Chapter 216

Chapter 216: Adol and Mona (1)

His head felt like it was spinning.

Adol could not tell whether the cause of this dizziness was his anger toward Mona, who was dragging him along like a dog, or the lack of oxygen caused by his neck being twisted and grabbed, or Archie’s past that he had not been able to fully hear from Naria.

Though all three had the common point of being Mona’s fault.

Freshly heated by that thought, Adol tried to twist free from Mona’s arm gripping his neck, but the more he did, the more his neck was squeezed.

“Stay still. You cannot beat me anyway.”

Mona warned quietly without even looking down at Adol.

At that calmness, Adol’s anger burned even hotter, and he glared up at him.

“If you’re so confident you can beat me, why did you run away and leave me behind back then?”

Even at the sneering voice, Mona remained calm.

Thinking that his complicated head would feel far lighter if he could just land one blow on that expressionless face, Adol did not stop glaring at him.

However, as Mona said, for the current Adol, even shaking him off was difficult.

Unless he turned into a monster again like that time.

When his thoughts reached that point, Adol hurriedly shook his head.

No, not that.

It was better to leave power he could not control as a last resort.

Besides, Adol turning into a monster was also what Mona wanted.

Adol had no intention whatsoever of moving according to that bastard’s intentions.

It would be better to look for an opportunity and draw more information from Naria instead.

Cooling his head, Adol slowly loosened the strength in his body.

But the problem was Mona’s interference, which made that effort of Adol’s turn to nothing.

“What did you talk about with Naria?”

As if he had no intention of leaving Adol to regain his calm, he whispered to Adol again.

Adol forcibly twisted his captured head and substituted that for an answer.

He had decided to ignore Mona’s words, and the image of him mercilessly choking Naria’s neck a moment ago surfaced, leaving him unable to speak.

Because for some reason, he felt as if he owed Naria a debt.

Unfortunately, however, Mona was far too much for Adol to handle.

He knew more than Adol, and he also knew how to use it.

“Did you perhaps ask about Archie?”

Adol, realizing he had danced in the bastard’s palm again, ground his teeth.

“You bastard, you already knew everything......!”

“That is because you are too simple.”

Pressing down on the neck of Adol, who was jumping in rage, Mona shook the bait again.

“If you are curious about Archie’s past, I can teach you as much as you like. Whether my words are true or false is something you can judge for yourself.”

The unpleasantness of that low whisper seemed to stir inside his head, and Adol was about to answer with curses instead.

“Mona! I see humans in the distance!”

At the report coming from behind, Mona frowned slightly and took his eyes off Adol.

“Humans? Bandits?”

“No, I don’t think so. Seeing how they’re carrying humans in a cargo wagon, they might be slave traders. But it’s a little strange. The ones driving the wagon are one old man and one woman.”

Even at a glance, it was a strange combination. As Mona turned his head and glared in the direction his companion pointed, his eyes sank coldly.

Adol, who noticed that subtle change as well, looked at them with curious eyes.

An old man and a woman pulling one wagon. At first glance, there did not seem to be anything special about the wagon.

The other Werewolves except Mona seemed to have reached a similar conclusion as Adol.

“Their weapons look shabby too. Should we just eat them all? We could feast for the first time in a while.”

One Werewolf standing beside Mona asked, unable to hide his excitement just from thinking about it.

That delight was vividly conveyed even to Adol, who stood behind watching Mona.

At the same time, Adol felt heat rise to his head.

They were going to eat ordinary people who had done no harm? For no reason like this?

The moment Adol clenched his fist, having no intention of quietly watching that sight.

“No. We do not attack. Hide yourselves so we do not encounter the wagon, and once the sun sets, we return.”

At the unexpected order, Adol looked up at Mona in surprise.

Not even letting them pass, but hiding? Was that not too much?

He had thought Mona would at least order them to steal the cargo.

It seemed Adol was not the only one who could not accept Mona’s order, because the Werewolves hesitated without immediately following his words.

“Did you not hear me? If there is anyone who approaches the wagon, I will personally smash their legs, so know that!”

Only after Mona raised his voice did the Werewolves begin moving in perfect order.

Adol, still held by Mona, could see up close that his pupils had expanded like an animal extremely excited.

Perhaps feeling the gaze observing him, Mona skillfully gathered up his emotions.

But from the rough strength dragging Adol along, Adol could read his unease.

***

Mona and the Werewolves scattered in all directions.

Even the few bastards who had been following Mona gradually fell farther and farther behind Mona, who ran and ran like someone being chased. Now, even if one looked back, not a single one followed.

The one flustered instead by his state, only barely pretending calm like water just before overflowing, was Adol.

Because fleeing wherever his feet carried him like this, without any destination, did not suit him.

Though he had not known Mona for long, he could at least tell that Mona was not the type to simply flee without a plan like this.

Unable to endure any longer, Adol clung to the hand dragging him and stopped Mona.

“Hey, the wagon got far away ages ago. Stop this and calm down. Don’t act like a lunatic.”

Only after hearing that sharp advice did Mona slowly stop walking and begin looking around.

At the sight of him still seeming not fully in his right mind, Adol thought for a moment.

Isn’t now the chance?

A perfect chance to hit this bastard once and run away.

