I picked out a request for getting rid of some orcs that were constantly raiding farmers. The request paid well and we took it over to the booth where the guild staff was. It seemed that the line was longer than usual today. Once it was our turn, the receptionist filed the request and told us the farms were located a few kilometers south from Krell. Considering the short distance, I wondered why the guards couldn't take care of it. 

I asked the receptionist about this and he said that the city itself gets pretty rowdy and that they need the guard on watch at all times to prevent violent confrontations from occurring. I'm surprised they didn't catch me slamming the bald guy into the floor but whatever. Maybe they did, but they hated the guy? As I kept thinking about this little detail, Jane and I left the Guild to head to the farms and settle the orc problem.

Orcs were basically pig-like humanoids with high strength. They weren't very intelligent, according to other adventurers. Jane and I set off for the farms and managed to arrive within the day. Our new ranks enhanced our stats and made us much quicker than before. When we appeared, the farmers' eyes lit up. One of them approached me and shook my hand.

"Thank you for coming, I assume you're here to deal with the orc problem?" The farmer asked to confirm his query.

"We are. How many of them are there? When do they attack?" I asked.

"There are about ten of those things. They come from the forest every night to steal crops and livestock. I'm afraid if this keeps up, they might even steal women. Please adventurer, kill them for us." The farmer told me this information with a helpless expression on.

"We'll take care of the problem, don't worry." I assured him that the problem would be fixed. "My partner and I will wait for them to come at night. We'll swiftly take care of them before they can understand what's happening." I had gained the same night vision Jane had after straining my eyes for hours in the dark. It was to a lesser degree but still worked.

The farmer nodded and went back to his activities. Jane and I decided to help out on the farms since we had nothing else to do. This made us gain gratitude from the farmers going about their everyday lives. I did things like helping plow the fields and digging new irrigation ditches. Jane helped with replanting the fields in places where the crops were stolen. It got serious once night fell. The people rushed back into their homes and closed all entranced to their homes. Jane and I quickly hid from sight and waited.

About an hour later, the group of orcs appeared and started stealing crops. Some livestock pens were next to us and we waited for the orcs to approach. What happened next was something we didn't expect. One of the orcs managed to sense us through smell. It let out a cry and pointed in our direction. The group of orcs started charging at us.

"Shit! Get back, Jane!" I rushed to the closest orc and swiftly bisected it. I would pay for this, as I got punched directly in the chest. The impact wasn't mitigated by the duster since I wore it open. Damn my desire to look cool. I hopped backward as another swing came my way. I grabbed the orc's hand with my metal one and pulled it towards me, where I impaled it with my greatsword. 

Two ice spears lodged themselves in one orc's head while another was turned into a porcupine. Six orcs were left and they charged at me without fear. In the midst of the charge, Jane's ice spear pierced another orc's head. Two orcs came at me from the front. I charged at one and pierced its throat with the Mithril blade in my metal arm while slashing the others with my sword.

There were three left now. They were currently being barraged by ice spells and arrows. While they were distracted, I ran up and decapitated one. Jane finished off the other two with ice spears through the heart. The battle was finished, and I cut off their heads. Storing them in separate bags, I put those in my inventory. 

The farmers came outside to see what happened and rejoiced at the orc corpses on the ground. I asked the nearest farmer if Jane and I could stay the night and he happily agreed. A guest room was prepared and we took off our armor and weapons. Storing them, I climbed into my bed and Jane snuck between my arms. I gave her a kiss and we both fell asleep. 

Once morning came, Jane and I headed back to Krell for the quest reward. We arrived in a few hours and got inside the city. We walked to the Guild where we informed the receptionist of the subjugation. He paid us ten gold and told us to keep up the good work. We will, in Lerton at least. We left the guild and headed back to the mansion. There, we said our goodbyes to the kind Cipius family before we left. Oddly, Elsie's goodbye was tearful as she hugged both me and Jane while crying. 

