The group passed through another twisting corridor and came to a side cave used for food storage. The little guys’ sleeping bags were also here, their tiny bedrolls looking strangely comical.

Colin and the others put down their backpacks and set up their own sleeping spots.

Just then, an Orc child walked over.

He went up to Kase and started saying something, but Colin could only vaguely make out the Orcish pronunciation of the word "Kase."

In the end, the little Orc took out a small stone imprinted with a white handprint and handed it to Kase. After Kase took the stone, the little one scurried away in a flash.

Kase stared at the stone in his hand, silent.

"What’s that?" Colin asked.

"An Ancestor Stone from the tribe. It’s just something the little guy made himself, though. It’s probably just for good luck." After speaking, Kase stuffed the stone into his pocket.

After the food was distributed, Orelia and the other members of Black Giant Root also entered the cave chamber.

Colin stood up and clapped his hands. "I have an idea for what to do next, but it’s a bit risky."

Once the others had gathered around him, he continued, "Tomorrow, when we lead the tribe out, our group will take the sled and travel at the very back. Then, when the Skeletons catch up, we’ll see if we can draw their attention.

As long as that mob of Skeletons chases us, we should be able to shake them off with the sled’s Speed. That way, the people of the tribe will be safe."

Having said that, Colin turned to look at Ale.

"This method should be feasible."

Ale said, "The cavalry of the Ancient Empire of Ora Kaim could hardly be called elite. Besides, taming Winter Wolves is much more difficult than taming horses, so in the Northern Legion, Winter Wolves were supplied in limited numbers only to officers.

As long as his soldiers are still around, the commander of this army probably wouldn’t be desperate enough to ride a Winter Wolf and come after us to fight to the death like last time."

Colin breathed a sigh of relief.

’Given her breadth of knowledge, her assessment is credible.’

A Gnome raised his hand and asked, "Can the sled even fit that many people?"

"Since you all aren’t suited for direct combat, our party will handle it," Colin said. "Just lead the Orc Tribe out of here. We’ll catch up with you later."

"Is that so? But if the Skeletons don’t chase us... aren’t we done for?" Kase’s tone was hesitant. "Or what if they just keep chasing us? That’s not a great situation either."

"This is our only option. The key issue is that our food reserves are running low. We don’t have much time. If we delay any longer, we might not be able to get out at all."

Colin rubbed his chin. "If the Skeletons keep chasing us, we can try heading toward that frozen lake we saw earlier."

"You want to provoke the White Dragon?" Ale raised an eyebrow. "If we do that, our situation could get ugly. That kind of Evil Dragon doesn’t understand the concept of ’mercy’."

"There really aren’t any other options," Colin said, a little helplessly.

"If that’s the case... I get it." Kase smiled.

After speaking, he clenched his fist, as if he had made some kind of decision.

"Speaking of which, I’m sensing that the Essence of Nature around here is a bit off," the Gnome Druid said. "And a few days ago, when the local circle was cooperating with us, I could feel their malice. If you’re planning to take the Orcs away, I don’t think they’ll be happy."

"We already experienced that firsthand on our way here," Colin said.

Ale added, "But there probably aren’t many Frostland Druids left around here, are there? We ran into one of the local Druids on our way over."

"That’s not what I’m worried about."

The Gnome continued, "I’m worried about the deity herself flying into a rage! If she decides to create an avalanche here, we’ll all be buried alive!"

"That’s not something we can solve with a plan," Colin said with a helpless shrug.

The cave chamber fell silent for a moment.

The group really didn’t have any better ideas, so in the end, they could only let things take their course.

Having finally reached a safe place where they didn’t need to stand guard, and with the task of dealing with Skeletons looming the next day, the two adventurer parties quickly got into their sleeping bags and went to sleep. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Colin also crawled into his sleeping bag and closed his eyes.

He diverted some of his attention to his Panel. The [Escort the Half-Elf] quest was not yet complete.

’It’s probably like the time I escorted Salin; it won’t be considered complete until Ale is safely back at Snow Deer Ridge. The quest rating is already at five points. I bet it’ll increase by a lot more after we get back.’

With these thoughts in his mind, Colin drowsily fell asleep.

「An unknown amount of time passed.」

In the pitch-black darkness, he heard a woman’s voice.

The voice sounded indistinct, as if coming from a very distant place. Colin could vaguely tell that the language the woman was chanting was neither the Common Language nor any other he understood; he couldn’t comprehend it at all.

’It’s probably just the Orcs talking.’

Thinking about the next day’s mission, Colin was determined to force himself to sleep, even if he had to tough it out.

However, as time went by, the voice grew clearer and clearer.

"Kurak, Zorak Humaq... Gorushmek, Krell."

’What is that...’

Colin felt a slight push on his arm.

He had no choice but to open his eyes, and he faintly saw a flicker of faint blue light from the corner of his eye.

’A Ghost? A Cold Light Walker?!’

Colin quickly sat up and looked around.

The cave chamber was pitch-black. Everyone was still asleep in their sleeping bags or wrapped in their Cloaks. There were no suddenly appearing monsters or anything of the sort. After all, this was the deepest part of the Orc cave. Anyone trying to get in... ’wait, why can’t I hear Kase’s snoring?’

Colin scrambled to his feet and left the chamber.

At that moment, he suddenly remembered Kase clenching his fist as he made his decision. He also recalled that throughout their journey, Kase had barely had any direct interaction with Ale, not even speaking to her.

He remembered reading something about Orcs in a book before.

Gush, the Orcs’ Main God and the Deity of Destruction, had once waged a divine war against the Elf Pantheon. During the war, one of Gush’s eyes was shot out by an Elf Deity.

Because of this, if an Orc could kill an Elf in Gush’s name and sacrifice one of their own eyeballs, Gush would grant that Orc the ability to cast Divine Arts, and they would become a so-called "Eye of Gruumsh."

’Kase isn’t thinking of taking a desperate risk because of all the recent pressure, is he?’

The thought made Colin’s heart skip a beat.

As if guided by some unseen force, he walked to the main hall.

All the Orcs in the main hall were asleep. However, a sliver of light was seeping from under the door curtain of the chamber belonging to the Old Orc—the so-called War Mistress.

Colin walked around a few Orcs huddled in a corner and arrived outside the War Mistress’s chamber. He listened carefully for any sounds from within through the curtain.

The next moment, the War Mistress’s voice came from within the room.

"Please, come in, human warrior."

Since she already knew he was there, Colin simply pulled aside the curtain and walked in.

The Orc War Mistress was standing in the middle of the room, looking at the murals on the wall.

She said, "Kase is not here. And he hasn’t developed any of the evil thoughts you’re imagining."

’She knows what I’m thinking?’ Colin thought.

Besides, even though she’d said that, he was still worried about Kase deep down.