“Arwf… (That’s strange…)” “Squeak. (Are you still on about that? It is your destiny—your fate bestowed upon you by the heavens—to become the Fen Wolf King. Give up, and reign as their Fenrir. In addition, take me as your wife.)” No to both of those! I absolutely refuse. “Arf, arf. (No, not that. The Fen Wolves’ thousand-year-long covenant was created because we came to the past, right? I was just wondering why it existed before we actually went to the past.)” “…Squeak? (…Hrm? I haven’t the faintest what it is you’re getting at, beloved.)” “Arwf… (Ugh, once again, the muscle-for-brains, thousand-years-with-no-friends dragon is no help…)” It looks like it’s still a little early to have the time paradox talk with Len. “Squeak! (That is because you are speaking nonsense!)” Hmm. Maybe I am thinking about it too hard. Hecate didn’t say anything in particular, so maybe the covenant was originally formed in this era for a different reason. “Arf, arf. (Well, whatever. If we defeat the Demon Lord and the future changes, nothing after that will matter.)” I’ve abandoned my worries. I’m just a dog! There’s no way I’d be able to solve such a difficult problem. “Arf, arf! (All that thinking is making me hungry. We’ll be back in a jiffy, everyone!)” With Nahura’s spatial magic, we warp to a spot near where Lady Eili and the others have made camp, and then I dash back to them. “Arwf, arwf! (I think I smell something tasty!)” It’s the scent of the soup I had at the elves’ village. “Welcome back, everyone. I’ve already reheated the food.” Lady Eili has been stirring a pot over a flame. “Arf, arf! (Wow! Thanks, Lady Eili!)” I appreciate warm soup in a completely different way from cold soup. The breads and cheeses have been cooked as well, and their fragrant scents waft through the air. “Arf, arf! (What awesome smells! Let’s eat it all, quick! Everyone, sit down!)” And pass me the soup! “Hee-hee. Here you are.” When they gave me the souvenirs in the village, they gave me the eating utensils along with them—enough to pass out to everyone. After having the soup poured into the biggest bowl available, I start wolfing it down, not caring if it burned my tongue. “Arf, arf! (Oh yes! This is sinking deep into my heart!)” It’s hard not to describe the soup as “bursting with flavor”—it’s full of umami from the mushrooms and wild vegetables. “I feel rejuvenated… And these flavors are so nostalgic…” After taking a sip of her soup, Hecate heaves a sigh. Well, she is an elf. She must have pretty fond memories of elven village cooking. The knights don’t say anything so that they don’t cause a commotion, but it’s clear they’re completely absorbed in shoveling the food down with reckless abandon. “Arf, arf? (Now that I think about it, should we have a flame like this?)” We didn’t have one going when we went to sleep yesterday; I figured it was to be inconspicuous, to not stand out in the Demon Lord’s territory. “I have bounded-field magic blocking us off from our surroundings. Unless they come very close, the monsters shouldn’t be able to sense the fire, or the smoke, or the smells.” But, sheesh, Lady Eili’s incredible. She probably used that magic to get all the way to this forest in the first place. “I wouldn’t normally have had enough strength to use the spell for cooking. But sealing the demon generals took almost no energy.” I get it. She’s been conserving her strength for the sealing this whole time, hasn’t she? If the burden on Lady Eili has decreased thanks to us taking it upon ourselves to fight the Five Demon Generals, then that’s fine with me. After all, now we owe her one for this warm meal. “I’ll only have the field up while we’re eating, but feel free to warm yourselves up as much as you’d like, everyone.” “Your words honor us, my lady…!” Lady Eili smiles, and the knights formally bow in response. “Arf, arf! (Oh, you don’t need to do all that. Let’s just be friendly and eat together. You too, Lady Eili! Eat up!)” “Oh, yes! It is very good!” “Woof! (Ain’t it? I’m going back for seconds!)” And I even thought this enjoyable meal would keep going, just like that, too. “Not much longer now…” murmurs Hecate, standing up. “Arwf? (What’s wrong, Hecate? You didn’t finish your food.)” “Unfortunately, dinnertime is over.” Hecate directs a sharp stare deeper into the woods. “Wh-what?! Is something coming?!” The knights, apparently, also noticing someone’s approach, take their swords in hand and form up to protect Lady Eili. As they do, the figure appears, mowing down the trees in the forest as it comes. “Grr, ggghhh…!” It’s a dark-iron knight, with thick armor encasing its whole body. Gripping a giant halberd in both hands, it stomps deep footprints into the land as it approaches. Our knights are like matchsticks in comparison. Their armor is nowhere near as thick as that thing’s. “How…?! The bounded-field