My Streaming Life With SSS-Rank Girls With Want My Kids

Chapter 130: The Main Orc Territory

The envoys arrived at dawn.

Twelve Orcs in reconnaissance formation. No weapons drawn. The one at the front stood two meters twenty and carried SSS-rank markings on both forearms.

Mara was already standing when they entered the clearing.

The lead one stopped ten meters away.

"Mara."

"Grath."

---

[DraconicLegacy]: they know each other. by name. no titles.

[Stephen_Summers]: another SSS. the Orc territory sent someone at Mara’s level, not a messenger.

[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ twelve Orcs at dawn and Mara was already standing waiting for them ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[Martijn_Wiersma]: no weapons drawn. formal. the Council wants to talk, not fight.

[Bangsund]: who’s Grath? how do they know each other?

[Drakeking]: @Bangsund one of those who stayed when she left. you can tell by how they look at each other.

[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ #TeamMara present since dawn. this Chapter is ours. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

---

Grath looked at the camp.

At Serah by the fire. At Lira with her glasses on. At Kai sitting on the rock at the edge.

He went back to Mara.

"The Council detected your signature two days ago."

"I know."

"Do you know what they ordered me to ask you."

"If I’m coming back."

Grath nodded.

Mara crossed her arms.

"Ask what they ordered you."

---

[DraconicLegacy]: Mara knew everything before Grath opened his mouth.

[Stephen_Summers]: "ask what they ordered you" — she separates Grath from Grath’s orders. that’s deliberate.

[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Mara with her arms crossed in front of an SSS from the Council. zero tension in her posture. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[Martijn_Wiersma]: Grath looked at the group before speaking. assessed each one. stopped on Kai half a second longer.

[Bangsund]: I saw it too. half a second longer on Kai.

[Drakeking]: Grath knows something or suspects something. that half second wasn’t casual.

[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ the Council sent someone who knows Mara personally. calculated move. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

---

"The Council offers full amnesty." Grath said it in the tone of someone reciting something memorized. "The treason declaration is annulled. And there’s a leadership position waiting for you in the restructured territory."

"Restructured."

"Those who made you leave no longer lead."

Mara uncrossed her arms.

"Since when."

"Six months." Grath looked at her. "The Council displaced them. It turned out the pacifists weren’t so pacifist when power was at stake. They tried to consolidate control of the southern hunting grounds by force. The Council intervened."

"And now."

"Now the territory works the way you said it should work." Grath held her gaze. "Two years late."

---

[DraconicLegacy]: two years late. the territory proves Mara right two years after declaring her a traitor.

[Stephen_Summers]: the pacifists tried to take the south by force. complete irony.

[Warwolf]: (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ they declared her a traitor AND SHE WAS RIGHT

[Martijn_Wiersma]: "two years late" — Grath said it himself. it wasn’t part of what he was ordered to say.

[Bangsund]: wait. so Mara can come back, with amnesty, to a territory that now works the way she wanted?

[Drakeking]: @Bangsund yes. and that’s the problem. the offer is genuinely good.

[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ #TeamMara holding its breath. this decision matters. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

---

Mara looked at the clearing’s ground for a moment.

She looked at the lights to the east where the horizon still had the wrong color.

She looked at Kai.

Kai was watching her from the rock.

He didn’t say anything. Didn’t nod. Didn’t shake his head.

Mara went back to Grath.

"I already have territory."

Grath frowned.

"Where."

Mara didn’t point to any place.

Grath followed the direction of the glance Mara had made a moment before.

He stopped on Kai.

"With a rankless human?"

"With whoever I want."

---

[DraconicLegacy]: "I ALREADY HAVE TERRITORY." (╥﹏╥)(╥﹏╥)(╥﹏╥)

[Stephen_Summers]: she didn’t point to a place. the place doesn’t exist. the territory is the group.

[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ "WITH WHOEVER I WANT" ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[Martijn_Wiersma]: Grath followed Mara’s glance to Kai. he understood before asking. he asked anyway.

[Bangsund]: she rejected full amnesty and a leadership position. for the group.

