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Chapter 91: Raiding the orc tribe

“Why are we bringing women and children? We don’t need them to fight; they should stay somewhere safe,” Connor said as he glanced back at Junice and Elyanna, a flicker of doubt in his eyes.

“Relax, my lord, they are both formidable warriors,” Reiner answered solemnly.

He turned and looked at Elyanna.

She shuffled along in tiny steps like a potato, her short stature and still-childish face making her look truly like a little kid.

Because it was her first expedition, she happily hummed a tune and even skipped for no reason as she walked.

You would never guess she was 18; she was plainly a child.

Elyanna lifted her gaze and met Reiner’s eyes.

She asked in puzzlement, “Why are you staring at me?”

Reiner replied, “He said you’re as short as a potato.”

Elyanna puffed out her cheeks and angrily poked Reiner’s waist with her staff, “You’re the potato! That was definitely your own comment.”

In the end she still saw through him.

If she had been as dim as Martina, she might have believed him outright.

Reiner advised, “I suggest you drink more milk.”

“I won’t.”

“It will help you grow taller and give you some feminine charm, so no one will call you a kid anymore.”

Sure enough, Elyanna grew interested, “Really?”

“Of course; when have I ever lied to you? Starting the day after tomorrow, I’ll buy you a cup of milk every morning, but in exchange you need to teach me elven magic.”

That Radiant Barrier was far too useful, and Elyanna might still be hiding even stronger spells.

He had to milk her for as many goodies as he could while she remained curious about the outside world.

While Reiner’s thoughts were drifting, Elyanna suddenly prodded his kidneys twice with her staff.

Her cheeks reddened and her face was pure innocence, “D-do I really have no feminine charm?”

“No doubt about it… absolutely none,” Reiner said as he patted her head, “You’re a kid; what do you need charm for?”

“Reiner!” Elyanna fumed and raised her staff to smack him.

Reiner quickened his pace and walked beside Connor, “My lord, what’s the plan?”

Connor looked baffled, “Plan? Sure… harass the orc tribe and make them pay for what they did yesterday.”

“What about the details? Like where we sneak in, where we withdraw once the goal is met, and how we respond if something unexpected happens on the way…”

Connor spread his hands, “No further details… if we’re spotted, we fight; if we can’t win, we pull out.”

Reiner glanced back at Junice, and both of them fell silent.

After a moment he asked, “Does Lord Aidan know about this?”

“Of course; I told him yesterday, and he agreed,” Connor confirmed with a nod.

Reiner sank into thought…

“My lord, may I see the map? I’d like to know where the orc tribe is, and maybe I can offer better advice,” Reiner said softly.

“Certainly!”

Connor handed him a parchment map.

Reiner unfolded it and examined it carefully.

The map centered on Cannon and marked all the surrounding terrain.

The forest south of Cannon… Elyanna’s home… was labeled as elven territory.

The large forest to the north was marked as orc territory.

The tribe’s exact coordinates were also marked with small black dots.

“Why are there so many orc tribes in this forest?”

Connor shook his head, “The past few years have grown colder; the orcs have been migrating south from the northern frontier… at first there were just 1 or 2 tribes here, but now there are at least a dozen.”

“Every debt has a debtor, so which tribe are we taking revenge on?”

Connor pointed to a black dot near the forest’s edge, “This one, the Black Wolf Clan; they attacked our town. They are the largest tribe in this forest.”

Reiner scratched his cheek.

If they could field about 300 orc warriors in a single raid, the tribe’s actual population was probably around 3,000.

And they had barely 20 people altogether.

“Well? Any bright ideas?”

Reiner was speechless, yet he forced himself to answer, “No… the numbers are too lopsided; if we run into the orcs, we’ll probably just have to retreat.”

If things went south, he would grab his wives and get out first.

Connor nodded in agreement.

They were now only about 10 kilometers from the orc tribe, not far at all.

Handing the map back, he said, “I’ll scout ahead.”

Reiner had just opened his mouth when Connor refused, “No need; we already have scouts up front.”

“All right then,” Reiner said with a shrug.

Scouting was risky work anyway; if someone else would do it, so much the better.

The group kept following silently behind.

Reiner told the women in turn, “Be extra careful later; if something feels wrong, pull out decisively.”

He poked Elyanna’s cheek, “Especially you, got it?”

“Of course! I’m not stupid.”

They walked on for a while.

Reiner saw the corpse of a male orc lying in the underbrush.

The wound on its shoulder was gruesome, almost cleaved in two, and the blood was still faintly steaming.

It had to be the scouts up ahead who did this.

Scouts from other nations preferred lighter weapons like short daggers.

But Barnite’s scouts took the opposite approach and seemed to favor heavy, high-impact arms.

They charged through the woods carrying double-bladed axes.

Reiner sighed, “So fierce.”

Behind him, Martina scoffed, “What’s the big deal? It doesn’t seem better than me; I could do the same.”

Reiner paused in surprise.

He had just spoken in Dyast.

“You understand what I’m saying?”

“A little; we’ve lived together so long, and after hearing you and Junice jabber on, I can more or less catch the gist.”

So the horse girl wasn’t completely dumb after all.

“Not bad; keep at it… learning a new language is always useful,” Reiner said as he gently pinched her ear and played with it, “Put your helmet on; we may run into danger ahead.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the scout who had been reconnoitering ahead returned.

He was spattered with orc blood and whispered something in Connor’s ear.

After a brief exchange, he immediately motioned for the others to hide in the bushes on the left side of the path…

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