CH 310

I moved east while riding on Woo Seo-hyuk’s broad back.

However, in Cinderella’s fairy tale, I was whipped instead of Kim Woo-jin and my body, which was added with a torn shoulder by the doll’s scissors, wasn’t in good condition, even though I was being taken care of by Woo Seo-hyuk.

Even if the gauze was stuffed in, blood could only ooze out little by little unless it was sutured. The blood-soaked bandage was replaced with the new bandage I had already brought, but the injury caused a fever and chills.

Cheon Sa-yeon, who saw me pale and tired while on the move, decided to take a break. In the end, contrary to the original plan of walking until morning, we had a short break at dawn.

I slept for a while, being hugged by the big wolf, Woo Seo-hyuk, and luckily when I woke up, my condition improved a little. In the meantime, Cheon Sa-yeon had been looking around by himself. I felt sorry for the situation I was worried about.

“I hope to meet Healer Min Ah-rin next time.”

“I know.”

I felt sorry, so Cheon Sa-yeon smiled brightly as if he didn’t care.

“Since Woo Seo-hyuk has completely turned into a wolf, it’s better not to expect Healer Min Ah-rin to be okay.”

My gaze turned to Woo Seo-hyuk, who was supporting my back by himself. Woo Seo-hyuk, who was lying on his stomach with his front paws together, let out a deep breath. It was perfect ignorance.

Normally, he would never have done this to Cheon Sa-yeon. Woo Seo-hyuk seemed more comfortable now that he forgot about Cheon Sa-yeon.

“It’s morning now, I’ll go up and see what’s nearby.”

“Are you okay?”

“I feel much better than before because I woke up from sleep.”

It was something I could only do, so I had to do it even if my condition was bad. Still, thanks to the quick-witted Cheon Sa-yeon, I was able to rest without overdoing it, so I had to pay for it.

I raised my energy, wrapped myself in the wind, and flew straight into the air. As I climbed up, clearing the leaves that covered the sky, I saw the forest unfolding beneath my feet.

Fortunately, I could see a city surrounded by stone walls at the eastern end. There was also a small house located not far from the city.

If we kept going like this, there was a good chance we would run into that house before arriving in the city. If we had to go to the city, it seemed better to check the identity of that house.

I went down again and explained what I saw to Cheon Sa-yeon and Woo Seo-hyuk.

“Let’s stop by the house first and go to the city if nothing is found.”

Cheon Sa-yeon, who had been thinking for a while with his arms folded, nodded at the suggestion.

“It doesn’t look like there’s anything wrong with stopping by. If the house is empty, we will be able to find useful items and food.”

“We can’t go into the city right now anyway.”

At my words, Cheon Sa-yeon looked at Woo Seo-hyuk, who was close to me. Woo Seo-hyuk seemed to have completely forgotten how to release his ability and return to human form due to being under mental control.

Even the wounded me, with Woo Seo-hyuk was also too difficult to move quietly. It would be an uncomfortable burden from Cheon Sa-yeon’s point of view.

However, without any sign of displeasure, he grabbed my waist, lifted me up, and sat me on Woo Seo-hyuk’s back.

“Let’s go first.”

* * *

After walking east for about an hour, the house I found earlier appeared. Considering the distance, it seemed that we should walk about two hours more from this house to reach the city.

Cheon Sa-yeon, who was walking before, felt something and stopped walking.

“There’s someone.”

As I concentrated on my senses, I could feel the energy and presence of the talented person flowing from the house. It was definitely not empty.

Since it wasn’t known who the opponent was, we couldn’t approach blindly. It was at that time when I was about to ask if it would be better to watch the other person rather than enter the house, as they might come out of the house.

“……!”

Noticing that something was flying from the other side at high speed, I hurriedly blocked it with the wind.

It was a sharp arrow that was blocked by the crushing wind. I narrowed my eyes when I saw the arrow falling down with the broken centre.

‘Who shot it?’

As soon as I raised my head to find the person who shot the arrow, Woo Seo-hyuk, who had his ears pricked up, growled, jumped up, and backed away.

Surprisingly, it was the iron balls that had dug exactly where Woo Seo-hyuk had been standing.

“Maybe Park Geon… ugh!”

Before the words could be finished, the iron balls embedded in the ground began to explode simultaneously. Kuuung, a strong explosion sound that made my ears numb and hot energy spread.

Cheon Sa-yeon, who casually broke through the heat that made the skin sting, ran straight to the tree next to the house. Then I found Park Geon-ho hiding behind the tree.

Park Geon-ho, who was pulling the bowstring, narrowed the distance, aimed at Cheon Sa-yeon, and released the arrow. While running, Cheon Sa-yeon, who twisted his head to avoid it, grabbed the arrowhead with his hand.

“Wait a minute, Cheon Sa-yeon!”

As with Woo Seo-hyuk, I try to stop Cheon Sa-yeon, who was forced to not go easy on Park Geon-ho, but Woo Seo-hyuk, who was carrying me, acted first.

Woo Seo-hyuk, who was growling and showing strong hostility towards Park Geon-ho, gave strength to his legs and flew up quickly, passing Cheon Sa-yeon and rushing to Park Geon-ho.

