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However, his thick and hard Orcish skin was impervious to the prickle of the thorns, and his sharp instincts, refined through more than a decade of warfare, acted like a compass, keeping him on his path.

His destination was eastward, towards the Human Country that neighbored the Land of Orcs.

Among the victors of the war, the Humans were the most successful. Out of all the nations of the Alliance, they held the most territory.

Furthermore, the Humans had also conquered most of the previously Orcish territory.

Of course, the Orcs held no grudges against them for that.

It was only natural – in a war, the winner takes all.

Why was he on route to the Human lands?

To an Orc, there was only a single, simple, and obvious reason.

As the old Orcish proverb went, “If you want to breed, you have to start with humans!”

Humans were fertile, very easy to impregnate, had a strong constitution, and generally weren’t bad looking – though there were exceptions, of course. This made them very suitable prospects for Orcish breeding.

Bash followed that adage without hesitation.

[Ah, I missed this… this sure takes me back…]

As he steadily made his way through the woods, Bash reminisced about the last time he was here.

Just three years ago, this forest was a bloody battleground.

The last Orcish stronghold was situated deep in this exact forest, and the bulk of the Human forces had launched a desperate, all-out assault in a bid to finally break the Orcish defensive bulwark.

Back then, Bash was swiftly running around the trees, blitzing human formations, and mowing down any that stood in his way, all to defend the fort.

Thanks to his efforts, the fort stood strong and avoided destruction up until the end of the war.

In the end, unfortunately, even though the Federation had won that battle, they had lost the war, and the fort was eventually torn down.

During that same battle, Bash had taken out a number of human troops that ranged in the triple digits.

Among those soldiers he defeated, there wasn’t a lack of women.

If only he had known back then. If only he had taken a few, or even only one of those women with him for a “good time”, he wouldn’t be in this predicament. He wouldn’t be a virgin.

In which case, the fort would have fallen, but if either way the war would have been lost and the fort torn down, Bash would have been okay with it.

Ironically…

If that had happened, Bash would have never been hailed as the strongest of the Orcs. He would never have become a Hero.

“Hmm?”

As Bash was weighing the pros and cons of his past acts, a faint smell of blood, coming from the distance, drifted into his nose.

Was there an injured animal nearby?

Or maybe packs of wolves competing over territory?

“Let’s go.”

Whispered Bash as he ran off without hesitation.

This wasn’t just to satisfy his curiosity, but also to satisfy his hunger… mostly his hunger.

Catching a wild animal wasn’t an easy feat – but if it was wounded, it would quickly lose its strength. And even better, if it was bleeding, it would be a breeze to track its smell.

A cornered beast can sometimes put up a fierce fight, but for Bash, that wasn’t anything to worry about.

During the war, he had caught and sustained himself on wild game countless times.

Bash ran through the forest like a fierce gale.

Orcs were thought to be a slow, lumbering race, but that did not apply to him.

It was said that Bash not only had the strongest arms out of any Orc, but also the quickest legs.

His tough skin was unscathed by thick bushes and protruding branches, and his build-like-a-brick-shithouse body barreled through the uneven terrain, never slowing down.

Bash hurried towards the smell of blood at ludicrous speeds.

Following his nose, Bash reached the scene. The battle unfolding in front of him had just reached its climax.

An overturned carriage laid on the edge of the narrow, rutted dirt path, its axle dangling, broken.

The ground was strewn with foodstuffs and furnishings, and nearby laid a pair of eviscerated horse carcasses, still leaking blood out of their open guts.

Two Humans were standing in the center of the path.

Covering each other’s back, they were confronting their enemies, swords at the ready.

Surrounding the pair was a pack of bipedal, bear-like magical beasts – Bugbears.

There were six Bugbears in all, each growling and drooling over their prospective meal.

[Ah, a merchant got attacked by a pack of Bugbears, huh…]

Is what Bash concluded from what he was seeing.

This wasn’t something particularly unusual.

Even though the world has been of peace for several years thanks to the peace treaty, beasts did not follow the laws of the civilized. The beasts were still around, and still attacked people.

Outside of cities and towns was the wilderness, and the wilderness was a true dog-eat-dog world. Or in this case, a orc-eat-bugbear world.

“…!”

“Grrrrr!”

