Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World-Chapter 440: Orc Caravan 2

TL: Etude Translations

After Stanford conversed with an orc named Finn, the previously tense atmosphere began to relax.

The members of the exploration team no longer aimed their weapons at the others, and the orcs caravan brought their livestock near the cave.

The drivers hammered wooden stakes into the ground, tethering the animals they were responsible for. A mere pat on the camels and horses was enough for them to obediently lie down on the grass. Then, their owners covered them with blankets.

Both the human and orcs teams entered the cave under mutual caution.

The explorers returned to their original spots, which were generally near the cave entrance and had been warmed by the fire lit earlier.

The orcs who arrived later occupied a section deeper inside the cave, where they too started a fire.

“How did you get here? It’s rare to see humans from the south,” inquired the orcs.

Finn approached and tossed a skin bag to Stanford.

Stanford uncorked it, and the aroma of alcohol wafted out.

The two struck up a conversation.

“We came by sea, hoping to buy fur to sell back in the south,” Stanford explained briefly, not revealing their true mission.

“Oh, fur, that’s a good commodity. I know your human ladies fancy it. It’s one of the few things from our region that makes you humans spend money,” Finn said with the rough voice typical of orcs, his eyes gleaming. “But, this is my first time seeing someone who came by sea.”

Stanford elaborated, “Our area is… uh… quite remote. Sea trade has only flourished in recent years. Most travel south to wealthier regions. I prefer to do things differently, thinking of exploring the north for adventures. I learned that many obtain fur from the north side of the Rocky Mountains—that’s the big mountain in the south, I’m not sure what you call it. They travel east along the mountain range before heading north. So, with a suitable ship, I decided to try the sea route to your orc lands. Oh, I’m from the northwestern coastal region of Ordo.”

Finn nodded, “I could tell from your accent. I’ve met other northwesterners. My caravan also travels east along the mountain before heading south for trade with humans. By the way, mate, you said you came by sea. Where’s your ship? Why are we meeting you here? This place is quite far from the sea.”

Stanford shrugged helplessly, “We hit a reef and sank. We had no choice but to travel by land.”

Finn patted his shoulder, offering sympathy for their misfortune, and mused that this human probably wouldn’t make any money, and might even incur a significant loss.

“So, are you heading back to the south?”

“Yes, I plan to lead my team directly over the Rocky Mountains. Our homeland is in the northwest of Ordo. Circumventing the mountain range is just too far.” ℞₳𐌽ŏ𐌱ĚＳ

“Crossing that mountain? Oh my goodness!”

The orc’s face was a picture of disbelief upon hearing Stanford’s words.

“Do you know why our caravans traveling between these regions choose to circumvent the Rocky Mountains, instead of crossing over them?”

“Why? I imagine it’s because the mountain paths are rugged and perilous, making them difficult to traverse, right?”

In fact, Stanford himself harbored some doubts. Despite the complex terrain, hadn’t a passable route been developed over the long course of history? It seemed only the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains occasionally saw small groups of orcs crossing into Ordo. Historically, orcs invasions of Ordo on a large scale always involved forcefully breaking through the Nerodan Corridor in the kingdom’s northeast. There were no records of orcs crossing the mountains from the northwestern bay.

The orc explained, “That’s one reason, but the main reason is that the area belongs to dwarves. These stubborn folks loathe any intelligent beings outside their own kind.”

“Dwarves?” Stanford asked, scratching his head, picturing the legendary stout, muscular beings with large beards, a species only known in legends in the Northwestern Bay.

“Yes, dwarves,” the orc nodded. “Human, I must warn you, they are not to be trifled with.”

Stanford found this somewhat amusing internally, wondering if anyone could be more troublesome than the orcs themselves. He kept a neutral expression, asking, “How so?”

“The Rocky Mountains are tightly controlled by the dwarves. Any other race that enters gets lost inside, with only a few lucky ones managing to stumble out,” the orc said seriously.

“How do they manage that?”

“I don’t know the specifics, but it’s rumored that the dwarves use some kind of magic.”

“Magic?” Stanford was astonished.

The orc continued, “But I believe the dwarves deliberately made the mountain terrain extremely complex. They are renowned for their mining and tunneling skills in the legends.”

“It’s a massive range; altering it wouldn’t be a simple task.”

“Pal, you should know, these guys have been entrenched in the Rocky Mountains for thousands of years. There aren’t many walkable paths in the mountains, and they only need to modify key areas.”

“That makes sense. But how do you know so much? To us, dwarves are almost mythical creatures. I only heard about them from an old man in my village who said he saw one when he was young. Since then, there haven’t been any confirmed sightings.”

The orc shook his head, “Seems like they don’t fancy interacting with you humans much. But on this side of the mountains, dwarves occasionally come to the edge to trade with us, exchanging things like fur. Oh, their craftsmanship is indeed superior to what humans make, though they come out to trade too infrequently.”

This posed a problem for Stanford, who fell silent. If what the orc said was true, what would happen to his team? If it was just the complexity of the roads and the risk of getting lost, perhaps the orc was exaggerating to scare them. His team had skilled pathfinders. But if the dwarves were hostile towards other races, they might intercept them, enslave them, or worse.

Seeing Stanford deep in thought, Finn, the orc, chatted a bit more before returning to his group.

“Finn!” An older, grey-haired orc called out his name. “You’ve spoken too much for a group of strangers.”

Finn grinned, revealing prominent fangs, “Did you know? These humans came by sea, a band of warriors!”

“By sea?” The elder and a few nearby orcs looked surprised. freёwebnoѵel.com

“That must have been an incredibly perilous journey,” the elder orc muttered.

“Yes,” Finn agreed solemnly. “For us, the sea and the mountain range to the south are both forbidden zones.”

“The mountain range won’t be a forbidden zone for long,” the elder said, staring into the fire with a distant gleam in his eyes.

Outside, the heavy snow continued to fall, and as night approached, the two groups of travelers, each with their own thoughts, assigned guards for the night and most drifted into sleep.