Black fur covered the giant wolf from head to toe, its bloodshot eyes staring at Rei menacingly with its fangs bared and saliva dripping from the mouth. The wolf circled Rei slowly, and Rei circled back, maintaining the distance between him and the wolf.

Behind Rei, he could hear the travellers whispering from where they were hiding within the trees.

“Does that boy really think he can take on a giant wolf alone…?”

“This is hopeless… maybe we should just run…”

Rei ignored their whispers, concentrating his focus instead on the wolf.

The wolf stopped for a second, then Rei clenched the handle of his sword and just as he expected, the wolf lunged for Rei, its steps shaking the ground with its weight.

He dodged the lunge just in time by rolling to his side and as the wolf’s body went past him, he rose up from the roll quickly, slashing his sword across the side of the wolf.

Blood scattered across everywhere and the wolf let out a welp before crumbling down onto the ground, its feet flailing in the air momentarily. The wolf picked itself back at, turned back to Rei, and lunged again with a roar.

“Crap…!” Rei grimaced, bracing himself for the attack by placing his sword out in front of him. He had not expected the wolf to get back up on its feet so quickly.

The wolf’s claws smashed onto his sword, causing him to stumble backwards, and the claws from the wolf’s other paw came. He swung himself backwards, narrowly evading the attack but the claws managed to scrape the side of his shoulder, creating a gash that ripped blood out from underneath his cloak.

Then Rei jumped forward, slamming his sword down into the wolf’s head and piercing its flesh as the blade struck inside. The wolf crashed down onto the ground, its movements ceasing, and Rei jumped off to the ground from on top of the wolf’s head.

He swung his sword to his side, sweeping the blood from the blade down to the floor, then sheathed the sword behind his back.

“No way…”

“He actually did it…”

Rei heard the voices of the travellers, and he turned to glance at them, seeing their faces of astonishment staring at him. Hesitating for a second, Rei walked over to the travellers.

It had been some time since Rei had spoken to another person besides Zilver. There was nobody ever around the forest where Zilver’s hut was, so for the whole 2 years, he had practically been living with Zilver in isolation.

“You guys okay…?” Rei asked.

The travellers stared at him for a moment more, before they got out from behind the trees, bowing down in front of him.

“Th, thank you so much! You saved our lives…!”

“We don’t know how to thank you…!”

Rei stared at the grateful travellers with a blank face, feeling slightly awkward. Normally whenever he spoke to Zilver, she always responded back in a calm composed manner, almost without any emotions whatsoever, so the travellers’ demeanour was very different from what he was used to.

“It’s okay…” Rei said.

“Ah! How about we give you a silver coin for saving our lives?” One of the travellers said, “We just finished a delivery job and were crossing back into town, so we have some money to spare.”

The traveller reached into a pouch by his side.

Rei raised his hand, “That’s fine. I don’t need any money.” He said, then he had another thought, “Instead, could you guys please point me in the direction of the town nearby here? I’m trying to look for a town on this map...”

Reaching into the bag by his side, Rei pulled out the map that Zilver had given him, rolling it out open for the travellers to see.

“Hm, ah! That’s the town we’re going to as well!” The traveller said, looking at the map, “That’s a pretty weird map you h—”

The traveller stopped, and a look of shock fell over his face. The travellers exchanged glances of surprise with one another, murmuring amongst themselves.

“I, impossible… That boy’s map has got the Black Frost Forest all mapped out…”

“T, that could be worth tens of thousands of gold if its real…! It can't be...”

Hearing their murmurs, Rei raised an eyebrow at them, “Is something wrong?”

The traveller that had been talking to him, glanced up at him with grave eyes, “Boy… if that map is real, do not ever show anyone that map. There’s a lot of people out there that wouldn’t hesitate to cut your throat in your sleep to get their hands on such a map.”

Rei scrolled the map back up, “I see… thank you for letting me know…”

The traveller nodded, “We will pretend we didn’t see anything as you have saved our lives.”

“Anyways,” A second traveller within the group smiled at Rei, trying to lighten the mood, “Let us forget all that. We are heading to the same town that you are heading for, let us go together as our appreciation for you saving our lives.”

“Heh, you just want the boy to save your ass in case we run into any more giant wolves again!” A third traveller chipped in.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“That as well!” The second traveller laughed.

~x~

Arriving at a small town that was nevertheless still big from Rei’s perspective of having lived in a village and a hut for his entire life, Rei was surprised to see so many people walking around, stone buildings everywhere he looked.

The travellers and him had split their separate ways shortly after arriving at the town. They had suggested for Rei to join their group if he was ever looking for a job due to how strong he was, claiming that he would be able to make a fortune as a traveller, but Rei politely turned down their offers.

Rei didn’t really see himself as strong and so doubted their claims, however, he really had no interest in making a fortune anyways. All he wanted was to live in the hut with Zilver and most importantly, to seek his revenge on the red bandit that had burned down his village.

Strolling around the lively town and staring at everything with fascination, Rei eventually found the herb shop that he was looking for. It was a small shop set up in the outskirts of the town where there were less people walking around.

He pushed open the door to the herb shop, and glanced inside at the empty small store, wooden shelves everywhere with jars of dirt growing herb placed all along the shelves.

“W, welcome…!”

A girl’s voice came from the end of the store at the counter, and Rei walked over to see in surprise a girl around the same age as him behind the counter.

Soft, black hair, that was tied up in a bun, with round hazel eyes that peered up at him nervously. She wore a brown apron around her and a pair of oversized gloves for handling herbs.

“Hello…” Rei said, glancing down at the girl. Although they were the same age, Rei was still quite tall for his age.

“Oh, you’re just a boy…” The girl sighed, then glanced to her side, her face anxious as it appeared she was troubled by something.

