The Wolf King's Invitation to the Pack
The orc archers, hidden in cover, drew back their bowstrings taut.
Narinhoon kept a calm expression as he watched his men. Leah, trembling in fear, shrank behind the massive body of Narinhoon.
“I’m going to die. I’m going to die.”
Her frightened whimper was licked softly by the puppies nestled in her pouch.
“Come on, Dad. Hahng.”
“Shut your mouth, woman.”
Heru… heuung.
Narinhoon shook his head.
He did not raise his arms above his head, nor did he drop his weapons. He made no attempt to surrender.
That was what it meant: he was not harmless.
A word that did not suit an orc at all.
Especially not Narinhoon, the Blue Wolf Orc.
He still wore his weapons, stood tall on two feet, and was ready to draw his blade at any moment.
The remark was absurd, and the tension in the air grew even tighter.
It was a situation on the verge of explosion.
An orc burst out laughing at the top of his lungs.
Confidence overflowed in the powerful voice. He was the leader of the group.
Narinhoon was certain of it.
*
After the leader had him alone, Narinhoon handed Leah over to another orc and went to meet him himself.
“You’ve come.”
The man was bold. He sat there calmly even with an unknown invader before him.
“Is this how they suppress the enemy?”
Narinhoon sat in the same relaxed posture.
The leader of the orc hunting party looked at Narinhoon and said,
“You brought slaves.”
“That’s right.”
The leader stared at Narinhoon so intensely it felt uncomfortable and took a huge bite of the smoked meat he held.
He then offered it to Narinhoon.
Narinhoon did not refuse. He bit into the meat, leaving clear teeth marks, and ate it without ceremony.
It was orc-style dining etiquette.
Very different from the way a wolf would share food mouth to mouth.
The leader had shared the food, and Narinhoon had received it with proper respect.
“Did you bring him along just to sell him?”
“Of course. Where else would I find a use for him?”
Narinhoon almost laughed mockingly.
“Why so serious? I may not be skilled at hunting, but I’m not useless for the menial work.”
“I acknowledge your skill, but I can’t tolerate the noise. As for being useful, my brothers are better.”
“Brothers” referred to the werewolves.
Narinhoon took a large bite of the meat.
The leader did not accept the meat. While observing Narinhoon carefully, he continued speaking.
“We have some slaves of our own. Winter is almost over, so the merchants from the desert will arrive soon. We plan to sell them all at once.”
“Good.”
“One of them speaks with a lisp. He seems quite skilled. He’ll fetch a good price.”
Kong.
Narinhoon slammed the hard piece of meat onto the ground.
“I wish we could get to the main point.”
“Hah.”
Narinhoon respected the leader’s authority. Wolves were animals sensitive to hierarchy, and Narinhoon was no different.
But the leader was not yet his leader.
Outside his own group, every other orc was merely a rival.
The leader narrowed his eyes like a beast and stared at Narinhoon without blinking.
Narinhoon did not look away either.
The eyes had almost no whites—exactly like the eyes a wolf used when hunting.
A thick, heavy tension filled the air.
Neither side moved first.
Each felt the refined martial power of the other. The side that claimed the first strike would win, but…
Perhaps.
The one who made the first mistake would lose his life.
Both orcs knew the other was not an easy opponent.
Right in the middle of this sticky, dangerous standoff, the leader opened his mouth.
“Do you wish to join our group?”
“I do. Seeing you aim arrows so precisely, your group seems well-trained.”
The leader nodded.
“A fine hunter like you has no reason not to join. Judging by the long fangs hanging from your mouth, you’ve lived quite a long time despite your young face.”
“I don’t hunt actively.”
“Hmph. How confident. I’m curious about your hunting skill.”
At those words, the corner of Narinhoon’s mouth lifted, revealing his gums and sharp teeth.
“I’m ready to hunt right now. How about it? Let me test you once.”
It was the laugh of a wild beast.
*
The pitiful slaves were eyeing Leah.
Their eyes were tired and hollow. Being stared at by such empty eyes was far from pleasant.
Leah trembled, shaking. The oppressive silence created by those vacant eyes was so discomforting that she moved to a corner of the space.
There was already another guest there.
A man who stood completely alone, separate from everyone else.
He looked quite clean compared to the others, and most importantly, his eyes were not hollow.
A strong will and survival instinct radiated from him.
That was exactly why she felt safer.
Leah sat at a little distance from him.
“……”
The man was not paying her any attention. He stared at the ground.
It had been a long time since Leah had met a human. She spoke to him.
“You’re from the Empire, aren’t you?”
“……”
The man gave no answer. Thinking he might not understand Imperial, she asked again.
“You’re not from the Empire?”
“Надтай бүү ярь.”
Leah’s face went blank at the strange foreign words she could not understand.
“…A foreigner? That doesn’t seem right.”
Normally she would have stopped talking if he were a foreigner.
Leah felt a little suspicious of him.
