Chapter 121 - 134 The Coming Food Crisis (Patreon)

Chapter 121

The Coming Food Crisis

The goblins’ transformation into exercise fanatics did nothing to interrupt construction.

Work on the village continued steadily, and once the walls and earthen houses were mostly complete, the Greenskin Alliance resumed absorbing the nearby orc settlements.

Karath had named the weapon of the Grand Chief Silvertusk.

Between the sight of that legendary axe and his usual display of magic, bringing other orc tribes beneath his authority proved relatively easy.

Over the next ten days, three more settlements joined the alliance.

Then the rainy season arrived, as it always did between late spring and early summer.

Raaaaaain poured endlessly from the sky.

Fortunately, Karath had anticipated it and pushed the relocation work forward with urgency. The last migrants reached safety shortly before the storms began.

He used the rainy season as an opportunity to withdraw into seclusion within his residence at the village near the ruins.

Until then, his responsibilities as Grand Chief had limited him to brief training sessions whenever he found spare time.

Now he could focus properly upon weight training, mana cultivation, axe techniques, and magic.

On the day the rainy season finally ended, Karath summoned a warrior.

“Bring Berners here.”

It was time to address the most important matter he had postponed because of the rain.

“Did you summon Bernersh, Grand Chief?”

The chief of communications arrived a short while later.

A month and a half of exercise had produced a visible difference.

Berners was nowhere near muscular yet, but his body had clearly changed since his first training session. He must have continued exercising faithfully throughout the rainy season.

“Karath summoned you to resolve the most important problem currently facing the alliance.”

Today’s conversation had nothing to do with exercise.

The issue was far more serious.

“Berners, have you ever seen a plant shaped like this?”

Karath showed him a drawing upon a piece of animal hide.

“Bernersh ish shorry. He has never seen it.”

Unfortunately, Berners was not omniscient.

More precisely, neither the hobgoblins’ communication network nor their remarkable knowledge of the terrain could reveal something they had never encountered.

“What about these?”

Karath presented several more drawings.

Berners communicated with the other hobgoblins through his horn before lowering his head.

“Bernersh ish shorry...”

So it would not be that easy.

The alliance had recently discovered iron, limestone, and rock salt in rapid succession, so Karath had allowed himself to hope that fortune would favour them again.

The Grimwood Mountains were not so generous.

There was a reason they were considered a forbidden land.

Fortunately, Karath had prepared another option.

“Summon the advisers. An important council will begin immediately.”

“Understood, Grand Chief.”

A warrior waiting near the entrance departed to gather the advisers resting throughout the village.

Before long, they assembled inside Karath’s residence.

“You summoned us, Grand Chief.”

“Karath apologises for calling everyone so suddenly while you were resting.”

“There is no need to apologise, Grand Chief.”

“Naturally, we must come whenever the Grand Chief calls!”

Karath watched their earnest reactions before opening the council in a grave tone.

“There is an extremely important problem facing the Greenskin Alliance.”

“What problem is that, Grand Chief?”

Krog and the others looked at him with curiosity.

Instead of answering directly, Karath posed a question.

“Do any of you know the current population of the alliance?”

“One thousand five hundred and sixty-eight, Grand Chief,” Krog answered immediately.

“One thousand five hundred and sixty-eight, Grand Chief,” Berners repeated.

“More than one thousand five hundred, but fewer than one thousand six hundred,” Dagon said.

Karath had expected silence.

Instead, three answers came almost immediately.

Berners reported settlement conditions every day, so his knowledge made sense.

Why did Krog know the exact number?

Even Dagon possessed a reasonably accurate estimate.

The advisers had apparently continued developing without Karath noticing.

“Has the alliance truly grown that much? Krahahaha!”

“Krahahaha! Learning numbers was an excellent decision, Grand Chief! Otherwise, we would not even be able to count our own people!”

Kaden and Parker’s cheerful laughter suggested that not everyone had advanced equally.

Karath looked at the two of them with mild disappointment before continuing.

“Before the rainy season, we absorbed Lionheart and three other nearby tribes. That increased the number of orcs by five hundred and twenty-seven. Three additional goblin clans also joined us, adding seventy-two.”

The alliance now included more than thirteen hundred orcs and over two hundred goblins.

“Think about it. Until last winter, we were merely an alliance of five tribes with fewer than five hundred people.”

“That is correct! Our growth has been astonishing, Grand Chief!”

“We did not begin this expansion in earnest until late winter, after meeting Berners and discovering the iron mine. Excluding the rainy season, our population has more than tripled in slightly over three months.”

The advisers reacted with excited murmurs.

“Even without absorbing more tribes, at least thirty orcs and goblins are born every month.”

By the standards of the Grimwood Mountains, the alliance’s settlements were exceptionally safe.

There was also little to do at night in such a primitive environment.

Since the concept of contraception did not exist, the birth rate was enormous.

“We must continue absorbing tribes and expanding our territory. We must also create a safe world for the children who will be born.”

“That is right, Grand Chief!”

“You will save every orc and goblin within these mountains!”

The more Karath spoke, the more excited most of the advisers became.

Krog, Berners, and Dagon looked less enthusiastic.

They were trying to understand how Karath’s talk of population growth connected to the serious problem he had mentioned.

“At our present rate, how large will the alliance become by next winter? At least four thousand. Perhaps more than five thousand.”

“That is incredible!”

“The alliance will become enormous!”

“But do we possess a way to feed five thousand people?”

The room fell silent.

“Krahahaha! We only need to hunt more monsters, Grand Chief!”

“Parker swears upon his name to bring back monsters every day!”

Kaden and Parker remained optimistic.

The expressions of Krog, Berners, and Dagon darkened.

They had finally understood the danger.

“Relying upon that would be too risky,” Krog said.

“The amount of prey brought back changes every day,” Dagon added. “Some days provide more than enough meat, while others provide too little.”

“That ish correct,” Berners said. “If we hunt a great amount one day and almost nothing for several daysh afterward, people will still starve.”

“Hunting also becomes much harder during winter,” Krog continued. “At this rate, the crisis the Grand Chief described may truly arrive next year.”

The freezers and their newly discovered salt could probably support a winter population of approximately two thousand.

Beyond that, the risks would increase sharply.

Once the alliance exceeded three thousand people, winter starvation would become almost unavoidable if they continued depending entirely upon hunting.

“If our population reaches four or five thousand, we cannot survive with a food supply that changes unpredictably from day to day.”

“Grand Chief, will finding the plants in those drawings allow us to secure food reliably?”

“That is correct. The ancestors revealed these plants to Karath while he purified their ruins. They commanded him to find them and use them to feed the alliance in abundance.”

The advisers cried out in wonder.

“The ancestors continue watching over us!”

Karath had once again borrowed the authority of the ancestors because it made the explanation easier.

His alternative plan was too radical for the advisers to accept without preparation.

That was why he had emphasised the danger so heavily and supported the proposal with a supposed revelation.

Berners lifted the hide bearing the drawings.

The largest image showed a rice plant, rendered as carefully as Karath could manage.

Beside it were drawings of potatoes and maize.

He had omitted wheat and barley because they looked similar enough to rice that an inaccurate picture would only cause confusion.

He had asked about every crop he remembered that could serve as a staple food.

Neither Berners nor any of the goblins recognised them.

“Bernersh ish shorry.”

“None of this is your fault. You cannot remember something you have never seen.”

Karath shook his head.

“As everyone knows, the alliance currently survives almost entirely upon meat.”

Most meals consisted of animals and monsters.

Fish from the Huge River and gathered fruit served as occasional additions.

“Then we simply need to hunt more,” Parker insisted.

“These mountains contain countless monsters,” Kaden agreed.

Their point was not entirely wrong.

The Grimwood Mountains held an enormous number of creatures.

Depending upon monster meat alone was still dangerous.

The amount obtained from hunting varied constantly, and winter made every expedition harder.

A rapidly expanding population required a stable food source.

“Grand Chief, should we expand our territory as quickly as possible until we discover these plants?” one adviser asked.

“We cannot.”

“Why not?”

“According to the ancestors’ knowledge, finding and cultivating these plants will require at least several months. Even if we expand blindly and eventually discover them, countless people may starve during the months needed for the first harvest.”

Territory could only be expanded safely by absorbing additional tribes.

Those new people were required to defend and maintain the larger domain.

If Karath forced the alliance to grow, only for hundreds or thousands to die of starvation in winter, the entire effort would be meaningless.

That assumed they found the crops quickly.

Failure could destabilise the alliance completely.

Even success would not solve the problem immediately.

Karath had never farmed before.

Neither had any of the orcs or goblins.

They would still need time to discover how to cultivate whatever crops they obtained.

Until staple crops were found and reliable growing methods established, territorial expansion had to stop.

If the problem continued too long, Karath might even need to consider restricting births.

They could not expand without an agricultural revolution.

Yet without expanding, the chances of discovering suitable crops within the mountains remained painfully low.

It was a trap with no obvious exit.

Chapter 122

Beyond the Grimwood Mountains

“Then do you intend to form another expedition, like the one that searched for the iron mine?”

Krog had recognised the only possible solution.

“That is correct.”

“Will the Grand Chief personally leave again?”

His expression pleaded for Karath to deny it.

“Karath is the only one who can complete this mission.”

“Why? We possess the drawings. We can search for the plants ourselves, Grand Chief!”

“That is right!”

The advisers immediately began objecting.

Karath waited for them to quieten before answering.

“The ancestors revealed the location of those plants. It is a place only Karath can enter.”

“Where is it?”

“Beyond these mountains.”

The advisers froze.

The alternative Karath had prepared was simple.

Whether the crop was rice, wheat, maize, or potatoes, there was one place where cultivated staple foods were certain to exist.

Outside the monster-infested Grimwood Mountains.

“In the lands of humans.”

Silence filled the residence.

