Ch.32Wild Dogs (1)

As soon as the meeting that had started right after breakfast concluded.

-Scratch, scratch, scratch….

It would take the hunters quite some time to capture the wild dogs anyway, and there was no particular reason for me to take action right now.

After loosening up my slightly stiff body with some light bodyweight exercises for maintenance, I decided to use my spare time to craft replacements for the throwing daggers I had used in battle.

‘Hmm… did I carve too much?’

I had sorted through the bones and torn hide from the ogre I’d hunted recently, selecting suitable pieces to use as materials to make my own daggers.

The dagger was simply made by carving an ogre bone into a blade shape with an aura-infused knife, then binding the handle with strips made from small, otherwise unusable pieces of ogre hide.

Ogre bone is an excellent material—as hard as metal yet as light as bone, with high conductivity for aura and magical power.

Especially considering my factor “Sword Demon” is an exceptional talent applicable to most bladed weapons, I was thinking of crafting a weapon where weight wouldn’t be much of an issue… something like a cavalry sword.

And while I was focused on making daggers, compensating for my lack of skill with the corrections from “Sword Demon”…

-Ping!

‘…Hm?’

I didn’t actually hear anything with my ears, but I felt as if I’d heard something like a sound effect from a movie or some visual media, and then…

-Shhk.

Sensing something ominous, I drew a different weapon (sword) than what I normally used and went outside the tent. My expanded awareness immediately detected… hostility directed at “allies” coming from the outskirts of the settlement.

Most of the people working to become villagers in our settlement are young folks between their late teens and twenties—an age when, in this quasi-medieval era, it wouldn’t be unusual to be married with several children.

Of course, given how dangerous the settlement is, the proportion of married people is relatively low, but there are still about 20 children in this village.

Regrettably, the complete abolition of child labor is something that won’t happen even a thousand years from now, so naturally, those children also have to do “work,” however simple it might be.

Ah, that said, there is still some concept of respecting children, so they don’t put 4-5 year olds to work in the fields.

Instead, these children typically gather edible berries or insects from the nearby safe forest, or when they get a bit older, begin education to inherit their parents’ trade…

The children in our settlement now, except for farming families or the Yeager clan, are at most around 5 years old.

Since it’s still “common sense” that they’re at an age for play rather than having any value as labor, from what I’ve observed over the past few days, these children usually play near the village.

And the current situation was that these children were being targeted with hostility by mysterious hostile entities.

“…!!!”

Naturally, as someone protecting this settlement, I moved to intercept these hostile entities without even a moment’s hesitation.

※ ※ ※

In this medieval fantasy world I’ve been reincarnated into, what do you think kills the most humans aside from humans themselves?

Ferocious beasts or magical creatures? Or perhaps ogres and trolls, considered nightmares of the countryside? Or maybe evil demons and undead?

All wrong. While these creatures might create a stronger impression by killing many people at once, they don’t appear in human territories very frequently.

Rather, the creatures that have killed the most people in this world are… probably wild dogs and goblins, competing for first and second place.

Of course, each individual is incredibly weak.

Both die easily even to the hoe of a farmer who has unconsciously strengthened their body through hard agricultural work and the handling of magical power. Even when exceptional individuals are found, they’re rarely anything special.

In well-defended rural areas, wild dogs are considered a source of meat just after field mice, rabbits, and mountain birds, while goblins are so numerous that the “bounty” provided by domains is just one copper coin.

But despite all these conditions, the reason they’ve caused the most casualties is due to several characteristics they possess.

First and foremost is their sheer numbers.

Wild dogs have completely taken over the position of small terrestrial predators in the Western Continent’s ecosystem, while goblins are known for their extraordinary reproductive capabilities, often disparagingly called “the rodents of humanoid species.”

As a result, not only are they likely to encounter humans due to their large populations, but they also possess relatively high intelligence and live in packs.

While a single individual might not pose a threat to humans, they become a real danger when they form groups and cooperate.

Moreover, on top of these characteristics, they harbor an abnormal hostility toward human species (mainly humans).

While goblins are said to be an inherently malicious race that naturally opposes humans and humanity, the situation with wild dogs is certainly different.

Wild dogs primarily operate in fields, which can be considered human territory, so the majority of conflicts arise from the biological principle of overlapping territories.

And when this hostility combines with their unnecessarily high intelligence, the result is that most casualties from these two species are weak and young children.

While it’s extremely natural for predators to target the weak prey (immature individuals) in a group, this ecological behavior can hardly be viewed positively or favorably by humanity.

Anyway, perhaps because of these circumstances…

‘…There they are!’

After perceiving the hostility from beyond, I leaped forward with a single kick off the ground, moving toward the direction where I sensed the hostility. And there, the creatures I found targeting the children were indeed wild dogs.

These small predators, covered in short, dirty brown (earth-colored) fur, were holding their breath while stalking the children. I immediately positioned myself between them and the children, glaring at the enemies.

This pack of wild dogs, seven in total, had been drooling at the thought of attacking the vulnerable children, but when I suddenly appeared—a seemingly powerful being—they showed signs of confusion and began to slowly back away.

My current build must be around 180 to 190 centimeters, so even to the eyes of beasts, I would certainly be a “formidable opponent” not to be taken as lightly as the children.

But… perhaps I overestimated these beasts’ intelligence.

‘…So they’re going to attack after all.’

After backing away slightly, they began to slowly form an encirclement while glaring at me. I gestured for the children behind me to retreat while keeping my eyes on the wild dogs.

In truth, wild dogs barely the size of large domestic dogs are something a knight could handle bare-handed even if there were dozens of them.

For someone like me, who has gained abnormal abilities through my factor unlike ordinary knights, a mere seven wild dogs don’t even qualify as minor enemies.

But the reason I couldn’t act rashly was because there were children behind me who needed protection.

A fight to kill and a fight to protect while repelling are different.

Even if I tore all seven of them to pieces, if even one child suffered the slightest injury, wouldn’t that be my defeat?

Therefore, I resolved to end this battle as quickly as possible and moved immediately.

-Whoooosh!!!

After infusing some small pebbles on the ground with aura and kicking them.

Those stones, launched at speeds reminiscent of bullets, instantly created large holes in four of the seven dogs.

“””─?!!”””

Naturally, the remaining three wild dogs, not foolish enough to remain oblivious in this horrific situation, froze in place.

‘…I might as well experiment with these ones.’

And now that I had these perfectly “prepared” wild dogs, I intended to begin the preliminary procedures before starting full-fledged “training.”

That is, by suppressing their wildness.

This approach wouldn’t be appropriate for dogs born with sufficient sociability as pets, but for these wild dogs maintaining their wildness due to their environment, establishing a hierarchy through violence seemed necessary.

‘Control the strength, control the strength, control the strength…’

Knowing the limitations of my “Animal Affinity” ability better than anyone, I approached these three wild dogs, carefully controlling my strength as I swung my arm…

-Thud! Thwack! Thwack!

After three dull impact sounds echoed, I looked down at the three unconscious wild dogs and four wild dog corpses sprawled on the ground, smiling with satisfaction.

Fortunately, I hadn’t shattered the skulls of the dogs I’d intended to merely knock unconscious.