The orc invasion was successfully thwarted off. People celebrated as the city was safe once again thanks to the joined forces of the royal guards and the adventurers

Earth and Plina on the other hand, are scolded for "endangering themselves by picking up fights that they can't handle". He was lectured for a whole day in courtesy of his Uncle and it was... horrible and boring, at least to Earth's opinion

For a few days, they received taunting and mocking glares from both villagers and adventurers

They were viewed by many as "wannabe adventurers" and mocked to be "delusional idiots"

But some beg to differ. Some villagers and royal guards, more specifically the ones that Earth and Plina saved during the attack rebuffed the taunts and thanked them for duties

It gave them hope that at least some people can see through the truth from the massive discrimination that ran rampant in this unfair world

But that didn't ease their conflicted feelings towards the actions they've done after killing Krok

Plina even said that it feels like they weren't the saviors but the killers. Earth replied that its "their choice" to come to attack a whole city. It was just pure dumb rage that killed them

Because of this, their daily hunt came to a halt for almost a week. They still had the doubts if killing Krok was the only option. They need to come in terms of this situation

-o-o-o-

"So, do we continue on becoming stronger or are we going to just settle on being like this?"

Plina asked Earth on the other side of the table. Her tone much more solemn and a bit serious

They're at the restaurant right now, Earth's workplace. Its already been 2 weeks since the orc invasion. Since then, they haven't got any progress on continuing their daily hunt

"I don't know"

Earth could only reply, his expression turned into a sour mood

"I just felt like what we're doing is somewhat wrong. Krok gave us insight into what really happened"

The idea of Krok having a vendetta stuck onto him

Monsters are usually hostile and will try to harm any humans, whether if they're just a little slime or a giant orc. They're viewed as evil incarnated that needs to exterminate to secure the future of the human race

But Krok had a reason why he's was attacking them. Krok wasn't killing them on instinct as most people assume. He had a "good reason" why he should attack the city. Not the best reason but its a reason no less

Does that mean all monsters have morality if they choose to do so?

(So tell me... how much do we have to suffer for human's greed?)

Those words echoed inside Earth's mind as he let out a sigh and looked outside of the window. The villagers are peacefully going on their daily lives like the orc attack never happened

"But what about them?" He thought about Krok's tribe

He hummed again as he made a decision

"Plina, let's go the Lost Forest" Earth suggested

"Huh? Are we going to continue our hunt?"

"No, we're doing something different for a change" he stood up his seat

"Let's find Krok's tribe" Earth let out a grin

"Eh?" Plina looked at him confusedly

Yet another of Earth's idiotic but effective plans has started

-o-o-o-

The 2 finally came to the Lost Forest. They've come here so many times that they can even call this creepy woods as their second home

"Why are we trying to find Krok's tribe? Didn't he say that they antagonize humans like us?" Plina questioned

"Yes, they'll probably hate us for killing their leader and a lot of their kind. But, we have to at least make amends to the damage we've done" Earth explained. Plina nodded in response, understanding his plan

"Krok said, their tribe lives somewhere in the Lost Forest. So Plina, you memorize a bit of the forest. What direction that we haven't passed yet?"

"Hmm...."

"I think it's that way" Plina pointed at the denser woods of the forest

"Alright! Let's go!"

"Huh? Wait! Not again! Ah!"

Earth grabbed Plina under his arm and carried her towards the direction where she pointed

"Why do you have to carry me?!" Plina complained while being carried

"Because it's faster this way!"

"But still!"

They continued to run across the forest. The mist getting thick as the visibility kept getting worse as they delve deeper into the forest

"Hm? I can't see a thing" Earth commented

"We're probably at the center of the forest" Plina looked at the large trees overhead. The trees block out a lot of sunlight making it a very dark place and thick mist isn't helping them either

"That's strange" Earth said in a wondering tone

"What's strange?"

"We haven't encountered any monsters or even just normal wildlife"

The place was dead silent, not even a single chirp of a bird. Plina is started to get nervous

"I have an idea"

"Again with your stupid ideas!" Plina shouted angrily, she was getting tired at the chef's ideas

"Plina, trust me on this! I'm sure you'll find this interesting!" He gave out a smirk

"What is this ti- AAAAHHHH!!!"

She screamed as Plina was immediately thrown upwards by Earth, as she flew higher than the trees

While being tossed in the air, Plina's eye caught something interesting thing over the distance

A house

A house with a thatched roof

"What the? Is that the village?"

