Werewolf
"Set off!"
After making sure Aurell was seated in the back, I stomped on the pedals and shot forward with as much momentum as I could muster.
That was when it happened.
The bike suddenly lurched under me, and I stood there blankly with my mouth open.
How exactly are you supposed to ride a bicycle, anyway?
The question hit me so abruptly that my head went fuzzy with it.
I knew how to ride a two-wheeler. I did. I’d learned it with my own body, by sheer force of experience.
It was just that my body—Charlotte’s body—didn’t seem to know how.
Riding a bike was supposed to be as natural as breathing.
My head understood it, but my body didn’t follow.
Like the whole thing had lagged out, my movement came to a sudden stop.
The result was inevitable.
Thud—
"Ugh!"
"Eek!"
Aurell and I rolled across the pavement together.
This body didn’t feel even a little pain from ordinary injuries. Which meant I shouldn’t have been hurt just from tumbling off a bicycle.
But that didn’t make the humiliation any less unbearable, and I couldn’t even lift my head.
I’d been so full of swagger about riding off on a bike, and this was how it ended—face-first in the dirt.
I didn’t have the nerve to meet the eyes of Aurell, who had trusted me enough to climb on behind me.
While I trembled with shame, Aurell sprang to her feet and rushed over.
"H-huh...! Charlotte-nim! Are you all right? Could there be something wrong with the bicycle?"
Aurell seemed to assume, naturally enough, that the bike was the problem.
If I’d been her, I would’ve thought the same.
When the one who’d confidently volunteered to ride suddenly went sprawling, anyone would assume it was the bicycle that had gone bad.
"Mm. Hm..."
With a calm expression, I got up and brushed the dust off my clothes.
Then I put on my best act of complete nonchalance, as though nothing had happened at all.
As long as you ignored the slight flush creeping up my face, there was nothing wrong with my expression.
I drew in a small breath and told Aurell, "Aurell."
"Yes?"
"Looks like the chain doesn’t have enough oil."
"Ah... so that’s why...!"
The lie slipped out without the slightest hesitation.
And Aurell believed it without a shred of doubt.
Watching her eyes sparkle with concern, I felt a faint ache somewhere in my chest.
In the end, I had no choice but to drag the bicycle out of the building with both hands.
I let out a helpless little laugh at the absurdity of it all.
I’d gone to all the trouble of preparing for a bike ride, and yet somehow I couldn’t actually ride the thing.
Still, if I had a little time to practice, I was pretty sure I could get back on a bike the way I used to.
I might look like a small girl now, but my body was still that of a vampire.
And then an idea flashed through my mind.
I’d have to tell one more lie to Aurell, but so what?
I licked my lips once and opened my mouth.
"Aurell."
"Yes?"
"Could you get me some oil to grease the chain with?"
"Ah... leave it to me!"
Aurell answered my request with a bright, vigorous voice.
Before I could even stop her, she turned on her heel and ran off at a trot.
This was my chance.
My eyes gleaming, I climbed back onto the bicycle.
I needed my body to catch up with the knowledge I already had in my head.
I looked down at my pale, soft little hands and nodded to myself.
"Hng...!"
The moment I lifted my foot from the ground and pushed down on the pedal, my body tipped again.
Thud— I sprawled across the ground.
I hauled myself back up and grabbed the bicycle again.
After that, I repeated the same sequence of falling and getting up over and over.
The more often I crashed, the longer the bike actually managed to move forward before I lost my balance.
Meanwhile, Aurell searched the entire area.
She’d enter one building, comb through the inside, and if she didn’t find any oil, she’d leave with a dejected look and dash off to the next place.
In the end, me relearning how to ride a bicycle took less time than Aurell’s search for oil.
"Aurell!"
I called her back just as she was running toward the next building.
She stopped what she was doing and came trotting over at once, and I honestly felt like I was raising some huge, eager dog.
No.
This thing was absolutely not like a dog.
She might look cute and harmless, but who knew what she’d been like before?
I drew my guard back up, which had somehow slipped lower without my noticing, and said, "I think the bike’s fine now."
"Huh... really? So I don’t have to find the oil?"
I nodded silently.
It was time to really set off.
Still seated on the bicycle, I wordlessly pointed to the back.
Aurell hopped on at once.
Then, trying very hard to look natural, she placed her hands around my waist.
A faint warmth lingered at my sides.
I could tell she was holding on with real care.
Her tiny fingers fidgeted as they caught on the hem of my clothes.
"D-don’t hold on too tight..."
"Ah... y-yes!"
I turned my gaze away from Aurell.
And just like that, our very first real bicycle ride began.
It was a little harder than riding alone, but after one or two major wobbles I quickly got the hang of balancing the weight.
The bicycle moved steadily.
It was pure, unbroken speed.
