My villain wants to save himself, but the yandere heroine disagrees

Most of these half-orcs are the offspring of the union of orcs and humans, and only the rare orcs with primitive racial characteristics can give birth to this race.

The issue of reproductive isolation seems to be rather confusing in this world. Humans and orcs can obviously be said to be different races, but half-orcs who are born are still fertile, and because of their powerful genes, the children of half-orcs are still half-orcs.

Although their genes are strong, the living environment of orcs is extremely harsh.

As a race sandwiched between orcs and humans, half-orcs are not accepted by either side. Orcs think half-orcs are too weak, while humans think half-orcs are too barbaric.

The orcs were discriminated against by both sides and had to build a community of their own.

However, the orcs do not have the strong fertility of orcs, nor are they as numerous as humans. Even if they stick together, the orcs will still be bullied by orcs.

There are not many communities of orcs in the desert.

If the group of orcs with beastly features led by the Minotaur account for 10% of the orc population, then the half-orcs can only account for 1% or even less at most.

This is because the orcs have never participated in a war against humans, otherwise, the orcs might even be exterminated.

The tribe in front of him didn't look big. Orson took a rough look and saw that there were only about two or three hundred orcs. But even so, it was still a relatively large group of orcs in the desert.

At least half-orcs are easier to talk to than orcs, Orson thought.

I am quite lucky.

He jumped off the wooden wall and returned to the entrance of the tribe.

Guarding the entrance of the tribe were two orcs with canine features. When they saw a creature about the same size as themselves approaching, they thought the other party was also an orc like them.

After all, orcs are either huge muscular men or skinny laborers.

Of course, the other party was a stranger after all, so the two guards perked up as usual. One of them walked forward and glanced at Orson.

"Hello, do you need any help?" asked the orc.

"Yes." Orson nodded, "I'm lost nearby. I need a map of this place."

"This..." The guard was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then said: "Sorry, I have to go back and report first. Please wait at the door for a while."

"Okay, thank you very much." Orson said this and thanked him politely.

After a few minutes, the orc guard came out with a white-haired old man with fox ears.

"Excuse me, are you the leader here?" Orson looked at the other party and asked politely.

"Yes, my name is Arati. May I ask what your name is?"

"Ah, my name is... Edward." Orson hesitated for a moment and made up a name on the spot.

At first he wanted to give his full name, but considering his identity, if the orc in front of him had heard his name, he might not be willing to cooperate with him, so he came up with a fake name.

"Mr. Edward, huh? I heard that you were lost nearby and needed a map? I happen to have one here, but..." Arati said this, narrowing his eyes.

"In the desert, everyone always follows the principle of equal trade. I can give you the map, but we have encountered some troubles recently, so I would like to ask for your help."

Sure enough, there is no free lunch in the world.

Orson nodded.

Orson could actually understand why the other party did not doubt his race.

After all, he was wearing a cloak with only his face exposed, so his racial features such as hair and tail could not be seen at all.

But humans cannot enter places like the desert, and they don't look like orcs, so it is normal for them to preconceivedly think of themselves as solitary half-orcs.

Although the probability of an orc traveling alone is very small, compared with the probability of a human reaching this place, the former is easier to believe.

"I promise to help you."

"Then I would like to thank you, Orson, in advance." When Arati heard that Orson agreed to help him, he smiled and then hurriedly welcomed Orson into the tribe.

Orson, wearing a cloak, followed behind Arati and walked in the tribe. He could see that almost everyone in this small tribe had come out, and there was a hint of curiosity in their expressions when they looked at him.

In their opinion, there haven’t been any new people in the tribe for a long time. Will the person in front of them live with them in the future, or is he just a passer-by?

Arati took Orson into a slightly larger house in the center of the tribe, which seemed to be the administrative center of the tribe.

"Mr. Edward, please sit down." Arati said this and made a "please" gesture.

"Thank you." Orson nodded and sat on the chair.

Compared with the furniture in human cities, it is no exaggeration to say that the furniture here is extremely simple. Even compared with the poor human villages, it is not as good.

It is hard to imagine that the leader of a tribe lives in a house that is not even as good as that of human farmers.

But Orson could also understand that in a place like the desert, where supplies were scarce, survival was the first priority, and living comfortably or not didn't matter.

"Mr. Edward, do you know what happened in the desert recently?"

"Oh? Sorry, I was away the whole time and just came back recently..."

"So, you have made money from humans?" Arati said this and looked at Orson in surprise.

"Yes." Orson nodded. "You know, working with humans is better than living in the desert as long as you don't care about their looks."

"Oh, that's true." Arati nodded in agreement with Orson's words. "Several young people in the tribe also expressed their desire to go over there and try their luck, but the war between orcs and humans is just around the corner. If we orcs go out at this time, we will only be regarded as spies and rejected by humans."

"But haven't the orcs been driven back?"

"It will take time to dissipate the hatred of humans." Arati sighed. "Let's not talk about this. Since you just came back recently, I'll tell you something. I don't know what happened recently. The orcs in the desert just robbed a batch of spoils from humans. I guess they haven't used them up yet, but they started fighting among themselves."

"When gods fight, mortals suffer. Our tribe received a threat from an orc tribe three days ago. They asked us to hand over all our rations for them to fight, otherwise they threatened to massacre our tribe."

"We are certainly not going to resist them, but we will not obediently hand over our surplus food. After all, we have to live too."

