Chapter 32
Sern was right beside me.
“Lyla, are we going?”
Having overheard Ivharun’s story, Sern tilted her head and looked up at me.
“Mm… what should we do?”
I hesitated for a moment.
Cheating made me feel a twinge of guilt, but I agreed with her that it would be nice to wrap this game up quickly.
As for the prize, we could just give it up to someone else or hand it back to the organizers.
I wasn’t particularly greedy for it anyway.
Thinking so, I nodded. Ivharun wouldn’t lie… probably. We’d just go in, grab it, and come right back out.
That’s all I thought of it as—a simple matter.
“Sern, did you find it?”
“Mm… no.”
Sern, who had been rummaging through the bushes, answered with a downcast face. I couldn’t find it either.
‘Don’t tell me Lupe lied?’
It was a plausible suspicion.
Then Sern suddenly let out a small cry.
“Ah! Here! I found it!”
In her pale hands lay a slightly yellowed scrap of paper.
So it hadn’t been a complete lie.
“Great. Now we can finally end this. Let’s head back.”
“Yes! Uh… but…”
She hesitated. I tilted my head in puzzlement.
“I think we might have wandered in farther than I thought.”
When had we come this far? The forest entrance where we started was no longer in sight.
“We can get back quickly… right?”
Sern mumbled nervously. I looked around.
“Yeah, we should. I left the lanterns on at the pavilion—if we just go back the way we came, we’ll get there.”
But after walking for some time, we still couldn’t get out of the forest.
The trees were so densely packed, and everything looked so similar that it was impossible to keep our bearings.
Sern stayed glued to my side, scanning the surroundings.
“Hey… do you remember what that lady said? About ghosts appearing…?”
“There’s no way…”
Whether it was nerves or just trying to scare herself less, Sern kept talking to me as we walked.
Then—
Rustle.
A sound came from the bushes behind us.
Startled, I turned around.
“Kyaa!”
Sern squealed and dropped to the ground in fright.
“Calm down, Sern.”
It turned out to be nothing more than a small rabbit hopping out from the brush.
The harmless little thing twitched its ears at us, tilted its head, and then hopped away. Sern’s face was red with embarrassment.
“We should be careful, though. You never know what might come out.”
“We… we’ll get back fine, won’t we?”
“Of course. We didn’t even come in that far—”
I was about to reassure her with a smile when—
Screech!
A sharp cry rang out behind us.
It was followed by a sickening crunch, crunch.
I saw the blood drain from Sern’s face. With a stiff, reluctant movement, I turned my head toward the sound—
And saw the predator.
It was biting down hard on the very rabbit we had just seen. That desperate cry had surely come from the poor creature.
Blood burst from its small body, dripping to the ground. It kicked weakly for a moment before going limp.
A wolf.
And not just one.
Wolves usually hunt in packs, and this was no exception.
We clung to each other as the wolves stared at us with those eerie, glowing yellow eyes.
There weren’t supposed to be dangerous animals near the forest entrance. I’d even heard they installed sound devices here and there to keep predators away for the sake of casual walkers. Even if we’d wandered in a bit deeper, there should have been no reason for wolves to appear here.
Had they been driven out by the nobles’ hunting party? Possibly… but that explanation didn’t feel like enough.
Right now, the only thing that mattered was that we were in danger.
“W-w-what… do we…”
Sern’s voice was tight, like she couldn’t breathe. I bit my lip.
We locked eyes with the wolves.
One… two…
I swallowed hard. Three.
In a flash, one of the wolves leapt at us, almost floating through the air. I instinctively raised my arms to protect my head.
But—
Bang!
“Yipe!”
The wolf was flung back as if it had hit an invisible wall.
I blinked in shock. Behind me, Sern collapsed to her knees, her legs giving out. Then I noticed light spilling from my pouch.
Pulling it out, I saw the magic stone glowing brightly.
“…Uncle Laska…”
He’d said it had protective magic. I could’ve cried with gratitude for his foresight.
But we couldn’t just stand there forever. The wolf, now snarling viciously, crouched low to pounce again.
How long would this barrier last?
Would it hold against so many wolves? If they kept attacking, it might break.
They hurled themselves against it.
Thud! Thud! Again and again.
No matter how hard I willed them to leave, they didn’t stop.
Watching their gaping maws lunge toward me over and over made my heart race wildly.
And then—
Crack.
A fracture appeared in the barrier.
The wolves focused on that spot, hammering it with even more force.
Sern and I, pale as ghosts, gripped each other’s hands.
Finally, with a deafening shatter, the leader slammed into it and broke through.
“…!!!”
I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the attack.
My brothers’ and father’s faces flashed before me.
And Tea’s.
To die so foolishly… ridiculous.
They would be sad, wouldn’t they?
I hoped it wouldn’t hurt… and that they wouldn’t grieve too much.
But then…
“…?”
Time passed, yet nothing happened. Confused, I slowly opened my eyes.
And saw something unbelievable.
Every wolf was frozen in place.
And standing behind them—
A boy with familiar black hair.
“Lara!!!”
It was the first time I’d ever seen such fury on his face.
My eyes stung.
“…Tea…”
Hearing my trembling voice, Tea approached with a grim expression.
“How dare…”
The wolves, suspended in midair, writhed in confusion, but no matter how they struggled, they couldn’t escape the glowing chains of light binding them.
“Worthless beasts…”
Sensing instinctive danger, the wolves whimpered.
“To even think of…”
Ignoring them, Tea raised his hand. In an instant, hundreds of arrows made of light formed in the air.
Then, with a clench of his fist, the arrows shot forward, piercing the wolves’ bodies.
They twitched briefly before going limp, their cries silenced entirely.
I sank to the ground, the first thought in my head being—
I’m alive.
“Tea…”
He rushed over to me.
“Are you alright?”
“Ah…”
I grabbed his hand, my body trembling like a leaf.
“T-Tea…”
He silently patted my back. At last, the tears began to fall.
After a while, I finally remembered Sern behind me.
“S-Sern… are you okay?”
“….”
Her face was ghostly pale. When I took her hand, she blinked and focused on me again, her pupils shaking.
“L-Lyla…”
And then she burst into tears.
“I… I was so scared…”
Tears streamed down her cheeks. I bit my lip.
“…I’m sorry. This was my fault. We shouldn’t have gone deeper into the forest—”
But Tea cut in from behind me.
“No. This isn’t Lady Lyla’s fault.”
“…?”
Sern, her face a mess of tears and snot, looked at him in confusion.
“W-what do you mean… sniff…”
“That scrap of paper.”
It was then I realized Tea’s golden eyes could be so cold—colder than metal, yet burning like fire.
“It’s inscribed with magic to attract wolves.”
My heart dropped.
“M-magic to… attract wolves?”
I focused on his words. Sern had stopped crying, only sniffling now, all her attention on him.
Tea traced a finger over the paper. The plain white scrap, which had seemed to only bear a small star, began to change. Complex runes and a magic circle drawn in black ink appeared across its surface.
“…!!!”
I sucked in a sharp breath.
Tea twisted his lips into a humorless smile—the first time I’d ever seen him smile like that.
Sern and I were too stunned to speak as he explained.
“It’s an enhanced version of a herding spell sometimes used in hunting. Drawing one or two wolves is one thing, but a spell that calls an entire pack? That’s rare.
This was deliberate.”
It was a serious revelation.
I didn’t have to think twice about who the suspects were.
Lupe… and Ivharun.
