The Vegan Troll's Cabin, Part 3
If the concept of a "person" was defined as any intelligent being capable of mutual communication, then the Orcs and Trolls of this world undeniably fell into that category. This meant that Trolls deserved a spot right alongside Humans, Elves, and Dwarves in the grand hierarchy of races.
"Why on earth would they do such a thing...?" Falco asked, her voice trembling.
The owner of the cabin could only let out a heavy sigh. "It is mere sport to them. To those monsters, devouring humans is nothing more than a form of entertainment." He paused, his voice dropping to a low murmur. "I hear that in the past, they actually ate humans to survive."
But now, the Troll Village slaughtered and consumed humans purely for amusement.
"So that's why the villagers can't just run away," Yohan muttered.
"Yes," the host replied briefly to Yohan, who had finally broken his silence.
The Troll Village was holding the Human Village hostage. If the villagers failed to offer a single live sacrifice every year, or if they tried to flee en masse, the Trolls threatened to slaughter every last one of them.
"This is..." This wasn't a simple case of wild beasts preying on humans. These creatures possessed intellect, yet they chose to repeatedly commit acts of cannibalism—acts they had no biological need for—solely for the sake of entertainment and subjugation.
"They're just absolute bastards, plain and simple," Yohan muttered to himself. The host and Falco remained silent, but their quietness was a clear sign of agreement.
"Has there been no attempt to subjugate the village?" Yohan asked. The host shook his head.
"To begin with, this region lies far beyond the reach of the King or the local lords. Even you two only knew of the rumors about man-eating Trolls before hearing my story, didn't you?"
It was a tragedy unfolding in a forgotten corner of the world. Naturally, the high and mighty nobles who nominally ruled this land had no reason to care.
"Then why are you living here?" Falco asked this time. Yohan was secretly curious about this as well, so he quietly waited for the host's response.
"To stop travelers like yourselves from wandering in and becoming victims."
"Even though you might get eaten by them too?" Falco pressed. The host looked slightly taken aback by her question.
"Ah, no. For now, the villagers still recognize me as one of their own. If anything, they just view me as an abnormal eccentric."
A fellow Troll who refused to partake in the "sport" of devouring the live sacrifices offered by the nearby village, choosing instead to live in isolation.
"Falco," Yohan said, his voice suddenly dropping to a low, serious tone as he listened to their exchange.
"Yeah?"
"What do you want to do?" Yohan asked Falco, but it was also a question directed at the Goddess.
—What else is there to do? We must purge these heinous, man-eating fiends from this land.
"We hunt them down and kill every last one of them," Falco answered at almost the exact same moment as the Goddess. Yohan's lips curled into a satisfied smirk.
"You mustn't!" But at that moment, the host bolted upright, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Whoa, Jesus, you scared the crap out of me. Why are you suddenly shouting like... that?"
"I-I'm sorry," the host apologized, his angry expression instantly melting away at Yohan's startled complaint.
"There's no need for you two to throw your lives away. They aren't just ordinary cannibals—they're Trolls. And pure-blood Trolls at that."
To any ordinary observer, a human man and an elven woman were hardly a match for a horde of Trolls. But that was only true under normal circumstances.
"You don't need to worry about that. Yohan is incredibly strong," Falco said. At her words, Yohan crossed his arms and snorted proudly.
Who am I? Even if my Goddess has been stripped of her name, I am still her Apostle, wielding her immense, divine Authority.
Growl— Perhaps because he had tensed his stomach to strike a cool pose, a loud, thunderous rumble suddenly echoed from within, announcing his hunger to the world.
An awkward silence descended upon the room. Falco desperately bit her lip to hold back her laughter, while Yohan squeezed his eyes shut as a wave of sheer embarrassment washed over him.
"Ah... I was actually just finishing up dinner. Would you care to join me for a meal?"
"S-Sure, let's do that." If there was a mouse hole nearby, I'd crawl right into it, Yohan thought with absolute sincerity.
The dinner their host served was nothing spectacular. Given his isolated living conditions, it was hard to expect a wide variety of ingredients. Even so, to the two travelers who had survived on dry rations for an entire week, it was practically a feast.
"Ahhh. Getting some food in my stomach makes me feel alive again."
"Yeah. I'm full." After scraping his wooden bowl clean down to the last drop of broth, Yohan patted his satisfied, slightly bloated stomach with a grin.
"Was the food to your liking?"
"Yeah, absolutely. It felt a bit like health food, but it was really tasty."
"Grass, grass. And potatoes, wild herbs," Falco muttered. At their responses, the host offered an awkward smile.
"Still, it's pretty unusual. Usually, when people think of Orcs or Trolls, they picture creatures who would absolutely lose their minds over meat," Yohan said playfully. Falco wiped her mouth and nodded in agreement.
"Well... due to some personal reasons, I don't eat meat."
Pfft! A split second later, Falco sprayed a mouthful of half-chewed food all over the table, completely caught off guard by the host's confession.
"Hey! God, that is absolutely disgusting!"
"Cough! Hack!" Yohan recoiled in horror at the sudden biological attack. The host's words had apparently struck Falco with such force that she was left hacking and coughing, unable to catch her breath.
"I mean, how can a person just not eat meat?" Falco demanded, still wheezing as she glared at the host. The host scratched the back of his head, looking thoroughly embarrassed.
"If you're a Troll, you should be staying far away from grass and stuffing your face with meat!" But at Falco's continued badgering, his patience finally wore thin.
