The City-State's Guild Leader - 2
Gornakh.
A man who had once been human, reborn into the body of an orc.
Of course, he hadn't been thrilled about the reincarnation. Getting dumped into an orc instead of something cool like a dragon? There had been moments when he'd sworn that if he ever met God, he was going to give Him a piece of his mind.
But the second he laid eyes on a pack of orcs, his thinking changed.
These guys might actually be useful.
Orcs were stupid, sure — but they weren't weak. They were fearless, utterly unafraid of death. Which meant he had war machines in his hands that would gladly die the moment he told them to.
There was still a long way to go, but even just changing how they were used would turn them into devastating weapons of war.
"You're falling apart over one woman? Seriously?"
Gornakh couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Don't worry, sir. If we just overwhelm her with numbers—"
"That's exactly why you're in this mess."
Gornakh was the son of the current orc chieftain. Even in a society that valued nothing but raw strength, the chieftain's son carried weight by name alone.
There's got to be a better way...
As he mulled it over, his foot caught on some stones.
Wait. They don't even know about this?
A brilliant idea struck him.
Whoosh!
Crack.
What just flew at me?
Valeria, who had been carving through orcs without pause, scanned her surroundings at the unfamiliar sensation. Something different from everything so far.
Stone dust?
More precisely, a rock that had been sailing toward her — shattered by her kick. Instinctively destroying incoming obstacles was fine. But this was an attack she hadn't seen from them before.
Who the hell—
And along the trajectory she expected, there he was: that massive orc they called Gornakh.
The moment their eyes met, he bellowed.
"Throw rocks!"
"Yes, sir!"
In an instant, the orcs stopped their mindless charges and started hurling stones.
A rock thrown by an ordinary human would just sting. But—
Thwip.
"Ghk."
A rock thrown with an orc's full, brutish power was a genuinely dangerous weapon. Armor could be pulverized outright if you took a bad hit. Even a martial artist who'd tempered her skin hard as stone would take real damage from that.
I can just dodge them, but—!
Most of the throws were clumsy. Easy enough to slip past or smash apart. But—
Thwip.
"Ghk..."
One of them was distinctly different. Distinctly annoying.
That one came from him, didn't it?
And this whole situation — had he orchestrated that too? Creatures that only knew how to charge mindlessly were suddenly using ranged attacks. A massive leap forward.
He's the one commanding them?
She'd never heard of an orc like that. She'd deliberately let herself get surrounded, counting on her ability to shred every enemy that came close — but this changed things. This was a problem.
"Hey, you idiots! I said throw rocks — why is EVERYONE only throwing rocks?!"
And even that massive leap forward wasn't good enough for him. Looking at that orc, Valeria felt something she'd never felt toward their kind before: unease.
He leaned in and whispered something to the orc beside him.
What is he saying now?
"WRAAAAAAGH!"
While she was still dodging stones, the battle cry orcs used when charging rang out.
From behind?!
Whoosh.
And from the opposite direction, another rock came flying — one that felt like Gornakh's throw.
"What the hell is even happening right now?"
Orcs had tough hides. Getting hit by a pebble thrown by one of their own wouldn't drop them with a fatal injury on the spot.
"These insane bastards."
While the left flank hurled rocks, the right flank charged straight through — whether they got hit by friendly fire or not. A basic pincer attack. Except calling it a "pincer" was generous when the strategy could just as easily injure their own side.
A strategy only orcs could pull off...!
That man was dangerous. The shape of the assault had shifted into something lethal for her in a matter of seconds — nothing she had planned for.
I have to get out of here!
She'd mapped escape routes in advance, accounting for the possibility of enemies other than orcs.
"Tighten up more on the right!"
He knows about that too?
Valeria felt the danger spike. The crisis she'd already been sensing grew sharper. At some point, small cuts had started accumulating; torn skin was visible here and there. Nothing major. But the fact remained — moments ago she'd been completely unharmed, and now the injuries were piling up.
Focus on the rocks flying from behind, and she became vulnerable to the orcs charging from the front. A situation where being surrounded hadn't mattered at all had flipped in an instant.
"Damn it!"
She'd have to force a path open, even if it meant overextending. Feeling the chill of her own stage transforming into her grave in a single breath, Valeria moved.
