96 The Concern - Part 2

"Well, lets hope we don't get the same crap that we got from the other guy."

"Yoban." Meryl said correcting Stefan.

"Yeah, that guy."

*knock* *knock*

"Enter!"

Stefan pushed the door open and headed in. The rest of their party followed, and Meryl was greeted by the sight of one of the most imposing men she had seen before. He was large, he looked dangerous. Everything about him just said he had authority, and that he was the most important person in the room.

Alongside him were four other men, all nearly as tall and muscular as him. They were all dressed the same, wearing the same mixture of plate and leather armour, and at their hips was either a sword or a mace.

Looking back at the chief, he too had his own weapon, which looked like a curved blade…a scimitar maybe.

The odd thing was how she couldn't help comparing this scene to when they visited Lord Abern. It played out like the same theatrics that he did, with the men by his side trying to intimidate the people he was talking to.

But no matter how they looked at the scene in front of them, she actually was intimidated. And for good reason.

The armour these men wore, was worn. There were dents and cut marks in many different places. Some of which had been repaired, but the number present greatly exceeded the number fixed. Their weapons too had worn handles, the grips of the hilt starting to fall off or had been worn away with use.

All of them were sure that none of this had been done for show. These had not been added to their armour and weapons to increase the affect. No, these men were hardened soldiers and had fought many battles, and not just sparing matches. Sparring matches would never leave such damage on someone's armour. They could only have gotten this damage from fights, actual fights which were life or death scenarios.

Then there was the chief. Again, it was possible that him carrying a weapon was just for show, but as you looked more deeply at it, you could see similar sort of wear. Additionally, Meryl was sure that the blade wasn't completely flat. It was as through constant use it had caused the weapon to bend.

Yeah, this village was armed to the teeth and they were not afraid to show, or even use them, should it be necessary.

"Please sit."

There was actually enough seats for each of them to sit. And while a couple of the group felt that sitting down, put them in a vulnerable position, the look on the chief's face told them that they would not be talking until they all were seated.

"Please don't mind the men behind me. With the attack that happened on Yoban's village by a bunch of humans, I'm sure you can understand my worry with you lot showing up. Plus, with you being Mercenaries, playing host to all of you on my lonesome, just doesn't feel like a smart move. No offence."

"None *ahem* none taken" Stefan replied clearing his throat as he did. Merly wondered whether it was the atmosphere that caused him to choke up a little.

"So, what can I help you with? Why have you come to our humble village."

"Humble, militaristic more like." Meryl heard Helena mumble behind her.

"I guess you haven't been around beast-kin too much my dear. But everyone and their child knows that our hearing is much better than other races." He said staring down at Helena. "We are not a militaristic village. I prefer to see it as we are well prepared and ready to defend ourselves at a moment's notice. Every member of our village is taught how to use a weapon in case of an emergency."

"I-I see."

Helena very quietly sat back, and decided to remain silent for the foreseeable future.

"We are on the hunt for an Orc, maybe even a group of Orcs. We have reason to believe that it had been heading this way, since it left Chief Yoban's village. Do you have any information about its whereabouts? Have there been any sightings of such a monster?"

Chief Teagan leaned back in his chair for a moment, where his eyes roamed the group. As he did, Meryl was sure that his eyes remained her for a few seconds longer than the rest. Although, it was possible that her nap didn't do as much good as she had hoped and she was just imagining it.

"You know, the word monster really has lost all meaning. It has always been used to describe groups of creatures that were horrid, vile and aggressive, killing others for no reason, and aptly so, with Orc's being one such group of creatures. But nowadays, monster is used by many to describe individuals. A killer or a rapist is generally deemed as a monster, while the rest of the race that 'monster' belongs to are not. With the changing times, should that not be the case now. It is possible that not all individuals of the groups we once called 'monsters' are actually as such."

The group of Mercenaries just sat there contemplating his words for a moment. For most, they saw it as the ramblings of an old man, not really sure what he was saying. But as you can imagine, Meryl couldn't help but compare it to all she had heard in Yoban's village.

"Forgive me. Food for thought…In the case of this Orc or group of Orcs you are after, there was one sighting."

"Truly."

"Yes. I can't confirm if it was them, but one of our stationed guards saw what looked to be some green individuals travelling through the forest several days ago, heading east I believe. Whether they were the Orcs you are after or some other creature, I cannot say. They were only spotted for a short while."

"I see. Well thank you for the information. We shall head off soon after this new lead." Stefan replied as he stood up.

The rest were quick to follow, but Stefan, turned back to ask another question.

"If I may, while in Yoban's village, we learnt that at least one of the Orc's travelled through the village, traded with them even, all the while having a slave with it. Do you know why Chief Yoban would have done that…been friendly with such a monster."

Teagan's brow crinkled a little as he heard Stefan ask that.

"Like I said before, it is possible that this 'monster' is not the monster that you think it is."

"Oh, we know it's a monster. With the people it has killed and the women that it has kidnapped, I am sure of it."

"Well, since you won't accept that, then it is possible that with the attack on Yoban's village, they neither had the will nor care to do anything about the Orc turning up. While you say it has killed, according to you it doesn't seem like it caused any trouble when in the village."

That caused Stefan to grumble a little.

"Now, if you don't mind me asking. Where did you happen to learn about that?"

"…from one of the villagers there."

"I see…a villager."

He knew they had lied. It was obvious to everyone.

"Well, if that is all then I would like to ask for you to leave. I have many more people to see, as I'm sure you noticed."

With that, they finally started to leave his office, with Stefan being the first and practically storming out. But as they did, Meryl remained seated, waiting until she was the last one in the room. As once he had stopped talking, Teagan had given a slight gesture towards her, as if to tell her to remain. In order to not look suspicious, she waited till they were almost all out the door to stand and go to head out.

"Ah, excuse me. I believe you dropped this."

With no one left in the room from her group, none of them heard what Chief Teagan had said. And even if they had, his cover should have stopped them from wondering what was going on. So, turning back to the man, she looked at what was in his hands, seeing a folded-up piece of paper.

Knowing it had something to do with the Orc, and all the conflicting stories going on, she reached over, took it and left.

Standing outside the door, she waited for the rest of group to have left the building before she quickly opened up the note and read it.

…

"Well, I'm not completely convinced. He said it was seen travelling east, but it's possible he was lying."

"It's the only lead with have though. We could head that way and see if there is any sign of this Orc. It covered its tracks before, but that was because it was running from the attack it committed. Surely it wouldn't be able to do it all the time." Helena quickly added in.

"While you lot do that, I could remain here and see if any of the villagers have any information. With their distrust of humans, I may be able to get them up."

Stefan looked over at Meryl after she said that, a little surprised on his face. Given how she hardly said anything in their travels, that whole speech took him by surprise.

But, it did make sense, so he agreed.

"Okay, but it's getting late. Let's try to get some rest. I'm sure we can find an inn here. Even if we are humans, our coin should still be good here and stop them from caring about our race."

With that, they all headed into the village, looking for an Inn to stay at. While they did, Meryl just thought back to the words that were written on the paper that Teagan had given her. There were a few sentences and information on what was happening, but it really just boiled down to one thing.

'Head north to find Olivia and the truth.'

She had had enough of being lied to. So, going forward, she decided to follow his advice and finally meet this Orc that everyone was seeking and being cagy about.