Chapter 131 :

Chapter 131 - Hierarchy

There is nothing more troublesome than getting caught up in a hierarchy fight, whether among humans or beasts.

Once you start getting involved in a fight, it is also quite exhausting because you never know where it will end.

Especially since there was nothing in particular for me to gain by defeating the leader among the orcs.

The leader, who would die anyway, would become even more wary of me, and I would also gain the annoying reaction of the dimwit who was aiming for the leader’s position as a bonus.

So this meant that the leader’s stubbornness was irritating enough to more than offset all that annoyance.

* * *

“Kwee, kweeek.”

Perhaps because having his windpipe squeezed was terribly uncomfortable, the leader clawed at the hand I had wrapped around his neck with his one remaining arm.

I silently watched what he did.

Maybe he realized that his struggling had no meaning, because his resistance gradually died down.

“Kwee, kweeek, I said I had no intention of becoming the leader! Kweeek, if you kill me...!”

“Kweeek, the leader’s position will disappear.”

Just like in the original work, the protagonist would lose the chance to build his strength, and that would make things a little troublesome for me.

“.....!”

Maybe something even more troublesome would happen than listening to this bastard’s stubbornness a little longer.

But from what I saw, even if I left this bastard alone, you looked like you would die before reaching the second obstacle.

The only difference would be whether the cause was an unfortunate accident, or Ratel’s hand moving under the guise of an accident.

“Kweeek, I’m sure I already told you. Kweeek, I don’t care who becomes the leader.”

“Kwee, kweeek, but I have to be there for you to find the next leader....”

“Kweeek, if what I needed was your living neck, I could have just dragged you around like a living corpse.”

If the dimwit could seize the leader’s position as I expected, I had honestly also made the complacent calculation that their fight might end before we reached the food storage.

“Kweeek... If you can do it, then try!”

Perhaps thinking that I was bluffing, the leader did not abandon his confident attitude.

Whether it was a human, a monster, or something else entirely, there was still nothing as effective as showing it directly to an individual who had far too much certainty in himself.

“Kweeek, sure.”

I released the strength from the hand that had been gripping his collar.

The bastard’s massive body sank downward in an instant.

“Kweeek!!!!”

The startled bastard tried to cling to my arm.

If I had been loose enough to allow that, I would not have done something like this in the first place.

I roughly shook off his hand.

“Kweeeeeek!!!”

The bastard screamed as he fell downward.

It did not last very long.

Before he could fall far enough to lose consciousness, his body was caught on a pillar jutting out from the wall.

“Kwee, kweeek...!”

The bastard, who had barely survived, hurriedly drew in a breath.

Without taking my eyes off the leader, who was panting as if he were about to die, I slowly approached him.

“Kwee, kweeek!! Don’t come!!”

The bastard, who had barely been catching his breath, spotted me approaching and shouted urgently.

“Kweeek, you should say, ‘Please don’t come’.”

“Kweeek!!!”

After approaching right up to the leader, I fixed my gaze on the pillar that was barely supporting his body.

The color drained from the bastard’s face when he noticed where my gaze was directed.

“Kwee, kweeek! Don’t do it!! Kweeek, stop!!”

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

“Kweeek, you failed to get the right answer again.”

After muttering that, I kicked the pillar, hoping that he would hurry up and find the correct answer.

Bang!

The stone pillar shattered into pieces, and the bastard’s third fall began.

This time, the bastard fell without even being able to scream, but before long, his body was caught on a second pillar.

I slowly moved again to where he was.

The leader no longer raised his voice.

The bastard merely lifted his head helplessly and looked at me.

“Kweeek, are you planning to repeat this until I reach the ground...?”

It was not the right answer this time either, but I decided to answer a question of this level.

He would need time to properly grasp his situation too.

“Kweeek, once you arrive, I’ll stop once. Kweeek, after that, we start again.”

“Kweeek, start again...?”

“Kweeek, once you reach the ground, you have to climb this cliff again.”

It seemed there was no need to explain that after that, we would start again from the beginning.

Judging by how the last remaining color completely left the bastard’s face.

“Kweeek, h-how long...?”

How long would it continue?

