Chapter 18.2: Proposal

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Here we go!

At that moment.

In a fraction of a second, the surroundings fell deathly silent.

That included Sonia herself, who understood nothing of what was going on.

[Huh? What? What does he mean by marriage? Why is this guy trying to give a necklace?!]

For a second, her mind went utterly blank, after which she finally came to the took in what was happening.

[Haaah?! Is he really asking me to marry him?!]

Her brain, now recovered from its unexpected stalling, begun firing on all cylinders.

[Is…is he really asking me to marry him? Is this really a real proposal?! Wait, calm down, and think… there must be something deeper…a nefarious intention, hidden behind this gesture…wait, yes! He told me that he’d be back! So, this must be why! To ask for my hand in marriage! Wait, wait, wait, wait, no, no, no… that’s stupid. Absolutely ridiculous! Why would he ask me to marry him?! And “at first sight?! I mean… that’s kind of romant – … No! No, no, no! I can’t let myself be fooled! This guy left me lying on the ground back then! He left me even though I was right there, vulnerable and ripe for the picking!]

Though Thunder Sonia was impulsive and brash, she was far from dumb.

As the Elven Archmage, she always prioritized the well-being of her people, and constantly planned ahead.

He was an Orc she had only met once before.

There was nothing between them that would make him fall in love with her.

And if it really was “love at first sight”, Bash would have taken Sonia home on that faithful night of the Nightmare of Siwanasi Forest and eaten her as his three o’clock snack. By now, she’d already be a mother of three.

So, he was obviously lying.

Then why was he doing this? What was the truth?

Incidentally, she had heard about how the Orc Hero had been going around gathering information.

He was notably looking for intel concerning Elven marriage activities.

In which case, he must have stumbled upon the sad tales of the Elf Hero’s celibacy.

These included shameful stories of her being fed up with being a bachelorette, trying to woo a Human and subsequently failing…

[Wait… does he think that…that I’m easy!?]

As soon as that thought crossed her mind, blood rushed to Sonia’s face.

“Absolutely not! I refuse! Who in their right mind would want to bear your child!?”

The moment she blurted out her response, the surroundings erupted in a wave of “Oh’s” and “Ah’s”.

The Archmage could almost feel the wave of whispers propagating through the crowd.

[Geez… what kind of dumb rumors are you guys spreading this time… please stop…]

Sonia fidgeted as she angrily glared at Bash.

At the very least, she wanted to show him and everybody else that she wasn’t some common whore you could just pick up whenever.

On the other hand, Bash was all smiles and as calm as a lake on a windless night.

“I understand. That’s too bad…”

He then returned the shiny golden necklace to his pocket, turned around, and silently crept off.

Just like that.

It happened so unexpectedly that Thunder Sonia almost thought about stopping him.

For some reason, his shoulders were hunched over, and he looked distraught and depressed.

“What was that all about…?”

She mumbled.

Thunder Sonia, Archmage and Hero of the Elves, would never know the entire truth.

Bash was slowly trudging down the path back to the inn.

“What went wrong…? It was all set up perfectly! You arrived in the nick of time and saved her when she was in trouble! And just when she was probably thinking about you, you showed up and proposed! With the shiniest goldiest necklace they had on sale at that…! From what I read in that “Elven Romance Weekly” magazine, this ranks third among situations during which you’d like to be confessed to!”

“Thunder Sonia is the Elven Archmage after all. She must have her own circumstances.”

It wasn’t that Bash didn’t remember meeting Sonia during the Nightmare of Siwanasi Forest event.

During that last Orcish stand of Siwanasi, while General Baraben was being overwhelmed, the Orc Hero had been fighting a mysterious Elven sorceress who had ended up seriously injuring him.

But he hadn’t seen her face, and even less heard her name.

During that battle, Thunder Sonia was wearing a mask.

Unbeknownst to the Orc, it was a piece of equipment that amplified her magical strength and enhanced her senses.

In addition to that, the Elf Hero was wearing an entire treasure trove of Elven enchanted gear to help her keep the Orc Hero at bay.

Not to mention that they had never introduced themselves to each other.

Back then, Bash had heard of the title of “Elven Archmage” in passing but had never known their name.

Therefore, it was correct to say that Bash had only learned of her name and saw her face for the first time during their meeting on the Elven border.

His claim that he had fallen in love at first sight was not a lie.

The battle between the two heroes had taken a heavy toll on Bash.

During the war, he had had countless close encounters with death.

But as the end of the conflict neared, this happened less and less frequently.

The siege of Siwanasi was among the final battles of the war, and it had been a long time since the Orc Hero had been wounded so severely.

He was so dazed by the end of his fight that he couldn’t remember how it ended or how he had escaped while surrounded by hordes of Elves.

All he could recall was how he had holed up in a bear den and how Zell had saved his life.

The “Elven Archmage”.

The Orc Hero had heard of this personage.

An immortal and ancient 1200-year-old High Elf.

She was the Elves guardian deity.

It was said that she had been blessed by the god of wind and thunder, and that this power was related to her chastity – if she ever lost her virginity, her magical gifts would be revoked.

If her virginity was truly the source of her strength, then there was no way she would agree to marry.

