Chapter 13

As Ariel cast the defensive skill ‘Shield’, a blue barrier formed around the Silver Wolf.

The Orc’s axe came crashing down on the blue barrier.

Clang! With a loud sound, the Orc’s axe flew far away.

“Kreeeek…?”

The Orc, holding its throbbing wrist, stepped back, a puzzled expression on its face.

It couldn’t wrap its head around how its mightily swung axe, aimed at the Silver Wolf’s neck, suddenly hit a barrier.

“Kreeek, kreeek!”

Nearby, other Orcs got hyper and started attacking the Silver Wolf.

They swung their axes wildly, trying to break the blue barrier.

But no scratch appeared on the barrier.

No surprise there; there was no way the Orcs could break a defensive skill cast by Ariel.

“Kreeek, kreeeek!”

Frustrated, the Orcs stomped their feet and pulled at their hair in anger.

After all that effort to hunt the Silver Wolf, only to have a blue barrier pop up to spoil things!

But they couldn’t just give up like that.

The Silver Wolf’s pups were too small to fill their bellies.

Only the mother’s size would suffice to make a decent meal.

Still, the barrier wouldn’t budge no matter what they did.

In a fit of rage, one Orc even tried to bash its head against the barrier but ended up bleeding out and dying.

Meanwhile, Ariel and Roo watched the situation unfold from above in a tree.

“Sister, are you going to help that Silver Wolf?”

Roo asked, and Ariel nodded.

Even she didn’t know why exactly. She just felt sympathy upon seeing the Silver Wolf mourning its lost pups.

“As expected, our sister is righteous!”

From the Orcs’ perspective, that was far from the case, but justice tends to vary depending on the viewpoint.

Right now, rescuing the mother Silver Wolf, who had lost her pups, was the definition of justice.

With a leap, Ariel jumped down from the tree.

Upon landing, she fired Magic Missiles equal to the number of Orcs at them.

Whoosh!

The Orcs, who were still howling in frustration, fell over with holes blasted into their foreheads.

Ariel stuffed all the Orc corpses into her inventory and approached the Silver Wolf.

“Grrr, grrrrr….”

The Silver Wolf glared at Ariel, growling cautiously.

It didn’t have the strength to get up, but if it could, it would leap at Ariel without hesitation.

Regardless, Ariel asked Roo to heal the Silver Wolf.

“Hmm, I’m scared it might eat me…”

From Roo’s perspective, the Silver Wolf was a frightening creature as well. After all, beasts tend to gobble up fairies just as much as monsters do.

Roo flew as high as she could and sprinkled Healing Powder down.

As the Silver Wolf was hit by Roo’s healing powder, its body began to shine brightly.

Soon, the Silver Wolf regained its strength and stood up.

Without so much as a glance at Ariel and Roo, the Silver Wolf trudged over to its deceased pups.

“…….”

Ariel and Roo couldn’t even begin to fathom the mother’s grief at losing her young.

At the very least, the Silver Wolf looked incredibly sorrowful. It trembled thinly, as if it might be crying.

The Silver Wolf gathered the bodies of its pups scattered around.

It was too late, so Roo’s healing powder wouldn’t help them now.

“Aoooooo!”

The Silver Wolf howled to the sky; a mournful and desperate wail.

Ariel, without realizing it, walked over and gently petted the Silver Wolf’s chin. She had to stand on her tiptoes to reach.

The Silver Wolf flinched at first but didn’t resist Ariel’s touch.

The silver fur, which seemed mystical from afar, felt soft and comforting to the touch.

“Hmm, come to think of it, this Silver Wolf resembles you, sister.”

Roo said as she flew around the Silver Wolf.

“The color of the fur and its eye color… Hmm, could this be fate?”

Ariel looked more closely at the Silver Wolf again.

The Silver Wolf’s eyes were as red as blood.

Indeed, they were exactly the same color as Ariel’s eyes.

*

After petting the Silver Wolf’s chin for a while, Ariel suddenly sat down and began digging into the ground.

She was doing this to bury the Silver Wolf’s pups. They couldn’t just leave the bodies lying around.

