Chapter 9
Rennel observed the monstrous wolf in front of her. Similar to the description given by the village chief of Fahl, the monstrous wolf is really big. It was about 5 times bigger, possibly more in comparison to that of a regular wolf.
As Rennel observed the monster, the monstrous wolf was also observing her with its huge glowing green eyes.
Despite observing her though, the creature stood ready to attack at any moment judging by how it growls threateningly at her. Its thick black fur standing at its end makes the monster looks bigger than it should.
Still, Rennel was not intimidated by the wolf at all. Instead of taking a step back, the girl actually strode forward with her spear ‘nameless’ clutched on her hand.
Seeing the girl walking towards it without fear, the wolf let out a louder growl as if telling Rennel stop. Rennel did eventually stop about 15 feet away from the creature but not because the monster’s intimidation worked on her.
The reason she stop was due to her teacher’s earlier advice to communicate with the creature. Although she was secretly looking forward to duking it out with the monstrous wolf, Rennel was not so battle hungry that she’ll ignore her teacher’s words.
Looking up, Rennel stared at the monster’s eyes, “Hello!” She greeted.
“Can you speak? Do you understand human language?”
Rennel asked the monstrous wolf some questions after noticing that the wolf was slightly startled after greeting it earlier.
Although majority of monsters couldn’t speak the human language, some species could. And even if the species of monsters couldn’t naturally speak the human language, there would always be some exceptions especially if said monster was highly intelligent.
Judging by how monstrous wolf avoided the detection of the villagers, and how it only targeted livestock despite being able to come and go as he likes in the village of Fahl; it was easy to see that the creature was very cunning and highly intelligent.
As such, there’s a chance that it knows how to converse in human language.
“It seemed to be able to understand me but… I wonder if it could speak.” While wondering if she could converse with the monstrous wolf, Rennel was also observing the creature intently. After all it’s still a monster and could attack her at any moments.
Seeing the human girl not attacking it, the monstrous wolf stared at Rennel with its glowing eyes. Although the human in front of it was a lot smaller than it; the monstrous wolf could feel great danger from it. After contemplating for a while, the creature finally spoke: “I can.” It said.
“Great, it can really speak!” Hearing the creature speak, Rennel let out a sigh of relief. “It’s good that we could actually understand each other,” she thought
“What do you want from me, human?” The monstrous wolf asked in voice that’s neither male nor female.
Just from the voice of the creature alone, Rennel could not tell if the monstrous wolf was male or female. “I wonder what the creature gender is.” Rennel thought to herself.
“You’re thinking of unnecessary thought again. Focus on the matters at hand.” Chaos scolded the girl through their telepathic link.
“Hehehe….”
Feeling slightly embarrassed, Rennel completely throw the matter of the monstrous wolf gender at the back of her mind.
“My name is Rennel. I’m an adventurer from the town of Alchur.” The girl introduced herself. “I was sent her to subjugate you.”
Rennel did not try to hide the reason for seeking out the monstrous wolf and told the creature her original purpose in a straightforward manner.”
The monstrous wolf was surprised by Rennel’s honesty and slightly lowered her vigilance towards the human girl.
“I have no name. But those who had encountered me in the past called me black wolf, or simply Black.”
As if reciprocating the girl’s honesty, the monstrous wolf also introduced itself and even told the girl what the other humans called it in the past – most likely in an attempt to make the conversation a lot easier for the both of them.
Rennel raised an eyebrow after hearing what the monstrous wolf call itself, and could not help but give a comment. “Black? Such simple name… But at least it’s a name that’s easy to understand. Besides, it actually fit it considering the color of its fur.” She thought to herself.
“Black was it? Black, can you tell me if you’re the one who had been attacking the livestock enclosures in the village of Fahl?”
Although it was already obvious that the monstrous wolf was the one responsible for stealing the livestock of the villagers of Fahl, Rennel still wanted to make sure. As such, she asked the question.
The monstrous wolf, Black did not try to deflect or deny the accusation and gave a straightforward answer.
“If you’re referring to the village at the foot of the mountain, then yes, it was I who did it.” Black replied.
“As expected…”
Having received the creature’s confession, Rennel did not dwell on it and asked the next question. “Why did you do it?” Rennel asked.
“I have no choice. I needed a quick source of sustenance and it just happened that the villagers’ livestock were there for the picking. Hunting requires a lot of time and energy, something I do not have so I just choose the easiest method.” Black answered honestly.
“Wow… It didn’t even try to give an excuse. Does it not have pride or is it just honest to a fault?”
Rennel was slightly taken aback by the monstrous wolf’s honest answer. She thought that the monster would try to at least make excuses to justify its action of snatching livestock from the villagers but to her surprise, the monstrous wolf revealed everything!
“Ask the creature the reason why it was in a desperate need for sustenance to the point that it would willingly eat its pride and put itself in danger by barging into human territory. Chaos told Rennel the next question to ask telepathically. “The root of the problem should be there.”
Right!
Following her teacher’s instruction, Rennel asked the Black why it urgently needed a quick source of sustenance.
Hearing the girl’s question, hesitation finally appeared on the monstrous wolf’s eyes. “…I can’t tell you that.” It said after staying quiet for almost a minute.
“What? But why? How am I supposed to justify your actions without proper reasons?” Rennel quickly asked back after being denied.
“There’s no need! Leave human! You’re no longer welcome here!”
Much to Rennel’s surprise, the monstrous wolf Black suddenly turned aggressive and ordered the girl to leave its lair. Moreover, from the monstrous wolf’s aggressive stance, it’s easy to see that it would not be taking ‘no’ for an answer.
