Having been called to the castle, Ryner went to see Leodor. The messenger had said that it was urgent business. If it was some sort of trouble that would affect Maya and his acquaintances, then he planned on dealing with it quickly before leaving. That was why he was now standing on a spacious balcony that gave a clear view of the city. The sky was blue, the wind was warm and the sun was bright. It was a beautiful day at Ofauvra.

“So? Why’d you call me?” [Ryner]

The sleepy-looking man asked Leodor whose back was facing him as he gazed at his city.

“That’s quite the way to greet the leader of a country.” [Leodor]

The burly beastman said jokingly as he turned around to face him.

“But ‘officially’, I helped to save your country, so it’s fine, right? Take it easy and treat me like a hero.” [Ryner]

“Gahahaha! ‘Looks like a lazy pushover, but his mouth can be pretty annoying!’ Little Snow was spot on!” [Leodor]

“What the hell was that brat saying about me…?” [Ryner]

While the lion-eared king laughed heartily, Ryner considered interrogating Snow.

“Anyway, first, I wanted to show you something cool.” [Leodor]

Leodor pointed at the silver object that was placed on the side. It resembled a metallic disk with a height of a meter and a half. It had four short legs with wheels and the top had a round blue gem embedded in the middle. There were four curved spikes on the border of the disk’s surface and their tips pointed towards the gem that had a diameter of sixty centimeters.

“What’s that?” [Ryner]

“It’s a magic tool we received from a human nation as a gift of friendship. Well, although I said that, they’re giving this thing away to everyone they can!” [Leodor]

“Uh-huh. And what does it do?” [Ryner]

Ryner asked as he lightly knocked on it and examined the gem at the center.

“It’ll allow you to talk to and see whoever also has this device. The distance won’t matter at all! According to the messengers that delivered it, the plan is to allow every country in the world to be able to contact each other right away with this thing. Awesome, right?!” [Leodor]

“I heard about it from your son.” [Ryner]

“Oh? Was it Kirial? He already told you?” [Leodor]

“Yeah.” [Ryner]

“What’s with that attitude? This thing will allow leaders of different nations to speak to each other right away whenever they need to! You won’t need to dispatch messengers! I can talk to someone in another land without having to wait or leave my home!” [Leodor]

Unlike Leodor who looked as excited as a child, Ryner didn’t seem too impressed.

“It’s called the Broadcast System!” [Leodor]

But, when the beastman loudly told him the name of the device, he froze for a moment.

“… By the way, who made this thing?” [Ryner]

“Gahaha! Interested now, are ya?! It’s a woman that’s considered a genius in her kingdom! Her name’s…! I forgot…” [Leodor]

“… Your appearance matches your personality.” [Ryner]

Ryner then fully understood that Leodor had probably been leaving most of his kingly duties to Taniel and Leonhart.

“Whatever, I’ll find out another time.” [Ryner]

“Then, moving on to the main issue. It’s about your reward.” [Leodor]

Leodor said with a serious expression that was wholly different from before.

“For saving Myra and Snow? I don’t need one.” [Ryner]

“No. It’s not just for them. It’s for my country, and my family.” [Leodor]

The king bowed.

“Thank you. If you weren’t there, my family, my own wife, Sally… I would have… Thank you.” [Leodor]

He earnestly thanked Ryner from the bottom of his heart. The human that saved his family tilted his head and wore a clueless expression.

“Huh? What’s this about?” [Ryner]

“It was you, wasn’t it? That man that wore shadows for clothes. I don’t know what that form was, but I’ve heard of some unique skills that were pretty crazy and I won’t ask. If you want to keep it hidden, I won’t say a word.” [Leodor]

“… You really think that it’s me.” [Ryner]

Playing dumb didn’t appear to work. Leodor had no proof, but he truly believed that the being he saw in the ruin was Ryner.

“You sort of look and sound similar, though I think that man was a bit older, and he had a horn, and feathers on his head, and his right eye was golden.” [Leodor]

“Doesn’t that completely make it someone else? How can you know it’s me?” [Ryner]

“With instincts!” [Leodor]

The beastman proudly declared with his chest puffed out.

“I already heard that reason from someone else. Can’t you think of a better one?” [Ryner]

“Gahaha! That’s just because we beastmen have better senses than you humans!” [Leodor]

Leodor’s grateful and respectful gratitude faded away and it was replaced by his usual energetic laugh.

