by Cobyboy
Lying on the ground, the adolescent Spirit Wolf slowly recovered its consciousness as soothing light covered his body. The wounds all over his body from the whipping and kicking were slowly closing, as the blood was being wiped with a piece of ragged cloth.
"I am so sorry for what I have done little one…"
Lady Caroline thoroughly cleaned the dirt and blood from the spirit wolf using a cloth ripped from her long skirt. Sincerity mixed with regret could be felt from her actions as she caressed the limbs and back of the spirit wolf to check whether there were further injuries. Tears rolled down Caroline's face as she chanted a few words. Light swirled around her arms as she re-applied basic healing magic to ensure the condition and safety of the wolf.
The other members of Lady Caroline's party also took the initiative to break the cages within the carriage which freed not only the spirit wolf pups but a few more strong beasts such as a pair of snow tiger cubs. These creatures, however, were not locals within this area, and had been transported from the snowy regions and other locations that are far away. They were only dragged here by Myron's party and had not been immediately sold.
Fragile and timid movements from the freed creatures were proof that they were in a very inhospitable situation as their eyes slowly scanned the surroundings. These animals did not even have enough strength to walk properly, so how could they possibly flee back to where they belong? Most of them did not even move and stayed collapsed in the cages as their siblings licked them in an attempt to wake them up.
The eyes of the adolescent spirit wolf slowly opened as it witnessed the arrows that were scattered everywhere on the ground. Although none of the members, including Lady Caroline, were injured from the attack, the adolescent wolf immediately stood back up as he scanned the area. Before losing consciousness, he remembered that there was a valiant man that had stepped up against the odds in order to help them.
This spirit wolf was mature and empathetic enough to feel that Lady Caroline's party were only forced to resort to such horrible acts. Instead of being angry at what they had done, he was thankful that she had healed all his injuries. Hostility against these people is wasted, as the true culprits were now lifeless on the ground, pierced with numerous arrows. But as for his benefactor, the wolf saw that the man was now surrounded by what seems to be a tribe of elves. The spirit wolves and the elven race have established good relationships for eons. As such, he immediately ran towards the elves that might have misunderstood the situation and accused the wrong person of wrongdoing.
...
Her pointed ears were the perfect proof that this beautiful woman was of the Elven race.
Feihren had been blankly staring at this beautiful lady whose face was already flushed red from all the shouting. The other elves, who are still pointing arrows towards Feihren, were even beginning to show some weird expressions as they observed how pissed off their leader was. They slowly appeared from their hiding places as they prepared to apprehend the culprit.
"You will suffer from all you did you bastard human!" The Elven lady was still angrily cursing towards Feihren.
"I'll have to suffer for what I've done? Woman, I have lent my strength in order to help these poor creatures and apprehend those animal poachers! Can't you see that I am the good guy here?" Feihren replied while forcing his face to remain blank as he was holding in a tiny hint of laughter. He just couldn't take this woman seriously! Although she was a beauty with a body most men would only dream of touching, she was showering him with saliva in between her words like a baby who couldn't utter her sentences properly. It's probably not that she's illiterate, but the anger she's trying to 'spit' at him with her words could only be interpreted as something hilarious to Feihren.
"A good guy huh? When we scouted, we discovered that you were one of these humans that attacked our spirit guardians! Don't you dare lie to me!" She continued to answer Feihren angrily.
"I didn't know elven scouts had such bad eyesight...Okay lady, let's just clean things up here first. You should go and help those beasts out as some of them are heavily injured. We can talk after all this has settled down, alright?" Feihren became tired with all this arguing and proposed a plan to this elven lady.
A series of barks and a loud howl interrupted the argument as a Spirit Wolf could be seen rushing towards the group of elves and Feihren. This scene has shocked everyone that was present, including Lady Caroline's party. What surprised all of them the most was that the Spirit Wolf was standing in front of Feihren as though it was defending him! It barked repeatedly towards the elves as if trying to stop them from attacking Feihren any further.
The angry elven lady that was shouting a while ago had shut her mouth as she slowly approached the Spirit Wolf. The elves had shared friendly relations with the Spirit Wolves for such a long time that they have created a method of basic communication. Young Spirit wolves do not have the ability to speak a proper language, but they could ultimately understand each other.
The elven lady slowly placed her palm on the wolf's forehead as both had stopped 'barking'. The lady's expression changed a few times as she saw everything from the wolf's perspective. By the end, her whole face was red once more, but it seems that she wasn't angry anymore. Instead, she was bowing her head deeply to avoid having eye contact with Feihren. She was playing with her fingers as she muttered with a really low and gentle voice...
