Chapter 55: The Arrogant and Precious Target - Part 1
Word had just come in that a Beastman had fallen into the trap Lumina had set.
The Orc couldn’t even believe this had worked out. More than that, he couldn’t fathom why the intruder had come in the first place.
“Didn’t we already settle everything?”
“So why did you invade?”
“Naturally, I won’t say a word.”
“Is that so?”
The conversation between the Orc and his subordinate was interrupted by Lumina.
But the subordinate had no grounds to complain about the unauthorized incursion. After all, she was the Orc’s slave—yet also the one who wielded the most authority, basking in his deepest favor.
“I’ll go check it out.”
She strode confidently toward the captive.
“L-Lumina-sama?”
“Be quiet.”
Lumina showed no warmth toward the dog Beastman.
“You’ll find out soon enough with a little investigation, but will you still refuse to talk?”
“You wouldn’t be... Lumina?”
“...The Beast Kingdom has already cast me aside.”
“Huh?”
The arrangement had been handled with utmost secrecy at the highest levels. There was no way a mere intruder would know of it.
For a moment, shock and confusion reigned—but the Lumina before him was clearly not on their side.
“I was abandoned too. What makes you think you’ll fare any better?”
“Huh?”
“Honestly, you’re not exactly stunning, so Lord Gornakh probably won’t be very interested in you.”
But given the Orc’s reputation, the threat was more than sufficient.
Lumina didn’t smile like Camilla did, but she chuckled inwardly.
It was far too easy to intimidate someone on such a trivial infiltration mission.
“I already have a guess, but just tell me the information now.”
“Even so, I can’t just—”
Weak sense of duty crumbled under the weight of panic.
“Forgotten, perhaps, that our chief is an Orc.”
At the word “Orc,” the Beastman flinched without realizing it.
Not because he was a Beastman, but because he was a woman. The Orcs’ treatment of female spoils of war was infamous, so the reaction was unavoidable.
“In fact, the Orcs these days barely care unless it’s a breathtaking beauty.”
It was strange, hearing a beauty admit it herself.
It was no different from her confessing that she, a beauty, had become the Orc’s plaything.
But her anger at the Beast Kingdom for betraying her outweighed her shame, so she pressed on.
“But I could always throw you to the other Orcs.”
Hic...
The Beastman reacted as expected.
“Speak now, and I’ll give you enough money to live comfortably. Think carefully.”
He clearly feared the Orcs more than death.
If his master were Gornakh, he might have hesitated—but reality was reality.
“I’ll give you three chances. Choose wisely.”
“One—”
“I’ll tell you!”
He’d been trying to build up his resolve, but the threat of three chances deflated him instantly.
“...Fine, speak.”
“Princess Mistrielle ordered it! She wanted the Orc’s undergarments...!”
“As expected.”
Lumina had already suspected as much.
“Naturally, if it were her, she’d do something like that.”
There was nothing particularly strange about the princess’s desires.
Well... they were strange, but they hadn’t always been.
All of it was the Orc’s fault.
Violet eyes. Above hair the color of the moon, ears far more splendid than any dog Beastman’s stood out impressively.
She was a woman who bore the unmistakable mark of noble blood, passed down through generations.
She was the princess of the Beast Kingdom—and the supreme commander here.
“M-Mistrielle-sama.”
“What is it?”
“The peacock has been captured.”
“So?”
When Lumina was taken, the central command fell into chaos—but one princess frowned alone, dissatisfied with something else entirely.
“What a fuss... How troublesome.”
Even with Lumina captured and part of the forest lost, the battlefield remained vast.
The only problem was—
“I left everything in that peacock’s hands. What if she’s captured?”
That she had entrusted all her duties to that peacock.
Having handed over full authority, only for her to be taken, left the princess fuming.
“This is so irritating...”
Mistrielle showed no grief over the peacock’s capture.
Why should she, of noble birth, concern herself with the lowly beneath her?
