Ch.19Woof Woof Princess

“Hmm…”

“What could this be?”

“It’s a picture of a dog.”

The three of us huddled together, examining the blood-soaked map spread before us.

Considering it came from a human’s possession, it must surely hide some important meaning.

I pointed to a dog picture drawn on a location relatively close to where we were.

“Should we go this way?”

“What if it’s another human trap?”

“That can’t be…”

I shook my head at Aurel’s words.

Would they have hidden such a map knowing they’d be attacked?

Unless they were prophets or returners who knew the future, that would be absolutely impossible.

“Since it’s a dog mark, it might be related to werewolves.”

I said this while looking at Hwang-gu.

She tilted her head with an innocent expression.

The wolf ears protruding from her head twitched playfully.

This area was where Hwang-gu had been active. Perhaps there might be some of her companions near this dog mark.

I tucked the map into my clothes and stood up.

Just before we departed, Hwang-gu suddenly dashed off somewhere.

Wondering why she ran, I followed her and found her picking up a bicycle that had fallen to the ground.

She apparently hadn’t forgotten the bicycle I’d asked her about.

“Did you run to find that?”

“Yes!”

Hwang-gu answered energetically to my question.

The large tail attached to her backside wagged vigorously.

In the end, Hwang-gu ended up pulling the bicycle along just like before.

Perhaps because it wasn’t classified as an item? The shadows couldn’t swallow the bicycle.

According to the map, the place with the dog picture wasn’t too far from here.

After walking for quite some time, Hwang-gu suddenly began sniffing the air.

Wondering if something was wrong, I tried to smell the air too, but couldn’t detect anything particularly noteworthy.

“Hwang-gu?”

“It’s a strangely familiar smell.”

A strangely familiar smell?

I looked at Hwang-gu with a suspicious gaze.

Perhaps my guess was correct.

I said to Hwang-gu:

“Really? Does it remind you of something?”

“Hmmmm…”

Hwang-gu shook her head with a serious expression at my words.

That’s when it happened. A subtle animal scent began to carry on the faint breeze.

As if announcing that the source of the smell was getting closer, the animal scent grew stronger with time.

It seemed Hwang-gu had smelled it first.

Aurel must have caught the scent too, as she approached me with a tense expression.

I unfolded the map from my clothes and waited for whoever was approaching.

As I suspected, the dog picture must have been a mark indicating werewolf territory.

After about another minute passed, four werewolves appeared, silhouetted against the soft moonlight.

Their strangely subdued eyes and calm breathing, along with the strong animal scent, revealed their werewolf identity.

At that moment.

The man at the front stepped forward.

He had a cold-looking impression.

Just as I thought this, his mouth opened.

“Princess…!”

The man gazed at Hwang-gu with yearning eyes, as if he’d found a long-lost treasure.

At that moment, Aurel exhaled roughly.

“Pfft-!”

I nearly burst out laughing myself.

I barely managed to bite my lip as I observed Hwang-gu’s reaction.

Hwang-gu tilted her head with a strangely contorted expression.

She didn’t seem to recognize who was standing before her.

“You’re safe!”

“Do you know me?”

“What…?”

When Hwang-gu pretended not to know him, the male werewolf turned to me with a greatly confused expression.

But just because he looked at me didn’t mean I could do anything about it.

I gave an awkward smile and stepped back.

“Meong-meong Gongju…”

The male werewolf muttered Hwang-gu’s original name with a serious expression.

His voice wasn’t quiet, so everyone present could hear it.

“Puhah!”

Once again, Aurel let out a laugh-mixed groan.

She covered her mouth and crouched down.

“Meong-meong Gongju…?”

In contrast, Hwang-gu muttered her name with a serious expression.

But it seemed she still couldn’t remember anything, as she failed to show any friendly attitude toward the werewolves before her.

“Um, excuse me… what’s going on here…”

Perhaps judging that normal conversation with Hwang-gu was impossible, the werewolf male addressed me.

I sighed and stepped forward.

“Are you acquainted with Meong-meong Gongju?”

“Yes… she’s our leader…”

At the male werewolf’s answer, I turned to look at Hwang-gu.

A level 20 werewolf user who was the leader of a pack.

Seeing how worriedly the others were looking at her, she must have taken good care of her people.

It seems Hwang-gu was quite capable before losing her memory.

“I’m not Meong-meong Gongju!”

Just then, Hwang-gu burst out and rushed forward.

She even threw down the bicycle she was holding, showing how agitated she was.

“Grrrrawr…!”

