CH 42

Hunting Contest (10)

Roelin steered out of that tumultuous place and proceeded into a little more quiet place. Then, she got off the horse with rather clumsy movements. The gentle horse did not even move so that its master could descend even more easily.

“Thank you, Rolpin.”

She stroked the back of the horse’s neck and patted it on its butt as well. Then, the horse cried quietly before heading off to the grass.

Roelin watched as the horse was grazing and turned around with a smile.

The fresh smell of grass was brushing against the tip of her nose. She then walked slowly.

She felt pain in her neck and shoulders all because she had been nervous since morning. Roelin raised her hand and continued to walk while still kneading near her shoulders and neck. While walking along like that, she suddenly heard a small sound. It was so faint that she might not have heard it if it hadn’t been gravely quiet around her.

“What’s this sound?”

She turned in the direction where she heard the sound as she began to wonder if anyone had come over.

“……!”

And Roelin’s eyes instantly opened wide. She couldn’t even move as if she had been stuck at that place.

Growl.

There was a wolf that was a little far from her.

Roelin’s face eventually turned white. She was facing the wolf without stepping back. It was based on her judgment that if she were to do something hastily, she might have ended up provoking those wolves instead.

The wolf’s yellow eyes were looking at Roelin. At that moment, Roelin recalled another person’s appearance apart from that very wolf.

‘It’s just like Kergel.’

Was it because of the fact that she had thought the wolf’s yellow eyes were similar to his own?

She couldn’t move as if she was frozen in place, but she slowly closed her fingertips and clenched them. Then, she breathed in slowly and quietly before opening her mouth to the wolf.

“I have no intention of hurting you. I believe you too, feel the same way.”

She talked to the wolf, but she didn’t think that the wolf would have understood her. She just opened her mouth to loosen it up a bit.

However, the wolf showed a rather unexpected reaction instead.

Awooo.

As if he had already understood her, that was why the wolf cried out just like he was responding to her. Roelin was embarrassed by the wolf’s unanticipated response, but still tried to look at the wolf calmly.

Then, the wolf also looked closely at her while blinking his yellow eyes and came a step forward.

Roelin’s body had flinched on its own. However, instead of stepping back to avoid the wolf, she slowly folded her knees and sat down.

It might have been a foolish illusion, but she didn’t think that the wolf in front of her would hurt her.

No, rather, this wolf seemed to be showing an interest in herself.

When she first faced the wolf, she was too surprised to feel it. Obviously, the wolf was not revealing his life history to her.

“If it’s more of a favor, wouldn’t it be better then?”

As Roelin continued to stare at the wolf patiently while squatting down, the wolf also peered at her and took another step closer.

Their distance eventually got closer little by little.

However, when the distance narrowed down to merely three or four steps with herself, the wolf suddenly stopped there.

“…Why?”

Roelin tilted her head at the sudden change in that wolf. The wolf then moved his nose to point at Roelin’s words.

“Oh! This is… Sorry.”

It was the bow in her hand that was pointed by the wolf with his nose. The chest of arrow was already placed on the horse’s saddle, but the bow was brought along unintentionally. She then hurriedly put the bow down next to her.

“Now, are you okay?”

The wolf glanced at Roelin’s bow and approached her once more. Then, he lay in front of her and revealed his belly in return.

“……!”

Roelin was surprised by the wolf’s behavior and opened her eyes wide. But she eventually remembered reading from a book once that this sort of behavior from a wolf had meant obedience.

“…You’re nice.”

Roelin then carefully proceeded to reach out to the wolf.

***

“…What are you even doing right now?”

Kergel mumbled to himself while narrowing his forehead at the sight that was hard to believe even when he had seen it with his very own eyes.

During the hunting competition, he already saw that Roelin was heading to a quiet place. As long as she didn’t go deep into the forest, she wouldn’t have to face a dangerous beast and even if that were to happen, he could sense it first, so he just let her do whatever she wished.

But even after a long time, she still didn’t return, so he went over to find her himself.

But he never anticipated himself to see such an unexpected sight.

He smiled in vain as he saw Roelin was playing with the wolf. It was amazing to see her hugging such a large wolf while treating it like a mere puppy.

The wolf, who was actually afraid of horses, was as extremely cute as that.