37-78

EP. 78 Mayer and Baron Kimberly’s Painful Days (4)  

Mayer and Baron Kimberly’s Painful Days (4) 

Cordelia was using the forest terrain as efficiently as possible to deal with the ogre and cyclops. 

Bang bang bang 

The huge ogre swung its massive club wildly, but Cordelia dodged nimbly between the trees, harassing the ogre and throwing daggers at the cyclops’s eye. 

Of course, the cyclops didn’t easily allow her counterattacks, and Cordelia had to be content with keeping a safe distance. 

‘I have to separate them as much as possible and defeat them one by one… Even if it’s a forest, a 2:1 against those brutes is impossible…’ 

While Cordelia was strategizing, the ogre suddenly closed in and swung a fist at her, which she dodged by leaping aside. 

Though she was a mid-level knight aiming for the advanced rank, she couldn’t face the ogre’s strength head-on, so she focused on deflecting or dodging its attacks and counterattacking little by little, gradually increasing the wounds on its hide. 

While blocking the ogre’s club and fists, Cordelia spotted something and brightened, dashing in that direction. 

“Kuwaaaargh!!” 

The enraged ogre chased after Cordelia, and the slightly more intelligent cyclops, suspecting she was aiming for something, followed at a slower pace. 

‘Damn, he’s incredibly fast for his size… But as expected, I managed to lure only the ogre here!’ 

What Cordelia had spotted was a ranger lookout post in a tree, used by the Monster Mountain rangers for surveillance. 

She quickly climbed the tree and, after cutting the rope connecting the lookout, dropped the platform onto the ogre’s head as it shook the tree to knock her down. 

“Kuwaaaargh!!” 

But with a mighty roar, the ogre smashed the falling lookout with its fist, easily destroying it, and Cordelia’s attempt seemed to have failed. 

“I knew you’d do that!!” 

... However, Cordelia’s real plan was behind the lookout. 

Hidden behind the falling lookout, Cordelia appeared among the debris. 

“Haaaaa!!” 

She held a long spear in her hand and, with a loud kiai, thrust it with all her strength at the ogre’s head. 

Thud!! 

“Khuwaaaargh!!” 

At the last moment, the ogre dodged Cordelia’s spear, but it pierced deep into its shoulder, making the ogre stop moving. 

She then drew her sword, slashed the ogre’s chest, and slid between its legs. 

Slash! Slash! 

In an instant, deep sword wounds appeared on the ogre’s chest and groin, and finally, the giant body collapsed to the ground. 

“Whew~ Did I get it…? I cut two vital spots, so it shouldn’t survive. Now I only have the cyclops left. If it’s one-on-one, I can manage.” 

Cordelia wiped the blood from her sword on the ogre’s hide and retrieved her spear. 

“Grrrr…” 

The cyclops that had been following her now appeared. Cordelia aimed her spear and sword at it, focusing all her attention. 

“Kuwaaaaaa!!!” 

With the cyclops’s roar, Cordelia leapt. But her legs didn’t move as she expected, and the cyclops grinned, approaching her slowly. 

‘No way?’ 

Her legs were caught in the grip of the supposedly dead ogre. 

The ogre, grabbing her legs as if with its dying breath, created the perfect chance for the cyclops. 

Grab! 

Cordelia struggled, but once the cyclops got close, she couldn’t overpower such a giant monster. 

The cyclops grabbed both her arms, took her weapons, and lifted her by the legs, slamming her into the ground. 

Thud!! 

“Kyaaaagh!!” 

... Even with her well-trained knight’s body, the cyclops’s powerful slam shattered her armor and brought her to the brink of unconsciousness. 

“Ugh!!” 

‘Damn, is this how I die… Lord Rdelmo… no, Father… I’m sorry. You gave your life to save me, and now I…’ 

As Cordelia’s consciousness faded, someone’s face flashed in her mind. 

‘No, I can’t die here! If a knight who already lost her lord is defeated again, it would disgrace both my father’s honor and the lord who took me in! I can’t let that happen! For Prince Yuno’s sake, I must live!’ 

