"Huff... why is this one so fast?!"

One of the men grunted as he panted heavily, keeping the running wolf on track.

Rustle. The wolf was still steering toward trees after trees without ceasing and would occasionally pounce, attempting to take down any of the hustling men.

The hunters raced to follow the wolf, desperate as sweat dribbled on their half-armored faces.

"Left! It's about lunge at your left! Prepare to shoot!"

They started loading bolts as the wolf was about to pounce.

The other man thrusts his spear, but the wolf is swift, barely making a scratch on its red fur.

Schnick! Bolts shot in a flash, showing their years of experience in the crossbow.

This time, they are confident that it will hit.

They had never hunted a wolf as fast and enduring as this red one before, but they had their ways.

In that instant, the wolf learned his mistake.

Basil tried to pull every ounce of his force to pivot, but he knew it was futile.

Bracing himself to the incoming shots, Basil shuddered, body sliding on the dirt, as a man with black attire descended without any hint of noise.

"What-"

Clank! Greze swung his katana, parrying the metal bolts before his foot touched the dirt.

Horus, who held Greze's fallen robe in his hands, had moved behind the shrub where the confused red wolf drifted in the dirt.

He started to speak behind the wolf, stealthily hiding inside the shrubs.

* "He will help you."

The wolf did not reply, but he knew he heard it as its tensed stance eased after those words let off.

"Who the hell are you?!"

"A-assassin...? D-don't get in our way!"

The hunters grunted to the Greze, who stood still but vigilant.

Greze was channeling his energy, enveloping his sword and then his body with a gray, transparent aura that resembles vines, no, slithering snakes.

[ Dominating Aura ]

It was a technique experienced aura-users could eventually learn.

'It's a technique where the aura-user intentionally leaks out his aura, causing your opponent to feel sheer fear. The more potent your aura, the more dominating it is.'

Thinking about how it felt makes Horus shiver. He will ensure not to mess with Axel or Greze in the future.

* "Ugh..."

The wolf sniveled as its body finally succumbed to fatigue but remained conscious.

Thud. Basil flopped on the ground, pitiful and trembling.

'The toxin had taken a toll on his body.'

* "Can you transform into your human form?"

He asked while observing the wolf's injured body.

The wolf, in turn, growled to reply.

* "Yeah."

The fur of the red wolf on the ground started to shrink, and so did his body.

It ended with the body of a naked young man with red hair, canine ears, and bloodshot eyes. Patches of bruises and cuts inhabit his bare, thin body.

His red wolf tail curved around his human back, making Horus ponder the physiology of their transformation.

'What a sight.'

Horus swiftly but gently wrapped the young man with Greze's robe, fully covering him except for the left arm with a bolt impaled.

Then, he started pulling him backward, gentle and careful, towards the flattened shrub.

As he does that, Horus could hear terrified cries from the hunters.

"R-run!"

"B-but I can't m-move!"

"Why is t-there an a-aura user h-here?"

'I told him to help the wolf, not to kill anyone. Right?'

Quickly shoved off those thoughts, Horus looked at Basil's injured body.

He was used to such sight as Clay was once a resident surgeon assigned to a Naval Military Corps.

The moment brings him memories hidden beneath his being.

Basil's body was laid on the ground gently, growling in pain.

* "It will be alright."

He assured the young man as years of experience started rushing off in adrenaline.

There are foul-smelling leaves on his hands and sharp stones on the floor that he had already prepared before sneaking here.

'I don't have access to any disinfectant, so I hope this would suffice for now.'

The toxin used in crossbow bolts as a paralyzing agent was called Aphirix.

It's a toxin extracted from a green-horned dragonfly's blood.

The novel didn't describe it as a lethal venom. However, it was potent enough to incapacitate a human for a week or two.

Typically, prolonged respiratory paralysis that leads to asphyxia is the most common cause of death after having Aphirix in one's system.

'He is breathing okay despite being paralyzed.'

He started putting his hand on Basil's chest, by the heart, then by his neck to check his pulse.

'Heart rate is okay, it was quite rapid, but maybe it was that way since he is a wolf.'

He then focused the bolt impaled on Basil's arm.

'The bolt was impaled about 3-inch deep. I also suppose he will feel less pain because of the paralysis.'

* "It might be painful. Please bear with it for now."

He started tearing the leaves he had gathered in advance, ripping them with both hands.

