Cardboard Houses Do Not Tear

139 – Some of them are trolling

Out of the bush, furry beasts were leaping out on their own two feet.

It’s a sight that friends of a certain taste would welcome with open arms, but sadly, I didn’t have a taste for a beastman charging at me with a stone axe.

That’s why I grabbed a handful of soil from the floor and prepared for their welcome.

“The furry club is not here. Dogs.”

“Kreurreung!!”

Hooung!

Instead of answering, a stone ax with a thick blade cut through the air.

It was a dull day because it wasn’t sharpened properly, but once the animal’s hind legs had the unique elasticity, one or two limbs were transformed into weapons that could be thrown away.

Of course, it is under the premise that it is properly matched.

―Huddeuk!

The soil he held in his left hand embroidered the air, and soon covered their eyes.

Chin!

“Kang?!”

The half-closed eyes of the kobold struggling to pull out the ax stuck in the tree next to it were filled with round silver pommels.

Kwaaak!

“Kaegaeng!”

-Tung!

A prianian’s bolt flew in just in time for the guy who was staggering while covering his nose.

Kudangtang!

Without a chance to see what was supposed to be a kobold bounce back, spurting blood, the five of them rushed at it.

“Sniff!”

“Grunt!”

Three from the left, two from the right.

It was the moment when my left arm, not wearing a tarp, felt empty.

At that time, a shield suddenly appeared.

Thump, thump!

Karl, who quickly ran and blocked their attack, shouted at me.

“Left!”

At the sound of the knife telling him which direction to take, he headed right.

“Kreurreung…”

A kobold with yellow eyes fiercely raised up rushed at me, but contrary to his momentum, his ax was too short.

Chack!

As I swung my sword diagonally a beat later, the man’s forearm cracked and a solid red line was drawn.

The droplets of blood that followed the sword strike embroidered the air, and soon I could hear his moaning.

After beheading the suffering kobold, he forgot it from his head.

Third.

Beyond the faded face, there was still a vivid face.

With the corpse hanging on me as if to support me, I caught the ax flying fiercely.

Kwadeudeuk.

I could feel the muscles twitching along with the sound of the flesh, but the fact that his hands were empty was more important to me than that.

“Grrruk.”

Blood bubbles rose from the mouth of the guy with the blade stuck in his throat.

Fourth.

Kongkong!

Kaeng!

Beyond the corpse slumped over, a dog whistle resounded in the bushes.

Beasts that smelled blood began to flock.

Now I had to choose between the two.

Either run through the road, or keep fighting them.

Pain!

“Kaeeng…”

“Yep!”

Max, who was beating them with a stretched spear, shouted.

“Hey! G-House!”

“What’s wrong!”

Quack!

Turning his head, he asked, piercing the stomach of a kobold charging into the pile of corpses.

“Do you guys have any repellent?”

I shook my head slightly and dealt with the kobold in front of me.

Using the repellent given by Sten was a last resort, so I had to hide it.

Chack!

“Kaeng.”

Fifth.

After knocking down the guy who was drooling right in front of his eyes, he straightened his posture.

In an instant, ten corpses with their necks or faces pierced by blades or bolts, even blood-eyed beasts, gave us a little reprieve to reorganize.

“You are more senior than us at the bottom of this canyon, do you have anything?”

At my question, Max muttered, who was pointing the tip of his spear at them.

“If there was such a thing, I would have written it a long time ago. Damn it.”

“It’s even better if we lose money. Shall we throw a wooden stick at least? You don’t know if they’ll go far to ask.”

At those words, Carl, who came next to me, laughed and interjected.

“If you will, I’ll just cut off the kobold’s legs and apply the bones, though? They were all over the place.”

“The idea of giving dog meat to a dog is kind of like that. Incorrect feeding can cause rabies. Maybe.”

As soon as the joke was over, those who had shaken off their fear began to show their teeth again.

“Kreurreung…”

Jerobeok, jeobeok.

I don’t know what happened in front of me, but the wagon didn’t start, and they were getting closer.

It was then.

―!!!

With the sound of something eerie howling, the kobolds stopped moving.

Then he slowly began to walk backwards.

In those yellow eyes, the overflowing madness had faded, and only fear was felt.

“…Why are those things like that?”

“G-House, there must be something behind us.”

When I turned my head to Max’s murmur, that something was standing in the woods behind the carriage.

“……”

It was a troll.

A huge troll with a slightly frightening visual was glaring at the kobolds.

“Kayeng…”

“Kiying…”

Jururu.

A bright yellow liquid was seeping out between the legs of the guys who stood still and looked across.

At the sudden appearance of a troll, everyone in the upper ranks freeze.

The young lady’s slightly trembling voice called the party’s attention.

“Let’s leave soon.”

