Wolves of Hader

On the fifth day since we began heading north.

I came leading 123 dark knights, the two guardian knights who had previously been gatekeepers, and seven bronze knights.

It was fortunate that there were no villages along the way—if anyone had seen us, it would have looked like the demon legion was on the move. In fact, an herbalist did see us and ran off in a panic.

I carried Yuri on my shoulders as we walked.

On my right, Eilin walked alongside, and on my left, Allen trudged along with two bundles of gold strapped to his back.

"Isn't that heavy?"

"Heh, not really. Do you know how hard I worked for this money?"

"You know we're not heading to the pilgrimage, right?"

"Can't we stop by on the way?"

"We have no reason to go there."

"So I'm supposed to carry this around the whole time?"

"You should have let me handle it."

"How could I trust you? You tried to spend my money on that so-called Black Fur."

"Black Fur?"

"That woman pirate."

"Kukukuku."

"Hahahahahaha!"

Eilin burst out laughing.

Whenever she laughed, the whole group followed suit and joined in. Throughout this journey, Yuri has been our source of 'healing.'

I checked the map again.

Neither the viscount nor Eilin's father knew the exact location of the Forest of Death, so they'd marked the whole region in black.

We'd entered the darkened area, but ahead of us, there was nothing but ordinary fields and forests. That's how it had been for the past five days. The sea wasn't far off to the left.

"How long are we supposed to keep walking?"

"Who knows."

"At this rate, we'll walk all the way to the pilgrimage."

But then, up ahead, I spotted a mansion.

A mansion perched atop a seaside cliff.

"There's a house over there."

"Let's go check it out."

We quickened our pace toward the mansion.

A house standing alone in such a remote place.

Not long after.

We lined up where we could see the mansion.

"Looks like someone lives here."

"Yeah, looks like a noble's villa or something."

From afar, I hadn't noticed, but as we drew close to the mansion, I sensed a sinister energy. Even the elemental of light in my right hand began to shine brighter.

We all stood assembled in front of the mansion.

The house sat atop the cliff overlooking the sea, and it looked as if someone still lived there.

A shadow passed by a window.

Smoke was curling from the chimney.

So someone did live here.

I stood in front of the door and listened for movement.

Just as I was about to knock—

Clunk. Creeeeak.

The door opened, and a beautiful middle-aged woman appeared. She looked at us with a puzzled expression.

"May I help you?"

"I'm sorry to bother you. We're traveling, but we've run short on food and would like to buy some, if you have any to spare."

"How much do you need?"

"We'll take whatever you can part with."

The woman stepped back inside.

"My house may be humble, but please, come in."

"Thank you for your hospitality."

I motioned two signals to the group. Then I entered first, with Donnie following behind. Eilin, having seen my gesture, also entered the house.

"Please, have a seat for a moment. My family is wary of strangers, so they won't be coming out. I hope you understand."

"Of course."

"Please wait here."

The woman headed off to the kitchen.

At that moment, we all glanced toward the staircase to the second floor. A brother and sister, dressed in noble attire, were watching us intently.

Their faces were pale.

After staring, the siblings went back upstairs.

I looked around the parlor again.

The decorations and portraits were antique.

There was a fireplace, unlit and radiating nothing but chill. The whole atmosphere of the house was cold.

Had we been sitting there five minutes or so?

The woman returned.

"Please, come to the dining room."

Following her, we entered the dining room adjacent to the salon. There was a table that looked elegant and refined. The woman brought out food from the kitchen as we sat.

"This is veal. I am raising my children alone since my husband passed, so our circumstances are not abundant."

"Thank you, madam."

"No need to thank me."

We each looked at the food placed before us.

It was bloody, undercooked meat.

It wasn't even veal.

No one dared touch their utensils.

The woman sliced off a piece of meat and ate it with a smile, looking at us all the while.

"Why? Is it too rare?"

"It's just a method we're not accustomed to."

"People in this region usually eat it this way."

"Is all your food like this?"

"We have plenty of meat."

A trickle of bloody juice ran from the woman's mouth.

And yet, she smiled warmly.

Footsteps could be heard from the parlor.

