Chapter 190: Chapter 189: A Disgusting Story

"Why talk? It’s pointless," Kase said. "We also have to be careful not to spoil him."

"Spoil him just by saying a few words?"

As someone from the modern world, Colin felt he was exaggerating a bit.

"It’s different."

Kase sighed, seemingly troubled by how to explain it to him.

Kase continued, "Every Orc must learn to endure pain from the moment they can walk. From the age of four, they must learn how to fight. Furthermore, a child’s status among other children is determined by their ability. The stronger ones get to eat more and wear better clothes.

At this time, the War Mistress will use the Ancestor Stone to tell them stories of heroes to encourage them. Imagine if a child’s father is a great Totem Warrior. The other children competing with that child would be intimidated and not perform at their usual level.

In that case, a great father’s child would have an advantage. It would be even worse if his father also fed him more meat. That child would receive food he didn’t earn himself, which is obviously unfair."

"So, you’re saying parents can’t interfere with their children’s development, so that every child can compete fairly."

"That’s the idea," Kase said. "This way, we ensure as much as possible that every Warrior is worthy of their glory."

’That’s a rather novel concept,’ Colin thought.

After the two finished talking, the Gnome began to tell his story with great animation.

"You all must have witnessed the Power of those Giant Dragons, right? When we were passing by, we all saw that enormous White Dragon. So today, I’m going to tell a story about an Adventurer who escaped from the jaws of a Giant Dragon by the skin of his teeth!"

’A story about dragons?’ Colin was instantly interested.

Ever since seeing that White Dragon, he had been fascinated by the creatures, even dreaming of things like Dragon Scale Armor and a Dragon Tooth Sword.

Of course, it was just wishful thinking.

"No way!" "N-no." "Bull-shit!"

The story hadn’t even begun, and the Orcs below were already chirping away, using all the vocabulary they knew to object.

As if he had long expected this reaction, the Gnome glanced smugly at the Orcs, cleared his throat, and said, "The Adventurer was ’Shield of Strength’ Arzuhan, a Dragon Descendant Warrior. But nowadays, everyone calls him ’Brown Dragon’ Arzuhan."

At this, the Orcs all quieted down.

From spending the past few days with them, Colin had gotten the sense that the Orcs weren’t exactly the sharpest tools in the shed.

In fact, Kase, who wasn’t good at remembering things or thinking, was considered quite intelligent among them.

"So, it began when his squad found a Dungeon near the volcano by Holy Tear City—you know, that’s what we call those underground monster lairs. Arzuhan’s squad explored deep into the Dungeon, and who would’ve thought? It turned out to be a Red Dragon’s lair!"

"Red? White!" "Not... red."

The Orcs started to argue again.

The Gnome paid them no mind. His sharp, thin voice cut through the chorus of Orc voices like a crane standing among chickens—it was quite easy to pick out.

—just like his chicken-among-cranes height.

"Unfortunately, Arzuhan’s teammates weren’t so lucky. The Flame spewed by the Red Dragon instantly gave them the ’all-in-one’ service, from funeral procession to cremation.

But our ’Shield of Strength’ Arzuhan managed to block the first gout of flame with his Shield. The Red Dragon, however, relentlessly pursued him, forcing him to run in circles through countless tunnels."

The Gnome cleared his throat smugly. "...Arzuhan was cornered by the Red Dragon with nowhere to run. And what do you think he found? A cave piled high with... ’that stuff’."

"That’s right, that very stuff! At the brink of life and death, he put himself in the dragon’s shoes and made a decision that no hero would ever make, but one that was absolutely effective—he dove right in!

The Red Dragon chased him to the cave entrance and skidded to a halt. It sniffed. It hesitated. Its great, flame-spewing throat, in the end, refused to go near its own masterpiece. Finally, it angrily shot a burst of fire into the cave, trying to roast Arzuhan alive.

But you know what? After ’that stuff’ was dried by the fire, it became a perfect shield! Arzuhan survived the dragon’s breath, but his scales were forever stained brown, and he became ’Brown Dragon’ Arzuhan!"

The entire cabin was dead silent.

The Orcs’ mouths hung open, their faces showing not admiration, but pure confusion and disgust.

Kase was the first to break the silence. "...So, he survived by hiding in dragon shit?"

"The point is his wisdom and will to survive!" the Gnome retorted in a shrill voice.

"Forget it. How about a different story?" Colin said. "I’d still like to have an appetite for dinner tonight."

Ale silently shuffled a few steps away, unconcealed disgust written all over her face.

"Want... battle!" "Want... hero!"

Seeing that the story had ended without any heroic duels or battle scenes, the Orcs below immediately began to complain. They only quieted down when Kase went up to tell a story.

After much clamor, the day finally came to an end.

Over the next two days, the Orcs’ excitement completely faded. They all looked listless, and given their usual temperament, it seemed they were so bored they were about to start fighting each other.

Colin, who had been on boats a few times before, adapted quickly.

The days passed quickly as he read books and practiced his [Misty Step].

Along the way, Kase also tried out the Frost Giant’s Axe.

But even in his [Frenzy] state, it was a bit difficult for him to wield. The group decided to have the Axe sent to the Dwarves for some modifications, after which it would be a barely usable weapon.

Additionally, the fleet had spotted a Frost Giant raiding ship on the sea in the past two days.

At the time, the fleet was sailing not far from the coast. There were no large harbors nearby, so upon spotting the Frost Giants, they immediately headed for the deep sea, where there happened to be a few small islands.

The small ships weaved between the islands a couple of times, and the Giant raiding ship quietly left, fearing it would run aground.

The ship captains were all quite relieved by this.

Running into Pirates would have been one thing, but if they had run into that band of Frost Giants, they would’ve been casually kicked to splinters. The difference in strength between the fleet and the giants was probably even greater than the gap between the Gnome in the Black Giant Root Squad and a White Dragon.

This day at noon, Colin was on deck, leaning against the railing and resting his eyes.

The wind today was blowing against their direction of travel.

On deck, the captains and sailors of the fleet were constantly adjusting the sails and rudders, changing the ships’ course so their hulls formed an angle with the wind, allowing them to advance against it.

They called this the "Z-tack" sailing method.

Colin didn’t understand any of it, but the ship was indeed moving forward.

’I wonder if sailboats on Earth even have a technique like this for sailing against the wind,’ he thought.