Chapter 159 :

Chapter 159 - Unexpected

The dimwit the leader had picked up because the sight of him crying after being stuck below the cliff was funny had, at least, survived until now with an astonishingly tenacious life.

Each time the leader confirmed that the fellow was surviving so tenaciously, he felt more wonder than anything.

Of course, each time, he had to suppress the anger boiling up at the dimwit’s stupid appearance.

No matter how bad he was at hunting, no matter how weak he was, no matter how often he got hurt because he could not even control his own body, the fellow tenaciously survived.

The leader had watched that stubborn survival because it was amusing, and it had come this far.

Now the fellow had grown enough to lead him across the water.

Similar to when he had noticed the small human growing, his chest churned and he felt as if he would vomit.

No, is it a little different?

With the dimwit’s help, the leader reached the wall on the opposite side where the storage entrance was and looked at the dimwit while gasping for breath.

The dimwit confirmed that the leader was gasping, then pointed to the passage opened in the wall above.

That unhesitating guidance was a little strange, but the leader soon shook it off.

Since there is only one path, of course there is no need to get lost.

Seeing how he was even thinking about such an obvious question, it seemed he had been swayed too much by that insolent bastard and the human’s nonsense.

“Kweek...!”

The dimwit gestured with his hands and feet, pointing inside the passage.

Watching that, for some reason, the strength seemed to leave the leader’s shoulders.

The leader let out a sigh of something he could not tell was relief or worry.

“Kweek, there is no need to get that excited. Kweek, there is only one path anyway.”

“Kweek...!”

As if only realizing it then, the dimwit nodded slightly with a surprised expression.

The leader silently looked at the dimwit, whose face had returned to its blank expression again.

Yes, he had watched the dimwit since the moment he was born.

He must have finally grown just enough to do his own share.

There had been many chances for the dimwit to kill him until now.

There was no reason for him to suddenly covet the leader’s position now of all times.

So there was no way the fellow would attack him now.

There was no way.

There was no way….

The leader, repeating that to himself, suddenly, truly suddenly, turned his gaze to the back of the dimwit’s neck.

Perhaps because it had remained pierced for too long right after he was born, a large scar remained on the back of the fellow’s neck.

The small space behind the waterfall where he had saved him was one of the few lucky things he had gained thanks to the dimwit.

After all, the existence of that secret place that the others did not know had become a resting spot where the leader could briefly rest whenever his head hurt.

A place the others do not know means...

For the first time, the leader’s steps as he followed the dimwit stopped.

“Kweek?”

The dimwit checked his own body here and there as if asking whether something was wrong.

The leader blankly looked down at that dimwit.

Why now, why at this very moment, did that unlucky bastard’s face come to mind?

-You could not have hidden beneath the waterfall your entire life.

And why, of all things, did that unlucky bastard’s voice, which had brushed past him, come to mind now as well?

Aside from himself, there was only one who knew about the space beneath the waterfall.

The dimwit, who had once been trapped beneath the waterfall himself.

“Kweek, the insolent bastard and the human spoke nonsense.”

Even though he had opened his mouth first, the leader was startled by the contents and by his own uneasy voice.

There was no reason to repeat the bullshit spoken by a human and a fellow who had gone over to a human.

But the leader’s mouth, once it had slipped out of his control, made him spit out the question he had been turning away from.

“....Kweek, they said the one who attacked me was you. Kweek, they spouted nonsense that you were the one who turned me into this....state.”

The moment he finished the sentence, the dimwit who had been walking ahead stopped.

With an inexplicable tension tightening his heart, the leader watched as the dimwit slowly turned his head and looked at him.

It was an unfamiliar and unpleasant tension.

A strange tension different from the survival instinct that raged before a powerful enemy.

He sensed that it was a threat aimed not at his life, but at something else, but the leader, far more immature than he thought himself to be, did not know what part of himself he was afraid would be wounded.

Fortunately or unfortunately, because of that, the leader also failed to realize that this moment was his final chance to avoid the truth.

Ignoring the pounding of his heart, the leader eventually spat out the final question.

“....Kweek, those stupid bastards must have been spouting nonsense, right?”

And with what was probably the most pitiful voice and tone in the leader’s life.

The dimwit silently looked at that leader.

The leader was the most intelligent individual among the orcs.

For the leader, this was an obvious misfortune.

Because it made him unable to avoid realizing that the human and the insolent bastard’s nonsense was the truth.

His mind felt as if it were turning white, or as if some black thing were filling it completely.

Either way, it meant that, in the end, nothing came to mind.

The leader had sworn that if he ever met the one who had bitten into his neck and turned him into this state, he would charge at them at once and punish them.

Standing there stupidly and merely staring at the other party was not part of his plan.

The leader opened his mouth to say something, anything.

“Kweek, you….”

“Kweek, have you finally decided where you will die?”

