Orc Hero Story: Discovery Chronicles

Frizcop:

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“When we arrived here, there were no signs of soldiers. No bloodstains either. It was as if people had simply vanished. We heard that a pass was required to proceed, but there was no one to give us one, and we didn’t want to be suspected of illegal entry. So we decided to leave a note and move on.”

“I see. We’ll believe you. You may have the power to kill everyone here, but even you couldn’t erase all traces of those who were here.”

“Right, I can’t use magic.”

“…What do you mean by ‘magic’?” Richter asked, finding his own comment rather clever. There shouldn’t be any evidence pointing to magic in this place. “Even we don’t know if it was magic.”

Richter found it a bit suspicious. Orcs didn’t lie. So this confusion seemed genuine. But Bash was different from the others, being the ‘Orc Hero.’ It wouldn’t be surprising if he did something different from other Orcs.

However, delving too deeply into this could be dangerous. Even if he uncovered the lie, it could result in the death of everyone present. Therefore, he had to be cautious from this point on.

“I have to ask you a favor.”

“What’s is it?”

“We would like you to join us in the carriage and accompany us to a certain place.” It was a voluntary request, not coercion. Richter made sure to convey that. While maintaining that atmosphere, he glanced at the carriage and couldn’t help but feel regret. “An impressive carriage, isn’t it?”

The carriage present there was not the one they had ridden in but had been placed at the checkpoint from the beginning. It was a very sturdy carriage with a steel-framed passenger compartment. The compartment door had a large lock, and the windows had iron bars. It was incredibly imposing and, to put it bluntly, the type of vehicle used to transport criminals.

“Well, that…”

“I know. I’ve seen it before. It’s used to transport something important!”

“I see, it looks sturdy.”

“Well, something like that, I suppose.”

Richter nodded while rolling his eyes at those words. Unbeknownst to him, all the breeding slaves sent to the Orc nation arrived in carriages identical to this one. To the Orcs, it wasn’t a vehicle for transporting criminals; it was a magical chest from which women emerged.

“Ah, well, could you join us then?”

“No. I’m sorry, but I have a purpose.”

“And what is that purpose?”

“I can’t go into details, but I can’t afford to dawdle.”

Richter bit his lip. He knew he would be rejected, but if he let this pass without doing more, he would surely be ridiculed from above when he returned. What is the point of sending me to the checkpoint, he thought.

“…Excuse me, but may I ask about your destination?”

“It’s to the southeast. There should be a Human enclave there.”

Just as Richter suspected. He knew it. Being an intelligence agent, he was privy to information that only a few Humans knew. According to that information, the “last one” they were looking for should be there.

Ideally, he wouldn’t bring anyone to that place, as this individual might be targeting him. However, Richter didn’t have that much responsibility to the world. His job was something entirely different.

“The Zarico Peninsula…! In that case, it’s perfect. The destination of that carriage is the Zarico Peninsula!”

“Hmm, really?”

“And over there, Prince Nazar and Lady Thunder Sonia are also present!” He wasn’t lying. Right now, an emergency summit was being held on the Zarico Peninsula.

“Don’t you… owe them something?”

This was a bluff. Richter only had a rough idea of the events related to Bash. The incident in the Siwanasi Forest, the turmoil in the Beastmen Nation… it wouldn’t be strange if Bash owed something to Nazar and Thunder Sonia.

“Indeed, I received a letter of recommendation from Nazar for Sequence. Thanks to that, things went smoothly. I couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity, but… someday I’ll have to thank him.”

“Is that so? Prince Nazar is also looking forward to your report.”

Richter hadn’t heard about the letter of recommendation. It was more like, “Oh, now there are suspicious rumors about His Highness.” However, exposing those dark rumors was also not Richter’s job. Perhaps he would have to do it someday, but not now. Richter was loyal to his duty.

“So please, join us.”

“Very well.”

And so, Richter crossed the precarious bridge. Unbeknownst to him, it was an incredibly sturdy stone bridge with no risk of collapse.

■

Several days later, they were transporting Bash in the carriage.

