107: A hectic night
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Hearing me, the herd of goats, which was almost completely inside the pen, started running to escape.
"SHIT! WHO'S THAT STUPID SOB SCREAMING?" I hear one of the orcs asking the others and shouting.
"HOW COULD I KNOW? WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME?" shouts the second orc in response.
"CONCENTRATE, BROTHERS. WE CAN ASK HIM WHEN WE FINISH PENNING THE GOATS!" shouts the third orc, who is apparently the brother of the other two, with obvious irritation.
When the orcs finish penning the goats, they come grumpily over to where I am.
They look to be about 30 or 35 years old, but I couldn't tell how old they really are considering that the physical development time of orcs is different from that of humans.
All three have muscular bodies, are short in stature, and have an identical tuft of black hair on their heads.
They look alert and defensive in front of me, but they are not wearing any kind of protection and are only dressed casually.
When they arrive where I am, the last one who had spoken of the three and who seems to be the oldest says, "Who are you and what are you doing in these parts? We don't see many people around here, least of all your kind."
"My kind?" I ask, confused.
"A wingless avian, I mean," says the orc, getting impatient. "Look, I don't know where you ran away from, but we don't want to have any trouble with whoever your master is. We can't help you."
"I didn't run away from anywhere. I'm not a slave. I just want you to point me in some directions," I say, now understanding the confusion of the orcs.
At those words, the one who had spoken first while they were locking up the goats starts laughing loudly, and the other orc, who still hadn't said anything since they approached, shouts angrily, "YOU'RE NOT A SLAVE! sure! You think we're stupid for living so far out in the middle of nowhere? Surely you'll tell us now that you clipped your wings all by yourself, won't you?"
"What's going on? What's all that screaming? And more importantly, who shouted that word? I told you I didn't like you talking about such things in my house! If you want to talk about slaves, you can go to any of the cities, but here that word is forbidden. I didn't raise any slavers!" says an elderly-looking orc as he leaves the house, grumbling and walking slowly while helping himself with a cane.
"Easy, father, don't get upset; it's bad for your health. We were just talking to this stranger," says the orc, who had laughed.
"Stranger? What's this about a stranger?" says the newcomer, and suddenly he fixes his gaze on me and opens his eyes wide. "Ahhh, I see.... What do you want, boy?"
"I just want you to tell me some directions, and I'll be on my way. The truth is, I don't know where I am." I say this, trying to sound as friendly as possible so that the orcs decide to help me.
Or, at least, not to attack me.
They don't seem like bad people, and I wouldn't want to have to use my strength against them.
"I see...hmm...." says the orc elder, and he is quiet for a while. However, as none of the three brothers have spoken since the old orc started talking, I decide to follow their example and wait patiently for the old orc to decide if he wants to help me or not. "Well, that shouldn't be any problem. But it's getting dark now, boy; why don't you stay the night? I can't offer you shelter in my house because that could endanger my family if you were ever found by the people you've escaped from, but I can offer you a place to sleep in the little shed on the side of the house. How about it?"
I see that these offers do not go down well with the three sons of the old orc, even if they hadn't made any objection to his words.
"That's very kind of you, sir. But I would just like you to tell me in which direction the capital of the empire is and how far it is approximately from here," I say, not very interested in the idea of sleeping near people I don't know and already resigned to them thinking of me as a runaway slave, if that simplifies things.
'I don't think they are going to believe me that I am a human coming from another continent anyway.'
None of the four of them have any kind of combat class, so I guess they couldn't hurt me even if all four of them hit me at the same time, but I'd rather not cause trouble with people who are living peacefully without bothering anyone.
"I think you'd better listen to him, Dad. You have to think on behalf of the family. We can't let a runaway slave stay overnight. What would the soldiers of the empire think if they ever found him in our house?" says the eldest brother of the three orcs.
"Easy, boy, nothing will happen for one night. I know how those slavering bastards think. They'll be happy that we offer this boy shelter for one night because it makes it easier for them to catch him. What we do have to avoid is feeding him, because that would be seen as us helping him escape. Besides, age has not yet atrophied my brain enough to want to send someone to walk across the cold tundra at night when I can help him," says the orc looking meaningfully at his son, but seeing his son's irritated face, he adds, softening his tone. "I understand that your intentions are good, son, but if we started acting like this, we wouldn't be much different from the damned slavers from the cities."
Then the old orc puts a hand on his son's shoulder and gives him a look full of affection.
After which, he turns to look at me and says, "And as for you, boy, sleep well. Tomorrow we will give you the indications you ask for. Unfortunately, we can't give you anything to eat because that would put my family at risk, but you can stay for a night's rest. There's not much I can offer you, but nothing's worse, I guess."
