"The streets cleared up quickly, huh."

After the barbecue ended, it didn't take long until the army of canines returned to their usual business. Most of them probably didn't even know this celebration was made for The Silver Knight. Surprisingly, Asra was thankful for that, claiming the gift they had made to the community was enough for him to be honored. He would make Stella vomit from those cheesy lines one of these days...

The Lycan Squad, Lien, and Stella reunited inside Tarb's hut, where the main event would commence.

"Now, this is when the REAL party starts!" Euraidd raised both fists in the air, then started to blow a party horn.

Hufen quickly brought a chair and pushed her brother on it. "Stay. Here."

The golden retriever pouted. "I'm not even drunk!"

His sister shot him a cold, piercing stare. "I can freeze your butt onto that chair."

The male mage rolled his eyes. "Fine..."

The Knight almost jumped on his ass on the chair. It was probably a mixture of excitement and nervousness. Was he really going to jeopardize his well-maintained secret identity?

However, if a tween solved this mystery with relative ease, one should wonder about the integrity of his secret. Something about that made Stella a bit anxious.

You know what? Not the time or place. Asra was clapping like a small child after seeing a cake with yellow frosting. On top, it was written in green. "Congratulations on getting rid of your fleas!"

...

"Sorry, it was the best thing I could get in an hour." Hufen twiddled her thumbs shyly.

The Knight faked a gasp. "How did you know?! I was planning to announce my fur cleansing tomorrow!"

Everyone laughed at the quip except Stella, who scratched her head in confusion. Perhaps it was a Wolf inside joke.

Tarb playfully slammed his paws on the table. "C'mon! Go straight to what we wanna see! Take off the damn helmet!"

The hero stood up, clasping both hands together. "Alright! To finish this celebration of camaraderie, I take the next step to our growing closeness! We've been working together for a year, and I'm grateful for each second we spent together. You taught me much about improving my skills as a guard, even though we are technically not on the same squad." He bowed. "Thank you so much."

Aw, what a lovely speech. Hufen and Locci appeared to be the most affected by the hero's words, averting their gazes in timidness. The golden guard blew the party horn again.

"Whoo-hoo! Speech! Speech!" After the gallons of mead Euraidd consumed, it was surprising he wasn't tripping over his tail.

Tarb cackled. "He's already doing it, you hairball!"

"Shut up, you fat mutt!" He was about to stand up until Hufen shot a beam of ice from her finger on his leg. "I'm sorry!" He clutched the frozen area, whimpering. Locci held his laughter in the background.

Huh. Stella didn't know he was a dragon type.

The Knight cleared his throat. "Very well! Time for the truth!" He slowly wrapped his fingers around his helmet, then yanked it out all at once, revealing his true identity!

The moment his mask was taken, so did his heroic, over-the-top personality. His eyes anxiously darted between the Wolves as if he were walking around naked. In a way, he kinda was.

Everyone's eyes widened, transfixed on Asra. Except Stella, and...

"Guys? Why is everyone silent?" Lien's tail swished impatiently. Her paws lightly squeezed her pet rat. "Guys?!"

To the surprise of the Humans, Tarb started laughing uncontrollably. Was he thinking it was a joke?

He pointed at the golden mage. "I WANT MY 200 COINS, EURAIDD!" He stood up and howled. "Sick Ogre, my left ass cheek!" He pointed at the mentioned region, much to the girl's displeasure.

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"Aw, man..." Euraidd pouted. "That's what I get for not going with the obvious option..."

Asra's eyes threatened to pop out of his skull. "Excuse me? You guys knew?!"

Hufen held her paws placantingly. "I mean, kind of. We had no proof, but we had our suspicions..." Locci nodded in agreement.

Tarb started dancing with the grace of a drunken armadillo for about two seconds before he was panting like a panda after a flight of stairs. "Y-Yeah! I mean, some guy showing up with Human stuff a year after the real one died? Even with the student excuse, that's fishy!" He squinted his eyes. "Not to mention that golden aura of yours. None of us have that!"

After a whole minute of awkwardly standing around, Asra slumped his shoulders. "When you put it like that, it does sound silly, doesn't it?"

Stella felt like she should've said something, but what? This situation was uncomfortable enough without any weird input from her.

Thankfully, Hufen stepped up for the job of comforting him for her. "Don't be sad, Knight. Your true identity is just a rumor between Monoke. Not everyone will connect the dots." She tapped his shoulder.

The man's eyes sparkled with hope. "You think so?"

