A mansion on an empty field without a fence—it used to be the shiny official residence of the lord, without any blemishes, unlike now.
“Remember, you must not take off your hood no matter what.”
“…”
Worry settled on the face of Lord Favo, who looked young. The person he was conversing with was a small child reaching his calf at best.
“And never eat humans. This is a promise.”
Favo held out his pinky, and the child stared blankly at it, then hooked its pinky with Favo’s. Then, Favo smiled and stroked the child’s head.
“Good, then I’ll help you as much as I can.”
At first, Favo just felt sorry for it. The troll’s child needed to be breastfed, but the mother had been hunted by Adventurers, and only the little child was left behind to cry. Coincidentally, Favo, the lord of the West Sun, had found the child who had fallen asleep in the cave after exhausting itself from crying.
‘I couldn’t kill it…’
Although it was a high-ranked monster, Favo’s heart was too soft to kill this young monster. But leaving it alone was nothing short of killing. Eventually, Favo closed his eyes tightly, brought in the troll child, and began raising it.
“For you to blend into human society, you have to follow some rules…”
It included not walking around during the day, always wearing a hood at night, not attacking humans no matter what, and finally, to become a mercenary by training its swordsmanship.
“There used to be a time when orcs, elves, and dwarves were treated as monsters.”
But it was different now… Humans had long acknowledged their intelligence and accepted them as a Second Race and neighbors on the continent. Thanks to this, the number of orc and elf mercenaries currently active in the mercenary guilds was significant.
“Who knows. Maybe you could be the first troll mercenary?”
“…Kreung?”
“Well, you’ll have to learn diligently to do that.”
Since then, Favo took care of his territory during the day, and at night, he would become a teacher to teach swords and literature to the troll. Unfortunately, his knowledge of the sword wasn’t so deep, so he received the help of his only right-hand man and knight.
“The regenerative power of your species is a great blessing. If you do well, you could become the best knight.”
Being capable of regenerating a severed body part was great merit for a swordsman.
***
One year, two years, five years, ten years… .
It had already been ten years since Favo had taken over West Sun territory. The little troll child had grown more than 3m after so many years.
“…It seems that I won’t be able to raise it in my mansion anymore.”
“The residents who have seen the troll in passing are becoming increasingly wary.”
Haaa.
Favo let out a deep sigh. Above all, the troll also felt stuffy in the narrow corner of his house.
“…You decide. Do you want to go out or not?”
When Favo asked, the troll swordsman, ‘Roland,’ wrote with a feather pen.
‘Yes.’
It wrote in the imperial language with neat handwriting. Favo’s right-hand man, who was also watching, spoke, “Roland is stronger than I am now. How about we put in a recommendation at the mercenary guild?”
“Hmm, I don’t know if they’ll see Roland for who he is.”
Roland hadn’t even attacked a human in 10 years, let alone eaten one. He was a perfectly intelligent being. He even learned the imperial language and had a high understanding of swordsmanship.
“The only flaw is that you can’t speak because your language skills have deteriorated.”
It couldn’t be helped because the troll’s atrophied tongue was the problem. Lord Favo thought for a long time, then nodded.
“I know someone in the mercenary guild, so I’ll send a letter myself.”
***
It was a success. Favo’s acquaintance in the mercenary guild showed great favor toward Roland’s existence.
– A troll who knows how to use a sword. He could immediately become a powerhouse. He might even become a star right away.
The acquaintance made a fuss about sending Roland to take the test as soon as possible.
“Congratulations, Roland.”
Favo, the knight, and Roland were all delighted. They happily prepared for the mercenary examination. Favo presented Roland with new clothes, and the knight gave one of his swords.
“If you fail the test, don’t be discouraged. Just come straight back home.”
Nod.
Nodding, Roland left the West Sun territory at dawn. While he was leaving the village, he looked back at Favo and the knight several times. The sight of the two smiling and waving their hands was deeply embedded in Roland’s memory.
***
“Is this him?”
“Yeah, isn’t it interesting? A troll raised by a person… He can even use swordsmanship.”
“It’s definitely interesting. He’ll be a good sample.”
Roland’s body trembled. Even with the natural regenerative power of a troll, the wound on his body no longer healed. Even though he attacked over and over dozens of times, he couldn’t even brush the collar of the people in front of him.
“That’s enough of pretending to be a human, monster.”
“Bring out the dormant violence in you.”
The two fiends who were playing with Roland as if he was a child implanted a demon jade in his body.
“How many people do you think he will eat?”
“Who knows? Being strengthened by the demon jade, I don’t think most Players and Adventurers will be able to compete against it.”
“I think at least a hundred people…”
“I say 150, then.”
The fiends’ distasteful bet didn’t even enter Roland’s ears. Roland’s body struggled at the terrible pain he had never experienced before in his life. At the same time, the presence and figures of Favo and the knight in his head slowly became blurry.
“Khuuuuuuuuaaang!” the red-eyed troll roared.
***
“I-It’s a troll! The troll killed a man!”
Horrified screams erupted in the streets of the West Sun. It had been just one day since Roland left for a nearby city to take the mercenary test.
“…!”
The ones who were shocked the most were the knight and Favo who came to the scene in a hurry. Roland had taken off his hood, and in front of him was a bloodied man. The man was not breathing, obviously dead.
“Roland…?”
For whatever reason, Roland had grown bigger in a day.
