'Judging from the size and depth, I think it's a Lycan Wolf….'

Lycan Wolves are a vicious type of monster with intelligence.

The head was considerably larger than their body, and it was a fairly high-level monster whose body has evolved to resemble that of a human and could move freely on its two hind legs. They usually moved in groups and the only thing that'd separate them from their pack was if the pack was falling apart, or they were kicked out or abandoned. Things like coveting another's female, or attacking the pack leader resulted in abandonment. The defeated wolves were shunned and unable to blend in with the pack. Because they were not protected by the herd, they had to hunt separately, and it became difficult to mate. Of the lone wolves that did survive, them fighting for their own survival honed them into brutal monsters.

It wasn't uncommon to hear a story of a lone wolf terrorizing a village when they tried to loot the village. There were not many footprints, and seeing that they dared to enter the fairy forest, it was highly likely that they were kicked out of the pack.

Most likely only one or two of them. At most three.

It would not be easy to deal with a full pack of Lycan wolves but if it were only a couple, she could easily finish them.

"The strange thing is, how did these beasts get into the Fairy Forest…" Kalia tilted her head in thought for a moment.

Fairies didn't like monsters.

Neither did spirits like them either.

'I don't know if it's because they haven't crossed a certain line or something but I can't figure out how the monster could cross into the fairy's territory.'

"…those are footprints, isn't it Kalia?" Humming, who was walking quietly behind her, asked with a little uneasiness.

Kalia did not deny it and spoke casually, "It's okay. I'm here."

There was no significant shaking or agitation in Kalia's voice.

Humming's expression changed after staring at such a Kalia blankly for a moment. "…B-but! Now is not the time for Miss to protect anyone. I- I'm going to protect Miss!" Humming, who vowed bravely albeit a bit shaky, held a knife with both hands.

"I'm not good enough yet, but I'll at least do my best!" Humming continued vigorously.

However, Kalia could see that Humming was just cutely trying to be brave despite the fact that her pale hands were clearly clutching the knife so tightly that her fingertips were white.

"Thank you. I'm so reassured?"

"...You're making fun of me, aren't you?"

"Maybe?"

"Oh, really? I'm going to protect you."

Yeah, yeah.

Kalia smiled as if she was a proud parent and continued forward.

Though she was smiling, it wasn't that she wasn't in a hurry.

The Fairy Forest's fog was especially fond of children. And somehow, she had grown a little more nervous after confirming that even monsters had entered the forest. It may have been that the wolves lost their wits due to hunger and thus, entered the Fairy Forest.

Lycan wolves ate humans. The younger the human, the more they liked it. Thankfully when wolves were moving in packs, they didn't come near where humans lived.

They were quite smart among monsters. The wolves were usually led by the smartest and strongest of the pack. The leader knew that nothing good usually came out of going into the human areas. But, if they were exiled and starved, they would usually be overcome with hunger and not have the ability for proper judgement.

It was natural to hunt wolves that came near the village. Since they caught her eye she couldn't just let go of these monsters that could be a threat. However, right now, until she found them, her only concern was whether the children were safe or not.

Just then. Crunch.

Though nearly inaudible, she still caught the sound. Kalia's eyes glided across the forest as she moved quietly to find the source of sound. She turned her head in a non-hurried motion and slowly scanned every inch of land around her. Her carefully moving eyes came to a stop on a tangled mess of roots and branches, piled up like a tomb.

After seeing the unusual look in Kalia's eyes, Humming froze in place, trying her best to hold her breath as to not make even a single peep.

The moment she took a step toward the grave of the vine when-

Oh my god!

A giant Lycan wolf sprang out of the bushes with a howl harsh enough to incite panic. That single cry startled not only Humming but the fairies in the forest. They could feel their wings tremble at that ear-piercing sound.

Tat-tat-tat-tat! 1

But Kalia's gaze on the wolf, who was rushing towards her, remained calm.

She stood there and only lightly swung her sword when the Lycan wolf was just in front of her, almost upon her.

She swung it so lightly that the sound of it cutting through the air couldn't be heard over the sounds the wolf was making.

The wolf managed to avoid Kalia's sword. But immediately, the angle of her blade changed and sliced into half of the wolf's shoulder.

Oh my god!2

The wolf hurriedly backed away, blood dripping from one side of his shoulder. Its snarl grew bigger, exposing even more of its teeth. The Lycan wolf's sharpened nails dug into the ground, and growled again at Kalia who was calmly observing the wolf.

Her assessing gaze that had been scanning the wolf turned puzzled.

'Its eyes… Are they overturned3? Those wounds… what's wrong with its body?'

The Lycan wolf was in dire conditions.

