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13. Werewolf (2)

「Werewolf…!?」

Although she was still a young girl, she certainly had characteristics that were different from us.

Flaxen hair and wolf-like ears. Her coarse clothes were ragged, resulting in her skin being visible in some places. The back of her clothes was lifted up, revealing a tail that was the same color as her hair.

A girl who had the same characteristics as the demi-human race “werewolf” that I heard about.

「Are they rare?」

「Nowadays, yes. They originally lived in the forest around here, but they were chased from their land during the war and now you hardly see them.」

I had heard that the grasslands around here were once a dense forest. After falling into the hands of humans during the war, the trees were all cut down due to logging and abandoned. After it became desolate, the aforementioned House Duke Abik embarked to recultivate it…That is the common history.

The people who lived in that forest were werewolves, wolf demi-humans of a noble lineage.

「I heard that they were a proud race clad in fur blessed by a divine wolf and had sharp claws and fangs that made them unparalleled in the forest.」

「That little girl?」

「Not only do they not get tired, but they become stronger and fiercer the more the battle prolonged….That’s what I heard.」

The girl in front of me was wearing rags and carried a large bag of wheat that didn’t suit her small frame. She grit her teeth and sweats with each step she takes, enduring the pain on her shoulders.

Her powerful claws and alluring tail were now smudged in the sand with no trace of femininity or pride. Her appearance was far removed from the werewolf folklore that got me excited in the past.

「Master?」

「…Ah, sorry.」

Why were the descendants of the werewolves being treated like slaves in a place like this? As I was thinking about what it would be like to lose in a war, I heard a man who appeared to be a foreman yell in anger.

「Time for food! Eat it without making a mess, you dog with shitty skills!」

I stopped in my tracks when lunch time came. I saw her receiving her meal among the other people. Hers in particular was obviously inferior in quantity and quality to the others.

「Dipping crumbled bread in a diluted soup…」

It was the same meal as the one I was allowed to eat when I was in “Divine Silver Sword”.

「Master, I might be presumptuous for saying this, but… if you wish to save the girl in front of you, you need not be afraid of hypocrisy or short-sightedness. For the end result is, that child will be saved.」

I gave a small nod to Koe-san who was looking straight at me.

「…I’m going. Depending on the situation, we might stay in this town for up to ten days.」

「Yes, master.」

First, I spoke to the person managing the site – her employer.

After getting enough information and certainty, I walked up to the girl who was eating the diluted soup and stood in front of her.

「I heard from your employer. He said he’ll pay you 3,000 yin to carry all those sacks of wheat to the warehouse.」

There was a temporary storage area with a simple roof. Large sacks of wheat were piled up in there up to a height that was probably twice the height of an adult. There were too many sacks to finish the work in one day. It will probably take several days to transfer them all to the warehouse. Even when there is no rain, they act recklessly.

「…It costs me 300 yin a day for food.」

「That diluted muddy water?」

The girl glared at me. Her eyes were strong. Fatigued but not without conviction.

「Who the hell are you and what do you want from me?」

The way she spoke almost made me think it was a man, but the slight swell of her chest peeking out from the ragged clothes confirmed she was a girl. Even all my skills concluded that she was a woman.

And even though her clothes were lacking, her eyes and demeanor still had the nobility that had been passed down.

If it’s this kid, then perhaps…

If she were just a normal child, I would have given her the silver coin in my hand and left her. But I gently returned it back to my pocket.

「Your pay is 3000 yin. Give me 600 yin.」

「…What did you say?」

「If you do that, you can earn ten times as much money. Are you interested in my proposal?」