Chapter 249: A troubling mistake (1/2)

”W-what the… ” A beaten, battered and bruised, but still alive albeit quite weary silver-haired youth cried out in a mixture of shock and surprise as the metal door opened, revealing a strange dark green looking humanoid figure with a robust-looking orc following behind him.

As they stepped inside the dimly lit storage-looking dusty, empty room, they stopped just a few steps away from the silver-haired human sitting on the ground.

”W-who are you? W-what do you want?! I told you before, I will not say a word, you are just wasting your time! Hmpf!” He cried out with a fierce, determined gaze, despite the many beatings he surely must have received in the course of several hours.

Looking at the duo, he spat on the ground, and harrumphed, adding a few words under his breath in the process to his previous outcry. ”Not that any of you pig heads could understand normal language…”

Contrary to this belief of his, the dark green, lean and tall figure that had strangely familiar facial features revealed a cheeky grin. He crouched down, matching the silver-haired youth's fierce gaze.

As he opened his eyes and began to speak, his words, or more to say the language he used, stunned not just the human but the orc behind him as well.

”Now, now my dear friend, this is how you greet a comrade? Drake, you weren't like this when we went to that underground slave pen in Higrove to rescue both our sisters… Well, I guess this is just how royalty is…” Even his tone was familiar, but as soon as the figure said those words, Drake's eyes almost fell out of their sockets in his surprise.

He couldn't even respond for quite a while and just looked at the strange figure as if he were seeing a ghost.

However, after a while, as he finally managed to process his words, he cried out once more, this time even louder.

”AIDEN?! W-what the… How in the world… W-when did you…” He stuttered, unable to phrase a singular question as a multitude of them raced inside his mind at the same time.

Seeing his stunted look, Aiden, still in his Primal Goblin form couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of him.

”My, that's quite a lot of questions there, Drake! Well, I guess I can answer a few... Yes, it's me Aiden, and this form you see here is an illusion taught to me by my family. I'm here on a mission from the Adventurer's Guild. We have already met with your sister, and my friends have probably already freed all the other slaves, or at the very least in the process of doing so. They should have no problems in doing so as I have already cleaned up the guards there…” Aiden answered, the wide, satisfied grin not leaving his face in the process.

Turning towards the orc standing stoic behind him looking at the human with emotionless, uncaring, rigid, cold eyes he continued.

”This here is my servant, Roas. He is not allied with the orcs here, nor any of the other races of this 'Horde' or whatever it is really called.”

Then, shifting his language, he also addressed Roas, not leaving him in the dark, although he probably has already figured at least some of the details out by now.

”[Orc] Roas, this here is the human I know. He is called Drake, and although he is an idiot for trying to infiltrate the horde's settlement by himself, he is actually not a bad person. Treat him with the very same respect you would give me and make sure he stays safe, got it?”

Hearing his friend speaking the very same sounding, gurgled, hoarse language as the orcs here did, stunned Drake once again. It wasn't that long since they departed, and during that time, that strange, unreadable youths have changed by such a great deal it was hard to even come to terms with it. He just looked at his back that was turned towards him as he discussed something with the orc guard.

”[Orc] Yes, my lord! I will make sure this human-” Roas immediately responded, the cold look instantly vanishing from his face and a reverent, devoted expression replacing it, giving yet another surprise to Drake who was witnessing the peculiar scene.

”[Orc] Drake. His name is Drake. Don't refer to him by his race, address him by name.” Aiden interjected, speaking in a calm yet commanding tone.

Hearing his young master's words, Roas gave a deep, respectful and apologetic bow as he continued.

”[Orc] Y-es, my lord, please excuse me for my rude behavior!”

Waving with his right hand, Aiden silently dismissed the issue as it wasn't a huge mistake, to begin with, letting his servant continue with his acknowledging words.

”[Orc] Rest assured, my lord! I will make sure that Drake, your friend will be kept safe and sound! As he is the young master's dear friend, I will make sure to give him the same respect as I would to the young master!”