The orc spoke slowly—and he seemed to think just as slowly.

He’s not exactly sharp… maybe I can reason with him.

“Yes, well… anyway—why are you here?
Aren’t orcs supposed to live in the mountains?”

The orc glanced at her terrified expression and at the dwarf’s oddly calm one, finding no hint of mockery in either.

“You… forgive… Gronk thought… you come… make fun… of Gronk…”

The murderous tension vanished from his voice.
His expression became vacant—almost sad.

“No… well, we… why would we?”

The orc lowered his gaze to the ground, shoulders slumping.

“Gronk… big dream… but no one… take Gronk… serious…”

He lifted his spiked club and rested it on his shoulder again.

“You… forgive… Gronk…”

With that, the orc slowly turned around, trudged back toward the fire, and sat heavily on the log in front of it.
He stared into the flames, lost in thought.

Violet forced herself up; her legs were still weak and trembling.
The smartest choice was to run for her life—

—and yet…

Seeing him like that, shoulders drooped, eyes empty and wounded… something inside her cracked.

She tried to fight it. Useless.
There was something in that creature’s expression she simply couldn’t ignore.

Step by step, Violet approached him, stopping at his side.
Gronk’s massive, sorrowful eyes were fixed on the fire, as if drowning in old memories.

“…May I sit?”

The orc didn’t reply.

Violet settled down near the flames, searching for the right words to reach the giant who looked completely inconsolable.

“Why are you here… all alone?”
The orc lifted his head, not at her—just upward, toward the cavern ceiling.

“Gronk… big dream… but no one understand… Gronk…”

Yes, you’ve said that already…

“A dream?
Would you like to tell me?”

Gronk finally looked at her.

“If Gronk tell… you laugh… at… Gronk?”

She gave him a timid smile, wondering what kind of sadness could weigh on the heart of someone so huge and strong.

“Of course not!
Why would I ever laugh at you?”

Gronk hunched his shoulders.

“In village… everyone laugh. Mama laugh… papa laugh… friends laugh.
Everyone laugh…”

Violet leaned in gently.

“If you want to talk about it… I’d love to listen.”

The orc's eyes grew shiny—round, swollen, full of tears.

“Gronk love… music… Gronk want become… great singer!”

Pfffff…

Violet bit the inside of her cheeks, desperately trying not to laugh.

An orc… who sings?
Since when do orcs sing?

“No, I… pfff…”
She struggled to contain herself.

“Ahem… I think that’s actually… very nice!!!”

“You… really think… so?”

Gronk looked genuinely relieved to hear her words.

“Yes, of course. Everyone likes music. I like it a lot too, you know???”

“You want… hear… song?”

A shiver ran down Violet’s spine—
the kind that foretells disaster.

I have no idea what this giant means by “music”…
but if I refuse, he might get angry again.
Better listen. How bad could it be?

“Uhm, yes… why not…? I’m listening…”

Gronk lit up.
He turned around, producing a huge staff with a magical stone embedded at its tip.

Violet’s eyes flew open.

A staff???

Gronk pressed the small gem—it glowed.

A violent, screeching burst of interference exploded through the cavern, loud enough to shake the walls.

Violet clutched her ears, collapsing forward as the sound seemed to drill straight into her skull.

That’s a Sound Stone!
Those things are incredibly rare—where in the world did he get one???

“Ehm… test… test… 1… 2…”

“An amplification spell? That’s amazing! Where did you—”

But the orc ignored her completely.

Eyes closed, he inhaled deeply—
and began to sing.

“Aaaaaaaaaa… Oooooooooo… Uuuuuuuuu…”

It was a mix between a chant, a groan, and the death cry of an ancient beast.
Low, heavy, painfully slow.

“Iiiiiiiii… Eeeeeeeee… Oooooooo…”

Violet stared in disbelief.

THIS is what he calls… singing???

There was no melody.
No rhythm.
No structure.
Just a long, continuous, agonizing drone that echoed through the cavern, vibrating the stone itself.

The performance went on and on—slow, intense, endless.

At the 15-minute mark, Violet’s gaze went empty.
Her soul began to leave her body.
She started quietly sobbing.

At the 30-minute mark, she snapped entirely—

—and found herself standing in a strange blue-lit place.

In front of her, another girl identical to her stood staring back.

“Who are you?”

The strange girl—identical to her—stared at Violet with a serene smile.

“Me? I’m you, Violet!”

“Oh… and what do you want?”

Forty interminable minutes passed.
When the orc finally finished, he pressed the stone again; it emitted another sharp screech, making Violet jolt back to reality.

Clap clap clap.

Nainai had stood up and was applauding the orc, looking at him with pure admiration.

The orc, having strapped the staff back onto his shoulder, turned toward Violet.

“Song… you like?”

Violet’s hair was a mess, her eyes hollow; the right one twitched uncontrollably.

“Yes, yesyesyesyes!” she replied, a forced smile plastered on her face as she joined the dwarf in applauding.

“It was really… intense!!!”

Gronk seemed satisfied by their reaction.

“You… think… Gronk good? Have… talent?”

“Buuuut of cooourse!”
Violet stood up and gave the orc’s knee a gentle encouraging pat—then froze, realizing his knee was twice the size of her head.

