Ch.73The Wolf Cub’s Tree (Complete)

# Kain pulled up the handkerchief Lily had tied for him over his neck. The night breeze no longer entered. His body was tired, and his throat was becoming parched.

Yet as he told the old story, he felt like he had returned to being a boy again. Back to that day when he wandered through the hunter’s forest with a hatchet in hand.

Perhaps that’s why he continued speaking with such a spirited voice.

“Well. I just wanted to see him. Whether he was still my friend, or if he was that ‘wolf’ from the stories I’d only heard about—the one that devours people.

The adults had already gone to the outskirts of the village. They were trying to find the wolf pack. But thinking about it now, I wonder if they were actually trying to drive them far away.

They brought everything that could make noise. They banged pots and pans, shouted ‘Woo! Woo!’ and some even blew trumpets.

In that situation, I couldn’t just run out recklessly. It would be trouble if an adult caught me. So I went back to the edge of the orchard.

I remembered something my father hadn’t told me. There were traces of wolves coming in, but no footprints of them leaving.

I understood why. The orchard fence area was full of fallen leaves from the storm and fruit waste. They had gone out that way, which is why no footprints remained. When I looked carefully, just as my father would have, I could see the marks.

With my pounding heart, I followed the traces, and surprisingly, they led toward the hunter’s forest.

It was a bold wolf. Walking across the orchard into a forest teeming with hunters.

There was no one in the hunter’s forest. The hunters were scattered among the villagers, serving as guides.

It seemed like a blind spot. The kind where you think, ‘Surely they wouldn’t dare come here?’ The wolf had exploited that well.

I ran for quite a while, thinking I might find my friend. I stopped at a small stream. Only then did I realize my body was drenched in sweat, that I was quite tired,

And that it had gotten quite dark around me. The sun gets blocked a lot in the forest.

Finding my way back wouldn’t be a problem since I just had to retrace the path, but I was scared.

It was my first time venturing so deep into the forest alone, and besides the sounds of birds, wind, insects, and rustling leaves, I heard other things too.

The sound of dry branches breaking. Something that sounded like growling, and thump, thump sounds. Not just one. There were several.

They were wolves.”

The clouds devoured the moon. As if it were a signal, the insects began to chirp shrilly. The horses snorted as well.

“I’m not sure how many there were. Several were circling around me, appearing and disappearing between the trees.

But I remember it was like twilight. Like a low-lying night fog. There were definitely more than five. Ten? Fifteen? It’s impossible to know.

I gripped my hatchet tightly. ‘Come if you dare,’ I swung it with a whoosh, as if I wasn’t scared at all. The provocation worked well. The wolves bared their teeth and growled.

But then… the wolves suddenly went quiet. There was a rustling sound, and my friend approached. Wagging his tail gently, panting with his tongue out.

Behind my friend, I saw a large wolf. The one with silver fur on its chest. Judging by its size, it was probably the leader.

When it politely sat down on its hind legs and rump, the others also quietly pressed their bellies to the ground.

‘You need to go. People are looking for you. They said they’ll catch and kill you.’

I told the pup. The pup licked my leg as if it didn’t understand at all. I put down my hatchet slowly, so as not to startle the other wolves.

When the blade glinted, the pup finally growled and backed away.

‘Go! You’ll get hurt if you stay here!’

I waved my hands. Telling them to go quickly. I stomped my feet too, telling them to hurry, that they shouldn’t die, but why would wolves understand human language?

The pup was restless. How strange it must have been for the human it had been playing with to suddenly stomp and make a fuss. I had put down the hatchet gently, so I wasn’t looking for a fight, but I wasn’t playing either…

The large wolf that had been watching quietly got up. Without even looking at me, it approached the pup wolf and nuzzled its nose against it. After licking its head and body with its tongue, it turned around and began walking toward the other side of the path.

‘Yes! Go!’

The other wolves followed their leader. The pup hesitated between its pack and me, but finally howled long at me. Then it followed its pack.

When I returned home with the hatchet, the sun was setting. The adults hadn’t returned yet.

I put the hatchet back in its place and cried under my blanket. Like the eleven-year-old I was.

Well. For a while after that, there were ominous rumors, but no stories of wolves appearing in the village. Not even until I left home and entered the academy.”

Lily wrapped her arms around Kain’s arm. Then she even gently stroked his shoulder and back. If Kain hadn’t been injured, she would have hugged him tightly.

“I wish you had been my brother.”

“Really?”

