Chapter 133 :

Chapter 133 - Clingy Tagalong

At a topic completely removed from my expectations, one I had never even imagined, I blankly stared at the bastard.

Ratel’s expression looked at least less stupid than mine.

Because he did not seem to have the slightest interest in what I had said.

“Weren’t you planning to live together with that dimwit?”

Even as he repeated the most absurd nonsense I had heard today, the bastard’s expression was simply serious.

“Kweeek, what kind of bull….nonsense is that? Kweeek, why would I live with that dimwit? Kweeek, what good would that do?”

“Because that bastard follows you, and you said it with your own mouth. That you would live on the island. So naturally...”

“Kweeek, naturally what? Kweeek, did you think I was going to make that dimwit my subordinate and live a self-sufficient life here?”

I cut off the bastard’s words because it was so absurd, but once I said it out loud, my impression changed.

That….is a decent option.

It had been something I said just to roughly brush off the leader, but on the other hand, it was also true that I had thought I might be able to choose such a life.

Even Dito probably would not imagine that the Seventh Prince, who he must surely think is dead, would live on as an orc.

“You just thought that didn’t sound bad, didn’t you?”

Ratel, who read my mind like a ghost, narrowed his eyes and asked.

“Kweeek, is that the problem right now? Kweeek, I feel like I just said something really important.”

Feeling a little stung, I changed the subject.

Besides, this was also the truth.

It was practically the same as me revealing the likely orc candidate who had eaten the leader’s neck just now.

“That works out well, then. If you tell that one-armed bastard, the two of them will take care of it on their own, whether they fight or spare each other.”

The bastard answered indifferently.

“Kweeek, no, does that make any sense? Kweeek, the one-armed bastard trusts the dimwit more than me, and it’s not like the dimwit looks strong enough to overwhelmingly beat the one-armed bastard. Kweeek, if they both die for nothing before we retrieve the holy relic...”

“So are you thinking of living here or not?”

I looked at the bastard, who had changed the topic of conversation half-heartedly.

“Kweeek, how would I know that? Kweeek, I told you that isn’t what matters right now. Kweeek, if the dimwit is the orc who ate the leader’s neck as I expect, then arranging things so one of the two can eat the other now...”

“Answer clearly. If you can’t return to your human body, are you going to stay here?”

“Kweeek, no, I’m saying I don’t know that. Kweeek, until now, that dimwit seems to have been watching for an opportunity, but now he saw with his own two eyes that I’m stronger than the leader...”

“If you don’t know, then who does? If you have even the slightest thought of staying here, throw it away right now.”

“.....”

I was the first to realize the sad truth that if we continued this conversation, it would only turn into an endless collective monologue.

Fine, it was not as if this was the first or second time I had lost to this bastard’s stubbornness.

In the end, with a sigh, I steered the conversation toward the topic the bastard wanted.

“Kweeek, if I can’t find a way to return to being human….yeah, I’ll probably live hidden away alone. Kweeek, it doesn’t necessarily have to be this island.”

At my definite answer, Ratel’s face crumpled.

“Are you saying you won’t look for a way to return to your original state?”

“Kweeek, even if I do look, that has nothing to do with you.”

Some unknown dissatisfaction appeared on the bastard’s face, but I pretended not to see it and continued speaking.

“Kweeek, of course, it has nothing to do with Jing or Lia either. Kweeek, this is entirely my problem, and going around with you won’t benefit either side.”

To put it bluntly, fugitives with a monster as one of their companions was an insane combination.

In other words, it would be no different from a fugitive group that had gone mad wanting to stand out.

Perhaps unable to find any words to refute that, the bastard pressed his lips tightly shut and stared at me.

What, punk?

If glaring could solve everything, I would have gone around glaring until my eyes popped out too.

“Kweeek, what matters right now is how you’re going to destroy the holy relic. Kweeek, you haven’t forgotten, have you? Kweeek, I’ll stay here and watch the dimwit and the leader. Kweeek, while I do that, you meet Jing and Lia and bring back the holy relic. Kweeek, if I can’t return to my original body by then, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

With those last words, I turned my back to Ratel and lay down.

Maybe because too many things had happened during the time that had passed in a blur, my eyelids were heavy.

I’ll just close my eyes for a moment.

I made that promise to myself because I did not want to fall asleep, but as soon as I closed my eyes, sleep fell over me like a lie.

The orc who had once been human fell asleep just like that, like a doll whose spring had unwound.

After confirming that the orc’s eyes had closed and that his breathing had become even, Ratel also turned his body and lay down.

* * *

The four sets of regular breathing mixed together to create a quiet ensemble for only a moment, before one particularly rough breath slowly silenced itself.

The one who muted his breathing as if holding his breath slowly raised his body.

Soon, a shadow loomed over an orc who had once been a prince and was asleep without knowing anything.

The owner of the shadow slowly reached out toward him, who showed no sign of waking.

“If you’re going to do something useless, you’d better not get caught until the end.”

The shadow that had been approaching Ran flinched.

“Kwee, kweeek...”

The dimwit orc, who let out an awkward questioning sound, hurriedly withdrew the hand he had stretched toward Ran.

Ratel’s eyes followed that movement.

The orc, who swallowed hard under that cold gaze, slowly backed away.

Only after the dimwit orc had put enough distance between himself and Ran was he able to let out the breath he had been holding because of Ratel.

