Orcs.

Of the seven races on the continent, they were the nonhuman race closest to monsters—a wandering people scattered across its many regions. Peculiarly, orcs preferred endless conflict to settling somewhere, farming, and leading stable lives.

They never grew complacent, always relishing the chance to fight for what they wanted. There was even a saying that an orc’s blood was always boiling.

Born with tremendous muscles, sturdy bones, and enormous frames, they began brawling with one another as soon as they could walk. By adulthood, every one of them had become a master of combat.

To an orc, fighting was merely a form of play.

Of course, their fanatical love of battle had once prompted a proposal to classify orcs as monsters and exterminate them, but it had not passed.

Orcs were clearly intelligent beings. More importantly, they simply loved fighting; they were not a savage race that took pleasure in trampling and destroying others or abusing the weak.

They had convictions of their own: they tolerated no cowardice, always kept their oaths, and never took the life of a weaker opponent who admitted defeat. That was what orcs were.

Well...

“A human! Dares! To climb! Our! Mountain! Snort!”

The trouble was that their beastlike nature made them very, very sensitive to trespassers.

“We must! Rip off! His head! And eat it! For dinner tonight!”

“Fuck.”

Damn it.

Nothing ever came easily for me.

“You! Draw! Your weapon! You entered our territory! So you must fight! Otherwise, we kill you!”

Just my luck.

My shitty luck.

「This should be entertaining, young descendant. Whenever I had some free time, I too would occasionally fight these battle-loving orcs from morning until night. What a joy it was to fight those who loved combat for its own sake...」

“Please shut up.”

I let out a long sigh and drew my sword.

“Fine. Let’s fight, you green lumps.”

* * *

An axe-wielding orc approached with heavy, thudding footsteps. It was the distinctive orcish gait—a walk intended to intimidate an opponent and flaunt one’s presence. This warrior race walked that way because they feared no ambush and always welcomed a fight.

“Are you! Ready! Snort!”

Listening closely, I realized that the unfamiliar-sounding orcish speech was actually a clumsy form of the continent’s common tongue. The pronunciation was poor, but it was not a language I didn’t know.

“Will you wait if I’m not?”

“Of course! Orcs always wait until their opponent is fully ready! Fighting an enemy who isn’t fully prepared! Is cowardly!”

An oddly considerate attitude for someone who had threatened to rip my head off out of nowhere. Well, I was grateful for the wait. Fighting that hulking green monster with my stamina depleted might be dangerous.

“Then give me a moment.”

I steadied my ragged breathing and quickly filled my body with Mana. The Caravan heart of steel was not merely hard; its recovery speed was beyond comparison with other 「mana hearts」. In an instant, my energy returned and strength surged through me.

Besides, the stamina I had built by running around the estate every day hadn’t gone anywhere. Regular exercise had improved more than my running. My endurance and stamina had increased, as had the rate at which my depleted reserves were used up. I always ran until I was utterly exhausted, collapsed on the spot, and started running again the moment I could. Now, the fruits of that training were shining through.

Once I had recovered enough stamina, I addressed the orc.

“I’m ready. So how are we doing this? Do I fight every orc here?”

“No! You! Look weak! So we fight one on one! Fairly!” the orc bellowed.

My ears felt ready to split.

“Is this a fight to the death?”

“No! You look weak! So I won’t! Take your life! But! If you lose! That fine-looking weapon you have! Give it to us! And leave this mountain!”

A duel with our weapons at stake, then.

The terms were clear. I nodded and asked, “Then what if I win?”

“I give you! My weapon!”

At the orc’s proud declaration, I examined his weapon. It was an axe covered in blood that looked utterly worn out. I wouldn’t want it even for free.

“... You don’t have to give me that.”

“Son of a bitch! I kill you!”

“He! Insulted! Kedrak’s fourth axe! Lovingly made! By his mother!”

“Kill him! Kill him!”

Ah.

I had unwittingly done something I ought to apologize for.

「That was harsh, young descendant.」

Well.

“So what? Let’s fight.”

Not my problem.

“I kill you!”

With a snort, the orc raised his old axe and charged with ferocious momentum. As he breathed with that characteristic nasal sound, I breathed at my own pace. I exhaled, and my second heart beat. Immediately, 「paths」 extended through my body, imbuing it with superhuman strength.

Having drawn on that strength in an instant, I drew 「Twilight」. The orc’s feet touched the paths I had spread around me. I could read how his muscles and joints would move, and a glimpse of the immediate future flashed before my eyes. This was one of the many reasons not to carelessly enter a sword walker’s 「paths」.

Anyone who was not a sword walker could not defeat one within their 「paths」.

My 「Twilight」 moved fluidly, piercing the middle of the swinging axe’s trajectory.

CLANG!

The axe rebounded. Another metallic clang rang out, and the orc’s body shook. I saw his eyes quiver violently.

He must have been surprised.

He had kept calling me weak, only to meet a much harder sword than he expected.

Still in the stance I had used to knock his axe aside, I planted my lead foot and drove a kick into his lower belly with a heavy thwack. The blow carried all the superhuman strength granted by the 「sword walker」 rank. Yet the sensation at the end of my foot was unsatisfying.

