Chapter 141 – When I was down (1)
Crockta cocked his head as he walked down the street.
“Execute me? Kulkulkul.”
What cute people. They had accidentally captured him, and yet they were confident that they could execute him? Their actions were too hasty.
“Edgar. Do you only have this much?”
Crockta remembered drinking with Edgar, the one who imprisoned him. Edgar might’ve forgotten it, but Crockta remembered the stories that were shared. He was a decent man. Crockta appreciated the fact that he noticed Crockta’s identity and quickly imprisoned him, as well as Edgar’s cold and rational behavior in front of his men.
Edgar did what he had to do. Their positions were different. As the leader of a group, he was a man who knew exactly what he had to do. Kill the symbol of the enemy. The more that morale fell, the less the enemies would be able to fight back.
However, the opponent was Crockta. Edgar was too impatient.
“You said that a leader should be a castle,” Crockta muttered.
Edgar had drunkenly told Crockta,
‘I’m the leader. The leader, a castle. Who would want a castle who shakes when the wind blows? I must be an unshakable castle. Cool and hard. Sometimes it is hard, but it is part of being a man. Brother!”
Who was Crockta to judge a man acting like a solid castle?
“Well, put in front of a bit person like me, he will just get hurt.”
Crockta nodded. It was unfortunate. Crockta had decided on war on the Heaven and Earth clan. Therefore, if they wanted to execute him, Crockta would come to them directly.
“Hey.” Crockta approached a user on the street. He had hidden himself as soon as Crockta appeared and kept looking at Crockta. He was one of the clan members who had been standing next to Edgar.
“……!”
He thought that he had hidden himself well, but Crockta easily found him. Crockta grinned in a relaxed manner. The other person turned pale.
“Did you think you would stop me with steel bars?”
“How…?”
“Tell this to Edgar. I never run away.” Crockta touched the handle of Ogre Slayer. “You guys have nominated the place so let’s play properly. If you win, it will be a wonderful execution like you planned.”
“……!”
“If you are scared then you can back out. The Heaven and Earth clan is only this much. Kulkul.”
The user stared blankly at the laughing Crockta. They were eyes filled with faith.
“Hey, Orc. You have no clue about the Heaven and Earth Clan. Okay, then I’ll see you later. Let’s see how your smug face becomes distorted.”
“Hoh. That seems good.” Crockta also laughed and then raised a fist as he hitthe user’s forehead.
“Aack!” It was very painful because his knuckles were solid. The user grabbed his forehead with a yelp. “What?”
“Do you have any complaints?”
“……”
“Don’t be cocky.”
The chance was good, but the user was annoying, so Crockta had used violence. This was Elder Lord, a world where the fist was similar to the law. The user shook because he didn’t dare go against Crockta.
“You, I’ll see you later!”
He snapped at Crockta and ran away. Crockta gazed after him and laughed.
***
The plains outside Maillard. There was a group of humans. The lead warrior was Edgar. As he waved the flag of the Heaven and Earth Clan, the users following him shouted. It was a sign of fear to anyone playing Elder Lord. This flag had flown on devastated battlefields. The name ‘Heaven and Earth’, the strongest clan in Elder Lord.
“No matter how skilled or powerful Crockta is, he can’t deal with all of us.” Someone next to Edgar said. Edgar nodded. His expression was still cool and sober.
“The hastily collected mercenaries can disturb our rhythm.” Not all of them were the Heaven and Earth members, as he gathered people to participate in the battle using money.
“Nevertheless, there is still a lot of room.”
“Yes.”
“Deal with Crockta. And…”
He looked around. He didn’t feel anyone approaching.
“These rehabilitation people who will come.”
They announced that they would publicly execute Crockta. It was to stimulate the Rehabilitation Brothers. The Rehabilitation Brothers, whose power started in Maillard, weren’t large in number. However, they stuck together and obstructed the Heaven and Earth Clan. The mission of the Heaven and Earth branch in Mallard was to mainly keep them in check.
This time, if possible, he would put an end to them as well as Crockta. For the sake of today, Edgar had harshly trained his clan members and helped them level up. The Heaven and Earth’s leadership trusted him and appointed him in charge of Maillard, so he would do what was necessary to get results.
“He isn’t coming.”
“It seems like it.”
Time passed by Crockta didn’t show. The sun was slowly moving above their head. The clan members started murmuring.
“Everyone, don’t be shaken.” Edgar calmed everyone.
“Is he imitating Miyamoto Musashi?”
“…Crockta doesn’t know Musashi, but he is a warrior who has gone through many battles. He might instinctively be aiming for a similar effect.”
Japan’s swordsman Miyamoto Musashi deliberately arrived late for his duel with Sasaki Kojiro, messing with Kojiro’s composure. This allowed Musashi to gain a psychological advantage in the ensuing duel. It was uncertain if this story was true, but based on the situation with Crockta, it seemed to be effective.
Some members were nervous and others were too excited.
“Will he really come?”
“……”
Edgar was silent. He had a point. Edgar might be deceived by the title of Righteous Orc, the honorable warrior. If he lured them here and went elsewhere…
Edgar looked up at the sky again and saw that the sun was started to descend. The appointed time had already passed. His back started tingling. Right now, he had gathered all of the clan members. In other words, there was a minimum number of people at their facilities in Maillard.
The number was too small to fight against Crockta. It would be a big loss if those facilities were destroyed. Crockta had escaped from the prison by luring Lee Jungmin. He wasn’t merely a strong warrior. He was a fighter who didn’t hesitate to use sneaky plots.
He was known as a righteous orc, but inside he was more cunning.