“What’s going on? We were having such a good conversation earlier, so why did Black suddenly turn aggressive? It’s so sudden I couldn’t make sense of it.” Troubled look appeared on the girl’s beautiful face. Black’s sudden change of attitude confuses her.
“Aha! I see, so that’s what happened...” Chaos suddenly blurted out.
Surprise by her teacher’s sudden outburst, Rennel could not help but towards chaos and asked loudly. “Did you discover something, teacher?” She asked.
The monstrous wolf, Black, who was glaring aggressively at the girl just a moment ago was greatly startled when the girl suddenly talked to itself, or rather to something it could not sense.
“Was the human girl not alone? Who is she talking to?”
Black was really confused at the girl’s action. She looked behind the girl but saw no one there. But from the girl’s expression, Black could see that she was genuinely talking to someone and not merely acting.
“I see!” Rennel exclaimed.
The monstrous wolf, Black, could not help but jump back after hearing the girl’s sudden outburst. It was startled and observed the girl’s strange behavior with wariness.
Rennel stared at the monstrous wolf for several seconds but its next question made the furs on the monster’s body stand on its end!
****
“…Black, did you give birth recently?” Rennel asked innocently.
Rooaaarrrr!!!!
Despite the Rennel’s innocent question, the monstrous wolf, Black, was somehow triggered and roared with madness, and lunges itself at the girl without warning!
Rennel was caught off guard by the unexpected attack and almost failed to guard herself. Thankfully, she has lots of experience fighting monsters and instinctively used her spear to block.
*Skidding sound*
The monstrous wolf’s attack has so much strength and weight in it that despite blocking the attack, Rennel’s feet still skids on the floor!
The girl and monster wolf were at a deadlock with neither one giving each other an inch. Moreover, despite being blocked by the spear, the monstrous wolf continue to attack by biting at the girl again and again!
Annoyed by the incessant attacks, Rennel roared and pushed the monster wolf with her spear. The wolf was thrown back and skidded but managed to stopped itself from skidding even further by burying its claws on the floor.
“Enough!” Rennel roared.
The monstrous wolf stops its charge after Rennel’s roar. It could feel that something about the human girl had changed. She has become more dangerous.
“Why did you suddenly attacked me?” Rennel asked as she stared at the creature glaring murderously at her.
Black didn’t reply at Rennel’s question but instead just glared at her, much to the girl’s disappointment.
“That’s very normal. You’re a threat, so of course it’ll try to kill you.” Chaos explained.
Startled by her teacher’s explanation, Rennel could not help but ask loudly again, not caring that no one could see Chaos with the exception of herself. “How am I a threat? I was just having a conversation with it. On the contrary, it attacked me first!”
Once again the monstrous wolf was left confused by the girl’s sudden outburst. “Again? Just who is she talking too?!” Despite the creature’s murderous intentions, the monstrous wolf, Black could still not help but be weird out by the Rennel’s strange action of suddenly talking to someone it could not see.
“It’s because you asked it if it given birth recently.” Chaos answered sounding slightly amused.
After hearing Chaos’ explanation, Rennel could only stare at her teacher speechlessly. She finally understood something. But before she could ask back, Chaos spoke again.
“Some creatures are especially protective of their offspring. This is especially true if the creature is not known for their ability to reproduce. That monstrous wolf over there should be among those that could not reproduce so easily. There’s a good chance that it was the creature's first time giving birth.”
“This…” Rennel wanted to retort but could not find the words to say. She could only stare at the monstrous wolf helplessly.
“Do I really need to fight Black teacher?”
Rennel was feeling conflicted; she could already guess why her teacher made her ask that question earlier. Chaos wanted the monstrous wolf to attack her so that she would fight back.
Although she had the intention to fight the creature at first, it had slowly died out after speaking and knowing the creature more. Since the monstrous wolf, Black was so to communicate with; Rennel thought that she could make her move out of the mountains without fighting it.
Noticing this, her teacher dug a pit for her, of which she willingly jumped into.
“I know what you’re thinking. But knowing that it just gave birth recently, do you really think that it’s possible to make it move out of the mountains because you ask it nicely?” As if reading the girl’s mind, Chaos explained to her that the current situation could not be resolved without conflict.
“I know that but…”
Looking at Rennel’s complicated expression; Chaos could not help but sigh. “You’re too soft. The world is much crueler than you think, and there would be times when you need to make difficult decisions.” It scolded.
Still feeling a little hesitant, Rennel faced the monstrous wolf with a complicated expression. Since it came to this, she could only try to subdue Black without killing it.
As if feeling her change of attitude, the monstrous wolf’s wariness grew.
“I’ll be frank to you. You need to leave the mountains. Are you willing to leave the mountains on your own?” Rennel asked.
The monstrous wolf stayed silent for a few seconds before shaking its head. “I refuse.” It said.
“…I see. Then I guess there’s no other choice but to battle.”
Seeing that there’s no other way but to fight it out, Rennel broke into a stance, and stared at her opponent with more determination compared to before.
The monstrous wolf, too, broke into a lunging position, ready to attack at a moment’s notice. Although its opponent was a lot smaller than it was, the monstrous wolf dare not underestimate the human girl before it.
The two were caught in a staring contest once again as both human and wolf wait for the other one to act first. But the stalemate was broken when a soft whimper was heard from the back of the cave.
And with that whimper being the straw that broke the camel's back, the monstrous wolf roared ferociously before lunging towards its opponent!
To be continued
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