Chapter 166 — Tattling
If they did not particularly want to kill them, then there was no particular reason to remain here either.
That meant neither Ratel nor I needed to waste any more time in this place.
The problem was that this damned river kept swelling and showed no intention of letting us go.
What made it even more troublesome was that our opponent was not something we could communicate with.
Threats and persuasion...
No, being unable to communicate at all was a serious problem.
Even people who spoke the same language could misunderstand each other this badly, so there was no way to convince a mass of stagnant power.
A sigh escaped me as I looked down at the increasingly violent current.
Why could nothing ever be resolved quietly?
“Kweek, the river keeps swelling and shows no sign of subsiding.”
“Couldn’t we just show it that we’re no longer interested in the holy relic it’s protecting?”
Ratel spoke casually, unaware of the voice only I could hear or the hidden past behind it.
I felt bad for him, but merely revealing that we had no intention of destroying the holy relic would not be enough.
There was probably only one reason the owner of the voice continued to hold me here.
It wanted me to fulfill the contract Sierra Abiran had ruined.
But that was absurd.
I had absolutely no intention of paying a debt on behalf of an ancestor I had never spoken to even once.
“Kweek, this is annoying. Why don’t we just run away?”
“So everything we’ve done until now was merely a game of tag?”
Ratel answered with a faint laugh.
“Kweek, yes, it was tag.”
The game had gone on too long, so it was about time we returned before our guardians became angry.
“Kweek, you joined the game without permission from the very beginning, so you’ll definitely be scolded badly.”
“I’d rather not. Jing nags far too much.”
“Kweek, still, Jing probably won’t beat you.”
At my laughter-filled answer, I felt Ratel give me a strange look.
“Kweek, what matters now is that the one chasing us has no intention of letting us go.”
I quickly changed the subject.
Ratel stared at me for a moment, then obediently followed my blatant diversion.
“Then wouldn’t the problem be solved if we got rid of the one chasing us?”
The content was a little vicious compared to the kindness of his intention.
“....Kweek, what if we hand the game over to someone else entirely?”
“Who would willingly play this miserable game?”
I glanced toward the dimwit, who was rolling his eyes frantically as he tried to follow my conversation with Ratel.
“Kweek, fortunately, I learned that Sierra’s power doesn’t act only on us.”
“What do you mean? Is another member of the imperial family hiding here?”
Ratel’s eyes gleamed sharply.
“Kweek, no. If there were, I would’ve dragged them here immediately.”
Had there been something that useful, I would have taken advantage of it long ago.
“Kweek, Sierra’s power appears to affect the dimwit too. Kweek, judging by how it isn’t desperate to drag him underwater, it might even be more favorably disposed toward him than toward either of us.”
“What reason would an emperor’s power have to favor the dimwit?”
“Kweek, I don’t know either. Kweek, that’s what the dimwit said.”
Though he probably did not even remember saying it.
“Kweek, if Sierra’s power is what helps him avoid the leader’s notice every time, then we can use that too. Kweek, if the power is acting, then energy must be consumed one way or another.”
In other words, Sierra’s power would be divided to some extent.
“You’re saying we can escape during that opening.”
“Kweek, yes.”
Ratel furrowed his brow, seemingly unable to trust my confidence.
“How can you be so certain?”
“Kweek, because I saw it with my own eyes.”
It was something I had confirmed only moments ago, without enough time for memory distortion to interfere.
“Kweek, that bastard pulled me up as though nothing were wrong.”
When Sierra’s power dragged me downward, the dimwit had pulled me onto land with one hand.
It was as though he could not feel the force trying to sink me beneath the water at all.
Apparently, he had mainly used this power to secretly follow the leader.
Whatever the reason, if the river prioritized the dimwit over me, then all we had to do was take advantage of it.
* * *
The reason was unknown, but the dimwit was affected by Sierra’s power.
No, perhaps it would be more accurate to say they affected each other.
In any case, it was certain that the remaining power was favorably disposed toward him.
At the very least, it liked him more than Ran Abiran, the descendant it kept attacking while demanding repayment of an ancestor’s debt.
The dimwit tilted his head in confusion when Ratel’s aggressive posture suddenly relaxed.
Once we had completely prepared to leave, that confusion soon changed into surprise.
“Kweek, w-what are you doing?”
Temporarily forgetting his fear out of curiosity, he stepped forward and asked.
“Get lost. We have no further business with you.”
Ratel spoke harshly, maintaining his prickly attitude despite graciously sparing them.
“Kweek, y-you’re not going to k-kill us?”
“Kweek, we don’t need you anymore. Kweek, we’re going to leave you alone. Kweek, for the time being.”
The dimwit’s eyes widened.
“Kweek, do whatever you want. Kweek, kill that leader, keep him alive, or run away again.”
Once I repeatedly confirmed that his life would be spared, color gradually returned to the dimwit’s dazed face.
However, the corners of his mouth, which had risen in relief and joy, soon drooped again.
“K-Kweek, why did you c-change your mind? Kweek, you said you were going to l-live here.”
I deliberately ignored Ratel raising one eyebrow at the dimwit’s tactless confession and answered the blabbermouth.
“Kweek, the plan changed.”
“Kweek!! Why? Kweek! J-Just live here!”
“Kweek, I can’t. Kweek, something has come up that I need to do.”
The dimwit frowned, apparently still unable to understand such a simple answer.
