6 FAKE-BAIT ZELL With their small stature and ability to fly at top speeds, the fairy race should have been ideally suited for performing reconnaissance. The truth, however, was very different. All fairies emitted a faint glow. In the darkness of night or the deep forest, this light made them immediately conspicuous. Still, considering the tiny size and sheer speed of fairies, this glow shouldn’t have been such a serious handicap. The problem wasn’t the glow, per se. It was the fairy tendency to completely forget about this characteristic of theirs. Fairies often hid their heads while neglecting to hide their butts, so to speak. A fairy hiding in the darkness, completely unaware of its own glow… Such a fairy was bound to be captured. Luckily, fairies were rarely ever killed after capture. They were valued for their medicinal properties, of course. But many folks were also superstitious when it came to fairies, believing that anyone who murdered a fairy would be doomed to the fires of hell. At any rate, Bash wasn’t expecting much from Zell’s scouting effort on this occasion. As long as Zell made it back alive, that was fine with him. Even Zell wouldn’t be so careless as to get captured by bugbears. And if Zell ran afoul of humans, there was no need to worry about them killing the little scout. Besides, even if Zell did get captured, Bash would simply follow the fairy’s scent, as he had during the war days. But as Bash had predicted, the fairy did not return. “It seems the fairy has indeed been captured.” Bash and company followed Zell’s scent, and it led them to a strange place. The gaping maw of a cave peeked from the rocks in front of them. The opening was actually ingeniously covered with creeping ivy vines. Houston and the other humans had completely failed to notice the hidden cave at first. “This is the work of sentient beings. Someone must be controlling the bugbears, using them for their own devices.” “Beast tamers, you mean?” Members of the demon race were long known for capturing and training wild animals and monsters to do their bidding. During the war, their training techniques were utilized only by the Coalition of Seven Races, but over many years of battle, the practice came to be well-studied and was eventually adopted by every country. One particularly popular anecdote about beast taming involved the humans and their successful manipulation of a large dragon. After the war, each country cut their army down to size dramatically, and many ex-soldiers found themselves with no vocation in life. Many former beast tamers ended up turning their hand to theft and burglary. “In that case, we need to infiltrate and ambush them! We can extract the fairy and kill all the beast tamers and bugbears at the same time! Right, General Houston?” Judith sounded excited by the prospect of action. If the fairy had been captured, well then, they would simply rescue it. That was the obvious course of action. “No… We should wait until nightfall.” Houston did not share Judith’s opinion. “We don’t know the ins and outs of this cave, nor do we know how many of the enemy to expect. I won’t risk our safety. We will wait until nightfall.” “But, sir!” This was a cave, possibly the main hideout of the enemy. The usual procedure in this kind of situation would be to return to town and get backup. Then, with twenty or thirty soldiers from the town, they would surround the area and smoke out the enemy without ever needing to set foot inside themselves. Usually, that was precisely what Houston would do. But right now, one of their own was captured. And they had no way of knowing how the criminals might be treating their captive. After conducting their operation in such secrecy so far, the enemy might think to kill the fairy upon realizing they had been cornered. Still, Zell probably wouldn’t be killed right away. Zell was only a fairy and had come alone. As long as the tiny creature didn’t run their mouth, the criminals had no reason to believe they’d been tracked. Besides, Zell had survived of countless wartime battles. Surely, they wouldn’t let vital information slip. Zell had probably already been bottled up for use as a portable medicine source. If Houston were in the enemy’s boots, however, he would not bottle Zell. He would consider a fairy wandering into their cave as a bad omen and would kill them immediately. Then he would evacuate at once. But the criminals had been doing very well for themselves so far. It didn’t seem likely that they would throw their whole