SML Ch 37

Chapter 37.

A Leisurely Tale (3)

Deep in the heart of the forest where the Swine lived.

The twenty-two humans, stripped of their weapons and armor, were locked inside an iron cage, watching as the young Swine played outside, gleefully setting off signal flares—only to get smacked by their parents and burst into tears.

“Good grief. Every time one of those goes off, that’s a week’s wage for an ordinary soldier going up in smoke. Those kids really have no sense of how valuable those things are.”

Serna whistled lazily, chewing over some trivia Reynald had once told him. The low-grade smoke bombs used by regular soldiers might be cheaper, but the emergency-grade signal flare kits they’d brought were apparently quite expensive.

It was true that the higher-end ones could be seen from farther away, but even so, Serna had always wondered why there was such a massive price gap. Reynald had once grumbled about it, saying it was suspicious how many useless signals were mixed in and half-joking that it might be a case of military-industrial corruption.

As Serna idly reminisced about his teacher’s ranting, Arun frowned and replied sharply.

“This is not the time to be fretting over petty finances, Serna. Thanks to those foolish little monsters playing around, the rescue signal must’ve made it beyond the forest—that in itself is fortunate.”

“But Brother Arun, do you really think a rescue will come? I mean, it’s this backwater place. And besides, didn’t we… uh… have a bit of conflict with the guards from that last village?”

“…True. It was a mistake on our part not to listen to their advice. Still, we never imagined the Swine colony would be this large.”

The knights, humbled and guilt-ridden, looked like they wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it. They bowed their heads to the princes, utterly dejected. But this wasn’t solely the knights’ fault. Arun and Serna had also dismissed the village guards’ warnings, thinking them overly dramatic and ignorant.

Even if this land was abandoned and left to rot, they hadn’t expected monsters to run rampant to this extent. In all the places they’d visited for monster subjugation, not once had they encountered a Swine population this overwhelmingly large.

At most, they’d thought there might be a hundred or so—probably with a fair number of young or elderly individuals mixed in, whose combat abilities would be low. They had believed their elite knights would be more than enough. And yet, there were easily over seven hundred Swine here fully capable of fighting.

And that wasn’t all. For reasons they couldn’t fathom, the Swine here were remarkably well-nourished and carried iron weapons. The knights hadn’t been defeated simply due to numbers.

The amount of iron weaponry they possessed couldn’t have come from just raiding nearby villages. It was deeply suspicious where and how they had acquired such arms.

“Our lack of experience is to blame, Serna. We thought we were seasoned, having traveled rough lands and hunted monsters—but thinking about it, we’ve only ever walked paths others had already cleared before us.”

“You do have a point, Brother… but don’t you think this place is just a bit too abnormal?”

Serna grumbled as he watched the Swine. Sure, objectively, Arun’s words were valid. No matter how harshly the king had trained his sons, he wouldn’t have sent them on a mission to a place where they might die. Judging the world solely by their own limited experience had been arrogant. The world was vast, and monsters might be far stronger than they thought.

Still, even so—this didn’t feel right.

That persistent feeling—Is this really normal?—floated around in Serna’s mind like a fog.

Something’s off about this place. No matter how you look at it, monsters thriving like this is just wrong.

It wasn’t just the sheer number of monsters. What disturbed Serna more was the faint presence of civilization among the Swine. Despite being fundamentally just bipedal pigs with some intelligence, there were clear signs of cultural development.

For example, those young Swine who were currently being scolded by their parents were wearing grubby white shorts. Monsters wearing clothes wasn’t strange in itself—many wore garments stripped from human corpses. But these shorts appeared to be homemade. The fabric was crude, the stitching was clumsy and sparse—clear signs that the garments had been made, however awkwardly, by the Swine themselves.

Monsters sewing their own clothes? Where did they even learn to do that? Serna was still puzzling over this when Arun, looking rather displeased, shook his shoulder.

“Serna, now is not the time to be staring intently at the buttocks and groin of a young monster.”

“Brother, please don’t phrase things in such a misleading way! That is absolutely not what I was doing!”

“I don’t know exactly what you mean by ‘that,’ but… there are two things we need to consider right now.”

“Wh-what things?”

“First, the Swine’s intentions. Second, the movements of Sir Reynald.”

Realizing his brother was speaking seriously, Serna straightened his expression and nodded. Indeed, those were critical points they needed to figure out if they hoped to get out of this alive.

“Why do you think the Swine are keeping us alive?”

“Hm… true. They don’t seem eager to kill us. Maybe… they’re keeping us as emergency rations?”

“If they meant to eat us, wouldn’t they have done so already?”

“Looking at how well-fed and healthy the Swine are, I’d say they’ve got plenty of tastier food sources than us. Or maybe there’s a festival coming up and they plan to eat us all in one go.”

“This is no time for jokes. Monsters don’t celebrate anniversaries.”

That wasn’t a joke—it was a genuine thought. These creatures lived far closer to human lifestyles than most monsters. Even if they didn’t have anniversaries, they might at least have something akin to holidays…. Serna kept that to himself, while Arun frowned deeply and continued in a grim tone.

“Swine are among the more intelligent of the lower-ranked monsters. And according to the guards in the neighboring village, the ones here tend to avoid confrontation with armored knights. They even warned us—if we happened to cross paths with them, we should run straight out of the forest.”

“That’s true. We ended up like this because we ignored their advice and tried to charge through.”