Most of the orc tribes, including Bloodclaw, had not even understood that their homeland was part of a vast mountain range.

Naturally, they had known nothing about humans living beyond its borders.

That changed after goblins joined the alliance.

Through the hobgoblin network, the advisers learned that the Grimwood Mountains had an outer boundary and that human lands existed beyond it.

“Th-the ancestors commanded you to go there?”

Several advisers stammered like frightened children rather than orc warriors.

“That is correct.”

“H-how can that be?”

“What could the ancestors possibly mean?”

“It makes no sense!”

Confusion spread through the room.

The proposal collided directly with everything the orcs believed about humans.

“Do not worry. The ancestors did not assign Karath this duty without providing a method.”

He took out a bracelet he had prepared in advance.

“This was discovered within the ancestral ruins.”

In truth, the bracelet came from Renstein’s laboratory.

Karath had never used it because it previously offered little practical value.

For this mission, however, it was indispensable.

Its existence was the reason he could even consider entering human territory.

“This bracelet allows Karath to assume the appearance of a human.”

The advisers stared at him without understanding.

Karath fastened the bracelet around his wrist.

Then he channelled mana into it.

Bzzzzzz.

A flow of mana spread from the bracelet and enveloped his entire body.

The advisers recoiled.

“A human!”

“Grand Chief?”

“Is that truly you?”

Their shocked reactions confirmed that the magic had activated correctly.

The spell engraved into the bracelet was an illusion.

It was the same kind of illusion magic that had once concealed the entrance to Renstein’s laboratory.

Chapter 123

The Human Disguise

Karath used the illusion spell to transform his appearance into that of a human.

More precisely, he covered his true appearance with an illusion.

The amount of mana required increased sharply with the size of the alteration, so he limited the changes to concealing his tusks and changing the colour of his skin.

“Mirror.”

Karath cast a spell and formed a mirror from water before him.

He examined the reflected figure with satisfaction.

Two months of dedicated training had broadened his already muscular frame. Combined with the bronze complexion he had deliberately chosen, he resembled one of the American professional wrestlers Arnold had watched on television as a child.

“What do you think? Is the disguise convincing?”

“It is astonishing, Grand Chief!”

After confirming the advisers’ shocked reactions, Karath released the spell.

“But Grand Chief,” Krog began, raising a sharp objection, “could someone else not use the bracelet instead?”

“At present, Karath is the only one capable of using it. Try it yourselves if you remain doubtful.”

Rather than explaining through words, he removed the bracelet and offered it to the advisers.

Each of them tried wearing it, hoping that something might happen.

Not one of their appearances changed.

None of them could manipulate mana yet.

“Do you understand now? Karath is not entering human territory to invade it. He intends to conceal his appearance with this bracelet, follow the ancestors’ will, obtain the plants, and return.”

“We understand, Grand Chief.”

The advisers no longer possessed a reasonable argument, but their expressions remained frustrated.

Karath was relieved that the explanation had been enough.

In truth, he had concealed several important facts.

The bracelet was not infallible.

According to Renstein’s writings, the illusion engraved upon it was equivalent to a Fifth Circle spell.

That meant a magician who had reached the Fifth Circle could notice that Karath was using illusion magic.

A magician of the Sixth Circle or higher could immediately see through the spell and identify his true form.

Karath was not overly concerned.

The information he had gathered from Roberto and Renstein’s books, Muhe Lionheart’s testament, and the goblins living near the edge of the mountains all supported one conclusion.

Most humans could not manipulate mana.

Apart from knights and magicians, ordinary humans appeared incapable of using it.

Karath might occasionally encounter knights, but the possibility of meeting a magician, particularly one of the Fifth Circle or higher, seemed extremely low.

According to the outer goblin clans, they had seen many humans carrying weapons but almost never encountered anyone who cast magic.

On the rare occasions when they did, the spells described sounded like Second or Third Circle magic at most.

It was possible that those magicians simply saw no need to use spells of the Fourth Circle or higher against goblins.

The more important problem was that every conclusion Karath had reached was still only an inference.

That made it even more necessary to visit human territory at least once.

As the Greenskin Alliance continued growing and expanding throughout the Grimwood Mountains, humans would inevitably discover them one day.

As long as humanity classified orcs and goblins as monsters and treated them as enemies, humans would eventually become the alliance’s ultimate opponent.

Karath therefore needed information.

Knowing both the enemy and oneself prevented defeat.

Even a small amount of intelligence gathered now could help him prepare for the future.

Roberto was a good example.

After learning that Roberto had been a mercenary, Karath initially assumed that human combat strength must be terrifying.

How could a mere mercenary possess such power?

Yet the more information Karath gathered, the more he suspected Roberto had actually ranked quite highly among human fighters.

Questions and mistaken assumptions like that could only be resolved by approaching human civilisation directly.

Karath had already considered doing so because he possessed a bracelet capable of hiding his appearance.

The urgent need for an agricultural revolution finally gave him sufficient reason to leave the mountains.

“We understand why you must go beyond the mountains, Grand Chief,” Krog said. “However, you must bring a proper escort in case something happens.”

“That is correct! Kaden will accompany you!”

“Parker will go as well!”

The moment Krog mentioned an escort, Kaden, Parker, and nearly every other adviser volunteered.

“The warriors gathered here must oversee the migrations and protect the alliance while Karath is absent. He will select the warriors accompanying him separately.”

He shook his head.

Karath would need to enter human territory alone regardless.

There was no reason to drag his most important advisers all the way to its borders.

“Karath has also prepared something to protect the alliance during his absence.”

The argument appeared likely to continue indefinitely, so he redirected the conversation and brought out several items prepared in advance.

“Kaden. Krog. These are the weapons Karath borrowed from you during the rainy season.”

He returned the weapons he had taken for an experiment.

“Karath has placed shamanic enchantments upon them. Look closely, and you will find a groove near each handle.”

He removed two mana stones from a leather pouch and held them out.

“Insert the mana stones into those grooves, and the enchantments will activate.”

Kaden and Krog received their weapons with astonished expressions and fitted the stones into place.

Bzzzzzz!

Powerful blades of wind formed around the weapons.

The sharp sound of sliced air filled the residence.

Karath had used the cockatrice mana stones so that warriors incapable of manipulating mana could properly draw upon the power of drake bone.

“Chief Parker, Karath knows that lacking a drake-bone weapon has inconvenienced you. Take this.”

Four cockatrice mana stones remained after the one Karath swallowed, so he had created four enchanted weapons.

They had killed six cockatrices, so five stones should have remained.

Unfortunately, while Karath experimented with a mana stone and his bone axe during the rainy season, the family pet swallowed one of them whole.

Even remembering the incident made his arms tremble with frustration.

He could only soothe himself by imagining that Buddy might eventually learn to manipulate mana like a drake or cockatrice.

“Is that not the weapon you used, Grand Chief?”

Parker stared in shock when Karath offered him the bone axe.

“Karath possesses Silvertusk now, so he no longer needs that axe.”

He raised the weapon of the Grand Chief.

After two months of training, he could handle Silvertusk reasonably well.

His mana-enhanced axe techniques had also improved enough to be useful in actual combat.

That was why he could surrender his old weapon and why he possessed at least some confidence about entering the human world.

Even in the worst situation, he believed he could escape back into the mountains.

“Leaving such a weapon unused would waste the alliance’s strength. Among the warriors who do not already possess drake-bone weapons, Chief Parker is the most capable. Therefore, Karath grants it to you.”

“I, Parker Doubleaxes, swear to sacrifice my life for the Grand Chief and the alliance!”

Deeply moved, Parker accepted the axe and shouted his oath.

“Dagon, Karath will grant you a drake-bone weapon as well.”

He presented Dagon with the bone axe formerly carried by Grild, the previous Bloodclaw chief, who had recently retired after reaching old age.

Thus, Karath distributed the four weapons capable of holding mana stones among the most capable young warriors of the alliance.

Chapter 124

Beyond the Grimwood Mountains

Karath departed the following morning.

Berners accompanied him, along with two orc warriors assigned as guards and a goblin warrior responsible for scouting and assisting the hobgoblin.

The expedition consisted of five people.

They travelled for three days along the roads the alliance warriors had worked tirelessly to clear.

They spent one night at a waystation, the next in Blacksmith Village, and the third at another waystation before finally reaching Root.

After resting there overnight, they arrived at the banks of the Huge River.

According to the information Berners gathered, the nearest human territory lay beyond the river.

They could travel around it, but the detour would consume an enormous amount of time.

Karath intended to cross directly.

Rooooar.

The rainy season had ended only four days earlier, leaving the Huge River swollen and violent.

Its width approached one hundred metres.

Attempting to swim across would be extremely dangerous, especially when most orcs sank like rocks in water.

Fortunately, that was not a serious obstacle.

“Fly.”

Karath possessed magic.

He transported the heavy orc warriors across the Huge River one at a time.

After sending Berners and the goblin as well, he cast the spell upon himself and crossed last.

Beyond the river, they avoided fighting whenever possible and killed only the monsters blocking their route.

Six days passed.

The land truly deserved to be called a mountain range.

To reach the outer region, the group climbed and descended one mountain, crossed another river smaller than the Huge River, and began ascending a second mountain.

“Once we descend the other side, we may begin encountering humansh, Grand Chief,” Berners explained.

Karath nodded.

The differences had not been noticeable while they remained only a day or two from Root.

Near the edge of the mountains, however, they became obvious.

The monsters had grown considerably weaker by the time they reached the second mountain.

Small creatures formed the majority.

An Owlbear ranked among the region’s strongest predators, and a mere minotaur behaved like the ruler of the mountain.

There was another major difference.

The concentration of mana had decreased noticeably.

Just as Renstein had written, the inner and outer regions of the Grimwood Mountains possessed dramatically different mana densities.

Karath continued climbing while observing the change.

Eventually, the upward slope disappeared.

