Troll.
When it comes to size, it’s much larger than a Lizardman, and boasts a physique that rivals that of an Orc.
Its strength is as formidable as its size, so when a request to subdue a troll comes up at the Adventurer’s Guild, a single party is never accepted for it.
Not only does the troll possess overwhelming power, its regeneration abilities are off the charts. Even if you chop off its upper and lower body in one go, it can reattach them and survive, making it virtually impossible to kill without blowing its head off in one hit.
Since it’s a flesh-eater and a glutton, it’s the type of monster that would typically dwell deep in the forest among wild beasts—
In other words, it’s not the kind of creature that would show up in a backwater village like this.
“It’s a troll?!”
The troll brandished a huge stone pillar as a weapon, smashing everything in sight while letting out a series of horrifying roars.
Even while looking down at it from the ridge, Yona and her group hesitated to move.
“There’s no need to rescue them, Yona. Those have nothing to do with us.”
Kaiyak’s words had a point.
A troll wasn’t an easy opponent, and even with the four experienced adventurers here, there was no guarantee they could win.
They hadn’t accepted a request to deal with it, and even if they did manage to defeat the troll, there wouldn’t be any gains from it.
“…But if we just stand by and do nothing, we might have nightmares, too.”
“…That…”
True, but.
Yona couldn’t easily nod in agreement with Kaiyak’s statement. They had no connection to those people and defeating the troll would yield no rewards; they might even end up worse off.
Thinking coldly, there was really no need to intervene.
“Let’s turn back—”
Yona was about to say they should just walk around the mountain, as she wasn’t the type to act out of a strong sense of justice, nor did she possess enough altruism to take risks for decent strangers.
– Yona, remember, before being an adventurer, you are a priest. Just because you are a healer doesn’t mean you are not a priest. Keep the heart of a priest that pities others and shows compassion to humankind. Don’t forget, you are a priest.
It felt like Aege’s voice was echoing in her head.
That voice held Yona’s footsteps in place.
At that moment, another mighty crash resounded.
The stone pillar slammed down hard onto the ground.
“Sister—!”
The piercing scream of a child shattered the air.
Yona turned back just in time to see a young girl screaming as if she were being torn apart.
Bright red liquid flowed out from beneath the stone pillar that the troll had slammed down.
‘…Is this really the right thing to do?’
Is it really right to turn back like this?
Is it right to just walk away when it’s not our affair?
Is leaving like this truly the correct choice?
The troll slowly lifted the stone pillar.
With its filthy saliva dripping down, it gazed down at the girl with its eyes wide open, gulping the blood that flowed down from the pillar.
The troll raised the pillar slowly above its head.
Is this really the right thing?
Yona stared blankly at the scene before her with her golden eyes.
I stared blankly.
A troll was lifting a large stone pillar.
There was no doubt that the stone pillar was aimed at that little girl.
“—James!”
“Wait for me!”
An arrow flew like lightning from James’s hand.
The sound of the arrow slicing through the air followed as it struck the troll’s head, making it tremble.
“Well done, Yona!”
Kaiyak shouted as he dashed forward.
Kicking up dust on the mountain path, Kaiyak raced toward the village.
“Good job, Yona, your decision is right!”
Alex also ran off after giving Yona a friendly pat on the shoulder.
Dust hazed up then quickly settled as Alex sprinted ahead.
Yona, who had been staring blankly for a moment, suddenly shouted without realizing it.
“Hey, wait! How can we fight without a healer, you fools!”
Yona also kicked off the mountain path, running strongly.
To cover them, arrows shot by James whizzed through the air, striking the troll.
In a position against monsters, a guard’s basic duty is to deflect the monster’s attacks.
Warriors can focus entirely on attack if they can rely on the guards to take the hits, while healers stay close to heal any injuries sustained by the guards so they can fight without fear.
Sometimes, a warrior gets too eager, ignoring the coordination with the guard and just throwing out attacks. At those times, the guard tends to strain themselves, and the healer feels the strain too.
Kaiyak was a bit like that.
He was big and strong with a two-handed weapon, making each attack highly destructive, but that also left big openings, increasing Alex’s burden, and Yona’s as well.
When the physical disparity is too great, like with the troll’s stone pillar, if the guard takes the hit directly, they’re likely to get thrown away, so they need to redirect or dodge, which isn’t easy.
“Alex!”
At Kaiyak’s shout, Alex tucked himself behind his shield, diving into Kaiyak’s waist.
The stone pillar slid off the shield with a loud crash and slammed into the ground.
“You idiot!”
As Kaiyak moved for the next turn’s attack, Yona quickly grabbed Alex’s dangling arm.
“Ugh…!”
Alex bit his lip to stifle a scream. Yona’s firm grip on his surely broken wrist didn’t help with the pain.
“Alex!”
Kaiyak’s voice echoed again.
“Watch where you’re moving, you lizard-brained fool!”
Yona couldn’t help but shout.
