To make a long story short, by following the orc’s trail, we were able to find their base easily. In fact, had we flown with Claimh Solas a little farther, we probably would have spotted it on our own. As for why: They’d constructed a massive settlement in the corner of the mountains using fallen trees and grass. At a glance, I could see over fifty orcs there, and there were surely more inside the various primitive dwellings. I suspected that if all of them came outside, there’d be well over a hundred. It wasn’t unusual in itself for orcs to build settlements and live in groups, but they were typically small groups of ten or so. The most I’d ever heard about living in one place was thirty, so for there to be this many was clearly abnormal.
As proof, Iria looked tense beside me. And unlike the revulsion she’d been feeling toward me up until now, this tension was clearly out of wariness. Before her eyes was a giant orc. The creatures were already larger than the average monster, but this one was especially massive. Rather than tree trunks, its limbs more closely resembled steel pillars, and its skin glinted with a black luster like some types of insects gave off, suggesting a toughness like armor. Considering it was also wielding a battle axe, perhaps it had stolen both the weapon and its armor from a fallen adventurer. It was clearly a cut above every other orc I could see in the area. In other words...
“A high orc!” Iria uttered. She was trembling uncontrollably.
I, on the other hand, regarded the creature with fascination. Just as humans were capable of leveling up, some creatures were as well. That was why the longer an organism lived, the stronger and more intelligent they normally became. And of course, some monsters could level up as well. Therefore, a “superior” creature usually meant it was an exceptionally higher level than all the others.
Whether animal or monster, all carnivores instinctively hunted weaker prey, which meant they didn’t level up all that often. As was the case for humans, the quickest path for a creature to level up was to take down stronger beings. This applied to goblins and orcs as well, but it had been discovered that goblins and orcs were more likely to level up than any other type of creature. The reason was simple: They were usually attacked and subjugated by adventurers on sight. In other words, those who ended up finishing the adventurers off instead were the ones who leveled up and became “superior.”
To elaborate, there were different rankings of superior beings as well. Those known as goblin lords and orc generals were the cream of the crop, and this black orc, most likely the settlement’s leader, had surely reached that level himself.
Iria whispered to me nervously, “Sora, let’s retreat. We need to tell the other villagers about this. Then let’s fly back to Ishka and report it to the guild. If we don’t hurry and get an extermination team down here, everyone could be in grave danger.”
“Grave danger, eh? Would it perhaps be something we’d need to report at all costs even if it meant sacrificing someone in the process?” I said sarcastically.
When Iria heard that, she scowled. Of course, that had been a dig at what she’d said during our meeting at the guild to justify her party leaving me to die. At the time, if they’d tried to save me, they could have potentially all been wiped out, and no one would have been alive to report the Lord of the Flies’ existence to the guild. Considering its ability to reproduce, waiting too late to inform Ishka of the threat could have resulted in the entire town’s demise. Therefore, though it had pained them severely to do so, they’d decided the best option was to flee instead—or at least, that was what Iria and Miroslav had told the guild. Lunamaria had admitted to me that she hadn’t been present for that discussion, since at the time, she’d been tasked with guiding the extermination unit hastily formed by the guild and Ishka’s government to Titus Forest and back.
“What exactly are you trying to say?” Iria hissed.
“Hmph, just seeing the look on your face, it’s clear that I don’t have to explain,” I spat back.
With that, anger joined the traces of fear and panic on her face. “If you’ve got something you want to say to me, I’ll hear it later! Right now’s not the time for this! Don’t you get that?!”
“Oh no, I’m well aware. Much more aware than you realize, in fact. That’s exactly why I used those kids to coax you into accompanying me, Iria.” For the first time since she’d arrived in Merte, I removed my mask of politeness and gave her an evil, triumphant grin.
Realizing my demeanor had changed, Iria took one step backward, then another. “Wh-What nonsense are you going on about now?!”
I laughed. “Nonsense, she says! You already know exactly what’s happening here, don’t you? Right now, I’m like you and the rest of the party were back then. And you’re in the same situation I was. The shoe’s on the other foot now, isn’t it? You’re in an orc settlement with over a hundred orcs in the area and a high orc as the leader. Did you know orcs are quite partial to using human women as seedbeds for their fertilizer? If we let them be, they might destroy all of the villages at the base of these mountains or even lay waste to the entire southern region of Kanaria.”