Chapter 45

Sequence gave Bash a look of suspicion. The girl was no doubt already dead. Even a stupid orc should know that. Orcs were stupid, but their battle acumen was surprisingly sharp. Many of them could tell at a glance which battles could be won and which were a lost cause. “Boss… Pssh… Pssh…” The fairy whispered to him again. Odd behavior. No doubt something was up. Bash nodded, said “Mm,” in agreement with the fairy, and looked straight at Sequence. “If there are any other survivors… Any at all, not just your daughter…can I make them mine?” “…!” There was no smile in Bash’s eyes. They were terribly solemn and, to put it bluntly, perfectly sincere. Sequence had seen these eyes on the battlefield several times. Those were the eyes of someone who had prepared himself for death. The eyes of someone who believed there were scarier things than death. Couldn’t be…, Sequence thought. Make any surviving women the orc’s own? The extermination squad wasn’t just women, though. In fact, it was composed of mostly men. So then the orc was going there for some other purpose besides getting himself a demon bride… His plan was to gather together the surviving members of the dragon extermination squad and then…do something with them. But what? “If you go now, you’ll get caught up in the fight, too, you know! Against a dragon!” “Yeah. But that’s why I came.” That’s why? To…fight a dragon? All this way…? Why…? Sequence had many questions. And then he thought of the letter he’d seen. The letter was soaked and smudged, and nothing of it could be read, but perhaps here was where the true meaning of the letter lay? In other words…reinforcements. Nazar had sent reinforcements to help them defeat the dragon. But why would Nazar do such a thing? How would that benefit him? …Ah, but recall. Who was it that broached the topic of a ceasefire? That prince. Sequence had spoken to him only once, at the ceasefire agreement, and he’d seemed like an easygoing sort of man… Benevolent, straightforward. Unlike with the other humans, Sequence didn’t pick up on any dark machinations regarding torturing the demon race for all eternity. But there still didn’t seem to be anything in it for the prince. Humans are a species that prioritizes personal gains over honor, after all. “Why would Nazar agree to this? What are you planning…?” “…? No, I was the one who brought up the prospect of me coming here. Nazar simply wanted to help me along the way.” “What…?” Nazar… Not directly involved? So then…the orc had come all this way entirely of his own volition? Nazar’s letter was little more than a…a…a permission slip to help him cross the border, a petition to Sequence to have Bash accepted as reinforcements. But why would Bash come to a place like this…just to slay a dragon? Why did he want to help the demons…? “You’re…asking us to let you help us? You, an orc, want to help us, the demons…?” “…If I do, perhaps you demons will revise your opinion of us orcs.” So he was doing it to impress the demons? Ridiculous…! He’d laugh it off, but this was the one they called the Orc Hero… And Hero he was… He would appear out of nowhere to help on the battlefield and turn the tide of battle whenever they were at a disadvantage. At the time, Sequence had thought he was just doing orcish things and barely acknowledged it, but now he knew. Thanks to this orc, they’d been saved at the battle of the Remium Plateau by defeating the dragon and the Hero Leto, and the orc had made it so that the Alliance was able to retreat with all its fighting power still intact. His subsequent acts had been a net positive for the demons, too. Like when he helped out the succubi. If the succubi had been wiped out, the elves would have concentrated their firepower against the demons. If that had happened, the demons wouldn’t have been able to survive to see the ceasefire. It was all thanks to Bash. Thus, Sequence thought very highly of him. After all, he was the Orc Hero. It had been many years since there last was an Orc Hero. Sequence had heard that there were few warriors ever worthy of that title. After all, orcs were stupid. They go on about pride and honor, but if an orc spots a woman in the heat of battle, he loses all his senses to his base urges and will drag her off to a nearby bush without a second thought. A pathetic race who worships the strong while secretly believing themselves the strongest of all. Bash had been made a Hero by these very stupid people. The pinnacle of their race. Bash was a warrior worthy of that title. Which meant this made even less sense. This orc was willing to sacrifice himself for the honor of the orcs. Was it really plausible that the orcs wanted the demons to reconsider their opinion of them? “I just want to ask you one thing. Why would you take such a risk?” “Isn’t it obvious?” Bash turned his back to Sequence and over his shoulder said: “I want to make a demon woman my wife.” This fine joke made Sequence bray with laughter. He hadn’t had such a laugh since the days when Geddigs had been alive…