Euraidd nodded clumsily. "Y-Yeah! People find your dancing and voice too goofy to be a Human. Like, I was talking to M-" His words started to devolve into incoherent mumbling as his eyelids closed and his muscles relaxed. His snoring was awfully adorable, sounding like a slumbering sheep before he slid out from the chair, falling like an abandoned rag doll. However, his nap remained unbroken.

"What he said," Tarb grumbled. "Don't worry, kiddo. Your secret is safe with us."

Asra exhaled with relief. "I'm so glad. For so long, I wanted to be honest with someone other than the queen. And Stella, of course." He motioned his hand at her.

Speaking of which, the girl remembered that her friend was also there. Looking at her, she saw the pup's jaw on the floor, her eyes bulging with shock.

Stella's hand hovered above Lien's shoulder. "Hey. Are you feeling-"

When her fingers touched her tunic, it was as if the girl had activated a trigger on the Wolf pup.

She jumped out of her chair. "I'VE BEEN FRIENDS WITH A HUMAN BEFORE STELLA?!" She clutched her ears. "I'm like, a Human magnet or something!" Her milky eyes sparkled with awe.

The hero scratched the back of his head. "Huh. I suppose that without Lien, I wouldn't have met the Lycan Squad in the first place."

Tarb turned his gaze at his nephew. "Hey! You're right! I guess her rebellious streak isn't all that bad!" He snickered.

Stella crossed her arms and legs. "So the lesson here is that Lien is awesome?"

Lien took on a toothy, arrogant grin, resting her paws on her hips. "A lesson we should take for our lives."

The Human girl snorted. "Agreed."

Piercing through the light atmosphere like a sharp blade, the loud thud of the door instantly opening put everyone, except the ones affected by alcohol, on edge. It was none other than...

...

Captain Tash...

Her solemn eyes were at first locked on her daughter and subordinates. "Why are you looking at me as if you saw me die? I'm here-"

Her pupils shrank. Her constantly stable, professional body posture broke apart for a split second. Stella swore she saw the captain's claws unsheathing for a moment.

The Human girl's eyes alternated between Tash and Asra. It felt like she witnessed someone finding their arch-nemesis casually hanging out in her house.

She gripped the chair's top rail. Her arms started to tremble. With each second of this killing silence, her heartbeat fastened, and her mind ran with anxiety-filled scenarios of her and Asra's demise. What about Lien? Would the captain-

Tash closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and her posture returned to normal. When they opened, it greeted the hero with their usual apathy. "You finally decided to show yourself, huh."

Asra's eyes widened. "C-Captain, I-"

"Good for you." She turned her attention to her daughter. "But I'm not here to congratulate you. I'm here to bring my daughter home."

Lien's tail slowly wagged with uncertainty. She touched Stella's shoulder. "See you tomorrow." Then she stepped closer to her mother.

The pup paced back and forth, twiddling her thumbs. "I'm ready, Mom."

Tash hummed. "Did you say goodbye to your uncle?"

Lien turned around and waved. "Bye, Uncle Tarb!" She was waving at Locci.

Tarb weakly waved back. "Be safe, pup!"

And so, mother and daughter left the hut, leaving a heavy atmosphere for everyone else.

Tarb huffed. "Sorry 'bout my sister. She's a professional stick in the mud. Don't take it personally."

Asra waved his hand at him. "It's alright. We can still-"

His stomach loudly growled, alerting everyone in the room. Stella was well aware of how embarrassing that was...

"Eat. We can still eat." He forced a smile with a face as red as a tomato.

"Your plate is right over there." Locci pointed at a sizeable pile of grilled meat on a plate close to the cake.

"Thanks!" Asra didn't waste any time before he devoured those pheasant legs so ravenously it made the Wolves in the room feel awkward witnessing him.

Well, maybe Stella could remedy that...

The girl stood up on the chair and shouted. "I bet you can't finish all that in five minutes!"

The Lycan Squad's ears perked up, even Euraidd's, who groggily rolled on the floor so his eyes could glimpse her.

Asra's eyes flared at the challenge. "Make it four! And you can start counting! Here!" She threw his watch, which he used to mark the girl's progress each day of her weighted armor marathon. She caught it with ease, surprising even herself. However, she shook herself from those thoughts and started to time his ravaging of the meat pile.

...That sounded dirty. Not my intention this time!

Tarb, Hufen, and Locci had their eyes glued to the impressive speed of the Human guard feasting on the massive piece of boar. He was not even using his light magic! It was a crude, primal type of beauty that made Stella invested.

Only two minutes left! Would Asra fulfill his destiny and reach new heights on his short-lived speed-eating career?!

Stay tuned! On the next episode of-

Uhhh...

Shit, I never gave this story a name, did I?

...

I'll brainstorm a few, no problem!