Chapter 63. Encounter (2)
Despite my concern, Bixby remained calm.
“They will not come. They were clearly afraid. They definitely cannot come. It has not even been three years since the war between goblins and orcs ended.”
Apparently, both sides had suffered terrible losses and were currently in a truce.
Goblins fought through overwhelming numbers.
Orcs relied on the physical strength of their warriors.
However, goblin numbers had fallen drastically, while the orcs had lost many warriors.
In the end, they fought until both sides practically ran out of soldiers.
The goblin tribes were now scattered due to internal conflict.
The orc tribes had retreated far away in search of new settlements.
“If the orcs invade anyway, contact me immediately. We’ll create a defensive line around your village and stop them there.”
“Ohhh! Human Land Owner has loyalty! You will protect us?”
Not exactly.
Bixby’s village simply happened to be an excellent defensive position.
It was located high in the mountains along a ridge.
Comanceville and the other frontier villages were built on flat land.
They were not suitable for defensive lines.
I felt slightly guilty about lying to an eleven-year-old goblin, so I changed the wording.
“We’ll fight together. We are allies.”
“That is right! Allies! Friends who share blood!”
“What blood?”
“Human Land Owner, just accept the expression.”
“Hehehe.”
I laughed in front of Bixby.
Inside, I remained uneasy.
If the orc tribe became afraid and moved in another direction, that would create another butterfly effect.
They might invade another territory instead.
But there was only one choice available to me right now.
At least Marcel would remain safe.
* * *
Deep inside the Great Forest again, in the territory of the Green Orcs.
Chief Suji had been in a bad mood since morning.
He had received a report that one of the hunting groups sent west into goblin territory had been reduced to nothing but bones.
Suji hurried toward the place where the tribe’s warriors had gathered.
The moment he entered the large leather tent, he asked,
“Did you find out who did it?”
“Chief, wasn’t it probably the goblins?”
Suji snorted.
“There were thirty hunters. If goblins attacked them, there should have been at least dozens of goblin corpses and blood everywhere. The scouts found only the bones of our hunters.”
He slammed the huge axe on his back into the ground.
Boom!
The floor shook.
The warriors flinched.
“Something else must have done it. Our orcs were stripped clean until only bones remained.”
“Chief, there is nothing except goblins in that area. Surely the King of Brown Bears did not come that far...”
“Then perhaps the brown bears expanded their territory? Don’t tell me they’ve developed a taste for orc flesh.”
Suji said something horrifying as though it were perfectly ordinary.
The warriors shuddered as they imagined being stripped down to the bone by brown bears.
In fact, the King of Brown Bears maintained a powerful force near the Marcel Territory.
Bixby had once mentioned the King of Brown Bears to Eric.
Eric had dismissed it as nothing more than talk about a large animal.
However, the true ruler of the Great Forest near Marcel was the King of Brown Bears.
Its level was Grand Master, higher than even a Sword Master.
The orcs knew that fact.
That was why they avoided the brown bears’ territory.
Then Eric piled up the orc bones.
The orcs misunderstood and believed the entire area around Marcel had become brown bear territory.
In other words, Eric’s deception had worked to some extent.
Warrior Captain Nitoo stepped forward.
“Either way, there are no animals left to hunt and no fruit left to gather here. We have to move.”
“Nitoo, where exactly do you want us to go? If we go west again, we might have to fight those brown bears. My entire tribe could be eaten.”
“Chief, let us cross the mountain range to the east. I heard from warriors of another tribe that the land there is far away, but extremely fertile and filled with animals.”
“East?”
That was the territory of the Red-Haired Troll Tribe.
Chief Suji thought for a moment.
“Each Red-Haired Troll is powerful. And isn’t that area too close to human lands? If those things called ‘knights’ appear, they’ll be troublesome. We would need far more warriors.”
The human land Suji referred to was the Odoacer Empire.
Orcs had encountered humans several times in the past.
That meant they knew knights existed.
They also knew organized knights who moved together in perfect order were troublesome opponents.
“Then the chief should lead warriors from the other tribes.”
Chief Suji laughed.
There was only one way to lead warriors belonging to other tribes.
“You’re telling me to challenge the Great Chief? Are you planning to become chief after I die, Nitoo?”
Warrior Captain Nitoo did not even blink.
“Is the chief afraid of death?”
“What did you say?!”
Suji jumped up.
He grabbed Nitoo by the throat and lifted him into the air.
“Ghk!”
“I do not fear death! But if I die, a weak and cowardly bastard like you will become chief! Then our tribe will be finished!”
Suji threw Nitoo away.
Crash.
“Ghk!”
Suji glared at the groaning Nitoo.
Even when Nitoo secretly stole meat brought back by hunters, Suji had ignored it.
Yet now this bastard was trying to send his own chief into certain death.
Furious, Suji shouted.
“Sending hunters west was also your idea! Fine! This time I’ll do what you want too! I’ll challenge the Great Chief to a duel! But if I die, you die with me!”
He meant he would stake Warrior Captain Nitoo’s life on the duel.
Usually, an orc staked the lives of his own family as proof that he had no intention of retreating.
If the head of the family died, the family died with him.
Nitoo’s face turned pale.
Several warriors hurried to stop Suji.
“Chief, please calm down. The Great Chief is still powerful.”
“You are still young. Wait for the right time.”
Chief Suji pointed toward Nitoo and clenched his teeth.
“But if we want to survive, there is no other choice. That cowardly bastard is correct.”
The warriors fell silent.
Strong enemies surrounded them in every direction.
Even the western goblin territory, once the easiest target, now appeared to have been occupied by brown bears.
As Warrior Captain Nitoo said, they had no choice but to go east.
Whether they starved to death or died fighting, death was still death.
* * *
