Chapter 146: Dirty South

An unknown knight clung to Crockta’s horse.

“...!”

The bandits and Crockta’s party came to a face-off.

“The south is a complete mess with all of these bandits and knights...but this time, the knight is the one being chased,” said Tiyo.

“Dwarf! Please save me!”

“I’m not a dwarf!”

The bandits looked at Crockta’s menacing face and flinched.

The leader of the bandits looked behind him to check on the rest of the bandits following behind him.

Once they joined him, the bandit regained his confidence and glared at Crockta.

“Orc! Hand over that knight!”

Based on his aptitude in handling weapons, muscular physique, and boisterous voice, the bandit seemed experienced in threatening others.

They were real bandits unlike the villagers they met earlier.

“What is your relationship with the knight?” asked Crockta.

“Relationship?”

The bandit erupted in laughter.

“The orc is out of his mind! How dare he interrogate me, Nogunda, the King of the Mountain?”

The bandits behind him chuckled along.

“Hey, knight! This orc is going to die because of you!”

“He’s a grim reaper, not a knight! A grim reaper! Hahaha!”

“You guys can go to the underworld together! Hahaha!”

The knight began tearing up at the bandits’ mockery.

“Orc, can you please do something? You have such a big sword...” he pleaded.

But as the number of bandits continued to increase, he threw his hands up in the air in despair.

The self-titled King of the Mountain, Nogunda, and his group of bandits now amounted to dozens, and unlike most bandits, they actually had proper weapons with sharp blades and protective gear. They even had archers in the back with their arrows aimed toward them.

Even though Crockta was an orc, an average warrior wouldn’t have been able to take them on.

The knight, crestfallen, dropped his head and sighed.

“Is this where my journey ends? I have shown an embarrassing side of myself to these strangers.”

The knight raised his head and drew the longsword at his waist. Then, he raised the guard of the longsword to his forehead and whispered, “The knights of Alaste live without regret and smile in death.”

His voice was no longer trembling. He looked back at Crockta, “Orc, I’m sorry. Please run.”

“What about you?” asked Crockta.

“I will take care of them since I was the one who endangered you guys while trying to save my life. I can’t hold out much longer. I apologize for the trouble.”

He got into position and took a step forward. Nogunda laughed at him and raised his axe.

“It’s too late to act like a hero.”

“I look like a hero to you?” replied the knight as he charged. “I’m just playing the role of a knight, you asshole!”

Although the knight didn’t seem reliable when he fled, he actually took the lead when he entered combat. Nogunda was pushed back in their one-on-one match. The knight moved against Nogunda’s predictions with great agility and pierced his opening.

Nogunda strategically responded with his axe, but he was forced to retreat after the knight slashed his side.

There was a palpable difference in skill between them.

As soon as he sensed danger, he beckoned his comrades to join in on the fight.

“Guys! Get him!”

“Yes!”

“Let’s go!”

The knight, as if he expected it all along, stepped back and slashed the first person who approached him and then shouted, “I’m Vigo, the knight of Alaste!”

The sight of Vigo bravely facing the bandits by himself greatly impressed Crockta.

“That guy is different from those fake knights,” said Crockta.

Suddenly, a bandit’s axe was heading toward Vigo’s back.

At that critical moment, a bright light flashed in front of them.

Swoosh!

With a loud noise, Tiyo’s magic bullet pierced through the air and struck the bandit, throwing him up in the air.

Tiyo’s General was growing in destructive power.

“Go, Crockta,” he shouted.

“Bul’tar!”

Crockta dismounted from his horse and joined the battlefield. He grabbed Vigo from the back and tossed him aside before facing the bandits alone.

Each time he swung his greatsword, the enemies crumbled to the ground. Like a lion that leapt into a herd of sheep, Crockta overwhelmed them with his strength.

There wasn’t any opponent who could stop him.

“W-who is this guy?!” exclaimed Nogunda from the back. He ordered the archers to shoot.

“B-but our comrades are over there!”

“Shut up! Just shoot!”

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

“Y-yes!”

At Nogunda’s command, the archers fired their arrows without minding their comrades.

Crockta raised his greatsword to deflect the rain of arrows.

“Ahh!”

“...Ack!”

“Ugh!”

The bandits, struck by the arrows, fell to their deaths as they glared in disbelief behind them. Their eyes remained open as they looked at Nogunda with resentment.