“I came here specifically because they said she was a good commander.”
Each royal was expected to take the field as a commander.
On the surface, the royals each led vast regions of soldiers.
“So who will do it now?”
But that was only on the surface.
The area around the front lines Mistrielle was defending was not actually under her command.
Lumina had been acting as her proxy, managing the front as a strategist.
And now it had all collapsed.
“Figure out a new commander yourself.”
Mistrielle said it casually, then decided to go back to her nap.
“Your Highness!”
But an uninvited guest roused her from sleep.
“What?”
“Your Highness, you should gather more troops and retreat.”
“Why would I?”
The intruder was Lumina’s secretary, sent to her.
Lumina had hoped that even if disaster struck her, it wouldn’t reach Mistrielle.
It was the last resort she had devised.
“How troublesome...”
But it was meaningless if the listener refused to listen.
“Your Highness, even so—”
“Tell the commander.”
Mistrielle was already annoyed at being confined to this cramped room, however large it was.
She would regret this choice later—but by then, it would be too late.
Victory celebrations and a precious peacock as a trophy.
Once again, the Orc had earned the title of great general through methods bordering on reckless charges.
But the joy of victory was short-lived. A guest arrived to see Gornakh.
“So if we push a bit further, we’ll find the Beast Kingdom’s princess?”
“Yes.”
The demon who had come to celebrate the victory was once the Demon King’s secretary.
He would later become the Demon King himself—but that was a future matter.
For now, he brought congratulations along with a command disguised as information.
The demon, who had already lured him with bait, threw another hook.
“It’s a bit of a distance...”
“But~”
The demon produced another photograph.
There was a beauty with a slight frown, everything seeming to irritate her.
A wolf Beastman with distinctive silver hair, pale skin, and deep violet eyes.
“This is...”
“A photo of the noble wolf Beastman, the princess who bears royal blood.”
“......”
Even among the high and noble, true royalty was an exception.
The beauty of those whose bloodlines had been cultivated by power-hungry admirers defied imagination.
Her distinctive upturned nose and the air of arrogant irritation were palpable even through the photograph.
“What do you think?”
“This one, though...”
There was no reason for the Orc not to act on this beauty.
But her status was the problem.
“May I... consume her?”
After all, he wasn’t the king here.
He wondered if such a valuable prisoner should be handed over to the Demon King for negotiations.
“I’ll give you plenty of time to savor her.”
“Hmm...”
Still, the desire to capture a prisoner he couldn’t keep was diminished.
“Ugh, just tell me to do it...”
Gornakh ignored the demon secretary’s silent curses.
His military strength was formidable, but the command structure was still a mess, and no one knew if this secretary held any real authority.
The Orc was essentially protesting by refusing.
“Sigh...”
In the end, the demon secretary was the one caught in the middle.
He raised the white flag first to the Orc, who controlled all military power here.
“I’ll handle it somehow, so just do it.”
While the demon crossed his arms in irritation, Gornakh smiled faintly.
“The Demon King is a fool focused on world conquest; he won’t care about prisoners.”
It was clear this demon was planning a rebellion, but Gornakh decided not to care.
“If not, I’ll just mark her as missing from the prisoner list.”
He was offering to file a false report, but no one was shocked.
Given the chaos, even filing a report was a blessing.
In that sense, the demon secretary’s words were convincing.
“Understood. How could I defy the Demon King’s will?”
“An Orc who won’t even fight without women, yet speaks so well.”
It was sarcasm, but the secretary was satisfied that his order had been carried out.
“Ugh... anyway, I’m counting on you.”
“Of course.”
The Orc went to prepare for hunting down this precious bloodline.
“...”
The demon frowned slightly, watching the Orc head back toward his Flower Garden.
As a woman first, the demon found Gornakh unsettling in a different way—but it didn’t matter.
She would consolidate her base, and the Orc would collect his spoils of victory. A win-win situation.