Chapter 4.4: Knight Commander Houston

“…Do you think the highway attacks have something to do with what you’re looking for?”

“…?”

Bash froze.

He looked puzzled, as though he hadn’t understood what the Knight Commander had said to him.

However, when Zell, who had been freed from her constraints, flew up to his ear and whispered something, he suddenly perked up.

Then, with a mysterious smile on his face, he turned to Houston and nodded softly.

“Hmm… Maybe so.”

“I knew it!”

Houston grinned, overjoyed that his assumptions had been proven correct.

His brain had never felt bigger.

He had just come up with way to not only keep himself out of harm’s way, but also avoid any turmoil in the city and ingratiate himself to the Orc Hero.

Houston was no saint.

He would readily let his greed take over if he could get obtain benefits – especially if those benefits involved the deadliest Orc on the continent.

“Then let’s have Judith cooperate with you. She’s the one responsible for solving the highway attacks. If you want to investigate the case, it’s best to let her help you.”

“Huh?!”

Judith, who up to that point had been silently standing by the doorway, sulking, suddenly cried out.

“Wait, Sir Houston! Are you really going to make me work with this… this creature that thinks only of raping women?”

Stepping forward, Judith pointed at Bash.

Looking at her finger, Bash gently replied,

“Non-consensual mating is forbidden by the treaty. I won’t rape you.”

Houston’s was excited to hear that.

As he recalled, Bash had never kidnapped a woman, even after slaying the rest of her comrades.

The other Orcs would ignore orders and start raping women on the spot.

As Orcs, there was no way that they wouldn’t want to drop everything and copulate.

It was just the way they were.

But Bash… Bash was going to obey to rules set by the Orc King to a fault.

“It’s as he says.”

“No, no, no! This isn’t right! You should know better than anyone, Sir Houston! Orcs are a disgusting species of repulsive creatures that hold no regards for other! You can’t take the drivel that comes out of their mouths seriously! He’s bound to reveal his true colors as soon as I’m alone with him!”

Hearing this, Houston grabbed Judith by her collar.

“That’s enough out of you! This man here isn’t some scummy stray Orc. He’s the Orc Hero, Bash!”

“Huh? Who’s that? Is he related to the Orc King or something?”

Houston’s head was spinning.

Nobody who had ever served in the Anti-Orc Army was ignorant of the “Orc Hero Bash”.

But Judith only became a knight after the end of the war. It wasn’t a surprise that she didn’t know about him.

“…”

The frustration rising inside of Houston made him want to scream.

It’s been three years since the war has ended.

Nearly all of those who served during the conflict have retired from active service and returned home.

They had moved on, content to live in peace.

Most of the soldiers in this town hadn’t experienced the war either.

Many of them are aware of the existence of an Orc King but have never heard of Nemesis.

Furthermore, there wasn’t much trade between the Krassel and the Orc Country.

Whether it was Judith or the soldiers under her command, they had only ever seen stray Orcs.

And those rats were nothing more than spiteful criminals who had no intention of being civil…

It was no wonder that they didn’t know of Bash.

“Listen, you might not know this, but this man right here is one of the most renowned and prominent Orcs out there. In normal circumstances, you wouldn’t even be able to talk to him.”

“Huh… eh? Really? Even though he’s an Orc?”

“We’re lucky that he seems to want to keep a low profile, coming here in secret, but if he got really angry, you’d be mincemeat faster than you could say “Orc”.”

“Huh…”

Judith didn’t seem to be getting the idea.

Seeing this, Houston decided to change his approach.

“If you’re the reason for a war breaking out with the Orc Nation, you’ll be held accountable and sentenced to death. Do you really want to be guillotined right now? While we’re at peace?”

“Ah… but… but, he’s an Orc… and…”

Houston considered himself a coward and an opportunist.

This self-assessment was based on the fact that he spent the entire war running away from Bash.

Preserving his life was his number one preoccupation.

His subordinates and comrades however, had a slightly different perception of him.

To Judith and her team, Houston was the most ruthless and frightening man in the world.

Therefore, his good-willed advice felt more like a threat than guidance…

Judith, still a relatively new recruit, couldn’t help but tremble in fear.

“Hey.”

But Bash didn’t know that Houston meant well.

The Orc Hero, who had stayed relatively quiet for most of the whole affair had just raised his voice for the first time, looking straight at the Knight Commander.

“Get your hands off of her.”

Houston pulled his hand away and took a step backwards.

It was as if nothing had ever happened.

“Yes? What is it?”

“You…”

Bash spent a moment, mulling over his words, and said,

“Don’t you ever get embarrassed ordering a woman around?”

“You…”

Houston’s heart jumped as he heard those words.

He had been illegally detained and interrogated endlessly.

Even after the arrest was shown to be a mistake, the attitude of the female knight who had taken him into custody didn’t change in the slightest; she still looked at him as if he were trash.

There was no room for interpretation.

There was no way he wasn’t angry.

Even so, he didn’t show any sign of the rage that must have been boiling inside of him.

If it were any other Orc, Houston would have laughed.

It didn’t matter if she was a woman or not – she was his subordinate; it was none of his business, so he should stay out of it.

Or he would have ignored their words completely.

That was something a criminal would say after he had gotten caught but got full of himself after the circumstances took a turn for the better.

But no.

This Orc could kill everyone in the entire knight quarters in the blink of an eye.

There was no need for him to ever try to communicate with words.

If he wanted something, he could take it by force.

He could make them see how vulnerable human beings are.

Yet, he did not.

Even though he had been this humiliated, and this mistreated, he kept his cool.

Why was he going to such lengths? What drove him to suppress his fury?

He could most likely see the bigger picture. His every move was calculated, all for the greater good of the Orc race.

If he were to antagonize the Humans, he would be disobeying the orders issued by the Orc King.

If Bash disobeyed the Orc King’s, the bloodthirsty Orcs would imitate him.

If that happened, it would start a war.

By the signing of the peace treaty, the Orcs were already nearing extinction. If another conflict broke out, they would truly be wiped off the face of the continent.

That is why he was so disciplined.

Bash was a warrior willing to sacrifice his dignity for the sake of his mission, for the future of the Orc race,

He had such immense strength, yet he was using it not only to his benefits, but for his people.

What a tremendous man.

The Orc Hero was more generous than he could have ever imagined. He was truly worthy.

Bash’s sheer magnanimity made Houston feel small and pitiful…

Certainly, from the point of view of such a noble individual, it’d be shameful for anybody to treat a woman like that.

As the Knight Commander of Krassel, but even moreso, as a man, he should be better than this.

And so, Houston made up his mind.

He steeled himself and got ready to step on the tiger’s tail.

“Ah, you’re right… I understand. In that case, I’ll accompany you on the forest investigation.”

Right at that moment, Bash’s face twisted in annoyance just for a second, but Houston, too caught up in his admiration of the Hero, never noticed it.

There it is everyone, the last release of the year! Whooo!

Hi, BAD MACHINE here. Gosh I’m glad to finally be done with this chapter, and I can’t wait to get started on the next one! Some spicy developments coming up!

Thank you all my readers for commenting and encouraging me, know that I really appreciate it.

But most of all, thank you for reading!

And with that, I’ll see you all next year,

Happy Holidays!

BAD MACHINE, out!

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