It felt like kicking a lump of iron, not flesh.

「That is an orc’s body. Green skin that is insanely hard.」

“...”

「It is also why orcs do not wear armor. Strong orcs have skin so thick and tough that they have no need of it. Like the ogres of the Sky Mountains.」

That was a trait I hadn’t expected.

But it would not greatly affect the outcome.

“Urgh, uuurgh—”

The orc before me was at such a paltry level that he couldn’t even see 「paths」.

“W-what was that? Something just flashed—”

... Or perhaps...

「You are no longer so weak that you’ll be beaten wherever you go, young descendant.」

Perhaps I had finally reached a fairly respectable level.

“S-stop...”

Naturally, the duel ended in my victory.

“S-sob. Snort, you won, so take it! My precious axe!”

“I told you, I don’t need it.”

My victory came with a largely useless old axe.

* * *

A mountain range lay farther north still than the northern reaches of the Iron Kingdom of Chervil. These highlands, little known even to the northerners, were home to orcs.

「Orcs lived here even in the distant past. Normally, they do not establish homes, but there have always been orcs here.」

“Is there a particular reason?”

「All the orcs living in this region hold their coming-of-age rites here.」

Coming-of-age rites.

An orcish tradition, a ceremony through which they became true warriors.

「There is a vast difference in ability between orcs who have completed the rite and those who have not.」

“Why is that?”

「Orcs who pass the rite receive an ‘ancestral inheritance.’ Much as you consume swords.」

That was news to me.

Well, orcs were not one of the better-documented seven races. They had little contact with other peoples, and their utter ignorance meant they were treated almost like beasts.

「An orc who passes the rite engraves a fragment of an ancestor’s soul into their body. This grants them a portion of the experience and strength lost to history.」

“... What a fascinating tradition.”

「Indeed. That is why orcs always recover the bodies of their comrades, and consider desecrating the dead a terrible insult. To them, death is not an absolute end.」

I looked at the orcs lumbering ahead of me: the one who had challenged me earlier, and his companions.

「And the orc shamans capable of performing the ‘ancestral inheritance’ can conduct the ritual only in places close to the sky. Thus, you are quite likely to find orcs in remote places on very tall mountains. You would probably encounter them even in the Empire’s Sky Mountains.」

“...”

「Orcs generally regard such high places as sacred ground.」

That made me a member of another race who had barged onto their sacred ground without permission.

Put that way, I could understand why they had flown into a frenzy.

‘And I pushed them around without knowing any of that.’

I had asked the orc I defeated to guide me toward the summit. He had been taken aback, but I had insisted that an orc who lost a duel ought to grant the victor’s request.

‘I feel like I’ve tricked a strong but gullible idiot.’

The orcs navigated the rough trail with practiced ease. Following behind them, I listened to their conversation.

“N-normally, we must not guide other races here! But I lost the duel! So I will guide him faithfully! W-what if the shaman cuts off my head! I’m scared! But a proper orc must not fear death!”

“Brave!”

“But if you’d won the duel, you wouldn’t have needed that courage!”

“Shut up! Be sympathetic!”

Their conversation seemed a little lacking.

Watching the orcs bicker as they walked, I asked Liam, “Why did you tell me to go to the summit, Master?”

Liam had told me to climb higher, higher still—to the summit of this ridiculously tall mountain. So I had done as he asked.

But I couldn’t help wondering why.

An answer soon came.

「Because that is the orcs’ true sacred ground.」

“... Pardon?”

For a moment, I thought I had misheard him.

「At its center is the sword you must consume this time. A blade that will not only make up for your shortcomings, but become a great source of strength for you in the future.」

“... Wouldn’t something at the center of their sacred ground be important?”

「It is probably a sacred relic.」

Liam said this with an utterly shameless face, without the slightest change in expression.

“Won’t there be countless orcs there? Not just shamans who wield mystical powers, but plenty of mighty orc warriors guarding them...”

「The place will be swarming with orcs like ants. It is their sacred ground. Isn’t that only natural?」

Only natural.

Yes, it certainly was.

“How am I supposed to get through a swarm of orcs and steal their sacred relic? Wouldn’t they kill someone from another race for eating it in the first place?”

「Do not worry.」

Liam spoke without a single change in expression.

「Win, as you just did, and you will not die. Didn’t I tell you? Orcs decide everything through duels. As long as you win, they will not care whether you take their sacred relic or burn their sacred ground.」

“... What happens if I lose?”

「You will either die or be driven out with your limbs cut off.」

The sheer confidence with which Liam said that left me speechless for a moment.

“Fuck.”

As usual, it was impossible to hold back my curses around Master.

While I was letting them fly, the orc ahead of me shouted, “We’re here! That’s the summit!”

In the direction he pointed stood an enormous rock and countless statues. And, like spilled green paint, innumerable orcs crowded together in waves. There were truly very, very many orcs.

... Once again, my damned master had not lied.

“Why! Has a human! Entered this place!”

A tremendous number of orcs shouted at once, loud enough to burst my eardrums.

I squeezed my eyes shut and muttered inwardly.

‘Seriously. Fuck.’