At that moment, Grandma approached, carrying a load on her back.
“Leon, step back. Jackie, Gemini, what brings you two here?”
Jackie supported the askew Gemini, glaring at the puppy. His lips were still stained from the strawberries.
“He surely feasted on blood. Isn’t that right, grandma? Even in a secluded cabin, one shouldn’t raise such a beast. They didn’t even tie it up!”
“Did you come to talk about that?”
“No!”
Ignoring her husband’s support, Gemini pulled something from her leather apron pocket and tossed it before them. Blood-stained chicken feathers floated down the grass. Gemini clenched her fist.
“How will you compensate?”
“Compensate?”
“Our chickens died! This morning, I found the coop torn open, and our chickens’ feathers soaked in blood. Clearly, that wolf did it!”
Gemini swung her stick heatedly. Subconsciously, Leon tightened his grip on the puppy’s neck.
“Sneaking out in the early morning, tearing open the coop, and eating the chickens. Look at the blood on its mouth.”
“That’s strawberry juice. Just ate a whole basket of strawberries.”
“Strawberries? A wolf that eats strawberries, ha!”
Jackie put an arm around his wife’s shoulders and glared at Leon’s Grandma.
“As soon as we get back, we’ll inform the village head. We should have killed that wolf sooner!”
“Sir.”
Leon couldn’t bear it any longer.
“Yesterday, we slept in the same room the entire night. We went to the yard together in the morning.”
“You were probably too deep in slumber to notice the wolf sneaking out—or maybe you were unconscious again! Remember when you collapsed at Demis’ house not too long ago, and we didn’t even know?”
“What does that have to do with this?”
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.
“That damn wolf killed our chickens, and you’re talking about strawberries! Strawberries, really!”
Jackie gestured wildly to express his frustration, then abruptly wrapped his arms around his wife’s shoulders. He coldly stared at the motionless wolf, not even a twitch in its fur.
“Five chickens died—at least 20 eggs worth, you get it? And if we don’t slaughter that wolf, these events might occur sometime in the future. Next time, I’ll bring the axe myself!”
They spoke openly, their boisterous volume urging them to listen; they even exchanged comments about ‘being a shameless bastard’ and the like, quickly moving away after.
Grrr. The puppy whimpered softly, its fur standing on end around its neck. Leon looked at Grandma, consoling the puppy through gentle pats.
“What happened?”
Grandma observed the puppy. eyes lost in thought. Her eyes, covered by wrinkled eyelids with more than half of the pupils concealed, looked like they always did, but the atmosphere grew queer. Despite having lived for a very long time, she still resembled an ancient tree, forcefully drawing groundwater through its roots and stems, overlooking the entire forest.
“If it went out at night, we would have known. Something else must have harmed those chickens.”
“But… forest animals rarely come down to the village.”
“That’s the problem. If we can’t figure out why the chickens died, everyone will be in trouble.”
The ‘everyone’ naturally included the puppy. Scratch that, the most troubled entity would most likely be the puppy.
The dog pressed its warm head against Leon’s chest. Emotions were conveyed in this silent gesture.
“…There’s nothing we can do right now. We can only confine it inside the house temporarily and refrain others from seeing it.”
Grandma tapped her hands and walked towards the cabin. The earlier episode of the puppy having eaten all the strawberries seemed to be forgotten. Leon, who had been watching her back, released the puppy and stood up.
“Let’s go inside as well.”
The limping puppy followed Leon. As he led the way, the puppy turned around once. Leon, who was in front, halted.
“What?”
The puppy, looking away from the path leading to the village, briskly walked back to the cabin. Shortly after the door closed, the yard fell silent without any signs of disturbance.
It was late afternoon: the sun dipped, the fence’s shadow stretched long, and the world was silently immersed in darkness. Leon’s puppy, as usual, nibbled on cabbage beneath the table and then went straight to bed. The lights in the cabin, even in the Mirakiki village houses, flickered off.
The night was so quiet.
Thud, thud.
Gemini’s eyes snapped open. She swiftly got up, perked her ears for any sound outside, then shook her sleeping husband awake.
“Jackie! Something’s outside again.”
“That damn wolf cub.”
