The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations - Chapter 257

Chapter 257: Just Hit The Weak Points. (2)

“Kaaaargh!”

The leader of the Owlbears let out an even more ferocious roar as it charged forward.

As the Owlbear closed the distance, Ghislain suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Thud, thud, thud!

His abrupt halt left deep marks on the ground as his momentum dragged him forward, sliding toward the Owlbear.

“Kaaaaargh!”

The Owlbear raised its claws high, preparing to slam them down on Ghislain as he approached.

“Hup!”

But Ghislain was faster. Before their bodies even collided, his greatsword traced a wide arc.

Shrrrk!

The charging monster’s head shot high into the air. Its decapitated body wavered briefly before collapsing to the ground.

Thud!

As the Owlbear fell, Ghislain turned back and flashed a bright smile.

“See that? Take off the head, and it’s over. Plus, the hide stays nice and clean. Most monsters die if they lose their head. Numbers are about even, so each of you take one as an opponent.”

“…”

The knights were at a loss for words.

Losing one’s head was fatal for humans, too. Actually, for most creatures, that was true.

If that was considered a weakness, then it was like saying even dragons carried their weak spots out in the open.

They wanted to protest, but there was no time. The Owlbears were already charging towards them.

Ghislain stepped back quickly and shouted.

“Alright, everyone attack! Aim for the weak points!”

“Tch! Let’s go! I can do at least that much!”

Kaor shouted confidently and rushed forward. When it came to fighting, he didn’t want to lose to anyone.

The knights followed closely behind him, raising their greatswords.

Each of them had trained extensively under Ghislain’s direction in various weapon techniques. While spears and swords were their primary weapons, they had also practiced with greatswords, so fighting monsters wasn’t unfamiliar to them.

Kaor swung his greatsword, packed with mana, at an approaching Owlbear.

Ka-ga-gak!

The swing was a bit rough, but he managed to sever its neck in one stroke. Cutting through the thick, tough neck of an Owlbear in one go was no small feat—it was a testament to his skill.

“Whoa!”

“That guy’s amazing too!”

“Maybe they really can take them all down?”

The porters who had been fleeing stopped to watch the scene unfold in front of them.

Two Owlbears had already been decapitated with a single stroke. Seeing that, they began to hope the remaining 50 knights could do the same.

“Argh!”

However, the knight who aimed his greatsword at an Owlbear’s neck failed to sever it completely and was struck, sent flying through the air.

The other knights didn’t fare much better. Some managed to cut halfway through the neck, while others couldn’t even penetrate the thick hide.

“It’s not cutting!”

“W-wait! Hold on!”

“What kind of monster is this!?”

For beginners, slicing through the moving neck of a massive monster was far too challenging.

“Keeek!”

The enraged Owlbears retaliated fiercely, their pain fueling their attacks. The knights, unable to land decisive blows, were struck repeatedly and sent tumbling to the ground.

“Run! We were wrong!”

“Get on the carriages! These guys are done for!”

The coachman and porters, who had been hiding their strength, began stirring the group into a panic, prompting everyone to scramble back onto the carriages.

At that moment, Ghislain re-entered the fray, slicing through Owlbear necks effortlessly while berating the knights.

“Tsk, tsk. I knew this would happen. That’s why I keep telling you—train like your life depends on it. Get up, now! We’ll start special training as soon as we get back.”

The knights scrambled to their feet, terrified by his low voice.

Fortunately, their armor, lined with Blood Python leather, had prevented serious injuries. Though shaken, they could still move.

“Haaahp!”

“Please, just cut!”

“Die! Die!”

The prospect of Ghislain’s dreaded special training spurred the knights to pour all their strength into attacking the Owlbears.

These knights were the least skilled and most complacent members of the group. Until recently, most hadn’t even been able to wield mana properly.

But despite releasing bursts of mana, they struggled to land precise blows. Instead, the area around the Owlbears’ necks was torn into a bloody mess.

“Kaaaargh!”

The Owlbears screeched in agony. The sloppy attacks didn’t kill them but caused immense pain.

Amid the chaos, Ghislain and Kaor repeatedly intervened to clean up the mess.

To be fair, the knights weren’t slacking. A direct hit from an Owlbear’s attack could easily leave them gravely injured or dead.

Ghislain supported those in dangerous situations while shouting instructions.

“Keep your stance straight! Hold your sword properly!”

“Your legs are weak! I’ve told you how to fix that—why are you still like this?”

“You idiots! What have you been training for all this time?”

It wasn’t that Ghislain had been slacking—it was just that he had been too busy lately to push them harder. When he decided to act, however, he did so with the decisiveness befitting his mercenary roots.

While severing the necks of Owlbears, he also delivered blows to the knights.

“Ugh! My lord! We’re in the middle of a battle… Kgh!”

“Can’t you hit us after we finish?!”

“How can you attack us first?! Argh!”

Despite the knights’ protests, Ghislain didn’t stop.

“I brought you here because talking doesn’t work on you. Real combat is training.”