"So what are you going to do?"

"We are ready to move." Arati said. "These days we have sent people to look for a place where the tribe can settle down. We have found a place where we can dig a well. We are ready to move tomorrow, but a few of our guys haven't returned yet..."

"So, you want me to go find someone?"

"Yes." Arati nodded. "The desert is not safe, but you must be very strong to be able to act alone in the desert."

"We are organizing a search and rescue team and preparing for the last search today. If we can't find them, we have to move tomorrow." Arati said. "If you are willing to help us, I will give you the map even if we can't find them in the end."

"Okay." Upon hearing this, Orson agreed to Alati's request.

"Then tell me the direction they were heading before they disappeared."

"Okay." Arati nodded.

At this moment, Orson suddenly saw a pair of big ears sticking out from behind the chair where Alati was sitting.

Arati was about to talk to Orson when he noticed his gaze and followed it.

Then, a little head popped out from behind the chair.

A little girl with long brown-gray hair poked her head out. The girl was about seventeen or eighteen years old, but she looked a little thin due to malnutrition.

His height is estimated to be only 1.5 meters.

But looking at her ears and the big furry tail behind her, she is probably a fox like Arati.

"Lena, why did you come out?"

"Hehe, I heard that there are guests coming to grandpa's place." The girl named Lena smiled at Arati, and then looked at Orson, her big watery eyes full of curiosity.

"Is this the big brother from out of town?"

Lena said this and came up to Orson as if she was familiar with him.

"Hey, big brother, why can't I see your ears and tail?"

"That..." Orson didn't know how to explain when Lena was suddenly lifted up by Alati by the scruff of the neck.

"Lena, don't ask such rude questions." As he said this, Arati moved Lena a little further away from Orson. "Grandpa is talking to Mr. Edward about serious matters. Don't interrupt."

"Okay." Lena said regretfully after hearing that, and then looked at Orson, bowed and apologized. "Sorry, big brother, I just said something I shouldn't have said."

"It's okay." Orson shook his head.

I guess in Arati's eyes, he took the initiative to cut off his tail in order to survive in human society.

Unlike the ears, which are connected to a large number of blood vessels and are also responsible for hearing, many orcs living in human society choose to cut off their tails in order to conceal their identities.

After all, compared to ears which can be covered by wearing a hat, a tail is indeed more difficult to hide.

In the lives of orcs, the tail has almost no function other than to indicate the orc's race.

Even so, tail cutting is still an unspeakable secret for the orcs.

What Lena just asked was indeed quite rude if Orson was really an orc.

Then, Lena stood beside Arati and told Orson the information about the missing persons.

Just as Orson nodded to show that he understood, Lena, who was standing beside him, suddenly spoke.

"Um, Grandpa! I also want to go out with my big brother to join the search and rescue!"

"Don't joke around, Lena." Hearing this, Arati frowned and scolded, "Do you think you are so powerful? Can you protect yourself in the desert?"

"But...but..." Lena thought for a moment, and then said, "I can give big brother directions. Big brother is from outside, so if he is not familiar with the terrain here, I can show him the way."

"Nonsense! You think you are the only one

How can one person understand the terrain? The search and rescue team is not just Mr. Edward. You are too young now and are not allowed to go. "

"Woo..." Lena's big ears drooped when she heard that, her face full of unhappiness.

"Grandpa is a bad guy!" Saying this, she ran into the room and closed the door.

Looking at the other party's cute reaction, although Orson found it interesting, he also agreed with Arati's words.

The desert is indeed quite dangerous. If Lena doesn't have the ability to protect herself, it's best not to go out and cause trouble for others.

"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you." Arati said this and apologized to Orson.

"It's okay." Orson shook his head. "I understand your feelings as an elder. You are a very good grandfather."

"Alas." Arati sighed again. "Lena is not actually my granddaughter. She was entrusted to me by an acquaintance when she was still young. Now more than ten years have passed, and I basically treat her as my own child."

"She has always been carefree and lively. We are all acquaintances in the tribe, so she may be a little outspoken when she speaks. Please bear with her."

"It's okay, it's okay." Orson waved his hand.

"By the way, when does the search and rescue team set out?"

"We will leave in about half an hour." Arati said, "I will come to call you when the time comes."

"Row."

……

Half an hour later, at the tribe gate.

"This time we have to be back before dark." He said this and looked at the members of the search and rescue team.

"The tribe doesn't want to lose anyone. We will be here waiting for you to return."

Although he is old, he still stands upright in the desert sand.

The leader of the search and rescue team was a middle-aged man with cheetah features. He looked at Arati, nodded, and showed a firm look.

"Don't worry, Chief, we will definitely find him this time."

Afterwards, under the watchful eyes of the tribe's old and young, women and children, they headed deeper into the desert.

And at this moment, a small figure disappeared in the tribe.

The search and rescue team set out at noon and marched in the direction of the missing persons for about an hour before the team leader noticed something was wrong.

It seemed like someone had quietly sneaked into the team.

Then he ordered the team to stop and rest, and catch the people who had sneaked in.

"Ouch! Uncle Morente, don't catch me!" Orson looked at Lena who was carried out by the leader by the scruff of the neck. For some reason, he wanted to laugh.

Especially when I saw Lena was still struggling.

"Lena, you are not on the list of the search and rescue team this time. Why did you come out?"

"I...I'm just worried that you don't have enough manpower!"

"But you can't help much here..."