Chapter 29: 29. Diamond horned wolves
From the start, Kai was confused: why could wolves omnivore? They should eat meat like other wolves. He knew monsters were different from animals or humans, but seeing that there were some—even many—edible monsters in this world... made Kai think they were just like animals.
But it turned out that wasn’t the case.
Even if they were edible, there were certain times when they couldn’t be eaten.
Like right now.
The status of an approaching monster automatically contained information, such as their level, what magic they possessed, or whether they were edible.
That status only appears once the monster is at least thirty or twenty meters away.
And the information from the status Kai saw using his detection ability was shocking.
Kai hadn’t even had a chance to tell Keith, but the figure of the diamond-horned wolf was already approaching rapidly. They were closing in on Kai and Keith, in a dire state.
The pack of diamond-horned wolves didn’t look like wolves at all. They had human-like bodies, with animal ears and tails, not to mention the horns on their heads that glistened in the light of Lunez.
Right now, their status showed they were inedible. Previously, when they were more than fifty meters away, they had an "edible" status, but that was the only information visible.
Now, it was clear why these diamond-horned wolves were becoming increasingly rare. They must be hiding deep in the forest, afraid of being hunted and exploited by humans again. Not to mention if other monsters stronger than them were to attack.
"He...lp..." muttered one of them, who looked like the father of all the diamond-horned wolf cubs, since the other diamond-horned wolves appeared to be kids or teenagers.
They were all severely injured, as if they had just been attacked by another monster.
"I’ll heal all of you," said Kai. He approached the pack of wolves with slow, careful steps so they wouldn’t be afraid of him.
Keith, for his part, stood frozen in place, his face frozen in shock. He had never imagined that diamond-horned wolves were monsters capable of shifting into human-like forms—or even speaking.
How could people in the past have said they could eat them?
"Leave me; you can treat those children... they need it more than I do. In return, I’ll give you my horn—" said the older male wolf, but the young wolf who looked like a girl immediately interrupted him.
"No, Father! Giving away your horn in this condition will kill you!"
"My daughter, I don’t mind as long as you and your friends can live well... they seem like good people."
The wolf girl said nothing; she just cried loudly.
For some reason, Kai could feel their pain.
"I won’t ask for anything in return; I’ll treat you all now."
Kai treated the diamond-horned wolves one by one, starting with the most severely injured, then moving on to those with lighter wounds.
After they were all healed, Kai felt utterly exhausted, as if all the energy in his body had been drained.
"Young Master!" Keith quickly caught Kai before he fainted right there. Then he lifted Kai and placed him onto a horse-drawn carriage.
"In return, we’ll work for you, because we don’t want to be helped without giving anything back at all," said the wolf man.
Keith nodded, "Of course, you can stay at our place and help my young master, Kaileon Arslan."
Hearing the name Arslan, for some reason the group of diamond-horned wolves looked very happy.
"Arslan... that means he’s a good person, right? Arslan is the name of the person who made us a hideout in the forest decades ago. Herriete Arslan, is she still alive, sir?" asked the wolf man.
Keith fell silent, then smiled faintly and shook his head, "Let’s talk more at our place; you can go up to the carriage and watch over our young master there."
The two teenagers and two wolf kids entered the tent, making sure Kai didn’t fall. Meanwhile, the wolf man sat next to Keith, who was leading the horse.
***
[Your magical energy has been restored! But the system recommends that you drink some red ginger tea to restore your physical condition]
Kai slowly opened his eyes. He was in his room, and it seemed to be morning.
The young man sat up. His body felt light and healthy at that moment. However, the system prompted him to drink some red ginger tea to warm his body.
So Kai got out of bed. Barefoot, he walked over to his bedroom window and threw it wide open.
The cool morning air rushed in, feeling quite chilly and damp—it seemed the rain had just stopped.
"What happened to me, Sisi?" Kai asked his system.
[You fainted from expending too much magical energy.]
[The wounds inflicted by the diamond-horned wolves were no ordinary wounds; there were toxins present within them, forcing you to expend more magical energy. However, your magical energy recovers faster than that of other creatures.]
[Other creatures in this world typically require about two or three days to recover]
Kai had also heard this from Keith—that it takes at least two days to fully recover depleted magical energy. Keith himself probably didn’t expect Kai to faint after healing. Because Keith didn’t know there were toxins in the diamond-horned wolves’ wounds.
No wonder Kai’s body felt clean, and his clothes had already been changed into something comfortable. Keith must have cleaned him up last night.
Kai stepped out of his room and summoned Nini, the cat robot tasked with cleaning the entire house. With Nini around, the housework became much easier. Peoni was in charge of cooking, baking, and assisting Keith with some tasks. Meanwhile, Lily took care of the laying hens, the vegetables, and feeding the caged monsters.
Speaking of monsters, they were all in the backyard of the pavilion. Locked up in a large, comfortable, and sturdy cage. The firebirds and stonebirds were all eating grains or fruits. Sometimes animals from the forest would also come to ask Lily for food, such as swans, squirrels, and small birds.
When Kai peeked out the window, he saw Lily happily feeding the forest animals, along with a girl from the diamond-horned wolves.
Seeing the wolf girl, Kai remembered that he had to make a health drink for himself.
In the kitchen, Peoni and a young wolf boy were already chopping carrots.
"Oh, young master? How come you’re already awake?" Peoni exclaimed after seeing Kai enter the kitchen.
The wolf boy also looked very surprised; it was the first time he’d seen someone recover their energy that quickly.
"I’m going to make a drink to restore my energy, Peoni. Do you guys want some too?" Kai asked, with a beaming expression.
"Wait a moment, I’ll go get Keith first, young master," said Peoni.
Kai shook his head, "No need to panic, I’ll go see him myself after making the drink. Oh, by the way, what’s your name?"
The young wolf boy he was talking to looked very nervous; he shook Kai’s hand.
"My name is Jo, I’m 13 years old. Nice to meet you, young master Kaileon," said Jo politely, leaving Kai and Peoni in awe.
For a wolf who had spent years in the forest, that was truly impressive. Even nobles weren’t as polite as Jo.
Kai then prepared his drink. He boiled slices of red ginger, lemongrass, and turmeric, then added pure honey. Even back on Earth, he often made this when he felt tired.
The warm sensation and the aroma of the spices made him feel relaxed on that cold morning.
Peoni and Jo tried it too, and they both loved it.
So, Peoni asked Kai to plant ginger, lemongrass, and turmeric in the garden beside their house.
Kai agreed right away, since he needed to learn how to grow them anyway. If he succeeded, he’d ask the villagers to plant them too, since they were all very useful kitchen spices.
"By the way, at our house deep in the forest, we have many jars of honey stored away, young master. Perhaps you’d like some," said Jo.
Hearing this, Kai was intrigued. "Oh really? You have honey?"
Jo nodded and replied, "We usually befriend honeybee monsters—they’re different from regular honeybees; these honeybee monsters are much larger and live in tall, massive trees. Since we grow many tall flowers in our yard to hide our house, the honeybee monsters are willing to cooperate. They give us their honey, and we provide flowers for them."
Kai cleared his throat briefly, then stood up, lifting the glasses of hot drinks to pass them around.
"I’m going to meet Keith now—do you know where he is?" Kai asked.
Jo nodded, "Keith and Uncle Jean are on the side porch."
Kai nodded and carried the tray of drinks over.
When Kai arrived, everyone was just as surprised as Peoni and Jo had been earlier.
"Young master, you’re awake? How is that possible?" Keith exclaimed excitedly.