operation down the drain just because of a small fly in the ointment. So the fairy was most likely safe. Still, Houston was not blind to the possible complications afoot. If Zell flapped those fairy gums and said too much… My buddies are gonna be here any minute to rescue me! They’re members of Krassel’s self-defense army, you know! You’re all gonna get arrested and taken straight to the chopping block! If the fairy said something like that, then it would all be over. At first, the criminals would probably laugh, seeing Zell as nothing but a jabbering creature of little significance, fit only for harvesting fairy dust. At least, until the following day’s dawn broke. Folks have a weird tendency to find sudden clarity the morning after, their brains sorting through information as they sleep and leading them to logical conclusions. When morning came, Zell would be snuffed out, and the criminals would flee. These were sophisticated criminals, after all, who had managed to evade the Krassel investigators while committing serious attacks. Their next move seemed obvious. To be honest about it, that would be fine with Houston. Then the highway attacks would stop, and Krassel would know peace once more. The only problem was…Houston’s subordinates. Zell wasn’t really Houston’s responsibility, but if Houston made the call to abandon a comrade in front of his loyal soldiers… Well, the prospect was simply unthinkable. And there was Bash to consider, as well. Houston didn’t have the guts to condemn this great orc’s good friend to death right in front of him. So he had no choice. He would have to launch a rescue mission using the manpower he currently had at his disposal. Still, it wouldn’t do to risk his soldiers’ lives without careful consideration. So to increase their chances of victory, Houston decided on a night raid. If Zell had run his mouth, then the enemy would be on edge, for sure. They would be on the alert, ready for an attack at any time. But staying on the alert for a long period of time—that was a difficult thing indeed. If they waited just a little, then the enemy would begin to relax and even fall asleep. Assuming Zell was still alive, this would give them the best chance of rescue. “Mr. Bash, is that all right with you?” Houston made sure to double-check his plans with Bash, just in case. Left to his own devices, the orc would probably barge in by himself and wipe out the entire net of criminals with his own two hands. In which case, Houston and his men wouldn’t even need to go into the cave at all. If so, Go ahead, Bash. Be our guest. But Houston was a careful man. He knew better than to bet on a wild card. Of course, if Bash opposed Houston’s plan and announced that he was going in alone, then Houston would make no move to stop him. “…Fine.” But after a few moments of silence, Bash merely agreed with Houston. Judith was outraged. “The heck?! You’re going to just wait it out, too? That’s your buddy they’ve captured, you know! I thought orcs were supposed to be brave warriors, charging into battle no matter the disadvantages?!” “Orcs always follow orders first, then we fight bravely doing just as we’ve been directed. The commanding officer has decided on our plan. I will follow it through as instructed.” The wild, reckless attacks the orcs were still known for had actually only happened during the early stages of the war. Over time, they had learned many tricks of warfare. Laying an ambush. Attacking by surprise. Taking out enemies troop by troop. Singling out leaders for assassination. Burning the enemy’s food supplies. Cutting off their access to fresh water. And so on. All of these actions involved abiding by a commander’s order. Ironically, it was the human example that had taught the orcs all of this, over the course of about a century. Even to the present day, orcs were still not capable of the kind of sophistication the humans possessed so naturally. But they had learned to think carefully before they acted. Had they not, they would never have established their own chain of command, which went from chief to war chief to great chief. Orcs had also learned to follow the orders of the local clan chief whenever they stayed in the villages of different orc clans. In other words, Bash being a modern orc and all, he fully intended to comply with whatever orders General Houston came out with. “Besides, Zell will be just fine.” “You don’t have any proof of that. You just…no, forget it! There’s no point even talking to you! General