#024 Discrepancy
#024 Discrepancy
Near Normance.
We decided to begin by thoroughly searching the place where the elf had reportedly disappeared. Before entering the forest, though, we made one preparation.
"Master, what is that?"
"A Mana Control Robe."
Over the clothes I'd bought at Cospaco's salon, I purchased one more full-body covering robe and draped it over myself.
"With this, nothing's exposed except my face, heh heh heh."
The Azure Moon Goddess's blessing is only necessary for adventurers exposed to danger.
Do those who don't need the influence of Divine Power really have to expose themselves?
Especially those who don't want to be influenced by other powers would be even less inclined.
"They say it's what mages at the Magic Tower wear when conducting experiments. How is it?"
"It's white, so it seems like it'll get dirty easily."
"You can handle that with Clean Magic. Despite how it looks, it's quite sturdy."
The white robe, shaped like a gown, was proving well worth the single Gold Coin I'd paid for it.
"This thing has the power to keep anything from leaking out from inside. Heh heung."
The Mana Control Robe I'd obtained from a place introduced by the Adventurers' Guild had the power to prevent mana from flowing outward.
"The Adventurers' Guild said exposure is defense. But that's not me, is it? Right?"
"That's..."
"The undead can't receive the power of the Church of the Azure Moon Goddess. Watch."
I rolled up my sleeve and extended my arm to the side, then took a dagger and lightly pressed it against the back of my hand.
Shhk.
"Master!"
"What a fuss."
It was only a dagger, yet it still left a cut.
I tended to my hand just enough that blood—or rather, mana—wouldn't leak out, then reached out to calm the flustered Lucius.
"No blood. I just pressed lightly. In the first place, healing and recovery magic don't even work on me, so would I be crazy enough to actually wound myself?"
"That's true."
"Right? So don't make such a fuss. I know my own body best."
Mana ran throughout my body, and with it I could control every part of myself.
"I'm a mage too, you know. Even if I can't recover my body with Divine Power, I can regenerate it with mana."
If it came down to it, even if my muscles were severed, I could force my body to move with mana, and even if my body broke down, I could restore it with mana.
"And on top of that, thanks to you, I learned this body can be strengthened, so basic regeneration should be possible."
"Because of me...?"
"By exercising with you, I learned this body is capable of exercise."
"Ah."
Apart from not having blood flowing through it, this body was no different from a human's.
A human body that couldn't receive the aid of Divine Power.
"I could even build abs later. Look at this. Right now it's just a skinny stomach with nothing on it."
"Master..."
"What? It's just you here, so I can't even lift my shirt? No one's watching."
"I am watching."
"I lifted it for you to see, didn't I?"
Lucius froze on the spot.
"Take a good look. Don't forget. I'm going to train really hard and show you how this changes later. This body can do everything a human can do..."
In that moment.
"Ah."
I realized one important fact.
"What's wrong?"
"Then could I even get pregnant?"
"......."
Lucius said nothing.
"Ugh, I don't like that."
At the very least, I wouldn't have a menstrual cycle.
The monthly affliction that befalls women would not occur.
How could I shed blood when I don't even have a heart to produce the blood that would need to be shed?
What flowed through my body was mana, and at most, mana was all that dwelled within it.
"...Hmm. Wait a moment."
WHOOOOOSH.
I placed my hand on my lower abdomen and stirred up mana.
"What are you doing?"
"Quiet. I'm adjusting it so mana doesn't escape from my body."
Mana was my life force.
I couldn't let it spill out once a month just because this was a woman's body.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that? Were you that shocked about the pregnancy thing?"
"It was so out of nowhere that I was taken aback."
"I understand being surprised since I brought it up suddenly, but I've never done it either, so I don't know how it would turn out."
"Pregnancy... you've never had a child?"
"Of course not."
How could I, a man, have a child?
"Would I be crazy enough to get pregnant?"
Even among Demonfolk, women were the ones who became pregnant; men merely served the male role.
There were occasional hermaphrodites, but I was unquestionably male.
"Ah. Was this topic too stimulating for virgin Lucius? Hee hee."
"...Master."
"It's a joke. But it's also related to what we're about to see from now on."
This wasn't a topic I brought up just to joke around.
"Lucius. Do you know about orcs kidnapping elves?"
"Isn't it to eat them?"
"Right. To eat them. Elves... heh heh."
As I made a sinister expression, Lucius's face darkened in an instant.
"Oh, do orcs really do that?"
"What. When you react like that, it makes it feel real."
"Th-then...?"
"It's a load of hot air."
"...Excuse me?"
"Bluster, I said. You don't know that word? Tch, kids these days..."
"...Isn't there a word called 'lie'?"
"Forget it. I tried to make a joke, but it didn't land."
I fastened the Mana Control Robe tightly, then drew figures of an orc and an elf on the ground with the tip of my staff.
"Orcs and elves are sworn enemies. They can never coexist. It's because orcs unilaterally covet elven lands. In other words, orcs are trying to devour elven territory."
Five hundred years ago.
The reason the orcs belonging to the Demon King Army and the elves belonging to the human alliance fought most fiercely was, naturally, over 'land.'
