"Simon!"
The knights simultaneously drew their swords.
The orc pulled the unconscious Simon into its arms and growled.
The pitiful demeanor from earlier was nowhere to be seen.
It grabbed Simon by the neck and shouted something.
"What's it saying?"
"Simon!"
"We have to save him!"
Jaime wasn't flustered. He gestured from behind the knights.
"Cory."
Then, someone small in stature with a hood pulled over their head stepped forward. Their gait was uneven, perhaps due to a disability.
He bowed his head to Jaime and spoke.
"He says if we let him go, he'll spare the human."
He seemed to understand the language of the orcs.
Yuri carefully examined Simon.
"Isn't he already dead?"
At that, the man called Cory spoke to the orc again.
The orc tapped Simon's cheek.
"Uhh…"
Simon flinched.
He wasn't dead.
Yuri let out a sigh of relief.
"He survived thanks to the helmet. He owes me his life."
He acted calm on the outside, but inwardly, he clicked his tongue. He hadn't expected Simon to become a hostage so easily.
If they had charged the orc in this state, they would've ended up nameless skeletons in the grasslands before long.
Feeling grateful to Jaime once again, Yuri looked behind him.
"Are you just going to keep watching?"
At the end of Yuri's gaze stood Ernando, his eyes wide open.
"Me?"
"Yes."
"You have to tell me what to do."
"I'm telling you now."
"Ah, understood."
As the humans conversed among themselves, the orc stomped its foot and barked something at Cory, seemingly trying to intimidate them in its own way.
Then suddenly, its voice stopped.
And Simon's body dropped to the ground.
The orc was frozen like a statue.
"Now."
Ernando had stopped the orc with magic.
Yuri stepped forward, grabbed Simon by the ankle, and dragged him back.
"Thanks, Ernando."
"Don't mention it. The spell won't last long."
As he said, the orc soon began to move again.
"Rraaaargh!"
A roar filled with rage shook the underground. The creature picked up Simon's dropped sword and glared at Yuri and Jaime.
Yuri gestured with his chin at a young knight standing nearby.
"Your name?"
The knight blinked, then straightened his lips and stepped forward.
"Guinness."
"Guinness. Can you do it?"
"Yes."
"Give it a shot."
"Understood."
He raised his mana method. His movements lightened. He rushed at the orc and swung his sword.
Clang!
He was pushed back.
Even with mana, he lost in a head-to-head clash of strength.
The orc continued its attack with the same momentum. Guinness dodged swiftly, but the difference in strength kept pushing him backward.
"Ugh!"
Though he struggled at first, Guinness gradually adapted to the orc's movements. Spotting an opening, he slashed the orc's thigh.
But the orc didn't stay still. It swung its fist and struck Guinness head-on.
The two exchanged blows.
Neither stopped as they continued the close-quarters battle.
Yuri spoke to Jaime.
"Give him some advice, Sir Jaime."
"Advice, huh…"
Watching the fight, Jaime spoke.
"Don't think of it as a man, but as a beast. This is nothing like crossing swords with another human…"
Perhaps annoyed by the orc's resistance, the knight summoned a blue sword aura.
The orc stepped back, gauging the distance. It seemed familiar with human tactics.
After a few more exchanges, Guinness launched a decisive strike.
He aimed at an opening and slashed the orc's arm. The sword, wrapped in aura, cut through flesh with ease.
Blood spurted out, but the orc struck Guinness again with its other arm.
Guinness, having cut the orc's arm, was flung to the ground. He tried to get up, but perhaps due to a concussion, he collapsed again.
"Orcs don't care if they're injured. And they learn new techniques as they fight. Unless it's the heart or neck, don't rush in recklessly. You have to deal with it like you're hunting, slowly."
The orc was about to pounce on Guinness again, but Yuri blocked its path. The orc stopped in place and growled.
"Your Highness!"
Raymond called out to him.
Yuri waved it off casually and helped Guinness to his feet.
"Guinness, can you stand?"
