Slash ---!
"Grahhh!"
The dying troll's roar reverberated in the silent forest before finally stopping, and the huge body with a height twice that of an average adult fell at the feet of one boy with a loud boom.
Caleb indifferently looked at the troll he just defeated; his turquoise eyes then went to his long sword with chipped blades.
To sustain himself, Caleb hunts at the foot of the Scarlet Mountain alone, in a forest that is close to his cabin yet away from prying eyes. Moreso, it was occupied with more dangerous monsters that were helpful for his development.
However, without his notice, he already reached the rough road that connects the central territory to the south. It was almost at the border of the barony. He was so engrossed with hunting that the night simply passed his mind, perhaps due to the next day being a day off for apprentice training.
The surrounding area is in total darkness, but it didn't bother him in any way.
He moved to take out the sellable parts of the troll with a separate dagger, but at the first cut, the blade gave in and fell into pieces. It isn't that he was not in control of his strength, but that his weapons were too ancient. Eventually he gave up and did the business manually with his gloved hands; he worked so neatly that not even a drop of blood dirtied his clothes.
'Should I return?'
He was already able to gather enough for his provision for the next ten days; he limited and planned it that way to avoid suspicion.
When he was about to turn back to the forest, he stopped upon hearing two different sounds. Hiding behind a tree, he concentrated to determine the sources, which were in opposite directions.
One was on his right; they were muffled sounds of brisk walking that were seemingly coming from a couple of two-legged creatures. However, they made too heavy a sound to assume they were humans. They were walking the road towards the south-east, deep into Scarlet Mountain.
On his left, still far away but approaching fast, was a carriage led by two horses.
"Tch."
It wouldn't be long before the two groups crossed paths.
Caleb was a little worried, so while hiding his presence, he ran ahead of the road, towards a position from which he could see the presumed Otherworlders.
As he inferred, there were three human-like creatures with large builds walking. When he realized their identities, he immediately yet quietly went further inside the forest, trusting only his mana-enhanced eyes to check them out.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Did you hear that?"
They were creatures that could easily detect Caleb if he weren't careful.
'Lycanthropes?!'
And there weren't only the normal mountain werewolves, based on the white to gray fur covering their bodies. They are snow wolves that are typically found in the northern part of the great mountain range of Cascur, on the north-west border of the Holy Empire.
'I don't remember hearing about this.'
There could be two conclusions. Either the incident didn't have a major impact or no incident happened at all.
His only encounter with a lycanthrope aside from the great war was one that happened in the Faros, but that was 5 years in the future and not with any of the three creatures present.
"Hey! Let's go, or that lunatic might come find us."
"Gah, damn that crazy human."
Unfortunately for Caleb, he couldn't understand the language of the otherworlders. The three stopped on their track, adding to Caleb's anxiety. If they don't continue to move, it would be too late for the coming carriage.
Werewolves are carnivores. Snow wolves were notorious for going as far as scavenging for human meat at the Lucille Frontline.
Drool. Slurp.
'Did they stop because of me?'
"Grah.. I smell something delicious over there."
"I'm hungry. I'm hungry."
"If not for the crazy human, we could have passed through a village."
Caleb, even without knowing what they were talking about, was right on his guess.
"Let's catch it."
"Yeah, let's eat while we run."
Even if Caleb understood them, he wouldn't run, knowing that the attention would be diverted to someone else. Caleb was obliged to step forward. While still in his current position, he unsheathed his remaining sword.
After a short while of thinking, the leader of the wolf group gave in to his subordinate's persuasion.
"Make it quick."
"Yes!"
'Fast!'
Caleb was a few meters from the group, but at the blink of an eye, one of the wolves got closer to him enough for them to see each other face to face; the lycanthrope grinned, and the darkness of the night didn't hide the hungry look the creature had towards him.
Though he was late to react as the synchronization between his skills and body's reaction speed is still adjusting, Caleb was still prepared to face the wolves head-on. But the confidence only applied to the two subordinates.
"Hahaha! Fresh meat!"
The creature launched itself at him with its sharp claws, and without so much as blinking, he drew enough force to repel the threatening nails. To the wolf's surprise, the almost blunt blade grew heavier on its wrist.
