408 - People Preparing for Winter #6

Dalgrak, dalgak-.

Ominous bone decorations hanging from the trees rattled in the wind.

Looking at them, they resembled the dreamcatchers I used to buy as souvenirs, but since they were made of bones and leather from some unknown beast, they felt a bit eerie. The craftsmanship itself was crude, too.

Seureuk-.

"Everyone, stay still for a second-."

Luna pulled out the Silence Totem she was carrying on her back and struck the tree with all her might.

With a dalgrak- sound, the bone-decorated dreamcatcher fell to the ground. Luna fiddled with it in her palm, narrowing her eyes.

"It's made by mixing squirrel bones and lizard bones. It doesn't seem to be cursed or anything. Maybe it was just hung up as a warning sign?"

Seueuk-.

Luna soon looked up. Reflected in her luminous emerald eyes were the bones of beasts hanging here and there.

"I guess this is the territory of Monsters from here on."

We all agreed with Luna's opinion. No matter who saw it, it looked like a marker signifying a territory, like a totem pole or a Totem.

"There are footprints here-ssu...! Judging by the four toes, most of them belong to those Goblin bastards-ssu...!"

Just then, Paranoy discovered footprints among the fallen leaves.

As Paranoy said, footprints about the size of a child's palm were clustered together.

Among them, there were also large ones about the size of my palm, which made me quite wary.

The shape was a Y-pattern, like a bird's footprint.

Is there a really fucking big bird here?

"Hassan, it's a Troll."

"Why am I a troll, Elfriede?"

"Ha...? Hassan, not you. I'm saying those footprints are from a Troll, you punk-."

However, listening to Elfriede, it wasn't a bird's footprint but the footprint of a monster bastard called a Troll.

Elfriede continued.

"It seems there really are Trolls. Then it would be difficult for ordinary adventurers to subjugate this place."

A Troll, huh.

I've heard the name Troll many times.

Among adventurers, they often use 'Troll' as a metaphor for a monster that's tough to handle.

They're strong, highly intelligent, and even have excellent regenerative powers, so hunting them isn't easy, or so they say.

On the contrary, there are many cases where adventurers are the ones being hunted.

So, I heard that when exploring their colonies or dungeons, you need at least two Silver-tier adventurers to be safe.

In that sense, we are a 4-person party with an average level well over 30.

You could even call us a mid-tier group capable of enjoying most high-level content.

Of course, Luna has just reached level 30, I only have a high level, and Paranoy is just a level 20 Nymph nobody.

But since we have Elfriede, a veteran mage, we'll manage somehow.

Sweet.

Just as I was about to take another step.

Tat-.

Something made a crumbling sound under my foot. It was a sound that gave me a strange sense of déjà vu, more than just stepping on fallen leaves or dry branches, and just as I wondered what it was.

"Hassan, it's a trap-!"

Along with Luna's agile shout, something suddenly popped up from under the ground and lunged at us.

Pasuseuseu-.

As Luna said, it was a trap.

A trap made of sharpened wood that popped out like a jack-in-the-box on a spring.

At that dizzying thing approaching right in front of our group, I used my superhuman senses to jump forward with all my might and threw my body toward the wooden stakes first.

"Iron Body-!"

Ujijik-.

Then, the wooden trap couldn't withstand my body slam and easily shattered.

Fortunately, I only had a few scratches on my body and wasn't seriously injured. It seemed to be the same for the others.

Of course, there's no doubt it was a dangerous moment.

I reacted quickly to minimize the damage, but if I had been caught off guard, even wooden stakes would have been enough to inflict a fatal wound.

Seureuk-.

Then Elfriede knelt down and touched the broken traps with her hand.

"It's crude, but it's definitely a trap made with malice. There must be Hobgoblins too. Those guys love making things like this."

Hobgoblins, huh.

I recalled the time I faced the Goblin King, Gogreed. It was like a fully evolved form of a Goblin.

"Hassan-nim, there are tons of trap devices under the fallen leaves-ssu...! From now on, we can't go while kicking the leaves-ssu...!"

Seureureuk-. Baseurak-.

As Paranoy cleared away the fallen leaves with his small palms, a bizarre device made of woven branches and twine was revealed.

Seeing the boards with wooden stakes like the one I just broke beyond it, I think what I stepped on was also a trigger for such a trap.

Whatever the case, it was certain that this logging camp was a quite tricky place.

It would be one thing if we were just hunting simple Monsters, but dealing with such smart bastards was something that could easily exhaust one both mentally and physically.

A swarm of Goblins.

Smart Hobgoblins.

And Troll bastards no less than any savage warrior.

Tensing up so as not to be surprised no matter what popped out from the front.

I ended up being startled by something that popped out from deep inside.

* * *

"This is terrible."

Who said that?

I think it was Elfriede.

Elfriede raised her gloved hand and covered her nose and mouth with her palm.

It must have been because the smell of blood and rotting entrails reeking from everywhere was unbearably nauseating.

As we entered the logging camp, what appeared before our eyes were corpses. A significant number of corpses. Fragments of green-skinned Monsters.

Wing, wiwing-.

