Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: 11. Scarred Wolf (2)
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"Simon!"
The knights drew their swords in unison.
The orc yanked the unconscious Simon into its embrace and let out a guttural growl.
The sympathy it had shown just moments ago while rescuing the boy was nowhere to be seen.
The orc seized Simon's neck and bellowed something.
"What did it say?"
"Simon!"
"We have to save him!"
Haime didn't panic. He gestured toward the knights behind him.
"Corey."
A small, hooded figure stepped forward. Its gait was uneven, as if laboring under some disability.
He bowed his head to Haime and spoke.
"It says that if you release it, it'll spare the human."
He seemed to understand the orc tongue.
Yuri eyed Simon closely.
"Isn't he already dead?"
The man called Corey addressed the orc once more.
The orc slapped Simon's cheek.
"Ugh..."
Simon's body twitched.
He wasn't dead.
Yuri let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"The helmet saved him. Looks like he owes me his life."
He kept a calm facade, but inwardly he clicked his tongue. He hadn't expected Simon to make such a sloppy hostage of himself.
In that state, clashing with the orc would've turned him into nameless bones on the plains before long.
Feeling fresh gratitude toward Haime, Yuri glanced back.
"You just gonna keep watching?"
Hernando stood at the end of his gaze. The mage's eyes widened round.
"Me?"
"Yeah."
"You have to tell me."
"I'm telling you now."
"Yes. Understood."
As the humans conversed, the orc stomped its foot and barked something at Corey, apparently trying to intimidate him.
Then, abruptly, the orc's voice cut off.
Simon's limp body thudded to the floor.
The orc stood frozen like a statue.
"Now."
Hernando had halted the orc with magic.
Yuri strode forward, grabbed Simon's ankle, and dragged him back.
"Thanks, Hernando."
"No trouble at all. It'll wear off soon."
True to his word, the orc soon began to stir again.
"Graaaargh!"
A roar of fury shook the underground chamber. The orc snatched up the sword Simon had dropped and glared daggers at Yuri and Haime.
Yuri jerked his chin at a nearby young knight.
"Name?"
The knight blinked, then stepped forward with a firm set to his jaw.
"Guinness, sir."
"Guinness. Think you can handle it?"
"Yes, sir."
"Give it a go."
"Understood."
He circulated his mana. His movements grew light and fluid. He charged the orc and swung his sword.
Clang!
He was shoved back.
Even channeling mana, he'd lost the clash of raw strength.
The orc pressed its advantage relentlessly. Guinness dodged with agile footwork, but the gap in power forced him into constant retreat.
"Ngh!"
He struggled at first, but Guinness gradually adapted to the orc's patterns. Spotting an opening, he slashed at the creature's thigh.
But the orc didn't sit idle. It swung a fist in retaliation.
Blows were traded.
They fought on without pause, locked in fierce combat.
Yuri turned to Haime.
"Give them some advice, Sir Haime."
"Advice, huh..."
Haime watched the duel and spoke.
"Don't think of it as fighting a human. Treat it like a beast. It's nothing like crossing swords with your fellow man..."
Frustrated by the orc's resistance, the knight summoned a blue blade aura.
The orc fell back, gauging the distance. It seemed familiar with human techniques.
After several clashes, Guinness launched a decisive strike.
He exploited a gap to sever the orc's arm. The aura-clad blade sliced through flesh with ease.
As blood sprayed, the orc smashed its remaining fist into him.
Guinness crumpled to the ground, arm still locked in the cut. He tried to rise, but concussion dropped him back down.
"Orcs don't care about wounds. They learn techniques mid-fight. Unless it's the heart or throat, don't rush in. Handle it slow, like hunting."
The orc lunged at the downed knight, but Yuri stepped in its path. It halted and snarled.
"Your Highness!"
Raymond called out.
Yuri waved him off as if it were nothing and hauled Guinness to his feet.
"Guinness, can you stand?"
"Y-Yes... Your Highness..."
"Go rest."
"But you..."
"Don't worry about me."
He sent Guinness back.
The orc clutched its wounded arm and glared at Yuri but made no further move.
"Haime. Is this a run-of-the-mill orc?"
"No."
Haime shook his head.
"Smaller build, but battle-hardened. Stronger than your average. Call it a veteran."
Yuri glanced at Karchio. The man shrugged and held up empty hands.
"I see."
The orc remained rooted in place. Yuri's sheer presence was pinning it down.
Only Haime, standing close, noticed.
He regarded Yuri with new eyes.
Yuri summoned the interpreter.
"Corey, was it?"
The isolated Corey bowed low.
"Y-Yes..."
"Translate for me."
"Yes."
"How many humans has it killed so far?"
Corey hesitated.
Yuri nodded curtly, and he asked the orc in a trembling voice.
The orc's face twisted horribly—anger or laughter, hard to tell. But the grin stretching to its ears suggested mirth.
It barked at Corey, then turned to Yuri and continued.
"The orc says... that it's..."
"Out with it."
"Two..."
"Two?"
Not as many as expected. The knights exhaled slowly—until Corey's words continued.
"Warriors... meaning soldiers... two..."
All eyes turned to him.
"Men... five..."
The mood darkened.
Corey hunched smaller and finished.
"Women four... children three..."
Anger rippled through them like a contagion. Murderous intent filled the knights' eyes.
The orc laughed its grotesque laugh, a sound like pounding war drums.
"That thing..."
A few knights stepped forward, itching for an execution.
Yuri held them back.
"Enough."
"Your Highness, after hearing that..."
"One of you step up."