"What kind of meat is this?"

The woman sliced another piece of meat.

As she put it in her mouth, she spoke.

"Why are you hesitating? Are you worried you'll end up like this meat? Don't worry. We'll only slaughter you after you've fattened up a bit."

"I see."

"Uugh."

Eilin gagged.

Donnie and I sat there unperturbed.

The woman smiled and said,

"Now, now. It's quite rude to gag during a meal."

Without realizing, the siblings were now in the room as well.

Each held a large sickle in their hands.

"What are you?"

The woman smiled even wider.

"Who knows? What could I be? You can't move now that you've entered this house. You have to obey me. Children?"

"Yes, mother."

"Today, we'll get to eat fresh meat."

"We're happy too."

A bizarre energy radiated from the woman's body. That energy started wrapping around the three of us. The siblings grinned and raised their sickles.

Just then.

There was a thunderous crash from below.

That was the moment Donnie and I moved.

We slashed the strands of power binding us with our daggers and leapt out—but shockingly, the woman jumped into the air and stuck to the ceiling.

"What the hell is that?"

"Looks like a spider yokai."

And sure enough, the woman hissed—shashashashak—as she scuttled across the ceiling and vanished into the parlor. The siblings, about to kill us with their sickles, suddenly sunk—thud!

Only their clothes remained, and from inside, countless tiny spiders spilled out in all directions. Like a horde of cockroaches!

"Kyaaa!"

So that's what Eilin's afraid of.

It was the first time I'd heard her scream.

"Dark knights! Catch the yokai!"

Clatter—

The dark knights rushed in and headed for the basement. Our team had already entered below.

"Oppa!"

Yuri burst in, then recoiled at the sight of the floor. Instinctively, she breathed out flames from her hands, burning away the spiders. She did it without even realizing.

"Ugh! I hate bugs!"

I took Yuri, who was about to burst into tears, and left the parlor. All the dark knights had gone down to the basement, apparently sensing the yokai. I also went down the stairs with Donnie.

The stench of blood and rotting corpses.

On top of that, the aura of darkness was revolting. Countless cocoons, woven with spider silk, hung from the ceiling.

Both of us were horrified the moment we descended.

Human corpses hung in clusters. And some were still alive.

Donnie rushed to untie a survivor bound in spider silk—it turned out to be a butler, based on his attire. He was so weak that I immediately gave him a recovery potion.

In a room reminiscent of a bathroom, there were butcher's knives and chopping boards with human remains, and countless hooks meant for hanging meat. There were even human heads.

Bang—clatter-clang.

Kyaaaaah—

From deeper in the basement, we heard the sound of dark knights fighting the spider yokai. Suddenly, from the ceiling, a huge black spider came skittering toward us.

It was incredibly fast.

In the blink of an eye, it rushed before us, ready to spit black venom from its mouth. At that moment—

Donnie leapt up and slashed through the spider's torso. The massive spider yokai thudded to the ground.

It was truly grotesque.

The lower body was a black, hairy spider; the upper body was human. Especially the face—it was like a witch.

Kuraruruk.

Shiiiiik—

Purple blood spurted out as the spider yokai hissed at us. At first, I wondered why it was acting that way, but apparently, it was calling its minions or offspring.

"Let's get out of here."

"This is just too disgusting."

With Donnie carrying the survivor on his back, we left the basement. Swarms of little spiders tried to crawl after us, but none could get close enough to climb on our bodies.

That was thanks to the heat I radiated.

The dark knights following us weren't concerned about the bugs at all.

Once outside the mansion—

The building started to be engulfed in flames.

At that moment, Tuji, who was looking over the edge of the cliff, called out,

"Come over here and see this!"

"What is it? Is there treasure?"

Allen rushed over first.

We followed, looked below—and were dumbfounded.

At the base of the cliff, there were countless human skeletons piled up. There were carriages smashed to pieces, and the bones of horses being swept out by the waves.

Tuji spoke.

"There's a cave under this cliff that leads to the mansion's basement. It's crawling with spiders inside, but they say there's treasure as well."

"Treasure?"

