And then, when all is quiet in the mansion, we slip outside.
It was so hot this afternoon, but now that it’s night, the air is chilly. Maybe it’s because of all the nature, and how we are close to mountains.
Which means the night is our time.
“Awoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!! (Nngghoooohhhhh!! It feels so good to hoooowwwwwwl!!) ”
“Meooooowwl! (It doesn’t feel particularly good, but I’m copying Routa!) ”
“Squeak… (A dragon does not recklessly howl. ’Twould be immodest…) ”
Whenever there’s a full moon, I just gotta howl.
We are at the pointed edge of this forest, and in a line, we howl under the moonlit sky.
“Arwf… (Ahh, I feel better.) ”
I feel like I got it all out. Aaand here comes the postcoital clarity, right on schedule… Anyway, I get to thinking—if I’m a dog, why am I acting like a wolf?
“Woof, arwf. (The moon tonight looks especially delicious. Being not quite full makes it look like an omelet.) ”
Actually, an omelet over rice would be better. Ever since the rice we got from Toa made it onto the menu, my passionate lust for rice has been unstoppable.
I need rice. I need chicken over rice, covered with fluffy, melty egg. That out-of-this-world juiciness.
“Ah, my king—so this is where you were.”
I turn around at a female voice calling out to me and see Garo, still in human form.
“Woof! (Oh, it’s Garo! And everyone else!) ”
I look more closely and see that the young Fen Wolves I was in boot camp with are here, too. I give them a friendly “Heya,” but they prostrate themselves before me. That makes me feel lonely.
“Arwf. (Come to think of it, Garo, you’ve been in that human form ever since shape-shifting that one time, huh?) ”
“…Not only did four legs not draw your interest, but you hardly seemed convinced that I was a female at all, so I thought I should look like a human, at the very least…”
Garo trailed off, but my Fenrir ears picked it all up perfectly.
I asked Garo once if she was female, and it seemed to wound her pride quite a bit. She got her revenge after that, too, by making me fight a huge boar.
“…Am I a bother to you in this form?”
“A-arwf? (No, not at all, why?) ”
I avert my eyes as Garo comes up to cuddle close to me.
To be honest, she’s total eye candy. Black hair, golden eyes, and deep brown skin. Slender arms and legs and a tight, firm body. She exudes an exotic charm. Her clothing choice is bold as well. She has the important bits covered with a thin cloth, but she’s basically naked. In more than one way, I’m not sure where to look.
“Grwf, grwf! (This will work! It will work, Lady Garo! Your form is certainly bringing His Majesty into rut!) ”
Don’t use terms like that, please.
“Squeak! (What? Cease being lovestruck and look at me as well!) ”
Len leaps into the air and transforms from a mouse into a person.
“Look, you are going into rut now, are you not? You want to make children with me now, yes?”
Her kimono sliding down one shoulder, Len shoots me a flirtatious glance. I look her straight in the eye.
“Woof, woof. (Thanks a ton, Len. You really calmed me down there.) ”
“But… But why?! I do not understand!”
“Mrow? (Huh? Does this mean I have to transform, too?) ”
Please don’t.
Please, put yourself in my shoes—the one who has to look at that terribly grotesque scene every time you shape-shift. I finally calmed down. You’re gonna give me heart palpitations for a completely different reason from Garo.
Anyway, why did Garo and the others come here, I wonder? It seems like we just ran into each other out of coincidence, rather than them having any real business with me.
“Arwf. (Oh, oops. Did my howling call you here?) ”
I hadn’t meant to. Now I feel bad.
“No, that isn’t it. We would run to you faster than the wind itself should you call for us, but we actually had business at this location tonight as well…”
“Arwf? (You did?) ”
“Yes. Tonight we welcome a new member of the Fen Wolf family.”
Did somebody have a baby? None of the wolves here appear to have rounded bellies.
As I watch blankly, Garo explains for me.
“Do you recall how I explained that monsters come not from a mother’s womb, but are instead born from the gathering of mana?”
“Arwf, arwf. (Yeah, I remember all that.) ”
That’s how those violent monsters I occasionally destroy with my beam in the Labyrinth come into existence, if I recall.
“We Fen Wolves are no exception. Unlike monsters who are constrained by their flesh, we are progeny of the moon, closer to spirits. As such, when the full moon draws near and night comes, we are born of the moon, as though falling from it.”
The moon gives birth to them? That’s a pretty fantastical birthing method. Guess I shouldn’t be so surprised at this point. This place is pretty much a fantasy world already.
“Arwf. (Ha-ha. And tonight is the night someone will be born?) ”
Now I know something else about the Fen Wolves.
What’s that? A Fen Wolf king not knowing anything about Fen Wolves? Who would possibly be that dumb? Yes, it’s me, I know. I’m sorry. I may have been born Fenrir, but I was raised a pet, so I can’t help it.
“We Fen Wolves are broadly divided into twelve clans, and depending on the current month, a different clan will welcome the newly born child. It is the seventh month now, so it is our clan that will do this.”
“Arwf. (Huh. So that’s how you get more family members?) ”
I guess this is what makes the strong bonds between Fen Wolves.
“This child will be my first daughter, so I am rather nervous. I hope I’ll be a wonderful mother, but…”
“Woof, woof. (Garo, you’ll be fine. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.) ”
The gentleness she showed us after that hellish boot camp was overflowing with maternal instinct. Even I almost wanted to call her Mommy.
“Bow. (Incidentally, the only exception among us Fen Wolves is you, my king.) ”
Covering for Garo, who is flustered at my show of support, Bal continues the explanation.
“Arwf? (Huh? I’m an exception?) ”
“Grwf, grwf. (Only female Fen Wolves are born from the moon. There is but one exception: Fenrir, King of the Fen Wolves—you, Your Majesty. Our legends do not state how it is you are born, but the king will always be born male. That, too, proves that you are the King of the Fen.) ”