Chapter 59 …
The young nobles who saw the troll instantly lost their composure and scattered in panic.
“W–Waaah! A troll!”
At most they were fifteen years old, and aside from hunting, they had never even properly handled a weapon. Their reaction was inevitable.
Some of them ran toward Isitor.
“Lord Isitor, please wake up!!”
“Mmm… Who dares wake me? Do you need a whipping to come to your senses…?”
Isitor, unaware of the situation, merely muttered in his sleep while lying on the sofa.
“Lord Isitor!! A troll has appeared!!”
“W-What?!”
Only then did Isitor bolt upright.
“Lord Isitor, please defeat the troll at once!”
“That’s right! Didn’t you say a troll would be nothing to you?”
“Show us your skills!”
Inside, Isitor was sweating buckets.
He had certainly bragged that he could slay a troll—but it was nothing more than bluster.
Having barely achieved two stars, there was no way he could defeat a four-star troll.
What boy in the world could take down a troll alone?
‘Unless it’s Ikael…!’
At that moment, someone shouted.
“L-Look over there! Lord Ikael is…”
Ikael stood alone before the troll, looking up at it.
The troll was enormous, its head nearly touching the ceiling, while Ikael looked far too small in comparison.
“Grrrraaa—”
The troll let out a grotesque roar and raised its hand.
“Lord Ikael, get out of the way!!”
But in the next instant, something happened that no one expected.
Shing—
Slash!!
A fountain of blood erupted from the troll’s neck.
As blood rained down from above, the young nobles were completely stunned.
Even so, they saw it clearly.
“Ikael Recruite…”
The power of Ikael, who had single-handedly severed the troll’s neck.
The name Recruite pressed heavily against their skin.
In the world they knew, facing a troll required at least a dozen skilled knights.
If someone hunted a troll alone, that feat would be boasted about for generations.
Just as the emperor’s slaying of a troll was proudly recounted by the crown prince.
And yet, Ikael had just cut off a troll’s head by himself.
And he wore the expression of someone who had done nothing special.
As everyone stood frozen in disbelief, Ikael shouted,
“There’s no time. Get away, all of you!”
‘It’s not over just because its head was cut off. Trolls have monstrous regenerative power!’
Just as he thought, the troll rose again.
“Grr… grrraaa!”
The wound on its neck had already healed. Truly terrifying regeneration.
Enraged, the troll tore out an entire pillar from the annex.
Craaaack!
Its strength was overwhelming.
“Uwoooaaah!”
The troll swung the massive pillar wildly.
As the shadow of the pillar loomed overhead, the nobles screamed.
“Kyaaaah!”
Tap—
Ikael stepped lightly off the ground.
Slash—!
This time, his longsword carved into the troll’s arm.
“U… Uraaagh!”
Blood burst from the troll’s arm, and the pillar it had been holding crashed to the ground, shattering.
The onlookers were stunned once more.
They had heard that the Recruite family was full of swordsmanship prodigies, but they had not imagined it was to this degree.
“Facing a troll… alone?”
Raised with the finest education in noble households, they felt for the first time a wall of talent they could never overcome.
While the nobles stood dazed, Ikael alone darted back and forth, engaging the troll.
Whoosh— slash!
Every swing of his longsword carved a new wound into the troll.
The young nobles could only gape in awe.
But Ikael’s expression was dark.
‘As expected of a troll.’
If it had been an ordinary magical beast, it would already have collapsed from fatal wounds. But the troll’s regeneration was astonishingly fast.
Though Ikael slashed without pause, none of it was decisive.
‘It’s too difficult to protect the nobles and fight alone.’
He decided on another approach.
“Isitor, move! Now!”
“Huh? W-What?”
“Take everyone somewhere safe!”
“Y-Yes!!”
As if he had finally found a way to survive, Isitor jumped up and hurried the others outside.
“Come on! If you want to live, follow me!”
“We trust you, Lord Isitor!!”
Isitor and the others fled.
At last, only Ikael and the troll remained.
The Desert Dragon spoke to him.
—Slave. Is it starting now?
“Yeah.”
Now that no one was watching, Ikael could finally prepare to fight in earnest.
He could unleash the Aura of the Desert without restraint.
At that moment, the troll ripped out another pillar.
Bwoooong!!
With a single sweep, the entire annex trembled.
Rumble!!!
Its destructive power was horrifying.
The building did not merely shake—part of the roof collapsed outright.
“Ugh!”
Ikael threw himself aside to avoid the falling debris.
But in that brief instant when his body was suspended midair—
Booom!!
The troll’s fist struck him.
“Ghk!!”
Blood burst from Ikael’s mouth as he was hurled into a distant corner. His head spun.
Whoosh!
The troll raised its pillar for a final blow.
‘Too late to dodge. Better to block with my sword!’
He would take heavy damage.
But he had no choice.
Just as Ikael gritted his teeth and braced—
Ping! Thwack!!