But I had no intention of seeking either his permission or his understanding.
“Kweek, what do you want to do? Kweek, do you want to keep following that leader?”
At my question, the simple-minded orc quickly forgot his disappointment and turned toward the leader.
“....Kweek, I don’t want to see him g-get eaten by some other b-bastard.”
He stammered with a puzzled expression. He looked as though even he did not understand himself.
“Kweek, then you’ll have to protect him from being eaten.”
“Kweeek, I-I will. Kweek, as long as the leader doesn’t get angry.”
He muttered with a deeply worried expression.
He was simple-minded enough that thinking too much only made him look stranger.
“Kweek, if you were afraid of being scolded, you shouldn’t have lied from the beginning.”
Once again, a piercing gaze stabbed into the side of my face.
“....Kweek, but things in this world don’t always proceed according to such righteous principles. Kweek, there are also things called white lies.”
Ratel’s eyes narrowed at my subtle attempt to defend myself.
Before his sarcasm could begin, I quickly placed a final farewell gift in the dimwit’s hand.
“Kweek, w-what is this?”
The dimwit lifted the pouch I had handed him and shook it from side to side.
“Kweek, a final gift. Kweek, with this, you should be able to put the leader to sleep for a while.”
I stopped him from instinctively opening the pouch and sticking his nose inside as I answered.
“Kweek, th-the leader is already asleep.”
“Kweek, you’ll need it when you put him back to sleep.”
After giving a vague answer, I walked past the still-confused dimwit and approached the unconscious leader.
Then I kicked the leader in the leg.
“Kweek!!”
The startled leader’s eyes snapped open, and the moment he spotted me, he sprang to his feet.
His face twisted like a rotten apple when he saw me.
“Kweek!! Touch me one more time and I won’t let you get away with it!”
Apparently furious that he had lost consciousness by my hand twice today alone, he shouted viciously.
“Kweek, it wasn’t my hand. It was my foot.”
“Kweek!! Do I look like I’m joking?!”
The leader shrieked.
Even I had to admit it was a terrible joke, but there was no need to get that angry.
In any case, if he did not like jokes, I had no problem getting straight to the point.
“Kweek, listen.”
“Kweek!! I’m not listening to you anymore!! Kweek, do you think I don’t know that everything out of your mouth is a lie?!”
I had not even begun the actual conversation, but he shook his head wildly as though refusing to listen.
Thinking that the dimwit and the leader might have similar mental ages, I waited for his meaningless struggle to end.
Unfortunately for the leader, no one gathered here possessed the personality required to indulge another person’s tantrum.
As expected, the leader gradually exhausted himself, and his movements slowed.
Once silence fell, all that remained were the gazes of the others fixed on him.
He appeared to have belatedly realized how pathetic his resistance had been.
Shame appeared on the leader’s face.
“Kweek, you don’t have to be so embarrassed. Kweek, there are countless more humiliating things in this world.”
“Kweek!! Shut up!!”
Despite my kind attempt to comfort him, the leader shouted at me instead.
Then again, since he was embarrassed at that very moment, perhaps such consolation could not reach his ears.
Considering his position, I decided to redouble my thoughtfulness.
“Kweek, I mean it. Kweek, I already know that you watched humans every day until your eyes nearly wore out, so this is hardly anything worth feeling embarrassed about.”
This time, my consolation proved quite effective.
The color slowly drained from the leader’s face until he turned pale.
“K-Kweek...! How do you know about that...?!”
As he stammered and demanded to know how his secret had been exposed, I subtly gestured with my eyes.
Following my gaze, he turned his head.
At the end of his line of sight stood the dimwit, staring at me with an expression mixed with betrayal, despair, and resentment.
The dimwit himself did not notice it, but his expression apparently gave the leader complete certainty.
Fire flared in the leader’s eyes.
“Kweek!! You secretly followed me? Kweek, how long have you been deceiving me like that?”
Faced with the icy question, the dimwit did not dare open his mouth.
Thanks to that, I was forced to join the awkward silence between them.
When the dimwit glared at me resentfully, I merely shrugged.
“Kweek...!”
In the end, the dimwit was the first to break the taut tension.
Terrified, he began running before anyone could stop him, holding Orc’s Pool in one hand.
The leader stared blankly at his retreating back as his face gradually turned dark green.
“Kweek!! You damned bastard!!!”
A moment later, the leader came to his senses and began chasing after the dimwit.
The leader’s back was overflowing with more energy than ever as he ran after him with murderous intent.
He even seemed more vigorous than when he had charged at me intending to kill me.
“What happens if the dimwit gets caught?”
Ratel, who was watching their game of tag beside me, suddenly asked as though the thought had just occurred to him.
Well, as long as Sierra’s power was helping him, that probably would not happen.
“Kweek, that’s why I gave him a gift. Kweek, I emptied out the remaining Orc’s Pool, so it should at least be enough to knock the leader unconscious for a while.”
While we chatted, the two orcs rapidly disappeared into the distance until they were no longer visible.
I had wanted things to be resolved quietly, without the leader pushing himself too hard, but judging by how well he could run, there seemed to be no need to worry any further.
After confirming that their scents were growing distant, I turned away with a refreshed feeling.
“Kweek, shall we get going now?”
Looking down, I saw that the current had visibly slowed.
We needed to leave quickly.
Before the waterway recognized Ratel’s and my presence again.
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