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146 The Golden Wolf Stands

「We’ll fight to protect this village. Father, do I have your approval?」

Asagi nodded slowly, but deeply—profoundly.

「Everything is just as Shizuku said. Now, thanks to those who destroyed the bridges, we have some time! Prepare for battle!」

At Asagi’s command, the werewolves sprang into action.

They were a race naturally skilled in warfare. As soon as they fortified the western side of the village, those who had been training under Marge and Bellman dashed toward the mountains.

They moved like bounding shadows through the trees, raising their voices to rally one another.

「Werewolves fight on the offensive!」

「We race through the forest, leap over mountains, and turn trees and rocks into allies—that’s when we’re at our best! Right!?」

「Yeah!!」

At the head of the column was Shizuku. As she listened to the voices of those following behind her, her thoughts turned over and over.

The strength of the Werewolves lay in melee combat. But simply charging in head-on wouldn’t be enough to overcome this crisis. The enemy’s numbers were far too overwhelming, and worse—they weren’t attacking in straight lines, but as a wide ‘front’ sweeping across the entire mountain range. Trying to hold back everything all at once was simply impossible.

They needed a strategy. A plan that would make the most of their current hand.

「…You there! One of you, come forward!」

「Yes!」

「Tell the ones destroying the bridges in the mountains—leave one intact. The deepest gorge, the one with the narrow arch bridge. Don’t destroy that one!」

「Understood!」

As she watched the runner disappear into the woods, Shizuku turned her gaze forward once more.

「Shizuku-sama, what are you planning? If we leave a bridge, it gives the enemy a way through!」

「That’s fine!」

She swallowed the words ‘I only hope it is’, before they could leave her mouth.

Glancing behind her, she confirmed the twenty-seven werewolves following in her wake. That was all she needed to reaffirm what she must do.

「I have a plan. A simple one. Spinning elaborate, perfect strategies is Marge’s way—not mine. Even if I’ve learned from him, I won’t pretend I can do what he does.」

「That much is obvious. We are not here to fight with Marge-sama. We are here to fight with you, Shizuku-sama.」

「Right. We’ll overcome this crisis our way.」

She raised her voice so it would reach everyone.

「We are Werewolves—we carve our path with our fangs and claws! Isn’t that right!?」

「Yeah!!」

「[Garou], activate!」

The moment Shizuku activated her endemic skill, her figure changed once again—no longer like when she first met Marge, and different still from the time she had stunned the knights in Kinui.

A golden wolf.

The golden light that cloaked her entire body solidified into a form worthy of that title. Razor-sharp fangs and claws, lustrous and resilient fur, and eyes that pierced forward were all shaped into being, moving in perfect sync with Shizuku.

Ahead, the vanguard of the monster horde was just about to cross the gorge. Locking eyes with them, the wolf of ripe-rice-gold let out a mighty howl.

「Break them!!」

And so, the monsters blanketing the mountains clashed with the golden wolf.

◇

「What’s the status of the Werewolves?」

Deep within the Leon Enagoris Mountains, off the beaten hiking trail, several tents had been pitched. Green-haired men in cold-weather gear loitered there, clearly avoiding public eyes.

Even though summer was approaching, the altitude here was so high that water froze each morning. Normally, tents wouldn’t suffice for extended stays. But with high-performance windproof fabric, medicine to ward off mountain illnesses, and high-calorie rations with long shelf lives… Narshe’s ‘science’ made it possible.

Of course, the fact that only humans were ordered to stay in such conditions made it clear—even if it was possible, it was still dangerous and far from comfortable. As he poured melted snowwater over his chilled body, one of the men muttered to himself.

「Who knows. We never found that hidden village or whatever, so no idea what’s really going on. But… with that many monsters, there’s nothing they can do.」

「The Elves got a little too fired up this time. The monsters are swarming all the way past Kinui now.」

「Terrifying, really. Still, this new binocular tech is insane…」

The man being questioned answered while peering down at the valley through a double-lens viewing device—commonly called binoculars. The lenses were pristine, without a single scratch or flaw—but what shocked him most was the clarity of the glass.

「Can’t believe they can make glass this colorless…」

「Apparently if you mix certain ores into molten glass, it loses its color.」

「Wouldn’t that add color? Paint is made from crushed stone mixed into oil or water, right?」

「Something about light absorption rates… I dunno, they tried to explain it but it went over my head. All I know is, the Elves brag they’re better at handling metals than even the dwarves.」

「Maybe they invented this just to say that. I’ll never understand how demi-humans think.」

「Well, whatever. I’m off to take a leak.」

Their job was to observe the results of drawing the monsters out from ‘The Vigil’s End’

The ones doing the actual luring were the Elves. The job was too dangerous to be entrusted to anyone but those desperate to claim their own homeland.

As one man stood to relieve himself, another threw a warning over his shoulder. ‘Don’t go slacking off’. Setting the binoculars aside, he rolled his stiff shoulders and stretched with a groan.

「Man… finally get to go home.」

「Better hurry or your wife’ll find herself a new man.」

「Ha! Like any guy would go after that moody woman. Enough jokes—get the signal fire ready.」

Their job would be done once they signaled how much damage the monster horde had inflicted on the Abik domain. Then, at last, they could descend the mountain. As they mumbled about getting it over with, the men began setting up the fire pit.

Signal fires were ignited by throwing smoke agents into the flame. Since smoke is produced most when fat burns, anything oily would do—fresh pine, cypress needles, even animal dung. This time, they’d stolen branches from low pines that grew just below the tree line.

「How many and what color?」

「Uh… let’s see…」

The number and color of the smoke columns conveyed specific messages. A relay team waited on the far side of the mountain, ready to mimic the signal they saw. Their own partners beyond that would do the same—and so on, until the message reached Fathie.

They didn’t particularly care what the actual message was. The only thing that mattered was that once it was sent, they could head back down, drink, and sleep with their wives. Eager to finish, the man lifted the binoculars again.

But what he saw through the lenses crushed that simple dream.

「Well?」

「…One white, two red.」

「Right—one white, two red. Wait, that’s wrong. That means ‘We attempted a surprise attack, but met resistance. Minimal gains.’」

「That’s exactly what it means.」

「What’re you saying!?」

「That can’t be right,」 the man prepping the signal fire said as he grabbed the binoculars and looked through them himself.

He expected to see the monsters tearing through the valley below, completely unopposed.

What he actually saw was golden fangs and claws.

Standing tall and proud across a narrow arch-shaped gap in the deepest gorge—formed by natural rock—was a massive wolf the color of ripe rice. It barred the way, holding back the horde.

The monsters had no choice but to funnel toward the single remaining bridge—and there, one after another, they were being thrown down into the ravine below.

「That golden wolf’s holding them off on the one bridge…!!」