“If you’re thankful, then that’s fine. Don’t go spreading my unique ability around. I like to keep it as a secret weapon. Also, for the reward, let’s just say that you owe me one.” [Ryner]

Scratching his head, Ryner mixed in a lie about the nature of his power and decided to make use of his gratitude. If the king of Ofauvra owed him a favor, then he could collect it if he ever needed it. It was useful to have people owing him favors. That was something he learned in the many years of his life.

“No problem! If you’re ever in trouble, I’ll move my army to fight for you and command at the frontline myself! But wait until I fixed the mess my brother left. We can’t appear weak to other countries.” [Leodor]

Leodor nodded while grinning, though his smile turned gloomy when he mentioned Leonhart. His death, which was by his hands, and his betrayal still weighted heavily on his mind. Moreover, one of the two elite clans, the Terdims, was pretty much done for. Most of them were killed while the rest were imprisoned. The kingdom’s military might was reduced, which would affect diplomatic relationships with other countries. However, he first needed to thank the man that saved him, so he dispelled his dark thoughts.

“I guess the grudges between humans and beastmen run deep.” [Ryner]

“Yeah, it was pretty bad seventy years ago. We went at each other’s throats in that one year war. I heard there was a lot of madness. Lots of cruel acts done.” [Leodor]

“Like what?” [Ryner]

“… Every human we captured, we chopped them up, put their heads on a pike and their body parts in boxes for display. The humans though, said we were animals and a group of bastards actually ate us. The stories of those who survived the war and saw it would make you go pale.” [Leodor]

“That so.” [Ryner]

Ryner nodded slightly without any change in his sleepy expression.

“I’m pretty sure back then, there was someone from the Terdim who saw beastmen getting carved up, prepared and eaten. He narrowly escaped with his life and survived the war. If his stories were spread to the descendants, then the clan probably hates humans a lot. Maybe that’s why they chose to follow my brother…” [Leodor]

Leodor’s voice trailed off. He didn’t hate humans, but he didn’t really like them either, except for Ryner and that woman, Evelyn, who saved his family. However, the descendants of those who witnessed cruelty done by human hands and passed down the stories to their kids would feel incline to hate them. He never paid it much mind, but his brother’s attempted coup was like a slap to the face, waking him up.

“Well, if you want to fix your kingdom as soon as possible, then get to work.” [Ryner]

Ryner unceremoniously broke the silence as Leodor reflected on his past actions, causing the burly king to crack a smile.

“I was, but I’m taking a break now. My new prime minister can handle the work while I’m gone. Besides, sitting at that desk all day is impossible!” [Leodor]

His remark made it hard to know if he was really reflecting on his actions.

“Yeah, I can understand. I hate paperwork.” [Ryner]

“Gahahaha! Me too! I fall asleep if I’m not careful!” [Leodor]

The beastman king declared proudly while laughing heartily. Ryner couldn’t help but think that he indeed trained the muscles in his body well, but somewhat neglected the muscle in his head. The two exchanged a few more words which included Ryner’s plan on leaving. Leodor asked him to stay a while longer, but to no avail.

“By the way, do you know anything about that black knight that helped to take down the humans and traitors? Arka kept talking about him.” [Leodor]

The beastman king also asked him about the menacing black knight that was rampaging through the streets and tearing his foes apart.

“No.” [Ryner]

Ryner played dumb and Leodor believed him.

“At least stay for a party or something before you go.” [Leodor]

He was also invited to a small banquet, but-

“I don’t like those kinds of events.” [Ryner]

He bluntly refused.

When they went back inside because it was time for Ryner to leave, they saw Mimi and Sally together in the room. It seemed like they wanted to see Leodor. Tali, Meireld and their kids were all peeking in from the door.

“Mimi…” [Sally]

The girl clung to her mother’s skirt who was watching her worriedly. Leodor’s expression grew stiff when he saw her. Things had become awkward between him and his daughter after she saw him swing his sword down on Sally. He didn’t know what to do. Mimi stared at him anxiously while clinging to her mother. Sally gently patted her head with a sad face.

“100… No, 110…?” [Ryner]

As for the sole human in the room, although he noticed the weird atmosphere, he was busy observing something else.

“Hmm?” [Leodor]

Hearing his muttering, Leodor shifted his gaze.

“To think they could be packed with so much hopes and dreams… Definitely national-level assets.” [Ryner]

“What are you talking about?” [Leodor]

“Nothing, just understanding your preferences again. Anyway, I’ll be going now.” [Ryner]

“A-ah, ok. Come visit whenever you want.” [Leodor]

“When I feel like it. Until then, good luck with your kid.” [Ryner]

“Ugh…” [Leodor]

Ignoring the bitter expression of Leodor, Ryner waved his hand while walking towards the door. As he arrived near Sally and Mimi, he looked at the nervous little girl for a second.

