75

Several orcs within visible range had already reacted to my scent.

They didn’t seem to know what it was yet, but it was only a matter of time before they traced its source.

Retreating was an option, but that would make it look like I ran away from the orcs, and that didn’t sit well with me.

Still, staying up all night against an unknown number of orcs would be a hassle.

Unlike goblins, the smell wasn’t as strong, which was a relief, but overall their specs were much higher.

With their greater intelligence, they came up with tricks to escape, making them troublesome.

If they had a command unit, unlike goblins who never fled, the orcs would retreat depending on the situation to protect their King or Queen.

Therefore, they wouldn’t necessarily fight to the end like goblins.

So what should I do?

I didn’t want to retreat.

But fighting them would be a pain.

It was only a matter of time before I was found.

(Alright, I’ll just ignore the pigs and push straight through.)

I switched my thinking to breaking through head-on.

However, if I just ran across, it might look like I was avoiding a fight, which could embolden the orcs, and that wasn’t good.

So, I stood up and walked straight toward the horde of orcs.

When the orcs noticed me and raised their voices to alert the others, they all rushed toward the huts.

They were probably going to fetch weapons, so I ignored them and hopped over the shabby fence, stepping into their settlement.

My guess seemed right.

The orcs that came out of the huts carried spears and small shields.

But seeing orcs line up neatly in a row and wait their turn even while being invaded made for quite a surreal sight.

(And it’s a long line! Is that about 100 meters?)

While it was clear they were well-organized, their brains might have been a little lacking.

I ignored the armed orcs pointing their spears at me and lumbered right across the village.

By the way, orcs were about two meters tall, so they had to look slightly up at me.

Perhaps they realized I didn’t plan to do anything special, so they just surrounded me from a distance, not attempting any attacks.

I thought this might end without any trouble, but with that many of them, of course, there were bound to be some acting foolishly.

A particularly large orc blocked my path.

Big, but not ogre-sized—just big for an orc.

The halberd in its hands looked like it was made “for orcs,” perfectly sized for them, but it was too small for my proportionally larger hands, so I wasn’t interested.

It seemed annoyed that its kin were just watching the intruder without doing anything, squealing angrily while the others exchanged awkward glances.

Apparently being half-smart led to this.

I stared at it curiously, which seemed to offend it, as it raised its halberd to strike.

It seemed eager to die, so I granted its wish.

I pinched the blade of the halberd mid-swing to stop it, pulled the orc closer, and gave it a strong slap.

Its neck twisted halfway around to face backward, so it should be dead.

Now then, the reaction of pigs who saw an existence far above themselves—panic.

Apparently, this settlement had no leader despite their numbers, as the orcs began squealing and running around in terror.

The ones pointing spears from afar were the most composed; it seemed these orcs were genuine pigs living comfortably in a safe zone.

Not worth paying any mind.

Still, since I hadn’t intended to deal with them anyway, this worked out for me.

I continued striding arrogantly through the orc settlement, but no one stepped forward to stop me.

In the end, I made it out of the village without any real attacks.

The worst they did was throw stones, probably for intimidation, but even those dropped short before reaching me.

Now, as I continued heading south, what I saw here raised concerns about the orcs’ range of activity.

Judging from the location of the farms, this place should have served as a buffer zone… but while they showed trained movements, there was no sign they intended to fight.

In other words, they looked unprepared for combat.

Or perhaps it should be seen as “they didn’t need to be prepared.”

The latter was the troublesome one—if it were the former, it could just be dismissed as “the orcs were lazy,” but if it was the latter, there might be a large base elsewhere, or something equivalent, making this area a safe zone.

(In the worst case, there really might be an “Orc Kingdom.” And geographically, the ones dealing with it would be the Furon Council. The northern defenses are virtually nonexistent, but if their entire army is facing south, that would at least explain the weakness there.)

This might require some form of intervention.

I had planned to observe and possibly get involved with Furon depending on the situation, but… this case was unexpected.

For now, I continued south.

I had to see how far the orc influence extended, or it could hinder my future activities.

If push came to shove, I could just wipe them out.

But since they had finally grown crops on a large enough scale, I wanted to consider using them as a stable source of income.

There was no need to hold back against monsters.

When they abandoned farming, that would be the pigs’ end.

So, I spent the night moving south, but the situation was worse than I thought.

Why? Because the orcs had built a fortress.

And it was currently under expansion.

Working physical labor early in the morning—how admirable.

But orcs engaging in labor was not a good sign for humans.

This was probably their forward base, but given they were leisurely expanding it, the actual frontline was even further south.

(Isn’t the orcs’ sphere of influence a bit too wide? Depending on the situation east and west, they might have military strength on a national level.)

If the Furon Council had declined to the level of the old empire’s surrounding countries, they could very well be facing an existential crisis.

While groaning and watching the orcs stacking stones from a distance, I heard a human voice.

A woman’s voice—but not a scream.

The shouting coming from inside the fortress sounded as if she were fighting.

What in the world was going on? I grew curious, but since humans weren’t attacking the fortress, the situation clearly wasn’t good.

Depending on the case, a rescue might be in order.

I dropped my backpack and set it down somewhere, then approached the fortress from upwind, using my mimicry ability to climb the wall.

“You filthy pigs!”

Upon reaching the outer wall and seeing there were no guards, I almost laughed, but the sight before me wasn’t funny.

A naked woman holding a sword was fighting an orc wielding a spear.

The surrounding orcs clapped and laughed gleefully, while the orc fighting her grinned lewdly, easily dodging her clumsy swings.

There was no doubt she wasn’t used to handling a sword, and with a dulled shortsword, it would be difficult to land a fatal blow.

In short, this was just a show.

Not only were they tormenting captives, they were using them as toys.

It was safe to assume there were quite a number of women imprisoned in this fortress.

Otherwise, orcs wouldn’t seek out such entertainment.

Orcs were using humans as toys.

Orcs, of all creatures, were mocking those of imperial blood.

The moment I thought that, a switch flipped.

I regained my composure and looked down on the scene with a head gone cold.

(For now, all orcs will be slaughtered. That’s non-negotiable.)

The problem was how many humans were captured.

And what to do with them afterward—but that could wait until I rescued them.

I climbed back down from the outer wall, confirmed no one saw me, and deactivated my mimicry ability.

Then I climbed back up and revealed myself—but the orcs were so engrossed in the spectacle that none of them even looked my way.

No one even noticed me as I stood alone atop the outer wall.

(Alright, pigs, get ready.)

Kicking off the wall with enough force to break it, I leapt high into the air.

Finally, some of the pigs noticed, pointing and yelling in confusion.

I landed with a tremendous crash between the orc and the woman, raising a cloud of dust.

Now then, let the massacre begin.