Somewhat suspicious. It was as if he had heard her words but deliberately pretended not to understand.
And his eyes were deliberately looking somewhere else.
It felt…
Exactly like the way those soldiers in the Imperial Capital had reacted when she spoke to them.
A cold, dismissive attitude toward women.
“…If you don’t want to speak, that’s fine.”
Of course, if he did not understand her language, there was no reason for her to keep talking.
Leah sat in a way that felt too bold, thinking of the puppies the orcs had taken from her, when a long shadow fell from the entrance.
“Narinhoon?”
It was Narinhoon. Leah stood up and went to him.
The two had not yet managed to have a proper conversation. Compared to the beginning, it was much better, but…
It was still like this.
“Where are we going? You’re not selling me, are you?”
[I don’t know what you’re saying. Take this instead.] “Woman.”
“That damned woman talk.”
A few usable words had been added.
The word he used most these days was “woman.”
“Shouldn’t I have told you it’s miss instead of woman?”
The thing Narinhoon handed her was a young werewolf puppy.
“Ah, it’s Spotted.”
Spotted. The one she had named.
Leah had almost been raising him just to soothe her lonely heart. It seemed the puppy had missed her embrace too.
Watching Leah and Spotted comfort each other, Narinhoon shook his head.
Leah did not hear Narinhoon’s words. It was the attitude of a woman who had held fast to her faith even under Imperial persecution.
When Narinhoon turned to leave, Leah asked,
“Where are we going?”
Narinhoon understood the question more from instinct than from the words.
“Hunting.”
Narinhoon said only that and left.
“……”
Leah stroked Spotted a few times before gently setting the puppy down beside her.
Leah knelt in a dignified posture.
Unusual for her.
There was no crude monster here shouting at her, so she prayed.
A prayer for blood.
Having traveled with Narinhoon, she had learned he was an extraordinary man.
He was strong, and he craved blood.
She did not know why a hunter of his caliber would want to hunt even after joining a group.
But now that a young wolf had formed a pack, much blood would flow across the prairie.
She prayed for that blood.
“From those blue riders who bring death.”
But,
“Protect us, our powerless ones.”
*
“Aaaah!”
A painful scream rang out.
One orc rider galloped toward the screaming man and trampled him down. The man flew into the air.
The human body was meaningless before the pure physical power of the orcs.
Another orc threw a lasso. It was quite accurate. The rope wrapped around the woman’s neck.
When the orc jerked the reins hard, the woman was yanked to the ground with a sharp pull.
Narinhoon stood in the middle of the chaos.
Why? Because he was not riding. The man wielding a spear charged forward with great momentum.
“You damn battle hounds—!”
[Did you think you could look down on me?]
Narinhoon nocked another arrow.
The man did not stop even though he saw the bow. Was he betting on luck? Or did he believe Narinhoon would make a mistake?
Narinhoon looked at the tip of the spear. Maybe it was the tip that would take his life.
Tung.
“Ugh.”
The man who had charged forward with force stopped, spear already piercing his neck. He looked at Narinhoon in disbelief.
Just like the men who had died from arrows.
Narinhoon turned his gaze away from the fallen man.
“Come here!”
The orcs had surrounded another man. He had already been hit by several arrows, yet he continued to resist with fierce determination.
He was an outstanding warrior among humans.
—A bloodlust stirred within him.
Watching the man fight with bloodshot eyes, the corner of Narinhoon’s mouth lifted.
Narinhoon had not realized it himself. His mouth watered unconsciously.
Narinhoon picked up the spear of the man who had been killed by an arrow.
Crossing the blue circle made by the orc rider, Narinhoon stepped onto the battlefield of the man.
[Narinhoon?]
The leader shouted. Narinhoon did not even look at him and answered,
[It looks stagnant.]
—I have formed a pack. The opponent is exhausted.
He persuaded himself.
—What I am charging forward is not a trivial fighting spirit, but the sense of responsibility of a hunter who wants to finish the hunt.
Narinhoon raised his spear and charged forward.
—So this is hunting.
“Come here—!”
Narinhoon swung his spear. The man’s spear was pushed back by Narinhoon’s astonishing strength. Narinhoon did not miss the chance.
He dug deep into the distance. The bloodshot eyes and the eyes of a beast met in the air.
Narinhoon opened his jaw wide.
Shiver. The man trembled as he grabbed at Narinhoon’s neck. Narinhoon rolled his eyes wide open.
—If I am overwhelming, then this is hunting.
The man rolled his eyes back and collapsed. Narinhoon spat out blood as he finished the hunt.
He stood alone.
Even the other orcs found it hard to approach him easily.
Among them, only the leader came forward.
He patted Narinhoon’s shoulder and said,
[You’re no ordinary person. Wolf hunter.]
It meant Narinhoon, who wore long fangs around his neck.
[Now I want to ask a favor of you. Join the group.]
—Let us bleed together, brother.
The leader said so.
And Narinhoon answered,
[Gladly.]
With blood still in his mouth.