The knights found themselves enduring more hits from Ghislain than from the Owlbears.

Watching this, Kaor breathed a sigh of relief.

‘Phew, good thing I can handle these on my own.’

It would’ve been humiliating to be struck in front of so many onlookers. He prided himself on always looking his best.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Thanks to Ghislain’s tireless efforts, all the Owlbears were soon taken down. Alongside them lay the knights, battered and bruised by their lord.

“Ugh…”

“I think I’m gonna die… from training…”

“I must’ve been insane… I should’ve run away earlier.”

The knights were utterly spent.

And this wasn’t the worst of it—they suspected Ghislain would actually demand they kill the full 100,000 monsters before letting them return home.

Meanwhile, the porters and coachmen who had witnessed everything were dumbfounded.

“What is that guy? He’s way too strong!”

“He took down dozens of monsters and knights on his own…”

“He might be the strongest hunter I’ve ever seen.”

While the group marveled at his strength, Ghislain was busy inspecting the Owlbear corpses, grinning from ear to ear.

“This is fantastic. We’re off to a great start—just look at all this Owlbear hide.”

Owlbears’ bodies were similar to bears, meaning the group had essentially secured a large amount of bear pelts.

The problem was their size. Hauling such massive bodies up the mountain would be incredibly inefficient.

Fortunately, they hadn’t yet entered the mountain proper, so the issue was easily resolved.

Ghislain turned to the coachmen.

“Hey, I’ll roughly butcher these here. Take them back to the fortress and store them. I’ll throw in extra payment for the trouble.”

“Leave it to us! We can handle basic butchering!”

The coachmen, thrilled at the prospect of easy money, eagerly accepted. Refusing such a windfall would’ve been foolish.

With over a hundred porters and coachmen working together, the Owlbear corpses were quickly dismantled. While the more delicate work would have to be done at the fortress, the remains were loaded onto the carts for transport.

“Off we go, then!”

The coachmen departed, hauling their cargo of Owlbear parts.

Ghislain led the remaining porters and knights deeper into the mountain.

“Alright, back to hunting and training.”

As soon as he spoke, a brutal monster hunt began.

Kaaaargh!

Keeeeeek!

Grrrrroooar!

True to its reputation as a haven for monsters, the mountain was teeming with all kinds of creatures.

From goblins to gnolls with hyena-like heads, to towering, grotesque bugbears, the variety was staggering.

But the outcome was always the same. No monster could escape Ghislain’s relentless attacks on their “weak points.”

Even as he dispatched monsters with ease, Ghislain never stopped instructing the knights.

“What are you doing? Aim for the weak points! The weak points!”

“But where’s the head?!”

A strange, unidentified monster appeared—a round, orb-shaped creature with multiple legs sticking out. It was impossible to tell where its weak point was.

Slash!

Ghislain sliced it cleanly in half and said nonchalantly.

“That’s a Scorch monster. Worthless, even when dead. If you can’t figure out where its head is, just cut it in half.”

“…”

Easier said than done—none of the knights could pull that off.

And so, they had no choice but to keep hunting while enduring Ghislain’s relentless “guidance.”

‘I just want to go home…’

‘I should’ve trained harder before all this…’

‘I’m going to die at this rate—either to the monsters or to our lord…’

The knights, who had been lax in their training, were now more tense than ever. Their focus reached its peak.

After all, getting hit by Ghislain hurt far more than any monster’s attack.

Slash! Slash! Boom!

The knights’ swordsmanship steadily grew sharper. Despite their exhaustion, none of them dared slack off in battle.

The porters watching the scene were speechless.

The Shadow Mountains were infamous throughout the Turian Kingdom as a place of disaster. But now, it looked like the monsters were the ones experiencing catastrophe.

“Good, you’re doing well! Move faster, though!”

“Ugh, can’t we… slow down a little… Argh!”

“Once I started, I never stopped until the very end.” That’s the kind of person Ghislain was. The grumbling knight got smacked once and was dragged away.

Even with a hundred porters, Ghislain’s hunting speed was so fast that dismantling the monsters couldn’t keep up. Eventually, even the knights had to join in, squatting down to dismantle the monsters.

“Um… We’ve got way too much luggage. Carrying any more is impossible.”

Even the porters surrendered. Ghislain’s hunting speed was beyond brutal—absurdly so.

Clicking his tongue, Ghislain plopped down on the spot.

“Ugh, let’s slow down for now. Let’s rest for today. Dismantle as much as you can so we can carry the maximum load.”

The porters worked hard to dismantle the monster corpses. There were so many that even by the time the sun had completely set, they hadn’t finished.

Howl!

“Ugh, here they come again!”

Even at night, the knights couldn’t rest. After fending off another pack of dire wolves, they finally managed to catch some sleep.

“Ah, we can’t carry all of this.”

Even though the hundred porters and knights loaded themselves with monster spoils, a lot was left behind.

“Well, nothing we can do. We’ll come back later.”

