Chapter 614 - 613: The Origin of the Orcs

Chapter 614: Chapter 613: The Origin of the Orcs

"I’ll get busy tallying up the battlefield, then. Please wait a moment." Albert turned his head and began giving orders to a few mounted followers beside him. They immediately rode off to relay the commands to the soldiers.

Colin promptly climbed back onto his horse.

"Colin, I want to go help with the fire," said Ale.

Beside her, Orelia was also looking at the defensive wall burning fiercely in the distance. Both young girls seemed anxious.

"It’s fine. You two go ahead. I can handle the bodyguard duty." After speaking, Colin spurred his horse forward to catch up with Albert, just in case he ran into any trouble. The rest of the group started helping the Recruits with the clean-up work.

As he rode toward Albert, Colin glanced at his quest Panel.

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[Commission: Slay the Orc Chief]

[Rating: 5 (Mortal)]

[Reward: 250 Skill Level Points]

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Just like before, Colin allocated all the Skill Level points to Empowering Armor.

This brought his Skill Level up to Empowering Armor (Expert) 3226/4000.

He considered this a big step toward raising its Level.

For the next few hours, the Recruits helped the village put out the fire, tally the casualties, and clean up the battlefield.

The Scouts and Knights pursued the Orcs for a long time but couldn’t catch all of them.

The final result was over two hundred Orcs killed and a few dozen of the old, weak, sick, or disabled captured.

Most Orcs were unwilling to become human captives, so they would fight to the death once they felt they couldn’t escape. The ones who were caught were those with no strength left to resist and were taken by force.

Additionally, about a dozen Orcs were unaccounted for.

These stragglers wouldn’t amount to much, so there was no need to worry too much about them.

Colin also asked about the casualty situation.

About nine Recruits had died in the battle, and over twenty were injured.

Even though they were in near-perfect condition during the first engagement, and he and Kase had carried out a flawless decapitation strike, there were still such sacrifices on the battlefield.

The vast majority of the Recruits had been too impulsive while chasing down the Orcs and were killed by the fleeing Orcs’ desperate counterattacks... ’That’s truly the most regrettable way to die on the battlefield.’

For an Ordinary person, recklessly stepping onto a battlefield was never a wise decision.

But to defend their homes, they had no other choice.

On the other hand, the army had arrived just as the Orcs were beginning their attack, so the villagers inside hadn’t suffered any losses. The only thing they needed to worry about was repairing the scorched palisade, which was good news.

Finally, Albert arranged for the villagers and soldiers to bury the fallen outside the village.

The wounded, meanwhile, were healed by Orelia’s Divine Healing Spells.

The Little Priest’s Divine Art Casting Ability was now sufficient to handle it all.

By the time they were finished, it was already evening, so the party decided to make camp on the side of the main road outside the village.

The campfire before them CRACKLED as it burned.

Leaping Flames licked at the blackened bottom of a pot, and the food inside was steaming.

Albert had bought some beer for the soldiers to relieve their stress, so occasional bursts of laughter and cheers could be heard, making it seem as if the battle from a few hours ago had been just an illusion.

"Get out that salt of yours and add some," Dorn said as he stirred the stew in the pot with a wooden spoon.

"Why are you always in such a hurry for that stuff? Is it really that good?"

The Dwarf was so eager every time that Colin was beginning to suspect those abyssal salted fish were addictive.

’Of course, it’s also possible I’m underestimating how appealing the abyssal salted fish is to them. After all, there’s no such thing as MSG in this world.’

Dorn stared at the stew and bellowed, "What do you mean ’is it good’? To put it bluntly, that stuff would make shit taste good."

Sitting nearby and reading a book, Ale heard this and twitched her ears in disgust.

"I have to agree with Mr. Shadow Anvil. It really is delicious, Mr. Colin," Orelia said, her mouth watering.

"Alright, I never said I wouldn’t share."

Colin sighed, took out the jar, and ladled two spoonfuls into the pot.

Although Orelia was a gluttonous little girl, she was frugal every day to abide by her precepts and save up for her plan to open an orphanage.

For that, Colin admired her quite a bit.

Just then, Albert, having changed back into his hunting attire, walked over.

He smiled and asked, "Mind if one more joins you, everyone?"

"I mind a little. We only have enough food for ourselves," Dorn grumbled.

"Don’t mind this Dwarf," Colin said, then asked, "Did you get anything out of those Orc prisoners?"

"We got a lot. This was a very fruitful endeavor."

Albert sat down next to Colin and began to speak slowly. "This clan is called the Gray Fang Clan. They originally lived in the Orc Wasteland to the east, making a living by defeating other Orc Tribes and selling the captives to the Gray Dwarves in exchange for weapons."

"They would do that...?" Orelia covered her mouth.

"It’s not uncommon among Orcs."

Albert continued, "However, a few months ago, they were defeated by another Orc Tribe. They refused to submit, so they abandoned their tribe’s weapons and equipment, gathered their essential supplies, and used the experience they’d gained trading with the Gray Dwarves to find an underground tunnel to this area. And that’s how they ended up running into us."

"That sounds relatively normal," Colin said.

"What’s not normal is the tribe that defeated them. That tribe is called the ’Blood Axe Tribe’."

The moment he heard Albert’s words, Colin noticed Kase stiffen beside him.

Albert, who had also noticed this, spoke up, "Is something wrong, Kase?"

"Before our tribe left this area, we were Rusek’s Believers within the Blood Axe Tribe," Kase said slowly. "What about the Blood Axe Tribe? Keep talking."

Albert paused for a moment, then continued, "Starting last year, the Blood Axe Tribe’s power began to swell rapidly. They defeated several other tribes in succession and absorbed them all.

If nothing unexpected happens, they’ll soon bring all the armies that have submitted to them to come raid us. The reason we’re raising an army now is to deal with this very threat.

Without a doubt, the current Chief of the Blood Axe Tribe must be a formidable opponent. Otherwise, he never would have been able to unite so many Orc Tribes."

SNAP.

A faint crackle came from the roaring campfire.

"Perhaps this is fate," Kase said out of the blue.

"It certainly feels that way," Colin said. "They drove your tribe out, and now you’ve joined the very force that’s trying to stop them. On top of that, you’ve even scouted their movements in advance."