Chapter 7 (2/2)

“Well, I wasn’t planning on finis.h.i.+ng yet either.”

Luke gripped his sword again, however, this time it was sheathed and tied up securely, preventing accidental unsheathing.

“Come at me. You’ll be bruised but you won’t bleed.”

Kurotan roared in rage and jumped towards Luke once again.

Hal’s body was too weak for the Great Warrior Orc to display his skills.

Pukang!

The vertical axe strike was blocked by the sheathed sword in Luke’s hands. Kurotan attempted to use brute strength to push down, but the sheathed sword refused to budge even a bit.

“Keuuuwak!”

Kurotan mustered up even the strength that he had used to suckle from his mother; Luke rotated the sheathed sword slightly and threw off the axe.

Kurotan nose planted into the ground as a result of the skilled counter.

“I don’t think there’s a need to fight anymore.”

“It’s not over yet!”

His body had changed, but the fighting will of an Orc remained.

Kurotan snorted with a b.l.o.o.d.y face (from a nosebleed), and charged. Luke effortlessly blocked Kurotan’s attacks.

Puk. Puuhk.

Because the sheathed sword dug into every gap in his defenses, Kurotan soon became a lump of bruises.

“As expected, you can’t display your battle prowess with a changed body.”

No matter how experienced, a knight with no experience fighting an Orc was bound to lose. An Orc’s arms were much longer than a human’s.

The difference in arm length was a difficult obstacle that every knight stationed at Fort Potellan had to overcome, and it was no different for Luke.

‘The characteristic flexibility and explosiveness of Orcs are completely gone.’

Thankfully, the battle honed reflexes and a sense for danger seemed to remain. Kurotan instinctively twisted his body to avoid critical strikes whenever Luke’s sheathed sword swung past his defenses.

All in all, however, his new body was much too fragile. Kurotan eventually fell as a b.l.o.o.d.y, bruised heap of flesh.

Chulkuk.

Luke stared down at Kurotan after securing the sheath to his belt. Kurotan was heaving deeply, seemingly in disbelief.

“Th-This is impossible…”

“Looks like I have no use for your axe.”

Luke stared at Kurotan with cold eyes. Kurotan’s face turned nervous at the sight.

Orcs did not take useless prisoners. Kurotan couldn’t help but anxiously ask.

“You have no use for me. Are you going to kill me?”

“I’m thinking right now.”

Luke clicked his tongue after staring at Kurotan who was stretched out on the ground.

“You’re very lucky.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because even amongst humans, I value my promises very much…”

Luke smiled and extended his hand. Kurotan reached up to grab it and unsteadily pulled himself up.

“I have already promised to take you under my wing, and I will keep that promise. It doesn’t matter whether you are useful to me or not…”

Kurotan’s face brightened up immediately.

“Th-Thank you.”

“But! The hierarchy of this relations.h.i.+p should be cleared up?”

Luke’s smile turned even wider as he looked at Kurotan.

“Do you admit that I am stronger than you now?”

Kurotan swallowed loudly. Should he once again have the body of an Orc Great Warrior, Luke would not last a second.

But he was currently in a fragile human body. The body of the Orc Great Warrior was probably rotting away by now.

“I admit it. You are much stronger than the current me.”

“Good. So according to Orc laws, you will follow my orders to the letter from now on?”

“As you wish. I shall follow your orders to the letter.”

“Then here is my first order.”

Luke once again extended his hand towards Kurotan.

“I shall take care of the divine object from now on. Give it here.”

Kurotan immediately stepped backwards, shaking his head furiously.

“I can’t do that. The divine object houses the souls of hundreds of my tribe’s warriors. It must be taken care of carefully.”

“I will take care of it carefully.”

“It will be safer for me to…”

Kurotan didn’t finish his sentence. He realized that Luke was stronger than the current him.

Even though he realized this, Kurotan continued to hesitate. It was still hard for him to trust a human with the divine object carrying the souls of his fellow warriors. Luke’s face turned serious.

“To be honest, I will not let you use the divine object as you wish anyways.”

Luke pointed to Kurotan.

“Even Hal’s body which you took over has bothered me until now. Hal has a family to go back to, but you stole his body and his soul has ascended. How resentful must he feel?”

“It is the law of Orcs to kill and take.”

“Those are the laws you followed when you were an Orc, but you are a human now. You must follow the laws of humans from now on.”

Luke made a compromising gesture.

“From now on, you can only use the divine object with my permission.”

“Permission?”

“Yes. From my perspective, that of a human, I cannot allow you to pillage human bodies as you please.”

“Th-Then, what should I do with all the souls of the warrior?”

“I shall choose the bodies that the Latilla Tribe warriors will inherit from now on.”

“…..”

“I will only allow you to take the bodies of criminals that will only harm society by living.”

Kurotan continued to hesitate despite Luke’s explanations. Luke’s eyes became fierce at Kurotan’s continued att.i.tude.

“Did you not say that you would follow me to the end? Was it all just a lie?”

Kurotan finally seemed to come to a decision at those words, and he offered up the divine object.

“I will follow you to the end. We do not lie.”

“Good.”

Luke looked at the divine object in his hands. On the outside, it was an old, broken sword, but it held the sleeping souls of hundreds of Orc warriors inside.

‘No one would believe this story.’

Luke glanced at Kurotan after he tucked away the sword into his bosom.

“The word ‘divine object’ may cause problems should other people overhear us, so let’s call this ‘Spirit Sword’ from now on.”

“Spirit Sword?”

“Since it carries souls, it makes sense.”

“All right.”

“Good. Let’s finish the rest of my errands in the city and then leave for my House’s Earldom. Don’t say anything until we finish, and follow me.”

“As you wish.”

“If someone tries to talk to you, do this.”

Luke rolled his hand into a fist and put it in front of his mouth. The gesture was used by va.s.sals or apprentice knights carrying out a period of silent training. Kurotan followed the gesture and nodded.

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