Leave this place. This news must be delivered.

A Wraith Knight named Aldren nodded.

He began leaving the cavern with the Corpse Collectors.―Brothers! Second Brother Urkan commands you! Kill them!―Raaaaagh!

Steel-equipped Orcs charged, led by an enormous Orc at the front.

Seeing that, the Wraith Knights drew blades made of spiritual energy.

As long as the messenger escaped, that was enough.

Their role was to buy time.

They were prepared to die.

But rendering that resolve meaningless, just before Aldren and the five Chimeras escaped underground.

“Where do you think you're going?”―……

Human?

A human was blocking the entrance.

Then nearly a hundred Orcs appeared behind him.―Gruk! Big Brother really is a genius.―Gruk! I kill those guys!

And that wasn't even the end of his forces.

Several hundred Skeletons stood alongside them.‘……

An ambush.’Aldren and the Corpse Collectors' faces hardened.

The human smiled pleasantly.

“Going to deliver the news? Can't let you do that.”―……

Break through.

“Welcome to your grave.”―Orc! Orc!

The six monsters sank into a swamp of Skeletons.* * *[Level increases by 3!]..The battle ended amid a flood of messages.

Every Wraith Knight and Corpse Collector that had come here was wiped out.

Meanwhile, fewer than a hundred Orcs had died.

Because the armed Orcs at the front line had served as sturdy shields.‘Life really is all about gear.’Minwoo looked at the corpses.

A force of this size was enough that the fortress would take notice.

If they went several days without receiving any news, they would inevitably investigate.

From now on, it was a true race against time.

He gathered the chiefs.

“Pick the fastest ones and spread the word. Say we're recruiting brave warriors to oppose the Witch.”―Gruk! Understood!

Before the enemy moved in earnest.

During this golden window, Minwoo needed to gather as many troops and build as much power as possible.

After sending the Orcs away.

He met Turon.

“You truly worked hard!”

Perhaps because they'd overcome one crisis together.

The hand Turon used to pat his shoulder carried far more affection than before.

“I said I'd introduce my apprentices, didn't I?”

“You did.”

“I'll show you now.”

Minwoo gulped down a mana potion.

Feeling his mana rapidly refill, he stretched out a hand.

“Come out, apprentices.”[1,064 Skeletons are summoned!]

Skeletons were a tremendous bargain, costing half as much mana as Mages.

Perhaps because of that, more than a thousand appeared.

“……?”

Turon alternated his gaze between the Skeleton horde and Kim Minwoo's face.

“Are you saying these Skeletons are the apprentices?”

“Yes. Perfect apprentices, really. Trust me and use them just once. What are you doing? Greet your teachers.”

Clatter!

The Skeleton horde saluted their teacher.