Chapter 98: Creating a Hero (2)
by AfuhfuihgsOne thing that surprised me was this:
The orcs who had been demanding that someone higher than a mere knight step into the duel showed up themselves.
I thought they might oppose me—the Northern Duke’s proxy—who had no status or power, appearing as the contractor for the blood oath.
But instead of opposing, they accepted it quite willingly.
I could understand Glaka, who had negotiated and fought with me, accepting it, but I wondered why the other orcs didn’t raise any objections.
I learned the answer from Gunter, who had accompanied the orc chieftain to explain the situation.
“There was resistance among the orcs. Orcs who didn’t know the circumstances were understandably confused about suddenly being subordinated to a human.”
“Yes, that was natural.”
“But the Glaka chieftain stepped forward and insisted passionately that thanks to you, they avoided the Northern army’s attack, were able to settle in the North, and even gained the chance to rescue captured females.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. The disgruntled orcs were persuaded by his fervent speech, and some even became grateful to you for promising to save their families.”
I have no idea exactly what Glaka did or how. Well… as long as it’s good, that’s fine.
After all the effort to bring them to the negotiation table, it would have been a disaster if internal dissent ruined everything.
Thankfully, there was no such frustrating development.
The blood collected by the orcs was mixed with a drop of my own.
That blood was placed in the center, and under the leadership of Sophia and Zenora, the blood oath ceremony began.
As they chanted the ritual spell, the blood started to glow on its own and dispersed in all directions.
The dispersed blood returned to everyone who mixed their blood, marked as tattoos in the places designated by the contractor.
The idea of tattooing blood might sound creepy, but it didn’t feel like anything at all—just a cool, patterned spot appeared.
It was creepy in the sense that if the contract were broken, this spot would explode like a bomb.
Seeing the tattoo that proved the blood oath on the inside of my arm, I finally breathed a sigh of relief that it was over.
I felt a little sorry that I had to pass this tattoo on to my descendants.
But unless the people of the North collectively went crazy and declared war on the orcs, they would take good care of my descendants, so it was like a kind of pension.
“Take good care of things, human.”
“And you as well, orc.”
After the blood oath, Glaka approached me and spoke.
I extended my hand as a sign of goodwill.
“?”
“It’s a handshake—a human greeting. You just hold the hand and slowly shake it up and down once.”
“Hmm.”
Glaka awkwardly extended his hand, and I took it and lightly shook it up and down.
If the orcs are going to be subordinated and live alongside humans in the North, a lot will need to change on their side too.
The most important of those will be interaction.
The wounds from past conflicts where weapons were drawn won’t be healed overnight.
But there are no eternal enemies or friends in this world. Especially now, facing a mighty foe in the West, we need as many friends as we can get.
This handshake without weapons, barehanded, will be the first step toward the North and the orcs uniting and fighting together.
“So, now we just follow you humans?”
That was still a question.
Even though we swore the blood oath, suddenly bringing orcs would surprise people.
People’s doubts could be eased by showing them the tattoo on my arm, but where and how to house the brought orcs was also a problem.
Should an orc autonomous zone be created in Wintercannon? Should we give them land to build a village?
My head was spinning when—
“Sir Luke.”
Grace interrupted.
“Good work. You look tired. The rest will be my responsibility now, so go and rest.”
Grace told Elaine to take me away and then herself dealt with Glaka.
Come to think of it, these worries were problems for a ruler, not a knight.
My real work was truly done, so I left it all to Grace.
“I’m really sleepy. Can I take a little nap?”
“You may rest well. I will stay by your side.”
“Haha, shouldn’t the captain of the guard be at Your Highness’s side?”
“Seeing that you have the energy to say that, I think it’s okay even if I’m not there.”
“Just kidding. Please stay by my side and hold my hand too.”
“Of course I will.”
Elaine supported me as I walked.
“Isn’t it natural for a married couple to hold hands while sleeping?”
That wasn’t exactly a cute sentiment…
But standing beside Elaine, smelling her scent, I felt calm and relaxed, unable to even argue, and my eyes closed.
I must have been really tired because I slept so deeply that I didn’t even dream.
When I woke up, Regret, who had gone to rest before me, was already awake and waiting for me.
I felt a vague sense of disappointment that Elaine wasn’t holding my hand by my side.
‘The Northern Duke’s captain of the guard can’t be expected to stay by my side all the time while I sleep for hours.’
Still, knowing Elaine’s personality, she probably had laid me down, stayed nearby for a while, then left.
Regret, still wearing a proud smile as if boasting about the achievement she had pulled off, told me what had happened while I was asleep.
First, the orcs decided not to follow the Northern army this time and would act independently.
Instead, Grace had given them a secret order, and following that, the orcs returned to the places where they had withdrawn from the village.
Before leaving, Grace took all the orcs’ demonic fruits but gave them a little food in return.
The collected demonic fruits would be sent to the Snowflake Tower for investigation.
I also heard from Regret what Grace’s secret order to the orcs was.
“Hmm, that’s pretty good.”
“Right?”
I thought it was a good strategy too.
The orc females must be important hostages for Dorgon as well. Although there was a promise to rescue them, it wouldn’t be easy.
Since orcs aren’t treated as significant in the novel, I sadly couldn’t know if, as Grace expected, Dorgon would really bring the orc females to the battlefield.
But if they plan to use the orcs until the end, they probably will.
