Bob, Ben, Betty, and Rick stood in a line. The orcs stood as straight and tall as they could. The imp imitated them. The chief wasn't as happy as Bob had hoped. He had screamed at them until his green face turned yellow with anger. Bob was worried the chief would die from anger or, worse, kill Bob.

"Why did you give away our gold!" Screamed Chief Richard.

"We bought more human bait, I mean, bacon, sir!" Bob reported as he saluted the chief.

"Why?" Richard shouted.

"To lure more humans here," Bob said.

Richard glared at Bob, "And did it?"

"Yes, chief," Bob shouted, still saluting.

"How many did you rob," Richard had stopped shouting. It was hurting his throat.

"None, sir." Bod barked.

"None!" Richard was back to shouting.

"No, sir. They gave us gold for the bacon, eggs, and toast. They said they will come back tomorrow with more humans." Bob shouted in terror.

Richard stopped and glared at Bob. "Wait, you mean to say they will come back here willingly?" Richard asked in a more normal tone. The chief blinked a few times, wondering if he had lost his mind.

"Yes, chief. They will give us gold for the egg, bacon, and toast." Bod said.

The chief stared hard at Bob. "Bring me some of this bacon, eggs, and toast," Richard demanded.

The twins ran to the fire as fast as they could. They would make the chief the best breakfast he had ever had. It would also be the first, but that didn't matter to them. They, like Bob, were afraid the chief would have them executed.

Rick grabbed several plates and forks. He began to serve the chief, the shaman, and the five warriors that had traveled with the chief and Steve. Rick wasn't sure if the chief would kill him, but he didn't want to find out.

Richard watched Bob as he sat down with his own plate. He saw Bob pick up the fork and begin to shovel the food into his mouth. The rest followed his lead. Richard's eyes lite up. This was the best meal he had ever had. No wonder humans like it.

"This is good," Richard said with his mouth full of eggs.

"Thank you, chief," Bob said, hoping this would calm the chief.

"They give you gold for this?" Richard asked.

"Yes, four gold, and we bargain for other valuables," Bob said.

"No fighting?" Richard asked with amazement.

"No, chief," Bob said with some embarrassment. Fighting was a way of life for an orc. This felt like cheating.

Rick showed up when everyone was done eating. He gathered the plates from all of the orcs. He stopped at the shaman and stared at her with wide eyes.

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The shaman looked down at the little imp. She was as tall as Bob and as muscular as any orc. "What do you want, little cousin?" She said gently.

Rick gulped, "You are the most beautiful orc I have ever seen."

The shaman laughed, "And how many orc females have you seen?"

"None," Rick said.

"What about Ben?" The shaman asked.

"Ben? Ben isn't a female," Rick said.

"Hey!" Ben shouted, "I am too!"

The shaman laughed harder, "Thank you, little cousin. I am Rose. It's good to meet you."

Rick bowed, "It is good to meet you too, Rose." With a blush, he quickly ran away to do the dishes.

Richard had calmed down enough to hear more about what Bob and the others were doing, "Explain yourself, Bob."

Bob took a deep breath, "We found that cooking the bacon brought the imps to us. They gave us gold, silver, and other valuables for the bacon."

"Then the humans showed up?" Richard asked.

"No, only imps. The next day some humans came and bought some food." Bod said.

"And you robbed them?" Richard asked.

"No, they said they would come back," Bob said.

"Did they?" Richard asked, starting to get impatient.

"Yes, with others." Bob was getting embarrassed again.

"And you robbed them?" Richard was waiting for the correct answer.

"No," Bob said, looking down at the grass.

"Why?" Richard asked, his irritation starting to show.

"They like the food. They said they will bring more humans." Bob said.

"Then you are going to rob them?" Richard asked. Richard knew the answer, but he knew it wouldn't be what he wanted to hear.

"Well…" Bob started.

"Then you rob them," Richard growled.

"But, hear me out, chief. They give us gold for this." Bob pointed to the camp. "They bring us gold. We don't fight."

Richard thought about it. He liked to raid and rob. It was what orcs did. But, this seemed so simple. Too simple. He liked simple, but something bothered him. It was like his ancestors were laughing at him.

"When do we rob them?" Richard asked.

"Maybe we don't. We can cook and sell food. They give us gold." Bob said. "No fighting, and we always get gold."

Richard thought about the raiding and robbery where they got no gold, silver, or anything of value. In some raiding, they only got bruises, broken bones, or death. Richard stared at Bob.

"Fine," Richard said, "you can keep doing this."

"What?" shouted the other orcs that had come with the chief.

"Bob, you keep doing this. This is good." Richard said.

"I agree with the chief," said Rose, "This is better than robbing and raiding."

"Not better, easier," Richard said, "But if we want, we could rob them at any time."

"Yes, chief, you are the smartest of us," said Bob, happy that the chief wouldn't execute him.

"I'm going to stay here for a few days. I want to see this." Richard said, pointing around at the camp.

"Good idea, chief," agreed Bob.

Steve glared at Bob. He had hoped the chief would have gutted him. He would have taken Bob's place and led the raiding party. They would have gone back to the tradition of robbing and raiding. Not whatever this was.

"Hey, Rose," Ben shouted, "You have any of the herbs for us."

"You can have my bag. I'll gather more tomorrow," Rose said, tossing her bag to Ben.

The orcs got busy setting up the chief's campsite near Bob and the other's camp. The chief had the biggest tent with enough room for many orcs. The others had tents with enough space for themselves.

"Tomorrow, I will have breakfast," Richard said as he retired to his tent.

Bob, Ben, Betty, Steve, and Rick slept beside the campfire. They weren't important enough to have tents, but they didn't care. Bob dreamt of breakfast and all the gold he could show the chief tomorrow.