Ch.53Basilisk (3)

The moment I caught sight of the figure that had launched a surprise attack on me—a woman who appeared to be a wolf therianthrope.

“….Huh?”

“….A human?”

Both of us—me with my longsword and the woman I presumed to be a wolf therianthrope—froze in mutual surprise as we took in each other’s appearance.

The wolf therianthrope wore light clothing that revealed her assertive figure, with spiky gray long hair and golden beast-like eyes that gleamed impressively.

Logically, I might expect to encounter wolf-type monsters, but the sudden appearance of a therianthrope in such a remote area startled me considerably….

And judging by her expression, she felt exactly the same way about our encounter.

With a look that seemed to say ‘why is a human in a place like this,’ she appeared unable to process the fact that I—a mid-level warrior and a human—was standing before her.

What’s more, after both of us were startled by each other’s unexpected presence, we recognized our mutual surprise, leading to an extremely awkward standoff.

As this strange and peculiar atmosphere filled the forest, I finally understood the source of the sense of incongruity I had been feeling all along.

‘….Is she really a therianthrope?’

According to my memories from my previous life, therianthropes were depicted in various forms across different Earth media.

But in this world, therianthropes—a race that could be described as “humans with partial mammalian characteristics”—resembled the typical therianthropes seen in isekai stories more than furries.

Therefore, the animal features visible in this world’s therianthropes were limited to ears, eyes, and tails, with enhanced physical abilities and heightened senses being their racial traits, but….

‘Do normal therianthropes…. have claws like that?’

The sharp claws that this wolf therianthrope(?) had swung at me, enhanced with aura, didn’t have a single scratch despite colliding with my aura-enhanced metal.

No matter how much you strengthen a weapon with aura, there are limits based on the weapon’s inherent durability, and when both sides are enhanced with aura, they effectively cancel each other out, resulting in the pure materials colliding.

Therefore, those claws must possess a hardness comparable to metal….

As far as I knew, while therianthrope claws were sharper than those of ordinary humans, they shouldn’t be able to exceed certain physical limitations.

‘….Could it be?’

As I was recalling which race might possess such characteristics, the wolf therianthrope(?) woman broke the standoff by leaping backward.

And just as this bizarre situation and strange atmosphere continued to unfold.

“S-Sister….!! Don’t fight!!”

Suddenly, another wolf girl appeared from the direction where the wolf therianthrope(?) woman had emerged, pushing through the forest undergrowth and shouting.

Unlike the woman in revealing clothing, this girl was wrapped in thick clothes and a cloak. She resembled the woman but was clearly much younger.

She was smaller in overall stature, with an evidently timid demeanor, and decisively referred to the woman as “sister.”

The girl, presumably related by blood to the wolf therianthrope(?) I was facing, had burst in shouting like that, but since we weren’t actually fighting but merely in a standoff, the atmosphere naturally became extremely awkward.

And this, it seems, was the decisive turning point.

“”Haah….””

Perhaps due to the strange atmosphere or the restless wolf girl, the mood had shifted to one where whoever took things seriously would lose. After sighing, the two of us… somehow ended up conversing.

“Um, well. I apologize for attacking first. I suddenly sensed a mid-level presence…. I thought you were an enemy.”

“No, it’s fine. That’s completely understandable.”

Though her accent differed noticeably from the common Western Continent language, I could understand her without much difficulty.

‘….Ah, what am I going to do about this atmosphere?!!’

While I was internally screaming about this strange atmosphere filled with awkwardness and unnaturalness, it seemed they felt the same way, judging by their expressions.

But at that time, I didn’t know yet.

That even this awkwardness would be nothing compared to what was about to unfold.

“Ch-Chief….!!”

“Are you alright, Village Chief!”

Suddenly, about 20 people emerged from the undergrowth, joining us.

No, to be precise, seeing their appearance—a complex mixture of human and wolf features—I finally understood who they were.

Clearly distinct from wolf therianthropes, they were a race that could freely shift between human and beast forms—werewolves.

….Let’s deliberately ignore how the already complicated atmosphere became even more awkward.

※ ※ ※

In this world, there exists a racial classification known as ‘Shape-shifters.’

This term encompasses those who can completely transform their bodies into specific forms due to their racial special abilities. With no real commonalities beyond this, it literally groups together all races with transformation abilities.

From mimic-type monsters that can transform into specific objects, to doppelganger-type races who are the quintessential masters of transformation.

And alongside these two categories, a major branch of shape-shifters is the special race known as ‘Were-beasts.’

They can take the form of therianthropes, furries… half-human half-beast monsters, and even the complete form of the beast.

While some can transform into complete human form, typically those capable of these three transformations are classified as Were-beasts.

Among them, werewolves are the most famous Were-beast race.

To be precise, they’re famous in a rather negative way.

In this world where racial innate tendencies are particularly pronounced, werewolves are technically a neutral-aligned race. The problem, however, is that a historically notorious villain emerged from among these otherwise neutral people.

The “Wolf Lord,” who ruled the western part of the Western Continent with brutal tyranny before the Frankish Kingdom existed, was eventually defeated by the founding monarch of the Frankish Kingdom, “Charlemagne de Frank.”

The foundation of the contempt for the weak that remains at the core of the current Frankish Kingdom, and even the persistence of serfdom uniquely in the Frankish Kingdom, could all be attributed to the Wolf Lord’s legacy.

Thus, inseparably tied to the history of the Frankish Kingdom, the fact that he happened to be a werewolf led to werewolves naturally becoming a persecuted race in the Western Continent… especially in the Frankish territories.

Of course, considering that werewolves were the ruling class in the Wolf Lord’s kingdom, the persecution wasn’t entirely without justification, but what matters is that these werewolves were driven to the brink of extinction through this persecution.

The oppression and hunting were so thorough that werewolves have become almost legendary in modern times, and yet here I was, coincidentally encountering a group of werewolves.

And not just any group, but one led by sisters who appeared to be pureblooded werewolves, a lineage thought to be extinct.

Anyway, having met by chance and cleared up our misunderstanding… we sat down to introduce ourselves.

“Hanna Wolfblood, chief of our were… sigh. Werewolf village.”

“G-Gretel Wolfblood….that’s me. I’m, um, her y-younger sister….”

The werewolf sisters introduced themselves first. Whether they knew I had figured out their identity or not, they stated their names while…

“Camille de Alzar. I am the overseer of the pioneer village outside this forest and the son of Baron Alzar, who holds secular dominion over this land.”

After I introduced myself, the expressions of the werewolf sisters and the others changed quite peculiarly.

If I had to describe their expressions, they seemed to be asking why such a distinguished person had arrived alone at such a remote location.

Anyway, as the approximately 20 werewolves each showed similar reactions, I straightforwardly explained my reason, which I had no intention of hiding.

“Actually, a basilisk has appeared near our village….”

“….What?”

However, their reaction to my mention of the basilisk was somehow strange.

Everyone was staring intently at me, a situation where anyone could guess something had happened, and so I thought their appearance here must certainly be related to the basilisk’s emergence.

“If it’s not too presumptuous, may I ask what happened?”

Therefore, despite knowing this could potentially cause problems, I maintained a somewhat firm attitude while carefully questioning them….

“….It’s a long story.”

Hanna, the elder of the Wolfblood sisters, after a moment’s consideration, began to speak with a heavy voice in response to my careful inquiry.

-Hanna Wolfblood

-Gretel Wolfblood