The Road to the North (4) - Rose, Soaring
The Road North (4) - Rose Soars
"You sons of bitches, how dare you!"
[ Thwack! Thump! Crack! ]
"Aaagh! Please save me! Cough!"
Along with the dull sound of bones breaking, a desperate scream tore through the forest.
In a corner of the clearing where the caravan had stopped.
Two apprentice Mercenaries, dragged in by Luke, were surrounded,
and the veteran Mercenaries were mercilessly beating them.
"...Ahem...."
The caravan workers deliberately turned their heads, pretending not to hear the sounds.
Merchants who wandered through remote areas for days on end.
For them, insubordination targeting a superior was an absolute taboo that could never be tolerated.
If such a thing had happened within the caravan, they would have beaten them half to death just the same.
However, Barman, the head merchant, who was watching the scene of blood splattering and flesh tearing, couldn't just stand by.
"Captain Carlton. It's true that those bastards committed a grave sin, but... won't making such a ruckus and reeking of blood attract Monsters or Magical Beasts?"
"Please wait, sir."
Carlton said in a low voice, without turning his gaze.
"If we don't thoroughly crush such sprouts, something far more terrible than encountering Monsters will happen."
It was a story about how an internal enemy aiming for one's back was more dangerous than a Monster. At his chilling intensity, Barman could no longer speak.
And Rose, the one who caused (?) this whole situation,
'...I shouldn't have come with these people.'
could only watch, unable to do anything.
Of course, she knew that the Mercenaries would masturbate using her body as a side dish whenever they had a chance.
But those two bastards had tried to stab the Captain in the back to rape her. That was clearly crossing a line.
Plotting a rebellion, blinded by lust, was strictly an internal disciplinary matter for the mercenary band. It wasn't a situation where Rose, an outsider, could rashly intervene.
Then.
One of the apprentice Mercenaries, covered in blood and rolling on the ground, lifted his head with venomous eyes and screamed.
"Fuck, weren't you all thinking the same thing?!"
"......??"
"You all want to fuck that bitch! You all jerk off thinking about that bitch every night! Why are you only giving us hell?! We just had the sin of saying it out loud!"
Instantly, the air in the clearing froze strangely.
Rose felt an illusion that dozens of gazes were simultaneously converging on her.
In reality, no one was looking at Rose so blatantly, except for Barman. Yet, she felt sweat forming on her chest and an itch on the inside of her thighs.
[ Crunch! ]
"Gah...!"
Breaking that precarious silence was the heavy boot of a veteran Mercenary.
The very man who had once masturbated while watching Rose in a tree during his night watch.
"This fucking idiot, even as he's about to die, still can't grasp the point."
The man spat on the ground and growled.
"Yeah, fuck. You can jerk off. If you're horny, you can say you're horny. With such a beautiful young lady next to us, it's not like we're eunuchs, huh? I'm dying to grope that young lady's ass too."
'...No, wait. The person concerned is right in front of you, you don't have to say it so boldly....'
Rose's lips twitched in disbelief, but the man's outburst continued.
"But fuck, you guys thought about stabbing the Captain-nim in the back. No matter how low-born you Mercenary bastards are, don't you know you'd have no right to complain even if your heads were cut off if you're caught spouting such nonsense? Huh?"
[ Thwack-! Thwack-! ]
The merciless beating began again.
Indeed. Their real sin wasn't lusting after Rose, but insubordination, trying to harm the Captain responsible for guarding the caravan.
'So, they think trying to rape me is acceptable?'
It was absurd, but Rose didn't bother to argue.
"Th-that was really just a joke! We just wanted to get a piece of that woman...."
It was at that very moment, as the apprentice Mercenary with a broken jaw foamed at the mouth, pleading his innocence.
[ Thump. Thump. Thump. ]
From somewhere, a heavy vibration that shook the ground was transmitted.
At the same time, a repulsive stench, like rotten animal blood mixed with filth, assailed their nostrils, carried by the wind.
"......?"
"What is it...?"
Everyone's gaze turned towards the source of the sound, into the deep darkness of the forest behind where the apprentice Mercenaries lay sprawled.
