Chapter 220

Chapter 220: Naria and Adol (1)

Mona’s plan was simple.

They could not abandon their nest, but they also could not fight and win against those who came attacking.

If defeat was decided, then they would at least decide its form.

“Archie’s history will end with him being wiped out by humans. If we throw Archie's corpse and the humans’ corpses, and make it look like the pack was annihilated, humans will not chase us for a while.”

At Mona’s explanation, the sound of someone swallowing could be heard.

“B-but they won’t believe the pack was annihilated with just Archie alone. They might turn the surroundings upside down to find the remaining pack instead.”

At the fair objection, Mona obediently nodded.

“Yes. To deceive them, we will need the corpses of more comrades.”

“Then how......”

“Do you really think our enemy is only Archie?”

No one answered Mona’s question.

But there must have been a common answer that surfaced in the minds of those gathered.

The one who showed the kindness of spitting it out in place of those who could not carelessly open their mouths was Mona.

“You must all feel it. Ever since Archie brought humans in, there have been bastards among us who have become too close to humans. That should be a fitting number to feed to the humans.”

“Mona, do you know what you are saying right now?”

“Even if we kill Archie and kill the humans, the things Archie has done until now will not end cleanly. It can only be called finished once we uproot everything related to humans.”

This time too, no one carelessly affirmed Mona’s words.

That did not mean anyone actively denied them either.

Mona, who looked around the interior filled with tension, shrugged.

“I am not saying we will kill them all. I am only saying we should find the few traitors who would choose humans over us. Bastards like that cannot be trusted or taken along anyway. Those who do not want to may leave. Though I will not forgive anyone who goes around running their mouths carelessly.”

After finishing his words, he pushed through those gathered in his nest, walked to the center, and sat down.

“I have no intention of forcing anyone who does not wish to join. But I also have no intention of leaving anyone who gets in our way alone. I will not assume there are any among you who will inform Archie. I have no intention of dying quietly, and after killing me, Archie will make sure to deal with the remaining traitors too.”

At Mona’s warning that if they betrayed him, he would not die prettily alone, but would drag them down to death with him, the air inside the already quiet tent grew even heavier.

“I will give you until tomorrow night. Those who have the will shall go outside with me.”

When Mona closed his mouth as if he had nothing more to say, the Werewolves gathered in his tent watched one another’s reactions.

Then, one by one, they began to leave.

When even the one watching Mona’s reaction until the end left, a perfect silence, without even tension remaining, lingered inside the tent where Mona was left alone.

He sat there without the slightest movement, only looking at the closed door.

I too left his tent behind, leaving him sitting there like a nailed-down doll.

During the time limit Mona had set, I also had to choose.

Things like how to use Mona’s insubstantial plan.

The enemy Mona wanted to gather comrades to fight and defeat was an imaginary enemy.

Because the targets they had to risk their lives against were Jing and Ria, who had not the slightest will to fight.

Even if they were given Archie’s corpse and the corpses of other Werewolves, what would those two do?

They would simply be startled.

What would happen if I told Archie or Mona the truth now?

Since Mona had already put his strategy into words in front of those people, the precarious tightrope between the two had begun swaying out of control.

Well, even if not for this fight, the rope would have had no choice but to snap someday.

Then what I had to do was probably count what I could obtain amid this conflict.

When I raised my head and looked up, unlike the ground, which was surging with tension, the peaceful night sky entered my eyes.

Today too, the three moons were shining brightly enough to grate on the eyes.

***

While Mona returned to the pack and informed his comrades of his plan to dispose of Archie, Naria, left in the village, was continuing an uncomfortable meeting.

To put it more honestly, it was a troubling meeting.

Naria tried hard to pretend not to know the cold sweat flowing down the back of her neck and put strength into the arms holding Adol.

Whether it was because the weather was cold, or because Mona had done something, the kid, shivering and panting, showed no sign of coming to his senses.

Because his condition seemed truly strange, she was covering his face, but she could not cover her anxiety.

It had only been a brief instant, so she could not be certain, but the kid had not been human. Rather, he had possessed an appearance similar to hers.

When he pushed Mona away and ran, he seemed to have been human again, but she could not be certain of that either.

