Wolves

The village of Reille was not very large; it had barely ten houses, all scattered about. There were vast stretches of farmland and large pens for the cows to graze, giving it the appearance of a peaceful village. After bidding farewell to the coachman, we approached what seemed to be the chief's house. The twins took the lead and knocked on the door. An elderly man opened it, probably around 70 years old, completely bald with brown eyes, short and thin, dressed in loose, old clothes of muted colors.

"Oh, it's you," his voice sounded very tired. "Have you brought help?"

Karen bowed before answering.

"This is Ray," the redhead pointed at me with her staff. "A D-rank adventurer; my brother and I are part of his group."

"I see..." The man alternated his gaze between Nozomi, who was perched on my head, and me, as if checking whether I truly was a D-rank. I took out my ID and showed it to him. At first, the man seemed a bit nervous, as if he didn't quite know what to expect, and then he nodded. "Welcome to Reille, young man. I imagine these two youngsters have already informed you of the situation."

"Yes," I said confidently. "A pack of wolves has become very aggressive and is attacking the villagers after destroying the crops and killing livestock."

"Indeed," the man nodded. "The wolves never approached the village, but for some reason, they have started venturing further and further out of the forest over the past couple of weeks. I want you to investigate."

Alright, so the problem isn't just the wolves, but something unknown that has made them aggressive.

"I’ve been thinking about why they would do that," Karen spoke up. "It’s possible that their food supply has run out or that something more powerful than the wolves has appeared in their territory, causing them to stray from their area to invade others."

I pondered Karen's words. This also happens in my world; when food in the forest becomes scarce, wolves tend to attack nearby farms. Additionally, when a larger predator appears, those wolves have to move out of their territory, encroaching further into human land. It could even be a mix of both.

"Do you have a map of the forest?" I asked the man. "I would like to know the areas of wolf activity."

The man nodded and invited us into his house. There was a delicious smell wafting through the air; the lady of the house was probably cooking—maybe a stew? The aroma reminded me of my grandmother's home-cooked meals. The man led us to a living room that seemed to be a guest area, with a long table and several chairs around it. He invited us to sit and soon brought out an old map of the surrounding area.

"Normally," he began, "the wolves do not leave their territory." The man traced a finger around an area that approached a mountainous region within the forest. "But as you can see, they have come close enough to pose a threat." This time, the man circled an area much closer to the village; I would say the distance between the first area and the second was about 1 kilometer, while from the second to the village was less than 200 meters.

"Can we take the map with us?" Karen asked. "And mark the areas, if you don’t mind."

"Go ahead," the man said, leaving for a moment and returning with a pen. He then circled the areas he had previously indicated. "All for the protection of the village."

As if we were taking his treasure or something. Karen thanked him and took the map, carefully rolling it up. She then bowed again, said goodbye to the man, and started walking toward the door, with us following her.

"So," I said after we exited the house, "should we investigate the wolf area first or their original territory?"

"The wolf area," Karen said without looking back. "Maybe you can communicate with them and ask what’s going on."

I smiled at her comment.

"That’s exactly what I was thinking." Kharel and Nozomi exchanged glances, looking a bit confused. "Remember, I can communicate with other creatures; I’ll be able to talk to our furry friends."

Kharel showed a surprised expression while Nozomi seemed embarrassed; I guess she had forgotten that I communicated with her.

The four of us entered the forest and prepared ourselves, adopting the formation we had discussed during the journey in the cart. Kharel would be at the front as our only vanguard, then I would be alongside Nozomi in the center, covering the twins and dealing with the flanks, and in the rear, Karen, being our main source of damage and having a great range. I would have liked to have someone else in the vanguard, someone who specializes in taking hits and drawing the enemy's attention; Kharel does not specialize in defense. Also, I would like someone who could heal our wounds or provide us with support spells. I was thinking of acquiring some kind of support, improving my allies' stats while giving orders; I think that would suit me best. But for now, I would use my dagger to stab anyone who got too close. Instead of the dagger I bought, I was using two of the assassins' daggers; the material they are made of is much lighter and seems sharper than the dagger I was using. Additionally, the blade had a slight curve that made it look much more lethal, and I used two because it makes me look cooler. Maybe in the future, I’ll say that I have no enemies. I laughed at my own joke; the real reason is that I think I can better cover my weak points. Although I don't know if I can handle a dagger well with my left hand, my non-dominant hand, it could be useful for emergencies.

