19. Blood and eggs (2)
#19
A panicked cry was heard not far away. It was a place where bushes taller than a person grew densely. After checking the direction Ronan kicked the ground and started running.
– Wedge!
At that time another arrow flew. It was an arrow with a strangely fast speed different from anything before.
Instead of throwing away Ronan twisted his head to avoid the arrow.
As the arrow passed by the corner of his eye Ronan was able to see the unusual shape of the arrowhead.
‘This…’
The arrowhead which looked somewhat familiar was not the usual triangle or diamond shape. There were three triangular blades centered around a pointed arrow shaft.
‘It’s in my memory.’
It was in the same shape as the arrowhead proudly displayed by a former punishment soldier who had been arrested for poaching. Its structure was ferocious because it was designed to break the bones of animals not humans.
It is said that if you feed it with mana and shoot it you can instantly kill even a fairly small monster. My classmate’s boastful words lingered in my ears.
– And this isn’t just some random hillbilly. Even in Caribolo only hunting dogs of higher rank can shoot.
Hound was a word used to refer to Caribolo’s elite crew. The poacher’s motive continued to point out Caribolo’s greatness and systematic organizational culture.
Ronan’s expression hardened fiercely.
“Caribolo.”
It was one of the continent’s leading poaching organizations that attempted to kidnap Marfez.
‘There’s no reason to keep him alive.’
Ronan who had just hit the flying arrow rolled up his hand and brought it to his mouth.
“Stop shooting Caribolo! “It’s an ally!”
“what?”
“Don’t you guys even recognize members of the same organization? “It is Ahayute the hunting dog of the Damas branch!”
The arrow shooting stopped for a moment. After confirming that the gap was sufficiently narrowed Ronan swung his sword.
Asher’s telekinesis was cut off and floating rocks and pieces of wood fell to the ground.
“He’ll be raising his hand check it out!”
“A hunting dog from the Damas branch…?”
Ronan who had led the way raised both his hands. He slowly moved his steps in the direction from which the arrow came.
Soon four men appeared through the shaking bushes.
“Ahayute? I’ve never heard of it. Have you heard of it?”
“no. at all.”
“What are you kid?”
Three of them were holding bows and one was holding a dagger. Ronan frowned after seeing his men’s behavior. Red blood was smeared all over his clothes and dirty face.
There was a long trace of blood on the ground as if something had been dragged there. Ronan noticed silver rings on his men’s fingers.
It was the same tamer ring that was tied to Marfez’s leg. The man holding the dagger growled.
“You’re a hound? “Of the Damas branch?”
“okay. “Why are you making me say the same thing twice?”
“You have to sound like a horse. “I don’t know if he’s a contact but it’s nonsense for a kid like you to be a hunting dog.”
“Just because you can’t do it doesn’t mean you can’t do it wild dog. “I don’t know where the branch is but it looks like they only picked idiots.”
Ronan spat at his man’s feet. The man laughed and grabbed Ronan by the collar. He said holding the dagger to Ronan’s throat.
“Do you want to be covered in blood or blood?”
“Oh you were a hunting dog not a wild dog?”
“All seven of us are hunting dogs.”
Ronan nodded his head.
Seven people. It looks like there are three more people out of sight. Actually I felt a presence from before.
“You did well. If you don’t believe me you can ask your wolf. “Well I just got promoted so it’s not unreasonable to not know.”
Ronan shook off his man’s collar. The hunting dogs became agitated when they heard the word wolf.
Wild dog hunting dog wolf.
The boy in front of me knew too well about Caribolo’s class system to simply be dismissed as a liar.
Furthermore if he was not mistaken he also shot down an arrow fed with mana. It felt oddly believable as did his extraordinary knife skills.
The man holding the dagger said.
“…I’m watching this guy carefully.”
“You want to go? “The captain doesn’t seem to be in a very good mood today. Let’s just handle it ourselves shall we?”
“You never know. “If that bastard is really a hunting dog there will be discord with the Damas branch.”
Soon the man disappeared into the bushes. The hounds who had replaced her bow with a sword approached nodding.