.....At the very least, he had not been trying to say such an unlucky thing.

The leader turned his head toward the owner of that insolent voice, unsure whether he should be angry that the owner of this insolent voice had cut him off, or relieved.

It might have been fortunate.

Judging by how his heart became even a little more comfortable the moment he took his eyes off the dimwit.

“Kweek!!! As it happens, I had just chosen the place where you will die!!”

The leader deliberately raised his voice and turned his body to glare at the source of all this.

* * *

As expected, the dimwit led the leader into the passage.

Though it was unexpected that the leader followed the dimwit without any suspicion.

The dimwit’s steps as he guided the leader were not very fast.

It was not as though he did not know that I and Ratel were chasing him from behind.

Did that mean he was confident he could shake us off and run away?

But I was confident I would not lose him either.

Because chasing an opponent whose destination had been exposed was not difficult.

The pursuit continued until the leader’s small suspicion finally burst out of his mouth.

“Kweek, the insolent bastard and the human spoke nonsense.”

Even if left alone like that, the leader would die by the dimwit’s hands anyway.

Normally, this would have been enough reason for me to quietly wait for the leader’s death.

But during that brief moment when the leader waited for a cruel answer, I stepped forward.

“Kweek, is this the grave you chose for yourself?”

This was not some hero complex or anything else.

It was simply my struggle to make my heart feel even a little less uncomfortable.

“Kweek!! You persistent bastard!! Kweek!! How did you follow us all the way here!!”

How did I follow you? Obviously, I swam here.

Thanks to that, I thought I would die from exhaustion.

“Kweek, then did you think I would obediently let you go? Kweek, I told you what I need is the leader’s neck.”

Perhaps feeling newly humiliated, the leader glared at me.

My appearance did not seem as sudden to the dimwit as the leader felt it was.

Instead of being surprised like the leader, the fellow was calmly staring at me.

To think he had placed something like that beside him and still noticed nothing. The leader must have gone bad with age.

Compared to the dimwit, the leader’s gaze, filled with wariness, scanned me.

“Kweek, where did that human bastard go, leaving you alone?”

“Kweek, you do not need to know.”

The leader’s eyes narrowed.

“Kweek, he is probably hiding somewhere like a rat, preparing to attack...”

“Kweek, you two are not impressive enough opponents for me to need a surprise attack.”

The leader’s complexion darkened as he was refuted before he could even finish speaking.

“Kweek!! Even if I die, I must see screams come out of your mouth before I die!!”

The leader, who had fallen for a simple provocation, took a step to charge at me.

It was at that moment.

The instant the leader’s body kicked off the ground, the dimwit grabbed him and began running backward.

“Kweek?!!”

The leader, who had suddenly ended up being dragged along like a cart, flailed in confusion, but the dimwit did not even look back.

I began running after them.

Since he was so openly telling me to follow, there was no reason not to respond.

“Kweek, let go of me, you idiot! Kweek!! We have to deal with that bastard while he is alone!!”

The leader openly shouted his plan to kill me, but the dimwit did not stop.

The dimwit, who had been running while holding the leader, finally reached a dead end.

“Kweek!! You were hurrying like that when you did not even know the way!!”

The leader scolded the dimwit in a voice filled with frustration.

Well, of course the leader had no way of knowing the dimwit’s plan.

“Kweek, what will you do now? Kweek, are the two of you going to kill me?”

“Kweek, do not underestimate us. Kweek, we can handle one of you as much as we want.”

With the numbers now two, the leader, grown arrogant, warned me.

“Kweek, if the two of you cannot deal with one of me, then there is a problem. Kweek, it would make me doubt whether either of you has the qualifications to be the leader.”

“Kweek!! So you are hiding that human bastard after all! Kweek!! Where is he!!”

The leader frantically looked around, but there was no way he could find Ratel.

“Kweek, since you are going to die anyway, why does that matter?”

“Kweek, what?!”

“Kweek, why do you think I sent the human far away?”

At my question, the leader’s face, which had been turning a deep green from anger, grew a little paler.

“Kweek, what do you mean?”

I twisted my lips toward the leader, whose expression said he did not understand.

“Kweek, there is a limit to stupidity. Do you still think it is just a coincidence that I can speak?”

The leader could not immediately accept my words and stared blankly at me, chewing over what I had said.

The fellow’s face gradually twisted.

It was a face with something strange about it, beyond simple anger.

Contrary to my expectation that he would lose his reason and charge at me, the leader urgently turned his head with enough force to make a sharp sound.

The place his gaze headed toward was the dimwit.

Soon after, what appeared on the leader’s face was so clear that even I, dull to emotions, could recognize it.

Relief.

Yes, it was relief.

The fellow was greatly relieved by the fact that he had not been betrayed by the dimwit.

* * *

I recalled a short conversation with the stubborn human bastard who was not here.

