"You don't need to shackle him; he is not an enemy."

Aurora had explained countless times in the dungeon, but the people from the Beast Tamer Guild still treated the unconscious werewolf like a dangerous felon, shackling his limbs and suspending him in a spread-eagled position.

"We can tame beasts, but with a creature like this, it's best to err on the side of caution," Guild Master Evans left these words behind as he strode away.

Thus, Vice President Soye took full advantage of the Guild Master's orders, executing them to an extreme. "Right, shackle his hands and feet. Let's see if he dares to cause trouble on human territory again."

Following these commands, the werewolf was treated in such a manner.

After being struck down by Evans, he reverted to his human form and fell into a coma. Although Aurora had healed his wounds with holy light, it was not enough to rouse him from unconsciousness.

The High Priestess had many questions for him, so she had no choice but to wait there.

Two hours passed, and there was no sign of the werewolf waking up. Nevarus, growing impatient, brought a bucket of water and threw it over him, but it had no effect.

"What now? Are we just going to wait here until morning?" the paladin asked discontentedly.

Aurora put down the murky moonstone she had just found in the werewolf's small backpack. She had confirmed that the dark power she had sensed earlier did not come from the werewolf but from this corrupted stone. This stone was surely the important item mentioned in the letters.

Where had Krystiz gone? Where had this stone been found? Why was it so severely corrupted? She wanted to ask all these questions, but as long as the werewolf did not wake up, she could not get the answers.

The paladin paced restlessly in front of the werewolf, then asked, "Can I punch him a few times? Maybe that will wake him up."

"No," Aurora and Miranda said in unison.

Nevarus pouted, a sly smile flashing across his face. He turned around and aimed a punch at the werewolf's face.

Miranda adjusted her glasses with a long sigh, while Aurora massaged her forehead, her face full of helplessness.

However, the punch never landed on the werewolf's face. His head suddenly tilted to one side, neatly dodging the attack.

He slowly opened his deep purple eyes, fixing a piercing gaze on Nevarus. His look was that of a wild wolf, ever ready to turn the tables on his enemy.

Nevarus did not back down, meeting the werewolf's gaze, "Finally awake? I was getting impatient."

The werewolf looked around, noticing his restrained limbs, yet showed no signs of anger or fear.

He scanned the surroundings, then asked, "Where's Nicole?"

Aurora answered, "She was expelled from the guild for your collusion in cheating, Mr. Druid."

The werewolf's icy gaze remained unflustered as he inquired further, "Where is she? The guild didn’t harm her, did they?"

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"Cheating isn’t a capital crime; she just lost her eligibility to become a beast tamer," Miranda explained, standing next to Aurora. "The guild hasn’t imprisoned her; she should be somewhere in Northsail."

This seemed to relieve the werewolf.

Aurora gestured for Nevarus to step aside, then approached the werewolf, "I think we need to have a serious discussion about your intentions and the moonstone you carried, Mr. Druid. Allow me to introduce myself—I am Aurora Legno, the High Priestess of the Dawn Prayers. This lady is my secretary, Miranda. The paladin here is my guard, Nevarus. I apologize for our earlier actions, mistaking you for a demon..."

"That’s in the past. Let's leave that behind.; you couldn’t harm me anyway. But," the werewolf's detached gaze swept over the trio, "do you really intend to have this conversation while I'm strung up like this?"

He shook his shackled hands, the chains clinking crisply.

"I’m sorry, the Beast Tamer Guild insisted on restraining you, and I don’t have the keys to unlock these," Aurora apologized with a shake of her head.

The werewolf chuckled nonchalantly, "While hanging me up might make you feel safer, it’s quite uncomfortable for me. If you don’t mind, let me sit down properly to talk, shall we?"

Before Aurora could grasp his meaning, the werewolf's body dissolved into a dense mist, which then reformed into a black panther. Gracefully, it walked a few steps in the cell and stretched languidly. In the blink of an eye, it had returned to its human form, casually pulling up an old chair to sit down.

As everyone stared in astonishment, he explained lightly, "Human chains can’t hold me. I complied with you upon waking only because I didn't want you to mistakenly believe I had hostile intentions."

Seeing how effortlessly he handled the situation, Nevarus clenched his fists, a twitch passing across his lips, "That bastard...!"

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Shinya. And just to clarify, I'm not what you call a 'Druid'. The correct term is 'Shapeshifter'."

"Does it make a difference what we call it?" Nevarus rolled his eyes, interjecting.

Shinya's cold gaze flicked to Nevarus, explaining, "It does make a difference. 'Druids' are humans who can use life magic, but they probably don't exist anymore. Although I can take human form, I am not human. 'Shapeshifters' are more powerful than 'Druids'. If it weren't for maintaining a form for too long, causing an energy imbalance, how could you few have possibly captured me?"

"Oh? Really?" Nevarus asked with a meaningful tone. He could sense that although this werewolf appeared as cold as ice and seemed uninterested in anything, deep down, he possessed a strong sense of pride and was the type to accept challenges. Otherwise, the werewolf wouldn't have specifically used the excuse of "energy imbalance."

"It's a fact that you were captured, and it's a fact that you were shot down from the sky with an arrow. Werewolf, don't you feel indignant?"

Shinya did not speak, merely staring at him coldly. The dim light of the dungeon cast his body in shadow, leaving only his purple eyes reflecting a dangerous glint in the darkness.

Even someone as sharp-tongued as Nevarus did not dare to utter more provocative words at this moment. He felt a cold sweat breaking out on his back, and a piece of advice he had heard somewhere flashed through his mind—never turn your back on a beast, never try to run...

"Nevarus." Aurora's voice interrupted the paladin's thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"Leave."

"What?? My duty is to protect you, I can't..."

"I said, leave." Aurora insisted, enunciating each word clearly, "Wait for me outside."

Nevarus had no choice but to comply. He reluctantly moved toward the door, but as he passed by Aurora, he whispered earnestly, "I'll be just outside the cell. If anything happens, call my name."

With that, he opened the cell door, gave Shinya one last glance, and then disappeared through the doorway.

After Nevarus left, Shinya spoke, "You should learn how to discipline your subordinates. If someone like him were in Togekaze, he'd be minced meat in no time."

Hearing this, Miranda nodded heavily without saying a word.

Aurora shook her head. "He is more than just my subordinate."

Miranda turned her head in surprise to look at the High Priestess she had personally assisted in growing up, fearing to hear any words related to "romance" from her mouth.

"He is also my friend," Aurora said with great importance.

Miranda finally let out a sigh of relief, unconsciously patting her chest to calm herself.

"He swears loyalty to me, not to the 'Dawn Prayers.'" Aurora changed the subject, "Let's not talk about him anymore. Let's talk about your situation."

The young High Priestess picked up the polluted Moonstone that had been placed on the table earlier, her expression serious. "Where did Krystiz find this?"