Chapter 9.2

Following the village chief’s orders, the men formed teams of five and scoured the outskirts of the village.

The first goal was to re-confirm the carcass of the wolf that Bertram had killed.

The wolf that had been kicked by Bertram was sprawled out in the grass by a corner of the road.

Its body bent backward, broken rib bones had pierced visibly through its chest. The village chief furrowed his eyebrows.

“Mr. Bertram. You say you killed this by kicking it?”

“Yes. As I was in the middle of transferring Miss Anna, I had no time to think of any other way.”

The wolf wasn’t a creature that would die at one kick from a human, but…..

The chief looked back and forth between the wolf carcass and Bertram’s thick thighs and shins, then reached the conclusion that ‘If it’s a human that isn’t like a human, then it must be possible’. Fretting over one thing or too long wasn’t the village chief’s style.

“He must’ve been one that was weak enough to be chased out of its pack. You, drag that thing out and bury it anywhere good enough.”

“We’re just burying? We won’t be taking its pelt off?”

“With all those holes in it, as if it’ll sell!”

“Too bad. Oh, not that you’ve done wrong, Mr. Bertram. We can sell its toenails on city market day.”

On market day, young city boys kept an eye out for wolf toenails, among other things. Some parents also gifted it to cowardly sons as a talisman, too. It was a pretty good way to make some pocket change.

While two young men crouched down and picked off the intact toenails, there was one man who was complaining, all by himself.

Dieter.

“You sure smashed it to pieces. Trying to brag about how strong you are? And what do you mean ‘transferring Miss Anna’? Is Anna an item? Besides, if there was a wolf, then you should’ve avoided it as much as you could for the sake of Anna, at least.”

The young men snickered, hiding away from Dieter’s eyes. This was shaping up to be good entertainment. Wonder how that tactless man’s going to respond. Isn’t he going to make Dieter cry?

However, Bertram ended up crushing Dieter’s raised nose in an unexpected way.

“I am better at making judgments.”

“…What?”

“I have been on the battlefield for six years. I know better than anyone what I must prioritize when transferring the wounded. If you found a tree branch on the ground while transferring, Mr. Dieter, would you kick it away and go, or give it a wide berth?”

In other words, tree branch or wolf, both were the same to him.

Dieter withdrew while grinding his teeth, and the village chief belly-laughed in an effort to salvage the atmosphere. He pounded on Bertram’s shoulder.

“Six years? Then you’ve been there from the start to the end of the war, eh? No wonder you have such pride. But it’s been three years since the war ended, so you should let up on some of those soldier traits. Laugh some more, hm?”

“I cannot laugh or cry. I hurt my head during the war.”

The atmosphere was not salvaged; it plummeted in an instant instead.

Perhaps because the excuse he’d learned from Anna had worked. The young men wordlessly lowered their heads and organized the wolf toenails, sending secretive glances to the back of Bertram’s head all the while.

Of course, they could not find any wounds due to the shaggy black hair that covered it. However, it inflated their imaginations even further.

‘I thought it was weird that a man would grow his hair long enough that it reaches under his ear. No wonder.’

‘Would we find a huge hairless circle if we lift the hair up?’

And as the village chief felt restless for the first time in a long while—

Bertram looked into the deep part of the woods and spoke.

“An unpierced wolf pelt, do you need it?”

“Hm? It’s good to have, but there’s no need for it.”

“Then perhaps I should not catch that.”

“Ca-…. What? From where?”

“A wolf is looking this way right now.”

The young men and village chief froze in their spots.

At the place Bertram pointed to, between green bushes, a gray shadow lurks. If Bertram had not said that it was a wolf, then they would not have noticed.

The village chief pressed his lips together as he whispered.

“Looks like it came to get revenge; we can all shout together and chase it away.”

“No, sir. I will take responsibility. Please stand still, everyone.”

“What? That’s a wolf. It’s dangerous to go alone!”

“There is no problem.”

Bertram took one step towards the wolf.

The young men gulped as they stared at his back. The wolf was not a beast that one man could stand against.

But seeing Bertram’s wide back, they felt as if he would be able to rip the wolf apart with his bare hands like a mythical hero.

And as he reached out, with not a single weapon in his hands—

……All of a sudden, Dieter sprang forth in front of him.

“Don’t act cool all by yourself! Chasing away a wolf is easy. Kwaaah!!”

Dieter spread his two arms open wide and bounced around. He made such a scene that the wolf really might be convinced to leave from how absurd he looked, rather than out of fear.

The wolf revealed its head from between bushes. The pair of yellow eyes of one who had yet to decide on running to or from them locked onto Dieter’s.

At that moment, the village chief gave a yell.

“Dieter, you fool, hide!”

“Huh?”

“That beast, it had a taste of humans! Look at its front legs!”

Belatedly, all eyes went to the wolf’s front feet. Gray legs, mixed with some white fur, and the blonde hair wound tightly around it was definitely from a human.

Dieter froze right where he was.

And the wolf decided what it would do.

“Grrrr….!”

The wolf’s dense front legs pounce on the ground. Dieter awkwardly backed away before the sound of the village chief’s ‘You fool!’ barely spurred him on to turn around.

Though he heard a crunch from his ankle, he had no time to pay it any attention. If his ankles were a lost cause, then he could run with his hands.

While Dieter crawled away like a four-legged animal with a broken back leg, Bertram went forth a step further. The wolf was now right in front of him.

Even in that situation, Bertram asked the village chief a question.

“Chief. In order to refrain from reducing the commercial value of the wolf pelt, where should I attack?”

“You too, stop talking nonsense and run!”

He did not have another chance to ask for advice.

The wolf ignored Bertram, stood firm like a bear, and headed towards Dieter, who was crawling on the ground.

And it was when the wolf’s front feet reached Dieter’s butt that Bertram caught the wolf’s tail.

“AAAAAACK!”

“Grrrrr…..!”

The cries of man and wolf echoed in the air.

***

Dieter once dreamed of something.

That one day, when he opened his eyes, Anna, adorned in an apron, would be standing at his side. That she would call out his name tenderly.

“Dieter.”

Right now, 80% of that dream came true.

At his side, an apron-wearing Anna asked him tenderly.

“Are you okay?”

Lying down, he could see Anna’s delicate, adorable face properly.

That was nice, but this current situation was far from happiness.

Dieter gritted his teeth as he spoke.

“Why am I in your arms, Mr. Bertram!”