Chapter 26 ~ Heart-to-Heart Collision
“I hope you understand that we Orcs don’t like owing anyone favors for too long.” The Orc Chief enunciated each word, his eyes locked directly on Tillysha.
“If you don’t want to owe me anything, I do have a few questions that I’d like answers to.”
“Any question you have, if I know the answer, I’ll tell you.” The Orc Chief’s face relaxed slightly.
“Are you Green Orcs?”
“I think you’ve observed quite clearly.”
“Why are you killing each other?”
“Gold Elves and Grey Elves share the same kinship, yet why did your group oppress and marginalize them back in the day?” The Orc Chief didn’t answer Tillysha’s question but lobbed one back instead, with a trace of unfriendliness in his tone.
“…” Tillysha was lost for words, possibly due to incomplete memories or perhaps simply not knowing. She was even unsure whether the oppression of Grey Elves by Gold Elves actually existed, so she remained silent.
“Unable to answer? Or is it just tough to answer?”
“Well, actually, I can’t answer at all. Judging by your face, I’d say you’re a Wood Elf, right?”
Tillysha was startled by the depth of knowledge this Orc had about Elven affairs.
Could the Orcs who stayed in Ruglien all this time have obtained such information? What channels could they have used to know these things?
“Don’t be so surprised. A regular Orc wouldn’t even speak the common tongue of humans anyway. I’m just a bit more special than your average Orc — but fundamentally, we’re all oppressed beings.”
“Now do you understand? In every group, often — no, more often than not — the majority are turned into expendables for the group’s elite. Their exploitation isn’t used for the benefit of the entire group but for that small elite.”
“Those ugly parasites— they lord over us, feign righteousness, and s*ck the bl**d out of us, every drop of it.” At this point, the Orc Chief’s tone carried more fluctuation.
“And this phenomenon is particularly severe among Orcs. You might not know that the tribal system here is slavery-based— slaves are merely items for those in power.”
“Whether they are damaged or not is entirely up to their owners, who whip and starve them as a matter of routine. If it weren’t for the cost, in their eyes, we wouldn’t even count as living beings.”
“Now, do you understand?” The Orc Chief’s voice gradually calmed. “Without resistance, we’d even lose the dignity as living creatures.”
“Exactly like what happened when you Grey Elves overthrew the Elves.”
“… So how do you know about the Grey Elves?” Tillysha frowned.
“This isn’t a secret, Miss Elf. Maybe Orcs aren’t the brightest, but our comprehension isn’t bad. In the depths of Ruglien, this isn’t a mystery to those in the know.” This Orc seemed well-experienced.
During Tillysha’s hesitation, an idea struck her.
Could it be that the ones who opened the way for the Demon Race were the Grey Elves?
Mutated Grey Elves inside working together with the Demon Race outside to destroy the Elf Forest?
If so, did the Gold Elves actually oppress the Grey Elves back then?
And if they did, what kind of brutal oppression would it take to turn the naturally kind and peaceful Elves into the catalysts for their destruction?
“Contemplation can wait for later— do you have other questions, Miss Elf?”
“Forgive me, but were you all slaves before?”
“This isn’t something difficult to admit.” The Orc Chief smirked, though the curve was somewhat forced. “Each Orc here has been savagely branded with the mark of slavery. Yes, we were all slaves.”
“And how did you break free from your chains?”
“Ah, ironically, we must thank this calamity for that.” At this point, the Orc Chief chuckled coldly. “I don’t know much about Ruglien you understand, but you should know this — the entire Ruglien region, at least the wastelands under my feet, used to be inhabited solely by Orcs. The deeper territories were separated by a terrifying forest that none of us could penetrate.”
“None of us knows what happened, but some powerful being pulled out that forest one night.”
“Seeing that the path to a new land had been opened, do you think those avaricious chiefs would sit idly by?”
It seemed that was the case as Tillysha listened to the Orc Chief continue.
