WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Reformation of the Deadbeat Noble

Chapter 163

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Battle of Nerves (2)

"...Ha!"

The orc warriors let out a bark of disbelief at the red haired human's words.

They belonged to Gunt, the third son of Master Halifa, and none of them were pleased that Kubharu had come back to Durkali.

By their reasoning, the idea that he'd returned home after seventeen years simply out of feeling for his family made no sense at all.

So the orc warriors had decided Kubharu must be harboring some other scheme in coming back to the tribe, and they viewed the human standing before them now as just as much of a thorn in their side.

The fact that she wasn't even an orc made it worse.

Of course, that didn't mean they could threaten her outright.

Whatever else was true, these humans were staying in the castle with the blessing of both the great warrior Karakum and the tribal chief Tarakhan.

Officially, they were guests of the tribe, which left the warriors with nothing more than muttering insults in their own tongue or flashing unpleasant smiles.

'But if she's the one throwing the first punch... that changes things.'

The orc warriors traded glances.

One of them, a bald warrior, stepped forward with a grin and spoke to Judith.

"You sure you won't regret saying that?"

"What's there to regret? Instead of just piling up stress on each other like this, why not throw down once, get it out of our systems, and end it clean. That's all I'm saying."

"Ha. Bolder than you look."

"You're pettier than your size would suggest. Going on about warrior blood and all that, and here you are talking trash behind someone's back until they finally call you out."

"What? You little..."

"Never mind."

Thunk!

Cutting off the bald orc warrior, Judith drove her sword into the ground.

Then she turned her palm to the sky and beckoned him closer with a flick of her fingers.

"Enough flapping your gums. Come on. Forget swords, let's do this with fists."

"Fists?"

"Yeah. Beating you down bare handed sounds a lot more satisfying than a sword."

"Ha..."

"What, no confidence? You're this pathetic that a commoner with no name and no bloodline scares you?"

The bald orc warrior didn't answer her last remark.

He simply handed his weapon to a companion and strode toward her with heavy steps.

A frightening battle intent leaked from eyes burning with controlled rage.

Facing it, Judith just smiled, and the bald orc threw a heavy straight punch at her.

Boom!

A punch powerful enough to burst the air itself.

An attack fierce enough to shatter a normal human's skull on impact.

By that point, the bald orc had already stopped worrying about consequences.

All that mattered was crushing the little runt standing in front of him.

But his wish never came true.

Just before the fist reached her face, Judith dropped low and drove straight into the orc's chest.

'What?'

The bald orc lost track of her for an instant, his face flashing with confusion.

Judith's comparatively small frame, ducked in tight against him, had all but vanished from his line of sight.

He caught her presence too late and dropped his eyes, but it was already too late.

The red haired human's brutal strike buried itself in his left side.

Thud!

"Guh... uh..."

Thump.

Knocked senseless by a single body blow, the bald orc crumpled forward.

Judith flicked her shoulder against the body collapsing onto her.

That light motion alone sent the orc warrior flying several meters back.

Boom!

From start to finish, the fight had lasted barely a second.

Still wearing that same flat expression, Judith looked at the remaining orcs and asked.

"Anyone else want a turn?"

"..."

"Better than before, but I'm still not fully stress free. Wouldn't mind feeling a little more relieved..."

'Is she holding back?'

The orc warriors, having now seen her skill firsthand, wore stunned expressions.

They'd heard, of course. That the humans who came with Kubharu were formidable.

The silver haired one was a descendant of House Lindsay, a lineage even they had to respect, and the others supposedly carried bloodlines not to be dismissed, or had reached impressive heights of their own.

But the red haired human they'd occasionally glimpsed hadn't seemed all that impressive. So they'd underestimated her.

Like orcs who hadn't inherited the blood of the ancient heroes, this commoner surely had her limits too, they'd thought. The weakest of the four, they'd assumed.

Now they saw how wrong that assumption had been.

"What, nobody else?"

The red haired human tilted her head.

Her expression was almost innocently curious.

But the presence radiating quietly from her body was nothing short of savage.

Having finally grasped her true level, the orcs could do nothing but sweat, rooted to the ground, unable to step forward.

Still, Judith's next words made standing still impossible.

"Disappointing. If I'd known orc warriors were this petty and this scared, I wouldn't have bothered coming all the way to Durkali."

"...!"

"This little... what did she just say..."

"Enough."

The warriors, who looked ready to charge at the insult, froze in place.

A command from a massive figure who had appeared before them without a sound.

A head taller than the rest, with a broad, thick chest.

The orc, imposing enough to command attention just by standing there, looked at Judith and spoke.

"I'm Gunt, second in command of the Red Axe Blade unit."

Gunt.

A name she already knew.

One of the names Kubharu had told her to watch out for, the third son of Halifa, the highest power on the wife's side of the family, if she remembered right.

In human society, the kind of standing you'd call noble among nobles.

But Judith wasn't intimidated by any of that.

"Right, Gunt. And I'm Judith, as you probably know."

"..."

Something shifted around Gunt's eyebrows at her flat, familiar tone.

Aura rose alongside a threatening battle intent, curling up like smoke. His gaze bore into Judith's face as if trying to carve itself there.

The mood turned heavy in an instant.

But Gunt didn't lose his composure further.

After a brief pause, he spoke quietly.

"I have two things to say."

"Oh, I'm curious. Go ahead, I'll hear you out even if there's more."

"First. Whatever you're thinking, the trouble you've just started here will definitely become a problem. And because of it, Kubharu's standing will only shrink further."

