It’s been a week since the ceremony and he’s been dealing well with having wolf ears and a tail. The memories of Oryath though took a lot more time to get used to. He remembers fighting moves, lies, history, and so much it’s beginning to give him a headache. At least with the temporary school, he’s able to handle his new abilities as well as his new duties. Fenrir didn’t ask for much besides having him hunt under his name and to treat any wolves with kindness.
Eloise has surprisingly, or perhaps, not so surprisingly for her, been chosen by Skadi. Skadi the Goddess of Hunting, Ice, and Marriage. Because of their shared hunting offerings, he and Eloise often went hunting together now. It’s surprisingly nice. She’s quite handy with a bow and if the bow doesn’t work, his traps mean they can lead their quarry to the trap.
“Sundown again?” Eloise smiled, “I’ve been feeling like having boar for dinner.”
Keith imagined the taste of seared boar meat and nodded, his tail flicking two and fro, “Boar sounds nice, we’ve been hunting rabbit for quite a while and I’ve starting to get bored playing chase.”
“Wonderful, see you then.” She wiggled her fingers before walking on to her own friend group.
Before he could go off to take a nap, a shadow loomed over him.
“Siegmar,” Keith acknowledged without bothering to turn around.
“Traitor Worshipper,” he bit out.
Keith rolled his eyes. Ah, it’s that kind of thing today. Siegmar was weirdly against him being a chosen of Fenrir, calling him a traitor worshipper and the like. He’s not even sure who chose Siegmar or if he’s even chosen. However, since he’s in the temporary school, that means he is chosen.
“Look, Siegmar. Hate it all you like, Fenrir is as part of the Norn Territory as the rest of the Aesir.” He sighed, massaging his head.
“Traitor.” Yugiri bit out.
“Coward,” Anai hissed.
“Brother.” Orionith’s devastated face flashed through his mind.
“-care, stay away from Eloise!”
“Are you braindead?” Keith blurted out, having only heard the last part. Well, it’s not as if he hasn’t heard what Siegmar said previously, he can make a guess.
His words caused the other to flush an angry red. Letting out a frustrated roar, Siegmar pointed at him. “You. Me. Tomorrow at noon, we’ll see who’s better.”
“Are you serious? Eloise isn’t a prize to be won, she can beat you up and freeze you all the way to the Northern side of the Nornic Territories.” He can attest to that.
After all, Eloise back when she was still adjusting to having ice magic, freaked out when a cockroach flew at her during a hunt. She froze it and threw it at a tree, shattering the thing into a million tiny shards. A bit overdone and he liked to joke with her about it, but he knows it’ll be scary when applied to battle.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Vlfuwjg wjvf j ojmf. “Ktja’r cba ktja P wfjc, P wfjc sbe’gf- Cgut!”
Bflat rdelcafv ja Vlfuwjg. “Gb sbe tjnf agbeyif fzqgfrrlcu sbegrfio? Po rb, vbc’a tlvf yftlcv jggbujcmf, la’r cba j ubbv ibbx bc sbe.”
Kbrrlcu tlr jgwr lcab atf jlg, Vlfuwjg wjgmtfv jkjs bcis ab aegc jgbecv bcf wbgf alwf. “Efwfwyfg! Gefi, abwbggbk!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Keith waved his hand, tired. “I’ll be there.”
“I’ll be there!” Oryanith declared. “When we’re big and strong, I’ll see what a beach looks like, and I’ll taste the water to see if it’s salty like they say it is.”
“Just you?” Orionith teased. “What happened to staying with big brother?”
Oryath flushed. “I’ll bring you too of course! You can carry my things.”
“What the- you rascal!” Orionith descended upon him, ruffling his hair hard.
Giggling, Oryath tried to swat away his brother’s hand. “S-stop! Ahahah, I just combed my hair, I said stooooop.”
Walking off to lay down underneath the Yggdrasil sapling, he patted his head, following the memory.
“Orionith was a good brother. Is that why you were so willing to do all that?”
No reply.
Of course there won’t be a reply, Keith thought, I’m him now. Or at least, he’s me? Either way, the seal will recognize me now as much as it had recognized Oryath.
With that thought in mind, he drifted into a nap.
This nap was surprisingly peaceful, lacking in memories of Oryanith’s or his past life memories. Rather, it was blank and calm. That is until he wakes to the feeling of something cold on his forehead.
Sitting up, Eloise shot him a smug smile. “Good, you’re awake.”
He touched his forehead, feeling it to be wet. No way, did she just- he looked down on the ground to see an ice cube.
