CH 115

“Your pack. Call it,” Eugene said.

“All right, Dark Lord,” Wolfgan answered before stretching his neck and uttering a long cry. During their trip together, he changed the way he addressed Eugene.

Awwwoooooooooo~~!!!

Vigor and strength could be felt in the resounding roar, and it echoed all the way through the wide fields and gentle hills to the Perseus Mountains in the distance. After uttering a few more cries that were calling his kind, Wolfgan turned his head. “They will be here soon.”

“I understand.”

However, soon passed, and no one came. Only a few beowulfs lived among humans and other races, and the majority of them lived in the wild. For them, ‘soon’ meant quite a long while. Eventually, after waiting for more than twenty minutes, Eugene could see a group of beowulfs coming toward them in the distance. They looked similar to Wolfgan in appearance.

Gulp!

Someone gulped without realizing it. There was nothing to be afraid of as long as Eugene was here. But the sight of about ten groups of beowulfs, each consisting of around seven to eight members, was definitely overwhelming and intimidating. It was a known fact that a group of two or three lycanthropes could hunt trolls without difficulties. A group of lycanthropes could kill an ogre. Moreover, lycanthropes were without intelligence, while beowulfs were capable of reason and thinking.

It was only natural for ordinary humans to feel overwhelmed at the sight of more than a hundred of such monsters rushing toward them.

“Wolfgan! What’s going on!? Are you out of your mind? Where do you think this is? You dare to bring a small fang?”

“Were you beaten up?”

“You fool! Are you asking for help after losing to a small fang?”

“If I were you, I would have died fighting! You’re less than a mutt!”

“Have your teeth gone rotten? Why don’t you just pull out your fangs?”

Befitting their reputation as a battle-born race, the newly arrived beowulfs immediately poured out curses, reproach, and ridicule as soon as they saw Wolfgan’s pack.

“Huh? You little rotten mutt, there you are!”

“Fucking little brat. You dare to seduce my sister when your tail hasn’t even fully grown yet?”

Some of the beowulfs, who were already on bad terms, suddenly started growling at each other before openly grabbing each other by the collar. It was truly a ridiculous scene.

“Kiehh… What a mess. I guess you would expect a dogfight from mutts, anyway,” Mirian muttered.

Eugene agreed wholeheartedly.

‘Even if they are of the same race, it seems that there’s no mercy when they become divided.’

It was truly dumbfounding. The beowulfs completely shared the habit of living in small groups under a leader, just like regular wolves.

Wolfgan appeared to be embarrassed, as well as angry at being cursed. He turned toward Eugene and spoke, “Dark Lord. Like I said, our race is a bit…”

“I will take care of it,” Eugene responded.

Even as the beowulfs scuffled among themselves, they continued to emit fierce killing intent toward Eugene’s party. Eugene looked over them before raising his voice. “Listen to me, beowulfs of Perseus.”

The beowulfs started to murmur even before Eugene finished his first sentence.

“That cheeky little fang dares?”

“Does he have a death wish?”

“Let’s let him talk. We should at least listen to what he has to say.”

“That’s right. Wolfgan isn’t some weak little mutt. Look at the way they’ve been pummeled.”

As members of a race capable of reason, the beowulfs were quick to recognize hints. A few were still ready to fight at a moment’s notice, but the majority of beowulfs folded their arms or squatted in place to listen to Eugene’s following words.

“There is a reason why Wolfgan, a member of the Perseus Beowulfs, has become like this…” Eugene calmly recounted the series of events. He didn’t lie or exaggerate, and he only told nothing but the truth. Even Wolfgan’s pack was surprised.

“…So, I’m here to claim my ransom,” Eugene concluded.

The beowulfs clamored once again.

“It was Wolfgan’s fault.”

“Yeah. We sent him because he gets along with the humans the best out of us.”

“But isn’t it true that the hunting ground will be affected by such a large movement of roamers? The lords of humans may even blame us for it.”

“That’s right. They act all nice and good when we are helping them, but if anything happens, they will immediately push the blame onto us.”

‘They’re so simple.’

Eugene came to a certain realization during the two days he had traveled with Wolfgan’s pack and that was the fact that they were simple creatures. How could he put it? Although beowulfs were rough and loved fighting, to put it nicely, they were simple and naïve. Their characteristic was made even clearer after they heard why Wolfgan had been chosen as a representative. He was the smartest of the Perseus Beowulfs, and he could communicate well with other races.

“I loved it when Lord Crawlmarine ruled! He knew how to properly treat a warrior. It was blazing hot back then.”

“You don’t like the eldest son who succeeded him, do you?”

“Don’t like? He’s garbage!”

