During their third rest stop, the coachman remarked that they’d probably reach Midland before sunset—maybe even sooner.
He would’ve been right, if not for the werewolf blocking their path just before they arrived at Midland.
“What in the world is this…?”
The coachman trembled uncontrollably. He seemed completely unaware that the same kind of monster had shown up in the village where they’d stayed the night before, so Satin explained.
“That thing showed up yesterday too. Didn’t you hear the howling?”
“I did hear something like that in my sleep, but I thought it was just…”
The coachman’s face went pale. It seemed he had brushed off the werewolf’s howling as nothing more than the cries of a distant wolf.
Satin patted the dazed man’s shoulder and pointed to the back of the carriage.
“Either way, it’s dangerous, so please stay back, sir.”
Satin hadn’t even finished his sentence when Cain snapped at him.
“Quit the nonsense and back off yourself. Why are you worrying about someone else right now?”
“It’s still manageable. It’s just one, and yesterday too…”
Satin couldn’t finish his thought. The werewolf blocking the road suddenly raised its head and let out a long howl. Awooooooo! It was an eerie sound that clashed with the broad daylight.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
It had howled like that yesterday, too—right before it attacked. Satin’s suspicion was logical, but Cain didn’t agree. Instead, he barked irritably.
“I told you to get back already!”
“Cain, I’ve told you again and again—”
Satin was about to tell him to knock it off when Rita turned to the group and asked,
“Isn’t that thing acting kind of weird?”
Her expression was grave. But Satin didn’t immediately understand what she meant. Edward seemed just as confused and tilted his head.
“What do you mean?”
“That thing’s not looking at us.”
Only then did Edward let out a small gasp. Satin’s eyes widened as well.
‘Come to think of it…’
The werewolf from last night had stared at them the entire time. Whether it was watching them or waiting for the right moment to strike, it never took its eyes off them—except when it lifted its head to howl.
But the one now had finished howling and was still looking elsewhere. Realizing that made Satin feel deeply uneasy.
‘Is there something out there?’
The road to Midland ran straight through the forest. On either side of the road were densely wooded hills. Even though it wasn’t evening yet, the thick woods cast dark shadows, making it impossible to see inside. Satin couldn’t tell what the werewolf might be staring at within that darkness.
Cain, who had been silently watching the forest, clicked his tongue.
“It’s calling its pack.”
He gave no further explanation, but no one dared to refute him.
Wolves were pack animals, and howling was a way to communicate with the rest of their group. It wasn’t far-fetched to think that a werewolf, with a wolf’s head and similar instincts, would behave the same way.
“Wh-Wh-What are we supposed to do…?”
The coachman collapsed in despair. Maybe he was imagining himself getting torn apart and devoured by a horde of werewolves like meat in a gourmet tasting.
Satin was scared too, but not nearly as much as the coachman.
‘Something will work out. We’re the main cast—there’s no way we’re getting eaten here. We won’t die until we meet the final boss.’
Trying to stay optimistic, he nudged Cain in the ribs.
“What?”
“Give me my sword. I can’t just stand here empty-handed with who knows what about to happen.”
Cain didn’t hand it over. Instead, he looked silently down at Satin’s face. For once, he didn’t reject the request outright, and that gave Satin a sliver of hope.
Just then, another werewolf emerged from the forest. It looked exactly the same as the one standing in the road—pointed ears, bristling fur like spikes, massive feet.
Satin couldn’t help but groan under his breath as he observed the new arrival.
“Oh man…”
The forest shadows kept shifting as more werewolves stepped into view. Two. Three. Five. Eight. Including the first one blocking their path, there were now nine. More than twice their number. And considering that only Rita, Edward, and Cain were proper combatants, their fighting force was effectively outnumbered three-to-one.
“Hey, give me the sword already!”
Satin, growing anxious, pestered Cain more insistently. Cain didn’t hold out any longer and handed over the sword—though he didn’t forget to add a warning.
“Don’t even think about stepping forward. Stick with that old geezer behind the carriage. And if it starts to get dicey, just grab the old man and—”
“You lunatic, shut the hell up.”
Satin quickly cut him off before he could finish that disturbing suggestion. Luckily, the coachman seemed too fixated on the werewolves to have caught Cain’s awful remark.
“Sir, get up! We need to get out of here!”
Satin helped the coachman to his feet. The man staggered along behind Satin, trying to retreat to safety, then suddenly exclaimed, “My horses!” and scrambled to unhook the reins from the carriage. The horses, clearly spooked, bared their teeth and followed him, snorting and skittish.
“If we’d just moved a little faster, this wouldn’t be happening…”
Hiding behind the carriage, the coachman pressed his cheek to the long face of one of the horses and sobbed, murmuring what sounded like a prayer. He must have thought there was no way they could win against nine werewolves.