The face that came to mind was, for some reason, Yuno’s, and Cordelia’s will to live flared up again. 

Crunch!! 

Cordelia used mana to bite down on the cyclops’s hand holding her arm. 

“Kuwaaaargh!!” 

It wasn’t the fighting style of a model knight, but Cordelia bit down on the cyclops’s thumb with all her might, and finally managed to bite it off. 

Crash!! 

“Ugh!!” 

In agony, the cyclops grabbed Cordelia with its other hand and threw her far away, but its thumb was severed and Cordelia was free. 

However, the internal injuries from the cyclops’s earlier attack remained, and without armor, she would die if she took another hit. 

But since the cyclops had thrown her carelessly, Cordelia was able to retrieve her weapons. She burned with determination, knowing she had one last chance. 

‘With my current condition, I only have one shot… I must take its head with this attack.’ 

Cordelia and the cyclops glared at each other, waiting for an opening. 

But when the sound of an ogre dying in the battle outside the forest reached them, the cyclops, sensing time was against it, moved first. 

Bang bang bang 

... The cyclops pounded the ground with its fists, but even with her battered body, Cordelia dodged as efficiently as possible, barely avoiding its attacks. 

Thunk 

Then, as the cyclops attacked wildly, its foot caught on a tree root and it lost its balance. At that moment, Cordelia thrust her spear forward. 

“For my lord!!” 

Whoosh!! 

Cordelia’s spear shot through the air toward the cyclops’s neck. 

But her attack struck the cyclops’s chest instead of its neck, and, lacking strength, the spear didn’t pierce its heart. 

“Kuwaaaargh!!” 

Slash! 

As the cyclops roared in triumph, Cordelia spat blood and collapsed, unconscious. At the same time, a flying axe struck and severed the cyclops’s neck. 

The one who beheaded the cyclops was Ajin, who had thrown his hand axe. 

“Well done! Girl. The courage to lure powerful foes alone to save your subordinates. The tenacity to never give up. The loyalty to fight to the death for your lord! Truly worthy of being Lord Yuno’s knight.” 

Ajin appeared, retrieved his axe and Cordelia’s weapons, and picked her up to carry her to Mayer. 

Meanwhile, Mayer was in shock after seeing the troll decapitate the ogres his soldiers had struggled to bring down. 

“Captain! What was that just now? That monster troll?” 

“Did you see it? It cut off the ogre’s head in one blow! Even if those ogres were tired from fighting us, still…” 

As the frightened soldiers ran to him after the troll disappeared, Mayer shouted. 

“I don’t know either!! I’m just praying that troll doesn’t attack us… So hurry up and skin the ogre corpses and dump them deep in the forest! That way the troll will just eat the bodies and leave!!” 

... Mayer’s logic was sound, so the soldiers followed his orders, and in the distance, the ranger unit fighting the basilisks was seen approaching with their wounded. 

“William! Are you all right? You already killed all the basilisks! Amazing!” 

“Killed? Let’s see… Looks like that monster troll came here too? The ogres’ heads are sliced clean.” 

“Wait, so it went to your side too?” 

“Yeah… But let’s take care of the wounded first! We have to prepare the bodies for burial back at the castle, right?” 

“You’re right. This isn’t the time to stand around… These are the men who fought so hard for their homeland… Hrrrk!” 

As Mayer trembled, William also turned to look. 

There stood a giant troll, holding a bloodied Cordelia, and the knights drew their swords. 

“You! Did you do that to Lady Cordelia?!” 

“We won’t let you get away wi ” 

But the knights’ resolve vanished instantly when they saw the aura from the troll’s axe. 

“M-m-master?” 

“A… a troll?” 

“Hmph! Is there any reason a troll can’t be a master? If you’re not going to fight, put your swords away. We have no reason to fight.” 

“It… it talks?” 

At Ajin’s words, the knights immediately sheathed their swords. 

“Oh! I guess this is your first time seeing a troll speak? He said Prince Yuno sent him.” 

“That bast… ahem, I mean, Prince Yuno sent him?” 

