Orc Lord

What I said to those girls was a lie. I was not at all uncomfortable with leading them to Babylon. Indeed, they had a large force thrown together, but it was a group that couldn’t beat a Demonic Beast that I killed single-handedly. Once we’re in the city, even their numbers advantage will be gone.

My other concern, that people would find out where Babylon was, didn’t matter at that point. Because they already knew. Whoever was in charge of the Rangers definitely knew where to find us; the spies certainly communicated that much before getting killed. If my understanding of the Humans in this world (and their religious beliefs) was correct, war would come to me if I did nothing to prevent it. The Rangers’ boss would be obligated to share what he knew about me with the leaders of this “Andorin Kingdom,” and then the descendants would be religion-bound to fight me. My only chance to prevent that was to be proactive.

Here, I had a knight who served directly under the king; someone who owed me her life and a favor of my choosing. It was possible I could get Marilyn to intercept any reports to the king about me, but that would only be a temporary solution, and it was likely to get a useful ally arrested for treason.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t figured out the best way to use her favor yet.

I led the Humans on foot since there was no way they could keep up with me if I flew. I was reminded of something simple during the journey; something that really got on my nerves.

“This will be rude no matter how I say it, but you people are very slow.”

“We don’t all have magic wings to take out at will,” Claudia shot back.

“I meant your pace on land, of course,” I responded calmly. “Going anywhere at this pace takes so long, and it’s so very boring. I have half a million things to do back in the city, and wasting time makes me anxious.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t help but think that that makes you impatient, rather than us slow,” Sylvia mentioned.

“The wagons can only go so fast down the mountain, so it can’t be helped,” said Marilyn.

“It’s because of those light-weight wheels that they’re so delicate,” I criticized. The wagons the Humans used had cloth covered tops and the rest was made of wood. The wheels were a wooden rim with spokes fixed to the axel. They were pulled by small, sturdy horses. “There aren’t any roads here yet, so the wagons we make are built to handle the forest. To start with, they have solid wheels that don’t get caught on anything.”

The girls shrugged and I sighed. “Do you mind if I work while we walk? It will take us over an hour at this rate.”

“Work on what?” Claudia frowned.

“I needed to write some forms.” About a dozen other things flew through my mind, but most of them were hard to do on the move.

“Work if you need to,” Marilyn nodded smoothly.

I smiled, starting with one clay tablet and a stylus. I was careful to keep my hand steady while walking over the uneven terrain.

I always hated how complex American legal documents ended up, considering the founders wanted every person to be able to understand them in the beginning. I wanted to try again with Babylon and make all the legal documents should be easy to understand.

[Death Battle Application Form

Any and all participation in an authorized Death Battle must be voluntary. Participants may not be volunteered by others to participate in a Death Battle. All participation must be by the participant’s choice. Any attempts at coercion by a non-participating party will result in state punishment. Participants must sign their own names below. Forging a Death Battle Application Form will result in state punishment. Killing a citizen or slave of Babylon outside of an authorized Death Battle will result in state punishment. Authorized Death Battles may only have two fighters and must have at least one witness.

Challenger ________

Challenged ________

Check this box if both parties insist they challenged each other. [_]

*When fighters sign above, they confirm that they understand that they are agreeing to participate in a Death Battle where one or both of them will not survive. When the same two fighters apply for multiple Death Battles, the winner may volunteer to spare the looser up to three times. If, on the fourth battle, the winner still refuses to kill the loser, the loser will be executed for being a nuisance and the winner will live with the shame of denying the loser an honorable death.

Witness _________

*when the witness signs above, it confirms that it understands that it is agreeing to the two fighters participating in a Death Battle where one or both of them will not survive. The witness also agrees to watch said Death Battle from start to finish. By signing above, the witness confirms that the fighters are in normal states of mind, not influenced by foreign substances in the body or the interference of a non-participating party. Lying on this matter will result in state punishment.

Please turn in this form to the Lord of Babylon City or another individual they have authorized to approve this form. Once the form has been approved, bring it to the Colosseum and present it to an official stationed there (should one be present). Fighters are then free to kill each other. No one may interfere in their battle.]

Claudia looked over my shoulder, or elbow, rather, and furrowed her brows. Naturally, she couldn't read New Orcish.

"What kind of forms are you making?" she asked.

"It's a Death Battle Application Form," I said, reading directly from the tablet.

She scrunched up her face, "What the Lod kind of form is that? You're giving people permission to kill each other?"

“It’s for the War Orcs,” I said plainly. “They get antsy when they can’t fight, but I banned killing in the city. If I ask them to hold back when sparring, I’m also obligated to provide a situation where they can let loose. If I didn’t do something like this, otherwise well-behaved citizens would end up committing murder at some point, and it would be my own fault for making policies that failed to consider my citizens.”

