Chapter 121

“Good night, Hecate, Routa, Nahura, and Len.” “Arwf! (Good night, Lady Eili!)” “Meow! (Good night, everyone!)” “Squeak. (I will say I appreciate you telling each one of us good night, without forgetting me… Good night, all.)” And so, we consigned ourselves to a moment’s rest. “Hecate is right—I do feel a strong demonic presence coming from this little bat…” Seeing the struggling bat, screeching as its eyes glow red, Lady Eili nods. Dawn has broken, and we’ve gone on foot to pay a visit to the site of yesterday’s battle. This time, Lady Eili and the knights are with us as well. The depression yawns before us, the collapsed crystalline castle half-sunken into the water. It was a considerable distance getting here; it’s evening now, and we’ve been walking since morning. I wondered why we didn’t just use spatial magic to warp here, but that apparently ran the risk of messing up the past too much. The original flow of things had Lady Eili and the others walk all the way to get here. Still, given my arrival, I figured they’d lose their chance to meet up with the Fen Wolves. Is that going to work out, too? Well, Hecate would say something if there was an issue. Maybe it’s not as important for Lady Eili and the knights to meet the Fen Wolves here since me fighting in their place prevents them from ever directly battling the Five Demon Generals. “I should seal it within this place, right?” asks Lady Eili. “Yes, if you please,” says Hecate. “If this little bat is really one of the Five Demon Generals, do you mind if I ask why it has grown so weak?” “I do mind.” “Mgh!” Lady Eili puffs out her cheeks at Hecate’s immediate denial. But after feeling the knights’ eyes on her, she recomposes herself. “Mm-hmm. All right. I will now conduct the sealing.” Lady Eili holds her hand out to Carmilla, now a bat. A thin film of light appears, then forms a sphere and engulfs her. Then it bounces through the air all the way to the half-destroyed crystal castle, where its light becomes more intense. The moment I squint against the rapidly intensifying light, it seems to burst; and then it disappears. The only things left are debris from the crystal castle and the copious amount of water flowing out of it. Eventually, the castle will sink into the water, creating a large lake here. “Now then, we’re going farther ahead again for reconnaissance. Please make camp here, just like yesterday.” “Okay…” Hecate already indicated with her attitude that she wouldn’t be giving any reasoning, so while Lady Eili pouts with narrowed eyes, she does as she’s told. “Arwf… (But those portable rations will be waiting for us again once we return…)” Hecate produces our water with magic, so we have fresh drink, but those portable rations that taste like clay every day don’t exactly stir enthusiasm. “Meow. (Oh, I forgot.)” “Arwf? (Huh?)” “Mew? (Don’t you remember all those things the elves made you hold when we departed from the future?)” “Arwf? Arwf! (Uh? Ohhh! That’s right! They gave us all kinds of stuff!)” How could I have forgotten about it? “Woof, woof! (Bring it out! All of it, every last bite!)” “Meow! (Coming right up!)” Nahura beckons with her hand, and all the food stored away with her spatial magic comes raining down. It’s still warm—just as warm as when we got it. “Ahh—that’s amazing!” Lady Eili jumps up and down in astonishment. “Where… Where did that come from?!” “A cat that can produce food…?!” “Are they servants of the gods themselves…?!” The knights behind her react as well. Everyone is probably starved for a warm meal. They don’t even notice the drool trickling from their mouths. “Arwf! (Wahoo! This looks great!)” As I try to be the first one to taste all the food, someone pulls on my neck from behind. “Wait— Just wait, Routa.” Hey, you made me croak! How dare you order me around like I’m some kind of dog—wait, I am a dog. Thank you for treating me like a dog. “Food comes later.” “Arwf… (Right…)” Now it’s my turn to sulk. “Arf, arf… (At least let Nahura store it all again! It’ll get cold if we leave it out like this…)” “If I let her, then you’ll probably ask Nahura secretly to let you snack on it along the way.” Grr! She sees right through me. I can buy Nahura’s cooperation by giving her some, but it doesn’t seem like that’ll work on her mistress. Curse you, future Hecate! You gave her too much info about me. In fact, you completely predicted my behavioral patterns! “Routa! I won’t eat it until you come back, so come back soon!” Lady Eili sees us off again, but my steps are slow and plodding. “Arwf… (Ahh, my food… My nice, warm food…)” Won’t it already be cold by the time we get back? I give a limp wag of the tail as we set off for the next of the demon generals. “Arwf… (Okay, are you wolves ready…?)” I say softly to the crouching Fen Wolves. “““Grwl…! Grwl…! Grwl…! (Our king…! Our king…! We are fully prepared…!)””” We’re in a graveyard now. The air has grown dense and eerie. In its center is a throne made of stone, and atop it sits a giant skeleton wearing a robe. That’s our target this time: the necromancer, Lich. Having come back on his own from an expedition, he probably has very few underlings, but I have a feeling that plenty of bones still rest underground. Alone, I might not be able to eat them quickly enough to prevent his regeneration. It looks like it was the right move to call in the Fen Wolves for assistance. After warping close to the Fen Wolves with spatial magic, we carefully moved all the way here while concealing our footsteps. Now we just need to wait for our chance—and devour everything. But for some reason, I can’t get myself going. “Arwf… (Lich’s bones were tasty, but right