But in the end, an orc was still an orc. A trained martial artist slipped free of the battlefield with practiced ease. She had a few scrapes, and she'd probably have to pay damages — but that beat getting caught.
For a woman, being captured by orcs was just another kind of death.
WHAM!!
"Urgh?!"
In a single instant, a fist of unmistakable power came flying straight at her.
"Sorry."
"Can't just let you walk away."
The orc called Gornakh stepped into view. He'd predicted her route and intercepted her.
Up close, he was clearly different from ordinary orcs. Not just the build — even the way he spoke set him apart from the rest of his kind.
Fine. I'll kill this one.
Take him out and escaping would get a lot easier. He was huge, but her fists could tear through orc hide all the same.
The punch she threw with full confidence was blocked by the orc called Gornakh.
"Well. I was curious how good you really were..."
"Pathetic."
Valeria clearly blocked the next attack that came at her.
But she had no memory of anything after that.
"Guild Leader?"
"I should've just run earlier..."
"Lady Valeria?"
"No... if it's that orc, he definitely planned for that too..."
"Valeria?"
"What do I do? For real..."
"Valeria!!!"
"Hyahk?!"
Valeria's trip down memory lane — replaying her escape in excruciating detail — was rudely interrupted. She let out a bizarre yelp, but at least it stopped her from dwelling on that humiliating moment any longer.
"W-what? What is it?"
"The Demon King's envoy arrives tomorrow. I told you to keep that in mind."
"A-already?"
"I've told you this multiple times."
"Right... okay..."
Could she even pull off the act of a confident Guild Leader in front of that orc? Or had he planned this entire route specifically to come take her back?
Gornakh himself would have found the idea absurd if he'd heard it — but Valeria was seriously entertaining the thought.
Fine. I'll get ready.
Once she made a decision, she moved immediately. Vaulting out a third-story window came as naturally to Valeria as breathing.
"Hey, mister!"
"Well now, if it isn't Lady Valeria!"
"What's the strongest weapon you've got right now?"
"Pardon? If you're talking about a custom order, that'll take some ti—"
"No!"
Valeria barked at the completely innocent blacksmith.
The orc who's after me shows up TOMORROW!
Somewhere along the way, her suspicion had hardened into absolute certainty — entirely of her own making.
"Just give me the strongest stuff you can sell me right now!"
"Heading out on a subjugation tomorrow, are you?"
"Hurry up!"
The smile that was usually brimming with confidence looked deeply unsettled now. Her brown eyes darted around, ready to bolt in any direction.
Is someone chasing her...?
But in this day and age, who on earth would be hunting Guild Leader Valeria?
No idea.
"Here you are. The price—"
"Write it up and send the bill to the guild!"
"Understood."
Valeria prepared with desperate intensity. Deep down, her mind already knew she couldn't beat that orc. Her body already knew it had been thoroughly steeped in the pleasure he'd given her. But she denied it.
For now, she denied it.
This time, I am NOT letting things go your way!
She wouldn't go quietly. At the very least, she was landing one improved punch on him, or else...!
"Ah, you've arrived..."
The city's mayor came out to receive them.
"You must be exhausted after such a long carriage ride. Allow me to escort you straight to your lodgings."
"Before that — mind if we talk for a moment?"
Orcs were all the same. All of them — except one.
"I'd like to meet the ruler of these city-states."
Gornakh. To his allies, a war hero who delivered brilliant victories. To humans, a devil who had reforged stupid orcs into metal components of a war machine.
"Is that person not here?"
Those grey eyes alone had long since become enough to send a chill down any human's spine.
"Ah — you wish to see the Guild Leader, then?"
"The Succubus behind me will handle the Guild Leader—"
"Hooold on. The person in overall charge really ought to meet them personally, don't you think?"
The orc who'd been trying to quietly slip away was snagged by the Succubus.
Come on, that woman is still awkward as hell to deal with.
Still. Let's just meet her and get it over with.
Whatever the past held, this was a meeting between the head of a diplomatic envoy and the representative of the City-State Alliance. In the end, an extremely uncomfortable encounter had to take place.
What they'd talk about — and what would come of it — was anyone's guess.