Chapter 96

[Work Review] I hope you have a fun weekend! 💖 Thank you for your recommendations and comments! 96th episode

32. The Magical Beast and the Peculiar Wolf, Tartar095 – The Magical Beast and the Peculiar Wolf, Tartar #2

“Who would’ve thought I’d run into them from the first day in the East? Is it really that easy to meet the forest guardian?”

I inhaled sharply, glancing at Kublai, who was peering into the bushes.

Kublai frowned, looking between me and the black wolf.

“Uh-oh? Am I caught? This shabby disguise must’ve given me away.”

“F-Father, I sensed the presence of prey here…”

“Son, didn’t I tell you it’d be more helpful to stay put in the cave? The moment you leave this cave and my territory, you’ll be someone else’s dinner!”

“Y-Yes, I’m sorry!”

The black wolf next to me, probably a beast named Tartar, lowered his head and fidgeted nervously.

“Father? Son?”

I felt a jolt of surprise like a lightning bolt zapping through me when I heard him call Kublai his father.

“Father, huh.”

Kublai’s single, red eye glared at me coldly.

“You’re talking better than the last time we met. Or have I just gotten better at understanding animal speech?”

“Blackpaw, why the heck are you here instead of standing guard? Did you disobey orders and come to meet Tartar? Sniff, sniff, wait a sec, I smell something…”

Kublai sniffed the air.

While he didn’t have tracking skills like Yan-Mite, as the head wolf, he seemed to possess extraordinary sense of smell.

If he caught a whiff of whatever was lurking under this wolf pelt, I’d be busted for sure.

“Should I fight?”

I unsheathed my claws under the wolf pelt, my heart racing at the thought.

Gulp.

Then Kublai scrunched up his face like he bit into a bug.

“Ugh, gross! That lettuce-flower smell is unbearable! How in the world are you all standing around?! Ugh, ugh…!”

Kublai sneezed loudly. The small wolf, Tartar, nearby burst into giggles.

“Don’t overdo it, let’s get out of here already. Come on, Blackpaw.”

Instead of answering aloud, I nodded a couple of times to smooth over the situation.

“Looks like I haven’t been caught yet. Now what do I do…?”

“Hey, what are you dilly-dallying for? Come on, everyone’s waiting.”

At Kublai’s command, I peeked my eyes out from under the pelt. It seemed wise to blend in with these guys.

“I absolutely can’t let Kublai get interested in the Leaf and Mori hiding under here. When it gets light or later, I need to sneak out and join these guys.”

I kicked some dirt over my shield with my back paws.

Then, I followed Tartar and Kublai towards the pack of wolves, heading right into Kublai’s cave.

*

Kublai and the wolf pack’s hideout, that cave, was huge and magnificent, rising at least thirty meters tall.

Inside, sharp stalactites grew like the teeth of a fierce predator, both above and below.

Dripping water collected to form a puddle, where several wolves had their heads dunked, desperately gulping down water.

“Total chaos.”

Seeing all the similarly looking wolves frolicking around made me grimace.

Fur was floating around like dandelion fluff, landing on the ground.

“There are more than I thought.”

Even if I faced all of these wolves at once, I’d need plenty of tools and time.

Occasionally, some wolf would snarl and bare its teeth at us.

Seeing their hostility made me wonder if my disguise was compromised, but it seemed they were targeting none other than Kublai’s kid, Tartar.

“Hey, you idiot! Were you rolling around in the white flowers again? If I break out in hives because of you, are you gonna take responsibility?”

“Is that the Blackpaw? Why the heck are you here? Shouldn’t you be keeping watch on the southern border? Are you scared Tartar’s gonna get gobbled up by some ferocious beasts?”

“Don’t wash yourself in the mineral spring! If the pollen spreads, we won’t be able to drink water. We went through hell last time because of that!”

“Right? I couldn’t even say a word, and my nose was running, only to be clawed by that white-furred beast from the south. I almost died.”

“Useless Tartar. You aren’t even a proper wolf!”

The wolves unleashed a torrent of taunts and jeers directed at Tartar.

Watching Kublai walk silently and Tartar flinch slightly, I couldn’t help but be curious about what kind of situation this was.

“Why is the chief’s child being ostracized like this? What’s with ‘useless’ anyway?”

This black wolf, Tartar, limping slowly in front of me seemed to be different from the other wolves.

“Is he deformed or something?”

In a savage world filled with beasts, having a congenital issue would be a huge disadvantage.

Didn’t I hear that beasts with disabilities often starve to d*ath in competitions for milk from birth?

“Tartar must have been lucky to survive because he’s Kublai’s direct descendant. Or should I say he’s unlucky because he has a disability…?”

“Quit eating up our food and go catch something outside!”

“You’d become fox lunch the moment you step outside! Ishtar would be over the moon!”

The wolves’ laughter echoed loudly throughout the cave.

“Ugh…”

Tartar’s back trembled slightly.

“No matter what, isn’t this a bit too much? That guy’s just sitting there listening to his son getting insulted?”

I watched Kublai, who was walking deep into the cave, feeling perplexed. Clearly, the perspectives between beasts and humans—or between the forest guardian Kublai and a wanderer like me—were quite different.

“L-Lay off…”

Finally, it seemed that Tartar couldn’t take the ridicule any longer, unleashing a shaky scream.

Instantly, the cave was enveloped in silence. Everyone clamped their mouths shut, not making a single barking sound. But that was short-lived.

“Pfft.”

“Cough-cough.”

“Ha-ha! Did you hear that? L-Lay off!”

“Nope, we’re just getting started! L-Lay off, please…!”

“Ugh.”

Tartar, clearly fuming, clicked his tongue at the ceaseless provocation. Just then, a deep growl erupted from behind me.

