This Is So Unfair (2)
"Where are we actually going?"
Knightly's voice was a little short of breath as she followed me up the wooded hillside.
"You'll see when we get there."
"You're going to make me do something bizarre again, aren't you?"
"Bizarre? I'm trying to teach you in conditions that actually resemble the field."
She didn't press the point, but the suspicion never left her face.
"Chief Professor. This way."
We'd been climbing for some time when Waiver's voice drifted down from further up the slope. We could hear him clearly — but there was no sign of the man himself.
"Where are you?"
"Right here."
I looked around, and Waiver's face emerged from a well-camouflaged hide nestled in the shaded undergrowth. He'd smeared himself head to toe in mud and stuffed twigs and leaves all over his body.
"Come on in."
I lifted the cloth covering the entrance and ducked inside. A small observation slit had been cut through the far wall, facing the valley ahead.
"Still there?"
"It is."
I put my eye to the slit. Something was sprawled in the depths of the valley — a troll, a hulking humanoid monster with grotesquely elongated limbs and a body matted in filthy hair. It had clearly just finished a kill. Bones still clinging with scraps of meat lay scattered beside it, and the thing was snoring with its mouth hanging wide open.
No natural predators this close to the city. It's living the easy life — reminds me of myself back in Brunswell.
"Any idea where it drifted in from?"
"Can't say for certain, but putting the pieces together, odds are it came from Honeve."
"Your reasoning?"
"They're opening a new vein out that way. Word is they even hired mages, so it's a fairly large operation."
"So it lost its habitat and ended up here. Makes sense — this is the only spot nearby with the right conditions for a troll."
While Waiver and I discussed the creature's likely route, Knightly looked back and forth between us, clearly having no idea what any of this had to do with her.
"Forgive the interruption, Chief Professor, but shouldn't we be on our way? We haven't the time to waste here."
"Waste?"
"Well, of course. Hunting the troll is Professor Waiver's job, and you were supposed to be giving me my private lesson..."
Her eyes met mine. The rest of the sentence died in her throat. She looked at the troll, still sprawled out and snoring, then back at me.
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"Don't do this."
"This is what you asked for."
"This is not what I asked for. I never wanted to hunt a troll—!"
I clapped a hand over her rising voice and held up a finger.
"Quiet. If that thing wakes up and bolts, we'll have a hell of a time picking up its trail again."
"Troll hunting? That's insane—!"
"Not hunting. Capture."
"That's the same thing—!"
Knightly hissed the words under her breath, and Waiver chuckled.
"So what did you think you were signing up for, Knightly?"
"I thought I'd be learning efficient killing methods, or kidnapping — that sort of thing!"
"The Principal's already covering that. Nobody knows which organization you'll end up in after graduation, so it pays to get comfortable operating against monsters ahead of time."
"But how am I supposed to take that thing down by myself? It's not a horse — it's a monster!"
I set a hand on her shoulder. She was furious and frightened in equal measure.
"Don't worry. You're not doing this alone. Waiver and I are in it with you. Trolls are the kind of thing you take down as a team to begin with."
"Let me guess. You two will play support, and I'll be the one standing out in front."
"Now you're getting it."
Knightly started to argue, then let out a resigned sigh.
"I chose this, so I suppose I'll just have to gut it out through sheer spite."
Waiver smiled. I gave Knightly's shoulder a pat.
"This is how you grow. A little at a time."
"Fine. I'll do it. But I want a firm promise."
"What kind of promise?"
"You said we'd do this together, so actually do it together. Don't shove me out there by myself like last time."
"Haha. I've got enough sense to tell a real danger from a manageable one. I promise. This time we really do it together."
Only then did Knightly start smearing the mud Waiver had set aside onto her face and arms.
"You said capture, not hunting. Why? Are you planning to use it for hauling heavy loads?"
"We pen it up and draw its blood."
"Excuse me?"
Knightly turned to me as if she couldn't possibly have heard that right. Even through the filthy mud, her golden eyes shone beautifully.
"Draw its blood...?"
"Troll blood is an extremely rare ingredient in healing potions. So we'll keep it caged and draw a little at a time to make them."