"...I ... I am very sorry..." She immediately ran back behind the group of elves in the direction of the rumored village of the elven tribe.
"What's up with her?"
Feihren guessed that she had seen everything and now knows the truth, but he was not expecting that kind of reaction... Did she just run away? Wasn't she spunky enough to yell at me with such vigor a while ago? Where did all that spunk go?
The other elves sighed and shook their head a few times as they lowered their weapons.
Chapter 45: Mirage Village of the Elves
Vera Beau, the daughter of the elven chief, was running nimbly through the forest without a care for any obstacle as she leapt and swung through the boulders and branches. This was the beautiful lady that led the group of elven archers into the fray in order to recover the kidnapped Spirit Guardians from the pesky humans. She was now running towards their village instinctively as she replayed her embarrassing actions over and over in her head.
"Ah! What have I done! I have just embarrassed myself in front of a... hero..." Vera muttered to herself as she hid behind her hair while running, the redness was still apparent on her face.
...
The group of elven archers could tell that Feihren was not actually their enemy based on the reaction of their lady. They immediately bowed in unison as they asked for his forgiveness. The adolescent spirit wolf was playful towards Feihren and the other elves, showing that this person was indeed someone trustworthy.
'They just apologized... after raining down arrows on me...? Damn'.
Feihren could not help but think that an apology was not quite enough, even though he wasn't hurt or anything. But besides an apology, he guessed that there was nothing much he could really ask for in return.
He nodded a few times to these elves before pointing to the direction of the abused beasts.
"I think a few of those poor creatures are in need of healing magic and some nutrition. Please go help them already. Ah, and as for those people... I'll take care of them." Feihren glanced at Lady Caroline's party, which was aiding the injured beasts.
'I guess they weren't really with the bad guys after all. Hmm, is that the reason why they didn't attack me when I showed up? Alright, then I guess I won't kill them...'
Feihren thought about his pathetic punchline, yet somewhat cool entrance. Just the mere fact that he hadn't moved at all yet subdued three people would be enough to make up for the bad opening line. He nodded a few times due to satisfaction as he walked towards the group of adventurers.
Feihren's approaching figure caught the attention of the adventur
ers as they immediately stopped what they were doing and kneeled in unison.
"""We apologize for what we have done, sire!"""
"We did not mean to harm these creatures! It was not something we really wanted to do... We are sorry!"
The party of adventurers sincerely apologized to him, with Lady Carloine going a little further. Feihren had figured out that this group was separate from the group that had attacked him back when he first showed up. As for them doing such heinous jobs like animal poaching, Feihren could narrow down the reasons to one, money. This team of adventurers who seems to be well off and decent were still forced to do such acts, and as such...
"Ah, don't mind it. I just couldn't stand the 'injustice'. Although it saddens me to see that you people are forced to do such things... I know for myself that it is not easy being a full-time adventurer, so..."
Feihren acted as if he was searching through the seams and pockets of his cheap clothing while he opened his Inventory and took out a palm-sized diamond.
Tossing it towards Lady Caroline, he continued,
"I hope that this will be enough to last for a while. Please do take care, and I hope that our fates would allow us to meet again. By the way, my name is Gama Feihren. I am the king of the Wolfenstein Kingdom. Nice meeting you all."
'King?!? This person right here is a king?'
The group hesitated in believing what Feihren had just said, and yet... The fact that he was extremely strong and the object that Lady Caroline was holding right now... It was more than enough proof for this man to be a king. He was a powerful wolf who was hiding in sheep's clothing!
The party of adventurers bowed deeply as they bid their farewells. Feihren threw a sincere smile at the party who was slowly disappearing into the forest.
"Hmmm, they will reach Sechua City if they head in that direction... Well, I guess we'll see each other sooner than I thought."
Feihren smiled once again as he went towards the carriages which were used to hold the wolves, and the group of elves who were still helping the beasts.
"It will be better if we move them to a place where we can provide better treatment for them. They need a proper place to rest at least."
Feihren checked the conditions of the animals as he decided to do some of the healing himself. One of the Snow Tigers already had extremely low health as its breathing is getting slower by the second. Feihren still had over 30 million general exp on his status page. He had only touched it once for the repairs he had to do on the Demonic Carbine. Aside from that, all the exp he got from the clash at the eastern stronghold was still intact.
Green lights started swirling within Feihren's palm as he touched the Snow tiger and the other beasts that were also fading. It only took a few minutes before vitality could be seen again within the eyes of these beasts. Removing the cages and other devices within the carriages, Feihren carefully placed the beasts that were now resting within the carriage as he started pulling it.
'He can use, [Forest Healing Magic]?' A few of the archers were keen enough to observe that Feihren had actually helped the beast to recover faster. Some thought that the green light was just something to scan the beast or whatnot.
