Chapter 120 : Chapter 120
Chapter 120 : Cowardly
I stared down at him blankly, dumbfounded by the incredibly unfamiliar laughter.
Unless he had gone crazy, the reason for that burst of laughter was obviously me.
“Kkwek, what is so funny.”
When I asked to find the point of his laughter, which I couldn't understand at all, his laughter became even louder.
Is it getting to the point where it’s starting to make me feel bad?
“Kkwek-ek, stop laughing now. Kkwek, shouldn't we decide what to do from now on?”
When I frowned, Ratel’s shoulders, which had been trembling finely, gradually stopped moving.
No, it seemed he was trying to make them stop.
“……Phew, right. Before that, we should clear up what needs to be cleared up.”
The traces of laughter still remaining on his face were bothersome, but anyway, since his effort was commendable, I decided to forget about it.
Ratel’s golden pupils headed straight toward me.
“Is that the secret you’ve been hiding until now? The ability to change into other creatures?”
“Skree, ……yes. Skree, but the fact that I could use it originally was…….”
“Wait, shut your mouth for a second.”
The guy who had been scowling at my passionate speech finally covered his face with both hands.
The guy, who exhaled a dry sigh while bowing his head, was unable to raise his face easily.
“Skree, what’s wrong all of a sudden? Skree, are you sick? Skree, as expected, earlier…….”
“Mouth……! Just…… shut it.”
The guy, who had jerked his head up as if to say something, slammed his neck back toward the floor as soon as he saw my face.
At the same time, I realized that he wasn't injured, nor was he suppressing and holding back anger.
The protagonist guy was holding back a burst of laughter.
“Skree, why? Skree, why don't you just laugh until your stomach rips like before?”
When I murmured while feeling hollow, Ratel eventually couldn't hold back and ended up bursting into laughter again.
“Ahahaha!!!”
Fine, laugh to your heart's content.
I, who had lost even the will to fight that was spread on the floor, waited for his laughter to cease with my arms crossed.
However, Ratel’s burst of laughter showed no sign of stopping easily.
The moment the guy managed to compose his laughter even a little and raised his face, he had no choice but to meet my eyes, and he helplessly bowed his body again, unable to withstand the contraction of his diaphragm.
Is it to the point where it’s starting to make me feel bad?
“Skree, stop it now……”
“Pff……! Ahahaha!!!”
……If it's now, if it's now, couldn't I give him a smack on the head?
It was a moment of pondering whether to miss the chance of a lifetime right in front of my eyes or not.
***
I had imagined a few times the moment Ratel would catch the fact that I was hiding an ability.
Among various hypotheses, there wasn't a situation where I was caught so laughably and vainly.
Feeling that the tension from before had completely loosened somehow, I waited for Ratel’s laughter to subside.
Whether it was quite hard to hold back the laughter, he raised his head while clutching his side.
“……Right, so you couldn't use the ability from the beginning?”
“……Kkwek, yes.”
Thinking that he seemed to remember the interrupted conversation anyway, I replied shortly.
“Exactly when were you able to use the power?”
Ratel asked quite sharply this time.
“Kkwek, it hasn't been long. Kkwek, I remember it being before autumn came.”
This was also the most honest answer I could give.
Because it was true that the 7th Prince before I possessed him had no abilities whatsoever.
Unlike my expectation that he would doubt whatever I said, Ratel’s reaction was incredibly lenient.
To the point where I, who answered while being nervous, was actually flustered.
“Fine, then moving this guy back to the center would be the priority. How long can you maintain this ability?”
He asked while approaching the leader Orc and grabbing one of its arms to lift it up.
I followed him and lifted the old Orc without a word, but I couldn't readily give an answer.
How should I explain this?
When I didn't speak, Ratel, who was holding and lifting the Orc, looked at me with inquisitive eyes.
“I won't laugh anymore, so answer properly. How long can you maintain that form.”
I rolled my eyes a bit.
“Kkwek……, well.”
“Stop with the vague answer and speak properly. How long can you maintain it.”
The guy, who sensed an ominous sign, stopped his movement and asked again.
I agonized over a way to make the idiot-like answer sound even a little less pathetic, and then eventually gave up.
“Kkwek, I can't return to being a human. Kkwek, I might return tomorrow, or it might take longer.”
“It takes longer……”
“Kkwek, in the worst case, I’ll have to live like this for a lifetime.”
Thud.
He dropped the old Orc.
Will another day come where rare experiences like today follow one after another?
Ratel with an expression that stupid.
