CH 9

“Kyain!” a high-pitched howl echoed through the quiet forest, where sunlight streamed through the gaps in the trees.

A wolf with an arrow sticking out of its forehead stumbled a few steps, then flopped to the ground, motionless.

Four men and women emerged from the bushes, confident that their enemy was now silent.

“Um, what number was this one?” asked Pamela.

“The fifth. We’ve completed the request, but…” Franz trailed off with a somber expression.

“It’s just too damn black. Are we cursed or something?” he muttered.

“Maury, didn’t you skimp on the holy water during the ghost race quest last week? If anyone’s cursed, it’s just you,” retorted one of his party members.

The adventuring party, known as the “Wilderness Keepers,” had come to the enchanted forest to fulfill a request to hunt down forest wolves. As winter approached, wolves became an ideal target for low-level adventurers, as the demand for warm clothing increased, and the price for fur skyrocketed.

Forest wolves come in a variety of colors and patterns, including black, white, brown, spotted, and striped. However, in the Pharas Kingdom, where the Luxtra religion is the state religion, white wolves are especially popular, as they resemble the pure white clothing worn by the goddess. As a result, white furs fetch high prices, and among the nobles, wearing the whitest coat is a status symbol. Some are willing to pay hundreds of gold coins for a single pelt.

Every year, a few adventurers manage to strike it rich by acquiring a pure white fur. Forest wolves are relatively easy to find, even in shallow areas, and are easy to hunt for low-level adventurers. This year, many adventurers with dreams of striking it rich rushed into the forest.

“It’s still early in the day. Should we hunt a few more?” Pamela suggested.

“Yes, let’s do that. We need to catch some grey ones if we want to pay this month’s rent,” replied another party member.

“Bart, wasn’t it one gold coin for five black ones?” asked Franz.

“Even if we combine that with the completion reward, it won’t be enough to cover more than two days of food expenses,” Bart replied.

Although hunting forest wolves was more challenging than finding them, the Wilderness Keepers had encountered a pack of wolves soon after entering the forest and had already completed their request. However, all the wolves they had killed so far had been black, low-value furs.

They felt as though they were being played by the goddess of luck.

To be frank, the Wilderness Keepers were struggling financially. This was a common story for low-level adventurer parties. They were caught in a vicious cycle of destroying their equipment, running out of money, and taking on risky jobs to earn more. They believed that someday they would become high-level adventurers, able to undertake higher-paying quests. They weren’t starving, but bankruptcy was looming.

The Wilderness Keepers meticulously dismantled the wolves they had killed in the hopes of getting a higher price for their furs. As they worked, they discussed the possibility of exploring further into the forest.

・・・・・・・・

“Hey, look over here,” Maury said as they searched the forest for forest wolves. He had found the footprints of several goblin-like creatures.

“…Franz, can you tell which ones are the footprints?” Pamela asked.

“Honestly, I have no idea,” Franz replied.

As a halfling, Maury had sharper eyesight than the human members like Franz and Pamela, so he also served as a scout and archer. Although Franz didn’t quite understand how one could tell the type and number of monsters from looking at the ground, he trusted Maury’s judgment.

Goblins were weak individually, and even children could defeat them with a weapon. However, they had an extremely high reproductive rate and a troublesome tendency to form settlements and kidnap humans and livestock when their numbers grew.

Therefore, among adventurers, an unwritten rule existed that “if you find goblins, actively hunt them down.”

“Should we chase them?” Franz asked.

“Yeah, we have plenty of time, so let’s chase them while searching for forest wolves,” he replied.

After following the footprints for a while, Maury suddenly stopped and raised his right fist beside his face in a hand signal that meant “everyone stop.”

Franz and the others came to a halt, and Maury slowly began to back away, his expression tense as he pointed to the right diagonal direction.

At first, due to the distance, all Franz could see was what looked like several objects moving in the same direction through the gaps in the trees. He thought it might be a group of goblins or boar-like orcs from their color. But upon closer inspection, he realized that only one giant monster was moving.

Franz gasped and held his breath as he recognized the creature. There’s no way that could be it… It was supposed to be a much more powerful monster that lived much deeper in the forest.

“Hih!” Pamela finally noticed the true identity of the monster a little later and let out a hoarse cry. At that moment, a deafening roar echoed through the forest.

“Ruoohhhh!!”

“Damn it! Pamela, you idiot!” Franz shouted.

“I-I’m sorry!”

“Stupid…! A giant troll in a place like this!?”

“Tsk! What are we going to do, Franz?”

Franz suppressed his emotions by clenching his fists tightly enough to dig his nails into his palms and quickly assessed their situation.

Giants were formidable foes. In addition to tremendous strength, they had endless stamina and extremely high physical resistance. Although magic was considered their weakness, only Pamela could use decent magic in their party.

The Guild had designated the giant troll as a C-rank threat, which was still far beyond the abilities of their E-rank party.