Jackie’s reply was hoarse. Awakened forcibly from a deep sleep, he reached for the hefty axe lying next to the bed.
“Stay here. I’ll slit the beast’s throat and come right back.”
“What about yelling at someone to chase it away? What if you get injured or something…”
“That won’t help; it’s just a cub. No need to worry.”
Jackie adjusted his grip on the axe and stormed to the front door. From then on, he muffled his footsteps; the sensitive creature might run away once it senses a human presence.
Jackie, now in the yard, secured his heels on the ground and walked toward the chicken coop. As he approached, the wails of chickens and the flapping of wings grew louder. On this cloudy night, where even moonlight couldn’t be seen, Jackie searched left and right for a vague figure.
At a moment’s flicker, the surroundings became eerily silent, as if all the mice had died. The chickens stopped crying and the creaking of the iron bars withdrew. Jackie wiped away the sweat from his right hand on his thigh and gripped his axe even tighter.
Rustle.
Jackie turned around like lightning, raising the axe.
“Aah!”
Gemini covered her face with both arms. Startled, Jackie lowered the axe.
“What are you doing? I told you to stay inside!”
“I couldn’t stand the anxiety. Let’s go inside, okay? You can just accompany Mr. Demis to get rid of that wolf tomorrow morning, right?”
“No. Are we going to lose more chickens tonight?”
“It’s better than getting hurt, right? Besides…”
Jeremy suddenly lost her words. She looked at her husband, her pale lips trembling, shakily mouthing out soundless words.
Cold sweat ran down Jackie’s spine. After swallowing a dry gulp, he turned around, and a dark figure approached the couple.
A scream that woke up the night rang through the village.
***
Leon woke from his sleep when a warm sensation wriggled in the breeze beside him. As he cleared his groggy vision and reared his head, a silver-haired figure stood tall in his sight, staring out the window with a determined posture. It was when he sensed an uncanny tension enveloping the entire body of the puppy that sleep fled him.
“What?”
Could it be that Lord Winderton sent hunters again? He thought they wouldn’t come back after he presented the hero’s token.
He descended from the bed and stepped onto the doorstep. In a dimly lit alley, torches flickered one after another. A dull glow illuminated the collective faces of the Mirakiki townsfolk. As Jackie—who had dropped a visit earlier that day—stepped into the yard with eyes full of indignance, the gravity of the situation grew much more evident, and much more alarming.
“You stay here.”
Leon hastily murmured to the puppy while putting on his coat, then dashed into the yard after firmly closing the bedroom door. This was to prevent the puppy from following. However, his legs grew heavy with an ominous premonition.
“Leon.”
Jackie raised the torch higher. His eyes and voice glinted.
“Sir, it’s too late for this.”
Leon tried his best to pretend he didn’t see the trouble-faced village chief, Demis holding an axe, and the sergeants who followed his wake. Demis, too, avoided making eye contact with Leon as much as possible.
Jackie stepped closer to Leon.
“Bring the wolf.”
“Why?”
“Your wolf attacked Gemini today. Don’t think about hiding it. As soon as Gemini regained consciousness, she explained clearly what she witnessed—I, too, was present at the scene. It was a big, black, fur-covered beast. As you know…”
As he twisted his hand, a chilling sound echoed.
“We only have one dangerous animal in our village. So, bring the wolf. We can’t let it live any longer.”
“I was with him the entire time. I slept next to him.”
“Of course, that’s what you would say. But that damned wolf of yours not only attacked our chickens, but also my wife. On a dark and quiet night, even when the dogs were asleep!”
Leon clenched his fists and looked at the faces of the people. The village elders visibly agreed with Jackie, and the village chief rubbed his tired eyes, clearly distressed.
“Leon, bring it now. Even if today’s incident hadn’t happened, the wolf should have been slaughtered long ago.”
“It didn’t cause any harm. But to do this so recklessly…”
“Didn’t cause any harm? Ha!”
Jackie let out a loud, derisive laugh, sneering.
“So, is this how you repay our kindness? We took in an orphan with nowhere to go, and in return, you brought a wolf to our village? My wife almost died because of you, you ungrateful bastard!”
I’ll say it once more, let’s get rid of this mister Jackie instead 🙂
+1