Listening Ears
As the sound of their conversation drifted through, Ratel practically threw El onto the floor and flung the door open. On the other side, it was still the dark prison cell.
"It's only halfway connected," Ratel muttered.
His strength hadn't been enough to wrench the rift fully open, but he seemed to have managed to poke a small hole through. At the very least, it meant his agonizing efforts hadn't been entirely in vain.
Ratel placed his hand on the door once more. Beside him, El let out another terrified, whimpering cry, but Ratel had no reason to care. Just as he was about to summon his strength again, looking on the verge of total collapse—
Pausing, Ratel unconsciously pressed his ear closer to the door.
At Jing's worried response, Lia studied his face as he looked down at Sierra's Sword.
"Come to think of it, Jing, you always seem to be worrying about Ratel."
"Have I?" Jing asked back, and Lia nodded.
"You really do! You never stop nagging him, and you can never just leave him be."
At Lia's words, the corners of Jing's mouth tugged upward into a faint smile. He glanced over at the mutant Orc sitting across from them. The Orc sat with its eyes closed, as if the sunlight on its skin was stinging. Keeping his eyes on the creature, Jing spoke slowly.
"Did it look that way? I suppose I did nag him quite a bit."
"I don't mean just nagging. I mean the really harsh words. The kind that are painful to hear and do no good to anyone. For example..."
Lia rolled her eyes, searching her mind for an example, but when a truly awful phrase came to mind, she grimaced and simply waved her hand dismissively.
"Anyway, my point is... you wouldn't say those things if you didn't care about him or have a deep affection for him."
Jing's face contorted slightly, a trace of pain flitting across his features.
"It is only because I owe Ratel so many apologies."
Lia's eyes widened at his words. She could easily picture Ratel prostrating himself in apology to Jing, but she couldn't begin to imagine Jing doing anything that would warrant feeling sorry toward Ratel.
"I don't know the details, but if you apologized, Jing, I'm sure Ratel would accept it right away."
"No, Miss Lia. He likely wouldn't."
At Jing's firm refusal, Lia pursed her lips before giving a small nod.
"Well, I don't really know anything. But the reason I brought up Ratel out of the blue, Jing... is because I actually have a confession to make."
Seeing Lia finally get to the point, Jing set down the sword he had been maintaining and looked at her with a serious expression.
"Go on. What is it?"
"Well... back in Limis, when Ratel broke his promise to you and headed straight for the Temple."
What about it? As Jing tilted his head in confusion, Lia squeezed her eyes shut and let the words pour out.
"That was actually my fault. I said something completely unnecessary to Ratel, and that's why he went to the Temple."
Feeling a weight lift slightly just from confessing, Lia let out a sigh and continued.
"Things have been so chaotic that I couldn't find the right time to say it, but it's been weighing on my mind. Once we rescue Ratel tonight, we'll be parting ways. I felt like I had to confess before that..."
"Unnecessary words? Did the two of you have a fight?"
Lia shook her head at Jing's question.
"It wasn't... a fight. Jing, you know what air is, right? This invisible thing all around us. A person doesn't fight with the air. Ratel basically treats me like air. But if the air moves just a little too fast, it can turn into a sudden gust of wind. My words were like a breeze that ended up provoking him that day."
Studying Jing's face, which was filled with curiosity over what on earth she could have said to prompt such a confession, Lia continued.
"I told him... that if he kept acting so selfishly, Ran and Jing might both abandon him one day."
Thinking back on it, she realized how incredibly out of line she had been. Lia hung her head low.
"I was just so desperate. I wanted to keep Ratel at the inn until you arrived, Jing, but I knew he wouldn't listen to a word I said."
"But why would you say such a thing?" Jing asked, genuinely curious about how she had arrived at that conclusion.
Assuming Jing was scolding her, Lia shrank back, looking as if she wanted to crawl into a hole.
"I did it because I knew how much Ratel respects you. I had such petty, underhanded thoughts, and that's how things ended up like this. When Ratel returns, I'll apologize to him properly."
Jing calmed her down before her mood could sink any lower.
"Calm down, Miss Lia."
He let out a deep sigh as he looked at Lia, who possessed a certain innocence despite her age. He was reminded of her past—growing up without parents, raised solely by her older brother in Lucha Village.
"An apology is only necessary when you have done something wrong. It is true that saying those words to intentionally provoke Ratel... was not the most appropriate action. However, I do not believe everything that followed was entirely your fault."
Even if Ratel had waited until his arrival, Jing did not believe things would have turned out differently. If pushed, Ratel would have swung his sword regardless of whether Jing was there or not.
"So do not take all the blame upon yourself. Organize your thoughts on what exactly you feel you did wrong, and then apologize to Ratel directly when he returns."
Lia nodded as she listened to Jing gently pointing out her mistakes one by one. If my parents were still alive, is this how they would have scolded me? Lia wondered, staring blankly at Jing's face.
"And one last thing. Promise me you won't make assumptions about my thoughts and pass them on to others."
