Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Black Wolf Mercenary Group - 5
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The watchtower duty was assigned to a village youth named Jace for the time being.
"Even without my legs, I want to be useful to the village."
Jace, who had lost his legs protecting his comrades in the war, was a good man unlike some other cripples.
I passed on to him a rough overview of guard duty. Recalling my days as a soldier, I taught him everything a sentry needed to know, and finally handed over a bell.
"If you spot a band of mercenaries trying to raid the village, ring this bell."
"Got it."
The bell served two purposes.
To alert everyone of the enemy's approach so they could prepare for battle, and to let the non-combatants evacuate quickly.
And the evacuation point was my house.
"Hey~ I made the door just like you said, Sian."
"Thanks for the hard work, Tom."
My house, reinforced with blackwood walls, couldn't be breached easily without ladders or siege towers.
That said, it would only hold for a little while before they broke through.
'That's why I've prepared all sorts of things. Not sure if they'll work, though.'
I'd fought and hunted countless beasts and monsters, but this was my first time dealing with people.
I worried I might hesitate due to some aversion to killing.
"Well, that probably won't happen."
"What was that, Sian?"
"Just talking to myself, Leon."
"Oh?"
"And Leon, when the time comes, come out with me."
"Just the two of us?"
"Yeah, there's something we need to set up."
After all, we had to give a warm welcome to our village guests.
"Being a rural village, there's nothing worth seeing here."
"Yeah, tell me about it."
Ron, the ten-man leader of the Black Wolf Mercenary Group, sighed as he surveyed the peaceful, unremarkable village right in front of Lugeron Village.
"No matter how I think about it, I'm doubting whether hitting this place is the right call."
"You think so? The other ten-man leaders said there are lots of beauties here."
"How many beauties can there even be in a backwater like this?"
Ron was a thief from the city.
To him, who had grown up amid the city's culture, progress, and pleasures, Lugeron Village was the epitome of hick towns.
"Sigh... If it weren't for the leader's orders, I wouldn't have come here."
"Don't be like that. If there really are tons of beauties, we could have an amazing time. And make some money too."
"Idiot, if it were that simple, there'd be no dilemma."
Human trafficking.
It was definitely profitable, and other mercenary groups were in on it, but Ron doubted if it was really okay.
Turning nobles' serfs into slaves wasn't easy.
No matter how cheaply they sold them to slave traders, the traders wouldn't take them because of the huge barrier called reputation.
'Even if the empire's in chaos and it's supposed to be fine.'
The empire was currently rife with wars everywhere.
Nobles fighting for power, nations rebelling against the empire, imperial family succession issues, and more.
The empire was pure chaos, but central authority was flowing smoothly without issue, more than expected.
That meant the empire was still very much intact. Trying to sell nobles' serfs as slaves now?
It was a challenge to noble authority, and could even be seen as treason against the emperor.
'At this rate, we'll go from mercenaries to bandits. I need to desert at the first chance.'
He had no desire to be branded a criminal when—
"Huh?"
One of his subordinates ahead vanished right before his eyes.
"What the—?"
"Gon's gone!"
"Fuck, I know that! What I'm asking is what happened?!"
Caught off guard, Ron and the Black Wolf scouting party quickly went on alert.
Then one subordinate spotted something and stammered cautiously.
"Th-there's a trap here."
"This is insane..."
Looking where the subordinate pointed, Ron saw his man dead in a gruesome state. The pit had collapsed under him, impaling his body with spikes.
"Looks like a hunter's trap."
"I can see that. But why's it here?"
Ron snapped irritably at his subordinate. Traps on a path people used? It didn't make sense no matter how he thought about it.
"Isn't this the village right up against the famous Dark Forest? Makes sense they'd have brutal traps like this for monsters."
"Damn it, so Gon just had bad luck falling into it?"
"Well, it's unfortunate, isn't it?"
Ron fumed at his subordinate's words.
As the Black Wolf Mercenary Group's top ranger, he could tell at a glance that the trap wasn't sized for monsters—it was human-sized. They'd anticipated the mercenaries coming this way and made it specifically for them.
"Everyone, stay sharp. There might be more traps ahead."
"Haha, we're not idiots—we won't fall for it like Gon..."
One subordinate confidently took the lead.
He'd never gotten along with Gon and wanted to prove he was different, so he strode ahead.
Crunch!
But a flying rock crushed him.
"Fucking moron."
