Chapter 45: Lucky

What was wrong with these people? Couldn't they just chill out a little bit and appreciate the unfolding scene?

Well, aside from his blatantly annoying resistance to getting a fun moment together, White-haired was right to stop the horses. Let them be calmed and stilled. We needed them in one piece after our little pause. What in the world would come after 'that', though? Wouldn't we be robbed and stuff? The horses neighed and pulled back. Now that we were stationary, the ongoing battle was right in front of us.

White-haired cursed. "Damn it! What luck kind of luck is that! We aren't even through much of the road yet!" How lucky we were. A beautiful spectacle like this one was brought to us for free. It was just as White-haired had said.

The thunderous roars didn't stop filling our ears. Clanging swords weren't so reluctant to cry and sing along with all the fighting force. Orcs were on one side. And a group of humans on the other. Who should I cheer for?

Sticking my head out the window, I would not miss a moment of that. White-haired pressed me not to be reckless because it could be dangerous, but I kicked him back in his place. I knew it could be dangerous but I was careful. And it was Hideous that now spoke. The bastards. Were they targeting us? Our good old chariot ain't no shield for them to use, he said.

White-haired exhorted Hideous to stay calm. He said we couldn't maneuver a retreat, and even if we could, we might as well just stay stationed here. According to his calculations, the orcs would probably win this one fight. As such, we were good. Why, because the orcs were allies, now. "I can't believe I'm the one saying this though, heh..." After they lost the war, as a truce was being brokered between the group of demons and elves, the orcs wouldn't attack nor steal from us, the elves. White-haired just had to put in the right words and bow his head to them after they won.

"Whatcha thinking, White-haired?" It was Hideous who said that. My boys got so used to the names I gave them (I never actually heard their real names) that they now naturally called themselves using them.

"I say the orcs are winning for sure." Despite the fact they didn't mind their names, the kinder elf made sure not to overuse Hideous' name. One could only know why.

"'That so."

"The human group has the upper hand, but... it's only as far as numbers are concerned," he nodded. "The orcs won't lose. We did lose to them for a reason. Their tribe are direct allies to the demons. ...Or part of the bastards' group anyway."

According to White-haired, the orcs were winning. I guess it took no more than a pair of eyes to assert that conclusion. I, too, had a pair of seeing eyes, and I could see that the elf was most likely right. In the middle of the little battlefield, there was a Slash among many. What followed after the tip of a hacking sword was the falling Thud of a hand.

A human boy turned pale and fell to his knees. That boy just lost a hand. Seeing that boy suffer such a stroke, a human girl skipped to him. The two of them were sent to oblivion together. One sturdy orc had done the job right. The battle had started off pretty fast. Now I guessed it would reach an end pretty fast too.

I observed the rest of the battle with curious, amused eyes. Yet another human stepped up to cover his friends and cast a gigantic spell. He yelled "Sacrament!" and danced his part of the battle too. A paladin, White-haired asserted.

People did that, by the way. Shouting the name of their skills before they seemed to cast them. For what reason, I didn't know. I thought it was dumb. The surprise effect one could stir without shouting was undoubtedly necessary to achieve a greater victory. Right off the bat, Hideous mocked, they used Sacrament. They kicked it off pretty poorly, the humans, it was only a matter of time before they would lose, after all. Well. I was happy to see the two elves finally enjoying the scenery at least. They commented and I listened.

Was that big man the only one they called a paladin, hm? Hideous said adventurers should just know their place. "Ain't no goblins' playground out here. War's different," he scoffed.

"Only the human Guilds are thus: they may issue any kind of mission and the adventurers will come rushing to accomplish it, even partaking in a war such as this one. ...Aren't people nowadays all born mercenaries!" White-haired added.

Skulls were bashed in, limbs cut off, and dead bodies dragged in the mud. Adventurers, eh? There were only a dozen of these so-called adventurers now. It wasn't the first time I heard about them. Maybe we should try that out with my old man.

Wandering off the lands and cities without a job—no. Adventuring—yes. We had no plan for the future yet, though. Adventurers got to fight, have fun, grow stronger, and survive according to my sources so far.

