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“A stray orc! There’s a stray orc!”
“Draw your weapons! In the name of the ancient Heavy Dog Squadron, don’t let him escape alive!”
“Don’t let him ruin the princess’s day!”
As Bash approached the border, it suddenly became noisy. Bulldog-faced soldiers, who had fought and won dozens of fights, surrounded Bash baring their fangs.
“Wait, I’m not a stray orc. My name is Bash, and I’m traveling in search of something.”
“Yes! Where else would you find such a noble-looking stray orc?  His skin, polished by daily baths… is a bit dirty today from our trip through the mountains… but his fragrant perfume… well, that one is gone from the trip too… he even stinks a bit… no… but his face, yes, his face! Look at those pretty fangs!”
The bulldogs looked quizzically at the fairy, who was screaming and flying at super speed, but did not give up their swords. Rather, when they heard the name “Bash”, their faces became even more intense.
“Bash!? The “Orc Hero” Bash!?”
“That’s right!”
“Hey, a̲s̲s̲h̲o̲l̲e̲! What do you want here?”
“I heard that the third princess of this country is getting married.”
As soon as he said that, the soldiers in front became furious. They showed their murderous intent like demonic beasts. With bloodshot eyes, they raised their swords to attack.
“How dare you!”
“I will not let you pass…!”
“I’ll kill you, even if it costs my life!”
Normally, it was only one stance that Bash would take before an opponent with bloodshot eyes and a sword pointed at him. He would accept the fight. He would pull the sword out of his back, take it all down and cut through the center. He would just keep going.
“Hmm…” But Bash didn’t draw his sword. He knew that, if he drew his sword here, he wouldn’t achieve his goal.
“What the hell? This is crazy! Don’t tell me you’re not going to let him through just because he’s an orc! That’s nowhere in the treaty! Rather, the armistice says that any traveler can get through! Or won’t you change your mind!? So it’s okay for the Beastmen to renege on the agreement? Doesn’t that put you in a bad position?”
“We don’t give a damn about treaties!”
Zell’s persuasion didn’t change their minds. They all looked at Bash with hostility and murderous intent. They were ready to pounce at any moment.
From the looks of it, they were warriors who had fought many battles. They also seemed to know Bash. Although Bash didn’t know them… but he had probably met them in battle before. And maybe he killed one of their own. He could feel it in them.
These were peaceful times. Everyone was trying to be peaceful. Even those who held grudges thought that, even if they resented the war, they shouldn’t resent the races that were their enemies. But there were some who did not see it that way. And if the murderer of their parents or siblings actually appeared in front of them, it was possible that they might not be able to restrain themselves.
But they knew Bash, too, and that’s why they didn’t attack. They knew that, if they jumped on him carelessly, they would become pieces of meat.
“Hmm… let us through.” Bash was worried. Thinking about it, there had been times when he had been turned away or questioned, but he had never been refused passage across the border. He had seen some who really didn’t want to let him through, but he had never seen such thinly disguised murderous intent.
“…” Bash had no intention of fighting. However, if they were really serious about wielding their raised swords against him… As for Bash, he couldn’t afford not to fight. For a proud orc warrior, running away from a fight was not an option. Especially if the other side was really coming at him with pride in their hearts.
Bash did not move. If he took a step forward, they would attack him. If he put his hand on the sword on his back, they would attack him. Or even if Bash turned around and started walking back the way he came, they might see an opportunity and attack him. At that point, Bash’s plan to find a wife in the Beastmen Nation would vanish into thin air. He also had no backup plan. His plan to find a wife would take a big step backwards, and his virginity would stay with him for much longer. He would end up a magical warrior. As soon as he got the symbol of dishonor, Bash would lose everything else.
He was doomed. Looking back, there had probably never been a greater annoyance in Bash’s life.
“Tatara tatata ta ta ta ♪ Ta rarara~ ♪ Ta rarara tata~ ♪ Ta rarara tata~ ♪ Ta rarara~ ta rarara~, ta rarara~ ♪.”
That’s when it happened. From somewhere, he began to hear a humming. And at the same time as the humming, he heard the sound of a stringed instrument. It was a cacophony, somewhere between a Gigi and Bibi, like the cry of a hellbird, but it was definitely the sound of a musical instrument. Behind Bash.
“…!”
Bash, to be honest, was already expecting it. Looking back, the border was a place of encounters. In the Siwanasi forest, he encountered Thunder Sonia, and in the Do Banga’s Pit, Primera. Both had turned down his marriage proposals, but they were beautiful women with whom he had no complaints. So he thought, “What if this time too?”.
