Chapter 72: Madness!
Listening to the retting closer behind him, Kris gasped for breath and pushed himself to run faster.
Three hulking trolls stared hungrily at Kris as they closed in on him.
Ever sihey were driven out by the Rotten Moss , they hadn’t had a full meal, nearly starving to madness.
As they howled deafeningly and saw Kris slowing down, the trolls grew more excited, ing the grouh their feet.
Whoosh!
The two leading trolls stepped on a pile of leaves Kris had safely passed, and with the sound of snapping braheir massive bodies plummeted into a pit.
Kris, rolling clumsily on the ground, didn’t look back as he quickly took cover behind a thick tree trunk.
He vividly remembered a hapless soul he onew who had escaped the range of a troll’s attacks, only to be split in half by a heavy log thrown by the creature.
But soon, the cheers of his panions reached his ears:
“Well done, Kris!”
“Haha, two down at once, only o now!”
“Old Field’s method really works; no worolls rarely attack Bay Vilge…”
“Hurry up and take down that st one…”
“…”
The chaotic chatter slowly brought Kris back from his oxygen-deprived daze.
Did it work?
Only o?
Carefully turning his head, Kris saw a flurry of arrows and ratacks raining down on the r troll.
The seasoned adventurers clearly had no iion of engaging the troll in close bat, instead depleting its strength from a distance, letting it bleed out.
“Trolls are incredibly strong. Without a mid-tier warrior, never ehem head-on. Bleed them first…”
Kris could tell everyone was following Old Field’s strategy.
After all, traps were a perfect way to deal with trolls, and no adventurer in their right mind would want to fight a troll up close.
The troll, bristling with arrows, grew increasingly weak.
It swung its wooden club wildly, uo nd a hit on the pests that kept their distance, fear gripping its mind until it finally turo flee.
Kris let out a long breath, knowing the troll didn’t stand a ce.
Whoosh!
Before the troll could take two steps, a rge hiddeh the leaves sprang up, ensnaring the creature and hoisting it into the air.
The troll struggled violently, but with blood still p from its wounds, it quickly weakened and failed to tear through the thick rope of the .
“Nice! Old Field’s gear works wonders. All this for less than 5 gold s…”
A tall adventurer o Alice chuckled as he shot another arrow at the now-helpless troll hanging in midair.
Watg the troll grow visibly weaker, Alice called out in a crisp voice:
“Alright, everyoop!”
“Dead trolls aren’t worth much. A live oches 50 gold s.”
“ it up i, tie down its arms and legs, and be careful. I don’t want any fools getting hurt now…”
Under Alice’s orders, the adventurers—both nervous and exhirated—rushed to work.
Dozens of them tied the captured troll into a tight bundle.
Kris stepped forward and patiently pulled out the bloodletting arrows embedded in the weakeroll.
Gng at the hollowed shafts of the arrows, Kris met the troll’s fierd cruel eyes and couldn’t help but chuckle.
“You’ve had your day too!”
With the troll securely restrained, Kris’s part in the adventure was over. He stood to earn a reward of 15 gold s.
It was his hard-earned prize!
Of course, that’s assuming the generous Lord Matthew would honor his promise.
The two trolls that had fallen into the pit traps hadn’t caused much of a ruckus uhe adventurers’ watchful eyes and were quickly tied up as well.
The adventurers weren’t careless. Instead of loading the trolls into cages, they used makeshift carts to transport them away.
On the way in, everyone had been tense, wary of the trolls’ reputation ahality.
But now, with their mission a success, a hought crossed their minds: if each troll was worth 50 gold s, they had better keep going!
Looking back at what had just happened, Kris realized that aside from him pying the risky decoy, the rest of the adventure was even easier than their usual training.
How could this not stir up excitement among the others?
Kris had also noticed the shift in atmosphere, but it didn’t him. He patted the swiftness potion in his pocket, worth 10 gold s, and exhaled in relief.
Alice, however, thought further ahead. She sent scouts to keep watch for any other trolls and chose a differe from the Gloomy Forest, avoiding the kobold mines and logging camp.
Iingly, instead of entering Bay Vilge soldiers or patrols, Alid her group ran into adventurers scouting for information.
Some of them were gathering materials at resource points, others trag kobolds or searg fns of trolls.
Seeing Alice’s haul, they kept their distanot wanting to cause any misuandings. Most hurried towards Bay Vilge instead.
It was clear they wao share the news and were eager to see if Lord Matthew would fulfill his promise.
Many of the settlers saw their return and began to specute with i.
The adventurers gathered, seemingly gearing up for something big, but wheime came, everyone was left dumbfounded.
As soon as Alice’s team delivered the trolls to the vilge, staff from the Adventurer’s Guild appeared, casually paying out the 150 gold bounty in full view of the other adventurers.
As Alice held the heavy purse, the sound of king gold drew everyone’s eyes.
Was it really that simple?
It was truly that simple!
Even Alice, who had initiated it all, was taken aback by the eager stares from the crowd.
Hurriedly, she began distributing the gold acc to their agreement, ting out shares in front of everyone.
Wealth move hearts, and gold dazzles the eyes!
The adventurers were buzzing with excitement. Each troll really did fetch 50 gold s!
How could they not be tempted?
How could this not drive them mad?
Normally, beginner-level missions might pay 3 to 4 gold s at most, while mid-level missions rarely exceeded 30 gold s.
Yet everyone had witnessed Alice’s group capture three trolls and walk away with 150 gold s in just one m, without a single injury!
Wasn’t this like pig up free money?
The adventurers crowded around, trying to ingratiate themselves with Alid her team.
Everyone wanted in oion!
Alice, who had anticipated this rea, exged a gh Kris before speaking up in a cheerful tone:
“Catg trolls is simple. You ask directly at the Adventurer’s Guild for tips. All the tools you’ll need be bought there as well…”
With that, Alice made her way towards the Adventurer’s Guild.
Ihe well-prepared sales staff had already stocked up on all the necessary supplies.
They were just waiting for ers to e rushing in!
FAL
