Wolves of Hader

Chapter 37

Count Mals's face was filled with regret.

I had no idea what the count's intentions were. Until just a moment ago, he had looked at me with a blank expression.

"How old are you this year?"

"I am seventeen."

"And Rozie and Ross?"

"They are safe and well."

"I see."

A look of sorrow appeared on the count's face.

Was this truly what the count felt inside?

Had he hidden his true feelings for the sake of his house's safety all this time?

"I rushed here, hardly daring to hope, and truly, I never expected you, Roger, to be here. I thought someone had gotten hold of your identification pass and was impersonating you. But to think all three siblings are alive."

"We thought we were known as missing."

"I had heard that Hader was dead and you had all gone missing. But that was news I could only see as fabricated. It seemed your house was wiped out not by someone's hand, but by an accidental fire."

Things had worked out as planned.

We had taken advantage of the Syren family's scheme to disguise the incident as a fire, and everything had fallen perfectly into place.

The count looked at me again carefully.

"Do you resent me?"

"I do not."

The count nodded.

A smile mixed with apology and self-reproach crossed his face.

There was no reason for resentment.

This is a world where even brothers betray each other. To destroy oneself for the sake of loyalty is foolish.

"I don't know if you understand politics, but at the time, there was no way I could protect your house. In the end, the Hader family disappeared from history and no one paid it any mind."

I listened silently.

"After that, I put it behind me and lived on. But seeing you safe like this... I truly was careless."

Of course, the count didn't know our story.

We'd thoroughly blocked all information about our house. And Goose had managed the eastern merchants well too.

"So, how is life? I heard you were registered as a merchant with Goose's guild — if there's anything I can help with, let me know."

"Will you return the items we once had?"

"Of course, I will."

"And the divine ore?"

At my words, worry flickered in the count's eyes. But his hesitation didn't last long.

"I have a good idea."

I wordlessly expressed my thanks.

What he was showing now was sincere. I could also sense the count's method of dealing with people. Once I left here, I'd know for sure.

"If you need help as a merchant, come see me again. But there is one request I have."

"Yes, yes, say whatever you wish."

"Could we leave this place right away?"

"Ah, I heard you were involved in a fight with the back-alley thieves?"

"Yes."

"Those damned scoundrels are troubling me to the very end. I wanted to at least feed you a meal, but I'll have to save that for next time. Wait here for a moment, I'll have things prepared quickly."

The count patted my shoulder and left the room. He called out as he went.

"Summon all the officials in charge of this case, at once!"

Not long after, two people rushed in.

"What are you doing right now?"

"Pardon? What do you mean by that, my lord?"

"Did you not see the spy imprint on the identification pass?"

"How would we know such things?"

The count's tone lowered immediately.

"They are carrying out a secret order from the imperial army. Erase all records and bury this incident. No one is to speak a word. No one here saw them. Seal the mouths of those harbor ruffians, understand?"

"Yes, my lord!"

"To think you saw their incredible martial strength and still didn't suspect a thing. Do those moving with Dran really look like common merchants?"

"We apologize, my lord!"

"We will handle it thoroughly!"

"Remember: if word of this gets out, the blame will be yours."

"That will not happen, my lord."

"What on earth is the army thinking these days? Tsk, tsk."

The count clicked his tongue as he walked away.

I was amazed at his acting skills. In other words: "The imperial military has secretly secured the divine ore. If you don't want to die, keep your mouth shut."

/ / /

Our party climbed into the carriage.

The count watched us with a reluctant expression and said,

"Take care. Let's pretend none of this happened."

"Of course."

"Take good care of them."

"Yes, my lord. Hyah~"

The carriage started off.

The count kept up his act until the carriage was out of sight, even though there were only guards nearby.

Donnie and Urald looked puzzled. After all, not only had we been let go, but an official carriage had been provided as well.

"So, Count Mals recognized the young master."

"Yes. Just as you said, Urald, he must've felt guilty."

"I expected as much, given the count's reputation."

"But his tone was so stiff,"

Donnie said.

Urald laughed at that.

"Outwardly, yes. And from now on, the count will continue acting as though he cares nothing for the Hader house. Officially, Hader is already destroyed and none of the family's fate is known. But inside, it's another story."

"Will the count become our ally?"

Donnie asked, turning to me.

"We've gained a house that can secretly help us — not an ally yet, but if it benefits him, the count might side with us."

"That's already something."

"Yes. Honestly, it's reassuring."

Count Mals is a hard man to read. Yet he's shown me his true self. In other words, he also has the potential to betray those who doomed our house.

The carriage traveled on without rest through the night.

After traveling all night, the plan was to send it back at the entrance to the central mountain range. I didn't want Count Mals to know where we were heading.

/ / /

We were climbing a rough mountain.

After sending the carriage away, we'd spent two days crossing a harsh mountain range.

"Why does your friend live alone?"

Donnie asked.

"He has his reasons."

"Does he dislike people?"

"That's part of it, but the real reason is, he's not actually alone."

"Is he married?"

"He's not married, but he has children. He doesn't want to see his kids suffer at people's hands. The world is harsh."

I wanted to ask more, but Urald fell silent, so I stopped. If he wasn't married but had children, it meant he'd adopted them.

Of course, if Dran children lived among people, it was certain they'd be teased.

