Chieftain Kakula

The Spirit, having read my expression, tilted her head sideways. Though I couldn't read her expression amidst the blazing flames, I could tell it was a questioning gesture.

[I sense dissatisfaction from you. You were worried about your body's safety, yet you're uncomfortable with the fact that you're fine. Why is that?]

Was this the sense of a spirit even when words were understood? I briefly pondered what an appropriate answer would be and explained as simply as possible.

"It's a good thing that my body is fine... but it's because I don't know the reason. Every time I used excessive Magic Power, I thought I felt the limits of my body. What I'm feeling now is... well, like fear of the unknown."

'So I was using Magic Power, but it turned out it was costing my lifespan, which is why my body was fine.' That sort of thing would be truly awful. I didn't want to die young in this life too.

[Hmm... I see. You live with death close at hand, so you worry about the anxiety and threats brought by the unknown.]

"Exactly. Even if it's something for later."

The Spirit fell silent for a while, seeming to ponder something. As I waited, feeling a cool breeze blow through the forest burning all around, her finger slowly moved toward my heart.

[Perhaps that 'limit of the body' you felt... was this sensation?]

Whoa?! No, even so, feeling it directly was a bit...?

"Huh."

For a moment I flinched as the utter disaster party from when I'd fought the orcs raced through my mind, but what I felt was the usual sensation of depleting the Magic Power stored in my body.

"Oh, yes. This is the sensation."

[This is merely a signal telling you that the Magic Power within your body is running out. You just need to replenish it, like when you fought the orcs, right?]

"...What?"

What on earth was she talking about? This aching-over-my-entire-body, even-breathing-became-difficult sensation was simply a sign of Magic Power depletion? Sensing shock beyond bewilderment on my face, the Spirit's head tilted once more.

[In the first place, you...... uh...]

Ah, wait.

Really, just wait. This couldn't be right, this really couldn't be right!!

Ah, really, stop the bullshit! Ah!!

The sensations I had felt vividly just moments before began to vanish, and the Spirit's voice became inaudible. My eyes, which had been wide open, were forcibly falling shut, and strength drained from my whole body.

[...later... Magic Power...]

The blazing fire whose expression I still couldn't read placed a hand on my forehead, and for some reason it seemed to be smiling gently. As if it understood what state I was in.

But that was the spirit's business, and I was naturally in no state to smile whatsoever, so I mustered every last bit of strength to heave my upper body upright and shout,

"No, seriously, this is not right, Spiri—grrk!"

"Gyaah!"

And I woke up in reality, headbutting someone ferociously. Thanks to that, my mind snapped wide awake, but inside my head I was busy cursing this situation.

Vicious. Too vicious. How could it cut off at that timing like that!!

But I had no time to wallow in that resentment and the severe pain shooting from my forehead; Asilie beside me, her eyes wide as saucers, immediately began touching my face over and over.

"Wh-what, Eldi!? You're awake?! Are you okay?"

"... Yeah. I'm okay, big ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sis."

The moment I saw Asilie, gaunt from who knew how many days without proper sleep, her shoulders slumped, my resentment and anger fizzled out. After checking my complexion several more times, Asilie finally burst into tears, and I, unable to do this or that, had to hold her and comfort her.

"But who the hell did I bump into..."

Without even the chance to confirm where we were, I turned my head to apologize to whoever had been caught up in this unfortunate accident,

"... Oh no."

There was Seneran, eyes rolled back, fallen backward, unconscious.

At first I'd been worried about my own forehead because we'd hit so hard, but now I had to worry about someone else first.

◈

Fortunately, Seneran quickly regained consciousness. Although she had a visible lump protruding on her forehead, the fact that I had awakened seemed far more important to her.

"You used Magic Power as if you were playing in a river?! How was it?! What kind of sensation was it?!"

At first she meticulously checked whether any part of my body had developed problems, but once it was proven that there was nothing wrong and my statement grew more detailed, she displayed her true nature—like a mad scientist—and launched a barrage of questions.