Flies and all sorts of insects flying over them blocked our path, making it difficult to proceed.

"Paranoy, take that out-."

"Luna-nim, are you talking about that? Understood-ssu...! I shall show the insects Luna-nim's wrath-ssu...!"

At Luna's instruction, Paranoy opened his mouth wide with a 'bueee-' and pulled out a damp leather water bottle from inside.

I wondered what the strange funnel attached to the leather water bottle was.

When Luna pressed the round rubber part, a mist-like substance was sprayed from the funnel with a 'chiik-' sound.

Luna sprayed the bitter-smelling stuff evenly over our bodies.

"It's insect repellent potion-! With this, we'll be able to pass through! It's mixed with Ideope's herbs, so the flies in a place like this won't even be able to budge!"

Indeed, it was as Luna said.

The flies and bees that were swarming like Pharaoh's locusts parted like the Red Sea the moment we, with the potion sprayed all over us, approached.

Only when the swarm of insects retreated could we see the even more terrible atrocities.

Corpses of Goblins lying dead here and there.

Their torn-apart fragments, entrails, bones, and blood scattered everywhere.

"A Troll is dead too."

Elfriede, covering her nose, pointed at something with the tip of her staff. There, a corpse with a large body and a mane like a hyena's was visible.

It was hard to recognize its original form because it had decayed, but there was no doubt it was a fearsome-looking Monster. To be precise, it would have been a Monster.

It was the moment Joseph's explanation, that flies were swarming in the logging camp and the Monsters had suddenly become quiet, came to mind.

Hwiuuuung-.

Destroyed huts visible around where the wind blew.

Blackened, hardened ashes were seen on the ground. I knelt down and placed my hand on a pile of ashes that looked like a hearth.

It was chilly and cold.

Seeing that nothing that could be called warmth remained, this fire must have gone out a long time ago.

In fact, the decaying corpses looked as if they had been left for at least a week.

Looking at this horrific sight, Paranoy shouted.

"They are very wonderful fellows-ssu...! These guys, knowing Hassan-nim would come, fought among themselves and ended their lives to reduce Hassan-nim's labor-ssu...! They are loyal Monsters-ssu...!"

Paranoy's words were ridiculous as expected. These Monsters knew in advance that I would come and self-destructed to save me the trouble? Does this even make fucking sense?

"We just have to pick up the manes or fangs of the self-destructed Monsters and we're done-ssu...! This has become a request easier than eating cake-ssu...!"

However, Paranoy's reasoning that the Monsters fought each other and self-destructed was quite plausible.

"Did they really fight each other and self-destruct?"

"That's for sure-ssu...!"

Since they were ferocious Monsters, there was plenty of possibility for that.

"No, that's probably not it."

But at my question, Luna shook her head.

"Even Monsters have their own rules, so they don't try to annihilate each other like this. Even the Ideope tribes don't annihilate each other."

And then she poked into the rotting Goblin corpse with her obsidian dagger and rummaged through something.

"Fighting with the determination to annihilate like this is always due to external factors."

Jilgyeok, puseuseuk, ulkeok-.

At that nauseating sight, Elfriede couldn't hold it in anymore and ended up retching with an "Ue-." It wasn't just a day or two that Elfriede's stomach was weak, so I just let it be.

That's why back when I was a slave, I did all the harvesting of Monster corpses. To Elfriede, Luna's actions must be something that wouldn't be strange even if what was in her stomach came up.

"Here it is-!"

Before long, Luna grabbed something and pulled it out of the corpse.

What was extracted by Luna's dagger was a piece of metal.

A sharp metal. A blade-. No, if I were to find a more accurate expression, it would probably be this.

"An arrowhead?"

"Right. It's a sophisticatedly made metal arrowhead. Monsters can't make things like this. They probably fought with humans. I'll have to investigate other corpses to see what happened."

Luna's reasoning was quite logical. Luna seemed to think that the Monsters didn't self-destruct but were all killed while fighting external humans.

Did another party enter this place before us?

According to Joseph, he said he was just stomping his feet because no one wanted to come here.

I said, organizing my thoughts.

"For now, let's be careful since we don't know what might be there. And Paranoy, while we're on guard, you collect things like teeth, fangs, and manes. Here, I'll give you a dagger. It's a dagger I cherish, so don't use it carelessly."

"Understood-ssu...!"

I pulled out the dagger from my waist and handed it to Paranoy. And I didn't forget to keep scanning the surroundings full of corpses with eyes of vigilance and suspicion.

Of course, I didn't think anything would be left here.

If there were, it would only be flies, maggots, and rotten corpses.

Just what happened.

It was certain that something unusual had occurred. Humans who could annihilate those that even a Silver-tier adventurer party could barely take down, is there such a military group?

And such a thing happened near Sodomora.

Yet no one knew?

There's more than one suspicious thing.

I felt a bit bad about that.

Because it meant that an incident that could threaten our safety was happening in a place I didn't know.

So, as I was narrowing my eyes, Luna said.

"Alright, then shall we try that?"

"That?"