After about 15 minutes, we heard a howl in the distance, which I understood as "Intruders! Get to your positions."

“It seems they don’t like our presence here,” I commented, trying to calm myself. “They literally called us intruders, so we need to prepare.” I pointed my hand at Nozomi and used my tamer skills. “Offensive boost! Defensive boost!”

“You can even understand that, how cool!” Kharel didn’t seem nervous at all.

“Focus, Kharel,” Karen scolded him. “Remember, we just want to talk.”

Though it’s easier said than done, they would probably attack us by surprise.

And, as if they had read my thoughts, a couple of wolves attacked from the sides of the twins, trying to sink their fangs into them. Nozomi reacted immediately and used her body to block the attack from the wolf that was going for Karen, while Kharel blocked his with his sword.

“We come in peace,” I said loudly, trying to sound as calm as possible. “We just want information.”

One of the wolves seemed to hesitate for a moment, but when two more appeared, they charged again.

“I don’t think they want to listen!” Kharel said as he defended himself from two wolves.

Karen let out a sound of dissatisfaction as she raised her staff and pointed it at the two wolves attacking Nozomi. I moved closer to help Kharel; perhaps if we just wound them and don’t kill them, we can make them understand that what I’m saying is true.

Karen unleashed a fireball that hit one of the wolves squarely in the side. It let out a whimper of pain and retreated a few meters. When it recovered, it disappeared into the thick of the forest. Meanwhile, while Kharel distracted the two wolves, I changed my class to "Assassin." This came with a skill called "One with the Shadows," which seems to decrease my presence, making it harder to see. This costs 10 MP per second, quite expensive for now.

“‘One with the Shadows,’” I whispered.

My body seemed to become transparent. I approached the wolves that were distracted by Kharel and quickly slashed one’s leg. My intention was to make a small cut as a warning, but after seeing the animal’s leg severed and flying away, I froze. How sharp are these daggers? I hadn’t even used all my strength. The poor wolf jumped back and began to whimper as it limped away into the forest. The other wolf with it showed me its sharp teeth before trying to bite me, but Kharel stabbed it in the side, causing the wolf to whimper as it pulled away from us.

Suddenly, a loud howl was heard, sounding somewhat close, and it translated to “Kill the intruders!” in the angriest tone you can imagine.

“Ray, more wolves have appeared!” Karen shouted.

I looked to her position; three more wolves had appeared, and Karen had created a wall of fire that prevented them from getting close to her and Nozomi. Suddenly, Kharel pushed me; a wolf had jumped at me, and the redhead had pulled me out of danger, blocking the wolf’s attack with his sword. I shouldn’t get distracted; a single mistake could be fatal. Should we abandon the idea of not killing them? For now, we were surrounded by about 10 wolves; the situation could spiral out of control if we didn’t do something.

I separated from Kharel and used "Offensive Boost" and "Defensive Boost" with Nozomi, then activated "One with the Shadows" again. I was about to stab one of the wolves in the side when a massive furry mass lunged at me. The only thing I could do was block its enormous jaws with my left arm. The pain was unbearable, and the subsequent impact against the ground knocked the air out of my lungs. A huge wolf, with fur as black as ebony, about 5 meters long and 2 meters high, had appeared out of nowhere and knocked me down. It was probably the leader of the pack. With its left paw, it was pinning my right arm to the ground, and its right paw was on my chest, applying considerable pressure. Blood dripped from my left arm, which was still in its jaws, and it didn’t seem to have any intention of letting go. Or so it seemed, as it suddenly released my arm and jumped high to dodge a blood impact from Nozomi.

“Master, are you okay?!” Nozomi rushed to my side, her voice sounding very desperate.

I lifted the upper part of my body; it was still hard to breathe, but I was slowly regaining my breath. I directed my gaze to my left arm; it was in a strange position. I had dropped the dagger, and all I could feel was pain; I could barely move it. The bone might be broken. Nozomi was looking at me, her expression a mix of sadness and desperation. I patted her head with my right arm and tried to smile.

“It could be worse. If I hadn’t put my arm in front, the wolf would have probably torn my throat out.”