Honestly, I was drained after the Spirit had cut me off at the worst possible moment, so I wanted to just gloss over it, but once I heard she'd dropped everything and rushed over the moment she learned about my condition, it was hard to do that. In the end, only after I'd provided enough testimony to satisfy her research appetite was I able to have a normal conversation with Asilie.

"How's your body? You slept for three straight days; you're not uncomfortable anywhere?"

Crazy fucking hell. Three days? I wasn't even hungry, and I didn't seem to smell either?

I was unbelievably surprised, but first I decided to put Asilie at ease without showing it.

"Rather, I feel refreshed. My body's completely fine, too. But..."

Honestly, from my perspective, I didn't have the feeling of 'having woken up.' Apparently, I had already been conscious from the moment I opened my eyes while resting on the Spirit's lap. The only difference was whether my body and mind were separated or not. Thanks to that, even though I'd gotten up after three days, I could look around with a clear head.

First, despite three days passing, this wasn't the village, nor our tent.

Where I was situated was a large tent on the level of a commander's personal quarters in this other world's military. The interior, spacious enough to light a campfire, held convenience tools of unknown origin, a wardrobe, and a magic-stone heater. Naturally, those weren't our gear either. Even the bed I opened my eyes on was not a field cot but a folding bed of the sort nobles might bring on expeditions, and even a carpet was spread on the ground.

"... What the hell happened?"

Stupefied by the situation that anyone could see was VIP treatment, I stared at Asilie. Still checking my condition by placing a hand on my forehead or touching my body, Asilie answered.

"Well, a lot happened. After Eldi blocked the orcs, full-scale support arrived from the capital, a front formed in the course of fighting the orcs on a large scale, and in the middle of all that, since we couldn't know Eldi's condition and couldn't move rashly, we got treated like this..."

"Wait, big sis, a front? You still haven't subjugated the orcs?"

Even so, if troop support had arrived, it should be normal to crush them immediately. Asilie, who'd even begun checking the blood vessels in my eyes by lifting my eyelid, only then let out a relieved sigh and continued, seemingly convinced that I truly had no abnormalities.

"That's right. The numbers are one thing, but... those orcs weren't normal orcs."

My life had been so spectacular that I figured nothing would surprise me anymore no matter what I heard, but that outlandish answer—that they weren't normal orcs—surprised me.

'Those bipedal pigs, even if they weren't normal, wouldn't they just be bipedal wild boars at most...?'

"Eldi, you know about the Great Grassland beyond the Western Kingdom region, right?"

"I know. It's where orcs are especially numerous. The Great Expansion War where the orcs wiped out kingdoms was also a masterpiece that came out of there."

So these were those orcs? I was extremely curious what kind of gate had opened to ignore that immense distance and fly all the way here, but my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠perception remained strong: orcs were still orcs.

"Those were the ones uniting the orcs there again. The tribe of the Grassland Nightmare Kakula. They were known to command thousands of orcs."

And after hearing Asilie's answer, I decided to put that perception away. Right, they weren't normal.

"What the fuck has the Western Kingdom region been doing...?"

Not just the orcs, but even the Western Five Kingdoms that were supposed to check them.

I wasn't a nation-discriminating bastard, but the guys in the Western Kingdom zone clearly had a lot wrong with their heads, or they were a nation of pan-continental morons. They'd watched with open eyes while thousands of orcs gathered? In the monumental landmass that had already wiped out three kingdoms in the past?

These fucks, weren't they just like low-rank adventurer bastards?

Amid the feeling that my blood pressure might make me collapse again the moment I opened my eyes, I realized that the name Asilie had uttered was somewhat familiar.

"Wait. Kakula?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"... Hmm, nothing."

Definitely, the name of the orc I'd killed on the first reconnaissance had been Kakula Basha. Was he the son of this so-called great chieftain? Somehow, the orcs' movements felt like they had changed around the time of that bastard's death—was the guy going batshit because his own kid got killed?