Houston, sir. Please give the order. I will lead the other soldiers into the cave and launch an all-out attack, not resting until every criminal has been exterminated!” Houston scratched his chin as both Bash and Judith looked at him expectantly. “Hmm. Judith is right. Zell’s safety is a serious concern. They say that fairies don’t often get killed, but there’s no guarantee, is there? So what’s your reason for being so confident Zell will be all right?” “If Zell was weak enough to be killed here, then they would have already died long ago in the war.” Bash’s response was brief, but it resonated with Houston. After all, sometimes especially weak or foolish fairies did get killed. But Zell had survived countless captures during the war and lived to tell the tale. Perhaps the fairy was simply lucky. But Houston didn’t think so. Houston had heard tales of the fairy Zell evading capture countless times. No doubt there were many other occasions, too—those that Houston simply hadn’t heard about. If he factored in those unknown incidences as well, then the fairy must have been almost constantly escaping capture. A normal sort of fairy would have been killed a hundred times over in similar circumstances. But Zell had survived. It couldn’t simply be chalked up to dumb luck. “I see. That makes sense. They do call them Fake-Bait Zell. I am not confident, but I am willing to wait and see.” Zell’s name was quite famous. Acquiring a nickname of any kind from the war was a sort of proof that one had managed to distinguish oneself, no matter the actual truth of their deeds. “All right, everyone. So we wait. We will observe the cave from within the bounds of our silencing spell, and then we will launch an attack on the enemy while they sleep.” Yes, they would wait. That was what Houston decided. Judith still wasn’t convinced. “But, sir! Please reconsider!” “What did you say?” “Our comrade could be in dire straits at this very moment!” “Indeed. That’s possible. I would like to do our best for the little creature, but we have no time to return to the town for reinforcements. So we will launch a midnight attack with the manpower we’ve got.” “No, we should attack now!” “I have already spoken on the matter. It is too dangerous right now. We wait.” Houston’s tone had grown harsh. Judith clenched her fists and backed down. And yet she was still frowning with dissension. The rookie was clearly struggling to respect authority and had been angered by Houston’s decision to place more importance on Bash’s opinion than hers. She seemed desperate to have things go her way, rather than deferring to Houston as protocol dictated. Well, I can sympathize. This is her very first mission, after all. Yes, Houston understood. But right now, he had command of this mission. The moment Houston had announced he would join the forest search party, this mission ceased to be Judith’s. It was an unsophisticated transfer of power, to be sure. But as long as Houston was in charge, he would do his best to make sure that all of his subordinates made it back alive and that the case was neatly solved. Yes, that was what Houston planned. “All right, we’ll post one man on lookout duty while the rest get some sleep. Mr. Bash, is that all right with you?” “I will defer to the commander’s order.” Then Bash went right over to a nearby tree, leaned his back up against it, and closed his eyes. “All right. Jett, you have the first watch. If anything happens, wake us up.” The first lookout went to stand by the cave entrance, on the alert. Houston guessed they had around five hours to wait before the enemy decided to hit the sack. When that time came, Houston would let the first lookout sleep while another soldier stood guard over the cave entrance. Those two would be left behind to guard the rear as the others infiltrated the cave. Houston had two good reasons for leaving a few men behind. First, this would prevent any additional enemies sneaking into the cave in the dead of night and coming up behind them. Second, in the case that Houston’s entire party was wiped out, these two rear guards would be able to return to the town and let the deputy general know what had happened. Usually, Houston always made sure he himself was part of the rear guard. After all, this was supposed to be Judith’s mission. Houston, as a vital army general, ought to have been protected. But Bash was there. So the option of sending the party ahead without him while he waited in a safe place was not currently available to Houston. “…” Houston