“We chased away those knights from the continent for him, but all he gave us was twenty cows. What a petty bastard!”

The beowulfs busily chatted among themselves with no regard for the current situation, but thanks to their carelessness, Eugene obtained a very important piece of information.

Boom!

Eugene stamped his feet, and the beowulfs immediately turned their gazes towards him.

“The ransom. I am not done talking yet,” Eugene said.

“Ah, that’s right. But we have nothing to give, so what should we do?”

“Can’t we just kill Wolfgan’s pack? There’s nothing else we can give for him.”

“Hey! He’s still your cousin. We shouldn’t just kill him off. Instead, let’s help him, and maybe we can ask him to pull out one of his claws for us later.”

The beowulfs started babbling. It was clear that they would never stop talking amongst themselves at this rate. As such, Eugene raised his voice. “The ransom will be the equivalent of a knight for each beowulf. The price will be based on where I come from, though I will give you a huge bargain. There are nine altogether, and it will be 1,800 silver coins. 180,000 cellings. Give it to me.”

“Whoa…!”

The beowulfs expressed their shock. Although they lived by themselves in the wild, it wasn’t as if they were clueless about money. They would sometimes fight as mercenaries for human lords or head to human villages or cities to buy necessary goods.

“We don’t have that much money. Just kill them.”

“What if we kill the little fangs instead? They look like they have a lot of money.”

“Since they were able to defeat Wolfgan, he must be at least a banneret. If we touch him, the clans will come in flocks and do all sorts of dirty, scummy things to us. Since we, the Perseus Beowulfs, are honorable. We should kill Wolfgan’s group since they provoked them and lost.”

The yellow eyes of Wolfgan’s pack shook violently at the words of their kin.

“Brothers, relatives!” Wolfgan shouted with all his might.

“You were the ones who sent me to take care of the roamer problem, so you can’t just tell me to die now! Although I made a mistake, all of you aren’t free from responsibility either! The roamers are still out there! Someone will have to go out to take care of it!” Wolfgan continued.

“Khung! That’s true.”

“Then what should we do about this?”

“What else? Just let him pay with his life. We will pick someone else from the pack and…”

“I will take care of it!” Eugene interrupted the beowulfs with a shout mixed with a little bit of fear. The beowulfs jumped in surprise and observed him.

Eugene quickly continued before anyone else could interrupt him. He felt as if he would stumble into insanity if he continued to converse with the crazy dogs any longer. “The ransom of 180,000 cellings. Help me, instead. The Perseus Beowulfs. I will hire you.”

“Hoooh!”

“That’s not a bad idea!”

The beowulfs showed interest.

Eugene continued. “Strong warriors. Give me about twenty of them. I will get rid of the ransom. I will treat them honorably like brothers. In addition...” Eugene paused for a moment. The beowulfs were staring at him as if they were possessed. Then, he continued and drove the final nail into the coffin. “Crawlmarine. I will return it to normal. I am the Dark Lord. Jan Eugene!”

***

The rest was history.

The beowulfs became quite cooperative after hearing the title “Dark Lord,” which was a title given to the high lords of vampires. Eugene didn’t find it necessary to reveal his true identity as an Origin. Judging from the atmosphere, even if he revealed his status, it wouldn’t cause a huge shock as it did with the vampires. Moreover, it was highly unlikely that the beowulfs would treat him any differently.

Instead, the beowulfs were much more focused on Eugene’s proposal rather than his status.

- He would solve the problem with the roamers and clean up the mess on their hunting grounds.

- He would eliminate the ransom of Wolfgan’s pack and divide any spoils of the expedition fairly.

- He would restore the harmonious, respectful relationship that the Perseus Beowulfs had with the Crawlmarine territory.

- He would allow them to fight the strong figures of Brantia as much as they wanted.

In particular, the last condition was decisive. Although the beowulfs liked to fight, they considered it dishonorable to pick a fight or harm others without reason. But that didn’t mean they adhered to chivalry like human knights. They simply didn’t fight without a ‘price.’

However, the territories around the Perseus Mountains were quite poor, so the only lord capable of hiring expensive mercenaries like the beowulfs had been the previous count of Crawlmarine.

The beowulfs ended up fighting in the crusade, but once Count Crawlmarine died and his eldest son succeeded the territory, they were simply given twenty cows as compensation.

The beowulf warriors ended up smashing the Crawlmarine territory up after the betrayal, and the relationship between the two groups significantly soured. Of course, the beowulfs had completely forgotten about the mess they caused in the Crawlmarine territory and only recalled the twenty cows.

After the incident, the beowulfs had been suppressing their tempers by hunting at the edge of the mountain range, and as such, Eugene’s proposal felt like the opportunity of their lifetime.