“It’s a demon wolf!” Karen approached us, and Kharel slowly backed toward our position.

“It’s a Rank B monster,” Kharel’s voice trembled. “We’re in trouble.”

I observed the situation; the normal wolves were behind the enormous demon wolf. It seemed to be giving me a mocking look, but strangely, it wasn’t continuing its attack.

“Are you the leader of this pack?” I said as I struggled to get up from the ground. “We haven’t come to cause trouble; we just want to find out why you’re attacking the villagers.”

The demon wolf stared at me intently, seemingly surprised that I could understand it.

“‘You enter without permission into our territory,’” the wolf began to speak, though probably only I could hear it this way; the others would be hearing growls. “‘And you start attacking my pack, and you say you don’t want trouble? Humans are so stupid.’”

Karen alternated glances between the wolf and me; I suppose she wanted me to translate what our furry friend was saying, but I doubted there was time for that.

“I understand that your territory was much closer to the mountains,” I continued, trying to buy time. “We were only defending ourselves; we didn’t mean to cause you great harm. We haven’t killed anyone from your pack, have we?”

The demon wolf bared its fangs and almost seemed to smirk.

“‘Where our territory is doesn’t matter,’” it seemed to be getting angrier. “‘We will kill you all for intruding where you don’t belong.’”

After saying that, the wolves behind the leader moved at great speed to surround us. I guessed we had failed in our negotiations. The twins looked at me nervously as they prepared their weapons, and Nozomi hadn’t taken her eyes off the demon wolf.

“Okay, negotiations have failed,” I said as I reached into my bottomless bag, which hung from my waist, to grab one of the potions. “Karen, create a wall of flames to prevent the wolves from attacking us from all directions, leaving only the front uncovered. Nozomi, you will be our vanguard; probably only you can hold back that big beast. Kharel, you and I will go after the smaller ones that ignore Nozomi.”

I drank the potion’s contents just as the twins nodded. Karen surrounded us with a wall of flames just as the wolves tried to charge at us, only to end up being burned by the flames. The potion tasted somewhat bitter, like a syrup with a hint of strawberry but leaving a bitter aftertaste. I felt my left arm stop hurting; I could move it again, but it still felt numb. I picked up the dagger from the ground while the pack of wolves began to circle the wall of flames, trying to enter through the only possible opening. Kharel was blocking some while Nozomi used her magic against others. Although they didn’t die from a single blood impact, they ended up very badly injured. The demon wolf howled and began to advance at great speed. I moved to the front, and Nozomi stepped out of the wall of flames to face the great beast, greeting it with a myriad of spikes directed forward. The wolf jumped to the side at the last moment, receiving only a couple of stabs in its hindquarters, but it didn’t seem lethal.

“‘So you’re a blood slime,’” the wolf said. “‘Have those humans enslaved you?’”

“No,” Nozomi replied. “I serve my master of my own free will. He saved my life, and I will protect him from all danger.”

As I plunged my dagger into the side of one wolf and dodged another’s charge, I felt a wave of emotion wash over me. My little Nozomi treats me too well; I’ll have to buy her extra rations from now on.

“‘Then perish with your beloved master,’” the wolf said. After saying this, it vanished. I couldn’t see how it did it, but when I looked back to its position, Nozomi was alone, desperately looking around.

This is bad. Can it turn invisible? Either way, I have an idea.

“Karen!” She flinched at the sound of my shout. “Cast your icy wind towards Nozomi!”

Karen looked puzzled but quickly nodded and pointed her staff at the gap between the flames, specifically at the spot where Nozomi was, unleashing a strong icy wind that made the wolves retreat. Any brave one that tried to leap through the gap between the flames ended up with a cut on its snout. If my plan works and we cover the area with icy wind, no matter how invisible it is, we’ll see the vapor of its breath—a common tactic in video games with invisible enemies, where you have to pay close attention to the environment. But the demon wolf’s breath vapor was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, Nozomi shot up into the air; something dark had cut her lower half, and the force propelled her upward, a look of pain on her face. I looked at Nozomi’s state; her HP had dropped to half from a single blow. The wolf had reappeared in the spot where she had been. Teleportation? No, it doesn’t seem like that; it appeared in a very specific spot. Nozomi regained her composure in the air and launched her blood spike at the wolf, which vanished again, though this time I thought I saw it dive into the ground without leaving a trace. So it’s a skill to move between shadows or to burrow through the ground. During all this time, Karen had stopped conjuring the icy wind and reinforced the wall of fire; it was starting to die down, so she had made a good judgment call, and the wolves didn’t take long to try to enter again.