"I didn't just run errands for the elders in Ideope, you know! Despite how I look, I'm someone who's about to become a Silver-tier adventurer! I'm someone who will make a name for myself and raise my prestige for my parents!"

Seureuk-.

Luna, shouting confidently, pressed down her skull ward and took something out from her waist, holding it high.

It was a doll.

A crude cotton doll that resembled Luna's shape. It even made a dalrang-dalrang- sound, perhaps because she had added bells.

I wondered what she was going to do with that.

Luna, holding the doll in one hand and the obsidian dagger obtained from Somnia in the other, began to dance a bizarre dance, raising her left and right hands alternately.

Dalrang, dalrang-.

With the rhythm of the bizarre bell sounds, Luna finally raised her hands high.

"Your master calls you, arise, soulless bodies-. Arise and accept your master's command-!"

With Luna's shout, the doll in her hand began to tremble. Soon, the doll's mouth gaped open and emitted a purple mist-like substance.

It was a bizarre sight I had never even thought of. Magic? No, this was closer to a blasphemous and horrific sorcery than magic.

Seuaaaaa-.

The purple smoke spread across the ground and began to seep into the noses and mouths of the fragmented corpses.

━Keulleok-.

━Eugeulbudeul-.

━Giereuk-.

With strange sounds, the corpses began to raise their bodies from where they lay. At that sight, Paranoy shouted in surprise.

"Luna-nim is using necromancy-ssu...! Luna-nim has become a Cult member-ssu...!"

To that, Luna said.

"It's not necromancy, it's Nzambi's voodoo. It's similar, but a bit different. I just borrowed the souls of the legion Spirits dwelling in this doll! It's a bit more friendly to the dead!"

I didn't know what she was talking about, but anyway, it was certain that it was amazing.

Indeed, this would be enough to boast about being a Silver-tier adventurer.

Just as I was feeling a bit eerie at the Monster corpses rising all around.

"Spirits, tell me how you died-!"

With Luna's shout, the corpses began to move in an orderly fashion.

Swinging their arms toward the air, getting wounded and falling, and even lying back down on the ground as corpses once again.

They became like actors reenacting the situation before their deaths.

It's like a bizarre movie.

While I was watching this bizarre play for a while, Elfriede said as if she had realized something.

"I see. These guys fought against just one person. Look at their movements. It's not the movement of dealing with an army or a party. They were broken through by just one person."

━Keulleok-.

━Geuaeek-!

Corpses falling one after another like dominoes from the front.

Hearing Elfriede's words, it seemed as if the movement of a single person trying to break through these swarms was being drawn in my eyes through the actions of the falling Monsters.

Chwaaak-.

Slashing the chest with something sharp-. A dagger? A longsword?

Piercing the head with something small and round-. This is probably an arrow.

MnZBMElkRjFKc3ZCR0RiWklQRlA5WlZINzRaZThhUzZ1cnMyS01IbEgxYnVxdGRJeW9GMk5zNlZzeFlHU0F6TA

Seeing them heading deeper inside like that, I felt a shiver. Just who would challenge such a Monster village alone?

I'll probably find out if I follow those corpses acting as if they're running away.

Thus, when I followed the last of the corpses reenacting something, I was able to find a man in bizarre attire lying down with a large wound on his body.

A wide-brimmed hat with feather decorations. A leather shirt that was quite elegant but worn out and covered in blood. A longsword and arrows lying scattered beside him.

Is this man the one who slaughtered the Monsters?

".... Heuu...."

Seeing him breathing heavily, it seems he's not dead yet. But it's only a matter of time.

The large laceration from the man's left shoulder to below his right flank, and the arrows stuck in his back like a porcupine, were no ordinary wounds.

And the pool of blood on the ground beneath him had already far exceeded the lethal dose. It was safe to say he was already dead.

Not a single bit of vitality could be felt from the man's body.

"...I'm glad the time I spent holding on by force wasn't meaningless. Is it an adventurer party? Thank you. For making sure my death wasn't in vain...."

The man, whose face had turned ashen, looked at me with his blue eyes. And then he slowly said something.

"This, take this to the royal castle.... To His Majesty Byeokryeokje...."

Finally, his hand trembled.

I could tell that this man had been holding onto death with superhuman willpower just to hand this item to someone.

Pinggeureureu-.

What finally fell from that hand was a piece of iron. A piece of iron about the size of my finger. There was also a skull-shaped decoration at the end.

To be precise, it wasn't a piece of iron but a key.

A skull key?

I felt a sense of déjà vu, so I held it and pondered for a long time. Where did I see something similar? I feel like I had one too.

What was it.

Ah-. The Thieves Guild. Did it come out when I killed the leader of the Thieves Guild, Hydra, and took the loot?

Right. That and this looked exactly the same.

I was excited because they said it was a treasure the Thieves Guild had hidden for generations, but since none of those bastards knew its use, I probably just shoved it in a drawer.

But why is this here? Seeing that the skull shape is slightly different, it doesn't seem to be mine.

"Th-this is-."

Just then, Paranoy began to tremble as if he knew something.

"This is a precious key-ssu...! I have no idea how this, how this is in a place like this, in the hands of a guy like this-ssu...!"