Chapter 22
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Friendship and Trust
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The village was already buzzing with festival energy, even hotter than during the day.
People clustered here and there around bonfires at the center, tearing into the alcohol and meat bestowed by Gurkan while singing songs and dancing.
"It's quite the heated festival vibe, isn't it?"
"We haven't eaten our fill or gotten properly drunk in ages. Not much rain this year. Game sought water far away, so our hunts fell short. We're barely scraping by on our stockpiles now."
"I see. Somehow, I feel bad about it."
Johann expressed his guilt, worried that Gurkan and the warriors had overexerted themselves preparing the feast on his account, but Adun just laughed heartily in response.
"No worries. You were just a convenient excuse from the start. We'd have thrown a feast soon enough anyway, some pretext or other to ease our kin's hunger and stress. You just provided the perfect one."
"Glad to hear that."
Following Adun to their destination, Johann arrived in front of Gurkan's hut and took in the grandest banquet spread of them all.
"This is impressive again..."
"Has my comrade arrived? Come, sit right here."
Johann took the empty seat beside him at Gurkan's call.
"Thanks for inviting me to such a fine feast."
"Khahahaha! Why the sudden formality now? Just call me Gurkan. I'll call you Alpha nice and casual too."
Gurkan laughed heartily as he filled Johann's cup with liquor.
Johann smirked and took the bottle, pouring into Gurkan's cup in return.
"That's music to my ears. Truth be told, I was starting to get chills from all the stiff talk."
"Kkkk! Knew it."
Gurkan raised his cup and stood.
The warriors, rowdy and reveling, all lifted their cups in unison as if on cue and turned to their great chieftain.
"Ahem!"
With all eyes on him, Gurkan cleared his throat once and bellowed.
"Hear me, warriors! Never has our Gurkan Orc tribe seen a day as joyous as this! To us, humans have always been sly, weak-hearted villains! And we never doubted they'd stay that way! But today, Alpha—a mighty human warrior—has come to us!"
"Alpha! Alpha! Alpha!"
The warriors chanted Johann's alias, whipping the mood into a frenzy.
At the height of it, Gurkan raised a hand and seized everyone's attention once more.
"On his way here, he clashed with countless of our warriors! Yet he took not a single life lightly and proved his skill and sincerity! And the warrior's rite? You all saw my disciples crumple from one punch each!"
"Khahahahaha!"
The crowd erupted in laughter.
Notably, even the disciples who'd been knocked flying by Johann's fists were roaring with it.
"Undeterred, he challenged me—and we fought to a draw! If any warrior here withstood even one of my punches in that rite, step forward! I'll gladly face you!"
Gurkan scanned the crowd fiercely, but no one budged.
Not out of fear, but because every warrior knew their limits and Gurkan's power all too well.
Anyone striding forward confidently would have been no fearless hero, but a fool oblivious to dread.
"You warriors know better than anyone that the rite is no mere brawl! This one proved his skill, his guts, his resolve—to me and to us all. And I accept it! Any objections?"
"None!"
"Then here and now, I declare Alpha our true sworn brother—before me, before us, before our ancestors! Raise your cups high!"
Everyone lifted their cups at his words, and Gurkan turned to Johann.
"Your turn now. Anything to say?"
"Ahem! Well then..."
Johann stood with his cup in hand and surveyed the warriors.
They looked reliable at a glance.
Their eyes and physiques spoke volumes of the training and real battles that had forged them—no words needed.
'Terrifying foes when facing off... but the staunchest allies when aiming the same way.'
How fortunate must Gurkan be, with such men pledging their lives to him... Johann felt a twinge of envy.
"Hear me, brave Orc warriors!"
With all eyes on him, Johann grinned and shouted.
"Any pup walking out on two legs today dies by my hand. Drink up!"
WAAAAAAAA!
The warriors cheered wildly, and the frenzied party kicked off.
"Gurkan warriors' courage towers over mountains! Their fists harder than steel!"
"Adun's at it with the songs again!"
"Someone drag that bastard down! No, kill him!"
Adun squealing like a stuck pig, desperate folks holding him back, others doubled over laughing as they shoved food and drink into their mouths.
Fellows inexplicably bursting into laughter and chatter only for fists to fly in an instant, turning brawl—while others ignored it all, betting coin and cheering them on.
A riotous gathering of every sort of Orc imaginable.
Johann's top focus amid it all: the dishes meticulously prepared by the Orc chefs.
So incredible, platters piled high vanished in a blink, only to refill in the next.
'So many dishes I've never seen.'
"Khahahaha! Surprised? Nothing like human grub. But the taste is guaranteed—dig in without regrets."
Johann's fork and knife were already slicing into a thick slab of mystery meat on his plate before Gurkan finished.
Hunger gnawing deep helped, but even stuffed full, the result would've been the same.
The aromas wafting from the food were that mouthwatering.
Munch munch...
And the meat in his mouth surpassed even his expectations.
"Mm...!"
"How's that? Delicious, right? Khahahaha!"
Tender enough for gums to chew, juices bursting with every bite to flood his mouth!
Rich savor exploding from them toyed with his tongue, nose, and brain before bidding a fond farewell down to his stomach—leaving him wanting more.
