Hooked by a Detour
Dog Hook Troll #001 came back to his senses. The wound on the back of his head, where the stone axe had struck, had long since regenerated, but his skull still rang with a dull numbness.
- Trooo!
He sprang up, resolved to crush the bastard who had attacked him on the spot.
- Troo?
But there were no trolls or humans anywhere nearby. By that time, his kin were busy getting soundly thrashed in the grain warehouse, so their absence was only natural.
- Trooo....
A bad feeling prickling at him, Dog Hook spotted a massive tree and began climbing, driving his hook into the bark as he went.
In the distance, he caught sight of the humans emerging from the grain warehouse, and his eyes went bloodshot with rage. Trolls could see well in the dark, but their sight in daylight was nothing special.
- Tro?!
From the noise the humans were making, it looked as if his kin had lost. Faintly, he could even hear the death cries of the trolls.
- Turol! Turoo! Tural! (A roughly very cruel string of curses)
Dog Hook ground his fangs and hurled curses at his stupid kin.
- Trooool....
Now he had to think hard about what to do next. No matter how he looked at it, the obvious move was to turn around and run.
- Tro?
Just as he was about to climb down, he froze. A knight was riding toward him on horseback. Straight toward the tree he was in.
Dog Hook spun his thoughts quickly. Considering he was a troll, it was supercomputer-level processing speed.
Was that the knight who had been luring them earlier? Then a one-on-one fight would be dangerous. But running was dangerous too. Too fast, the horse was faster than him. Open grassland. Nowhere to hide.
- Troho?!
Then, as if struck by inspiration, he climbed down from the tree.
The troll tore one of his own arms open with his stone hook. Scattering blood at regular intervals, he staggered away. Where he stopped, there were two fairly large boulders.
- Trhhehe.
He let out a thin, foul laugh, then hacked the wounded arm clean off at the shoulder with the hook. He placed the hook in the severed arm and laid the stump behind the rock, hiding only the cut end from view.
This was bait for Shrakhim.
For a troll's idea, it was an exceptionally clever trap.
- Troo....
Staggering, he hid himself behind the other rock. Even with their stubborn vitality, he had only just recovered from the smashed wound at the back of his head, and after bleeding so much and cutting off his own arm, dizziness was only natural.
- Trueh!
But he pulled himself together and, with all his strength, regenerated the severed arm.
The blood dripping from it gradually slowed, and the torn flesh began to squirm and knit back together.
Dog Hook panted and clenched the fist of his intact arm.
He didn’t have much time.
- Tro... troll.
Having recovered a little strength, he picked up stones, smashed them apart, and fashioned a stone hand axe from the hardest shard he could find.
By troll standards, when they were putting effort into craftsmanship, it was a terribly crude chipped stone tool, but if he treated it as a one-use weapon meant for a single blow, it would do.
- Trhhehrol.
His plan, in order, was this.
(1) Shrakhim would follow the blood trail.
(2) If he found the arm still clutching the stone hook, he would assume its owner had died after running out of strength.
(3) When Shrakhim approached the rocks to confirm it, Dog Hook, hidden behind the other boulder, would leap out and smash the back of his head.
The troll's species-born talent for monstrous cunning in the business of slaughter was on full display.
“Hiyah!”
Shrakhim, having crossed the hillock and forded the stream, discovered the blood spattered thickly through the brush and cautiously dismounted. Leading his horse by the reins, he followed the trail.
“There wasn't any blood before this, was there?!”
He had defeated trolls before through traps layered one after another, but he had not imagined the troll had laid one of its own in return.
- Trhehehehe.
Dog Hook tightened his grip on the hand axe, pleased that things were going as planned.
“That’s... the stone hook that bastard was carrying earlier?”
Shrakhim saw the arm jutting out beyond the boulder.
Seeing how limp it is, was it dead? Maybe the blow from the other trolls earlier was a fatal wound after all. Well, even if it’s a troll, getting struck that hard in the back of the head...
Assuming it had died after running out of strength, he relaxed.
“Hah. I never expected it to just keel over on its own. Good thing I won’t be disappointing the Count of the Border Region. I should report that the trolls were all wiped out like this.”