Gronk beamed, baring his entire set of fanged, crooked teeth. A cold shiver ran down Violet’s spine.

Thank goodness he calmed down…

“So everyone in your village makes fun of you?”

Violet had finally understood.

Gronk’s expression darkened again.

“Yes…”

“And that’s why you came here to hide in this cave?”

The orc nodded.

Violet still couldn’t believe it. Seeing such a massive creature so crushed and disheartened made her chest tighten. She stepped closer and gently placed a hand on his enormous knee.

“I’m really sorry, Gronk.”
Her voice was soft, sincere.

“It hurts when people judge you for what you are. I understand that…”

Gronk slowly reached out and stroked Violet’s head with a single massive finger. The finger was so heavy it pushed her whole skull down and dragged her skin from side to side.

She quickly wriggled free before the giant could accidentally rip her head off.

Just moments ago he wanted to kill us… and now look at him. Maybe he’s not that different from me after all…

The moment was abruptly interrupted by a loud rumble from Violet’s stomach.
She turned bright red in embarrassment.

What a scene.

“Mmmhh? Violet… hungry?”

Well… it had been a while since she’d eaten anything.
Gronk pointed at the brazier, where a strange creature—almost completely charred—was roasting on a stick.

“Violet… take.”

Violet shot a quick glance at her companion, whose hungry eyes mirrored her own.

“But that’s your dinner… We can’t just—”
Yet her gaze remained glued to the juicy, sizzling meat.

“Are you sure we can… take some?”

The orc reached out, grabbed the creature and snapped it apart with loud crunches of breaking bone, handing Violet a huge chunk.

She seized it—and took a massive bite.

This is delicious!

The outside was burnt and tough, but the inside was tender and pink.

“Maybe it’s just the hunger talking, but this is really good!!!”

After a few bites she went to Nainai and began feeding him smaller pieces, carefully scraping off the burnt parts before bringing them to his mouth.

The dwarf seemed to enjoy it just as much.

In the strangest twist imaginable, the terrifying situation had turned into… something warm.
The very creature Violet would usually label as a monster was, instead, showing an unexpectedly gentle nature.

“Thank you, Gronk. That was really kind of you.”
She stared at what remained of the creature still roasting in the flames.

“What kind of meat is this?”

She turned the tiny bones in her hands, puzzled.

“Cave… rat.”

What?? Oh—gross!!!

That was too much. She sprang to her feet, dusting off her clothes in a hurry.

“Right! Well—we’re going now, okay? Thanks again, Gronk!”

The orc looked genuinely disappointed.

“Come on, Nainai, let’s go. We still have to get out of this cave!”

The orc spoke again, warm and hopeful.

“Violet kind… Violet pretty… Violet friend of Gronk…”

“Yes, yes, thank you! We’ll see each other again, okay? And don’t give up on your dreams!!”

With that, she yanked the rope with all her strength, dragging the dwarf along as he kept smiling at the orc.

Without another word she hurried away as fast as she could, throwing nervous glances behind her every few steps to make sure he wasn’t following.

Why do these things always happen to me?!
Damn me and the day I signed that contract!

They walked for a long time, passing through more tunnels until they found themselves in yet another chamber—this one wider, but lower than the previous one.

At its center stretched a large underground pond.

“Does this place ever end…?”

Violet was exhausted, her feet aching badly. She’d had enough of walking.

“There’s no point… we’re never getting out of here. I’ve really gotten myself into a mess!”

In a moment of weakness, Violet leaned against the wall, inhaled deeply, and let herself slide down until she was sitting on the floor.
Resting her head on her knees, she stayed like that for a long moment, trapped in her thoughts.

All the walking, the absurd encounters, the constant tension—it all made her want to cry.
She thought of the girls at the guild and their pushiness.
And then there was Nainai. A supposedly powerful companion… completely useless in practice.

“Damn it! This whole journey makes no sense!!! I don’t know anything about this stupid sigil!”

She turned toward her companion. He was quietly watching her.

“And can you at least explain why you only talk when you shouldn’t?!”

The dwarf said nothing. He simply sat down beside her, his gaze fixed on the empty space ahead.

After a long shared silence, Violet glanced at him again.

“…Sorry. I’m not mad at you, really.”

After all, she had dragged him into this.

“I guess you were set up just like I was…”

They stayed still, enveloped by silence.
The only sound was the distant wind, echoing through the cavern and bouncing off the walls like distant voices.

Then, from the ceiling, a faint light began to leak through.
Violet looked up and spotted a small opening high above—just wide enough to glimpse a sliver of the outside world.
Beyond it, far away, she could see a small, pale moon.

The moonlight seeped in through the crack, illuminating the chamber and reflecting off the pond before them.

Then came a noise.

Violet’s eyes widened as she noticed the pond beginning to ripple—then bubble.

Glup… glup… glup…

From the shimmering surface, under their astonished gaze, several turquoise Slimes emerged, rising one after another and gathering along the water’s edge.

In no time, there were dozens of them.

Bathed in moonlight, the Slimes began to glow from within, turning fluorescent… almost magical.

Then, facing the moon, the slimes began to sing.

“Tuuuuu… tuuuuu… tuuuuu…”

Violet’s eyes flew wide open.

What in the world is happening…?