had forgotten something, though. The green soldiers were one thing, but Judith, too, was an absolute amateur of a rookie knight, who had only been in active service for around a year at that point. All of them had enlisted during peacetime and had never tasted a real battle. There were two other important things Houston didn’t even realize. First, that his subordinate soldiers leaned more toward loyalty to the rookie knight than to him. And second, that after seeing how Houston had kowtowed to the opinions of an orc, his men had started to harbor a deep resentment toward him, their general… Around that same time, Zell was pleading for their life. “I swear, I was just passing by! You know, a little spur-of-the-moment, just-for-the-heck-of-it solo fairy trip? Well, I happened to spot this lovely looking cave, and I thought it would be just the perfect spot to explore during my adventures! Never did I dream that it would have already been inhabited by you fine fellows! All I can do is apologize for intruding on your abode! At any rate, please don’t kill me… Ah… In fact…how about letting me join your gang? See, I’m a fairy, and I can provide fairy dust and…and other stuff! Yes, fairy dust! And other stuff! You fellows like fairy dust, don’cha?!” Zell had been captured by the bandits after entering the cave, as predicted. Now the little fairy was surrounded and talking a mile a minute. The bandits all wore matching expressions of bewilderment. They had quickly noticed the fairy’s dim glow in the blackness of the cave and immediately captured it. That had been an hour ago, and the fairy hadn’t stopped talking since. The bandits were used to hearing people plead for their lives, but the way the fairy groveled had started to actually melt their cold hearts. Despite being wrapped up in a neat little roll of cloth, Zell had managed to wriggle over to them like a caterpillar and actually kissed the tops of their feet. Before Zell had met Bash, the fairy had another nickname, one not widely known. That nickname was Zell the Mercy Beggar. In fact, Zell had once actually managed to escape unscathed from someone known as Gordon the Fairy Eater. The sight of Zell pleading for mercy would sway the hearts of even the cruelest enemy. It was one of the tricks Zell had relied on to make it through the war alive. “Hmm, no need to go ahead and kill the little fairy now, is there?” “There’s the fairy dust to consider, too.” “And we might get cursed if we kill it.” The bandits all looked around at one another, gauging one another’s feelings on the matter. Despite their extreme hairiness, it was plain to see they were all humans. Humans had long held a superstition about being cursed if they killed a fairy. That, coupled with the obvious benefits of the medicinal fairy dust, made killing Zell a foolish option. “So come on, fellas, what say you untie these wrappings and I’ll shake some fairy dust all over you! Happy fairy dust will give you a nice serotonin boost, y’know!” “Don’t be absurd. We’re not untying you.” Zell’s request fell on deaf ears. Fairies were tricksy little creatures. The humans knew Zell would bolt the moment the wrappings were unrolled. The generally agreed-upon method of long-term fairy confinement was to stuff them into a small cage or bottle. “Now, now, fellas. Truly, if I wasn’t wrapped up like this, I could produce a whole mountain of fairy dust for ya! I’m talking heaps! You know, back in the day, they might as well have called me the Dust Storm!” Zell feared the cage and the bottle. So to avoid them, the fairy always tried to buddy up to their captors. That way, they might go a little easier, or so Zell hoped. Usually, the results were mixed, though. “Oi! What are you all doing?” From behind the bandits came a deep, throaty voice. In unison, the bandits all turned around. “It’s the chief!” The bandits sounded delighted. They parted to allow the owner of the voice to pass, and the looming figure came into Zell’s field of view. So, this was the chief of the bandit group. He was as rough and uncultured a thug as Zell had ever seen. Meaty arms, a huge mouth, sharp eyes. Dressed in crudely put together leather clothing, he also wore a necklace made out of skulls, which was extremely unstylish and in rather poor taste. The main feature that was immediately apparent, however, was his skin. It was green. Yes, green skin. And two long, strong tusks rising from his huge mouth. The chief was an orc. “Oh! Oh!” The instant Zell laid eyes on the orc, something