Chapter 152 :

Chapter 152 - He Noticed (2)

The leader did not like Ratel.

The leader already felt unbearable disgust surge up whenever he saw a human, but this black-haired human was especially worse.

His insolent way of speaking, his unreadable expression, and even the words that scratched at one’s insides.

The leader felt twice the displeasure that people who basically disliked Ratel usually felt.

On top of that, even though it had only been for an instant, the fact that he had flinched before such a human wounded his pride.

And on top of that, the dimwit too.

The leader wanted to harm the human before his eyes somehow.

If he could not attack him directly, then he at least wanted to hurt him inside.

“Kweek, do you still not understand the situation? Kweek, do you really believe that bastard will let you leave? Kweek, there is a limit to stupidity. Kweek, do you think the others will just let it happen once I reclaim the leader’s position? Kweek, you are now...”

“That I will die?”

“Kwee, Kweek, yes!”

Flustered by Ratel’s calm response, the leader stammered a little.

“Fine, let us say I die.”

“Kweek, it is not ‘let us say’, you really will...!”

“What are you going to do after that?”

At Ratel’s way of speaking, which calmly cut off the other party’s words piece by piece, the leader’s face turned green.

“Kweek!! While you are being torn apart and eaten, I will reclaim the leader’s position!! Kweek, and your corpse...!”

“Fine, whether you tear into my corpse and eat it or rip it to shreds, do as you please. What will you do after that?”

Ratel asked, casually brushing aside the tiresomely repeated curses.

“Kwee, Kweek, after that, I will go back to the place where I originally was and...”

The leader, who had already been overwhelmed once, unconsciously answered Ratel’s question obediently.

It was also because his thoughts deepened as he tried to answer Ratel’s words.

It was not as though Ratel had asked the question to give the leader a chance to look back on his life.

It was nothing more than a question asked half in hopes that the leader would get annoyed, and half in hopes that he would at least keep his mouth shut for a while as he thought about a question with no answer.

But unlike his light intentions, Ratel’s question created a bigger ripple in the leader’s mind than expected.

After all, the leader had come this far with only the vague belief that everything would return to normal if he simply reclaimed his place.

Because of that, the leader imagined the future after reclaiming the leader’s position for the first time.

The first thing that came to mind was himself once again guarding his place at the center of the cave.

Nothing in particular would change.

He would give orders, stay on guard so they would not be attacked again, and sometimes….sometimes….

As he blankly imagined it, the leader felt discomfort in one corner of his chest.

Extending his thoughts in a direction he had never stepped into before was a difficult thing.

The leader pondered the reason for that discomfort, but in the end, he could not find the cause.

Instead, he was able to realize one thing.

Naturally, the dimwit existed in the future he pictured.

That was only natural.

After all, that fellow had never once left his side from the moment he was born until now.

The dimwit was obedient, but he was stupid, and his abilities were also terrible.

If such an idiot were left alone, he was someone who might die at any moment.

That was why he could not allow the leader’s position to be handed over to others even more.

If not him, who would find any use in the dimwit and keep taking him around?

The leader, whose thoughts had unknowingly grown long, suddenly came back to his senses.

“Kweek!! What business is it of yours!!”

Ratel looked pitifully at the leader as he flew into a rage, angered by the fact that he had been swept along by a human’s question.

“I am glad it seems like there is nothing much.”

“Kweek, what is there to be glad about?!”

At the leader’s question, Ratel tilted his head and looked at his neck.

“I told you. I came to cut off your neck.”

At that confident attitude, the leader felt awe beyond rage.

At the fact that a politely insane human could contain that much madness.

“Kweek, there is truly no knowing the limits of you humans. Kweek, you seem cowardly, but then madmen like you appear too. Whether you are acting tough despite being so weak or what.”

At the leader’s muttering, drained of strength, Ratel narrowed his eyes.

“I have thought this before, but do you not think it contradicts itself?”

“Kweek, wh-what does?”

“You, I mean. For someone who has lived buried in this cave, chanting about how much you hate humans, you seem to know quite a lot about humans.”

There was not much time to confirm the blood draining from the leader’s face.

Because at the unusual energy carried through the vibration of the rope, something like the orc’s secret quickly drifted away from his interests.

Kwaaaaaaa—

Along with the ominous sound echoing from below, he felt a force pulling on the rope.

Without thinking any further, Ratel pulled the rope hard toward the inside of the cliff.

The leader, who grasped the situation a beat late, followed after Ratel.

* * *

What is it this time?

The prince who went below said he could not use his power, so it probably was not because of Manis’ movement.

Does that mean something external is influencing the movement of the water?

If so, the first thing that came to mind was the holy relic.

The prince had said the holy relic devoured people, so there was no way even the slightest movement from the holy relic could have any positive aspect.

Does this mean we cannot keep wasting time any longer?

Well, there was no reason to keep dawdling here anymore anyway.

That stubborn royal bastard had also happened to bend his pride a little.

