Sorcery Monarch

Chapter 73: The Treasure of the Gloomy Forest

 

The Adventurer's Guild bustled with noise as piles of various tools were quickly snatched up.

 

The sales staff couldn't stop smiling; the more they sold, the higher their bonuses would be.

 

Many adventurers, their eyes gleaming with the promise of gold, left the guild after acquiring instructions and purchasing various tools for around five gold coins, rushing headlong into the Gloomy Forest.

 

Steward Ralph watched the adventurers’ slightly crazed behavior and shook his head helplessly:

 

“Do they really think capturing trolls is that easy?”

 

With a nonchalant grunt, Old Village Chief Field looked at a few grouped adventurer parties, shrugged, and said:

 

“There are always fools who like to act recklessly. Stopping them is pointless; after all, Lord Matthew’s goal is just to attract more adventurers here…”

 

Ralph and Field both knew that driven by greed for gold.

 

Many crazed adventurers would inevitably fall in the dangerous Gloomy Forest, dying at the hands of the powerful trolls.

 

Not every adventurer team had a clear understanding of their own strength.

 

Even stopping them would often be futile.

 

In the lord’s manor, Matthew inspected the three newly captured trolls and said to Old John, who was standing guard outside:

 

“Feed these trolls well first, then we’ll deal with them in a few days…”

 

Ignorant of their fate, the trolls struggled wildly.

 

They tried to twist and break free of their restraints.

 

But Old John pushed them into the pitch-black dungeon, grumbling as he did:

 

“Seven trolls… Is that not enough yet?”

 

“Can Lord Matthew really handle all this on his own?”

 

The trolls couldn’t understand John’s mutterings, but after sniffing the familiar scent of their kin, they struggled even harder.

 

However, their pitiful howls received no response.

 

The four trolls already locked in the dungeon merely glanced up briefly before returning to their silent state.

 

The newly arrived trolls were puzzled by their silence, but before they could react, their limbs were bound by thick iron chains while the ropes binding them were released.

 

After some thought, Old John called over Silverfang, who was engrossed in studying a spell scroll, and said:

 

“Mark down three more trolls. Be sure to prepare plenty of food for them; in three days, they’ll be put to use.”

 

Nodding obediently, Silverfang deftly picked up a quill and noted the number of trolls. Then he barked a few orders to a group of sturdy kobolds, who rushed off to the storage area to prepare.

 

Clank, clank!

 

The bound trolls continued to struggle.

 

Their strength, however, couldn’t budge the thick chains wrapped around their wrists. Their sharp, toothy maws snapped at the air, futilely trying to bite through their chained limbs.

 

Clack, clack, clack!

 

Their teeth bit into nothing but air. The trolls finally realized that their heads and necks were firmly confined within a restricted range.

 

They could only eat the food delivered to their mouths and couldn’t even move normally.

 

Naturally, the trolls felt furious, but after struggling for a long time, they couldn’t break the thick, sturdy chains.

 

After some time had passed, they stopped their resistance, resigned to their fate, and began looking around at the other silent trolls.

 

To the surprise of the newcomers, the trolls that had been imprisoned earlier hadn’t been subjected to any overt cruelty.

 

Their bodies were quite strong, indicating they had been well-fed for some time, but their eyes held a certain melancholy.

 

Eventually, one of the curious trolls asked:

 

“Where are we? What will happen to us?”

 

“Why are you four so quiet? Did you lose your tongues permanently?”

 

“Why aren’t you speaking?”

 

“Tell us, why haven’t the humans killed us?”

 

“…”

 

They rattled off questions one after another, but the “veteran” trolls gave no response, silently staring at the books before them.

 

Books?

 

Wait!!

 

“Since when do trolls read?”

 

“Have they gone mad? Or have we?”

 

The newly arrived trolls were utterly confused, but just then, more than a dozen kobolds scurried out.

 

Each held a bucket, and the sharp-eyed trolls noticed that the buckets were filled with wriggling fish, deepening their confusion.

 

Then, the trolls’ cages were slowly raised, and the kobolds poured the mass of live fish into a funnel in front of the cage.

 

To the three trolls’ astonishment, the wriggling fish slid down a chute, landing directly in front of their mouths.

 

“These fish… are for us to eat?”

 

“The food’s being delivered directly to our mouths?”

 

“Is this a good thing?”

 

“Or is it some kind of torture?”

 

“…”

 

At first, the trolls hesitated, but their intense hunger, combined with the fresh, fishy smell of the live fish, was irresistible.

 

What’s there to fear?

 

If they were going to die anyway, they might as well have a good meal first!

 

After a brief moment of hesitation, the three trolls opened their mouths, waiting for the wriggling fish to slide in as they eagerly devoured the meal.

 

In just a short time, they began to feel quite satisfied.

 

Having food brought directly to them made the three trolls feel incredibly fortunate.

 

Not even as infants had they received such treatment; back then, they had to fight with other troll pups just to avoid starvation.

 

After all, their powerful regenerative abilities came at the cost of becoming insatiable gluttons.

 

Seeing how “happily” the newcomers ate, the silent trolls exchanged glances, each recognizing a hint of pity in the other’s eyes.

 

The group of trolls in the cages began to converse fluently in their oddly-accented common tongue.

 

“These poor guys probably think this place is heaven.”

 

“In a few days, they’ll realize the price of being well-fed is steep indeed…”

 

“Forget about them, let’s get back to reading!”

 

“By the way, how do you read this word?”

 

“Just jot it down for now, we’ll ask later…”

 

“Alright…”

 

“…”

 

The trolls exchanged grumbles.

 

Meanwhile, Silverfang watched silently, a hint of surprise in his eyes as he recorded their reactions.

 

What intrigued Silverfang was that Lord Matthew had tasked him with teaching the trolls common language and literacy.

 

He had initially thought this would be a difficult task, perhaps a test from Lord Matthew.

 

To his surprise, the first four trolls had shown a great deal of enthusiasm and interest in learning the common tongue and reading.

 

Silverfang didn’t overthink it, nor did he try to guess Lord Matthew’s motives. He simply found it fascinating to witness such a change in the trolls, which reminded him of the kobolds…

 

Lord Matthew, who had just received the latest update, was preparing new educational materials to teach the children with the potential to become spellcasters.

 

He wasn’t surprised by the trolls’ progress; after all, Bay Village was well-prepared for anything. All that was needed now was time for everything to settle.

 

As for teaching the trolls the common tongue, it was just one of Matthew’s bold and intriguing experiments.

 

In the past, some players had managed to tame and reform certain species, even creating a famous gnoll army.

 

That player’s bold actions led to him being hunted down and obliterated by the major powers.

 

Matthew wanted to try his hand at something similar. The risk was small, and if it worked, the rewards would be immense.

 

After all, Matthew was curious to see if trolls, with their decent intelligence, could be “tamed”!

 

If he was lucky enough, he might even see the day when trolls brewed healing potions on their own…