A golden arrow flew from somewhere and pierced the troll’s eye.
“Prince Edgar!!”
Prince Edgar had remained instead of fleeing—and fired the golden arrow.
Fortunately, it dealt some damage.
The troll clutched its eye and writhed violently.
“Graaagh!!”
Though it quickly regenerated, Ikael seized the opening and escaped.
“Ikael, are you all right?!”
“Your Highness, you shouldn’t be here. Why didn’t you evacuate?”
“Well…”
From outside came loud voices.
“Amazing, Prince Edgar!!”
“Please defeat the troll!!”
“If it’s Your Highness, you can do it!”
The people who had evacuated were shouting.
With one side of the building collapsed, they could now see inside.
To their eyes, Edgar was a tremendous hero.
‘Prince Edgar… Was this what he intended?’
It was impossible to determine whether Edgar had truly orchestrated the troll’s release.
Circumstances alone were insufficient.
But one thing was certain.
He would gain something if the troll rampaged.
‘By hunting the troll, he could claim legitimacy as the emperor’s bloodline—and engrave a heroic image.’
The story of the emperor of the Frira Empire hunting a troll alone was famous.
If Edgar followed in his footsteps here, his position would solidify.
‘To shine before noble youths who revere the imperial family… a sweet fantasy indeed.’
A possible fantasy for a fifteen-year-old boy.
But a troll was no easy opponent.
Boom!!!
“Your Highness!”
“Ugh!”
The troll stomped once, shattering the floor tiles.
The shockwave flung Prince Edgar away.
At that moment, Ikael drove his sword into the troll’s back. Otherwise, the prince would have been far more gravely injured.
Ikael rushed to Edgar.
“Are you all right, Your Highness?”
Smack—
“Let go of me! The troll is my prey!”
Edgar stubbornly shook off his grip.
At that moment, Ikael’s patience snapped.
“Do you truly believe you can defeat it?”
“What?”
“The troll is not your servant! It will not kneel just because you invoke the name of the Frira imperial family!”
“Wh-What are you—”
“You are weak.”
Edgar’s face turned pale.
In all his life as a prince, he had never been insulted like this.
But he could not refute it.
Ikael leapt toward the troll.
Crack!
With both arms, he wrapped around the troll’s neck and twisted with all his might.
Snap!
The troll’s bones tore through the skin of its neck and protruded outward.
“Ikael…!”
Watching Ikael fight alone, Edgar could say nothing.
“You are weak.”
Those words echoed in his mind.
Meanwhile, Ikael thought only of the battle.
‘Even now, it’s regenerating.’
The exposed neck bones trembled as if trying to return to place.
If Ikael did not hold tight, it would fully recover.
A four-star magical beast was no simple foe.
‘I could use the Aura of the Desert… but the problem is the prince. I can’t use it in front of someone hostile to me.’
At that moment, the troll twisted violently.
Boom!
Ikael was thrown to the ground.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The troll charged at full speed.
Its twisted neck was already halfway healed.
Just as it moved to kick Ikael—
“Watch out!!”
Thud!
Prince Edgar intervened.
Boom!! Boom!!
Both Edgar and Ikael were kicked away by the troll’s foot.
‘The prince shielded me?!’
Even as he was flung across the ground, Ikael could not believe it.
“Urgh…”
Ikael approached Edgar, who struggled to rise.
Ikael possessed the body of a Recruite—he would be fine.
But the prince might not.
“Your Highness! Are you all right?!”
“That… is what I should ask. You are a subject of my empire.”
“What are you talking about?”
From beginning to end, Edgar was an incomprehensible boy.
He had shown hostility—yet now he intervened like this.
If it were merely for appearances, it was far too dangerous a gamble.
Edgar soon lost consciousness.
‘Prince Edgar…’
Ikael could not grasp his intentions.
But one thing was certain.
‘There’s a way!’
A way to win using the Aura of the Desert without being noticed.
Ikael picked something up from the ground.
Prince Edgar’s shining golden arrow.
‘This will do!’
Tak!!
Without hesitation, he put thought into action.
Clenching the golden arrow between his teeth, he firmly gripped his longsword with both hands.
‘Form of the Flower Cluster!’
Whoooosh—
Ikael stepped into motion.
His footwork flowed smoothly, like petals spinning along a stream.
Clang clang clang!
The sword strikes riding atop that footwork were astonishing.
Each time he spun, new wounds carved into the troll’s legs.
It looked as though ten swordsmen were attacking at once.
Thud—
“Uoooh!”
The troll’s massive body collapsed.
The ground trembled as if struck by an earthquake.
Slash—
Ikael did not miss the opportunity.
He ran up along the troll’s body, every movement flowing like water.
—What are you doing? Planning to kill it with a single arrow?
‘Just watch!!’
His eyes scanned the troll’s neck.
There—a part not yet fully healed.
That was his target.
‘Aura of the Desert!!’
Stab!
Ikael drove the golden arrow deep into that spot.