With her bare hands, she dug, but strength and agility were limitless for Ariel.

Shovel, schovel, schovel!

The Silver Wolf and Roo exchanged surprised glances at Ariel digging at a speed unmatchable by even a mole.

This is no mere mole… Roo thought but kept that thought to herself.

In no time, a large pit was created in the ground.

Ariel carefully laid the deceased pups one by one into the pit, her demeanor surprisingly gentle.

The Silver Wolf didn’t stop Ariel; it just watched, as if it understood what Ariel was trying to do.

After laying all the little ones in the pit, Ariel climbed back to the ground.

Then she quietly looked at the bodies and began covering them with dirt.

Unlike when she dug the pit, this motion was slow and deliberate, as if giving the Silver Wolf a moment to say goodbye.

“Soo…”

Watching her pups being buried, the Silver Wolf scratched at the ground with its paws.

It felt like an expression of mourning, causing Roo’s eyes to well up with tears.

After a while, when the pit was completely covered with dirt, Ariel flattened the ground and piled rocks on top of it.

It took time, but the burial site for the Silver Wolf pups ended up looking quite decent.

Ariel dusted her hands off and turned away. This was all she could do for them.

The Silver Wolf watched Ariel’s back for a long time as she walked away without a hint of regret.

*

Ariel continued moving through the forest.

Though it was still a long way to the city and she would have to camp out, she felt no discomfort.

To wash, she just had to throw herself into the lake, and for meals, pulling cream bread out of her inventory sufficed.

When sleeping at night, if she set up a shield around herself, she could be free from monster attacks.

Monsters did approach while Ariel was sleeping, but after exhausting themselves banging against the shield with no success, they eventually gave up and retreated.

Sometimes, some stubborn monsters would sit in front of the shield waiting for Ariel to come out, but they met their end easily against her Magic Missiles when she woke up.

Today too, Ariel woke up feeling refreshed and released the shield.

It wasn’t easy for even a high-ranking wizard to maintain a shield throughout the night, but for Ariel, it was no challenge at all.

As long as she set it up once, it was all set.

“Huh? What’s this, sister?”

As Ariel folded the shield, she found a rabbit and a squirrel carcass lying in front of her.

Both were killed by a savage bite to the neck, and it was easy to guess what had happened.

“Looks like that Silver Wolf wants to repay the favor.”

Roo mumbled as she looked at the dead rabbit and squirrel.

It was clear that the Silver Wolf had brought these as offerings.

Of course, Ariel had no plans to eat the rabbit or the squirrel.

Unless it was cooked and served to her, preparing to skin and cook them herself was too much of a hassle.

But she couldn’t ignore the gesture, so Ariel put the rabbit and squirrel into her inventory.

Her inventory was already packed with the corpses of dead monsters and beasts, but there was still plenty of space left. No issue there.

Ariel pulled out a cream bread and bit into it as she continued walking.

“This might go on for a few days.”

Roo said as she perched on Ariel’s shoulder.

“That Silver Wolf is still following us from a distance.”

At Roo’s words, Ariel smiled faintly.

It was a good thing the Silver Wolf was following. There might be a chance to have it accompany them on their adventures.

The Silver Wolf’s fur was incredibly soft and pleasant to touch.

Plus, being large meant Ariel could ride on its back.

She hoped it would keep following them. That was what Ariel thought as she moved through the forest.

In her mind, she had already thought of a name for the Silver Wolf but didn’t dare approach it too soon. It might run away in fear or caution.

For several days, each morning she would wake up to find rabbit and squirrel carcasses laid out before her shield.

During this time, the Silver Wolf never once showed itself in front of Ariel.

Maybe it would just repay her kindness and then take off. Just as Ariel began to worry about this, an incident occurred.

While walking through the forest, she heard the Silver Wolf howling in the distance.

“Awooo!”

It was the same sound as when they fought the Orc.

Hearing the sound, Roo said to Ariel.

“Sister, that Silver Wolf… it seems to be…”

Before Roo could finish her sentence.

With a leap!

Ariel launched herself in the direction of the sound.