"Thank you very much, sir. I'll leave tomorrow morning, as soon as some of you tell me what I want to know," I say, annoyed at having to stay overnight near strangers but grateful to finally have found a source of information.
"That will be for the best. I'm really sorry, kid, but I don't make the rules." says the old orc with a chagrined expression.
"It's okay; I understand."
After that, I was guided to a place where I could spend the night.
Then I set out to sleep in the first comfortable place I found inside the shed where I was guided.
...
"Nooo. I didn't do anything to you. I didn't..." I look around disoriented as I wake up suddenly due to the damn nightmare, covered in sweat, and with the shadows of an irrational fear that is already beginning to fade.
A few seconds later, I realize where I am.
I'm in the orc shed, sleeping on some piles of straw in one of the corners.
When I came here, at first I thought about taking out my sleeping bag and a tent, but then I realized that I don't want the orcs to see those things.
They are already suspicious of me even though they think I'm a harmless slave, but if they see that I can use the inventory, they will realize that I'm an adventurer.
I don't know what could be their reactions to that, but it's better safe than sorry.
I'm only wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt and jeans, apart from the leather vest I use as armor. Which shouldn't be enough to get sweaty in this cold weather.
But, probably due to my levels, I have never felt the slightest cold in this place, despite having seen that the water was frozen in many parts during these days of travel.
Suddenly, I feel a presence near me, and I rush to hold the handle of my sword, which I had left beside me as a precaution.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" I say, standing on guard and peering into the darkness.
I don't really get to see anyone due to the lack of light, but I'm sure there's someone a few meters away from me, so I light a small flame in my left hand to illuminate the area a bit.
"No. Please, I'm not your enemy," says an affected female voice, and I see a slim orc girl approaching, in appearance about 20 years old, with long dark hair "I was just bringing you some food..... Dad told us not to, but I couldn't bear the thought of you going hungry while we were having dinner. So I took advantage of the fact that they are all asleep in the house now to bring you some food."
As she finishes speaking, I see that she is carrying a tray in her arms.
On the tray is a plate with several large pieces of meat and a pitcher that looks like clay and probably has water in it.
"Thank you, but that wasn't necessary. I have my own food," I say, as I relax my posture and let the sword hang at my side, held by my right hand.
"Haaa!" she says, and I get the impression that the response is a bit of an overreaction. "well.... It's a shame, but no wonder.... I mean... you're so young and yet you look so... strong. You have more muscle than my brothers.... I was watching you for several minutes while you were sleeping... I was undecided as to what I should do to wake you up."
"Yes... Well." I say, a bit confused by the orc girl's tone of voice and by the fact that she keeps approaching despite the fact that I told her I didn't need the food "I had a nightmare... So I guess that saved you the dilemma."
"Ohh, poor thing. Look… there's nothing better than a good conversation to distract someone from the memories of a nightmare. But first, I should introduce myself. My name is Luguri... Erm... may I touch your sword?" She says the last words with some hesitation as she looks at me with an intense gaze that leaves me increasingly puzzled.
"What?" I ask, dumbfounded.
"Nothing, nothing... Hmm... Where did you run away from?" she asks abruptly, averting her gaze to the floor and blushing slightly at the question.
"I didn't run away. I already told your brothers I'm not a slave. What do you think? Could a slave have this sword?" I ask, swinging the blade in a downward slash that emits a slight hiss as it cuts through the air.
"Haaa!" again, the orc girl exclaims exaggeratedly as she begins to breathe agitatedly and says, "Yes, you're right.... You are... Too... hot... So...what…"
I'm already tired of having this strange conversation at a time when I should be sleeping, and even more because the conversation is with a person who doesn't seem to be entirely sane based on her actions, so I decide to interrupt her before she finishes whatever it is she's trying to say. "Look, I really appreciate you bringing me food and all, but I'd like to go back to bed. Could you..."
"Yes, yes!" she exclaims, interrupting me, and her eyes have an almost demented gleam in them that gives me an increasingly bad feeling, while her chest heaves rapidly due to her accelerated breathing.
"... Let me sleep, please?" I finish asking the question in a hard voice, tensing my posture slightly, and start to feel a little irritated by the situation. "I think you should go back to the house."
"Ohh..." she sighs and suddenly looks terribly discouraged. "Yeah, I guess so.... Good night"
"Good night" I say, determined to pretend to sleep for a few minutes to make sure the female orc has no intention of doing anything strange to me while I'm sleeping.
…
After that unexpected visit during the night, I was able to go back to sleep.
And when dawn broke, after receiving the directions I was looking for, I left the farm where that strange female orc was staying as quickly as I could.