Return of the Woodcutter

Aito talked with Krugan, seeking news of his comrades and what happened after the sacred event. 

In the arena, the orc leader and his troops had defended the unconsciousness Aito against the crazed crowd. He couldn't let the winner of the Sacred Event get killed by his people while Aito was unconscious. 

After the orcs regained their sanity, Krugan had brought Aito to the infirmary. Try as he may, Krugan hadn't been able to separate the sacred weapon from Aito. 

Aito had remained unconscious for three days in a row. Without earthly modern means, his body had relied on his own nutrients to keep itself going, resulting in a dehydrated state. Hungry, he asked Krugan to order food. 

While he devoured the content of an entire day's worth of food for one man, Krugan reported to him his companions' where about. 

Apparently, they had safely gotten away. Aito translated it by they had successfully made it to the 7th Floor. Orcs hadn't been able to follow them because of the Khül's rampage. 

Aito kept to himself his involvement in—according to Krugan—the death of more than seven thousand orcs, which fortunately was about "one-sixth" of the orc's population.

When he heard that, Aito found it weird.

He had thought there were a bit more than ten thousand orcs on the 6th floor. Either orcs didn't learn math properly or… someone had intervened by formatting their brains, changing their realities.

'About that reality…,' he pondered, thinking about telling Krugan the truth. Having the orc's strength could be useful to him in the future, to a certain extent. But if he wanted the orc's unconditional support, then it was something that needed to be done. 

Aito told Krugan about the Tower. About how he was a fake, how everyone the orc knew were fakes. Krugan would have certainly laughed it off if Aito were a random human, but he was currently the Khan, their race's new chief, Krugan's chief.

Moreover, the orc had heard the Khül say it as he decimated his people.

"This... this is impossible," Krugan said, baffled. 

But when Aito talked about the areas orcs could not access—namely, the staircases leading to the lower and upper floor—Krugan had to admit there was something weird going on.

Their people dictated those areas as forbidden, sacred, that no one should trespass. 

He knew instinctively that Aito was right. How could he not see the glaring truth? Thousands of people had died three days ago and Krukhanon's streets were filled to the brim with orcs. It did not make any sense.

The orc's dignity crumbled as his face turned grim and tears of despair for his people trickled down his large cheeks. Huddled in the room's darkest corner, Krugan wept, uncaring of his image as a strong orc warrior. 

His conception of the world fell apart. Everything he had known was fake. He knew it but did not accept it. He could not accept that everything had been fake. 

The feelings he had. The smiles and laughs of the people he had met. The sense of horror he had felt when seeing the Khül decimating his people.

Those had happened and could not possibly be faked. He drew strength in that idea.

Aito waited an hour for the orc to recover, but also examined his behavior, searching for brainwashing traces. He had expected the gods to have implemented a lock that forbade every creature living in the Tower access to information involving reality. 

However, the orc didn't thrash around or do anything suspicious and only looked… sad, lost. A realistic reaction taking into account the harshness of realizing everything you have ever known was fake. 

He theorized that the bond of master and subordinate he shared with Krugan had affected the orc in a way he could not be brainwashed anymore. 

Possible but uncertain. Aito had to see how other orcs reacted under "normal" circumstances. 

"So, from the very beginning, we were only creatures whose purpose was dying under humans' blades," were the first words Krugan uttered after regaining his calm. "I understand now why your fellow humans only saw us as things…."

Lacking an answer, Aito simply nodded in response.

"What now? Should I continue living in this fake world? Should I continue upholding our fake traditions? I don't know anymore," Krugan declared, clenching his fists. "If what you said is true, telling my people about our destiny is useless, as they'll be brainwashed by that moderator you talked about. I'm… lost. What should I do now?"

To those words, however, Aito knew what to reply. 

"The question isn't what you should do," he said, "but what you want to do? What are your guts telling you?"

"I…," the orc pondered the question for a short while before replying, "I want a genuine world where my people can thrive. Where we can be free from the gods' control. Where we can build and create our own destiny. I want freedom." 

"See? Not so difficult," Aito said.

