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Airou village. It’s a small village half a day away from the trade city of Yudaril. With no distinctive products, it’s a reserved community. At least that’s what I’ve heard from Dina.

Having escaped from the shade of the forest, a town of negligible size rose into view. Several small, wooden houses stood in lines, and bountiful fields stretched over the land—a nice change in atmosphere.

“The specified address of our client should be… ah, that large building over there.”

Lifting her eyes from the request paper, Dina pointed to a particularly large building. Naturally, it wasn’t as “large” as a residence in the city, but rather “large” in comparison to the other homes of the village. It’s most likely the village chief’s residence. Arriving at the doorstep, Dina knocked lightly on the door.

“Excuse meee, we’re here to complete a request. Is the mayor home?”

Dina told me to leave all of the negotiations and planning to her, so I’m just here for show. You see, my arrogant tone would only irritate our employer.

“Oho, I’ve kept you waiting. Now then, please come inside.”

The person who appeared in the doorway was a graying senior. For a moment, his expression warped with suspicion as he glanced over me. However, he guided us in without a word.

The room’s interior was clearly worn down. Evidence of hasty repairs lined the walls and the wooden flooring creaked with each step. The fact that the mayor’s home was in such a state clearly told of the village’s predicament.

“By all means, take a seat.”

Beckoning us to sit, the man rested on a shaky chair. It looked like it could collapse at any moment, but somehow, it supported his weight.

“Well, let’s get down to business at once. We are to destroy the orc nest nearby the village. Is this correct?”

“Yes. But I haven’t gone as far to request it’s destruction. As long as you’re able to drive the orcs out of the area, I will gladly pay the reward. At this rate, the orcs will continue to prey on the villagers… the young women abducted, the men killed, and our children murdered for sport… With most of our crops stolen, we’ve been driven to a corner. Please, rain judgment upon those horrid pigs.”

“Naturally!”

While Dina held a conversation with the mayor, I was feeling rather impressed. It seemed that the orcs were quite committed to their sleazy lifestyles. Maybe—just maybe—that’s why you were dubbed as monsters. But I’m strangely thankful. At the very least, I’ll know I’m doing the world a favor when I’m hunting orcs.

“Please rest at ease! The orc nest will be crushed without fail! By this guy!”

Dina indicated towards me with a triumphant expression. On the other hand, the mayor shot me another doubtful glance.

“I beg of you, please save this village.”

The village chief lowered his head, pumping me with motivation. Promising the orc nest’s destruction, Dina and I left the building.

“Now what? Should we exterminate them at once?”

“That sounds delightful, but we’ll need to make preparations. It’s entirely possible for the orcs to raid the village during my absence.”

We probably won’t encounter any hardships in defeating the orcs. There’s the level gap after all. No matter how unprepared we are, there’s no chance of losing to them. However, it’s our loss if the orcs decide to kill the mayor while we’re away. If our client dies on us, we won’t be able to collect our reward.

“And that’s where a guard comes in.”

“A guard?”

“Yeah, a single golem should suffice. It won’t be very strong, but if it can even delay the orcs, then it will have served its purpose.”

While giving this explanation, I gathered the required components from the ground, Then, tapping power into an alchemist skill, a stone golem was produced.

A golem’s strength relies on the skill of the creator. To calculate a golem’s level, the alchemist’s class level would be added to half of the Alchemist’s total levels. For instance, a golem constructed by a level 20 alchemist with 5 class levels, would be level 15 (20÷2+5). Moreover, if the same alchemist was to have 20 class levels, he would be able to produce golems stronger than himself.

This is why golems are efficient for early game leveling. At level 1, it’s possible for an alchemist to produce golems 5 times his own strength. However, while the class level caps at 100, normal levels can be raised to 1000. This means golems lose their effectiveness during late game. In the long run, even if I were to produce a golem, it would only be level 600 at best (1000÷2+100). Furthermore, the materials also affect a golem’s levels. Although a level 600 golem is workable with quality ingredients, level 100 is the most I can hope from the materials at hand… in short, it lacks the fighting power to be of use to me. However, it should serve well as a village guard.

“No, no. That’s way more an enough. Do you know how many million eru a level 100 golem is worth nowadays!?”

“So a golem from the roadside can fetch such a price…”

Anyhow, now we have a guard for the village. After ordering the golem to dispatch any orcs that draw near, I left the village.

Treading on grass, we headed towards the location indicated on the map. It was easy to spot. Not only was it marked on the map, but the pigs didn’t even bother to hide.

There were two chattering orcs standing guard in front of a cave entrance. Although they more or less kept an eye on the surroundings, they were evidently off guard. It was the naive behavior of someone who had never considered death.

“We found it. Ugh, they’re repulsive sights no matter how many times I’ve seen them… the Goddess Alovenas must also be grieving over those failed creations of hers.”

“That’s quite the sharp tongue you have. According to the church, the Goddess is a merciful and loving deity that doesn’t that doesn’t show favoritism, you know?”

“That’s just a downright lie. It’s another one of those religious lies. There’s no question that a goddess also has likes and dislikes.”

Half listening to Dina curse at the orcs, I considered how we could take care of them.

Boldly approach and kick them to death.

Frankly, there isn’t a single reason to be wary of the orcs. Even if we were to exterminate them out in the open, we would win the battle with ease. However, this method risks the possibility of orcs fleeing from the spot.

Using alchemist skills to eradicate the nest

I think this is our safest bet out of all of our choices. Although I’m unable to use offensive magic, alchemist skills make it possible for me to perform a large-scale offensive strike. However, in this case, much of the valuable meat will be lost under the debris.

