The lord of Seker could not hide his bewilderment as he looked at the unexpected visitors who had arrived outside the city.
"How... did you come here?"
The Empire’s First Crown Prince, the disciple of the Sage of the Mage Tower, the eldest son of the Imperial Knights’ commander—and the woman leading all three of them.
"I—I mean, we wish to speak with the orcs!"
"Did you say your name was Lady Elysia? This is a matter that we of the North are already fully capable of resolving—"
"How dare you disregard someone guaranteed by the Empire’s First Crown Prince!"
"This is precisely why Northerners are barbarians."
"Hmph."
Grit.
The lord of Seker ground his teeth as he watched children far younger than himself swagger about.
You lot can simply return to the Central, but I’ll be stuck dealing with the Grand Duke in the North!
"Ha ha. Your Highness, Grand Duke Viktor departed three days ago to speak with the orc village."
"What?"
At the name of Viktor, the Northern Grand Duke, leaving the lord of Seker’s mouth, Crown Prince Baron’s expression crumpled.
Was he not the very man who had brought the imperial family’s humiliation and the Emperor’s wrath down upon him?
"Your Highness Baron?"
"Are you all right?"
"...Ah. I’m fine."
Baron turned his head to look at Elysia. He could not let his emotions waver. He had come here to help Elysia.
If he showed her such an unsteady side of himself, would he not seem inferior to the other two?
"Ely...sia?"
Confusion was unmistakable on Elysia’s face when Baron looked at her.
What... Why is that Northern Grand Duke here? No, more importantly, he’s speaking with an orc village?
She had never seen anything like this in the original story.
Another... another butterfly effect? Damn it!
This was no time to stand around. She had to move quickly. If they lost the orcs, one of the allied demi-human races, they would lose a crucial pillar of the story to come.
"Baron."
"Speak."
"I have a favor to ask."
**
"Yaaawn."
The three days of camping on the plains had been satisfying.
Come to think of it, when my family went to Mongolia, my sister... that damned family-register mate stepped in horse shit, and I laughed myself crazy.
"...Ugh."
Rushe emerged from the tent, moving as though every bone in her body creaked, and sat beside me.
"It’s already been three days, Your Grace."
"So it has."
"Not ‘so it has.’ Are you planning to remain here any longer?"
"Of course not."
They would be coming soon. We only had to wait a little longer. Or so I said, but...
They aren’t making us wait longer because they discriminate against men, are they?
Just as that faint anxiety began to seize me, Gartan started walking toward us from the orc village.
"Gartan."
"My apologies. It took time to spread word not only through our tribe, but to all the orc tribes."
"Hm?"
That was strange. The story had been supposed to begin with the Lightning Claw Tribe and then recruit the other orc tribes. Why was this progressing so quickly?
"You look surprised."
"Why did you go as far as speaking to the other tribes?"
"You are called the Northern Grand Duke, the one who rules this North, yes?"
"That is correct."
"Would that not inspire trust? A man like you showing his sincerity by waiting patiently. I told the other tribes of what I saw and gathered those who would join us. And I received their answer."
Thud!
Gartan dropped to one knee before me and bowed his head.
"The alliance of eleven orc tribes, led by the Lightning Claw Tribe, grants Viktor Walterheim the right to undertake the trial for Grand Chieftain..."
"...Hm?"
"And should you pass that trial, we shall raise you as our Grand Chieftain."
"Wait a moment?"
I scratched my head and decided to ask about the final term Gartan had mentioned.
"Wasn’t the Grand Chieftain a position that vanished after the Great War a hundred years ago?"
"It was."
"Why offer that to me? No, more importantly, a trial?"
"The orc tribes wish to see the sincerity of the man you are. Whether you are someone to whom we can entrust our future."
"I’m not an orc. I’m human."
"That does not matter. The one who led us in the Great War was also a human, not an orc."
That’s right. The Great War was fought between the Snow Ghosts and an allied army of every race on the continent. The author—my family-register mate—made the leader of that alliance a MacGuffin whose name each race called differently, then never resolved it in the end...
And now, out of nowhere, I was being offered a trial to become Grand Chieftain.
"When is this trial?"
"It shall begin the moment the tribes arrive."
"Then I have some time—"
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"What is that?"
"Your Grace... over there!"
I looked in the direction Rushe pointed and saw a massive force beyond the plains, kicking up clouds of dust as it approached us.
"They have arrived."
"Who has?"
"The eleven orc tribes have gathered here now."
"..."
"Viktor Walterheim, are you prepared?"
So I had to do this immediately, without even time to prepare. When had that ever stopped me?
"Whenever you are ready."
"Excellent. Follow me. I shall lead you to the trial ground, where the chieftains have gathered—"
"Wait!"
At the voice from behind us, we turned to look at its owner. Golden hair and blue eyes.
A beautiful man who seemed to proclaim that he was a noble person. The two men behind him were no less handsome.
And then—
"Please wait."
A pink-haired girl stepped forward under the protection of those three men. She was neither plain nor stunningly beautiful, yet something about her puppy-like appearance strangely stirred one’s protective instincts.
So she came after all.
It was the arrival of Elysia, the female lead of the romance-fantasy world created by my family-register mate.
**
A handsome man with a cold impression, black hair, and red eyes looked at Elysia.
That man is Viktor Walterheim, the Northern Grand Duke.
