The Orc's Hidden Tale
The carriage lifted by the orcs continued its repair for one hour, with the remaining four orcs assisting as expected. But they all slipped away to hunt deer.
“Slowly now, please.”
While the orcs lifted the carriage, the elves holding the wheels addressed them respectfully, checking for any chance the wheels might come loose or the axle crack, the orcs had released all tension from their arms.
In the end, Cariel inspected the wheel once more, climbed into the carriage for the final check, then approached me to report.
“Lord Lowell, the carriage repair is complete.”
It was fortunate that the wheels were fixed and the carriage could move again, yet time had already slipped by, the sun setting and night arriving.
“Prepare the elves for overnight stay.”
“Yes, Lord Lowell.”
After giving the order to Cariel, I approached the orcs. The orc wiped the sweat from his forehead with the palm of his hand.
“Use this.”
“...Orc... filthy... elves... clean cloth... becomes dirty.”
I handed him my handkerchief, yet the orc refused in the end...
“If it gets dirty, just wash it again. Use this instead.”
“.....”
When I insisted again, the orc stared at my hand, then took it with a reluctant expression, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“Cariel, bring some remaining food from the carriage trunk?”
“Yes, Lord Lowell.”
Cariel, along with several elves, went to the trunk at the back of the carriage, collected the leftover food, and after noticing my intent, placed it between me and the orc before returning to their original positions.
“This is a reward for your labor. I’m sorry we could only offer this, since you must have suffered carrying the carriage alone.”
“No... orcs... I did not hope for repayment...
“What did you hope for if not repayment?”
“Orcs... I wish you’d understand... It’s not that all orcs are bad...
Monsters hiding in the human territories...
From the moment these orcs began speaking human language, I had noticed.
Among the monsters living in human territories, most either stole from humans or killed them to seize their lands and continue living, yet I knew there were also monsters who desired peaceful interaction with humans.
Well...
That was only possible with orcs of at least some intelligence...
“I know. So please take this.”
“.....”
The orc silently glanced between my eyes and the food bag on the ground, then opened his mouth again.
“We’ll eat well... elves...”
Thus, the orc took the food bag I had given and turned toward his tribe’s dwelling...
“Elves... here... it’s dangerous to sleep...”
The orc, who had been heading back to his tribe, came back to me and pointed at the surrounding forest with his hand.
“Here... a troop of trolls... appears... at night.. it’s dangerous... trolls hunt... at night...”
“Is that so?”
Even if trolls appeared in a group as the orc said, neither I nor Cali would have a problem, but the concern was for the 88 elves here; perhaps a sudden ambush might injure them.
“Orcs... in the village... it’s safe... there... no trolls come.”
“Is that true? Then can I trouble you for just tonight?”
Having left the trolls behind, the place where our carriage currently stood was unsuitable for overnight stay.
The area was surrounded by forest, making it difficult to detect beasts and monsters, and moreover, such a pass could become a target for thieves aiming to plunder, making it extremely dangerous.
“Lord Lowell, is it safe to trust them? Even if they’re orcs...”
“It’s fine, Cariel. From my perspective, they don’t look like bad orcs.”
“.....Yes.”
Cariel and the other elves still seemed cautious about orcs, yet the orcs who had stopped their steps back to the tribe and had come back to speak like that in the first place could not possibly be bad orcs.
Thus, we followed that orc through the narrow forest path where the carriage could barely pass, and entered a vast field.
There, a village encircled by a fence came into view.
“That place is... our... village...”
Inside the village, it seemed preparations for dinner were well underway, as the campfire light shone brightly beyond the fence, and thick smoke rising suggested they were cooking the deer they had hunted that day.
The orc who had guided us first ran toward the village and explained our situation to the other orcs, and soon other orcs emerged at the entrance to greet us.
“Cariel, lower your sword hand.”
“Yes? But... Lord Lowell...”
Cariel, still not fully relaxed about orcs, had been gripping the sword hilt so tightly with her hand that as we approached the orc village, her grip was so strong it seemed ready to draw at any moment, so I stopped her and placed my hand on her shoulder to calm her.
