Ch.11Rolling the Snowball NPCs. (2)

“Hiiieek!! S-save meee!!!”

“Kyaaah!! Mommy!!!”

“Uwaaah!! I-I’m a man!! Nooo!!♥?!!”

“H-honey, help me!!! Waaah!!!♡!!!”

If Jack could see the current situation, would he laugh and say it served them right? Or would he find it horrifying that people were dying and being violated by monsters after he left?

No one can know the answer.

“O-oink?!! Wh-what is the guard doing?!! How can they not stop mere goblins and orcs, what kind of situation is this!!!”

“Th-the thing is, each goblin’s strength is abnormal!! It takes two guards just to handle one goblin!! You must request support from other territories and call for the knights immediately!!”

“D-don’t be ridiculous!! M-me!! How did I rise to the position of territory administrator?!! If I fail at managing the territory here, my chance at becoming the next lord will be…!!!”

It was already a failure. All the guards knew it. It had only been a month since the ranger left.

Yet several villages had been annihilated. Even the central territory where the baron resided was facing intensifying monster attacks.

In this situation, the guards couldn’t hide their despair at his words as he only thought about saving himself.

“Ugh!! Baron Denpura!! This is no time for such talk!! At this rate, your own safety will be threatened! We need support immediately… Gack!?!”

“Oink?!! C-captain of the guard?!!”

A sword flew from somewhere and struck the back of the guard captain’s head.

The baron’s central territory.

Outside its walls were numerous goblins and bipedal pig-headed monsters called orcs. And between them, even trolls could be seen.

The troll who seemed to have thrown the sword let out a mocking roar, and the baron fell from the wall and began running like a madman.

Could someone with such a heavy body run that fast? The remaining guards watched his retreating figure in disbelief, and eventually lowered their eyes.

“…Shit. This never happened when the ranger was here.”

“Reports were always accurate, and he handled over 20 monsters every week. This outcome was determined the moment monster elimination numbers dropped by more than half right after that young ranger left.”

The wall hadn’t collapsed yet, but this was merely a territory ruled by a baron of the borderlands. The walls weren’t that solid or strong.

Surely before long, these walls would crumble too, and they would die.

The guards who had already confirmed that there were nearly 100 monsters before them sensed that this place would be their grave.

“Haha. Shit. That pig bastard ran away, but we’re going to die here?”

“It’s just punishment for standing by when that ranger was being mistreated. Hold out to at least buy time for our families to escape.”

“…800 cans, was it? I couldn’t have lasted even two months, let alone three years. Damn. This is really absurd.”

Inside this town were their families, now refugees trying to escape. If they retreated from here, death was certain.

After moving aside the body of their already dead captain, they swallowed hard as they watched the monsters below the wall striking the not-so-sturdy stone barrier with clubs and rocks.

“…Sigh. For those few coins, we’re all going to die.”

“Shit. Just make sure to put a knife in my neck before I get raped by goblins.”

The remaining guards numbered only 30-40. They resolved to die there, agreeing to kill each other before anyone could be captured and violated by monsters.

However, that was only their hope, and that day many men and women became breeding stock for monsters.

And Baron Denpura, who fled hastily in a four-horse carriage, leaving his barony behind:

“Oink!! That damned ranger…!!! If only that ranger had done his job properly!!”

A territory that had never had any problems was wiped off the map in just one month because a boy abandoned his role and left.

And one pig, thinking that the bowstring that destroyed him was that ranger boy, drove his carriage toward the kingdom’s center.

*

“Brother. I’m hungry.”

“I know. Excuse me, coachman.”

“Oh my. Yes. The little one must be getting hungry by now. See that big tree up ahead? That would be a good place to rest, so just hold on until we get there.”

“Okay. Ira, did you hear that?”

“Yes! I’ll wait!”

My eight-year-old sister, Ira, hugged my neck in my arms, saying she would wait.

In the end, we paid for a three-person carriage as soon as we arrived at the next village and moved quickly.

After already getting entangled with that woman and my status window reporting that Tzeki’s affection meter had opened, I intended to get as far away as possible.

We might get involved again someday, but I hope by then it will be in the Celestial Region of ep.8. Meeting before that would bring me nothing good.

So we arrived under a fairly large tree to enjoy a peaceful moment of rest…

[Troll: Level 25]

[Orc: Level 19]

Yeah, damn it. As if my life would ever be easy.

The status window appeared before me unbidden, and immediately the golem stood up.

I spoke to the golem in a voice too quiet for the coachman to hear.

“Can you handle it alone?”

[Two creatures are approaching from different directions.]

“…Sigh. Then you stay here and protect Ira. I’ll deal with both of them.”

[Wouldn’t it be better to split up and handle one each?]

“And leave Ira alone? There’d be no point in having you with me then.”

