To say the least, the villagers here did not like Auguste very much. For the Orcus who were capable of sensing one another's thoughts and intent through the Ether, words were secondary to them, something used to communicate more complicated ideas. To the Orcus, Auguste was akin to some kind of incomprehensible creature. Even though he could speak, due to being unable to sense his emotions and intent, from the Orcs' perspective, it felt like Auguste was a creature that was mimicking their words without knowing their meaning. Even so, they know that he was strong. He took out two warriors as if it were nothing after all. As such, the warriors had approached him on more than one occasion to ask him to spar with them.

On a side note, they also had a particular interest in Henrietta, apparently because she took out quite a few of them before they were able to break through and enter the cave. Henrietta however, being Henrietta, turned down their invitation for a match.

At the moment, about twenty of the Orcus warriors were gathered at the plaza and six in particular wanted to face off against Auguste. The others seemed to be out on patrols or hunts. The plan was to spar with each of them once. The mock battles end the moment one of them lands a clean hit.

With a wooden sword in hand, Auguste welcomed his opponents to approach one by one and at the end of it, out of six engagements, he had won five and lost a mere single time. The Orcs were strong, their swings were fast and powerful and their footwork was steady and quick. Ordinarily, it would be inconceivable that they would lose so readily in a fight. However, their attacks were straightforward and simple, so much so that Auguste was able to see what they were about to do as soon as they took a step towards him. This was because of their one weakness, or rather, an overreliance that an abnormality like Auguste could take advantage of. It was their ability to sense the other's intention through Ether. Perhaps it wasn't fair to call it an 'overreliance'. It would be the same as saying that humans over-rely on their eyes to see their environments. Auguste was simply an abnormality, fighting him was akin to fighting something you can't see. Besides, it's not as if they really can't see him. While they were unable to preemptively know his intentions, they could still react as he moved. In time, they'll be able to deal with him, perhaps not as effectively as other opponents, but deal with him they will.

After the workout, Auguste returned to his party in time to start feeling the grumble of his stomach. It was just slightly past the time for lunch and the sparring had only roused his appetite. For today, there's dried meat and stale bread, as it had been the day before, the day before that, and perhaps even the day prior to the day before that, though Auguste can't quite remember that far back.

As he sat down and ate, Auguste caught sight of a hunting party marching through, returning with what appeared to be a large boar in tow. Looks like there'll be a feast today. Unfortunately for the Henrietta Company, that meant nothing to them. It wasn't because they were prisoners. They've been, in fact, quite hospitable to the party, perhaps due to Gladiolus being an Alva. The problem lied with the food. The things here, the environment, the plants, the animals, all of these were created from the Abyss. In other words, if the Henrietta Company ate their food for an extended period of time, there's a good chance that their bodies would fall apart upon returning to the surface, their flesh being rejected by the Heaven's Ward. At best, they'll become sick from having the nutrients in their body suddenly removed. At worse, they might just die on the spot. For this very reason, Joseph had Auguste deliver some provisions to him whenever he was allowed to return to town.

During the feast, Auguste wandered about the village outskirts, being as discreet as he possibly could. With most of the Orcus participating in the feast, he had found more room to move around. He wanted to use this chance to find a way that could help them escape this place. While the Orcus were hospitable, there was no telling if that would last. Not to mention, they can't exactly stay here forever.

As there weren't any dangers surrounding the Orcus village, the defenses were rather lax, even the fences were just barely a couple of heads taller than Auguste. Most of the party members could easily climb over, but Henrietta would probably need a rope.

In theory, leaving the village would be easy enough, but escaping the Orcus, that's another problem altogether. If the party ever escapes and makes it back to town, the location of the village would be exposed and the Dungeoneers would no doubt mount an attack. The Orcus understood that, and as such, there was no way that they would allow the Henrietta Company to just get away. Despite their large forms, they're deceptively fast, and being of Alva origin, they possessed the ability to navigate their surroundings without getting lost, just like Gladiolus. Escaping won't be easy, if at all possible.

