A Strange - Looking Wolf has Wandered into the Village

A Strange - Looking Wolf has Wandered into the Village

***

"Amazing..."

"Indeed, they're getting pretty strong."

A few minutes later.

Using up the created brackets, I reinforced several houses.

The beastmen were pushing against the walls and pillars of the reinforced houses, confirming the increased strength.

As I watched the beastmen pushing and tapping the reinforced houses to confirm the changes, I pondered. Perhaps there's some sort of magical enhancement involved... Even with the reinforcement, it's hard to believe that just attaching angle brackets could make something this significantly stronger.

"We're grateful, young human lady. Now we can feel safe when the next storm comes."

"Hehe, I'm glad I could be of help."

The residents of the houses I reinforced came to me and expressed their gratitude. That's a relief. I hope this helps improve their impression of humans at least a little bit.

"Hey! Are you seriously thanking that human?!" At that moment, one of the beastmen who hadn't raised their hand in favor of my reinforcement proposition shouted.

"Seriously dude, it's thanks to this person's magic that we were helped—"

"What I'm saying is, don't trust humans so easily!"

The beastman came zipping up to me and pointed his finger at me in an intimidating manner. It seems that there are still some skeptical beastmen. Or rather, most of them are.

"Listen up! You humans deceived us Beowulfs, took our land, and pushed us to this remote place! We don't naturally receive the benefits you humans take for granted, instead, we're confined to places like this, where the dangers of nature, like yesterday's storm, haunt us!"

"Humans invaded many different races this way, unjustly stripping them of their power to resist and looking down on them! Can we easily accept such people?"

"Ohh, I see..." Facing his furious glare and bitter words, I responded calmly.

Oops, shoot, shoot.

"W-What are you... Are you even listening to me..."

He seemed to be taken aback by the fact that the little human girl was not afraid of the beastman's fury and even returned his resolute attitude without timidity.

It's precisely when the other person is getting heated that you need to remain calm. It's the professional attitude from working in customer service.

"I understand the mistreatment you all have received from humans in the past, and I acknowledge the grudges and grievances. It's indeed natural that you can't accept me and believe in me."

"However, I reinforced the houses of Mauru and Meara as a token of gratitude for the help I received during last night's storm, and I simply wanted to do what I could to alleviate your situation. The historical animosity between beastmen and humans doesn't factor into this. It's solely an individual action on my part."

"Ugh..."

"To be honest, I have no specific purpose for being here. However, that doesn't mean I intend to stay in this village for long. I will consider everyone's wishes in my actions. So, this act is not to deceive or flatter any of you. It's fine if you think of it as just my whimsical decision."

Just like during my work at the home center, I calmly and appropriately arranged the words, and I responded. He seemed to have swallowed his words in response to my calm demeanor, about to say something back.

—That's when it happened.

"There's an emergency here!" Loud voices could be heard from the direction ahead.

There seemed to be some commotion. Curious, I decided to head in that direction. "Hey, wait!"

The beastman who confronted me earlier followed closely behind as I headed towards the source of the voices.

As we reached the origin of the sound, it was the village square centered around a well. The beastmen had formed a circle, and at the center, I saw something massive moving slowly.

"What's that...?"

A body with a beautiful white coat that reflected the sunlight. It was a large wolf. The wolf was moving with an uncertain gait. Among the wary beastmen, the wolf walked for a while before slowly sitting down on the spot.

"Ahh! Mako!" Spotting me, Maul and Meara rushed over.

"Mauru, Meara."

"You should keep your distance. That's the guardian wolf, the Diety of these mountains around here."

"A wolf... So, is it one of your kind?"

"Wolves and 'Beowulfs' are different beings." My words were flatly denied by Meara. I see. So that's how it is.

"We're also beastmen with wolf ancestry, but we can't match the true power of wolves. And that white-coated wolf is special."

"Special?"

"It's the master of the mountains, a sacred guardian. It defeats wild animals that threaten the village's crops, as well as other aggressive wolves and monsters."

I see, although not directly, it's a beneficial presence for the village. That's why they treat it as special and refrain from interfering with it. As Mauru mentioned, the surrounding beastmen were also watching the wolf's actions with concern, seemingly in awe and respect. However...

That wolf... there's something off about its behavior.

Although it's curled up quietly, its body is moving up and down significantly. I can even hear its breathing from here. It seems to be in discomfort.

Could it be unwell?

Looking closely, its eyes seem vacant, and its body trembles slightly.

"Hey, about this situation... what's happening? If it's such a special wolf, I assume the village isn't trying to take it down together, right?"