Orcs darted up and down, swinging their thick swords, axes, and spears forward with all their weight. Humans barely evaded them, they weren't faring well, but continued their assault still, like the trained soldiers they were. But anyway. The big chubby man didn't dare to be slow. He quickly cast a faint-glowing white light upon the organized battlefield. He shouted motivational words, cheering himself and the others up.

His comrades had reinvigorated thanks to his skill, oblivious to the defeat that was soon to come. They said they could still have it. Promptly exchanging looks filled with both disgust and amusement, the orcs roared a burst of laughter with heaving shoulders. That's just how I imagined it. Fighting sure was fun. Otherwise, the winners wouldn't roar so amused. Seeing the remaining humans just... 'hanging tough' as they were told, Hideous laughed along with the orcs. He was more pissed than amused, though. "Rookies," he hissed. "These morons are dead for sure." He then asked White-haired whether he was sure about what was to come after. The elf answered he was. At any rate, we couldn't run now.

Wishing to chime in on their conversation, I made a comment of my own. "I mean, no, Hideous," I spoke intellectually. "As the paladin just ordered his men, now that they gathered and tightened their formation, maybe they'll be mounting a comeback, who knows."

The response Hideous gave me was shock written on his face. He yelled as he had just seen a ghost there. "Hmm?" I raised an eyebrow. "What, do I... have something on my face?" It wasn't only Hideous anyway, White-haired also looked at me like he had witnessed a miracle. A shocking, perturbing miracle. They then both turned to each other with stiffened postures. How the hell did I speak a human tongue? Unwilling to try and guess how I understood the human tongue, White-haired turned to me, disoriented.

"C-Can you understand the human's tongue, Princess!?"

What was it about a human tongue? Frowning at him, I cocked my head to the side. Wasn't it just anything anyone could do? Like, did people not understand other people out in the world? How the heck would they even communicate if that were the case? No, it's just— Oh. It clicked. "J-Just a wild guess! I-I don't speak their tongue, eh... he he he! I'm not suspicious at all! In fact, I'm still your princess—"

"Ah. Makes sense. What can we expect of that brat?" One murmured. "Oh. The princess cannot just be that much of a genius... can she?" And the other spoke aloud, not hiding his disappointment either. Jeez. It kind of stung though, you know.

Even if I risked being found out, I should probably show off if they make mean comments. Hideous accepted my explanation easily. And White-haired did too, except his eyes still were on me, squinting and calculating at his thoughts. Maybe I was suspicious after all. After a second, he cleared his throat noisily.

"Anyway, no, Princess. The orcs... That formation they're assuming is just how not to be powerlessly hunted by them. They're to be prey now. Well, I guess I'm going to negotiate now." The two elves commented a lot on the battle. As it was fun, I decided to join and make a comment of my own too. But I was clueless about what I said, quite honestly. When White-haired disapproved of my comment, I simply nodded. Hideous said even to him orcs were fearsome when they fought 'that' way.

Though both sides suffered casualties, the orc group was grander in number now. They were ten orcs against six humans by now. The humans had all answered their leader's calling and regrouped in a circle. Going with that formation, they defended themselves well and even seemed to push the orcs well. And, come to think of it, wasn't the battle they played out a little bit unfair? Orcs were big and sturdy-looking creatures. The humans, on the other hand, were almost the polar opposite of the orc's archetype. Though more equipped they were, they weren't tough-looking in the slightest. In height, their bulk didn't compare either. Seeing their picture, bright and clear under the sun, I understood they were far from winning. They were weak-looking boys, mostly... but well, they had been greater in numbers a minute ago. White-haired the weak group was cornered by the strong group. He was right. What followed from that point on would hardly be worth my words. To sum it all up, just like that, along with the clanging and the people's shouting, both their skills and the names of their dying comrades, the battle had to near an end. The chubby paladin fell to the ground and died. He'd been fatally gashed. Brave enough as he was, he dragged one enemy down with him, at least, contrary to the other humans. When panic pierced the humans' formation, they all fell to the ground like autumnal yellowish red leaves. The wind pushed them all down, and the sun kept beating down on them until they breathed no more. Almost all had lost.

