Translated by BAD MACHINE.
Krassel, the Fortress City.
A settlement located smack-dab between Orcish and Human territory, Krassel was the at the forefront of the conflict between the two races.
Most of the architecture was basic and frugal, yet sturdy. The buildings were mainly constructed out of stone.
Plumes of black smoke rose into their air, coming out of the towns many smithies.
There weren’t as many soldiers stationed here ever since the war ended, but even so, burly, rugged warriors outnumbered merchants and civilians.
The town was built on top of a small hill – an easily defendable position, and protected by a pair of concentric walls.
Within the walls were countless cannons, catapults and other artillery, and the tall watchtowers offered a birds-eye view of the neighboring forest – previously under Orcish control.
Krassel was a true defensive bastion, worthy of its name.
Orcs and Humans had repeatedly clashed over control of the Fortress City during the war.
For thousands of years, they had fought over possession of Krassel, and it had changed hands countless times over the course of the conflict.
The Humans desperately wanted to retain and secure this settlement.
If this fortress were taken, nobody would be able to stem the Orcish tide.
The men would be killed and the women… the women would be taken back and enslaved as breeding stock.
The Humans were well aware of what would happen were they to lose ground.
This fear was deeply ingrained within those living in this region, and even now, three years after the end of the war, they are still wary of the Orcs.
However, the war had also taught many things to the races of Vastonia.
It was now a well known fact that Orcs weren’t mindless evil creatures. They didn’t rape because they wanted to hurt and shame their enemies. No, they were simply driven to rape by their survival instinct – because it was necessary for the continuity of their race, and for the whole of their long history they have known no alternative.
Orcs also had emotions, values, rules, and pride.
And if you took the time to understand and converse with them, negotiation was possible.
Thanks to this new knowledge, Humans were finally able to broker peace with the Orcs and convince them to sign the treaty.
To start, they appealed to Orcish pride, honoring them as true warriors. After that, they sent out a female knight who was strong enough to be recognized by the Orcs as a valiant fighter as the Human side’s representative in the negotiations.
With this, the Orcs were finally convinced that foreign women were also worth of respect and agreed to sign on to a peace treaty that prohibited non-consensual sexual intercourse with other races.
However, that clause on its own would have led to an eventual Orcish extinction and may have even backfired. Faced with inevitable destruction, they might have chosen to go out fighting than slowly die out. Alongside the “rape ban”, many of the treaty’s signatories came up with a new policy: they would round up female criminals that had committed grave or unforgivable offenses and send them off to Orc Country to be used as breeding slaves.
With that, the Orcs were deprived of any reason to fight till their deaths.
Thanks to this, Orc-Human relations were now relatively stable, and trade has between the two races had begun, albeit in small volumes.
There were still, however, many Humans who believe to this day that Orcs are irrational, brutish monsters.
There would always be ignorant people, regardless of the race they belonged to.
Not to mention that, in the grand scheme of things, the war had only ended recently.
It was a given that the scars left by the wanton bloodshed wouldn’t heal in just three years.
The fighting took an untold number of lives, and it was inevitable that those who had experienced the war itself or who had lost loved ones to the cruelty of the conflict would hold personal grudges against the Orcs.
Furthermore, exiled Orcs who had been expelled from their communities sometimes drifted into Human controlled land to loot and rob.
In many ways, they weren’t wrong to be cautious.
“Hmm… I didn’t think it would take that long to get finally get into town.”
“Really? Aren’t all of Human’s towns like that?”
It had been three hours since Bash had arrived in Krassel.
A whole third of that time was spent arguing with the two guards at the entrance.
The mere mention of the word “Orc” put them on edge and Bash quickly found himself at the wrong end of a pair of spears. Frightened and confused, they were nearly impossible to reason with.
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If Zell had not intervened and explained in detail that Bash just a traveler and not a dangerous stray Orc, they would have been turned away at the gate.
Up until the very end, the gatekeepers seemed reluctant to give Bash and Zell permission to enter, even though they eventually relented.
After all, in Human Lands, there were laws in place dictating that travelers should be treated with courtesy, and no laws that forbid the admittance of Orcs.
“Whoa… so many women…”
“Of course! It’s a human town.”
Bash gazed out the inn’s window, down at the passersby going about their business and was amazed at the number of women present.
Even back during the war, the only time he had seen such this many females was when he was collaborating with the Succubus forces.
