Episode 3

I ascended the mountain path, cutting through the darkness.

According to the map I had checked beforehand, this area seemed likely to be a Golruk habitat.

Once deep enough into the mountain, I loosened the straps of the leather bag I had prepared.

I opened the swaying bag and scattered thick pig’s blood all around.

The smell of iron and the stench of blood filled the air.

Now, all I had to do was wait for them to come.

After a while, I began to hear bushes getting trampled and trees breaking.

Large, rough, and tough-looking black shadows staggered through the bushes toward me.

The Golruks, revealed by the moonlight, stopped when they spotted me.

With their massively muscled shoulders, brutal grips, and long claws, they were truly grotesque monsters.

Their faces were so ugly, as if the eyes, nose, and mouth were slapped on clay and then smashed against the ground.

They were so large that I had to tilt my head up just to see their faces.

No wonder no army or brigade has been able to reclaim the northern roads from these hordes.

There were about five of them, seemingly part of a larger group.

With their flared nostrils that lacked any bridge, they eagerly inhaled the scent of pig’s blood.

“Didn’t bring the little ones with you?”

Of course, there was no response.

I carefully surveyed them.

Among them, a particularly small Golruk was growling, baring its teeth.

Still, it was only slightly smaller than me.

Golruks take such juveniles with them during hunts to pass on their skills.

After a brief stare-down with me, the Golruks communicated among themselves with sounds like pigs being slaughtered.

Then they suddenly charged at me.

I drew my Holy Sword.

The blade that emerged from the sheath blazed white.

The dazzling glow startled the Golruks, causing them to halt.

Gripping the Holy Sword, I charged forward.

As I passed through the Golruks, their severed parts clattered to the ground.

Overwhelmed by a power they had never faced before, the juvenile collapsed to the ground.

“Today will be your last day.”

I swung the Holy Sword, severing its forearm.

“Screeeeech!!”

The juvenile’s screams echoed throughout the forest.

I dragged the blood-drenched creature up the mountain path.

Golruks have a strong sense of maternal care and herd unity.

They cannot ignore the screams of a suffering young.

As expected, the enraged Golruks, losing their reason, began to emerge from all directions.

As I swung the Holy Sword, Golruk heads and limbs fell.

I continued the slaughter effortlessly, moving deeper into their habitat.

How much deeper had I gone?

The endlessly rushing Golruks had completely vanished.

It seems the moment I’ve been waiting for has finally arrived.

Looking down, the juvenile had already died from exsanguination, so I carelessly threw it on the ground.

A thick old tree snapped ahead, revealing a massive shadow.

It was an enormous creature, much larger and with tougher muscles than the other Golruks.

Anyone could see it was the leader, flaunting its imposing presence and flashing its ferocious eyes.

On its forehead was a sharp single horn, a feature only the leader could possess.

“Did you hide while all your offspring died, only to show up now?”

I playfully poked at the dead juvenile’s body with my Holy Sword.

Seeing this, the leader roared with its eyes turned inside out.

The unpleasant sound, like a slaughtered pig, was grating to the ears.

Someone once said,

‘One way to commit suicide is to kill a Golruk’s offspring in front of it’.

Seeing the leader’s eyes roll back and drool as it charged, I thought there was truth to that saying.

Of course, that doesn’t apply to me.

I dodged deftly to the side, calmly raised my sword to shoulder height, and thrust it deeply.

The blade pierced about halfway through the flank of the Golruk leader.

In that position, I turned in a semicircle, as if grinding a millstone.

I forcefully pulled the blade, caught in the spine, causing the leader’s upper and lower body to nearly separate, and it collapsed in despair.

“Phew.”

I sheathed the Holy Sword and looked back at the creature.

Intestines spilled from the severed torso, emitting a foul odor.

“Your good days are over.”

I drew a dagger from my waist and sliced through its neck.

I grabbed the horn like a handle and placed it in the leather bag that had contained the pig’s blood.

With this, the Golruks are finished.

The other members, having lost their leader, would likely flee during the night.

They would consider me a predator and stay far away to survive.

I’m not sure which unlucky domain will end up with these wandering Golruks.

Well, that’s not something I need to worry about.

I slung the heavy bag over my shoulder and descended the mountain.

Early in the morning, Hildeba got out of bed.