"Wrong. Ask them. We agreed to leave the politics out of it, just a clean fight, no hard feelings after."

"Don't play dumb. Anyone with sense would have known exactly what kind of ripples an act like that would cause. And if you went ahead and did it anyway, you should take responsibility for it. Don't you agree?"

"We'll talk about that later. What's the second thing?"

"Second. You insulted the entire orc race. As an honorable warrior of Durkali, that isn't something I can simply let pass. You'll answer for that reckless remark as well, so don't run. Wait quietly."

Whoooom!

The instant he finished speaking, a fierce presence surged out of Gunt's body.

An energy savage and terrifying enough to make even the orcs standing behind him flinch.

Battle intent befitting a high ranking warrior, worthy of the blood of a hero who had once cut down countless demonoids and demons.

"Hm."

But Judith didn't so much as flinch.

If anything, she looked relaxed, stroking her chin as though deep in thought.

At that, not just his subordinates but Gunt himself shot her a look of surprise.

But that wasn't the end of it.

As if she'd finished mulling it over, Judith nodded a couple of times.

Then she finally spoke her mind.

"Cut the bullshit."

"...What did you just say?"

"I said cut the bullshit. Why, does that not sound right to you?"

"Just what gives you the nerve to keep provoking me like..."

"Ah, shut it. Let me finish first. I sat through your bullshit patiently to the end, so you can rebut after. Got it?"

Judith waved her hand, scowling like she genuinely couldn't stand listening anymore.

The sight made killing intent surge in Gunt, but the initiative had already slipped from his hands.

Clearing her throat, she rattled off what she had to say in one breath.

"First. If you're going to whine about people playing dumb, get your own subordinates in line first. I already knew they were talking trash behind our backs, and I put up with it for a whole week. Any orc with sense would've come to apologize properly instead of hiding behind Kubharu's name to throw threats around."

"..."

"Second. I insulted the whole orc race, you say? Yeah. And I had good reason to. Bunch of cowards who don't have the guts to pick a fight with backgrounds like House Lindsay or House Lloyd, but the second they're in front of me they get all excited and start running their mouths about warrior pride and warrior honor. And then, on top of that, the moment I clock one of them, the rest of you clam up and won't even step forward. If that's not petty, what is?"

"...I'll admit they showed some lack of judgment, but that alone doesn't make it an insult to the entire orc race..."

"Guess it makes sense your subordinates are idiots, coming from a boss who talks like one too. Aren't you and those guys descendants of the ancient heroes? Descendants of a demon slayer?"

"..."

"For people who inherited the blood of such great warriors, isn't it a pretty idiotic thought to believe your own words and actions don't reflect on all orcs?"

'What is with her?'

Listening to Judith's words pour out like a river, Brett Lloyd wore a blank expression.

She wasn't usually this good with words.

Even with him, she'd run out of things to say and just throw a punch more times than he could count.

But right now, she was different.

Had she been rehearsing this speech for days?

Or was it just that the orcs in front of her were too pathetic to bear?

'Or maybe both.'

He had no idea.

But it didn't matter.

Nobody could stop Judith's rampage now.

She kept pouring out everything on her mind.

"Worried about Kubharu, you ask? Yeah, I am. Really worried, just like you said. That's exactly why I put up with this for a whole week. If it were up to my usual temper, I'd have cracked every one of your skulls before half a day was out. But I can't hold back anymore. For Kubharu's sake, I'm going to say what needs saying."

"You idiots, a warrior's honor doesn't hang off the bloodline of some impressive ancestor."

"It hangs off what you think, and how you act."

"If you want to be treated with respect, act like it. Stop badmouthing people behind their backs and then whimpering the moment the fight looks tough, shaming your own ancestors. If something bothers you, either say it to my face, or come at me straight up for a real fight."

"Oh, and in case you still don't get it, let me spell it out. Why did I say Kubharu is pitiful? Because he came home after seventeen years, and all he found crawling around were bastards like you. Thinking about that made me tear up, that's why."

"Got it now? Then quit acting like dogs and get lost. Go do some soul searching, think about what being a real warrior actually means, and get your heads straight. Yeah? Go do that."

"..."

Under that waterfall of words from Judith, the orc warriors' faces hardened into stone.

Gunt looked worst of all. His eyes burned with a fury hot enough to spill lava at any second.

He was genuinely weighing whether to deal with this insolent brat right here, or let it go.

But then, the moment the three swordsmen scattered across the training ground began closing in.

"..."

Gunt had no choice but to set that thought aside for later.

Whooooom...!

The silver haired swordsman approached, radiating a presence as fierce as a storm.

The blond swordsman closed in, carrying a weight as heavy and dense as steel.

And last, the blue haired swordsman walked forward with cold, quiet steps, colder anger than anyone else there.

The moment Gunt met that swordsman's eyes, he found himself stepping back without meaning to, and only after the fact did his face flush with the shame of it.

Just then, an orc messenger came running toward the training ground.

And delivered news shocking enough to shatter the entire mood in an instant.

"Kubharu's master..."

"Came back to life?"

"No, not exactly come back to life... but, but close to it. I, I'm sorry. It's kind of hard for me to explain it properly..."

The messenger wiped away sweat again and again, his face frantic as he tried to get the words out.

Gunt, who had been watching with a deep scowl, spoke in a low voice.

"Take us there."

"Ye, yes! Um, the human lords too..."

"..."

The four exchanged glances, then nodded.

Human swordsmen and orc warriors alike, all of them unable to hide their curiosity, followed after the hurrying messenger.

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