Chapter 14: Almost Missed [2]

A few hours ago, before the meeting.

The sun had completed its reign for the day and the heavens slowly shifted hues into an eye-pleasing orange. Flickering bright dots had appeared one after another above head as if it was signaling the night’s upcoming reign.

The stellar tiny dots waited for their queen, the moon, that was about to show her grace. Soon enough, the moon slowly rose, declaring that the night had come.

Auburn strode his way towards the appointed meeting much earlier than the expected time. After all, he always believed that punctuality was a gentleman’s virtue. He straightened his sleeves and smiled. He had always treated himself as a gentleman.

Auburn carefully carried a bunch of papers in his hands. It was the report about the monster droppings the madam had tasked him to assess. Truthfully, he had heaved a sigh of relief after he had assured that the droppings were merely from Dire wolves. As a hunter and a monster researcher, he knew the dangers of monsters as much as he knew them. So he had carefully checked it a few more times so that he could give an accurate report.

With the knight’s men protecting the villager, Auburn was sure that Dire Wolves were nothing but manageable. Whistling, he strode across a few muddy roads, with the moon illuminating his way.

Despite his shined boots gathering muddy mucks, he still felt that today was a good day. He heard what had happened to the poop-digger, and a grin slid out of his lips. His arch-nemesis, Davin, had finally met with misfortune.

Auburn strode with pride as his monocles shone under the presence of the moonlight and the stars. He wore his favorite tail-coat given to him by his sister, making sure that he’d be presentable. Today was one of the rare events where he’d be able to show off his gentlemanly virtues.

Though not for long, Auburn was once part of the nobility in the capital. Unfortunately, his parents suffered from debt after debt. They had to sell everything just to scrunch up for payment. Soon enough, they even had to sell their title.

When everything seemed to return to its normal course, his parents suffered from a random disease. Though he was sure that they were poisoned. Soon enough, death took them away.

His parents had left him and his sister orphaned at a young age. They had nothing but a few coins and properties. Most of which were already claimed or stolen by their relatives. Not a rare story among the nobility who had fallen from grace.

Before they could even grieve, some sheep in wolves’s clothing plotted for their deaths. Luckily, they escaped with the help of a trusted, retiring old butler. They took another identity and started a new life.

Anyway, how he had become a hunter was quite a short story. Auburn learned to hunt early since their father was a hunting enthusiast. It made him an excellent hunter and was even good enough to bring meat to their table. Something he used to help him and his sister survived after escaping the capital.

His older sister, Leine, was also a genius. She made a lot of connections to merchants through Auburn’s hunted games at the tender age of fifteen. It made their life far easier. Her sister saved up their money and opened a small clothing business. Then, she met the madam. For her genius, the madam invited his sister to her right hand. Then, for him, he met the knight in a small forest where he hunts. It was an ugly first encounter with the knight. He thought the knight was some wild bear and shot an arrow into the burly giant’s ass, as for the rest of the story… he had no other wish but to forget it.

Still, remembering those moments made him sighed in relief about how lucky they were. It was like the hands of fate had finally dealt them a good hand. After all, not all fallen noble had the same good ending as them.

When he was about to arrive at the meeting room, Auburn saw little Klive outside the garden pavilion. The little kid was looking at the stars and moons above, his eyes shining with mystery. It seemed like the boy had sneaked out of his room to witness the beauty of the night sky.

Feeling piqued, Auburn approached the little boy for a quick chat to feed his curiosity.

“Good evening, little Klive.” Auburn quipped, bowing his head like a noble gentleman.

Klive raised his head, and an innocent smile bloomed on the lad’s face. “How are you, Uncle Auburn?”

“I’m still as handsome as ever, little lord,” said Auburn, a nauseating grin sprouting on his thick face.

Auburn was the first esquire of Knight Levo. So he saw how Klive grew up from a stumbling baby to a curious kid. It made his relationship with the little guy much closer as compared to the others. The little lad had always treated him like he was part of their family.

Unfortunately, today seemed a bit different...

The young kid frowned and pinched his nose. His eyes sharpened, and he threw a glare at the monocled man. “Uncle, you might be handsome, but you stink! You smell like a rotten undead.”

“I stink?!” Auburn’s grin stiffened. He immediately gave himself a good sniff. He breathed the air but smelled nothing. Then Auburn froze as if something hard struck him. His swift hands pulled out a dirty old coin sack. It was where the scats were. He then showed a wry smile.

Then… his wry smile slowly turned stiff. Auburn’s senses as a hunter alerted him that something was wrong. His face turned serious. He took another lungful of the coin sack. He gritted his teeth and smelled the stomach-churning odor of the droppings.

He then gagged and almost puked on the spot. His mouth opened and closed. His face shifted into a scowl, turning grim with each passing moment. “Rot-ten U-undead! Thi-this is not from forest dire wolves?!”

Auburn trembled. He took out a handkerchief to clean his monocle, one of his habits every time he fell in deep thought. Its scent of the undead wasn’t something that one could smell from a certain distance.

You would only smell the unique odor if you put your nose nearer. Something that almost no one in their right mind would do. He never encountered such disgusting yet elusive odor in his entire hunting experience aside from the rotting undead. He knew that dire wolves' droppings would never reek undead.

“What are you doing, uncle?” Klive pinched his nose, tilting his head in question. He moved a few meters away from the smelly thing on Auburn’s hand. “Uncle! Could you please throw that thing away? It smells like death wolves!”