Shrakhim swung up into the saddle.
Troo?!
The troll, ready and waiting to ambush, panicked.
What an idiot. Doesn’t he even check the corpse? The other knights all do a finishing blow! Is this some half-baked knight?
Trro-trro!
He wanted to pound his chest in frustration, but he forced himself to endure with a level of self-restraint uncharacteristic of a troll.
For a moment he considered charging right now, then dismissed the idea. If he was hit by the horse's hind legs, he could suffer a serious injury.
Even apart from that, the moment the knight was mounted, his chances of victory plummeted.
“No. Still, I ought to check whether it’s truly dead. I came all this way because I didn’t confirm it properly earlier.”
Shrakhim dismounted again and walked over slowly.
All the while, the arm with no movement in it looked suspicious, so he picked up a pebble and tossed it. It struck, but there was no response.
“Dead? Yeah, there’s no way that thing would have laid a trap, right? A troll, of all things.”
He started to move closer, reassured, then hesitated.
“Shrakhim, don’t get careless! Especially when things seem to be going too smoothly, you have to be suspicious. Troll brains are made of stones, but when it comes to killing someone, they shine like mana stones. When you think, ‘No way,’ think it through once more. Okay? Don’t be careless. Be cautious and suspicious!”
“Cautious and suspicious. I shall keep it in mind, indeed!”
He remembered the advice Ho-yeong had given him last.
“Tro-trro! Troo! (Hand it over! It’ll grow back anyway. Again!)”
He also remembered the madness of trolls offering up their own arms as bait.
“Could it be?”
Shrakhim looked around and picked up a long, thick branch. It had been snapped when the troll stepped on it while climbing the tree earlier.
When he hooked the branch under the arm and tugged, the limb slid out with a slithering motion.
“The arm’s been cut off?! Horse, come here!”
Realizing something was wrong, Shrakhim immediately called his horse.
Troooool!
The troll, realizing the trap had been seen through, burst out at once.
“Damn it!”
Shrakhim hurled the branch aside and quickly drew his sword. The troll snatched up its stone hook and threw it at once.
- Troe!
Shrakhim hastily wrapped aura around his sword, but the target of the hook was not him.
- Phuhihing!
The horse, struck in the foreleg, toppled over.
- Trhehehehe.
The troll grinned weakly.
That one’s bulky. Without the horse, he can’t chase or flee.
From a tactical perspective, it was an excellent judgment.
“Damn it!”
Shrakhim rushed to the horse, but the wound was deep and it was hard to get the animal back on its feet.
“You bastard!”
He picked up the fallen shield and charged.
Troo?!
The troll swung its hand axe down at the line of his charge, but...
- Kang!
It failed to leave even a scratch on the Dandanum shield and shattered uselessly.
The stone he had been gripping so tightly had crumbled into fragments.
“Hyraaah!”
Shrakhim drove the troll backward with the shield.
- Trweek!
The troll was slammed straight into the boulder where it had laid its trap.
“Die!”
Shrakhim raised the sword in his right hand to strike down, but the motion was too wide.
- Tro!
The troll kicked him away with its long leg.
“Ugh...!”
Shrakhim was sent flying back, but because he had wrapped his upper body in aura, he was not injured.
- Troo....
Having escaped the immediate danger, the troll narrowed its eyes and analyzed his strength.
This knight. He’s quite strong. His shield is sturdy too. Winning won’t be easy.
This troll bastard. Compared to the others, he’s skinny and weak, but fast and sly.
Shrakhim was also wary of Dog Hook’s agility.
As the two continued their standoff,
“Waaaaah!”
“Let’s help Sir Shrakhim!”
the soldiers came running with a shout.
“What?”
Troool!
Taking advantage of the enemy's gaze shifting, the troll scattered stone fragments. It was using the shards of the hand axe that had shattered earlier, having not wasted them but saved them carefully for this moment.
“Guh...!”
Shrakhim shut his eyes, but he did not drop his weapon; even so, he lost his sight for a moment.
“You bastard!”
When he opened his eyes again, the troll had already run off. Dog Hook, with its unusually long, thin legs, dashed like an ostrich.
