Chapter 23
At Owen’s warning, the soldiers looked up at the sky in shock.
In the sky, a giant reptile with huge bat-like wings, sharp teeth, and a long tail was flying towards them.
Seeing the wyvern in person, I was paralyzed with fear and overwhelmed by its intimidating presence.
A brutal predator that humans could never match.
“Ahhh! Run away!”
Amidst the chaos of terrified soldiers screaming, Owen stepped forward and took command.
“Bring crossbows and spears!”
“Don’t scatter! If you scatter, you’ll become wyvern prey!”
While the soldiers who barely regained their senses were bringing weapons, Owen drew his sword and charged at the wyvern.
It was a critical moment as the wyvern’s massive claws were about to tear Owen apart.
“Watch out, Owen!”
A deafening sound rang out as Owen’s sword clashed with the wyvern’s claws.
Owen barely blocked the wyvern’s tremendous force but lost his balance and fell to the ground.
“Ugh!”
The wyvern flapped its wings and tried to tear Owen’s chest with its steel-like beak.
“Kyaang! Dodge!”
Owen quickly threw himself sideways to avoid the wyvern. A soldier threw him a shield, and Owen barely blocked the wyvern’s beak with it.
Clang!
The wyvern flapped its wings and changed direction after failing its attack.
The wyvern quickly scanned around for its next victim. Its murky yellow eyes stared directly at me.
I was too shocked to even scream.
The wyvern’s sharp teeth gleamed and drool dripped from its mouth. The wyvern charged at me with terrifying force.
“Shushu, dodge!”
Owen reached out to me, and Ron ran towards me screaming. Other soldiers also rushed in to save me.
Ah, no. They’ll all die by the wyvern trying to save me.
I wanted to save everyone. If only I had such power. My desperate feelings stirred something inside me.
I closed my eyes and focused on that feeling. That sensation grew and spread throughout my body.
It resonated with the natural air, and the surrounding snow.
I swung my fluffy tail hard against the snowy ground.
Whoosh!
A massive snowstorm arose and engulfed the wyvern. The fierce snowstorm wrapped around the wyvern as sharp ice rained down.
The wyvern struggled, staggering around trying to escape the snowstorm.
“Watch out! It’s coming this way!”
The disoriented wyvern let out an angry roar and swung its long tail. The ground was deeply gouged wherever its tail hit.
Just then, someone ran at high speed from the edge of the training ground and leaped high. He held a massive bastard sword in his hand.
“Karden?”
Karden swung his sword like lightning and tore off the wyvern’s wing. It was like watching a billowing sail being ripped apart.
Kaaak!
The wyvern roared and swung its claws, but Karden brought his sword down vertically.
The blade severed the wyvern’s body, and dark red blood sprayed up.
Thud! The massive wyvern collapsed helplessly onto the snow.
“The Commander has slain the wyvern!”
The soldiers raised their weapons high and cheered.
Belatedly, Maildra and Burke arrived at the training ground, breathing heavily. They seemed to have run straight here from patrolling the outer walls.
Ron picked me up and checked if I was hurt.
Snowballs were hanging from my tail from creating the snowstorm. Ron brushed off the snow from my tail and asked.
“Shushu, are you hurt?”
“No, don’t worry. I’m perfectly fine.”
“You were amazing. That snowstorm saved us. Thank you so much.”
Ron praised me with a bright smile. I felt a bit shy. I had only delayed the wyvern’s advance – Karden was the one who killed it.
Owen also came over and gently stroked my head.
“Being able to create a snowstorm, you seem to have special powers.”
The soldiers also gathered around me, competing to praise me.
Actually, I was bewildered too. Being able to create a snowstorm with my tail – it was strange and unbelievable.
“Step back.”
A cold voice silenced everyone.
“Co-Commander!”
The soldiers hurriedly parted like the Red Sea. Karden approached me with a rigid expression, as if forcefully suppressing his anger.
I froze under his overwhelming presence, and Ron holding me did the same.
“Shushu, do you have any idea how dangerous it was to fight the wyvern?!”
His growling voice was mixed with undisguisable anger and worry. His deep blue eyes pierced painfully.
My ears drooped slightly and my body shrank. I felt hurt and even resentful towards Karden for being angry at me.
