Chapter 128
Daniela and I continued down the slope . Surprisingly, there were steps, which we slowly and cautiously made our way down .
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“Asagi, have you noticed it?”
“Hm? Ah, of course . ”
“…Are you sure?”
Not at all .
“Hahhh… Listen, these stairs we are descending now . They are moving away from the cliffside . ”
“So that means…this doesn’t connect to the valley floor?”
“Yes, it does not . ”
So what was this hole made for… Well, I guess we were trying to find that out .
After we had gone down for quite a bit, the path became level . It really didn’t connect to the valley . Not only that but there were magic lanterns installed at equal intervals . I had no idea what to expect, but Daniela’s mind seemed to be swimming with possibilities as she muttered, ‘no…but…however…’ As she was somewhat preoccupied, I was staying on the alert for her . But my scouting abilities were not as good as hers, and I was a little worried .
After we had walked for about ten minutes, the path split into two . The path on the right went further in . The one on the left was another staircase that would take us downward . However, it too was in the opposite direction of the cliffs .
“Which one should choose?”
“…The left . ”
“Based on what?”
“My intuition . ”
Daniela’s intuition . I trusted it . I had unprecedented trust in Daniela in general, so if she said it was her intuition, then I would believe her . Of course, I did have a tight grip on my sword hilt as we advanced . If something happened, I was the only one who would be able to protect her . Though, who knew if it would be necessary .
Twenty minutes passed since we went down the stairs . The stairs were wet from an underground spring or something, and we had to walk slowly to avoid slipping . That’s why it had taken so long . It would have probably not taken us half as long if we had walked normally . But we didn’t want to risk slipping and rolling down some stairs that seemed to go on forever .
When we reached the bottom, there was another path . It was just as I was thinking about how long it was, that things suddenly changed .
“Is…someone there…?”
It was a man’s voice . I looked at Daniela and advanced, swords in hand . We both used Presence Detection and caught it at the same time . It was strange . Like it had appeared out of nowhere . Was it a kind of presence that is suddenly detected at a specific distance?
“There are such magic tools . They are used to fool people . ”
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That was interesting . I’m sure it could be used for all sorts of things . If you wanted to hide from someone or hide someone from others . Which was it this time…? We stood there for a moment before it became apparent .
“Hu-mans…?”
It was a cell . The rock had been carved away and strong iron bars were set in them . On closer inspection, each iron bar had magic flowing in them . Perhaps this was what Daniela was talking about . And the person who was held inside of the cell was…
“An orc…?”
Yes, an orc . However, he was not just any orc . This one had pale skin and was able to talk in the human language .
“Help me! Get me out of here!”
“No, no, no, no . I’m not that stupid . ”
“Please . There is no time!”
The orc pleaded as he came close enough to touch the bars . I had to think about this one .
“Daniela . What do you think?”
“…From our own experiences, I think it is evident that he is the abnormally evolved being . ”
They tended to be able to talk and were highly intelligent .
“But if that’s the case, why is he in there?”
“I do not know… Perhaps he was betrayed by the others . ”
The pale orc reacted to this .
“Yes, that is it . I was betrayed…by him! Him!”
Bam! He slammed a fist into the ground as his face twisted with anger .
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“You must let me out of here so that I can kill him and free the others…”
“I see that you’re desperate, but I don’t understand the situation . Do you mind telling us?”
Thinking about it wasn’t helping . I didn’t intend on believing everything he said, but we would surely find something out by listening to him .
“…Of course . Yes, you would not know what to do if you don’t understand . Very well . Allow me to introduce myself . I am the king of the orcs . My name is Arthur . ”
“King Arthur…”
We weren’t off to a great start…was he going to tell me that he pulled the sword from the stone next…
“I am different from the other orcs, somehow smarter . From the moment that I was born, I knew that I was not the same as other living creatures . Or perhaps I should say that I was told . ”
“Who told you?”
“I do not know . It was like an instinct . I am sorry, I cannot explain it well . ”
It was as if intelligence in abnormally evolved beings was a gift of some sort .
“I was raised among orcs, even though, deep within, I was different . And one day I realized it . How harsh and violent this world was . ”
Arthur muttered quietly as he stared at the ground and made a fist .
“One day, the village I lived in was attacked…the Adventurers had come . ”
Arthur didn’t look up as he continued .
“Everyone was killed . It didn’t matter if they were women or children . The small house we had all worked so hard to build was overturned and burned down . These Adventurers had the most twisted of smiles as they went around killing everyone . ”
Arthur talked slowly and painfully and now raised his face . But there was no hatred or similar emotion that I could detect on his face .
“But I knew it . This was the way of the natural world . Orcs . Monsters . Such creatures are meant to be killed by humans . ”
“And so you created this settlement and attacked the village?”
“No, that is wrong . I wanted to develop this place and create an environment where we could be independent . We would be orcs who did not attack humans . I wanted to change the way that we lived . And perhaps, one day . We would be accepted as our own country . ”
This orc too? Was it the way of things for abnormally evolved beings to want a country? A place where they could live in peace without anyone bothering them .
“I have met someone like you before . A monster with the intelligence of a human . He also wanted to build his own country . ”
Daniela said . Of course, she was talking about the Assault Kobold .
“However, he meant to use military power to destroy humanity and then build his county . Are you any different?”
“…I am sure he did want to build a country too, but I am different . I did not plan on doing this for myself . I only wanted a place where we could live happily . I had no intention of harming any humans!”
“And yet, an entire village was wiped out . ”
Yes . There were victims in all of this . By the hands of the orcs .
“No…no…damn it . I was too late then…”
Bam! Arthur’s fist came down on the ground again .
“It must have been him then…the orc who betrayed me…Mordred!”
Mordred…who betrayed Arthur…
“It was Mordred who imprisoned me here . It was over two weeks ago . ”
“The village was attacked after that, yes . ”
“I am so sorry… There is no excuse…those people…”
Arthur scraped his head on the ground and apologized .
“But you have not done anything? Then there is no need to apologize . ”
“But…I am responsible…as their king . ”
“Then you can atone for it from here on out . ”
I thought that was the best thing to do . Daniela looked at me and gave a slightly exasperated smile .
I don’t know . But meeting with Beowulf and knowing that there were good monsters had changed my perspective . I could never find myself becoming an enemy of someone so sincere . Well, I would definitely be killing this Mordred, but not Arthur .
“Should I really be spared… Is it really the right thing to live as an orc who does not attack humans?”
“Yeah, why not? I’m quite fond of the idea . ”
“…What is your name?”
There were tears in Arthur’s eyes as he stared at me .
“I’m Asagi . Asagi Kamiyashiro . ”
“I am Daniela . Daniela Villesilf . ”
“Thank you…thank you . Asagi . Daniela . I have a request for both of you . Will you hear it?”
Daniela and I looked at each other and smiled .
“Yeah, sure . ”
“Let us hear it . ”
“Thank you…thank you . Please!”
Arthur stood up and said,
“Help me! Get me out of here!”
Daniela and I tore through the bars with our swords . My hands felt a little numb after it, but it wasn’t too hard .
“Good . Now I will take back my country . ”
“Let’s go then, Arthur . ”
King Arthur killed Mordred but was then killed by Mordred . But we wouldn’t allow that to happen . This kingdom of orcs who did not attack humans…I wanted to see it . He had fascinated me . Was I so strange for sympathizing with monsters? Daniela accepted me without saying anything…but if it came down to it… No, I shouldn’t think about that now .
And that was how I met the captive king .
Now, time to make some plans . I decided that I would help Arthur . But I had to think about how I would explain this to Virgil . If I didn’t do that now, things would get very complicated later on .