The Legend of Belrand

Chapter 4: Young Arthur

The fire in the orc camp had already been extinguished, and the ground was littered with orc bodies. The mercenaries were cleaning up the battlefield, stripping off the orc's leather armor and piling up the bodies to burn. Those who weren't quite dead were swiftly dispatched with a sword.

No one felt it was cruel; the war between humans and orcs had lasted for nearly ten thousand years, and the ingrained hatred made killing seem justified.

"Angus, how are the brothers?"

"Not bad. We have one seriously injured, four lightly injured, but unfortunately, the mother leopard got away." The hunter, who was wrapping his arm with bandages, replied without lifting his head.

"Never mind, as long as we didn't lose any brothers, that's fortunate enough." Thinking of the mother lioness, who had gone berserk before dying, Kane still felt a bit scared.

"That mother leopard was quite a tough one. If we had caught her and had some fun in bed, just thinking about it gives me a damn thrill!" Tony, who had been nowhere to be seen during the entire battle, suddenly appeared from somewhere.

"Tony, it's just you? You couldn't handle the girls at the Nightingale Tavern, and now you want to go after a female orc? Be careful, she might crush your little guy." Angus's teasing elicited a burst of raucous laughter from the mercenaries cleaning the battlefield.

Tony, however, was unfazed. He had an unmistakable smile on his face. "Boss, we've hit the jackpot." With a wave of his hand, several mercenaries brought over a dozen young orcs tied together with ropes. Some of the young orcs snarled and tried to resist, but a whip from the mercenaries quickly silenced them, leaving them writhing in pain on the ground.

Kane's eyes lit up. "Go easy on them. These little guys are valuable. Killing one of them would mean losing tens of gold coins at least." Many human nobles liked to keep orc bodyguards to display their wealth and power. Some noblewomen even acquired them for private use in bed, for the obvious reason that orc "equipment" was more impressive than that of human men.

Adult orc warriors were stubborn and hot-tempered, unwilling to yield even when captured. However, young orcs were easier to train and tame. Therefore, many nobles liked to buy young orc slaves to raise from a young age. They became highly sought-after commodities, fetching prices in the slave market second only to elven women. The rarer the race, the higher the value.

"Boss, do you think this one is worth a thousand gold coins?" Tony pulled Leon, who was at the front of the line, over.

"Oh, how unexpected. This little lion didn't manage to escape?" Kane squatted down, lifting Leon's chin with a finger. Leon's eyes were bloodshot, filled with hatred. These humans had killed his mother.

Leon's hands suddenly erupted with a faint golden light, breaking free from the ropes that bound him. His claws lunged toward Kane. However, Kane's large hand quickly grabbed Leon by the neck, rendering him unable to move no matter how he struggled.

Just as Leon was about to be strangled, Kane threw him to the ground. His face turned serious. "Tony, for such a valuable little guy, you should tie him up more securely."

"Captain, there's another one in here that's only worth one gold coin. What should we do with him?" A mercenary dragged the slender Arthur out of the group.

Compared to the coveted young orc slaves, the human boy who was deemed useless naturally had no value. Kane had noticed this strange boy in the orc camp during the day and was particularly amazed by his ability to defeat a lion cub that was almost at the level of a first-tier warrior.

Kane also lifted Arthur's chin, but his gesture was much gentler. Arthur raised his head, revealing a smiling face and a set of snow-white teeth. Despite being covered in dirt and having disheveled hair, his face was very clean, and his eyes were even more pure.

"What's your name, and how old are you?" Kane asked.

"Captain, my name is Arthur, and I'm twelve years old."

Kane was taken aback. "How did you know I was the captain?"

"Don't the mercenary brothers all call you that?"

Kane chuckled. "You're very clever. Why were you in the orc camp?"

"Our village was attacked by orcs two years ago. My mother was killed by orcs, and I was captured and enslaved in the orc camp."

“You're lying!” Tony suddenly grabbed Arthur's collar, his eyes staring harshly at him. “Orcs don't need human children as slaves. Some orc nobles even prefer to eat human children. And, although you're small, you don't look like a slave at all. How do you explain this armor?”

“Tony, you're scaring him,” Edeline couldn't help but intervene. The boy's smile seemed to have a magical power that made her believe everything he said.

Arthur looked at Edeline gratefully. “Don't worry, beautiful and respected lady, he won't scare me. I've seen orcs much more ferocious than him.”

“You sure know how to sweet-talk,” Tony said, realizing his approach wasn't working, and slowly let go of Arthur's collar.

“I'm alive because I still have value. The lady of the house wants to find a human opponent for her son to help him understand his enemies better,” Arthur explained slowly.

“The lady of the house? The female lion?” Kane asked.

Arthur lowered his head sadly. “Actually, the lady of the house has been very kind to me. If it weren't for her, I would have become food for some orcs long ago.”

Leon, who was still on the ground, suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with surprise as he glanced at Arthur.

“Untie him. He's not a slave here,” Kane said loudly, gesturing for Arthur's ropes to be untied.

“Thank you!” Arthur bowed to Kane, Edeline, Tony, and even the mercenaries who were untying him.

Kane laughed, waved his hand, and continued to urge the other mercenaries to quickly clean up the battlefield, not leaving behind anything of value.

“Are you planning to take back these tattered armor and orc weapons?” Edeline, who had been following Kane, couldn't help but complain softly.

“Even ants are meat. Selling these weapons for scrap can still fetch us some coins. You don't know the cost of running a household. How many mouths are waiting for me to feed? Besides, we miscalculated this time. Apart from these little orcs, there's nothing valuable in this noble camp,” Edeline's complaint was met with a long, uninterrupted rant from Kane.

“What are you going to do with that child?” Edeline suddenly asked in a low voice.

“Let's take him back to the city first. He's indeed an interesting kid,” Kane's gaze swept over Arthur, who was helping to clean up the battlefield. In a short time, Arthur had already integrated into the mercenaries, helping them collect valuable items from the orcs.

Perhaps Kane couldn't have imagined that his decision out of curiosity would change the original trajectory of Belrand Continent's history...