Chapter 83

Summary of the previous chapter ------------------------------------------------------

Encountered a group of 11 orcs, including an orc leader. Set up a few traps and decided to exterminate them. Despite the tough situation, managed to wipe them out, but Naoh broke his arm.

"Naoh, any reinforcements?"

"No one in the detection range."

Hearing my response, Haruka let out a sigh of relief.

"At least we can relax for now, but we need to quickly recover the materials from the two we left behind and deal with the orcs here. Speed is more important than thoroughness."

I don't think any monsters will steal our prey, but if the orcs notice us, it could be bad. We need to hurry, but...

"Ah, sorry, can you heal me first? It hurts a bit. I can't even dismember with this arm."

From my perch in the tree, I sounded a bit pitiful as I held out my broken left arm, and Natsumi and the others changed their expressions.

"Naoh! Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, but it hurts."

During the battle, adrenaline was probably pumping, so I didn't feel much pain, but once things settled down, a throbbing pain started to resonate.

I've broken bones before, but this is the first time it's been so clearly bent at a joint.

"Come down quickly! You can't heal yourself, right?"

"I know, but..."

How do I get down? Jump? It will definitely hurt my arm. However, I was thrown pretty far, and it's a bit high to climb down with just one arm.

"Here, I'll lend you my shoulder."

"Thanks."

I placed my foot on Toya's shoulder, which he had brought down to the branch, and carefully climbed down to the ground. I let out a sigh of relief, but even the slightest movement was painful.

"Broken bones are like this, huh?"

Toya looked at my arm with curiosity. It's not something you see every day, but...

"Toya, if you have time to be so relaxed, fix Naoh's bone position."

"Huh, me? I'm not really good at that... Can't it heal as it is?"

"It's more certain and faster to reset the position. Use your own arm as a reference."

Encouraged by Haruka, Toya touched his own arm and then tentatively tried to take mine... Wait, are you going to push it back into place? That would be incredibly painful, right?

"Hey, Haruka, is there any pain-relieving magic?"

"I don't know any. You'll have to endure it, even if you cry."

"I'll endure it, but..."

When I had a bone reset without anesthesia before, it was so painful that my vision went white...

"I'll do it. I think I have a better understanding of bone structure than Toya."

"Ah, really? Then I'll leave it to you."

It was Natsumi who volunteered. Toya readily gave up his position, and for me, it's better to have Natsumi do it rather than Toya, who looks scared.

"Okay, Natsumi, I'll leave it to you."

"Sure. You can cry if you want."

"I'll endure it."

With a mischievous smile, Natsumi looked at me, and I gritted my teeth in determination.

"Got it. Haruka, are you ready?"

"Whenever."

Natsumi confirmed Haruka's nod and gently placed her hand on my arm. In the next moment—

"――――!?!?"

Natsumi's hand moved quickly, and a piercing pain shot through me, making my vision blur and tears well up. I managed to suppress my voice, but I couldn't stop the sweat from breaking out.

The pain subsided rapidly, and my arm, which had turned an unpleasant color, straightened and returned to its original color.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah... Natsumi, you're ruthless, huh?"

"Doing it slowly would just prolong the pain. Since I know it can be healed, it's better to make the pain short."

"Can't argue with that."

Even if the bones were reset slowly, it wouldn't necessarily reduce the pain. I understand the logic, but her efficiency and decisiveness are probably unmatched.

"Natsumi, you're amazing! I couldn't do that."

"Really. Considering the healing speed and the amount of magic, you almost perfectly reset it in an instant."

"I've been practicing martial arts."

As long as there's no limb loss, Haruka can apparently heal most injuries with a lot of magic.

However, there are limits to what can be corrected with healing magic. A poorly skilled mage might heal a bone in a slightly bent position, leaving a disability. In such cases, the bone would need to be broken again and healed by a higher-level healer... which is a chilling thought.

"Having Natsumi around makes us feel secure! The problem is if Natsumi breaks a bone."

"Haruka or Yuki, I'll teach you. If you don't, I might slip in an emergency?"

Natsumi smiled at the two of them, her smile carrying a hint of authority.

"Y-Yeah! Of course! Teach us when you have time. I'll learn it with all my might!"

"I should learn it too. Only Natsumi and I can use light magic."

Haruka nodded slowly as Yuki nodded vigorously.

Well, both of them are smart, so they'll probably learn quickly. Our participation—maybe we should hold back. Talking about women's bone structure and such might be a bit embarrassing, even if it's not a sexy topic.

"Anyway, Naoh looks pretty bad, but let's start with the dismemberment. Since his arm is healed, he can work."

He's covered in blood and dirt, but I can endure it if I think about how Haruka's [Purification] will clean everything up.

"Haruka, Naoh, and Natsumi will go to dismember the first two orcs we killed. Toya and Yuki, stay here and keep watch while you can dismember as much as possible."