With nothing to show for his efforts, Auguste began making his way back to the lodging granted to the party. It was while en route there, he encountered some drunken Orcs. He was still having a hard time telling them apart, but it would seem that they were the hunters he sparred with earlier. Unable to understand what they were saying to him, Auguste got dragged into participating in the feast. He didn't eat much, but he was made to drink plenty.

As they drank and made merry, one of the Orcs suddenly said something to Auguste. Auguste could not understand what was said, but from how they brought out the wooden swords and handed one over to him, it seemed like he was challenged to a rematch. Somewhat tipsy from the drinks, Auguste decided to accept it on a whim. Not that they'd understand him if he refused anyways.

A circle formed around Auguste as he took down challenger after challenger. Those within the circle were mostly hunters, and for them, it did not matter what Auguste was. Within this circle, only strength matters, and Auguste had proved that he had plenty.

With each fight won, the hunters cheered, it did not matter if one of the Orcus wins or if Auguste wins, as long as the fight was good, the crowd cheered on.

Near the end of the impromptu event, though battered and bruised, Auguste stood tall, pointing the wooden sword in his hand heavenward in a posture of victory. Tonight, he had won the most fights and the high of combat had possessed him. Despite not sharing a common tongue, he laughed and cheered with the Orcus, and for but a brief moment thought that perhaps staying here won't be so bad.

It was right then, part of the circle form split into two, opening a path for a new challenger. It was an Orc larger than the rest, his body filled with scars, and around his neck hung a medallion made out of some kind of metal, much like the ones seen on the Orcus witch. Clearly, this one was different from the ones Auguste had fought so far. Looking at his composure, his stance, Auguste was made to feel that the Orcs he had faced prior were but children compared to this one. He's going to have to watch his opponent properly, fight as if he's fighting his master. He likely can't afford to commit a mistake while fighting against this-

It happened faster than Auguste could process it. All of a sudden, the ground beneath the large Orc broke apart and a green blur covered his vision. Before he realized what was going on, Auguste found himself flying across the air, a numbing sensation enveloping his arms and a growing discomfort began to spread from the side of his torso.

When he finally crash-landed on the ground, he found himself unable to breath. Still, by his reflex, he tried to force himself back up. In a real fight, if he had stayed on the ground, he would have been dead. Instinctively, he knew that he had to get back on his feet no matter what. Yet, he was unable to. The discomfort at the side of his torson had become a searing pain running across his chest, the likes of which he had not experienced before, and it was too much for him to bear.

He could hear cheering from all around him and in his vision blurred by tears, he could see that the large Orc had both his hands raised in the air. It did not look like they were paying any attention to Auguste. It almost made him think that this was not a big deal. Except it was indeed a very big deal.

Auguste was struggling to breathe. Each breath caused him an immense amount of pain and he could only manage with small breaths each time. He tried his best to get back onto his feet, but bearing the pain was already too much. He did not have the willpower to force his body to move. It was torment of the highest order, at least it was to Auguste at the time, and it didn't feel like it was about to end any time soon.

Eventually, the cheering died down. Auguste raised his head to spot the large Orc walking towards him. The Orc said something, but naturally, Auguste did not understand. Auguste did not even have the presence of mind to try and interpret what was being said.

Auguste wasn't quite sure what happened afterward, but he vaguely remembered being carried by the Orcs before losing consciousness. By the time he woke up, he found himself in a large, spacious room, laying atop a blanket of thick fur. It took him a moment, but he eventually recognized this as the place the Orcus had let them live in. There was only one singular room in this building, so there's barely any privacy. It's certainly better than being in a cell or a pit though.

Beginning to move abit, Auguste found that the pain in his chest wasn't gone, but it was lessened significantly. Beside him, there was a man, a human, balding and with a potbelly.

"Finally awake, are you? Is it me or do you make a habit of getting yourself into trouble?"

The man was Joseph, greeting Auguste with a big silly grin on his wrinkled face.

"Now that I think about it, he kind of does."

And behind Joseph, there stood a young woman wearing a pointed hat on her head and holding onto an ashen staff in her hand. Looking down on Auguste with a surly look on her face, there was Morganna.

***

End of Chapter 63