TEB Ch 94

Although its body was still small, its feet were not much smaller than those of a large dog. Liev unconsciously toyed with the tough but springy pads on the bottom of its paw, which were not unlike those of a wolf. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Ah.” 

Liev was distracted by the large soles without realizing it but finally snapped out of it and closely examined the identification tag. As expected, it only had a set of numbers and no information about the facility. Since the same characters were used throughout the continent, it was impossible to guess where it came from based on the code alone.

At least he could tell that it wasn’t a specimen from a public facility. 

Who brought this creature all the way here? Liev ruffled its fur. The dense fur that stuck out between his fingers felt like a double coat, which meant that even a gentle tug resulted in a handful of fur coming off. 

“Hmm.” 

The fact that this amount of fur is falling out even though it is not the molting season suggests a high probability that it is a species that sheds fur year-round and grows new fur. This implies that it likely inhabits areas with many rivers and lakes where it frequently jumps into the water and moves around. In this area, the snow briefly melts in the summer, but the ice caps remain frozen throughout the long winter, indicating that the creature is not a winter animal. From this, Liev could deduce that it arrived here within two months after the winter ended.

As Liev pondered these thoughts, he absentmindedly stroked its fur. Renard spoke up again in a frustrated tone. 

“You’ve been touching it too much since earlier. Even though it looks like a puppy, it’s still a monster.” 

“Uh…” 

Liev replied dryly and then put the creature back on the ground, pressing its neck to the ground so it couldn’t run away. 

“Can you cut this off of its foot? Oh, I don’t mean its leg, I’m talking about cutting off the piece of metal, so don’t get the wrong idea.” 

When Liev hastily explained in detail, worried that his request might lead to a horrifying misunderstanding, Renard nodded with a slightly dissatisfied expression on his face. Then, whoosh, he compressed a flame into a very small size, and swish, as he passed it over the piece of metal like a laser, the shackle that had been constricting the baby wolf’s ankle fell off.

“Whimper, whine.”

At first, the little guy was shaking his legs as if he didn’t know what to do, but when the pain he felt in his ankles disappeared, his eyes widened in surprise. Soon after that, as Liev carefully helped him stand on the ground, the little guy jumped up and down in place with joy.

What should I do now?

No matter how much of a monster he was, it was hard to watch him suffer like this, so he helped him for now. But as he watched where he was heading, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was off. 

Even if it’s a monster, seeing it in pain like that earlier had been hard to watch, so I ended up helping it for now. Keeping an eye on this thing to see where it was heading and then finding the rest of its pack and wiping them out in one go was probably the right thing to do. However, something didn’t feel right.

If this creature and the ones that attacked the village are of the same species, then I need to figure out who brought it here and how they did it.

While Liev was lost in thought, Renard was growling and having a staring contest with the little wolf.

“Hey, stop it.” 

He seemed to have gotten more mature lately, but maybe it was all just his misunderstanding. Liev pulled Renard away from the puppy and let out a short sigh. 

“Alright, you’re free to go wherever you want now.”

In any case, I couldn’t keep carrying it around. I had no idea how to introduce it to the other members of the group, and it was uncertain whether it would continue to follow people like a domesticated animal. For now, with Renard, a scary presence, by its side, it was cowering like a normal dog with its tail between its legs. But who knows when it might suddenly turn into a ferocious beast? So, I’d better let it go for now. To see how it would react, I gave it its freedom, but it just circled around me, unable to leave my side.

“I said, go.” 

Being anxious, I took a step back from him, but he just followed me with his fluffy tail wagging. 

Maybe it was feeling uneasy? I deliberately stepped backward to create some distance, but it just thump-thump followed me on its fluffy legs.

At this rate, it’d be difficult to reunite it with its pack and find the spot where they’ve made their nest.

Liev glanced over at Renard and said,

“Looks like it’s determined to keep following me.”

Then, as he cautiously stepped backward again, the creature glanced at Renard with a nervous whimper before quickly returning to Liev’s side.

I guess I’ll just have to promise the others that I’ll manage it properly so it won’t pose a threat to them. Liev hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do.

