Chapter 108 :

Chapter 108 - Cabin Father and Son (3)

The reason the first holy relic and the island in the middle of the river are important is because, in the original work, Ratel fails to absorb the power hidden inside there.

In the original work, the first holy relic only goes as far as making him realize that he might be able to absorb power.

After losing that precious first opportunity, he begins absorbing Sierra’s power from the second holy relic onward.

However, following all those steps one by one would make things far too tight when dealing with Dito, who should be steadily growing his power in the capital by now.

It was necessary to compress the steps.

I approached the window and pointed at the island floating alone in the middle of the distant river.

“According to the book, the place where Sierra Abiran originally left the holy relic was that island. Later, the descendants moved the holy relic. So we have to bring the holy relic back here.”

“Can we not absorb the power without the holy relic?”

Jing asked in a voice filled with urgency.

“Yes, there are several things needed in order to absorb the power. First, Sierra’s holy relic, and the head of the monster living on that island.”

At my answer, doubt appeared on Jing and Ratel’s faces at the same time.

They seemed to find it hard to believe that a monster lived on an island that looked so peaceful.

Well, since there was a cabin where people lived this close by, it was an unimaginable situation.

“Orcs live underground on that island.”

Orcs.

They were the first monsters Ratel had to subjugate.

At the word that the opponent was orcs, Jing frowned.

“Orcs….I personally do not like them.”

“Isn’t it strange to have monsters you personally like?”

When I teased his cautious tone, Jing slightly smoothed out his furrowed brow and laughed quietly.

“That is true as well. So what I mean is, I especially dislike orcs. They are far too barbaric. Especially when a generation changes, they are enough to turn one’s stomach.”

It was no wonder he hated orcs to that extent, despite rarely using strong expressions.

Jing did not like orcs much in the original work either.

More precisely, he did not like the cruel customs of orcs.

“How do they turn one’s stomach?”

Perhaps his intense reaction stirred curiosity, because Ratel asked.

“The horde rushes in all at once and eats the leader.”

Jing answered without being able to smooth out his crumpled expression.

“To be exact, they eat the head.”

That was why ten out of ten orc heads sold as the head of a leader were fake.

When orcs decide that the leader should be replaced, they all rush at that individual at once and tear off his head to eat it.

The one who eats the leader’s head first becomes the next leader.

It is a simple method, but also a method that ensures the strongest one becomes the leader.

Ratel, who had been quietly listening to my explanation, also seemed disgusted, because he began frowning just like Jing.

Eventually, he opened his mouth.

“What is the reason? Because the head tastes the best?”

It was such a novel question that I found myself reflecting on the fact that I had briefly mistaken him for someone who might possess something like disgust.

I fell silent for a moment and chewed over the protagonist bastard’s words.

Taste, huh…

It was something I had never once considered, even after reading the book more than a hundred times.

Even while reading the scene where the orc horde rushed in all at once to tear apart the head of the leader felled by Ratel’s hand, and even while having trouble eating for several days afterward, I had never once thought about the taste.

Thinking that what he, standing before the fallen orc, might have been thinking inside was an evaluation of the taste almost made a hollow laugh come out.

If I returned to my original world, I would not be able to read the book with the same impressions as before.

“….No, as far as I know, the one who first eats the leader’s neck becomes the leader. Nothing has been clearly proven yet, but the people of Abiran believe it to be a rule created when Great Emperor Sierra first defeated a monster.”

Jing explained in my place after I lost my words.

Judging from the way the corners of his mouth twitched faintly, it seemed Jing had also been considerably shocked by Ratel’s question.

Belatedly coming to my senses, I composed my expression.

“When the leader falls, the orcs will rush in all at once. The first task is not letting them steal the head from among them.”

“It sounds like a contest to seize an orc head.”

Jing summarized my explanation in a single sentence.

“Yes, steal the holy relic, return here, and cut off the orc’s neck. That is our plan.”

After simply affirming his words, I presented the overall plan.

Though I explained it while leaving out one necessary ingredient.

“It’s nice because it’s simple.”

Ratel showed a positive reaction for once.

Though if he found out that I had subtly left out a few things again, his anger might return even greater.

Well, at that time, he would be busy getting angry at El after his identity was exposed.

“The precautions are simple too.”

Pretending not to know, I changed the subject and looked at Jing.

“First, Jing must absolutely not touch the holy relic before Ratel does.”

“Yes, understood.”

Though he looked bewildered, he obediently nodded.

I stopped explaining and waited for his next words so that he could ask more about what he was curious about, but Jing only looked at me as if he found it strange that I had stopped speaking.

“What is the reason?”

Ratel asked in place of him, who had no suspicion at all.

After sighing, I confirmed once again that there was no one around the room and opened my mouth.

“Because if it is not you, he will be eaten.”

At my simple answer, Jing’s puzzled face gradually stiffened.

“….Does that mean eaten in the literal sense?”

I nodded slightly.

The fact that Sierra Abiran’s holy relic was a monster that ate people seemed to be quite shocking, because Jing could not continue speaking for a moment.

He closed and opened his eyes once, where confusion was wavering, and barely calmed his emotions.

“….Why, just why does such a thing happen?”

“It must be the price.”

At my answer, Jing looked at me as if waiting for the rest of the explanation.