The winners still stood, and the losers were stomped to the ground. Such was the duality of life.

"W-Where's the thief think he's going!?" All the rest of them could do was try and make a run for it. An orc bowman drew a bow from his back. He aligned some arrows and with a succession of Woosh sounds, three arrows were shot. Quickly piercing through the air—three arrows bored into our chariot. Instantly then, as if someone had touched even the hair of their princess, the two elves burst into a fury. Even White-haired cursed with words I never imagined he would.

They swore at both the orcs and the thief. The guy they called a "fucking thief" had successfully avoided all three, it seemed. That thief was good at evading bullets. It was too bad for him he wasn't so good at stealing other people's horses, however. Way too bad. Cursing, he had fled to our horses and now tried to take one for himself.

At that sight, both White-haired and Hideous were ready to storm out and teach the boy some manners. But I stopped them. "You two stay in. Just look. He'll be dealt with." Under the calm voice of their princess, the two sat back and obeyed. It was just as always—I could feel it. Mana. Agitating itself. Thanks to Mana Perception, I was keen on most of everything. And just when I told them to stop... from the sturdiest looking orc out there, an ominous wave of energy leaked out. Even I felt goosebumps running on my skin. He charged a lot of mana in the immense bastard sword he held and turned wild.

"Demaciaaaaa!"

He seized his large sword with even larger hands, thick veins bulged across his long arms. The orc only was readying himself to go and swing that absurdly big sword at the thief—the next thing I knew, he immediately was behind the runaway, spinning his enormous bastard sword around like a tornado and Slash—

Stealing the horses was obviously out of the question... but simply butchering them into mincemeat was even greater a sin. It was only as far as my two elves would tell you, though. The orcs didn't bat an eye when the massacre unfolded. The horses were so meek you wouldn't even hear them hiss so much as a neigh. And the thief... Well, the thief had gotten his hands all tangled up in his stealing. Bothered by the horses' yoke and stuff, he forcefully tried to get it off. Get the horses off. Or at least one of them. If he did it swiftly enough, not with trembling and sweating hands, he could unfasten them quickly enough, ride on one of the beasts and go away with at least his life. Fortunately, the thief couldn't steal our horses. Unfortunately, that's because both he and the horses were butchered to a hot mess of mincemeat.

The yoke that the measle thief couldn't get off the way was utterly totally destroyed by that sturdy orc's bastard sword. All in one stroke only. With the cracking thump of wood, it pierced right through the front part of Mr. Creaky Carriage. Well!

The chariot died at the hands of a strong enemy at least. Our wooden box broke down right on the spot as it shook and creaked for the last time. The Creaky Go passed away then and there. Most of the orcs burst out in laughter seeing the ravage their fella had brought. They were so loud that I was tempted to laugh too. Slapping their knees so much the butchering was gross and fun, they also smacked each other on the back sharing a great time together. Weren't they having fun?

The two elves were speechless. Hideous quickly made to burst out by the door and was ready to give the orcs a piece of his mind, but the other elf stopped him. Still though, even he was seething red in rage at what just happened. At times like these, White-haired always was the reliable man of the party. What could the poor Hideous do anyway? He would probably be butchered too, was he to complain. As I said, though the elf had conjured up enough willpower to not snap right there, he was red with anger. Slamming the chariot's door open, he quickly was out.

Stomping his feet loudly, his jaw was clenched so tight he had a hard time to even speak to them. "What's the meaning of this, you orcs?! Are you— Are you nuts?!" Driven by both his anger and sense of justice, White-haired wouldn't just ignore that grave a sin. "Orcs! Care to explain yourself?! That clearly was done knowingly, wasn't it?!" he hissed, his fists trembling with fury. Man, he was brave.

A little elf like himself going up against such big enemies... Woah. He didn't stop asking questions to discern the root of the issue. The orcs were showered in a rain of What's the meaning of this and What the hell you orcs. The elf was bold.