"The orcs who lived in the wastelands wanted to settle down in the forests. They wanted to cut down the trees, burn the wood, and build massive fortresses to live in. So where would be the best place for that? It was where the elves lived."
They truly fought ferociously.
Orcs varied far more from individual to individual than elves did, but they took the fight to the elves with sheer grit and fighting spirit.
—My king. Preparations are complete. We are ready to pluck those bastards' ears.
—Is the Elven Forest this large an area?
—That is correct.
—Then set fire to the forest. In a circle.
—...No, if we set fire to the forest, won't we be unable to fight here? We cannot do such a cowardly thing against those ear-freaks! Rather than such a cowardly victory, I would sooner die—gurk!
—No backtalk. It's a threat to say we'll set fire. A demonstration... hey, hey! Who actually charged in with fire—argh, seriously!!
—For our king!!!
—Victory for our king!!!
—Let us capture the Elf Queen and offer her to our king!!!
—...Argh, those loyal blockheads.
With the Demon King's innate strategy added on top of that, the elves had no choice but to surrender quickly.
The process earned us the elves' tremendous hatred, to the point that they came to kill members of the Demon King Army on sight. That was a bit of a blunder, but I learned something important.
"Orcs are stupid. That probably hasn't changed much even after five hundred years. Right?"
I could tell from looking at the goblins.
The Demonfolk hadn't changed much from five hundred years ago.
"...Still, it could be dangerous. We need to approach carefully."
"Right. And conveniently, they're coming this way."
Orcs.
Unchanged from five hundred years ago, th—
"...What are those?"
"They're orcs."
We held our breath.
Lucius held his breath with the enemy before his eyes, while I was speechless because, although they were clearly orcs on the outside, they were quite different from what I knew.
"Those are... orcs?"
"Grunt, huff, phew."
"...How are those orcs?"
Before my eyes stood an orc with its upper body exposed, its lower body crudely covered with leather like a goblin's loincloth over its vital parts, and a massive belly thrust out so far that it seemed like it could cover those vital parts with its bulging gut without needing the loincloth at all.
—Victory or death!
—Kaa bin mok tajak cha!!
"...The orcs I knew, just what...?"
Where had the elite orcs of the Demon King Army gone?
Those warriors of the wastelands who valued war and honor, who swore to follow the strong after being defeated in battle against me—where had they all disappeared to?
"Those aren't orcs, they're walking pigs."
"They're orcs. Even if they look like that, their strength is..."
"Really? Lucius. If you went and fought, could you win?"
"...If I hunted from a distance."
Lucius was a hunter.
He might have become the owner of a Holy Sword, but his swordsmanship was still unpolished.
"In a head-on fight, you'd need the Holy Sword, right?"
"Shall I try?"
"No. You could get hurt. There's no need to take that risk..."
In that moment.
I caught sight of Lucius clenching his fist.
'His pride, huh.'
So he thought he could handle at least one orc, did he?
...It made me a little sad to call those things orcs, but if even mountains and rivers change in ten years, then after five hundred years, the orcs might have changed as a species.
Just as desert camels store fat in the humps on their backs, those fellows must have stored fat in their bellies.
"...They do look sluggish at a glance."
Their strength may be great, but if their attacks don't land, it means nothing.
"Still, there's no way our Lucius would lose to a pig-like thing like that. Right?"
"Of course."
"Still, avoid their attacks as much as possible."
"I'll do my best."
"If you can capture one alive, try to. And..."
I infused mana into Lucius's sword.
"This is...?"
"Attribute infusion. The power of wind should be saved for truly important moments, so fight with this for now."
"This is... flame?"
"Yes."
Fire and wind are opposites.
The wielder of the Wind Holy Sword using the power of flame?
Even if someone suspected Lucius's identity, they'd just think he was a swordsman who used a 'flame sword,' not immediately conclude he was the owner of the Wind Holy Sword.
They'd simply think the Crimson Mage had breathed flame into it.
"Of course, you could also use this to threaten that thing, but..."
"I'll capture it quickly. Please watch."
Lucius gripped the flame-infused sword.
"Here I go...!"
And leaped toward the orc in one breath.
"Sn-snort...!!"
The moment the orc saw Lucius, it immediately pulled something out.
"...A whip?"
At the appearance of a weapon unbecoming of an orc—no, first of all, it didn't match that appearance—or did it?—I was genuinely flustered, but Lucius calmly dodged the whip's trajectory and swung his sword in one breath.
SLASH, SLASH!
"SQUEEEAL!!"
Truly, with a sound like a pig being slaughtered, the orc collapsed to its knees, blood pouring from both shoulders.
Lucius aimed his sword at the orc's neck, and the creature's skin began to redden as if cooking.
"......."
Though he was trying hard to act composed, Lucius's eyes were sparkling, and he seemed genuinely satisfied with his accomplishment.
Flick.
I smiled and gave him a thumbs-up, then changed my expression and stood before the orc.
"...Lok'tar?"
"...Taramra?"
I was certain.
These things weren't orcs.