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Chapter 85: Orcs Will Never Be Slaves!

The group stood on a forest path.

“Nora, you’re incredible; even with extreme agility, no one should be able to kill that many wolves at once… they ought to have bolted,” Martina exclaimed as she looked at the ground littered with wolf corpses.

Nora wiped the blood from her blade and smiled without replying.

Meanwhile Daisy carefully checked her for injuries and, once sure she was unharmed, hugged her tightly.

Reiner squatted skillfully on the ground and began skinning the wolves.

Because the temperature had dropped, demand for pelts had risen, so a dozen intact wolf hides plus the quest bounty would probably fetch about 10 silver coins in total.

While he skinned the wolves, Elyanna hid to one side clutching her staff.

She seemed unwilling to watch the rather gruesome scene.

It did not matter as long as she obediently enchanted their weapons.

Just then, on a cold gust of wind, Nora’s inner voice drifted over.

(Something seems to be approaching…)

Reiner turned back to look at her.

Nora had her eyes closed, carefully sniffing the surrounding scents.

She suddenly opened her eyes, looked at Reiner, then trotted over, grabbed his hand, and said, “Master, come with me!”

“You all wait here; I’ll be back soon.”

The two of them slipped into the bushes and activated invisibility.

After they lay in ambush for a while, the grass not far away began to rustle softly.

Two tall men draped in furs crawled out.

At first Reiner thought they were hunters, but a closer look showed their skin was tinged green and boar-like tusks jutted from the sides of their mouths.

There was no doubt: they were orcs. The system had just assigned him a quest, and he had wondered where to find orcs, yet they had come looking for him.

Reiner gripped Nora’s arm tightly, signaling her to wait a bit longer.

Because Nora was maintaining group invisibility, they could barely see each other and could not speak at close range.

To ease communication, Reiner devised several signals.

When the situation was unclear yet relaxed, he would pat her arm once.

When danger loomed and they needed to be ready, he would press her arm.

When it was time to strike, he would jab her arm three times in quick succession.

The two orcs walked right past them, completely unaware of the danger lurking beside them.

They conversed in Orcish: “Buck, are you sure there are wolves here? This is human territory; it’s not yet time to attack, so we should stay clear!”

“Idiot, by the time we got here the wolves were already scared off; you really are a coward.”

“I’m worried we’ll reveal our position; if humans notice early and set traps, we’ll doom everyone.”

“Stop! Someone ahead!”

The two orcs crouched before Reiner and began to observe.

They peered furtively toward the forest path.

“I see four humans… no, one human, two demi-humans, and one… one… elf?!” Orc Buck sounded thrilled and widened his eyes for a clearer look.

The slightly thinner orc asked doubtfully, “Where? Where’s the elf?”

“See that short one? She’s an elf; I remember an elf’s scent,” Buck said, narrowing his eyes.

“Then we should go back; elves are trouble,” the other orc wavered.

Buck glared and snarled, “Useless coward, go back and suck your mother’s milk; the lord said even elves have blind spots, and just one elf already scares you like this?”

“Look at those tender-skinned women… just thinking of them makes my mouth water…”

Buck licked his lips, looking exceedingly greedy.

The other orc tried to persuade him, “Don’t talk like that… I’m just worried; what’s the plan? I’ll follow your lead.”

“Once we’re close, fling the rope to snare two of them first, then each of us kills one.”

“Uh… let me handle the tall woman in armor; you take the other runts.”

“If you let any humans escape and ruin the plan, I’ll have my father gut you.”

“Fine, I’m ready.”

Seeing no more orcs behind them, Reiner tapped Nora three times and suddenly revealed himself right behind the pair.

Nora drove her dagger through one orc’s throat, and he collapsed to the ground, writhing.

“Buck!”

Before he could react, Reiner shattered the last orc’s knee with a blow from his staff.

He staggered to the ground and looked at Reiner in terror.

“Despicable, cunning human! I… I’ll definitely…”

“Tell me honestly when you plan to raid the town, and I’ll spare your life,” Reiner said, gathering a Wind Blade at his staff’s tip.

The orc froze and stared blankly at Reiner, “A human… can speak our language?”

The fear vanished in an instant, and he reached for the hand-axe at his waist.

“Whoosh!”

Reiner instantly severed his right arm with Wind Blade.

The orc fell, howling in pain, and used his remaining left arm to grope at his waist again.

Reiner did not hesitate and took off his other hand as well.

“Kill me; I won’t say a single word!”

Reiner looked at him coldly and said, “So you’re tough after all; if you were a bandit you’d have talked by now.”

He had just eavesdropped on their talk and thought the guy was a wimp, yet he showed no sign of yielding.

Reiner noticed the orc sneaking a glance at a rock on the ground and, realizing he meant to kill himself, unceremoniously removed both of his legs.

He planned to deliver the orc to the local soldiers for proper interrogation.

“Everyone, get over here!”

Martina charged over first, lugging a dozen blood-soaked wolf pelts.

Seeing the limbless orc still cursing, she jumped, then kicked him twice and said, “A jumbo goblin!”

“That isn’t a goblin; it’s an orc… smarter and stronger than a goblin and supposedly much harder to deal with.”

Junice parted the bushes and squeezed in.

Her eyes widened, “An orc?”

“You’ve seen one before?”

“No, I’ve only heard of them; they live in the frigid lands far to the north of the continent, so why are they here now?”

“I don’t know; let’s stop the bleeding and take him back so the local soldiers can question him… I just heard them say they plan to attack Cannon soon.”

Junice looked astonished and opened her eyes even wider, “Reiner, you can understand Orcish?”

“Didn’t I tell you before?” Reiner stabbed Breath of the Red Dragon into a snowdrift, trying to scrub off the blood.

“I thought you were bluffing,” Junice said, shaking her head hard, “Forget it; you already speak Elven, so Orcish is normal… let’s get him back to town, and when I have time I must study you thoroughly.”

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