Hitting a Sore Spot
"Squeak. Hey, Boss Orc. You're not dead, are you?"
"Grrrrrr."
The beast began to gasp, as if unable to breathe through the bloody froth bubbling from the wound in its neck. Looking more likely to die of suffocation than the sword wound itself, I pulled his massive upper body up and propped him against a nearby tree.
"Squeak. Feeling any better? Or are you about to kick the bucket? If you're dying, raise your right hand. If you think you'll live, raise your left. If you can't lift your hands, at least wiggle a toe."
But aside from his chest and belly rising and falling with his ragged breaths, no other part of his body budged. I heard Orcs had incredible regenerative powers, but was a punctured throat beyond recovery?
"Squeak. Look, I'm sorry to say this, but I can't just let you die. Squeak. It'd be a real pain if I had to become the boss. If you're going to die, I need to bring another Orc to kill you. Squeak. So think carefully before you answer. Right for dying, left for living."
As I babbled on without pause, the Boss Orc forced his eyes open and looked up at me.
"Squeeeeek—! You... fight... me!"
I was utterly appalled by his sheer stubbornness, wanting to settle our score even in this state. What kind of fight when he was practically on his deathbed?
"Squeak. So you're saying you'll live?"
When I ignored his demand, the beast glared at me.
"Squeeeeek—! Fight!!"
Judging by the way he spoke, his intelligence seemed to be around that of a seven-year-old. How on earth did he learn a way of life that prioritized pride over the fear of death? Or was he simply too simple-minded to comprehend death, and thus felt no fear? If that were the case, though, animals usually had a powerful instinctual fear of death. Didn't Lia's horse thrash about so wildly because it knew it was going to die the moment its leg was injured?
"Squeak. Do you really want to die? If you challenge me now, you'll die."
At my question, the Boss Orc's eyes widened.
"Squeeeeek—! That... Squeeeeek—! That is my role."
What was he talking about now? There was no scene like this in the original novel. The timeline of the original story had been pushed forward because of the rift in power caused by my transmigration into this world. The Manis throughout Abaran had fluctuated, resulting in some imperial royals possessing stronger Manis than in the original work. Ratel, who had been in Amica's Space—a realm completely isolated from this world—was entirely unaffected by it. But had that fluctuation affected the monsters as well? It made no sense.
"Squeak. What is your role?"
"Squeeeeek—! To hand it over... Squeeeeek—! To someone stronger. Squeeeeek."
"Hand what over?"
"Squeeeeek—! The Promise. Squeeeeek."
Once again, the word 'Promise'—a highly unusual concept for an Orc—slipped from his mouth. I tilted my head in confusion. Still, seeing as he could speak this much, he must have recovered to some extent. I checked his neck, where the bleeding had stopped, and stood up.
"Squeak. Hey, let me ask you one thing."
"Squeeeeek—! What is it?"
"Squeak. The sun is blazing hot. Why were you guys scouring the forest?"
Perhaps using up too much energy to regenerate, the Boss Orc struggled to keep his eyes open as he spoke.
"Squeeeeek—! To kill... Squeeeeek—! The humans, of course."
"...Right."
Disappointed by the simpler-than-expected answer, I looked around.
"Squeak. You'll probably only remember this for about a week anyway, but let's make a promise of our own. Try to find me over the next week. Squeak. But if your Orcs kill even a single human during that time, I will never fight you again for the rest of my life. So if your subordinates try to kill humans, do whatever it takes to stop them."
"Squeeeeek—! Why... humans?" the beast asked, seemingly unable to comprehend.
Because I'm human, obviously.
But since he lost consciousness almost immediately after asking, there was no need to answer. I picked up the rabbit and wild berries he had gathered and walked into the trees. I needed to get far enough away so that he wouldn't easily find me when he woke up.
Lia's journey with Ratel was going smoother than she had expected, yet it was also far more nerve-wracking. He didn't ride his horse too fast, nor did he get involved in any dangerous incidents along the way. However, he acted as though Lia didn't even exist.
"One room."
"And another room, separate, please."
As soon as they entered an inn near the Temple, Ratel immediately tried to book a single room for himself. Lia hurriedly added her request.
"Did you two arrive separately?" the innkeeper asked, looking back and forth between them. Ratel merely handed over his money without a word.
"Even if we traveled together, we can still get separate rooms. Just take our money separately, sir."
Answering in Ratel's stead, Lia also handed over her money. The innkeeper reached out with both hands, took their respective payments, and handed back their respective change.
Still, traveling with someone who treated her like a ghost was far more comfortable than walking on eggshells. Lia entered the room the innkeeper showed her, unpacked her things, and lay down on the bed. The squirrel, which had been riding on her shoulder the entire time, scurried down, curled up beside her, and settled in.
