Rumors Are Never Worth Believing (3)
Never break eye contact. Step back slowly. Whatever you do, do not turn your back and run. It was probably the single tactic that offered the highest chance of survival when facing most wild beasts. And so Wolfgang carried out every step with flawless precision, without the slightest deviation.
The boy stood roughly 160 centimeters tall, his hair the color of lavender. A pure, innocent smile graced his lips, as white and untouched as fresh snow. His soft features and long hair that brushed against his back made him look, at first glance, less like a boy and more like a girl. That alone proved just how beautiful he truly was.
But one must never be fooled by that beauty. A single mistake could result in being devoured. And not in some metaphorical sense—quite literally.
Wolfgang stared straight into Jackal’s purple eyes, refusing to look away, trying to read the true intent hidden within them. No matter how long she gazed, though, she couldn’t decipher his meaning at all.
“Where the hell did that ridiculous rumor even come from?”
“You don’t know? I heard it started at some banquet.”
“Ugh, another piece of nonsense cooked up by those vain nobles.”
Wolfgang stubbed out the cigarette she’d been smoking in the ashtray and clicked her tongue. There was no denying it—the rumors nobles invented went far beyond mere fiction. They were practically acts of creation. Turning an ordinary country girl into a witch was child’s play. The idea that a grieving widow was secretly a villainess had become such a staple that it might as well be considered a cliché.
But this rumor was different. Whoever had spread it clearly harbored something closer to hatred than mere malice.
The Empire maintained friendly—or at least neutral—relations with nearly every nation on the continent. There was, however, one glaring exception: the Mines Kingdom. The phrase “bitter enemies” didn’t even begin to cover it. The reason was easy enough to find in history.
Neighboring countries rarely got along. In modern terms, one might compare it to France and Britain, or Korea and Japan. National sentiment and countless other factors played a role, but the Empire had once been plundered by the Kingdom. Back then, the Empire’s superior national strength had prevented the Kingdom from moving troops recklessly against them. What changed everything was the Winter War.
When the curse known as the End of Winter descended, the Empire could no longer commit its full military strength against the Kingdom. For the Kingdom, it was the perfect opportunity—like a cat slipping into a fish shop with no owner. They immediately raised an army and began invading imperial territory. If not for the mediation and checks from other nations, the Empire would have lost more than half its land. So how could there possibly be any goodwill between them?
And yet the rumor claimed the banished villainess was none other than a princess of that very Kingdom.
Whoever started this rumor must really have it out for me.
Even as she calmly assessed the rumor, Wolfgang couldn’t bring herself to deny it outright. Unfortunately, she lacked the one weapon that could instantly shut down baseless gossip: the truth.
After all, she was nothing more than a possessor.
Even the name “Wolfgang Leonhardt” had been chosen as the most masculine option available. In truth, she knew absolutely nothing about the body she had possessed. And that was where the real problem began.
Right now, standing before her was a predator wearing human skin. One wrong move and those sharp fangs would sink straight into her throat. So the question she needed to ask was…
“Why are you telling me this worthless piece of nonsense?”
She dismissed the rumor he’d brought as nonsense while simultaneously probing his true motive for doing so. There were people like that—hypocrites who pretended to worry, pretended to care, all while mocking others behind a mask of sincerity. One didn’t need to hear the rumor directly to know it; the person involved always heard it first. Wolfgang was pointing exactly that out.
Of course, she had never actually heard the rumor before. But there was no need to reveal that weakness.
Faced with her firm attitude, Jackal pulled back his fangs with surprising obedience.
“I have a good idea.”
“What is it?”
“Let’s destroy the Kingdom.”
Fuck.
Just bite my throat instead, why don’t you.
Having casually dropped a bomb, Jackal continued smiling. The sight sent chills down even Wolfgang’s spine.
Destroying a country wasn’t easy. That much was true. But the boy in front of her possessed enough power to say such a thing without batting an eye. In other words, he wasn’t joking.
