CH 175

Awwooooooo…

“Gosh! Those wolf bastards never give it a rest, do they?” a hunter muttered while adding more wood to his fireplace. He lived in a small hut in a village located near a snowy mountain. Wolves of the snowy mountains were strong and persistent enough to cross three or four mountain peaks even in the middle of winter. However, even they weren’t expected to be found in the wild on harsh days like these. After all, a blizzard had been persisting over the last few days.

“It has already been three days, so the wolves must be getting frustrated about being stuck in their caves. Anyway, when do you think the weather will improve?”

“It should be fine by tomorrow morning, sir,” the hunter answered while groveling at a young man wrapped in a cloak made from animal fur. He wasn’t acting timid because he was afraid of the skinny half-orc. The hunter was certain he would not lose out to anyone when it came to a battle of strength, though he wasn’t confident in his swordsmanship.

Rather, it was because of the mercenaries glaring at him.

‘Just what I would expect from a noble. He must be completely out of his mind. He came here at a time like this to hunt monsters?’

The young half-orc was the son of a prestigious family, and he was visiting the snowy mountains to improve his reputation. This place was the most famous and was considered the most rugged in the North, and the half-orc was here, accompanied by mercenaries, to complete his quest to knighthood.

However, just like the majority of young knights who visited the snowy mountains for the same reason, the half-orc rushed in recklessly without any consideration for the ever-changing weather and the rough environment of the mountains. As such, they had been doing nothing but resting and eating in the hunter’s cabin for the last three days.

‘Well, I have nothing to lose anyway. I've already received the advance payment. He’ll get tired and leave on his own if I work him for half a day tomorrow.’

The hunter was inwardly grinning as he stole a glance at the mercenaries. Such an immature knight was an easy pick, a great source of income for the hunter at this time of the year.

Awwooooooo…!

The hunter gave his thoughts a rest and raised his head as the wolves’ cry resonated once again.

“Hmm? Oi, hunter. Don’t you think that sounded a little louder than before?” one of the mercenaries commented.

“Uh… right. No, that can’t be right.” The hunter expressed his confusion.

The mercenaries had been drinking to overcome the cold. They shouted ferociously with dissatisfied expressions, “We have ears too, you crook.”

“C-Crook?” the hunter asked, astonished.

“You said that even monsters don’t move around in this weather, right? So what’s up with that cry?” one of the mercenaries asked.

“Well, t-that’s…”

The mercenaries snorted at the frightened hunter, then turned toward the half-orc.

“Sir Maxenne, it seems as though the wolves have descended nearby. Why don’t we have this swindler lead us and go out to get ‘em?”

“Hmm, shall we?” the half-orc mumbled.

“Is there a need to waste our time? There’s a bit of a blizzard, but we still have a long way to go before the sun sets. We’ll have plenty of time to kill them,” one of the other mercenaries commented.

“Sir Maxenne. We must get at least a few roamers to join the army against Duke Batla. What if Tolo’s warriors are left to stand at the army’s vanguard tomorrow? You must join the vanguard for your family’s honor.”

“It will be an honorable crusade against the evil vampire king! You must join the vanguard and show off your skills.”

The mercenaries implored.

“Hmm! All of you are right!” Maxenne stroked his blunt molars for a while, then burst from his seat with a valiant shout. The mercenaries were overjoyed. The southern parts of the country were richer than the North, and if they could join the army’s vanguard along with a member of the Tolo family, they could certainly gain both wealth and fame.

Bang! Bang!

“Excuse me! Can I come in?” Suddenly, a voice was heard along with a knock from outside the door. The mercenaries simultaneously drew their weapons.

“W-who is it?” the hunter stuttered.

“I came to hunt in the mountains and lost my way. If you open the door for me, I will share some of the game I caught. I’m only asking for some alcohol and warmth,” the voice continued.

The hunter stole a glance at the mercenaries. Maxenned gave a nod, and the hunter opened the door.

Squeeeeeak!

“Thank you...”

Six figures rushed into the cabin, leaving behind the bite of the icy wind. Maxenne and the mercenaries held onto their weapons as they carefully observed the guests. Their eyes became filled with surprise, however, when they laid their eyes on the two large corpses of wolves the figures brought in.