She wondered, the village was not far off. If they keep heading east they can-

"OOF!!!!"

[+21 damage] (139/160 HP) Plina

Plina landed on solid ground headfirst with a loud thump. Earth looked at her with a blank face as he failed to catch her

"Whoops..." Earth stared at the fallen girl

-o-o-o-

"That was really mean, Earth!" Plina shouted at the boy angrily

"I'm really am sorry!!!" Earth bowed intensely in front of the angry librarian

"Hmph!"

She pouted cutely, as Earth chuckled in response while rubbing the back of his head

"Well, at least we found the village. That's a plus? Right?" He tried to appease Plina

"Let's just go already" the girl said in a cold voice

Plina stomped off towards the direction where she saw the building. While Earth cried gently at the harsh words of the girl

"Pouting Plina is cute though" he said to himself

"What was that?!" The girl quickly turned around

"I mean Plina is good at navigating though" Earth quickly tried to recover with a smile. Plina seemed to believe him as she continued walking

"Women are scary" he thought as they continued to traverse the forest

The trees started to thin out and the grass became smaller as they progressed towards the location they saw

"Wait..." Earth stopped Plina and gave a hushed sign

...

...

...

*rustle*

"DUCK!!!"

Earth pulled her head down, a large wooden club almost hit her head

""

The boy quickly froze the arm of the attacker as he put Plina behind him. He took a deep breath and shouted as quickly as he can

"WEDON'TWANTTOFIGHT!"

Earth's voice echoed the whole forest, the unseen attackers were stopped at their tracks

They began murmuring to each other, as they lowered their weapons

"Do you think they got the idea?" Earth looked at Plina

"I don't know, maybe?" She shrugged

Suddenly, one of the attackers stepped forward and revealed their identity

It's an orc. It wasn't as big as Krok but he still large in comparison. It seems that he's the leader of the attackers. The other attackers also revealed themselves as orcs but a little smaller than their leader

"Me only one that can speak human" the leader orc said in broken English

"What do you want with orcs?"

"Uh... we want to talk to your leader about the recent happenings" Earth nervously said

"Leader dead. He dead from humans last attack" the leader orc said in a dry tone. Some of the attackers growled in anger

Plina suddenly stepped forward, "If I may ask, is your leader named Krok?"

The orcs gave an expression of shock as they looked at the 2 humans more warily

"How humans know Krok's name?" The leader orc said with a bit of hostility

Earth tried to speak, but the words were stuck on his throat

"Come on, just say it already and be over with it" He thought as he bit his lip

"We're the ones that killed Krok"

The orcs widen their eyes as they pointed their weapons at them again, more aggressive than before. Earth and Plina immediately put their hands up in peace. Earth tried to keep a cool face while Plina struggled a bit as her knees shook in fear

"Why do humans go us then?" The orc's voice was more hostile than before. One wrong single move, then they're expecting giant clubs bashing their heads

"Before he died, Krok said that your tribe was in trouble due to the adventurers raiding your village. So, we came here to help you to make amends to our mistakes" Earth explained as calm as possible

The leader orc raised a brow in suspicion, "And why would you humans do that?"

Earth looked him straight in the eye, full of determination

"Because it's the right thing to do"

His statement full of resolve, he never once broke his eyes away from the orc

The leader orc looked at boy a bit, the other orcs kept their weapon close to them

"FLDNEIRY TETGARS!" The orc leader suddenly shouted, causing the other orcs to withdraw their weapons. Earth and Plina sighed in relief

"You want help orcs? Then follow us" the leader orcs said

"But if humans try any tricks. We KILL you" he threatened. Both of the humans nodded nervously

"Name is Grak. Me leader after Krok dead" the leader orc introduced himself

"Uh, I'm Earth and this is Plina" he glanced at Plina's direction

Both sides are still wary of each other. The orcs kept looking at them for any signs of attack while Earth kept his hand inside his pocket to pull out his blades just in case of unwanted trouble

They finally reached the destination. It was a village. A village of orcs. Their houses were made of logs and a bit of stone topped off with a thatched roof

"You humans are lucky we not kill you already. Many orcs hate humans for what they've done to the tribe" Grak explained

Earth looked at the orcs in the village. Most of them are struggling to do their daily jobs. There's some kind of somber mood over the whole village

Plina noticed most of the houses are damaged or outright destroyed. She can see the withering crops that Krok described to them. The water canal has gone dry and the ground has cracked due to lack of moisture

The orcs finally noticed the 2 humans that entered the village. The female orcs started to take the children while the male took anything sharp as a weapon

Earth grabbed the handle of his knife but Grak stopped the orcs before he could pull out his blade. Grak began arguing with one of the orcs in their language

"Hey Plina, can you understand them?" Earth moved closer to the girl, hoping her gift can help them understand what are they fighting for

"Um, sort of? Linguistic is barely translating as fast as they can speak" Plina is struggling to understand the orc's argument with her gift

(Why did you let humans enter our village?! After all the lost brothers and sisters we had?!)

