“Something’s wrong.” Nostel held up a hand to stop his companions. He looked with great anxiety to the foliage surrounding them, a bead of sweat trickling down the side of his face.

Before Elianora could fully register Nostel’s unease, something came out from hiding a few feet in front of them. It was a Humanoid, pink monster: over six and a half feet tall and wearing iron half plate. It had a heavyset build, but its bare arms were rippling with muscles. The tusks and pig snout made it implicitly clear what sort of monster they were staring at.

An Orc.

An enemy they couldn't hope to face, and fully armed at that.

The orc pointed his war axe at them and said a few words that they couldn't understand. The tone wasn't overly aggressive, but it was firm. They could only guess what he might have said. Turn back? Leave your things? Surrender? Fight me?

Elianora glance at Rudan who was gripping the hilt of his sword tightly.

“I’ll buy you some time, so hurry and run back the way we came.”

She saw how he said those words with eyes determined to die and drew his sword.

Elianora was still confused, and Nostel had a depressed look on his face and apparently no intention to flee. Before Rudan could shout again for the other two to run, the Orc raised his axe into the air, and two dozen Orcs came out of the bushes and trees around them.

Rudan started sweating bullets, and his hand holding his sword shook greatly. Elianora blinked slowly while feeling as if she were in a dream. She saw Nostel slowly lower himself to his knees and raise his hands behind his head.

“Nostel…?” she asked blankly.

He smiled bitterly, eyes bloodshot from the excessive tension. “This should be a formation for capture, I think… We aren't able to put up a fight regardless, so…”

“Y-you're betting on the mercy of orcs?!” Rudan confronted the ranger as if his pride had been stepped on.

“You can berate me, but right now I only want to live a little longer. Unless you have some better plan, Rudan, this is mine.”

Elianora sucked in a cold breath as the harsh reality finally settled in for her. She tightly gripped the edges of her cloak and looked in fear to the monsters surrounding her party.

“Why… aren't they doing anything?” she murmured. Although it wasn't like she was feeling hopeful. It was just a useless question her brain decided to ask in this helpless situation.

“Probably waiting for the both of you to surrender as well,” Nostel said bitterly.

“L-like hell we’ll surrender! They'll kill us!” Rudan’s knees shook. His pride as a swordsman was the only thing keeping him standing. He couldn't abandon it at this stage.

Suddenly, the lead Orc nodded, which shut them all up. In clear Human language, he spoke the word he had picked out from their conversation.

“Surrender.”

The tone was confident and strong, far from the sounds of their own voices at the moment. Elianora felt her knees tremble and give out beneath her. It was all she could do to keep from wetting herself.

Finally, even Rudan lowered his arms helplessly, only barely still keeping a grip on his sword.

The lead Orc calmly spoke a few words, and some of the Orcs from the encirclement came forward. They tied their wrists with leather strips and confiscated their weapons. Being led along in the center of their procession, Elianora kept suppressing the urge to vomit.

Olive… You'll be okay, right? Patch will probably take care of you once he finds out… Uuu…

As they marched on, soon some clay huts became visible beyond the trees. This was the Orc’s village. Waiting at the edge was another dozen Orcs, led by one imposing female Orc dressed in the fur of a huge wolf. Upon seeing them, the Orc woman grinned in a terrifying way and seemed to speak some congratulatory words to the armored Orc. To Elianora’s shock, the armored Orc bowed his head to the Orc woman.

Oh, Olive, please pray loudly when you ask the gods to save me.

***

It seems like the battle wasn't anywhere near as hard as I was worried it would be. Durghan returned triumphant in a short amount of time. The three Human prisoners don't seem to have a single scratch on them, so it looks like he managed to convince them to surrender. This guy really is impressive. I feel like I owe him some kind of a reward this time. I'll ask him what he wants later. For now, a few words will be enough.

[A flawless capture, I see. Good work, Durghan,] I said while grinning.

He bowed his head slightly. [Thank you, Chief Vyra. I hardly deserve praise for such an easy task.]

Yep. Durghan’s speech has gotten better these days.

Hmm, well then. I want to talk with the Humans, so I need to learn their language.

[Bring them into my hut. I want to learn their language. Durghan, you stick around too. I want you to know it also.]

[Yes, chief.]

Durghan nodded and the three Humans were led into my hut. I sat on my throne with my legs crossed, gazing down at them with interest. Durghan is standing to my right, the other guards have left. Since the two of us comprise most of the fighting power of this village, there’s no point having extra guards.

Now, if this works the way it did before, hopefully I can learn their language by hearing them speak a bit. I just need to get them to start conversing among themselves. Would a simple introduction suffice to break the ice?