Ch.13Werewolf Hwang-gu

I looked down at the werewolf girl who had collapsed unconscious.

Though it wasn’t my intention, no one who showed hostility toward me had survived.

Ravina, who tried to drink my blood to see my memories.

The human male who pierced my neck.

And the two human users.

Weren’t they all devoured by my shadow?

But I felt no desire to kill this werewolf girl.

It seems I have a bit of a soft spot for children.

It was a moment of realization about something I hadn’t known about myself.

“Charlotte! Are you alright?!”

Aurel, who had finally caught up, started making a fuss.

Considering a vampire’s regenerative abilities and my level, it wasn’t really a dangerous situation, but she was being dramatic.

As Aurel approached, she looked at my chest with a concerned expression.

“D-did you get punched in the chest?”

“I’m fine.”

“W-what if it leaves a scar?”

“That’s not possible…”

“Let me check… Yes! Let me check…!”

Aurel, seemingly quite excited, reached out her hand toward me.

I sighed and flicked her small head.

Thwack!

“Ack!”

A loud impact sound that shouldn’t come from a human head.

Aurel grabbed her head and collapsed to the ground.

“Don’t get cheeky.”

What was this tiny thing trying to do?

I looked down at Aurel with my hands on my hips.

Though I’d grown closer to Aurel as we spent more time together, we weren’t yet at the level where we could joke around like this.

“I’m sorry…”

Aurel lowered her eyes and bowed her head deeply at my gaze.

Still, it was nice to see her readily admit her mistake.

I turned my attention from Aurel to the werewolf girl.

Though she was unconscious, considering a werewolf’s regenerative abilities, she would likely wake up soon.

“Um, Charlotte…”

“What?”

“Are you just going to leave her like that…? What if she wakes up and attacks again…?”

I was worried about that too.

Tying her hands and feet with rope or wire wouldn’t stop her movement, so I was just considering whether I should cut her tendons.

“Ugh…”

With a small groan, the werewolf girl began to stir.

Like someone waking from a deep sleep, she stretched her whole body.

Her previous aggressive attitude toward me was completely gone.

It was almost ridiculous how calm she seemed despite having two strangers in front of her.

I crouched down in front of the werewolf girl.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

The girl raised her head and met my gaze at my call.

Her eyes were unfocused and her smile was loose.

Was she always like this?

I stepped back in surprise at the girl’s reaction.

If she had been angry or scared, I wouldn’t have been so taken aback.

“What’s your name?”

“My name…?”

The girl couldn’t answer.

She just stared at me blankly with her mouth open.

I nervously shifted my gaze to the katana.

The katana that had struck the werewolf girl’s head.

The evidence remained on the back of the blade, with red blood dripping down.

No way.

There’s no way.

“Excuse me… Does anyone here know my name?”

The werewolf girl asked me and Aurel with a bright smile, as if she couldn’t remember her own name.

Seeing that innocent-looking smile, I let out a sigh.

“Gasp… Charlotte… Could this be a vampire’s charm skill?”

“I don’t have such a thing…”

I answered with a sigh as I rubbed my dry face.

Charm skill? Of course I hadn’t invested in that.

After all, the charm skill was only useful when completing sub-quests.

So naturally, I hadn’t chosen it.

And even if I had used a charm skill, it wouldn’t make someone forget their own name like this werewolf girl.

“As expected of Charlotte…! You’re amazing! You charmed your opponent without even using a skill!”

Aurel was looking at me with infinite admiration, as if she really believed that.

Those sparkling eyes felt quite burdensome.

I shook my head and spoke to the werewolf girl.

“Hey, do you really not remember your name? What about other things? Don’t you remember anything?”

“Hmm… I don’t know!”

“Think, think hard. You were chasing something, weren’t you?”

“I was?”

“Yes. It seemed like something very important.”

“Hmm…”

I waited anxiously for the werewolf girl’s answer.

After some time had passed.

The werewolf girl opened her eyes wide as if she had recalled something.

“I remember!”

“Yes. What is it?”

“I was chasing you!”

After saying that, the werewolf girl jumped up from her seat.

Then she leaped toward me.

I didn’t react. It was a harmless movement with no hostility.

The werewolf girl, who had lightly jumped into my arms, smiled brightly.

“Hehe!”

“Ah! You! This brat! Get off right now!”

Aurel began to get very angry seeing the werewolf girl like that.

Judging by the red energy gathering at her fingertips, she was genuinely furious.

I gave Aurel a warning look just in case.

Is it common sense that someone could get amnesia just from a blow to the head?

