Chapter 57: Beyond Reason
From the following day onward, the entire ranch sprang into action.
No… “lively” wasn’t the right word.
It was the desperate struggle of people resisting their own destruction.
Under the ranch owner’s direction, the men reinforced the crumbling fences with every bit of material they could find and lined wagons side by side to form makeshift barricades.
A hastily built watchtower was even erected atop one of the barns.
The shop owners who had accompanied us from Vaide worked just as desperately.
Men who normally held nothing heavier than pens and account books now swung hammers with awkward hands, driving stakes into the ground.
The sight was almost comical.
Yet the determination in their sweat-soaked eyes was unmistakable.
Rowena couldn’t simply sit still either.
Following what I had taught her, she carefully set up the alarm traps we had obtained in the Blackleaf Forest among bushes and gaps in the fences where beasts were likely to pass.
The ranch owner’s children joined her, using their tiny hands to dig simple pitfalls and stretch rope snares.
After consulting with the ranch owner, I divided the livestock into several groups and scattered them among different barns and reinforced sheds.
If the enemy’s target was the livestock, gathering them all in one place would only ensure they were wiped out in a single raid.
It was a desperate measure to minimize the damage.
As the sun dipped below the horizon and the crimson sky faded into deep indigo, I took Rowena with me toward the main house.
The ranch owner’s wife was waiting there.
I had decided it was the safest place on the ranch.
Perhaps sensing what was about to happen, Rowena clung tightly to the hem of my cloak.
“Ed… fight… together?”
I gently stroked her head, accepting both the determination and anxiety hidden within her small voice.
“No. Stay here.”
“This isn’t a battlefield.”
“I’m only going to chase away the bad guys.”
“It’ll be over soon, so be a good girl and wait here.”
At my words, Rowena quietly nodded.
Reluctantly releasing my hand, she hurried behind the ranch owner’s wife and hid there.
Night completely enveloped the ranch.
A suffocating silence settled over everything.
Only the sound of the wind seemed unnaturally loud.
Sometime after midnight, that silence was shattered without warning.
Clang! Clang-clang-clang!
The alarm bells Rowena had set around the ranch’s perimeter rang out all at once.
“They’re here!”
At the desperate shout from the watchtower, countless crimson lights emerged from the darkness.
A massive pack of wolves.
Far more numerous than the scouting group we had encountered before, they charged the barricades with drool dripping from their jaws, driven mad by the scent of livestock.
I stood alone in front of the largest barn, where most of the animals had been gathered.
“Not one step farther.”
“Everyone else, hold your positions!”
The wolf pack crashed toward me like a tidal wave.
But my swordsmanship far surpassed their speed.
The moment I slit the throat of the first wolf, I spun my body, using the momentum to cleave through the torso of the second.
Landing smoothly, I flicked my blade forward and pierced the third wolf directly between the eyes.
Every swing struck down multiple enemies at once.
Efficient.
Fluid.
The shop owners watching from the tower were left speechless by the inhuman spectacle unfolding before them.
More than a dozen wolves fell in the blink of an eye.
Yet the enemy’s numbers showed no sign of dwindling.
‘Damn… There are too many.’
‘This would be a little easier if Chris were here.’
The wolves hesitated for a brief instant.
As I moved to press the attack—
“GROOOOOOOOAR!”
A thunderous roar echoed from deep within the forest, shaking the very ground.
The wolves froze simultaneously.
Then, like subjects welcoming their king, they stepped aside and opened a path.
Three ogres emerged from the darkness, each carrying a massive club.
Several wargs, each larger than the ordinary wolves, followed at their feet, growling low in their throats.
The lead ogre stepped forward and raised one hand, signaling the wolves to stop.
After surveying the surroundings, he looked at me and spoke.
His deep voice carried an unexpected hint of intelligence.
“We have never attacked humans.”
“We took only the livestock.”
“That arrangement should have satisfied both sides.”
“So why do you interfere?”
Keeping my sword raised, I answered calmly.
“Because people in the city are suffering because of you.”
“If their livestock are stolen, they can’t make a living.”
The ogre snorted.
“That is not solely our doing.”
“The ones hoarding food are your own kind…”
“…The Golden Lion.”
My eyes widened in shock.
An ogre—a monster—had just spoken of Vaide’s internal affairs.
And not only that.
It had mentioned the name “Golden Lion.”
At that moment, I realized the darkness behind this incident ran far deeper than I had imagined.