Chapter Two: The Difference Between a Kettle And a Brain (Pt.9)

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Anyway, I finally threw the last one over. The last one didn't feel uncomfortable at all, and it almost seemed to enjoy the flight. Although it asked me to let it face the front, so it can see the view clearly, that could be too dangerous, so I still pointed its feet in front, and then threw it over. So even if the guys couldn't catch it, it would only get its ass hurt.

While I was throwing these monsters over, the people around me were watching the scene nervously. They murmured: "Uh... There you go!" "Uh... Nice!" kind of things. Iruril held her own hands and watched, when an Urc arrived the other side safely, she would then relax a bit. The Urcs were also the same, after I threw theses guys over, until they caught their companions, they were all clamorous  They are now even laughing happily. The one who looks like it's their chieftain(because it was the last one thrown over, so I guess so) went to the cliff and said:

"No matter what happened, I have to say thank you! Oink!"

"I'm very glad to be able to help."

"I will not chase after monsters like you anymore! Oink! We are Urc Fighters! We will not expect to, oink, keep receiving forgiveness from enemies!"

"Okay? Thank you. But how about the Orcs' request?"

"Those weak guys! Oink! Not request, they begged us! Oink! We will just refuse them!"

I shrugged. If it is a conservation between humans, people may feel very unhappy about the words. But if it's between Orcs, how do I know how they would think? I waved my hands and then turned around.

Iruril said to me:

"Seems that you simply ignore the meaning of this bridge. I hoped them to cooperate with other races to cross the bridge, so that they would be able to learn the meaning of cooperation and reconciliation. Although we came over after a battle, I believed if they could learn these things after that, that could still become a good thing."

"Is that so?"

Iruril doesn't look like that she's blaming me. She is just simply saying those words.

"But Huchi, in fact you are the one who exemplified the meaning of this bridge the most. The Urcs who were trying to kill us are now actually saying thank you to you. Now even if the creator of this bridge found that the bridge becomes useless, he would not be angry too."

"If that is the case, it would be great."

"You seem to become a friend of those Urcs."

This elf seems to be so stubborn on certain parts that people can't stand. Maybe I do look like someone who can become friends of all races, but I don't understand those things. I am just a future candle maker of Heltant Fief, the Knight Nedval of the Noble Lady Jamini.... What! How come I am admitting this thing? I'm dead! Axelhand came up to me with a very worried face.

"Didn't you worry that you could miss once?"

I smiled and nodded.

"Yes. And because I missed all, so they could all arrive safely!"

"Ha ha ha! Thanks to you, today I saw a rare scene. Thank you! Hope your journey will be blessed by Karis •Numen."

Karis •Numen... I managed to recall that Karl mentioned it's the deity of the dwarves. But what should I answer? I glanced Karl, and Karl finally helped me to make an appropriate answer.

"May You Grasp the Essence of the Sparks between the Anvil and the Hammer."

Axelhand looked at Karl with a surprised face, smiled and then picked up his luggage. He put on a great backpack, covered his blade with a holster, and then inserted it into the belt. I guess he can't walk easily in this way, but he seems to feel well. Then Iruril started looking at us. Time for her farewell? But then I found that Sanson is showing a "I have great courage now!" face.

Sanson, although with a bit hesitant, said in an upright manner (I don't know how he did it, it's too amazing):

"Where is Miss Iruril going next?"

"Is that necessary?"

Well, what a strange answer. Although it sounds like "Is it necessary to let you know where I am going", this could mean she was upset, but in fact she is just asking purely out of curiosity.

"Can we travel together?"

"Didn't I mention in the morning... I don't have a horse."

Sanson seemed to be waiting for these words for a long time, he answered:

"I can ride the same Huchi with horse!"

I instantly looked at Sanson with a confused face. What did he say? What did he want to do on me? Karl is also looking at Sanson with a smile. And Axelhand is beginning to laugh loudly. Sanson was confused for a while, and then changed his words:

"No, I mean, I can ride the same horse with Huchi..."

"Muhaha ha ha!"

I am almost rolling on the ground.

Iruril shook her head.

"No thanks. You are going to visit your king. You should be in a hurry, but I'm not. I don't want to cause you troubles."

Poor Sanson made a mistake again. So from Iruril said goodbye to Karl, until she silently disappeared in the woods, Sanson didn't say a word, he was just blushing while standing still. I find myself and Axelhand are patting each other's shoulders and laughing. Axelhand is almost losing his breath.

"He said, said, said what riding you with a horse...... Ha ha ha ha!"

"Do I have run with a horse on my shoulders? Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Axelhand separated with us, walked a few steps and stopped to laugh, walked a few steps and stopped to laugh again. Because we are riding, so we got ahead after seconds. The hearty laughter of Axelhand came behind from time to time.

Whenever the laughter came, Sanson would make a face that he wants to die.

I started talking with Karl. Sanson is still not recovered to the state that can listen to me.

"Karl! What do you feel about the Bridge of Dozen?"