“Yes. When I was young, I wasn’t very… fun. No. Come to think of it, you shouldn’t be my brother. Since I can’t marry my brother, perhaps if you were my cousin…”

Tap, Maria hit the roof. She was still resting her chin on her hand like a lazy cat.

“Hmph. ‘The nun who couldn’t bear the boredom cut off her head.’ It’s not quite that bad, but why do I feel like something was left unsaid?”

“What do you mean?” Kain turned to Maria. “I told the whole story.”

“You didn’t tell the most important part. So. It ended with crying? There must be something you saw or felt. A lesson, I mean. A lesson. Old stories always have those.”

“A lesson.” Kain rubbed his brow with his finger.

“Well… if I had to say, perhaps that everyone has their reasons and circumstances.

Whether beast or human, when they do something incomprehensible… I learned there’s always a basis for it.

Whether others find it acceptable or not seems secondary.”

“I can tell you were willful from a young age.”

Maria raised her index finger stiffly, as if she wanted to poke him.

“You were charming from a young age…”

Lily’s words were the opposite of her actions as she tidied Kain’s ear and the hair on the side of his head.

“Yes. I’m wrong again. Well. Hmph. I give it 60 out of 100 points. Not unbearable, but not quite to my taste.”

“I’d like to give you 200 points,” Lily countered with a yawn. “But I think I’ll have to give them after I get some sleep. Wake me at dawn. I’ll take over.”

“Sleep well.”

The carriage door opened, and Lily soon fell asleep. Kain, who had taken over the reins, silently looked ahead.

“Kain?”

Maria’s voice. There was no trace of sleepiness. She seemed to be wide awake.

“Yes. What is it?”

“Did you like it? That wolf.”

‘Was that what she really wanted to ask?’

Kain couldn’t tell. Maria herself was just like a wolf. A woman whose thoughts were completely inscrutable, but who clearly had something in mind.

“I liked it. Just… enough to rush in without thinking. For a while, I couldn’t even look at the house hunting dog. Because I kept thinking about it.”

Maria lay down on her side. With her arm as a pillow, she looked up at the night sky and asked.

“To be honest, when I first saw you, I thought, what kind of guy is this? Of course, you probably thought the same about me.”

“I didn’t think that way. Did you?”

“Again. Again.” Maria sat up abruptly as if she couldn’t help it.

“Normal people don’t do that. They want to be acknowledged. They say things like, ‘Really? In what way?’ or they reject it to protect themselves, saying, ‘Who do you think you are!’ They don’t respond like you, saying ‘Oh, really?’ as if it’s someone else’s business. So what I’m saying is…”

“What are you saying?”

“…I mean. Ugh. I don’t know.”

Maria flopped back down. Lying there, she continued speaking as if muttering.

“You talk about everything as if it’s someone else’s story. Even stories about yourself. At first glance, it seems like you keep a distance from everything, but that’s not true.

In fact, you’re incredibly emotional to the point of recklessness. You just don’t show it, and once your flag is raised, you charge ahead without looking back.

You know that about yourself, so you keep your distance. Am I wrong?”

“Well. Is that such an important issue?”

Surprisingly, Maria burst into laughter.

“Just as it’s in your nature to deliberately keep your distance, it’s in my nature to analyze and judge people one by one. Especially men who have a pitiful woman hanging by their side.”

“Who are you talking about? Lily?”

“You actually like her, don’t you?”

Kain didn’t answer. Maria’s tone was full of conviction.

“You like her, but that’s why you want to keep your distance. Isn’t that right? Because if you allow yourself to like her, you might act without thinking. Like following a wolf with just a hatchet, not knowing what to do.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

Kain checked on the horses. Remarkably, they were walking well. But at the same time, he glanced inside the carriage. Lily seemed to be asleep.

“…But Lily needs to stay in the Security Bureau. I’m someone who’s going to leave. So any relationship beyond this…”

“No. Don’t evade like that. Don’t make excuses while pretending to care about Lily. I’m asking about your thoughts and feelings. Not about concerns for Lily’s future.”

Kain finally let out a heavy sigh.

“I feel like you’re cornering me.”

“Ah. Finally, I’ve got one over on you.” Maria seemed quite pleased.

“Yes. Bulls live as bulls, lions live as lions, and eagles live as eagles. But people all live the same way. If you keep suppressing it like that, it’ll eventually burst. I’m trying to let the air out in advance.”

“I see you’re doing good deeds, Sister.”

“I mean don’t take out your frustrations on an innocent woman. And don’t make Lily cry later. As I’ve said before, I really like that girl. She’s pretty and kind, but… too blind. Sometimes to the point where I wonder if it’s obsession.

