Chapter 3: Message (3)
Thinking back, there was nothing special initially about the wolf.
No matter how well-treated, she was just a common member of the Langin tribe.
Evaluating the reality of that time, she was merely a young wolf who had barely escaped from a slaver, not even considered a proper member of the Langin tribe.
Was that all?
Despite escaping from the slaver, the young wolf had nowhere to return to.
The reason she was captured by the slaver in the first place was because her parents abandoned her for being timid and lacking the instincts expected of a beastfolk.
Thus, the only choice left for the girl was wandering in hunger.
Naturally, for a young wolf who hadnt learned the basics of hunting from her parents, wandering was nothing but hardship.
There were days without food, and sometimes she had to evade slavers hunting her.
Thus, the young wolf grew increasingly weary.
As time passed, the number of years she had to endure hunger increased, and the relentless pursuit of slavers mentally pressured her.
At one point, she even contemplated death.
The prolonged hunger and mental pressure from slavers were too much for her to bear.
However, as those thoughts became more concrete, she met a man.
The man, who introduced himself as the Lord of this territory, wanted to recruit the young wolf.
Naturally, she was wary of such a man.
Having met too many slavers, the young wolf could not simply believe his words.
Yet, surprisingly, the mans words were true.
He was indeed the Lord of this still-small territory she had entered, and he recruited her with a contract fee that was somewhat generous for a young wolf.
Desperate for a place to return to, she accepted his offer, but even then, her doubts about the man did not dispel, who was now her Lord.
As a young wolf, she could not fathom why the man had recruited her.
The Lord said he would use her as a combatant, but she knew the money given to her could have recruited a more capable beastfolk or soldier.
However, the distrust and doubt that filled the young wolf began to slowly disappear at some point.
The Lord taught her how to fight.
He invited beastfolk to teach her about beastfolk combat.
He had her subdue a single goblin.
Naturally, the young wolf knew this was consideration on the Lords part.
Goblins, while troublesome in groups, were weak enough that even a commoner could defeat one with a weapon.
In short, having her subdue a few goblins was of no help from the Lords perspective.
Yet, the Lord had her subdue goblins for a very long time.
He did not scold the young wolf for getting injured by mere goblins.
He simply treated her with expensive potions, encouraging her, Youll do better in the future.
It was the same afterward.
She improved her skills by subduing goblins, which were of no particular help to the Lord.
Each time, the Lord lavished praise on the young wolf for accomplishing tasks even a commoner could do, taking good care of her.
Over time, thanks to the Lords care, the young wolf grew to the point where she could single-handedly subdue a goblin tribe that posed a significant threat to the territory.
That day, unable to contain herself, the young wolf asked the man, who was overjoyed and praising her for subduing the goblin tribe.
My Lord, why are you doing so much for me?
That question stemmed from her curiosity about the Lord, who had made an illogical choice to take her in as his servant from the moment she met him.
I wanted you to be by my side.
With those words, the young wolf realized.
That she truly had a place to return to.
That she had found a small piece of happiness.
From that point on, the young wolf began to grow even more.
From a certain moment, she had grown to such an extent that the adjective young no longer applied to her, becoming one of the top warriors in the entire territory.
The territory, which was small when she was recruited, had grown so much over time that it could now be called a kingdom rather than a territory.
The wolf felt pride in all of it.
She thought that this territory was something she and the Lord had built together, and the Lord was pleased as the territory developed further.
Therefore, she welcomed all the changes happening in the territory.
Except for one thing: the increasing number of other heroes around the Lord.
Of course, she knew that as the territory grew larger, it was inevitable that other heroes would appear around him.
Neither the Lord alone could cover this vast territory, nor could she alone defend this now vast territory by herself.
The wolf did not welcome the heroes that multiplied around the Lord as the territory expanded.
That seemed to be the reason.
Why she uncharacteristically threw a tantrum.
But with just one tantrum, she received a gift.
Objectively, the gift that the Lord gave to the wolf wasnt anything remarkable.
What she received was just a small pair of earrings.
Yet, she was happy.
She was overjoyed that the Lord had given her a gift, and it felt like it signified that she was different from the other heroes attached to him.
The wolf wished to be someone special to the Lord.
However, that joy was short-lived, and her expectations were soon shattered.
The reason was that the Lord began giving gifts to the other heroes, just as he had done for the wolf.
The wolf felt jealous.
She felt as though she was being dragged down to the same level as the other heroes, despite believing she had become someone special to the Lord.
Of course, she understood in her mind that this was not the case, but at some point, the wolf started to frequently show her disappointment to the Lord.
To receive more gifts than the other heroes.
Because she wanted to be even that little bit more special to the Lord.
That was the root of the problem.
