Chapter 191 - Loup-garou

Loup-garou

“Good morning Daniela! What nice weather!”

“Mmmmmgaaa…what…uhhh… It is still night…let me sleep…”

I tried to wake her up, but according to Daniela, the sun was not up yet. But it was still morning. It’s morning as soon as you wake up.

“Come on. Let’s go see the Loup-garou.”

“Shut up…”

Daniela was not in the best mood. But I could not wait. From what I had learned, the Loup-garou were like werewolves, and werewolves were nocturnal. Then why don’t we go out at night? Well, this time just before the morning was when we could catch them off guard. Because they would be very tired.

And so I washed my face and put on my armor. It had been a while since I last put it on, but it still felt very comfortable.

“And…”

I took out the spear made of Cocytus ore. The Cocytus Lance. The newest addition to my arsenal. It would serve me as my regular weapon for a while.

Well, I didn’t need it now, and so I put it back in the bag. And then I strapped it on my back and was ready to go.

“Alright, let’s go, Daniela.”

“Ggg…”

“…”

She was sleeping again. Now that that had happened, things were quite hopeless…she would just be annoyed for the whole day if I forced her to get up now.

Then I would just have to go alone…

“Alright, I’ll be back.”

“Mmm…zz…”

Was that an answer or was she sleep talking…? In any case, I would just leave a memo. And then I can go.

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I left the inn and headed for the guild. The reason was that if this was linked to a quest, then I might as well accept it. And if it wasn’t, well, I didn’t care that much.

Unsurprisingly, there was no light coming from the building and it was completely silent. It was so dark that I didn’t even want to try banging on the door. In that case, I would just go straight out of the town.

While the gate was closed, there was at least someone there. The gatekeeper.

“Halt. What is your business here?”

“I want you to let me go out so I can see one of those Loup-garou things.”

“What…”

Asagi Kamiyashiro was the cause of a great, deep sigh. Wonderful.

“‘I want to see the Loup-garou.’ ‘I want to kill the Loup-garou.’ They all say that when they leave. And none of them ever return.”

“Ah, so that must mean it’s still alive and well in the forest.”

“Yes. And it’s waiting for its next prey.”

The guard folded his arms and looked at me with the expression you would give an idiot.

“That’s great. Now, please let pass.”

“Look, this is my job, so I will give it to you straight. I am not letting some halfwit like you go out there. Do you know why? Because that’s what I do.”

He said this slowly and carefully as if there was an idiot in front of him. But there wasn’t an idiot near us at all. Nope.

“Well, I also work to eliminate any danger caused by monsters. But I am also an awfully curious person.”

I handed him my status card. He sighed again, but this time walked reluctantly towards the guardhouse. Once he saw the information on it, he would know that I wasn’t some idiot.

“…Ah. I had thought he was just some guy with a death wish…”

I heard him say from inside the building. It was so quiet out here that I could hear him talking. I was flattered.

He came out with a copy of my status in his hand.

“Asagi. A C-Rank Adventurer. Let me tell you this. You can be promoted to B-Rank if you pass Level 71. You are already 79. You can reach A-Rank at 81, so I would advise you to go to the guild and get that sorted.”

“Ah, well, we’re rarely in any towns. That level thing probably happened in Nicora.”

I must have made a killing on experience points after that wind dragon. It was probably 6 levels alone.

“Hmm. So you really are Silvergreen then. I’ve heard the rumors.”

“Uh, great.”

I shrugged. I seemed to have a knack for that. Rumors and tall tales.

“I used to be an Adventurer… But then I got an arrow in the knee.”

“Huh. That sucks.”

“So I understand why this Loup-garou interests you so much.”

The former Adventurer put his hand on the gate.

“None of the Adventurers who have challenged it were as accomplished as you. So, it would be nice if you could come back alive.”

He said with a smile. Then he slowly opened the gate. Well, it was the small door to the side of it.

“Thank you, mister gatekeeper.”

“Don’t call me that. Even now, I’m an Adventurer at heart. You can call me Saragi.”

“Alright. Thanks for letting me through, Saragi.”

He laughed.

“Now go, Adventurer. Find out the truth about the Loup-garou.”

“I will!”

I said as I walked passed him. Outside, the place was still dark as night, and the forest was shrouded in silence.

This was the deep green town of Yukka. I was by the south gate that was never opened. The gate that Saragi protected. If ever you find yourself in Yukka, try talking to him. I’m sure you will hear rousing tales of adventures that will make your heart soar.

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Well, I was in the forest now, and so I took out the spear. And that’s when I realized it. It kept hitting against the trees.

“It’s useless…”

I guess this wasn’t its time after all. I would have to make do with the Glampanzer on my belt. I had no complaints but was definitely disappointed.

And disappointed, I walk in the forest. You could tell that there was once a path here, but it was hidden by so many fallen leaves. Still, it had not been that long since the Loup-garou had made this place its territory…

And so I moved along while using Legs of the Forest Wolf to clear the path of leaves. According to the maps, there should be an abandoned village to the south. That would be my first destination.

“…Hmm?”

Just then, Presence Detection caught something. It seemed like a monster? It was different than anything I had detected in the past. And there was just one. It was towards the center of the forest. Due to the dark sky and leaves overhead, it was so dark that even the moonlight did not pierce through the shadows. And in that darkness, something was moving. Could it be? Could it really be?

“Let’s take a look.”

I suppressed the rising excitement as I stepped deeper into the forest. I wanted to cut down the grass and bushes in my way, but that would just give my location away, and so I didn’t. It was times like these that I wished I had a ‘Presence Block’ skill. But as I didn’t, I had no choice but to imitate a stealth game by treading softly and breathing as quietly as possible. Well, if the skill popped up so easily, then everyone would have it. And that was not a world I wanted to live in.

Beyond that tree. From what I could see, it seemed brighter over there. Maybe it was a clearing? I sheathed my sword and put it into the hollow bag. And then I took out the Cocytus Lance. Then I removed the cover from the blade and put it away. It was the birth of Asagi the Spearman.

“Now…”

I peeked from behind the tree. As I thought, there was a clearing in the forest. No trees at all. Even the grass had been cut down clean. It was purposely made to make it easy to move in.

This was the center. A strange patch of nothing within a forest. And in it, was the thing I had detected.

“A werewolf…”

It stood on two legs. It had a long tail. Silver hair.

It was the image of a werewolf. The Loup-garou.