After all, controllers are usually kept next to electronic devices.
So if we catch them off guard, we can rescue the orc females while dealing a big blow to the West at the same time.
Meeting a plot with a plot.
After hearing the updates from Regret, I felt rested from my sleep and ready, so I dressed and headed to report to Grace.
While I was asleep, the orcs had left the village they occupied, but the Northern army remained on standby at the camp.
It wasn’t out of consideration for me alone who was sleeping.
They had rushed to stop the orc invasion.
Although there was no battle, the fatigue from the march remained, so with the orcs retreating and no battle ahead, everyone was resting.
“Hey, everyone gather! Sir Luke is here!”
When I emerged from the tent, a Northern soldier nearby recognized me and loudly called to his comrades.
The resting soldiers immediately stood up and approached me.
“That was incredible, Sir Luke!”
“The duel had us all on the edge of our seats!”
“Were you a sword mage? I heard you use fire abilities, but you even handled ice!”
“Sir Luke, do you remember me? We were in the same unit before!”
Like a reporter interview scene from my past life’s news, soldiers around me kept adding comments one by one, and I felt a slight dizziness.
What is this intense welcome?
I had done something quite big, but I hadn’t expected such enthusiastic cheers.
For ordinary soldiers, it must have been a bewildering sequence of events.
They had marched from Wintercannon for days, arrived at the battlefield, set up the camp, and were just about to start the fight.
Then one knight interrupted the fight, challenged to a duel, and subdued the orcs.
Some probably felt frustrated or confused. Some might have even viewed me negatively for sticking my nose in.
Yet the eyes of the Northern army soldiers around me were filled with nothing but goodwill.
Of course, they weren’t the entire Northern army, but at least they were approaching me warmly instead of whispering doubts from afar.
“Ha ha.”
Well, it’s all good. I wasn’t officially summoned, but spending a short time with them should be fine.
Since they approached with goodwill instead of hostility, I couldn’t just ignore or brush them off.
I put on a smile like a celebrity and returned their gaze with a friendly response.
I thanked the compliments, gave short answers to their questions, and responded to greetings with greetings.
Though it wasn’t my first time being the center of attention, it still felt a bit awkward and uncomfortable.
But the fact that the soldiers welcomed me like this was proof that what I had done was right, and that made me feel proud above all else.
Interestingly, I wasn’t the only one receiving cheers.
“Lord Regret, how did you manage to win? Please tell us the details!”
“After it ended, the orc chief asked for a rematch. Is that true?”
“I heard from a friend in the guard that your bow skills alone earned you recognition at the captain level?”
“Fighting covered in dirt like that… you’re a role model for Northern nobles!”
Regret, standing next to me, was surrounded by soldiers as well.
She didn’t seem to dislike the attention—in fact, she looked very pleased.
Her lips were more relaxed than usual, and as the second son of a noble family, she handled it smoothly.
Seeing that, it seemed the precious plan had succeeded.
Though I had helped a little, Regret had clearly proven her abilities through her own efforts.
Having enjoyed ample praise this time, she probably wouldn’t forget this feeling and would keep performing well in the future.
Still, since her fundamental personality was a bit unusual, if I spoiled her too much, she might develop bad habits.
I’d have to find a way to keep her in check appropriately.
What I want is a loyal dog that listens well when fed, not a wild dog that runs rampant thinking she’s all that.
As I mingled with everyone, I could feel my reputation rising from this incident.
I wasn’t a hero, but I felt like one.
“Sir, I have returned from rest.”
I arrived at Grace’s tent and saluted. She welcomed me warmly.
“Welcome back, Sir Luke.”
‘Looks like you rested well. Any pains anywhere?’
‘Thanks to you, I rested deeply. I’m a bit sore but nothing serious. Just a little hungry.’
‘That’s understandable. You slept a whole day. Sorry I wasn’t there when you woke up.’
‘It’s okay. I know you’re busy.’
‘Then let’s have a meal together later.’
So much was exchanged in just a brief look, but no one else knew.
Even I found it strange how much we communicated in less than a second.
“Thanks to you, this expedition… well, there was no battle, but since we marched out beyond the walls, it counts as an expedition. Anyway, the outcome was more successful than expected. No troop casualties, and we saved military expenses.”
No matter how much the North values power and loves battle and weapons,
even the violent and simple orcs could restrain themselves and negotiate for their families’ sake. Could humans, who are supposedly more rational, really survive war?
Especially now, facing a power far beyond the orcs’, any troop loss here would cause major problems. But that didn’t happen.
“Once again, I thank you. You worked hard.”
“Thank you.”
I bowed politely in response to Grace’s gratitude.
She looked pleased and immediately continued.
“Suddenly inheriting an entire faction increased my administrative duties, but that’s my responsibility. You must be busy preparing for other matters now.”
“Other matters…?”
The orcs had left, so the expedition should have ended.
What else could there be?
I tilted my head, puzzled, and Grace grinned mischievously.
“Have you already forgotten the huge incident you caused in front of all those people? While you were asleep, they all came to Lady Elaine to ask about you.”
“Oh.”
I had completely forgotten.
Elaine’s actions during the duel.
She had introduced herself as my wife in front of everyone.
“You didn’t expect it to have gone that far, huh? So, when’s the wedding?”
Grace’s teasing smile made Elaine, standing behind her, look embarrassed.
0 Comments