"Pardon?"
Yuri jerked his chin at the orc.
"It's a rare chance from Sir Haime. Can't waste it on venting spleen."
"It's not venting..."
"Just one orc."
Yuri slung arms over two knights' shoulders and scanned the rest.
"Don't you see the others?"
Their kin lay dying, yet they stayed silent. They knew stepping up meant death.
"They're all the same. The plains are crawling with worse."
Yuri patted one knight's cheek.
"This is training. We'll face orcs beyond counting from here on. Bottle that rage."
He shoved the knight forward.
"Practice how to kill more of 'em."
Yuri's voice carried conviction. The heavy mood settled deeper.
The knight faced the orc with newfound calm.
Once the first orc fell, Haime opened another cage. The orcs inside caught on and ceased resisting, but Haime inflicted pain, sending them into frenzy again.
In the bewildering chaos, the knights truly grasped the orcs' might.
They slew seven in total.
Yuri spoke.
"Plenty of you have never faced orcs before. If you thought them no worse than border bandits, you've felt the truth now. Thank Sir Haime, all of you. Without him, most here would've died young on the plains."
Even so, the knights' faces stayed grim.
They'd experimented on prisoners who couldn't fight back.
They stared at their bloodied clothes, wiping sweat with troubled expressions.
Haime stepped up.
"Not feeling great, I get it."
The knights looked to him—their gazes shifted, beyond mere awe into something unknowable.
This was the man guarding the border against such horrors.
"So for your sakes, one more show."
He clapped Karchio on the arm.
"Count?"
"Upstairs."
"Huh?"
Karchio scratched his head, face saying it wasn't necessary.
"Lead on."
"Yes, sir."
The dungeon door shut behind them.
They climbed the stairs and halted before the floor they'd passed earlier. Another iron door.
"Here."
The knights were strung tight.
Haime turned with a grin and slotted the key.
The door swung open.
Darkness shrouded the interior.
Haime plunged in torch-first without hesitation. Shadows retreated.
A wall loomed ahead, with an iron-barred gate at center.
A vast cell.
"More orcs in there?"
Haime glanced back at the questioner and shook his head.
"Nope."
"Then what?"
"Better if you see for yourselves. Come here."
He beckoned the knight.
The man wavered, then approached—staying a step from the bars to peer in.
"Can't see a thing..."
Suddenly, Haime seized his collar and shoved him face-to-face with the bars.
"C-Count?"
"Look close."
Haime pinned him from behind and thrust the torch through the gaps.
The gate was narrow; the view inside was blocked by their bodies.
Spotting something, the knight craned forward.
Moments later, he shrieked and thrashed like a man possessed.
"Aaaagh!"
Haime held firm.
The knight clawed at Haime's clothes, flailing wildly. Haime released him a beat later.
The knight stumbled back, slammed his head against the wall, and retched violently.
Haime's raspy chuckle mingled with the heaving echoes underground.
All swallowed hard.
"What in the..."
No one dared advance. What could provoke such a reaction?
Yuri broke the hush, striding forward.
"The Prince won't shy from it, I wager."
"We'll see."
In truth, Yuri had a fair guess what lay within.
In his past life, he'd roamed the deadliest frontlines chasing death. He'd ventured into the deepest orc domains on missions.
"Sir."
Yuri peered inside.
"Why keep these here?"
"Unsettling?"
"No. Just curious."
Haime smiled thinly.
"Even things like these have their uses now and then."
The cell brimmed with grotesque, unnameable abominations.
A few straggling hairs dangled from malformed scalps. Their eyes bent at unnatural angles, lacking any symmetry. Pus oozed from nostrils reduced to ragged holes. Teeth chattered in jagged disarray.
Their flesh was hunchbacked or asymmetrical, as if malformed bones screamed against the skin, swelling at random.
But the most revolting part was the undeniable human traces amid the horror.
Half-orcs.
The spawn of orc and human was cursed in form alone.
What twisted link between races compelled the gods to permit such atrocities?
"Half human, so we give them a chance."
"How merciful."
Yuri turned away.
"All of you, take a look."
The knights peered in one by one, stunned not just by the sight but by the very possibility of hybrids between human and orc.
"Merciful gods..."
Few knew of half-orcs. The topic was shunned, and the creatures themselves were rare.
Haime said,
"They don't come around often."
He scanned the interior casually and withdrew the torch.
"So a bunch like this? What does that tell you?"
Haime brushed past Yuri and grinned at the knights.
"You called it excessive, but we're just copying them."
"Copying?"
"Orcs have their own cages."
He elaborated no further, but all grasped the meaning. Hot-blooded knights punched the walls and spat curses.
"That's what you're up against."
The knights fell silent.
Haime regarded them.
"Just a heads-up: stay sharp."
His gaze settled on Yuri. Those gray eyes remained steady and serene.
Yuri asked,
"Sir Haime. Do you hate orcs?"
He smiled faintly. Scars and wrinkles twisted together.
"Yes."
Everyone had their mortal foe. If Yuri's was the Empire, Haime's was orcs.
Yuri placed a hand over his heart and offered thanks.
"Thanks to the favor you've shown today, orcs will spill far more blood. I guarantee it."
"That so."
Haime blinked. Torchlight flickered red in his pupils.
"Thank you."
He bowed deeply.
After a long moment of respect, Haime straightened and stared into the bars.
Throughout the horror show, his face never once twisted. What sights had he witnessed battling orcs?
Rumors said he'd reclaimed his son's corpse from an orc village.
Were those scenes still etched in his eyes?