Chapter 57

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Chapter 057: Orc Battle Flag

At night, on the empty ground of Eastvale Logging Camp, Greed and Jesse practiced sword fighting for two hours, until they were too tired and collapsed on a pile of logs nearby.

On the other side of the main road, the soldiers’ camp was lit with bright campfire lights, and from Eastvale Logging Camp all the way to the road entering Redridge Pass to the east, there were patrollers and lookouts everywhere.

The kingdom spared no effort to protect the trade routes of the three towns.

However, this meant that some troops from Westbrook Garrison and part of Westfall would be diverted, which could lead to Gnolls gradually becoming more rampant in those areas.

The two returned to the tent they were staying in, Greed sniffed the air and said, "Can you smell that foul odor? Did some animal pee in our tent?"

Upon hearing this, Jesse felt nervous. Could it be that he smelled the sulfur scent from Saenor?

He glanced at the imp hiding Warlock Pack, still lying there shriveled and quiet. Normally, the scholars and mages of the Wizard’s Sanctum wouldn’t detect the dark arcane waves that Greed seemed to sense. Did the Dwarf Wildhammer have some kind of racial talent like Detect Demon?

"I didn’t smell anything," Jesse said. "What kind of animal is this, like a fox or a weasel?"

Greed lowered his head and sniffed around, his nose brushing against the Warlock Pack but not lingering. Jesse breathed a sigh of relief.

The dwarf finally placed his hand on the package that Malin gave to Jesse, saying, "It’s the smell coming from this thing. What did you put inside?"

"This is what the boss asked me to deliver to Stonewatch Keep," Jesse said, exhausted, slumping onto a cushion. "I better not mess with it. If he finds out I opened it, he’ll fine me. Let’s just go to sleep."

"But this thing stinks," Greed said. "Aren’t you bothered?"

"How bad can it be?" Jesse couldn’t smell anything and approached the package, pressing his nose against the tightly sealed opening, and indeed caught a whiff of a foul odor.

It was like the smell of something left sealed for a long time, but not just from the cloth. It definitely had a foul scent.

Now, Jesse couldn’t easily fall asleep.

The two sat there staring at the package. Greed occasionally glanced at Jesse and said, "Why not open it and see? How would your boss know if you opened it, there’s no lock on it."

Jesse scratched his head and said, "Are you sure the mage needs a key to open it? What if there’s a magical trap in there?"

"You’re right," Greed paused for a second and then took action, "I’ll open it."

"Oh, please don’t," Jesse said, but before he could finish, Greed had already unwrapped the package. Apart from a letter, a lump of sandy-colored material rolled out, looking like some sort of animal skin clothing.

"What is this?"

Greed pulled out a piece to examine it and realized it wasn’t clothing, but simply a processed piece of animal hide.

"Is this a animal skin carpet or something?"

"Please put it back…" Jesse said helplessly.

As Greed continued to pull it out, the smell grew stronger.

Finally, when Greed unfolded the whole thing, the entire tent was filled with a stale odor, resembling the scent of a tiger at the zoo. Jesse could hardly bear it.

But at that moment, he only then realized what this thing was. It wasn’t clothing or a carpet, but a flag, a banner of the Orc tribe.

"This is the flag of the Orc tribe."

"I think so too. Can you tell what emblem is on it?" Greed unfolded the part with the emblem and placed it in front of Jesse, asking.

Jesse tilted his head and finally found the right angle to see clearly what was on the flag.

"It’s a dragon head."

"A dragon head?" Greed asked. "Do Orc flags have dragon heads? Are there dragons in Draenor too?"

Jesse suddenly didn’t know how to answer this question. There were no dragon races on Draenor originally, but whether there were dragons now, he couldn’t say for sure.

If Teron Gorefiend had returned to the Dark Portal, it meant that Deathwing, the black dragon king who cooperated with the Orc tribe, had also crossed the Dark Portal with him.

Was he going to Draenor to find a safe place to protect his dragon eggs from being disturbed by other dragon races and to build a new black dragon lair there?

"There is a group of creatures called the Dragonmaw clan among the Orcs," Jesse said. "They are the Orcs who ride Red Dragons into battle. Didn’t you think of that?"

Greed immediately said, "I… I definitely know about the Red Dragon and the Dragonmaw clan. But these Orcs changed their clan name just because they tamed Red Dragons?"

"How would I know? You can ask their Great Chief another day," Jesse said. "My boss probably doesn’t know where this Orc flag was found, so he thought showing it to his colleagues at Stonewatch Keep might help track the Red Dragons’ whereabouts, right? I don’t know, I’m just here to deliver the message."

"Tracking the Red Dragons’ whereabouts?" Greed said in surprise. "Why bother tracking them? Let them go wherever they please, it would be better if they disappeared from this world forever. Why go looking for trouble with them?"

To most warriors who had participated in the Orc War, Red Dragons were seen as evil and cruel creatures from the World of Warcraft, and now was not the best time for a scholarly worldview. He was already bursting with frustration.

"Mages all hope to find a captivating research topic, then publish some attention-seeking articles in Dalaran to gain fame and promotion opportunities. Let’s not get involved in their messy affairs, Greed, go to sleep quickly."

After speaking, he wrapped the battle flag back into his pack, placed the letter carefully, covered his mouth tightly, then opened the tent door to let in some air.

As autumn approached, a cool evening breeze blew in. Jesse wrapped himself in his coat and huddled in the corner.

"I should have gone to your place first to get that wolf-hide coat," he grumbled.

"The horse can’t handle too much luggage," Greed said while lying down, "I’m still a little concerned about Orc."

Early in the morning before the sun was up, two people joined the patrol of the cavalry heading to Redridge. They were accompanied by some travelers and vendors on horseback.

By around 10 o’clock in the morning, they could already see a vast lake in the distance.

Jesse stared at the bay-like water, took a deep breath as if trying to inhale the scent of the water on the other side.

A cavalryman in the front shouted, "We’re approaching Lake Everstill, Lakeshire is just ahead, everyone!"

The caravan and travelers cheered, and Greed joined in shouting as well.

It was unknown what these people had experienced before, but this journey did not encounter any attacks. Was it just luck? Perhaps it was an unspoken agreement, like passengers applauding when a plane lands.