Chapter 105
Chapter 105
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: Orc Must Die 1
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As the nagas fled, the orc necromancer brushed off his clothes and approached the broken wheelchair, starting to repair it.
“Hey.”
When Azadin spoke to the orc necromancer, he replied.
“My name is Scott McGreen. Descendant of the great Greenswald.”
“Aren’t most orcs descendants of Greenswald?”
Among the Kurt gods, Kanak, the god of the orcs, had one champion named Greenswald. He was known as the first and last great orc overlord to prosper the orcs on this land.
After Greenswald, there were no orcs who could remain active for long periods. Most suffered under Kanak’s blessing and curse, losing their livelihoods and wandering as mercenaries or hired hands for other races, selling their talents.
Even in such circumstances, most orcs claimed Greenswald as their ancestor.
“That’s why he’s great. The great overlord who sowed his seed among all our kind. Being one of his descendants means we could become like Greenswald too. It’s hard for inferior races like you to understand, but what can you do? You probably wished you were born smart too. I, being smart, will understand.”
“…….”
“Should we kill him? Is he worth keeping alive?”
Midiam, who had arrived late, asked Azadin’s intentions.
“No, we let the nagas escape, so I don’t want to lose this valuable source of information we’ve finally caught.”
“Right. My smart brain is full of information you’d want.”
“Wait. You don’t mean.”
Shati, who had been listening, stared at the orc in panic.
“You’re going to switch employers that easily?!”
“What a joke. Are you worrying about that in this situation? I saw you betray your own kind, and so did they. You’re a traitor to the nagas now. I don’t expect brains from snake-heads, but if you can talk, you should at least know logic?”
“What? This bastard?!”
Shati was raging at Scott’s provocation.
The funny thing was, Scott didn’t even see it as provocation. His words were rough, but Scott McGreen was right.
Azadin had orchestrated Shati’s betrayal of the nagas…. Going back to them now would only mean brutal torture. It was wiser to switch employers quickly like Scott.
“What were you doing with the nagas here?”
“Extracting and manifesting the New King Scripture, I suppose.”
“What’s the status of the New King Scripture?”
“Hmm. Explaining to idiots, I don’t know how simplified I should make it. First, could you introduce yourselves? I know you’re from the Herald clan….”
“Hey. Watch your mouth, prisoner. And stop your hands. What are you doing right now?”
“Can’t you see? I’m fixing the wheelchair. You’re not so stupid you can’t tell that, right?”
“You don’t seem to have any physical problems? Can’t walk on your own two feet?”
“You know nothing. If I walk on my feet, my muscles bulk up.”
“Muscles? The more the better, no?”
“That’s true for limbs. But when muscles bulk up in the heart, the capacity shrinks, performance drops. With my already muscle-heavy body, less blood from the heart means constant lethargy. The heart beats harder to pump more, creating more muscle in a vicious cycle, and eventually, death. Hah! Just talking like this makes my heart race. Oh no.”
Scott McGreen said that and collapsed on the floor.
“Assemble the wheelchair for me. If I’m active too long, I fall into hypoglycemia like this.”
“…….”
What a demanding prisoner right from the start. Azadin sighed and looked at Ismail.
“Me?”
“Yeah. I need to recover the New King Scripture.”
Azadin recovered the New King Scripture and Black River Blade he had wrapped around during the battle. The Black River Blade’s tip was still sharp.
“Could use it again.”
Azadin sheathed the Black River Blade back in its quiver and checked the surroundings. The outpost had plenty of grains usable as food and fodder—enough for Azadin’s group and more.
There were also mummy soldiers that seemed to be the nagas’ guards, who remained even after the Night Crawlers vanished.
“Gotta burn them. Hey, orc. Can you move these mummy soldiers?”
“Of course. Easy.”
“Then have them gather the bodies. We need to cremate them all.”
“You’re giving these people proper funerals? Heralds? You’re weird. But if that’s the request, I’ll comply. In return, guarantee my safety.”
“You massacred innocents like this and now you want to live?”
“I didn’t kill them directly. What’s here is humans killing each other. Sure, my undead killed the soldiers, but they died by the hands of the villagers they slaughtered—self-inflicted, right?”
“Fine. I get it, so gather the bodies.”
The mummy soldiers and remaining intact undead began gathering the corpses. Meanwhile, Ismail somehow repaired and reassembled the wheelchair.
“Good. You’ve got some skill. They say Heralds are talented.”
