Ch.78Yellow Dog

The main vampire force returned to Seoul after spending a day in Uljin.

Since humans had suffered significant damage, they likely wouldn’t make any moves from Busan for a while.

I used that time to head to Gangwon-do, where werewolves were reportedly gathering.

Clop-clop-clop!

Hwang-gu raced fearlessly along the dark road.

Having consumed plenty of boss monster byproducts, Hwang-gu probably possessed the fastest speed in this world.

After running for quite some time, a crumpled road sign indicated we had arrived in Gangwon-do.

After passing the sign and continuing further, Hwang-gu suddenly stopped and began sniffing.

Something seemed to be approaching us.

After a while, the pungent smell of a beast wafted through the air.

My gaze naturally followed the scent.

Aurel, who was clinging tightly to my back, also seemed to catch the werewolf’s scent and started sniffing.

Though more likely, she was just smelling me.

Emerging under the soft moonlight was a male werewolf with a large build.

“What business do vampires have here…? And…”

The man approached and addressed us.

His gaze shifted to Hwang-gu, whom I was riding.

“That’s… no, that person…”

Seemingly confused by the perfect wolf appearance, the man tilted his head.

Werewolves typically can’t transform into perfect wolves.

He appeared confused because while Hwang-gu smelled like a werewolf, she looked like a wolf.

“This is Hwang-gu. She’s a werewolf.”

“Woof!”

Hwang-gu responded energetically to my simple introduction.

The man, who had been staring blankly, nodded as if remembering something.

“Are you here to see Mulbitbaram?”

“Oh, how did you know?”

But the man didn’t answer my question.

Instead, he asked one of his own.

And he directed it not at me, but at Hwang-gu who was carrying me.

“Meong-meong Gongju, is it true that you’ve lost your memory?”

“Grrrr…!”

Hwang-gu bared her teeth as if displeased by the question.

The man’s expression turned gloomy, as if hurt by her reaction.

His questions continued.

“That collar…”

“She’s wearing it because she wants to.”

“Is that true?”

“Grrrr…!”

Can werewolves understand wolf language?

To me it sounded like simple howling, but the werewolf man seemed to understand the meaning behind it and nodded.

“So Mulbitbaram’s claim was true… Follow me. I’ll guide you.”

“What’s your name?”

“…Koku.”

Koku said that and turned to start walking.

However, Hwang-gu didn’t move easily.

She continued growling as if still on guard.

I stroked her head to calm her down.

“That’s right. Good girl, Hwang-gu. Let’s go.”

“Woof…”

Koku, who had been walking ahead, sighed at the sight.

He guided us deep into the city.

As we entered, werewolves gradually began to appear.

They were all glaring at me with deeply furrowed expressions.

“Why are they like that?”

“Because of Meong-meong Gongju you’re riding…”

“Hwang-gu?”

As I tilted my head at Koku’s answer, a werewolf approached from the distance.

He was a man with a large build. Judging by how he proudly flexed his grotesquely bulging muscles, he seemed confident in his strength.

Of course, he hadn’t approached just to show off.

“You.”

The man blocked Koku and pointed a finger at me.

He made no attempt to hide his displeasure as he spoke.

“Get off of her.”

I finally understood the situation.

Why were the werewolves glaring at me?

The reason was simple. I was riding their fellow werewolf.

If I were in their position, I would also be angry if werewolves put a collar on a fellow vampire and rode them around.

Riding Hwang-gu had been a poor choice.

I nodded obediently and tried to get off Hwang-gu’s back.

However, Hwang-gu wouldn’t let me and Aurel dismount.

When I tried to move, she twitched her back, preventing us from getting off.

“Hwang-gu?”

“Grrrr!”

Hwang-gu bared her teeth at the werewolf man blocking our way.

The sight was so shocking that the werewolves watching us from around looked surprised.

It seemed I needed to calm Hwang-gu down.

I took out a blood fruit from the shadows and put it in her mouth.

“Good girl? We’ll get off now, okay?”

“Whine…”

Hwang-gu shook her head as if refusing.

But her mouth was true to instinct.

As her wide-open mouth bit into the blood fruit deliciously, a fragrant fruit scent spread.

While Hwang-gu was distracted by the blood fruit, Aurel and I got off her back.

“You, you…!”

But this action also seemed to upset the werewolves.

The man who had been blocking us bristled his hair and revealed his claws, seemingly enraged.

Clear hostility, intent to attack me, and a warning through his mystic eye turned my entire body red.

Just as I was about to respond to his movement.

Crackle!

A sudden burst of blue lightning.

