Deep in the forest, ancient buildings can be seen everywhere, walls carved with human characters crumbling in one corner, weathered rock turning into yellow sand, cracked lines on the ground, and bronze lampposts on either side of the stairs.

However, the ruins that should have been empty were now filled with soldiers with solemn expressions, the snow on the ground was swept away, the dark green tents were neatly occupied in the central clearing, and the bonfires were reflected on the soldiers' faces, without whispering, as if they were one with discipline.

The line of sight continued to stretch forward, and up the stairs were two large stone-carved gates, one of which had been broken and the rubble rolled to the side, and in front of the door were a middle-aged man with a solemn expression, and two soldiers following him.

"The general is already in?"

"Yes, sir."

"Who else is with you?"

"Adjutant Lilith."

"Only Lilith?"

"Yes."

"As bold as ever, Tolia ......"

The middle-aged man muttered, standing at the entrance of the ruins, he looked at the destroyed gate in front of him, the traces of the depression, and then the cracks that spread like spider silk, it was not difficult to judge that this was a violent product that was forcibly blasted open by someone and had no beauty at all, so he turned to the soldier and asked, "Where is the snow wolf that used to wander here now?" ”

"Back to my lordship, the snow wolves are fleeing towards the forest to the east, and we are planning to send soldiers to exterminate them."

"East Side...... I think there was only one orc village there? ”

"Yes, sir."

"Well, let's get the soldiers back."

"Huh? But General Tolia commanded......"

"Do as I say, the priority now is the safety of the general, and it is necessary to take into account the situation that if the forces are dispersed and attacked by the enemy, if she blames it, say that it is my order."

"Yes!"

It's just a group of orcs, even if they are wiped out by the snow wolf pack, they can only be considered unlucky, the middle-aged man thought cruelly to his heart.

…… In the depths of the ruins, in the palace of light and shadow, "Bang Bang-"

The sound was incessant, the fire was extinguished, and every sound was accompanied by shaking, dust, crumbling pillars, and then a bang, and the huge wolf's head lay down.

The figure hidden in the darkness walked out, it was a pair of tight legs, wrapped in a close-fitting martial arts suit, slender and full of explosive power, continuing to go up, straight hips, full of twin peaks to support the graceful curve, no matter from which point of view, it is a devil body that will make a man's heart pound.

At the end of the sight, she was fixed on her alluring face, under her purple hair, delicate facial features, and crescent-like willow eyebrows, which was not inferior to the most beautiful singer in the empire.

Her name was none other than Toria Hillman, one of the four generals of the Empire.

"Good work, Toria."

"Well, it's just a trifle, it's just ...... It seems that someone has taken the lead. ”

"Getting ahead of the game? Impossible! There is no sign of the ruins being opened, and we are the only ones who know the whereabouts of that thing......"

"But in fact, it's empty, except for this one guarded brute."

"That's not right...... The whereabouts of the Black Key are clearly ......"

"Let's go, Lilith."

"But ......"

"It's okay, because I have a hunch that the Black Key will appear in front of us soon."

......************************************************************************* "Ah Yi, Ah Yi, okay?" ”

As soon as he heard the name that he had hated countless times, Shen Yi, who was cooking, had an urge to burst into flames, especially when the person concerned looked at him with round eyes with an innocent expression, pretending to be innocent.

"Vivien, I should have said many times not to call me Auntie......"

"Auntie, Auntie, okay?"

Then more children appeared behind the girl, shouting in unison.

The blue tendons on his forehead jumped a few times unconsciously, and he finally couldn't help but burst out with a huge roar: "I've had enough, you little ghosts!" ”

"Wow, Auntie is angry, run! Come on! ”

"Ah, don't leave me......"

Looking at her companion who ran away, Vivien let out a wail, but was grabbed by Shen Yi.

"Vivien~"

“…… I'm sorry, Ah Yi, I don't dare anymore...... Don't scratch, don't scratch...... It's so itchy, help...... I won't dare next time, woo woo ......"

A few more weeks have passed since the snow wolves were slaughtered by Shen Yi alone, and during this time, it has intermittently snowed a few more times, and the scale is not large, it seems that after surviving the first few icy and snowy nights, the beast god began to favor the village.

The food in the village has been greatly relieved by the snow wolves, and the children may not realize it, but for the adults who have lived here for several years, this winter may be the most surplus.