“Tatara tata~, ta~, ra ra~, tatara tata~, ta~, ra ra ra~, tata~♪ Very well!”
The owner of the humming song headed straight for the distant Bash and spun between the soldiers and the orc. With a shout, he pointed his finger to the sky. Bash felt disappointed. It was a man.
“What’s the problem?” He pointed his finger at the guards and asked as if he were talking to an old friend he had known for over a decade. He was unreserved.
“…”
Bewilderment was something that was passed down regardless of race. Bash looked at Zell and then at the Beastmen soldiers. Do any of them know him?  No, I don’t know him. They exchanged thoughts, though without using telepathy, and then looked back at the humming man.
His race was probably human. He was a man. He was holding a stringed instrument that humans used to play, and he wore a mask that looked like a woman’s mask. It was really suspicious.
“I’d like to come this way, but they won’t listen to me…”
Bash said for the time being. For now, answering the question. The man turned to Bash with a grunt.
“Oh, really?”
“Yes.”
He then turned to the soldiers.
“What he says is true?”
“We’re former members of the Heavy Dog Squad. We won’t let this guy… the “Orc Hero” pass while our name and honor is on the line.”
Hearing this, the human man spread his hands even wider and launched an appeal to the soldiers.
“I understand your feelings!” He turned around with his hands raised and said in a theatrical tone, “I too lost my loved ones in the war! I would be lying if I said I had no resentment towards those who killed them! But still! In this time of peace, that’s the wrong way to think!”
“…”
“You may have lost people in the war! But think about it. We, the Alliance of the Four Races, have made peace. Why? Because all those who have been fighting so fiercely thought, “I don’t want to lose any more of my loved ones!” Don’t you have other loved ones now? Don’t you have a family at home? But,” said the man with a theatrical gesture as he raised his stringed instrument and let out a raspy sound. It was a dirty sound, as if something had been exposed that was not supposed to come out. The soldiers wondered how such a sound could come out of an ordinary stringed instrument. “This gentleman here is also a Hero who has fought in many battles in the past! If you fight now, there may be one or two casualties among you. Or you may even be annihilated completely. Of course, I don’t want to underestimate you – war is always like this! And if even one of you loses your life, those who await your return will grieve. The thoughts and wishes of those who brought us peace will be in vain.” The stringed instrument emitted a sound that made “boro, boro”. The sound was so unpleasant that some even began to cover their ears. “That is not something that I, as an emissary of peace, can overlook! So forgive him and let him pass, as I have a face!” Said the man and held out his hands again.
The soldiers looked at each other. The man’s face was covered by a mask, even though he had said to spare him by his face.
“…You’ve got to be kidding me… who the f̲u̲c̲k̲ are you, anyway?”
“…Oh, that’s right. Sorry it took me so long to say it.” The man cleared his throat. He pulled out of his pocket something that looked like a letter and handed it to the soldier.
“What’s… this!” The change in the soldier’s expression when he saw it was dramatic. “You… no, Sir, you are…!”
Then the man gently placed his hand over the soldier’s mouth. He felt his breath coming out from between his teeth.
“But why the… mask?”
“To protect the peace of the world… I am a messenger of peace, after all.”
With that, the man lifted his stringed instrument and strummed it again. The soldier frowned, but not forcefully.
Bash and Zell could not see the details of the paper in the man’s hand, nor his true identity. But they could tell that he appeared to be a man of high status, to the extent that the soldier began to use more formal language with him.
“I don’t know the details, but you’re saying that you don’t want to be greeted by big welcomes?”
“Something like that.”
The soldier first returned the permission and was reluctant.
“But now, this country is celebrating for the Princess… we cannot let the “Orc Hero” pass…”
“I understand your concern, but… is it really justified?”
“…”
“He won’t do anything. The fact that he didn’t draw his sword when you pointed it at him is proof of that. That orc, eh? I can assure you. He will not harm the Beastmen. He would never think of it.” he said, “wouldn’t you?” And he looked at Bash. “Never, never, would you?”
“Indeed. I won’t cause any trouble.” Bash nodded. He had no intention of causing trouble to begin with. He had never done so in any of the towns he had been to, nor did he intend to do so with the Beastmen.
“See? He just said so.”
“…I don’t trust the word of an orc… but if you say so, Sir, we’ll take your word for it.”
The soldiers weren’t worried about Bash causing trouble. They had a very different reason.
“But if something happens, we’ll do our best to hunt down and kill that orc.”
“Let’s hope, too, that it doesn’t come to that.”
The man, the messenger of peace, nodded in satisfaction as he said this.