“Ahhhhhh!”

A scream suddenly rang out in the distance.

“……!” 

As the puppy and both Liev and Renard turned their heads in the direction where the sound was coming from, a familiar voice followed. 

“Help me! Save meeee!” 

Hmm, it doesn’t seem like anything serious. The one screaming as if he were about to die was Albert. He must’ve seen some kind of strange hallucination or something.

Both Liev and Renard sighed simultaneously and headed in the direction of the sound. If he was actually running away after encountering something, then they might have discovered the monsters’ base, which would align with their goal. And if not, well, they couldn’t just leave him like that either.

I shrugged my shoulders and started running towards him, but suddenly I wondered if the puppy was still following us.

“Wait a minute, Renard…” 

When Liev stopped Renard and looked back, the baby wolf had disappeared without a trace. Was he planning on staying here? Or …in any case, their colleague’s crisis was more urgent, so he turned his gaze back to where they were heading. 

“Huh?” 

He stopped in his tracks, sensing something off about the surroundings. For some reason, the scenery around him seemed different. Hadn’t that tree been further away just a moment ago? And wasn’t the dense undergrowth supposed to be on the opposite side? As he kept wandering around in the forest, Liev looked around, feeling a bit confused, and to his surprise, Renard was nowhere to be seen either. 

“Renard?” 

Damn it. Was the scream I thought was Albert’s actually a trap? The sky suddenly darkened as if it were night, and the sound of laughter, high-pitched and mocking, echoed around him. He had assumed that with Renard by his side, no one would dare to play tricks, but it seemed these fairies were far more reckless and fearless than he had anticipated.

‘What do I do now…?’

Liev stopped walking and stood frozen in place. Wandering aimlessly in an attempt to find his way would only drain his energy and lead him further into traps. The best option would be to stay put, sit tight, and wait for Renard to snap out of the illusion and come to rescue him.

But the darkness around him had grown so thick that it was only possible to make out his surroundings with the aid of light. The oppressive gloom triggered a long-forgotten memory, one he thought he had buried deep in his mind, which suddenly resurfaced without warning.

A dark, damp space. The stench of decay and rot. The blunt impact of a heavy weapon striking his head. The sensation of his powerless body crumpling to the ground.

The memory flashed vividly in his mind like a nightmare, overwhelming him in an instant.

“Ugh…!”

The memories that came to him made him stop in his tracks without him realizing it.

That’s already in the past. There’s no chance of it happening again, and it shouldn’t matter to him anymore. He tried to push away his fears, but it wasn’t as easy as he thought. What if Renard doesn’t find him? Even though it’s unlikely, he couldn’t think straight because of the loud laughter ringing in my ears. 

And then, at that moment, he heard rustling from behind the bushes. Was it a colleague? Or the wolf cub that he had seen earlier? Even though he knew it could be a trap, his legs moved on their own, as if possessed. He just wanted to make sure I could see without getting too close so he wouldn’t fall into any traps. Without realizing it, he pushed my way through the bushes with wide eyes. 

“….!” 

What I saw through the bushes were the bodies of soldiers being brutally torn apart by something that looked like a beast. One strange thing he noticed was that their uniforms were different from the ones he had seen while staying in the palace. Even though he has a strong stomach, he couldn’t help but feel sick at the gruesome sight. Still, it was clear that the appearance of the figure was completely different from the royal palace soldiers.

This can’t be real. Even though he knew it in my head, his vision blurred for a moment. He needed to get out of here. Without thinking, he instinctively took a few steps back before regaining his senses. He can’t let himself fall into a panic. This was exactly how they worked—these creatures thrived on pushing people into panic, mocking their frantic reactions, and eventually driving them to run straight off a cliff.

I couldn’t let myself be fooled by what I saw. No matter where I was, as long as I stayed safe and waited, Renard would come to rescue me. I closed my eyes tightly, blocking out my surroundings, took a deep breath, and shouted at the top of my lungs.

“Renard-! I’m here!” 

All I could do was hope that my desperate cry would be answered immediately.