Mayer almost let his true feelings slip, but coughed and corrected himself, unable to avoid William’s odd look.... “My name is Ajin. I am king of the trolls in this mountain, and I serve Lady Miri and her consort Lord Yuno as my lords. My subordinates are driving the other monsters back to their territory, so there will be no more fighting. You can relax and return to normal.” 

“What happened to Prince Yuno? Why isn’t he here himself…?” 

“Lord Yuno cannot appear for the time being due to circumstances. You’ll hear more when an envoy from the elves visits soon. Oh, and Lord Yuno said we could ask you for food as payment for helping you.” 

Mayer asked about this request. 

“Food? Why food…?” 

“Hmm? Lord Yuno said there’s a thing called mercenaries among humans, who fight for payment. So we’ll take food as payment. Anything edible is fine, but meat is best.” 

Mayer and William were dumbfounded by the troll acting as a mercenary, but since Ajin had saved their lives and their men had suffered heavy casualties, they had no choice but to agree. 

“Fine! How much food do you want?” 

“I eat about 5 kg a day, and there are 20 of us, so 100 kg a day. I’d like three months’ worth. The young can hunt for themselves.” 

“All right. That’s 3 tons a month, so 9 tons. But we’ll need about a month to prepare.” 

“Good! Then in a month, we’ll meet here for the 9 tons of food.” 

Ajin picked up Cordelia again and turned to leave. 

“Wait! Why are you taking Lady Cordelia?”... “If I leave her here, she’ll die soon. I’ll take her to Lady Miri in the elf village for treatment.” 

Mayer couldn’t fully trust Ajin, but since they had no way to resist the troll who had slaughtered the ogres and basilisks, he had no choice but to believe him. 

“Understood. Please take care of Lady Cordelia.” 

After Ajin left, William and Mayer gathered their forces and returned to Kiese Castle. 

“But… was it really okay to promise 9 tons of food? That’s a lot.” 

“I don’t know. Could I refuse in that situation? Our capable administrator will figure it out.” 

“Ha, must be a real improvement over Boras.” 

“Of course! He’s very capable. He’s probably praising me for my work right now.” 

“Anyway, we need to let the troops rest, recruit new soldiers, and retrain. This battle showed us what we’re lacking.” 

“Good idea! I’ve got some ideas for our guards too.” 

William and Mayer returned home exhausted, and the soldiers, the evacuated townsfolk, and the bodies of the dead returned to their families. 

Meanwhile, at the lord’s manor… 

“KEEEEH!! Mayer, you lunatic!!! What? 9 tons of food? Is that a dog’s name?! Aaaagh!!!” 

Baron Kimberly was screaming. 

He had just barely solved the financial crisis caused by Boras’s tax evasion a week ago by scraping together funds, and now there was another huge expense. 

“Damn! All the soldiers say it was by the prince’s order, so I can’t not believe it… And a master troll? Now I have to write a report about this? The palace will have my head for a false report!” 

Baron Kimberly, usually honest and upright, was not so righteous as to risk his neck, so he filed a report blaming the monster rampage on ten years of accumulated unrest to secure extra funds. 

Of course, he spent a week working without sleep to clean up the mess, cursing Yuno and Mayer the whole time. 

The surviving soldiers boasted to their families and friends, exaggerating Ajin’s feats, and Yuno was soon celebrated as a great lord who personally led an expedition to subdue the monsters and commanded a master troll. 

“Ow, why is my ear so itchy?” 

Sensing someone was cursing him, Yuno scratched his ear with his pinky. 

“Hehe, maybe some bathwater got in your ear? Here, rest your head on my thigh~ Kurimu, your exclusive sex maid, will clean your ear and make you feel good~” 

“Yeah, please do.” 

While William and Mayer were training soldiers and Baron Kimberly was working sleepless nights, their lord Yuno was lying on Kurimu’s lap in a maid outfit, sucking her breast milk, getting his ear cleaned, and enjoying the pleasure of Miruku sucking his cock and Kurimu’s soft thighs.