Duke Pendragon

“Keheum?”

Karuta and the other Ancona Orcs raised their heads as well. Dozens of figures stood on top of the thick green branches.

“What the hell are those?”

The newcomers had a similar outward appearance as humans, but their faces were painted with colorful patterns. Karuta frowned at their appearance.

However, the uninvited guests did not attack the orc warriors. Instead, the two groups had a cold confrontation between the ground and the trees.

“Karuta, what should we do? Should we attack?”

Karuta shook his head at the words of an orc warrior.

“No. Since they are standing still, I don’t think they want to fight with the orcs.”

In the past, Karuta might have fought first before doing anything else, but after spending time with Raven, he learned how to think beforehand. Moreover, the strange creatures seemed to be natives of the Great Forest. Since the orcs were here to search for Raven, he could not carelessly attack anyone who might know the whereabouts of his friend.

“But why are those bastards just silently staring at us like that? Oi! You rotten scarecrows! Well, do you have something you want to say?”

When the largest orc warrior roared loudly, the figures on the tree recoiled. Then, they jumped off the branches after seemingly talking amongst themselves.

“Keheul…”

The uninvited guests were even stranger up close. As Karuta observed their bizarre appearances, his eyes started to widen gradually.

Patterns painted on the face to intimidate enemies, hats and headbands made of bird feathers and animal pelts…

Even though they were quite weird and strange, the sight felt quite familiar to Karuta for some reason.

“These guys…”

“Somehow…”

The Ancona Orc warriors looked around and shared glances with another. It seemed that a similar thought had passed through their heads.

“They are quite similar to us when we were in Ancona Forest, don’t you think?”

The orc warriors nodded at Karuta’s words.

Although their physical appearance and physique were completely different, the slender newcomers gave off quite a similar vibe to the Ancona Orcs of the past.

“Are they scarecrows living here?”

“No, they are a little different from scarecrows, right? They’re all so skinny.”

Once the orcs noticed the similarities between the Great Forest’s natives and themselves, they showed strong curiosity. It was quite remarkable how they could see themselves in a forest located on the other side of the world.

Some of the orcs even approached the slender figures, then looked at them up and down before grinning while revealing their large fangs.

Rather, it was the Red Moon Valley elves who became nervous after noticing the presence of the orcs. They had never seen such creatures in the Great Forest before.

All the servants of the Troll King in the Great Spirit possessed a sinister aura. However, the orcs, whom they had seen for the first time in their lives, exuded a fundamentally different spirit from any other.

They were strong and fierce, and the Earth God’s energy could be felt coming from the orcs. Now that Duke Pendragon and more than half of the warriors had left, an invasion by the strange creatures could be considered a serious matter. After all, the elves were able to sense that the orcs were incomparably stronger compared to the goblins or lizardmen.

If the rest of the elven warriors were here, they would have initiated a preemptive strike to defeat the enemies, but that was not a viable option as of now. A hasty attack could endanger the entire tribe.

Orcs possessed strong resistance to poison, so the toxin manufactured by the Red Moon Valley elves would not be very effective. In particular, orcs born in the presence of the Earth God’s sacred tree possessed even more resistance.

In addition, most of the monsters of the Great Forest and other species could not approach the elves’ village, as it was protected by the sacred tree, but it was different for orcs who served the Earth God. On the contrary, the orcs instinctively sensed the tree and the power of the Earth God and unconsciously headed towards it.

As such, as soon as the Red Moon Valley elves confirmed the orc warriors entering the elven territory, they started to follow the orcs covertly, hoping that the orcs would pass by their village…

Unfortunately, as they expected, the orc warriors continued to draw closer to the elf village, and the Red Moon Valley elves were eventually forced to make a decision.

First, they drew the orcs’ attention and provoked them to see if they possessed any hostility. If the orcs started to attack, they could flee towards the village and fight back using traps and terrain. But if a conversation were possible, they would provide water and food and suggest they took a different route.

However, the orcs had not responded to their provocations. Instead, they continued to look up without taking any actions, so the elves had finally come down…

“Keung! This is amazing. Karuta, I can feel the energy of the Earth God from the bodies of these scarecrows.”

“Kukeket! That’s true! Scarecrows have the energy of the Earth God.”

“They even go around in a similar fashion to us. They really are a weird bunch of scarecrows.”

Astonishingly, the orc warriors were approaching themselves with a curious, friendly attitude.

“Hey, what kind of scarecrows are you? Why did you throw that kind of toy at the orcs?”

Karuta spoke as he pointed towards the poison needle stuck in Kratul’s staff. Then, the oldest of the remaining elven warriors stepped up.

“I wanted to verify if you were enemies or allies. Just because you receive the blessing of the Earth God, doesn’t mean we are on the same side.”

“Keung! That’s true, the horse heads don’t like us either. Anyways, then you don’t think we are the enemies, right?”

“Yes.”

The leader of the elves nodded before continuing.

“Why did you come here? This is the land of the Red Moon Valley tribe. You must leave.”

“Keheul? What? You guys are the red moon whatever?”

Karuta became wide-eyed.

The old wizard from the Great Forest had said so. That there was an elf tribe in the Great Forest called the red moon something, and that they were his friends.

“Whew! We got this right on the first try! It must be the Earth God’s blessing!”

