Chapter 117 :

Episode 117 - Leader

The dark passage stretching in a straight line was quiet, as if it were a completely different world from the commotion outside.

Since it was a single path, there was no need for arguments like, this is the right way, how do you know that, or if you’re that suspicious, then go on your own, so silence naturally settled between Ratel and me.

Though I was having the strange experience of being able to feel a noisy gaze fixed on my back even in the darkness.

I felt uneasy because I could not tell what he was thinking about again, but I had no intention of speaking first, so I walked silently.

Even so, since I had no intention of starting a conversation, I silently moved my feet.

In the end, the one who broke the silence first was Ratel.

"Do you even know where you’re going?"

Ah, come to think of it, had I not explained the destination yet?

Thinking that he had followed without complaint surprisingly well for someone with that personality, I opened my mouth.

"We’re going to the place where the core is. It is both the orcs’ nest and a place like their heart."

At my reply, Ratel stopped walking.

"You’re saying we’re going to avoid the orcs and invade their base right now?"

Leaving that fellow behind, I continued forward.

"It doesn’t matter. Even if there are any there, there probably won’t be many. You should be able to handle two or three without killing them, even without using Manis."

"How can you be so sure without even seeing the situation inside?"

"Because the leader’s position is currently empty, and if my guess is right, the entrance the orcs originally used has probably collapsed because of the water."

They were not smart fellows, so unless they relied on smell, they probably could not find the way well unless it was a path they originally used.

As I confirmed the sound of Ratel slowly beginning to follow behind me again, I continued speaking.

"Do you remember the orcs Jing and Lia found by the riverside earlier? The ones that put prey straight into their mouths the moment they caught it."

"So what about that?"

"Orc society originally revolves completely around the leader. When they catch prey, they don’t eat it first. They take it to the cave guarded by the leader. It’s like a genetic imprinting phenomenon."

"Genetic?"

"No......, anyway, the fact that they just shoved it into their mouths means something has gone wrong with the system, and there’s a high chance the leader hasn’t been decided."

That was precisely the part I could not understand.

Why was the leader’s position empty?

Normally, a leader’s generational shift should happen in an instant.

The strongest hypothesis so far was that the previous leader had managed to escape before its position was taken.

Then who was the leader Ratel had to behead?

Finding the answer to that question was pushed back for a moment as we reached the end of the passage.

Because I was busy suppressing a sigh at the steep cliff that appeared before my eyes.

I knew that once we climbed this cliff, we would finally reach the destination.

The problem was that it felt a little hopeless.

I had never imagined that I would personally have to climb the towering rock I had only read about in words.

So orcs just traveled along a path like this as if it were part of their daily lives.

"Maybe the reason those things are stupid is because they don’t need to use their heads."

When I muttered, Ratel gave a small laugh and passed me.

"Is the reason you always use your head like that because your body can’t keep up?"

And then, as if showing off, the fellow began climbing the wall steadily.

Fine, you’re amazing.

I clicked my tongue once and followed after him, placing my hand on the wall.

The wall, filled with moisture, was damn slippery.

There was nothing that could serve as a handhold like before, so the speed of climbing was slow.

If I transformed my body, I could climb more comfortably, but I did not want to risk being attacked by the river water again.

More than anything, I did not want to wrestle with that protagonist bastard again either.

After gritting my teeth and climbing the rock wall for quite some time, I finally felt the edge of the cliff at my fingertips.

While I struggled to pull my body up and exhaled the breath that had risen to my chin, Ratel waited without saying anything for my breathing to return.

After enough time passed for me to breathe somewhat comfortably, only then did the surrounding scenery enter my eyes.

In front of the pit Ratel and I had crawled up from, there was a round space, and the huge cliffs stretching on both sides were similar to the description in the original work, yet different.

"It became just a cliff instead of a waterfall."

When I muttered weakly, I felt Ratel’s gaze looking down at me.

