Three days after hunting the ratmen. I’m currently a day’s ride from Jericho with two other people. The first is a stocky dark haired orcish mercenary named John, whose green skin resembles the trees of his northern homeland. The other is a fair skinned human hunter with brown hair and a cocky smile, Theo. The three of us banded together to take care of the request regarding the three marauding trolls. 

Our quarry is supposedly responsible for attacking numerous livestock as well as a few farmsteads. The human victims so far consist of a family of farmers and a few farmhands. Due to only recently appearing, the trolls have a bounty of 8 solidi. However, the job would be taken down as soon as the men serving the Doux, local governor, came back to the city from hunting bandits. Thus we had to work quickly for those 8 solidi. 

In theory, hunting the trolls would appear lucrative. However, the necessary equipment and high risk complicates the matter quite a bit.

The particular trolls that we are hunting are classified as rock trolls. Though they live mainly in forests and hilly regions, the grey bony growths on their hide resemble stones leading to their name. Rock trolls are extremely well protected on their back, while the peach colored face and abdomen are less guarded. Even so, the layers of fat and hide keep these “soft” parts remarkably safe. Just to make our job more miserable, trolls have exceptional healing capabilities so wearing them down with small wounds might take a few weeks. We have a week at best though, so that’s not really an option. 

This is where the equipment issue comes in. John’s heavy arbalest, a signature orcish weapon that’s closer to a small siege weapon, can definitely pierce the soft parts. Theo bought himself four heavy throwing spears, though their effective range is rather risky. As for me, my bow won’t do much  and my divine arm in its halberd form, although effective, would put me in extreme danger. 

Our plan is to lure the trolls into an open area where we have more maneuverability. In addition, Theo has set some modified bear traps down to hinder the trolls. Since I’m the best rider, I have the honor of being troll bait. 

It wasn’t hard to find them at all. Trolls like to mark their territory with urine and the perpetrators themselves aren’t exactly conspicuous. Their hunched vaguely humanoid frames are about two meters and seventy centimeters in height, their width equivalent to two adult human males.  

Trolls are most comparable to bears, but are surprisingly less solitary. Similar to bears, trolls possess a snout lined with teeth for both crushing and tearing. Their limbs are proportionally longer than bears and come with vicious claws as well. In my opinion, trolls are like a cross between an orc and a bear. Thickset, violent, and somehow uglier than the sum of its parts. Almost feels like we’re helping John with a convoluted family dispute. 

After noticing me, the three trolls got on all fours and raced after their possible lunch. Although faster than humans, trolls can’t compare against a horse. 

Before getting to the meeting point, I decided to take some shots at the trolls with my bow to soften them up. 

I turned my back around and shot an arrow at the closest troll.  The arrow plunged into the eye socket of my target, triggering a roar of pain. Even so, trolls rely mainly on smell and can even regenerate a lost eye. I kept shooting and by the time I neared the meeting point, all the trolls were rendered sightless.

Meanwhile, Theo had covered himself with animal blood to take over bait duty. The trolls instantly switched target to Theo, most likely hoping to regenerate their eyes from the meal. 

Thirty meters in front of Theo were an array of unusually large bear traps, which clamped onto the forelimbs of the troll that made contact. The enraged troll arched backwards in a standing posture, most likely protesting our foul play. 

Seizing this opportunity, Theo hurled a spear, John loosed a bolt, and I shot an arrow. The spearhead buried itself into the troll's chest while the bolt and arrow slammed into the throat. I don’t think my arrow actually contributed, however. The victim collapsed on its back, still writhing as it choked on its own blood. 

One troll managed to evade the traps and continued chasing after Theo, while the other got a front limb stuck in a trap. 

“John!” I shouted. “Help Theo out. I’ll take care of the other troll!”

Without a word, John rushed to Theo’s aid with a heavy hunting spear in his hands. 

I leapt off my horse and grabbed my halberd which I had haphazardly strapped to my saddle. My opponent spun around to face me, most likely alerted by the sound of my armor. The beast bounded towards me, its mouth contorted in a snarl. Despite its various injuries, the troll seemed fairly unhindered. 

When the troll got into my range, I jabbed the point of my halberd into its face. The spearhead sunk into the troll's nose, blood spurting from the wound. 

Enraged, the troll desperately flailed its front limbs in my direction. Worse, the troll began to twist its body which was connected to my halberd. I hurriedly jerked my halberd out of the troll’s nasal cavity and backed up.

Despite its nostril injury, the troll could still sense me. However, its movements had become sluggish compared to before. Seeing an opening, I spun my halberd around and swung down the rear spike on the troll’s head.

