Chapter 270: Fae’s Nature

Interrupting their conversation, two Great Wolves lunged at Shin at the same time, their claws tearing through the air.

He moved without hesitation, slipping between their attacks before striking each one with a precise slash. Both monsters collapsed almost simultaneously, their bodies hitting the ground as Shin turned toward the distant screams.

"I believe it’s a group of people under attack," he muttered, already running. Fae followed immediately, keeping pace without saying a word.

They emerged from the trees and found a merchant wagon surrounded by ten Great Wolves. Two guards with dog-like ears were desperately trying to hold the wolves back while the merchant struggled to keep his cattle from scattering.

Shin jumped straight into the middle of the pack, cutting down one of the wolves before it could reach the wagon. A heartbeat later, Fae arrived behind him and mirrored his movement almost perfectly, her blade following the same trajectory and cutting another wolf down in a single stroke.

Shin glanced at her for just a second. That night, he had found out about a great side effect of having her as the middleman between him and his system.

Fae had acquired his stats, and she could actually keep up with his movements and use his skills to some extent. Still, her incredible capability of copying his exact movements came from how much she liked observing her king.

"Keep them away from the wagon!" Shin shouted to the guards before charging forward again. The guards quickly adjusted to his presence, attacking any wolf he drove toward them while Shin and Fae cut through the rest. Within moments, the battlefield fell silent, with all ten monsters lying dead around the wagon.

The merchant stared at Shin for a moment before hurriedly approaching him. "Thank you! Thank you so much! I thought we were finished!"

"It’s fine," Shin replied, sheathing his weapon.

"Still, I owe you my life. How could I repay you?"

Shin looked the man up and down. He looked like a simple farmer who was taking the risk of being a merchant. And his guards were in no better shape.

He hardly had anything useful to repay Shin with. And taking money from him just seemed cruel.

"Actually, could you repay me with information?" he commented. "There’s something I want to know. Where’s the closest city?"

"Just that?" The merchant blinked in shock.

"Truth be told, I was thrown in here, and I’m kind of lost."

The merchant decided not to ask too many questions and simply pointed down the road.

"Keep following this path. You’ll reach it in an hour’s walk. You should be able to see the walls once the sun comes up."

Shin raised an eyebrow before giving a faint, ironic smile. "An hour?"

"Yes."

He looked toward Fae, then back at the road. They had apparently been much closer to civilization than he had realized. "So we’re practically there."

The merchant nodded and thanked Shin once again. Shin smiled ironically, realizing that if they had pushed just a bit more, they could be sleeping in a nice bed that night.

Anyway, it was good he had found out about it.

Then he turned his attention to Fae, who was watching him with an unreadable expression again.

But asking questions had been working, so Shin decided to be very direct.

"Why are you staring at me as if waiting for something? And give me an elaborate answer."

"Okay," Fae answered with a smile. "I was waiting for your orders. When I have no task to complete, I try to stay out of your way and just observe. But I just realized you may not like it. Would you like for me to change my behavior?"

"No... you don’t need to change. I can get used to it... I guess..." Shin answered.

However, Fae shook her head. "Just tell me how you would like to see me acting, and I will do it with pleasure."

Shin blinked.

For a moment, he simply stared at Fae, trying to process her answer. Then his eyes slowly drifted toward the thick slave collar around her neck.

Suddenly, several things began to make sense.

Fae was always quiet because she simply didn’t want to make any decisions when Shin was around. If there was no task to accomplish, she would stand quietly and observe him, like a well-trained dog waiting for its next command.

And, apparently, she was perfectly content with that.

"You’re... really submissive, aren’t you?"

Fae tilted her head slightly. "If that is what you want me to be, yes."

Shin blinked again.

"That’s not what I meant."

"I know," Fae smiled. "You seemed to like teasing. This is what Lisa does. I was trying to copy it. Was it any good?"

Shin smirked. "It was not bad."

He rubbed his forehead before looking at her again.

"Let’s make this simple. When you don’t have a task, you don’t have to just stand there waiting for me. Talk to me. Walk around. Look at things. Do whatever you want."

Fae grimaced. "But all I want to do is look at you when you are around."

"Okay, but try to form some friendship with the others too."

"Understood, my king. I will try."

"Good."

Shin started walking back toward the camp, and Fae followed beside him.

For once, however, she wasn’t walking several steps behind him.

She was walking at his side.

By the time they returned to camp, Lisa was already awake and preparing for the morning. She immediately noticed the unusual sight of Fae walking beside Shin rather than quietly following behind him.

"What happened?"

"I think I finally figured Fae out," Shin said.

Lisa raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Shin explained everything that had happened, while Fae watched in silence again.

Lisa stared at her for a moment before suddenly smiling.

"Then I’ll just give her an order." She turned toward Fae. "Fae, I want you to—"

"No."

Lisa froze.

"I only obey my king," Fae said, making it clear.

Lisa smirked and turned toward Shin. Shin understood what she wanted immediately. Finally, she looked back at Fae.

"Fae, from now on, treat Lisa as your queen as well. You can follow her orders just as you follow mine."

Fae immediately bowed her head. "Understood, my king." Then she turned toward Lisa. "How may I serve you, my queen?"

Lisa’s smile widened.

"Well, for now, I want to know more about you, so I will sleep with you in the tent... not that I need sleep." She turned her attention to her husband. "Shin, Yasmin is waiting for you in your tent."