Bash made his entrance, pushing through the foliage, rustling the leaves, and drawing the Bugbears’ attention.

Three of them kept their sights on the humans, while the remaining three turned their eyes on Bash. They let out an intimidating roar as their fur stood on end.

Not even slightly flinching, Bash stared right back at the Bugbears.

And without skipping a beat, replied in kind, letting out a booming shout.

“GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

The warcry.

A pre-fight ritual common to all Orcs. They would yell their lungs out before engaging in battle.

Bash’s warcry was so loud, so powerful, that it made even ground shake, as if in fear.

Birds flew out of the trees in unison, and the bugbears shivered, their teeth clattering.

“Guu…”

With that cry, Bash sent them a message.

They understood that this Orc was an apex predator, that he was higher on the food chain, and there was no way they would win this fight.

Losing their will to fight, they fled back into the depths of the forest with their tails between their legs.

Magical Beasts are always sensitive to the presence of those stronger than them.

“Now then…”

Once Bash was sure that the Bugbear’s were a good and safe distance away, he turned his attention towards the Human pair.

[Ho… this is…]

Both of them were women. They were standing on shaky legs, faces still pale from fear.

They looked to be in their early thirties.

They had a light complexion, but their bodies still looked healthy and full of life.

It was commonly said within Orcish circles that if you wanted a human woman to bear your children, you had to pick out the ones who were just the right ripeness – in their late teens to early twenties.

If they were any younger, they wouldn’t be able have children yet. Any older and they wouldn’t be able to bear the burden of pregnancy that often.

Of course, this didn’t mean that you should disqualify every human over thirty – as long as the individual in question is still fertile, they were fair game.

[She’s quite a beauty!]

The reality was that these two girls weren’t that attractive, even according to Orcish standards.

It’s just that… Bash had hardly ever seen any women in his lifetime.

No, that would be wrong – he had seen plenty of them, but never from up this close.

This was truly the first time he saw a human female in such detail. The gentle curve of her chest, the slow sway of her hips… he had to make a conscious effort to keep the drool from dripping past his lips.

They were both candidates to be his first wife.

Bash admired the two ladies in silence for a while, his heart almost beating out of his chest, gathered his courage, and decided to speak to them.

“Ahem… Would you… would you m’ladies like to… bear my children?”

For an Orc, this would have been a standard proposal. Unfortunately…

“GYAAAAAHHH!”

“I’m going to get raped!”

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

It all went by so quickly Bash was left wondering what he was even nervous for.

The two women, still tightly holding on to their swords, abandoned everything and fled like rabbits.

Bash, taken aback, was too surprised to move. He froze, hand outstretched towards where the pair was standing up until just a second ago.

“Huh? …Why?”

Bash couldn’t figure out why someone would turn down his advances, let alone run away.

And he even helped them out…

“I don’t get it…”

But that’s alright. Bash knew that finding a wife wasn’t going to be a straightforward or easy process.

There was no way he could find the perfect woman that would become his spouse this quickly, this early after starting his quest.

With that in mind, Bash turned around and went back on his way.

Just as he had originally planned, he would head for the Human town.

“Hmmm?”

Just as he was about to leave, Bash’s keen hearing picked up a sound that was out of place here in the forest.

A small, nearly inaudible tapping noise.

He put his hand up to his ear and began walking around, looking for the source.

For soldiers, it was of utmost importance to stay aware of even the smallest, tiniest sounds coming from your surroundings.

On moonless nights, he would rely on his ears and nose to notice ambushes or approaching beasts.

“This way?”

The sound was coming from inside the carriage.

Its wheels were completely shattered, and its body had been tipped over.

Bash followed the sound and began to rummage through the wreckage.

“…”

There wasn’t much inside the carriage.

There was only dried food the two merchant women most likely used as provisions, and other items and furnishings whose use Bash didn’t understand.

There were no weapons or armors of any kind either,

Bash couldn’t help but think that even female slaves would have more to their name. This was rather pitiful…

“What’s this?”

Just as he was about to pack up and leave, Bash’s ears picked up the tiny tapping sound once again.

Apparently, he had missed something.

Bash began carefully moving the provisions and rubble out of the way, one by one.

After moving some of the larger objects, a faint light seeped out from a crack between the debris.

Bash let out a small sigh at the familiar light and reached into the gap, grabbing its source.