The spike slipped through the bony growths and tore into the troll’s skull, digging into the soft brain. The troll slumped to the ground, evidently dead. But I didn’t have time to celebrate. 

I immediately ran towards Theo’s position which was a hundred meters from me. On the way, I finished off the first troll, which had been desperately clinging onto life. 

Fortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to play hero. By the time I reached them, Theo and John had finished off the last troll. Both were breathing heavily and John was bandaging a gash along his left arm. 

“Let’s set up camp,” I said. “We’ll need to get some alcohol for John’s wound.”

“Can you give us a bit of a breather? We'll join you in a bit,” Theo raggedly responded.

After setting up camp and tending to John’s injury, we began to skin the trolls. In addition to the bounty, the hides and skull could net quite the fortune. Most likely the hides would be either used for taxidermy or some sort of leather product. Personally I’m not a fan of troll leather, but I’ve heard that it actually works well for armor. As for the other parts, the skulls might catch the fancy of some noble or curator.

“Be careful skinning, I don’t want to lose out on my profit,” Theo cautioned us as we got to work. 

Unlike me and John, Theo isn’t getting a cut from the bounty. Instead, he’ll get the materials from the trolls. Although the raw materials from three trolls might amount to more than the bounty, finding a buyer would be a problem. Since Theo is the only one with the right connections and knowledge, we decided to let him have all the materials. 

Because of the tough hide and sheer volume, we took until evening to finish skinning the trolls and removing the meat. For dinner, we decided to have slowly simmered troll stew. The stew consists of broth made from roasted troll bone marrow, troll belly meat, various root vegetables, fresh herbs, pepper imported from Fars, and red wine. 

“You’re quite the impressive cook Iblis,” Theo commented while he was salting some troll meat.

“Thanks,” I replied. “But I expected a hunter to know how to cook,”

“I normally just rely on my regular hunting companions,” Theo informed me. “But they were too scared to hunt the trolls, so I ended up with you two.”

“Well you better learn how to cook, since it doesn’t sound like you’re getting married anytime soon,” I joked. 

Our conversation was cut short when John interrupted. “Hey you two. I think I see someone over there.”

Me and Theo immediately spun our heads towards the direction of John’s finger. Off in the distance, we could see a lone figure jogging down the road towards Jericho. 

“Maybe we should check up on them,” I pointed out. “It’ll get dark soon.”

“Sorry, but I don’t think I should be the one greeting them. Might get mistaken for a bandit,” John said while scratching his face apologetically. 

“I still have work to do,” Theo lazily added. 

“Good grief,” I sighed. “I’ll go, but remember to stir the stew so it doesn’t stick to the pot.”

After confirming that John knew what he was doing, I got on my horse and rode towards the figure. The individual seemed to only be wearing a travelling cloak and lacked any form of camping equipment.

When I got closer, I could see two golden cat ears on the person’s head and a fluffy tail swaying back and forth behind her. 

Based on appearance, I believe the person is a female leopard-folk around my age. The girl had already heard me coming and was eying me warily. Though she looked tired, she didn’t show signs of injury or starvation. 

“If you don’t mind, can I ask you what you’re doing?” I said with my most considerate tone. “It’s dangerous for a lone traveller to go on foot around here.” 

“I’m travelling to Jericho,” the girl responded flatly. “Are you hunters? I can smell fresh meat from your camp over there.”

“Yeah, we just killed some trolls earlier for a contract,” I informed her. “If you want, you can come along with us to Jericho. We’ve finished our job so we’ll be heading back.”

From what I can tell, the girl isn’t particularly dangerous. Her posture is indicative of a fighter, in fact, it's quite similar to the leopard-folk warriors I fought in border skirmishes back home. However, I’m certain that me and John are more than capable of handling her individually. 

For a while, she carefully gazed at me. Then her expression softened, most likely having recognized that I didn’t mean any harm. Suddenly, she began to look rather nervous.

“Uh, I know this is asking a lot from a stranger. But I really need help with something.”

She even said it with puppy eyes. Or would it be kitty eyes? Regardless, I might have gotten myself into a shitty situation.

“That’s fine,” I said with a friendly smile. “Please explain the situation to everyone when we get to the camp.”

“Thank you so much!” she said while beaming. 

Good grief, I haven’t even agreed to help yet. I feel slightly annoyed that this girl is placing so many expectations on me.  Well there is an unspoken rule among adventurers to check on others while in the wilderness. It definitely wouldn’t sit well with me and my party if we just let someone wander around in the dark.