Chapter 37 (1/2)

The Three Big Pigs

I wasn’t in the deepest sleep, but I was still sleeping. But of course, this was going to be another night where I was hurriedly awakened by Daniela.

“Asagi. Monsters.”

I quickly sit up. After grinding my fists into my eyes and opening them, I grab my sword and stand up on my feet.

“Gra.s.s wolves again?”

I take in a deep breath to help get my brain working again. Then I leave the tent and drink a cup of water in one gulp. Thankfully, Daniela always wakes me up with just enough time to prepare before the fight.

“No. Unfortunately, it is orcs.”

“Orcs?”

I had heard once from Gardo that orcs lived in the deepest reaches of the northern forest. Later, someone else said that there were also many at the base of the southern mountains. But both of those places were far from where we were now.

“Had you heard of it, Asagi? There was an orc hunt not long ago.”

“What’s that?”

There was that one time that Gardo and Ness had been absent for quite a stretch. Perhaps that was what they were doing if they had gone to the southern mountains. Though, they never did tell me. So I had no way of knowing.

“That hunt took place in those southern mountains.”

Daniela pointed at the mountains that were faintly lit by moonlight.

“They must be survivors who escaped that hunt and wandered over here.”

I see. There was no other reason why there would be any orcs in such a thin forest.

Orcs lived in forests. But the ones that lived in the northern forest could only be encountered if you went very deep inside. They preferred dense, almost jungle-like environments. And the forest at the base of the southern mountain was so dense it could be called an ocean of trees. It was also connected to the forest that previously belonged to the forest wolves. So we could have entered it, but it would have been dangerous to enter Beowulf’s territory. Well, he wasn’t actually there anymore.

“Encountering orcs in this place… We must have the worst kind of luck…”