“Those land-starved chiefs, unable to expand elsewhere, were overjoyed and eagerly sent their elite forces ahead to forge new routes, expanding the territory and population.”
“However, this time they faced a bitter defeat; their armies were attacked by the Demon Race dwelling beyond the forest and were scattered.”
“Due to the lack of manpower, they had no choice but to activate the slaves, sending the vast slave armies to replace the regular troops in battle.”
“And by now, I’m sure you’ve guessed the rest. Slaves who had suffered oppression for a hundred years were now armed, and the first thing they did was not to listen to the chiefs’ rhetoric about fighting for racial righteousness, but to ax their officers and shatter their chains.”
“One slave uprising led to all the tribes’ slaves revolting.”
“Now those chiefs are in a declining situation. With their forces, they could easily stamp out the rebellion, but don’t forget — they must also manage the external war. Once the war’s fuse is lit, it cannot be extinguished.”
“Two-front warfare is the best opportunity for the rebelling slaves. I, and we, won’t let this chance for redemption pass.”
“Then what after the reversal of fortunes?”
“Of course, punish and settle accounts with the greedy chiefs, then establish a new order.” In response to Tillysha’s question, the Orc Chief replied without hesitation, almost reflexively.
“I don’t know if this new order will guide us to a better place, but it certainly won’t be worse than the present.”
“As for the rest, it’s none of your business; this is ultimately our own affair.” The Orc Chief seemed uninterested in further discussing this matter with Tillysha.
“…What do the Demon Race behind the forest look like? Are they really powerful?” Tillysha asked the question she was most concerned about.
“That, I don’t know. We former slave soldiers have never seen the enemies behind the forest. But they must be strong; they’ve made the chiefs unite yet continue to struggle, even having to assign limited forces to crush the rebellious army, which proves the Demon Race must be powerful.” The Orc Chief expressed his evaluation.
“However, no matter how strong they are, they’re probably not unimaginably strong, or else they wouldn’t be unable to win right now.”
“Are the Demon Race behind the forest launching a counteroffensive?”
“Isn’t it obvious? They’ve even been attacked in their own territory. Do you think they would take it without retaliation? Moreover, when the way is opened two ways, they have no reason not to be interested in our land.” The Orc Chief shrugged and complained rudely in broken common tongue.
“Besides that, Mr. Orc, I have another question.”
“Please go ahead.”
“You and the Demon Race were separated by the forest, preventing conflict between you. But why don’t you invade the Coleman Forest and Caleburn beyond it? There’s no barrier, right?”
The Orc shook his head at this. “You don’t understand the Demon Race, nor Ruglien.”
“The Demon Race cannot stay in Ruglien for long.”
“Just like you can’t stay inside Ruglien indefinitely. The environment makes it so.”
“Moreover, demons cannot enter Coleman Forest. This is a rule set by the Demon King; no demon may defy it.”
“Demo King??” Tillysha remembered, indeed, the Demon Race was led by a Demon King back then, though her impression of him was vague, or rather, she didn’t even know who the Demon King was.
“Have you seen the Demon King?”
“Miss Elf, your imagination is too wild. Can it possibly be? Orcs have lifespans of just over a hundred years, and Ruglien was established more than four centuries ago. I’m not old enough to have seen the Demon King, nor leave this cursed land,” the Orc Chief said sarcastically.
“All the knowledge I possess comes from the o*al histories passed down by my forefathers, and has been sustained to this day. Like the other Orcs, I’ve been trapped in this savage land, possibly forever.”
“The only difference between me and the other Orcs is that I’ve gathered, through o*al tradition from my forefathers, some secrets of Ruglien and its history.”
“As for other Demons, I don’t know, but at least for Orcs, recording history is meaningless. So after a few generations, Orcs forget how they came to this land and how to ever leave it.”
“Thank you for your answers.” Tillysha acknowledged thoughtfully.
“If there’s nothing else, you’d better leave now. Your companions seem to be getting anxious.”
