Chapter 21 Dance With The Orcs (2)
Cloud snugly laid on his bed and didn't even care about opening his eyes again.
‘Is he…really sleeping? Like, for real..? In this situation?’
What's with all these crazy bastards?
Are all Heroes like this these days?
Krappa groaned and staggered out of the room to check the situation.
Outside the cabin, on the deck, there was absolute chaos.
Passengers who were doing all kinds of things to save their lives, sailors who were shouting, asking the others to stay still if they wanted to live, and even the captain who was shouting and giving orders in the meanwhile.
And at the heart of it all, was a great storm.
A whining passenger was pulled away in the strong cyclone, and the ship shook in the waves.
“…Should I just leave?”
If he spreads his wings and flies away now, then maybe he will have a chance to survive. Though that thought passed in his mind, Krappa shook his head.
If he did that, he will be disobeying his master's orders.
And even if he tried to escape by air, it was clear that in this strong wind, he would fall without much time to make any other moves.
And because of that damn garlic even his own blood energy was not under his proper control!
“Should I just leave it to luck just as that human said…”
It was time for Krappa to sigh as he turned back to return to his room.
When—
—a large wave formed in front of the bow.
A very, very large tsunami-like wave that seemed to swallow the ship.
– Hey, look at that!
– Damn it! Hold on tight, boys!
– H, Help me! I want to live, aaaw!
In the midst of the chaotic crowd, Krappa fell on his knees.
“Master…”
Why did you drive this faithful servant into such quagmire…
For the first time since Krappa was reborn as a vampire, he resented his master.
Woo, woo, woo, woo!
Nature's wrath timely struck upon the ship.
* * *
Krappa spent his childhood days as an ordinary human boy. His father was the only blacksmith in a small town, so it can be said that he grew up in a rather well-to-do family.
So like that, he was living his very ordinary but leisurely days.
But, on one dark night, a group of people with hoodies on their head stormed the village.
Their physical abilities far exceeded that of ordinary humans, and the town people were slaughtered without any resistance.
Krappa couldn't avoid them either.
He was slowly dying with his sister in his arms.
Was this his end? Will his life end in such a vain manner? At least, he wished his sister would survive…
It was time for all kinds of thoughts to pass through his groggy consciousness.
– Hmm, these guys look pretty useful.
When he saw a beautiful woman through his blurred vision…
“Yo dude, still alive? Stop sleeping and wake up.”
“Ugh.”
Receiving a wake-up nudge on his shoulders from a leg, Krappa woke up from a dream that contained his old memories. Suddenly waking up from his dream, he cautiously jumped back on his feet and turned his head to look around.
Dry land.
Withered trees and seemingly endless plains.
There were no shabby wooden walls or straw beds in sight.
“This is…”
“The western part of the continent. The land of the orcs.”
"Orcs? Why are we in the orc’s territory suddenly…”
“What else? Looks like our luck is not that good, some deepsh!t luck, I must say. There's nothing to be alert about, atleast for now there's none, go bring those fallen bellops over here. I will go gather branches and make a bonfire.”
On the shoreline Cloud pointed to, fragments of ships, crew members, and passengers who were toppling or floating in the waves came into view. Krappa pulled up the crew members and passengers on the side one by one.
‘Damn it, I'm looking out for lesser things at the orders of a lesser bastard.'
Double shame!
Double damage!
Krappa felt a sense of shame that he had to live with for the moment.
‘What am I thinking now! It's master's command. I have the obligation to obey my lady's commands!’
His master had told him to monitor Cloud's every action and report it accordingly. To do so, he had to first win Cloud's trust, and in order to earn his trust, he had to pretend and show his obedience.
So, what he is currently doing now is ultimately his master's orders too.
Krappa appeased his sense of shame and threw each of the humans he picked up near the bonfire that Cloud had lit. About twenty such people were stacked together around the bonfire.
"Good work. The weather is muggy cold at night here, thankfully, we have a bonfire now, so we don't have to worry about hypothermia. Let's take turns in guarding and resting until they wake up.”
"All right, Cloud-sama."
"Hum? Why using honorifics again, dude? Just talk nonsense like you did before, feel free.”
"…no."
‘He didn't forget it?’
Krappa added a line to the report about Cloud in his head.
– Holds grudges.
* * *
As time passed, those who had fainted began to wake up one by one.
“What, what?! W, Where are we?!”
“Howl, you go and explain.”
"…Yes."
Krappa walked up to people every time they woke up and explained the situation. The reactions of those who heard the explanation varied.
“Hey, what nonsense is that?! It's the land of orcs, oh my f*ck!! It's exactly the opposite of the direction the ship was going!"
Denial of reality.
“My god, Orcs…? Monsters that are more cruel than barbarians…? Ah… it's over… We are dead meat.”
Despair.
“We are in the land of orcs…? Damn it! Does that captain even knows how to sail ships!? When I return home, I'll tell my father and have him harpooned to the city wall!"
Anger.
"Ha, oh my goodness… I heard that orcs are so barbaric… If caught… ha ha…❤"
???
What the heck was that just now..?
…anyway, all those who had fainted were awakened and by now were well aware of the reality.
