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Right then, Leon suddenly showed up in their line of sight with Ruri in tow—
“Um, Anya.” Leon’s expression was dead serious. “We found something.”
“What did you find—?” Druid girl Anya asked at once.
“Come with me.”
About three kilometers east of their campsite, there was a lake. Leon had first gone there just to fetch water, but by a twist of fate, on an open patch near the lakeshore he’d seen—
A complete wolf skeleton lying in a shallow pit. From the look of it, it had crashed down from the sky; the trees around it had all been knocked over and snapped in every direction.
It was a huge wolf skeleton, like some fossil exhibit. The bones themselves glowed a dark crimson.
It looked like it had been lying here under wind and rain for a long time.
Every girl present stared in shock. Especially Naya—she had the vague feeling she’d seen this before—
“This thing is identical to the one that possessed your teacher,” Leon said to Anya.
Leon’s one sentence shattered Naya’s confusion.
“It really is identical…” Naya said.
With a soft whoomph, Anya changed back into human form. She stared blankly at the skeleton for a long time before finally forcing out a name—
“Wolf God Alfinis—?”
Naya looked at her. “You mean the god who grants hunters Tracking Art?”
Naya suddenly remembered what the hunter girl had once said—“Alfinis is a white wolf, y’know.”
Aile let out a startled ah. “You sure?”
“Could it be… Nature’s Will is actually the Wolf God Alfinis?” Anya’s teacher, the Archdruid, had once told her: on the night of the full moon, Nature’s Will reaches its peak. Thinking back on it now, that really did sound kinda wolf-related!
Judging by the scene, this giant wolf had fallen straight out of the sky. Was it its descent that had driven the monsters who originally lived in the Murmuring Forest to flee—? This peaceful scenery, this harmony in the woods—this was exactly the path of nature Druids pursued!!
As for why it had turned into a skeleton…
Leon said, “You said your teacher received the flesh and blood of Nature’s Will in the Murmuring Forest? What were the details? Did he ever mention them?”
Anya shook her head. “No. He never told us the specifics. He kept saying he inherited Nature’s Will so he could carry out nature’s duties in its place.”
Leon stared at the skeleton. Could all this be pieced together into something like this—White Wolf Alfinis, on his last breath, saying: “I’m not going to make it… From now on, you shall inherit my power—!”
“Oh? Then I’ll help myself.” said the Archdruid as he whipped out a steak knife and fork.
…………………………
“These are the bones your teacher left behind after eating.”
“N-no, no—!” Anya shook her head desperately. She didn’t dare keep imagining it. Her teacher ate the Wolf God Alfinis, and she—
“You four disciples under him each shared its blood.”
Anya collapsed to the ground.
So this was the truth behind Nature’s Will? And as for why the Wolf God Alfinis had fallen from the sky—could it really be as the Druids claimed, that to restore balance to nature, he triggered the Cataclysm and perished together with all the Sorcerers?
Then where did the Mercurial Deity fit into all this? Clearly something didn’t add up.
“Wait—!” Aile suddenly said. “How can you just decide this must be the Wolf God Alfinis?”
“Huh—?” With Aile saying that, everyone turned to stare at her.
“What if this is just a wolf-shaped demonkin? Whether a so‑called Wolf God Alfinis really exists is still up for debate. I know hunters treat Tracking Art as a gift from the Wolf God, but! Think about the Mercurial Deity! The Mercurial Deity can make its followers grow wings. And a wolf‑type demonkin granting hunters the ability to track prey—that’s not strange at all.”
“Aile has a point,” Leon said. “We can’t say for sure this is a god and not a demonkin.”
Aile let out a long breath. “Honestly, I’m really scared you’ll mistake demonkin for gods. Aio is the one true god! Think about Naya’s Healing Art. And the miracles of Aio that I’ve shown you! Isn’t that enough proof that Aio is the only true deity?”
“If it really is a demonkin—! I—I feel so bad for my teacher—!” Anya’s voice broke and tears slid down her face. “He believed he was doing the right thing up till the very end…”
A pitiful man blinded by demonkin power…
All they could do now was mourn in silence.
Anyway—
“Let’s go,” Leon said. “We should head back. We’ll have to go deeper into Sorcerer territory if we want to uncover more of the truth.”
“Right. Demonkin only appeared after the Cataclysm. The closer we get to Eilant, the more of them we might run into,” Aile said.
Just then, with a flash of golden light, Ruri’s grimoire shot out of thin air!?
This cooldown sure took its sweet time, huh?
Was it because they were getting closer to the center of the continent and magic was slowly reviving?
Ruri flipped the book open and saw the writing inside:
Level: 2
You’ve gained 1 extra chance to draw a spell.
Spells currently obtained:
Freezing Touch
Oh, just a control‑type skill, judging by the name.
Then she checked the spell description:
Turn the body temperature of the first target you touch from positive to negative.
……
To be continued.
