“Sorry, but I need you to take a little nap!” Ebel politely warned him before smashing Placido’s head into the ground.
Rock heard a loud moan and saw his wolflike jaw hit the floor.
This was entirely different from any of the fights she saw on a daily basis in the slums. Both sides had an unshakeable reason not to back down, a resolve they weren’t willing to compromise on, and so it became a fight that tragically shed blood. From the sidelines, their desperation was painful to see and too brutal and cruel to watch.
Still, Rock didn’t look away, she needed to see Ebel was okay with her own eyes from behind the wreckage.
And it was only because she kept her eyes peeled that she immediately noticed another person had entered the sanctuary.
It was the young bishop dressed in a blue robe and white mask.
They appeared with a confident, relaxed gait that belied their age, stopped in the doorway, and raised both arms as they chanted their orders.
“Lauretta Alexis! Protect your beloved husband!”
Lauretta’s head jerked up in horror at the sound of that innocent voice. Startled, she turned her eyes to the bishop, looking as if she’d just received divine orders to kill herself.
“Bishop…what do you mean…?”
“Now is the time to receive new power from the statue!” the bishop declared, pulling a small statue from their robe pocket.
It was a terrifyingly sinister werewolf statue made out of coarse, white quicklime.
Rock instantly recognized it for what it was. She stopped breathing when she saw it.
“NO!”
Rock instinctively jumped into action as she screamed.
Ebel and Guido couldn’t move. She’d no choice but to take matters into her own hands. She couldn’t let Lauretta fall under the curse.
Rock dashed as fast as she could through the rubble toward them.
Lauretta was undoubtedly drawn to the curse now. She was overcome by the desire to save her husband, and that pushed her over the edge. Rock saw her staggering on unsteady feet toward the bishop as if they were offering Lauretta their one and only hope.
The bishop waited there with obnoxious confidence that Lauretta would come to them.
“I won’t let you!”
Right in front of Rock was a piece of a bench someone had broken in half.
Half of a bench should’ve been too heavy for Rock’s slender arms to pick up. Yet, she managed to lift it up then and there. Clenching her teeth, she swung the piece of wood up and chucked it in front of Lauretta as she crept forward.
“KYAAH!”
Lauretta fell backward as the heavy object flew past her.
Rock kept running. Her next objective was the bishop. Stopping them would put an end to everything.
“Wh-What?”
The bishop seemed to notice Rock’s quick approach from under their mask. Rock heard their confused, childish squeak, but it didn’t stop her.
“GO TO HELLLL!”
Rock drew her fist all the way back and slammed it as hard as her momentum would take it into the mask.
Rock was mocked daily for how weak she appeared as a male tailor, but she was up against a much younger child. She was confident she wouldn’t lose, and she’d no intention of holding back either.
More than anything, she held onto the hope that putting a stop to this child would bring her aunt and uncle back to their senses.
With that thought propelling her, she didn’t hesitate to punch them as hard as she could.
“UGH!”
The moment her fist hit the mask, she heard the bishop moan.
Immediately after a dull pain ran up Rock’s hand, there was a crisp sound, and the bishop’s mask cracked clean in half.
The bishop fell backward with the impact. The werewolf statue fell from their small hand, and the shattered mask hit the ground.
Rock stood there with her fist out for a long while.
As an amateur fighter, she thought that pose better prepared her to get another hit in. But anyone looking would only see it as her frozen in place.
Meanwhile, the bishop who was struck by Rock’s weak punch didn’t move either.
They showed no signs of getting up from where they laid flat on their back. They neither moaned nor cursed her. Rather, the lack of movement made her worry they’d stopped breathing.
Eventually, she was concerned enough to check, so she cautiously approached them while keeping her fist out.
The face she saw was as strikingly young as the voice.
“What…? This child was behind it all?”
She could tell he was an innocent little boy even with his eyes pressed shut. He looked around ten years old, had light-brown hair, a round face, and freckled cheeks. He didn’t look like a villain or someone capable of leading a cult.
