Chapter 151 :

Chapter 151 - Legend and Truth

Even at the very moment Ran realized the secret of the leader and the dimwit, Jing was diligently following an unknown royal through the darkness.

Even with a human slung over one shoulder, his breathing did not falter in the slightest.

Once again clicking his tongue at that monster-like stamina, Jing moved his feet.

How hard had he struggled to keep from falling behind the royal, who climbed cliffs as if walking across flat ground?

At the end of the second cliff, the unidentified royal finally stopped walking.

Following him and setting his feet on level ground, Jing looked toward the place where his gaze was directed.

A deep ravine not far away, and a massive pit bored into the wall on the other side, entered his view.

He could not tell where it led, but in any case, he could tell that entrance was the destination of this journey that wound round and round through the cave.

Probably, judging by the way the royal threw the man he had been carrying like luggage onto the ground.

The man rolled across the ground with a thud and soon regained consciousness.

“....What happened?”

The man, who rose with a face so composed it was hard to believe he had been unconscious just moments ago, looked around.

“What do you mean, what happened? I carried you all the way here with great difficulty.”

“....”

“Wasn’t it because that was easier for you than waiting for my slow self?”

“Does the thought of simply saying ‘thank you’ and ending it there never occur to you?”

“I was unconscious, but I did not lose my final memories. I still vividly remember the impact to my stomach as well.”

Jing could feel the royal’s intense gaze as he looked down at the man who kept nitpicking him to the end.

Jing nervously watched the two of them, worried the man might lose his life to the royal’s hands at any moment, but the thing he feared did not happen.

“....Enough. Get up and do your job.”

It was a strangely, excessively generous treatment.

Jing could not understand what the man’s role could possibly be for him to show that much tolerance.

Jing wanted to take a closer look at the man’s face, but he could not even touch the man’s robe.

As if mocking Jing, who was passing his hand through the hem of the man’s clothes, the royal once again strode toward the entrance without hesitation.

* * *

The moment he stepped inside, Jing felt that this place was different from the other places within the cave.

The cool, dry wind brushing against his skin was one thing, but the rough breathing mixed into it was revealing someone’s presence.

“Kweek, what is a liar doing here?”

The moment Jing recognized that presence, a dull and slow voice spoke from within.

It did not take long for him to realize that the thing speaking in the darkness was a massive orc sitting inside the cavern.

So huge it stirred an instinctive sense of rejection, the creature was calmer and quieter than any orc Jing had ever encountered in his life.

Calm and quiet, Jing thought, and even he found it so absurd that he let out a hollow laugh.

He had never imagined there would come a day when he would evaluate an orc in such terms.

To him, orcs were noisy, violent beings that moved in groups.

But it seemed he was the only one in here surprised by the orc’s intelligent manner.

Judging by how both the royal and the man following behind him naturally began conversing with the orc.

“What other reason would I have for coming all the way here?”

The royal slowly looked around the cavern before meeting the orc’s eyes again.

“I came to take back my sword.”

A sword?

The word immediately made him think of Sierra’s sword.

It was not merely because Jing himself had been dragged here by Sierra’s sword.

A cave, an orc, and a royal.

There was a story anyone born and raised in Abiran would think of when hearing those three things together.

Jing felt his heart pounding fiercely as he looked at the royal before him.

Even while thinking that surely it could not be, his heart could not help but stir.

After all, he could not stop the heart that had devoted a lifetime of admiration and loyalty from reacting out of habit.

What calmed Jing’s excitement and led him back to reality was the eerie voice echoing through the cave.

Of course, calling this reality was questionable, since neither time nor space remained in reality at all.

“Kweek, take it back?”

An unfathomable rage was directed at the royal.

“Kweek, you, who failed to keep the promise, now intend to take even that proof away?”

The orc who had been holding his place until now rose to his feet.

His massive body seemed as if it would fill the cavern, but the royal watched him without moving an inch.

“Yes, it is unfortunate that I could not keep the promise, but I need it again.”

From that shameless demand, Jing felt a familiar arrogance.

