Contract

“No. It’s hard to believe, but that was also a coincidence.”

“……”

“It’s true! I swear on my legendary fully-upgraded weapon, the Leviathan! I-I just saw that there was a wound…”

“Right. Of course, you did.”

Karvan didn’t seem to believe my words at all.
He had already come to his own conclusion and was looking at me as if wondering what to do with me.

I no longer felt like making excuses in the face of his gaze, which was smeared with hatred and disgust.

“…So, are you going to kill me?”

“……”

“We still have some camaraderie from being cellmates…”

I cautiously watched his expression, which was devoid of any words.
Deep down, I had a hope that the man wouldn’t kill me.

If that had been his intention from the beginning, he would have let me be eaten by the Observers in the forest, he wouldn’t have kindly licked and healed my sprained ankle, and he wouldn’t have brought me to a place like this.

As expected, the man spoke after a long while, in a thoughtful voice.

“I have no intention of killing you right now.”

‘…So he plans to kill me someday?’

Anxiously, I glanced at the man, who detached his back from the wall he was leaning on and strode towards me.
The room wasn’t that small, but after a few steps, he was right in front of me.

“Instead, let’s make a contract.”

…A contract?
I had a very bad feeling, but the man standing in front of me was once again a wolf on a cliff.
A predator that, even if I managed to climb up, could send me plummeting into the abyss with a single swipe of its paw.

“I’ll hear you out first. What is it?”

“I’ll hide the fact that you’re a Destroyer from the clan, so you will live here and act as my mate.”

“M-mate?”

As I asked back dumbly, wondering if I had heard correctly, he nodded his head without much sincerity.

“Just act as you did in the prison. I just need something to shut the mouths of the elders.”

‘But, can wolves have a political marriage?’
I had seen it in a documentary once.
Wolves mate with one female for life.
Rolling my eyes, I asked suspiciously.

“I don’t know much, but. That mate thing, can you just change it?”

“The Varg have only one mate for life.”

“What? Then how…”

“Even if you disappear in the future, I can’t take a new mate, so they won’t bother me anymore.”

…Wow.
Only then did I understand his meaning.

He was going to pretend to have a mate because the people around him were being annoying, and then live the rest of his life as a divorced man.

I looked at Karvan with a disgusted expression.
I had thought it since the prison, but this man was by no means normal.
My fantasy about wolves was shattered.

“So, you’re saying you’ll let me go someday?”

“We’ll see.”

“‘We’ll see’…?! Then what will you do if I refuse?”

“What do you think I’ll do.”

‘…He’ll kill me.’
And not in a nice way.

At the man’s expressionless question, I gave up my thoughts without a second thought and smiled awkwardly.

“No. I’m not saying I’m refusing.”

“……”

“I’m just asking out of curiosity. To see if I have a choice, …that’s all.”

As I said it, cautiously watching his expression, he stared at me intently.
His shadowed eyes under his disheveled bangs held no emotion.

“You can’t go anywhere in that state anyway.”

‘…That’s true.’
I clenched and unclenched my powerless hands.

My body was constantly hot and languid.
Like I had a terrible cold.
As Karvan said, if I went out in this state, I would be perfect prey for the Observers.

On the other hand, this place seemed safe.
When I was with Karvan, the Observers didn’t appear.
I had used skills so much in the prison, but they hadn’t shown their faces, and they only appeared when I was alone.

Maybe they’re afraid of the Varg.

I recalled his subordinates who bravely chased the Observers like dogs chasing ghosts.

[Nemean Claws in possession: 88/100
(Remaining number until completion of the ‘Baalzeph von Bloddyhen’ related quest: 12)]

I had no choice anyway.

Since I hadn’t gathered all the quest items yet, I would be kicked out soon even if I went back to Midvalen.

“…Alright. I’ll accept the contract. But! There’s a condition.”

At his slanted gaze, as if telling me to speak, I swallowed my dry saliva and opened my mouth with a grim expression.

“Treat me, like a human.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, treat me gently. Don’t, like, lock me up in prison, or starve me. And no hitting!”

It was a rather strict condition I had set, but the man just nodded his head as if it were no big deal.

“I will.”

And so, I came to stay in the territory ruled by Karvan.

[Current Field: ‘The City That Does Not Exist’ Bahalgras]

The Varg were a more prosperous race than I had thought.

Their architectural style, culture, food, clothing, and etiquette were more like humans than beast-kin.
They operated waterwheels with the power of waterfalls, cooked their food, and their clothing was very individualistic and diverse.

Except for the eerie monster heads hanging on the walls, it was as splendid as any human palace.

