The Black Wolf
It was a simple thing to say, but it was right. Going after a beast that could maul a man half to death was no job for a hunter—that was work for mercenaries or knights.
There was no aura in this world, no inner cultivation, and magic was a rare sight—and yet monsters existed all the same.
A monster was nothing more than a beast so strong that men could not face it alone.
When one appeared, people called for mercenaries or knights. Johan had wondered how anyone managed to fight creatures several times stronger than an ordinary beast without so much as a gun, but by every story that filtered down to him, apparently there were ways.
Well, there's always a way.
Back when guns didn't exist, men had brought down lions with nothing but spears. The people of this world were no different.
"Let's go."
"Yes, my lord. I'll take the lead."
Joseph was one of the very few people in the village permitted to enter the forest. Anyone else caught inside faced harsh punishment—but Joseph could go in and hunt as he pleased.
In exchange, he kept others out of the woods, guided Sir Gesen whenever the man felt like a hunt, and, were war ever to break out, he was expected to fight as a soldier.
Joseph had no intention of honoring that last obligation. If war came, he planned to pack his belongings and run. He hadn't fled all this way just to end his life as a meat shield for some noble's arrows.
What a strange noble this one is.
Joseph pushed through the forest, thinking about the young man trailing behind him. This was not the first time he'd hunted with Johan.
"Are you the hunter Joseph? I'd like to follow along on a hunt."
"My apologies, Lord Johan."
The first time Johan had approached him, Joseph had bowed low and clicked his tongue. Sir Gesen had far too many sons, so requests to serve as a hunting attendant came constantly, from one boy after another.
Of course, he couldn't grant them all. Strictly speaking, only Sir Gesen had the authority to make such requests—his sons had no such right.
Fortunately, Joseph had an excuse ready.
"A proper noble hunt requires soldiers to accompany the party, and I have no authority to command any of them, you see..."
A noble going hunting was nothing like a hunter walking into the woods with a bow on his shoulder.
The noble's attendants came along, and soldiers came along to guard the attendants. It wasn't the traditional business of tracking an animal through the brush so much as a grand affair where beaters drove the game toward the line.
And the cost, naturally, was staggering. Even nobles couldn't do it casually—and for the Eitz family, who were hardly rich, it was unthinkable. Worse, the sons of the Eitz family had no authority to make such a decision in the first place.
Joseph had expected Johan to grumble and give up. He'd braced himself for cursing, maybe a spat at his feet.
Just don't hit me.
But the answer that came back was not what he'd expected at all.
"No. I'm not talking about a hunt with soldiers and beaters. I mean a hunter's hunt. I want to follow along on the hunt you do, Joseph."
...?!
Joseph had been stunned. Then horrified.
Absurd. Utterly absurd.
A noble's son wanting to tag along on a hunter's hunt? He'd be bored within hours—that was certain. And if the boy did something reckless and got himself hurt...
But he couldn't refuse. If he turned him down here, even the even-tempered Johan would surely lose his temper.
"Don't worry. I won't complain after begging to come along. Even if I get hurt, I won't hold you responsible."
"Wh-what are you saying, my lord?"
Caught having his thoughts read, Joseph flushed. He'd made the mistake of dismissing the boy as a soft, spoiled child like Gesen's other sons. Johan was sharper than he looked.
And so, with a heavy heart, Joseph had taken him hunting. Before long, he'd been forced to concede one thing:
Johan had not been lying.
The boy had astonishing patience for a noble. He complained not at all and obeyed the instructions of a lowborn hunter, waited when he was told to wait, and camped out in the cold night dew without a word of protest.
The worries he'd started with had long since evaporated. And in their place, curiosity had taken root. What on earth was this young noble thinking, wanting to learn a hunter's craft?
Any knight would have snorted at the notion, but a hunter's skills were no easy thing to master. And Joseph's skills, in particular, were anything but.
Reading the tracks of animals. Moving quickly and silently through the forest. Setting traps matched to the habits of specific game. Choosing campsites that kept away predators and insects alike.
There was a reason hunters were snapped up as scouts the moment war broke out.
But no matter how he turned it over, these were simply not skills meant for nobles to learn.
"Joseph. What's on your mind?"
"Ah—yes! My apologies, my lord."
Joseph started violently and shook his head. Letting his mind wander in the forest—shallow as they were, these woods were no place for such carelessness.
"Is this a footprint?"
"Yes, my lord. You found it beautifully. Truly, it's a skill worthy of a noble—not just anyone could do it. The weather's hardly made tracking easy today, and yet you found one anyway. That's Lord Johan for you. The gods clearly recognize your worth and lend you their aid."
"...Right."
Johan nodded with a sour look on his face. Flattery smeared so thick you could taste it.
Does anyone actually enjoy hearing that garbage?
But Joseph couldn't help himself. Plenty of nobles flew into a rage if you didn't grovel like that.
"So we set the trap right here?"
"No, my lord."
Find the beast's tracks, and lay your trap along the trail they lead to. That was the very first thing Joseph had taught him.
"Why not?"