His cheek was swollen, but he was still breathing. Rock didn’t think her punch was strong enough to knock him unconscious, but he didn’t move even while she was closely staring at his face.
“Roxy, are you all right?” Ebel called, his hands still full with keeping Placido pinned.
“Yes,” Rock responded, just as Lauretta suddenly started screaming like someone who’d just woken up from a trance.
“What…what was I about to do— Noooooooooooooo!”
Apparently, she’d regained her senses. She tightly hugged her shoulders and started shaking on the ground from her overwhelming fear.
“I-I was just about to become a werewolf too! About to give my body and soul over to that…that curse! I was trying to gain power to kill people! But I n-never wanted that!”
“Auntie, calm down, please!” Rock raced over to her aunt and pulled her to her chest to stop her shaking. “You were being controlled. You know that, right? You didn’t do anything bad, right?”
Lauretta clung to Rock too.
“No, no! I wasn’t trying to! I never wanted to kill anyone!”
“I know that, Auntie! I do! So please don’t beat yourself up!”
“But even if I escaped the curse, my husband…!” Lauretta’s quivering voice caught in her throat.
Her gaze went to her werewolf husband being held to the ground by two other werewolves.
Placido also seemed to be in the middle of waking up from a nightmare. He slowly raised his head, his golden eyes shimmering when he returned his wife’s gaze.
He said he’d willingly offered himself up to the curse for his wife. And he’d used and abused that power in whatever way necessary to satisfy his desire to ease his wife’s broken heart.
So how did they both feel now that they had regained their sanity?
“Lauretta…”
The werewolf’s big mouth moved to quietly utter that name.
Ebel and Guido slowly let go and backed away. Placido rose to his feet and plodded toward his wife.
Borrowing Rock’s hand, Lauretta barely managed to stand and hobble toward her husband.
Husband and wife embraced in the middle of the devastated sanctuary hall, as if magnetically drawn to each other. Lauretta instantly broke down and began quietly crying into her husband’s furry chest.
“I’m so sorry, darling…! There was no need for you to get cursed, but you ended up with this body because of me…!”
Placido supported his wife in his arms and answered her feebly. “It’s not your fault. Please don’t let it hurt you so deeply.”
“But—”
“Besides, there’s someone else we have to apologize to first. Don’t you think so, too?” After saying that in a persuasive voice, Placido turned toward Rock. His triangular ears fell flat against his head as he addressed her. “We’ve done something we can never apologize enough to you for, Roxy. I’m truly sorry to have frightened you.”
Rock naturally struggled with how to word her response.
She was undeniably angered by his actions. But she didn’t have it in her to denounce the couple when she witnessed firsthand how they weren’t entirely in cont
rol of themselves when it happened.
“…I’m glad you’re back to yourselves,” she finally managed to squeeze out.
Placido deeply bowed his head to her. “We will do anything to atone for our actions.”
“You don’t have to do that…”
Rock honestly didn’t know how to respond. She had mixed emotions because she had lost a target to direct her anger toward.
Well, there was still someone who fit the bill—the person who manipulated the Alexises and led the Brotherhood sect located in these ruins. He was the main culprit behind it all.
But the boy bishop had yet to regain consciousness.
Ebel and Guido approached him in turns, bending their enormous werewolf bodies to get a good look at his adolescent face. Neither of them seemed convinced he could be the ringleader.
“What’s with the boy? Why’s he here?” Ebel asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Guido responded. “But it’s a fact he came into the room wielding a werewolf statue.”
“Then he’s a member of the Brotherhood? This small child?”
“Don’t ask me, Ebel. I want to know as badly as you do.”
“Everyone here called that child the bishop,” Rock interjected into their conversation.
“This little punk is?!” Guido was so shocked, his tail shot up in alarm. “You must be kidding, tailor! How could a prepubescent child lead a cult?”