Nozomi, I tried to communicate with her telepathically. The wolf has a skill to move between shadows or through the ground. The next time it attacks you, direct your blood spike at the ground when you feel the impact. It will hurt, but you won’t die.

Or at least, I hope so. Nozomi should have regenerated some of her health; if the next hit is as strong as the last, she should be able to withstand it. I hope she can hold on...

Okay, Nozomi didn’t seem scared; it was clear she trusted me a lot, so I should trust her too.

A wolf lunged at me. I moved slightly to the side and plunged my left dagger into its back. Then, with my right arm, I pushed its body to block another wolf, and with a kick, I sent both of them out of the wall of flames. The strength boosts were noticeable. A fireball hit a third wolf that had taken advantage of the moment I was freeing myself from the other two to try to attack me. Karen was alert, ready to cover her brother and me, although she was breathing heavily, and beads of sweat had begun to fall from her forehead; her magic wouldn’t last much longer. Kharel had no trouble dispatching the wolves that tried to attack him, and since they were coming one by one, he could handle it without problems. Returning to Nozomi, she had landed on the ground and closed her eyes, concentrating. No other wolf was going after her, so nothing interrupted her focus. After what felt like an eternity of seconds, Nozomi received that dark cut again, but this time she countered instantly. The demon wolf let out a loud whimper, and when it reappeared, it could barely stand. Its front legs were riddled with holes; the right one, in particular, didn’t even have a paw anymore—it had been completely severed—and part of its body also had holes, miraculously, none had pierced its head. Nozomi fell to the ground and could barely maintain her form. At the demon wolf’s whimper, the other wolves froze and looked at their leader. Seeing it in such a deplorable state, they stopped attacking and gathered around it. I quickly ran to Nozomi, dropped my daggers, reached into my bag, and pulled out another potion, giving it to her to drink. Nozomi, who had been wearing a pained expression, began to smile again.

“It’s really good,” she said. This girl... I let out a chuckle and hugged her. “Master, it’s not over yet.”

I glanced over my shoulder; the demon wolf was struggling to stay on its feet. The twins had caught up with us. I left Nozomi on the ground, picked up my daggers again, and began to approach the wolves. The seven wolves that were with their leader bared their teeth at me, growling, “Don’t come closer,” “We’ll finish you off,” repeating over and over. Ideally, I didn’t want to kill the demon wolf, but it wasn’t listening to reason. If I left it alive and we left, it would probably attack the village as soon as it recovered.

Suddenly, something hit me square in the face. A punch or something similar smashed into my face, breaking my nose and sending me flying toward a tree near Nozomi and the twins. As I slammed against the tree, the air rushed out of my lungs, and I felt something warm trickling down my face—most likely my own blood. What the hell was that?

“Who are you?!” That was Karen. Someone? Has a person protected the wolves?”

“Get out of this forest immediately, or I will end all of you!” A young, energetic woman’s voice with a wild tone resonated throughout the place.

I lifted my gaze; a woman with blue hair stood between the twins and the demon wolf. She was a young girl with messy, short hair, and her deep yellow eyes looked at us threateningly, showing her fangs. Yes, I said fangs; this girl had sharp teeth, which, along with the two large, furry ears protruding from the top of her head and the bristling blue tail, indicated that she was a beast girl. Her clothes, if they could be called that, consisted only of a brown top made of hides and a short skirt made of the same material and color. Her figure was slender and toned; she didn’t seem to have much muscle, but her thin arms concealed great strength. I got up as best as I could; my back and face hurt a lot, and I couldn’t breathe through my nose. Upon seeing me rise, the beast girl showed her claws, which looked very sharp, and got into a combat stance.

“Ray,” Karen said, “can you understand what that Filgyanta said?”

Ah, that girl doesn’t speak the common language of this world, and it seems that the beastmen of this world are called Filgyanta.

“Calm down,” I said; my voice sounded strange due to my broken nose. “We have no intention of taking that wolf’s life.”