I looked up from reviewing the document to see three Human women staring up at me. “What is it?”

Claudia blinked. “You sound like a proper ruler. I was sure Orc Lords were just battle maniacs.”

“I’ve met Human nobles who sound less civilized than you did just now,” Sylvia supplemented.

I raised my eyebrows slightly, a little proud and a little offended. “Well, there can only be one Orc Lord at a time, so I don’t really know what the previous ones were like. They might have been as you described.”

Something twitched in my mind, and I looked down at Claudia. “By the way, you said you were told you might meet someone like me. By who?”

She smiled bitterly. “By a Mage who used to adventure with my brother. She seems to have a twisted impression of you, though. Worshipping an Orc Lord as a Holy Beast,” the girl shook her head.

I smiled awkwardly. “She’s a little odd. I think she has a sister who’s a Priestess, so they’re both fairly devout. How close are Knights to the church?”

Marilyn shook her head. “We work together, but we live in different worlds.”

“Our Sartiella house, in particular, isn’t very fond of them,” I was surprised to see irritation grace Sylvia’s polite expression. “They meddle where they oughtn’t.”

“Rudan would probably still be alive if it weren’t for those bastards and the nobles eating out of their hands.” Claudia didn’t even attempt to hide her anger. I couldn’t say I was unhappy that my potential allies were emotionally distant from the church.

As we continued walking, the walls of Babylon soon became visible between the sparse trees. I really liked how the Orichalcum walls and the Angelite towers made them look like an Orc’s jaw from Skyrim or WoW. It was too bad the Orcs here weren’t green-skinned, or the comparison would be more obvious.

“Your city looks like a Lod-blessed fortress,” Claudia mumbled under her breath. I heard her perfectly clearly, though.

“Of course it does. Where do you think this is?” Like I was going to say that it was partially to defend against descendants.

“Before we go inside, a few ground rules. No fighting outside of the Colosseum. The people inside are from various Orc, Goblin, Fomor, Soulless, and descendant Races, but they're my citizens, so don't attack them. Anyone caught antagonizing the citizens will be asked to leave. And you all,” I smiled at a bunch of people at the back of the group, working together with some wagons to haul the massive Demonic Lynx with them. They looked like they were reaching the limits of their stamina. “That one’s mine. You can leave it at the gate and I’ll have some people come for it.” I looked back at the Knights, “If you want the rest of your kills dressed and processed, I’m happy to have my people take care of it, though I’d like a portion of the materials in exchange. How’s five percent?”

Marilyn slowly nodded. “That’s better than what we would get in the city, and attending to it now will lighten our load. Please take care of it.”

As we got close enough to see people moving past the north gate, I noticed some of the Humans tensing up and gripping their weapons. Even though the Sartiella sisters looked relaxed, they were simply good at hiding their alertness.

Should I say, as expected of nobles?

“What are you worried about when the most dangerous thing is standing right next to you?” I asked with a wry smile.

“The fact that you would say that out loud,” Claudia shook her head and sighed.

We entered through the north gate. The northern district was the factory district, and it didn’t have much going on at the moment. People were sparse, and those who wandered by simply accepted the humans when they saw me leading them. Over time, the Humans started to relax a little.

“The architecture here is impressive,” Marilyn murmured. “It’s too impressive. This wasn’t built by hand, was it?”

I shook my head. “No, you’re right. I made it with earth magic. It took around fifteen days, I think.”

“That’s quite fast,” Sylvia held a hand against her cheek and raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“I do everything fast,” I chuckled.

First, I guided the humans to the West district so they could drop off the Demonic Beasts. I also sent a few people to the North gate to bring the biggest corpse the rest of the way. I thought that having everybody around for Rudan’s revival would be a bit excessive, so I asked Father to watch things and called Mother over as extra support. She was no mediator, but she would be useful if things got violent. Nothing like a wall of flames to stop a fight.

Once it was just the three Knights and me, getting farther and farther away from any human presence, Claudia and Sylvia became noticeably tenser. I couldn’t be sure whether they were worrying for themselves or their men. Thanks to my Diplomacy Stat, I managed to say the right thing.

“Elianora really bit my head off when I couldn’t save him the first time. I’m sure everything about this is stressful for you three, but I’m glad you put up with it. Now I’ll finally be able to put the matter behind me.” I chuckled. “I should be ready to apologize once he wakes up.”

Marilyn grasped her sisters’ hands and squeezed them, and the girls put on small smiles.

Alright, time to build some trust and gain some allies.