Chapter 74 - 70

When we got back to the Lightning Wolf’s lair, the four squad leaders went straight to report to their alpha. And because this task was technically an agreement between the Lightning Wolf and me, I decided to give my own impression on the matter, so I followed the wolves from behind. Besides, I got this feeling that the Lightning Wolf would visit to ask for my opinion regardless if I took the initiative or not. After all, to have a better understanding of the situation, it was only natural to seek the opinion of those who were present on the scene.

Once we reached the treehouse in the center of the lair, we found out that the Lighting Wolf had also just returned. And from what I could tell, it seemed like the Lightning Wolf had gone out on a patrol.

'That’s strange, as far I know, the alphas were mostly in charge of protecting the hidden lair. Because of this, it is pretty much common knowledge that the alphas won’t leave their lair unless there is a huge incident.' I wondered as I observed from the back. 'Maybe this is just the difference between the behavior of this alpha and the Frost Wolf from my memory? But now that I think about it, it is also strange that the Lightning Wolf went out of his way to personally investigate the disturbance back then.'

In my personal opinion, it was weird that the Lightning Wolf was troubling himself with all of this menial task. After all, I could see that there was no shortage of elite wolves in his pack, so it was quite baffling that he didn’t just assign those wolves to complete those tasks. That way, he could also remove the risk of his lair being attacked while he was away.

'Is he really that worried about his subordinates, or maybe he just doesn’t trust them at all? No. That can’t be it. I think there is a much deeper reason for his actions.' At that, I remembered the declining population of monsters that I discovered earlier during the hunt. 'Wait, is it connected to that?'

With that perspective in mind, I realized that the Lightning Wolf’s action might just be because of that. For example; the reason why he had joined the patrol was probably because of multiple cases of invasion from the wolves of other packs. As for why such incidents happened, it could be explained that it was the result of the shortage in food resources. Because of this, the relationship between the three remaining packs had become much more volatile to the point that the alphas had to take some actions themselves.

'But then, when does all of it start? Is this already a problem long before I even awakened? If so, then does that mean that the Tempest Wolf’s seemingly rash actions at that time were the result of all this trouble?' Then, I remembered the Lightning Wolf’s explanation when I asked him why he wanted me to stay with his pack. 'Wait, he said that because we collapsed that path, the only exit that was left on this place was the one that led up to the surface. But from that wording, it seemed as if someone had intentionally blocked the other paths, but left that one alone for some unknown reason.'

Because of that realization, I couldn’t help but be suspicious of everything that transpired. 'Is this all the result of some monster or entity scheming from the shadows? But regardless of that, why didn’t the wolves use that single path to hunt for food resources outside this area?' The longer that I thought about it, the more that I suspect that there might be something hidden going on behind the scenes.

While I was thinking about all of that, I watched the four squad leaders give a simple report to the Lightning Wolf. And because of my current standing as a guess as well as the agreement we had before, I didn’t dare interrupt the wolves and simply observed them from the sidelines.

It took a couple of minutes for the wolves to finish their report. Despite that, I could tell that the wolves weren’t able to give much detail to the Lightning Wolf. Mostly, this was because of their limited means of communication. After all, there were just some things that were impossible to express using body language alone. And for normal wolves that had no other way of exchanging information, it was only natural that this would be the result.

After the four squad leaders were done with their report, the Lightning Wolf reminded them about my share from the harvest of the hunt. With that, the Lightning Wolf dismissed his subordinates before looking towards me. At the same time, he made a gesture to tell me to follow him inside.

Fully anticipating such a question, I replied in an instant. 'Those guys were right, the monster used that den to hide during its evolution.'

“I see…” The Lightning Wolf paused for an instant. “What else…?” He added.

From that interaction alone, I immediately confirmed that my hunch was correct. Most likely, this was one of the reasons why the Lightning Wolf asked me to join their hunts. And to be honest, I had to agree that this was a very effective method especially because I could communicate with him through this mysterious telepathy. In other words, he was not only using this chance to have me protect his subordinates, but he was also making me act as his eyes to get much more detailed information outside.

Since I had a feeling that it would be for me to tell the truth, I ultimately decided to give my full opinion on that matter and explained my reasons for assuming all of that. What I told the alpha included my estimations based on the remains inside that den, my guesses on the possible race of the monster that they’re chasing, as well as my theory on the monsters’ current class.

“An alpha…” The Lightning Wolf replied with a sigh.

To be honest, I really wanted to ask the Lightning Wolf about my conjectures on the problem that I discovered in this forest. But since I wasn’t sure if I could put my trust in this alpha, I decided to hold myself back for now and seek out more details regarding the problem. This was because up until this point, I still had yet to grasp the motives behind the Lightning Wolf decisions over me. And who knows, it might even be possible that all of it was just a huge scheme created by the Lightning Wolf.

'Anything else?' I asked back.

“That ape… Any sign…?”

'None, unfortunately. I didn’t even find any traces of him.' I answered frankly.

As I stood up from that spot in preparation to leave, the Lightning Wolf added that my share for the hunt would be delivered in my room by his subordinates. Because of that, he said I should go straight into my room since it might result in trouble if I collected that share myself. Clearly, it was an indication that his pack had some split opinions regarding my presence here.

'That’s to be expected.' I thought as I stepped outside of the Lightning Wolf’s room.

On my way to return, I couldn’t help but think about all the things that I observe throughout this day. First, I learned that this forest was on the verge of mass famine. Because of this, the conflict between the three packs intensified to the point that it was volatile enough to explode at any given moment. Second, there was that matter about that mysterious monster, that had somehow evolved into an alpha-class thus further throwing the power balance between the active alphas out of whack. And at last, the most unpredictable factor of them all, the supposed mysterious entity that was scheming the destruction and fall of the wolves.

'This is too damn many. And that’s not even including the sudden disappearance of that ape as well as the motives of Lightning Wolf that might be connected to it all.' Of course, it was also possible that the mysterious scheming entity was the same as that mysterious monster that the wolves were chasing. The only problem with that was the fact that a low-level monster couldn’t possibly collapse a path using his latent powers alone. 'Judging by my estimated time frame of that monster’s evolution, it is pretty much impossible for him to collapse all that path during that short amount of time. Well, unless my estimations are wrong or he was just that fast and powerful.'

At some point, I found myself standing at the entrance of the room. 'I just don’t have enough information for now.' With that, I put all my questions and conjecture at the back of my mind and entered my room. Inside, I found a huge slab of meat placed at the corner of the room. 'Yeah. I should just rest for now in preparation for the hunt tomorrow. But seriously, this huge slab of meat is like nothing for a growing wolf like me.' I complained inside.