Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: The Orc King's Pact
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“Chwiik!! Chwiieeeeik!!”
After the first battle with the orcs.
As if the flood of various monsters pouring out like mad had been a lie, the path taken by Ares and Mercy was nothing but orc after orc.
Orcs kept popping up one after another.
The common trait among the orcs that encountered the expedition party was that they all urged them to turn back upon spotting them.
Even while drooling greedily, that is.
But there was a clear difference as well.
“Young Master, we've taken care of them all.”
Hakaren reported as he wiped the blood and grease from his sword.
“Sir Hakaren, what emblem was tattooed on those orcs you just dealt with?”
“...It was the Blue Sword Tribe.”
Hakaren's curt report. At those words, a sigh finally escaped Ares's lips.
“...This is insane, really.”
The orcs the expedition had encountered as they pressed on.
The difference among them was that they all belonged to different tribes.
Red Axe Tribe.
Black Sickle Tribe.
Blue Sword Tribe.
And even orc commanders adorned with unknown markings.
Ares felt a sense of utter helplessness for the first time in his life as he gazed at the orc corpses.
Just how far had these orcs expanded their influence?
And what was the identity of this mysterious tribe with the unknown markings?
Ares, lost in thought, spoke wearily.
“...Pushing further won't accomplish anything. Tell Mercy and Sir Kamit as well. We're heading back.”
“...Understood, Young Master.”
Hakaren gave a short reply to Ares's command.
How could Hakaren not understand the feelings of Ares, who was called the knight among knights?
Ares, Mercy, and even Jerome, who had recently been making a name for himself. They were all fiercely competing for the succession.
Even so, the fundamental principle of Ares, the lord he had chosen to serve, was to put the family first.
He hadn't thought so in the past(?), but even the recently reformed Third Young Master Jerome surely felt the same.
Ares's heart must have been incredibly conflicted at retreating without confirming the identity of an enemy right under the family's nose. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ “...And that's how the second expedition ended. In the end, both the Young Master and Young Lady returned to Banten without confirming the results.”
Kamit's expression soured as bitter memories resurfaced.
“After returning to the family, the Young Master and Young Lady abandoned plans to delve deeper into the mountains. Instead, they focused on solidifying the existing trade routes and prioritized alliances with the elves over commerce.”
It was a rational and correct judgment.
Attempting trade with an unknown enemy right in front of them would have been foolish.
That said, engaging them alone would require enduring heavy losses.
Those two wouldn't do something so recklessly stupid.
They had probably given up on advancing trade routes and aimed to quickly ally with the elves first.
Establishing routes after completely driving out the orcs would have been far easier.
‘And if they could use the orcs as an excuse to build ties with the elves, they might even take the lead in trade.’
Even in that situation, they would have been plotting their next move.
Annoying as they were, they were smart.
I inwardly reevaluated my brother and sister as I asked Kamit in return.
“Then you didn't push ahead with opening the trade routes this time either. So why are they lying there like that?”
My brother Ares had called this the ‘third expedition.’ That meant they must have planned to send a small envoy to the elves.
So what was with those injuries?
At my question, Kamit's fist clenched tightly.
“The Young Master and Young Lady planned to lead a small group themselves into elven territory. That's when ‘that’ orc appeared. The ‘king’ the orcs spoke of.”
Recalling the event stirred his emotions, filling Kamit's voice with anger.
“At first, we thought it was some ogre. How could an orc like that exist? Most magic barely scratched it.”
According to Kamit, as they were swiftly heading toward elven territory, the orcs ambushed them.
The Orc King. He had brought the chieftains of various tribes with him.
The Orc King swung a massive axe, threatening the envoy group.
Outnumbered, the envoy had no choice but to fall back helplessly.
“...Though we lost due to numerical inferiority, the Orc King didn't yield an inch to the Young Master or Young Lady. That wound on the Young Lady was inflicted by him.”
Kamit rubbed his neck, saying that with the orc elites led by the chieftains holding off the Volcano Knights and Hurricane Mage Corps, he'd thought it was the end.
But the more I listened to Kamit, the more I tilted my head in confusion.
“...Something's off. In that situation, how are my brother and sister still alive?”
“We find that strange too.”
As if anticipating my question, Kamit nodded in agreement.
“After inflicting a deep gash on the Young Lady's torso, the Orc King lowered his axe without killing anyone and told us to retreat.”
“Without killing anyone?”
Kamit's words were so unexpected that I found myself repeating them.
These inherently aggressive orcs, who must have been grinding their teeth over past losses—yet in that moment, no one died? And ordered by their king, no less?
‘How is that possible?’
As I sank into thought, Kamit added something as if it had just occurred to him.
“Oh! Come to think of it, the Orc King muttered something incomprehensible as he left.”
“Incomprehensible?”
“Yes. It was so cryptic that I still remember it clearly. Something like... ‘By the pact, we do not eat humans from the southern mountains. Killing humans who cannot be eaten is a waste of time. But next time, no mercy.’”
...Huh? Wait a minute.
That sounded familiar.
“Mercy only once, he said. If we clash again, it could spark a full-scale war. With the Young Master and Young Lady so gravely injured, we're awaiting the Lord's judgment... Hm? Young Master?”