***
There is nothing as foolish as clinging to the past that has already gone by.
It’s not like time can be turned back, nor can a thing that has already happened become something that didn't happen.
Since the body has already become an Orc, and if I can't go back, it means resolving the task right in front of our eyes is the first priority.
“If you're still playing some damn joke until now, stop it right away. Because I'm about to get really pissed off.”
So Ratel’s reaction like that means there’s a somewhat troublesome side to it.
“Kkwek, I’ve said it several times, it’s not a joke. Kkwek, the body won't return to a human.”
At my answer, Ratel’s expression hardened even further.
Geez, how serious.
When there’s an urgent problem right in front of our eyes.
The plan to lock the leader back inside the waterfall literally went down the river, but I gained something else instead.
I approached the boss Orc, which showed no sign of waking up while unconscious.
Beside the boss Orc was a single Orc I was seeing for the first time.
It was the guy who had persistently hung onto Ratel’s and the leader’s legs the whole time while being swept by the water.
You managed to follow all the way to the end.
I shoved the guy aside without sincerity and grabbed and raised the leader’s one remaining arm.
The leader Orc’s body was pulled up more lightly than expected.
“Kkwek, at this rate, I could even become the leader myself.”
When I spoke while looking down at my large body that had turned green, Ratel’s sharp gaze followed immediately.
“Are you saying that as a joke right now?”
“Kkwek, of course it’s a joke. Kkwek, I can't do troublesome things like being a boss.”
I set the half-raised leader back down on the floor.
“Kkwek, but one thing that’s certain is that it’s no longer necessary to lock this guy beyond the waterfall. Kkwek, because I’ll be able to personally monitor him.”
“You out-of-your-mind bastard, is that the problem right now? You might live in that state for the rest of your life!”
Whether his patience had run out, he questioned me as if he would jump at me right away.
But I had nothing more to tell him specifically, and it was a repetition of the same words.
“Kkwek, nothing is certain yet. Kkwek, I might suddenly return to the original way tomorrow.”
Although I’ll probably have to live like this for a lifetime if I can't find a way.
“Why are you so peaceful when you might have to live the rest of your life in the form of a monster? Does life seem like a joke to you?”
Ratel raised his voice unlike himself, to the point where someone seeing would mistake that it was him who turned into an Orc, not me.
Why is this bastard making more of a fuss?
It’s not like I would want to throw away my original form and stay like this.
As soon as I perceived that I had become an Orc, I tried to return to human form, but there was no change.
“Skree, I’m being serious, so don't be like this. Skree, it’s not like I caught a fatal disease, nor is it something I can specifically resolve. Kkwek, for now, it’s better to do the things I can do with this body.”
Furthermore, although I couldn't tell him, it wasn't like I had no thoughts whatsoever either.
If it’s a thousand-year-old Imperial Family member, they might know something.
In order to receive help from that person, reuniting with Jing and Ria, who would be on the other side of the river, was the priority for now.
The guy, who had no way of knowing this plan of mine, was glaring at me after cooling down his excitement a bit.
“I’ve been suspicious since a long time ago, but now I know for sure. Something is wrong with your mind. Or the inside of your head is half empty. You can't return to your original form. Don't you know how serious of a problem that is?”
Despite him saying harsh words seriously, as he said, I didn't feel much of an emotion as if something was wrong with my mind.
But Ran Abalan’s form wasn't my original form either.
Nothing much changed just because I became the 19-year-old 7th Prince.
A happening occurred where I became the 7th Prince overnight, and then obtained a strange ability overnight.
Thanks to that, I’m being swept into more bizarre things than I expected, but nevertheless, I don't have the feeling that my life has changed significantly.
Because I, who am inside whatever body, haven't changed.
I am still just me who dislikes commotion, has no ambition, and has no particular goals.
Well, now I’ve just become an Orc's form.
“Skree, it’ll be a little uncomfortable. Kkueek, but there should be good points too. Kkwek, it’s a face that brings out laughter just by looking at it.”
The last part was truly a joke, but embarrassingly, he didn't make any response, and he didn't laugh this time.
“You look very joyful.”
There was the familiar sarcasm.
“Kkwek, yeah, I’m joyful to death. Kkwek, because I won't even have to be a guide for a bastard like you who doesn't listen to others' words even as much as an ant’s tear anymore.”
When I retorted as irritation also began to rise on this side, the guy glared at me.
What, punk, did I say something wrong?
Since I won't be able to travel around inside the Empire in this state, the destruction of the first holy object will become the period at the end of the journey with the protagonist's party.