Carlton, who was the first to notice the anomaly, drew his sword like lightning.
"Everyone, draw your weapons! Fall back over here, now!!"
[ Crack, snap-! ]
No sooner had Carlton's shout fallen than,
the thickly overgrown ancient trees snapped like reeds.
A colossal shadow revealed itself.
"Grrr...."
An overwhelming bulk, easily three times the size of a human.
Thick, moss-greenish-brown skin and a grotesquely protruding lower jaw.
Thick forearms, like ancient tree trunks, that hung down to the ground.
"Uh... uh... th-that's...."
"A Troll...!!"
"Waaah! Run, run away!!"
The merchants screamed in terror and scattered.
The Mercenaries quickly drew their weapons and gathered around Carlton.
"Gordon! Protect the head merchant and the cargo! Luke! You protect Rose-yang!"
Fortunately, while Carlton gave orders and formed a defensive formation, the Troll paid no attention to the armed Mercenaries.
Its murky eyes were fixed on
the two apprentice Mercenaries writhing at its feet, reeking of blood.
"Uh, uhh... save...."
[ Thwack-! ]
As if swatting away an annoying fly,
the Troll's massive hand lightly swept through the air.
With that single swipe, both men's bodies were simultaneously sent flying into the air.
[ CRASH-! ]
The two men, slammed into an ancient tree, couldn't even scream.
Only the horrifying sound of bones and flesh being crushed echoed.
"Damn it! Scatter and attack!"
Carlton gritted his teeth and gave the order to charge.
The Mercenaries spread out in a wide semicircle, aiming for the Troll's blind spots, and rushed in.
[ Stab- Crunch! ] [ Slash- ]
As if accustomed to fighting large Monsters, the Mercenaries' coordination was fluid and natural.
A spearman who had circled to the back stabbed its hamstring,
while swordsmen on both flanks slashed its thighs.
The moment the beast flinched in pain, Carlton's sword, charging from the front, inflicted a deep wound on the Troll's chest.
"Graaaah!"
Crimson blood spurted as the beast's hide was torn.
But just when they thought they had gained the upper hand.
[ Hiss- ]
Hot steam rose from the wound, and the torn muscles and skin began to writhe like living worms, rapidly reattaching themselves.
The Troll's unique regeneration ability.
"Captain! Its regeneration speed is insane?!"
"Get out of the way!"
While his subordinates were flustered, Carlton's blow, drawing on all his physical strength, plunged deep into the Troll's flank.
[ Slash-! ]
"Kyaaaah!"
A fatal wound, exposing its ribs.
The Troll writhed in agony, but.
Soon, even that began to grotesquely fill with flesh.
The enraged Troll swung its massive arm like a windmill.
[ CRASH! ]
"Gah!"
One Mercenary, who was slow to dodge and had raised his shield, was sent flying several meters and coughed up blood.
His thick wooden shield was shattered, and the arm that held it was bent at a grotesque angle, dangling uselessly.
"Damn it, scatter! Don't clump together! Keep moving!"
"Ooooh!!"
But the experienced Mercenaries did not retreat.
They spread out wide, shouted from all directions to distract the beast, and continuously attacked from front, back, left, and right.
A coordinated attack, creating an opening for Carlton to deliver a fatal blow!
[ Whoosh- Thwack! ]
"Gah!!"
But when another person was sent flying and slammed into the ground by the Troll's haphazard punch, the Mercenaries' morale visibly faltered.
Their attacks regenerated in mere seconds,
while the opponent's attacks shattered bones with just a graze.
This is too unfair a fight, everyone thought, feeling despair, when.
"...?? Uh... young lady, it's dangerous...!"
Rose, who had been taking cover with the merchants in the back,
tightened her grip on her Shortsword and walked forward.
[ Whoosh-! ]
Luke, flustered, tried to grab her arm, but
Rose had already pushed off the ground and charged towards the Troll.
"Grrr?"
A human? And such a small female at that?
The Troll, noticing Rose's charge, sneered with a hideous expression and brought down its massive fist.
[ CRASH-! ]
The ground caved in, and dust erupted like a volcano.
Just as the watching merchants gasped and were about to scream.
"Too slow."