Ghislain seemed a little disappointed, but the porters and knights looked relieved. Barely a day had passed, but they felt as though they’d been hunting for a month.

The carts were gone now, and they had to carry the heavy loads themselves. But even so, they were just glad to head back.

When Ghislain and the group entered the fortress, those who saw them were wide-eyed with shock.

“Crazy… Is that what they hunted in just one day?”

Workers and knights entered with their backs laden with so much loot that it looked like a large merchant caravan had arrived.

Never before in the fortress’s history had a group hunted so many monsters in a single day—not even when larger groups went out.

People stared at the procession, dumbfounded.

One curious hunter, counting the incoming people, muttered in disbelief.

“Not a single one… died?”

People had already seen the porters bring in piles of owlbear hides. On top of that, it looked like they had slain hundreds of monsters in just a day.

Killing that many monsters with no casualties was unthinkable. To do so, they must have fought non-stop without rest.

When people fight without breaks, it’s normal for at least a few to die.

“Their numbers are the same as when they left. How is this even possible?”

“Yeah, but everyone’s covered in bruises… Why do they look like they were hit by people?”

“Maybe they ran into a lot of humanoid monsters?”

Listening to the murmurs, the knights suppressed their tears. It wasn’t humanoid monsters that had beaten them—it was a monster disguised as a human.

People looked incredulous at Ghislain and the knights’ exploits. But the unbelievable didn’t stop there.

The next day, Ghislain left again with a team of porters. By the time they returned, they had just as much loot as the day before.

“How is this possible? Even if they’re strong, they wouldn’t know the terrain or the monsters’ habits yet, right?”

“We knew they were tough, but wasn’t this their first hunt? Their speed is insane.”

“They’re like veteran hunters.”

Even seasoned hunters wouldn’t hunt so recklessly.

Experienced hunters usually avoided greed and stopped at a reasonable point. That was the way to survive.

But these newcomers acted like they didn’t know such things, annihilating monsters with brute force.

Even the porters began returning with proud expressions, as if they had contributed to the victory.

As this repeated several times, the hunters began to grow jealous.

“The amount they’ve hunted is enormous. Isn’t there some way to take it?”

“No way we can match them by force. Maybe if Doncard got involved, but he’s running the processing workshops.”

“Messing with the workshops wouldn’t do us any good either.”

For hunters, it wasn’t enough to just kill monsters; they needed to extract every bit of profit from the remains. That’s why the fortress had developed an advanced system for processing, tanning, and preserving the materials.

Most hunters avoided touching the workshops. Not only were they well-guarded, but attacking one would also mean no other workshop would work with them.

Ghislain smiled contentedly as he inspected the growing stacks of hides and bones in the workshop storage.

“Ha, nothing beats earning money while warming up.”

Seeing the piles of materials, including even organs that could be used for medicine or food, was impressive.

The knights, though exhausted from the daily battles, couldn’t help but gape at the sight of the storage.

“Wow, all of that is money?”

“Our lord sure knows how to get things done.”

“But we still have to hunt 100,000 of these…”

At those words, everyone’s faces turned gloomy. They finally understood why they were here.

For days, they had been pushed to the brink. Honestly, death would have been a relief.

Getting hit by monsters was bad enough, but getting hit by their allies? The knights had long since lost their faith in humanity.

‘But… our speed is improving.’

‘Is this really effective?’

‘It’s definitely faster thanks to the lord, but how could we maintain this on our own?’

Ghislain’s hunting speed was beyond imagination. No monster could protect its weak points from him.

The knights, though struggling to keep up, found themselves catching monsters faster and faster. Yet, this brought them no joy.

‘Our skills have improved, so why do I feel like crying?’

To catch 100,000 monsters, they had to risk their lives every day. This level of training was pure torment.

As Ghislain’s hunting frenzy continued, complaints began to arise among the hunters.

“That bastard is wiping out all the hunting grounds. At first, he kept his distance, but now he’s encroaching on our areas.”

“Should we teach him a lesson? Maybe kill him outside?”

“Who’s going to do that?”

It was like trying to bell the cat. Ghislain’s skill and track record made anyone hesitate to provoke him.

Ultimately, the hunters’ hope rested on the fortress’s strongest faction, Doncard, the King of Ironcliff.

“Doncard has to step in, right?”

“Yeah. No one else can handle them. They’ve got numbers too.”

“But why is Doncard staying quiet? Those guys haven’t even paid association fees.”

“They wiped out Arnold’s crew at the inn. Their hunting skills are famous. Even for Doncard, it’d be risky.”

“But he’ll have to act eventually.”

“Yeah, apparently they hit Doncard’s hunting grounds yesterday. A showdown is inevitable.”

Rumors spread throughout the fortress that Doncard, leader of its strongest faction, wouldn’t stay idle for long.

And the tension finally came to a head. Doncard couldn’t ignore the infringement on his hunting grounds any longer.

“Doncard’s here! Doncard has arrived!”

With a shout, a group arrived at the inn.