"It's best that I leave these beasts within your village, it would help them recover faster. I have heard that there is a special place in your village that helps for faster recovery?"
Feihren instinctively said all these things. As for the rumor of that 'special place', he had only heard it from Marvin when they were chatting about random things one time. That guy was really fond of rumors and myths, but it seems that most of them were actually true according to Feihren's experience.
The elves looked at each other with a confused expression on their faces...
"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself... I am Gama Feihren. I am currently the king of the Wolfenstein Kingdom."
Feihren had guessed that they might be a little suspicious towards him as he hadn't yet introduced himself.
"Wolfenstein Kingdom? It has been so long since we've made contact with those people... It seems that they are under a better ruler now."
One of the archers smiled as he checked Feihren from head to toe.
"Although we do not have the right to allow any stranger to traipse about within our territory, we'll make an exception for now as you have helped us with the Spirit Guardians. For that, we sincerely thank you."
Another elven archer that is somewhat old spoke up.
"Come, our village is not that far away from here. Although no other man could easily locate it..."
The old aged archer guided the way. The Spirit Wolf excitedly led the way as he jumped around beside Feihren like a playful dog.
Single-handedly dragging the carriage full of beasts, Feihren and the group of elves have arrived at a place in the forest with extremely thick fog. 7 of the old archers chanted some kind of spell which Feihren could barely hear let alone understand. The mist that covered the area slowly dispersed as a grand looking village appeared in front of him.
On the gate of the village was an old man and a gorgeous looking lady.
'Eh? It's that woman from before... Hope she doesn't start acting weird again...'
Chapter 46: Ancestral Armor Absorption
"Greetings, young man." The elven chief cheerfully greeted Feihren. "I have heard from my daughter here that you have helped us recover the abducted Spirit Guardians, and for that I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart. It is nice to see that people with good intentions like you still exist." The chief added. Vera Beau blushed as she avoided looking at Feihren.
Feihren bowed respectfully towards the chief as he heard the praises. He had only acted by instinct at that time, as he could not stand seeing such abuse, especially towards helpless animals like the spirit wolf pups. It would take a heartless person to ignore such a situation easily.
One of the elven archers within the group interjected as they approached the village gate,
"Chief, this man right here is Gama Feihren. He claims to be the current King of the Wolfenstein Kingdom."
The elven archer introduced Feihren as he nodded in approval.
"King of the Wolfenstein Kingdom? Then… What happened to the grandson of that devious old man Louie?"
Surprised by the information given by the elven archer, the chief immediately asked Feihren about the happenings within the Wolfenstein Kingdom as he caressed his bearded chin.
"Ah, you knew about them? Well, a supposed rebellion was planned out by the soldiers within the Kingdom as they could not handle the tyranny of King Louie anymore. That old man was just breeding humans for food within his kingdom you know?"
Feihren told the old chief all about what was going on with the Wolfenstein Kingdom before he came to conquer it, and then he included some of the changes he added.
"Ah, how far he has fallen… He was a prominent king back then. He was one of the youngest kings to have ever handled the throne. I knew him personally once upon a time. I was quite young back then when my father had a close relationship with him. They remained good friends until that day when he decided to betray us, and stole one of our sacred treasures. How is he doing now? Have you captured him or was he able to flee during the uprising?"
The elven chief reminisced about the times when they had peaceful ties with the human's of the Wolfenstein Kingdom.
"Ah… He's… already dead." Feihren hesitated to reply. It was awkward to admit to someone about people that are already dead, as you have to fill them in on what really happened.
"Huh? Dead? That would be a bit impossible, wouldn't it lad? Back when he boldly stole one of our treasures he was already a master of the Dark Arts, and had cultivated a forbidden skill in order to prolong his life almost indefinitely. With how he was going he would have gained a pseudo-immortality by now." The elven chief interjected as he spewed information that Feihren already knew.
"I personally killed him, although it is a long story… Ah!" Feihren stopped his sentence short as h
e remembered something that could be proof to all of the chief's queries,
"Does this happen to be your treasure?"
Feihren waved his hands as a large, dark-colored cloak incrusted with tough dragon scales appeared in front of the elven chief.
'[Dark Dragons' Cloak] (Legendary)'
"This... this was the stolen treasure! You do have it... This could only mean that..." The chief could only mutter these words due to the item that appeared in front of him.
Feihren nodded as he continued. "Yes, I did acquire it from King Louie himself... But, could I ask one more question? Is this also one of your elven treasures?" Again, Feihren waved his hand as another item appeared.
'[Jade Dragon Armor] (Legendary)'