A New Ally Among Orcs
I instructed the dolls to prepare for departure and surveyed the inn where Zadin was staying. It was a typical Xenuma-style stone inn with multiple rooms lined along a long corridor, and its exterior looked clean, suggesting it had been built relatively recently. Upon entering, I spotted women eating breakfast, and among them sat Zadin, his back turned to me as he shared the meal. Judging by how his vital energy had gathered in the women's lower abdomens, it seemed he had indeed spent a passionate night as expected.
Approaching him from behind while he chatted with the women, unaware of my arrival, I covered his eyes and asked, "Guess who~?"
"Oh, Elisha, you're here?"
"What are you so happy about?"
"Hahaha, I feel great after a good rest."
"Hmm~ Hello, everyone."
"Hello."
"Nice to meet you."
After greeting the women who had spent the night with him, I took a seat at the same table. Neither Zadin nor the women mentioned their physical encounter from the previous night, as if it had never happened, and instead engaged in light, everyday conversation. Since it didn't bother me much either, I joined in while enjoying a simple meal.
Still, once we finished eating and were walking toward Galina's house with Zadin, I casually asked, "How were they?"
"What do you mean?"
"The sex, obviously."
"Huh? Did it show? We all agreed it was just a one-night fling and to forget about it."
"Even if they pretended otherwise, their eyes were dripping with honey whenever they looked at you."
"Hehehe, I really gave it to them."
Zadin boasted that he hadn't planned on it at first, but had been unable to resist the women's persistent seduction and pleas for more, pounding them until they were spent.
"Hee~ It must be a shame you'll only stay one night."
"It was just a fleeting connection anyway. No regrets. We're heading out now, right?"
"Yeah. We'll wait a bit for our new companion and then depart right away."
"New companion?"
"You can look forward to it. We've got a really strong one joining us."
With Zadin curious about who the new companion might be, we headed to Galina's house to wait for Dahgon. After a short while, just as I had expected, Dahgon returned from preparing to leave, a pack on his back and an axe at his waist.
"Alright, let me introduce you. This is our new companion, the orc Dahgon."
"Krrk."
Zadin froze in a daze at the sight of Dahgon bowing lightly in greeting with his now-smooth face, then stammered, "The new companion is an orc? Really?"
"Yep, that's right. Dahgon, this is my friend Zadin."
"Krrk, pleased to meet you."
"He's growling or something. That's fine, right?"
"Yeah, he's just saying hello."
"Uh... really? Nice to meet you too."
Since the two men couldn't understand each other, they simply stared at me awkwardly. Thinking it over, I remembered the simple fact that if I gave Zadin my ring, they would be able to communicate.
"Here, take this ring, Zadin."
"A ring?"
"It's a m-magic ring."
He accepted it with a puzzled expression and slipped it onto his finger. When nothing seemed to change, he asked, "What makes it magic?"
"Dahgon, say something."
"Krrk?"
After uttering a syllable Dahgon didn't understand while looking at me curiously, Zadin spoke in a voice mixed with surprise. "Whoa! The orc can talk?"
"It's enchanted to let you understand each other's languages. Go ahead and chat."
"Kuar, karok narunda."
"Ah, yes. Pleased to meet you."
They seemed to be conversing about something, but since I could only understand Zadin, I couldn't tell exactly what they were saying. Next time I visit Earth, I should stock up on more magic rings for the future.
Zadin soon finished what he had to say and returned the ring. Slipping it back on my finger, I asked Dahgon, "Are you ready to depart?"
"Finished."
"Good. Then let's go."
We boarded the armored vehicle we had arrived in, passed through the gates opened by the orc gatekeepers, and joined the waiting unit members outside.
"I'll ride on top of the lead vehicle again, so Zadin, you ride with Dahgon."
"That... it's still too awkward. Can't I ride in another vehicle?"
"Use this chance to get to know each other. Dahgon, get along well with him too."
"I'll try."
"Thank you. Zadin, take the ring."
