Baran’s tribe grounds. Midnight.
A shabby but large one-story house made of earth-element walls and wood-element detailing– serving as a chieftain’s house.
A spacious hall that had yooperlite stones attached to its ceiling. But the hall didn’t need any extra light source as one side of the hall opened up to a big garden. Rather, it was wild vegetation that looked like a garden.
The moonlight coming from the garden area of the hall was bright. The yooperlite stones just added to the ambiance. One had to say that Baran was very particular about the aesthetics of his living space even while being a monster.
A book should not be judged by its cover. A monster shouldn’t be judged by his circumstances.
There was an orc sitting leisurely on a shoddily crafted chair. His legs stretched over the nearest wooden structure, which served as a poor excuse for a work desk.
This orc had won over Baran in front of his tribe. That too, while being an Orc Leader. His position as a chieftain was assured at this point. He just needed to take care of the former chieftain his way.
That former chieftain was still on his knees. Two Orc Leaders were standing beside him, acting as the guards that served the new boss.
There was also another orc in the hall. An Orc named Raadoo. He was standing behind everyone else. He was Baran’s subordinate and wanted to see the fate of someone who had saved him. If possible, he wanted to return the favor to Baran by pleading for his life.
“What are you guys doing here? Disperse. I don’t need you.”
The butcher swatted his hands and told the guards as well as Raadoo to leave. The guards looked at each other before nodding at their newly appointed boss and exiting the hall. They stepped outside and waited by the gate that served as a welcome passage for the chieftain’s house entrance.
“Chieftain Varhan, could you spare Baran?”
Radoo bowed his head in front of Varhan after the guards left and asked him. Before departing from here, he needed to know what would happen to his savior.
“Hmm? Why do you guys assume that I’m planning to kill him? At this rate. I really might just go with it.”
Raadoo was tense after hearing Varhan’s statement. Varhan responded with a chuckle.
“Haha. Don’t worry. I’ll not kill him.”
Varhan scratched his chin as he looked down at Baran. He decided to experiment with his recently learned monster tongue and added on.
“He is going to be my “treasure” after all.”
Raadoo opened his eyes in shock when he heard Eren’s statement. He then looked at Baran as if taking pity on him.
“De… devil. Just kill me. I don’t want to become your treasure.”
Baran tried to drag himself away from the monster who had defeated him. His frightened face and his body language told the butcher that he was fearing something even more sinister than death.
“What the fuck is wrong with you old man? I just said I’ll not kill you. And you are still so scared of me. Look, the night is beautiful. This wind is soothing. Relax a bit, won’t you? Why talk of death when we can talk about treasures?”
Raadoo shivered when he heard the butcher’s statement. He suddenly felt like he should let the former and new chieftains have their privacy.
“Chieftain Varhan, I… I shall take my leave.”
Raadoo bowed once again and stumbled in front of the butcher. Baran looked back at his previous henchman and shouted at him.
“You…. Raadoo. You backstabbing bastard. Don’t leave me in the hands of this vile orc. I fucking saved your ass, damn it. Help… help me.”
Varhan lost it when he saw the two orcs behaving like some sort of maniac. He started walking towards Baran with his arms wide open.
“Old man Baran, see I don’t have anything in my hand. Just cool down, will you? What is going on here? I think there’s some kind of miscommunication between us.”
Baran still had his guard up against Varhan. He raised his hands in front of him and made a big old “stop” gesture before responding.
“Varhan… you devil. I’m an old man. And my preferences are not like yours. I… I don’t want to judge you. But please keep me the fuck out of this, you bastard.
Talk… talk from a distance. Not one step towards me. Otherwise, I’d commit suicide.”
Varhan stopped in his tracks when he saw Baran’s extreme reaction. He then looked at Raadoo who was also looking at him warily. The guy was undecided on whether he should leave or listen to his former chieftain and savior.
‘Alephee, what is going on?’
Eren had come to realize that his orc tongue wasn’t as polished as he thought it was. At least not to the level where he could understand its nuances. So he figured out that there was a chance these guys got spooked because of something he had said.
Alephee laughed in his head. It took a while for her to control her laughter and answer him.
‘Hehehe! An orc’s treasure is different from what you are thinking it to be. It is not wealth, a resource, or artifact.’
The butcher’s face turned dark when he thought of a possibility. Then he replayed Baran’s statements in his head and found them to be identical to the ones he had heard before. The incidents in which his “preferences” were misunderstood.
“Baran, Raadoo. What do you guys mean by the word treasure?”
Varhan asked with stress lines on his forehead. They just looked at each other confusedly before returning their gazes to Varhan with even more confusion written on their faces. They couldn’t believe an orc wasn’t aware of the usage of this word.
‘Just spill the beans, would you?’
The butcher said to Alephee frustratedly. The latter kept on laughing in his head before answering.
‘Hehehe. This will be the third time this has happened to you, Eren. You’d have to forgive me for finding this funny and entertaining. Of course, I’d want it to drag on even though I wasn’t planning on it at first.
Anyway, I’ll tell you. What orcs consider treasures are their partners. Or to be precise, partners they mate with. Do you understand what I’m trying to say? Hehehe!’
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AN: In chapter 620, Baran addresses the Orcinas as his “treasures”. 😀
