“Ugh, so noisy!”
Jeffrey, sprawled on the living room sofa, buried his head into a cushion and covered his ears, shuddering.
“The dogs are loud. It feels like the whole village is about to collapse.”
Anne, who was organizing the cupboard, paused her work and glanced out the window. Baroness Voltman, seated at the dining table, replied in a worried tone.
“Indeed. This has never happened before.”
“Could it be that the wild dog tribe is coming down?”
“We have to trust their promise. They did vow not to attack the village until tomorrow.”
As she spoke, she noticed Theon and me entering the kitchen and offered a subtle smile.
“It’s probably nothing.”
It was clear her words were meant to reassure us. I walked over to the Baroness, smiled brightly, and said,
“Yes! The dogs in the village where I used to live barked a lot too!”
“Did they?”
“They barked when they were hungry, when visitors arrived, and even when they were bored….”
As I chattered away, the expressions of the Baroness and Anne gradually softened.
“Too noisy!”
“Jeffrey, you’re the noisiest one here.”
Anne scolded Jeffrey, who was whining in the living room. Meanwhile, the barking of the dogs outside continued unabated.
At this level, there was no need to worry about the wild dog tribe not hearing it.
‘Pochi did a great job!’
Earlier.
I had asked Jeffrey to tell Pochi to get the village dogs to bark together.
Maybe realizing it was my request, Pochi showed some small signs of rebellion.
“Big sister Berry, she says she doesn’t want to.”
“Huh?”
“She’s asking why she should listen to orders from a human she’s just met.”
Even her pride mirrored Calypso’s.
It was Theon who managed to intimidate the tiny Chihuahua, baring her rice-grain-sized teeth.
“Pochi, if you don’t do it, there’ll be no more snacks for you.”
“Bark!”
“Oh, she understood you, Theon. She said, ‘Who do you think you are!’”
“If the wild dog tribe destroys the village, it won’t just be snacks you lose. You might end up homeless, wandering the streets. You’ll be forced to dig through trash bins for scraps of food, and even then, it might be spoiled. Are you okay with that?”
“… Big bro, Do I have to translate all of that?”
But there was no need for Jeffrey to relay the message.
Oppressed by Theon’s presence, Pochi slowly bent her legs to the ground, then rolled over to expose her belly.
Theon turned to me and said,
“This is what you call negotiation, right, Berry?”
No, that’s intimidation.
But I missed the chance to correct him. Who would’ve thought Theon would pick things up so quickly? Overcome by the scent of success, I couldn’t help but feel slightly impressed by Theon.
In any case…
“Woof! Woof! Awoooo!”
I chuckled as I listened to the dogs barking loudly.
‘We have something to say to the wild dog tribe! Come down to the entrance of the mountain when the humans are asleep!’
‘I’ll tell you how to solve the food shortage!’
‘The mountain won’t collapse!’
***
“Teacher.”
Reytan woke up at the sound of someone calling him late at night. It was definitely Theon’s voice, yet his disciple wasn’t in the room.
The sound was coming from behind the closed door.
A dry laugh escaped him.
‘Did he infuse his voice with energy?’
A skilled swordsman could channel their energy into everything they expressed.
While some were naturally talented, they were a minority. For everyone else, it required years of experience to master.
And yet…
‘Unstable, but he’s already managing to infuse energy into his voice?’
It was only recently that Reytan had taught him a breathing technique. What incredible intuition.
‘That’s why he’s my disciple.’
Still half-asleep, Reytan smiled faintly as he turned to his side. Berry was sound asleep.
The Voltman Barony’s house had only one guest room.
Reytan and Berry shared the guest room, Anne slept on the living room sofa, and Jeffrey stayed in Theon’s room. Marshall had gone to a nearby neighbor’s house, where they had a spare room available.
‘Sleep well.’
Reytan lightly touched Berry’s cheek with his fingertip, adjusted her blanket, and carefully got out of bed.
As he walked to the door, he rubbed his face with his large hand. In an instant, his drowsy expression transformed back into his usual sharp demeanor.
Reytan opened the door.
“What’s going on at this hour, Theon?”
However, Theon wasn’t alone. Anne stood beside him in the hallway, looking up at Reytan anxiously.
Anne fidgeted nervously as she spoke.
“Jeffrey is missing.”
“When?”
“About thirty minutes ago. I woke up and realized he wasn’t there.”
Theon responded to Reytan’s question.
Theon was a cautious child. If he was waking Reytan in the middle of the night about Jeffrey’s disappearance, it meant he had already checked all the usual places.
Reytan returned to the room, grabbed the coat hanging on the rack, and came back out. Berry was still sound asleep.
“I’ll have to check outside.”