Handing the ring to Zadin, I left the two sitting awkwardly and climbed onto the lead armored vehicle to give the order to depart.
Using the long-range receiver on the command vehicle atop the dust-raising armored column, I connected to the communications post in Eden. However, the signal was weak due to the distance, so I sent only a brief message requesting news and information from Eden and Xenuma, then waited.
There wasn't much information from Eden. As planned, a large-scale sweep operation had begun from the north, pushing back the monsters, and both Kensus and Ryuzan had dispatched elite support units like Eden. There was also information about Tarykin's civil war, which was growing more intense by the day.
Among them, the sweep operation in northern Xenuma had produced unexpected results. The northern lands once occupied by orcs driven out by monsters were now falling under human control. Eden's analysis suggested Kensus to the west of Xenuma might intervene, but Kensus was too preoccupied with Tarykin's severe civil war and border security to do anything but watch Xenuma's territorial expansion helplessly.
Yet this information couldn't explain the strangely low number of monsters in eastern Xenuma. If anything, monsters pushed from the north should have flowed eastward, increasing their numbers, not decreasing them to the point of being barely noticeable. According to information from Galina, the surrounding intermediate outposts last sighted monsters about a month ago. Since then, they hadn't been attacked at all.
There had to be a reason, but what could it be? Everything seemed to be going well, so why did I keep getting this ominous feeling? Ugh, no matter how much I thought about it, nothing came to mind right now.
Setting aside the unsolvable problem for now, I decided to extract and store genes from Dahgon's semen to cool my head. We traveled for another full day and arrived at our next supply point, Babatus. The vast fortress situated in the center of endless farmlands was a key stronghold for storing military rations from Xenuma's breadbasket, a place the military couldn't afford to abandon even in crisis.
And that fortress was currently under siege, gloriously surrounded and isolated by a massive horde of orcs.
"Whoa~ How many are there? They're swarming."
"Hmm... Just from what's visible, maybe around thirty thousand? If we account for the other side we can't see, it'd be over sixty thousand."
"Ugh, that's disgustingly many."
"Krrrk."
"Ah, scratch that 'disgusting' part."
Seeing Zadin immediately apologize as Dahgon growled in displeasure, I pondered how to break through the orc settlements scattered throughout the farmlands. Hmm, I wanted to minimize conflict as much as possible. Was there a good way?
"Elisha, the chief says he has something to say."
"Dahgon? Give me the ring."
"Here."
After receiving the ring and putting it on, I looked at Dahgon.
"Orc settlements. There is a way through."
"Is there a good method?"
"Orc settlements. Divided into multiple factions. That one is the Red-Eye settlement. That one is the Blue-Beard settlement. They don't get along."
Dahgon pointed to the large settlement on the left, calling it the Red-Eye settlement, and the one on the right, the Blue-Beard settlement.
"Again, orcs are stupid. The two hostile settlements will just watch if an enemy settlement is attacked. If we cross between the two, we won't be attacked."
"Oho~ So that's a method. Thanks for the good information."
It was a tactic using inter-settlement conflicts that would be hard for non-orcs to know. It had been an impulsive decision, but having this unexpected advantage made me glad I recruited Dahgon after all.
Following Dahgon's information, the long column began passing between the two settlements. Orcs from both sides poured out in droves but only watched from a distance without any sign of attacking. Safely passing the orc settlements and reaching the fortress gates, soldiers on the walls signaled downward. While the soldiers lined up along the walls with guns aimed toward the orcs, the gates opened, and we began entering the fortress one by one. Just as Dahgon had said, the orcs merely watched from afar until we were all inside.
The three of us got out of the armored vehicle and met with Babatus's field commander.
"Welcome to Babatus. Have you come to support us?"
"Yes, we're a support unit dispatched from Eden. Do you need verification?"
"Hahaha, in a situation like this where we're fighting monsters, would we need such verification between humans? Thank you for coming all this way to help."
"We've brought supplies, so please check them."
