Ch.191[Episode 191] Ignorance and Splendor

“Wouldn’t my clothes look strange?”

Sir Dominic wandered through the streets of Gacha Land, adjusting his collar.

The outfit Sir Dominic wore was an elegant knight’s ceremonial attire made by the baroness, with golden-like yellow tassels that swayed attractively.

It might have been a bit too flashy for welcoming guests from Feralant, but Sir Dominic continued to fuss over his appearance, readjusting his eye patch.

“Hey, human!”

Just then.

Someone called out to Sir Dominic.

Sir Dominic instinctively turned his head at the deep voice that resonated as if speaking from the depths of a cave.

“Finally, a human who looks my way, human.”

Sir Dominic opened his one remaining eye wide in slight surprise as he looked at the owner of the voice.

There stood an orc wearing equipment made of scrap metal and recycled materials.

Of course, Sir Dominic’s surprise wasn’t due to any racially discriminatory reasons like the orc speaking fluently or wearing decent equipment.

The reason for his surprise was that the orc before him was a massive figure at least three heads taller than Sir Dominic, and that this massive figure had incongruously styled his hair in pigtails.

With unnecessarily glossy hair swinging back and forth, this fierce-looking orc continued speaking.

“Human! You look quite strong! Let’s fight!”

“Ah, that was a very orc-like statement.”

Sir Dominic expressed admiration in an odd way.

There was a stereotype that orcs were barbaric, ignorant, and battle-loving warmongers.

However, Sir Dominic actually knew well that while orcs did tend to have such inclinations, they weren’t really that different from humans.

The reason for Sir Dominic’s admiration was that the orc before him truly seemed to… embody the orc stereotype perfectly.

“Of course. We’re orcs!”

“That’s right, boss! We’re not orc-like because we’re orcs, we are orcs!”

“Orcs are orcs… what? Don’t use difficult words!”

The pigtailed orc called boss drove his fist into the crown of the orc who had been chiming in beside him.

It was a blow strong enough to burst the head like a watermelon had it been a normal human, but the orc who received it merely shook his dizzy head and staggered as if used to it.

“Boss is gentle! There is mercy in his hands!”

Other orcs cheered as if amazed by the boss’s compassion.

“Anyway, let’s fight, human! I like fighting strong people. You’re strong. So you must fight me!”

The boss raised his hand high, provoking Sir Dominic.

Rust powder fell from the rusty metal gauntlet on his arm.

“…There are other people around. Why me specifically?”

Sir Dominic looked around.

Being in downtown Gacha Land, many people were passing by.

He could have chosen any one of them, so why Sir Dominic specifically?

“That’s simple, human.”

The orc called boss said, widening his eyes.

“Because the others look too strong!”

“…What does that mean?”

Sir Dominic looked at the orc as if dumbfounded.

The orc proclaimed even more confidently:

“Just because we’re orcs doesn’t mean we fight anyone strong! We fight those who are manageable yet decently strong to gain honor, fame, and victory!”

That was it.

The orcs couldn’t help but feel intimidated in Gacha Land.

Gacha Land was full of people with flashy or strong-looking or strange equipment.

This inevitably caused fear of the unknown among the orcs.

They couldn’t gauge how strong these unfamiliar equipments were.

One might argue that orcs, being warriors, should have strong fighting spirit like Sir Dominic, but these orcs weren’t warriors.

They were vile and petty warriors… no, petty and vile warriors.

“You use a sword and shield. You don’t use anything strange. So our chances of winning are higher if we fight you!”

This was the boss’s logic.

Fighting others would be disadvantageous for the orcs. Why? Because they carried weapons the orcs didn’t know.

But fighting Sir Dominic was worth a try. Why? Because he carried familiar weapons – a sword and shield!

It was somewhat strange logic, but the orcs considered it perfectly reasonable.

“…Very well. Avoiding a challenge would tarnish a knight’s honor.”

Sir Dominic raised his sword and shield.

“Knight?”

The orc boss looked surprised.

