“What a tragedy…”
I muttered softly as I looked around. The once white, snow-covered landscape was now stained with splashes of red.
It was the aftermath of a massacre.
Goosebumps crept up my skin.
‘Rest in peace…’
“Rein~! We’re done with cleanup!”
While I had my eyes closed, silently paying my respects, Bliss approached me with a bright smile.
Behind her, Artorius was hauling something—he had gathered the wolves’ corpses into one pile.
Noticing them, I casually asked Bliss, “How many points do you think we’ll get for these?”
“Probably not many. Snowflower Wolves are one of the most common monsters around here, and they’re not particularly strong.”
Hmm… That makes sense.
They were relatively easy to take down.
They’re probably the equivalent of slimes in this world.
What? You think it’s cruel to turn them into mere point fodder? Well, I did offer them my prayers, didn’t I? That’s that, and this is this.
“Well, hunting a pack of wolves should help to some extent,” Agnes said with a faint smile. “Of course, if someone had exercised better control, we could’ve contributed a lot more.”
Agnes finished speaking with a light glance in a particular direction.
There lay something so mangled that it was hard to believe it had once been a wolf.
It was Bliss’s handiwork.
“You talk as if your own catch is any better, Agnes,” Bliss quipped with a grin.
“At least I left the meat intact, didn’t I? Isn’t that right, Rein?”
Agnes shrugged nonchalantly as she responded, and I shifted my gaze toward the wolf she had hunted.
Her catch had cuts all over it, its skin practically flayed, but it was definitely in better condition than the unrecognizable pulp left by Bliss.
Then again, from my perspective as a neutral observer, both were equally terrible.
Oh, and Olivia?
She outright incinerated her prey to ash.
Not one of them left their catch in a decent state.
Because of this, we nearly found ourselves in trouble—it was hard to prove that we had been hunting Snowflower Wolves.
Fortunately, thanks to Artorius and the hero, that wasn’t an issue.
Their kills were preserved in pristine condition.
Their methods of hunting explained why.
Artorius broke the wolves’ necks in a single, clean motion, while the hero cleaved through their necks in one precise swing.
One strike, one kill.
Death is never pleasant, but compared to the chaotic brutality of the others, this was far more merciful.
In a way, the wolves killed by them were fortunate.
What irony.
The hero, a symbol of fear among demons and monsters, delivered the most humane deaths of the group.
I turned my gaze away from Olivia and Agnes, who were bickering playfully.
“What are you doing over here by yourself?” I asked Olivia.
She was scanning her surroundings with a puzzled expression, as if lost in thought.
Was she… praying for the wolves she killed?
“Something feels off,” she replied.
Of course not.
“What’s wrong?”
“The leader isn’t here.”
“The leader?”
I asked, my voice tinged with curiosity, and she nodded.
“Yes, Snowflower Wolves usually have a leader that guides the entire pack.”
“Does the leader look different from the others?”
“Yes, they’re usually slightly larger and have black markings on their fur.”
I glanced around. Sure enough, among the fallen wolves, none bore black markings.
“Could it be that there’s no leader…?”
“That’s impossible. These wolves rely on their leader’s judgment to move and hunt. Without one, they wouldn’t survive… Wait.”
Olivia’s expression shifted as if something had clicked.
She began murmuring to herself.
“Snowflower Wolves use pack hunting… The leader guides the pack… Could it be…”
Her muttering trailed off, but she quickly spoke again in a hesitant voice.
“Were these wolves herding us?”
It was then that a scream echoed.
“Somebody save us!!!”
All of us turned our heads in the direction of the cry.
There, three people were running toward us with desperate expressions, their faces pale with terror.
Chasing after them was a wolf roughly twice the size of the ones we had encountered.
It moved like a predator toying with its prey.
At this rate, it seemed inevitable that we would get dragged into the chaos.
But there was no need to worry.
Just as the three reached us, someone dashed forward with incredible speed.
Moments later, a light thud resounded, followed by the soft sound of a blade being sheathed.
The next thing we saw was the wolf’s headless body collapsing onto the snowy ground, crimson blood staining the white landscape.
“Thank you. You’ve saved us…”
The three, trembling and collapsing onto the snow, managed to stammer their gratitude.