“I have a hard time believing it too. But he seemed to be respected by everyone here, and he spoke with confidence.”
While he sounded confident, his tone was still childish, as if he was reciting a script he was made to memorize by some adult.
Rock was suddenly worried that he might not remember a thing after he woke up, now that his mask was broken.
“If you don’t believe it, let’s just ask the boy himself.” Ebel quickly accepted reality and told Guido what to do next. “Let’s take him back alive as discussed. Guido, carry him.”
“Fine. I’ll make him cough up every last detail when he wakes up.”
Guido accepted the situation and gently scooped up the boy clad in a blue robe.
The boy still didn’t wake up. His expression was peaceful, as if he was just in a deep slumber.
“The kid doesn’t even know how easy he has it…”
Ebel offered Rock his hand as she muttered to herself.
“We should get moving too, Roxy. Your father should be back soon.”
“I’m sure he will be. I hope he found Krister.”
Rock nodded and took hold of his big, furry hand. As soon as she did, Ebel pulled her to him and easily lifted her into his arms.
“I-I can walk on my own, thank you!”
Ebel’s tail swished in response to her panic.
“We’ve finally reunited. I don’t want to be apart from you for even a second.”
“W-Well…when you put it like that…”
Rock couldn’t help but accept the situation when he said it with such earnest seriousness. Snuggled up against his broad chest, Rock called out to Lord and Lady Alexis.
“Uncle, Auntie, I’ve some stuff I would like to ask you about once things have calmed down.”
“All right.”
Lauretta looked anxiously up at her husband, who appeared prepared to accept whatever Rock had to say to them.
Feeling a prick in her chest as well, Rock purposely urged them forward in a cheerful voice.
“Let’s get out of here first.”
Phoebe strolled into the sanctuary then, as if he were waiting for the right timing.
“I went all the way in and checked out the place. This guy’s the last person left.”
He had his arm around Krister’s shoulder, helping him walk with one bum leg.
“Father!”
Phoebe flashed a triumphant smile at his daughter. “Hey there, kiddo. Things look awfully hunky-dory here. Did you guys work things out?”
“At least for now? We captured the Brotherhood’s bishop alive, but…”
Rock and Ebel looked to Guido, who pointed to the boy he had slung over his shoulder. Phoebe’s eyes bulged when he saw that tiny body.
“That’s the bishop? Am I the only one who sees a little kid?”
“That’s all I see, too,” Rock sighed.
“I fear I’m the same. We need to question him.”
Just as father, daughter, and Ebel confirmed they weren’t seeing things, Krister suddenly screamed in a shrill voice.
“Werewolves! Three werewolves! Talking werewolves!”
“You only just noticed…?” Phoebe let out a dry laugh, and Krister started babbling like a mad man.
“I’m hella confused, man! Phoebe ain’t dressed like a lady, but a man and is Rock’s da. Rock’s dressed like a lady, surrounded by three werewolves, and all the cultists are gone. What the hell is goin’ on?!”
“Come on, calm down, Krister,” Rock said to pacify the other tailor, who seemed to be losing his mind amidst all the chaos.
“How can you expect me to be calm?! Besides, are you okay over there?!”
Krister looked at Rock cradled in Ebel’s arms as he might a child being carried off in a wolf’s mouth. Naturally, none of the werewolves in the room were a threat.
“There are some good werewolves too,” Rock insisted. “At least no one here is going to hurt you. You can go home now, Krister.”
“Go…home…?” Krister repeated, still failing to see what was going on.
Phoebe readjusted his grip on him to hurry things along.
“Anyway, let’s get outta here. I don’t want to stay any longer in this dusty dungeon.”
With that, Rock, Ebel, Phoebe, Krister, Guido carrying the bishop, and the Alexises all escaped from the ancient ruins.
Not a single soul could be sensed anywhere near the ruins, which had been destroyed from the entrance on. The cultists seemed to have all fled. Perhaps they too, were awaking from a trancelike dream.
