Volume 3 Chapter 5 Part 4
As I suspected, this orc knew Enami.
But before that, I felt a little nervous at the fact that I somehow resembled Enami.
I turned to Ria and Deet, pointing at my own face.
Both shook their heads no. I breathed a sigh of relief.
「Not in that way.」 the orc said, correcting herself.「Enami is really handsome.」
R-really? I thought he looked more like a brawny middle-aged man with a chubby face.
「Sir Thor is far more handsome!」Ria burst out, rushing to my defense.
「Y-yeah.」Deet agreed. 「Tooru is way cuter.」
That made me a little… no, a lot happier.
「Enami is a gentlemen」the orc said, refusing to back down.「So unlike some people, he won’t grope people in the dark-」
「Waaaah! Yes, yes, I agree that he’s a good person.」I hastily interrupted. 「But more importantly, Miss Orc, do you not attack humans?」
「I don’t.」
「Liar.」Deet declared.「Orcs are famous for being extremely dangerous monsters.」
I’d heard that before. That orcs were powerful monsters and a huge threat to adventurers.
「We’re vegetarian orcs. Why would we attack humans?」
「What the hell? Vegetarian!?」
「We follow the teachings of the evil god Ruin, who tells us to eat only plants.」
Evil god? So a vegetarian evil god…
Also, didn’t the orc from before eat the pet food?
Admittedly, there was no way for them to know that it was made processed, dried meat paste. You didn’t find that kind of stuff in nature. Or the dungeon, for that matter. An orc would probably mistake it for a plant of some sort.
「Has there been an incident where orcs attacked humans in this dungeon?」the orc pressed.
I hadn’t. The only one I knew about was the one that Enami had befriended.
I looked over at Ria and the others.
「I even live in the first floor of the dungeon but I’ve never heard of anything like that…」Miri mumbled.「Though orcs in other regions are famous for being ruthless.」
「Adventurers avoid fighting at all costs on the sixth floor.」Ria added.「Maybe that’s why no one’s ever noticed.」
The last to speak was Deet. 「Tooru, you went to the Adventurer’s Guild, right? And you saw the request for Enami’s subjugation.」
「Yeah. I did. I think an adventurer named Lucia put out the notice or something.」
「Apparently, Enami kept pressuring her to sign up for a subscription, and she got super pissed. That’s the only reason she put out the subjugation request… she wasn’t attacked or anything…」
We all met eyes, looking stunned at our new revelation. That the orcs of Yomi Dungeon didn’t attack people.
「How did I not know despite living on the dungeon’s first floor…」
「And I’ve been exploring this dungeon for ten years already…」
I didn’t blame them. Who would’ve guessed that both the orcs and evil god were vegetarians?
Ria did her best to cheer them up. 「W-well, at least we know now. By the way, Miss Orc, what’s your name?」
「Francoise.」
「H-how lovely. My name is Ria.」
Francoise… You’re telling me that this bald gorilla’s- rather, Miss Orc’s- name is Francoise??
Doing our best to hide our disbelief, we all introduced ourselves in turn. But I couldn’t afford to stay surprised for long. If Francoise had heard about Japan, she must’ve been close to Enami.
Which would mean that she knew where he was.
「Excuse me, Francoise. Would you happen to know where Enami lives?」
「In the orc village.」
So the 6th floor vegetarian orcs lived in a village.
I… really didn’t want to go.
But, I had a duty to save Enami.
「Francoise. I need to save Enami, so can you take me to him?」
「…」
「W-what’s wrong? Is it not allowed?」
「Huh? Oh… no, it’s fine. Let’s go the village and I’ll consult the village elder about it.」
「Thank you so much!」
I’d made up my mind to save Enami, and here was finally the opportunity. But to my surprise, Deet pulled me back.
「Wait a sec, Tooru.」
「What?」
「C’mere for a sec.」
Deet pulled me away from Francoise to where she couldn’t hear us. Ria and Miri gathered around us.
「Are you really going to the orc village?」
「What else can I do? I have to save Enami.」
「B-but… you trust her?」
「Eh?」
Deet and MIri both looked slightly baffled, while Ria looked a little scared.
I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that female knights have a fear of orcs. I’d read about it quite frequently in my ‘thin books.’
On a more serious note, I’m sure Ria’s memories of lying alone on the dungeon floor, poisoned with no hope, still haunted her to this day, hence her apprehension.
And at any rate, the others evidently didn’t trust orcs either.
「I trust her. I think Francoise is a good person.」
Well, maybe not a good orc per se. But I didn’t believe that the round-eyed Francoise was lying.