sparked in the fairy’s memory. With just a glimpse of that hulking figure, Zell knew who this was. It was truly only a glimpse in the dank light of the cave. But that was enough. Still, Zell couldn’t recall the orc’s name. Zell only remembered what he looked like after encountering him on the battlefield. “General! It’s you, isn’t it?! Long time no see! It’s me! Zell! Zell the fairy!” Incidentally, Zell had always been terrible at remembering names. Faces, too. The only orc Zell could reliably recognize was Bash. The others all sort of blurred together. The fairy certainly hadn’t bothered to remember this orc’s name. Generally, Zell just referred to all other orcs with vaguely honorific, all-purpose forms of address like general or chief. “What do we have here? Bash’s little fairy flunky? What’re ya doin’ in a place like this?” Zell’s name was widely known among orcs, though. In fact, there wasn’t an orc alive who wasn’t familiar with Zell after witnessing the little fairy sticking to the Hero Bash’s side like glue during the war. “You gotta hear my story, General! So there I was, out on a trip to see the wide world after the war and all. Anyway, I came across this splendid cave! And I thought to myself, Zell, this cave just reeks of treasure! So in I went… But alas! The only thing that was reeking was this band of scruffy human bandits! General, you gotta help me!” Tied up like a bagworm, Zell nonetheless tried their hardest to hop and squirm their way closer to the orc. Zell looked undignified indeed. But the orc known as the chief recognized the fairy as an old war buddy. Why, his life had been saved numerous times by this noisy bagworm, and by the Hero Bash. “All right, all right. Release the fairy! We’re old pals.” “Are ya sure? Fairies are notorious blabbermouths, an’ this one knows all about us. If it talks…” The orc grimaced, tusks protruding as he glared at the hesitant group of bandits. Then he leaned his hideous face right up against Zell’s and muttered in a threatening tone: “Oi, fairy. Us bein’ here is a secret, got it? Don’t go tellin’ no one, understand?” “I wouldn’t dream of it! Have you ever known me to spill a secret? These lips of mine are sealed up tight! Me? Blab? Never! Why, if I was the blabbermouth sort of fairy, the boss…I mean Bash…would have been killed on the battlefield long ago, leaving nothing but a statue of him to mourn over back in orc country!” Actually, this was true. Zell had never spilled a secret. The fairy was a blabbermouth, to be sure. But most of what they babbled about was inconsequential. Zell held a lot of pride over their ability to distinguish between sensitive information and mere word vomit. So Zell had never spilled a genuine secret in all their life. “All right. Untie it.” “Yessir.” The bandits nodded, still looking uneasy despite the chief’s firm order. Hesitantly, they untied Zell. Zell rolled free of the wrappings, then zoomed up into the air and straight out of the cave…but only in their mind. In reality, Zell merely flew over to the chief and began hovering expectantly in front of the orc’s face. “Thanks, General! You saved me! You are as wise as you are generously endowed! But, General, pray tell… Why are you having clandestine meetings with a bunch of humans in a place like this?” Zell’s duty was to gather information. A freewheeling fairy though they might have been, Zell would never shirk this important duty. “Hmph. Well. Nemesis, that traitor, is insistin’ on peace with the humans! Take away fightin’ from the orcs, an’ what’s left? Nothin’! That’s what! I refuse ta go along with it! So I left orc country. An’ on my travels, I ran into this band of humans, and we came ta an understandin’ of sorts.” The orc looked at the bandits, who all grinned and chuckled. “At first, I was hung up on me bein’ an orc an’ them bein’ humans. But then I realized you can still find like-minded folk out there, even among different races.” “Fascinating! So you’re here making an alliance with a mind to start a new war? Killing everyone who stands in your path along the way? Like…like…a destroyer corps?” “Precisely! Well, actually, I’d like ta tell ya that. The truth is, it ain’t goin’ so well yet. Right now, we’re gatherin’ power in secret so the orcs an’ humans don’t find out about it. Then, once we’re strong enough, we’ll launch our full-scale operation!” “Wow! That’s amazing, General!” Zell put on a big show of being shocked and impressed. Now I’ve found out what I needed, it’s time to fly, they thought