“Shut up, orc.”
“What? You just got praised by Scott McGreen, genius of this era. Someday, surrounded by descendants on your deathbed, reflecting, you’ll tremble with emotion and joy at this day.”
“…….”
“Shouldn’t we kill him? Do we really need this guy’s help?”
Ismail seriously asked Azadin.
“First, let’s get the New King Scripture.”
As Azadin said that, scanning the area, Zibek and Brand arrived.
“You said the undead collapsed, and you won.”
“Ah, Sir Zibek. The soldiers?”
“…Some fell, some fled. I tried to minimize casualties, but the undead suddenly got stronger.”
“How about you, Elder Brand?”
“Hmm, I’m fine.”
“…….”
While soldiers and knights died or fled, Brand was surprisingly unharmed. Seems innately very strong.
If he’d become a warrior, he’d have made a name in his youth, but he lived as a scribe, lawyer, writer. Discovered his talent late?
“But what’s with this orc? Looks like a necromancer.”
“Scott McGreen.”
The orc, Scott McGreen, stated his name.
“Seems like the necromancer the nagas hired.”
“That’s right. And from now on, he’ll be hired by you.”
“What? You’re hiring a necromancer?”
Zibek looked at Azadin like he was serious.
“No, let’s hear him out first. Orc. Why do you think we won’t kill you?”
“Because you’re searching for the New King Scripture. I can manifest it. And estimate locations more accurately. If you want to find and collect them, you won’t sacrifice talent like me.”
If true, this orc’s value is too high. Too valuable to kill.
“And everyone knows erasing my brain from the world is unforgivable as long as intellect exists. Ah, sure, you might kill me out of inferiority, but you’d suffer guilt forever. Could you bear the sin of destroying one of the world’s great intellects?”
“If you’re not bluffing, you’d be useful, but I don’t deal with those who kill civilians. Let’s do the funerals first.”
The mummy soldiers Scott controlled gathered and piled the bodies. Azadin chanted a prayer toward the pile.
“Three Great Archangels, soothe the grudges of those who met unjust deaths and guide them to rest. People of Hybris, may you escape this cruel world and find peace!”
As Azadin prayed for blessings and lit the bodies, a dazzling light shone over the burning corpses. A copy of the New King Scripture had manifested.
The copy flew straight to Azadin and landed in his hand.
“There. Manifested it? Now you’re useless?”
Midiam teased Scott excitedly.
But Scott was calm.
“I prepped the groundwork for manifesting the New King Scripture, so it appeared easily. I could do it even simpler.”
Even after seeing Azadin manifest and claim the New King Scripture right in front of him, the orc showed no fear, full of confidence.
“Quite confident, huh?”
“My talent could shake heaven and earth. Even if you only know basic arithmetic, you’d know not to mishandle a treasure like me. Sure, like the sun eclipsing starlight, you feel inferior before my talent—I get it—but at least your leader doesn’t seem to harbor petty jealousy.”
“Hmm.”
Azadin felt troubled looking at the orc who so boldly believed they’d spare him. Truthfully, he couldn’t spit in a smiling face; even when Shati betrayed and begged to live, he couldn’t kill her.
‘I get Shati’s position to some extent.’
Captured by Azadin, threatened with death, she struggled to find a way back to her kin. Azadin took that path away, essentially sentencing her to death or life imprisonment.
The problem was this orc.
“So. You didn’t participate in killing civilians?”
“Haha. Only idiots kill people and revel in violence to feel superior. One confident like me doesn’t compare to the lowly. If you were half as smart, you’d understand. Worrying about your future with such stupid questions.”
“…….”
“Hmm, talked too much, tongue root feels muscled. But to convince you, I need to prove my utility now?”
“Hard to accept keeping an evil necromancer alive. Even if Count Lantarik killed the civilians, they must’ve been complicit. Attacking soldiers killed the prisoners and civilians Count Lantarik held too, right?”
Zibek said to Azadin.
Like Shati, now unable to return to her kin as Azadin’s prisoner, Zibek was in a tough spot. Fine with Shati as a clear prisoner, but traveling with a group that has an orc necromancer would question his holy knight qualities.
“Right. Surely. Count Lantarik’s soldiers massacred Salasuma’s residents, but there were prisoners or captives too. You won’t claim you didn’t kill them?”
Azadin glared coldly at the orc necromancer, Scott McGreen.
Then Scott spoke.
“I can interpret copies of the New King Scripture.”