[Author’s Note] Thank you always for your early support and recommendations. 103rd Episode
34. Wolf and Spice 102 – Wolf and Spice #3
“I found it! There’s a girl here too! Come to the lettuce flower patch! There really was a girl nearby!”
“Hehe, you little rascal, hiding out here! And what’s with the raccoon next to you? Animal friend?”
—Grrr, ge, get away from me!
From beyond the bushes, I heard Leaf’s cries.
I snapped to my senses and moved toward the lettuce flower patch.
‘Looks like I was still in the underground bunker.’
As I entered the lettuce flower patch, I saw men digging with their hands, mucking about.
“Hey, come here peacefully. No, I mean please get captured quietly. We need to go back to Grandfather, he’s waiting… Argh! This d*mn girl bit me! My hand!”
The man looked woefully at his bleeding fingers. Another man beside him shoved him and burst into laughter.
“You fool, you’ve always been a failure at seducing women. Step aside, I’ll take care of this. You lure women with treasures like this. Something shiny and valuable, like this crown.”
One guy waved a crown he had pulled from the tunnel entrance as if it were bait.
‘No matter how foolish Leaf is, he wouldn’t fall for that…’
—W-wait, that’s a gem!
“Hehe, got it! See? Wasn’t that easy? Women, whether young or old, are all queens who love crowns and jewels.”
‘What a clueless raccoon…’
Leaf was pulled out by the man’s rough hands, no longer appearing as a raccoon thanks to some half-assed talent or curse; instead, she had transformed into a girl with long hair.
“She looks just like him. This girl definitely resembles that boy. I’m not just saying it; she might really be the twin child of Duke Steiner! The doctor will know for sure.”
—Let go of me! You humans!
Leaf squirmed, trying to break free from the man’s grip.
“Whoa, did this one grow up with wolves? Sounds like a proper beast with those roars!”
“What if we can’t trust our words in Duke’s manor? These idiots don’t know how to reveal they’re the children of the Grand Duke!”
“It would be great if we could find a blessed sword or a flag that represents the Duke. Who knows, while searching the wolf den, we might find something more? Even if we don’t find anything, she looks exactly like the Duke’s portrait. As long as the artist wasn’t lying, we’re good.”
The men laughed and seemed to think positively about their work.
I crawled through the lettuce flower patch to save Leaf, weaving through the legs of the men.
‘To save Leaf, I might have to fight these humans.’
I assessed the hunters’ arsenals. They had swords at their waists and various unknown tools. Many were armed with bows on their backs, massive hammers, or spears.
Recalling how badly I had fared against the trio of hunters last time, I hesitated to charge at these tool-wielding humans.
‘It may be tough to take them all on at once, but since it’s a flower patch, I can handle them one at a time.’
The lettuce flowers had long stalks, reaching up to my head. My stealth techniques would be dispelled at the moment of attack, but with all these flowers piled up to my head, I figured I could easily conceal myself for that brief moment.
‘I’ll knock them all down before they escape from the flower patch.’
Deciding to take down the closest one first, I unsheathed my claws and slashed at a man’s calf. With a loud “Urgh!” he tumbled to the ground.
“What, what is this?!”
The human who fell and met my gaze looked shocked, his eyes widened in disbelief.
I smacked his head with my front paw. With a resounding thud, he lost consciousness.
‘Just need to deal with them one by one. No need to rush.’
I crawled back into the flower patch, tearing into the calves of humans left and right.
“Ahh! What’s happening!”
“Something is attacking us! Watch your legs!”
“Dammit, the bushes are so thick I can’t see anything!”
“Is it a wolf!?”
—Hehe, Whitey! You came to rescue me!
Amidst the confusion, only Leaf recognized me and smiled brightly. She was clinging to the man’s shoulder like a sack, flailing her arms and legs.
“What’s wrong with this kid! Stay still! Ugh, I’m not trying to hurt you! I’m trying to take you somewhere nice!”
The man was flustered, firmly holding Leaf’s waist.
