Chương 58: I Was Just Going to Watch

Kichan stood before the orc's broken axe handle. The axe handle was half-buried in the wet dirt. Right beside it, the low fence wrapped around the young World Tree branch swayed, and the leaves beyond it were still trembling as if the water droplet had touched them. Beyond the village, orcs were stomping over the stone markers as they came in, and inside, beneath the stairs of the treehouses, children and the elderly were tangled together. He really had only meant to stop one hit.

Whether it was a young branch or whatever, with the water droplet making such a fuss, he'd thought he would stop just one and pull out. The elf village's affairs were the elf village's business to handle, and he wanted to know even less about whatever old grudges lay between orcs and elves. But all the orcs were looking at him. The elves were looking at him too. Kichan hated those stares.

"Why are you looking at me again." Instead of answering, one orc let out a low growl. It was bigger than the one clutching the broken axe handle. One fang jutted out past its lip, and an old knife scar remained white beside its nose. Its shoulder was wrapped in multiple leather straps, and its shield was studded with white bone. Kichan's head turned toward Riphiel.

"What's that one saying." Riphiel pricked up her ears on the tiger.

"I don't know exactly."

"Don't pretend you do."

"But generally, it is angry speech."

"I know that much." The water droplet was still trembling at the end of Kichan's sleeve. Still oriented toward the young World Tree branch. Every time the orcs tried to push deeper toward the village center, the water droplet grew sharp like a blade. Kichan pressed the water droplet with his hand.

"Stay put. If you go alone, you'll burst." The water droplet went pop — small. It was unclear whether it meant no or understood. Riphiel spoke quickly.

"The third bell is a bell that signals external intrusion. Usually it sounds when the village boundary is breached in three or more places at once, or when danger approaches near the World Tree root markers—""Summarize." Riphiel immediately straightened her posture.

"Orcs have come to break our home."

"Then say it like that."

"To be precise, not only the home but the World Tree's young branches and the storage warehouse and—""Summary's over." Kichan turned his head forward again. The village boundary was already half-scattered. Several stone markers were overturned, and the leaf-shaped lights flickered on the ground like broken threads. Pale green cloaks vanished between the leaves and reappeared.

Arrows cut precisely across the orcs' lines of sight and struck at their wrists, while elves with short blades slid low to target legs and ankles. Strange as her words were, Riphiel fought well. She crouched low on the sabertooth tiger and shot between the branches to halt the orcs' advance. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Kichan thought to himself. They can probably handle themselves at this level.

Just then, two orcs broke through a side path. One raised a shield to block arrows, and the other pushed its body into the narrow path under a treehouse pillar. At the end of that path was a marker deeper inside than the young branch Kichan had stopped moments ago — a waist-high wooden pillar carved with overlapping leaf shapes, and the dirt beneath it soaked darker than elsewhere. The orc raised its axe. The water droplet trembled madly, trying to slip free of Kichan's wrist.

Kichan looked down at the water droplet stuck to his wrist.

"You don't like that?" The water droplet went pop.

"A lot?" This time it popped large enough to wet his whole wrist. Kichan sighed.

"Fine. Just one." He lifted his wake-up rod to his shoulder. Riphiel shouted from the sabertooth tiger.

"If you assist, the village—""I'm not helping." Kichan walked. The orc's axe was moments from the wooden pillar. Kichan swung the wake-up rod sideways. He struck not the axe blade, but between the wrist and elbow gripping the axe. Thwack. The orc's arm went limp. The axe dropped, and the orc stepped back one pace. Kichan stood in front of it.

"I said don't hit that." The orc bared its teeth. It did not know Kichan's words, but it could see the human blocking its way. The orc raised its shield and pushed in. Kichan stepped aside one pace. As the shield passed, he pressed the back of the orc's knee with the tip of his wake-up rod. The orc toppled forward. Kichan pulled his foot free so as not to fall over the collapsed orc.

"Why won't you listen." The surroundings went quiet for a moment. One elf did not miss the opening and kicked away the orc's shield. Other elves ran toward the village center. The children near the young branch went deeper into the houses. Seeing the shield-bearing orcs pushed back, Kichan tried to pull out again. Just then, Riphiel rode the sabertooth tiger up beside Kichan.

"If you pull out now, they will come back in."

"Then the elves can just stop them."

"They are stopping them. They are only being pushed back."

"Then that means they can't stop them." Riphiel thought for a moment, then nodded.

"That is accurate."

"Don't compliment me." The orcs regrouped. This time, they did not try to bypass Kichan. The broken axe, the fallen warrior, and the human with the wake-up rod were in front of them. Three orcs in the front line raised their shields at once. Kichan's face crumpled.

"This is getting bigger." The water droplet at the end of his sleeve clung to Kichan's wrist. It trembled less than before. Instead, it stood facing the young branch at the village center. Kichan looked at the water droplet and muttered.

"I'm getting involved because of you." The water droplet went pop — small. Dust was quiet on Kichan's shoulder. Too quiet, which made Kichan more uneasy. He turned his head slightly.

"Don't you go stealing anything either." Dust tapped a leg. In that gap, the three orcs charged. Kichan moved forward. The wake-up rod struck the side of a shield, and the shield-bearer's body twisted sideways. The second orc's legs tangled, and the third orc's axe cut through empty air. Kichan went under the axe and struck the end of its handle. The axe slipped from the orc's hand.

"Hold your weapon properly." Riphiel shouted from behind.

"Was that advice?"

"Shut up." Just then, a horn sounded low from behind the orc pack. As the thick sound pushed between the tree trunks, the young elves on the upper balconies all hunched down at once. The orcs in the front line withdrew simultaneously. The elves also stopped, bows still drawn. Through the broken stone markers and wet leaves, in the middle of the village boundary, a large shadow slowly came forward. It was a head taller than the other orcs.

Bones and leather straps hung in layers from its shoulders, and in its hand was a club as tall as Kichan. The end of the club was studded with old iron nails and beast fangs. Riphiel said quietly.

"The chieftain." Kichan lowered his wake-up rod slightly toward the large orc. The chieftain's yellow eyes fixed on Kichan as well. Kichan sighed.

"Now the boss comes out."