Well, calling Succubae “women” wasn’t quite right, but…
As Bash was taking in the sights, a lady walking by noticed him peeking out of the window and quickly scurried off, horrified by his Orcishness.
“With this many women around, I’ll have my pick of the litter! I’ll get as many as I want!”
“Oh, no, no! Look! Look over there! That lady! Look at her hand!”
Zell pointed at another girl passing by, carrying her groceries in a large paper bag.
Following the Faerie’s finger, Bash’s eyes landed on her hand.
There was something shiny on it.
“She’s wearing a ring. What about it?”
“That’s how humans tell each other that they’re already married. Humans marriages are exclusively one-male-one-female pairs, so you can’t go after women like that.”
“Looks like most women around here are wearing one.”
“Humans aren’t considered full-fledged members of society until they’re married. Apparently, nearly all of them get hitched when they reach a certain age.”
“Hitched?”
“Oh, uh… that’s just another word Humans use for marriage.”
Unlike Orcs, in Human society, nearly everyone got married and took a single spouse for the rest of their lives.
This made Bash quite uncomfortable and confused, given his Orcish sensibilities.
However, he was quickly persuaded that likely, given that the ratio of Human male to females was more or less equal.
In any case, this was a good thing – it was convenient that Human women didn’t have an innate aversion to marriage.
“So! First of all, we’ve got to find a lady who isn’t wearing a ring!”
“Oh… The woman I approached on the way were was wearing a ring, wasn’t she? So that’s why…”
“Ah…”
Right before reaching the inn, Bash had seen a woman and tried to talk to her. Within seconds, she was running away, screaming for help.
He hadn’t even gone so far as to call out to her. He hadn’t even had the time to say hello.
She had fled as soon as Bash had come within three steps of her.
“Looks like there’s still a lot of prejudice against Orcs, huh.”
“Is that so…?”
“You know what they say about you guys right? That Orcs will assault then murder any men they come across, and will not only assault, but also kidnap, rape and forcefully impregnate any women they see.”
“They’re not wrong. That’s exactly what we did during the war.”
But all of this was now forbidden thanks to the laws enacted by the Orc King.
Only stray Orcs would indiscriminately attack someone.
Ordinary Orcs are proud, honorable warriors who all swear allegiance to the Orc King.
Luckily for Bash, not everyone was so short-sighted regarding Orcs.
For instance, the guards that had rushed to the scene after hearing someone yell out for help.
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Most of them weren’t as judgmental as Bash had expected. Once he had given his side of the story, their expressions softened, and they lowered their weapons. They even went as far as recommending an inn to him in an unexpected act of kindness, telling him, “If you’re travelling, you should rent a room at an inn”.
Thanks their goodwill, he had found a place where he could relax.
“The Humans all remember what the Orcs did during the war. Pretty sure they’ll be kinda spooked for still a few more years, though I didn’t expect someone would outright run away from you like that…”
“They’re wary of us? Hmmm… I guess so. Just before I got you out of that jar, I met a couple of women and tried to approach them, but they ran away.”
“Huh, weird… Well, how’d you hit them up? What did you ask them?”
“I asked them if they would bear my children.”
As soon as Bash said that last sentence, Zell smacked her tiny forehead in exasperation, saying, “Oh no…” under her breath.
“Bash! That’s not the way to do it!”
“It isn’t?”
“Bash, for Humans, pregnancy and childbirth is a very, very, VERY important ritual with a LOT of religious significance!”
“Oh, wow.”
Hearing “ritual” reminded Bash of the Orcish ceremonial prayer to the God of War.
It was a tradition that was carried annually only once, but it was unbelievably important to Orcs. They were convinced that the success of the ceremony would determine the outcomes of all the following year’s battles.
No Orc would downplay the practice.
“You know, for Humans, marriage and childbirth is something super, super exclusive. Something you only do with someone you’re REALLY in love with. They would never want to have a child with someone they don’t know well, or in your case, at all!”
“Oh, I didn’t know that…”
Bash was slightly taken aback by the culture shock.
It made sense that most human females would be reluctant to mate with an Orc, let alone marry one.
It wasn’t just because the two races were enemies.
Orcs weren’t only murdering Humans and trampling on their, they were also desecrating their religious beliefs.
“So! If you want to take a Human as your wife, you have to make her fall in love with you first!”
