Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: The Giant Silver Wolf
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Juliet blinked, face-to-face with a gigantic wolf she'd never laid eyes on before in her life.
Grrr.
Thank heavens the massive beast inside the iron bars was bound head to toe in tight iron chains.
She'd never seen a silver-gray wolf before.
No, she hadn't even known wolves this enormous existed.
"They say the east is crawling with magical beasts—is this one of them?"
If so, it was undoubtedly a very, very rare one.
Its beautiful silver-gray fur was so lush that, were it not for the circumstances, she'd have wanted to draw near and stroke it.
"Spread out and search!"
"!"
"Lord Roy! Where are you?"
...It seemed the men outside were looking for this wolf.
She couldn't have imagined that "Lord Roy" might refer to a wolf rather than a person.
Somewhat bewildered, Juliet tilted her head.
"Did someone kidnap you, pup?"
Grrr.
A menacing rumble emanated from the giant wolf's throat.
Clearly, it didn't like the nickname.
"Well..."
Even if it was a spirit beast, it probably couldn't understand human speech.
After a moment's hesitation, Juliet decided to stick to her original plan.
"Good boy, pup."
She carefully observed how the wolf was tied up, then cautiously extended her hand toward the dark iron bars.
"I'm going to free you now... Just don't eat me, okay?"
Even as she made it promise, Juliet made sure to secure her escape route in case things went south.
Drawing closer with care, she examined the structure of how the wolf was bound.
Not only were the iron bars surrounding it, but massive chains wrapped tightly around its entire body, secured in multiple layers with a large padlock.
...?
And the most conspicuous thing was the mysterious cylinder embedded in the wolf's scruff.
Inside the glass tube, a suspiciously crimson liquid sloshed around.
What was that?
Some kind of sedative for wolves?
The cylinder, shaped like a giant syringe, was jammed firmly into the wolf's nape, and it looked so painful that Juliet frowned involuntarily.
'Even if I ignore everything else, that thing probably has to come out by hand.'
Juliet hesitated, then slowly approached.
Grr.
Sensing something ominous, the wolf writhed threateningly.
Ironically, thanks to the chains binding it so tightly, it couldn't budge an inch.
"Just hold still... Just stay like that. Good boy, pup?"
Juliet barely managed to slip her hand in and yanked the cylinder out in one go.
Kyaaang!
The wolf twisted its body with a sharp, keening cry.
The whole train car shook.
But Juliet didn't let go of the cylinder. What came out was like a syringe needle.
"Sorry— no more pain now."
Growing anxious, Juliet decided she needed to finish this as quickly as possible.
The chains binding the wolf weren't simple restraints. They seemed impossible to unlock without a special key.
But Juliet wasn't too worried.
Three or four small butterflies emitting a bluish glow appeared in the darkness. They looked just like blue fireflies.
Startled by the suspicious glowing orbs, the wolf bristled its fur.
As the butterflies vanished into the locks, the chains fell away in an instant.
Clank.
Suddenly freed from the bonds squeezing its body, the wolf seemed a bit surprised.
A pair of golden eyes fixed on Juliet with a meaningful glare.
'It wouldn't be an ungrateful beast that doesn't know a favor, would it?'
Juliet tensed slightly, but fortunately, the wolf didn't lunge at her.
After that, she didn't need to help any further.
The massive wolf gave its body a single light shake, and the tangled chains and iron bars shattered all at once.
Grrr.
The wolf stretched languidly once, then leaped through the open door into the forward car in a single bound.
***
After the wolf escaped, Juliet did the opposite and closed the baggage car's door.
With chaos reigning outside, paradoxically, the safest place inside the train was right here.
Juliet counted to one hundred before opening the baggage car door and stepping out.
'This should be enough time.'
The train interior looked like a storm had swept through it.
Still, it seemed the knife-wielding thugs had mostly been subdued.
"Kyaaak!"
Thinking that as she passed three passenger cars or so, Juliet spotted a man raising his blade high over a mother and child huddled in a corner.
Without a second thought, a single butterfly fluttered from her fingertips and took flight.
That was the moment.
"Get out of the way!"
Juliet lost her balance and was shoved to the floor by someone.
Thud!
Golden light.
Suddenly pushed to the ground, Juliet winced at the blinding sunlight pouring in.
Her pusher was a strikingly handsome young man.
He'd clearly meant to protect her.
"Mommy!"
Fortunately, a crowd of people arrived just in time to rescue the mother and child.
The knife-wielding thug fled.
She could have finished him off if she'd just waited a moment longer, but her concentration broke at the last second, shattering the illusion.
With a dizzying jolt, Juliet couldn't regain her senses.
She immediately realized the cause of this sudden disruption.
'A Swordmaster?'
In the past seven years, she'd experienced this exactly once—when someone immune to illusions had intervened midway.
Normally, her butterflies would have warned her, but the wildly excited butterflies couldn't communicate with such an opponent.
As the illusion broke, the butterflies vanished in an instant.
The backlash of the illusion shattering midway hit Juliet full force. Her head throbbed like it was splitting open, and nausea washed over her.
"Hng."
"Are you all right! La..."
She felt the intruder who'd knocked her down flinch in surprise.
Why?
It felt like her insides would spill out if she opened her mouth.
Juliet clamped her mouth shut and glared at her interrupter.
Thanks to that, her eyes locked directly with the troublemaker's golden ones.
The black veil she'd been wearing had flown off far away when she was shoved down.
And only then did Juliet realize that this unwelcome intruder was straddling her in a rather odd position.
The man whose eyes met hers was exceptionally handsome. In any other situation, even Juliet might have felt drawn to him.
His sharp, clean features made him undeniably good-looking.
Uncannily like a wolf.
'...Wolf?'
But handsome or not, the backlash from the disrupted illusion had left Juliet in a sharply irritated state.
"Get off."
"Pardon?"
"I said get off me!"
"Ah... Yes!"
The man scrambled back hurriedly, mumbling apologies like "sorry" and "my apologies," but Juliet, shoving him away, was too busy scanning the surroundings to hear.
The hairpin that had held her long hair in place had also flown off from the impact.
Staggering, Juliet pushed herself up.
"...My hairpin."
But she didn't get far before stumbling and bracing against the floor again. Her long hair cascaded down messily.
It felt like she'd vomit blood if she spoke.
"Lady, are you all right?"
A hand reached close, picking up the hairpin and offering it to her.
'...Do I look all right?'
In no state to reply, Juliet barely managed to slump against a seat and catch her breath.
The man approached, knelt to meet her eye level, and apologized.
"I truly don't know how to apologize... I'm so sorry. You must have been startled."
Tall and lean, with silver-gray hair.
A man with mesmerizing golden eyes.
And even more striking was that he wore nothing on his upper body.
The man kept apologizing to Juliet profusely, looking utterly distraught.
Having the owner of such an impressive—nay, magnificent—physique kneeling helplessly before her left Juliet feeling a bit strange.
To be fair, she hadn't expected a young man like this to be a Swordmaster, so it wasn't really his fault, yet he acted like a puppy scolded by its master, at a complete loss.
Forgotten Juliet