EP.17 Dances with Wolves -4
EP.17 Dances with Wolves -4
The chaotic Wolf Combat Festival finally drew to a close with the wolf's howl.
The result was victory for Kor, who had entered in my stead. Which meant the Wolf Combat Festival was my win as well.
"I finally feel refreshed!!"
Kor, beaming with a bright smile, wiped away the fresh sweat as she descended from the arena.
The only one left alone in the arena was a single wolf, reduced to a bloody mess by a daughter's rage.
He had been a wolf king who resorted to a dirty trick and got his just deserts for it.
Still, I couldn't help but sympathize with the sight of a father who became endlessly weak in front of his children.
"Seon-ju."
"Yeah?"
"The next event, the Roaring Festival, is scheduled for tomorrow."
"Oh, is it?"
"Yes, so from now on it's free time... so, um, would you walk around with me...?"
"Sure."
The fire that had been blazing in her head a moment ago extinguished in an instant, and Kor returned to her usual gentle state.
A wolf with two sides to her personality. Now, no matter which side she showed, I found all of it charming.
Maybe I'd gotten just as love-struck as Fenrir had.
"Seon-ju...?"
"Sorry! I was just thinking about something else for a second."
"It's okay... More than that, let's hurry and go...!!"
"Alright."
Hand in hand, we left the arena behind and wandered around the gorge.
I'd thought there wouldn't be much to see in a wasteland that looked barren compared to other terrain, but that turned out not to be the case.
Because the land was so harsh, the tireless efforts of the creatures striving to survive stood out all the more.
The grass struggling to bloom despite the tough environment. A hyena family amiably sharing the carcass of an animal someone else had eaten and discarded. Even a mother water buffalo fighting to protect her calf.
Everything flowed according to the pure course of nature, and countless lives lived on within it.
A beauty you could never see in the city. I began to understand a little why Divine Beasts were so desperate to protect nature.
"Seon-ju, Seon-ju."
"What's up?"
While I was intently observing a mole cricket struggling to crawl along, my companion wolf tugged at my sleeve and called to me.
Having called me over, Kor said nothing and simply pointed somewhere with her finger.
Just what was it, for her to act like this? Wondering about it, I turned my head to where she was pointing, and my eyes widened.
The setting sun sinking beyond the horizon. It was because the sun, blazing a fierce red light as if wanting to burn hot until the very last, was so incredibly beautiful.
It wasn't as if I'd never seen a sunset before. But the brown-hued wasteland and the red-hued sunset were harmonizing together, turning into something like a single painting.
It was the kind of scenery that made a sigh of admiration escape your lips unbidden.
And that scenery, combined with the brown wolf smiling gently as she gazed at the same sunset, became a complete picture.
"This is a sunset I always make sure to watch every time I come here...! I really wanted to show this sight to you, Seon-ju..."
"I see. It's very beautiful."
"Hehe, right?"
Kor herself was included in that praise, but it seemed she didn't realize it.
For a moment, the desire bubbled up to make Kor's face turn as red as the sunset, but I decided against it.
Her flustered expression was nice too, but I'd come to the conclusion that Kor looked prettiest when she was smiling.
So for now, I decided to stay still and savor this moment, taking in the wasteland and the sunset with my companion wolf.
***
"Mmm..."
Unlike the sweltering afternoon, the temperature had turned very cold.
I opened my eyes to a sky filled with countless stars instead of a ceiling.
'Where... am I?'
Still in a daze, I slowly retraced my memories of why I was here.
As time passed and I perfectly pieced together the fragments of my memory, I gently raised myself up.
It was a shame to leave Kor's body, which had been a plush pillow, and Kor's tail, which had been a warm and soft blanket.
But the call of nature was something unavoidable for any living creature, so with tears in my eyes, I decided to part from the greatest bedding set of my life for a moment.
All while being careful not to wake Kor, who was sleeping soundly.
