The Full Moon's Werewolf Legion

Yeonhee seemed to be preparing for something as she climbed onto the shoulder of the now-giant Deonni and scanned the surroundings. "Yeonsu unnie said she'd raise the wall height, and it's already done."

There were no tall buildings nearby, so the chance of being spotted by the naked eye was low. Moreover, the faint mana enveloping the wall looked strong enough to block basic magic. It must have been the work of a hunter with the Architect trait. Still, I focused my senses just to be sure and swept the area, confirming that even the woman named Miyeon who had watched us yesterday was nowhere in sight.

Is the monitoring on a schedule? They might only keep tabs on us during the evening hours.

It's fine. There's no one around. (He says there is no one nearby, Master.)

Lan now relayed my words to Yeonhee without me needing to speak, and she answered with a slightly excited expression.

"It's clear? Then shall we start cracking them open? The summon scrolls have piled up so much that I really need to start using them."

Ooh… is it gacha time? I wonder how many blue summon scrolls we’ve stacked up.

"Don’t be surprised. Ta-da—!!"

Yeonhee’s eyes sparkled as she began pulling scrolls from her clothes. An endless stream of mysterious blue-glowing summon scrolls flowed out.

One per level, plus the Great Calamity subjugation reward… this is still way too many.

"First, nine from leveling up. Then two more as a reward because my follower, Mr. Cha Jin-hyeok, achieved meaningful growth. And…"

Cha Jin-hyeok…? So he finally woke up. Meaningful growth… did he awaken while recovering?

Anyway, it was a truly enviable ability. Getting rewards whenever someone who followed you grew stronger? Even thinking about it again, it’s ridiculous… But if I had that power, I could make full use of the women around me. Is that too greedy?

My greed truly knew no limits.

Besides Cha Jin-hyeok, what else did you get them from?

Yet Yeonhee suddenly twisted her body, unable to finish her sentence.

Hmm? Why did she stop? How on earth did she get so many for the rest?

"The ones I received from… doing that with you that day… came to five scrolls…"

"…… Clack?"

To think our first time had earned her a full five summon scrolls. I was so stunned I couldn’t make a sound. Not that I could speak in the first place.

Just like the rewards I gained from purging turbid energy, Yeonhee must have received something too. It probably wasn’t only summon scrolls, right?

Since I had gained all sorts of things, she might have awakened other abilities as well.

"A-and Ilwol! After that day, the rate my mana increases has grown a lot. Also, also… there was something else… Oh! My recovery speed has gotten faster too!"

"Clack clack clack!"

As expected.

In the end, every mana-related ability had risen across the board. I didn’t know the exact numbers, but Yeonhee’s reaction suggested a massive jump.

"And the biggest reward of all came from defeating the Great Calamity yesterday…"

Yeonhee glanced around before whispering softly.

"Thanks to you luckily finishing off the Great Calamity, we received twenty scrolls."

"Clack clack clack?!"

Twenty?! Even for a Great Calamity, isn’t that completely insane?

The number of scrolls Yeonhee would normally need twenty level-ups to earn, all at once? The reward scale was truly staggering.

"But it really was you, right, Ilwol? The message clearly said you killed it… I still can’t believe it. The guild master… no, Jo Giman had nearly finished it off, yet the marks you stacked triggered and luckily severed the Great Calamity’s last breath, right?"

……Hmm?

Yeonhee’s reaction felt off. I hadn’t explained the five-stack effect of Flame Explosion, but I thought the message would have made it obvious.

Perhaps… that cognitive distortion only applied to Jo Giman?

She clearly wasn’t perceiving the situation correctly.

Hmm… I’ll have to explain this properly later.

Anyway, Yeonhee fell into thought once more.

"To use Forming, it’s better to lock one summon in quickly. If either an orc or a werewolf appears, I’ll fix it right away."

"Clack clack!"

I agreed completely.

Yeonhee began chanting the opening spell for all thirty-six blue summon scrolls. What felt different this time was the way the other summons had formed a circle around her, watching with great interest. No, they displayed something closer to reverence.

Being surrounded by summons like this feels strangely surreal.

Woooong—

A short while later, the result of the first scroll was completely unexpected.

"……?"

"Wow… on the first try? No way."

The werewolf we had wanted so badly had appeared—the monster said to be the strongest that could be encountered in C-grade dungeons.

Well over two meters tall, with muscles packed as solidly as a warrior who had trained to the limit. Lethal claws and talons curved like hooks. Jaws powerful enough to bite and shred anything. Slightly bent knees and thighs that looked ready to explode with speed at any moment.

Every single part of its body felt like the result of relentless effort to create a perfect living creature.

Yet what excited us even more was something else entirely.

After glancing around, it stepped in front of Yeonhee.

"M-Master… it is an honor to meet you…"

Hmm?

"Oh my god?! It’s talking?!"

It was the first summon to speak since Lan had appeared.

Now that I think about it… it’s a full moon.

