Chapter 78: The Legend of the Savior #1

Chapter 78: The Legend of the Savior #1

“Jonathan, are you confident?”

“Of course! Absolutely.”

“Jonathan, I’m betting on you. If you lose, I won’t let you off the hook.”

“Bet all you want! It’s a chance to make a fortune.”

News that Jonathan and the human girl were challenging the slave village’s champion brothers had already spread far and wide.

Every move we made as we walked through the streets attracted the attention of the orcs.

Some showed interest, and there were orcs cheering for Jonathan, but…

“Hmph, what a foolish orc who doesn’t know his place! You’ll regret this.”

“Wafa and Vetdi are the strongest. Wafa and Vetdi are immortal orcs. How can someone like you possibly win?”

There were quite a few orcs who cast threatening glances, clearly displeased.

They must be subordinates of Wafa and Vetdi.

These guys seemed to find Jonathan, who was challenging the existing order, as bothersome as a splinter in their eye.

“Just you wait! The power balance in this village is about to change. I will change it. You just watch!”

Jonathan boasted incessantly.

As soon as it was just Jonathan and I left, Jonathan’s face turned ashen, and he began to complain.

“⋯Estel, this is a disaster. Can we really win? We can’t lose. If we lose, it’ll be terrible.”

“What’s this? You were so full of confidence just now.”

“That’s… among orcs, if you’re underestimated once, it’s over, so I couldn’t help it.”

“Don’t worry. Just trust me and follow me. I’ll make you the new Orc Champion.”

“Ugh… Alcohol, I want to drink. I can’t stand the anxiety. I can’t even sleep at night these days.”

“Hold back on the alcohol. It’s bad for you.”

Jonathan nervously bit his fingernails.

“By the way, why are we going to see the elder? That old man is of no help. He’s just a senile, crazy orc.”

“Hey, he’s your elder, so what kind of talk is that? Don’t you know about respecting elders?”

“But that’s the truth. The elder did nothing while we were reduced to Carmilla’s slaves. He just stood by and watched.”

Defiance flickered in Jonathan’s eyes. This is likely how most of the younger orcs felt.

The older generation doesn’t lead the charge on the battlefield. Even if they wanted to, their bodies wouldn’t cooperate anymore.

All they can do is offer advice from behind, or perhaps nag disguised as advice.

The younger generation doesn’t understand these circumstances. Helpless old people like the elder are just reduced to objects of ridicule.

“We’re here. This is it. Old man! Are you alive?!”

Jonathan growled, kicking aside a dilapidated tent.

While the other buildings in the slave village were also shabby, the elder’s dwelling was even more pathetic.

Gurgle- Gurgle-

A rattling sound of phlegm came from the darkness. A gaunt old orc slowly revealed his face.

“⋯It’s Jonathan, son of Winston. What is it?”

“Nothing in particular. It’s not me who came to see you, but this human girl.”

“Human…?”

The elder looked at me with suspicious eyes. His gaze scanned me up and down.

“Is Grandpa the elder?”

“I’m, for now. But, it seems other orcs don’t think so anymore…”

The elder gave a wry, self-deprecating smile.

Cough, cough-

A dry cough followed his laughter. The elder trembled so much that I felt uncomfortable just watching, coughing continuously.

“Aish, old man! Stop coughing like you’re about to die.”

Jonathan clicked his tongue and patted the elder’s back.

I wasn’t sure if patting his back would help, even if he wasn’t choking…

In any case, the elder stopped coughing after a while.

“Hoo. No need to make such a fuss, Jonathan. It happens all the time…”

“I told you not to eat strange mushrooms or herbs from somewhere. If you’re hungry, come and tell me! You won’t get any nice words, but I’ll give you something to eat.”

“Yes, I understand. I will…”

Jonathan clicked his tongue with eyes mixed with pity and exasperation.

The elder looked up at me.

“Human, do you have business with me?”

“Yeah. Train Jonathan here for me.”

“What!?”

Jonathan exclaimed loudly instead of the elder’s reply.

“Train me in what? I have nothing to learn from this old man!”

“Be quiet. Grandpa Elder, you remember Orc Combat Techniques, right?”

“⋯How could I forget? But, how do you know about that?”

“I had a chance to fight warriors who used Orc Combat Techniques. But if you know it, why haven’t you taught it to other orcs? Gauss, and Wafa and Vetdi too, they all fight randomly, not using Orc Combat Techniques.”

The Orc Elder’s dry lips moved. He tried to speak, but no words came out.

As the elder gestured, Jonathan clicked his tongue and poured water from a nearby kettle.

“⋯Hoo.”

The elder, having finally moistened his throat, continued.

“Even if I teach them, they don’t listen. After all, even warriors who were masters of combat techniques were easily defeated by Carmilla, so it’s understandable they didn’t feel the need to learn…”

“So, you’re the only orc in the village who knows Orc Combat Techniques now?”

“Something like that.”

I looked back at Jonathan.

“Did you hear that? If this old man dies, the lineage of Orc Combat Techniques will be completely severed in your village. Is that okay? Do you want to be reduced to rootless bastards?”

“Bastards! How can you say that!”

“If a great combat technique has been passed down, but no one learns it and it becomes obsolete, then it’s fitting to call them bastards. Jonathan, stop complaining and learn from Grandpa. And learn it well and teach it to other orcs. Got it?”

