Free Web NovelSema had been bundled into a rattling carriage, wrists and ankles bound tight, his eyes covered and his mouth gagged.
Lord Ian!
He wanted to scream.
He had meant to do his utmost to complete the mission Ian had entrusted to him. And in Sema’s mind, “doing his utmost” had certainly not included “running away the moment the enemy appeared.”
So Sema had shouted.
“Everyone, run! I’ll hold them off!”
He had not expected them to actually listen.
What was he supposed to do? Every one of his fellow workers knew exactly how useless he was as a wizard. That was the one thing they should have remembered.
Instead, they looked at him with faces that seemed to say, Sema must have a plan, shouted, “Yes!” and fled in perfect unison.
“Understood, Mage Sema! We’ll call for reinforcements!”
Huh?
Sema flailed his arms. In the process, he botched <Water Ball> yet again.
No! Don’t go!
And then Sema understood.
Because of Lord Ian, everyone’s expectations had become far too high. This was the terrible side effect of assuming that, when a superior gave an order, he must have some method behind it.
That was how Sema had ended up captured.
Exhausted and despondent, Sema cried. His blindfold grew soaked, his body jolted with every bump of the carriage, and at some point he cried himself to sleep.
When he opened his eyes again, he was in front of a beast cage.
The stench of an animal stabbed into his nose. The growl rumbling against his ears was unmistakable.
“Wake up. Get in.”
“Mmm!”
The human-hunter tore off Sema’s blindfold and shoved him into the cage.
Only then did Sema realize what sort of beast he was being locked in with.
Inside the cramped cage was a creature half man, half beast.
A werewolf.
“Mmm! Mmmmm!”
“Shut up. Can’t you be quiet?”
The human-hunter kicked Sema.
Sema collapsed in front of the werewolf. The werewolf, who had been sleeping, opened his eyes a crack and breathed out through his nose.
Then his eyes snapped wide, sharp as a predator about to spring, and fixed on Sema.
“Eat well. Fight well.”
The human-hunter chuckled and shut the cage door.
The werewolf lunged. In the next instant, Sema was pinned beneath one huge hand.
“Mmm!”
It hurts! I’m going to die! I’m going to die from the pain!
“Mmm! Mmm! Mmm! Mmm!”
“Quiet down.”
Just then, a little girl stepped out from behind the werewolf.
“It shouldn’t even hurt that much. Why are you making such a fuss? The guard will come back.”
“Mmm! Mmm? ...Mmm?”
Sema cautiously pushed himself upright.
The growling werewolf spoke in a deep, rumbling voice.
“Did it hurt? I apologize. I had to act as though I saw you as prey in front of the guard.”
“Mmm!”
He talks!
The werewolf could speak.
Of course, Sema knew werewolves were half-human. But according to the lore, werewolves were still monsters in the end. Even the Magic Tower had reached that conclusion, since their madness could not be controlled.
Werewolves hunted humans, and humans hunted them.
Monsters.
That was what they were.
And yet this werewolf politely untied the cloth from Sema’s mouth.
Sema carefully backed away from the towering werewolf, who stood over two meters tall.
The werewolf’s hair grew wild and thick, blending seamlessly into the fur that covered his back and chest. His body was powerfully built, with broad shoulders, a developed chest, and massive thighs.
And yet he was also strikingly handsome, which only confused Sema further.
“You... you looked almost exactly like a wolf just now...”
The werewolf’s mouth split wide. His face shifted into that of a beast.
“That is part of me as well. I cannot deny it.”
“Aaah!”
“I told you to be quiet!”
The little girl shouted. She kept her voice low, but even so, the sharpness of a child who could not have been more than ten was clear in it.
“Who... who are you?” Sema asked her.
A werewolf and a little girl. What kind of combination was this?
“I’m the bait before you. What else would I be?”
“Bait?”
The girl pointed at Sema.
Sema could not decide whether to protest that he was not bait or ask something else first.
“How are you still alive?”
“I do not eat humans,” the werewolf said calmly. “Those demons think I would naturally see humans as food, so they keep sending me ‘human bait’... but my mother was human. How could I eat humans?”
“......!”
“But I was captured and brought to this coliseum to hunt humans, so I pretend to take the bait. I will hide you and this child, so for now, play dead. The situation is desperate, but do not lose hope. At the very least, we must save the child.”
He spoke so rationally, and with such dignity, that Sema felt dizzy.
The werewolf’s expression darkened.
“Especially if I go berserk... please save Momisia.”
“Don’t say things like that. I’m not leaving you behind.”
The little girl in the red hood clung to the werewolf’s clothes.
“For a child, you certainly talk big. Now that an adult man has arrived, the timing is perfect. Promise me you’ll escape with him when the chance comes.”
“No. I won’t.”
“You see? She’s stubborn. When the time comes, carry Momisia and run. I’ll create the opportunity.”
“Don’t do that! I’ll curse you for the rest of my life!”
“That is not something °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° a child should say.”
“You’re always telling me not to talk! Then what am I supposed to say?”
“You only ever say terrible things. That is why.”
The two of them looked, for all the world, like father and daughter.
Yet the air around them was bleak. They were prepared for death.
Sema was not.
He had not even fallen into despair yet, because he believed his master would come to save him.
Lord Ian would come for him, wouldn’t he? Naturally he would. After all, Sema was useful to Lord Ian sometimes. When Lord Ian needed him.
...Right?!
Sema could not be certain.
Still, Lord Ian was a good person, even if his methods were rough. He would come to rescue him. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
Sema swallowed hard and spoke.
“Um... Mr. Werewolf?”
“Contacca. ‘Mr. Werewolf’ is as strange a title as ‘Mr. Human.’”
Contacca laughed in a deep, pleasant voice.
Sema liked him immediately.
A man who protected children. He hoped Contacca would not die.
Perhaps everything people thought they knew about werewolves had been twisted. Wasn’t Lord Ian the same? He protected Louise, even while insisting he should not be judged only by the mistakes of his past.
“My master will come to rescue me,” Sema said. “When he does, let’s all escape together.”
“You have a master? That is good... but there is no time.”
“Huh?”
Contacca looked silently up at the small window set into the cell.
Sema looked as well.
But the only thing visible in the sky was a crescent moon.
“It isn’t a full moon. So why...?”
Meanwhile, in the upper seats of the coliseum.
The demons who had come to watch the southern coliseum could feel the atmosphere growing restless.
What a mess.
Having humans fight monsters, or monsters fight one another, made for fine entertainment. At the same time, it was a spectacle meant to display the majesty of the Demon Grand Duke.
Ambitious demons were quick to think of rebellion the moment they sensed weakness in those above them. Virtues such as respect, affection, and trust did not exist among them.
The current order—four grand dukes standing beneath the Demon King, with each grand duke’s territory supported by nobles—was maintained only through the overwhelming power of the Demon King and the grand dukes themselves.
With the Southern Grand Duke absent, it was inevitable that the nobles would grow restless.
There was no one there to rein them in.
Two southern nobles, already known to be on poor terms, were glaring at each other.
“The Grand Duke seems busy.”
“As always.”
“Aren’t you supposed to assist the Grand Duke? Keeping him from being busy is your job, is it not?”
“Yes. I am one of the Grand Duke’s assistants, and you are not. You have no right to criticize the Grand Duke’s affairs.”
“Did you just say ‘right’?”
“You were the one who started this argument.”
Those two are always like this.
A western noble, who had come to the coliseum to observe the Southern Grand Duke under the pretense of watching the games, gave a silent scoff.
But once the Grand Duke appeared, all this commotion would quiet down as though it had never happened.
