By Zephyria 
The carriage ran non-stop towards the Academy.
Darkness had fully settled on both sides of the open window. Moonlight and starlight caressed the tear-streaked cheeks of the children. When I apologized, the children eagerly apologized one after another.
“No. It’s because I, I said it was hard…”
“…It’s because of me.”
“I made the wrong judgment.”
Before the sniffles could turn into sobs again, Damian shook his head weakly and smiled.
“No, I also made excuses about it being hard. We all know it’s no one’s fault.”
“…But, because of me… to protect me, in front…”
“That’s what we had to do then.”
Damian cut off Jenny’s words.
“Everything turned out well, so it’s okay.”
Though he didn’t look okay at all, everyone nodded sadly because Damian said it was okay.
It was because I didn’t want to argue with the child, who was already having a hard time, over trivial matters.
Since Damian had trouble walking alone, I carried him to his room.
❖ ❖ ❖
The next morning at breakfast, Damian wasn’t in the dining hall, so Shayden and I packed some food and headed to Damian’s room.
Damian opened the door with a haggard face. My heart sank when I saw his pale complexion.
“Are you very sick?”
“No, I’m fine. I just had a restless night because of a bad dream.”
“I brought breakfast. Do you want to eat in bed?”
“Mmm… Yes. That would be good.”
Shayden helped Damian up and led him back into the bedroom. I followed behind with the tray of food.
Seeing us bustling about, pulling up a chair to sit by the bed, pouring juice, and taking out sandwiches, Damian made a joke.
“It’s a relief it’s not exam period, though, right?”
“Is that what you have to say?”
“Still, if you had to study while sick, it would be miserable.”
Damian forced a bright smile and took a large bite of the sandwich. He was eating more ravenously than usual, and it was obvious he was trying to comfort our worries.
I watched the child gently accept the juice Shayden had prepared, telling him to eat slowly.
My heart ached, unable to shake off the pity.
There must have been a reason they placed one inspector in each group when forming teams. I felt a surge of emotion. I could have driven away not just dozens, but hundreds of wolves.
It was all in the past, and I considered it a great fortune that Damian wasn’t permanently disabled, yet regret lingered.
Noticing my gaze repeatedly flicking to Damian’s legs, Damian smiled and pulled up his pajama pants.
His white legs were smooth and beautiful, like a deer’s.
It was just yesterday that I saw the boy being dragged away, almost bitten by a wolf. As if by magic, not a single bite mark remained.
“See, Mikael. I’m really okay.”
“…Yes.”
It was fortunate that magic existed in this world.
If he had sustained such an injury in the Central Plains, I would have been anxiously applying poultices made from herbs, fearing his leg would rot away, let alone have it heal so cleanly.
“Is it phantom pain? Is that okay?”
“Haha… Actually, I still limp a bit. It was the first time I’d ever been in so much pain, so it still feels a bit warm… That wolf’s head was as big as my torso.”
“…It was.”
“I really thought I was going to die.”
Damian smiled and reached out his hand. I saw his fingertips tremble slightly. When I extended my hand, Damian clasped it tightly with both of his and smiled.
“Thanks to you, I’m alive, Mikael. I haven’t properly thanked you yet.”
A hot sensation rose in my throat, preventing me from replying. I could only shake my head, wanting to say “No, it’s my fault,” but swallowing my words.
After the child finished eating, he said he wanted to rest, so I gathered the tray and left.
Shayden and I headed to the library, but my mind was elsewhere, making it difficult to concentrate.
I stared blankly at the handouts, unable to do anything, so Shayden, wanting to cheer me up, dragged me to the cafeteria within the Academy and sat me down.
Seeing the table laden with sweets, I couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.
“Who is all this supposed to be for?”
“Why, Mika? Don’t be so weak.”
“It’s not that I’m weak, it’s just…”
“You barely ate breakfast either. You can eat this much. I know you.”
Unable to resist Shayden’s coaxing, I picked up a fork.
As I nibbled at the sweets, I sensed a familiar presence approaching from a distance.
Chewing on a piece of rich chocolate fudge, I looked towards the entrance.
Rubel, looking dazed from running around, was approaching, his fingers loosening his tie. He looked towards me.
When our eyes met, I nodded slightly in greeting. He walked straight towards me without hesitation.
“Mikael! Are you hurt?”
“Yes.”
Even though a boy of similar standing should know I wasn’t someone who could be easily injured by a wild beast, his meticulous inspection made me uncomfortable.
Sensing what I was about to say, Shayden spoke before I could.
“Would you like to sit down, Your Highness? We ordered a lot of dessert anyway.”
“…Ah. Young Master Rose.”
“Yes, it’s nice to meet you too.”
