Chapter 130 :

Chapter 130 - Law of Nature

Lia, who had finally reached the edge of the island, laid her trembling body by the water and exhaled with difficulty.

The air cutting through her frozen lungs was painfully agonizing.

As Lia curled up on her side to preserve even a little of the body heat that had already dropped, the wet wooden plank entered her eyes.

After staring at it quietly, Lia gropingly reached out and fumbled with the sword she had tied firmly to her back.

She could not believe she had crossed the cold lake by relying on a wooden plank.

And after knocking down a priest of the temple and running away, no less.

“I really can’t go back to the village now.”

She had not intended to return to the village anyway, if only to escape Edan, but it seemed that deep in her heart, she had still not erased the existence of a hometown to which she could return.

Seeing that this was all she could think of even after going through so much.

Emptiness and bitterness raised their heads, but she knew they were not large enough to stop her.

Compared to her desire to save Jing, who had saved her and been devoured by the sword.

Once her body had recovered its temperature to some extent, Lia raised herself up.

She had to find Ran and Ratel.

Jing had clearly known that the temple was hiding the sword.

He had also said that Ran would know a solution.

Though even if that were not the case, there was no other option.

It was only a feeling, but there was a vague anxiety that if she dragged things out any longer, she might never find Jing again.

Lia swallowed hard as she looked at the forest spread out before her.

The forest, which looked as if no human foot had ever touched it, seemed as though an orc might jump out at any moment.

With trembling hands, Lia untied the sword she had firmly fixed to her back.

Because the only usable weapon she had was the ominous sword she had carried on her back.

When the sword fell to the ground with a thud, Lia, frightened in advance, flinched.

As if its appearance as a cursed sword that devoured people had been a lie, the shining thing glowed like a legendary sword from a fairy tale or novel.

‘He said to go to the mountain in the center.’

Barely swallowing her fear, Lia picked up the sword with trembling hands.

Orcs lived on the island.

Though they disliked sunlight, it seemed they moved around during the day too.

If she encountered one, she had to fight with the resolve to die.

The best would be if she could find Ran and Ratel before that.

Struggling to calm her trembling, Lia carefully stepped into the forest.

At that moment, Lia’s courage had unintentionally screwed Ran over in a very big way, but no one noticed it.

* * *

Kwaaaaaaa—

At the faint sound of water and the fishy smell of water that pierced the nose, Ratel and I, without either of us needing to be first, searched for something to anchor our bodies to.

Grabbing the sturdiest-looking of the protruding pillars, I checked on Ratel.

With movements faster than mine, the fellow had positioned himself in a gap in the rock wall across from me and was looking at me.

Having secured a spot stable enough for even one orc to enter, the fellow looked almost relaxed.

“Kweeek, hold on tight!”

“Worry about yourself.”

Seeing that he had enough leisure to return my concern with rudeness, it seemed there was truly no need to worry this time.

The problem was the two who had gone up.

Judging by the leader’s physical condition, it did not seem like he would have reached the destination, and judging by the scream a moment ago, at least one side had clearly fallen into trouble.

It would be disastrous if either one died.

Especially if the one falling was the leader, there was no way the creature would be able to withstand the impact.

Hoping desperately that only one creature would fall, I clung to the wall and prepared for the impact to come.

Kwaaaaaaa—

The sound of water grew louder and louder, and soon after, a heavy rush of water covered me.

I opened my eyes straight and struggled to check what was being swept along by the water.

My effort bore fruit.

Because before long, I was able to spot a huge green body drifting down.

But as always, prayers were of little use.

Unfortunately, what came drifting through the cliff gap was not just one leader.

After discovering the dimwit being swept down together while caught in the leader’s remaining hand, I swallowed a curse and reached out toward the two.

If I took that weight, I would get at least a fracture, but it was still better than letting them die.

Still, I was fortunate to have an orc’s body.

Something like a broken arm would recover quickly.

Preparing myself for the approaching impact, I reached my hand toward the leader to catch the two falling orcs.

But truly, damnably, the leader orc was a creature that followed the law of nature even in a situation where his life was in danger.

No, because his life was in danger, he followed it even more.

What that meant was that, at the moment of falling, the action the leader chose was not to accept my help, but to steal from someone who looked weaker than himself.

I realized that desperately the moment the leader’s flashing gaze turned not toward me, but toward Ratel, who was hidden in a gap in the rock wall.

As if the hand I had stretched out did not even enter his eyes, the leader twisted his body to seize the place occupied by the small human.

At that moment, with a sensation as if my blood had gone cold, I let go of the hand that had been supporting my body without thinking any further.

And before the leader’s hand could reach Ratel, I grabbed his body.

“Kweeek!!”

The leader screamed in surprise at the sudden attack and fall, but I did not care.

Holding onto his body, I stretched out my arm and grabbed the wall.

Pain followed, as if one of my arms and one of my legs were being torn apart.

In any case, I succeeded in hanging on to the leader with one arm and the wall with the other.

Pain—

While being struck by the rush of water that poured down as if pressing a person down, I cooled my head.