The arrows ended up decreasing the number of bandits.

“Argh...dammit,” muttered Nogunda as he gritted his teeth. He then shouted, “He’s a monster! Let’s run!”

“Retreat!”

“Everyone, retreat!”

Nogunda and his party of bandits began running super fast as they fled.

Crockta shrugged as he watched them leave. “They aren’t even worth chasing.”

He turned around with a wide grin on his face and saw Vigo the knight trembling in fear from witnessing Crockta’s strength.

Even though it was a brief fight, it was enough for Vigo to gauge the orc’s level. There were very few knights who could overcome such a vast numerical disadvantage, and those who could overwhelmingly slaughter their opponents were even rarer.

Only a handful of knights referred to as

Masters

had reached the state capable of such force.

These knights called

Masters

each led an order, and they were coveted elites as they were the most important military power in every city and fiefdom.

Perhaps this orc was a Grandmaster!

A true one man army who had exceeded the level of a Master! Even in Alaste, where he was from, there was only one knight who had reached the level of Grandmaster.

Vigo ran toward the orc in awe.

“Mister orc!”

Then, he brought Crockta in a huge embrace and shook him back and forth. It seemed he tried to pick Crockta up but resorted to shaking him instead because he was too heavy to lift.

“It’s a stroke of luck that I met you, mister orc! What is your name? I will serve you as my master! I love you!”

Crockta wasn’t sure whether this knight was just incredibly friendly or shamelessly brazen.

Tiyo, who had been observing them, ran and sent a flying kick to Vigo.

“Hey!” shouted Tiyo.

“Oof!”

“Oh, mister gnome was here as well! Hahaha! Vigo will pay his respects!”

He laughed out loud and made a deep bow.

“I am Vigo, the knight of Alaste! It’s an honor to serve men like you guys! Hahahaha!”

“We didn’t approve...”

“Mister Crockta and Mister Tiyo! Hahaha!”

Then, he discovered Anor behind them, wide-eyed.

“Hey! Are you their servant?”

“Huh?”

“I asked if you were their servant! You look kind of scrawny...”

“What the fuck are you saying? You couldn’t become their servant even if you tried. Do you want to fucking die?” replied Anor.

“Huh, what...?”

“You fu...mmm! Don’t stop me...! This fucking...mmm!”

Crockta covered his mouth. “This is Anor, our comrade.”

Vigo, frightened by Anor’s litany of expletives, tentatively nodded. “Ah...yes...Anor...sir?”

“He will start cussing if you get on his nerves, so be careful,” warned Crockta.

“I-I will be careful.”

“Yeah, be fucking careful. You beggar...mmm!”

That’s the story of how Crockta and his friends defeated the bandits and met Vigo, the knight of Alaste.

***

“Misters! Please help Alaste!” shouted Vigo as he jumped up from his seat.

Vigo’s drunken voice rang throughout the pub. The eyes of rowdy drunkards were drawn to him.

Vigo, realizing that he was being too loud, slowly sat back down.

The drunkards gave him a look.

“What, he’s from Alaste?”

“Go back to your town!”

“Ugh, I can’t even enjoy my liquor in peace. These Alaste bastards...”

The group of men at a nearby table tried to pick a fight.

This was the territory of humans commonly referred to as the ‘kingdom.’

There was a vast forest below Maillard, and past it were the cities of humans.

Other species were allowed to enter, but like cities predominantly occupied by only one species such as Orcrox or Maillard, humans stood out the most here and composed the ruling class.

And they were currently in

Reynolds

, the first human city they had to pass through to get to other cities.

“What did the Alate bastards come to scavenge here?”

“Hold on.”

“Ah, he’s ruining my night.”

They glared at Vigo with threatening eyes. “These rat-like Alaste guys.”

Vigo’s eyebrow twitched. It was hard for him to endure continued insults.

Right then, the door of the pub opened and everyone held their breaths.

It was an orc.

As soon as his menacing face came in through the door, all of the drunkards in the pub began to sober up. His presence was like a remedy for a hangover.

The pub turned quiet when they saw his majestic figure, frightening tattoos, and the giant greatsword on his back.

It was rare for orcs to appear in the south.

An orc that large and sinister-looking was extremely rare even among orcs.

The orc glanced around the pub and looked in the direction of the guy who shouted about Alaste and then sat at a table.

“Crockta, you’re finally here,” said Tiyo.