spell has been active this whole time…!” “Eili, it’s not your fault,” Hecate tells her, making sure the knights can’t hear. “It didn’t find us by tracing us physically.” “Hecate? What do you mean by that? How do you know such a thing?” It seems Hecate knew from her future knowledge that this dark knight was going to show up. And she also appears to know its identity. “Hiding…futile…! My nose… It can…smell…your minds…!” The dark knight speaks, scarlet eyes flashing inside its helmet. His voice sounds like rusted swords scraping together. No person—no creature—could ever produce a voice like that. “My name…is…! Belgor! Belgor, the ambassador of the underworld!” The dark knight proudly announces its name. “Arwf?! (Wait, this thing is Belgor?!)” In the future, Belgor was a demon who possessed the Hero’s sword. After reappearing and getting beaten down in a fight with me, he was reconfigured into a knife and given to old man James as a gift. He seemed quite satisfied in his position being used by a super-top-class chef, but I didn’t know he looked like this in the past. His intelligence seems to have taken the same hit as the other demon generals, but given he can still speak, he’s better off than Mircalla was. If I recall, Belgor exists only mentally, and he can possess any object he wants. When he was possessing the Hero’s sword, he could freely manipulate his chosen vessel to such an extent that ultimately, he became a sword giant and attacked us. Which means this dark knight’s armor might be completely hollow. Looking more closely, every time the dark knight moves, a purple gas leaks out of its joints. That’s probably Belgor’s actual form. And I can only sit there, leisurely analyzing him, because I know exactly where this is headed. “Die, enemies of the Demon Lord!” The dark knight holds its giant halberd aloft. “Eeek?!” “Stand firm! We must defend Lady Eilene!” The knights, though overcome with fear, step forward to protect Lady Eili. “He-Hecate! We must fight, too!” insists Lady Eili, but Hecate doesn’t move from behind the knights. And her gaze is not forward, but on me, off to the side. “Arf, arf. (Yeah, yeah. I’m up, huh?)” I wondered if it was a good idea to let Lady Eili know we’ve planned on defeating the demon generals, but Hecate’s the one who knows the plan. If she wants me to do it, there won’t be any issues. “Arf, arf? (Okay, okay, could you all let me through, please?)” I push the knights out of the way and step out in front. Hey, their legs are all shaking! I only pushed them a tiny bit. Some of them can’t even stand up anymore; they’re on their rear ends. Well, with how intimidating Belgor is, I guess I can’t blame them for being terrified. I peed myself out of fear when I first saw him, too. And there was probably, like, huge puddles of it coming out of me. But I know something they don’t. To me, this enemy isn’t scary at all. “Arf, arf! (Bring it on!)” “Die!” Successfully provoked, Belgor swings his halberd down from its high, upraised position. A strike which could very well split and destroy the earth comes plummeting down toward me. “A-arwf! (A-actually, I’m a little scared!)” The halberd makes a direct hit on my scared little head… …and a moment later, the blade snaps at the haft, flying off into the distance. “Wh-what?!” “Arf, arf! (Fwa-ha-ha! My name is Routa! Master of weapon-breaking!)” How many swords of Zenobia’s do you think I’ve broken? And even when we fought in the future, one of Belgor’s full-force attacks couldn’t damage even a single strand of my fur. “G-gwahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” All I did was break his weapon, and now he’s crying out in agony. “Squeak. (I believe it’s because he was actually possessing the weapon.)” Oh, he did possess a sword in the future, too. Maybe it’s a compatibility thing for him. Purple gas spurts from the armor, and the empty suit, its contents gone, collapses. That gas floating in the air is Belgor’s true form. “Eili, now! With him this weak, you’ll seal him easily.” “R-right!” At Hecate’s signal, Lady Eili places the seal on Belgor. “Gh-ghhhrrr…!” But Belgor tries to resist one final time. “Eili! Don’t use the land for the seal—use that!” Hecate points to a sword, belonging to one of the knights still on their rear end. It got stuck in the ground when he fell. “Squeak. (I see. Compatibility.)” “Meow. (Lady Hecate is as smart as ever. By luring him into an easy-to-possess weapon, she’s making the sealing even easier.)” As Hecate intended, as soon as Lady Eili changes the target of her seal, Belgor’s resistance wanes. And then he gets sucked into the sword and sealed within it. He was possessing a sword in the future, too. Does that mean this one is going to become the Hero’s holy sword? I mean, it’s a fake, but still. The sword is evil and misled Allie’s entire clan. I wonder