While he felt embarrassed throughout the night, this ended up helping him keep his thoughts away from the visit to the final location and sleep soundly in a warm embrace, something he inwardly felt very thankful for.

As the elves fell into deep slumber one after another, the darkness slowly receded, and the skies began to brighten up again, welcoming the arrival of the next day, the fourth day of the week according to their newly obtained clock.

After he woke up, Alz joined up with the other warriors at the dining hall to meet up with Colt at the appointed time. They regrouped without trouble and had their meals before setting for the final location.

Outside the southern forests, wolves were generally treated well by the elven community. They were usually non-aggressive and acted as hunting companions for the fighters, helping them out greatly when moving around in the forest.

Naturally, the capital was no exception, and there was a wolf pen located here as well. However, the attitude towards this at the southern guardhouse was vastly different from the other three, facing with much more opposition to this practice than the others.

Alz had read about this before back in the library at the fourth and hadn't felt too much against this then, but his outlook on this matter changed entirely following the attacks on his village.

Even though he did not lose control like Polon, he heavily detested those creatures all the same, for robbing him of everything he once had.

Rearing a wolf as a companion was something that had never crossed his mind, not even once. To him, wolves were enemies that existed to kill or be killed, there was nothing else in between.

While not to the extent of Alz, the others in the expedition also felt rejection towards this idea, resulting in a stiff atmosphere as they followed behind Colt with heavy steps.

Being from the south as well, Colt was not surprised by the lack of motivation shown by the group, understanding where it came from. This was why was reluctant to inform the group of their destination before, but Alz's question had worked against his original intent.

Since they already knew where they were going, there was no point in holding information back from them any longer. Having thought that, Colt broke the heavy silence with his words, beginning to explain how things went in their guardhouse.

"You guys probably already guessed it, but I'll say it anyway. We're heading to the wolf pen now. Over here, each of the us are given a wolf as our companion, and you guys will be collecting yours later."

No response came from the group, but the silence that returned felt heavier than before, indicating that Colt's words had properly reached group's ears. Indeed, there was no surprise among the group as they had already discussed deduced the final location the night before.

At this confirmation, the group suddenly slowed down, with many of them showing disgust on their faces. Colt was not bothered by the irritation and lack of enthusiasm that was being shown, as he knew what they were going through.

He had already expected this from the start, as his group had also reacted similarly back then. In a sense, this was the natural reaction from them too and he would have been shocked had they reacted differently.

The enmity between the wolves and south was accumulated over multiple generations and was not something that could be simply resolved. This was a common bond that went beyond the tribes, connecting the entire south.

As he watched the group, he also felt a slight sense of loss deep inside, releasing a sigh inwardly. They had also shared this bond once upon a time, but it had been whittled down during their stay here, causing it to lose the edge it once had.

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The group continued moving along with Colt's occasional voice and heavy footsteps in the background. After a long walk, The figure of a large brown wolf suddenly entered their eyes, a statue that was carved entirely out of wood.

Despite its size, the statue was very well-defined, with many intricately features carved with incredible attention to detail. If not for its colour, one might have even mistaken it for the real thing, showing the effort behind its creation.

Alz's body was shaking uncontrollably as he glared at the meticulously carved statue, the final moments of his parents playing vividly in his mind. Anger surged within him at the sight of that form, shackling his feet down to the ground.

Determination filled his eyes and he resolutely turned around, walking back in the direction they came from. He was unwilling to proceed any further, feeling like he would lose a part of himself had he moved on.

The irregularity was quickly noticed, but those in the expedition merely sent a quick glance to his back before looking away. Colt quickly turned when he heard footsteps moving away, his sight landing on Alz's back.

He paused briefly in hesitation before deciding to chase after him, but a figure suddenly moved in from the side and blocked his path before he could do so.

"Let him go. He has already been through far too much, the captain will surely understand as well." the figure said in a grave voice as he looked towards Colt, recalling the incident at the fourth village.

Colt saw the grief in his eyes and fell into silence for a moment before nodding his head. He then turned around and continued to lead the group towards the building that was located behind the statue.

After Alz's departure, the group moved on smoothly to the pen with nobody else from the group leaving. Everything after proceeded smoothly as they went by the procedure and were each assigned with a companion.

They were naturally unwilling to look after the wolves now, but they already had measures in place for this. The guards from the southern guardhouse were given the option of leaving their wolves to caregivers in the pen for the first five years.

This was a special consideration by the guardhouse in light of their circumstances, providing them with a buffer to get used to interacting with the wolves, something many of them were thankful for.

Meanwhile, on Alz's end.

Warm tears were forming in his eyes as he walked, triggered by the painful memories he recalled earlier. Pangs of homesickness attacked him in his vulnerable state, leaving him with a strong longing for home.

"I have to be strong!"

However, each time the tears formed, his fingers were there to remove it. He was feeling homesick, but his home was something that only existed in the past. It was not something that would be solved even if he returned to his tribe, for it was no longer there.

There was no option for turning back, so he could only progress forward. He slowly calmed his emotions as he walked, deciding on what to do for now.

He knew that walking off the way he did would probably result in issues, but it was something he had to do so he did not regret it. If given the option to choose, he would walk away every single time, there was no doubt in his mind regarding that. Hence, he decided not to think about the consequences for now.

He had originally intended to do it after they left, but since he had time now, he decided to move it forward and started scouting the surroundings for a good place to build his home.

According to Colt's explanations along the way, there were only two wolf pens in the outskirts of the capital, one that was located between the South and the West and one between the North and East.

These pens were shared between two guardhouses, hence explaining the long walk which had taken them nearly three hours. There were also several enclosures closer to the guardhouses, but those were only for the guards' companions and were not used for rearing.

This was something that they had just learnt along the way, as Colt had not brought them there while showing them around yesterday. After all, this was hardly important to the group and would probably not see use for the next few years at least.

While noting his location in his head, Alz slowed down his steps and started taking detours, looking for a nice area that fit the image in his mind as he progressed in the direction of the southern guardhouse.

The area enclosed by the barrier was extremely large, but the elven population was small. As such, there were many undeveloped, forested areas even within the barrier as homes were generally built close to other buildings due to the amenities.

When Alz first learnt of this from Colt yesterday, he was immediately overjoyed as this meant that there were many more prospects for his new home. He was not the least concerned about the amenities, as he was confident in his abilities to build them himself.

All he wanted was to live in a secluded area where he could live peacefully and move on with his plans with minimal interruption, a place like the archives where he had gotten used to living in over the past years.