The atmosphere was dark because most of them were immersed in the negative emotions that grappled their hearts.
Clap, Clap!
The sound of claps evoked their attention. They turned their attention to the one who clapped just now.
Cloud, the person who made the movement, said with a smile.
“As you all know, the ship was wrecked in a storm. And so we fell into the land of the orcs. In such a situation, we have only one option to take. We have to somehow get to the border and get out of here.”
“Get out..? Is it possible? If the orcs see us while we are moving, it would be the end of all of us…”
Someone questioned in a dismayed tone.
The person who mumbled the desperate words earlier, he looked like he had already given up on everything.
At those words, Cloud shook his head.
“That’s right. If we encounter orcs in the process, there is no other end.”
"Then…"
“But, does anyone has a better idea than the one I just suggested? If yes, please present it. We'll all take a look at it positively.”
"…none."
“Then do as I say. Wouldn't it be better to live even a little bit longer with perseverance than dying here like dead logs?"
Cloud looked at the people sitting around the bonfire one by one. The facial expressions were better than before. It was a positive sign.
“Ha ha, now I just can't silently listen to you anymore.”
And whenever things are going to go well, there's always a guy present there who is always ready to blaze the candle. Because it was a familiar situation, Cloud's expression remained impassive.
Really.
He looked at the man who wanted to die with no expression on his face.
A young man who appeared to be in his mid to late teens. He was the guy who had expressed his anger earlier by saying he was going to complain to his father. Next to him stood a middle-aged man who appeared to be his escort.
“Why?”
“It looks like you are trying to take the lead in this group, right?”
“Yes, is there any problem?”
“…you are brave. Well, that's not bad. But taking the initiative is another matter. You must not take the initiative. Only I can take the initiative here.”
His voice, speaking as if it were natural, was full of arrogance and confidence.
Huh, does logic works in this way too?
Cloud asked, tilting his head.
“So, why will you be the only one who can lead this group?”
“Of course it is because I am a noble. Isn't it strange in the first place that the commoners who should obediently follow the nobles, are making the nobles follow them?"
The young man who spoke up to that point looked at the reactions of others. He didn't even need to look. From the moment the word ‘noble' came out, everyone had their eyes turned downwards or fidgeted.
The imprint of being ruled, engraved over a long period of time from generation to generation, presented it's reaction.
The young man smiled contentedly and continued.
“So from now on, I will control you all. This is an order, not a suggestion or request. Those who do not obey my orders will be judged as criminals that instant… keek!”
The young man who was kicked to the side, rumpled on the floor. And the middle-aged man who was standing like an escort immediately drew out his sword.
“Dude, speak less sh!t."
Cloud glanced at the sword aimed at him and ordered Krappa.
“Howl, beat it. As long as it doesn't interfere with his movement ability."
"Yes."
The middle-aged frowned at the casual conversation that seemed to be talking about cleaning some roadside garbage.
"You. You dare insult a knight. Repay that insult with death!”
A horizontally swung sword aimed at Krappa's neck. It was a clean cut with no frills. And Krappa blocked it with his palm.
“What?!”
The middle-aged was astonished.
How can this person block his own sword just by sticking out his palm?!
It was ridiculous.
A knight's sword is not something that can be stopped so lightly!
But there was not much time for him to be astonished.
Krappa's fist pounded the middle-aged man's face twice in a row like a clean cut.
Puck! Puck!
There was a dull sound, like being hit with a blunt weapon. Krappa got on top of the middle-aged man who fell backwards. He started whacking, one after another, waving his fists as forcefully as he could.
“Heh, heh. Heh, heh..!”
…with a bizarre laugh.
Cloud sighed.
“Don’t hurt his bones. We still have a long way to walk together anyways.”
"All right!"
The voice was very bright.
Um, did I tormented the dude too much? I also think it was a little bit too much to pickle up his secret stash of beef jerky with garlic juice.
Cloud reflected a little on himself.
That doesn't mean he would stop the garlic feast arranged for his new ‘companion', though.
“Do you know who I am, how dare you do this to me?!”
Callios, who rose from the floor while wriggling, glared at Cloud with a terrifying force.
“Well, let's now also hear, who are you?”
“I am the legitimate heir of Viscount Goldenbern of the Kingdom of Prona, Callios Goldenbern! Now do you understand? Who you made an enemy of, Goldenbern family… geh!”
After getting kicked again in his stomach, Callios rolled over the floor once again.
“Ugh… you, you! Didn't you hear what I just said? I am…"
“I heard it all. You said you are the son of a certain bla bla Viscount family of countryside? Here I thought you were going to be some great aristocrat.”
"What..? Countryside..?”
Callios gave him a look of disbelief.
Countryside?
Did he heard it right?
Sadly, it seemed that there was no problem with his hearing ability.
‘He said that my family is just a countryside family..?’
There are only two cases where this is possible.
Either he's a crazy idiot or…
Or, he comes from a background that is ridiculously superior to his.
The latter was more likely to be the case when thinking about it rationally.
“T, That, who are you..?”
Cloud squatted down and made an eye level contact with Callios. The frightened figure of Callios was reflected in his cold, sunken eyes.
Cloud responded.
“So, who do you think I would be?”