Right, following the law of nature was natural.

The stronger side obtaining what it wanted was probably the most effective principle living beings had followed for long ages.

If that was what he wanted, there was no reason not to follow it.

The one who regained consciousness first between the leader and the dimwit was the dimwit.

“Kweeek!!!”

Perhaps he had been extremely startled, because the creature sat up with a scream, noisily crying out and looking around.

Thanks to that, the leader also slowly opened his eyes.

“Kweeek......noisy.”

Muttering with a frown at the dimwit’s noisy alarm, the leader clutched his head and looked around himself.

The creature soon seemed to realize that he had survived another sudden attack of river water and was now barely holding out while leaning against a pillar.

After a brief moment of confusion, he discovered the dimwit and me, who were in situations not very different from his own, and showed a somewhat relieved expression.

It did not last very long.

Because the creature’s expression turned fierce again when he recalled that, in his last memory, I had grabbed him and dragged him down.

“Kweeek!! What did you do earlier?!”

I silently stared at the creature, who was shouting in excitement.

When I showed no reaction, perhaps sensing something strange, the leader slowly stopped interrogating me.

“Kweeek, kweeek!!”

While the silence continued, the dimwit, who had not come to his senses, flailed around while clinging to the pillar.

I slowly climbed down the wall and straightened the dimwit’s body.

“Kweeek?”

The creature, now able to balance stably, looked at me with puzzled eyes.

“Kweeek, shut your mouth and stay still.”

“Kwee, kweeek?”

When I muttered with a curse, the dimwit finally seemed to begin seeing his situation and closed his mouth.

“Kweeek, if you’ve come to your senses, grab the wall again. Kweeek, before I drop you just like that.”

At my irritated command, the dimwit quickly grabbed the wall with cockroach-like movements.

I should not have accepted that damned stubbornness as it was.

I exhaled deeply.

Because my patience had finally reached its limit.

“Kweeek, hey, dimwit.”

When I called him, the creature somehow realized that the word was referring to him and raised his head.

“Kweeek, go up first. Kweeek, I’ll haul your boss up too.”

“Kweeek!!! I do not need your help!!”

The leader, who still had not fully come to his senses, shouted.

“Kweeek, I don’t think showing yourself being dragged up like a dog would be good for you either.”

At the low warning, the leader flinched.

Soon, regaining his senses, the leader ordered the dimwit.

“Kweeek!! Stop him from coming up!!”

“.......”

At the leader’s irrational order, the dimwit’s two eyes, fallen into confusion, began a violent pendulum motion.

The creature’s head moved up and down like a machine that had glitched.

“Kweeek!! What are you doing?!”

The leader shouted again.

That must have played some role in the dimwit’s decision.

Because the direction where the dimwit’s gaze finally stopped was above, not below.

The dimwit’s relatively clear eyes stared at me.

“Kweeek!!”

After letting out a small cry, the creature began climbing the wall.

“Kweeek, what are you doing......”

At the flustered leader’s voice, the dimwit briefly looked down.

But the creature soon took his eyes off the leader and crawled upward again.

The leader blankly followed the dimwit with his eyes as he passed by me and climbed upward.

The leader’s momentum had weakened considerably, and he did not regain his original strength until I went down beside him.

I had thought he would begin a reckless resistance once the watching eyes disappeared, so this was unexpected.

“Kweeek, what is this? Kweeek, I said I don’t need your help.”

The creature, whose venom had faded, glared at me with eyes still holding anger and spoke lowly.

“Kweeek, don’t worry. Kweeek, I won’t help you obediently either.”

“Kweeek, what?”

The creature wore a dumbfounded expression for a moment at my answer, but soon came to understand the meaning of my words.

I grabbed the creature by the collar and lifted him just like that.

“Kweeek!!”

When his body was lifted unexpectedly, the flustered creature let out a short scream and struggled slightly.

“Kweeek, stay still. Kweeek, unless you really want to fall down this time. Kweeek, this time, I might keep repeating it until all four of your limbs are torn to pieces.”

At my warning, the creature’s gaze naturally turned toward his severed arm.

The injury of the arm that had struck here and there when falling from above was in tatters.

Realizing his own situation, the creature stopped resisting and glared at me.

Above all, the fact that he had lost the position from which he could give orders to the dimwit anymore must have been quite a blow.

The creature himself knew that well.

“Kweeek, there is no use eating me now. Kweeek, you cannot become the boss.”

The leader spoke as if threatening me.

I met the eyes of the creature, who had become much more obedient.

“Kweeek, see, you knew it after all. Kweeek, didn’t you actually realize it a long time ago?”

“Kweeek, what are you talking about?”

The creature asked defiantly.

“Kweeek, that even if you use all your strength, you can no longer beat me.”

The leader did not protest.

Only the creature’s eyes, mixed with humiliation and anger, answered in his place.

Right, there must have been a reason why he had been so insanely wary of me compared to the dimwit.

If he was going to follow the law of nature like that, then I was willing to be considerate and follow the method he liked most.