#51 Contact (2)
#51 Contact (2)
"...Let me be clear from the start. It's not that we trust you."
The Sword Saint laid it out plainly. Wolf said nothing. He already knew. Kang Tae-jun's expression flickered with interest—he had meant to provoke a reaction and gotten none. That told him the creature was more intelligent than he'd anticipated.
"That said, we do need to talk. You seem to understand language... but can you speak?"
"—Yes."
A low, resonant voice. It seemed to rise from some deep cavern and fill the whole building. Kang Tae-ho's eyes went perfectly round.
"See, I told you. He talks. Huh?"
The first time Alpha had spoken was in the Forest Dungeon. Kang Tae-ho had been the one to hear it. He made a fuss—an oddly animated response for a man of his size.
"Quiet. ...Let's start with the facts. You didn't run. You came along here without a fight, which means you have some intention of talking. Am I right?"
Wolf met his eyes without flinching, his voice low.
"...I've come with a warning."
"A warning?"
Kang Tae-jun's brow furrowed. Every gaze in the room sharpened. Wolf swept his eyes over them once before speaking again.
"The threat from the Prodigal Sons isn't over. Your father, Kang Hoon..."
At that, Kang Tae-ho stepped forward, scowling straight at Wolf.
"What the hell are you, anyway?"
"......"
"How do you know about my father? You're a monster—"
Before the word fully left his mouth, Wolf let out a long-suffering breath. He'd been expecting this.
"—I believe I was once human."
"...And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Confusion flickered across every face. Not that he was human—that he believed he was human? As their brows knitted tighter, Wolf continued.
"I have no clear memories. Only knowledge that remains, like the echo of a memory."
No clear memories—a lie, of course. It had to be. He couldn't prove his identity, and the moment they dug deeper a flimsy lie would unravel. So he had to lay the ground first. Hide the lie inside the truth. Wolf spun the story he had long rehearsed.
"The knowledge and values I carry resemble yours. Beyond that, all I have left is emotion."
In that moment, a chill breath curled from Wolf's jaws. His crimson eyes seemed to hold an indescribable depth of feeling—denser than any they had ever seen.
"—Hatred. For them."
"...Are you telling us they turned you into a monster?"
"I don't know. My first memory is of being born on a mountain. I fought to survive, and that was all."
"Then this whole time, hunting down turncoats..."
"......"
A dry swallow. The three of them looked like they were struggling to believe what they were hearing. But the story had to continue. Kang Tae-jun raised a hand to stop Kang Tae-ho from advancing.
"Fine. Let's say that's true. But we still have things to address."
"......"
"...You attacked one of our clan members. Do you remember? At the Iljumun Gate of Jirisan Beopgyesa."
Kang Tae-jun's eyes hardened. His tone sharpened as he pressed Wolf.
"You attacked her there. I don't know why you didn't kill her... but how do you explain it?"
The one unanswered question about Wolf. The thing that had kept them from setting their doubts aside. If he really was a person—if he possessed reason—what cause would he have to attack a human?
Kang Tae-jun's intent was clearly to probe. To sound out whether Wolf periodically lost his reason or exhibited other behavioral anomalies. Whether his words and actions didn't align. But a truth lay hidden there that Kang Tae-jun had never guessed. Beneath Eun-ha's uneasy gaze, Wolf nodded to himself. This was the question he'd been waiting for.
"The opposite."
"The opposite?"
"I was not the one who attacked her. I helped her. My first memory is not as a Warg—it is as a Slime."
"...!"
"The misunderstanding should have been resolved in Neverland. If you wish, you may summon her and ask."
—The one inconsistency that had lingered in Wolf's actions. Wolf addressed it calmly. He had learned through hearsay that a clan member had defied orders and nearly been killed. But the truth beneath it was nothing like what they had imagined.
