Chapter 83 "Panic"?

I quite frankly seemed to have been conceited about the situation, at the time. I genuinely thought the orcs simply wanted to befriend the monster, and that it was okay for me to just take their trash (the human prisoners) out before I was done here. What I said, then, was only "Sure, I can do that—" But one large palm was suddenly set on top of my head. Struggling, I grunted and tried to get it off of me.

Should I call off the human form? I decided against it, I didn't want to make a bad first impression on the potential new friends I was getting myself. The tattooed orc on my right did this: holding me still, he produced another bucket of water, lifted it up, and poured it on top of my head. The damn orc. What kind of annoying monkey he was. Before I could complain, the Warchief gestured with his chin to me and spoke for about a minute. After he did speak, the crazy orc didn't look so crazy anymore, became disciplined, and answered his ruler's queries.

After what seemed like a shared conversation with a few of the orcs, they seemed to have decided on something. To my surprise, the crazy orc then produced an orcish, curved dagger from his belt, and hurried it at me. Before I could say "Wait, no, we're supposed to be friends!" swiftly, the crazy orc cut my ties and set me free.

As I had guessed, the crazy orc, the one who served as a bridge between me and the orc army, solemnly spoke to me words I didn't comprehend. I was still on my chair, and for once, seeing the crazy orc stopped messing around, I strongly nodded at him. Really, even though I understood at least a little of the situation going down, I felt as if I then knew nothing.

The orc spoke to me words I had no clue about, so who knew what he told me, but I still nodded as if to say I'd go along with what he instructed. Well, I probably shouldn't have done that, but the sudden seriousness in the beast's eyes prompted me to act solemn, too.

Undoing my human form, I turned into a body of moving water, assumed a somewhat human-like shape, and silently got up on my chair. Once I was up, I called for my Character again and turned into the normal-looking black-haired human boy. In this dull, silent setting, with many orcs looking over me with the slightest pang of hope in their eyes, thinking they had recruited a powerful soldier.

When I transformed, the crazy orc stepped away from the shapeless monster. When I turned back human-like, his widened eyes scanned me all over. Scoffing, the crazy orc turned to his chief again, and spoke words I didn't understand. I couldn't guess what he precisely said, but he sure seemed satisfied with himself. The chief replied to him with the same satisfaction, letting out a deep, gratifying sigh.

As I had guessed, I was tasked with something right away. To kill the humans. Surprisingly, however, the task didn't come directly from the crazy orc. It neither came from the warchief or any other demi-human, for that matter. The one who spoke was the System. Giving out a metallic ring only I heard, I understood the "You passed da test!" Voluntary Quest had proceeded to new instructions without my knowing it while I was passed out and brought to this tent.

Some instructions were now completed. 1/1. I had indeed attended to the "Warchief and his subordinates' council," and eloquently spoke my way into becoming the orcs' friend. I didn't remember the part about me eloquently speaking my case to the orcs, but well. The new instructions came about right away, and I needed to prove my loyalty to the orc cause, apparently.

Being in total sync with the System, the crazy orc held out to me a certain orcish dagger from his belt, placed a large palm on top of my head, and told me "Oh! Little monster! Ah' know you not disappoint when ah' first see you kill da human out!" The orc seemed happy enough, and the Quest Instructions were about me accepting the "Quest Object — Dagger of Alliance," which I did.

After I accepted the dagger, I was still on top of my chair, but standing up. Thanks to the chair, I wasn't so little compared to the tall demi-humans, so I felt like I could talk to them as an equal. I still had to prove my loyalty, and thinking I'd just do that I was going to speak a few words about it, but the Warchief interrupted me.

​ The ogre spoke to the crazy orc. After a minute or so of the back and forth between them, and other orcs sometimes spoke, adding to their conversation, the crazy orc turned to me, and spoke with intensity. He basically told me not to worry, that the human hostages didn't have any value, and that the proud people the orcs were wouldn't resort to using the prisoners as a ransom in exchange for either money or safety.

If you guys don’t read this on NOvElB(i)n(.)cOm and read somewhere else, Ain will HWUNT u and KWILL you!

Not understanding what he talked about, I asked him what he meant, and although it was difficult, I managed to understand the contents of his speech. I guess if I had been your regular person, I would have understood without so much as an explanation, but it took me long enough to be taught that the prisoners of war to my left could be used as hostages, meaning they had a value if they so long as they were alive.

So the quick exchange between the orcs, a minute ago, was about deciding whether proving my friendship (they called it loyalty) to the orcs would involve the human prisoners, right? But then, even I understood that just any prisoner didn't have any value as a hostage, you see. So what was the humans' deal? Was there some big shot from among them? I decided not to ask, but sure enough, even though I didn't know it at the time, a prince was among the prisoners. And the thing was, even the orcs didn't know about that fact.

A direct descendent of the king from the Kingdom of Roerden. That wasn't just any guy. A young prince. Such a character, if captured as a hostage, could certainly raise mountains of gold and silver in exchange for his sole life. But neither the orcs nor I knew about a prince's presence here. It would only be after a few months or so that I would come to learn about that fact, just after I slaughtered all the royalty of a Kingdom in one bloody night. But well, that was a story for another time.

Jumping off my seat, I had a little conversation with the crazy orc. He told me his name, but I could hardly pronounce it, so I told him I'd quickly forget it. Asking about my name, I realized I didn't have any.

And so we laughed together, thinking we might as well stay nameless for now.

The crazy orc guffawed with two hands on his hips, and I mimicked him, doing the exact same pose and laughing. Soon after, we spoke about what was useful. "To… Ladafar," the orc said, nodding. He briefly spoke of Ladafar.

What was Ladafar, however, I asked him? It was one of the last standing demi-humans' settlements in the country. From there, he said, we would counter attack, forming an alliance with all the other demi-human-folks, who were being repressed by the mighty, vile humans, we would form an army, and take back what was rightfully ours, the crazy orc said.

Quite honestly, again, I didn't really understand what he spoke about, but this time, I didn't ask questions. What was funny was that the orc basically was saying that soon enough, I'd go with them as the orc army would retreat to the stronghold of Ladafar, and there we would be together as a team. I, on the other hand, didn't plan any of that. I wanted to get going, accomplish the voluntary quest "You passed da test" and return to my old man.

Maybe the language barrier was to blame for that, or maybe it was because both I and the orc were crazy fools at heart. Either way, we continued to speak, and this time, the topic shifted to the proving-my-loyalty matter. I told him I understood what I had to do and that I should get down to it at once before the Warchief and the other orcs grew too impatient.

Briefly, I mentioned the kind ma'am from the Sville village, educating the orc, as she had educated me. My lesson to the orc was that everything had a price, in life, and so, if the orcs' friendship had a price, I'd gladly pay for it as I paid for my food. Again, the language barrier probably prevented the orc from grasping the essence of what I said, but he strongly nodded to my every word—up till some voice yelled out in the rather silent room.

"DO NOT PANIC, MY BRAVE ADVENTURER!" the voice shouted.