It was a comfortable journey. The horses pulling the carriage were military horses, selectively bred by humans over many years to be robust and powerful, capable of pulling the carriage vigorously without rest during the day, resulting in exceptionally high travel speeds. Such specialization in transportation exceeded the capabilities of other races.

Orcs used bugbears to pull their carts. Although their maximum speed was considerable, they couldn’t maintain it for extended periods. Compared to the jostling of a bugbear cart, the journey was practically tranquil. The orcs were so tightly packed that they couldn’t even spread their legs. There was no comfort to be had.

Humans had weaker bodies and inferior magical abilities compared to the elves. Given these limitations, one might wonder why they were the leaders of the Four Races Alliance. Part of the answer could be deduced from a single carriage and a single military horse.

The carriage, originally designed for prisoners, had terrible padding on the seats. If a thin-skinned elf were to sit in it, their a̲s̲s̲e̲s̲ would probably be ruined in a day. However, robust orcs like Bash had equally robust behinds, so they suffered no harm.

Bash spent his days riding in the carriage, contemplating the passing landscape. At night, he ate, slept a little, and resumed the carriage journey. For humans, it would be quite a forced march, but for Bash, it was a more comfortable journey than usual. After all, he only had to sit. Meals arrived automatically, and he could sleep well. There was no conversation or alcohol, but that was typical of an orc march, so it didn’t bother him.

“As expected of humans. Even for an orc, when you become a VIP, they make the journey comfortable.”

“It seems so.”

The accompanying soldier overheard Bash and Zell’s conversation but didn’t say anything. They had a bewildered expression on their faces. He didn’t pay it any mind.

The carriage was attempting to cross the mountains leading to the Zarico Peninsula after passing through the Arcanshel Plains. These mountains had once been dominated by dwarves who had built massive fortresses, but after being completely destroyed at some point, they hadn’t been restored. However, sooner or later, the dwarves probably transform this place back into an underground hive-type warehouse.

In summary, these mountains were hive-type underground warehouses until a few years ago. They were once demolished and turned into ordinary mountains. However, there were still many hollow spaces inside them.

Several days before the carriage carrying Bash passed through, it had been raining in the vicinity. It wasn’t a torrential downpour, but a heavy rain that had been falling continuously for several days. The rain flowed through the mountain gullies, gradually loosening the terrain. And…

“This is bad! It’s a landslide!”

When the soldier in the driver’s seat realized it, it was already too late. A huge amount of soil and sand struck the narrow road connecting the Arcanshel Plains and the Zarico Peninsula, which was infrequently used.

The soil and sand swallowed the carriage and dragged it into the valley…

■

“I thought I wouldn’t fly again!”

“Yeah.”

Half an hour later, Bash and Zell emerged from the earth and sand. Bash, as if coming out of the water, pulled himself up from the ground. Fortunately, the carriage was made of sturdy steel. Although it had been heavily crushed by the huge amount of soil and sand, it wasn’t completely crumpled, allowing them to escape on their own.

However, both the soldiers in the driver’s seat and those accompanying Bash perished. It was probably due to the fragility of humans. Fairies were also quite fragile, but Zell, protected within Bash’s embrace, which was safer than anywhere else in the world, remained unharmed. Bash had no idea what had happened to Richter and his subordinates who had been moving around inside the carriage.

“And the others?”

“I don’t know. They’re probably dead, aren’t they?”

It had been quite a massive landslide. The huge mountain had partially collapsed, reducing its size to about two-thirds of what it used to be. If Richter and his group had been trapped inside, there was little chance they had survived.

“There’s no way to search in these conditions.”

“Yeah.”

The surroundings were a pile of debris. The black, muddy earth oozed, fallen trees lay toppled with their roots exposed. Even with the most powerful elven magic, it would be impossible to create such a devastated landscape. Natural disasters always exceeded people’s capabilities.

“I guess we’ll have to walk from here.”

“There’s no choice.”

And so, the two began to walk. In any case, their destination remained the same, so there was no need to worry. Bash started walking, firmly planting his feet in the disturbed ground. And thus, he arrived in the Blackhead Territory.