“Death wolves?!” Auburn raised his head and furrowed his brows, a bit of shock building its way on his face. He threw an unbelieving look at the young lad.

He stared at the pouting lad and immediately softened his sharp eyebrows. He wanted to confirm something from the kid. “Hey, Klive, how did you know it smelled like death wolves?”

“I read it!” The kid bobbed his head in pride.

“You read it, really?” Auburn revealed a kind smile.

“Hmn!”

“Where? Could you tell me what book?”

Klive then ran to the nearby garden pavilion. He picked up an odd-looking wooden book, then brought it in front of Auburn.

“Here! Uncle!” The kid raised the book over his head in excitement, swinging it in the air for Auburn to see...

Auburn knew the book was a gift from the first caretaker of the Knight’s family. Someone that he only heard from the stories of the Knight or the older attendants, a truly mysterious lady.

He always saw it in the hands of the little lord. One time, he opened the book in secret because of curiosity. He only saw old blank pages. It was devoid of any ink and words.

Seeing the young kid playing a prank on him, Auburn laughed and ruffled the hair of the kid.

After that, he immediately said goodbye to the kid and turned back to his temporary research library. He wanted to confirm a few things. After all, he had never considered death wolves.

Auburn also knew that it was still a bit early before the meeting. He had time. Thus, he turned back to verify whether Klive’s claims were true. Still, he informed the head attendant that he might be a little late. A small courtesy gesture.

Auburn rummaged around the library and searched for various monster records. He looked into a few beast almanacs containing records of Death wolves. The older the better. Most of the new almanacs only contained common monsters and beasts seen by commoners. Not the rare kinds.

The death wolves, deadly monsters that mostly inhabit the unexplored north, were mostly not in records. Auburn saw many records of Death wolves, but those parchments had only described them in short words. Most authors described them as deadly, calamitous, and blood-crazed.

“Death wolves… death wolves… Hmn.” He gulped, his eyes narrowing. “T-they’re shitty news.”

Auburn burned through every letter of each book. He grew anxious, fearing that he might miss something again. Seconds, minutes, and hours trickled with each tick of the aspect clock. When he was already about to give up and return, he stumbled across a dust-laden yellowish book.

He flipped through the pages and found a simple description of Death wolves. The words made Auburn froze. He then closed his eyes, taking a deep breath along the way. He was in luck… or not.

Auburn gazed at the zigzagging letters from an old document for the Eustacia Empire. The author had filled it with information about death wolves. The author of the book had even called the Death wolves ‘calamity wolves’. It clearly described the absurd destruction they brought every time they attacked. It included their description, how to track them, and many more. He read and read and read…

In the middle of his reading - a small description caught his eyes.

“… of the smell of rotten corpses or undead…” Auburn almost leaped in shock.

‘The droppings of calamity wolves have a unique scent of the undead. It’s something exclusive to Death Wolves. They are…’

The moment Auburn read the sentences, his heart jumped out. It was echoing the description of the little Klive. A shiver ran through his hands. The old book fell to the ground. When he was about to pick it up. He saw a familiar seal. The seal of the Eustacia Empire—the Blood Tiger.

“A smuggled good from an old Eustacian noble?” Auburn glanced at the title-less book. If this indeed came from the empire, it’d support the veracity of the book. “Is the owner someone related to the imperial family?”

Auburn immediately picked up the book, treating it like a treasure. Not caring about anything, he then ran towards the gathering. With the book in his hand, he dashed, as if there was no tomorrow.

***

After the crowd listened to Auburn’s account, the atmosphere turned heavy and tense. A few had cast their doubts. That was until they saw the old document and smelled the droppings brought by Auburn.

Their faces blanched. Some young well-learned attendants even fainted on the spot. It was as stinky as the hell-hole of Scandia, one of the forbidden areas of the Eudoria. Anyway, it confirmed everything was parallel with what the old book was talking about.

A few even shuddered at the thought that they were going to face death wolves. It was unlucky.

Just a few days after arriving at the Knight’s new fief, they're now bound to battle. It incited paranoia in the entire room, making everyone jumpy. They even forgot that it was a little boy that discovered everything.

“Men! Blow the horns and rang the bells!” The knight yelled, waking up everyone from their stupor. They all gaze at the knight, waiting for his orders. “Prepare to evacuate the villagers to a safer place. You know the drill!"

“Yes! Lord Knight!”

Although they feared the Death Wolves, many among them were war veterans. It enabled them to cope up better with unexpected events. All the officers and attendants rushed to their respective duties. In a flash, they left the once boisterous room almost empty.

“Auburn!”

“Milord!”

“Get Klive over here. Don’t let him roam anywhere!”

“Y-yes my Lord!” Auburn then sprinted in haste towards the garden pavilion to get the little kid.

“Annis.” The Knight turned to his wife. “Bring the other kids here, please. Bring Leine with you.”

“I know…”

The Madame pulled Leine away and ran like a wind. Their first goal was to bring Liszt, Ciera, and the others to safety.

Seeing his wife jumping from roof to roof, Levo shifted his gaze at his men.

“What are you waiting for?! Get everyone’s dumb asses here fast!”

“Everyone with me, prepare for battle!”

The warning horns rumbled throughout the villager like rushing waves. The warning bells rang. It signaled to all the knight’s soldiers to gather and prepare for battle. It was a call-to-arms.

The sounds of danger echoed in the hearts of everyone. The villagers and the knight’s men had sensed the upcoming disaster. The storm brewed deeper as shouts echoed in every nook and cranny of the village.

It seemed like the night's going to be longer than usual.