The trouble: this wasn't the only dish like that.
'So this is what Adun was talking about?'
Johann dove into the table skirmish fiercer than the warrior's rite.
Slack off for a second, and meat or booze alike vanished in a blink.
Thus the joyous, cutthroat feast of a lifetime deepened into night.
A deep night where even moonlight had dozed off.
Snore... wheeze... Snore... wheeze...
"My wife... why's that pretty face so rough now. And the smell..."
Some snored obliviously away from the world, while others mistook a fellow warrior's sole for their wife's and smooched it blissfully.
Sleeping poses varied wildly, but all wore satisfied, happy faces. Sure, their surroundings were a total wreck from five minutes prior.
Amid the chaos, just two shared cups in a calm utterly unlike moments before.
Johann and Gurkan.
"You're more popular than I figured."
Gurkan smirked as he refilled Johann's cup.
"Tell me about it. Hahaha..."
Johann gave a wry laugh.
All on account of the Orc women relentlessly prodding his side through the endless feast.
"Figured scrawny humans like me weren't the type?"
"Looks might not click, sure—but aren't you the powerhouse I vouched for? Our women prize the inner man over the shell."
"That's... a fine taste indeed..."
"None catch your eye? Or subrace squeamishness?"
Subraces weren't all that different from humans, really.
Gurkan Orcs looked much the same, green skin aside.
"Nothing like that. Just holding back 'cause acting now means I can't handle the real business at hand. Humans get cautious when they've got something to protect."
"I see. Sorry. Guess some inferiority lingers, try as I might to hide it."
"No harm done. It was fun for me too."
Johann topped off Gurkan's cup in reply.
Gurkan peered into his rising liquor and asked.
"That 'real business' you just mentioned... it ties to why you came here?"
"Spot on. But first, a proper introduction. I'm Johann Crimford, second son of House Crimford, Earls of Bellovan Kingdom."
As Johann offered his cup and reintroduced himself, Gurkan met his eyes gravely, clinked cups, and drained his clean.
"Doesn't look like you used 'Alpha' to deceive us. What's the reason, then?"
"I trust the Gurkan warriors' resolve and valor. But humans' cunning and scheming? That too."
"Fair enough. But why reveal your true name only to me, so calculating a sort?"
"Can't lie to a friend, even if. If a guy like you got nabbed and spilled my name, it'd mean my goals were already toast no matter what."
"Khahahaha! As if anyone could catch and interrogate this body. Put your mind at ease—won't happen in a thousand lives."
Clink.
The pair refilled each other's cups and clinked again.
"An earl's house is high nobility even among humans. Why risk your neck seeking me out? Not doubting your motives—just uncanny, you speaking our tongue, finding our village so quick."
"Funny hearing this now, but don't friends ask that before declaring brotherhood? Feels like the order got flipped..."
Gurkan smirked back.
"That's what the warrior's rite is for. Words can't be trusted—not human, Orc, or anyone. But fists? They never lie."
"Fists speak?"
Johann stared puzzled at his own fist.
He'd never once heard a fist—his or anyone's—talk.
"A fist with ulterior motives slithers like a snake. Greedy ones chill like icicles. A coward's weighs less than a newborn chick's down. The resolute's stands straight as bamboo. The brave's burns hotter than the sun. And a true warrior's like mine—harder than iron."
Gurkan jabbed a finger at Johann's fist.
"Yours burned sun-hot and stood bamboo-straight. Not quite mine... but rocky hard, sure. Men like that earn trust. Not just from me—my disciples felt it too. Else they'd never have accepted you, my word or no."
"Huh. Orc warriors are something else. Doubt I'd ever hear a fist's voice, dead or alive. So I just gotta thank mine?"
"Pretty much. Still dodging my question, though."
"Gonna sound crazy. Still wanna hear?"
"Shoot."
Johann laid it all bare to Gurkan: his regression, what had happened before, what he was gearing up for now.
Gurkan heard him out in utter silence.
Before they knew, dawn's light began creeping in.
"Your life's been one hell of a ride, Johann."
Talk done, Gurkan poured the bottle's last drop into Johann's cup.
Johann gazed at the rising liquor with a wry smile.
"Asked you to believe me, and it's still surreal. Never dreamed you'd buy it so easy."
"You, my comrade, asked me to believe. I said I would. Where's doubt got room to squeeze in?"
The pair clinked their final cups and toasted.
Johann downed his last clean, rose, and bowed deeply to Gurkan in sincere apology.
"Sorry..."
His voice apologizing with bowed head overlapped the final one Johann had heard before blacking out in the rite.
'So that's it. That's why...'
The inexplicable sincerity in that mystery apology clicked into understanding.
Why he knew their isolated tribe's tongue and location. Why he'd sought out a total stranger to call friend.
Understanding sharpened it all: Johann's desperate straits...
"Don't apologize for what hasn't happened. You killing me and wiping our tribe before your return? That's a future that ain't come for me yet. Won't now, either. To stop it, aren't we here sharing cups—you and I? Comrade."
Smirk.
"Hearing it that way... yeah. Thanks, friend."
Clink.
The scripted future faded bit by bit, giving way to a new history unfolding.
How the Regressed Young Master Lives