Trash and Garbage exchanged glances. The two wolves, who had been bickering all along, now shared the same emotion for the first time.
Sighing, Trash blinked as if it couldn’t be helped.
“The human is right. The child needs time to adapt to the pack. I’ll allow it, so let the child stay with us a few more days.”
“Allow? Since when did you have the authority to do that?”
Garbage growled and stepped forward. Trash, as if wanting to strike his old head, twitched her front paw.
“You won’t allow it?”
“Of course, I’ll allow it.”
“Then?”
“…I permit it, human. Stay here.”
Ignoring their childish fight, Leon petted the wolf, sensing that time here might not be as smooth as it seemed.
***
Trash led Leon and the wolf to an empty den beneath the tree roots. It was indeed a den. Since it was the mysterious house of wolves that could transform into humans, Leon thought it might be somewhat similar to a human’s house.
“What?”
Trash, noticing Leon’s expression, turned his head.
“Because you can transform into humans, I thought your houses might be similar to human houses.”
“No. Since our nature is close to wolves, it’s uncomfortable to live in a human’s house.”
I see. Perhaps even a log cabin was uncomfortable for wolves. Leon felt a bit melancholic as he watched the wolf spinning around on a stack of soft hay. Living with its own kind would be better, after all.
“Guest, can we have a moment to talk?”
The wolf immediately stopped its actions and looked at Leon and Trash. However, Trash seemed to want to talk discreetly.
“Stay here. I’ll be back soon.”
The wolf persistently followed them to the entrance of the den. Leon had to persuade it, saying he would come back soon.
“The adults have something serious to discuss.”
Humph.
“You’re tired from traveling. Rest your eyes a bit.”
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.
Pat, pat.
Leon crossed his arms, looking down at the wolf who remained stubborn until the end. He suggested seriously.
“If you wait patiently, I’ll come back and give you a kiss.”
Though he expected the wolf to agree immediately, it laughed with its nose.
Just one time?
“…Okay. Then twice.”
The wolf snorted again. Leon couldn’t figure out a way to beat this big baby.
“I’ll do it ten times. Is that enough?”
The wolf didn’t answer immediately. It was clear that ten kisses were sufficient as the price of waiting. After a while, the wolf cheekily nodded its head.
“Fine. I’ll give you ten kisses. Is that settled?”
The wolf remained silent for a moment. It was undoubtedly checking if ten kisses were enough as the price of waiting. The wolf, after a while, coyly nodded its head.
The awkwardly watched situation allowed Trash to finally take Leon outside the den.
Although the other wolves cast curious glances at them, Trash didn’t exchange greetings with anyone and headed in the direction he chose.
As they went deeper into the village, the signs of life gradually diminished. Leon had a premonition that time here might not be as calm as he thought.
“We’ve arrived. Look.”
Trash sighed as if exhausted and nodded toward the front.
“Uh… What am I supposed to see?”
The open space was an ordinary ground, or rather, it might be more accurate to call it a dried-up lake. It was sunken and round, with a peculiar feature being the absence of any grass within the sunken area.
“Here is where the father of the wolf you brought died. Adis was our leader.”
…Why bring up such a story suddenly?
“Originally, this place used to be a lake full of water. However, after Adis was murdered, water no longer collected here and it withered away like this.”
“Wait.”
Whether Trash read the expression on Leon’s face or not, he sighed heavily and lowered his head in distress.
“Yes. Adis was murdered. His mate, Everia, suffered the same fate.”
The reason the wolf was abandoned while injured was because both parents, who were supposed to protect their cub, were murdered. The child was left alone because of it.
“Who murdered them, and was the murderer caught?”
“We all know who the murderer is, but we couldn’t punish him. He is an elder of the tribe.”
“…No way.”
“That’s right.”
Trash looked straight into Leon’s eyes. Eyes that were dark and not quite like a wolf, but glistened with sadness.
“It was Garbage. He killed Adis and Everia.”
***
Our tribe is the chosen guardian of the World Tree. Then, what are we protecting the world from?
