Chapter 13 : The Nocturnality of the Direwolf

“So many customers.”

As expected, the presence of the poster girl makes a big difference.

It looks like there are about 1.5 times more customers than when Sera wasn’t around.

Look at Sera, carrying food in both hands and serving at the tables.

She looks like she’ll fall if she trips even a little.

“Sera. I’m here.”

“Welcome—whoa!?”

Whoa, she’s really about to fall.

“Whoa, are you okay, Sera?”

“Oh my, when did you get here? I didn’t notice because I was busy.”

I caught Sera as she was about to fall and managed to catch the flying food and place it back on the plates in sync.

Now that my reaction speed has improved, I can do things like this.

“Ugh… Youn, you smell really wild right now…”

Sera puts things so nicely.

She could easily be swearing like a sailor, but she’s just calling it a wild smell.

After placing the trendy, dirty-plated dishes on the customers’ tables, I went into the kitchen and greeted the lady.

“Ma’am. I’m here. Should I help with anything?”

“Wash up first. Who would get their appetite back if you served food looking like that?”

“Oh, right.”

I changed into the clean clothes I had stored in the inn room.

The gambeson and other blood-soaked gear—I planned to wash later and just dumped them in the backyard for now.

It’s just dirt out there, but since I’m going to wash them anyway, it’s fine.

I washed up with the now-warm bathwater, thoroughly cleaning the blood-sticky hair and drying it roughly before brushing it back.

“Ma’am? Can I help with anything?”

The lady continued her work silently by the fire, gave me a quick glance, and spoke without turning her head.

“Go outside for a walk real quick.”

“Huh? Why?”

“You still smell like blood. Just walk around for 10 minutes and then come back in.”

“Got it.”

The smell of spices is strong, but she still picked out the scent of blood? She has an amazing nose.

I walked outside for about 10 minutes to move around and let the smell fade.

Honestly, I can’t smell anything myself—maybe I’ve just gotten used to it?

As I walked through the streets, I checked my body.

My strength definitely increased, but it’s not the kind of gain you get from working out—it feels like the very type of muscle fibers has changed.

I get tired quickly too.

It’s not all good.

“Still, a three-meter sergeant jump is insane.”

In a less crowded alley, I tried a 100-meter crouching start sprint and cleared it in under 3 seconds, and jumped about 4 meters off the ground using as much muscle power as I could.

I’m still not used to the output of my muscles—it feels a bit clumsy.

I nearly tripped while running, too.

As the sun set and the moon rose, I walked through the now atmospheric streets.

The sunstones hanging on the streetlights glowed with a warm red hue, making the slightly cooler air still feel warm.

“Smell’s probably gone now.”

I raised my arm to sniff—just like before, I couldn’t really smell anything.

I guess it’s fine now.

I went straight back to the inn and helped out.

Even after that, a lot of customers came in—half of them women.

Is Sera popular with women too?

“Hmm…”

Judging by the way she pouted, I guess she doesn’t like being popular with women.

Around 1 a.m., I finished cleaning up with Sera and had a chat.

“Oh, Sera. Did a woman come by before I got here?”

“Huh? We had plenty of female customers today.”

“No, I mean… a knight with bright blonde hair and pauldrons.”

“Oh! Right. She came by to leave a message. When I asked who the message was for, she said she forgot the name… It was from Youn, right? I figured it might be.”

Is Rubica a bit of an airhead? How could she forget the name? Still, lucky she didn’t go to a different inn.

“Wait just a second. She left something with us.”

Sera went into the kitchen and brought out a leather pouch.

Inside were seven silver coins marked with the number 5—35 silver coins.

That’s super expensive.

“Please give this to the lady.”

I took 20 silver coins from the pouch and handed them to Sera.

She looked at me like she was wondering what it was, but I brushed it off saying it was to pay off a debt, then headed to the appraisal office.

“It’s late. I wonder if she’s still awake.”

—Creak.

“Ravi? Are you inside, Ravi?”

“Ugh… Youn? Is that you…?”

“Yes. Please come out quickly. Something’s wrong with my body.”

Ravi, who was sleeping without even a blanket on the bed, clutching a few sheets of paper, sat up with a few strands of hair in her mouth.

She was using the wide-brimmed hat she wore earlier in the day like a sleep mask… So that bed is hers at night, huh?

“Eek?! Y-Your eyes are glowing!”

“Yes. That’s part of it—my body’s just acting weird in general.”