"Yes. The money and belongings of travelers and people who came here over the years."

"Strange. There shouldn't be this many people coming to a place like this. And that a butler was captured, too."

"Let's ask that man."

We climbed back up to the front of the mansion.

The survivor, apparently a butler, had regained consciousness.

He gazed blankly into the void.

"Are you alright?"

The man said nothing as he lay there.

I sat down in front of him.

"Hey. Snap out of it."

Donnie shook his body, and finally, the man's eyes began to focus.

"The witch... the witch killed people..."

"How did you get captured?"

"The lord sent me."

"Lord? The lord of where?"

The man silently pointed northeast.

"The lord is in collusion with the witch. He's deceived many people and sent them here."

"For money?"

"I don't know. I don't think the lord is human, either."

Could that lord also be a yokai?

I'd never seen yokai in the empire. It seemed the dark power here was causing strange mutations.

"How far is that lord's territory?"

"It's two days from here."

I stood up.

Perfect. That was the direction we were heading.

"Dark knights, go down to the basement again—kill the spiders and bring up the treasure!"

The dark knights headed for the mansion again. The house was already an inferno, but they didn't care. Even if the house collapsed, they'd probably walk out on their own.

Not long after—

In front of the mansion, a heap of gold and silver coins was piling up. We stuffed them all into a magic sack before moving on.

///

Two days later, at noon.

Our party entered a small city.

It was the first town we'd encountered on this journey.

The dark and bronze knights, led by Hans, hid in the nearby mountains, while the rest of us headed into the city. On the surface, it looked no different than any other small town.

Since none of us had eaten a decent meal for a while, we stopped by a restaurant first. Eilin ate only potatoes and vegetables, probably queasy after seeing human flesh.

After eating,

I called over the restaurant owner.

"What's this place called?"

"It's been ten years since outsiders came here. Be careful. People here disappear without a trace."

Most of them probably ended up as food.

"What about the lord of this place?"

The restaurant owner didn't answer.

He seemed afraid something might happen if he spoke.

"Which kingdom is this?"

"This is the Kingdom of Tara. Didn't you know?"

"Must be a small country."

"It is small. Who would want to live in this accursed land? We only stay because we were born here."

I'd picked the right person.

"Are there cursed places here?"

"Four of them. Places cursed by devils themselves—no one from our kingdom ever goes there."

"Where are those places?"

The owner hesitated.

I slid a silver coin toward him.

At that, the owner sat down at my table.

After that, I learned much about the Forest of Death from the restaurant owner. It's called the Forest of Death, but both the terrain and sorcery used there are varied.

As soon as I had the information, we were on the move again.

The Tuji brothers and two men from our group remained behind.

To hunt the count who was a yokai.

From the rumors, it seemed the local lord was indeed a yokai as well, but even if he was just a man, he was someone who deserved death. He was such a tyrant that even the king couldn't touch him.

Three hours later.

We entered a strange marsh.

It seemed we were closer to the equator now.

We entered a reed field that towered over our heads. The bronze knights were sent to the mountains—they were too heavy, and would have sunk deep into the marsh.

"Everyone be careful. There's poison here."

"Yes."

A strange green fog filled the reeds. So we went in, faces covered. The elemental of light in my right hand glowed once again.

Our footing wasn't too bad, but it was still really awkward to walk. Strange cries, perhaps from marsh monsters, echoed around us.

After a bit of walking, I started feeling dizzy.

To remove the curse from this area, I knew we had to destroy the medium responsible for this bizarre aura. So, despite the danger, I pressed forward.

After a while—

Suddenly, the companion who had been walking alongside me disappeared, and a Tak warrior was walking next to me. Donnie was up ahead.

The Tak tribesman also noticed me for the first time.

"Tahw?"

The Tak, who had been beside me, suddenly pointed his sword at me. The others did the same. Donnie and the rest of the team turned, startled.

"Young lord! What's happening?!"

"Tahw!"

In the blink of an eye, humans and Tak stood at a standoff.

Weapons and axes drawn!

Now I understood why no one escaped alive.

We'd been completely deceived.

Such is the power of a devil's sorcery.