CH 17

“What? No. As the captain said, I borrowed him for a while.”

“Really? That horse looks fierce.”

Jackal glared at him and hastened his steps.

Asha looked back at him with a smile.

“Sheppy hates it when you say that kind of thing to him.”

“What is he going to do if he doesn’t like it? It’s just a horse.”

Gabe snorted as if it was ridiculous, but Jackal’s expression as he walked turned even more serious.

Arriving at the village, Sheppy trudged, as usual, back to his house.

Gabe looked back and murmured.

“That’s a really unique horse…….”

“I know, right? It’s a very smart horse.”

Asha stood next to him, genuinely curiously, looking at Sheppy’s back.

Jackal headed home, changed quickly, and then headed for the meeting room.

Gabe, who was receiving treatment for his injury in the meeting room, bowed his head as soon as he saw him, slightly embarrassed.

Jackal asked calmly.

“I heard from Asha. You were attacked.”

“Yes…… I’m deeply ashamed.”

“No, I’m glad you made it back safely.”

Gabe looked up. He was surprised.

He was slightly moved as if he knew and understood everything.

“Captain…… I was wrong.”

“What for?”

Gabe looked at him and said seriously.

“Asha is already a Lycaon.”

Jackal had a satisfied smile on his lips.

“Did you realize that now? You said you’d never owe her a life, you said something useless.”

Gabe looked down.

“……I said harshly the last time she would become a hindrance to the organization, but I almost became a hindrance instead. I will definitely pay her back.”

“All right, don’t forget that.”

Jackal walked over to him and calmly examined Gabe’s wound.

Fortunately, the arrowhead did not pierce deep into his leg, and it seemed to be fine.

Jackal looked up at Gabe, then poured disinfectant on his wound.

“Ugh…!”

Gabe groaned and clung silently to the chair.

Jackal said calmly, stitching up the wound with a needle.

“I’ll give you two weeks to recover quickly. Our organization cannot live without you.”

Gabe looked at him with a cold sweaty face and laughed.

“Are you taking revenge on me for what happened last time?”

“Revenge? How can you say that when the captain himself is healing you with his own hands.”

“Ahhh… … !”

As Jackal roughed up his sewing, Gabe couldn’t hold anymore, and with tears in his eyes, he raised a hand.

“Do not touch it. I could sew the stitches wrong.”

Gabe withdrew his hand immediately, but his hand flapped helplessly in the air.

He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, and raised his head as if he were about to go crazy.

“Ugh!”

Jackal smirked at his insignificant and pitiful gesture.

“Do you want me to make you a bomb shot? You can drink it and pass out.”

“…….”

Gabe’s eyes were already red and full of tears.

Sosa, who was standing with his arms folded at the door, shook his head and said.

“Gabe, I’ll keep it a secret from the others.”

“Who says I’m crying……! Argh!”

Gabe closed his eyes tightly, but Jackal just continued the treatment with an evil grin on his lips.

In fact, Gabe took a test similar to Asha’s when he wanted to join Lycaon.

Jackal rejected him because he didn’t like his first impression of being stubborn and impulsive, but Gabe walked through the vast snowfields to reach him, only to collapse.

Jackal looked at him cheekily as he lay shivering in the snow.

But he admired his indomitable will, and eventually accepted him.

Gabe had a crooked personality and is a tough talker, but he was loyal to Jackal.

If Jackal’s right arm was Sosa, Gabe was his left arm.

He didn’t even pass the test, but Asha must have had it even worse.

And with that thought in mind, Jackal suddenly looked displeased.

He just wanted to tease Asha to keep her in place, but when he saw her face that seemed to be losing its mind, Jackal decided to let it slide just this once.

Maybe from now on Gabe will no longer look down on Asha. 

Asha was very cool today.

That evening, Asha enjoyed a hearty feast of meat.

It was a party to congratulate her on joining the patrol team as an official Lycaon.

Since they couldn’t hold a party for her first hunt, this party was held even more grandly.

Asha’s performance circulated among the members of the organization that night.

Everyone around Gabe was so engrossed they were talking in exaggerations.

“Well, when Miss Asha shot an arrow, I told you there was a storm around it and leaves were flying. I thought a legendary martial arts master had appeared!

“Hey, you’re exaggerating again.”

“I am not exaggerating! I saw it with these two eyes!”

When he raised his two fingers and spoke excitedly, everyone burst out laughing.

In the distance, Jackal nodded calmly with his glass touching his lips.

Listening to the praise about Asha, he was very pleased.

The story of spirits was not well known to the general public.

