I was walking through the forest with Satsuki, Mee, Cyril, and Irene, the sun shining through the trees.

Due to the rain that had fallen yesterday, drops of water were still falling from the leaves of the surrounding trees.

'But they really look like orcs, don't they?

Satsuki, who is walking behind me, leaks out her thoughts as she watches me.

By the way, her body is wrapped around with ropes, and so are the three behind her.
I'm holding the end of the rope that holds the girls together, and I'm pulling them along with me.

'I suppose that's true. You've taken on the form of an orc with the Disguise spell, so you must be.'

'If I didn't know any better, I might accidentally cut him down.

'I see. I'll be careful not to do that.

I used the Disguise spell to change my appearance into that of an orc.
I, in my orc form, was walking around with a group of girls tied up with ropes.
In other words, the picture from the outside shows us as 'four girls captured by orcs'.

Disguise is a lower-level spell than Metamorphosis, and does not give you the abilities of the transformed creature.
It's a spell that changes your appearance, so to speak, and even though I'm currently in the form of an orc, I don't have the monstrous strength of an orc.

You can use the spell while changing your appearance, and you can even change your clothes and equipment if you only want to change your appearance, so this may be more useful in some situations.

But Will, I think it's about time, right? I think I've seen this area before.

Irene, who is walking at the end of the line, says as she looks around.
It's true that this area is close to the place where I met Irene on my way back from reconnaissance.

That's right. I think it's time to fly the eye.

In response to Irene's words, I paused and cast the Wizard Eye spell.

When the spell is completed, a transparent invisible 'eye' appears right in front of me.
The 'eye' floats at the same height as my eyes, and can be moved at the speed of a man walking at my will.

'I'll do some reconnaissance. Wait here for a moment.'

I told my companions, and let my 'eyes' travel to where I was going.
I closed my eyelids and tuned the channel of my vision to the eye.

Then, the view reflected in the 'eye' is reflected in my field of vision.
I continue to move the 'eye' forward.

After a while, the village of my destination came into view.
It was the village where Finola and the others had originally lived, but now it seemed to be controlled by Orcs.

As if to prove this, there was an Orc standing guard at the entrance of the village.
Deep inside the village, orcs could be seen strolling here and there.

The village consisted of many treehouses with dwellings on top of large trees.
The dwellings are accessed by ladders hung from the trunks of the trees, similar to the elven settlements in which the Lefanians live.
However, the number of dwellings was several times that of the settlement in which LeFania lived, making it by far the largest settlement.

However, that large settlement was now dominated by Orcs, and was in a miserable state.
I let my 'eyes' pass by the Orc guards and proceeded into the village.

As usual, the corpses of the elves were lying here and there in the open.
No, some of the worst were 'devoured' near the remains of fires.

I feel physiological disgust and anger at the sight of them.
I feel it is necessary to inform Satsuki and the others of this situation in advance.

If they see this without prior preparation, there is a high possibility that they will act emotionally on the spot, which will lead to the collapse of the mission.
Advance information for preparation is important.

And the same is true for 'other sights'.

As I looked around the village, I could see many Orcs crowding around a single Elven woman.
The scene that unfolded in the fresh morning sun falling through the trees was so unsuitable and cruel that I thought it was a joke.

I wonder if it is fortunate that the 'eyes' that see it do not convey the sound.
The scene was unreal, but it was undoubtedly real.

But I didn't use the Wizard's Eye spell to reaffirm this reality and amplify my own anger.
It was to gain important information needed to complete the mission.

I look away from the scene and continue to look.
And I scouted all over the village.

Soon, I found the thing.

Among the treehouses in the village, there was a dwelling built on top of the most magnificent large tree.
It was probably the dwelling of the chief of this elven settlement.

At the bottom of the tree where the dwelling was built, he was sitting on an improvised 'chair' made from a tree trunk as a backrest.

No, I don't want to call it a chair.
It was made by piling up many dead elves and covering them with cloth to look like a chair.

The Lord sitting there was indeed an Orc.
He had the green skin characteristic of orcs and a pig face.
And a huge body.

But his huge body was much bigger than that of other Orcs.
I'd say he's about two and a half meters tall.
I'm a bit on the tall side as a human adult male, but it's so big that I'm treated like a child.
I could almost call him a giant.

And it's not just height.
It looks as if the obese body of an ordinary orc has grown into a giant, and its weight and intimidation are simply amazing.

In addition to its huge body, it has an aura.
A thin glow of aura can be seen all over its body.

On its head, it wears a helmet or crown that looks like it is made from the head bone of some large beast.

That being was sitting there with a pile of dead elves crushing it, looking like it owned the place.

The Orc Emperor.
He's the general of the enemy and the source of all this commotion.

Right now, he was carrying something in his mouth as if it were a comfort.
And when he saw that it was nothing but bones, he threw it away carelessly and demanded 'next'.

Beside the Emperor, there were two Orc Lords standing like his entourage, and three Orcs of the common race hunched in the vicinity as if frightened.
One of the orc lords gave instructions to the common orcs at the Emperor's request.

One of the three common Orcs hurriedly ripped off an arm from an Elven corpse that was stacked separately from the Orc Emperor's 'chair'.
They offer it to the Emperor.

The emperor takes it carelessly and carries it to his mouth...

Then I shifted my eyes in another direction.
There is no point in observing something that is only unpleasant.

All that mattered was that there was an Emperor, two more Lords, and three normal species.
That's our destination.

I also use my 'eyes' to take a quick look around the entire settlement.
What I saw there was not much different from what I had seen before.

Then I broke my concentration and let out a breath.

'...... How was it?

When I opened my eyelids, Mi asked me that.
Satsuki, Cyril and Irene are also there.
There was no hell in my vision, just the peaceful scenery of the forest and my kind friends.

'............'

I was at a loss for words.

Am I going to take these girls to that hell?
Why?
Why can't I just terminate the mission with the elves here and pretend I never saw them...

Are there any targets to save in the first place?


Isn't it too late for everything?

What are we fighting for?
What are you risking my life and the lives of my friends for?

'...... I want to make sure you're all on the same page here.

I looked around at my friends and opened my mouth.