Chapter 374
Chapter 374
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 374
Chapter Title: The Troll's Song
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However.
"It's not for me to pass judgment."
I tamped down the rage and violence threatening to erupt.
"Guh...! Guh! Gack!"
—Kyuuuooooh!!!
The hunchback wailed as he embraced the troll, and the troll let out a horrific screech while licking him in return. It might look like a heart-wrenching scene at first glance, but to me, it was nothing short of an outrageously depraved abomination.
Getting it on with a monster!
The hunchback was probably so dim-witted and freakish-looking that he'd been ostracized in the village, making the troll his one and only friend.
Maybe he'd projected his own deformities onto the malformed troll and taken pity on it, raising it like a kindred spirit.
And that smell wasn't just to hide from male trolls—it could have been to keep other nearby monsters from noticing.
Yeah, that could be it.
But pity doesn't absolve guilt. Motives don't matter to me. In the end, this hunchback's atrocity had gotten seven people killed.
A truly heinous crime.
Still, this wasn't for me to handle. All seven victims were villagers. It was right to leave the punishment to them.
"We need to tell the villagers and let them decide his fate."
That was my decision.
This was the verdict of a righteous wanderer, Kim Katt.
Especially since we were getting paid 20 silvers each as adventurers—no way was I letting this slide.
"What's up, Blackie? Thought you'd go berserk and kill 'em on the spot."
"Changed my mind. This ain't my business. Anyway, let's go. Hand over the troll!"
I immediately yanked the troll away from the hunchback.
—Squeeeek!!
That repulsive noise never failed to grate. I grabbed the thrashing troll's arms to restrain it. Its freakishly small size made it a bit of a strain, and trying to manage it with one hand was a real pain.
—Squuuuoooong!!!
Fuck, and it was goddamn heavy to lift one-handed. Sure, it was kid-sized, but it was still a monster.
And it was bucking like crazy.
"G-Give it back!"
"Give what back, you bastard! You're coming with us!"
As I wrestled the troll one-handed, Cloudy spoke up.
"Katt, let me carry the troll."
"You sure? It's a monster."
"Hehe, no problem. I've been wanting to get my hands on one."
Cloudy gripped the troll's wrists with iron strength. It squealed like a pig again, but it couldn't break free from her ghostly vise.
—Squeeeeeeeek!!!
"Ku, Kkoolkkool!!!"
"Shut it!"
And so we headed outside.
Dawn was breaking.
"Winia, mind grabbing the packs? Katt's injured right now."
"Was already planning to."
Our packs sat right where we'd left them by the cave entrance.
"Sorry about this, Winia."
"Can't carry 'em if you're hurt, so what's to be sorry about?"
"You're already lugging heavy stuff around."
"Eh, you can carry 'em one-handed on the way back."
"Ugh."
The hunchback had followed us out of the cave on his own, wailing for his Kkoolkkool without us even dragging him.
What sick obsession.
It felt no different from cultists clinging to their deranged doctrines.
"Give me back Kkoolkkool!!!"
Outside, the hunchback charged at Cloudy.
"Where do you think you're going!"
I shot out my right hand and grabbed the back of his collar. This guy could come with me. Cloudy flashed me a grin and shook the half-limp Kkoolkkool.
"Kkoolkkool!!!"
—Squeeeeeeeek!!!
Their wails in unison were monstrous in themselves.
"You little shit!"
Fury rising, I bellowed at him before we headed to the village. Time to school this idiot on the atrocity he'd committed.
"People died because of your Kkoolkkool, got it? That thing needs to die!"
"K-Kkoolkkool didn't hurt anyone! P-Please, don't torment it! I was wrong! Give me back Kkoolkkool!!!"
He just kept reaching for Kkoolkkool.
"This guy's hopeless. Listen up, you moron. The troll came sniffing around because of that Kkoolkkool you raised, and seven people got slaughtered! You get that? Do you even grasp what you've done!!!"
Devil of a bastard!
"I don't know! I don't! Give me back Kkoolkkool! Kkoolkkool's innocent!"