“Eloise, are you serious?” Picking up the ice cube he chucked it at her.
She giggled. “What else should I do when I find my hunting partner asleep?”
“Let him sleep, maybe?” He shot back while standing up. “So, how do you feel about Siegmar calling a duel for you?”
Eloise hummed as she led the way to the hunting grounds. “I think… he’s jealous. You know, he was actually hoping Fenrir would choose him.”
“Is that so? Then why the change in tune?” Keith mused, checking the scent in the wind.
Nothing.
Eloise got her bow ready as they continued to prowl. “You didn’t hear it from me but Siegmar’s always been hiding his feelings behind a mask of arrogance. It’s because he doesn’t want to be called ‘weak’ by his father.”
“That’s pretty unexpected. How do you know all this?” Keith asked as he spotted tracks in the ground.
“He’s my friend, at least, when we’re not in a crowd.” Her smile grew bitter. “If his father finds us as friends he’ll lock an arranged marriage and I’d rather not.”
“These are fresh.”
With the boar tracks and their hunt being close, they let the conversation drop. Keith took out his throwing knives. Together they continued to follow the tracks, before Keith stopped her. His ears pricked up, as he listened. There, on the left of them, is the sound of a boar’s grunting. He can hear it eating something. Pointing left, he gestured where Eloise should aim.
Eloise understood, pulling back the bowstring and shooting at the boar.
“Perfect shot,” Keith complimented, hearing it fall.
Yet, when they went to bring back the boar, the sight that greeted them wasn’t the boar they pictured.
It held eyes of molten red, hot tear tracks down its face. It had three tusks, two on each side of the mouth and one from the center of its snout. The fur is a charred black color, as if it had burnt its hair from the inside. Eloise’s arrow is embedded deep into its neck. The smell had Keith wrinkling his nose.
Sulfur.
“That’s… not a boar.” Eloise pointed out.
Keith looked up at her with a flat look, “No, really? Yes, that’s not a boar, that’s a Sulfig.”
The author pulled a pokemon when naming these things, he thought wryly to himself. At least he can count on that.
“A sulfig, isn’t that a minor demon?” Eloise frowned, walking closer to inspect it herself. “The Yggdrasil sapling should be protecting us from these things, why is it here?”
“I don’t know but we’ll have to bring this back and warn the village.” He sighed. “Though I’m not sure how we’ll move it since the fur is supposed to burn your hands.”
Loud rustling had them on guard. The branches swayed, the leaves whispered to each other, and fallen twigs snapped on the ground. As it grew closer, he could see Eloise pointing her arrow, the bowstring pulled taut. His own throwing daggers were still in his hands, ready to be thrown at any time.
Finally the foliage parted and out stumbled a disoriented looking Siegmar.
“Oh thank the Gods, it’s just you,” Eloise sighed, relaxing and putting back her arrow.
Siegmar gave her a sheepish grin. “Sorry El, did I scare you?”
She marched up and smacked him on the shoulder. “Scare me? You almost made me shoot you!”
Without Eloise blocking the sulfig behind her, Siegmar could see it as plain as day. Siegmar’s sheepish smile fell to a serious blank.
“El, why is there a sulfig in Kiol.”
“That, we’re not sure about.” Keith spoke up. Mostly to answer hsi question but also subtly remind them that he’s there too.
Honestly, what am I? Chopped liver?
“Right, let’s get it to the village then, Dad needs to know.” Siegmar removed his fur coat.
Eloise shook her head. “The fur will burn through the coat, even if it’s dead.”
“Freeze the coat then,” Keith pointed out. “The fur won’t be able to burn the ice, for some reason it can’t burn things colder than it.”
“How do you know that?” Siegmar tilted his head in confusion.
I remember it from Oryath. He thought dryly.
Eloise shook her head and froze the coat. “Shut up, don’t question him. We need to get this to your dad and fast.”
Together, the three of them managed to wrap the boar in the frozen coat, with Kieth leading the way back, Siegmar carrying the wrapped boar and Eloise making sure to keep the coat cold. He can’t help but wonder if he’s right in that it’s a sequel. If he is then they might be screwed.
I am already so immersed in this world that I keep moving to the next chapter and forget to comment. I absolutely love the idea of this plot and I like the characters too. I love that Eloise is strong and an equal, I love the mystery of the “sequel” and I love that there are cute modern references. It’s all just so good!
Fluffy ears! Here they come. 🐺🥰 Pretty much love this. I’m just really curious who will pick up our reincarnated wolf pup? Who is the ML? I want to know already. 😆