(They have no quarrel with us. I can tell they're not the same humans as the ones who destroyed our kind)

(And you believed them?! Can you see how much a fool you are by letting humans see our secret village?! What if they're spies sent by those humans?!)

"Um, I like to say something" Plina suddenly stepped forwards and tried to make a brave composure

"W-We know that we may h-have bad relations and we're the l-last person you'll trust"

"But..."

Plina bowed in front of them. Earth soon followed also, as he humbly lower his head

"You don't need to trust us! We'll still help fix the damage we've done to your tribe! Please let us help!"

The complaining orc was speechless to the display of bowing human in front of him

All of his life, he only knew humans as prideful and greedy bastards that would do anything to increase their power

But this 2 would lower themselves just to help them? It's too good to be true

Grak faced the orc again with a stern expression

(Either we starve in famine or we let these 2 humans help us. What else could we lose at this point?)

The orc felt conflicted. He still held distrust towards Earth and Plina, but this gamble could be the only chance to save this dying tribe

The orc finally made a decision

(Fine. Just don't expect me to trust them. Remember, they're still humans)

The orc stomped away, leaving the other orcs shocked that the humans were allowed to their village

Grak went over the 2 humans with his stern look that remained to his face

"You. Female human. You understand orc speak?" Grak questioned Plina

Plina quickly rose from her bowing posture

"Um, yes! But only a little. My GIFT isn't good at translating spoken languages" The girl shyly replied

Grak placed his hand on his chin, thinking deeply, before speaking in orc language

(Do you understand the consequences what it means to able to communicate with us?)

"I can't say yes, sir" Plina tried to not get nervous

(It means you're automatically a human that an orc can trust. We orcs only teach humans our language to whom really trust. But you automatically learned our tongue without our permission)

Grak glared at Plina with a tense sight. The librarian started to shake in fear

"Grak advise human not use orc speak when with other orcs" Grak said back into broken English

"Y-Yes, sir" the girl stuttered nervously

Earth had no idea what the 2 were talking about but he can tell its something about not speaking their language

"Now follow Grak. Grak show what problem tribe has"

The green skinned giant walked towards the village. The 2 humans looked at each which unease before they followed Grak

-o-o-o-

While they walked in the village of orcs, they can see orcs hiding behind buildings and other things when they saw them walked in their village

The orc kids were quickly grabbed by their parents, as they hide in the presence of humans

"They seem more scared to us than getting angry at us" Plina muttered

"We lost many of orc-kind from humans. They fear you will kill also" Grak replied

Now that he mentioned it. Earth noticed earlier that they didn't have any decent weapons or fighters

The attackers earlier were just wielding crude wooden clubs and rusty pitchforks. And orcs were skinny and way smaller than the ones that attacked Oykuos

"All orc fighters are killed in Krok's attack. No soldier left" Grak continued

"They're basically just civilians" Earth commented as he looked at the hiding orcs

"Krok said to us that your Well runes got stolen by adventurers. Can I see them?" Plina asked the orc

The orc hummed as he walked towards a large clearing, showing them the farmland

Or what it used to be

Earth and Plina looked at shock to the dry fields full of withered crops. There are signs that there's used to be bountiful plants grew in these soil until a sudden drought came by

"No rune. No water. Plants die. Orc starve"

Grak said it so simply. The reason was so clear and prim. It was the adventurers. They took the Well runes and leaving the orcs to die. With that situation and adding the fact they were starving, its more of a good reason to attack the human city

"How long the village food supply are going to last?" Earth asked the orc

"Not enough. 3 days before orcs starve to death"

"Damn it"

They're in a pickle. Food is scarce and unless they have a skill that'll magically fix the crops they're out of options.