what will happen in this future. “Sir knight,” says Hecate to the owner of the sword. “Please never touch this sword. It has changed into one that will bestow incredible strength upon its owner, but you are never, under any circumstances, to draw it.” Wait, wouldn’t that just make him more curious? Like if you give someone a button and tell them not to push it. “A-all right.” The knight nods, but his eyes seem drawn to the sword’s eerie glow. I doubt he’s gonna hold out. We can’t bring the sword back with us—otherwise the future would change too much—so Hecate must actually be after him to draw it. Which means this young man is going to be Alstera’s ancestor, huh? We got it nice and weak, so please take care not to let it corrupt your heart. “Routa! Are you all right?!” Finished with the sealing, Lady Eili runs over to where I am. “Your head! Does it hurt?!” And then, frantically, she tries to cast a healing spell on me. “Arwww… (Ahhh… It feels so light and good…)” I’m completely unharmed, but lady Eili’s healing magic is as comforting as getting into a warm bath. “Eili, stop wasting mana. Routa is perfectly fine.” What do you mean, “wasting”? It felt really good, so it wasn’t a waste! “If all it did was make you feel good, then it was a waste.” “B-but Hecate, he was struck by such a powerful attack…” “Arf, arf. (I’m really fine. Look—it didn’t even scratch me.)” “It’s true…” After parting the fur on my forehead and checking to make sure I’m not wounded, she finally gives me some head pats. “Routa, you really are amazing.” Well, this Fenrir body is what’s really amazing. Inside, my brain is as mushy as tofu. The only reason I’ve even survived is because my outside is so stupidly strong. “And how did you know one of the demon generals was coming, Hecate? None of us knew that the bounded-field spell wasn’t going to work…” Oh no. Lady Eili is starting to doubt us. “We can have that discussion another time. Other monsters may have heard the noise. For now, we should clear out before anything happens.” Hecate evades Lady Eili’s question, then makes preparations to move camp. “……” Lady Eili watches her from behind with worry in her eyes. Once dawn broke, we moved to Lich’s graveyard—though it’s in a different order—and sealed him along with his now-small skull. “You aren’t going to tell me why the demon generals are so weak, are you?” “…No, and I’m sorry. It’s nothing you could do anything about even if you knew.” “…I see,” answers Lady Eili, a little crestfallen, before meeting my eyes. “Routa, do you know something?” “A-arwf?! (Wh-why would you think that?!)” “You’re always going off with Hecate. But you’re not scouting ahead—you’re defeating the demon generals for us before we get to them, aren’t you? You essentially defeated Belgor, too. And how do you know where they’ll be? We’ve sealed three of them in just two days. It’s going far too well.” “A-arwrw… (Ahhh, I, err, well…)” The barrage of questions has me overwhelmed. She’s sharp in unexpected ways—again, just like her descendant, Lady Mary. “A-arwf. (I, umm, I don’t know anything. And I wish you wouldn’t try to talk about difficult things to a puppy dog whose only talent is being adorable.)” “Mgh. Are you lying? It isn’t good to lie, you know.” She grabs my ears and starts kneading them from side to side. “Arwf! (Ahh! Please don’t work them like that! It feels kind of good!)” “If you want me to do this more, then spit it out!” “Arwf! (No! I have a right to remain silent! But please scratch my ears more!)” The battle continues between myself and Lady Eili as I squat and she stands her ground. “Eili, don’t bother Routa like that. Whoever he is, the fact remains that he’s helping us.” Hecate throws me a lifeline. Her words were also an announcement to the knights around us who have started setting up camp. I mean, I can’t blame them for being suspicious of me. It makes sense that the knights guarding Lady Eili would be cautious around me. “…All right.” Lady Eili removes her hands from my ears; they perk straight back up when released. She doesn’t look very happy about it, but if she knows too much of what’s going on, it could affect the future. Please forgive me. Out of consideration for the burden on Lady Eili for successively sealing Carmilla, Belgor, and Lich, we’ve stopped our advance for today. Lady Eili insists she isn’t tired at all—and she probably isn’t lying. Normally, the burden on her would have been much greater, since she would have had to seal the Five Demon Generals in their most powerful forms. With me defeating them first, it doesn’t put a burden on her anymore. She truly doesn’t look tired. “Look, just get some rest today.” “…All right.” Taking note of Hecate’s commanding tone, Lady Eili reluctantly backs off. “We’re going to scout out a little bit ahead.” “…Again?” “Yes, again.” Lady Eili certainly