Ch.54Wolf Blood (1)

The Wolfblood sisters and their companions are said to be descendants of several werewolves who were originally under the Wolf Lord.

After the Wolf Lord was subjugated, they became targets of the “Wolf Hunt” and were chased relentlessly until they eventually drifted into this remote forest. Here, they concealed themselves and established a small but sustainable village.

Of course, the environment of the deep forest otherworld is harsh and dangerous, but there was only one reason these werewolves could establish a stable civilization in such conditions:

Werewolves, or more precisely, pureblooded werewolves, were originally a powerful race corresponding to the innate middle-tier.

Their robust bodies, despite having a build not much different from humans, far exceed normal categories. It’s no exaggeration to say that everything from their muscles to bones is specialized for high-speed combat.

Perhaps because they are a warrior race with a strong aggressive tendency and rarely feel fear mentally.

Compared to other races, they have a uniquely low difficulty in awakening aura, so most adults awaken their aura and become middle-tier.

And this tendency reaches its peak when combined with their transformation ability.

A humanoid form with a three-meter-tall build, even more solid muscular physique, tough and thick skin, teeth and claws with metal-like durability, and a body structure specialized for close-range high-speed combat…

And a wolf form that, while having the fatal disadvantage of being unable to use arms due to four-legged movement, offers advantages in ambush from a low height and pure speed superior to the humanoid form.

In many ways, they could be described as a race that combines only the strengths of humans and animals—truly befitting the description of an “innate middle-tier” race.

However, if there was one critical issue, it was that these abilities were limited to pureblooded werewolves.

The so-called mixed-blood werewolves—those with human blood mixed in or those infected with the werewolf trait—possessed only some of the purebloods’ advantages… far from being innate middle-tier.

And this problem of mixed blood occurred in a similar way in their village.

The number of pureblooded werewolves who fled to this remote rural village was at most around 20.

Adding the mixed-bloods who existed even then and human collaborators, about 50 people gathered and lived in secrecy for hundreds of years.

Naturally, although they initially maintained the pureblood lineage by intermarrying, over time the problem of inbreeding arose, causing the number of purebloods to gradually decrease.

Especially in this deep otherworld, purebloods were almost the only beings responsible for the village’s safety, so this issue was less about racist tendencies and more about survival.

While the lower-ranked (mixed-bloods) could avoid inbreeding by using humans lost in the forest or forest wolf beasts, even the purebloods who stubbornly maintained their bloodline eventually had no choice but to mix their blood with humans or other races…

As time passed, the number of villagers manifesting “pureblood” traits decreased, and by the time the sisters were in the village, there were only three middle-tiers: the sisters’ father and the sisters themselves.

“…And in this situation, you’re saying a basilisk attacked?”

“Yes. We fought, but… we were overwhelmed.”

It was inevitable that the werewolf village, with its diminished strength, couldn’t withstand the attack from the basilisk, said to be the ancient master of this forest otherworld.

Despite having three purebloods—middle-tiers—the basilisk turned most of the villagers to stone. The three middle-tiers of the village fought against it but were completely outmatched, and in the end, the father bought time while they escaped.

So they had frantically fled from the center of the otherworld to the outskirts, only to encounter me, who informed them that I had found traces of the basilisk nearby.

‘…Now what do we do?’

Naturally, after finishing their explanation, they became dejected and gloomy, but I actually wanted to focus on something else.

“If I may ask without being rude… is this basilisk so powerful that even three middle-tiers couldn’t handle it?”

“Y-yes… It was incredibly, incredibly strong… Father, the villagers….”

‘…That powerful?’

While a basilisk, being a middle-tier, certainly has its limits, it was surprising that it couldn’t be handled even with three middle-tiers of the same rank.

So I carefully asked if this basilisk was somehow different from what I knew, and the answer I received was beyond my expectations.

“…It was a variant that was once the master of this otherworld, though it was driven out, not an ordinary basilisk as we commonly know.”

“A variant…?”

“Yes. A variant.”

In this world, what is commonly referred to as a “variant” is easiest to understand as a mutation.

It refers to creatures born with abilities different from their innate traits—like a creature with innate fire abilities being born with ice abilities, or having physical characteristics different from their normal kin.

Naturally, there is no power gap between these variants and the original species, but which would have a higher survival rate—the original species adapted to their environment or the alien variant?

Therefore, unless a variant is exceptionally strong, most don’t survive past childhood, meaning that naturally, surviving variants tend to possess abilities superior to the normal originals…

“Are you saying the basilisk uses acidic liquid instead of poison?”

“Yes. It’s bigger than what’s been passed down, and stronger too….”

According to them, this basilisk secretes a powerful acidic liquid that can harm even middle-tiers, instead of paralyzing poison.

And honestly, this is definitely more dangerous than paralyzing poison, which middle-tiers can usually neutralize by circulating aura through their bodies.

If you stab it with a sword, that part would dissolve in its acidic blood, and if even metal is affected this way, flesh would be even worse.

Additionally, if you don’t constantly surround your entire body with aura like protective gear, you could be incapacitated by an unexpected acid attack.

In other words, it’s not surprising that it would be a natural predator to werewolves, who must engage in direct physical contact.

Anyway, as they finished their explanation with expressions mixing desolation and emptiness, showing bitter smiles…

‘…Should I give it a try?’

To be honest, these werewolves were very appealing to me in this situation.

Two unaffiliated middle-tiers with nowhere to live, plus 20 werewolves who, even as lower-tier mixed-bloods, were warrior races incomparable to humans.

They would undoubtedly be a great asset if they joined the pioneer village, so to me, who was developing the mindset of a ruler, it felt like S-class talents saying “please recruit me.”

So, although a bit anxious, I decided to try recruiting these talents and addressed them…

“Ahem. Miss Wolfblood. I have a proposal for you.”

“What is it?”

“Yes. If you don’t mind, how about joining our pioneer village?”

When I made that proposal, they reacted as if they had heard something completely unexpected, looking at each other and gauging reactions.

Not wanting to miss this opportunity, I began explaining the benefits of joining the village.

I explained in simple terms the advantages and legal position I held as a secular lord, while also introducing the current state of the village and what positions they would hold there.

I also mentioned that due to changes in the stance of the current pantheon and the Frankish Kingdom, discrimination and oppression against werewolves had almost disappeared, unless one was an extremely rigid and conservative traditionalist.

‘…Huh?’

But for some reason, Hannah Wolfblood’s interest seemed focused elsewhere, not on my proposal about joining my village…

‘…Oh? Is this how it’s going to be?’

Only then did I realize that my words could be interpreted as demanding their submission, but by the time I realized this, the event had already progressed too far.

“In our village, there’s a rule that the strongest becomes the leader.”

“I… see…?”

“Yes. So if you want to recruit us—defeat me directly, challenger!”

As the atmosphere gradually became heated, the mood of the forest, which had been gloomy and somewhat downcast until just a moment ago, began to burn with excitement…

“Ah, but perhaps we should move to a different location first? The basilisk might hear the noise and come looking…”

“Alright, let’s do that. …It would be dangerous after all.”

Following my suggestion, we somehow ended up starting a battle for their recruitment at the edge of the forest.