It meant that when she removed the hand covering this strangely feverish kid, she could not know whether what would pop out would be a human or one of her own kind.

Damn it, it’s not as if I can run while holding this either.

If her comrades saw her like this, they would laugh at her and ask why she was so helpless over only an old man and a woman, only two humans.

But Naria’s instincts were telling her.

These two were by no means two ordinary humans.

Especially the older human who had been looking steadily down at her from the beginning until now. She did not even want to meet his eyes.

It was not an issue of appearance.

Something more fundamental than that was sending a warning from inside Naria that she must not rush at him.

Running away with the baggage kid in front of such an opponent was a ridiculous story.

That did not mean she could run away after leaving this kid behind either.

It was partly because of the promise she had made with the black-haired human bastard, and if the face that came out when she took her hand away like this was not human, then this kid would clearly die at that man’s hands.

The tension between Jing, Ria, and Naria continued.

“Um, what are you doing here?”

In the end, the first to open her mouth was Ria, at Naria’s gaze, which was not merely full of wariness but overflowing with it.

“......What are you people? This is a village that was already slaughtered by monsters long ago. It has been ages since humans stopped coming here, so why are you wandering around?”

Looking down at Naria, who asked roughly, Ria thought there could be no self-introduction more accurate than this, but first, to calm the other party’s anxiety, she awkwardly raised the corners of her mouth.

“You are not someone who lives here, and perhaps you escaped? We are strange people...... yes, we are.”

When Naria’s eyes turned toward the wagon behind her at that excuse that would not work at all, Ria changed course and admitted her own suspiciousness.

“At any rate, it is true that we are strange people, but we are not bad people. If you are being chased by someone and need help, we can help you.”

The self-introduction, in which not even a speck of trustworthiness could be felt, spurred Naria’s wariness to grow.

“......Mm, first, would it be all right if we looked at the child’s condition? He seems sick. For now, we have water and herbs.”

Ria pointed at Adol, who was panting in Naria’s arms, and once again suggested that she receive help.

But that movement, filled with goodwill, only served to irritate Naria, whose nerves had sharpened from her fear toward the two.

Naria stepped back and hid Adol even more firmly in her arms.

When Ria, flustered by the intense reaction, tried to take one more step closer, Jing placed a hand on her shoulder this time and stopped her.

“Wait. She is not in a state where words will reach her. It would not be good to provoke her for no reason. We should use another method. Lord Ran also said to pay more attention if there is someone holding a child.”

Muttering another method, Jing slowly reached out toward Naria, who glared at him.

“Ugh......”

But at the small groan coming from inside Naria’s arms, Jing’s hand stopped moving in midair.

Adol, who had curled his body like a cat and buried his face in Naria’s hand, flinched.

Then he slowly tried to raise his head.

Naria, startled, was about to cover Adol’s face again, but she noticed that Adol’s breathing had already returned to normal and slowly loosened the strength in her hand.

Adol lifted his stiff head and took in the two humans looking down at him.

Adol, who had been blankly examining the two, slowly opened his mouth to confirm the familiar name he had heard in their conversation.

“That person called Ran, is he about this tall, with black hair?”

After saying it, Adol paused briefly at the features that were more common than his name.

“Whenever he opens his mouth, he only says unpleasant things, his eyes are filthy, and also......”

“I think he is the person we know.”

As if there was no need to hear any more, and nothing good would come out of hearing any more than that, Ria nodded.

“It seems he arrived safely.”

Jing, who had been looking down at Adol beside her, indirectly agreed with her words.

“Right. Is Lord Ran well? Is he hurt anywhere?”

Adol hesitated, unsure how he should answer Jing, who asked warmly.

He is...... healthy.

And when it comes to whether he is hurt...... strictly speaking, he is not.

“He is healthy, but...... he is captured right now. In the Werewolves’ den.”

He said it while thinking that this was the worst possible situation, but the people said to be his comrades did not worry about Ran at all.

No, they worried a little.

“He has not gone around picking fights for no reason and gotten cursed at, has he?”

“He should be fine. He will not even blink from being cursed a little.”

“That is true. Come to think of it, even if he looks that way, he seems to get close to animals quickly, so would Werewolves not be the same?”