Though he still did not seem to have escaped the illusion that he could run away at any time.

For now, Ratel had to be satisfied that he had given up on the plan to remain on the island with the two orcs and scheme something foolish again.

At the very least, he no longer had to hear that lunatic talk about staying here with the one-armed bastard aiming for his life.

Yes, aiming for his life.

At the sudden sense of incongruity he felt, Ratel turned his head and looked at the leader.

“Kweek, damn it...!”

Perhaps supporting the dimwit with one hand was too much for him, because the leader was cursing as he pulled the rope back and braced his weight against it.

The leader, who had been straining to avoid being pulled forward, seemed to feel Ratel’s gaze and turned his head.

Perhaps because exertion had clouded his judgment, the only thing in the leader’s eyes as he glared at Ratel was irritation.

Even that did not last long.

Apparently, the dimwit below had struggled, and the leader was dangerously dragged forward by the dimwit’s weight.

The startled leader cut off his attention from Ratel and put strength into his legs.

“Kweek! What are you doing that is making you so slow!”

“If you value time so much, just jump down. Time will pass a little slower if you are submerged underwater.”

The leader, enraged by Ratel’s sarcasm, opened his mouth, this time fully loaded with curses.

But there was no chance to hear the leader’s rough curses.

Because before that, the leader’s head finally began to function properly.

Enough for him to realize that the human beside him was holding up the weight of one orc without showing even the slightest sign of strain.

As a bonus, he realized that the human was not making even the smallest groan, let alone showing signs of difficulty.

At last, shock filled the leader’s face.

So it was not a mistake after all!

Feeling the back of his neck grow cold, the leader slowly turned his gaze.

The orc desperately hoped that the insolent human was holding the rope while leaning against something.

Or at the very least, that his face was twisted to the limit from exerting all his strength.

But there was no way a structure capable of enduring an orc’s weight would suddenly spring up in this empty field, and there was no way a human could pull up an orc with only his face slightly distorted.

The leader himself knew that it was an absurd hope.

But knowing that did not make the human’s monstrous strength, pulling up an orc without even a single change in expression, any less shocking.

“Kweek!!!!”

Because it was still a sight worthy of a scream.

Whether the leader was terrified or not, Ratel remained calm.

He merely thought quietly.

Deceiving him any further is impossible now.

Feeling the leader’s astonished gaze, Ratel put strength into both hands gripping the rope.

“Kwee, Kweek, you...!”

As Ratel slowly pulled the rope and approached the edge of the cliff, the leader stammered.

“Are you going to keep standing there like that? If you do not pull, the dimwit will be submerged in the water.”

At Ratel’s advice, the leader seemed to remember the dimwit he had forgotten, and cautiously pulled the rope as he approached the cliff edge where Ratel stood.

“Kweek, what is that strength? Kweek, have you been deceiving us all this time?”

The leader questioned him while glaring at Ratel with wary eyes.

“I have never lied. Not once, from the beginning until now.”

“Kweek! That itself is a lie! Kweek, you deceived us by following quietly until now!”

“I told you at the beginning, did I not? I came to cut off your neck.”

At Ratel’s reply, the leader gulped.

He looked down at himself, unable to pull up even a single orc.

Only now did the realization slowly begin to creep up on him that this human was not insane, and that the one who should feel his life threatened was not the human, but himself.

“Kweek, Ratel! Grab the leader!”

The leader, who had been pulling the dimwit with all his strength, could not withstand the sudden impact and pitched forward.

Through the vision tilting along with his body, he saw the human, who had cursed and thrown the rope away, reaching a hand toward him.

He had no intention of obediently being caught.

If asked to choose between the human and the dimwit, of course he would choose the dimwit.

The leader avoided the human’s hand and obediently entrusted his body to the force pulling him.

But the instant his eyes met the dimwit’s, who had pulled him from below the cliff, the leader felt that something had gone terribly wrong.

Because the owner of those unfamiliar eyes and that unfamiliar expression was not the stupid orc he knew.

Since when had that fellow been wearing such a normal face?

It was too late to wonder.

His body had already been thrown into midair, and all that remained was the flimsy rope tied between the dimwit and himself.

Regret washed over him, wondering why he had done something so reckless just because of the dimwit’s words.

One thing that was both unfortunate and fortunate was that the opponent the leader tried to flee from was Ratel.

Because he was not someone who could be escaped from merely by jumping off a cliff.

“Kwee, eek...!!”

The leader, who nearly bit his tongue from the ridiculous force pulling his waist backward, lowered his head.

The rope, tied into a noose, was somehow wrapped around his waist.

Unable to understand his own situation as he dangled there, the leader moved his gaze along the rope.

The arm gripping the rope firmly, and then the owner of that arm.

As the leader’s gaze climbed upward in order, it stopped along with his breath.

The moment he met those cold golden eyes, the warning bells of instinct rang in his head.

A belated realization flashed through his mind: things had not started going wrong just now, but long ago. No, all of this had simply been wrong from the very beginning.