I rolled my eyes and gestured toward the cliff.

"In the book, it said a waterfall appeared here. Because the island’s water moved on its own, the cliff beneath the waterfall was revealed."

Then I raised my hand and pointed to the large valley located above the place where the ends of the two cliffs met.

"Because enough water should be coming out, but it can’t."

From the hole that should originally have supplied enough water to the two waterfalls, only a weak current was flowing down.

It was fortunate that there was even that much movement in the water.

If even that had not been there, there would have been no luck of the center being this empty while avoiding the orcs’ sense of smell.

"So are you disappointed?"

Ratel opened his mouth while moving his gaze in the direction I pointed.

What is there to be disappointed about? The water is going to return anyway.

After roughly shaking my head, I rose with a groan.

Then I walked toward the round space connecting the two cliffs.

Only this place was no different from the description in the original work.

Even down to the animal bones and rotting corpses lying around the empty space in the center.

"Is this the center you were talking about?"

Ratel, who had approached at some point and stood behind me, asked.

"Yes. Originally, it isn’t this empty. The leader guards this place."

"What is this?"

I turned toward the fellow staring at the empty space in the center with a sullen face.

"What do you think happens to the people devoured by the holy relic?"

"You said they’re used to activate its power."

I did.

I reached my hand toward the central space.

Unlike its appearance, which seemed as though it would be cold as ice, the floor held a slight warmth.

"It seems even monsters are still lives. Seeing how warm the place where they are born is."

When I muttered, Ratel’s mouth hardened.

"You’re saying orcs are born here?"

I slowly nodded to the fellow who had guessed correctly.

"They say monsters are born in places where evil is concentrated."

To think the trace of the god loved by the whole world had become a place where evil was concentrated. There was no contradiction like this.

Ratel, who had been glaring at the floor with a frown, seemed to think of something and turned his gaze toward me.

"Did that woman’s father die the same way?"

If he was talking about Lia’s father, then he was probably right.

It was a fact mentioned in passing along with Edan’s death in the original work.

"Probably."

"And you hid that fact too."

"It isn’t time yet."

"Are you saying you have the right to decide that?"

There was something strangely innocent about the fellow’s dry question, so I raised the corner of my mouth.

"Rights are usually created by mutual promises. What I did was just garbage behavior."

Ratel silently looked at me with an expression that said he found my smile irritating.

"Even if Lia learns the truth now, that’s all it would be. In her current state, even if she gets angry about her father’s death, she’ll probably feel guilt at the same time. You know that well too, don’t you?"

That this world was built that way.

It was not as if someone already dead would return, and it was not as if an orc already born would die.

Nor could we immediately judge the temple that had deceived people.

So I had simply judged that there was no need for her to learn the truth right now.

Perhaps I had spoken too much, because I felt Ratel silently staring at me.

I did not know what he was thinking again, but right now, we had to resolve the matter thrown before our eyes first.

"Beheading the leader and increasing your power is the only struggle we can make right now."

So stop being stubborn for no reason and go find the holy relic before coming back.

The fellow, who seemed to notice the omitted words, let out a sigh.

"I don’t like being played by your tongue again, but fine. So where exactly is the leader?"

At that question, which was no different from half agreement, I stepped onto the center and headed toward the end.

I turned my body toward the left of the two cliffs that bore traces of water having once flowed fiercely.

"Haven’t you already noticed? The leader can’t run far. Its body probably isn’t in a condition to do so either."

Stopping my steps, I pointed with my finger toward the bottom where the end could not be seen.

"The fellow is hiding below."

Naturally, as if it were obvious, Ratel did not show any sign of surprise.

Well, if it was the fellow, he might have sensed the orc’s breathing that I could not hear.

"Is there a hidden space down below too?"

Ratel muttered while looking down into the valley.

"To be precise, on the wall. There’s a hole beyond the waterfall. Just big enough for one orc to enter."

