Revision note: I've raised the king's age.
The Appraisal results indicated a group of Orcs.
Orcs are Monsters also known as pig-men or boar-men.
The "human" part of the name is misleading — they're essentially pigs or boars walking upright on two legs, with only their hands bearing any resemblance to human ones.
Their meat is edible and tastes better than regular pork, so it's even sold at butcher shops in town.
I placed Shiromaru in the basket containing Slarin, stowed the basket into the Dimension Bag, then flew up to a position where I could look down on the Orc group.
The Orcs were positioned on a rocky hill away from the forest, in an area that formed something of a valley.
The Orcs appeared to be attacking a horse-drawn carriage.
The combatants numbered six humans against forty-three Orcs, with what seemed to be a separate squad of six more Orcs off to one side.
The six humans had their backs to a rock wall and were fighting with the carriage behind them, but they were gradually being overwhelmed by the Orcs' superior numbers.
(Too well-coordinated for Orcs. This is bad!)
Tenma descended onto the carriage and —
"I'll lend you a hand!"
With that, he pulled ten Magic Stones from the Magic Bag and tossed them into the space between the six humans and the Orcs.
Both sides were startled by Tenma's sudden intrusion, but the next moment they were struck with even greater shock.
From where the Magic Stones had landed, ten Golems made of rock, each roughly two meters tall, emerged from the ground.
"Golems! Protect these people and attack any enemies that approach!"
After issuing that command to the Golems, Tenma cast the light-attribute healing magic "High Heal" on the six humans.
Among the six, a man who appeared to be the highest in rank tried to thank Tenma, but Tenma cut him off and —
"Six Orcs were trying to flank us from above. I'm going to take them out first."
With that, Tenma took to the air and flew up to the top of the cliff.
"Reorganize while you have the chance!"
The man who appeared to be the highest in rank shouted, and the other five grabbed spears from the carriage, thrusting at the Orcs from behind the Golems.
After about three minutes, Tenma returned to the top of the cliff to find seven or eight Orcs already fallen, with both sides locked in a stalemate.
Just as Tenma was about to descend, he spotted a single individual among the Orc herd that was even larger than the Golems.
"That's... an Orc King."
The Orc King was the highest-ranking species among Orc-kind. While ordinary Orcs ranged from D to C-rank, the Orc King was a Monster classified at C+ to B. And to make matters worse, it possessed the ability to strengthen the Orcs under its command by roughly one level.
"Gyagh! Gyagyagyagyagyagyaaaah!"
As the Orc King let out its fearsome battle cry, the other Orcs surged forward with renewed vigor.
Tenma drew a sword from his Magic Bag. Its blade was double-edged, forged in the so-called
"Kogarumaru style,"
with a cutting edge of about seventy centimeters, minimal curvature, no guard or handle, and rope wound around where the hilt would be.
Tenma cast an enhancement spell on himself and the sword, then dove into the fray right in front of the Orc King.
"Pgyah!"
"Fugah!"
The Orcs nearby had their torsos torn open by Wind Cutters released from Tenma's left hand, while the sword in his right hand delivered a sharp strike that severed their heads, and they fell one after another.
The Orcs fell into confusion. However, the one called a King did not hesitate — it immediately launched an attack at Tenma. The weapon it wielded was the lower half of an Orc that had been cut apart moments earlier.
The Orc King was certain that its power-infused strike would turn the enemy before it into a mound of flesh, and a nauseating grin spread across its face. But that became the Orc King's final memory.
As the overhead strike came crashing down, Tenma stepped forward and swung his sword from beside the neck down through the right flank, cleaving the arm and all in a diagonal slash.
The six people behind the Golem looked on—the Orc King's corpse lay at Tenma's feet with a grin still frozen on its face, while the remaining Orcs stood stunned.
Before the Orcs could recover their wits, Tenma moved among them, slashing and firing off Earth Needles in rapid succession. By the time they regained their senses, the numbers had already been reduced to less than half.
After that, it became a one-sided hunt. The Orcs were wiped out without even putting up a decent fight.
As Tenma was storing the Orc corpses into his Dimension Bag, a man approached him.
"You have my gratitude for saving us from a perilous situation. Thanks to you, the damage was kept to a minimum."
He was the best-dressed of the six. Instinctively, Tenma activated Appraisal.
Name…Alex von Blumeil Clustin
Age…47
Race…Human
Title…King of the Kingdom of Clustin
"King?"
At Tenma's words, the five others besides the King grew more guarded.
The most serious-looking among them—a man standing roughly 180 centimeters tall, with short silver hair, dark eyes, and a lean, muscular build—tried to step between Tenma and the King.
"Now, now, stand down. He doesn't seem to bear any ill will."
The King said this to the man, but the man—
"Your Majesty! He could simply be putting on an act! The moment you let your guard down, he might launch a surprise attack!"
He moved to draw his sword as he spoke, but—
"Are you unable to follow my orders?"
At the King's quiet yet overwhelmingly imposing words, the man—
"I—I beg your pardon!"
...and bowed his head.
"Well, it's fine. I understand that you were concerned for my safety. However, he could be called our savior. We must show proper gratitude. Besides, by calling me 'Your Majesty,' aren't you essentially confirming his words?"
At those words, the man froze, his face draining of color.
"That's in the past now. It's fine, I forgive you. So, how did you know I was the King?"
At that question, Tenma certainly couldn't say, "I used Appraisal to check," so he racked his brains desperately. Then, spotting the crest depicted on the carriage...
"W-well, from the crest. In this country, only the heads of the Royal Family and the Grand Ducal Family are allowed to use both a lion and a dragon on their crest. I've heard there's only one Grand Duke left, and he's quite elderly. Therefore, I thought you must be the King."
He answered quickly, trying to mask his nervousness with the explanation. This was knowledge he had gained from studying with his mother.
"You don't need to be so nervous. Is that so? You've studied well."
He took the man's earlier quick speech as a sign of that nervousness.
In any case, the Orc battle was over.
He was just starting to wonder when the heroine candidate would appear, but instead, it was the most important man in this country (the King) who came out.
He was set to become Tenma's backer in the future. (Though that plan was still undecided.)
I forgot to write this, but the difference between "Flight" and "Aerial Movement" is that while "Flight" has a faster straight-line speed than "Aerial Movement," its maneuverability up, down, left, and right is significantly inferior. Since Tenma operates mostly in forests, he prefers to use "Aerial Movement."
Shiromaru's growth seems slow compared to his parents' size, but since he's a Monster, just think of it as having an unusual growth rate.
Also, the number of bookmark registrations has passed 100. Thank you all very much.
I look forward to your continued support for "The Isekai Tensei Adventurer."