Talking to people helps ideas come together, you know?

Karina-chan here. I loaded up my cart with two Orcs and some Goblin ears and trudged my way back to Solasidor.

Even with just two, they were pretty heavy. Without Spatial Magic, I couldn't have hauled them back even with the cart.

If I'd tried to load all the ones I hunted, the cart would've broken for sure.

 

 

So, I delivered the two whole Orcs and proof of subjugation for 30 Goblins to the Adventurers' Guild.

Including the standing subjugation requests, the 30 Goblins netted me 1 silver coin. The two Orcs got me 1 large silver coin. That's 5 silver coins per orc — hype!

Total earnings: equivalent to 11 silver coins.

Plus, there's still a massive pile of Orcs snoozing away in my storage space. If I sell them off in batches over time, how much will that add up to?

… Wait, somehow being an adventurer feels more profitable than being a merchant?

"Yo, Karina. You went Orc hunting solo…? Was the cart okay?"

"Yeah, I lightened them just like with the logs so it was fine, Blade-senpai."

"Oh. So that works on Orcs too. Really convenient."

Blade-senpai looked impressed.

Right, this is a good chance to subtly probe whether that was some kind of Orc farm or not.

I put on an innocent face and asked.

"Want to borrow the cart again and go Orc hunting together sometime? I saw a spot where about thirty of them were gathered."

"… Huh? Wait a sec, what did you just say?"

"Ah… so it was a bad place to mess with after all…?"

"Oi, Sophie, lend me the map! Where exactly did you see the group of thirty?"

Blade-senpai borrowed the map from the receptionist lady and spread it out on the table. I honestly pointed to the spot where I'd seen the Orc group. It was pretty deep in the forest.

"… You went that far in!? Thirty Orcs though… Wouldn't be surprised if there were evolved individuals among them."

"You mean like knights or generals?"

"Yeah. With thirty, there's probably no king, but knights seem likely. Though if what you saw was only part of them, we can't be too optimistic. If there's a king, that's bad news."

Ah, so it was dangerous after all? That means hunting them was the right call. Good.

"It's bad?"

"Yeah, if they head toward Solasidor, the town could be wiped out. Unless the king is taken out, the Orcs will keep multiplying and cause a stampede."

Hmm, I see.

It seems I've unwittingly saved the town from a crisis!

Ah, but let's confirm if it was a king.

"Senpai, senpai. Can you come to the back for a bit?"

"Huh? What is it, Karina? This is important… Oi, I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Come on, come on. We're buddies, right? Let's have a little secret chat. It's nothing bad, I promise."

"… Fine, I'll come."

And so, we went to a back alley near the guild, to an unoccupied lumber storage area.

Then I took out the small Orc I thought might be the king from my backpack. And the crown too. Good thing I brought them just in case.

"Is this a king?"

"… Y-yeah…"

Blade-senpai covered his eyes and looked up at the sky.

"Okay, this… um. Should we report it to the guild? My brain can't keep up."

"It seems like it'd turn into a hassle, so that's why I'm consulting you secretly!"

"Yeah, fair enough."

That's exactly why I'm consulting you, senpai — I figured you'd understand.

"What do you want to do? Become a hero? You could even jump to A-rank adventurer."

"I'm a girl, so 'hero'brave man doesn't quite fit, does it? … Jokes aside, I just want to pretend nothing happened and keep living leisurely as a peddler… Ah, that's it."

"Oi, don't go solving it on your own after consulting me."

"Talking to people helps ideas come together, you know?"

Yes. Just make it so nothing happened. Like the Orcs' abnormal proliferation!

If I secretly thin them out and store them in my storage space, it's like it never happened!

And if it gets found out, I can just push all the credit and blame onto the Healer!!

Everyone's happy that no stampede happened, I'm happy with the meat and magic stones, and extra happy if it doesn't get found out.

What a perfect solution. Everyone's happy except the Orcs getting culled! A harmonious resolution all around.

"So, uh, can you handle it? If there's anything I can help with, I'll lend a hand."

"Just knowing this is the king is enough — ah, should I secretly thin out the Orcs in the forest? Since having thirty of them gathered is dangerous and all."

"Yeah. If you can… Can you? You can, huh."

"I'll definitely thin them out then. There were actually around a hundred, sooo…"

"… This is what they mean by being left speechless."

Blade-senpai scratched his head vigorously.

"Uh, thanks for saving the town, Karina."

"No problem at all."

I gave a thumbs-up and grinned, causing Blade-senpai's face to turn red.

Oi, don't go falling for me.

With that, my statement about seeing about thirty became "Upon closer inspection, it seems I mistook Goblins for Orcs," and it was swept under the rug.

Peace is the best.

(Except for the Orcs' peace, that is.)