I recalled the contents of the book and slowly opened my mouth.

“Everything in the world requires a price. The power left behind by someone who already disappeared a thousand years ago would not be enough for the holy relic to brainwash people.”

The act of eating people itself was troublesome, but on top of that, it left monsters behind as filthy byproducts.

Jing’s face, unable to recover from the shock, was stained with confusion.

Even if he had given up his position, the object to which he had devoted his loyalty his whole life was ugly.

I turned my head toward Ratel, who had been watching Jing just like me.

“You have something to keep as well.”

The guy took his eyes off Jing and raised his eyebrows as if telling me to speak.

“From now until we arrive at Limis, do not use your power.”

The guy stared at me for a moment after my answer, then opened his mouth.

“Fine.”

“Your power is probably the power of Sierra trapped inside there… What?”

All the words I had prepared to persuade him were wasted, and I asked back stupidly.

Did I hear him wrong?

There was no way this bastard would obediently follow my words like this.

Or perhaps he had some other scheme.

First, I doubted my hearing, and then I doubted his inner thoughts, so the silence grew longer.

Eventually, irritation appeared on the guy’s face because he could no longer stand it.

“What are you looking at me like that for?”

“Why are you not asking anything?”

“Because there is nothing to ask. You already explained it on your own. You said we do not know how the power of the dead emperor pooled inside there will react.”

Ratel, who confirmed that he had listened to my words and that I had not heard wrong, glared at me crookedly.

“What are you dissatisfied with?”

“I am not dissatisfied. I am suspecting you. Whether you just said yes because you have no intention of keeping it anyway, or whether you are coming up with another way to screw me over.”

Other than that, there was no reason for him to quietly listen to me.

“Does it not occur to you that I simply listened to your words?”

The bastard added an option without a conscience.

“For that, there is the attitude you showed in Lucha Village, isn’t there?”

“….”

Perhaps he also thought there was no excuse for that, because he shut his mouth.

“I simply thought it was not a major problem.”

And the answer he gave was very difficult to accept.

“I said there is an orc horde in the center, didn’t I? Of course, we will avoid them and move by boat.”

“It does not matter. It is not as if I cannot deal with them just because I cannot use Manis.”

….Yes.

I knew that the answer, which came out as if it was nothing, was not a bluff.

Yes, that bastard could twist an orc’s neck barehanded.

“Still, make sure to use a sword rather than your bare hands. Orcs do not die unless their necks are cut.”

Perhaps he had calmed down a little now, because Jing advised him in a voice mixed with laughter.

“Did you not say we would not run into them anyway?”

Ratel answered lightly and looked at me.

It felt like a warning that if my words were wrong, the one whose neck would be strangled would not be an orc, but me, so I swallowed my words.

Along with the truth that his first attempt to destroy the holy relic at Limis Temple would end in failure.

* * *

Since I was stuck by the lake before the sun had even reached its highest point, there was not much for me to do.

However, for the two humans who had inputted that spare time meant time for training, free time did not seem to have any chance of being boring.

“Now! You are doing well! Just one hundred more, and after that, you will spar with me!”

Jing, somehow excited, shouted at Lia, who was diligently doing sit-ups with her legs hooked onto a tree.

“Kkuaaaagh!!!”

Even in the pain of her stomach being torn apart, she raised her body without complaint, and there did not seem to be any particular dissatisfaction on her face.

It even looked like she was feeling a faint ecstasy in the midst of the pain.

I had come outside to get some fresh air, but I pretended not to see the sweaty sight of the two and turned around.

If I got caught wrongly, Jing might pressure me into joining the training with words like, “Lord Ran, how about trying a little for your health too?”

As expected, rather than training while enjoying the refreshing breeze, it would be better to inhale dust piled up in my room.

I would have done so if I had not run into the person who would interfere with me just as I was about to close the front door and go inside.

However, as I met the protagonist bastard coming down from the second floor, my plan evaporated again.

The guy briefly cast his gaze out the window, where Jing and Lia’s noisy training sounds were coming from.

“You always avoid Jing’s training.”

Ratel’s question caught me as I tried to go upstairs while pretending not to notice.

“My body is weaker than it looks.”

“With that weak body, you said you took down Edan in Lucha.”

Ratel immediately refuted my half-hearted answer.

“I was lucky then. Thanks to you interfering with his plan, he was out of his mind.”

“Are you saying that as long as the opponent is out of his mind, you are confident you can take them down?”

The guy once again caught onto my words.

“What are you trying to say?”

At my gaze, which asked what on earth he was doing holding me up, the guy narrowed his eyes.

“Does that mean you have something you can rely on, so you do not need training?”

I stared directly at the guy’s face as he questioned me.

“The one who needs training is you. The thing I rely on is you.”

At my obedient admission, the bastard’s eyes widened.

“Until the holy relic is destroyed, Jing will protect me. Then you also cannot leave me to die, can you?”

“What nonsense.”

The guy reflexively denied my words first.

“You followed my words in Lucha Village because I could not die, didn’t you?”

This time too, unable to find words to answer, the guy glared at me, but I ignored him and began climbing the stairs again.

Rather than squabbling with that protagonist bastard, inhaling dust upstairs was better after all.

“I’m going to rest a little, so train hard.”

Instead, I did not forget to tease him one last time.