He did not make excuses.

For royals, who could grasp gold by merely extending a hand and leave radiance in the wake of every step, such things were unnecessary.

Two desires collided in Jing’s mind.

The desire to leave this place at once and the impulse to keep watching the end of this story overturned and smothered each other.

Before Jing, who stood as if nailed in place, the two continued their conversation.

“Kweek, I have nothing to give you. Kweek, if even that is taken from us, we will have nothing left.”

“I do not have enough leisure to care about that.”

Contrary to his claim that he had no leisure, there was not the slightest trace of urgency in the royal’s movements.

The tense orc stepped one foot forward to stop the royal approaching him.

In response to that brave, or perhaps foolish, action, the royal silently raised his right hand.

Jing had no difficulty understanding what that small action meant.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaa—

From deep inside the cave, where the orc was blocking the way, came a sound of water that seemed to strike the eardrums.

Mixed into that sound, like a massive waterfall crashing down, were the screams of orcs.

“Kweek, stop!”

Even at the massive orc’s shout, the royal did not stop.

The orc charged at him, but he could not even become a threat to the royal.

When the royal extended his other hand, a small drop of water formed at the orc’s nose and soon grew in size, covering his entire face.

Before he could even launch a proper attack, the orc was slammed into the ground.

As the screams from within gradually died down, the royal’s hand finally lowered.

At the same time, the water droplet covering the orc’s face also vanished.

The royal leisurely passed by the fallen orc’s side.

“Live as you always have, making humans dance. I can forgive you that much.”

The orc squeezed out the last of his strength and grabbed the royal’s leg as he spoke as if bestowing mercy.

The orc raised his head and glared straight at the royal.

“Kweek, you will pay the price for betrayal. Kweek, not only you, but everyone...!”

Perhaps feeling no need to listen any further to that bitter curse, the royal shook off the orc’s hand as if it were bothersome.

Then he walked into the cavern as if nothing had happened.

When Jing followed behind him as if being drawn along, a large cavern connected to the room the orc had been guarding revealed itself.

Inside, with waterfalls on both sides, what stood out most was the round structure in the center and the familiar sword embedded within it.

The orcs who had lost consciousness from the royal’s attack a moment ago were gathered around the circular structure.

After being briefly stunned by the bizarre sight, Jing hurriedly followed behind the royal, who was walking straight toward the center.

At last, the royal reached the center and slowly stretched his hand toward the sword, gripping its hilt.

Then the orcs who had lost consciousness began waking one by one, like hunting dogs sensing danger.

The orcs who discovered the royal in the center could not contain their excitement, shouting and kicking off the ground.

There was even desperation in the way they surrounded the royal, as if they could not allow the sword to be taken like this.

Inside the cavern, now a jumbled mess of chaos and uproar, Jing swallowed his breath and looked at the royal.

More precisely, it seemed right to say that he could not take his eyes off the royal’s mouth, visible beneath the robe.

The thin smile that did not suit the situation looked chillingly innocent.

He watched the orc horde closing in around him.

His hand went toward the sword embedded in the ground.

“A mere monster cannot stand in my way.”

This time, when his hand tightly gripped the blade, his blood flowed down the sword and soaked the ground.

As if life were being born, light began to bloom around him.

Jing blankly watched as he pulled the sword that had been embedded in the ground free.

It was a scene both unfamiliar and not unfamiliar.

There was a book he had read since childhood, so long ago that even the beginning had grown faint.

It was a heart-stirring legend and history, the tale of Emperor Sierra fighting monsters and opening a world where people could live in comfort.

All people of Abiran grow up hearing the heroic tales of a god.

Along with the lesson that they must always be grateful and look up to him.

The old legend he had read as if carving it into his mind had just unfolded before his eyes.

But nowhere in the books he had read was anything written about a promise between the hero of the legend and the orcs.

Nor was there any mention that he had broken that promise and slaughtered the orcs.

The moment Jing unconsciously took one empty step toward the royal—

His vision went dark in an instant.

