Desperate Gambit

"Oink!"

With a pig-like squeal, an orc falls. It was me, and it was my voice. I fell after receiving a powerful blow to my stomach.

"...Hmm!"

Our tribe chief, Stormsblade, thrust his greatsword into the ground and knelt on one knee. The chief kneeling meant he had been defeated.

"You're amazing, Pahuu!"

"Don't call me by my name."

"How can I not call you by your sacred name! Pahuu, you are no longer a young orc! I can call you my brother!"

The chief laughed heartily and helped me up. I got up wobbling and 'looked down' at the chief.

"If not for the curse on your body, brother, you would have been our tribe's greatest warrior."

"What about Tral?"

"...That fellow should now be called the strongest in the dungeon, shouldn't he?"

Tral Stormblast.

My cradle peer orc who trained with my workout method and genuinely became stronger beyond the level of orcs. According to the chief, he was strong enough to form and lead his own tribe after the coming-of-age ceremony.

Tral had become so strong that he might even catch Solomon's eye and receive his own dungeon.

"Brother, do not try to face Lord Forneus with Tral's help. If you do, not only you and Tral but our entire tribe will be wiped out."

"Can't Tral beat that woman?"

"...I'm saying this because I think he might be able to win. What would happen if a mere orc defeated a demon? Of course, it's impossible now, and it would take about 20 years."

"Whether it's 20 years from now or right now, if he takes even the lowest seat, wouldn't other demons come running? Tral would become a slave, and we would be annihilated."

I could see it without watching the video. Unless Tral took Forneus's position, the other legion commanders would never allow a mere orc to take a dungeon that only high nobles receive.

"Still, it's a shame that no one knows Tral's true worth."

"An awl in a pocket will eventually reveal itself. Wasn't it you, Chief, who said we should wait for the right time?"

"Oh! What was that expression just now! Brother, that's an excellent expression! We shall record it in our tribe's history for generations to come!"

"...Chief."

I couldn't help but laugh bitterly.

"I have only three days left until my coming-of-age ceremony."

"...Let's find a way."

Three days left until Forneus's visit.

Three days left in my life.

I defeated the chief for the first time three days before my coming-of-age ceremony, and the chief gave me the "honor" of being able to escape as soon as I completed the ceremony.

That's right.

I had failed to lose my belly fat over the past year and a half, and instead gained more muscle, becoming built like a heavyweight wrestler.

With a body like Mark HENry.

==

"Brother, run away."

What on earth is this guy saying? I snorted while removing the entrails from a wild boar hunted near the dungeon with Tral.

"Talking nonsense."

"I'm not joking, brother. You're too precious to be killed by such a tyrant. Just look at this, for instance."

Tral pointed to the wild boar meat I had gutted. The salt-crusted roast, rubbed with crushed rock salt, was a delicacy Tral couldn't get enough of.

Sizzle. The meat was being grilled directly over a wood fire. Tral picked up a wild boar leg bone with his bare hands and asked me.

"Brother, what do you call this?"

"Ah, that is called barbecue. A cooking method I won't be able to eat after three days."

Just thinking about Forneus makes me so angry I can't speak politely. Fortunately, Tral was quite used to my way of speaking, and we talked while tearing into the wild boar meat.

"So brother, run away."

"Nonsense. 'Run away'? Are you saying you're going to flee with me now?"

"If it's to save you, brother."

Tral gripped his hammer, Stormblast, which was like half of his body, with a determined face. I threw a picked-clean bone at Tral's head.

"Stop saying such rubbish and think about your own future. Don't you know what happens in orc society if you run away without receiving the coming-of-age ceremony?"

"...The God of War would take away your breath."

For orcs, the coming-of-age ceremony was a sacred ritual to be reborn as a warrior. For me, it was a stage of fate where I would become a corpse, but Tral was different.

"Right. You, you've become so strong that your tribe says the God of War has manifested in you. Huh? Would such a person throw away all honor and fall into the abyss because of someone like me? Would I be happy and say, 'Oh please throw it away for me'?"

"If we're brothers."

"...Damn, I can't say anything because you really might do it."

I might end up begging when death approaches. Honor or whatever, shouldn't I try to survive first?

"Hey. I'm asking this seriously, could you really do that for me?"

"If my brother wishes, I'll bring Forneus's head right now."

"...Let's put that on hold for now. Then next question. Why are you doing all this for me?"

"Huh."

For the first time, Tral sneered at me. I felt angry, but Tral was much stronger than me.

"Brother, you call that a question?"

"I'm asking because I'm curious."

"...Well, it's simple."

Tral pounded his chest and grinned.

"Although we don't share the same blood, I think of you as my true brother."

"You seem to have been born in the wrong world setting."

A guy who looks destined to inherit the chief position, with his specs and personality, suffering like this after being born in this world. I felt sorry for Tral, but at the same time, I felt sorry for myself.

"How about establishing an orc kingdom?"

"...Wouldn't that be difficult?"

"I'm just saying. A kingdom, really. How could I do something so difficult? First, I need to survive."

Eventually, we returned to the Forneus problem. If I couldn't think of a brilliant plan in these three days, I would become Forneus's Pa/hu/u.

"Should I just cut off my belly with a knife?"

"Brother, didn't you already try that and fail before?"

"Right. Damn."

My belly was so firm that even a knife wouldn't penetrate easily with my strength. Hidden by the sagging lower belly, there was a very faint knife mark on my stomach. Although I did it myself, I unfortunately lacked the strength to cut my own belly.

But what about the strongest man in our tribe?

"Tral, perhaps—"

"If you're about to ask me to cut your belly, don't. I cannot harm my brother."

If there was any possibility, it would be Tral or the chief using their full strength to cut off my belly, but both adamantly refused to touch it. I was about to lose my head because they were trying to preserve my belly, but at least they hadn't given up.

"Hey. Don't worry too much. Who am I, huh?"

"Pahuu Kumcherku."

"No, not my name! I'm just saying! Huh? I've only lived for 3 years, should I die by such a lunatic? Absolutely not!"

"Then do you have some kind of plan?"

To Tral's question, I tapped my temple.

"I need to establish military merit so Forneus can't easily kill me."

"Military merit... Brother, don't tell me you're planning to volunteer for the major interception? That's too risky!"

Tral was surprised and worried about me, but it was the only option I had left.

"I have to take the risk. Not just playing house against adventurers, but establishing real merit in actual combat against humanity, and using that merit to save my life."

If I became a war hero who led to victory, even Forneus wouldn't kill me just because my figure was unsightly. Fortunately, the chief had already approved my proposal.

"I'm going out tomorrow to intercept the human invasion. Tral."

"Brother..."

Tral was worried about me and shouted as he stood up from his seat.

"Then I will also go to the battlefield with my brother! How could I survive alone and go through the coming-of-age ceremony without you!"

"Hey. If you go wild, I won't be able to establish any merit, you idiot."

"B-but at least I could help..."

"Have you forgotten what happened when those stupid goblin hordes came in last time? While I was cutting down three, you were cutting down about ten? If tomorrow goes the same way, who do you think everyone will focus on?"

Tral didn't argue any further. In the quiet forest where birds were singing, we ate the wild boar, cleaned up the traces, and returned to the dungeon.

"Brother."

"What?"

"No matter what happens to you, I will stand by your side."

"Thanks for saying that, at least."

Tral looked like he had more to say, but I couldn't hear any more of his words.

"Where have you two been at this late hour? Ohoho!"

That damn woman blocked my path.