“You have no horse and no helmet! Aren’t knights all giants wearing golden helmets?”

The orc boss thought about knights from his own dimension.

They were 3-meter tall beings wearing ton-weight armor and helmets decorated with gold.

Also, in their dimension, knights rode on armored, ferocious horses so large and violent that clumsy orcs would be flattened by a single kick.

Yet Sir Dominic before him called himself a knight.

No matter how you looked at it, while Sir Dominic was quite tall among ordinary people, he was too much of a dwarf to be called a knight.

“Not all knights ride horses or such.”

Sir Dominic raised his shield and held his sword high, pointing its tip at the orc.

“There are poor knights like myself.”

The orc flinched upon seeing Sir Dominic’s stance.

The aura emanating from Sir Dominic was not to be taken lightly.

“…I see. You are a knight, human.”

The orc boss said, flipping his unnecessarily flowing hair behind his back.

The orc boss, with his grotesquely large shovel jaw and chipped tusks, raised the massive hammer he had strapped to his back.

For some reason, the hammer had a large pink ribbon attached to it, but Sir Dominic paid no attention to such details.

“Judging by your aura, this will be an enjoyable fight, human.”

The orc boss let out a hearty laugh.

“A fight! It’s a fight!”

“A knight! The boss is fighting a knight!”

“That scrawny guy is a knight? I think the boss will win!”

As the standoff between Sir Dominic and the orc boss began, other orcs cheered loudly.

At least these orcs seemed to have very aggressive and cheerful personalities.

“I’ll let you have the first move.”

Sir Dominic provoked the orc boss.

As someone who knew something about Gacha Land’s system, Sir Dominic believed he could handle the orc before him regardless of how strong he might be.

Of course, he didn’t mind dying either.

As everyone knew, death was common in Gacha Land.

You could always come back to life as long as you had value.

“…I like you, human!”

The orc grinned grotesquely wide and charged.

The huge hammer raised above his head came down toward Sir Dominic’s head.

However, Sir Dominic thought he could easily counter it by raising his shield.

In fact, due to Sir Dominic’s attributes and special skills, the orc’s attack would effectively be almost useless against him.

A smile formed on Sir Dominic’s lips.

It was a smile full of fighting spirit at having found a worthy opponent.

But then.

“Stop!”

With a “pyorong” sound, an uninvited guest intruded upon this sacred duel.

Sir Dominic had intended to deflect the hammer as soon as it touched his shield, but he lost his balance and staggered because a heart-shaped, translucent pink barrier suddenly appeared before him and blocked the hammer.

“…What is this, little human?”

The smile disappeared from the orc boss’s lips.

And with shadowed eyes, he glared at whoever had intruded.

“…Magical Girl Belle Fleur! Elegantly appears!”

With a “tat” sound, a girl struck a pose as she landed on the ground.

She was wearing a beautiful dress with a harmonious combination of red and green, designed to resemble a gorgeous flower, true to her name which meant “beautiful flower.”

“I asked what this is, little human!”

“It’s Belle Fleur! I won’t forgive evil monsters who bully people!”

The orc boss raged at the magical girl called Belle Fleur who had intruded upon the sacred duel, but for some reason, the magical girl was using language that missed the point of the conversation.

Sir Dominic finally regained his balance and looked at the girl called a magical girl.

“Wasn’t that cool? Wasn’t that cool just now?”

“That was cool, pyong! Girls will go crazy, pyong!”

Belle Fleur, apparently having strong self-love, was repeating her previous actions and falling into self-absorption.

Beside her floated a strange small animal that, for some reason, ended every sentence with “pyong.”

Who on earth was this suspicious girl?

Why was she interfering with the battle?

“Ah, citizen over there! Don’t worry. This Magical Girl Belle Fleur will protect you!”

“Eeeeeeviiiiiiil huuuuuuumaaaaaaaan!”

The orc boss let out a roar pulled up from his belly.

Regardless, the magical girl continued striking poses she thought were cool, absorbed in her own appearance.

Sir Dominic thought:

What a mess.