Rose, who had burst through the dust, ran up the Troll's outstretched arm, which was embedded in the ground, and swung her Shortsword.
[ Swish-swish-swish-swish-swish-! ]
There was no great swordsmanship technique in that flurry of blows.
She simply swung her sword wildly at her target with terrifying speed that human eyes couldn't even follow.
"Graaaah-!!"
But as that merciless, mana-infused hacking tore away flesh, the Troll screamed in pain and recoiled.
The Mercenaries stared with dropped jaws, astonished by the surreal sight unfolding before their eyes.
"Th-that young lady just...."
"Crazy, is that speed even possible right now...?"
But Rose's expression, as she landed, was not bright.
Because the Troll's forearm, which she had turned into a rag, was also grotesquely regenerating with a hissing sound.
'As expected, ordinary attacks won't work.'
Rose stepped back and turned her head towards Carlton, who was standing dumbfounded.
"Captain-nim. How do we kill this thing?"
"Uh... well... usually, you immobilize it and then burn it to death... or... you have to cut off its head in one swift blow."
"It won't just stand there and burn if we set it on fire, so cutting off its head is the only option, then."
"...No, you can't. Its neck is too thick; with most attacks, your sword will break before it even reaches the bone."
"With most attacks, yes."
"...Huh??"
Rose's red lips curved into an alluring arc.
Even amidst a bloody battle of life and death, it was a seductive smile that made even the seasoned veteran Carlton's heart sink.
"Can you distract it, just like you did a moment ago?"
A captivating voice that made one feel compelled to risk their life to grant any reckless request.
Carlton nodded as if enchanted and raised his sword.
"Everyone, draw its attention!!"
Before the wounds inflicted on the beast by Rose could fully heal,
the Mercenaries, responding to Carlton's roar, once again charged in a do-or-die assault.
Like a pack of hyenas attacking an elephant,
they surrounded it from all sides, stabbing, slashing, and thrusting, driving it into a frenzy.
"Kyaaaah!"
As the Troll's arms thrashed wildly in the air, as if swatting away annoying swarms of insects, the Mercenaries rolled on the ground, dodging its attacks.
"Now!!"
Rose exploded mana at her feet and soared towards the Troll.
"...Kieeeeh...?"
'Good. Its reaction was slow.'
In the fleeting moment she flew through the air towards the Troll's massive face, Rose's mind became astonishingly calm.
'Now that I think about it, I learned how to hold a sword and put power into it from Carlton, but in actual combat, I just swung it wildly without thinking. If I concentrate my power in one place....'
The blue aura swirling at the tip of her Shortsword,
responding to Rose's will, began to condense thickly onto the blade.
She was certain that this single blow, gathering all the mana in her body, would perfectly sever the monster's neck.
[ Whoosh-! ]
"Kyaaaah!!"
A slender creature flying towards it.
But the Troll, feeling an instinctive fear from the alien pulsation emanating from the sword's tip, swung its arm, but.
"Die."
Rose twisting her body in mid-air and thrusting her sword came first.
[ Slash-! ]
A blue flash drew a crescent arc in the air.
Thick hide and hard bone were no obstacle.
The Troll's massive head, cleanly separated from its body, spurted a fountain of blood and shot into the air.
Thud-!
The sound of the Troll's massive body falling backward.
Thump-
The sound of its head, having flown a considerable distance, hitting the ground.
Thump-
And the sound of Rose landing with light movements.
"Phew...."
Her legs trembled slightly due to the sudden release of mana.
But soon, she felt the massive mana of the headless Troll flow into her body.
The exhaustion of finishing the battle, and the thrilling exhilaration of gaining new power.
So intoxicated by that pleasure, Rose didn't even notice that the old robe she was wearing had flown off again during her aerial maneuver.
Her thin leather clothes, clinging tightly to her body, soaked with sweat as if from sparring, brazenly revealed the curves of her bursting chest and sensual hips.
But not a single man was lusting over that breathtaking figure right now.
"......."
"......."
A silence so profound that not even the sound of swallowing could be heard.
Everyone's gaze was fixed solely on the radiant blue light emanating from the insignificant Shortsword now held in Rose's hand.