SML Ch 24

Chapter 24

Three people were assigned to each scavenger to engage them. Fortunately, the area was spacious enough that their sword paths didn’t get tangled, and there was no risk of being struck by an ally’s blind swing.

If the scavengers had taken advantage of the terrain and barricaded themselves inside the house, they would have been much harder to deal with. But since the battle was taking place in a wide-open clearing outside, the side with greater numbers naturally held the advantage. For the scavengers, coming outside had actually put them at a disadvantage.

Still, there was a reason the scavengers had recklessly burst out in a frenzy. They had an unusually strong obsession with their homes, and when someone tried to destroy what they perceived as their house, they would lose their minds and try to kill the intruder. In that kind of frenzied state, they wouldn’t have had the capacity to think strategically.

“Urgh…!”

“Careful, Lyndon!”

That said, the enraged monsters were still terrifying. Lyndon’s left arm was slashed deeply by a blind claw. While the two uninjured fighters held the scavenger at bay, the young men standing by in the rear rushed to move Lyndon to the backlines, and one of them immediately filled in for him.

“Ahh, damn it…”

“Whoa, I can see the bone. Quit whining and hold still.”

“It freaking hurts, you bastard!”

“Shut it. If you don’t split the wound open further, the outer layer will heal just fine!”

Lyndon, now in the rear, was treated with a liquid refined from mandragora. Once the fluid fully seeped into the wound, the injury healed at remarkable speed, and within a minute, only a faint scar remained. Not long after, another young man got injured, and the fully recovered Lyndon returned immediately to take his place.

The results of the week-long training with Reynald were starting to show. According to what Reynald had heard, the young men used to fight recklessly in chaotic free-for-alls after luring the scavengers outside. They even tilted their heads in confusion when asked about strategy, wondering what more they needed beyond simply dragging the monsters into favorable ground and fighting them there.

It was honestly a statement that left him speechless. Even for country folk, how could they engage in group combat without even the bare minimum of a formation? Still, things had improved significantly. It was far more stable than a tangled mess of wild brawling.

“You, humans! Too many! Bad!”

“What do you mean, too many? If you don’t like it, why don’t you go get your next-door neighbors to come help!”

No matter how many wounds were inflicted, the number of humans didn’t decrease, and the scavengers began to wail in frustration. Of course, even while flailing their front limbs menacingly, their cries held no persuasive power whatsoever.

The young men jeered at the scavengers to go bring their friends if they were so unhappy about it, but no one seriously believed the scavengers could do such a thing. If they were actually capable of cooperation, they wouldn’t be getting beaten this easily in the first place.

“Oh? It’s running away!”

By the time they had subdued a couple of scavengers, one lost its will to fight and began frantically fleeing somewhere. Instead of chasing it down, the young men focused on finishing off the remaining monsters. The fleeing scavenger ran to a nearby house and pounded on the window, but the young men ignored it.

“H-Help me! Bad humans! They broke our house! Help me!”

Judging from how it actively tried to follow the advice the young men had sarcastically given, that particular scavenger seemed to be relatively intelligent for its kind. But one clever monster wasn’t going to change anything. It pounded desperately on the window, but no answer came from inside.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. If you counted a shard of a broken plate flying out from the window crack as an “answer,” then it did get one.

“Ow! What the—?!”

“Our house! Get out! Our house! Get out!”

As loud shouting poured from inside the house, the young men chuckled bitterly and shook their heads. If those monsters were capable of cooperation, the villagers would have lost their homes to them long ago.

The scavengers were so busy fighting amongst themselves over who got the better house that collaboration was almost unheard of. It was unfortunate for the scavenger that had just lost its home, but for the villagers, it was a great stroke of luck.

While the scavenger continued arguing pointlessly with its neighboring monsters, Reynald and the young men had already taken down all four of the remaining scavengers. Because of their extreme attachment to their homes, the only real way to drive them out was to kill them. The lone scavenger trudged back, staring blankly at its fallen comrades.

The young men looked at it with awkward expressions. If they wanted to avoid trouble later, it would be smarter to eliminate this scavenger too, but neither Reynald nor even the spectators around them seemed inclined to go that far. It was a pitiful creature—its comrades were dead, and its fellow monsters had abandoned it. On top of that, it clearly had no will to fight left.

Reynald grabbed the scavenger in a flash and firmly pinned down its front limbs to prevent it from moving or attacking. Considering how powerful those limbs were, Reynald’s own strength was considerable. As the scavenger whimpered in pain and thrashed, Reynald remained expressionless and spoke calmly.

“Hey, mole.”

“Hurts. Hurts. My home. Our house.”

“You want to live?”

“Hurts. Don’t want to die.”

“If you promise to leave quietly without making trouble, I won’t kill you.”

“Not leaving. Our house. It’s ours.”

“This isn’t your house. This is Lyndon’s house—his grandmother’s, his sister’s, and his younger brother’s house. You only came in while they were away.”

“Our house. Our house.”

It didn’t seem like it really understood what he was saying, but Reynald still offered it a choice. Just giving the monster a chance to escape was already a fairly generous gesture. The people here weren’t in a position to show endless mercy to other monsters. No matter how human-sounding the monster’s speech was, that didn’t make it an exception.

If the territory were in a better state, perhaps it would’ve been nice to give these creatures their own homes and land. But if there had been such land, the villagers would’ve claimed it long ago. All the fertile land had already been taken by stronger monsters, and the people had been forced to live on barren soil.

They didn’t even have enough firewood to heat their homes—so little, in fact, that they wiped themselves down with cold wet towels. Where would they get the timber to build houses for monsters? It would be far more reasonable to use that same wood to keep the elderly and the children warm.

Generosity and compassion came from abundance, and in this land—where not a trace of abundance could be found—there was no room to be merciful to monsters. Reynald lowered his head and locked eyes with the scavenger. Then, in a low whisper, he said:

“If you don’t leave, I’ll kill you right here.”

The scavenger inhaled sharply in terror, and Reynald released its front limbs. The surviving scavenger stumbled to its feet and bolted out of the village. Reynald turned to the young men with a bitter smile, and they, too, finally relaxed and smiled in return. For now, the first house had been cleared.

“A good start. Nothing too dangerous either. It’s definitely easier when we stick to formation, huh?”

“But things are going to get tougher from here. Now that they know this house was attacked, the other monsters will be on alert.”

“True enough. Well, as long as we stay cautious, we’ll manage.”

“Yeah. We’ll need to be even more careful from now on. Let’s rest for a bit before heading to the next house.”

They plopped down on the ground to rest. As far as first cleanups went, things had gone relatively well. Thanks to proper training and planning, the process was faster than the previous year, and no one had been hurt so badly that mandragora extract couldn’t handle it. Of course, for the scavenger who had just been kicked out of its home, it was probably a terrible day—but then again, it was lucky just to be alive.

“Eww, those mole rat bastards crapped in every single dish!”

“Careful, Lyndon. There might be carnivorous plant seeds mixed into that poop.”

“No, I mean, that’s a problem too, but still! That means we’ll have to throw away all the dishes…”

Aside from Lyndon, who was half out of his mind from the shock of seeing his house in ruins, everyone else was more or less content.