And honestly, given how vicious they looked, anyone would’ve thought the same. Instead of offering clumsy comfort, Satin simply drew his sword and focused on how to hold it in a way that looked threatening, trying to strike a decent stance.
Up front, the real fighters were getting ready for combat—but to an outsider, their “preparation” didn’t look especially reassuring.
“Let’s just burn them like we did yesterday. What do you think?”
Rita made the suggestion, to which Cain replied curtly,
“Great idea—assuming we don’t mind the whole forest going up in flames.”
“We can control it, can’t we? Just burn them, not the trees.”
“Sure, I can control it. But if they catch fire and run into the woods, then what?”
“Oh…”
Even Satin, who didn’t know the first thing about Cain’s fire magic, had to admit it was impressive—but clearly not all-powerful.
“Then what if we build a wall at the edge of the forest? That way they can’t run in,” Edward offered.
His suggestion seemed reasonable. But the real issue wasn’t preventing the werewolves from escaping. Cain let out a laugh and responded,
“Brilliant idea. We’ll have ourselves a nice little arena. Just take down three each and we’re golden.”
His tone was unmistakably sarcastic.
“If you’re just going to be a sarcastic ass, why don’t you come up with a plan?” Rita snapped.
Cain nodded, completely unfazed.
“Sure.”
He was so calm about it that Satin assumed he actually had something brilliant in mind. Probably Rita and Edward did too.
Without another word, Cain stepped forward.
The nine werewolves stood blocking the road, but they didn’t seem to have any kind of formation or strategy. It was all disorder.
‘We don’t have to kill them all. As long as we can break through, we can get help from Midland.’
As Satin mulled over what might be the most efficient plan, Cain began casting a spell. Satin could feel the surge of magic around him and assumed it was a high-level spell.
‘If he can form the wall in a circle…’
But instead of a wall, a straight pillar of blazing red fire shot forward, mocking Satin’s hopes. The werewolves panicked and scattered sideways. Not one of them was caught in the flames.
“You missed!” Rita shouted.
Satin had thought so too—until he realized the wall of fire hadn’t stopped. It kept surging forward, straight down the road, until it finally slammed into Midland’s outer wall.
Mouth agape, Satin finally understood what Cain had done.
‘That’s… definitely not what I meant when I said to call for help.’
It was reckless, sure—but it worked. The gates of Midland swung open and people came pouring out. Still too far to see clearly, but they were probably soldiers. Some even mounted horses and charged ahead.
Cain turned and gave Rita and Edward a cheerful smile as they stood speechless.
“Now we just have to hold out until they get here.”
“You really used fire for that? Seriously—what the hell are we going to do now…” Rita muttered, clutching her forehead mid-sentence.
Even from here, they could see the chaos by the city wall as people scrambled to put out the fire. Thankfully, it didn’t look like a full-on blaze, and they’d probably get it under control quickly—but to the soldiers guarding the wall, it must’ve felt like a bolt from the blue.
Still, it was better than nothing. A night in a Midland jail for arson was a whole lot better than getting eaten alive.
And if the Midland soldiers wanted to charge Cain with arson, they’d have to help defeat the werewolves first. After all, those monsters could eventually pose a threat to Midland too.
“Well then, shall we take a few of them down while we wait?” Rita asked, finally pulling herself together and conjuring a flame-tipped arrow.
Beside her, Cain drew his sword instead of casting more magic. He spoke nonchalantly.
“Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention—just tell them you did that.”
“…What?”
Rita’s eyes widened, but Cain shamelessly repeated himself without a hint of guilt.
“If I say I did it, the Bureau of Order will probably hold me for days. But you? You could walk out right away.”
Cain didn’t know Rita’s exact status. Still, judging by her behavior and the way she carried herself, he must’ve realized she wasn’t just some commoner. Even if she were, she clearly had more than enough money to grease her way out of trouble. It wasn’t hard to guess she’d find her way out of a sticky situation easily.
“It’s not exactly honorable, but… yeah, it’s the more efficient option,” Edward agreed, siding with Cain.
Rita scowled, clearly displeased, but with no better solution on hand, she finally nodded.
“You owe me for this.”
“Sure, sure. Just drop by and enjoy the prison meals Satin brings me.”
“Please. You think Satin’s going to stick around just for you?”
“Then we’ll say it was Satin’s idea. Be nice to share a cell with him.”
“Hey, when did I ever—?!”
Hearing this from behind the carriage, Satin burst out, completely flustered. Cain immediately turned and snapped at him.
“I told you to stay back!”
‘Seriously, who the hell is he to be yelling right now?’
