novelraw Chapter 5 : Chapter 5
Chapter 5 : Chapter 5
Chapter 5
“I see…….”
I replied stiffly. I did not show my surprise. I had been trained not to let emotional signals surface. Hiding my expression was effortless.
Feigning calm, I continued my questions.
“Why did you kill him?”
“Because he deserved to die.”
There was no guilt or regret in the Feral Wolf’s voice.
It sounded as though the killing had been entirely justified.
The Feral Wolf squeezed her eyes shut as if searching her memories, then continued.
“Nyxle was originally going to be sold to a mercenary band. That sort of thing is common among werewolves.”
Werewolves were, by nature, instinct-driven. I was not a racial supremacist, but among the general public, werewolves were known as an impulsive, savage race with voracious appetites.
To cover food expenses and reduce mouths to feed, some werewolves sold their children to traveling troupes or mercenary bands.
Ms. Nyxle had been meant to become one of those sacrifices.
“The problem was the night before that happened. The night just before Nyxle was to be sold.”
“What happened?”
“Her father attacked Nyxle while she was asleep. I would rather not describe the details.”
The Feral Wolf’s eyes flashed. Remembering the event seemed to rekindle her anger.
“Nyxle was only fifteen at the time. She had no strength to resist. Her mother had died long ago, and she had no siblings. There was no one to stop her father’s atrocity.”
“So you killed him.”
“Yes. I do not regret it. Even if I went back to that moment, I would do the same thing again.”
The Feral Wolf bared her teeth and smiled. Within that feral grin, there was something strangely sorrowful.
“……Afterward, the Security Bureau launched an investigation, but they never discovered that I was the culprit. They concluded it was a murder committed during a robbery.”
At that moment, I felt a vague sense of discomfort, but I nodded and continued listening.
“Justin, the bureau chief in charge at the time, must have felt sorry for Nyxle. He took her in and raised her. That was how she ended up joining the Security Bureau.”
“I see…….”
I lowered my head and fell into thought. After quickly organizing the new information in my mind, I raised my head again.
“Does Ms. Nyxle know any of this?”
“No. She does not know that her father tried to rape her, nor that I killed him.”
Only then did I understand why the Feral Wolf had asked whether a comfortable lie or a cruel truth was better.
The truth surrounding Ms. Nyxle was not just cruel, but filthy and repulsive.
“I only wanted to protect Nyxle.”
“Is that why you carry out what people call ‘judgment,’ Feral Wolf?”
I had assumed so. I thought she must hate criminal organizations that committed vile acts like Nyxle’s father, and that hatred drove her to pass judgment.
However, the Feral Wolf did not nod immediately.
She seemed to mull over my words, then let out a dry laugh.
“Judgment, judgment… I suppose it might look that way. But it is not anything so grand. I just…”
She suddenly stopped speaking and flared her nostrils.
CLANK, CLANK!
The Feral Wolf struggled violently, trying to break free from the restraint chair. The force was so great that the chair looked as though it might truly break. Her sudden outburst caught me completely off guard. I tried desperately to calm her.
“Feral Wolf, what is wrong?”
“Untie me, counselor. Untie me, now!”
“I cannot do that. The session is not—”
“Shut up and untie me!”
Her red eyes flashed at me. Clear killing intent burned within them. Drool dripped from her mouth, a physiological reaction I knew occurred when werewolves entered combat readiness.
“Why are you acting like this—”
“You stupid bastard! Did you not even check whether anyone was following you on the way here? Untie me, now!”
As the Feral Wolf shouted incomprehensible accusations.
BANG BANG BANG!
Someone pounded violently on the door.
It could not be a client. I had sent letters informing today’s clients that the office would be closed, and I had posted a sign on the door saying, “Closed Today.”
That meant they were intruders. And it was likely related to the Feral Wolf’s panic.
There was no need to decide whether to open the door. Moments later, CRASH! the sound of the door being smashed apart rang out.
They were impatient intruders indeed.
“Erisa.”
“Yes. I will guard Feral Wolf.”
“Who is guarding who? Untie me, GRRR!”
“If she becomes too violent, administer Misty Lullaby.”
Erisa nodded.
By then, the Feral Wolf had lost all coherence, growling incessantly. She seemed to have lost her reason to rage. The restraint chair continued to rattle as she struggled.
I stepped out of the room to face the intruders.
The torn door lay scattered across the floor. Four large, vicious-looking men stood there, each holding a weapon, staring at me.
I approached them.
“I am sorry, but the office is closed today.”
“Office? Are you a doctor or something?”
“Something like that. More precisely, I am a counselor—”
There was no need to explain further.
The intruders ignored me and began whispering among themselves.
Soon, a man who looked especially vicious even among them fixed his gaze on me.
A small sword-shaped tattoo was etched beneath his eye.
“Doctor. One of my men saw you carrying the Feral Wolf all the way here.”
“The Feral Wolf……? Oh, you mean that urban legend?”
I played dumb calmly.
The man with the sword tattoo stared at my face, as if trying to read my expression. He would not succeed.
At that moment, CLANK echoed from inside the office.
It came from the room where the Feral Wolf was. A low GRRR could also be heard.
The tattooed man frowned.
“What was that sound?”
“Probably the wind. I left a window open.”
“That wind sounds an awful lot like a rabid dog.”
“That is strange. To me, it just sounds like the wind.”
“So you are saying my ears are broken?”
“That might be the case. Would you like a consultation?”
The tattooed man’s expression instantly turned vicious.