That’s right. From the black smoke. It was our mission to protect the world from the black smoke defeated by the ‘Red Hero.’
After the Red Hero purified the world and restored reason to beasts and humans, we found ourselves with no purpose.
The sacred sword, Adnaid, chose not the Silver Wolf tribe but a mediocre… no, an ordinary human. Believing that the black smoke disappeared forever, we thought our long-standing mission had come to an end.
Despite possessing reason like humans, we, who lost the purpose of life, began to split apart. The first one to take action was Garbage.
He wanted the power of the leader. More precisely, the power of both Adis and Everia.
Yes, they were extremely powerful Silver Wolves. They were like gods, requiring the entire tribe to team up just to barely stand a chance of defeating them.
Garbage had… made a foolish decision. He believed that if he killed Adis and Everia, he could obtain their power.
Indeed, the leader’s power was passed down through generations. If he killed the leader couple and even their child, he thought the power would come to him.
Adis was killed first. Garbage secretly lured him to the lakeside. It was a night when the moon was high, and dewdrops were shaking on the flowers…
It didn’t take long for Adis’s blood to be scattered on the flowers. The wolves who sided with Garbage attacked Adis all at once.
Garbage belatedly thought of Everia and her unborn child. He sent a pursuit team after the fleeing Everia, but she seemed to have run far away.
The returning pursuit team claimed she escaped to Winderton Mountain, but they also said they caught up and killed her. Of course, they said the child was also eliminated. Jumped off a cliff or something.
Garbage must have been relieved, but as time passed, he began to wonder if the child might still be alive. The power that the leader couple held didn’t pass to Garbage or anyone else, which was why he began to think that way.
Since then, our tribe complained about the dried-up lake. Rumors spread about it being tainted by Adis’s vengeance, and some even said the lake would revive only when Adis and Everia’s son returned.
Why is this lake so important?
Our tribe has lived here for generations, conducting coming-of-age ceremonies and imprinting rituals by the lake.
However, since the lake dried up, we haven’t been able to perform proper rituals. The cubs you saw in the village will have to undergo the ceremony in a year… If things continue like this, they might never become adults.
Now that Adis and Everia’s son has returned, will the lake be restored?
I don’t know. All I know is one thing: Garbage is desperately trying to become the protector of that child.
He’s attempting another murder. To obtain the power that might be his if he kills the successor of the leader couple.
Please don’t be deceived by Garbage and watch him closely.
***
Trash left the dry lakeside, advising Leon to think about it carefully. Leon sat down on a rock and looked around.
There were no traces of a cruel murder anywhere, but it wasn’t difficult to imagine.
A giant Silver Wolf, Adis, emerged by the moonlit lakeside, aiming for the powerful leader’s strength. Many wolves revealed by Garbage and others slowly closed in through the darkness…
“What are you thinking?”
A white-mixed silver muzzle suddenly appeared next to Leon’s face. Not surprised by the approaching presence since earlier, Leon turned around without much shock.
Garbage was sitting there, wearing a twisted smile.
“I saw Trash coming this way. I expected he would have talked to you separately, human.”
“Yes. He told me about what happened at this lakeside.”
Garbage chuckled shortly.
“She must have told you I killed Adis, right? Isn’t that so?”
“Yes.”
“So, do you believe it?”
His snake-like yellow eyes pierced through Leon. Turning his head back to the lakeside, Leon spoke again.
“To some extent.”
Trash didn’t mention the most important part.
What did Trash himself do and where was she during the murder of Adis and Everia?
On a night when the moon was high, the lakeside was shaking with dewdrops on flowers… Perhaps Trash, who vividly testified to the situation, was also present at the murder scene?
“You’re smarter than you look, human.”
Garbage laid his belly next to Leon. Long breaths flowed from his aging and beginning-to-wither nose. Garbage, who seemed like a lively and vigorous old man, looked very tired for the first time.
“I’ll tell you the truth.”
Thanks fór chapter 🙂
*for (auto correct 😅)