Chapter 41
That day, the noble who ruled the city of Gilm, Margrave Rowlocks, received a rude awakening.

There had been a report that Orcs had built a settlement about a day’s walking distance from the city of Gilm, because of that preparations for battle were made and the Knights readied. There was also the force of able adventurers who were participating in the Orc subjugation force. As the routine work of a feudal lord, it was necessary to process the following documents. And it was in this busy few days he received a letter from the Imperial Capital.

His only salvation was that the busy period would only last until the Orc subjugation was completed. If he was told he had to spend a month under these conditions, there was a possibility Margrave Rowlocks would have given up his job.

At the end of such a busy day, the fatigued Margrave Rowlocks, who had been sleeping like a log, was abruptly woken by a kon~ kon~, ton~ ton~, gon~ gon~ sound as the knocks on the door got louder. He forced his eyes open from the sound.

Margrave Rowlocks got up from his bed and looked around.

It was still dark in the room, he judged that it may not even have been a few hours since he slept.

「What on earth.」

Still, because he was the feudal lord, he put on a robe on top of his bedclothes and opened the door.

On the other side of the door was his secretary, who should have been just as tired as him. However, unlike him, fatigue and sleepiness couldn’t be seen on his face. If anything, he had an expression of happiness.

「Lord-sama, I’m sorry for disturbing your night’s rest. However, I wanted to inform you as soon as possible.」
「I don’t mind, what happened?」
「A little while ago, several members from the Orc subjugation force returned.」

Though Margrave Rowlocks had a bad feeling after hearing the words ‘several people’, it disappeared as the next words came from the secretary’s mouth.

「From the report the people gave to the guild, the Orc subjugation seems to have been completed safely.」
「Really?」
「Yes. Several people came back to report the completion of the request as soon as possible, but……」
「What’s wrong?」
「Because they rescued two women who had been captured in the Orc settlement, they have hinted that they would like to be left to rest peacefully as much as possible.」
「……I see.」

A woman who had been caught in an Orc settlement. The treatment they would have received could easily be imagined.

「Those two, give them a warm welcome. Give them as much support as we can give.」
「I understand.」
「Even so, safely crushed the Orc settlement……did they.」

Margrave Rowlocks let out a sigh of relief. If the subjugation force had been defeated by the Orcs, there would be hardly any combat force left in the city that could oppose the Orcs. If he contacted the Imperial Capital, and a force from the Nobles faction or the King’s faction was dispatched, there would be various disadvantages at a later date.

(If I think about it, that letter may be convenient.)

Thinking of the letter that had arrived during the day, he immediately shook his head.

At any rate, he could rejoice that the city of Gilm’s adventurers were able to defeat the Orcs.

「So then, what was leading the Orcs?　Was it a rare species?」

Recently around here, there had been an increase in reports of the discovery of rare species at the frontier, including the city of Gilm. The most recent story was that of Goblins led by rare species attacking travelers and merchants passing along the highway.

(……That reminds me, I haven’t heard stories of Goblin attacks for the past few days. Did they realise we’ve become wary and moved to a different place?)

TLN: *cough* *cough* *cough*

Indeed, as expected, the thought that the adventurer who had brought the Griffon had taken out the rare species never crossed Margrave Rowlocks’ mind.

However, the secretary answered the question that he had asked.

「No. According to the story from the adventurers who came back, it seems to have been an Orc King leading the Orcs.」
「……What? Did I mishear that?」

The Margrave Rowlocks’ secretary shook his head from side to side.

「You didn’t mishear. It was an Orc King leading the Orcs. The presence of many high ranking Orcs such as Orc Archers, Orc Mages and Orc Generals were also confirmed. Moreover, the number of Orcs exceeded the original information’s 50, in fact there was well over 100 Orcs.」
「Wait. Wait, wait, wait. There was a large number of high ranking species in addition to an Orc King. Moreover, there were over a hundred?　And they were able to win?」

From the report given by the guild master at the beginning, there were only about 30 people in the Orc subjugation force, it wasn’t a number that could against over a hundred Orcs.