As Hwang-gu’s body, which had been eating the blood fruit, became blurry, the werewolf man who had raised his claws was lying on the ground.

“Ugh, urgh…”

The man writhed in pain, bleeding.

Hwang-gu, who had somehow returned to her marshmallow form, was trampling on the man’s body.

From the circumstances, it seemed Hwang-gu had attacked him.

I was quite surprised as I had missed the moment of movement.

“W-why…”

The man seemed unable to believe that Hwang-gu had attacked him.

He raised his head while coughing up blood.

But Hwang-gu didn’t even look at him.

Instead, she moved her foot to stomp on his head.

Thud!

“Ugh, urgh…! Meong-meong Gongju! Come to your senses! You’re being deceived!”

“I’m being deceived?”

“Y-yes! That wicked vampire is deceiving you who has lost your memory!”

I frowned at the werewolf man’s words.

It seemed that through Mulbitbaram, the relationship between me and Hwang-gu had spread among the werewolves.

However, they were mistaken. I had never deceived Hwang-gu.

Hwang-gu lifted the man who was lying face down on the ground with a distorted expression.

Then she whispered something into his ear.

The man trembled with a pale face, as if shocked by her words.

It seemed she had threatened his life.

“Understand?”

“Y-yes, I understand…!”

The werewolf man nodded vigorously at Hwang-gu’s question.

Hwang-gu nodded with satisfaction at the sight.

Then she threw the man she had been holding far away.

The man flew into a building and didn’t move afterward.

After handling everything, Hwang-gu dusted off her hands and approached me.

Then she placed her collar in my hand.

“Shall we go?”

I blinked blankly.

The momentary behavior Hwang-gu had shown was too unfamiliar.

But now she had returned to the appearance I knew.

I reached out and touched Hwang-gu’s cheek.

Hwang-gu smiled slightly and fluttered her large ears at my touch.

Indeed, this soft and warm girl was definitely Hwang-gu.

I nodded while gripping the collar firmly.

Perhaps because Hwang-gu had shown her strength despite the commotion?

Unlike before, the werewolves didn’t glare at me.

Instead, they stared at Hwang-gu with strange gazes.

Even Koku, who had been guiding us, twitched his eyebrows and glanced at Hwang-gu.

Watching this, Hwang-gu frowned and said:

“What are you doing? Guide us to Mulbitbaram.”

“Ah, understood…”

Koku nodded and walked forward at Hwang-gu’s sharp voice.

We naturally followed behind him.

I looked at Hwang-gu with a strange expression.

Could she have regained her memory?

Just in case, I pulled on Hwang-gu’s fluffy tail.

But contrary to my expectation that she would show a prickly reaction, Hwang-gu wrapped her tail around my hand.

She didn’t even look back.

I tilted my head and asked Hwang-gu:

“Hwang-gu?”

“Yes?”

“Did you perhaps regain your memory?”

“Memory? Do I have memories I need to find?”

Hwang-gu tilted her head as if she really didn’t know what I was talking about.

Seeing this reaction, she was definitely the Hwang-gu I knew.

If she had regained Meong-meong Gongju’s memories, she would never show such a reaction.

I smiled lightly and stroked Hwang-gu’s head.

The place Koku led us to was a large movie theater, which seemed to have been renovated for werewolves to live in.

Koku entered the theater and walked without hesitation.

We arrived at the entrance of a large screening room, where Mulbitbaram seemed to be waiting.

Knock-knock.

Koku stood still and knocked carefully.

As expected, Mulbitbaram’s voice came from inside.

-Come in.

Koku opened the door at Mulbitbaram’s command.

The chairs that once filled the large screening room seemed to have been removed.

Instead, the space was occupied by various household furniture.

Mulbitbaram was sitting at a large table in the center of the screening room.

With a tired face, she slightly raised her hand.

She pushed back her long gray hair and said:

“I’m sorry. I broke our promise.”

“I heard there was a division?”

Mulbitbaram silently nodded at my question.

I could roughly guess why this had happened, but I wanted to hear a definite answer from her.

“Is it because of Hwang-gu?”

Mulbitbaram hesitated to answer my direct question.

She checked the collar in my hand once and then nodded.

“To some extent…”

“What exactly is the problem?”

“Some werewolves who heard about you and Meong… Hwang-gu became very angry and are showing an attitude that they cannot help vampires.”

“Just because of this?”

“…It seems it’s not a simple matter to them. They say they cannot tolerate a fellow werewolf being exploited like that.”

“Those idiots…”

Hwang-gu and Aurel nodded as if agreeing with my muttering.