“These orcs have no hostility toward us; we shouldn’t show hostility in return, right?”
“Yes...”
Cariel answered and slowly loosened the grip on her hand, finally releasing it from the hilt.
I didn’t not understand her feelings.
No matter how they spoke human language...
they were still monsters...
“We welcome you to our village. I am the village chief of this place.”
Among the orcs watching us with a mix of curiosity and caution, one orc in a robe revealed himself, bowed his head in greeting to us...
With a white beard covering his chin, he looked somewhat old, and most importantly, a mana aura emanated from that orc.
“A mage?”
“As expected, you are the noble High Elf. Recognizing this lowly one...”
Unlike the orc who had guided us, who spoke human language well and used magic, this orc possessed knowledge no different from humans...
Moreover, he knew I was a High Elf...
Not only me, but all 88 elves including Cali were also gazing at him in wonder.
“It’s not suitable to stand here; please come inside.”
Somehow...
Seeing the orc wearing a mage robe and guiding us in human language was curious, but to the residents of this orc village, we seemed even more extraordinary.
Well...
It was rare for elves to travel in groups in this region, except for specific areas...
“We knew you would come to our village, so we have set up leftover tents.”
The elves, seeing the unfamiliar tents for the first time, approached with curiosity, touched them, and looked around, yet I had seen these tents before.
Ger.
A nomadic tent used mainly by the eastern continent’s tribes, it could be installed and dismantled quickly with simple materials, and if properly arranged, several could be loaded onto a carriage, making it the best mobile home.
“After moving my territory several times in the human world, I ended up following the humans’ houses.”
I didn’t know how far these orcs had wandered the continent in search of territory, but it was certain they had visited the eastern continent where they mainly used ger.
The elves transferred their belongings to the orcs’ prepared tents, laid out mats on the ground so Cali and I could rest, and prepared dinner, while I and the village chief sat in front of the campfire in the village center and continued our unfinished conversation.
“By the way, I wonder how the elves came all this way... From what I know, the elf forest here is far away...”
“We were on our way to the Dwarf Kingdom.”
“The Dwarf Kingdom? Ah.. so you must have started from the Empire.”
“Yes.”
The chief, who only heard our purpose but could already predict where we had come from, seemed to know the surrounding terrain thoroughly.
“I heard there is Lord Lowell, the hero of the Empire’s party...”
“I am that Lowell.”
“As expected... I see... I guess that’s why a large star appeared above our village yesterday, and I thought an important guest would come.”
Since the orcs’ chief’s words and the tents in the village were all related...
“You studied astronomy in the eastern continent?”
“As expected.. you are the High Elf with infinite knowledge. Knowing the scholars of the eastern continent... have you ever been there?”
“Ah.. no.. I have never been there...”
Astronomy in the eastern continent was closer to divination than academics...
Moreover, the tents used by the eastern continent’s nomadic tribes...
I had never personally visited the eastern continent, but all of it was familiar to me.
“How did you end up here...?”
“That’s...”
The chief told me the entire history of how this orc tribe had lived until now.
Before the hero appeared, during the previous hero era, as the ongoing war between the Human Alliance and the Demon King’s army depleted them, the orcs could not escape it either, so the orc warriors died fighting on the battlefield, while the rear orc tribes starved to death, and this orc tribe, fleeing starvation, had escaped the Demon King’s territory and wandered in the human world.
At first, they raided human villages to steal food and ambushed merchant carriages to take their goods, but the more they did that, the more human armies came, forcing them to move their territory once a month, and at that time, they went to the eastern continent and then returned here to the west.
Of course, they now lived in hiding in mountains and fields, hunted as their main occupation, and occasionally gathered animal skins to sell to human merchants in exchange for food.
In that way, they learned human language to survive, and the chief, in particular, learned astronomy and magic from a benefactor he met in the eastern continent, and had been able to live leading this orc tribe, which humans had treated as monsters in the human world until now.