Chapter 13: Leinata’s Past

Humans are all disgusting beings…

In the depths of her fading consciousness, Leinata felt as if she had returned to that past, soaked in blood and oppression.

It was a cold winter night.

She, young, curled up in the corner of a dilapidated wooden hut, wearing only a thin linen dress.

Outside the window, the villagers held torches, their angry roars rising and falling.

“Monster! Get out!”

“She’s the descendant of that man-eater! She carries monster blood in her veins!”

All because of the wolf ears on her head that she couldn’t hide, and the crimes committed by her werewolf ancestor.

Her ancestor was a demon-like werewolf who had made many innocent children his food. That demon still lived in the world.

Thus, Leinata was labeled an “outsider.”

Although Leinata’s father also carried that demon’s blood, both he and her mother were normal humans.

For some reason, the werewolf’s power manifested only in Leinata…

Therefore, even her parents detested her immensely.

She could no longer remember the last time she heard her parents’ voices.

All she remembered was that her parents, in exchange for some simple living supplies, unhesitatingly sold Leinata to a woman in a black robe.

That woman called herself “Mother.”

Leinata was taken to a place more torturous than hell.

A place where assassins were cultivated.

Here, human life was the cheapest consumable.

Only the best assassins could become perfect “machines” and be put to good use. Those ranked low would be eliminated and disposed of by “Mother,” while those in the middle ranks would become “Mother’s” key experimental subjects, undergoing even more inhuman torment and training.

Even death was common there.

However, Leinata was not one to passively endure.

To resist, to take revenge, the young Leinata learned to disguise herself.

Having the werewolf bloodline, she was not weak, but she deliberately acted clumsy in training, yet at critical moments she displayed just enough strength to keep herself in an awkward middle position.

Neither eliminated immediately nor turned into a machine too early—instead, she faced even harsher training.

And so, Leinata willingly underwent the most brutal training, strengthening her power…

Every breath carried the smell of blood. Every sleep could be the last she’d ever wake from.

But it was all meaningful.

During a mission against a giant monster, on the brink of death, the dormant werewolf bloodline within Leinata awakened.

That power was wild and domineering, able to instantly tear apart the great monster before her.

But that power originated from the demon-like ancestor, and thus brought a terrible curse upon Leinata.

Her body began to reject sunlight. The moment sunlight touched her skin, it would ulcerate as if burned by fire.

…Yet this power also gave her capital for revenge.

When the time was ripe, when she had become stronger than the entire assassin camp—

On that thunderous, rainy night, the small knife in Leinata’s hand was stained with blood.

She killed “Mother.” She killed those assassins who had been turned into emotionless machines.

However, when she stood, covered in blood, before the children who had not yet been modified, what she saw was not gratitude, but a fear deeper than the villagers’.

“Monster… she’s a monster…”

They screamed and scattered, as if Leinata was the one who had tormented them.

From that moment, Leinata understood.

Whether human or werewolf, their nature was ugly.

Even if there were kind beings in this world, they would stay away from her out of fear.

The only thing she could trust was the cold blade in her hand.

Until…

“How could I not save you? (๑˃ಐ˂৭)”

A childish yet resolute voice forcibly broke into her memories.

The scene shattered, reassembled.

A timid, weak white-haired loli—the one Leinata thought was just trouble she had picked up on the roadside—had unhesitatingly stood in front of her gun.

Blood splattered.

As that small body fell, Leinata felt as if something had slammed hard into her heart.

“Noelle…”

The scene cut off here.

—

…

…

“Mmph…”

A sharp pain came from her thigh. Leinata grunted and struggled to open her eyes.

She instinctively reached for the knife at her side, but found her leg had already been bandaged.

A cool sensation spread from the wound—the effect of high-grade medicine.

“You’re awake?” A soft, sticky voice sounded beside her.

Leinata turned her head and saw Noelle.

The little girl was sitting next to her, holding the precious bottle of medicine, carefully applying it to the wound on Leinata’s belly.

♡♡♡

Time went back about half an hour…

“…Leinata?”

Although Noelle had just been shot and briefly went into shock, she had seen it.

She had seen Leinata’s astonishing power.

But that power seemed to put a heavy burden on the body. Now Leinata had collapsed beside her, still bleeding.

“What do I do…” Noelle climbed up and stared at Leinata’s wound, at a loss.

“Awooo—”

Just then, Little Grey, who had been lying nearby, suddenly raised its head and howled. Its body glowed, then rapidly expanded and stretched.

The cute little wolf cub transformed in an instant into a large, majestic silver-gray wolfdog.

“Eh?! Σ(❍ฺд❍ฺlll)”

Noelle’s eyes widened in shock. Before she could react, Little Grey lowered its head, signaling Noelle to put Leinata on its back.

“Little Grey… you got so handsome?”

Noelle swallowed, but quickly recovered and steadily placed Leinata on Little Grey’s back.

“Phew, done… Huh?”

Before Noelle could react, Little Grey picked her up by the scruff again.

Then it stretched its legs and ran at full speed toward the tree hollow.

Noelle was carried back (