EP.17 Dances with Wolves -3
EP.17 Dances with Wolves -3
En Varg.
A festival exclusively for wolves whose very name carried the meaning "wolf."
It was held once every five years, and its stated purpose was to honor and bless the fates of all wolves who had lived up to that point.
"But I'm not a wolf. Is it really all right for me to take part?"
"It's fine. That's just the public-facing meaning. The true nature of this festival is my father's entertainment."
As if her anger still hadn't subsided, Kor's brown hair was blazing red.
The fire that had seemed ready to die down the moment Fenrir was mentioned flared up again.
The existence of her father had essentially become the firewood feeding her daughter's fury.
"More importantly, Seon-ju, are you truly all right with this? Even now, if I were to grab that rotten father of mine by the scruff of his neck and stop him..."
"No, I'm fine. Besides, it's about enjoying the festival, and it's a chance to have our relationship acknowledged. I'll make sure to earn that acknowledgment!"
"Seon-ju...!!"
The trials Fenrir had imposed on me were all related to En Varg, and their content was surprisingly straightforward.
First, attending the five events of En Varg was a mandatory prerequisite.
1. Hunting Festival
2. Wolf Combat Festival
3. Roaring Festival
4. Gluttony Festival
5. Dance Festival
The first, the Hunting Festival, was a hunting contest: an event to hunt as many of the wild animals living in the wasteland as possible.
They said hunting was the pride and foundation of all wolves, and this contest existed to prove it.
The second, the Wolf Combat Festival, was a duel tournament: an event where the pack-leader wolves from various packs fought one another to determine superiority.
It was founded on the principle that a pack needed strength to be protected, and that the leader had to exemplify that strength.
The third, the Roaring Festival, was a volume contest: an event to decide which wolf could roar the loudest.
Since a great roar played an important role in stimulating the wolves' instincts at the start of a hunt, their voices were highly valued, and thus this contest was created.
The fourth, the Gluttony Festival, was an eating contest: literally an event to see who could eat the most food.
There was no special reason for this one. It was simply a contest Fenrir had created because he thought it would be fun.
The last one, the Dance Festival, wasn't a contest but an event where all the wolves danced and enjoyed the festival's finale.
It was said to be the highlight of the festival, carried out to commemorate and celebrate the successful conclusion of En Varg.
En Varg had these five events in total, and Fenrir's trial was for me to win the four contests—everything except the final Dance Festival.
If I failed to win even one, he would absolutely never hand Kor over to me.
But if I won them all, he said he would acknowledge me, even if only the tiniest bit.
'The "tiniest bit" part really gets under my skin...'
In any case, if I could earn my father-in-law's acknowledgment, it wasn't something I could refuse to do as his son-in-law.
"I'll make full use of my abilities and win them all. So you don't have to worry!"
"Yes...! Then I'll be looking forward to your performance, Seon-ju!!"
It was a shame I couldn't leisurely watch the festival with Kor, but the current situation still wasn't bad.
It was a chance to enjoy the festival in my own way and, as a bonus, to have my relationship with Kor formally acknowledged.
It was called a trial, but honestly, to me it was nothing more than seasoning that would make the festival even more enjoyable.
'Then, let's go ahead and enjoy it to the fullest!'
***
"You motherfuckers!! You cheap wolf bastards!!"
The first event: the Hunting Festival.
The wolves dashed out to hunt, and I, lacking their level of mobility, was a slow starter.
Still, I figured that if I used my abilities and hunted diligently, I could win easily enough.
In reality, I had the Segmented Whip Sword and precognitive abilities, so the hunting itself was manageable.
But I immediately ran into the biggest obstacle: the wolves scattered all around me.
Dozens of wolves were prowling around me, nowhere else.
They kept snatching away the prey I spotted before I could get to it.
Realizing this wouldn't do, I tried changing my hunting ground, but those wolf bastards followed me to the very end and kept interfering.
'Fuck!! It's definitely Fenrir...! That son of a bitch put them up to this, no doubt about it!!'
He ran his mouth going on about it being a noble trial...! And then he outright became the mastermind pulling the strings!
It was disgusting. Fenrir was disgustingly petty.
He might as well stop yapping about it being a sacred festival...
I had half a mind to just wreck one of them properly. Where was the sacred festival in this spectacle of dirty play?
"Haah...!!"
Still, a tiny part of the blame lay with me for not predicting they'd disrupt things this way.