In the original novel, he had been imprisoned for his responsibility in the fall of Blackheart Castle. But Blackheart Castle had not fallen, and thus the Northern Grand Duke remained standing. On top of that, he had removed every knight the imperial family had planted in the North.
Why is this man here? And why is he speaking with orcs—Gartan, of all people?
Gartan was supposed to be the first key to recruiting the orc tribes later on. Why was he with that man instead?
And the woman beside the Northern Grand Duke is Rushe von Helm, the boss of the Northern Conquest arc. Could she have put these ideas into the Northern Grand Duke’s head?
"Outsider."
"Yes? Me?"
"Yes. I mean you."
At the killing intent in Gartan’s voice, Crown Prince Baron, the mage Boris, and the knight Ryan each drew their weapons.
"How dare you direct killing intent at Elysia!"
"I’ll burn you to death, you orc bastard."
"I’ll carve you into pieces."
As the three spoke, the imperial soldiers who had accompanied the Crown Prince’s party as escorts began pointing their weapons at Gartan.
Elysia stared at the sight in horror.
Damn it. I brought them because I was afraid Cecilia and the other girls would cause trouble while I was gone, and now this...!!
Originally, only an ordinary girl named Alicia was supposed to come here. Moved by one girl’s sincerity, Gartan would join forces with Alicia and his tribesmen to defeat the forces of the lord of Seker, who had come to subjugate them. It was supposed to be a simple story. But—
"Elysia, get behind me! Speaking with orcs was absurd from the start!"
"Baron, listen to me—"
"Soldiers! Evacuate Elysia somewhere safe!"
"N-no!"
At this rate, Gartan would die, and her connection to the orc tribes would...
"Gartan."
Thud!!!!
"What is all this commotion?"
A gigantic orc strode over from afar, and every person present froze at his single remark. Fear that began at their toes spread throughout their bodies, leaving them unable to move even a finger.
If I move...
I’ll die!
The scars and tattoos on his face proved that he was a survivor who had returned alive from countless battles throughout his life.
"I hurriedly gathered the tribes and came running, you see."
"I greet the great warrior Philgot of the Black Axe Tribe."
Philgot!!!
Elysia was aghast. Why was the strongest of the orc tribes, who was supposed to join them at the end of the novel, here already?
This was dangerous. If Baron’s party misspoke now—
Thud!
But contrary to Elysia’s fears, Philgot simply passed Baron’s party by. No, he walked past them so naturally that he seemed not even to know they were standing there.
"So this is the human Gartan recommended for the Grand Chieftain’s trial."
"That is so, great warrior Philgot."
Philgot looked into Viktor’s red eyes as Viktor gazed back at him.
Huh. Look at this one.
There was no deceit in them. No hesitation. They were the unwavering eyes of a formidable warrior.
So Gartan’s words were true. The strongest shield defending the continent against those savage, cruel Snow Ghosts...
"Is there a problem?"
"No. There is not. Come. The other chieftains await you at the trial ground."
"W-wait!!!"
When Philgot looked toward the owner of the voice behind him, there was neither wariness nor anger in his gaze.
There was only a fleeting curiosity and disappointment.
"Come."
"Did I not tell you to wait, orc?!"
"Small and foolish human, today is an auspicious day."
Boom!!!!
"Kgh..."
Overwhelmed by the force Philgot released, Baron fell to his knees as though sharp fangs had pierced deep into his lungs.
"Therefore, I shall mercifully let you go. But there will be no second time."
"Y-you...!"
There was neither contempt nor rage in that gaze Philgot turned upon Baron. It was merely the look one gave a stone lying by the roadside.
Don’t... don’t look at me like that...!
"I’m sorry!"
"Elysia?"
"Please forgive us..."
"You... What are you—!"
"A wise child. Yet at the same time..."
Clicking his tongue, Philgot turned away and muttered,
"Far too small a vessel for such ambition."
Grit!!!
Glaring at Philgot, who had disregarded him and insulted the woman he loved, Baron made a vow.
I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you without fail! You—and the orcs!!!
**
Unconcerned by the scorching gaze he could feel behind him, Philgot strode forward with the bearing of a powerful warrior.
"Are you disappointed that I did not kill them?"
At Philgot’s question, I shrugged.
"No. They aren’t even worth staining your hands with blood, Philgot."
"Heh. Is that so?"
Still, Philgot. The strongest orc, who was meant to join just before the final battle, had already appeared.
"Hm? Is something wrong?"
"I am curious as to what exactly you told them about me."
"Ha ha ha. I introduced you as a human unlike any they had experienced before."
"Pardon?"
"They said that, except for a hundred years ago, they had never encountered a person in power who cast everything aside and sincerely faced them as equals."
Ah, so that was it. Elysia’s standing when she recruited Gartan was weak compared to where it would be in the latter half of the story. But I was different.
Despite carrying the weight of the title Northern Grand Duke, ruler of the North, I had cast everything aside and sought dialogue.
So that earned me even more goodwill.
"We have brought him."
At the place to which Philgot and Gartan led me, nine orcs sat waiting for us.
"Thank you for coming, chieftains of the orc tribes. I am Viktor Walterheim, the Northern Grand Duke."
The nine orc chieftains nodded, and at the same time Philgot stepped before me.
"Viktor, take your weapon in hand. We shall begin the trial."
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