"Hwaa-ahm..."
Unlike the usual nighttime chorus of crickets, the wasteland night had owls toiling away instead.
Even at night in the wasteland, the creatures were probably locked in desperate, grueling battles to survive.
I was a little curious, but as someone who was diurnal, I didn't have the energy to go confirm that.
So I'd quickly relieve myself and return to the fluffy paradise of Kor...
'Huh...?'
A single wolf stood tall atop a gorge that was neither far nor close.
It was an exceptionally large wolf, but his coat was real fur rather than ice, so I could tell at once that he was Fenrir.
Just what was he doing over there?
Thinking about it, wolves were originally nocturnal animals. It wasn't all that strange for him to be awake at this late hour of the night.
'I should just go back without paying him any mind. There'd be nothing good to come from a conversation anyway.'
That was the moment I tried to turn back. By sheer bad luck, I ended up making eye contact with him.
As soon as he spotted me, Fenrir bobbed one paw up and down. That gesture clearly meant come here.
I don't want to go...
What good reason was there to approach that wolf with the defective personality who'd been snarling and gnashing to kill me without a second thought?
But if I didn't go, I had no idea what other harm he might do to me, so I had no choice but to go along with his intent.
"Come over here and sit, you daughter thief."
"Uugh...!"
"Hey! I have no intention of harming you, so drop your guard! My desire to annihilate you is burning like a chimney, but if I did, I'd truly get beaten to death by our daughter."
"Ah, well, I suppose that's true."
I definitely felt hostility, but not even a shred of killing intent, so I decided to sit beside him without worry.
The nighttime wasteland seen from atop the gorge was different from the daytime, but this too had its own unique atmosphere.
It was certainly darker than the city, but the light of the moon and stars illuminated the earth, creating a mysterious and beautiful sight.
'I wish I could capture this in a photo.'
I could take one with my phone, but the photos would be deleted when we went back anyway.
The government censored it in advance because if civilians were shown the beauty of the Great Wilds, they might cross over without permission.
At first, I'd thought, is that really necessary? But now I could understand.
I understood why government-authorized adventurers roamed the Great Wilds even at the risk of danger.
How could anyone stay still after seeing a captivating sight like this?
Absolutely impossible to resist.
"Human."
"Yes?"
"What is it about my lovely daughter that you like?"
"What I like about her? Well..."
How she was usually timid but became fierier than anyone when angered. Her benevolent personality that always thought of me. Her smile. Kor's charms were endless.
When I explained my thoughts to Fenrir just as they were, he looked displeased at first, but then his lips soon twitched into a smirk.
From a father's perspective, there was probably nothing more pleasant than having his daughter praised and bragged about.
"So it isn't just empty flattery."
"One hundred percent. Those words came from the bottom of my heart."
"And it isn't that you're trying to use my daughter?"
"Since we're in a companion relationship, there are countless times I receive help from her, but I never have any intention of using her."
"Is that so..."
When I spoke seriously, telling him there wasn't a single lie in my words, Fenrir began to think deeply about something.
Then, soon after, as if he had made a decision, he looked up at the moon and quietly opened his mouth.
"Human, have you ever heard about her mother from my daughter?"
"Are you talking about Kor's mother?"
"Yes."
"No, I've never heard about her."
"As I thought..."
"If you don't mind my asking, could you tell me about her mother? I'm curious."
While her father had such an immature personality, Kor was a diligent and honest wolf.
That meant she had a high probability of taking after her mother. So I couldn't help but be curious.
But when I saw Fenrir's expression turn bitter, I realized something was wrong.
"My beloved wife died giving birth to twin wolves..."
"Ah!! I-I'm sorry! I'm truly sorry!!"
I screwed up!
My thoughtlessness had led me to commit the mistake of dredging up Fenrir's painful memories.
I should have deduced it beforehand, remembering that I hadn't seen any sign of a mother during the festival...!