"And what about you? Aren't Elves supposed to be all 'one with nature' and avoid eating meat?" The argument had officially begun. Because he spoke in such a polite, measured tone, it somehow sounded even more menacing.
"That's just a stereotype! I love meat. Meat is the absolute best!" Falco shot back, refusing to back down.
"It's the same for me! Do you think just because someone has green skin, they have to spend their entire life eating nothing but meat?"
"Well, it's the first time I've ever seen it! Where in the world is there a vegetarian Troll? Are you even a real Troll?"
"I've never seen a pointy-eared elf who only hunts for meat either! Are you even a real Elf? Are you sure you're not just a human whose ears got stretched out by someone pulling on them?"
The two of them traded racial slurs back and forth without yielding an inch.
"Haha. What an absolute circus," Yohan muttered. Finding the spectacle thoroughly entertaining, he rubbed his nose, crossed his arms, and simply enjoyed the show.
Still, he couldn't let this pointless bickering go on forever. After letting out a long, loud burp, Yohan finally stood up and thrust his head between them.
"Alright, alright, that's enough. It's just a difference in taste, no need to tear each other's throats out over it. And Falco, you brat. You just got a home-cooked meal for the first time in forever, and instead of being grateful, you're complaining about the side dishes?"
"Ugh..." Falco fell silent, unable to find a single word to counter Yohan's scolding.
"Well, we should probably get going..." Yohan said, glancing toward the door.
"The sun has completely set. Are you planning to sleep outside?"
"We've already overstayed our welcome by eating your food; it'd be rude to linger any longer. Besides, we have a carriage, so we won't exactly be sleeping on the bare dirt."
"Well, if you say so..."
It was time to leave. Yohan stood up, and though Falco still wore a sour expression, she didn't cause any more trouble.
—I have never seen my Falco so furious before.
"Well—cough." The Goddess's voice echoed in his head, and Yohan almost reflexively talked back to her, momentarily forgetting that their host was watching.
"In any case, you must absolutely stay away from the Troll Village. Do you understand?"
"Yeah, yeah. But heading toward the human village is fine, right?" Yohan asked, and the host nodded.
"I wouldn't exactly recommend that either, to be honest. The atmosphere in that village isn't particularly welcoming to outsiders."
"Well, as long as we pay, they'll probably sell us some food," Yohan replied, extending his hand toward the host.
"I'm Yohan. And that pointy-eared brat over there is Falco." He introduced them out of the blue.
"I-I'm Billy." Yohan lightly shook hands with the host, who finally revealed his name as Billy. Then, Yohan turned around and headed straight for the door.
"Thanks for the meal."
"You're welcome. Safe travels in the dark." Guided out by Billy, Yohan and Falco left the cabin. Once outside, they saw that the sun, which had been hanging low on the western horizon just a moment ago, had completely vanished.
"Brr. It gets cold fast the moment the sun goes down. Let's get inside and rest."
"Okay." Yohan climbed into the carriage parked near the cabin. The horses pulling the carriage had already fallen asleep on the road while their masters were away.
"You rest first. You were driving earlier," Falco said. Yohan nodded and sprawled out on the floor of the carriage's cargo bed.
Flash! Just as he was about to close his eyes, a bright light flared, and the Goddess manifested in the physical world.
"What the... What are you doing?"
"My Apostle. What do you intend to do now?" The fact that she had chosen to physically manifest instead of just speaking in his mind meant she had something important to say. Falco, who was keeping watch outside the carriage, turned her head to focus on the Goddess.
"What else? If what he said is true, we're going in at first light to wipe them all out." Yohan answered the Goddess's question and glanced at Falco. Falco gave him a silent nod of agreement.
"Do you truly believe his words?" Although Billy had been cooperative, he was still a highly suspicious figure to Yohan's party. From a more cynical perspective, it was incredibly sketchy that he had shared such sensitive information with complete strangers. The Goddess's skepticism was entirely reasonable.
"That's why I said if it's true. It's not like he poisoned our dinner or anything. We'll find out the details once we visit the human village tomorrow morning."
Even if Billy was suspicious, there wasn't much they could do right now. Traveling along a pitch-black mountain path in a carriage was far too dangerous.
"Besides, didn't we just send a literal Demon straight to hell in one shot? How tough could a bunch of Trolls really be?" Yohan said, lightly thumping his chest with his fist.
"Excellent. That is indeed the spirit of my Apostle," the Goddess said, nodding with a broad, satisfied smile.
"Honestly, I'm more curious about what those 'personal reasons' he mentioned are."
"That is true. Frankly, I have no idea either." Flash! The Goddess vanished once more. Having finished her business, there was no reason to waste her precious divine power maintaining a physical form.
"Alright, I'm going to sleep. Wake me up when it's my turn."
"Yeah. I will." Yohan lay back down on the floor of the cargo bed, pulling a blanket from the corner over his body. Standing watch in shifts was undeniably exhausting. Maybe I should have dragged Charles along, even if I had to force him... Yohan thought to himself as he closed his eyes.
No, that's cruel. The kid is still growing. If I forced him to pull night watch duties, he'd probably end up a midget for the rest of his life. Besides, he's already gone, so there's no point in thinking about it now. Yes, it was time to sleep. Tomorrow, they would buy some rations and investigate the situation. He finally closed his eyes.
"Get the hell out of here and don't try any funny business!"
Tsk. Well, this complicates things.