Chapter 20 – Orc
Parting the bushes, Dillin found himself holding his breath at the sight before him, feeling like his heart had momentarily stopped.
Beyond the bushes stood a humanoid creature about two meters tall, entirely covered in a bluish-green hue. Its fangs curled upward, jutting past its lips and extending almost to its cheeks. Its face was smeared with red paint like some kind of primitive warpaint, covering half its face. Its almost bald head featured a tiny pigtail, reminiscent of something called a “shamate” from another world.
Most attention-grabbing were its muscular limbs, so powerful that veins bulged from the muscles. One single blow from those arms could easily reduce Dillin’s petite frame to pieces.
He suspected this massive hand could easily crush his head like a melon.
An Orc?!
Dillin stared in shock at this hulking figure, both unfamiliar and strangely familiar.
Why familiar? That’s because back in his previous world, Dillin had consumed a great deal of media, mostly manga, including a fair share of black-and-white ones, with many featuring Orcs and Elves.
Cough, cough, while the Orc in this world bore some resemblance to the ones in those little comics, there were certainly differences. For example, though scarce, these Orcs did possess hair — their hairstyles resembling those of a nomadic primitive tribe.
Despite the differences, Dillin immediately recognized this creature as an Orc.
A sudden and instinctive sense of dread enveloped Dillin, causing him to contemplate fleeing. It wasn’t just due to the first close-up encounter with this colossal non-human entity but also a subtle intuition…
He noticed the Orc locked in what appeared to be a standoff with an Elf Girl. This girl wasn’t in good shape, half-kneeling with her curved blade leaning against the ground, clearly injured.
The uniform was unmistakable — she was from Coleman Academy, one of his classmates.
The Elf Girl had shoulder-length silver hair tied with red ribbons on the sides, her amethyst eyes filled with exhaustion, looking worn out.
Could she be a Moon Elf?
Her battle with the Orc had apparently dragged on for some time. However, it seemed her youth would be her downfall.
There was something strikingly familiar about the girl’s face. As he carefully studied her, it overlapped more and more with his memory of Aistride in her pre-awakening state.
Dillin suddenly realized how incredibly similar this little Elf was to Aistride before she became a Goddess. Looking closer, if he hadn’t known Aistride was now divinely empowered, he might have confused the two.
She could be Aistride’s kin, or perhaps even her direct relative?
Unawakened Goddesses possess no Divine Authority; in terms of strength, speed, and various other capabilities, they’re basically just at the level of children. Competing against an Orc with overly developed biceps was nothing short of a mismatch. It was questionable whether her curved blade could even break through the Orc’s defenses.
The outcome was clear — if nothing unexpected happened, this Silver-haired Elf was about to experience some unfortunate events.
What exactly those events entailed, Dillin wasn’t comfortable elaborating on, as it would cross into restricted content territory.
Some side stories depict Orcs as a race that honors the mighty and would never engage in unsavory actions such as taking advantage of female warriors. Unfortunately, according to the Demon Race Compendium Dillin had consulted, the Orcs in this world perfectly align with audience expectations.
They were simple-minded, physically powerful, warlike, and had a disturbing penchant for abducting women from other races, particularly enjoying the conquest of others’ wives, and even worse, they preferred doing so with the other party’s spouse forced to watch.
They indeed respected strength, but they also had an unfortunate f*tish for others’ wives and, for some twisted reason, enjoyed associating with Buffalo-headed creatures.
Thus, imagining the fate of the injured Elf Girl if she were defeated by the Orc was not difficult. Observing the Orc’s gleaming eyes filled with unspeakable desires, Dillin had already guessed the general trajectory of events, even before the plot could fully unfurl.
The Orc was eagerly anticipating its prize.
Classic Orc and Elf scenario, a pairing often seen in doujinshi, classic indeed.
Then, this Orc dude might take his prize home, where either fellow tribespeople or comrades will also partake if they find her agreeable. If not, the next morning, someone from Coleman Academy would probably find the broken body of this Elf Girl in Coleman Forest.
Dillin quietly glanced at his smoking, overheated fire pistol.
It was useless now, and he doubted even a pistol could k*ll an Orc.
Its caliber — fine for rabbits, but in comparison to the size of an Orc, it was akin to a toothpick.
Moreover, the barrel was overheating, so firing now would definitely cause it to explode.
Regardless, there was nothing he could do.
Dillin remained silent for a moment, clasped his hands together, and murmured, “I’m sorry, classmate. I can’t help you.”
“If I intervene, I’d not only fail to help you, but I’d probably end up getting myself killed too, so, forgive me…”
“I’m leaving…”
“Save… save me…” came the sobbing girl’s desperate plea.
The scene resembled that of Aistride’s in the past. Whether it was the memory of Aistride that stirred him or the uncanny resemblance between this girl and Aistride, something within him drove him to an unexpected bravery. Picking up a stone from the ground, Dillin hurled it at the Orc with surprising force.
“Smack!” The tiny stone hit the Orc’s thick-skulled head with a feeble sound.
