Back to the Orc Den
"Someone said they saw Lord Ran heading inside," Jing said. Lia nodded in response.
"I know. But still... we have to go to the mountain."
Jing let out a low groan at her words. She didn't even truly understand what she was holding in her hands right now—what it meant to destroy it, or even the true identities of the people she was traveling with.
"Miss Lia, this thing is far sturdier than you think, and destroying it is a much weightier matter than you realize. We can't just give up and go..."
"No! I'm not saying we should give up!" Lia raised her voice at Jing for the first time.
"What you're saying, Jing, is that Ran is the only one who can do anything about this situation, right?!"
Only then did Jing realize that her eyes, though slightly bloodshot and weary, had not lost their sharp intelligence.
"...That is true."
Once she saw that Jing was taking her seriously, she rummaged through her bag and pulled out a small pouch.
"Do you know what this is?"
Jing took the pouch from her and opened it. Inside was a finely ground green powder. He leaned in slightly to sniff it, only to flinch and jerk his head back at the pungent, overwhelming odor.
"W-what is this? Is it some kind of poisonous herb?"
"It's an herb called Orcus. It's not used very often because it isn't highly effective, but people use it to treat wounds. You've never seen it before either, have you, Jing?"
Jing closed the pouch and nodded. "I've never heard the name, nor have I ever smelled anything like this."
"It only grows in this region, so people who aren't from around here usually don't know about it. Everyone uses it as a wound remedy, but it actually has one more minor effect."
"And what is that?"
"They say it temporarily repels Orcs. I read about it in an old book once. It was only mentioned very briefly, so not many people know."
"Orcs..." As Jing muttered the word, Lia nodded and held her bag open for him to see.
"I'd heard rumors that there were Orcs on this mountain, so I bought a few pouches of it along with some other herbs. And Ran was definitely with me when I bought them."
Jing's eyes widened at her confident tone. "Lord Ran was with you?"
"Yes, I followed him from Lucha Village. At the time, I thought he just wanted to use it to treat wounds, so I didn't think much of it. But looking back, it's strange. Don't you see it, Jing?"
Lia shook her bag as she asked, but Jing, having no clue, could only blink blankly.
"He only bought this one thing. I packed a little bit of everything I could find in the village just in case, but a seasoned traveler bought exactly one mediocre wound medicine? Even when the merchant told him there were much better remedies available? That means he bought it specifically because of the Orcs. But neither you nor Ratel knew there were Orcs on that mountain, right?"
Jing nodded.
"Ran knew the Orcs were there. I don't know the full details of your situation, but at least one thing is certain: Ran is hiding a lot of things."
Every word she said was correct, but that last sentence in particular was impossible to deny. Jing nodded again. "Indeed. Then... did Lord Ran know we would encounter Orcs?"
"I don't know if this is exactly how he planned it, but he definitely knew we would run into an Orc horde. That's why we have to go to the mountain—to where the Orcs are. Even if Ran is currently in this village, he'll likely head toward the Orcs eventually anyway."
Her flawless logic finally won Jing over. "Very well, let us go together. As you said, it seems a far better plan than wandering around this village looking for Lord Ran."
At Jing's agreement, Lia's face brightened.
Even though a day had passed, I was still an Orc. My skin, which stung like crazy under the morning sun, the sporadic squeals that slipped out whenever I tried to speak, and my elevated line of sight, which I was only now starting to get used to—everything remained unchanged.
Looking at the reflection of an Orc in a stream shaded by dense, dark trees, I let out a heavy sigh.
By now, Jing should have met up with Ratel. Knowing Ratel's bulldozer-like personality, he had probably already launched an attack on the Holy Relic. And he had likely failed to destroy it.
I tossed a small pebble into the stream. It went plop, sending ripples across the water's surface.
In the original novel, Ratel fails to destroy the first Holy Relic on his own and brings it to this forest. The problem was that if the Relic's power had also grown stronger than in the original story, it could cause issues far worse than mere failure to destroy it.
In the worst-case scenario, one of the party members might get consumed by the Holy Relic. If that happened...
"Squeal, you'll lose your authority as the protagonist," I muttered to myself. A raccoon drinking water near the stream raised its head.
"Squeal, I'm not going to eat you, so drink in peace." When I spoke to the creature, which was warily watching me with obvious tension, the tiny beast tilted its head, took one last gulp, and scurried away.
Watching its tail disappear into the brush, I walked back toward the shade of a tree.
With this appearance, even if I met a human, their reaction would probably be the same. No, actually, with my skin stinging like this, was the bigger problem that I wouldn't be able to look directly at the sun for the rest of my life? How on earth did the other Orcs run around enduring this kind of pain? I was just wondering if I should get some tips from them before the protagonist slaughtered them all, when...
A familiar scent tickled my nose. This wasn't Jing's body odor, which I had become able to smell after turning into an Orc, nor was it the scent of rotting wood. It was a metallic, bloody smell that I had encountered countless times even when I was human.
Rustle. Soon after, the sound of dry leaves crunching came from beyond the bushes where the raccoon had vanished. Surprised at myself for reacting to the smell before the sound—a true testament to my Orc body—I stood up. Then, I carefully peered through the thicket.
