SIAW Vol. 1 Chapter 12
Chapter 12 – Silver Wolf
The convoy of traveling salesman Soran was highly likely to have been attacked by the pack of Forest Wolves. There were no corpses to be found, so there was no way to tell if they were alive or dead.
We gave all the luggage and goods we found to the elder: everyone in the group was tired, so we met again at the elder’s house the next morning,
“Everyone, I know you had a hard time yesterday, but first of all I want to say how happy I am that you all came back safely. Finding some salt was also very helpful. I made a list of the luggage and gold you found in the carriage, as well as what the village has purchased and the prices. It would be great if Soran somehow managed to go back safely, but there is no way to tell at this point. In any case…we need to report about this to the city. Do you think there is any way to go?”
The elder had turned to Ranga to ask the question.
“Hmm…what do you say, Tenma?”
What? It’s all up to me!?
“Well, we did take down more than half of yesterday’s Forest Wolf pack, but if that was just a small part of the whole, I think it’s still too dangerous.”
In fact, I already knew — thanks to the Map skill — that it really was just a small portion of the whole pack.
“So my proposal is, I should go out by myself today, to check on the situation. And if things look okay, I’ll go to the town. What do you think?”
I wanted to go to the town as soon as possible. With those wolves around the village, it was impossible for the villagers to go out safely, and no one could come either.
“Hmm…it pains me to place all the burden on your shoulders, but I suppose there is no other way out, yes?”
The elder wanted Ranga’s opinion.
“Well, I’m sure Tenma will be fine! I surely wouldn’t, though! Hahaha!!”
Never change, Ranga!
“If Ranga says so, then…Tenma, could you please do it for us? But do be careful out there!”
Oof. I guess the elder wanted to make sure he could blame Ranga if something went wrong.
“I’ll be fine! If it gets dangerous, I’ll just come back running!”
It was thus decided to wait for my report before deciding the next move.
Ranga, Jeet and Zlatan felt more confident after the fighting from the day before, so they were talking about going hunting close to the village.
I immediately left for my “inspection”.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
After I exited the village, I ran at a normal speed first, but when I was too far to be seen, I raised the pace.
In about fifteen minutes I reached the grasslands we took a rest in the day before.
According to the Map skill, there were two packs of about twenty Forest Wolves each in the forest on the village side. On the other side of the forest there was the two-three hundred-strong horde I had seen the day before, split in several smaller packs.
Lately, despite my culling efforts the number of Forest Wolves wasn’t decreasing, probably because other packs had moved in the area.
I decided that I would take care of the pack closer to the village on my way back, reducing their numbers to single digits, and went for the larger pack on the other side of the forest first.
I started my attack on the pack immediately, but to be more precise, it was a massacre.
I beheaded all Forest Wolves I saw with my short sword, then promptly put them into the Item Box.
I let the cubs go, but if any other wolf tried to escape, I used the wind magic Air Cutter to chop off their heads.
After advancing for a while, I arrived at a small hill, where the Forest Wolves had formed a pack. There were several tunnels dug into the hill, which they apparently used as lairs.
When I went closer, two Silver Wolves came out of the largest lair.
I immediately understood that they were the leaders of the pack. They were the size of a small truck and were much more powerful than the rest. The two wolves were male and female, probably a couple.
They were clearly stronger than the other wolves, but still not enough to threaten me.
The Silver Wolves tried attacking me, but I killed both in seconds.
The other Silver Wolves, upon witnessing the fall of their leaders, ran off immediately. I didn’t give them a chance to go too far, however, and disposed of them with magic.
I was pondering what to do with the hill, when a Silver Wolf the size of a large dog came out of the lair from which the Silver Wolf boss duo had emerged from.
It opened its mouth wide and tried biting me, so I held it shut with my left hand and pushed its head against the ground. According to Appraisal, it was a cub just 8 days old.
It was the Silver Wolf leaders’ child, I suppose.
I observed the cub closely as it desperately tried to escape.
It had a beautiful mane: I tried touching it with my free hand, and it felt incredibly pleasant to the touch.
Silver Wolf mane would make for a heavenly blanket for my bed, I thought. I could also lay it on the living room sofa, or use it as a rug to take a nap on.
If I raised the cub for a while and skinned it later, I could find several uses for it.
I was delving in such rather heartless thoughts when the Silver Wolf cub stopped trying to break free and showed me its belly.
Could it have felt what I was thinking, and decided to show submission?
I let go of the cub’s head and rubbed its belly, but it did not show any sign of trying to escape.
I could probably tame it.
