Rumors of the Loup-garou
"You came."
"Yeah. This is Lehaty. Be nice."
When we entered the window to Rachel"s room, we found her in clothes made of fur. It was probably what she considered formal.
"That depends on your decision."
"Yeah, I know. That"s why I"m asking."
"So, you agree then?"
"Why not? I"m just going to think of it as changing my horse"s saddle."
Yes, that"s all it was. I was upgrading from Beowulf to Rachel. I would be given a more advanced version of the skills I already had. It was very game-like.
"But there was one thing that I was wondering about…"
"And what is that?"
"What exactly should I tell Beowulf when I meet him again?"
Overwriting his gift seemed like a very ungrateful way to repay a debt. And so that had been on my mind.
"Well, as for that, I shall tell him myself when I meet him again. And it should not be so long until I do."
"Really?"
"Aye. Well, that is my business. Now, hurry up and sit down."
We had all been standing all of this time. And so we frantically sat down on the cushions.
"Um, uhh…"
Lehaty mumbled as she looked questioningly at Rachel.
"What? What is it? Werewolf girl."
"I…are…are you the legendary wolf G.o.d?"
"Ahh, well, there are some who call me that… But I don"t know, I find it a little embarra.s.sing."
"Ohh…!"
Now that Lehaty knew, her face lit up with a smile. Then she rolled over onto her back in front of Rachel. This was familiar. It was a pose of submission…
"Idiot! Stop! Stop this! And in such a place!"
"So-sorry…"
Both of them looked quite fl.u.s.tered as they sat back down. I guess something had not quite connected.
"So? When will Asagi become your thrall?"
"Oh, yes, yes. Here."
"Here?"
Rachel raised her hand.
"There!"
And then she swung it towards my cheek.
"Ooomph!!"
"Asagi!?"
"Woah!?"
As I was not on my guard, the impact of the hit sent me flying from the floor and into the paper doors behind me. It hurt…
"There. That is it!"
"d.a.m.n…d.a.m.n…"
"Asagi, are you alright? Anything broken?"
I couldn"t see her, but I was quite sure that Rachel was standing close by with her arms crossed in front of her and nodding with satisfaction. I tried standing up with Daniela"s help, but I seemed to be stuck in the wooden frame of the sliding door.
The thing was heavy around my neck as my hands touched the floor. It was then that I saw that silver and green powder seemed to be coming from my hands.
"What"s this?"
"That is my gift to you."
I would have tilted my head in puzzlement if I could. The powder kept flowing. They glowed and then were absorbed into my body.
It reminded me of that time. When Beowulf had done the same thing to me in the forest. There had also been glowing dust that was sucked into me…
But he hadn"t hit me.
"So this is the gift of the G.o.d wolf…"
Unique skill "Legs of the G.o.d Wolf" and "Eyes of the G.o.d Wolf." I had newly acquired these two skills. Of course, the use of them had also been ingrained into me as well, so I was sure I could use them now if I had to.
"Alright, now that that"s done, you can help Lehaty."
"Yes, I will send her to where she wants to go."
Daniela helped me remove the door frame from my head and I turned to Lehaty.
"To be honest, I didn"t expect things to go so smoothly, but I"m glad it all worked out."
"Thank you, Asagi. I am glad that I met you. Now that I have met Rachel, I am very happy."
That was good.
"Good luck over there."
"Yes, thank you. You two take care."
"Mmm…yes."
I glanced over to Daniela. She looked a little red. It was cute.
"Well, you two are done here. Now leave. Go! Go!"
"Huh? I thought I"d at least watch Lehaty leave and wave goodbye…"
"Are you some kind of child? You will meet again. Now go!"
"Fi-fine…"
And so we were both chased out of the house. I didn"t understand it, but I would find out later.
About the pose of submission that beastkin did.
While not ideal, it did seem that I had succeeded in getting Lehaty sent to the island. …Probably. I would like to think so.
"Well, there is no point in worrying about it. We did what we could."
"…Yeah. And we"ll see her again some time. Maybe we can visit the island."
"Yes."
But first, it was off to the capital. I didn"t know what we would encounter next, but the two of us could make it together. I was sure of it.
It didn"t take long to reach the south gate from the abandoned village. It was just a straight path. But there would probably be more people pa.s.sing through it in the time to come. The Loup-garou that had scared so many people was now gone. It had only been a girl who was tormented by her unfortunate nature. But only Daniela, I and Rachel knew of it.
I wanted to keep it that way. But how could I explain it? The south gate was already in sight. There was not much time left.
"Still…"
"Hm?"
Daniela looked at me. And so I asked her the thing that had been on my mind.
"I was told while leaving the south gate. Many people left to catch a glimpse of the Loup-garou, or to kill it. And not one of them had returned."
"Are you suggesting that Lehaty killed the Adventurers?"
That couldn"t be. Yes, she had the power to do it. But neither I nor Daniela felt that she was that kind of person.
"Then…is it someone else…?"
Before Daniela could answer this question, a voice interrupted us.
—ooooooOOOO…
Daniela immediately unsheathed her sword. As my spear was in the bag, I took out the Glampanzer instead.
"He-he-hey, what"s going on!?"
"Is it not obvious!?"
Daniela said frantically as she spread the range of Presence Detection.
"Lehaty was not the Loup-garou… There was another one!"
She shouted, and at the same time, pushed me away. I could do nothing but roll away as I saw it.
There was a giant wolf standing between me and Daniela. It had platinum fur and three tails.
"Beo…wulf…?"
"Oh? You know of me? Human."
Its eyes bore into me with hostility and murderous intent.
"That was a rude greeting for an old friend, don"t you think?"
"Old friend…? I do not know you."
Then Beowulf slammed his claws into the earth and howled.
"I just came to eliminate the source of the stench. Now die, human!!"
Silver and green wind swam around Beowulf"s legs. It was all very familiar to me. I had seen it so many times, but it wasn"t unique to me. I had forgotten.
"Tsk…!"
I knew it. I knew the speed. I should be able to dodge it.
"Oh? Dodging…then how about this!?"
The silver and green wind enveloped his three tails now as he swung them. Blades of wind were unleashed. I rarely used it, but I knew that move. And I knew its weakness.
I hit them from the side with my sword. This created additional wind and caused the blades to disperse. That was the weakness. I had once considered if I couldn"t incorporate the wind blades into my fighting style, and so I had run simulations. That"s how I found out about their weakness. It definitely made me use them less, which resulted in me using the kick more and more. There were times when I used them as a diversion, but overall, they were just not that reliable.
"Hmph. They were only wind blades. In that case…my claws and fangs…"
"Wait!"
I called as Beowulf tried to continue the fight. But he didn"t seem to want to talk.
"Have you really forgotten about me? Don"t you remember us making peace back in Fhiraldo?"
"I don"t know what you are talking about. And I do not know you. Or Fhiraldo. What I do know, is that I do not like you at all!"
Beowulf sprung forward, clearly having no intention of talking. It was then that an arrow wrapped in wind shot out towards his foot. Beowulf dodged it with ease and jumped backward.
"Asagi. He will not listen to you."
"But, Daniela…"
"Listen. Asagi."
She had drawn her bow and was ready to shoot again.
"That is not the Beowulf you know. We met a very different silver wolf."
"What…is-is that possible?"
The string was pulled tight.
"It is. And this is the true Loup-garou!"
And then she unleashed the arrow.