secretly, then began fluttering around the cave to get their bearings. That’s when Zell noticed multiple pairs of glimmering eyes, visible in the dark. Unknown creatures were in the cave with them. “General! Th-there’s something else in here with us!” “Of course there is. Have ya forgotten? I’m a beast tamer, ya know.” Zell knew of the demon art of beast taming, of course. It was a strange practice, different from magic. A dark power that even regular folk could wield, not just mages. It allowed a person to take over the minds of others and bend them to their will. One example of this practice was its use in taming otherwise wild and unruly creatures… “You’re in command of the bugbears!” Several gears had begun to click into place in the fairy’s tiny brain. The name of the hulking orc came back to Zell at that moment. This orc’s name was Boggs. He was one of eight great chiefs who had survived the war. Yes, Beast Master Boggs. He had commanded a herd of around a hundred bugbears in the war, which he used to slay hundreds of thousands of humans. It was a bloodbath. Of course, he did more in the war than just command bugbears. He was as strong a soldier as any other orc and wielded a steel mace, which he used to smash hundreds of enemies into bloody bags of meat and bone. Indeed, the warrior Boggs was a formidable fighter, who’d fought for forty long years on the battlefield. “Sadly, the original flock of bugbears I raised from cubs has seriously decreased in number…” Boggs cast a tender, loving glance over at the bugbears that were snuggled together in a corner of the cave. During the war, Boggs’s flock of bugbears had exceeded a hundred in number. He’d commanded more bugbears than any other orc. During the final stages of the war, Boggs’s bugbears had been almost wiped out in a series of crushing defeats. He was left with only a tiny flock, numbering less than ten. But Zell could clearly make out a dozen or so bugbears relaxing in the dark cave. Only a few of their number were the sort of robust and muscular bugbears that would be suitable for battle. The others looked as though only a few years had elapsed since they’d been tamed. It was clear that their bodies were much weaker and punier than the battle-ready bugbear specimens. Boggs’s bugbears were always said to be stronger than the ogres and smarter than the lizardmen, the pride of the orc army. “For now, anyway. They’re growin’ fast in number. Soon, I’ll have taught this lot how ta tame as well, an’ we’ll set about makin’ us the strongest fightin’ corps there ever was!” When Zell looked closer, they realized that several of the bugbears were extremely small, about the same size as the fairy. Bugbear cubs. It took about six months for bugbears to go from cubs to mature adults. Actually seeing a real live bugbear cub was an extremely rare thing. “Once that happens, I’ll reign as Orc King, an’ we’ll take on the world as our enemies!” The human bandits all clapped, showing their appreciation for Boggs’s grandiose speech. One could even be heard to yell, “Hail to the chief!” To Zell’s eyes, it actually didn’t look like the bandits were totally on board with this master plan. In fact, it looked more like they were just along for the ride, in it for whatever they could get. “Grawr…” Suddenly, the bugbears began to growl. The sound made Boggs and all the bandits leap to attention and grab their weapons. “What’s up?” “Intruders! Hop to it, men!” Boggs roared, grabbing his iron mace and dashing off somewhere in the darkness. The bugbears and the bandits followed suit. They had clearly tasted battle before and were swift to leap to action. The lights in the cave disappeared then. The only light remaining came from the mellow glow emitted by Zell, who had been left all alone in the dark cave. With no one to guard the fairy, this was surely their cue to escape. And yet Zell was curious about these so-called intruders. If it was Bash who had launched an attack on the cave, then something was very odd indeed. “Darn it! Where are they comin’ from?!” “Hey, there’s a woman! A woman, I say!” “Someone get the lamp… Gahhh!” “Who hit me? Who?!” “How should I know? It’s too dark to see anythin’! Gah!” “Someone light the cursed lamp already!” The sound of battle soon filled the cave. But oddly, there was no clanging of sword upon sword. Just a series of dull thuds and plenty of shrieks. There was a fight going on, that was for certain. But Bash was not among their number. If Bash had been there, the sounds of carnage