Chapter 60

We arrived at the small village near Root, where the troll was reported to be living close by. After being welcomed by the villagers, they immediately informed us of the current situation. To summarize, the troll had killed a few people already, and they're afraid that it might come back once more if it gets hungry.

Unlike the notorious goblins and orcs, trolls don't toy with their victims, and they only hunt them for food. The chance of an ordinary human surviving a troll encounter is much smaller than with any other monster. Even the villagers do not seem to be hoping for their kidnapped people to be saved. All they want now is to be saved on their own.

"Please, help us! If it gets hungry again...!" the chief pleaded.

"Of course! We'll defeat it for sure, that's what we came here for after all," I reassured him.

"You don't need to worry, I'll personally deal with it myself," Fin affirmed, almost boasting.

"T-Thank you very much!"

"Oh, and if you can point out where the enemy's home is, that would be helpful."

"We're too afraid to look for its base ourselves, so we only know the direction it's coming from..."

"That's helpful too."

That is usually the case for stronger monsters. Since it's extremely dangerous for ordinary people to search for their nests by themselves, the knights, or more commonly, the adventures, have to work blind and locate the monsters on their own. However, it's not actually that much troublesome, since low intellect monsters always leave tracks that are easy to follow. For a big monster like a troll, it's easy to find its footprints.

With the help of the village chief, pointing the direction where the troll was coming from, Fin and I went on our way. Entering the small forest neighboring the village, we quickly found its trails—cracked branches, fallen trees, and more importantly, its large foot prints.

"Gulp..." fin nervously swallowed after seeing the massive marks of the troll's foot on the ground.

We continued to track its footsteps, and soon, we found its base. Its base was on higher ground, on top of a small hill. There wasn't really much of anything there. What was there was just a small campfire, below two branches of wood to hold a massive skewer. Thankfully, there wasn't any meat being cooked at the moment, or else, Fin might not be able to endure the sight.

Nonetheless, there were still evidence of the people that were kidnapped scattered around the area as well. The pieces of their clothes were wet with blood, and their bones were randomly stacked on different spots. I can even see the small skull of a child with a large chunk of it missing. Presumably, it had been bitten off while they were still alive.

"I heard that trolls are massive, but I didn't expect them to be this..." seeing the massive frame of the troll, Fin nervously comments.

The troll was three meters tall at the very least. But it isn't really its height that gave it its intimidating appearance, rather, it was the massiveness and fullness of its bloated body. It has pale blue skin, a hunched back, wide arms, and a round stomach that's sticking out too much. In hindsight, they appear kind of similar to orcs, but with a bit of observation, you can tell just how much more massive and muscular they were than the pig headed monsters.

It appears to have just finished eating, and is now taking a rest. Its snores were loud, indicating that it's deep in its sleep.

"How should I...?"

"Heh...? Since you're not an assassin, you can't just go behind its back and slice its neck now..."

Certainly, if it was me, I would just go around it and slice its neck from the back. Maybe even just go right at it and stab it in the guts. However, those methods definitely won't work for Fin.

"Then, just fire your strongest spell at it, see if it wakes up."

Even if it was a test, I don't really care what method Fin uses to defeat it. He could finish it up in one go by firing his strongest spell at the start. In fact, that would be the best outcome for us.

"Is that so...?" Fin replied, the doubt evident in his voice.

"What else can you do anyway?" I said, in no way of directing it as an insult.

If Fin was a more advanced mage, he should be able to set up trap spells, or he can even enhance himself a bit more. However, he's not in that level yet, all he can rely on for now are his raw magical prowess and active-cast spells.

"Then, excuse me, Eria-sama..."

Bravely going out of hiding, Fin positions himself within enough distance where he could shoot his spells at the enemy with certain accuracy. Then with a quiet sigh, he tightened his hold on his staff and took his time to cast the most powerful spell he knows...

"Fire magic: Fire Javelin!"

As the spell was released, a number of javelins made of fire came shooting at the troll, crashing as they hit their target perfectly.

As if he was showing off, Fin casted the first spell I showed him when we first met. It's a mid-tier spell, something he shouldn't have learned so fast as a beginner caster. And as expected, that shows.

"Ugh...!" Fin groaned, distraught by the outcome of his magic.

The spell was executed well, but its magic output was far less than it should have had. It turned out weak, and most of its damage was absorbed by the trolls thick skin. Of course, even though the pain inflicted on it was little, it was enough to wake it up.

As soon as it notices Fin, it glared at him with murderous intent.

"Gruoooh!!!" it bellowed with its loud and booming voice.

"Fin!" sensing its serious intent to kill Fin, I momentarily panicked.

"I... I'm sorry, Eria-sama! I messed up my attack..." biting his lips, Fin hurriedly apologized.