Chapter 3

The Cry's True Identity
"Young master Reinhardt, there is an advanced variant among this group of Silver Wolves. The battle will take longer, so please remain vigilant.”

Meyer whispered.

"Understood. I'll stay close to the two of you."

Georges gripped his sword and began scanning the surroundings cautiously.

Looking closely, one Silver Wolf stood out, being a size larger than the rest. That must be the advanced variant.
One by one, they took down the wolves, leaving only the advanced Silver Wolf for a final standoff.

"It feels like this wolf is trying to buy time..." Just as I thought that, the Silver Wolf's body began to emit mana.

"It's advanced wind magic. It will move and attack even faster now—this is troublesome.”
Meyer murmured.

Then, with Captain Kyle's magic, the branches of the surrounding trees extended and entangled the Silver Wolf.
The Silver Wolf tried to slice through the branches with its wind magic, but the branches outpaced it, entangling it more and immobilizing it.

"Harris, blow off the Silver Wolf's head with your magic.” Captain Kyle commanded.

One knight shot a series of ice shards like bullets at the Silver Wolf's head. Several shards hit their mark, leaving the wolf motionless.

"Don't let your guard down. It might still be alive. Rick, use wind magic to decapitate it.” Captain Kyle ordered.

When the Silver Wolf's head was severed, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Young master Chrisford, something is off about the forest today. I'm also concerned about those who went to the midsection yesterday. I propose we return to the fort immediately and send reinforcements for them."

"Understood. Let’s head back to the fort.” Brother Chris agreed.

"Retrieve the Silver Wolf, and let's return to the fort. Young master Reinhardt, we’ll pick up the pace."

"I didn't participate in the fight, so I'll be fine."

"Understood. Stay alert. Let's head back."

As everyone began to hurriedly retrace their steps, a distant high-pitched *yip-yip* sound reached my ears.

I looked around, but no one else reacted. Why can't they hear it?
The sound is so clear—*yip-yip*!

Meyer noticed my distracted state.

"Young master Reinhardt, is something the matter?"

"I've been hearing a yipping sound, but everyone seems to be ignoring it."

"A yipping sound? I don't hear anything..."

"But it's so loud and clear!"

When Captain Kyle also asked what was wrong, I repeated what I told Meyer.

"Which direction is it coming from?"

"Probably from further down this path.” I replied, and everyone came to a halt.

After some thought, Captain Kyle said,

"Let’s change course slightly and head further ahead. If we find nothing, we’ll return to the fort. Is that acceptable?"

"Is that okay? None of you can hear it, right?"

"True, but my instincts tell me we should investigate. I apologize for the change of plans, but let’s check the clearing ahead. If there’s nothing, we’ll return to the fort."

As we neared the clearing, the knight at the front stopped abruptly and silently signaled to the captain.
When Captain Kyle approached and looked toward the clearing, his expression turned to one of shock.
He gestured for everyone to approach quietly.

Meyer guided us to a spot where we could see the clearing without making any noise. There, a massive, snow-white magic beast, larger than a bear, lay bleeding on its side.
Beside it was a puppy-sized magic beast that seemed to be its offspring.

"What is that magic beast called?" I asked Meyer in a whisper.

"Fenrir."

I almost cried out in shock but quickly covered my mouth with my hand.

"Why is a Fenrir in such a shallow part of the forest? What is happening in this forest? If the Fenrir is alive, even we are in danger. And with its child here, it could be even more ferocious. Frederick, do you think the Fenrir is still alive?"

Captain Kyle whispered to the person beside him.

"No, it seems to have no life signs. I believe it’s dead. I don’t sense the presence of other magic beasts nearby, either."

"The Fenrir pup is alive. Stay alert as we approach the clearing."

The group moved cautiously into the clearing, led by Harris and Rick, who had fought the Silver Wolf earlier. The Fenrir pup noticed us and began growling in warning.
Harris and the others started chanting spells to respond.

"Wait! This pup is injured!"

I instinctively reached into my magic bag, but what came out was an apple.
… I wanted a potion, but since I already had the apple, I tossed it toward the Fenrir pup.

The pup, still growling, sniffed the apple cautiously before eating it. Surprised that the apple worked, I reached into my bag again, and this time, I pulled out a potion.

The pup seemed slightly less wary after finishing the apple.

"I want to heal your wounds. If I pour this liquid on them, they'll heal. Can you lie down for me? Once you're healed, I’ll give you more fruit."

The Fenrir pup stared at me for a moment, then, as if giving up, flopped onto its side.

It understood me. High-ranking magic beasts must be very intelligent.
This feels just like those otherworldly fantasy novels from my past life. I approached the Fenrir pup and poured the potion on its wounds.
The pup whimpered at first as the potion stung, but its wounds quickly closed, and it stood up.

"You did well to endure that—good job. As promised, here’s some fruit."

I retrieved more fruit from my magic bag and gave it to the pup.

"Hardt, how are you communicating with the Fenrir pup?"

Brother Gerald asked excitedly.

"I’m not. I’m just talking to it. But it seems to understand me.”

Meyer and Wilson looked on from behind me with mixed expressions, while Captain Kyle and the others examined the dead parent Fenrir.

"These claw marks are massive. What kind of magic beast did it fight? Perhaps it couldn’t fight at full strength because of the pup."
"Young master Reinhardt, we can’t just leave the Fenrir pup here. We’ll take it with us. Please convince it to return to its home deeper in the forest."

"Eh? That’s impossible... Well, I’ll try."

Having finished its fruit, the Fenrir pup looked at me as I spoke.

"Fenrir pup, we can’t leave your parent’s body here, so we’ll take it with us. You, on the other hand, need to cherish the life you’ve been given and return to where you came from. Say goodbye to your parent and go back to your pack."

The pup stared at its parent’s body, then suddenly yipped and circled the body once before looking up at me.

"It seems you’ve said your goodbyes. All right, we’ll head back now. You should return to your pack and live on."

Captain Kyle nodded at my words and stored the parent Fenrir’s body in his magic bag.