"But I can't do it. How am I supposed to contend against beings so powerful they can create… us?" 

There was no hope of success to his current self, Krugan knew it. It was beyond obvious. 

"You do not and you cannot. There is nothing you can do against them. Even your ancestor was powerless," Aito said. "But maybe I can. I have the power to temporarily bring you out of this place.

"I cannot guarantee that I'll be successful, but given enough time, I might be able to exploit this power to bring more of your people to the real world, permanently. The choice is yours. Now that you know everything, help me willingly and I'll try to help you in return." 

It looked like Krugan would benefit more from this offer than him. However, Aito was thinking about the bigger picture. His experience in the Tower had taught him many things, one of them being that he lacked strength on his own. 

His goal of redemption looked far beyond his reach. The more he looked at it, the more he could see how it'd involve the gods and their ridiculous powers. 

If he could somehow get the support of an entire race, fake though they may be, it'd be a great help. He did not know if there truly was a way to bring Krugan's kin outside, but would it hurt him to try? 

"Do I really have a choice? I've been deprived of this right since my birth that, according to you, was made up," Krugan said. 

"If you want freedom, unfortunately, you don't have a choice," Aito said. "I'm not a fortune teller, but I can tell you this. I'm your best bet." 

Krugan scoffed. "Straightforward. Spoken like an orc." 

"So what will it be? Genuine freedom or fake freedom?" Aito stretched his arm, offering a handshake to seal the deal. 

"Do you even have to ask?" Krugan said, grabbing his hand. "Where should we begin, my Khan?" 

Aito smiled and gave him a few instructions. Krugan strode off the room.

Some time later, two orcs brought back Aito's items, but not his armor. Most of his armor pieces had been broken, shredded into more pieces, and were disposed off. 

However, as the new Khan, Aito ordered a new armor set to be made and repair the old armor pieces that could still be used. It'd take two days. 

In the meantime, he planned on recovering and exploring the city. He was worried for his comrades, but they were strong and should be fine for now. 

As soon as he touched an inventory bag to grab recovery beads, Valinar's notification window popped up in front of him. 

[How can that be? How did survive the soul realm? You are… full of surprises,] she said. [I thought the Khül would tear you to shreds.]

'And you're still here, to my greatest displeasure,' Aito replied mentally. 

[I see a journey into the Destroyer's soul realm did not change your hatred towards me,] Valinar sighed. [I cannot understand your thought process. I am an invaluable source of knowledge to you and yet you seem so eager to discard such advantage. Why?]

'You already know why, but you're right on one thing. Not using your knowledge out of spite is stupid.'

[You finally see reason, mortal.] 

'But aren't your memories fragmented like the candle pieces. So technically, your knowledge is fragmented, too. Aren't you just a useless piece of blue notification window?' 

[How dare you…. A goddess's knowledge, even fragmented, outweighs that of a simple mortal at the very least by a hundred times!]

'Is that so? Then do you happen to know how I can transport the orcs outside the Tower?' 

[Of course, I do. Who do you take me for? Just use the candle as you did on the two siblings mortal and the monkey! And once you've found the third fragment, then—] She paused abruptly. [Do you promise to listen to my future requests if I tell you the rest?] 

'No.' 

[Then you won't know how to take them out of the Tower.]

'Doesn't matter, I already know enough to guess the rest,' Aito replied mentally. 'Thank you for your help, Valinar.'

[Wait! You cannot dismiss me like I am a simple mor—] Valinar started. 

Aito threw the candle piece on the opposite side of the room, interrupting the stream of notification windows. 

"Hum, as I thought. The candle and Valinar are deeply linked. As long as I keep it a few meters away from me, it'll shut her up," he said, appreciating his vision cleared of the annoying blue notifications. 

Back during his time in the orc prison, Valinar had not addressed him a single word but suddenly started talking to him again after he got his items back. 

At first, he thought it was a coincidence, but Valinar's late reaction on his return from the soul realm and the fact she actually stopped talking when the candle's been thrown off, had confirmed his hypothesis. 

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