Orc Kingdom, the front lines of the disputed territory.
Although it bordered the Empire and was theoretically a war zone, under the clear sky, the continuous line of outposts looked more like an ordinary trading town than a military fortress. Merchants from all over the world gathered here; the air was thick with a cacophony of languages—Orcish, High Gothic of the Church of Light, and Imperial Common—as various accents drifted through the streets.
“Sir,” a young Orc in a dark green military uniform and a steel helmet rubbed the thick hair on his chin, his emerald eyes filled with confusion. “Isn’t… isn’t this a war zone?”
The young soldier stared at a human merchant who had brazenly stopped a large caravan right in front of the checkpoint. The merchant didn’t even try to hide his cargo; he was casually patting a piece of the latest magi-tech equipment from the Imperial industrial zones.
“Letting a human swagger in and out of our outpost so freely… isn’t that a bit much?”
“It’s nothing.”
The veteran leading the squad glanced at the merchant with indifference, tapped the pipe in his mouth, and made a small gesture.
Clink.
The merchant skillfully pulled a pre-prepared cloth bag from his pocket and gave it a quick shake in front of the Orc officer. Hearing the crisp jingle of coins, the officer gave a satisfied wave of his hand, allowing the merchant to pass through the gates.
“But… they are humans after all,” the Orc recruit muttered hesitantly.
“Good grief, why are you so fussy? You sound just like those humans,” the officer rolled his eyes impatiently. “Ever since the Battle of Heim Forest ten years ago, where we wiped out the Imperial Eighth Legion, have you seen the Empire dare to risk total annihilation by attacking our defense lines again?”
The officer looked proudly toward the horizon, where an endless line of watchtowers stretched along the mountain ridges. Each tower was linked by heavy steel walls covered in dense magical arrays.
“The Human Empire loves to brag about their ‘Indomitable Bastion,’ but compared to our ‘Line of Despair,’ that so-called bastion is a joke!” The Orc officer yawned smugly. “Besides, any human wanting to enter our controlled zone for trade must have a magical signal device installed.”
Watching the caravan disappear into the bustling market, the officer added with total certainty: “With that signal, we know exactly what they’re doing at all times. That’s the trump card developed by our Great Shaman. Even the magi-tech the humans are so proud of can’t bypass it!”
Hearing this confident lecture, the recruit’s doubts vanished. “I see, sir. I understand now. To be honest, this is my first deployment to a war zone; I thought the front lines would be under heavy guard. I didn’t expect it to be… well, more pleasant than the rear!”
“Heh, consider yourself lucky. Our defenses are flawless, but management used to be very strict. It only started to loosen up recently since General Love took over as the garrison commander.”
“General Love?”
For some reason, the recruit’s face lit up with excitement at the mention of the name. “The hero who fought alongside the Great Shaman and successfully annihilated the Eighth Legion?”
“Hmph, exactly that man,” the officer nodded with pride. “To be honest, we were surprised too. A war commander who was so highly trusted by His Majesty the King—why didn’t he stay in the capital after ‘retiring’ and instead got sent to the front?”
“I heard General Love volunteered for the front lines. In fact, I was so inspired by him that I volunteered to come here too,” the recruit said with fervor.
“Haha, I see.” The officer smiled warmly and patted the recruit on the shoulder. “Alright then. I heard a new tavern opened in the central market. I just swapped shifts with the other guys—how about we go grab a drink?”
“This…?” The recruit hesitated.
“I heard they have a lot of pretty human girls there~”
“Humans!” The recruit’s eyes instantly sparkled, and he excitedly followed his superior away from their post.
Clip-clop, clip-clop.
Neither of them noticed that the human caravan they had so easily let through had slowly come to a halt.
“This is… isn’t this a bit too much, Mr. Green?”
Inside the carriage, a beautiful young girl wrapped in heavy cotton clothes to hide her figure blinked in surprise. She took off a pair of magical eavesdropping headphones. “They just let us in like that?”
“Your Highness,” Green chuckled softly. “Actually, that officer was right. Under normal circumstances, our conversation would have been transmitted to their signal towers and triggered an alarm.”
Green, who hadn’t used any magical devices but had heard the entire conversation through his own senses, smiled but said no more.
“Speaking of which, if Mr. Andy hadn’t provided us with so much intelligence, we wouldn’t have been able to carry out this seemingly impossible operation so easily,” Green remarked.
“That’s true, but…” Princess Teresa, who had ignored her status as a commander to join the front line, showed a trace of hesitation. “Are we really going to risk the mission to capture the new commander, General Love, alive just because Andy asked us to?”
Teresa looked perplexed. “It’s strange. Why are he and Miss Anna so obsessed with that Orc General? I know he was the commander during the ambush of the Eighth Legion, but even if they want revenge for the old commander, there’s no need to keep him alive, is there?”
Green didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he reached out and stroked the large quantity of magi-tech industrial goods behind him.
While they were “industrial goods,” none of them were cutting-edge. Unlike the Empire, where civilian magi-tech was common in central regions, the Orc Kingdom was powerful in military magic but miserable when it came to lifestyle and entertainment products. Consequently, despite the Orc Kingdom’s repeated bans on smuggling human magi-tech, it remained rampant at the border.
“After all, people will risk their heads for a profitable business, but no one does a business that loses money,” Green said, examining the “merchandise” provided by the Northwind Chamber of Commerce. He then shared his theory on why Andy and Anna were so fixated on capturing General Love.
“As for why our allies want him alive… if I’m not mistaken, the story of the Eighth Legion being ambushed isn’t just about intelligence failures or allies refusing to help. There were… other factors.”
Green’s voice turned cold.
“You mean…?” Teresa’s eyes widened. “A traitor? The Marshal… His Excellency the Marshal?”
Thinking of her second brother’s “gift” to the Great Shaman—which consisted of human slaves—a chill ran down Teresa’s spine. She was beginning to realize that the closer she got to the throne, the darker the truths became. There was no hope, no redemption, and none of the heroic grandeur she admired in the First Emperor.
“Princess Teresa, perhaps because the Empire is so dark, we must strive even harder to move forward.” Green looked at the conflicted Teresa, remembering her “naivety” when she volunteered to be a prisoner of the barbarians to save her soldiers.
Once, Green thought this naivety was an obstacle to becoming Emperor. But now…
“A legend is a legend precisely because it defies common sense.” Green nodded firmly. “And what I must do is write such a story.”
Whoosh…
Feeling the parchment scroll in his hand recording the tale, and as his writing materials accumulated, Green’s Bard level continued to rise.
“Turning the void into reality, fabricating history…” Green’s eyes flickered with light.
A ‘Hero’ of the Orcs who has just barely entered the Legendary rank?
Hmph. You’ll make for perfect practice.
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