“Monsters are not like puppies, so I do not think that would be useful...... no, still, seeing how he grew quite close to them in the cave, perhaps he may be fine......”

Though Adol was a little confused whether this was a worry or an insult.

Unable to endure any longer, Adol cut into the conversation between the two, who were exchanging words he could not understand.

“Anyway, the Ran I know is the Ran you know, right?”

Only then did the two seem to realize they had forgotten Adol’s existence, and they smiled awkwardly.

Maybe because they were that lunatic’s companions, they were not normal humans either, Adol thought.

At any rate, if you are that strong, let’s go save Ran right now. It was the moment he opened his mouth to say that.

Adol closed his mouth again when he saw the two looking down at him with hardened faces.

Unable to understand why, Adol turned his eyes toward where their gazes were headed, and only then did he realize that what they were glaring at was his torn clothing.

“Ah, this is......”

“I am sorry. You were captured too, and yet we were too insensitive.”

Jing urgently bent his knees and sat down, meeting Adol’s eyes.

“You do not seem to be hurt anywhere, but are you truly all right?”

Adol could not find how to answer the adult looking at him with worried eyes and closed his mouth.

“I’m fine. I’m not hurt anywhere. More importantly, we need to go save Ran. There are other humans captured there too, and also......”

“You do not need to worry about that. We already promised to go save him.”

Ria, who reassured Adol, shifted her gaze toward Naria, who was watching the three from behind Adol.

“Were you also someone who was captured?”

“No, I am......”

At Ria’s question, full of concern, Naria trailed off with a flustered face.

“She is the person who brought me out. She is not dangerous.”

The one who helped Naria, who did not know how to answer, was Adol.

Naria, startled, looked at Adol, but Adol ignored her and continued speaking.

“There should be one other Werewolf in the village. I ran away from that bastard.”

Fortunately, the information Adol revealed was enough to turn the two’s attention fully toward him.

“Is that true?”

“Do we really not have to go save Ran? I caused trouble before coming, so the Werewolves hate him. If you are going to save him, you have to go quickly.”

“It will be all right. He is someone who usually provokes the other party only when he has a purpose, so he should be able to handle that much. We do not need to hurry that much either, because we must finish the work we were separately asked to do before going.”

“Asked to do it?”

When Adol looked at Jing with puzzled eyes, Jing pointed at the white cargo wagon parked a little away from the village entrance.

“We were asked to move people to a safe place for a while. Once we confirm that the village is safe, we will help the people stay here for a short time. After finishing the task, we will go save Ran.”

At the appearance of the cargo wagon Mona had been so wary of, Adol’s eyes widened.

Why is that here?

“That, that wagon......”

“......We borrowed it for a moment......!”

When Adol muttered with a startled face, Ria hurriedly glossed over it.

Because she could not know what reaction the child would have if he learned that the people who had escaped from the Imperial Family were riding in it.

“Do you want to go into the wagon first too? We will inspect the village briefly. The Werewolf you mentioned may still be left. All right?”

Looking up at Ria, who had hurriedly cut off his words, Adol hesitated for a moment and soon obediently nodded.

For now, he wanted to put a little more distance between himself and Amy’s house, and if they were Ran’s companions, he did not want to forcefully ask something they found difficult to answer either.

I’ll ask when I meet Ran again.

Most of all, he was too exhausted now.

He desperately wanted to lean somewhere he could lie down and rest.

“Let’s go for now, Naria.”

Adol grabbed and pulled Naria, who was still standing awkwardly.

“Ah, I think that person should stay with us.”

The one who stopped Naria as she tried to head toward the wagon after Adol was Jing.

Naria stopped walking as she felt her fur stand on end without realizing it at the somehow chilly voice.

When Naria froze after meeting those sharp eyes, Adol looked back and forth between the two with a face that said he did not understand why.

Jing relaxed his expression and showed a faint smile.

“If both of us are dealt with by a monster, it seems we will need someone to inform the people left in the wagon.”

After giving a plausible reason, Jing turned his head toward Naria and drew his sword.

“Could you help us for just a little while?”

Naria did not have the courage to refuse him.