“As you already heard, I came to cut off the leader’s neck.”

At the honesty that would have made the Seventh Prince shudder if he had heard it, the dimwit orc, who had not even fully caught his breath, flinched.

Unlike the leader, he knew that Ratel had more than enough ability to carry out the words he had spoken.

Because the neck that had been seized by that terrifying human still felt as if it were throbbing.

As Ratel stared into the dimwit’s fear-filled eyes, one corner of his mouth rose.

“Seeing your reaction, that bastard might be right again this time.”

It could be called a smile, but to the dimwit, who was thoroughly frightened, it looked like nothing but a madness-filled grin.

“If, as that bastard said, you are a leader candidate, then you have two choices. Die by that leader’s hand, or become the leader and then die by my hand.”

Ratel’s expression was simply calm as he said something terrifying, that he would die no matter what.

As if he were saying something as obvious as the fact that winter wind was cold.

Even more frightened by that, the dimwit slowly moved his body backward.

“If you want to run away, do as you like. Wherever you go, you’ll be caught eventually. Though you can’t expect better treatment than now.”

At the threat that, as expected, came out quiet and calm, a sickened look appeared on the dimwit’s face.

As if he had no interest in the dimwit’s complexion, Ratel silently continued speaking.

“If you really want to become the leader, you may kill that one-armed bastard at any time. Neither I nor that bastard have any intention of stopping it.”

Ratel gestured with his eyes toward Ran, who was sunk in sleep as if dead, then turned his gaze back to the dimwit.

“But keep this in mind. We both came here to kill the leader. If you want to survive, you may struggle all you want, but don’t expect us to show you any more leniency than this.”

Gulp.

After the sound of the dimwit swallowing, a short silence arrived.

“So, was it really you who tore off and ate the leader’s neck?”

At Ratel’s question, the dimwit shook his head like mad.

Despairingly, there was no particular change in Ratel’s expression as he watched the dimwit’s desperate denial.

“So that’s what you’re saying.” 

Ratel muttered, then rolled his eyes with a slightly bored air.

“Then prove it.”

“Kwee, kweeek?”

At the unexpected demand, the dimwit responded blankly.

“Prove that you didn’t attack that one-armed bastard until we reached the food storage.”

“Kweeek?”

At the appeal asking how on earth one could prove something like that, Ratel shrugged.

“That’s something you need to figure out on your own. Either bring the orc who ate him before my eyes, or….”

Ratel pointed with his chin at the leader, who showed no sign of waking.

“Prove, by any means necessary, that you have not even the slightest intention of becoming the leader.”

At Ratel’s half-hearted answer, the shadow of despair slowly fell over the dimwit orc’s face.

“If you fail to prove anything by then, unfortunately, you’ll be locked inside the food storage. Together with the other leader candidates, or alone with that one-armed bastard. You have too many suspicious points for me to simply let you go.”

Ratel said it in a voice that did not contain even anything resembling regret.

At the unreasonable judgment, resentment appeared on the dimwit’s face, but that was all.

Even an orc who was called a dimwit could understand this much by now.

That the opponent was not someone words would work on.

“Then think carefully.”

The cold golden eyes that had been holding the dimwit’s gaze disappeared behind eyelids with that final farewell.

Only after Ratel leaned his back against the wall and closed his eyes could the dimwit orc let out the breath he had been holding.

After watching the unmoving Ratel for a long time, the dimwit’s eyes trembled with anxiety.

The hesitant dimwit reached his hand toward the leader, who had fallen into sleep without knowing anything.

But he could not take any further action.

The place the dimwit’s gaze turned to as he paused with his hand floating in the air was the other orc, who had likewise fallen into a deep sleep.

* * *

As with all blackout sleep, only after I opened my eyes did I realize that I had been asleep.

I also felt just how exhausted my body had been before I fell asleep.

When I raised my body, which felt light enough to fly,

“Kweeek, what?”

I muttered in surprise as the dimwit, who had somehow stuck closely behind me, startled me backward.

However, the dimwit paid no attention to my reaction and took one more step closer.

Seriously, what is this?

“Kweeek, get away from me. Kweeek, it’s uncomfortable to walk.”

When I crumpled my expression, the dimwit briefly flinched.

However, the bastard rolled his eyes, glanced sideways at Ratel once, and then took another step closer to me with a face that knew nothing.

“....Kweeek, what exactly is the problem?”

“Why? If you’re going to live as an orc from now on, it seems like you should make at least one real companion.”

That bastard really holds grudges.

At the behavior of the protagonist bastard beside me, who was displaying yet another long and lingering grudge, I felt curses rising up.

“Kweeek, that’s not a companion. That’s baggage. Kweeek, and no one knows whether the bastard is really following me, or whether he has recognized me as an opponent he needs to knock down in advance before attacking the leader.”

“I don’t think that dimwit is acting with deep thoughts.”

Ratel muttered calmly.

You can be that relaxed because whether one orc follows you around or suddenly attacks you, it won’t be any kind of threat, but I’m not like that.

“Something to worry about that much...”

“Kweeek, rather than walking around with an orc that follows me like that, it would be better to find a way to return to being human.”

It seemed Ratel said something, but because it came out almost at the same time as my lament, I did not hear it properly.

“Kweeek, what did you say?”

“Nothing.”

The bastard gave an unusually empty answer, and his gaze touched the dimwit.

“I said he might be more useful than you think.”