The battle with Karakum, the best warrior of the orcs, was over.
It wasn’t just the decisive battle that came to an end. They also dealt with the bandits who threatened the merchants.
The warriors of Durkali, who judged that there was no room for correction for the bandits, slaughtered all of them and then burned the bodies.
The smell of burning flesh and blood overlapped and gave off a disgusting smell.
And Irene watched that silently.
“…”
His first kill.
It wasn’t a human, but he felt that it was no different since he killed a lifeform that could think and act.
But he had no regrets.
There could have been a better option, but there was no time to think about it.
If it was something that mattered a lot, then he should have thought about a better decision ahead of time, rather than when he was in that situation.
But for the situation to not turn worse, especially since all the people he cared about were there, he used his sword.
‘He wasn’t a Master, but he was definitely strong. It was dangerous.’
Irene thought of the bandit chief and lowered his head and looked at the black cat in his arms.
‘Is Lulu really just a cat?’
He knew that Lulu put a lot of effort into growing her power, and that inspired her transformation process.
However, he didn’t expect that the appearance would be anything resembling a ‘Dragon’.
He thought that the transformation would be a bigger cat, or maybe a complete human.
Of course, he knew that Lulu’s transformation could have been influenced by the fairy tales that she enjoyed reading, but…
‘Maybe it has something to do with Lulu’s past.’
He felt like that thought couldn’t be completely ruled out.
It wasn’t as if Lulu chose to not speak about her past.
The problem was she couldn’t remember her past; the adorable sorcerer had no memory of her past, and the parts she did remember were just a bunch of sparsely disappearing parts of different memories that made no sense.
There were too many things that had seemed to have disappeared from her mind, and some of the parts which she could recollect were foggy.
As he continued to ponder about it, Lulu, who was sleeping, slowly opened her eyes.
And said,
“Irene…”
“Yes, Lulu?”
“Did I do well? Did I do better than last time?”
“Last time?”
“When we met that nasty wench, Ignet.”
“Ah…”
Ignet Crescentia.
It wasn’t a good meeting, but she was a person who gave Irene a good stimulation.
So, Irene didn't have a bad impression of her.
However, for Lulu, who only saw happiness till then with Irene, that wasn’t the case.
Seeing Lulu, who had those events in her heart all this time, made Irene happy and sad at the same time.
“Yes. You did a great job. It was very helpful, thank you.”
“Hehe… ah, but I’m so sleepy. This was so difficult, to transform…”
“It is fine. Sleep more.”
“I have nothing to fight again right? Then I will sleep a little more. I may not wake up for a few days, so don’t worry too much.”
“It is fine. Get some sleep.”
Lulu nodded, and climbed onto Irene's shoulder, and then slipped into his backpack.
While Irene was still smiling, feeling the warmth he felt on his back, Bratt Lloyd came over.
“We should get some sleep too. A soldier under Karakum came and told us that we will be leaving early tomorrow.”
“Hm.”
Irene looked up at the sky.
It was dark, but since they were in the month of June, so morning would come quickly.
With that thought, going to bed now was better.
And he asked.
“How are the merchants?”
“Well, no one was injured, and it was said that some troops from Durkali would be attached to them as escorts till they reach their destination.”
“That is nice.”
“Right, nothing to worry about on that side. Rather…”
We should be the ones worried.
Irene nodded, hearing those words.
What he said was right.
They were at peace now, but just a moment ago, they were aiming their weapons at Durkali's strongest warrior, Karakum.
And countless orcs had seen that.
And that wasn’t the end.
The reason why Irene and his party came here.
The fact that they set foot here being Kuvar’s escorts was worrisome.
‘Because Kuvar is the crown prince of Durkali in human terms.’
Of course, not anymore.
Right now, Durkali was being ruled by Karakum’s second son, Tarakan, after their father, Karakum stepped down.
In the past, there was a division of supporters for Kuvar as well supporters for Tarakan, but not now.
‘I heard that Kuvar left Durkali 17 years back…’
However, just because the power was stabilized, didn’t mean that there was a reason to welcome the former crown prince.
That was the way human kingdoms worked.
When the king changed, even those who weren’t a threat were killed for the sole reason that they still had the right to succeed the throne.
Perhaps, when he arrived at Durkali, more orcs would look for a chance to assassinate him.
And Kuvar knew that very well.
Then why did he come back to that place?
‘… even with all that, it must be because he wanted to see his family.’
In Irene’s mind, as he thought of Kuvar, the image of his own family in the Hale Kingdom came to mind.
His father, step-mother, and Kirill, and even his own mother, who was no longer in this world.