Upon hearing this, Tillysha looked outside the wooden fort and it appeared that she had stayed too long. Outside the wooden fortress, Filisia and the others were facing off with the Orcs.
“Apologies, we part ways here.”
“Miss Elf, for your safety in Ruglien, it’s best if today’s conversation with me doesn’t happen in other Orc settlements,” the Orc Chief emphasized meaningfully. “You don’t want any interaction with either those greedy hands of the chiefs or other rebel armies.”
“The insatiable exploiters do as they please, and rebel armies are a mixed bag; encountering you might lead to ill intentions.”
“I understand, thank you for the warning.” In fact, meeting a reasonable and rational Orc was already quite a novel experience.
“Here, this is a map of Orc land. You can have it; perhaps it’ll be useful to you.” The Orc Chief had Tillysha wait outside for a moment, retrieved a map hanging on the wall of the camp, and handed it to her.
“Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
After bidding farewell to the Orc Chief, Tillysha left the camp escorted by Orc soldiers.
Then, Aistride, who had been anxiously waiting at the gate, saw several burly Orc males surrounding Tillysha and escorting her out of the wooden fort.
This scene brought a hint of color to Aistride’s cheeks.
In some of the small picture books she’d read, there were depictions of Elves and Orcs, particularly the theme of several burly Orc males and a single Elf Girl.
This made her start imagining again.
“Tillysha.”
“Nothing, just gathering some intelligence from their leader.” Tillysha waved goodbye to the Orc soldiers who were seeing her off.
“This is far too dangerous; they’re Orcs,” Filisia voiced a concern without fully understanding why she felt this way, but there always seemed to be an implicit tension when Elves and Orcs interacted.
“Sister Tillysha, can you actually communicate with those Orcs?” Wenfu, peeking out from behind Filisia’s legs, asked with surprise.
“Sure, this tribe’s leader is an Orc who speaks comprehensible language, and he’s very reasonable. I learned much about the current state of Ruglien from him.”
“But they’re Orcs, aren’t they? You can’t trust what they say.” Wenfu remained uneasy, perhaps harboring an inherent bias against Orcs, or still haunted by the psychological trauma from their previous journey in Ruglien.
“Young Wenfu, all lives carry their own meanings. All things have spirits, right?” Tillysha bent down, stroking Wenfu’s little head.
“Do you mean even Orcs?” Wenfu puckered her little mouth.
“Every blade of grass, every tree, has spirit.” Tillysha replied.
“If two hearts can truly connect, I believe there’s nothing that can’t be communicated.” Tillysha glanced back at the wooden fort of the Orcs.
“Though the views and cultures of different races differ greatly, emotions remain the same. Pure emotion serves as the key to unlock each other’s hearts, thereby building understanding and trust.” The wind brushed past Tillysha’s ear, carrying strands of her glowing hair like silk.
From the humans walking the earth to insects flitting between the trees, any being with whom one can resonate can, in principle, be understood to some degree.
“Key is to dialogue with their feelings and spirits.”
“Is that so? …” Wenfu seemed to vaguely comprehend but couldn’t quite grasp how to achieve this heart-to-heart dialogue.
“Then, if they stubbornly refuse to communicate, what should one do?” Wenfu asked.
“Pummel them~” Tillysha’s smile didn’t fade; she lifted her fine finger as if describing a routine procedure.
“If they won’t listen to reason, just beat them up. Once they’re quiet, they’ll be more likely to listen to what I have to say.”
“Uh… meow…”
“I’ve also acquired a map of the area from them.” Tillysha held up the map scroll given to her by the Orc Chief.
It clearly marked the location of the current wooden camp of the Orcs, as well as the tribes of chiefs nearby, with red prominent colors.
Moving upstream along the creek were charcoal-marked areas representing the forest of Gluttony, now destroyed and turned into an empty field and the main battlefield between Orcs and Demons behind the forest of Gluttony.
