Chapter 42 – WATER (1)

There was smoke coming from the village in the distance.

Only Crockta and Jeremy noticed the faint smoke, as Blackmore and the other users were still laughing at the music playing.

There was a problem from the beginning. Jeremy stroked the handle of his sword, his tension subsiding. No matter what happened, it would fine as long as he had his sword. He was a swordsman, a born killer that even Derek acknowledged.

He was also aware from Derek that the orc was a powerful warrior.

“Mister, there is smoke,” The woman suddenly said.

Blackmore stopped playing his musical instrument. “What’s going on?”

Smoke continued to emerge from the village, gradually covering the sky above the village. Blackmore’s face stiffened. “This… It looks like a fire. I should hurry.”

Blackmore rushed towards the village with his musical instrument on his shoulders. As Blackmore prepared to move, one user walked over and knocked him over. Blackmore tumbled down to the ground. A corner of the musical instrument was destroyed. He lay on the floor and moaned.

“W-What…kuoohh…”

The users chuckled.

“It has already started.”

“Hey, wait for me.”

“There isn’t enough here to share.”

Crockta watched the users talking. Jeremy shrugged and pulled out his sword.

“Brother, didn’t I tell you?”

“……”

“This is why I hate the cursed ones. They are scum that will hit people in the back.” Jeremy glanced at Crockta and added, “Of course, I will watch you more.”

The users approached them. Unlike Blackmore, the two of them had weapons and one of them was an orc, so the users were cautious.

“Will you be okay against an orc?”

“Believe in me.”

All of the users pulled out their weapons. The magician stepped back and prepared to support from the rear.

“If you kids are in danger, then call for me.” The female user who first talked to Blackmore grinned. “Anyway, our kids are in control of areas A1 to C4.”

Jeremy whistled. His long sword sparkled in the sun. It was small compared to Crockta’s sword, but the amount of human blood that had covered it was enough to make a small stream.

“Guys, don’t you see that this orc brother is angry? Do you want him to be angry? Do you want to bleed?” Jeremy joked around as he narrowed the distance. His movements were light.

Crockta also held his greatsword and lowered his center of gravity, gathering enough momentum to break through at once. Crockta scanned the area. It seemed that it was possible to take care of the front line, but the magician was the problem. He was already muttering something to complete a spell.

Magicians were always bothersome opponents. Crockta carefully looked for gaps in the enemies.

At that moment… Crockta’s eyes widened. Suddenly, the magician fell without a sound. Blackmore was standing behind the magician. Blackmore met Crockta’s eyes and winked. The crowd in front was still unaware of what happened to the magician. Crockta nodded and charged forward.

“Bul’tar──────!”

Shouting the battle cry of the orc warriors before battle had now become a habit. Jeremy also ran after Crockta. Crockta rushed and swung his greatsword, the users pushed back by the impact. Jeremy leapt from behind Crockta and instantly pierced a user’s neck with his sword. He was like the wind.

The confused users yelled out, “Magic! Use it quickly! Why aren’t you using it?”

“What are you doing?”

Then they paled as they turned around. Blackmore didn’t care as he looked at them with his foot on the magician’s chest. At that moment, the users felt sure of their deaths.

It seemed like they could already feel Crockta and Jeremy’s blades against their skin.

Their heads flew through the sky.

Crockta and Jeremy were too strong for them. They weren’t just ordinary people, or various minstrels passing by, but a real orc warrior and a notorious swordsman from the back alleys of the fugitive city of Anail.

The users’ bodies turned white. It was the last of those cursed by the stars. Their equipment fell to the ground. There was nothing that looked great. Besides, they needed to hurry to the village.

Blackmore immediately started running towards the village. Jeremy and Crockta looked at each other and ran after him.

The village was a terrible mess. Several houses were burning. Battles between NPCs and users were occurring in various places in the village.

Blackmore looked around and found a piece of farm equipment. He broke the edge and made it into a club, swinging it in the air.

Jeremy and Crockta glanced at each other as they saw it. Blackmore’s actions were quite skilled. Blackmore squeezed the rod, like he was trying to regain some old senses, before running into battle.

Crockta and Jeremy also helped in the battles. The villagers were all farmers, but they used their equipment to fight against the users. Their attacks turned one or two users into white particles.

Crockta’s greatsword beheaded a user.

The users were too weak. There were some decent ones, but the majority of them looked like beginners that had just started Elder Lord. There were many people who ran away from Crockta’s fearsome appearance.

“Orc!”

“Run away! An orc!”

“Run away! Let’s go!”

“I’m scared!”

“Monster!”

The users hurriedly ran away.

“……” Crockta didn’t have a chance to fight properly with them.

Jeremy giggled and knocked against Crockta’s shoulder with a teasing attitude. “Hey, Brother. Brother’s face, well, it no longer frightens me as much. Don’t take it personally.”