Inside the dark building, with no light from the streetlamps coming in, there was no external light source—but my left vision lit up, reflecting her clearly.

Ravi looked startled as she met my glowing gaze.

She twisted her body awkwardly to get off the bed without her feet touching the ground.

Even the way she walked, stumbling around while trying to find her glasses on the desk, was a sight.

“Ah, could you bring in the lamp hanging outside?”

“Sure, no problem.”

I brought in the lamp that was hanging outside to absorb sunlight and placed it on the desk, instantly lighting up the room.

“Whoa… Just now, your eyes went shwaaap and closed.”

“It’s because I’ve got wolf eyes. I can see fine even in the dark.”

“Even that kind of feature! As expected, it follows the unique traits of a wolf’s eyes!”

“Yes, yes, stop chewing on your hair and come over here.”

“Ugh… I got it, I got it…”

Ravi pulled a few strands of hair from her mouth, wiped her lips a few times with her sleeve, and adjusted her collar.

Where did she even go? She looks so messy, like she’s been doing hard labor or something.

“Huh…? Did you get a bit taller…?”

“Ravi, you shrank.”

“T-That’s not possible…!”

“Just kidding. I’ve been feeling better at night lately. Can you figure out what’s going on?”

“Hmm… I have a few ideas.”

Ravi grabbed a sunstone lamp, rummaged through her bookshelf for a moment, and then pulled out a book, placing it on the desk.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a record of the traits of the monsters that appear from the 1st to the 10th floors of the labyrinth. Look here, on the 2nd floor…”

Direwolves start appearing on the 2nd floor and their numbers increase significantly by the 3rd floor.

The book’s table of contents seems to be organized by the first floor where each monster appears.

Ravi slowly flipped through the pages, stopping her tiny finger on a specific section.

“Here it is! The nocturnal trait of the Direwolf!”

“Let me see.”

As expected, wolves are typically nocturnal.

The passage was mostly what I already knew about wolves, but there was one unusual point.

The nocturnal nature of Direwolves isn’t due to better night vision or similar physical traits.

“Direwolves’ magic… becomes active when exposed to moonlight…?”

“That’s right. Direwolves are magical creatures. Their magic tends to surge more intensely at night.”

According to the book, Direwolves at night have a larger range of movement and their muscle fibers become significantly stronger, making them appear slightly larger and more muscular.

“Wait, does that mean I’ve inherited Direwolf magic just from a bit of blood mixing?”

“Surprisingly, magic flows through the entire body, much like blood through veins, so it’s possible…”

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me. So, if you drank Direwolf blood, would you also get stronger at night?”

“N-No, that’s not it. Blood taken orally doesn’t get absorbed like that. The magic within it dissipates before it can be absorbed, as the stomach acids break down the blood cells.”

So the blood I drank must still be circulating through my veins in its original state, and the magic with it…

“Wait, but isn’t it mixed with human blood?”

“The form of the blood is important. If you tried to directly inject Direwolf blood into a human, they’d probably die from the shock.”

So, the bottom line is that I’ve become a bit stronger at night because of Direwolf blood.

Functionally, that’s a pass. Emotionally, that’s a fail.

Human disqualified, beast qualified.

I mean, who knows if the blood running through those flea-ridden bodies is clean or filthy?

Though, I suppose I’m not one to talk, considering I drank it willingly…

“H-Hey, maybe you should take off your shirt just to be sure… If that’s alright…?”

“Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.”

I should probably check my body to be sure.

I can feel the fabric pulling a bit tighter as I undress, like my body has actually grown.
Is this muscle pumping up? That’s pretty impressive.

“Ravi. Take a look.”

“I-I am… looking…”

“You’ve seen my body before, right? Do I look any bigger now? How is it?”

“Ugh…”

What’s with that reaction? Is she sick or something?

“Hey, Ravi? You feeling alright? Your face is really red.”

“W-Wait! Please, step back!”

I tried to reach for her forehead to check for a fever, but she suddenly stumbled back, tripping over her own feet.

‘He’s falling.’

My body reacted on instinct, reaching out to grab the back of her robe before she hit the ground.

“Ah… sorry about that.”

I gently lowered the dangling Ravi to the floor, where she quickly straightened her clothes and cleared her throat a couple of times.

‘My body moved on its own just now.’

I felt a bit guilty. She’s so frail, she might actually break if she fell too hard.
And is it just me, or is she way too light?

“W-What was that just now…?”

“That’s what we’re here to figure out.”

“Oh… right.”