Chapter 439 Orc Caravan
The thirty people returning south by land were crossing a grassland when suddenly it snowed heavily. Fortunately, one of the team members found a deep hole half buried in the ground on a certain slope.
After entering, I discovered that there was something special inside. The cave was very large, with stone pillars and the like supporting the top, and there were obviously traces of artificial carving. Then they discovered something that looked like a mural.
"This is an underground palace, or a tomb, but it has obviously been visited by tomb robbers and was touched completely."
A knowledgeable team member pointed out that this a little.
There are quite a few animal bones and traces of fire near the entrance. Stanford speculates that someone has used this place as a temporary resting camp many times.
In order to avoid the wind and snow, they got into the cave, covered the exit with animal skins, and lit a fire. The cave quickly became warm and was much more comfortable than setting up a tent outside.
The long journey made the team members exhausted. They were sitting or lying down, many were taking naps, and some were eating.
Stanford stood by the fire in confusion for a while. A sudden urge to urinate woke him up, so he went out to relieve himself.
Time goes back to the present.
Stanford put on his belt and recalled the experience of this period in the heavy snow. He planned to get some fresh air before returning to the cave.
His eyes passed through the flying snowflakes and looked into the blurry distance.
"Huh?" Something seemed to be moving in the sky.
Stanford immediately became alert. He rubbed his eyes and looked into the distance again.
Indeed, although it was looming because of the snowflakes, he did see something.
Stanford immediately turned back to the cave.
"Wake up! Be alert."
He shouted as soon as he lifted the animal skin covering the entrance of the cave.
"What happened, boss?"
Alcott, who serves as the deputy captain of this team, asked in surprise. He came from the Navy and had previously served as a gunnery officer on the flagship. He joined the exploration team to regulate the use of firearms on behalf of the army.
"Someone is approaching here. They may be local indigenous people. Anyway, be careful."
Hearing what the commander said, the people in the cave became nervous and took out the weapons assigned to them.
Their team carried 20 iron swords, 10 iron axes, 10 crossbows, and 6 matchlock guns equipped with sleeve bayonets.
“We can’t stay in the cave.”
Matthew held a matchlock gun, his palms sweating. He's actually a pretty young guy.
Stanford patted him on the shoulder, "Listen, don't make any noise for now. I'll go out and check the situation. Those people are still some distance away from here. If the other party is just passing by, that would be great. If the other party's goal is here, , let’s go out and deploy defenses.”
After that, Stanford got out of the hole again, and the remaining people were waiting for his news quietly, ready to rush out at any time.
“They are coming towards this cave!”
Stanford’s heart became more solemn, and there were many people on the other side, about 100 people, riding a lot... It seemed They look like animals, are they the cavalry of orcs?
The other party may have been attracted by the reindeer tied near the cave entrance.
He no longer hesitated and immediately called the people out of the cave. Taking advantage of the terrain of the slope, everyone set up a defensive formation above, with their crossbows and muskets pointed at the approaching team.
The opponent soon noticed the strange movement on the slope, and the team slowed down, but a guy on horseback quickly approached to check the situation.
The knight stopped a few hundred meters away, observed it for a long time, and then ran back to the team.
Soon another person - not necessarily a human - came running over on a horse.
"Don't shoot! The other party may not be malicious." Stanford warned his men.
Your own numbers are at an absolute disadvantage, and once you anger the other party, the consequences will be disastrous.
To his great relief, the man reined in his mount in the distance, turned over, and then slowly walked over with arms wide open on the left and right.
This should mean friendly.
“I’ll go over there for a moment.”
Stanford dug up a handful of snow from the ground and wiped it on his face. The cold stimulation made his mind extremely clear. He was originally kneeling on the ground and stood up, ready to walk over and communicate with the visitor.
"Boss, how about I go."
Alcott looked at him worriedly.
"No, I'll do it, this is an order."
Stanford adjusted the boat-shaped hat on his head.
When he was repairing in an indigenous tribe before, he learned a few words in the indigenous language, such as "hello" and "friend". He didn't know if he could use it here. After all, the two places were so far apart.
My subordinates who are focused on returning to the Northwest Bay are not so diligent, in case a conflict accidentally arises.
So Stanford put down the one-handed sword that he was holding tightly in his hand, followed the opponent's example, opened his arms, and walked slowly over.
Gradually, he saw the other party's appearance clearly, and it turned out to be an orc.
Of course, although he said that he could see their appearance clearly, in fact, in the eyes of Stanford now, the orcs all looked the same.
The orcs are all tall, muscular, and covered with varying shades of down (some are as thin as some hairy humans). Their upper auricles are more pointed than humans, and their canine teeth on their lower jaws are thick and long. , it is very conspicuous when speaking, and the canine teeth of some male orcs even stick out when the mouth is closed.
The male orc in front of me has such a standard image of an orc.
Just when Stanford was wondering whether he should say "hello" or something in the indigenous language, the alien opposite spoke first and shocked him.
“Humans from the South?”
Stanford was stunned. The guy opposite could actually speak Aldo.
He didn't react until the other party waved his hand.
He thought about what the orc just said, and it seemed that he had an accent from the northeastern region of Aldo.
"Uh...hello. I didn't expect you to speak Aldo."
He said with some caution.
“Hahaha!” The orc grinned widely.
"A businessman who travels around the world cannot speak a few languages!"
Stanford was stunned again, "Businessman?"
"What?" the orc said teasingly He said: "Do you have the impression of an 'advanced race' like you that we 'barbarians' only ride on horses, wave whips and yell at the sheep, or go around with machetes to kill people for fun?"< br>
Stanford had a smile on his face and tried his best to be sincere, "I'm sorry if my attitude misunderstood you..."
"Forget it, human!" the other party waved. Waving his hands, "As a businessman who travels around, I have no trouble with this misunderstanding in my heart. Oh, maybe it would have happened a few years ago."
He continued: "So, let's talk about the current problem. As I just said, we are a caravan, and we have no ill intentions towards you. We just want to enter that cave to hide from the wind and snow. It seems that you We've found it. Hey, how many of you are there? I hope it's big enough to accommodate two groups of us."
Stanford looked at the team behind him. It looked like a caravan. There are more than a dozen carts loaded with things, as well as dozens of tall horse-like animals. These guys are taller than ordinary horses, with yellow hair all over their bodies and high backs. They may be the animals raised by the legendary orcs. The so-called "pack beast".
Well, it’s not like I haven’t encountered orcs who can communicate with me when I was in the north, although I haven’t met anyone who can speak Aldo...
“That...this Sir..."
"Finn, please call me Finn"
"Okay, Mr. Finn, you can call me Stanford. I think that cave should be able to accommodate two groups of us."
"Ha, that's great!" The name is Finn. The orc beamed.
"Please allow me to go back and let the brothers make some preparations."
"Haha, please do it. In this prairie, staying vigilant is a virtue."
The orc smiled and turned back to his caravan.
(End of this chapter)