A vast forest spread below the summit.

Beyond those trees, Karath saw distant walls and buildings.

Human territory.

“Wait near this area until Karath returns.”

After confirming the location of human civilisation, he addressed the group accompanying him.

“If a dangerous monster appears, do not attempt to defend this exact position. Retreat somewhere safer. When Karath returns to the area, he will signal you through shamanic arts.”

He demonstrated the signal by forming a symbol from a stream of water in the air.

Karath then left his companions behind and began descending the mountain.

Once the dense vegetation completely hid them from view, he poured mana into the illusion bracelet.

Bzzzzzz.

He created a magical mirror, confirmed his human appearance, and continued downward.

Crack!

Whenever small monsters attacked along the way, Silvertusk crushed their heads.

Karath had descended for some time when the sounds of battle came from one side.

“ROOOAR!”

Boom!

At first, he assumed two monsters were fighting over territory.

Then he heard a voice between the impacts.

“Get away!”

This was not a battle between monsters.

Humans or goblins were involved.

In this region, those were the most likely possibilities.

Karath suppressed his presence as much as possible and moved toward the noise.

Humans.

Four humans were fighting an Owlbear.

Chapter 125

The Man Called Roben

Karath remained concealed within the undergrowth and observed the battle first.

Was this a fight between weaklings?

People often claimed that the two most entertaining sights in the world were fires and fights, and that nothing surpassed watching two weak opponents struggle against each other.

As Karath watched four humans flail about while facing an Owlbear, that saying naturally came to mind.

They should have stepped inside its reach there.

The sight almost made him shout advice from the bushes.

Had warriors of the Greenskin Alliance fought like this, Karath would have struck them across the backs of their heads and begun lecturing them about how things had been done in his day.

At least their teamwork was reasonably competent.

Each individual seemed weaker than an ordinary orc warrior, but the four humans coordinated their movements.

They were almost the complete opposite of the Bloodclaw warriors Karath remembered from before he reached adulthood.

Their cooperation allowed them to endure against the Owlbear somehow.

“ROOOAR!”

It did not appear that they could continue much longer.

The two warriors drawing the creature’s attention from the front were visibly tiring. Their evasions grew narrower and increasingly desperate.

After observing that much, Karath reached a decision and rose with Silvertusk in hand.

He had lived as a human in his former life, but he was now an orc, a race positioned directly against humanity.

There was no particular reason to save humans.

However, Karath had entered this land to obtain crops and gather information about human civilisation.

He was already disguised as a human.

Saving their lives should make it much easier to gain information from them afterward.

Perhaps some part of him also remained unwilling to stand aside and watch humans die.

Regardless of the reason, once an orc made a decision, he did not hesitate.

That was how an orc warrior advanced.

“Move aside!”

Karath shouted in the human language Roberto had taught him and charged toward the Owlbear with all his strength.

“Wh-what?”

The four humans turned toward him with astonished expressions.

Idiots.

Why were they looking away when an Owlbear stood directly in front of them?

Their inexperience almost made Karath sigh.

Even a fifteen-year-old novice warrior of the Greenskin Alliance would not have made such a foolish mistake.

“ROOOAR!”

Fortunately, the Owlbear turned away from the distracted humans and focused upon Karath.

Perhaps the monster instinctively sensed that Karath was far more dangerous than the four clumsy humans before it.

The moment he entered its range, the Owlbear swung one enormous clawed arm.

“Hnnngh!”

Karath swung Silvertusk toward the incoming forelimb.

At the same time, he manipulated the mana stored within his mana core.

It flowed from the soles planted against the ground, through his lower body, then into his waist and core to withstand the rotational force.

Finally, it strengthened the shoulder and arm driving the axe.

The mana distributed according to the movement increased his physical ability dramatically.

“Mountain Cleaver!”

Slice!

Silvertusk passed cleanly through the Owlbear’s forelimb.

“ROOOOAR!”

Blood erupted from the severed limb.

The Owlbear released a cry filled with pain and fury.

“Too loud!”

Karath stepped closer before it could recover.

He leapt into the air with all his strength.

“Your head!”

Silvertusk descended upon the Owlbear’s skull.

Crack!

Unlike the clean cutting sound of the first attack, the impact resembled an axe splitting timber.

The monster’s skull shattered.

Karath still could not perform consecutive mana-enhanced movements properly.

His training had allowed him to reinforce each individual action, but linking those movements into one smooth sequence remained difficult.

Even so, this was more than enough to kill an Owlbear alone.

Silvertusk was an absurd weapon capable of splitting an Owlbear’s skull even without mana.

Karath landed beside the corpse and turned toward the humans he had rescued.

They stared at him with their mouths open.

“Thank you for saving us.”

After remaining stunned for some time, one of the two warriors who had fought at the front stepped forward and offered his gratitude.

“It was nothing.”

Karath rolled the words around in his mouth before answering briefly.

Roberto had taught him the human language, but that had been six years ago.

Orc, goblin, and human speech had probably originated from the same language. That was why limited communication remained possible.

However, the orcs and goblins had spent generations isolated within the terrible Grimwood Mountains, while humans developed beyond them without contact.

The difference between orcish and human speech had become something resembling the difference between a standard language and a distant regional dialect.

Karath felt like someone who had lived in the capital for years and was suddenly attempting to imitate a dialect without letting his normal speech slip through.

“My name is Hans. May I ask the name of the person who saved us?”

“Roben.”

Karath gave the name he had prepared before entering human territory.

The only human names he knew were Renstein and Roberto, so he had created something by altering Roberto’s name.

It sounded human enough.

“Thank you, Roben. These are my companions, Tov, Jackson, and Merrill.”

“Thank you for saving us.”

“We would have died without you.”

“Thank you. My name is Merrill.”

The remaining three greeted him after the introductions.

“Roben... where did you come from?” Merrill asked almost immediately. She was the only woman in the group. “Your clothes are rather... wild.”

“From there.”

Karath pointed toward the mountain path he had descended.

A lie mixed with truth was usually more convincing than a complete fabrication.

He intended to claim that he had lived in the mountains while training in martial arts, much like a reclusive master from an old martial arts novel.

He was preparing to explain that he had been training when the humans began speaking among themselves.

“Ah. You must have heard about him and decided to imitate what he did.”

“I did not expect people to still attempt that.”

“I have never seen anyone who tried it become this strong. Perhaps it truly works.”

Karath stared at them.

They had somehow begun inventing his background without any assistance.

He had no idea what they were talking about.

“How long did you survive up there?”

“Three years.”

“Ah, that explains why your speech is awkward. After spending three years in the mountains, speaking normally would be difficult.”

So his speech had sounded unnatural after all.

Karath had deliberately kept his answers short to conceal that weakness.

“Merrill,” Hans warned.

“Ah, I apologise. Roben is so powerful that hearing he survived for three years surprised me.”

Calling someone’s speech strange could be taken as an insult, so Hans had corrected her immediately.

“It is fine.”

“Thank you for understanding. The timing fits perfectly if it was three years.”

“Three years would explain how he became this strong.”

“Maybe I should try it too.”

“Forget it. You would be dead within a week.”

Every answer Karath gave prompted another mysterious conversation among the four.

“Who is this person you keep mentioning?”

Since they already believed his awkward speech came from isolation, Karath stopped restricting himself to short responses.

The inexperienced group seemed eager to invent explanations for everything themselves.

There was little need for elaborate acting.

“You do not know Roberto, the Gray Wolf, the rising star of the mercenary world?”

“Roberto... I know that name.”

Why had Roberto’s name appeared here?

“Of course. If you entered the mountains three years ago, you may not know the full story.”

The four took turns explaining Roberto’s supposedly magnificent life.

“Roberto was originally a high-grade Aura User and a Gold-Rank mercenary.”

“Six years ago, he accepted a mission inside the Grimwood Mountains. Every one of his companions died, and he returned after failing the mission.”

“He should have been demoted to Silver Rank, but Roberto somehow retained his Gold-Rank status.”

“Later, everyone discovered why. Roberto became an Aura Expert inside the Grimwood Mountains!”

“A fair number of mercenaries become Aura Users, but almost none reach the level of Aura Expert. It was an enormous event.”

The four mercenaries spoke excitedly about Roberto as though describing their own achievements.

“Few people knew at first. But Roberto continued working as a mercenary and eventually became one of the rare Platinum-Rank mercenaries. That was when rumours began spreading.”

“People said he had encountered a miraculous opportunity within the Grimwood Mountains. Countless mercenaries followed his example and entered the mountains.”

“Most never returned. Those who survived swore they would never enter again. They described it as a horrifying place.”

“That is why we assumed you had challenged the Grimwood Mountains after hearing Roberto’s story. Were we wrong?”

The four stopped their enthusiastic storytelling and looked at Karath curiously.

“Ahem. Th-that is correct. Roberto’s story inspired the attempt.”

Karath answered with an awkward smile.

He had never imagined Roberto would help him in a place like this.

“Roberto truly is incredible.”

“He became an Aura Expert and still continues working as a mercenary. Rumour says he has already surpassed the intermediate level and may soon reach the advanced level.”

“Perhaps the first Aura Master among all mercenaries will eventually appear.”

“He is the hope of every mercenary! Even if I become an Aura User, I will continue mercenary work just like him. I cannot stand those stiff knights.”

“Liar. The moment you learned aura, you would apply to every knight order you could find.”

“What did you say?”

The four resumed arguing happily, providing Karath with even more information without being asked.

Saving them had been the correct decision.

Chapter 126

The Divided Human World

“Three years have passed, so the details are unclear,” Karath said, entering their conversation without appearing too curious. “Do territories recruit knights often?”

“That depends upon the kingdom and the individual lord.”

“But Roben would probably be accepted immediately. Judging by how you killed that Owlbear, you must be an Aura User. Someone at that level could enter almost any ordinary knight order.”

