Chapter 21
– Investigators are suspecting the involvement of Vampires for the Fissure’s eruption, after discovering numerous skeletal remains and bodies drained of blood at the abandoned church near the eruption’s point of origin. With the first Monster Outbreak in nearly 5 years as well as the sudden appearance of Vampires that hadn’t been seen in recent times, the citizens are worried that… (TL: Had a real trouble with the word "????????" I literally have no idea what it means, other than that it's a church. Google says it’s an "old" church. In the previous chapter, there was a mention of a nameless church, so I went with "abandoned". Hope it’s more or less accurate…)
In the middle of sorting out things to throw away and things to take with him, Sae-Jin’s eyes were pulled towards the images ing out of an old TV. It was a news about the suspected reappearance of the Vampires.
"…."
He unconsciously held tighter the photo frame in his hand after seeing that news. It contained his one and only family photograph. Taken the day before he lost his mother, it was a memento now stuck in the boundary between nostalgia and an old, unhealed wound; this faded photograph signified the final day of his childhood he had shared with her.
When he thought back to that day, perhaps she must have sensed her own death approaching. That day, the one before what they packaged it as an "unfortunate accident". He remembered her unusually bright, yet somehow, unusually sorrowful face. She took the photo with her young son and had the frame made, and in the following morning, she left home for work - and never came back.
Officially, at least, they said it was a car accident. But even in his young age, Sae-Jin suspected something was amiss. If it was indeed a car crash, then her body would not have been that clean, nor would she be that pale. When they were putting her inside the casket, she seemed to be in a deep, peaceful slumber instead.
But whatever the case might have been, there was nothing he could do at that time. He was just a 7 year old, recently orphaned kid back then.
– Since the government declared the "war on Vampires" 18 years ago, all Vampires had temporarily hidden from the world, but this incident serves as a proof that they still operate in underground societies….
Sae-Jin bit his lip without realising it. They were just stinking bats, or maybe just trash, or something much worse than that, like pieces of excrement utterly devoid of any redeeming qualities whatsoever. Because they lived off human blood as their sole food source, Vampires just could not coexist with the rest of humanity. Actually, it wasn’t like humanity acted inconsiderately towards them; not at all. But it was they who betrayed the mankind with a reasoning of "animal blood is unfit." (TL: literally said "animal blood is unclean." Thought that under the context, unfit sounded more correct.)
And now, those motherf*cking bat bastards were acting up again…
Sae-Jin clenched his fist and stared at his reflection in the mirror.
The kid from 15 years ago who only knew how to cry was not there anymore.
***
Orcs were truly special Monsters in that their individual ways of life were remarkably different depending on their rankings.
Orcs and Orc Warriors found in the Lowest to Low Tier Hunting grounds never formed packs. They lived lonely lives, only meeting others out of necessity to copulate and to proliferate. So, they didn’t use any weapons, and if they did, it was only to the extent of wielding crude wooden things.
But the story changed for Orcs found in low Mid Tier Hunting ground or higher. They were similar in a way to Goblins in that these Orcs gathered in large numbers to form villages, but the difference was that their roles had been clearly divided.
Orc Scouts with their quick feet, searching for the locations of drinkable water and sustenance; Orc Warriors and Orc Jaguars for hunting according to the intel gathered by the Scouts, or to fight other Monsters, Knights and Hunters; Orc Great Warriors that safeguarded the village after having accrued experience and wisdom; And the Orc Chieftain that governed the village itself.
"Hey, wait a sec, is that…?"
"Shh!! You’re right. It’s an Orc village."
Unfortunately, pared to the level of danger posed, an Orc’s remains didn’t fetch a high price. Ignoring the rankings, a lone Orc Great Warrior possessed enough power to fight evenly against a Knight of at least an upper Mid Tier ranking and above.
But even then, the Knights Orders would still raid the village of Orcs with an unmatched madness.
There was only one reason for this - the "Orc’s Forge."
"Today’s luck is pretty good. Mark the position in the GPS and let’s vamoose, pronto."
"Okay. But dude, that’s almost a mid-sized village, so how much would it be worth to them?"
Within an Orc village, there existed several rudimentary smithies.
One could say that the main job of Orcs living in a village could very well be weaponsmiths, as they individually crafted their own weapons to use. That was the reason why the degree of weapons’ pletion differed from an Orc Warrior, an Orc Jaguar and to a Great Orc Warrior.
However, as an Orc’s smithing skills got better the higher its ranking was, those creatures living without a village down by the Lowest and Low Tier Hunting grounds, as well as those in the villages found within the low Mid Tier hunting ground where the skill levels weren’t as impressive, they did not garner much unwanted attention to themselves.
"I hear the boys at the Dawn Knights Order pay the best; last time, they paid plus minus $440K."
But right now, the Orc village these Hunters were looking at were located in the Mid Tier Hunting ground. Weapons wielded by the Orc Jaguars were far superior than those made by the regular blacksmiths, and the stuff crafted by the likes of a Great Warrior or a Chieftain would be parable to those made by master craftsmen, or even exceed them in some cases.
And so, the Knights Orders raided the Orc villages in order to acquire these weapons. Obviously, that was because quality weapons were very important to Knights. Even more so, in the case of those possessing excellent Magic Strength. But it wasn’t some selfish, simplistic reasoning of "better weapons make you stronger". If a weapon’s quality wasn’t up to scratch pared to a Knight’s Magic Strength, then the weapon wouldn’t be able to endure the strain and get destroyed instead.
Currently, the number of Knights ranked upper Mid Tier or higher present in South Korea was around 2500, but the weapons suitable for their levels were estimated to be less than 2000. It meant that, every time 500 or so Knights go out to battle Monsters, they would end up being heavily injured after their weapons were rendered useless in the middle of the fight. It was not possible to import weapons from overseas either, since other countries were also under similar sort of situations as well.
So, most Knights Orders placed a fat reward moolah on finding Orc’s Forges. Especially the Dawn Knights Order, as they were in quite a desperate position. They might be flush with cash, but somehow, found themselves urgently lacking in quality weapons.
"I finished marking it in GPS. Let’s quickly…"
But there existed a definite reason why the Knights Orders placed such high bounties on finding an Orc’s Forge.
Orcs living in the Mid Tier hunting ground placed high importance on the safety of their villages, and could pick up on any minute disturbance as if they were equipped with a high tech radar.
– "Khwoererer!!"
The mountain side seemed to faintly tremble at the angry roar.
"That effing son of a….!!"
The 2 Hunters ran hard without even glancing back once. That roar most likely would have been from a Chieftain ordering other Orcs around. If those Orcs were chasing after them, then…
– KwangKwangKwangKwang!!
As expected, the foresight of upper Mid Tier Hunters proved to be correct. With dust clouds and weeds flying everywhere, 4 furious Orcs leapt out of the village and began chasing them down. Unfortunately, since the Hunters couldn’t utilise Mana, it was not possible to escape from their hot pursuit. (TL: the author used a term "??????" to describe the state of the chasing Orcs. It could mean "agitated
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