The division of labor is: Haruka, who can detect and dismember quickly, and Natsumi, who is the strongest, will quickly deal with the orcs near the nest, while the other two will guard against monsters targeting the corpses here.

We moved quickly, and Haruka took one orc, while Naoh and I took another. Having dissected over ten orcs, I've become quite proficient, and the process went smoothly.

"Still, I wish we had a magic bag big enough to fit an entire orc. With that, we wouldn't need to dismember in dangerous places."

"Wouldn't you need a bag as big as a container that a crane could carry? We haven't even succeeded with a backpack size yet?"

I received a look that said, "No way," but I've been thinking about it.

"If we only need to move the prey a little, a bag with a wide mouth but a shallow bottom, and only the enchantments of 'lightweight' and 'spatial expansion,' should work."

"Really? Then let's try it. We can sew the bag ourselves."

There are no such specialized bags for sale, so we'll have to make them ourselves.

"I think a leather bag would be better. It would be more like spreading it on the ground and putting things on top."

At least, we can't lift an orc and stuff it into a bag.

From the post-battle situation, if we spread a burlap bag on the ground, it would likely get holes from fallen branches. At the very least, we need a sturdy fabric, and ideally, a sturdy leather bag. It will cost more, but it's necessary.

"Embroidery would be difficult, but let's consider it."

"I'll help too. I recently got the [Sewing] skill."

"Natsumi was already good at sewing. Great! I'm done, how about you?"

"Almost done here."

We threw the branch meat, which we had laid out on the skin, into the bag, discarded the remaining organs, and rolled up the skin to put it in the bag, completing the task.

Initially, I found the dismemberment process disgusting, but now I see the meat as food, and the work goes quickly.

"Let's hurry back. Any enemies?"

"No, none so far. Not even non-orcs."

The battle should have made a lot of noise, but it's a relief that no orcs are approaching to check. Maybe they didn't hear it, or they don't think it's a problem, or they lack the intelligence to send reinforcements. Who knows?

When we returned to Toya and the others, they had almost finished dismembering one orc each. The remaining orcs were six and the orc leader. We divided the work and proceeded.

All of us have the [Dismemberment] skill, but Haruka, who is level 2, is the fastest. The others are not far behind, but Toya, who is strong, is a bit faster.

While Haruka handled two orcs, we each took one, and then moved on to the orc leader. Despite being only twice as large, it was surprisingly difficult to dismember.

"I wish we had a big knife like a tuna knife."

The dismemberment knife's blade is too short. It's tough to have to repeatedly insert the blade to cut the meat.

"Want to use my sword?"

Toya offered his sword, but Haruka shook her head with a wry smile.

"It's almost bladeless."

Toya's sword is designed for weight, so it can tear things apart with force, but it can't slice through meat smoothly.

A katana would be nice, but it might not be practical for combat. It would be used to avoid hard parts and slice or thrust, not for direct combat.

"Since we have a magic bag, maybe we should buy a long dismemberment knife. We'll have to make do with this for now."

"True. It's tough with the grease and all."

The meat is so thick that you have to repeatedly insert the knife, pull, and then insert it again to cut it. The arm alone is about a foot thick, making it hard to cut.

"Maybe we could use wind magic to cut it?"

"Only Haruka can use it, so she'll have to try."

"Water magic, like a water cutter?"

"Only Haruka can use water magic. I have the potential, but..."

"Water cutters can cut hard materials, but they work more like grinding. They're not ideal for cutting thick materials."

In Japan, industrial water cutters use high-pressure water or water mixed with particles to cut materials. They don't wear out and don't generate heat, but cutting something a meter away would be impractical due to air resistance. A magical effect that keeps the water from dispersing and continuously accelerates it might work, but...

"For dismemberment, it would be much better to have various knives. Now that we don't have to worry about carrying them."

"True. We should have bought them. It was a bit troublesome even with the orcs."

The dismemberment knife's blade length was a bit of an issue with the orcs, but since each person only had to dismember one at a time, no one complained.

However, Haruka has already dismembered three orcs alone, and this orc leader is the last, so her frustration is understandable.

"Well, just a bit more. Let's keep going."

"Right, let's do it."

Despite her complaints, Haruka's hands didn't stop. With five of us working, the orc leader was quickly dismembered and all the meat was put into the magic bag.

The remaining skin seemed tougher than a regular orc's, but there were quite a few puncture wounds from Natsumi. How this will affect the evaluation, but it's not like we can tell Natsumi she killed it wrong. Life is more important than a bit of money.

"Okay, we're done. Let's retreat quickly, at least out of the orc territory."

"「「「「Yeah (Yeah) (Okay)」」」」

Haruka quickly cast [Purification] on everyone, and once we were clean, we each picked up our belongings and quickly left the area.