Andy spent each day trying to figure out how to leave. Before he knew it, a week had passed. Nak was still sent out to patrol every night, while Andy lounged around and slept in the little cave assigned to him. It was a single-room cave, and from the bits of information Andy had picked up in casual conversations, he gathered it was a standard private room. Among the Quilboar, a private room was another way of saying bachelor.
The Quilboar weren't actually the lowly beastlike race Andy had imagined. On the contrary, they were an ancient people, with a heritage dating back to the time of the ancient mythic wars. In those days, they had been self-sufficient and lived in peace, wanting no trouble with anyone.
After the ancient wars, the continent split in two. The loss of land put pressure on the Quilboar, and as food and living space dwindled, they were forced to wage war against another ancient race, the Tauren, to fight over the shrinking resources.
The wars kept breaking out intermittently, and both sides had their share of victories and defeats. These harsh conditions gradually made the Quilboar warlike and withdrawn. As for Nak, he was an outlier among the Quilboar. The Quilboar might be lacking in knowledge, but that didn't mean they were stupid. Their current state was simply the result of keeping themselves isolated for so long.
War meant that their numbers would soon be reduced. To keep their race from losing its fighting strength, the Quilboar had to increase their rate of reproduction. The Tauren did the same.
After spending several days thinking up plans—and trying plenty of them—Andy had nearly lost the will to escape. He had once tried to slip away at night, but just as he was about to cross the Quilboar's thorny fence, a piercing bell rang out across Razorfen. A squad of Quilboar guards stationed nearby quickly surrounded the culprit: Andy. He tried every excuse he could think of, even claiming he was sleepwalking, but in the end, only Sonata's intervention got him out of trouble. After that, escaping at night became even harder.
He had also thought about joining Nak on patrol and slipping away under cover of darkness, but Nak wouldn't let him come along. Nak said he was still a kid and didn't need to do such exhausting work. Andy cursed Nak for it more than once. Where had he gotten the idea that Andy was a kid? Andy was almost twice his height, and he was an Elf who was about to turn eighteen. Of course, he didn't dare tell Nak he was an Elf. In fact, even if he had told him, Nak wouldn't have believed him.
Andy gave up on escaping and had no choice but to keep playing the Quilboar. But it wasn't right to do nothing all day. Everything already had someone to take care of it, so what could he do? Then Andy smacked his forehead—he had a new idea.
From then on, Andy went from being a memory-impaired problem child to a resident busybody. He spent all day darting around the Quilboar tribe in Razorfen, digging up pointless gossip. He knew whose wife had given birth to triplets, whose hen had somehow grown two heads, who was a couple of gay guys, who was a lesbian couple, and even whose wife had slept with another male Quilboar.
Of course, he owed all of this to his Elf System. When he couldn't dig up something by asking around, he'd simply climb over a wall and steal the "classified information." He had to keep all this to himself, and whenever he was bored, he'd bring it all back to mind and savor it again.
Sonata knew what Andy was up to, but couldn't be bothered to interfere. He had always suspected that Andy was a Quilboar. As long as Andy didn't cause any major trouble, Sonata simply let him do as he pleased.
The sun was just right that day. By that, Andy meant it wasn't hot enough to make someone feel like they were melting. He'd been here long enough to gradually get used to the climate.
With nothing better to do, Andy put his gossip skills to work again. This time, though, he was asking about Nak—that slightly dim-witted Quilboar.
An old Quilboar happened to have nothing to do, so he told Andy about Nak's past. The old Quilboar thought speaking about someone behind his back was impolite, but after Andy swore he wouldn't tell anyone, he took it as a chance to chat.
Nak's full name was Nak Razormane. Sonata Razormane was his uncle and the current elder of the Thornweavers. The previous Thornweaver elder, Flar Razormane, was Nak's father and the Warchief of the entire Razormane Tribe. Flar had led their group away from the other Quilboar and the war with the Tauren. The wars had stopped, but they had been left poor, isolated, and ignorant of the wider world.
Including Nak, Flar had had four sons. The other three had died fighting the Tauren, leaving Nak as the only one still alive. After Flar died, Nak should have inherited his father's position as Thornweaver elder and taken on the role of Warchief. But his uncle Sonata had fiercely opposed it, claiming that Nak was the son of Flar's concubine and had no right to inherit. Besides, Nak wasn't particularly capable and even seemed a little stupid to everyone, so they accepted Sonata's decision.
Sonata got his way and became Thornweaver elder, ruling over this Quilboar tribe. Nak had never shown much resentment. The position of Thornweaver elder meant nothing to him. He had no grand ambitions; all he wanted was to marry and live a quiet life.
After taking power, Sonata didn't dare mistreat Nak. After all, he was his elder brother's son. Even if he was a bastard, he was still his nephew. To keep others from talking, Sonata made sure Nak was well fed and looked after. A few years later, Sonata found Nak a wife—a female Quilboar. By Quilboar standards, Nak's wife was the prettiest female in their tribe.
Hearing this, Andy thought of Nak's wife, and felt a surge of nausea.
Nak had lived an ordinary, unremarkable life, quiet and honest. As the Quilboar put it, Nak was so stupid he'd be stupid until the day he died. After finishing his story, the old Quilboar sighed. "That's just Nak for you. If it were anyone else, they'd have torn Sonata's head off! Sonata's not much good at anything, really."
The old Quilboar glanced at the sky. "It's getting late. I should head back. Don't go telling anyone I said all this!"
Andy nodded, and the old Quilboar left with a relieved look.
The sun sank below the horizon, and Azeroth's twin moons appeared as expected. Nak came out of his cave, greeted Andy, and headed off with a torch to patrol.
Andy watched Nak's departing figure and sighed without realizing it. He was starting to feel sorry for Nak. Someone else had taken his rightful place, yet Nak had lived his life without complaint. Maybe his refusal to argue was what made it easier for him to live with.
Andy went back to his own little single-room cave. As he went in, he glanced at the moon above and wondered: When would he be able to live this carefree life?
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