As expected of a key food production hub, Babatus lacked combat supplies like ammunition more than food. With a balanced mix of male and female soldiers, there were no issues relieving sexual urges, food was plentiful, and aside from the surrounding orcs, they didn't suffer many monster attacks, so it wasn't in bad shape.
Instead, I received information from Babatus's commander that our next destination, Dogotan, was in danger.
"The last contact was two weeks ago. We've been trying to reach them since, but there's no response, so we're assuming something's happened."
"Two weeks without contact... They might indeed be in a dangerous situation. We'll depart as soon as we unload the supplies."
"You've come a long way. Are you sure you don't need rest?"
"Our unit's greatest strength is forced marches without needing rest. Given the urgency, we should leverage that strength."
Shortly after the commander left to finalize the supply check, Zadin spoke up.
"A base that's gone dark... Feels like a bad omen."
"Could be anything from a comms equipment failure to total annihilation. We'll only know once we get there."
"How long this time?"
"Hmm..."
Calculating the distance and travel time to Dogotan from the mental map, I replied, "About two days in a straight line. There's a forest in between, but there's a path Xenuma used, so we can go through there."
"Thankfully it's close this time."
Zadin groaned while rubbing his back, while Dahgon stood quietly behind me listening.
-Captain, supply delivery is complete.
-Reboard and stand by.
-Yes.
After receiving farewells from the Babatus soldiers, we quickly boarded the vehicles and departed toward Dogotan, crossing the orc settlements the same way we had come.
After traveling more than a day toward Dogotan and reaching roughly the halfway point, the frequency of encountering monster hordes began to increase sharply.
Thud! Thud!
"Whoops. These damn monsters have made the road a mess."
"At least they're all small ones. If there were big ones, the path through the forest would've been blocked."
"But is it okay to hold that monster in your hand like that? It's a bit scary."
"The kid seems fine. Very docile."
I was observing a very small monster found among the smaller ones, placed on my palm. Like other monsters, it had a black, glossy body, but with a strangely cute round head, large eyes, and a plump body—an extremely docile creature.
"The way it lies still and occasionally wriggles is kind of cute, don't you think?"
"You're the only person in the world who'd call an unknown monster cute."
"Krrk."
At Zadin's disgusted remark, Dahgon, sitting beside him, nodded in agreement.
Hmm, everyone's reaction is negative. Compared to the other grotesquely shaped monsters, isn't this one small and cute? It doesn't even look disgusting. When I gently pressed its round head with my finger, it spun left and right in response. Though it was an unknown dangerous creature, its cute appearance and gentle demeanor made it seem purely adorable.
I tried offering military rations, snacks, fruits, and vegetables, but it ate nothing. Monsters were supposed to devour anything in sight, yet this little one wouldn't even eat jerky, so it was clearly different somehow.
While I played with the small monster, the diligently traveling unit eventually reached a distance where Dogotan came into view. Though it was still too far to make out clearly even with magnification, the program's analysis indicated that part of the fortress had collapsed.
"Looks like the possibility of annihilation has gone way up."
"Bad premonitions never miss, huh."
"I'll go ahead and check it out."
Equipping my flight suit, I soared into the sky toward Dogotan. As I approached, I saw black slime covering the entire fortress, along with collapsed walls, ruined houses, and sunken ground. There were traces of battle, but no signs of people or monsters.
-From what I can see, it's confirmed as annihilation. Moreover, it's covered in strange slime, so checking inside the collapsed buildings is impossible.
-Did the monsters get them? Then what do we do?
-We'll report to Babatus and head to the next destination, Sehudro. No guarantee it's safe there either.
-I'll handle the contact.
-Okay. I'll look around a bit more before heading back.
-Be careful.
Landing in the central clearing of Dogotan after surveying the interior, the slime under my shoes was stickier than expected, clinging to the soles with every step. Aside from the squelching sound of my footsteps, no other sounds came from the desolate fortress interior. I wandered around for a closer look but found nothing of value.