The beast girl looked at me curiously, tilting her head like a dog trying to understand its master.

“Do you speak like me?” The girl raised her ears and turned them toward me, seeming to lower her guard.

“I can understand you,” I told her, “and you can understand me too. I can also understand your furry friend.”

The girl turned to the demon wolf, and it nodded.

“Yes, that human speaks our language,” the wolf’s tone revealed the pain it was experiencing.

The girl turned back to me.

“Then why are you attacking us?” Her tone of voice showed less hostility.

“We were defending ourselves,” I replied. “We tried to talk to the wolves the whole time, but they didn’t want to listen. We’re sorry for invading your territory.”

I lowered my head, wanting my apology to resonate as deeply as possible. The beast girl turned to the demon wolf, and it closed its eyes.

“The boy is right,” the wolf commented. “He has tried to talk from the beginning, but we ignored him.”

The girl approached the wolf and punched it on the head. The animal let out a whimper, and then the blue-haired girl turned to us.

“I’ve seen many injured wolves, but none dead,” the girl lowered her head, imitating me. “Thank you, and I apologize for them. We’ve been very nervous since that thing appeared in the forest.”

“Thing”? That’s probably what made them abandon their territory.

“Is that ‘thing’ you mentioned what caused you to approach the human village?”

The girl nodded vigorously.

“A creature with a human shape,” she began to say, “red skin, large wings, and big horns.”

That sounds like a demon.

“A demon?” I asked.

“A demon?” Karen seemed surprised. “What about demons?”

The girl tilted her head.

“I don’t know what a demon is,” she said, “but that creature is evil.”

I turned to Karen and described the creature, and she looked very surprised.

“That sounds like a lesser demon!” It was Kharel who spoke. “What is it doing so far south?”

Karen began to explain about demons; they are a race that lives in the north of this continent, past the great desert in the north, in a region filled with volcanic mountains. There, the demons have their own kingdom. They rarely venture into human lands due to a war that occurred a couple of centuries ago. Right now, it seems there is peace, but rumors say that the demons are plotting something. When Karen finished her explanation, I took a potion from my bag and offered it to the girl.

“Give it to your friend,” I said. “It will heal his wounds.”

The girl looked at me strangely but quickly nodded and poured the entire bottle into the animal’s mouth. I was about to say something, but I soon saw the holes in the animal’s body beginning to close. It didn’t completely heal its severed paw, but at least it no longer seemed to be bleeding.

“What should we do?” Karen asked. “We’ve discovered the cause of the wolves leaving their territory, but I don’t know if we can do anything about it. A demon is serious business, even if it’s a lesser demon.”

Apparently, depending on the amount of magic they are born with, the appearance of demons changes. This is why it is said that demons are closer to monsters than to humans. A lesser demon would be around Rank B, but if an entire pack of wolves had to flee, it might be close to Rank A. And if it has already been difficult for us to face a Rank B monster, how powerful are the higher ranks?

“I have no idea,” I directed my gaze toward the wolf. “Couldn’t you win against the demon?”

The wolf stared at me intently, but it was the girl who spoke.

“The creature took the pups hostage while the pack was out hunting,” her voice sounded increasingly angry. “It told us that if we didn’t want them to die, we had to attack the humans, but it kept asking for more and more.”

“I understand,” I said. “So that demon plans to use you to attack the village, but it wants to do it slowly and subtly so that they don’t send adventurers who could take it down or even the army. But if it has had to take hostages, maybe it’s not as powerful as we imagined.”

Though this last part was just speculation; if it were strong enough to take down a demon wolf, it wouldn’t need to take hostages.

“That bastard!” Kharel shouted. “Taking hostages is very dishonorable!”

“So the hostages are the pups?” Karen pondered. “That’s probably why the injured wolves kept retreating; they didn’t want to diminish their numbers. Losing a female would be very detrimental to the pack.”

Karen is very observant, as always.

“‘What’s your name, boy?’” the wolf asked me.

“My name is Ray.” After saying my name, I looked at my companions. “The slime is Nozomi, the sorceress is Karen, and the swordsman is Kharel.”

“‘My name is Wulfred,’” the wolf said. Then he pointed with his paw at the girl.

“‘And I am Aewyn!’” the girl puffed out her chest, saying her name with pride.