Chapter 108
Chapter 108
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: Noisy Sleeping Quarters (2)
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My sleeping spot was noisy.
My head felt cozy and warm, incredibly comfortable.
It had a soft yet firm texture.
Even a gentle fragrance.
My body felt refreshed all over.
All the fatigue and stress had vanished, or so it seemed.
A gravelly voice rang out.
"The human's living in luxury, eh."
It wasn't an orc's voice.
The smell of beer wafted over.
A dwarf?
"Using a high elf's thigh as a pillow. Never thought I'd see the day in my dwarf life."
Ah, so this was a thigh.
No wonder it felt so different from a regular pillow.
"...Thigh?"
I jolted awake.
The face I saw when I opened my eyes.
Clear eyes and a pert nose.
Fair skin and cherry lips gazing down at me.
A soft smile—
"You're awake?"
"Uh... yeah...?"
It was a face I saw every day, but looking up at it felt entirely different.
And then.
Swoosh—
Luna poked her head out from beside Serena's.
"Papa? You up?"
"Luna!"
Her puffy eyes.
She'd definitely been crying.
Was it because I suddenly passed out?
"Papa hurt? Luna heal you!"
Treat?
The saintly Luna could do it, but didn't she still not know how to handle holy power?
Serena stroked Luna's head.
"After Chris collapsed, Luna started wielding holy power."
"Holy power?"
"She must've been really shocked. She can do it a little now, but..."
Luna, who had been clinging to Serena's neck, thrust one hand high into the air.
"Kyak!"
Fwwoooosh—
"...????"
It wasn't just dazzling.
For a moment, my vision went pure white before returning.
Power surged through my entire body.
My muscles relaxed into languid ease.
"Again! Again!"
Bwoom!
"Papa! No more hurt?"
There was no pain left at all.
This level of holy power could probably heal a sword wound in no time.
"No hurt!"
I was utterly dumbfounded.
Babies grow a ton when they wake up from naps, but was her growth really this rapid day by day?
At this rate, she might really grow up overnight.
More importantly, when did Luna get so close to Serena?
I thought she only let me carry her.
Luna wriggled down toward me.
"Big sis nice! Big sis make..."
"Hm?"
"Kyak! Secret!"
My heart sank.
A secret from me?
Luna keeping secrets from me?
And then, a real thud echoed.
Thud—
Crack—
Snap.
"Ha... what's with all these noises since earlier?"
They'd been going on even while I slept.
Sounds of pounding and smashing.
I turned my head and saw Drzant up to some weird antics.
Drzant, decked out in piecemeal armor.
An orc holding an axe and club-like tools.
"Hey, orc! Hit the shoulder part again."
"Chwiik!"
The wooden club swung, shattering on impact with the armor.
Kwajik—
"What kind of idiot monster are you! Shouldn't you smash it with the axe?"
"Chwiik! Wait!"
The axe swung at Drzant's shoulder again.
Kwang!
Crunch.
The axe shattered entirely.
"Hmm, shock absorption still needs work."
"Chwiik! My fist harder than axe!"
The orc, whose axe had broken, snorted excitedly.
It must've been furious that its full-force blow hadn't scratched the armor.
Whoosh—
The swung fist struck Drzant—wearing a helmet—square in the back of the head.
Snap—
"Chwiiiik! Not broken!"
"Narku! Fist broken! Weak now."
"Not broken, just bones scattered temporarily!"
This was ridiculous.
What the hell were they doing?
"Mr. Drzant said he was making something."
"Hm?"
"On request from Sir Parmon and Mr. Closel..."
So that's why they were human-testing it like this?
"When'd the old-timers arrive?"
"Yesterday. They came furious."
I figured as much.
I'd definitely warned the orc spirits.
That they'd regret it.
Humans have two reactions when they encounter orcs: run or kill.
No big deal since nothing happened, but they must've broken a sweat anyway.
"Where are they now? Any injured orcs?"
"Luckily no orcs hurt by them, but... they're probably hurting themselves."
"...?"
Come to think of it, right before I passed out, things had gone to hell.