Nah, no way. If that were the case, he shouldn't have sent out scouts. It wouldn't be a shitshow caused by such an utterly stupid reason.

"Anyway, Kakula had been a famous orc for a long time. I'd been hearing his name even back when I was still in my hometown. Back then he was called the Head Collector, but now he's called Great Chieftain Kakula."

Great Chieftain Kakula.

Asilie's supplementary explanation was that he was both a shaman and a warrior, and for an orc, an extraordinarily long-lived one. Moreover, since he was born a shaman, who were relatively smart among orcs, his mind was said to be sharp... but that was only by orc standards, so it wasn't particularly worrisome content.

The problem was that this bastard, uncharacteristically for an orc, was a shaman who'd seized the chieftain's seat, so the welfare for shamans wasn't bad.

Ordinarily, whether they numbered in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the thousands or tens of thousands, wyvern knights flying in formation and dropping bombardment should have wiped them all out; but now the orc bastards had a means of checking them. They were even operating cavalry, so the wyvern knights were said to be busy being diverted to the outskirts of the front to prevent the bastards from dispersing in all directions.

Naturally, the royal household also wanted to take active measures, but... the fact that the orcs had crossed over from the west through a gate was another problem.

Since the Demonfolk already had a record ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of pulling tricks with gates, they could not rule out the possibility that this was a trap targeting the capital. It was the biggest reason why the regular army and the truly elite troops couldn't move, even though they were mobilizing academy students, private soldiers of other regional lords, and private soldiers of nobles living in the capital.

It was a valid judgment. Even I thought it seemed enough like bait scattered by Demonfolk.

"The situation's going just great the moment I open my eyes."

I got out of bed, donned my equipment again, and picked up my sword. Given that things had moved to that extent, I had a vague guess even about the identity of the tent I was staying in. I'd be treated well because of my merit in blocking the orc cavalry.

Thanks to that, I seemed to have gotten a good rest and gotten up well, so it was time to earn my keep again.

"Uh, Eldi? How about waiting until someone named Bisquente comes?"

"Who's got time for that? If it's confirmed connected to the Grassland, it means as long as that gate is open, the orc bastards from there will keep crossing over here."

If I had to name one of the shittiest things in the world, it would be cleaning up someone else's shit. The situation where we had to handle all the shit that the bastards of the Western Kingdom region, whom I'd never even glimpsed, had shat out—that was something I refused from my side.

"My body's in perfect condition, and I've gotten a grasp on things, so I should quickly join and help. With this much movement, some familiar faces must have come by now."

"True... but... it might be a bit tough once you go outside..."

"Nah, I said I'm fine."

Leaving behind Asilie, who wore a peculiar expression and tried to hold me back, and Seneran, who'd fallen into her own world holding the memo recording my testimony, I lifted the entrance flap of the tent and stepped outside. An unmistakable military encampment spread before my eyes. People moving busily, people eating, people performing maintenance—it was almost to the point of wondering if this was really the temporary encampment where we'd fought the orc cavalry.

But that impression wasn't really important.

"Ugh, fucking disgusting. Feels like I've been in the army twice."

What was important was that the sight intensely reminded me of the army in my past life. I unknowingly frowned and was pondering where to go when, for some reason, the gazes of the people around me gradually began to focus on me.

"...It's Eldmia."

"Oh, Eldmia's awake."

But that reaction was somehow unusual. As if they'd seen a ghost, the reactions erupted simultaneously—not stopping at one or two, but spreading throughout the whole encampment.

"Eldmia is awake!!"

"The Orc Slaughterer finally opened his eyes!"

"Call Sir Bisquente! Eldmia is awake!!"

And it led into a sudden roar of cheers.

"Ah, fuck."

It seemed I had unwillingly picked up yet another honorific title on top of the Demon Dragon subjugation, with no way to refuse it.