Chapter 23: The Rat Battalion

Deep in the forest lay a campsite. The surrounding trees had been felled, and the area was cluttered with makeshift huts constructed from branches, boards, leaves, and assorted refuse. Dugout burrows pockmarked the ground.

Rat-men, standing upright, scurried back and forth throughout the camp. Near a massive tree hung a wooden cage containing a small girl and a rat. A large rat-man came sprinting from the perimeter.

"Boss! Human thing! The human thing saw me!"
"Humans! Humans! They're attacking!"
"Run! We have to run!"
"Shut up! Shut up!" a rat-man, noticeably larger than the others, screeched.

His voice silenced the camp.

"One? There's only one?"
"Yes, yes, boss!"
"Haha! Kill him! Eat his meat! Delicious, delicious!" the large rat bellowed.

The other rats erupted into cheers, dancing about and shrieking.

"Human meat! Human meat!"
"Delicious, delicious! Yes! Yes!"

In an instant, the messenger rat and several others dashed out, brandishing crude weapons in a frenzy of excitement. Others tried to follow.

"Enough! Enough! The rest of you, get back!"

The boiling chaos of the rat camp only deepened the terror of the little girl in the cage. She pressed her hands over her mouth, stifling her sobs.

The rat trapped beside her offered comfort: "Don't worry. It must be your people coming to rescue you. Then, Bobot will be saved too."

The little girl clearly did not appreciate the sentiment, shrinking into the corner of the cage.

"Hey, why are you like that? Bobot is not like them. Bobot is much more civilized and much smarter than these idiots."

The large rat, clearly the leader of the camp, turned toward the cage hanging in the air and roared at Bobot, "Shut up, white rat, or I’ll bite your throat out!"

"Ha? Then come and do it, you stuttering moron! If you’ve got the guts, kill Bobot!"

Bobot, the white rat, began to rant and rave within the cage, gesturing wildly as if eager for an early demise. "Come on, you idiot! Look at that tail of yours, and that mangled, notched ear. You’re absolutely hideous!"

The rat leader was clearly livid, but unable to do anything, he simply covered his ears and walked away. The white rat, seeing he was ignored, began to berate the other rats.

***

Elsewhere, the group that had just entered the forest moved cautiously, weapons drawn, spread out across the terrain.

"I hear something," George said urgently.

The group strained their ears, catching the rustle of grass and leaves. Suddenly, several rat-men burst out in a panic, crashing headlong into Black, who was leading the formation. They froze in their tracks.

"It’s a human! It’s a human!"
"Iron human! Run! The iron human is here!"
"Not food! Run! Run!"

The rats, who had collided with Black, seemed to have poor eyesight; the moment they realized he was clad in full plate armor, they were paralyzed with terror and shrieked, trying to flee.

"What are you standing there for? Attack!" Kanna shouted from the rear. "Don't let a single one escape! Surround them!"

Kanna nudged Aliris. She understood instantly, sprinting around to cut off the rats' retreat. Encouraged by Kanna's command, the others shook off their initial shock at seeing talking rats.

Black had already cut one down with a single swing. Looking at the rat, nearly cleaved in two by his casual strike, he realized these creatures were truly weak. He charged forward.

The rats were agile, but once they realized their path was blocked, they began to scatter in a frenzy. Fortunately, they were spread thin. George drew his bow and struck a fleeing rat, his arrow piercing straight through its torso.

"One is getting away over there!" a soldier shouted. His spear thrust missed; the rats were too fast.

The rat was near George. He quickly drew his bow, but his shot landed just in front of the creature, forcing it to veer off.

"Give it to me."

Kanna snatched the bow from George's hand and pulled an arrow from his quiver. He tracked the rat's path, let the arrow fly, and it struck the creature’s head with surgical precision, pinning it to the ground.

With the last rat dispatched, Kanna returned the bow to George. "Not bad shooting, but you need more practice."

George took the bow, dumbfounded, staring at the distant, pinned rat. Only a true archer would understand how difficult it was to draw and fire accurately in the dense forest, let alone strike such an agile target in the head. He hadn't expected this lord to be such a marksman.

He wanted to offer a compliment, but after struggling for a moment, he could only manage, "You are impressive, my lord."

Kanna smiled without answering, thinking to himself that if he had an elven bow, he could be even better. Playing a ranger meant playing an elf; it boosted the experience by several tiers.

Black and Aliris joined Kanna, and the soldiers dragged over the rat carcasses. The group stood observing the bodies.

"They really are like rats standing on their hind legs."
"Such big rats, and they can actually talk."

The Sharp-Eared Rat-men, true to their name, had pointed rodent ears. Their bodies were covered in black fur, with the only variation being the shade of the black. Kanna nudged the corpses with his leg, looking for a mark on their tails. Sharp-Eared Rat-men belonged to clans and usually bore a clan mark on their tails, but these had none. It was strange. Were they freelancers?

"Why did they rush at us, only to be scared off?" Black asked, puzzled. When the rats had charged, he thought they were mounting a coordinated ambush.

"Their eyesight is poor, and they are both timid and impulsive," Kanna explained casually. "The rat that saw George must have gone back to report, and they brought a few others hoping to drag him back to eat."

"Eat... eat me?!" George’s voice rose an octave in shock. The other soldiers were equally stunned. These rats ate people?

"Why are you surprised? Why else would they kidnap that child? Or did you think they were taking her home to raise her?"

George swallowed hard. He hadn't expected the rats to be so savage, though they were certainly weak. He felt like he could have taken one or two down with a knife.

There were five bodies in total. Black had killed two, Aliris had caught one, and George and Kanna had each taken one. None of the four soldiers had landed a hit, but Kanna understood; it was a chaotic situation.

Kanna looked at the rat Aliris had kicked aside. He narrowed his eyes and stepped down hard on its tail. The rat remained motionless, as if dead.

"You're a tough one, aren't you?"

Kanna pressed harder, twisting his boot. The rat could no longer bear it; it opened its eyes and shrieked, "It hurts! It hurts! Let me go! Spare me!"

Kanna eased his foot up slightly. "Now, I ask, you answer. Otherwise, I’ll skin you alive."