He then squeezed it tightly, making the green drops of fluid fall on the puncture where the bolt impaled his skin.

The liquid started to make a sizzling noise as it hit Basil's skin.

'Woah. Is this normal? I am not doing something wrong, am I?'

He was amazed by how the fluid evaporated, causing small steam as it hit his skin.

The stinky leaves he had prepared in advance are from a plant called Peranin, a deep-green ivy known for its foul, pungent smell when crushed.

It's a common herb in the temperate forests of this world with anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties.

At present, Peranin is only considered a weed. Effelia - the main character in the novel's second volume - won an Honorary Prize after discovering its medical value.

'Hu...'

Horus sighed as he felt the pressure, thinking of the consequences of his act.

He was afraid that doing this himself might affect Basil's progression in the future, but a sudden thought rang in his head.

'How did he survive in the original storyline? Who saved him?'

He knew there should be someone who had helped Basil.

When you have a paralyzed patient, they need a lot of maintenance to ensure they are holding up okay.

'You need to check their breathing every interval, feed them liquid foods like soup if they are at risk of choking, and help them excrete or defecate if they can't do it themselves.'

With sweat running on his temples, he lined his left hand's fingers around the skin where the bolt's base impaled.

His other hand held the shaft of the bolt.

Gently, his hand pulled the bolt off his arm.

"Urgh-"

Basil groaned in pain, biting his lower lip as it bled.

He turned his eyes to the sunglassed young man who was helping him.

"Hu..."

'Good thing the bleeding had stopped. The Peranin had worked, expectedly.'

Following the novel, Basil's clan got eliminated in the Glimp Forest.

He - the sole survivor of that dreadful incident - trained himself hard day and night, alone in the forest, until he met Axel and Effelia.

However, due to the tragic, horrendous loss of his clan and family, his personality turned unchangeably twisted.

At this time, however, Horus knows that some of the elders are maybe still fighting somewhere, and the wolf cubs are still alive under the hands of the hunters.

Thump. Greze started walking towards them, holding sacks with wolf cubs inside them.

He started flinging each towards Horus, almost making a loud thud as each hit the dirt.

"B-bastard... there are children in there."

Horus mumbled, frowning at the sight.

* "Ack!"

One of the wolf children in the sacks uttered.

Horus pulled the drawstrings of the sacks, opening them as the children half the size of him appeared.

They are wearing shabby clothes made from animal hides.

Based on their looks and short physique, they are probably the wolf cubs who were still unable to transform.

'No wonder they sacked them instead of tying them in rope as in the novel.'

"Sir Greze, where are the hunters?"

"They peed their pants as I made them run. I also threatened them to shut their trap, or I'll butcher them."

Horus gulped as Greze had a confident stance with a slight smirk on half his lips.

'This hostile...'

* "Brother!"

One of the cubs quickly ran towards the trembling red wolf beside Horus.

* "The o-others. W-where are the o-others?"

Basil stutteringly mumbles, watching the three other children come out of the sack.

* "Huff... T-they took Wimo, Gisha, and Bael!"

They soon shouted to respond, sobbing and wiping their eyes as they cried and sniffled.

* "Ota is with them. Huff..., but he was i-injured! H-he is bleeding!"

* "D-damn, I need to move."

Basil struggled in an attempt to raise his body as Horus helped him to lean on an alpine tree.

* "Don't push yourself. I have someone that will get your siblings safely."

Rip. As Horus said that, he started ripping off the sleeve of his clothes with a sharp stone he had lately.

Showing his thin, slim arms, he connected the cloth with a knot, bit it as he pulled to tighten it, then started strapping it around the wound on Basil's arm.

'Ha... what is it this time? The Count would not believe this sight...'

Greze, on the other hand, sighed as he pondered, observing them with curiosity as he stood.

He had no idea what they were talking about but remained still to keep them on guard.

The Count will trim off half his paycheck if Horus returns to the estate with a tiny bit of cut on his skin.

Rustle.

At that moment, Greze quickly turned his sight to his west, holding the grip of his katana.

Two figures are running towards them.

One of the two was a burly young man, a greatsword resting on his back, and the other was Vincent panting as he ran.

"Looks like everyone is here."

Horus remarked, glancing at the figures around him.

Axel, who had an odd expression as he approached, focused on Greze, shooting daggers at one another.

Vincent was just there, strolling awkwardly towards them.