“Hmm? So there were others. Nice to meet you, friends.” The first figure to enter through the door gave his greetings while taking off his wet hood. His face was covered nose-down with a hood, but otherwise, he appeared to be an impressive young man with pale skin and ruby-red eyes.

However, Maxenne and the mercenaries were unable to take their eyes off the two large wolves that the man’s colleagues had placed on the floor.

“Oh, yes, nice to meet you. Did you catch that?”

“That’s right. Hey, give one to these people as we promised,” the pale-skinned man commanded.

“Got it, dark L—Tooth.” one of the other figures answered.

“Dark Tooth?” Maxenne asked.

“My molars were quite black when I was younger. That’s why my family’s servants still make mistakes every now and then,” the pale man answered.

“Aha! I see. So, which family are you from? I am from the Maxenne family. My name is Volka Tolo Maxenne,” Maxenne said.

In the North, nobles traveling with servants and possessing nicknames related to their molars always belonged to families closely related to the seven great orc families. As such, Maxenne made sure to emphasize the ‘Tolo’ in his introduction while asking in a friendly voice.

“Ah, so it was Sir Maxenne. It’s nice to meet you,” the pale man appeared to be a little surprised as he answered. He continued after lowering the hood that covered his mouth. “I am Eugene from the Jan family. Eugene Tolo Jan.”

Eugene grinned after giving an impromptu alias and an improvised nickname.

***

“Aha. So you embarked on your quest to knighthood in this weather,” Eugene said.

“That’s right. Anyway, it seems you and I are on the same boat, Sir Dark Tooth Eugene. Although my side is a bit closer to the Tolo lineage. Hahaha!” Maxenne laughed boisterously while clinking his glass with Eugene. It was as if he was meeting an old friend.

However, it seemed only natural, since the two had quite a few things in common. First, both men were from distant branches of the Tolo family, and both their families were in rather poor states. It was up to the two of them to lead their families to success.

As such, their desire was to join the vanguard of the Tolo family after proving their worth by killing a worthy monster or a beast. And after coming to recognize that Maxenne was in a similar predicament, the young man named Eugene was willing to give up a gray wolf. After all, both of them were ‘Tolo.’

Maxenne was overjoyed and grateful to ‘Dark Tooth.’ In addition, according to Eugene, although he was a half-orc, his appearance barely reflected the fact due to his father being an elf, and he was unhappy with it. The Tolo family was very picky when it came to matters with their lineage, so they didn’t treat Eugene, a half-elf, as a warrior. In other words, Dark Tooth was faced with an innate limitation that prevented him from becoming Maxenne’s rival in taking a spot with the vanguard.

“We’re stuck in similar situations, so we should help each other out, right? Come on, drink up, Sir Maxenne,” Euegne said.

“Hahaha! Let’s do that!” Maxenne answered. He loved how the half-elf could laugh so stupidly without knowing the gravity of his own situation.

“No need to be self-conscious. Drink as much as you want. We will all be colleagues soon anyway, right?” Eugene said.

“Ooh! Thank you, Sir Dark Tooth!”

“I will remember the honorable Eugene family! Uhahaha!”

Maxenne’s hired mercenaries grinned with red faces. The servants drinking with them hurriedly spoke while stealing a gaze at Sir Dark Tooth. “Hey, our lord doesn’t like his childhood nickname very much. Call him by his official title.”

“Why? Dark Tooth. It’s very catchy, haha!”

“That’s right. But now, his teeth are so white.” The mercenaries started to become more vulgar with their jokes as they continued to drink. It also helped that the opponent’s family seemed to be nobodies.

“No, that’s…” The servants could not hide their restlessness.

Eugene gazed at the group for a while, then finally spoke, “My teeth returned to normal once I quit eating meat. Ever since then, my servants have stopped eating meat as well.”

“…?!”

The servants developed expressions of absolute despair as if the very world was collapsing on them.

“What? Is that true? These men really don’t eat meat? Not even a little bit?” one of the mercenaries asked.

“Of course, I’m only joking,” Eugene responded.

“…!” The servants instantly relaxed and their faces became filled with relief and joy.

“However, they might not be able to eat meat for a month or so. My family’s in a bit of a tight situation regarding finances,” Eugene said. He was awakening the beowulfs, who were disguised as humans, to the harshness of the real world.