「From the story I heard, the A rank party Axe of the Thunder God was the main combat force and defeated the majority of the Orcs.」
「Ah, I see. That reminds me, I had heard that Axe of the Thunder God were participating. Sorry, my brain hasn’t seemed to have woken up yet.」
「It can’t be helped. In the past few days, Lord-sama has been wrestling with a mountain of documents.」
「Ah, wait a moment. Then, did Axe of the Thunder God defeat the Orc King?」

His secretary frowned his eyebrows slightly at that question.

The contents of the story he had heard were unbelievable and he was lost as to whether he should tell his boss.

「……Is it different?」

Margrave Rowlocks, who felt his secretary’s state, asked again doubtfully. And as if making up his mind, his secretary answered.

「That is, I’m still not sure as this is merely what the adventurers who returned earlier were saying……」
「Don’t be so wordy, just say it clearly.」
「……A G rank adventurer defeated the Orc King in single combat.」
「Impossible!　Speaking of that, isn’t the Orc King a B rank monster!?　A G rank adventurer……no, wait a moment. Is there no mistake it was a G ran adventurer?」
「That is the information I have received.」

Hearing the words from his secretary, the figure of Rei floated into his head. At the very least, he didn’t know of any newly registered adventurers of G rank that could possibly defeat an Orc King aside from Rei. Rather than that, from the information of the list of members in the Orc subjugation force, the only person with such a low rank, G rank, was him. But even so.

(If it was the Griffon, who is a higher rank, who defeated the Orc King, I could still understand. But, according to the report, the Orc King was defeated in single combat. In other words, this person, Rei, has the capability to defeated a B rank monster by himself?)

To Margrave Rowlocks, his interest and importance of Rei had risen again.

As expected, his drowsiness was blown away after hearing the news and he gave out a list of things to do one after the other.

Though sleep was originally important to let the body rest, Margrave Rowlocks was presently in a state of excitement, joy and relief. With such a variety of emotion, it wasn’t possible to sleep at all.

「So then, when does the main group of the subjugation force return?」
「As there’s also the cleaning up of the Orc settlement, they will be back the day after tomorrow at earliest.」
「The day after tomorrow……Okay, then send a message to the subjugation force the morning the day after tomorrow. When they return, there will be a parade.」
「A parade?　However, won’t that use up a lot of the budget……」
「I understand your worries. However, the information that an Orc settlement had been built a day’s walking distance from the Gilm has already spread around the city. In order to dispel the unease, we have to make it flashy.」

The Orc settlement subjugation force. They set off with large group of 30 people or so, including an A rank party. It was impossible for it to not cause a commotion, the matter of the Orc settlement had already spread through downtown. And above all, as the information has already been disclosed through the adventurers guild, it was to prevent rumors about the Orc settlement becoming crazy rumors and causing the people to fall into confusion. That said, though the scenario of of reckless people buying up all the goods from the merchants in the city did not occur, he still felt uneasy about it. If that was the case, Margrave Rowlocks judged that it was necessary to meet with the subjugation force that annihilated the Orc settlement to remove the anxiety.

「Then……there must be a hero.」
「A hero, is it?」

The secretary replied in response to the Margrave Rowlocks’ mutter.

「Ah. It’s the person that can be called the symbol of the Orc subjugation force.」

At that moment, two names crossed his mind. One was Elk, the leader of the party Axe of the Thunder God and a go getter from the city of Gilm. Margrave Rowlocks had met with him several times for work and roughly understood what kind of person he was. It was expected that Elk would understand his thinking regarding the celebration.

The other person was the one who defeated the Orc King, Rei. He had yet to meet him directly and had only heard from rumors and information that had been written in documents.

