One by one, the warriors returned to their starting points. The animals they caught were loaded onto carts trailing behind them.
“The warriors are back! I wonder what they caught?”
“Wild boars? I see deer too.”
People craned their necks to watch the returning warrior procession.
Those who caught many animals looked triumphant, while those with less downcast.
“Let’s see who wins the bets.”
“No doubt about it. This year’s winner is…”
The awaiting people scrutinized the carts to guess the winner.
“Look! Didn’t I tell you!”
A woman sprang up, pointing somewhere. Following her finger, everyone’s eyes shifted.
“This year’s winner is decided.”
“Yeah, it was too obvious, wasn’t it?”
As expected, the male winner was Karan.
“Wait a minute. It wasn’t that obvious! Huh? That’s an ele-, an elephant!”
Everyone’s eyes widened. Trailing a dejected Karan was a cart carrying an elephant.
The winner was as predicted, but the beast he caught was alarming.
“You’re right, an elephant! How did he take that down?”
Lions are often cited as the most difficult animal to hunt, but elephants are even harder.
Not only their massive size, but also immense strength–elephants only appear docile because they lack natural predators.
Enrage an elephant, and it could easily demolish several houses.
That Karan felled an elephant meant his victory was deserved.
Watching the dignified Karan approach from afar, Tyllo’s lips curved slightly upward.
He had inwardly worried the supposedly skilled Chase may outdo Karan, but it was needless concern.
This year, Tyllo increasingly felt his son was an impeccable warrior.
His skills could not have improved so rapidly, so what caused Karan’s sudden prominence?
‘Elise, is it because of that child?’
Tyllo easily found the answer.
If the ability to elevate others counts as a talent and skill, then Elise was certainly a talented child.
But only to that extent.
The clear limitation of those unable to shine themselves was apparent.
Someone who is merely an accessory to another does not suit Lysandro.
‘A Bedrokkan, the former fiancée of a Bedrokkan prince at that…’
That point seemed to nag at him. Not that he would hastily discard the newly engaged girl.
Since it was a position she had attained herself, he would give her a chance to make her mark.
Tyllo set that chance at one year. But the wait was fleeting.
“Wh-what is that?”
“A silver wolf?”
“Yeah! A silver wolf. Who caught the silver wolf…? Gasp, isn’t that His Highness’ fiancée!”
Tyllo looked ahead. Elise strode boldly into the grounds. By her side was a silver wolf– alive.
****
Inside Tyllo’s tent, Elise sat across from him.
As the silver wolf bared its teeth with a growl, Tyllo flinched.
“Stay still.”
At Elise’s command while stroking its mane, the wolf shook its body in seeming displeasure before plopping down, resting its chin on crossed forepaws.
Those watching Elise and the wolf let out gasps of astonishment.
Not only was the famously reclusive silver wolf appearing before people, but the ferocious symbol of Lysandro actually obeyed a human’s words!
There were even rumors they were extinct from so rarely being seen.
Tyllo, born and raised in Tetris, had only glimpsed a silver wolf once in his childhood youth.
And that was by sheer chance, a newborn pup.
Yet here was Elise stroking its mane like a pet dog–a silver wolf larger than most bears.
She seemed to have tamed the silver wolf.
In Tyllo’s long life, he had never heard of a person taming a silver wolf before.
So when Elise appeared in the grounds with the silver wolf, more than congratulations, he felt puzzled.
Just what had happened?
Tyllo had summoned Elise to this tent to hear her explain the situation.
“Tell me what happened.”
Elise began her story slowly.
“I went deep into the forest for the hunt.”
She did not mention the map Regina had procured, worried it may cause Regina trouble.
“In the deep forest, I encountered the silver wolf.”
“And then?”
Tyllo leaned forward as Elise paused to catch her breath.
“How did you survive? No one who meets a silver wolf lives. They do not let anyone who discovers their den and family live.”
Tyllo only survived seeing a silver wolf because it was a pup at the time. He had also quickly fled.
As Tyllo said, most who encountered adults met their demise.
Or were so severely injured they could no longer live normally.
Yet Elise seemed completely unscathed.
“I simply used some minor tricks.”
“What tricks?”
“May I dismiss the others for a moment?”
At Elise’s request, Tyllo gestured.
“Your Majesty, it’s too dangerous.”