Even if she was a yellow, bald female orc.
I didn’t blame the others for their disbelief though. Claims such as having seen an orc and half-human living together, or a kidnapped child, or orc herbivores, must’ve seemed ridiculous.
「I-in that case, I’ll go alone and you guys wait here.」
「Huh? You’re going alone?」Deet said in surprise.
But I had solid proof that the orc wasn’t lying.
That is, I’d seen an orc and Enami working together.
But even if I mentioned that, there’s no way an otherworlder would’ve believed it.
「I-if Tooru’s going, then I’m going to!」
「Same here!」
「Me too!」
Ultimately, everyone decided to come with me.
Francoise continued down the path, passing through several other hidden doorways.
Eventually, we reached the entrance to a cave, inside of which was the orc village.
「Wait here. I’m going to get permission from the village elder.」
「Alright.」
Francoise headed deeper into the cave while the rest of us stayed back.
「Careful guys. It might be trap.」
「You’re overthinking it, Deet.」
As those words left my mouth, a beaming Francoise returned, her arms linked together with a brawny looking middle-aged man.
No doubt about it. That was Enami.
「Enami!」
「Suzuki! Long time no see! Ah, could it be that you’ve finally decided to buy the TV subscription?」
「No, that’s not it. This is another world! I’m here to rescue you!」
Enami laughed heartily. 「Ahaha! I’m just messing with you. Say what I might, I realize this is a different world, you know. But what do you mean you’re here to rescue me?」
「Um… well, ‘cause you’re in an orc village… don’t you want to go back to japan?」
「Not in the slightest.」
「Huuh? S-seriously?」
「Besides… I…」Enami looked at Francoise, her arms still entwined with his. Francoise looked at Enami.
「I’m getting married to Francoise.」
「Huuuh!? Married?」
「The last time we met, Suzuki, the orc I was with was Francoise’s brother, Edward.」
「I-I see.」
「But for now, why don’t you come to the village? The villager elder wants to meet you all.」
The two of them gazed lovingly at each other, never releasing the other, walked back towards the village.
「Well that was a close one. You almost killed Enami’s fiance.」
Deet nodded. 「That’s one way to ruin a wedding.」
「It all worked out, so it’s fine. Anyhow, it doesn’t look like a trap.」
「Yeah. I guess we follow them.」
The rest of us chased after Francoise and Enami.
The cave was shaped like a massive dome.
As we walked, I felt the repeated glances from children orcs.
They didn’t seem malicious, so I did my best to ignore them.
In the village center was a large, round building that seemed oddly familiar.
「Is that where the village elder lives?」
「Nope.」Enami said. 「They live over here.」
I’d already started walking towards the large building before being stopped by Enami.
He was pointing to a small, stone building.
「This one? It’s kinda small, isn’t it?」
「The orcs value equality more than status. No one lives in luxury.」
「Huh. Interesting. So what’s that huge house in the center then?」
「That’s their orc sumo wrestling ring.」
「O-orc sumo wrestling?」
I tried to picture it in my head.
「I’ll take you there later. But the village elder wants to talk to you for now.」
We entered the village elder’s house accompanied by Enami.
Inside was an old, hunched orc. The village elder.
After a brief greeting, we were prompted to sit. Which turned out to be surprisingly difficult, given the size of the house was compared to how large Enami and orc were.
The rest of us were forced to squeeze together to fit. Deet and Ria’s… boobs…
「Please listen to what the village elder has to say.」Enami said.
I wondered what he’d possibly have to say to us.
And on the flipside, what was I supposed to do with Enami? Could I really just leave him here? I wanted to ask.
But obviously, I had to hear out the village elder first.
「Humans. Will you please stop attacking us?」
Ah. So that’s what it was. Fair enough.
These orcs didn’t attack humans, after all.
「Especially, that, is the worst. It’s like you’re saying that… we’re like that.」
「Eh? Like what?」
「Don’t make me say it, lady knight. Doing stuff like that… we don’t attack humans, you know.」
H-he certainly had a point. I couldn’t imagine these orcs suddenly deciding to assault Ria.
Rumors were a scary thing.
「A-ah, I see.」
「Very well. And, all the other humans too.」
「Ahh, please wait. Human society is huge and complicated, so we can only resolve the misunderstanding a little at a time. You can’t expect everyone to just stop attacking you.」
The orc lowered his head. 「Enami said the same thing too, but, well, I had hope. It is unfortunate.」
I felt bad for the village chief and the other orcs.
「But I’ll do my best to spread the word that the yomi dungeon orcs are harmless.」
「I appreciate it.」
And after talking for a while, I learned a number of things.
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