I think you two are a good match. You’re both impulsive and blind in your own ways, and you seem to like her. But I don’t understand why you keep suppressing your emotions. What are you so afraid of?”

Suddenly, as if remembering something he had forgotten, Kain answered reflexively.

“Being devoured.”

The horses twitched their ears and snorted. Kain soothed them by slightly loosening the reins. The horse shook its head a couple of times and then continued walking calmly.

“Being devoured by emotions. And if I like something too much… it always seems to lead to regret. The things I really wanted, the things I really wanted to have, strangely always got twisted or slipped away.”

“Why do you think that happened because you liked them? Even I can see that’s not the case.”

Maria responded indifferently, as if it were nothing. Kain understood that this was Maria’s way of being considerate. People who try to ease others’ burdens always talk like that.

“Then?”

“How many things in the world go according to plan? This isn’t about deciding how far to walk or how many breaths to take in a second. You know that, right? How many people get everything they wish for?”

That’s true. Even if it’s people who do the work, isn’t it heaven that grants fulfillment? But if that’s the case…

“But… at least if you look carefully before diving in somewhere, you’ll have fewer painful experiences. Fewer regrets too.

And, I’m not sure. Maybe it’s because I’m the son of an orchard owner, but unless it’s a storm or pests, apple trees yield results according to how you tend them.”

“That’s because you know how to be loved by apple trees. You didn’t know how to be loved by wolves. But in my opinion, if you built that level of friendship with a wolf, wasn’t that enough? Anything more would be greed.”

“Greed?”

“You don’t still think you could be friends with a wolf, do you? A wolf is just a wolf. Not a dog. Like that scabbard-wielding ruffian.”

Kain turned to Maria with wide eyes. Maria calmly met his gaze.

“You asked the Knight of the Scabbard, ‘What are you so resentful about?’ I guarantee you’re the only one who’s ever asked him something like that. Do you think his reason, whatever it is, would be acceptable?”

“No. Whatever the reason, I can’t accept someone brutalizing people like that.”

“But you want to help him, just like you did with the wolf pup. You tried to listen to him. You told him to stop. And he even answered you.”

“…He’s human. Maria, I believe he’s human. A human who suffers and rages. I need to know why he became that way. That way, wolf packs won’t attack villages of good people.”

Maria sat with her legs drawn up. She hugged herself as the night breeze was quite chilly. Perhaps she felt cold because of the question that arose in her mind.

“What if it’s the opposite?”

“What do you mean?”

“The wolf pack came down to the village of ‘good people’ because of the war, right? What if it seems like the Knight of the Scabbard is attacking the Empire, but actually the Empire attacked the knight first?”

After thinking for a moment, Kain carefully offered his answer.

“Then we need to break that chain. The chain of hatred and resentment. I’ll have to see how to break it when I get there. That’s what I saw and learned in Emmaus.

Hatred is passed down through generations. So are animosity and prejudice. When you can, when it’s possible, you have to break it. I trusted the wolves. The wolves trusted me too. But if we hadn’t confronted each other, if I hadn’t been prepared to get my hand bitten, if we hadn’t had that struggle, it wouldn’t have been possible.”

Instead of answering, Maria let out a deep sigh.

“I’ll give you 90 points.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The story. 90 out of 100 points. The reason I didn’t give you full points is because I’m not convinced. Do you believe that hatred passed down through generations can be cut off so easily?”

It was impossible to know. Kain suddenly wanted to imitate his father.

“Even the oldest person doesn’t know everything, but we still have a weapon given to us by God. ‘Imagination.'”

“You cheated, so it’s 80 points. End of discussion. No objections.”

The carriage door opened. Maria crawled inside. There was the sound of rustling, followed by a snort and the sound of snoring.

The wind blew with a hum. A small whirlwind formed in the tree shade, swirling up leaves and petals. The shadow of Beatrice could be seen standing in the shade.

If he had liked her a little less. If he had treated Beatrice the way he now treats Lily, could they have been happy? Could he have completed the mission safely? Kain was about to be captured in a chain of questions, like a pack of wolves.

Suddenly, his neck felt cold. It was because of Lily’s handkerchief wrapped around his neck. It was even a bit cumbersome, soaked with sweat. If he kept wearing it, he might catch a cold.

But just as he was about to untie it, he caught a faint scent. It was Lily’s. If he liked her a little less. If he were less immersed. If things continued as they are now, at least until retirement, he could see her for a long time.

Kain decided to try to think that this was the best option. He didn’t untie the handkerchief. He simply put his hand down and silently gripped the reins again.

The night is long, but the road is longer and straight, so it should be safe.