The wolf's running speed is incredible. I'm holding on as best I can, legs tight against its back and fists clenched in what turns out to be surprisingly soft fur. I've closed my eyes because of dizziness, focusing on not falling while the wind tries to tear me from my mount. Thankfully, it only lasts a few seconds, and the wolf doesn't stop abruptly. I whisper my thanks for its consideration - otherwise, I would have gone flying over its head.

I open my eyes and shiver, remembering how far the ground is and how massive the wolf is. I see we're in a forest clearing. The ground is covered with animal bones, giving it a gloomy appearance. There are three of the smaller bears and several tiny cubs that would barely reach my knee. I notice they're level 1 bear cubs, running to hide behind their mothers as soon as they spot us. One of the mothers steps forward and growls, baring her teeth threateningly. She's quite brave, attempting to defend her cubs against such an overwhelming threat as the divine beast of darkness. Which, by the way, doesn't have much time left. I've used up my seven mana points. Its two-minute awakening has just over thirty seconds remaining. More than enough.

The mother bear growls again and feints another step forward. In the blink of an eye, she's trapped under my mount's enormous paw, completely at its mercy.

She stops growling. I can see the bitter resignation to the law of the strongest in her eyes. Does she think my wolf is going to slay her?

Before I can say anything, one of the cubs, in a moment of reckless bravery, launches itself at us. The scene is completely surreal: a tiny bear, barely bigger than a teddy bear and absolutely adorable, trying to bite the paw of a wolf that could swallow it in one gulp. My mount fixes its red eyes on the cub and opens its jaws, as if ready to devour it. Acting on impulse, I climb up its back toward its neck and smack it on the head to get its attention.

"No!" I shout. "Don't hurt it! It's just a baby..."

The wolf can't look at me because of the angle. It snorts with a mixture of annoyance and bewilderment, as if saying, "Seriously, Bianca? You're asking me to spare food? Again?" Or that's what I imagine. In any case, the wolf closes its mouth and lifts its lips to show its fangs, giving the cub a warning growl that leaves it frozen in fear.

The remaining two small bears, seeing that the wolf hasn't eaten their cub, cautiously approach and prostrate themselves at its feet in submission. The other cubs, gathering their courage, also come closer and begin licking its paws, seeking approval. The female bear trapped under the wolf takes advantage when it slightly lifts its paw, loosening the pressure, to slip away. She joins the other bears in their display of allegiance.

I ask the wolf to let me down, and it lies down briefly to allow me to dismount.

That's when Ronan arrives. The boy, riding one of the reanimated bears and accompanied by a handful of goblins, had tried in vain to keep up with the wolf's gallop through the forest. The others stayed behind at the pit, helping the remaining zombies get out and watching over the subdued bears, who don't dare raise their heads from the ground out of fear.

Ronan enters the clearing and stops his mount. He's alone since his zombie had less weight to carry. The bears glance at him nervously, not daring to move or lift their heads from the ground. Then they fix their eyes on the shadow wolf, as if awaiting instructions. Ronan, puzzled, looks at me and asks:

"My lady, I see you have spared more bears. What do you intend to do with them?"

"I feel sorry for them," I confess. "They're so cute. Look at the little cubs. Couldn't we...?"

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Ronan rolls his eyes and brings a hand to his face in disbelief. But he doesn't say anything. I think it's because he takes his role as my vassal very seriously. Still, it's pretty clear he's thinking something like only I would get attached to such dangerous beasts. Or maybe he's just confused because he came running in case we needed help, only to find this unexpected situation.

Nevertheless, he dismounts from the zombie bear and approaches the bears the wolf has subdued. The animals return his gaze, tense, but don't dare move even an inch.

"Be careful, my lady," he tells me.

Then the shadow wolf starts glowing and shrinks back to its tiny puppy form. The three bears and cubs stare at the transformation in absolute bewilderment, not understanding what just happened. The wolf pup, oblivious to everything, jumps into my arms and enthusiastically licks my face, restoring half my mana which, thanks to unfair rounding math, remains at 3. I laugh and stroke its back, delighted.

"Don't worry, little one, you're cuter than the bear cubs."

Oops, did I just say that to the seed of evil? Well yes, because it's adorable and listened to me about not killing needlessly.

The bear cubs, seeing that the wolf is no longer a threat, grow bold and approach to play with me and the puppy. But then one of the adult bears, the one injured by the wolf's stomp, looks at me and growls distrustfully. Before I can realize what's happening, Ronan steps between the bear and me, ready to cast an attack spell. He's beginning to mutter the same words as during the exam with Darius.

"Ronan, no, stop!" I halt him.

He closes his lips and keeps them tight, tense. His eyes radiate pure hatred toward the animal, making it clear that if it dares touch a single hair on my head, it'll pay with its life.

The bear, wisely, lowers its head and prostrates itself on the ground again, accepting defeat. Ronan hesitates for a moment.

"My lady, I believe it would be better to eliminate it and then reanimate it. It would serve you better and cause no problems."

"Don't be so macabre," I scold him and push his arm aside to let me approach the injured bear.

I'm so focused on the animal that I don't even realize I might have hurt him with my words, especially if he took them literally. Thanks to the wolf pup's lick and because my spell isn't in cooldown, I can heal it a bit. I place my hand on its head, resting it between its ears. The fur is somewhat coarse, nothing like the velvety softness of the shadow wolf.

"Minor Healing," I cast.

A faint white glow emerges from my hand and enters the bear's body. It's not much, just one health point, but it's something.

The gesture bewilders the bear, who wasn't expecting any act of compassion from me. The other animals witnessing the scene seem to understand it perfectly. I don't—I don't see why they suddenly prostrate themselves before me.

"Forgive me, my lady," Ronan says. "I didn't realize you wanted to add these bears to your new empire. With that gesture of kindness, they've understood they've changed owners."

From the mountain king to the wolf? No, he's not exactly referring to the wolf.

I sigh. It's not like I want to follow the contract and found an empire. It's just that I feel sorry for them, they're so cute and helpless. Well, the babies are—the mothers are a head taller than me.

In any case, I'm not getting any new notification so that's grea...

Okay, I just got one. I swat it away, I'll read it later, along with the others.

Just then, the other two reanimated bears arrive at the clearing, each with a handful of goblins clinging to their fur. The living bears tense up at seeing them but relax a bit when they realize Ronan and I greet them normally. The goblins, for their part, get scared seeing three loose bears and prepare to attack. I stop them.

"Wait!" I order them. "They're our new friends."

The goblins look at me like I've gone crazy, but they obey. They start inspecting the surroundings and quickly realize the place's potential as a new settlement for the tribe. The clearing is large and borders the entrance to a cave much bigger and deeper than their current shelter. Plus, it has a wide entrance that the real papa bear could fit through on all fours. There's also a river nearby and, most importantly, piles of bones and remains they can use to craft weapons and tools.

Finally, after some discussion, the goblins decide to split up. One group stays in the clearing, along with the two reanimated bears, to start setting up the cave. The zombies have orders to stand guard and protect the goblins and cubs. The rest return with us to the goblin camp to prepare for the move.

By the way, I ask Ronan. His zombies or any skeleton he reanimates from a corpse last indefinitely. That is, they don't decompose. Though they can still suffer an accident or an attack that ends their un-life.