CH 13

The black wolf also liked to bathe in hot water. In those days, there were areas in the demon kingdom where hot springs spout out, and he often took a bath there with the demon king and the subordinates under his command.

Jeanne was stunned, “The demon beast? You’re going to bathe it?”

“Yes.”

The black wolf’s fur was always clean, so they probably washed it frequently with water and soap. However, they didn’t seem to have the same sense of giving it a bath as humans do. Hank, who was also stunned, laughed with interest. Clyde also smiled.

“All right. Let’s do that.”

Clyde and Hank both brought out a large tub from the storeroom on the second floor down. While Jeanne draws water from a well in the courtyard to it.

“I think you should fill it as much as possible,” she said,  “It likes the water deep down to its shoulders–I think it likes it.”

“Very well.”

The water was poured over up to the edge of the tub. Clyde hovered his hand over it and light seemed to flow out of his palm. The water immediately began to steam.

“Amazing!” Ashley was amazed. It only took a moment.

Jeanne said proudly, “Master Clyde’s magic is more powerful than ours. After all, he’s a direct line of royalty.”

‘I agree.’

Even though it is asleep, he is able to keep the black wolf that was the demon king’s close aide, in a barrier.

Another question arose. It’s what she thought when she first found out that there was a demon. 

“Why didn’t the royal family kill the demon beast?” 

It was a question she didn’t want to think about but she couldn’t help it. Ashley was very happy that a friend of hers, the black wolf, is still alive. However, it would not be the same for the hero’s descendants. They should be an abominable enemy.

At the sound of her sad voice, Hank glanced at Ashley and answered,  “If it had gone berserk or resisted, it would’ve been killed right away, but I heard that the demon was docile from the time it was captured four hundred years ago. It seemed to have hung its head obediently. I heard that it was a prince and his party who found it, and they must have felt sorry for it and brought it back home. Well, I don’t know about that idea, but then the royal family entrusted it to the Sargent family all this time.”

And it has been sleeping there ever since.

“I see…” There was still something else she needed to ask. She turned to Clyde, her hands were clasped tightly together, “Why does Lord Clyde wish to wake the demon up?”

He said he wanted to help, but Clyde is a royal. When, like the rest of the royal family, it would’ve been convenient for him if the demon had died as it was. Depending on his reason, she wouldn’t cooperate. He’s the only demon that she had met. Her knees trembled with fear in front of the hero’s descendants, while she bravely looked at them with strong feelings.

Clyde answered sincerely, “I told you that he has been asleep for four hundred years, but that is a lie. The black wolf woke up once.”

“What?”

“When I was a boy. The black wolf was very powerful. At that time, we talked a little. I knew for the first time that the higher demons are able to speak through their hearts in this way.”

That is true. 

Clyde sees Ashley nodding. Then, he continued, “Then the black wolf said that he wishes to go to the demon king, but he couldn’t go there if he dies here like this. Then, he closed his eyes and I couldn’t hear any more. I wanted to make his wish come true. I wanted to wake him up and ask him for more details.”

Ashley was speechless, “Why would the black wolf do such a thing? Why did the black wolf tell Lord Clyde about it? And it was in this place when you were a boy?”

Clyde is the hero’s descendant, so why? Ashley was stunned as she continued to splurt out words one after another.

Clyde chuckled, “You ask a lot of questions.”

“That’s…!”

“It’s Ashley’s turn. How do you know about the black wolf?”

She was at a loss of words. She knew it was cowardly of her to only listen and not answer, but she really could not tell him that she was a demon in her previous life.

He laughed at her expression, “It’s alright. I really want to ask you about it, but I’d rather not force you to answer, so I’ll shut my mouth for now. And you seem to be the only one who can wake the black wolf up.”

Then, he turned to the black wolf, “Now, let’s give him a bath.”

“I’ll bathe him. I never thought that I’d be able to give a demon a bath. It’s nice, isn’t it. It’s fun.” Hank seems to be enjoying himself as he said that. He seems to have a good personality.

Clyde gets down on one knee in front of the black wolf’s body and chants some kind of incantation. The black wolf’s snout and its paws light up. He placed his hand under its body and lifted it up with force. She thought that the magic casted was to make its body lighter, but she was wrong. It is probably to prevent being bitten if it wakes up.

He slowly dunks the black wolf in his arms into the tub.

‘How about it?’

Its black body is submerged in the hot water, only its face was not in the water. Clyde held onto its neck to prevent it from sinking. Jeanne looked at the wolf, whose face was out of the tub, with a complicated look.

Steam rises around it as its fluffy face becomes moist with vapor.

Ashley watches in anticipation, but it still does not wake up. There was no reaction at all. She knelt next to Jeanne and gently poured water on the back of its head. The steam rising up slowly blurs its face.

‘Wake up Mister Black Wolf. Please wake up.’  Ashley prayed in her heart.

‘”To the soul of the demon king.”?’

The black wolf was a close subordinate of the Demon king. It is no wonder why he respects him so much. Ashley would like to do the same and for that to happen, the black wolf must wake up.

‘Mister Black Wolf.’

Jeanne and Hank looked at Ashley, who was intently pouring water, with strange looks. They perhaps felt her prayers and began to pour the water together. 

Clyde held the wolf’s neck with one hand and the other was in the water. It begins to glow as it keeps the temperature constant.

At that moment, the black wolf’s nose twitched. Ashley was surprised, but Clyde and the others were even more surprised.

“It moved!”

“It moved! That’s great!”

“The bath must’ve felt good. Pour more water!”

An excited Hank poured water on its face, and it was quickly drenched by warm water. Unfortunately, it didn’t move again. It had returned to the original sleeping beast.

Still…

“It’s incredible, Master Clyde. The wolf has finally reacted.”

“You did it.”

Both Jeanne and Hank said with flushed cheeks.

Clyde smiles and turns to Ashley, “Thank you. It was thanks to Ashley.”

Ashley couldn’t help but smile, “Not at all.”

Clyde’s eyes widened and smiled happily again.