Tamed Monster - Chapter 53

At the tail end of autumn, on the day the empire’s elite extermination squad was overwhelmed by a single monster in the Blavat Swamp.

The monster Kuinan, having just pulled a blade from its tough, plated skin, looked down at the small, defeated human. This was the one who had exchanged over fifty strikes with him.

“Huh. Ugh, huh.”

The man’s ash-gray hair was matted with blood. Beneath furrowed dark eyebrows and a high nose, his parted lips stained a vulgar red—he must have been quite popular among many human women.

Kuinan opened and closed his gills with a low rumble, taking a deep breath. Lowering his head, he finally met the man’s gaze.

[Human.]

Though he knew human speech, Kuinan refused to speak the filthy language aloud. It seemed Hector had ordered him to take a fairly capable man hostage. This human gave off a different aura from the others he had tormented and eaten for fun. The human slowly lifted his pale eyes.

“……”

[You must be wondering what happened. Surely you came prepared for the swamp.]

Uncharacteristically, Kuinan feigned sympathy, pretending to be friendly. The human didn’t understand a single word of the guttural monster language spat out with a split mouth.

His fierce gaze was full of killing intent. On the broken sword he still held, a trace of deadly poison was applied.

If he drove the blade deep near the monster’s heart, the man could still claim victory.

The problem was, though he knew this logically, his broken arms bent grotesquely outward refused to obey. Even after losing, he hadn’t surrendered and lunged with a battle cry.

The man, Lancart, groaned painfully and dropped his sword weakly after Kuinan personally took care of him.

Thud.

The sword sank silently into the thick mud. Lancart’s body gradually sank into the swamp. Kuinan, too, was slowly submerged, but his calm expression showed he could escape anytime.

[You shouldn’t have come this deep. You have to pick your fights.]

Kuinan taunted the ash-haired knight who until now had given no reply and was grinning smugly.

“Looks like you’re mocking me. Stop wasting time and finish this.”

The low voice asking for death held no despair or fear. At the moment his arms were cruelly broken and all will to fight lost, he was ready to give up his life. A fleeting expression of relief crossed his handsome face.

[Hmph?]

“Now—huh… kill me. Don’t waste your breath. I’m bored.”

Though drooling saliva and dripping sweat from excruciating pain, his voice remained composed.

From this moment, Kuinan felt a slight fondness for Lancart. Perhaps this was what a noble knight meant—one who didn’t whine or beg pitifully to be spared. It was almost admirable.

[Damn Hector. How can he expect me to kill such an interesting guy so quickly?]

Thanks to prior notice from Hector, finding the knight order hiding in the swamp was a breeze.

The original plan had been to call in nearby capable monsters to overwhelm the knights safely by sheer numbers. But when Kuinan found them, he felt lazy and figured he could crush them alone.

Using his cunning as a monster, he drove them all to their deaths. Though all swamps might seem alike, the terrain, soil softness, and wind patterns varied by location. This was Kuinan’s lifelong domain, and he quickly took control.

[Too bad, too bad. You have quite the compatible personality.]

While Kuinan understood all Lancart’s words, Lancart only caught the tone of the monster’s speech, not a single word. He merely realized he was being insulted and grew choked up.

“Cough—!”

[Ah, maybe I poked too deep.]

Kuinan struck at Lancart’s heart with the blade, landing about five out of fifty blows successfully. As a result, Lancart’s sturdy armor cracked, leaving a large hole beneath his heart—a wound Kuinan inflicted with bare hands.

[Sorry. Shouldn’t have coated the weapon with such deadly poison.]

The monster’s poison emitted a terrible stench that caused great discomfort to other monsters just by smelling it.