Ron carefully intervened while protecting me.
“Your Grace, please don’t be angry. Everyone is safe thanks to Shushu. Shushu stopped the wyvern by creating a snowstorm.”
“That’s right. Without Shushu, we couldn’t have fought the wyvern.”
Owen also stepped forward to defend me. I was so moved by their protection that I felt tears welling up.
Karden, who had been standing silently, let out a faint sigh. He turned his gaze to stare at me intently. He reached out and lightly stroked my fur.
“You could have been hurt. Don’t do such dangerous things again.”
His large hand stroking my fur trembled slightly. Though he spoke in a calm voice, the fear underlying his voice was clearly felt.
It was the first time I’d seen Karden, who I thought was always strong and cold, show such fear.
He was truly afraid I might get hurt.
Realizing this, my hurt feelings melted away like snow.
Karden’s hand gently stroked my pointed ears. I could feel tender affection in his touch.
It was strange. Being able to feel someone’s feelings through their gestures.
Perhaps being an animal that couldn’t speak made me more attentive to others’ subtle gestures and gazes.
Karden’s palm had several wounds from fighting the wyvern.
I lightly licked his palm wounds. With each touch of my tongue, the wounds healed with a soft glow.
It was amazing how my saliva could heal wounds. But even more amazing was Karden’s expression as he watched me, like dazzling sunlight.
Just then, Burke carefully approached and saluted.
“Commander, what should we do with the wyvern’s corpse?”
Karden, who had been staring blankly at me, stiffened his shoulders and withdrew his hand. He returned to his usual cold commander expression.
“Captain Burke, take care of the wyvern’s corpse.”
“Yes, Commander.”
Burke and the elite soldiers began skinning the dead wyvern with daggers.
Wyvern hides, tendons, and claws were useful for armor and arrowheads. And monster byproducts were valuable.
I heard the hide became armor, teeth became weapons, and magic stones were coveted by merchants and mages.
The House of Helleide gained great profits selling monster byproducts and became financially powerful. In the original story, Karden had attempted rebellion using his military and financial power.
Burke skillfully separated the wyvern’s bones, skin, and removed tendons.
As I was peeking curiously, seeing a monster being dismembered for the first time, Karden’s hand covered my eyes.
“Kyaang? Why? I want to watch too.”
“This isn’t something for little ones to see.”
I don’t like being treated like a child. Despite my appearance, I’m an adult who’s been through life’s ups and downs.
I had no choice but to stay quietly in Karden’s arms. He took me to the strategy room above the knights’ training hall.
He headed not to the desk but to the fireplace.
“Your fur is all wet. You’ll catch a cold if we don’t dry it quickly.”
“I’m fine though? I’m not cold at all.”
Karden carefully dried my wet fur with a towel while letting me bask in the firelight.
Usually, Betty could handle this, but Karden was so serious about drying my fur that I stayed quiet.
Just as my fur became fluffy like dandelion fluff and I was starting to nod off drowsily,
There was a knock at the door and Maildra, Owen, and Ron entered.
They stopped in their tracks with a start. As if they’d seen something they shouldn’t have.
It was shocking indeed.
The stern and cold Grand Duke crouched down and put his all into drying a fox’s fur.
But the three of them rushed forward, competing to speak.
“Your Grace, please let me handle drying the fur.”
“No, I can dry it with wind magic.”
“I’ve raised dogs before so I’m good at drying fur.”
I tilted my head in disbelief.
Why are they all fighting to dry my fur?
Karden frowned in displeasure and spoke coldly to the three.
“Enough. Let’s start the strategy meeting.”
The three sat at the round table with visible disappointment. I also sat quietly on a chair with a soft cushion.
Karden looked around at his subordinates and began speaking.
“It’s unusual for a wyvern to fly this far to the border guard. Could something be wrong with the border wall?”
Ron hesitated before raising his hand slightly to share his opinion.
“The defensive magic circle installed on the northern wall might be damaged. Shouldn’t we go investigate directly?”
I lifted my head sharply from where I had been leisurely grooming my fur on the cushion.
Wait, if it’s the wall with the magic circle installed, is that the same place I saw when I first possessed the fox?
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