Jonathan still grumbled, but I ignored him.

“Start today. And bring him some food and take care of him.”

“Human girl, it’s alright. You don’t need to worry so much…”

“It’s not because I like Grandpa, but it would be troublesome if he dies before teaching you the combat techniques. Just accept my care obediently. Understood, Grandpa?”

“This human girl speaks so rudely…”

“Yes, that’s right! She’s very insolent.”

Jonathan and the elder narrowed their eyes. It seemed they agreed for the first time.

“Well, with my remaining lifespan, I don’t have much to do, and it might be a decent way to pass the time…”

The elder picked up a thick branch lying on the ground and threw it at Jonathan’s feet.

Jonathan stared at the branch.

“Are you really going to do it, old man? Do you even know that combat technique or whatever it is?”

“If you don’t feel like it, leave, Jonathan. I have no intention of forcing you to learn. Do as you please.”

“Grrr…”

Jonathan gritted his teeth and pondered.

After a while, Jonathan sighed deeply and picked up the branch.

“I don’t know what kind of clown act this is. Old man, keep this a secret from the other orcs. If they find out, I’ll be ridiculed forever.”

Jonathan said, swinging the branch around.

Perhaps it was just my imagination, but the elder’s wrinkled lips seemed to twitch slightly into a smile.

***

The special training continued.

The elder seemed to have trouble standing on his own. He barely supported himself with the thick branch as a cane.

“Hmph! No matter how bad I’m at fighting, I can easily defeat an old man like you.”

Jonathan scoffed.

Judging by appearances alone, it seemed unlikely that Jonathan and the elder could even have a proper fight.

“Is it really okay to attack, Estel? I don’t know how to hold back. This old man might meet his end today.”

“You talk too much, old man! That’s what you said, right?”

“What did you say, old man!”

Jonathan bristled and lunged forward, gripping the branch.

His stance was clumsy. He looked more like a conscripted peasant than a warrior.

But even this would be threatening to an old man who could barely hold himself up.

“Hup, Haa-“

In an instant, the elder used the branch as a pivot and spun around in place.

Jonathan’s attack missed the elder. Jonathan spun widely around the elder like a customer entering a revolving door at a department store.

“Huh? What did you do!”

“Don’t ask for every detail. You have perfectly good eyes, Jonathan, and a brain to think. Watch and feel. Don’t try to get the answer right away. Understand the principles.”

“Shut up!”

Jonathan attacked again from behind. The same scene repeated.

The elder effortlessly deflected Jonathan’s attacks with the fluidity of flowing water.

“Do you understand why rushing in without thinking is disadvantageous? Fighting isn’t about momentum.”

“Old man… you’re having a great time chattering!”

Jonathan seemed to be getting increasingly annoyed.

The sparring continued for about an hour. The elder’s stamina was depleted, so we finished it there.

Jonathan ultimately failed to land a single hit on the elder during the entire sparring session.

“What kind of magic is that old man using? Estel, even after experiencing it, I don’t understand.”

Jonathan, covered in dust, tilted his head.

He had fallen and rolled on the ground, looking quite disheveled.

“It’s not magic. It’s combat techniques. It’s an ancient fighting style your ancestors used. It’s also something you never bothered to learn and ignored.”

“Ugh…”

“Grandpa is right. It’s no joke when you experience it firsthand, isn’t it? Learn it well.”

Jonathan lowered his head and grunted. His demeanor was a stark contrast to his boastful attitude when the sparring began.

During the subsequent break.

Since the elder’s physical condition didn’t seem good, we decided to take a longer break.

In the meantime, I had Jonathan gather firewood and repair the elder’s dilapidated dwelling.

“I feel the blessing of our orcs from you.”

Once we were alone, the elder spoke.

“Long ago, in the days when we snow orcs were free, it was a power that could only be felt from proud shamans. Let me ask you. Have you perhaps met any orc shamans?”

“Uh. Not snow orcs, but wilderness orc shamans.”

“⋯!”

The elder’s nostrils widened. A sudden excitement flickered across the face of the dying old man.

“Why?”

“⋯I can’t believe it. Was that legend truly true?”

The elder looked up at the sky and spoke. Judging by the atmosphere, it seemed like heavy snow was about to fall.

“A legend has been passed down among us snow orcs since ancient times. Even though we have been reduced to slaves… this miserable reality will not last forever. A hero will appear who will rally our orcs again and liberate them from their slave status.”

“…”

“We called that hero the Savior. Now, I’m the only one left who remembers the legend…”

“The Savior.”

“Yes. The Savior, literally the one who will save the orcs. There is a clue to recognize him when he appears.”

The elder pulled up his tattered robe to one shoulder.

A complex patterned tattoo was engraved on his wrinkled skin. The color had faded considerably, but it was clearly an orc tattoo.

“It is a tattoo that only orc shamans can engrave. The Savior also bears this orc tattoo somewhere on his body. One who is not an orc, but has received the recognition of orcs and bears the blessings of the ancestors on his body. That is the Savior. Human girl, will you show me? Do you perhaps have an orc tattoo?”

The elder looked directly into my eyes.

In his eyes, where hope seemed to have long vanished, a sharp glint of light flickered again.