“Has anyone been attacked?”
“Not so far, but someone did see a werewolf!”
Rudolph had no choice but to grab the dog and head out to the outskirts. At the edge of a forest outside town—the last known location where a werewolf was seen—Rudolph dismounted and carefully searched for clues. Although Lyman Town wasn’t a big place, ordinary werewolves rarely dared to enter such a populated area with plenty of guns. Under the beam of his flashlight, he found a tuft of white wolf hair clinging to a large rock.
“Sam, things are about to get dangerous. You stay behind and take care of the dogs while I search the forest.”
“Captain, is that alright?”
“Handling werewolves is my specialty.”
Alone, Rudolph ventured into the woods. On a full moon night, werewolves lose their sanity, and before the wolf girl completely descends into madness, she desperately flees toward less populated areas. Every so often, Rudolph would pause to listen to the sounds around him. By now, the wolf girl had likely lost all self-control—she wasn’t concealing her presence at all. Her movements were erratic, dashing left and right and causing such commotion that even trees were being knocked down.
Before long, Rudolph found her. The white werewolf was rampaging through the forest, tearing and biting at everything in her path. From a distance, she noticed Rudolph watching. Struggling fiercely, one moment she bared her sharp fangs at him, and the next, she shook her head repeatedly as if trying to regain her composure. Rudolph watched her with hopeful eyes, wishing she could overcome her bestial instincts. But under the full moon’s glare, the wolf girl finally lost even that last bit of sanity.
Like a rapidly rolling snowball, the white werewolf charged at Rudolph. He turned and ran, throwing out the bait he had prepared as he fled. On his way, he grabbed a few rabbits—while running, he tossed them behind him. Since the wolf girl had lost her senses, she couldn’t resist the lure of food. Sure enough, each rabbit caught her attention, and she devoured them one by one. What she didn’t know was that Rudolph had mixed a little extra “ingredient” into the rabbits. As a Scorpio apprentice wizard, the incantation he had mastered was “Venom.” Every rabbit was laced with his poison—not highly potent, but effective enough against apostles. With each rabbit she ate, the wolf girl began shaking her head, her thoughts growing foggier. After swallowing four rabbits, she was completely disoriented, unable even to charge straight at Rudolph. Finally, she collapsed on the ground, whimpering.
Rudolph approached her, not worried about any trickery—beserk werewolves were never cunning. Sighing, he sat by her side. Had it not been for the fact that she’d just lost her family, he might not have been so willing to show such patience.
The next morning, as the sun rose, the wolf girl—Yvonne—awoke. She realized that she was wearing a patrolman’s jacket and trousers, yet beneath those layers, she was completely naked. Clutching her knees, Yvonne sat and cried. How could a girl of sixteen or seventeen bear the indignity of being picked up half-naked? Rudolph couldn’t stand it. Scratching his head so vigorously that strands of hair fell out, he admitted he was not good at comforting people in times like these.
Once her tears subsided, Rudolph said, “Let’s go! I’ve spent the entire night in a shirt and pants—I’m freezing to death!”
After all, it was the cold of December.
Yvonne lifted her tear-streaked eyes and saw Rudolph’s reddened nose and fingers that had stiffened from the cold, and she felt a pang of guilt.
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“I'm sorry for causing you trouble again.”
“Not at all. How about I take you to the hot spring bath?”
Near the cemetery, Rudolph rapped on Old Gray’s window—the gravekeeper’s.
“Old Gray, lend me a change of clothes, quick!”
Half-asleep, Old Gray opened the window and glanced at Rudolph and Yvonne—one wearing only a shirt and pants, the other in someone else’s overcoat. “Young man… so rough it is? You tear off clothes without a care for what you’ll wear tomorrow?”
“Have you never been young? Didn’t you have wild days when you were young? Regret them?”
Shaking his head, Old Gray handed Rudolph a set of clothes.
Rudolph soaked in the hot springs all morning, and by the afternoon he returned to the station. When he entered Sheriff Claude’s office, he was startled to see someone else there—was that the wolf girl? When Rudolph caught sight of her, dressed in a police uniform, he was shocked, for his own uniform had already been returned.
“Rudolph, let me introduce you—this is our new rookie patrolman, Yvonne.”
“Yvonne, this is your future captain, Patrolman Rudolph.”
Sheriff Claude made a brief introduction, knowing that the two already knew each other.
“Captain…” Rudolph was in utter disbelief. Today was far too bizarre. What had he seen in the station—a wolf girl who was going to be a rookie patrolman?
If he pointed out that Yvonne was a werewolf, she’d become next month’s Full Moon Sacrifice! It was too unbelievable. For a moment, Rudolph even forgot that he was a wizard…
“Good morning, Captain!”
Yvonne, clearly confused about her own identity, replied.
“Sheriff, perhaps you should reconsider—Yvonne might not be suitable for patrol duty!”
The sheriff wasn’t even paying attention to that. Spraying himself with cologne, he walked toward the door and said, “I need a week’s rest. Mrs. Beizi has been complaining about my busy schedule—I can’t stand her tearful eyes any longer. Rudolph, go find some new leads on the sacrifices. The station has recruited many newcomers, so you don’t need to patrol anymore; leave those routine tasks to others. As the most experienced patrolman here, your sole responsibility will be tracking down leads for the sacrifices. Once you find something, don’t act impulsively—notify me immediately.” With that, Sheriff Claude left the office.
“Sheriff! Sheriff!”
Rudolph, clearly not as charismatic as Mrs. Beizi, called out, but the sheriff didn’t look back. Rudolph stared at Yvonne, his head in a state of collapse, scratching more strands of hair in despair. What was he to do? Could the next sacrifice really be right before his eyes?
“Who is Mrs. Beizi?” asked Yvonne.
“Who Mrs. Beizi is? Does it even matter?”
Taking a few steps closer, an agitated Rudolph lowered his voice and hissed into her ear, “Do you understand the situation? If your werewolf identity is exposed, the Red Priest will have the sheriff stab you with several alchemical daggers! The people in town will tear you apart alive! And you’re asking about Mrs. Beizi? You’re gossiping at a time like this!”
“So…” Yvonne wasn’t bothered by his outburst. “So when are we going to catch werewolves? I came to the station to kill werewolves—that’s why the sheriff agreed to recruit me.”
Rudolph’s saliva sprayed across her face as he spoke, and Yvonne merely wiped her cheeks.
“Sorry! I’m interrupting you!”
Rudolph jumped when he heard a commotion. Turning, he saw Officer Kelita entering the sheriff’s office with documents. Rudolph glanced between Kelita and Yvonne; at that moment, he and Yvonne stood closely together—she was still wiping her mouth, as if they’d just had an intense exchange.
“Wait, Kelita! Listen to me! I’m not the kind of man who’s fickle!”
Kelita placed the documents on the sheriff’s desk and replied sardonically, “Rudolph, you are indeed a man who loves the new and forgets the old—I know all about it. The sheriff’s office is a fine place; what was that saying you taught me? ‘The most dangerous place is also the safest place.’”
Rudolph scrambled after her, utterly at a loss for words… Meanwhile, Yvonne stayed put, mulling over Kelita’s remark: “The most dangerous place is also the safest place.” No wonder the captain said it—it was truly profound.