A Warrior’s Council

For three whole days, I nursed him, but there was no significant change.

No, it seemed to be getting worse.
Anxious, I couldn’t leave the man’s side.

“Karvan,… Karvan?”

I had dozed off and then woke up with a start, and the body that was lending me its arm was unusually still.
He seemed to be barely breathing, so I shot up and shook him like crazy.

“Karvan!”

“…I’ll wear out.”

Like the moon in a dark cloud, his calm and bright yellow eyes opened.

“Why do you call so desperately.”

As if he had just been in a deep sleep, his slowly blinking eyes looked drowsy.

‘Haa.’
As I collapsed by the bed and let out a long breath, the man propped the back of his neck with both arms and looked up at me.

“Did you have a nightmare about being chased by grim reapers?”

As I just shook my head without a word, he smiled crookedly as if he understood, and then fiddled with my sprawled-out hand and said.

“You must be afraid that I’ll die.”

“Of course.”

I let out a deep sigh and was about to put my hand on his forehead to check for a fever, but he grabbed me and trapped me in his embrace.

“You once even held a weapon to me, saying you would run away.”

“…That was because I thought you were going to kill me. I thought you hated me.”

As I complained with my cheek against his hot chest, the strength in his forearm, which was wrapped around my waist, tightened.

“And now.”

Suddenly, he sat up, lifted my chin, and asked, meeting my eyes.

“What do you think, now?”

His eyes were expressionless as always, but recently, I kept feeling a warmth in those eyes.
Even though he must have just been promoted from a Destroyer he hated enough to kill to a useful tool.

In that gaze, I kept trying to have hope.
Even though I knew I would be disappointed again.

“……”

Drip, drip.
The drops that fell from the wet towel I was clutching flowed down the man’s chest and then fell onto the back of my other hand.
The cold water droplets were lukewarm when they touched his hot body.

As I was just looking at the man like that, knock, knock!
I heard an urgent knock.

-Valta, excuse me, but may I come in for a moment?

It was Mashak’s voice.

Instead of telling him to come in, Karvan began to scan my figure, which had jumped away in surprise.
Then he suddenly handed me his robe, which was hanging by the bed.

“I’m not cold.”

“Cover yourself, your clothes.”

‘…Are my clothes that unsightly?’
I looked down at the ‘Peach Babydoll Slip Dress (S)’ I was wearing.
Although it looked thin because it was made of silk, it had a freeze-resistance option, so it was perfect for me as pajamas since I had a habit of kicking off my blanket.

‘It’s a bit wrinkled from nursing the man for several days, but I didn’t think it was that bad.’
‘Karvan seemed to think differently.’
He kept holding out his robe and urging me to put it on.

“Wear it, now.”

“I told you it’s fine? Your clothes are too big.”

“…You never listen the first time.”

“Y-you bastard. You should put on some clothes too! You’re a patient, and you’re so naked… Ack! Ah, what are you doing!”

‘Why is he only picking on me when he’s completely topless?’
As I was chattering on, telling him to put on some clothes, I was miserably made into a gimbap roll.

Mashak, who had finally been given permission to enter, bowed his head and entered the bedroom, then looked at me, who was rolled up in a robe, with surprised eyes.
‘Ugh.’
My face flushed with embarrassment.

“…Is your business with the Valtael, Mashak.”

“Ah, no. Valta. I’m very sorry to disturb your good time, but the situation is more serious than I thought.”

At his sharp voice, Mashak flinched and averted his gaze from me, and began to report busily.

“The hyena bastards have poisoned the drinking water that flows into Bahalgras.”

“What were the reconnaissance Sura doing.”

“All the Sura who were outside of Bahalgras have been hit. Seeing the lion’s mane fur at the scene, it seems the hyena tribe is not the only one behind this.”

‘A lion’s mane?’
‘Could it be the Nemea tribe?’
My ears perked up.

“……”

‘They poisoned the drinking water?’
‘Then are the other Varg also struggling to breathe and in pain, just like Karvan?’
As I was craning my neck and listening intently, my eyes met the man’s, who was looking down at me.

“Take her out, Tegen.”

Karvan, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, gently pushed my back and then gestured with his chin to Tegen, who was loitering by the slightly open door.

“Go and feed her something and put her to sleep.”

“Yes, sir!”

“W-wait! I want to listen too.”

I grabbed the hand of the man who was trying to push me away.

“……”

His expressionless gaze went to his hand, which was held by me, and then back to my face.

“Shinbi-nim?”

The Sura who were watching looked at me with a flustered expression.
Because I had never once questioned or interrupted Karvan’s orders in this way.

