Chapter 139 :

Chapter 139 - Test (2)

After walking in front of the leader, who was struggling to keep up behind him, Ratel suddenly stopped.

“Kweeek!! What is it now?!!”

Thanks to that, the leader nearly crashed into the human he hated most in the world and tumbled over disgracefully, causing him to snap angrily.

As always, Ratel lightly ignored the leader.

Sensing something ominous in Ratel’s atmosphere as he looked back along the path they had taken with a serious expression, the leader’s voice gradually became quieter as well.

“Kweeek, what is it? Kweeek, do you see something?”

Ratel turned his gaze toward the tense leader.

“You don’t smell anything?”

“Kwee, kweeek, what do you mean I don’t smell anything! Kweeek, I can smell it very well. Kweeek, the stench is everywhere!”

The leader, who had once again failed to smell anything, stubbornly insisted otherwise first.

Ratel tilted his head at his bluff.

“And you’re not bothered by it?”

“Kwee, kweeek, unlike a weak human like you, I don’t get startled by small things.”

It was not that he was unbothered, but that he did not know there was any reason to be startled. Even so, the leader pretended to be as calm as possible.

Perhaps because of the tension that something serious was happening without his knowledge, something that might have been cold sweat or water trickled down the back of the leader’s neck.

Ratel quietly examined his face, then raised one corner of his mouth.

“If that’s really true, it is impressive. The smell of blood reaches all the way here, yet you’re still that calm.”

The leader’s eyes widened as he momentarily forgot his shameless act.

If the smell of blood was strong enough for a human to detect, then a blood-soaked situation must have occurred.

In the mind of the one-armed orc, who did not know that Ratel’s five senses had surpassed the human realm, ominous imaginings grew larger.

That arrogant bastard was not weak enough to be defeated obediently.

Nor did it seem likely that the bastard, who was most wary of attracting others, would deliberately create a blood-soaked situation.

When his thoughts reached that point, the face of the weakest person, the one most likely to be injured in a fight, appeared in his mind.

The stupid dimwit.

“Kweeek!!! We’re going back!!”

Without thinking any further, the leader turned around.

He could not leave the dimwit to die.

He could not tolerate leaving him alone with the human and that unlucky bastard either. More than anything, the losses would be considerable if the dimwit died.

Ratel watched the leader’s back as he began running in the direction where they had left the dimwit and Ran, then followed behind him while pretending innocence.

The leader had run first, so even the prince could not complain about this.

He felt no pang of conscience.

Although he had exaggerated slightly, it was true that a fairly strong smell of blood was drifting through the air.

He had merely neglected to mention that his sense of smell had surpassed that of ordinary humans.

He had not said a single word about an urgent, blood-soaked situation.

Though he had allowed the leader’s imagination to run wild.

Therefore, this was merely following the leader, who had become excited and abandoned his position.

He had not broken his promise, despite what someone might claim.

If a trick of this level counted as a lie, then that prince bastard could hardly object to being called a swindler.

Ratel quickened his pace as he followed the leader.

* * *

“Kweeeeeek!!!”

The dimwit ran with all his might, as though his tail were on fire.

He had no choice, with three enraged orcs chasing behind him.

If those excited bastards caught him, it would not end simply.

In particular, the fury of the bastard whose foot had been struck—no, pierced—by the dimwit without warning was tremendous.

The powerful determination to catch the dimwit and tear apart his foot lent strength to the orc’s legs as he cut through the water in pursuit.

I was not much different.

I too was running with difficulty through the water.

If I had to name one difference between the dimwit and me, it was that I was running behind the dimwit together with the three orcs.

“Kweeek...!”

The dimwit turned around and looked at me with a pitiful cry.

Looking at me like that would not help.

You were the one who brought them here without thinking about what would happen afterward.

* * *

At the appearance of a new orc who was neither the leader nor anyone significant, the three orcs seemed briefly confused.

They stopped chasing the dimwit and looked at me warily.

“Kweeek, kweeek...!!”

The dimwit waved at me delightedly.

At his welcome, three pairs of eyes filled with hostility turned toward me.

They did not speak, but the question displayed on their faces was clear.

Are you on that dimwit’s side too?

If I had possessed things such as morality or camaraderie toward the dimwit, I might have fought through the three orcs, rescued him, and escaped.

But I lacked the ability to do that, and I did not possess enough courage to risk my life for such a justice-filled action in the first place.

If I had to name something I did possess, it would be the decisiveness to abandon my conscience.

A desperate struggle to survive suited me better than pretending to be a hero.

In that sense, it was practically decided that I had only one choice now.

I looked at the dimwit, who still had not erased his delighted expression.

Fortunately, the dimwit immediately realized from my cold gaze that I had no intention of helping him.

“Kweeek...!!”

With an incredulous expression, the bastard watched me insert myself into one side of the triangle formed by the three orcs, creating a distorted quadrilateral formation.

It was simple arithmetic, wasn’t it?

Four against one was better than three against two.

The three orcs who had been watching my actions also stared at me in confusion.

Before long, we arrived at the location where the dimwit and I had waited for the three orcs before his sudden action.

Well, I had no intention of allowing the dimwit who had worked so hard to lure them here to die so pointlessly.

After drawing the three of them in according to the original plan, I intended to return him to the leader.

Once I resolved one question.

Was this situation, in which the dimwit was being chased by three orcs, truly a coincidence, or had he calculated it?

Without taking my eyes off the dimwit, I checked his route.

The bastard looked frantic, but he was running quite precisely toward the place where he had stood with me.

As though he were deliberately luring the three orcs.

Thinking that all of this might be part of the bastard’s scheme caused a scene to overlap in my mind.

The scene in the original work where the bastard lured Ratel and roamed through this maze.

