136 -) Lupinkel
“Knock, Knock, Knock!!!” A tall and fit wolfkin knocked on the outer door of the house in a hurry. “Wasti! Knock, Knock, Knock!!! Wasti, you idiot. Open the door.” The man continued to knock on the door in the same hurried rhythm while calling someone named Wasti.
“... Tok, tok, tok, tok!” After a few seconds, some rushed footsteps were heard. “Click, click!” Then the door opened, and a bulgy, young wolfkin appeared with a stern face. “You lunatic! What do you think you are doing? We were having dinner, and my old man scolded me because of you!” The young wolfkin rebuked.
“Wasti, I will apologize to Uncle for you later. This is not the time for this.” The tall wolfkin said with a haggard voice.
“...” Seeing the rush in the other party’s voice and his tense expression, the wolfkin named Wasti donned a calmer expression and asked: “What happened?”
“It is Woya and Wyn. They are in the town.” The tall wolfkin said; his excitement was apparent.
“Woya? Wern, don’t talk nonsense. How can she be here?” Wasti rebuked Wern’s statement and even looked a bit pissed. “Did you come all the way here to just joke around?” The more he spoke, the angrier he got.
“They were in the town square. I heard many people saw them. Do you think I would joke about something like this?” Despite Wasti’s intimidating look, Wern did not even flinch. “Don’t you know how serious I was about Wyn?” Wern stated with a serious tone.
“...” Wasti and Wern just stood and looked at each other without saying a word for a few seconds. “Come inside.” In the end, it was Wasti who broke the silence.
He got inside without closing the door. Wern followed suit and closed the door behind. Wasti returned to his place at the dinner table while Wern greeted the people inside, apologized for the disturbance, and sat beside Wasti. Wasti’s sister brought another plate and spoon, then filled it with the meal they were eating.
While they were eating, Wern filled everyone present with the news he heard about the return of Woya and Wyn. He spoke with a much more respectful tone since their elders were present. Aside from Wasti, most of the people also showed interest in the story. After all, it was about a story of people who were sold as slaves and somehow managed to return. It was an unprecedented situation.
A situation similar to what happened at Wasti’s home was happening in other houses, too. The ones especially heated were the ones who were familiar with the twins. They exclaimed, surprised, questioned, showed happy reactions, made faces of pity, and some even openly contorted their faces in irritation.
At most of the houses in Lupinkel, the return of the twins who had been sold as slaves because of their father’s incompetence became the main topic that evening. In the end, it is common knowledge that being a slave is no different from falling into a bottomless pit.
Wyn and Woya spent the whole evening and slept at their parents’ house while Elaris stayed with them. They woke up early and were currently having breakfast. The atmosphere was quite calm, unlike the day before. After the intense emotional release, they finally accepted reality and decided to move on. After all, their daughters were happy about their current state, and they looked much better than before.
Wuma watched the twins while they talked and ate; she watched their every gesture. She did not notice at first because of the heat of the reunion, but it was clear that they had changed. The way they talked and expressed themselves was composed and intelligent. The way they ate their meal was elegant and fluent.
She noticed with surprise that Wyn, who used to be much rougher, was now calm and mindful of her behavior. She also knew the etiquette of many topics. As for Woya, she was already ladylike, but now, even her posture exudes dignity. The way she used utensils while eating her breakfast was like watching a master artisan at work. Wuma couldn't help but wonder when she had acquired such finesse.
“I missed Mom’s breakfast,” Wyn said with a soft smile on her face and put her fork down. “Thanks for the food.” She added afterward.
“You could eat more,” Wuma said worriedly. “Did you not like the meal?” She asked.
“No, no. It is not like that,” Wyn hurriedly tried to deny. “The thing is… The table would always be filled with various foods, and we hardly eat the same things at home. And Woya is a good cook, much better than before. So, I…” Wyn reluctantly started to explain, but then stopped again before saying, “I gained a bit of weight.”
“Ha!” Elaris chimed in when she heard Wyn. “Big sister Wyn, is it just a bit?” She asked teasingly with a sneer.
“Y-you!” Wyn showed panic as if she was caught in her weakness, unlike her usual, composed self. “What do you mean by that?” She demanded.
“Did you forget what Big Brother Han said?” She slowly revealed. “He even said that you got a bit chubby, did he not? Hehehe.” She started to chuckle.
“Elaris!” Wyn fumed. As soon as her master’s name was mentioned with her negative comment, she lost her composure.
“Hahahaha!” Woya laughed as the other two girls bickered left and right.
A gentle and satisfied smile also appeared on the faces of Wuma and Wark. The girls continued to argue for a few more minutes. The argument grew fiercer or just turned to a soft debate from time to time until a sound interrupted them.
“Knock, knock, knock!” Someone knocked on the door of the house three times moderately. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked toward the door. “Knock, knock, knock!” Then it was knocked again after a few seconds. “Aunt Wuma! Are you there?” A young woman's voice was heard as she called Wuma.
“... Oh? Isn’t she Wine?” Woya said without being sure. “Hold on, Mom.” She stopped Wuma, who was about to stand up to check the door. “I will take care of it.” She said and moved toward the door swiftly.