In fact, I used to listen to important reports like this together, but I always pretended not to listen.
I thought it had nothing to do with me, and the man didn’t care about my existence either.

“If it’s the Nemea, I’ve fought them often, so I know how to deal with them. I’ll be of help. Tell me the plan too.”

But it’s different now.
Karvan was poisoned while trying to protect me, and taking advantage of the confusion, the drinking water of Bahalgras was also contaminated, and most of the Varg were poisoned.

“I want to help in any way I can. It’s partly my fault that this happened.”

“I’m sure I told you it wasn’t your fault.”

“Still, you’re sick right now, so it’s hard for you to fight. I’ll fill that gap.”

Karvan denied it again, but I knew better than anyone.

That the main forces were dispatched because of my escape incident, and this disaster happened because they took advantage of that gap.
So I really wanted to solve this problem myself.

“I think I also have a duty to protect the Varg!”

As I became impatient at the man’s still-thoughtful appearance, I squeezed his hand a little tighter and added.

“At least for now, I am the Valtael, and your mate.”

At those words, Karvan, who had been lost in thought, lifted his head.

He stared at me with his temple propped on his hand.
I didn’t avoid his eyes either.

The Varg’s military council was more serious than I had thought.

“The ones behind this have been confirmed to be the remaining forces of the Nemea tribe who held a grudge from the last incident. They have formed an alliance with the hyena tribe and the Igra tribe.”

“The hyena tribe is nothing to worry about, but the Igra tribe, which has the ability to fly, is a problem.”

They even drew a tactical deployment map on a large stone slate and sat around a round table, having a heated discussion.

“The Igra have the excellent eyesight characteristic of birds of prey, and their nests are also located at high altitudes, so they are not easy to approach.”

As I was listening to the Varg’s chattering, I was busy rummaging through the monster encyclopedia.

The Igra tribe.
If it was registered in the encyclopedia, I must have fought it before, but since it didn’t really stick in my memory, it didn’t seem to be a difficult monster.

[Igra: An eagle beast-kin-type monster. The Igra are excellent marksmen. They can hit a target hundreds of meters away with one eye closed.]

‘…Ah, no.’

As I was looking at the Igra city, which was shaped like the Tower of Babel, a piece of information I had seen in the past suddenly came to mind.

[Title] Don’t hunt the Igra during the day. Give way at night. (HOT!)

[This is a tip board for sharing gameplay information. Uncertain information may be deleted without notice.]

This game had surprisingly detailed biological aspects of the monsters, which made it easy to find their weaknesses.

‘Content: These Igra guys are blind without light. If you destroy all the city lights and hunt them, they can’t do anything and become idiots.’

The Igra’s motif is the eagle.
Although it’s a bird of prey, since it’s a diurnal bird that hunts during the day, its night vision is poor.
I remembered using that characteristic to catch them with a trick.

“The Igra have archers positioned at the watchtowers near their nests, and they snipe and kill anything that comes into their line of sight. That…”

“It’s called a light tower, and at night, they illuminate the intruder’s position with light to make it easier to shoot.”

As I was watching their reactions and casually interjected, hostile gazes landed on me from all sides.

“…Uh, so…”

“Yes! So what should we do, Valtael?”

“Since you defeated the beast of the trial, you must have a knack for hunting too! Please share your valuable opinion!”

At the gazes that asked, ‘Who are you to know such important military information,’ I was momentarily scared, but I was encouraged by Tegen and the other Sura who quickly chimed in.

“I heard that the Igra’s night vision is poor, so wouldn’t it be possible to destroy the lights in advance and infiltrate at night?”

“What era are you talking about? No matter how much of a birdbrain the Igra are, they realized that hundreds of years ago. They fight at night with their night vision enhanced by a holy relic they stole from a Destroyer!”

‘…R-really?’
‘It was a strategy that came out in the early days, but I didn’t know because I hadn’t hunted the Igra since then.’

As I awkwardly retreated, my confident interjection now meaningless, even colder gazes poured in.

“To think that the Varg chief would take an Awakener as his mate!”

The escorting Sura who had come with Karvan on the day I had run away to the Fox village were all loyal.
They hadn’t breathed a word about what they had seen and heard.

Tegen hadn’t even mentioned the word ‘Destroyer’ in front of me since that day, and perhaps because of that, Mashak, who hadn’t been there, seemed to have no idea that I was an Awakener.

“Who in the world brought that human woman?”

But if the tail is long, it gets stepped on.
More than one or two had seen Karvan, who had searched Bahalgras high and low with the tracking Sura and then returned late at night, holding me.