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Chapter 5
The wolf’s curved fangs rushed right in front of Genuere’s face.
I tightly shut my eyes.
‘I’m going to die now!’
My heart pounded wildly.
Forget the meat. This was the end for me.
The crystal engine did not respond anymore. I had already used all my power defeating the magical beast.
Well, of course. I needed food to have strength in the first place!
But then…
Pant pant!
‘…Huh?’
Instead of the pain of being bitten, I felt warm and fluffy fur pressing against my body.
Then something wet and warm brushed across my face.
Slowly, I opened my eyes and looked ahead.
But what was this?
The wolf was licking my face.
Pant, pant pant!
When I opened my eyes in shock, the wolf stuck out its tongue in front of me and wagged its tail happily.
‘…It licked me?’
I froze completely.
Then I suddenly realized something.
Actually, animals were unfamiliar to me.
Honestly, I felt like I would be less nervous standing in front of a magical beast than standing this close to an animal.
For some reason, my entire body became stiff like ice whenever an animal got near me.
Meanwhile, the wolf kept whining happily while licking my face and hands.
After hesitating for a moment, I awkwardly reached out and patted the wolf’s head.
“G-good… good wolf.”
…This is how you pet them, right?
Whine, whiiine~.
The wolf immediately rolled over and showed me its belly.
Only then did I finally let out the breath I had been holding.
“Phew.”
As the fear of death disappeared, the hunger I had forgotten about came crashing over me like a wave.
The moment my eyes turned toward the meat sizzling over the campfire, the wolf in front of me also turned its head to follow my gaze.
Then it suddenly stood up and slowly walked toward the campfire, blocking my view as if protecting its meat.
Grrrr….
“Um.”
With desperate determination, I decided to try negotiating with the wolf.
In the cutest voice I could manage, I whispered softly,
“…Can you give me just one bite?”
The wolf immediately turned its head away as if the answer was ridiculous.
Grrmph!
“Then… two bites?”
After speaking gently to the wolf, I carefully stretched out my hand.
But the wolf tapped my hand away with its nose.
Snort!
Its attitude clearly said, “Don’t come any closer.”
“Ah, okay. Fine. So stingy.”
Well, it wasn’t like animals and humans could understand each other anyway.
I quickly became depressed.
Then I noticed the dried leaves spread beneath where I was sitting.
Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.
‘Should I try eating the leaves?’
I reached toward the leaves.
But unbelievably, the wolf bit down and snatched away even the leaves I had been trying to grab.
Tears nearly formed in my eyes.
‘Wolf… can’t I eat at least something?’
Just then—
The wolf wagged its tail and returned to me.
In its mouth was the delicious roasted meat, neatly wrapped in leaves.
The wolf came beside me, puffed warm air through its nose, and pushed the meat toward me.
Sniff sniff!
I widened my eyes at the wolf’s unexpected action.
“…You’re telling me to eat one bite?”
The wolf shook its head.
Grrmph, snort!
“Then… two bites?”
Grrmph, snort!
“Don’t tell me… all of it?”
Snort!
‘Is this real?’
I respectfully accepted the meat with both hands.
Although the leaf wrapping was clumsy, it kept the meat from burning my hands.
It was amazing.
‘I’m actually communicating with a wolf!’
And judging from the way it wrapped the meat in leaves so my hands would not burn, maybe it had stopped me from approaching the fire earlier because it was dangerous.
‘So that was your plan from the start, huh?’
I was genuinely grateful and thanked the wolf sincerely.
“Thank you!”
Bark bark!
I took a bite of the roasted meat.
The moment the meat entered my mouth, my eyes widened.
‘It’s delicious!’
I quickly took another bite.
It tasted incredible.
Without question, it was the best thing I had eaten in all thirteen years of my life.
Especially the seasoning powder spread evenly across the surface—it was absolutely perfect.
“Are wolves normally this good at grilling meat and seasoning it?”
I lifted my head to pet the wolf—
And discovered a boy sitting beyond the campfire with his eyes open.
At that exact moment, our eyes met.
The boy stared at me with wide eyes and a completely speechless expression.
“….”
“….”
I awkwardly wiped the meat grease from around my mouth with the back of my hand and forced a smile.
Then after staring at each other for a while, I spoke first.
“The meat was really good.”
“….”
“It was grilled perfectly, and the seasoning was amazing!”