What was not supposed to be normal, started to become so.
From a certain point, the heroes started to demand more than just gifts from the Lord.
The wolf was no different.
Even when the Lord looked troubled, the wolf threw tantrums.
Despite his troubles, as she saw the Lord taking care of her, she felt that she was being recognized as someone special to him.
And time passed.
The Lord refused to give gifts.
He refused to show favor. He refused to show intimacy.
It was not just to the wolf. That included all the other heroes as well.
She and the other heroes expressed their displeasure. It might even have been a manifestation of anxiousness.
However, despite that
He no longer said anything to the heroes, as if there was no longer any need to do so.
Not long after, the Lord left.
He disappeared.
The wolf, including the heroes, initially expressed their frustration with all their might despite the Lords departure.
When the Lord did not return for over a week, the heroes finally realized that something was wrong.
They probably felt a faint sense of guilt around that time.
Perhaps thinking it would be best to apologize first if he returned, wondering if they had made things too difficult for him.
The wolf thought so too, but the Lord who had disappeared then did not return once.
Continuously.
On and on.
A month passed.
Three months passed.
Even until half a year had passed.
The Lord did not return.
Only then did the wolf wonder if she had crossed a great river that she could not return from.
Naturally, she clenched her teeth and denied it.
No, it cant be, she muttered habitually, staring blankly at the territory without its Lord for another year.
The wolf, having finally shaken off her twisted senses and base desires, realized she had made an irreversible mistake and fell into self-loathing and despair as she looked at the territory.
The territory she had built with the Lord was on the path to decline after his disappearance.
The walls, after numerous invasions, had already crumbled, and the territorys population was scattering even at this moment.
The wolf did what she could.
She stopped the invading enemies.
She eliminated the enemies that appeared around the territory.
That was all she could do.
The territory continued to decline.
Buildings were destroyed, and the walls disappeared.
The people left, and the land became desolate.
To protect the memories she had built with the lord-
-Just in case, to preserve a place for the Lord to return, she did her best.
In the third year after the Lord had left.
The territory had completely lost its original form.
What remained was a bit of ruin and the Lords castle, nearly completely destroyed.
Nothing else remained.
Even the training ground the Lord had built for her to train in.
Even the house he had built for her.
Everything had disappeared.
No more memories of the Lord remained here.
Nor did a place for the Lord to return to remain.
When she realized that, no more tears flowed from the wolfs eyes.
She just looked at the empty territory with hollow eyes.
Silently screaming at herself for her stupidity and dullness, for having thrown something so precious away.
Thus, in the fourth year.
The wolf, who had been sitting on the roof of the Lords castle, stood up and left the territory, where nothing remained.
To create a place for the Lord to return.
Of course, she understood painfully that the Lord would not return.
She knew that the water she had spilled could not be gathered back.
Yet, the reason the wolf moved was a kind of self-hypnosis.
It felt like something would go wrong if she didnt do at least this much.
So, the wolf who left the territory created a foothold for her Lord to return to in the way she could best do.
She fought and fought, creating a crude community.
Compared to the territory the Lord had created, it was a very crude community, but that did not matter much to the wolf.
After all, she was just self-hypnotizing.
Creating a place to return to was just holding on to the hope that perhaps he might come back.
It had already been six years.
The crudely made community of the wolf had grown into a rather decent one.
Listening to the appointed Four Kings ramble on, it seemed her community had become famous in the area, known by everyone.
The growth of the community brought her no joy.
Instead, she felt her emotions dulling as more time passed.
As the years went by, the hastily made light of hope slowly extinguished, leaving only embers.
As a result, she recently felt increasingly listless, spending much of her time sleeping.
Ironically, when she slept, she would sometimes dream about him.
Dreams of the Lord, whose face was now blurry and hard for her to recall properly.
That was why she was trying to force herself to sleep again today.
Until a letter fell onto her head just a moment ago.
And.
Ah.
Inside that letter, an unbelievable content until she read it.
Her lips parted slightly, then closed again, repeatedly.
The hand holding the letter trembled.
To anyone looking, a clear fragment of emotion was seen from the wolf.
Her eyes moved restlessly from side to side, repeatedly reading the single sentence written on a small card inside the letter.
Your Lord has returned.
The words, which seemed utterly unrealistic to her.
However
She stood up.
The wolf did not know where this letter had come from.
Nor did she know who wrote it or who had sent it.
But the content written within was such a heartwarming story for the wolf, just thinking about it.
She decided to find out.
Whether the contents of this letter were true or not.
And then.
Crackling-!
As the wolfs feet dug into the hard rocky mountain floor.
With a loud
Crash!
Breaking through the rocky mountain, the wolf leaped.
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