“Shut up, pups! Are you all dogs or something? Keep it down; your barking’s echoing through the forest!”

“B-Borjigin! Oh, you’re here! W-When did you arrive from the west?”

“H-heh, you know I was just joking, right?”

“I-I didn’t say a word!”

The hulking beast that shuffled in behind me was a magnificent silver-furred wolf, growling like a lion or tiger.

“At least when I’m awake, don’t insult fellow pack members, pups.”

This guy was at least two to three times larger than the other wolves, making him the biggest after Kublai. He strode by me and Tartar, wrinkling his nose with disgust.

“Yikes, this stench is a bit much. Did you go play in the lettuce flower patch again?”

“B-Brother! You’re back! You look unharmed; I’m so relieved!”

“Of course. I’m strong and fast, over-the-top even.”

The large silver wolf, whom I guessed was named Borjigin, seemed to reach out to pat Tartar on the head.

“Hmm.”

But then he halted and lightly tapped Tartar’s head with his massive front paw.

“If I lick you, we’ll be in trouble for days. Anyway, don’t mind what those guys say. You’ll become a respected member someday.”

“Uh, yeah. Thanks, brother. I’m fine.”

“Are they on good terms like that?”

I quickly pieced together Borjigin’s identity and Kublai’s family tree.

With Tartar calling the silver wolf Borjigin his brother, it seemed this guy was also Kublai’s son.

Possibly the eldest son or something like that.

Seeing how the other wolves cowed in front of Borjigin, I guessed he probably held a high-ranking position—maybe the vice commander of the pack.

“They’re all such clueless idiots. No one suspects I’m not actually a wolf, but just Blackpaw in wolf fur, huh?”

It seemed they mistook me for a real wolf, unable to distinguish my scent thanks to the pollen from the lettuce flowers.

“I’ll keep pretending to be a wolf and gather intel on their hierarchy and individual traits.”

I felt like a spy or a sneak.

After following Kublai for a while, I soon arrived at a dead-end blocked by a giant rock.

Kublai leaned his massive body against the boulder and sat leisurely and elegantly on the stone floor.

Then, around him, about ten wolves gathered in a circle, and I awkwardly found my place in the ring.

As the chaotic atmosphere settled a bit, Kublai opened his mouth heavily.

“Well, since Borjigin, who went to scout the west, and Blackpaw, who was guarding the south, have returned, all the watchers should be here. Let’s start with you, Delma, from the north. Any unusual happenings during daylight?”

Kublai’s single eye locked onto the brown wolf seated to the left of the circle.

The brown wolf, with a fluffy chest like he was wearing a scarf, stood up.

“The Spider Emperor, Selma, in the north has shown no unusual movements. As always, it seems he’s focused on searching for the missing princess.”

“Right, those guys in the north are all the same. Then, Borjigin, how was it in the west?”

Borjigin rose to his feet. He calmly surveyed the surroundings before speaking candidly.

“The west is a complete disaster. It’s falling apart. It seems the forest guardian, Lao-Hoo, went missing, and the mountain goats and pigs are trying to claim his position. But a black lion showed up and quickly sorted things out.”

“Right, the black lion… but since we’re having a sacred and solemn forest meeting, let’s refrain from using rough language.”

“Uh, yeah, of course.”

Borjigin smiled and graciously bowed his head. As he settled back down, Kublai’s attention turned to me.

“Eh? Am I supposed to say something too?”

“Alright, Blackpaw. Since you’ve returned to the cave from guarding the south, that surely means you have something to report. Whatever it is, let’s hear it.”

All the wolves turned their gazes towards me. Feeling the sudden spotlight, I could almost feel a stream of sweat running down my back.

My hackles were up.

“Kyuu-yiing.”

At that moment, Yingyi, who had been dozing between my fur and skin, made a cute sound.

“What the…!”

All the bl**d seemed to drain from my face.

“Hmm? What was that? Did a Wildling just squeak?”

“What? Is there a Wildling in this cave?”

“Who? Who made the Wildling noise?”

The wolves started looking at each other, creating a chaotic atmosphere.

Clearing my throat, I prepared to speak with utmost seriousness.

“Uh, it was me who made the sound.”

“What the heck? Why are you talking like that? Are you trying to sound cute?”

The cold stares of the wolves were aimed at me. I spoke in an overly cute voice, like a female YouTuber.

“I-I inhaled some pollen from the lettuce flowers, you see.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

“Wow, great that you can talk. I couldn’t say a word for days; my voice was all clogged up.”

“I went a whole week without speaking.”

The wolves seemed to buy my hastily concocted excuse, nodding along while muttering about the lettuce flowers.

“So, why did you make the Wildling noise?”

Only Kublai’s single eye was looking at me suspiciously.

I rolled my eyes around, quickly thinking of good reasoning.

“Uh, there’s a huge influx of Wildlings in the south. Kyuu-yiing. Aren’t they just adorable?”

“There are a lot of Wildlings in the south?”

Borjigin, who had seemed indifferent to the Kyuu-yiing sound, perked up and leaned forward, intrigued.

“Whatever. Let’s just go with the flow.”

“There’s that witch Eve in the south, isn’t there? She probably succeeded in summoning Wildlings through all her experiments.”

“Wow, that’s quite a story. I should’ve gone south instead. I had to graze on that hellish shrubbery in the west instead.”

Borjigin burst out laughing, prompting the other wolves to join in too.

I awkwardly chuckled, “Haha,” and laughed along.

“Any other stories?”

Kublai directed another question at me.

“Other stories? What else is there?”

I strained my brain, working my thoughts as hard as I could.

With an intense focus came stress, and considering everything I could muster, a thought flashed through my mind like lightning.

“Actually, there’s something important I need to mention. You know the tree where I marked the territory with claws near the south?”