Once they made it outside, their party was greeted by three carriages.
One belonged to the Alexises, and the remaining two belonged to Mateus Manor and Linus Manor respectively.
“Master Rock!”
“Roxy!”
Rock squinted her eyes in the direction she heard two ladies’ voices.
Johanna and Michaela had jumped out from behind the carriages parked on top of the small hill, illuminated by the setting sun.
Ebel lowered Rock to the ground as the girls ran down the hill toward them. Thanks to that, Rock was stuck catching both girls as they lunged at her, arms open.
“I’m so glad! So, so glad you are safe!”
“Aaah, Roxy! I’m glad I could keep my promise!”
Johanna and Michaela’s teary voices brought tears to Rock’s eyes too.
“Thank you, both of you.”
“…You give this tailor a grander welcome than your brother? I can’t say I approve,” Guido grumbled with displeasure.
Michaela looked up at him with a watery smile. “I’ll be sure to shower you with thanks later, Brother!” She took a breath and wiped away her tears before continuing with more authority. “We took custody of everyone who fled from the ruins. They all said, ‘I don’t know anything. I don’t even know what I’m doing here.’ But I plan to question them all anyway.”
“This is our only clue too.”
Guido lifted up the boy on his shoulder to show her. Michaela blinked several times but then must’ve determined it was going to be a long story.
“Let’s return home first,” she replied, her expression stern. “Roxy, Brother, Ebel, and…everyone else needs a moment’s rest before we get into it.”
Meanwhile, Danilo rushed down the hill to greet Lord and Lady Alexis.
Had he been waiting outside the whole time? Did some sort of exchange happen between him and Michaela’s group? Whatever went on, he broke down crying the second he saw his masters’ faces.
“Lord Alexis, Lady Alexis…I’m
so relieved to see you’re safe…!”
They both stared at their sobbing butler in stunned silence.
“Danilo… Forgive us for making you worry.”
“We are truly sorry…”
Husband and wife both rubbed his back as he crouched on the ground wiping his tears. Rock watched them interact at a distance.
Although it was only for a few days, and unwilling on her part, these were the people whose roof she’d stayed under. She was deeply moved to see change take place in their lives.
Ebel also watched over them for a time. But then, perhaps because the sun had set, he shook his head and called out to the group.
“It’s important to confirm everyone’s wellbeing, but we can’t stay here forever. We should all board the carriages and return to my manor first.”
Three werewolves were among them, after all.
They may have been on the capital outskirts, but that didn’t guarantee merchants and hunters wouldn’t pass by and see them.
Each carriage was boarded by one werewolf.
The rest squeezed into the cramped, leftover spaces.
Ebel, Rock, Phoebe, Krister, and Johanna all piled into the Mateus carriage. Ebel didn’t want to part from Rock, nor did Phoebe, but Krister refused to ride with people he didn’t know, and Johanna pulled a face like she’d never board another noble’s carriage.
Naturally, the carriage felt as cramped as a sardine can, and Rock sat practically buried into Ebel’s fur.
Ludovicus, the butler, sat holding the reins in the coachman’s seat. Their carriage moved quite a bit slower than the other two.
“A pretty big group came to my rescue, huh?” Rock said into Ebel’s fluff from a position where she couldn’t see his face.
“Wolves form packs, after all,” Ebel replied, his arms tightening around her.
“Does that make me one of the wolves?” Phoebe laughed, shrugging in the tight space.
“That makes me one too!” Johanna happily joined in. “I’m another wolf!”
“…What the hell is wrong with you people?”
Krister eyed them like they were all insane, but it’d take too long to explain.
For now, Rock entrusted herself to Ebel’s furry body in the shaking carriage to enjoy every moment of their safe reunion.
♚Chapter 6: Never Let Go
The Werewolf Count and the Trickster Tailor, Volume 2 Page 19