Once again, the mercenaries freely shared everything they knew.

None of them showed the slightest suspicion that Karath might be an orc.

That was understandable.

Few humans would imagine an orc using illusion magic.

Before meeting Karath, even Roberto had considered orcs mindless monsters.

Karath was also avoiding questions about the mercenaries’ personal lives.

He only asked about Roberto, knights, and other general matters.

They therefore regarded him as a powerful but ignorant country warrior who had spent too long isolated from civilisation.

Karath did not find the misunderstanding offensive.

It made his objective easier to accomplish.

Was an Aura User simply someone capable of strengthening the body with mana?

An Aura Expert might be someone capable of projecting mana from a weapon, as Roberto had once demonstrated.

They had also said that an Aura User could enter almost any knight order.

A knight held the status of something like a lesser baron, making one almost a noble.

Perhaps human authority in this world was determined largely by whether someone could manipulate mana.

The theory remained uncertain, but it appeared roughly correct.

“Roben, what is it like beyond that mountain?” Merrill asked. “Is it truly so terrible? Much worse than here?”

“One survivor claimed Owlbears were everywhere,” Jackson added. “That has to be an exaggeration, does it not?”

“Owlbears are not everywhere.”

That much was certainly true.

Owlbears could hardly cover the mountains when minotaurs and ogres kept eating them.

“I knew it. How could anyone return alive from a place like that?”

“Exactly.”

The mercenaries appeared to misunderstand Karath’s answer.

There was no reason to correct them.

“However, there are far more dangerous monsters beyond the mountain than there are here. Of course, it would not be particularly dangerous if a large number of aura-wielding knights entered together.”

Karath answered indirectly, placing bait within the explanation.

Based upon everything he had experienced and learned, ordinary humans could not survive within the inner Grimwood Mountains.

Common mercenaries and soldiers would accomplish nothing except dying there.

Knights capable of manipulating mana were different.

The conversation suggested humanity possessed at least hundreds, perhaps thousands, of such knights.

“If knights truly decided to act, they should be able to subjugate many of the monsters. Karath... Roben has always wondered why they never come.”

He narrowly corrected himself.

The question was intended to resolve one of his greatest uncertainties.

The four mercenaries laughed.

“Why would knights ever enter a place like that?”

“You really did spend all your time training, Roben.”

They looked at him almost fondly, as though he were an innocent but powerful young man from the countryside.

“If the knights entered those mountains, who would attend to all their needs?”

“That is right. You just explained that anyone who is not a knight would struggle to survive. Knights who live only to admire their own greatness would never choose to endure that kind of hardship.”

“More importantly, what would happen if one kingdom sent all its knights into the Grimwood Mountains and another kingdom invaded?”

“The mountains are enormous. It would take days to enter and days more to return. Their kingdom might already be destroyed before the knights escaped.”

The earlier explanations were useful.

The final one mattered most.

Human kingdoms could not commit their strength to subjugating the Grimwood Mountains because they feared attacks from other human nations.

After driving the other races into the forbidden land, humanity had apparently begun fighting among itself.

Karath naturally began considering how that division might someday be used.

Chapter 127

A Path Through the Human World

Whatever anyone might say, humans were the dominant race of this world.

No matter how hard Karath worked to unite the other races of the Grimwood Mountains and improve their living conditions, the resources they could acquire would remain limited as long as they were confined to the mountain range.

Surviving while treating all of humanity as an enemy would never be easy.

To be honest, Karath did not want to become the enemy of every human alive.

He had still spent more years as a human than as an orc.

He was only preparing to fight because he had no intention of dying while clinging to some naïve belief that his former humanity meant humans and orcs could simply become friends.

The mercenaries’ explanation had revealed a faint glimmer of hope.

When Karath considered history, it was hardly unusual.

Once a common enemy disappeared, the victors often divided into separate factions and began fighting among themselves.

Perhaps the Greenskin Alliance would not need to oppose and kill every human.

Perhaps it could form alliances with some of them.

One might ask what human would ever ally with monsters like orcs and goblins.

The answer was that such an alliance was possible precisely because the other side consisted of humans.

Orcs tended to share the same impatience because of their blood, while goblins exchanged thoughts and memories through their horns.

Humans were far more varied.

Some possessed tempers as violent as orcs.

Others were cold enough to think entirely with their heads rather than their hearts.

Humanity included attention seekers, social outcasts, and those who lived only to provoke strangers.

It also included perverts, rapists, murderers, and corrupt rulers who deserved to die regardless of Karath’s race.

At the same time, there were people who sacrificed everything to help others and were praised as saints.

Karath would have wanted the first group dead even as a human.

He had no desire to kill the second group merely because he was now an orc.

The four mercenaries eagerly sharing information with him were a simpler example.

They still seemed somewhat innocent and uncorrupted by the world.

Karath had no particular desire to become their enemy and kill them.

If circumstances forced him to do so, he would have no choice.

Still, their existence proved that some human rulers might willingly cooperate with the Greenskin Alliance if doing so benefited their nations.

That was a matter for after the unification of the Grimwood Mountains.

Without strength, such thoughts were meaningless.

Humans would only consider an alliance if cooperating with the Greenskins offered them something valuable.

The Greenskin Alliance would also need to become strong enough that the humans could not simply seize that value by force.

Otherwise, they would devour the alliance rather than bargain with it.

By the time Karath unified the Grimwood Mountains, the Greenskin Alliance needed enough military power to confront one or two human kingdoms on its own.

That future remained distant.

Even so, he could finally see a possible path.

It seemed far more achievable than fighting all of humanity.

“Thank you for telling Roben so much. After spending three years inside the mountains, there are many things he no longer knows.”

“Hahaha! Consider it payment for saving our lives.”

“That is right. We can tell you much more!”

“Then could you continue telling Roben about the world while we travel? In exchange, you may take the Owlbear’s corpse.”

The four mercenaries stared at him in surprise.

Roberto had been right.

Monster corpses were clearly valuable.

Mercenaries hunted monsters for profit, receiving money from commissions and selling the useful materials harvested from their bodies.

“We cannot accept something like that from the man who saved our lives,” Hans replied.

They appeared to possess at least some conscience.

That made sense.

They had continued fighting the Owlbear together rather than abandoning one another, even though they could not defeat it.

“Then how about guiding Roben to the nearest village as well? He has returned after three years and no longer knows the roads. The Owlbear’s corpse can serve as the commission fee.”

“Ah...”

“Give us a moment to discuss it.”

The four gathered and spoke quietly.

“We accept.”

“With the Owlbear’s corpse, we have already reached our hunting target. We can return now without any problem.”

Thus, they accepted Karath’s request.

They travelled for another half day before the sun began descending.

“The forest ends after roughly another half day of travel,” Hans explained. “However, camping here would be safer than wandering at night.”

They established a camp and spent the night in the forest.

Early the following morning, the summer sun rose quickly.

The group resumed travelling despite their lack of sleep.

“The nearest territory is still quite far away,” Hans said. “The gates close after sunset, so we will need to move quickly if we want to enter today.”

Following their guidance, Karath left the forest after half a day.

Beyond it lay a broad and seemingly barren plain.

They alternated between running and walking across the open land for several more hours.

Around what would have been five or six in the afternoon in Karath’s former world, human figures gradually appeared.

They were working the seemingly empty fields.

Karath almost wanted to abduct them on the spot.

Not because he wanted to eat them.

One purpose of leaving the mountains was to obtain crops and agricultural knowledge, so the sight of farmers ploughing fields and planting seeds looked incredibly tempting.

Small houses stood throughout the farmland.

Beyond them, a modest stone wall surrounded a settlement.

The distance made its exact size difficult to judge, but it appeared smaller than Root’s wall.

“The Grimwood Mountains are only half a day away. Is it not dangerous to live outside the walls?”

“Hahaha! The distance is still considerable, and this plain is wide open. The guards upon the walls can see any approaching monsters.”

“During harvest season and early winter, the lord usually sends knights and soldiers to clear the nearby forest. They prevent hungry monsters from gathering and attacking in groups.”

Karath nodded while organising the new information.

The subjugation expeditions Berners had heard about must have occurred during those periods.

“Besides, that forest is not considered part of the Grimwood Mountains,” Merrill added. “Most people say the range only truly begins beyond the Crimson Mountains, where you came from yesterday.”

“Territories near the Crimson Mountains usually possess much taller walls and resemble fortresses,” Hans said. “Stronger monsters live there, so experienced mercenaries tend to work in those regions.”

“Ah. That explains why your group works here.”

The four mercenaries lowered their heads.

“Yes...”

“We are not particularly capable.”

Karath had unintentionally struck them with the truth.

Silence followed.

Accompanied by that awkward silence, they reached the gate shortly before sunset.

“Who is that man?”

The officer commanding the gate guards looked startled by Karath’s appearance.

He seemed to be a knight.

Unlike the ordinary soldiers around him, the man looked noticeably refined.

“We met him in the forest,” Hans explained.

“He followed the Gray Wolf training method and returned after three years.”

“He survived for three years?”

The knight stared at Karath in astonishment.

“Ahem. Even so, no one without a confirmed identity can pass through the gate.”

“Oh, Sir, we have known one another for quite some time. Do you truly need to be so strict?”

Merrill approached with a sweet voice and pressed herself close to the knight.

Her hand slipped between the plates of his armour and left something inside.

“Ahem. Your group can be trusted. You may pass.”

The knight immediately stepped aside.

Human settlements were apparently the same everywhere.

His duty as an inspector was nothing more than an excuse to demand a bribe.

“Damn bastard.”

After smiling and slipping him money, Merrill spat upon the ground and muttered beneath her breath.

If the knight possessed unusual tastes, he might have considered it a reward.

“Ahem. You spent money because of Roben. He apologises.”

“Do not worry about it. Once we sell the Owlbear hide and tendons, we will still make a profit.”