His body was covered in thick metal plates, showing no openings.
On top of the metal, he had some beast horns and a thick hide, making him look solid and intimidating.
Even his joints seemed to be connected by thin, but sturdy, chains.
I wondered if my claws could cut through metal.
‘Looks airtight; where do I even aim for against a guy like that?’
I recalled battles in medieval Europe. It’s said that in fights between armored knights, blunt weapons like hammers or maces were preferred over sharp swords.
‘Guess I’ll give it a shot.’
I swung my tail and smacked him hard on the back. With a loud ‘thwack’, the metal plate caved in like an aluminum can.
“Gah!”
Startled by the sudden blow to his back, the armored man fell to the ground, causing Leaf to tumble off his shoulder.
—Th-thank you…!
Leaf lowered her body to the ground. Humans holding torches began to swing sticks and sword sheaths, stirring up the lettuce flowers.
“I missed! Hurry and find her!”
“We don’t have time, let’s just leave the girl!”
“We’re just about to have the soup served, do we really want to overturn everything!? Just a little more searching!”
“You idiots, we’re running out of time! Time!”
The hunters raised their voices, arguing among themselves. This was a golden opportunity for Leaf and me to escape.
—Let’s run!
—What about Mori? She’s still in the den…?
Leaf quietly worried about the raccoon. I shook my head, thinking about the raccoon who roamed the night forest like it owned the place.
—That rascal will survive no matter what. We don’t have time to worry about others right now…
Just as I thought that…
Bang!
A loud explosion like a meteor crash echoed, sending dirt, sand, stones, and rubble flying everywhere.
“sh*t… this is bad. We took too long!”
“I-I told you we should’ve gotten out of here, you fools!”
I peeked out from behind the lettuce flowers, unsure of what was happening.
At the front of the wolf den, a deep hole had formed, as if a bomb had gone off. A human figure appeared, holding a long wooden stick, amidst the dirt, burning ground, and rising smoke.
‘What the heck is that…?’
Though it had two arms and legs, it didn’t look quite human. It was too thin and long, and its tail grew out from its backside, extending from its tailbone to its head.
【Oh, look! A hairless macaque has dared to invade my forest again. It only happens when it’s my turn to clean up. Ugh, this is such a nuisance.】
The creature, which fell from the sky like a comet, yawned as if it were annoyed by being bothered.
Its human-like face may have looked like someone in their late twenties, but those unusually sharp teeth were quite prominent.
With red hair adorned by long bird feathers that flowed like antennae, its muscular physique was draped in the hides of leopards and tigers, giving it an air of impressive majesty.
Boom, boom.
Swinging the wooden stick like a helicopter rotor, it prepared its body.
【I have to get to bed soon, so don’t dodge, just d*e quietly.】
“Should… should we fight? Can we stop that thing with just us?”
“Fight? What are you talking about! We’re only Silver grade without a Gold grade! We should just run!”
The humans scattered like they had made a pact, all bolting in different directions.
“Hey, what do we do with the luggage? What about the Forest Master’s body?”
“Grab whatever we can! As long as we make it past the World Tree’s boundaries, we’ll be fine!”
【Oh, look at you! Trying to run away? Not happening. Everything in this forest belongs to me; you can’t take a single thing! In my realm, no one can escape!】
A man leaped into the air and slammed the wooden stick down onto the ground, making a loud noise like it had explosives attached, creating another massive hole.
A human who avoided his attack landed right near the newly formed pit when he noticed the tree branch, revealing the grinning, toothy man in the clear.
“A monster! A monster monkey!”
【What are you saying? What do you think this is? Wise and great Master Wukong, save me! And my answer is ‘no’!】
Thud.
The man’s wooden stick smashed down on an unsuspecting hunter’s head. The hunter didn’t even let out a scream before being split in half.
I questioned if it was possible to bisect a person like a soft cake with a dull wooden stick.
The shredded plate armor crunched and landed on the ground.
‘…This guy’s dangerous.’