doesn’t look convinced, but Hecate starts walking without so much as a glance at her. It seems a little cold to me, but even this is part of defeating the Demon Lord and changing the future. I’m sorry, Lady Eili. I follow Hecate and leave the campsite behind. “We should be far enough now.” Our spatial magic warping is apparently classified as a grand magic that doesn’t exist in this era. And it is a little too convenient, if you ask me. We’d obviously need to go somewhere we won’t be seen before we use it as a precaution. Even Hecate, after receiving her future knowledge, doesn’t seem to have mastered it yet. “Meow! (All right, then! Next we’re going to where Gigas is!)” Nahura casts her spatial magic. I can’t stand how this dumb cat is able to use such a huge spell, but saying it out loud would come back to hit me right in the face like a boomerang, so I don’t. The scenery goes white, and a moment later, we’re in front of a large waterfall. “A-arwf?! (Wh-whoa! I know this place!)” I totally remember what this place is. “Squeak! (It’s my nest!)” A smooth waterfall towers high above us. Like Len says, this is the nest she used to live in. Is Gigas supposed to be somewhere nearby? “Nahura, you must have gotten the place wrong.” “M-mewl? (H-huh? That’s strange. Why are the coordinates off?)” But it seems like Nahura simply messed up. “Arwf! (Hey, cat next door—you’re a hunk of junk, you homunculus!)” “M-myaa-myaa?! (Wh-what was that?! Nahura is not a hunk of junk! There must be a good reason for this!)” “Arf, arf. (Yeah, yeah. That’s what all the homunculi say.)” Still, this would be the first time I’ve ever seen her mess up her teleportation. I suppose even monkeys fall from trees—or, in this case, even cats mess up their jumps. “Wh-what is going on here? What is the meaning of this?!” “Arwf? (Huh?)” I hear a voice that isn’t supposed to be here. “Arwf?! (Lady Eili?!)” Lady Eili, who’s supposed to be minding the campsite, is right next to us for some reason. “Eili?! What are you doing here?!” Hecate is shocked, too—even she must not have expected this. “I used my bounded-field magic to conceal myself and follow you. I knew you were hiding something!” I didn’t realize we were being tailed. Not only did she make herself invisible, she even hid from our noses and ears to track us? That’s OP… Belgor’s detection must simply have been unique—normally, she’d be able to act without anyone seeing her, huh? Lady Eili being able to conserve her strength has backfired. “Meow. (I didn’t include Lady Eili in my calculations, so the warp point got shifted. In other words, it wasn’t my fault. Routa, don’t you think you owe someone an apology?)” “Arwf! (I’m sorry for calling you a hunk of junk!)” I fall before Nahura, groveling. Hecate, watching my terrible performance, puts a hand to her forehead and sighs. “Nahura, send Eili back to the campsite. The knights are probably worried sick now that their saint is missing.” “I don’t want to. I’m not moving from this spot until you give me an explanation!” says Lady Eili, grabbing hold of me. “Arwf! (I’m being dog-napped!)” “That’s right. This is a dog-napping. If you ever want to see Routa again, you’ll tell me the truth!” Her initiative, her stubbornness… No matter how you slice it, she’s just like Lady Mary. “Arwf, arwf? (Hey, Hecate, shouldn’t we just spill the beans at this point?)” Even if we force the issue and drive her off, she’ll just do it again. And she might follow us on foot next time. I’m sure of it—because of how well I know Lady Mary. Lady Eili is sure to do it again. If we don’t tell her the circumstances and it leads to a careless act on her part, wouldn’t that have a much worse effect on the future? “…It seems I was being impatient as well,” says Hecate. “I, of all people, know just what kind of person Eili is.” “That’s right. You’re a good friend, but you forget things about me far too often.” “This story will venture deep into the preposterous, and you’ll have no idea whether to believe it. Do you still want to know?” Hecate accepted us since she received a thousand years’ worth of information from Nahura, but will Lady Eili be all right? I would think the more one knew about magic, the more unbelievable us coming from the future to save them would be. “I do. I would never disbelieve anything you said in good faith, Hecate.” “All right. It’ll take a bit, but please, hear me out.” Hecate tells Lady Eili about the events that will occur soon. About how she’ll succeed at sealing the Demon Lord, but the burden will be so heavy that it will shorten the lifespans of many generations of Faulks family members. About how her bloodline will manage to stay connected, the seal’s spell passed down from mother to daughter, but the seal will break in one thousand years and the world will be destroyed by the Demon Lord.
Chapter 122
18 min read