[Drakeking]: #FirstChild updating the ranking in real time. Mara went up positions with that sentence.

[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ #TeamMara having its best day since the lake. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

---

Grath looked at Kai longer.

Kai held his gaze from the rock.

Grath’s jaw tightened. The knuckles of his right fist stood out for a second before releasing.

"A rankless human," he repeated.

"Do you have something to say to him?" Mara said.

"No." Grath didn’t take his eyes off Kai. "Nothing worth saying."

Kai smiled.

"Whenever you want to verify it, the eastern sector is big."

---

[DraconicLegacy]: Grath’s knuckles. I saw them. half a second.

[Stephen_Summers]: Grath jealous. an SSS from the Council jealous of a rankless human.

[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ "whenever you want to verify it the eastern sector is big" KAI HOLDS NOTHING BACK ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[Martijn_Wiersma]: "nothing worth saying" while the knuckles said something else.

[Bangsund]: did Grath and Mara have something in the past or is it Orc pride?

[Drakeking]: @Bangsund he stayed when she left. he’s been carrying that for two years. draw your own conclusions.

[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Kai inviting him with the ring smile. Grath registered the invitation. this doesn’t end here. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

---

Grath went back to Mara.

"I’ll take your answer to the Council."

"Good."

Grath gave the order with his hand. The twelve started pulling back to the north.

Grath didn’t move.

"There’s something else." He said it lower. Only for Mara. "It’s not part of what I was ordered."

Mara waited.

"There’s something in the main territory you need to see."

"What thing."

"I can’t describe it." Grath looked north. "I tried with the Council and words weren’t enough. It has to be seen."

"Is it a trap."

"If it were a trap I’d tell you face to face and wait for you with my axe." Grath looked at her. "You know that."

Mara knew it.

"When."

"When you finish what you came to do in the east." Grath looked at the horizon of the wrong color. "That first. The territory thing has been there for six months. It can wait a few more days."

He left with the twelve.

---

[DraconicLegacy]: "I can’t describe it. it has to be seen." — six months there. WHAT IS IT?

[Stephen_Summers]: Grath knew about the eastern horizon. he knew what the group came for. the Orc territory is aware of [VOID].

[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ "I’d tell you face to face and wait for you with my axe" — Orc honesty. I love it. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[Martijn_Wiersma]: six months. the same time the pacifists have been displaced. the dates match.

[Bangsund]: @Martijn_Wiersma good observation. what needs to be seen appeared when the power changed.

[Drakeking]: something an SSS can’t describe with words. note this down. it’s coming back.

[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ two hooks in one Chapter. [VOID] ahead and the Orc territory waiting. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

---

The group broke camp.

Serah kicked earth over the embers. Lira folded her blanket in four exact movements. Kai slung the supply bag over his shoulder.

Mara was still looking north where the twelve were no longer visible.

"Everything okay?" Kai said.

"Yes."

"The territory thing."

"After [VOID]." Mara slung her own bag. "Grath is right. That first."

She started walking east.

The other three followed her.

The horizon of the wrong color grew all morning.

---

[DraconicLegacy]: Mara processed everything in a minute and is already walking east. that woman doesn’t stop.

[Stephen_Summers]: "after [VOID]" — clear priorities. the past can wait. the present is rotting the horizon.

[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ the group heading east. [VOID] getting closer and closer. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[Martijn_Wiersma]: the horizon grew all morning. they’re entering the radius.

[Bangsund]: the hunters said nausea at a kilometer from the Streamer. how far away are they now?

[Drakeking]: @Bangsund judging by the sky’s color I’d say we find out tomorrow.

[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ next Chapter: what Mara needs to see or [VOID]. either one is worth the wait. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

---

[System — notification]

[Current viewers: 9,600,000]

[The system notes that the Orc Council offered full amnesty]

[The system notes that Mara said "I already have territory"]

[The system notes that Grath mentioned something that cannot be described]

[The system notes tension between Grath and Kai Reno]

[The system notes that the eastern horizon grew all morning]

[The system has no classification for the color of that horizon]