Unable to withstand the force, I had no choice but to grab Woo Seo-hyuk’s fur. Park Geon-ho, who accurately avoided Woo Seo-hyuk’s attack, who jumped in aiming at Park Geon-ho’s shoulder with me on his back, smiled.

‘Why can you not fight this guy or that guy after making eye contact?’

No matter how mental-controlled they were, wasn’t it enough to at least start a conversation? I really didn’t understand the team members who started fighting without such a thing.

“Ugh!”

Even while dodging the attack, the skillfully thrown iron balls exploded nonstop from a close position.

Since Park Geon-ho, a powerful person similar to himself, attacked without being caught, Woo Seo-hyuk’s behaviour was even wilder than before, as if he was obsessed with the victory.

‘We have to stop fighting and talk somehow.’

With only barely hanging on Woo Seo-hyuk’s back, who was running wildly, I hurriedly thought hard about what to do. Cheon Sa-yeon, who stood back for a while, was also looking for a chance to hit Park Geon-ho, so it didn’t help at all.

“Hm.”

It was at that moment that my eyes met with Park Geon-ho, who rolled on the ground with his agile movements. Park Geon-ho, who looked at me with a strange gaze, flicked his finger and flew his iron ball toward me.

Woo Seo-hyuk jumped into the air to protect me. However, the iron ball exploded one beat later perhaps because he was aiming for it from the beginning. I was unable to withstand the explosion in front of my nose and slipped on Woo Seo-hyuk’s back.

“Gasp..!”

“Yosha.” (으쌰, usha or similar to ‘yosha’ in Japanese I think)

Surprised by the sensation of falling, someone grabbed my body before I could even use my wind ability. Park Geon-ho, who held my back and the back of my knees exactly as Cheon Sa-yeon did, whistled lightly.

“Hello, Wolf Master.”

The morning sun shone brightly behind Park Geon-ho, who looked down at me and smiled brightly. Bewildered, before I could answer, a thunderous cry rang out.

Woo Seo-hyuk, who distorted his face with the most ferocious energy I had ever seen, showed his fangs the size of an adult’s forearm with his fur upright. Park Geon-ho pretended to be surprised at how sensitive he looked.

“Were you its lover, not a master?”

“What nonsense… calm down, Woo Seo-hyuk-ssi!”

Woo Seo-hyuk, who was slowly growling and narrowing the distance, was really the wolf that I had only seen in documentaries.

I hurriedly shook my head while being hugged by Park Geon-ho. Fortunately, he stopped in place and wiggled his tail. Good. Even though I was in an anxious state, we could have a short conversation.

“Why are you attacking us?”

When I asked with a frown, Park Geon-ho still had a smile on his face and opened his mouth.

“Because I’m a hunter?”

“…you’re a hunter?”

“Yeah. And since this is an important place, we are sending out a warning to those who approach us recklessly.”

Park Geon-ho, who had let me go, was carrying a big bow on his back. Did he have that bow because he was a hunter? Now I saw a sword around his waist too.

Originally, Park Geon-ho used only iron balls without any special weapons. He just didn’t use a weapon and it wasn’t that he couldn’t handle it.

Park Geon-ho pointed to Cheon Sa-yeon with a wink.

“If he had been a normal wolf, I wouldn’t have taken such tough action. But do… I need to explain more? If a wolf of that size appears, of course, there’s no choice but to attack and block their approach. You and the man over there are suspicious as well.”

“There’s one more person in that house.”

Park Geon-ho shrugged at what Cheon Sa-yeon said, who was watching the situation with a grim expression.

“Well. All I can offer you is to stop paying attention and go on your way.”

That wasn’t okay. I couldn’t leave Park Geon-ho, whom I barely met, here. I had to somehow convince Park Geon-ho.

“Wait. We’re not really dangerous people.”

“I wish you could just step back so that I can believe that excuse.”

Park Geon-ho’s attitude was very cold. It reminded me of the first time I met Park Geon-ho.

We became close and I forgot about it, but Park Geon-ho wasn’t an easy person. I had no idea how to deal with this situation.

‘Even as soon as we met, he got into a fight with Woo Seo-hyuk, so he only became more vigilant…’

I didn’t know why, but Woo Seo-hyuk, who was gentle with me, had a very different attitude toward Park Geon-ho. I was really thinking about whether I should forcefully drag him out even if I should knock him down like Cheon Sa-yeon’s way, but the door of the house opened and someone walked out.

“That’s enough.”

It was a familiar voice. When I turned my head, Min Ah-rin, dressed in a red cloak, clasped her hands neatly together, and met my gaze.

“But, Maria-nim.” (마리아)

Maria? I narrowed my eyes when Park Geon-ho called Min Ah-rin’s name.

“It’s okay. They’re not witches.”

The pleasure of being able to gather in one place, including Park Geon-ho and Min Ah-rin, was brief, but the conversation between the two quickly made the atmosphere heavy.

Witch. Min Ah-rin, who smiled brightly toward the confused me, stepped aside in front of the door.

“Nice to meet you. Come on in.”