Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight Volume 12

1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7183-3122-8
Verlag: J-Novel Club
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 250 Seiten

Reihe: Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight

Meraldia is now at peace, but Veight is still as busy as ever. It's going to take him time to adjust to his new life as a father and learn how to juggle work and parenting. Now every time he gets called away to Kuwol or the far reaches of the desert, he knows he has to finish as quickly as possible to make it back home to his family. Fortunately for his daughter Friede, she inherited her mother's intelligence and wit and his strength and vigor. While her tomboyish nature may get her in trouble at times, she's still more than capable of handling anything that comes her way.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hyougetsu

Weitere Mitwirkende

Teshima, Nari

Ningen

Leseproben

“I did warn you, puny humans,” I said in my best evil villain voice, then transformed.

“Wha?!”

The nomads scrambled for their bows, but before they could nock a single arrow, I unleashed my Soul Shaker.

“GRAAAAAAH!”

“Waaaaah?!”

“Ugh!”

The horses fell into a panic, and their riders collapsed onto the ground. No matter how skilled they were at riding, there was nothing they could do when my Soul Shaker left them momentarily paralyzed. The horses were so terrified they bolted immediately, with some of them still missing their owners.

“Wh-Whoa, hold on a sec.”

Letting anyone escape was not part of the plan. Just then, Monza and Hamaam jumped out from some nearby bushes. As hunters and former bandits, they had a lot of experience in setting up ambushes.

“Time to hunt!” Monza shouted, and everyone transformed. The nomads started to really panic when they realized they were surrounded by eight werewolves.

“Nooooo!”

“H-Hey, wait! Not that way!”

The horses also froze in place, unsure of where to run now that there were werewolves on all sides. Even the ones that had riders weren’t moving; they were totally out of control.

“Man, that was too easy,” Monza muttered as the nomads were rendered helpless.

“Cavalry have the hardest time with werewolves. Remember what happened to those mounted archers from Thuvan?”

“Oh yeah, that brings back memories.”

Despite their disadvantage, though, the nomads hadn’t given up yet.

“Damn it!”

“Anyone who can move, grab your bow!”

Both the nomads on the ground and the ones struggling to tame their mounts nocked their bows or drew their scimitars.

“You’ll only be incurring needless casualties if you resist. Besides, we didn’t come here to fight.” I tried to sound as gentle as I could, but while transformed, any tone I took probably sounded intimidating.

A barrage of arrows flew at me in response.

“Come on now.”

I batted away the arrows or caught them between my fingers. With my enhanced kinetic vision, all their attacks effectively looked to be in slow motion.

“I’m telling you, resistance is futile. We don’t intend to hurt you, so stop struggling. Though I won’t take responsibility for any harm inflicted on your horses if you continue to fight.”

It was impossible for a werewolf to soothe a horse. To them, we were just another predator like a lion or a tiger. The nomads hesitated when I threatened their horses.

“Mrrrgh.”

For nomads, their horses were as important as their lives. Or so I’d heard anyway. They couldn’t hunt or properly herd livestock without them. A man’s pride rested with his horse. Without it, he was a laughingstock. According to what Hamaam had told me at least.

The nomads seemed unsure of what to do. But in the end, their horses’ fear convinced them to back off. Their leader was still mounted, and he continued soothing his horse as he said, “Very well, we won’t fight you. But we won’t be your prisoners either.”

“That’s fine. I only came here to talk.”

The leader sighed, then turned back to his men. “Sheathe your weapons. This man is too strong for us. We should at least listen to what he has to say.”

He turned back to me and narrowed his eyes sharply. “What is your name?”

I transformed back into a human and smiled cordially at him.

“I am the Vice-Commander of Meraldia’s Demon Lord, Veight Von Aindorf.”

“What?!” The leader’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull. “You mean the infamous undefeated Black Werewolf King? In the flesh?!”

“I wouldn’t exactly say I’m undefeated, but I am the one and only Black Werewolf King, yes.”

There weren’t that many werewolves to begin with, so if you saw one at all there was a decent chance it was me. The nomads exchanged uncertain glances, then came to a consensus.