I jumped at the sudden call.
“Yes?”
“Your face looks pale. Is something wrong?”
“Ah, no. Nothing at all. I get the situation now, so let's discuss it slowly with my brother and sister.”
“......?”
I slipped away from Kamit, who was eyeing my odd reaction.
And understandably so—my expression control was slipping.
The Orc King.
Size rivaling an ogre.
Might comparable to my brother and sister.
And crucially, that ridiculous yet eerily familiar pact: ‘We do not eat humans from the southern mountains.’
I was certain.
‘Damn it, the Orc King was Hatan?’
The butterfly effect from my choices in this life was spiraling into an uncontrollable new history.
No, but even so.
Wasn't this too much? ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ After hearing the full story from Kamit and returning to my tent, I scratched the back of my head in silence.
“Ah, this is driving me nuts. How did it turn out like this?”
Winning the food competition against the Sword Family led to the elf princess's kidnapping.
A High Orc that should have died survived and unified the orc tribes in the Dragon Mountains.
My single actions were gradually altering history, now snowballing into massive changes.
Building ties with the elves—something impossible in my past life—would undoubtedly aid greatly in the war against the Empire.
But orc dominance in the Dragon Mountains was an entirely different matter.
‘By the pact, we do not eat humans from the southern mountains. Should I be happy about that?’
I recalled Saladin's words from back then.
—Now that guy will stick to your conditions until he washes away that humiliation.
I hadn't paid them much mind at the time.
But Hatan was adhering to the constraints I'd imposed with ruthless thoroughness.
Forcing even the tribes he'd conquered to follow them.
In other words, Hatan right now.
Desired more than anything to repay that ‘humiliation’ from before.
Especially since I had spared him out of mercy, which he saw as a humiliation.
Watching Hatan's actions, Saladin's next words hit heavier than ever.
—And someday, once he washes away the humiliation you gave him, he'll be free of those conditions.
Freedom from the conditions.
In other words, the shackle I'd placed on him—‘do not eat humans’—would be lifted.
‘With Father here, Banten won't fall.’
Only upon fully mastering the third stage in my past life did I realize.
How absurdly lofty the realm Father, Bacchus von Carviot, had achieved was.
But even so, if that monster that turned my brother and sister into bloody messes rampaged freely, some damage was inevitable.
Moreover, from Kamit's account, the bastard had the brains to anticipate our elf alliance and launch an ambush.
“Haa. No choice. Have to take the long way around.”
I still didn't know Hatan's exact level of achievement.
Couldn't declare victory in a head-on clash, so the safe path it was.
The next morning, I headed to the command tent where my brother, sister, and retainers were gathered.
“Brother, Sister. Feeling any better?”
“This punk. You think we're trolls or something? If you have eyes, you saw how bad it is. Healing in a day? That ain't human.”
Mercy snapped sharply at my (kind?) concern.
So prickly.
“Well, as you can see, still not great. Not the kind of wound that heals in a day, like Mercy said.”
My brother Ares spoke calmly.
Then he stared right at me. The look saying I wouldn't ask without reason.
“Don't stare like that, Brother. Gonna burn a hole in my face.”
“Tch, always scheming. Spit it out. You didn't come straight to the command tent at dawn for nothing.”
At Ares's words, I cut straight to it.
“What are you going to do about the orcs?”
“...Deal with them.”
“How?”
“Isn't that what this meeting is for?”
I shook my head firmly at Ares's response.
“No, Brother. We can't win alone. It'd be suicide.”
Bang!
“Young Master, that's going too far!”
Hakaren from my brother's faction slammed the table, showing his displeasure.
“Too far? Leaving aside the Orc King, how do we beat the unified Red Axe, Black Sickle, Blue Sword Tribes, and who knows how many others? That's recklessness, not courage.”
“...Khmm!”
Did Hakaren not know that? He just hated admitting defeat to orc monsters.
“So, what do you suggest?”
“Well, allying with the elves like you thought is good. Handling that huge force alone is tough.”
“I agree. But with those orcs blocking the way, that's the problem.”
To my brother's question, I proposed the simplest solution.
“So go stealthily. Without getting caught.”
“......”
“......”
Everyone seemed speechless at my straightforward logic. Hm.
“...Fine, whatever. How do we go stealthily? Orcs aren't idiots. They sense us in the forest.”
“Yeah, moving like now, we'd get caught. Orcs aren't morons, and our pace is snail-like.”
Mercy snorted beside him.
“Ha! You know that, so why keep suggesting dead ends? That's how we ended up like this!”
Mercy shouted in frustration.
The elf queen, Minerva, was exceedingly aloof.
Hard to expect her to move based on words from mere envoys, not Banten's lord or heirs.
So my brother and sister led the envoy themselves.
And got spectacularly ambushed by Hatan.
Now that the orcs had detected us, retrying carried too much risk.
Ares and Mercy's injuries made it impossible anyway.
The competing heirs of Banten were smart.
They'd be skeptical of retrying a low-success plan.
So.
“I'll go.”
“What?”
“I'll go. I was the one who planned trade with the elves originally, so it's only right I take responsibility.”
With my body intact, I had to move myself.