Saliva drooled from around its lips and his eyes were overturned. On top of that, there were angry marks on his chest as if it had persistently scratched it himself. Like he was going to tear out his own heart?

'Has it gone crazy?'

Perhaps the wolf had sensed Kalia's hesitation but it pounced once again, taking the chance to attack her with a long swing. It was a simple attack, but it was powerful. But Kalia wasn't one to be pushed back.

As if she had predicted the attack, Kalia fluidly raised her sword without hesitation and returned with a monstrous attack of her own. Her movement was calm, not too fast or slow. She was so relaxed, asif playing with the monster in front of her.

Grrrrrr!

The wolf, who was still snarling with its teeth exposed, hesitated but ultimately turned tail and ran back into the bushes. It ran like crazy, no doubt feeling threatened.

Kalia didn't bother dragging her heavy body to run after the wolf. How far could the wounded creature go if it ran anyway.

There weren't many corners the wolf could run to because it wasn't able to go deep in the Fairy Forest anyway since it was a monster.

Holding her dress gracefully with one hand, she gently followed after the fleeing wolf. It seemed like a waste of time to run.

Behind Kalia, who had disappeared into the foliage, Humming was alone.

"Ugh…."

She sat on the ground, having collapsed under shaky legs and murmured to herself, "….wow, that was so cool…." She trembled with emotion, recalling Kalia's status and reputation that she had forgotten these recent months. As expected, becoming Kalia's squire was the greatest fortune in Humming's life.

'I'm so glad I followed you, Miss. Someone like me… I really need to give myself a pat on the back! I'm so proud of myself!'4

Humming, who had been praising herself for a while, abruptly jumped up and chased Kalia. Her eyes were full of yearning.

***

Slash.

A huge mushroom, well over 2 meters tall, was gently cut with a diagonal slash. The half on top slipped onto the floor and rolled over with a thud.

"It's an illusion mushroom. It can emit a powder that causes hallucinations but it only grows in Fairy "Wow… that's an illusion mushroom? I didn't know they would be that big."

She'd only been told about its existence in passing. When she learned of these mushrooms, she had thought it was a cute size – no larger than the size of napalm – but it was almost the size of a monster?

"These illusion mushrooms are probably all over this forest. If you cut them, their illusions seem to weaken to have a radius of about 50 meters. Even so, don't ever get near mushrooms out of curiosity."

"Why?"

"If you get too close to it, it'll emit its powder and if you ever get covered with the spilled powder you will lose your mind. If you die under a mushroom, it's said that the mushroom feeds on the corpse using it as food."

"Huh...it's just a mushroom but it's still pretty scary," Humming shivered, as if frightened, and she took a few steps back from the fallen mushroom.

"It's okay as long as you don't get close but be careful."

"Yes!"

As Kalia was listening to Humming's reply, her head suddenly snapped up. It was because she felt a piercing gaze on them.

With a quick scan of their surroundings, she easily located the source of the gaze. A head was peeking out from a white pillar tree near the fallen mushroom. The color of the hair flowingly framing her tilted head was familiar to Kalia's eyes. Kalia was a little startled and narrowed her eyes to examine the figure more closely.

'This hair color is not common…'

Kalia's gaze was fixated on fluttering pale yellow hair. Her eyes trailed up to the person's face. The moment she made eye contact with the woman, Kalia's heart pounded with a thud.

'What's wrong with my heart? Why is it suddenly beating like this?'

Ba-bump!

Feeling her heart suddenly pumping so much, Kalia couldn't hide her embarrassment. Her eyes were drawn to the woman hiding behind the tree.

"Fairy?"

The woman had a white face, pointed ears and seemed to be a fairy. Her hair was a colour similar to Kalia's but it didn't look exactly the same. Her hair was completely straight while Kalia's was half-curly.

The woman hiding behind the white tree looked back at Kalia with a curious expression on her face. When their eyes met, her eyes widened in surprise but her face soon softened into a smile. She even gave a slight wave with the tip of her slender hand from behind the tree.

Kalia stared blankly at the fairy like a fool without realizing it. As she looked at the innocently smiling fairy, her heart tightened strangely. At first, she thought her heart was beating too much, but now it felt like electricity was flowing through her whole body causing an almost numbing effect.

'What's wrong with me all of a sudden?'

She was embarrassed. Kalia was taken aback by these first signs of physical abnormality but soon regained her composure. Clenching her fists, she took a deep breath and blinked, refocusing her gaze on the women. But, for some reason, she had disappeared.

"Oh?" She frowned, letting out a sigh.

Humming, who had since been wary of her surroundings, looked at her strangely.

"What's wrong?"

"...Humming, did you see the woman who was just standing there?"

"What? A woman? Was there a woman?" Humming squinted her eyes and looked around, but the 'woman' was nowhere to be found.