It’s true that Kaiyak is a great warrior, but that’s exactly the problem—his standards are set too high.
“Yona, stop. I can keep moving. Let’s go.”
Alex dusted himself off and stood up, adjusting his shield once more.
He collected himself and stood up.
Yona didn’t say much to Alex.
She just gave him a somewhat displeased look.
The weight of the stone pillar was beyond imagination.
Every time Alex swung that stone pillar, which was definitely pulled from some collapsed building, he ended up getting hurt, and each time, Yona had to rush to help.
“What are you doing! Get in there and fight already!”
Even though Kaiyak was struggling solo, the villagers just stood around, watching in a daze.
With only Kaiyak as the warrior, he was increasingly overwhelmed, and since his guard was usually a low priority, both Alex and Yona were exhausted.
“Yona! Tell them to knock this thing down! They’ve got to have a rope or something!”
Kaiyak bellowed loudly.
Dodging the stone pillar wasn’t hard, but the troll, being a humanoid monster, had two arms and would sneak in little hits to Kaiyak while swinging the pillar, not to mention that Kaiyak had his limits too.
“What are you all doing! Are you just going to watch?!”
Yona shouted and turned around.
Unbeknownst to her, her eyes were bloodshot as she turned, looking quite fierce.
“W-What should we do?!”
“Rope… oh for crying out loud!”
With Alex suddenly bolting, Yona had to run along as well.
She shot a sideways glance at the villagers.
Some were yelling something, and eventually, they started bringing ropes, so it seemed they got the gist of it, but she questioned if that would even help.
To deal with a troll with such a small party, ropes were a must; it’s a basic tactic used on most large humanoid monsters.
Attach a rotating weight to one end of the rope, tie it to the troll’s legs, then pull all at once to knock it down before swiftly decapitating it.
But to pull that off with just four people was already pushing it, and since they didn’t even have a rope, the villagers’ cooperation was essential, yet they were just standing there like statues, which was infuriating.
It wasn’t a matter of understanding, but still, they were fighting for their sake; shouldn’t they do something?
“W-What should we do?!”
An old man, likely the village chief, yelled at James.
The healer, who had been furious with them earlier, was too far away and somewhat scary, so he turned to the orc archer, who looked a bit more reasonable—James.
“Do you have anything suitable for a rotating weight?”
James pulled out two daggers from his waist and looked at the old man.
He had to keep replenishing arrows, and since he couldn’t, an archer without arrows had to be nimble with daggers.
“W-What’s a rotating weight?”
“Well, then give me that over there.”
As James reached out his hand, the old man gestured behind him.
A man quickly brought a rope, handing one end to himself while tying the other end to a dagger’s handle.
“Hold this tightly. When I give the signal, everyone in the village will need to pull together. Got it?”
James blew a loud puff of air through his nose.
As the orc-faced man exhaled, it made James, who already looked intimidating, appear even scarier, causing the villagers to shiver in fright.
“We’re not just fighting for fun, you know? If you can’t do this right, we’ll leave the troll here for you to deal with. You’ll have to handle the aftermath.”
“Ah, I understand! We’ll do our best!”
With solemn nods from the old man and the others, James picked up the rope and gave it a slow shake.
The weight of the dagger bound to the rope felt quite hefty.
“Pull!”
The dagger, attached to the rope, spun around and wrapped around the troll’s leg.
Seeing it wound tightly, James yelled like a thunderbolt, and the men from the village shouted as they pulled on the rope.
“Kaiyak! Get ready!”
Seeing this, Kaiyak quickly moved out of the way where the troll was expected to fall.
Alex and Yona also hurriedly distanced themselves from Kaiyak, ensuring they wouldn’t interfere when he slammed down the troll’s neck.
“Pull harder! More!”
Each time the troll thrashed to break the rope around its leg, Kaiyak charged in to keep it at bay with his axe.
The rope was pulled tight as the villagers tried to topple the troll, which was desperately trying to stay upright.
Though the troll was immensely strong, it was hard to ignore the sheer force of over ten adult men pulling together.
After almost losing its balance, the troll flailed its arms and let go of a stone pillar, which crashed down onto one of the village houses, smashing it completely.
“Yona, stay still.”
“What are you trying to— Hey, hey! Alex! Alex—!”
Suddenly, Alex charged straight at the troll.
Yona screamed and began to run after him, but she was slower.
With his shield raised, Alex dashed toward the troll.
Building up speed, Alex collided into the troll’s front, causing the already unstable creature to wobble even more.
Desperately trying to regain its balance, the troll swung its arm wildly, hitting Alex with a fierce blow.
“Ughhhh—!”
With a scream, Alex lost his grip on the shield and was sent flying backward.
He collided with Yona, who had been rushing toward him, and they tumbled together down the street.
– Thud…!
There was a loud crash as the troll fell.
“Well done, Alex!”
Kaiyak’s voice echoed as it rang out.
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