Chapter 10.1

Of course, no explanations were actually necessary. It was obvious what had happened.

Dieter had fainted the moment the wolf’s feet had caught up to him, and Bertram had apprehended the wolf before bringing Dieter to the restaurant with his one-man method of transferring the injured. In other words, in the style of ‘a prince carrying a princess’ commonly found in storybooks.

Dieter’s face was as red as a raspberry.

“Put me down!”

But the true prince, Bertram, coldly refused Dieter’s request.

“If you come down from my arms now, Mr. Dieter, your ankle will disintegrate into dust. Please believe my words as an expert in this field. We will stay like this until the doctor arrives.”

“You called the doctor? Knowing him, he’ll probably come after eating dinner. Just let me down! Your arms are too hard, it’s more uncomfortable this way!”

“Oh my, so you were uncomfortable. I will solve that for you.”

“…..Hey!”

Bertram began rocking Dieter back and forth, as if he was rocking a child’s cradle.

Laughter broke out from people around them. Dieter yelled for anyone to please just bring the doctor, but nobody heeded his request. After all, even the village chief was letting loose with his laughter as he raised his cup in celebration.

Even though one of their young men had gotten hurt, the atmosphere could not have been any softer than this. Dieter’s injury was on the lighter side, and above all, the wolf laid out on the restaurant floor with an unbroken pelt was making all the villagers happy.

As Anna distributed the celebratory drinks, she privately asked the village chief a question.

“That wolf over there, how’d you get it? Did Mr. Bertram really catch that?”

“Ah, about that….”

Laughing heartily, the village chief began telling the story of Bertram as if he was describing his own heroic deed.

The way Bertram had caught the wolf was simple. He’d skillfully wrapped his hand around the wolf’s tail, then pulled. The wolf’s spine snaps off, and it loses its strength. Then all you needed to do was finish the sprawled wolf off, and that was it.

When the village chief attempted to explain that process further, Bertram approached them and shook his head.

“Please do not explain. I do not want to pass on a cruel story to Miss Anna.”

“Hmm? I thought you said you have no emotions. And yet you still care about such things?”

“It is because I have none that I take extra care. The simple act of telling the truth is enough for me to easily be accused of being a cruel monster.”

“Huh, looks like you’ve had quite a difficult time before. Alright.”

Sympathy colored the village chief’s eyes.

In the young men’s gazes, too, as they secretly glanced at Bertram in between drinks, no hostility could be found.

When they returned to the village, Bertram had announced that no matter how much the wolf pelt was sold for, he would not take a single penny.

He had essentially removed any room for conflict.

Though he appeared to have no tact on the surface, the street smarts he had learned while living as a wanderer made itself known subtly.

And it was not only this unexpected wisdom of his that he showed the villagers.

“Chief, you said there hasn’t been anyone that’s gone missing from the village recently, right?”

“That’s right. And that’s actually what I’m more worried about. If it turns out they’re feeding on travelers…”

“It is too early for you to worry. Seeing the dirt covering the wolf’s front feet, they might simply have been carrying out corpses from graves. Please check the wolf’s feet at night. If they have indeed been digging in the vicinity of graves, they’ll glow like will-o’ the-wisps due to the blue minerals that come from rotting corpses.”

“Oh, really? Then we can make a move after we check for that. Oi, someone, go check the cemetery and all the unmarked graves tomorrow afternoon!”

Suddenly saddled with new chores, the young men grumbled to themselves. However, most of the villagers’ opinions of Bertram had changed. They’d thought he was nothing more than a suspicious wandering bear, but wasn’t he smarter than they took him to be?

The way his expression didn’t change even as he received looks of envy was another point that could earn him more favor. Even Dieter stared at Bertram, stunned.

“So what fool broke their ankle again?”

“Me, sir! Put me down now, please, Mr. Bertram!”

Appeasing Dieter, Bertram brought him in front of the doctor.

Though the doctor found this absurd, he soon whistled as he saw Bertram put Dieter down in one of the corners of the restaurant.

“Hoh. Who’s the one who administered emergency aid to this ankle?”

“I did.”

“Clean, isn’t it? It’ll heal real quick, even if it’s broken.”

Dieter winced at the word ‘broken.’ Snickering, the doctor landed a blow on Dieter’s forehead, and Dieter cried out at the smell of cow dung that emanated from the doctor’s hand.

In a small countryside village, the human doctor often also examined animals.

While the doctor examined Dieter, the group of young men motioned towards Bertram.

“Have a drink with us. How about some apple wine?”

“It’ll be a waste of alcohol as I do not get intoxicated, but if that is alright.”

“You didn’t drink with your comrades during the war?”

“In the latter half of the war, alcohol was precious. We only gave it to those who were on the brink of death.”

“Sounds like you had a really tough time. Anyway, how has it been staying in our village?”

The young men did not ask about his past anymore.

And thanks to that, Bertram was able to speak honestly without having to worry about if he would accidentally sink the light atmosphere.

“It is very peaceful.”

“Right? Our village has a well-formed vigilante group, too.”

“Ah, so that is how women like Miss Anna can stroll around alone in the middle of the night.”

“That’s because Anna is braver than your average guy. When we came back home after the war, a part of the village was completely overturned, but she was the one who said we should cultivate that into a farm. When we said we needed more workers, she found wanderers, gave’m food, and made them work, solving it that way. Really fearless, that one.”

“It does appear that way. I have seen many people who are afraid of my appearance, but it seemed as if Miss Anna only saw me as someone to fatten up.”

At those words, smiles bloomed between the young men.

Within this peaceful atmosphere, Anna continued serving out things to eat.