“Noisy.” Crockta turned around before adding something else. “I am a handsome orc.”

That’s right. Crockta was a handsome orc. In Orcrox, the female NPCs often ogled him. He had customized his face to be as horrible as possible to make fun of his sister, but it seemed to be attractive to orcs.

Jeremy burst out laughing.

“By the way, what’s going on here? The cursed people are gathering together and attacking. Besides, aren’t they all weak?”

Crockta confirmed the equipment of the users that fell on the ground. They were all Common grade equipment.

“I can roughly guess.”

The users whom they defeated with Blackmore said that their area was from A1 to C4, and the users here had poor combat abilities. The local characteristic of Chesswood was that the villages were scattered about in a checkered pattern.

The recurring evils that humans committed in online games were being repeated in Elder Lord.

“Blackmore! You came back!”

“Blackmore?”

There was a disturbance. The villagers finished fighting and discovered that Blackmore had returned. However, their reaction wasn’t like what Crockta expected. Rather, it was the opposite.

“Why did this guy all of a sudden…”

“I thought you left?”

They were reluctant to talk to Blackmore. Some even spat on the ground, like he was unlucky.

Blackmore just looked down and touched his half-broken instrument.

***

“Haha. Blackmore, becoming a minstrel, I really can’t believe it.”

Crockta and Jeremy stayed at the home of Blackmore’s uncle, Ingram. He was tall, sturdy, and looked very strong for his age.

“You didn’t originally leave your home to become a minstrel?” They asked.

“Blackmore? This guy was completely…” Ingram grinned as he gaze at Blackmore. “A bully.”

“Ohh.”

“I wasn’t that bad,” Blackmore pleaded.

“Weren’t you a gangster working for a private money lender?”

“What…?”

Blackmore dropped his head.

Jeremy couldn’t help shaking his head. Crockta nodded in agreement. Then he whispered to Jeremy, “A bully, a gangster.”

“…Ugh.” Jeremy struck Crockta with his elbow.

“All he knew was how to fight and how to wield a spear, and that was all he did in Chesswood.”

“I didn’t do too badly.”

“Blackmore became notorious in Chesswood. He was a called a cruel bastard, a man with no feelings.”

Under the full moon, Ingram treated the two humans and one orc to his homemade beer. The taste was quite good. Crockta thought it was comparable to the beer that he drank in Orcrox.

“I regret it,” Blackwood said.

“Yes, I didn’t hear from you after you left Chesswood. So how did you become a minstrel?”

Blackmore’s explanation wasn’t long.

After leaving Chesswood, he wandered from place to place. With his skills, there was work wherever he went. He worked as a mercenary, a soldier, an escort, and various other things, but there was always regret in his heart. He made money from people’s suffering.

Then by chance, he saw a minstrel playing at a pub. The minstrel’s skills weren’t that great, but he saw people laughing and having fun. Blackmore was eating expensive food in a room that was much more expensive than theirs, but he seemed more unhappy.

Thus, he abandoned everything and became a minstrel. That was 10 years ago.

“The most emotionless person is doing the most sentimental job in the world.”

Blackmore laughed bitterly, “Isn’t it because of that child?”

“……”

Blackmore gulped down his beer and asked, “How is she?’

“Married.”

“To who?”

“A decent person.”

“Then that’s fine. Say no more.”

Blackmore also seemed to have his own story of heartbreak. His mood became so heavy that Ingram, Crockta, and Jeremy couldn’t open their mouths. Blackmore changed the topic and spoke, “The people cursed by the stars keep coming?”

“Yes, it’s serious. I tried to ask for help but…”

The villages united to block the attacks of those cursed by the stars, but it was getting harder.

Crockta’s eyes sunk. This area must’ve been designated as a hunting ground to level up, with the areas distributed between different clans. It was rare for NPCs with high levels to be scattered around villages like these. There were also no professional guards.

The best hunting ground. In addition, the clans would be controlling the hunting grounds in order to monopolize it.

“Tomorrow, the Chesswood village leaders have decided to meet to discuss the problem,” Ingram said.

Blackmore continued to drink before rising from his seat. “Uncle, I have become a minstrel, so I will sing you a song. However, my instrument is broken.”

“Hoh, is it a song that you made?”

“That’s right. I missed this place, so I made a song for Chesswood.”

“If it’s terrible, then I’ll stop listening straight away.”

“Of course.”

Then Blackmore started to sing. Unlike Ingram’s worries, it was a wonderful melody. The introductory part was strangely sad, but then it became more exciting.

The audience clapped in time with him. As they listened to the lyrics, they felt like they were the narrator rejoicing as he ran towards his hometown.

“I have travelled to many places in the world, always looking for new things. But I realized something. I had already found the things that I was looking for.”

“……”

“Dancing under the moonlight, singing in the rain. Oh! I’m happy to be back home! Laughing under the sun, running along different trails. Ah! I’m happy to be back home!”