The Wolf Cub in His Arms
The next day dawned. In just one night, his stamina stat had risen by a full ten points. Thanks to that, the campsite chores felt noticeably lighter than the day before, but Ian felt no joy at all. His mind was completely occupied by the image of the silver-haired child he'd encountered the previous night.
Just what kind of circumstances could make a child that young wander alone through these harsh mountains?
Ian moved mechanically, carrying a heavy worry in his chest as if a massive boulder had been placed there. He mechanically shoveled down the hearty meal Maren brought him without even tasting it, simply enduring the day's tasks.
Of course, he had no intention of telling anyone about the child's existence. At a glance, the boy clearly carried a deep story, and Ian's instincts told him that revealing it carelessly might expose that fragile life to even greater danger. The problem was that he couldn't simply pretend not to know and turn a blind eye.
Once again, night fell over the elegant campsite that had displayed such refined beauty.
Ian fidgeted nervously with his fingertips, waiting for all the campers to fall asleep. Finally, when he confirmed that no more red auroras were shooting into the sky, he hurriedly grabbed a water bottle and a carefully prepared food basket before running toward the forest where he'd found the child.
The moment he reached the forest entrance, Ian immediately activated his Detection skill. Because he didn't even know the child's exact name and could only rely on appearance and race, the golden circle's light was fainter than usual. He could sense the general direction where the child was, but it wasn't precise enough to pinpoint the exact location.
With no other choice, Ian also activated his Positive Aurora skill, spreading its influence in all directions as he called out softly.
"Little one, I've brought a food basket and cool water! Aren't you thirsty or hungry?"
When there was no response, he called out several more times while pacing back and forth in the direction where the child seemed to be.
Then, at one point, a faint rustling sound came from the bushes on the left. Ian flinched and carefully turned his gaze toward the thicket.
"Little one, you don't have to tell me everything. I just thought you might be really hungry."
Even though there was no wind, the bushes swayed slightly, and through the gap, the child's mysterious silver eyes appeared faintly. They were still filled with sharp wariness, but thankfully, the terrible fear that had seemed to consume his entire body yesterday was no longer present. It seemed the Positive Aurora skill was slowly knocking on the tightly closed door of the child's heart.
To draw out the skill's effect even more, Ian introduced himself to the child. He also rattled on endlessly about how much he'd suffered working as an errand boy at the campsite, how his legs had nearly given out from running around chasing the constantly exploding red signals, and more. When he ran out of things to say, he even started rambling about how wonderful the city of Gelian where he lived was.
The longer Ian's meaningless chatter continued, the more the tension gradually drained from the child's eyes beyond the bushes, and his wariness began to fade. However, the child never fully revealed himself from the thicket. Ian instinctively sensed that it was time to withdraw.
"I'll leave the water and food here, so make sure to eat it all! I'll come back tomorrow night."
Even as Ian left, he kept glancing back. But until the basket disappeared from view, the forest simply held its quiet presence.
The next morning, the moment Ian opened his eyes, he sensed that an even more brutal day awaited him. The small group of campers who had stayed for just one day had left like the tide receding, only to be replaced by a large group that had rented the entire center of the campsite.
As soon as they arrived, they began firing red auroras into the sky nonstop, making the whole campsite shake.
"Ian! Bring ten more boxes of firewood to the center!" "Ian! We're short on grills for the meat here!"
With Maren's near-screaming shouts and the guests' demands coming from all directions, Ian felt like he was losing his mind. Every thirty minutes or so, he crossed the birch forest carrying heavy loads of firewood and ingredients, jumping over the artificial stream dozens of times.
By afternoon, a bitter taste rose in his mouth. His thighs, which had been supporting the heavy loads, began trembling against his will. Sweat stung his eyes, but he didn't even have time to wipe it away with his sleeve. He was literally being worked to the bone, body and soul.
Yet something strange was happening. Even as his body screamed and his mind grew distant, Ian's thoughts remained frozen like a still image, showing only the silver-haired child.
...I wonder if that kid ate all the food I gave him yesterday?
While carrying the grills, he worried whether the child might have grown even weaker from not eating. While stacking firewood, he tried to imagine how that small body had endured the cold night in the forest. The trembling of those delicate ears he'd seen yesterday hurt his heart more than his own shaking legs. They said hard work clears away idle thoughts, but for Ian, this brutal labor was instead becoming fuel that etched his worry for the child even more clearly into his mind.