The four shrugged as though it meant nothing.

“That jackal irritates me every time,” Tov grumbled. “He acts so arrogant merely because he is a knight, even though he is only a low-grade Aura User.”

“We should leave this village soon. I am tired of dealing with him.”

Karath listened silently as they entered the settlement.

During their journey, he had learned enough to understand the classifications they mentioned.

A low-grade Aura User had formed a mana core and become capable of manipulating mana.

An intermediate Aura User could employ that mana to strengthen different parts of the body.

An advanced Aura User could extend the enhancement beyond the body and reinforce weapons or armour.

Karath currently stood somewhere between the low and intermediate levels.

An Aura Expert went beyond simply placing mana into a weapon and could manifest it outside the body.

Apparently, Experts were also divided into low, intermediate, and advanced levels according to the extent of that manifestation.

Beyond them existed Aura Masters.

The strongest human warriors must possess truly monstrous combat power.

Karath had also asked indirectly about magicians.

Unfortunately, the four mercenaries knew little about them.

At least he learned that Viscount Lindberg’s territory contained no magician of the Fifth Circle or higher.

First and Second Circle magicians were treated as apprentices.

Third and Fourth Circle magicians handled most work outside magical institutions.

Those who reached the Fifth Circle became high-ranking magicians, often serving as elders or officers within magic towers or holding important positions in royal capitals and the territories of great nobles.

Penetrating deeply into human civilisation would be difficult.

Karath could not afford to become careless.

The more people gathered in a location, especially within a great noble’s territory or a royal capital, the more likely he was to encounter someone capable of seeing through his disguise.

Trusting the illusion bracelet and travelling too deeply into the human world could send him directly to his death.

Chapter 128

The Price of Monster Parts

“We should settle our earnings first.”

While Karath considered the dangers of the human world, the four mercenaries led him into an unfamiliar building.

“Oh, the rookies returned alive. Who is the large fellow behind you? His outfit is certainly impressive.”

A heavily built man, smaller than Karath but still large by human standards, greeted them from behind a counter.

“This is Roben. We met him in the forest. He returned after following the Gray Wolf training method for three years.”

“H-he actually did that for three years?”

“Yes. Now calculate these for us.”

The mercenaries placed the materials they had collected upon the counter.

There was Owlbear hide and tendon, troll blood, and various smaller parts harvested from other monsters.

“Oh? You rookies killed an Owlbear?”

The man looked naturally toward Karath, as though he already understood what had happened.

“Ahem. We received it as payment for guiding him here,” Hans admitted beneath the weight of that gaze.

“Krahahaha! You even accepted a commission during the journey. You are finally growing as mercenaries.”

The building was apparently a mercenary guild.

“Would you like to accept another commission?”

“What kind of commission?”

“A merchant caravan arrived while you were in the forest. They plan to leave for Count Hudson’s territory tomorrow morning and requested guards. Would your group be interested?”

“Is the route toward Hudson’s territory more dangerous because of bandits than monsters?”

“That is correct. You must be tired of fighting monsters every day. What do you think? The large fellow could accompany you as well.”

The guild worker looked directly at Karath.

Judging by the conversation, he was assigning the job to the group because he wanted Karath involved.

“Roben is not a mercenary. He also has business in this village and cannot accept the commission.”

Karath had no intention of following strangers deeper into human territory and dying when his identity was exposed.

His companions were also still waiting anxiously near the Crimson Mountains for his return.

“Instead, could you purchase these?”

Karath opened the leather pouch he had prepared before leaving the mountains.

Inside were valuable but relatively compact monster parts, including Horn Boar and minotaur horns and Black Cobra fangs.

Roberto had told him that parts harvested from monsters could be exchanged for money, so Karath selected several items before departing.

“Is that a minotaur horn? Did you kill it alone?”

The guild worker stared at the horn, then examined Karath more carefully.

His eyes moved to Karath’s clothing.

“That hide... Is it ogre skin?”

“O-ogre?”

“Roben, did you kill an ogre alone while living in those mountains for three years?”

Their misunderstanding made Karath slightly uncomfortable.

He could probably kill a minotaur alone.

A sudden encounter might prove dangerous, but with traps and magical preparations, victory would be entirely possible.

Could he kill an ogre alone?

That would not be easy.

“A minotaur and ogre fought one another. Roben attacked the ogre after the battle.”

He could hardly admit that his subordinates had helped him complete a raid, so he offered a plausible explanation.

“Ahem. That is still impressive.”

The guild worker looked at him as though he were a delicious prize.

He clearly wanted to force Karath into the escort commission somehow.

Karath had no intention of agreeing.

“How much for everything?”

“Including the ogre hide?”

“If Roben sells it, he will have nothing to wear. That would be difficult.”

“A pity. Did you collect any ogre bones or tendons? Those would sell for even more.”

“The bones were too large to carry. Too much time has passed for the tendons to remain useful.”

“That truly is unfortunate.”

Despite his size, the guild worker calculated the value of the materials with impressive speed.

“Eighty-three silver for everything.”

He added that the amount was similar to what the four rookies had gathered over several days, even after including the Owlbear.

The look he gave them clearly called them pathetic.

“If you agree, I will give you seventy silver and use the remaining thirteen to sell you my spare clothes. Walking around the territory dressed like that will cause problems.”

“Jack, that is far too much! Thirteen silver for one outfit?”

“That is right! Everything you wear is cheap!”

The mercenaries protested on Karath’s behalf.

“Look at his size. Finding clothes that fit him would require taking measurements and making them from scratch. The clothing shop will not open until tomorrow morning, and even then, the clothes would probably not be ready until evening. Mine should fit him reasonably well.”

“Then Roben accepts.”

“Roben?”

The mercenaries stared at his immediate answer.

Karath understood that Jack was overcharging him.

It hardly mattered.

He intended to purchase crops and return to the mountains.

The four mercenaries had already provided a useful amount of information.

Any money left afterward would serve no purpose.

“Krahahaha! You know how to make a decisive trade.”

Karath received seventy silver and the clothes from Jack before leaving the guild with the four mercenaries.

“We should go to our usual inn.”

Night had fallen completely.

Like a rural village from the medieval era, only a few houses showed light through their windows.

The settlement already seemed to have ended its day.

Karath followed the mercenaries through the dark streets and entered the inn they frequented.

His eyes widened at the sight waiting inside.

Chapter 129

A Feast Worth Sixteen Years

The inn Karath entered with the four mercenaries contained several tables.

Upon those tables sat food.

Actual dishes worthy of being called cuisine.

Karath had lived in a primitive wilderness for sixteen years.

The recent discovery of salt had finally allowed the alliance to season grilled meat, but the Grimwood Mountains still possessed almost nothing that could truly be called cooking.

They roasted monster meat over fire and added a few herbs for a faint resemblance to seasoning.

One could technically call that steak.

The problem was that Karath had eaten almost nothing but monster steak for sixteen years.

Now an entire variety of dishes resembling medieval European food stretched before him.

They belonged to a modest inn in a rural viscount’s territory, so none of them were particularly luxurious.

To Karath, however, sixteen years of primitive living transformed them into a dazzling banquet.

More importantly, he saw the customers lifting cups filled with a yellow drink.

One of them drained his cup, released a deep groan of satisfaction, and set it down upon the table.

Beer.

That had to be beer.

For the first time in sixteen years since his reincarnation, Karath had found alcohol.

During Arnold’s former life, endless overtime, never-ending projects, and conflicts with superiors and subordinates had often been washed away with a drink.

People would swear the next morning that they would never touch alcohol again, then willingly board the same train to hell.

Arnold had been no different.

During long stretches of overtime, a single can of beer at the end of the day had often been his only pleasure.

Whenever the duties of Grand Chief became excessive, or when the orcs committed some new and unimaginable act of foolishness, Karath had desperately missed it.

“This inn has the best food in the village,” Hans declared confidently as he guided Karath toward a table.

A freckled young woman, probably the innkeeper’s daughter, soon approached to take their order.

“What would you like?”

“Everything.”

Boom!

Karath placed the money pouch received from the mercenary guild upon the table.

“Everything?”

“That is correct. Bring every dish this inn prepares.”

“Sir, you are quite large, but we serve more than twenty different dishes.”

“That is why I want all of them.”

The server and all four mercenaries stared at him in disbelief.

Karath did not care.

Night had already fallen, forcing him to stay at the inn.

The following morning, he intended to search the village, purchase as many crops and seeds as possible, then return directly to the mountains.

There was no telling when he would have another opportunity to eat proper food after returning.

Tonight, he needed to make the most of it.

They should not underestimate an orc’s stomach.

Karath possessed an enormous and durable digestive system hardened by wilderness life.

“One more thing. Bring the drink those customers are having.”

Karath did not know the human pronunciation for beer, so he pointed toward another table.

“Ah, beer as well? Understood.”

He repeated the word silently inside his mouth, hoping he would have another opportunity to use it in the future.

The food began arriving soon afterward.

Thump.

“Braised pork leg.”

Thump.

“Aglio e olio.”

Thump.

One dish after another reached the table.

Slurp.

Chomp.

Crunch.

Each plate travelled directly into Karath’s stomach almost the instant it touched the wood.

The four mercenaries had not even begun eating.

They merely stared.

Karath paid them no attention.

He continued his assault upon the food.

After some time, an unwelcome thought entered his mind.

Berners and the warriors were waiting for him near the Crimson Mountains.

Farther inside the Grimwood Mountains, the people of the alliance were living in their villages.

Karath had truly become the Grand Chief.

Even during the finest meal of his two lives, he found himself wanting the alliance members to experience proper food as well.

Once he returned with crops and established agriculture, he would need to begin researching cooking.

Thump.

“Your beer.”

The server placed a mug upon the table.

Karath stared at it as though entranced.

He reached out, raised it carefully, and took one sip.

It was warm.

The inn apparently lacked proper refrigeration.

