Chieftain Kakula
Chieftain Kakula
Amidst the illusion that he could smell the grass of the great plains, Kakula, leader and chieftain of the orcs, slowly opened his eyes.
He had sat before a roaring bonfire and kept vigil through the night, but his mind was clearer than ever. The snoring of the remaining orcs reached his ears, but it didn't bother him in the slightest. In Kakula's long life, this phenomenon was always the same.
A sign that danger was approaching.
It was a phenomenon that occurred when his instincts caught the thickening scent of death and the souls that sensed the deaths of countless kin warned Kakula. In times like these, a swift decision was always necessary, and the fact that Kakula was still alive meant his decisions had never been wrong.
"Kaba. Summon the shamans."
Kakula was always confident when making decisions, but this time was an exception. Even as he delivered the predetermined order, anxiety and hesitation writhed within him.
He himself was a shaman, so he had always accepted the prophecies of the tribe's shamans without reservation, but now he had no certainty.
But unlike him, the stalwart Kaba showed not a shred of hesitation at the chieftain's command. The shamans, who had gathered together to sleep, rejoiced even knowing their fate. They took pride in the glory of opening the greatest path for the great chieftain's future and in being able to go to the heavenly great plains, and even the orcs who ordinarily did not look kindly upon the shamans respected them at least in this moment.
Their joy at the thought that the opportunity had finally come to a life they had assumed would end in disgraceful death from old age was truly orc-like.
As Kakula raised his massive body and headed toward the ancient mystery within the cave, the shamans and some of the orcs followed. The cave was not deep, so it did not take long. Standing before the ancient mystery, having stepped over the corpses of dead Demonfolk, the shamans behind Kakula spoke in unison.
"Great Chieftain Kakula. We shall sing of your valor as we attend our ancestors in the heavenly great plains."
Kakula answered by nodding with his back still turned. As he raised both arms, the ancient mystery began to churn. Something that was neither words nor murmuring flowed from Kakula's mouth, the sorcery was activated, and the shamans standing behind him crumpled like puppets with their strings cut.
Using the souls of the shamans who died in this way as a catalyst, the souls of those belonging to the tribe churned. At the same time, Kakula's head shook briefly but violently.
"The raid failed."
He could tell. What the souls of the warriors flying in from afar meant. The souls, unbound by time and space, were trembling in terror even at the moment they flew to Kakula. They held no resentment toward their kin who fled leaving their deaths behind them—they were simply afraid.
"The warriors are speaking. They say the War God and the War Goddess, enraged that they set foot on the land of white soil, borrowed human forms to punish them."
"Preposterous!"
The anger of the orcs, including Kaba, was justified, but Kakula could not react as they did because he could fully feel the fear and emotions of the souls. Even if the memories were distorted by amplified emotions since they were already dead, the beings in the visions shown by dozens of kin were truly worthy of being called War Gods.
"Beware of Eldmia Ega, who flows like the wind and severs necks, and Ekadrina, who wields steel. Death spreads before the ancient mystery."
A warning and foresight of the dead.
The sentences uttered during the unavoidable phenomenon while communing with countless souls and borrowing their power, separate from Kakula's will, never actually reached Kakula's ears. His mind was entirely focused on using the ancient mystery completely through the power of the souls. Yet, as if he had two vocal cords, incomprehensible words—spells or something else—continued to flow from Kakula's mouth.
"We shall tread upon the land of the great plains..."
As the end of that murmuring concluded with a properly formed sentence, blue light spread from the closed mystery and at the same time the sorcery was completed, and longing spread through the orcs' eyes.
Grasslands still verdant, a gentle breeze incomparable to the land of white soil. And hundreds of kin gazing upon the mystery. Kakula, who had been glaring with the whites of his eyes during the sorcery, severed the connection with the souls and returned to normal to look beyond the mystery. Hundreds of orcs knelt before him, and Kakula, straddling the threshold of the mystery, looked down upon them and said:
"Children, it is war. Take up your axes and mount your wolves."
Then the orc who knelt alone at the very front asked in return:
"Chieftain. How many warriors do you desire?"
At that question, Kakula raised his head and looked upon the boundary of the mystery. Many souls had been consumed to open this gate. He could be certain it would remain open for at least half a day.
That was enough time for warriors to cross into this land as much as they wished.
"As many warriors as possible, until the moment the mystery closes."
At Kakula's words, the kneeling orcs raised their heads with astonished eyes, and then, as if by unspoken agreement, they rose as one and let out a war cry.
◈
The banquet was sufficiently grand, but the next day dawned with adventurers still bitter about not being able to crack open all the barrels since the battle wasn't completely over.
Truth be told, watching guys who had done practically nothing carry on as if they'd fought the whole world alone made me want to snatch away the food they'd already eaten, but I managed to endure it somehow. It was the kind of situation where praising them just for not running away and working hard was the right call. I had to turn a blind eye to that level of posturing.
