Vol. 1 Chapter 5 : New home

Galen observed Belle's soles were bright red and scowled. "What happened? why are her feet red?" he questioned.

"We spotted her being hunted by wild wolves in Black Swamp; she could have been taken by those demonic orcs because it's near their base," Liam speculated. 'What are devil orcs?' Belle asked Conrad as she listened to their conversation.

'Devil orcs are male orcs who have been rejected or abandoned by females. They turn against the beast God and kidnap women to force them to birth their children. You must keep a safe distance from them, or you will be in danger.'

'Did they also say we were near the dark swamp? What exactly is it? 'Note to self: keep clear from devil monsters,' she took a mental note of the risks she would face in the future.

"Excuse me? Do you feel any pain?" Galen said, bending her foot slightly to check for a fracture."Just a little bit," Galen said as she stood up and rummaged through his belongings.

Galen crouched in front of Belle once more, applying crushed herbs to her soles and wrapping them in huge leaves. "Remember not to get them wet, I'll give you some and you can reapply them tomorrow," Galen said as he handed her some medicine and several huge leaves in a coconut shell.

"Thank you," Belle said as she took the medicine from Galen's hands. "Liam will take you to your new residence," Galen said, motioning to Liam, who was standing behind Belle. "Then excuse me," Liam said as he knelt and held Belle like a bride.

"Wait!" Belle exclaimed unexpectedly, and both males looked at her.

"Can you bring them to me?" she asked, gesturing to her spatula and Lid. Galen followed her finger and found her pointing to the alien objects she had before, picked them up, and delivered them to her. She clutches her belongings close to her body after obtaining them, and Liam knew it was safe to depart, so he went towards the door.

When Galen saw them walk out the door, he yelled, "You should take care of her!"

"Sure thing," Liam said as he shut the door behind him. Because it was night, the moon was the only source of illumination. 'How come there aren't any torches or fire?' Belle was seriously considering whether the orcs' industrial growth was still at the caveman era, as she had read in the history books.

"Are there no torches here?" Belle inquired of Liam, whose face was slightly closer to hers due to their position, but she couldn't see his face. She was embarrassed by the lack of answer and decided not to ask again, but then a pleasant smooth voice echoed beside her ear.

"What are torches?"

She jerked her head back to look at his face, but she couldn't see him. "You know, fire on sticks?" she asked. "We don't use fire since it's destructive and represents evil," Liam replied, his tone somber.

"Fire isn't evil!" she said, "There are thousands of uses once you learn how to handle fire!" She then attempted to recall how to manufacture fire from natural materials.

'Doesn't the fact that they don't use fire imply that they don't cook means they consume raw meat?' I'd rather be hungry than eat raw meat.' They could see caverns at the foot of a small hill inside the village after trekking for a while.

Liam went into one of them and put Belle to sit on a flat rock "Stay here I'll clean up and you can rest here. No one has occupied this den for years" Liam then turned away and began to clean up the area. Belle casts her gaze around the room and notices a few cobwebs, a stone bed, and nothing more.

'So this is my new home'