An Awkward Alliance

To suggest drinking and hunting together, they must have been close.

There’s only one reason he was dragged away and beaten like that.

They couldn’t touch me, the one they were actually annoyed with, and their twisted anger was directed at Tegen.

“Those bees, where are they? I’ll teach them a lesson.”

“Ah, I’ve already beaten those guys to a pulp. Their bones… no, their wings won’t even be able to flap!”

Tegen gave a thumbs-up and grinned, but then immediately rubbed his torn lip, wincing.

“What about treatment? Did you go to Mashak…”

“It’s fine. I’m a tough guy, so I’ll be fine in a few days. Haha!”

Unable to watch any longer, I took out an elixir and handed it to him, but he refused, saying how could he use such a precious thing on this.
Mashak also pretended not to know and didn’t say a word, so it was clear that treatment was tacitly forbidden.

“I don’t feel any pain now that Shinbi-nim is worried about me!”

‘…If he had just pretended not to be able to win and thrown in a few insults about me, he wouldn’t have been beaten to a pulp like that.’

If I had my way, I would have taken out my Leviathan and beaten the black manes right away, but I changed my mind.
I decided to turn my anger on an innocent party as well.

Karvan returned after several days.

As always, he threw a few questions at me as soon as he saw me.

“Your body.”

“It’s fine.”

“The medicine.”

“I took it. Three times a day.”

“The candy.”

“I ate… you don’t have to ask that.”

“Isn’t it the most important thing?”

“No!”

Though his face was expressionless, I was fuming, feeling like he was teasing me, when the man gestured with his hand.

I meekly approached and settled into his embrace.
The man looked at me with a surprised expression, but he didn’t postpone what he had to do.
He naturally buried his lips in my imprint vein and kissed me.

Mph, mph.
As I was being gently bitten, I also lightly pressed the nape of the man’s neck.

A pink cherry blossom pattern.
It was ridiculous because, by chance, the spot of the ‘Stigma Theory’ skill had become the imprint vein, but it was also strangely fitting.

For a while, the sound of wet kisses and sweet sighs continued to escape.
When I was pressed against the man’s body, a surprising sense of stability came over me.
The imprint sickness that had been tormenting me all day disappeared as if it were a lie.

Even if we had no feelings for each other, and even if we hated each other, we had no choice but to rely on each other.
Like castaways who stick their bodies together to maintain body temperature when isolated on a snowy mountain, we were just pressing our bodies together to live.

Even knowing that, the kiss was gentle and meticulous.

“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!”
“Alright.”

‘It’s probably because of the contract conditions.’

“…I have a question.”

After receiving the man’s kisses for a while, I cautiously asked.

“How do Varg without a mate heal their wounds?”

The gaze that met mine seemed to ask why I was asking such a thing.

“Did you think Mashak was just playing around?”

“Tegen was hurt. I think the other Varg beat him up.”

The golden eyes looking down at me askance had a strange glint.
He didn’t seem surprised at all, as if he already knew.
As expected, the man spoke indifferently.

“I have no intention of getting involved in the Sura’s hierarchy disputes.”

“He was beaten up for taking my side. He said he was stung by a bee, but bees don’t punch, do they?”

“……”

“His face is all swollen. He has a black and blue bruise too…”

“If you don’t like his bruised face, I’ll replace the escort.”

For a moment, I was at a loss for words.

I didn’t expect him to go and punish the guys who beat Tegen right away.
I was just dumbfounded by his reaction, as if he were replacing a dead battery.

‘How did he get hurt like that, what happened?’
He didn’t even think of listening.

Just like this cruel world that doesn’t care when a skill-abusing user is eliminated.
To someone, it’s a bolt from the blue, the world turning upside down, but the decision-maker has no interest or concern.

“You…”

My eyes grew hot with an unknown sense of betrayal.
I pushed the man away with trembling hands and staggered back.

“Are your, subordinates, just consumables, just parts to you…?”

“Is there a reason they shouldn’t be?”

This time, my breath caught at his indifferent reply.
I stood there, at a loss for words, and Karvan got up and slowly approached me.
His downcast gaze was incredibly cold.

“If one is detached, you just have to reattach another.”

“……”

“It’s a small sacrifice for the sake of the many.”

“If that’s the case, no one will remain by your side. If you’re just going to replace and discard them whenever they break!”

“And you, weren’t you a part of a god?”

His indifferent voice felt like I had been hit in the back of the head.
I opened and closed my mouth like a goldfish, then shut it again.

“…You’re right.”

‘Yes. Maybe that’s true.’
A player, an Awakener, even if one is lost, they can be replaced at any time.
That’s why no one has come to save me until now.
They just send Observers to eliminate me.

“I’m a part of this world. No one will know or care if I disappear.”

“……”

“And now I’m your part too.”