A man who resembled a hammerhead aimed the tip of his sword at Ronan’s chest.
“Now that I think about it how did you do that?”
“Is that it?”
“Don’t mess around brat. You know the one that used to levitate stones and trees. Are you really a wizard?”
He was talking about Asher’s telekinesis. Ronan smiled cheerfully.
“Oh that? “There’s nothing to hide.”
Ronan took out Mar Fez’s egg from his inner pocket. The men’s eyes widened when they saw the jewel-like beauty.
“It’s all thanks to this. Last time I cut open the griffon’s stomach and it came out. “It probably looks like a magic tool.”
“I really caught a griffon? no. “This isn’t it. What on earth is that?”
“Look at it yourself Senpai.”
Ronan lightly threw her egg at the gnat. The men gathered there greedily fiddling with the eggs.
“Hiyaaa….”
“This is my first time seeing something like this.”
Marfez’s eggs were beautiful and had an indescribable mystery. It wouldn’t be strange if he had some kind of magical ability. One of them shouted holding up an egg.
“hey! Everyone come out and check this out!”
Then a man and two women appeared from different directions. Behind the trees behind the rocks under the bushes.
They all appeared to be snipers holding huge hunting bows.
“The voice is loud. “What is it?”
“It’s a magic tool that this kid got by killing a griffon. Won’t you kill me?”
They also looked at the eggs with great interest. At that time two men walked out through the long grass. One was the man holding the dagger who had disappeared earlier.
“Is that the bastard?”
“Your captain.”
The other one was a bald man who appeared to be about 2 meters tall and was wearing colorful jewelry here and there.
Ronan could tell at a glance that he was a ‘wolf’ who served as the head of the branch. The wolf approached quickly and looked down at Ronan.
“This is Beum the wolf of the Demire branch. “Did you say you were from the Damas branch? Ahayute?”
“yes.”
“I heard that our branch is in charge of the ley lines discovered this time. What kind of trick is this?”
Beum lowered his voice as if threatening. Ronan didn’t answer.
He quickly looked around. There was no further sign. With this all eight people including the wolf gathered together.
The corners of Ronan’s mouth rose. The most annoying process is over. For the first time he developed favorable feelings toward a classmate who had been caught for poaching.
“You did a good job of listening even though you were sleepy and disgusted. After all there is nothing like motivation.”
“ok? “What are you talking about?”
“First of all let me correct you…I am not Ahayute.”
Suddenly.
Ronan’s sword which was fired as if bouncing drew an arc. A red line appeared on Beum’s neck. The moment Beum who reacted one step late put his hand on the hilt of his sword his head fell off his body.
“ah?”
“I named it after the kid I hate the most. “I have to pretend to be a fucking poacher.”
The world that Baeum sees has turned upside down. The pupils of the man holding the dagger widened.
Because everyone was preoccupied with the egg he was the only one who witnessed the captain’s absurd death.
“Everyone…!”
Suddenly.
But there was no time to fight back. Ronan kicked Baeum’s body and swung his sword at the man.
The feeling of a blade cutting through flesh and breaking bone passed through his fingertips. The man’s severed left arm and four fingers on his right hand rose into the air.
“You put it on hold for now.”
“Kwaaaaah!”
The man’s mouth opened and a scream that made her hair go crazy came out. Only then did the hounds come to their senses and panicked and took up a fighting stance.
“What?! “You bastard…!”
“uh? “Captain…”
The fastest hunting dog hurriedly placed the arrow on its string. But the gap had already narrowed. Black sword strikes were fired at the hunting dogs.
“no…!”
Suddenly.
“Kya…!”
Suddenly.
“Holy shit…!”
Suddenly.
Ronan’s sword was swung precisely at the poachers’ necks. Therefore only elasticity similar to a physiological response erupted sporadically without any grumbling moans or screams.
“Who do you think I am…!”
Suddenly.
Some of them reached the level of sword expert but it was of little significance. A human being dies anyway when his head is cut off.
Suddenly.