Bash wasn’t very hopeful that his proposal would succeed in the first place.

Nonetheless, he was still extremely disappointed.

“I saw it all!”

Someone called out to Bash.

As he turned around, he saw a female Elf. She was enviably entwined arm-in-arm with a Human man.

The Elven woman, who looked like a first-class warrior, was familiar with the Orc.

Yes, she was the one that had told him all about the “Giant Eagle’s Nest.”.

“You are…”

“You have the guts to propose to Lady Sonia! Color me impressed! I never would have thought that Orcs could be so bold!”

“Oh…”

It was Azalea…whose name Bash had completely and utterly forgotten.

She looked very excited.

“It’s a shame you got turned down, though. No matter if you’re the Orc Hero or not, she’s out of your league.”

“I suppose so… but there are always more fish in th – … more Elves in the forest.”

“Haah?!”

Azalea’s expression turned murderous.

Bash instinctively clenched his fists in response.

However, the Elf immediately calmed down and laughed.

“Ah, you’re an Orc after all…”

“Is that an issue?”

“No, that’s not what I mean. Orcs might not know this, but Elves don’t appreciate it when a man goes around trying his luck on women willy-nilly. And after proposing to Lady Sonia so flamboyantly, asking for another Elf’s hand in marriage would be… not well seen, to say the least.”

“So, it’s hopeless to try and get another Elf as a wife?”

“I guess so.”

“Umu….”

Bash groaned.

He had never thought that he’d be able to use the shiny gold necklace only once.

But it was the same on the field of battle.

Opportunities only showed up once.

It was only when you missed your shot that you realized that it was a once-in-a lifetime chance.

“If so, it can’t be helped.”

“Don’t feel too bad about yourself! I’m sure a man of your stature will find someone soon!”

“I hope so…”

Even though Bash was as stoic as stoic warriors got, he couldn’t help but lose heart.

He had come prepared to fail, but now that he knew that all the Elves who had witnessed his proposal now disqualified him as a potential mate, he felt even worse.

No matter how steadfast the Orc Hero was, he was beginning to feel pangs of regret.

“Well, I’ll be going now. I’m having dinner with my darling to celebrate our victory!”

“Um, excuse me…”

“Well, I’ll be going now. I’m having dinner with my darling to celebrate our victory.

“Um, excuse me, …….

Said Azalea as she walked off, dragging a skinny, shabby-looking man in tow.

He was most likely this “darling” person – one of the weakest looking individuals Bash had ever seen, and he didn’t seem to be a sorcerer either.

In Orc culture, marriage was considered the epitome of success and honor. The Orc Hero needed every scrap of information he could get.

“Just a second, I have something to ask that man.”

Hence, Bash called out to them.

Azalea slowly turned around.

Her eyes were full of unfettered fury, like a dragon watching over its treasure.

“Touch my darling, and you’re dead meat,” her look seemed to say.

“How did you get this woman?”

“Huh?”

As soon as Bash asked this question, the Elven woman’s eyes darted towards her partner.

The man flinched, and hesitated for a couple of seconds, his face going through a litany of emotions: fear, surprise, confusion.

Taking a deep breath, he answered.

“Azalea once saved my life during the war. Back then, I got caught by a Succubus, and my body and mind were in tatters. If it weren’t for her, I would have died, just like that, having my life sucked out of me… So, after the peace treaty was signed, I came to Elf Country to repay her kindness. At the very least buy her a meal, or a drink. And it turned out she was looking for a husband. So, I thought that that was my chance! Never in my wildest dreams would I have hoped to even get close to a woman as beautiful as Azalea, but with the circumstances, I believed I had a shot. So, I gathered my courage and took the plunge. One thing led to another and…”

“… I see.”

Bash was ashamed of himself.

In the back of his mind, he had thought that perhaps this man had used some cowardly tactic to woo Azalea.

But that wasn’t it.

He had a single, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

And he had grasped his only chance at victory and held on to it with all his strength.

This man may not have been a warrior, but he understood this and dove head-first into the fray. That was why he was able to win.

The difference between him and Bash was that while the latter knowingly took it upon himself to fight an unwinnable battle, the former took a chance while knowing he had a chance at victory.

For Orcs, there was no shame in throwing oneself into an impossible conflict.

But if he wanted to emerge victorious, he shouldn’t have used his only chance to fight a fruitless fight.

It was hard to say who was correct.

Yes, just like General Baraben and Great War Chief Gunda Guza…

“I’ll take your story as a reference and keep it in mind. Thank you.”

“Oh, no problem… good luck.”

The man bowed before following Azalea and leaving.

The Orc felt that the Elven woman’s steps were even lighter than before, and the couple were even closer.

Bash enviously looked at the shrinking backs as they walked away, hearts aflutter.

Let me do this preemptively before the negative Nancys get on my case in the comments.

Ahem…

Commenter-san : REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

BAD MACHINE : Yes?

Commenter-san : BUT BAD MACHINE-SAMA YOU SAID THERE’D BE DEVELOPMENTS HOW COULD YOU LIE TO US! REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

BAD MACHINE : Relax buddy boys, there’s another part left to this final chapter. Just sit tight.