Even with wrecked cars cluttering the roads, it wasn’t a problem.
I pedaled hard and slipped between the abandoned vehicles one after another.
We raced onward, the cool wind in our faces, and before long we had entered Seongnam City.
"We’re almost there."
"That was incredibly fast!"
Seongnam wasn’t much different from the other cities we’d passed through so far.
As we entered the city and looked around, a faint, heavy scent drifted toward us on the wind.
Werewolf scent.
Judging by the direction it was coming from, they were heading our way.
I stopped the bicycle in a suitable spot and waited for the werewolf to show herself.
"Is a werewolf coming?"
"Yeah. Looks like they’ve got business with us."
Just as vampires were sensitive to smell, werewolves were too.
They must have caught our scent after we crossed into their territory.
I waited without much concern.
After all, vampires and werewolves were allied, weren’t they?
How long had it been?
Just when the werewolf scent on the wind had grown especially strong, a small girl appeared atop a half-collapsed building.
Her silver eyes glittered, and her brown hair looked a little tousled.
The wolf ears standing perkily atop her head made it clear she was a werewolf using partial beast transformation.
I frowned and studied the girl closely.
She wore a plain white sleeveless top and tight hot pants, and on her feet were cheap plastic slippers.
Her slightly exposed armpits and the stretch of her pale thighs made the whole outfit feel wildly provocative.
The werewolf girl planted her hands on her hips and shouted, "Stop right there!"
Who was that even for?
Aurell and I were already stopped.
I turned to look around, wondering if she meant someone else nearby, but there was nobody there.
The werewolf girl nodded in satisfaction.
Apparently she liked that Aurell and I had stayed still.
When we remained silent and made no reply, the werewolf girl leapt down from the building and approached us.
She kept sniffing as she came, clearly checking our scent.
Her ears pricked and her nose twitched; then she stopped in place and nodded to herself.
"A strange scent I’ve never smelled before... and human blood on top of it... I’ve finally found you...!"
The girl’s attitude changed all at once.
Her messy hair stood on end, and the muscles in her arms tightened as veins rose beneath the skin.
Her battle stance formed in an instant.
She seemed to have mistaken us for someone else.
I shoved Aurell behind me and said to the werewolf girl, "No, wait... I think there’s been a misunderstanding."
"Shut up!"
She wasn’t listening.
The werewolf girl glared at us, baring sharp claws in a threatening pose.
She looked adorable on the surface, but if you considered the strength werewolves possessed, this was a very dangerous situation.
She was clearly ready to fight on the spot.
I frowned and said, "You’ll regret it if you attack."
"You’re the ones who’ll regret this! Sneaking into someone else’s territory and stealing food from us...!"
With that, the werewolf girl lunged.
Her right hand swung wide.
Sharp claws sliced through the air, raising a shrill, threatening whistle.
Whoosh—!
At that same instant, as though responding to her hostility, shadows surged upward.
A broad wall of darkness spread out to shield my body.
It was just an attack from a small, cute girl.
Of course it could be blocked.
That was what I thought—right up until the next instant.
Crack—!
With a sickening sound, a hole was punched through the shadow barrier, and a pale hand shot through to strike my chest dead center.
Bang—!
The impact rang out like a cannon shot.
The moment my whole body jolted, a tremendous force sent me flying.
"Charlotte-nim!"
Spurt—
Blood burst from my mouth.
Then, just as a bitter pain began blooming from somewhere deep inside me, my spinning body dropped toward the ground.
But the werewolf girl’s attack wasn’t over yet.
She charged after me as though determined to finish me off.
The way she raised both hands high told me she meant to tear my body apart with those claws.
I reached desperately toward the shadows.
And then, with a soft whoosh, a katana sprang out.
The moment the hilt settled into my palm, I swung with everything I had.
Clang—!
Just as the katana blade smashed into the werewolf girl’s claws, a tiny spark flew into the air.
The werewolf girl looked stunned, as if she’d never expected her attack to be blocked.
Both of her hands were still raised high.
Her upper body was wide open.
She’d landed a hit on me, so now it was my turn to repay her.
A disobedient dog needed a proper beating, didn’t it?
I adjusted my grip on the katana, reversing the angle of the blade.
Then, with all the strength in my body, I swung my arm down.
Whoosh—!
Crash!
From top to bottom.
A full-force downward strike.
"Eek!"
Hit across the head with the back of the blade, the werewolf girl was driven straight into the ground.
She looked like a frog flattened on the pavement.
"Y-y-you...!"
The werewolf girl seemed to be in so much pain from the blow to her head that tears welled in her eyes as she looked up at me.
Her glare was still pretty murderous, which meant she probably hadn’t come back to her senses yet.
I smacked her on the head again.
Smack!
"Hyaah!"