How could I make such a blunder...!!
I had committed an act so tactless that Fenrir tearing me to death right then and there would have been well-deserved.
"Forget it. I was the one who brought it up first. It can happen."
"Huh...? A-Are you forgiving me?"
"Forgiveness or not, like I said earlier, if I harm you I'll be hated by my daughter. So I can't."
"So you consider family your top priority."
"Yes. My two children, and the wolves living here as well, are all my precious family I can't give up on."
I felt a sense of kinship with Fenrir's words. Because I was the same as him.
My parents, my little sister, and my companion animals. They were my reason for living, beings more precious to me than anything in the world and utterly irreplaceable.
So I could understand Fenrir's feelings well.
"Human, do you know about what happened 600 years ago?"
"By 600 years ago, do you mean the incident where you tried to exterminate us humans?"
"You know it well."
"It's quite a famous historical event. In fact, if you had rampaged just a little more, I wouldn't have even been born."
"Now that you say that, I regret it. I should have torn things up a bit more."
What a garbage personality...
"Anyway, do the humans know why I did what I did back then?"
"No. There were many speculations floating around, but no clear reason had ever been confirmed. The most plausible one was that someone stole your food and angered you."
"Puhahahaha!! It's true I'm a big eater, but to rage just because my food was taken...! Pfft!! It's so ridiculous I can't stop laughing."
"Then for what reason were you so furious?"
"Well, to explain it simply, the humans of that time had tried to harm my precious daughter."
"What? Humans tried to... Kor?"
"But it wasn't solely the humans' fault. The primary blame lies with my young daughter for going all the way into the region where humans live. But I'd been distraught over losing my wife, and when I thought I was about to lose my precious daughter too, I went mad."
"So that's why you rampaged, trying to annihilate humanity?"
"Yes. Looking back now, it was a really stupid thing to do. Because of it, I was said to have broken the Divine Beast Rules, and had a restriction placed on me that I must not exert direct influence on any ecosystem for a thousand years."
"A whole thousand years... Is that alright?"
"I'm a Divine Beast from an older generation that's lived since ancient times. A penalty of this degree is only natural."
Sure enough, it was known that Fenrir's whereabouts had become untraceable after the incident 600 years ago.
Even adventurers who roamed the Great Wilds couldn't obtain any information on him; he was in a state of complete disappearance.
No one would ever have guessed that such secrets were hidden within that.
But if all these stories were true, then why...
"Why are you revealing these facts to me?"
"Why do you think? If something happens to my daughter, I might not be able to help her. So it means you should be the one to step up first and help."
"In other words, that means...!!"
"That doesn't mean I'm acknowledging you. Don't get your hopes up already!"
Fenrir lightly pressed down on my head with his broad front paw.
Unable to actually harm me, he was showing restraint in this mild, roundabout way.
To be honest, the squishy paw pad against my scalp felt strangely good.
Perhaps my thoughts had shown on my face, because Fenrir looked at me, sighed deeply, and shook his head.
"Good grief. She is my daughter, but I truly don't understand what's so good about a human like you that she follows you around."
"Ahaha..."
"Anyway, the story ends here. Now go back and sleep. Humans aren't nocturnal, are they?"
"No."
I rose from my spot and took a step to head back to where Kor was.
In that fleeting moment as I passed by Fenrir.
Within that short span of time, Fenrir whispered to me, conveying one critical fact and a question about it.
A story that made me turn even paler than all the conversation I'd shared with him up to now.
I was flustered by the suddenness of it, but I calmly began to organize my thoughts.
Once I had finished organizing them, I placed my clenched right fist over my heart.
And then...
"I swear it."
I showed my resolve in response to the question Fenrir had thrown at me, then left the spot once more.
"I entrust her to you."
The pitiable voice of the father wolf reached me as I turned my back to him.
Even if he was an immature, personality-garbage wolf with the worst naming sense, a father was still a father after all.