"Squeeeal!" Three Orcs, all smaller than the Boss Orc, were gathered together. And they were surrounding something.
Neigh! The three Orcs had surrounded a brown horse. The brown horse, seemingly knowing by instinct that a single opening would cost its life, was circling restlessly and kicking out its hooves.
I took a step forward without realizing it. It wasn't because I found the three-on-one assault unfair. It was because the saddle on the horse's back looked incredibly familiar.
I kicked the Orc that was trying to plunge a blade into the horse's back, sending him flying with a loud crash.
"Squeeeal!" Startled by the sudden appearance of a massive Orc, the remaining two turned to look at me. Since they couldn't hear the Boss Orc's commands because of me, they seemed to be wandering around looking for food on their own.
Even though I had just sent their companion flying with a single kick, they lacked the intelligence to gauge my strength and immediately raised their weapons.
"Squeal!" The two lunged at me simultaneously from both sides. I swung the chipped sword I had taken from one of them yesterday, slashing at one's arm. Thanks to my monstrous strength, the blade cut deep, but because the edge was so dull, it didn't completely sever the limb.
"Squeeeal!" The Orc collapsed, screaming in agony, but fell silent and lost consciousness after I stomped on his head. Only after two of them were incapacitated did the last one finally realize I was an opponent he couldn't beat. Leaving his companions behind, he turned and fled without looking back.
The horse, which had resisted fiercely even when surrounded by three Orcs, was now foaming at the mouth, staring at me in utter terror at the sudden appearance of an even larger Orc.
"Squeal, I told you to go to Jing. Why are you here?" Sighing, I tossed my weapon far away, keeping my distance from the horse. Then, raising both hands, I slowly approached it.
Now that the situation had settled, I finally noticed the horse's condition. Its mane was tangled with dry leaves, and its body was covered in minor cuts and scrapes, likely from desperately fleeing the Orcs. There was also a fairly deep gash on its left leg. The scent of its blood must have drawn the Orcs here.
"Squeal, you've really been through it, haven't you? Did you run into a pack of Orcs on your way to Jing?" When I asked, the horse neighed, foaming even more. Realizing I might have gotten too close given my current monstrous appearance, I took a step back. The horse, which had been threateningly raising its forehooves, lowered them with a look of confusion.
"Squeal, if you keep wandering this mountain alone, you'll die anyway. But if you stay with me, at least you won't die at the hands of other Orcs." I spoke slowly. In my experience, horses were incredibly good at understanding human speech. Other animals listened when I spoke, but horses seemed capable of a certain level of comprehension if you explained the reasoning to them. They seemed capable of more complex thoughts.
This time was no different. The horse looked at its injured leg, then at the weapon I had thrown far away, and gradually calmed its ragged breathing.
"Squeal, yeah. If you're going to die either way, you might as well stay with someone you can communicate with." As if testing me, its dark eyes locked onto mine as it slowly took a few steps forward.
Once its trailing reins were within reach, I carefully reached out and grabbed them. The clever brown horse flinched slightly but didn't foam at the mouth or panic like before. As I took a few steps holding the reins, the horse seemed to regain its strength and put weight on its hooves.
"Squeal, I might have to live as an Orc for the rest of my life, so having you around is better than nothing." It was a small comfort to have a horse I could somewhat communicate with, rather than wandering the mountains entirely alone in this monstrous body. Though calling it "communication" was a bit of a stretch, considering its vocabulary would mostly consist of snorts, neighs, or kicks.
"Squeal, we need to do something about that leg first. Otherwise, you're going to attract every single Orc on this mountain." At my words, the horse let out a soft snort.
The world had always revolved around Dito. Like the protagonist of some cheap, popular novel, Dito was always blessed with the greatest fortune.
Dito flung the door open with a loud slam and stepped into the room.
"You're here? Your behavior has been getting rather rough lately." Mentil greeted him, remaining standing. Beside her, Tollin Crysa lay unconscious, his entire body drenched in sweat.
"Have you still found nothing?" At his irritable question, Mentil sighed and took a seat on the sofa.
"Seeing how impatient you are, I take it searching the Fidus estate and Ran's castle yielded nothing?" At Mentil's question, Dito bared his teeth in a sneer.
"Yes, they were astonishingly clean. Even if they had intentionally destroyed evidence, it makes no sense for absolutely nothing to remain."
"Do you not still have the Red Book?"
Slam! Dito couldn't contain himself and struck the table. Ever since absorbing Rasiah's power, his fits of rage had grown increasingly frequent. He unclenched his fist and continued speaking as if nothing had happened.
"The Red Book contained nothing of what I wanted. In the foolish Sierra the Great's travelogue, the section about the Holy Relics was half-missing, and the method to steal the power of the Imperial bloodline was also missing its latter half. Either that insect burned it, or he hid it away."
Mentil's expression hardened at his words, but then she let out a thin smile. "Is this not what happened because you killed the boy? If you had kept him alive, you could have easily extracted everything you wanted to know."
At Mentil's mild rebuke, Dito's smile widened. "Did you really think I didn't know you were helping him while he was in this castle, sister?"