now I’m in the mood for warm food…)” “Squeak. (Give up on that already. If you get back quickly, dinner may still be warm.)” “Meow. (I just hope you don’t fill up on bones and can’t eat any of it when we get back! But if that happens, I will graciously eat it in your stead, so you have nothing to worry about.)” That doesn’t sound like “nothing to worry about.” “Arwf, arwf. (There’s no need for concern.)” My appetite is infinite. Even if I ate every last bone, I’d still have more than enough room in my stomach. “Arwf! (Great! It’s not that bad, as long as I think of this as the appetizer! Everyone, charge! Follow the plan and devour everything!)” At my signal, the Fen Wolves all rise at once and charge full-speed at Lich. “Huh?! What?! Who?!” Noticing our approach, Lich stands up. He seemed to be pretty smart in the future, but now he, too, is speaking only single-word sentences. The Demon Lord’s control must have turned him stupid as well. The dumb Lich tries to fire magic at us, but he’s too late. With me at the fore, we close in on him, biting all over his body. “Gwaaaahhhhhh?!” I’ll rip your bones out, crunch them between my jaws, and swallow them all. “Arwf! (And boy, are your bones still delicious!)” They’re a little musty, but that affords them a unique, almost cheesy flavor, which is good in its own right. “S-stop! Nooooooooooooooooooooo!” Sensing their master in danger, hordes of skeletons begin crawling up out of their graves and coming at us. But I’d already let the Fen Wolves know that might happen. They leave Lich to me, and with coordinated effort, rapidly deal with all the small fry around us. Crunch, crunch. Munch, munch. Gulp. “““Grwl! Grwl! Grwl! (Our king! Our king! This is delicious!)””” Ain’t it, though? It’s so good! Keep up the good work and take care of the rest, if you please! The Fen Wolves, ravenous after their battles with the Demon Lord’s forces, gobble up all the skeletons like it’s their last meal. Nobody can stop us now that we’ve turned into gluttonous demons in our own right. The skeletal forces rapidly dwindle, and while Lich keeps regenerating his body, with each try it comes back smaller. “Squeak… (Crunch, crunch… The Fen Wolves are truly strange to find things like this tasty…)” “Meow… (These bones are too hard for my delicate teeth…)” I feel so sorry for you, not being able to taste something this delicious. We wolves, on the other hand, are on cloud nine. “Arwf?! (Hey, everyone! Y’all enjoyin’ yourselves?!)” “““Grwl! (Aw yeaaah!)””” Carried away, they continue gobbling up the skeletons, down to the last bone shard. “S-stop… Please… Don’t eat me…” Lich’s tiny skull now lies at my feet. It looks like he managed to reconstruct himself one last time, but only his head. Whoops! Guess there was a little left over. “E-eeek!” “Hold it right there. He’s weak enough now.” Hecate, who has been watching over our passionate food war, picks up the little skull. “Nahura, put him away.” “Mew. (Understood.)” The weakened Lich is placed into storage with spatial magic. Tomorrow, we’ll lead Lady Eili and the others to this graveyard, then have her seal the whole thing away just like with Carmilla. “Excellent work, Routa. That should be it for today.” “Arwf! (We did it! We gotta get back to eat, and fast!)” “…Squeak? (…After all that, you can still eat more?)” Of course I can. I’m a man of my word. If I say I’ll eat something, I’m eating it. This took up a bunch of time, though, so the food is probably cold by now. “Grwl! (Our king!)” A particularly large black wolf comes to the front of the pack of Fen Wolves. This one looks like Garo. Of course, I can’t tell their faces apart, so I can only say that based on the color of her fur. “Grwl, grwl?! (Where do you leave us to go?! Will you not stay here, become our king, and lead our pack?!)” No, I didn’t have any such plans on my agenda. To begin with, I don’t even recognize myself as Fen Wolf King in the future. I’m a man who wants to be taken care of by someone else, not look after others. “Arf, arf. (You have to look after yourselves. And I would be happy if you looked after me as well.)” “Squeak…? (How can you say that with a straight face…?)” Because those were nothing less than my sincerest feelings. “Meow. (I don’t think telling the truth is always the best option.)” “Arwf! (Be quiet! Anyway, I’m not becoming the Fen Wolves’ king!)” “G-grwl…?! (B-but…?!)” “Woof, woof! (And the next time I meet you will be in one thousand years. Someone who would make you wait that long doesn’t deserve to be your king!)” That did it. Perfect, flawless logic. Now even the Fen Wolves will have to give up. The Demon Lord in this land will be defeated, so it’s up to you all to keep the peace after that. “……” The black wolf is silent at my words. Crap. Did I make her angry? The Fen Wolves have stern-looking faces, but they’re even scarier when they get mad. When they scrunch up their noses, it makes you want to jump out of your skin. “A-arwf…? (Umm, do you understand what I’m trying to tell you…?)” I ask nervously. The black wolf’s eyes snap wide open. “Grwl! (Yes, I understand!)” “Arwf! (Eek! I’m sorry!)” “Grwl, grwl! (What you want to say, Your Majesty, is this: If we can protect this forest in the thousand years of your absence, you will appear before us once again!)” What? No, that’s not at all what— “Grwl, grwl! (Rejoice, one and all! Our king has given us his word! We must stake our entire race’s honor on this command!)” “““Grwl! Grwl! Grwl! (Our king! Our king! We will be awaiting your return!)””” “A-arrrrrwf?! (No, wait, hold oooonnnnnnnnnnnnn!)” And that was how the thousand-year covenant with the Fen Wolves came to be.