I should've devised a plan that accounted for variables... For some reason, today I missed Yata's presence.
If it were Yata, she would've foreseen the current situation, told me about it, and even set up countermeasures.
But my own precognitive ability, infinitely weaker compared to Yata's, had been unable to read this situation in advance.
'Now what am I supposed to do...'
I had boldly declared I'd win, yet I couldn't even hunt a single animal properly.
On the other hand, the other wolves who had gone far off to hunt were surely piling up achievements one by one.
At this rate, far from winning, I might even end up in last place.
A failure right from the very start...
It was mortifying. When I recalled my confident self in front of Kor just a few minutes ago, I felt like I'd go insane.
"I'm going crazy..."
When I looked up at the sky for a moment in this hopeless situation, a flock of birds was flying around as though mocking me.
If I had wings too, I would have flown to a hunting ground with no wolves and hunted there in one go.
This was the first time I'd ever been so envious of wings.
'Wait a moment? Wings...?'
A good idea suddenly flashed through my head.
Wolves couldn't fly, but birds could.
That meant that wolves could never hunt the birds that flew through the air.
'In that case, what about me...?'
I looked up at the sky and gently closed my eyes, then opened them. I calmly tried to read the flow of the air.
Like that, gradually sharpening, countless lines began to appear to me.
Even in the sky where the birds were flying, lines only I could see were strung across it.
"Ha-ha, hahahaha...!!"
That did it!!
***
The first trial and event, the Hunting Festival, ended in my overwhelming victory.
The reason I could win was simple.
I had hunted every last type of bird—the very birds the wolves could never hunt.
First, I used Tia's air domination ability to pull the birds down from the air.
Then, after bunching the birds together midair, I swung my sword and bisected the flock all at once.
There was no easier prey than birds that had let their guard down thinking they were safe because they were flying.
Thanks to that, I succeeded in catching eagles, condors, buzzards, and many other birds in large quantities.
On the other hand, the land animals, having picked up on the Hunting Festival, had apparently grown strongly wary and were not so easy to hunt.
The prey the wolves brought back was drastically fewer compared to my achievements.
"Congratulations on your victory, Seon-ju...!! You were truly incredible...!!"
"You don't have to praise me that much. In the end, I managed it by borrowing the abilities of my companion Divine Beasts."
"No...! That power is ultimately your power, Seon-ju! And besides, wasn't coming up with that idea also from your wisdom...?"
"Was it?"
"Yes! So you can be confidently proud of yourself...!!"
"All right. And thank you for congratulating me."
"Hehe♡ Don't mention it...!!"
When I gently stroked Kor's head, her tail began to spin rapidly like a propeller.
Having a body part humans didn't possess act as a spokesperson for one's emotions wasn't entirely a good thing.
When you had to put on an act, it meant there was one more thing to manage besides facial expressions and actions.
But when it came time to honestly express your emotions, it was more candid than any human.
The way she wagged her tail and perked up her ears was so extremely cute and lovable that it brought a smile to my face naturally.
It made me feel truly happy to have such an animal by my side.
"Now that I think of it, Seon-ju, isn't it about time for the Wolf Combat Festival to begin...?"
"Oh! You're right? I should hurry over."
"I'll be cheering for you from the spectator seats!! Please win the Wolf Combat Festival too...!!"
"Yeah, thanks!"
With my companion wolf's cheers at my back, I entered the second trial.
At that moment, I felt I could beat anyone who stood against me.
***
Since it was a one-on-one format, the Wolf Combat Festival itself was on the easier side for me.
The experience of fighting and defeating Taotie became a great strength for me. No matter which pack-leader wolf appeared, they all seemed infinitely weak compared to Taotie.
It wasn't that the fights were decided by brute force alone, but the sense that the opponent's capabilities were lacking still acted as a major factor in victory.
On top of that, I had Yata's future sight ability.
Because I knew the future, I could easily dodge the wolves' attacks and launch counterattacks.
Just by performing that series of motions, most wolves were struck by the sturdy flat of my blade and fell.
I felt sorry for the wolves, but this Wolf Combat Festival was going to end lightly with my victory.
'It's finally the last one.'
Having advanced all the way to the finals with unstoppable momentum, I was in the arena waiting for my next opponent.
The opponent for the final match was clearly the red-furred wolf who'd seemed the strongest among the pack leaders.
Even in the actual matches, his movements were faster and sharper than any other wolf's.
