Just like a coin always has two sides, everything in the world has its pros and cons.
Night’s Shelter is an unstable ability, one that cannot last for 24 hours and dissipates. However, this instability can sometimes be helpful.It’s useful when you need to hide in the middle of enemy territory.
“Ah…!”
Roka, who had been walking with a face as if she had chewed on grass, suddenly let out a cry. It was as if she had heard the sky would collapse tomorrow, and the light in her eyes vanished abruptly.
“The scent of the Lord… it’s gone.”
Suddenly, Kyle’s scent disappeared. It wasn’t because of rain or fog.It didn’t just fade—it vanished completely. The Wolf Girl had a keen sense of smell and was sensitive to changes in scent. Of course, the Princess, who wasn’t a wolf, sighed and looked at Roka.
“Kid. I know you don’t like me.”
The Princess, who had seen her fair share of people disliking her, retorted. Anyway, that was a personal matter, and what they were about to do was official business.She hadn’t brought Roka here to scold her but had genuinely come to teach her. Starting off like this would only make the already unpleasant situation worse.
“If you don’t like me, just say you’re annoyed. I’ll listen. Why are you making such a fuss when we’ve barely walked five meters from the cabin?”
Roka didn’t respond or react.She just stared at the Princess with her lightless eyes. Ardein, seeing her lost expression, was at a loss for words.
“The Lord has disappeared.”
“What do you mean he’s gone… What the…!”
Ardein reflexively turned around and let out a startled scream. The cabin that had been there just moments ago was now completely gone. The two stared at each other briefly before running back without a word.
“Darn it, what’s going on…?”
“We have to go. Someone might have kidnapped the Lord.”
“Who? Without even triggering my senses?”
But no matter how much they panicked as if the whole world was ending, the cabin remained exactly where it was. As they walked a bit further, the cabin suddenly reappeared, and Kyle’s scent mingled with the aroma of cooking.
The two stood there dumbfounded. When they entered the kitchen, Kyle, holding a ladle, asked curiously.
“Back already? The food’s still got a ways to go.”
“Ah, no… Have you been here the whole time?”
“Lord…!”
Before the Princess could answer, the sobbing wolf girl rushed over.
The priest, watching Roka cling to him and cry, looked at the Princess with a puzzled expression. Ardein instinctively denied it.
“No. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not that.”
“Did you scold Roka? This delicate child? What could you have done to make her cry like this…?”
“I really didn’t do anything!”
If she had actually scolded her, it wouldn’t have been so unfair. She didn’t want to bully a child and ruin her dignity as an adult, but this was just ridiculous. If she had known this would happen, she would’ve scolded her properly.
However, it didn’t seem like Roka was crying intentionally to mess with her. The girl, wiping her tears, finally stopped crying and hugged Kyle tightly.
“I thought… you had disappeared.”
“Me? No. It’s not yet time for the Lord to take me away.”
Finally understanding the situation, the priest gently patted Roka’s head to reassure her and began to explain slowly.
Night’s Shelter is inherently like that. It’s not an intended effect, but if you stray even a little from the cabin, its presence is erased. As if it never existed in this world.
But it doesn’t actually disappear. If you return, the cabin and the hot spring reappear, and you can sense them again. However, if you go too far, even using your sixth sense won’t help you find it.
Unless you remember that the cabin was there in the first place.
“I don’t know why it’s like that. It’s not an effect I intended.”
It wasn’t something he calculated when creating the ability—it just ended up having this side effect.Kyle didn’t know why it happened either. He only knew from experience that this effect existed. It was a result of not fully understanding his own abilities yet.
Seeing something seems simple, but it’s actually a complex process.There’s a light source, light, and that light reflects off an object and enters your eyes—only then can you say you’ve seen it. But Night’s Shelter is inherently unstable, and the further you get from its center, the more it loses its presence in reality and collapses into nothingness.
This means that the light reflecting off the cabin and carrying information about it ceases to exist once you go beyond a certain distance from the cabin.
When that light reaches someone’s eyes, all they see is the natural landscape without the cabin or the hot spring. It’s not an illusion—it’s something even more mysterious.
The same goes for smell. Molecules from inside the shelter float in the air and reach the nasal mucosa for you to perceive the scent.But those molecules also collapse into nothingness once they go beyond a certain distance from the cabin. The moment they flow outside the shelter’s domain, they vanish without a trace.
This is why no matter how great your search abilities are, you can’t find the cabin.Unless you have the ability to track something that has already disintegrated into possibility and figure out what it once looked like, but where in the world would such a being exist?
“Still, it’s actually a good thing. No matter how thoroughly the demons search, they can’t find it unless they come here directly.”
Even if they use search magic, release dogs, or have demons with sharp eyes comb through the mountains and fields,unless by sheer coincidence they happen to come near the cabin, there’s no possibility of them perceiving it. It’s a shelter in the truest sense, absolutely safe from all forms of tracking.
Finally realizing the misunderstanding, the Princess and Roka silently walked out. They didn’t say a word until they reached a large clearing, both feeling embarrassed.
“Auntie.”
“I’m not old enough to be called that yet.”
“You’ve lived at least twice as long as me, Auntie. You said you’d teach me magic, right?”
After a while, Roka was the first to speak. The Princess nodded.Though their encounter at Camel’s inn had been brief, she thought this child’s talent was extraordinary. Of course, this child had met Kyle before her and had likely used the Phylogenetic Seedling.
Even considering that, she was exceptional.At the very least, she was a gem worth polishing.
“Without even shaping your magical power, just spewing it out, you’ll never rise above third-tier. Unless you’re someone like Grimudo, it’s impossible to overcome every crisis with just raw power.”
“Unless your magical power is as strong as the Primal Demon King or a dragon, you need to learn and master it to bring out its full potential.”
Both are legendary beings—one is in seclusion, and the other has left this planet.Only beings of that caliber can do everything with just raw power, but did they rely solely on strength? Grimudo, honestly, I don’t know, but dragons certainly aren’t like that.Even for beings of that level, technique is incredibly important.
“If you just live as you were born, you’ll only ever be prey to be hunted, never a hunter. If you want to be a hunter, you need to know how to advance further. Kid, let me be objective. You’re weak.”
“I know.”
The kid didn’t deny it,and she didn’t run away either.Instead, she stood her ground, tail stiff, and faced the Princess.
“Then teach me. I want to get stronger.”
“Alright, then…”
“Even if it’s the god the Lord serves, I want to be strong enough to not let them take him from me.”
The Princess was stunned by Roka’s ambition. She always thought her own ambitions were grand and her desires vast.She considered herself a dreamer, but here was a wolf whose dreams dwarfed hers.
It was more outrageous than saying you’d fight the heavens if they oppressed you.She was speechless. They say ignorance breeds courage, and this kid was already thinking of fighting a god. And not just any god—likely an Ancient God.
From the moment she saw the Phylogenetic Seedling, the Princess was absolutely certain.What other being besides an Ancient God could bestow such a miracle?This kid was saying she wanted to become strong enough to fight the universe itself and win. She probably didn’t even realize how profound that statement was.
“Sorry, but I’m not confident at all.”
Fighting an Ancient God, let alone one of the Three Divine Gods, is absurd and nonsensical. If Ardein had the skill to guide this kid to that level, would she have been living shackled by something like leprosy?
“So let’s set a more realistic goal. At least strong enough to protect yourself.”
“And the Lord too.”
“Right, strong enough to protect the Saint as well.”
The Princess let out a deep sigh.
“Then let’s start by learning how to shape your magical power.”
Really, if she hadn’t come, what would have happened?The Saint would’ve been devoured by a wolf without even realizing it.