Ron didn't offer condolences to his dying man—just curses.
"I'm saying it again. Stay tense, or you'll end up like this idiot."
"Yes, sir!"
The subordinates now sensed the danger and began searching for traps.
But no mere mercenary rangers could spot traps set by a seasoned hunter—let alone one of the empire's best.
"Gaaahhh!"
"Fuck, poison!"
"S-save me!"
In the end, Ron was the sole survivor, flashing a hollow laugh.
"Hahaha, no way. A hunter of this caliber in front of some rural village?"
He bolted immediately. He had no confidence advancing further.
But he was already too deep to escape.
Crunch!
"Gwaaahhh!"
Ron stepped into a snare and couldn't move. Then a massive boulder dropped on him.
"N-no!"
Splat!
Thus, the entire Black Wolf scouting party, including Ron with his crushed skull, was wiped out.
"Looks like they hit the traps."
Hunters fundamentally had to handle traps well, and Ian had taught me both beast/monster traps and ones designed for humans.
'Said they could be used on rangers in war.'
Personally, I didn't use traps much.
I could make them, but the monsters I usually faced wouldn't fall for something like that.
'First time trying them on humans. Not sure if they'll work.'
Call it instinct, but they definitely did.
If so, this was my first kill—and it didn't feel unpleasant or burdensome.
Maybe because it wasn't right in front of me?
Thwack!
"Bullseye!"
"Nice shot."
"Really?"
After building the watchtower, I'd been teaching Leon archery in my spare time.
A bow would be a better weapon for her relatively weak strength than a sword.
'She could serve as an archer from the watchtower.'
Of course, she was new to it, so her skill wasn't great yet, but she could at least hit visible targets.
"Alright, let's head back."
"Already? I feel like I'm getting the hang of it. Just a bit more?"
"I'd love to, but the sun's setting."
"Oh yeah, lost track of time."
In the countryside, you didn't go out at night unless you had to.
It was pitch black without torches, and beasts and monsters prowled. Especially near the Dark Forest.
"If not tonight, then tomorrow."
True to its location next to the Dark Forest, danger lurked around the village.
Whoever built a village there must've been insane, no doubt.
If the Black Wolf Mercenary Group were ordinary, the Dark Forest's notoriety alone would deter them from even considering a raid on Lugeron Village.
But the Black Wolves weren't ordinary. Specifically, their leader Wolf wasn't.
He was knight-class, capable of taking on a hundred men alone on the battlefield. He could handle most monsters easily, so his men followed confidently.
Yet their advance scouting party had been wiped out.
By monsters? No, by traps set by mere rural villagers.
Pathetic. Idiotic.
"Ron, I'll put your money to good use."
"Hey, don't hog it all."
Expecting camaraderie from mercenaries was impossible. They fought wars for money in the first place.
Hired by nobles, sure, but in war they plundered like bandits. In some ways, mercenaries could be worse.
"Fuck, this village is gonna be a goldmine. All the country bitches are dead meat."
"Heh heh heh, gonna make 'em cry."
The laughing mercenaries loved raiding rural villages.
Snatching years of hard-earned assets and raping women in front of everyone was one of the perks of their lifestyle.
In stark contrast to his men's glee, Leader Wolf and his vice-leader looked grim.
"How the hell did this happen? Ron dying to traps?"
Ron was the Black Wolf Mercenary Group's best ranger.
His scouting and trap-setting skills had saved them multiple times, so Wolf trusted him. Ron was a ten-man leader only because skilled rangers were rare—he was practically vice-leader level.
"Looks like there's an exceptional hunter in the village."
The adjutant, acting as staff officer, voiced his thoughts, but it meant little. Wolf had already guessed as much.
The real issue was how to handle traps ahead now that Ron was gone.
The answer came quicker than expected.
"Send the rookies who failed their last mission first. That should clear the way."
"The dead weight, huh?"
To reiterate, there was no brotherhood among mercenaries.
If you weren't essential, you got discarded without mercy.
"Gaaahhh!"
"S-spare me!"
"Fuck, my leg!"
Thus, most of the sent-ahead subordinates died ruthlessly.
Pity them?
Eh? The other mercenaries just mocked them.
"Haha, I win? Pay up the silver."
"Fuck, how'd Hail from the back die first?"
That way, the Black Wolf Mercenary Group gradually advanced and arrived right at Lugeron Village's doorstep.