I realized that this suddenly appeared man was quite a formidable opponent. Though he had a human form, he was not entirely human.
Neither beast nor human, he could be called a mythical being among mythical beings.
‘Is he the so-called deity that Mihuwang and Eve talked about?’
One of the twelve deities who had slain the Beast Behemoths, this guy was undoubtedly Sun Wukong, the Spirit Monkey.
Now I understood why the hunters had been saying ‘there’s no time left’ and ‘the World Tree’s monster is coming’.
If humans linger too long in this Ancient Nest of a forest, the Spirits of the World Tree come charging in, like policemen catching criminals.
—What is that guy doing? He’s taking down the humans, isn’t he with us?
Leaf smiled brightly at Wukong, who was swinging the wooden stick and massacring the humans. Yet I couldn’t feel fully comfortable with this situation.
‘That guy is probably also my enemy.’
It’s said that the twelve deities of the World Tree took an antagonistic stance against the Beasts.
Initially, the reason they were chosen by the Mother Tree, the World Tree, was to battle the Beast Behemoth.
‘If he spots me, things will get really complicated.’
I coldly assessed my fighting strength compared to that of this being, Wukong.
【Ah, the thick smell of violence! I’m about to drown in it! So good! Always exhilarating!】
“P-lease… save me! Don’t leave me, gack, urgh!”
Smashing a human’s head with the stick like crushing an apple, the way he swung around his long tail to slice through the ground and trees showed that he was fully worthy of being a Master of the Forest turned mythical being.
‘I could probably do an exchange or two of attacks; but in a long-term fight, I’d be at a disadvantage.’
Instead of fanning the flames of competition, I resolved to think coolly and avoid the fight.
The question was whether it would be better to escape or use stealth to hide among the nearby trees and bushes.
【Is this where you hide!?】
Wukong swung the wooden stick toward the bushes. With a rustling sound, a human, whose head had been cracked open, tumbled out of the foliage.
【Trying to hide is useless, you fools. Hahaha!】
Wukong’s eyes glimmered like golden flames. It appeared as if tiny fire had been lit within his eyeballs.
With a vibrantly glowing aura and incredibly alarming eye movements suggesting enhanced vision, I guessed he must possess a skill that had dramatically improved his eyesight.
‘Hiding may not be useful if he says so. It would be better to bolt out.’
Since humans were panicking and fleeing, I figured I could slip in amongst them.
—Run! Let’s escape through the humans!
I nudged Leaf’s back, deciding to make a break for the forest. As we sprinted with all our might, screams echoed behind us.
“Split up and run! Get out of the forest! If we stick together, we’ll all d*e! Distract him!”
“These monsters can’t come out of the woods! We just have to go that far!”
Humans scattered chaotically, yet ultimately veered off in a single direction.
From piecing together what the humans were saying, it seemed that this Wukong was unable to leave the woods due to some restriction.
If that was true, then naturally, the direction they were running toward was the exit from the forest.
—I’m running out of energy!
Leaf looked at her bare legs with a pout. I frowned as I saw Wukong chasing behind us and the humans soaring into the air.
—I can’t stop! Just endure it even if your paws hurt!
—H-how long do we have to run!?
—We’re getting out of the forest!
—We’re actually escaping this forest!? Why in the world!?
—No time to explain!
【Sniff, sniff, oh, I smell something! The sweet juice of nutrients that have been accumulated for hundreds, thousands of years. I can’t forget it. Humans, you’ve brought the Beasts again! Where are you?!】
Wukong yelled as if searching for something. As I felt his voice and roar getting closer, cold dread washed over me.
‘If this continues, we’ll get caught. Is there something good we can use…?’
I hurriedly scanned the area. Up ahead, I saw a hefty cart being loaded with supplies along the edge of the path the humans were fleeing.
“Move it, come on! If we survive this and get back, we’ll be rich!”
“I’m already hauling, you j*rk! You help too!”
The hunters were busily transporting supplies to the bulky cart—which turned out to be one that carried two horses.
—Let’s ride that, Leaf!