Coincidentally, in the direction the dimwit was heading lay the pit he had used in the original work.

It could not be seen now because it was filled with water, but it was the place where Ratel had been thoroughly tricked by the leader.

In a valley or river, it would be a location where the bottom suddenly dropped straight down and the water depth increased.

If my memory was accurate, exactly two deep pits were located beyond the halfway point of the puddle.

One could think of them as devices the dimwit in the original work had used effectively to shake off Ratel.

One side was nothing special, merely a blocked pit.

It was not very deep, so if one possessed enough swimming ability to climb back out, there was neither danger nor loss.

The problem was the other one.

Its depth was one thing, but the passage was so narrow that once someone entered, it was difficult to turn around and come back out.

Furthermore, unlike the original work, where it had resembled a dry cave, it was now filled with water.

It possessed every condition needed to make escape difficult once someone fell inside.

Which of the two would the dimwit choose?

Chased by me and the other orcs, the dimwit ran frantically forward.

The dimwit gradually drew closer to the location of the pits.

If I waited just a little longer, I would be able to learn the bastard’s true identity.

If he unnaturally avoided the pit, it would mean he had known from the beginning that such a pit existed there.

Only one step remained.

Just one step before the trap.

“Kweeek!!! Get out of the way!!”

A voice that should not have been heard echoed in every direction.

At the same time, everyone’s gaze turned toward the owner of the voice.

Damn it.

A curse naturally rose from the situation as I twisted my body around.

It was the leader.

Together with the protagonist bastard leisurely following behind him.

* * *

The leader’s appearance caused a major change.

The atmosphere of the three orcs who had been chasing the dimwit and me changed in an instant.

The air became heavy at once.

The three orcs’ gleaming eyes became fixed on the leader and showed no sign of moving.

They did not even seem to notice Ratel standing behind him.

It was quite a different reaction from the leader, who had immediately reacted to Ratel because he was human.

Did that mean the leader’s neck was more important than a mere human?

Their widened pupils followed every small movement the leader made like predators tracking prey.

The leader was not surprised.

As though he had expected this much, the bastard skillfully took his stance.

“Kweeek, this is actually better. Kweeek, if one of you is the bastard who attacked me, I won’t have to keep watching that human bastard act arrogantly any longer.”

Naturally, he would no longer be able to watch the human act arrogantly.

Because there would no longer be any reason for his head to remain attached to his neck.

The bastard’s bluff was quite entertaining, but my gaze did not remain on the leader for long.

Just as the three orcs were busy glaring at the leader, I was busy glaring at the arrogant human standing behind him, to borrow someone’s words.

Noticing my gaze, the protagonist bastard raised his eyebrows.

Even then, the bastard was watching the situation with his arms crossed.

If that had happened without any intention on his part, then it too was a talent.

A talent for infuriating people.

While I was admiring Ratel’s newly discovered talent, the leader was being surrounded by the three orcs.

“Kweeek, fine, come at me. Kweeek, the first bastard to attack will have a greater chance of becoming the leader.”

The leader looked around at the three of them and whispered quietly.

However, even his confident attitude could not completely hide his condition.

Simply retracing the path with Ratel seemed to have consumed a considerable amount of his stamina, and his breathing was rough.

The three orcs also seemed to have noticed it keenly.

Because despite the leader’s murderous warning, none of the three stepped backward.

However, fear of the leader seemed to remain in their memories, because they did not charge in as recklessly as expected.

“Kweeek! What’s wrong with you! Kweeek, the first bastard to attack can become the boss!!”

The leader’s bluff did not stop.

His confidence, which lacked even a speck of evidence, bought him a brief amount of time.

During that interval, the leader completely steadied his breathing, and his eyes shone fiercely.

The bastard had weakened, but he was clever.

He was senile, but experienced.

Experienced enough to identify the one among the three who was limping subtly.

The leader’s gaze fixed on the orc standing directly in front of him.

It was the bastard whose foot had been pierced by the dimwit’s bow.

The external wound had already healed, but perhaps the shock of having his leg pierced through remained, because something was unnatural about his gait.

“Kweeeeeek!!!”

The leader’s eyes flashed as he charged at the bastard like lightning.

Caught off guard by the attack that came one step faster, the orc with the injured foot recoiled in surprise.

Because of one mistaken judgment, the orc nearly offered his neck to the leader.

“Kwee, kweeek...!”

I looked down at the orc who had collapsed onto the ground in terror, then looked back at the leader.

The bastard’s eyes were filled with dissatisfaction toward me.

He seemed displeased that I had interfered, but I had no intention of allowing him to cause such a massive accident either.

It was still too early to summon the other orcs.

The fact that three bastards had followed meant any number of others could find us too.

If we killed other orcs here, more bastards would certainly gather before we even reached the entrance.

When I glared at the leader to tell him to stop, puzzlement appeared on his face.

He was probably wondering why I was not babbling as usual.

Naturally, I did not answer this time either.

Remembering the reaction when I had spoken in front of orcs for the first time made me reluctant to produce even my voice, let alone words.

Of course, I also did not want to show myself subduing the leader in front of the other orcs.

The bastard looked back and forth between me and the three orcs with a frown, then widened his eyes as if realizing something.

The leader had a simple side, but he possessed quite a sharp instinct for finding conditions favorable to himself.

Having displayed that instinct without reservation, triumphant arrogance filled the bastard’s face.

He seemed to have realized that I would neither attack him nor open my mouth right now.

“Kweeek!!”

Flushed with excitement, the bastard released a powerful cry.

Intoxicated by the elation of victory he had not felt in a long time, the next place his gaze turned was me.

It was not difficult to understand what the leader’s gleaming eyes wanted.

“Kweeek, die!!!”

This time, the tip of the bastard’s sword pointed toward my neck.