“….”
“I’ll pet you as a reward.”
But the moment I finished speaking, I collapsed sideways.
It wasn’t just food I had lacked all this time.
I had not properly slept either.
Now that my stomach was finally somewhat full from the delicious meat, my body desperately needed sleep.
The boy’s shocked face shouting something toward me slowly blurred and disappeared from my vision.
When I woke up again, my body felt much lighter.
‘Ah! I feel alive again.’
I could even feel pleasant energy flowing from the crystal engine.
But strangely, my forehead felt very hot.
Something seemed to be resting on top of it, and it felt uncomfortable.
The moment I raised my hand to remove it, another hand gently covered mine.
Instantly, I remembered the rough hands of the priest with glasses grabbing my wrists during experiments.
Without realizing it, I tightly shut my eyes.
Then, for the first time, I heard an unfamiliar voice near my ear.
“…Are you okay?”
It was a low and careful voice.
When I slowly opened my eyes, I saw dark blue hair and gray eyes.
The shirtless boy was sitting beside me, leaning forward as he looked down at me.
Sweat dripped across the muscles of his upper body.
‘Ah, it’s not the priest uncle.’
In a dry voice, I spoke.
“…Can you help me sit up?”
“….”
The boy hesitated briefly before carefully supporting my back with both hands and helping me sit up.
At that moment, something suddenly fell from my forehead.
It was a cloth soaked in warm water.
‘Aha, so this is what made my forehead feel hot.’
As I tried moving it aside, the boy picked it up instead and gently held my hand.
“…You’re very cold right now.”
“T-that’s… normal for me.”
Because of the crystal engine.
As long as it kept producing ice energy inside my heart, my body would naturally stay cold.
But suddenly, these words slipped out of my mouth.
“Though honestly, I don’t think you’re one to talk.”
I was referring to the boy still walking around shirtless.
The boy’s face instantly turned red, and he quickly stood up.
“…There’s a reason for this.”
Then he awkwardly stepped backward.
Despite how he looked, he seemed surprisingly shy.
I slowly looked around the cave.
Come to think of it, the wolf that had rushed toward me earlier was gone.
Where did it go?
“If you mean that wolf, it went hunting.”
The boy noticed my curiosity and tossed small branches into the campfire as he continued speaking.
“Don’t worry. It’ll be back soon.”
“Hm? With what?”
“Meat.”
The boy pointed at the empty wooden stick over the fire where the meat had been earlier.
“You seemed to enjoy eating it a lot.”
“….”
Hearing that immediately made me remember the taste, and I almost started drooling again without realizing it.
The campfire crackled softly.
The boy casually handed me a leather water pouch.
After drinking a little water, I held the pouch with both hands and asked,
“You were badly injured, weren’t you?”
“I’m fine.”
The boy shrugged.
“I heal quickly.”
Just like he said, his body looked surprisingly fine in the firelight.
During the battle with the bear magical beast, he had clearly been covered in wounds, but now it almost felt like an illusion.
Still, when I looked closely, the larger injuries had not completely healed.
The boy seemed aware of that too.
Sitting across the fire from me, he pulled bandages from his pocket and began wrapping them around himself.
I raised my head.
“…Should I help?”
“…Why?”
I thought quietly for a moment before answering.
“Because you saved me. And gave me food.”
The boy looked genuinely confused.
“I don’t know about that. If anything, you saved me.”
Well… he was right.
My actions had been impulsive in such an extreme situation, but if I had not dropped the giant icicles, his injuries probably would have been much worse.
“Come to think of it, what happened to the bear magical beast? Did it… die?”
Thinking back, I had never actually confirmed its final fate.
Although after burying it under giant icicles and an avalanche of snow from that height, it was hard to imagine it surviving.
The boy widened his eyes at my question, then suddenly laughed.
Soon, a small smile appeared on his lips.
“Yeah.”
“…I see.”
That was a relief.
‘Once I recover my strength here, I should head down to the village.’
But at that moment, the boy suddenly stood up and walked toward me.
“By the way… who are you?”
Then he continued in a low voice.
“And why did you save me?”
Beyond the orange glow of the campfire, the boy’s gray eyes flickered seriously.
Looking into those eyes, I quietly fell into thought.
Because at that moment, several important things suddenly came to mind.
(To be continued)