Karuta grinned, revealing his large, sharp fangs.

He was smiling, but it appeared to be a threatening expression for others. The leader of the elves took a step back with an anxious expression and raised his hand.

The elves remaining on the branches lifted their bows and poison needles. However, Karuta and the other Ancona warriors remained relaxed despite the elves’ alarming reaction. It was because they had the confidence to deal with these sorts of scarecrows in less than the time it took to eat a roasted pig.

“You, why have you come to us? What is your reason?”

“Keheul, we weren’t particularly looking for you guys when we came here. A friend of an orc came into the forest, and I thought maybe you guys would know.”

“Friend of orc? I have never seen an orc around these regions. Take another path around.”

“Who said it was an orc? The friend is a scarecrow. A human.”

“Human?”

A glimmer appeared in the elf leader’s eyes.

“Yes, have you seen a scarecrow with two swords and armor? He should have been sprinkling around the spirit of the guardian of our forest, a dragon…”

“Pendragon!”

The elf raised his voice without realizing it.

***

“Keheul…!”

The moment they saw a divine tree several times larger than that in the Ancona Forest, Karuta and the other orc warriors were unable to stop their jaws from dropping.

“It’s a blessing! The Earth God’s blessing!”

Kratul jumped around with a wide grin. After all, he was a druid of the Earth God. He had been feeling energized and in a good mood since a while ago, but he had never imagined that he would find a sacred tree of the Earth God here.

“Large… and beautiful.”

Killian murmured as he looked up at the sacred tree. No other words could express his astonishment. The grandness of Red Moon Valley’s sacred tree was not limited to the orcs. The humans fell in awe at its magnificent appearance.

Moreover, the expressions of the Pendragon Duchy’s soldiers had relaxed after they heard from the leader of the elves that their lord was safe.

“This way.”

The elf leader felt a little proud after seeing the astonishment of the humans and orcs as he guided them.

“Oh, ooohhh!”

Killian’s eyes wandered from place to place as he followed the elf, then it sparkled with joy. The elves of Red Moon Valley were appearing from the houses built on the huge branches of the sacred tree.

“T, this is heaven…!”

Killian was unable to come to his senses. All of the female elves, regardless of their age, were beauties capable of shaking up the heavens. And it was the same with the other soldiers.

“Elves. They are real elves…”

“Whoa, so pretty.”

“I’m glad that I am alive…”

They did not dare stare blatantly, but the soldiers could not help but steal glances and admire the elves’ beauties. Unfortunately, however, the elves appeared to be wary of the Ancona Orcs and the Pendragon Duchy’s soldiers.

The elf leader looked around the surroundings and shouted.

“They are Pendragon’s colleagues. They came all the way here to find him and help us.”

The elves had been looking down with caution, but the entire atmosphere changed at the leader’s words. All the Red Moon Valley elves knew of Pendragon. He was the companion of the dragon and had left on a long journey to help their tribe.

Colleagues of such a man were friends of the tribe regardless of race.

“Hohoho!”

“Whoa…!”

Female elves and children rushed in and surrounded the orc warriors and human soldiers. The mainland elves would never act in such a fashion, but the Red Moon Valley elves were different.

Above all, the energy of the Earth God coming from the Ancona Orcs removed any obstacles that existed between the orcs and the elves, even though the two were supposed to be like fire and water.

Meanwhile, the human soldiers were unable to stop grinning. Countless beauties were surrounding them, and each of the elves were easily the greatest beauty they had seen in their lives. When such transcendent beauties smiled at them, all the fatigue accumulated throughout their entire lives seemed to melt away.

The same familiarity spread throughout the Ancona Orcs as well. They did not feel any distaste for the elves of the Red Moon Valley elves. The elves possessed a familiar, comfortable atmosphere of the Earth God.

But only one figure had a sulky expression. It was Karuta.

“Keung! How is it that everyone here is so skinny? There’s no one worth fighting here.”

The elf leader had been walking with a proud expression, but when Karuta spoke, his expression changed slightly.

“That is because all the strong warriors left with Pendragon.”

“Really? Is there someone strong?”

When Karuta showed interest, the elf leader nodded vigorously.

“Eltuan is the strongest warrior in our tribe. No one can beat Eltuan in a bare-handed fight. Even five warriors together cannot win against Eltuan.”

“Kuwoh? Really?”

Karuta was interested.

Fighting strong warriors was his only hobby. Naturally, it was more important to get married, but…

“I really want to have a go, kehe!”

A renewed smile appeared on Karuta’s face as he kept walking along. Just imagining a fight against a strong opponent made him happy.

“We are here. You can go in.”

The elf leader stopped after arriving at the large entrance at the base of the tree. Then, he spoke as he looked back at the two.

“Okay. Hey, one-egg, let’s go… Keheul that…! Hey, scarecrow! Do you want me to break another egg?”

Karuta shouted towards Killian. The one-egged knight was flirting with the female elves without rest.

“Heup! What a horrible thing to say… Let’s go in. Go in! You guys, don’t cause any trouble and stand by!”

Killian shouted towards the soldiers, his hand covering his precious part.

‘Look at the pot calling the kettle black…’

‘Speak for yourself.’

Killian’s eyes were filled with desire, and saliva was dripping down his chins. The soldiers did not dare speak their true thoughts and answered vigorously.

“Sir!”