Irene recalled their faces as he fell asleep and woke up a few hours later.
This time, the man didn’t appear in his dreams.
‘… If I meet Kuvar’s teacher, this problem might get resolved.’
In the midst of that, the orcs and Irene prepared to move.
A few days later, Irene and his party arrived at the Durkali tribe.
The scale wasn't any less than the large cities in the human territories, and words would fail to describe it.
And that wasn’t the end. There were five castles surrounding the tribe, which were also inside the domain of Durkali, and were made just for the guests, so that nothing could be used as an excuse to intervene in the politics of the tribe.
Fortunately, since Ilya Lindsay and Bratt Lloyd were high-ranking nobles, no one crossed a line with them.
The influence of Adan Kingdom, one of the five Western kingdoms, and the Gerbera Kingdom where Bratt and Illya were from were much stronger than the Hale Kingdom.
Not to mention, Judith was a commoner.
“Must be nice being a noble.”
Of course, although she said that, the position she was now in wasn’t someone anyone could ignore.
As she was an official trainee who passed from Krono, the best swordsmanship school on the continent.
However, considering Durkali’s way and especially Tarakan, Irene and Judith were lacking in terms of being powerful noble.
‘The important thing was… Tarakan.’
The chief of the Durkali tribe.
A being who reached the status of Master at the age of 30, and according to Kuvar, this orc was supposed to be friendly and gentle.
However, Irene’s party didn’t believe that. It was because of what Bratt said.
“It is rumored that he is the roughest among the crude orcs. We need to be cautious.”
To be honest, they trusted Bratt’s words over Kuvar’s.
Didn’t Karakum want to fight against them?
If they considered how he acted, then it was inevitable to trust Bratt’s words.
Therefore, late at night on the day when they arrived in Durkali, the four of them, who received a call from Tarakan, had no choice but to put on a tense expression.
And what they worried about didn't even happen.
“Haha, nice to meet you, I am Tarakan.”
He had a huge height, even bigger than Kuvar.
However, his impression was just like his older brother, warm.
Even the atmosphere in the room wasn’t heavy.
They expected a lot of subordinates to surround them, but there was just Tarakan in the room.
‘Weren't we called in for an audience?’
From the four people’s perspective, the space was small and modest.
A moderately luxurious table, glasses for the people, ten bottles of alcohol, and a few snacks.
’Ten bottles of liquour …’
Judith’s expression darkened.
What the hell was someone thinking leaving so many bottles out in the open like that?
Does he plan on drinking all that?
As she was thinking about such things, Tarakan, with a smile on his face, said,
“No need to worry. If you think it is a hard to drink, then I won’t recommend it.”
“Huh? Yes? Ye…”
“I am sorry about this. I didn’t want to burden such nice benefactors, so I chose this place on purpose, but the atmosphere of trying to force someone to drink something they don’t want…”
Irene’s party glanced at each other.
The attitude of Tarakan was polite despite being nervous.
And he was so polite that they thought, ‘is it a pretense?’
However, it wasn’t that.
Tarakan, who looked around, stood up and bowed.
And with a serious expression, he said.
“I express my gratitude for bringing my brother back.”
“…”
“I am speaking as the younger brother of the Orc Kuvar, not chief Tarakan, so there is no need to be flustered.”
After a while, Tarakan raised his head, and there was some water in his eyes.
With a little bit of emotion, he spoke the story of his father, his older brother, and himself.
Before Tarakan was born, Kuvar was already in the position of Crown Prince.
Kuvar was born to the second wife, as the first wife couldn’t bear a kid for a long time.
However, 10 years after Kuvar’s birth, the child of the first wife was born.
And that was the beginning of the confusion.
Between the ones who supported Kuvar, who was already considered to be the crown prince, and the ones who supported Tarakan for the sake of loyalty and tradition within the tribe.
As time went on, the conflict between the two sides grew stronger and stronger, and even Karakum was torn between them.
And that was why Kuvar left the tribe to become a wanderer.
“It was a pity.”
Kuvar, who had no greed, disliked quarrels.
For him, the position of chief, which caused fights with his younger brother, was not important, and so because Tarakan showed talent in fighting, Kuvar chose fortune telling, which had nothing to do with ruling.
However, as the fight continued, Kuvar had no choice but to make the drastic decision to leave the tribe, and Durkali quickly regained stability.
Tarakan’s faction rejoiced and thought it was fortunate, and even some from Kuvar’s faction were happy that the fight didn’t escalate to civil war.
As the others were satisfied, it was Karakum, Tarakan, and Kuvar who were left alone to endure the sorrow.