Belatedly, the reason the Dawn Girl had stepped between Alpha and the hunters in the plaza finally made sense. If the misunderstanding had been cleared, then to her, Alpha was not an enemy—he was a savior. At the explanation, Eun-ha let out a soft little cry.
"Ah..."
A consistent answer. Not a single point of doubt remained in Wolf's behavior. Of course, they would need to verify it, but he likely hadn't told a lie that would be exposed so easily.
'That takes care of it.'
If I couldn't properly explain why I became a monster, I'd wave it off as not knowing. As long as Lee Eun-ha confirmed I had been a Slime, the story would hold. Let them suspect I don't know how I became a monster—what could they do about it? They'd be suspicious, but if they couldn't prove otherwise, they'd have no choice but to accept it.
"It's hard to believe, but..."
It was the most persuasive account. Because as far as they knew, Wolf had never once killed an innocent person.
What they had believed was an attack on a clan member had actually been an act of aid. In the Gyeongsan dungeon, he had fought alongside hunters against the Arachne and saved them. In the Forest Dungeon? Looking back now, he'd had countless chances to kill Hong Yuri. He had merely held her attention until Kang Tae-ho arrived. On top of that, he had warned the hunters aiming their blades at him about the Prodigal Sons' existence.
On the Night of the Great Battle, he had slaughtered Agail and the Blind Spot turncoats, and when the Academy was raided he had saved Baek So-yul. Alpha had also cleared the west coast region and made the survivors' presence known. Even when he had fought Hong Yuri in life-or-death combat, he had shown mercy and spared her.
And above all, decisively—Neverland. Had Wolf not helped this time, total annihilation would have been certain. Kang Tae-jun let out a heavy, emotional breath. The other two wore equally complicated expressions as they chewed on Wolf's words.
They wanted to deny a truth so impossible to swallow, but there was no way to prove it a lie. Even more so because he had said not "I was human" but "I believe I was human."
—In hindsight, his past actions were more noble and righteous than anyone's. There was no room for doubt.
"...We have no choice but to accept it."
They weren't choosing to believe him—they were acknowledging the account and proceeding on that premise.
"Why bring this up? There must be something you want."
"—Pursue the turncoats."
"......"
What he wanted was the destruction of the Prodigal Sons. They exchanged glances for a long while, and still his eyes held no tremor. The killing intent in those crimson eyes was not aimed at them. —This much, at least, was clearly true even to Wolf. He wanted the heretical Prodigal Sons eradicated down to the marrow.
"Certainly..."
A monster wouldn't crave material wealth. A monster that could not be bribed or compromised by any means. If such an existence bared its fangs... just the thought sent a chill down the spine. The moment Kang Tae-jun felt certain that not fighting Alpha had been the right decision, Kang Tae-ho pressed again.
"Then what you know about my father..."
"That is all."
"...Damn it."
Frustrated, Kang Tae-ho spat a curse. But Wolf's words were not finished.
"...Their objective is to create an Elixir."
That much they had already learned from Changseon. Kang Tae-jun nodded.
"The reason is to awaken a certain existence."
At the next piece of the story, the faces around the room darkened with gravity.
***
The incredible account drew to a close. By then, the Fairy Dragon had rubbed the sleep from her eyes and was nuzzling her cheek against Alpha's face. Wolf relayed everything he could within the bounds of his knowledge—most things, except for what he couldn't reveal carelessly: the System, the Phantom World, and more. The Elixir was needed to awaken a certain being, and even he did not know why they sought to awaken it.
'...Because she couldn't be taken down.'
The contents of the novel he had been reading. They had defeated Kang Hoon and the Silent Mouth, along with many other officers. They had succeeded at stopping Disease and Plague as well. At that point, he had believed the shadow of destruction draped over humanity had been lifted considerably. Judging by the trend of the dwindling Law of Causality, the destruction probability might have been fifty-fifty—perhaps higher.
—But the novel had met an abrupt ending.