A method of merely dodging and counterattacking might not be enough to bring him down...
While I was contemplating my approach for a long while, Hati, who'd been the host of the Wolf Combat Festival, came up and began the proceedings for the final match.
"From this moment, the final match of the Wolf Combat Festival will begin! The final match is the human versus the leader of the Red Wolf Pack..."
"Huh?"
"...a wolf, or rather, due to an emergency, there will be a temporary substitution."
The enormous presence stomping its way up into the arena.
Its size was similar to the other wolves, but the presence it radiated was completely different.
A single wolf so immensely powerful-looking that I almost questioned whether such a wolf had ever existed.
For some reason, that wolf seemed as though it might even be stronger than Taotie...
"What the fuck?! That's not just a wolf, that's Fenrir!!"
"Human, is there a problem?"
"There are a ton of problems! Where is it normal for the organizer to personally enter the tournament?! That's balance-breaking!!"
He hadn't even been in the entries. A wolf who never even registered had suddenly come out as a substitute.
This went beyond a simple rule violation and crossed the line. Had he resolved to just ruin the tournament entirely at this point?!
"Scared?"
"No. No matter what, a wolf who didn't even enter coming out as a substitute goes against fairness, doesn't it?!"
"It doesn't matter. I'm the organizer of this festival. Therefore, I am the law!"
Had I ever seen such a crazy tyrant?!
No wonder he hadn't interfered at all during this Wolf Combat Festival... He'd been keeping quiet all along planning to do this from the start.
'Grandpa Qilin... you were right. Divine Beasts are all nothing but crazed lunatics!'
Even now, he was firmly securing his mysterious one win.
"I'm seriously about to lose my mind."
Now what was I supposed to do? For starters, if Fenrir was my opponent, winning was absolutely impossible.
My opponent was a Great Divine Beast. Even if I were a Divine Beast myself I couldn't defeat him, so how could I as a human stand against him...
"Father...?"
"Ooh! My daughter! You wanted to see your father's fight so badly that you came this close, didn't you?!"
"No? I just came over to ask. I wanted to hear directly from you why Father is standing as Seon-ju's opponent."
"Hmm! The wolf who was this human's opponent in the finals, regrettably, became unable to participate because of a sudden chronic illness. But wouldn't it be a shame to end the sacred Wolf Combat Festival with a walkover?"
How shameless.
How could he tell such a brazen lie so simply...?
I could only be amazed that he hadn't gained any dignity with age.
"Even so, isn't it too much for Father to come out as a substitute?"
"No. Having felt that such a regrettable incident could occur, I added a new rule! The rule that if there are unavoidable circumstances, a substitute may participate for one match—and that substitute may be anyone at all...!"
"Ah-ha, is that what it was...?"
"Indeed! So, my adorable Skoll! Stay right there and watch carefully as your father strikes down this human!"
"No, I have no intention of doing that."
Kor's flame was burning stronger than ever before.
The bluish-violet flame I had seen back in the snowfield. That color only appeared when Kor was in a state of extreme rage.
Kor was expressing her anger in the form of flame.
But she forcibly maintained her smile as she turned her head toward me.
"Seon-ju?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"Would you please step out of there for a moment? I'd like to run as Seon-ju's substitute as well."
"Wait! What's the meaning of this? Daughter?"
"Is something wrong? I'm trying to make use of the rule Father revised, aren't I?"
"That—that's completely absurd...!"
As Fenrir began spouting various excuses, I yielded my spot to Kor.
I briefly considered whether I should refuse, but I handed it over because Kor's chillingly smiling expression was terrifying.
So having descended into the position of spectator, I came to where Kor had been and watched the match.
Honestly, it wasn't a satisfying conclusion, but it couldn't be helped. This too was karma Fenrir had brought on himself.
"Hey, Hati."
"Wh-what is it?"
"Start it, now."
Hati, who had developed PTSD, nodded his head several times and docilely followed Kor's words.
Instead of a bell, Hati's sonorous howl echoed throughout the arena. It signaled that the match had begun.
At this, Fenrir—who'd still been rambling incoherently—finally seemed to come to his senses and urgently tried to change the rules.
But one step faster, Kor's fist slammed into Fenrir's mouth, and the match devolved into a one-sided beating.
In the blink of an eye, the final match became chaos and devastation.
But I wondered if this might be the true Wolf Combat Festival.