The festive atmosphere began to spread, which was rare before, even though the orcs were physically stronger than humans, and the melody of death did not stop in the face of cold and hunger, and the power of nature was so terrifying, but it was foreseeable that they would not have to face these threats this winter.

The meat on the snow wolf's body is not unpalatable, compared to this time in the past, they can only rely on the rough roots to fill their stomachs, which is a delicious delicacy, and the snow wolf's fur can also be peeled off and made into clothes, which is very warm.

So the children didn't have to hide in their houses all day, and the men didn't have to go out hunting in the snow and wind, but occasionally when talking about the reasons for the change, someone would laugh and talk about the gift of the beast god, and a small number of them would unconsciously look at the only human in the village with awe.

...... "Your Excellency Shen Yi." ”

"Just call me Shen Yi, old man."

Sitting on the steps, Nior looked at the middle of the village, Vivien, who was playing with the children, with a carefree smile, thinking back to the slaughter in the winter of the previous years, the peaceful and serene scene in front of him should be extremely precious, his face couldn't help but smile, Shen Yi sat next to him, and could feel that the old man had something to say to him.

"Then please allow me to rely on the old man and sell the old for a while, Shen Yi."

"You're welcome, old gentleman."

Immediately, as if considering the sentence, neither of the two spoke first, but the next moment, Shen Yi's heart couldn't help but skip a beat.

"Actually, Shen Yi is not from this world, right?"

“……”

As if seeing through what he was thinking, Nior moved his gaze to his face: "Don't be so surprised, after living for a long time, you can naturally understand a lot of things, that is the wisdom precipitated by time, it's just ...... You don't know what the humans of this world think of orcs, right? ”

"The lowly race, the vermin of the world, to put it too far, is a beast without wisdom, in the eyes of the human beings of this world, we are such beings, and the Bible in the church also records, 'the defective product created by God', but it is very strange that we are not much different from human beings except for some characteristics......"

As if caught in a memory, Nior's voice unconsciously became muffled.

“…… From here to the west, there is a human city, I went there once when I was young, I can't remember the name or anything now, but it was not an experience worth boasting about, it was obviously such a magnificent city, such beautiful buildings, and now in retrospect, there are only gray memories left, if I could, I want to forget those unbearable memories, that hellish city......"

“…… You can't imagine how orcs are treated there, men who are called as coolies, in black basements, with heavy chains, eating sour food, and then whipping and pushing huge mills, and never seeing the sun all day, in a gloomy environment you don't even know what day is and what night, you can only work day and night, women are sold to prostitution, put on shameful clothes, and dance cheaply on the coldest days, there will be such people among the human race, they will buy people back, Locked up in the basement and tortured her by all means imaginable, enjoying the wails they make, they would pierce her delicate ears with steel needles, they would nail her tail to the wall, and then, when she died, throw her away like garbage......"

“…… Vivian's mother starved to death in such circumstances, and she should be glad that she was not tortured, because she scratched her face, and it turned out to be such a beautiful woman, and in the end there were only hideous wounds, and finally I escaped, and took Vivien and some others, through the forest, and found here......"

“…… But I can't save this village alone, do you know why we can't farm here? It's not because of the land, it's because we didn't have the knowledge of farming from the beginning, and the humans guarded us like thieves, they didn't allow the orcs to learn the written word, and if they found that an orc had crossed this rule, they would kill all the orcs in that town, and they would also break up our tribe and force us to live together as villages, so we couldn't communicate and had to hunt to survive. ”

"But how can I understand you?"

"That's what I'm curious about, too, because you're the first human I've ever seen who can understand orc language!"

“……”

I don't know why, when he heard Nior speak orc language, Shen Yi immediately remembered the black key hanging on his chest, and he vaguely felt that he could understand orc language because of the key.

"I can see that you like Vivien very much, and you don't discriminate against orcs, and you are different from humans in this world, so I implore you to save this village!"

As he spoke, Nior knelt down in front of Shen Yi.

"Please don't do that, old sir."

"I'm just an old man who is about to return to the arms of the beast god, and the future is just a luxury for me, but ...... There are still children here, they still have a long way to go, and I don't want them to ruin the possibility of the future like this, so you may think I'm despicable, but even if it's for Vivien, please save this village. ”

For Vivien?

Looking at Nior's solemn pleading, Shen Yi turned his gaze to the girl in the middle of the village, his innocent smile was like a pure white flower blooming in the white snow, he had always been a selfish person, but if it was only for the girl......