'Danger!'
As fast as the wolf's approach was, so was Caleb's activation of his blessing. The surprise at the sudden weight of the blade caught the lycanthrope off balance, and although Caleb didn't miss the opportunity to slash down, the enemy rushed backward after sensing the danger. Unfortunately for the Otherworlder, the clawed hand already got cut off.
"Krahh!"
But unlike him, the other werewolf wasn't able to control its momentum and fell on Caleb's sword, the latter piercing through its thick skin, right through its heart.
"Urk!"
Caleb kicked the dead werewolf indifferently to free his blade, which was already on the verge of breaking. At his estimation, it could only withstand one more attack with him applying his ability.
His cold eyes turned alternately between the remaining wolves, the nearest with a hand already cut off, having not yet recovered from the death of his comrade, while the leader a distance away was staring at Caleb with a similar indifference, but the kid could feel the chill behind his back.
In truth, his emotion was hidden behind a stoic façade, and he was making every effort to not let his trembling show.
"Come back."
"Hup!"
Drawing a deep breath, Caleb charged at the retreating lycanthrope, a slash of his sword grazing the creature's behind.
"Fool!"
It's anger and pride mixed up in a mess, and the werewolf bared its fangs and ignored the final command of his leader before turning back to fight a close combat with Caleb.
The otherworlder was almost twice Caleb's height, but he didn't think of it as a disadvantage at the moment. He quickly tilted his head back, but the lycanthrope's remaining claw gashed his cheek.
"Heuk!"
He went for a counterattack with a kick; his blessing was applied to the sole of his shoe, sending forth the wolf at the center of the road, huffing and puffing.
"Gah --!"
'I need to run.'
His attack on the remaining subordinate was the final straw for the leader, who had already changed into its wolf form and pounced on him. Before Caleb could even turn to run, the pointed fangs of the leader's wide open mouth were already above him.
Caleb blocked his head, preparing to injure his left arm at the very least.
Unexpectedly, another arm that was much larger than his was pushed between the wolf's mouth, and a large hand tightly gripped the muzzle. The arm and hand were owned by a single person.
"Hey, that's just a kid."
Two pairs of eyes gaped open at the newcomer.
The wolf's eyes were filled with evident fear.
While Caleb was stunned for another reason.
'Why are you here?'
The man was someone Caleb couldn't help but recognize.
"You, kid. Do you know me?"
He was also a man that Caleb shouldn't be meeting at the present.
***
'So this is one of their tricks?'
Eli put up a timid smile at another kid who just suddenly came up to him as he was resting on a bench near the church.
He was taking notes on all the things he could observe inside his head.
His escape was of course a success; before the Solcres sun rose to cast shadows on the surroundings, Eli was already roaming the city of Temani, the capital of the Duchy of Illana.
The city that reminds him of Lohiya in its 15th century period was a sight to behold. The streets are made out of lime bricks that were arranged into an elaborate design. Comparable to it were the buildings that, despite only reaching two to four stories, were splendid enough that everything was seemingly screaming aristocracy.
One wouldn't suspect that the Holy Empire is in constant war with the Otherworlders and other countries just by staying in the city for long. After all, the Duchy of Illana, which is in the central south of the Holy Empire, was far from these large-scale wars.
Of course, as compensation, small-scale crimes, monster encounters, and civil unrest happen on a daily basis.
"Where are you taking me again?"
"Mm? Ah, at my Nana's house."
'He said it was his house earlier.'
The kid, who seemed much younger than Eli, was blatantly lying.
It has been a couple of minutes since he accepted the invitation, and as they passed by the central plaza, he saw a familiar sight.
"Huh?"
"Brother, let's hurry."
"Wait, who is that?"
Eli pointed at a woman with a familiar face.
"Huh? Isn't that Guardian Althaea?"
He tilted his head at the kid, but it was easy to make a deduction. The woman's statue has everything above her nose covered with a hood, but she has a similar smile to the bastard he remembers.
'I see. They seemed to be twins. Why am I seeing that stupid face everywhere?'
It was then that he regretted being curious. From behind, he heard a monotonous voice that he'd been waiting for, but not now.
"Young master?"