Edgar snapped at his members. “Leave…”
However, he couldn’t say anything else. There was a group coming from far away.
Ching. Ching. Ching.
It was the sound of steel armor. Edgar sighed.
“They have come.”
They were waving a flag with the letters ‘Rehabilitation’ on it! There was no one in Maillard who didn’t know the ‘Rehabilitation’ flag. The members of Rehabilitation Brothers.
“It is a joke when I look at it.”
Unlike the Heaven and Earth’s uniform, the Rehabilitation Brothers members were all dressed freely. The Heaven and Earth gazed at them fiercely, and the Rehabilitation Brothers responded with bloody gazes.
“All this tension.”
The members of the Rehabilitation Brothers stood before them. Since they were non-clan users, their equipment and combat power was less than the Heaven and Earth Clan. But they were armed with a strong will and never retreated in the face of the Heaven and Earth Clan.
The one who led the Maillard branch of the Rehabilitation Brothers was the hunter class ‘Robina’, who was rumored to be a national representative in archery. She came forward and spoke to Edgar.
“Is it hard to see my face?” Robina grinned.
Edgar didn’t smile.
“Where is Crockta? I heard there was an orc wandering around and that he is called Crockta. You do have him right?” She looked around. “Where is he?”
“Not here.”
“What are you talking about?”
“He escaped.”
She narrowed her eyes, but once Edgar’s expression didn’t change, she burst out laughing.
“Hahahahat, I knew it. How would you be able to catch Crockta?”
“……”
“How dull.” She shrugged. “Then and now, you are always disappointing me.”
Edgar’s face twitched. He closed his eyes so that his face wouldn’t twist. He settled his emotions and thought about a cool lake to sink his head into. An unshakable and serene water surface with no ripples. His emotions faded.
“Robina. They don’t have Crockta so can’t we fight? Just looking at the traitor’s face makes my stomach hurt,” said the man standing next to Robina.
At that moment, the Heaven and Earth members simultaneously raised their weapons.
“Shut up. If you talk to Edgar like that, we will kill you without mercy.”
“I’ll kill him right away and stop his stomach from hurting.”
“Edgar, let’s kill them.”
Edgar opened his eyes.
Robina’s face was clear. At one time, they were together. Edgar was once a member of Rehabilitation Brothers.
He said, “I wanted to get rid of you along with Crockta anyway.”
“Is that so?”
“This is the last offer. Take everything you own and leave Maillard.”
It was a proposal that couldn’t be accepted.
Edgar’s Heaven and Earth members were ready to fight as their blades shone under the sun.
“Do you really have to do this?” Robina said while stepping back. Her fingers moved to her quiver. Her strong point was her continuous fire. An arrow would leave the bow as soon as there was the slightest movement.
“I never thought you were a man like this. Ah, there is a lot of disappointment.” She said with a smile
“Disappointment…” Edgar repeated her words and then began to laugh. However, his lungs and diaphragm were cramping and he didn’t know if it was really laughter. He just smiled as emotions clashed inside him.
“Yes, how can we understand others?”
Edgar pulled out his sword. The momentum of the clan members was pushing at his back. It was the feeling of being uplifted. But he couldn’t get too excited. The fact that there were trustworthy allies calmed him down.
He looked at the Rehabilitation Brothers. At one time, he was with them. Now they were Edgar’s enemies. He turned towards Robina in the front. She was still beautiful.
“Heaven and Earth!”
At one time, they had been lovers. She was a special existence to him. Once he fell into hell, he was so caught up in his own problems that he couldn’t look around and she left him. After losing the special figure in his life, he felt like he had lost the whole world.
But now it was different. He was more special than her. He would climb to the top. He would climb until she could no longer be seen. So he didn’t feel regret anymore. He was just a little sad.
“War!”
In the future, his exciting adventure would continue to unfold and she couldn’t accompany him.
***
“Hah, so those two were dating each other dot?”
“It isn’t obvious based on their conversation, but he confessed all sorts of things to me while drunk. Kulkulkul! Things like ‘I love her more than life.’ Aigoo.”
“It sounds like a play. Their relationship, that is.”
Crockta was chewing on fried corn with Tiyo and Anor.
“Who will win?”
“I guess the Heaven and Earth Clan.”
“Rehabilitation dot! The rehabilitation group will win! Look at the strong eyes of that girl dot! It is like frost covering the sea dot!”
They hid behind a rock and watched the battle between the Heaven and Earth Clan and the Rehabilitation Brothers. The two groups failed to notice as the fierce fight began. In its own way, it was a battle between two clans in Elder Lord. But it seemed dull compared to the great battles they fought in the north.
“I don’t like the small number of people dot.”
The scale was much smaller than the desperate battle between the dark elves and orcs of the Great Clan.
“Don’t say that. War isn’t a game.” Anor started arguing with Tiyo.
“I-I’m just saying dot.”
“Just saying what? Tsk tsk.”
“……”
As Edgar pursued Robina, she retreated while firing arrows. As the two lovers transformed into enemies aiming weapons at each other, the hands eating the fried corn became busier.
“But Crockta, shouldn’t you help? Aren’t the Rehabilitation Brothers Crockta’s allies while the Heaven and Earth Clan are your enemies?”
The Rehabilitation Brothers had shown up to rescue Crocktam but now Crockta was just watching. Anor’s eyes narrowed.
“I don’t know.”
Edgar stumbled as Robina’s arrow pierced his shoulder. Crockta focused even more. He chewed on the fried corn as his eyes sharpened. In a fight like this, it was best to watch them struggle first. Besides, users would survive even after dying.
“I’ll just watch first.”
“Good attitude dot!”
“Phew.”
