Chapter 79: Willful Negligence (1)
Tiyo fired his General. The gnome soldiers rolled across the ground at the same time to dodge the General’s magic bullets, and they began shooting arrows at him right after that. Nevertheless, Tiyo swiftly dodged the arrows and followed up by attacking again with the General.
“If you surrender, we won’t kill you,” said Crockta as he pointed his greatsword at the gnome soldiers.
Terrified of the orc, the gnome soldiers began dropping their crossbows. Their fear reached its peak when they saw Tiyo step on a gnome soldier while firing his General non-stop.
“Ahhhhhhhhhh!” cried out the gnome that was beneath Tiyo’s foot.
“Did you shoot arrows at me without even bracing yourself for this?!” Tiyo said.
He lowered the muzzle and fired a salvo of magic bullets at the gnome, who spasmed and jerked about as if he had been electrocuted.
“Ahhhhhhhhhh!” the gnome continued to cry out.
“Everyone, keep fighting!” ordered the gnome commander.
However, the gnome soldiers had already given up on fighting back. They had lost their fighting spirit.
Their commander screamed desperately at the top of her lungs, “Anyone who runs away will face immediate death!”
Then a gnome soldier protested, “We just came here to scout the site. We shouldn’t have had to fight them in the first place!”
Another chimed in, “Yeah, we should have retreated when we saw that huge orc!”
“You guys!” the commander muttered angrily.
Upon seeing the internal conflict between the gnome commander and her soldiers, Crockta grinned and approached the gnome commander. She flinched. The gnome soldiers stepped back and retreated. Now Crockta was standing in front of her by himself.
Crockta extended his greatsword. It was such an unfair match-up—a frightening orc warrior with a greatsword going against a small, fragile-looking gnome lady. The orc looked like he would chop her up with his greatsword any minute. Nevertheless, the trembling gnome commander brought out a short sword and pointed it at Crockta.
Crockta grinned and withdrew his greatsword, resting it on his shoulder.
“I won’t kill you if you surrender,” he said.
“...”
The commander refused to back down and glared at Crockta with her blade pointed at him. He glared back, and they had a stare-down. Crockta looked at her fiercely as if he was ready to kill her. The commander eventually averted her gaze and dropped her short sword.
“Understood. I s-surrender.” The gnome commander yielded.
“Good. Everyone, throw your weapons onto the ground,” ordered Crockta.
Once the gnome commander surrendered, the rest was smooth sailing. The gnomes tossed aside their weapons and assembled. Kaburak then emerged from hiding with his hands behind his back.
With his shoulders slumped and gaze drooping, Kaburak walked to the commander and greeted her, “It’s been a while, Yona.”
“...Kaburak?” Yona, the gnome commander, uttered as she scrutinized his face. Her eyes widened in shock. “Is it really you, Kaburak? You’ve been alive all along?”
“I was just away from the village for a bit. There’s no way I would be dead. Hahaha,” said Kaburak.
The two seemed to know each other.
The commander was about to speak again when Tiyo interrupted them.
“How dare a prisoner engage in small talk? Everyone, shut up!” ordered Tiyo.
The northern gnomes fell quiet. Yona also begrudgingly shut her mouth. Tiyo crossed his arms and glared at the gnome soldiers one by one with a frightening expression on his face. He walked in front of them and kicked their shins as if he were an instructor dealing with new recruits in the military.
The gnomes were frightened of Tiyo and had no choice but to put up with this kind of treatment. To them, Tiyo was a villain who had killed a fellow soldier in an instant by twisting his neck, and had even relentlessly tortured another soldier with his artifact.
“All of you are prisoners now. From this point onward, don’t you dare make eye contact with me,” commanded Tiyo.
“...”
“As long as you are obedient, you won’t be harmed,” said Tiyo as he gestured to them to follow.
The gnomes followed after him. Yona hesitated for a second but followed suit after Tiyo glared at her. Crockta and Kaburak just watched while shaking their heads.
“Do you know her?” asked Crockta to Kaburak.
“Well... we knew each other when we were young,” replied Kaburak.
“It must be a difficult situation for you,” said Crockta.
Kaburak’s childhood friend was now his enemy. He probably knew some of the other gnomes as well.
“It’s okay,” said Kaburak with a smile. He then raised his index and middle finger, first pointing at his eyes and then at the sky. “He’s watching us.”
Crockta burst into laughter.
***
Tiyo and his gnome prisoners’ arrival in Orcheim drew the orcs’ attention. Tiyo made the gnomes get down on their knees in Orcheim’s central square.
Then he yelled at them as if he was their conqueror, “You guys are prisoners! As long as you are obedient, there won’t be further pain, but...” Tiyo said, pushing his face into Yona’s, “if you resist, you will regret it! Ohhh!”