would have been so much squelchier and more violent. From the sounds of things alone, Zell knew Bash wasn’t there. Nevertheless, the little fairy decided to stay put for a few minutes more. Often, Zell had adopted a similar policy during the war. There had been many occasions when hanging back instead of leaping into the fray had served the fairy well. “All right…” Zell zoomed up into the air. Scouting for information was the important thing here. Even in the pitch-dark, Zell might be able to find out something of value. But when Zell arrived at the scene of the battle, the fight was over, the area lit by a burning torch. Under the dim, flickering light of the torch, Zell could see the wounded forms of the soldiers. Right in the middle, bleeding from the head and with both hands bound, lay Judith. “…What happened here?” “There ya are, Zell. As ya can see…some knights from the local area came bustin’ in an’ tried ta subdue us.” “Ah, I… I see…” Judith turned her head and looked up at Zell. Yikes! the fairy thought, quickly trying to hide from Judith’s view. Zell was worried Judith might say something that would make it obvious Zell had gone ahead as their scout. However, despite looking surprised for a moment, Judith soon narrowed her eyes at Zell with a look of distaste. The meaning of her sudden change in facial expression was lost on Zell. But this was the woman whom Bash had his eye on. Zell had to make sure she wasn’t killed. “Look what else flew into our net after the fairy! An’ a fine piece of meat she is, at that!” “Geh-heh-heh… Chief, how about givin’ the woman over ta me?” “Idiot! We’re all gonna share her, right, brothers?” “Right, right, no keepin’ the lady all to yourself.” “All right, how’s this? We lock up the woman, kill all the men, an’ then dump their bodies outside.” Judith’s face suddenly seemed to drain of all color. “Guh… Just…kill me…” Judith sounded brave, but her expression was one of abject terror. Her eyes were darting all over the place, and there was a chattering sound coming from her jaw. Every so often, there was a glop, glop sound as she gulped hard. She looked like she was about to burst into tears at any second. Aha, this could go in my favor. Zell saw this as a golden opportunity. This knight was, to put it mildly, completely screwed. If Zell could somehow engineer a heroic rescue, Bash’s stock would shoot sky-high. Indeed, it might even be enough to make the female knight fall head over heels in love. “Hey! Not so fast! There’s no sense in killing them now! Not when you’ve made it this far without your operation being exposed! If the townsfolk discover the bodies, you’ll find yourselves hounded and hunted down by scores of knights!” The bandits all turned scornful, mocking eyes on Zell. But Zell barely even flinched. Because Zell was a fairy, and they have next to zero social awareness. “I know just what you should do! Wait until morning and then execute them outside! Stage it so it looks like they finally found the bugbears they were seeking. Oh, whoops, we were in pursuit, and then just outside the forest, bam! Bugbear attack! Blood everywhere! Oh, and you should leave a few bugbear corpses just so it looks like it was a real fight to the death. Humans are stupid; they’ll totally buy it! Look, do you really want all your good work to go to waste? No, no, it would be such a shame! I know you’re too smart, too cunning to blow the whole thing now! Not to mention, it’s really dark in here. Don’cha wanna take a good look at their faces in daylight while you kill ’em? See that look in their eyes that says This can’t be happening!…? It’s gonna feel so much more satisfying to kill ’em while drinking in that look, don’cha think?” As Zell’s barrage of word vomit rained down upon the bandits, they actually seemed to be considering it. Their faces said, Hmm, maybe the fairy’s got a point? After all, they could kill them anytime they wanted, right? They had time on their side, and their position was still safe, wasn’t it? Zell’s words had a strange power, a power to make them all feel secure and confident. In certain circles, Zell had yet another nickname. This one was Honey-Tongued Zell. Once Zell started flattering, cajoling, and convincing, it was hard for anyone to resist. “Ya may have a point, fairy. All right, men. We lock ’em all up. Heh, Lady Knight…I’m gonna take ya all the way ta heaven while my men watch…” After some thought, that was the conclusion Boggs came to. Grabbing the female knight by the hair, Boggs