"Even after that! Kkoolkkool's the guilty one!"
"Kkoolkkool did nothing wrong...! I don't know, I don't...! I don't know what I did wrong...!"
"Fuck, this is ridiculous."
This horrific bastard wasn't just low-IQ.
He just thought whatever suited him and refused to hear or accept any inconvenient truth.
No point explaining to a fuckwit like this.
Didn't I warn him not to come to the forest? And here he was anyway.
"Anyway, Kkoolkkool's confiscated. That monster drew the troll here. You let it run loose, more villagers died, you piece of shit."
"I-I was wrong! Forgive Kkoolkkool! I'm begging you...! It's my only fr-friend!!! Give it back!!"
Now he was even trying to negotiate.
"Yeah, you fucked up, and Kkoolkkool can't be forgiven either, you psycho. That fucker brought the troll, seven people dead. Got it?"
"D-Don't know, I don't know! Kkoolkkool's a good girl...!"
Good to you, maybe.
"Fuck, what's the point of talking?"
No use saying more.
Conversation was impossible; he was just spewing nonsense to dodge reality.
"Tsk tsk tsk, what an idiot. Ugh, pisses me off. How does shit like this even happen? Guys like him ruin villages. Can't let it slide. And Blackie's hurt too."
Winia vented her disgust.
She was right—this was unforgivable.
Twisted beliefs and warped common sense.
And ignorance.
That combination could wipe out a whole village.
No different from heretics.
"...Yeah."
This world wasn't kind.
Monsters and cultists would exploit any gap with ruthless savagery, tearing into weakness without hesitation, always plotting humanity's extermination. Like ancient evils lurking in the ocean depths, they lived for nothing else.
No room for complacency.
If the troll had been even a bit bolder, slipping into the village undetected for a massacre—who could've stopped it?
Even if the young folks with farm tools banded together to drive it off, the casualties would've been unimaginable.
Imperialism must be uprooted.
And so we arrived at the village.
"Th-The adventurers are back!!"
"The troll! Did they get the troll!!"
"The adventurers are back!!"
I bellowed to the frenzied villagers.
"The troll is slain! Here, behold the head of the monster that killed your families and friends!"
Winia slung off her pack, and I hauled out the troll's massive head. Its dead maw gaped open, long tongue lolling.
"O-Oh!!! That foul beast!!!"
"So inhuman!!!"
"The troll's dead! The troll's dead!"
The villagers cheered in horror. Then, a sharp-eyed one pointed at Cloudy.
"Wh-What's that?! A troll whelp?!"
"And why's Pasper with it...?"
Time for a long explanation.
"Fetch the village chief,"
Winia said coldly.
"Eek."
"Waaah!!!"
Cloudy pretended to hurl Kkoolkkool at the villagers, giggling at their panic.
I let go of the hunchback around then.
"Kkoolkkool!"
"Cloudy. Let it go now."
"Okay."
Kkoolkkool leaped free and bolted to the hunchback. He collapsed hugging it, sobbing loudly.
—Squeeeeeeng!!!
"Hic... Guh, Kkoolkkool!!!"
Not a shred of sympathy here.
"Pa-Pasper! What the hell is that monster?!"
Villagers surrounded the pitiful hunchback and the grotesque creature. They wouldn't get much out of interrogating them.
Better talk to the chief.
"Winia. Let's head to the chief's."
We made for the chief's house.
On the way, we spotted him coming with a man who'd run to fetch him.
"O-Oh! Adventurers! Well done! The troll...!"
"It's dead, so rest easy. More importantly, I'd like to talk at your place."
"Ah, of course."
We went straight to his house. Time to report the truth to our employer as hired hands.
"We killed the troll. It was a big one—explains the high reward... But we uncovered something strange."
"Strange? What is it?"
I sipped the tea his wife served and laid it out.
This incident wasn't natural.
The troll attacking the village was a rutting male desperate for a mate. Oddly, it didn't mate and leave—it kept killing people.
Digging in, we found the hunchback at the center.
He'd been hiding and raising a female troll in a cave, even masking its scent.