“Kweeek, until you can no longer move.”

At the explanation that it would not end until he died, the leader’s hands trembled.

Well, at this point, he must have grasped the situation well enough.

I raised my foot toward the pillar again.

“Kweeek!! Wait!!”

The leader urgently opened his mouth, but the correct answer did not come out this time either.

When I showed no sign of stopping, the bastard anxiously rolled his eyes.

I moved my leg again to break the pillar.

“Kweeek!! I-I’ll do whatever you tell me to...!!”

Bang!!

This time, the bastard gave an answer good enough to receive a passing mark.

Unfortunately, he failed to meet the time limit.

By the time the answer that was one step late came to an end, the pillar supporting his body had already shattered into pieces.

“Kweeeeeek!!!”

The bastard let out a monstrous scream as he fell again.

That is why you should have spoken sooner.

I approached the leader, who had once again entrusted his body to a pillar, and decided to explain once more the things he would have to keep in mind from now on.

Because I doubted he had listened carefully to what I had told him earlier.

“Kweeek, to reach the food storage, we have to climb this cliff and then cross one more obstacle. Kweeek, before that, we’ll probably need to lure out the other orcs inside the cave too.”

This was in the case that the dimwit was not the leader from the original work that I had in mind.

“Kweeek, anyway, there’s one thing you need to keep in mind. Kweeek, from now on, you have to prioritize my orders over your pride or your own thoughts.”

“Kweeek, damn it...”

Perhaps his pride was belatedly wounded now that he had calmed down, because the bastard muttered a curse.

“Kweeek, and watch your mouth too.”

When I added that, the leader raised his head and glared at me.

“Kwee, kweeek!! Why are you suddenly acting like this after staying quiet until now?!”

I quietly looked into the bastard’s eyes, which were filled with resentment.

Well, from his point of view, I had obediently gone along with his stubbornness until now, and then suddenly changed my attitude, so he had reason to feel wronged.

“Kweeek, there’s no special reason. Kweeek, just...”

“Kweeek, just? Kweeek, you said just?!”

When I trailed off a little, perhaps because he was quite aggrieved, the bastard cut me off and raised his voice again.

When I furrowed my brow, he quickly shut his mouth again.

But yes, there was no answer more appropriate than “just”.

There was nothing particularly surprising about the leader’s attitude of hating humans, and it was not hard to understand why, at the moment of falling, he had tried to make a human his scapegoat rather than anyone else.

So, the reason I had taken the initiative in doing this troublesome thing now really was just because.

Thanks to the troublesome process of warning the leader, the leader and I, who had descended back down the path we had worked hard to climb, had to repeat the ridiculous act of climbing the same path again.

The leader kept silent the entire time he climbed the cliff and carried out his promise to me.

Just as that quiet climb was nearing its end.

“Kweeek, don’t….tell that dimwit.”

The bastard broke the silence he had been faithfully keeping and spoke.

Even if the leader had not asked me like that, I had no intention from the beginning of deliberately showing off the hierarchy relationship that I had reestablished to the dimwit.

Doing that would only increase troublesome matters, so who would it benefit?

That did not mean I had any intention of immediately granting the one-armed bastard’s request either.

It seemed he hated the idea of showing such a pride-wounding side of himself in front of his only remaining subordinate.

“Kweeek, that’s up to me.”

“Kweeek, th-then when we arrive, are you going to do that again in front of the dimwit too?”

“Kweeek, what did I do?”

“Kweeek! I’m asking if you’re going to show again that I’m weaker than you, like you did earlier!”

I quietly stared at the bastard’s face, which looked somehow anxious.

“Kwee, kweeek, wh-what? Kweeek, why aren’t you answering quickly?”

Perhaps he felt uneasy because of my silence, because his voice trembled a little.

“Kweeek, if necessary. Kweeek, showing off my strength could make the situation more convenient.”

“Kweeek, there’s no need to go that far in front of that bastard.”

Perhaps still drunk on the glory of his past, the bastard forced his argument again.

“Kweeek, that isn’t for you to decide. Kweeek, give up on expecting to preserve your pride any longer.”

At my firm answer, the bastard’s face darkened slightly.