“Click, creak!” The door opened with a click, then creaked loudly. Woya saw a red-haired girl in front of the door. She was dressed in casual clothes and looked worried. As soon as Woya and the girl saw each other, they locked eyes as the girl’s eyes widened in surprise.
“W-woya… It was really true?” She said questioningly, almost murmuring.
“... Hi, Wine.” Woya also looked flustered at first, but smiled after a second and said, “It has been a while.”
“... Sniff, sniff… Woya!” Wine’s face contorted, and tears started to flow from her eyes before she rushed toward Woya and hugged her.
Woya also hugged her back with a bitter smile and raised her head to look around. There were at least a dozen people who were around. Most of them were around their ages. Every one of them was a person Woya knew, and some of them were people she knew very well.
“Hello, everyone,” Woya said while Wyn also approached from behind. “It is good to see everyone is well.”
The people waiting in front of the door smiled, and a few of them even cried, too. After Wine gathered herself, Woya and Wyn informed their parents, and then they left home with Elaris to spend time with their old friends.
“I will also leave.” Wark also left home with them. “I have things to take care of. You came with that caravan, right, girls?” Wark asked.
“Huh? Ah, yes, father.” Wyn answered with a puzzled face.
“Then, I will visit the merchant. It would be good for me to help him as much as possible.” Wark said as if something was on his mind.
“That sounds good.” Wyn nodded and said, “We will also stop by there when we are done here. The master also asked us to introduce you to the merchant we came with.”
“Your master did?” Wark looked puzzled.
“Yeah. We can talk about the details when we are together.” Wyn did not elaborate, then saw her father off.
“Did I not say?” Then they heard a blonde-haired girl speaking to another girl with black hair. “They are still slaves; they just happened to come here.” The blonde-haired girl said with an all-knowing tone as the black-haired girl looked troubled.
The others also looked troubled. They were smiling and chatting along a few seconds ago, but now they looked like they were grieving. Seeing others making such sad faces, Woya and Wyn smiled bitterly.
“We are indeed slaves, guys,” Woya said, trying to break the tension. “Did you not see we were sold? Why are you looking disappointed?” She asked.
“... We thought that since you returned, you might as well be free.” Wine said while looking down.
“It is okay,” Woya said. She held Wine’s two arms tightly, “There is nothing to be sad about. We are fine as we are.” She said with a gentle smile.
“... How absurd.” Wine said, and her mood worsened. “You are the one who is in a predicament, but I am the one who is comforted.” She lamented.
“Hah!” Before Woya could respond, the blonde-haired girl interjected. “How can anyone be okay when they are slaves?” She said harshly.
“Wush!” However, Wasti, who had kept his eyes on Woya all this time, intervened. “Aren’t you being rude?” He glared at her while saying so.
“W-wasti?!” Wush seemed to be stunned at Wasti’s retort. “W-what did I say wrong for you to raise your voice to me?” She said in a tearful tone. “Aren’t they just slaves? And, look at them. They carry just fancy equipment.” She pointed toward their equipment as if they were not worth carrying such items. “Isn’t it ridiculous? Let’s forcefully accept Wyn. But what about Woya? She doesn't even know how to use a knife in a fight. But she carries that huge sword on her back. Isn’t it just ridiculous?” She poured out her feelings.
“Even that is-” Just as Wasti was about to say something, he was interrupted.
“Are you jealous of our equipment now, Wush?” Wyn interjected. She was just listening from the sideline and did not care. However, that girl did touch her precious sister. She clearly had some bad blood with Woya. “You think we are not worth it?” She sneered at the absurdity. “You think you and your little hunting group are hot sh*t?” She could not control her anger and started to spew her words harshly. “Do you think any of you can hold their ground against one of us now? When you just play around? My master taught us and gave us these pieces of equipment as he said they are worth our skills. Who are you to question his words?” She didn't hold back her words.
“Y-you?!” Wush turned crimson from anger at Wyn’s words, as some males also frowned at Wyn’s words. “Your master must also be a ridiculous man who is trying to please her own slaves with flowery words.” She just responded to hurt at that point.
“What did you say?” Wyn said in a calm but cold tone when her master was insulted. Woya also looked angry, even though she looked worried a moment ago.
“Wyn.” At that moment, Wasti interjected. “I get that Wush was wrong to cause problems out of nowhere. But why are you insulting us? We are warriors, so you should not carelessly speak of our honour.” He must be offended by what Wyn said.
“Yes, Wyn.” Wern also agreed with him. “I could get it if it were Woya, but you were also one of us. So I thought you would know that wolfkin warriors would not tolerate an insult to their prowess.” Wern also looked sad about what Wyn said.
The two of them either have an untouchable strong pride as warriors, or they just want to show off to someone who is currently present.
“... Heh.” After listening to the two men's concerns, Wyn could not help but smirk. “Warrior’s honour?” She asked, then her face turned serious. “Aren’t you the ones who are looking down on us?” She asked while she placed her right hand on the sword at her waist.