Scarlett in the Evening

The autumn girl's dress was now worn by Elestria every day. She was more confident in accompanying Lusi to meet customers. She smiled a lot at work.

That afternoon, Elestria was packing things to take to a customer's house. the journey by carriage was a little long. The end of it was a beautiful mansion on the side of the lake. Lusi said their customer had the surname Encesia, a family of spice traders.

While standing at the entrance, a girl in a light green dress ran towards her. "Miss Brown Wolf!" she called cheerfully.

Her mate was close behind. When he caught her arm, he whispered, "No running. You'll get hurt."

Rin laughed.

The elven woman came later. She led them to sit in the living room. She greeted Lusi briefly and then discussed the dress for Rin's birthday.

Elestria stood behind the chair Lusi was using. Her hand held a notebook. At the same time, Rin approached her.

"Miss Brown Wolf hasn't met your mate yet?"

Raon hurriedly approached them. "Rin, it's not nice to ask questions like that," he advised.

Elestria smiled slightly. She said, "I'm still stronger than my mate. He'll have to fight hard to be stronger than me."

"When he's stronger than you, will you meet?"

"Yes."

Rin looked at her for a few seconds, then took Raon to play elsewhere.

The elf glanced at them and gave a small smile. The children's carefree steps were comforting. Rin and Raon met because she and her husband met.

She found a baby boy wolf years ago. She took care of him. After a few years, she found her mate. After having Rin, it was discovered that Rin and Raon were a couple.

"Glad to see you again, Miss." She greeted Elestria. "I'm happy to meet the hero of the capital."

Elestria smiled awkwardly while Lusi smiled widely.

Lusi said, "She's my friend, Elestria. She came to town not long ago and has already become famous. It's amazing!"

"That's right! I read in the newspaper that the brown wolf girl caught a thieving vampire and scared him into fainting."

"Fainted from strangulation," Scarlett added.

The living room became warm with laughter. The hostess decided to invite them to dinner, but Lusi refused. They couldn't go home too late.

***

Rin whined as she watched the carriage drive away. Her hands tugged at her mother's dress. She pleaded, "Hold Miss Brown Wolf! I want to play with her!"

Her mother shook her head. She rubbed her head.

Meanwhile, on the carriage, Lusi and Elestria sat opposite each other. The carriage window showed the afternoon that was no longer bright. The carriage swayed lightly as it traveled along the gravel road.

"I met Encesia's family once," said Elestria, "that time they were in plain clothes and said they were from the south. I didn't expect them to be so rich."

"They were in plain clothes to avoid the robbers."

The carriage shook harder. Steps descending the steep terrain could be heard. A group of people in black robes jumped from behind the bushes.

They should have left immediately, but instead, they were tempted by a shiny carriage in the middle of the evening. They were wolves who landed on the carriage and shook it. The driver had been killed.

Lusi panicked. She rushed to open the carriage door. Elestria stopped her.

"There are many people outside. I'll block them. You run and get help." Elestria looked at her seriously.

Lusi frowned. "Don't be crazy! You only ever beat a bear cub!"

One of the groups broke the window. The glass scattered on the floor. Lusi and Elestria gasped and hugged each other. They watched as a pair of yellow eyes shone brightly.

Howls invaded the evening.

Others approached. A hand was about to touch Lusi. She swatted it away and growled. Her sharp teeth appeared.

Elestria's heart was pounding.

Lusi growled again. The wolf clucked loudly. He reached out and almost touched Lusi's face.

The guards gave chase. They managed to find the wolves and immediately shot arrows. Someone was shot in the arm.

Elestria and Lusi breathed a sigh of relief. Lusi was pulled hard to be taken hostage by them. The troops who arrived at the location became worried.

"Let us go, then she's fine," said the wolf who hugged Lusi from behind. They stood on the left side of the carriage and faced the guards.

Lusi struggled, but the knife to her eye made her stop.

Elestria was about to run out of the carriage. However, both doors were blocked by the thieves. She looked around uncertainly. The wolves were laughing at her.

The guards didn't dare to advance further. They looked at each other. The leader found a face that filled the newspapers these days. He felt he could use Elestria to help.

"Return the stolen goods, and you are free," the leader said.

"Fool, we came all this way to get food." The person holding Lusi hostage brought the tip of the knife closer to her.

Elestria was confused as she looked around. She then found the leader's gaze. His wolf asked, "Weaken the men behind you."

Elestria glanced back. The wolf had a fierce face meanwhile the other was hunched over and lacked muscles. With Scarlett's form, she could defeat him, she thought.

The autumn girl's dress was ruined when she shifted. A brown wolf with bright brown eyes jumped and landed on the wolves. She growled.

The leader was shocked. He hadn't given Elestria the signal. Forced to do so, he had the other guards change. 

Scarlett bit down hard on the wolves before they had time to fight back.

Scarlett snorted. Under the dark sky, she watched each robber. The smell of meat wafted from them. They were food thieves.

Then, she climbed onto the carriage. Lusi had already been taken to the high ground there. The leader was with them.

The two-metre-tall brown wolf galloped on the gravel. She was ready to pounce but was intercepted by the leader. "You need the right moment," he whispered half-heartedly.

Scarlett frowned.