Pax had been scrutinizing the silver wolf the entire time, as untamed beasts could bare fangs at any moment.
Tyllo glanced between Pax and Elise before waving his hand.
“Leave us.”
Tyllo had a good sense, especially about his own life force. He felt certain he would not die here. An inexplicable conviction that Elise would not allow it.
Unable to refuse the second order, Pax quietly withdrew outside.
“I’ve heard you out, so speak frankly now. What tricks did you use for the silver wolf to submit to you?”
“I…”
Elise smiled faintly, recalling the past.
[A silver wolf? How did His Highness Chase obtain that beast? What did he intend with it?]
[To put Miss Elise in peril.]
Before leaving, Melanie had divulged in detail the scheme she and Chase had been hatching.
‘Chase planned to kill me. Even if I survived by chance, he intended to bring me down for harming Lysandro’s symbol.’
Why did he hate her enough to want her dead? He clung to her whenever drunk, yet she could not fathom Chase at all.
‘He’s just insane. I don’t need to understand him.’
Elise shook her head slightly to discard those thoughts.
Tyllo was waiting for her answer.
“Compared to Tetris warriors, my swordsmanship is pitiful.”
“I’m aware.”
“And though I was born with a magician’s bloodline, my magic skills are lacking. However, I do possess a small talent.”
“What is it?”
“I can draw magic circles. Though lacking in mana, I can meticulously draw magic circles to compensate for that deficiency.”
“I didn’t ask to hear you boast. I’m asking how you tamed the silver wolf.”
“Yes, that was the preface. From the start, I had no intention of fighting the formidable beast, since I couldn’t win that way. However, I did want to win the hunting festival.”
“But you can’t win the hunting festival without felling a formidable beast?”
“It said to catch one, not kill it. So from the beginning, I planned to capture the beast alive, not kill it.”
It was a unique perspective. But not an incorrect one, so Tyllo nodded to prompt her to continue.
“So I engraved many magic circles onto my sword.”
“If you could trigger magic with the circles, couldn’t you hunt adequately despite poor swordsmanship?”
“I’m not skilled at offensive magic. Moreover, even minor offensive spells require immense mana.”
Tyllo clicked his tongue in disappointment. Through their conversation, he had quietly hoped Elise could compensate for Tetris’ shortcomings.
Disregarding Tyllo’s reaction, Elise went on.
“So instead of offensive magic, I engraved circles to calm agitation.”
“But isn’t mind magic even harder to use?”
“Mind magic is complex in drawing the circles, but doesn’t actually require that much mana to activate. Especially since my target was an animal.”
It was far easier to influence an animal’s mind than to manipulate a highly intelligent human’s.
Elise first used the circles to calm the silver wolf’s agitation, then triggered a bonding magic circle.
This too was possible because it was an animal.
‘If I had used bonding magic on a human, I could have been the one influenced instead.’
Through that brief bond, Elise learned why the silver wolf had descended to the hunting grounds.
The silver wolf had lost its pup. The third time this had happened.
Unlike devious humans, the sincere silver wolves assumed their cubs were taken by other animals, nature’s course.
But that was not the case. Humans had stolen the pups. Tracking its pup’s scent led the wolf to that cave–where Elise encountered it.
Elise promised the silver wolf she would find its pup, or at least punish those who stole it.
So the silver wolf followed Elise, both to keep watch and protect her until she fulfilled that vow.
Elise omitted the intricate details.
“So you’re saying you tamed the silver wolf using two magic circles?”
‘Tamed’ seemed inappropriate – it was closer to a deal. But Elise did not correct it.
The woman who tamed Lysandro’s symbolic silver wolf – what a splendid title.
Elise knew how to readily grasp the fortune that came her way.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
But she dared not appear arrogant before Tyllo, so she nodded humbly in response.
“The process could not have been easy?”
Tyllo glanced at Elise’s forearm. On the arm not holding a sword were distinct bite marks.
Not deep, but threatening enough injuries.
They looked small now, cleaned and staunched, but had she panicked when the silver wolf attacked instead of being a seasoned warrior, the outcome could have been disastrous.
Conversely, the silver wolf appeared completely unscathed.
“Why didn’t you retaliate? If you had died, it would have ruined this joyous occasion.”
Tyllo’s question verged on a rebuke.
“Did you wish to flee? Did fear make you evade it?”