“But my brother came back to me yesterday and said this.”
“…”
“I don’t regret my choice back then. Because that was the best thing for me and everyone in the tribe at that time. However…”
After a moment’s hesitation, Tarakan continued.
“Now, after I have accumulated so much experience, I realized that I shouldn’t be running around anymore. My father, myself and my younger brother…. I know that all three of us love and care for each other, and it wasn’t right of me to run away just because I was afraid of the circumstances around me. He said that.”
“…”
“And the reason those thoughts came to him was because of you all.”
Although he was not here, that really was the reason for Kuvar to come back.
Bratt Lloyd, who didn't give up despite setbacks and went back to Krono swordsmanship school.
Judith, who constantly suffers, but gets up each time and moves ahead.
Irene, who doesn't mind clashing without losing hope no matter how difficult the situation is, and Ilya Lindsay, who overcame her painful past with faith.
And Tarakan, who heard that story of the four people in front of him, could think of them as his family’s benefactors.
“Well… things will be more complicated than before. There will be a lot of people who create a ruckus. But it is fine. It is more enjoyable to know that he is trying to find a better way knowing that the time spent apart was done because he was scared.”
After finishing the speech of sincere gratitude, Tarakan drank alcohol.
When Judith looked at him.
“In that sense, I want to give something to such nice peo…”
A bright face appeared on Judith's face, which was darker than others previously.
She was all about the world being bad and dark, but even she could feel that Tarakan’s gift wouldn’t be common.
Well, this was the largest orc tribe they are talking about, after all.
A gift from their chief, there was no way it would be ordinary.
As if to prove that, the orc spoke with a confident expression.
His gaze fixed on Bratt Lloyd and Judith.
“I found something that suits you two.”
“…”
“Then, should we go and take a look? And, you can definitely look forward to it. I know that you are great people, but I hope you know about the treasure house of Durkali which is well-known in the continent.”
Tarakan jumped up in his seat.
Despite having 10 bottles all by himself, he seemed fine.
And Bratt, who drank the rest, also seemed fine.
Of the four, Bratt and Judith had indescribable anticipation on their faces.
“Me too, give me too…”
Lulu, put her head out of Irene’s backpack and said.
Tarakan grinned happily.
“Of course. You can all choose whatever you like.”
The battle with Karakum, the best warrior of the orcs, was over.
It wasn’t just the decisive battle that came to an end. They also dealt with the bandits who threatened the merchants.
The warriors of Durkali, who judged that there was no room for correction for the bandits, slaughtered all of them and then burned the bodies.
The smell of burning flesh and blood overlapped and gave off a disgusting smell.
And Irene watched that silently.
“…”
His first kill.
It wasn’t a human, but he felt that it was no different since he killed a lifeform that could think and act.
But he had no regrets.
There could have been a better option, but there was no time to think about it.
If it was something that mattered a lot, then he should have thought about a better decision ahead of time, rather than when he was in that situation.
But for the situation to not turn worse, especially since all the people he cared about were there, he used his sword.
‘He wasn’t a Master, but he was definitely strong. It was dangerous.’
Irene thought of the bandit chief and lowered his head and looked at the black cat in his arms.
‘Is Lulu really just a cat?’
He knew that Lulu put a lot of effort into growing her power, and that inspired her transformation process.
However, he didn’t expect that the appearance would be anything resembling a ‘Dragon’.
He thought that the transformation would be a bigger cat, or maybe a complete human.
Of course, he knew that Lulu’s transformation could have been influenced by the fairy tales that she enjoyed reading, but…
‘Maybe it has something to do with Lulu’s past.’
He felt like that thought couldn’t be completely ruled out.
It wasn’t as if Lulu chose to not speak about her past.
The problem was she couldn’t remember her past; the adorable sorcerer had no memory of her past, and the parts she did remember were just a bunch of sparsely disappearing parts of different memories that made no sense.
There were too many things that had seemed to have disappeared from her mind, and some of the parts which she could recollect were foggy.
As he continued to ponder about it, Lulu, who was sleeping, slowly opened her eyes.
And said,
“Irene…”
“Yes, Lulu?”
“Did I do well? Did I do better than last time?”
“Last time?”
“When we met that nasty wench, Ignet.”
“Ah…”
Ignet Crescentia.
It wasn’t a good meeting, but she was a person who gave Irene a good stimulation.
So, Irene didn't have a bad impression of her.
However, for Lulu, who only saw happiness till then with Irene, that wasn’t the case.
Seeing Lulu, who had those events in her heart all this time, made Irene happy and sad at the same time.