The suspicious barking of the dogs earlier that day lingered in his mind. It could be dangerous, so he needed to act quickly.
Careful not to wake the Voltman Baron and his wife, Reytan headed toward the front door. As he did, he spoke quietly to Theon, who was following him.
“Theon, stay in the house. It’s time for kids to sleep.”
Theon nodded.
Reytan stepped outside with Anne. Jeffrey was nowhere to be seen.
“Anne, do you know where Jeffrey might have gone? Any place that caught his interest today?”
“Um… This morning, he did say he wanted to go to the training spot on the hill after following young master Theon. He kept insisting he wanted to learn swordsmanship….”
Anne spoke hesitantly, her voice unsure.
The Oak Hill, huh? From there, they could oversee the entire village, so even if it turned out to be nothing, it wouldn’t hurt to check.
“Let’s head there.”
The path leading to Oak Hill was a bit far from the log house.
Reytan walked along the rural road with Anne by his side.
The quiet rural village was surrounded by silence. The sounds of crickets and frogs echoed in the night.
‘Marquess Ash.’
Through Reytan’s independent investigation, he found many suspicious points regarding that man’s land development activities.
Land documents that suddenly appeared last year, verification by so-called experts completed in less than a year, and the land development approval granted by Viscount Roslin, the lord of the area.
They were all working together.
Marshall had confirmed Reytan’s suspicions.
“They say they’re going to bulldoze the mountain where the wild dog tribe lives. It seems they’re planning to build a trade route.”
Earlier that evening.
Marshall had returned from the bustling district, where she had visited the bank, and shared what she had overheard with Reytan.
The large vineyard owned by the Ash family. The wine produced there was meant to be supplied to commercial hubs, but the mountain occupied by the wild dog tribe stood in the way.
As a result, they had to take a detour around the mountain, significantly increasing the travel distance. This often led to the wine spoiling or losing business to competitors.
“The mountain must have been a thorn in their side. Since it’s the territory of the beast tribe, they wouldn’t have been able to buy it. So they forged the land documents?”
“That seems to be the case. In the end, it’s always the ones at the top causing trouble. How are us common folk supposed to live?”
Marshall clicked her tongue in disapproval.
The Ash family’s methods were filthy and corrupt. And Viscount Roslin, leeching off them, was no better.
Seeing the displeasure on Reytan’s face, Marshall spoke.
“Marquess Ash, huh? Are you planning to do something about him?”
“No.”
“That’s a lie. Judging by the way you’re pretending otherwise, you’re definitely planning something. But this time, just let it go.”
“What do you mean?”
Reytan looked at Marshall, silently asking for an explanation. Instead of answering, she tapped her leg with her fist a couple of times.
“Oh dear, now even my legs are aching. Someone should give me a massage. Just my shoulders won’t cut it.”
“…Should I do it for you?”
“Good grief. Look at that sour face. Who said I wanted you to do it? I wouldn’t even dream of it.”
Marshall spoke in a tone of disbelief. She never did explain her reasons.
Telling him not to meddle with Marquess Ash? Her true intentions remained unclear.
‘What matters is the day after tomorrow.’
Though the wild dog tribe had suffered at the hands of Marquess Ash, the fact that they took hostages to threaten the villagers hadn’t changed.
The attack planned for the day after tomorrow was something Reytan had to handle alone. Rescuing the hostages was left to Baron Voltman and the young men of the village.
To be honest, Wyndis was more of a problem than the wild dog tribe.
If it got carried away in the heat of battle and used its powers, the village might suffer serious damage….
“Anne.”
“Y-Yes?”
“……….”
Snapping out of his thoughts, Reytan’s sharp gaze cut through the night. They had already reached the upper part of Oak Hill.
Anne’s voice wavered nervously as she answered. Her shoulders twitched as though startled.
Now that he thought about it, Anne’s behavior while climbing the hill had been strange.
She kept glancing around nervously but walked with unwavering steps, as if she already knew exactly where to go.
“Whose idea was this?”
“……….”
Anne clamped her mouth shut at Reytan’s piercing question.
“Was it Berry’s idea?”
“………”
At this, Anne flinched—a reaction that was as good as an answer. Reytan sighed and was about to tell Anne to go back when it happened.
Anne awkwardly raised her arm and pointed behind Reytan.
“Ah! Young master Reytan! Over there!”
Her blatantly obvious acting left Reytan momentarily speechless. Despite his disbelief, he turned his head in the direction Anne was pointing.
“………!”
In the distance, something shiny moved away from Baron Voltman’s log house at a fast pace.
Under the moonlight, three silhouettes became visible. Without hesitation, Reytan sprinted down the hill toward them.
