The outcome was decided. The brown-skinned orc lay sprawled out on his back right in front of me.
He had been strong. I was already battered and bruised all over myself.
In my current state, I didn't even know whose power I had borrowed. I had no idea how skilled that master truly was. But I knew at least that they were an overwhelming force in the way of the sword. This pig-headed monster's blade work had been roughly on par with theirs. The only reason I won was that my baseline physical abilities slightly surpassed his.
Well, if I copied that black-haired boy, the battle would probably be over in an instant, but he was strictly the exception among exceptions. Even now, I couldn't imagine anything that could defeat him.
"Kill me!"
He shouted gruffly. The aversion the brown-skinned orc had shown toward us before the fight had completely vanished from his face.
Seeing how utterly graceful he was in defeat, I found it impossible to think of him as just a monster.
"No way. You're a monster we need here in Northground. I told you, didn't I? We don't have the luxury of bickering among ourselves anymore."
"Are those demons advancing south stronger than you?"
"Yeah, probably."
Even with my memories gone, the terror of Demon King Aldebaran, one of the Four Great Demon Kings, was deeply ingrained in me. That bastard wouldn't show a shred of mercy to the defeated. If we lost, slavery would be the best-case scenario. More likely, we would be wiped out entirely.
Challenging them as separate tribes meant certain defeat. The only way forward was for the monsters to unite as one.
"Is that so... Fine. I'll at least hear you out. But on one condition."
He sat up with his legs crossed, folded his arms, and glared at me.
"A condition? Of course, I'll listen as long as it's something I can do."
"Show me your true nature. You smell like something other than a monster."
Twitching his snout, he spoke in a low rumble.
Looking back at Kiji behind me, he gave a nod. Either way, the fact that I was from the human race was common knowledge among Kiji and the rest of the sheep cat tribe. Trying to hide it was pointless.
"All right."
I deactivated my Transmutation ability and returned to my usual form.
A stir broke out among the orcs.
"You... you're human?"
"Yeah. I'm Gil, a human. Well, aside from that name, I don't know who I am or where I came from."
Given how strangely familiar I was with human society, there was no doubt I was human. Still, I was skilled with magic, possessed bizarre abilities, and above all, had lost my memories in a place like this. There had to be some pretty unusual circumstances behind it all.
"You don't know who you are?"
He repeated, furrowing his brow.
"Right. They took me in after I lost my memories."
I gestured toward Kiji and the others with my left hand as I answered.
"A human with no memories... Nothing could be more suspicious."
As the brown-skinned orc curled his lip in a sardonic smirk, I chimed in immediately.
"I completely agree."
There weren't many people who looked as shady as I did. Especially since humans were the natural enemies of monsters. I figured Kiji and the others were the strange ones for accepting me so readily.
The brown-skinned orc stood up, righted an overturned chair, and took a seat.
"Talk. Everything comes after that," he declared in a forceful tone.
"Are you sure? I'm human, you know."
"Ha! Human, orc, cat—makes no difference to me. We follow the strong. That is the rule of our clan. Besides, letting those demons run rampant as they please pissed me off anyway."
Faced with what was essentially unconditional agreement, I smiled.
"Thank you."
"I'm Būtai."
"Hm?"
"That's my name. Call me Bū."
Bū shouted in the same blunt manner as when we first met, and just like that, we, the sheep cat tribe, gained our very first warrior tribe ally.