"Y-Yes, Your Highness…"
"Go and rest."
"What about you, Your Highness…"
"Don't worry about me."
He sent Guinness away.
The orc, clutching its wounded arm, merely glared at Yuri without charging again.
"Jaime. Is this orc a normal one?"
"No."
Jaime shook his head.
"It may look smaller, but it has experience. It's probably stronger than the average orc. Let's just call it a war veteran."
Yuri looked at Calcio. He raised both hands and shrugged.
"I see."
The orc remained fixed in place. That was because Yuri was suppressing it with sheer presence.
The only one who noticed this was Jaime, standing nearby.
He looked at Yuri with a different gaze than before.
Yuri called for the interpreter.
"Was it Cory?"
The isolated Cory bowed his head.
"Y-Yes…"
"Tell that creature what I'm about to say."
"Yes."
"How many humans has it killed so far?"
Cory hesitated.
When Yuri gestured with his chin, Cory nervously asked the orc.
The orc contorted its face. It was unclear whether it was angry or laughing.
But with its mouth pulled up to the ears, it looked more like the latter.
The orc barked something at Cory as if pressuring him, then turned to Yuri and continued.
"The orc says, um…"
"Speak."
"Two…"
"Two?"
It wasn't as many as they feared. The knights let out a slow breath, but Cory continued.
"Warriors, that is, soldiers were two…"
Everyone looked at him.
"Five men…"
The mood turned heavy.
Cory shrank back as he finished.
"Four women, and three children…"
The anger spread. Murderous intent flashed in the knights' eyes.
The orc laughed with that same grotesque expression. Its laughter sounded like a drumbeat.
"That bastard…"
A few knights stepped forward, ready to carry out an execution right then and there.
Yuri stopped them.
"Enough."
"Your Highness, even after hearing what that creature just said…"
"Just one of you, step forward."
"…Excuse me?"
Yuri pointed at the orc with his chin and spoke.
"This is a precious opportunity that Sir Jaime has granted us. We can't waste it on venting anger."
"It's not venting…"
"It's just one orc."
Yuri slung his arms over the shoulders of two knights and looked at the others in turn.
"You see the others?"
Even with their kin dying, the orcs remained silent. They knew that stepping forward now would mean death.
"All of them are the same. Out on the grasslands, there are far more terrifying things waiting."
Yuri tapped one knight lightly on the cheek.
"This is training. We'll be facing orcs countless times from now on. So contain your rage."
Then he gave the knight a push on the back.
"Now, try practicing how to kill orcs more efficiently."
Yuri's voice carried conviction. The atmosphere grew heavy.
The knight calmly faced the orc.
After the first orc was killed, Jaime opened another cage. Though the orcs, sensing his intent, initially ceased resistance, once Jaime inflicted pain, they went berserk and charged.
Amid the chaos, the knights fully realized the power of orcs.
They killed seven orcs that way.
Yuri spoke.
"There are many knights here who've never faced an orc before. If you thought of them as no more than some bandits from the frontier, I'm sure now you understand otherwise. Make sure to thank Sir Jaime. If not for him, many of you standing here would've died early in the grasslands."
Even so, the knights' expressions weren't bright.
They had effectively conducted experiments on helpless prisoners.
They looked down at their bloodstained uniforms and wiped their sweat with a grim look.
Jaime stepped forward.
"You're not feeling good about it. I understand."
The knights looked at Jaime. Their gazes were different now.
This was a man who defended the borders against monsters like these. Their eyes had moved beyond reverence — they now held something undefinable.
"So, for your sake, let me show you one more thing."
He tapped the arm of Calcio, who stood beside him.
"Count?"
"We're going upstairs."
"…Sir?"
Calcio scratched the back of his head, his expression asking if this was really necessary.
"Lead the way."
"Yes, understood."
The door to the underground prison closed behind them.
They climbed the stairs and stopped in front of the floor they'd passed earlier. It, too, had an iron door.
"This is the place."
The knights were visibly tense.
Jaime turned to them with a grin, then inserted a key into the lock.