"Of course not. There's no way we would try to defeat it. If we encounter it in the mountains, we're instructed to immediately retreat. I think it probably came down from the mountains and ended up in the village by chance."

From what I can see, there don't appear to be any external injuries. It doesn't seem like it fought something or was attacked. If that's the case...

It reminds me of something. 

「......」

That's right, that's what it is. 

I'm reminded of a dog that ate chocolate.

An animal that has ingested something that doesn't agree with its body. The sight of being taken to the animal hospital inside the home center. Before I knew it, I had approached the wolf.

"Mako!? It's dangerous!" Mauru, about to rush out in concern, was held back by Meara.

"Hey, what's that human doing!"

"She's going to get eaten!"

Voices like that were flying around, but I calmly knelt beside the wolf. Although the wolf showed a bit of wariness at my approach, it seemed to have expended a lot of energy and didn't react further.

I gently touched the wolf's side. 

"Your belly is swollen... did you eat something bad?" While touching the wolf's abdomen, I murmured.

In that instant... "What?"

―――――× × × • • • • • × × ×―――――

[Title]: "Pet Master"

The skill "Dialogue" has been Unlocked.

―――――× × × • • • • • × × ×―――――

Suddenly, a status window appeared in my mind. There, those words were displayed.

It seems like something unexpected has just happened.

『What is this... you wretch』

At that moment, I noticed that words were mixed in with the wolf's exhaled breath, forming coherent sentences. 

『Be warned. Know that I am a descendant of the proud divine wolf. Such impudence! Dare to approach me, I will devour you!』

"No, no, if you eat someone like me in your current condition, your stomach will get even worse. Better not."

『What is this... Why can I understand the meaning of your words... No, why can I, too, understand the meaning of your voice? Why can I speak...』

"It's because I have the skill "Dialogue", But more importantly, hey, did you eat something strange?" A bizarre exchange was unfolding between me and the wolf.

The surprised divine wolf descendant hesitated for a moment before responding to my question.

『In the mountains... I found some nuts. They were something I'd never seen before... they looked delicious, so I ate them.』

"You're such a fool. That's not good, you know? Picking up and eating strange things. It wasn't figs or grapes, right? Those kind of things?"

『Ugh... I don't know. I'm in pain... am I going to die?』The wolf spoke with a hint of discomfort.

The situation seemed to be taking an unexpected turn, as the divine wolf descendant revealed that it had eaten something unfamiliar and was now in distress. From what I can tell, it seemed like whatever it had eaten wasn't completely digested yet.

If I could induce vomiting before the situation worsened due to further digestion, there might still be a chance to help it. 

Now, how to induce vomiting...

I focused my attention and channeled the power in creating something using "Alchemy." Accompanied by a faint glow, what I conjured was a long, rod-shaped piece of metal.

"I'm going to make you vomit out everything in your stomach."

『What are you doing... you... knowing that I'm a descendant of the divine wolf...』 I pushed the rod into its mouth to stimulate its throat.

"Yeah, yeah, just stay still." The wolf tried to resist by biting the rod with its fangs, but it was sturdy and not easily broken.

『Ugh, ughhh』

"I'm sorry, just a little more. Hang in there." As I gently stroked the wolf's head, running my fingers through its white fur, I whispered into its ear.

And then... 『Blargghhhh』

The wolf shook its throat vigorously, vomiting out everything from its stomach. It was quite a lot. Eating something so unsuitable for its body would definitely lead to this outcome.

"How about it? Feeling a little better?"

『Heavy feeling... gone...』

"I'll bring some water for you. Drink a glass and rest quietly. If you do that, you'll probably feel better."

『Sorry... for this... I'm grateful...』With those words, the wolf closed its eyes and rested its head comfortably. 

Now, I stood up and looked around. I needed to get some water and clean up this mess. However, as I surveyed my surroundings, I noticed that the other villagers were staring at me in surprise and confusion. Their mouths agape.

"What did you just do?"

"Huh? ... I guess I treated him? Well, it wasn't anything too special. Anyway, can you draw water from that well over there?"

Afterwards, I finished cleaning up the vomit and fetched water from the well, managing to put the wolf guy in a stable condition. During that time, all the village's beastfolk helped me... Can I interpret this as gaining a bit of trust?Also, when I checked the status window, the HP and MP values had increased.

―――――× × × • • • • • × × ×―――――

Name: Honda Mako

Skills: "Alchemy", "Dialogue"

Attributes: None

HP: 300/300MP: 460/460

Titles: "DIY Master","Green Master","Pet Master"

―――――× × × • • • • • × × ×―――――

It seems like I've leveled up without even realizing it, huh?

***

18/08/23