For a drink consumed in the middle of summer, the beer was far too warm.

Karath lowered the mug slightly and scanned the room.

No one appeared capable of manipulating mana.

He moved his mana as discreetly as possible.

“Ice.”

He carefully cooled the beer without revealing any obvious sign of magic.

Then he raised the mug and poured the yellow holy water down his throat.

“Kraaaah.”

A cry of pure satisfaction escaped him.

Cold beer with dinner after spending an entire summer day running and walking beneath the scorching sun.

How could such a taste be described?

It was the flavour of guilty pleasure.

Joy upon his tongue mixed with guilt toward the alliance members waiting in the mountains.

Karath displayed the greatest restraint of his entire life and ended the meal after drinking only one mug.

He was conducting an operation in what could be considered enemy territory.

Allowing himself to become intoxicated and lose control would be unthinkable.

After dinner, Karath went upstairs to a private room and practised his breathing method to recover mana.

Renstein’s bracelet could maintain the illusion spell, but that did not mean it consumed none of Karath’s own mana.

He had recovered small amounts through controlled breathing while travelling toward the village, yet such tricks could not fully compensate for the continuous consumption.

After restoring his mana, Karath went to sleep.

The following morning, he recovered his mana once more before descending to the first floor.

He fought his way through another large breakfast with the mercenaries.

“Roben, we will be leaving now.”

“Perhaps we will meet again.”

Hans and his companions departed first to undertake the commission they had accepted the previous day.

Karath’s refusal had caused a slight complication, but Jack had ultimately assigned the escort request to the four of them.

Once they had left, Karath approached the server.

“Ahem. Could you tell me where the market is?”

Chapter 130

Seeds and a Farmer

Following the server’s directions, Karath made his way toward the market.

The previous night’s dinner and that morning’s breakfast had been expensive, but he had deliberately preserved enough money to purchase a large quantity of crops and seeds.

Even a rural territory became lively during the day.

Karath walked through the passing crowds and reached the location the server had described.

He searched through the stalls and shops until he finally discovered a merchant selling various vegetables and crops.

“Ahem. What is this called?”

“Have you never seen wheat before?”

The elderly woman managing the shop looked at him as though he had asked something absurd.

“How should it be cultivated?”

“Wheat can be grown in spring or autumn. Spring wheat is planted around late winter, then...”

Karath pointed to every displayed crop in turn, asking its name, price, and cultivation method before purchasing seeds.

After several rounds of questions, the old woman gave him a curious look.

“Are you planning to become a farmer?”

“Yes.”

Karath saw no reason to invent an excuse.

“Oh my. That is an excellent decision. Farming is much safer than carrying a dangerous weapon and fighting monsters.”

“That is true.”

“A strong young man like you should make good money once you begin farming.”

Perhaps his large purchases pleased her, because the woman suddenly became quite talkative.

“Young man, you are not from this village, are you? I have never seen you before. Whatever you do, do not try farming here.”

Karath stared at her.

“Listen to an old woman. The reason is...”

She stopped in the middle of her explanation and glanced cautiously around the shop.

“In any case, never farm here. Another village would be better.”

“Understood.”

Karath had no intention of farming within human territory, so he did not press the matter.

He continued asking about the crops and purchasing additional goods.

Eventually, he filled an entire bundle with plants and seeds before leaving the shop.

His primary objective was complete.

He had obtained a rough understanding of the human world and acquired the crucial crops.

The elderly merchant had even given him basic cultivation instructions.

Ten silver coins remained.

Karath had preserved them for another purpose.

With Silvertusk strapped across his back and the leather bundle of crops and seeds held in one hand, he walked toward the village gate.

“Stop!”

The same knight who had served as gate inspector the previous day blocked his path.

“What is inside that bag?”

The man pointed suspiciously toward the large bundle.

“Crops, Sir Knight.”

Karath disliked his attitude, but he wanted to return to the mountains without trouble.

He opened the leather bag and displayed its contents.

“This seems suspicious. Is something hidden beneath them?”

The knight placed his hand upon his sword and pretended he might stab through the bag to inspect it.

If he did, the leather would be filled with holes, and Karath’s precious seeds would spill across the ground.

“Ahem. There are truly only crops inside, Sir Knight. Please believe me.”

Karath discreetly passed him the final ten silver without allowing the nearby soldiers to see.

“Ahem. It appears to contain nothing but crops. Very well, pass.”

Satisfied by the offering, the knight allowed him through.

What a well-managed territory.

According to the mercenaries, the entire viscount’s domain contained only around ten knights.

The man known as Jackal was the weakest among them, so he had been assigned the unpleasant duty of commanding soldiers and inspecting the gate.

If even such an insignificant knight casually committed corruption, the territory was probably in terrible condition.

Karath had already left the village.

There was no reason to care any longer.

He hummed softly as he walked along the road leading back toward the forest.

The operation had succeeded without any serious trouble.

Farmers worked across the broad fields under the blazing summer sun.

One sang an unfamiliar work song.

Another groaned constantly as he laboured.

Someone else quietly cursed the lord and the lord’s son, taking care not to let anyone nearby hear.

“This place truly is a mess.”

Karath chuckled after catching the whispered insults.

He was descended from orcs who had survived for generations in a wilderness where death could strike at any moment.

That environment had given him hearing far sharper than anything Arnold possessed as a human.

He continued walking while listening to the farmers’ conversations.

“Please give me a little more time, Young Master.”

“Why would you need more time? A far simpler solution has already been offered.”

The farmer fell silent.

“Send your daughter to work as a maid in the castle. Did I not say her wages would be used to free your family from serfdom?”

“Young Master, please...”

Karath could understand the situation from those few words alone.

It sounded like a cliché from an old fantasy novel.

Normally, a protagonist would appear and rescue the serf and his daughter.

Perhaps the hero would be a high noble or hidden member of royalty travelling incognito, allowing him to punish the corrupt aristocrat immediately.

Or perhaps he would be a commoner pursued for harming a noble, only to discover a miraculous opportunity, impress a powerful lord, and return to destroy the villain.

That was how a novel might proceed.

This was not a novel.

Karath clicked his tongue and continued walking.

The situation displeased him, but interfering while concealing his identity seemed unwise.

Although he had already left the village, he needed to prepare for the possibility of returning.

The old woman had explained the basic cultivation methods, but practice and theory were not the same.

If the crops he purchased failed, he might need to return and acquire more.

The alliance would have benefited greatly from an agricultural expert.

Karath continued listening as he walked.

“Please give me time, Young Master. I will plant wheat in spring and autumn, harvest it in summer, then plant barley in autumn and harvest it during winter. I will also work the orchard every day and gather olives, tomatoes, wild berries, and grapes without rest.”

The serf appeared remarkably capable.

He apparently knew how to cultivate many different crops.

“Hmph. Those are duties you must already perform as a serf.”

“Then after the work ends each day, I will labour at home as well. W-what about alcohol? I can brew beer from barley and make fruit wine from berries and grapes!”

He could even make alcohol.

The more Karath listened, the more he wanted to abduct the man and carry him back to the alliance.

“All of that is already your duty as a serf of this territory. Do you truly believe such insignificant work will repay your debt?”

“Please, I beg you!”

The conversation grew increasingly violent.

Heavy impacts and the sound of breaking objects joined the argument.

The man addressed as Young Master had apparently begun destroying things when the serf continued refusing.

Karath paused.

An agricultural expert.

The obvious fact he had overlooked finally entered his mind.

That serf was an agricultural expert.

As a serf, leaving the territory would probably place his life in immediate danger.

His choices appeared to be selling his daughter, dying at the hands of the young noble, or attempting to escape and being executed after capture.

Compared with those options, might even the Greenskin Alliance appear like paradise?

Karath’s feet naturally turned toward the source of the voices.

He was not a high noble or descendant of royalty travelling in disguise.

There was no possibility that some great human aristocrat would recognise and support him.

Why should that matter?

He was an orc, the sworn enemy of humanity.

A low laugh escaped him.

It was time for a corrupt noble to experience an orc’s hammer.

Chapter 131

The Orc Who Came to the Rescue

Boom!

“Guh!”

“P-please stop!”

Karath followed the faint sounds of an all-too-familiar scene toward the house they came from.

Perhaps because the young master’s visit was not something anyone wished to witness, not a single farmer could be seen near the building.

“Stop!”

“Who are you?”

Instead, two soldiers blocked the entrance, accompanied by an ugly, unarmed man.

“I-I was sent on an errand. A friend living here asked me to bring him seeds for farming.”

Karath spoke awkwardly and pretended to be nervous as he opened the leather sack he carried and showed its contents to the soldiers.

“D-did something happen here?”

Holding the sack before him, he approached while continuing his anxious act.

“Stop there!”

“Come back later. Young Master Alvin is currently conducting business.”

“Th-the young master is here?”

Karath feigned surprise at their warning.

Then, the moment he entered striking distance, he swung his fist at the nearest soldier.

Thud!

His knuckles struck the man squarely beneath the jaw.

The soldier’s eyes rolled back as he collapsed unconscious.

Had Karath struck with his full strength, the man’s face would have shattered. Speed mattered more than spectacle at the moment.

“Wh-what?”

Thud!

While the second soldier stared in shock, Karath’s next jab had already reached his chin.

Thud!

A third jab followed immediately.

With three quick, compact punches, Karath dropped the two soldiers and the ugly man like a row of falling dominoes.

Barely a second had passed.

Drawing Silvertusk, he threw open the door of the shabby house.

Everyone inside turned toward him in alarm.

Clang!

The man nearest the entrance recovered first. Judging by his equipment, he was a knight.

He drew a bastard sword and faced Karath.

“I do not know who you are, but it seems the sounds outside came from you striking the soldiers.”

“What?”

A greasy-looking young man dressed in expensive clothing shouted from behind him.

He had to be Young Master Alvin.