Even as it fled, it grabbed the severed piece of its own arm and started chewing on it. It intended to replenish its stamina and blood.
“That insane bastard!”
Shrakhim ground his teeth and tried to pursue, but the difference in speed was far too great.
- Trhehehehehe.
The troll had judged things very intelligently. It had stolen his sight for a moment with stone fragments, but there was no way it could finish off Shrakhim in one go, and reinforcements were already rushing in. Then fleeing was the best choice.
“Damn it!”
Shrakhim searched the saddle for healing ointment, only to realize he had already taken it out for the wounded soldiers, and cursed under his breath.
Be cautious in pursuit! It’s not enough to just mount up and chase with a weapon in hand. People and horses both have limits to their stamina. Even when you pursue, be sure to keep your supplies in order.
Only then did he remember the Count of the Border Region's words, and slammed a fist into the ground. If only he had kept the healing ointment, he could have treated the horse and chased the troll!
“How stupid can I get! What good is being a knight if you’re only good at running away... when you can’t even chase the one doing the running?”
Once he realized his own inexperience, frustration surged through him.
“I’m sorry... I failed to wipe them out completely.”
Shrakhim, his bear-like body shaking, let out a sob.
“Sir Shrakhim! Are you all right?”
By then, Gunther and two other soldiers arrived, panting hard.
“I’m fine. But I told you to defend the village, so why have you come here?”
“How could we leave our commander behind?”
“Thank you....”
Seeing that Shrakhim was unharmed, Gunther let out a sigh of relief.
“And if we left that troll alive, couldn’t it call for reinforcements?”
“True enough. That’s why I chased it myself. But I lost it. Damn....”
Unfortunately, there was no spare healing ointment. It had all been used to treat the wounded.
“Everyone saw your performance, Sir. Driving the trolls back was impressive enough! So for now, let’s return to the village and think of a plan.”
“Aye, that would be best. First I should at least make a splint for the horse’s leg.”
Then another soldier shouted.
“P-please look over there!”
“What is that? Gnolls?!”
A pack of gnolls had surrounded the troll.
“What fresh hell is this?! Haryad, grant mercy... trolls and now gnolls too. Looks like those gnolls were testing the waters, and after seeing the trolls crushed, they mean to target our village next! What crafty monsters. Sir Shrakhim, we’d better get out of here. Now! It’s a pity, but we can’t do anything about the horse...”
At Gunther's words, Shrakhim shook his head.
“No. There’s no need for that.”
“Pardon? Then you mean to fight those gnolls here?”
“Neither. Do not worry, and see to the horse.”
Gunther had no idea what he meant, but he nodded.
Tr... troo?!
Surrounded by the gnoll pack, the troll blinked in confusion.
Gnool! (Hey. Long time no see, gnool.)
Noor, noool? (You bastard, you’re the one who was swinging that stone hook around, aren’t you?)
Noooool. (The ones who grabbed our pups a while back.)
From the looks of it, they were acquainted with the gnolls, and not in a friendly way.
Tro... trotro! (Hey... calm down!)
Dog Hook Troll, showing that his species’ rage-control disorder had been cured.
In a one-on-one fight, a troll could beat a gnoll without much trouble, but this was a five-on-one situation. If he fought, he would clearly lose. And if he ran, the gnolls were faster on their feet.
Tro. Troooool! (The humans are coming! If we fight among ourselves, it’ll be dangerous!)
The wise Dog Hook tried shrewdly to negotiate.
Troor! Trotro. (Let’s take them out first! Those humans!)
Noool? Gnoool. (Fight the humans? If you’re so eager for a fight, do it alone.)
But the gnolls were wholly unimpressed.
Trooo?! Trotro! (You idiots! Those humans are strong! Even you’ll have a hard time beating them!)
Meanwhile, Shrakhim was already charging back.
Gnool! (Oh. We meet again.)
“Indeed. Good to see you.”
It was the gnoll hunter #001 greeting Shrakhim warmly, the same one who had earlier formed a friendly treaty of sorts with Ho-yeong.
Troo?
Seeing the gnolls and the human greeting each other warmly, the troll nearly lost his mind. His narrow, slitted eyes had gone as wide as Foghog’s nostrils.