Orc Hero Story: Discovery Chronicles

“I prepared to die in a hole in the ground. I was facing the Great Elven Archmage, but I was alone, and my enemy had friends on the other side. From outside the hole, I could see the lights of magic flickering, as well as the furious voice of the elf. I knew they would soon find me, and the elf would quickly heal her wounds, restore her magical powers, and hunt me down. But then a miracle happened. A fairy came to rescue me in the midst of the firestorm.”

“Yes, that’s me!”

Bash’s story didn’t end there. It went on and on. Eye urged him to continue. Every time Bash tried to finish his story, Eye would say, “And then?” or “What happened next?” and wouldn’t let him finish.

“And then, after healing my wounds with Zell’s powder, I broke through the elves’ siege just in time and escaped.”

Bash’s boasting was not as extravagant as Orc Boasting. Orc Boasting was essentially a form of exaggeration. It was a common narrative technique to exaggerate one’s own achievements and belittle the opponent. Orcs made themselves appear more grand by referring to small lizards as “giant dragons” or calling hard-fought victories after clumsy brawls “easy,” or declaring the female soldiers they acquired as the “most beautiful women of all time.”

But Bash didn’t need to do that. Bash had already defeated a huge dragon or those hailed as heroes in many countries. While they may not have been the most epic battles, they were still formidable enemies that could hunt down a warrior like Bash. Speaking the truth made Bash seem even more impressive than he already was. There was no way to improve upon his general boasting techniques.

Furthermore, Bash didn’t have any “episode where he acquired a woman” to reinforce his boasting. Therefore, when Bash spoke, he naturally focused on other things. In other words, the content of the battles.

“It is a great honor for me to have fought and survived Thunder Sonia.”

And Bash always ended his story with these words. The deep emotion and pride in his voice sent shivers down the hearts of those who listened. Pride and honor. That was more than enough to make one realize how important it was to the orc race. His stories may not have been enough for orcs, but… that didn’t matter to the dragoness, Eye.

“And then?”

Listening to Bash’s story, Eye recalled. The way Bone spoke. The stories were simple and explanatory. They were so straightforward and explanatory that it was hard to see what was interesting about them. It was like a teacher talking to their students, the kind of story that made you sleepy and drowsy when you listened to it.

“Of course, the battle didn’t end there.”

“Yes, what we saw upon our return after narrowly escaping the battle against the Great Archmage Thunder Sonia were not the reliable walls of that impregnable fortress…”

“It was fire. When we returned to camp, the main camp had already been attacked by the elves and was in a state of destruction.”

“…”

Compared to Bone, Bash’s tone of voice was filled with realism. He spoke as he saw, heard, experienced, and felt. Additionally, thanks to Zell’s frequent interruptions, it was easy to understand the climax of the story. For Eye, it was the first time she was entertained.

In summary…

Interesting! What’s going to happen next!?

Eye was having a lot of fun.

◆

“So, what happened next?”

“…This is the end. The war is over. We lost.”

“Yes… we lost…”

Bash’s story continued until the end of the war. The last part of the story was a bit blurry, but Eye enjoyed it enough. She indulged in Bash’s heroic tale to her heart’s content.

“The end, huh.”

Reaching the end was sad, but it couldn’t be helped. Bone also used to say that a story had to have an ending.

But the story was good enough. Eye drew a conclusion from Bash’s story.

“You are an honorable warrior, aren’t you?”

“Mm-hmm. I pretend to be.”

“You, all the warriors you killed, they were all honorable warriors.”

“Yes, they were. They were all honorable warriors.”

Eye didn’t know what honor was. But in Bash’s story, she learned about it. Humans were creatures of honor, or so she thought.

Honor was hard to explain in words. But you fought for honor, and you were proud to have it. And the stronger the opponent, the greater the honor.

When you defeated an enemy who had a lot of honor, the honor you possessed became heavier. The greater the honor, the more valuable you were as a human.

This law also applied to other creatures.

For example, dragons could be said to have a lot of honor. A dragon could easily kill many humans. Therefore, killing a dragon meant gaining great honor.

“Honor, huh?”

Bash had great honor by killing Bone. Bash said, “I became what is called an Orc Hero because I killed Bone.”

Honor. It was a concept that drastically changed Eye’s values.

She had always thought that death was meaningless because she herself had never been able to see meaning in the deaths of others. This was because Eye had treated the deaths of other living beings as something meaningless. Whether it was an insect, an animal, or a human, she only saw them as food. They had no value beyond that, and her heart was not moved by their deaths.

That’s why she was afraid to die. She didn’t realize it, and she couldn’t express it in words, but she didn’t want her life as a dragon to be discarded as worthless, just like the rest.

But when she heard Bash’s story, she knew.

Death had meaning. When a strong being defeats an even stronger one, they gain honor.

Bash became an honorable warrior after killing Bone. He inherited Bone’s honor.

As long as Bash remained alive, her death would not be meaningless. Even if someone killed Bash, Bone’s honor would continue to live on in that person.