The soldier was unfamiliar.

He had long blonde hair and amethyst eyes, the traits of a highborn. Even if there were dozens of soldiers, Raoul was sure he would remember someone with such distinct features. This could only mean that the soldier arrived after the boy had left the village.

“Keep quiet,” the highborn said, his hand on the boy’s mouth, his eyes looking the boy up and down. “Are you the one they have been searching for?”

Raoul instinctively reached for anything his hand could get to, and he managed to grip a stone. He swung his arm, only for the soldier to catch it with one hand.

“I’m not your enemy,” the man said, putting pressure on the boy’s wrist and making him drop the rock. “And I can’t have you involved with a Great Wolf like the one you were with just now. Who knows when it will turn against you.”

Raoul grabbed the soldier’s arm with his free hand and bit the man’s palm with enough force to make him let go of his mouth. The soldier cursed something under his breath as he yanked his hand free. The boy kicked the soldier in the stomach and rolled backwards. “Al is a he, not an it,” Raoul spat. “And you soldiers are all my enemies.”

“Listen here, boy,” the man said as he got to his feet, his tone still calm. “I am here to—“

Suddenly, the soldier looked back and drew his sword from the belt. A second later, Alwig appeared from a bush with his claws bared.

Raoul was sure the sword would cut through the wolf’s claws effortlessly, but somehow, the claws held on, clashing against the blade on equal grounds. The soldier was pushed back by the sheer mass of the wolf step by step until his back was against a tree.

“Run, Raoul!”

“Run, boy!”

They shouted at the same time before they looked at each other’s faces with puzzlement, Alwig confused why the soldier would tell the boy to run while the soldier confused about how words were leaving the wolf’s mouth.

The highborn glared at the wolf. “I already thought that you were not normal from how you received my sword, beast, but it seems you even possess demonic nature.” He strained his body to raise his sword along with the claws, and he swiped the blade to the side, bringing the claws along with it to the ground. “It seems I need to eliminate you this instant.”

Alwig didn’t lose balance and attacked the soldier with his other foreleg. However, the hilt of the sword was already close to the wolf’s face from the soldier’s previous movement. The man smashed the hilt into Alwig’s face in one sharp and precise movement.

This time, the wolf lost his balance and stumbled to the side a few steps.

The highborn raised his sword up high. “Perish, beast.”

Raoul tackled the man with his body, both of them falling to the ground.

“What are you doing!” The man groaned. “You might think it is harmless, but don’t let it fool you! It is just a savage beast that needs to be rid of as soon as possible!”

“You…” Raoul murmured, his eyes deadly, before he shouted, “You are the beast! Who do you think you are to judge people like that!”

“T-this boy!” The soldier tried to yank the boy off him but couldn’t. Then, he saw Alwig with his maw open, lunging for his head.

The soldier didn’t block or run. Instead, he rolled over to protect Raoul, showing his back to the wolf and clutching the boy tight.

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Without the boy having to say anything, Alwig stopped beside them. “Shall we talk, human?” he asked, his tone unlike anything Raoul had heard the wolf use before. It was a tone filled with doubt and hatred.

The soldier finally looked back, blinking. “Shall… we?”

His name was Valent. He had many surnames, but Raoul couldn’t remember a single one. Sir Valent was a man who never forgot a debt, as apparent in his willingness to risk his life to protect Raoul. Apparently, he came to search for the boy at the request of his parents who saved the soldier’s life during one of the battles that bordered the village. This happened before Raoul was born, according to the man.

And now that the war was over, Valent was able to start to pay back that debt, even if Raoul’s parents insisted that he shouldn’t have. This was until a few days ago when Valent received a letter from them requesting help.

“Listen here, boy—Raoul, you cannot stay with…” Sir Valent insisted, stealing glances at Alwig who was sitting beside the boy. “With him. We don’t even know what he is, let alone what he would do to you.”

“I have visited Alwig in the forest constantly for the past…” Raoul, while sitting on a log, started counting with his fingers. “Four years now—“

“Five years,” the wolf cut in.

“Five years now, and nothing happened. On the opposite, Alwig is the one who saved me many times from danger.”

“He might be aiming for something else!” Valent got up from his seat. “We can never trust what beasts might or might not do!”

Raoul felt hotness rising from his guts. He stood. “Beast this, beast that; who are you to call Al a beast? From what I see, you soldiers are worse than beasts!” he yelled. “You act like everyone is under you; you are ungrateful of what we are willing to give; you are petty and vicious; you take things too far; and most of all, you are all unreasonable!” The boy whirled. “Let’s go, Al. There’s no need to waste our words on someone like him.”

Alwig got up and strode by Raoul’s side, and both of them didn’t even bother to look back, only heading toward the cave.

“Wait!” Valent called after, hurrying to the boy. “Let us talk about this matter more thoroughly, why don’t we?”

“Why bother?” Raoul said, still not giving the man a glance. “You won’t change your mind over this matter anyways.”

Even without looking, the boy could hear the sound of the man’s teeth grinding in panic. Finally, he half-shouted, “Alright! I will believe you that being with him is safe!”

Raoul turned around to look at the soldier. “You should have said so from the start,” he said as he made his way back to the log, Alwig also returning to his seat.

Valent shook his head before he sat opposite the boy and the wolf.

“From what I have gathered,” the boy started, trying to sound like Agnes as much as possible, “you are in a high position within the army, correct?”

The soldier blinked briefly before answering, “That is correct.”

“If you really want to help my parents, then you should know that making the other soldiers leave will be for the best. Why haven’t you done so?”

There was no flustering in Valent’s behavior anymore. “Having the soldiers return isn’t as easy as it might sound,” he explained. “Since the war lasted for almost two decades, most soldiers already gave up on returning to their previous lives. They don’t believe their wives would remain faithful, and others don’t believe their families are still alive since some cities their loved ones were residing in got caught up in the skirmishes. Most knew they could not go back to the way things were, even if they were victorious.

“To force the soldiers to return would look bad not only on the army but also on the kingdom, as most would see it as cruel. Some are also traveling the kingdom to find a new place to settle in, so I cannot exactly dismiss them from the chance of settling here.”

Raoul grabbed his chin, thinking.

To be honest, the boy had no idea what he was doing, and he was even more lost now that he had heard the reasons from Valent. Nevertheless, he remembered Agnes’s lessons and recited them in his head.

‘Composure shows that you are in control.’

“I see,” the boy replied, nodding. “Then, have the soldiers shown any intention of leaving the village?”

“Though I cannot say much since I have only spent little time there, most of the soldiers seemed eager to leave; they were simply waiting to find and deal with you before they depart.”

“Then,” Raoul said, “it means that we need to give them a reason to leave quickly.”

Alwig perked his head up. “Raoul,” the wolf called. “Do you think your village chief will cooperate with our shenanigans if we are able to make the soldiers leave?”

“I don’t know…” Raoul replied, thinking back to when he saw the chief that morning he ran away. The elder seemed pretty stressed by the soldiers’ arrival, but at the same time, he also seemed excited.

“Hm…” Alwig mused. “I have a plan, but it would require the help of someone like the village chief…”

“Let’s hear it,” Valent said.

The boy and the wolf looked toward the soldier, blinking.

“If it is the village chief,” the highborn continued, the corners of his mouth lifting, “then I might be able to convince him of some mischief.”

Raoul and Alwig looked at each other, and no words were needed between them.

Alwig got to his feet, looking toward the village’s direction. “Here’s the plan…”