Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 96: Rescuing the D-Rank Team
The B-rank team waited in the undergrowth just short of the orcs for Tauro and the other teams to arrive.
Aeris, Shin, and Rumeya were already beside them; the two groups had apparently reunited.
The orcs didn’t seem disturbed by the red smoke signal.
The missing D-rank team had probably used the same signal several days earlier, and because nothing had happened then, the orcs assumed this one posed no threat either.
That shallow reasoning was typical of monsters.
“Tauro… Are you all right? Five more orcs arrived a moment ago. There are twenty-four now.”
Aeris whispered the update to him.
“They’re distracted by the D-rank team on the slope, so taking them by surprise will be easy, but there are a lot of them. With all our teams attacking together, however, victory should be straightforward. Fortunately, the people we’re rescuing are safe for now, so we can fight without holding back.”
The B-rank leader smiled fearlessly and issued instructions to the C-rank and D-rank teams.
His plan was to form a semicircular encirclement and wipe out every orc.
Of the E-rank Black-Gold Wings, only Aeris would participate in the offensive, using magic attacks and support spells.
Tauro, Shin, and Rumeya were assigned to protect her.
The B-rank team had judged that it was still too soon to entrust newly promoted E-rank adventurers with orcs, which were D-rank subjugation targets.
The decision was entirely reasonable, and Tauro accepted it.
For now, he would devote himself to supporting Aeris.
Once every team was in position, they attacked simultaneously.
Aeris unleashed her strongest lightning spell into the mass of orcs.
The B-rank team’s mage answered with a devastating fire spell that blasted five orcs away in a single strike.
As the orcs reeled in confusion, the adventurers charged into them.
Seeing the melee begin, Aeris switched to defensive magic. From behind her, Tauro poured a mana-recovery potion over Aeris as she busily cast support spells, replenishing her mana. At the same time, he secretly used dark spirit magic to weaken the orcs.
That should make the battle easier for everyone.
The spell worked, but Tauro felt a huge amount of his own mana disappear. Startled, he hurriedly drank a mana-recovery potion himself.
“One’s coming your way!”
An adventurer shouted a warning.
Orcs had a habit of attacking whoever looked weakest first.
Because the four had stayed behind rather than joining the melee, one had apparently singled them out.
“Rumeya!”
“Leave it to me! [Shield Upthrust]!”
Rumeya sprang in front of Aeris. Raising his large shield, he did more than block the orc’s descending club—he knocked the weapon upward.
“Switch!”
At Shin’s call, Rumeya stepped aside. Shin burst from behind his shield and slashed diagonally across the orc’s body.
“Squeal!”
Blood sprayed from the wound.
Without pausing, Shin reversed the sword he had swung downward and cut upward through the orc.
Tauro darted forward with his short sword and delivered the finishing blow, driving the blade through the orc’s lower jaw and into its skull.
The orc could no longer cry out. It arched backward, fell, and died.
“Another one’s coming!”
Tauro warned the others. The Black-Gold Wings didn’t let their guard down.
The B-rank team soon proved that its rank was well deserved.
Its members displayed the overwhelming ability expected of first-class adventurers. Despite their numerical advantage, the orcs couldn’t withstand the surprise attack and the B-rank team’s ferocious assault. Their formation collapsed, and the adventurers exterminated every last one.
When the battle ended, the B-rank team had slain more than half the orcs.
Unexpectedly, the E-rank Black-Gold Wings had defeated three.
Aeris, the promising rookie, killed one with her opening spell, while the team brought down the other two together.
The final tally was two for the D-rank team, six for the C-rank team, and thirteen for the B-rank team.
The trapped D-rank team had watched the battle from above. Once it was over, a woman who appeared to be a mage used earth magic to create stairs down the slope.
Two men descended while supporting their injured companion between them.
Fortunately, Bob wasn’t the wounded man; he was one of those helping him down.
Two healers and Aeris immediately began casting healing magic on the injured adventurer.
Tauro approached as well and poured an intermediate-grade potion over the man’s wound.
Both healers stared in surprise.
Potions were valuable in themselves, and an intermediate-grade potion was even more precious. The fact that a member of an E-rank team had used it surprised them twice over.
Aeris, accustomed to Tauro, showed no reaction, but most people naturally would have been astonished.
“He’s lost a great deal of blood, so I decided the wound needed to be closed as quickly as possible.”
Realizing that he might have revealed too much by using the potion, Tauro hastily offered that justification.
“Y-yes. That was a good decision.”
After hearing his explanation, one of the female healers praised him.
The other three members of Bob’s team had also suffered injuries, so Tauro handed each of them a potion.
“Thank you, Tauro. You saved us again.”
Bob thanked him as he accepted the potion.
“I’m glad you’re safe.”
Tauro urged Bob to drink it.