FTA Ch 9

<Episode 9>

 

“Kyat.”

“Kyakat.”

“Kyat.”

 

It looked as if a snake and a wolf had been intricately combined.
Trioll flicked its two-pronged tongue ceaselessly while keeping a close watch on Gloria.

Gloria didn’t avoid the three pairs of eyes directed at her but stared straight back into them.
For a while now, the abacus in Gloria’s mind had been calculating rapidly.

 

‘I’m sure someone said those eyes are worth far more than most jewels.’

 

Trioll had three heads pointing in different directions and three pairs of eyes, leaving it with no blind spots.
Because of that, it was a very tricky monster to face, but if one could defeat it, the reward was worth the effort.

Moreover, there was no need to drag away a massive, heavy carcass.
All she had to do was pluck out the eyeballs and take them with her.
Apart from the eyes, Trioll was a monster with no particularly valuable parts.

Gloria even felt somewhat relieved that she had encountered Trioll here.

 

‘Let’s finish this quickly and head back.’

 

She’d worried that she might not make it back today, but now it seemed like she would return to the grand ducal manor sooner than expected.

Gloria licked her dry lips and gripped her mace firmly.

 

“Kyaakk!”

 

The middle head of the three let out a sharp cry.
Gloria squinted slightly and stared at Trioll.

It seemed as if the creature was being careful, looking for an opening rather than charging at Gloria recklessly.
Perhaps because it had three heads, Trioll possessed a certain degree of intelligence.
If she let her guard down, she might end up gravely injured herself.

After estimating the remaining distance, Gloria leaped forward and swung her mace forcefully.

 

“Kyak!”

 

With a thud, a pained cry escaped from Trioll as it’s central head went limp, knocked unconscious.

“Kyat! Kyat!”

“Kyat!”

 

The remaining two heads flailed about frantically in different directions, seemingly agitated.

Gloria backed up swiftly and lightly swung her mace to shake off the blood.

Had she held back too much strength to avoid damaging the eyes?
The recent strike hadn’t been fatal.

Though Trioll looked pained, it still snorted heavily and menaced her with a threatening presence.

 

‘Should I use a sword?’

 

Gloria didn’t want to resort to the blade, but it might be better for defeating Trioll without harming its eyes.

Maintaining her focus, she swiftly dropped the mace and pulled a dagger from the sheath strapped to her thigh.
Because the weapon still felt unfamiliar to her hands, the cold, rigid hilt felt awkward.

Clenching and releasing her grip, Gloria aimed for where she thought Trioll’s heart might be.

Trioll, a solitary monster with few in its species, was rarely encountered.
It had been so long since she’d faced one that she couldn’t remember exactly where its heart was or whether it even had more than one.

 

‘I’ll just have to figure it out by fighting.’

 

She had spent her childhood in the temple feverishly studying all kinds of monsters and their traits—perhaps the memory would come back during combat.

Taking a deep breath, Gloria charged at Trioll again, pushing off the ground.

 

“—Kiyott!”

 

A massive forepaw swung toward her shoulder.
Gloria narrowly dodged it, but before retreating completely, she thrust her dagger forcefully into Trioll’s left chest.

 

“Kyaak!”

 

As she twisted and pulled out the dagger, Trioll let out a scream-like cry, louder than before.
Gloria caught her breath, observing the monster’s condition.
It seemed the heart wasn’t there after all.

Trioll let out painful wails as it stumbled backward.

 

‘It might be faster to just behead it.’

Unfortunately, Gloria’s weapon was a short dagger, ill-suited for such a task.

She hadn’t used a longsword in ages since it never felt comfortable in her hands.

If not for the advice to carry a dagger for emergencies, she would’ve stuck to her mace alone.

 

‘Now what?’

 

Even after racking her brain again, she couldn’t recall Trioll’s weakness or the location of its heart.

Gloria mocked herself internally—perhaps life had been too comfortable since leaving the Marquis’ estate.
She resolved to study monster lore again at the earliest opportunity.

 

“Kiyott…”

 

Just then, Trioll, which had been craning its neck to lick its bleeding wound, suddenly raised its head.

 

“Kiyot! Kyot!”

 

It seemed angry?…

‘Ah, forget it.’

 

 

* * *

She could just aim to break its neck.

Changing her mind, Gloria stared at Trioll’s snake-like neck, as long as a small child.
She returned the dagger to its sheath and picked up the mace she’d dropped on the ground.

Indeed, her trusted weapon gave her a sense of stability.

 

‘Let’s end this in one go.’

 

Switching her grip to wield the mace with both hands, Gloria charged at Trioll and struck its neck with all her strength.

 

At that moment—

Crack…

An eerie snapping sound filled the air.

When Gloria pulled the deeply embedded mace free, black blood gushed from Trioll’s neck like a fountain.

 

“Kyaak, Kyat, Kyat!”

 

Trioll convulsed in pain, its enormous body twisting violently.
Only one head remained now.

Wasting no time, Gloria swung her mace again.

With a ‘thud’, the massive creature finally lost all strength and collapsed to the ground.

 

“Haah… ha…”

Gloria steadied her breath and shook the blood from her mace.

 

When Trioll’s writhing eventually ceased and its breathing stopped completely, she cautiously approached the monster.

 

“Ah…”

Gloria let out a quiet sigh.

 

Two of Trioll’s six eyeballs had burst blood vessels.
It was the pair from the central head.

It seemed the force of her initial strike had caused the damage.
Seeing the blackened eyeballs brought a wave of regret.

 

‘That’s all money…’

 

As much as it pained her, there was nothing to be done.

Sighing lightly, Gloria carefully removed and secured the remaining four intact eyeballs.

 

* * *

Dawn was breaking slowly.

Leonard had been waiting for Gloria in the garden, practicing swordsmanship until her return.
But no matter how long he waited, she didn’t show up.

As time dragged on, worry crept into his thoughts—what if something had happened to her?
Yet, there was nothing Leonard could do about it.

He wasn’t in any condition to go searching for her.

He hadn’t felt such a bitter sense of helplessness in a long time.

At last, with growing unease, Leonard sheathed his sword and went back inside the manor.

Sitting on the stairs between the first and second floors, he finally saw Gloria return.

 

“You’re late.” Leonard said

“Yeah.”

 

Gloria was covered in dirt, as if she’d fought monsters in a mud pit.

Leonard slowly rose, following her up the stairs.

 

“Anything happen while I was gone?” Gloria asked.

 

Gloria glanced at Leonard, who kept pace beside her, and asked just in case.

But something about his expression was odd.

 

“What? Did something happen?” Gloria asked again.

“No, nothing happened.”

 

It didn’t seem like ‘nothing‘ happened …

Beneath his disheveled blond hair, his perfectly sculpted face looked heavy with gloom.

Watching him carefully, Gloria realized he wouldn’t admit it no matter how much she asked.

 

“Hmm…”

Gloria was frowning seriously when—

 

“Give me that.” Leonard ordered

“Huh?…”

 

Leonard suddenly spoke nonsense.
Gloria stared in confusion at the hand Leonard held out to her.

 

“I’ll clean your weapon while you wash.” Leonard explained.

“No.”

 

Finally understanding his meaning, Gloria shook her head firmly.

“It’s too heavy.”

 

Leonard still hadn’t recovered enough to handle something that heavy.

Would you like me to further refine this or expand on specific scenes?