Chapter 2097: Virion’s Reappears

Interestingly, as if to make their point, two orcs appeared in front of their stall. They were the huge kind, two bears, likely relatives.

Orcs were bigger than humans in general, and there were also taller ones among them. These two bears stood twice the height of an average woman. Just their presence was intimidating.

The two adults looked scared and shakily gave twenty sticks each without another word. Althea wondered if they were even paid for.

However, it was none of her business, and it wasn’t like the two people were being beaten.

Business resumed as the two orcs left. Others paid, especially the few half-orcs, while others were like the two brother bears.

Althea thought it was a good chance to learn the local ’culture,’ so she stayed behind, even asking if she could help out.

She helped by putting meat or vegetables (depending on the orc’s diet) on the skewer. The man was in-charge of cooking, while the woman was in-charge of packing things up and receiving payment.

"Did they make pre-orders or something?" She couldn’t help but ask when another batch of skewers was given to a snake orc, seemingly for free.

The two looked a bit embarrassed, and it was enough for Althea to tell that the items were indeed given away for free.

"Er...neighborly relations are indeed important," she told them. "I just hope you’re still living well."

The two softened as they looked at her. "Yes," he said. "Not all orcs are like that. The small profit from the rest is enough to push us through."

It seemed like this was the norm here, and Althea could understand. There was always a group of people pushing others down. It just so happened to be certain orcs in this one.

People just lived according to their own standards, and she had no right to judge or interfere.

Anyway, the shop opened for about three hours or so before all the stock ran out. The shop was quite popular due to the deliciousness of the sauce, and it was partly why not all orcs extorted them. They were afraid of pushing the couple too hard, and the good food would be gone forever.

During this time, she also gathered a bit of gossip. For example, there was this so-and-so orc, who had once been head guard, suddenly retired to start his own mini-satellite several kilometers away from the wall.

Another...was the sight of a mysterious squad that carried out the higher-up’s orders. Althea didn’t really care for it until she heard that they were half-orcs who could also control the elements.

Apparently, the half-orcs could overpower the orcs thanks to the elements.

Unfortunately, when she asked for more information, people didn’t know much about them either. They just knew it was a small group that would appear here and there, sometimes to do assassination jobs. People assumed they worked for the Lord, though there was no concrete evidence of it.

The shop closed down and the couple offered her a few snacks using the sauces. Althea did not reject their kindness, taking a few bites from the get-go. She had been helping out for hours, and a few snacks were welcome.

The sauces were quite characteristic, with a taste similar to Worcestershire sauce. It was made from local flora, and she reckoned she had bought a few during her earlier shopping spree, just that she didn’t know which one it was exactly.

She was the type to take shortcuts when it was available, however. Why waste precious time researching from scratch?

"Can you tell me what is the raw materials for this sauce?" she asked the couple. "In exchange, I’ll give you a bottle of my own sauce and the seeds for its raw materials."

Althea revealed one of her bottles of chilli sauce, though it was a variety made of local plants. Rather, it was an engineered plant that crossed local plants and the chilli from Terran. The result was a very resilient plant with very ’impactful’ fruit.

"I...see..."

The couple didn’t hesitate to show her the plant, pointing at its leaves, and showed her how to process it.

"..."

Were they really this naive?

Then again, perhaps it wasn’t too bad. Orcs and half-orcs were not known for their cunning, anyway. She reckoned if these two lived in a human territory, they’d have long been homeless.

"Have you tried selling these to trustworthy merchants in Warrior City?"

They seemed to have been in business for a while. Even if they hadn’t been approached, some greedy people would’ve tried to take over the business by now, right? Or was it that humans here were so few that no one really bothered with this business?

Later, she’d find out she was partially correct. Orcs and half-orcs didn’t have the mind for business, while most of the humans here were slaves.

Meanwhile, non-slave humans were there because they were born there and didn’t know anything else. There was absolutely no case of humans willingly migrating here.

Why would ’perfectly sane’ humans stay in an orc-filled territory? One had to remember the majority of local humans abhorred this species, thinking of them as disgusting brutes.

The shame caused by telling outsiders they lived with orcs was probably on par with telling people they lived in the slums.

While they seemed fine with the current status quo, Althea still couldn’t help but say a few words of advice.

"My husband and I are partnered with Warrior City," she said. "If you’re willing to do business with us, you can be in direct business with the City, too."

The status of humans here, even if they were not slaves, was not very high. They had often been bullied, though the orcs were aware of the strength differences and never went too far.

The Rules and Regulations existed, after all, and there was Warrior City above them, making sure that things didn’t devolve.

The most common was threatening them just with their presence. She had seen this with her own eyes earlier.

If the orcs didn’t want to pay, they’d simply stand in front of their stall with their massive bodies, unmoving, eventually forcing the sellers to just give it to them.

The rules only prohibited blatant theft. This kind of extortion was too ambiguous to place in the Rules, and therefore too expensive to implement.

The best way ’upwards’ for humans was either to grow so strong they could be on par with orcs (which was difficult to do here, as the orcs monopolize the monsters and resources) or to get connected to respected territories. For the couple, it would be the latter.

Althea smiled as she handed the sauce as well as the seeds, including some notes on growing them. "My husband and I are leaving tomorrow, but we should pass by here again on our way back.

"Consider all your options," she said. "Life is never just one path."

...

Althea and Garan met up directly in their room at the Inn. They got cleaned up and rested, with Garan’s hand starting to get a little itchy for his wife’s softness.

Those two calloused hands were soon occupied by the beloved softness, and the atmosphere in the inn quickly heated up.

Sad for him, it was around this time that the aether letter also heated up, breaking up the atmosphere.

It was, unsurprisingly, from Virion.

Garan’s face was stoic as always, but the goodwill he had for this guy was reduced even more.

Althea had an idea about what was going on in his head and rolled her eyes, unfurling the letter to read it.

[We’ve got a problem. The Lord is dying.]

...

When Virion investigated the major ins and outs, he indeed found out a lot. He did not hide his arrival, just that he pretended he came there alone.

His appearance would’ve automatically warranted the Lord to greet him, but the only one who greeted him was the Lord’s right hand man, Plai, a weasel half-orc.

The Lord here was ill, and the acting Lord was actually the one handling the territory. It had been this way for more than a year, apparently. Virion and his brother definitely had no idea about this, and this alone was alarming.

How could they not have their own spies in their associated territories, especially a town? Did those spies get compromised? Were they even alive?

The Quo Lord himself was also a half-orc. Orcs were just not fit to be Lords. The previous Orc Lord who initially took over made the entire territory regress, so Warrior City assigned the lion half-orc called Saimbi.

Saimbi was a relatively decent leader, but it seemed like he had long been indisposed.

According to Virion’s research, the upper class seemed to be planning on getting attacked so the Token could detach from Saimbi’s body.

They had been sending letters to another town, hoping to start a cooperative war so the locals could take the Lord Token. Otherwise, the town would get destroyed.

It would be the logical action—if only Virion did not feel the excitement in their eyes. No matter how concerned and heartbroken they acted, Virion’s instincts had always been strong.

And his instincts were telling him something was wrong. Very wrong.