"Pardon?" Lia, who had been nodding quietly, blinked in surprise.
Jing picked up the sword he had set down and gently stroked the blade.
"About me abandoning Ratel. No matter what that boy does, I have absolutely no intention of ever letting him go."
Lia quietly gazed at Jing's face, bathed in the warm glow of the setting sun, before slowly closing her eyes.
Finally, the sun slipped completely beneath the horizon. Feeling the stinging pain on my skin vanish entirely, I stood up.
Jing, who had been resting his back against a tree with his eyes closed, opened them. At the sound of him rising, Lia—who had boldly been dozing off—snapped awake as well.
"They are starting to come out."
Following Jing's gaze, I turned my head to see about twenty Orcs emerging from the cave. Considering the number of beasts Jing and Ratel had slaughtered on the first day, this was practically half of the remaining horde.
"Kwik. Now is our chance. Let's head inside and scout the depths of the cave."
Jing nodded. "Lia, go hide the horses deeper in the forest. Don't forget to mask their scent with the Orc smell."
With Sierra's Sword strapped to his waist, Jing set off, and Lia and I followed close behind.
The entrance to the cave was shrouded in layers of deep shadow, so dark that one could easily believe not a single ray of sunlight had ever touched it.
Jing paused to listen for a moment, then stepped into the damp interior, which reeked of musty moss and an unpleasant, fishy stench.
Lia watched his fearless advance with a look of pure admiration before shaking herself out of it and tightly gripping her dagger.
I briefly considered telling her that the beasts inside would be sliced to ribbons after just a few swings of Jing's sword anyway, but I decided against it. It would be better for her to see it with her own eyes.
Once inside, the foul stench grew incomparably thicker than it had been outside. Jing navigated the darkness as if he could see better than me—an actual Orc, or rather, a human currently trapped in an Orc's body.
"Three Orcs ahead. Be careful," Jing whispered softly. Just as he said, three Orcs were blocking the path.
"Kwik. Take them out quietly. It'll be troublesome if the others notice."
"You worry too much," a voice laced with amusement quietly drifted away.
"What? Where did he go?"
Lia, whose eyes had not yet adjusted to the pitch-black darkness, looked around frantically as Jing's presence suddenly vanished from beside her. It didn't take long for her to locate him, however.
"Kwik!"
"Kwiik? Kwik!"
"Kwi...!"
Accompanied by a mere three muffled squeals, the heavy thuds of bodies collapsing to the floor echoed through the cavern. As I walked toward the source of the sound, Lia followed cautiously behind me.
I looked down at the three Orcs, who had lost consciousness without even being able to let out a proper scream. It was clear none of them had any idea who had attacked them, or why.
"Wow..." Lia, with a breathless gasp of awe, finally lowered her hands, which had been clutching her dagger tightly against her chest.
"There will be more deeper inside. Keep your guard up." Perhaps feeling embarrassed by the even deeper reverence shining in her eyes, Jing pointed further into the cave as he spoke.
Befitting creatures of low intelligence, the cave's layout was simple. Once past the second entrance, it was practically a straight, one-way path. After walking down the long, winding tunnel, a massive cavern opened up before us.
We could see Orcs scattered across the wide cavern floor. Aside from a few gnawing on rotting meat, the vast majority were gathered in the center of the space. The largest beasts occupied the very center, while the surrounding Orcs grew progressively smaller the further out they were.
"It seems whatever is in the center is far more important to them than food," Lia whispered softly.
"Kwik. Though we'll have to plow through all of them to reach it."
"Jing, what should we do?" At Lia's question, Jing tightened his grip on his sword.
"It is not impossible. Though it might get a bit tricky if they swarm us all at once." Jing studied Lia's expression for a moment before continuing. "...It would actually be easier to handle them if we lure them toward the exit."
"Kwik. So, do we just wait here until you finish them all off?" My question made Jing glare at me.
"You should help if you can! Are you really going to stand idly by with your hands folded while an old man fights monsters all by himself?"
"Kwik. Guided you all the way here, didn't I? That should be more than enough."
"You might not know this, but among humans, there are things called respect and loyalty. Couldn't you at least offer to draw their attention, even if it's just empty words?"
Looking down at him as he said things that would probably give him a heart attack if he ever found out I was Ran Abaran, I let out a smirk. "Kwik. That's between humans. What do you expect from an Orc?"
Besides, even when I was a human, I was a far cry from having things like "loyalty" or "respect."
Seemingly at a loss for words, Jing simply glared at me.
"Um, Jing... I think this might be more helpful than staring at each other like that." Lia, who had been nervously watching the exchange between us, spoke up in a quiet voice. She pointed to her tightly closed bag.
"What would be helpful?"
"The thing I showed you back in Limis. The Orc Grass."
"Ah." Only then did Jing realize what Lia was getting at, letting out a soft exclamation.
"If we set off a whole bunch of this at once, wouldn't they all come rushing out in a frenzy?"