Runes and Spirits (1)
The wild land of the Kalton Mountains had changed so much that anyone could notice.
The biggest change was the construction of a large, noticeable road.
As the cornerstone of development was a well-maintained road, they first deforested the area and dug up the ground to build the road.
Rosaria tugged at Reed's sleeve as if she found it fascinating and pointed at the road.
"There's a road in the forest!"
"Seems so."
"It wasn't like this before!"
"Yeah, there wasn't anything like this."
Now that the obstacles in building the road had disappeared, someone had made it easy for a carriage to enter.
In front of it stood a muscular orc with dark brown skin.
Unlike the shirtless orc men, he was properly dressed in normal clothes.
As they approached, the orc man came up to Reed.
"Tower Master, right?"
He spoke with a muffled tone.
It felt as if he had just started learning the language.
"Yeah. And you?"
"Garum. I came on behalf of Baltan."
"I see. So you're the one who can speak the human language?"
"Garum learns human language. Other tribes learn too. Althea teaches us."
"That's a good development."
"Althea is kind. They teach us well."
The missionaries from the Althea Church were naturally kind.
Their goal was, of course, to convert the orcs.
At least for now, they needed to be able to communicate with the orcs to preach.
Of course, they didn't neglect their volunteer work for the purpose of conversion.
They healed and provided food for the more than ten thousand orcs, winning over their hearts.
As a large religious organization, they were experts in capturing the hearts of simple people.
'Orcs believing in the Althea religion...'
The orcs had no proper religion.
Their object of fear, the Guardian Giants, might have been the closest thing to a religious figure for them.
However, the Guardian Giant was defeated, and a hero was born.
Now that the hero was going to believe in the Althea religion, the orcs had no choice but to follow, even if they had complaints.
'It's Morgan, after all.'
He didn't just prevent turning the orcs into enemies but made it impossible to do so.
Adonis' unwavering trust in Morgan was understandable, considering the brilliant solution he provided.
Following that admiration, Reed shifted his gaze to the road he was walking on.
"Is the road already completed?"
"Yes."
Garum nodded.
Although it was expected to take two weeks, it only took three days.
It was a miracle created by the orcs' individual strength and stamina, as well as their cooperation under absolute power.
"And, Tower Master, the items are very good."
Above all, the power of magical engineering was the greatest.
Thud-thud-thud-!!
The sound of vibration from the ground being struck without hesitation.
Rosaria frowned and covered her ears.
At the source of the noise, the orcs surrounded a large rock.
In one orc's hand was a steel-made device.
It was a rock-breaking machine, a joint work of the Silence Tower and the Hupper Kingdom.
It was successful in making but had the drawback of being too powerful for the user to handle properly.
It was a device that was constantly being improved to soften the impact without killing its power.
'But those brainless muscles don't need that.'
The orcs could withstand the terrifying vibrations and the recoil from the device.
Of course, only about 30% of all orcs could overcome the recoil.
For them, being able to use the rock-breaking machine was a symbol of strength.
"Grosh is weak. Can't use the rock-breaker."
"Grosh is strong. Can do it."
Orcs who laughed at the sight of their weaker companions and orcs who tapped their chests and tried again.
It was no different from the way humans lived.
"How about the magic stone saw we provided?"
"Magic stone saw, dangerous, rock-breaker machine, orc, uses."
It meant that only the orcs who could use the rock-breaker were using the magic stone saw, which moved like an electric saw to cut trees.
For the orcs working on construction, the electric saw seemed to be the most desirable item.
As they talked and walked, they soon arrived at their new settlement.
The chosen location was deep in the Kalton Mountains, the site of the ancient ruins.
Although it had been neglected for a long time, it wasn't too difficult to restore it by following the traces that were left behind.
Since the surrounding area was rich in stones and resources, if they handed down the technology to make tiles, they could be self-sufficient.
There were also many humans among the orcs.
There were experts hired from the Hupper Kingdom, as well as wealthy merchants from all over who smelled money.
"It's fortunate we secured it first."
All the necessary things, such as mining development rights and research and development rights, had been taken by the Hupper Kingdom.
Nevertheless, the fact that merchants were still moving around showed that they knew the development of the Kalton Mountains itself would make them money.
Although only a sprout had grown, the fruits seemed to be visible to the eye.
It was such an important time, but for some reason, the person in charge was nowhere to be seen.
"What is Larksper doing?"
"He left for a moment."
"Where?"
"Larksper said it's his last adventure."
The last adventure.
It didn't sound good to Reed.
Whether it was good or bad, he was now the great chieftain and had to lead everyone, so it was never a good thing to be in danger.
Since grumbling wouldn't do any good, he changed the subject.
"What are they doing with the place where the Guardian Giant was?"
"It's the great chieftain's room."
"Do they use that place as a room?"
"They said they use it like a human palace."
It was a large space, and if they organized it well, it seemed enough to be used as a palace.
The huge body of the Guardian Giant was taken by the Silence Tower.
If they could figure out how it moved, they would gain the technology to create golems.
'I never thought Larksper would defeat it.'
A pair of axes and a spear.
He crushed it with pure physical force using only those weapons.
The idea of assisting him with runes so he could fight seemed too excessive, considering his overwhelming victory.
'I'm becoming more like a mage.'
When he played "Disaster 7" multiple times, he preferred physical characters like warriors and archers rather than mages.
Mages were a profession that couldn't survive once their evasion skills failed or they were restricted.
Now he was so used to being a mage that he couldn't trust the reckless fighting and results of warriors.
'Did he change after defeating the Guardian Giant?'
It was their first meeting after Larksper had defeated the Guardian Giant.
Reed was secretly looking forward to seeing how much he had changed.
"Has the Tower Master arrived?"
Larksper's deep voice was heard from the entrance.