"While it was built with good intention, I don't really like to force races to have reconciliation through such an inconvenient way."

"But in order to to make all races which are difficult to have peace to cooperate, you must create this kind of situation right? A person with this ability should be able to build a normal bridge easily. But he chose to build the bridge this way..."

"Right, Nedval. This way is a way that if you don't cooperate, you can't pass. That's the good intention. However on this bridge, the so-called cooperation has turned into a mean only. In my opinion, a real cooperation doesn't need any reason, it comes out naturally."

I repeated the words three times before I understood it.

"That is too idealistic."

"Is that?"

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Chapter Two: The Difference Between a Kettle And a Brain (Pt.5)

Huh?

We stopped moving forward hurriedly. Sanson moved his hand towards his waist, and I moved mine towards my shoulder, we are ready to pull out our weapons. In front of us there are nine Orcs, one Dwarf and one Elf.

Why are these Orcs wandering round during the day? Anyway, the Orcs are staring at the Dwarf. And the Dwarf is holding a huge tomahawk, stroking the blade and staring back at the Orcs. It reminds me of the tomahawk of Minotaur. The length is not that long, but size of the blade is similarly big.

However, even with such a big ax, the Dwarf can stand in front of nine enemies proudly, he is really amazing. Moreover, these Orcs compared with those we fought against, their bodies are larger, and they look more violent. The Orcs are staring at the Dwarf with angry expressions because of his provocation, but the Elf is actually not looking at any of those two parties, but standing in a distance from those guys and looking at the sky. We actually know this Elf.

"Iruril?"

Because the noise of the stream covered the hoofs beat, they didn't notice us until we got close. Sanson and I immediately jumped off from the horses. Sanson said to Iruril:

"Are you okay?"

Iruril tidied up her hair which got blown by the wind in the valley, and then said:

"We separated just now, and we immediately meet again."

"Don't worry, I will protect you."

"Huh?"

Iruril tilted her head. Sanson tensed up. Then I found that the situation is a bit strange. The Orcs have a overwhelmingly advantage number, but they didn't attack. And the Dwarf is not afraid at all, majestically staring at the Orcs, so it even seems like that the nine Orcs are afraid of the Dwarf. Iruril looked at me and said:

"Huchi, which side will you help?"

Uh... This is really a difficult question.

"I have to find out who needs help first."

Then the Dwarf put down the tomahawk and said:

"Fine now. Plus three, there are fourteen now."

But the Orcs' expression became very strange. One of the Orcs shouted:

"Oink! Then who will be left here?"

The Dwarf giggled with his gruff voice:

"I will kill two of you, how about that?"

"Oink! You and the Elf should be killed!"

Then Iruril stood out.

"No one should undermine the convention."

After she said, both the Orcs and the Dwarf looked at Iruril with unhappy faces. Sanson and I don't know what to do, we got confused. They actually didn't fight. But I don't understand what they are saying.

Karl asked calmly:

"Miss Sereniel, please explain the situation to us."

"Is it the first time you come here? "

"Yes."

"On the Bridge of Dozen, no matter what races you are, you can't fight."

"Can't fight?"

Sanson widened his eyes. Iruril nodded and said:

"It is the wish of the person who made this bridge, so he made the bridge that it will only move when there are twelve."

"Huh?"

Iruril pointed at the valley. We are startled.

The two cliffs are separated by about sixty cubits. However, in that the middle of the air there is a boat floating. No, I shouldn't say that it's a boat, it's just a large square which looks like a raft, there are railings on it, the structure is very simple. The most surprising thing is, it is not supported by any rope or other things, it's just simply floating in the air.

I ran to the cliff with Sanson and looked around, there can't be any hidden device. The thing is really floating in the air. There is just a circle painted on the bottom of the raft, as well as many complex patterns. That should be Magic Patterns... It's Magic!

Iruril continued to explain.

"Regardless of what races, there must be 12 individuals gathered in order to cross the bridge. As long as you can't fly, you have to comply with this rule no matter who you are. So everyone here would not fight."

Karl tilted his head and said:

"Uh... Does it work with twelve of the same race?"

"This doesn't matter though. So human businessmen or Orcs usually come with a team of twelve. But for other races it's not easy to have twelve of them traveling together. So no matter which races of them, they will be waiting here, and then cross the bridge together, and only because of that there won't be any fight here. "

Wow. Absolutely no fight? Well, it really is an amazing place. Karl nodded and said:

"That... The intention was good, but it's a bit inconvenient. If there is no twelve, the bridge is absolutely useless."

"Yes. But here is a busy place, so if you wait for a little while, gathering twelve is actually very easy. Also because of that we met again."

Aha, I know what's the problem.

Originally the Orcs, the Dwarf and Elf had a total of eleven. Therefore, in order to cross the river, although they didn't feel comfortable with each other, they didn't fight, and were waiting for the next person. But now we have three people. So the major problem is that two people must be left behind, and wait again for the next ten people.