Both of us patted her head and told her we would visit sometime. Jane and I walked over to the city's eastern gates, where the caravan had arrived when we got to Krell. Ethan was planning to head back to Lerton, which I had heard about. I saw his head of sky-blue hair and walked up to him.

"Hey Ethan, are you planning to use the same route to go back?" I asked him.

"No, it may be the fastest route, but it's the most dangerous. Those damn Wraiths will shred the guards. Unless..." Ethan looked at me with expectant eyes.

"Yeah, I'll be joining you on the journey back. I needed to go back anyway." I said with a smile.

"Alright, we'll be going back that way. I just hope nobody dies this time..." Ethan said with a bit of melancholy in his eyes.

"I hope so too." I said through gritted teeth.

We left the gates as soon as everyone was ready and went in the same formation as last time. Ethan hired fewer guards this time. He probably didn't want to lose adventurers again. It was for the better because I'd shown up and could help properly defend the caravan. 

A week passed by without any trouble and we arrived in the town that was near the Shadow Wraith territory. Everyone tensed up at this point and some had cold sweat forming. They were formidable monsters, and even the B-rank adventurers got anxious. We set off in broad daylight. When it was evening, everyone set up defenses in the middle of the same clearing where I first encountered them. 

Night fell, and it was so quiet you could hear everyone's breathing. Then, movement. Something moved in the dark, and the swarm of Wraiths appeared. The barricades we set up held fast, and we cut them down as they appeared. There were many of them, every time I killed one, two showed up. I kept cutting and cutting, making full use of the blade on my arm and the greatsword in my hand. 

I saw Jane casting some ice magic, and repeated her actions. When there were lulls in the waves I fought, I tried casting that same ice magic. After several dozen tries, I managed to cast an ice spear. I gained the spell and was delighted at the damage it caused.

New Skill! Ice Spear Allows you to cast a spear made of ice. Has a 60% chance to chill the opponent and slow them for 5 seconds. Damage: 225(+50) Mana Cost: 80 Ice Magic Mastery Your level of proficiency with ice magic. Higher mastery increases damage, reduces mana cost, and reduces the cooldown of ice magic. Mastery: Beginner 1 Effect: 2%

The cost of the spell was large as I could only use it five times before running out of mana, but it would do a ton of damage if I leveled the mastery and my Intelligence stat. I fired off the ice spear when I could, and the migraine I got from mana exhaustion was pushed back by my pain resistance. 

-Jane's POV-

I was surprised when Michael learned the ice spear spell from me. Granted, it did take him a couple dozen tries but he still learned it. I would like to teach him more magic, but that could wait for later. Right now these damn wraiths needed to be taken care of. I looked over to see how Michael was doing and saw a Wraith approaching him from behind.

When I aimed at the thing, he stabbed it in the head with his mithril arm-blade while killing another one. I promptly switched targets and continued giving assistance to the most critical areas. Michael looked at me and gave me a thumbs up as if he knew what I was going to attempt to do. I felt reassured by his gesture and continued killing these things.

-Michael's POV-

After gesturing to Jane that I was fine, I continued killing any Shadow Wraiths that approached me. Any adventurers that were heavily injured fell back to be treated by the non-combatants and the reserve adventurers would take over. I didn't need that. Any hits I took were easily shrugged off and I delivered devastating blows to the Wraiths. Slowly, but surely, we would be able to hold out until the morning came.

The sun rose over the horizon and the Wraiths retreated. We cheered as we held out against these vile creatures and suffered no losses. The injured were piled into the carriages and the adventurers who could move guarded the caravan against any dangers. 

Two weeks passed by like this, and we eventually made it to the gates of Lerton. Jane and I left the caravan while saying goodbye to Ethan and the others. I didn't really know where to find the harem group until an idea popped into my head. I grabbed Jane's hand and led her to the jewelry shop where we purchased our rings.

We entered the store and headed over to the section where we were shown our rings and found the harem arguing over who would get to wear a ring set with Kudo.