[Understood.]

I told the coachman there were monsters nearby that I needed to deal with, then had Ira and the mine golem get in the carriage before I ran off.

I can only just now sense their presence, so how did that status window detect monsters from so far away? Can it display a world map or mini-map? I should check that later.

I immediately ran toward the presence that felt stronger and faster, grabbed a tree to change direction, and without hesitation delivered a kick to the side of its head.

[krrrrrrrrr!!!]

The troll that had been running toward us screamed at my sudden ambush from the side. After confirming it had noticed me, I ran again.

About 20 seconds away, I spotted the bipedal pig creature running with heavy footsteps. I jumped again, stomped my heel down on its crown, and used the rebound to climb up a tree.

Then.

-THOOM!!!

The moment I hit the orc, the troll that had been chasing close behind me threw its stone club in typical troll fashion, completely smashing the orc’s face.

Trolls always throw whatever they’re holding when things don’t go their way, which honestly makes them easy to deal with.

I descended in front of the now unarmed troll, and it charged at me without hesitation, starting to hammer with its fists.

However.

“You’re weaker than the ones I fought in the mountains.”

Normally I would have been sweating to dodge attacks like these, but strangely, I easily avoided all of its unusually slow attacks, then lightly hooked it to bend its body into an L-shape before delivering a knee strike to its descending face, knocking out its teeth like corn.

Of course, trolls have fast recovery rates, so hitting them like this won’t kill them.

“Father~ always said~ a chicken’s weakness is its neck~”

Their bodies are sturdy and their recovery is fast.

In a game, their HP regeneration rate would be on par with those weird concept users.

But if I dodge the wild swings of the creature suffering from its knocked-out teeth, climb onto its shoulders, and forcefully push its head and neck with both arms…

-CRACK!!!

“If you can survive a broken neck, then you’d be TOP.”

I think my father, despite not knowing games, somehow understood the world’s settings.

100% critical from behind.

Perfectly executing that by grabbing the troll’s nape. This tactic should serve me well in the future.

Wait, doesn’t a broken neck mean death anyway?

I dusted off my hands and collected their magic stones before returning to the carriage.

“…S-sir? The monsters?”

“Hm? I defeated them all. Here.”

The coachman’s eyes widened in surprise when I returned, and he seemed even more shocked when I showed him the orc’s magic stone.

Why?

“My goodness! Isn’t this an orc magic stone?”

“Yes, it is.”

“To think there was an orc. That was truly dangerous! Wow, thanks to you, we can travel safely! If anything, I should be paying you for protection!”

“Haha. It’s not that big a deal. Well, Ira, shall we get going?”

“Yes!”

“Coachman, please depart right away.”

“Ah, yes~ certainly!”

I found the coachman’s excitement about me defeating monsters somewhat puzzling, but the rest of our journey was uneventful and safe.

And then.

“Troll magic stone. 3,000 cans. Orc magic stone. 1,000 cans.”

Sigh… shit.

Once again, that uncomfortable red pill went down my throat. Just how much of my money did those bastards skim off?

*

“…What? What happened to the border territory?”

The 13th King of Ponia Kingdom, Grend Ponia, frowned at the report handed to him by his chancellor.

“What on earth happened?! Don’t tell me a dungeon appeared and went berserk?!”

“Well. According to Baron Denpura, the territory administrator of Poria, the ranger abandoned his duties, indiscriminately assaulted the villagers, and fled, after which this incident occurred.”

“…What? The ranger assaulted people? For what reason?”

Ponia is a country where rangers’ treatment, while not better than other countries, is certainly adequate. Guards earn 15,000 cans monthly, while rangers receive 10,000 cans weekly.

Moreover, they follow the continental standard of purchasing monster magic stones at 1.3 times the normal price, so why would a ranger go berserk?

“According to Baron Denpura, he threw a tantrum saying his salary was insufficient…”

“Salary insufficient? He received 10,000 cans weekly and said it was insufficient?!”

The king pondered.

The average daily wage for commoners is reportedly 500 cans.

Could it be that the ranger deliberately neglected his duties, allowing monsters to multiply, then assaulted villagers to cover it up before fleeing? All for a bit more money when he was already paid more than others?

“…Order a knight brigade to restore the territory and rescue the surviving residents immediately. Tell the surrounding territories to dispatch knights and guards to assist with the restoration.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“And who is this ranger?”

“A 15-year-old youth named Jack. Baron Denpura has already issued a warrant, and it will soon reach the border regions.”

“…If captured, do not execute him on the spot but bring him before me without fail. I won’t be satisfied until I see that disgusting face and have a word with him!”

“I will carry out your command.”

In an instant, Jack went from being wanted in a small territory to being wanted nationwide.

The snowball has only just begun to roll.