“Kweek, fine, let me hear what you need to steady your tender heart after being hurt and weakened somewhere.”

“Well, I suppose enough rest would do. Illnesses of the heart are not easily cured, after all.”

Watching that fellow, whose face seemed to be growing thicker by the moment as if he were layering leather over it, I almost let out a hollow laugh.

“Kweek, fine. So what you are saying is that watching the leader and the dimwit fight each other here is your rest?”

“Watching them fight?”

As I waited for the fellow to twist another sarcastic remark back at me, I lost strength at the unexpected question.

“Kweek, once the leader learns that the dimwit betrayed him, there is no way he will stay still. Kweek, the more he relied on the dimwit, the more violently he will react.”

It would become an ugly fight, and it would not be a pleasant scene to watch.

There might even be more cruelty than necessary exchanged.

I had thought it was the natural course, if anything, but Ratel seemed to think differently.

Judging by how he was still looking at me with a strange face that showed no agreement even after my explanation.

“Kweek, do you think the leader will be defeated without being able to use any strength?”

When I asked again, only then did Ratel open his mouth.

“There might not be any fight at all.”

“Kweek, that cannot be.”

Words of denial came out automatically.

Perhaps my answer was quite firm, because his eyes widened a little.

“How can you be sure?”

How could I be sure? Because in the original story, the future dimwit holds the leader’s position.

But I could not give such an honest answer.

“Kweek, why do you think nothing will happen?”

When I asked in return, Ratel turned his gaze to the unconscious leader.

The fellow’s eyes scanned the leader’s arms and legs, full of wounds.

“Who knows. When despair is too great and one is tired, even the truth can feel meaningless.”

It was his usual calm voice, but contrary to that, the content was quite emotional, and I briefly lost the words to respond.

Perhaps it was because those words, which could sound spiritless in a way, felt unlike him.

“Kweek, has the leader ever shown any sign of that? Kweek, did he look like he was so exhausted that he had given up and stopped caring about anything else?”

When I asked while recalling the time Ratel had been alone with him, Ratel shook his head.

“Do you think this bastard and I could have had a conversation like that?”

Well, if there was anything that could pass between the two of them, it would be curses and threats rather than conversation.

“Kweek, then is it Jing? Kweek, no, Jing is not the kind of person who would say something like that either.”

“What is this about? Why are you suddenly talking about other people?”

“Kweek, because you are not someone who would think knowing the truth is meaningless.”

I lifted the unconscious leader.

Then, dragging the heavy body, I continued speaking.

“Kweek, you are the kind of bastard who would think revenge is better than despair.”

You should know that better than anyone, right?

Perhaps reading the hidden question in my gaze, Ratel’s mouth opened slightly.

It did not seem he had anything in particular to say, because he closed his mouth again.

In the meantime, I moved the leader’s body to the middle of the path.

It was not as though the fact that the leader had been betrayed would disappear, nor would the fellow’s body suddenly turn back time and become healthy.

But he would at least be able to decide whether he would burn the last of his life for revenge or not, rather than die knowing nothing.

I thought Ratel was the one who knew that better than anyone.

That was why I had not expected the conversation to grow this long.

Nor had I expected such an awkward silence to arrive.

“You are right.”

The one who opened his mouth first was Ratel.

And with words affirming me, at that.

“Kweek, why are you acting like this again?”

His obedient attitude, from which I felt nothing but ominousness, instead heightened my wariness.

To me, who did not let go of suspicion, the fellow shrugged with a shameless face.

“It looks like I have no choice but to stay here too.”

“Kweek, what? Kweek, why does the conversation turn that way?”

“Just as you said, I hope that the leader chooses revenge at the end rather than groveling before the truth.”

When I questioned him about the conversation topic that had suddenly turned direction and come back again, Ratel answered with a shameless face.

“Kweek, what does that have to do with you staying here?”

“Why? Because if I do not confirm with my own eyes that the leader takes revenge, my delicate heart will not be able to endure it. If by any chance the leader just gets killed, I will be so bothered that I will come back.”

The conclusion was that no matter what, he would not do as I said.

....This bastard, did he aim for this from the beginning?

* * *

At that time, I had thought it might just be an elaborate farce to refute my words, but now I felt like I understood what Ratel’s uncharacteristic assumption meant.

Perhaps he had known from the beginning that things would turn out like this.

The leader had climbed this far with a tiresome obsession toward the leader’s position.

If such a fellow learned of the dimwit’s lies and betrayal, it was obvious he would go berserk.

Meat thrown to a starving beast would naturally be bitten, torn, and ripped to shreds.

Even a beast that had lost all its teeth would try to swallow the food before it using its gums.

That was what I had thought.

Until I saw that dazed leader’s relieved face.

And I had to admit that my prejudice had failed to consider yet another possibility.

Yes, that even when one’s belly was on the verge of sticking to their back, there were still fellows who would not devour their companion.