"Ian! Snap out of it! Signal from tent number five!" "Ah, yes! I'm coming, I'm coming!"
Ian soothed his heart that felt ready to burst and started moving his feet again. He desperately hoped to quickly finish this mountain of work so that darkness would fall, allowing him to run back to that secretive thicket once more.
The fateful third night arrived. The large group that had eaten and played while wringing every last drop from Ian's soul until late in the evening finally fell silent as the blazing torches were extinguished all at once in the deep of night.
Even the ever-energetic Maren approached him with exhaustion written all over her face.
"Ian, you've really worked hard today! Here's a late-night snack and your wages for the past few days. Go rest properly in your tent from now on. I'll handle the remaining cleanup." "Yes, Miss Maren. You've worked really hard too." "Ahaha! I'm used to this kind of work, so I'm fine. Still, it's nice to hear such words from a handsome young man!"
Maren gently patted Ian's slumped shoulders before hurrying off toward the food storage with busy steps. The moment her presence completely disappeared, Ian moved his feet busily as if he'd never been tired. All he could think about was quickly bringing warm food and water to the child who must have gone hungry all day.
The secret thicket he found once again. Surprisingly, the child was still in the exact same spot as yesterday. The food basket and water bottle he'd left the day before were thankfully emptied completely to the bottom. Ian quickly activated Positive Aurora, then whispered with a bright smile.
At the praise-filled greeting, the silver eyes visible through the bushes trembled slightly. It was a raw reaction, as if the child had no idea why he should receive such words of praise.
In that moment, Ian instinctively understood the harsh path the child must have walked. For children raised within warm protective fences, words like "you ate well" would be as natural and common as breathing. But to this child, even that small acknowledgment seemed to sound like the language of a foreign stranger.
It's not just that he lost his parents... maybe he ran away from somewhere too difficult to endure?
A corner of his chest tightened painfully, but Ian forced a smile and sat down heavily beneath the tree trunk. Then, in a voice low enough not to break the night's silence, he shared his story once again.
"You know, my dream is actually really simple?" "......" "After becoming a proper errand boy and saving money, my first dream is to get my own small studio. But honestly, even that feels really grand to me. I saw the real estate listings while walking around the residential area, and a single room with a kitchen and bathroom costs a whopping 3,000 gold! It seems like I'd have to work like crazy for a whole year."
From beyond the bushes came the sound of the child tilting his head with a rustle. Encouraged by that small reaction, Ian chuckled and continued.
"Curious about my second dream? Once I get the studio, I'll work even harder and move to a bigger house! This is a secret just for you, but originally, people from Korea consider 'getting their own house' the ultimate goal in life."
He let out a small laugh at his own joke, but the child simply continued to watch him quietly with those mysterious eyes.
Low voices mingled softly in the chilly night air. However, Ian's eyelids had grown as heavy as lead, his stamina now down to 2. In the end, while waiting for the child's response, Ian leaned against the tree and fell deeply into the swamp of sleep.
How much time had passed? The veil of night had lifted at some point, and the blue dawn light was mysteriously coloring the forest's breath.
Ian, who had been sleeping with shallow snores while uncomfortably leaning against the tree trunk, woke with a start at the cold dawn air. He blinked slowly, trying to gather his senses while rubbing his stiff neck, when he felt a pleasant, heavy warmth against his stomach and thighs. He lowered his gaze.
In that instant, a silent smile spread across Ian's lips.
There was a tiny wolf cub, small enough to remind him of the kitten Ella. The child must have come out of the bushes at some point; he had his head nestled firmly against Ian's chest, sleeping deeply with the most peaceful expression in the world.
The fact that the child who had been so wary of him had shared warmth with him throughout the night caused something hot to surge up from the bottom of Ian's heart. He held his breath, afraid of waking the child, and carefully lifted him with gentle hands. Then he laid the child in the now-empty and lightened basket, carefully covering him with a cloth to create a cozy cradle.
Ian's steps as he held the basket preciously in his arms and headed toward the tent were lighter than ever before. Since he'd already received the commission fee from Maren the day before, all that remained was to pack his things and head straight back to the "Dream Shelter" inn.
As Ian walked along the forest path shrouded in morning mist, brilliant morning sunlight poured down behind him. In his heart, without him even realizing it, excitement and anticipation for welcoming a new family bloomed like soft, delicate haze.