I commanded, “Johnny, bring me the bucket.”
Johnny immediately reacted to my words. Ruma, who had watched over the entire exchange, gaped in astonishment as the orc raced to me with bucket in hand.
“Wow, being a hero helps. What magic did you use?”
“No, I didn’t use any—”
Then I understood. Thanks to the translation process, Ruma and George heard me as though I were speaking their own language. However, as this didn’t apply to the orcs, to Johnny, I must have come off as speaking in Japanese. That meant I had inadvertently taught Johnny Japanese, which was a useless skill in this world. It seemed like it would be too much work to get Ruma to understand my explanation, so I decided to make the most of the confusion.
“I guess God’s chosen hero can even get orcs to follow him.”
Ruma looked quite impressed, while George seemed a little sulky.
All of this was only the first step toward my goal. To ultimately negotiate with the orcs, I would need to train an orc translator who understood what I was saying completely. We were currently at a handful of nouns and simple verbs, so at this point, peace negotiations with the orcs were still a dream.
For now, my methods were limited to gestures and whatever objects I had on hand. I wanted to convey more abstract words like “country” and “peace,” which I would need to do in order to pursue my goal, but hadn’t the slightest idea how to link those complex concepts to simple words. I was frustrated with my own lack of imagination.
There was another critical problem. I had proven I could teach orcs my own words, but I still couldn’t understand theirs. I would have Johnny repeat the same words to me over and over, but it always came across to me as nearly indistinguishable grunting. It was possible we didn’t even share the same range of hearing, which would make my efforts at understanding him all the more futile. Even if Johnny understood what I said, this endeavor was pointless if our communication didn’t go both ways.
I considered, then, that perhaps we could make do with written words instead. Still, whether I taught him my written language or learned his, it would take a considerable amount of time.
My mind was occupied with these challenges when I heard the beating of approaching hooves. I lifted my head to a terrible intuition, and there was Meg, just as I had expected. As usual, she had brought along her entourage of cross-dressed maids. Honestly, she had good taste. What was this about, though?
“Good day to you, Hero.”
Having dismounted from her horse, Meg saluted me. George had hidden behind me the moment he realized who she was, but it was already too late. When Meg saw him, I saw a sparkle come to her eyes. Had they met before?
I asked, “Do you need something?”
“I’m just checking in with you. I heard you’d hired a new vassal.” She took a peek behind me. George turned the other way in a futile effort to avoid her probing eyes. She said to him, “A pleasure to make your acquaintance. What’s your name?” Her wide smile told me she already knew the answer.
“It’s Gi—George,” he answered curtly, his face still turned to one side.
For his part, Ruma looked touched, as if he were witnessing young love in bloom, though I sensed this situation was nowhere near what the good man had in mind. He said, “C’mon, George, a lovely lady is talking to you. How about you look her in the eye?” Ruma thought he was doing George a favor and didn’t realize he was just backing the young man even further into a corner.
“That’s all right.” Meg then turned to me. “Hey, Hero, what are you going to use him for?”
“I don’t have a firm plan yet. For now, I’ve left him in Torson’s care until he finds a job that suits him.”
“Hmm… Would you give him to me, then? I’ve already taken a liking to him.”
She’d said this with a shining smile, but George only looked at me pleadingly.
“Not going to happen,” I told her. She wasn’t taking George away from me. I couldn’t begin to fathom what she had in mind for him. I wasn’t even swayed by her cutesy sulking expression.
Ruma came closer to me, and timidly said, “U-um, milord…”
“What is it?”
“I know it’s not my place to speak, but it’s about George. If Megriel has taken to him, then he could have a far brighter future working for her, rather than grinding wheat or doing similar menial labor. Not to mention…” He glanced at Meg, then whispered, “…she’s such a lovely lady, I’m sure George would be quite happy.”
I could tell Ruma truly had good intentions.
Meg chimed in, “He’s completely right, Hero! I wouldn’t treat George poorly. I’m sure I could greatly benefit him in the long run. In fact, I’ll personally see to it that he receives the promotion of his life!”
“And just what sort of promotion is that? The lord of a certain territory, perhaps?”
“Yeah, maybe something like that. It’s what all men strive for,” Meg said.
That cemented it for me. “Not in a million years,” I declared, shielding George with my back. Like hell I would allow George to become such a high-profile figure that old feuds would resurface. I had other things to deal with.
“A pity.”
Her features drooped, and her shoulders slumped as well. Ruma seemed to want to say something, but he held his tongue. Meanwhile, I heard George sigh in relief from behind me.
Meg said, “Incidentally, that one’s from the mill, right? Are you sure you should let it move around freely like that?”
She gestured at the small orc who had drawn nearer to me, holding a bucket. What perfect timing. I decided to show off the fruits of my labor.
“That’s no ordinary orc. It’s an orc who can follow spoken commands!”
I ordered Johnny to place three apples in a row. He hurried to the wheat storeroom, then returned with three apples and promptly set them down in a line.
Meg said, “Oh, that’s quite something.”
“Isn’t it?”
Johnny was no doubt hungry, but had controlled himself. Anyway, whenever the lessons went well, I’d let him keep the apples afterward. He never ate them himself, but instead brought them to share with the other orcs, which I found admirable.
“So what are you going to do with him?”
Well, I had a grand goal, but I knew peace with the orcs wouldn’t please Meg. In fact, if she learned of my plan, she might actively get in my way. I considered my response, and it seemed she misunderstood my silence.
“You sure have it nice, Hero. You obviously have plenty of free time on your hands. Myself, I’ve been running around day and night pursuing my duties, with barely any time to sleep.”
“You did that to yourself. Trust me, I have my reasons. I’m not just playing around.”
“Well let’s hear them, then.”
I threw together an explanation that might satisfy her. “I’m researching to see if we can weaponize orcs to make up for our shortage of human troops.”
Just the sort she might approve of. What could she complain about now?
“Umm…if it’s troops you need, do you want to borrow some of my people?”
It was almost like there was pity in her eyes. Rather than approve of my fake goal, she looked doubtful that I could train orcs to fight for us. To be honest, I shared that opinion.
I told her, “No, I’m fine.”
“Really? Very well. Oh, by the way, I hear the temple is on edge thanks to that little festival of yours.”
I pressed her for more details. As it turned out, the ruckus caused when Veralgon burned the mountain of orc goods had been interpreted as: the Hero’s ceremony to dispel an orcish curse. I remembered the rat-priest accusing me of blasphemy.
Meg said, “The temple gets agitated whenever paganism crops up. It will make matters worse if they catch wind of you getting along with orcs.” She glanced at Johnny. “You should really keep these things behind closed doors.”
Just then, a massive shadow passed overhead. I looked up to see a dragon descending toward the manor.
“Oh, that must be a messenger from the capital,” Meg said gleefully, her eyes following the dragon’s flight path. “Let’s hurry back, Hero! Can I hear the message with you?”
Her timing was a little too good, and I figured she must have known that a messenger was coming.