He was like a living nuclear warhead. If managed perfectly, there would be no problem. But the slightest mishandling would bring irreversible consequences. And somehow, she was the one in charge of this warhead.
Fuck. I wish everyone would just disappear.
A sudden wave of exhaustion crashed over her eyes and mind, but she refused to ignore her duty. Though her motivation was selfish—purely for her own safety—she therefore upheld her responsibilities more strictly than anyone.
If war breaks out, I’ll be the one suffering the most, damn it!!
She might have phrased it grandly, but in the end it simply meant that since she was the one responsible, she had to do the work.
I cannot forgive them.
Though a smile remained on his face, inside he was burning to ash. How dare they insult the Captain without even knowing who they were dealing with. If it were up to him, he would tear them all apart.
“In the end, the ones spreading rumors about the Captain are either imperial nobles or people from the Kingdom… and the Captain told us not to touch the imperial nobles, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Then the only option left is to destroy the Kingdom. Don’t you think?”
Yes. It was the Captain’s order.
Even a monster that surpassed mere beasts obeyed its master’s words without question. Therefore, the answer the boy arrived at was, inevitably, the destruction of the Kingdom. If the Kingdom—the main backdrop of the rumor—disappeared, such gossip would no longer circulate.
However, what Jackal received in response to his hopeful question was not agreement, but a light flick to the forehead.
It wasn’t particularly strong—just enough to make a soft, dull sound. A rather cute little chestnut flick.
Jackal stared at his master with a dazed expression. The woman with white hair and an eyepatch covering one eye let out a sigh before answering.
“Jackal, I know you’re worried about me. But we can’t start a war over every single stupid rumor.”
“Why not?”
“The Winter War only ended less than a year ago. The Empire needs rest. And more importantly… we might lose all of you.”
Lose us? As if. Every single one of them is a monster I personally selected.
Of course, Wolfgang didn’t actually think that. She was simply following basic personnel management—after cracking the whip, one must offer a carrot. The effect, however, far exceeded her expectations.
Worried… That’s right. The Captain has always worried about us…
It was a truly mysterious and strange feeling. Someone worrying about a monster capable of destroying an entire nation. It felt like being wrapped in something soft and warm.
Yes. The one who had saved him from that hell was none other than the Captain.
In the past, Jackal had been an orphan in a village taken over by a cult. The cult worshipped Wendigos as gods and preached the insane doctrine that becoming a Wendigo was salvation. The problem was that quite a few people genuinely believed it. Perhaps they sought to overcome fear by worshipping it and becoming fear itself.
Regardless, as a village orphan, Jackal had been the perfect sacrifice for the ritual to become a Wendigo. No one in the village had any reason to protect him.
However, despite the grandiose name of “ritual,” what they did was brutally simple. They placed the Wendigo’s face skin over the boy like a mask, locked him in a cave, and gave him neither food nor water.
Well, to be precise, they had provided sustenance. In the form of living humans.
The boy had been forced to remain trapped in a cave where not a single ray of sunlight reached until human flesh became his food and blood became his water.
The person who had saved that boy was the Captain.
“Let’s make a deal. I’ll regularly supply you with death row inmates and other heinous criminals as your meals.”
“……What do you want?”
“It’s simple. Help me end this damned winter.”
To become a hero instead of a monster.
A monster who should never have been allowed to step into the outside world. Yet the Captain had reached out a hand to him. Had given him a place to return to. That was why he had chosen the Captain as his master.
“……Understood. If that’s what the Captain wants.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“Instead, spar with me later.”
“So that’s how it is. Well, I suppose I can manage that.”
“Yay!!”
Feeling his master relax at the sight of his outward joy, Jackal smiled. At least on the surface.
But the moment he left the Captain’s office, his eyes turned ice-cold.
I’ll let it go for now. But if anyone causes even the slightest harm to my master…
I won’t hold back.
I need to investigate the rumor in detail. And prepare for the possibility that it might be true.
Meanwhile, Wolfgang herself was busy worrying over the rumor from every angle.