Chapter 18

Bonus Story JUDITH AFTER BASH Around three days had passed since Judith’s encounter with Bash. That day, Judith was ordered to patrol the highway with the foot soldiers under her command. The issue of the highway ambushes had been solved, but they were being sent out just to make sure there were no new developments on the road. She had been ordered to check that there were no survivors from the cave bandit group. If all looked well, they were to clean up the road while they were out there. Judith’s group consisted of herself and just a few men, incidentally the same ones who had been involved in solving the bandit case with her. In other words, this task was a punishment for them all. Houston was pragmatic. He knew that allowing their mutiny to go unpunished would set a bad precedent to the others. Also, he thought a self-imposed period of quiet reflection would be nothing but a waste of valuable workforce. So his solution to both of those issues was to send them out on this pointless busywork. “A few days of hard work on the roads without a break—that’ll do as punishment for the likes of you lot.” Houston’s words had surprised them all. Still, knowing they’d gotten off lightly, Judith and the men set out onto the road, accepting the orders they had been given. They all assumed the task would proceed without incident. However, that was not how it would unfold. Once Judith and company reached the highway, a single orc came creeping out of the forest. He was a regular green orc, a battle-ax in one hand and a large club strapped to his back. If it came to a fight, perhaps he meant to dual wield its weapons. “It’s an orc. Hey, you there. What are you doing here?” If this had happened back before she met Bash, Judith would have already given the order to attack. But now that she’d made Bash’s acquaintance, she was willing to shrug and walk right past a random orc who happened to appear in the forest. Only, she was technically on a mission. She was duty-bound to question whatever suspicious individuals she saw in the forest that day. “Who says I have ta tell the likes of you?” “I’m Judith, a knight from Krassel. We’re patrolling the highway at this time.” “Heh! That voice, that name…a female knight, are ye?” The orc gave her a lecherous grin. It was the kind of grin that told her he was thinking about throwing her to the ground and violating her on the spot. But Judith looked closer. He had strong arms, yes, but unlike Bash, he had a protruding potbelly. And unlike Bash, he didn’t really have any kind of dignified air about him at all. “A rogue orc, huh?” “Heh, what’s it to ya?” “Nothing, really. Just wondering why you rogue orcs are wandering around out here, why you couldn’t uphold the word of your Orc King.” “Pah! Ain’t it obvious? The orcs are done for. We’ve lost our pride. Everyone’s just living like cattle, the same day over an’ over again! You humans call us orcs pigs, right? Well, maybe yer right! We’ve lost the will ta even get mad!” “So that’s why you’ve left your country?” “Damn right! I’m gonna travel the world an’ show the people all about the great orc race! I’ll start with you, Lady Knight! I’m gonna squirt me seed up in ya an’ make ya birth me babies!” Judith grimaced in disgust. Then she thought about the orc she had met only three days prior. His calm expression and his careful way of speaking. “Wow, there really is a huge difference between the Orc Hero and one of you rogues, isn’t there?” “A Hero? What does a human wench like you know of Bash?” “I met him just the other day, actually.” “…What?” “He’s the one who’s actually out here repairing the reputation of the orcs. With honor and dignity, too, not despair and self-abandonment like you pathetic rogues.” “Bash is…repairin’ the reputation of the orcs?” “Yep.” Then Judith told the rogue orc all about what had happened a few days ago. About how Bash had been a perfect gentleman. About how he had remained gracious despite her own human rudeness and disrespect. About how Bash had come to her rescue when she had acted like a fool. She told him all of it. She also told him about her own hunch, that Bash had embarked upon his journey out of a sense of loyalty to his race. “I can’t believe a manly orc like Bash would keep it in his pants with a female knight like you right in front of ’im!” “That’s because Mr. Bash isn’t a rogue like you. He abides by the rules of the Orc King. Even if that means denying his own drive. As a result, even a fool such as I now understands the true pride of the orcs!” “I was wonderin’ where Bash went off to; ain’t seen ’im for days…” “He’s sacrificed his own desires for the good of his race. Why don’t you try to learn from his example?” As Judith spoke, she unsheathed her sword. Despite their dialogue, Judith knew better than to expect anything much of a rogue orc. He probably saw her as nothing but a shrill, overly talkative woman trying to buy time before being roughly taken and impregnated. It had always gone like that. Judith had only had dealings with rogue orcs a few times, yes, but each time, it had ended in a fight to the death. “…” “Hmm?” The rogue orc was backing down. Lowering the battle-ax, it retreated several steps, as if the will to fight had left it. “What are you doing? Where are you going?” “Ain’t it obvious? I’m goin’ home.” “That’s…unusual. Every rogue orc I’ve come across before now has come flying at me in a rage the second I confront them…” “Yeah, it don’t sit well with me to be turnin’ me back an’ retreatin’ from a stuck-up human wench like you. But if Bash is out there tryin’ ta repair the reputation of the orc race, I can’t very well be doin’ things ta mess that up. But if ya really wanna throw down with me, I won’t deny ya the chance. I’m an orc, after all, and I’ve got me pride…” “No, no, if you plan to return home, then I won’t stop you.” The orc snorted a laugh and walked away. Judith watched him go, feeling slightly deflated. She had been so convinced that rogue orcs were beyond reasoning with. Wasn’t that why she had always been so heavy-handed with them? Why Houston had always instantly issued the order to kill? The rogue orc had been as stubborn and unpleasant as all the rest. But it was strange. At the mere mention of Bash’s name, the rogue orc seemed to return to some semblance of his warrior past and had retreated honorably. Orc Hero. The title had sounded impressive enough to Judith, but it clearly carried far more weight back in Bash’s homeland. The title of Hero itself seemed to come with a great deal of trust and respect, even reverence. “If Bash’s name can have that kind of sobering effect on even a foul rogue orc like that…then it’s clear we met with a far more important person than we ever could have imagined…” The soldiers were muttering things like that among themselves. Judith shared their sentiments. The Orc Hero Bash… Compared to the rogue orc she’d just seen…no, compared to all the humans she’d met in her life so far, no one seemed more worthy of the Hero title than he. “That’s why Houston treated Bash with such reverence…” “Next time you see Bash, are you gonna treat him with that kind of reverence, too, Judith?” “Maybe next time he asks you to have his babies, you won’t turn him down, eh?” Judith hated orcs. The mere sight of one made her skin crawl. “All jokes aside, let’s hurry and check that bandit hideout one more time. Houston is going to work us hard again tomorrow, too. We’re going to have to work hard enough to make up for disrespecting Mr. Bash before Houston’s satisfied.” “You’re the one who disrespected Mr. Bash, Judith. We just followed you.” “Oh, shut up and get moving.” Judith smiled wryly to herself. Yes, she still hated the orcs. With one very special exception.