“Yes. You did a great job. It was very helpful, thank you.”
“Hehe… ah, but I’m so sleepy. This was so difficult, to transform…”
“It is fine. Sleep more.”
“I have nothing to fight again right? Then I will sleep a little more. I may not wake up for a few days, so don’t worry too much.”
“It is fine. Get some sleep.”
Lulu nodded, and climbed onto Irene's shoulder, and then slipped into his backpack.
While Irene was still smiling, feeling the warmth he felt on his back, Bratt Lloyd came over.
“We should get some sleep too. A soldier under Karakum came and told us that we will be leaving early tomorrow.”
“Hm.”
Irene looked up at the sky.
It was dark, but since they were in the month of June, so morning would come quickly.
With that thought, going to bed now was better.
And he asked.
“How are the merchants?”
“Well, no one was injured, and it was said that some troops from Durkali would be attached to them as escorts till they reach their destination.”
“That is nice.”
“Right, nothing to worry about on that side. Rather…”
We should be the ones worried.
Irene nodded, hearing those words.
What he said was right.
They were at peace now, but just a moment ago, they were aiming their weapons at Durkali's strongest warrior, Karakum.
And countless orcs had seen that.
And that wasn’t the end.
The reason why Irene and his party came here.
The fact that they set foot here being Kuvar’s escorts was worrisome.
‘Because Kuvar is the crown prince of Durkali in human terms.’
Of course, not anymore.
Right now, Durkali was being ruled by Karakum’s second son, Tarakan, after their father, Karakum stepped down.
In the past, there was a division of supporters for Kuvar as well supporters for Tarakan, but not now.
‘I heard that Kuvar left Durkali 17 years back…’
However, just because the power was stabilized, didn’t mean that there was a reason to welcome the former crown prince.
That was the way human kingdoms worked.
When the king changed, even those who weren’t a threat were killed for the sole reason that they still had the right to succeed the throne.
Perhaps, when he arrived at Durkali, more orcs would look for a chance to assassinate him.
And Kuvar knew that very well.
Then why did he come back to that place?
‘… even with all that, it must be because he wanted to see his family.’
In Irene’s mind, as he thought of Kuvar, the image of his own family in the Hale Kingdom came to mind.
His father, step-mother, and Kirill, and even his own mother, who was no longer in this world.
Irene recalled their faces as he fell asleep and woke up a few hours later.
This time, the man didn’t appear in his dreams.
‘… If I meet Kuvar’s teacher, this problem might get resolved.’
In the midst of that, the orcs and Irene prepared to move.
A few days later, Irene and his party arrived at the Durkali tribe.
The scale wasn't any less than the large cities in the human territories, and words would fail to describe it.
And that wasn’t the end. There were five castles surrounding the tribe, which were also inside the domain of Durkali, and were made just for the guests, so that nothing could be used as an excuse to intervene in the politics of the tribe.
Fortunately, since Ilya Lindsay and Bratt Lloyd were high-ranking nobles, no one crossed a line with them.
The influence of Adan Kingdom, one of the five Western kingdoms, and the Gerbera Kingdom where Bratt and Illya were from were much stronger than the Hale Kingdom.
Not to mention, Judith was a commoner.
“Must be nice being a noble.”
Of course, although she said that, the position she was now in wasn’t someone anyone could ignore.
As she was an official trainee who passed from Krono, the best swordsmanship school on the continent.
However, considering Durkali’s way and especially Tarakan, Irene and Judith were lacking in terms of being powerful noble.
‘The important thing was… Tarakan.’
The chief of the Durkali tribe.
A being who reached the status of Master at the age of 30, and according to Kuvar, this orc was supposed to be friendly and gentle.
However, Irene’s party didn’t believe that. It was because of what Bratt said.
“It is rumored that he is the roughest among the crude orcs. We need to be cautious.”
To be honest, they trusted Bratt’s words over Kuvar’s.
Didn’t Karakum want to fight against them?
If they considered how he acted, then it was inevitable to trust Bratt’s words.
Therefore, late at night on the day when they arrived in Durkali, the four of them, who received a call from Tarakan, had no choice but to put on a tense expression.
And what they worried about didn't even happen.
“Haha, nice to meet you, I am Tarakan.”
He had a huge height, even bigger than Kuvar.
However, his impression was just like his older brother, warm.
Even the atmosphere in the room wasn’t heavy.
They expected a lot of subordinates to surround them, but there was just Tarakan in the room.
‘Weren't we called in for an audience?’
From the four people’s perspective, the space was small and modest.