dragged her off deeper into the cave, her limp body scraping across the rough stone floor. As she was being dragged away, Judith kept her eyes fixed on Zell. The look within them was a mixture of despair and accusation, anger over being betrayed. Boss! I’ve set everything up perfectly! It’s the ideal situation! If this isn’t enough to get results, nothing will be! Now all that’s left is for you to make a timely appearance and save the fair maiden! Zell wasn’t even looking in Judith’s direction. When Bash awoke, Houston was sitting nearby, cradling his head in his hands. “I can’t believe this… Gotta be kidding me…” Judith and the other soldiers were nowhere to be seen. “What happened to the others?” Houston lifted his head at the sound of Bash’s voice. His expression was one of guilt. “This is embarrassing, but…it looks like we’ve had a sleeping spell cast on us. The others…went on ahead.” A sleeping spell. Magic used to put someone into an incredibly deep sleep for a short period of time. “Did you give the order to go in?” “No, I didn’t… They mutinied.” “Mutiny? Humans defy a commanding officer’s orders?” “Sometimes. When they don’t agree with them.” Bash was seriously shocked. Culture shocked. In orc society, anyone who violated an official order was punished by death or banishment. That was how much value orcs placed on honoring the chain of command. An official order was basically a law. “What is the punishment for such transgressions in human society?” “Uh, usually a lecture or a pay cut. Sometimes, depending on the circumstances, a period of self-reflection, or loss of privileges that come with being a knight.” “It doesn’t sound like it’s treated as a serious crime at all.” “Well, it’s peacetime… Besides, widespread incompetence has become relatively common among the human leadership. A lot of folks are opposed to the concept of blindly going along with incompetent orders and getting killed. Ah, I’m so embarrassed. I suppose I’m one to talk, huh?” “Hmm.” Bash didn’t care whether Houston was incompetent or not. Nor did he care about the laughably lax human treatment of the heinous crime of mutiny, shocked as he was to hear about it. The more important thing right now was the stench of blood that Bash had already noticed was wafting out of the cave. Judith, the prime wife candidate Bash had set his heart on, had gone into that cave. He couldn’t shake the thought that she might be in terrible danger. “So what now?” “Well, the sleeping spell has worn off, but the troops still haven’t returned. That’s not good. It’s likely they’ve all been killed already. We should return to the town and gather reinforcements…” “Such weakness of spirit is not what this occasion requires.” Bash glared at Houston. The woman he had his eye on might be in serious danger. There was no way Bash was about to retreat. “But you are the officer in charge. If you issue a command, I shall follow it.” Orcs always obeyed commands. However, they were free to question a commanding officer’s judgment at any time. It was largely frowned upon, but Bash felt it was warranted in the current situation. “Just one thing, though. Orcs are never cowards. We follow rules, but then we give our all to the battle.” Houston blinked, gazing at Bash. Green skin, long tusks, rippling muscles. Just your standard-issue, slightly smaller than average orc. But no one would ever mistake this orc for another or forget him after seeing him in action even once. During the war, Houston had felt like he was always fleeing from this very orc. Usually, Houston would have no problem abandoning Judith in a heartbeat. Serves her right. That’s what she gets for disobeying orders. Houston wasn’t foolish enough to risk his neck to save an idiot like that. And if the townsfolk had called him a coward, he would have simply turned a deaf ear. But Bash was right there, watching him. There was no one whom Houston feared or respected more. Houston was proud of his conduct in the war. It was not cowardice that had led him to run from Bash. It was a calculated tactic to ensure victory. After all, Houston had survived the war, hadn’t he? And the orc side had lost, hadn’t they? Houston didn’t want to think of himself as a coward who had only survived the war because he had been lucky in his attempts to evade Bash. “…All right. Understood. Then we will infiltrate the cave at once, save our compatriots, and kill every last one of our foes.” “Got it.” The Orc Hero Bash exposed his long tusks in a smile.
Chapter 9
33 min read