In particular, flowers and butterflies were the most sacred beings and symbols of power in the Empire, so there was a lot of information that only the Imperial Family and nobles knew.

Jackal had heard of it from his former village chief, but among minorities, only those on the council knew about the spirits.

Then Gabe walked towards Asha on crutches.

A glass of liquor suddenly appeared next to her, Asha looked directly at him and asked.

“Another bomb shot?”

“Ha… I’m sorry.”

Gabe sighed after consecutive hits from Asha following Jackal.

“Welcome to the patrol team.”

Gabe clinked his glass with Asha and just laughed even though his face was pale from losing a lot of blood.

There was a warm atmosphere throughout the night.

Asha laughed and chatted with the others, but she didn’t know until now.

That the tough ties that were intertwined in her past life are bound to be intertwined again in her new life.

And there is a greater force that cannot be changed even with the power of butterflies…….

* * * * *

Perlach, capital of the Etzheim Empire.

In the Royal Palace, Emperor Karaf sat cross-legged, and the bandit leader bowed his head in front of him.

“It is a great honor to meet Your Majesty, the God of Flowers!”

Karaf asked, leaning on his chin and looking down at him with his red eyes.

“I heard you have something to tell me directly.”

“Yes! That’s right.”

“If you waste my precious time, you will pay for it.”

The bandit responded with a forced smile while sweating profusely.

“Yes, of course! I’m sure this is the news Your Majesty has been waiting for.”

The bandit told him in detail what had happened in the forest.

The story of an adult woman who appears to be from a minority ethnic clan, who uses the power of the incredible wind spirit to shoot arrows and how she fought alone to save the Lycaons.

Karaf’s red eyes grew slightly bigger.

“Is that all true?”

“Yes, Your Majesty! I can swear on my two eyes and my tongue!”

The bandit spoke very vulgarly, but Karaf didn’t care and was lost in deep thought.

He couldn’t believe that there is still someone from an ethnic clan who used the power of the wind spirit.… And on top of that, that person is a grown woman.

This was an extraordinary thing for him.

The Knight Commander Duran, who was standing next to him, also spoke seriously.

“It could be a butterfly.”

“Well……. This time it seems like a good opportunity.”

Karaf rested his sensitive, sculptural face on one hand and pounded on the armrest with the other.

There was no one speaking, so there was silence in the audience.

Now that there is a butterfly in the Empire, and unless that butterfly dies, the next butterfly will not be born.

The story was tantamount to a butterfly hiding somewhere in the empire.

Then he snapped his finger and stopped.

“……Subdue the Lycaons. Catch every single one of them. If they resist, kill them immediately.”

His red eyes glowed darker than usual.

Duran, the Knight Commander, responded with an arm across his chest.

“Yes, I will take your orders.”

Karaf glanced at the bandits.

“You there.”

“What? Yes!”

“Follow the Knight Commander to subdue the Lycaons. If she really is a butterfly, I will reward you enough to live in luxury for the rest of your life.”

The bandit’s eyes gleamed insidiously.

“Yes, Your Majesty! Just trust me and leave it to me! I will catch them!”

Duran strode out with the bandits.

Left alone, Karaf murmured with a little excitement.

“You have finally appeared…… Vanessa.”

* * * * *

Asha learned self-defense from Jackal.

Her specialty is archery, but her life could be at risk in close combat where she couldn’t shoot an arrow.

It was necessary to learn how to dominate and defend against an opponent with a dagger or without any weapon.

Jackal demonstrated to her by pointing a dagger made of wood at vital points.

Asha copied him, swinging the dagger hard.

But the way she held the dagger was very awkward.

She was still not used to inflicting direct wounds on other people’s bodies.

Jackal, who couldn’t stand it, took Asha’s hand and put the dagger close to his heart.

“Do it like this.”

The distance between the two was very close.

Asha’s eyes grew bigger and she snatched her hand away.

Seeing her pale face, Jackal immediately lowered the dagger.

“……If you don’t want to kill, aim here.”

He kindly told her one by one the parts that would not kill the opponent if stabbed but could cause fatal injuries.

It was brutal training, but it certainly helped with her archery.

Asha nodded as she swallowed hard.

Jackal taught her how to attack the enemy in case she gets caught.

Then Asha, who was holding on to the wrist, yanked him with all her might, but instead, she was dragged and fell into his arms.

“Oh…!”

Jackal’s body was big enough to cover Asha’s entire body.

“……It’s my first time seeing this kind of skill.”

As he spoke softly with Asha in his arms, Asha blushed in embarrassment.