He continued after turning to Maxenne. “Anyway, sir, my family is so far removed from the Tolo family, and it’s located in the countryside, so I don’t have much information. Could you tell me something more about the Tolo family? I want to avoid being humiliated if I join the vanguard.”

“Aha! If that’s the case, leave it to me. How could I just stand by and watch as a knight as honorable as you be humiliated just because of your family? Hahaha!” Maxenne responded condescendingly before raving about the information he had regarding the Tolo family. For him, Eugene would obviously never make it into the vanguard, so there was no harm sharing some information with him.

“Oh! I see. Well, right. Right. Aha, so that’s what it was. Oho.” Eugene continued to respond to Tolo’s words. A satisfactory smile appeared on his face. He had gained useful information in exchange for a few silver coins and a wolf the beowulfs caught to eat.

***

“Then take care! Let’s meet again in the vanguard! Thank you once again, Sir Jan!”

“Don’t even mention it. You take care.” Eugene waved at Maxenne who was proudly leaving with a wolf’s corpse and the mercenaries before turning around.

Romari and Galfredik, who had been concealing their identities in the meantime, finally revealed their faces.

“Oh my! I almost suffocated to death,” Romari exclaimed.

“Hmm? Miss Romari, weren’t you sleeping?” Galfredik asked.

“What? W-What do you mean by that? When did I do that?” Romari stuttered.

“Kieh? You were snoring away without a care in the world. Look at her lie!” Mirian commented after poking her head out of her leather pocket.

“Silence, you evil spirit!” Romari shouted with a blush.

“Quiet.” Eugene silenced the wizard, his vassal, and the spirit with one word. He continued while looking around at them. “We obtained quite a bit of useful information from that half-orc. Let’s move.”

“Right. If Maxenne’s words are true, we can smash them apart, and if it’s not true, we can leave them be.”

“That’s right. If less than fifty of them come rushing in, even Randolph and Edmund could take care of them.”

“Well, personally, I doubt they can even get that far.”

Eugene was surprised in many ways after hearing Maxenne’s story. First, he was shocked that the Bayman Orcs had yet to establish a proper command system even though they had issued such a bold declaration of war. Second, he was flabbergasted that the Tolo family, which could be considered the most warlike and powerful of the seven tribes, possessed less than fifty warriors. In other words, even if the seven tribes gathered all their pure-blood orc warriors, half-orcs, and hired mercenaries with them, they would still number less than half of Eugene’s army. The most surprising of all was the ridiculous fact that none of the living orc warriors had ever crossed the snowy mountains.

“Those orc bastards. Maybe they’re planning to cross by receiving their sorcerer’s help?” Galfredik made a sharp point.

“Hmm.” Eugene pondered for a moment before turning to Romari.

“Romari, what do you think would have happened to us on the snowy mountains without the beowulfs?” he asked.

“We would have probably frozen to death,” she answered.

“Right? But what if you used magic?” he asked.

“It might be possible if a wizard belonging to a flame-based school risked their life. Of course, assuming they were only responsible for keeping themselves safe,” Romari answered.

“Then…”

“Yes. It’s nearly impossible for anyone to cross. It was only possible because Sir Eugene and Sir Galfredik can’t feel cold as vampires. You would need fur coats about the size of beowulfs to keep your body warm in this environment,” Romari explained.

In the first place, Eugene had excluded the mercenaries and knights, replacing them with Galfredik and a few strong, furry beowulfs for that very reason. In addition, he had barely passed through a particular path mapped by an experienced hunter’s family through several generations by paying the man a few gold coins to show Eugene the way.

However, even the hunter who led them through the path stated that it would be impossible for anyone to cross the snowy mountain in this weather.

In other words, it was currently impossible for anyone to even attempt to cross the mountain unless they were an undead like a vampire, or a powerful, cold-acclimated creature like a beowulf.

“Those orcs are going to freeze to death while crossing the mountain.” Eugene could almost see how the orcs were going to meet their ridiculous ends.

“Kieeeek?! Frozen pig? Come to think of it, one of my seniors said frozen pork belly is a delicacy!” Mirian exclaimed.

“Frozen… what? What kind of a place do spirits live in? Well, pork is definitely the way to go.”

“Ah, but orc meat is a bit…”

But it was even more ridiculous that some creatures could only think about food even in this situation.