Chapter 159 – The Silver Wolf Dog On A Moonlit Night

“Uu, I wonder if it’s going to be alright?”

As the cold, early winter breeze blew through the moonlit road, the red-haired mage embraced the sleepy little fox tighter as she voiced out her worries.

“Hn? It’s probably at a level we can manage.”

“U~n, I’m sure the “Gold”-ranked Adventurers Edgar and Grace who were in the bar earlier will be fine, but… Urgh, I don’t want to get badly hurt, so I’ll probably just sneak out in a corner…”

Ahh. Come to think of it, the archer in their group sustained quite an injury from the Valley Ants.

A lot of time has passed since we ate with them at the guild’s adjoining tavern, so they’ve probably returned to their inn called the “Lost Lamb’s Pavilion”.

… It has a great name, but it seems too good to be true that such an inn would lend rooms to Novice Adventurers who don’t have any money to pay rent in advance. It’s a guild-subsidized inn for novices, and any Adventurer above the “Silver” rank cannot stay there.

As I was thinking how much more protective and nurturing an Adventurer’s Guild was compared to a Mercenary Agency since they actively made an effort to support and to train these young people, we came to a stop in the middle of a fork road.

“Your inn is that way, isn’t it? I’ll walk you home.”

It was unsafe for a woman to walk alone at night even if she were a Mage, so I beat her to it and offered to walk her home, but as I tried to enter an alleyway from the street corner, Muriel pulled at the hem of my coat.

“U~, I told you I wanted to ask you a lot of things so I’ll visit your room, didn’t I?”

“I know, but… It’s pretty late, you know.”

In the middle of our conversation, Muriel’s voice unconsciously became shrill just like earlier when the chamberlain had teased her.

“Geez. You’re staying at the “Four-Leaf Clover Pavillion”, aren’t you?”

Since she was familiar with the area, she started walking and made her way through the familiar streets.

(Well, I guess it’s fine…)

I lightly scratched my head and followed her through the deserted streets at night and went into what she described as a fairly expensive inn which was three blocks from the Adventurer’s guild.

As soon as we arrived in town, my sister and I rented a room for two which was located at the end of the third floor from the stairs. As soon as I opened the door, the little fox jumped out of Muriel’s arms and ran inside.

“Kyuu~~~♪” (Ya~~~♪)

As she made happy noises, my little sister threw her small body to the bed, undid her disguise, and turned back into a fox-mixed Kobold.

“It’s still fascinating no matter how many times I see it.”

Me too. Meanwhile, my sister who made it a point not to stay up late rubbed her body against the sheets and promptly fell asleep after marking it with her scent.

“… Wait, who’s going to clean up those fur-covered sheets?”

Tired, I pulled out a chair from the corner of the room and offered it to Muriel. But the moment I sat down on the bed adjacent to my sister’s, Muriel curiously leaned forward.

“Hey Archer, I want you to show me your original form.”

“Well, it’s no problem, but…”

In the first place, I didn’t even like maintaining this appearance unless it’s necessary since my senses are repressed whenever I am in human form, so I agreed easily. While taking a deep breath, I gradually undo the humanization and accept the changes to my body, muscle structure, and growing body hair…

“A-amazing, I-I have to write this down!”

The self-proclaimed, Biologist Mage reached into her leather satchel and pulled out some fibrous flax paper, a quill, and ink… While she was doing this, I adjusted the position of the tail hole on my trousers and turned back into a wolf-mixed Kobold clad in my usual clothes and leather armor.

“Ohhh~, change back to human again…”

It was easier said than done, and although I have gotten used to changing into a human, the discomfort I felt during transformation was still there. I removed the Mithril mask hanging from the special belt Smith made, put it on, and talked to her through it.

“Garuruuh!” [No!]

“You won’t change even if I ask nicely?”

“Uruuo gauoua.” [It’s too uncomfortable.]

“I-is that so? Oh, but I still have to ask you for details…”

As her reddish eyes which matched her hair color sparkled with curiosity, Muriel thoroughly asked me about a lot of things with a quill in one hand. After a while, she wore a satisfied look on her face as she stopped writing.

“I’m sorry for asking you about a lot of things.”

“Woaao.” [Don’t mind it.]

“For someone so blunt, you’re pretty good at taking care of others, aren’t you?”

“Voru ooou.” [Whatever.]

In my previous life, a fellow mercenary also told me the same thing once, so it might be possible that the essence of an individual remains the same even though I’ve turned into a Werewolf. After sharing an awkward smile, we talked about each other’s recent situations for a while.

“… But still, rather than a dog man, you’re more like a werewolf.”

“Garuu, guruaan?” [I knew it. So you see it that way too?]

“Hang on, let me check.”

Muriel stood up from her chair, took my hands, and nodded after examining my paws. She then proceeded to take my cheeks between her hands and examined my jaw muscles and fangs and continued to feel the shape of my skull.

“Ummm, definitely a wolf… I guess you’re more like a pseudo-Kobold now?”

(Kuh, what a mean thing to say.)

Upon noticing my disapproving expression, she hurriedly continued,

“B-but silver wolves are so rare that you might just be like the Werewolf Hero Beowulf!”

“Kuruaaofuaan?” [Never heard of that before.]

“Umm, I’m talking about the murderous Werewolf King Venom who appears in a fairytale. Although he was considered a villain, the Werewolves regarded him as their hero, and it seems his real name was Beowulf.”

I know about the murderous Werewolf King, but since that guy is considered a villain in a story, it doesn’t feel like I’m being praised…

(He is considered a Hero among the Werewolves though.)

After letting out a small sigh, I got up from the bed and opened the window to check the time by checking the position of the moon while taking in the cool, night breeze.

“Gau, guuoavaruo… Waruuoo.” [Now then, I guess it’s about time… I’ll send you home.]

“Yes, please, HYAU!?”

I quickly wrapped my arm around Muriel’s waist and picked her up. I then used Wind Magic to wrap both of my legs in whirlwinds as I leaned out the window to check our surroundings and leaped out!

“Kyaaaaah, w-wait, Archer!!”

Ignoring her screams, I descended to the main street and immediately went into the alleyway and alternately kicked the left and right walls of the narrow passageway until I jumped onto the roof and we were bathed in moonlight.

“Garuu, oaruauuruh!!” [Hah, it’s such a nice full moon tonight!!]

“Uuh, this, this is too sudden… Ukyaaah!”

Perhaps scared of the floating feeling she felt when they descended from the window, Muriel clung tightly onto Archer as the silver-haired wolf-dog ran through the roofs under the moonlight while instinctively aiming for the inn called the “Lost Lamb Pavilion”.

Thus, two days have passed since the night that some city residents heard a girl’s screams and a wolf’s distant howls, and armed people gathered at the city square to defeat the Valley Ants who attacked the village of Grau.