Chapter 36: The Last Battle Part 8

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Sitting next to me, Dietrich-sama had a quill pen in his hand and a stack of paper. Even though he was away from the Fenrir residence, he still needed to do some of his official duties. 

“I’m sorry, Melodia. I can’t play the ball with you today.”

By no means I was giving him a gaze that asked him to play the ball with me. It was frustrating not being able to speak at a time like this. 

I put my chin on top of Dietrich-sama’s lap to show my objection. 

“Melodia, you feel warm. I’m glad I’ve decided to spend this night together with you.”

Apparently Dietrich-sama was planning to use me to keep him warm. Certainly it was unpleasantly cold tonight. It’d be great if Dietrich-sama could feel warm with the help of my wolf body heat. 

“Let’s go to sleep now. We have an early morning tomorrow.”

Dietrich-sama turned off the light from the magic stone lamp and the tent turned completely dark. Dietrich-sama then laid down next to me. 

“Mmm?”

“I only have one futon so we have to sleep by laying close next to each other like this.”

Dietrich-sama said while stroking my head. His hand felt cold. 

I have to warm him up.

With that thought in mind, I slowly huddled closer to him. Dietrich-sama welcomed me into his embrace. It didn’t take long before I could hear the gentle sound of him sleeping.

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“Uu…Hn….”

Is it dawn already?

I woke up to the sign of the morning. It was still dark but I could already feel the difference in the night and morning air. 

“Melodia, go back to sleep. We still have 30 minutes before we need to wake up.”

“30 minutes….”

I murmured, ready to go back to sleep when I realized this uncomfortable feeling of Dietrich-sama touching my bare skin. 

“Ah! Hyaaa! Wa-Wait! Dietrich-sama! You mustn’t touch me there!”

“Hm?”

“Not ‘hm’!”

I unconsciously fell asleep last night while completely forgetting that I’d return to my human form in the morning. I separated myself from Dietrich-sama and then used a blanket to cover him from head to toe.

“Uuu, Melodia, what are you doing?”

“Just sit there quietly. You’re not allowed to move.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m naked!”

I mustn’t let the other knight know that I spent the night in Dietrich-sama’s tent. I needed to get dressed immediately. 

I put my underwear on quickly, slipped my arms through my shirt and then put on my skirt. I put on my jacket and then wrapped the mantle around my body. I also fixed my hair. I used my fingers to comb my hair and then braided my hair. I let my braided hair rest on my chest and then I tied the ribbon that I had received from Ruri-san at the end of my hair. 

Finally, I put on my stocking and thrusted my feet into my leather boots. Once I finished tying my shoelace, there shouldn’t be any problem in my appearance.

Just when the timing was right, Captain Millie came to pick me up. 

“Magic Soldier Melodia, are you here?”

“Ah, yes!”

Before I left the tent, I tapped my shirt to straighten any wrinkles. Captain Millie told me that we had to return quickly and so we ended up running in the dead of morning. 

On our fourth day, we spent two hours traveling before we finally arrived at the dense part of the forest. The old castle was visible from the center of the forest. That was where the Wolf Witch dwelled. 

At last, the Fenrir family had arrived at the land of destiny that they had avoided for so many years. My heart thumping in excitement and of course, my shoulder and fingers were also trembling. From here on, me and the 17th Patrol Unit led by Captain Millie would join the frontline troops led by Dietrich-sama. In the fight against the Wolf Witch, the light magic that I, a Lou Garou, could use was the key factor. 

We proceeded through the forest while I rode the horse together with Captain Millie. Crow was so enthusiastic in showing his good side in front of the mare that Dietrich-sama rode. Seeing how enthusiastic Crow was, I told him it’d be best to keep things moderately. 

In this forest, the tall trees were so intricately layered that the sunlight couldn’t pierce through the foliage. The place felt damp and filled with numerous swamp. We had to leave our horse in the middle and continued on foot. 

The Wolf Witch must’ve already anticipated our arrival because the wolf kept on coming one after another. The wolf’s weakness was easy to understand. It was light. If you cast a strong flash magic at them, the wolf would become frightened. By making good use of that opportunity, we could easily exterminate them. 

For the gray wolf that bore the power of curse, we could throw the magic stone from the magic lamp that had been infused with light magic beforehand at them. If we do that, the gray wolf would stop moving. 

After walking for three hours, we finally arrived at the old castle. The castle was covered in withering ivy and there was this ominous feeling coming from the castle. We could also hear the howling of a wolf coming from somewhere. 

The castle was surrounded by strong walls and watch towers with jutting out spires. They must be watching our every move. The gate to the castle was closed. Of course we already expected this. About ten knights were breaking the gate open using the log we had carried all the way here. After hitting the gate 10 times, the gate finally broke open. 

At long last, the time had finally come for us to enter the Wolf Witch’s main base. Dietrich-sama boldly advanced forward, not showing a hint of anxiety. The large garden spreading through the courtyard all the way to the castle was filled with nothing but withering roses and decaying trees. There was no sign of any humans living here at all. 

There were wolves in here too. In fact, there were more wolves here compared than in the forest. The knight fought back. Dietrich-sama and Gilbert-sama were also well prepared to fight the Wolf Witch. 

The door to the castle was also closed shut, just like the gate in the castle wall. We also used the log to break the door open. The entrance hall, which was big enough to hold a ball, had a luxurious chandelier hanging at the ceiling. But… The chandelier seemed to be loose. It was swaying from side to side. 

“Wa-Watch out!!!”