Everyone quietly kept walking up the mountain.

Urald didn't say exactly where we were going, but he didn't seem suspicious of Donnie and me.

Had we climbed another three hours?

A cliff covered in thick vines appeared deep within the forest. I wondered if we were meant to climb that cliff — but that wasn't it.

"Wait here a moment."

"Yes."

"Huh?"

Urald disappeared into the cliff. There was an entrance hidden by thick vine leaves.

At a glance, you'd never know it was there: a perfectly concealed secret entrance.

We waited about ten minutes, then Urald reemerged. This time, a Dran who looked similar to him followed.

Unlike Urald, he had a long braided beard; otherwise, he resembled Urald enough to be brothers.

"These are the ones I told you about. Say hello, this is Wundbark."

"Pleased to meet you. I am Roger of House Hader."

"I am Donnie, the young master's retainer."

Wundbark regarded us with a rather displeased expression. Since we were humans his friend brought, he didn't say anything, but...

We weren't what he cared about — he just kept looking at the bag with the materials in it.

"So you want to make a variety of things?"

His first words.

He seemed more guarded than ill-tempered. Unlike with Urald, we were uninvited guests.

"There are some materials here you may not have seen before."

"What kind of magic?"

"Magic amplification. Magic duration. Spirit stone. And a special magic power stone for inventing and developing sword techniques."

"There's a spirit stone?"

"Yes."

"Where did you get that?"

"From Fairy Island."

"You met the fairies?"

"Yes. We traded our magic power stones with them, promised to keep trading in the future as well."

"I've never known them to reveal themselves so recklessly..."

"It's true. I was there myself,"

Urald said.

Wundbark looked at Urald.

Apparently, Urald wanted us to tell the story ourselves. At any rate, Wundbark's eyes were full of amazement.

"May I take a look?"

"Of course."

I opened the bag.

The first item he grabbed was the divine ore. The moment he saw the first material, his eyes began to tremble.

When he saw the spirit stone, his jaw dropped.

He was startled again at the quantity of low-rank spirit stones, and when he saw the four types of magic materials obtained on the demon island, his eyes went round.

Then, when he saw the symbol on the shrinking magic stone, he was shocked.

"So you really did go to Fairy Island. These are the rarest materials.

I've heard such things existed in ancient times, but can't believe there are still some left."

"Will you make them for us? We'll pay you."

"Rather than payment..."

Wundbark looked at Urald.

Urald nodded.

"Can you tell me where you get these materials?"

"I can, but on one condition."

"What is it?"

"Move into our house. Join our house."

"What?"

Wundbark's eyes shook violently.

He was so shocked, it seemed impossible.

I repeated.

"If that's too difficult, we can still supply you with materials. But the process is extremely dangerous and difficult, so we need a fair arrangement too."

"You want me to make what you request?"

"Yes. And Urald needs some magical tools as well."

Wundbark's eyes were glued to the bag. The gaze of a master craftsman seeing rare materials.

Clearly, thousands of items and pieces of equipment he could make with these were spinning through his head.

"You said Hader marquisate, right?"

"That's right."

"I know what kind of house it must be if Urald's from there. But wasn't it wiped out a few years ago? Were you all together until now?"

"We've rebuilt ourselves at the edge of the easternmost continent. You'll be amazed if you visit."

"At what?"

"At everything. Our young master has a strange talent for finding gold, magic power stones, and all sorts of mineral veins."

"Are you saying I should believe that?"

Urald gestured to the bag.

Wundbark gave a wry laugh.

"How else could we have found all this?"

"I see."

Urald went on, smiling.

"Our young master holds several great secrets. No one knows what these secrets are — and indeed, nobody in the family even asks. In fact, everyone keeps quiet about it. Can you guess why?"

"Because of his nature?"

"At the Hader house, there are no commoners or servants."

"You mean it's not a noble family?"

"It is a noble house. But everyone is equal."

"Equal... and yet, didn't your large friend here call himself a retainer a moment ago?"

"He's paid now. He's the young master's secretary and warrior guard."

Wundbark turned his gaze to Donnie.

At that moment, he noticed the huge sword strapped to Donnie's back. Donnie gave a polite bow in response.

"Amazing."

"Isn't it? No other noble would even consider such a thing."

Urald continued,

"That's why your children wouldn't be mocked or mistrusted as another race in our fortress. On the contrary, they could become treasured talents of the Hader house."

"You said, talents?"

"How long do you plan to keep your kids here? I haven't told the young master yet, but one day, he'll surely go to the [Kallaga] fortress as well. I believe our young master will be the one to liberate it."

Wundbark looked at me.

I had no idea where Kallaga was.

Urald went on.

"But there's no need to set out for such a distant place. What the young master seeks are talents like your children."

A change was coming over Wundbark's expression.

A mix of fear and worry.

Because he loved his children.

At that moment—

"We want to go out into the world!"

"Please, father!"

"I told you not to come out!"

Wundbark tried to stop them, but it was too late. Someone emerged from the cave in the cliff — but it wasn't a Dran.

They were tall and extremely beautiful, one male and one female.

Blond and silver hair. Pointed ears.

Pointed ears?

"Elin?"

Were these people Elin?

Elin, the magical race of the continent of Aindel?

But why are they in the human continent?