It's the Murloc Life for Me [A Warcraft Isekai]

Chapter 15: Old Friends, New Enemies

"More of those strange Murlocs... It's probably nothing."

Syd Saldean, Westfall Lighthouse Keeper

~ Brgllrm

Our walk to Mrgglr's hut was not as exciting as I hoped. For some reason, getting out of the gawking crowd was much easier than when I first got in. Maybe it was because they had finally noticed me, the Oracle's apprentice and accomplished healer in my own right.

Or it could be the two murloc bodyguards who looked like they were on steroids. That might have changed the reaction a smidge.

While we walked I gave a brief tour of the village, pointing out the different structures and spots. With the competitions done, the beach had been cleaned up, but there were still outlines and bits of the obstacle course here and there. I learned a few things about our new guests during the tour.

The first was that the two big coastrunners were either shy or mute. Both strapping young lads did not utter a single sound during the entire trip. They seemed interested in the village, constantly whipping their heads around to take in every detail I pointed out. But the only questions came from Slrgl.

I was pretty sure the problem wasn't language based. Mrgglr had told me about all the different dialects of Nerglish he had encountered throughout his long life. Some of them had changed so much that they were unintelligible. But murlocs had only been living on the Longshore for a few generations. There hadn't been enough time for the dialects to drift so far apart. Plus I had heard Srlgl giving them orders not to scare any tadpoles, and they simply nodded in response.

What pushed the mute theory over the edge for me was how they interacted with each other. One tripped over a loose log from the obstacle course carelessly left on the beach and had a slight tumble. Nothing major. But there weren't any profanities or exclamations of surprise. There was only a grunt and the scattering of sand as he hit the beach.

Then the other one helped him up in complete silence. No "are you okay?" or laughing at their friend looking like an idiot. Just a hand outstretched without even looking at the man on the ground.

It wasn't confirmation, but it was a pretty big clue. What friends, or even just co-workers, would miss an opportunity to take pleasure at the other's expense?

Srlgl was the complete opposite. I'm pretty sure he would talk to a rock if he thought it was listening. The entire trip he kept peppering me with questions about everything I pointed out, and a few things I didn't. It was understandable seeing as he seemed to be the brains of this particular coastrunner party. He stuck to practical questions. Things like how many hunters were in the village or if we had spotted any gnoll scouts recently.

As we neared Mrgllr's hut, passing a cluster of rubberneckers gawking at the admittedly unusual trio, Srlgl waved his arm to grab my attention. "So Brgllrm was it," he said in a tone starkly different from his usual dulcet voice, "why don't you wait outside with Grrgl and Brrgl while I talk to your master?"

The way he said it was unpleasant. It was slow and deliberate like he was trying to ensure I could understand him. I recognized it as a tone people took on when speaking to children. It carried an undercurrent of arrogance, that I would just do whatever he said. It honestly made me a little angry. I expected my youthful appearance to elicit some sort of reaction, but you would think a coastrunner to be less dismissive of an oracle's apprentice.

"I'm sorry coastrunner Srlgl," I said like a retail worker trying not to punch someone who really deserved it. "But Mrgglr instructed me to accompany you at all times. He wishes for you to suffer no inconveniences."