It was Reynald’s territory, albeit temporarily assigned to him. And since too many Swine in the area could pose a threat to his people, they figured they’d take out a few and earn his gratitude. They’d all agreed it was a good idea and had boldly charged in—only to get captured.

But so what? Serna looked at his brother in confusion, trying to understand where he was going with this. Arun, dead serious, finally laid it out:

“What if these monsters plan to use us as bait to capture more humans?”

“…Bait? Just like that?”

“It’s entirely plausible. Up to now, they’ve avoided sword-wielding humans out of vague fear. But after fighting us and realizing even elite knights aren’t that formidable, they may have calculated that overwhelming us with numbers is a viable strategy.”

“……”

“So now they’re keeping us alive, waiting for the right moment. When the time comes, they’ll use us to lure more people from nearby territories. This kind of tactic—using captured humans as bait—is something harpies and kelpies are known for.”

The knights, without even realizing it, were nodding seriously at Arun’s theory. And indeed, some intelligent monsters did use such methods. If these Swine were clever enough, this strategy wasn’t far-fetched.

More than anything, Arun had a way of sounding exceptionally rational and wise in times like this, which always earned him the trust of those around him. Even Serna, feeling overwhelmed by his brother’s energy, nodded along in a daze.

“This brings us to the next problem.”

“What problem?”

“What’s the closest settlement besides the village we visited yesterday?”

“Well, that would be Sir Reynald’s domain… Ah.”

Only then did Serna realize what his brother meant. In other words—

“We might have put Sir Reynald and his people in danger, Serna.”

In trying to help Reynald, they may have endangered him. The knights all looked despondent, and Serna, too, felt a wave of guilt washing over him.

The real issue, though, was the logic that followed.

“Besides, those brats just fired a signal flare. At first, I thought they were just being dumb, but now I wonder if it was intentional. Could it have been to draw more humans here?”

Wait. Hold on. Weren’t those kids just getting smacked senseless by their parents a moment ago? And they’d never seen a signal flare in their lives—how could they possibly know how to use one strategically?

Serna was pretty sure something wasn’t right here. But the mood in the group was so intense that he didn’t dare object.

“Sir Reynald must’ve seen the distress signal. He’ll definitely come to rescue us. Given his temperament, he’s probably already assembling a force to purge these barbaric Swine—without knowing how strong or numerous they are.”

But Sir Reynald would know, wouldn’t he? He’d been living in this territory for months. It would be weirder if he didn’t already know how many Swine were here. Still, it wasn’t the time or place to bring that up. And even if he did, it wouldn’t change the group’s decision.

“If we don’t act soon, we might end up dragging him into danger too. We need to take action before this spirals any further.”

“Uh, r-right. But we don’t have weapons or armor…”

“You’re going to give up just because of that, Serna?! Don’t be weak! We still have all our limbs intact, don’t we?!”

Actually, the very fact that they did still have all their limbs was suspicious. If the Swine really meant to use them as bait like the harpies or kelpies, wouldn’t it have been more natural to maim or cripple them first? Still, before Serna could raise that question, the group had already made up their minds.

Arun and the knights stared solemnly out through the bars. Given how things were unfolding, it looked like Serna would have to join in on his brother’s “escape plan” too.

In the depths of an iron mine, where excavation was underway, several Swine leisurely hauled iron ore. Meanwhile, in one of the deeper tunnels, a peculiar conversation was taking place.

[Yeah, alright. First, bring me the armor and swords. The stuff we took from those knight guys.]

“……”

[No, don’t melt them down for tools or weapons just yet. I want to check the crests first. These kinds of gear usually have family crests on them—it’s the easiest way to figure out where someone came from.]

“……”

[Don’t worry. There won’t be more humans barging in right away. You haven’t touched the captives yet, right? You’d better not have tried to kill them. If we hurt them, their people might bring reinforcements to take revenge. Once I’m done checking, strip them and toss them at the forest’s edge. Just like we’ve always done.]

“……”

[What matters now is identifying where they came from. Honestly, I’d like to know why they suddenly went berserk in our forest, but more than that—I want to know where they’re from. They’re definitely not from the nearby villages.]

“……”

[I know. You guys would never start a fight without reason—you’re too kind for that. This year especially, with so many babies born, we’ve even been avoiding fights with the ratmen, right? We even let it slide when they cut down a whole bunch of trees. But right now, raising your young safely comes first. Your kids want full bellies and warm beds more than anything, I’m sure. Though… once they’re grown, things might change.]

“……”

[Hm? Personally, I think they’ve got nothing to do with us. Look at where they entered from—it’s a completely different direction. I heard a new lord’s taken over in the southern human lands, but he doesn’t seem interested in us. At most, he sends people to pick fruit near the edge of the woods. I say we let them be.]

“……”

[Alright, let’s see now. Which noble bastards thought it was a great idea to barge into someone else’s land and raise hell… Wait—what is this.]

“……?”

[Something’s wrong. This sword bears the royal crest. And these armors—they’re all marked with the insignia of the Royal Knights. What the hell is going on? Why has the kingdom sent an elite force into a remote, godforsaken place like this?]

The Swine looked at each other and scratched their heads. Meanwhile, a mysterious figure draped in a pitch-black robe sat slumped on the ground, muttering agitatedly to himself as he examined the crests on the armor and weapons.

Footnotes:

• Harpies and Kelpies: Mythical monsters. In fantasy strategy, they’re known to use humans as bait or lures to trap others. This is being referenced here as a comparison.