Chapter 44 - Return to the Royal Capital
We all gathered in front of the giant cage.
And inside of this cage, was a large wolf that was the size of a horse. It seemed to be in a deep sleep.
Goran looked at the cage and said,
“Is this mithril?”
“It looks like a mithril and orichalcum alloy.”
It was the kind of durable enclosure that could keep a dragon inside.
Shia moved closer to it and inspected it with a serious expression.
Eric watched from behind and said,
“It is a great wolf… It is clear that it is a kind of monster, but could it be the Vampire High Lord’s familiar?”
“I don’t know.”
Goran tilted his head to the side.
“Would he really place it in such a strong cage if it was a familiar?”
“That’s true.”
As they talked like this, Shia stood up and turned to us.
“I know what it is now. It’s a sacred beast.”
“A sacred wolf?”
“Yes. According to legend, the sacred beast wolf is our ancestor.”
“I see. So it’s like what Lord Gerberga is to Luchila?”
“A little different, actually.”
Shia explained.
According to legend, the sacred beast wolves and beastkin wolves had a common ancestor. So to Shia and the others, the sacred beast wolf was like a distant relative.
“It is a little different with Lord Gerberga, who is worshipped.”
Of course, they did pay their respects to each other.
And like the beastkin, these sacred beast wolves were immune to the charms and blood of vampires.
“They are very intelligent, so you can talk with them. And it won’t attack you.”
“If that’s the case, we should release it.”
“That’s true.”
And so I decided to open the cage.
It was locked with magic, but there was nothing a little force couldn’t fix.
But even after it was opened, the wolf was still sleeping.
“Hey, wake up.”
“Grrrrr…”
No amount of shaking worked.
“Could this be…because of Sleep Cloud?”
“It might be.”
Perhaps it had weak resistance to psychological status effects.
And so I used dispel magic on the wolf.
“Grr…growl! Grr…rrr!”
The wolf got up and then jumped back into the cage as if to get away from us.
Then it began to howl. It seemed scared and cautious.
“Calm down. We’re not going to hurt you.”
I said. Then I entered the cage and stretched out my hand.
“Grrr…grrr..grrrrr…”
Then it jumped at me. What was it again that Shia had said about it not doing that?
I dodged its fangs and then moved in. And while using a barrier to block the claws, I hugged it.
“There’s no need to fight. We killed the vampire.”
“Grr…gr…”
It continued to thrash around for a while but finally became quiet.
“I don’t know for sure…but it being here could be due to them conducting experiments in order to decipher the power of beastkin wolves.”
“Really?”
“Grrr.”
Judging by its answer, Shia might have been right. That was really sad.
After hugging the wolf for a while, I let go.
“You’re free now. You can do as you like.”
“Grrrooff.”
The wolf shook its tail and then licked my face. I suppose it was saying thank you.
“I think we should take this cage as well, just in case. It is orichalcum, after all!”
So saying, Goran tossed the giant cage into his bag.
“Goran, that bag is insane.”
“You agree? It’s a good one.”
Goran said smugly.
After that, we looked at the rest of the rooms.
This was so we could kill the sleeping lessers and possibly find any captured humans.
In the end, we were able to save 5 beastkin and 20 humans.
Once we left the High Lord’s base, there were several hundred beastkin warriors outside to meet us.
They had come to help after beating the Vampire Lords.
“We killed the High Lord. This is a victory for us all!”
“YESSSS!! Ruff-ruff!”
Eric declared, and the humans and beastkin roared.
Shia was screaming ‘Ruff-ruff!’ with the other beastkin.
I guess that was their victory cry.
After that, we left the clean up to the beastkin as we returned to the palace on our horses.
“Hmm, it seems to be following us.”
“It is.”
For some reason, the wolf had been following us.
I got down from my horse and said to the wolf,
“What is it? You can do what you want now.”
“Grr.”
“You said it can do anything, so it’s following you, Mister Ruck.”
“Grrooff!”
The wolf cried as if to agree with Shia’s words.
“It thinks that you are its rescuer.”
“Well, I wasn’t the only one who did…”
“Grrroof!”
The wolf started licking my mouth. It was cute.
“It likes you.”
“Alright, so you want to come with me?”
“Grooff!
The wolf’s tail wagged.
And so, just like that, we returned to the capital and headed for the palace.
The two cute princesses greeted us.
“Welcome back. I am pleased to see that you are safe.”
“Welcome baack.”
“I’m so glad to see you two are safe.”
Eric said happily as he picked them up.
“It is because Miss Serulis protected us.”
“Miss Serulis is amaazing!”
“Is that right?”
I looked to where the princess was pointing and saw Serulis and Luchila in a corner of the room.
There was a pile of magic stones in front of them.
“That’s a lot.”
“Daddy. These are only lessers, you know? That’s not difficult for me and Luchila.”
“But, all I did was make illusions.”
“You both did very well.”
Serulis and Luchila looked a little embarrassed as Goran praised them.
Perhaps Luchila’s illusions and Serulis’ swordsmanship made a good combination.
“How many of them attacked in all?”
“15 of them.”
“That’s just frightful.”
Eric’s face tightened. Even if they were lessers, 15 was hard to believe.
I inspected the magic stones of the vampires that Serulis and Luchila killed.
“Hmm?”
“What is it?”
“There are 2 stones from Arch Vampires in here.”
“That’s not possible. This is inside of the barrier.”
“But, look at this.”
“So it is… These are Arch Vampire stones.”
We would have to check these a little more closely.