"Look closely, my lord. The prints are dug in deeper than a blue-spotted deer usually leaves. It's a pregnant doe, without question. A doe—and a pregnant one at that—is more skittish than usual. Trap a creature like this carelessly, and you may come up empty."
Johan nodded. For a boy who had spent his whole life in cities, every one of Joseph's lessons struck home.
"Then what do we do?"
"We have to fool its nose, so we'll use this herb powder. The blend is..."
"Red rice-grass, akenen wood, and lesser demon weed. Correct?"
"...Yes, my lord. That's right. You remembered it all."
Experienced, seasoned hunters knew the herbalist's trade as well. A hunter who could blend common herbs into remedies of every kind earned real respect in the village.
And Joseph was a hunter among hunters.
"Scatter this powder around and the deer's sense of smell will be dulled. It'll grow confused and disoriented. However skittish it is, it won't notice the trap. You may set it now, my lord."
Several attempts in, Johan's hands had grown sure. He carved a stake from a branch with practiced strokes, rigged the spear, and threaded through the elastic cord. The moment the trip line was touched, the spear would fly and punch through a deer's body.
"Well done. Now let's set a few more."
No hunter relied on a single trap. And Joseph, for his part, rarely went after deer at all. Take too many deer-like animals, and the lord might find reason to take issue with you.
What Joseph hunted was mostly rabbits and weasels, foxes and birds. He could take wolves too, if he truly wanted to, but he almost never did. Unless one came near the village and attacked a person, there was no reason to.
"Joseph."
"Yes?"
"What is that wolf?"
"...?!"
Joseph whirled his head around. Far away, between the dense trunks of the trees, a single black wolf was staring straight at him.
What the—?!
This was not wolf territory. To reach the packs' range, you had to press a full day deeper into the forest. And there had been no sign of wolves coming this way. No tracks, no droppings, none of their distinctive claw marks. Nothing.
A stray! That's a stray wolf!
Joseph realized at once that this was no wolf the forest had ever shown before. Fur so black it seemed to gleam, and a body twice the size of any wolf he'd ever seen.
Don't tell me... a monster...!
Among the great beasts, there were those born with exceptional size and strength who fought and survived their whole lives, growing stronger still. Such creatures moved and behaved nothing like ordinary beasts. Even veteran hunters wanted nothing to do with these exceptions—the monsters.
"Lord Johan. Do not make a sudden move. None at all!"
"I know."
Johan showed nothing on his face, but he understood exactly how dangerous the situation was. If Joseph was this rattled, the wolf had to be an enemy they hadn't planned for.
And the presence rolling off the thing was no joke. Even Johan, who had never laid eyes on a monster before, found himself thinking, Is that what a monster looks like?
I do have a sword...
As a knight's son, Johan had been given a longsword of his own. A bit old and nothing much to look at, but in a village like this it counted as a proper weapon.
The problem was that Johan had no real idea how to use it!
He honestly felt he'd have better odds throwing the thing aside and fighting bare-fisted.
"Slowly, my lord... back away. Don't provoke it."
As he spoke, Joseph slipped a pouch of beast-repelling powder between his fingers, then raised his bow and nocked an arrow to the string.
Please...
He was confident in his archery—but not against that. Joseph prayed the thing would simply not follow.
"!"
The wolf turned sharply and vanished into the dark of the woods. Joseph let out a long, shaking breath.
"We need to get out of here—now!"
Out of the forest at last, Joseph spoke between ragged breaths.
"That thing was a monster, no question about it. I'll have to tell everyone to stay clear of the woods for a while. Of all the luck—to run into a black wolf of all things..."
Among hunters, a black wolf was an ill omen. Johan watched him go, thinking.
So much for going into the woods to learn for a while.
Joseph was a good teacher. Perhaps because of the difference in station, he'd answered every question Johan asked, one by one. If any of the village boys had asked the same, he wouldn't have gotten the time of day.
But he couldn't drag a terrified man back into the forest at spearpoint. It would be dangerous for Johan too.
"Understood. You've been through a lot today."
"Not at all, my lord. It's you who deserves the praise—keeping your head like that, Lord Johan."
"Yes, yes. I heard you. Get some rest, and come find me once the wolf's gone."
After sending Joseph off, Johan sat down on the low hill in front of the village. For the time being, he was stuck doing his training near the village, unable to go anywhere at all.
Grrrrk—
"?!"
Johan jolted. Someone had settled beneath a tree where, until moments ago, he'd been sitting entirely alone.
Who the hell? A beggar?
One look told him the man wasn't from the village. A shabby bundle of belongings tossed at his side, a thick, threadbare cloak wrapped around him as he slept—clearly a vagrant.
The village serfs didn't dare treat Johan carelessly; a drifting vagrant he could have kicked into the road without a second thought. But Johan didn't.
That's not the only spot with shade.
He moved instead, shifting to another tree. Then he began his exercise. Muscle after muscle drew taut, and the tree groaned faintly under the strain.
"Interesting work you've got there, young man. You'd be Sir Gesen's son, I take it?"
"?"
Johan stopped mid-exercise and turned his head. The old vagrant had risen at some point and was watching him.
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