The beowulfs chose to vote on the matter, and everyone came to a unanimous agreement. More than fifty members volunteered to go with Eugene.

“Each pack. Middle rank, come out,” Eugene spoke. Twelve beowulfs, male and female, stepped out like lightning.

“Galfredik,” Eugene said.

“Kehehe! I’ve been waiting.” Galfredik stepped forward with a grin. The beowulf warriors appeared a little puzzled.

“One small fang? What is he going to do?”

“What else? That man. If you win, I will take you,” Eugene responded. A murderous light appeared in the eyes of the beowulfs at Eugene’s words.

Galfredik picked up an iron mace in each hand. His physique was no less than the beowulfs. Then, he gave a vicious smile before speaking in Brantian. Although his words were clumsy, his meaning was clearly conveyed. “Little mutts. One at a time, no. All together. Good.”

“…?!”

“Come here, you little bastards. Woof, woof.” Galfredik continued.

“Puhahahahaha!” Lanslo burst into laughter, and the warriors of the Perseus Beowulfs rushed toward the Origin’s vassal like rabid dogs. However, the beowulfs were simply too large for twelve of them to attack Galfredik all at once. Instead, three rushed at Galfredik from the front, and one jumped up into the air and swung his sharp claws at Galfredik.

The claws of beowulfs were sharp enough to cut through chainmail, but Galfredik’s mace was essentially a rod made from a pure block of iron.

Kakakakang!

Galfredik sidestepped in a beautiful motion and deflected the attacks of the beowulfs. Then, he directed his foot toward the scrotum of the one attacking from above.

Thuck! Kakang!

Galfredik ignored the desperate screams and brushed past the three warriors. He swung his mace toward the fighters who were standing at the back. The beowulf warriors instinctively sensed danger, but it was already too late.

Galfredik wasn’t an instinctive fighter like themselves, but instead, an engineer who had trained and studied how to effectively beat and kill his opponents, regardless of their race. With the addition of the power and the speed of a vampire, a one-sided beating was just a simple procedure for him.

Dull thuds were accompanied by pained screams. Blood and grey hairs splashed and scattered. The warriors attempted to press him with force in desperation, but a real knight knew how to utilize their opponent’s strength against them to skillfully counter. In the first place, Galfredik wasn’t inferior to the beowulfs in strength as the vassal to an Origin.

A blow after tripping them, a blow to the back of their head after pretending to block their claws, a blow to the abdomen after avoiding an attack.

Three minutes later, twelve beowulf warriors whimpered on the ground with broken claws and fangs. They could recover fast, but they weren’t immune to pain.

“Phew…” Galfredik took a big breath after taking off his helmet. He seemed quite exhausted, perhaps because he had fought without restraining himself.

Clap!

But Galfredik slapped himself hard to refresh himself, then gave a vicious smile toward the other beowulfs. The beowulfs were fixated in place, staring at the incredulous scene with disbelief. “Disobedient mutts. Stick is the solution. I can beat you all day.”

Wolfgan’s pack and the other beowulfs shuddered after hearing Galfredik’s words. The race born to battle had been overwhelmed in a battle.

***

“Wolfgan’s pack. Thirty in all, right?” Eugene asked.

“T-that’s right. Small fang. No, Dark Lord.” The oldest of the packs nodded. They had already reverted their transformation, and they were glancing at Eugene and Galfredik with unsettled gazes.

“Good. Then the basic contract will be for three months. Until then, no pay. Afterward, they will be treated as knights. We will share spoils. Objection?” Eugene stated.

“None.”

“Good. Then we will leave.”

A total of thirty warriors, a mixture of male and female, followed behind Eugene, including some of the beowulfs who had been beaten like dogs by Galfredik, as well as some of the strongest warriors of each pack. Since their clothes would rip when they transformed, the beowulfs were dressed in ragged clothes. They looked quite pitiful. However, the remaining members of the Perseus Beowulfs could not say anything as they watched their siblings and children depart.

“No wonder Wolfgan’s pack was destroyed. I have never seen a little fang that fights so well.”

“Isn’t he stronger than the king?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve never seen the king.”

“At least they won’t die with such strong little fangs by their sides.”

“Then that’s fine. Even if a warrior is killed in a battle, it’s fate.”

The strong would survive, and the weak would die. It was the fate of struggle carved into the souls of the beowulfs, so the remaining members of the packs waved goodbye after forgetting about the events from a little while ago.

“Have a good fight!”

“Make lots of money!”

“Bring beef when you return!”

Ten days later, every large group of roamers between the Perseus Mountains and the Crawlmarine territories was destroyed and scattered.