During Iruril's explanation, the Dwarf continued roaring, shouting at each other with the Orcs.

"You disgusting jerks! Your should thank that you are on the Bridge of Dozen! Elsewhere, you would have destroyed by me!"

"Oink! How could there be such an ugly, long bearded short dwarf!"

In fact Orcs and Dwarves are impossible to take each other's size to make fun of. But these Orcs are so big that they are unlike Orcs, so they can point at the nose of the Dwarf and call him shorty. On the other hand, the Dwarf can't attack the Orcs in front of him, so he seems like going crazy. He hasn't got any foaming at his mouth, which is very amazing.

"But how can these Orcs walking around during the day?"

Probably heard me talking to myself, Iruril said:

"They are Urcs."

"Urcs?"

"They are known as a kind of Orcs. And it's the name of this branch... They are quite large aren't they? Although they also hate the sun like the other Orcs, they are still able to endure it. So the situation now is very strange. Usually Orcs won't come out during the day, so there wouldn't be any problem and you would be able to cross the river. But now Urcs and Dwarves, the two rivals, meet here."

Karl nodded and then walked away far enough from the Urcs, hesitated to say:

"Excuse me, please listen to me for a few words. Because we are latest, so we'll leave two people here and wait. Is that Okay?"

But the dwarves seems totally not willing to do according to Karl's words. He is swinging his tomahawk rudely, forcing Karl to step back.

"What do you mean? Come on! You leave two people here! Those left here can stay alive. But after crossing bridge, I don't know what will happen to me!"

After listening to the words of the Dwarf, I discovered another problem.

It's the proportion of all races after crossing the bridge. Iruril said very clearly that, no one should fight here. However when the destination is reached, will we still follow the rule? So the Dwarf is calculating a good proportion of races. If we leave two Urcs here, three human, an elf and a dwarf together we have a total of five people, and seven Urcs can cross the bridge. If there will really be a fight, we still have a chance. But if only one of us cross the bridge, the number will be three to nine, we can be in great danger. Although I unconsciously put Dwarves, Elves and Human in the same team, the idea seems to be correct.

Sanson's idea is probably the same as mine. He frowned, pulled Karl over. Although he is whispering with Karl, he's so loud that even I can hear.

"We don't know what the situation will become after crossing the bridge. Three of us have to go together."

"But... Didn't you hear that, no one can fight here?"

"Orcs can't be trusted."

Karl frowned. Then Iruril said:

"Mr Dwarf, excuse me. Did you count these horses?"

Huh? The horses are counted? Well, sure. This is a matter of course. No matter what races should be counted. So, we have seventeen here waiting to cross the bridge? The Dwarf shouted excitedly:

"Right, five of you Urcs can come with me! Which one want to stay?"

"Oink! Nonsense! Human, you are the latest.You stay here with your stink horses, wait here! No, you have to give one horse to us!"

Ah. Everyone is speaking their own language now. Iruril said:

"Absolutely no fight is allowed. That way no one can cross the bridge. We must follow the rule. You have to promise this first, then we can decide who will be staying here."

I think this sentence is absolutely right. However, such a right thing, for the excited Dwarf and Urcs, it looks non-sense.

Headache. If any one of us go with them, that man will be in danger. After we cross the valley, if the Urcs change their mind, he is likely to be attacked by them. I really want to suggest that the six of us (including our horses) must pass together, but we came late, it seems a bit unreasonable.

The Dwarf is very excited, and keeps shouting: "I will take five of your lives, tie the rest with a rope to go over it!" Kind of thing. The Urcs are squeaking, asking us to give up one horse.

What the Urcs thinking is obvious. Which horse is not a problem, as long as they can cross the river, they can deal with the Elf and Dwarf easily.

Although all races are shouting at each other, there is no fight. If we really fight, regardless of who win, they can't cross the river. Because there is no twelve in the same races, in the five races here (Horse is a race too!) we need at least two races to go together. Well.... The man who built this bridge probably had thought of such a scenario! Although we are in this kind of situation, I decided to satisfy my curiosity first.

"In the end who built this bridge?"

Iruril looked at me and said:

"Strange. You actually ask an Elf about human stuffs."

"You make us the three most lack of knowledge men then. Who?"

Iruril smiled. I saw that, and realized that this was the first time I saw her smile.

"A human wizard. Called Tyburn Highseeker."

Then we, the three human's expression became very weird. Karl asked me:

"Nedval, what is last name of Tyburn? "

"Huh? Even Karl doesn't know? I don't know."

Sanson kept blinking with a confused face, and after a while, his eyes again fixed on Iruril's body. Stop staring at her! Really want to kick his leg. I don't know whether Iruril understands that kind of vision or not. She said to me:

"Do you know him?"

"We know someone who is called Tyburn, but we don't know his last name..."

Iruril tilted her head.

"I've never heard human life can be that long. The bridge was built two hundred years ago."

Two hundred years? Then it's impossible. Karl shook his head.

"Sounds that the builder should be another man."

"Maybe."