Chapter 111 : Chapter 111
Chapter 111 : Big Catch
Ria mastered how to handle the oars quickly, though she fumbled them a few times.
Watching the boat cut through the river fast, the cabin boy stared at Ria with his mouth open.
“Wow, it took me a whole month just to learn how to row.”
Ria smiled at the boy as he muttered enviously.
“It only took you a month.”
“Since you said it like that, it feels like you're teasing me.”
The boy said with a pout.
“I've lived ten years longer than you. You're better at more things than you were ten years ago, right?”
“I guess so, since ten years ago I was five years old.”
Ria, who was watching the boy nod as if convinced, carefully opened her mouth.
“You said earlier that it's been six years since you started living in that cabin, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“What happened six years ago?”
When Ria asked with a serious face, the boy rolled his eyes.
“It’s really nothing special. Just… that my father and I were given the role of welcoming all of you here.”
“And that was the opportunity of a lifetime?”
When Ria asked back, the boy nodded gently.
“Yes, our family came from a completely different region. After my mother died, making a living became harder. We could have been punished for not being able to pay the tribute to the temple on time, but fortunately, we received grace from the temple…. We were lucky.”
He spoke with a face full of relief and gratitude.
“Then your mother….”
Before Ria could finish, a thin smile appeared on the boy’s face.
“How sad my mother would be if we couldn't offer the tribute to the temple. Even after death, she might not escape being a fugitive. So this is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. An opportunity that won’t come again. I have to live my whole life being grateful.”
Fortunately for Ria, who couldn’t think of a proper response, the river helped her.
Splash.
The bait she had submerged shook, and a fairly heavy sound of water rang out.
Ria sat back down, stopping her body from standing up instinctively, and looked at the boy.
“Something caught it, right?”
At Ria’s small whisper mixed with excitement, the boy slowly approached her.
Just as Ria said, the tip of the fishing rod was indeed shaking.
“You shouldn't pull it yet. Shake the rod a little.”
The cabin boy, whose fishing experience was far superior to hers, spoke in a low voice.
Ria calmly followed his advice and shook the rod quite plausibly.
Soon, whether the fish had completely swallowed the bait or not, the tip of Ria’s rod bent sharply.
This time, there was no need to tell her to pull the line.
Because before the boy could even open his mouth, Ria quickly snatched the line.
Marveling at her amazing adaptability, the boy watched Ria’s first harvest.
None of the praises he had prepared could come out.
Because it wasn't a fish that bit the fishing line.
“…….”
“…….”
The boy and Ria blankly stared at what Ria had fished up.
A giant green hand tightly gripping the bait.
It was much larger than a human's and was hanging from the hook without the body it should have been attached to.
The fact that it was still tightly holding the bait even while its end was tattered as if torn by something added to the grotesqueness.
It was the moment Ria unintentionally pulled the fishing line a bit at the unbelievable catch.
The fingers that were holding the bait twitched and began to climb up the line.
“Gyaak!”
Splash.
Without needing to think further, Ria quickly threw her hand along with the fishing rod into the middle of the river.
However, the green hand, which let go of the fishing rod as it flew in a parabola, quickly grabbed the net hanging on the side of the boat and held on.
The boat rocked violently from the strong grip that matched its large size.
Ria quickly grabbed the mast to keep her balance.
Unfortunately, the cabin boy didn't display judgment as fast as Ria.
The startled boy let out a single scream and tumbled onto the pile of nets.
In the meantime, the giant green hand climbed up the net toward the boy as if it could see ahead.
The cabin boy’s body shook from that intense movement.
“Watch out!”
Ria shouted, but getting out of the pile of nets made to catch fish was too difficult a task for the terrified boy.
By the time the boy barely managed to raise his body, the green hand had already snatched the boy’s leg.
Splash.
The boy was dragged down helplessly by the rough hand pulling him into the water.
The boat shook violently as the boy fell into the river.
Ria hurriedly reached out, but the boy’s body only repeated surfacing and sinking above the water, unable to grab Ria’s hand at all.
Ria, who finally caught the boy’s hand, pulled him with all her might.
“Heugh…!”
The boy gasped for breath and pulled his body onto the boat.
But even before he could catch his breath, the green hand that persistently followed the boy’s leg climbed up his leg this time.
Ria and the boy screamed simultaneously at the sight, which was grosser than a giant cockroach.
“Kyaaaaaak!!!”
“Uwaaaaaaaaak!!!”
Even in the midst of that, the green hand was steadily pulling the boy into the river.
“He, help me!!”
The boy, who was completely terrified by the mysterious power, clung desperately to Ria.
Supporting the small, struggling body with one hand and balancing with the other to prevent the boat from capsizing, Ria’s breath was gradually becoming labored.
It was the moment she judged that it would be better to give up the boat and directly pull off the green hand in the water.
Whack!
The force pulling the boy disappeared as if it were a lie.