(Should I bring up the figure of Rei as a hero as soon as possible?　……No, it’s dangerous as I still don’t know what his personality is like. If he has a troublesome character, I may be forced to leave the city of Gilm if it ends badly. If I consider that the symbol of the Orc subjugation is for the residents of the city, then Elk, who is the leader of the prominent party Axe of the Thunder God, might be better than Rei, who just registered with the guild.)

「Elk, it is.」
「Ha?　Ah, no. I’m sorry. Elk it is. I will arrange it at once.」

His secretary thought for a moment about why it wasn’t Rei who was said to have defeated the Orc King, but came to the same conclusions as his boss and bowed his head before immediately leaving the room.

His words meant that aside from coordinating with the guild, he would also collect any new information.

As Margrave Rowlocks saw off the back of the figure, he sat down on the bed in his bedroom with a thud.

「Not only is he accompanied by a A rank monster, Griffon, it seems he also has the ability to defeat a B rank monster, Orc King, by himself. If you add on the ability of the monster, Griffon, you could judge his ability to be equivalent to an A rank party. He has that ability and is still rank G……no, wait. Rank G? I see.」

Glancing around, what came to his mind was the letter that arrived yesterday. The letter asked for assistance with a certain problem……close to the middle, some requirements were given. Adventurers ranking up to rank D were requested.

「Even if the symbol of the Orc subjugation force was transferred to Elk, there’s no changing the fact that Rei defeated the Orc King. Then if he ranked up to Rank E in one go, with his achievements, there won’t be any problems with immediately taking the rank up test to rank D.」

Coincidentally, the opinion of Margrave Rowlocks matched that of Hobbes, who was leading the subjugation force.

「There’s only disadvantages for the city of Gilm to leave an A rank equivalent person at G rank.」

Half muttering to persuade himself, he suddenly noticed that the room had become brighter.

Apparently, while he had been lost in thought, the sun had already risen.

In this way, Margrave Rowlocks’ busy day started again. However, the fatigue on his face that he had yesterday was all gone, rather, he made his preparations for the parade and started his feudal lord’s work happily.

Two days later, several carriages pulled by war horses advanced to the city of Gilm along the highway.

「A victory parade, is it. And I’ll be leading it?」

One of the carriages. Elk’s unhappy voice echoed in the room where 5 people, Hobbes, Rei and Axe of the Thunder God, were present.

The reason he was grumbling was because of the parade that he was told off by the messenger who arrived earlier. If it was only that much then Elk might not have been grumbling, however, the contents of the message said that Elk, who didn’t like formal events, was to lead the subjugation force from the city entrance to the guild.

「There’s no helping it, the story about the Orc settlement has already spread throughout the city. Margrave Rowlocks wants to dispel all feelings of anxiety.」

Min, who was sitting opposite of Elk, told him to give up after informing him of her thoughts.

「But you know?　I don’t like being exaggerated.」
「I know that for sure, but your likes and dislikes compared to dispelling the anxiety of the residents. Which is more important?」
「Guh~……even so, why me, why not Rei. Anyway, wasn’t he the one who defeated the Orc King?」
「Don’t be so unreasonable. Your name is well know as part of the A rank party Axe of the Thunder God, Rei only just registered with the guild. It’s not necessary to think who the residents would accept being paraded. ……Moreover, if Rei doesn’t mind, he can be the spokesman.」

Rei shook his neck to the left and right at Hobbes’ words.

「I don’t like such troublesome things. That’s right……if it’s Axe of the Thunder God, how about you let Rhodes lead?　The person who will succeed Axe of the Thunder God, something like that.」
「Oi, are you trying to make me the sacrifice!?」

Rhodes said in a voice that showed it would be too unpleasant if he had to take the lead.

Though he didn’t dislike the event that his parents were involved in, he didn’t want to participate in it himself.

「You, calm down. Give up Elk. See, the city has already come into view. We’ll stop to form into single file.」

As Hobbes said so, he sounded the Magic Whistle to stop all the carriages.