When I said that to Ratel, who was carefully looking down the cliff, the fellow looked at me with puzzled eyes.

"How did I know? At this point, wouldn’t it be faster to find something I don’t know? There’s no time to explain every little thing right now, so just go down."

But even at my urging, Ratel did not readily go down and only quietly stared at me.

"Why? Are you worried I might run away while you’re down there?"

Ignoring my sarcasm, Ratel shifted his gaze to my arm.

"No. I’m worried you might fall from up here."

What does this bastard take me for?

Though, to be honest, it was difficult to say that.

Just getting up here had taken quite a lot of stamina, after all.

"Fine, then I’ll stay here and......."

"No."

I had not even finished speaking yet.

When I glared at Ratel, who expressed his refusal like an unconditional reflex, the fellow twitched one eyebrow.

"What am I supposed to trust about you? How do I know you won’t run away while doing something stupid again?"

"Are your eyes decorations? The passage is blocked like that, and the only possible exit is hanging up there."

I pointed to the only entrance blocked by a pile of fallen rocks and the pit that had supplied the water flowing into the waterfall.

"Stop babbling and go down first."

As if he would not listen to any more unnecessary talk, Ratel jerked his chin toward the cliff below.

I was about to obediently go down as the fellow said, but I paused at a question that came to mind and looked at him again.

"But why am I going down first?"

"If you’re going to fall, fall alone instead of falling on top of me."

That was......quite a reasonable yet insolent reason.

"Don’t worry. Even if I slip, I’ll grab your ankle and cling to it until the end."

Answering as if returning the fellow’s kindness, I lowered my body into the pit.

The path down was slippery, so I almost slipped slightly, but fortunately, I did not fall.

After I, having preserved at least the minimum of my pride, had slowly climbed down for a while, I soon heard Ratel following me from above.

"I’m saying this out of needless worry, but even if you think of doing something stupid to screw me over......."

"Why? Do you think I’ll kick you and make you fall?"

A mocking voice fell from above my head.

"That would be something only a bad-tempered person would do."

Of course, in the sense of endangering the only person who could guide him, it would also be a stupid thing to do.

"Keep what I said before in mind. Until I ask you to save me, don’t do anything pointless."

This time, I could not even hear a mocking laugh, but I decided to count that as having heard his answer.

Because, just then, we had arrived at the destination.

In the darkness, my leg stepped into empty air.

When I listened carefully, rough and regular breathing rose from below.

The damp breath brushing my toes was a bonus.

Seeing as it did not rip out the human leg dangling before its eyes, it seemed certain that it was unconscious too.

I lowered my body as it was and hung from the edge of the cave entrance.

Thanks to my eyes growing used to the darkness, I could tell that a blurry shape filled the inside of the cave.

Along with the fact that the face of that thing, which was clearly larger than the other orcs, was closer than expected.

I was a little startled, but soon came to my senses.

If we left the fellow like this, the other orcs would gather.

I swung my hanging body back and forth and used the momentum to land inside the cave.

It is just that the other humans are monstrously strong; when seen like this, the seventh prince’s body is quite sturdy too.

"You somehow managed not to fall."

Behind me, after I had safely entered without falling on my rear, Ratel elegantly stepped onto the floor with both feet and muttered loudly enough for me to hear.

"Be grateful your pant legs are safe."

After snapping back once, I rose.

And finally, I was able to confirm the source that had twisted the first step of destroying the holy relic.

Even with my vision blurred by darkness, I could tell at a glance that something about the fellow’s condition was strange.

"One hand is missing."

Ratel, who had approached beside me at some point, confirmed that my eyes were not mistaken.

Just as the fellow said, the lower part below the right elbow of the huge orc sleeping as if dead was gone.

The missing hand pulled up a memory of the past like the opposite pole of a magnet.

The green hand Lia had fished up.

The owner of the green hand that Ratel had turned into a piece of meat was before my eyes.