Ch.2121. Wolf (1)

After the invasion of what must have been 200 Fen Wolves ended in a decisive victory for the defensive side I participated in, the barony that successfully repelled the attack is… now dealing with various problems that arose from this incident.

For example, there are about 150 corpses of Fen Wolves obtained during the attack. While wolf meat has an ambiguous taste since they’re carnivores, in this era, meat and bones are valuable ingredients that people would never waste regardless of taste.

Rather, for the barony that now has so much excess meat that they need to produce jerky, this is an excessively forward-thinking and luxurious concern.

Additionally, fur is an extremely expensive commodity. Especially since there are 150 pelts of Fen Wolves, which are magical beasts with particularly tough fur, it amounts to enough money to buy a proper estate.

Thus, while Baron Dren’s domain was able to avert a crisis that could have led to its destruction with minimal damage… merely preventing destruction doesn’t change anything.

Especially in an incident like this one, where numerous casualties occurred.

The death toll from this battle alone was 14 people. Considering that villages were attacked before my arrival, the number of victims is at least 300, and given that the wolves had been active for years, it would easily exceed 500.

…In reality, resolving a situation involving two mid-rank beasts and 200 low-rank magical beasts with only this many casualties could actually be considered a successful containment of the incident with minimal damage—such is the harsh reality of this world.

Anyway, at the point when the wolf corpses were properly processed, a grand joint funeral was held at the newly established cemetery inside the baron’s castle, presided over by a priest.

[“—O Bearer of the Golden Hand, noble ones of the Pantheon. Gather these poor souls. Grant them peaceful rest and reassurance.”]

Nominally, this is a place to commemorate all victims and honor the souls of those who died in battle, but from my perspective, knowing the mysteries of this world… such priestly funeral rites are a necessary procedure.

In this world where supernatural phenomena occur due to the concept called “Mystery,” when corpses gather in one place, a special mystery forms, creating “death energy.”

This death energy is a negative attribute energy opposite to life force, and is also the source of power for the “undead,” a race where the dead rise and move again.

So to summarize simply… in this world, if corpses are left unattended without proper measures, a natural phenomenon occurs where the death energy emanating from the corpses turns them into undead.

Stories of abandoned corpses on remote battlefields becoming undead armies can be found everywhere, and there are cases where death energy accumulates in neglected cemeteries, naturally generating ethereal undead or higher undead.

That’s why priests who handle sacred powers that suppress death energy can gain religious authority in this world.

Anyway, as I stepped back from the cemetery where the funeral was taking place and silently observed the scene with my staff in hand, I determined in my mind that now was the opportunity.

Now that the Fen Wolf pack has retreated after their defeat, this is precisely the moment to maximize the effect of a counterattack. And Baron Dren, as a lord and knight who must have received military training, would surely know this.

Baron Dren, wearing armor that could be considered the medieval equivalent of formal attire, approached me and spoke.

“Are you planning to go after them?”

“Yes, Baron Dren. Now is the perfect opportunity.”

“…I see. Then may I make one request?”

“A request, you say?”

“…Yes. If you hunt down the leaders of those Fen Wolves, would you be willing to sell me the head of one of the two?”

“The head… I don’t see why not.”

What I’m after is the hide of the mid-rank Fen Wolf. For someone who cannot wear metal armor, the hide of a mid-rank magical beast is truly like treasure, so considering that, the head doesn’t hold much value.

Therefore, I can certainly provide the head if proper compensation is given, especially since I don’t have any particular use for it.

“I appreciate your kindness, Druid Gregory.”

“It’s nothing to speak of. …Well then, I’ll be on my way.”

So I politely bid him farewell, then mounted Astra who had been waiting beside me, and headed toward the main gate of the palisade.

My objectives are twofold: the complete annihilation of the Fen Wolf pack and, if possible, bringing back one of their cubs to make it an animal companion.

※ ※ ※

The forest right next to Baron Dren’s castle is a typical temperate forest. It’s not overly dense with vegetation, suggesting it was once managed by a forester to make it easier to traverse.

The natural mystery sensed in the forest is… hardly what one could call high. The magical density, compared to the Aleinos Forest, is barely different from that of an ordinary village.

Naturally, such an environment is not particularly suitable for magical beasts to thrive.

Magical beasts refer to all creatures that inherently possess magical power. Perhaps due to the magical power derived from mystery, they can only properly grow in environments with high magical concentration where humans haven’t interfered, like deep forests or remote mountain valleys.

In environments with low magical concentration, even offspring born between high-rank magical beasts might remain low-rank for life. Conversely, there are rare cases where a naturally low-rank magical beast that stubbornly survives in a place with high magical density evolves to mid-rank or higher.

Of course, this isn’t an absolute standard… but many magical beasts are strongly influenced by their environment in this way.

And by these standards, the forest right next to this lord’s castle is certainly not a good environment for Fen Wolves to live in.

For Fen Wolves, whose growth potential varies especially depending on the environment, it wouldn’t be strange for them to stay in a wider place with higher magical concentration, taking advantage of having two mid-rank wolves.

However, this isn’t entirely unpredictable.

I suspect these Fen Wolves, remnants of the Beast of Gévaudan incident, harbored hatred toward humans for some reason.

Therefore, the reason they settled in a forest with relatively low magical density was probably because they deliberately chose to be near humans out of hatred, wanting to kill them.

Meanwhile, apart from this, I had a different question after experiencing this invasion.

…Why was there only one mid-rank Fen Wolf included in the invasion?

Thinking about it coldly, this is truly strange.

The Fen Wolf pack probably thought there was no mid-rank beast besides the baron, but if so, wouldn’t it have been safer to deal with the baron by having both mid-rank wolves come and attack together?

If they have human-level intelligence… No. Even ordinary beasts would understand the advantage of numbers.

And… at this point, my thoughts were interrupted.

[…Gregory, they’re coming.]

‘Yes, I noticed too.’

As Astra informed me, my life-sensing ability now detected the life forces of a wolf pack closing in on me, surrounding me.

They were hiding their bodies in thick undergrowth, making no sound, not even breathing as they approached… They were trying to surround me carefully, but… to me, it was merely laughable.

[Shall I handle them, master?]

‘No. You worked hard last time, so I’ll handle this myself. Ah, Astra. Stay inside for a moment.’

So I restrained Corin while recalling Astra, whom I had been riding, back into my soul, and as I stood on two feet… I couldn’t help but let the corners of my mouth rise slightly.

As I gradually loosened my body, which had become stiff from lack of direct movement lately, I drew up magical power from within while harmonizing my soul with the mystery of nature.

[“—Beast.”]

I released magical power outside my body, filling the “shell” blueprint received from the mystery of nature. My body swelled, skin transformed, skeleton twisted, and the internal structure of my body was rearranged in a mystical sense.

Thus, the final form of the completed “shell” revealed itself as… the ferocious mid-rank magical beast, the Basilisk.

[—■■■■■■■■■■!!!!]

One of the most powerful creatures I can transform into using wild magic, a massive being with petrifying magical eyes and deadly venom.