“Oh yeah, I should tell you this now. It’s pretty much impossible for you to protect your mom right now. You’ll need to work hard if you don’t want what you said to be a lie.” [Ryner]

“… Huh?” [Mimi]

Her eyes opened wide at his blunt and rude remark, but she wasn’t mad or sad.

“One day, I’ll be really strong and protect mommy!” [Mimi]

Words that were spoken to a certain animal flashed through her mind. Furthermore, she noticed Ryner’s right eye that was white, just like his.

“… Mr. Wolf?” [Mimi]

She murmured and stared at his retreating back while her mother lowered her head to him in gratitude for saving her daughter.

The next day, Ryner and Evelyn were being seen off by several acquaintances at the gates of the city. They were given a wagon stuffed with various supplies and two strong horses to pull it. It was something that Leodor forced on them as a gift. Among those that were present, there was Maya, Snow, Myra, Suky and a few new faces. Five guys and girls of sixteen years of age had come because of their friend, Snow. They were the ones that had asked to meet Ryner, but never showed up and left him waiting at the meeting point. Because of Snow’s demands, they came to say goodbye, but mainly to apologize for the prank they pulled on him.

“I am sorry.” [Girl]

“Me too.” [Guy]

“Likewise.” [Guy]

That was why a girl with the bushy tail of a squirrel lowered her head to him. The others followed suit and apologized with either uncomfortable or embarrassed faces.

“Good! I forgive you!” [Snow]

For some reason, the one doing the forgiving was Snow who nodded, satisfied with their behavior. The moment she did, they swarmed her and their tension suddenly escalated.

“Thank you so much!” [Girl]

“Yeah!” [Guy]

“Likewise!” [Guy]

“You’re so cute!” [Girl]

The squirrel girl hugged her and rubbed her cheeks against hers, treating her like a stuffed toy.

“Hey! Stop that! Or rather, let me hug her too!” [Guy]

“What he said!” [Guy]

“Shut up! You boys can’t touch her, you hear?!” [Girl]

“What was that?! You picking a fight?!” [Guy]

“Us girls will protect her from you all!” [Girl]

The rowdy group of friends began arguing among themselves while Snow, who was being hugged, watched on with warm eyes, oblivious to her popularity. As for Ryner, who was completely forgotten, he moved away from the noisy bunch and was speaking to Suky.

“Are you serious?” [Ryner]

“Yeah. She barely eats anything ever since you left and always looks sad. It’s obvious she wants to be with you.” [Suky]

For some reason, the fur-covered woman handed him the red and white puppy, Mi.

“Woof!” [Mi]

Mi barked as if to express her agreement. She put her forelegs on Ryner’s leg and looked up at him with her round eyes while happily wagging her tail.

“So you want me to bring this pup with me?” [Ryner]

“Come on? How much trouble can she be?” [Suky]

Suky asked while grinning with an expression that said “You can’t handle one puppy?” on her face.

“… Fine.” [Ryner]

After silently staring at Mi’s big round eyes for a few seconds, he picked her up. She was the weird puppy that said that she wanted to be his big sister. He put her in the carriage and Mi barked happily twice. Evelyn didn’t object to his decision, though she frowned when Suky flirtatiously leaned on him.

“Next time, you can stay at my place, even if you’re not a wolf.” [Suky]

“No thanks. I don’t want to be a pet.” [Ryner]

He rejected her offer halfheartedly.

“I wasn’t talking about being a pet though…” [Suky]

The grinning Suky whispered to him and moved aside for Maya who wanted to say goodbye. She needed to talk to her friend later to have her permission to infringe on her territory.

“I’ll be back soon, Master~.” [Maya]

Maya said a few words playfully, choosing to keep it short since she had a convenient item around her neck that would let her talk to him whenever she wanted. She touched the collar that was now more like a black leather choker. Then, she hugged him and went to Evelyn next.

“Take care of Master while I’m gone~.” [Maya]

“I’ve been doing that since before you were born.” [Evelyn]

They exchanged a few words in a low voice as Maya initiated a hug. Although Evelyn wanted to let go, Maya kept a hold of her and whispered in her ear one more thing.

“You know, Evelyn, Master was relentless when he was drunk~. But, I like him better when he’s sober~. It’s amazing~.” [Maya]

She parted from the vampire and gave her a teasing wink as Evelyn stared at her with wide eyes before faking a cough to gloss over her stunned state. On the side, Snow broke free of her friend’s arms and was hugging Ryner tightly.

“Thanks for everything.” [Snow]

She thanked him in a muffled voice since her face was buried in his chest.