“Yeah, I’m a bit late,” replied Crockta.

He had gone to an armory to have the blade of his Ogre Slayer sharpened. It needed an inspection as well because it had spilled a lot of blood recently.

“Anyway, this guy wants us to help this place called Alaste,” continued Tiyo.

“Alaste?” replied Crockta as he looked around the pub.

For some reason, the pub was too quiet.

“It’s quiet here,” commented Crockta.

The voices that had mocked Alaste were now completely silent. The ones who had threatened Vigo earlier were now quietly sipping their drinks with their eyes fixed on their table.

Vigo, who now had Crockta to watch his back, shouted, “Cheers to Alaste!”

Alaste was in a unique political position and had declared itself as a completely neutral city. Thus, it wasn’t governed by the king. There hadn’t been any problems until this point because the king was more of a symbolic figure, but a problem arose once the king started calling himself an emperor. He demanded that Alaste submit to his rule.

The king’s policies were changing.

“The kingdom will soon become an empire. This isn’t just our problem. It’s the entire continent’s problem.”

“Hmm...”

Crazy leaders were popping up everywhere. In the north, it was the chieftain, and here in the south, it was the emperor.

“What a disaster,” said Crockta.

“Yes, it’s a disaster,” replied Vigo. He then lowered his voice. “To be honest, I think Nogunda, the King of the Mountain, who chased after me, was compelled to do that by the kingdom.”

“What do you mean?”

“He and his subordinates suddenly appeared out of nowhere and took over that area. They only targeted and robbed merchants and travelers heading to Alaste. That’s why I was dispatched to investigate. Nogunda and his group of bandits were so strategic that they easily overwhelmed my comrade and me.”

“What happened to your comrade?”

“My comrade...” Vigo paused for a moment. “My comrade...departed with a smile...in a fashion befitting a gallant knight of Alaste.”

“I’m sorry. My condolences,” replied Crockta.

“...No. They used axes for weapons, but they were definitely trained. Nogunda in particular, practiced the swordsmanship of the kingdom. I’m certain. It doesn’t make sense that ordinary bandits could use such techniques. They also had too many members for a group of bandits.”

Vigo believed that the kingdom was creating bandits to torment Alaste.

“The future is grim, but I saw hope today, sir! Please help Alaste!” he pleaded.

Crockta looked at Tiyo, who just shrugged.

“Let’s listen a bit more first,” suggested Tiyo.

Anor was quietly sipping on his drink without joining the conversation. Even with his hood on, the women at the pub were sending flirtatious looks to Anor. Being handsome was the best.

“How do you want us to help? Are you asking us to stay in Alaste forever? That’s too much,” said Crockta.

“That’s not it.”

Vigo took a big gulp of his beer and then slammed the glass on the table with a thud.

“Alaste is weak compared to the kingdom. It’s a fact everyone knows. So the king who calls himself emperor said he would show us mercy and suggested a one-on-one battle between the strongest men in the kingdom and Alaste.”

It was a proxy war fought by the best knights!

The king said if Alaste won, the kingdom would leave the city alone, but if the kingdom won, Alaste would be annexed by the kingdom.

“The king plans to be officially recognized as an emperor by taking control over Alaste and other cities and creating an empire. Most cities have already fallen prey to him, but among the few remaining places, Alaste is especially important because it is the largest.”

“Hmm...”

“He’s confident because the kingdom has a lot of formidable knights. Grandmaster Pacrinche, in particular, is an invincible knight who has never been defeated.”

“Pacrinche?”

“Yes, Adantadore Pacrinche.”

“What is his relationship with Leyteno Pacrinche?”

“...Ah...that

traitor

. Well, I guess it’s not surprising you know about him.”

Crockta’s eyebrow twitched at the word

traitor.

Vigo raised his hands up in the air. “I meant no harm. I hope you understand.”

Leyteno Pacrinche, the great warrior honored in Orcrox’s Hall of Fame, was also referred to as the Master of the Greatsword.

Crockta started using the greatsword because of him.

He fought against the lies and hypocrisy of his own people, humans, and joined the brotherhood of orcs.

“Leyteno is a distant ancestor. Adantadore is the present-day earl of Pacrinche. He is the head of the family.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, he is expected to appear in the upcoming proxy war. Alaste doesn’t have a knight who is a match for him...but!”

Vigo’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

“I met you today! Please rise to the battle for the sake of Alaste!”