“Ugh…”

Her body felt extremely sluggish.

It was because she had been repeatedly woken up by lightning strikes from the northern mountains the night before.

Hildeba fumbled around for her glasses.

Just then, someone knocked frantically on the Hall door.

“Administrator! Administrator!”

Wondering what was going on, Hildeba quickly ran to open the door.

The vigilante who had been pounding on the door cried out urgently,

“The Golruks… The Golruks…”

“Have they come down again?! Now?!”

“No, it’s not that…!”

“Waaaaah!!”

A cheer erupted from the street.

“What in the world is all this commotion?”

Hildeba pushed the vigilante aside and ran outside.

Most of the townspeople were already out on the streets.

In the middle of it all, one vigilante was holding a long spear and shouting.

“Liberation! Liberation!”

Hildeba adjusted her glasses and took a closer look at the spear.

At the end of the spear was something that looked like an old piece of meat, the blood still dripping.

“What is that…?”

“It’s the head of the Golruk leader!”

“…What?!?!”

Hildeba pushed through the crowd.

“Administrator! Please look at this!”

The vigilante lowered the spear so that Hildeba could take a close look at the Golruk’s head.

The cleanly severed Golruk head stared back at Hildeba with lifeless eyes.

A single horn sprouted from its forehead, and Hildeba knew what it meant.

“The Golruk leader…”

“Yes, with this one dead, the rest of the Golruks must have fled elsewhere. The northern road is clear now!”

“Explain this. Where did it come from? Who killed it?”

The Golruk head was first discovered by vigilantes on dawn patrol.

It was found lying in the middle of a downtown intersection.

Nothing else had been determined.

Hildeba examined the sharply cut cross-section.

It didn’t seem like an accident or a fight among themselves.

“What… what happened here…?”

“Administrator, isn’t this the time to send an official document to the Central Government?”

Prompted by someone’s comment, Hildeba snapped to attention.

“Oh, right!”

She hurried back to the Hall to prepare writing tools and paper.

“Discovery of Golruk leader’s head. Herd presumed dispersed. Request for urgent deployment of guards.”

A vigilante placed the Golruk head in a sack, took the official document, and galloped south towards Vue.

The document would be passed from Vue’s Guard Captain to a formally assigned courier, who would deliver it to the Royal City.

Listening to the noisy sounds outside the Hall, Hildeba was lost in thought.

She couldn’t fathom how a creature that even Legions had failed to deal with had been beheaded overnight.

Nothing had changed overnight, yet…

Actually, there was one change.

Mr. Bertrand of the Crossroads Troll Inn.

Hildeba knew how foolish it was to suspect him.

To think he had ventured into the Golruk’s lair at midnight and decapitated the leader?

If so, he would not be a mere human but an incarnation of the War God Hala.

Then what exactly…

Hildeba put her coat on and headed towards the Inn.

The Crossroads Troll Inn looked no different from the day before.

“Mr. Bertrand! Are you there?”

She knocked, but there was no answer.

Come to think of it, the horse he rode in on was not visible either.

It seemed unlikely that he would flee after purchasing so many buildings…

She looked around the inn but could find no trace of anyone.

Having returned to the inn early in the morning, I sprawled out in a room on the third floor that I had marked.

By lunchtime, I was hungry and went downstairs.

I made a quick meal in the kitchen and then headed to the Hall.

The atmosphere in the town was completely different from when I first arrived – it was much brighter.

It seemed almost certain that they had been liberated from the Golruks.

Perhaps for that reason, the townspeople greeted me even though I was a stranger.

When I arrived at the Hall, Hildeba was outside talking with a few citizens.

“Administrator.”

Hildeba’s face stiffened slightly when she saw me.

“Mr. Bertrand, it seems you’ve been out and about.”

“What? I just came from the inn. More importantly, I’m looking to hire some people.”

“Hiring? Are you looking to clean the Inn?”

“I tried doing it alone, but it seems I need some people. Could you introduce me to a few?”

“Understood. How much are you thinking of paying per day?”

When I mentioned the amount I had in mind, Hildeba was surprised, and the other citizens eagerly volunteered.

I was able to select five men and women right there.

“Ah, Mr. Bertrand, by any chance…”

Hildeba seemed like she had something to say.