The woman they had believed to be the final boss, the leader of the Prodigal Sons, was never caught, and the story had closed not with a happy ending... but The End. —The Queen had once said that Destruction and The End were different. It meant they had to prevent not just the destruction wrought by the Prodigal Sons, but also The End, whose very nature remained unknown.
'The questions about this...'
They'll be answered once I find the System. No—once I go to it. Because it will still be waiting for me to come.
"—I've heard your story. It's hard to believe, but you'd have no particular reason to lie."
His conviction was clear, but Kang Tae-jun added that they would still have to verify.
"To be honest, I'm still wrestling with this. It's obvious what would happen if you suddenly turned and rampaged through a city. You're not just some beast. I'm sure you know this yourself—you've become a monster close to a Calamity."
Those words were true. A Neverland section boss. That was the Sword Saint's assessment of Wolf's level. Equal to one of the Seven Heroes, or to himself. At that, Wolf gave an odd look.
'I thought I'd at least need to reach Kang Tae-ho's level...'
He had believed that by the time the original story began, he'd need to be at least as strong as Kang Tae-ho—and somewhere along the way he had already surpassed him. Now, with one year and two months left. Winter, December 2069.
"...I still believe you shouldn't be let loose in a city."
At some point Kang Tae-jun had seated himself and was rhythmically tapping the shop table. Faced with a habit that had been described in the novel, Wolf's expression grew inscrutable.
"But it wouldn't matter. If you decided to right now, no one except Gwanghwi could track you. Which means you could do it anytime you wanted."
"......"
Wolf nodded calmly. It was common knowledge that he possessed a Stealth skill.
"So that we may trust you. Come with us. It won't take long to build that trust, I imagine. In that time, we'll take responsibility for you."
"Dawn Lord."
Eun-ha looked as though she had something to say, but Kang Tae-jun nodded as if he already knew.
"A minimum of process and verification is absolutely required. You can refuse—we can't compel you anyway. So this is also a request. Help us so that we can trust you."
Prove it with your actions. He also meant to face him with Lee Eun-ha and verify the story. In plain terms, he was telling him to come to Dawn. Wolf deliberated, then nodded once more. He couldn't do everything alone. He never had, and he never would.
There was no harm in building trust with the hunters. If anything, it might let him ask for their cooperation in eradicating the Prodigal Sons.
'No—it's absolutely necessary.'
Because one day he would have to go abroad. Earlier, upon hearing the news of Muno's death, Wolf had thought it over. Three people among the officers could kill Muno—one of the Seven Heroes—excluding the Prodigal leader, that woman.
'Kang Hoon and the Silent Mouth. And...'
Phantom Butterfly Amelia Morest, who hadn't yet been recruited. The Purple Square Master and Blind Spot leader—Agail's mother. Her joining the Prodigal Sons had to be prevented. In the worst-case scenario... Wolf's eyes gleamed coldly.
"...It seems you've made up your mind."
When Wolf nodded again, Kang Tae-jun let out a long breath and closed his eyes. Now that the matter was settled, it felt as though the exhaustion was only just catching up to him.
"Belated, but let me say this: thank you."
At the sudden words, Wolf tilted his head. A moment later, surprise flickered in his eyes. The man who had never once bowed his head in the novel—was bending his heavy head now.
"If not for you, the Raid Force... Dawn would have been annihilated. For that and for everything else, I sincerely thank you."
Hearing those words, something knotted inside Wolf's chest loosened a little. The emotion was a sense of injustice and resentment. Negative feelings that had unknowingly piled deep inside his heart.
"......"
Only when the misunderstanding was cleared did it finally feel as though the button had been fastened correctly. It was also the moment he felt, truly, that everything he'd done so far had not been wrong. Had not been a mistake.
"Kyuuuuu~!"
Perry wagged her tail with great vigor and let out a cry of unmistakable pleasure.
—That was the moment Wolf's path toward Dawn was decided.