Even though Nafız was well aware that the man standing before her was an undying fossil who had lived for hundreds, nearly a thousand years, she was talking to him based on his current appearance. The other party didn't have any complaints about this either, but instead of answering the question from earlier, he simply clenched his fists.
"Come on Hueso, don't keep us hanging!"
When the red-haired orc finished her words, dozens of people turned to her, and Nafız knew exactly what she was doing.
"I said 'us' as a figure of speech. Stop looking like you've seen a ghost and spit it out already, man!"
Raising her voice with that fake anger typical of humans to cover up her own small mistake and make things tense, Nafız finally managed to pry the Sheikh of the Holy Bone Sect's jaws open.
"When my grandson and Alis have a child, he wants the kid to spend one month of the year with him. Even worse, when asked why, he says, 'I am Alis's master, so her child is considered my grandchild. It is my natural right to want them to stay with their grandfather for a month.'"
At first, strange noises were heard from behind closed lips, but within a few seconds, they gave way to full-throated laughter. Nafız couldn't stop the sounds coming from her mouth, which was opened so wide it seemed it would never close, and she wouldn't be able to stop until she collapsed on the spot clutching her stomach.
"Alyon, look, here's another one just like you! Man, what is it with you guys and your obsession with grandkids!"
"Please don't laugh, this is no laughing matter. How could I ever trust that weirdo and entrust a tiny child to him!"
"Stop, stop, don't say another word. I'm gonna die, oh my stomach!"
The more Hueso spoke, the more Nafız laughed, and the more she laughed, the more the Sheikh of the Holy Bone Sect kept talking. This cycle continued until Alyon stepped in and dragged his friend aside, and finally, half an hour later, they were able to communicate again.
"What am I going to do, Blood God Nafız?"
Nafız saw the pale-faced man's spirits had plummeted; pushing him any further from this point on would be cruel. Even though she thought she was just pulling his leg while laughing, Nafız had given such a huge reaction because she had connected the dots on several things.
"Unfortunately, I can't answer that question, but I know the person who can do it best."
With the end of the sentence, the first part of which had saddened him, Hueso practically reared up and started shouting.
"Who is it? Where? Let's go find them immediately!"
Even though the sight of the man running left and right like a shepherd who lost his flock was perhaps the funniest event of the day, Nafız continued to speak calmly this time.
"No need to go too far. Turn your head slowly to the right and ask the first person you see."
Although the man, who had turned into a headless chicken, hesitated at first, he started doing what he was told a breath later. He turned his delicate neck to the right, and when his field of vision cleared, he immediately recognized the person Nafız had pointed out.
"Elegant and powerful orc warrior, please give me a cure for my troubles!"
Along with his appearance, the temperament of the Sheikh of the Holy Bone Sect Hueso had also changed. He was actually calling the Wind of Death, who looked like a small mountain with the giant axe slung over her back, elegant. The Commander-in-Chief of the Orc Empire Armies locked eyes with Nafız after hearing this; her incessantly twitching eyebrows made it clear she wanted no part in this.
"The Wind of Death, daughter of the Supreme Chief of the Orcs Alyon, has the answer you seek. Hell, she might even know who snitched to Corte de Viento about Alis and your grandson's relationship."
The Wind of Death's eyes began to tremble; the drops of sweat appearing on her green skin raced towards the ground. The shadow of fear kneaded with anxiety had begun to seep into her cells; if she didn't make a move, she was bound to freeze right where she stood.
"If Blood God Nafız says so, you can be sure I will do whatever I can!"
"Of course we are sure, after all, you had the privilege of spending half of the last five years with him!"
The orc warrior, who was somewhat coming to her senses, began to tremble again, but this time not just her eyes, every muscle in her massive body was contracting involuntarily. The Wind of Death, who had spent two and a half years in his cave after the great war ended because the man, who had a character at least as bizarre as his appearance, had applied his secret technique on her, was trying to calm down by taking deep breaths when a hand landed on her shoulder.
"Take it easy girl, I'm right here!"
The black spot that appeared on the ground slowly grew, and when Alyon finished his words, it completely surrounded the father and daughter. At that moment, the Wind of Death's breathing steadied, her body stopped trembling, and her eyes returned from the distant spot they were locked on.
"During the two and a half years I stayed with him, from your perspective, I went through a lot of hardships; I won't lie, there were times I prayed for it to end, Corte de Viento is truly a very difficult being to put up with most of the time. Corte de Viento might be a grumpy, unbearable, spoilsport, and stubborn old man, but he is not someone who would harm the people he loves.
From what I've seen, Alis holds a completely different place in his eyes, and he doesn't see her as his disciple, but as his own child. What I'm saying is, when you have a grandchild, you can be sure that the weird old man won't do them any harm!"
The Sheikh of the Holy Bone Sect, after listening breathlessly to these words, blew out the air he had been holding in and made a move as if he was going to lunge forward about another topic that came to his mind.
"Yes, since everyone got what they wanted, can we get moving now?"
Nafız understood what the man, who had a skin white enough to make porcelain jealous, was aiming for, and stepped up to prevent him from making the situation even more complicated.
They had a path they could take without being seen by the enemy, and the owner of the path had his questions answered. A fair trade had been made; it would be in the orcs' best interest to bounce before any new haggling began.
"You're right, I wasted your time with my own troubles. Please lead the way, I'm right behind you!"
Following behind the blood-red haired orc warrior, the Raiders walked by jumping over the broken first step. When the last person also entered through the gray surface of the Great Fishbone Mountain Range, Hueso stepped into the dark passage in front of the bone pieces that collapsed and closed the door behind him.
It was pitch black until the Sheikh of the Holy Bone Sect transferred his energy to the walls of the passage. The milk-white energy stretched into eternity in strips running a handspan apart from each other, and now the passage inside the Great Fishbone Mountain Range was ready for use.
"I had set up various traps along the way so no one besides me could use it, but no need to worry, they were deactivated the moment they came into contact with my energy."
Nafız, who started walking when the surroundings lit up, stopped when the Sheikh of the Holy Bone Sect began to speak, and the moment he finished what he had to say, a sly grin appeared on her face.
"You're saying that if you reactivate them, we'll run into deadly traps along the way, is that it?"
"Of course, in case someone from the other side of the border discovered this path and used it against us, I filled the inside with traps capable of taking the lives of General Level soldiers."
Nafız seemed to have gotten the answer she wanted; her smile, curving more towards one side, grew wider, her shoulders went up then back, and finally, taking a deep breath, she showed the whites of her eyes to the others.
"Don't do it!"
It was Alyon speaking; he knew the meaning of these changes in his friend very well. He had to stop her now; if he was even a little too late, they would enter a path of no return.