“....Kweeek, I’ll listen well if you speak. Kweeek, I also followed you quietly like you told me to…. Kweeek, I’ll listen well to whatever you say from now on too, so don’t tell the dimwit!”

Perhaps being disgraced in front of the dimwit wounded his pride quite a lot, because the leader’s words became faster.

“Kweeek, so….don’t tell him.”

When I gave no answer, the bastard’s voice grew smaller and smaller.

“Kweeek, but isn’t that something you should obviously keep?”

At my question asking what he would do if he did not listen to me, despair spread across the leader’s face.

I looked at the peak that was one step away, then lowered my head again.

There were few opportunities better suited to getting what one wanted than the moment an opponent revealed his desperation.

Now that we were a little separated from Ratel, I might be able to hear the information I wanted from him.

“Kweeek, then explain what that ‘promise’ is.”

Perhaps he had not expected my demand at all, because the leader’s eyes widened greatly as he looked up at me.

“Kweeek, you said humans always lie. Kweeek, explain it. Kweeek, did that come from your own experience?”

Or did it originate from the starting point of a very old rift between humans and orcs, one I did not know about?

“Kwee, kweeek, that is….”

The bastard trailed off, as if it was difficult to answer.

“....Kweeek, that is something I cannot say.”

It was a disappointing answer, considering how long he had hesitated and how many times he had opened and closed his mouth.

“Kweeek, that means you’ve already broken your promise to listen well.”

This was no different from saying that I also had no reason to grant his request.

Understanding this, the leader’s expression sank.

Whether the bastard did so or not, I reached the edge of the cliff and pulled myself up to where Ratel and the dimwit would be waiting.

“Kweeek!!!”

Perhaps being left alone with Ratel had been unbearably painful, because as soon as the dimwit discovered me and the leader climbing up the cliff, he ran over with a bright face.

“Kweeek!! Get lost!!”

Perhaps some emotion remained over the fact that the dimwit had ignored his order and gone up, because the leader shrieked.

Because of that, the dimwit, who had been pushed back, rolled his eyes and retreated.

At the same time, the leader, who had unconsciously raised his voice, flinched and watched my reaction.

For someone who had asked me to keep it secret from the dimwit, he was showing all kinds of signs on his own.

Ratel narrowed his eyes at the subtle change in the atmosphere between the leader and me.

“What happened down there?”

At Ratel’s question, I could feel the leader looking at me with a tense face.

“Kweeek, there was a bit of negotiation.”

At my casual answer, the leader’s gaze stuck to the side of my face.

Did you think I would go around announcing from now on that you were my subordinate?

There was not much to gain from doing something like that.

I did not want to draw the dimwit’s attention, and above all, just imagining how much Ratel, a terminal patient of suspicion even worse than the leader, would harass me was annoying.

“Kweeek, leader, should we start heading out now?”

“Kweeek, leader? Are you talking about me?”

When I asked the bastard, who had been staring blankly at me, the leader was startled and asked back.

“Kweeek, who else is the leader here besides you?”

When I narrowed my eyes and asked, only then did the leader catch on and hurriedly nod.

“Kwee, kweeek, right, I’m the boss... Kweeek, we have to arrive as quickly as possible, so we’re moving out again! Kweeek, you keep a close watch on that human bastard again!”

Although his voice cracked a little, the leader ordered the dimwit in an arrogant voice similar to before.

The dimwit’s face turned pale when he suddenly became responsible for Ratel, but the leader paid no attention and turned around.

As I leisurely followed behind the leader, who had taken the lead again, the bastard glanced back and watched my reaction.

Why not just advertise outright that something happened down below?

“Kweeek, there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Kweeek, what does that mean?”

When I spoke with a sigh, the startled bastard asked back.

“Kweeek, you don’t have to think too hard about it. Kweeek, you just have to keep acting as the leader like this until you die.”

“Kweeek, you’re telling me to keep acting as the leader?”

“Kweeek, yeah. Kweeek, I told you. Kweeek, I’m not interested in positions like that.”

Passing by the bastard, who was staring blankly at me, I added,

“Kweeek, you won’t have that leader position you love so much taken away by me. Kweeek, until you die.”