Orc Hero Story: Discovery Chronicles - Chapter 80.1

Orc Hero Story

Meanwhile, in the southeast forest, Nazar and the others faced two enemies; Carrot and the nameless woman. Had they caught up? No, they hadn’t. Poplatica was not with them.

When Nazar and his group arrived, the women were already waiting for them. Was it a trap? No, it wasn’t either. Considering the possibility of pursuers, the women had left Poplatica, who carried the Scriptures, with only one guard and waited here to entertain them.

Gediguz’s resurrection only required Poplatica, who knew the ritual. Although, to be precise, there were others who knew the ritual. If they could bring back the Scriptures, the ritual could be performed even without the demon woman.

Nazar and Thunder Sonia gave up on pursuing Poplatica when they saw the women waiting for them. It was impossible to catch her, especially considering that the two of them had no chance of restraining them.

However, the goal of pursuing them had been achieved. The nameless woman was there.

“……”

“……”

However, an uncomfortable silence hung in the air. The nameless woman and Nazar faced each other, while Carrot seemed uneasy with the situation, muttering something like, “Aaaah”.

Nazar looked at her with eyes that seemed to want to ask something. The nameless woman, with an air of “What, is there something wrong?” clearly avoided making eye contact with him. Thunder Sonia, the meddler, also seemed a bit uncomfortable in this situation, torn between saying something or not.

Nazar broke the ice.

“Dear sister, are you really alive?”

“There’s no reason for you to call me sister.”

“Tell me why. All this time, I thought you were dead. Why didn’t you contact me at least once?”

Ignoring that almost joking comment, Nazar pressed on. Carrot elbowed the woman, as if saying, “Read the atmosphere”. Thunder Sonia looked at Nazar with a questioning expression and then returned the gaze, apparently thinking, “No, he’s not mistaken, right?” after observing Nazar’s expression.

“That aside, getting involved with a force trying to resurrect Gediguz…”

“……”

“Sister, didn’t you dream of an era of peace after the war where all races would join hands and live together in harmony?”

For the first time, the nameless woman directed an intense gaze at Nazar.

“Yes, that’s right.” And, as if resigning herself, she began to unwrap the bandages from her face. “But you see, I believe that…”

The burn scars were revealed, a face that didn’t look like it originally did, the true face of the woman. However, Nazar recognized it. A face with familiar features, a face that had grown a little since the last time they saw each other.

Liscia Gainius Grandorius. The Human princess who was supposed to be dead was there.

“I saw that, to live in peace, there are a few races that are surplus, you know?”

“…What is the reason for those burns?”

“On the battlefield, they poured a large amount of boiling oil on me and set me on fire… but what you should be asking, Nazar, is not the reason for the burns. It’s who did it and for what purpose.”

“Wasn’t it the enemy’s doing…?”

Liscia let out a condescending chuckle. Reading her expression as “Why state the obvious like that?” Nazar took it as confirmation.

“I remained on the intense battlefield, along with a few others, to let our allies escape… When the battle was reaching its climax, reinforcements arrived. The enemy fled. That night, we all lay in the relief tent, happy to have survived. We slept like logs, and then they set us on fire. In an instant, everyone was annihilated. I only suffered burns because I had resilient equipment. But the shock came afterward. Although I was practically a human torch, when I emerged from the tent to counterattack the enemy that had ambushed us, guess who was there. Yes, humans. The unit that was supposed to come to our rescue, for some reason, set us on fire. And when they saw me crawling out and aimed their swords at me, they said, ‘Hey, this one’s still alive’. And then, a concentrated blast of flame magic hit me.”

Nazar was speechless. He hadn’t heard this story before. He had only been told that Liscia’s unit had been completely wiped out.

“The ones who helped me were actually a group of demons planning to ambush us at night. I don’t know if they pitied me for being betrayed by my allies, if they simply acted on a whim, or if maybe they mistook me for an ally. But at least, they didn’t know I was the Human princess. However, the demons who scattered the Human army and came to rescue me saved me.”

After that, as a severely wounded patient and also a captive, she spent some time in the demon nation. At the end of the war, she chose to leave the country, accompanying Poplatica.

“If that’s true, it should be a more important matter!”

“But it’s not… Why do you think that is? Do you think I’m lying? Even with these scars as evidence?”

“No…”

“What were you doing, anyway? Travelling as a wandering artist? It seems you travel through various nations, but who do you think rules the country during that time? What kind of ideology do you think the one leading the country follows?”

“Everyone does what they can.”

“They hide their ambitions. And when there’s an opportunity to get closer to those ambitions without being exposed… they do things like this.” The nameless woman pointed to her face, burned beyond recognition.

“‘The Descending Heaven Princess’ Liscia Gainius Grandorius is already dead. Betrayed and murdered by the Humans who were supposed to be her allies and guide her.”

“Then, who… did it?”

“Who knows? I have a hunch about the mastermind, but I have no clues, so I won’t say. Besides, I’m not looking for the culprit.”

“In the past, sister, wouldn’t you have sought retaliation against the one who committed such a terrible act…?”

“Of course, that was my initial intention. After being saved by the demons and witnessing the end of the war, I investigated Human movements. I wanted revenge against whoever turned me into this… but as I watched, my thoughts changed a bit.”

“Changed how?”

“It wasn’t a specific person who betrayed me. It was the Humans. The entire human race betrayed me.” Liscia looked at the sky.