“Everyone. Kneel.”

The leader slipped off his horse and dropped to his right knee, and the others followed suit.

“I am the son of Merca tribe chieftain Yuzura. My name is Lucan. I am also the leader of our tribe’s warriors.”

Lucan had a muscular build and looked to be in his early twenties. Seeing as how even the older warriors deferred to him, he was clearly respected among his people.

“Allow me to ask you again. Why do you keep ruining the fields here?”

“I’m afraid I can only give the same answer as before. We need the grass here for our sheep.”

“Is there no other place you could let your sheep graze?”

“If there was, we wouldn’t be bickering with the farmers.”

These guys were a lot more reasonable than they looked. In which case, negotiation was a possibility.

“What’s special about the grass here?”

“We don’t know. But for generations it has been our custom to have our sheep graze here. Our grandfathers, great-grandfathers, and great-great-grandfathers all did the same.”

“And what do your legends say about what will happen if your sheep don’t graze here?”

“In the past, there have been a few times where the grass here withered, and we had to go to another pasture. Every time we did, most of our sheep would die in the winter.”

“I see.”

The nomads’ livestock was their livelihood. They couldn’t afford to risk letting them get diseased. From their perspective, it was the farmers who were infringing on their ancestral pasture lands. They had a good reason for what they were doing.

“We’re in a real bind now.” I folded my arms and looked over the nomads. They stiffened up, clearly afraid of what I might say. “I understand, you have a valid reason for your grievances. It wouldn’t be fair of me to use force to chase you away.”

“Hm?”

They seemed surprised by my response.

“Lord Veight, what do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said. I understand and respect your circumstances.” I didn’t come here to take Lord Peshmet’s side. I came here to resolve a dispute. So long as the other party had just cause for their actions, I couldn’t unilaterally drive them away. “Besides, I know just how important livestock is to nomads.”

Since they owned no land, their sheep were their main assets. For the nomads, the survival of their livestock was quite literally a matter of life and death. If I took a hard-line stance, they would have no choice but to fight back. That being said, this was Lord Peshmet’s land. If we made concessions, it would harm the prestige of the nobles and erode the authority of the royal family. Managing one’s land was an important job for a ruler.

“I think it would be best for both of us if I visited your tribe chief and spoke with him.”

Since Lucan wasn’t yet the chief, he didn’t have the authority to make sweeping decisions. I needed to negotiate with their leader if I wanted to get anywhere.

“Would you be willing to guide me to him?”

I phrased it like a request, but we would have trouble if Lucan refused. Hopefully he was as smart as I thought.

Fortunately, my trust wasn’t misplaced.

“Of course. It would be an honor to have the esteemed hero of the northern continent, the undefeated Lord Veight, as our guest. I have no doubt my father will be glad to meet you.”

Lucan and his men guided us to a particularly arid part of the plains. Before long, the grass gave way to dirt and rocks. He looked back at us as he deftly weaved his horse between a few boulders.

“Ah, what a wonderful sight. I wonder if you can understand how relaxing this place is for us, Lord Veight?”

“Absolutely.”

“Oh? Now that’s a surprise. I imagined those used to fertile farmland and forests wouldn’t enjoy a barren landscape full of dust and stone.”

“It’s true, you can’t grow any crops here. But the lack of wildlife means you don’t have to fear disease or deal with pests. Barren it might be, but it’s also clean.”

Back on Earth, there had been plenty of people who preferred living in deserts. Everyone had a different habitat they liked most. Seeing this empty expanse, I had to admit there was something liberating about it. There weren’t any dangerous beasts or hostile humans to deal with. So long as there was food, water, and shelter nearby it wouldn’t be such a bad place to live. I explained as much to Lucan, and he and his men gave me an odd look.

“You’re a strange one.”

“For a man who’s supposed to be on the farmers’ side, you sure know a lot about us nomads.”

“I definitely haven’t seen anyone like you before.”

I smiled wanly and said, “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Lucan’s tribesmen exchanged glances before once again spurring their horses forward. After a few hours of traversing the desert, I could see a collection of tents in the distance. Lucan pointed to them and said, “That is our village.”

The tents came...