Adjusting to the new leadership positions was not easy for Dakgu and Gurln. Although Dakgu had some experience it was short to not describe it as fleeting. Gurln was isolated by the sacred tribe so he needed not be mentioned.
Ed's foresight in giving them the ex-chiefs of the assimilated tribe was thus considered great. While winning battles was easy with or without them, reducing casualties as well as knowing how to manage things like morale was much harder.
Orcs were luckily not usually deterred by a losing situation but that didn't mean one couldn't spur them on further. On the contrary knowing to make use of this trait of theirs was very important.
It was the only way to ensure that the casualties they suffered couldn't compare to the amount of people they gained. Of course, with their prowess it wasn't even worth mentioning the losses. That was if not for the sake of mourning and respecting the dead.
"Dakgu, I think a new settlement is up ahead" An orc approached Dakgu and said. They were the orc chief assigned to Dakgu, Gabub. The orc appeared to be normal in all aspects but when he spoke of a new victim his conviction was worthy of praise.
"I don't know who you all are but you'll join me in suffering…" Gabub muttered audible enough for Dakgu to hear. He was unable to listen to it however as that was also the moment a transmission came from nowhere.
The transmission was of course Ed's and the content told Dakgu nothing more than to get to Ed's current position. The intent was there and Dakgu understood but the vague sense of direction left him mildly confused.
"Eh… Dakgu…?" Gabub said to which Dakgu responded by shaking his head.
"We have to abandon this one, let's head over that way now" Dakgu said pointing towards a direction.
"Huh!?! Then what about Gurln?!" Gabub asked exasperated. He was thinking solely of the competitive nature of their assignment.
"They are orders from Ed, we need to move quickly" Dakgu said causing Gabub to be even more flabbergasted and confused. Orders from Ed? Where the hell was Ed then!?!?
The frightening orc was nowhere in sight leaving Gabub that much more confused. Did one of the tribes they attacked hit Dakgu that hard in the head? But he was making sure that didn't happen...?
Dakgu had no plan to explain himself though noticing the confusion. He also didn't need to inform Gurln. For one, they were far away from one another to prevent uniting against the same group. Two, Ed did not specify him to do so.
Dakgu also felt that the same way Ed was communicating with him, he could communicate with Gurln. It was a pity that he couldn't talk back to Ed and confirm it.
Dakgu's group departed and after many hours of trekking they finally came across Ed's figure which was waiting patiently for him in the forest.
"Dakgu, you got here pretty fast" Ed believed Dakgu would take it easy but it seemed he actually made his way over in a hurry instead.
"Yes of course!" Dakgu said in response somewhat flustered. He had only gotten there quickly because he felt it was the right thing to do when listening to a voice inside your head!
Ed had made it seem as though he wasn't in too real a hurry however so him abandoning some potential capture candidates along the way would definitely hurt Ed's view of him.
'Now that they are here I can start setting up ambushes' Ed however wasn't thinking about that at all. He was thinking about his plan which was simple. He would be ambushing the humans multiple times. By this he of course meant creating an all out attack with some flaws to redirect the humans towards a trap.
What the trap was… well, Ed hadn't planned that far. Whatever the case with the amount of orcs available he could make something work.
"Follow me, tomorrow we will be facing some humans so be mentally prepared" Ed said loud enough for all the orcs to hear. This number of all was quite hefty. From what Ed could see, Dakgu managed to double the number of orcs he was given.
Dakgu originally had about 30 and so did Gurln. Currently, there were 63 orcs following him. These orcs looked rough and beaten as well as hopeless. They had been made to watch as Dakgu and his armored orcs continued to force other tribes to their knees.
"By the way Dakgu, how many people were in these tribes?" Ed had gotten the impression that the orcs came from multiple tribes but the numbers were too small. Either the Dakgu team had a high kill ratio or there was something horribly wrong with the dungeon ecosystem.
"There weren't many" Dakgu said truthfully as he and Ed walked side by side.
Hearing this, Ed didn't pursue a better answer. He only jotted this down in his mind and carried on. The humans had to be left surprised once he was done.
***
The aforementioned humans were currently in the midst of breaking the news to the grand majority of people. Agalia had user her privilege to inform her party members but there was no public announcement.
Once there was a public announcement however a bunch of dissension appeared. A surprising number of people wanted to fight. But what really caused the discord was that an even larger number of people wanted to let things remain as they were.
The base was finally being spruced up which was really well for them. This wasn't the main factor in their decision to prefer staying, however. It was safety. They didn't feel safe otherwise.
They had seen that some of them didn't return from the run-ins with the free roaming boss that was the orc. It was enough to make them fearful. What some hoped was to improve the situation of the base to the point where they could leave in higher numbers without much risk.
The current plan, which was being told by Roi the magician scout, was to practically split the base in half leaving most of the experienced people in it and having the youngsters go out.
Wasn't that the same as sending them to their deaths? These young people were unwilling. The older ones didn't mind but what was there to complain about when they got to stay at the base anyway.
"Hey! Someone get Tarin, Stuart, and whatever other bastards came up with this plan over here!" One of the dissenters said causing some others to echo his saying.
"Get them here!" "Don't hide behind this guy!" The sentiment that they were being wronged was being spread and Stuart showed up just in time to try and quell it.
"Please everyone do not forget that we are respected knights and mages!" Stuart started off by reminding them all to behave.
Indeed, they were knights. It was a bit unsightly to create such a ruckus and disobey their superiors. Though most reeled in their anger their expressions still showed protest. Without Balin the company he managed was starting to be slowly torn apart by human nature.
Inside the dungeon, any human settlement could declare itself independent and its own country and no one would be able to prevent it. Fortunately, the knights and mages still held onto much of their sanity.
"The important thing we will be transporting today is this" Stuart said bringing out a box from a robe pocket.
After making sure that everyone could see the box, Stuart opened it. The box opening caused the hearts of many to stir with anticipation.
"This is the drop item from that orc" The drop item did not seem to special at first glance. It was a very clean tusk. It practically shone under the setting sun.
Stuart grabbed the tusk out of the box and started walking around showing it for no more than a minute before returning to the front of the crowd to what seemed to be finishing his demonstration.
"Now, I will show you something" But it actually appeared he was just starting. Stuart lifted the hand holding the item and hurled the tusk down at the ground. The hearts of many skipped a beat and others wanted to faint.
The tusk fell onto the ground and… dug into it?
Stuart reached down and grabbed the item out of the ground. He gave it a simple inspection. Not a single scratch.
"I can't say for sure that it is a top tier alchemy material but…" Stuart purposely slurred the ending of his sentence. The minds of the people understood what he was getting at. The chances were high!
"It's definitely a tough material to dissolve. Whatever comes out of it would require tremendous work" Many thought Stuart was done but he continued informing them of his grand speculations. While he sounded humble and he acted as though these were mere possibilities the way he told it suggested they were something more.
Later that night, everyone was sleeping soundly. The matter was settled easily thanks to the contingency script they formed before the announcement. They had predicted the possibility of tensions growing.
There were definitely many that were still opposed to the idea but were forced to accept the results. A large majority of these were the ones that now found the risk worth taking.
In the morning, the youngsters which had been opposed to leaving base looked very refreshed. Others seemed to have come from some routine training they imposed on themselves. It was a risky venture and nobody knew if a single training session might make a difference but it was better than not preparing at all.
Agalia, party leader of one and a half loons took to the stage this time.
"I will be leading this transport! My name is Agalia! A pleasure to work with you all! Let's get this party moving!" Agalia introduced herself and riled up the young man and women.. She smiled knowing that there was much to gain from the success of this transport.