I was still suspicious of this small girl.

Absolutely not because her embrace felt comfortable.

I had left myself completely defenseless.

In this situation, if the werewolf girl had applied force with her arms, I would have broken my waist and bled from every hole in my body.

In other words, it was the perfect situation for an attack.

But the werewolf girl didn’t apply force with her arms.

She just smiled foolishly and rubbed her cheek against my clothes.

“Charlotte!!! It’s dangerous!!! Get away from her right now!!!”

Aurel started screaming at the sight of the werewolf girl.

Her face had turned bright red because of it.

I cleared my throat and pushed the werewolf girl away.

“Hey.”

Ah.

It’s inconvenient to call her without knowing her name.

I frowned.

“Yes?”

“Do you really not remember your name?”

“Nope!”

The werewolf girl answered like that while twitching the wolf ears on top of her head.

“Charlotte! This one is very dangerous! She must be pretending to have lost her memory!”

“I thought so too…”

I sighed at Aurel’s words and looked at the werewolf girl’s face.

How could that be an act?

I shook my head as I stuffed the katana I was holding into my shadow.

I silently stroked the werewolf girl’s head.

Despite her scruffy appearance, it was really soft.

“Ah…!”

Aurel was looking at this scene as if she were envious.

I removed my hand from the werewolf girl and turned around.

“Let’s go, Aurel.”

“Eh? What? We’re going?”

“Yes. We need to go.”

“Oh. Yes!”

I got on the parked bicycle and put my foot on the pedal.

Aurel naturally took the back seat.

The werewolf girl, left all alone, was looking at me with her head tilted.

I ignored her gaze and silently pedaled.

There was an unfortunate accident, but what could I do?

It had already happened.

Considering a werewolf’s regenerative abilities, she would probably regain her original memories soon.

Just as I increased the speed of the bicycle.

I heard Aurel’s scream from behind.

“Eek! Charlotte! She’s following us!”

I turned my head with a disbelieving expression.

Behind the bicycle.

Along the stretched road.

The small girl was following us with a pitiful expression.

And she was running on all fours like a beast.

“Take me with you!”

Why on earth was she following us?

Tap tap-

As time passed, the distance between the bicycle and the werewolf girl grew closer.

An action without a moment’s hesitation.

I had no choice but to stop the bicycle.

“Ch-Charlotte! Why did you stop?!”

I silently shook my head at Aurel’s question.

The werewolf girl didn’t seem very tired despite running vigorously.

If we had left her like this, she would have continued to follow our bicycle.

I sighed.

“Hey.”

“Yes!”

“Are you going to keep following us?”

“Yes!”

I crossed my arms and started to think.

A werewolf girl who had lost her memory.

What should I do with this child?

“Charlotte! What are you thinking about! Let’s just eat her!”

“E-eat…? Are you going to eat me?”

“Yes! Our Charlotte is going to eat you all up!”

“Eeeek… Then please eat me gently…”

I let out a deep sigh as I listened to the conversation between the two girls.

“You. Let’s give you a name first.”

“M-my name?”

The werewolf girl looked at me with round eyes.

I nodded.

I couldn’t keep calling her “hey” or “you” forever.

“Charlotte! Surely not? It’s dangerous!”

I know. It’s very dangerous.

But what can I do? This child lost her memory because of me.

I couldn’t just abandon her like this.

I looked at Aurel and the werewolf girl.

I must definitely have a soft spot for children.

Everyone would think so, seeing that I allowed these two burdens to accompany me.

I said to the werewolf girl:

“How about Reed?”

“Reed…?”

“Reed because you have brown hair and you’re a werewolf.”

The werewolf girl didn’t seem to like the name Reed.

She turned her head with a gloomy expression.

“Reed doesn’t seem right…”

Aurel also opposed the name Reed.

Until just a moment ago, she was strongly against this girl joining us, but now she wants to interfere with naming her.

I sighed with my arms crossed.

Reed.

Isn’t it actually a good name?

“Then let’s go with Brown Dog.”

“Brown Dog…?”

“Charlotte…”

You don’t like this either?

I frowned.

Don’t they call white dogs “White Dog”?

Then a brown dog would be “Brown Dog.”

Or is it “Yellow Dog”?

“Let’s go with Hwang-gu.”

“Hwang-gu…”

The werewolf girl made a sad face.

Aurel chose silence.

“From today on, you’re Hwang-gu.”

I’m the leader of this group.

So I decide.

The werewolf girl who became Hwang-gu.

Hwang-gu made a sad face.