“Hey, you look like you’re the same age as me,” Rei retorted with a frown.

Having a girl the same age as him call him a boy annoyed Rei. It reminded him of Zilver treating him like a child.

“Ahh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it like that!” The girl turned back to Rei, bowing her head apologetically numerous times, “I, I’m sorry! Please don’t be angry…!”

“H, hey, it’s fine…” Rei said, watching the girl concernedly as she continued to bow her head over and over again. “I just came here to buy some herbs…”

She raised her head with a sniffle, “What herbs do you want to buy?”

“Iguano.” Rei said, then he watched her wipe her teary eyes, “Um… Are you okay…?”

She turned around to face the wall behind her, sniffing and wiping at her tears, “I, I’m so sorry, this is so rude, I’m crying in front of a customer…”

Rei stood around awkwardly, listening to the girl’s quiet weeping as he waited for her to stop crying.

“Listen, uh…” Rei said, “I’m sorry about talking to you like that before…”

“I, it’s not that… it’s not your fault…” The girl sniffed, then turned around, sighing, “It’s my dad…”

“Your dad…?”

The girl nodded quietly, “He’s supposed to be the shop owner here. I normally only look after the herbs. But today…”

Her voice started breaking down, “H, he got taken away… They dragged him from the store, leaving me all by myself… I don’t know if I will ever see him again…!”

“Slow down,” Rei said, speaking in a firmer voice, “What are you talking about? Who took him away?”

“T, the knights from the kingdom…” She whimpered, “They came to town today to round up conscription for the army… You know… for the upcoming war with Lazuta…”

Rei didn’t really have any idea what she was talking about.

“They’ve probably just finished rounding up all the men for conscription by now and are heading back to the kingdom…” The girl mumbled, “I wish—”

Rei turned around, heading for the door of the herb shop.

“W, where are you going…?!” The girl called out to him.

“You said some guys came and they took your dad away, right?” Rei said, stopping at the door and holding the handle. “I’m going to bring your dad back.”

The girl stared at Rei’s back in shock, then Rei was about to step outside when she called out again.

“W, wait…!” She said, then paused, glancing around nervously before staring at Rei, “Uhm… what’s your name…?”

“Rei,” He said.

“I, I’m Priscilla…” The girl said, then in a quiet voice, “Please be safe…"

Rei stepped outside, closing the door behind him.

~x~

Following the road out of the town, Rei saw in the distance a group of around twenty knights marching alongst the road, some riding horses, with a smaller group of unarmed men marching in the middle of the group.

‘Priscilla’s dad is probably amongst that group…’ Rei thought to himself, before sprinting off after the knights.

“Hey, stop!” Rei called out.

The knights and men turned to glance at Rei, then halted their march, and Rei came to a stop in front of them.

“A boy…?” A knight in a silver armour with custom alterations different from the rest of the knights spoke, and the knight climbed off his horse, walking towards Rei. “What is it, boy? You called for us to stop?”

“Yeah,” Rei glanced around at the group of unarmed men that were amongst the knights, “I’ve been told you guys took away the father of a girl working at the herb shop, her name was Priscilla.”

“Priscilla…?” One of the unarmed men repeated in awe, stepping forward to Rei. A man that appeared in his early thirties, black hair, hazel eyes, and Rei noted the man’s resemblance to Priscilla.

‘That must be Priscilla’s dad…’ Rei thought.

“You! Get back in line!” A knight yelled at the man, walking over to the man with his hand reaching for the sheathed sword by his waist.

Seeing this, Rei reactively reached for his own sword behind his back, and immediately, the sound of metal clanking against metal was heard as all the knights in front of him shifted in their positions, grabbing the handle of their swords.

“This boy reached for his sword…!”

“Is he trying to attack knights of the Revlon kingdom?! How foolish…!”

Rei glanced around him carefully, watching the knights, his hand above his head and holding onto the handle of his sword firmly.

The knight with the distinct silver armour that had been speaking to him before glanced around at his fellow knights before yelling at them, “Halt! Keep your swords sheathed! This is just a boy…!”

“Yes, Sir Charlys!” The knights said in unison as they all returned to a standing position, moving their hands away from their swords.

Then, the knight that gave the order raised his hands to his head, removing his helmet to reveal the face of a man with locks of blond hair and steel blue eyes.

He glanced at Rei, holding his helmet by his side, “I apologise for the behaviour of my men. My name is Charlys Henry, a second-in-command lieutenant within the Revlon kingdom.”

“…”

Upon hearing no reply from Rei, Charlys said, “May I please have your name, boy?”

“…Rei.” Rei said, still holding onto the handle of his sword.

Charlys nodded, then he glanced over at the group of men that his knights were guarding, “Rei, you said you have come to us for the father of a girl back in the town?”

“Yes.” Rei said.

Charlys turned back to Rei, his steel blue eyes staring at him keenly as though judging Rei, “Unfortunately, these men here have been conscripted to join the Revlon army as the town of Denzel belongs to the Revlon kingdom. As such, I cannot honour your request, Rei.”

Rei went silent for a few seconds, “So you’re saying that you’re not going to give that girl her father back?”

Charlys shook his head, “It is part of the decree of His Majesty that conscription is necessary for the good of the kingdom. If a name is drawn on the list, then the one who’s name is drawn must join the Revlon army as part of his duty to the Revlon kingdom. It is not a decision that I make.”

“I see,” Rei said slowly, “Then I guess I have no other choice.”

“Rei…!” Charlys said alarmed, but it didn’t matter.

Rei drew his sword out of its sheath, holding the gigantic sword that was about the size of a man out in front of him, and the knights gasped.

The knights drew their swords immediately in response to Rei’s actions, except for Charlys who stared at Rei in shock.