ITK C94: Bandits Breaking Into Hell

I am Aileron, the head of a group of elven bandits.
Right now, there is a dog in front of us.

…A dog?

Its head is poking from among the crops.

“Aww!”
“It’s a mushy-wushy doggie!”
“So cute!!!”

Our careless new recruits are encircling the dog.
Don’t just get close to it! It may be the watchdog of this farm!

“You’re mistaken.”

Huh?
Is that so, Maelga?

If you say so. But then, does that mean it’s a stray? Because I would also like to pet it.

“That’s no dog. That’s one kind of monster.”

What?!

“Hyelycaons are the most ferocious quadrupeds. They have the best sense of smell and endurance among all the monsters that they can chase after their prey to the ends of the earth. The moment they mark us as their target…”

What happens the moment they mark us as their target?!

“No matter where we run to, they’ll always be behind our backs and will take us down once we’ve exhausted ourselves. Escaping from them is impossible, that’s why they’ve been given the nickname of The Hounds of Hell!”

That’s scary!
What’s a dangerous monster like that doing here?!

“There must be a high-level dungeon in the vicinity. Hyelycaons only spawn in three-star dungeons and above, so they’re very rare.”

This isn’t the time to be evaluating it!
Everyone, prepare for battle!
If we can’t run away from it, then we just have to defeat it here!

“But Boss!”
“It’s so cute! Look, it’s even lowering its head and is looking at us!”

Don’t be captivated by its cute appearance!
If we don’t kill it first, it will kill us instead!
No matter how cute it is, you must harden your hearts!

“Bark! Bark! Hoooooooooowl!!!”

?!
It barked all of a sudden?!

“Bark! Bark! Hooooowl! Bark! Bark! Hooooowl! Bark! Bark! Hooooowl!!!”

It’s barking incessantly!
If it makes this much noise, the people at the mansion will know that we’re here. We have to kill it fast and…

“Who’s there?!”

Ahhh!!!
Before we even noticed it, we were surrounded by a huge army of orcs and goblins!

“The short-short-long rhythmic bark is the signal for trespassers. Thanks for giving us a heads-up, Pochi.”
“Woof!”

Was that what it was?!
Just as I had feared, that hyelycaon is the watchdog of this farm!

“Anthropomorphic monsters such as these orcs and goblins have a characteristic of obeying the demon race’s orders. The owner of this land must be some upper-class demon to hire them as farmhands, so this land must belong to the demon race.”

This is no time to be analyzing the situation, calm-headed Maelga!
We’re surrounded, and our escape route is blocked!

…Wait, since we’re just dealing with orcs and goblins, our group should be able to break through them!

“A splendid judgment, Boss. After all, the likes of orcs and goblins are just low-class monsters that are easy to control. They won’t deal that much damage to veterans like us. Our problem is the hyelycaon!”

As long as we do something about it first, we have a chance of surviving!

Everyone, to arms!
Focus your attacks on one area, and use that gap to break through!

And as I ordered my men…

“No intentions of surrendering, huh? You leave us no choice,” says one of the orcs as he readies his ax.

…?
Did orcs always emit such an intimidating aura?

A-Anyway, Lady Luck is smiling at us today!

We’ll strike an all-out attack on this orc instead! Drive a wedge into his defenses!
We showered the orc with a myriad of arrows using our trusty bows.
There’s no way a low-class monster can withstand an attack like this.

…Or so I thought.

With just one swing from his ax, he summoned a huge gale and swallowed our arrows like dried leaves.

“Ahh!!!”
“Eek!!!”

Even we were caught up in the wind!

“At least choose your opponents wisely before you plan to charge at them. Picking a fight with Sir Orkubo, the strongest orc among us, is just a bad move,” says one of the other orcs in a provocative tone.

What do you mean, “the strongest orc”?!

“This fighting prowess uncharacteristic of orcs… It can’t be!”

Do you know about this, Maelga?!

“I’ve heard that some monsters can undergo mutation and evolve into a higher species under extremely rare cases! And an orc’s mutated form is called…a Warrior Orc!”

The hell’s that?!

“…Wrong.”

Woah there, the orc in question denied Maelga’s statement.

“I’m a Legatus Orc, a further mutated version of a Warrior Orc.”

What the-

“And while we’re at it, I’d like to tell you that all the other orcs with me are Warrior Orcs. I am Orkubo, one of the ten generals of the monster army that protect Lord Kidan’s farm. Keep in mind that there are nine more of my kind here.”

I cried.
I couldn’t help but cry in this helpless situation.

“Our Lord does not like killing, even when dealing with trespassers such as you. If you surrender now, we will spare your lives. Hand over your weapons and then respond if you agree to these terms.”

There was nothing we could do, so we put down our bows.

…Um, may I make one final request, if I may?
I don’t want to regret anything if we were to die now.

Please let me pet that hyelycaon.

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