That drove the male berserk.
It sensed a female but couldn't pinpoint her due to the faint smell, going mad with frustration.
I explained this to the chief.
"Yes, exactly. The hunchback was raising a female troll. We suspect that's why the rutting male wandered into the village."
His face paled as I summed it up.
"N-No way...! That bastard Pasper dared...!!!"
"Anyway, about the completion certificate."
"Already prepared."
The chief pulled out the guild quest form from his pocket, stamped in the completion section.
C-rank quest complete.
20 silvers earned.
My busted arm was worth it, fuck yeah.
"Truly grateful. Three villagers injured... but that's a relief."
"No, on that note—tell folks to run if a monster shows. Gawkers just add to the body count. If you're fighting, don't half-ass it unprepared. Yesterday, going for the troll, the whole village was clustered watching."
Safety negligence or whatever—if you can't handle it, don't crowd and spectate; flee.
"Ah, understood. We'll do that."
After chatting with the chief, we grabbed our gear from the inn and returned to the site. The cart was waiting.
Quest done—time to head back.
—Squeeeeek!!!
"Don't hit Kkoolkkool!!!"
The troll was already tied up. Villagers encircled it, while the hunchback wailed and tried shielding it.
What a bizarre sight.
Protecting a monster amid the crowd.
"Paspar! Step away! Why defend a troll?!"
"Move! It's a monster! Spawn of the one that killed us!"
"Kill it quick, or the mother might hear the cries!"
Not a spawn, a disabled female. And no mother coming, of course.
Anyway, time to go.
The chief would handle Paspar.
Village matter, not mine.
"Adventurers! Off now, then?"
"Yep. Let's roll."
The driver mounted up.
We loaded gear first, and Winia said,
"Blackie. That troll."
"Hm? What?"
"Could sell it at the arena. Disabled or not, it's still a troll. Bet we'd get good coin."
Fuck, she's right?
I yelled immediately.
"Dangerous! Step back from the troll now!"
"Ah, got it!"
The villagers encircling Paspar and the troll parted instantly. I strolled up casually.
"Hand it over!"
"N-No!!!"
I seized the rope binding Kkoolkkool and yanked it from Paspar. He wailed for it back but was quickly subdued by villagers.
"Don't mess with adventurers!!! Calm down, Paspar!"
"A-Adventurers? What'll you do with that troll?"
One uncle asked, so I declared boldly.
"Dangerous monster, so we'll dispose of it! To prevent more harm, we need it for research! A golden chance to study troll habits!"
"I see...! As expected!"
"Good call pooling coin for the guild request!"
"Birth of the village guardian!!!"
Bullshit, but they bought it.
Sell the troll blood and heart I brought, plus this Kkoolkkool at the arena—plenty to cover my busted arm.
Probably need weeks of treatment anyway.
"Katt! Let's go!"
"Right!"
We boarded the cart. One arm gimped, I needed Cloudy's help even for that.
"Ow, this looks pathetic. Thanks, Cloudy."
"No problem. You did great, Katt. Not pathetic at all. Warriors get hurt in battle—it's normal. Honestly, I'd prefer visible scars over this... weird to say?"
"Nah. Woulda been nice."
Cloudy smiled and ruffled my hair. Arm hurt, but tangling with that giant troll was worth it.
"Departing!"
Me, the girls, and Kkoolkkool headed for Isvant.
—Squeeeengiiiik!!
"Ah, fuck, Blackie. Too noisy. Wanna kill it."
"Heh, same."
—Squiiiink!!!!!
Bound Kkoolkkool squealed piggishly toward the village.
It was...
A song.
Miserable wails, screams of despair. What did Kkoolkkool see, feel? Somehow, Paspar's cry of 'Kkoolkkool!' echoed from the village.
"Well... good deed done today."
No more trolls for that village.
—Kyooooaaaah!!!!!!
A breeze tickled my cheek. The peaceful vibe clashed hilariously with Kkoolkkool's song, evoking some outdated jazz mood.
Spring's ending soon.