A Tangled Fate

“What’s going on?”

Sian looked at the villager who had called him with a puzzled expression.

Then, the villager, who had rushed over, put down the brown bundle he was holding in front of Sian.

He looked up at Sian with a cautious expression and asked.

“Um… could you take a look at this, please?”

“Yes?”

Sian stared at the bundle the villager had put down. The bundle was quite large and dirty.

It was thick at a glance, and he suspected that there might be something unusual inside.

The villager, seeing Sian’s interest, quickly took out what was inside the bundle.

“…A wolf?”

The villagers each had their roles.

There were people who only farmed, or those who collected herbs and wild vegetables, and also those who caught animals.

Even if they had put up a barrier around the village to prevent monsters from approaching, there were many ferocious animals, and not many villagers hunted.

Moreover, even if they hunted, they couldn’t go far, so they used traps in the forest near the village, and it was rare for animals like wolves, which were intelligent and cautious, to get caught in the traps.

But this guy’s body was bigger than a dog, and judging by the looks of it, it was definitely a wolf.

Sian narrowed his eyes and examined the wolf, which was slumped over.

“It was caught in a trap a few days ago, and I don’t think it’s just a wolf.”

“Hmm…”

Indeed, the wolf’s appearance was somewhat unnatural. It had many other injuries besides the trap.

The blood that had flowed from the wolf’s body had hardened into a dark color, making it difficult to recognize the original fur color.

“Hmm?”

But, looking closely, the fur color was blue. Usually, wolves are gray or brown.

Or, rarely, black… But blue? If it was a wolf with this color, it was highly likely that it was not an ordinary animal, as the villager said.

‘Could this guy be a beastkin?’

The beastkin were the ones who fought most fiercely during the continental war.

But they were eventually pushed back by the Orta Empire, and now the beastkin’s nation has become smaller, and he didn’t know how a beastkin had come to a place like this. Sian frowned.

“Wimper… whimper…”

“Umm.”

As if he had regained consciousness, the wolf whimpered softly. Sian looked down at the injured wolf.

“Is it still a child?”

The wolf’s body wasn’t that big. When adult beastkin are in animal form, they are bigger than the average animals, so if the wolf in front of him was really a beastkin, it wouldn’t be an adult.

A young beastkin, severely injured and caught in a trap.

How did he end up here alone, separated from his parents? Sian’s brow furrowed deeply.

“First of all, I should heal it… Ugh!”

“Lord Dragon!”

“Master!”

As soon as he reached out his hand, the wolf, who had opened his eyes, growled and swung his claws.

However, it wasn’t enough to make Sian unable to dodge.

From the start, the wolf was so badly injured that its movements weren’t swift, so he could easily avoid it.

“You, be still.”

“W-wimper… whimper…”

But he couldn’t heal it if it kept resisting like this. Sian clicked his tongue and released his energy.

The Dragon’s magic slowly spread around.

At the same time, the wolf’s tail, which had been standing up straight, drooped.

As the wolf, scared by the Dragon’s magic, became obedient, Sian reached out his hand again.

Beastkin were beings close to monsters, like dragons.

Then, Sian’s healing magic would work quite well. Sian, with his hand on the wolf’s head, cast healing magic.

Shuuu.

The magic Sian used flowed through the wolf’s head.

The black energy enveloped the wolf’s body, and the body was healed in an instant.

Sian gazed at the wounds, which were healing and only bloodstains remained.

It had been a long time since he used healing magic on someone.

It was because he had been isolated from the outside world for a long time, not by choice.

But it was fortunate that the healing magic seemed to work better than expected. Sian sighed with relief.

“Is it okay now?”

“……”

“Yes?”

But for some reason, the wolf didn’t move, even though the wounds were almost completely healed.

Sian looked down at the wolf, who was lying down in the same position, with a puzzled expression.

“Why is it like this?”

“Um…”

The villager, who had been watching from the side, cautiously opened his mouth.

The villager, whose complexion had paled with an unusual amount of paleness, barely opened his mouth and said to Sian.

“Maybe… it was too scared by that?”

“Ah.”

He had released some intimidation to make the wolf, who was running wild, obedient, and it seemed like he was scared by that.

Sian nodded towards the villager, who was trembling.

“Thank you for your trouble. I’ll take care of it now.”

“Yes.”

The villager, bowing his waist excessively, stepped back. Sian belatedly turned to Theodore.

“Theo, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m okay.”

“If you are sick, tell Master.”

“Yes, Master.”

The protagonist seemed to be tougher than he thought.

