Chapter 275: Entwining Shadows

The fourth orc was defeated through the coordinated efforts of Lutz and Josel.

Before Lutz and the others could intervene, the fifth orc was dispatched by the knights. The strategy was to overwhelm it to the point where its regeneration couldn’t keep up.

Surround and strike, the essence of the tactic.

When Lutz and the others arrived, the fifth giant orc was already pierced with swords all over its body. Keith was complaining about not being able to get his sword out, but that could be ignored.

The knights cheered in victory, some calling out Leonard’s name with tears in their eyes.

Keith, who had given up on his sword, clapped his hands together and began to organize.

“Alright, everyone, let’s withdraw! Finish off the orcs properly, collect as much equipment as possible, carry the wounded, and return in triumph. We’ll have a celebration in the village!”

“Oorah!”

The fact that there were many wounded but no casualties further boosted the mood of victory.

Feeling somewhat out of place in the atmosphere, Lutz turned away silently and headed towards Gerhardt. He was still engaged in a one-on-one battle with the giant orc. Despite that, he didn’t seem to think he was losing at all, and Lutz naturally assumed it must be nearing its end.

Gerhardt was sitting on the orc’s corpse. When Lutz approached with a tired smile on his face, Gerhardt waved his hand in greeting.

“Hey there, Gerhardt-san, good job out there.”

“Yeah, I’m exhausted. All because someone abandoned me.”

“You’d get mad if someone came to help, wouldn’t you?”

“Hmm,” Gerhardt answered, stroking his white beard. 

“Wouldn’t you be angry if another man barged in during sex?”

“I’d kill him.”

“It’s the same thing.”

“Is it…?”

“I may have gone a bit far with the sex analogy. Let’s just say it’s our ‘private enjoyment.'”

Lutz swallowed the words “You seem to like dirty jokes even though you can’t get it up,” realizing that saying such words would only lead to war. Reason is the habit of thinking a little before speaking.

Lutz sat down next to Gerhardt. The corpse of the giant orc was being used as a makeshift bench.

Gerhardt kicked the orc with his heel before speaking.

“I defeated this one in a one-on-one fight. Have you ever won in a one-on-one battle, Lutz?”

“I have, but not today.”

“However, it wasn’t an easy win. I wonder how strong Leonard, who fought three at once, really was. I wanted to fight him at least once.”

“You mean you wanted to meet him?”

“I don’t really have anything to talk to him about.”

For artisans, they discuss; for warriors, they fight. That was Gerhardt’s values. He remained a dangerous individual as always.

“Hey, Lutz-dono, there’s something I can’t talk about until we get back to the village.”

“Understood.”

“Leonard might have been capable of saving tens of thousands of people if he had lived on. Do you think it was a mistake for him to sacrifice himself just to save a village of two hundred?”

Lutz looked surprised as he peered into Gerhardt’s face, but his expression remained the same as ever. It seemed that Gerhardt wasn’t serious but simply wanted to pose an unanswerable question.

Lutz decided to go along with it.

“If he had fled, he would have lost his qualifications as a hero at that moment.”

“Hmm. I understand your point, but isn’t the loss too great?”

“If it’s his duty to save tens of thousands of people, then someone who inherits his will can do it. There’s no reason it has to be Leonard-san, and we shouldn’t burden the dead with that responsibility.”

“Someone to inherit… Can that brat do it?”

“He has potential. If he’s not enough alone, he can fight with twenty, and if that’s not enough, he can fight with the entire Fourth Knight Order.”

“Former Thirteen Knight Order seems to have come together around Keith after all.” 

Gerhardt said, nodding.

“Is that so?”

With that preface, Lutz explained that something was off about the behavior of the giant orcs. Gerhardt seemed to have an idea, as he nodded seriously.

“I fought a giant orc for the first time today as well. I just want to confirm something: When orcs become giants, their intelligence doesn’t decrease, does it?”

“The giant orc I fought before was capable of normal conversation. Being a chosen individual, it had also mastered the behavior of a warrior.”

“Hmph, pretending to be a warrior after snatching a little girl is abnormal in itself.” 

Gerhardt said with a sneer, then twisted his neck in thought.

“I suppose it’s safe to consider those who became giants through a ritual and these monsters as separate entities. They were probably taken over by something, causing them to enlarge. Perhaps they couldn’t speak properly because even their jaw muscles were controlled…?”

Gerhardt stood up with a growl, pointing his sword at the orc’s corpse. He seemed to have something in mind for this corpse, so Lutz stood up and took a step back to avoid interfering.

“Do you know about Zombie Ants, Lutz-dono?”

“No, what’s that?”

“In simple terms, they’re ants whose bodies have been taken over by plants. They control the host’s muscles, force them to move, and expand their range of activity. It’s just a hypothesis, but I can’t help but wonder…”

Rather, he hoped it was a mistake. While wishing for that, Gerhardt skillfully swung his sword, making a square incision in the orc’s arm skin. Then, with the tip, he flicked it up, causing the skin to peel off, exposing the muscle.

“Ugh…”

Both Lutz and Gerhardt gasped simultaneously. The orc’s muscles were densely entwined with unfamiliar thread-like structures. These were fungal hyphae.

The name of the enemy was a mushroom, and that was the truth!

“…Gerhardt-san, even though it’s just a hypothesis, how did you figure it out to this extent?”

“I was concerned about the fact that its jaw was being controlled. Apparently, Zombie Ants also bite down hard on a branch before dying. Then mushrooms grow from the corpse, releasing spores and seeking the next victim…”

Gerhardt shivered as he spoke, overcome by the eerie feeling. When something from the insect world encroaches into human territory, it becomes all the more terrifying.

“It’s unlikely that mushrooms will start growing on it today or tomorrow. It would be best to burn this corpse once the surroundings dry up.”

“Yes, I agree. When we return to the village, let’s prepare a large amount of firewood. Or perhaps contact Clau and ask for oil…”

“What’s wrong?”

Gerhardt gave Lutz a puzzled look as he suddenly stopped moving and turned pale. With trembling lips, Lutz muttered,

“I don’t know… the corpses, there are… three…”

He didn’t know what had happened to them. He didn’t know how many days had passed since then. He felt like he was sinking even deeper into the unstable mud, perhaps even into his heart.

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