Chapter 22: In Order to Fight the Wolf Witch Part 1

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Today, I’d go on my morning walk with Crow. Today, Crow’s girlfriend, a mare, also came with us. Together with the female stable keeper, we took a walk around Fenrir’s residence. 

“Crow, he’s become a considerably better boy now.”

“Really?”

I had asked her to train Crow if she had any spare time. At first, Crow had been running wild without any care but recently, he started to pay more attention to his surroundings as he ran. 

“It’s because he received excellent training.”

“That’s not true. It’s not due to the result of my training. It’s Crow who has changed.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Do you want to see it for yourself?”

“Yes.”

The female stable keeper went to straddle her horse that she left in the field. I also rode on Crow. 

“Now then, let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

Has Crow really learned how to run with other horses?

I was skeptical. 

I kicked him in the stomach, giving him the signal to run. The two horses then began to run at the same time. 

“…..Huh?”

Crow was actually running slowly, keeping his pace to match the mare. He didn’t start bolting off wildly all of a sudden. We circled the field one, two, three times but the result was still the same. Crow didn’t start running off on his own all of a sudden. 

“Amazing, Crow! I’m surprised.”

“It’s the power of love.”

“Could it be… Crow fixed his habit of bolting everywhere in order to match his pace with the mare?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

I was so surprised that this stubborn Crow could actually change. No matter how much I told him to, he just wouldn’t stop bolting off on his own. 

“I learned from Crow that if you set your mind on it, there’s no limit in changing yourself.”

“If you set your mind on it, there’s no limit in changing yourself….”

Those words strongly resonated with my heart. 

Will I be able to change too?

But the answer to that question, has yet to reveal itself. 

　◇◇◇

We were summoned by Gilbert-sama and so, I went to the study room together with Dietrich-sama. They also kept the book owned by the Fenrir family in this room. 

“Gilbert, what’s the matter? It’s unusual for you to call us here.”

“I was doing research on the history of the Fenrir family. Would you mind listening to my part?”

“Sure.”

“It’s going to be a bit long but….”

Gilbert-sama unfolded the long Fenrir family’s tree that had span across a thousand years as he said that. 

“The Fenrir family has the history of being related to the royal family that dated back to 1200 years ago. Our family tree looks like this.”

The Fenrir family’s tree was wide and big, like the roots of a large tree that stretched out from the earth up to the sky. 

“I wanted to find the founder of our family. Where did our family start from? I tried to find the answer by unraveling our family’s history.”

Heroes who participated in the war would be given a title. According to the history of the Fenrir family, it was said their family grew after the founder was given a title due to their contribution to war. 

“I did some research about the founder before he was given the title ‘Fenrir’. What was his name? What kind of person was he? The result is simply extraordinary.”

“And what did you find?”

“The land where our founder was born was said to be the forest where Lou Garou dwelled.”

“What?!”

“So that means the founder of the Fenrir family was also a Lou Garou?”

“That might be the case.”

If that was so, then it would explain why my parents had a connection with the Fenrir family. Perhaps, my parents and the previous head of Fenrir family were cooperating together to defeat the Wolf Witch?

“In the record about our founder, a woman was mentioned. A beautiful woman who shared the same birthplace with our founder.”

“Could it be, that woman was the Wolf Witch?”

“Perhaps.”

Maybe the Wolf Witch, who was a Lou Garou too, came out of the forest to pursue the founder of the Fenrir family?

“Could it be, she went out in order to become the founder’s bride?”

“That might be the case but at that time, the founder had already married a woman from the royal family.”

“So it was a messy love triangle.”

“Yes. After that, the founder’s wife was killed and so began the thousand years war between the Fenrir family and the Wolf Witch.”

My goodness. What a surprise. I didn’t expect everything to start due to the love-hate drama between a man and a woman. 

“The books never explicitly mentioned that we, the Fenrir, are a Lou Garou. This is just my own assumptions and I don’t have any solid evidence about that.”

“But since the Fenrir family’s crest is a white wolf, you really can’t say that they aren’t related.”

“Indeed.”

In the first place, why did the founder of the Fenrir family come to the royal capital and raise his family there anyway?

“Well about that matter…  Melodia-san, your parents also did the same, right?”

“So the founder of the Fenrir family also couldn’t turn into a wolf?”

But if that’s the case then someone like me should’ve appeared. Someone who can turn into a wolf. 

Gilbert-sama then answered my question.

“In the past, there was a story about our ancestors who had turned into wolves but in each case of that wolf transformation, we believed it was due to the Wolf Witch’s curse.”

“I see, so that’s why.”

Gilbert-sama then stared at Dietrich-sama. It was possible that Dietrich-sama was also under the same perception, that he was cursed by the Wolf Witch when that wasn’t actually the case. 

“Umm… Big brother, do you remember what had happened on the day the Wolf Witch cursed you?”

“I remember. After all, it was the day when I first met Melodia.”

However, my wolf transformation and Dietrich-sama’s wolf transformation had a different disposition. Dietrich-sama was always in his wolf form and he could speak in that form. On the other hand, I only transformed into a wolf on the moonlit night and I couldn’t speak in that form. 

“With those points in regard, does that mean big brother is under the Wolf Witch’s curse after all?”

We didn’t know the answer to that yet so we set that matter aside for now. 

“I also found one more interesting discovery.”

“What is it?”

“In the battle between our ancestor and the Wolf Witch, it was said that the magic needed to defeat the Wolf Witch could only be used by ‘a maiden of the family who has reached adulthood’.”

Both Gilbert-sama and Dietrich-sama stared at me at the same time. 

“Ummm… So in other words, that light magic can only be used by me?”

“I’m assuming that’s the case.”

What a surprise. I can’t believe I’m the only one who can use that light magic. 

“I’m sure the Wolf Witch doesn’t know about that fact.”

“If she knew, I would’ve already been killed by the Wolf Witch by now, right?”

“………….”

“………….”

The silence stretched between these two brothers was frightening. I wished they’d just say a white lie and said,”no, that’s not true”.

“But still, there’s one mystery in between all of these. Why did the Wolf Witch kill Melodia’s parents instead of aiming at Melodia herself?”

“The person who incurred the Wolf Witch’s grudge should’ve suffered under her curse until the end of time…..”

I instantly shuddered when I heard Gilbert-sama’s words. It was really a miracle I had been able to live so peacefully up until now. One question still remained, could I still continue living in a carefree way like I had been doing? 

“Ho-How am I still safe all this time?”

“………..”

“……….”

Both Dietrich-sama and Gilbert-sama slowly averted their gaze away from me.

Just give me whatever reason you can think of. Your silence is frightening.

“Well I’m sure Melodia’s parents must have taken some preventive measures against that.”

“That’s right. I’m sure that’s the case.”

Apparently I was still safe up until now thanks to some groundless reasons. Maybe I should be thankful to my good fortune that I was luckily safe from the Wolf Witch’s eyes. I had always been a lucky person so maybe that was one of the reasons why. In any case, I should just leave it at that. I was truly lucky that the Wolf Witch didn’t target me. 

“It’s alright, Melodia. If the Wolf Witch comes to attack you, I will protect you.”

“Thank you very much, Dietrich-sama.”