~Chapter 37~
“What happened?”
At Claire’s question, Cedric glanced at Zeno.
“This might take a while to explain.”
“That’s alright. I want to know what happened.”
Claire steeled herself. If he had been with Isabel, she wanted to hear everything even more.
He began to recall the events slowly.
There was an explosion, and a crushing force weighed down on him, leaving him dazed. Before he could understand what was happening, he lost consciousness.
“Worl!” (Wake up, you weak human.)
He opened his eyes, feeling something soft pressing against his cheek. His breath caught in his throat, and he couldn’t even speak.
‘Ugh.’
As he finally forced his eyes open, he saw a black paw on his cheek. He immediately recognized what it was.
“…Tsk.”
No matter how many times he told him not to jump on people.
Frowning, Cedric pushed Zeno’s paw off his face. When he turned his head, all he could see was white snow. To his left, there seemed to be a cave-like space.
“Woorl.” (We’re trapped! That crazy woman did it again! And now you’ve abandoned me too!)
Whatever Zeno was saying, Cedric couldn’t understand, and the wolf’s loud whining only made his head hurt more. Cedric reached out and grabbed Zeno’s snout.
“Please, just shut up.”
He tried pushing upward with his elbows. Luckily, the snow wasn’t too tightly packed, and the space started to open up a bit.
“We’re going to move to that space over there all at once, so stay focused.”
“Kkiing, kkiing!” (This crazy guy! Stop grabbing my snout!)
Zeno struggled to break free. At that moment, snow collapsed from above, making the space even smaller.
“…”
“…”
Cedric and Zeno immediately stopped all movement. The only sound was their breathing. Cedric tried to assess the situation.
‘Looks like we’re trapped in the snow.’
The princess was probably watching all of this unfold. The loud noise from the explosion had knocked him out, so it was hard to tell how deeply they were buried.
Since the explosion was loud, it must have been heard back at the mansion. And since there was no sign of anyone coming to look for him, the knights who were with him were probably buried in the snow as well.
Ironically, Cedric realized he hadn’t frozen to death because of the warmth coming from the wolf’s body. He released his grip on Zeno’s snout.
“Kkiiing.” (I thought I was going to suffocate.)
“Stop whining and focus. I’m going to count to three, and we’ll roll over together.”
“Grrr.” (Always doing things your way.)
Zeno made a disgruntled noise, but Cedric started counting.
“One.”
“Kkiiing.” (Hey, not yet!)
“Two.”
“Kkiing.” (Wait, hold on!)
“Three.”
Without warning, Cedric rolled to the side and grabbed Zeno by the scruff of his neck, pulling him along.
Drip, drip.
Cedric heard the sound of water droplets hitting the ground. Wincing in pain, he opened his eyes.
‘Did he make it in?’
Before being completely buried in the snow, Cedric had grabbed Zeno’s scruff. Since Zeno was large, Cedric had done this to make sure the wolf would follow the signal.
For a moment, the darkness made him anxious, but then he heard wet footsteps and the sound of an animal’s cry.
“Woorl.” (See what happens when you push yourself too hard?)
Hearing Zeno’s howl echoing through the cave, Cedric slowly sat up.
Though it was dark, Zeno’s bright yellow eyes shone clearly in the darkness.
‘Of course. He’s still a beast.’
Cedric tried to ignore the throbbing pain as he closed his eyes. Zeno, unaware that Cedric was injured, continued whining.
“Worl, worl!” (I would’ve moved just fine with the signal, but you didn’t trust me.)
Zeno kept grumbling. Cedric, unable to understand him and getting irritated, finally spoke.
“Ungrateful beast.”
“Worl.” (…Can he understand me?)
“I don’t know what you’re saying, but keep your mouth shut. Do wolves always talk this much?”
Cedric didn’t know what else might be in the cave, but it was best to stay quiet.
He glanced at the dark cave around him, frowning.
“…” (Damn, this human.)
Zeno decided to keep his thoughts to himself from that point on. If he kept talking, Cedric might grab his snout again.
Grumbling to himself about how Cedric was just a strong brute, Zeno stayed silent.
Thanks to Zeno’s newfound quietness, Cedric was finally able to rest. Since the entrance to the cave was blocked, he would need to save his energy to dig his way out.
“Rest too. Tomorrow, we’ll probably have to dig our way through the snow. You’re a divine beast, right? Don’t you have any power to help?”
Cedric suddenly remembered that Zeno was a divine beast. The imperial family kept the matter of divine beasts a secret, so Cedric, who lived in the North, didn’t know much about them.
“I do. But since I’m bound by a contract, it’s not easy to use it as I please.”