The fresh blood that surged soaked the grass. Slowly one beat at a time the fallen bodies flapped around like fish pulled out onto land. The last remaining hound threw away his weapon and shouted.
“Save me…!”
Suddenly.
It didn’t take long for the job to be finished.
****
“Oooh! “Wow!”
“That’s why I told you to be prepared.”
Asher made eye contact with the corpse and became nauseous again. Asher who came late after hearing Ronan’s call had to witness a world of hell that he couldn’t believe was real.
Among his bodies lying all over the place not a single one had a head. Heads with brightly open eyes were rolling through the bushes like chestnuts in late autumn.
“What are all those people…Woof!”
“Caribolo. Those poacher bastards I was talking about before.”
It was a tragedy on a different level from the Luna Goblin incident.
Although the scene itself was cleaner than before when internal organs and limbs were scattered like fertilizer the Luna Goblins were monsters not humans.
Asher said crying.
“This is murder…!”
“It’s okay because they’re all bounties. maybe.”
Ronan who was smoking a cigarette answered indifferently. In fact most of the poachers belonging to Caribolo were wanted.
Even the lowest-ranking wild dogs had a bounty on their heads not to mention the elite hunting dogs.
“Let’s put it in for now.”
“You want to put this…?”
“Then do you want to bring it up with your hands or telekinesis?”
That’s why only the head was cut off. Ronan began stuffing heads into his backpack.
Ronan and Asher put five and three heads in their backpacks respectively. The feel of the liquid slowly soaking my back gave me chills.
Ronan who was looking at Asher who was breathing heavily pulled on his hood.
“Follow me.”
“huh…?”
Ronan crossed the tall grass with Asher. A trace of blood from before Ronan’s stabbing guided them.
After walking for about ten minutes the grass parted ways and an empty lot emerged. A bloody smell that was incomparably worse than before hit the boys. Ronan took out a pipe and asked.
“Do you feel less guilty now?”
“This this… everything…”
“okay. “This is what the kids in the backpack did.”
Asher was speechless. More than a hundred animals regardless of species were dead. Deer wild boar leopard unknown birds and even small squirrels…
A river of blood was flowing down the slope. In a corner of the vacant lot the separated meat and skin were neatly piled up as if disassembly work was in full swing.
Useless heads and internal organs were thrown away carelessly and rolling around on the ground. Asher was unable to move as if he had been rooted to the spot.
“You are too much….”
“Professor Varen will be sad.”
Ronan exhaled smoke and smiled bitterly. Strange beasts that seemed to be part of a phantom species were also reduced to cold corpses.
There were cases where the phantom species that were in demand were sold as pets but unfortunately the phantom species here seemed to be valued more as meat or raw material.
“Still I’m glad I got this…”
Ronan took a rolled-up piece of parchment out of his pocket. It was a different parchment than the one I received from Professor Varen. A map drawn in blood marked certain places.
– Draw everything.
Ronan ordered his man to draw the locations of all the branches he knew of.
The man who could no longer hold her dagger desperately drew a map. The index finger of Ronan’s right hand that he deliberately left behind was his brush and lifeline.
– Since I drew everything will you save it for me? Right?
The man who had finished drawing the map begged for her life throwing away all of her pride.
-no.
Ronan cut off his head without a single thought. From the beginning he said to hold off but did not say he would save my life.
Ronan muttered as he rolled up the parchment again.
“I wonder if he will like it if I give it to Varen.”
As he was looking at the dead phantom species he naturally got an idea. Ronan rummaged through his pockets. Except for the bag of tobacco dust nothing was caught.
“Where did you spill it again?”
Come to think of it it seemed like it hadn’t been picked up since I handed it to the hunting dogs earlier.
Ronan moved to the place where the massacre occurred leaving Asher behind. When he reached the scene he frowned.
“Huh?”
All the blood stains that had been splattered everywhere had been erased. The blood that had accumulated in the grass roots and hollow areas also disappeared everywhere.
what? Did I take a wrong turn?
It was the car Ronan had been looking around for. A strange sight came into view.
“…What is that?”
The blood that still remained was oozing and moving somewhere.
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