Gorit appeared and pushed Tiyo away. “Hmm, it seems he’s a bit excited. Just ignore him, Yona.”
“No, it’s okay,” said Yona.
She glared at Tiyo, who now stood behind Gorit. Tiyo didn’t falter and glared back.
As Crockta observed the two gnomes’ feud, an old memory popped into his mind. It was of his past love. They had also met on the battlefield. She was a strong woman who was well-matched with assault rifles and rocket launchers. In the beginning, she and Yi-An had both growled at each other just like these two gnomes were doing now.
“What a rude guy!” exclaimed Yona.
“What?! I’m not being rude. I’m just fair! If you thought I’d be nice to you just because you have a pretty face, you are mistaken!” said Tiyo.
“Wh-What?!” Yona scowled and looked away.
Startled by his own honesty, Tiyo stuttered, “Hmph, th-that was a slip of the tongue. Soldiers don’t have m-mercy.”
Yona ignored him and refused to look in his direction.
Gorit then tried to lift the awkward atmosphere. “Hmm! Ahem! Anyways, our relationship with the Altanas gnomes wasn’t bad in the past, but they suddenly joined forces with the chiefdom and began attacking us.”
“...”
“Many Orcheim orcs have been captured by Altanas gnomes and the chiefdom, and their whereabouts are unknown. So...”
Yona lowered her head.
Gorit was about to declare her punishment when Kaburak stepped forward and said, “Father.”
“Stay back, Kaburak,” ordered Gorit.
“Don’t do it like this right now. Let’s first detain them and then talk.”
“All of the orcs at Orcheim need to see them receive their punishment...”
Kaburak looked at Gorit seriously. At this moment, Kaburak was not the orc who laughed like an idiot while baring his broken teeth. He was the great sorcerer Kaburak that Gorit used to know. During moments like this, Gorit thought his son looked like a sage.
“Hmm...” Gorit stared at Kaburak and then nodded. “Understood. Let’s first listen to them.”
At Gorit’s gesture, some orcs dragged the captured gnomes away. The gnome soldiers were locked up, and Yona was summoned for a meeting with Gorit.
The interrogation took place at Gorit’s house. Crockta, Tiyo, and Kaburak were present since they were the ones who had captured her. Yona sat in Gorit’s living room across from the three orcs and one gnome with all of their eyes fixed on her.
“Yona, why did Altanas suddenly join forces with the chiefdom?” asked Gorit.
Yona remained silent.
Gorit’s expression hardened. “If you don’t tell us, we can’t make allowances for you even if you are the daughter of Gullito, Altanas’ leader.”
Yona bit her lip.
Upon hearing what Gorit said, Crockta and Tiyo exchanged looks. It turned out that Yona had a high status, which explained why her attire was different from that of the other soldiers.
“Because of Altanas, our orcs—!” said Gorit.
“Calm down.” Kaburak had to hold Gorit back. “Yona was captured of her own will. She came here for our sake.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Gorit.
Yona didn’t say anything and just kept her head slumped down.
“She attacked us first with a scouting team armed with crossbows even though she saw Crockta and me,” explained Kaburak.
“...”
“There must be a reason why she attacked us first, even though she recognized me,” continued Kaburak.
Gorit looked at Yona.
Yona shook her head. “Nonsense. I thought it was someone who just looked like you, not actually you.”
“But still, didn’t you hope it was me? After all, I would definitely capture you alive,” replied Kaburak.
Yona kept her mouth shut. Kaburak placed a hand on her head. She tried to shake off his hand, but she yielded once a white light rose from Kaburak’s hand. He was using a healing spell to calm her down.
“Even if you didn't intentionally let yourself be captured, you must have predicted this kind of result. But you let it happen anyways, so it’s considered willful negligence,” declared Kaburak.
Silence came over the room. Yona didn’t say anything.
Tiyo, who had been watching Yona with a conflicted expression, said, “Hmph, if that’s the case, I apologize.”
Yona glared at him. “My subordinate—”
She was referring to Tiyo twisting her subordinate’s neck.
She then shook her head and said, “Cut the nonsense.”
Tiyo grew angry at Yona’s cold response. “I was apologizing! So rude!”
“Hmph, anyway, fine. I will tell you the reason now that it has come to this,” said Yona while looking at Gorit. “I can’t help but hand out information to you guys in this frightening situation where a delicate female gnome is being threatened by three orcs.”
Gorit’s gaze turned solemn as he nodded. “That’s right, we orcs are really cruel. We could even torture you by cutting your fingers one at a time.”
“Oh, my. I wouldn’t be able to endure it,” Yona played along with a grin.
She was small in stature, but she was indeed beautiful. Tiyo couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“My father is afraid,” said Yona.
“Of what?” asked Gorit.