“Sir Gus! Kill that bastard who dared attack our soldiers!”

“I was already planning to.”

The knight answered his lord’s son with open annoyance and pointed his sword at Karath.

Did this one also live drunk on his own superiority?

Alvin had not yet inherited his father’s title, yet Gus addressed him as though even obeying the young master was bothersome.

The knight’s gaze toward Karath was even more condescending.

“That weapon suggests you possess some strength. Today, I will teach you the difference between a commoner and a knight.”

Gus swung his sword while delivering the sort of line only someone completely confident in victory would use.

Whoosh!

Knighthood in the human world generally required its holder to be at least an Aura User.

Even this narcissistic man could therefore manipulate aura.

The bastard sword moved at a speed impossible for an ordinary human.

Each time its blade swept past, another shallow cut appeared across Karath’s body.

“Heh heh!”

Gus laughed as he continued drawing blood.

Karath remained calm, minimising his movements and protecting only his vital areas as he studied the knight’s pattern.

When Gus repeated the same sequence once more, Karath saw his opportunity.

Now.

He released all the strength he had been holding back.

Both feet planted firmly against the floor.

Beginning with his hips, Karath twisted his waist and entire body into the motion required to swing his axe.

A mocking smile appeared upon the knight’s face when he saw Karath prepare such an obvious attack.

Karath answered with a smile of his own.

“Cliff Splitter.”

The muscles he had compressed exploded into motion.

Clang!

Slice!

A silver line flashed through the air.

The bastard sword shattered.

“Aura... User...?”

Those foolish final words left Gus’s mouth as the same silver line split his upper body apart.

As expected.

The knight had judged Karath by his clothing and appearance and concluded that he could not manipulate mana.

Even if Karath had been an Aura User, Gus would still have been confident.

The man had reinforced his body while swinging his sword, which meant he was an intermediate Aura User, more skilled in handling aura than Karath.

A fight was not decided by technical skill alone.

“Real battles do not offer second chances, rookie.”

The lesson no longer mattered.

Gus had already lost consciousness forever.

“H-hieek!”

Only now did Alvin seem to understand that the knight protecting him was dead.

His face turned deathly pale.

Karath had nothing to discuss with him.

“Lie down and sleep.”

Boom!

Before Alvin could scream and complicate matters, Karath drove a kick directly between his legs.

A wet gurgle escaped the young man.

His groin collapsed, red foam bubbled from his mouth, and he fell unconscious.

Karath exhaled.

“Now we can finally speak.”

From knocking out the men outside to performing Alvin’s involuntary operation, not even thirty seconds had passed.

That gave Karath at least a little time.

This had to end before the remaining knights left the castle.

The viscount’s territory possessed ten knights in total.

Nine still remained.

Karath could handle one or two, but fighting nine simultaneously would be impossible.

That was why he had hidden his strength and ended the first battle with a single decisive strike.

“W-who are you?”

Karath finally examined the family Alvin had been tormenting.

The daughter was certainly attractive.

He could understand why a man ruled by an organ he would never use again had become obsessed with her.

Despite living as an impoverished serf without the means to care for her appearance, she possessed a lovely face.

Still, she was not some peerless beauty. In his former world, she would merely have been considered pretty among ordinary people rather than beautiful enough to become a celebrity.

More importantly, she was not Karath’s type.

She was far too thin.

She had the frail build that made people think a single blow might snap her legs.

Admittedly, if Karath seriously delivered a low kick, most men would also suffer shattered legs, but that was beside the point.

Regardless of race, Karath preferred women with some softness to their figures.

That did not mean his tastes had changed toward orc women.

He liked curves, not hexagons.

A young boy stood beside the thin woman.

An adult man, apparently beaten by Alvin moments earlier, lay wounded upon the floor.

The man seemed to be a widower raising two children alone.

“There is no time for introductions. I will explain the situation briefly, and you must decide.”

Karath looked directly at them.

“I did this to save you, but that does not mean your problem has disappeared. You have two choices. Remain here and return to the same life, or follow me and leave this place.”

Karath glanced at Alvin’s unconscious body.

“That man appears to be the son of this territory’s lord. Soldiers and knights will arrive before long. You must decide quickly.”

“Even if serfs like us escape, where could we possibly go?”

The injured man looked close to tears.

“I am not travelling to another noble’s territory. Wherever you go with me, you will not be persecuted merely because you were serfs.”

“W-where do you intend to take us?”

“The exact location cannot be revealed yet. But I promise one thing. You will never again face a situation where you must sell your daughter because of money.”

The Greenskin Alliance did not possess money in the first place.

“You will also never be treated differently because you were once serfs. I swear both promises upon my life.”

Serfdom did not exist in the alliance either.

Karath left those explanations unspoken.

“There is truly no time. I will count to ten. Decide before I finish.”

“Father, let us follow him!”

The daughter shouted the moment he finished speaking.

“If we stay here, the same thing will only happen again!”

The father looked at her, then slowly nodded.

“Yes. You are right.”

His decision made, he turned toward Karath with a serious expression.

“We will follow you.”

“Then move quickly. I will carry the boy. Abandon everything else because we must outrun pursuit.”

He paused before adding the most important exception.

“If you have any seeds remaining in the house, bring those.”

The family looked confused by the request, but they immediately began moving.

Soon afterward, Karath left the house carrying the boy upon his back.

Silvertusk rested in one hand and the sack filled with crops and seeds in the other.

The father and daughter followed close behind.

“Ah!”

“Why is that bastard here?”

They stopped in surprise after discovering the three men sprawled outside.

“I knocked them unconscious. Is there a problem?”

“Not the soldiers. That ugly man manages all the serfs in this area.”

“Oh?”

That might buy them more time than expected.

“Do not run yet. Walk quickly as though you are heading out to work in the fields.”

The family stared at him.

“This area lies outside the walls. Apart from the unconscious overseer, everyone nearby is either a serf or a farmer like you. There is no reason to cause a disturbance. We will pretend we are simply leaving for work.”

“Ah!”

“Understood.”

The family followed his instructions.

Moving with awkwardly forced calm, they walked along the road at the fastest pace they could manage without appearing to flee.

Chapter 132

Ten Silver for the Afterlife

“Jean! Who is that young man with you?”

“Has the young master returned to the castle?”

Several farmers working nearby called to the family.

The serf named Jean offered vague replies without slowing down.

The others watched with visible confusion but did not interfere.

“Where are you going?”

“Jean! Leaving the territory is dangerous! If they catch you, there will not be enough left to bury!”

The commotion began only after Karath and the family passed completely beyond the fields and approached the edge of the viscount’s lands.

“Run!”

The moment for deception had ended.

Karath began running with the boy on his back, and Jean and his daughter followed.

They crossed the broad, barren plain for more than ten minutes.

“Huff... huff...”

“Haa... haa...”

Malnutrition from years of serfdom quickly took its toll.

Jean and his daughter were already gasping for breath.

“No matter how exhausted you become, keep running. Even if you cannot sprint, do not stop or begin walking. Once your feet stop, starting again will feel twice as difficult.”

Karath urged them onward before stopping and lowering the boy from his back.

“W-why are you stopping?”

“I will deal with the pursuit. Continue running straight ahead, exactly as I instructed. I will catch up as soon as the pursuer is gone.”

“U-understood.”

After confirming that the family continued running, Karath turned toward the direction they had come from.

They had been too exhausted to notice, but his hearing had caught the sound of hooves some time ago.

A lone rider was charging ahead of the soldiers in the distance.

“You bastard!”

A thick smile spread across Karath’s face when he recognised the knight glaring murderously at him.

It was Jackal, the gate inspector who had extorted money from him.

Because the man had been stationed at the gate, he must have departed first and raced ahead of everyone else.

That also meant he had rushed out without understanding the situation.

Jackal was supposedly the weakest knight in the territory.

He ranked below Gus, whose upper body Karath had already split apart.

Had Jackal known that a stronger knight had died, he would never have charged alone like an idiot.

His haste was the knight’s misfortune.

For Karath, it was good fortune.

“Did you come to return the money you stole?”

“Die!”

Without dismounting, Jackal lowered his spear and charged.

Karath twisted his upper body sharply aside, narrowly evading the point.

“Use those ten silver as your fare across the river of death!”

Using the momentum of his twisting body, Karath swung Silvertusk.

Crack!

“NEIGH!”

The axe tore through the horse’s flank.

The animal died instantly and collapsed under the force of its own momentum.

Jackal at least possessed the reflexes expected of a knight.

He threw himself into the air before the falling horse could drag him down.

“Farewell.”

Unfortunately, there was nowhere to evade while suspended in the air.

“Mountain Cleaver.”

Karath strengthened his body with mana and swung the axe with all his might.

Slice!

Jackal desperately drew his longsword to block.

Silvertusk cut through the sword and separated the knight’s body with the same stroke.

Against an ordinary human, being an Aura User might have guaranteed victory.

Between two Aura Users, Karath’s orc strength, further developed through weight training, gave him an overwhelming advantage.

When that strength was combined with Silvertusk’s immense weight and sharpness, neither Gus nor Jackal could block his axe directly without losing their weapons.

Only an advanced Aura User capable of reinforcing a weapon with mana, or someone carrying a weapon tougher than Silvertusk, could hope to receive such a strike head-on.

The instant Jackal fell, Karath turned and ran after Jean’s family.

“Endure a little longer! We only need to reach the forest ahead!”

He pointed toward the distant line of trees visible across the open plain.

It was merely encouragement.

The flat landscape made the forest visible, but it was still extremely far away.

After all, travelling between that forest and the territory required half a day.

“Just a little farther!”

“No matter how difficult it becomes, do not stop! Keep running, even if you must slow down!”

Karath alternated encouragement and pressure as he drove them onward.

After some time, the pounding of hooves once again reached his ears.

Dududududu.

Damn it.