Lia stroked the squirrel's head once and let her body go completely limp. The cold, hard wood beneath the thin mattress cleared her mind.
What if Jing doesn't show up by tomorrow? No, there's no way Jing won't come. He isn't the type to break a promise. But what if he's a little late? Will I be able to keep Ratel here?
Lia let out a low groan as she recalled the way Ratel had looked at her—as if she were an inanimate object. She then pictured Jing's face when he had apologetically asked her to look after Ratel.
"What does he mean, he's going to the Temple first to do whatever he wants?"
Ratel had said he would wait for a day before entering the Temple, but his tone made it sound as if he was planning to tear the place apart. Lia tilted her head in worry.
"No, surely not. Who in their right mind would do that?"
Unaware of Ratel's history of already causing a massive ruckus once, Lia tried her best to shake off the ominous thoughts.
At any rate, Jing had asked two things of them: do not get involved in anything life-threatening, and absolutely wait for one day before entering the Temple.
Yes, thinking about it, it wasn't that difficult. All they had to do was act sensibly and keep an eye on the time.
Yet, for some reason, Jing's grave face warning her about Ratel's lack of common sense flashed through her mind. Lia bolted upright. Startled by her sudden movement, the squirrel also sat up and climbed back onto her shoulder. Lia patted El's head once and opened the door with a tense expression.
She needed to stick close to Ratel. At least until Jing arrived.
Lia left her room and hurried downstairs. Sure enough, Ratel was already seated in the first-floor dining area, ordering a mountain of food. Relieved that he hadn't completely ignored his promise to wait a day, Lia headed toward his table.
"Do you mind if I sit here?"
Fearing Ratel might say no, Lia quickly slid into the seat before he could even answer. Ratel glanced at her but didn't tell her to leave, so Lia let out a quiet sigh of relief and rested her hands on the table.
"Um, Ratel. Since we're staying here tonight before heading to the Temple, I think we should leave around sunset tomorrow."
"You do that. I'm leaving for the Temple first thing in the morning."
Ratel's answer took Lia completely aback.
"Wait, you promised to wait for a day. Then shouldn't we wait until sunset tomorrow?"
"It was midday when I made the promise to Jing. Therefore, leaving in the morning is correct."
"The time we agreed to wait is a full day, so we should base it on the time we arrived here!"
"Jing said he would search for that man for a day, so it's only right to base it on the moment we parted ways."
Seeing him stubbornly trying to head to the Temple in the morning by any means necessary, Lia narrowed her eyes.
"...Are you angry because Jing didn't just abandon Ran?"
At the sudden shift in topic, Ratel gave her a crooked look.
"Do you think I want that man dead?"
"It just seems like you really, really care about Jing."
"... ."
Ratel shut his mouth tight, seemingly lost for words.
"I mean, it's obvious you don't like Ran. But you were perfectly calm when you said Ran had run away, yet you raised your voice the moment Jing said he was going to look for him. It feels like you're angrier because Jing is looking out for Ran."
"And what of it?"
To show she wasn't trying to pick a fight, Lia carefully chose her next words.
"I've had to walk on eggshells since I was a kid, so I'm pretty good at reading people's affection, goodwill, dislike, and hatred."
"Get to the point," Ratel said, leaning back in his chair as if she were wasting his time.
"If you take out the feelings you have toward one person on someone else like this, the rift between you will only grow. It'll lead to a huge problem later. Like Jing and Ran being forced to abandon one of you."
Lia was about to suggest they stop being stubborn and wait a little longer for Ran and Jing, but the words died in her throat. The moment she saw Ratel's face, she realized she had made a grave mistake. The hollow look in Ratel's eyes made it clear that her words had achieved the exact opposite of her intention.
Crash!
A sudden, deafening noise made Lia flinch and shrink back. The source of the noise wasn't Ratel. She turned her head toward the sound.
The ones who had practically kicked the tavern door off its hinges were knights clad in armor. Stepping inside, they scanned the patrons and bellowed at the top of their lungs.
"Where are the ones from Lucha Village?!"
Lia's eyes widened at the sudden, boisterous entrance of people looking for them.
"They look like Temple knights," Lia whispered under her breath. Ratel nodded.
"What do we do? From the look of things, they're here for us, but we have to wait for Jing."
"I heard it was a woman and a man! Show yourselves at once!"
Their attitude was far closer to an arrest than a polite request.
"Should we pretend we don't know? We can say we didn't hear them and go tomorrow..."
Lia trailed off. The expressionless look on Ratel's face gave her a very bad feeling about what he was planning.
Ratel stood up.
"We are the ones from Lucha Village."
Lia realized their argument had just been settled. He had chosen neither tomorrow morning nor tomorrow evening—he had chosen this very moment.