A moderately luxurious table, glasses for the people, ten bottles of alcohol, and a few snacks.
’Ten bottles of liquour …’
Judith’s expression darkened.
What the hell was someone thinking leaving so many bottles out in the open like that?
Does he plan on drinking all that?
As she was thinking about such things, Tarakan, with a smile on his face, said,
“No need to worry. If you think it is a hard to drink, then I won’t recommend it.”
“Huh? Yes? Ye…”
“I am sorry about this. I didn’t want to burden such nice benefactors, so I chose this place on purpose, but the atmosphere of trying to force someone to drink something they don’t want…”
Irene’s party glanced at each other.
The attitude of Tarakan was polite despite being nervous.
And he was so polite that they thought, ‘is it a pretense?’
However, it wasn’t that.
Tarakan, who looked around, stood up and bowed.
And with a serious expression, he said.
“I express my gratitude for bringing my brother back.”
“…”
“I am speaking as the younger brother of the Orc Kuvar, not chief Tarakan, so there is no need to be flustered.”
After a while, Tarakan raised his head, and there was some water in his eyes.
With a little bit of emotion, he spoke the story of his father, his older brother, and himself.
Before Tarakan was born, Kuvar was already in the position of Crown Prince.
Kuvar was born to the second wife, as the first wife couldn’t bear a kid for a long time.
However, 10 years after Kuvar’s birth, the child of the first wife was born.
And that was the beginning of the confusion.
Between the ones who supported Kuvar, who was already considered to be the crown prince, and the ones who supported Tarakan for the sake of loyalty and tradition within the tribe.
As time went on, the conflict between the two sides grew stronger and stronger, and even Karakum was torn between them.
And that was why Kuvar left the tribe to become a wanderer.
“It was a pity.”
Kuvar, who had no greed, disliked quarrels.
For him, the position of chief, which caused fights with his younger brother, was not important, and so because Tarakan showed talent in fighting, Kuvar chose fortune telling, which had nothing to do with ruling.
However, as the fight continued, Kuvar had no choice but to make the drastic decision to leave the tribe, and Durkali quickly regained stability.
Tarakan’s faction rejoiced and thought it was fortunate, and even some from Kuvar’s faction were happy that the fight didn’t escalate to civil war.
As the others were satisfied, it was Karakum, Tarakan, and Kuvar who were left alone to endure the sorrow.
“But my brother came back to me yesterday and said this.”
“…”
“I don’t regret my choice back then. Because that was the best thing for me and everyone in the tribe at that time. However…”
After a moment’s hesitation, Tarakan continued.
“Now, after I have accumulated so much experience, I realized that I shouldn’t be running around anymore. My father, myself and my younger brother…. I know that all three of us love and care for each other, and it wasn’t right of me to run away just because I was afraid of the circumstances around me. He said that.”
“…”
“And the reason those thoughts came to him was because of you all.”
Although he was not here, that really was the reason for Kuvar to come back.
Bratt Lloyd, who didn't give up despite setbacks and went back to Krono swordsmanship school.
Judith, who constantly suffers, but gets up each time and moves ahead.
Irene, who doesn't mind clashing without losing hope no matter how difficult the situation is, and Ilya Lindsay, who overcame her painful past with faith.
And Tarakan, who heard that story of the four people in front of him, could think of them as his family’s benefactors.
“Well… things will be more complicated than before. There will be a lot of people who create a ruckus. But it is fine. It is more enjoyable to know that he is trying to find a better way knowing that the time spent apart was done because he was scared.”
After finishing the speech of sincere gratitude, Tarakan drank alcohol.
When Judith looked at him.
“In that sense, I want to give something to such nice peo…”
A bright face appeared on Judith's face, which was darker than others previously.
She was all about the world being bad and dark, but even she could feel that Tarakan’s gift wouldn’t be common.
Well, this was the largest orc tribe they are talking about, after all.
A gift from their chief, there was no way it would be ordinary.
As if to prove that, the orc spoke with a confident expression.
His gaze fixed on Bratt Lloyd and Judith.
“I found something that suits you two.”
“…”
“Then, should we go and take a look? And, you can definitely look forward to it. I know that you are great people, but I hope you know about the treasure house of Durkali which is well-known in the continent.”
Tarakan jumped up in his seat.
Despite having 10 bottles all by himself, he seemed fine.
And Bratt, who drank the rest, also seemed fine.
Of the four, Bratt and Judith had indescribable anticipation on their faces.
“Me too, give me too…”
Lulu, put her head out of Irene’s backpack and said.
Tarakan grinned happily.
“Of course. You can all choose whatever you like.”