“The future of northern gnomes,” replied Yona. She placed her fingertips on the table in front of her. Then she drew a line as if drawing a map. “Here in the north, there are orc, dark elf, and human territories, but gnomes are scattered everywhere and haven’t been able to settle.”
“Orcheim is the same,” replied Gorit.
“But this place and the chiefdom both belong to the orcs. They could always accept Orcheim.”
Gorit swallowed what he was about to say next because what Yona said was the truth. The chiefdom had its doors wide open for Orcheim’s orcs. That was one of the reasons the population in Orcheim was decreasing. The chiefdom accepted Orcheim’s warriors because they were strong from upholding the traditions of orc warriors.
“Father said gnomes need their own territory, and he considers Mount Luclan as the best fit,” said Yona.
“Why so suddenly now?!” shouted Gorit.
The orcs, dark elves, and gnomes had been living in harmony on Mount Luclan. Although it was a harsh place, they lived as close neighbors who got along well with one another. However, everything changed after the gnomes joined forces with the chiefdom. Countless dark elves and orcs were captured by the chiefdom, and once the gnomes shared their technology and topographic information, the chiefdom pressured Orcheim relentlessly.
With the accession of the new chieftain, the chiefdom no longer waited for Orcheim to join them. If Orcheim didn’t obey, they would become slaves. At this rate, all of the Orcheim’s remaining orcs were going to become slaves.
“Because turbulent times are approaching,” stated Yona.
“Turbulent times?” asked Gorit.
He could suspect what Yona was about to say next.
“The northern boundary will open up soon, and the continent and the north will be connected.”
“...!”
“It seems you already know about it,” said Yona.
“A little bit, but how could that be the reason?” asked Gorit.
“According to the prophecy of the chiefdom’s sorcerers, the continent is much more advanced than the north in regards to their population and technology.” Yona sighed. “If the two places connect, the outcome is obvious.”
“We can’t say for sure.”
“But it is entirely predictable. Who will protect us then? The orcs? The dark elves?”
“Is that why you joined forces with the chiefdom?”
“The chieftain wants to quickly unify the north and attack the continent. That crazy chieftain wants to see blood. No, he wants to do more than just attack; he wants to invade the continent. So, he approached my father and made an offer. He said, ‘We will give you guys Mount Luclan, so hand over another species to us.’”
Yona raised her head and then looked at Gorit and Kaburak. The living room became quiet.
Crockta broke the silence. “So, everything is because of the chieftain.”
Everyone’s eyes turned toward Crockta. Yona’s eyes lit up with intrigue as she looked at him. She didn’t know this orc warrior. A primitive orc warrior with tattoos all over his body was rare in the northern region. Moreover, the abilities that he had briefly displayed during the battle earlier were superior to those of most orc warriors. It was also unusual to see an orc hanging out with a gnome. Furthermore, it was a gnome who carried an artifact.
“What about the dark elves? Do they have the same thoughts as the chiefdom?” asked Gorit.
“They are still deliberating,” said Yona.
Crockta looked at Kaburak, and their eyes met. In that brief moment, they exchanged many thoughts. Kaburak smiled. It was clear that he understood what Crockta was thinking.
“Crockta, I don’t believe in destiny, but perhaps meeting you was precisely that,” said Kaburak.
Crockta smiled back.
Then Gorit’s door suddenly burst open, and orcs came running in and shouting, “Gorit! The chiefdom and Altanas’ gnomes are raiding us! There are so many of them! Orcheim is in danger!”
Gorit’s eyes widened. As he was about to say something, Crockta sprang up from his seat.
“Tiyo, we were planning to go to the Temple of the Fallen God, right?” said Crockta.
“That’s right,” replied Tiyo.
“Then, what should we do to those stopping us on the way?” asked Crockta.
Tiyo laughed out loud in understanding and grinned. “Those who try to stop us will end up regretting it.”
“But what if they develop a grudge, and we have to fight the chiefdom?”
“Although that wasn’t our intention, we can’t do anything about it if they come at us,” said Tiyo as he raised his General. Then he looked at Yona. “Just like what this beautiful lady did, it will be our willful negligence.”
Yona glared back. Tiyo shrugged.
Crockta smiled and muttered, “Willful negligence... Is that so?”
Kaburak extended his fist toward Crockta. As they bumped fists, Crockta was completely unable to sense Kaburak’s magic. All of Kaburak’s magic had been depleted by a low-level healing spell that didn’t require a lot of magic. That was his current state. Yet, Crockta felt something stronger than magic stemming from Kaburak.
“I don’t have a grudge against the chieftain, and I don’t really want to fight him, but...” Crockta pulled out his greatsword and grinned ear to ear. “If the time comes for me to kill him, we can call it willful negligence on my part.”
At this very moment, the fate of the northern region changed forever.
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