Before Jing could even grasp the situation, the sensation of the ground collapsing beneath his feet dragged him downward.

Jing fell into an endless darkness.

Once again, pain that felt as if his entire body were being torn to pieces covered him.

Above him, as he sank without even managing a groan, a low laugh rang out.

“This is as far as I can help you, child of Feedus. From now on, you must overcome it yourself. If I were to give one small piece of advice, it would be this: never let go of consciousness.”

With that playful tone, which did not suit the frightening content at all, as the last thing he heard, Jing disappeared into the darkness.

The voice left behind murmured lowly in the returning silence.

“Since he came deeper than I expected, things might get a bit troublesome outside.”

But the worry did not last long.

“Well, since it happened while saving the child of Feedus she treasures so much, she will not be able to get angry.”

* * *

Left alone with the leader, Ratel did not take his eyes off the bottom of the cliff while gripping the swaying rope tightly.

He knew that there was no way he could see the two orcs who had already walked into the entrance.

But if he looked away even for a moment, there was no telling what strange, unimaginable thing that unpredictable royal bastard might do next.

“Kweek, no matter what happens, there is nothing you can do.”

The leader, who had somehow approached, picked a fight with Ratel as usual while Ratel kept his eyes fixed below.

As usual, Ratel ignored him.

“Kweek!! You damned human bastard! Kweek, do you really think you could save him even if that bastard fell down there?”

Ratel ignored the leader’s outburst again.

Anyone capable of learning would have accepted the fact that Ratel would ignore his words even after this.

But the leader was stubborn, and he had a persistent streak.

With a thud, the leader sat down two steps away from Ratel.

Ratel thought for a moment.

Should he endure and listen to the leader’s squawking, or knock the bastard unconscious once and gain a brief moment of peace?

The one-armed orc, who had no way of knowing the violent dilemma unfolding inside Ratel, did not stop rambling.

“Kweek, do you think I do not know what you are thinking? Kweek….”

Seeing that he was still trapped in that kind of delusion, it seemed the dimwit had not done anything foolish.

Thinking so calmly, Ratel recalled the dimwit, who would be with that royal bastard.

The moment he had waited six years for had been unbelievably simple.

He knew who was responsible for things proceeding this easily.

If that strange royal down below had not served properly as a guide, the time they would have wasted inside this complicated cave by now would have been no small amount.

It was something he should have been happy about, but logic and emotions moved separately.

He knew very well that the reason for this displeasure was also that royal bastard.

It was not because the bastard had deceived them with all kinds of lies until now.

That prince bastard had been suspicious every moment from the instant they first met until now, to the point where it was harder to find anything about him that was not suspicious.

That was not what irritated him.

It was not because he had suddenly transformed into an orc with the ability he had been hiding, nor because after doing that he had shamelessly decided their course on his own again, nor because he looked at others with those eyes that seemed to know everything.

….No, now that he thought it over, perhaps it was a little true.

“Kweek!! Are you listening to me!!”

Ratel, who had not listened carefully to even a single word, turned his head and looked at the leader.

But more than anything else, what infuriated him was that the prince bastard seemed comfortable living with that orc.

As if he would not care even if he spent the rest of his life here.

Though calling him a person had now become somewhat ambiguous.

He seemed comfortable with the leader holding hostility toward him.

In other words, that meant he was uncomfortable living with Jing and Lia.

Cowardly bastard.

Thinking of that shameless face angered him again, so Ratel tightly gripped and released the rope in his hand once.

As long as he did not kill him, would it not be fine to dip him in the water once and pull him back out?

The impulse flashed through him briefly, but Ratel changed his mind.

If the frightened bastard ran away again, it would be a loss.

“Kweek!! Look at this arrogant human! Kweek!! Are you not afraid at all!! Kweek, soon orcs will swarm here to eat you!! Kweek, do you really believe the bastard down below will help you even in that situation?”

At last, Ratel rose from his seat.

The leader’s intention to grate on Ratel’s nerves had succeeded.

Because with those words just now, Ratel had decided to respond to his provocation.