Chapter 61. Another Troll
Following the path hidden among weeds and shrubs, Duncan hastened back to the castle.
There was a Transfiguration class in the afternoon, and he needed to get back to the dormitory to fetch Neville so they could go to class together.
Halfway along, a pile of leaves lying at the roadside suddenly trembled and slid aside to either side.
Duncan watched that spot warily, gripping his wand by reflex and readying himself to cast a spell.
This was also a result of training in the woods; those pixies liked to lurk in corners and launch surprise attacks on him.
When the last few leaves fell, a silly-looking head covered in grey-white fur appeared.
Duncan recognised it as the earth-digging ferret he had met by the roadside last time, the one he had sent out as a scout to look for the other troll.
"How is it? Did you find that monster?" Duncan crouched and asked.
The earth-digging ferret did not respond to Duncan's question.
It only tilted its head, its eyes staring blankly at him.
Duncan raised an eyebrow in puzzlement, thought for a moment, and understood what the ferret meant.
Smiling, he took some jerky from his leather pouch and tossed it to the ferret.
"Now you can tell me, right?"
The earth-digging ferret instantly perked up.
Completely different from its silly look just now, it swept up all the jerky in the blink of an eye.
"Hurry and take me there."
"Once I see the monster, I'll give you more food," Duncan urged.
The ferret nodded, but did not set off at once.
Instead, it turned its head and called out twice.
Before long, several earth-digging ferrets of differing sizes and shades of colour darted out from a burrow under some tree roots not far away.
They vied to snatch the meat on the ground, each clamping a few pieces in its mouth before scampering back.
Among them were two ferrets much smaller than Duncan's palm.
The pair were like a hype team or cheer squad: they followed the rush out, then ran back empty-mouthed.
Near the burrow mouth, the two seemed to remember the task they had come out for, suddenly turned their heads, and squawked at Duncan twice.
A shrill sound reached Duncan's ears before he could react.
A passing ferret carrying a chunk of meat lifted its paw, smacked both of them on the tops of their heads, and dragged them into the burrow.
"Looks like you told your family everything I said," Duncan said with a smile to the remaining ferret.
The earth-digging ferret bobbed its head up and down.
When the meat on the ground had been carried away, it gave Duncan a look, then set off at a run into the distance.
Duncan hurried after it, ducking to avoid crosswise branches, stepping over raised roots, and weaving quickly through the forest.
He did not know how long he ran, but after a good while his breathing grew heavy and fine beads of sweat formed on his brow.
Yet the ferret ahead still showed no sign of stopping.
Duncan slowed his pace to catch his breath and was about to ask the ferret how much farther.
All at once, Saineel, circling high above the forest on patrol, let out a clear birdsong like a warning.
Duncan snapped his mouth shut and tightened his grip on his wand.
They were likely close to where the troll was.
Sure enough, after going forward nearly two hundred metres more, a stench spread through the air that was hard to bear.
It was like smelly socks mixed with a lavatory that had never been cleaned.
Duncan clamped his left hand over his nose in disgust.
Even though he had been toughened by Professor Quirrell, he still found it hard to endure.
The earth-digging ferret ahead seemed to feel the same.
It stopped on a boulder some distance away, indicated that the troll was just ahead, and refused to go any farther.
"Alright..." Duncan would not force it.
He handed the remaining jerky to the ferret and went on alone.
He went past the boulder and pushed through a dense thicket, and at once rumbling and roars sounded in his ears.
Not far away, in a clearing littered with dead branches and leaves, stood a towering Mountain Troll.
It looked very much like the one Duncan had seen in the wooden shed: granite-like grey skin and vacant eyes.
A chain as thick as an arm was wound round its squat neck and fixed to the trunk of a great tree, keeping it from escaping.
This troll's temper was even more violent.
It yanked the chain so that it clattered, and the great tree swayed without cease.
Its powerful legs had kicked a big pit into the leaf-strewn ground, yet it still could not break free of the chain's restraint.
"How long has Quirrell gone without feeding this troll?" Duncan thought, watching the restless brute ahead.
Trolls have limited brain capacity, so throughout their lives they usually care about three things: sleep, food, and reproduction.
It was neither breeding season nor time to sleep now, so the troll before him could only have been driven near madness by hunger.
"Since they will not feed you, I will do the hard work and feed you."
"Quirrell will certainly thank me..."
Looking at the optional task prompt that had appeared, Duncan thought, "But it seems my plan needs to change a little....."
Originally, he was seeking the troll to lay a trap, to find a way to make Professor Quirrell fall into weakness ahead of time—the weaker the better.
As spirits of the forest, unicorns are granted shelter by every creature that lives there.
Most prominent among these are the centaur herds; whenever anyone tries to harm a unicorn, they rush to its defence.
And unicorns are not just pleasant to look at.
They are magical creatures that possess powerful magic.
So, when Professor Quirrell became overly weakened, he would have to think twice about whether he could succeed in drinking unicorn blood.
Even if he remained obstinate and still wanted to harm a unicorn, the unicorn together with the creatures of the forest could protect itself well.
But now Duncan had changed his mind.
He decided to join the battle to defend magical creatures.
After all, the growth of one's strength cannot be only training without real combat, and at present Professor Quirrell was the best live opponent in the school.
But traps were still necessary.
Duncan was not so arrogant as to think he could defeat the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor with only a few magical creatures.
Not to mention that there was something like a protagonist's "grandpa plug-in" at the back of that professor's head, ready at any time to boost his strength.
"Once I am back I will have to swap the items on the order list and find a few substitutes with lower power..."
Thinking this, Duncan tossed chunks of meat to the frenzied troll to calm it a little.
But he did not feed it too much.
Otherwise, if the troll had no temper at all, Professor Quirrell would certainly notice something was off when he arrived.
After completing the optional task, Duncan circled the area, found a concealed corner, and left a mark so he could find this place next time.
With his preparations made, Duncan withdrew quickly and had Saineel keep watch in the air so as not to run into Professor Quirrell coming to inspect the troll.
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