The boy was pulled as Ria pulled and was able to get his body onto the boat as if he were flying.
Both Ria and the boy looked around, bewildered by the sudden peace.
Soon after, Ria discovered Ran and Ratel standing on the riverbank, quietly looking at her and the boy.
Ria vaguely realized that it was Ratel who helped her and the boy.
Though she couldn't tell what kind of method he used.
I let out a sigh after confirming the boat that was dangerously swaying regained its stability.
“You didn't need to show your determination to take down the Imperial Family in this way.”
“Shut up. Are your eyes just for decoration?”
The guy, who didn't care that I was teasing him, lifted his chin and pointed to the island in the middle of the river.
I narrowed my eyes to check what he was pointing at, but only small mountains and trees like miniatures were visible blurredly.
It's frustrating, but should I admit that my eyes are decorations as he said?
“It’s an Orc.”
As I was just frowning without a word, the guy, unable to watch any longer, told me the answer.
Human perception is a strange thing; as soon as I accurately understood what I should be seeing, the swaying forms that were only visible blurredly regained their shapes.
“Kkwaaaaaaaak!!!”
A giant physique reaching nearly three meters.
Huge molars that far exceeded the capacity of the lower jaw.
Rough-looking green skin.
It was definitely an Orc.
Taking advantage of the water level lowering, it wasn't hard to tell what it was aiming for.
“Kyaaaaaak!!!”
Coincidentally, Ria, who discovered the Orc at a similar timing as me, began to scream.
Ratel reached out once more.
Bang!
With a small sound of air breaking, the Orc that had taken a step out of the island collapsed with a hole in its body.
Ria didn't miss the opportunity and safely put the boy on the boat.
And she began to row like crazy.
The river was shrinking at a speed faster than the boat carrying Ria and the boy was approaching.
It meant the schedule for tomorrow morning had been moved up.
But well, moving the plan up was something I was already sick of and familiar with.
After confirming Ria docked the boat at the riverbank, I turned my head to Ratel.
“Don't just stand there blankly, go pack the luggage. We have to leave right now.”
“Is that all you have to say?”
Ratel asked, but because I really ran out of things to say this time, I couldn't help but stare at him with a puzzled face.
“I broke the word not to use power.”
I looked at him to check if I heard correctly just now.
Since when did he care about that?
The guy I knew wasn't the type to lose heart over something like that.
Above all, I couldn't read such a sign at all from his gaze that looked at me as if observing.
I slowly opened my mouth at the guy’s words whose intention I couldn't know.
“Were you caring about that?”
“Why aren't you saying anything.”
“It’s not like you did it on purpose to screw me over, so what is there to say.”
As I spoke, his past actions came to mind and I was about to feel dumbfounded.
“Hey, and since when did you listen to me so well that you're acting like this all of a sudden? Why are you acting as if you're scared of being scolded?”
The guy’s face crumpled at my jeering.
“My head only hurts when I'm talking to you.”
Whether there was something else he wanted to hear, Ratel muttered discontentedly and passed by me.
My head hurts too when I think of your eccentricities.
While holding back what I wanted to say to the back of his head, I followed behind him as well.
I hoped it would just end with El’s paranoia, but Sierra's power was quite persistent as he expected.
As soon as Ratel went inside, Ria, who came out carrying the boy on her shoulder, approached.
Ria looked at me with eyes mixed with confusion and fear.
“It was definitely a green hand, right?”
“Yes, it was a green Orc's hand, and the one on the island was undoubtedly an Orc as well.”
“Ack! I didn't see it wrong after all!”
Ria, who was pulling her hair in shock, suddenly thought of something and raised her head to look at me with questioning eyes.
“H-how can you be so calm?”
I had nothing to say to her, so I could only help her up.
“The important thing is that we have to leave right now. Before the water completely shows the bottom.”
Or before the water swallows one of us.
Because the damn timing of this world always used to screw me over big time.
[The cold eyes of Emperor Sierra scanned the pack of Orcs surrounding and approaching him. His hand reached for the sword stuck in the ground. ⎡A mere monster cannot block me⎦ The voice without highs or lows was not a mere warning. As the god gripped the blade, his blood flowed along the blade and soaked the ground. Light bloomed as if life were being born. When the Emperor stood up, there were no longer any Orcs remaining.]
It’s a part of the Red Book that appears in the original work.
It’s a part that recorded the simple fact that Emperor Sierra Abalan defeated Orcs for humans in the past from a somewhat biased perspective.
Later, Ratel would also defeat Orcs in a similar way.
The problem is, why are those guys roaming around the mountains in the middle of the day when the sun is so high?
I raised my head once more and looked at the sun high between the tree branches, and whoever might be in the sky.
In the original work, it said those guys couldn't endure sunlight.
If even the 1000-year-old Manis has that kind of will, just how dirty was the personality of the person named Sierra?
I entered the cabin while blaming the temperament of someone who was the root of all evil while looking at the slowly receding water.