The Little Wolf

Time always slips away inadvertently, flowing quickly; in the blink of an eye, nearly two months passed in such a mundane fashion.

During these few months, aside from the occasional villager coming to look out of curiosity, only the wolf he had once saved came to visit Kovit.

Sometimes, when this wolf visited, she would even bring along a few wolves Kovit had never seen before, which made the puppet, who could not yet leave the seal, exceptionally happy.

“You’ve come again! Martha!”

Kovit, in his phantom state, called out joyfully as he watched the brown she-wolf with a bulging belly walk into the forest clearing.

Martha was the name Kovit gave to this wolf, and it was also the name of the Head Maid who had once served the William family and Kovit.

Giving her this name was perhaps a way to cherish the past?

“Martha, you’re here again. You really should find a place to rest; wandering around outside in this condition is truly dangerous!”

Hugging Martha’s neck, the illusory figure nuzzled his face against the smooth fur atop her head; a slightly upturned mouth was faintly visible on his face.

“Awoo~~”

The embraced wolf whimpered softly, tilting her head to lick the cheek of the person above her with her long tongue.

“Haha, you’re truly annoying; don’t you mind the filth?”

Laughing, Kovit tapped Martha on the nose, earning a gentle nip in return.

After a bout of playful roughhousing, the illusory human figure and the wolf lay side by side on the grass, looking up at the azure sky revealed above the forest clearing.

“Martha, how about you just live here with me!”

Kovit proposed.

“Awoo~~”

“No good?… I suppose so, you still have your companions.”

“Awoo~~”

“It doesn’t matter. I will break free soon. When that happens, I’ll build a small house near you guys, and you can easily come to my home to see me.”

“Awoo awoo~~”

“Oh! The babies are about to be born! Congratulations, congratulations!”

“Awoo~~”

A wolf howl coming from the distance caused the lazy Martha to lift her head.

“Your companions are calling you. Let’s call it a day then! Here are your favorite apples~~ Catch!”

Carrying the apple in her mouth, Martha ducked into the bushes in the direction of the howl and vanished.

“You must bring the babies for me to see!”

“Awoo~~”

A howl carrying an affirmative tone in Kovit’s ears came from the thicket not far away.

The illusory figure watched for a moment before turning back into black smoke and retreating into the coffin once more.

The previously pitch-black coffin had now begun to show fine cracks, with slivers of light leaking in and illuminating the figure within; this signified that the seal, which had imprisoned Kovit for thousands of years, was about to meet its end.

However, the devil lying in the coffin showed no signs of ecstasy; instead, he was somewhat depressed.

He realized that even if he broke out of the seal, he might not be able to easily leave this doll body.

Through his external magic perception, Kovit discovered that the outside world was no longer the energy-abundant world of the past.

If he were to force his main body, which had already become a ‘Saint,’ to descend upon the mortal world, even if it didn’t trigger planar rejection, there was a huge possibility that a ‘Life Siphon’ phenomenon would occur due to his extremely high rank, easily converting the life force of all surrounding living beings into energy to sustain himself.

Leaving death in his wake wherever he walked was not what Kovit wanted.

Therefore, if he couldn’t find a solution, Kovit might have to remain in this doll state with minimum power output for the years to come…

However, Kovit only agonized over this for a moment before tossing this unfortunate matter to the back of his mind, turning instead to think about Martha’s little wolf pups.

After all, the indifferent state of mind developed over living for thousands of years was not for show (in reality, he just threw his scruples away…).

“Haha, if it’s a male, I’ll call him Mutu; if it’s a female, I’ll call her Holo!”

Thinking of the scene where he would soon see the cute wolf pups, Kovit suddenly became happy and began to hum a little tune.

Another thirty days and nights passed.

With the crisp sound of black wood cracking, the confinement formation that had sealed the demon for a thousand years finally fell apart!

“Ah… I am finally free!”

Taking a deep breath, a clear whistle capable of piercing metal and cracking stone shot straight into the clouds; the black energy bursting from his body spread out like ripples in water, blowing the surrounding trees until they rustled loudly.

As the dust and smoke gradually settled, the figure within was revealed.

The clothes on his body were identical to those of the illusory figure, only now painted with dark brown patterns and colors.

Above the slender neck, tied with a bright red scarf, was a face that was pale yet exquisitely beautiful.

Under silver-white hair, a pair of silver eyes shining like stars emitted an unfathomable divine brilliance; the corners of the mouth tilted up slightly, revealing an elegant and bright joy.

However, the wooden joints on the ten fingers, not covered by the dark red gauntlets, revealed the fact that this beautiful “lady” on the outside was not human.

After more than one thousand two hundred years, the ‘Devil Saint’ Kovit finally stepped onto solid ground once again.

At this moment, he returned to reality!

“Martha hasn’t come for nearly twenty days; perhaps she is recuperating… I’ll go find her.”

Having regained his freedom, Kovit did not rush to collect information on the current world; instead, he worried about his friend whom he hadn’t seen in a long time.