Out of nowhere, Cedric heard a human voice. It seemed Zeno had recovered his strength and shifted into his human form.
Zeno approached Cedric and grabbed his arm.
“Ugh.”
Cedric couldn’t help but let out a groan. He looked at Zeno in surprise, unable to hide his startled expression.
“Hold still. It looks like I need to heal you. How am I supposed to dig all this snow out by myself?”
“You’re only healing me because you don’t want to dig alone, huh?”
“Of course. Why would I waste my power healing you? Do you think my strength is unlimited?”
Though Zeno grumbled, he still infused Cedric with his power to heal him.
“The power of a divine beast is impressive.”
Cedric carefully rotated his now-healed arm, finding that it moved without any problem.
“This power is only stronger because I’m in a contract with Claire.”
“…Can Claire feel it when you use your power?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
Zeno had used his power to heal Cedric, which meant that Claire would now know that Cedric had been injured.
The problem was that Claire would surely realize something had happened to him.
If there was a path leading deeper into the cave, they might be able to escape faster.
“You went inside earlier. Is there another way out?”
“There’s a path, but it doesn’t feel very safe.”
“You got scared and didn’t go all the way in, did you?”
“…No, I turned back because I was worried I’d leave you behind if I found the way out.”
Ungrateful beast.
Every time he opened his mouth, it was something disloyal.
“Disloyal? Look, my master isn’t you—it’s Claire.”
“That’s been bothering me for a while now. Even if you’re just a beast, don’t speak my wife’s name so casually.”
“She might be your wife, but to me, she’s my master. My master allows it, so what’s your problem?”
Cedric’s eyes narrowed. He was beginning to think Zeno had been better when he was in his wolf form. But when Cedric looked into Zeno’s eyes, his thoughts stopped.
“Stop reading my mind.”
“…You’re a sharp human.”
Cedric looked at Zeno for a moment, then stood up. He pulled out a magic stone from inside his coat, and it began to glow with a steady hum.
“What? You had that the whole time? Why didn’t you use it earlier?”
“What good would it have done in the snow? The white snow was already blinding enough.”
Unlike humans, Zeno, as a divine wolf, could see perfectly well in the dark, so he hadn’t needed the magic stone.
“You didn’t go inside because you were afraid, huh? It wasn’t because you didn’t have the magic stone.”
“Afraid? A divine beast doesn’t get scared! I’m a mighty wolf!”
The fact that Zeno was yelling made it clear he had been scared. Cedric couldn’t help but smile, remembering the sharp teeth that had once tried to bite his hand.
“What’s with that smile, human?”
Zeno’s voice grew louder, his pride clearly wounded by Cedric’s grin. Cedric listened to Zeno’s voice echoing through the cave, then gestured for him to lead the way inside.
“Fine, I’ll assume you’re brave. Now go ahead and lead.”
“….”
Zeno gave him a look that seemed to ask why he had to go first. Cedric sighed.
“You said you’ve been in there before, right? You know the way, so lead.”
“Alright, but stay close behind me.”
Cedric nodded. As Claire had said, he really was like a wolf pup.
“…I’m not.”
Zeno muttered in protest, but Cedric just gave him a bored look and lightly pushed him forward, signaling him to move.
Suddenly, Cedric felt a chill run down his spine.
“I just sensed something strong.”
“…It seems like there’s something dangerous deep inside the cave.”
Zeno nodded in agreement. The cave seemed endless.
They kept walking, but there was no light, only the feeling of going deeper and deeper into the cave. They had come too far to turn back now, so they had no choice but to continue forward.
“I have no idea how far this path goes. It could take days at this rate.”
Cedric stopped for a moment. There was nothing to see in the cave, but he could still feel the strange energy around him. He believed there was an exit at the end of that energy.
“Turn back into a wolf.”
“…The look in your eyes makes me not want to.”
“There’s a faster way, so there’s no need to suffer like this.”
Zeno gave Cedric an unhappy look. But at this pace, it seemed like they would never reach the end.
“Grrr.” (Don’t even think about riding on my back.)
Zeno could easily carry an adult, but he didn’t want Cedric riding on him.
Zeno’s instincts were correct. Despite whatever Zeno said or how much he tried to show his teeth in protest, Cedric ignored him and casually climbed onto his back.
“Now we’ll make some real progress. Hurry up, before Claire starts worrying.”
“…Grrr.” (Do you even understand what I’m saying?)
Sitting comfortably on Zeno’s back, Cedric kept his relaxed attitude. Zeno would be the one to tire out from carrying him, after all.
Realizing he had no other choice, Zeno began running deeper into the cave.
All the while, he didn’t forget to curse Cedric silently.
