"Well, the academy ends at 3 PM every day, so I've got some free time."
I stretched and cracked my knuckles. "Phantom, let's go monster hunting."
"Aye, boss. I'm ready when you are," Phantom replied with his usual sly grin.
We checked the available quests for something easy enough but rewarding.
"Orcs, huh? Too bad it's above my rank."
"Guess we'll hunt them anyway. No reward from the guild, but the materials will still sell."
A little loss on the profit margin, but no big deal.
We set out and quickly spotted a lone orc lumbering through the woods.
"Phantom, play with it for a while."
"On it. Going stealth—Hide!"
The orc never saw him coming. Phantom appeared like a ghost from nowhere, slashing and slicing, vanishing before the creature could react.
"Pugiii!" The orc squealed in confusion, waving its axe wildly at thin air.
A grin spread across my face. Perfect. Just as planned.
Phantom continued to toy with the orc, taunting it with quick strikes, drawing out the battle until— "Yes! Jackpot."
The orc's cries attracted more of its kind. Soon, a whole group of orcs emerged from the trees, rushing toward the commotion.
"Death Whisper. Let's keep it going. Time for bonus rounds."
One after another, orcs charged at us, only to meet their end just as quickly. The slaughter didn't stop.
"This is getting out of hand, boss," Phantom warned. "The numbers... they're not normal."
"The more, the better. Keep going!"
"If your mana runs low, say the word. I'll carry you out," Phantom offered, slicing through another orc.
"Just keep storing the bodies. Storage—Activate!" I ordered.
The flow of dead orcs piled into Phantom's spatial storage without delay.
I grinned. "Mana Transference! Mana Absorption!" I channeled mana through Phantom, replenishing his reserves.
"Boss, Mana Absorption only works by touch—and there's nothing alive left here, just corpses."
"Mana is in the air," I replied smugly. "Breathe it in."
Phantom sighed. "Only you could come up with logic this ridiculous. You could probably fight a whole nation by yourself, boss."
"Death Whisper. Another one bites the dust. Keep loading them in."
"Storage—Activate! These orcs are no match for us."
Phantom paused, glancing at the seemingly endless horde. "This many orcs... it's starting to feel like a stampede."
"A stampede just means more gold. Each corpse goes for one gold coin, right?"
"Yes, but the market price drops if we flood it all at once."
"Then we won't." I grinned. "We'll sell them one body a day."
"Smart. Got it. Storage—Activate."
We kept going, Phantom growing a bit weary.
"This is getting repetitive, boss..." Phantom muttered. "You're not bored yet?"
"We can't stop now. If we leave these orcs alone, they'll ravage the town. I'm a kind man, Phantom—a man of the people."
"Of course, boss," Phantom chuckled. "You'd never leave gold lying around."
"Exactly."
Phantom rolled his eyes. "Only you, boss. Only you."
The stampede finally came to an end after two thousand orcs. My jaw dropped as I stared at the loot.
"Two thousand gold coins," I whispered, practically tasting the wealth. "I hope we get another run like this soon."
When we returned to the guild, it was already in chaos.
"An orc stampede! Nearly two thousand of them!" one adventurer cried.
"How the hell did that happen?" the guild master demanded.
"Apparently, the orcs dug their nest into a cave that connected with an underground cavern. A colony of big bats lived there, and the orcs started eating them, causing their numbers to explode."
"Get the defense line ready—now!"
Yeah, no way I was going to tell them I caused the stampede. If word got out that I was involved—or worse, that I used Death Whisper—I'd be in serious trouble.
Selling all the orc corpses at once would also be too suspicious. Even the dumbest guild officials would catch on if someone showed up with 2,000 dead orcs out of nowhere.
"Phantom, wear a mask when you sell the bodies," I instructed.
"You got it, boss."
"For now, let's get our adventurer registration sorted."
"You sure you don't want the credit for taking out all those orcs?" Phantom asked.
"No need. Not yet."
We headed to the capital's mask shop—a place that catered to nobles. They sold masks for masquerade balls and other high-society events.
I chose a sleek, silver mask that looked like something a mysterious villain would wear. Perfect. With this, I could sell one orc body per day, every day, for the next six years.
Money is love.
I enjoyed a quiet dinner at the guild's tavern, listening for any interesting gossip.
"Hey, did you hear? The orc stampede just disappeared."
"Yeah. Not a single corpse or drop of blood left behind."
"Must've been the work of some high-level monster—maybe even a slime king."
"Nah, slimes always leave some residue behind."
"It's a mystery."
"Remember that guy we saw testing spells in that low-level dungeon?"
"Yeah, the water magic expert."
"Bet he had something to do with it."
"Let's watch for whoever starts selling orc materials. That'll be our guy."
Great. Looks like Phantom would have to lay low for a while. Exactly as planned.
The more attention he drew, the more I could keep working from the shadows.
Everything was falling perfectly into place.