“Krrrrr.”
No intelligence could be found in the troll’s eyes as he looked back at Favo with a huff. He had turned into just a monster. In front of the monster, the knight asked Favo.
“…Lord, your orders.”
“…”
Favo had a blank expression. Why did that gentle guy commit murder? He wanted to ask him why, at the least, but he couldn’t do such a thing. Dozens of residents had already witnessed the murder committed by the troll. Regardless of the reason, murder was a clear felony, and the perpetrator was even a monster, not a human being. Biting his lips, Favo raised his voice.
“Hunt that monster right now!”
It was the order he as the ‘lord’ had to give. Roland looked at Favo and the knight with red eyes then fled to the Twin Mountains while being chased by soldiers.
***
A reward was posted. Where there were flowers, there were bees. Numerous Players, Adventurers, and mercenaries gathered, coveting the reward. Roland dealt with them all. In the meantime, his sense of reasoning that flew away thanks to the demon jade’s influence gradually recovered.
“…”
He regretted it. Roland looked down at his hands and sobbed. He realized what he had done, and what he had done to the two people he admired and loved the most. He stabbed himself in the heart to die, but the regenerative power of the trolls was too great—even dying was difficult.
“…”
As such, Roland waited; he waited until someone strong enough to kill him arrived. Since he came to his senses, he didn’t kill a single human but subdued them instead. But by that time, nearly eighty people had already died at his hands.
“…”
The knight, who was his sword teacher, had always said that a knight was an existence who wielded the sword to protect. He also said that killing an opponent without someone to protect would simply make you a monster.
“…”
As soon as he remembered that, he threw away the sword. He thought it was the least amount of courtesy he could give his teacher who taught him swordsmanship. And then, he waited for a long time until someone strong enough to kill him arrived.
“…”
What a relief… Roland was relieved the moment he faced Seo Jun-Ho. Seo Jun-Ho was strong. Seo Jun-Ho gave off a smell so dangerous that it was similar to the humans who had fed him the strange marble. He could die now. His life of dishonor and shame was about to end.
“…”
Knowing he couldn’t beat his opponent anyway, he made the best move he could with his sword for the last time. That way, his opponent would kill him right there and then without trying to capture him alive.
“…”
In the final moments of his life, it was no coincidence that his gaze turned to the West Sun territory.
‘I’m… sorry…’
He apologized, apologized, and apologized over and over again. Even until the moment he died, his heart was full of guilt toward the two humans.
***
“…”
After watching all the memory videos, Seo Jun-Ho slowly got up. The cave was already bustling with activity.
“My goodness, there are at least 40 people alive in here…”
“It’s a relief that we’re not too late…”
“To be honest, we didn’t do much, did we?”
“Ahem!”
After a while, the Blue Guild members came up from the bottom of the mountain. They came up to rescue people after receiving a call that the mutant troll had been dealt with.
“I’ll leave this place to you.”
Seo Jun-Ho left the scene to the Blue Guild and quickly went down the mountain. Despite it being so late, Lord Favo welcomed him.
“You are back already… Is there something wrong?”
“No, everything has been taken care of. I have dealt with the troll.”
“Is that so…”
Seo Jun-Ho didn’t miss the sadness that quickly passed through Lord Favo’s eyes. Seo Jun-Ho said, “I saw the diary written by the troll.”
“…Diary?”
“Yes, I read it all and burned it.”
Seo Jun-Ho told Favo why the troll went wild. He told the truth: it wasn’t the troll’s will, but the fiends’ work.
“Such, such a thing…”
Favo trembled with his fists clenched. Seo Jun-Ho told Favo that the reason why he was explaining this was not just to sate the latter’s curiosity.
“If Lord hadn’t taken in the troll, this wouldn’t have happened…”
It didn’t matter how good the intentions were, if the results were catastrophic, it wouldn’t be right.
“Please remember, consideration, kindness, and tenderness won’t always make the world better.”
“…”
“I will report this matter to the Empire myself. We can leave the rest to the law.”
Seo Jun-Ho left the lord’s residence, leaving his words behind. On his way back to the inn, Frost Queen spoke to him, “Contractor, do you have to go this far?”
“I have to…”
His voice was firm and the Frost Queen looked confused. “It is a little hard for me to understand. A monarch is supposed to take into consideration the injustice and hardship of the people.”
“From the point of view of a monarch, but I am not a monarch…”
Seo Jun-Ho also knew better than anyone that this wasn’t Favo’s fault. The ones in the wrong were the fiends. It was a fact that no one could deny. But rather, that was why Seo Jun-Ho wanted to do it like this.
“I do not know why, but you look so cold today,” observed the Frost Queen.
Suddenly, she felt that there was a big distance between her and Seo Jun-Ho. This was because Seo Jun-Ho, who always had a warm heart, showed a particularly unfamiliar side of him today.
“Once upon a time, there was a Player who made a fire for his comrades who slept suffering in the cold. He was a kind person.”
“…?”
“But because of the light, the location of the campsite was discovered by monsters, and the party was wiped out. It was such a stupid case that would render anyone speechless once they heard of it. But this means that if you want to do something nice for someone, you have to think carefully. You have to consider if you’re prepared to handle the consequences…”
This was one of the cold, hard truths Seo Jun-Ho had learned through his past five years as a Player.
1. Now that the troll has a name, I am changing the pronoun from ‘it’ to ‘he/him’.