Tracking the magic signature he had left behind, Kovit began to search for Martha’s location.

Crossing several streams and passing through dozens of thickets, Kovit finally found the location of the signature.

Behind a row of dense bushes, a small patch of tender green grass came into view.

Behind the grass was a semi-exposed cliff face decorated with vegetation; the grey-black cliff did not look abrupt due to the greenery but rather possessed a rugged and atmospheric charm.

Several caves of varying sizes were located at the bottom of this cliff face; the wind carried the sound of faint whimpering from within.

Not far away, a waterfall cascaded down from the mountain ridge, forming a small pool below that was so clear the bottom was visible.

One could even see a few fish swimming slowly over the moss-covered pebbles.

At this moment, a wolf was leisurely drinking water by the pool.

“Little fellow, do you know where Martha is?”

“Awoo!!!”

Startled by the doll, the drinking wolf let out a high-pitched howl.

“Oh dear, oh dear… this is truly troublesome.”

Watching wolf heads pop out from everywhere, Kovit tilted his head in distress.

“Alright now, I bear you no malice.”

Dodging the pounce of two grey wolves, the doll responded calmly, but what followed was only more ferocious biting.

“I say, you guys… I’m just here to visit a friend.”

Seeing that these fellows were not moved by his goodwill in the slightest, Kovit sighed helplessly.

Then, black aura emerged from his body, condensing into ring-shaped objects.

These rings flew out and scattered rapidly; in moments, the ground was littered with wild wolves bound by black rings.

For a time, the area was filled with panicked and angry wolf howls.

“Now you can listen to me, right!”

Absolute power was the best way to deal with impatient creatures, though, of course, necessary placation was indispensable.

The silver-eyed doll crouched down and gave a hand-chop to the head of a large grey wolf near him.

“I remember you, you glutton. You once ate three of my rabbits in one go. What, you don’t remember me now?”

The struck grey wolf initially wanted to open its mouth and bite, but upon hearing the familiar tone and sensing the familiar aura, the anger and vigilance in its eyes gradually vanished, and it eventually just lay on the ground and whimpered.

“And you! Last time you came, you dared to take a dump right next to me!”

“Awoo~~” The accused black wolf turned its head to look at the ground.

“And you! You! You!”

“What? Just because I changed clothes, you don’t recognize me? A bunch of ungrateful fellows who wipe your mouths and deny the debt!”

Amidst the wolf pack, the doll scolded them with colorful language, pointing fingers until the group of usually fierce and cold grey wolves whimpered in low voices.

“Forget it, this Lord won’t stoop to your level! Where is Martha?”

Waving his hand to remove the “Shadow Bind,” Kovit asked a fellow that was clearly a size larger than the other wolves.

“Awoo~~”

The grey wolf barked once, then turned and walked towards a cave under the cliff wall; the doll followed suit.

“Is it this cave?”

“Awoo~~”

“Alright, off you go. Don’t cause a ruckus next time.”

Patting its head to dismiss it, Kovit peeked into the cave.

“Martha, are you in there? I’ve come to see you.”

“Awoo~~”

Accompanying the familiar sound was a tiny, thin voice.

“Haha, I wondered why you hadn’t come to see me lately; it turns out the family has grown by one! Let me see, quickly!”

The brown wolf emerged from the cave entrance, carrying a tiny little fellow.

This tiny fellow had a brown body with a white tail tip and nose; its eyes, also brown, held a spirited look, and at this moment, it was looking curiously at the strange fellow staring at it.

“So cute. Let me hold her. Oh, it’s a lady.”

Gently picking up the tiny wolf, Kovit smiled very happily.

The warmth of living life transmitted through the cloth clothes to the puppet’s cold body, causing ripples in the puppet’s calm heart.

Newborn life is beautiful and pure, capable of moving those who understand the meaning of existence; a soul that was once mad and lost could feel that purity, pristine as a blank sheet of paper, even more acutely.

Thus, this executioner, who was once cold-blooded and cruel, whose life was filled with blood and conspiracy, now smiled happily under the warmth of this weak little creature.

Pure creatures are sensitive to goodwill. Although the little wolf was a bit flustered when first picked up, she soon lay peacefully in the embrace that carried the faint scent of roses.

‘The aura on this fellow feels really comfortable…’ thought the tiny wolf as she smacked her lips.

“Martha, I’m going to call her Holo from now on!”

Martha opened her mouth and gave a big yawn, not paying much attention to the puppet who had fallen into an inexplicable fervor.

“So cute~~ It’s decided! I’m going to build a house right next to here! I’ll come see her every day!”

The puppet nuzzled the little wolf’s furry cheek and then gently placed her back on the ground.

“Martha, see you tomorrow~~”

Kovit waved goodbye and disappeared into the bushes not far away.

After watching the puppet leave, the brown wolf yawned again, picked up the little wolf in her mouth, and turned back into the cave.