The two of them ran to the front gate. Because they’d started running from the rear gate, which was furthest away, even if they ran at top speed, it would take them a while to get there. And with them panting for breath, there was no way they could start fighting right away. In order not to let haste make waste, they proceeded at a moderate speed.
However, they only ran for a few seconds.
The two of them heard a stomach-churning sound and halted in their tracks.
Looking back, they saw someone watching them from above and behind.
It was abnormally huge, far larger than a human being. They couldn’t comprehend it in the moment that they saw it, but that was its true form. It had a hand on the rear gate, which stood four meters tall.
“―That, what’s that? A giant?”
“I don’t know! Ah—”
Nfirea’s words cut off halfway, and his mouth hung open. Enri frantically turned to look at what had stunned him and ended up making the same expression.
Something was slowly climbing the wall.
Something which was far too large to be a human being.
“Could that be a troll?”
As she heard Nfirea breathing those words, Enri stared at the emerging monster.
“What’s that?”
“Although it’s the first time I’ve seen one, it’s exactly like how I’ve heard it would be. If that’s really a troll we’re in trouble… Trolls are opponents that even gold-ranked adventurers would have trouble beating. Honestly speaking, Jugem and the others would probably have a hard time.”
Enri felt the blood drain downward as she heard about something that was stronger than the mightiest being in the village.
The troll that was revealing its massive silhouette snorted, and it started looking around its surroundings.
Grabbing Enri by the hand, Nfirea dragged her into the shadows of a nearby house. Here, he closed his mouth and whispered directly into her ear at a barely audible volume.
“Enri, trolls have very sensitive noses. It is okay for now since we’re downwind, but it’s too soon to rest easy. You need to get out of here… then meet up with the goblins.”
Enri drew closer to Nfirea and whispered back into his ear.
“I can’t, Enfi. If we let that guy go to the main gate, everyone will die in the pincer attack.”
“That might be the case, but right now, we can’t―”
“―We’re the only ones here. That means it’s up to us to stop it.”
Between the gap in his hair, Nfirea’s eyes looked at Enri like he’d just seen a crazy person. Granted, Enri did realize she’d just asked him and herself to do the impossible, but to be honest, there was no other way.
“We don’t need to win or defeat it. We just need to delay it. Enfi, please lend me your strength.”
“―How are we going to delay it? Lure that guy away from here? I suppose I could fight it directly… but I doubt I could take even a single hit from him.”
Nfirea’s calm words revealed a calm determination inside him. In response, Enri laid out her plan.
“I’ve got a plan. For starters, let’s make some ogres.”
♦ ♦ ♦
The troll stared briefly at a wooden, human-made house and made its move.
That was because it thought all the houses had the smell of soft, delicious humans, but that was just leftover scent. After confirming there were no other scents in the area, it began striding toward the direction where the sound of battle was coming from. The sound of humans fighting its brethren made it drool non-stop, and in its mind, it thought of the humans that would be there.
A soft, lovely feast of human flesh.
As a connoisseur among trolls, it loved the meaty limbs and disliked the bitter torso. Therefore, it was rare that it could eat its fill, but now it looked like it would get the chance to do just that.
Its strides grew longer and it started to drool in anticipation.
However, the troll halted and looked carefully around its surroundings. Or rather, he looked into the shadows of a nearby house.
There were ogres.
The smell of ogres was wafting out from there.
It frowned. Although ogres were its allies, there was a slight difference in the scent it was picking up. It was one of which he had no prior memory. And now it was coming from all around him.
Of course it didn’t come to this conclusion because its nose was as sensitive as a bloodhound’s but because it had remembered the unique odor of its ogre allies. As such, it didn’t know how many ogres there were.
And that brought up a question. There was a strange smell here as well, like the smell of crushed grass, but far stronger.
Had an ogre shredded grass and smeared itself with the juices?
It pondered this question and found confusion. The strong herbal odor stung its nose, and its tears were about to flow. If the ogres could endure this stench, it must have been because they had a bad sense of smell.
It could take them on face to face. As a troll, it was much stronger than any ogre. However, that didn’t mean it could escape unscathed, and it would take time to deal with them.
Because trolls had the natural ability to regenerate, their wounds would recover over time. However, regenerating its injuries would still take a while, which was troublesome. Who knew, its fellow ogres might have eaten all the humans by the time it got there.
Then, since the opposition had dispersed, as long as it moved straight ahead, they would all come out to attack it.
It felt a glimmer of pride at seeing through its opponents and slowly began moving again.
It would destroy them all in a short time. Thus, the fact that its opponents had split up was a golden opportunity. All it needed to do was slay the ogres one by one.
It moved slowly, taking care not to make noise, but suddenly, a small shadow dashed out of a nearby house.
It wasn’t a goblin, but one of its favorite prey, humans.
In contrast to the troll who had been surprised into inaction, the caped human splashed something on it…
“Uguooooaaaahhh!”
The troll screamed from the overpowering stench. Just by smelling the odor of the green stuff, the powerful stink burrowed into its nose and sinuses. This reek was several times stronger than that of the grass-stained ogres.
Even though it could regenerate, this was not a wound it could heal. It simply could not endure the smell. Its eyes watered and it took a step toward the human, but it had already run back into the house.