I had tried taming monsters a few times in the training facility, but never succeeded. I had looked up the Tame skill in the library, but it never worked out, no matter how many times I tried. It might have been not available for use in the training facility, though.
This Silver Wolf…shouldn’t be a problem to tame.
In the future, however, he was probably going to grow to his parents’ size. Realizing that it was going to be troublesome to deal with, I gave up on taming it.
If I let it go, however, it might become a threat for the village…
I needed some time to reorganize my thoughts. I was rubbing the cub all over as I did, and it looked at me, scared.
I picked the cub’s head in my hands and looked it in the eyes, trying to reassure it.
That very instant, I felt a connection form between us. The Silver Wolf was not scared anymore, and looked at me happily instead, even wagging its tail.
I had a bad feeling about it, and used Appraisal on the cub one more time.
The Silver Wolf indeed now possessed the “Tenma’s Familiar” title.
Crap, it works like this!!!
I mulled over what to do. I didn’t want it to kill the cub and harvest it for materials, now that it was my familiar. It wouldn’t be right to let it go either, though.
After some consideration, I decided to keep it hidden in my Dimension Area. I could always decide what to do after gathering more information in town or from the Adventurers’ Guild.
“Okay little guy, let’s call you Sil!”
Following my declaration, Sil’s body glowed faintly.
I used Appraisal again, and it showed its name as Sil now.
I picked the first name that came to mind, just out of convenience…never expecting that it would be shown in its status.
Sorry I gave you such a lazy name…
“Sil. bring out the Silver Wolves still inside the lairs!”
I tried giving an order, to test if he could understand my words, and he ran off happily.
Sil entered a lair, drove out some Forest Wolf cubs and then came out with a smaller puppy in his mouth.
Soon enough, all Silver Wolves were gone from the hill and its surroundings. Just in case, I used Earth magic to block the entrance of all of the tunnels.
Next to me, Sil was wagging its tail so excitedly I was afraid it was going to fall off. His eyes were all sparkles, maybe because he was eager to be praised.
I gave him a pat on the head and took a Horn Rabbit from storage. I served its innards in a plate, then cut the meat in large chunks and placed it on a leaf.
Sil didn’t start eating immediately: he was patiently waiting for permission, drool dripping from his mouth.
“Go ahead, eat up!”
Sil promptly pounced the plate’s contents. It swallowed the innards in no time, then glanced at me to know if he could go on to the meat too. I nodded and he proceeded. The meat also had bones attached, but his fangs made short work of it.
While Sil was eating, I checked the Map skill to see if there were any rivers nearby. I waited for Sil to finish, then headed there.
～
When we arrived, I observed the surroundings.
The balance of river, grassland and forest was just right.
I used Dimension Area and duplicated a square part of this area, each side about 100 meters long. I was sure I had enough magic power to do it without problems…and the duplication was over quickly.
I didn’t put Sil inside the area right away, though, and closed the Dimension Area for now.
We then returned towards the forest.
I had Sil help out in culling the Forest Wolves near the village. He eagerly followed my orders, regardless of the fact that he was fighting against his brethren.
On the way, I caught about fourteen Horn Rabbits alive and tossed them inside the Dimension Area.
When we arrived close to the village, I had Sil go inside the Dimension Area too.
He gave me a look so lonely that it was pretty painful to do, though.
～
I returned to the village at about three in the afternoon.
Misha and the elder were waiting, worried. On the other hand, Ranga’s group was excitedly sharing the results of their hunt with the villagers.
“Elder, it looks like yesterday’s pack was the largest. I don’t know if more will come from farther away, but Ranga and the others should be able to deal with them.”
So I reported to the elder.
The elder reflected for a moment, then said that he wanted us to go to the town again the next day. Sasha and Mei were going to stay in the village, though.
The elder then went inside his house, to prepare a letter for the Adventurers’ Guild and the traveling merchant Soran.
～
After dinner, I went back to the barn early, to be ready for the next day.
As soon as I was inside, I went into my Room, moved some materials and items in the Item Box, then butchered and harvested materials from about ten Horn Rabbits.
After that, I went into the Dimension Area.
Sil ran up to me, excited.
After enjoying his fluffy fur for a while, I made a house for him, next to the entrance of the area. It was about the size of a kennel, not very tall. Inside, I laid some straw on the floor.
Sil went inside his new home, all giddy.
As for the Horn Rabbits I put inside the Dimension Area still alive, there were two less of them. Sil probably caught and ate them.
I put one of the Horn Rabbits I had butchered in front of Sil’s home and he started eating it.
How much does this guy eat!?
I started worrying about having to procure enough food for him, and decided to use my Horn rabbit stock to feed Sil.