“Meong-meong Gongju…”

“Grrrr!”

Hwang-gu bared her teeth at the male werewolf.

That sight must have been quite shocking.

The male werewolf rubbed his face with an astonished expression.

“What is this…”

“Hwang-gu.”

I reached out my hand to call Hwang-gu back.

She glanced back and quickly ran into my arms.

Despite her agitated appearance, she listened to me very well.

How should I explain this?

If they found out that Hwang-gu lost her memory because of me, they might bare their teeth at me too.

I stroked Hwang-gu’s head and said:

“You see? She seems to have lost her memory.”

“That’s…”

The male werewolf covered his mouth with a shocked expression at my words.

Though many details were omitted, it wasn’t exactly a lie.

***

Eventually, we followed the werewolves to their clan hideout.

Perhaps going there might help restore Hwang-gu’s memory.

Hwang-gu lost her memory because of me.

I wanted to help her regain her original memories.

Hwang-gu didn’t want to go, but when I said we should, she followed me with a heavy sigh.

After traveling for quite some time.

Hwang-gu was clearly showing her displeasure.

“Princess…”

“Grrrr…!”

She rejected the werewolves who were originally her pack and bared her teeth.

Her tail, which had been spinning like a propeller, now hung limply.

She stuck close only to me while pulling the bicycle.

The werewolves were polite to me and Aurel.

They probably thought of us as benefactors who had taken care of their memory-lost leader.

“Here it is…”

The place we arrived at looked like a military camp.

Long fences surrounded the area, with large walls built from scrapped cars and building debris.

Most of the buildings inside were military tents or containers.

It looked as if the werewolves had taken over an entire military facility.

That wasn’t an incorrect assumption; ordinary humans would have been like ants to werewolves.

Evidence of this was the tanks with torn or crushed gun barrels scattered around like toys.

I looked around.

Despite the spacious interior, there didn’t seem to be many people.

At most, about 30?

The werewolves peeked out slightly, watching us.

Hwang-gu seemed quite uncomfortable with these stares.

She tucked her tail between her legs and hid behind my back.

“Could you show us some items or buildings that Meong-meong Gongju used? It might help restore her memory.”

“This way…”

The male werewolf nodded obediently at my words.

Come to think of it, we hadn’t even introduced ourselves yet.

If I activated my Mystic Eye, I could see his nickname, but I didn’t particularly want to do that.

“What’s your name?”

“My name is…”

The male werewolf trailed off and looked back.

He was looking at Hwang-gu with hopeful eyes.

Perhaps he was imagining that his leader might regain her memory and call his name.

But Hwang-gu was merciless.

“Grrrr!”

Hwang-gu bared her teeth again when their eyes met.

Finally, the male werewolf opened his mouth with a dejected expression.

“BongcheonHamFist…”

I grimaced at the male werewolf, BongcheonHamFist’s words.

Seriously, like those two humans we met earlier, why would anyone choose such a nickname?

“Please just call me HamFist…”

“Ah, okay…”

HamFist said this and gazed at his leader again.

But Hwang-gu continued to show a cold response.

“Grrrr…!”

“Did you live in Bongcheon?”

“No…”

“Then why is your nickname…?”

“I just… chose it that way…”

HamFist sighed and guided us to a large container.

I nodded as I sniffed the air.

Hwang-gu’s scent was definitely coming from inside the container.

Hwang-gu must be familiar with her own scent too.

Seeing her tucked tail straighten out, she must be sensing it as well.

Then the container’s interior was revealed.

At that moment, I gaped in astonishment.

The interior decoration was completely unexpected.

What hung on the container walls were pure white skulls.

Not just one. The total number of skulls on the wall was ten.

There were even skulls decorating the armrests of chairs.

“Skulls…?”

“Ah, these are trophies from human users our Meong-meong Gongju hunted.”

Just as I suspected.

They weren’t just ordinary models.

I looked at Hwang-gu with an astonished expression.

“Aren’t they impressive?”

While HamFist proudly boasted about Hwang-gu’s achievements, Hwang-gu entered her container and began sniffing around.

Naturally, she showed great interest in the skulls hanging on the wall.

“Oh… are you remembering something?”

“Grrrr!”

HamFist asked with sparkling eyes, but Hwang-gu’s response remained the same.

She growled loudly, baring her teeth.

Then she threw the skull she was holding at HamFist’s head.

Whoosh-

Thud-!

“Gasp…”

I inhaled sharply at the sight.

The skull fell to the floor and rolled away.

HamFist shed tears with a hurt expression.