"That's..."
"That's how it's always done. Perfectly legal. Trolls are low-intelligence, vicious things that'll eat anything they see — humans included. Thoroughly nasty pieces of work."
"I... I see..."
"Leave it alone and people will die. We're going to kill it anyway, so we might as well make healing potions and save lives with them. That's a far more worthwhile use."
She didn't have much of a counter for that. Knightly gave a slow nod.
"I'll explain how we're going to take it."
I kept my eye on the troll through the observation slit as I spoke.
"Trolls are big, but that size comes with serious muscle and flexibility. They can run extremely fast."
"So we need to cut off its escape route before we start."
"Exactly. The only way it can run is through the far exit of that valley. I'll take that side. You take the front. Use these."
I pressed a few hunting stones into Knightly's hands. Also called bolas, they were a weapon made of a cord about a meter long with iron balls at each end to serve as weights. You didn't throw them to kill. You whirled them overhead and released, and centrifugal force wrapped the cord around the prey's legs, binding them fast.
A troll's monstrous strength was so overwhelming that an ordinary human had no hope of subduing one by conventional means. They had one weakness, however: their lower body was underdeveloped compared to their torso. Trip them, and you could finish the job with a blade to a vital point or a crushing blow from a blunt weapon. That was why, during the Four-Year War, every squad in the legion was required to include a hunting-stone specialist to deal with humanoid monsters like trolls.
"You've already learned how to use them, right?"
"I threw them a few times in survival class."
"Good. That's enough. Aim below the shins."
Knightly counted the hunting stones, then looked at me with something close to despair.
"There's only three...?"
"That's the wartime standard issue for legionnaires. Throw three times and one of them is bound to catch."
"Professor. I've never used these in a real situation."
"You don't always get to pick a situation you've practiced for. Come on. Let's go."
The three of us left the hide and carefully made our way down the slope. Waiver peeled off along the way, taking up a position with a clear line of sight and a good shooting angle. Knightly and I kept going until we reached the flat ground below.
Whatever the troll had gorged itself on, it was still sprawled out with its limbs splayed, snoring loud enough to be a genuine nuisance. Judging by its size, several years had passed since it reached adulthood — peak strength, peak vitality. In other words, the most dangerous stage of its life.
Trolls were omnivores by nature, and when hunger struck they ate anything, regardless of species. Humans included. The mere fact that this one had appeared so close to the Academy was already a serious situation, one that demanded it be dealt with, no exceptions. We were fortunate that Waiver, out hunting for meat to make jerky, had found the tracks and followed them. That was the only reason we would be taking this thing down today.
We would pen it up, draw its blood, and use it as material for high-grade healing potions. Potions containing troll blood were instantly effective on trauma wounds, which would allow for even more aggressive practical exercises than we were running now.
"We start now."
"Hah..."
Knightly gripped the hunting stones tight, tension written all over her. Meanwhile I made a wide arc around the sleeping troll, circling to the rear of the valley where it would try to flee. I planted myself in the middle of the path, raised a hand in signal. Waiver nodded, nocked an arrow, and drew the string taut.
"I'm going to lose my mind..."
Standing on the far side of the troll, Knightly muttered under her breath. Her legs were trembling, just slightly.
The truth was, a troll was a lot for Knightly to handle right now. Honestly, all this fuss over a single troll was unnecessary. I could knock it out with a rap to the skull and drag it back myself. Even active field agents avoided fighting monsters if they could help it. Most of the time they just confirmed the location and passed the intel to professional hunters or a military unit.
But the worst-case scenario — the situation you couldn't talk your way out of — never sent a warning first. If you infiltrated a site to steal classified documents and found a tamed monster guarding the entrance, you had no choice but to fight. That was the lesson Knightly was going to learn today.
I dropped my hand. Waiver loosed the drawn bowstring.
The arrow flew in a straight line and punched into the troll's abdomen. Its eyes snapped open. It surged to its feet, spotted Knightly standing a short distance away, and charged with a roar.
Completely crushed by that overwhelming momentum, Knightly flung a hunting stone before she could even get a proper aim.