Thanks to the residents' consideration, I had no guard duty, so I slept in properly for the first time in a while, and when I woke up, the hour had already passed morning and was staring at lunch. It was less about fatigue from the day before and more because I'd eaten heartily, chattered with Yekaterina, and fallen asleep late.
"Big Sis, I'm going to stop by the pantheon for a bit."
"Mmmnnhhh..."
Asilie had been included in that chatter too, so being weak in the mornings, she couldn't even properly open her eyes. Still, leaving Asilie behind as she waved her hand with difficulty in something resembling a farewell, I went outside with Laika, and the still-clear sky welcomed us.
"Wonder if word's come from the capital."
If I'd woken up early, I would've waited endlessly like someone waiting for a package delivery, but since I'd slept in and time had skipped ahead, I felt like I'd somehow gained a strange advantage. With absolutely no certainty but filled with anticipation that word must have already arrived, I headed toward the pantheon, and as expected, Ikop, who was on duty, greeted me.
"Ikop? You're not standing guard all day long, are you?"
"Hahaha, it's coincidence, coincidence. Have you come to see the administrator? She's in conversation with the knight at the moment."
"That worked out well. I actually came to see Sir Bisquente this time."
See? I told you my luck was good. Leaving Ikop behind and stepping into the pantheon, Bisquente and Siel, who had been conversing with smiling faces, welcomed me warmly.
"Ah! You've come at a good time. I was just wanting to deliver this good news to you quickly. A message just arrived from the royal household."
"The royal household?"
"Yes. It seems that writing that a gate was suspected was indeed the correct answer."
Given the incident at the academy and all, the royal household, which was moving troops for the purpose of maintaining public order, had decided to provide help this proactively—as Bisquente said, it must have been because of the gate. I was about to marvel at how they'd actually believed it, but that wasn't the end of the surprises.
"They're sending no fewer than four wyvern knights. I wondered if it wasn't excessive force, but they probably also have the objective of an investigation unit to investigate the gate. This place is now secure."
"...My god."
My god indeed. In reality, four wyvern knights, which were practically no different from what would be used for the royal guard? This wasn't just using a cow-slaughtering knife to kill a chicken, it was closer to dragging an elephant's foot over to step on an ant.
If it were a war between humans, that'd be one thing, but orcs, who didn't have a single means of long-range suppression, wouldn't be able to defeat a wyvern knight even if hundreds of them swarmed in.
"It's written that they're also sending a separate wyvern pilot for navigation. And... I thought the content below was something Sir Ega would need to see directly."
"Me?"
"Yes. It's a message that Princess Mesina wishes to convey personally."
Why the hell was that leech of a princess popping up here all of a sudden?
Was there nowhere that girl didn't stick her nose in? As far as I knew, the king had about four children, so why was it always her I kept running into?
I wasn't keen on it at all, but I trusted she wasn't the type to spout nonsense even in this kind of situation. At the bottom of the letter I received from Bisquente, there was indeed a postscript directed at me.
[I have recruited someone with whom you are acquainted, so there should be no inconvenience in your movements. Once matters are settled, I will arrange a meeting to address not only this incident but also the compensation for the series of preceding events.]
What the hell. I didn't know any wyvern knights among my acquaintances? And in the end, it finished with 'let's have a conversation,' so she was indeed that leech of a princess.
Of course, since beheading that demon bitch at the academy was a pretty big incident, I couldn't deny that I'd given her leverage this time, but...
"Contrary to my nature, I ended up reading a bit of the content, but were you acquainted with a wyvern knight as well?"
"No. I didn't have anyone like that among my acquaintances... Ah. Perhaps she's referring to the wyvern pilot for navigation. I do have exactly one acquaintance there."
Since she was a princess in name, she'd at least know information related to Gies, so this guess was probably right. I hadn't seen his face in a while—was winter truly the season of reunions or something?
"Anyway, it's truly a relief that it's good news. They said the riders set out well in advance for preparation, so perhaps the wyvern knights will arrive soon."
"In that case, I should go out and wait again so there's no delay whatsoever."
Standing around in the cold wind waiting for people was a shitty thing to do, but Bisquente instead laughed pleasantly and rose from his seat. And although I was not at all pleasant about it and not keen in the slightest, I had no choice but to follow and leave as well.
"In any case, according to the contents of this letter, I'll likely need to guide the way together with the wyvern pilot, so it'd be better to go wait together."
"That's true. Thanks to you, even if their arrival is delayed, there shouldn't be any boring waiting."
It had been purely to minimize my own annoyance, but perhaps taking it as a form of consideration, Bisquente lowered his head courteously in response.
Yeah, with four wyvern knights, the only thing left to do now was sit back and enjoy a picnic. I could manage this much.