Chapter 138: Fairy Tale - He Has a Little Gray Wolf (63)

If you were to ask the residents of Red Hat Town which day they found most impossible to forget, they would, without hesitation, point to the day before Harris’s wedding. Or, more precisely, the day the female knight who had arrived in Red Hat Town with Ryde to slay the dragon was killed.

Ryde, the town’s little stutterer, the one whom the knights had once collectively mocked, had suddenly gone mad. The black flames that erupted from him nearly engulfed the entire town.

A dark mage. That was what Ryde was.

Every knight knew of dark mages, as did every commoner. For the King had prophesied that, one day soon, the entire continent might be destroyed by their hand. The residents of Red Hat Town had thought that Ryde was human, after all. They believed that since it was only a wolf they had killed, if they begged Ryde, they might be spared.

But they were not.

Ryde burned every single person who had participated in the killing of the little wolf, leaving them maimed. The sensation of those black flames scorching their limbs was unbearable, yet miraculously, they all survived the agony. But there was no pride to be found in that.

Ryde had lost his mind completely. He sealed off all of Red Hat Town, turning it into a sacrificial ground for that wolf. Day and night, they were forced to worship a massive, hideous statue of a wolf.

Not only that, but they also had to endure Ryde’s periodic, wrathful fires. In this world, the greatest pain is the inability to die.

***

Dequir leaned against her window, watching the two figures standing in the street with sheer terror. The young girl was clearly the wolf from before.

Upon hearing a sound, Asie instinctively tucked her tail in, frowning as she looked toward the window. She saw a young girl staring at her. The girl’s face seemed vaguely familiar, though Asie could not recall where she might have seen her. The girl’s eyes were wide, but there was no malice in her gaze.

So, Asie took the initiative to greet her.

"Hello, I'm Asie," the little girl said, smiling, her two dimples appearing. Her wolf tail swished back and forth. Remembering something, Asie added, "Although I am a wolf, I don't eat people. I'm a good wolf." She clenched her small fist, her expression serious.

Suddenly, her tail was tugged.

Asie frowned in pain and complained, "Ryde! Why did you pull my tail? That hurts!" She pulled her tail back from Ryde’s grip and rubbed it, looking very aggrieved.

Ryde did not speak. His face was dark, and his gaze toward Dequir was filled with warning.

*Why... wouldn't it be better if she only smiled at him? Why must she smile at others?*

Ryde was very displeased.

***

Harris suddenly appeared behind the window. Because of Ryde’s fury, most of the knights in Red Hat Town had been caught in the crossfire and lost their magic. Harris was no exception. However, he had a wife and child now, and since he hadn’t participated in the wolf-killing incident, Ryde had not made things difficult for him.

"Control your woman," Ryde spat out coldly. His ink-blue eyes were like a concoction of the most lethal poison; one glance was enough to consign a soul to eternal ruin.

A gust of wind whipped by, slamming the window shut and trapping the terrified Dequir and Harris inside.

Ryde looked at Asie with a sense of satisfaction and leaned his entire weight against her. "Asie, let’s go home."

The little girl was trapped in Ryde’s embrace, unable to move a muscle.

"Ryde, did you do something? Why is there no one else around here?"

Besides, Ryde’s expression just now had been so terrifying—as if he were about to eat someone. It was strange; surely, the one who was supposed to eat people was Asie, the wolf.