But unfortunately, in the short time Adol hesitated, Mona gradually calmed his excitement and began regaining his original self.

Adol realized that fact as he felt strength enter the arm that had loosened a little.

“Do not try anything useless. Even if you run, catching you will be easy. And then, I may drag you around even more like a dog than now.”

It seemed that even if he could restore his expression, he could not do anything about the remaining tension.

Reading the impatience buried in his sharper-than-usual tone, Adol obediently nodded.

“So, do you even know where this is? Surely the clever Lord Mona didn’t lose his way.”

Ignoring Adol’s sneer, Mona moved his feet without hesitation.

Seeing how he advanced with familiarity, as if walking a path he knew, it seemed he had not lost his way.

“What, I thought you were running away without a plan, but I guess that wasn’t it.”

“It is true I ran away, and it is also true I walked without a plan. It seems I unknowingly came looking for a familiar path. If this had been a real hunt, I would have been caught helplessly.”

Mona obediently admitted his flight.

Thanks to that, only Adol, whose object of mockery had vanished, had to feel a strange sense of defeat.

Besides, when it came down to it, the one who did not know the path was Adol himself.

It meant that if he separated from Mona, Adol himself would helplessly lose his way.

Even so, perhaps afraid that Adol might run away, Mona walked without loosening the strength in the hand holding the child.

“So where are we going? The wagon you were avoiding has already disappeared long ago. Shouldn’t we go back to the village?”

“......No, it is still too early to be relieved. It is better to spend the day nearby.”

Was he suggesting they sleep outdoors?

As Adol wondered why he was so wary of the wagon, he ended up crashing into Mona’s back, which had suddenly stopped.

“Ah! What? Why did you suddenly stop?!”

Adol rubbed his stinging nose.

When the child tilted his body and checked beyond Mona, who was blocking his sight, he closed his mouth.

In the distance, a ruined village came into view.

It was a desolate sight where not even a trace of people could be felt.

Adol’s instincts spoke strongly.

The human village Naria had briefly mentioned had to be that place.

“If you want to go in and check, you may.”

Adol, who had been staring blankly at the village, came to his senses at Mona’s low voice.

“What am I supposed to check?”

“Were you not curious about the village Archie destroyed?”

So you were listening after all.

He glared at Mona, angered that he had known the entire conversation with Naria and yet pretended otherwise, but Mona only looked at Adol with unreadable eyes.

The confusion was entirely Adol’s share.

Why was Mona speaking as if, just this once, Adol had a choice? Was there another trap? What choice should he make? He could not know.

“What if I say I do not need to?”

At Adol’s question, Mona tilted his head.

“It does not matter. But you may never come here again. If you return to the place where the pack is, there is no telling when you can come out again.”

What a joke, Adol was about to snap back, but what entered his eyes were houses on the verge of collapse.

He had no intention of staying trapped inside there forever, but that did not mean he was in a position where he could come outside whenever he wanted either.

But would that village really be able to withstand this winter?

Even by next year, it was obvious it would look more gruesome than now.

If it were merely ruins, Mona would not be pulling tricks as if giving him a choice like this.

He could not shake the feeling that he was once again playing in Mona’s hand, but this time, Adol chose to climb onto that bastard’s palm with his own feet.

At least I can step on his palm.

Passing by Mona, who was waiting for his choice, Adol headed toward the village, which was quiet as if its breath had died.

“Right. Rather than sleeping outdoors, having walls to block the wind would be better.”

Mona stood in place for a moment and watched Adol’s back.

Only after the child had walked a distance of about ten steps did he hear Mona’s footsteps following him.

Mona, whose stride was long, caught up with Adol quickly, but there was no way to know what Mona had thought during that brief time when the distance between them had widened.

***

Adol thought that a house, by its existence alone, gave people a sense of stability.

Just by having a place to return to and rest, people could stretch longer and wider, like a vine that had found a support.

The houses of the village that should have become firm supports had collapsed.

The large claw marks visible between the buildings showed who had trampled all of this.

“Did you not say we came to avoid the wind? If you are not planning to stand still and take all the winter wind, come in.”

Adol, who had been blankly following the traces of the tragedy, turned his head at the sound calling him.

Mona, who had chosen the most intact house among the collapsing ones, opened the door and stepped inside.

Following him, Adol moved into the small and cozy house.

When he stepped on the floor thick with dust, the creak of wood shifting greeted Adol.

Mona stood silently by the window and looked outside.

That calmness grated on Adol’s nerves.

“Why did you bring me here? To show me what a terrible bastard Archie is? No, why did you approach me in the first place?”

Mona’s eyes, which had briefly swept over Adol as he asked fiercely, returned to their original place and turned toward the window.

“Speak correctly. You were the one who said you would enter the village.”

“Since when did you ever give me a choice? You did it because there’s something in the village, didn’t you? Try explaining it once, like when you babbled about Archie and Amy.”

Adol knew he could not believe everything Mona said.

But he could not deny the fact that there was no particular way to obtain information besides what came from his mouth.

As someone said, he had no choice but to listen directly and judge.

Gathering his resolve, Adol finished preparing himself to face the truth that would come from Mona’s mouth.

“Everything is because you are a monster.”

But Adol lacked enough resolve to accept even such an answer, and in the end, he could not endure it and lunged at Mona.