This time, the sound came from more than one rider.

“Continue without me! I will stop the pursuers!”

He turned around once more.

Five mounted knights were racing toward them across the plain.

Chapter 133

The Hidden Card

Five mounted knights were charging toward him, yet Karath felt neither fear nor confusion.

He had expected something like this to happen at least once from the moment he decided to rescue Jean’s family.

This was still a relatively favourable situation.

The barren plain allowed him to see the knights immediately, but they were not yet close enough to attack. He had plenty of time to prepare for their arrival.

More importantly, they were not spreading out to surround him from multiple directions.

All five were charging together from the front.

After two knights had been defeated separately, they had apparently decided to overwhelm him through cooperation.

“This is still proceeding according to plan.”

It was exactly the formation Karath wanted them to use.

“Kill him!”

As the knights drew closer, they shouted and urged their horses into a faster charge.

Karath raised Silvertusk and began manipulating the mana within his body.

He released it with enough force to make it appear as though he were preparing to unleash a decisive axe technique.

The moment the distance between them closed completely, he extended one hand.

“Chain Lightning.”

A Fourth Circle lightning spell erupted from his palm.

The knights’ expressions changed in shock.

Electricity moved far too quickly for surprise to matter.

The bolt reached the leading knight almost the instant it left Karath’s hand.

Crackle!

Clad from head to toe in iron armour, the knight could offer no resistance. He and his horse burned to death together.

Crackle!

As the name Chain Lightning implied, the current that killed the first knight divided and spread in multiple directions.

The second and third knights manipulated their mana during those few brief moments and attempted to resist the electricity.

“GRAAAAGH!”

They avoided immediate death, but nothing more.

Both fell from their horses while screaming in agony. Burns covered their bodies, and their limbs trembled uncontrollably beneath the lingering paralysis.

“Damn it!”

“He can use magic?”

Unfortunately, the two knights at the rear escaped while the first three absorbed the spell.

They sacrificed their horses to do so.

The animals had died from the lightning, but even before the current reached them, the bones of their backs and flanks had already shattered.

The knights had circulated mana through their bodies and launched themselves away with such force that the impact transferred directly into their mounts.

“A hidden card is supposed to remain hidden until the proper moment.”

Karath faced the two survivors while pretending to be completely calm.

“I never imagined someone capable of using aura could also cast a Fourth Circle spell.”

The knight’s words reminded Karath of something the mercenaries had told him.

He had asked whether any humans trained both magic and martial techniques.

They said many had attempted it, but no one had ever reached a high level in both.

“That is why it was a hidden card.”

Karath had concealed his magic until now.

His appearance and the traces of aura within his body encouraged the enemy to assume he was only a warrior.

Unfortunately, his secret attack had failed to eliminate the entire group.

One knight was dead, but two remained unharmed.

The other two had only collapsed from paralysis and might recover if given enough time.

Karath could not allow the battle to drag on.

Bzzzzzz.

“The secret attack is gone! Kill him now!”

The two remaining knights noticed Karath manipulating mana and rushed forward at once.

Their intention was obvious.

They wanted to deny him enough time to cast another dangerous spell like Chain Lightning.

Both appeared to be at least intermediate Aura Users, and their movements were exceptionally fast.

Slice!

Karath had no opportunity to cast anything powerful.

Small wounds appeared across his body as he desperately evaded their swords. Under that pressure, Second Circle spells were the most he could use.

Slice!

“Krahaha! You may be strong, but your body is slow!”

After cutting Karath several times, one knight spoke with renewed confidence.

“Do not become careless!” the other warned. “Judging by what happened to Gus, he died from a single attack.”

The cautious knight had correctly identified part of Karath’s strategy.

They were right.

Karath moved more slowly than either of them.

He had not practised the mana cultivation method long enough to manipulate his entire body freely.

He could strengthen individual movements, but he could not yet move with the continuous speed and fluidity of experienced Aura Users.

Regretting what he lacked would not solve the problem.

What mattered was using everything he already possessed.

“Dig.”

The earth beneath one knight’s foot shifted.

“What?”

His balance collapsed.

Slice!

Karath ignored the sword cutting across his back and rushed toward the stumbling knight.

Instead of swinging Silvertusk, he drove his left fist forward like a jab.

His axe attacks carried overwhelming power, but their movements were too large to use carelessly without a guaranteed opening.

Thud!

Karath’s fist struck the knight directly in the face.

The man remained conscious.

He had reinforced his head with mana and endured the blow.

Unfortunately for him, that was not the end of the attack.

“Fire Arrow.”

Boom!

“GRAAAAGH!”

A flaming projectile exploded at point-blank range while Karath’s fist remained pressed against the knight’s face.

The man had endured the punch with his eyes open.

As a reward, the flames burned them so severely that he lost his sight.

Crack!

Cutting down a blind knight required no mana enhancement.

“Die!”

The second knight attacked from behind while Karath’s movement remained extended from killing the first.

Karath released Silvertusk from both hands and twisted his body as desperately as though making one final attempt to escape.

The knight’s sword was still faster.

Its point flew directly toward Karath’s heart.

“Shield.”

A small magical barrier appeared before the blade could pierce his back.

A Second Circle spell could not block the sword of an Aura User.

Slice!

It did, however, buy enough time to turn a fatal thrust through the heart into a deep slash across the back.

Karath used the wide motion of the knight’s killing attack against him.

Boom!

A spinning back elbow carrying Karath’s full body weight struck the man’s temple.

The impact crushed part of the iron helmet.

The knight’s eyes lost focus.

“Damn... you...”

He managed those final words before Karath followed with a right straight punch.

Crack!

Every bit of Karath’s weight and strength crashed into the knight’s face.

The man collapsed.

Karath retrieved Silvertusk from the ground.

“A direct fight against two knights is still dangerously close.”

He then approached the two knights still trembling beneath the effects of Chain Lightning and finished them before they could recover.

Only after all five were dead did the tension leave his body enough for the pain to become clear.

The knights had repeatedly attacked and retreated, leaving countless cuts across him.

“This would have been dangerous without it.”

Karath looked down at the ogre hide beneath the clothes he had purchased from Jack.

It had already endured numerous sword strikes beginning with his battle against Gus and now resembled a torn rag.

Thanks to the hide, however, most of the wounds beneath it were shallow.

The only serious injuries were the two deep cuts across his back, both suffered while he deliberately ignored attacks to kill one knight first.

“Healing.”

Karath used the clan’s shamanic art that he had learned from Kairin, accelerating recovery around the worst wounds as emergency treatment.

He exhaled slowly.

“They should no longer send knights ahead by themselves.”

Seven of the territory’s knights had now died by Karath’s hand.

Only three remained.

Sending those final three as another separate pursuit force would be an obviously suicidal decision.

That did not mean the situation had become safe.

The enemy now knew Karath was also a magician.

Most of his hidden abilities had been exposed.

Casting multiple spells while maintaining the illusion bracelet had also left his mana dangerously low.

“Time to run again.”

Karath glanced toward the troops approaching from two or three kilometres away, then sprinted after Jean’s family.

Chapter 134

Into the Monster Forest

A chase across a vast and barren plain possessed a peculiar tension.

“Huff... huff...”

“Sister, switch with me! You can let the big brother carry you!”

“Huff... I-I’m... fine.”

That tension did not come from watching Jean’s family display touching affection while running for their lives.

“Catch them!”

It came from the soldiers shouting behind them and from the clearly visible distance separating pursuers and prey.

There were almost no obstacles across the plain.

Karath could turn around and see the pursuing force directly.

That removed the threat of an ambush, but it also made the reality of being hunted impossible to ignore.

Karath could appreciate the thrill because he still possessed plenty of strength.

Jean and his daughter had no such luxury.

Fear aside, they had already been running for at least an hour.

They did not possess enough energy even to look behind them.

“Can you run, little one?”

“Yes!”

“Then shall you switch places with your sister for a while?”

“Yes!”

“I-I truly am fine.”

The daughter spoke between broken gasps.

No human, and certainly no orc, could hear that and believe she was fine.

Karath had been matching their slower pace and remained relatively comfortable.

He lowered the boy from his back, then lifted the young woman into his arms.

“Ah!”

She attempted to resist, so he picked her up almost by force.

Why was her face turning red?

Had being carried offended her that much?

“Thank you,” she whispered quietly.

Apparently, she was not displeased.

“Am I... heavy?”

She asked cautiously, her face still red.

“No.”

Karath answered honestly.

When he first saw her, he thought she looked painfully thin.

Only after carrying her did he realise how little she truly weighed.

“You are not heavy at all. You are as light as a child.”

That was only a slight exaggeration.

She barely felt heavier than the young boy Karath had carried moments earlier.

The woman’s face reddened even further.

She turned away without answering.

Perhaps his response had insulted her.

“They have nowhere to escape!”

“Close the distance slowly!”

“The enemy is dangerous! No one acts alone!”

The viscount’s troops continued pursuing them.

The gap remained around two kilometres, but Karath’s sharp hearing and the emptiness of the plain allowed him to catch their distant voices.

A human truly would have nowhere to escape.

After running for slightly more than another half day, they would reach the forest ahead.

That forest marked the beginning of the Grimwood Mountains and contained countless monsters.

Travelling deeper would not improve their situation.

It would only expose them to even more powerful creatures.

To the pursuing soldiers, Karath and the family must have looked like foolish prey fleeing into a dead end.

That would have been true if Karath were human.

The pursuers could not imagine that the monster forest ahead was his home.

“We only need to reach those trees. Endure a little longer.”

Karath continued toward the forest with the soldiers trailing behind them like a procession.

“Drive them into the woods!”

“They have nowhere else to go!”

“The enemy is badly wounded! Keep pressing them slowly!”

Thanks to the pursuit force’s attempt to herd them toward their supposed deaths, Karath and Jean’s family reached the edge of the forest without facing another battle.