This way of thinking was slightly off – a uninformed judgment in of itself.
Not all Humans were in loving, fulfilling marriages.
But according to Zell’s limited knowledge, this was a fact.
” “Hmm… I don’t know how to make a Human fall in love with me though…”
Orcs had no concept of love.
To them, women are supposed to be beaten into submission and violated. That’s just the way things were.
Now that rape was forbidden and told that he had to make a woman fall in love with him before even considering marriage, Bash was stumped
“Don’t worry, just leave it to me! I know a lot about Humans, even though I don’t look like I do!”
Declared Zell, thumping her chest.
Faeries, who specialized in espionage and reconnaissance, certainly did know a lot about other races.
And their knowledge wasn’t limited to Humans – they were well versed about Elves and Beastkin too.
Although, this information was mostly combat related matters, like their tactics, habits, dropping patterns, footprints, the particularities of their physique, whether they could see in the dark, etc.…
Any advice they had concerning love was based on rumors, hearsay, and tavern gossip.
“I’m glad I can count on you. I guess it isn’t for nothing that fate let us meet right as I started my journey. So, what exactly should I do?”
“Yup, yup, alright! Let’s do this!”
Letting out a smug chuckle, Zell landed on the table.
Holding up a finger, she began her lecture.
“First of all, Human women like their men beautiful and clean! Being dirty and smelly is absolutely out! A real no-no!”
Lesson 1: Be clean.
“I see. So I should bathe before going out looking for women.”
“Yup! And after you’ve cleaned yourself up, you should do that thing you do before fighting the Beastkin! You know, the perfume!”
“That…uh… Really? Isn’t it kind of smelly?”
“What are you going on about? It smells wonderful!”
Bash looked down at his own body, thinking back on the last time he used the “war scent”.
During the war, the Orcs fought all kinds of races, including the Beastkin, who had a particularly good sense of smell.
The Orc’s strong body odor could be picked up from far away, and they were frequently ambushed before they finally found out the reason they were so easily detected.
Therefore, the Orcs implemented measures to mask their strong odor – such as applying perfume right before any engagement that might involve the Beastkin.
The smell of the grass and flowers would mislead the Beastkin’s senses.
The perfume, by the way, was manufactured by Faeries and was now a popular export to Humans and Elves.
“Here, I’ll lend you mine!
“Mhm…”
Lesson 2: Smell nice.
The overwhelming smell of perfume was generally unpopular among the Orcs.
Which is why some of them obstinately refused to wear the scent, even while fighting Beastkin.
None of those stubborn Orcs were alive to complain anymore.
As for Bash, he was different and open-minded.
He was a fighter who had survived multiple engagements against the Beastkin.
He knew firsthand the horror of the Beastkin coming at him from the depths of the night.
Back then, he could hardly sleep when he knew that they were nearby, that he could potentially get his throat slit without even being able to lift a finger.
However, just by applying some perfume, he could peacefully get some shut-eye.
Sure, it wasn’t pleasant, but putting up with a strong smell was better then dying in your sleep.
“Alright! Let’s do this. I’ll take a bath right away! I’ll leave it up to you to scrub my back!”
Zell, delighted by Bash’s go-getter attitude, pirouetted through the air, soared to the room’s door and proceeded to pound on it as hard as her tiny fists could afford.
“Innkeeper! INNKEEPER! My boss is going to take a bath! I want a tub! And fill it with hot water!”
A few moments after Zell called out, the door opened a bit as the owner peeked in, his forehead wet with terror-sweat.
“Orcs bathe? In a tub? With water…?”
“What? What’s wrong with an Orc bathing, huh? You Humans are always so quick to judge! You all think that Orcs are dirty and smelly, but a proper Orc can appeal even to Human sensibilities! When in… uh, a Human town, do as the Humans do… or something like that. You know the saying right? You know what I mean?”
“All right, all right, I get it, stop yelling. I’ll get you one. That’ll be one copper.”
“Sure thing!”
The shopkeeper looked shocked, but his surprise didn’t last long. As soon as he had the money in hand, he quickly headed out went to ready the bath.
“Now, while we wait for the water, I’ll give you a few more pointers!”
“Please do.”
And so, as Bash bathed, he learned more of the “Faerie’s Guidelines for Attracting Humans 101 – Seducing for Dummies”.
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