Though faint in the daylight, a perfectly round silver orb floated in the distant sky. The passive trait of werewolf-type monsters that let them reclaim their ego once a month was active.

Since one of the summons we wanted had appeared as planned, it was time to lock ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the probability. Yet both Yeonhee and I scratched our heads and chins, lost in thought.

Why is my luck exploding right from the start? Could today actually be my day? If so, I can’t pass up the chance to aim for the real jackpot.

Seeming to share my thoughts, Yeonhee patted the scrolls and tapped her forehead.

"M-maybe we shouldn’t lock it yet and open just one more?"

"Clack clack!"

"Hehe, good."

Yeonhee told the werewolf to wait, then prepared the next summon. The one that answered our high expectations was, unfortunately, a face we had already seen.

"Awooooooo──!"

"Ah! Bigfang, you! You weren’t supposed to come out now!"

"Whine…"

It was a direwolf. The two we already had immediately raised their heads and joined in the howling.

"J-just one more time…"

Convinced it really was her lucky day, Yeonhee continued with two more summons.

However.

"…No way, right?"

Out of all those summons, the result ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was two direwolves in a row. Yeonhee had somehow collected a total of five big, adorable direwolves!

"Awooooo──!"

"…I guess it’s not my day… I must have used up all my luck at the beginning, sob…"

Yeonhee hugged the five direwolves huddled together howling and sniffled. In truth, direwolves would keep appearing and had plenty of potential, so it wasn’t necessarily bad. But after encountering unique monsters like Geomryong, our standards for a jackpot had risen so high that the disappointment was unavoidable.

Yeonhee decided not to test her luck any further. She locked the probability on werewolves and burned through the remaining thirty-two ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠scrolls in succession.

The result was thirty-one werewolves and one were-raven. The already-summoned Blackbird seemed delighted to meet its kin, rubbing wings together in greeting.

Once the summoning ended, the mansion’s rather spacious front yard was packed with burly werewolves. They all stood calmly, surveyed their surroundings, then approached Yeonhee, knelt, and clearly declared who their master was.

Thank goodness it’s a full moon. Otherwise they’d be nothing but lunatics.

On any other day, they might have immediately picked fights with the orcs and lizardmen watching them, turning the yard into a battlefield.

"Werewolves really are on another level. Deonni and No. 1, you don’t need to be so nervous. You’re all friends, right?"

Though Yeonhee spoke as if encouraging the summons to get along, the No. 1 brothers were clearly on guard against the werewolves.

Neither fully human nor monster. Beings that belong nowhere.

Those found in C-grade dungeons couldn’t even transform into human form under the full moon, making them essentially inferior even among werewolf types.

I felt a strange kinship with them, and at the same time, a touch of melancholy.

I want to change my form as I wish…

The moon’s children, the werewolves, who could transform according to their needs. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Those at the pinnacle of A-grade dungeons could supposedly change shape at will. I wanted to become like them.

Whenever a new type of summon appeared, Yeonhee would always ponder one particular thing.

"I need to give them cute names!"

"Clack?!"

"Hmmm… how about Kingpup? It means king-sized cute puppy—"

"…… Master?!"

When Yeonhee offered the unexpected name, the first werewolf asked back in visible panic. The fear of becoming Puppy Number One was written all over his face.

Even I think that’s a bit much… please pick something else.

"Huh? Isn’t Kingpup cute? It feels warm and friendly. Hmm… then Kingwolf! Meaning king-sized cute wolf—"

She really can’t let go of the “king” prefix.

The name had grown even worse, so the thirty-two werewolves stared at me with restless, pitiful eyes. They seemed to have instinctively realized I was the leader of the summons and were silently pleading for help.

…How about we just go with Lycan?

When I offered the textbook option out of pity, Yeonhee shook her head in dissatisfaction and fell back into thought.

"Mmm… fine. Let’s go with Lakan. How’s that?"

She just removed one letter…

Yet the werewolf unit nodded vigorously, as if even that was a tremendous relief.

"Hehe~ I wonder what will come out when I combine the werewolves with Forming~"

Yeonhee began the process of merging the thirty-two werewolves. Because they were high-grade, it would apparently take two full days just to prepare the fusion.

It’s definitely going to be incredibly strong. Come to think of it, a single being carrying the power of thirty-two werewolves would make a perfect bodyguard, wouldn’t it?

At the very least, it should be able to buy time until I returned from a summons. Of course, if a monster like Jo Giman showed up, that would be another story.

While I finished organizing the remaining moving boxes with those thoughts, yesterday’s events suddenly came to mind and I told Yeonhee about them.

"What?! Are the people from Ilsum actually insane?"

Yeonhee was so shocked she made a huge fuss for a long while.

"This won’t do. I need to speak with Arin right away."

…Isn’t this just an excuse to chat?

Lately Yeonhee had been enjoying her time with Arin more and more. She needed to drop the formal speech soon if they were going to get closer, but since both of them were bad at making friends, things weren’t progressing.

After wrapping up the moving preparations, we headed toward our meeting place with Arin.