Only then did everyone wake up from fear, and the struggle for survival began.

A sword with a shield stood in the middle of the wagons, and Max with a spear began to clear the way from the front.

And I put down the twig I had quietly picked up.

It was thanks to the fact that I didn’t have to throw a stick to get a dog-headed monster.

***

After running for a while, I began to see the uphill of the canyon in front of me.

The mercenaries, who confirmed that they were safe everywhere, sat down on the floor.

“Whoa.”

“f*ck, what kind of kobold is sticking out like that…”

“By the way, what about that troll from earlier?”

“I don’t know.”

Fortunately, the kobolds didn’t follow us.

Instead, I took a seat where the former Hort broke something.

Only then, realizing that it was my turn to discuss what had happened earlier, I got up.

“There, Mr. Hort.”

“You mean me?”

He turned to me as he was fixing his pouch.

“Come to think of it, I owe you a lot. I heard it was F-class, but it fought better than I thought.”

Hot took off the kobold’s bloody gloves and shook hands.

But instead of clasping his hand, I looked straight at him and said.

“I guess I have something to say before I leave this damn canyon.”

“What do you want to ask, so you speak so bluntly?”

Then the young lady stood up for me and spoke. Perhaps she also had a lot to say about her.

“I want to discuss your mistake.”

“Did I make a mistake?”

“Wait.”

As he tried to approach the young lady, he slightly blocked her.

“Look with your own eyes. With eyes only.”

She went on with her words.

“They have been flocking to you since you heard the sound of breaking a bottle earlier.

“Hey, I don’t know if you’re trying to frame me for saying something in that bottle, but at least be polite-“

“Probably troll blood.”

The young lady neatly ignored the merchant’s warning and continued her words.

“Troll blood has the power to lure monsters. It’s common sense that you can understand if you study alchemy a little. You guys know it’s sold at a high price because it’s just an ingredient for a potion.”

“Take a look, young lady.”

Pine, a young merchant who heard that his party was the cause of the mess earlier, questioned the young lady with an angry face.

“The troll blood has been buried by all the mercenaries here, so why do you say that to our captain?”

She shook her head.

“Then are you saying it’s the mercenaries’ fault that they’ve come in like that since the bottle broke?”

“The kobolds came out before the sound of the bottle breaking.

“In addition to those seven, countless kobolds rushed at me. Like all the kobolds in this gorge have popped out. I don’t think it’s possible unless you’re lured.”

After hearing the lady’s answer, Fine said as if to let go of her anger.

“So you’re saying we put troll blood in that little bottle, and it broke and this division happened?”

“Exactly. I didn’t even mention the size of the bottle.”

The merchant smiled incredulously. Exaggerated gestures followed.

“Look here. No matter how troll blood leads the monsters, there’s no way that many of them will come. And your mercenary stopped our captain, when did you say you got it?”

As if to refute the words of Pine, who pounded his chest in frustration, Priyanian opened his mouth.

“The only person Mr. Ghouse stopped was Mr. Hort, but there were three people who were close to the troll corpse at the time.”

At her words, the heads of her party turned.

She pointed to her knife first, then pointed to Hort’s left pocket.

“A while ago, when you and Mr. G-House were arguing, wasn’t one of the two people near the corpse putting the troll’s blood in a bottle and handing it over later?”

“Can you take responsibility for that?”

Hot growled, but she replied as if nothing was wrong.

“Then open that bag.”

With that determination, people’s eyes were drawn to his pockets.

“Because I saw that Mr. Hort was handed two bottles from Mr. Carl. If one breaks, the other bottle will remain.”

“Hey.”

Hot said, hiding the pockets of his waistband. He was the motion of a man with something poked.

“You don’t seem to know what it means to peek into a merchant’s pocket-“

“Let’s do that, Mr. Hort.”

At that time, Max, who lowered the spear to the floor, began to intercede.

“If you go beyond that, it will be difficult for me too.”

“Hey, Max. You then.”

“Shh, this helps you. That person-“

Then, I heard him quietly whispering to Hort.

His eyes widened from his expression full of betrayal, and his face turned pale.

Only then did Max stop his mouth, and he said sorry to us.

“We will admit our mistake. Just let me tell you that, contrary to the claim of that robed lady, you are not of pure troll blood.”

“Then what?”

To that question, Hort sighed and answered.

“Emergency manned.”

“A monster lure?”

“In case of emergency, I carry it to throw it far away and run away. To pass through a canyon like this without carrying anything is nonsense.”

He replied gloomily.

“I dropped it while I was collecting it and accidentally broke it. I denied it for now because I was afraid there would be misunderstandings.”

“Then there was no intention on your side?”

“Yes. Is it my mistake? There is nothing wrong with our party.”