“Promise you’ll visit us.” [Snow]

She pleaded while looking up at him with teary eyes.

“When I feel like it.” [Ryner]

He said and patted her head lightly. She nodded meekly and let go as she tried her best to not shed tears since she was seeing him off. It was then her mother’s turn to bid farewell. Myra didn’t say anything as she walked up to Ryner and put a hand on his cheek. As the young man stared at her quizzically, she gently kissed his cheek. Except for two people, everyone was staring at her, stunned. Evelyn had a satisfied smirk because of how things were going according to her plan, though she was also feeling jealous. Snow had a huge grin on her face, innocently happy that her mother and Ryner were getting along.

“… Uhhh, yeeaah, ok. This is getting awkward.” [Ryner]

Since Myra didn’t move her lips away from his cheek even after ten seconds passed, Ryner lightly tapped her shoulder to get her to stop.

“Fufufu, you’re always welcome at my house.” [Myra]

Myra said while smiling and put a hand to her cheek. She was blushing, perhaps out of embarrassment.

“Yeah! You’re always welcome to come over and play!” [Snow]

Snow added energetically, breaking the subtle atmosphere that drifted around them. Once all farewells were said, one man, one woman and one dog left the city on a shaking carriage.

“… I think she likes me.” [Ryner]

Ryner broke the weird silence and said to Evelyn who was sitting next to him on the driver’s seat. Mi was lying sprawled on his lap while waving her tail.

“Perhaps.” [Evelyn]

“But nothing weird is gonna happen.” [Ryner]

He added when she looked at him with a grin in her eyes.

“Really? Even though she has shown such clear and obvious affection for you.” [Evelyn]

“You’re talking about a mother who recently became a widow.” [Ryner]

“In my opinion, her husband didn’t deserve her love and she has found emotional support from you.” [Evelyn]

“Don’t be a guy, Evie. If you pitifully misunderstand every little thing women do or say to you, your dark history will never end.” [Ryner]

“Then, you’re saying that you are not misunderstanding her action?” [Evelyn]

“Yup.” [Ryner]

“… I see.” [Evelyn]

Evelyn nodded and looked in front again. Her smile was a bit sad. They continued on their way like so for a while until they were away from any civilization.

“It’s about time to change rides.” [Ryner]

Just as Ryner declared and was about to store the carriage in his pocket dimension and release the horses, he caught sight of something approaching them from the front. Unfortunately, it was too far away for him to see.

“Evie, can you see? Vampires have better eyesight than humans.” [Ryner]

“It would have been wonderful if you were a vampire in this world.” [Evelyn]

“Yeah, no. Being human is more comfortable. Truth be told, I actually had some ‘issues’ I needed to deal with when I was a dhampir.” [Ryner]

Ryner said as he thought about the panic attack he had when he was stuck as a wolf. He took out a spyglass from his pocket dimension and observed the approaching cloud of dust with Evelyn. As they got closer, he could see it was a group of people. Their horses were galloping down the road at high speed, carrying their riders on their backs. One detail that stood out was that the riders were all beautiful human women. None of them were beastmen even though they were deep in beastmen territory.

“Woof! Woof! Woof!” [Mi]

Mi began barking at the approaching riders.

As Ryner looked carefully through the spyglass, he also noticed that they all possessed golden eyes with black tattoos near the corners, making them look sharper. Moreover, leading the group was a woman with light green hair. It felt like she was locking eyes with him through the spyglass. She spurred her horse to run faster and on her lips hung a sadistic smile. When Evelyn saw her, she openly glared, looking quite displeased. She remembered their encounter with that woman.

As for Ryner…

“… Who’re they?” [Ryner]

He asked while tilting his head. He didn’t remember the amazon that attacked him, causing Evelyn to nearly sigh, but she dutifully answered his question instead.

“They’re amazons.” [Evelyn]

“Oh yeeaah, the ones with the eyes and the markings and stuff.” [Ryner]

Ryner slowly nodded, remembering what the teacher, Kelly, told him about them.

“And it would seem that the one leading them is the woman that attacked us before, when we were taking Myra and Snow back to Ofauvra.” [Evelyn]

“… Huh. What are the odds that we would meet her right after leaving the city? Well, with how odd my life’s been, I guess it’s not that weird, maybe.” [Ryner]

He was talking leisurely while the amazons were getting closer. Only he was still at ease while Evelyn got ready for a fight.

“What should we do?” [Evelyn]

“Isn’t it obvious?” [Ryner]

Ryner stopped the carriage and got out with the red and white puppy.

“We’re retreating.” [Ryner]