“There are always idiots who refuse to understand things the easy way. Tsk…….”
As he spoke, he stretched out his arm.
There was no time to dodge.
His arm coiled around my body like a snake.
The world spun.
THUD!
When I regained my senses, I was sprawled pathetically on the floor.
He must have thrown me using a technique. A sharp ache spread through my back where I had slammed into the ground.
His subordinates laughed as they looked down at me.
The tattooed man stared at me silently with cold eyes.
I brushed off my knees and stood up, then blocked his path as he tried to enter the room where the Feral Wolf was.
“……That hurt.”
“Move. I will not just throw you down this time.”
“Why are you looking for the Feral Wolf?”
“That bastard attacked our organization.”
The tattooed man spoke calmly, his eyes flashing with killing intent.
“It seems the organization you belong to commits evil acts.”
“And why do you think that?”
“I heard the Feral Wolf only judges evildoers. What kind of work do you do?”
“You sure are curious.”
“A counselor needs to be curious.”
“Let me give you one warning…….”
He stepped closer. At first, he patted my shoulder, then tapped my neck and cheek.
“People who are too curious do not live long, Doctor.”
“I think I will outlive you.”
He glared at me as if he wanted to kill me. The thick, nauseating scent of killing intent filled the air.
“I was planning to do a quick search and leave…… but it looks like I need to fix your mouth too. Boys.”
He gestured to his men.
“Cut out his tongue. And his ankles. Leave his arms alone so he can still do surgery, since he says he is a doctor.”
“Yes.”
The men replied lowly and advanced toward me with clubs and daggers.
A revolting scent wafted from them—a mixture of emotions.
“Killing intent, hostility, excitement, and pleasure…….”
There was no trace of guilt in their eyes, expressions, or the emotional scent I sensed.
They were people who had grown so accustomed to violence and murder that they even enjoyed it.
“They are beyond redemption.”
I stepped backward and slipped my hand into my pocket.
I pulled out a flask filled with blue liquid.
Dawn’s Call—an awakening agent. And this was the undiluted original solution.
The Dawn’s Call I prescribed to clients was diluted to one-twentieth of its original concentration.
If an ordinary person drank the undiluted solution, their body would reject it, causing violent vomiting. They could even die.
Of course, I was not an ordinary person.
I opened the flask and swallowed the Dawn’s Call straight. A burning sensation ran down my throat as the drug took effect.
“Wha…… hey…… th-this…… bas—?”
The mockery from the tattooed man’s subordinates sounded unbearably slow.
Their movements looked almost frozen.
“It feels like the world has slowed down.”
In truth, the world had not slowed. Dawn’s Call had awakened my nervous system.
My reaction speed and thoughts had accelerated so drastically that they appeared slow.
I immediately pulled out another flask.
This one contained Misty Lullaby—a sedative. Undiluted.
Misty Lullaby was most effective when injected directly, but oral intake was sufficient, and absorption through the nasal membrane was also effective. In its undiluted form, it could take effect even through skin contact.
SPLASH!
I sprayed the undiluted Misty Lullaby over the tattooed man and his subordinates.
He reacted quickly, ducking away, but his men did not.
They were drenched in the sedative. At first, they only blinked stupidly, not even understanding what had happened.
Then the drug took effect.
“Uh…… wha……?”
Their eyes rolled back. The tension drained from their bodies.
THUD, THUD…
They collapsed limply, like paper dolls knocked over by the wind.
“You…… what…… are…… you……?”
The tattooed man, now without his men, looked shocked, then twisted his face in rage.
“You…… son…… of…… a…… bitch!”
He charged at me, pulling a dagger from his coat. Calling it a dagger was generous—the blade was as long as a forearm.
WHOOSH!
The blade slashed toward my neck. Normally, I would have found the attack threatening. With my superhuman reaction speed granted by Dawn’s Call, it looked like child’s play.
I tilted my head back and dodged easily, then stepped straight into his reach.
“Ghk—!”
He tried to retreat in panic, but I gave him no chance.
CRACK—I crushed the flask containing Misty Lullaby in my hand.
Shards scattered through the air. I caught the largest, sharpest fragment.
STAB.
I drove it into his neck. His eyes went wide, not even understanding what had pierced him.
“Ghk……!”
He collapsed to his knees as realization struck. Looking up at me with bloodshot eyes, he croaked,
“You…… who…… doctor…… no…… who sent……”
His words were slurred and disjointed, the speech of a dying man.
“I am a counselor. Well, a doctor too.”
“Guh…….”
He clutched his neck, desperately trying to stop the bleeding, but it was already too late.
He would die.
His body trembled once, then went limp.
“He is dead.”
Blood pooled across the floor. I squeezed my eyes shut.
The stench of blood filling the consultation office was unbearably foul.
Clutching my trembling hands, I looked at the corpses sprawled across the floor.
On closer inspection, identical tattoos were carved around their ankles—sock-shaped tattoos.
The tattoos were red, as if etched in blood. I knew what they meant.
“……Castalners.”
They were a vicious group that committed everything from petty robberies to large-scale human trafficking.
They were especially infamous for kidnapping and trafficking young girls, to the point that the Security Bureau had issued nationwide wanted notices for them.
They frequently relocated their hideouts and operated in a cell-based structure, making investigations extremely difficult.
I remembered Justin mentioning this during one of our conversations.
Even the faint guilt I had felt vanished.
They deserved to die.
“No. They were people who should have been eliminated.”
Now, all that remained was the cleanup.