Hunting won't do either, it wouldn't sustain a whole village. Same with buying food

"What are we going to do Earth?" Plina said to Earth

"Wait... I think I have a flavor here that may help" Earth began scrolling in his Flavors

*****

[Bread-Flavor Knife] ☆Mastered☆ (Knive)

Effects:

[Stamina Up]

{Infuse more Bread flavors to unlock more effects}

Mastery (100/100)

Mastery Bonus:

*****

*****

[Bread-Flavor Cleaver] ☆Mastered☆ (Clive)

Effects:

[+10 HP]

{Infuse more Bread flavors to unlock more effects}

Mastery (100/100)

Mastery Bonus:

*****

Earth fully mastered his Bread Flavor a few days ago. His cleaver also fixed thanks to the skill. This skill caused his tools to slowly regrow its broken parts like a plant. Although it took at least a week to completely repair his Cleaver

And back to the Bread Flavor skills

+++++

- Passively increases the stamina of the user

+++++

+++++

- Create a loaf of bread by converting mana into bread. Costs 50MP per loaf

+++++

"Ha! And you said having a Bread Sword is silly!" Earth mocked Plina, which she returned with another pout

Earth snickered before he pointed his cleaver in his hand

""

(135/185 MP) Earth

A loaf of bread popped into existence and plopped into his hand

"Tada! Instant bread ready to eat!"

Grak was a bit impressed at his skill with some of the orcs slightly peeking out of their hiding to look at the bread

"Here" he handed the bread to one of the orcs. The orc cautiously bit into the bread before he burst into joy. The orcs started to come out of their hiding in curiosity

"How many can human make?" Grak asked

Earth looked at his MP slowly regenerating by basking in the sun

"About 2 loaves per minute"

"Can you make at least 90 loaves today?" Grak asked

"Sure, I'll even make it a sandwich. After all, I'm a Chef" Earth answered back with a grin

The orcs were a bit shy but they got attracted even more as Earth made more bread

"Um, excuse me but can you show me you're Well Rune. Maybe I could fix it if try" Plina requested Grak

"What about your human friend?" The orc replied raising a brow

Plina looked at Earth poofing more and more bread with his skill

"Ha ha! They're probably cheering me now. Right, Plina?" Earth made cool poses while he made more bread and orc crowd cheered

Plina listened to the crowd's cheers

(I don't know why this human is making weird poses but he made us food!)

(The human's poses are lame but at least he makes good bread!)

(He looks ridiculous with that sword but he has a skill that makes bread!)

"Well? They probably cheering that I'm cool, right?" Earth smiled at her, completely oblivious at the insults of the orc

"Y-yeah! They seem... entertained, I guess" Plina nervously lied, trying to preserve Earth's dignity

Don't tell him. Don't tell him. Don't tell him!

"I think Earth would be fine staying here... I think" Plina replied to Grak

"Ok. Follow me" Grak guided her to the water reservoir. Plina followed while she sweatdropped at Earth making more poses with his "bread sword" as she left him to the crowd of orcs

-o-o-o-

"Here we are"

Plina looked in awe when she looked at the stone wall with an obvious missing part. The water seems to collect in one giant stone tank before it is distributed to a certain farmland

"No Well Rune. No water. No crops" Grak pointed at the missing part in the wall

"Can human fix it?"

Plina focused on the missing rune with all her wit and tried to decode the wall

×××××

[Well Rune]

Con***t: M**a

To: Water

U*til: ***l

×××××

×××××

{Hidden Requirements Discovered}

{"Rune Engineering"}

Requirement 1: Scan a missing rune-based device [COMPLETE]

Requirement 2: ???

Requirement 3: ???

Completion Reward: skill and a way to "make more"

×××××

"I think I can fix it. It'll take a while though" Plina replied to the orc

Grak nodded in response and spoke with his native tongue

(Then I'll leave you to it then)

The orc left her alone to work with the missing rune wall

The librarian stared at the missing rune with intent

"Right. Let's see what I can do" Plina started to pull out paper and ink to work on

But just nearby, someone is watching her every move

-o-o-o-

Meanwhile, in the orc village, Earth has turned his little performance into a full-blown show

"" Earth made another loaf of bread as he sliced it into manageable pieces with quick swipes from his blades

[ skill has leveled up!]

