Chapter 42: Rushing to the Front Line (1)

As one of the major races on the Obifis Continent, orcs had a slightly higher reproductive capacity than humans. Unlike a few long-lived races such as elves and dwarves, what hindered their development was not an inherent flaw in their race but simply two words: food.
With their large population and consumption levels far exceeding those of humans, the orc territories required an astronomical amount of food each year.
Since the orc tribes were driven to the uncivilized wilderness in the northwest of the continent, the situation had only worsened. The barren lands there were rich in mineral resources, but they were difficult to extract, and the soil was mostly saline and infertile, resulting in low crop yields. The orcs relied on hunting abundant wild animals to survive.
However, when disasters struck, famine left the orcs starving. They left their tribes to search for food everywhere, even resorting to eating grass roots and tree bark. Like locusts, wherever hungry orcs passed, the land would likely remain barren for years.
Seeing this situation, with the orc race on the verge of disappearing from the continent, the wisest shaman-priests among them came up with a desperate solution: if there was no food, they would go to human kingdoms and steal it!
Thus, whenever disasters struck or famines hit the wastelands, large groups of orcs would flood toward the nearest human territories to burn, kill, and loot, returning to their tribes with their plunder.
Over centuries, this desperate behavior had become a tradition and even a festival for the orcs. Even in times without disasters, every few years, several orc tribes would take turns sending members to human kingdoms to steal supplies.
The human kingdoms, accustomed to this, naturally wouldn’t allow the orcs to act recklessly. They built strong fortresses along the borders near the wastelands to defend against orc attacks. While this made it difficult to protect remote villages, it ensured that key areas remained under control.
According to military intelligence, the orcs invading Celt this time were at least a coalition of three small to medium-sized tribes—a rare occurrence in history. Detailed information had not yet reached Donald, but while the situation was serious for the kingdom, he wasn’t afraid of just one or two more orc tribes.

To cope with this war, Donald didn’t hesitate to use the funds he had accumulated over time. Through the Mage Guild and various merchant associations in Castlestone, he gathered a large number of crystal cores ranging from level 2 to 4. He also obtained a few level 5 magical beast crystal cores from mages like Messel. Combined with his previous reserves, this was enough to support an army of tens of thousands.

When they learned that Donald was going to join this border war, the mages led by Messel all strongly supported him. Only mages who faced challenges would grow faster, and this applied even to research-oriented mages—especially those in Donald’s class, summoners skilled in large-scale battles. Moreover, this was just a small-scale war involving no more than ten thousand troops, and the orcs were mainly there for plunder, so they weren’t too worried about Donald. After all, this genius mage had already been comparable to ordinary mages at the peak of black iron rank even during his apprenticeship—a true anomaly!

Thanks to Sir Jesse’s help, Donald set off a few days earlier than other nobles and adventurers in the North County who received the conscription orders, giving him more time. He spent half a day luring the enemy into battle, getting familiar with his newly acquired abilities as a Demon Hunter, and meeting with his teacher at the guild. So he didn’t rush along but traveled leisurely, as if on a trip. He treated this journey to the front lines as an adventure—it was the first time he had left the North County in his life, and these experiences would surely help him understand the layout of different regions in the kingdom better.

Apart from eating and resting, Donald would order stops at any place that caught his interest. Traveling at such a slow pace, it took him a full seven days to reach Shining Gold Town, where the North County border met the other two regions, starting from the far northern part of the North County.

By evening on the eighth day, he arrived in Shining Gold Town. The workers in the warehouse area had already finished work and were heading home, but there were still many pedestrians on the streets, and most shops in the commercial district were open, serving customers. Since there was no rush, Donald planned to find an inn to stay in and then go out for a stroll.

Upon entering the town, Donald spotted an inn with nicely decorated facades on the street. Its sign read “Sunflower Inn.”

Entering the inn, he found that the decoration inside was not particularly luxurious; instead, it had a simple yet warm atmosphere that made one feel relaxed and comfortable, like being at home. The servants who rushed back and forth to serve were full of energy and polite, clearly genuinely welcoming the guests.

Upon seeing this, Donald fell in love with the place’s atmosphere.

“Give me the best suite!” “Mac, arrange a few of the best rooms for us!”

Their voices rang out simultaneously at the counter. The former was obviously Donald, while the latter, hearing someone speak behind him, turned slightly to politely make room before realizing another group of guests had arrived.

The leader of that group was the one who had spoken—a priestess of the agricultural goddess, dressed in white robes. Behind her stood five people in gray cloaks, looking weary from travel. Just by looking at them, Donald knew they were definitely not ordinary people. Such presence could only be possessed by battle-hardened soldiers or experienced adventurers.

The priestess in white clearly knew the clerk at the front desk and exchanged a few familiar words with her. However, the clerk named Mac remained very formal and apologized to the priestess, saying, “I’m sorry, but you’ll need to wait a moment. This gentleman arrived first. Once I’ve taken care of him, I’ll arrange rooms for you right away!”

Then, he said to Donald with a hint of apology, “Sir, your suite is upstairs. Here’s the key. Servants will arrange your luggage and horses. Please follow this servant to your room.”

Donald accepted the key, showing understanding, then stepped aside from those people and followed the servant up to the second floor.

The servant arranged for Donald a typical noble-style suite—there was a separate area for servants and attendants in the front, and a bedroom for the master in the back. The entire suite was clean and tidy, with complete bathroom facilities. Although it couldn’t compare to modern hotels from his past life, in this medieval world, it was already a very nice treat to have such accommodations while traveling.

Of course, such a room wasn’t cheap either—staying overnight cost one and a half gold sols, much more than the separate courtyard he had stayed in at the Stone City Inn before. Ordinary travelers and adventurers certainly couldn’t afford such rooms; only nobles and wealthy merchants would spare such extravagant expenses.