The hero extended a hand to one of them and spoke calmly.
“Can you explain the situation?”
“So, to summarize, you got lost?”
“Yes.”
One of them nodded in response.
After the hero effortlessly dispatched the pack leader, we received a brief explanation from the trio.
They were from the Dirrel family in the West, here to participate in the hunting festival.
Curious about why their group seemed so small for nobles, I asked.
Their answer was simple—they weren’t aiming to win but came purely for the experience, so they didn’t bring many resources or companions.
And more than anything, they claimed they were confident they could handle the hunt on their own.
It seemed they had no idea just how dangerous the North truly was.
Their bold challenge ended in failure.
The North was far more perilous than they had imagined, and unable to adapt to this environment, they were no longer hunters but hunted prey.
While fleeing for their lives, they stumbled upon us—or rather, the horrifying scene of slaughter orchestrated by the hero and his eccentric companions.
“So, what are you going to do?”
Olivia asked bluntly, causing the trio to flinch.
Currently, the three of them had a major problem: they were completely lost in the vast snowy expanse.
Being from the West and visiting for the first time, it was understandable that they couldn’t navigate this terrain.
This meant that if we left them here, there was a high chance they’d either die of exposure or fall prey to another monster.
“Hmm…”
The hero was contemplating what to do with them.
There was no way he would abandon them.
If left behind, their chances of survival were slim, and the hero, as humanity’s protector, would never allow such a thing.
His duty was to save anyone in danger, even just one person.
Not that it mattered much to me.
There were two options:
The first was to escort them to a safe zone.
However, this option had a major downside.
We were quite far from the nearest safe zone, and escorting them back would significantly delay us.
While the hunting festival lasted a long time and we weren’t aiming to win, wasting time wasn’t ideal.
Especially considering the festival’s purpose, spending time on unrelated matters could be considered a loss.
Of course, that wasn’t an issue for me.
Still, the first option had its drawbacks.
Fortunately, there was a second option:
“Why don’t you join us on our hunt?”
The alternative was to take them along and continue hunting.
“R-really? Would that be okay?”
The trio’s faces lit up with hope as they asked.
“Would it be?”
“Why are you asking me?”
The hero awkwardly smiled at Olivia, who answered curtly.
After a moment of hesitation, she sighed and relented.
“Fine, let’s take them with us. We can’t just leave them here. They can carry our stuff or something.”
Though her expression was far from pleasant, her approval sealed the deal.
“Thank you so much!”
And so, we gained three porters.
***
In a snowy field deep within the Perpetual Snow Zone, a group of masked individuals had gathered.
“Can we really do this, Captain?”
One of them spoke, their voice filled with doubt.
“Our target is the infamous hero.”
“We have no choice. Orders must be followed.”
“These aren’t even the head’s orders. They’re from that brat—some reckless fool who barely qualifies as an heir.”
“Even so, he carries the blood of Everglow.”
The masked individual sighed, exasperated.
“Still, there are limits, aren’t there? Kidnapping a child under the hero’s protection? What are we, human traffickers? We may be shadows, but we have our pride!”
“It’s an order.”
“Damn it!”
Realizing the captain wouldn’t budge, the subordinate gave up trying to reason with him.
“So, do we even have a plan? This is the hero we’re talking about.”
“No matter how skilled the hero is, there will be an opening during battle.”
“The problem is creating that opening. What, Captain, are you going to fight him yourself? If you want to die, I won’t stop you.”
The captain glared at the subordinate’s sarcastic tone before responding calmly.
“There is a way.”
“What brilliant plan do you have in mind?”
“We’ll make someone else fight them for us. That way, we won’t need to confront them directly.”
“Oh, fantastic idea. But who exactly will fight in our place? I’m dying to know. What kind of suicidal fool would do that for us, huh?”
For a moment, the captain felt an overwhelming urge to punch the subordinate’s smug face, but he suppressed it with practiced patience and pointed toward a certain direction.
“There.”
“Oh, really? Where’s this suicidal volunteer? Wait, Captain… you’re not serious, are you?”
The subordinate’s tone shifted to disbelief as he followed the captain’s gaze.
In the direction the captain pointed, dozens of snow-white soldiers were marching in a straight line.