Even though he had focused his energy only on the wolf, the villager next to him walked with trembling legs.

Theodore seemed fine. Sian felt a sense of satisfaction and glanced at the wolf again.

‘What should I do with this…’

If it was an ordinary wolf, he would have just healed the wounds and sent it back to the forest, but he couldn’t do that because it was still a young beastkin. Should he find his parents? Sian felt perplexed.

“Master.”

“Yes?”

“Is that a beastkin?”

“……?”

How did he know, when he hadn’t been told? Sian looked at Theodore in surprise.

“How did you know?”

“Just… I felt that kind of energy.”

“That’s right. It seems to be a wolf beastkin.”

“……”

Theodore looked down at the wolf lying down and whimpering. Seeing that, for some reason, he was reminded of his former self.

Sian saved himself, who had been injured and almost died, and made him his disciple.

Then, what should he do for this wolf beastkin? Theodore’s face contorted.

“First… he has to transform into a human to have a conversation.”

“Wimper…”

“Doesn’t know how to change into a human?”

Sian tilted his head. If he stayed as a wolf like this, he couldn’t talk to him. Then, Sian found something on the wolf’s leg, where it was caught in the trap.

Could it be? Sian reached out his hand with suspicion.

The thin shackle, which was holding the wolf’s leg tightly, made a sound as if it was humming when it touched Sian’s hand.

Then it broke with a snap.

“This… was a power-suppressing tool?”

There was only one reason why he would be lying down in a strange place with this on. This wolf beastkin was a commodity to be sold as a s*ave.

The nobles of the empire went crazy over elves and beastkin. Sian frowned with displeasure.

Anyway, he could transform into a human now. Sian put his outer garment over the wolf’s body and said.

“Try transforming into a human.”

“Wimper…”

He seemed to understand Sian’s words obediently, even though he was a little scared.

The wolf’s appearance began to change little by little as it nodded its head.

Sssshhh, the wolf’s body gradually became smaller.

The body, which had been covered in fur, became smooth.

Sian watched with interest as the sharp claws became blunt.

“Ooh…”

The wolf transformed into the form of a child, as Sian had expected.

A child a little bigger than Theodore. Sian looked at the beastkin who had turned into a child.

“Can you speak now?”

“Ugh…”

“Yes?”

“……”

But despite the transformation into a human, the wolf was still trembling. Now, looking down at the child, who was about to burst into tears, Sian felt perplexed.

“What’s your name?”

“……!”

Then, instead of Sian, Theodore cautiously spoke up and asked. The wolf flinched and looked at Theodore.

The wolf, towards Theodore, who didn’t feel any intimidation unlike Sian, opened his mouth in surprise.

“Leo… Leon…”

“Yes? I’m Theodore.”

“Theo… dore…”

Fortunately, the wolf beastkin child responded well to Theodore.

Although Theodore was showing a blank expression as if he wasn’t interested, he was speaking well for Sian.

‘But the name sounds familiar…’

The wolf beastkin, who revealed his name as Leon, kept glancing at Sian while looking at Theodore.

Sian narrowed his eyes and pondered Leon’s name. The more he did, the more familiar it felt.

Then, he suddenly remembered someone.

‘Leon? Could it be… Leonard? Leonard Bahan?’

Astonishingly, the name Leon was of the character that Sian had read in the original novel. He was even quite an important character.

He was one of the companions who went on an adventure with Theodore in the Outer Chamber.

Also, he was the character with the second biggest presence after the female lead, Yurina.

Come to think of it, that Leon was also a wolf beastkin.

At first, he hid the fact from Theodore and went with him, but it was revealed later. However, there was no problem with their friendship.

The reason Leon hid the fact that he was a beastkin was because he was a s*ave from the empire.

Knowing that humans didn’t think well of beastkin, he couldn’t bring himself to tell Theodore and his companions that he was a beastkin, and kept hiding it.

And this child in front of Sian was caught in a hunter’s trap while being sold as a s*ave.

‘That’s how it is.’

It seemed that the current time was when Leon was being sold as a s*ave.

He didn’t know why, but Leon, who should have been a s*ave, had been caught in a trap here, and it was no different from him unexpectedly saving Leon.

‘What should I do…’

In order to progress the story as in the original work, he couldn’t save Leon now.

There was also an episode that would progress because of his past as a s*ave who suffered. Sian groaned softly.

“Master?”

“Yes?”

“Why?”

“Ah.”

Sian looked down at Theodore’s innocent face.

The protagonist and the supporting character, who shouldn’t have met yet, had already met.