Freely use skills to swiftly assassinate orcs

This way, there’s no chance for any orcs to escape, nor will I raise a commotion. This strategy makes orc meat a priority. Though we don’t know how many orcs are present, one in every 50 orcs drop the status enhancing item. This means, with my slight fortune boost, I’ll be able to obtain an estimated 3 items from 100 orcs,

Orc meat is an expendable item that will randomly raise your HP from 100 to 300 points. In the worst case, three uses grants 300 HP …Miniscule, right? But, eventually, it adds up.

“Now then, let’s finish this quickly.”

“Please crush them, Ruphas-sama!”

I began item creation with an alchemist skill. Using the earth as material, I would produce weapons. First, I’ll create about 30 swords. Then, using the Esper skill, “Psychic Throw”, I’ll keep them afloat.

In all honesty, I specialize more in close combat, and four of my chosen classes are suited towards close combat to prove it. Well, the strider class is also fairly oriented for close combat, so I guess that makes five.

On the other hand, on top of being incapable of using offensive magic, ranged combat isn’t exactly my forte. I don’t possess the archer class, and my esper class was only raised to level 50. However, with assistance from the alchemist class, it’s not impractical.

The alchemist skill is literally a skill that produces items from nearby materials. These items range from healing items to defensive equipment. This isn’t limited to “official” items either. With the right combinations, it’s possible to craft unique items. Although I’ve only created broadswords in the meantime, I could potentially forge weapons on par with legendary equipment.

The Esper class is a class for psychic abilities. The skills allow you to constrain opponents and move objects without coming into direct contact with them. The skill “Psychic Throw”, being one of the more typical abilities of the esper class, allows the user to fire objects at enemies. Not only is it extremely compatible with the alchemist class, it’s quite badass to fire off swords with your arms crossed.

A total of 30 swords were aimed and launched at the orcs. The blades pierced their heads, severed their limbs, and punctured their hearts. In the blink of an eye, the former orcs assumed appearances of porcupines. They were in no shape to move. I left the brush, drawing the swords out of the corpses with telekinesis.

…Huh? To say nothing about the 3% drop rate, wouldn’t I be able to obtain orc meat by dismantling them by hand?

“Aw… that’s no good, Ruphas-sama. Now the fillet is damaged. Orc fillet—the most tender portion of an orc which can increase your vitality, but if it suffers even a scratch, it loses its effect.”

“Hm? Really?”

“Yup. That said, orcs are pretty agile during combat, so it’s quite often that it happens. It’s said there’s a 3 percent chance of being able to defeat an orc without hurting the fillet and dismantle the corpse without damaging it. …did you forget all of this while you were sealed?”

Listening to Dina’s explanation, I felt quite impressed.
I see. So that’s the three percent. To think a game item’s drop rate would have such a fascinating explanation. But what’s important is that I understand that if I can butcher the orcs skillfully, I can drastically increase the drop rate.

“Thank you for the explanation. This will be of great help.”

I’ve just been a bit wasteful. I doubt after stabbing the orcs repeatedly that there are any organs intact, so the fillets are out of question. Although these two bodies are perfectly edible, we can’t expect an HP raise from them.

“Also, orcs have high vitality, so I don’t recommend attacks aimed directly at their bodies. Strikes aimed at the head or neck are far more effective.”

“Understood. You’re quite well informed, aren’t you?”

Hearing a scuffle from the cave, I sent a single blade flying towards the orc preparing for his shift. The pig was beheaded instantly. As the head rolled to the ground, Dina awarded me with applause and a couple words of praise. Then, having dismantled the corpse, I was able to successfully retrieve an orc fillet in its full glory.

“Look, Dina. It was a success.”

“I would expect nothing less from Ruphas-sama.”

That said, If I were still “myself” I wouldn’t have been able to endure the gory process of dismantling a corpse, much less bring myself to kill a living creature. In times like these, I’m truly thankful to have Ruphas’ mental durability.

Now then, there’s still a **** ton of orcs.
To fulfill the request, we’ll murder every last orc in the area.

【Some Useless Extra Details】

• The main methods of raising stats at the level cap

1. Enhancements from the shop

There exists an in-game shop that accepts money for status enhancement potions. Spam clicking these items is one of the basics of the basics. However, unlike monster drops like orc meat. each usage only raises a stat by a single point. Moreover, the cost rises with your stats. Once a character achieves stats similar to Ruphas’, a single point of strength amounts to 10,000 to 20,000 eru. The bank accounts of high-level players usually disappear into this shop.

2. Enhancements from monster drops

All enhancement items dropped from monsters are of high rarity. When worst comes to worst, drop rates can sink as low as 0.05%. What’s more, all of the monsters that drop them reward little money, so it’s incompatible with the first method.

Although orcs have a 3% drop rate, high-level players are constantly camped at the spawn points, so this becomes difficult as well. Tens of level capped players used to huddle around a single spawn point. A newborn orc barely had the time to shriek. Remembering this, Ruphas felt deeply moved that the orcs had gone from being hunted to being the hunters.

3. Crafting enhancement items with alchemy

Despite that every component needed was extremely painful to obtain, it raises no concerns with money. It’s also the most realistic method out of the three listed. Thus, raising the alchemist class level to 100 became a kind of common sense among high-level players. However, the monsters that drop the ingredients won’t fill your pockets with a single penny, so it’s not compatible with the first method. Naturally, it’s also incompatible with the second method.

Which is the gist of the setting that I’ve sort of thought up.
Just thinking of the setting is super fun.
Actually, I have the most fun thinking about the setting. But as to whether the readers think it’s interesting…