Bread Make LV 2 ---> 3

The orcs looked in amazement as he prepared the ingredients for the sandwiches

On his other hand, he's also cooking boat meat and other vegetables he picked while hunting monsters. He assembled the ingredients in a graceful manner and served the hungry orcs

"Order up!" Earth smiled as he gave them a plate of sandwiches

+++++

[Earth-style Instant Sandwiches] 10x

Quality - (Uncommon)

Effects:

+25 HP

+++++

The orcs feast in delight, eating the most delicious thing they ever ate to their entire lives

The orcs spoke to Earth to their language, which he, unfortunately, he can't understand

"I wonder what they saying about" Earth said to himself

"Orcs say they grateful for food"

The chef quickly turned around and saw the leader of the orcs

"Oh, you're back already?" Earth looked at Grak in surprise

"Your human friend still fixing Well Rune" the orc responded

"I see. I guess she already started studying it. Devourer of Knowledge is at it again" he mused with a smile

"Here. Have one of the sandwiches" Earth offered one to Grak

"Other orcs need more food than me" their leader politely refused

"Come on. There's a lot more and don't worry about me running out of supplies. I'm practically throwing good food at the sheer amount I gathered" Earth insisted

Those weeks of fighting monsters with Plina, caused him to collect huge amounts of excess meat. He's just using the meat in a useful way rather than wasting food and throwing it away

Grak hesitated for a bit but gives in and accepted the sandwich

Her expression turned into a surprise one as the orc looked at the sandwich in curiosity

"Human. Did you make this?"

"Yes. Something wrong about it?"

"Bread is perfect slice and the meat is tender. How did you do this?"

"With my and skill, of course" Earth replied casually

"Wait. How adventurer get Chef skills?" Grak said confusedly

"Well, I'm not an adventurer. I'm a Chef" Earth frowned a bit as he continued to make more sandwiches

"Chef? Not adventurer?"

"Yes. I'm not a Knight, a Mage or any of those classes. I'm just a Chef, an NPC if you want" Earth said with a pained smile

NPC, a nickname towards people who aren't adventurers

NPC stands for "Needs Protection Class". It's a sort of name for those who are viewed as commoners and who can't defend themselves due to the nature of their class

Because of this, a stigma has formed between the people. Adventurers get to have a higher authority, while NPC's do not

"Is that why human fight monsters in forest? Why not join other humans with good class?"

"As much as I want to get stronger, I'm not going to join adventurers if it means I have to work to together with those arrogant pricks" Earth said with a bit of anger

Grak looked at the boy with curious intent. But he decided that it's better off not digging more grudges

"You want me to help you make food?" Grak offered

Earth was a bit surprised but his face contorted into a grin

"Sure. But can you keep up?" The human taunted

"Don't underestimate orc, human" Grak returned with a small grin

They had an intense cooking competition

-o-o-o-

"I DON'T GET IT!!!"

Plina shouted as she lay across the floor full of papers and theories on how to fix the missing rune

Its been quite a while now since Grak left her to deal with the Well Rune. And no matter what angle she takes, Plina can't get a single clue on what to do on the missing rune

"I mean, it's impossible to read something that ISN'T there" she thought

But, that doesn't mean she giving up. She read every book she has that may help her figure out how to fix a missing rune. Made theories and conducted several experiments to test her solutions

But all of that work didn't give her a single clue

Suddenly, Plina's stomach growled in hunger

Plina let out a labored sigh, "Maybe if I eat lunch I could at least think another way later"

She began cleaning her mess of papers into a neat pile and took the bento packed by Earth out of her backpack

Plina took a bite and blissfully ate her bento in satisfaction. Earth's cooking never let's her down

*rustle* *rustle*

"Huh?" Plina quickly turned around and saw nothing

"That's weird. I swore I heard something" her thought before continuing eating her lunch

*rustle* *rustle*

Plina turned around even quicker this time and again, saw nothing in interest

"Hmm"

Plina placed down her bento and walked closer to the bush nearby

Suddenly she heard a crumple of paper behind her and quickly looked back

(Ah!)

She saw a small orc girl with a silver hair trying to steal her bento

"Um. Hi?" Plina nervously said

The orc girl froze on the spot as they stare at each other in silence

Suddenly the orc girl bolted away, trying to escape from stealing

"W-Wait! Y-You're hungry, right?" Plina shouted hoping the orc girl would turn around

The orc girl stopped and shyly looked at Plina with a meek face

"I-I can share a bit of food to you" Plina said with all her courage. She's never much a talker and always tries to hide her presence because of her shyness

The orc girl felt conflicted to Plina's offer but a single loud growl of the orc girl's stomach made her think otherwise

(C-Can I?)

