Chapter 47: You guys! Relax?

"And what is it you don't like, orc?" he coldly observed. The elf didn't shy away from confrontation, eh?

"The horses' death's on you, elf," he calmly asserted.

"I get that you're pissed at us. Poor things died. The carriage's stuck here. Busted like crazy 'cause of our guy, no less," he continued, pointing his sword at the chariot. "So yeah, as I said, I get it. You're pissed. I'm not sorry for it," he shrugged, "but I can feel for you elves." His words were hardly apologetic.

As he said, he didn't feel sorry for our loss. He still got it, though. The orc leader shrugged once more, giving the elf but a look of pity then turned to his team and got them ready to be on the move. "I'm laying it out clearly—we ain't gonna hurt you, elf. But that thing over there, I can tell you're not transporting any big supplies in that."

"Your point being, orc?"

"You can still scram on foot as you said. Plus the horses are on you. You elves know your war ain't exactly been wrapped up and done yet."

"So?" the elf asked. It's not like he didn't understand the orc's point. It was just that he was too prideful to shut his mouth and walk away. And neither the orc was going to back away from the conflict. Following that, then, was more of children's squabbling than a peaceful resolution of the issue at hand.

"What, still not getting it? And you call my guys stupid? So, wait... you ain't just lose the war, your homes, wives, and sons, is that it? You also lost your brains, is that it?"

At first glance, I judged the man a calm, practical man. But no.

"'Wives and sons'... what's that supposed to mean?!"

The orc leader ignored his question. "You ain't moving anything bigger than big guy over there, is that correct? What about you buzz off right now and come fix your shit in a week or two? You'll have new horses by then! In a week or two, why don't you? After me and my boys are done wipin' our asses with what's left of your land, eh?"

Well. Eloquence wasn't something the orc lacked. He simply lacked manners. Shall I go out and call him a motherless bastard then? Probably not.

"You...!" White-haired wasn't getting any better. The rage he felt swelling up inside himself didn't waver. It exploded by the minute. So many insults. The elf had never been that insulted before. If he was the sole target of the orc's insults that was something. But the elven princess? The orc leader was oblivious to the fact that there was the oh-so-famous elven princess traveling with them.

It was better he knew not. But though ignorant of the fact he had just threatened the princess' life, it didn't change the fact that he did threaten her. The elf, at these words, was as if stabbed through the heart. Hence why he turned into a hissing snake and responded to the orc leader's taunting. And now what, the orc leader spoke more of these outrageous insults? It was pushing it too far.

Still however, the elf was quite pathetic if even he, the trained attendant of the royalty, couldn't keep a straight face in such a situation. After all, he was only endangering his life by responding with justice and righteousness.

At any rate, I had been amused enough then. Hopping off the chariot after I slammed the door open, I laughed. "Hah hah hah hah~ Guys!" I greeted them with laughter. It was my time to chime in. And I guessed I could just go on with the mood and act outgoing and natural. I checked with Mana Perception a while back, and it seemed the old man hadn't chosen to linger here after we bumped into these orcs. He had his own mission to deal with. If he was away, that only meant one thing. That difficulty level was to be handled by myself.

Lightly, my feet landed on the ground. The boyish princess was here. "Now, now, now. You guys. Why don't we all... relax? Eh? What say you, orc! Relax?"

"Prin— Young girl!" A princess wasn't just any person. My identity had to be not revealed. "Let me handle this, you... young girl! ...Yes?"

"No."

"N-No!? Uh... A-All right."

Throwing forth one leg after the other, I leisurely walked up to him. Breathing in and out, I felt good. The outside air sure was fresh. I'd been patiently waiting in that dumb, destroyed chariot for so long that I was afraid I would suffocate. Really. Now, with a little walking and warming up, I felt way better. Quickly enough, I stood beside my elf. Gently tapping his shoulder with a hand, I indicated to him I'd be handling this from now on. Hesitantly, he hung his head down and nodded.

A nostalgic smell filled my nostrils. It was the smell of blood. Upon sniffing about the air, I breathed that kind of rotten air and shook my head desperately. "That's why the old man doesn't like conflict," I muttered.

Looking around me, the sight around me had priorly been lovely. Big, green mountains of trees all around us on both sides, with gusts of winds jumping up and down from them, and a brown healthy earth lying beneath our feet. Now, people had fought and died here. The nasty smell was coupled with the nasty sight of a soiled earth. "Yeah... My old man wouldn't be so happy... But anyway. Ha ha ha ha!" Now at least, people laughed here. Or well no, I was the only guy laughing there... but I was sure this was the right way to lift away the tense atmosphere that ruled over us.

"I'm relaxed," I chanted. "Why aren't you guys, too?"

"Relaxed, eh?" the orc leader laughed a bit, too. "As in... totally relaxed about your horses being mincemeat, kid?" My eyes turned to a slit as I studied him. He was strong. But not that strong. I could take him out if I wanted. Even with a feeble Receptacle, I reckoned it was possible. I turned to the elf now.

Eyeing him, for some reason, he stepped away from me with a stifle response, gulped, and cast his eyes down. He seemed to be coming to the understanding of something. Cold sweat poured down his forehead. Surely, he was just panicked because he feared I would make a problem with the orcs, right? Or maybe he thought I would fight them. He had many reasons to be stressed like this, so I didn't think much of his abnormal reaction.

"Well yeah. Horses? No horses? What's that even matter?" Like this, I thought we would just ignore the orcs and go on with our quest. With my quest. Whatever happened to our vehicle happened. We'd still have to keep at it and go. Nothing changed.

"Yeah... right. What's that even matter anyway, kid. Right?"

"Of course."

The orc leader dryly scoffed again. And that was settled. There were no more issues on either side. Soon, the orc leader turned back to his friends. Whatever they did then wasn't our business. We had our feet, and they were our new chariots. When the orc spoke, all of his men roared out another laughter.

Would you believe it, now? In his panic, the kinder elf had gone and picked at the orcs again. He hollered at them asking for the reason they laughed all of a sudden. Were they poking fun at him? No way in the world, right? That's what White-haired decided to think anyway. What now, had he been so confident his overpowered princess was by his side he wouldn't let go of the matter? I mean, come on, White-haired.

Were you always that silly? There was actually a reason for which he started up a fight with them again. That reason had something to do with a blunder on my behalf. If, seconds ago, the elf had seemed so panic-stricken and afraid of me, his boyish princess, there was a cause to it. In fact, White-haired was so panicked and lost right now, that he was at a total loss regarding how to act around me or what to do.