Orcs brawling among themselves.
Were they still at it?
"Let's go see."
I picked up Luna, and soon the commotion grew louder.
"Chwiik! Fight more!"
"G-Gullak, all orcs die!"
"Not dead yet! Tell when about to die!"
The orcs were in bad shape.
Their eyes bulged red every time Gullak jumped around.
Gullak was even handling it adeptly.
"Chwiik! Fight only till near death!"
Beside him, the old-timers gaped in disbelief.
"Ah! You're here? Explain this quick."
"Old-timer?"
Mr. Closel looked off too.
Excited like the rampaging orcs.
"How can orcs perform a gut ritual? What are all those things we're seeing?"
"Well... it's complicated..."
Voices urging the orcs kept coming.
"Fate on the line! Chwiik! Fight more! Need sparks!"
Gullak's face was pale.
Had the old-timers threatened him?
Then Gullak spotted me and rushed over frantically.
Wearing a tearful expression.
"Human Shaman! Big trouble!"
"Yeah?"
"Ancestor spirit gone! Look there now!"
Gullak pointed to where flames burned.
"Huh, yeah? It's gone?"
"Chwiik! Yeah it is! Ancestor spirit not coming!"
Gullak stomped his feet in desperation.
The old-timers openly observed in fascination.
"Ramon, if you'd killed that one, the mages would've wept blood."
"That's why I asked before acting, right?"
"Drawing your sword ready to slaughter them all?"
What the hell had these old coots been up to while I was out?
Setting aside their banter, Gullak looked on the verge of madness.
It was a big deal for a shaman.
"Won't come for a while."
"Chwiik?"
A spirit that barged into the divine realm.
Probably getting an earful of scolding right now.
It had used a lot of power showing me things too.
"It'll come back once it recovers its spirit energy."
"Chwiik? Sure?"
"Grandma doesn't see it in a bad light. If she did, you'd be dead too."
"Chwiik?"
The orc issue would sort itself out with time, so set it aside.
I had questions for the old-timers.
"The shaman's spirit showed me old memories."
"Ho ho?"
"Memories from when the spirit was alive, so about five hundred years ago?"
"Five hundred years... Hmm."
Mr. Closel tilted his head.
"Care to explain?"
"Orcs were at war with undead, and there were demons."
The mood turned grave the moment "demons" was mentioned.
Drzant, who'd followed us, and Serena too.
"Saw the saint of that era too."
The most important part remained.
Something beyond my common sense.
A bizarre entity neither living nor dead.
"A lich was with them."
"...!"
Mr. Closel bulged his eyes.
"A lich? Do you know where it is now, by chance?"
"No. I only saw it back then."
Mr. Parmon casually waved his hand.
"Rosel and I fought that bastard plenty. Won many times with holy knights too."
"..."
"An ancient grudge. We clashed nonstop until the final battle."
First time hearing this.
No one liked talking about the Continental War.
I'd only heard vague demon mentions.
This was the real story.
My knowledge had limits too.
Commoners had no need to know the war's ins and outs.
Just survive—that's it. Necromancers were the bad guys who started it.
"Chop a lich's neck, it doesn't die. Shred its body to bits, same thing."
Makes sense; it's not really alive to begin with.
"It has a Life Force Vessel. Container for the lich's soul. Destroy that, and it vanishes."
But no one knows where it is.
The old man continued.
"Everyone thinks necromancer leaders are demons or demon kings."
"..."
"But that bastard's the one directing the summoning of demons and demon kings."
Summoning demons and demon kings.
I'd wondered but never asked.
"What do they summon them for, exactly?"
Mr. Closel made a strange face, then widened his eyes in realization.
Turning bewildered.
"I see. Thought you'd know it all naturally. Forgot you're a commoner."
"...Pardon?"
My position was ambiguous now.
Involved in all sorts of major events, with extraordinary company.
Naturally tangled with big shots.
Too serious for a commoner's antics.
"What I'm about to say is top-secret info folks don't know. You don't need the burden, but wanna hear?"
Of course.
Probably why I'm here.
"Tell me."