"O-Of course!" Plina held out her bento

The orc girl went closer as she warily grabbed the bento from Plina

"Go ahead. E-Eat it. I'm already full" Plina said with gratitude

The orc girl nervously took a small bite and then feverishly ate as fast as possible with all her might

Plina took a step back as the orc girl ate her bento in seconds

"Woah, how hungry are you?" Plina asked

(Um, I haven't eaten a thing for 4 days)

"4 days?!" The human exclaimed

The orc girl's eyes widen in surprise

(You understand me?)

Plina recalled Grak's warning but she decided that this kid may be alright to talk with

"Oh! Um, yes. I can understand orc language" Plina replied

"Wait. What are doing here? Shouldn't you be in the village?" The human asked

(Um... I... I don't have a home)

The orc girl nervously said while twiddling her fingers

"I see..." Plina felt bad for asking that question

Plina looked at the orc girl. She looks younger than she expected; almost like 6 or 7 years old

Her body looks frail and skinny with her long silver hair to her greenish skin. She barely has a decent amount of clothes covering her body, with only ragged boar fur hanging from her skinny body

"Can I ask something?" Plina questioned the orc girl, which she nodded in response

"Why were spying at me?"

(Um... Uh... I was...)

The orc girl stuttered, shyly trying to answer her question

(I was curious about how humans do magic. I want to learn magic)

Plina was a bit surprised at the orc girl's answer. Orcs can't learn magic due to their low intelligence, so they mostly rely on physical skills. It's weird to see an orc wanting to learn magic

"Well, I can't really do magic right now. I'm sort of stuck thinking how to fix this rune device" Plina replied

(You mean the weird squiggly lines in the wall before the humans took them?)

"Wait, you seen them before?! Can you please show me?!" Plina asked

(Um, ok)

The orc girl took a stick nearby and started drawing crude symbols on the dirt nearby

(I don't remember all of them but I think this is one of the things written there)

Plina used her skills and started to decipher the drawn symbols

×××××

[Well Rune]

Con*e*t: Mana

To: Water

Until: *u*l

×××××

It was still incomplete but its better than nothing. Plina nodded in approvement

"Thank you! I'll definitely return the favor... Um... What's your name?"

The orc girl nervously answered while she tried to speak with her shy demeanor

(U-Umo! My name is Umo)

"Umo? Well... w-would you like me to teach you magic?" Plina offered

Umo's eyes glimmer in happiness as she looked at Plina in amazement

(Y-Yes, please! Miss H-Human!)

Plina scratched the side of her face awkwardness

"You can call me Plina if you want"

(Understood, Miss Plina!)

"I guess that's close" Plina nervously thought

-o-o-o-

The whole afternoon came by as the 2 humans spent their entire time helping the orc village in a way

Earth and Grak kept making sandwiches that could feed an entire city while Plina made progress on fixing the missing Well Runes while giving Umo basics of magic

Finally, dusk came and its time for the 2 humans to go back to their city. After all, Earth can't handle another lecture from Uncle

-o-o-o-

"We grateful for humans help" Grak said to the 2 as they prepared to leave. Some of the orcs watched them with Grak, Umo was one of them. They were all immensely grateful for their help

"We'll definitely come back tomorrow. Those sandwiches may last a few days but it's still not enough when the rune is still gone" Earth said to the green-skinned monster

"I'm almost done finding a way to fix the runes. I'll probably finish it for 2 days" Plina added

"Hmm, then we meet again tomorrow humans. Have safe trek" Grak and orcs waved goodbye as the 2 smiled and went into the trees

(Please come back, Miss Plina!)

Plina softly smiled at Umo in reply as they went into the forest

"They were nicer than I expected" Plina said out loud

"Certainly nicer than guys at our village" Earth added

"Makes you wonder what made them different to us humans"

"Huh? What do you mean Earth?" Plina glance at him curiously

"Nevermind that. Instead, can you tell me why did that orc girl called out for you earlier? Did my little shy Plina make a friend?" Earth smiled a smug grin at Plina

"Eh?" Plina blushed in embarrassment

The 2 kept bickering all the way home

-o-o-o-

Meanwhile in the orc village, Grak kept looking at the path that the 2 humans took

(They were certainly different than the human we met so far)

One of the orcs said to Grak. Their leader looked at them with a stoic expression

(That may be true but don't forget they're still human. Don't let your guards down)

Grak said to orcs with a stern tone. The orcs nodded in response

(Now, let us use this help we got. Prepare the weapons)

The orcs nodded as they did what Grak told them to do

Grak looked at the path that Earth and Plina took again and let out a labored sigh

(What an interesting situation indeed)

Grak went to join the armed orcs to their mission