The door opened.
It was too dark to see inside.
Jaime, without hesitation, took a torch and stepped in. The darkness receded.
A wall stood before them, and at the center, there was a gate made of iron bars.
It was a single, massive cell.
"Is there an orc in here too?"
Jaime shook his head at the knight who asked the question.
"No."
"Then what is it?"
"It's better to see it for yourself. Come."
He gestured to the knight.
The knight hesitated, then stepped forward. He stood a step away from the bars and peered inside.
"I don't see anyth—"
Suddenly, Jaime grabbed him by the collar and shoved him close to the bars.
"C-Count?!"
"Take a good look."
Pressing down from behind, Jaime pushed the torch through the bars.
The door wasn't large, and from behind the two of them, nothing inside could be seen.
The knight seemed to notice something, leaning his head forward—and moments later, he screamed and convulsed violently.
"Aaaaaaagh…!"
But Jaime didn't let go.
The knight clung to Jaime's clothes and flailed, and only after a beat did Jaime release him.
The knight stumbled back, turned to the wall, and began retching.
Jaime's hoarse laughter and the knight's gagging echoed through the underground.
Everyone swallowed hard.
"What on earth…"
No one dared step forward. What could he have seen to provoke such a reaction?
Breaking the silence, Yuri walked forward.
"Surely, Your Highness wouldn't want to see such a sight."
"…Maybe."
In truth, Yuri could already guess what was inside.
In his previous life, he had wandered the most dangerous frontlines in search of death. He had carried out missions deep into the orc territories.
"Sir."
Yuri looked inside.
"Why are those things kept here?"
"Does it displease you?"
"No. I'm just curious."
Jaime smiled faintly.
"Even things like this, sometimes they're useful."
The prison was filled with grotesque beings that defied description.
Only a few strands of hair remained, drooping down. Their twisted, asymmetrical eyes held no pattern. Pus dripped from holes where noses should've been. Jagged, random teeth clattered grotesquely.
Their bodies were hunched or disproportionate, as if malformed bones screamed through stretched skin.
But the most revolting thing was that, amid the monstrosity, traces of humanity still remained.
Half-orcs.
Born between orc and human, their very existence was a curse.
What kind of connection did the two races share, for the gods to permit such abominations?
"They're half-human, so we give them a chance."
"How benevolent of you."
Yuri turned away.
"Let everyone take a look."
The knights peered inside one by one, shocked not only by the hideous appearance but also by the fact that hybrids could be born between humans and orcs.
"Dear God…"
Few people knew about half-orcs. They were rarely spoken of, and even more rarely seen.
Jaime spoke.
"They're not easily born."
He glanced inside with familiarity and withdrew the torch.
"But if there are this many… what does that mean?"
Jaime passed Yuri and grinned at the other knights.
"You said we went too far, but we were merely imitating."
"Imitating…?"
"Orcs have their own pens too."
Jaime didn't explain further, but everyone understood. Those with fire in their blood slammed the walls and cursed.
"You're going to be facing creatures like that."
The knights said nothing.
Jaime turned to them.
"Just a word of caution."
At last, Jaime's gaze landed on Yuri. His gray eyes were calm, unshaken.
Yuri asked him,
"Sir Jaime. Do you hate orcs?"
He gave a faint smile. His scars and wrinkles twisted together.
"Yes."
Everyone had an arch-enemy. If Yuri's was the Empire, then Jaime's was the orcs.
Yuri placed a hand on his chest and offered thanks.
"Because of the favor you've granted today, the orcs will bleed even more. I give you my word."
"Is that so?"
Jaime blinked. The torchlight reflected in his pupils, casting a red gleam across them.
"Thank you."
He bowed deeply.
After a moment of reverence, Jaime straightened and looked back into the cell.
Throughout this entire horrific display, he had never once grimaced.
What had he seen, in his countless battles against orcs?
It is said that Jaime retrieved his son's corpse from an orc tribe.
Perhaps that memory is still etched into his eyes.