The location of the city in the middle of a snowy mountain was also romantic.

“Ugh…”

The morning sun was excruciatingly bright.
Groan, groan.
Unable to bear the torture of the light, I shot up.

I was about to draw the curtains by the bed when I saw the view outside the window and let out a gasp without realizing it.
The view from the top of the building, built on a towering rock mountain, was a work of art.
The pure white city could be seen at a glance.

The sunlight shattering on the pointed roofs, designed like towers to prevent the buildings from collapsing under the weight of the snow, was a magnificent sight.
Seeing the wolf beast-kin bustling about through the frosty, hazy window, it looked like a watercolor painting by some oriental artist.

I was watching in a daze with my cheek pressed against the window when, click, I heard the sound of a door from behind me.

“……”

I flinched unconsciously when I met the man’s expressionless eyes.
Because I remembered last night’s conversation.

“A-are we, sleeping together?”
“Then, should mates use separate rooms?”

Right after the ‘contract’ was made.
As he came and lay down next to me in the chilly atmosphere, I asked in fright.

“If you have a complaint, there’s a spare bed downstairs.”
“…Can I take a blanket?”

As I asked, cautiously watching his expression, the man, who was lying down with one arm over his eyes, shot up and left.

“…Good morning.”

It was too embarrassing to ask where he had slept, so I just greeted him back, and he just nodded.

The eyes I had glimpsed last night seemed angry, but now he was as indifferent as if nothing had happened.
He was wearing light armor firmly under a black robe, the neatest he had looked so far.

‘Is he going to battle?’
I looked at him with somewhat envious eyes and cautiously asked.

“Can I go out later too?”

“……”

“I don’t mean anything by it! I just want to look around the city.”

Thinking he might have misunderstood, I quickly added, and he glanced out the window, following my gaze, then said.

“I’ll have Tegen accompany you.”

“…Tegen?”

“It would be best not to do anything unnecessary.”

The man, who had only said what he needed to, left just like that.
It was a look that said he didn’t even want to speak at length with a Destroyer.

‘But he should at least tell me who Tegen is.’

As I was staring at the door in bewilderment, a large man entered as if passing a baton.

“Valtael! It is an honor to serve you! D-do you, by any chance, remember me?”

I thought he looked familiar, and it turned out to be the Varg I had asked to deliver the clothes to Karvan.
I had run away because he kept bothering me while I was clipping the nails of the fainted Nemea in the corridor of the Nemea fortress…

“Ah, yes. I saw you at the Nemea fortress, right?”

“You remember me! My name is Tegen.”

His extraordinary build, the V-shaped scar on his chest.
He looked more like a bear than a wolf.
A moon bear.

If it weren’t for the blood-red slash-mark paint on his face, he would have had a rather handsome and kind face.

As I was looking up in wonder at his black ears, which twitched cutely, unfitting of his appearance, he suddenly knelt down with a thud.

“From now on, I will be in charge of your escort whenever Valta is away! If there is anything you need, please tell me! I will serve you like a limb!”

‘Ouch, my ears.’
He was a very enthusiastic man.
I had felt it when I met him at the Nemea fortress, but his sparkling gaze was quite burdensome.

“Valtael! Please give me your command! I will follow anything!”

“Call me comfortably. Please call me Shinbi.”

“Y-yes? H-how can I, call the Valtael by her name…!”

Seeing him cover his mouth like a maiden with his large build and not know what to do, I wanted to tease him more.

“You said you would follow anything. Now, come on, call me. Shinbi.”

At my urging, he cried out ‘Shinbi-nim!’ with tearful eyes and then covered his face.

Actually, the first time is hard, the second time is easy.

“Shinbi-nim, is there anything uncomfortable?”
“Shinbi-nim, if you’re hungry, shall I have some refreshments brought in?”
“Shinbi-nim, please ask me anything you’re curious about!”

Tegen, contrary to his rugged appearance, was meticulous and kind.
He constantly chattered and hovered around me, like a sociable retriever who was overjoyed to have a new person in the house.

“Karvan-nim became the Valta at the youngest age, and he has the greatest primordial energy in history, so even the grim reapers can’t touch him. Thanks to that, Bahalgras was able to prosper so much. This city was also built by Valta!”

Thanks to the incessantly chattering Tegen, I learned a lot about the Varg.

‘Valta’ refers to the commander-in-chief who leads the entire Varg race, and those who follow the Valta are called ‘Sura.’

“…But, why doesn’t Karvan have beast-kin-like ears or a tail?”

I asked suddenly as I was watching Tegen’s dark-colored tail, which was spinning like a propeller.