Admitting it made me feel strangely at ease.

I let out a deep sigh and trudged over to sit next to the man.
I expected him to lay me down and press his body against me as he always did, but Karvan grabbed my shoulders and tried to make me meet his gaze.

I turned my head and didn’t look at his face.

I pressed my lips together and turned away.
At the end of the gaze on my side profile and the stubborn silence, the man asked.

“Why are you angry?”

“What does it matter if a part is angry?”

“……”

“If we’re not going to do it, I’m going to sleep. A part needs to sleep too.”

Even at my fully-upgraded sarcasm, for which I was prepared to be slapped, Karvan said nothing.

The strength in the hand holding my shoulder slowly drained away.
Freed, I silently turned my back and lay down, and the man didn’t touch me again.

It was the first time.
That I had fallen asleep without anything happening, even though he was by my side.

The next day.

“Shinbi-nim!”

Tegen, who appeared with a cart of breakfast as always, had a bright face.
His swollen cheeks were also clean, as if nothing had happened.

“Are you okay from the bee sting?”

“Yes! Thanks to you!”

Tegen seemed grateful to me even without saying anything.
I also didn’t bother to explain in detail and just smiled.

‘…He listened to my request.’
‘The man listened to me.’

Maybe at that time, I was mistaken.
That Karvan was a wolf that could be tamed.

Wolves are the ancestors of dogs.
So, I thought that all wolves, if tamed, would eventually become like dogs.

But dogs are the result of a special breed of wolves that were particularly human-friendly and had excellent social skills.

Just like wild dogs that break their leashes and run away even if they are born as dogs, their innate nature cannot be hidden.

A wolf, by birth, is a wolf.
It can never become a dog.

I realized that on that very afternoon.

Suddenly, black wolves I had never seen before appeared.

“You’ll have to come with us.”

I almost asked if they had an arrest warrant.

I was led somewhere by the Varg wearing black fur pelts.

The place I was taken to was a conference hall.
Inside, it was full of Varg who, at a glance, were high-ranking officials.

Their fashion was different from the Sura I had occasionally encountered.
Claws that looked at least S-class, shoulder armor, pendants.
They were all adorned with expensive items.
They all had impressive scars at a glance.

“Dear brothers!”

‘Did they also steal all that from Awakeners?’
As I was looking at the items with narrowed eyes, a Varg standing on a high place began to recite loudly.

“Originally, Bahalgras was a city inhabited only by the chosen god-slaying Varg! Recently, a stranger has been wandering around Bahalgras! What do you think of this?”

‘A stranger?’
‘Is there a spy?’

As I was listening with perked-up ears, the people sitting at the round table all looked at me at once.

‘…Hmm, it was about me.’

“She hasn’t even passed the trial, has she? It’s absolutely unacceptable!”

“Yeah!”

Thud!
They even pounded on the stone-carved round table and raised their voices.
I thought their faces were familiar, and they were the ones who had argued with Tegen.

‘The black manes,’ was it?
I glanced at them and was startled.

Their faces were swollen.
If Tegen looked like he had been stung by a normal bee, they looked like they had touched a hornet’s nest, their appearances were a mess.

Seeing them glaring at me with eyes full of hostility, it seemed they had noticed that I had tattled on them to Karvan.
It seemed they had called a meeting because they were pissed off about that.

‘Who told them to start a fight?’
Feeling a strange sense of satisfaction, I was smiling slyly when the Varg all stood up at once.

“Valta.”

They stood up, put their hands together neatly in front, and bowed their heads, so I followed suit.

‘…How long do I have to stay like this?’
Like a non-believer’s prayer time, dragged to church, I just rolled my eyes endlessly.
My neck started to hurt, so I cautiously lifted my head and met the man’s eyes.

That was it.

Karvan just glanced at me once and passed by.
The man, who sat on the main seat with his black robe fluttering, said indifferently.

“Sit.”

Only then did they all sit down at once.

The man rested his chin on his forearm, which was propped up on the armrest.
He rubbed his tired eyes and spoke.

“Speak.”

“The agenda is as reported in advance. Valta, what do you think.”

“What should I think?”

Though his voice was indifferent, I knew at a glance.

The man was in a bad mood.

Well, there was no reason for him to be in a good mood.
He was dragged to a meeting as soon as he arrived, without even getting to rest.

“Since she is the one who will be Valta’s mate…”

“You know well. You’re making a problem out of such a woman wandering around my territory, what should I think.”

“Valta. That is…”

“Should I think that I want to pull out all your necks?”

The hall fell into a chilling silence.

He was smiling crookedly as if it were a joke, but I, and everyone else, must have instinctively known.
That it was more than half serious.

“……”

And, I was certain from the gaze that landed on me.

That I was also included in that ‘all.’