“Uh, well. …It’s nice to meet you. Then I’ll sit for a moment.”
Shayden pulled up a chair from a nearby table for Rubel, who was standing there blankly.
Rubel thanked Shayden again and sat down. Shayden ordered a drink for him.
It was a mystery how Shayden had already figured out Rubel’s preferences.
Rubel, apparently thirsty, downed half his lemonade in one go. Only then did the boy calm down enough for a proper conversation.
Seeing that he had come to find me, I figured Rubel must have heard about yesterday’s events. Without any pleasantries, he asked the question that was on his mind.
“So, what was the problem?”
“…Actually, there wasn’t a problem.”
…
I didn’t hide my displeased expression.
A wild beast that wasn’t supposed to be there had descended, harmed people, and rampaged, yet there was no problem?
Rubel looked at me once, then pushed a cake plate towards me.
I obediently picked up my fork and began to eat the dessert.
Rubel continued, “Lately, there have been many monsters in the Yuil Mountains. However, the Imperial Knight Order is consistently active, and Wesley Kiadris is fighting on the front lines, so there’s no major issue in controlling the monster population.”
“Then this time…”
“…It’s said that because those wolves were not monsters but merely wild animals, ‘some’ were allowed to escape. There was no violation of protocol.”
He went on to explain that the food chain among forest creatures is delicate, and the decline of one species inevitably causes problems.
If the wolf population became too small, the herbivores that preyed on them would devour all the new shoots in the forest, leading to its devastation. Therefore, predators weren’t killed indiscriminately.
However, with the recent increase in monsters, the Imperial Knight Order had been operating in the upper regions of the Yuil Mountains. The ripple effect of those battles seemed to have driven the animals down, following the mountain ridges.
“Although wolves live in packs, the knights have consistently controlled their numbers and managed them to prevent them from leaving the forest. For the past hundred years or so, they haven’t attacked people. So, they probably didn’t pay much attention to the wolf pack’s movement this time.”
“…”
“After this incident, the Empire concluded that a hybrid of Dire Wolves and regular wolves was mixed among the wolves. Last night, half of the Imperial Knight Order from the Imperial Palace was dispatched to hunt down all the unusually large wolves in Mount Eldos.”
“Won’t that further increase the wolves’ animosity towards humans?”
“It’s a process of teaching them that attacking humans results in such harm. The decision to hunt young humans, who are not herbivores, was likely due to their increased numbers, so it serves as a justification for controlling them.”
I recalled the large wolf I had seen yesterday. I remembered its eerie blue eyes and the long howls that sounded like they were conversing amongst themselves.
They were mixed with monster blood.
The idea of educating wild animals felt strange, but given how harshly the Empire educated humans, it was plausible.
I thought it was the law of Sierren to be lenient even towards the plight of beasts, yet I felt a recurring sense of indignation.
If I had been even a little later, Damian would not be alive today.
It felt somehow unfair that things were progressing in ways I didn’t know about, as if a task had been completed.
My hand, gripping the fork, was still small.
I knew that because of my young age, people in the Sierran Empire wouldn’t entrust me with solving problems, yet the resentment that seeped into my heart was not easily dismissed.
When I came to my senses, Shayden and Rubel had piled all the dessert plates in front of me. Seeing their expectant eyes, I ate them all, even though I had no appetite.
After eating a lot, Rubel asked if I wanted to practice throwing knife technique to lift my spirits, and I agreed.
Shayden said he would go rest, so I saw him off, and then Rubel and I went to the throwing knife practice area and practiced throwing daggers from a low stance.
I knew Rubel was trying his best to comfort me, and I even burst into laughter a few times, but my heart was heavy, and I couldn’t concentrate.
After having dinner with the children, I returned to my room.
Left alone, the children’s screams echoed in my ears.
Damian’s fallen form overlapped with the images of my nephews.
Armed martial artists were always seeking their own demise, but there was still a limit.
Even in the Central Plains, renowned evil-doers considered it proper to only face opponents of their own caliber.
My young nephews would defeat third-rate bandits, and people like me would kill first-rate evil-doers.
However, after the Heavenly Demon War broke out, the order collapsed, and such courtesies vanished.
The masters of the Demonic Cult, who came down from Xinjiang, made it a game to cut down anyone who stood in their way, regardless of their martial arts prowess.
It was a time when everyone rushed out to earn merit.
The name of my nephew, who had chattered in front of me and fallen without even drawing his sword, was hazy.
Was it Ajeong who died first, or Ahwa? I couldn’t quite remember.
It was a good thing that their smiling faces, chattering away, came to mind first.
Lying in bed, I closed my eyes. The corners of my eyes, hidden beneath my clenched fists, felt warm.