It was an unexpected farewell, but perhaps this might become an opportunity to safely deviate from the original work.
Of course, that’s assuming that the bastard doesn't forget his goal and follows along properly.
There was a need to finish this kind of bickering, which I don't even know how many times now.
In the end, it was I who raised the flag of surrender first.
Right, the reason he had that much dissatisfaction is ultimately because of the lies I started.
I would need to reach out a hand for reconciliation first to an opponent who would barely be around a high schooler in the original world.
After exhaling a deep breath like a sigh, I looked into his eyes which were just ominous.
“Kkwek, it seems the words are going in circles right now, but if it’s because I hid the ability, I apologize. Kkwek, I’m sorry.”
“Put away that damn pig squealing.”
This is why you shouldn't do things you aren't used to.
While my patience was stealthily reaching its end, Ratel didn't stop speaking.
“What does that matter right now? What are you going to say to Jing and Ria? That the comrade you were with turned into an Orc in an instant, so you have to abandon him and go?”
While the attempt at reconciliation, which was thrown away at his words, was rolling on the floor like trash, my head, which had briefly become hot, cooled down to a strange degree.
Because silencing the alarm bell ringing in my head was more urgent.
His face, which was full of annoyance without even knowing what he was saying himself, made my heart feel anxious again.
An anxiety similar to when I saw Ria’s smile, who showed deep trust in me on the boat.
Fortunately, I knew an effective way to resolve this anxiety.
It was a somewhat cowardly act to do against a blood-clot who was 10 years younger, but fortunately, my conscience is in a state of being mostly deficient.
“Kkwek, since when were we bound as comrades? Kkwek, we’re just travel companions.”
It looked clear that my pointing out made his mood crawl along the floor even more.
Ratel stared at me with eyes whose depth couldn't be known.
“From the beginning until now, for a single moment, you have never trusted any of us.”
Emotion was loaded into Ratel’s words to the point where someone listening would mistake that such trust existed between us.
“Kkwek, isn't it the same for both of us?”
“Yes, it’s the same for both of us.”
He admitted it readily.
“Then let me ask one more thing.”
Since most of the content when Ratel asked questions in this way blocked my words in some sense, I couldn't help but be nervous.
“What is the reason you used the power specifically now? Why turn into an Orc specifically now when you’ve hidden the ability so thoroughly until now.”
It wasn't a difficult question to answer.
There was no reason for a question with a set answer to be difficult.
“Kkwek, I didn't intend to turn into an Orc. Kkwek, because my goal was to lure the water and lock that leader guy back up. Kkwek, although my body grew larger than expected and everything else got dragged along too.”
Because I just have to give an answer while mixing truth and lies appropriately, the complete opposite of what the opponent wanted.
The atmosphere, which had been loosened, froze like ice.
Perhaps his expressionless face, which had returned, played a large role.
“It seems I was included among the things that were dragged along too?”
I decided on the answer without difficulty this time as well as the question as stiff as his expression.
“Kkwek, yes. Kkwek, because sweeping you out along with the water was the original plan.”
The original intimidation threatened me, but ironically, the discomfort that had been bothering me disappeared.
Feeling my heavy heart becoming lighter, I continued my words.
“Kkwek, I don't know what kind of misunderstanding you're having, but I only gave help to survive in the first place. Kkwek, my life is always the first priority.”
“Saving Jing’s son, and saving Ria from her older brother were also just so you could survive.”
“Kkwek, for the sake of living, I should endure troublesome things to whatever extent.”
“Troublesome things……”
One corner of the mouth of Ratel, who repeated my words, rose.
It wasn't a cheerful laugh like before this time.
It was a colder sneer than usual.
“Does it make your heart feel a little more comfortable after speaking so unpleasantly?”
“Kkwek, isn't that the same for you and me?”
“…….”
He looked at me with even more sunken eyes.
Tense tension flowed between me, who was gauging how far the Orc's body could withstand Ratel’s attack, and him, who was probably gauging to what degree he should turn me into mush to feel relieved.
“Kkwek……”
The owner of this weak pig squeal that broke the tension was not me.
I turned my head toward the two Orcs I had briefly forgotten about because of Ratel’s stubbornness.
The leader was still unable to regain consciousness.
The one remaining, the single Orc that had persistently hung onto Ratel’s leg, was looking back and forth at me and Ratel with a blank expression.
“Kkwek……”
The guy blankly looked at me once, Ratel once, and finally moved his gaze back to me.