The tall, fairly burly young man with brown hair and green eyes - Axel - stood frozen still for a moment, goosebumps perhaps.

'Aura. I could feel it.'

Axel's instinct tells him that the masked man in his middle thirties, Greze, was its owner.

A few seconds later, he shifted his gaze to Horus sitting comfortably on a flattened shrub.

His stare has a hint of distinct aversion, disdain in his eyes.

"I don't need this. The Vitality Essense. Where is it?"

Axel muttered and tossed a pouch toward Horus.

It was the pouch he had passed to Vincent, landing on the dirt with a metallic thud as some coins started rolling on the ground.

'Ho... This punk...'

Sighing quietly, Horus began to stand and gather the fallen coins on the ground with his bare hand.

'Throwing my precious money... Does this punk know how many warm meals he could buy with this amount?'

Everybody, including Basil and the wolf children, gaped as they observed him almost crawling on the dirt with his shabby, now sleeveless clothes, collecting the gold coins.

They felt weirder as Horus still wore the black sunglasses that didn't match his outfit.

"Y-young master..."

Greze, who had an odd, pitying expression, started to help him.

"A-ahem."

Axel coughed awkwardly, feeling guilty about what he had just done as the wolf kids started looking at him with scorn on their miniature faces.

Horus, now holding the full pouch with care, begins to talk.

"Mr. Blancwit, I can't tell you anything out of thin air without gaining anything - I am making a deal, after all."

Clay knew Axel had suffered in the academy because of Horus' terrible acts, but that doesn't count as an excuse to make Horus reveal a cheat item to him that easily.

Revealing the Vitality Essence this early in the story would help Axel's progression exponentially - no kidding.

Horus is aware that it might complicate matters later, or worse, change the flow of the story.

However, he is willing to take a risk.

He wanted to save at least the wolf children that Basil cherished.

'I don't want to meddle with the main characters, but I had to step in. Basil needs his wolf family to become the next Wolf King. It did not occur in the story, but if it does, it will be advantageous to them in the future.'

He sighed as he turned to Axel, who was not looking at him but was listening attentively.

"Listen. I'll tell you where or how you would get your Vitality Essense after you help us, provided you will listen to whatever I tell you to do for now."

Axel has a sweat running on his temple as he slowly nods, gulping while listening with a grim expression, eyes closed.

"Greze."

"Yes, young master."

Horus crosses his arms, thinking of a safe and cautious plan to save the abducted wolf children from the hunters without getting him or the others hurt.

He is also thinking of checking on the wolf den in the north now that he has people with him.

"There's a wolf den in the north, about a thousand yaks from here."

Yak is a measurement of length in this world that Clay had learned from the books. It's about the same distance as a yard.

Basil twitched as those words came to him. Perhaps he was shocked that a human - not even a hunter - knew the location of their den.

Horus knew that Basil could understand his words; the heirs of the Wolf King had to learn the Kruman language.

"At that den, elder wolves are fighting the hunters while these wolf children are running to escape. Greze, you head there and give them a hand."

Greze, who has dumbfounded listening, started to nod without looking.

'Ordering me around this time, huh?'

"There is a hunting camp to the south. Since they are only protecting the wolf cubs they have abducted, I suppose their numbers are lower than the assailants in the den."

He pointed his index finger towards Axel, then gently moved it towards Vincent, hiding behind a tree where the red wolf was leaning.

"You and I will head there. Vincent will stay here with Basil and the wolf kids."

"With me? With that dagger...?"

Axel points to the dagger on Horus' side, and Horus quickly responds, almost with a sigh.

"I'm not going to fight - you will fight. I'll use this for my self-defense."

'Huh...?'

Axel had felt different the moment he set his eyes on Horus.

Part of himself is telling him this wasn't an act, as Horus would never let himself crawl in the dirt to pick some coins he owned in the first place.

'I assumed he baited me here to make me fight an aura assassin he hired... but... am I wrong?'

Unaware of Axel's loud thoughts, Horus approached Vincent and handed him the pouch of gold coins.

Of course, he still left a few coins in his pocket.

"Stay here. Head somewhere nearby the cafe if you think it's dangerous. Use this if you think you guys might need it."

Vincent gulped as he nodded vigorously.

'He looks nervous about something.'

Without pondering it further, Horus gestured to Axel and trekked south, towards the direction of the hunters' camp where the rest of the wolf children were being held captive.

"Let's move."